Friday, November 21, 2008
Coochikoosutra - The fine art of Cochikooing
(The author does not have any credentials for the particular piece. So before accusations start flying back and forth, let it be put on record that his work experience in this field tends towards zero. However, he has the precious objectivity and insight that only the third party’s roving eyes (and ears) can afford. So here goes.)
Coochikooing is an art and a science. There is no particular reason why I say so. But I had to say something intelligent to begin the article. This article is a set of guidelines for all those young men and women who want to coochikoo efficiently but dont know whom to ask. It is also for all those losers who are yet to find a gf/bf so that when the time comes they are armed with the divine knowledge.
(A warning for the sick – All those people who Ctrl+f on the article for ‘sex’ will be disappointed. This article explores only the stage when love is expressed verbally. Anything beyond, is out of scope. So, well, you may like to get down at this station. THANKS!)
Pre coochikoo preparations -
These guidelines are especially applicable for voice based mobile coochikooing. Nothing strains your mental and physical faculties like a full blown mobile coochikoo. You may be required to walk during the period (Thigh and back muscles) with a mobile held to the ear (shoulder,biceps,triceps, ear, earlobe) yapping continuously (jaw, teeth etc). A 15 minute jog followed by 3 sets of bis and tris each should be a good prep. Sri Sri Ravishankar also insists on the values of Pranayam and Sudarshan kriya for quality coochikooing.
For the mental aspect, there is a lot of intellectual depth required to generate gibberish for 6-8 hours. Read a lot. Mills and Boons is the Bible of Six Sigma Coochikooing. Keep 10 of them handy and revise the chapters on a monthly basis. Watch Vidya Balan-Madhavan Airtel ads, memorize the dialogues and improvise on them when required. Some old Indian scriptures are also very useful but not at this stage.
Important Note - All this is good, but as Geoffrey Boycott will tell you, there is ‘noothing like maatch praacteece’. 15 minutes before the potential coochikoo start time call up a friend and get your voice, jaw position, footwork and follow through right. So by the time the real thing starts, it should be second nature to you.
During the coochikoo –
Every coochikoo worth its heart shaped cake starts off with a 2 syllable user friendly name. Give one to your opposite. Names like Schweetu, Schweetie, Kittu, Chomu… you get the point. These names are to be used only during the c’koo. It’s a signal that all is well with the world and the dam stopping the flood of sweet nothings can be opened for mutual consumption.
Voice is of utmost importance. The tone has to be decidedly different (from the one you use for e.g. with your parents), or the better half may take offence thinking that you don’t love her enough. If whisper to a scream is a scale use a voice which lies at 1/6th of a distance from the whisper. A dash of huskiness to that range can do wonders. If it’s a face to face c’koo, 1/10th of the scale would also do as you would be essentially whispering the tripe into the better half’s ears. Needless to say, don’t use that tone with your parents.
Time can be anything from 6-8 hours during weekdays and 10- 24 hours during weekends. Sounds difficult, but the veteran coochikooers will tell you they don’t know how time flies by. If push turns to shove, you always have the office dormitory.
Content is as always the king. At the end of the day you are there to yap and what you yap is what makes or breaks the c’koo. Whenever you feel that the conversation is veering dangerously into the territory of being anything remotely intelligent, take control of the steering and drive back into talking about plucking stars from the sky and comparing flowers with the contours of your sweetheart’s eyelashes. The voice based mobile coochikoo is NOT a platform to discuss economic recession.
Post coochikoo warmdowns
As with after any intense activity, it is extremely important that you relax your muscles post coochikoo. Switch off your mobile before your gf feels like calling you again, run 2 rounds around your flat, come back, lie down in shavaasan position and take 5 deep breaths. Stretch your legs, stretch your back, stretch your jaw, stretch your ears using your indexfinger and thumb, drink a glass of water and put your mobile back into charging. A good long sleep is advisable to make sure that the blood circulation is maintained throughout the body.
And Finally
Coochikooing is a gift of God. But inappropriate coochikooing can result in all kinds of medical, emotional and physical complications. So make sure that you do it right and feel its afterglow forever.
Signing off.
P.S –
HAVING TROUBLE TALKING TO YOUR GF!
