You got a smart phone that's smarter than you?

Two weeks back I saw my brother shut himself up in his room whenever home for one whole week and go into a complete silent mode in grievance for his new phone that fell in water. His good mood was regained once he got the phone repaired. The more advanced phones that we get today are so super convenient that they promise a lot more than just calling or messaging, what with the user friendly Apps for anything you can think of and the easier internet usage!
Today every family member has a personal phone and I came to notice funnily enough that this has in a way made many of us lazy ( In the last decade was it the television that caused laziness? :D ).
Speaking for myself, I've caught myself calling up my mom who is in the kitchen or brother who is upstairs on phone,to ask about something while I'm home as well. The other day my brother and I were chatting on "Whatsapp" while sitting in different rooms. I wonder whatever happened to face to face conversations! And speaking about face to face conversations, once my aunt (who stays right behind our house) called on my mom's phone and I saw them talking on phone while looking at each other through the windows of their respective homes! Should I say this is a more convenient way (I wouldn't say better way) or get more dramatic and call it something along the lines of "exploitation of technology" ?
It's nice to see smart kids being experts on phone matters. But it doesn't stop surprising me every time my little cousins come and ask me switch on the wi-fi so that they can download Apps, or when one of them shows me his "Smartphone" that was a gift from his parents for clearing his 7th grade and to top it all, when my aunt tells me with twinkling eyes that my two year old nephew's favourite play toy is nothing but a Smartphone!
Earlier, when we watched TV, we watched TV. When we read books, we read books. But now, though I'd like to call it multi-tasking, everything is done along with playing games or surfing through stuff on phone. My brothers and I were watching a movie on TV last day, and all three of us were playing games on phone at the same time. Any conversation we had in those 2 hours were just regarding some new game or beating the high score.
Playing on phone is fun, walking on the streets with earphones plugged to our ears may look cool and entertaining, these phones help us stay updated, but is the phone just getting smarter of us by keeping us glued to it 24*7?
I don't know if similar incidents happen at other households or if it's just us, but I sure have to consciously try to do things depending less on my phone and learn to keep it aside more so that I don't end up sulking in my room if it stops working..
I wonder if this is the reason our Hon'ble Chief Minister does not have a phone of his own afterall! :P

The second chapter - by Varadh Raj

A video I happened to watch of Mr. Gowtham, an agriculturist made me think twice about us, our society and our country as a whole. When Mr. Gowtham and his friends were offered a salary of Rs. two lakh per month, they quit their job. The decision would ridicule many of us at first. But the reason he gave for this was indeed thought provoking.  He explained how the glitters of corporate life make (force) an individual to live in luxury that is beyond necessity. Once he gets a salary hike he makes up his mind to invest in a house or a car for which he takes a loan with EMI. This gets him indebted to pay the EMI amount for the next ten years or so. This payment cannot be stopped (unless he wants to fall in deep trouble) or the amount reduced, even if there is a recession or any other calamity or if he loses his job. The banks will show no mercy on him. Ultimately, the individual is trapped in the future for what may seem luxurious and affordable today.

Now that many of us including myself belong to the corporate world, this is great message for us. Mr. Gowtham is an agriculturist today, earning rupees seventy-five thousand per month!

I want to discuss another issue here which I’d like to link with Mr. Gowtham’s views later. This is about our great loyal politicians who allowed Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in India. Wal-Mart has opened their distribution network in Chennai. As per the rules and regulations, they have not opened any store in India but have opened a distribution center through which they buy materials on bulk and supply to the Kirana stores, departmental stores, etc. Thus, Wal-Mart has not opened one shop, but thousands of shops that are indirectly owned by Wal-Mart at the back end (as supplier). This shows that, once all the FDI issues have settled down Wal-Mart can increase the rates to customers which being Kirana stores and other small stores. This would lead to their closing down gradually due to lack of margin.  Finally, in the long run when most of the small shops are closed down due to affordability issues, Wal-Mart may give its helping hand to India by opening stores where customers can afford goods at a cheaper price, which our mom and pop shops couldn’t do. And we in turn would start praising Wal-Mart.

 But the bottom line is that this is going to be a big blow to the farmers and the mom and pop shop-walas in the long run. Just looking at the statistics or having a bird’s eye view of all this will not help in understanding their sufferings (and in turn ours too) practically.  Politicians and big guys like Wal-Mart play using that very trump card and sustain their business.

