Quo Vadis?

The last time I went into a salon for something beyond a haircut was on the day of my wedding. I was literally bullied by my mum to get a facial done along with hair setting. The disaster that happened in the salon ensured that it would never happen again. Sadly lightning does strike at the same spot more than once. This time I was bullied, cajoled and kind of marched to an unisex salon for my regular haircut and a facial. Now do not get me wrong but I am not a big fan of strange people doing funny things to my face and worse putting unknown concoctions on it. Married men will know that there are certain discussions that will have only one answer and it will be seldom your own. It seemed that I had black heads and they were an extremely bad thing and had to be removed. My query of a simple soap wash resulted in a very dirty look which meant that simple soap would not do for this face. So after a decent haircut where I overheard some words between my wife and the cashier that ...

There was this meme floating around Facebook some time ago, you know the one where a woman gets annoyed because the man was looking into his laptop and answering her questions.  Women take offense because – Men can’t multitask . Men apparently cannot hold a conversation when they fail to make eye contact and no the eyes were not trailing downward from the woman’s eyes they trail downward to the device on hand. The reason why men cannot hold a conversation – Men can’t multitask . I am not sure if women checked if the responses they got from the men was correct and suitable because they are conditioned to think that men cannot give the right response because – Men can’t multitask . I would like to think women enjoy riding pillion on bikes and the state of our roads ensures that they have an intimate ride usually. I would also like to think that these rides are interspersed with conversations or even sweet nothings. On a bike one is ahead and the other behind, one ini...

“Why do we shout when we are angry with someone even if the person is next to us? It is because when we are angry to tend to go far away from the other person even if they are standing next to us” - I remember reading this gem somewhere. Usually threats are made with a loud voice unless of course you are Don Corleone who is a reasonable man and whose threats are subtle. The point of this post is to show that arguments can be very costly and unless they are handled well can cause a lot of pain in the long run for either parties in the argument. One common type of argument is the marital one which though looks like the usual lovers tiff can get uglier because here the argument is inside the ring, the wedding ring that is. Arguments tend to go wrong when it ends as a win lose resolution. An argument can be a profitable one if it ensures that both sides win. I would like to share a cheat code with examples to the husbands to handle some usual arguments effectively with a win-w...

I am a little puzzled with one video that went viral recently. You may have seen it and you may agree that it makes a good point, do not stare.  And yet the instances did not go along with the message, at least for me. Let us take for the discussion the tattoo. People have many reasons for a tattoo but somewhere down the line there is exhibitionism and where would exhibitionism be without voyeurism? Surely a man / woman would not always be mentally challenged like Sanjay Ramaswamy to remind himself of his wife / husband? Then the tattoo of the name of a loved one conveys the same message to an observer as a wedding band or a thali. Art work on the bodies have many explanations but all of them would be defeated if the tattoo was not visible. So what is the point of getting offended by someone staring at a tattoo? I remember reading somewhere that men are wired to look and stare at a woman and it is something that cannot be wished away. It can however be managed by good u...

I think it is time folks got their F’s and B’s right. You know the F’s and B’s that is commonly thrown around and if you watch Hollywood movies contribute to a significant share of the dialogues especially for world saving hunks where talking is the least option. Probably if you are watching on TV here you may have missed them because our helpful censors cut them out along with other everyday terms that are replaced with crap, witch etc. The point of this post however is to the F’s and B’s and maybe a little more. It is about the use and often the thoughtless use that ends up completely missing the point of the usage. You use it to abuse someone or at least piss them off considerably, usually resulting in a retort. But in reality it appears different. Let us see a few instances: Instance 1: “The big F with a You” This I would assume is to tick someone off or simply abuse someone. Probably intended to be a harsher equivalent of let us say “ugly moronic buffalo” or something...

One thing that has never failed to amuse me is a blue tooth headset or ear piece if you prefer for mobile phones. This humble gadget has moved on from a simple communication accessory to a fashion accessory. You see men (usually) pairing it with anything and everything; anytime and every time. Not sure any other accessory has been so cool. Though you see people more likely to be using and wandering around animatedly conversing with the use of the ugly wires crisscrossing them the wire free version has its own set of admirers. These admirers love their ear pieces so much and attach so much value to it, they can be seldom seen without it, be it the theatre or the church.   As I had posted earlier about mobile etiquette or the lack of it in a great number of mobile users this combination of etiquette less user with a blue tooth head set can lead to some unpleasant instances. For instance in a hospital when someone promptly starts talking loudly apparently to himself before...

There was a man who had an ass. If you are wondering what is the big deal with a man having an ass? The donkey was advancing in age. Now stop smiling and read on. Now the man used his ass to carry him to the market to sell firewood, as he was a good man he realized that his ass would not be able to carry much weight so when he rode the ass he kept his bundle of firewood on his head. PAUSE and hold that thought. CUT to another man, he was also a good man and since he did not have an ass, his donkey was replaced by his trusty two-wheeler. Now he did not sell fire wood but he worked on computers so he carried his tool of his trade, his laptop with him to his work place every day in his laptop bag and since his two wheeler was weak he carried it on his back. RESUME. Actually hold that thought again, some of you may take offense that there are only good men around so there was a good lady who also had an ass that went by the cute name of “Scooty” and she carr...

Mobile companies earn good money with the caller tunes. These caller tunes ensure that the caller does not have to listen to the boring ring and can actually make the wait pleasant for those at the calling end. There are so many tunes available of varied genres and churning out these tunes is an industry by itself that runs under the VAS moniker. Companies paying the mobile bill and who are smart marketers end up imposing the corporate tone which is usually the company jingle or a promotional tune. I have wondered if these companies have some instruction that the incoming call be picked up after a few rings so that the caller gets the message. Fortunately my organization has the tune only in the Vodafone network and till date it is an optional tune. However there is an unwritten rule that the caller tunes should be preferably instrumental only. Like the ringtones on the phone the caller tone also can give an insight to the person on the other end. Therefore it is obvio...

I have been pleasantly surprised by PDAs on the roads of namma Chennai recently. For the uninitiated, the PDAs under discussion are not the gadgets that disappeared with the advent of the smart phones like the pagers (remember them) but Public Display of Affection. These will be the type that would set off the moral police into a tizzy. For further understanding you can watch this . One interesting addition to the usual boy & girl combination that I noticed was a two wheeler. In one instance a girl gave a big hug to a boy on the bike on the road, in another a girl riding a scooter turned back, kissed the boy behind and drove on without pausing a moment. I watched with amusement that girls are taking the initiative even if it has to be on the road. Genuine acts of affection should not raise eyebrows or stir up the moral brigades even if they are public but when they go overboard it will be better to get a room or at least a car. ; )       ...

One task that I positively detest is getting shot.  I guess that didn’t sound right so I will rephrase, I hate getting shot by a camera. Since you may have seen me in some pictures on at least one of the social networking sites you may be scoff a little. I do not mind a photo that is shot casually where I am incidental or maybe a beauty spot. (You know the type that is used to ward away the bad eyes, for further information refer the picture at the start.) What I find particularly painful is getting photographed for a passport for some document or a visa. I have never been able to sit still and hold a pose that does not resemble a mug shot. (The only concession I make is that I avoid striped clothes). But it seems to be near impossible to hold a pose that is just right, chin up, stiff, erect, staring at the camera, smiling and unblinking despite the flash. Thanks to the digital cameras, the task has become easier as the camera man takes a few snaps and ta...