The Psycho

When she sauntered into the class 10 minutes late (she was always 10 minutes late - absolutely punctually;), she didn't notice that he was already sitting inside the room.

The rest of the class was yet to arrive and it was sort of a twilight zone - still some dregs of sunlight streaming in the room and posing the "Should we switch on the lights or not?" question...

She slowly walked up to him - a bit tentatively since he was slumped in the chair - obviously distressed. It had now been two months since she took the evening classes on psychology and each day had been a new experience. People were coming in and telling all kinds of stories of their past - all very different and even surreal. Having heard so many narratives, Ramya had learnt to accept the strange and sub-normal. Like an oft used perfume whose smell is hardly picked up by the wearer, strange stories had become quite the norm!!

Ramya treaded quietly and shook him slightly - just to get his attention, for he still seemed pre-occupied by his aloneness... He slowly looked up and it seemed that he had been crying.

"Would... Would you like some water?", Ramya asked

"You are late", he announced to no one in particular, seeming unable to digest the sudden doubling of the population in the room

Ramya said, "I came as soon as I finished work. Can we begin our session today?".

He seemed reluctant a bit. "No one else has arrived yet. Should we start or wait?"

Ramya was dying to broach the topic and hurriedly said, "Never mind. Let us begin. What has been bothering you?"

"Well, Life does seem to have reached an all time low. My routine bores me to the core... I dont think that I make enough money for a man of my qualifications. There does not seem to be any reward or appreciation for my hard work and the many hours I spend with the people I work with. I am totally depressed and I have reached a dead end in my career.."

Ramya braced herself and said, "Cmon, You really have to pull yourself together. It is not all that bad and you only need to see your job in a new perspective." Looking at her watch, she then continued, "and I suggest that you do it soon, because, the rest of the students will be here soon, Professor!!"

2 States - Book Launch & Book Review

I was at the Book Launch function in Chennai (Loyola College) where Chetan and Shruti Hassan read out parts of the book to a 1000 plus audience, including tonnes of students, some celebrities and his family. The presentation that Chetan made on "Why Tamil girls are better than Punjabi girls" was hilarious and had the audience cheering along!

As I was sitting next to Chetan's inlaws, I managed to check up whether there was any truth in the semi-autobiographical stories related by Chetan, particularly in "2 States". His MIL, who actually seemed a very sweet lady, smiled and said "Not at all" - but ofcourse!

Here are some take aways from the Book Launch..

• Chetan - Never mind the ad line that he has become the biggest English novelist in India - he came across as a simple guy, with an earnest and endearing manner. His English was spoken with a really strong Punjabi Accent!!
• The celebrities - There was quite an assembly - Kushboo, Suhasini, Shruti Hassan being the most recognizable. There were also some DJs, drama artistes and so on.. The cutest were Chetan's young boys (twins, around 6 yrs old or so). When Chetan started the launch asking, "Who has read my book?" - I was really amused when both his boys put their hands up!!
• Suhasini - spoke about her Tamil education, late entry to reading English books and an incident soon after her marriage that had her in tears (finding CIBACA in the bathroom and the thought that she would have to adopt to a life time of a toothpaste that she did not like..). Ofcourse, the anecdote concluded with the happy story of the toothpaste transformation that has happenned in the Mani Ratnam household - ALL IZZZ WELL!
• Kushboo - spoke about her being the "Tamilian" daughter-in-law of the entire state - given her celebrity status (cmon people, we made a temple for her in Tamil Nadu at one stage)
• Shruti Hassan - book reading was sweet and she consciouly "Bleeped" objectionable words. Turned out to be the best looking celebrity of the evening - much to the glee and catcalls from the gang of students that had attended - after all the venue was at Loyola College!
• Me - I managed to arrive early and so got front row seats. I got to ask Chetan a question on the movie 3 idiots - before some of the controversy and huge success of the movie! I also managed to beat hundreds of students and get to Chetan and got him to autograph my edition of 2 states (more for posterity than anything else - also the Monica in me couldn't resist the challenge of seeing if I could!)
• After the book launch, got wet in the pouring rain. Was fantastic!

Now for some takes on the book..

Two States is the story of Krish and Ananya. The fundamental premise is quite stale - two people from different states of India who fall in love and want to get married. We have seen it so many times in books and movies - whether it was North meets South in the famous movie "Ek Duje Ke Liye" or in culture clashes in "Alaigal Oyevadithillai".

The presentation ofcourse is distinctly different and that is what makes Chetan's book eminently readable.

Chetan's writing style would not appeal to a highly sophisticated reader or a wordsmith looking for flowing prose punctuated with refined language. It however strikes the right chord with the average Indian reader since it is easy to understand and updated to the current day conversation style.

The book is certainly humorous. A hard core Chennaiite such as myself (or so I like to think) could have been offended by some of the merciless jokes and digs Chetan takes, but I found them really funny!

