TV vs VTV

This was a conversation I was part of, a couple of weeks back.

TV: Hey! I saw VTV....it was dumb! I didn't like it! and that fellow ...
SK: really? I am surprised! I kinda liked it..
MM: hmmmm....

TV: I just found it dumb. I could not accept the guy and his acting.
SK: Trust me...this is easily one of his better performances. He has downplayed his acting and performed pretty mature.

MM: hmmmmmm......


TV: haa..maybe. But I did not like the movie.
SK: I don know, maybe I liked it because of trisha. She was fabulous in the movie!
MM: hhmmm...

TV: Yeah she did look good!
SK: Saree look actually suits her swell!
MM: guys! Enough!


For those who are not able to make any sense of the conversation - well the whole conversation was about the movie Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa (Will you Cross the Skies for Me?) a tamil movie. Me and my friend TV were having this conversation and it did surprise me that our views differed. For most of the time both our tastes seem to be quite similar. But then what surprised me this time around was the complete contrast in our tastes, which led me to think why did I like VTV so much?

I saw VTV in Coimbatore with my friends AGR and VB. I had no clue about the movie except that it had Simbu and Trisha in the lead roles, A.R Rahman's music and Gautham Menon at the helm. Therefore I walked into the theater with zero bias or whatever. And these are the things from the movie that I immediately took a liking to -

Chennai - Any movie set in Chennai, as in real Chennai not just in the story or the sets, gets me excited. Love for Chennai probably? And coupled to the fact that I hadn't been to Chennai in a year (then), it was just expected.

Simbu- Anybody who has seen Simbu's movie would vouch for the fact that for the first time this talented actor has delivered a controlled mature performance. Case in point - Compare Simbu in VTV, Thottijaya and Kovil to Simbu in Dum, Manmadhan, Silambattam, Saravana, Vallavan, Kaalai; and you would get my point.

Trisha - Never a big fan of Trisha, my opinion changed after watching her in Sarvam, another very beautiful movie with hardly any substance. And it is such a pleasant surprise to see heroine in saree for the majority of the movie. :) Her character was confused - but in some ways she more than made up for it.

Music-
A R Rahman. I guess that is enough for most people to understand.

The bike -
Q : How many time have we seen an Apache in a tamil movie before VTV? Not an RTR but the Classic Apache 150, that too in Blue??

A: Zero.

Silly, but I loved seeing my bike on the big screen. :)


Now after listing out the reasons, I finally decided to watch the movie again. I did realise my first appreciation of the movie was slightly clouded by the above mentioned reasons.

The movie seems to be full of confused characters. Either Jessie is in love or she aint, but why does Jessie go through so many emotional tumults when there are none?

Agreed, Gautham Menon loves to shoot urban movies, but the inclusion of a few swear words in certain dialogues seems like a deliberate effort. So deliberate that it seems fake.

The movie does drag in the second half, and why is that? Because the characters love to just talk and talk and basically give a recap on what has been happening in the past 3 hrs.

And then, as a friend of mine, VK said, Gautham Menon should stop taking movies based on his life and his failed dreams, as nobody is really interested in his own stories.

So there again we have movie with some style, but hardly any substance. Which is probably why TV didn't like it. And as for me, its time I started watching some quality cinema. Also, these are the movies I watched in a movie hall in the last 3 months beginning with last movie seen.

Singham - Chennai
Raavanan -Coimbatore
Singham - Coimbatore
Sura - Coimbatore
Prince of Persia - Bangalore.


YIKES! what was the thing about quality cinema again??


Cheers!
sai

P.S - In case you are wondering why MM is all "hmmmm" in the conversation, it because he is from Delhi, doesn't understand South Indian movies and cant stand South Indian movie discussions.

P.P.S - I have taken a fancy to using abbreviated names for my friends. Please do not mind. ;)

Epilogue. Unanswered Questions Answered


Aah! What a satisfying post has it been! I managed to get a quite a number of people to read the entire series, and some of them are actually waiting for more! :) What else could I ask for??

