'Famous Books' Quiz

Which book and author comes to your mind with the below clues???
1. Phi

2. Briony Tallis

3. Big Brother

4. Tour De france.

5. Recalled to Life

6. My Precious

7. Pieta

8. If you want something bad enough, the whole world conspires to help you get it

9. John Galt

10. Paris Sewers

11. You better not never tell nobody but God

12. Life is a game, boy. Life is a game that one plays according to the rules.

13. Fountain of four rivers

14. April 18, 1906

15. Boo Radley

16. Mr. Jingles

17. Aslan

18. Despite everything, I believe that people are really good at heart.

19. Titular dolls

20 Tara Plantation

21. "simply messing about in boats"

22. White Ship

23. Yossarian

24. When you're in bed, you're dead

25. Hazara

26. Sniff, Scurry. Hem and Haw

27. Kristy Thomas

28. Edward Cullen

29. Et tu, Brute?

30. It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife

31. Bloomsday

32. Nymphet

33. Moorland of dartmoor

34. Whenever you feel like criticizing any one," he told me, "just remember that all the people in this world haven't had the advantages that you've had

35. Seagull

36. Myrmidons

37. Nurse Ratched

38. Build it as a monument to that spirit which is yours...and could have been mine

39. Mildred

40. how to give the stolen million back

41. What not to do at IIT

42. Seven Commandments of Animalism

43. He was an old man who fished alone in a skiff in the Gulf Stream and he had gone eighty-four days now without taking a fish

44. Hogwarts 45.

Prabaker Kishan Kharre

46. 42

47. The world must be all f****** up when men travel first class and literature goes as freight 48. What's in a name? That which we call a rose. By any other name would smell as sweet.

49. Omerta

50. Never let a pal down

Where are my Choo Choos?

I guess each one of us have those childhood memories which either we can't forget or wont forget because everyone else thought it was too cute and keep embarrassing you as often as they can... Just to recollect a few..

1. Achan and amma had left both of us( for the ignorant lot i am one of a twin) at a family friend's place and gone for an office party.. now last time we were there we had eaten a delicious fruit and both of us wanted to have our choo-choos asap.. now no one there had a clue wat choo choo was... so they asked us 'makkalke choo choo oyakanno' meaning 'do u guys want to pee'????? no we didnt want to.... we wanted those choo choos that were on top of the fridge last time we were there... Have u imagined how its like to confront two 2.5 yrs old and u have no idea what they want??? poor folks... finally we did get what we wanted... Choo Choos literally translates to Lychees.. i still refer to them as choo choos...
2. Our initial years were spent mostly at a Hotel... My dad used to work there... Now when my mom used to get tired of both of us she used to dump us at the hotel and she would go shopping... Both of us r still quite well known for terrorizing the employees and the guests there... cmon guys we were cute and there were two of us.. so its obvious we were noisy...
3. When were younger we used to have one of those Tandem tricycles...i seldom got to ride it... my sis used to be the designated driver and she used to drive us all around the house... now one day she went and rammed into my mom's showcase and broke one of its glass windows... when confronted my sis gives this unforgettable dialogue -'Amma enne inniyum vazhaka paranjal njan matte kanaddiyum pottikum' meaning 'If you scold me again i will break the other glass window as well'.
4. When we were 5, we had a new addition to the family , a younger sister... now since we were kids we were not allowed to carry her... now they say curiousity kills the cat.. so my sister decides that she will do the brave deed without anyone noticing... she had my support as well... so one day when my mom was in the kitchen and my grandmom was sleeping,we were ready. slowly my sis picks the baby and she walks towards the drawing room.... At that point of time we used to stay in a house where we could see the drawing room from the kitchen through a small window in the kitchen. The minute my mom saw that the Baby was with my sis she screamed ( i know Drama runs in our family)... pataack... my sis dropped the baby... luckily nothing happened and my younger sis is still telling tales of her older sisters evil intentions to kill her when she was young...
5. My mom kicked us out of the house when were just 2.5 yrs... We were too much to handle... so by the time i was 4 i was in UKG... first few days were kind of exciting.... learning new things.. meeting new kids.... so one day when we got back from school we were all excited since we had just learnt our National pledge... so we were repeating it to our mom when we forgot some parts of it and she filled in the rest.. we didnt mention anything at that point of time.. then Dad comes home and we start narrating it to him as well.. Again forgot some parts of it and he fills in the bits and pieces.. now we r genuinely surprised and i turn to my sis and tell her 'Ramya, Achanum schoolil poyittundu' meaning 'Achan has also been to school'.. Cmon its an amazing discovery at the age of 4. :) 6. In those days very few people had their own television sets... I guess in the whole of the Mallu community in Dar hardly 2-3 had their own television sets.. so weekends meant going over to that house to see Mallu movies.. now one day in the middle of a movie, a 3 yr old gets up and asks ' Amma epozzha Mammooty marikannu pone?' meaning ' When is Mammooty going to die?'.. u cant blame me .. cmon in old mallu movies at least one person used to die...
7. Once we were performing a dance depicting Radha and krishna fighting... Now i was Krishna and my sis was Radha. all i had on was a dhothi tied around me (cmon i was 3 then....).the dance was like this: after the initial fighting we finally resolve our differences and dance out of the stage shoulder-to-shoulder... plz remember i was bare-chested (remember i was 3)...the minute my sis touched my shoulder i felt ticklish.. i got angry at her on stage and ran off exactly in the other direction... But many people in the audience never realised that we had fought... they thought it was part of the act.... :)

