My sister...

Once Nish starting working life became different. Getting used to not fighting with her and watching a movie without here, eating pizzas without her and faking a laugh at slapstick comedy in her absence are some of the worst and compelled things I had to go through. But I never missed her. We miss people we forget. She used to comeover for Onam, X'mas and Vishu. And we never got along when we used to live together, even if it was for a couple of days. I want my things to be put back from where they are taken. And she hardly cares. Not deliberately. She does that with her things too. So we kept quarrelling and having verbal fights. Verbal to the extent of calling each other donkey, monkey, ox, buffalo and would multiply into infinite times. People used to look at us as though we are doing the circus. We could fight just anywhere. At the middle of a shopping mall, at an restaurant, at home (obviously), at a friend's place and even at a party. 24/7 she kept bragging about her work at Infosys and her badge which peobably was a proof that she worked there. And oh sorry! there's an error that I made here. She would go yapping about not her work but the canteens (which owe 50% of the profits to her ) and the romantic storied that commenced from the green plains of Infy. But the day she used to leave to get back to work, I was totally irritated. Maybe coz I couldn't get sleep without abusing her atleast once a day. Old habits die hard. Today she called and told me she had fever. She asked me to put her to sleep. She is a fragile girl. Emotional and has mastered the art of crying crocodile tears. She fakes it half the time. She can just get anyone to fall for it. And she is good. Coz she got a hard hearted person like me to fall for it several times. I sang for her maa from TZP then Thode Badmash from Saawariya and Yu Saja Chand, a Ghulam Ali ghazal. She still didn't fall asleep coz the sing-in-phone-in session was interrupted by a stupid caller. All I want to convey is ~I Luv u Nisha~.

It has been raining off and on out here. And it's wonderful. Sitting at home is the worst thing to do after exams. I have no clue what to do...My painting book also got over and I have nothing to paint now. Nor do I have any books to read. Coz I didn't bother getting any books from duty free coz of my great camel shopping. So was glued to T.V. last night. Surprisingly I didn't know much about Aarushi murder case coz that was the time I was busy with the Rajanigandha show. Later on when I noticed all the commotion created I realised it must be something huge. A day before leaving for India, my parents had to attend a farewell party and the renowned topic of the night was this. It seems too sad. But what's exactly with the case? It still confuses me. It is the mom or the dad that was having an affair? As of now I think the dad is arrested and taken to some place that is obscure.

There are hardly any good movies to watch. I was watching F.R.I.E.N.D.S again and again, the 10th season that is. Too good. That's what I call comedy. Friends reminds me of this article I read in the newspaper yesterday. It was written on the English spoken by British children. They are so bad at spellings..some still get confused while spelling friends, embarrassed, accommodation, relief, etc. Apparently the reason for such a botch is coz of the lack of attention the syllabus gives to grammer and communicative English. And the sudden rise in the application of the e-lang and the sms libi has definitely made it more convenient to make grammatical errors. The usage of 'u' instead of 'you' and 'gr8' instead of 'great' had made written language a lot more unscrupulous. Nay, that's too harsh. Maybe a little daffy, insignificant and obstinate.

I got to see some blog rating at g-man's . So checked mine and got some clean ratings. All my three blogs are rated

:) You can also check your's HERE.

Examsssss overrrr !!

Done with all of them. Now I am a second year. Hopefully shall retain that qualification after getting my results too :D Right now I am trying to think for a suitable name for baby and dada camel. I am thinking of an Arabic name since I got it from ~Arabia~ . Usually during the Muscat Festival we get to hear sooo much of Turkish music. All of similiar kinds with excessive beats. You feel like doing Shakira right there. And for food we usually never go into the Indian side and instead dig into some shormas and tandoori stuff. My god they are heaven!!! You need to handle them correctly as they serve the chicken pieces like marshmallows. And you need to dip them in the garlic paste for the Arabic touch. Life was fun. This time also when I had gone to Oman, we went to this Turkish food outlet called Istanbulli. And you get amazing shormas there. Sadly I am not a hardcore meat eater nor am I fond of sea food so didn't try out the mixed bowl which contains all kinds of meat (almost) and sea food. Although it looked delicious. We ended the session with a glass laban. Laban is one of the most famous and favourite non-alcoholic drink. Some sort of sweet and sour butter milk. It's not as sweet as lassi nor as salty as lime soda. But it's unique.

