The Marriage Breakers

Thought that was a spelling mistake? Nope, its not marriage brokers i meant, its breakers, people who love breaking marriages that are about to happen..

In a moment of total desperation I started reading this article in Grihalakshmi (a typical Mallu housewifes magazine :-) ), and this story really struck me as unbelievable!

Think about these true cases :

1. A village in Kalady has had several cases of marriages being broken after the girl-seeing has taken place. 4 of these happened even after the engagement happened !

When people investigated, they caught the culprit, a lady, who claimed she had broken 13 such marriage cases all by herself by way of the tongue !! She did it out of desperation because her daughter's marriage had not taken place and she was growing quite old and unable to do it!

2. Case of own family members breaking the marriage, like the lady who broke her own engaged brother-in-laws marriage because she feared the new bride would be more beautiful than her!(I wonder how believable that is)

Or the sister who broke her bro's marriage cos her marriage had not yet materialised successfully!

3. On October 23rd in a hotel in Edapal, Mr. Bava holds a press conference. Its to clarify and bring to light the happenings of marriage breaking, which has happened a couple of times to his son Faizal who is of age now. All of them have been broken by people who give unnecessary opinions to the girl's part, and lots of wild rumours have now gone around about his son.

4. Brokers who break their own fixed-up marriage cases cos they dint get enough money from the marrying parties.

Simply unbelievable stuff.. Just like the movies. only this time, its painfully real.

This stuff happens around some parts of Kerala. The 'Challenger's Club' of Kalady has started a new revolution against marriage-breakers, after one of their own members faced the brunt of unnecessary rumours that broke his marriage.

The challengers club puts up notices warning the breakers ,like the one on the left.( sorry its in malayalam). They dress up as normal people wanting to marry off their kin and try to pick up gossip mongers. They also try to create awareness and bring together marriage cases that were broken under uncertain conditions by breakers.

Some possible reasons why the breakers do what they do :-

1. Because they have had some tragic experience of their own, especially related to marriage.
2. Sheer jealousy
3. Gossip-love
4. The Indian-crab-in-the-basket tendency (they tend to pull down any crab that happens to get one step close out of the basket)
5. Out of professional hatred.
6. Joblessness, maybe !

We'd probably not be able to do something like that, but we can atleast try to spot a marriage-breaker next time we see him. And expose him to the public for what he really is. And also not listen to wild rumours from the public when it comes to marriages, cos rumours have no origins or bounds and should not be taken as a final word when i comes to marriage.

'Dashed'-Avataram

10 different roles, Crores of rupees, years of making, star-studded launch, Reshammiya at the music and Kamal, Asin and Mallika. Plenty of reason for you not to miss this Tamil blockbuster.

Unfortunately, skillfully as the movie has been made, the screenplay falls apart badly in the last half an hour or so of the movie. And if All's Well only that ends well, nothing is well with Dashavataram. I dont know about the Tamil audience, but the unbelievable stuff at the end invited plenty of boos from Keralite theatres.

Last half an hour apart, bottom line is : Great acting, good music, great action, nice scenes, decent plot, great Kamal, sexy Mallika and cute Asin. So dont miss it.


Ofcourse, not all the 10 roles have been played to perfection. Neither are they all instrumental to the plot, in fact only 3 or 4 characters really form the core of the plot. Make-up looks weird on some, like the lanky 'Khalifulla'(an Afghan?) and the Japanese master (man he was really corny). And again, when you start seeing the hero and villain do superhuman stunts, you know its time to go into 'timepass' mode and not take the movie too seriously, cos from then on apples start falling upwards. The throat cancer curing joke, ofcourse, took the cake.. somehow I expected that one, seeing the way the movie was going (for those who dint understand, watch it, you dont want me to break the suspense do u?).

Then theres the point of trying to satisfy every type of customer- scenes of Jayalalitha are followed soon by Karunanidhi's speech. Bush and Manmohan Singh sharing stage. And a praise to Allah is followed very soon by a Church bell, Amen, and then soon after by a scene of a Hindu idol. I thought that was pretty unnecessary.

But dont let all this take away the glory of the movie ! Kamal is a treat to watch in most roles. The priest rocks, the Vincent and Balram Naidu guys dialogue delivery are awesome, and George Bush make-up looks surprisingly convincing some places. The rest of the characters are pretty good too(except maybe the Japanese guy).

