Golden Globes 2009

AR Rahman won the golden globe. So proud of this represntation of India in yesterday’s globes.

Do I hear the Oscar’s coming?

One thing that bugged me, could they butcher his name anymore? They pronounced it wrong all the way and then and the next set of presenters came by and corrected it saying it should be pronounced “RoohMaan” which was wrong too!

Is it too much to ask that they care enough to atleast get an international music maestro’s name right in such a widely publicized global award show? but that’s just me.

Just FYI it is pronounced “RAH-MAAN”.

We are all Worms

I found these philosophical yet hilarious lines in my friend’s blog scroll and I had to share it everyone. It reads:

” I am a worm…in a pipe called the Universe. I can only move forward and all I can see is the ass of the worm in front of me”

For more such wise ass comments, visit Unimaginativity

Joyous Future?

If you were a tree

What tree would you be if you were one? Here is an interpretation I came across in TIME. It’s just genius!

It takes it away from the fun of realizing the meaning yourself if I give a key note below explaining each tree and why it so perfectly fits the respective personalities. Contact me if you need an explaination!

Lokvani

I am happy to announce that I am now a freelance Food writer for lokvani , the preeminent South Asian e-newsletter based in Massachusetts. Here is my article in this fortnight’s edition.

http://www.lokvani.com/lokvani/article.php?article_id=4592

For more such recipes from me, visit www.supriyaraman.com

Arranged Marriage

All us Indians surely know about arranged marriages. Either you yourself have done it or know of some friend or cousin who has. Here is a really funny and creative conversation piece I came across. It’s hypothetical ofcourse, but so exactly captures the moment.

The Awkward First Phone Call :

The Scene: The Girl is a 23 year old investment banker working in London. The Boy is doing his residency in Manchester and was given her number by his mother, who is a friend of the Girl’s aunt’s brother-in-law’s cousin’s uncle’s wife in Leicester. Parenthesis are unspoken thoughts.

Monday night, 10 pm

Girl: Hello?
Boy: (Shit, she’s home!) Umm, hi! Is this —?
Girl: Speaking.
Boy: My name is —. I don’t know if you know who I am- (God, what if she doesn’t know who I am? I’ll sound like a complete idiot.) Hell, I already sound like a complete idiot. I don’t even know why I’m doing this!)

Girl: Oh, you live in Manchester, right?
Boy: Yeah. (Ok, she was told about me, that’s a relief. I wonder what she was told – He’s a resident, tall, and fair, and he graduated from Ivy League school!” God, she probably hates me already!)

Girl: Yeah, my mother mentioned you had my number. (I can’t believe he actually called!)
Boy: So, how are you?(Oh yeah, that’s real original, but what the hell else I am supposed to say- Umm, hi, I don’t know you, but do you want to be my wife?)

Girl: I’m fine. And you? (Ok, this is off to a great start…)
Boy: I’m good. (Ok, think, think!) So, I heard you’re an investment banker? (Oh, that’s a real winner. Now I can be a bad conversationalist and an idiot!)
Girl: Yes.
Boy: (Ok, she is not helping me at all!) Where do you work?

Girl: Merrill Lynch.
Boy: Hey, that’s a great firm! (I sound like a complete moron. I should just hang up except my mother would somehow find out and kill me!)
Girl: Yeah, it’s a nice place to work. (God, this guy sounds like a complete loser)
Boy: So… (Stall ,stall!)

Girl: So you’re doing your residency in cardiology? (Like my mom didn’t tell me that 500 times already!)
Boy: (Ok, I can handle this…) Yeah, I’m in my second year.(Alright, now say something else, but what do I say? Do you drink ? So, what you like to do in your free time?
Girl: (Umm… get wasted…) Oh, you know, hang out with my friends, go to movies.

Boy: Where do you like to hang out in London?
Girl: (Shit, what am I supposed to say? This guy could be some religious freak! I can’t say bars – I’ll say clubs, you can go to clubs and not drink…) Oh, sometimes we go to the movies, or there’s a couple clubs that are good… (That was good, I made it sound like I like clubs, but I’m not really into them…)

Boy: (Ok, she goes to clubs, that’s a good sign. If she was really religious she wouldn’t do that.) Yeah? I like to dance also.
Girl: (He likes to dance- that’s a good sign. He can’t be that stiff!) So where do you hang out in Manchester?
Boy: (Should I say it- alright, I’ll say it, what the hell!) Umm, the same, bars, clubs, stuff like that.
Girl: (He said bars! So he probably drinks. Good sign. I should explore this further…)Are there any good bars in Manchester?

