Indian Modia

So much news about Narendra Modi these days , I doubt whether its Indian Media or Indian Modia !
Newsmaker of the month is definitely Modi. Whatever he does , whatever he utters is making news these days. The media is taking on the man by all means. It seems its an election between media (both TV and print) and Narendra Modi. Who will triumph at the end will be known once the results of Gujarat Elections are out.
Till then all the best Narendra "Bhai" Modi and Indian Media !!

A movie about you

Happened to watch "Evano Oruvan" last Saturday. After reading the reviews I went with an expectation that I am going to see a different movie.

The movie starts with a brief overview of a normal middle-class person's daily life. Sridhar Vasudevan(Madhavan) is a guy who works for a private bank and his wife Vatsala(Sangeetha) is a house wife. They have 2 kids.They live a normal life at Nanganallur, Chennai. Sridhar is a normal middle class guy who fights for day to day living.He sees lots of happening in the society which people take it for granted.
Incidents like a shop keeper charging 2 rupees extra for coke, a road side shop keeper dumping things near hospital, a bike parked in no parking area, a water tanker guy asking 100 rupees extra to give water. Madhavan asks question to each and everyone of them in a violent way.

How he transforms back to a normal guy and being treated as a fool by the society forms the rest of the story.

The way Madhavan deals with problem is what a normal guy would do. Its very natural.

Madhavan fits the role of Sridhar Vasudevan as a tee. He hasn't over (re)acted in any of the scene which is good.He is ably supported by Sangeetha and Seeman. Everyone in the film has done their job with perfection.

This movie is about you and me who sees atrocities in society day in and day out. We generally satisfy ourselves with whatever we get and that's what forms the theme of the movie.

No songs, No dance,No heroism, No fight sequence, No villain, No romance. Even if the movie has so many "No" I would rate this as a "Yes" movie .

Ps: Those who want entertainment can ignore this movie . Its not for you.

...Of the year 2K7

End of the year will always spur up polls across television channels, web sites on choosing news maker of the year, song of the year, movie of the year etc., etc.,
But why all these fuss at the end of the year. Its like appraisal happening at the end of the year for guys working in private sectors. Media is appraising the celebrities. Who made the news throughout the year. Which movie is the best , which song is the best so on and so forth.
But as an individual what good you did in the year, What bad you did in the year. Who is appraising that ? where will I get that report card from ? You might tell me that you have to appraise yourself and you have to rate yourself.
As an individual I always put high rating for myself. I want someone to do that. According to Hindu Mythology "Chitraguptan" in heaven is having count of all your good deeds and bad deeds. If he is having I would like to have a look at my page in his Y2k7 diary :)

Blog headed

People might have heard about "block" in the heart, I have something called "blog" in my head.
After I started writing blogs, everything I see , everything I read I am trying to create blog out of it.
Is this a syndrome that every blog writer faces ? Every time I travel in train , every time I am alone at home, walk alone, sitting inside the loo , I think about writing about something .
Hope it subsides as time flies by :)

Is this Independence ??

Happened to read the latest article in NewYorkTimes
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/23/world/asia/23india.html?_r=1&oref=slogin .
The article talks about new found Independence in Indian Women because of Career opportunity.
Its a wonderful article to tell it to the west that Indian women are no longer conservative. In fact west already know it based on their experiences like Indra Nooyi being CEO of Pepsi. Women empowerment is way ahead in US compared to India, We are slowly catching up. At least in Urban India women are more Independent, bold and powerful compared to villages.
I find lots of managers here in client side who are women and doing a wonderful job. Its very large in number compared to number of managers in India. The new found independence as discussed in that article will at least help in bridging the gap.
Having said that, at the end of the article one girl has told the author that she is living freely in Bangalore. Here, her boyfriend can come and go without anyone asking questions. That's what is Independence projected by the west. Does it apply to our culture our tradition? Good question.
The Girl at the end confesses that she broke away from family and married her boyfriend. This is what is called Independence by the west. Proof that we are getting westernized in every sector and soon there is going to be no difference between us and US .
Where are we going ?

