RIP jackson!

I woke up at four today. I don't know why I did but, I did. Jackson succumbs to a cardiac arrest, they said. Five minutes and ten sites later, I gave in to the truth. I haven't listened to MJ in the last decade but I have patronized BSB, Abba, Elvis which were much before I even came to this world , but I had forgotten MJ whose music I grew up to and with.
I put on my never used playlist of MJ songs, song after song bits and pieces of the past flashed through my eyes. Most family get-togethers would have one common factor those days and that was the music. We were careful enough to divide time between our two favourites those days-Baba sehgal (oh yes!!) and the aforementioned King of Pop. I liked Pop and particularly Jackson because my brother liked him. One of the best things about growing up with an elder brother is you know what you must like, what the brother follows you follow, what he likes you like! Things are very different now, of course.
The family would sit in a circle, as the brother and I would take the black tiled centre stage. We went in ellipses albeit in our own orbits. Jumped up and down, moved our hands, stretched our feet, collided, fell down, got up back again and also did imaginary hooplas. When, I watched one such video a few days back, I bashfully put my head down at my own stupidity. The mother called it "rendu perukum saami vandha madhiri iruku" as the video watching crowd burst into peals of laughter that are still echoing. Our theatrics were a theatrical disaster. After we would dance for 20 minutes or so, I would be taken aside and the centre stage would be the exclusive property of my brother. People would cheer and jeer as though it was Mr.MJ himself! This performance, my dear readers, was the favourite of many to date. Anna would do the moon walk like only MJ could. I tried very hard, I secretly try it when I am alone even today but No, this particular thing escapes my physical faculty. I hated him for it. The way he sashayed across the floor like an eel. The semi-spoilt kid that I was I would sit on my Mom's lap and wouldnt look at him. Jealousy!
An hour would go by and I would forget everything else and would come up with my own walk known as the "mars" walk. It basically was pretty simple and do-able. You walk normally backwards but put your hands forward and move it like the leg-motion in the moon-walk. My brother would then cheer me and I would sleep a happy kid.
I would do anything to get those days back again. I would.
Some such best memories of my life that i take everywhere with me in my mind's eye has been created amidst MJ's songs. Every good, bad and ugly happenings of mine have always been associated with music.
So here's to the King of Good Times, The King of Pop and To the eternalised King of Moon walk, We bow....

Update: An old classmate reminds me of my school performance on MJ's Heal the world.One of the best I have ever felt on stage was for it. :)

Heart Calls

His hand turned the golden of the door knob; a shiver ran through his veins on touching the cold metal. He entered the door to his empty home, no not a home, he thought to himself. This was just a house. The home is where the heart is and for him, it was amongst the Lodhi garden where he had let his sister score a ten thousand runs, the mama road staircase where she had written K anna with the mother’s red lipstick, on the study table in front of the window near the guava tree where me mugged for his board exams and the most in the kitchen that was once small but had been turned into what his grandmother pointed out was unnecessary extension by the new lady who had taken over the reigns. He remembered a particular day when he had tugged the sarree of his sleeping chitti at one in the night asking for roti and beetroot subji.
“Also a glass of bormee, chitti” he quipped, as she made her way into the kitchen from the bathroom.
He entered the coldness of the room and habitually switched on his laptop. The Microsoft opening credit gave a little tune to the otherwise serene surrounding. His stomach grumbled and mumbled as his laptop, Archie revealed the picture of his family. He would do anything for a plate of sambar sadam topped with the home-made nei. He waited for the wi-fi to connect him to the world he wanted to connect physically to but couldn’t. He carefully arranged his socks and shoes in the stand. Everything had to go to its rightful place after it was done, he always said.
“What about you? Don’t you have to go back to where you came from? Isn’t your work done in this place?” He closed his heart from taking over his head any further and made his way to the bathroom and took a quick bath while chanting the hanuman chalisa. He made his way to the semi-pseudo-ish God’s zone which he had tried to recreate like his pati’s, bare-chested but for a thread did the sandhyavandanam.He skipped to the kitchen to grab a bite. His mind half wandered through the pages of naukri.com and his institute job site and absent-mindedly re-heated the day before yesterday’s daal and the yesterday’s rice. The monster hunt for a job was taking a toll on him. The recession was sucking from within and without.
“Wouldn’t it be nice to have a wife who would make hot meals for you when you returned home? Why don’t you get married da?” the sister had casually pointed out yesterday during their usual morning conversations. She was half hoping he would reply that wives weren’t robots who only cooked and cleaned but equal partners whom you loved and cared for and vice-versa. When he hadn’t, she just rolled her eyes. Men!

(to be contd, when feel like)

NAVRATRI was HERE!!

