7 Video Songs: 2012 – 2014

***My favourite songs in the last three years – from 2012 to 2014.

Nenjodu Cherthu – Yuvvh (2012)
I don’t usually add albums music to any lists, but this one was special. Directed by Alphonse Putharen featured Nivin Pauly and Nazriya Nazim as something which came before Neram which was from these three, and having the same pair as the movie Om Shanti Oshana, this one is gives a mesmerizing feeling. It is too cute; special mention for the action if she brushed teeth before having tea, and she is like there is no need. I came to listen to this one much later, and that was a shame – I should have listened to people at least when they talked about music!

Etho Sayahna – 10:30 AM Local Call (2013)
I remember listening to this music somewhere while on the bus, and searched a lot, and finally found it while watching this movie on television. I didn’t know where to find this one as the movie wasn’t a hit, but it was actually a good one; the song had somewhat lost because the movie lacked big stars at a time when dumb movies with superstars did better. The lyrics are also too good, but even without knowing the meaning of them, this one is too good. Shritha Sivadas looks stunningly good in this song too. This has been my long time ringtone and dialer-tone.

Shyamambaram – Thattathin Marayathu (2012)
I do expect a lot of difference in opinion about this one, but this is my favourite song from this movie which made the future better for not just Nivin Pauly and Aju Varghese, but a lot of others. No offence to “Anuraagathin Velayil” and “Muthuchippi” which were the bigger hits and thus the better known ones, as even though they were beautiful too, I would prefer this song from the movie because I could feel this one having the heart and the soul of Thattathin Marayathu and that wonderful feeling. I define the movie with this song, and it is the only song from the movie that I still listen to.

Karmukilil – Bachelor Party (2012)
There are many other songs, and there is this one which has almost no match in the way in which it is taken. The movie itself is visually superior, but that is all that this movie could manage, and still the song could rise above the flick. In a movie in which everybody shoots all those who are in sight and nobody knows who is dead or why some others are not dying yet in a world of endless bullets, this song came like something of eternal beauty on the big screen. This also have those moments when you can’t do nothing but admire Nithya Menen, and you also have to applaud Amal Neerad for the visuals.

Oru Mezhuthiriyude – Visudhan (2013)
Kunchacko Boban and Miya George are part of this beautiful song in an average movie which had more scope. But this might have still been the most talked about song of the year, and there might be nobody who has talked bad about this one. Still, the ending of the movie is so touching and tragic; giving a powerful feeling, which it taks from this song itself. Here is another song which makes one strongly believe that the music will survive the ages, and is beyond all barriers.

Ven Megham – London Bridge (2014)
This has been my favourite for multiple reasons, as along with the music, I love the visuals which involve the beauty of England and Scotland with those places which I have visited, and the cast is like a dream – Prithviraj Sukumaran, Nanditha Raj and Andreah Jeremiah; plus those lyrics which seem to go directly into the heart, may be not that effective for everyone with their favourite destinations and viewpoints, but certainly working perfectly for me. The other songs in this movie are also visually too good.

Mazhaye – Pattam Pole (2013)
The song and the movie are the opposite extremes, with the latter making a sadistic approach to eat the brains of the viewers with unparalleled zombie power. But the song is like an eternal tribute to the rain and the monsoon of Kerala. I have hoped for not having seen the movie to enjoy this song more, but I have watched that terror, and I do try to forget that terrifying experience of artificial love and romance which is difficult to get rid of. But lets listen to this beautiful song from the movie and hope that it goes away! Let Pattam Pole go and let the song in!

TeNy

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The Beat Photos

Here, I am sharing ten photos of my Chevrolet Beat which are among my favourites. All of them were taken between the districts of Trivandrum and Kannur in Kerala. This is the result of my realization that I could manage to drive it for only one thousand kilometres between the last two services. It is a new low and I am hoping to boost the desire for another journey in the Beat with this post. It won’t happen anytime soon due to certain cirumstances, but I would rather let the boost happen first 😀

@Muzhappilangad (Kannur)

@Thattekkad (Kothamangalam)

@Varkala

@Urulanthanni (Kuttampuzha)

@Parakkadavu (Arakuzha)

@Thommankuthu (Thodupuzha)

@Arakuzha

@UC College (Aluva)

@Calicut

@Chowara (Aluva)

***All the photos were taken on my camera or mobile. The number plate is blurred in case someone wants to ram their car into my Beat just because of boredom or random hatred 😛

TeNy

The Need for Upgrade

Where does the need for an upgrade come? We all feel the need to upgrade our cars to something better – and it doesn’t matter how much satisfied we are with the existing vehicles, that this need will come sooner or later. Sometimes, the need will arrive and go only to come back later. It is like something that is embedded in everyone; the need to make things better can keep making an appearance again and again.

