Coffee @ MG Road - Part I of II

(image source: www.noblypos.com)

The policeman was visibly ruffled when I asked him for the third time, “Sir, when is this mess going to clear?” The place was Mount Road, Madras on a very rainy day with a couple of trees falling on the road for good measure. A steady stream of vehicles stood, with their drivers looking frantically for an opening in the water filled road. It was like a cloudburst and the city appeared full of water. I started late from office with the thought that the traffic could have got cleared but it was worse. I switched off the engine, having stood at the same place with the air conditioner on for 15 minutes. I should have brought something to munch, I thought. Suddenly, as if on cue, came a peanut seller wading through the water. I bought two paper packets of peanuts for Rs.10 each. Within 10 minutes, only the papers remained. No sign of the traffic moving. Anywhere. I felt bored. The music was on but I was not in a mood to listen. I then glanced at the papers in which the peanuts had been packed. It appeared to be a typed manuscript, a tightly packed one. I started reading.

The Bangalore air was as nippy as ever. In December, it can be at its nippiest best. M G Road, one of the famous roads in Bangalore, was a maze of vehicles, each one trying to pip the other in already snail paced traffic. Then it started. A downpour. Inside the coffee shop, Sandhya was waiting. Rain in December? Well the Bangalore weather has always been so unpredictable, she thought. How long would it take Hari to come?  She had been waiting since 5 pm. It was close to striking 5:30. When she had called him last, he was at Lavelle Road. That was 15 minutes back.  And now this downpour.

‘Should I leave?’, She messaged him on Whatsapp. No reply. He must be in his two wheeler, she thought. Anyway, she also could not go out in this downpour. And the traffic outside on the Friday evening, was typical Bangalore – now the stuff of legend. The waiter was looking at her. He had seen so many such men and women wait for their ‘other’. That is why coffee shops are for. Where else would you pay two hundred bucks for a cup of watery stuff passing off as coffee?

Sandhya’s impatience was understandable. Five more messages. 5: 35 pm. She was bugged, totally. Then, suddenly, a guy entered the coffee shop in a raincoat and carrying a helmet in hand. His trouser was drenched. His eyes darted back and forth, searching for her. Yes, there she was. In the corner – the best seat in the coffee shop. Sandhya sure knows to reserve the best seats, he thought. He waved at her. She was pouting. Through her dusky colour, he could see the red angst filled face. It was further compounded by the fact that he delayed his arrival.

He took a seat opposite her. ‘Did you order anything?’ She gave him a blank look. He understood. Men keep asking these questions even if they know the answers. It is their awkward way of trying to start a conversation. ‘Ok, just a minute’. He went to the self service counter. “Two espressos, please. And cookies.” After five minutes, in what seemed an eternity to the already frustrated Sandhya, he brought the tray to the table. He motioned her to have her cup.

Then she cut loose. A barrage of questions on how long she had to wait and how irresponsible he had been in making her do so. Hari wanted to respond back, saying that the was fine till Lavelle Road after which everything went haywire because of the downpour, but he wisely checked himself.

‘Sorry,’ he mumbled. ‘Anyway, what else can you say in your defence?’, Sandhya continued. She was a stickler for time and rightly so was feeling pissed.

‘You have lived in Bangalore the past three years. You still cannot gauge the traffic and plan, is it?’

‘Well, I don’t have any defence, do I?. It was just beyond my control. Can we not discuss the delay, please?’

(to continue)  

Revenge

"Revenge is the purest emotion"

- Dronacharya, in the Mahabharata

"Revenge is a dish best served cold"

- Anonymous

"Give life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot"

"Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written"

- The Bible

"The old law of 'an eye for an eye' leaves everybody blind"

- Mahatma Gandhi

"Before you embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves."

- Confucius, Chinese philosopher & reformer (551 BC - 479 BC)

"The best revenge is just moving on and getting over it. Don't give someone the satisfaction of watching you suffer."

- Susan Gale

"If you prick us do we not bleed? If you tickle us do we not laugh? If you poison us do we not die? And if you wrong us shall we not revenge?" 