22


Navami h.52-45 , Uttarasadha Nakshatra h.54-38 , Atiganda Yoga h.02-08 , Balava Karana h.20-37

The last day of Navratri and yours truly has finally risen from her slumber.I wanted to post a lot of things for the last few days but too many journal,assignment deadlines coupled with quiz/sessionals/tests have prevented me against my wish to do so.
The season of coulours,dances,celebration,sweets,food was here.The celebration of Shakti/Devi,the consort of Shiva/Vishnu in all her glory.The celebration of Womanhood.Nine days of pure,unadulterated festivity.Brilliantly colored rangolis,pulchutridonously clad women,the bengali-pandals,the gujurati stick-dance and garbas and my Tamizh golus.

For the uninitiated,this is what the hindu festival of navratri is all about.

Goddess also known as shakti or devi is worshipped in three forms with nine names.One for each day.
Durga,the annihilator of everything evil and wicked is worshipped on the first three days.
Lakshmi,bestower of material wealth,money,power,fame on the next three days.
Finally Saraswati,the goddess of wisdom,education,knowledge is venerated on the third.

((The three together could be considered an equivalent of the powerpuff girls.))

On the ninth day all of us who normally claim to study hard throughout the year, give it a rest and let our brains and books cool.That is on Saraswati puja.
The next day ,on the eve of ayuthu puja we clean,bathe and dress all the intruments that make our living possible.Anything from a pen,scooter,AK-47,Bazooka,needle,zhadu is cleaned and given its share of manjal, kumkum.
Then,we have the Vijayadashami which is considered an auspicious day to start anything.Also,on this day we pay our obeisance to our teachers or guru's.
On the final day we celebrate Dusshera.On this day an effigy of Ravana is burnt in most parts of northern india symbolising the victory of good over evil.


According to smartha tradition Devi is considered as one of the five supreme powers.An equivalent of wonder-woman of the smarthan justice league.She is the female aspect of divine sans whom the male power becomes null and void.Hence,this festival celebrates the female divinty and power.
Three cheers to WOMAN-POWER! :)

Some of my best memories are associated with this time of the year.The most obvious being the GOLU.
Few things i really missed owing to me not being at home were:
1)The cleaning and laying of the ziggurat like golu padi and the dolls,which i claimed to hate but secretely loved doing, amidst all of my mom's obfuscatory instructions.
2)Cloying amounts of protein overdose on all nine days from all of my mom's friends.And an even priceless discussion of it's palatability ranging from "thu,ennadi idhu"."blech,yevlov uppu/oil","besh besh,perfect".
3)Sitting through croaking mami's singing who gently reminded us,"ippo thondai seri illai,avlova nalla padu midiyadhu".While, me and my friends discussed

"I wonder what sen aunty and gumbal are doing.i wish i was a bong,cha!"

"don't worry,you can still marry one di"

4)Waiting for the list of people invited to pack-off home so we could run off to our dandiya night,just to watch our gujju sisters majestically frugging around the dance floor while we desperately tried to catch on or just watched gapingly.

5)Misti doi,moti choor,sweet sundal,rasgulla,milk kheer......(sigh)

6)And ,not to forget the hours spent getting dressed in pink,orange,kajal,bangles,huge ear-rings and everything else.

Festivities are not times you just pray to a deity for something material,for me it is a time i thank Her for the family,friends and everything else i am blessed with.It is not about kolu,dandia,dressing,sweets ,it is about the memories and the people with whom you enjoyed all the above.

Here,i take this opportunity to give my season greetings to all mami's,mama's,uncle,auntie's,friends,pati,tata's,fellow tams and blog readers.

Yah,better late than never!

And,here is a small surprise for you.Since,i could not be at home and be a part of everything i wrote above.Here,is a little something i could come up with.Before that a small description.

KOLU means a sovereign sitting in her royal durbar. As per belief, the concept of arranging these Navrathri dolls on the plank is to depict that Goddess Mahishasuramardini is sitting in her Kolu, prior to the slaying of the demon Mahishasura.
Thanks a ton to SHANKY for helping me out with this.Few errors but i was too lazy to do it again.




No.You are not getting sundal until you sing or dance or mimic or show any one of your talents.Whatever it is that you do well,just record it and send it to me and i will showcase your talent on my blog.Then,you will be sent a complimentary pack of sundal,vathalai pakku,kannadi,pottu,seepu,valai. :) positively!
And for guys,will take you to the next dandiya raas :) positively!
you are just a camera or recorder away!

HAPPY NAVRATRI,DUSSERA AND EVERYTHING ELSE!!!!

(By the time most of you read this,you would have already digested all the edible and non-edible thoughts/entities of the celebration.Not my fault,Education kills.)