Most of the people in India think that Arabic food is at it's best in meat. But that's so not true. The Kargeen Cafe is again an Arabic food eatout where we had a ladies night out. We had only vegetarian food coz apparently most of the chicken had a tinge of meat flavour. So to be on the safer sides ,we sticked to breads in baked style. There was this one girl from our group who had Pinnacoloda which is Pineapple mixed with coconut water served inside the coconut shell. I ordered my usual mocha. For desert we had brownie which was amazingly big, mouth watering and too filling ! Eventually I left it half way unable to reach my target. The ambience of the place is also good. It has a roof made of wood which as cross shaped giving space for the sunlight and the moon. They don't have a concrete base, it's hard rock with carpets layed on them. And we are seated on chairs made from bamboo.. or sofa's with embellished covers which have typical Arabic work done on them. You can even do Sheesha in various flavours. A man sitting on the table next to mine was smelling of grape. I really didn't know that Sheesha /hooka had so many flavours including strawberry and vanilla ! I never tried one, not coz I never got a chance to but cos I saw my friend doing it and she got choked. So no playing around with my voice :)

Another place I luv is the Starbucks right across the Shatti beach. Sunset there is too good. Most of the time we used to celebrate there. After exam parties or break-from-study-parties and even Birthday parties. Though most of the Birthday parties used to be celebrated in Pizza Hut or Mc D. Since I had a lot of spicy masala type food this time (was making the most out of it). I am craving for idiappams and dosas and istu. The mixer had to go off at the right time knowing that I am coming for some food which requires grinding. So for two more days will have to do with 2 minutes maggieeeee... That's making me hungry..ok catch ya after maggieee-fyinggg

Back Home

Finally.... did some serious duty free shopping!! And don't laugh , I know I am still a teen and way old for all these things...I got a soft toy.. a CAMEL !! Baby camel and daddy camel. By the time mummy camel came it was way too pricy!! and it had worn pink lipstick (yuck). So I thought I'll nurture the toy and be it's mummy. So I am big time name-hunting for both the toy camels. Any brilliant ideas??? Please do drop in... coz I really need them. From quite a young age I was fascinated and excited about naming my toys. Not all of them literally but I used to get so many kinds of dolls. Some were bald headed and some I got as a set with the mirror, hairbrush and even a makeup set. I never liked changing names of dolls who already had a name inscribed inside the cover. The only problem was two or three of them would be similiar cos most of them had names like Sally, Polly, Solly, Sarah. I used to even take care of my doll's hair more than mine. Till date :) Serious naming happened when I got my first pet, my 17th birthday gift, a fish! I named it Bangudai which means blue pearl, I think, in Chinese *giggle*.It was blue in colour and a fighter like me. Such fishes are usually isolated coz they can't live without quarelling physically, I guess. And when it died on Feb 27th, I was too scared to even look at it. Aaaaahh.....I am giving my self some time to still recover from that tragedy. So the end of the story is that I got the camel soft toy cos I was brought up in a desert and felt that it is my duty to get something that represents a desert and hence *tan ta daaa* the camel. So please suggest some cute names.

Since dad is quitting after his 28 years of service we had to cancel off our family visa and resident cards. It felt as though a baby is cutting it's ambilical chord from that of it's mother. But here I am not potraying the freedom the baby gets out of that , it's the detachment it goes through after having survived nine months in the stomach which gave it routes, breathed in life ,circulated the blood and got it prepared for the big battle to venture life with it's first cry. The pain of leaving that warmth, that secured feeling, that 'apartment' !! That's exactly how I felt when the counter guy was cancelling things on his system and he just threw my resident card away. Now if I ever go back it will be as a guest not as a home person *sigh*

The flight was good after all Jet Airways has just started it's fly to Cochin recently. Watched Aaja Nachle and the 'coconut flavoured sweet with a mango tinge' a.k.a. parippu payasam was bad!! While landing we were going through unfavourable weather conditions and alerted us to put on our seat belts. As I shelved up the window board we were flying right through the clouds. Clouds were looking like a cotton candy. Everytime we get into a biiig cloud the whole plane would start shaking. As we neared the land the whole journey from the white cotton candies to the lagoons.. WHATTAA SIGHT !! I started of seeing bald mountains and sandy deserts and landed seeing green cultivation. What a transformation! One cultivation was even shaped like an 'WA'...not a W and an A but something like a V and another V that makes a W and curves down to to make an A. It even had the line between the two lines that form an A. Now that's beautiful nature !

After landing ,our driver took us to Trivandrum straight where I was trying to prepare for my English exam- Novel and communicative English. So much for street lights!! I thought I would crash as soon as I reach home but Brunie's barking woke me up from my dreamy world and there I went off like a non stop radio till twelve or so. With a lot of compulsion and pleading they changed my FM Station to off mode and there I was sleeping like a baby.

