Wednesday, January 24

SRK in the hot seat, KBC

Generally, a quiz or contest is strenuous for the participants - for the first time, one faces a nervous quiz master - King khan !
Before I go on with the review, let me clarify my stance - I'm neither a fan of SRK nor that of Big B. I like most of their movies and have nothing against them as well !
How do u say that he is nervous? Well, I've never seen him sweating in any advertisement or movie, unless after a screen fight! Yesterday, he was in sweat . It was a pity when the contestant asked for a shoulder massage to relieve his stress from a guy who was more stressed than him! But, this is a new role and anyone would be under tremendous pressure -so, what's wrong with it?
I've only one point against him - he "acts" instead of being a quiz master! Whether his pronouncing the friend's name "Venky", trying his shayari , speaking in Tamil "idli saaptiya" instead of Telugu (Somehow, most of the North indians think that the whole of south indians are Madrasis!) or gifting a watch (Was that "Tag Huer", a brand he endorses ??Lucky !) or his jumping onto the seat - clearly, he was acting !
Donno if that's the best way of conducting the show, I definitely want to admire him for the sheer efforts taken by him to put his best foot forward ! Inspite of his age, he was running around and tried his best to woo all the audiences - be it Bangla, Telugu or Haryani !
Come-on SRK, continue to do ur best and entertain us !
After all, this show is more of infotainment than a typical quiz!

Saturday, January 20

Do legends wither away with time ?

This question pops up when I feel sad on hearing something against some of the great legends of our time...
Today morning to pep up my Saturday & drive away the blues (yeah, its a working day, unfortunately!!), I was playing the latest flicks of the legendary AR.Rahmann.
By default it is 'Guru' on my HT and started exercising, only to pause immediately!

After 4-5 times of listening to the album, I'd started liking it! Rahman has always been criticised that his audience needs patience and that his albums start selling after an initial lull. That was till he became a brand of his own! Now, the CDs get sold easily and that the lull is shifted to the consumer - He/She gets to enjoii the music later!
This is true for 90% of his movies ! In the past, i used to brush away this comment saying that he expects more from an immature audience and that it takes time for an average guy to rise up to the level of the album music. Is this still correct?
The next allegation is that his songs are lifted or taken or "inspired" from something heard somewhere - be it his own music or others!!Letz checkout the latest Guru which boasts of 7 songs.
Barso Re - Sing 'na na na re na re' : just add 'oh hum dum suniyo re' and it becomes his own 'Saatiya' song ! Full credits to Shreya Ghoshal for the captivating rendering of the song.

Ay Hairathe:
Jugal Hansraj in 'Ghar se nikhalte hi' song comes in front of me when I hear this song!

The popular Nusrat's song is remoulded : When i turned the cover of the CD, I realised that this song was a tribute to Nusrat! Ways of respecting someone & still filling one's pocket!!

The counter Q is : Are we expecting too much from fellow-humans?

My song of the day...

To Love a Woman (Enrique Iglesias with Lionel Richie)
ENRIQUE:
I don't know what it is, but she drives me crazy!
I don't know what she does, but she drives me wild!
I know that she can let me be the man that I want to be,
Or she can leave me helpless as a child.

LIONEL:
I don't know how it is, but she has the power.
She can make me laugh when I want to cry.
She tells me that I'm in control, but I know it's just a lie.

TOGETHER:
And I don't mind, no!

Will she love you tomorrow like she loves you today?
She can keep your heart guessing,
But she's yours if she stays.
That's what if feels like to love a woman.
To love a Woman.

ENRIQUE:
When you're lookin' in her eyes you can see forever.
(forever)
You're captured by the beauty of her soul.
(oh, yea)

LIONEL:
You know you're never gonna find a woman like this again,

TOGETHER:
So don't let go. (don't let go!)

Will she love you tomorrow like she loves you today?
She can keep your heart guessing,
But she's yours if she stays.
And that's what if feels like to love a woman.
Oh, to love a Woman.

Oh, she can make your day.
Oh, she can take it all away (take it all away)
Oh, whether it is wrong or right
you know that it in the end, you'd do it all again
To love a woman.
Just to love a woman.
mmm - hhhmmm

(short music)

oh, you know
Yes I know, Yes I know

Will she love you tomorrow like she loves you today? (when she loves you)
She can keep your heart guessing,
But she's yours if she stays. (who knows if she'll stay?)
And that's what if feels like (oh, I wanna say)
That's what it feels like (what it feels like)
And that's what it feels like to love a woman.
To love a Woman.
Oh yea, just to love a woman.

Friday, January 19

Indian food - Know ur calorie intake...

A list of widely eaten daily Indian food :

Item:Weight:Quanity:KiloCalories
---------------------------------
Almonds:100 g::655
Amla :100 g::58
Apple :100 g::59
Banana :100 g::116
Bengal gram dhal :100 g::372
Black gram dhal :100 g::347
Bread White toast::2 slices:176
Bread Brown::2 slices:218
Brinjal :100 g::24
Buttermilk:-:1 glass:25
Cabbage :100 g::27
Carrot :100 g::48
Cashewnut :100 g::596
Cauliflower :100 g::30
Chapati flour:40 g::100
Cheese :100 g::348
Cheese pizza:100 g:5 '' dia:270
Cucumber :100 g::13
Dates :100 g::317
Dosa (plain)::3 medium:360
Green gram dhal :100 g::348
Groundnut :100 g::567
Guava :100 g::51
Idli::3 big:130
Kaju Katli::1 piece:58
Ladies finger :100 g::35
Mango ripe :100 g::74
Methi leaves :100 g::49
Milk - buffalo :100 g::117
Milk - cow :100 g::67
Murruku::7 - 8 medium:529
Onion :100 g::59
Papaya - ripe :100 g::32
Peas :100 g::315
Plain rice:50 g:1cupful:150
Potato :100 g::97
Puri flour:15 g:1:100
Ragi :100 g::328
Rice (parboiled) :100 g::346
Rice raw :100 g::345
Sambar::0.5cup:105
Samosa:100 g:1 piece:400
Soyabean :100 g::432
South Indian Adai::2 medium:550
Sweet potato :100 g::120
Tomato ripe :100 g::20
Uthappam::2 big:330
Water melon :100 g::16

Acknowledgement: Collected from different websites :-) Hope they are authentic!