Ultimately, they are shaking the backbone of India!

Now, linking both the news, I want to tell you that there are small steps that we ourselves can take  that can impact our neighborhoods atleast marginally if not drastically.

Let me share something that I’ve started as my small step to do what I can against this. Since the last few days, I have stopped consuming cool drinks such as cola. Though I still consume food from KFC, Domino’s et cetera, I have begun to realize the fact that if once India was ruled by foreigners, it’s is very well going to happen again in a different way. So, I consume Indian products whenever I can thus starting off with soft drinks. I hope my measures convince my friends to start doing their part as well, in whatever small ways they can. If we use only Indian products, our money shall get cycled only in our country thereby encouraging our people to start up more ventures and not be afraid of the so-called “foreign brands”. I’m sure if some things turn out positive, this can bring up a lot of Indian brands to the International market and boost our export which in turn improve our economy greatly.

For example, Basics is a Tamil Nadu (Indian) apparel brand and Chick King is a Kerala (Indian) brand. We need not go back to Khadi clothes, but we still could prove a strong competition to the foreign brands with our very own Indian brands.

So, combining all the above facts, when Wal-Mart start attacking the farmers, a few farmers like Mr. Gowtham would not be making deals with Wal-Mart, they would have their own supply chain and sell their products through some front end partners ( departmental/kirana stores). So when I change myself in the way I expressed above, I won’t be buying from the supply chain of Wal-Mart and will support people like Mr. Gowtham. If this can be virally spread and people start realizing the same, our purpose is achieved for which we are going against FDI in India and therefore destroy the monopoly conditions!

If you want a change, you have to be the change. Let us all do our parts in making India a better place to live in.

Readers, please share in your views about this. I apologize for anything that I might have stated wrongly, please feel free to tell me what you think! Thank you for taking the time and reading this.

I also include my Tamil poetry ( with English translation)about my deep-felt thoughts regarding this.

              

     Irandam Adhyayam

  (The Second Chapter)

Annai madiyil sombal murikka 

(Woke up in my mother's lap)

Ayyan kaiyil nadai pazhagi 

(Learned to walk from my father's hands)

Aaradi annan er pidikka 

(With my brothers working in the agriultural fields )

Amarnthu undome kootu kudumbamaga 

(We sat and had our food as a joint family)

Paruthi mudhal pattu varai 

(From the name of cotton to silk)

Aanmigam mudhal aruviyal varai 

(From Theism to the new world Science)

Paraikotti varaiyaruththu em pattanandro.? 

(Is it not my ancestors who preached this to the world?)

Avan andaththin aathiyai parthavanandro.? 

(And is he not the one who saw the origin of the Universe?)

Ulaga pothumarayum unnatha kalacharamum 

(The thirukkural and the beautiful culture)

paraikoti paprisaliththu magilntha paariyargal 

(We are people who give others what we have with a smile)

vazhvaliththu nattin valamaliththu simmasanamiliththu

(The crowd which gave life, treasures, wisdom and our throne)

adimaiyaga aasaikonda engal avalam paarir.!

(And how fondly they are willing to be a slave)

Pugalchiyin bothayayum bayaththin Ukkiraththayum

(Both the addiction of praising and the fear of pain)

Azhagai kattinai aatchiyayum pidiththai

(U showed it beautifully to whom u show it correspondingly)

Kambu kondu kaththi kondu emmakkalai aandai

(U ruled my people with slavery, with pain)

Mudiyatha Tharunangalil Pirithalum Soolchi kondai

(When u failed at that, you used the divide and rule strategy)

Guninthu Valainthu Un kalanigalin karaipadinthu - Nee Kulikaaya

(Beaten by U they fell in the ground with your boots stains and to worm)

tham kaneerin anal thanthu mandanare emmakkal

(They died giving the warmth from their tears)

Piriththalum ennaththirku ethirchollai parisalikka

(Unity is the antonym for divide and rule it seems)

Vetrumayil otrumayai vendrukatti karpithanare

(They won the game by showing you the Unity in diversity)

kalnenja kayavargalin tharkaliga parisam - inithey

(A temporary gift given by the stone hearted fellows)

arangeriyathu nalliravu nadagam andru - 1947

(They staged the midnight drama delightfully)

ariyamai ennum aabaththaana aayuthamam - Immurayum

(A powerful weapon this time called IGNORANCE - even this time) 

adimayaga aasai konda engal avalam paarir.!