- Shakespeare, in 'The Merchant of Venice'

“If you keep going over the past, you're going to end up with a thousand pasts and no future (on revenge)"

- Dialogue from "The Secret in their Eyes"

(images from the net)

I recently saw an Academy award winning Argentine film, El secreto de sus ojos ('The Secret in their eyes', Spanish language, released 2009). In this movie, a person's wife gets killed by a person from her hometown. The police are initially unable to catch hold of the killer as the investigations lead to nothing. He is then found, convicted and jailed, but, due to the changed government, immediately freed. He later vanishes. The husband thirsts for revenge. The police officer investigating the case states that the killer will be caught and given death penalty. But the husband tells him that he should not get death penalty but nothing less than a life "full of nothing". The police are unable to find the killer now that he has vanished. The police office investigating the case also gives up, though it comes back to haunt him every now and then. After 25 years, the police officer gets to meet the husband. At his house, he is shocked to find that the husband has caught hold of the killer and jailed him in his house, giving him only a morsel of food a day and not speaking to him at all. The killer is a totally forgotten person and his life is now full of 'nothing', so much so that he might as well die. He begs the police officer to ask the husband to "atleast speak to me". Thus, as wished by the husband, he avenges the killing of his wife by making the person live, nay exist, in nothingness. Revenge.  

This post on revenge is an extension to the post on forgiveness.

What is revenge? In pure terms, it is the action of hurting or harming someone in return for an injury or wrong suffered at their hands. Do you feel like avenging something done by someone which has hurt you in any way?

When I was in class 5, a friend of mine caused a head injury to my brother. I remember chasing him all through the streets of my locality and finally when I reached his house with a stone in hand, his relatives confronted me. One of them told me, "What will happen after you hit him with this stone? You need to forget and move on. He has apologized for his actions". I don't know what overcame me, but I threw the stone down and walked back home. I did not feel picking it up again. We became friends later and are still good.

The issue with revenge is that it eats you up completely. It does not allow your mind to think of anything else but retribution. How can I get even with the person? Often, it makes you do really petty things which you would not otherwise do, as the heart is increasingly filled with hate and one starts getting a myopic satisfaction from these petty things. At some point, it destroys the person's life and makes his lose his senses. He becomes miserable.

I feel that as far as possible, one should not allow the feeling of vengeance to cultivate because it only grows and cannot be destroyed. The wounds are kept open all the time and you feel them fresh every day. One needs to move forward, not focus on the past, though it is easier said than done.

In the Mahabharata, the mother of Shishupala hears a heavenly voice saying that that Shishupala would die one day in the hands of the person who held him in his lap. Krishna holds him in his lap when he comes to meet the family and she, remembering the heavenly voice, requests Krishna to forgive Shishupala any offence one hundred times, thinking that it would take a lifetime for a person to commit so many offences. But, Shishupala never lets go of an opportunity to insult Krishna. Krishna pardons him every time and does not exact any revenge on him, as promised to his mother. Krishna promises to forgive him one hundred times. After the hundredth offence, he kills Shishupala, whose soul merges with him. Krishna clarifies that he killed him not for revenge, but for the welfare of Shishupala's soul. Still, if He can wait for a hundred offences...

Student politics and the JNU imbroglio

Student politics always intrigues me. Should students enter politics?  Is it the place for them? Should they focus on the purpose for which they came to the college in the first place? But a lot of student leaders have gone on to become leaders of nations. One becomes influenced by socio political thoughts and wants to make a difference.... Atleast that is what they all start with. In Tamil Nadu, my state, student politics was at its Heights in the 50s to 70s and perhaps even the 80s. But it has petered out with just sparks of protests and social issues penetrating colleges today. With increased competition and with the need to look for jobs and move up the social strata becoming more and more important, this has taken a backseat. Student politics in my neighbouring state of Kerala continues to be strong, with a lot of grooming and penetration of political parties in colleges. Similar is the case with West Bengal.

States with communist rulers and communist thoughts like the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) have a history of student politics. It is not to say that other political parties do not look at colleges for harvest. Generally law, arts and science colleges belonging to the Government have student factions belonging to political parties, who fund their internal campaigns and groom for future posts in the parties, with the expectation that they are able to spread the 'allegiance' to the party in the minds of the students.

The problem lies with the fact that these student leaders tend to stick on to campuses long after the 'completion' of the course for which they originally enrolled. I remember during the February 19, 2009 clash between the law university students and police in Madras. Many of the figures of 'students' on camera appeared to be older than the professors in the university! Many even looked like goons!

Similar was the case with the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) when a person was appointed to the post of Chairman and the students went on strike, even without giving him a chance to function. It was found during the course of the strike that may of the students were persons who had more than overstayed their tenures at the hostels.