CANT FIND THE RIGHT MOBILE FOR YOUR DAILY DOSE!
NOT SURE WHAT COOCHIKOO NAME TO KEEP FOR YOUR GF!
.
.
.
Don’t ask me I have got better work to do.
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
A-Z of Kerala
Aandy – A reference to all middle aged females in Kerala. All aandies love to talk about there sons and daughters and how well they are doing in school. ‘Jijumon got yaity six marks in Yingleesh’, ‘Jinnymol is a favourait of her teacher’ and so on. Warning - Conversations with aandies can result in low self esteem as you inevitably start comparing yourself with there stupendously gifted sons and daughters.
Beef – The meat that every Malayalee carnivore digs his teeth into. The saffron cadres in Kerala talk about enforcing cow worship over a plate of ‘puttu-beef’.
CP Yaii/CP Yem – The communist brothers in arms who have ensured that no one dares to start a company in Kerala. They organize state wide bandhs for crimes against humanity as grave as, asking the workers to work for more than 15 minutes (bourgeois conspiracy), increasing bus fares by 1 paisa, party leader tripping and falling over a stone, opposition leader combing his hair the wrong way etc.
Coconut oil – Pronounced as ‘Kokknut oyl’, it’s the secret behind the precisely parted Malayalee hair. Malayalees don’t believe in washing their hair with water. They use coconut oil instead.
DD4 – The erstwhile dedicated Malayalam Channel of Doordarshan’s. DD4 ensured that insomnia never reared its ugly head in Kerala. Many a good Malayalee has slept off without having dinner while watching a sitar recital by Payyannor Sivaraman Pillai or techniques on improving rice productivity using squirrel dung or an ancient black and white classic with Adam and Eve brushing their teeth in the background.
Elephant – pronounced as ‘Yellifent’. The animal Kerala is identified with, no festivity in Kerala is complete without an elephant killing its mahout. It is so big that it gives Shakeela a complex (Refer ‘Shakeela’).
Faratha fagya vidhaata – A pronounciation quirk in southern Kerala where ‘bha’ is pronounced as ‘Fa’.
‘Gelff’ – The karmabhoomi of Keralites. Gulf is to Malayalees what Canada is to Punjabis. Every mallu and his neighbour goes to the middle east at least once to earn his pot of dinars and riyals. And amazingly the atrocious working conditions and the obnoxious capitalist sheikh does not rile the Keralite as much as they do in Kerala. The ‘Gelff return’ is a highly respected entity in Kerala easily identifiable from their flower printed shirts, short Bermudas and goggles with the price tag hanging.
Hartal – Vernacular for ‘Strike’, it is a staple feature in every Keralite’s life. Every day is classified as a hartal or no hartal day. And political leaders have to give explanation to their high command why there is no hartal on a particular day. Generally a 12 hour celebration of absence, starting from 6 in the morning to 6 in the evening, school kids utilize it to play cricket, office going aandies watch the reruns of their favourite serials and office going ungles devour the last ‘Mathrubhoomi’ available.
Iranjalakuda – And other such places with tongue-defying names. Other examples – Parappanangadi, Kadappakada, Olakettiambalam, Pathanamthitta et al. The plight of the bus conductors who have to reel off these names in quick succession is heart rending. Many end up with their tongues twirled into a fisherman’s knot.
Johnymon and Jollymol – J is a regular supplier of the typical Malayalee name. The names of people unlike the names of places are short and uncomplicated. Sample – Jijo, Jiju, Jiji, Joju, Joji, Jomy, Jolly etc. They are not too narrow minded about having a meaning to their names. Most of the names are easy on the tongue and grating to the ears.
Kitex lungi – The 3 yard piece of cloth used by Malayalee men to cover their modesty. A sartorial miracle, scientific research is yet to uncover the secret of how it manages to stay in place. They can do absolutely anything in their lungis, starting from playing football to driving bikes without the knot loosening. Warning to imitators – The stunts are performed by experts and can result in loss of face.
Lockout – The result of prolonged hartals by trade unions owned by political parties (Refer ‘Hartal’ and ‘CPYaii/CPYem’ in conjunction).
