
Sunday, December 24, 2006
Mysore Musings 2

Mysore Musings 1
We saw this sign in Kesava Temple campus, Som nathpur. The first thing that came to my mind was why would I post my letters here if they'll get cancelled. Only then did it dawn upon me that they use a stamp made in that format to use on the stamp and that is called cancellation. Well I did not have any postcards ready as I had not seen this coming. So no pictorial cancellation for me.Friday, December 01, 2006
Dharmapuri - borrowed review
Pals if u r out of Diwali mood , read this review i received ..
After the major downfall of Ajith's tirupathi by its director..per ..per ..perarasu....he was thinking who could he terminate next and ..yes....he got our captain and that's the evolution of a legendary universal(tamil) film "DHARMAPURI"...
Precautionary steps to watch this film:
1.Four pieces of cotton...(2 to keep in ears...and the rest 2 will be kept in our noses after we watch the film fully)
2. zandu balm,tiger balm..if possible original time bomb.
3. itch guard (b'cos paadhi padam paarthu namaku udambellam pull'arikum').
Actors:
Captain Vijaykanth(3/4 screen...),Heroine-achacho paavam(not even 4 scenes including songs),comedy..all scenes where captain comes becomes comedy to the core.
All other vetti actors(donno what they do ½ time).
Moments of the film:
1.Captain's intro:----- NO ever Indian..oops..hollywood film could ever try such imagination to project his hero to this level as perarasu does.(u deserve an applause..).while all his partymen,first bench fans,wait for his entry in screen..there comes captain to save a minister's girl from a rowdy in rameswaram..rowdy threatens everyone including policemen nearby with his gun and no one goes near him(obvious..)Captain looks at him,goes nearhim barehanded. The rowdy warns him 3 times(Indian cinema rule..not more than 3) and then shoots at him..the bullet hits vijaykanth's chest...and reflects back and hits the rowdy's chest and kills him...Please wait...don't get astonished.then he takes out the "archani plate"he hids in his shirt(what a archanai thattu..if u can get for 10 rs.it acts as bullet proof and cd save ur life).
Advice to all military forces:please dismantle all ur bullet proof shields and get archanai thattu's for them. cost cutting one.
2.most of the film people are doing silly things and no body including captain doesn't understands why they r doing such thing.if time permits captain gets his costume change and start performing exercises..iam sorry..dances.. and 30 to 40 dancers surround him and shout"neenga thaan nallavar, neenga thaan vallavar, neenga naaliku CM, morningna AM,eveningna PM"...happa horrible torture and where on earth his costumes are picked up...fluorescent coloured shirt specially and he makes to a point that in all scenes including his duet or romantic scene his party's "flaming torch"symbol is projected well.And a grand make up like rajkiran with a big crown on his head and sandal on his body(weak hearted people pls omit the scene)
3. Half the film is like assembly meetings and virudhachalam campaign speeches.and everybody including the villain praises him .
"naan adangi poravan illai adakitu poravan"
"ivaru kootani vaika maatar,thani aala thaan irupaar"
"ennai nambuna nambikai..mathavangalukku etcharikai"
ivar naadodi illai....naadodi mannan"..
When u atleast have the peace that the director Perarasu didn't act in this film as he did in tirupathi....after interval even that dream goes crashed..oops.here we have his entry as "Speed"lawyer perarasu.he comes and says"naan porandha edam sivakasi, valarandha idam tirupachi, pona idam tirupathi,ipo nikaradhu dharmapuri"innum neraya idam poven....(oh god we are done for...mokkanayakanur,paanaampat
Note:- don't miss the scene where captain hits 50 men in a row with a single kick which even matrix Keanu reaves couldn't get it right. And also the scene where captain blasts 1000 figure bombs(kanni vedi.he..he) with his small remote control which we use for MP3 players in car's.(technology drives...)
Last but not least "Dharma puri"---poisonous pani puri.
