A Tribute to NUS...

Wow... I never thought this day would come this fast! On 10th July 2010, Saturday, at 10am in NUS UCC was my Commencement Ceremony. I am now officially graduated from NUS, with a Bachelors Degree in Life Sciences, Pass with merit. So I guess its the end of the journey? Apparently not, according to a lot of people. It is the commencement of a new chapter in your life. 

But I see it as an end to my joyful days in life. Friends have all scattered off and gone in different directions, becoming busy in their own lives. Have to get a job, have to get a house, have to get married, etc, etc... Life moves on, in different directions though. I don't know if I will ever meet some of my friends after that evening. And if I do, then I know for sure that those friends will be with me for long!

I don't know how all those times went by. Everything seemed like it just started yesterday. I simply loved my time in NUS, especially the parts I spent with my friends. Not the stressful times in exam halls and labs! I really will miss them all. But at this point of time, I really have to thank my friends for making it a wonderful time in NUS! I thank Kasturi, Chanta, Mathu, Jayu, most of all!! I know we girls will stick together for a long time to come! Thanks for being there for me always! :) I love you all!!! 

I have a lot of people to thank. But none of them will be reading this blog though. So I am only thanking people who will be reading this post :) I had a wonderful 3 years of my life! Thanks girls! :)

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Ballerina is spinning..... which way?

 

If you see the girl turning clockwise, your right hemisphere dominates:

So if this is you, then you are highly creative, you use your imagination, feelings and perception of space, you are sensitive to symbols and images, you enjoy exploring the future and thinking philosophically…

If you see the girl turning anti clockwise, you use your left hemisphere:

And if this is you, then you are a logical thinker, you rely on realism, words and language. you are attracted by maths and science, knowledge, and specifics...

If you manage to see it turning in the both directions:

You are both a left-brainer and a right-brainer. But the first direction you see in the ballerina is what you predominantly are. You can try to change the direction of the ballerina spinning though. I did it the first time, was difficult. But it comes easily with practice. :)

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Addicted to the Internet + Tyra Show Link

I usually wonder sometimes if I am addicted to the internet. I seem to be spending a lot of time sitting glued to the laptop than go out and have some good time elsewhere. But for the whole of the weekend, I didn't sit glued to my laptop all the time. Some times I do get out of my room and do something else at home. But still when I get back to my room, the first thing I do is on my laptop.

Not only then, the first thing I do when I wake up every morning is to on my laptop. It has become like an automated habit of mine, just like brushing your teeth and showering in the morning. I am also happy whenever I come online, after spending a long time doing something else. So am I addicted? 

Then I further thought about this... I like youtube-ing, facebook-ing, blogging, and sometimes watching movies online too. This is all I do. And yet, I feel like I got addicted to the net, and I wonder if I would ever be able to live without the computer... It also makes me wonder if this is good or bad. 

My sister is forever glued to her laptop. After observing her, I wouldn't want to do the same to my child in the future. I want my child to be more sociable and closer to the family, also doing his/her best in studies. Not sitting in front of the laptop, forever on the internet. God only knows what he/she is vulnerable to on the net! There are both good and bad things online!! 

Many out there today, especially teenagers, are badly addicted to the internet. This was where I found out more about it. Take a look:

Do watch this and the following 4 more parts of it. Interesting show! :)

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Raavanan below par?

It is amazing that films like Vinnaithaandi Varuvaaya, Ayirathil Oruvan, Raavanan, etc. never make it above par in any part of India. Exactly what is wrong with such films? Yes, its true that when you first watch these films, you go like, 'what the..?' But when you think deeper of it, many new attempts have been made in various aspects of movie-making. The imagination, the art, the screenplay, the cinematography, and so on. Many attempts are being made to improve Tamil Film Industry and its decomposing standards. 

But the story is totally different when it comes to people's opinions. They have already been 'conditioned' to like cheesy, commercial films like Sura, Villu, Singam, etc. that have nothing new in it, are heavily stereotyped, and commercialised to sell like hot cakes! Then it is 'of course' that people prefer these kinda films as compared to 'art movies' like those stated in the beginning of this post. 

Just imagine the kind of hard work, imagination, creativity and dedication that has gone into making Raavanan. Would any film director of these commercial movies (I don't even know their names!) be able to take such a story like Raavanan's and picturise it so beautifully?? Even though the story is something that we know of, you would be surprised of how many people (let alone Indians!) have no clue as to what Ramayana is all about!! It takes talent, imagination, creativity, and a gifted vision to make such a movie possible. 