Mohan lal/Mammootty – The two big superstars in Malayalam film industry. Every 2nd movie stars one of them, dancing with girls 1/47th their age and 1/54th their size. If you feel that someone is trying to kill a snake with his leg in any of those Malayalam movie channels with the accompaniment of music, watch a little more carefully. It may be Mammooty dancing. Mohan Lal has become so horizontally challenged with age that now, special cameras are being invented to keep him in a single frame.
Nurse (pronounced ‘Nezhs’, refer ‘Zh’ sound) – It’s the dream of every Malayalee parent to get their daughter into a ‘Nezhsing cozhs’. As a result almost every hospital in India use the services of the Malayalee nurse extensively.
Onam – The main festival of Kerala celebrated in remembrance of the King Mahabali. Onam is the only time when cows feel safe in Kerala as the food is primarily vegetarian (called ‘sadya’). All non resident Malayalees converge to Kerala during this time, feel sufficiently nostalgic and go back to earn more money.
Parotta/Borotta – A ‘roti’ like preparation had best with beef. Prepared using gallons of oil, the regular porotta eater keeps Eno as a constant companion. A porotta gone wrong is used in the gym in place of a bullworker.
Qatar/Quwait – Countries in the middle east. Popular destinations for the Gulf hungry Malayalees. Most families have at least one appam earner here. Refer ‘Gelff’
RSS – The sworn political enemy of CPI/CPM. It does not have anything by the way of seats in Kerala. But still has a place in the popular imagination. Reason being its ongoing cadre fight with Communists. All newspapers have a dedicated scorecard column everyday (“RSS 3- CPM 1”) which tell how many killed how many of whom, and predictions by experts for the next day. Favourite playground being the district of Cannanore.
Shakeela/Silk Smitha – Every Malayalee worth his chest hair has had dreams of a drenched Silk Smitha and nightmares of a drenched Shakeela during their teenage days, at least once. The resigned and reigning queens of the Malayalam C-grade movie industry respectively, both have there pouting pamphlets plastered across every wall in Kerala. Generously endowed by the creator, rumour has it that Tsunami was a result of Shakeela jumping into the Arabian sea for an underwater shoot.
Sreesanth – A recent addition to the Malayalee hall of fame, Sree is a psycho who also plays cricket competently. Known for making faces envied by Kathakali experts, he is reportedly being pursued by the film industries across India for zoo based roles. Potential Quote – “I am playing this bubbly monkey in YashRaj films latest, and no, Bruno and me are just friends”
Toddy – The forbidden drink, it’s the beer of the masses. The Malayalee labourer after a hard day’s work needs a little bit of toddy to energise his system into doing productive activities like beating his wife, shouting at his neighbour, jumping into the well etc.
Ungle – The silent and pummeled into submission, husbands of aandys (Refer ‘Aandy’). They open their mouths only to yawn and eat.
Vanitha – The women’s magazine of Kerala. It was the primary source of entertainment for housewives before television channels replaced them. Widely ‘seen’ by men as well.
Wogay – Malayalam for Ok. Not to be confused with Karan Johar.
‘Xam – (The dangers of such an xercise. You can never find enough xamples starting with X). Pronounced ‘Eksaam’. The battlefield where Malayalee parents pit their wards against others. A lot of statistical and empirical evidence is gathered to prove that their son Deepu is an absolute nincompoop compared to Valsamma’s son Nebu in studies. Which may be the complete opposite of what is proclaimed to the world (Refer ‘Aandy).There is only one truth in this world, which is the Final term report card.
Yell KG/ Yu KG – The stepping stones where the budding Omanakuttans and blossoming Babykuttys are prepared to face the world. All Mallu kids are supposed to go to these temple of education to learn ‘A for Yapple’, ‘B for Boll’, C for ‘Kyatt’ etc.
Zh sound – The ‘Zh’ sound which is typical to Malayalam and tamil with few equivalents in other languages. It adds a few more layers of complication to the names of places (Refer ‘Irinjalakuda’). Sample – Kazhakuttom, Ambalapuzha, Kozhikode etc
Friday, March 21, 2008
Alive and cooking!
Yes folks. Its official. I have started cooking. It no longers remains an exotic activity performed by doting mothers for their ravenous children. At least for me.
