Metti Oli

Last week while waiting at some place, I was forced to watch the pre-conclusion discussion of 'metti oli', the mega tamil serial. 'I cant be seen watching this', I said frantically, begging the lady to change channels. She along with her friends gave me a 'are you nuts' look. This was after all The Conclusion. The had a panel of actors and actresses from the serial and posed them questions like why 'they' behaved in such and such manner. It all seemed a lot to do with a bunch of women getting slapped and a bunch of evil mother-in-laws becoming good. There were calls from fans, dialling in from all over - from mumbai to marakkanam, full of adoration - "I havent missed a single episode" - considering there were about a thousand episode, I think it is quite an achievement.

Lest you misunderstand this post to be snobbery against mega serial fans, let me assure you I dont think the callers any different from the bunch of fans dressed as troopers from Star Wars descending on the theater for the premiere. And heck, I wouldnt mind if a bunch of people were to call me and gush about not missing a single one of my bon mots. Nor do I think the producers of the serials are to be blamed. Its a question of demand and supply. If you demand drivel in heavy doses every evening, thats what you will get.

Star wars

I am watching star wars movies in the order they were released. It is interesting to watch them again, armed with the knowledge of the prequels. Obviously Lucas hadnt yet thought all the stories through, which makes it interesting to watch from trivia perspective. For example, the battle between Obi-Wan and Darth Vader in episode IV can be said to be too timid..., you wonder why Luke was given the last name Skywalker considering what happened... etc.Ofcourse all this little things can be explained away...

I realized watching episode IV again what a brilliant stroke Han Solo's character was. The right amount of skepticism, heroism, humour, arrogance.. apparently my most favourite line was ad-libbed by Ford. Princess Leia declares her love to the about to be frozen Han and he responds with a stark simplicity - 'I know'. There is a mixture of agony, love, helplessness.. in the 'I know'. Its good they let him ad-lib.

Sujatha

Sujatha seems to have caused ripples with his poignant, frank, casual essay on aging, retiring neurons, death and faith among other things. That he had managed humour in it and that it affected different folks in different levels is ofcourse very commonplace for Sujatha. Most of his brilliant works are similar.

But look at the essay next week. He brings in Vasanth with a joke or two completely in contrast to last week and is especially impressive in his ability to not fall into a trap of monotony. He can look at his own essay, change the tone and manage to be young at heart despite his claim of old-age.

Sunnyvale

Visited the SFO Bay area for a short while. My friend had come to pick me up and as we got out of the maze and smoothly merged into the freeway, I watched the cars gliding silkily on the asphalt, the relatively clean air whipped my face and I exclaimed involuntarily - 'God, I miss this place'. My friend quirked an eyebrow - 'so there is still hope to persuade you to come back!'. I replied - 'People cursed to see both sides of things can be persuaded to do anything'. After a pause I grinned, 'Or not'.

Did my pilgrimage to the library - my favorite guy had still not finished his burger or the book. Now we have to pay money for renting out the DVDs. Could it have to do with the shortage of government funding. It didn't bode well. I remember marveling at a homeless man, with his scanty possession, watching a video in one of the many booths with free players, on a cold afternoon in San Jose library. That was one brief moment when I understood why some thought USA was heaven. I know the irony of the sentence.

Tuesday roses

I slept in late today. After a lethargic, cool morning, I enjoyed a quiet breakfast sitting amidst the tall trees in a neighboring park. Wind blew, whispering sweet nothings. April showers are especially welcome. It comes when you are longing for rain after the scorching sun. A stray whirlwind lifted the yellow and the purple flowers and the litter as well, tossed it all up with the exuberance of a naughty child on summer holidays and settled it all lining the road. I looked at the carpet lining the road, sighed and walked back, glad to have stopped on a tuesday morning to smell the roses.