Ever been on a "diet?"

I'm on a self-claimed dieting process to shed the extra pounds hanging on me, only that I tend to eat more than my usual normal amount.
The poorly fed stomach keeps on asking for more and the craving for snacks is on the rise!
Did a big research on the calories permitted, intake and burning patterns, meal plan etc etc only to keep calculating the KiloCalories!!
The more I walk, more I feel hungry. Most of the experts ask u to many small meals. Imagine me snacking all the time in office ! Do u think I 'd have the patience, planning & time to buy healthy snacks that are tasty too ? I end up munching chocos, chips, bhel, biscuits instead and gulp down tea whenever i feel like eating something!
What is the way out?
I'm trying a different approach - Burn more calories and continue eating the normal food. And more importantly, keep track of ur calorie-intake. Literally write down in a pocket-diary every time u eat that sinful chocolate or relish a black tea! Like a balance sheet, jot down the physical activities that exert energy!
Let me wait for 3 weeks and give u guys an update, if this simple exercise is fruitful. Keeping my fingers crossed & chanting my calories !

Tuesday, January 9

Penny wise

Guess, what I did today morning? Since the curtains 'd gathered enof dust, I had the noble thot of cleaning them before I rushed to work.
So, early in the morng, I pulled down the hall curtains and dumped them in the washing machine… Since the mac wasn't overloaded, I filled with some heavy-washable stuff like socks and powered it on…
Only after a minute did I wonder what if the colors from the bright curtains decide to switch places !!
Though it was a late thought, it happened to be a latest one :-(
After an hour when I pulled put the clothes, my red-white socks have become orange-red, the white teddies on my dress became pale & the green in pyjamas into something else !!
Next time, if u wanna dye any of ur clothes, let me know - the other curtains in the house are awaiting their bath !!

Monday, January 8

The art of gifting

Everytime I wanna gift any of my loved ones, I undergo a trauma in choosing an apt one!

On the onset of the occassion, I start thinking on the goal of the gift - whether it is utility value or cuteness or fashionable or price tag and after some days, settle on nothing & leave it to the item selection process!

Well, here are few Dos & Dont's I came up with :
1. Basically, the gift should be of some use to the person being gifted (Exceptions are highly socialising gifts during weddings of not-soclose ones), in addition to expressing love.

2. The item should not be a duplicate to the person receiving it & definitely not redundant.

3. The gift should have some element of novelty to it - how many times will u gift a wallet to ur bro'?

4. The gift should not be a very common daily-use product. Thou' my mom loves milkshake, its not a good idea to gift her Strawberry Syrup.

5. Choose if you want the budget to be fixed or the gift idea

6. Plan early - esp, in items that have to be shipped or ordered

7. When gifting personal things like clothes or shoes, go for a gift hamper instead!

8. Know the readers' interests before settling for books - C&H maynot be the best for all, thou' you might vouch for it.

9. Above all, add a personal touch to the gift - with a sign or sticker etc

10. DO give it on time !

Shocking to know ...

One more psychopath or cannibal who has been feeding on children without being caught? Sends a chill down the spine !
A basic reason is that all human lives are no longer being valued equally ?
I'm not too sure if they were valued earlier also :-(
With the Noida starting a list, there are more such headlines hitting the media ...
Sincerely hoping that the list stops here !

Friday, January 5

Monies

Come Jan and the topics tax planning & investments make a beeline in almost every news/business channel, newspaper, magazines(even in Stardust), egroups, all forums, email forwards, tea-break chats, dinner discussions etc etc...
I'm also a target of these attacks and in the process of getting confused from the hazar options starting the conventional NSC to the latest ELSS and more than the funds the acronyms seem to take their toll!

Q for the day: Why do the AMCs(this abbrv is to show off my knowledge in this topic) name their 10s or 100s of funds in an utterly confusing and totally uninteresting manner ??
Would any of the fund managers turn to be different (atleast in naming their new fund babies in the new year) ?

Resolutions...

I've been wondering how the practice of new year resolutions started ...
From Wiki, I learn that the resolutions trace back to BC and that a mythical king by name Janus (from whom January should've got its name!!) is the known originator !
With two faces, Janus could look back on past events and forward to the future. Janus became the ancient symbol for resolutions and many Romans looked for forgiveness from their enemies and also exchanged gifts before the beginning of each year.

Hey, Janus is the god of beginnings and the guardian of doors and entrances.
Looks like, he is the Roman version of Indian "Ganesha or Pillayar" :-)

Returning to the topic of resolutions, lot of articles & dedicates websites are available - to help one to come up with ideas, how to resolve, how to keep up resolutions, how not to break them etc etc..
Aren't resolutions taken by an individual to improve one's own self, for one's own benefit??
If so, why is there a need for external motivation or push(that is a better word) ??
Let me stop with that question to ponder !!

BTW, the Roman year didnot begin with Jan, right?
& a very happy new year!!!