The Blah Blahs and the Yada Yadas

Hardly seems like enough time has passed for you to sing ‘tra la la la laaaa, la la-la-la’, but Christmas, in all its glory, is here once again. And before you actually read this entry completely, it’s probably wise for me to wish you in advance, ‘cos I know you’re busy today. So here goes - Merrrrrry Christmassssss, one and all, Yo ho ho, and a bottle of rum.

No, wait…. The bottle of rum part didn’t quite belong there… Well, then again, for some people, it certainly does. If you don’t belong to that set, however, then maybe you [...] Continue Reading…

End of the world predictions have been around ever since the the world had lunatics… and that’s basically since the beginning of time. As predictions go, Earth has been subjected to the R.I.P. monitor on a periodic swing… The predicted cause of complete human doom has been postulated across meteor showers, volcanic doom, tidal waves, machine conquests, God’s interventions, planetary collisions, overheating suns, underheating suns, alien invasions, nuclear holocausts, mafia dominion, ecological collapses, economic meltdowns, and, of course, my favourite… zombie takeovers.

These predictions are often accompanied by expert opinions, where expertise in lunacy is apparently revered. One of the [...] Continue Reading…

By all accounts, it was a brief trip. Even Charles Dickens would have said “It was the briefest of trips, it was the longest of … hell, who are we kidding. It was a short trip.” Leading travel writers would be quick to declare that spending two days in Singapore does not give the sensible blogger a sufficient enough glimpse of the city to comment about it. In my humble opinion, though, these leading travel writers should stop poking their noses into my business. I wish they’d just stop with these declarations, pack up, and do what they do… [...] Continue Reading…

While the seeping wave of the global village has spread cultures, technology, the H1N1 virus, and Hindustani rap songs across the world, it would be rather premature to conclude that we have all become more or less the same. Of course, no one ever expected that we’d exchange all cultural heritages and have global equanimity, least of all on the subject of relationships. While it is not as frequent as it used to be, the bulk of Indian marital adventures arise from the age old practice of arranged marriage. Now a large chunk of you, who have perchance glanced [...] Continue Reading…

Now it has been a while since I have updated my blog, and gosh darn it if I’m as uncreative as to blame it on the same old excuse of hectic work schedule, but when your clients and the powers that be toss you across the room and bounce you off the walls for entertainment, it gets re-he-heally difficult to look beyond office life to dig up an excuse for just about anything.

And while I have missed out on delivering my own specialized rants about a lot of going-ons in the world today while the going-ons were still hot [...] Continue Reading…

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. They scare the bejeesus out of me. They really do. I wouldn’t say I am otherwise the bravest guy on this side of the planet, but I’m not that much of a coward either; and yet, I’m scared shitless of these people. The Humor-noids.

It’s hard not to be scared of people without a sense of humor, and the converse is also true; it’s difficult to associate humor as a trait of scary people. This is why it’s hard to imagine Osama Bin Laden doing knock knock jokes, or Ajmal Kasab [...] Continue Reading…

Finally. It’s here. The topical season to be jolly. I love this time of year. Within the state of Kerala, this is one time when people set aside differences of caste, creed, status, power, politics, wealth, community, gender, and age to unite in a common, though short-lived goal of peace, love, and kindness. And what’s unique, is that this time, it’s not about Cricket. Anything that brings about this level of unity has got the Hammy seal of approval. Especially when the legend behind the festive season has enough special effects to make even Michael Bay go “Hey, come [...] Continue Reading…

I was raised a Catholic. But I was also encouraged to think, so I guess I turned out ok. As a kid, the concept of God was easy to understand. Childhood was peppered with movies and stories that had black and white concepts of good and bad. The hero was the kindhearted, strong-willed, family loving, responsible citizen who only wanders out of his shell of goodness to beat up armed local goons with his bare hands to save a heroine in distress. And the villain was always the ugly hearse-voiced misogynist crook  who steals from orphans and shouts at [...] Continue Reading…

Over the past few years, my parents have been urging me to rake up some cash every month, gather it into a pile, and burn it. Rather a weird request, but they were quite gung-ho about it. They even offered to put up the money if I came short. It wasn’t part of some bizzare ritual or religious tradition, but the sentiment has also been echoed by many of my other relatives. More and more dear and near ones have been suggesting this option in the recent past.

Of course, they don’t really say so in so many words. What [...] Continue Reading…

The first week of July, 2009, has had special significance to Indians. While many people possibly in weird body paint danced in joy, hugging on the streets; others yet marked it as black day for Indian society, solemnly grieving the ‘decline’ of India as a country. Personally, I thought those were rather extreme reactions to my birthday. I mean, hell, I was even putting a low profile this time around. And July 5 comes every year, people… Even leap years, so just learn to live with it.

But my birthday wasn’t the only big event this month. Those of you [...] Continue Reading…