Moonlight Becomes You

After The Kite Runner, which was one of the very few books that made a significant impact on me (more on The Kite Runner in my subsequent post), I hadn’t read in a while until Mary Higgins Clark came along. I haven’t read any books of hers before this one and being an ardent reader of whodunits, I wanted to give this book a try. It’s called Moonlight Becomes You. At first, looking at the title and all, I thought it had a lot to do with romance (the sleazy M&B kind of romance, if you know what I mean), but no, this one was a full-length crime novel that unveils itself by unraveling the mystery of continuous deaths.

However interesting Stephen King can get, I’ve never really cared to read any of his nauseating, disgusting, gross ….. (call it what you may) books. But with this particular work by Ms. Clark, I had to perpetually tell myself “Don’t forget to breathe!” What amazed me most about this book is the plot around which the storyline is woven. The author starts her tale by giving an account of a very peculiar age-old tradition which was followed by the rich in the Victorian age. Legend has it that Victorians were so afraid of being buried alive, that they used to tie a string around the finger of the dead before they were interred and the string would stretch right through the casket above the ground where they were buried. The string would then be tied to a bell. The grave would be patrolled by a guard for seven days to see if the bell rang, which would signify that the person is actually alive.

Only in this story, the young lady who has been buried alive by someone with a macabre sense of humor, in much the same manner as was done in the Victorian ages, knows for sure that there is no guard on her grave to listen to her even if she screamed out loud. The most chilling part of the narrative is when you discover that the clapper on the bell above her grave is missing, which means that however much hard she tries to tug at the string, the bell would not ring!!

I should mention that notwithstanding how repellent the above account may sound, the book sure was un-put-down-able. It grabs you from page one and never lets go of the suspense until the last chapter. I read it while on my way to Calcutta and completed it within the 30 hour train journey which included a lot of fooling around and playing cards.

My next book of Mary Higgins Clark is called “I’ll Be Seeing You” which I’m not going to be seeing or reading anytime soon. No more night-reading and no more nightmares of me getting stuck inside a chilling casket; not for another couple of months!!

Happy Birthday, iPod!

Apple iPod celebrated its 5th birthday a few days ago. When Apple launched the iPod five years ago, it claimed, that the iPod was a one stop shop for the most important of the digital devices; the digital camera, the digital camcorder, the DVD player, and portable digital music player. Over the years, the iPod has taken a lot of shapes and has gone through a lot of criticism. Well, I'm not here to comment on the iPod simply because I have never owned one.

Nevertheles, I know a lot of people that consider the iPod as God. And oddly enough I did happen to see a lot of disfavor toward this tweeny-weeny music player.

Here's a related story. (Courtesy gizmodo.com)

Showers of blessings

It is 7:50 PM and here I am, sitting at work mindlessly chatting with a friend from Bangalore but beyond all my thoughts, trying to figure out how to get back home. It has been raining non-stop for the past 3 hours and needless to say the traffic has been lousy. My work is 12 Kms away from home and I usually commute either by car or by public transport. Today of all days, I brilliantly decided to tie a saree to work and drive down by car. And now the messy rains spoil every bit of it. I’m not allowed to take my car back home. Instead, I’m suggested to leave it here, right where it is parked and get back home by public transport. With saree and all? Are u freaking kidding me?

Anyway, I haven’t been working in the last 2 hours, didn’t give a damn. Yep, have been busy Orkutting and chatting waiting for the rains to stop!

Oh Oh! Looks like it’s gonna stop any minute now. Let me get moving and see how I can make it home tonight.

Gadgets and all!!

I’m not really a gadgets person in the strict sense. I mean, I’ve never owned a laptop, a printer/scanner, microphone, webcam, a CD/DVD player, an iPod, a palmtop…and the list goes on!

The only electronic equipments that I own and use are, a home computer (that has been in my possession for the last 6 years now,) a Sony Ericsson K500i mobile phone (a year old) and a 1 GB USB flash drive (which was a gift from someone a few months ago). Oh and of course a walkman that I used when I was 12.

To continue the endless list of items that I don’t have ….. a playstation, a handycam, TV/video games, a camera, … oh wait! Maybe I do want a camera, oh yes I do. I’ve always wanted to own a digital camera and every time I decide on buying one, I run into a whole load of puzzling suggestions from ‘N’ different confused friends. Finally, when I do decide to pick up one, it either gets way beyond my budget or my dad candidly asks “Why in the hell do you need a camera?” As rightful as his question is, I’ve honestly never found an answer to it. I guess it is just the fact that all my friends own one and it has almost become a style statement! You own a digital camera, you’re cool. Really!!

Anyway, parents of a friend of mine, Prasita, are off to Dubai to visit their elder daughter this time of the year and I thought it was a good idea to get them to buy a digicam for me on their way back here. What with the Dubai Shopping Festival and all, I’m hoping it would cost me a little lesser!?! Don’t you think? I did my bit of research which mostly consisted of gawking at some of the high-end models (read cameras) that looked sexy. Remember, I don’t give a tinker’s damn about their specifications, features, et al. When I looked at them, sexy was the word on my mind.

With a little guidance from a friend (read a LOT of guidance from a friend,) I tried to figure out the specs required for a digital cam for someone like me who doesn’t know shit about cameras or lenses. Anyway, the most important things to look for while selecting one (verbatim from a friend): zoom range, macro range, purple hinges (purple what?), color reproduction (oookkk!?! But how?), shutter speed, aperture etc, etc,. I almost got exhausted, trying to compare all of these. Finally, I narrowed down on 3 models; all Canon Powershots and zeroed down on one of them; it’s a Canon Powershot SD700 IS. I have no clue how much it costs right now, but I know I’m not spending more than 12,000 Indian rupees on any of these babies!!!

