Mee and Tata Safari Storme

Mee was driving along the Arter Road IV. She was summoned by her Uncle Soul who seemed very distressed. She knew that Uncle Soul had lately been having difficulties ruling his Kingdom Bodos. Kingdom Bodos was once a thriving kingdom with the finest of roads, 24*7 water supply and people living prosperously. All that changed when Soul made General Mindus the head of Bodos army . General Mindus had secretly nursed an ambition to rule kingdom Bodos after his late father Bryan Mindus was put away in prison, charged with treason by Soul. Soul didn't want to deprive Mindus of this position which he had earned on merit and also secretly hoped that Mindus wouldn't keep any ill-will inside him.

 During the initial duration of his term, Mindus did not do anything untoward, but soon that changed. General Mindus started creating silos in villages of Bodos, where he wouldn't allow the local produce of Heamos and Plateletos from reaching other parts of Bodos where this was not produced. This created severe nutritional deficiencies in small kids in other villages resulting in increase in cases of malnutrition. General Mindus also started a parallel economy by constructing a new road network across the kingdom and named it after his son Veinus. These roads were made of inferior quality material and were used to transport ironless Haemos grown in the fields owned by Mindus. The health of the people from different parts of Bodos started deteriorating but they still hadn't realized this as the deterioration was slow and Mindus was selling this produce as low cost produce to gain the support of the people.

Through the vast army of sycophants who were under his control he was successful in convincing the farmers about the margins they stood to make with this inferior quality Haeomos and Plateletos. In areas where the land was not fertile, he would use the vast media empire he owned to sell these produce as part of Subsidy
program from the government.General Mindus was very successful in creating a perception that all the ill-wills in the kingdom was because of King Soul and he was striving hard for the people. All these resulted in popular support for him from the people of Bodos and indifference and diffidence to King Soul though he had ruled his kingdom very well.

The authority of King Soul slowly started to wilt and General Mindus was calling the shots.It had been 8 years since General Mindus had taken control of all the major administrative work in Bodos. King Soul had trusted him enough to give him a say in most matters involving the kingdom. Though some of his close advisers like General Heart had warned Soul over the way General Mindus' influence was increasing, Soul rubbished all these concerns attributing them to the jealousy of Mindus' peers.

Mindus used to run an annual competition for the best drivers of Bodos along the different roads in the Veinus highways. The winner would receive the grand prize of 10,00,000 RBCs which he could then use for the betterment of his/her family or village.

This time the competition was different, and the repercussions would resound for generations for Bodosians. General Heart's warnings had finally managed to breach the stubborn ears of Soul. He had sent out some of closest aides from his Secret Force and to his shock realized that all the warnings and foreboding of his men were actually true. Mindus had destroyed the economy of his once flourishing kingdom and had put in place a black economy which made profits only for a few and put lakhs of Bodosians into poverty.

Soul asked for Mindus to be present himself to the court and answer all the questions put forward by the jury regarding his illegal actions. Mindus bluntly refused and called on the entire army to seize the court, the king's key aides including General Heart and other influential aides. Mindus declared emergency in the Kingdom and wanted to throw King Soul into prison. It was the timely intervention of his key aide Major Epiglotia who said that doing so would result in people of the kingdom uprising against him. So Mindus asked for his men to escort King Soul to his military home.

Mindus gave Soul two weeks deadline to leave the Kingdom to seek refuge in a neighboring country. Soul found it humiliating to face the potential of being banished from his own Kingdom. He asked Mindus to give a chance for a fair fight. Mindus did not want to go to the people as he was not sure which way the people would vote. Of all the things Mindus was known for, he also made decisions in haste many times. He agreed with the condition that King Soul or one of his nominee had to win this year's race. If he did, then Soul would continue to be King and Mindus would take the land east of the River Intestine and would no longer interfere in the affairs of Bodos. If he lost then he would immediately be exiled to a neighboring country. King Soul agreed as he had to use this last lifeline. Mindus' aides warned him against such a hasty decision but Mindus had a mind of his own.He would design the race in such a way that only his best racer-Cancerus could win.

Mee was the only person Soul knew who could represent him in such a race. Though there was already talk in the kingdom that no one had won a race against Cancerus in the last 5 years partly due to his driving skills and partly due to the support he received from his Evil Tumor buddies who lived high up in the hills which lined the several Veinus roads. Mee knew what she had to do. She had her Uncle's pride at stake and all the racing competitions she had won against very famed racers in various international competitions would come to naught if she didn't win this race.

