Whats in a name

I saw Orhan Pamuk's My name is red in the library and wanted to read it. I am curious about his book as I have heard much about him here and there. I admit that the work of Nobel laureates has ever been beyond my understanding.

Dont you think Orhan has a nice sound to it! Few months back I met a sweet Turkish lady with twinkling greyish blue eyes, whose husband's name was Orhan and she pronounced it very musically (OrHAAN). Maybe her affection to him also added to the charm.

A name defines the identity of a person, and so is a very important thing to that person. Names have character too.
And when someone doesnt even take the time to pronounce it right or spell it right, even when they know the person quite well, it is not right. At least I get very annoyed. You are not my friend until you know how I spell my name and how I expect you to pronounce it.

Some people have very beautiful names, many a times influenced by the local culture. For instance, what is Maitri or Maitreyi in other languages is Moitri in Bongland, sanjay is Shonjoy, or Kajal is Kajol.
He he sometimes the local language screws up the name too. Eg. in Tamil (Tamizh), maha is not accepted. So Mahalakshmi is Magalakshmi. This is a Tamilian enough name so it sounds nice. But when Zahera (ZAAhayRaa) changes to Jageera or Jagara, I draw the line :-D

As an aside, I realised that lately I have been giving very corny titles to my posts - Moving Movies, Post Mortem, Castles in the air! and whats in a name :-D Kya karen mamu, bheja chutti pe gayela hai and waise bhi creativity thodi apun k reach k baahar hai :-D

Anyway, another fantasy series I discovered is Septimus Heap by Angie Sage. The first part is called Magyk, and next one lined up is Flyte. It is an interesting read. Good timepass.

Moving movies!

I finally got to see Jillunu Oru Kaadhal in OAT. Rather suffered through it. Everything was in excess. Lots of editing would have made it watchable. Our feelings alternated between Yewww ugh and gaawwd. This is the story- Surya marries Jyothika and lives happily, Jyothika one day finds out about Surya's 1st love Bhoomika and since J loves S so much, she brings B back for him. B and S spend one whole day together, roaming shopping, boozing, dancing, screaming, dining and just when they reach the bed, J wakes up from her dream. Come on!! Major lesson if you ever plan to make a film - never make anybody dream a full 24 hour day! It grates on the nerves. Only Ekta Kapoor has the exclusive rights to such insanities.
What a waste of good Rehman music!

In my opinion, even Guru was not that great. Maybe we have seen many such rags to riches stories on screen. Moreover, there was an artificial look about it, as if it was meant to impress. A collection of punchlines.

Few days back, Departed was screened in OAT. For an Oscar winner, I didn't find it impressive. We came out with the feeling that if the actor (Leo) had watched Hindi movies, he would have been aware of the traps laid out for him :-D Or maybe if we had paid attention to the dialogues in between the f***s, we would have liked it. Do dark, gloomy backdrops and abusive language guarantee an Oscar?

I missed watching Blood Diamond in OAT. Everyone tells me it was good. There is this genre of movies recently that highlight certain issues and still do not make one feel miserable. I mean without being pathetically depressing, they tell the facts in a detached, documentary-style manner like Motorcycle diaries or Constant Gardner. Maybe it is not a recent thing, just that I noticed them recently.

A friend suggested "12 angry men" as a good movie. Looking out for it. Apparently, it is about focussing on an idea rather than the emotions around it. There is a word for it which eludes me now - ad something

Castles in the air

Chennai got to see a spectacular air show on the 22nd of April on the Marina Beach. More details and colourful pictures can be found here and here.
Since we live quite close to the beach, we got to see the Jaguars and SuryaKirans flying above our terrace at close quarters :-D Too late, we decided to go to the beach and see the show. Thats when we realised that a very huge crowd had turned up to watch the air show.
We got to see the Akash Ganga team (paratroopers) landing from a distance. Unfortunately, that was the tail end of the show. We did get to experience the huge crowd. It was a hassle getting back home.
But a memorable show :-) If watching the aircrafts is this thrilling, how would flying them feel like!!

I submitted my thesis last week and have been hibernating since then.
I watched a lot of nice sweet movies like Honeymoon Travels, Just married, Mistress of Spices, Jo jeeta wahi sikander. Pl suggest some more nice sweet movies that I can watch.