(see! how fondly they are willing to be a slave)

Itho indru irandam aththiyayam - ithil

(And now we have this chapter no.2 - In this)

adimai endru ariyamaye ariyamaye vedikkaiyagum

(The comical fact is that we are so ignorant of being slave)

unnum unavum uduthum udayum kulirootum banamumai

(The food we eat, the dress we wear, and the drinks which we have)

uchchi mudhal ullankalvarai anaiththum anniyare.!

(From tip to toe everything is a foreign brand)

Vyabaara kuri ennum viyaththagu thanthiramam

(There we have this magical word called BRAND)

India porulendral izhivaga ennida vaikkumam

(Which makes us to think very cheap if it is an Indian brand)

ennugira ennangalileye nanjai kalanthuvittane

(He has mixed the venom even in our thoughts)

tharam ennum sollil tharayil mandiyida vaiththane.!

(With the one word called quality he made us kneel down in the ground)

Iyarkayudan kalanthu isaiyudan pinanithu

(The family which Mixed with nature, mingled with music)

ilaneer parugi inbutriruntha kudumbam

(And happily lived with the taste of tender coconut)

vegamai thindru vilambaraththil moozhgi - melliya vishamam

(Now started eating fast, drowned in the advertisements)

athai inithe suvaikkum kodumai kelir

(See the pathetic situation of my people who are happily enjoying the taste of a slow poison)

Vizhihthukol nanbane.! Purinthukol nanbane.!

(Wake up my friend... Learn it my friend...)

Than nalam thedi un nalam kedukkum - Anniya

(Forgetting about you on the verge of making their money)

porulukku adaikalam kodukkum kalaignargal venden

(We don't need these artists who advertise these foreign brands)

kalkaasu kanchendralum athu nam uzhavanukku pogattum.!

(Even if it is a penny let it go to our farmer)

Oorin ellaivarai solluvom ithai urakkacholluvom

(Let us tell it loudly to the end of our place)

karuvakki uruvakki kalainayaththudan merugetri

(Conceived, gave birth, brought up and after beatifying your kid)

ayyan peyarai matri vaiththal avamanamandro.?

(Is it not a shame on u to keep your neighbor's initial?)

Athu nam natin sabakkedandro.?

(Is it not a bane on our country?)

Nallathor mudiveduppom nattukor nanmai seivom

(Let us do something good for the country)

Anniya muthaleedu nam muthukelumbin kuraipadu - athai

(FDI is a wound in our backbone ... so)

aaniverudan thagartheriya ariyamayai thurappom

(We should uproot and throw it away all together)

nammannil thenirukka theinthu povanen mathubanam arunthida..!

(When there is honey in our land why do you want to die for a glass of alcohol?)

He does not have six packs, he hates violence and he hardly talks but still he is my super hero- DAD YOU ARE THE BEST! - by Pushkala V

Staying away from family is not the easiest thing to do even if it’s inevitable at some point of our lives.  A visit to the British Council Library in Chennai last week gave me the trigger to write this, which I think many of you can relate with.  I dedicate this to my father with whom I visited my first ever library in life- the public library, Cochin. Ever since then I have fallen in love with libraries and books. My interest for books and many more I share with my dad.

              Sometimes being a daughter is the most wonderful and at the same time the most difficult role in life. When I say difficult I don’t mean tough but I mean challenging. In a society like ours where daughters are seen as more of a burden than a blessing, it becomes even more challenging for a girl to prove her worth to her family, friends and the society. But a very few of us are blessed to have wonderful parents who look up to us with proud eyes. They are unable to hide the excitement when they see their daughters taking up the day to day challenges with confidence and poise.

              Like millions of daughters out there, my dad has always been my hero. He is that one individual in my life who has never failed to pamper, motivate and support me. I sometimes wonder how he is able to understand what I want and get it for me even before I ask him. This doesn’t mean I have been raised as a spoilt brat. Despite the fact that I have always got what I wanted, he has made sure that I earn it rather than simply giving it to me. My dad is a voracious reader and he is the one who encouraged me to read a lot even when I was a kid. This has influenced me a lot and helped me get a broader perspective of life and the world. He has been someone who made me realise that sometimes all that matters in your life is integrity and honesty and never to be bothered about others being judgemental about you. He gave me the courage to follow what my heart yearns for even if others thought it as mere eccentricity.

