Reviewed: Twilight Saga (Books 1 & 2)

Twilight - The Saga, written by first-time writer Stephenie Meyer, is an unusual vampire-romance written for the now-grown-up Sweet Valley High Addicts.

Book 1 - Twilight

This is definitely my favorite book of the entire saga. The story goes that Bella (our heroine), an “unusual, accident-prone” girl moves to the town of Forks. She meets with Edward (the hero) in a class where they’re partnered. Soon she’s unable to get over the mysterious, spellbindingly beautiful Cullen family. By the middle of the book, they profess undying love for each other. Then comes Conflict in the form of James (a tracker vampire) who wants to hunt Bella for the sport. Hero saves heroine and they live happily ever after.
What I really like about the book, is the way it has been written. The language is simple and everyday and the fact that she uses first person (Bella’s point of view) to narrate this story gains extra marks from me. The imagery she evokes is wonderful vivid and dreamy. The characterization is also well done with Bella as the whiny normal human & Edward as this unimaginably beautiful, multitalented vampire. The author also takes a stab at changing vampire myth - burning when out in the sun etc.
This puts most romance books to shame. For me, Edward now joins the league of Rhett Butler & Heath Boscastle.
Bottom-line: This put a smile on my face :) Good for easy, light reading

Book 2 - New Moon

Continuing from the first book, Bella’s love for Edward continues to grow. Only this time around, he decides its time for him to leave and get FAR away from her because of the all trouble she seems to attract because of him. Broken hearted Bella, becomes a zombie, and Jacob Black (introduced in Book 1), along with her dad, decides to help snap her out of it. Jacob’s also got problems of his own - 1. He’s in love with Bella, 2. Sam is forming a weird cult thing that is taking his friends. Soon he realizes that he’s a werewolf and with it, that all the stories/ legends he was told are true - this means that Jacob & Edward are mortal enemies. Towards the end of the book, Edward reappears - he’s on his way to commit suicide because he believes that he cannot exist in a world that has no Bella (who he thinks has died). So Heroine saves Hero and Jacob’s heartbroken but still trying.
Hmmm.. The book didn’t up to the expectations that the predecessor raised. Jacob’s growth as a character is what leaves a mark. He’s warm, funny, strong and expected to be everything that Edward is not. This book, I think, does for Jacob what the first book did for Edward. After reading this one, readers will probably be entrenched firmly in 1 of 2 camps - Edward or Jacob.
Bottom-line: Read at the risk of falling in love with Jacob and finding out that Edward is kinda human and fallible.

And so he proposed

10 months can be a very long time especially if all you have to be together is a phone connection and 10000 miles inbetween.

10 months before this, given the setting we were in – a wedding - we spoke about getting married and decided it seemed like a good idea. Ever since, we kinda dealt with it like a business transaction – thinking through pros & cons of our actions, analyzing reactions, predicting situations, coaching/coercing the elders into thinking our way and the like.

Soon we were falling in love, with a voice. Sad to say, but there was a slight mental disconnect between the face and the voice. We had to meet. Even if it was jus to see whether there really was “chemistry”. It is a little scary when you think about it – what do you say when you finally connect the voice to the face? What if you don’t like the face anymore? Should that matter? What if it doesn’t work out after that the time and effort spent on Project: Wedding?

He came over the weekend. The first day felt a little weird because we were almost strangers.

And then when we finally had sometime to ourselves, he went down on one knee and said “I’m sorry that I didn’t woo you like you deserve but I hope I can make up for it with the rest of forever. Will you marry me?”

And so instead of the traditional solitaire, I got a beautiful Satya Paul saree ☺

I’m soo happy. Now we are to be engaged in Jan

Reviewed: Ajab Prem Ki Ghazab Kahani

Starring: Katrina Kaif, Ranbir Kapoor, Upen Patel

Guest Appearance: Salman Khan, Lord Jesus

Directed by: Rajkumar Santoshi

Verdict: D+

I don't know where to begin my review of the much touted superhit movie :( We saw the movie at Fame Lido, a now non-functional mall.

Quick run through of story: Small-town, 9 class fail, Prem (Ranbir Kapoor) is president of Happy Club. Happy Club's mission to keep everyone happy, leads to disastrous consequences. That when he meets Jenny (Katrina Kaif) and falls in love with her immediately. Needless to say, the bum turns to a new-leaf - hardworking and devoted to his lady love's happiness. Villainy strikes in the form of Jenny's "love interest" Rahul (Upen Patel) who is powerful politician's son. As with most movies, at the shaadi mandap, Jenny realizes she is in love with Prem and not Rahul.