Boy: Yeah, there are some nice ones, I mean, I’m not a huge drinker, but I like having a good time. (Ok, that gives the impression of someone who enjoys drinking but is not an alcoholic – pretty good, if I do say so myself!)
Girl: (That sounds really positive. This guy sounds kind of cool. But if he’s so cool why is he calling me? Shouldn’t he have a girlfriend? Or not need to call random girls his mother tells him about? God, what if he’s completely ugly? Or has never been kissed?) Yeah, me too. Although I hope my parents never find out.

Boy: Yeah. I know exactly what you mean
Girl: (Ok, so he didn’t freak out at the living a double life reference- another good sign. I just wish I knew what he looked like…) So…
Boy: (Or she could be really fat with a huge mustache. Well, there’s only one way to find out!)So, I know this sounds a little crazy, but I’m visiting some friends in London next weekend and I wonder if you’d want to get together for coffee sometime.
Girl: (Coffee. That’s totally safe. If he’s totally nasty I can have a quick espresso and run like hell!) Yeah, that sounds great.

Boy: (Alright that went pretty well. Coffee’s pretty harmless. And who knows, maybe she’ll be cool. Now I have to get the hell out of this conversation…) So I have your e-mail, should I just e-mail you soon and we can figure it out?
Girl: (E-mail is sooo much better than the phone. Thank God for e-mail!) Yeah, just e-mail, I check it all the time at work, so- (God, this is getting painful)
Boy: Alright, I’ll e-mail you soon. (Meaning in two days cause I don’t want to look too desperate, but at the same time I don’t want to look like I’m trying not to look too desperate…)

Girl: Cool. Well, I’m glad you called. (I think…)
Boy: Me too. Well, I’ll see you soon. (Please be hot, please be hot!)
Girl: Alright. Bye. (I can’t believe he called! Too late to back out now. Besides, maybe he’s cool. He didn’t sound so bad on the phone.
Boy: Bye. (I did it! ..)

The 90/10 Principle

This will change your life. Atleast the way you react to any situation from now on ! Lets pass it along and try to adhere to it shall we?

Author: Stephen Covey

What is this principle? 10% of life is made up of what happens to you. 90% of life is decided by how you choose to react.

What does this mean? We really have no control over 10% of what happens to us.

We cannot stop the car from breaking down. The plane will be late arriving, which
throws our whole schedule off. A driver may cut us off in traffic.
We have no control over this 10%. The other 90% is different. You determine the
other 90%.

How? ……….By your reaction.

You cannot control a red light. but you can control your reaction. Don’t let people fool
you; YOU can control how you react.

Let’s use an example.

You are eating breakfast with your family. Your daughter knocks over a cup of coffee
onto your business shirt. You have no control over what just happened.

What happens next will be determined by how you react.

You curse.

You harshly scold your daughter for knocking the cup over. She breaks down in
tears. After scolding her, you turn to your spouse and criticize her for placing the cup
too close to the edge of the table.

A short verbal battle follows. You storm upstairs and change your shirt. Back downstairs, you find your daughter has been too busy crying to finish breakfast and get ready for school. She misses the bus.

Your spouse must leave immediately for work. You rush to the car and drive your
daughter to school. Because you are late, you drive 40 miles an hour in a 30 mph
speed limit.

After a 15-minute delay and throwing $60 traffic fine away, you arrive at school. Your
daughter runs into the building without saying goodbye.

After arriving at the office 20 minutes late, you find you forgot your briefcase. Your day has started terrible. As it  continues, it seems to get worse and worse.

You look forward to coming home. When you arrive home, you find small wedge in your relationship with your spouse and daughter.  Why? …. Because of how you reacted in the morning.

Why did you have a bad day?
A) Did the coffee cause it?
B) Did your daughter cause it?
C) Did the policeman cause it?
D) Did you cause it?

The answer is “D”.  You had no control over what happened with the coffee. How you reacted in those 5  seconds is what caused your bad day.

Here is what could have and should have happened.
 