The book produces an urge in every reader to read aloud to anyone else in the room since the jokes are the kind you want to share with someone - I believe that this is a great testimonial for the author.

I have read all of Chetan's books - right from Five point someone, One night at a Call center and Three mistakes of my life! I have earlier felt that they were progressively getting worse. However Chetan, with 2 states has managed a "Volte Face". I felt that this was his best book so far..

I am quite sure that after the stupendous response to "3 idiots" which was based on "Five point someone", it is only a matter of time before "2 States" is also made into a movie..

Here is my casting for the movie - Asin/Vidya Balan and Shahid Kapoor - What is yours?

Writer's Block

It is strange how writer's block sets in for almost any and every person that has ever wanted to write.

In this twitter era, it might seem that 140 characters is all that a writer needs to come up with and once that is done, then the twit who twittered is all done!

When it comes to a blogger, the job is only a slightly taller order but yet, it is not all that big a deal, because spewing a couple of paragraphs does not easily mellow the muse in me and once the keys start dancing in tune with the fingers, the words come out quite effortlessly!

What about a book! Pages and Pages of unadulterated fiction waiting to be written! Is there enough to Kindle an amazonian ambition to be an author? The ultimate magnum opus that has not been written yet and may never ever be!

The book is still a distant dream, but just fresh back from a short break, I shall certainly be blogging more at the buzzzstop! Hopefully my co-authors will be coaxed to join in with some interesting tales as well!

Flower Power - Piercing the Glass Ceiling?

I read an interesting article in Bloomberg news today titled "Women Break Old-Boy Barriers on Boards, Bench" by Albert R. Hunt.

It was mostly stats in the beginning like - 58% of the American undergrads finishing college this year were Women & so were 50% of the medical and law school grads.

17% of the US Congress is now made up of women - 3 of the last 3 secretaries of state and 7 Governors are women

One in four of the eight Ivy League schools are headed by women.

The last section of the article, which I have quoted here, was about women in business and to me, the most interesting..

"Reinemund, former chairman of PepsiCo Inc., mentored the CEOs of two of the five largest companies headed by women -- Indra Nooyi, his successor at PepsiCo, and Irene Rosenfeld, the chairman and CEO of Kraft Foods Inc. In a sign of changing
times, Xerox Corp. announced last week that Anne Mulcahy will be retiring as CEO and be replaced by Ursula Burns, an African-American woman.

Some studies and other management experts say the qualities often associated with women -- empathy and a more collaborative approach -- aren’t requisites for successful CEOs. Instead, it’s the single-minded toughness more associated with men.

There’s a rejoinder: American International Group Inc.,Lehman Brothers, Bear Stearns Cos., Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac,Countrywide Financial Corp., General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC. These firms share two characteristics: All are either extinct, bankrupt or wards of the state. And all were headed by men."

As far as academia goes, India has always had more girls do well than boys and so there is nothing new there. In politics as well, women have proved their mettle in India and there are quite a few women that lead with an Iron fist & a bulletproof vest!

What about women CEOs? Do we have enough of them? Hema - being one yourself, perhaps you can comment on this!

A Japanese "Aladdin"?

For some people, just being in space is not enough of a fairy tale - they need to also fly on a magic carpet to make the mental picture complete.

The video here features Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata on the International Space Station. He was asked to perform 16 amusing low gravity tasks that were submitted by the general public to the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency - JAXA. One of those tasks requested by the public was to see if you could duplicate a flying carpet in space, which Wakata-san performs quite easily.




Other fun tasks that JAXA was requested by the public included how to fold laundry and demonstrate how astronauts use eye drops in low gravity.

Household chores dont leave even astronauts in space, it seems!

Slow Motion

I was watching this video in youtube today..



The video is fantastic and shows the beauty of nature juxtaposed against the determination of man to explore and conquer it.

Meanwhile, some thoughts crossed my mind..

It seems like the batting of an eyelid, but we are already in May this year. No idea how the months flew past..

Won't it be nice if life could sometimes move in super slow motion! Also, I won't mind a few more years of childhood and those wonderful college years, while we are it..

Recession CEO

My hubby just walked into my office and found me on a busy working day. The laptop in front of me had 2 screens, iDiva.com and the buzzstop blog. The phones were silent, my lunch spread out in front of me, an unopened ET dismissed to the corner of the table (pride of place went to my lunch dabba). And I proudly told him that I was invited to contribute to the blog and was pondering (last 10 minutes) on what I should write about. Unfortunately his answer is unprintable. I just realised that this low biz cycle ( I refuse to use th "R-word") has its uses. Having time to do what you want is a pleasant change. I was in Bangalore recently, and even the traffic was tangibly less. Every hiring manager wants to meet me (for a change!), if only to discuss threadbare the implications and swap horror stories.Life is no longer at a tense fast pace, at the mercy of 3 phones, chasing meetings, apologising for missed deadlines. I actually have time to stand and stare. And yes, time to write this blog.