The watery muck that I stepped in, that looked solid but turned out to be calf deep and sludgy was in fact quicksand! First off.. I stepped in it, I saw it and
Tuesday 2 December 2008
IT WAS QUICKSAND!!!
To all the horrible pseudo-realists I know,
The watery muck that I stepped in, that looked solid but turned out to be calf deep and sludgy was in fact quicksand! First off.. I stepped in it, I saw it and sank calf deep in it..so I WOULD KNOW! Second.. read the definition of quicksand (oh, wikipedia it or something!) IT EFFING FITS! Third… humor me will y'all?!
The watery muck that I stepped in, that looked solid but turned out to be calf deep and sludgy was in fact quicksand! First off.. I stepped in it, I saw it and
Wednesday 5 November 2008
spirituality...erm..
Just got back from one of them extended family things in the land of my roots (a fourth of them at least). I'm still in shock! However did those roots of mine manage to cram that many temples..and each with a history and a significance ('Visesham' for those who have mothers/aunts/grans like mine) into one tiny 200 sq km area? And WHY?! Why respected forbears why?!! Could you not make do with one or two humongous temples for worship n'all?
The stay in Tiruchirapalli resurrected..and killed my spiritual side! We’ll start with the resurrection.. I absolutely loved the temple in the mallakottai fort. It wasn't at all crowded, the cross ventilation was brilliant, the view awesome, and the silence..dear god! The silence. I jSo while Amma and Periamma whizzed around looking at deities and telling each other of the miraculous phenomena that had happened at each spot, which I'm absolutely sure they knew before, I wandered around looking at the carvings, the pillars, the windows, the view from them. Tried to read the legends that were painted on the walls..some of them stories paati'd told me while I was still in 2-pigtails and frill frocks..some new ones that I'm gonna hit the nephews with if they ever ask for stories. Eventually I ended up in front of the main 'sannidhi'- Maybe it was the low tamil chanting and the breeze and the smell of incense, maybe it was what periamma refers to as 'vibrations' maybe it was just me, but something changed there. In that time I could actually believe, without qualification, without the smallest doubt that there is a god. Not that I can justify my reasoning..but just then there was no need..there was just me and this comfortable awareness.
But all that died a violent death in an hour when we went to the Srirangam temple. The architecture and the artwork was magnificent… but the crowd..it was a circus! It's just beyond me how people can believe that taking a look at the deity..after stepping painfully on countless feet, elbowing people, shoving kids around and generally risking asphyxiation in the sweat/elephant dung/rancid coconut/bat smelling crowd.. is going to benefit them..really!
So.. in retrospect.. I think my spiritual side's there.. it's rather reticent..but there nevertheless!
The stay in Tiruchirapalli resurrected..and killed my spiritual side! We’ll start with the resurrection.. I absolutely loved the temple in the mallakottai fort. It wasn't at all crowded, the cross ventilation was brilliant, the view awesome, and the silence..dear god! The silence. I jSo while Amma and Periamma whizzed around looking at deities and telling each other of the miraculous phenomena that had happened at each spot, which I'm absolutely sure they knew before, I wandered around looking at the carvings, the pillars, the windows, the view from them. Tried to read the legends that were painted on the walls..some of them stories paati'd told me while I was still in 2-pigtails and frill frocks..some new ones that I'm gonna hit the nephews with if they ever ask for stories. Eventually I ended up in front of the main 'sannidhi'- Maybe it was the low tamil chanting and the breeze and the smell of incense, maybe it was what periamma refers to as 'vibrations' maybe it was just me, but something changed there. In that time I could actually believe, without qualification, without the smallest doubt that there is a god. Not that I can justify my reasoning..but just then there was no need..there was just me and this comfortable awareness.
But all that died a violent death in an hour when we went to the Srirangam temple. The architecture and the artwork was magnificent… but the crowd..it was a circus! It's just beyond me how people can believe that taking a look at the deity..after stepping painfully on countless feet, elbowing people, shoving kids around and generally risking asphyxiation in the sweat/elephant dung/rancid coconut/bat smelling crowd.. is going to benefit them..really!
So.. in retrospect.. I think my spiritual side's there.. it's rather reticent..but there nevertheless!
Sunday 31 August 2008
Oh! for a phoonk of fresh air!
Just got back from watching 'Phoonk'. Not even remotely as scary as advertised, not an iota of intrigue value- you know who's doing what from the beginning, a tentative shot at portraying eville..which is kind of lost in the whole demented woman, bizarre makeup, skull and bones props, freak laughter deal and not particularly thought provoking…unless you'd wondered about good and evil before. All in all, I was bored, annoyed at all the noise and to say the very least, disappointed.
So by the first half hour I'd decided the movie wasn't enough entertainment. The corn and iced tea saw me though till the interval. After that the movie sort of picked up tempo.. sort of. The girl acted pretty well..it cant have been easy to play a possessed child and the whole bees pouring out of skulls and demented voodoo artist deal got your attention..even if it just made you stick your fingers in your ears or try and control the giggles. Ergo I ended up observing random people in the audience,,that was far more interesting than the whole supernatural vs science debate…or shall we say excuse for a debate.