Mindus got the best race designers to design the track of the race.The roads were the most rough, with his Evil Tumor buddies blocking these roads at various checkpoints just to eliminate competition. They would inflate themselves into gigantic balloons and block entire roads.Major Gall Blader would suck out all the water from River Bile and in its place would remain only thick crystallized stones which made driving over them extremely tough and dangerous. Cancerus would also during the course of the race multiply himself into thousands of identical racers in order to confuse Mee. When the racers would reach the Bridge Medula Oblongata, Mindus would drench it with alcohol so that the bridge would swing wildly and make driving potentially life threatening.

Mee was told my Soul what she would be up against. It was not only Mindus that she was up against buy also her brothers who had chided her for being a girl who participated in car races, a male bastion for long. Her repeated wins had not managed to convince them she, a girl, could be successful at a man's sport. Looking at Mee's worried look, Soul asked her to go and meet General Heart's brother- Courage. When Courage saw Mee at his doorstep he could tell that the young girl had lost her bearings a little while trying to ponder over what could happen in the race. Courage sat her down and showed her a design of a SUV he had made long back. Due to lack of resources and other things that kept cropping up, he could never fulfill this dream of building a SUV for himself that could be driven on any road.

He asked Mee to take the design and start building on it. With the King's last few resources left, Mee got her friend Pulmonus, known for huge interest in vehicle building to jointly convert this design into reality. Ten days prior to the race, the car was ready and Mee was ready to take on Mindus' men. Mee christened it as Tata Safari Storme after her late father Tata and mother Safari.

On the day of the race, Mindus chided Soul for giving a girl the baton of responsibility of winning back his kingdom when he knew that the competitor would be none other than Cancerus. Mee was determined even more after hearing this comment. The race started and Mee was making good progress driving her Tata Safari Storme. The roads were very slippery due to rains from the previous night but Mee felt in total control because of the anti skid tyres of her Storme. Then the Evil Tumor Buddies showed up and wanted to take Mee out of the race.They blew themselves into huge balloons and tried to block the roads. Mee could see that the road ahead of her slowly blowing up. She had to believe in the strong metallic bodies of the Storme to take the shrill noise and heat emanated by the Tumor Buddies. She could see Cancerus trailing off ahead of her. The hydraulic lash adjusters and Roller finger followers made the noise and heat less harsh. Her fully electronic controlled fuel injection system resulted in higher pressure which allowed her to speed up to maximum power and speed which helped her in crossing the Tumor buddies.The shock absorption springs put together in the car allowed her to safely cross the Stones left over after River Bile was sucked dry. Major Gall Bladder suddenly opened up the Glucose vents which filled the River Bile. However Mee was able to drive through the river owing to the high water wading capability of Storme.

Cancerus was taken aback by the advance being made by Mee He decided he had to use the last trick up his sleeve to prevent Mee from surpassing her in the race. He multiplied himself into thousands of clones which confused Mee as to how many people she was racing. Mee understood that this was a tactic to slow her down. Instead of playing into the hands of Cancerus she shifted to top gear and heated up the Storme to 160kmph. Cancerus was dumb stuck by the manner in which Mee raced past him. Close to the finish line, Mindus got his men to slip the huge boulders from their positions atop the hills so that one of them could crush Mee before she reached the finish line. A mirage of Soul was created at the centre of the road which confused Mee who tried to take corrective action by pressing the brakes very hard. Though the Storme skid a bit, Mee was still in control of the vehicle. However, in the midst of this, what Mee couldn't avert was a boulder hitting the car. But the Storme was built such that, apart from diverting a little from its path of activity due to the impact,its body remained intact. Mee crossed the finish line much ahead of competition. Mindus knew he couldn't play any more games. Before the Kings Secret Force would get their hands on him, he fled the scene. Mee was declared a hero by Soul and all the illegal activities of General Mindus was made public.

For Mee, it was a personal victory for her against the thought process of her brothers. She kissed her Tata Safari Storme for being her trustworthy companion, at every turn and on every road. King Soul took his kingdom back and worked on putting back Bodos on the path of progress.

