When I run out of ideas or suffer due to writer's block, I have the habit of asking few questions to selected friends and make a post out it.

During February, when my blog was untouched and as pure as a virgin, I planned to write a play and when the characters started forming in mind, I wanted to analyse few characteristics for my actors.  The biggest hurdle here is, you start thinking of every character as you and you will find the characters sickeningly familiar and not much difference between two characters.

So, I came up with few questions, just random ones and e-mailed them to friends. Under each questions, I will give you the responses, I received from my friends... Not giving out their names, as few requested me not to give out their names.  This questions were sent to 3 different age group in women and two age groups in men. 

Enjoy the answers, while I concentrate on writing this play.  Happy read :)

Men:

1. Favorite cartoon character when you were a kid... why?

1. Dexter from dexter’s lab…somehow I could identify with that character extremely well…highly intelligent..socially backward…love-hate with sis…megalomaniac

2. Dexter. Liked to be a secretive genius.. shhh

3. Jerry … No Specific reason ..Still liked it for the way it fights with Tom

2. unforgettable experience in your life… can be traumatic/humorous/memorable

1. My entire life has been guided by one single experience in my life…rather an experience that is happening throughout my life…my diabetics…having said that, I just cant forget the day my dad carried me into MV diabetes centre and we were made to wait to fill in the formalities

2. Traumatic: when my entire family met with an accident and was admitted in the hospital.. and I was waiting in the reception with my friend not knowing what’s gonna happen next

Humorous: when my TC was waved in front of my eyes at school

Memorable: standing on top of Eiffel tower and when I told my dad about it he got excited about it like a kid..

3. Recent Hospitalization for Dengue … New addition to my family…

3. You were walking behind a girl who has Whoa! a scintillating structure... you walk past to steal a glance at her face and you find it shockingly scarred... what would be your reaction?

1. I would have two reactions simultaneously. No first or second in the order..pity and temptation to talk to her. Pity not for her condition but for the way she must have been through rejection, oh so like me… temptation because even after that if she continues to strut around proud, then she is of a similar mindset like me.

2. Initial reaction: WTH!

Reaction a little later: Cover the face…. And do with the rest

Much Later: who am I kidding

3. Seriously I would just feel bad for a moment and walk away from her

4. The most humorous moment of your life.. that which brings a smile even if you think of it today.

1. Nothing…

2. First Proposal during college days

3. Many but the most was the day I almost got kicked out of school. Probably wasn’t humorous then it sure is now. And second most, is my first proposal.. shhh

5. Who comes to your mind when I say ‘music’? why?

1. Ilayaraja sir… nobody else has pleased me, enraged me, excited me, angered me, soothed me, been with me more than him

2. Myself. My music teacher had said though I never can never learn anything about music, I still sport a good smile when she scolds…

3. A R Rahman…

6. If only one more guy other than you exists in this whole universe and no other living being, will you make out with him? what kind of a guy might interest you?

1. Naah I wouldn’t make out with him..but if held up against a gun and told that I need to make out then I would prefer someone who is gentle, extremely knowledgeable, extremely “good”…sort of like a clone of me..

2. Never

3. Yes of course.. Coz I would be left out without any choice… No specific kinds here …

7. 3 best traits and 3 worst traits of yours…

1. Perseverance, arrogance, intelligence…. For both

2. Haven’t figured it out yet.. honestly.. but taking a guess - Best: honesty when it matters the most without any fear of the consequences; sincerity to whatever I do even if at first I don’t like it; my sense of humor (that only I understand at times).Worst: Procrastination even there is a very important thing to be done; laziness (there is a difference to procrastination); shy nature

3. Tough question… You may come up with a better answer for this question…

8. Let’s assume for a moment you are a bachelor and you have sex with your girlfriend and accidentally she gets pregnant. you are not ready for a family yet mentally and financially... will you get married or would you suggest an abortion, given she is open for both. (you are always careful… but a hole in condom to be blamed and not you;)

1. Will get married…when faced with an unknown and new situation, the best answer or solution is often not the known, safe way but rather the unknown and new solution…. Abortion is murder and I am personally vehemently against it.

2. Never an abortion

3. I would ask her to abort it and for sure will marry her and spend the rest of my life with her once I settle both financially and mentally..

9. When you look at a woman, what will you usually look for in her?

1. Her comfort with herself…how comfortable she is with the way she is…not with made-up airs about her…even if she has made up stuff, how comfortable she is with that.

2. When its only looking then its her ability to carry herself around confidently and neat (not a thing about her to be out of place – dressing, appearance, etc.)