What I hate about the movie:

Terribly contrived flick with next to no comedy or romance. It seemed like Ranbir forgot how to act. I still had to think really hard to figure out his 9 avatars through the movie. Katrina's acting skills have not improved much either. Upen's constantly constipated expressions compete with his need to deliver dialogue as stereotypical gay person. Salman's 15 sec of fame doesn't do much for him or the story line The songs have been fit in without any purpose or connection. The humour leaves much to be desired. The print promos were unbelivably misleading - I thought I was gonna watch a movie along the lines of Hum-Tum - a little animation/ comic-book transitions etc

What I like about the movie:

The wardrobe is young and hip AND totally wearable. The score is decent (if you don't think about them with context to the movie). Jesus's role as the Saviour :D The posters are wonderfully comic book styled (although there is NO connection with the movie)

Bottomline: There is no ajab or ghazab in this prem kahani. Watch at your own risk.

Reviewd: Love Aaj Kal

Starring: Saif Ali Khan, Deepika Padukone, Rishi Kapoor, Rahul Khanna

Directed by: Imtiaz Ali

Verdict: Watch on DVD

It’s a story of love lost and love found – Now and Then. And as with all movies, this one too had its highs and lows.

The movie opens with Jai (Saif) & Meera’s (Deepika) whirl-wind romance (in London) – some kissing, some touching and some naach-gaana. Soon, for reasons of practicality and with the promise of being BFFs, they logically decide to part ways – their careers are taking them different ways (and to different parts of the world).

Here’s where Veer Paaji (Rishi Kapoor) steps in as the friendly neighbourhood Indian and tells Jai of his courtship in the yesteryears. And so begins the other story – Veer falls in love with Harleen Kaur (Giselle), only to find that her family is moving to Kolkatta. Unable to come to terms with the miles that separate them, he goes to see her. And ultimately steals her away when it is found that she is betrothed to somebody else (against her wishes).

The plot of both stories are the more-or-less the same – Boy meet girl, They fall in love, Villain 1 – Distance, Villain 2 – Possibility of girl’s marriage to another. The difference in the two stories comes when comparing modern romance (that has its basis mostly on practicality) and historical romance (where heart came before mind). I think what I didn’t like about the modern romance was how shallow it seemed, with the round-about, indirect way the realization hits both of them. I mean, who is the world realizes one day after the wedding, that the other guy is the ONE! I suppose the handkerchief quotient also went down quite a bit, because most of the movie was said from the boy’s point of view.

The songs seem like they have mostly jus’ been put in because it HAD to be there. Saif’s inability to dance absolutely kills the song-dance routines. Deepika’s wardrobe is fresh, down-to-earth and wearable fashion- a far cry from the traditional dinchak-ness of bollywood. Although Rahul Khanna is gorgeous as always, I wonder why he had to be cast in the bit-role of Meera’s rebound boyfriend/husband. New comer Giselle does a good job as Harleen Kaur and Saif as (young) Veer Paaji is interesting.

Pieces of 8

Pieces of 8, originally uploaded by Ryan Brenizer.

Honey, I hope you're reading this :) It is EXACTLY what i've been looking for :)

There is a flower, a little flower. . .

There is a flower, a little flower. . ., originally uploaded by mjmatt {lazy days}.

. . .with silver crest and golden eye,
that welcomes every changing hour,
and weathers every sky.

- James Montgomery, A Field Flower

Summer Holiday

"Were all going on a summer holiday.
No more working for a week or two.
Fun and laughter on a summer holiday.
No more worries for me and you.
For a week or two." - Cliff Richards

And so I am off on my super summer holiday, owing to my 25 years of having walked this earth :) ooooo..I'm soo excited that I'm quite unable to even write this post. I'm going on a month's Euro Trip :D [not the movie, but I hope close enough]. I'm visiting Switzerland, Germany, Austria and France. The fact of the matter is that my Elder is a part of the 41ers Club (Roundtable) and I'm really going on a YAP exchange program with 10 other Indian kids (who're total strangers to me). So I'm gonna be staying with families of fellow members of the European Chapter, which means I only pay for the air-fare and whatever I buy as souveniers :)

In addition to site-seeing (and not being in contact with technology or family), I get to sample local cuisine and get an up-close and personal insight to the local cultures too. So while everyone is warning me about the food (which apparently is quite unlike Indian food), I'm looking at it as an opportunity to eat gorge on local stuff (cheeses included). And if that doesn't work for me, I'm guessing that it'll just make me appreciate home food that much more :) But I've already begun brushing up my French, although I'm hoping to find some French guy (like in the M&Bs) to sweep me off my feet when he whispers sweet nothings in the language of love (and I'm ONLY refering to the language French..lol)
The people who organise this, claim that we'd be walking an approximate 100km in 30 days!! AAAAAAAA..the only bright side to this will probably that I'd come back India with a brand new willowy figure :D

The funny thing is that I'm not too worried about not carrying a phone or having to see a computer screen for the next month :) I'm actually looking forward to it, much to the dislike of those close to me. But the hardest part of this adventure is the packing!! :( As a girl, I usually tend to over-pack because face it, you never know when you're going to need something. Am I right? Our organizers are suggesting that we carry only 1 suitcase and 1 knapsack!! (because we'd have to take care of and lug our own stuff around and that because train stops are kinda short) How am I ever going to manage? And to think, I bought myself a pair of sexy boots, even sexier heels, new Crocs and even a couple of new clothes :(

The other thing thats scaring me is the weather. As a South Indian, I'm used to a tropical climate bordering pre-heated baking oven. Even so, I'm a summer child, meaning that while I can stand extreme amounts of heat, I can't bear the cold. And the average temp. in Europe in summer (which is now) is between 10 and 25 Degrees Celsius. Egaads!