It all started with the great economic meltdown which started pinching my pocket enough to make me stop eating from hotels. Like minded roomies who had a similar dispensation towards the Undefiled Rupee in the Purse made my decision easier. At least the cost of stove, matchsticks and vessels could be shared.
Cooking has always fascinated me. I was always amazed at the unscientific sprinkling of condiments which quite miraculously resulted in the perfect plate.
I am no stranger to it though. There was a time when I used to make tea for everyone at home. The entire process required me to have the following set of equipments for superior performance
1.) 1 cup to measure amount of milk to be poured
2.) A different cup for measuring water
3.) A teaspoon of ‘Dinko’ brand, for measuring tea leaves to be sprinkled (2 teaspoons with the mound not more than 1.5 cms high)
4.) A tablespoon of ‘Rinko’ brand, for measuring sugar to be used (2 tablespoons with the mound not more than 1.6 cms high)
5.) Scale, compass, protactor, log tables, electron microscope, supercomputer DEEP BLUE etc
Since these set of specifications were to be used for 4 people, any increase or decrease in the number of people required some deft mathematics. Example, for 5 people Rinko mound would be five – fourths of 1.6 cms and milk poured would be 1.25 times of milk cup. My mother (and indeed all mothers) manages all this through a terribly unmethodical sprinkling of tea leaves and sugar. The better tasting tea is no compensation for the criminal lack of rigour. The tea making experiment was annulled mid way by my mom when the kitchen started resembling a physics lab.
After that tryst this is the first time that I have dabbled with cooking. V has had some experience with it before. So he was the process consultant. I happened to be a little lower in the value chain trying my hand at cleaning, cutting, peeling, shredding and sometimes annihilating vegetables. I am also pretty good at lifting the plate of cut vegetables and dropping the stuff into burning oil. After that V takes over sprinkling masala, water and salt to taste. Resulting in something edible.
One of the days when V was absent, I tried my hand at it and it resulted in tears of joy (Ok, I am lying. I had prepared a plate of lava). From then on my enthusiasm for cooking has been tempered by the love for my tongue. Admittedly I am not half as good at cooking as I am at eating.
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Angrejji na samjhe hai babuji
Unfortunately English movies dont have English subtitles. That rules one billionth of the Indian population atleast (that’s me) out of the
I remember watching ‘Sixth Sense’ in a movie hall within 10 days of joining my engg college. I went with a few engineering friends all excited. Excited because that was the first English movie I would have been watching in a hall. Also since it was made by Manoj Night Shyamalan – the Night in Shining armour for Mallus at that time.
First half an hour –
Bruce Willis – …mumbling inaudibly…
Kid – ….Replies to the mumbling, inaudibly…
I am at my seat trying to keep the bugs feasting on my backside away. True to his name the director has made a movie with enough darkness to fuse a bulb. At about 15 minutes from the start when nothing much seems to be happening on the screen I decide I will concentrate. I understand the first 2 or 3 words and lose it midway. I console myself by saying that I will get the context some time when the movie is into its business end. At least that’s what happens in Hindi movies. You can watch a movie 2 seconds before the end and you can guess what the story was all about.
Next half an hour
Bruce Willis – …mumbling inaudibly…
Kid – ….Replies to the mumbling, inaudibly…
The bugs have found a feistier back side. I still am trying to make sense of whats going on in the vain hope that I will get it some time. I am making assumptions about the story. ‘That fellow must be eyeing the kid’s mom. So befriending him’, ‘maybe the kid is dyslexic and the fellow is helping him out’ (Yeah baby, TZP has not given proper reference for the storyline) and so on. Meanwhile there is the kid’s mom for our eyes.
Next 45 minutes
Bruce Willis – …mumbling inaudibly…
Kid – ….Replies to the mumbling, inaudibly…
However, to his credit the director made this part interesting by introducing kid ghosts and violent camera movements. Overall activity levels in the movie has increased. I have a feeling that the lamp is going to light any time, and I would be able to piece together everything that has happened and voila! I would be delighted by the ending. And go back to the hostel bragging to my hostelmates about seeing the greatest masterpieces of all time. I visualize myself telling everyone ‘No wonder it is nominated for the Oscars’. Meanwhile, I can hear my neighbour snoring and there is nothing inaudible about that.
