My First Born is Moving In!

Hello readers, this is just a small announcement - I have made a relatively significant change in my blog space right here. As some of you may know, I have another blog called 'Ad Libitum' over at http://janeadlibitum.blogspot.com. This is my older weirder blog-child that just won't take form the way my second one is. She's (no clue why, but I just automatically decided it's a girl) always been a little lanky, under-nourished, and low-profile. I just cannot understand why. And when the second, more robust, blog-child came along, he (again, I just decided that) took so much of my attention that my older blog-child has been left unattended for quite a while.

As a good responsible mom of the blogosphere, I have decided that my first-born's voice, however feeble, should be heard too. So, I have imported all my content over from the 'Ad Libitum' blog to sit over here. This, though primarily a review blog, will also talk about my personal life and other interesting snippets that I would like to bring to the family dinner table.

I must sheepishly confess that the fact that this relatively newer blog was receiving more views and comments than my older child, was one of the deciding factors that drove me to scoot my older child in here, so she can share the spotlight. Also, this url comes up easier in a Google search than the other one... :P

So, before I wear this metaphor thin till you hear the logic snap, let me just alert you to the fact that as you scroll down, you will see all my posts from the other blog. If you have never visited me at Ad Libitum, well, there you go - I made sure that you are not spared! If you have, then you know that all my *air-quotes* words of wisdom *close air-quotes* are safe here, even after I have deleted the other blog. Now, please, for heaven's sake don't ask me (as I am asking myself right now) how I can use the word 'delete' when talking about a metaphorical first born. This is the Internet, and I just did. So there!

Aaaainyway, I will leave that blog up for a while, along with a redirect message. And after a while, it's gonna go. So, please continue to drop by here. I look forward to many conversations with you about stretched metaphors and tummy muscles... sorry.. tmi...

The Blind Side - John Lee Hancock

The Blind Side, directed by John Lee Hancock, can be seen as one of these things - 1. a feel-good movie with a hidden agenda seeking to convince everyone that everything turns out just right in the end; 2. a feel-good movie that will definitely bring out the cynic in every person that doesn't fall for that lie; and 3. a hidden racist comment that white people are the only ones that can rehabilitate and redeem all the colored people in the world! 

But here is where the movie shocks and stuns - The Blind Side is NONE of these things, because it is literally a true story!!! Yes, people actually did all the things that the director claims they did in the movie!

Based on the book on the same, The Blind Side is the story of the Touhys, and especially Leigh Ann Touhy, a southern lady from a very affluent family, and Michael Oher, the Afro-American boy that they lovingly take into their family. Okay, hold the cynicism, let me finish. 

Douchebaggery as an Art Form: V S Naipaul Excels!

V.S. Naipaul has been a constant source of irritation and disgust for me for a very long time. I know these are really harsh, one-sided and disproportionate words to use on an individual, that too a literary figure like Naipaul. However, the man has no qualms shooting his mouth off, and I am just returning his favor! 

So, Vee Ess Naipaul, first of all, dude, not loving your name... Hard to pronounce, and harder to type.

Second, I had to read your hot-air for a couple of Indian Writing papers in college, and I fell asleep in every class. I mean EVERY. CLASS. Man, why can't you be even a degree more interesting than you are?! Seriously, is that too much to ask? For crying out loud, you get published  for this crap.. at least make an effort!!

Thirdly, dear fellow, I get it - you don't like India.  You can't stand the dirty water running down streets, you detest the hypocrites, and you are sure that all Indians have 'slave mentality'. That's fine. Now move on.... You have not lived here. In fact, you don't belong here. Just because you have Indian ancestry in your blood, does not mean you get to say mean things about us. Go say something mean about someone else for a change, huh?! Get over yourself, seriously!

Fourth in a series of rants that is pure catharsis right now, is the fact that Mr.Naipaul, you, in general, are a douchebag. Wikipedia says so (dear reader, go directly to the 'Personal Life' section. That's the good (bad) stuff!), your former friend reiterates, and you sir, most certainly proved it!

Dear Reader, here is the entire text of the last article that I have mentioned. This one appeared in Guardian (a UK newspaper) and I simply couldn't believe what I was reading!

VS Naipaul finds no woman writer his literary match – not even Jane Austen

VS Naipaul, no stranger to literary spats and rows, has done it again. This time, the winner of the Nobel prize for literature has lashed out at female authors, saying there is no woman writer whom he considers his equal – and singling out Jane Austen for particular criticism.

In an interview at the Royal Geographic Society on Tuesday about his career, Naipaul, who has been described as the "greatest living writer of English prose", was asked if he considered any woman writer his literary match. He replied: "I don't think so." Of Austen he said he "couldn't possibly share her sentimental ambitions, her sentimental sense of the world".
He felt that women writers were "quite different". He said: "I read a piece of writing and within a paragraph or two I know whether it is by a woman or not. I think [it is] unequal to me."
The author, who was born in Trinidad, said this was because of women's "sentimentality, the narrow view of the world". "And inevitably for a woman, she is not a complete master of a house, so that comes over in her writing too," he said.
He added: "My publisher, who was so good as a taster and editor, when she became a writer, lo and behold, it was all this feminine tosh. I don't mean this in any unkind way."
The criticism from the author is unsurprising. Naipaul is no stranger to criticism. In the past Naipaul has criticised India's top female authors for their "banality" on the topic he is best known for writing about, the legacy of British colonialism.
He also had a long-running feud with US travel writer and author Paul Theroux.
Their 30-year friendship came to a sudden end, after Theroux discovered that a book he gave Naipaul had been put on sale for £916. The comments were dismissed by the Writers Guild of Great Britain, which said it would not "waste its breath on them". Literary journalist Alex Clark said: "Is he really saying that writers such as Hilary Mantel, AS Byatt, Iris Murdoch are sentimental or write feminine tosh?"
Literary critic Helen Brown described them as "arrogant, attention-seeking".He should heed the words of George Eliot – a female writer – whose works have had a far more profound impact on world culture than his."

