My friends will generally describe me as a moody person. For some part they are correct. For instance, when I am hungry I can be quite irritated by mundane nuisances. But usually their perception of me has to do a lot more with their own inability to comprehend and appreciate dissent. I am very opinionated. Not in a worldly-affair sorta way, but in a personal my-life kinda way. If I don't like something I will say it. If I want to have things certain ways, *ahem - my way, I will ask for it. Unless I am exceedingly excited and that too about something in the near future, I usually wont' be caught grinning giddily. (*But you already knew that about me didn't you!) AND ESPECIALLY if you don't want my opinon, then don't ask for it. Simple as that right? WRONG! I am always misunderstood, and easily perceived to be ill-tempered or just plain inconsiderate I suppose. Frankly, I don't really care about their misinterpretations of my intent. When little things bother me, I speak my mind. I do this more so for my sanity than anything else. The reason I don't' feel bad about expressing my thoughts, however unfavourably they might be taken, has to do with my believe that underneath it all, when it really comes down to my core, I know I am a nice person and will not intentionally hurt anyone. Well......., not anymore at least (*when I was a kid, it was an entirely different story...muhahhaha).
I thought it would be an interesting a read to entertain my readers with such things that annoy the crap out of Shalini Murugiah. These are my personal and particular pet peeves I suppose.
1. Cheap people! one time, sure. even a next, i will let it pass. but if it's something that's obviously become a pattern, i will get pretttttty damn irritated.
2. People that make me wait! I don't mind waiting for 5 minutes, maybe even 10, anything longer however suggests to me that my time is not valued. Of course there are exceptions. But if a time has already been acknowledged, I expect full effort from both parties to keep that time.
3. Those that cannot shut up long enough to ask you how your day was! Not everyone can talk non-stop, some of us need to breath. Let the other person say what's on their mind too. They might be wanting to say something too you know....
4. People that brag! It's one thing to share good news, and a whole 180` to boast. Yes, you are rich....get over it! Yes...you are 100 lbs...., now eat something! hahhaha....! There is always a tasteful way of establishing your accomplishments...., merely speaking about it, and exaggerating finer points is not going to help you.
5. Serious people! Not everything that gets planned goes well, and not everything that is spontaneous goes awry. Mistakes happen. People are only human. Some are more prone to misfortunes than others......GET OVER IT!
6. People who belittle others! I may not be the smartest, the prettiest, or the one with the greatest job. But that doesn't mean I have accomplished little in life. Everyone has their own story of how they got to be where they are today. Not every ones milk koppee was given in a silver tray. The day you start judging people on their looks and money, the day you have become a petty human yourself.
7. Unsmiling people! If you see someone you knew once, please do smile. Friendly people are my favourite people in the world. They just have something so Godly about themselves.
8. Inconsiderate fools! It's good to have eaten. But if you had eaten at the expense of other's, are you truly satisfied? Of course not. There is a saying in Tamil..."ELL ENDALUM 7ella Pirikkannum". Remember to hold doors for others, remember to shut doors properly. Remember to clean up after yourself after using someone's washroom, kitchen. Just simply remember to be courteous and have common sense.
9. If you borrow something, please return it! If I have something of yours, please ask me, I know sometimes it's just memory that fails us. So when someone asks for something back, don't get offended. I won't.
10. Dont' take everything so personally! Sometimes, although this might come as a shock for some..................., the world does not revolve around you. Trust me on this. If I tell you something, take it as it is, do not make it personal pleassssssssssssssse!
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Oru Nalla Pattu.....
This is one of the few amazing things about YouTube. I was listening to some tamil songs when I came across this song, "Manil Vantha Nilave" oh so ramdomly. You will never know just how much I love this song, yet the last time I heard this song was a decade ago. This song is also a background song on my 6th birthday video, and I simply love it! Whenever I listen to this song, it makes me soooo happy-jolly, and I smile openly with a big deep breath. Though my parents will probably never have the words to express their love to us, I know if they can, it will be everything this song is about, and I hope to pass this song to their grandchildren as lullabies someday.....,.
A trip to Elanthulir (a Tamil video store at Warden & Finch) is a most definite plan now. I hope to find this movie there. It will be nice to watch this movie again with Nadiya, Rahuman and Baby Shalini. While I'm on this topic, just want to cover something pretty exciting. So for the last few weeks, I have been buying older Tamil movies from the 80s and 90s from Elanthulir. These are movies that I remember enjoying, but vaguly remember now since I haven't watched them in quite some time. Recently I rented the movies Idhayam (Murali and Heera), Karna (Arjun and Ranjitha) and Nattamai (Sarathkumar,Kusboo and Meena). These were all movies that I liked at one point, and wanted to watch again now. Anyways, Elanthulir has this folder with over 2000 + Tamil movies in their list, complete with actors names written beside each movie. This is a very rare system in Canada, hence my elaboration and excitement. For me, watching these older movies is like a happy drug.