Smile

The wind on my face in the morning makes me smile..

Babies make me smile.

A kid's innocence makes me smile.

Gazing at the stars and wondering about them makes me smile.

Friends make me smile...

Music and books make me smile...

Thinking about my bed makes me smile..

My idiocracies make me smile.....

My courage and my fears makes me smile...

Movies make me smile..

Travelling makes me smile.....

Old memories make me smile....

A stolen weekend with my friends makes me smile..

My testimonials make me smile...

An awesome weather makes me smile..

The smell of the soil after the first rain makes me smile...

My adventures make me smile....

My lost childhood and my college days make me smile..

Finding an old friend after a long time makes me smile...

My stubbornness makes me smile.....

Thinking about the future and picturing it makes me smile..

A busy road and the antics of the people there makes me smile...

Beautiful locales make me smile...

Stupidity makes me smile....

F.R.I.E.N.D.S and C&H makes me smile....

My absent mindedness makes me smile..

Pets make me smile....

Life makes me smile, so i live.

How we can make India a better place to live?

1. No one knows these days if we have any luck of getting blown up one fine morning. We have even seen a pattern between these attacks but is anything being done by it... Rather every time something happens there will be hype around it for maybe two weeks and after that everything just cools down. The blame game starts... But who actually is responsible? Is it the politicians, the media or us??? The responsbility lies with each and everyone of us.. Just by pointing fingers nothing happens.. Even we are responsible since we have been impervious to all that happened to us till now and we continue to be...
2. We are supposed to be a secular country..... But then why are the minority so badly treated?? Let me tell you even educated people have the notion that the best option for all our problems is to kick Muslims out of the country. Are you kidding me??? The country is as much theirs as it is ours..... Just because you are the majority doesnt mean that you can rule over the minority. If i had a chance i would love to kick Raj thackerey out....
3. India has such a vast heritage.... We have people from different places speaking different languages.. But it is pathetic to see even educated people fighting over trivial things like who is a better actor 'Rajnikanth' or 'Amitabh'. Both are excellent actors.. Why dont they just let that be? I studied in a school where my principal was from my kashmir, my vice principal was a mallu and i had classmates from all parts of India... So i never understood anything beyond the fact that i am an Indian first and then a mallu....
4. Even now people are discriminated all over India just because of their caste. One of my colleagues once mentioned the following. He had gone as part of a team to impart Computer education in some villages in karnataka. Due to lack of computers the kids were asked to share the computers but all the kids didnt want to sit next to one kid because he belonged to a lower caste.... If kids are to behave like this how do we expect the pig headed adults to behave?
5. Girls are still being discriminated.... The general attitude is you are a girl and you shouldnt or cant do it. Go get a life... I can do anything that i want and you have no rights to stop me.. Dowry should be a big no no... Killing of the girl infant is also another issue we have to look into.... Cmon people what harm can a kid do to you..
6. Infrastructure in this country is still so bad... roads are a mess and we are faced with so many power cuts these days.... Metro will take another 2-3 yrs due to the dirty politics and traffic will just worsen...
7. Corruption.... Do i have to say anything more... We see it from lower government officials to the highest level... If i need anything i have to bribe else i may have to wait another year to get it done.Cant we all just start saying no to bribes.
8. Everyone has an excuse for everything... If something is said about the system they will have an excuse for that also.... People were actually glad that India won 3 medals at the olympics... But seriously guys for a country of 1 billion people is that enough... So if we complain of the system they will give an excuse that India has been free only for the past 60 yrs and America got to this position after more than 2 centuries... Cmon guys our country has a history of more than 5000 years and this is the excuse you give.
9. Cleanliness.... We should know at least to keep our roads clean. I have seen many people the minute they get out of the office they trend to throw waste on the road... Cmon they should at least ban defecating inside a city.... Wherever you turn animals are to be seen. I have around 15 dogs on my street and i have named each and everyone of them since they are part and parcel of my life..
10. Superstition : I have friends who cross their fingers the minute they see a black crow. Do i need to say anything more?
11. Poverty: The gap between the rich and the poor are growing daily and nothing is being done about it.
12. There are many more evils we face.

