Wednesday, November 30, 2005

Pithy

Talent is like virginity. Some have it, some don't.

Friday, November 25, 2005

A soap is a man's best friend

Soaps play such a pivotal role in our lives. No no no, I am not talking about the scheming saas-bahu type tv serials. I allude to our cuboidal/ovoid friends who we come in contact with everyday in the shower (I know I cannot generalize so liberally. After all, I lived in a hostel for 4 years myself. Hehehe.But, we shall ignore the exceptions and consider ' take a bath everyday' to be the absolute truth)...those wonderful concoctions from Lever, P&G, Johnson & Johnson, etc. we use to get rid of all the dust and grime that accumulates on our skin, smell fresh and provide some nutrition to our skin. Hence, I have decided to write a piece on my (close) encounters with various brands of soap.

Dettol - leaves you with an amazingly clean feeling and a hospital smell. Perfect for that 7 pm shower after a victorious game of cricket.

Cinthol Cologne - Dunno if you remember, but Vinod Khanna used to plug for this brand. One used to smell really sexy after a bout with Cinthol Cologne. (Actually, the original Cinthol is pretty good too).

Hamam - This was actually mum's favorite, and she took it upon herself to bodywash us all with this brand. No complaints, just nice.

Le Sancy & Pears - Supposedly 'up market' soaps, I never cared much for these, they held no appeal for me.

Lux - this is perhaps the worst soap I have ever used. 2 baths and the frikkin bar becomes as squishy as the clay on the potter's wheel.

When I first shopped for soaps in the US, I often found myself comparing them to the bars I had used in India. Needless to say, the American versions always paled in comparison. True to the country in which they are made and marketed, American soaps are best described by the word - BLAND! No flavor, no personality. (And as we all know, (thanks in part to Samuel L Jackson) 'Personality goes a long way.' :) )

I discovered Neutrogena many months back and found it to be the saving grace among American soaps.

Moral of the story: Get American soapmakers to pay you big bucks so you can plug their products on your blog!

Happy bathing!

Tuesday, November 15, 2005

Vividh Bharati...

Malayalam bhasha mein agle gaane ki farmaish karne wale hain:
Sunnyvale se Best Buy Balasubramaniam, Boston se Gap Ganesan, Jackson Heights se Kmart Kumaran aur Devon St se SuperCuts Senthilanathan

Geet ka naam hai : Nada Nada
Album ka naam hai : Sound Check
Sangeetkar aur gayak hai: Avial
Link hai:
http://www.poormanproduction.com/musicvideos.htm

Isi ke saath aaj ka Aap Ki Farmaish karyakram yehi samaapt hota hai. Woorkeri Wittynathan ko aagya deejiye. Shabba Khair. Jai Hind.

Monday, November 14, 2005

Arz Kiya Hai...

Bekhudi ko kar bulandh itna, ke har jaam se pehle
Maikhana khud bande se pooche, bata teri raza kya hai?

Wednesday, November 09, 2005

On choice

I was talking to a friend of mine and asked her whether she was pro choice or not. She stayed the course and indicated that according to her religious beliefs, it was immoral, unethical and such to 'kill' a lifeform. Fine.

But then, what about contraception? Is preventing the conception of life acceptable? Where does that rate on people's moral barometer? Is it something that has come to be accepted as sensible and practical and hence, ceases to be heinous? (I understand the church's view on the issue, I am merely seeking personal opinions.)

Amreeka mein 3 type ke...

So, I got in touch with an old buddy of mine. After the usual 'what have you been upto' and 'wow, your work sounds extremely interesting' type of conversations, we veered to women. We were in vehement agreement that our experiences with the fairer sex over the last few years had been a series of well orchestrated blunders, German-engineered errors & unmitigated disasters, all at once. When asked about the types of women I had encountered (ok, 'met' is a nicer word.) in my time in the US, I said:

There are 3 kinds of Indian women in the US -

1. married or engaged
2. seeing someone else
3. single and not worth it

But, oh wait, there is also a fourth kind - single, cute, funny, interesting, well read, smart and not interested in you!

My buddy's contention was that, wherever you go, the following equation always holds true:
Beauty x Brains x Availability = Constant

After this brief interlude, we reverted to mutual discourse on our favorite topic under the sun - computational fluid dynamics. ( Now now, easy on those chants of '...And you wonder why...')