Mallika Sherawat is hot! (or is it just me?) And I thought Asin played her role of a conservative girl well too. She looks nice in the movie too :-).Reshammiya's music is a treat where it comes, especially the background scores.

And the sheer variety, speed and magnitude of the movie is reason for all you people sitting there to go and watch it at your nearest theatre !

Time time everywhere.... but not a second to spare..

Whoever said vacations were full of time and should be made useful?

Every year at college, a common thing used to happen at our hostels. When the year was closing in, especially during exam time, the guys would discuss and make plans on what to do in the vacations. A long list (sometimes written) of what to do, would be the result of such endless and useless discussions. Mine would last atleast a page. It would include one or more of the following, and maybe other stuff too..

- Do regular exercise, maybe body build and go to a gym
- Read a whole lot of books
- Learn new stuff, maybe a new musical instrument, driving, etc
- Go through next sem's academic stuff (ya right)
- Visit a bunch of places

Unfortunately, not even 3 months of long boring vacations seem enough to make any of these happen fruitfully.

When I'm at home, the timetable changes dramatically. Sleep takes over completely, and even food comes secondary. Bodily needs are barely met. TV may finish up the day, if the computer does not take over. And once in a while, there may be an outing too. Most of the people seem to live on orkut during this time.

This is how my timetable looked during last years vacation :

0800 : Wake up to close door for parents to leave for work. Attend to calls (especially natures), and go back to sleep
1500 : Wake up again, for real this time. Brush up, and read newspaper
1530 : Eat breakfast+lunch+tea, whatever this meal is called
1600 - 1800 : Doze off under effects of huge meal mentioned above, maybe sit in front of TV.
1830 : Have tea or whatever eye catches in kitchen
1800 - 2100 : Try to find something more interesting to do than TV. This could be a) seeing a movie on comp, b) reading a book, c) sleeping again !

Generally, doing items a) and b) would result in item c) inevitably.

2130 : Have dinner
2200 : Sit on computer
2300 : Play Dota/Browse net/Orkut
2400 : Play Dota/Browse net/Orkut
0100 : Play Dota/Browse net/Orkut

and so on, till
0400 : Play Dota/Browse net/Orkut

By now Dad wakes up, so I find its better that I sleep. So..

0500 : Go to Sleep again.

Around 10 hours of sleep per day. And remaining spent on comp and eating. A whole lot productive wasnt it.

So the end result of last times vacation?.. Very pretty :

Stuff learnt : Nil
Exercise done : Nil (few hours if I'm lucky)
Books read : Nil
Places gone to : Nil (a few movies maybe)
Academic stuff gone through : Not to mention

New season, new language

Well well the monsoons are here now! Its raining so hard you can actually hear the meows and bow-wows of cats and dogs :-).. Its virtually 24-hr rain now.

And the sad part is, ofcourse, this is the season of stinking clothes and slippery roads and dark mornings. Some days you actually wish for the sun to come out. The worst part about the rainy season is that anything left outside for more than 10 hours straight catches fungus and must immediately be washed or kept in quarantine. Sheesh, so tough !

Funny part is that I was in Trivandrum, at the southern part of Kerala yesterday, and the clouds dont seem to have found their way there. While here at the Queen of the Arabian Sea (Kochi), and Thrissur the floods are already starting.

Time for me to experiment on my mother tongue now.. Malayalam blogging. I'll probably create a new blog for malayalam blogs only. So here goes my first post in my mother tongue...

ഓം ഹരി ശ്റീ ഗണപതയെ നമഃ ്്...

...എന്നു തുടങിയേ എനിക്കു ശീലം ഉള്ളു, അതൊരു പുതിയ പുസ്തകം ആ‍ാണെങ്കിലും പഠിക്കാൻ ആണെങ്കിലും കഴിക്കാൻ പൊലും ആണെങ്കിലും. അതു കൊണ്ട് ഇവിടെ ഞാൻ പതിവ് തെറ്റിക്കുന്നില്ല.