Oh well. I'm off for a month. I will try to post pictures and sneak in a blog post every now and then. Until then Au Revoir :)

So my birthday came and went by. I had the most awsome time (I think...Damn..If only I could remember) :D Anyway here's the follow up on the gifts i got

4. Crazy Trip to somewhere (anywhere) - I have been gifted a trip to Europe!! yay!
8. Hair accessories [for my unbelievably LONG hair]
15. God's Blessings (??)

I also bought myself a lovely diamond ring that has most people in my family stunned :) I also got Givenchy perfume and moisturiser, a Clutch Purse, and a pair of Slippers :)

Birthday Wishlist

My Birthday is coming and I'm turning positively ancient (Booooo!!) I hate it when people tell me to think of it as a number and that I'm really only getting more mature and the works. Usually I get pretty excited about my birthday (only to be disappointed on THE day). However, this year considering that its a landmark year, I'm actually feeling a little blue. So to beat it, I made a birthday wishlist and I'm hoping that I get more than one of these items :D

1. DSLR (Nikon D60/ Canon 1000/ Olympus E420) [although I've got a Flickr pro account, I dont actually own a camera! Not even the aim and shoot kinds]
2. Photo shoot with the new DSLR [of everything that comes in my way]
3. Sexy Boots
4. Crazy Trip to somewhere (anywhere)
5. New Haircut [Long hair is positively boring!]
6. Floaters/ Sneakers/ Sexy Formal shoes
7. 1 TB Hard disk [that I can make into my movie database]
8. Hair accessories [for my unbelievably LONG hair]
9. White Shirt
10. New Boyfriend/ Husband [to appease the parents]
11. New (real) Job
12. New (super cool) phone [iPhone/ Android/ Nokia E71]
13. Skirts (Pencil Skirt, Plaid Skirt, Pleated Tweed (school girl) Skirt)
14. Extension of My Mac Warranty (so i can fix the screen)
15. God's Blessings (??)

This was as far as I got. I will add some more in the few days that remain. Until then, if you do see something you wanna gift and thats not on the list, please feel free to do so :)

In the Words...

, originally uploaded by Yvette Inufio.

Buddha

"When you realize how perfect everything is, you wil tilt yor head back and laugh at the sky"

Picture This

The Quicker Picker-Upper, originally uploaded by shrutibiyani.

iPhone Makes Up 50 Percent of Smartphone Web Traffic In U.S., Android Already 5 Percent

iPhone Makes Up 50 Percent of Smartphone Web Traffic In U.S., Android Already 5 Percent

Posted using ShareThis

To Infinity and Beyond

Molten rock of magma, originally uploaded by Stratocasterman.

“It is known that there are an infinite number of worlds, simply because there is an infinite amount of space for them to be in. However, not every one of them is inhabited. Any finite number divided by infinity is as near nothing as makes no odds, so the average population of all the planets in the Universe can be said to be zero. From this it follows that the population of the whole Universe is also zero, and that any people you may meet from time to time are merely products of a deranged imagination.”

- Douglas Adams

Friday Round-up

There's a LOT of really interesting stuff I've seen over the past week :) Everything guaranteed to make me (and hopefully you) smile.
VladStudio is the project of Russian digital artist Vlad Gerasimov. Over the time, this hobby for creating desktop wallpapers has grown into business, and today he enjoys full-time self-employment, creating wallpapers for and mobile devices. In his own words, "I love what I do, and I am happy that many people around the world love it, too!"
You can either register to buy his Hi-res wallpaper or just download his free Low-res ones. His wallpapers are quirky and fun and everytime I see one I can't help but smile. The image above is one of his. (see what I mean?) :)Who has the Biggest Brain by Playfish is one of my fav. games (other than of course Word Challenge and Geo Challenge) on Facebook :) Its one of those really fun brain training games. Recently they announced this country competition where the scores of people competing in one country were added up and "faced-off" with other countries :) Needless to I tried to do my bit. Anyway what I really wanted to talk about was that this game is now an iPhone app!! WOW :) I'm really excited. Head on to the App Store for more. Unfortunately it is a paid app - $4.99. Nevertheless one that would be worth the investment (I think) :)

Alright, while we're still talking about apps and iPhone, you should also get yourself the CBS Sports Mobile app. Why? its a free app AND Because the company, I work for, made it :) But seriously, the app brings you live scores, play-by-play and breaking news for FREE across major pro and college sports. :) GO! GO! GO! Get it NOW!