The alarm rang and I suddenly woke from my dream. I put on my glasses and looked for the magazine that I was reading the last night. I flipped to the page that had the car of my dream- the Tata Safari Storme. With a car like that, life will surely be one helluva adventure, not just in the dream, but also in reality.

The post is written for the I am Explorer contest by Tata Safari on Indiblogger. 

The Future of Shopping

There was a time when Amma would complain about how Dad would stand aloof in the store, while she would go saree hunting. Or how he would lose patience when she would want to compare the prices between two shops before buying. Then, once we grew up, we were her perfect companions- for both window shopping and actual purchases.
Then came the revolution in our lives, a few years back, in the form of online shopping. The newly acquired credit card was pulled out of the wallet and the first online transaction was made. I checked and rechecked my credit card statement to make sure that there were no further transactions reported and that my card was secure. And the happiness when i got the call from the mail room about a courier that was waiting in my name, well, that is something that i really cannot get down to describing! After that, i was a regular visitor to the mail room and i was sold to the concept of online shopping. Not just buying stuff for myself, online shopping helped me buy things for my loved ones and surprise them with a courier that reached their address. Tracking pending couriers became a favorite activity! Books from flipkart, electronics from ebay, clothes from one of the numerous lifestyle websites were ordered left, right and center! And well, why would you not when you are getting branded goods, for crazy prices from people who save on showroom, air conditioning, sales persons and operate with a warehouse and a website.
When my mother was describing to a neighbor about my compulsive online shopping and how one can get anything online, what she had to say was- "amma-appa vittu verai ella kadaikum" ( you can buy anything online other than your mom and dad!) . True, isn't it, in a time when you can even find your soulmate (sic) online!
Where do i see this heading? Well, we already have "try and buy", where you can get two sizes of clothes or shoes at your doorstep and pick the one that fits you the best! You can compare prices of products on multiple websites, apply coupons, get freebies and get the best bloody deal possible. You go to the store  to check actual goods, only to go back and order it by clinching the best deal there is on the product. It has become so prevalent that there is a new term for this activity- Showrooming :D
In a decade or two from now, i do not see how the brick and mortar stores are going to survive at all. Lack of time, travel constraints, expensive rental spaces are all going to result in the online way being the way to shop.
What i envision the online shopping scene to be is something like this. Login to a website by facial recognition- no hassle of maintaining usernames and passwords.
The website maintains the data of all your previous purchases, the addresses they were delivered to, size details of your friends and family for whom the purchases were made.Next time you wanna buy something, click on the person you want to make the purchase for and default sizes are already selected.
Selecting a product will give you a 3D image of the product, which you can view from all angles. If it is clothing or accessories for yourself, you can see what it looks like on a 3D model that looks like you. 3D projections outside your screen will let you sense what the product may appear like, how big it will be et al- you can see if those pair of shoes fit you like a dream,  if they make your feet look prettier and order the right size only if you are convinced!
Or if it is jewelry or a watch, see how it looks on you when you adorn it on yourself and then only shell out all the big monies on it.
Today, you get product recommendations based on your browsing history or past purchases. In future, you probably will be getting recommendations based on what a close friend or a family member has purchased. You could even be able to subscribe to updates about what someone you know is buying if they are using their social media profile to make the purchase.
Or if you are the window shopping kind who just likes to browse through what the numerous stores in a mall can offer, you could get a virtual tour of a mall space, where you stroll through passageways and choose which stores you want to browse. Once you are done sifting through the virtual racks and checking out their latest merchandise, if you feel like it, you could add products to the cart. Or simply walk into the next store. All this, without hurting your feet, without spending your car fuel or worrying about parking and within the comfort of your home.
And well, lest you should worry about missing out on the social aspect of shopping, where you can stare at the lady in red with the pretty shoes or at the book that the person next to you is browsing or bumping into a friend in the mall, what the virtual shopping experience will offer you is that a simulated version of you walks in the mall and can bump into a friend or a colleague there! And do all this, without the husband in tow cribbing about how much time you take while shopping!
What would also drastically improve in the coming decade is the delivery time. Now i have to wait for a week or so for a shipment to be sent if the seller is in Delhi and i live in Bangalore. In future, when the brick and mortar stores are done away with, what will remain will be warehouses all over the country. That way, all you need to do is place an order, and the warehouse nearest to you will deliver it to you in no time- more like how the grocery delivery happens these days.
Goes without saying that buying online is already the way most people are buying today. In the next two decades, when the penetration of the internet will increase manifold and when people become less wary of online transactions and identify how convenient it is, online shopping will be able to link every artisan, every craftsperson and everyone with an ability to provide a product or a service with the person who has the power to purchase.
This is my entry for the future of shopping contest by ebay.in Though i am not sure whether what i envisage will be what the online shopping scene will be like in 2030, but the new ebay check extension for chrome is something that you should check out if you are an online shopper!