Sunday, November 26, 2006
4/7
தினமும் ஒரு பதிவு செய்ய முடிவு செய்து இன்றோடு ஒரு வாரம் முடிகிறது.
Friday, November 24, 2006
ஈ
Bottom line: The movie would be only as good as this review.
Thursday, November 23, 2006
Down with fever
1) I am not a compulsive blogger who has to blog every day. The reason for the above kind of introduction can be seen in a couple of posts before this. (Wth.. I'll say it here. I wanted to post to everyday for the next 7 days and it stopped on the very second day.)
2) This blog is not a record of my daily life.
The temperature was running up to 102 degrees Fahrenheit. I felt very weak to be doing anything. So took a leave and stayed at home. I was also shivering, so wore a sweater and bundled myself into blankets in the bed. And today I got to know something. All that I did yesterday were wrong. I found it out here. And it seems "Starve a fever, feast a cold" is not very wrong either. Now that I feel a little better I found something about the fever and tricks to handle it the next time around.
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
Cool tools
தினம் ஒரு பதிவு
Saturday, November 18, 2006
you think your broadband is very fast. Really? Check it out....
I've been using a broadband connection that claims to be 256 kbps. After using dial-up for about 10years anything could look faster but I decided to test it. Here comes Speedtest. I took the test and saw the download seems to be pretty close. The upload is way off the mark. Can anybody explain the results to me.Wednesday, November 15, 2006
Varalaru (Godfather)
The makeup is not very good too. In most scenes the old Ajith looks as if he is acting in a school stage drama. But whenever we see him we see him as the father. But we have seen Kamalhasan slog it out to look real. This movie can be an eyeopener of sorts for that kind.
Could not believe that A.R.Rahman composed the music. Innisai Alabadaiyae... is good, both as audio and video. The director could have done away with all the other songs. They are only that good. Ajith's performance is better than any of his previous movies. There is hope after all for Ajith (more so for his fans) in movies.
But all those glitches in the movie didnot hinder with the viewing pleasure of it. The suspense about how Ajith turns so unpredictable is reasonably maintained in the first half, though the number of incidents could have been less.
The twist towards the end is interesting.
***********
Spoiler Alert
***********
Its about the immobile Ajith getting on his feet, that came as a real surprise. But for him to fight so well, especially opposite a young person is, huh, cliche. Similarly trying to justify the old title “Godfather” was also unnecessary and artificial. The heroines play the usual role, glamour dolls. It's even less in this movie. A couple of dream sequences for Asin. Kanika has dialogue for one fourth of a page. Police have been reduced to a laughing stock once again in this movie.
The winner in this movie is Ajith, in the role of dancer. The grace, the mannerism, the way he walks, talks so feminine no body else could have done so well.
Saturday, November 04, 2006
பகைஉணர்ச்சி
Tuesday, October 31, 2006
Barbarism in the name of caste. Two thoughts
The government could bring a ban on celebrating anniversaries of leader in areas where it cause disturbance to public. But I doubt it. They also need the votes. This brings me to two very confusing conclusions.
First, the situation is created by the people themselves. People want their community / caste leaders to be respected. The way of showing respect is explained above. And they complain about mismanagement of every thing. So I guess people are really strong opinion builders and they control the psyche of politicians.
Second, there are simply too many people and the loud and dominant get heard and things happen their way. Others who are complaining are soft and docile. Probably like me.
Monday, October 23, 2006
Don't Quit
When things go wrong, as they sometimes will, when the road you're trudging seems all up hill,
When the funds are low and the debts are high, and you want to smile but you can only sigh.
When care is pressing you down a bit, Rest, if you want, but don't you quit.
Life is queer with its twists and turns, as every one of us sometimes learns.
And many a failure turns about, when he might have won had he stuck it out.
Don't give up though the pace seems slow -- You may succeed with another blow.
