Time is a pinch and here I am with some humor stuff directly from the book of Khushwant Singh's Joke Book 2.

1) What do you call a man from Kerala, who picks up all the girls he wants to?
Pheno Menon.

2) A rich businessman was telling his friends his plans for his three unmarried daughters. "I've put aside Rs. 2,00,000 for Savitha who's 22, a Rs. 4,00,000 dowry for Vinita, who's 27 and Rs. 8,00,000 for Namita who's 36."

"Sir," said an ambitious young bachelor," do you have a daughter who's 50?"

and keep watching this space

Meghmalhar

Is the name of my new home in Kowdiar. I've been waiting since months to shift and finally the day has come. A mission finally accomplished. We did the paalu kaachal in Trivandrum style. First the 'vaastu pooja’, then the ganapati homam which was followed by a small griha pravesh pooja. Mom had to carry the lamp and sister was given the pot of milk. The milk which was considered very auspicious because it was the first milk given by a cow that gave birth to her calf few days back. Superstitions...but they all sound so fancy! I was, finally as the youngest given a bamboo sheet which contained vegetables of each kind. I was very young during the house warming of my first home in Trissur. There, all we did was heat some milk in a steel pan and wait for it to flow out. And *Tadaa* the house is inaugurated. But here things are done more emotionally, out of devotion. Not only house warming. Whether it is something as complicated as a marriage or something as simple as a welcome function for a new born baby, things are always celebrated is a big way out here. Sometimes it is overwhelming and sometimes it can get onto my nerves. Anyways ...entering into my house everyone's favourite 'room' is mine :D
Breakfast was simple with idli, vada, sambhar and chutney. Then some ghup shupping and chit chatting led to 'kumbhasaranam'- sleeping. Earlier I was discussing about how I am going to kill time till lunch but then it was sorted out..After the mighty nap all of us went straight to the dining where we had the traditional food served on banana leaf of course. After which all of us hogged on some parippu vadas. Hardly any space and my food pipe were protesting against any more entry of the unhealthy oily snack that I had to lose and stop the eating game. Game?? Did I just say game? OH my! You never know ...always have tendencies to play with things I love. Nevertheless, almost went through an eating competition.

Right now I am just finished with ending pooja which is devoted to the Goddess. All's well that ends well. So far so good...All cousins will be staying over and right now I am going to get back to my game...Oops! Dinner I meant.

Navarathri

I adore the whole Guru-shishya parampara but it's sad that we hardly practice it anymore. It's overwhelming when you get blessings from your Guru on the very special day - Vijayadashmi. Today morning I sang few keerthanas and then headed off to my Guru Sri. Perumbavur Ravindranath's place for his blessings. There I got to sing few famous krithis like Sri Varalakshmi, Saraswathi Vidhiyuvathi, initially starting off with few slokas like Sarva Mangala Maangalye and some geethas i.e. 'Sree Gananatha' and 'Vara Veena'. Collected the prasad after singing and when I stepped out I felt as though I went through a "relief-abhishekam" where I felt like all my sins are washed away through the reception of my Guru's blessings. I had done a small work for the Navarathri for Channel Doordarshan via All India Radio. A dance had been choreographed with children of various age groups participating in it. It was aired today morning at 8:00 am. There is a repeat telecast tomorrow at Doordarshan at 5:10 pm. Do try to watch it. Wishing all of you the nine blessings of Navadurga i.e. name, fame, health, wealth, happiness, humanity, education, power and devotion.

Apoorva

I had the privilege to sing under Sri. Vidhyadharan sir for the movie Apoorva. It is directed by a 19 year old, Nithin. The recording is my first for Playback and I am happy I got to do it under the guidance of my Godfather. It took around 45 minutes to complete the session and got the CD only today!! :D .... The star cast is brand new and we have some good budding artists lined up.... You can listen to the audio here. And do give me honest feedback.. *stay tuned*

Soumya Viswanathan

How does it feel to be cheated by fate? That's what happened to the HT journalist who was shot by some mean guy at the wee hours as she was driving in her Zen. Things can get out of our hands without a hint. My friend Vishnu passed on this thing which Soumya's friend had written after her death:

During the postmortem, the doctor noticed a small entry wound on the right side of her forehead and found a bullet lodged in her brain under the left temple. ‘‘The impact of the bullet was such that a portion of the victim’s scalp was torn off and fell in front of the backseat. The bullet was removed from her head and it appears to be from a .315 bore country made pistol,’’ said the officer.

The car’s window was rolled up when the bullet hit her and the AC was on. She was shot from the driver’s side while apparently driving at high speed, said the officer
The car was apparently moving when she was shot and the only witness to the incident is a cyclist who saw the car hitting the central verge from a considerable distance and informed a cab driver who called the police.

The cops are probing all angles, including road rage. Since the car and her belongings were left untouched, carjacking or robbery has been ruled out. They are at a loss to provide a motive.

‘‘The car was standing in an inclined position, partly on the centre verge and partly on the road, with the body inside. The lights were on and we didn’t notice the bullet injury,’’ said an officer from the Vasant Kunj police station. ‘‘The front tyre on the driver’s side had burst and the wheel had twisted out of shape. We initially thought it was a regular fatal accident.’’

She was young, vivacious, liked by all and good at her job. Now, she is dead. Mystery shrouds the murder of a 25-year-old producer, Soumya.

Viswanathan, from an English news channel early on Tuesday morning at Vasant Kunj in south-west Delhi. Soumya was found dead in her white Zen car with a bullet in her head around 3.40am, about half-a-kilometre from the Vasant Kunj police station on Nelson Mandela Road. She was headed home to C-9 block in Vasant Kunj.

Police said they received a call around 3.40am about a young girl lying dead in her car with the car’s ignition and headlights still on. Initially, it was believed to be an accident — the bullet wound was noticed only during the postmortem.

*RIP SIRE*