This story of mine and the subsequent reactions of my friends who read it did prompt me to wonder how much my friends actually knew me. I also think I might have not been this 'successful' had I written on anything else. In fact a second reading of my own posts seems so corny and childish. Yet people did not complain about that, it was almost as if they expected nothing better out of me - writing style or content. Sad.

And then there is the part where everybody wanted to know who were the girls I was talking about, and then the part where people warned me of not going overboard and to control my urge in revealing certain identities. And finally the people who thought I was making it all up - and to their credit they were ones who first realised whom or rather what I was talking about.

You see, as much people would disagree, my first love has always been Automobiles - Bikes and Cars. As a kid I had dreams of car and bike toys. Nowadays I dream of pretty much the same - cars and bikes (not toys). So it was but natural that I write about them, yet at the same time I did not want it to be another typical 'petrolhead' blog where I wipe tears off my eyes every time I write about the blue smoke from my Suzuki Samurai or the shine of my Apache just after a wax polish.

The leading ladies of this story of mine are the bikes (or cycle) that actually had a hold over me. To those inanimate, smoke belching (atleast some of them), suicidal (all of them) modes of transport that was always on top of mind, for which I found excuses to spend some time together, for whom I saved my money and lavishly spent, for whom I still miss - this is a tribute.

The First Lady

This was in Cochin when I was staying in A.L Jacob Road and behind my house was this office where I first set my eyes on the Yezdi Roadking. No other bike could draw my attention to it like that one. 18 years on and I still remember it vividly - a clear loud exhaust note, coupled with those twin exhausts. Simply Amazing.



The Second Girl

I was still in Cochin when I first came across this ad in the newspaper. It went like - " 18 gears, Front Shock Absorber, Rear Monoshock, etc - All it needs is an Engine" and I was hooked. I didn't even know to cycle then and it was quite a shame to be a 13 yr old boy who didn't know how to cycle. I actually learnt cycling on a bsa champ and a hero hansa - so embarrassing that i used to ride them only in the nights on dark streets. Perseverance did pay off and my dad got me that cycle - Rs 3000 back then from a Cycle Shop on Chittoor Road. It was the coolest cycle that one could get back then and I loved flaunting it everywhere, and explaining to people how there were 3 'gears' at pedal and 6 'gears' at the rear wheel which made it an 18 speed bicycle. :)
I still have the cycle, but so screwed up that I feel really sad at seeing its state. Someday I will restore her.


The Third Girl

This special vehicle was my first motorized two wheeler. This was basically bought for my brother which later was handed over to me (a recurring trend as we would see later). It was a 1986 Cherry Red Pollachi registered Kinetic Honda (TCI 1464) henceforth referred to as Kiney. :) This scooter was fabulous, had a nice grunt especially compared to puny Scooties and Sunnies and cult favourite as well. The Kiney was 2 months younger to me in age, but I still managed to spend loads on her which ensured the magic figure of 40kmpl for a 2 stroke Scooter. It was always dirty,because any water on it made the paint wash off. I tinkered around with it and managed to remove all unnecessary side extensions which gave the scooter a sleek profile. It was with me throughout 11th and 12th std and I don think the final two years of my School life would have been so much fun without her.


The Scoot is Still around somewhere in Coimbatore at some relatives place. I have made up my mind to get it restored. :)

The Fourth Girl

The next bike I had was the TVS Suzuki Samurai. It was 1996 model which was with my Cousin, then came to my bro and then to me. This is was the first geared bike I rode and still say it with pride because I learnt to ride this before my brother for whom it was meant. I never got to use the bike much when he was using it, but once he left for his MBA, the bike came to Chennai with my parents and it was my first bike in Chennai. A simple straight forward two stroker, this bike brought many many smiles. In fact this bike started the TVS tradition in my family. When my next bike came I still had this bike with me but I had to soon sell it off.

Pic courtesy - http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indiancarpicture-1953.html


The Fifth Girl

Now this is MY bike. TVS Apache in a stunning shade of red bought in June 06. I saw the Apache ad in a newspaper and immediately set my heart on it. It was much more exciting than a Unicorn and much more unique than a Pulsar. A brief test ride followed by 6 months of gestation thanks to parents the bike finally came home - and I wasnt even at home! I saw the bike two days later and I still remember the sheer happiness of seeing this bike - seeing my bike!


