Those who come in late...

Haven't blogged in a long while - what with work - and baseball practice and tryouts - okay okay I can go on with a list of excuses!

Just finished reading the "Millennium" series - of the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo fame.

***Some minor spoilers ahead.***

Considering all the hype it generated I was expecting a nice and intelligent murder mystery. Instead it turned out to be a re-hash of psycho novels. I remember reading (I think it was an Arthur Hailey) book that had a similar series of murders where the victims were murdered based on some Biblical associations. I also didn't like that the entire detecting was based on a set of photographs - it was cool to start with but when you keep re-hashing the same thing - well it does get annoying. The hacker's skills were bordering on unbelievable.

Also I find Larsson (the author) tries to come up with some really weird relationships - I have heard the Swedish are quite open-minded but ... And his gay relationships have a sense of unease about them - not presented naturally at all - as my colleague S remarked "Dostana" does it better!

Everything does get tied up in the end in a really neat bundle - I have no gripes about that - coz most of the time I really hate movies or books that don't have a satisfying denouement!

I also read Sister of My Heart a novel by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni. What was that crazy search for the rubies all about??? Jeez after that why bother trying to force realism into the story!! If you've read it - do let me know what you think.

A Na-irish Wedding

When pretty Irish lass Moll met handsome Mallu Debonair - the sparks flew and successfully blazed into a wedding proposal. Moll was totally thrilled - having devoured all those enchanting colorful Bollywood wedding scenes she eagerly agreed to a wedding in Debo's (well actually God's) own Kerala.

Apparently Moll ought to have read Neoindian's advice and KA's notes in this blog post - but no-one was around to point her in the right direction. You see Debo's parents put on an act in front of all the relatives that they were deeply upset with Debo's choice but deep down were extremely thrilled that Debo had snagged a Gori wife. So Debo was busy mock defending his choice that he had no time to really explain to Moll what the wedding ceremony was really going to be like.

The date rolled around and a jet lagged Moll and family landed in Kerala. Moll was horrified to discover she had to wear a plain white saree with a thin gold edge. (What ever happened to the gorgeous worked lehengas and stunning red bridal veil?). She was cajoled into wearing some ancient pieces of jewellery (hand-me-downs from Grandma and Great-Grandma). The only consolation was someone came around and applied mehndi (henna decorations) on her hands and legs the previous day.

The wedding ceremony itself was in her words "over in the blink of an eye". No dashing Bharaat procession on a horse, no wailing shehnai (musical instrument generally played at weddings). One discerning cousin made up a little bit. For the reception she got Moll a gorgeous lehenga and organized an impromptu song and dance session of the latest Bollywood hits.

Moll eventually made up for all this. She got her parents to organize a most elegant and sophisticated Church wedding back on home turf (New York) complete with bridesmaids and a horse-drawn carriage. The reception was at her Grandparent's home in the country - the barn was decorated very prettily done up, as were the dinner tables with matching candles and napkins and what-not!

[Nairs are a caste that hail from the state of Kerala in India. Apparently a traditional Nair wedding is a very simple and short ceremony - with the Groom tying a "thali" (wedding chain) around the bride. It is not as long nor does it involve a host of complicated rituals as in some other community weddings from different regions around India.]

Your Degree of "Coconutness"

Or you know you are an NRI when...

You are watching some random Hindi program on ATN and suddenly someone is shouting:

"UNTH-OH-KNEE! UNTH-OH-KNEE" . Your brain starts scanning your limited repertoire of Hindi vocabulary and nothing matches.

A few scenes later you realize the guy was actually yelling out to Antony (ANT-O-NEE).

And no - it was not from this classic...