             There is a sense of security I feel when he is around. To be frank, throughout my student life I have never worried about hall tickets, application forms or reaching the examination venue on time. Dad used to make sure that he gets all the application forms filled and never even once failed to drop me to the venue on time despite the fact that he works 13 hours a day. He always writes down what is to be done and keeps a checklist with him to ensure he doesn’t miss out anything. Seeing him do this throughout my growing up years has had a great impact on me. Now that I have moved out of my home and am left to myself to take care of daily chores, I have started keeping my checklist and trust me it works.

            Many parents impose restrictions on their children and don’t encourage them to speak out about what they feel. I have never had a problem voicing out what I feel and think about situations to my dad. Be it my choice of career, my religious views or love life he has been there for me as a patient listener who listens to me crib, criticise and voice my apprehensions. Talking to him prevents me from taking impulsive decisions and calms me down to tackle the problem with an open mind.

                I have heard many girls complain that they find it tough to meet their parents’ expectations and live up to the ‘son image’. But I find it a pleasure because at the end of the day the smile on his face and the pride in his eyes are worth all the trials and troubles. Dad I know that you aren’t good at expressing how much you love me or what I mean to you. I know you aren’t the type of dad portrayed in Bollywood who hugs his daughter and gifts her expensive sports car. But I know how proud you feel when you see me tackle the odds of life with confidence and never say die attitude.

                I don’t live with you anymore and we hardly get to talk and meet each other. But nothing has changed Appa. You were, are and will always be my super hero. I might not be calling you daily but I do miss you awfully. Given a choice I would want to go back to those days when you take me to school in your scooter making me repeat the multiplication tables. I understand you are extremely concerned and worried when you see me living on my own, travelling by myself and take decisions but trust me dad I will never fail because I always have YOU to pick me up and nudge me to go forward if I fall. Love you dad and I so very thankful you are always around to keep an eye on me.

From Tripunithura to Malgudi days

Every time I pass through the busy town of Tripunithura (which is my home town) it gives me the feel that I’ve travelled back in time. The place stands out from the city in almost every way except for the heavy traffic. Tripunithura is a town that boasts of its history through the old streets, temples at every corner, arches, statues at junctions, an age old palace that gives anyone who has watched the movie “Manichitrathazhu” the creeps if he/she passes the doors, a century old banyan tree at the entrance of the “Poornathrayeesha temple” (which was sadly cut and “cremated” inside the temple grounds recently) and the beautiful “kovilakams” which are houses that speak of the ancient Kerala architecture with extensive wood works (which again, sadly are being replaced by flats that quite mar the beauty, even if more convenient for the increasing number of inhabitants in the town). And another interesting aspect of the place is that, even though it’s crowded, everyone seems to know everyone else over here.


So, a dreamy head that I’m and Tripunithura being the place that usually takes me to a world different from today, my travel to this small village that lies in the Shimoga district of the western Ghats called Agumbe or the “Cherrapunchi of the south” got me even more fascinated. Though the place is known for its rainfalls, sunset point and the flora and fauna, what interested me most were the remains of what was “Malgudi” twenty-eight years back.


In 1985, the television series of “Malgudi Days” was entirely shot at Agumbe, transforming the place into Malgudi that captured the imaginations of every R.K.Narayan fan. As I visited Agumbe with my uncle who was part of the Malgudy Days crew then, I had the benefit of his stories about the shoot and the sets, slowly taking me to the world of Malgudi where Swami, Thanappa, Charu, Seth, Leela and many others walked the land. As I passed by the remains of what was once the Malgudi school, the steps by the well which was the town’s important meeting place, the clear waters and the old houses, I couldn’t help recollecting the various scenes of “Swamy and friends” and feel oh-so-nostalgic about it.


After a delicious lunch at the village head’s house, our next stop-over was at a small tea-shop that is almost in ruins and is run by an even older man. As my uncle explained to me how several scenes of the shoot was planned and discussed at this very shop and this man has been there ever since then and today is running this tea shop not for the profits, but for the mere memory of those good times, he got us a glass of a drink that was a herbal infusion, the wonderful taste of which still lingers in my heart..


As he walked slowly stooping a bit, sat down on a three-legged stool with his pet cat on his lap and gazed thoughtfully, I couldn’t help wondering if he was actually an R.K.Narayan character, one who still lives in Malgudi and who took me to those very days in that brief moment..

