Friends....

Friends....they have rocked the world with their outstanding show on television
I hooked on to them only in the recent past .can you believe this "A show that can have you hooked on after a decade on t.v ..that's friends for you"

Rachel,Ross,Monica,Joey,Chandler & Phoebe -these are not unfamiliar names to those who follow the show .But for those who don't know them, They are the characters on the show . I laugh my gut out watching the show. It's an interesting sitcom ever produced on television till date and what more -they were successful commercially too
From a person who was never a television addict or a comedy lover ..Friends changed me completely . on watching the show regularly ..i started to yearn for friends like that ...I do have some of them who are pretty close to me ..but guess u need to be more blessed to live in together with friends and enjoy those small things in your daily life ..!!

It's amazing to see a lot of emotions,friendship apart from the comedy .And that typical British humour here and there ..sometimes i wonder what did i miss that am unable to get the joke :-( , Now it's become easier as hubby dearie has gifted me 2 of the seasons (the old ones) which has subtitles ..he he he :-)

The most beautiful thing about this show is , it is so realistic .There is no drama in it and all these actors are so natural .They live the character and all of them play their part well .No one over shadows the other .If you watch all the episodes keenly , you get to see all of them equally irrespective of something crucial happening in one of their lives .Credit goes to the script writer and the director for managing that so well. Am sure six of them would have become great friends through this show.You can relate so much to most of the stuff happening in the show as you feel like it is happening next door or in your life !!!

what comes to my mind when i think of them - a quick intro to the Friends !!

Ross - Who can make you laugh just with his funny expressions!!
Rachel - The Babe
Monica - Cleanliness Freak
Joey -The Flirt
Phoebe - The Singer who has a dry humour
Chandler -The Funny Guy..

Oops..how can i forget the famous title track of this show ..
"I'll be there for you"
I can't stop dancing to this when i hear it ..shoop ,shoop ,shoop !!

My Mohammed Rafi

"MOHAMMED RAFI " I would not have known about him or about his great music if it were not for Appa. He had such huge collection of Rafi 's and old hindi ,tamil film songs.I remember the big gramaphone that we had in our house in trichy ..and the numerous number of records that we play on the gramaphone to listen to the songs

So many times , whenever amma questions him on the fortune he has made for his growing daugthers , appa would jokingly say " Look at the beautiful and infinite number of musical records and my precious gramaphone Jaya-These are the pricelss fortune that i have collected for my daugthers "

Well ..appa was rite .. !! They are priceless to me ..The music that they made me listen and the interest for good music /songs that he passed on from his gene to me .
And the most valauble asset i cherish till date is my introduction to Mohammed Rafi.

Mohammed Rafi mesmerises me ...the only this i regret about being born in 1980, is the fact that the same year took away Rafiji. How i wish i could have seen him once in my lifetime ...The more i listen to his songs , the more i fall in love with him
so many songs ..He trained us to identify Rafi's voice. Keerthi & I used to compete is telling him which one was Rafi and which was n't him ...Infact , he also made us know the great lyricts of those years ..Majrooh Sultanpuri , Sahir Ludhianvi,Shailendra ..and the best of music directors S D Burman, O P Nayyar, Ravi ,Madan Mohan , Naushad,Shankar Jaikishan,Lakshmikant pyarelal and many others of yester years ..Anyone who composed for a Rafi Song and we ought to know them .There was some sense of achievement when we answered appa coprrectly in those little quizzes he had for us when a Rafi song is being played . And how i cherish those days ...Whether appa had money or no ..He had lots of peace within himself ..I guess it was all the magic of Mohd Rafi .I feel like as if Mohd Rafi is a family member .We talk so much about him ... Even today ...i talk to my sister about Rafi songs ...i keep yacking about Rafi to my husband .

Rafi saab's songs are haunting ...like that song in the movie night in london .. "Oh My Love-Nazar na lagjaye "..That songs lingers in my mind for hours together after i listen to it ..even now when i think about it ..i can hear him sing .......