Pandavkada Falls

While marriage, a subsequent change in the city, setting up a home are all good excuses, i still do not think i should have missed out on writing so many of those posts that were drafts in my head all along these months. Any which ways, today's outing deemed a post and here i am, getting back to writing on the blog.
The first thing that struck me when i was looking around Navi Mumbai is that it is pretty well planned, and green and relatively cleaner than the main city. The locality we chose to live in reminds me so much of Bangalore and the place is inhabited by a lot of south indians. It did feel like home to me in a really short time!
Since the setup and all has been taken care of, it was now time for us to start exploring the place. Scanning the nearby places to visit, we zeroed in on Pandavkada falls. We could not have picked a better day. The sun was looking up after yesterday's rain. No rain = happiness already!

Getting there:

Pandavkada falls is located 5 kms from the Kharghar railway station. So taking the train is a good option to get there. However, getting an auto from the station might be difficult. The entry to the falls is located right next to the Kharghar golf course.
Once you get there, it is a 20-25 minutes hike to the falls proper.

First Impressions:

First thing you notice when you get there is the sudden greenery all around you! It suddenly gets all quiet and you can hear the birds chirping. We got there around 10 in the morning. I had read about an entry fee that is levied but never found any ticket counter anywhere!

The place leaves a lot to be desired with regards to developing the approach path and facilities for the tourists. There is no pucca road, the rocks and stones can get slippery during the climb and one needs to cross two streams in order to get to the falls.  I ended up wading through knee deep water with my shoes on! Also, there are no loos or changing rooms around.

The walk can get a little difficult with the slush around. But what is a waterfall unless it is the monsoons! It takes close to twenty minutes to get to the falls proper. But it is all worth the effort. Once you get to the falls, you can see the breathtaking greenery all around, sit on a rock, listen to the sound of water and enjoy the silence and do all the introspection in the world! Or else, if you are feeling more adventurous, climb down a set of rocks and you land in the pool of water bang under the falls!  The caves behind the falls did not seem to have any approach route but i still saw signs of X loves Y within hearts inscribed on the rocks! People really do crazy things in/for love!

It is amazing that such a beautiful place is tucked away in this part of the town.It has not yet been a victim of too much crowd and commercialization. So much that, there is just one stall at the entrance selling some snacks, that too way above the MRP. So best thing would be to pack your own picnic snack or lunch.
The place is scenic, makes for a good half day outing.

But the flip side of the isolation is that the area is not supervised. Or maybe it is and the people who were doing it had the permission. Nevertheless, i was not happy to see the low intensity blasts happening among the rocks to break them up. Or the trucks at many points along the way, scraping away into the landscape or taking away silt and sand from the water.

Navi mumbai has some greenery left in it. I hope it does not become a casualty of all the land grabbing. It is lung spaces like these that make the place livable. I would love to see the spot having an entry fee to regulate crowds and for the fee to be used to develop a solid pathway to get to the falls and to protect the environs.

It is actually a vicious circle. Sometimes, bounties of nature such as these are better left unexplored, lest we destroy them as we have done a large part of the planet already! 

Change?

I called. And called once again. But all i could hear was a long beep. So i called the next number. Again a long beep. Now this only meant one thing. Both parties were busy conversing with each other. So i gave up. And called home. Just when i started speaking, i got a call back from the first person i called. I ignored, thinking i would get back after the current conversation.
Not even two lines into the conversation, another incoming call alert. This time from the second number.
Successive tries, first from me to him and his home. Then from him and his home to me. All the times same result. Engaged. Just like me.
All i remember from the day is flashing a smile and showing off all my teeth to the cameraman. Everything else is almost a blur. All the attention to detail, acting like a delicate darling in front of others, careful practice to remain calm and composed went for a toss in between the flurry of activity.
Life changing event? Truly speaking, i don't know. I came back from the function happier and a couple of grams heavier - both from the eating and the ring.That is pretty much what every person needs- a happy heart and stomach!
Oh, and by the way, Happy Woman's day. Couldn't have thought of a better day for my relationship status to change! More power to Girl Power!
P.S. To all the people i had assured that i would shout when the D day arrived, this is the shouting from the rooftop! :)