I rode the Apache extensively in Chennai, Hyderabad and in Bangalore. With a bike as willing as this one it was fun to have sudden plans of going out or dinner or movie - basically anything! I love this bike!

The Phataka

Around the time I quit my job and came back to Chennai my brother picked up this smashing bike - the TVS Apache RTR - eFi in Orange that too. And poor him, he wasn't even in Chennai when the bike arrived. What a BIKE! It was crazy, loud, scary, precise and a hell lot of fun! It was just awesome to stop at a signal and see everybody just looking the bike. Either they loved the orange or just hated it. Due to fault in it fuel injection ( a chronic problem with all RTR eFIs) it used to behave like badly bucking horse. Twist the throttle - No power. Then suddenly all hell breaks loose. But I just fell for it madly till the time it was in Chennai that is. And see what happened to my bike then -



So yeah, that brings us to the end of this story of my life. I know many of you might have been disappointed with the slightly unexpected climax, but most people would be quite seething with anger especially considering they resorted to strong words after reading my original posts. I hope I was interesting enough to keep you guys hooked.

And to those who are still expecting me to write about my 'real' love stories - its never gonna happen. I'd probably get more brickbats then than now, from the actual girls. Oh yeah, btw for those curious, I am still single. ( I am glad I put that bit of information in the most subtle manner)


Till the next post then.
Cheers!

Episode 8 - Bangalore - Reaffirmation.

I thought Bangalore would give me a chance to win back my girl. I pleaded with her to come to Bangalore, which she finally did. Things were still cold when she came but I had plans for her. I wanted to show I was serious. At this point I must ask you readers to jog your memory, because if you would remember the 'phataka' was in Bangalore as well.

I met the 'phataka' girl a couple of times but for some reason she had mellowed down and was quite plain. Don't get me wrong, she was still as hot as ever and still managed to draw stares. But I was done with her. I kinda moved on. My girl meanwhile got a lot of gifts from me that included a nice visit to a spa.

And when she came back, fresh and healthy, it seemed like the start of good times all over again :) We got back to each other stronger than ever, more mature and more forgiving. She was still looking as gorgeous as ever, but age had started to creep in. Not that I was complaining. I was back to my happy self with her as we together explored Bangalore. She was also quite instrumental in me having some fabulous time with another really good friend of mine who was in Bangalore at the same time. She helped me a lot in work as well. And on my part I promised never to leave her again. It was not like we did not have our falls, but we managed pick ourselves, dust it off and get back on road. I was loving it a lot in spite of the fact that my summers in Bangalore was soon coming to an end.

Soon I had to leave Bangalore to get back to Mumbai, but this time I knew, this relationship is gonna stay. :) She might come to Mumbai ...and I am keeping my fingers crossed...


Phew! End of my first serious post, and the longest as a series.


thanks for reading,
cheers!


PS: I have not included any names of anyone because certain things are meant to be private right? :)

Episode 7 Mumbai

Mumbai was exciting in a lot of ways, but I knew I lost a girl and her love. I did not make any attempt to find someone because feelings of guilt started accosting me. I felt miserable of having left a girl whom I thought would be with me for the rest of my life. After I joined College my parents shifted back to Coimbatore and I learnt that my Girl had gone to Coimbatore as well. I did meet her whenever I went home but all the neglect that I had showered upon her showed up. We just did not have that spark anymore. And I had no one else to blame except me. Soon first year was coming to an end and I was looking forward to my summer internship in Bangalore.

Off to the land of boiled beans...

Episode 6 - Chennai, once again

I had a very short fling with this new girl. I feel ashamed to say this but I was simply gobsmacked when I first saw her. She was STUNNING like what they would say in hindi - A phataka!