Success is failure turned inside out -- The silver tint of the clouds of doubt,
And you never can tell how close you are, It may be near when it seems so far;
So stick to the fight when you're hardest hit -- It's when things seem worst that you must not quit.
Friday, October 20, 2006
I like this blog thru' e-mail facility. Why should I say this?
Tuesday, October 17, 2006
Tambaram - Tindivanam Expressway
Sunday, October 15, 2006
Check list - For visting a drive in theatre.
There are certain essentials you need to take.
- A large mat. The floor has lot of smaller stones and this really improves the movie watching experience.
- Bedspreads, we usually use a razai.
- Pillows, for a group of three we usually take 4.
- Snacks, the problem there is the options are quite less but can't say the same about price.
- Water.
- Take a foldable chair, if anybody in the group is not comfortable sitting down.
- A hand fan. We are planning to take the rechargeable fan next time.
We have seen 3 movies there. Imsai arasan 13th Pulikesi was the first and we all enjoyed it. The next was Vettaiyadu Vilayadu, not a movie for drive-in theatres. The recent one is Lage Rago Munna Bhai. These are the kind of movies that suit best because a drive-in theatre is not just about the movie. It's a family outing and we don't want t get all that serious by the movie.
There is a restaurant nearby. I might write about it later.
Friday, October 13, 2006
Running away…
Tuesday, May 02, 2006
What do you think?
I would rather raise a different question. Why does such a situation arise? The basic reason why you have a long “to-do list” is because you do maintain a “to-do list”. Jokes apart, a “to-do” list does get longer if you keep doing things outside the list. Try to add another column “What has been done”. Most people would be filling that column with tasks outside their “To be done” list.
A model “to-do list”
| Date | To be done | What has been done | Remarks |
| 02-05-2006 | Check liability statements with liability bills | | ???? |
| | Capitalisation of WIP | Half done. There are more items identified during capitalization. | We never get satisfied right. |
| | Broad band modem statement completion | | I did start that. On a second thought did I? |
| | | A discussion on FBT. | Went on so long “enriching” me with experiences of a superior that is not relevant |
| | | A discussion with internal auditor. | There is a difference of opinion b/w my superior and the auditor. They don’t discuss directly for that might solve the problem. |
If this is what that is going to happen what do you think is the use of a ‘to-do list”?
Thursday, March 30, 2006
Faceless Enemies
Thursday, March 23, 2006
Soda Bottle Enthusiasm
So at some definite point of time in the past I decided to get better of this phenomenon. How? I decided to take things slowly and steadily from the very beginning. But it totally backfired. I’m not even getting to begin anything new. I wait and wait for the right time to start so that I would have enough time to go on with it. Earlier it used to be the idea of powering through. Lets start and things will fall in place. However with out the SBE the initial momentum is missing making be idle. So I think SBE is good, provided you can get it going after the initial thrust.
Monday, March 20, 2006
What do I see?
All on different limbs at different levels.
Some climbing up, some fooling around, some simply just idling.
The monkeys on top look down and see a tree full of smiling faces.
The monkeys on the bottom look up and see nothing but assholes.
Saturday, March 18, 2006
Praptham
This was a conversation between my friend (with a tonsured head) and me. He is just back from Thirupathi.
Me: Nice mottai.
Friend: From Thirupathi. It’s a great experience. If the crowd was less I would go there every week. But the place is so crowded. This is my only visit in five years.
Me: I’m helping you by not adding to the crowd.
Friend: It is not so. He (Venkatachalapathy) sees those he wants to. “Namakku praptham irukkanum boss, Thirupathi poga” (We should be gifted (I don’t think that’s the word) to be there.) It’s not we who decide but him.