AnotherTerribleMovie (ATM)

Saw Vijay's AzhagiyaTamilMagan(ATM) Yesterday . The most hyped Diwali release.
The movie starts with Illaya,Iniya,Idhaya Thalapathy DR.Vijay nadikum... In this movie Vijay has become brand ambassdor of another forgotten sport. Running race :) Heard he is going to endorse goligundu, gilli thanda, pattam viduthal in his forthcoming movies .
Intro song over..Next fight. After that mokkai by Santhanam in the name of comedy (Hard to see Santhanam act with Vijay after making so much fun of him in Lollu sabha.. After all its his career making decision) . Santhanam is slowly becoming a repetitive material ..Best of luck Santhanam, try something different.
Vijay has tried a different formula in this movie rather than his usual remake stuff. Great. Kudos to him. But the director was unable to Carry forward a nice theme. Vijay has ExtraSensitivePerception(ESP). He foresees death of his neighbour little girl. Tries to save her but in vain. Then foresees the death of his father , somehow saves him. Then foresees his lady love getting stabbed by him . Confused by it he runs away from his lady love.
Lady love played by "Shivaji" fame Shreya. She has tried to act , nice attempt.
Vijay lands up in Mumbai where he sees his villain .Another vijay. After fight,dance,fight,comedy, song,fight how good vijay unites with Shreya is the story.
Though the movie is different from a usual vijay movie. It lacks the flow. You tend to look at your watch many times throughout the movie .
There is one visible flaw in the movie, when one guy invites Vijay by telling his name and ends up asking him who are you ?
Positives

1. Something different from Vijay
2. Songs

Negatives

1. Screenplay,direction
2. Hard to differentiate b/w villain and Hero (both look wise, acting wise )
3. Comedy
4. BGM (ARR in Shivaji hangover)

Overall ATM is AnotherTerribleMovie :)

Ps: This is my personal view and I am not Rajeev Masand/Raja Sen kind of reviewer.

Diwali2.0

Diwali2.0 , the next generation of Diwali celebration.

• No more firecracker bursting like crazy
• No more visits to relatives houses
• Sit through out the day at home watching "Deepavali sirappu nigazhchigal"(Diwali special programs in TV)
  
• No more home made sweet,Kaaram
• Get sweets from the shop

The old and gold way of celebrations are no more here :(

Wishing you happy and prosperous Diwali 2007

Identity Crisis

"Who am I ? ". Nope I am not talking about Jackie Chan movie or a Unix command. Its the question that many kids ask when they grow up. When we were born we are born with only one identity . An identity that defines you as a boy or as a girl. But when we grow up , the society , the family gives you an identity. You are a Tamil Iyengar,You are a Malayali christian, You are a Gujarati Muslim etc.,
People then grow up with their own identity until they reach the school/college. Their friends , their passion slowly changes their identity. But their base identity is there which is hidden inside.They mingle with people and get to know about other culture, other religion. Its very good to know all about others. But when it comes to marriage one has to be choosy.
But when it comes to marriage one has to be choosy. Marriage is not the end of bachelorhood. Its the beginning of new life for you and your partner. You are becoming more responsible. You are licensed to produce your next generation. You marry someone from your own religion you inculcate your identity to the new-born. He will grow up with a defined identity. But when you marry someone out of your own religion then your child will fall into a huge crisis when he/she grows up.
That's what we call "Identity Crisis". The child grow up and marry someone who belongs to a different religion/region/culture your child is going to inculcate "identity crisis" to your grand children. What will happen to five generations down the line. There will be no religion,region, culture .
You may tell its good , there won't be any religion,region,caste,culture based fight. Its fantastic. The world will be peaceful. Everyone is neutral.
But its pretty bad in other sense. You have destroyed one religion. you have destroyed one culture. The Generation next will have no idea about your culture, your religion. "Who am I ?" will be a FAQ.
PS: Its purely my opinion and I am not against inter-caste, inter-regional marriages.No personal experience is reflected over here.