   

                            AGUMBE, THEERTHAHALLI TALUK, SHIMOGA 

Journey to the Gates of Apollo - by Jawahir Hamza K

As is the plight of many other engineering graduates for whom I feel and empathize sincerely, I’m one of those who are still looking for that “ever-eluding job” in the right discipline. With a lot of effort and obviously a little (I’d like to put it as little) bit of recommendation, I finally managed to get a shot on the vacancy that had opened up in Apollo Tyres. I kept bugging Mr.X in the HR enquiring about when the interview was and he finally succumbed to my barrage of enquiries(more like a bugging saga) and told me to get suited up for it on the 29Th of May at 2 PM.

With a “lot” of preparation which was mostly 10 minutes of reading, 30 minutes of napping and munching biscuits to help myself from falling asleep) to meet the test that lay ahead of me, I set myself for the huge day ahead. Unlike most jobless engineers, I have the liberty of having very good friends, who find time early in the morning(even before I wake up) itself, to give me the pep talk as if I’m going to walk into the ring and stare at Rocky Balboa. To be honest, I wouldn't mind being in the ring with him after all that boost of confidence…

All buzzed up, I leave early for the interview at 12:30 PM. I think this is the point where I should be informing you guys why I leave early for interviews. I always end up forgetting or missing something essential and just in case I don’t, I suspect something untoward to happen, which usually does. So, I reach Apollo Tyres of Kalamassery and walk to the Guard who twitches his moustache as if it’s some scanning antenna and checks the top of my hair to the tip of my shoes in a glance. Polite as I can be, I enquire about the interview to him…

With all the time in the world, he responds finally asking, “Who asked you to come here today?” I inform  him saying that it was on Mr.X’s instruction that I was here. He looks at me with a sense of perturbation and disdain(from keeping him from having his heavy lunch by the looks of his saggy tummy), and says that he in his 15 years of service to Apollo had never heard of Mr.X in HR and gave me assurance that there wasn’t a Mr.X.

I don’t know what was running through my mind but I’m sure nothing could be related to mental stability. Recollecting my senses, wherever they were, I ring Mr.X up and ask more into it, and he says that the interview is at Apollo Tyres, 29Th May, 2 pm, Perambra and cuts the call.

I was like, ‘What? Perambra? Sh##...’  I ask where ‘Perambra’ is to the guard and he says its 40 km away.  For a moment I can relate my anguish to that of King Leonidas’ of 300 who is about to kick the messenger down the deep hole for bringing the bad news. Gathering a sense of reality I run down to my car and activate GPS and find that the place is only 38 km away, which I could obviously make if I am not stuck in some serious traffic. A quick glance at the fuel tank which has its pointer below the ‘E’ makes me wonder how I’ve been driving. Turning my car to the road with the idea of fuelling at the next closest petrol bunk, I twitch my bum to assure if my wallet is still in my back pocket.

No surprises for guessing if I had my wallet or not... I'm the kind of person whose wallet has each and every penny of mine stored in it apart from the countless age old bills, debit card including my driver's license. With no time to go home in between to pick my wallet, I call up my friend whose home's on the way and he agrees to lend me money for my emergency trip. I collect it from him on the way and he waves me good luck and winks with his sleepy eyes which I'm guessing could be his night shifts effect from work. I speed off after fuelling to my destination and reach there at 1:45PM and lock the car doors. Just before I turn to walk towards the gates, I notice that I locked my keys inside the car. Since retrieving that could wait, I make my move to the Guards room where he instructs me to write my name in the register.

The first two sessions of the interview comprising of an aptitude test and group discussion went pretty well and I was glad to clear them for the personal interview session scheduled for the 7th of June.

As I pried open my car's lock using a ruler borrowed from the Guards gate, I spent my time secretly appreciating my skills that could have made me a good carjacker in some good old Nicholas Cage movie and also ironically admiring my sense of punctuality which somehow outweighed my bad sense of looking into minute details.

I returned the ruler to its rightful owner after getting back my keys and looked back at gates of Apollo through my rear-view mirror trying to guess what challenge I may come across in my next visit... But today I can go to sleep happily waiting for the 7th of June, probably to come back and write more about my dexterity in handling situations :-P

The wedding bells chime, ring and burst my eardrums!