Other than that, iPhone 3.0 been announced. Here is Gizmodo's guide to iPhone 3.0 OS.: Everything You Need To Know.

Facebook has changed its look. Now that one thats taking a while to get used to..Hmmmph..And Twitter is also experiementing with the addition of the 'More' button.

Talking of Twitter, I found this really cool post about how Twitter can allow you to control your home :) Super cool. I also hear that you can do this with SMS and your iPhone. Go here to read the original post. Good Stuff.

:( Now the post is much longer than I had intended..Hmmmph..But I couldn't help it. It was sights and sounds from a WHOLE WEEK :)

Friday Ideas

Friday Ideas have been shelved temporarily due to work stress and lack of resources. So here I am wondering what to post. And i think I may have just chanced upon a video that didn't get posted. (I wonder why..hmmm). So here goes:

David Kelly: The future of Design is Human Centered
This is presentation from TED 2002 :) David is the co-founder of IDEO which is known for its innovative, user-centered approach to design. IDEO works with a range of clients -- from fast food conglomerates to high tech startups, hospitals to universities -- building everything from a life-saving portable defibrillator to the defining details at the groundbreaking Prada shop in Manhattan (IDEO designed those famous see-through dressing rooms).
P.S.: I love the end, where you put on his LED skull cap..




Peter Reinhart: The art of baking bread
Its amazing how they gone on to create these really healthy breads. But careful that you don't get sick when he goes into explaining the Yeast sweat and guts :) Batch to batch, crust to crust ... In tribute to the beloved staple food, baking master Peter Reinhart reflects on the cordial couplings (wheat and yeast, starch and heat) that give us our daily bread. Try not to eat a slice.

(via: TED)

Her Morning Elegance

chub cheeks, originally uploaded by good times goddess.

Her morning elegance she wears
The sound of water makes her dream
Awoken by a cloud of steam
She pours a daydream in a cup
A spoon of sugar sweetens up

Her Morning Elegance by Oren Lavie

I love the sun

I love the sun, originally uploaded by ClickFlashPhotos.

Somehow these days I can't seem to be getting enough of it..mostly because the city I live is probably the England of India with its unpredictable weather AND because I've been honoured with the coldest spot in the office..brrrrrr

rain rain go away, (don't) come again another day.. little AB wants to play, rain rain go away :)

Monday Morning

mouse (263/365), originally uploaded by Katherine Elizabeth.

I love the sweet smell of dawn -
our unique daily opportunity to smell time,
to smell opportunity -
each morning being, a new beginning.
~Emme Woodhull-Bäche

until we meet again

until we meet again, originally uploaded by hey amy.

Considering that Spring is here and the month of love has jus' gone by, I'm still suffering the hangover (in a good way) :)

"It was one of those March days when the sun shines hot and the wind blows cold: when it is summer in the light, and winter in the shade." ~Charles Dickens

In the Words of...

Thanks Ram :)

Friday Ideas

So its been the second week running that we've missed our Friday session..I'm really sad because it makes Fridays that much more normal :( Anyway I'm still going to post excellent stuff that TED thought was cool. Stuff that I second too :) So here goes

Pattie Maes & Pranav Mistry: 6th Sense - Game Changing Wearable Technology
The Sixth Sense is wearable device with a projector that paves the way for profound interaction with our environment. Imagine "Minority Report" and then some.
You can find the video here: Unveiling the Sixth Sense

David Merill: Siftables, the toy blocks that think
Siftables -are cookie-sized, computerized tiles you can stack and shuffle in your hands. These future-toys can do math, play music, and talk to their friends, too. Could this be the next thing in hands-on learning?


(via TED)


(P.S: Really amazing the way technology is changing and the way new media is taking over by leaps and bounds. Hopefully one of these days I'll be a part of something as great as these)

Flickr

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

Pic of the Day

This picture just about sums up how I'm feeling today.

(via Flickr)

In the words of...

-Pablo Picasso

"He can who thinks he can and he can't who thinks he can't"

Friday Ideas

Another Friday bringing with it a another set of Ideas :) This Friday I'm going to talk about the session we had today and the ones I missed posting about.

Today: Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud
We had Scott McCloud talk about understanding comics and how they figure and adapt to new technologies when they depart from the print medium. His presentation was almost entirely visual (which is a really good thing). However, among other things, during his presentation, he spoke about 4 simple rules which I believe is applicable just about everwhere. They are
1. Listen to everybody 2. Follow nobody 3. Look for patterns 4. Work like hell
These infact are the simple truths of life too. Don't you think?

Last week:
How great design makes ideas new by Milton Glaser
Milton Glaser is a renowned Graphic Designer, whose best known and most iconic work is the "I *heart* NY" design. The legendary graphic designer Milton Glaser dives deep into a new painting inspired by Piero della Francesca. From here, he muses on what makes a convincing poster, by breaking down an idea and making it new.