Train to Embarcadero

The alarm rings .. Its 7 A.M P.S.T .. After performing all morning duties, my walk to the Fremont station starts. The target..Catching 8.36 A.M train.. "Train to San Francisco Daly city in 3 minute" said the station announcement system. Myself and my roommate walked fast towards the Fremont station. After pushing in and getting out our train tickets , we went ahead and caught the escalator. Huh at last caught you.. We are in the BART, the train system that is the heart of bay area.
In US traveling in train itself is a great experience. They maintain punctuality like anything. People follow queue in boarding a train. The seats, automatic gates, the cleanliness its all in place.
They announce before every station arrives. They tell when the gate gets opened. They announce where and how to reach nearest airport from the station. They announce delays if at all something is there. They announce the destination every time the gate opens and people board the train.
After getting a comfortable seat , I looked around and observed people. (he he.. I cannot put more decent than this). You get to see variety of people in the train. Old people, young people, kids. Asian,American, Afro American, Mexican. My observation goes into analyzing various men and women from various countries. Generally the analysis will be far inclined towards the opposite sex.
Be it American, Be it Mexican, Be it Chinese, Be it Indian , all young girls put the makeup in train. Initially when they board the train they look pretty normal. They open a bag and put eyeliner, lipstick. For eyelids they do 4 to 5 set of coating. Even for our house wall I think we did 2 coating only :)
After putting the coating they press the eyelids with some tool. Its like pressing our clothes. Pressing the eyelids :) After that lipstick. After that use some brush to put powder in cheek.That's it. All set to go to office.
Beyond this observation, see how people from various country behave. Even after seeing all these I get bored and doze off in the 5th station. 5 stations to Embarcadero, my destination.
Embarcadero station . I am out.

Spelling it out

Can you please spell out your first name sir ? Its "Manivannan " . I started spelling it out "M", "A" the voice from the other end said I repeat "M" , "E". I said its not "E" its "A" . "A" as in "Apple". The common issue in US is spelling out our Indian names. Especially the south Indian last name which is really huge. I have often struggled for finding out equivalent . I used to say "I" as in "India", "N" as in "Nancy". Sometimes I blabber something.
Why Americans spell it differently. Why they have different accent ? They tell words clearly. Like multinational .Indians pronounce it "Multenational", they do it as "Multinational". They give stress on each and every letter in the word. That's alright. Unless they can understand our accent and we can understand theirs its well and good.
I then did a Google for phonetic equivalent , so that next time I spell out my name . I don't struggle. Read the table in Phonetic alphabets. Its really helpful. So next time someone asks me to spell out my first name I will say "MikeAlphaNovemberIndiaVictorAlphaNovemberNovemberAlphaNovember" ... Sounds cool :)

Pray for me brother

This is a great song from A.R.Rahman. Just listen to the song and read the lyrics. Mind blowing.


Pray for me brother
Pray for me brother
Pray for me sister
Are you searchin..
Pray for me brother

Look-in’ for the answers To all the questions In my life
Will I be alone Will you be there By my side
Is it something he said Is it something he did
I wonder why He is searching For the answers
To stay alive

Could you ever listen could you ever care
To speak your mind
Only for a minute For only one moment
In time

The joy is around us But show me the love
That we must find
Are you searchin’ For a reason to be kind, to be kind…
He said… Pray for me brother
Pray for me brother Pray for me sister
Pray for me brother
Say what you wanna say now
But keep your hearts open
Be what you wanna be now
Let’s heal the confusion
Pray for me brother

Don’t let me take, When you don’t wanna give
Don’t be afraid Just let me live
Don’t let me take, When you don’t wanna give
Don’t be afraid ......

Say what you wanna say now
But keep your hearts open
Be what you wanna be now Let’s heal the confusion

Pray for me brother
Pray for me brother

I’m ashamed ah, brother be dying of poverty
when he down on his knees its only then he prays
And it’s a shame ah, brother be dying of ignorance
cos the world is a trip and everybody’s a hypocrite
Need to stop ah, taking a look at the other
I’m not ashamed of poverty
need to be making his life better
So think about it, think about it once more
cos life is a blessing and it’s not justa show, ah

Round and round the world is spinning around
We need to be singing a prayer, we need to be singing it now
Round and round the world is turning around
We need to be singing a prayer, we need to be singing it now
Need to be feeling the power, need to be feeling the faith
We need to coming together just to win this race
Need to be feeling the power, need to be feeling the faith
We need to coming together just to win this race (thrice)

oh ae oh ae oh

Are you searching for a reason to be kind ?

My Two Paise on ICL

From now on I will be writing my Point of View on certain things that's making news . To start with , my two paisa on IndianCricketLeague.
The starting of ICL is welcome sign in the sense that it has provided an alternative to BCCI. Instead of BCCI making all the money , now ICL will also make. But will the league system become hit in Cricket? that too in India ?? I don't think so. Cricket is a game which is followed based on country. If India plays Pakistan or Australia plays England then people will follow the game.
I don't think English county league is that famous. International cricketers get practise under English condition through county. Just like that International cricketers will get practise under Indian condition through ICL.
But, if you take football the leagues are famous. Its a great crowd puller. Reason ?? May be all the superstars play the league, with dedication . In cricket our cricketers will take ICL as a welcome break from International season . It will not be a crowd puller. That's for sure. What say?? May be I will be proved wrong in the years to come.