Coffee splashes over you. Your daughter is about to cry. You gently say, “Its ok
honey, you just need to be more careful next time”.

Grabbing a towel you rush upstairs. After grabbing a new shirt and your briefcase, you come back down in time to look through the window and see your child getting on the bus. She turns and waves.

You arrive 5 minutes early and cheerfully greet the staff. Your boss  comments on how good the day you are having.

Notice the difference?

Two different scenarios. Both started the same. Both ended different.
Why?

Because of how you REACTED.

You really do not have any control over 10% of what happens. The other 90% was
determined by your reaction.

Here are some ways to apply the 90/10 principle.

If someone says something negative about you, don’t be a sponge. Let the attack roll off like water on glass. You don’t have to let the negative comment affect you! React properly and it will not ruin your day. Now you know the 90-10 principle. Apply it and you will be amazed at the results. You will lose nothing if you try it. The 90-10 principle is incredible. It CAN change your life!!! Enjoy….

Download it here the10_90rule.pdf .

Road Trip Day 3 – Wytheville & Nashville

Sorry about the long gap in another Road-trip post, but this is quite some effort. We took over 1000 pictures which I now need to sort, compile and then post. I last left off on a post about Day 2in the fantastic Trinkle Mansion.

After a refreshing night’s sleep and a fantastic homemade breakfast we headed off to Nashville at 9.30 AM. We reached there around 4.30 PM, which was actually 3.30 pm. I completely forgot about the time zone difference which game me an extra hour. This was the time I made my first post on Day 1.

It surprisingly got dark quite early. it was pitch black by 5 PM! That did throw us off schedule a bit on the sightseeing but we found a great place to visit at night. The Gaylord Opryland hotels, resort & convention center. Yeah, the first thing that came to my mind was ‘Meet the Fockers’ too …the name Gaylord does that to ya 🙂

Our first reaction was , why would we come all the way to Nashville and see a hotel/convention ctr? Obboy where were we wrong and awfully glad we went there. This place was like Disneyland, in sheer size and in fun! This place was HUGE, as big as a little town!

It was beautifully lit, decorated like a little town in Venice! With a river and a boat and all. Yeah, all inside running around the hotels and its rooms. All indoor! It took me a few minutes to wrap my head around the sheer size of this place. We took a great riverboat ride and this 30 min ride was filled with gorgeous waterfalls lit so festively, and breathtaking views of the whole place.

It’s hard to capture more about this place in words or on camera! It was a bit dark and there was just so much happening that I didn’t know what to get on picture. We were in there for 5 hours which ofcourse went by in  a few minutes. I would strongly recommend anyone visiting Nashville to definitely drop by this place. It is surely a must see place. 

I  couldn’t wait for the next day because I wanted to visit the music row which is where RCA studios, Elvis’s first recording studio is located among a few hundred other music recording companies! Every inch in Nashville had a musical touch and I loved that about the city.

After the 7 hour drive, 5 hours on foot we had a great dinner at Sunset Grill.  We went back to our hotel and Zzzzzzzzzzzz.

More Stupidity

Heartwearming isn’t it to find out more and more about the ignorance( or is it stupidity that roots off of arrogance?) of some people who live here.

She is a ‘country’ singer, Kelly Pickler. A recent contestant on American Idol, she didn’t win but came 6th or 7th(not sure!). She is doing quite well for herself with her career in singing and being a celebrity taking off quite well.

I have to mention that she first caught people’s eye even during the American Idol competition not because of anything else but her absolutely jawdropping ignorance. Every word that came out of her mouth ever since has made every one go “WHAT? Did she just say that?”……..definitely not in a smart, articulate or remotely coherent way. She apparently just moved from the midwest to LA? Does being in the midwest warrant you being ignorant to the rest of the country and the world? I guess in America it does! She’s not the first one you know.

You all might have heard and seen Miss. South Carolina messing up her speech? Hey that’s nothing. That atleast was a one time thing.

You shoud watch this one talk and converse. It’s a hoot. There are many ‘kelly’isms. She is ONE person who sure makes George Dubya seem like Einstein.