Mr.Naipaul, women are awesome writers too! Just because you can't control your envy, and can't fade off gracefully, does not mean you belittle others. In your own words, "Take it on the chin, and move on."

Yep. He does have a general air of douche-ness around him!

You Searched for THAT and found ME???

So, I was looking at my blog stats just now, and found this:

Wait...what?!

oh yeahhh.... that's me. 'Tirunelveli tamil teen girl blogger profiles'. Yep. That would be an exact description of me.
Uh! 'teen' it seems. Thanks a lot. Now I feel the youth coming back to my bones....

On a side note, what the hell sort of search term is 'and where i usually would'?? ! Someone dissect that for me please?

Poem: Street food...

Written on 27 April 2011

Street food...

"... Is unhygienic, uncovered, and unappetizing",
Said mother, piling a mountain of rice
Onto a plate already sagging
Under the weight of healthily boring home-cooked food.
Grumbling, sniffing, dipping fingers in gingerly
I question...
"Why can't I have a snack instead?"

Crisp samosas are the best.
Waiting near the familiar heat of food
Sizzling in hot oil,
Eying the one that you will choose
If you had a choice,
Peering into the cart
At sauces and spices,
Making a mental note -
'Remember to ask for
The sweet and sour sauce.'

Jaws clench at the tangy thought
Of salted gooseberries
That bring back memories of
Dead-broke college days,
When a rupee earned you a bag of those sour gems
That set the saliva flowing 10 years later!

Corn on the cob
Luscious, spicy and crunchy
Satisfy the sharp hunger that comes
From trudging up the lanes
Of little towns on hill stations
In search of the perfect bargain
On a thick woolen sweater.

Ice cream in a park -
Dripping water and icicles that takes the place
Of real cream and flavor,
Cold chunks breaking off
Onto tongues,
Causing brain-freeze
And the rush of guilty pleasures
That mother would scorn at.

Vadais are good too.
Crisp exterior giving way
To warm dough and stray chilli bits,
The accompaniments as beckoning and cozy
As the kitchen at home...

The kitchen. Where mother
Would always have food on the table,
A soothing word
A listening ear
A tearing eye
A smiling face
For me, the wayward child,
Who ate too much street food...

No One Killed Jessica - Raj Kumar Gupta

"No One Killed Jessica" read the headlines of The Times of India newspaper, on 22 February 2006. The entire nation did a double-take when it realized that what should have been an open-shut case was now one of the most shocking testimonies to corruption and double-standards in politics and the justice system.

The case in question was the murder of Jessica Lall, an aspiring model and part-time bartender in New Delhi. One a particular night, 3 men had walked into the bar she worked in. One of them was Manu Sharma, the son of Venod Sharma (a wealthy Congress politician in Haryana). He demanded for a drink at 2:00am when the bar was all out of liquor. When Jessica refused to give him a drink saying that they were all out, in a fit of rage and as a foolish dare, Manu Sharma shot Jessica Lall point blank in the temple. Jessica's sister Sabrina Lall fought for justice for almost a decade, and was sure that the three eye witnesses (one of whom was her sister's close friend) would definitely testify favorably. Instead, tables were turned unexpectedly when all three eye witnesses said they did not see a thing! It later became apparent that the aforementioned politician had bribed all three witnesses to lie in court.

Following the trial, the newspaper headlines read "No One Killed Jessica", and the accused were acquitted based on insufficient evidence. You can read the full story and details of the trial in this Wikipedia entry. It was only through the inquisitive reporting of Tehelka that the real story emerged and Manu Sharma was later sentenced to life imprisonment in December 2006 by the High Court. He has tried to appeal further but with no avail.

Rani Mukherji as Meera Gaity in No One Killed Jessica

The movie No One Killed Jessica is a thrilling and close-to-truth portrayal of this true story. It is the story  of the fight for justice of the brave sister Sabrina Lall and the daring reporters who unearthed the true story and released damning evidence. Vidya Balan does a great job as Sabrina Lall. It is nice to see the actress minus her seductive temptress makeup and body language. Frankly, I was beginning to suspect that that was all Vidya Balan could do! I think she looks better in the down-played ponytail, the cute t-shirts and ubiquitous glasses than in the over-the-top wardrobe choices that usually mar her performances in other movies. She looks nice in 'simple'. 

Rani Mukherji, as Meera Gaity the journalist, delivers whatever was asked of her, I think. Someone told her to be an obnoxious, foul-mouthed journalist who doesn't follow the rules, and she is being that. I think they could have taken the 'I'm-a-badass-journalist' a notch down and made her into a more realistic character that the audience can relate to. 

Vidya Balan as Sabrina Lall in No One Killed Jessica

I loved the scene where Meera confronts Sabrina about fighting one more battle for 'Justice for Jessica'. Sabrina has given up on things, and is all cynical about the law and the justice system. It is at this point that Meera approaches her saying that there is a chance for justice since the public is involved and now the courts have to do something. When Sabrina refuses to cooperate, Meera berates her. The scene is powerful and really brings home the strength of well-played journalism.

The movie is a brave attempt. Dissing politicians is not a new thing in Bollywood, whereas relying on a an entirely female main cast is another risk altogether! Vidya Balan and Rani Mukherji take up the challenge well, and do justice to their roles. The story is fast paced enough to keep interest going, and deliberate enough to place all the key points of the story where they should be. 