3. Eyes and ………………….. Long hair (if she has..)

10. Something that you desperately wanted but never got when you were a kid.

1. Video Game … Fish Tank…Bi Cycle…

2. An engineering degree

3. Remote controlled airplane

11. If I ask you to ask me three wishes and i will grant them to you... what will they be?

1. You a genie? Or u talking about three wishes that you can grant within your power?

Genie: - make my diabetes go awayturn back time for 13 years..uhh…a couple of bottles of beer ?

Within your range: be more adventurous…take a stand and stick to it….work on your health

2. I should be hale and healthy for ever… Give enough money so that I can help those who are in need of it…. Ability to grant wishes to others like how u do…

3. 1) Don’t correct my mistakes in public or at least not so harshly

2) Everyone has headaches. A little less complaints and more cheerfulness (this is only off late)

3) May this be the last questionnaire you send to me

12. A talent/truth that only you know and had never shared with anyone so far… state one…

1. Ur question answers it… I don’t want to state that

2. If it is a talent/truth that no one has not known / I haven’t shared about it then let it be that way

3. naah. I think I have blown my trumpet very well over the past few years…one of the talents that I had as a kid and which I let die a slow death was my wicked programming skills and robotics work… used to be extremely good at both but then just let it die…

13. If you design a tee shirt for yourself, what would be the wordings/image you’d come up with?

1. A middle finger

2. Would go for a plain black t shirt…not the one with wordings and photos …

3. All the special characters !@#$%^&*()_+-=, etc

14. Assuming you are wearing your thinking hat now, what would be the top thought in your mind?

1. Why am I doing this questionnaire

2. Just one more question left

3. Why the heck I am with this project which I am currently working in…

15. A mistake you did in your life, which you really wanted to undo if possible.

1. Letting go of the girl who saved me from self-destruction

2. Knowingly or Unknowingly I made few people love and doesn’t reciprocate the same… I would be really happy if I can undo those

3. Pass

Women:

Few questions for you… answering questions are not mandatory… whichever you don’t feel like answering you can quit…

1. Favorite cartoon character when you were a kid... why?

1. daffy duck.. was in love with its craziness and exaggerated lisp … wo- hoooo

2. Captain planet. Captain planet comes alive when 5 people with powers of the 5 ‘elements of life’ come together and call him for help-this is more towards saving the planet. They had rings and point them to the sky and scream – Air, Fire, Wind, Water, Heart (though I am not sure of the 5th element, I always understood it as heart!) and Captain Planet would emerge from there. Wanted to be one among them and I secretly thought I would be spotted to be one among them.. I was a kid and a dreamer so don’t blame me for my thoughts!

3. My favorite cartoon when I was a kid was Dexter. Reason is quite simple and straight forward. He was the brainy kid with a huge science lab and cool gadgets. I wanted to be like him. I was able to relate to him on few grounds. Esp the annoying sister part :P

4.  Jetsons.  My love for futuristic world and dreams about going to office by rockets, those machines preparing food for me and family and not to bother about cooking and give me a bath too :P



2. unforgettable experience in your life… can be traumatic/humorous/memorable

1. Memorable; the first sight of my babies…..

2. I have had unforgettable experiences of all types but the one that would be memorable is the day I told my Guru about Ram and She agreed to get us married J

3. I will give you one of each.

Trauma : Mar 9th 2004, Tuesday, 3:00 AM. I was woken up by my MOM and that was the last time she woke me up.

Humorous: How I bought extra tickets for the movie "Oh My friend" pulled in my non-telugu friends and went to the movie only to embarrass myself. Seems I had booked for Monday when it was a sunday :D Theatre la naan patta avamanatha varthayala solli puriya veika mudiyathu.

Memorable: My First pay check, my first crush, My First Love, All the romantic dialogues/pick up lines tried on me. :-D

4.  The most memorable thing in my life was when my son got all over proficiency award while doing his 8th form and was honoured on stage by his principal as the best student of the School.  Priceless moment and I was a proud mom that day.


3. You keep eyeing at a tall, strongly built guy from behind and want to see his face desperately. Whoa! a scintillating build... you walk past to steal a glance at his face and you find it shockingly scarred... what would be your reaction?