Exam was good today except for the Phonetics. I guess I created my own symbols *lol* Next is Sanskrit, on 29th. Abhigyana Shakuntalam and Keralodayam. From the luring tales of the sparkling romance between King Dushyanth and Shakuntala to the manliness of Parasuramam. I have no clue how I am going to finish learning the foursectioned drama and the Mahakavyam of 1oo slokas. So until next post 'Jai Sanskrit!'

I got blasted by Nital for not meeting any of them who are on a vacation here. Everday I meet a couple of them online and I keep arguing about why I can't meet them cos of my rehearsal schedule and shopping and dinners ,etc. But yesterday she lost it. She was yelling at me. I don't care, I don't call, I don't want to meet any of them, I'm lazy and blah blah. So finally I decided if it's not now then never. Called them over though they could hardly spend 60 minutes ,it was worth it. We all were sharing our ragging experiences. And Kami was more interested about what kind of subjects they teach for my music course. There is an alumini party in school on the 1st of June but sadly won't be able to make it cos I'll be in God's own country tomorrow. Not even in a mood to study. God knows what am I going to pen down for my English and Sanskrit exam. I wish I were in school. Maybe kindergarden. Just finished the packing and if my exams weren't advanced then I would be coming with dad a week later. A week is like ages. So much more get togethers, more shopping, more singing, and more of sight seeing. But destiny is rather mean to me. I am not a shopaholic. I can spend time on getting clothes but otherwise I am extremely impatient. But I love talking. Talking about anythings and that's why I love holding get togethers and meetings. Not a party person so prefer small parties of suttle nature. More of food and talking. Sheeeeesh I am just going to miss everything all over again. Oh ya... the Gonu rumours are just rumours according to today's edition. Me of to some last minute packing and some serious sleep cos I'll be travelling all day long. From Muscat to Cochin and then to Trivandrum .

As of now all *GLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM*

Pizza Hut party, Cyclone Gonu

The final closing party of the Rajanigandha team, 2008 was held at Pizza Hut, Qurum. I was the first one to reach with Johnson sir. Initially I had thought that the party would be held at the conference room which has been beautifully designed by the architect. But the party hall was opposite it. Much to my dismay we ventured the big hall and the first thing I asked them to do was to switch of two split A/Cs out of the four.Firstly, cos dad was unwell and secondly cos I couldn't sit with that kind of temperature. Before the Pizzas came we had a small lecture demonstration done by Johnson sir on falseto and fixing the swarasthanas in our mind. He has his way with the guitar. He was demonstrating it in Hamsadhwani ragam. Then he was quizzing us on various aspects of Music and even asked few of us to sing. When the pizzas arrived all were feasting their eyes as he was still explaining . But once the control was lost, there were shortage of pizzas and garlic bread. There were quite a few left overs and picked some of them for breakfast. All's well that end's well. And as we bid him a good bye it was farewell time for me as I will be air borne in a day. Exchanging some pj's and email ids I promised to meet up with them when they come over to India for their summer vacation. There ends the 2nd season of Rajanigandha, 2008.



Today did some minor last minute shopping. And it's time to say goodbye to my second home. I really couldn't take pics of the bald mountains cos I really didn't do any sight seeing. But someday I'll definately comeback and get some real desert pics and show you what the real Oman is all about i.e. if it is still there. There are rumours of another Cyclone Gonu attack on the 29th. Apparently temperature could rise upto 60 degree and a/c s would drip off and the petrol pumps could burst, and etc. Warnings will be given just like last year via mobile networks. Last time it was quite an experience and I am still surprised on being alive. Hopefully this place shouldn't get washed away as the rumours predict. To read more about last year's Cyclone Gonu effect check this POST and THIS from my blog.

Rajanigandha, 2008 Concert details

Concert pics available HERE.

