forty percent

counting the number of US states that I have been to ...

NY, NJ, PA, WV, DE, MD,DC, VA, NC, SC, GA, FL,TX,CA,AZ, NV, OH, MI, IN, IL

thats 20 isn't it ? Chetak has been to 11 (with me, donno b4 that )

mayookham

It was accidental, that I hit upon this 2005 Malayalam movie on youtube . ( Link to the first part : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmtaa7yrXw4 and the other parts follow) .

I must say it was a great experience after a long time. And as this reviewer has pointed out it reminded me too of the golden era of Malayalam cinema - the mid and late 80s.. My school days, and the films of those era are etched in my mind, as representative of the good malayalam movies.

And its a classic Hariharan ( in this case not just directed, but written also) , my other favourites of his being Nakhakshatangal ( 1986) and Amrutamgamaya (1987) . In some ways the movie has resemblances to some other Hariharan themes, including the fact that he tried new actor (Saiju Kurup) and actress ( Mamtha Mohandas) , much like he tried a totally new Vineeth and Monisha in Nakhakshatangal - and they have delivered superbly ! Interestingly somehow the actress ( Mamtha ) reminded me on Nadia Moithu in "Nokkethadoorathu kannum nattu", in her looks and the theme

Anyway,watching a good malayalam movie -not withstanding the fact that it many times has an underlying tragic theme - is like having had a nice feast, the malayalam sadhya !

Of birthdays and.....

This week marks two birthdays - if you are wondering who the second one is, thats Chetak.. Oh well, I really don't know when exactly he was "born" but then I do remember that he was "mine" on (or very close to) Nov 4, 2003 ...

At that time, I had thought- oh well I hope he survives for 3 more years... and its been 4 ! apart from some initial hiccups, its been pretty good service also so far... kind of 35-36 mpg on hiways, and once even it hit a 39.8 or something !

It had 87600 miles when I got .. and now its 135100 almost... 4 years 47500 miles.. thats quite close to an average of 1000 miles a month ! and the gladdest part is that I can quite positively assume that atleast 50% of that time, there must have been some one else instead of me in there - as a ride. yeah, off late, that part has reduced... thats when you realize that you have moved on in life, atleast in age !

Anyways, my 2003 birthday self-gift has come of use, so also I think my 2005 self-gift ( the 125$ digicam) .. how would be my 2007 gift in the long run ? ha ha ha what is that ? :-)

So, in advance, happy birthday my best friend and constant companion for the last 4 years !!