'Or better still, stop inflicting your opinions on the world' Or 'Hello world'

Two titles. I couldn't decide among the two, so I used both.

Forgive the rather quaint, unimaginative and rather lame Hello World but it's just the after-effect of reading the biography of Steve Jobs talking. The two words uttered by the Mac must have really stirred minds into a dizzying frenzy. The book turned out to be a great read. What a man, Steve Jobs! (What's with smart men and apples?)

Right then, with blatant disregard to Sherlock's words, I have decided to inflict my opinions on the world.

Okay, the name Ravikumar, Aparna Ravikumar. Doesn't work too well...but the Bond routine fits better with my elvish name. The name's Pallanen, Luthien Pallanen. Although I highly doubt a wise, fair, immortal elvish maiden would be familiar with a certain Mister James Bond. But no chance of the routine working with my hobbit name, Rosie-Posie of Whitfurrows. (I really love the name generator sites. I wonder how they work)

While listening to cricket commentary, probably during India's dismal test match performance against England, I realized my name fit in quite well with the British accent. Ever noticed how there's always an 'r' at the end of an 'aa-sound' ending word? India becomes Indiar, and so Aparna becomes Aparnar (Aparna R), great, right? If I was chatting, I'd probably use a :p....so there, :p
I'm sometimes assumed to be a Bengali, maybe because of Aparna Sen. But sadly, my roots are not that easy to trace. I'm a vague hybrid of Tamil and Telugu. And no, it's not because my dad is a tamilian and mum is a Telugu or the other way round. It's just because we're Telugus whose ancestors have stayed in Tamil land for long and have merged with Tamilians. So it's hard to tell where I really belong. I can't speak pure Telugu and  I can't speak fluent Tamil. I only know a random mixture of the two. Strange, that is. Not knowing where you belong.

Where i do belong, is probably in Middle Earth. My world revolves, as you have probably guessed, around The Lord of The Rings. I won't say too much here, I think my obsession with the book can only be justified by another post. But yeah, I am passionately obsessed. I don't know if that justifies it, but, well,....i'll leave it here.

The number 42 holds a special significance. Not just because it is the answer to the Life, The Universe and Everything. Back when I was at school, a classmate of mine had quiet a fancy for the number 42. So every time the number magically materialized on the blackboard, heads would turn and find him and the class would share a chuckle. So the number is a toast to the book and my days at school.

Apart from books, I also enjoy music. I learnt Hindhusthani classical for sometime. The history of this music lights up Akbar's courtroom as Tansen's voice and enchants the thoughts of Sadarang. (Sadarang is credited  with the creation of 'khayal'. Khayal in Hindi, meaning thought. Music always manages to ignite the spark of poetry in me-here I go again...) Sadly, I can't play a single instrument. I pushed a little for violin lessons after listening to the background score of The Lord of The Rings (great work by Howard Shore) and The Game of Thrones opening music, but then lost the initial enthusiasm. But it's a fantastic sounding instrument.

Seinfeld is my all-time favorite TV show. Amazing show, really. It does get a bit repetitive, but the show, especially Kramer often had me in splits. The Simpsons, another great show. It's always sunny in Philadelphia (which some critic, rightly, called it seinfeld on a pot....or something similar....but you get the flow). Scrubs-extremely funny. Castle also provided me with my daily requirement of laughter. And I can hardly wait for Sherlock season 3 to come out!
But i can not leave Indian TV behind. There was this show called 'Astitva'. The story never fails to crack me up. Another classic show is Pavitra Rishta. Great filming and background score (note the sarcasm). The show requires in-depth analysis that can only be satisfactorily covered in another post. Fantastic serial!

Sports. I follow tennis and cricket with passion. Football, now and then. But I loved Euro 2012 and supported Spain (and Fabregas) very loyally, bouncing up and down when they scored. The final was epic and drained me of all my energy, the goals and Italy being reduced to 10-lot of whooping and jumping. I had a great time then. I think Roger Federer plays well, but I see no one who can take over from him, given that Djokovic is out of form.

Right then, I suppose that's all i can think of now. It's been random, but I sincerely hope coherent thoughts will follow. I'll be back with more on life, universe and middle earth, but till then, Namarie. (Farewell, in Elvish-spoken by Galadriel to Aragorn)