Nevertheless, I’m still gonna have to go through the ordeal of asking my dad if it’s ok to spend so much on a digital camera.

Wish me luck and comment with any suggestions on my digital cruise!

Yip Yip Yip Yip Yippiiiieee!!!

If you knew me from childhood, you’d agree that I could go “Yip Yip Yip Yip Yippiiiieee” at the drop of a hat! But no, this time I’m really elated. And, this is not one of those occasions when, if it rained hard one morning, I’d exclaim “Yip Yip Yip Yip Yippiiiieee, no school today!!” No no! This time I get a chance to show that one paper with scribbled signatures and government stamps all over it, which states that I possess an LLR!!!!

Ok? So what? Does it mean that if I crash my car, I can now claim insurance? Lest my dad hears it, he’ll never let me touch that car again with my fingernail.

Anyway, it was on a Monday after the Deepavali weekend that I decided to go to the RTO to apply for my Learner’s License, and dad’s first words were “Aaha! Today is not a good idea; they’ll expect more money than ever. You’ll get sandwiched between the two festivals, Deepavali and Eid!” But yeah, like I cared about it.

Nonetheless, after spending 40 something minutes in front of the Ashok Nagar RTO gates trying to fill various forms (all of which made little sense to me) I went upstairs and paid Rs. 30 for the application. Once that was over, I found myself standing in front of the Sub-inspector (or so I was told) trying to get him to scribble his name on those dotted lines where it said 'Issuing Authority’s Signature.'

The most amusing part of the whole process was the written test. The test paper is given to you, along with the cheat sheet sitting right in front of you. Psst, they don’t want you to get the idea that in the event of paying 30 bucks you MAY or MAY NOT get an LLR. Luckily for me, the answers were all in numbers (printed in English) which made it easier for me to do away with reading the question paper which was evidently in Tamil. The whole test process was over in 20 seconds. I scored 8 correct answers out of 10 questions after having made 2 intentional mistakes. And Viola, all of a sudden, without having to shell a penny out of my pocket to any of these 40 year old potbelly men, I had the required paper in my hands. So, why didn't I try doing this much earlier? Plain lazinesses!!

Anyway, the LLR is valid for 6 months after which I need to apply for a permanent one. However, after a minimum period of 1 month, I can go ahead and get myself a regular Driving License.

More on my permanent license one month from now! :)

Scary, ain't it?

Mum and Dad have been actively looking out for a groom for my elder sis. Almost every evening, the three of them position themselves in front of the computer and exploit the internet scanning through the various matrimonial sites. I usually burst out laughing at some of the wired pictures these prospective grooms post (belive me, "burst out laughing" is an understatement.) During one such incident, my sister gave me a glare and said two simple things:

“Stop laughing! You are looking at your future Brother-in-laws.” My my, how many BIL’s am I actually gonna have?

AND

“Remember, the ones that get discarded, will be the ones that will be considered for you!”

Now, which one is scary? The former or the latter?

Deepavali and Cops

Why? Why? Why do I get to see traffic cops milling around the city of Chennai only during the festive season? As devoted as they are to their work, you can spot these 40 something Sergeants, standing right in the middle of all the four-road intersections; come rain or shine. And mind you, Chennai doesn’t see a lot of rain, but during Deepavali, the city sees an awful lot of rains. And I choose to call it ‘awful’ since Chennai rains aren’t really friendly.

So what really is with Deepavali and traffic cops? They sure aren’t helping regulate traffic. Nooooooooooo!!!! (That’s like the longest No.) If there’s anything they’d ease out, it would only be of a little extra buck from your pocket. And that’s precisely what one of them wanted from me yesterday.

I was at a traffic light waiting with the impatient crowd to take a turn into Taramani to get to work last morning. Oh, did I tell you I’m brilliant? You’ll see! I took off in my car in the second gear and needless to say, the car wouldn’t move an inch and it stopped, leaving all the vehicles behind mine honking away. Ain’t I brilliant? I told ‘ya!!!

Anyway, good ol’ uncle spotted me and asked me to pull over. I did as told. He came over and asked me for my license. I gave him that perplexed expression and went “What license?” Can you imagine the look on his face? Nope, not the “Are you freaking kidding me?” look. It was the “O’course I know!” look. Out came daddy to my rescue from the passenger seat and spoke to uncle for a couple of minutes. He got back into the car and didn’t utter a word. I drove off in jittery silence. Later, I asked him if maybe he should take over. He said it was nothing and that I shouldn’t worry about it.

Dad waits till I drive into my office, park the car in the allotted slot in the second deck, and then artfully says “Now that he has noted down the plate, he’s gonna catch you another time when I’m not around!” :

PS: I’m getting my license sooooooon.

First Post

Honestly, I do not know what should be my first post. I've been wanting to blog since a long time now, and sure-enough each time I want to start, something much more interesting or important would pop up and that would be the end of my bloglust (for a brief 24 hours). Aaah! Well, that would be me, a typical Gemini; cannot focus on one single activity for an extended period of time. That would typically mean anywhere between 5 and 6 minutes!!!!

And then again, I'd wonder what befell of my craving to write. Anyway, if you are here, be ready to read my ramble and comment on them.