Vetti Writings

Been There, Done That?

2010-04-29T22:40:00.003+05:30

The day this blog celebrates its Birthday, the author of this blog celebrates too, apparently for his birthday and not for Sashi Tharoor's birthday! But inline with Sashi's tradition of sharing anything and everything online, here is something that I wanted to share in my blog too.

The 2010 edition of my Birthday was widely anticipated, because the 2009 edition had missus gifting me a Bean Bag, that was very cozy and comfortable for watching the IPL matches! So this time, just like how expectations grew wild from the 2009 to 2010 editions of the IPL, my expectations were wild too :) But with just a week to go, work place dropped a bomb-shell by requesting me to spend couple of weeks away from home-town on a deputation. With both of our faces looking like that winking Vodafone Zuzu, I was pulling my bags out of our home.

And the D-Day was one of the uneventful compared to its past editions, but just until then. Around the wake of the afternoon, when I was dozing my way debugging the If's and For's, the surprise came as a small pop-up balloon. Missus dropped in a mail, that totally caught me off guard! I was blinking and smiling my way reading through the mail. It read..

Though miles apart, you stay closer to my heart
Whenever i think of you, I hear the word 'Never Depart'
On this Birthday, my sweet heart
I wish you a wonderful start
We know Life is an Art
And I am sure you have mastered it a Lot

It has always been right when said, women are the best to throw you surprises! In fact, every time I wanted to give a surprise, I would either blabber and break the surprise before hand or would hype it up in such a way that it ends up like 'Oh, is that it'? ;) So, if there's something that I can at least half-neatly pull off, it must be that fitting reply. So after frantic search across Shakespearean Literature, and some contemporary Google crawling, I shot back!

Meters and Miles will never get us Apart
Forever you think of me, you never will hear the word Depart
Since the Day we met at the Mart
We had a wonderful head Start
For the Life we know as Art,
And What better day to remember it, you smart!

This might sound silly, but when it just mattered, this was a revelation and later gave good moments to giggle and ponder, especially since it marked our first attempt to write a (so called) Kavidhai (poetry):)

Vinnaithandi Varuvaaya - A cultural cocktail cross-over?

2010-01-14T00:33:00.002+05:30

Two rounds of listening and here is the initial reaction.

Loads of Rahmanic tunes and beats, fine blend of violin and cello medley, shaked up with Chinmayi and Shreya Ghosal vocals, pepped up with Blazee Rap, mixed up with some amount of Thirukkural and Hindu marriage songs, a garrulous yet splendid never-before full Malayalam number, iced up with Titanisque sound tracks, borderlined with notes that sits right on the Palakkad border moving sinusoidally between Classical Tamil Nadu and Catholican Kerala with a mouth wateringly delicious Bilahari on the Nadhaswaram......

Huh.. In Vadivel's term.. "Only you Possible" :)

But this is pure offbeat! My guesses, very few chart busters here (Hosanna may be an exception), but should go on well with the movie. May piss of those ardent lovers of Goutham-Harris combination. But there is a wave of fresh air, and get ready for the cultural cocktail cross-over!

P.S: For me, had there been a full version of "Omana Penney" instrumental on Nadhaswaram, that itself should be worth the price of the CD/Cassette. Forget those yesteryear classic from the KB - Illayaraja combo sculpting Bilahari Marthandam Pillai and Bilahari JKB, this might have been the era of Bilahari Litlle Superstar :)

நன்றே செய்யும் நிலை வருமா !!

2009-09-08T03:26:00.002+05:30

Disci: My tamil writing stopped way long back and I was behind the 80 percentile on tamil papers in school.. So patiently correct me for the spelling and lyrical errors.

போர் செய்ய புது ஆயுதமும்

ஆள் கொல்ல தினம் ஓர் சதியும்

நேர்விக்கும் பெறு நாடுகளும்

ஏதென்று நிஜமுலகரியும்

நின்றே கொல்லும் தெய்வங்களும்

இன்றே கொல்லும் மத பூசல்களும்

நிலை வருமா,நிலை வருமா

உடன் வருமா,உடன் வருமா

தலைமைகள் வர வர திரிந்திடுமா !

நின்றே கொல்லும் தெய்வங்களும்

இன்றே கொல்லும் மத பூசல்களும்

அன்றே செய்யும் என உணரும்

நன்றே செய்யும் நிலை வருமா

நிலை வருமா,

நிலை வருமா

உடன் வருமா,

தலைமைகள் வர வர திரிந்திடுமா !!

*******************************

I'm head over heals for this song currently. Perfect vocals by BJ and KH ! Perfect execution by Shruti. And the lyrics a perfect wow !!! Is this Manushyaputran's work? Can somebody confirm?

For the clueless, here you go.. the first song - http://www.raaga.com/channels/tamil/album/T0002007.html

My guess.. this song will go right to the end of the movie for the closing credits. I can already imagine me standing up and feeling the moment holding the hands tight!!

Shortest Path between the US and UK

2009-04-23T14:39:00.008+05:30

Now wait. Are we here for a shortest path Dijikstra's algorithm, Geography, Flight dynamics/kinetics, Psychology, SQL 2008 Spatial Data Type or something? Well almost all but everything in part :)

Longtime back, I had a doubt running on the back of my mind which nobody seemed to completely answer. Why does a flight-path from UK to US or vice-versa go along an elliptical path in a planar map covering Ireland, Iceland, Greenland, Canada and then to USA and instead not go in a straight line moving Trans-Atlantic thereby saving a lot of time and fuel?

(The Red Line is what I expect, but the Black line is how it goes. You.. You.. Damn airline.. Its our money and our time !! )

I have got a variety of unsatisfactory answers but the closest till date which I thought right was - 'The aircraft wants to travel close to the shore as much as possible to force an emergency landing if at all necessary'. That was given by one of my Managers during a chit-chat, and seemed to satisfy me until today when I found what the original reason was!

I was randomly looking into Spatial Data Types in SQL Server 2008 for a reason i-don't-know-why and there I saw the answer right in front of my eyes. Mouth wateringly delicious ! Why didn't I even think about this in perspective!? Lifting it straight from there.

The shortest distance between two points is a straight line. But, a straight line on a flat-earth model is far different than a straight line on an ellipsoidal model. To demonstrate, consider the shortest path from Redmond, WA, USA to Cambridge, England, UK:

On this planar projection, it certainly looks like the shortest path. Even when examined on a 3D model, it looks correct:

But, if the camera is moved towards the North Pole, then the error becomes apparent:

In the ellipsoidal model, the shortest path between the points is not the red line, which roughly parallels the lines of Latitude, but rather the black arrow! Converted back to a planar projection, this actual shortest path appears curved:

(in this view, the black curve was [hastily] plotted by hand)

Original Source Credit: http://jasonfollas.com/blog/archive/2008/05/16/sql-server-2008-spatial-data-part-7.aspx

Is it time for number 14?

2009-01-29T20:55:00.001+05:30

Stay close for the answer...

Going Green !

2009-01-13T12:48:00.003+05:30

As we enter the new year, we would see lot of people asking what's your resolution for the year? It's a pretty disturbing question and I have been thinking for sometime to come up with the same disturbing answer. For all of you who asked me what my resolution was, it was 1280 * 1024 at work, and 1280 * 960 at home ! But that was the last year's answer. So for this year, since I have a growing responsibility for the environment we live in, my resolution is going to be - "Going Green".

Here's a list of things I mean by saying Going Green !

1. Board the oldest metro bus to commute between places. That is the one which is currently green in color. The new buses are blue, red, yellow or white colored which does not stick to the go 'green' rules, and not to forget those AC Volvo's - CFC emission, I say.

2. Use the bicycle to commute locally instead of bikes/cars/auto. And the reason is pretty much self explanatory - the cycle is dark green in color.

3. Shop the Pondy, Sathya, Burma and every shady bazzar in town to find a nice professional looking pair of green slippers (Kili pachai preferred), as I already have a pair of green looking woodlands look-alike sneaker.

4. Carry a plantain leaf to work, to have the daily lunch over a pleasant green leafy spread.

5. Start the day after consulting parrot astrology. They don't only give an advantage to know the boss's mood in advance, but the sheer beauty of a green parrot will make the heart light.

6. Use cold running water for bathing and drinking purposes even on a comparatively cold month like Maargazhi(the Dec - Jan months), as it considerably saves energy bills on water heaters, gas stoves etc and also giving an additional satisfaction of using pachai thanni (green water).

7. Unwind for the weekend, on a stress free outing to the Greenways Road.

8. Always set the status message on Office Communicator, GTalk, Live Messenger, Skype etc to available, even when really busy or while attending meetings.

9. Stop the cycle abruptly and close the eyes very tight if happen to stop by a signal. Open the eyes only when there are loud horns around, or abusive shouting using green green words by the locals.

10. Do all of the day to day work using Microsoft Office Excel only. Even if it is about preparing a document, doing a presentation do it within excel. Send a mail with all contents in excel attachment. And convince mangers, clients and business to use excel macro and VBA for programming.

I'm curious to know about your 'Go Green' or 'Go Red' mantra or anything else you got to say. The comments section is wide open.

