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My MANY Interests!
 | Hollywood Cinema -
I love watching mostly drama, science-fiction, animated, and comedy
movies. I also like action thrillers but only those from the 80s
or 90s. In fact, I like a lot of movies from that time period.
Some of my favorite movies are The Terminator, Terminator 2, Alien,
Aliens, Back to the Future 2, Commando, Eraser, Psycho 2, Air Force
One, Apocalypto, King Kong, Titanic, Star Wars, Life is Beautiful,
Schindler's List, Jurassic Park, The Lion King, Alladin, Pirates of
the Caribbean, Mrs. Doubtfire, Sister Act, Sister Act 2, Dumb &
Dumber, Next Friday, Contact, Forrest Gump, The Shawshank Redemption,
United 93, and Unfaithful.
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| Kollywood Cinema -
I like watching Tamil movies every now and then. Due to my
father's influence, I have developed a taste for older black & white
movies from the 50s or 60s. The music sounded more genuine back
then and the language used was so much cleaner and easier to
understand. But, I also like watching modern films. Some
of my favorite Tamil movies are
காதலிக்க
நேரம் இல்லை,
கல்யாணப் பரிசு,
படித்தால் மட்டும் போதுமா,
சிகப்பு
ரோஜாக்கள்,
மூன்றாம் பிறை, மூன்று முடிச்சு,
ஒரு கைதியின்
டைரி,
ரோஜா,
ஜீன்ஸ்,
அலைபாயுதே,
கன்னத்தில்
முத்தமிட்டால்,
வாரணம் ஆயிரம்,
உன்னாலே
உன்னாலே,
and
விண்ணைத்தாண்டி
வருவாயா.
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| TV Shows -
I'm a
big TV junkie! I've loved watching sit-coms ever since I was a
child. Some of my favorite sit-coms are Family Matters, Full
House, Married with Children, Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Seinfeld,
Everybody Loves Raymond, Frasier, Friends, and The Simpsons.
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| Vegetarian food -
Food is one of my biggest passions! People often think that my
choices are limited because I'm a vegetarian but I would say that they
are gravely mistaken. Personally, I've never thought of meat as
food and I don't know how people actually eat it, but that's just me:P
Indian food is my favorite. South India probably has the
tastiest vegetarian cuisine in the world! I love anything that's
spicy and has a lot of cheese. So, as you can imagine, spicy
vegetarian pizza is one of my favorites! I like Tex-Mex too
(especially cheese enchiladas with rice and refried beans) and
anything Italian (because I like the cheese and sauce combination).
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| Urban Music -
I
grew up listening to mostly Hip Hop, R&B, and Dancehall Reggae.
You can't grow up in the GTA without developing a taste for these
genres! In Hip Hop, Mobb Deep and Noreaga were some of my
favorites while in Dancehall, I have many favorites including Beenie
Man, Bounty Killer, Sean Paul, and Ward 21. Recently, I've been
listening to Bob Marley and slow reggae as well as anything with
auto-tune.
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| Tamil Music - I like listening to Tamil film
songs (both old and new) but I often don't understand the lyrics
because I've never had any formal education in Tamil (since I didn't
live in India for very long). As a
result, my understanding of the language is limited to a highly sanskritized
"Brahminical" dialect which differs drastically from the
written form. Nevertheless, I've always only listened to music
for its rhythm and melodies and never for its lyrics.
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| Carnatic Music - Carnatic music is very different
from Indian film music. Language plays an even lesser role in
this genre which is largely dominated by Sanskrit and Telegu.
Although I don't have a deep understanding of the formal structure, I
love listening to it often. Here, K.J. Yesudas is one of my
all-time favorite musicians.
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| Michael Jackson -
I've been a Michael Jackson fan since I was a child. I went
through many phases in my life where I would listen to his music
non-stop! I believe that he was the most talented entertainer in
modern history and was the best thing that ever happened to popular
music. I don't think I will ever stop loving his music.
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| Mixing songs -
There was a time when I was really into audio editing and
remixing. I still tinker around with it every now and then.
In 2004, I got together with a few of my buddies (under the pseudonym
"DJ aYYa") and we produced and released a Tamil remix album called "X-tasy
Vol.1". It wasn't a big financial success or anything but it was
an awesome summer experience!
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| Image editing
- I enjoy playing around with pictures and photos. I've been
wanting to learn how to use Adobe Photoshop but so far, I've only used
lesser known image-editing software which aren't as sophisticated. |
| Mathematics
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I've
had a passion for Mathematics since my childhood. What has
always fascinated me about it is its unparalleled logical framework.
It is what I consider to be the "perfect" discipline.
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| Astronomy -
Astronomy has also been my passion for the longest time and perhaps
even more so than Mathematics. Although, I've never had any
formal training in this subject, my curiosity knows no bounds!
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| Science Fiction -
My interest in Science Fiction and my passion for Astronomy go hand in
hand. In my younger days, I used to love reading Isaac Asimov as
well as watching Sci-Fi movies.
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| World War II and Nazism
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I often have a very romanticized view
of modern warfare. I think the Second World War was the war of
all wars and Adolf Hitler was the most psychotic military genius of
all time!
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| Race Relations -
One of the reasons I'm so fascinated by Nazism is because of its
deeply racial overtone. Race is a social construct but it has
had a powerful influence on our history and continues to permeate our
lives today. I'm particularly interested in the history of race
relations in America, Australia, Western Europe, South Africa, and the
former British colonies.
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| Post 9/11 Politics -
9/11 was the defining moment of our
generation just like the JFK assassination was for the previous
generation. The social and political atmosphere of the world has
changed a lot since then and I've been most interested in topics such
as Islamophobia in the West, the War in Iraq, the Arab-Israeli
conflict, and anti-terrorism legislation.
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| Ancient Civilizations -
I enjoy learning about the different
civilizations of our past. In particular, I like learning about
Ancient Egypt, the Greco-Roman world, and Ancient India.
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| Paleontology -
Dinosaurs fascinate me! It's really hard to believe that our
planet existed for so incredibly long without being inhabited by us
humans. There's so much that happened here on Earth before we
came along!
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| South Asia -
I like learning about South Asia mainly because that's where I'm from.
India has such a rich and diverse history. I particularly enjoy
learning about my own southern heritage. Topics that I find interesting are the politics
of Tamil Nadu, the Self-Respect Movement, the Tamil language and its
relationship to other Dravidian languages,
the history and culture of Tamil Brahmins, the Caste System, and the
Indian Independence Movement.
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| Beer & Friends
- I've saved the best for last:) There's nothing that I find
more enjoyable and relaxing than sipping a cold beer with my good
friends. I drink only to socialize and I never drink to get
intoxicated but it's just one of those simple pleasures of life that I
wouldn't want to do without. |
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