Flavour of the week...

My current passion- The Cryptoquote!

Do try it out! It's damn good!

Sheer agony, great food- the great Indian wedding!

I recently went through the agony of listening to a pack of an unknown band playing their music(?!) in a wedding. I had never been to a Christian wedding, it all went fine except for the so-called music! I just don't understand why Indians hazard singing in English... And the instruments remind me of a badly resonating tuning fork! The worst was yet to come- Tamil lyrics sung with western notes. God, I could cry out loud. And I was happy for the fact that Jesus didn't understand Tamil! Leave English lyrics to native speakers!
I'm one who can't stand loud music anywhere; in fact I never attend wedding receptions if they host light music concerts-they are anything but light. But this one beat it all!!!!!! I swear I'd have been in better shape if it had been the worst light music band in Chennai playing their loudest gaana song. Not that I'm against gaana but just that people don't realize that wedding halls are not built to accommodate such loud decibels. Wedding halls should have a speaker-free zone. Yes, you may ask me to select the other alternative- to avoid going to weddings at all, but how can I miss the food???! ;)

The Fountainhead! And Frank Lloyd Wright.

I have finished the job which I had taken earlier this month to beat time. So, am back to surf away all my vetti time!! I have finished reading "The Fountainhead". I wasn't impressed with the book, especially after the exalted expectations with which I started it, thanks to heavy recommendations from Sindhu and Dhivya. I'm only left thinking if the author has done a 'Gallant Gallstone' act on us- you know, Fountainhead is a book that people in intellectual circles talk much about and hence when you don't want to fall out of march, you end up reading it AND, even if the book doesn't impress you, you claim it did, because you have heard that it appeals only to the intellectual!! I couldn't care less! But as always, I did like a few quotes, pages and incidents in the book. Gail Wynand does leave an impression on one...
Anyway, the book did me some good- the book, an article in the Young World and a little research later, I stumbled across information on Frank Lloyd Wright, the real-life architect who inspired the character of Howard Roark- he was chucked out of his university without a degree,designed some of the best buildings in the world, he had an affair with the wife of one of his clients and was arrogant- it all matches!
The FallingWater, a residence in Pennsylvania left a lasting impression on me. It's a house on a waterfall, can you believe that?!!!

Discovering Madras and the MMC!

It's been an embarrassing day today altogether-
I tripped over a stone jutting out of nowhere in the K.K.Nagar bus terminus in the morning!
I was denied entry into the Armenian Church next- the khaki clad watchman there spoke better English than you and me! Do i look like a terrorist or something???? :(
I walked all the way to the Evening Bazaar Road through the Fraser Bridge Road which happens to house the MMC Men's hostel. And I was shocked that such a prestigious institution provides such a seedy, smelly, dirty and altogether revolting place to its students! The stench, grime and dirt will make the Cooum banks smell like a meadow!
Is this the scant regard we give the most promising brains in the city?!
Did you know these facts about the MMC-

• The MMC is the second oldest medical college in India. Established in 1835!
  
• It is ranked fifth in the list of best medical colleges in India!
• It has the distinction of being the alma mater of the first lady doctor in the English speaking world.

And this is what they offer students in the name of a hostel!

While I was surfing, I was extremely proud to note that 4 out of the top ten medical colleges in India are from Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. Here's the list-
1. All India Institute Of Medical Sciences(AIIMS), New Delhi (Central Govt.)
2. Christian Medical College (CMC), Vellore (Pvt.)
3. Armed Forces Medical College(AFMC), Pune (Ministry of Defence)
4. JIPMER, Pondicherry (Central Govt.)
5. Madras Medical College (MMC), Chennai (State Govt.)
6. St. John's Medical College, Bangalore (Pvt.)
7. Kasturba Gandhi Medical College, Manipal (Pvt.)
8. Moulana Azad Medical College (MAMC), Delhi (State Govt.)
9. Stanley Medical College, Chennai (State Govt.)
10.Grant Medical College, Mumbai.

Yes, we are indeed proving to be the educational capital of the country!!!

Snippets!

It's been quite a while since I have posted! Well, even if it sounds stunning, time is scarce now because I have found a temporary job to keep me occupied! Someday,maybe after a month I might want to post on Madras... Am beginning to love the loooong bus ride from K.K.Nagar terminus to Broadway! I can almost see that queer look on your face when you think I should be nuts to claim that I enjoy a bus ride at 8 in the morning in 17D or 11G! But I tell you it's worth it. I see a fair cross section of people from all walks of life-from young employees talking non stop over their cell phones,Dental and Medical students of MMC to the downtrodden who take the same bus to the G.H; an evolution in lifestyles and architecture from old-old British buildings in North Madras to the swanky offices and well-to-do houses in Nungambakkam, tenements jotting all over the banks of the Cooum* river(or whatever is left of it); the commercial hub in Parrys that's always abuzz with activity to the sleepy housing board flats in K.K.Nagar; a gleaming black Benz parked unobtrusively in a corner of Armenian Street; a flurry of black blazers and gowns and the intimidating red structure that is the Chennai High Court. However, there's only one stretch that never fails to draw attention to itself- the Marina Beach that's visible if I choose to take 11H! The exhaustion after a day's work, the crowd, the perspiration stench thats hangs in the bus... nothing seems to bother the commuters when they look at the distant waves!
A ride to Broadway takes you back in time-you see more of Madras than Chennai!

*I remember my cousin's grandfather saying that when he was young, Cooum was clean enough that he had taken a boat ride across it!!!!