Next half an hour
Khatam, Finnis, Khallas, Poi pochhe. Yes folks, it doesn’t have another half an hour. Out of nowhere the credit starts rolling. Others in the hall are jerking themselves out of their siestas. I am dumbstruck. 25 INR of my dad’s hard earned money gone (Baba log and baby log,you can rearrange the jaws to proper position. Indeed there was a time in independent India's history when movie tickets costed only 25 bucks). Add to it 3 Rs of transportation charges. I ask everyone around desperately to tell me the story. No one has much of a clue. Some tell me that Bruce Willis was a ghost. GHOST. GHOST!!!The ‘ghost’ I knew off walked in white wardrobes, sang beautiful songs and laughed hysterically. Anyway the movie is done and dusted with and I have that empty feeling in the wallet. I promise myself that I wont have lime soda for a month to compensate for the expensive misadventure.
I have not watched an English movie without English subtitles completely after that. Ironically I watched a Spanish movie fully once as there were English subtitles in it. I love good cinema, even if in Spanish. Salma Hayek is just incidental to it.
Thursday, February 14, 2008
I, me, myself – The great love story
I saw myself in the mirror.
P.S - For innocent babies like Malli - I meant the middle finger.
(Thanks Malli for pointing that out. Anything to do with fingers, you are up there)
Thursday, February 7, 2008
DWTWTA (Don’t want to watch them again)!!! (Part 2)
The cult movie that I am dying to review is Kuch kuch Hota hai (Something something is happening happening). ‘Lead ham specialist’ – Shah Rukh Khan, ‘Lead shrieker’ – Kajol, ‘Lead plump doll in mini skirts’ – Rani Mukherjee, ‘Lead cute kid with a stress ball on top of his head to make him look like a sardarji’ – Parzan Dastur.
It was the first movie of the now legendary Karan Johar. Thankfully he finds interviewing people more interesting than making movies nowadays. Story is based out of a college somewhere in European locales which is full of Indians. Only the railway station is Indian. Rahul (Shahrukh) is the stud of the college. Anjali (Kajol) is the tomboy. Both are thick friends. They both play basketball together with both the hands. And fight once in a while. Rahul stammers ‘cheater’ to Anjali and Anjali shrieks ‘cheater, cheater, cheater’ to Rahul and they are supposedly having a fight. After which they make up by playing around with their thumbs and forefingers.
New girl ‘Tina’ (Rani) comes to the college and Rahul from then on does most of the stammering for Tina. Tina when she is not cavorting in micro minis is singing ‘bhajans’ in 100 yard long saris. Rahul seems to love schizophrenics like her and proposes. Tina, lo and behold accepts it. Anjali feels left out and she tries to have a makeover to look more like a girl to win back Rahul. Manish Malhotra fails big time with his make up duties on Anjali and people laugh at her including Rahul and Tina. Some emotional scenes, some rain, a song and they all make up at the end of it all. In the meantime Anjali goes home in a train determined to make a comeback in the second half.
Rahul utilizes the time productively by marrying Tina and fathering a kid. The kid very conveniently is a girl and she is named Anjali as a mark of respect for his basketball mate. Since Rani was not a big actress and she is no longer needed, she dies. Anjali junior grows up to be as irritating as Kajol.
Anjali junior is going for a school camp and Kajol would be there in the same camp as the head teacher. There are cute kids around of varying age groups and they all play with rings and balls in the background most of the time. Kajol comes to know that Anjali junior is the daughter of Rahul and Anjali junior comes to know that Kajol was the last hottie of her dad before marriage. She wants Kajol to marry Rahul as her mother (Tina) had given well documented instructions to her just before dying that this should happen. Small blip though. Kajol is engaged to Salman Khan of HAHK fame. Salman is a big actor. U cant wrench girls off him and marry just like that. So Kajol has to sing and dance with him in one song before coming to the school (or was it after?). In the meantime Rahul also joins camp and is surprised to see Kajol in sari. They sing 2 or 3 songs together, reminisce about old times and duly fall in love.
The small matter of Salman Khan is taken care of by he himself making a big sacrifice of kajol. He anyways got 1 song with her. That took care of 95% of his screen time. ROI wise it was not a bad decision.
Rating: 0.02 *s/*****
Some songs are good!
