An ode...

I am not new to this game, consider me a novice by no means.

I have done my share, mind you. I have used the likes of you! some much better than you. Deserted them all and never looked back when I had to move on. I never felt any regret, nor did I sense any guilt or remorse. Not even once did I feel compelled to linger, to come back, to surrender, to feel addicted. But with you..

The smile I have when I think of you.. is not exactly new, I admit. but I am surprised that it has not changed even after the novelty has worn off. On the contrary, I feel your need more and more and I do not want to think of those days when I cannot kiss you anymore. In simple words, I need you.

You have changed my habits, my whole day.. in a way, my life.

Addiction is not a good thing, I know. but thats what I have for you - All beans, no chicory, freshly ground.. oh my cup of coffee now that I know you, have you, I dont ever wanna let you go.

Nay..not dead

Alive kicking and married. Thats the current status, and will be, If i dont choke on OR get poisoned by my very own self-cooked curries. But you see, thats not likely to happen. I now have my very own personal lab mouse at home for such experiments. Yes, yes, he is insured. No, his mom does not read my blogs. Soo... 'alive' it is for now

Logistically speaking, yours truly has been moved from Chennai to singapoor. Hold the joy, let it not overwhelm you. I am only 4 hours away by tiger airways! If you are at all interested, what has actually happened to me is, they wiped away all the lively things and then put signboards in all 18 directions and lo its the same city! same weather. not enough dust though.

Anyway, as I was saying, now I eat with chopsticks and believe I had a chinese forefather somewhere in the family tree back in one of the early centuries. He must have had terrible sense of direction (which i inherited) to have landed up in Kerala which of course faces away from China!

And as long as I am in the orient part of the world, no strings of jasmine flowers in my hair (in the miraculous event of atleast 3 strands of my hair growing to a length of more than 5 centimeters), over to orchid strings.

Like the true deserter, I will soon be over-writing all the chennai blogs with wannabe firangi BS. And like the true new bride, i will soon have blogs on my version of pudina chutney and how it saved mankind from world war 3.

Other than that, its business as usual folks! And for dinner we have sambar noodles. and jal jeera. Anyone?

Nagala

Yes, the sun rises in Chennai. But on that day, I did wonder how many of us would miss it if it did not turn up one morning... Granted, we will miss the light, but who will miss the beauty?

That was just the start of the day. Seen above is the sunrise among koyambedu traffic. But, it was a different sunset for me that day. It felt nice to be there to witness the beauty away from the blaring horns and the dust and smoke.

Good people, Nagalapuram waits, for those who care to explore, roughly 2 hours north of chennai.

Images en route.

First view
Fruits of labour

Fringe benefits ;) - the fishes give me a free pedicure in crystal clear waters

Closing ceremony

A day of pebble paths, unforgiving rocks, cuts and bruises, photography, nature, like minded company, pure air, pristine water and a shy sunset. I rate it first class! :)

The pleasure of nonsense. We are loving it

Temporary brain coma made enjoyable by our Thalaivar.

Rajnikanth starrer Endhiran (the robot) released last friday to unprecedented ticket buy-outs and the usual craziness that is attached to any Rajni release. We all can send zillion jokes about Rajni, but the undeniable truth is that he gives real meaning to the phrase 'larger than life'.

This most expensive project of Indian movie industry had made more than what was spent in its making before it saw the first weekend out. Still going strong, it will probably be the best money maker that tamil/hindi cinema has ever seen.

Getting tickets to watch the spectacle.

Come on brains, lets play dead, it will be fun :D

It must be love...

What other sensible explanation is there?

In all my years of living in this city, I have never experienced this kind of weather. the last time we had a real hot day was in the month of May. Ever since then we have not had two weeks in a row without rains or thunder or at least the drizzles and the clouds.

In fact, maximum days, there were just the light showers - the best kind of rain. Of course, there were also many days when it lashed out all the water that the sky could possibly have collected!

Here is the other thing, the confusing days. The day starts bright and then clouds up and then comes the rain, the night brings lightning. And the days that start all drippy and rainy sometimes brings up the sun soon after! Should we carry our raincoats or dab on the sunscreen? Turns out, the raincoat has had the maximum wins.

Whatever happened to hot-hotter-hottest (the most over-used weather phrase when it comes to describing Chennai). What about those good ol sweltering days with no respite from the sun?

What is really happening to my city? Is Chennai in love? Why else will it have so many drizzles and so many mood swings?

Whatever it is, it is a nice feeling :) I do hope this lasts. (notwithstanding the damage this love affair does to our roads)

The quest tales

People of Chennai! My dear brethren!
As I stand here in front of you, I have only one thing to ask of you.

I have to make a choice, and I need your help. I cannot do this just by myself, armed with so little. In this dark hour of need, all I ask for is, your advice

Show your generosity to mankind and leave your comments.

Where in Chennai in your opinion, do you find the best biryani?

I have a small list. Buhari. Samco. Coronet. Where else? where else??
I hope you see the urgency of this matter. Please, leave a comment and let me know.

A small army is waiting for adventure. Kindly...do not deprive us of what we deserve. btw, u r welcome to join the quest too.

"At one point in life you either have the thing you want or the reasons why you dont"

T shirt quote in Chennai Times today :)