Ere..Have I Seen U Somewhere?

Hindu folklore says 7 people around the world look alike. In cultural and folk traditions, these are related ideas about the similarity of faces, destiny, and reincarnation (maybe), and many Indian languages have sayings about people who resemble one another. Some might say it's a myth, and many others even have bizarre reasons to believe in it. While this is a very tough thing to prove, we all surely might have come across someone who looks very similar, though.

Last week I was watching 'Maid in Manhattan,' and I felt I had seen the character of Jerry Seigal somewhere. A few days later I was seeing the movie Fashion, and there I had the answer! A few searches and I came to know that Jerry Seigal was played by Stanley Tucci, and he seemed to have an uncanny resemblance to Ashwin Mushran, who played the part of an agent called Rohit in the movie.

Strikingly similar, isn't it?




Later, I was watching the song - Jiya Dhadak, Dhadak from the movie Kalyug playing in one of the channels, and it struck me that Kunal Khemu resembles the young Heath Ledger from '10 Things I Hate About You' so much.

Don't believe me? Check this out -



The funny thing is, Kunal Khemu sports the same ponytail look that Heath Ledger had in that movie. BTW, if you haven't watched the movie - 10 Things I Hate...do see it. Love the crazed-out character of Ledger in it.

Also, seems like too much of a coincidence for a single week, or maybe I am watching too many movies out here. Lol 

And the list doesn't end here. I have so many in my memory. Just don't have the patience to put up pictures of them. For I don't know their names either, since they are supporting actors in minor roles. 

Let me know if you have come across something similar.

Nestle Baby Food Is Not Safe! - says Greenpeace

I saw this mail mentioning 'baby food,' and instantly my alertness quotient skyrocketed. This was the message it contained:

Nestle food products (including baby food) are fairly popular in India, but I just found out something about their policy for the products they sell in India, and it's shocking. Nestle has actually admitted it would use genetically-contaminated products in the food it sells in this country.

 
But what's more shocking is that this is the same Nestle that dares not sell genetically-tainted food in the EU, Russia, or Brazil.
Are Indian people less human? Are we guinea pigs and lab rats? Are we less deserving of safe food than citizens of other countries?
This has got to change, and it has to change now! That's just why I've told Nestle Chairman Antonio Waszyk to come clean on the products his company sells in my country.
Just click here to join me in demanding safe, GM- Free food from Nestle. And thanks for your support!

Thanks again,

****************************************

A few quick Google searches I found several articles corroborating this fact. It stuns me that a company & a brand as trusted as Nestle could do this. I sure don't want to feed my baby stuff that is an experiment for someone else.

Hope Nestle's paying heed. We don't want GM stuff.

Are swear words necessary to appear cool?

I am not sure, but it seems like our threshold of tolerance, especially for swear words, keeps rising with each passing generation. Earlier, when in school, words like bloody, bitch, rascal (oh yeah!), etc. were unmentionable. And kids who used to utter them within the pristine convent environment were shunned as the bad lot. Sounds hilarious now, but true.

Later, once we entered our teens, it became cool to drop in a 'bitch' or a 'bloody', once in a while just to emphasize strong feelings, yet it was once again the unruly, living-on-the-edge types who swore using the F & C words, which was completely unladylike. But that was the early 90's.

Now I hear my neighbour's son, who is all of 8 or 10, swear an 'F%*k' when he fell off his cycle, and no shocked looks passed among the parent lot. His friend offers his hand in disdain and says calmly - "Dude, here, give me your bloody hand"!

Two hoots says the bloody cool [V] gen? Not impressed is all I can say in dismay.  

Bringing Home Ganesha

One more Ganesh Chathurthi has come and gone. My earliest recollections of Ganesh puja was when I was about 8-10 years. Awoken by 5:30 a.m we used to accompany dad to mwm market to bring home our very own Ganesha idol. It used to be a ritual by itself with me & my sister enjoying every minute of it.

Since Malleswaram market used to be a stone's throw away my Appa used to make us take a brisk walk and we used to prance behind him in our pattu pavadai's holding the brass thattu (plate) in which  will bring home our coveted idol. I recollect vividly how the colorful marketplace with glittering idols, the paper crowns swishing in the cool morning breeze and the smell of fresh roses & jasmine in the air would usher in the festive mood.

My sister & I would always have this major grouse as Appa used to always insist on purchasing a clay idol of Ganesha against the colourful Plaster of Paris (PoP) ones in different sizes and poses. We used to secretly think Appa was stingy and used to try a number of tricks to veer him towards the stalls stacked with the painted idols only to be nonchallantly sidelined by him. Once with all earnestness that a 11 year old could muster, I asked him "Appa, can't we afford a color Ganesha for once?" 

My dad laughed out aloud and said that it was our tradition to buy only clay Ganesh as the coloured models are burnt in a kiln before getting painted and that is unacceptable as a murti while the clay models are deemed to resonate the divine. Possibly it was his simplified explaination of eco-friendliness to us nagging children. Of course, we didn't buy his theory and still longed for the colored ones. The only consolation was that we got to chose the paper crowns and we usually made the seller mad by the time we chose one. Ah, those were the days!

