Why I dont write romantic novels and other stories

So I dont write Mills and Boons level novels because I dont think any self-respecting M&B reader would appreciate the literary genius in the following sentences:

'Brian let out a sigh as he lay down next to Fawn. He slowly pushed aside her golden hair from her eyes, looked into those blue-as-sapphire eyes overflowing with love and said "You have an ass as soft and smooth as a baby's cheek" '

or

'May lay down on the bed, staring out at the window.How she missed Windsor, his platinum speckled brown eyes, the feel of his strong muscular arms around her, the feel of his mouth against her...well, really, it wasnt right for a woman of her upbringing to be thinking such traitorous thoughts.She suddenly looked up as she heard horse's hooves. Yes, yes!! It was her darling Windsor emerging victorious from battle. She ran to the balcony and leaned against the railing, trying to get a good view of him. She couldnt. So she leaned over.Some more.Then she toppled over and fell. Died on the spot. End of novel.'

Basically, the few precious hours I wasted on M&B's, I wished all of them would end like this. And last time I went home for the holidays, my sister tells me she found a particular M&B much more touching than Eric Segal's 'Love Story'. My sister also listens to Britney Spears, Blue and BSB. I have not yet decided whether to disown her or to take up the onerous task of making her a better person, in the lines of yours truly.

Its Valentines Day today. And a bunch of men on campus have organised a 'Shab-E-Tanhai' at L-Square tonight. The setting from outside my window at the L^2 is beautiful...lots of matresses at the L^2 and some lamp shades to create the effect of dull lighting. Soft ghazals playing. The men are drunk. Some are sticking to the brief of looking sloshed, sad and lovelorn. But some are laughing in the manner which can be associated only with men who are so drunk they would find Chacha Choudary hilarious.

I dont care much for Ghazals so am playing cheerful songs in my room loud enough to drown out the strains of the ghazals. Most people fall into two categories when it comes to V-Day...there are the ones who have a valentine for whom they buy gifts(heart shaped pilows, heart shaped balloons,heart shaped chocolates, soft toys holding red hearts...basically everything you can think of which is red and heart shaped) and get back such gifts in return.

The next category of persons are those who crib 'I dont have a Valentine this year. Im so sad.And they go buy red heart shaped stuff for themselves and eat lotsa of heart shaped chocolates and watch sad romantic movies and cry their hearts out. And the final category are those who, when its V-Day say 'Im afraid I cant give you my heart but I do have certain other throbbing organs you might be interested in'!

Me? I dont fit into any of the categories. I do believe all these 'days' are just hyped up by card and gift companies to boost their sales. But if some guy is getting commercial exploited by the card and gift shops fo rmy benefit, I have no problems at all with it! But I dont rant and rave against these 'days'. I just treat them with the laziness with which I treat most other things.

I shall now leave you to comment. And yeah...Happy Valentines Day everyone!

i love this time of the day...

I just watched a movie...'Life of David Gale'. A thriller...Kevin Spacey, Kate Winslet. Extremely good movie.
Tomorrow is a Saturday.Yay!!

Eating Out

I went to this small, undiscovered place called Induss at Jaya Nagar for dinner today. Its a small, cosy place, all done up in terracota and earthen ware...the Indus Valley Civilisation look...ah, now the name makes sense. Good food...we were hungry and ate a LOT...so much so that at the end of our meal, when the man came to ask us if we wanted anything else, he could barely supress a smile.

I've been going out almost everyday this term. Mostly to eat out, sometimes to shop, sometimes to hunt for Gol Gappas which they serve with aloo and not with channa (trust me, they are hard to find in Blore...though there is one lil place very close to campus)

Just a few days ago, I went to Inchara again, when my co-mentees and I treated our mentors to dinner. Inchara has this small/large rooms open on all sides, with only a roof, like a verandah. And the place is covered with greenery so you can hardly see those at the other tables. And since its an almost outdoors place, the candlelit atmosphere lends it an awesome ambience.And it has good food too...the pepper chicken and Kashmiri pulao there are delicious. The best part is it has a lot of cuisines and does decently in all of them.

Then there is this place called Lazeez, a tiny low ceiling place located on the 1st floor of a builidng in the heart of Commercial Street. Its a plain, no frills place which serves the most amazing kati rolls.The 1st time Mom was here, we took a break from shopping to eat there...and it rejuvenated us for another round of shopping!!!

The night after the Strings-Indian Ocean concert during Unmaad, about 11 of us went to this sexy place called Hypnos for Amol's Bday. I guess you could call it a lounge bar...very dim lighting, low level sofa seating...and a small area off for the bar and dancing. I had my 1st tequila shot there...it was a fun way to drink it but doesnt make one tipsy (only one drink doesnt and I made sure I ditn have more than one). Then we all smoked a peach flavored hookah...interesting.Took to the dance floor for a while...the guy was playing a lot of trance( or so I think). The atmosphere of the place is sexy but I cant say much about the food coz they close orders at 1 and we had ordered hardly anything.

Hmm...Im off for my Culcom interview. Will be back soon with more on eating out in Bangalore!! (Sheesh!! I sound firghtfully like an anchor ona travel show on Star Plus!!)

A few of my faveourite things...

The smell of the earth before it starts raining. The rain. The sea. The hills. Sitting by the beach with a roasted corn cob. Dimples. Chocolates. Books. The drive from beach road to Bhimli. The smell of popcorn. Trains. Museums. The smell of 'agarbathi' early in the morning in my room as Ammamma does her puja. Late night drives by the beach. Chubby kids. Hugging Amamma. Staring out of a train window. Amamma's hot pakoras on a rainy day. Cuddling up in a warm bed on a cold winter morning. Twinkling eyes. Curling up in bed all day with a book and grub. 'The tank' at Duvvada . The sleepy feeling after washing my hair. The wind blowing against my hair . The feel of sand under my feet when walking on the beach. The sound of the sea in a shell. The smell of a book shop. Laughing at William. Watching corny Gult movies at home while eating popcorn. Sundays at home. Staring out of my balcony on a silent night. The sleepy feeling when coming back from a second show movie. Sleeping on the terrace, under the stars, with the whole gang of cousins.

Unmaad!!

Unmaad is over. Friday, Saturday and Sunday passed in a blur. Unmaad was a it. 3 days of events...literary, musical, performing arts and fine arts. On friday, we had Strings and Indian Ocean performing, on Saturday it was Choreo and fashion show night followed by an L-square without free booze and on Saturday we wrapped up with the Personality Contest followed by a concert by Moksha and Parikrama and then L-square with lots of free booze.

So what did I do during Unmaad? I was in charge of the literary events and the carnival village. My events included Debate, DumbC, Potpourri, Jam and 3 quizzes. There is a small quizzing community, a large part of which is from Chennai, which takes part and wins in most of these literary events. Debate and Jam apart, the restf the winners belong to the quizzing community. And these guys never cease to amaze me. It is not ther extensive knowledge which brings out the admiration ...its the fact that they can actually remember so much that is a source of constant wonderment for me.And I really admire these guys...with a couple of exceptions, most of them look like nerds...maybe they are...and they are undoubtedly atrocious when it comes to dancing...they are intelligent and write well...They are a major source of fascination for me.

My role in Unmaad was basically pushing my event coordinators so that the event started and ended on time, making sure they had all they needed etc. And to achieve this end, I spent all my time running and talkign on the walkie. I got a walkie for 3 days and I made full use of it. But above of all, Unmaad was one helluva experience. It has been a great learning experience and though I slogged my ass off, it was also a lot of fun. It was one of the most amazing experiences of my life.