PDA

Hold on..Its not public display of Affection..Its Public Display of Arrogance. It was hectic first weekend for me at SFO. Went to Muir woods on Saturday (http://www.nps.gov/muwo/) and Pier 39 (http://www.pier39.com/) on Sunday. It was hectic travelling over the weekend. (as if I drove).
Muir woods is wonderful hilly resort. Full of Redwood trees. While returning back from Muir woods at SFO downtown , saw PDA at action. We were waiting in the signal and one more car besides us. One karuppu/Kaala kid (i m not racial :)) knocking the car of a hefty vellai/safaed guy with his hand. Then when he opened the window. This Karuppu/Kaala kid showed his middle finger and shouted the "F" letter word.
Then the kid crossed the road and from the street corner displayed his bad words vocabulary skills. The guy in the car took a sudden turn and asked the kid to stop in the corner. After that the signal turned green and we went. Gosh ! if it is India we could have stopped the car and watched the fight :(
In India auto wallahs , gundas show their arrogance in public places. But in US surprised to see a a 12/14 year old kid showing his arrogance. In US kids are like our 25 year old guy. They are grown out of proportion, physically as well as mentally.
Came to a conclusion.US is full of PDAs only , either its Public display of Affection/Public display of Arrogance.

Roamio

August 11 Srirangam
August 12 Bangalore
August 13,14 Chennai
August 15,16,17,18 Bangalore
August 18 New Delhi(Stopover)
August 19 Amsterdam(Stopover)
August 19 Minneapolis(Stopover)
August 19 Onwards San Francisco
After so many stopover , I got a hangover .
Heard about Romeo,have you ever heard about Roamio .That's me.Mr.Roamio.

SFO

Call it the "Gay" capital or the "Bay" Capital, San Francisco is blowing my mind . Few things that I liked about the city.

• Awesome scene of flight touching down at San Francisco airport. It looks like we are landing in the sea.
• Working at the 16 th floor and looking outside the window to see the "sea" and the huge bridge.
• Having coffee at "Starbucks" and sitting outside the shop and enjoying the "bay" wind.
• Great downtown with no rush.
• Wonderful weather , feels like you are in India
• Travelling to office by train , no rush in the train
• Train going under the sea?
• Organised traffic
• Lots of Chinese,Indian,Mexican population.
• Huge difference compared to NY city. Wide roads and huge buildings, less traffic.
• Surrounded by Hills

Proud to be an Indian

Happy Independence Day to one and all. 60 wonderful years and I wish the country prosper in the years to come. Let the Rich get richer and the poor get richer. Lets celebrate Independence Day with a video of our National anthem. This wonderful video is breathtaking with all the greatest musicians of our country coming together. Composed and orchestrated by the one and only A.R.Rahman.

Mahanadhi

Happened to get a sneak view of "Mahanadhi" yesterday night. Kiran TV (Malayalam Music Channel) shows Tamil movie every Saturday night at 7.30. They show pretty nice movies every week.
Since I was rushing back to Bangalore couldn't watch the whole movie. I have seen "Mahanadhi" for almost 5-6 times before. Every time I watch this movie, I get a heavy hearted feeling. "The movie rocks" is an understatement. Right from the first scene till the climax the movie is very well taken . The acting of KamalHassan is simply awesome. No wonder he got a National award for this.He potrays the character of middle-class father with so much ease.
We can simply stand up and applaud such a wonderful movie. I wonder why this great movie has not been remade in Hindi. May be the movie doesn't have an American backdrop or may be its too good to be remade.