Shame on me, Shane

2008-12-30T11:24:00.005+05:30

Ricky: Hello, Shane. Its Ricky here.
Shane: Ricky(.)(!), which Ricky?
Ricky: Your ex-mate.
Shane: What? I don't hear you properly? You said check-mate?
Ricky: No.. No. Ex-Kangaroo mate. Captain, Cricket Au..... (disturbance)
Shane: Oh still!? Sorry I heard it Ex-Captain, Cricket Atrotia. Anyways it matters only for a short while. What's up?
Ricky: I need your help. Need you back as the front line leg spin bowler.
Shane: Oh, but.. I thought you would take Glen's help perhaps.
Ricky: Glen is now old, and has lost it.
Shane: But it was the same thing you told me, about myself sometime back.
Ricky: That was then (like the Vadivel styled - 'adhu pona maasam')
Shane: But I'm getting close to my 40.
Ricky: So what? so does Matty. But I plan to have him for 5 more years.
Shane: I don't think I'm interested.
Ricky: No, No.. You should not say that. Its not anymore about you and me. Its the pride of our nation's Cricket at International level. Its Ashes next, and we can't afford to miss.
Shane: Hmm. But I'm out of touch.
Ricky: No way. I find you more tougher than me, more quicker than Brett and more fitter than Symo and more experienced than anybody else out there.
Shane: That means, I call all the shots? I rule the forest, and you just remain as a H(P)unter?
Ricky: Err.. Well.. But.. You are out of touch there.
Shane: Have you heard of IPL 20-20?
Ricky: That's not test cricket. 20-20 is brute force. No tactics. And it was played at India which does not count as a good place to win. Below Par.
Shane: That was one of your recent outing for a complete white-wash. Remember?
Ricky: Ok. Freea vudu.. But, the captain's seat is..
Shane: No problem Ricky. I have better personal work to do. Can we hang up?
Ricky: No wait. I can even promise you that. But what if, CA board or selectors have some problem?
Shane: I don't think they have any problem getting away with you !
Ricky: Oh, but Matty is a long time senior? We need to respect that.
Shane: So what, I was a senior when you were a captain. Did that bother you ever?
Ricky: Symo would be really angry.. You know about his temperament and all..
Shane: What role fisherman got to play here?
Ricky: Mike. Mr.Cricket. He has great standard. He long deserves something.
Shane: You should have thought about it lot before. Not now..
Ricky: But Clarkey is our promising hero. He is the future of CA. He is young and energetic.
Shane: Oh, that's something good that you have learnt to respect some youngsters now.
Ricky: Well, Shane. Lets make it for the spirit of it. You now stand a chance to become No.1 wicket taker in Tests yet again, good enough to surpass that wicked off-chucking eye popper from a Ravana territory.
Shane: Enough of these. I'm not one of those dumb media. I know you more than these words.
Ricky: Fine. What exactly is your ultimate demand for this game of cat and rat?
Shane: Your mount sized Ego!

Seadragon AJAX

2008-11-19T20:38:00.003+05:30

Whoa!! This is incredible, and its all Java Script. Seadragon team just pulled of a new tool that would make you embed a DeepZoomed image without a Silverlight viewer.

72 தானே, அதுக்குள்ள என்ன ஒய் அவசரம்?

2008-03-01T15:29:00.006+05:30

சாஹர நாள் தெரிஞ்சு போச்சு na, வாழர நாள் நரகம் ஆயிடும் !! சந்தோஷம் தாங்க முக்கியம் !! - Rajini on Sivaji

Tape Recorder la இருக்கற மாதிரி வாழ்க்கையிலும் ஒரு rewind button இருந்தா எவ்வளவு நல்லா இருக்கும். - Arjun on Mudhalvan

விட்டில் பூச்சி கூட சாஹரத்துக்கு முன்னாடி ஒரு வாட்டி பட்டுனு கொடுத்துட்டு தான் பா சாஹ போகுது.. நம்பெல்லாம் மனுஷங்கப்பா !! - Manivannan on Mudhalvan

இந்த யுத்ததுல யாருக்கோ ஆதாயம் இருக்கு. வளர்ந்த நாடுகள் யுத்தத்த நிறுத்திடாங்க, ஆனா வளர்ற நாடுகள் இன்னும் சண்டை போட்டுக்கிட்டு தான் இருக்காங்க. உலகத்துலயே சண்டைய விரும்பாத நாடு Japan, ஆனா அவங்க தான் நெறைய ஆயுதங்கள தயாறிக்கறாங்க. இதுக்கெல்லாம் ஒரு பதில் உங்க காலத்துலயாவது வரும். - Prakashraj to Keerthana on Kannathil Muthamittal

"இருங்க.. முழிச்சிட்டு இருக்க போரா, அப்புறம் மூஞ்சிய உம்முனு தூக்கி வெச்சுக்கும்."
"Hmm.. உங்கள்ள சில சமயம் யாரு அம்மா, யாரு பொண்ணுney வித்யாசம் தெரிய மாட்டேங்குது :) " - Simran and Madhavan on Kannathil..

தப்பு என்ன baniyan sizea small, largenu சொல்ல, எல்லாமே extra large தான் !! - Vikram on Anniyan

"ஏதோ French எல்லாம் படிச்சிருக்கியாமே, இந்த French Kiss na என்னன்னு சொல்லி கொடுக்க கூடாதா :) ? "
"சீ போடா !! " - Surya and Esha Deol on Aayutha Ezhuthu

இருக்கு !! எல்லா இடத்துலயும் லஞ்சம் இருக்கு. ஆனா மத்த எடத்துல எல்லாம் கடமைய செய்யாம இருக்கறதுக்கு தான் லஞ்சம், இங்க மட்டும் தான் கடமைய செய்யறதுக்கே லஞ்சம். - Kamal Hassan on Indian

"ஒரு சின்ன பூச்சிக்கு அடி பட்டாலே நீ தாங்க மாட்ட? சின்ன பசங்க, அதுவும் 30 பசங்க.. தப்பு இல்ல?"
"தப்பு தான்.. அறிவுக்கு தெரியுது ஆனா மனசுக்கு தெரியல"
"எனக்கு அறிவு, மனசு எல்லாம் ஒண்ணு தான்" - Kamal Haasan and Manisha on Indian

நீங்க செய்யற இந்த தீவிரவாதம்.., உங்க இஸ்லாம் ஒத்துக்குமா ? உங்க அல்லா ஒத்துப்பாரா? உங்க மனச தொட்டு சொல்லுங்க ? - Aravind Swamy on Roja

இதுலேர்ந்து என்ன தெரியுது.. ?!? இப்டி ஒரு CBI Investigationa ஏழாவது மாடில வெச்சு நடத்த கூடாது !! - Kamal Haasan on Vikram

Photo Collections

2007-12-25T21:21:00.001+05:30

Festive Time

2007-06-13T23:47:00.000+05:30

The entire Tamil Nadu is in a festive mood. And it will be festive mood all the way till the End of the Year. And I haven't recovered back from my prediction mood. So, here we go.

No official news or spoilers here.

1. It would be the highest grossing Indian film of all-time till date. The film would gross more than what is expected in all centres. There would be wide speculation on the numbers, but nobody will come to know how much were Rajinikanth and Shankar paid !! Incidentally, Shankar becomes the most hyped up directors of Tamil Cinema.

2. The story would be the old good(god) fights bad story. Most of the scenes would remind Mudhalvan and Anniyan. As for as the stunt scenes would go Shankar would have copied the remaining bits of 'The Matrix', which he failed to squeeze into Anniyan. Even though I don't expect a creative new story/screenplay there might be some element of total surprise the director would have reserved for the climax or the pre-climax (A return of the supposed to be extinct Shivaji, may be a double act type).

3. Every song would be picturized spending crores and crores of rupees. Art Direction and Cinematography will be top-notch. The film would be a visual extraveganza. Some dialogues would be amatuerish and Sujatha would disappoint his core fans big time. Viewers who enter with the mind-set of seeing an artistically superior and logical movie would complain of seeing a comic thriller.

4. Its no need to mention about the cast. All eyes and focus will be only on *The Man*, and he will set the screens on fire. Manish Malhotra would set a trend down south. Every scene will have no scarcity for Ssshtyle :) The villain would make a huge impression, and Vivek would be the only other person to get noticed.

1. The story would be unusual. My guess is a Sci-Fi. I'm personally expecting something on the lines of DNA computing, Cloning or Virtual Reality. There would be dialogue speaking Science, and in the process Kamal would fail to connect to the audiences of B & C Centers.

2. The BGM's will disappoint. Songs will not have variety. Most of them would be peppy and foot-tapping. Art Direction and Cinematography would be top-notch, but no extravegant. Story/Screenplay would be revolutionary. Sujatha will excel on bringing the scientific details to screen by his words, yet most of the audiences will struggle.

3. The Cast, is again an one man army (uh, should I say a 10 man army). Mallika Sherawat would enjoy a greater screen space than Asin and would have a tougher role to play (Ushh, Kisss... did I say anything)

4. Oscar Ravichandran will market the film like a genius. However there would be controversy surrounding the story. Enough politics and religious hands will play and Kamal will get bad press.

5. It would be awards galore all the way for the film. Mr. Hassan will win one more National Award this time for the best actor. This film would fare 90% chance of representing India at The Oscars, yet the film will *not* make even a finalist entry.

And thats my 2 cents. Remember, its just a prediction. I have just elaborated the words that describe these great men of Tamil Cinema. 'The Mass' and 'The Class'. Lets enjoy the fun !!!

Year 2007 Predictions

2007-04-04T15:45:00.000+05:30

Well, I know I’m timing it a bit late, actually a lot late :) Blame it on my laziness, carelessness or my busy schedule.. Whatever, I finally made it. I have heard people say ‘Better late than never’. So here are my bold predictions for this year. I’m no famous astrologer, nor do I know Business, Politics, Computers, Science or Sports properly. That should give you a clue of what am I going to talk about.

I actually started this by February end itself, but found time to complete only now. So while you read this, some of them may not be even future, but may sound as past :) To maintain originality I have left it all unedited. So for a complete experience I suggest you to close your eyes and go back in time for a while... Whoosshhhh !! Its, January 3rd 2007 !! Now open you eyes :)

Disclaimer : The views and opinions expressed here are all mine and does not by anyway represent the company I work for, the company I speak about, my friends, foes, relatives, adutha veetu (next house) dog or the edhir veetu (opposite house) figure !! With that, we are headed for the kick-off !!