Why design by Philippe Starck
Philippe Starck is legend in modern design and has made perhaps his most permanent mark on design through his bold reworkings of everyday objects. In reimagining and rethinking the quotidian, he has produced some of the iconic shapes of the 20th century, including his leggy chrome juice squeezer , the reimagined Emeco aluminum chairs, and the witty Louis Ghost polycarbonate fauteuil.
This 17 min lecture by Philippe is spent on understanding why we design and its roots. More than anything, I loved this talk because of the way Philippe dramatically tell his story. It has moments that has you in splits and those that are thought provoking
Ps.: You'll have listen carefully because his accent is a little hard to understand.

(via: Ted Talks)

The Park Bench

Glamour.com decided to experiment and see what would happen when they left 2 disposable cameras in a park bench in New York City. :) Find out what they got when the rolls were developed on their blog
I wanna do an experiment like this here too. I love the idea!!

Speaking of the Park Bench, I got reminded of Mia Micheals' piece on Season 2 of So You Think You Can Dance which incidentally is also one of my favourite shows :) Season 3 jus got over here in India, with Sabra voted as "America's Favourite Dancer". She super as were everybody else, although Sara was my favourite. Anyway, Mia's piece, which was nominated for an Emmy, also revolves around a lovestory at a Park Bench. Feast your eyes on this piece - The Park Bench (Season 2, SYTYCD)

Ecclectic

I *heart* Yann. He's a photographer who has not only taken amazing photographs but taken made them available freely for personal use as wallpaper - 2027 to be precise. His work is includes pictures of horses, farms and even the world (from an eagle eye perspective) :) You can find his work here: YannArthusBertrand

I'm also loving this lovely visualisation of an apparel store - Distilled :) It takes the form of a video, where this (cute) male model wears the collection while the background changes approriately for the outfit. Very Good stuff. They even have an online store for you to shop in :) Check it out at Distilled Clothing

Other than that, Google is now on Twitter!! Guess who's already following them :D

Friday Ideas

Another Friday and another set of ideas :)

[ps: sorry I couldn't actually post it on Friday..needless to say I suppose that work called :D]

Jan Chipchase: Our Cellphones, Ourselves

Jan Chipchase is the principal researcher of Nokia and in this lecture at TED Talks, investigates the way we interact with technology. He has travelled the world and the sides of our pockets in an attempt to find behavioral patterns that will inform the design of phones and products of the coming generations.

I wasn't able to get the video to upload. I'll do that later. But for now, feel free to see the video on TED Talks by simply following this link: http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/jan_chipchase_on_our_mobile_phones.html

 Happy watching :)

Pro Valentine

Dear Secret Valentine Benefactor,

Thank you a thousand times over for giving me such a lovely gift. You cant imagine the joy is brings me every time I open my Flickr (now) Pro account. Thank You so Much!! Happy Valentine's day to you too

Love Always,

Me

14th Feb came and with it a lot of protests and moral policing. But it was one of the best days ever for me! I got gifted a Flickr Pro account!! For anyone who knows me, they'd know I'm crazy about photography. Infact I was dubbed the official photographer for several of my classmates at college. The only problem with it was that my normal account could hold about 200 photos, which meant that I had to keep deleting pictures to make way for new ones. Now my secret valentine benefactor, told me at half-past 11 (on the 13th) that my gift was waiting for me in my inbox :) Imagine my surprise! (After all I thought it was some silly card or something) It may not be the most romantic gift but it most certainly is the most meaningful gift I've got in a million years. I couldn't stop the tears :) I cant wait to upload photos now :) I'm soooo excited. In the mean time, take the time to check out my Flickr Account at http://www.flickr.com/photos/38997886@N00/

Fast-forward Pilgrim Part 2

Ok I took a break before posting the next part of the trip because I got so tired jus' thinking and writing about it. Here comes the next bit

Day 2: Sunday 8th Feb 2009

We were up at 4am. Our next stop in the temple schedule was the Suryanarayanar Kovil for the 6am puja. This temple has been built as a tribute to the Chief God of the Navagrahas (9 planets of Hindu Mythology) - The Sun. Originally constructed by the Chola kings, this temple is located in the temple town of Thirumangalakkudi (between Kumbakkonam and Mayiladudurai). It is the only Navagraha temple that also houses the other Navagraha gods and unlike the usual placement of these gods, all face the presiding deity. The temple infact faces the Southward direction and the deity is seen on a chariot-like vehicle.