Tape Recorder

We are in the age of CD Player,DVD Player, home theatre, iPOD, mobile phones providing awesome music. But going back to the age of tape recorder gives me a nostalgic feeling. I still remember the day we got tape recorder at our home.Its a "Phillips" brand, 2 in 1 (tape recorder and radio)
The first standing instruction from mom is to get all spiritual cassettes. 1st Cassette is "Shri Venkatesa subrabhatam". 2nd one is "Vishnu Sahasranamam". Myself and my brother used to play Sahasranamam cassette and use to recite the sloha in chorus. I remember writing "Sri Ramajayam" 1008 times and getting one Sahasranamam book. Everyday we use to recite religiously.I still recall Sir Rajaji's voice description about Sahasranamam followed by M.S.Subhalakshmi's "Bhajja Govindam".Mind blowing stuff.
Then we got 7 more Spiritual cassettes before we got the famous "Cassette No.8". I am saying famous because its famous among us (myself and my brother). After sitting for hours together we came up with a set of 12 Tamil film songs. We went to "Best" musical shop near our house to record those songs. The 1 week wait for getting the empty cassette loaded with songs were too much for us. We use to record songs based on our choice.
We got 100's of Cassettes after that , we use to number the cassette and categorize them based on the quality of songs. we use to mark it "Melodious","Foot tapping", etc., We lost few cassettes giving it to friends and relatives . But still we have huge collection at home. Be it Carnatic classical or Hindi/Tamil film songs.From Ariyakudi to A.R.Rahman . From Kishore Kumar to Kollankudi karupaiyee. Name it we have it.
Now I have so many songs in my machine and everywhere music has become rage. But still the age of cassettes and tape recorder ringers in my mind.

Rain

"Rain Rain Go away come again another day , little Johny wants to play Rain Rain Go away" the nursery poem I was singing for the past couple of days. Every day evening its raining cats&dogs here. People call Bangalore Silicon Valley and its true. Not only because of presence of lots of IT companies also because of rain. Seattle is the wettest place in US and is called Silicon valley.
In childhood days the rain fascinates me a lot. Having hot "Onion Pakoda" with a cup of tea is the best combination I can think of in a rainy day. My lunch menu would be Milagu sambhar(Pepper Sambhar), Milagu Rasam(Pepper rasam), Paruppu thovaiyal (Dal chutney). Ultimate combination. It takes me back to Tanjore where my mom used to prepare this special lunch combination whenever it rains.
Like all child , I used to get afraid of Thunder and lightning. Grandma used to tell me , tell "Arjuna , Arjuna" nothing will happen. There is a mythological reason behind it. She used to say thunder is because of fight in the heaven between Gauravas and Pandavas. No cross question. I believed it blindly :) Playing in the rain is a strict No No during childhood days. Seeing the rain sitting near the window amazes me. Listening to radio with rain songs running in the background. Amazing.
I specially prefer Illayarja's rain numbers. "Andhi Mazhai poligirathu.." is one among the best with great lyrics. "Kannukul mul vaithu yaar theythathu, thanniril nirkum podhe verkindrathu "(Who stitched thorn in my eyes, I am sweating standing in water) . Hats off .
This song is somewhat nostalgic to me and it takes me back to my childhood.
See the song and enjoy.

How to make stranger as your friend ?

How to make friends? Lots of things written about it but I have never read any one of them. But what is the algorithm I follow to make stranger as my friend.This is purely my personal experience.
Smile Nothing works in life except the smile. Whenever you are trying to make friend with a stranger start with a smile. If you get a smile from the other end then you are all set
Hello Next thing you have to do is wish them by saying Hi/Hello. Then slowly ask them How are you doing today?
Location Then slowly ask from which place of India you are from. If he/she is from your place then it will be really great. You can discuss more things. If not then you can tell about your place and he/she can tell about his/her place.
Industry If he/she is working in the same industry as yours. You can discuss about their area of expertise, their technology,domain.
Interests Then slowly you can ask his/her interests. Be it music,film,books,food. Discuss about each and everything
Networking If he/she is from IT industry then you can ask his/her mail id to stay in touch.You can slowly build the network by getting to know his/her friend. Meet them when they are going out with their friend. You get to know many people
Communicating Emailing is the best way of communication. Get his/her mail id start mailing from the next day that you meet. Add them in your address book. Send "Good Morning" mails.Send forwards.
A step ahead If you want to move a step ahead of just friendship i.e Love, start sending mails addressing the individual. Go ahead and spend the whole day mailing.After few days add the person in messenger. Talk the whole day.Get the mobile number of that person and spend your life over phone.
Stay in touch Last but not least you have to stay in touch with that person.Once in a while contact the person through chat/mail and extend your wishes. Use some social networking site and add the person so that you always be in touch with that person.