There was this lone blonde guy..he clearly didn't know what to make of the entire thing cos he was just sitting there massaging his temples and occasionally staring into his drink. He didn't even have someone to bitch to as I was doing intermittently.Sympathy. Then there was the fat guy next to me.. he was actually scared!! I mean he'd jolt every time the creepy music hit a crescendo, gasp when the kid did her creepy eye rolling- curse growling routine, and at the majorly scary scene he actually jumped outta his seat and ran out. As a result my cousin and I were in hysterics at what was probably the film's most intense scene! Geez! Wonder if he'd have survived say..The Ring. Oh and then there were the idiots in the row behind us who'd brought their kid along..not a too-young-to-get-it kid, but a five year old who'd set up a caterwauling everytime the creepies came on screen..and understandably so. There was something being said in the movie about past trauma affecting kids' mental health…wonder if they were listening.. oh and if they ever chance on this post..if you want to give your kids nightmares (for whatever bizarre reason-I'm sure you have a good one) do it in private.. at least you won't be running the risk of having leftover iced tea thrown at you..which is what I was seriously contemplating!
The point I'm trying to make here is that it's not a great movie…and one that's best avoided unless you have an entertaining friend to take with you. And the reason I didn't say that straight out is because I needed to rant.. the whole point of a blog innit?
So by the first half hour I'd decided the movie wasn't enough entertainment. The corn and iced tea saw me though till the interval. After that the movie sort of picked up tempo.. sort of. The girl acted pretty well..it cant have been easy to play a possessed child and the whole bees pouring out of skulls and demented voodoo artist deal got your attention..even if it just made you stick your fingers in your ears or try and control the giggles. Ergo I ended up observing random people in the audience,,that was far more interesting than the whole supernatural vs science debate…or shall we say excuse for a debate.
There was this lone blonde guy..he clearly didn't know what to make of the entire thing cos he was just sitting there massaging his temples and occasionally staring into his drink. He didn't even have someone to bitch to as I was doing intermittently.Sympathy. Then there was the fat guy next to me.. he was actually scared!! I mean he'd jolt every time the creepy music hit a crescendo, gasp when the kid did her creepy eye rolling- curse growling routine, and at the majorly scary scene he actually jumped outta his seat and ran out. As a result my cousin and I were in hysterics at what was probably the film's most intense scene! Geez! Wonder if he'd have survived say..The Ring. Oh and then there were the idiots in the row behind us who'd brought their kid along..not a too-young-to-get-it kid, but a five year old who'd set up a caterwauling everytime the creepies came on screen..and understandably so. There was something being said in the movie about past trauma affecting kids' mental health…wonder if they were listening.. oh and if they ever chance on this post..if you want to give your kids nightmares (for whatever bizarre reason-I'm sure you have a good one) do it in private.. at least you won't be running the risk of having leftover iced tea thrown at you..which is what I was seriously contemplating!
The point I'm trying to make here is that it's not a great movie…and one that's best avoided unless you have an entertaining friend to take with you. And the reason I didn't say that straight out is because I needed to rant.. the whole point of a blog innit?
Monday 25 August 2008
Late night times on a telephone line..
I just got a verbal skinning from my mum for waking up mid afternoon… and I was brilliant enough to point out that I'd gone to bed only at 4am.. which only earned me another lecture (' what on earth were you doing?! Can you not accomplish that during the day when most human beings do?'). And the answer to both those questions, although I didn't give it then, is NO! because I was having one of my 4 hour long conversations with a friend.
So every once in a while I resolve to keep my conversations short and not at night, but it's just irresistible. Somehow it's just so much easier to talk at night…maybe sleep makes people garrulous… a few new year eves ago, I'd decided to start the new year in the best possible way-sleeping, but my friend N called…at that point in time I barely knew her..but we ended up having this bizarre conversation- about everything from mutual acquaintances and favourite music to flying elephants (seriously! We were discussing the possibility of generating that kind of lift!) and the class nerd's butt (grimace! Let's not go there!)..I didn't usher in 2005 in happy dreams as I' anticipated but on Jan 1st I had a new ol' pal! Let's hear it for late night conversations!
So every once in a while I resolve to keep my conversations short and not at night, but it's just irresistible. Somehow it's just so much easier to talk at night…maybe sleep makes people garrulous… a few new year eves ago, I'd decided to start the new year in the best possible way-sleeping, but my friend N called…at that point in time I barely knew her..but we ended up having this bizarre conversation- about everything from mutual acquaintances and favourite music to flying elephants (seriously! We were discussing the possibility of generating that kind of lift!) and the class nerd's butt (grimace! Let's not go there!)..I didn't usher in 2005 in happy dreams as I' anticipated but on Jan 1st I had a new ol' pal! Let's hear it for late night conversations!
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