Tag Archives: telugu

Life ante….vedi vedi pakoda with chai….

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….annantha simple ga unte entha bagundu 😀 Sorry…I had to write this post in telugu and english to retain its essence. The weather could be the reason behind this post…or the lack of noise on the streets…or the chatter of people. It’s dull, it’s gloomy….almost dark…and it’s just 4 and supposedly the middle of summer. Just one of those days when I miss home 😦

Podunne pani pilla sarduthu chese sabdam tho lese feeling okati…pin drop silence tho lese feeling inkokati. Mummy kitchen lo help cheyii cheyii ante cheyyanu cheyyanuu antu maha rani laaga day begin ayyedi india lo. Manchi coffee tho news paper browsing….tv channels marchinde marchi…suthi kottinantha varaku…anni channels lo almost yoga gurincho lekapothe lucky stones and best Gods gurinchi. Naalugu thitlu thitti vallani….mummy tharimithe freshen up avvatam. Evaro okaru vachi vellatam…vallatho kaburlu…friends…eating out…walking on necklace road…going to the near by mall…to a book store probably…cursing the traffic…the auto drivers…the guys who purposely rub themselves against you while walking…so on and so forth. Rojulo oka vanda sarlaina politicians ni, TV channels ni definite ga thittukovatam….maali ade tv channels chudatam 😀 Flats lo unte adi inko sarada…evening kalla poolu amme vaadu…snacks amme vaadu raavatam….vaadi venta watch man padatam ‘kaiku aaya re yahaan…kisne permission diya teruku’ antu 😀

There are so many things wrong about India. I can point out at least 10 different things just about today. I sometimes tell S that I never want to go back..that is how angry I get. My parents tell me not to come back. They say life is difficult in India…’manushula manasulu roju roju ki kalushitam authunnayi’ – mummy’s wise words 😀 But day’s like today….I miss home so much 😦 I miss the gulmohar trees…I miss the Irani chai with biscuits…the pani puri…I miss the smell of earth after the first drops of rain…I miss standing in our balcony and looking at road that is ever changing…we could once see the Hussain Sagar from our balcony…but all I see now are tall buildings. A new fly-over’s come up…feel like it’s right outside our flat.

I have forgotten what it means to have neighbours. Here, I do not know who lives next door…there’s no exchange of curries 😉 no bringing babies over…no checking out each others shopping. Aren’t we supposed to be social animals??

We’ll be travelling to India next month…just for a few weeks though…and it’s will terribly busy…but looking forward to it.

May be tomorrow, it it’s sunny, you might see a really cheerful post from me 😀

Ciao 🙂

The phase is over…for now!

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OK…I am back to my writing phase…I have these spells…like cricketers…when I feel like writing and when I don’t atall! My last post was when IPL was happening and now FIFA World Cup’s started 😀 Awesome! I am just glad that I’ve never  really abandoned my blog….I always come back to it. Currently listening to some crap telugu songs…apparently they are this week’s top 10…huh..how it happens I don’t know. Watched MAA Stars cricket match yesterday for a while. It was alright I thought. I did not expect them to get so involved…like getting angry when a team-mate dropped a catch or mis-fielded…that Taraka Ratna guy was so angry at one point when he got the last wicket…I thought he will go break that poor chap’s bones. Paapamm…hits kuda levu kada athaniki 😦 hehehe It was alright…until the CM came and spoilt everything…and the worst part was when Dasari started talking….I just switched everything off and watched FIFA WC. I just cannot stand that guy….acts like he’s the King of all..the best director/producer/actor that ever walked the earth etc etc but frankly I never liked him or his films. Why can’t these politicians and wannabe politicians just keep out…they have to show up every where and once they arrive…we have to drop everything…how ever important it might be…and concentrate on them…and what do they do…give boring speeches…burp…fart…yawn and leave. Baahh!! When will this culture change in India???

Anyhoo, something good did happen yesterday…first, I bought two nice handbags for myself and my mom 😀 and Germany scored 4 goals..yes 4!! I was really tired of 0-0. 1-0, 1-1 results and was craving for some real football. Germany made it look so easy against Australia and apparently no one had any real expectations from the team since they are all just a bunch of freshers. I somehow feel they are the team to beat this time round…although we haven’t seen Brazil, Spain, Italy and Portugal yet. I was totally disappointed with England’s performance. They made it look so hard…the one goal they scored and the blunder from the goalie….poor Robert Green…I can only sympathise with him. Hopefully, they will do better…they have to if they want to beat teams like Germany and Brazil…God only knows how they will turn up this time.

Song of the day is

3 reasons why I like this song…

  1. Rhythm
  2. Awesome dancing from Mumaith
  3. Venky bhai couldn’t have looked any cooler with his groovy moves and all 😀

Leader and Ye Maya Chesave (YMC)

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I had this pending…so thought I’ll go ahead and finish it!