Exhibition

Happened to visit Hosur over the weekend. Small town with lots of activities. Its the best place for guys who want peace in life. Calm and quiet. Completely different from Bangalore.
Saturday Evening I went to Exhibition.Government Exhibition usually happens in small towns that gives opportunity for people to buy things at a single place. You can call it Poor Man's Mall. Its quite famous in Small towns across TamilNadu.I don't know whether its there in any other states of India.
During my childhood days we use to goto Exhibition. The Exhibition in my place happens during summer holidays.You get lots of plastic goods,fancy things there.Things that you can place in showcase in your house. The main agenda for going to exhibition is to go on a ride in giant wheel. Its one hell lot of experience that you can ever get.Vomiting immediately after coming back from a ride.
Another exhibition specialty is eatables you get over there. Be it Punju Mittai (A sweet candy made of sugar)or Delhi Appalam (Huge sized Papad) or the chat items.
Mouth watering stuff . Make sure that you eat these after going for a ride. Not before :)
The Hosur Exhibition had all these elements. With 10 Rupees as entrance fees. Cheap and best entertainment that you can get.

The Boom Boom Guy

Tennis. The first time that I started watching this wonderful game was during the mid 80's when a guy from Germany was ruling the game. His name is Boris Becker. 1985( if I recollect correctly) Wimbledon finals. This guy was playing against Kevin Curren. Serve and Volley at its best. Becker Serving aces , falling left and right and volleying the ball. He conquered the net. What a player. He became my instant Hero.
The "never say die" attitude Becker showed in that match was fabulous. The "Boom-Boom" Becker arrived in the tennis world by being the youngest player to capture the "Wimbledon" title.
Just because of Becker I started following the game.His Serve. His volley. His return of Serve. His forehand shots. His backhand shots. I used to hold my breath watching his game.
Though I don't know the technicality of the game. I follow the game. I like the long rallies. Ace,Return of serve, Forehand volley, backhand volley, lobs of Becker are still fresh in my mind.
The Edberg-Becker dual is one of the best I have ever watched in the game. Wimbledon Finals 1990. Becker vs Edberg. I cannot forget that match.Edberg dominated the game throughout. The Swedish player was at his best on that day. Though Becker lost the match, he won millions of heart.
Though he stopped playing the game during the late 90's I am following Tennis ever since Becker days. Sampras came, Agassi Came, Goran came, Federer came, Nadal Came. But one guy always stands in my Heart and he is Boris Becker.

T R A I N

The blog that I wrote longtime ago and forgot to post. Just like films suffer because of producer, this blog suffered because of writer . I am releasing it after 10 months :)

Traveling by "Train" for me is the best compared to other modes of transport. There is definitely a greater advantage while you travel by Train.
Comfort
Stretch your leg and sleep as you do in your home. Sleeper buses have come , Business class in flights provide that level of comfort. But still train is cheap and best comfort wise.
Mobility
Till a year back I used to travel with my friend , he will be in another compartment i will be in some other. We meet up somewhere and we talk for hours together. Cricket, Latest music album, latest movies , Work and all nonsense. The best part is we roam around the compartments looking for another friend of ours. Using this opportunity we get to see all the girls in the train :)
Making Friends
The best train travel I feel is during the day time. People generally don't sleep and we talk. We get to know people in person .We build relationship in shorter span of time. I got many friends during my day time travel to Chennai . Generally the talk will start like "Its damn Hot in Trichy..I don't know how it will be in Chennai" You get a reply from other person . Then you slowly introduce yourself and talk about all under the sun. This is called "Rail Sneham" (Friendship in Train). Its short , but its sweet.
Local Trains
Writing about train and thinking about 7/11 gives me a heavy hearted feeling. The blast that ripped Mumbai a year ago on this same day still lingers my heart. Electric train is the life line of Mumbai . I recollect the day when myself,my brother,my parents caught the 11 o clock train from "Mira Road" to "Church Gate".That day My Mom while boarding the train lost one of her slipper and she boarded the train with another in her hand. Such a rush even at off-peak hours. My brother lost his watch while boarding the train once.
Electric train at Chennai is completely different. Me and my friend used to go by train from West Mambalam to Nungambakkam. You hardly find that level of rush during peak hours at Chennai compared to Mumbai. Off-Peak hours train will be almost empty.
Trains in the US Amazing. No need to stand in the queue to get tickets. Drop some money and get the ticket for both up and down journey. You board the train standing in a queue. Insert the ticket to enter the station. Similarly insert while getting out of the station. No escape routes. Was telling my friend the other day that I can sleep in the train and keep on travelling from source to destination umpteen times a day.

What's there in US ?