A trip to Elanthulir (a Tamil video store at Warden & Finch) is a most definite plan now. I hope to find this movie there. It will be nice to watch this movie again with Nadiya, Rahuman and Baby Shalini. While I'm on this topic, just want to cover something pretty exciting. So for the last few weeks, I have been buying older Tamil movies from the 80s and 90s from Elanthulir. These are movies that I remember enjoying, but vaguly remember now since I haven't watched them in quite some time. Recently I rented the movies Idhayam (Murali and Heera), Karna (Arjun and Ranjitha) and Nattamai (Sarathkumar,Kusboo and Meena). These were all movies that I liked at one point, and wanted to watch again now. Anyways, Elanthulir has this folder with over 2000 + Tamil movies in their list, complete with actors names written beside each movie. This is a very rare system in Canada, hence my elaboration and excitement. For me, watching these older movies is like a happy drug.
Song Title : Mannil Vantha Nilave
Movie Title : Nilave Malare
Singers : P Susheela
Music : M S Viswanathan M S
Thursday, June 18, 2009
The Fury of A Woman
The fury of a women. Well, not just any woman,but the fury of my closest friend. It's a funny incident actually. Perhaps, something that will stay with me for a long time to come, and even evoke laughter at the thought of such a rumble. I guess it's moments like these that marks one's life with excitement. So here is what happened that sunny Sunday afternoon at the park.
I was at the L'Amoreaux Park with 2 of my good friends enjoying the snail-like walk we had adopted under the scorching sun. It was just past 2pm, and though we were worried about our impending, and unwanted tan, the gust of cool wind blowing past us, was just too seductive. We soaked under the sun for the next 2 hours lying on our backs on top of the lush green grass. It was time to head home, with much resentment, we dragged ourselves to the parking lot towards our cars. That's when we heard the ice-cream truck. DING DONG. DING DONG. DING DONG. I can't remember the last time I ran towards an ice-cream truck to buy an ice-cream, I was never that kid. And I wasn't any different today either.
"I think I am going to get myself an ice-cream" says my friend, hmmm....I'm going to name her, Pooja* since I haven't run this blog post by my friends, and not sure if they'd appreciate me using their real names here. Anyways, just for character sake, Pooja is my good friend from University, and I relate and respect her very much like an older sister. My other friend, Anjali* (who is my dear old friend from high school, and my closest friend till today), also decides to treat herself to an ice-cream. After all, the heavy sweating has definitely earned all of us a treat. We walk over to the ice-cream truck, and are the first ones there, behind us were 3 Chinese kids. Pooja asks for a vanilla flavoured cone ice-cream. The ice-cream lady, an old aged, dark skinned woman, with badly decayed teeth poured the ice-cream onto a cone, and handed it over to my friend.
Here's where the story gets interesting. We quickly notice that the ice-cream is not poured rightly onto the cone at all. In fact, it was so lopsided, my friend had to give it a quick lick to position it rightly on the cone. I point this out to Pooja. She acknowledges it, was not too thrilled about it, but we didn't think much of it. I mean yes we were disappointed that the ice-cream was not perfectly placed, but nothing crept passed that surface acknowledgement. Sridevi orders her cone now. She asks for vanilla dipped in chocolate. When the lady passes the ice-cream to Anjali, I notice once again the ice-cream is carelessly, and foolishly misplaced! I bring this to Anjali's attention. She was annoyed, but didn't' think it was too important. Wasn't it just going into her tummy as liquid mesh anyhow? Yet, selectively righteous me, wants to ask for another ice-cream, a pretty looking one, but more over, one that wont topple anytime soon.
*On a side note, I refer to myself as selectively righteous, because it is only in certain situations I would have the courage, or compulsion to question certain things. I know! I am flawed in many ways my friends.