1. The much-awaited product from Microsoft, Windows Vista will begin to create ripples worldwide. Supposed to ‘bring clarity to your life’, this version of Windows with its state of the art Aero Glass interface will penetrate its way to all the rooms in your household and workplace. Microsoft, through its partners will bundle Windows with every building that is newly constructed, and provides easy migration strategies for the earlier version Windows users. It also greatly improves developer productivity, as developers can seamlessly look into the adjacent cubicle monitor and their code snippets, as the new Windows have become really really transparent. Windows Vista will promise great entertainment for your money, with some of its features like Dream Scene (You can see what is happening on the roads and adjacent buildings through the Aero Glass), and no wonder every user will begin to say ‘wow’!! Very obviously, now Gates will be proud of Windows.

2. The ICC Cricket World Cup 2007 will be one of the most talked International sporting events in the history of world sports. Putting an end to every criticism, team India will manage a fantastic 2-wicket victory against the highly inexperienced Bermuda chasing a total of 47 in 49.3 overs at their league match. Coach Greg Chappell will say, their strategy has completely perplexed the Bermuda team and they’ll continue to throw surprises like this to all other teams. He will also mention that this win has given a lot of courage and confidence for the boys. In another league Australia will get all out for 911 runs in 46.2 overs against South Africa. At the end of first Innings Ricky Ponting will give a dejected press statement that it is a shame for them for not crossing the 1000 run mark. South African captain Greame Smith, who was weeping all this time while Ponting was speaking, will say ‘I’m sorry to say, but, we are giving a walk-over’. He pleads the ICC either to condemn team Australia unfit for playing cricket or better send them home now with the World Cup 2007. Every cricket-playing nation accepts this decision of giving Australia the World Cup directly, however the Indian Coach will not be satisfied with this. He already has devised a strategy to give Australia 1000 runs that would otherwise not happen if every team walks over.

3. Google, after acquiring You-Tube will look for a major growth in terms of Video and Video on-demand market. The sheer amount of Video data gets so large to manage, that they will run out of locations to have their Data Servers. Inspired by their own Google Mars project, and with the timely help of Douglas Adams, they will begin to set up their Data Centers at Mars. A state of the art Googleplex will be created at Mars, and a team of Computer Engineers, Physicists, Geologists, Archeologists, Paleontologists and even Novelists will visit the planet for the first time. Keeping into account - the difference in gravity, uneven nature of the surfaces, abundance of Nitrogen, frequent devastations caused by the Dinosaurs in the planet etc., a new technique will be found to counteract all these problems and Stanford computer scientists would finally fine tune it, to find that, Data Mining is 500% quicker in Mars compared to Earth. As a Phase 1 inception, all You Tube data will be moved to Mars. Even after calculating the round trip delay between Earth and Mars, search results and video streaming will appear relatively quicker. Google claims their Mars success as ‘The Red Wave’ and enters into anything and everything that is associated with the color ‘Red’.

4. The 2007 season of Formula-1 will start on a very dull note after the retirement of the seven-time World Champion Michael Schumacher. However, using his critical (you can read as crooked too) thinking power he tips the Ferrari management team that they can actually bag a deal with Google since they are ‘Red’. The deal will click, and Ferrari gets more funding for research. More than that, Google Analytics gets into the on-board computer chip of the new Ferrari. Apart from detecting what factors influence the outcome of the race and what can be automatically changed on the aerodynamics and mechatronics of the running Ferrari, it silently detects what is suspicious on the opponents system too. One day it would go on to detect that, Fernando Alonso who is frustrated with the McLaren’s performance would insist on running his engine on Donkey Power instead of Horse Power.

5. The cold war between India and Pakistan will never ease around. They will continue to fight neck to neck on Kashmir (obviously), Ammunitions, Missile testing and Space Research. And of course, they fight on Cricket too, but Greg Chappell has a special plan for that, that it won’t appear as a fight anymore. Backed up by a successful team of scientists and ultra-secretive operations India will dodge Pakistan by sending their first satellite to Mars. India’s Military and Government Organizations would fail to upgrade to Windows Vista owing to shortfall of money, and as a result Pakistan couldn’t look through the transparent windows!! The Union Minster for Information Technology and Communication will join hands in celebrating the success and officially announces that SUN Network televisions can now be viewed from Mars also. Unable to compete with Vijay TV on Tamil-dubbed English movies, SUN TV will send a team to Mars, to dub all videos on You-Tube to Tamil and arrange plans to broadcast it from Mars itself. However, they won’t air them on Saturday’s or Sunday’s instead they will be aired every Tuesday, as a token of respect to Mars.

6. George Bush, who never had a flair for Sports and Science, will be extremely unhappy on the way with which the year is progressing. To keep all his men busy and to turn the entire world’s attention on him he will be constantly looking for something to be done. One of his daughters, admired by the charm of Ricky Ponting, would shout on praise of his team’s terrific performance against the South Africans. ‘Nine-hundred and Eleven runs in less than 50 overs is amazing dad!! Your baseball is no equal to this wonderful game of cricket. You and your men will never grow up dad!!… Remember Nine-Hundred and Eleven Runs’. That last line was enough for him. ‘What? I’ll never grow up… She said that to me because some Australian cricket team could hit Nine-Hundred and Eleven.. Jesus, 911 they scored.. 9/11. This makes sense. It is a planned insult. Osama is a refuge in Australia now. I’m going to declare war on Australia’. This will be the time when the Australians would feel bad for not utilizing Greg Chappell, and Indians all over the world would cheer for Greg Chappell for saving their country from the hands of America.

7. It will visibly be the happiest year for the dying fans of Tamil Cinema. It will be the year when the biggest cinemas of two of their living legends are likely to happen. Rajini’s Shivaji and Kamal’s Dasaavadhaaram. As expected, on both the cases maddening rush will be found on all the theatres on where the film will be screened, but only on the first day. To everyone’s shock all the Cineplexes will be devoid of crowd from the second day. The reason being SUN TV will manage to air the movie on the same day of its release, using the loopholes on the constitution, that its broadcast from Mars cannot be influenced by the regulations of the Indian Government. There will be only one film, which will create history on theatres by running a record 50 days – Vijay T Rajendar’s Veerasaamy. As everyone knows, SUN TV would never want to lose their viewers by airing this movie and hence it will run on theatres. The most charming and intelligent man of the Tamil Cinema, Illaya Dhalapathi Vijay understands that, the films success was due to the magic word ‘V’ which appeared on both the film name and actor/director’s name. To follow suit, he announces his film, which would start with ‘V’ and appoints P. Vasu (to be displayed on the titles as Vasu. P) as the director, who in turn recommends Vijay Shanthi as the heroine. During the release of the film, the crowd would erupt on the intro scene of the police officer, bringing down the entire hall. The police officer would be Vijay Shanthi and the crowd has mistaken Vijay Shanthi for Vijay and vice-versa. The second intelligent man of the tamil filmdom will seek to re-release his film ‘Vallavan’ for the magic letter ‘V’ would create on the box-office now. To regain publicity for his old-flop movie he would approach the heroine of the movie to pose for an intimate kissing scene. The boldest women she is known to be, she issues a more daring and public statement to the press about her ex-hero, err.. I mean the ex-film hero, which would further damage the already heavily damaged name of him.

8. Real Estate over India, especially over Tamil Nadu will rise on an exponential rate that the State Government would decide to abandon courses involving Graph Sheets from school and college sylabus. Their intention would be to illiterate young people on Graphs, so that nobody in the future could complain on exponential increase, since none of them would know what an exponent is !! A 13 year old school kid from PSBB Chennai, completely pissed of by the abandonment of graph sheets on schools and colleges, would device a solution to the real estate crisis so that he can get back to his work on Graphs. Completely surprising, his formula for both residential and commercial areas would bring down the rates dramatically.

Cost of a Residential Apartment = (No. of Square Feet * [500 * (Total number of persons + 1) * (Total number of Mobile phones + 1)] ) / Number of proper roads in the avenue

Cost of a Commercial Complex = (No. of Square Feet * [1000 * Number of Employees * Total Number of Buses(if present) * Numer of overtime Hours]) / Number of company Holidays

9. Harry Potter and The Dash of Dash (Yeah, J.K Rowling would be reluctant to disclose any information about this book) , the seventh and final book on the series will make its way on to the book shelves all over the world. Touted to be the heavily gaurded and secretive book on Earth, it will draw so much crowd onto the book stores, that a 3-mile long queue would be standing over the night of its release at the book stores of America, which they have never witnessed even on a Thanks Giving Day. Around the same time, dejected Indian fans would kick their fists, but not on the table or the book, but over their TV Remote. This time again, SUN TV manages to telecast a 12 hour continuous mega-serial type of program covering the seventh book. They had all time on Earth, I'm sorry, all time on Mars - to read the book, design a screen play, arrange for cast and crew, shoot a 12 hour video and broadcast the same, and all this well before the book has hit the stores. Only after the Indo-Marso-UK agreement, the probe was organized to find the leak. To everyone's surprise it would be found that Rowling was using Windows Vista Ultimate on her living room. The Afghani man next door looked into almost each pages of her book through the Aero !! (For those of you who think too much on it, hold on.., she turned off Dream Scene !!) Rowling would announce in public that she would sue Microsoft for a Billion Dollar. The Scotland Yard would catch the Afghan 'red-handed' and Google would arrive just on time, hearing Red and Microsoft, to finance the law suit for Rowling. Microsoft sues Google for the leak has happened from Mars and since You-Tube was heavily used. Rowling goes baffled, and unable to think on what do to next simply eats Apple and announces that she would write an eighth volume, where she would bring all the dead characters back to life. Kids all over the world make advance booking for the 8th volume while the 7th volume would remain un-touched on the shelves.