P.S – Arpra – Please spare my life
Executioner – Thou will be spared if thou can watch KKHH for 14 minutes
Arpra – Kill me…
Saturday, January 5, 2008
DWTWTA (Don’t want to watch them again)!!! (Part 1)
Ever Saw HAHK? Or KKHH? Or DTPH? Or HSSH? Movies long on name and short on content. If you have any intelligence to start with it would be insulted. If you don’t, good for you. You have to be dumb to appreciate it. Here is a short review on one of them. The other reviews will follow in due time.
Hum Aapke Hain Kaun (Who am I of yours?) – HAHK was a much celebrated movie in 1995 because it was considered a clean movie considering the times that it was made. It was a movie which enforced family values and tradition. Which meant that everyone including the grandparents, uncles, uncle’s dogs and uncle’s dogs’ relatives will live together in one big marriage hall. They will always be happy and smiling. They will play cricket together with the full cricketing gear (batting pads, stitched balls et al) and laugh when they get out and laugh when they don’t. The elder brother will bowl with a faulty action and the bhabhi would laugh her heads off while batting, in the meantime hitting a 6 with a mere flick of the wrists. Then Bhabhi would do a mock run up and throw the ball and bhaiyya will get out. The cute dog will do its bit as umpire holding placards saying ‘Out’, ‘Not Out’, ‘No ball’ etc. The others are only there for clapping and making noise. You will by this time be all giddy giddy with the cuteness (Sigh!!!!) of it all.
The father would be a paragon of virtue who made the marriage hall from scratch after coming into the city with nothing but peanuts. The mother would be a paragon of virtue who will have a smile for everyone including the servants. The servants would be paragons of virtue who would tell everyone who is willing to listen what paragons of virtue the father and mother are.
At the outset itself the insignificant characters will let us know that ‘Prem Bhaiyya’ is coming, so the audience should be sufficiently excited about it. Prem (Salman Khan) would generally come rotating a coat above his head. The director will make the audience sigh by having a cloth over Prem’s face in his first scene and after desperately suspenseful moments Prem’s face will be shown. The camera wont waver from his face after that scene.
The heroine (Madhuri Dixit) also will have a sufficiently suspenseful entry. Almost 80% of her face will be her teeth and that’s how it will stay throughout the duration of the movie. Even Bhabhi (Renuka Shahane) will have this medical condition.
If you happen to live anywhere near the marriage hall you wont be able to study for your exams. That’s because ‘THE FAMILY’ breaks into a song en masse at every given opportunity. They break into a song when there is an idea in the dad’s mind that his son should get married. They break into another song when the idea takes firm root. Another when the idea is spelt out to ‘THE FAMILY’. And others during engagement, marriage, first visit of in-laws etc. ( ‘Mummy, Main class mein first aaya!’ Chorus: “He Dhik tana, Dhik tana, Dhik tana” ¶¶¶).All male voices sound suspiciously similar when they sing. Even the servants are accomplished singers and end up at the feet of either Father or Mother at the end of the stanza. The dog will join in presumably looking for fallen egg pieces during the revelry.
The first 1.5 hours will go in singing, dancing and laughing. Since the director has to make it a 3 hour movie to satisfy the ‘value for money’ need of Indians, he will make it a cryathon after that. Bhabhi will fall down from the stairs and pass away (You suspect that she will be laughing in the grave as well). There will be gloom all over. The frothy song and dance will be replaced by the same song with slow violins in the background. Bhaiyya will be perennially looking at the setting sun. Prem will look gutted. Bhabhi’s sister (Madhuri Dixit) will be crying hysterically for days together. Someone will suggest that Madhuri should marry Bhaiyya to carry forward the generation. But Prem has a thing going for Madhuri and Madhuri is not exactly rejecting the advances. So there will be another round where buckets would be ordered and tears would be poured. However everything will be right in the end when bhaiyya happily forgoes marriage for his younger brother’s happiness. The violins would be replaced by drums again and a halo would develop around Bhaiyya. And ‘THE FAMILY will live happily ever after.
Disclaimer : The details may be sketchy as I could not get myself to see the entire movie despite repeated attempts with clenched teeth. But the general idea remains irrefutable.
Rating: 0/*****. If any channel is showing the movie remove it and order