There are pluses and minuses to students participating in politics. With a high proportion of youth in our population, students can get groomed with good ideas and perhaps even serve the society by becoming good leaders of political parties in future. But this is limited to a few. Most of the students use these as a springboard to enter political parties to sow their might and participate in useless causes or causes with a tilt / agenda. It only serves vested interests. There is a possibility that studies would get affected too.

Coming to the present JNU imbroglio, whether the Government should give so much publicity to such events which, if just allowed, could have passed on peacefully without a hitch, is arguable. Acting against such events only makes them boil down to a huge issue. In fact a non-issue becomes an issue. But seeing the event from a Government and a nation's perspective, what all can be allowed so that they don't pass of as 'sedition'? All said and done, nation is paramount and one cannot just go against the nation with flawed logic. As much as the Government, we as citizens also need to respect the freedom given to us by democracy. Sedition is a perspective issue at times and people should be responsible while involving themselves in acts. Is this just political dissent or is it really anti national? 

As usual there has been polarisation between two factions - the right and the left with the usual suspects doing their usual acts, taking the usual sides and an over-reaction with the selfish thought of reaping undue gains from the episode. What are the gains for the nation from this? Just a few hours of prime time viewing! however, the moot point is the government spends taxpayers' money in the studies of these students and it should not be wasted in anti establishment activities. I would not want my tax to go and fund this nonsense, definitely!

It is however, pertinent to point out that there have been judicial pronouncements that speeches which do not incite violence cannot be held 'seditious'. Now, have the acts of the 'students' of the JNU resulted in violence or not? You decide!

Of liquor and bans...

I don’t drink, so this is a dispassionate post to that extent.

Recently, the Supreme Court upheld the contention of the Kerala Government that it is fine to have five star hotels serving liquor but not hotels with three and lesser stars, including the bars and other liquor shops which also have been prohibited from selling liquor. Kerala is one of the highest consumers of alcohol. Kerala’s neighbour, Tamil Nadu - my state – today literally runs its finances from alcohol. Period.

Why are we so touchy-feely about consuming liquor? Most of our films show its consumption and some even glorify its ‘effects’. In Tamil movies, I can say for sure, that a bar song has become mandatory – I have a sinister feeling that it is the Government, through the Censor Board itself mandating the same so that the sale of liquor can be pushed and consequently money realised to buy more 'freebies'. In the movies of old, only the villain would be shown as consuming it whereas nowadays it is all in the game. It is invariably the hero and his sidekick dancing to a song after gulping down a couple of bottles.

We have a state which has apparently ‘enforced’ prohibition – Gujarat – but the less said the better about the status of the so called enforcement of ‘prohibition’ – it is after all bootleggers who have a field day. It all goes to reinforce a point – if you ban something, the more prominence it attains. It will find a way to sustain.

I fail to see the logic behind the Supreme Court rationale in banning liquor sale by one category of persons and allowing it to be done by another category. A ban is a ban and it has to be enforced across.

A ban is something that has to be thought of after analysing the consequences of such ban -the categories and strata of society that it would affect and how uniformly can it be enforced. There cannot be one rule for the rich and another for the rest – it is not democracy. I don’t understand how this fundamental logic escapes notice of people who sit in judgement. Of course, there is a fundamental principle that no judgement has to be criticised. But all the segments of the society need a representation and need to be considered before such an impactful judgement is delivered, especially when the highest court of the land, the keeper of the nation’s conscience and deliverer of justice is involved.

Love, Romance etc.

“Love is...’You are dear to me’ (tautological?); ‘I am yours’ (silly, perhaps?); ‘I cannot live without you’ (false, not reality?); ‘Kama (Cupid) has taken over me’ (impolite?); I am excessively pained (very familiar?); ‘You will come to know that I loved you when I die’ (Impossible?).....or all of these?

- Bana Bhatta in ‘Kadambari’

“Love is of all passions the strongest, for it attacks simultaneously the head, the heart and the senses.”

- Lao Tzu, Chinese Taoist Philosopher, founder of Taoism (5th Century BC)

“I want you, but I also want to get over you....... and neither are happening!”

- Unknown

“A young woman in love always looks like patience on a monument smiling at grief.”

Jane Austen in 'Northanger Abbey'

"There can be no love without pain"

- Irving Stone

“Love can be obtained by begging, receiving it as a gift, finding it on the street.....but it cannot be stolen”

- Herman Hesse in “Siddhartha”

“Sometimes you don’t see that the best thing that has happened to you is right under your nose.”