1. Give him a soft smile and walk off but if he has noticed me look at him, then I would tell him – you looked like my cousin. Sorry, I got it wrong

2. Why … God why???????

3. I would really be shocked for a moment. But I would recover quickly. Give him a broad grin and then strike a conversation may be. Scar’s don’t scare me :-)

4.  My heart will start to pound (tup tup... pada pada) and when I try to walk past him to look at his face and find it terribly scarred, I will definitely be scared.  I only hope I walk away silent and not hurt him by giving out a yell. That's to be honest with you.  It would be lying if I say, I wouldn't be unaffected.


4. The most humorous moment of your life.. that which brings a smile even if you think of it today.

1. My first proposal….

2. One evening, my hostel friends and me were at Adayar Anand Bhavan making merry and if am not wrong, we swayed into a stupid topic. Not realizing where I was and “the topic” being my cup of tea (it was dirty talk but I don’t remember what it was), I made a lousy statement – “It is not like I am walking without any clothes, all this is natural!” The place was suddenly quiet and there were a group of boys standing next to our table, which obviously I dint notice, who stopped eating/chatting and gave me a bewildered yet amusing look.. I turned pink and smiled at them brightly and resumed eating, clearly ignoring the “spitting fire” looks from my friends.. In 5 seconds, we were in splits of laughter!

3. Humorous moments. Too many too list. But the two things that come to mind immediately are

A) A friend of mine spoke in a GD – “You should really appreciate China. Even after Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombing, they rose above”

B) I even blogged about it. It’s about a Mass bunk on Valentines Day. My HOD had actually called to warn us. He asked me, “You guys could have bunked any day. But why yesterday? Do you know what day yesterday was?”

I composed myself and coolly answered, “I think Thursday sir”.

4.  Most humorous moment when I saw my fiancee, who dropped in to my house sudden and I had a home made payatha maavu facial applied all over my face.  He was amused and I wished the ground below me open and swallow me, but since it was not going to happen, I ran inside the adjacent room and hid myself till I gathered the courage to make an appearance.


5. Who comes to your mind when I say ‘music’? why?

1. Romance.. the movies that we watch need to be blamed

2. Rahman. Though am a Keralite, I was introduced to Tamil songs first even before I knew Malayalam songs existed.. The first being Roja, Puthiya Mugham, Duet and then Aasai.. Loved hearing them again and again. Only later did I realized they were all Rahman’s compositions.

3. Music reminds me very much of me, who has an amazing taste. I love her playlist. She can make me cry, smile, love and even sleep. :D

4.  Naturally Illayaraja. Known for his melodies...


6. If only one more girl other than you exists in this whole universe and no other living being, will you make out with her? what kind of a girl might interest you?

1. Yes and better than me coz there will be no guys around to admire her more than me :D

2. Nope

3. No way. I am very straight. Even if the girl is Aishwarya Rai, I wouldnt. Is there any way you could actually rephrase the question to

if only one guy other than you, let say someone like Enrique exists in the whole universe and no other living being, would you make out with him?

Answer: Hell ya! And not planning to stop with that :-D

4. I would hate such a situation and NO I can't even think about it.


7. 3 best traits and 3 worst traits of yours

1. Best, I don’t know. Worst – A)If I get angry, am very hot-tempered and start crying. Cannot control my temper B) Blatantly honest : If I don’t like something, I express it C) I go insanely mad if a word is not kept ; even as simple as a plan not working out.

2. may be I can mention my worst traits : Emotional , taking people for granted, shed my ego and jealousy

3.

BEST:

1. I don’t give up on people

2. I would do anything for the people I love

3. Very friendly and I can make people feel connected to me if I really wanted to. :P

WORST:

1. Too emotional. Can’t think with my head.

2. I make a lot of typos. And embarrassing mistakes.

3. I can’t save a dime.

4. Best: Being calm, Patience, Care for others
    Worst:  Being calm, even when I am supposed to talk, self sympathy, again caring for others who don't         deserve it.

  8. You are unmarried and you have sex with your boyfriend and accidentally you get pregnant. But your guy and you are not ready for a family yet mentally and financially... will you get married or if he suggests an abortion would you agree for it? (He can’t be blamed, he is always careful… but a hole in condom to be blamed and not him ;)

1. If we are not prepared mentally and financially, then the option is to abort. If he is ready to support in any way possible, if not marriage, would keep the baby.

2. May be the latter in the given situation ( ppl don’t kill me for this)

3. Hmm, Sex with my boy friend before marriage. Marriage isn’t a license for having sex. Oh that’s not the question. Marriage or Abortion?

I swear I would dump that looser if he wants me to get an abortion. I will raise the kid of my own if he is not ready.