One of my uncles said a few years ago “When you grow up, you will need new and improved cars and then you will want even more” – even though I don’t completely agree with this statement, there is some truth about it as far as the desires of the common man are concerned. We never stop having that desire for something better than what we have without ourselves, and there is that desire gaining a lot more power when life gets a lot better.

So, here comes the need to travel to the different car shops around. With the shops selling second-hand cars, it is extremely difficult to find the right car at the right price. Some of them will ask for too much and a few other shops will not be that easy to locate. The best ones might also be located too much inside the city limits which will make traveling too difficult, especially if it is a busy life already.

So, you can go with the online option instead by choosing the cars and bikes option at the website of Quikr. You can choose from the most popular brands there, and the presence of so many options make sure that you are never disappointed. I could see some nice Maruti-Suzuki Swift and Honda Amaze cars which seem suitable to buy after I give an advertisement to sell my Chevrolet Beat. Swift has been an interesting choice for me since long ago.

I don’t think that a Mahindra Verito or Maruti-Suzuki Ritz would be lesser options for an upgrade either. There are so many options right there, waiting for me. I am sure that an advertisement can easily get my car sold there too. With the addition of Quikr NXT to the list of useful things, so many people are sure to approach me asking about the Chevrolet Beat. As you might already know, it has complete number privacy and history options.

I am hoping to have a good conversation to find the right buyer there. The chat option can be used to a good advantage for this as well as for buying the right car at the best price. Chevrolet Beat is a very good machine which should fetch a good price, and the right adjustment has to be made with the new car which is bought – all these are possible through Quikr NXT, as it seems.

Quikr is a name that you can trust with ease. The only thing that you need to be sure about having is a Quikr Id – everything else should go on like a breeze. As India’s biggest online and mobile classifieds portal, Quikr has already made a mark. It has clearly brought a nice change about how things are bought and sold online. You might find many other options offline, but Quikr is different and special – do try it online some day! It is the next level of online shopping!

The images used in this blog post are of my car and were taken on my Sony Cybershot DSC W-310. The blog post was written as part of the Happy Hours Campaign from Quikr NXT in association with Indiblogger. Quikr provides a great platform for buying and selling. Check here for more details about the same: http://www.quikr.com/

TeNy

The College Days at UCC

This post is my entry for ‘My College Diary’ contest held by travel blog My Yatra Diary in collaboration with Collegedunia.com

There are not many memories that give me a better feeling than my days at Union Christian College, Aluva – where I attended for my MA English. I have been to other educational institutions for a longer period of time, but there was nothing like being in this college which had the most interesting days of my life. It was like each and every day was special, and had something new for me. I have always been a lazy person who hesitated to go for the classes, but everything changed and I came out of there as a different person.

I was always there to witness the beautiful rays of the sun, very early.

There is something about learning English Literature in one of the oldest and the most reputed colleges in Kerala. With a green campus full of trees and having a number of old buildings of antique value which takes us to world beyond the busy traffic right outside the gate, being at UC College is a privilege that I never thought I would have, and for the same, I would like to thank God as I could get the admission by merit itself without any trouble, and that is one miracle that stays on my list forever.

UCC on a rainy day while reading romantic poetry! Nostalgia strikes!

We had our classes right on the block on the back side of the oldest building around, surrounded by trees and having a shortcut to the canteen. The first thing we notice there being the lines from Shelley’s Ode to the West Wind, “If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind?”, I entered the classroom with doubts about what was next in my life. I was quite late for post-graduation, as I had changed my graduation to Literature after having my way with Computer Application.

Now you know where I parked my car 😀 Loved parking it – was more like hiding it 😉

1. The Strangers’ Paradise: I entered this place, which was the paradise of strangers, a world which had students who had taken graduation from different colleges. There were eighteen including two of us boys, a number which decreased to thirteen by the final year. Most of them didn’t know each other, and what made me feel better was that nobody knew me at all. Being a stranger among strangers was fair, the right point to make an introduction. I could make the right impression, but still I ended up being just me, and thinking about it, that was the best thing that I did there – being myself.

