hmm...

This post is about me. A very vain post indeed. About how clumsy I am. And my name. Yes. They both go together really well. So, here is the story. I cannot stand straight, hold things, stand for more than 10 minutes because I'm sure I will fall. I stand in a bus full of people, and there is commotion. I swear. I cannot walk straight, I cannot drink chai without spilling it. There was a time when I was a kid and my mom decided my clothes. It was always a maroon or a red dress if we were going out to eat. Never a white, even by mistake. She made me follow that rule until I left for Hyderabad seeking freedom and some white clothes. Every time I ate, people just knew what I'd eaten. All those fake diets and holier-than-thou exercise stories failed. Because there'd be that chocolate ice cream on T-shirt or that oil from the oily, unhealthy, but tasty noodles from the neighbouring Indo-Chinese place or there'd be evidence of chocolate milk from Sagar stores, another local adda for CIEFL students. Sigh. I always look unkempt. Even now. In fact, I spilled oil on my nine-yard Madisaar sari during my wedding. My mom and my clothes-crazy sis just stared at the oil falling on my sari. With tears, almost. I've become better though. I've given up on my ego and use the napkin when I go out to eat. It looks like a bib. But, well, atleast, I do not ruin that Rs 500 creamy silky peach top.

I have been known to beat Suppandi of Tinkle fame in one of the cartoons. Yes, the same one where he tilts his left hand with a glass of milk to check the time on his watch. Of course, nowadays, I've moved on from rice - cooked/uncooked to spilling gourmet food ;) - cheese - especially mozzarella, or that cake batter which makes the kitchen floor seem like a super-adhesive, or even worse, that olive oil, all those veggies and greens especially, the onions flying out of my hand as I drop them into the pan. Squished garlic pods, water (how can I forget water?), coffee, tea, lemonade (when you don't realize it has fallen, its worse), pizza! Yes, so far, everything I've cooked, and eaten (what if you think I cooked all this!) has fallen down. I think I have great immunity, really. Nothing affects me. All the germs on the floor must have gotten an overdose, and probably do not come to attach themselves to the food I drop. Of course, they wouldn't come to the ones I cook and drop. AB says we won't get our $300 deposit on this apartment when we leave since the carpet is ruined forever. There are pickle stains, oil, chai, cream, butter, salsa, guacamole and what not on the carpet.

Did I mention I cannot stand for more than 10 mins? Because I lose balance and fall. Whoever said walking and exercising is great exercise should probably jump. Because I fall. I've fallen on my face, on my other parts of the body that I should not be talking about. I'm used to this, you know? Constant falling, having a sprain here, there, and everywhere, wounds, bruises, catches in the neck, that weird pain in the back. But I feel sorry for people who walk with me. Like AB, or those numerous friends that simply stopped 'walking' with me. You want to know why? Or would you like to walk and find out?

I walk crooked. So, when I walk, I do not walk straight. So, naturally, the person walking next to me is pushed to the side. Yes, I'm pushy. I've been known to push people off the streets, one friend fell into the ditch, one almost lost his life when he could not but walk on the busy road thanks to her highness stepping foot on the pavement. I've pushed my mom off the sidewalk. So, you will never see mother and daughter or sister-sister-sister(this is impossible no?) or sister-sister walking in fultoo bonding. Because, they are tired. They hate it that not only do I dominate them with my chatter, and absolutely no listening, but that I dominate them physically too. Sigh. So, that means no romantic hand-holding walks into the sunset with AB. Either we go the African way of him walking in front of me and I walk meekly, but loudly behind him, in his shadow, or he walks behind me. So, actually, he walks behind me. So, he can pick after me? That includes me, yes.

Haan, so coming back to my name. It is Nandini (named after that all-giving cow in Indian mythology. My dad, as an afterthought said that maybe that cow was all-mooing) People generally call me Nandu. Blah. Ya. However, my grand-dad called me Nand(i). Note that it is not Nandu or Nandi, but a sound in between. Tams will understand. Others, please to adjust or ask nearby South Indian. They will surely be there and they will know. So, Nand in Tamil is crab. Yes. I discovered this very, very late in my life, inspite of being a Tam and all that. I found this word in a South Indian - almost Mallu restaurant called Malgudi at Hyderabad. So, this Tam friend of mine, Shiraz and my Naga roomie and I went out for dinner and we saw Crab soup. Imagine my Naga roomie's delight and actually mine too(!) when we saw the soup described as 'Nandu soup.' I exclaimed only to hear Shiraz saying it suited my 'personality.' All the love and fond memories of being called Nand by my grand-dad was replaced by utter shock that my grand-dad possibly named me thanks to the way I walked. He probably saw how I walked ever since I set foot the first time, and named and called me Nand for 25 whole years. No one, I repeat, no one ever thought of this though. I checked with my mom who gave me very positive vibes by looking appropriately confused for a minute before she frowned and said: "how observant of him!"

If ours was a love marriage, I'd have surely asked AB with full emotion, this before marriage: Do you want to walk with me all my life?