Now that my full time education is completed and I've landed a job, the next big concern of everyone around me ranging from my immediate relatives to a random neighbor who I just met at the temple or the lady who sat next to me in the bus, is to get me married. I’m sure many of my peers would be facing this same situation and I admit that it’s all funny to an extent. I also am touched by their concern for me, but it does get quite irritating after a point.

Isn't it a bit curious that our parents who teach us that boys are bad, dating is bad and that no one is to be trusted, suddenly begin to make us look at random photos and profiles of men and expect us to choose, or even fall in love at that instant? And what about the society (that raises questions if it spots a girl and boy speaking to each other) suddenly turning all pro-relationship? I’m still trying to get used to the idea here.

Now, getting into the more interesting and weird aspects of it; as I was out of town for my education until two months back, I wasn't really aware of all the marriage talks that were happening at home. So, once I was home, it looked like suddenly every visitor, may it be a family friend or relative, had nothing else to  speak about but my marriage which seemed to have become as significant as elections, petrol prices, global warming or the American economy itself.

Once I started getting used to hearing about the “budhan” and “shukran” of horoscopes and the prospective grooms who are either working in IT companies in Bangalore or are settled in US (wonder if US is some sorta trend here), I realized that I’m not the only person who was new to all this. My parents seemed to be equally new to the prospect of man-hunting for me. They were childishly excited about the whole prospect that I found my brother and myself joining the fun in spite of the pressure of it all. There’s a monthly magazine in which people of our caste advertise for wanted bride/grooms. If you check this magazine, you would know that there are only half as many girls as the grooms-to-be, available for alliances. So, after selecting and rejecting several people and taking those through the process of horoscope matching etc. my parents decided to take the next step and put my profile in the magazine as well! This time I felt things were beginning to get serious.

So, the much awaited magazine comes out in circulation and my family gets excited as our land phone starts ringing as early as 6 in the morning, with calls from interested parties. At the end of the day mom and dad would sit together and make a note of all the calls that they received and sort them out.

 But, after the first few days, I gleefully saw a turn of events. The excitement was less when the phone kept ringing from dawn to dusk. All four of us would look at each other’s faces, silently nudging the other person to attend the call as many of the calls usually meant answering an array of questions from the caller, and that too in Tamil. The parents began to get so confused with the never ending calls that they started maintaining a diary which my father named, "the marriage book". The one advantage of these calls was that my mom and brother started to improve their Tamil as all the callers conversed in nothing but Tamil! ( Being born and brought up in Kerala, our Tamil and Malayalam sounds alike except for dad who travels a lot and catches the accents fast. And I must say that my being adamant about conversing in Malayalam at home since childhood unlike other Tam Brahms, contributed to this as well).

I recollect that there were some particularly insane proposals; one in which the guy is a doctor and was willing to marry provided we pay for his higher education and another in which the guy's parents' details just said, "both are alive!". There was yet another family who sent their son's resume which included even his internship project details that caught me wondering for a moment whether they sent it to the wrong address or assumed that we were hiring.

Leaving out these aspects, I understand that choosing a partner for one's son/daughter is no easy task. A lot of responsibilities come with it and I'm proud of my parents who are doing well in spite of the excess pressurizing from friends and relatives. But I don't see why people consider marriage as the obvious and the only immediate future for a grownup (leaving aside our career or other interests that we'd very much like to pursue) and behave like they cannot rest until they marry off every single grownup in the society. No, pressurizing us is in no way helping us. There is no point in hurrying all this. One day, my husband might read this too! But I want that day to take its own sweet time and come at the right moment, and that is surely not gonna happen by increasing the blood pressure of everyone around me or giving me a deadline as if this is my next big project. I hope my well-wishers do let it happen at its own pace and prompt only when really required!

What's this about?

This is not just a blog about food or movies, and I should mention that the title and address are just the result of my craze for both. I assure you though that a considerable share of contents would be regarding good food and movies of course as we here believe that delicious cuisines are what make our lives blissful!
After my previous blog http://chroniclingmypgdays.wordpress.com/ which was way too personal as it chronicled each day of the second half of my post-graduation days, this one is meant to be a platform for a bunch of us friends who would like to express anything amusing that we experience in our daily lives, which could range from a social issue that we wish to voice about to a song that touched our hearts. Needless to say, anything out of the ordinary finds its place here.
As one of us bloggers Jo prefers to call it, this blog may contain the confessions of realists or the curious cases of pragmatists, not to say the content hearts of us foodies! ;)

Happy reading!!