Me: Then I guess you should think again about your every week visit.Tuesday, February 28, 2006
Mosquito Menace in Madras
Yesterday was a day, no, a night I would remember for many days to come. It was like any another day at office and I was returning home. When I was nearer I could feel insects hitting my face. It was like riding in the rain. There was a distinct drop in the presence of mosquitoes a couple of days back. It seems like it was just a silence before the storm. There was so many that I wanted to bathe after the ride back home. I thank the person who invented the “Mosquito Net”. Without that it would have been very difficult yesterday. In the night it seemed as though the mosquitoes were trying to attach us. We could see them lined up in all sides, so densely. The picture is only a part of the mosquitoes that were out there. They were the deadones found on top of the net. I forgot to take my camera with me to bed. Or else I could have given a battalion of mosquitoes lined up for attacking.
Saturday, February 25, 2006
On the work front
but there is always enough time to do it over.”
PS.
This bird never flu. err... flew.
Monday, February 13, 2006
If anything just cannot go wrong, it will anyway
Sunday, February 12, 2006
GM Diet - Day 7 [BROWN RICE, FRUIT JUICES & VEGETABLES] [10-02-2006 FRIDAY]
GM Diet – Day 6 [BEEF & VEGETABLES] [09-02-2006 THURSDAY]
GM Diet - Day 5 [BEEF & TOMATOES] [08-02-2006 WEDNESDAY]
GM Diet - Day 4 [MILK, BANANAS & SOUP] [07-02-2006 TUESDAY]
Wednesday, February 08, 2006
GM Diet – Day 3 [FRUITS & VEGETABLES] [06-02-2006 MONDAY]
GM Diet – Day 2 [VEGETABLES] [05-02-2006 SUNDAY]
GM Diet – Day 1 [FRUITS] [04-02-2006 SATURDAY]
GM Diet – Day 0 [03-02-2006 FRIDAY]
Enjoy the power and beauty of your youth;
oh never mind;
You will not understand the power and beauty of your youth until they have faded.
But trust me, in 20 years you’ll look back at photos of yourself and
recall in a way you can’t grasp now how much possibility lay before you
and how fabulous you really looked….
You’re not as fat as you imagine.
In my case I was not as fat as they imagined. But still I was always a little overweight, crossing the limit by a couple of kilograms. So (see line 1), and I almost did it once.
We were then in Thanjavur. I had a good start enjoying ripe mangoes (it was the summer of 2003) for the first day and carrots and cucumbers for day two. But my plan crash-landed when relatives visited us. We were serving them with delicious food that my mother makes. Virunthombal Thamizhar panpadallava! There was crispy chicken fry and spicy gravy. It broke me down and I surrendered to my taste buds.
Now here I am wiser by the success stories of my friends (Arun and “Thanjavur” Prem) and my brother-in-law Jose. They managed to complete it and Arun does it any time he wants to do it. And I’m going on it now.
Monday, January 30, 2006
Andrew's Gunj
What was the shortest time you ever stayed in a new house? I think nobody can beat our record. Read on.
We were then staying in
I was then preparing for my civil services examinations in
We were staying in Sarojini Nagar, a calm place near
1) Three bedroom Flat.
2) Three bedroom Flat.
3) Three bedroom Flat
I cannot think of any other reason why we would go for it. It was not near my institute. It had no parks nearby. Not a good market that I remember. We have been used to large spaces earlier and felt cramped in that other house I guess. Anyway we went ahead to shift our residence. We were yet to furnish our house then fully. But before taking the limited personal effects we decided to get the house ready for us. On visiting the house we saw that it needed to be cleaned. My cousin who had come there joined me in that effort and with the help of two persons arranged by my father we went on to clean it thoroughly. Then we called a person from a air-condition showroom and went on decide on the A/c that we would require. Decisions were made regarding curtains and we also went shopping for furniture.
One fine day (something that’s always used in a negative note), we started to Andrews Gunj. We handed over the keys of the old house to one of my father’s colleagues with instructions to submit them to the authorities. On went our vehicle to Andrew’s Gunj. We unloaded our things however little they were and got them arranged reasonably. We made friends with the people in the ground floor (we were in first floor). Then most important event happened. The day ended and the night began. Since it was the first day we bought dinner from outside and ate. We were happy to be there. Mom and Dad took a room. I shared one with my cousin since the furniture and A/c were yet to be delivered.