10. Roby Van De Williams, an Indian born Netherland settled Chemistry Scientist, known at Tamil Nadu as Robert Velu, during his liesure trip to Chennai will find the tamilian soil having unique elements which reflect too much of 'Radio' Activity. He would observe the element closely and would identify different physical and chemical properties which are rare in any other elements of nature. They will be basically hot like a 'mirchi', and exhibits radio active behaviours only on day-light, i.e in the presence of Sun - 'sooriyan' in Tamil . While studying the crystaline nature of it, he will find that the crystals will align themselves on the 'World Space' in a 'Big' way compared with others. Also two isotopes are found available and he names them 'K' and 'L'. After thorough research, and strictly adhering to the standards of element naming, he names the element 'Thillalangadium'. Nationwide protest, which later turns Internationalwide will begin to happen, spearheaded by the super child who proposed the Real-Estate formula. The student federation would complain that, Scientists over the world are unnecessarily making baseless innovations which are damaging their brain cells. He submits a case study to the UN about the wastage of time, energy and money of every school grade students owing to the latest Pluto debacle. He claims the worldwide memory watage total as equivalent to 40 Tera Bytes, and puts forth a question that, 'Can the World afford to 40TB of Bad-Sector on the Studnets'? Red-Flags will be hoisted around every UN building marking their protest. While the TV crews would be waiting, awaiting for Google's entry anytime, Apple which has been silent all this year would make a dramatic entry signing the deal, by acquiring 'Thillalangadium' and making every student happy and putting them silent by presenting them an IPhone. Poor kids never know that the phone will not function outside the US !! Apple has been counting on FM Radio integration with the IPhone and the 'Thillalangadium' deal is all they have waited for the radio-activity to glow over their business. They rechristen 'Thillalangadium' to 'I-Thillalangadium' and to maintain anonymity and secrecy over their operation they would move over to Saturn, since Mircosoft already has a Jupiter connection.

Can you make others Live?

2007-02-28T23:49:00.000+05:30

And that, by doing a simple Search !!

Yes, you can easily reach millions of children with financial aid indirectly by searching at http://click4thecause.live.com/

For every search performed there between January 17 and March 31, 2007, Microsoft will make a contribution to ninemillion.org, a UN agency-led campaign providing education and sports programs for the nine million refugee youth around the world.

I know, Live is no-where getting near to Google Search as of now, but I’m going to give it a try for the whole of March and then comment on my observations. I’m bookmarking the page so that I can contribute my two cents atleast !!

Give it a try, and spread the word.

Cross posted at my other blog

Vayatherichal !!! (Stomach Burning)

2007-01-25T13:59:00.000+05:30

Some reasons, why you need to be on the US of A to feel proud of yourself !!

Fun on the Run !!

Eat, drink, dance and play !!

Yahoooooo !!!

2007-01-11T01:51:00.000+05:30

Yahoo's instant messenger for Windows Vista is coming soon!! It is truely bringing the 'wow' factor, Microsoft is expecting :) Check out more here.

Merry Christmas

2006-12-25T17:11:00.000+05:30

While I have been thinking of this over the past few months, I never found the time and energy to sit and do it. And Christmas vacation proved out to be a nice time to finish the job. Infact I never thought I'll present this to you as a Christmas Gift !!

Merry Christmas :)

Microsoft Robotics Studio

2006-12-16T23:16:00.000+05:30

If Robotics has impressed you ever, and have you been wondering why there isn't any tool available to make easy productivity on these lines - now, the answer is here. Microsoft has now announced its Robotics Studio 1.0 !!

To the extent I understood, Robotics Studio will be a new software development kit for the robotics community to program on a wide variety of hardware.

The letter from Tandy Trower, General Manager, Microsoft Robotics Group, reads : Microsoft Robotics Studio delivers in three areas of software:

A scalable, extensible runtime architecture that can span a wide variety of hardware and devices. The programming interface can be used to create applications to drive robots using 8-bit or 16-bit processors (from a connected PC) as well as 32-bit systems with multi-core processors; and devices from simple touch sensors to laser distance finding devices.
A set of useful tools that make programming and debugging robot applications scenarios easier. These include a high resolution visual simulation environment that integrates software physics supplied by the Ageia Technologies PhysX engine.
While Microsoft Robotics Studio can be used with programming languages such as those included in Microsoft Visual Studio and Microsoft Visual Studio Express, also included is a new visual programming language that enables the creation of applications using a simple drag-and-drop interface.
A set of useful technology libraries services to help developers get started with writing robot applications, and tutorials which illustrate the basics of how to get started in a variety of programming languages.

Seems pretty cool. Should have to wait and watch on how it evolves :)

Zune Debuts, Vista Ready, Office 2007 Complete

2006-11-15T11:58:00.000+05:30

The Redmond based Software Giant is all set to roll out some of its biggest product line-up !!

After keeping silent for a long long time, Microsoft is now ready to take on Apple with a toughest challenge. To me iPod is unbeatable and has already set a trend. We've gotto watch how much impression is Zune going to make !! But, they are out just on time to make business over the Christmas and ThanksGiving holiday season.

With almost similar pricing, feature sets and killer-looks the competetion looks very close. However I'm not convinced with the Zune's Portal.

Well, now the biggest news is out :) The much awaited OS from Microsoft which has been on development close to 5 years is all set to release. The Home Page has all the news you want to know. While the Internet is flooded with reviews after the RTM , I have been reading pretty cool reviews so far. Don't miss out Paul Thurrott's coverage on WinSuperSite !! We cannot ask for anything more comprehensive than that, and there is more to come :)

With enhanced security, superior performance, integrated Desktop Search, improved Speech Recognition, IE7 and WM11 bundled and a brand new UI and not to forget what you see - a cool new packaging, it all seem to rock the world completely.

And for the MS Office freaks, the official news is out. The launch date announcement will be out pretty soon and I hope it will join Vista on the Jan/Feb range.

On both Windows and Office front, they are going for an upgrade after a huge time and ofcourse with revolutionary changes. Its going to be an exciting time ahead !!

November 7th !! What else ??

2006-11-07T23:05:00.000+05:30

Flash Slideshow

Happy Birthday, to one of the finest cinematic talents of the World !!

Now, if you could name the movie in order.. well no gifts :), but it would just be a thrilling game. And if the movie name alone sounds just a kids-play for you, write his character name in the movie too :)

The fun is on. Start guessing...

Google Doodles !!

2006-10-21T10:12:00.000+05:30

Actually you guys would have noticed it a lot of times before, the Google Doodle that Google puts up on their home page on Holidays and other important events. Now sample these two, what they made earlier for - "The FIFA WorldCup' 06" and "American Independence Day' 03". (I'm breaking rules here.. they have mentioned not to use them anywhere else :)) You'll fall in love the moment you watch it!! Creativity at its best :)

Now the interesting thing is, Google has dis-associated itself ever from creating a Doodle when the Holiday has a religious relevance. They have verbally accepted it before. Infact you can never even see one for Christmas or Easter. But just now i saw them doing one, but still without breaking the rule!! See where it goes and tell me what does it strike you when you see it? What all can you infer and interpret?

The King Rules !!!

2006-10-10T00:25:00.000+05:30

While I never had the advantage to watch the decisive Japanese Grand Prix yesterday on a 'Set-Top' box, I settled to watch the live timing and update on the Internet right from the start of the race. I was affixed to my seat, staring at the 14 inch old monitor running a wide array of matrix of numbers. My eyes failed to move from the first row of the screen and my mind registering every millisecond that Micheal was clocking, and occassionaly looking at the second row to keep track of how the Renault champion is fighting back. It was when the unbelievable happened. The Seven time World Champion was suddenly dropping places. The side bar commentry flashed it as an "Engine Failure", which the World Champion has never faced with Ferrari since 2001. I couldn't believe my eyes. My heart skipped a couple of beats. I was almost in tears :((

But when I saw his press statement today, I was more than happy. Irrespective of whether he manages to win his eigth Driver's Championship title - He is the King and undoubtedly rules the world of Formula1. This is what exactly he said after yesterday's failure :

Michael Schumacher, Ferrari (DNF): “We are a great team. Our guys are the best and I have a great affection for everyone at Ferrari and am always more than satisfied in the way we work. Incidents like today’s can happen and they are part of racing. You win together but you also lose together. Today we did our best, I was leading the race and then my engine broke. That’s the simplest way to sum it up. That is Formula One. We can be proud of what we have achieved since Canada: we were twenty five points behind and no one could have thought we would be back in the fight for the championship, but we did it. Now we are nine points behind in the Constructors’ classification and we will do all we can to win this title in Brazil. As for the Drivers,’ it is lost. I don’t want to head off for a race, hoping that my rival has to retire. That is not the way in which I want to win the title.”

To be frank, I was mad, for that matter every Schumi fan on this world would have been mad in rage over Ferrai for failing at such a crucial time. So intururn I expected Schumi himself to corner the Team for the failure, as to how and what Fernando Alonso did Renault a couple of weeks back on China for deserting him mentally (Infact he accused the team for supporting his team-mate Fisichella on par with him). But it just didn't happen. Instead, He went one more step to console the entire Ferrari team and to praise and hug every individual personally. The Italian media concludes the entire event fantastically with a quote - "As the mechanics pack away the equipment, one of them stops as he watches Schumacher leave. And mutters: 'where would we find another guy like this?'"

He rocks and absolutely rules the Kingdom of Formula One forever for the undying spirit, passion and love he has for the sport. Hail the Champion !!

The King is Back !!

2006-09-26T21:51:00.000+05:30

Does that need any more words to explain !! ??

World Cup Fever !!

2006-06-23T21:48:00.000+05:30

Amazing this is!! Looking forward, I'll try to find more :)

It's 2-2 !!

2006-06-21T22:14:00.000+05:30

The current Indian News channels seem to have got the audience pulse correctly. While I couldn't resist sleeping (without watching the match) last night after a tired day, the England-Swedan match was chasing me even in my dreams. As the first job of the morning I switched on the TV to know the scores, and almost every news channel tickerd them in bold "It's 2-2" :) While we speak on this topic, let me remind you we are speaking totally outside the topic !!!

Well, the news is Microsoft is almost 2 down !! Robert Scoble, a most respected Microsoft Technical Evangelist and a highly popular MS blogger is quitting Microsoft to join a new start up company named PodTech.NET. Known to the blogging world as Scobleizer, his Blog is an Encyclopaedia for any technology enthusiast. Sample this - his own post on his decision. Must Read :)

Yes I know, you might have rightly got the second now. They will be two down by 2008. If you want the original story from Horse's mouth - here it is. I got the Scoble news only a day before Bill Gates, to be struck by a twin blow on back to back days :(

However they will begin to gear it up by stepping up Ray Ozzie and Craig Mundie up on their corporate ladder. So two up !!

