All in one Generation

Was talking to my cousin (mother of 2) when she was in India recently. We were reflecting on how our group of cousins behaved so differently, though we are all part of the same generation. And no, we weren't doing any behavioral analysis, though I know my cousin is quite competent at that, given her extensive experience in psychiatry (how I wish I had that kind of a different profile, sometimes, life is just so unfair :) ).

My youngest cousin is 17 now and she just cannot stop texting her friends on her mobile phone. This applies to those in the age group of 17-20, I guess. I got myself a mobile phone (we just used to call it 'cell' those days, how cheap) and still I remember, how we used to gape at anyone who bought a new cell in college. And my first model was 1100, the brick-like one, yes! And no, I was no SMSer. Dont know why I never took to SMSing that much, one major reason was obviously, I was using a BSNL prepaid service (that did not have free SMSs) and Amma wouldn't let me shift to any other service, being the public sector person that she is! And moreover, I wasn't even earning at that time! Damn! I couldn't do what I wanted to.

My cousins who are older than me (in the 28-31 age group, we are quite a young family), had not even heard of the mobile phone. Internet was a luxury; guys had posters of Sonali Bendre on their almirahs while girls had those of Ajay Jadeja. (Yes Madhu, I remember!). And the only way to communicate with your latest crush from school or college was to hush-hush on the landline phone, :( what a pain it must have been. Even cordlesses were just catching up then!

And finally us! There are 3 of us in the same age-group in the family. One used to be an SMS maniac but soon got out of it, once she turned 22! The other 2 of us were so non-tech savvy, we had the most deglamorised phones on earth. What did we do? Yes, orkut was the rage of our age. Making friends on orkut and writing and getting testimonials. Sounds so cheesy now, when I think of it all! And yes, all 3 of us have blogs. And one of us, me (Gee..) now tweets. See, am the most vetti of all.

So, summarising (thanks for reading all this), ... na. bad idea. I better stop rambling now... :) Times change. Let's see what my cousins' kids get into. :)

And yes, I just cant help feeling so grown up now, (euphemism for 'old')

My Voices - Ragi Tandhira ....

This is a song written by Sri.Purandara dasa.
Ragi Tandhira Bhikshaka Ragi Tandhira.... it goes,

Finally, landed my hands on a shruthi box, here in campus.
So, was tempted to record again!

You can listen to this song at
Ragi tandhira 

Lyrics:
(Source: http://sapthaswaras.blogspot.com/2008/08/ragi-thandira-bhikshake.html)

........This is a very impressionable “needhibodhana” song. In this song PurandaraDasa explains how one should live. But in a very charming way he has played with the word “Ragi”. He starts off the song with the common day to day meaning of the word and wakes you up with a jolt with a verydifferent use of that word as he delves into the song proper. And just watch how manytimes that word is used in this song by Purandara Dasa. It is class poetry, in simple words but carrying profound education for living......

Sri Purandara Dasa was a real social reformer. He had the dream of providing peace of mind to all the people. His ambition is to build a healthy society. Dasa’s socialism is poor man’s side. He represented the poor people. He wished to his the poverty till the end of his life. That’s why he use to ask ‘rAgiya ta.ndIra, bhikshake rAgi ya tandira’ ('Will you gave me just ragi? I want only that' - ragi is basically a sort of grain grown in southern India,  being consumed by the rural poor)

Pallavi

Ragi Tandirya Bhikshake Ragi Tandirya

Bhogyaragi Yogyaragi Bhagyavantaragi Nivu

Charanam 1 :

Annadanava Maduvaragi Anna Chatra Vanittavaragi

Anya Varteya Bittavaragi Anudina Bhajaneya Maduvaragi (Ragi)

Charanam 2 :

Guru Gala Seveye Maduvaragi Gurutige Bahoranthavaragi

Kare Kare Samsarava Nitavaragi Purandara Vittalana Seviparagi

My Voices - Kandha Nee ....

A song after a long time! Do bear with me and my voice once more :)
This one is on Lord Muruga

You can listen to it here:
hi-fi URL: Kandha Nee Oru

Creating the Funny!

Who doesn't like people who are funny? Now, how do you define 'funny'? Someone whom you can have fun with? Not exactly. Someone who can make you laugh? Probably yes. Now again, this can be divided into two. Those who are naturally funny (of course, these are the most eandearing of the lot) and those who try very hard. And you know what, sometimes, I tend to like those who try hard to be funny. (I know many will disagree here, ) Come on, give them their dues! They try hard. Of late, in Tamil, we have this concept of 'mokka pottufying' - which actually means cracking PJs. Sometimes, when you have nothing to do in the world, mokka can be fun too. ... Not all those who have the gift of the gab are good at mokka -ing. You need the knack for it. So, my conclusion is probably, 'funny' is a very case-sensitive term. What may be funny to one may not be funny to another!

Am not sure if this gels with the theme of this post (he he,... if you can call it one) , but I'll mention what I think about creativity also here. I think most of us confuse creativity with innovation.. Creativity is probably at a lower level as well. See, a PJ can exhibit creativity, which means, you can creatively by funny! Changing things from the way they are usually done can be classified as creativity. And, do we all like creative people? Perhaps yes. But surely, FUNNY scores over Creative, doesn't it?

And now you're probably thinking, why this post? A very confused one at that. I really don't know. Nonetheless, I really like people who are funny and maybe a wee bit less, those who are creative. One last thing, I think this point cannot be overemphasized, that, being 'funny' or 'creative' is a personal equation thingy. If you innately like a person, you will probably more easily believe that he/she is funny or creative. Psychographics, you may say!