We finished here around 7.30-8 and proceeded to the Prananada Kovil, which was around the block from the Suryanar Kovil. This temple's presiding deity is Prananathar (another form of Lord Shiva). I've forgotten what the legend of the temple is so I can really give you the details. I only remember how his name came to be. In Tamil, they say "Pranatthai kuduta Prananada" which literally means Prananada, the One who gave His life to save (for what or who I'm not sure)

After this temple we went to Kanchanur. This hamlet is the home of the Agneeswara Swamy Temple and mostly known for being the navagraha sthalam of Sukra Bhagavan (Venus' Temple). After finishing paying our respects to Him, we went back to our hotel, broke for lunch.

After our post lunch nap, We readied ourselves for Thingaloor. Thingaloor is the Chandra Sthalam - the place of the Moon God (in the Navagrahas). One peculiar thing about this God is that he carries a club in one hand and a lotus in the other. Why? Because like the lotus, He "blooms" in the night. As with the previous two temples, I'm not sure what legend surrounds this God. (maybe I'll write about it later).

Our last stop for the day was the Darasuram Temple. This temple is home to Airavateeswara Swamy (lord Shiva). Legend has it that Airavata (the Mythical White Elephant and vehicle to Lord Indra) prayed to Lord Shiva here. As did Lord Yama (the God of Death) when he was cursed by a sage to have a burning sensation all over his body. This temple is now a part of UNESCO's World Heritage Sites. The temple which was started by the by the Chola Kings was later completed by the Pandya Kings. The architecture and the stone carvings that adorn this temple are worth a dekho. Amazing details have been craved into black-stone sculptures ranging from 1/2 an inch to 2 inches. Below is a picture of one such carving (although you can't see too much detail in this image) 

The pillars have also been used for story telling purposes. So one pillar would essentially contain a complete mythical story of the presiding deity. Below is a detail of one such pillar. It is about Parvati's penance for Lord Shiva. So on the top portion you see Parvati, the Lingam (that she is praying to) and a line of devotees. On the lower portion, you will find a carving of Parvati in meditation in water and around the main figure are other forms of Her worship.

 This temple also houses vegetable-dye paintings similar to those found in the Ajanta and Ellora caves, Maharashtra. 

 It amazing how these have survived the passage of time, especially, in open outdoor conditions. Simply Superb! However the sad thing is the way Indians have defaced these works of art by inscribing their names on them :( Really sad how they have no idea what they're doing when they damage works of their cultural heritage.

The Darasuram temple is also said to be the birthplace of the legend of Lord Sarabeswara. It is said that after Vishnu has taken the terrible form of Narasimha (half man and half lion) to kill the evil demon Hiranyakashipu, his rage was so great that the 3 worlds trembled. The wise sages went to Shiva and begged him to pacify Narahimsa. So inturn, Shiva took the form of Saraba (which part lion, part bird and part human). When Sarabeswara placed him on his lap and touched Narahimsa's chest (heart), his anger was immediately quelled.

The temple is also famous for its singing steps. There is a set of 7 steps, made in stone, which when stepped on or tapped make tinkling sounds of the Sapta-swaras (of Indian classical music) - Sa Ri Ga Ma Pa Da Ni. However, this has been closed off from public view thanks to the village idiots and un-thinking Indian tourists who've broken one of the steps, rendering a note silent. Anyway for more information about this temple, you can look it up on Wikipedia along this link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darasuram.

After the long trek back to the hotel, we were treated to an instrumental performance (by the hotel for its visitors).WOW! We also happened to see ex-Karnataka Chief Minister and Governor, Mr. S. M. Krishna with his family at our hotel. He'd come to do the same rounds as us :D 

Day 3: 8th February 2009

This was the final day of the trip. Like the previous day, we were up by 4. Were going to visit the Kethu Sthalam in the village called Keezh Perumpallam. Kethu is one of the demons who turned immortal by drinking the amritham obtained from the churning of the milk ocean. It is for this reason that He is also considered one of the nine planets. It is said that before the temple had achieved the little fame that it enjoys now, pilgrims would have to get past numerous obstacles, a major being snakes and the thick forest, in order to get His darshan/ blessings. Legend has it that due to a wish granted to a devotee, none of the villagers have EVER died of a snake-bite!! Also it is said that Kethu has the power to veto his contemporaries in the Navagraha community ;) So if you appease Him, he'll make sure that there will be no trouble from the others. To do this, all you have to do is visit him once in your lifetime and all will be well :)

Having finished this one also, we were well and truly on our way home. Oh I forgot, we also managed to make a stop at the Chidambaram Natraja temple.

