Archana Online.com

Only a fortnight to go. Then all the results will be out. And all the election craziness will stop. Its not that I do not like to vote, or does not support democracy and all that, but I just hate the campaigning methods. They seek attention creating all the rumours and speeches or bashing the other parties. They create road blocks by visiting all the small roads and houses to show their “affection”.  I recently saw one or two roads tarred. Those were the worst main roads, with lots of pits n all, as if the road was built on sand. I am not sure whether it got maintained due to the complaints or due to the election fever. And most of all is the Prime Minister seat chase. Should I call it hilarious?

I am really counting the days…

I thought it was going to be another Monday morning. I was just browsing through the various channels on TV to start with, and saw the 81st Annual Academy Awards function in Star Movies. It was the Oscars! And I sat there for the next 2 hours glued to it.

Smile Pinki got the award for the Best Documentary short film. I haven’t seen the documentary, but I am happy for her that she too was mentioned at the Oscars. How many are lucky like that?

A.R.Rahman and Rasul Pookutty did deserved the awards for Slumdog Millionaire. I won’t say “Jai ho” was the Best original song and all, but the original background score was brilliant and the sound mixing, editing,  or whatever term it is called, was brilliant. The story was simple and nothing much to talk about. But the photography, sound, music, film editing etc was brilliant.The speeches made by those Indians, made every Indian proud. Rasul indeed made history. I liked his speech more than Rahman’s, who was more professional, though he spoke Hindi, English and Tamil on the stage. It was indeed a drama to speak of the country and making it proud and all, but its indeed a priceless moment, which would rewrite history and would be boasted of much, in coming years. Read the rest of this entry »

Along with money, love and time, which drives human beings mad, is love for food! And especially if your are residing outside your city, it increases exponentially.

Bangalore has been known to me as the hub of NRM or NRK – Non Resident Malayalees or Keralites. Its an altogether different matter that you will find them wherever you go. Chennai was far better in that case. It gave me the realization that I was in a different land, but which served you with good food!!! I had started liking various South Indian dishes only after staying in Chennai. There we had the famous Tharavad and Kumarakom restaurants for Malayalees. I had not liked the Bangalorean food for that matter, for reasons which cannot be disclosed due to security reasons! Every time, we went out, I had gone for North Indian or Italian or Tamilian or Fast Food, or more commonly Mallu (short form for Malayali) food for most occasions.

Kaayal restaurant was one of the few we have been dining off late. The options were Malabar and Kalavara of which Kaayal turned out to be the winner. I have heard of some other restaurants too, but they all are at far distance from my reach and this restuarant is nearby Jeevan Bhima Nagar (near Indira Nagar) and hence easily reachable. At times, it drives us mad, having a single Kerala Sadya menu and nothing else, when we wanted to have something other than rice! But still, it remains the only choice still now. The ambience and the food and the menu have been good enough till now.

Any other recommended Mallu restaurants in Bangalore?

It seems every Monday of this year is hitting me hard. Last month, a similar Monday, I had started off the new year. And today, I start off another month. But the situation remains the same. I did try to ward off the blues but I guess, its the hangover of yesterday’s match which made Roger Federer cry!! (Yeah, I do keep blurting out PJ’s in between to cheer up myself!)

From last night, I had so many ideas in mind, but the clouds didn’t seem to clear. I was reading whole morning of the news reports of the Australian Open Final match. Especially the interviews and photos. Not that I am such a dying hard of both the players! (I came to know about tennis and these two only very recently, thanks to RK) The outburst of feelings and emotions, and then the consolation of Rafael Nadal, had stirred my mind regarding the friendships among the rivalry. And also the common topic of men crying in public. Read the rest of this entry »

Today, I was just going through the archives. I feel that I have reduced penning down my thoughts and feelings. Rather the short stories, movie reviews, articles, recent happenings are the topics I have been blogging off late.

There was a time, when I used to blog, when my mind blew out of the proportion with suffocating words and rants. For me, at that time, I never cared about the number of readers, or the traffic. I blurted out all my thoughts, sometimes directly or sometimes through analogy. I used to finish the posts within half hour or so, and without spell checking or re-reading the draft, I just published.

Now looking back, I feel those posts do have a personal touch and is more readable. Like the innocent outburst of a child. It worked, because things happened at that time. The race with time, the busy life schedule with many many things, the glimpses at various nook n corner of city life which gave spark to various thoughts and views.

I do not wonder what has changed. I know what has happened. And I know what should I do to change. But then, something is pulling me back. Maybe its the fears or the various choices available. The point of time when you feel like slapping yourself for the inability. The time when heart says lovingly to wake up, and when mind pushes it down with the lame and age-old excuses of practicality. The time when you await for your heart and the soul to win over the mind battle. The time when you await the death so that you could be re-born to a fresh life.

People say, time heals everything. It answers the strangling questions you have been asking in the early ages. But then, how do we wait for time until it heals or gives me the answers? Isn’t time running away? From me and from my life?

The vortex has knocked me out into the deep darkness of unconsciousness.

PS: This post too has been completed now within half hour. You do have it in you, when it wants to surmount you.

Money has always been an integral part of our life. And when you are able to make money online, will you resist doing it? If not forever, it does seem tempting enough to try out at least once. For example, have you tried mGinger yet?

Blogging maybe the latest popular trend, that entered the world of advertising. Increase traffic, link exchange, keyword enhancer, content-rich, make money online etc have become the new jargon. Earlier, I guess ads were more popular for selling products, services and referrers.Along with the popular Google Adsense, there are other networks like AdBrite, Bidvertiser, Chitika Premium Ads, Performancing Ads, ReviewMe, PayPerPost etc. For more money making ways from internet click  here, there and here.  Read the rest of this entry »

The flower show in Bangalore Lalbagh gardens started last week. Over the weekend, having nothing else to do, we went over to click them. I mean the flowers. Yes, photography has been getting on my nerves every time I see my photographs and the experiments.

To those residing in Bangalore from a quite long time, this flower show may not be a new thing. I have been to other flower shows too, like in Thiruvananthapuram at Kerala, but flowers are always refreshing.

The entry fee is maximum Rs.40/- for adults. I saw huge numbers like Rs.150 and Rs.200 in the price listing for the car parking, though I am not sure, whether its true! Thankfully, we went on bike which can be easily parked for just Rs.5! There was no special fees for camera, which provided great opportunity for many photographers. There were tripods, and huge big, wide, or whatever lenses stuck near the huge varieties of flowers. Read the rest of this entry »

Few weeks ago, I had been loving foreign food. Maybe it was the Christmas seasonal effect. The Italian pasta’s, lasagne, macaroni, steaks, cheese, toasts with butter, fine apple or orange juice, cakes, waffles, pancakes,..the list goes on.

The one dish I couldn’t had enough of was the pancake. It was too expensive at the restaurant where I had it. To shake off my cravings, I searched Google for vegetarian pancakes.

The original pancake with eggs is good, but what if you want to be a strict vegetarian sometimes. Its just that I don’t mind having blended eggs as in cakes, waffles, etc though I don’t have it in direct form. Confused? Never mind. Read the rest of this entry »