Today's fortune: The luck that is ordained for you will be coveted by others.
So true. Though the show was delayed by 15 minutes the crowd was jam packed. The show commenced with the 8 singers lined with diyas lit. One by one with the prayer song satya soundaryme playing in the background, we lit the traditional lamp which is an unusual sight. Coz as far as I know in most of them it's the chief guest's duty to light the lamp. Then we had a string of short speeches and finally the show commenced. Mine was 5th in the song sequence list. And I was all excited coz my opening song would be with Srini sir. Brahmakamalam, Arivin nilave, Nila Kaygiradhu were the first few songs after which Srini sir sang Vennila thumbile. Then came Minsarakanna and we had a blast doing it together. He did a lot of extra fittings to the song that I was stunned and was probably left open mouthed. But the distinct part was the last three aalaps I had to do. The day before when I took him to check out the cornish he had asked me if I will be doing any songs with him and when I told him I would be dpoing this one, all he said was "Nityashree has sung it so well and it's a pretty hard one. Have you practiced?" All I could do was nod. So on stage when I gave my best shot I was hoping that he should think that I have done justice to the number. Which I understood when he acknowledged me as a fantastic singer :) The other songs were Rajahamsame, Manyu pole, Thumbi vaa, Barso re, Kanampoochi, Yeh ishq Hai, Ajab si, Pinayum pinayum, etc. Srini sir's best song was Kaisi hai yeh from Dil Chahta Hai. Johnson sir was the chief guest and so after he did the opening song he was relaxing in his couch. The concert was ended with Oh lalala . As planned portions of the song was distributed among the singers. And I was asked to do the hindi version of Maetachalayile (which is originally sung by Unni Menon). Srini sir took over from the second Manamadhura for which Johnson sir supported him with his guitar. After the finishing song he had to run off to catch his plane. So with a lot of thank yous and good byes he was gone. With him off Johnson sir was hogging all the limelight and boy! he can talk forever. He's quite a jovial person.

After all the photo session and talking we headed off straight to Restaurant Divine where the after-show party was organised. Was too tired to even eat but managed to get something into my growling tummy. Crashed when I saw the bed.

I was anxiously waiting for this day. As it was planned we reached the airport at 9. Waiting is a punishment. Sort of. I was suppose to greet Srini sir with a bouquet and another small girl was supposed to welcome Johnson sir. Initially it was exciting and when the waiting became longer and longer I was suggesting the lil girl some books of Enid Blyton and Roald Dahl. Gulped down a whole bottle of water and still time ,the biggest villain just doesn't take the name of running fast. We actually heaved a sigh of relief when Srini sir called after landing to ask about where to get the visa and all that. After receiving we left them at their respective hotel rooms and there after met for lunch. Actually Srini sir was so hungry that he messaged dad saying he is hungry and wants to hog and then hit the sack. So we had to arrange things a lil earlier than scheduled and all of us had 'chettinad thali'.

Admist the lunch Johnson sir was telling how Malayalam music is still not used or is unknown to many. He was saying that in all reality shows most of the singers hardly sing malayalam. Al of them outstretch into other languages, mostly tamil and also ape for the west. Whereas the other regional reality shows always have sungs sung in their respective language. Johnson sir being the only National Award winner from Kerala for the Best Music Director in our state was also saying that the jury for the National Awards hardly cared about the South Indian Industry. And Malayalam was considered as a baby or rather a minor in the field. Whenever there is a Satyajit Ray film, it had to win a national award. That was the system and people were comfortable with it. Except for a few. Few became many in time. He has his side of humor too where in once he apparently considered the finger bowl to be a bowl of lemon juice and devoured it warm! He's devoid of fear, sharp, talkative and hardly cares about what people think of him.

He's shy, suttle, gives one a feeling of warmth, not too glamorous, diplomatic and a sincere musician. That's Srinivas for you. He was too hungry to even discuss. Infact when one of the media person came to get a video byte from him, he said 'Food first and then the rest'. After the big fat lunch we had we went onto ordering something not cold and tasty for desert. Majority opted out for gajar ka halwa and Srini sir jus obliged.He was explaining the terms 'minus track' and 'plus track'. On not knowing what the latter meant he said it means miming i.e. a track with the singing where the singer just has to mime. He was telling how disgusted he was with such practices. These are times when a singer is lost and doesn't exactly know what he wants.. money or justice to his talent. Savouring each bite of the extremely sweet carrot halwa we ended the lunch with a photo session. And everyone was off to catch some Zzzzzzzzzz.

After nap time Johnson sir was taken for his say in the video byte and Srini sir was bored so we took him to the cornish. He loved it... and the weather was pretty cool by evening. After some ghup shupping at the sea side we headed for the dinner party organised by one of the members of the Rajanigandha team. Had great fun and all the singers of tomorrow's show were asked to hum a few lines. Nervous as ever I sang one of my personal favourites Manjaladam. Then we had a small photo session with the mummys and daddys. We soon called of as we have to wake up pretty early for tomorrow's show. So I think I am gonna Zzzzzzzzz...