എഴുതി വരുംബോൾ എനിക്കു കാണാം, അഞ്ജലി എന്ന സുന്ദരമായ് ഈ ലിപിയിലും പോരായ്മകൾ ഉന്ട്. സമയം കിട്ടും പോലെ അതൊക്കെ ഒരുനാൾ ഞാൻ തിരുത്താൻ ശ്രമിക്കും. NITC-യിൽ FOSS Meet കഴിഞേ പിന്നേ എനിക്കു ഒരു പുതിയ മലയാള ലിപി ഉണ്ടാക്കണം എന്നതു ഒരു മോഹം ആണ്. ഹിരൺ എന്ന ഒരു പുലി തന്ന Talk-ഇലൂടെ ആണ് അതെ എങനെ ചെയ്യാം എന്നു പഠിച്ചത് .

സമയം പോലെ ഞാൻ അതു നോക്കണം. ആദ്യം Open-Source-ഇലേക്കു contribution ചെയ്യാൻ തുടങടട്െ. അതിനു മുംബ് ഞാൻ എന്റെ ഭാവിയുടെ കാര്യങൽ ശെരിയാക്കാൻ നോക്കടെ. അതിനു മുംബ്, ഞാൻ ഒരു മണികൂറ് ഒന്നു ഉരങാൻ നോക്കടെ ! :-)..


അങ്ങെന ഞാൻ മലയാള ബ്ലോഗിംഗ്‌ തുടങ്ങിയിരിക്കുന്നു !

Branch spirit is not an alcohol. :-). But its definitely the most addictive high I've ever had.

When I remember my branch, the EEE batch of 08, my first thought goes back to Debutante and Sangam 04. These were inter-branch cultural/literary fests held for first years exclusively. We were doing particularly bad. There was no cheering. No spirit. No unity. Open quarrels and divides. We lost the competitions badly. We were mocked, and even we accepted- we tricals probably had bad misunderstandings, bad talent and no unity. It had lost us. It was a moment I'd rather not remember.


Then 2nd year came. We had common classes. We started getting along. People started talking. Every persons Birthday led to common Treats in the corps. GPLs every now and then. [For people who dont know the terminology, GPLs are a pain in the ass, you can see my 21st Bday GPL Video on the right here, poor me :-( ] And ofcourse, a common hatred towards the academic system and a unanimously lazy attitude towards studies and teachers. We definitely had more in common than we had thought.


3rd year was the turning point. First I remember the Kaapad beach trip some of us had, and a Marketing trip to Kochi. The 8-9 of us who were together in this were really gelled together. We thought in the same frequency when it came to the idea of enjoying, or unity, or something like that. That probably started it off. Our group stuck on together for the remainder of college days.



Then it was the Branch trip to Kodaikanal. That did the trick. I remember all the highs and lows we had to go through for it. Being CR, I was in the thick of it all. People pulling out every second. Having to push people into the trip so that another 50 bucks would be saved off every one else's back. Obstacles from the department. Permission problems. Having to bargain and use contacts in everything from transportation to accommodation. Making an itinerary to go with everyones demands and meeting deadlines. Man, that trip was more tension to me than an exam.

But finally it happened. And then I realized the magnitude of what we'd done. Something no branch in our batch in NITC had ever pulled off before. Plus, when you spend 3 days completely together in a bus or hotel or seeing scenery or walking in a park, I dont know why, you just get another mile closer to everyone (how else do u measure how 'close' ? :-) ). That trip did the magic for us. People shared responsiblity, tensions and work for the trip. Our plans worked. And most importantly, we were one branch. Around 47 people thinking as one.

4th year was the final concrete. Classes were much more interesting, something we always looked forward to. Everyone knew everyone else, and not many were actually silent in class. I actually looked forward to classes sometimes just to see 60 people in class.

We pulled off another Branch trip to Mysore. We had to face an equal amount of difficulties this time too. And again, the trip magic worked, we came together like never before. And created a record maybe in NITC. And earned a name among the faculty too as a very united branch, very fond of trips.

Then again we pulled off another trip to Kaapad beach. And followed it up with a dinner. And hot seat. That really finished it. Everyone knew everyone else's secrets. We were completely open. We pulled off another one too, to a nearby river. In a matter of half a day. Treats and trips were commonplace by now. We had learnt the art of getting together, of enjoying as one large group.

And now when I think back, I sorely wish that the unity that followed had been with us since first year. Well, Atleast it was there.

Its one thing to miss your parents and family. But its completely another thing to miss 70 people including guys and girls who think like you. I can only hope that the spark (no pun) of Electrical unity remains a flame forever.