ABCD Movie Review

So what do you do when a "Dance Company" you own fails to do well in the finals of a Dance Competition? You play the dirty politics card and get them to keep the Champions' title.
Next, you throw your Choreographer out. He, who has put in more than 10 years of mehanat into the dance company simply walks out, because you proclaim that the ghar and gaaDi are what you have given him. Hello, no salary concept here?
And well, our man, the choreographer is by a stroke of massive luck, in the right place at the right time. His buddy convinces him to cancel a ticket to his ooru- Chennai and asks him to stay back with him. Luck also chances him upon a bunch of young almost jobless folks, all of whom , again by massiveluck, are acrobatics capable dancers.
He sees potential, they start dancing in his mind and thus a dance group is recruited.
After this is a series of lessons of life (boring), some gyan about chasing one's dream (boring), lots of dance (expected) and some more dance.
At the end of the movie, you can almost get "So the moral of the story is..." kind of feeling.

Acting wise, they do a decent job - nothing that needs heavy duty acting skills. The screenplay seems strained at times, trying to fill in dull parts with unnecessary side tracks.

But what it paisa vasool is the final 20 minutes of the movie. Amazing energy, a nice twist in the plot and the participants of DID living up to the dance superstars image. Prabhu Deva is a treat in the scenes that he shows off his style and dance moves.  They do indeed make you want to dance to celebrate life itself! Kay Kay Menon as the baddie is well cast. Again, I have a problem with the transformation of the bad to good in the end. Nothing is ever that Black or white.

That the audience in the cinema hall stood up and did more than shaking a leg was proof enough that Anybody *can* dance! If only real life had that kind of background music!

On the whole, a one time watch. Maybe re-run it to see the dance bits. If you are watching it on a low cost ticket price day, definitely worth your money!

Of Temple Towns and unspoken prayers

I am not really a temple person. I believe in God and pray everyday. But I don't really think that going to a temple is necessary in order to pray. However,on a recent visit to Tamil Nadu, I tagged along with the elders on temple visits.
I was surprised to see how they knew names of all the temples, the God that each temple was dedicated to, the location of the temple and most importantly, what famous prasadam was available in each of the temples.
It was perhaps the best time to visit Tamil Nadu. Pleasant breeze during the day, temperate afternoons, the lush green Cauvery basin were all a part of a Tamil Nadu unknown to me. I tried imagining the sticky and humid Chennai but in vain - it was that cold in Kumabakonam early in the morning!
This post has been a long time coming. I did not really know how to go about writing it. Story about one temple would be a post in itself. Hence an easy way out and a glimpse of the temples that i visited during my trip last month. Warning- a really long post below.
The first morning at the Thyagaraja Temple in Tiruvarur was an eye opener about how big the temples in Tamil Nadu can be - so much so that the two entrances of the temple are a good ten minute walk from each other!

Like most other temples i would subsequently see, this temple had a HUGE koLam (theppa koLam/temple tank) adjoining it.

And not to forget, a really hi-fi vadhiyar!

The paintings inside the temple walls, the heavy woodwork, the musty smell of the oil from the lamps were a fixture in all the temples.
The elephant at the entrance of the Uppliappan kovil in Kumbakonam blessed me soon as i gave it a coin. And once i turned, the koLam there made me stop and stare.

There was such a symmetry in the multiple dwarams, that i forgot for a moment that we were queuing up to the see the God.

Next stop was the Rahu-Ketu temple next door. Again, brilliant colors on the walls and roof. A hall way that seemed to never end. Lots of open space, sand and a lovely koLam that i could not photograph due to want of light.

Day two saw us visiting the Vaidheeshwaran Temple that is thousands of years old and is known to hold a cure for all kinds of ailments. Lovely light streams into the temple near the entrance, but it is spread over such a vast area that by the time you reach the garbhagriham, it is really dark.

Once again, a huge tank in the enclosure whose holy waters are said to be therapeutic.

