What is luck?

Success tastes sweeter after him. We combat with him everyday. We also become stronger as he becomes an integral part of our lives. Before puzzling the readers anymore, his name is "struggle". Now guys you would want to scoff at me for categorizing struggle as masculine. That's unintentional however.

Nothing comes easy. From a cup a caffeine at Starbucks to cracking the IAS. Nothing really comes easy. But does it ever deter us from trying? does it ever stop us from fighting? No. According to me, there are a lot of factors behind this relentless struggle to struggle with struggle. One, it is in our blood to do so. If man needs something, he does everything to get it. Now whether cosmos lends him a helping hand is a different issue altogether. Nevertheless, he tries. Two, as days pass by , his desire to achieve, to conquer, to enjoy, to seek happiness grows. It becomes the trigger to tireless effort.

Well, I dont wish to discuss how life is a struggle all the time, or how it is really survival of the fittest. This is something different, something more positive than hardships. Albeit man tries hard, there is a point of time when he is not able to push himself further. That is precisely the time, your desires turn to reality. I am not claiming this happens all the time. But with me, it has happened quite a few times. Its a great feeling when your reality embraces you rather than hit you hard , right? It was just another day at work, I was getting back home pretty late, and I was beat. Totally. I dragged myself to walk to the elevator. Usually there is a huge rush at the elevator, and it takes some time to get free again. So people rush to the elevator. But this time, it was beyond me.. as I dragged myself , I saw people running past me to get to the open elevator. My mind instructed me to run too, but my legs cheated on me. Succumbing to the circumstance, I decided to let go and wait for a couple more minutes to get on to the next coach. But to my surprise, someone in the lift was holding the lift open because she heard some footsteps. I was overjoyed. It may be a really small thing, but I tend to read into it a lot. I look for signs from God. The lady in the coach was God for me at that time. What do I call this, luck? Or coincidence? Or is coincidence happening at the opportune moment called luck? Or am I just over pondering ? I dint know. All I knew was , I was tired, and someone helped me.

Another incident that took me by surprise was, when me and my friend traveled to another city to do some shopping. I should admit, not only shopping, but also hogging at the great Saravana Bhavan. when I was in chennai, I used to consider it boring to eat at HSB. Ah and now!
We got off at the train station and realized to our dismay that it would be impossible to walk on highways! seriously, there was no pavement, we walked on a thin strip of edge on the sides of the road. To top this, we dint know the way to HSB. We walked through forest like places, small mountains, bed of stones and what not. Asking every person on the road the path to our destination. We would have walked atleast 1/2 a mile, when we reached a deserted mall building. Some shops were sealed, while others were closed. It was not a pretty sight at all! I began to moan and my friend was trying to quiten me , when we spotted "Hotel Saravana Bhavan" next to the sealed shops. I let out a cry of relief...it was joy as that of mountaineers reaching the peak of the mountain. The difference? Mountaineers know how to get there. But we did not. we just happened to land at the right place! Aint that great? And the rest is history.. we hogged...and hogged...and hogged...finally ended it with sweet pan.

Conclusion? sometimes god says to man : " my dear man, here is what you want . Enjoy! ". And he makes our day :)

This is New York City baby!

I love NYC : Apart from the fact that you find many T-shirts saying this, there is absolute truth in it. I love NYC and I can say this a zillion times to any human hailing from the West Coast. Alright , WC has great weather , and tonnes of other goodies.. but NYC is FUN. Nothing can beat it. Its also stress and whole load of other things which appear miniscular against the mammoth fun element. Truly the city that never sleeps, it has all kinds of people doing all kinds of things at all times. Anyone living in and around NYC would agree with me.
Out of all the never ending list of NYC s charms, what fascinates me, will continue to fascinate me is the energy of the people that walk on the streets. Just a very simple observation: At about 8.15 AM , observe the way people get to work, the pace at which they walk. Its fast. Really fast. Fast enough that you run a risk of being "run over" by another 2 legged creature. You are sure to be caught unawares when you discover that you walk at the same pace too! Time ticks faster in this lovely city. For people who enjoy fast lives, its a treat.
I was flipping through my notes from long ago when I found this poem that I wrote ,during a rather "interesting" class... :

Buzzling streets and flashing lights
Sweetened nuts and subway bites
Black, white, brown and red
Emily, Chang, Vishal and Fred
Thousand feet scurrying towards rat holes
Immortal trains , police patrols
A race that truly has no winner
A land of faster clocks, busier people that party harder
Money works and people dream pretty
Welcome to the "New York City"!

Have a great week ahead.

Ada hi ada hai!

It has consumed me, it has spoilt me , it has destroyed me. The mellifluous voices, the strings , the beats, the mood , the colour , its really everything.. truly a journey in his life. Without any further delay......... I am talking about AR Rahman's Ada. An album that dint take me by surprise or awe at first, but grew on me..until its no more me..its just Ada.. A very good listen when you are alone in your room at night. Rahman has it in him to transform simple tunes to fabulous numbers. My pick in the album is Ishq Ada hai. Well I cant stop being in awe.. fair enough guys!!

I am eagerly awaiting Kuselan's audio . I should say GV Prakash is talented, but he cant deny the fact that he has Rahman's influence in his music. He could do better with a little more humility. Ah well! lots of people could!! :) Another noteworthy album of recent times is Jeyam Kondein. It is a neat one, Vidysagar has done what he does best always : melody, the selling point of the album. One of my all time favourites is "Pinju Mazhai Chaaral" from Varnajaalam. The innocence in the song cant be drawn parallels to. For some strange reason at this moment I am reminded of "Poi Solla" from April Madatthil..another number close to my heart.