Rajanigandha, 2008

I will be performing at the Al Falaj on the 23rd. The show is named Rajnigandha. Last year we held a show by the same name which was illuminated by eminent artists like Shri. Arjunan, Shri. Vidyadharan, Shri Kallara Gopan and Vineeth Srinivas. We had held it on a non-profit basis and much to our surprise it turned out to be a super hit. Infact AlFalaj which accommodates around 1200 audience had to get in 100 chairs extra for the standing crowd in the auditorium. And they told us that such a show was never held in the last 10 years of the history of the hotel.

This year it's something different and better. We will be getting National award winner Johnson and State award winner Srinivas. Srinivas sir will be singing a couple of solos and duets. This year also it is being held on a non-profit basis. And entry is only pass. Actually this show is being organised by the parents of the children taking part in the show. Some are not even working for the children but for the success of the show. Hopefully this one should go well. The show begins at 6:30 and should go on non-stop for 3 hours. We have a mix of old and new numbers in different languages. So if any of you are in Muscat do try to make it for the show! For the rest... pray for meee :D



No prizes for guessing where I am :)

Solution to 'Orkut help' post

Finally! The Orkut.org was kind enough to send me details as to why my profile is not showing my blog links. They said that it could be due to someone reporting my link as spam .Another reason could be that I scrapped my blog links. I really can't recollect scrapping my links to strangers and why would someone report it as spam?? unless...they are green with envy...green with a capital G :D ... Anyhow they suggested that one way to sort it out is by listing your link without a www and http://. If it still doesn't work then contact them HERE.

Muscat Idol, 2008 ~ Teen Sensation

Was a pretty fun day. I was one of the finalists of Muscat Idol, 2006 and had the privilege of being judged by Anandji of the Kalyanji-Anadji duo and Bala Bhrambhatt ji. Though I didn't win I did get a lot of recognition and appreciation as I was the youngest among the 12 Indians. The oldest would be somewhere 40 plus. The practice sessions, the photoshoots, the discussions, I used to eagerly wait to go to Mr. Dalal's house for anything to do with this. Though he is a doctor by proffession his passion for music is exotic. He is so hardworking and honest ,wo din bhi kya din the !The 2006 was the one for seniors and Mr. Shekhar had won it. We even had a mini bus where in our digi photos were put across a poster that covered the whole bus. And my! just few days before the finals the bus was riding to each and every place. When people called and said that they somewhat saw my face on a bus, the sense of being a star! priceless! But It was only for that moment. Honest.

Then came the kids season where we had the tiniest of the tiniest singing their lungs out. I had been called to check along the finalists performances. And this time 'Talent Hunters' had grown several yards longer , from Al Falaj to the Amphitheatre (the biggest stage accommodating 5000 people approx.) But sadly I was not able to attend this one coz I was in India then.

Now it's the one for the teens.BTW I am still a teen :D When I received Dalal's call for an invitation to take part in the selection of songs for the finalists ,once again those fond memories were blown back like a wind. Along with a few other senior members we started the session by 7:30. There is quality but in most the singers I found lack of classical knowledge or background. Some were shivering with fear and some totally approached us with a care free attitude. And there was this one girl who kept going out of rythm and this irritated Manoj Bhattji. He was astonished to hear a finalist go out of rythm and this provoked him each time to raise his voice. Seeing that he was not too happy with her singing , she eventually declined and said that she'll probably practice and make an attempt again. Some sang exceedingly well . You know even if you can't sing that great or probably have a voice of low register or high register, etc ...either you practice day and night and rectify it or else choose a song that suits your texture. Most of them wanted to sing Dil Cheez Kya hai and Manoj ji said that "If you choose this song, Neha will beat me coz she has won first prize for this song as she sung it with so much perfection". I got soooooo embarrassed and it was pretty sweet of him to say something that nice about me ... and oh ya !! I won't harm anyone for selecting that one !! That is one of the songs I had sung for the finals. After we packed up the whole session someone shooted out 'Neha ,how come your not taking part?' and I replied that I don't live in Oman anymore :( and it's time for the lil ones to come up. Someone also commented that I am now into selection process than the participation one. I feel so grown up and I hate that. I wish I were still a toddler not having to worry about anything except for the diapers. Gone are those days. Gone. Forever.
Never meant to revert back.

Orkut help !!

In Orkut ,in my profile I had given the links to all my three blogs. And from the past few days it has been coming as 'content suppressed'. I tried editing it many times, it gets back to normal and within hours it goes back to square one. Is Orkut not allowing or .. is it some technical problem? Coz few of my friends asked me my blog link cos of it's unavailability on my Orkut profile. Are your links also showing the same content? If you have a solution or the reason to the problem, Please help.