Related Links - Channel9 Video Interview with BillG and SteveB & BillG's EMail to All Employees

Also, Special Thanks to Vadivel and Sriram :).

Talk of the Town

2006-05-31T16:46:00.000+05:30

Even George Bush and Tony Blair seem to apologize for their Iraqi war mistake, but the Indian HRD minister Mr. Arjun Singh is more arrogant on the decision he (err.. he didnt take it, the Parliament) has taken on the reservation issue. Shrikant terms his interview with CNN-IBN as "The most insane and pig-headed interview one can ever expect to read." While Keerthi sums up the entire issue brilliantly. Damn !! the vote bank politics.

IT pros have reason to rejoice. If you feel you are the next one to be targetted by the Indian Government for the reservation thingy to soon enter your zone also, the US of A is here to help you. They have approved to double the number of H1B Visas :) Complete news here.

Once more it is proved over expectation fails. As far as I have heard, the recently released Selvaraghavan directed Dhanush starrer Pudhupettai fails to make an impression. Haven't watched it still.. don't think will watch hereafter either. Will VV follow the same lines.. kadavuley !?!

After writing a short story on "The Mummy" in previous post, request is flowing to write another one or even if possible a sequel to it. So without hesitation here i go with a very very shortest story... "Mummy returns" :)

அன்னை ஓர் ஆலயம் - சிறுகதை

2006-05-15T09:52:00.000+05:30

"உலகத்தின் அனைத்து தாய்மார்களுக்கும் சமர்ப்பணம்"

நட்ட நடு இரவில் வீர்ர்ர்.. என்று அலறிய அழு குரலை கேட்டு திடுக்கிட்டு எழுந்தேன்.

எழுந்தவுடனேயே புரிந்தது, அது நடு இரவும் அல்ல அழு குரலும் அல்ல !!

குழந்தையின் சரிப்பு குரல். மைசூரிலிருந்து புறப்பட்ட ரயில் இந்நேரம் பெங்களூரை தாண்டியிருக்க வேண்டும். மணி 11க்குள் தான் இருக்க வேண்டும். ஆம் 10.50. மைசூரில் ரயில் ஏறிய பின்பு இருக்கையில் சாய்ந்து புத்தகம் படித்தவன், என்னையும் அரியாது தூங்கிவிட்டேன்.இன்னும் இரவு சாப்பாடு வேரு சாப்பிடவில்லை.

எதிரே இருந்த குழந்தை மீண்டும் சிரித்தது,களுக்கென்று. 1 வயதுக்குள் தான் இருக்க வேண்டும், cuteஆக சிரித்தது. உடன் இருந்தவள் தாயாக இருக்க வேண்டும், வேறு யாரும் உடன் இல்லை.பெங்களூரில் ஏரி இருந்திருப்பார்கள் என நினைத்தேன். குழந்தையை மடியில் வைத்திருந்தாள்.

குழந்தையின் பெயர் என்ன என்று கேட்டேன். ஹிந்தி மே போலோ என்றாள். என் ஹிந்தி அறியாமைக்காக என்னையே மனதுக்குள் திட்டிக் கொண்டேன். ஹிந்தி ஓரளவு புரிந்தது ஆனால் பேச வரவில்லை.

"What's the child name" என்றேன் அடுத்தாக.

"ஹிந்தி மே போலோ .."

ம்ம்ம்... "ஹிந்தி மாலும் நஹி.. Just தோடா தோடா மாலும் ஹை".

சிரித்தாள். மனதிர்க்குள் மீண்டும் திட்டிக் கொண்டேன். சே ஹிந்தி தப்பா பேசிட்டோமோ.. சிரிக்கறாளே ! அசட்டு சரிப்பு சிரித்தேன்.

பசித்தது .அம்மா கட்டி கொடுத்த புளியோதரயையும் chipsம் எடுத்து சாப்பிட தொடங்கினேன்.எதிரே இருந்த குழந்தை கையை நீட்டியது.. அங்கும் இங்கும் கை அசைத்தது, எட்டவில்லை. நிமிர்ந்து பார்த்து தாயை நோக்கி ஒரே ஒரு chips நீட்டினேன். அதை அவள் வாங்கி ஒரு நுனியை உடைத்து, சுவைத்து, அதன் மேல் உள்ள காரப் பொடியை உதிர்த்து, மீதியை சிரிது சிரிதாக உடைத்துக் குழந்தைக்கு கொடுத்தாள்.

குழந்தை மீண்டும் கையை நீட்டியது..நான் chipsஐ எடுத்து நீட்ட போக, வேண்டாம் என்று சைகை செய்தாள்.

கை கழுவி விட்டு வந்தேன். குழந்தை சிரித்து விளையாடிக்கொண்டிருந்தது. என்னை நோக்கி தாவியது, அவள் கொடுக்கவில்லை. அவளும் ஒற்றை கையில் குழந்தையை சமாளித்து உணவருந்தினாள்.இம்முறை அவள் கையிலிருந்து நெளிந்து மீள தவிக்கும் குழந்தையை பிடித்துக் கொண்டேன். அவளும் பிடி தளர்க்க, குழந்தை என்னிடம் வந்தது.

சற்று நேரம் என்னிடம் விளையாடியது. அவள் சாப்பிட்டு முடித்த பின்பும் என்னிடம் இருந்தது. சற்று நேரத்தில் அவளை நோக்கி பாய்ந்தது.

நான் உட்கார்ந்திருக்கும் சீட்டின் lower birth allot செய்யபட்டவர், யோவ் எழுந்திருயா என்ற முறையில் பார்த்தார். எனக்கு middle birth. ஏறி middleல் படுத்தேன். கண்கள் எதிர் lower birthஐ நோக்கின. இத்தனை இரவில் கை குழந்தையுடன் ஏன் தனியாக பயணம், மனதினுள் நினைத்தேன்? ஆயிரம் காரணங்கள் தோன்றின.

கவனத்தை கலைக்க வந்தார் ஒருவர்.

"Madam this is my seat".

அவள் பதில் கூறாது இருந்தாள். Ticketஐ அவளிடமிருந்து வாங்கி பார்த்தேன். விஷயம் புரிந்தது. அவளுக்கு எதிர் seat middle birth. சங்கடமும் புரிந்தது. குழந்தையுடன் தனியே உள்ளதால் lower birth prefer செய்வாள். புதிதாக வந்த நபரிடம் விஷயத்தை விளக்கினேன். தயக்கமில்லாமல் No Problem என்று சொல்லி middle birthல் படுத்து விட்டார்.

என்னை பார்த்து நன்றி என்ற அர்தத்தில் சிரித்தாள். Welcome என்ற அர்தத்தில் நானும் சிரித்தேன். தலையனையாக என் பையை வைத்து உறங்கலானேன்.

10 நமிடம் கழித்து கீழே பார்த்தேன். Rubber sheet போட்டு அதில் குழந்தையை விட்டு மீதி இடத்தில் அவளும் படு்த்துக்கொண்டு ஒரு கையை குழந்தையின் மேல் வைத்து மெதுவாக தட்டி கொண்டிருந்தாள். குழந்தை உறங்கிக்கொண்டிருந்தது. தாய்மையின் சிறப்பினை மனதால் வாழ்த்திக்கொண்டு நொடிப்பொழுதில் தூங்கிவிட்டேன், விடிந்தால் "அன்னையர் தினம்" என்பதையும் மறந்து.

காலை எழுந்ததும் முதல் அதிர்ச்சி காத்திருந்தது. குழந்தையும் இல்லை அவளும் இல்லை.

இரண்டாம் அதிர்ச்சி. என் சட்டை பையில் ஒரு லெட்டர், ஹிந்தி எழுத்துக்களுடன். ரயில் Basin Bridgeஐ அடைந்தது. எங்கே இறங்கியிருப்பாள்?

சென்னையில் இறங்கியதும் கௌதமிற்கு phone செய்தேன்."டேய் கௌதம் இப்பவே உங்க வீட்டிக்கு வரேண்டா.. விவரம் நேரில்". ஆம் என் நண்பர்களில் ஹிந்தி அதிகம் தெரிந்தது கௌதமிற்குதான்.

கௌதம் அப்படியே கடிதத்தை மொழி பெயர்த்தான்.

"அன்புள்ள சினேகிதருக்கு, ரயில் பயணத்தில் விடை பெறாமல் போனதற்காக வருந்துகிறேன். நீங்கள் ஆழ்ந்த உறக்கத்தில் இருந்தீர்கள். போரில் கணவனை இழந்த மனைவிக்கும் குழந்தைக்கும் நம் மக்களிடையே அனுதாபம் சற்று குறைவு தான். அத்தகைய தருணத்தில் உங்களை சந்தித்ததில் எனக்கு மிகையான சந்தோஷமே! நான் ஆவடியில் உள்ள ராணுவ குடியிரிப்பில் தங்க உள்ளேன். மீண்டும் ஒரு முறை உங்களை உங்களது மனைவி மக்களோடு சந்தித்தால் மகிழ்ச்சிக்குள்ளாவேன். ஒருவேளை சந்திக்காமல் போனால், உங்களுடன் விளையாடிய குழந்தை, Major Ashok Pratap Singhஆக வருங்காலத்தில் தன்னையும் என்னையும் ஞாபகமூட்டுவான். நன்றி."

அதிர்ந்து போனேன். என் அனைத்து மனக் கேள்விகளுக்கும் விடை இருந்தது. கௌதமிற்கு நடந்ததை விளக்கினேன். இன்று இருவரும் office leave போட்டு ஆவடி போகலாமென்று தீர்மானித்தோம்.

இதற்கிடையே மைசூர் phone செய்தேன். "Happy Mother's Day ma". சற்று நேரம் பேசிவிட்டு லீலாவிடம் phone கொடுக்கச் சொன்னேன்.