A good watch if you're into political and crime thrillers or a fan of Rani Mukherji. 

Watch the official trailer of No One Killed Jessica:

My Trip Back Home to Beautiful Kerala - April 2011

As you all already know, Debbie was with my mom for the past week and half. So, last weekend we took a quick trip back to my home town to bring Debbie back. I would have loved to have spent longer in Kerala, but all we could squeeze in was the weekend. So, I just want to tell you all how it felt to go back home after more than a year...

If someone asks me where I'm from, I usually find it very hard to answer. My mom's and dad's forefathers are from various parts of Thirunelveli and Kanyakumari district. However, my dad was born in Chennai, and lived there all his life. My mom was born in Kerala  in the Idukki district, and called it home. I lived almost all of my life in Dubai, and that is the only place that finds a place in 90% of my childhood memories. So when I finally came to India and people would ask me where I'm from, I just couldn't answer. I couldn't very well say that my hometown is Dubai, because I am not a citizen, and I no longer live there. I also could not mention any of the four places I have already mentioned in this paragraph, because I was not really familiar with them.

It's only since graduating college have I started telling people that my hometown is Idukki district in Kerala, because I have family there that I love and my family home is situated there since it is where my father preferred to settle down. Also, now the place is even more special because that is where my father has been laid to rest.

So, after more than a year, I went back to this little town called Vandiperiyar in the Idukki district of Kerala. It is a beautiful, cool, green and breathtaking hill station on the Tamil Nadu-Kerala border. It takes us around 10 hours, traveling in a very badly furnished bus to get to this little paradise, but the sore back and the sleepless night in a bus is totally worth it. Allow me to show you why... (this is going to be a little long-winded so brace yourself...)

Traveling to Vandiperiyar

Taking a route through Theni, Rajapalayam, Kumbum, you reach the Kumily hills, which is a 15 minute slow and deliberate ride along a winding and precarious path that hugs the hill... On the way, you will see a deep forest with exotic trees, lots of monkeys, and beautiful streams and water falls that fill the air with the smell of a healthy and well-balanced environment. There is no place for pollution of any kind or buildings of any shape, save the two little temples at various points on the road - one for Hindus and another for Christians. 

What you see below is the rise of a grand mountain that abounds with greenery of all kinds. 

These are not the most professional shots, but then we had bright sunlight and a very shaky bus ride to deal with...

Dense forest with really old trees

Going uphill, you suddenly come across these huge pipes. At the very top is a water turbine in a power plant. Kumily houses the MullaiPeriyar dam, a great reservoir that is the primary source of most of the electricity generated in the plains below. Kumily also has the famous Thekady dam. I wish I could show you pictures, but we didn't get to go there this weekend. We will in the future, and when we do, I will show you pictures of the beautiful lake.

They don't look that large here, but they are really huge and imposing!

Along the way, you will see really old bamboo trees that stand in clusters. If you were to venture into this patch of bamboo I really doubt you would be able to get back out again without your limbs getting hopelessly tangled in this!

The road is narrow and winding, with many hairpin bends. When there is another vehicle coming in the opposite direction, usually one has to come to a complete standstill to let the other pass. Many times, large vehicles have to back up all the way to a wider part of the road to let the other vehicle pass. If you look down the side of the mountain, your head will spin from the sheer drop down!

This winding action is seen pretty much throughout the journey, all the way to my home, in fact!

Yes, we had to stop to let this bus go by...

Finally, after 15 minutes of something that resembles spinning around (a trip not for the light-headed, I must add!), we finally reach Kumily bus stand. This is the very border of Kerala and Tamil Nadu. The road we saw till now actually belongs to the Tamil Nadu jurisdiction, but the town on the hill belongs to Kerala. So, who has dibs on the mountain?! Heh! I have no idea! Anyway, Kumily bus stand is filled with the chatter of beautiful Malayalam (which I am no good at speaking, since my mother tongue is Tamil), and the whiff of banana chips fried in coconut oil, cardamom and black pepper... Kumily is a popular tourist spot and is most famous for the spices sold everywhere. You can buy the best quality of cardamom, cloves, and cinnamon. But the area is most famous for its top quality tea. I don't buy any brand of tea since I get mine from here all the time.

The bus stand bordered with shops and hotels for tourists

The KSRTC - primary transport of almost all Keralites in this part of the world!

Just look at the red blossoms on that tree!

Here, we've got to take another bus that takes us to Vandiperiyar, where we have to take another bus, and then walk up approximately 150 steps, or spare ourself the heart attack, and take an auto all the way home. On the way, all you see is large expanses of tea fields (the main source of income for most everyone here), and trees with pepper climbers entwined around them... Like this...

It was a misty morning, the day we went. It was around 8am and the sun was just beginning to rise over the horizon. The thick rolls of leave that you see on these trees are the pepper plant climbers. The trees are usually used for firewood (which obviously people need a lot of!)

Looking up into the mist, over a carpet of tea bushes

The road you see here (another winding one) will take me to a higher hill where my home is situated!

These are women on their way to work. If you stick around, you will see them donning plastic capes and carrying huge gunny sacks, trudging up tea plantation hills, to pluck tea leaves.

This is a tea bush up close, but much prettier in person, I assure you! :)

Finally, I reach this beautiful house that I call home...

Who is that little girl? I'll tell you soon...

I have a lump in my throat every time I look at my house. My dad had it built a couple of years ago, and he did it with extreme love and concern for my mother. He made sure that the house was not too high above the road, since my mother can't walk up too many steps or a very steep pathway. He made sure that clay tiles were used on the floor, because marble or ceramic tiles get cold and my mom could get achy knees from walking on them. He made sure that the master bedroom, the bathrooms and the kitchen were all constructed in the way that would be most convenient for my mom... Even though my dad planned to spend his retirement relaxing in this nice home, my mom was worried that he never put in anything that he would particularly like. Little did we know that my dad would, in fact, not get to spend his days here. 