In continuing my story, I see that my friend didn't really prefer, or waste her time in asking for another ice-cream. So I turn to the lady, who by the way has not even smiled once since arriving, and ask her for another ice-cream that which is properly poured onto the cone. She is evidently irritated by my request, and say NO! I put forth my request again, she glares down at me from her high open window and asks, "whaaatt dooo you mean?", in her broken English-Guyanese accent. I ask her to give my friend another ice-cream, tell her it's sloppy, and is dripping all over the place. She comes back with an even more chafed tone, and says NO. It must have been at that moment that my friend Anjali interrupted, and told the woman to give her another ice-cream or she is not paying. I am secretly excited that my friend has not paid yet, and realize this will give us the edge at the least. But, as my tone with the woman was merely a friendly, scared puppy like version. I stare back at my friend who is standing tall, with eyes protruding out with anger. Anjali tells her, "you don't talk to my friend like that and expect me to pay you. Give me a new one, or I am not going to pay you". The crusty old lady gets nasty now, and starts throwing back threats. "You better paiii me, or I weeeell call the poleeeeece". My friend doesn't' budge, stares right back and tells her to call. Of course the woman doesn't. At this point my friend is very irate, and wants to simply leave. She doesn't want to take the ice-cream without paying and tries to put it away. The lady grabs her wrists and pushes it back. Ice-cream is spilled all over my friend's shoes, and her favourite tote bag. She is overtly angry now. The woman sneers at her. My friend sneers back.
All the while, as I watch this scene unfold in front of my eyes, I can't help when my mind drifts off to the last movie I watched in theatres. It was a scary movie called, Drag me to Hell. I feel a chill run through my back as I realize the similarities. What if, I think to myself. This scene is eerily too similar to what happened in the movie. The old, Gypsy lady in the movie, puts a curse on this seemingly innocent young woman who denies her a loan to put off her imminent eviction. Whooaaa I say. This lady reminds me of that lady, a d-evil in hiding perhaps. So I urge my friend to let's go. She was in no mood to tolerate this any longer too, so she forcibly puts away the ice-cream into the van, and walks away. I was proud of my friend who stood up for herself and her right to a decent ice-cream. I mean, we could have simply ignored it, and let it go, but the lady's attitude was just too good to pass. She told me later that her fury was unleashed mainly by the lady's unwarranted anger towards me, when I had initially requested fora new ice-cream politely.
I was at the L'Amoreaux Park with 2 of my good friends enjoying the snail-like walk we had adopted under the scorching sun. It was just past 2pm, and though we were worried about our impending, and unwanted tan, the gust of cool wind blowing past us, was just too seductive. We soaked under the sun for the next 2 hours lying on our backs on top of the lush green grass. It was time to head home, with much resentment, we dragged ourselves to the parking lot towards our cars. That's when we heard the ice-cream truck. DING DONG. DING DONG. DING DONG. I can't remember the last time I ran towards an ice-cream truck to buy an ice-cream, I was never that kid. And I wasn't any different today either.
"I think I am going to get myself an ice-cream" says my friend, hmmm....I'm going to name her, Pooja* since I haven't run this blog post by my friends, and not sure if they'd appreciate me using their real names here. Anyways, just for character sake, Pooja is my good friend from University, and I relate and respect her very much like an older sister. My other friend, Anjali* (who is my dear old friend from high school, and my closest friend till today), also decides to treat herself to an ice-cream. After all, the heavy sweating has definitely earned all of us a treat. We walk over to the ice-cream truck, and are the first ones there, behind us were 3 Chinese kids. Pooja asks for a vanilla flavoured cone ice-cream. The ice-cream lady, an old aged, dark skinned woman, with badly decayed teeth poured the ice-cream onto a cone, and handed it over to my friend.
Here's where the story gets interesting. We quickly notice that the ice-cream is not poured rightly onto the cone at all. In fact, it was so lopsided, my friend had to give it a quick lick to position it rightly on the cone. I point this out to Pooja. She acknowledges it, was not too thrilled about it, but we didn't think much of it. I mean yes we were disappointed that the ice-cream was not perfectly placed, but nothing crept passed that surface acknowledgement. Sridevi orders her cone now. She asks for vanilla dipped in chocolate. When the lady passes the ice-cream to Anjali, I notice once again the ice-cream is carelessly, and foolishly misplaced! I bring this to Anjali's attention. She was annoyed, but didn't' think it was too important. Wasn't it just going into her tummy as liquid mesh anyhow? Yet, selectively righteous me, wants to ask for another ice-cream, a pretty looking one, but more over, one that wont topple anytime soon.
*On a side note, I refer to myself as selectively righteous, because it is only in certain situations I would have the courage, or compulsion to question certain things. I know! I am flawed in many ways my friends.