The End

Fast-forward Pilgrim

The weekend that jus' went by was a truly hectic one. I went on a fast-forward pilgrimage - 8 temples in two days!! Now thats A LOT especially considering the time you spend travelling between these places. But it was a good trip nevertheless, because I got to visit temples I've never seen before and revisit those I've already been to :)

Being a shivite, our places of pilgrimage (in the South) are usually confined to those in the Tanjore-Kumbakkonam belt. This family trip was undertaken to ward off the evil eye that has befallen us and to placate Gods who've been causing a ruckus in our otherwise pleasant lives. :) Ok so here goes

Day 1: Saturday 7th Feb, 2009

I got to the city around 5am. At 7am, we piled into our trusty old Scorpio for a journey that was to take atleast 8 hours (without too much traffic and too many stops). Our final destination was to be SwamiMalai. On our way, we stopped to lunch at Chidambaram. For those of you who do not know Chidambaram, it is one of the places of foremost importance to dancers. The town is most famous for its Nataraja Temple. (more details in a bit). The temple too had closed for lunch. So we ate and after a bit of arguing and dilly-dallying we went on our way. Unfortunately Nature's call had to be answered and being women, we cant just get out onto the road and "mark" our territory :D Around this time, my parents realised that we were close to the Vaitheeswaran Kovil and that it was important enough to warrant a visit.

Vaitheeswaran Kovil: Vaitheeswaran in Tamil means Doctor. This temple is literally a tribute to the Doctor God of Hindu Mythology. The resident God is Lord Shiva. Legend has it that Angaraka (Mars) suffered from leprosy and on praying to Lord Vaitheeswara, was cured of his disease. The Lord's consort in this temple is Thaiyal Nayaki Ambal. She holds medicinal oil to aid her husband and also grants the wishes of those girls who are at a marriageable age. You could find out more about this place on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vaitheeswaran_Kovil

Having finished a series of archanas (pujas/ offerings) to these Gods, we were well and truly on our way to our destination, which we reached at around 9pm. Our hotel/ resort, Anandham/ Sterling Resorts SwamiMalai, was a lovely respite from the city life and its hustle. One that I immediately fell in love with. It is based on the the typical brahmin agrahara with the lovely patios, the garden, the thinnai and the works :) Amazing. Infact the place is the only Indian hotel that has apparently won the Global Eco Tourism Hotel Awards. Every evening has a cultural activity of sorts such as singing, dancing. Despite having the original house structures and architecture, modern facilities have been melded in such a way that it doesn't seem out of place. I'd give this place two-thumbs up :) The tired family had quick light supper and crashed out immediately

Friday Ideas

Its Friday again with some more ideas.

Today we watched the Photosynth Demo.

"Photosynth is a potent mixture of two independent breakthroughs: the ability to reconstruct the scene or object from a bunch of flat photographs, and the technology to bring that experience to virtually anyone over the Internet.

Using techniques from the field of computer vision, Photosynth examines images for similarities to each other and uses that information to estimate the shape of the subject and the vantage point each photo was taken from. With this information, we recreate the space and use it as a canvas to display and navigate through the photos."  as quoted from the Photosynth website. Check it out on http://photosynth.net/ or Microsoft's Live Labs http://livelabs.com/photosynth/. 

After this mind blowing video, we watched "Debunking third world myths" by renowned researcher and statistics guru, Hans Rosling. I bet you've never seen data presented like this. With the drama and urgency of a sports commentator, he debunks myths about the so-called "Developing World".

Office Party

:) 

Last night was excellent! We had an all hands meet coupled with an office party. Mostly to entertain the firangs who're in town :) 

It isn't my first All-Hands Meet. And i can tell you this, that no matter how many of these I've attended (which is usually every quarter) I never fail to get impressed and inspired. Cynics have told me otherwise - "You can't expect to love your job or your office or your colleagues" and I beg to differ because I can't imagine working any place else. Why? Because the mobile internet space is still nascent. This means that no matter how high in the management hierarchy you are, you're still learning as much as the next person, which kind of makes all of us equals. Add to that the fact that you're a "interning consultant" and you're taken as seriously as the work you do, its amazing! An even bigger plus is when you're in a place where YOU are setting standards for the rest of the world to follow makes me REALLY happy to be where I am now. Like I said, I love this place and can't imagine anywhere in the world that I'd rather be in (except, of course, for my office's New York office)..lol..

Anyway this All-Hands Meet was different from the others because it was the first of the many that will follow this year AND because we were served beer during the meeting!! AAAAAAA..It was only 5pm and trust me when I say I'm pretty sure that no other company in the world does something like this. It caught me off-guard and completely by surprise :) (Are you grinning too? ) WOW was the only thing that went through my mind the whole time.

Following the meeting, the girls of the office vanished. Why? To get dressed for the party that was to come :) We're were planning on looking our feminine best with skirts and dresses and make up and all that :) An even bigger WOW when I did see the outfits..Lovely! (Wish I were taller, thinner and had those long-never-ending-supermodel-legs to carry them off) And as with every party, it took a couple of drinks to loosen up the tiny groups of people and get them to interact with people they'd normally never speak to :) Then the dancing started :D Anyone who knows me will tell you that I'm always up for a good leg shaking and thats exactly what I did the rest of the night. Some of the highlights of the night were the Zumba, the finger food and the unlimited variety of alcohol :) So one firang's wife is a professional Latin dancer and she volunteered to teach us a couple of steps. Funnily as I was going through the follow-me process, I was thinking about how similar it was to Bollywood dancing. But then again, maybe it was because she was teaching us the really easy steps. I had a really good time though. Most of the night, however, went doing the "Dabbankutthu" which is a South Indian (Slum-type) Dance.