Movies are a good escape from the real world. I am very close to abandoning my hazaaron khwahishein :-)

Post-mortem! :-D

Hurray my thesis will be submitted in a week, though its 2 months behind schedule. I no longer know why it was so delayed, even when the first draft was ready in Jan. I admit its more polished, but the content is not different from what it was then. Maybe it suffered the same fate that my PhD did. In the quest for a "good solid" thesis, it took me 5 years to complete. Now I don't know what to do with this "good solid thesis". I think I hate it. Maybe I'll appreciate it after a couple of years. Not now.
We friends were thinking that we did crib a lot these 5 years but we enjoyed these days too :-) I have seen many people who are passionate about their work. We were never so. So we found easy outlets when something didn't work like impromptu visits to the theaters, a few fun trips, trying out different cuisines, lots of books and innumerable movies.
Now that everyone is settling down, I still am clueless about what to do next. Sort of waiting for the thunderbolt :-)
Sometime, maybe I'll jot down a few of the crazy things we did. A diary of sorts to say been there, done that.
Till then. have a lovely day :-)

A fwd

I have CtrlC-CtrlVed this forward. Hilarious :-)
"
After every flight, Qantas pilots fill out a form called a gripe sheet, which conveys to the mechanics problems encountered with the aircraft during the flight that need repair or correction. The engineers read and correct the problem, and then respond in writing on the lower half of the form what remedial action was taken, and the pilot reviews the gripe sheets before the next flight. Never let it be said that ground crews and engineers lack a sense of humor. Here are some actual logged maintenance complaints and problems as submitted by Qantas pilots and the solution recorded by maintenance engineers. Btw ... Qantas is the only major airline that has never had a major accident.
(P = the problem logged by the pilot
S = the solution and action taken by the engineers)

P: Left inside main tire almost needs replacement.
S: Almost replaced left inside main tire.
P: Test flight OK, except auto-land very rough.
S: Auto-land not installed on this aircraft.
P: Something loose in cockpit.
S: Something tightened in cockpit.
P: Autopilot in altitude-hold mode produces a 200 feet per minute descent.
S: Cannot reproduce problem on ground.
P: Evidence of leak on right main landing gear.
S: Evidence removed.
P: DME volume unbelievably loud.
S: DME volume set to more believable level.
P: Friction locks causes throttle levers to stick.
S: That's what they're there for.
P: IFF inoperative.
S: IFF always inoperative in OFF mode.
P: Suspected crack in windshield.
S: Suspect you're right.
P: Number 3 engine missing.
S: Engine found on right wing after brief search.
P: Aircraft handles funny.
S: Aircraft warned to straighten up, fly right, and be serious.
P: Target radar hums.
S: Reprogrammed target radar with lyrics.
P: Mouse in cockpit.
S: Cat installed.
P: Noise coming from under instrument panel. Sounds like a midget pounding on something with a hammer.
S: Took hammer away from midget.

:-D

Tere Bin- Rabbi Shergill

Have you heard this song by Rabbi? Its beautiful..
(Translation from Wiki)

tere bin / besides you

sanu sohnia / my love

koi hor nahio labhna / i shan't find another

jo dave / who'll give

ruh nu sakun / peace to my soul

chukke jo nakhra mera / and indulge me

ve main sare ghumm ke vekhia / i have gone and seen it all

amrika , roos, malaysia / america, russia, malaysiana

kittey vi koi fark si / there wasn't any difference

har kise di koi shart si / they all had some condition

koi mangda mera si sama / some asked for my time

koi hunda surat te fida / some were fascinated with my face

koi mangda meri si vafa / some demanded my fidelity

na koi mangda merian bala / none wanted my demons

tere bin / besides you

hor na kise / no one else

mangni merian bala / wanted my demons

tere bin / besides you

hor na kise / no one else

karni dhup vich chhan / shall shade me in the sun

jiven rukia / (the) way you paused

si tun zara / slightly

nahion bhulna / i shan't forget

main sari umar / all my life

jiven akhia si akhan chura / you said, looking away

"rovenga sanu yad kar" / "you shall weep in my memory"

hasia si main hasa ajeeb / i laughed a strange laugh

(par) tu nahi si hasia / but you didn't

dil vich tera jo raaz si / you had a secret in your heart

mainu tu kyon ni dasia / why didn't you tell me

tere bin / besides you

sanu eh raz / none shall tell this

kise hor nahion dasna / secret to me

tere bin / besides you

peerh da ilaaj / what druid

kis vaid kolon labhna / has the cure to my ills

milia si ajj mainu / i found today

tera ik patra / a note of yours

likhia si jis 'te / on which you had scribbeled

tun shayr varey shah da / a varis shah couplet

park ke si osnu / upon reading which

hanjnu ik duliya / a teardrop fell

akhan 'ch band si / what was locked in the eye

seh raaz ajj khulia / was revealed today

ki tere bin / that other than you

eh mere hanjnu / these tears of mine

kise hor / won't be kissed by

nahio chumna / none else

ki tere bin / that other than you

eh mere hanjhu / these tears of mine

mitti vich rulnha / will wither in the dust