Sep 19, 2006

I am back, back, back !!!

Back to frequent blogging (hopefully), back to US and back to work. Now u know why 3 backs..

Few travel musings on this India trip..

Most asked question: Ennada Raju, ippadi ilaichu poyitte?? (What Raju, u have become soooo thin!) Well, parents ask so even if I put on weight and visit them, so one would assume this qn. to be a routine one. Not for me, not this time. I had indeed lost, in a happy and planned fashion, over 17 pounds (~ 8 kg) in the 3 months prior to the trip. So, u know, I had a chance to do some own-trumpet-blowing about my gym workout, diet, etc.. That was fun except when my anni's came to fight with me about my preference on a certain kind of diet.. mm.. kaicha marathukkudhaney kalladi vizhum.. ;)

Second most asked qn.: Eppo thirumba varre? (When r u returning?) Answer varied from 'soon' to 'after a few months' to 'around summer' to 'by april'. Reminded me of the qn. during my Ph.D. days -"Eppo mudikka pore?" (When r u gonna complete?). From the way my answers were 'consistent' (2-3 months) for a long period of time, they should know what to make of my answers to this kinda qns.

NRI Syndrome: Tried my best to consciously avoid the 'by-now-infamous' comparisons, showing-off's and complaints but the evil part of me would raise its ugly head at times.. Somehow escaped without much damage, both to my ego and to the body.. ;)

Greener grass: Good to see all the cousins, relatives, nephews and nieces. And, yeah, great to visit IISc and spend those 'Gnabagam varudhey' moments.. Bar the heightened security, not much change there.. Watching 'KANK' and 'VV' in Sathyam was an overwhelming experience.. Cinema-nna adhu..

Nervous moments: First, at the US embassy when I was told that my passport and details have to be sent to D.C. for clarification, and on the week prior to my flight when there was no info from them yet. I laid my hands on the passport just a few hours before the flight.. whew.. Next were those minutes in the auto/taxis on the roads of Delhi, Calcutta, Chennai and Bangalore. Worst on the Delhi street when, the car driver was casually crossing red lights and giving 'gaali' to the honking vehicles coming in the perpendicular direction, saying "No need to follow these lights before sunrise, saab.." ?!?!?

MPS:

1) Vettaiyadu vilayadu: Good to see Kamal after long time. If the first romance was cute (the proposal scene at the wedding was cooool), the second one was mature and lovely (the dialogues b/w Jo and Kamal at the airport and on the road were too good, aka Kaakha...style). It was interesting to see several 'Kaakha kaakha' characters in different roles/personalities. One ex. is the guy playing Jo's NRI hubby. Songs were top-notch, typical Gautham stamped.. I think it was a neatly executed movie.

2) KANK: Kabhie Alvidaa Naa Kehna, that is.. Saw it twice within a week. Despite VV and KANK had the NewYork link in common, there was a big difference in the 'colors' in KANK.. talk of production values.. And, on moral values, KANK might leave a lot to debate, but I felt that Karan had handled the subject quite maturely. I had misty eyes and lumped throat for much of the second half.. Songs are unforgettable, my favorites now. One of the best Hindi movies I saw in the recent years.

3) Sillendru oru kaadhal: I enjoyed all but the last 10-15 mins of the movie with a smile on the face and occasional bursts of laughter. Looks like the director, Krishna, had thought a lot on how our now-real-pair Jo-Surya would have and would be romancing and brought up with those cute moments.. The saturday night party, dialog on the width of the bed, and, the candid minutes in the train and on the station were sooooo refreshing.. Since I hadnt heard the songs b4, 'New York nagaram' was an 'Inba adhirchi'.. :) And, not to forget the cellfone conversations b/w Surya and Bhumika.. Oh Boy.. too good to watch just once.. ;)
More movies later.. already this post is too long.

15 comments:

mitr_bayarea said...

Raju-

Welcome Back and nice summary on the India trip. Glad that you got ur passport just in time, must have really been tense moments.

MPS:

One of the few folks who liked KANK, I guess. Kudos to how you could watch that movie twice in a week, oru rangele thaan irukeenga.

Anonymous said...

Raju, good to see you back, and that you enjoyed ur time in chennai, why did u say kalyana sappudu, now all i can think of is the sambhar that they serve in kalyana sapadu, hopefully someone gets married when i go there, just for the sapadu. i guess u seemed to have liked all the three movies, i saw vv, and sok, but not kank. sok was utter crap Raju, very boring, too much hype, i would say vv is good because i like kamal, other than that it was ok, not as good as kaaka kaaka, but i hear kank is pretty good, u should have also seen the second munnabhai movie, i hear its great, better than the first one. waiting to see that.

aruna said...

ya, ya, no need to follow rules before sunrise!! Just me, got so shocked to see a giant lorry right in front of me, when I was driving in one-way early morn. Sad, nobody defines clearly when it ends, and trucks keep driving in one-way until like 7am or so.

tt_giant said...

So another similarity crops up then - (y)our affair with the US consulate!

good to see you back. brother's marriage a? i c.

i ma going to india end of nov.

Me too said...