- Cecelia Ahern in “Where Rainbows End”

“The tear drop that once stood trembling on your lower lip....while I watched uncaring, lost in delusion, while it still clings to your gently curving lashes, I shall now wipe away, my beloved, to be free from remorse”

- Kalidasa in “Shakuntala”

“Love and existence of a cause for such love, the two are mutually contradictory”

-Raja Sudraka in Mrichchhakatikam (The Little Clay Cart)

 

(image source: www.feelgrafix.com)

(image source: www.brainyquote.com)

(image source: www.brainyquote.com)

On a Valentine week, here is a post on - what else? - love (with thanks to a friend of mine for giving a lady’s perspective of this post). Let us start with something different before going to the main topic.

In the Hindi movie Bajirao Mastani, the protagonist falls in love with a person other than his wife - someone who has been very dutifully taking care of him and waiting for him all through her life.   

However, he falls in love with another woman. The whole thing becomes an albatross around his neck as he is nether able to go forward nor backward – not that he tries to go backward, but the situation is such. Social pressures apart, the issue is how does his wife react to such a situation? Can you fall in love again?

Well this is really arguable – how many times will you fall in love in your life? Can you fall in love while in love with another person? Very complex, indeed, isn’t it?

The moral stand is not something I would like to discuss, because this then becomes another point of discussion altogether. Further, I am against any socially imposed morals being accepted as ideal in any situation because of the fact that they are just that – imposed on people but not accepted. If accepted, then they are grudgingly accepted. Every single convention, moral or by whatever name you call it, is just that. No one can place himself or herself in another person’s shoes. So it is easy to pass judgements and indulge in name calling.

Love is an abstract phenomenon. Abstract in the sense that there are no perfect explanations as to what constitutes as love. It varies from person to person and from situation to situation. There is no ideal definition of love. And I wouldn’t like to bottle it up in a few words either. The quotes above are a perfect example as to how many definitions can exist for love.

When is one in love?

One realises that he or she is in love when they start missing that person or remembering the definite touches they did to your life. This is when it starts. When you are in love, or you feel you are in love, you need to just ask yourself the question, just to be sure. Give it time and pretend that it is not happening. If you are able to convince yourself, just move on. But if you are not, then you are perhaps in a spot of bother – you are indeed in love. The art of finding if you are in love or not is giving it time and grappling with it by playing the devil’s advocate. It is for your own good as you need not doubt yourself tomorrow as to whether you are in love or not. It adds a lot of credibility to the decision, because the first person whom you have to convince is your conscience. People understand and experience love differently at different stages of life. In their 20s, chemistry and the physical elements play a big role and perhaps as one grows older, the companionship and even platonic angle become important. This is why people falling in love in their 20s are vulnerable to mistaking infatuation or attraction for love.

This is important because as much pleasure and ecstasy love can give, it stings equally with such ferocity that every other pain is bearable. Yes, there is no feeling in this world as love – the ecstasy, the magic, bliss ...ah! It just transports you to the seventh heaven! But, be warned - the pain caused by love is an invisible killer – it can destroy you.

I am of the opinion that love that arises just out of sympathy or sometimes, fear could perhaps be unnatural (Actually, love does arise out of sympathy in many cases, in fact!). These emotions are those which catch humans out of their comfort zone and they do not end up in rational decisions. If one falls in love out of fear or sympathy, I guess it is a decision from only from the heart, but with little or no application of the head. Not much logic, I would say. I think, as I said before, If I were to ask that question to myself, then I will get the answer that I am indeed not in love but am trying to do something to do assuage the fear or plug the sympathy. However, as some would argue, when did love and logic go together?

Can you fall out of love? If you can fall in love, you can fall out of love too, though I believe it may, at some degree, stay with you throughout your life.  But you can indeed move on. The reason is that love comes with expectations. There are certain disappointments that love can take but everything should not be a disappointment. It is like saying that you can make compromises in life, but life itself should not be a compromise. For example, though in my case I say that I care and all that, there is an underlying expectation of a reciprocal action from the other person’s end. It is true with any relationship. The least you can expect out of love is that the person will leave you in peace! If not, you might as well stay alone, isn’t it? It is already peaceful! However, the more narrower and focussed love is, there is a need to guard against possessiveness and obsession.