Kal Aaj aur Kal and the Bhojpuri Concert

Feeling hot hot hot !!!.. yups.. in a desert and during summer and an open air show definately makes me feel hot. The moment I stepped out of the car I started sweating. My very first show in Muscat, held by the Bhojpuri Wing of the Indian Social Club. This is the club that nurtured me all the way to sing confidently, which I'm still not. I don't know why am I so nervous all the time. I get the butterflies and it keeps flying and dies probably when I am out of stage heaving a sigh of relief. And today was a pretty hectic day. I was asked to report for rehearsals at 2 pm and much to my surprise the rythm pad player had apparently fallen sick and was on antibiotics and hence the rehearsals were cancelled off. So I landed up in a nail biting situation as I had not rehearsed the complete song with him and had to verbally and numerically do it through the phone. Numerically cos I was literally counting the number of bars as he was playing it on his laptop on the other end of the line. Thanks to mobiles!! Unsatisfied ,I decided I would not keep thinking about it too much and probably risk it live on stage. So then headed to a family friend's place and then lunch. Hogged like a pig and was hoping that it would digest by my show time. As soon as lunch was over ,Dad had to meet someone officially so I and mom felt like we were sitting in a furnace despite the a/c in the car. So much for the summer in the desert!! Got back home ,plugged myself to the world of Kumbakaran.

But time's always a villain and soon I had to wake up and apply war paint and get dressed and all those usual things. Another bad habit of mine is when I don't get my full sleep I lose my temper on every single thing. And poor mom has to bear them all...wish I could become a better person someday.. i.e. if I am devoid of full sleep :) At the venue (the bhojpuri show) ,caught up with some other singers performing and I was again full of laughter and excitement just when the bug bit me and I could soon feel the butterflies. Ignoring them as I have no choice ,I gave my best. Since I was the first performer for the evening I was given a little gap until the next. But realised that by nine I had to reach the other show for the evening. It was taxing and I knew I have to keep my energy levels up. Unable to manipulate the schedule I couldn't sing any more songs and had to leave for the green room to change my costume. I felt bad cos I had planned to sing barso re and couldn't. After freshning up and doing the bye- byes I was on my way to Kal aaj aur kal .

The entrance was grand and the hall was booming with voices ,felt good to perform here after a whole year. I was frantically running around cos I thought I was a little late but with God's grace I had reached well before my turn. I was singing Mayya Mayya and Yeh Ishq Hai. I had a dancer along with me for Mayya Mayya who looked awesome in her Arabic costume. It was fun singing both the songs except that I had few mic problems intially. Met with a couple of old friends who said I have become 'longer' and talkative! Usually after these shows ,all the participants dine together and celebrate over the success. But today I could not, firstly because I was almost half dead and secondly cos I have early morning classes. So couldn't Jashn Mana-fy this time :(While I was going back home my cousin brother who has become my 'official' photographer was commenting that I had my eyes closed most of the time. I am always involved into whatever I do , especially when it comes to singing. And it doesn't apparently give 'shobha' when I close my eyes while singing a number like Yeh Ishq Hai . It's visible in my pics taken during the show, where in most of them I have my eyes closed. That's probably one singing 'manner' I may not be able to change! The pressure of giving your best, to capture the audience's hearts is one of the greatest quality a singer can get. And to be appreciated dil se, is the most priceless award an artist can receive .Speaking of awards during the Bhojpuri show I was gifted a memento by the Indian Ambassador, A. Wadhwa. After murmuring a thank you I expected a welcome or least a smile. But much to my arousement this gentleman was posing happily for his photograph and before I could leave he whispered "wait! the cameras!!". Ofcourse that did bring a smile on my face but to think of what celebs and famous personalities go through when they face the media. That is something I hate about fame. Just no privacy.okkkkk...enough of bakwas ..time to put my exhausted brain and voice to sleep. With another show coming up looks like I'll have to live with 4 hours sleep for another week. But the next show is something I am looking forward to... will soon post on it.

Couldn't take any scenic pics as yet but the concert pics are available HERE.

Lot's in a name !

A pretty funny one from the Reader's Digest, May edition:

A New Zealand couple have named their son "Superman." 4Real. Actually, reported the London Telegraph, 4Real was their first choice, but the Govt. registry nixed the name coz it included a digit. Meanwhile a Chinese couple clashed with their Govt. when they tried to give their newborn this moniker: @. Some celebs have followed suit, and their's nary a Jane in the bunch.