Music stages a halt in my life, music keeps me going, music is everything... thanks to God for this wonderful creation!

Mixed Thoughts

I have been pondering over this ever since distance grew like an animal between me and one of my really close friends. Yes, there were a couple of burns, but we werent friends that would heed to them. Or was it just me?
We did college together, lived close by,did all fun things together in India. In the US, I was in constant touch with her, and we would meet at every opportunity we get. Suddenly things went a little sour..for reasons which I cant write about, distance started growing. And its been growing ever since. Truth hits me rather hard, it does take effort to maintain relationships..

Anyways, getting to brighter things in life. Lets see.. good weather today in NY, works been not too hectic, no major roadblocks for sometime(touchwood), got a toothache though( I know, it sucks).
I have developed a strange liking..or should I say obsession for the mega soap opera "Arasi". I know , dont laugh at me guys..I am really not the "housewife" sorts! But wonder why!! I never watched this when I was in Chennai..but off late, since about 2 months, I look forward to getting back home just to watch this! Thanks to techsatish, he loads up every episode promptly. I dont feel ashamed to say I am in love with the serial.For one its not the usual mother-in-law D-I-L gimmicks, nor is it a drama about entangled and convoluted relationships. The story is pretty racy ( I should commend Radhika for this), and most importantly it moves fairly fast. Hence ..justified :)

Tip for today: Pour oil on heated pan, it spreads better, thus requiring less oil
Chau

Long time now!

Yup, I am going to sound cliched. It has been a really long time since I blogged. I have been busy working, studying, cleaning,catching flies, counting stars, ya ya ya! I would never want to give time as an excuse, however, its probably the most convenient reasons to give. Oh well, pushing that aside... what have I got on my plate.. training project due in few weeks, graduation, vacation.. sounds great? Weather is getting nicer day by day at NY. Its a relief from those cold gloomy winters that hardly see the sun. I watched "Arai En 305-il Kadavul". The promos had created so much enthusiasm , but the movie failed to make an impact. Barring couple of things. Its an in and out Prakash Raj flick. He is ,needless to say, amazing. How god does not own up for being the cause of superstitions, when Santhanam points a finger at God for creating a world full of chaos: god saying those were man's so called "developments", were impressive thoughts. Though the movie may sound "preachy" , the script is the shining star. Worth watching once. However Santhanam and Ganja karuppu have been underused. Although its refreshing to see Santhanam in his new avatar, one tends to miss his slapstick comedy. If you think the movie is going to push you off your seats laughing...., then tough, you are sadly mistaken.

A major disappointment : Dasavatharam music album. I was really looking forward to this, thinking there must have been reason for the director to book Himesh Reshammiya for music. I knew it, it just wouldnt fit. With all due respect to Himesh Ji, he cant feel the pulse of South Indian audience. Ravikumar, who has always been smart in his choices, has miserably failed this time. None of the songs sound good.

On the other hand, Dhaam Dhoom by Harris Jayraj has really gotten my adrenalin rising.
Although its the typical Harris album with one soft number by Bombay jayshree, one whacky number,one chirpy number, songs are fantastic. Pudhu Pudhu sounds a bit like the Nammavar song (without instruments one). My pick of the album is Thikku THikku. Style at its peak. Haricharan has emoted in Azhiyile. I am eager to see Kangana!

Thats it for now, market still doing badly, my room continues to be messy, I continue to hate my cooking...ah well, some things are meant to be constant eh?!

Keep smiling.

What remains..

Failure is the stepping stone for success. But success itself is the tonic for success. I feel so. A little success , a little admiration, or little appreciation acts as a powerful trigger. Holds good for everything.. doesnt it? A person desperately trying to loose pounds needs to see himself progress towards the goal. An actor needs some appreciation for him to take up more challenging roles. A student needs to do hear.. "good job!" from his parents for him to continue burning the midnight oil. And a blogger...? Needs more readers and more views posted on his blog.  I am 
extremely thankful to all my readers who have truly been
 one of my main sources of encouragement. Thanks to the new addition Vasanthi! 
Hope we have more interchange of pleasant thoughts in future!

Yet another year passes by. I hate the feeling of growing older! For some strange reason , college days seem to be too long long ago. Although its not so bad :)  As time rolls, we tend to forget our lives scene by scene. What remains are memories. How much importance do we give to them? Do we cherish them? Or do we live life by its day, do what we have to do and move on? Do we have a way of recording memories? Videos, photographs? Memories are in a way reflections of ourselves. 
What gives us most happiness, what/whom we love most etc. I have this wierd habit of looking through my Pictures folder very often. Gives me immense satisfaction, as if I am living those happy moments again. To be candid, I prefer 
hard copies of photographs anyday coz they are more  real! 
Sometimes I wish I could turn back time.. well well cant expect a Utopian world can I?
Memories need not be joyful, infact I strongly feel that sorrowful memories remain in my heart for a longer time than the joyous ones. But every memory is a lesson learnt. I think the best we could do with the not-so-happy-memories is self analysis. Understand and never repeat the same again. Ofcourse this does not apply to those sad memories which weren't under our control. This is what I have been trying to implement. Its amazing 
to find that we encounter similar situations as what we had encountered before. 
 By being aware of our previous errors,we can easily avoid Himalayan blunders, heart burns and unpleasantness uncalled for. 
Chau