லீலா என் மனைவி. திருமணமாகி 3 வருடங்கள் ஆயிற்று, இன்னும் குழந்தை பேறு கிட்டவில்லை. என்னுடன் சென்னையில் இருந்தவள் இப்பொழுது அம்மாவிற்கு உடல் நிலை சரியில்லாததால் அங்கு உள்ளாள்.

லீலாவிடம் அனைத்தையும் சொன்னேன். முழுவதும் பொறுமையாக கேட்டு பதில் பேசினாள்."கஷ்டப்படராங்கன்னு குறிப்பிட்ட தொகை மட்டும் கொடுத்துட்டு வராதீங்க, பய்யனோட முழு படிப்பு செலவும் ஏத்துகற்தா சொல்லுங்க. நான் சென்னை வந்ததும் அவங்கள வந்து பாக்கரேன்னு சொல்லுங்க."

லீலாவின் தெளிவான பேச்சு என்னை கண்ணீரில் ஆழ்த்தியது.
"Happy Mother's Day" என்றேன்.

"எனக்கெதுக்குங்க"

"ஆங். இன்னிலேந்து உனக்கும் எனக்கும் promotion. Ashok Pratap சிங்கின் வளர்ப்பு தாய் தந்தையாக" என்றேன்.

சிரித்தாள்.

Destination Kochi

2006-05-11T16:43:00.000+05:30

Hmm.. 4 days of stay at Kochi isn't just enough to write all these things. So thanks for all the Google crawling :)

Kochi, the Queen of Arabian Sea and the Commercial Capital of Kerala, turned about to be much more better than what I initially expected to be. After a 4 day hurried visit and lots of heavy research on all the links, the above link got you to... here is a quick review on the city and some of its surroundings.

Disclaimer : Wrong Statistical Quotes/Data, Improper guidance, pixelated images and all the confusions are strictly not because of me. It's upto you to find who the real person is, to have already uploaded all of them. And if you are one of those persons.. wait.. wait.. plz.. why do you want to go legal?? lets talk (pesi theethukalaamey) !!

History

'Cochin' was supposed to be the original name until the Government decided to re-christen it to 'Kochi'. The origin of the names in both the cases has been confusing and troublesome, so lets get straight into it. Might have been from a Malayalam word 'Kochazhi' meaning 'Small Sea' or a 'Lagoon'. Might have been from Sanskrit word 'Go Shree' meaning 'Holy Cow'. Interestingly there is a Venkatesa Perumal Koil at Cochin, which I visited during this trip (one of the best temples I have ever been to, an off-beat style compared to the usual Kerala style temples) with an official URL www.gosripuram.org . This area within Cochin itself is called GoSripuram and remain housed by the Konkani speaking gowda Saraswat Brahmin community. More interestingly we can also derive this way - "Gomanthak", "Srimanth" and "Puram", which means the settlement (Puram) of the wealthy people (Srimanth) from Goa (Gomanthak). Another possibility can be from Chinese root - Kochi derived from the word Kaci meaning Harbour. The chinese influence is obvious by the vast amounts of 'Chinese fishing Nets' found here, the only other place this can be found outside China.

If you are already tired of these etymological roots, there is a Japan township in Hiroshima called Kochi. But I'm stopping here.

Cochin has a very well formed natural Harbour, on effect of a heavy flood that hit the city on 14th Century. The Arabs, British, Chinese, Dutch, Italians and Portugese have traded with Cochin before our independence. This enabled travellers like Vasco da Gama to visit this city. During the 16th century The Portuguese ruled Cochin. The Dutch invasion happened on 17th Century. Tippu Sultan bailed out Cochin from the Dutch, before the entire nation fell to the British Invadors. The English developed this into a major Harbour and created the Wellingdon Island. The Willingdon Island houses the Cochin Port and the Naval Airport. Even today Cochin has the closest parallel running Runway (Naval Airport's), Rail Track(Harbour Terminus, very scarcely used) and Roadway.

Geography

Situated on the Southwest Coast of India close to the Western Ghats, the city lies on the sea mouth of seven major rivers. The mainland Ernakulam, the Cochin Sea Port , the Fort Kochi and many other small places nearby (remember GoSripuram !?!.. similar other places like that) form the entire Kochi. Most of the city lies at the Sea level and total area includes 87.5 square km (approx. 14 times smaller than Chennai).

Knowing that you are getting impatient, I'm skipping the Physics, Chemistry and Biology of Cochin. You are asking Maths??... I always hate it.

City Infrastructure

The residential area of Kochi is concentrated in and around Ernakulam. Ernakulam is supposed to be the best cosmopoliton city of Kerala, outsmarting Trivandrum. You name it, you have it !! Sometimes you may even feel having certain facilities that can't be that much easily found in Chennai. The best example is the tall-rise buildings. Most of the residential complexes itself rise upto 15 to 17 storeys. (For real estate freaks, you get deluxe apartments starting from 13 lakhs at the heart of city).

The M.G.Road at Ernakulam, lives in par to our Mount Road. Reebok, Nike, Louis Philippe, Indian Terrain, John Players, Crocodile, Basics showrooms to Multi-storied Clothing malls, dozens of Jewellery Shop, Olympus to Kodak, Citibank, HDFC, HSBC, Standard Chartered, ICICI to Lord Krishna Bank, Emirates, Singapore and Malaysian Airlines, Srilankan Airlines, Oman Air to Jet and Paramount, an Air Hostess training institute... Shoppers paradise this road is :) The city also has a Taj and Le Meridian Hotel, in addition to Taj Malabar Beach Resort.

Transportation

Ernakulam has 2 railway station for convenience. Journey from Chennai Central will take approx 12 hours (Will prove to be very tedious if you don't book tickets well in advance. Ha Ha... I speak out of experience, RAC travel). Airport is way outside the city - 30kms. The state run public transports aren't recommended. Local buses within the city are fully private. They are good looking, except that none of them has route numbers. This will be a total let down if you don't know Malayalam. Don't even expect Hindi or English writings on the Bus. Autos are not that cheaper compared to other Keralite towns. But, certainly not as bad as Chennai :)

People

Very disciplined. They mind their own work, but will not hesitate to help if you ask them. Most of them understand Tamil but speak only in Malayalam. Even autowalas and bus conductors understand fair Tamil sustainable enough to manage. Its tough for you to identify their religion, as they seem to follow both Hinduism and Christianity. Can you believe if I say the 'Janda Melam' artists perform at the Church ?? They do.. and i watched it live. They don't fight for standing in long queues (at Temples), nobody comes and peeps inbetween. They are organized in their own way. Education is making the difference, coz Ernakulam was the first state to achieve 100% literacy within Kerala.

LifeStyle

The entire state follow the early rising habit. Temples open around 4.30 or 5 in the morning. (Guruvayoor temple opens at 2.30 itself). There is not much of fast-forward living. However traffic isn't that much leaner. Considering the way the city develops, and going by the current rate, traffic will get worst in 2 or 3 years unless they broaden the roads. Weather conditions are hot and humid, though not killers. We can survive an entire day even without the fan running (experienced because of a whole day power cut). Also they don't freak out heavily. Hotels and restaurants mostly looks deserted. After buying your Cloths/Jewels/anything, you realize you were the only one who stayed for more than an hour at the shop, and there's nobody around other than the shop-keepers. In one word - 'peaceful'.

Places of Interest

Temples, Temples and more Temples. Not just Ernakulam, all surrounding districts also have some famous temples. So I'm giving a separate section for this.

Backwaters - the sunset cruise is worth the money, but enjoyable may be once or twice when you spend time with family/friends.

Fort Kochi Beach - walk through the beach during sunset with the chinese fishing nets and sailing ships in the background. There are still Dutch/Portuguese style bungalows making the place even more enjoyable. Beach resorts are also available in plenty. This beach closely resembles the Pondichery beach, for the remains of foreign styled buildings and tourists and the rock lined sea coast. After eating groundnuts, taking a walk along the concrete platform I finally stood on the coast waiting for the waters of the Arabain Sea to touch my feet, for the second time in life :)

Chinese Fishing Nets - They are unique to Cochin, and unique to everyone outside China. But you have just got to watch it. There's nothing more.

There are couple of Palaces, lots of Churches and Backwaters. I didnt find time to check them out.

Temples

Being a Theist, Atheist or Agnostic has nothing to do with the temples of Kerala. More than the divinity and spirituality, there is something else that will make you always satisfied with temples of Kerala. The silence, the cleanliness, the atmosphere, the discipline and the tradition is what making it ultra special. Lakhs of rupees, marble flooring, imported Chandelier lights will not get nearer to this lifestyle, and thats were most of our Modern day temple fails. Stone flooring, Open spaces and natural lighting (agal vilakku with nei thiri) does the trick.

None of the temples collect even a single pie as entrance fee. No special darshan on money's sake. Everyone stands in the same queue. The system works as a system, without anyone breaking it. I salute.

4 days outside homeland, and it turned out to be 'memorable'. Certain deeds mentioned above made me dumb-struck. I was all planned to blast Chennai off once i step in here. The train arrived on time exactly, while the morning sun was rising. I took an auto to reach home. Cool air, traffic less road, slow life. This is how I want my Chennai to be always. 10 years of growing and all those learning, fun and experience I had during these days will not make me a traitor to my own city. Cool air, traffic less road, slow life again. This is how I want my Chennai to be always., I'm loving what I'm seeing in front of my eyes, I want this forever, I want to pause this frame and I pause.

Coming Soon...

2006-05-10T08:10:00.000+05:30

From the Sunset at Kochi to the Sunrise at Chennai, I've got a lot to write inbetween. Coming soon !!

Three Cheers to Lok Paritran !!

2006-05-02T23:24:00.000+05:30

They are campaigning full-swing and pretty much confident on Mylapore and T.Nagar. Prabu Karthik has a complete coverage here. Do read it completely. Cheers to Lok Paritran!!

Here is another write up on their party, I found today on the Web.