Audio Science (son of actress Shannyn Sossamon)

Bluebell Madonna (daughter of Spice girl Geri Halliwell)

Daisy Boo (daughter of chef Jamie Oliver)

Pilot Inspektor (son of actor Jason Lee)

Heavenly Hiraani Tiger Lily (daughter of TV host Paula Yates)

God'lss Love stone (daughter of singer Lil' Mo)

Jermajesty (son of singer Jermaine Jackson)

What is the world getting into????

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Another humor @ Work : When hiring new staff at her public library, my daughter always asks applicants what sort of supervision they'd be most comfortable with.
One genius answered "I've always thought Superman's X-ray vision would be cool."

From one joke to another Buhahahaha till next post :D

The 1st home

I am not too emotional types. Anyways..while boarding the flight I did feel a lil teary. First time on Jet Airways and my height as usual throwing the tantrums. The flight roof is either to short for me or I keep growing in minutes. C'mon I really can't help it ...my hormones just won't listen to my suggestions or orders. Just keep growing and growing and soon I shall beat Ishant Sharma. In school I was known as giant squid! but I love my height ,I mean I attract a lot of attention .I kept thinking that it was my singing that attracted attention but then the eyeballs proved me wrong. All gave me the head to toe look and that's when I realised ..yups..for a girl.. am a lil too tall :) But.. I don't regret it. And to make my day better my doctor-friend exclaimed..'oh you've grown taller!'..I was like really?? You know I could look taller just cos I lost a lil weight... hmmm that's what I do to convince myself... *sigh*

Coming back... I got to watch a romantic english flick and Saawariya of which the former I got bored and the in the latter I dozed off seeing all the sets which had no sun rise!!The night sets created a very cozy ambience :D But the songs.. my! Monty is sure a thing at 40..50..err 60? Aaah who cares! After the bye-bye to the flight crew the first step on the concrete base of my first home ..the feeling is priceless. Oman will always be very special to me for a zillion reasons. And one funny thing happened in the journey was when I and mom were done with emmigration it was pretty late .So we got an immediate call from one of the officials who announced ' .....and all passengers assemble at gate 3 and 4 with their respective body guards'.. ooppsy... boarding pass! I don't know why I hear it wrong.. but it was funny..was laughing all the way to the flight. After landing as dad drove us back to home, the memories...they came right flashing back... AS of now full of work and happy :) The photos will soon be uploaded..keep watching this space till then .. Ciao

P.S. The one problem all the ladies at my place have is (with my height ofcourse)..if they will ever succeed in finding my Mr. Right. Any Ideas?? Pls keep it yourself :D

An error in my previous post,thanks to Dad. U.A.E. is a country which consists of 7 sovereign sheikhdoms .Though Sharjah is not in Dubai but an induvidual city ,it again isn't in Oman. So point is clear that Sharjah, Dubai are different cities of the U.A.E. Abu Dhabi is the capital city of the U.A.E. And Oman is an induvidual country altogether that belongs to the Gulf region. Can check out few pics of the Arab coast here

Oman and the U.A.E. are neighbour countries and though Dubai has grown faster than the rest its still remains a city and is smaller in size than Oman. The other cities that belong to the U.A.E. are Ajman, Fujairah, Ras al Khaimah,and Umm al Qaiwain. The confusion was cos of the petite difference between Dubai and Sharjah ,hardly 15 minutes away from each other. Sorry for the vague information given earlier.

Have updated Snapshots after a long time....and here comes one more Caption game!! Do put in your creative stuff. This caption pic took me some time ...almost all my time to capture it. So whether or not you bother to leave your caption in my comment box, I will always cherish it *sigh*

On my way to my hometown, I passed this wild place...well atleast it looked like the wild cos I had just woke up after my sleep which I think was longer than the one Kumabakaran had taken. Anyways.... and this wild place of which I just had one glimpse reminded me of King Kong movie. The scene where the tribals celebrate over their sacrifice of another human. That wild also looked like one of those kinds. You never know, they could be canibals or maybe they were nude people rejoicing over some kind of cultural feast or something. I saw a lot of fire being a burnt and all. I know I know..... it was just a glimpse... but I did catch a lot of it. Educating the tribals is as good as teaching a lion to sing. They are so content with their life. When younger , history textbooks spoke about the various tribes India owned and blah blah.. and have always wanted to be a tribal person assuming they have no boards to attend or any math tuitions to go for..oh BTW..I love math..that shows in the 96% I scored in my 10th. Math was loads of fun especially when you know how to tackle it... Ok.. aren't all the subjects simple if you know how to tackle it? Except History... my ! what a terrific subject!...Dates and dates and dates....I mean why?? I don't remember any of them. But I loved the history of Sir Rajaramohan Roy... maybe cos he worked a lot for the upliftment of women. I liked the history of India ...the Jalianwala Bhag incident then the sepoy mutiny and all that. I disliked ..no... I HATED world war.. the world would have been such a simple place if we had just the 7 continents...avoiding the state names and capitals and all that would have made history so much more simpler... oh-uhhh.. I guess I deviated from the main topic.