And well, in keeping with the theory that it is faith and not really the idol that is important, we did drop in into the dargah at Nagur, where the person with the peacock feather jhadoo asked me if i was there in order to pray for a wedding asap. I retorted saying its not an asap wedding i need, thanks much. He seemed baffled and wanted to know what is it otherwise that i was wishing for. I said my prayers in my mind and got the jhaDoo beaten on my head.

Next in line was the Velankanni Church. A pristine white washed building by the blue sea, people of all faiths culminating to pray, a Tirupathi-like tonsure center out of which came people by the hoards with chandan paste on their newly shaved heads were all sights to behold.

One thing i was convinced of. People have tremendous amount of faith that God holds all the answers. And  people throng the religious places to re install that faith. And irrespective of which religion you belong to, the faith you see in the pilgrims can move you. You also start believing that *This* particular God is waiting above to say tathasthu to you. So you pray- be it at the temple, or the church or the mosque, and hope you are the lucky one!

The wrap to the visit was at a place that i have forever wanted to see - The Brihadeeshwaran Temple at Tanjavur, my native place. The temple is an architectural marvel. It is surprising, that in times as old, people built such a wonder without any machinery. Period. I have nothing more to say.

The sheer size of the temple is something i perhaps can't put into words.

It was a fitting end to the journey.

Oh, and yes, where ever i went, along with God, there was another omnipresent element. There was certainly no escaping her!

On that note, it is a wrap on the piligrimage diary. I came back after visiting many shrines, a lot of prayers said in the heart and maybe with a blessing or two that God bestowed upon me. 

Seethamma Vakitlo Sirimalle Chettu Review

I have had my eyes on this movie for a while. For one, it seemed like a feel good movie, and seemed to be one that the whole family can go out and watch together. The sound track was already on my daily playlist. There was no way i was going to miss this movie!
Giving Alex Pandian a miss, i booked tickets for SVSC. The movie starts off slowly. There is no linear narration. Nothing that tells you what the leads are doing for a living, no scenes that spoon feed information to the viewer. Bits and pieces of their daily life are portrayed for the viewer to understand and put together.

The story mainly focuses on family values and the value and importance of having a family. The special bond that the two brothers share, all the things that they convey to each other in their silences, the awkwardness in expressing their love and concern for each other is really touching! There are no Hindi movie style bear hugs or in your face dialogues about how much they love each other. But their demeanor and actions say it all.

It is a movie about family and relationships. About regular people worries like running a home, getting  the daughter married, finding a job and battling the world to make a living. All of the 159 minutes are not action packed with events. Some are just long pauses and mundane dialogues.

But there are some really stirring scenes that will make you forget all the boring bits. The ever smiling good Samaritan father played by Prakash Raj has a memorable role. When he tells his sons that he has not given them money or property but has given them the wings to fly and do what they want, you cannot help but smile with him. And no, its not a all happy movie. It is one hell of a tearjerker. I was telling myself in the head, it is after all a movie, after all a movie, but could not help but cry at each of the over feeling type of dialogues.

Venkatesh as the serious, reserved, brimming with temper guy is very convincing.The love story between Mahesh Babu and Samantha is not really convincing. A guy who doesn't really give bhaav to many a ladies previously, simply falls for her for no special reason.She is wasted in a not so important role. Mahesh Babu is endearing in a movie that doesn't need him to do much of dishum dishum. His crackling chemistry with his grandma is a treat!
However, it is Seetha played by Anjali who walks away with the best role. She was super in engeyum eppodum and has done a fab job again! As the orphaned girl who grows up in their home, she is bubbling with energy and is the driving force in the house. The director hasn't really leveraged the relationship between her and Venkatesh well. For most part of the movie, he is oblivious of her feelings.

The script however could be a little more taut. Many a places, scenes appear to be there just to fill gaps. All  of the duets/dancing songs were totally unnecessary. But the title track and the wedding song make up for the others being shoddily shot. I did not understand many dialogues, cause  i am used to watching Siddharth's movies that have a lot of English in them. The pure telugu in the movie was a little hard to understand in places.

The movie may not have a great new story. But it tells you the value of smiling, being nice and helping people. It tells you that come what may, your family is always there with you. Do not forget to carry your tissues, cause cry you will. But am also sure that you would walk out with a smile!