One song that i could die for is " Chand mera dil , Chandni ho tum ..Chandi se hai door ..chandhni kahan..." ...watte song .... I have tears in my eyes when is ing that song ...i feel like a man and wish i could sing it for a woman like how he did ..it is that beautiful indeed... and some of the peppy ones like "baar baar dekho" , "Yahoo ..", "Taarif karoon kya uski"," Aaj kal tere mere pyaar" and the ever melodious .. "Teri aankhon ..ehsaan tera , chaahoon ga mein thuje, jo wada kiya ho ,mein gaon tum sojaon.." ...my gosh..the list will be endless if i started to list them ..All i can say is ...he is a wonderful singer and a good humab being ...something that touched me when i read about him ...

"Rafi sang for many lesser-known composers as well. Once, when a minor composer, Nisar Bazmi (who migrated to Pakistan in early 1960s), did not have enough money to pay him, Rafi charged a fee of one rupee and sang for him"

"Rafi preferred to take one time fee for each song and that was the end of it. But in later part 1950’s Lata wanted film producers to give her a certain percentage of Film’s profit as a royalty for her songs. Rafi did not like this idea and never demanded royalty from the Film Producers"

What more can i say ..to know this great guy who is my favourite singer is too good a human too ...He ought to be as good music can only emerge from good souls and am sure you will agree after listening to "Kiya hua tera wada ...oh kasam ...oi radha"....here i enclose the song for those who dont know Rafi or have not listened to any of his songs ...Go on ..Listen and connect to your soul !!!

Retro Rocks

Blog's name says it all ..
If you still did not get it , go on and read more ...!!

An evening that was eagerly awaited by me as i managed to get those tickets for this show only after asking many number of people that i know .And everyone wondered what was actually happening in Music Academy on the 16th evening .There was even a mention of there has been so many enquiries to get them the tickets for that show..

Well....even i was amazed to know that so many fans of Old Hindi music existed in mamma chennai :-) As they say music has no boundaries ...i witnessed it too last evening

Music Academy was filled with fans who were restless to listen to their Rafi,Asha & Kishore's magical melodies ...Show started off with a quick introduction to all the four singers "Srinivas, Anuradha Sriram,Chinmayi & Naresh Iyer " ..
Srinivas started the show with a dedication to one of the pioneers of Hindi music ..(i am not very sure of his name as i do not follow much of the 50's Hindi songs except if it was RAFIJI....The it was Anuradha Sriram's turn ...
she stole many hearts with her sweet stage presence ..She is too good on stage ..
She knows how to entertain the mass audience who are all from different age groups.
Most of them were from aunts , uncles & many from the older generation too..It was heartening to see so many paatti ,thaatha's taking out time for themselves ...No wonder some of us still LOVE HINDI SONGS,HINDI CINEMA & HINDI STARS..were it not for our parents who groomed us and made such wonderful ,meaningful music a part of our lives .I loved the songs from the GOLDEN ERA ...60's & 70's

I grew listening to MOHAMMED RAFI SAAB.He (his songs)can make me cry , make me laugh,make me romantic , sad and what not ...all emotions ..he is got that in him ..VOICE OF GOLD which makes my soul feel so good & connect with magic...
Yes..that's the word..MAGICAL ...it was a thorough magical evening filled with moments of magic that i experienced esp when Naresh Iyer came on stage..not because he was the eye candy but he sang most of my favourite Mohd Rafi's songs ...

"Ehsaan tera oh ga muj par...tumse mohabbat ..hogayi hai ..teri ..pal ko ki chaan mein rehne do ..."

Well..i cud have made mistakes in my hindi here ..but i don't care ..i will try again n again to get that right ..i guess i can even put some of my north indian friends to shame in terms of knowledge that i have in Old Hindi Cinema songs vs them and if it is RAFI's -U name it n i will know it

Srinivas picked up a lot of Kishore da's songs .Best was "Gaatha rahe , mera dil ...
Tuhi meri manzil " and of course he rocked along with Naresh for "Mehobboba Mehbooba " from Sholay ....as i was listening ..some scenes of Helen shaking her hip in her unique style and the ever daring Amjad khan ..all of them flashed across my mind .Anuradha Sriram did her bit so well..she was so bubbly and gave the retro feel even in her costumes ....(she changed at least 4 times i guess)

She sang some of her favourite songs and dedicated 2 them to her mother ...
and then she even performed a little bit of Kathak for one of her songs ..
And she looked like a doll when she sang & twisted a bit for Geeta Dutt's "Mera naam chin chin choo ..baba chin chin choo"
..She pulled along Chinmayi for my favourite "KAJRA MOHABAT WALA" ...and the fantastic lines..i wish Anuradha Sriram sang it ..as Chinmayi voice was not loud enough for that .... "Duniya hai mere peeche , lekhin mein tere peeche "

If i had to talk about Naresh Iyer , i can write another blog !!!