A glimpse of hope now has dawned on the horizon. “Lok Paritran” (or Emancipator of the Masses) is a new party that has been floated by ex-IITians, trying to make a difference. A set of educated (That would be an understatement) Indians, who could all have had a luxurious life at mansions in Hawaii or Silicon valley, have plunged into politics, with a vow for the betterment of society. Check out these guys

Santhanagopalan Vasudev (Chief Advisor)
B.S. (Physics) University of Missouri,Kansas, USA
MA(Economics) New York Univ, New York, USA

Tanmay Rajpurohit (National President)
B. Tech.(Aerospace Engg) IIT Bombay
MS(Aerospace Engg) Georgia Tech, Atlanta, USA
MA(Economics) New York Univ, New York, USA

Chandrashekhar (National General Secretary)
B. Tech. (Computer Science & Engg)IIT Kanpur

They are contesting elections in 7 constituencies in TamilNadu, against political heavyweights. I truly hope this guys can make the difference and it spreads like wild fire, all over the nation, much like how our freedom struggle started.
Check out the complete story here

Here is the final list of candidates from Lok Paritran along with their Name, Age and Constituency for the TN Elections.

Santhanagopalan Vasudevan - 28 - Mylapore
Elanthirumaran P - 38 - Chepauk
Ishrayel Maheshwar - 31 - Thousand Lights
Aravind Seshagiri - 32 - Thyagaraya Nagar
Prema Kannan - 56 - Villivakkam (Thiruvallur)
Vanchinarayanan - 27 - Mudukulathur (Ramanathapuram)
Rajamany - 56 - Anna Nagar

The profile of these candidates can be found in detail at http://www.lokparitran.org/Candidate%20list%20and%20profiles.doc. Spread the word guys :)

Election Fever

2006-04-23T15:42:00.000+05:30

With TN Elections fast approaching, there is an apparent election fever everywhere. Already rumors are floating that the ‘two’ Political Biggies are trying to rope in the ‘two’ Tamil Cinema Biggies, for an whopping amount of 100 crores. Hopefully rumors should remain as rumors!! But it is still surprising that nobody has approached me still with any offer though I’m demanding only 99 crores :-)

As I do every time, this time too I have realized the social responsibility I should show in this regard. Though there are some Aunty-Social elements... err.. I mean anti-social elements, which would jump against me, I’m pretty adamant this time to do the needy. With millions of visitors checking my blog everyday, and that too most of them in their young 20s, its my pleasure to teach them what Elections are all about.

So here we go with a detailed FAQ on Elections!!

What is an Election?

An election is an annual game conducted by the Election Commission to identify individual talents in the field of Goli, Gilli, Kabadi and VettuKuthu. However, educated states like Kerala have decided to include Boxing and Karate nowadays.

Wow. So elections are conducted every year?

Not necessarily. They are also just another huge game like The Olympics, Cricket World Cup or the FIFA World Cup. So they are supposed to be conducted once in 4 years. However due to the huge popularity and high demand amidst the public nowadays they happen every year. In fact, some states like Bihar and Gujarat, which has huge fans following, conduct this game for twice or thrice a year.

What is a Political Party?

You know parties are always meant for fun. So Political Party is yet another party on the likes of ‘Birthday Party’, ‘Bachelor’s Party’ and ‘Drinks Party’. However don’t ever try to link this with Boston Tea Party.

Who is a candidate?

Well, as the name implies they come direct from School. They have IQ levels matching 1st or 2nd class municipal school students. English medium is a strict no-no.

Is there any eligibility for the candidature?

Though the EC (Election Commission) hasn’t fixed any norms for that, everybody has a general assumption with that. 25 Years of schooling, 10 Years of College, 7-8 years of Screen Presence (Regional language Cinema only) and 8-9 years of Jail Presence.

How about the age limit restriction?

The EC has never enforced any age limitations or restrictions. However when you look at the earlier question you’ll come to know you’ll become a politician only after age 50.

Interesting it is. How do I apply to join a party?

Well, each party has a principle they claim they have. You can find out each parties principle on the Internet even by making a simple search. But, Politicians and future politicians are strictly advised not to use Internet. So better find information manually visiting their offices.

I have found all the information, but I don’t know which party to join?

The rule is very simple. Research has proved over time that, the more the Party’s principle differ from your own, you stand a chance to become a successful politician.

You have raised all my interest. I want to start a new party. What do I do?

No don’t get excited. Starting a party is not as simple as you think. You have to find extremely talented candidates for the posts of President, Treasurer, Secretary, Advisor and PRO. And the most important thing is none of them should have a common interest.

I’m sure I’ll start a party. Is there any hard and fast rule for naming a party?

As far as Tamil Nadu is concerned, there is a universal rule that every party name should end only with MK, standing for ‘Munnetra Kazhagam’ in Tamil. But owing to the huge dispute in the pronouncement of letters ‘zha’ and ‘la’ in Tamil, all parties have now finally accepted to write it as ‘Munnetra Kalagam’ in English.

Can you suggest some name for my party?

Sure. All three-letter names starting from AMK to ZMK has already been taken. Some four-letter names are available but you need to extremely research on it and try various Permutation and Combinations to find out. I know these terms sounds alien to future politician like you. It applies to the people at the EC too. So better choose a name like ABCDMK or XYZMK.

No parties, no candidature. I’m a common man. Why should I vote?

These questions are tough to explain without examples. Let me say this... I’m an ardent fan of Sourav Ganguly and I want him to play for the Indian Cricket team. But, the Cricket Selectors never asked for my suggestion. But not in this game. You have a choice to select which players you want to see playing daily in the Assembly. Now say, you want to vote right?

What is the need for Election?

1-day Holiday.

What is this Ballot Paper?

They are just another paper like “The Deccan Chronicle” and “Tamil Murasu”. You can even compare this to Yellow pages directory. There will be huge advertisements and information on where you can purchase Mangoes, Lotus flower, Top (Bambaram in Tamil) etc.

But now I heard we have got Electronic voting machines replacing papers.

Yes, you are right. But so what, the purpose is same... you purchase Mangoes and Flowers electronically.

Can I openly disclose to public whom I have voted for?

Though not recommended you can always do. You will by default enter for the “Indian Bravery Awards” nomination, if at all you remain alive.

I already know all these things. Can you tell me something else useful?

Great. You should be a genius to know these things. Still, I have a suggestion. If you look at the top right corner of this window, there will be a small ‘X’ button. Move your mouse and click there once.

I’m a total follower of the current ruling party. However the opposition has used a glamorous Heroine to contest in my area, who is also my favorite. Can you advise?

Well, this is a tough decision to make. But personally I will *not* vote for the Heroine had I been there in the same situation. You see, Cinema is a serious thing but Politics and Elections are just a game. Also the current 50ish mock Hero will find it tough without this Heroine. Producers may lose all their money. Let her show her talent in Cinema alone.

I want to become the CM. I look dark, ugly and stout. My eyes are always red, as most of the time I’m angry with Kashmir terrorists and rest of the time I’m heavily drunk. Will people hate me?

Not at all. People never hate politicians. From the details I can also infer you will be from a Cinema background. Don’t confuse your mind on the red-eye thing. The success mantra is to wear a ‘black’ glass. To suit your style you may wear a black ‘Ray-ban’ cooler.

With this most of the FAQs are covered. It is not as tough as you think to answer these questions. I will also teach you the Thumb-Rule to deal with other questions you have in your mind, which I haven’t answered.

Don’t use you Common Sense when it comes to Politics. You’ll always be right !

Here and There...

2006-04-15T23:18:00.000+05:30

Lotsa things happened the nice way today. I'm in a happy mood. Result... I did a post without any reason or topic.

If in case you want to know why I'm so happy..continue reading or else skip this paragraph!! Obviously one good reason is Indians have won again against England. Second, my CD Writer suddenly started working and my dead comp ran faster than usual :) . Tirelessy I burnt some 12 CDs. And the most happiest thing is, I found both the gifts my friends gave me on my b'day, which I misplaced somewhere - extremely satisfied. Plus, my sister and cousin sister are singing today at Tyaagaraja Aradhana Festival, Cleveland. And many more trivial things to add to the list.

Coming to the point, as against the 6 constituencies the Lok Paritrans were about to contest earlier within the Chennai City.. it has now increased to 8. They have got a nice coverage today on "The Hindu - Metro Plus". They look good and also speak good. Those who have missed the original interview can check it out here

Source : The Hindu

No doubt, I have reused the photo form The Hindu. But for a purpose. Now, look at the photo below. Does it strike some chord ? I'm sorry, we got ourselves photographed almost 2 months back :)

Coming to another point, the Aanjaneya Swamy temple, at Nanganallur celebrated the end of day celebrations of the Sri Raama Navami today. There was a special 'Perumal Purapaadu' arranged for the 'Utsava Moorthi'. Though at times I have felt agnostic, I can't even move my eyes out of the Lord today. Very well decorated. Lord Sri Rama & Co has always attracted my special attention.

Coming to the final point, guys and gals who are totally bored with the existing Coffee Shop outlets in and around Chennai, has a reason to cherish now. Though I have not visited this place, have seen it being reviewed on SS Music. So if you are tired of Coffee Day, visit Coffee Night. Hullo this is not a mokkai. Check out

Free Food :-)

2006-04-11T22:19:00.000+05:30

For those of you who were thinking there exists some relationship between this post and the earlier one or the one before that, I'm sorry - You've got to check your diet :)

Totally pissed of with my current PC I have at home, I have never missed any occassion to have my hands on my father's Laptop. One fine morning I played too much with it and got my hands burnt, while digging around the Networking part of it. As anybody would do, and as exactly how you expected me to do... I turned it off immediately and silently left the place.

The Shock came the next day. I sat down that night to browse. As soon as the OS booted, a balloon appeared saying "Wireless Network Detected". Without hesitation I clicked on the baloon and saw a screen like this.