Those were the days when we used to wait impatiently for appa to complete his puja. The aarti used to signal the end of the puja and we used to be in a hurry to place flowers at the Lord's feet and rush to tuck in the goodies on the dining table. Mom in her kancheevaram used to sprightly go about serving us large helpings of payasam & modakams and we used to fight to see who had the maximum share.

This year I drove my kiddo to the market and I was delighted to see the same sparkle in his eyes seeing the buzzing market. He looked with awe at the colorful idols and clapped his little hands on seeing the different hues of strung flowers adorning the stalls.

We bought the traditional clay Ganesha while his little fingers tried to reach out at a painted idol kept nearby. 

What's in an ID?

We as a country don't think too much of identity proofs and information security, as is known for a fact, but I did not think these things were treated with so much alacrity out here. Someone I know who is quite a well-educated professional discarded her passport just because she never used it and it had expired!

Another lady who is a teacher in a reputed school in Bangalore tore away her SSLC marks sheet as it had gotten worn out, and yet another acquaintance claims to have two Electoral cards - one was issued in his popular nickname by how he was addressed by his friends, and then he got another issued in his official legal name. These are real people who are well-educated and are holding respected positions in society. Wonder how much worse things could get if we go further into towns and villages.

There are so many who hardly feel the need to apply & get a PAN card or even understand the importance of these legal identity proofs. And to prove my point, this was taken from one of the suburbs in Bangalore

Looks like Nandan Nilekani's Unique ID project is getting to be a herculean task for a country of our proportions!   

Feeding Tales: A Harried Mother's Rant

Every time someone talks about babies and the tough parenting involved, they are quick to talk about changing umpteen nappies and sleepless nights. But what is actually more excruciatingly tough and which nobody seems to talk about is feeding them.

Almost right from the time they are born, be it breastfeeding or formula, and then progressing to the next stage of baby food and then slowly graduating them to adult food is no small matter at all. Believe me. Each stage comes with its own set of problems that one would hardly have ever foreseen.

You thought babies would cry when they are hungry? Yes, they will, apart from wailing for a host of other things. You'll be forgiven if you thought they would open their cute little mouths and ask to be fed? A big no!

Babies love to test your patience. Stock it well. As they grow, their feeding habits get to be even more adventurous.

Most parenting books say - strap them on to their high chairs and give them finger food to play around and slowly spoonfeed them. This is what happens in an ideal situation, but seldom in reality. Most of the time, toddlers want to run around, or try to get out of the chair or throw food around, and firmly refuse to open their mouth. Then you've got to have different tricks up your sleeve, like making funny faces or showing colorful toys. Brace yourself for another bitter truth - children's attention span is as much as probably the gap between teeth, and they don't like to play with the same toys. At least not my son. This ritual happens three to four times in a day.

Now, if you thought this was it, then the bigger ordeal is planning their daily diet. He would love bread and cheese today and throw up the same thing tomorrow. One day he likes mixed vegetable puree and the same thing with a little extra carrot bits will make him shun it. If they don't want it, they will gag even on semi-solids!

Despite facing all these odds in your stride, just when you think that a routine is getting set, lo! there comes a viral or cold/cough and throws everything to the wind. They sleep for about four hours late in the evening and wake up fresh for dinner time, just when you want to rest those tired limbs. When your precious is in a mood to play with mega blocks & choo-choo train at 10:00 p.m its time to bid adieu to sleep. Yawn!

IMHO, mothers need to be tax-exempt all their lives.

Quirky Me!

The other day I was pondering over the vagaries of life, as my lil son snuggled next to me for his morning nap. My trail of thoughts (its usually a long trail) took me on a self-discovery trip and I realized that I am quite quirky by nature. Now, now every man has his own share of quirks & twists, its just that the sudden realization of them made me quite unnerved. Is it like am afflicted with something or are there more like me out there?

Well here am adventourously compiling a few -

#1 I Count - I mean, when I am in a room I sub-consciously count. It could be the number of rings on the curtain rod or the number of door panels or the squares in the carpet design. I don't know why I do it but I simply like to keep a count.

#2 Creaseless Bedspread - I necessarily require the bedspread stretched and lengthend to its limit. Always. I hate to see a crumpled bedsheet or a bunch of dirty clothes on them. Hubby dearest by now knows the twitching of my eyebrow and would never leave a stray towel on our bed :D

#3 I doodle - I don't need a pen, pencil or paper....i find some pattern interesting & my finger tries tracing it out even on a desk that's in front of me.

#4 Newspapers - By now you would have got the hang of it. Yes I hate to see newspaper's strewn carelessly nor the centre page lying apart. Before I can stop myself the newspapers are all turned to the right page and neatly folded like it was just delivered :))

#5 Useless Abbreviations - It irks me no end to see people (esp senior ones) using unwanted abbreviations in sms or in mails. I completely abhor when people send messages like: "Cn U Cum 2day?" Well, its not that I never use short forms but for goodness sake if you can type "cum" so can you type "come" too.

Well I did discover a lot more things about me but I dont want to make myself appear like I am some looney-out-on-the-loose (if I haven't already managed to give that impression). Ta-ta!