United States, Every Indians dream destination. If some one is there in US he is considered as God. But whats there in US ?
To really get to know that you have to visit US. October 16,2006 the day that I first landed my foot in this dream nation. I first pinched myself to make sure that I am in US. What's there in this country that people are really crazy about.
1) The environment . So clean and tidy. you could hardly see a waste paper, an ugly thing outside lying on the road.
2) The rules. People over there follow the rules strictly. I have hardly seen a person trying to speed away even when there is no one in a traffic signal and no vehicles around.
3) Patriotism . People are really patriotic about their country. You see United States national flag everywhere. They celebrate their countries achievement and they respect their country men. WTC site in NY is a great example.How they have honored the people who died in WTC attacks is a proof.
4) The Cleanliness People are so clean and they keep their environment clean and don't spit in the roads.
5) Decency People mind their own business and they don't bother whats happening around them. PSA happens very common in USA and they don't stand look and comment about it :)
6) Timeliness They come to office on time, in fact well in advance and leave office on time. They don't waste company resources by sitting idle and doing nothing . I have seen people come around 5'o clock in the morning and leave office by 3.
7) No corruption I have hardly seen a cop getting bribe. Hardly seen people asking money to get things done. There is absolutely no corruption . They don't bother the common man by asking bribe.

I am not saying the above 7 things are not there in India.There are people who are concerned about environment,follow the rules,patriotic, clean, Decent, Follow time,non corrupt. But they are only few in numbers. In US there are many in number. In fact almost everyone.
Our country needs a change. This will happen . But when?
That's why NRI have become Non Returning Indians instead of Non Resident Indians.

Weekends at ECity

Electronic items need Electricity. But Electronic city doesn't need. May be the Bangalore Electricity board thinks in this direction.Being at Electronic city for almost 1.5 years. The weekends have always been pathetic. No power. You will be forced to come to office on both Saturday and Sunday.
Weekends for me starts at around 10 on Saturday. At around 10.30 get a "Good Day" biscuit come to the seat. Take coffee from 3rd floor. Dip the biscuit in coffee and empty the packet. At around 12.15 , 12.30 have lunch at the nearby food court. Come back and continue working . By Working I mean listening to songs, browsing,chatting,playing stick cricket,watching some comedy video in you tube.
At around 3.30 go to 3rd floor and have one coffee. Of course no body to give company :( Then come back to desk and continue working :)
At around 6 (that's the time power will be back at room ) go back to room . Watch some crap movie (Sun TV of course) have dinner at mess nearby and go to sleep.
Copy paste the same thing for Sunday. Except lunch will be at Iyer Mess.
Iyer Mess,aaaaaaah that's one place I need to mention in Electronics City which is worth visiting apart from the office.
Iyer Mess around 2 years back use to serve fantastic "Tamil Brahmin" variety food. The sambhar,kara kozhambu,rasam, poriyal, kootu poriyal, appalam , curd are of quality which comes close to "Home" food. All for 18 Rupees.
But these days Iyer Mess has lost its charm. The quality of all the items are not up to the mark. Apart from that there will be 100's of fly giving company to you when you are having lunch.
Sunday nights will always be dull after tiresome weekend .
The only advantage of being at Electronic City is you will never get "Monday Morning Blues" :) All days are Working days for us.

King of Melody

Being a big fan of A.R.Rahman never stopped me listening to songs of Illayaraja. Whatever new that Raja comes up I keenly follow and listen to it. I have never seen a music composer who is as good as he. Be it western,classical,folk, rap Illayaraja rocks. He is still the Raja (King) of Melodies.
To substantiate this,I would like to narrate a fantastic incident that happened in my life. I was travelling in a state government bus in a rainy day from Bangalore to Salem. It was raining cats and dogs in Majestic. I was full wet in fact everybody is. The bus is jam packed. Everybody is wet and everybody is tired. Its around 12 in the night. After an hour we were in Hosur. Then around 2 o clock we were travelling towards Salem. They were playing songs from Illayaraja all melodies. There is a old saying in Tamil "Thunbam nergaiyil yaazh eduthu nee inbam serka maataaya"..(During difficult situation will you play some music to sooth my heart). People were really happy and I closed my eyes to listen to his composition. Raja is truly great. His music reached right from poor to the rich.
Similarly when I was staying in Chennai used to hear the Illayaraja melodies played in FM during the nights. I used to sleep switching on the radio listening to his songs.
Raja is different Rahman is different. Though I am a big fan of Rahman I always admire Raja . His songs last longer. His songs reaches all classes of people. In these area he scores over Rahman.
I love all his composition . Here is my top 5 of Illayaraja
1) Almost all Mohan songs (illaya nila,mandram vandha,sangeetha megam etc.,)
2) Illayaraja + Bharathiraja + Vairamuthu (ultimate combination)
3) Illayaraja + Manirathnam (though short but it was a sweet combination)
4) Illayaraja and SPB awesome combination
5) Nothing But wind and How to Name it (its divine)
I can keep on writing on all his composition. He is truly the King.