My eyes can't read anything apart from the "Connect" button. I never realized what happened after that. Eventhough my brain gave some order to read what the dialog says, my right hand gripped the mouse and moved by itself towards the 'Connect' button. (If you are wondering what my left hand did - it pressed the 'PrintScreen' button.) Now, the dialog disappeared... all, my eyes could read was another balloon which reads "Wireless Network Connected" !

Connection was just brilliant. Better effect than what my usual DataOne Broadband gives me. But people never get satisfied unless some Benchmarks prove it, and I'm no wonder an exception. Bandwidthplace came to my help with their SpeedTest. Oh! Man, I had the second shock of the day !

I know it may be too much hype.. but considering the fact this is free Internet and that too wireless :) , I have nothing to complain. The Notebook has 10/100 Mbps Wireless LAN support, but the fact that gave me two shocks is - it is behaving as though I'm in a hot-spot. I have no clue about who the ISP is and how and where do I get the signal from ? No Usernames... No Passwords... I login by a single-click. I went to bed happily. I never know, that the biggest shock is still pending !

Next day. After coming back home from work and after the dinner I silently switched it on. The Balloon appeared, but read "Wireless Network *not* Detected". I found the connection unreliable. 99% of the times, it doesn't connect... but 1% always give me hope. Even till date I can't figure out what is happening, but suddenly, luckily, sometimes the magic happens !!

Dinner @ Taj

2006-04-08T21:36:00.001+05:30

It was a pleasent Saturday evening. Special plans were being made to arrange one of the Best Dinners of all time. S was running busy for the 'cake'. Another S was assisting B over the kitchen with ample support from V. While the other V was making special arrangements over the look and feel of the place, the ambience etc.

My cell phone rang. (Tring Tring..). I picked immediately. S was holding the other end.

S : Hey, I want you to be here as quick as possible.

Me : Okay..45 mins. My travel to that place will take that time. Hmm..Will somebody pick me up at the station ?

S : (After a pause, and some low voice discussion) Fine. V will be there. C u soon (The call ended, before even i could ask how is it going !)

I was 10 mins late than promised. V was exact on time to pick me up. The moment I stepped in, I realized things were being done above expectations !! These were some of the samples I saw..

Both the S's now appeared for a moment amidst their busy work and excalimed :

"We believe, we may run short of time. Just sync up with V for your work and make it fast".

Me : Okay will do. But..but..the Audio ?

(Both of them replied) : All set to rock :) ! We finalized what u said.

Me : Hmm. good. Thanks :)

Myself and V now started working on the most interesting part. The entire party is set to happen on candle lights. We decorated the place with candle stands on equal intervals. Some of them hanging out with whatever support available. Half an hour passed. We switched off all artificial lights and lit the candles alone for a demo-run. Wow !! Everybody screamed in unison. We lit only 1/3rd of the existing candles, being a demo. Certainly the whole lighting will be lot better. Everybody seems convinced.

We called the special guests of the evening on their mobile. They will reach on 15 more mins. Took rest for 5 mins, and now started lighting all the candles. Good Heavens !. It looked extra-ordinary. With everything set, we turned on all artificial lights back again, so that the guests won't have a clue when they see from outside.

2 mins passed. The car arrived. The 'Special Guests' got down. B and V were inviting them. Hand-shakes exchanged. Just when they were about to enter, everyone did what we are supposed to do. S turned off the corridor and the entryway lights. I put off the party hall lights. Other S turned on the Audio System which will start in a second or two.

The Guests were confused for a moment when they stepped in. The entire place suddenly shimmered with natural candle lights. They were surprised with the change, and a sudden cake that appeared in front of them. Just as they begin to realize what was happening, the song played "Endrendrum punnagai..Mudivilaa punnagai"

They cut the special home made cake. (Oh! ennuyireay, oh oh ! ennuyireay). Huge claps turned the whole place upside down !

Dinner followed after some talking. From the Soups to Icecreams everything was served with choices. From Tomato/Veg Clear Soup to Strawberry/ButterScotch Icecreams to be specific.

S and S made the day. They are the daughters of B and V (the V who did candle decorations). B and V are my chithi and chitappa. The other V is S's friend.

For those who are still trying to find where it happened and who the 'Special Guests' are... very simple, read my previous post :)

Life is Hectic !

2006-03-27T14:07:00.000+05:30

Yeah, Life is so hectic, especially over the last weekend..to the extent I had my breakfast, lunch, dinner at 3 different parts of the city. However still, I managed to remain vetti. :)

The reason behind, after sis wedding there were offers from all close relatives for the sambandhi virundhu. Along with ponnu, mappilai and their parents everyone invited mee too...

Saturday morning I was in T.Nagar at the mappillai house for the eatables. Evening at my grandma's house at Nanganallur for tea/snacks. Dinner at Chrompet at my chithappa's place. Heavenly food everywhere. Came back home damn tired.

After a good night sleep, lunch at my athai's house on Sunday, again at Nanganallur. Very heavy meal, i never even wanted a tea/coffee for the evening. Killed time...roamed around.

Back to home for dinner.Zzzzzzzzzz..

Oh! Monday again .

Monday Morning

2006-03-13T11:04:00.000+05:30

After a tired weekend, got up unusually earlier (tat was 8.30AM) than a usual Monday morning. I could still feel the tiredness in me, but slowly managed to got up and settle down.

Gotta reach to office earlier, to check out the feedback after the work delivery which happened on Friday. After the huge shock of seeing the SA-Aus match result on the Newspaper, I found myself preparing for the office slower than usual. This is the first time in life, I'm feeling like bunking office and sleep the whole day or better watch the India-England match. Ohh!

Within an hour or so, I was rushing to the railway station to catch the local EMU train to office.While climbing the stairs i could very well see that i have missed my usual 9.50 train, just moving out.Next train in 10 mins...but...I have to get my season ticket before that.

Huge queue on the counter :( painfully long to the legs..esp. I'm standing on sixth in line, when the announcement came, "Next train to Chennai Beach will arrive shortly". I know it would usually take 10 to 12 more mins after that first announcement. However still impatient I was moving zig-zag, jumping up and trying all possible ways to peep into the counter while that guy was taking undoubtedly long time to issue even a single seaon ticket.

9,8,7...4 mins still for the train to come, by my guess. I'm standing 3rd in the line now, thanks to the opening of the adjacent ticket counter. However by this time I have found the reason for the delay - even season ticket issuing has now been computerized. Earlier the guy at the counter would take a standard post card like thing (standard template for every other station along with the rates imprinted), mark the validity period and may sometime write down the ticket holder's name. Otherwise we write it down ourself. Less than a minute job. Blindingly fast !! Now i could see him searching and typing something.

I could see the train approaching. 2 more mins it will enter the station. The guy before me is done. I'm giving the amount now. "First Class - Quarterly to Kodambakkam, quick sir". He starred at me..no reply. I know for sure that if i miss this train, 10.20 is the next one. Worser than that is the pain of missing a train narrowly. "God damn!..won't u do that quicker ?"

He was searching for keys, almost 30 secs before he keys in the current and the expiry date. Starting station, Destination.. "K..O..D..A..M..B..A..K..K..A..M". Oh!, my mom types faster than that. Few more entries, god knows what he did. The train is already on platform."Man, I'm missing this train".
"Sriram is your name Sir?". "enna kodumai da"... I corrected, and worser than that he wanted me to spell my name. He finally pressed a button and the printer made a hissing sound. Afterall, the printer was faster than I expected.

The ticket is now a small chit, very similar to how the Long running trains issue on online reservation. But why for season tickets? Now the TTE is sure to take more time checking for the right tickets on the crowded mornings. Earlier there was clear difference between the Second Class and First Class tickets, with the former in Yellow color and the later in Green. Vat an improvement in quality and speed. Laloo prasad Yaadav ki Jai..!

I turned back, hearing the gaurd signalling a whistle. Luckily i'm exactly front of the First Class compartment and the train just about to move. Can I make it?? A voice disturbed. "Here is your change sir", came a hand along with the small chit. I half- handedly gripped the ticket and the change. Come on rush..you can do it.

Just before seconds i gripped my ticket and moved out of the queue, i heard the announcement "Next train to Tambaram will arrive shortly", and the guy who was standing next to me on the line till now was shouting at the counter.."Sir seekiram, Oru Sanatorium Monthly". No reply as usual, or probably I was already on the train and heard nothing else of their conversation.

Love !

2006-03-09T23:58:00.000+05:30

"ThupAki matrum thottAvai thAn KAdhalithAn
endrAlum kAki sattayai thAn kaipidithAn

than sAvai sattai payil vaithu engeyum selginrAn ..." rendered brilliantly by Devan and Tippu.

"ulagathin kadaisi nAL
indru thAno enbadhu pol
pesi pesi thErtha pinnum
ethO ondru kuraiyudhey

uLey oru chinnan chiru
maragadha mAtram vanthu
kuru kuru minnal ena
kurukkey Oduthey ..." perfectly rendered by Hariharan.

"poginRen ena nEe
pala nOoru muRaigal
vidai petrum pogAmal iruppAy

sari endra sari endru
unai poga solven
kadhavoram nAnum nirka sirippAy ... " on the typical Bombay Jayashree style !!

Yeah, as you rightly guessed, these are from the latest Vettaiyaadu Vilaiyaadu album. 3 Random quotes from 3 different songs of the album. Overall, on the intial hearing doesn't sound as good like Minnale or Kaakha Kaakha but certainly set to rock over time. Gautham-HJ-Thamarai is proving themself to be a hell of a Team !! Good Luck Team :)

Over the confusingly unrelated title, the songs clearly indicate that the story revolves around a honest cop's love for his profession and a parallel pleasent love story. Guessing atleast Jyothika wont die this time. Fingers crossed !

Vrrr..rr...Vrroommmmmmm

2006-03-09T00:11:00.000+05:30

6 Posts, 11 Comments, 40 0dd hits. And it has been more than 1.5 years since. Despite all the big fight with the WebMaster, the blog URL is obsolete now. Not to be outdone, this time with more power and energy.Vvrrrooommmmmmmmmm !!!

Blogging Reloaded :-)