Chez Moi

Now, how can I resist this?

One of the biggest things I miss here in firang-land are the desi flowers - y’know, jasmine and its sisters that are strung up on a piece of string to adorn your lovely tresses. I absolutely love having flowers in my hair and long for it whenever I wear saree (once in a blue moon event!) here. And I kick myself for all the times my gran used to ask me “shall I get you some flowers?” and I had replied in the negative because I was wearing jeans. (Jeans means no bindi, no flowers - Ethiraj College rule)

So this time when I was in Madras, I never said “no” when my gran asked her favourite question. What’s more, I even took a pic of a flower stall to remind me of what I am missing!

What do they call people like me? Oh yeah, glutton for punishment!

When I first came across this above-mentioned statement, I thought it was a joke . A quick glance assured me that it wasn’t April Fool’s day or anything like that. And that was when I started laughing. Really laughing.

I mean, I have nothing against the kid. She’s pretty decent as far as actresses of today go and has made some good career decisions so far. She’s a household name in her native Tamil Nadu and neighbouring Andhra Pradesh, which is no mean feat for sure. But does that mean she deserves the two states’ (she earlier won AP’s Nandi award for her role in NVNV) highest acting honours? Hell, no!

The word ‘kalaimamani’ means someone who is a great exponent of art and in this case, acting. Which Trisha sure is not. Sure she can shake her booty with the best of them, looks a peach and all that but that does not make for a fab actress. I am yet to see her essay a brilliant role. Granted that meaty female roles in Indian cinema are few and far between and are def not available for the young ‘uns of today who are roped in more for their eye candy factor than serious acting skills. In that sense, she is no better or worse than anyone else.

In fact, I do applaud her for not letting a director exploit her by making her show more flesh, like some of her contemporaries are doing. She is reputed to have refused to do Simbu’s female lead in Vallavan as it was ‘too glamorous’. Whilst I do think it is admirable that she doesn’t grab every single branch to go higher, I still am at a loss to see how all this totals a great actress.

My idea of a good artiste is perhaps tempered by greats such as Suhasini, Revathy, Shobhana etc. I sat up and cheered with the best when these ladies were awarded their National and regional awards for none deserved the accolade more. Trisha’s problem might just be that she isn’t b eing offered any role that will put her acting skills to test. Maybe that is the way the industry is and I will not blame her for trying to stay in the game.

I would, however, blame every single director who casts a heroine purely for the sake of glamour. Illeana’s role in her recent Telugu movie Aata was purely decorative and the amount of flesh on display was totally unnecessary. That didn’t help the movie’s fortunes at the Box office should send a message to the movie moguls about what the public actually want out of a movie.

But I digress.

Coming back to the so-called acting awards, I feel they are becoming somewhat of a farce, with very few actually deserving the title ‘Kalaimamani’. For example, take a look at this year’s awardees: Silambarasan, Vishal, Jayam Ravi, Jeeva, Vineeth, Venu Aravindh, Kanja Karupu, Trisha, Navya Nair, Deepa Venkat, Aarthy and CID Sakunthala - the list reads like Who’s Who of the Tinseltown. Other than a few like Vineeth, Deepa Venkat and CID Sakunthala, I don’t even think that most of the others can act, leave alone spectacularly so to be named ‘Kalaimamani’.

Probably the powers that be are just making do with whatever talent is available in the pool but when you are scraping the bottom of the barrel to make up the number, it would be prudent to give the title to the deserving few rather than to everyone who to be seen on the screen frequently.

In the meantime, Trisha, congratulations on your twin awards - may you grow into them one of these days!

Cos my pal Ams gave me this:

That so rocks or what? Gosh Ams, you are such a star! Thanks a bunch babes *mwah*

So, am I to pass this on to other deserving folk eh? Right. How am I to do that when you go and pass it on to six peeps, thereby taking my three as well? *mutter*

Ok, I shall cheat a bit and start with Apu - other than being one of my oldest, real world pal, this girl sure knows what she’s talking about, virtually. So, here’s to you, girlie - in both the real and virtual sense of it.

Next, I shall give it to one of my favourite gal bloggers (other than you, Ams! ) Premalatha. This is one gutsy lady and she sure deserves the tag.

My third pick is my other fave mummy blogger, Tharini. She is such a heartwarmingly steady and calm soul, despite having two kids under five that I am forever in awe of her.

My fourth and fifth picks are my two favourite food bloggers - Nandita of Saffron Trail and Indira of Mahanandi. Their blogs are a foodie’s dream and if I can do a J K Rowling and bring the pix of their food to life, I will die a happy and sated death.

How can I compile a list of rocking gal bloggers and leave you out, Ams? So, right back at ya!

As if I needed any reason to rant and rave, the Mad Momma has gone and given me one in the form of a tag. The topic this time, ‘what are we most judgemental about?’ This is a dicey one as I keep shouting that I *hate* it when people are judgemental and S will not miss the chance to rub it in my face. Hence, I shall alter it slightly to ‘what irks me the most re people’. Here goes:

1. I get irked when one is forced to choose between family and friends - as in, ‘after all, they are family, why do you put your friends ahead of them?’ Well, I do get it that family deserves certain carte blanche rights where certain things are considered but friends, in my opinion, are the family we choose. As such, they deserve the same courtesy and I do not take kindly to being told otherwise.

2. What irks me super most about our folks is how they feel they can butt into my affairs and generally pass comments, give suggestions and then have the gall to be pissed when I ignore it. What will it take for them to get that if I want their advice / suggestions  etc I will ask for it myself so can they pls save it till then?

3. My favourite statement to S about so-and-so is: ‘when they die and come back as Ms (or Mr) Perfect, I will swallow everything they say. Till then, can they please zip it?’ Anything wrong with that?

4. Personal hygiene (or lack of) and/or not bothering to get reasonably spruced up are big time annoying factors.

5. But the one that absoloutely takes the cake is when someone spoils my day / time out by constantly doing a Johnny Bravo (’enough about you, let’s talk about me’) on me. I have met loads of people who do it in varying degrees. What will it take for them to understand that when I am out, I would like to have a nice time too and that doesn’t necessarily include being their / their brood’s own personal cheerleader? Sweepea has done the impossible and has walked on water? Well, hell crack open that champagne but can I be on my way now?

Now that I have ended up getting everyone’s backs up, can I stop MM?