Welcome back!

Naan podanunnu nenaichu ennum kaayapottukittu irukkara post!! Totally agree with your MAQ and SMAQ!!

Ella padamum pidichudha? India poi romba senti aagiteenga polirukku! I didn't like VV much! Too violent and gory!!

Raju said...

Mitr, nandri.. And, oh yeah, the passport drama added twist to my departure story.. I was not sure if I would get it in time.. all it required was one person somewhere in the 3-tier system of visa delivery to mess up.. it was a bit exciting too, nevertheless.. ok ok samalikkirendhan.. tension, excitement rendum onnudhaney.. ;)
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Nitin, u r staying with ur parents, no? Atleast nalla veettu saappattachum kidaikkuthey.. Enakku direct promotion from self-cooking for a few weeks to super sappadu.. sari sari.. inime adhai pathi pesa matten..

Movies, yeah, I liked all 3 that i mentioned. SOK pidikkalaiya? mmm.. love panniyirundha pidichirukkum, probably.. ;) I liked VV, despite having fluctuating expectations on that movie.. came out satisfied.. And, I did see Munnabhai II the last weekend. That w'd be on my next post.
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Aruna, talk of real nightmares.. and, add to it, the car/cab drivers that I saw were like too tired.. their eyelids seemed to be heavy and closing occasionally... I was keeping literally one eye on the driver's eyes during a 2-hour drive.. I had to resort to some loud conversations and singing (?!?) to keep him awake.. uffff..
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Deepak, yeah.. I was thinking about ur story.. in fact, I surrendered to the fact that, since u had the trouble, I was also deemed to have some. I wasnt surprised when I came out of the embassy. And, I had a small cut on my right forefinger when I came back. In the airport, I was hoping that I am not sent back to India for that mark, which w'd have made my fingerprint an imperfect one... luckily I am escape.. unga bashaiyile sollanumna.. ;)
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Aparna, nandri..

mm.. I know.. neenga busy-nnu ninaichukkitten.. I am sure u would have ur own share of interesting stories and encounters.. will look forward to them in urs..

mm..3 padamum enakku pidichudhu.. India trip-ku munnadiye senti ayachu, esp. when I watched KANK here alone.. ;) I can understand about ur view on VV.. Most girls that I know didnt like it. And, think of my bro.. he had booked for the movie very eagerly to watch with his newly wed wife of 3 days.. paavam.. turned out to be a bad choice for their first movie together..

Anonymous said...

seems like the master blaster is back in action, sachin is making good scores after his comeback, only bad score was against aus, they really need to play well against AUS, only if they play well against them, it will help them prepare for the world cup.

Anonymous said...

Welcome back, will speak with you sometime. What were you doing in Delhi?

Raju said...

Nag, how r u? yeah.. my trip was interesting.. Got mobile? give me a call sometime this weekend..
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Nitin, yeah... I am pleasantly surprised at Sachin's form.. very unlucky to end up on losing side once again.. u know.. 4 of his last hundreds came in India's losing matches. sooooo sad.. I wish he gets good support from his fellow batsmen, and, more importantly, from the bowlers. The Aus match will be a virtual semi-final.. i am keeping my fingers crossed....
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Sanjay, how r u dude? yeah.. i will also try to call u this weekend.. Delhi was my transit point enroute to Kolkatta.. I stayed one night in Geeta's bro's home..

மு.கார்த்திகேயன் said...

Raju, VV is technically sounds better than any other movie in this year. But gautham can put some more effort to shoot the songs better..
Really its nice to see Kamal in Cop after a small break..

Anu said...

Hi Raju, Good post.. Thanks for pulling me back to the blogging world.. High time for me to start off blogging regularly :)

Raju said...

Karthik, I agree with you on the technical superiority of VV. Songs were OK, mm.. I understand why you say so.. Kaakha Kaakha's songs were picturized in the best possible way, which cant be said of VV's songs.. Still, I dont have major complaints. Kamal as cop.. yeah.. as I mentioned earlier in some post, every 10 years, he appears as a cop.. Kaakhi Chattai in mid 80's, Kurudhipunal in '95 and now VV.. Hope this is not his last cop movie. I wish to see a trimmed and more energetic cop, similar to his Kurudhipunal act.
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Anurama, hi.. thanks.. I am pulling myself slowly into the blogging world.. would be great to see regular posts from you with ur trademark humor..

Ponnarasi Kothandaraman said...

:O
Yenga yenga yenga yen comment matum kanum????
Hm welcome back! Nalla update'nu viteney oru comment??? :O

Visithra said...

welcome back ;) looks like u had a good trip

interesting fact is ure on of the few who like sil like me - and for the same reasons ;)

Raju said...

Ponnarasi, appadiya? Naan onnum pannale.. Blogger-ku unga meley enna kobamo.. ;)

Comment-ku nandri.. :)
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Vis, oh, I s'd welcome u back here.. been long time..

Yeah, it was a good trip.

LOL.. About sil, yeah.. whereas people are showing thumbs down to it, nice to get ur support.. :) FYI, apart from you, the only other person who liked the movie was also a Malaysian.. ;)