People and their funny beliefs

From CNN 10/25/11

When his pancreatic neuroendocrine tumor was first discovered in October 2003, doctors said he was lucky that it had been detected so early, and it could be removed before definitely spreading. But, in Jobs' own words, "I really didn't want them to open up my body, so I tried to see if a few other things would work." Those "other things" included a strict vegan diet, acupuncture, herbal remedies, and other alternative techniques – even consulting a psychic.

My thoughts 10/25/11

Reading this, I have to wonder that common sense is not common afterall. Steve Jobs, a supposedly intelligent guy, who could have maybe lived a few more years since he was getting the state of art medical treatment but believed herbal remedies and psychic could cure him- Wow! There are many such people around us with a lot of superstitous and utterly nonsensical beliefs. One of my friends recently told me that more than an illiterate believing in god-men or miracles or following a cult, its the educated who get even more passionate about it and difficult to convince otherwise. The above paragraph proves that even more. And we still live in a society where its taboo to voice your opinion lest follow your heart and be judged more. I am and will remain a rationalist.

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Deepavali!!!!

Past Forward:
Deepavali reminds me of Bhigili vedi (The loose single ones that go with a pop sound). I would have a competition mainly with the neighbouring boys and would actually run out of packets and would take a hike to the fireworks vendor to get more. Of Course, the boys would do fancy tricks like throwing this from their hand or even the mouth. My mom was a big fan of atom bomb and unlike other women who would never venture onto the roads to light up a bomb, she would be the ONE. My father would stick to the boos vanams (flower pots). Ironically, one of it decided to become an atom bomb and burnt his thumb - He still has a mark from it. So, its not the brave ones that got hurt but the opposite. Then we had the really yucky snake which would totally mess up the parapet walls. Me in my pattu pavadai running around with my sparklers is a still fresh in my mind. Anyway, deepavali was the natural mosquito killer in chennai so we would light up our crackers with great gusto. One thing I don't miss is the deepavali marundu(medicine that is made from ginger,sooku etc) that my mom compulsorily makes me eat - Since I am an adult and I get to decide what I cook - No marundu for us, what fun!

This Deepavali:
It truly delighted me that the kids are finally realizing what fun it is to light crackers. Till the last time, I had to prod them and say it was fun while Arya would look at me in a weird way and go: Is this safe? I am scared. Vik was of course too young. This time, Arya lighted all his fireworks and got mad if his daddy helped him light his - He wanted to do it all by himself. Vik wanted more of the sparklers. Byers station(The community we live in) is home away from home - We had so much fun celebrating diwali with our neighbours and did everything we possibly could - Fireworks,hot chai with gossips, Eating a sumptuous diwali dinner complete with ladoos,video conferencing to India.

Ladies Night thingy

From the days of yore women have been known to get excited for small things.
This is one such thingy - Ladies Night out!!!! The excitement was that we could leave our husband to look after the kids while we spend the night chatting ironically about the husband and kids. So, a bunch of ladies in our community got together one night in a house that was husband free (The poor husband was sent away to school to do his MBA). The host decided to set the dress code to be PJ'S - Of course, everyone showed up with PJ'S with heavy make-up on them ;-). Food and ladies go together like beer and men so that was not a problem - Bhel, Puffs, dessert etc provided the SKC*. Of course the C here is the margarita. Here is a gyst of conversation surrounding the margarita.
Lady 1: C'mon yaar - This is almost like lemonade - Try it. Nothing will happen.
Lady 2: What if I faint?
Lady 3: I would like to try it (although I come from a good family....this line is understood by all) but I need my husband near me.

Rrring Rrring. The lady in question picks up the phone - She beams at us because we all think its kind of cool that her husband is checking on her in the 1/2 hr that she's spent here.

Some random conversations we had...

How we(all the pairs) fell in love (Background exclamations that this is so bollywoody)

Courtship period and life after kids with in-between discussion on what lunch to pack for the kids.

Movies with discussions on hush-hush.