Sorry guys, I know I am not supposed to be getting all weepy and maudlin here. But looking at my home always makes me miss my dad, and I was just sharing my feelings with you. Anyway, Vandiperiyar is a beautiful quaint town, and my home is comfy. You are all welcome to come visit our little corner of the earth when you have the time... Just let me know first ok? :D

Okay, I promise, I'll be more bearable in the next post... where I tell you about that little girl in the picture, and all the lovely precious people I spent my weekend with.

Food for the brain and feast for the eyes - Internet fodder for You

So, Internet crawling should be called a legitimate hobby, because the gems we unearth sometimes are truly priceless! I came across some things that I simply have to share with you guys. Touching, thought-provoking and down-right weird, these stories and posts are Internet gold!

50 Questions That Will Free Your Mind : This article is a list of questions, some familiar and some new, but all questions that will get you thinking. Asking you about the most important things in life, questioning the direction of your life, and the very need to slave at that job that you so hate!

Some questions that really got me thinking:

1. If life is so short, why do we do so many things we don’t like and like so many things we don’t do?

2. To what degree have you actually controlled the course your life has taken?

3. How come the things that make you happy don’t make everyone happy?

4. Do you push the elevator button more than once?  Do you really believe it makes the elevator faster?

5. Do you remember that time 5 years ago when you were extremely upset?  Does it really matter now?

6. When was the last time you noticed the sound of your own breathing?

7. If we learn from our mistakes, why are we always so afraid to make a mistake?

I can't say I have an answer, but when I'm old with lots of gray hair, and a dozen grandchildren milling around me, I hope I have a clue... :)  I do have the answer to question 6, though. It is quite evident in the sudden shortness of breath that I am now experiencing - a sure effect of trying to be aware of your breathing. Try it! The minute you become aware of your breathing, you can't breath... we homosapiens are weird, no?

Speaking of breathing, here are 7 Things You Won't Believe You're All Doing Wrong. Don't read this article if you are also eating, because apparently the first and foremost thing we have no clue how to do correctly, is orchestrate our bowel movements!! There. I have said it as euphemistically as possible without making you barf! So, after you're done with that sandwich or the slushie, gander into this link and read how we adults have no idea how to do things right! By the way, you'll soon find out that babies are ninjas when compared to us lesser mortals!

Even if you have never said a prayer in your entire life, no matter what God you pray to, or whether you believe that there is no such thing as the big Gee Oh Dee, the minute you have a child, you feel like you really need someone stronger on your side, helping you look after that infant when you can, and watching out for that rampant teenager when you can't. Even uproarious comics like Tina Fey feel the need to pray for the little person put into their care. Here is A Mother's Prayer for Her Child, by Tina Fey. Although I would definitely skip some of the church-unfriendly language when I talk to God, I think the sentiment of that prayer is my feelings exactly. The few hours I am away from Debbie are the most worry-filled hours of the day. When she went to stay at my mom's last week, I lay awake a couple of nights wondering whether she was eating well, having her bowel movements (Sigh....as you grow older or have kids, bowel movements seem to become more and more of a top priority!!), falling down too often and scraping her knee, being safe when she travels with my family...etc etc. The worry list, my friends, is endless. Fact of LIFE! This prayer, in the article, is one I could repeat everyday till I have grandkids.... Then, it's Debbie's turn.

Okay, enough with the heavy sentiments and the teary eyes! Now for some awesome Internet fodder that are totally deserving of a thousand email forwards!

Here is a story of how clever people can be! Hiding the Lockheed Plant during World War II. This is a story of how soldiers, during World War II, hid an entire geographical area (an aircraft plant) from the eyes of the enemy through an ingenious method. You won't believe what you are seeing, when you look at the pictures. I had to go back and read the article a second time to actually grasp the magic and genius of it all! Take a look.

Finally, I love pencil drawings. My brother ans sister do a mean drawing, and I have always envied their ability to create beauty with a pencil and paper. Me? I need water colors, brushes and high quality paper to create my art. I am high maintenance, I guess...sigh. Anyway, my husband is really good with a camera. He takes the most breathtaking pictures I have ever seen. His specialty is nature. Put him behind a camera lens, and I don't even think you need to feed him! Hence the clash of the high and low maintenance groups! So, when I found this article that merges pencil drawings and photography, I was enamored. This is some really clever stuff - Incredibly Creative Pencil Drawings vs. Photography. Enjoy!

These links are courtesy Stumbleupon - another really clever thingy on the WWW!

Of Homemade Music Videos and Home-cooked Food

It's vacation time right now, and where I usually would be sitting at my computer, trying to get a view of the monitor through my daughter's flailing arms, and trying to coax my thoughts to surface above the din of Debbie's voice and her noisy toys, I sit here right now in utter peace and quiet, with no one switching off the computer mid-post, no buzzing voice in my ears, and no baby fingers trying to get at the keyboard... Just me, my thoughts, and you readers.... and I HATE IT! No. Sorry. I didn't mean you, my readers! I love you guys! I meant sitting at home alone, without Debbie, just me and this empty house...sigh...

Debbie's gone to her grandma's (my mom) for a week...wait, actually it is now been more than a week. She is having the time of my life (I mean Debbie, not my mom! God only knows how my mom is handling it there, because along with Debbie are 6 other boisterous cousins filling the house, and toppling down God knows how many flower pots! Enjoy mommy...hhehe!). So anyway, Debbie gets to play with all those kids ranging between the age of 6 to 16. And they are not even her cousins...their mine!! That's what happens when your grandmother is  your grandfather's second wife, and is just around 6 years older than your mother...and she (your grandmother) had 8 kids! I think they took the whole "the more the merrier" thing too seriously! Whew!

