Hope.

Family reunion, new year, birthday (21st, if that would make it any significant), the new Vaio and my new phone. I don't know if I gave the year any welcome but 2009's start certainly had a lot in store for me. New opportunities and new openings. You know what I exactly mean by this? HOPE. And I totally believe in it. It felt good to be so pampered with company, gadgets and 365 MORE days, all to restore my spirit. Don’t know if it all makes sense but it does help to know you have a lot of life left to live. Live, here, is read as live and not merely exist or barely survive. In terms of consistency, I might not be hopeful about everything all the time especially when angry or sad or lost. But that's just an interim and I become hopeful about things as soon as I am out of that swing. I might sound extremely philosophical but hope is the only keeps me going. When I was a kid, I used to make up these random abbreviations. And I think I made this up in when in class VII (not so much of a kid but never mind!) but it still is true- HOPE means nothing but Hit Open the Positive Energy(!). So you hope and you do hope. With hope, you create resolutions. And when they don’t happen, you hope they could continue. When they do continue, you hope you do it. Hope motivates you and gives you another chance. But hope is not an excuse. It is, instead, an expression of positive thoughts. Don’t hope just to back-up. Hope to do and try to do that. And I am going to hope I do all these, this year:

1. Eat well and eat healthy.

2. Go for a walk every day.

3. Have only one cup of coffee a day.

4. Remember to keep in touch with people.

5. Sleep well. But also attend classes (!).

6. Do something about the hair fall before I go bald (!).

7. Stop whining on the blog all the time.

8. Learn to forgive without strings attached.

9. Respect opinions.

10. Control my temper.

11. Make sure I look to both sides of the road before I cross (!).

12. Dance whenever I get a chance.

13. Say “sorry” and “thanks” when I have to and mean it.

14. Travel to new places.

15. Find out new cuisines and try them out with friends. Get out of the addiction to cheese and cheesy lasagnas.

16. Try and learn a new language. German, particularly.

Eleven months to do all this is not bad enough, right? :D

Manam Virumbudhe Unnai Unnai...

A very popular and typical Deva song of the 1990's. 

With the drive to listen to something different, I loaded my Ipod with songs I usually don't - one of them being manam virumbudhe unnai. Not really sure if I liked it when it released but I quite liked it today. Fresh and energetic with a lovely BGM. With a little Carnatic touch, Harini's pitch is really good. And the lyrics- SO cute!!! Easy to sing along. On watching its video from Youtube: Simran's enthusiasm to dance is a treat to watch despite the immature expressions, excessive hip-shakes and dowdy dressing.

Brought a smile to my face. Taste in music can never be defined. It doesn't have to be. I guess it is something you keep exploring always and it feels good to know you liked something different today. Something fresh. Something you could relate to in some way or the other, like the rush of energy in this song. 

And I hope to discover many such cute songs that make your day. Especially on those gloomy days- like the exam time! :D

Defining Dosa(i) as a Concept.

One of the few things I am really particular about is how my dosa should be made, served and eaten. As in I believe there is a point in making dosas the way they are to be made and respect compliance. The point is it is an independent concept and its conceptually incorrect to withdraw from its original form. At least refrain from calling it dosa. Call it something else- say gosa or posa! I often find this happening in restaurants- usually the bhavans and sagars around. And I take offence to such a departure. Primarily, dosas are not meant to be "sweet"- which means adding jaggery or sugar to the batter is a strict "no". Also, dosa is a thin and crispy digestible form of tiffin rather than a thick leather-like pancake making it difficult to chew or digest. Making it that thick would also contribute to leaving some parts of the dosa uncooked. May be learning how to make uthappam helps in cooking thick pancakes but uthappam certainly isnt this bad when made thick!

Another thing that adds to the taste of dosa is oil- but overdoing it or using smelly-reheated oil would only render the dosa sort of stale. Too much of oil is not good in any case, right? Dosas are conventionally served with sambhar and chutney (ranging from coconut to onion to mint to tomato). So it is important that the accompaniments are good too. Good here would ideally mean undiluted, spicy and proportionate with all necessary ingredients. The picture I have put up above could be quite misleading, you know? Coriander seasoning definitely doesn't help. And also, that triangular shape doesnt beautify it that much that people would crave to eat dosas which are of that shape (or rolled up neatly). Sadly, I feel for the cause. The cause of all mamis who make wonderful dosas in a minute. The cause of those dosas which might have a right to be presented the way they want to be. Certainly. Sigh...It (the thought) gives me an appetance for the thin-n-light crispy dosas which I can endlessly hog on at home with other complements such as curd, molaga podi (chilly powder), mango pickle, thogayal (which is my recent addiction), etc... while I feel full up in my throat with just a few bites of those thick-n-oily dosas outside.

Turn around.

Okay. I thought about it...about the idea I had suggested below. Even though I did not agree with it at any point and still maintain my stand, I guess it was important that I mentioned it. I mentioned how human mind worked. It might be wrong, but how does it matter! I guess it is extremely difficult for me to budge. Let me be. Let me be the "sometimes over-friendly and sometimes over-hostile" person. People are what they are. They are not perfect. Nobody is. I am going to be myself- the imperfect self and help people when they come my way or sometimes go out of the way to do so. If I have to, I will until I feel I am being taken for granted. And also, I will try to be a patient listener- whether its a problem or a pride show. That is the standard I have and will continue to have. So what if some don't like it, I still enjoy being myself.

What are friends for?

I never really understood why we have friends- Just to go out for a coffee? To sit and chat for ours with? To share things with? To expect them to help you out when distressed? Or above all this can you also expect to talk to them about whatever you want without being judged? I guess this is not something you can expect. No matter who your friend is, expect to be judged for every word you say. After all friends are just normal people who hang out with you. And you too must go ahead judge every single act of your friends'. If he calls you a bitch, take offence to it and call him a bastard. Then and there. If he asks you to shut up, don't shut up even if you have to. You ask the person to shut up. Whatever be the circumstance i.e. even if your friend is dying in emotional crisis, you must be bothered about your ego, your self-respect (which was never meant to be hurt) and your life. If your friend says something even slightly rude when in some trouble, you must overlook the problem he is going through and shout at your friend. What is the need to adjust? What is the need to recollect instances when your friend might have borne the brunt of your temper just because you were in some trouble? Especially some instances when you went your way to help and got it back. How does all that matter? You must show it back now. Its a cool thing to do. Run after it. Period.

Apparently, this is how it works. Sadly, I just realized it. A little too late. But yeah, I have learned it now. I might not agree with it but it is something I need to do to be normal. Learned the art of just showing it on the person. That is to say if I have a friend who comes to me with a problem and says something even slightly bitter, rude or sarcastic, I will pounce on the person pretermitting the possibility that he might have done it solely because he was in some discomfort and did not intend to hurt you. This is how a human mind should work. It must take cognizance of every single word your friend utters, store it in and vent it out at the right time. The right time does not mean your friend should be happy and smiling. It is preferable to show it when he is complete hardship. It is so cool, right? Try it and tell me how it felt. I just hope I can at least try to be good at it because I usually suck at handling people. Either I am over-friendly or over-hostile. :)