Love ascends and descends but the intensity is same. The consequences of love are different, but strangely, for the people in love, the consequences of love – however good or bad, are immaterial. Love is a predicament that one is in and the things that it forces one to do, the unnatural behaviour that he or she exhibits, all lead to a very unfamiliar (or is it familiar?) existence that I find difficult to gulp. It is a phase which is unimaginable and involves courses of action which one refuses to believe that he or she took, are taking and will take.

The other question of the day is answered here. I believe, that one may tend to fall in love again if the earlier pursuit was a disappointment or did not meet expectations or did not leave him in peace. But the question is can you fall in love while being in love, as in the movie?

I believe, sorry for taking a slightly ‘moral’ stand, it can be justified there is a void in the earlier relationship. Every relationship comes with its own pluses and pitfalls and leaving one for the other because of flimsy reasons might just not give you a convincing answer. You may be back to square one. However, all this is indeed debatable......when you can be angry with more than one person, can’t you love more than one person at the same time?

What is love, for me?

For me, love is beyond the carnal and the sensuous. It is not to say that if I love someone I don’t desire that person – that would be a lie, a white lie at that. Lust is also an integral part of love. I would like to have dinner, look at the sunset, go for a long drive without any destination in mind, enjoy the beauty of nature the or just look into the eyes of the person I love. But, for that deep hug and a kiss...I would even die for that! I am actually, a romantic at heart. But I can perfectly balance that relationship, perhaps even platonically, because I just care. Caring and affection comes too naturally to me. For me, love is more about being dependable, caring and showing affection. However, there needs to be communication, interaction. While I will always be there for that person, I also expect the person to be there for me. I, however, don’t think I can fall out of love. It just stays with me. 

It is complex, perhaps, but it is so – to every person, since everyone has their own parameters defining love. It has a lot to do about companionship. The person should be there for you and should be one you can depend on, cry and laugh with and feel safe and secure with. There will always be ups and downs in a relationship but the larger goal should be to be there for each other. There is also a thought process that love that carries the burden of expectations is selfish. But what is life without hope, expectation and longing?

So, are you in love?

Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa - Will you cross the skies for me?

In February 2010, I and my colleague had gone for official work to a place called Sultan Bathery near Calicut, Kerala. Impromptu bandhs being the nature of life in Kerala, it was our turn to suffer one. But everything eased out by the evening and we wanted to venture out after being inside the whole day. It was late at night and we went for the night show of a movie. It was not much of a theatre - not much can be expected in a small hamlet - but it served the purpose. The movie was Gautham Vasudev Menon's take on an urban romance, titled, Vinnaithaandi Varuvaaya (Will you cross the skies for me?) (2010, Tamil). With A R Rahman's scintillating music & background score and  Manoj Parahamahamsa's wonderful cinematography, this movie did catch my attention.

I am a diehard romantic, a person who believes in romance and tries to see a sense of mysticism, perhaps the surreal, in everyday things.

The reason why I feel that this is one of the most earthy and realistic romances I have seen weaved on screen is that it is very relatable. Very, very relatable. There are no over the top reactions from the hero or the heroine, the romance is subtly depicted and on top of everything, the events in the movie can actually happen in real life. The biggest plus of a Gautham Menon movie is its strong women characters. I love to see really strong willed women on screen as they are really very rare on Indian screens. He explores the feminine side of them, but never are they shown as props in a movie. There is an element of vulnerability in them, which is subtly portrayed and not exploited or made fun of. And yes, his movies have a lot of English in them, which I can relate to.

The following is the story (spoilers ahead, but for an almost 6 year old movie, well, it is not very relevant).

Set in Madras. Karthik (Simbu), is a mechanical engineering student just out of college wants to become a movie director Against the wishes of his family, he joins as an assistant director. His best buddy on the sets is cameraman Ganesh (Ganesh) - the two hunt for locations, share philosophies about life and become good friends.

One day, a saree-clad Jessie (Trisha Krishnan) passes him by on the street - and he's instantly besotted with her (perhaps the only 'filmy' moment in the movie)  He starts following her everywhere and one fine day (I am cutting all the 'follow me' moments short) he confesses to her that he's ' in love with her and crazy about her.'

Jessie, however, is shocked but not impressed. She is then shown to be a Malayali, a Syrian Christian from Alappuzha. She tries to reason with him firmly but politely stating that she will never get the consent of her family for this. She does not even say whether she reciprocates his feelings. He is expectedly dejected but still continues pursuing her, very passionately. Every time she rebuffs him. But he continues, thinking and firmly believing that her heart says that she has feelings for him.