Anywho, Debbie is playing with kids ranging from 6 to 16 years old, who are all her aunts and uncles!! And she has not missed me yet... :( That doesn't mean I can't miss her... I do, I do... I miss her sooo much...

I miss this little girl...

and her lovely smile...

and her crazy-awesome singing...

Boohooo! I want my babyyyy!

*sniff* *wiping eyes, blowing nose*...

And in a funny tangent way, I want my mommy.... and her food...
Actually I've been feeling that for quite a while, so I wrote something for her...

Mom, this is for you... (pssst, can you please consider this as your advanced birthday present? Kidding. Totally getting you a real present on your birthday... :D)

----------------------------
Street food...

"... Is unhygienic, uncovered, and unappetizing",
Said mother, piling a mountain of rice
Onto my plate already sagging
Under the weight of healthily boring home-cooked food.
Grumbling, sniffing, dipping fingers in gingerly
I question...
"Why can't I have a snack instead?"

Crisp samosas are the best.
Waiting near the familiar heat of food
Sizzling in hot oil,
Eying the one that you will choose
If you had a choice,
Peering into the cart
At sauces and spices,
I make a mental note -
'Remember to ask for
The sweet and sour sauce.'

Jaws clench at the tangy thought
Of salted gooseberries
That bring back memories of
Dead-broke college days,
When a rupee earned you a bag of those sour gems
That set the saliva flowing 10 years later!

Corn on the cob
Luscious, spicy and crunchy
Satisfy the sharp hunger that comes
From trudging up the lanes
Of little towns on hill stations
In search of the perfect bargain
On a thick woolen sweater.

Ice cream in a park -
Dripping water and icicles that take the place
Of real cream and flavor,
Cold chunks breaking off
Onto tongues,
Causing brain-freeze
And the rush of guilty pleasures
That mother would scorn at.

Vadais are good too.
Crisp exterior giving way
To warm dough and stray chilli bits,
The accompaniments as beckoning and cozy
As the kitchen at home...

The kitchen. Where mother
Would always have food on the table,
A soothing word
A listening ear
A tearing eye
A smiling face
For me, the wayward child,
Who ate too much street food...

The Men in Blue Bring It Home!

YAAAAAAAY! India won the Cricket World Cup after more than 20 years. I am truly happy! It was a wonderful moment, when every Indian on the planet felt one with their Indian counterparts, regardless of the religion, state, caste or social status they belonged to!

Let me stop the gushing to tell you that you would never have heard me rave about cricket ever before on my blog, and, I solemnly promise you that you will never again hear another word about cricket in the future! I am no cricket fan...when it's IPL time, I flee a mile away from the general vicinity of the television and my cricket-maniac husband. I still hold on to those ideals. As a matter of principle, I never watch cricket, because here I am slaving over a desk all day, and coming home and slaving over a stove, and some boy-man hitting a ball around gets paid a gazillion times more than me!! I take exception to that. And what do we get sitting in front of a television watching said boy-men romping around? NOTHING! Those are just my views, and you are free to disagree - in fact, please do disagree. That's what a free country is all about. Anyway, point is, I "dislike" cricket, to put it ever so lightly.

BUT, c'mon winning the WORLD CUP is a whole new deal altogether!! I actually invested a good 3-4 hours of my weekend on Saturday night, sitting and watching the latter half of the match. All because I truly began to admire the grit and determination of our boys out there on the field. I have developed a sense of deep respect for MS Dhoni, captain of the Indian cricket team. The way he carried himself throughout the game was simply awe-inspiring. Even after he hit the winning sixer, his obvious happiness was so understated and so balanced that you had to admire his maturity and his ability to keep his head, no matter how low the 'downs' or high the 'ups'! He let Sachin take center stage during the celebrations and he walked a good two-paces behind, just enjoying watching his team mates celebrate. The whole country is cheering for this man who has led the Indian cricket team to so many victories in such a short time. I think he is truly an inspiration to the youth of our nation!

And then there was the game itself. Though I wasn't exactly gnawing my way through my nails in anticipation, it was an exciting game, all said and done! The moment when Sachin got out was a real shock. Even the celebrities in the stadium lost their photogenic smiles when Sachin walked off the pitch. I think that was the one time I saw Rajnikanth actually look defeated!! :) I also felt really sorry for Gautam Gambhir, after he failed to hit a century. The look on his face when he walked back the stands, was nothing short of heart-breaking... :(

But the fact that Dhoni and Yuvraj were able to bring the team back to pace, and win the game for us was really thrilling! At the end of the game, when Dhoni hit that fabulous sixer, my husband had just one thing to say, "Now Sachin can retire in peace!" And I had to agree. It was so moving, how the entire team was playing for just one man! One man who had inspired them, made India the force to reckon with in cricket, and took so many risks for his team! What Virat Kohli said about Sachin was amazing! After he had walked around the whole ground carrying Sachin on his shoulders, he was asked why he had done that. His response: "Sachin has carried the burden of the country on his shoulders for 28 years. So, I don't mind carrying him on my shoulders!" Awwww! that is so adorable! :)

So, there it is - India won the CRICKET WORLD CUP! I think we will be riding this wave for a long, long, long time! And hey, I don't even feel furious that these guys are getting a crore each!But, it stops there. IPL is next week, and you won't hear a word about it from me..NO SIR!

The Boys in Blue lift the Cricket World Cup!!