In continuing my story, I see that my friend didn't really prefer, or waste her time in asking for another ice-cream. So I turn to the lady, who by the way has not even smiled once since arriving, and ask her for another ice-cream that which is properly poured onto the cone. She is evidently irritated by my request, and say NO! I put forth my request again, she glares down at me from her high open window and asks, "whaaatt dooo you mean?", in her broken English-Guyanese accent. I ask her to give my friend another ice-cream, tell her it's sloppy, and is dripping all over the place. She comes back with an even more chafed tone, and says NO. It must have been at that moment that my friend Anjali interrupted, and told the woman to give her another ice-cream or she is not paying. I am secretly excited that my friend has not paid yet, and realize this will give us the edge at the least. But, as my tone with the woman was merely a friendly, scared puppy like version. I stare back at my friend who is standing tall, with eyes protruding out with anger. Anjali tells her, "you don't talk to my friend like that and expect me to pay you. Give me a new one, or I am not going to pay you". The crusty old lady gets nasty now, and starts throwing back threats. "You better paiii me, or I weeeell call the poleeeeece". My friend doesn't' budge, stares right back and tells her to call. Of course the woman doesn't. At this point my friend is very irate, and wants to simply leave. She doesn't want to take the ice-cream without paying and tries to put it away. The lady grabs her wrists and pushes it back. Ice-cream is spilled all over my friend's shoes, and her favourite tote bag. She is overtly angry now. The woman sneers at her. My friend sneers back.
All the while, as I watch this scene unfold in front of my eyes, I can't help when my mind drifts off to the last movie I watched in theatres. It was a scary movie called, Drag me to Hell. I feel a chill run through my back as I realize the similarities. What if, I think to myself. This scene is eerily too similar to what happened in the movie. The old, Gypsy lady in the movie, puts a curse on this seemingly innocent young woman who denies her a loan to put off her imminent eviction. Whooaaa I say. This lady reminds me of that lady, a d-evil in hiding perhaps. So I urge my friend to let's go. She was in no mood to tolerate this any longer too, so she forcibly puts away the ice-cream into the van, and walks away. I was proud of my friend who stood up for herself and her right to a decent ice-cream. I mean, we could have simply ignored it, and let it go, but the lady's attitude was just too good to pass. She told me later that her fury was unleashed mainly by the lady's unwarranted anger towards me, when I had initially requested fora new ice-cream politely.
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Today is my Mother's Birthday!
Why I love my mother. Though she may never read this blog, or even come to know that I have a blog, I am compelled to write about this wonderful woman that I call Amma.
Amma, what beautiful images and emotions the word resonates as you say it out loud. Especially when I say Amma. My mom is a little women, with little dreams for herself, and great ones for her three children (me included). She was born and raised in Saravanai, Jaffna, Srilanka. She wasn't the best of students, her education was not hers nor her family's first priority. While her elder brothers (four of them) went onto universities, and business ventures, she was asked to quit school at tenth grade and heeded to the demands of womanhood. Cooking and cleaning. Not that she complained of course (I wouldn't have either).
Her marriage to my dad was arranged in 1980. There are many juicy, gossip worthy incidents during this period to disclose, but not here. Of course, maybe if you become a member of my family or extended family, through marriage or birth, I will one day indulge you. Now she has been married for close to 30 years. She is celebrating her 56th birthday this year. It's hard to believe she is fifty-six. For children, their parents will always be young, strong, and powerful, capable of alleviating all bad, including a 'not so clean bedroom'. For me, my mom will always be my better self. My mom is a small woman, at only 4'10. But to compensate for that perhaps, her energy is infinite. Especially if its in any way needed by my brother's presence. In the company of my mother, we are at our laziest. But in the company of my mother, we are also at our greatest debt. We can only hope to make this great woman as happy as she has made us in being our Amma.
*side note: just to be sure, a lot of how my mother has grown into a mother we love abundantly has a lot to do with the unwavering love and respect she has received from my Appa over the many years ....
Amma, what beautiful images and emotions the word resonates as you say it out loud. Especially when I say Amma. My mom is a little women, with little dreams for herself, and great ones for her three children (me included). She was born and raised in Saravanai, Jaffna, Srilanka. She wasn't the best of students, her education was not hers nor her family's first priority. While her elder brothers (four of them) went onto universities, and business ventures, she was asked to quit school at tenth grade and heeded to the demands of womanhood. Cooking and cleaning. Not that she complained of course (I wouldn't have either).
Her marriage to my dad was arranged in 1980. There are many juicy, gossip worthy incidents during this period to disclose, but not here. Of course, maybe if you become a member of my family or extended family, through marriage or birth, I will one day indulge you. Now she has been married for close to 30 years. She is celebrating her 56th birthday this year. It's hard to believe she is fifty-six. For children, their parents will always be young, strong, and powerful, capable of alleviating all bad, including a 'not so clean bedroom'. For me, my mom will always be my better self. My mom is a small woman, at only 4'10. But to compensate for that perhaps, her energy is infinite. Especially if its in any way needed by my brother's presence. In the company of my mother, we are at our laziest. But in the company of my mother, we are also at our greatest debt. We can only hope to make this great woman as happy as she has made us in being our Amma.
*side note: just to be sure, a lot of how my mother has grown into a mother we love abundantly has a lot to do with the unwavering love and respect she has received from my Appa over the many years ....
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