It is true that Oscar-winning movies are never really most-watched before it wins an Oscar, but after it does, MANY people watch it and it suddenly becomes the most-watched movie! It seems that people like to stick with what others like, and are never really bold enough to form their own opinions and views, no matter how diametrically opposed they are to that which the society deems as right. What a sad case!

So here is it... I like movies that I mentioned above, and to top it up, I like Eeram, Yaavarum Nalam, etc. etc. Any movie that doesn't belong to the category of commercial entertainers... These movies stand in my mind longer than the commercial ones, which I do watch also, but the instant I leave the theatre or finish watching the movie, I forget about it. Those movies are only 3-hours of pure entertainment, nothing more. Something like a one-night-stand versus a long-term relationship!!

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Just feeling like...

... I want to become nothing... go into nothingness... I don't want to feel anything... I don't want to think anything... I don't want to know anything... I don't want to do anything! 

I wish I could just jump down and drown in my own world, in my own dreams, and never come back to reality. It sucks! 

Thank God I have a little fear for heights. Thank God there is no river nearby my house. Otherwise, I would have jumped down into any one of them, whenever I think about nothing in life giving you the happiness you need... 

I know I am not the only one who's feeling this. I wouldn't even be feeling like this, if I were a poverty-stricken person like in Africa or India. I would have more pressing matters in my mind than to think of how uneventful life is...

I wish I know how to be free of all the shackles in life...........

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Raavanan? :)

I might just have sat down in front of this laptop, wanting to write a post on the new movie Raavanan which I watched yesterday. But then, I found that there is no point to say something that has already been told by others! :)

I found the cinematography wonderful! Music was awesome! Vikram stole the show! Aish was lovely! Period.

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Wish You A Very...

I feel so so so so so so so lucky that I am born and have been brought up in this way, with great friends around me... I hope it would last for a little longer :) I just don't know how to express my gratitude. But I know that the only way to express this gratitude is by making others I love feel lucky that they have me around. 

... HAPPY BIRTHDAY MY DEAR MOM!!

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Fake Swamis and Cults

This is a random podcast, made in Tamil, but I thought this fit well in this heading of Clearing The Clouds, so I am posting it here, instead of under the Random section that I am yet to create. This podcast discusses about fake swamis and cults, deriving the topic from a recent Neeya Naana episode on a similar topic. 

Download link is here (Right Click and Save Target As).

This is the link if you wish to watch the Neeya Naana episode:
www.thamil.org/tv_shows/?m=view&vid=21346 

The two links mentioned in the podcast are these:
1st link: www.dhyanapeetam.org/web/default.aspx
2nd link: www.shrikavalemath.org.in/default.htm

Music is from Madharasapattinam movie. 

I hope you like this podcast, and please provide your comments and suggestions. Thanks!

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यह प्यार एक ऐसा जस्बात है 

जिस से रिश्तों का मौथाज बन न पडता 

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Unpaid labour

As I am writing this post, I am making a mental note to inform you that I am a liberal feminist, and therefore believe that the notion of gender is a socially constructed one. I believe that men and women are equal but have been constructed mentally to believe that men are stronger, smarter than women or that women are more sensitive, emotional than men. If this were absolutely true, then there would be no exceptions to this rule, and yet there are.

So having said my point, now I will come to the matter that has been bugging me. Well, not really bugging me but I've been thinking about it. It seemed really unfair when I came across with this statement that said that men contribute mostly to the economy, men's contributions to this and to that, etc. It seems unfair because, to think about it (as the phrase goes), 'behind every man there is a woman' helping him achieve that contribution... Be it a mother, wife, sister or aunt. Anyone!

Why is it they are 'behind' the man? Shouldn't it be beside the man? Is it always about the man? The son? The husband? If they never have had any women 'behind' then, they wouldn't have contributed this much to the economy in the first place. Women are, in short, doing unpaid labour. And it is not mostly labour of love, but of slavery, sorry to say. They are slaves to their own low self-esteems. 

But I wouldn't say the same for the females today. I think they are actually more arrogant than men in some aspects. My belief is that, if the man is a really good person, then doing all the household work for him, cooking for him, cleaning for him, would become a labour of love. But if the man is arrogant, egoistic, and conceited, then I say dish the labour and be more selfish! However, today the females are dishing their labour even when the man is really good.

And would it kill the guys to learn some cooking? I think the age of shared house-keeping is here as both the spouses are going to work... I am sick and tired of hearing and watching people constantly bickering about this.

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