But definitely I will go with MARRIAGE. You can never be ready for a marriage financially or mentally. It is always gonna be a huge leap. I will go ahead and take the leap. I would never kill my child bcoz I love her/him way too much already. I am a mom by nature, I love taking care of people and I like loving them like a crazy person. I know that is not what parenting is about. But I can’t just kill another person. Especially my own person, my blood, my soul.

4.  I will demand him to marry me.  I won't agree for an abortion.

9. When you look at a guy, what will you first look at?

1. Eyes and of course “ butt” ( extremes eh????)

2. If he has a tint of spark in his eyes. And a great sense of humour!

3. Well everything. From his dressing to the way he carries himself. The way he talks. But naturally I look at his eyes, his neck (I like guy’s necks :D) and the way he has dressed. Shoes, belt, watch, a good shirt/t-shirt with matching pants. All of it makes the guy more elegant.

4.  Definitely eyes.  Eyes convey everything.


10. Something that you desperately wanted but never got when you were a kid.

1. A fairy like gown with crystal wings and a magic wand

2. a walkman

3. I got most of the things that I ever wanted. But my mom didn’t give me much of freedom to let me make mistakes and learn from them. I was brought up in a very conservative cocoon. And when she was gone, the outside world looked very wicked, evil and harsh. I took my time to deal with it.

But when it comes to things… I asked my dad for a “Bombay Dreams” cd that he never bought me. I will never forgive him for that :-P

4.  Loved to wear modern dresses. The flowing gowns, Middies and Shoes.  I always imagined myself wearing them, but never allowed to wear them in reality.  Infact I used to be jealous of you, whenever you wear that sky blue midi skirt.  Your dad bought me a bell bottom suit, when you guys came from Hyderabad.  That was a pleasant memory.


11. If I ask you to ask me three wishes... what will they be?

1. date with Sharukh, date with Suresh/ Sri and your flashy smile… :)

2. To make me rich because I want to travel around the world. B) To make me thin so that I can eat all cuisines during my travel and not put on even an inch ;). C) Continue living the way I am now with the people around me – happily ever after.

3.
1. Help me find that guy viji. The love of my life. I would take any help and every possible help that I can, to hunt him down. I know, I sound desperate. I can’t live without him. That’s the whole point.

2. I want your silver accessories :-D

3. Can I be the co-owner of your personal library?

4.  1.  I want to become an air commander
     2.  Travel around the world
     3.  If not air commander, an air hostess, this wish would make me tall too. Two in one :)


12. A talent/truth that only you know and had never shared with anyone so far… state one…

1. I was in the school basketball team and played in the first five. Even attended a couple of tournaments within Kerala

2. Nothing

3. I have wild imagination. I always make up/ spin stories in my head. Too good at that. I would have actually written at least 100000 stories in my head.

4.  An otai vaai (loose tongued), If you share me a secret, you can be sure it would never be one.. :P

 13. If you design a tee shirt for yourself, what would be the wordings/image you’d come up with?

1. Since I am fond of colours, I would design a tee-shirt with the brightest colours like pink, orange, reds and yellows and it would shout – ‘Go-Colour blind’

2. Mission complete

3. “I am ME. Deal with it!”

"I LOVE MYSELF WAY TOO MUCH. YOU CAN CALL IT OBSESSION TOO"

Smiley picture: Tongue out smiley!

4.  White coloured Tees with the caption, "Nothing is impossible"

14. Assuming you are wearing your thinking hat now, what would be the top thought in your mind?

1. Personally that would be my kids future, age defying creams and apparels…

2. “How about I try my luck in advertising or making ad films or maybe even still photography for ads”? Want to be a part of ‘Lights, camera, action’… More so because I am reading a novel on it.

3. Is Viji going to blog about this? OMG, Should I censor what I have written? Screw it. You should never be scared to be yourself Girl

4.  No woman should suffer evil teasing or sexual harassment and how can I contribute towards this?


15. A mistake you did in your life, which you really wanted to undo if possible

1. Could have channelised my energy and talent for meaningful things….

2. Should have stuck to my earlier profile and the current doesn't one doesn't interest me :(

3. I don’t regret it but I guess it would be November 26, 2010. The most favorite mistake of mine too. I would do anything to undo it.

4.  I may want to annul my wedding, not that I don't love my spouse.  But, I wish to have the freedom to choose the most important step in anyone's life, and that was never allowed in mine.  And who knows, if kismet has it way, I would have met my husband and got married to him, but that would have been entirely my decision.

Now, reading the answers, can you guess who these 3 men and 4 women are?