Watched Leader and YMC couple of weeks ago. Frankly, both the movies did not impress me much. I had much expectations from Leader since the director’s Shekhar Kammular and the film starred Rana…..but I did not understand why Rana’s character had to be so serious all the time. He was more like a machine than a human being. I know he’s supposed to be this young politician and all but I am sure politicos also manage a smile now and then. I liked the whole concept of buying politicians to become the CM and all…but the rest was not worthy of giving a thought. The whole female(s) angle was unnecessary. Shekhar Kammula always had meaty roles for his heroines…but I was very disappointed with the choice of story line for the female characters in this one…they did not have to be part of the movie atall! The best part of the movie was the ending…with a very decent remix version of Maa Telugu Talliki. It was good to watch Andhra Pradesh again…as ONE!

Ye Maya Chesave (YMC) seems to have created ‘some’ hysteria in the urban centres of AP. Call me a cynic, but I wasn’t totally impressed. I loved the songs 😀 and that’s it. Again, Naga Chaitanya disappoints. He’s definitely improved from his first movie…but I did not understand why he always had this irritated expression on his face and a lazy tone to his voice. Samantha was good…but I did not like her character. For someone who comes across as a ‘know it all’…she took an awful long time to make up her mind about a guy she loves very much…fickle minded she was! The two characteristics don’t go together 😛 I loved the Alleppey setting…brought back memories of my trip there with S couple of years ago. Absolutely beautiful!

One of my favourtie songs from the movie 🙂

Religion and its Aftermath

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Picture Courtesy: http://www.crystalxp.net/galerie/en.id.3470-religion-wallpaper-gruzz-wallpapers.htm

When I was at school, probably in the 7th standard, applying for public examination hall tickets was a big deal! Applicants’ information had to be precise….’cuz if we screwed it up…the repercussions were endless visits to the board of secondary school offices. Most of my teachers always made sure that I got my name right, every year a new teacher… weird isn’t it? Now, why would I get my name wrong? But my teachers were a little skeptical basically because I had a Hindu first name and a Muslim surname…since my mother is a Hindu and my father a Muslim. Most teachers did not even know if such a name existed…what it meant.  But, never before in my life did I feel like I was different to others…like I was not normal…probably a little ashamed as well…especially when it came to filling the section which asked which religion I belonged to…do I tick Hinduism or Islam? I used to hate that part and still do. My friends never had any such problems and I did not want to ask my teachers for advise or suggestions since it meant telling them my life story which in turn gave me unduly attention.

My parents never brought me up a ‘certain way’. They are not religious people and I grew up speaking Telugu (my mother tongue), applied bindi and went to Temples occasionally with friends. My mother remained a Hindu; she wore her Mangalsutra and bindis too. So my brother and I basically were ‘non-religious’. My father rarely goes to the mosque and most people get a shock of their lives when they come to know he is a Muslim. He is a Hyderabadi but speaks fluent Telugu and that confuses people a lot.

If once I was a little embarrassed that I did not have a sense of belonging towards any religion, I have grown up to be a person proud of my heritage. My aversion with religion started with the demolition of Babri Masjid and the riots that followed. We were living in Hyderabad then and I cannot forget the sense of fear in me. Scared to go out and buy food, wondering if anyone would come home and hurt my family…wondering if my mom could be hurt if Muslims came home or if my dad could get hurt if Hindus came home. There was curfew in the city and the tension was high. A local cable TV network continuously broadcasted images of the demolition of the masjid along with Shri Ram’s Devotional songs. The tension was high. My father rushed to the cable TV network’s office and asked him not to show scenes that could easily instigate people. But the operator was adamant and continued to show the pictures. My father did not have any other option but to confiscate his equipment and bring it home. That night remains one of my scariest nights’ till date. I was sure that some religious fanatics would come home and definitely hurt my dad….but it went without any incident. My father’s relatives who live in the ‘Old City’ of Hyderabad had some horrific tales of violence to share with us…which only scared me even more.

The riots ended gradually and life came back to normal. Since then, I never found it important to associate myself with any religion.  But for some it is very important and I never really understood why. Why would someone want to associate themselves to something that is so violent, something that is only used to kill and increase distance between people.

I believe that my parents symbolize what India is all about. We are ‘supposed’ to be a secular country so when there are inter-religious marriages, it is an institution to look up to and not to be sneered at.

Some tell me that religion is a way of life, a discipline….but these words do not have any value for me now. I have only seen people fighting, killing in the name of religion. Religion has only been used to hurt others and not unite people in love and peace. Probably, once upon a time, religion meant discipline, obedience but now it’s been diluted and used when and where possible to satisfy humans selfish needs. It is used only to divide and destroy people’s lives. I believe in God, but I am not ready to believe that different religions have different Gods and that if I pray to one God, the other God(s) will get angry. My God is Universal and I pray for peace everyday.