If life were a wine list......

The Namitha.......full-bodied flavor with a hint of pout and arrogance.


The Aishwarya......Dry and vapid. A white wine that offers no flavor.


The Tiger Woods........a classic two-flavor wine that clubs the classy with the trashy.


The Brad Pitt...........a wonderful, gentle accompaniment to the naturally stronger flavors of the Angelina Jolie.


The Barack Obama........a lovely supple texture if you are in need of change (literally and figuratively).


The Amitabh Bachchan..........a strong and tempestuous blend of narcissism and senility.


The Juhi Chawla.....a champagne that simply refuses to stop bubbling almost to the extent of nausea.


The Vijayakanth.........son of the soil flavor only sold in extra large barrels.


The Sarah Palin..........an exceptionally flaky flavor given to bursts of dimwittedness. A classic blond that is disguised in a brunette bottle.


The WikiLeaks.........a strong red wine with a propensity for file sharing.


The Karunanidhi..........a dry, raspy wine sold exclusively in dark bottles, also known as "coolers". Is the well aged patriarch of the MooKaa family of wines like the Stalin, the Muthu, the Kanimozhi, etc.


The Robert Downey Jr...........a strong masculine blend simply aged to perfection.

of exercise and eating

today is the end of an era.....i am hitherto going to stop going to the gym. ha...there....i said it!


why this "dhideer gyaanodhayam", you may ask. to which i answer, if oprah is her portly self with a personal chef who can make perfectly balanced and portioned meals and a personal trainer who will customize exercise routines for her, what hope can a mere mortal such as I have? i am also tired of the pressure and the guilt trip. pressure from looking at the formerly plump and now toned people, pressure from the die-hards who prefer their time at the gym than a hot cup of tea and accompanying pakodas while watching a movie on Netflix, pressure from the well-meaning regulars who "kuchlam vijaarichufy" after every long absence......"romba naala ongala pakkalaye", pressure from people who seem to eat like the proverbial pig and yet maintain a figure that does NOT make them look like asha parekh when trying on new clothes, pressure from family members who meaningfully show me pictures of bollywood actresses of the size zero fame. seriously, what is this size zero and more importantly, how can it exist? doesn't zero mean "nothing"? how can one possibly be a "nothing" size and take any measure of pride from it? imagine dad admonishing the daughter...." you spend all your time at the gym, you don't go to college, you don't eat anything and whatever you eat, you vomit out. you are NOTHING.....a zero" the girl proudly says "thank you appa".  the mind boggles.


so, i will eat as i please and lounge about as i please. however, i cannot possibly watch any screen because all the models selling various products, movie stars, tv stars and even the animated women are all uniformly, if not a size zero, close to it. i will probably have to resign myself to watching dora, because at least she, like me, appears to be well-fed and proudly sports a tummy that her shirt will not hold in. what did you say....there is a teen version of dora who looks like miranda cosgrove and tummy is nowhere to be seen? dang......its back to the gym for me. at least i can salivate watching giada de laurentis cook while "maangu maangunnu" pounding the elliptical. that brings me to the question as to whether giada ever eats any of the meals that she cooks? there's some food for thought!