Check out Sreesanth's expression! :D

The Indian skipper reaching out for his keep-sake stump from the winning match

The great Sachin deserved the parade on the shoulders of his teammates

Awww! Isn't this adorable?!

Love Walked In - Marisa de los Santos

There are many different reasons why we like a book. Sometimes, it's because the story is so gripping. Sometimes, it's because the author is our favorite and we just like his/her style, sometimes we love a book because one of the characters reminds us of someone we know (sometimes even ourselves), or we love a book because we wish we had that sort of romance/thrill/happy ending in our lives. But sometimes...sometimes... we love a book because it is pure poetry. As cliche as that sounds, I am saying it from the depth of my book-loving soul!

It is not so much as the story itself, or the plot that carries the beauty. Instead, the beauty lies in the place that it should - the words, the diction, the thoughts, the expression, and the heart of the writer. I experienced this poetry in Paulo Coelho's The Alchemist. Pure poetry! I also remember feeling the same sense of upliftment, of being taken to a different plane when I read Tennessee Williams' "The Glass Menagerie". And now, I felt the same beauty flowering inside of me when I read Love Walked In by Marisa de los Santos. 

The way the book starts - the very first line that the author decided to write on the very first empty page - is itself breathtaking: "My life - my real life - started when a man walked into it, a handsome stranger in a perfectly cut suit, and, yes, I know how that sounds."

And YES, I know how this sounds! You're going to say, "Pfft! there she goes again! Raving about some soppy romance novel!" But my dear friend, that's where you are terrible mistaken. This is not a soppy romance. Yes it is a romance, but there is a beauty in there that appeals to every woman. The beauty of love and motherhood, and the pain of having a beloved child plucked out of your hands and handed over to someone else, the reassuring warmth of family, and the wonder of life itself.

The plot is actually quite simple. Cornelia Brown (a most unlikely pairing of first and last name, if there ever was one), the manager of Cafe Dora, a little warm coffee house in Philadelphia, has a good, strong college education but prefers to work in a restaurant. She is a die-hard romantic and believes that every girl's life should be like The Philadelphia Story, where she finds the right dashing, tall-dark-handsome, smooth and suave man for a soul mate! And she truly believes it will happen to her!! (Yes, double exclamation marks right there, because, seriously, who is she kidding?! That stuff doesn't happen in real life. In fact, it doesn't even happen in reel life nowadays - anybody watch Knocked Up??)

But find him she does, and his name is Martin. She is head over heels in love with this man who can do no wrong, who will listen calmly to her without saying a word, and who will take her on the most starlit romantic dates. Suddenly, one day, Cornelia's world is turned upside down when a little 11 year old girl walks into the coffee house with Martin, and he introduces her as Clare, his daughter....


The book consists of two stories told alternately, from the point of view of the central characters  - Clare and Cornelia. Finally, their lives dovetail, Clare finds the family she longs for, and Cornelia finds the love of her life. As usual, I am not going to give you anything more on the plot. It is actually quite simple, and comes to the most logical conclusions.


However, there is a huge advantage in the plot being so forehead-slapping simple. Instead of filling the book with twisted plots, the author uses her space to flesh out the characters, to create a clear picture of each scene, each interaction, each incident, and each reaction of each character. She does this so well that at we easily begin to think like the characters in any given situation in the plot! It's like listening to your best friend talk about her life - you listen with involvement, have an opinion about everything, advice your friend on the next move, and are dying to know what happened next.


Read this book to see how a modern novel should be written. Hope love walks in for you too....sigh! That is so soppy and cliche but what the heck...

The Ultimate Blog Party 2011 - Join the Fun!

This is my linky post that is going to be my ticket to the Ultimate Blog Party 2011, only THE MOST sought after online blog party for mom-bloggers like me, and probably you! :)  The party is hosted by 5 Minutes for Mom.com, a really great blog written by twin mommies (how cool is that?!) Janice and Susan. Check out this post to know more about the Ultimate Blog Party 2011, and how to enter. If you headed here from the party itself, allow me to introduce myself and my blog very briefly. I am Jane Hamilton, and I have been blogging for the past 3 years. In my blog here, "Ad Libitum", I talk about anything that interests me, including cooking, a great trip I had, a soppy romantic movie I saw, or my opinion on stuff. Nothing earth shattering, but I just like to put my two-pence out there! Also, I do what mommies love doing the most - talk about my child. My 4-yr-old girl, Debbie, is the joy of my life, and here I talk about her little skirmishes, her toys, her favorite food, and generally how she makes sure I never have to suffer from dull moments in my life. And of course, I talk about my beloved husband, the man of my dreams, my knight in shining armor, and the reason for my deep-seated hatred for watching any sport on TV!

I am neither a prolific writer, nor a regular one. I hold down a 9-6, and though it is no excuse for not posting often enough, my lazy self somehow lets it be. When I do write, I spill my heart out!

So, welcome to Ad Libitum, where, really, things are quite adlib. Hope you enjoy your stay.

If you are one of my readers, what are you doing reading this? You already know boring old me...HURRY and join me at the Ultimate Blog Party!! Go ahead and add your blog to the linky and meet more awesome bloggers like you! I'm going to do just that right now!

Watching Real Television for the First Time EVER!

Did you have one of those childhoods that has been deprived of the most basic things that every other family on the planet seemed to have in plenty? Like ice cream, or play time, or best friends, or, like in my case, television?? Yes, I was television deprived in my childhood. I think it has had an adverse effect on me, and it affects the way I function as an adult. 

