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.

Inspirational Stories Series - People Who Make a Difference

I was really bad at history, so I have no idea what Aurangzeb did, or whom Subhash Chandra Bose  fought. Heck! To this day, I can't accurately say who really built the Taj Mahal (it's a tie between Shah Jahan and Jehangir! I know. Shameful.), but I do know it was built for love! I'm basically not one to follow the lives of powerful, inspirational people from the annals of history. And so, when you ask me, "Who's your role model?" don't expect me to say any names you may recognize.... That's why I felt this little inspirational passage holds a lot of truth. Read on!

Take this quiz:

1. Name the five wealthiest people in the world.

2. Name the last five Heisman trophy winners.

3. Name the last five winners of the Miss America contest.

4. Name ten people who have won the Nobel or Pulitzer Prize.

5. Name the last half dozen Academy Award winners for best actor actress.

6. Name the last decade's worth of World Series winners.

How did you do?

The point is, none of us remember the headliners of yesterday. These are no second-rate achievers. They are the best in their fields. But the applause dies. Awards tarnish. Achievements are forgotten. Accolades and certificates are buried with their owners.

Here's another quiz. See how you do on this one:

1. List a few teachers who aided your journey through school.

2. Name three friends who have helped you through a difficult time.

3. Name five people who have taught you something worthwhile.

4. Think of a few people who have made you feel, appreciated and special.

5. Think of five people you enjoy spending time with.

6. Name half a dozen heroes whose stories have inspired you. Easier?

The lesson: The people who make a difference in your life are not the ones with the most credentials, the most money, or the most awards. They are the ones that care. Pass this on to those people who have made a difference in your life.

Now, let me tell you, that if you were to ask me who my role model is, you might just be surprised to know - it could be You!

Inspirational Tales Series - The Parable of the Pencil

This parable of a pencil is so simple, yet it carries so much truth in it. When my husband first shared this story with me (he was preparing for a motivational talk for his students) I was stunned by the simplicity and poignancy of this little parable... Hope you find this as enlightening as I did...

The Pencil maker took the pencil aside, just before putting him into the box. "There are 5 things you need to know," he told the pencil, "before I send you out into the world. Always remember them and never forget, and you will become the best pencil you can be.

One: You will be able to do many great things, but only if you allow yourself to be held in Someone's hand.

Two: You will experience a painful sharpening from time to time, but you'll need it to become a better pencil."

Three: You will be able to correct any mistakes you might make."

Four: The most important part of you will always be what's inside."

And Five: On every surface you are used on, you must leave your mark. No matter what the condition, you must continue to write."

The pencil understood and promised to remember, and went into the box with purpose in its heart.

Now replace the place of the pencil with you. Always remember them and never forget, and you will become the best person you can be.

One: You will be able to do many great things, but only if you allow yourself to be held in God's hand. And allow other human beings to access you for the many gifts you possess.

Two: You will experience a painful sharpening from time to time, by going through various problems in life, but you'll need it to become a stronger person.

Three: You will be able to correct any mistakes you might make.

Four: The most important part of you will always be what's on the inside.

And Five: On every surface you walk through, you must leave your mark. No matter what the situation, you must continue to do your duties.

- Author Unknown -

Inspirational Tales Series - Don't We All?

Hope you liked the first story I posted in this series. Here is the second one:

I was parked in front of the mall wiping off my car. I had just come from the car wash and was waiting for my wife to get out of work. Coming my way across the parking lot was what society would consider a bum (homeless or poor man). From the looks of him, he had no car, no home, no clean clothes, and no money. There are times when you feel generous but there are other times that you just don't want to be bothered. This was one of those "don't want to be bothered times." "I hope he doesn't ask me for any money," I thought. He didn't.

He came and sat on the curb in front of the bus stop but he didn't look like he could have enough money to even ride the bus. After a few minutes he spoke. "That's a very pretty car," he said. He was ragged but he had an air of dignity around him. His scraggly blond beard kept more than his face warm. I said, "Thanks," and continued wiping off my car.

He sat there quietly as I worked. The expected plea for money never came. As the silence between us widened, something inside said, "ask him if he needs any help." I was sure that he would say 'yes', but I held true to my inner voice. "Do you need any help?" I asked.

He answered in three simple but profound words that I shall never forget. We often look for wisdom in great men and women. We expect it from those of higher learning and accomplishments. I expected nothing but an outstretched grimy hand. He spoke the three words that shook me.

"Don't we all?" he said.

I was feeling high and mighty, successful and important, above a bum in the street, until those three words hit me like a twelve gauge shotgun. Don't we all? I needed help. Maybe not for the bus fare or a place to sleep, but I need help. I reached in my wallet and gave him not only enough for bus fare, but enough to get a warm meal and shelter for the day. Those three little words still ring true. No matter how much you have, no matter how much you have accomplished, you need help too. No matter how little you have, no matter how loaded you are with problems, even without money or a place to sleep, you can give help.

Even if it's just a compliment, you can give that. You never know when you may see someone that appears to have it all. They are waiting on you to give them what they don't have. A different perspective on life, a glimpse at something beautiful, a respite from daily chaos, that only you through a torn world can see.

Maybe the man was just a homeless stranger wandering the streets. Maybe he was more than that. Maybe he was sent by a power that is great and wise, to minister to a soul too comfortable in themselves.

Maybe God looked down, called an Angel, dressed him like a bum, then said, "Go minister to that man cleaning the car, that man needs help." Don't we all?

- Author Unknown -