Then they agree to be 'friends'. However, he books a train seat next to her during the course of a trip of hers outside the city. During the course of the journey, they realise that they are more than just friends. The eros was no doubt from Karthik's side anyway, but Jessie is confused. Jessie is to be married and on the day of the wedding, she  calls it off. She finally succumbs to the feelings of her heart and does tell Karthik that she is indeed in love with him.

But circumstances and family pressures force her to change the decision and she asks Karthik to forget her. He does meet her later (after three years) and finds that she is married, perhaps happy. She asks him to move on in life. He says he is unable to.

Karthik, now a director, makes a movie about their romance and it is released to good reviews. She watches the movie with him. It is left to the imagination of the viewer whether he could move on.

The movie does not have melodrama though there are certain places where it can get heavy. The romantic scenes depicted are very subtle, very beautiful. Generally movie romances have a "feel good" feeling if they end on a 'happy' note. In this movie, the lovers do not get each other in the end. But it does not end on a sad note. It is rather very practical and shows the pain in love but is not heart wrenching or tuggingly melodramatic. The movie is slow because of the genre and the involvement of the director in crafting the scenes where romance is shown in the eyes of the protagonists.

One of the poignant points raised by the movie is whether you can be friends with a girl you were in love with. In this movie, the hero of course does not have a choice. When the girl asks him to move on, he is certainly disappointed but doesn't get violent and mar his life. The movie also brings out the  reasons / thoughts a girl has in her head while deciding on a romance or life as such. It portrays the frustrations and rejections in love and  how the characters react to them.

Both the boy and the girl are confused as to why they fell in love with each other. This is one of the strongest points of romance and is something a person in love with relate to. The fact that love transcends logic is only well brought out in the movie.

The movie, a big hit, kept me engaged the whole time. Trisha has played the role of a confused 'very much in love but very much not in love' woman perfectly. She does not show her feelings, like women in general, to the boy till she opens her mouth. She is very confused, as every person is, when in love. One of the things that was very confusing but relatable is that this girl is able to call of the wedding with a person she does not like but is unable to go against her family's wishes and pursue her love. The fact that a strong willed person can take a decision in life on one occasion but can falter in the other is naturally conveyed in these scenes.

So far, in his career, this is the best role Simbu has done and his dialogue delivery, modulation and facial expressions endear him to you. The best part of the movie was that the man respects the woman and does not violate her space while trying his best to convey his feelings.

This is my most favorite movie of Gautham Menon. Kudos! Non-Tamil viewers, watch it with subtitles on.

I have translated some of the best dialogues from the movie here, in English:

1.        When Jessie calls of the wedding in the church in Kerala:

Karthik : What you did was too much in the Church, Jessie. Why, Jessie, did you not like the boy? 
Jessie : You like me Karthik. I am in love with you , Karthik.

Karthik: Did you realise that in this Church  (in Kerala) only? Are there no churches in Chennai? (implying that she could have done this back in Madras itself)

2.        Jessie to Karthik, when they are undecided about their course of action:

"I like this pain, Karthik"

3.        When after one of those wooing sessions:

Jessie: "I hate you..."
Karthik: "Thank you!"

4.        Karthik and Jessie meet after three years and she asks him to explain his love, perhaps in the movie which he has shot:

"Tall, kind of curly hair, You smile when she walks, she has a lovely voice...she  hates foul language... she often wears saris........individualistic, she has her own style, she hardly uses a makeup kit....... she loves me crazy...... we have been out a lot .........and she hates watching movies!" 

5.        And when Jessie asks Karthik to move on, this is what he says:

"I have kissed her, her Tamil has a Malayalam touch, I actually flipped for that. I have held her in my arms for hours. I have caressed her feet. she's still there in my life.. After you left me, Jessie, I moved on....but to her.. can't forget my first love that easily.. however, I am not there in her life."

6.       One of Karthik's interchanges to his cameraman friend:

"There is no use living a life if we are unable to live with the person who we like the most. Of all the girls in this world, why did I fall in love with Jessie?"

"We cannot decide, in advance, whom we will fall in love with. Love happens by itself" 

7.         And my favorite, which I say all the time:-

"Love is a one way ticket....to heartbreak city!"

Amen to that!