You see, when we were kids, my parents were very skeptical as to how the "idiot box" could damage their offsprings. So, they never let us watch television. When they did, it was some stupid cartoon that, I personally think, had a far worse rotting effect on the brain than something a little more real! And for the most part of my life, I watched Arabic TV programs! I totally (and only) got Arab humor, I did not understand anything that wasn't said with Arab body language or an Arabic accent, and I was actually riveted  with Arabic TV serials. In Fujairah, in the 1980s and '90s, that is all was available on TV. If you wanted to watch anything in English, you had to wait till Thursday night, when they played some English movies that were either as old as the hills, or as unfunny as Clint Eastwood! It made the wait till midnight on Thursday totally worthless. I think if my parents had just gone and booked the damn cable, we would have gotten our fix and moved on. Instead, they were busy "growing us up in the right way", and we were the most TV-deprived kids in the country! 

What was the result? When we saw cable TV in someone's house, we went CRAAAAAZZZZYYY! I think anyone who has ever come within close quarters of my siblings and I will say that when the TV is on, we are dead to the world! You could detonate a bomb beside me, and I wouldn't notice if I was watching 'Remington Steele'!! That was because I rarely saw people talking in English and being dashing, let alone Pierce Brosnan being awesome! 

I knew all the trivia, gossip, reviews, and the finer points of Hollywood shows and movies, and I knew the names of all the actors, and who they were dating at any point of time. And yet, I never really got to watch a proper English movie until I was in middle school!! My parents were creeped out when I spoke at length about some actor or movie, knowing that I could never have gotten to watch that movie or have known about that actor!! My dad used to let us watch movies like 'George of the Jungle', 'Jurassic Park', and 'Baby's Day Out' when our family friends (read boring adult friends of my parents) bought the CD or DVD. Kindly note that I saw these movies when I was in high school! And that was all we were allowed to see. One movie we could watch as many times as we wanted was 'The Sound of Music'. So, I keep saying to people that I have seen the movie more times than I can remember, and you'd think it's because I was a big fan, but now you know the real reason why? Heck, it was the ONLY thing we were allowed to watch!!! I remember my dad saying that he did not want us to watch 'Anaconda' because the snakes were too huge and scary!! Wha???

My TV-deprived childhood and teenage years turned to LIFE-Deprived college years, where I spent 3 years in a hostel, where the only thing we got to see was "Ozhiyum Oliyum" every Friday at 7pm. Tamilians, you know what I'm talking about. It's a show where they played Tamil movie songs with the grating violin music and the over-dressed heroines doing demented dance moves, and the heroes accompanying them with robotic movements. I watched even these shows, simply because I liked to see the light on the television!! You know, my mom used to say this about me: This girl will watch the television, even if there is only a white light on it!! And I have been known to stare at TV static for almost an hour, hoping against hope that the picture will resume! Ahem... Anyway, my parents are good, exemplary, salt-of-the-earth types, and I LOVE them, but the truth remains that they wouldn't let me watch TV. Till now, TV remains a weakness, a fatal flaw, and an obsession for me, my sister and my brother! Go shrink that!

So, time went on, and wherever I went, bad TV haunted me. Finally I landed in Nagercoil, where we had cable TV, and boy was I happy!! Little did I know that "cable TV" in Nagercoil meant 30 local channels that had the same death-inducing crappy programs hosted by the same nasal host with the cheesy clothes, the heavy make-up and the stiff body language, who played the same crappy old Tamil songs that even the actors in the songs wouldn't be proud of!! Some of the remaining channels contained local Christian programs that featured the very same people you saw in church every Sunday and then in every grocery store during the weekend! GAAAH! Finally you had BBC, CNN, StarMovies, HBO, and Star Sports in their grainiest, most teeth-chattering, nail-scraping-on-blackboard glory! So, wheee! I was happy....NOT!

This month, my life changed into this glorious aria to television, when we got DTH at home! Yaaaay! The clear-screen-high-definition heavens sang songs of joy in surround theater clarity!! And I. Was. Home. 

So, here I was, sitting on the couch, basking in the glory of watching one channel on a small box in the corner, and also being able to scroll down 100 and more channels, not being able to decide on whether I should watch that awesome reality show on one channel or this classic Oscar-winning movie on this channel, when.........

...... my husband comes in, grabs the TV remote from my hand, activates all the sports channels, and sits down to watch the IPL.

Cue: hair-tearing and gut-wrenching screams!

Commitment Issues and an Evening Class

I have loyalty issues - with books. You know, that urge to ditch a book few chapters in, and run to another one, simply because the blurb on that one is too darn attractive? Yes, I think if we had psychiatrists for bibliomaniacs, they would say this was a serious ailment... Commitment issues.

I went to Chennai last month, and where people come home with loads of clothes, fashion jewellery, jeans, and more normal stuff, my family went to Chennai and came home with a cartload of books. Now, give me a "whoop" if you get what I'm talking about! Some people out there might think it would have been more clever to buy something more worthwhile, valuable, shiny... I did try, you know. I went into Spencer's in Chennai, and I DID oggle at the purses, the jewellery, the food, and the clothes (especially the Kurtis and the jeans). But then I walked into the books section, and my mind went blank. I forgot about all the awesome things I saw back there, and gave up.

So, now I have more than 5 books sitting on my shelf, and I can't decide what to read. I also borrowed two books from The American library (located inside the American Embassy compound), and I have literally picked at one chapter each, still unable to decide what I should settle down with.

What did I do finally? I decided to clear the air (and my head) with Maeve Binchy. So, I read     Evening Class. It's a lovely book.

This was the first time I read Maeve Binchy - thanks Nameeta and Karen for introducing me to this lovely writer and for feeding my obsession!

So, anyway, Evening Class. The story is about how an Irish lady teaches Italian to a very diverse group of people. She runs the class along with a teacher who works in the school on whose grounds the evening classes are held. The class has around 30 students, and the entire novel tells the story of each one of these students and how they came about attending an Italian class.

