Navarathiri

Navarathiri used to mean a lot of things to me as a kid….Preparations would begin atleast begin a month or two in advance with scouting for new dolls …thinking about different ideas for the theme of the “golu”….deciding what pavadais my sis and I were going to wear….how would the invite be designed…who would we call…decorations for the house..snacks for the guest…list is endless….
Should say my grandma should have thought in a B school!!She used to do project management with my moms and aunts being managers under her and we kids as the poor associates…(IT influence I should say!!!) Being a perfectionist she would want everything in place atleast a week before in advance…Then comes the ritual of getting the dolls from the attic and mantling the steps to place the dolls…My sis and I used to get excited about the room that was allocated to us..We used to arrange almost every doll we owned and made our own theme for the kiddies corner….We also used to insist that a park set features in almost all our golus…
This is just the preparatory stage…Dates were decided and those were the designated days when people were invited to collect “vethala pakku” from our house!We would hurriedly get ready as soon as we got home from school.Still remember the long plaits we wore adorned with flowers!I wouldnt even dare dream of doing that now!Guests would start coming in by 3..We even had few relatives staying at our place to help us out! We never got tired with the long list of people who came!Friends relatives neighbours distant relatives, dad’s and uncle’s collegues…list is never ending…Then there would be a huge dinner for the first family circle and by the time the last guest leaves it would atleast be 11.
Everything was done in a elaborate manner….The energy levels of my mom or grandma were amazing!I am not sure if I can even match even half of that now!!
This year I have been invited to couple of places and I notice one thing in common.That genuine warmth and interest is not longer what it used to be…Many a time its becomes more like a ritual done because they do not want to break the tradition. I am not blaming anyone and neither am I trying to say what happened then was right or wrong!Used to wonder what’s changed so much that my grandma still talks about those good ol’times..I guess I sound no differrent here…..:-)

Happy and Cheerful!

I am feeling really happy and cheerful today..Reasons plenty

1. It rained last night and the weather is awesome.Long drive to work even in my bus seemed so pleasant!
2. My sony bean MP3 player now has all my fav. songs loaded and was listening and humming to "leaving on a jet plane" and "lemon tree"
3. Getting outta work early coz its a friend's birthday
4. Thankful for that special someone in my life!
5. Its Friday and I get two days off to unwind!

Can I ask for more???:-)

Lage Raho-Simple yet Brilliant!!

No review this time.. Just one line…I don’t remember the last time I saw a movie that truly defined the word entertainment!!This totally did!I laughed, cried and thought at the same time!!The movie will move you…I am not sure I can find someone who will not like it!!The concept simple yet brilliant!!
At last a movie that wants you to go to the theater again!!Kudos to the director!!

Bali Bombings

I had written about this long back..http://memoirs-ayshu.blogspot.com/2005/10/human-life-does-it-still-have-any.html

As a follow up,

http://in.rediff.com/news/2006/sep/05bali.htm