I want to be a responsible Indian who will never turn a blind eye to the things going around her. Someone who will do anything to get rid of the unsocial elements. I know no country is great but we can always make an effort to make sure that we make other people say that ours is the one of the best to live in the world.

Basically its our time to start saying no. A 'Say No' campaign. Say no to terrorism, religionalism, regionalism, discrimination, corruption etc and to all the dirt that is currently present in our country. Lets all give back something to this wonderful country of ourselves by keeping the evils out of it. Lets strive to make India a heaven on earth.

Everything Hppens for a reason

He couldnt have been more happy. He was in his 30s married to a beautiful woman. They had 2 kids and a 3rd one was on the way. He had just been offered a great job with a much better package. The only condition they made was that he had to join by the end of the month. That was no problem. He had already given his notice to the hotel where he was working. He knew he was going to miss the place but he had no regrets.

One week before he was supposed to join he was diagnosed with chicken pox. There was no way he could join the new company in a week's time and they were not willing to wait for him. He was at a loss. For the first time in his life he was left completely hopeless. His whole family was also suffering from chicken pox.. His wife was pregnant. In another month or so he would be jobless.. The old place had found a replacement for him and the new guy was going to join soon.

Not to be disheartened, he started looking out for other jobs. Someone told him about a very good opportunity and he decided to apply with minimal hope of getting a job there since he knew he had tough competition. But his fate was to be different. He got the job and this one was so much better than the one he was supposed to join. And 6 months later he heard that the guy who replaced him at the place he was supposed to join was arrested by the police because the owners had fled with the investors money.

This is not a story. It is the truth... The guy was my dad.. My dad always says that the chicken pox was the best thing that happened to him. Else he wouldnt have got an opportunity to work in the World Bank for the next 10 years. He could have even gone to jail. But nothing like that happened.

This is his favorite story and mine too... And i think thats why i grew up with the belief that everything happens for a reason.. Most times we do not know why and we often blame god and others for our misfortune. But the greatest lesson you learn from this is ' We have to move on and let the past be the past and not your present or your future.' So guys and gals forget whatever happened here in the past two weeks and lets move on...

Woes of a Fraud Mallu.......

I am tired of hearing it..... Anyone who finds it out always tend to ask me 'u a mallu.... u dont look like it or act like it or speak like one'.... so i think its apt to say that i belong to a large group of people evident everywhere. the 'Fraud Mallu'gang...... Like someone ssaid wherever you go in the world you will find a mallu..... So why do i fall into a fraud mallu gang??

1. Well for starters i wouldnt say that my malayalam is that gr8...... i know how to speak fairly well.... thats what i claim.... but if someone really starts to speak in fluent malayam i can look as stupid as he guy in ýou got be dumb ad....my reading skills are just ok ( that implies that i can read the bus signs before the bus goes on its way)..... And writing is abig no no... i do know how to write my name though....

2. Another very valid point is I do not have the entire coconut oil ever produced in kerala on my hair.... Its actually hard to find mallu females without oil in their hair..

3. I prefer north indian food to mallu food..... Actually i just dont like rice.... My 3 yr old niece eats more rice that i do....

4. I am not that enthusiastic about bandhs or strikes... i know that bandhs are the birth right of every mallu... But come on i dont mind not going to office..... But i definitely cant stay at home for more than a day...

5. I just dont like speaking malayalam in office... i think it just beats the corporate culture we have...

6. Most of the mallu females of my age are either married or getting married. I guess i am just not bothered... Me and my mom r at loggerheads over this..

7. The classic turmeric paste on my forehead is missing....

8. I like very few mallu movies that are released nowadays... i miss the movies of 80's and the 90's...There were so many classics... I think it is high time that veteran actors like mammooty and mohanlal move out and give way to others....... I recently saw mammoty dancing in a movie ...i dont think in his 25 yrs career he has actually danced more than 5 times........ Then why is he doing it now....

9. I dont get the concept of castes or religion.

10. I dont go gaga when i see a mallu do something gr8.... I am just proud that he is an indian...

11. I dont create trouble for other mallus... Every mallu is another mallus nightmare when it comes to obstacles...

12. youah seeyah i dunt speak likaa a malayalee..

13. Last but not the least i dont mind being called a mallu.. If you have the guts go and call a true mallu a mallu...

Travel Tales

i have been a dormant blogger for a long time..... I check some of the blogs (favorite ones) once in a while..... comment on some of them... finally i have decided enough is enough..... i am going to start blogging once again.. hopefully i will try to do that....... so when i was thinking about what to write i came across the various travel blogs that have been floating around recently... so i have decided to recount some of my own experiences....Going to be really long...