Coming back....I got this forward about what would Titanic look like if it was made in India. The last and final bumper point was ... that the ship would have few seats reserved for the SCST/O.E.C./ etc... what a shame right?? we are actually making fun of our country... but I must admit.. it was funny :D I don't believe in discrimination done due to caste/creed/race/religion. Soooo against it. But what's the point?? Still , till today people believe in it ..and just by one person the mindset will never change. Leave alone tribes!! Excuse me , but it's very hard not to think of how they must be managing with the raw meat they cook for all the three times. Oh cook? sorry...no cooking everything fresh! There must be some one ... some hitler somewhere who could probably bring a change in the tribes. Maybe we should take a closer dekho at it as soon as we find a solution to the poverty problems among the non-tribes here.

Yesterday, I had gone to my new home where the construction is still on...gone for an what is known as 'inspection'. One of the architects Arul introduced us to this very cute lady who is apparently an architect from Botswana, S.A. He was trying to explain her that me and mom are leaving for Muscat in 2 days..and she was a little confused..but did get the point when he mentioned Sharjah. Let me clear something. Sharjah is NOT Muscat. They are both induvidual countries representing the Gulf region. Sharjah is in Dubai. Dubai is a country and is five hours (by car) away from Muscat,another country. Everyone in the world thinks that both are the same places. Some don't even know such a place like Oman exists. This time when I go there, will definately take lotsa pics and will show you what Oman is like. I have some already in Snapshots

Blogging will be taking a back seat for maybe a week or so.. will try to update ASAP...keep watching this space.

1st Anniversary

Today, my blog celebrates it's 1st Anniversary with it's author. I remember I had read someone's blog and I thought it was such a waste of talent of that blogger who had great ideas but couldn't pen it down. That's when I felt like fullfilling a fraction of my never-going-to-happen-career , Journalism. I've always fancied writing. Writing about just anything. Except Politics and poems. And when I found an open oppurtunity to make blog friends and nurture my talent further I was completely thrilled about blogging. Even now. Started of with my intro on my life and my commencement to the world of music. Then came the post regarding the horrible experience I had facing Cyclone Gonu, the strongest in 60 years that hit Oman. Initially as a baby blogger I had no people to read nor was I enthusiastic about publicising it. As I grew I learnt to write , write serious, write funny (I hope!), write versatile.Then I also thought that this was a good platform to show my talent in singing and hence developed Surmitr followed by my Photography blog,Snapshots . So far so good. Luv blogging, luv bloggers, luv my blog. TIA

Nyanapana

A very interesting quote from the Nyanapana:
randu naalu dinamkondoruthanne thandiletti nadathunnathum Bhavan
Malikamugaleriya mannante tholil maraapu kettunathum Bhavan !

Though I cannot give the precise translation of this Malayalam quote, I have tried my best. Here it goes
'It's God who can tranfer you from the streets to a King, and it is God only who brings an elevated person to the world of pain ' .This again reminds us that if ego is in, God is out and if God is in then ego is out. Like I have always beleived that we are puppets in the hands of God, success , fame or money should never give us the head-weight label.

Creative money

Money. The basic necessity. Can buy almost everything except for priceless moments. People are greedy for money. People suicide if there is no money. Money is the solution to many problems. And money is the factor that splits human relationships. Society has classified people into poor and rich coz of money. Money. A big big thing.

Naaaaaaaaaaa! I am not going to lecture how important it is in our life or why we should save or why greed should not spoil a human. Today as I was checking my wallet.. I took out this note of 50 and was looking at it's print coz it was a brand new one.. and the look of a brand new note is something! I have never observed a note that carefully .. as in it's design, features, art or it's colour. I was jobless and decided to give it some limelight. The Gandhi face and the extra designs are picture perfect. And some notes had the dandi march drawing whereas some had the parliament building in it. It's so amazing the way each one in manufactured. Jus a note that could bring us from the chawls to the Ambanis. Have you noticed a different picture on the note? Then do share it here.
Jai Hind!