(PS : We still keep in touch, many of us. We've had still more get-togethers and trips since college closed. In Wayanad, Kochi. Trivandrum, etc etc etc.)

Game of Tag

So while i write up my next one, heres a tag I've been procrastinating for quite sometime. It seemed such a girlie thing to do before, but now I think its quite an interesting experience. I was tagged a looong time ago by Saritha (:-s sorry, and thankyou Saritha) and instead of fooling around, I've been quite frank in this one ...


Eight things I am passionate about:

1. My family: Mom, Sis and Dad. They're the world to me. Everything else is secondary. (Even girls!)
2. My friends: Cant live without the society and its chitchat around me. Both sexes needed in equal amounts :-)
3. Knowledge: Anything interesting and new to learn, I'd love to spend time on it. I respect people who can pull facts out of thin air too, for that matter, be it in any field.
4. God: not to be too serious about it, but this something that gives me direction when im lost. The silver lining amohng the dark clouds. Thats what I cant do without.
5. Food: Both cooking and eating. Have'nt yet got on top of the first one, though.
6. My Laptop : I wonder what I'd 50% of my life if it were'nt for my lappie. Since it came into my life, I've been able to forget everything around me and just spend time on it. Ultimate time-wasting tactic, needless to say.
7. Books : I just live through them. Any author is God for me once i finish reading his book.
8. Multimedia : Er, sorry for the technical term, but I guessed music, movies and videos couldnt be grouped together in any better way :-).



Eight things I want to do before I die:

I'll keep this really modest (hehe)
1. Travel to a) Everest b) Kailasa c) Switzerland and d) the South pole
2. Tell all my family and friends every little bit I've thought of them or any secret Ive hidden from them.
3. Become a real action hero, like the kind you see in the movies. Dude, seriously !
4. Plunge into mysticism, astronomy, meta-physics, psychiatry and religion.
5. Become world famous in whatever i'm doing. And make sure my name stays period.
6. See a) the Aurora b) a Tsunami c) an Earthquake (from a safe distance ofcourse, whatever that is)
7. Make a loooooot of money, enough for all the following generations and also for me to spend the rest of my life in Pizza Hut eating.

And the last thing before I die...

8. To close my eyes seeing a masterpiece of nature like the one on the right (this one is a sunset at Fort Kochi beach)



Eight things I say often:

1. Oh Shite!
2. Oh maaannnnn...
3. Entammmoo !
4. Oh my Gaaad !
5. Really? (sarcastic smile included)
6. Ya right! (ditto0
7. Mmm hmmm.. (I wonder if that can be classified as 'saying' )
8. Ente Palli (translated into malayalam, stands for 'My Church'. Makes no sense does it)

Eight books I’ve read recently:

1. Kite Runner by Khaleid Hosseini
2. In spite of the Gods (highly recommended) by Edward Luce
3. The Interpretation of dreams (almost) by Freud
4. Pappilon
5. Cheiro's book of fate and fortune
6. Harry Potter 7 (yea, that old :-))
7. Jonathan Livingstone Seagull by Richard Bach
8. The Art and Craft of Poetry

Maybe I should add something like 'Electrical Technology by B.L. Theraja to give you an idea of what I've actually been reading for 4 years.

Eight songs I could listen to, over and over:

None. Any song i listen to too many times, I get tired of. But heres a list of my all time favorites.
1. Devasabhathalam in His higness Abdullah
2. Harivarasanam (a devotional to Ayyappa)
3. Vasantha mullai in Pokkiri
4. Du Hast by Rammstein
5. Asche Zu Asche by Rammstein
6. Shivadam (another classical Malayalam number)
7. Thaye Yashoda in Morning Raga
8. Kalai dinavum

Eight things that attracts me to my best friends:

1. That I listen
2. My Fool-around style humour
3. That they can pull me up and give me a GPL anytime (yeouch)
4. Interest in long conversations
5. Keenness to do Work (ahem ahem)
6. Neutral and Safe approach to relations
7. Sense and practicalness (hmm...)
8. That I keep in touch in some small way or the other


Eight people I think should do this tag

1. Viajero
2. Naren
3. Abhi
4. Rahman
5. VVS
6. Monster
7. Subrata
8. Wetfingers
Also Vinitha, Warrier, Vasu and a bunch of non-bloggers who I wish would start soon!