I liked...
- Genelia and her gummy smile, her South Indian Hindi accent, her attitude, her clothes
- Imran Khan though he was like Hrithik at some points. But with Aamir's expressions, he rocked. I liked his eyebrows too
- the fact that Ratna Pathak Shah was reading the 'Beauty Myth'
- that they did not show Ratna Pathak Shah to be a modern hep idealistic woman who has a car, cell phone and as someone who asks later, 'cash lena hai kya?'
- Naseruddin Shah
- the gang
- the 'other girl' who is not Rothlu's GF
- the gorgeous Kitu Gidwani who appears once in 10 years and looks the same ever
- that Anooradha Patel has the same hair that she used to have when she appeared in the shampoo ad with her husband Kanwaljeet. She is gorgeous too
- the parents - Ratna and Naseer, Jayant and Anooradha. Did not show them to be snobbish because they are rich. Blah, blah...
- the brother
- the NYU film school plans
- Mala
- that Imran Khan does not have a phone
- ARR's music
- that this movie was wholesome
- Coca-cola was asked :D on the rocks
- that this movie brought all old timers - good actors, and not Alok Nath, Reema somebody types as parents.

I did not like...
- Meghna
- the always drinking Aditi's fiance
- the fact that Aditi's parents are considered cool when cool is not = alcohol, loud music, but was = wholesome fun
- Meghna
- What is this?
- Paresh Rawal's repetitivness
- that at 20 something the kids thought of marriage!
- that the parents did not once talk of higher studies/job etc
- Meghna
-the Khan brothers farce

Hmm...I thought really, really hard for these 'do not like' points :P But ya, I have to say that I thought this movie carried a teeny-weeny social message. Err..ya, I could not help but notice it. Let me tell you when. When Imran Khan talks to Paresh Rawal asking him 'Dubaara kaho,' I thought that the teeny-weeny message was that sometimes in front of bureaucracy, even gentle souls take the radical path. Okay, one more? Please, please, one more social message to make this review intelligent and pseudo. The hidden angst of today's youth. Yes. Imran Khan showed that however gentle he was, however nice he was, like all today's youth who are accused of constantly having fun, not caring enough, there is a spark somewhere.

And ya, to end on a sentimental note, I want to be a mom like Ratna Pathak Shah, hip, modern, fun but err...in my life, things are always opposite. I'm like Naseeruddin Shah - love to go out and fight, and all that jazz while AB is like Ratna who will wonder why I had to bring out the social message and the violence in youth bit about this fun, carefree, musically sound, good performance-oriented movie. Sigh.

P.S - Did I mention I did not like Meghna?

Since I'm a housewife with a work permit, still looking for jobs in this country, I'm forced to do nothing but watch movies and spend my time. So, today was one of those days, when my excellent(!) domestic, home-making (such a snobbish word!) skills could not be put to much use since it was in full use yesterday, I decided to catch some movies online. On Twitter, some of my online friends discussed Kismet Konnection, and I decided to watch this.

Apart from Shahid Kapoor who is super cute, but can do without Shahrukhy acting, the print of the movie that I saw, of course, sucked big time. Other things about the movie that sucked included Vidya Balan and her dress sense, and her same expressions from Parineeta to this movie, to the waste of Boman Irani and Om Puri's talent, Himani Shivpuri doing what she does usually and that pooch of a Sweety or whatever! That Maya Bakshi (How could you name her Maya when she is a foreigner?), that guy who has an affair with Maya - I forget his name. Can you see how much I liked this movie?

Boman Irani: Why, oh, why? Stick to Honeymoon Travels, please. You needn't have done this whole waving role. I admit I also wave to random people on the road and talk to strangers in spite of what my mom says. But will I travel in a grubby stranger's expensive car and hold his hands and walk? No. Okay, this is a Hindi movie and all that. Then why use Om Puri? I think we should let him do 'international' roles since we are not able to offer him anything to explore his potential. Did I forget to say that my all-time favourite actress Juhi sucked too? I usually like her sing-song voice, but this time around, it got to me.

And ya, Vidya Balan must go through a makeover or something. Maybe those shows on the crappy TLC channel here in the US where you get these makeovers or look 10 years younger should be put to good use in her case. Her clothes sucked, her intonation sucked, her expressions sucked. But so what, I still have faith in South Indian women. C' mon, we've had Sridevi and Hema Malini (ji!) and Rekha. So, there. I think the director decided to just make sure that Vidya stuck to doing the most important thing. You know what?

She was almost as good as Juhi was. Dress wise and hey, she had her eyebrows shaped and waxed her legs and arms. I swear I could see the 'cleanliness sparkling' when she wore that horrendous skirt and that equally horrible top. Hygiene is most important, and she stuck to that. Yes.

I know that the title is going to bother some of my regular readers (LOL) I'm surprised I have some regular readers for the kind of stuff I write and the way I write. But here's someone I want to introduce through this blog - my best friend, anchor, the woman who got me out of a stupor and made to blog this!

I have been down and out for sometime now for various reasons. I miss her so much because no one can be depressed around her. Even today, when I woke up at 9.30 and checked my email to see her telling me about her new blog, I knew I had to write about it. Here I'm at 9.45 AM still in my pajamas, writing about her. She deserves this and a lot more.

Oh, she is H-I-L-A-R-I-O-U-S. Read her, comment and ya, tell her I referred you there ;)

I know a lot of you who know me must be shocked and must have fallen off your chairs right now. But, its true. Food has always been a passion. It was and is still about eating. However, lately, eating has spread to actually cooking it :) So, yes, here I am officially announcing my food blog. Actually, AB's and mine. Someone has to cook well for these food blogs, and AB does just that ;) So, right now, we fight about what we should cook, and he hates the fact that nowadays, I do not cook to eat, but rather cook to blog. So, hmm... :) please visit it? Pretty pleaaaaaaaaaaase :D
And yay! this is the first short post I've ever written. And funnily, this is all I had to say! I've changed. Its a new me ;) I should celebrate!