Now the finger food (the snacks) was really good too. Maybe because we usually don't get such food in the office canteen. It consisted of the yummy cheese and corn macaroni, french fries, bbq chicken, prawns and some more stuff that I can't seem to remember now.

The bar had everything from Black Label to Sula to Bacardi to even Old Monk! Now comes the biggest highlight of them all (for me personally it will be a memory I will treasure for the rest of my life) -  The CEO got down to the bar-tending! and best of all, I got the honour of having my drink mixed by him (the other people, obviously, being the firangs) WOW WOW WOW!! And while I was socialising with them, I also got news that one of my concepts had been sold and that it was gonna be out in a very short time. 

So..Now in addition to being on Cloud 9 for working in the world's coolest office, I also have the coolest CEO :D I'm sure I've told you already that I am happy but I'm still gonna say it again : I'm SO HAPPY!! :)

February Love

:) So its that time of the year when it seems all of a sudden that love is so thick in the air that you can smell it. What's the fuss about? Nothing really - only the Hallmark holiday of Valentine's Day. Couldn't help but notice the spring in my walk and smiles that have ben pasted on my face. Well, the holiday doesn't do much for those in the Lonely Hearts Club except make them feel shitty about being alone. The funny thing is that your eyes open a tad bit wider only to take in the sea of couples (in various stages of PDA) that you'd have never noticed before. Hmmph. But its nothing that a good book, your fav blanky and warm chicken soup can't heal.

This year for me somehow seems a li'l different. Maybe because I've now got one leg outside of the Lonely Hearts Club. Maybe its intuition about meeting that someone. All the same I'm really excited. So to start of this lovely month of love, I'm posting this link to a video "Why is my girlfriend mad?" that I thought was REALLY funny :) I hope you like it too :)

http://www.noob.us/humor/japanese-human-art-why-is-my-girlfriend-mad/ 

Smiles and Sunshine always,

 Me :)

ps: anyone know how I can add all these video on my blog without having to actually have the video on my mac? Let me know

Friday Ideas

So my team started this "new" thing called Friday Ideas where we get together and discuss design. Our efficient and supremely pro-active leader helps us draw inspirations from various people and things so we can better the way we work and do things.

On the Friday that went by, the topic of discussion was "What do consumers really want?" by Joseph Pine, the author of Mass Customisation. This one talked about the way our economic models are changing from productisation, to customisation to now the experience economy. He also talk extensively of how the experience economy tries to create authentic experiences. For more you could check out his presentation on the following link http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/joseph_pine_on_what_consumers_want.html 

The week before we had a presentation on "Serious design Vs. Solemn design" by Paula Scher.Paula Scher looks back at a life in design (she's done album covers, books, the Citibank logo ...) and pinpoints the moment when she started really having fun. Look for gorgeous designs and images from her legendary career, here: http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/paula_scher_gets_serious.html

"Don't say you don't have enough time.  You have exactly the same number of hours per day that were given to Helen Keller, Pasteur, Michaelangelo, Mother Teresea, Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas Jefferson, and Albert Einstein. "

This is a lovely quote that I came across and one that I most definitely am guilty of. :)

Have you ever had that feeling where the minute you say you'd do something and somehow never followed up? I seem to be in that mode a lot these days. Everytime I make a resolution or talk about something I am doing, I find that I never quite complete it :( Terrible. My Kalari classes and my blogging habits have fallen into this category.

I started the Kalari classes in a bid to loose weight and as a general fitness regime. Whats more was that I enjoyed it a lot. Then I told my friends about it. (hmmmph..) Soon enough I was traveling all over the place and missing classes. Thankfully the institute teaching also discontinued the course for want of students. However, when they did re-start, I was too lazy to go back (It was a 8:00am class on a Saturday!!)

Similarly, at the dawn of the new year, I promised to blog a little more than I normally would have. And quite frankly this is my first post in about 20 days! Dismal I tell you. But what was I supposed to do?

Oh well, I truly hope that this time around, I will procrastinate a little less and try some more.

Btw if you do want to join Kalari Classes in Bangalore, look up Attakalari. For more information, you could follow this URL http://www.attakkalari.org/ to their website.

In the words of...

:) Its been a week since the new year dawned and this is my first post of the year. Hopefully I will blog more actively this year :)

I read this quote and I cant get over how lovely and appropriate it is. So here in the words of 

Neil Gaiman (www.neilgaiman.com) (www.mousecircus.com)

"May your coming year be filled with magic and dreams and good madness. I hope that you read some fine books and kiss someone wonderful, and don't forget to make some art - write or draw or build or sing or live as only you can. And I hope, somewhere in the next year, you surprise yourself."