After some time we felt as if we are lying in the middle of the road. Did I mention that the house was in the inner ring road? At night it was swarmed by lorry traffic. We could feel the floor shaking when every lorry went by. My room was nearer to the road than other. I ran into the hall / living room to lie down. I could not catch any sleep that night ( I had spent the whole day loading, unloading and arranging things).
The first thing my Dad did next morning was to call his colleague (remember the Key Guy) and stop him from proceeding to submit the keys. We raced back to our old, humble abode and lived happily ever after (for about a year before my Dad got transferred to Tamilnadu).
Now in a move to improve traffic conditions, those houses were razed down to extend the road. This would not happen to any one else any more. Later on I wondered how it was possible for others to live there. The main reason could be that we planned to get all the furniture but all would only be delivered there. So it was practically empty as it was much larger than where we used to live.
About the record. We stayed a little over 19 hours.
Ashrita's First Flight
Opening up of airways has seen a spurt in the number of flight operators. There are so many of them that I didn’t even know most of them. There were so many counters, each having a small walkup (what else do you call the area of about 4 ft where they lay out a carpet to make you feel “so special and welcome”). The people manning those counters do their part with their so artificially accented English (an apparent effort to make you believe that no body belongs here, neither you nor them.
The flight was officially delayed by 30 minutes and unofficially by another 25 minutes. We were asked to wait in Taj Lounge and offered a complimentary buffet (Cheese puff, paneer cutlet, medhu vadai and chicken “something”, something we never got. The fresh juices offered were not so fresh either.)
Security check was another episode of the journey. First tour hand baggage was scanned and we were frisked. (Two security women commented on "How dangerous it is to carry infants in flight as we have a chance to carry weopons / explosives in the cloth used for wrapping the child" This comment was made by them in Hindi, apparently thinking most people in Tamilnadu wouldnot know Hindi.) Then after another episode of waiting we went through the gate to finally get into the bus. But it was not over yet. There was another round of frisking and checking of baggage physically by airport staff.
From one bus to another. Then we got into the bus. Did I say bus? Yes, it was a bus. They were just a little more than the “airbuses” that were plying on Chennai – Trichy roads. They were “more” in length than those “airbuses” by a couple of rows and were a little bumpier during landing. We took the steps to enter into flight and saw it having seats just like a bus and we took ours. The food that was offered had two chicken patti rolls, two aloo bondas, one paneer cutlet and one black forest (which was really good).
We had taken a number of precautions for a safe and comfortable journey for Ashrita. We had her ears plugged with cotton, had her to wear a diaper, sweater with head gear to protect her from cold and finally wrapped in a bag meant for carrying babies. The journey was uneventful expect for a little crying during landing. Otherwise she slept through the whole journey.
Night Shift
29th Chennai Book Fair
I was there on 8th of January with my cousin Anbuselvam. We have been a regular for so many years now, and been buying books on a regular basis. We used to buy more books when we were preparing for civil services examinations. Now that we are out of that field we are exploring other arenas. I’ve always liked Sujatha’s writings on science and his sci-fi books. I even had an argument with my teacher that his writings are better than another contemporary writer. Uyirmai Publications have come out with a series of books by Sujatha and I’ve been a regular to their stalls every year. I bought Kadavulgalin Pallathakku, Therntheduthha Sirukadhaigal and Marma Kadhaigal all by Sujatha.
I also did buy a lot of books for my niece Abirami, who likes to read story books. Unlike her elder siblings she has developed a liking for books, which I am trying to encourage. I also bought books that say what to expect in the first few years of child birth. We also saw a “Child’s Album” in which we’ll be able to document the important events of her life. I’m looking for a better published album. I need to check out Landmark, Odyssey and Higginbotham’s.