He was so brilliant ..when he sat down ..for "PARDHA HAIN PARDHA"...he was adorable
he was so humble mentioning how great he felt about being with seniors ...and i should make a mention of this ...Kudos to Srinivas for not being egoistic at all as i cud not have imagined any other senior singer doing a Chorus bit for a new comer ..He happily sang the chorus bit for Naresh on the lead for PARDHA song!!!!

Then of course ..all the four joined together to rock the floor & audience for NONE OTHER THAN RAFI HIT " AAJA AAJA " followed by JAI JAI SHIV SHANKAR !!!

It was indeed a Magical Evening !!!

RETRO ROCKS !!!!

With You .....

My very first Poetry Attempt :-)))




I feel like a queen when you care
I feel like a woman when you romance
I feel like a child when you pamper
I feel like a wife when you stare
I feel like a bird when you give space
I feel like an idiot when you fight
I feel like am on top of the world when i realise "YOU ARE ALL MINE"

A decade spent at WORK !!

10 years of working... "That is a decade" exclaimed Keerthi ...my darling sister ,who is just going to step in to the corporate world. I can't believe that time has gone by so quickly.... yo yo ...i have completed 10 years at work .

I still remember my first interview where in i just walked in to that place which fascinated me ..a industry that was so glamorous for a small town girl like me to be a part of .And behold ..i jus did it ..i snatched that job quite easily as if i had the graduation from hotel industry .As evey other colleague of mine had slogged and spent a few lakhs to get in where i got in that day ....


"THE RESIDENCY" ..a three star hotel with all the five star amenities .... I joined as a Front office Assistant .. How can i forget ..SOMA THALUKDAR who taught me all about my job ..She was a darling who was daring !! My other seniors at work dreaded her while she was such a sweetheart to me ...She helped me understand every procedure at front office, she taught me to even dress up well , how to tie a SAREEE..Imagine a buddhist teaching a tamil girl how to tie a saree ..i bet that can happen only in the hotel industry !!!

Front office team -Joe,Abhishek ,Jeeva,Gayatri,Bridget,Srini,Pramod,Mohan,Manikandan & now the new entry -Vijaya Meenakshi.

The duo lobby managers-Ashok & Murali , GRE -Sharmila & Mr Magesh Iyer-THE BOSS !!

My first job is where i found so many things that i cherish till date ..
Firstly ..it was a job in need ..i dunno what would have happened to be if i were not in that job ..It also taught me how to dress up , how to be professional ..
It was almost like a school which trained me to be an excellent worker.

Vani -My trainer ..she was a darling ..i enjoyed her training sessions . She inspired me to become a trainer actually.. I adored her style of talking & the way she interacted with people ..Just too good..Something i learnt from her -"No one is small!" She addressed even the bell boy with so much respect and used a lot of please & thank you with them too...I learnt it then and still practice it in my life

Vincent -My Best Buddy .As i write about his name itself , there is a smile in my face .He is the best buddy anyone can ever have .You know how we became friends..OMG ..it's so filmy !!
One day , i was just picking up my uniform from the laundry section and he was also there .He gave me some attitude look (that typical ..am one of the SENIOR).
I ignored and rushed in to the locker . I changed in to my uniform & headed to cafeteria ..He was right there again giving me the same look again ..i was so irritated .I also heard him comment about my walk ..if i remember ..he told me it was so unlike a woman's walk ..(i walk too fast..) I did not bother ... i guess it was during my induction that he was being kind to me explaining what happens in his arena ..F&B Service department. I remember he was in room service and insisted i called him "CAPT VINCENT " and not just by his name .The days passed and we got to know each other better.The enemity transformed itself it to beautiful friendship that i have still not found with anyone after him :-( There are way too many fond memories that this best friend of mine has left for me in my life .He not only became a friend to me ..he became a dear friend to my family .Mom & sister adore him.
He is a good human being who spread happyness & laughter whereever he was !!