She was that tempestuous mistress - extremely moody, had her own ways, you had to give her tremendous respect and when she got into the act it was the biggest high you could get! Around this time, my girl made a quiet return to Chennai. I used to spend time with her but suddenly started finding faults with her, started finding her boring. The new girl had blinded me. I knew I had no future with the other girl but still I hounded her.

My relationship hit a new low. I started neglecting my girl, stopped calling her, stopped getting her stuff, and just stopped spending time with her. But I was too engrossed with the other girl to even notice this and also my admissions were getting confirmed. Around this time the other girl left Chennai for Bangalore. Before i got a chance to make up with my old girl, I had to soon leave Chennai, and my relationship with both the women.

On to a boring chapter....

Continuing from Chennai.....

Episode 5 -Chennai, Hyderabad

This is probably my most exciting relationship till date. I am still committed to her, but truth be told its an on-off relationship at the moment.

This is the girl who I saw first elsewhere and simply lost my heart to her. She was red hot and in flesh I jsut could not take my eyes off her. She had a certain sense of purpose in her, the way she stood, the way she moved and the way she just looked at you.

It took me around 6 months from my first conversation with her to finally asking her out. And yes, she did say yes. :) It took sometime for the fact to sink in though. And when it finally did I realised I was one of the happiest guys out there! We started seeing each other since June 2006.

For some strange reason I wanted this girl to be present for the rest of my life, I did not want to lose her. I pampered her, fussed over her, never wanted to leave her and go. She meant everything to me. My friends were always in awe of her - I told you she was that HOT! I was in III yr of college, and towards the end I got placed as well in an awesome company.

But that presented a problem, I had to shift to Hyderabad. The 4th city of my life and probably my most cherished. I knew she would not be able to come immediately but we still hung on to the promise that I would take her to Hyderabad soon. I left for Hyderabad in June 2007. For some reason or the other her shifting to Hyderabad was getting postponed. Finally I made sure that she shifted and this was in February 2008.

Hyderabad would not have been the same without her. We endlessly went everywhere. She was with me always - be it at home or at office. The freedom of being away from home coupled with the fact that I had my own job and my girl with me meant absolute fun! She was there through everything and I even got her some stuff which made her very happy. In fact I had planned some surprise gifts for her from Bangalore, but unfortunately things never went through.

We were together in Hyderabad for 8 months after which I decided to quit my job and start preparing for CAT and subsequently MBA. I did come back to Chennai. I think this was when our relationship hit its first low. In hindsight it seems like a hasty decision to have left her, left my job and left Hyderabad but I seemed to have no choice then.

Back in Chennai things only got worse. When I got back home I was in for a surprise. There was this really hot chick in my compound. I still remember her in a striking orange dress, she was quite similar to girl in Hyderabad. And that is where all the trouble started.


Entry of the new girl....

A new city, A new story.

Episode 4 - Chennai, MCC

Singaraa Chennai Ungala Anbudan Varaverkirathu...
(Beautiful Chennai Welcomes You)

Chennai was an explosion! New people, big city, the beach, pretty women everywhere, spencers and what not! and let me not even get started on my college - MCC. Simply put, it was Heaven on Earth!

Surprisingly I was single in my first year, all my attempts to woo having promptly gone down the drain. So fast forward to my second year, the time when my parents shifted to Chennai. It was around this time that I started seeing this girl.

She was a Chennai girl. I actually knew her when i was young but i got acquainted well with her after she came to Coimbatore. We used to talk once in a while but yeah i got busy with my previous girl which left me with no time for others. As it happened she came to Chennai the same time i moved out of my solitary existence in Tambaram to be with my newly shifted parents at Saligramam. This is where my relationship with the Chennai girl began - this was in my II yr of college.

She was a true Chennai girl. Nice looks - quite slim actually, had an amazing voice and when she spoke it had certain breathlessness to it, as if she was rushing somewhere. We had some amazing moments together in Chennai, we travelled a lot, stuck together in horrid rains of 2005. She never gave up on me and she really was chilled out. She dint expect much from me which made her maintenance free ;) she was quite simply the no problem girl.