So, if you're thinking, "Whups, that's a hell of a lotta characters," then you couldn't be more right! It starts with the story of Aidan, a teacher who has been waiting for the post of School Headmaster all his life, and the love affair between his 20-something daughter and the 40-yr-old teacher who actually gets the headmaster job... Oooh Harsh!

Aidan meets Signora, an Irish lady who followed her Italian lover to his hometown and settled across the street from him, and watched as he married an Italian girl his family chose for him, and had babies, started his own restaurant, and eventually died. During all of this, she keeps their love affair a secret, and finally returns to Ireland when the widow of her lover requests her to please leave the country and his memory to the grieving family. At this point, Signora also finds out that the family knew all along about the affair that had been, but had also decently refused to make an issue out of it. Poignant!

The story of Signora is really what laces the entire novel together, as she comes in contact with each character, advising here, helping there, appreciating one, learning from another, until all of them take home something beautiful and valuable from her Italian lessons and her personality.

Having said that, just you try keeping track of all the Irish names, the stories, and the back stories, and the what-not!! I really became confused at times, when two characters had similar personality traits, spoke in a similar way, or had criss-crossing story-lines.

In the end, though, it is a lovely book that you should read on a sunny Sunday afternoon, curled up on your couch, or you can read it in between watching MasterChef (like I did), or read a few pages every night, and go to sleep knowing that everything will be okay, which is my favorite way of reading a book! (So different from the sheer terror that you take to bed with you, if you read Harlan Coben! But that's a story for another post.)

I read the book, and isn't it a nice coincidence that a second book by Maeve Binchy, which another friend gave me (Thanks DazzlingRay!) was like a tangent story of Evening Class? The main characters of Quentin's are minor characters in Evening Class. So, it makes me feel happy that I know what EVERYONE is doing... :P

Anyway, I'll be back with a review of Quentin's as soon as I'm done.

Thanks for sticking around. Love ya!

Tell Me About Yourself, Please?

It's a random day today ('random' since The Big V-Day was a week ago, and if I wanted to make a comeback, I really should have done it then and yet I chose today...) and I am ashamed, and am mentally crawling with my tail between my legs right now, because I have not blogged for so long. The last entry was a lame one on my Wordpress blog status update in January. Why I felt driven to put that up is anybody's guess. It makes me cringe....like, major hiney-cringe, when I look at it, but I am leaving it up there anyways, because you're my friend, and whether you like me the way I am or not, I am not going to pretend to you, this far in our relationship...," thus she spoke into total emptiness, without stopping to wonder who was listening.

Ahem...anyway, so, instead of talking about me I want you to tell me things about yourself, since I love you all, my dear second-chance-giving readers. I have a few questions for you, and I hope you will answer them in the comments section. So, here goes:

1. What do you like most about being around friends?

2. what is your favorite drink?

3. What is your idea of fun?

4. What book are you reading now?

5. Who is your favorite actor/actress?

6. What is your favorite movie of all time?

7. What time is it?

8. If you could change something about yourself, what would that be?

9. Are you in love?

10. Are you able to love peope with all your heart, mind and soul? (corny, I know, but answer it anyway, won't you?)

11. How can you describe the worst feeling that you have ever experienced? (heart break, cramps, you can talk about anything here, as long as you don't mind doing so...)

12. What is the first thing that crosses your mind when you wake up in the morning?

13. How many times do you wait for your phone to ring before you pick it up?

14. What is your favorite smell/flavor?

15. Do you cook? How much do you like your cooking?

16. What is your idea of partying?

17. You will grow up some day, won't you?

18. When you grow up (whenever that will be), what would you like to be?

Right, now that you're going to tell me all your dark secrets, we're going to be BFFs. Yaaaay!

Note: These questions are taken from SampleQuestionnaire.com. I think it's okay to borrow from them, coz I think that's what they intended. Anyway, feel free to use these questions on your own blogs, if you want. Have fun!

Wordpress sent me this... Hey Wordpress Admin? You guys could have been this nice when I was on Wordpress. Anyway... good to know... Happy New Year!

Team WordPress.com + Stats Helper Monkeys January 2nd, 2011, 07:22am

Your 2010 year in blogging

Happy New Year from WordPress.com! To kick off the year, we'd like to share with you data on how your blog has been doing. Here's a high level summary of your overall blog health:

Wow

Blog-Health-o-Meter™

We think you did great!

Crunchy numbers

A Boeing 747-400 passenger jet can hold 416 passengers. This blog was viewed about 3,700 times in 2010. That's about 9 full 747s.
In 2010, you wrote 26 new posts, growing the total archive of this blog to 53 posts. You uploaded 70 pictures, taking up a total of 70mb. That's about 1 pictures per week.
Your busiest day of the year was May 9th with 478 views. The most popular post that day was Growing Pains on Mother’s Day.

Where did they come from?

The top referring sites in 2010 were twitter.com, facebook.com, mail.redegginfoexpert.com, janehamilton.blogspot.com, and lovejoneslane.com.
Some visitors came searching, mostly for mother's day clip art, happy mothers day, happy mother's day, mothers day clip art, and happy mother's day clip art.

Attractions in 2010

These are the posts and pages that got the most views in 2010. You can see all of the year's most-viewed posts and pages in your Site Stats.

1

Growing Pains on Mother’s DayMay 2009

2

About the Blogger

3

Top 10 Movies that Left Me Speechless!May 2010
2 comments

4

"Baby Einstein Made My Child Dumb"! Yeah, Right!October 2009

5

About the Blog
4 comments

Some of your most popular posts were written before 2010. Your writing has staying power! Consider writing about those topics again.