Things took a turn in my life and i landed up in chennai again testing my luck by walking to ITC Park Sheraton for a job & I GOT IT :-) Initially chennai scared me ..
But now u ask and i tell you ..CHENNAI HAS GIVEN ME MY LIFE BACK
The best thing about the new job was, the hotel took care of my accomodation aswell .
I still remember the GOYALS FLAT and the five long stairs that we had to climb to get into our floor :-(

I felt like an alien in chennai then .There was no warmth in the people i met .
In my locker , my women colleagues gave me only plastic smiles but their expression asked me "Who the hell are you & why are you here". Some of the guys took soft corner for me and i guess it is only natural ..when u r in your 21, big guys like to play the protective heroes....some of them helped me settle into the new place & job .I learnt this place is way too different from the cocoon i came from ..

Front office Team :
Anup,Anil,Ajeya,Albert,Louis,Srini,Nishitha,Namit,Santhosh,Mark,Priya,Dinesh
Reservations : Jaideep & Kumar

Managers :Shoba,Pooja,Nina,Subbu,Paddu & THE BOSS- MR NEGI

It was only fun , fun , fun & fun that i experienced the next 2 years .I left that job with my career's best achievement which was a "BEST EMPLOYEE OF THE HOTEL " award .I won this beating thousands of people working out there in just 2 years.

Pooja -Who introduced me to Buddhism is someone i am still in touch with and someone who became my boss again :-))
Shoba -The sweetest person i have ever met in my professional life

I quit park sheraton to join the murugappa groups merely for the MOOLAH .After a few months in that company i realised this is not what i wanted in my career ..The shortest span of my career was here when i realsied the money is not as important as the job satisfaction as else i should have stayed there ..I had everything ..a great designation ..weekend off privileges & a typical 930- 530 office timings .Still i chose to walk way as i felt ..i was literally doing nothing there ...

HUTCH - It was then a young company ...a few months old in chennai .Though i attended the interview for a different profile , i landed up in Pooja's team .( the same reporting manager i had at park sheraton) This job was a challenging one .Coming from a service background, targets was something i have never heard of .I did not feel i was working for customer service..i felt i was in sales as my job was to retain those customers who were leaving Hutch. It became challenging and there was a day when i even cried because i felt this job was being too tough on me...i recouped myself and after a while things changed .I did audits, i handled backend and somehow i came out the field retaining profile . I was much happier and my dream came true when my company sent me to MUMBAI for a training .It was my dream to stay in a star hotel and flash my visiting card at the front desk to check in ...As i started my career as a front office assistant and i always dreamt that one day ..i too , will be able to stay in a star hotel and do this check in as a guest !!I stayed in the OBEROI HILTON TOWERS which was over looking the marine drive ...
The hotel was so grand & luxurious that i wished i worked there :-)

My Hutch Colleagues : Sudha, Ajay, Marooff, Karthik, Yuvaraj & Naresh

Some of them who were fun to be with :
Kinni,Pinky,Usha ,Bhumit,Glen,Kishore,Julie,Saranya,Balaji,Ayesha,Manish,Inder
Prem,Subbu, Anu, Sim, Priyanka, Mani,Shetty,Kannan,Madan,Nita,Parveen & Col Gogate

Back from mumbai , after a few months , I got this big offer from Apollo Hosptials
as a profit centre head to run a new centre for them . I gladly joined them only to know it was a difficult place to work for .I had a culture shock in the new place as average age of an employee in this place was 35-40 . Whereas all my previous jobs esp Hutch i worked with people who were mostly 20!

From their thinking to behaviour to work ,everything seemed too slow for my pace.And the work place was filled with back bites and loads of politics
But then i did manage to become a lotus in this muddy pond. I rose above the obstacles and beautifully began the journey at Apollo .From getting the right furniture to staffs and doctors for the centre I set up "THE APOLLO HEART CENTRE " and successfully ran the operations and within a year , we had the breakeven after which they have seen only the profits.

Some of the wonderful people i met at Apollo ..

George Eapen -More than a CEO ,he is my GODFATHER !!
Preetha Reddy - I adore her dynamism
Rochita - Someone who gave me & helped me handle tough situations
Rakesh Gopal -A great agruer & a good friend
Joshua - Such a nice colleague to work with
Karthik - My worst critic who was a catalyst for my growth!!

