Chores, Obama Etcetra

Over the past two days - my friends in Mumbai have been boasting about the "cold" weather there. According to what I read on the web, it dipped to 10.3 degrees. So mates, bring out the paanghruns and start zhoping. In the meanwhile, the Delhi weather has been relentless. And whoever told me that it lowers after Lohdi (14th January), was perhaps bullshitting ! The sun comes for a while and disappears - not good enough for my well-cleaned underwear to resume next-day duties - one did and I am glad !

I have been following the US Elections with a keen intent. Its fantastic to see things shaping up there. Barack Obama has almost transformed himself into a cult figure for the youth, while Clinton's campaign has just taken a stutter for a while. The mudslinging there is for a change worse than Advani firing potshots at Sonia Gandhi or vice-versa. I have never seen such a hard-fought race for nomination, forget Presidency. And, as expected - no one has given a damn to George Bush's "State of the Union" address. I am just waiting for the "Super Tuesday" (Feb 5.) where the nominations will go through. And ever since this campaign began, my vote has always gone for Obama - because the US needs change and I cannot see anyone else other than him bringing about change in the country.

Ive also taken time off to check out some weird news making the headlines today. Some of the American Mainstream News Media indulges in his pathetic form of journalism, with the Australian, not so far behind. Stupid, I say !

Weird stories round-up of the day:

"If MK has his way, Tamils will have a New Year's Day" - Something really outrageous and far-fetched to think of. Again a strong show of Tamil Nationalism (if we could call that)

"Bikinis are fine, but Mankinis are too much mate" - Mankini ? How do you even pronounce it ?

"Aussie condom swallower gets 20 years" - What sort of a world are we living in ? Condoms being swallowed ? Holy crap.

"Cow poo helps reduce chances of lung cancer" - Weird again ! Whats happened to not smoking ?

This one's real audacious - "Mother defends dog after attacking on son"

Booked !

Irony, I say - simply irony...I have never been an avid reader. In fact, I used to detest reading at one point of life, arrogantly rubbishing it as a mundane eye-straining exercise. Today, at 21 going on to 22, I have absorbed it as a part of my life. And that has got something to do with me moving my arse from Mumbai to a completely new city. While this shift has reduced my exposure to television completely, except for the odd loud "Ramayan Ad" that appears between overs during cricket matches, unfortunately for fortunately, my eye-balls have taken a good good break. Apart from my notebook (whatever you want to call it as), books have been keeping me busy.

People often ask me, what sort of books I am into and oddly enough, no JK Rowling (past those days even though Derek O'Brien once mentioned about Harry Potter's ageless relevance), no Jefferey Archer or even Stephen King/Robin Cook. My booklist is highly populated with some heavy-readers. I am presently reading - Sri Lanka: Voices from a War Zone by Nirupama Subramanian, with Frontline Pakistan by Zahid Hussain next in line. Occasionally, I do indulge in something outrageous, like a book called White Angels, about David Beckham's euphoria hitting Spain during his Real Madrid view, did manage to read John Terry's autobiography "My Winning Season" (basically to get an insight into what Chelscum if not Chelsea is) and somethings here and there. And, I want to get hold of Barack Obama's "Dreams from My Father"- considering his multiple identities going into the US Elections 2008. Maybe, then I will know what "Change" really means in Obamanomics.

Keeping in mind that my ultimate ambition is to do something related to foreign affairs or even international relations, I think these sort of heavy readers come in handy use then. There are some colleagues in my workplace who remind me that I am a sports journalist by designation, and sometimes it is a very tricky thing to be. Being a sports journalist doesn't really mean that I am bound by events in Australia or for that matter what Sharapova is expected to do in the Aussie Open.

Reading has never come natural to me. Its just something I have picked up to kill intense boredom and loneliness. But, in hindsight, its not quite a bad habit that I have managed to grab !