Our relationship was similar, it did not carry much expectations or burdens and when the time came to pull the plug on the relationship it was quite simple and we ended our relationship on happy note. In fact she was so chilled out that I actually introduced her to my next girl. Coincidentally both were distant cousins and I was happy that there weren't any unpleasantness between the two. More about the other girl in the next episode.


Thodarum...
(To be continued..)

My love story continued

Feels nice to be told by people that they have read my blog. :) However as a noob in this 'blogger's park' I request people who have read my blog to just add a comment so that I know who all have read my blog. Thank you!

Now continuing with my next episode....

Episode 3 -Coimbatore

Following my break up, I did see a lot of other girls around me but I never got into a relationship. Till my XI std that is. Thats when I saw this fiery girl. This girl you see is a very special girl till date because for the first time I was with a girl who was actually close to my age. She was from Pollachi, quite ironic because she was as "un-Pollachian" as she could be. She was fun loving, easy going, smoked quite a bit and drank too! Wow! As I have always maintained - 'Chicks who smoke are damn cool! ' We were made for each other. She was a hit with my friends and peers from school. Everybody recognised her and everybody loved her! I used to go to my tuition with her, but ended up bunking just to roam around R.S Puram with her. And people always spotted us, she was that unmistakable. It wasn't like we never had fights or anything, but we did have differences and sometimes had a few public spats too. It was with her that I first got caught by the cops who took pleasure in giving us moral advice(!?). But we went on, till I completed school at which point I decided that I was no longer willing to be in Coimbatore.

We came to that juncture where we had to quickly decide whether we would continue with our relationship or not. A quick decision was made and we broke up. Even before I could make much of it I soon moved into a new city, new college and a very very exciting life!

To be continued..

November 4 2009 - 1st post.
July 15 2010 - 2nd post.

Thats a lot of gap isn't it? With me, that was expected. Anyways seeing a spate of excellent blogs around me by friends, the blog bug has bit me again. At the wrong time.

You see, a very nonchalant me has actually failed to clear my supplementary exam, a repeat of which is going to be held tomorrow. And here I am happily trying to blog quick which is impossible as i am hopelessly dyslexic in typing. But I blog.

So wondering what is it that has actually made me sit up and blog? What is it? Well Ladies and Gentlemen, I decided to write about my past experiences (?) in Love. My friends around me know this much, whether I am serious in love or not, I always have something new to tell them every time I meet them, much to their chagrin every time I meet them . So here I try to chronicle my love life, my affairs with the leading ladies of my life. In different Episodes. Read on..

The First Time - Cochin

The first time I fell in love when I was a real small kid. II or III std(early 90s) probably? She was different- quite older to me, quite older than even her own peers. I used to climb over my compound wall just to get a glimpse of her leaving in the evening. I used to just watch her spellbound, it was probably the first time I saw anyone like her. Soon it became the last I saw of her, we moved out of that house and she moved out of my life.


Episode 2 - Cochin and then Coimbatore

Seeing how early I started you might be tempted to call me an early starter, but no - luck eluded me for a long time, till my 7th standard. It was in the 7th standard I first set my eyes on her, and believe it or not, it was love, astonishment and sheer excitement all rolled into one. I knew I had to make her mine, and a lot went to making her mine. I was new to likes of her and to get myself well acquainted I used to hang out with girls like her, much younger though and much more approachable. :)

After enough training I gained enough courage to ask her out, and yes my sheer hard work paid off. She said YES! oh what sheer bliss! I had all it with her - love, attention, freedom, joy and sheer envy of others. We went to school everyday together. And I used to be so engrossed with her that I used to get shouted at by every other road user. But then, I really didn't care.

The next year was a major change in my life. We shifted out of Cochin to Coimbatore. She too came with me - call it luck or just excellent planning by the both of us but yes she was in Coimbatore with me. This was the time that we started having differences between us.One day we were coming back late in the night (9:30PM was quite late for a 14yr old) when the differences became an ugly spat. Things were never the same between us after that, and we realised we had to move on and not hold on to our past. It was easier said than done, because i saw her everyday but life was fast changing and we did go on to our separate paths. I still see her, but she is no longer what she was.



More to come in the next posts.....