That visual from our first year classroom and nearby; almost made me jump at times.

2. The Strength of Tea: The first thing I asked after getting there was about the canteen. Yes, the toilet and the library are significant, but there was the need for tea. Ever since finding the place, I was a regular visitor there, even meeting the teachers further there. It is the place which tells us that our teachers are awesome, over a cup of tea. We know our friends better at the canteen with the tea, and meet a lot more people there. We might still not know them directly, but it is a certainty that if we see them somewhere outside the college or on Facebook, we know who they are. I used to jump out of the classroom for the same reason, having a cup of tea between the hours.

Those steps under the chapel: a usual place, no matter what the time.

3. The Literary Power: The power of the library was clear right from the beginning, and I was clear about it before joining the college. We were blessed with a very old library which had a very good collection of literary works, but nothing new though. I used to make some frequent visits to library in the beginning, a habit which I somewhat abandoned as I could get the e-books in an easier way. But then, there was the idea of helping others to get the book – with canteen so close to the library, how could I not choose to go to the library? Cutlet and tea with books – a fair choice.

Those library cards on the final day of college – one last look as I left.

4. Seminars of the World: A habit which soon developed was to go for literature based seminars at different colleges. Even as there were some of us going in the beginning, soon there was the practice of going together or staying at home so that there would be no class. But soon, some of the studious girls would develop the practice of going to the college to listen to the lectures based on syllabus, and I had to go alone or in smaller groups. But we got the attendance, and the classes rarely mattered to me as I had enough material to go through. The journeys on a Chevrolet Beat also started with these, making my car a regular visitor to the college.

A little more of the natural beauty to make you miss the place more.

5. Change of Perspective: The first few months had us taking down lecture notes as well as those which are provided to us. Then the situation changes to just writing down some random things, pretending to write and finally ends up not writing anything at all. Yes, there are the studious girls who got to write them, but we are people of the last bench. We know that it is not by what is taught in the classes that we are redeemed when the examinations arrive. We know that we have to read, and not accepting whatever is taught in a class; that is about having one’s own perspective.

Another beautiful, rainy day on the campus inspiring poetry.

6. The Quiz Surprise: Even as the things were going okay, nothing really made an impact like this surprise. There was the inter-college quiz competition for which I was told to go, just because there was the shortage of willing people; that was a nice journey, with two teams of us participating in the same, and myself and my partner winning the second prize. That was quite a turning point, with myself going to more of the competitions, with different partners – that was the beginning of the next phase which came only in the final year. I admired the department for the support here, and those who accompanied me for the competitions.

A screenshot from the UC college website at that time.

7. Political Extravaganza: Politics was banned for the first year I joined there as there were some bad incidents. But it came back with full power in the next year, with the Communist students wing SFI gaining most of the seats and the other Communist wing AISF coming so close. Congress’ KSU came right down and BJP’s ABVP managed one seat. It was not the result that caught my attention though, because it was the campaigning which has the beauty about it. There were thos nice artworks to support the parties as well as some cultural stuff. Who can forget those strikes which gave us more freedom?

A photo from the day before the election.

8. Before Final Destination: Then came the season of trouble; the time for the final exams followed by the time dedicated for the thesis. There were lot of turbulence out there, especially concerning the studious girls, worried about the marks as well as how their thesis will look for others; but the rest of us were pretty sure that they will score high as usual and were just making a scene to bother us – that ended well. Among this maddening crowd, the thesis progressed fine,, and I am glad to say that I enjoyed working on my topic, and the support from the English Department was splendid.

Those final days of thesis; had to be the techie again and be the helping hand.

If I have the opportunity to go through all these, I would be glad to – it is that kind of a feeling that this college has left me with. It is not that I have never thought about it, and taking another post graduation in History would have been a perfect choice. But considering the fact that the syllabus has changed and so has the new generation, I would just end up being an outdated man, not old enough and yet not working well with the younger generation. So, I shall happily hold on to these memories which remain special for me.

A few things the elections brought for the college; the area near the canteen.

Five bloggers I tag here are Namrata, Maniparna, Kokila, Rohit  and Nishi. I wish them best of luck 🙂
I also thank Sagarika for the tag 🙂 and My Yatra Diary for this opportunity.
*All the photos used here were taken on my former phone – Samsung Star Duos.

TeNy