Read these posts of mine and this will make more sense. Post 1 , Post 2

Road Trip Day 2 : Washington DC & Wytheville

I last left off blogging about Day 1 of our trip with a great few hours in Philly and our drive to DC. Now on to Day 2 of our trip :

This day was all about seeing DC. I have been there a few times before but never spent this much time on foot! We walked around for almost 7 hours and covered quite a bit. DC was gorgeous with the fall colors still intact. Flaming red and orange leaves with the bright green lawns and gardens, crisp and cold 40 degree weather made the walking more pleasurable.

We  started at the Washington monument, went over to the Smithsonian, then the white house all in the morning part of the day before it gets too crowded. Otherwise finding parking is a nightmare beyond 11 AM.

The grand Union Station :

And of-course the white-house:

Here’s something interesting happening right in front of the white house. You should most probably understand what these posters say wherever you are in the world, they seem to have covered most languages!

Here what it says in my native language of Tamil; Translation – Stop the War.

We then moved on to see all the memorials, Lincoln memorial, Jefferson memorial and the Roosevelt memorial. I found them all so fascinating. An interesting though crossed my mind, irrespective of the country, all the founding fathers and the early contributors to the beginning of the country have always been such idealists.

The words inscribed on each of these past president’s memorial proves their idealism, when you try applying it to today there isn’t a shred of reality in there. Just all rosy idealistic words.

I wonder how we digressed from a world where such idealistic leaders wrote down and made rules and constitution so perfectly to create a perfect world and somewhere down the last couple of 100 years we took a MAJOR detour. It’s definitely something to think about.

It’s also quite freaky at how some of their words have relevance even today. You’d think they said things during the great depression or the world war, but today it’s all oddly very relevant.

Here what I mean. These are Jefferson’s words from the Jefferson memorial. See how freakishly relevant it is amidst all the crap happening in this world recently?

I found more really ironic and fantastic words in the Roosevelt memorial :

This reads : ” More than an End to war, We want an end to the beginnings of all wars”
See, yet again, so much relevance to today. I only wish the words of the great forefathers and their idealistic statements had more value today. Our world would be a much better place.

Keep reading ……..

Does the current white-house resident think this way ?

Once again, how ironic is that ? This especially strikes a chord if you’re American or if you live here in America.

Here’s some from the Lincoln memorial

 

and George Mason

Just a beautiful English mastiff we came across while walkin around. He was so friendly and just adorable. I had to get a picture.

Who does that look like to you? Just some random sculpture I found while walking around.

After an exhausting 7 hours on foot, we landed for late lunch at a great Italian place called Maggiano’s. Of-course you can find out more about that on my food blog.

We headed out of DC around 3 PM and drove to Wytheville, Virginia (Pronounced Withville)

Why Wytheville? Well that town is mid point between DC and Nashville, TN.

We couldn’t drive directly to Nashville because that’s a 13 hour drive, hence the break in Wytheville.

The stopover there started as basically just a pit stop but it turned into so much more. We researched a bit on this town and came across a true jewel in a bed & breakfast inn called the ‘Trinkle Mansion’.

It truly was an experience of a lifetime staying in this place. It goes to prove that some of the best things are found in the most unlikely places! This place was of-course a mansion. It was literaly a palace fit for a king, which made us feel like royalty! It had very thoughtfully done interiors with a lot of attention to the intricate details.

The lovely Patti Pizinger who owns and runs the place made it a very personable experience, something you can never find in any hotel. She was hospitable, warm which truly made our experience better. Her passion and love for what she does resonates a lot in that mansion and in her food. That is what we loved about our stay there more than anything else. It is always endearing to meet such genuine people. And this is the lovely Patti.

They have a fantastic story behind how they came about to become owners of this place.  Patti and Bernie Pizinger the owners of the house stumbled upon the house when they pulled over into this town to fill up on gas ! They have always had a retirement dream of moving down south and opening a bed & breakfast and planning to do so probably after at-least 5 years of research on how-to. They drove around quite a bit in the south with Virginia not even remotely in they list of places to start this. But that’s how life always plays out things doesn’t it? Read more of their fascinating story :

The rooms were impeccable. The furniture, the linens, the bed, the amenities and everything else like the whole experience was just perfection. At the end of a long drive it was the perfect place to get refreshed and energized.

Forgive our luggage kinda spoiling the picture but our room was gorgeous nevertheless.

After all this, we couldn’t wait for her breakfast the next day and start Day 3 of our road-trip. Keep reading for more………