I have been travelling ever since i was a kid.... i guess that happens when you have parents who are also that fond of travelling or more likely you should have a dad who used to work with an airline and u could go anywhere in the world almost free of cost(at least the airline tickets were free) .... i dont get people who hate travelling.. Come on like someone wise said 'The world is a book and those who do not travel, read only a page'(ya ya i lifted it off Sparsh.. Big deal what r u going to do????)


1.my first tyrst with travelling was when i was 6 months old... since we were the first bundle of joys for the entire family (no arguments there) my mom came to india to deliver us.... since there were two of us and everyone was having a gala time pampering us we finally got to see our dad and africa only after we were almost 6 months.. ok i do not remember that trip but whenever i complain about babies on a plane my mom is quick to point out that she had to manage 2 of us for almost 12 hrs of journey in those days....

2. then it was the usual once in a year or twice in a year trips to India to vist our beloved homeland...... even in india it was travelling back and forth between cochin and trivandrum (mom's and dad's places) at least 5-6 times in a period of less than a month......

3. As indians it is our sole right to be entertained by the Maharaja of the skies. Ok for the ignorant the maharaja is the official mascot of Air India. If you want to reach late anywhere they will make sure that your wishes are fulfilled. I think a 24 hr delay (at toronto )will explain everything about my attitude which made me miss my connecting flight as well from london.. And sheesh have you seen the airhostesses... They are direct descendants from a land where smiling is punishable by law.

4. There is one thing that we indians dont know to do while travelling..... that is travelling light.... in most of the airports in Europe there is an option of checking in your luggage just before you board the plane..... but that means you have to lug ur baggage half way across the airport.... i remember one such incident in amsterdam airport where we had to run around the airport with 4 to 5 30kg samsonite suitcases to check in just before our flight took off.... And trolleys are not allowed after a certain point..

5. when we were very young my dad used to work somehwere in the interior which was around 22 hrs from the capital... during those times we were stay at home students who just had to come once in 3-4 months for attending our exams.... Since the 3 of us were very young this journey was divided into 2 days with a break around midway..... this always used to be a fun trip since this even passed a wildlife sanctuary where we used to see lions roaming majestically in the middle of the damn road.... when we were there we used to go camping once in a while in the pretext of hunting but in the 3 yrs i was there i have never seen my dad or his friends catch even a rabbit.... so u see we are safe from Maneka ji.

6. There was an unpleasant incident once while i was in south africa.. It was my first tryst with racial abuse and i have never forgotten it even though this happened around 13 yrs back..... we were just in a shop buying some stuff when a sales clerk just started to pour abuses at us since we were Indians.... that was the first time i realised that many white SOFB(not all) are jealous if you have money and they dont... Anyway another thing i realised was that i was much better off than he was..... :)

7. In my many years of travelling i have come across many celebrities .... i am not someone who goes gaga around film stars or serial actors how popular they may be.... but Dravid belongs to another league.... this happened around 4 years back.... i was purchasing something at a counter in muscat. one moment i looked up and i saw the entire cricketting team... the next minute after paying cash i looked up they had disappeared..... i walked around the whole airport to catch a glimpse of Dravid but he was nowhere to be found..... :(

8. Since we used to travel free we used to never know whether we would actually get the flight untill the last moment... most of the times my dad would call my mom in the morning from office and tell her to get packed since we were off to some place in the evening.... due to this we have been faced with a lot of problems too.. we used to have direct flights from dar es salaam to bombay... but we had to take other flights from bombay to reach kerala.... on one such ocassion every flight out of bombay was overbooked and we were not getting tickets for all of us together.... so we decided to split into 2 groups of 3( we had a pregnant lady travelling with us).. me, my mom and this lady got on flight while my dad and my two sisters were still trying for another flight..... my mom and this lady were sitting together in the front row while i was stuck somehwre in the rear of the plane....since they were sitting in the front they couldnt hear any of the announcements and they didnt realise that the plane was via madurai... when we reached madurai my mother was gesturing me to join them so that we can get off the plane and i am like where r u guys going off to.... we r still not in trivandrum... good that i was sitting somewhere else we would have got stuck in madurai as well....

9. I have been on innumerable trips with my friends..... But the thing is i have enjoyed each and everyone of them... i am planning to go to hyderabad the beginning of next week and maybe to delhi or chandigarh in december.... we will see how that works out....

10. I had taken a 10 day holiday to kerala in the first week of august since i needed the break..... it was the first time i actually used so many means of transportation.... we drove to palakad since my sister was down from dubai... then my parents came back while i took a bus to cochin..... then from there i went off to trivandrum by train.... travelled twice between cok and tvm by train.... it was also the first time i stood in a train for 3/4th of a 4 hour journey... that was fun.......and finally i came back by flight to bangalore from tvm...

Well i have to stop now since i am running out of time as usual.....Still lots more to write and still lots more to travel..... Like all great travellers i also want to say one day " I have seen more than i can remember and remember more than i have seen".