Thankfully we also had David Letterman scandal - So we had one more other husband's head to break!!!!!

All's well and that ends well - So, I had a great time!!!


SKC- A slang used in Madras for sweet karam coffee!!!!

General happenings...

Arya always corrects me when I mention he is 5 1/2 - He would go I am 5 3/4.
Thankfully he turned 6 - Now I can be politically correct.

Endru oru thagaval guy passed away - He was a big part in my childhood when we used to listen to him in the mornings as my mother used to oil my hair and do braids before going to school. The program was just 5 minutes but he had a nice way of telling a humorous story along with a message. There are not many like him and the goofballs who think they are doing stand-up comedy in SUNTV can learn a thing or two from his show. RIP.

Vikram pee..ed in the potty - YEAH,ITS A BIG DEAL TO ME.

Shyam acted surprised in his birthday party (After Arya told him not to go down the basement on his birthday)...so that was nice.

Went to good old Binghamton and met Dr.Hari along with the family - I was thrilled. Me and the husband went around visiting old places and reliving our memories which included a graveyard and $1.50 theatre. Met Pat Wrobel too - that was nice!

Belated Madras Day!!!

Person 1: Nee Madrasla porantha ennatha kizhacha?

Person 2: Aya, over..aa pannikira - Madras bashaiya puchu puchu..aa develop pannikiron - Annthanda po' (அந்தாண்ட போ)!!!

Check this out - Very funny!!!

R.I.P Michael Jackson

I think he was the first and biggest influence of western music to India. My growing years was filled with watching wacko boys in our colony trying to do the moonwalk to impress girls. We had 4 crazy boys as our neighbor and they used to play "Beat it" 24/7 like suprabhatam just enough to drive the colony dads nuts.

Ever wonder what wacko-jacko would look like without the surgeries...

Archiekins

Remember Archie!!!! Coming to stores near you in August is the 600th issue -
Yup!!! Archie is biting the dust -The day has come when he has to choose between Betty or Veronica.

I remember reading Archie comics..I think...during my 8th std. I was totally into Enid Blyton or classic novels and felt very guilty reading about dating, flirting in Archie comics but like any other teenager..I still continued doing so ;-). I remember hiding this from my dad because even the front cover had girls in swimsuit etc. Your typical samathu ponnu!!!!

Pattimandram

When I think of pattimandram - I remember coming back foggy eyed from all the matapu/patasu session on deepavali day. We settle down on the sofa to finally savor all the mouth-watering snacks while pattimandram starts on TV! This was the first reality show (those days) with a good dose of humor intertwined with incidents in the daily life of the common man - A big deviation from the Goundamani-senthil combo jokes in Tamil movies of that time (People never made jokes about their lives/marriage but they enjoyed watching it - Glad times are changing!).

So, do I enjoy pattimandram now - Not really! For one - Marandum Virandum alzhavathan sapidanum - When it happened once a year it was nice, different, refreshing. When it happens all the time - It's commercial money-making nonsense at the expense of common people - Don't be surprised if you see Pattimandram telecast on Valentine's day. Coming to the topics - Can't someone think of a refreshing topic than kadhal kalyanama, arranged marriage..a - Maybe the organizer thinks its fun to keep beating the dead snake. Of course, I don't get to watch other channels in the US so I can't comment about other better discussion/debate shows in non-sun TV channels. Looking beyond the topic- This Raja guy was interesting in the beginning but he tries very hard to somehow reference the most happening song/movie/news into his speech with or without reference - No wonder he has a huge fan following. I, personally, am a huge fan of Bharathy Bhaskar- She is diplomatic, opinionated, and gives Raja a run. In one of the pattimandram shows she says: How can you say men don't talk too much- Aren't we seeing Raja? - That was classy! I do like Solomon Pappaiya - I like his village slang like Enna Iyah etc but his verdicts are always politically correct which I don't always appreciate- To deviate is good and so is change. Would I give anything to watch pattimandram live in Madras - Yes, Any day!
Happy Pongal & Happy New Year