And this journey in my career continues, shall continue probably for another 2 decades !!!

Dedicated to "Subramaniya Bharathiyaar"

First i came to know of him from my School (tamil)text books .We had some of his poems in our poetry section and i remember how all of us just memorised them to earn those marks in the complicated examinations ..

As i grew up , i realised his writings are too good to just be read & memorised for those mere marks .From then , i developed a keen interest for BHARATHI & his writings
He wrote about freedom fights, women empowerment,spirituality ,nature & what not ??

Some poems (now they are also released as songs )that fascinated me towards this mushy young poet were ..

Kakkai siraginile nandalaala ,nindham kariya niram thondruthaye nandalaala...
Theeratha vilayaatu pillai , kannan theruvile pengealukku ooyatha thollai..
vellai thamarai pooviliruppaal , veenai seiyum oliyiliruppal..
vidudhalai , vidudhalai , vidudhalai ...Manadhil uruthi vendum.

Most importantly ...some lines that i read & memorised in school were these

"Achamillai Achamillai ,Achammenbadho illaye ..uchi meedu vaanidinthu veezhugindra podhilum , achamillai achamillai...achammenbadhu illaye"

When i read this poems related to freedom movement ..i feel the goosebumps in me :-)
even now ..as i write this ..i fondly recollect how i used to shout instead of reading out this poem way back them when i was 12 :-P
As a true patriotic child , i used to feel the poem & read it aloud and got those goosebumps everytime i sang the national anthem too !!

Even today , i get sentimental when i sing our anthem and sometimes ..tears run down my eyes .Somehow that is a special feeling that i cherish!!!

Let me come to the next one ...

"Vettukulle pennai pootivaippom enra vindhai manidhar thalai kavizhndaar..
Naatayum pengal aaluvom enror thalai nimizhndaar"


How true this is as on 21st century ,we are ruled by a Woman President ..(though she is no way close to what Bharathi dreamt of ..how his Pudumai Pen should be..May be that is a women like "ME" -Watch out , am not kidding here )

Imagine what all a women went through those days .Thank god i was not born in that era.. i cant imagine following those stupid rules some of which are followed even today.Wonder what gave Men the right to stamp over women ..actually blame it on some women too ..why didn't they stand up against it then & there ..Am sure the girl children who watched them would have learnt it too ..instead they learnt how to be submissive and accept all the bias towards women.

Back to my BHARATHI.....

One day very curious to know more about him , i googled on him ...i also have a collection of his poetry ..a kutty book that i gifted to myself .
Suddenly , i will start reading them ..I hope ,very soon i get to read it regularly .

I was so thrilled to also know that one of his publication journal was named "Vijaya " ..he he he (It's my first name-so koncham alpa santhosham)

For some of you who wondered why subramaniya bharathi had that style (Turban & a thick long moustache )..during his trip to northern india, he met a sikh in kasi and that inspired him to wear a turban .

And i can't leave without penning some more of my favourite lines from his songs ..

Thinna pazham kondu tharuvaan ..
Thinna pazham kondu tharuvaan ...Paathi thingindrapodhile , thatti parippaan ..
Watte beautiful explanation of the naughty Krishna's Leelai !!!

No one can ever explain it better ...

And the one on TOP OF MY LIST -"Chinna siru kiliye kannamma , Selva Kalanjiyame .."

Kannathil muthammittal , nenjam kalveri kolluthadi
Un kannil neer vadinthaal , en nenjil uthiram kottuthadi
sollum mazhalaiyile,Kannamma thunbangal theerthiduvaai,
mullai sirippale , en moorgam thavirthiduvaai
marbil anivadharkke -unnai pol vaira manigal undo?
seer petru vaazhvadharke -unnai pol selvam perithum undo ??

This is a beautiful song about Mazhalai selvam...meaning children.He takes the reader to the world of parenthood in this song ...such beautiful narration of a parent enjoying his best blessing in life

This song fascinates me to the core that i was just thinking not being a mother yet if i have enjoyed this song so much ..what if i had my own little one ..?

Probably ..This would become my favourite LULLABY for him/her