Meet "The BOSS"

Happened to watch Shivaji, the most hyped film of recent times. Its morning show in Chennai's udhayam theatre. Me and my friend were there at 10 o clock in the morning after attending another friend's marriage. We got the tickets and saw that the show is at 11.15. So was waiting outside the theatre. People slowly started coming.
Its a Thursday Noon show and its full. Such is the craze for Rajinikanth in TamilNadu.That guy simply rocks in whatever he does. The movie started with "Sultan" the animation movie trailer. The mere presence of the animated Rajinikanth made crowd gaga.
The movie started with the usual Super Star Rajini writing with the new background score by Rahman. It simply rocked. The introduction scene is mind blowing . Its completely different Rajini. 30 yrs younger. The tossing of Chewing gum and catching it showed his style still rocks.
The movie went on with some good comedy sequence from Vivek and Rajini. The story revolves around the NRI trying to invest in India.Trying to start colleges to educate poor. The villain trying to stop this because he already has lots of educational insitutions and making hell a lot of money.
He fights with Rajini and makes Rajini a poper in 1st half of the movie. In 2nd half of the movie Rajini raises like Phoenix and blast the villain.My review
1) Saw director shankar in "Ballelaka" song and in the title. I couldn't see him anywhere in the movie
2) Its full and full Rajini movie and its great to see his heroics.
3) Hats off to the Makeup person for making Rajini 30 yrs younger
4) Hats off to Thotta tharini to make such a beautiful sets in all the songs.Its world class
5) Hats off to my thala "Rahman" to come up with peppy numbers to suit Rajini fans
6) Camera work is coooooooool
7) Rajini tells "Coooooooooooooool" how many times in the movie? A good quiz question
8) "Pera kettale chumma athiruthulla" ,"saavara naal therincha vaazhra naal narakamaayidum" and lots of technical jorgans show that my place guy "Sujatha" is the dialogue writer :)
9) Vivek is there throuhout the movie. His timing is too good.He might come another round in tamil films from now on
10) There is no social message. No where Shankar's punch is there.
11) The Mottai Boss Rajini in the climax simply rocks.

Though a normal movie, the effort taken by the cameraman,make up person, Art director,music director and of course Rajini has made the movie a huge hit.
I liked the way the movie is hyped all over the country. It proves tamil movies are not far behind Bollywood movies. They are in fact far ahead of Hindi movies.
People from North to South are talking about Rajinikanth and Shivaji.
I like the way Rajinikanth trust God in whatever he does. He will be "The Boss" for another 20-30 years .

Cauvery

"kannadam thaai veedu endrirundaalum, kanni un maru veedu thennagam aagum, gangaiyil melaana kaaviri theertham, mangala neeraada mun vinai theerkkum, neer vannam engum mevida nanjai punjaigal paaradi, oor vannam enna koorume devalogame thaanadi, verengu sendra podhilum indha inbangal yedhadi"
(River Cauvery , though you are born in Karnataka your in-law house is TamilNadu,You are as pure as River ganga and you remove all sins of whoever who takes bath in you .Wherever you flow there is greenery around,wherever you flow the place is divine,wherever we go we don't get such a happy feeling)

Written by Poet Vali the above lines portray the exact feeling of every guy who is born in the beds of River Cauvery. I am fortunate enough to be one who was born in Tanjore and brought up in Srirangam. Both the places blessed with Cauvery river.
I used to play in River Cauvery right from my childhood. My Grandparents were living in a place called "Neduntheru" which is on the beds of the river. Swimming in the river was a wonderful experience during my childhood days. Me and my cousins used to play cricket in the dry river during summer vacation. Man, you won't get better ground anywhere in the world :)
After coming to Srirangam, I continued playing cricket in the dry river. Not only cricket, we do lots of activities in the river and on the banks of it .Playing throw ball while swimming. Getting bitten by small fishes. Asking people to stand in river so that fish eats the wound and it will cure your wound.Throwing stone flat in the river so that it goes like a frog (Reminds me of Rahman's worldspace ad ...)
Having puliyotharai(tamarind rice),thayir sadham(curd rice),thenkai saadham(coconut rice),vathal(fries) sitting in the beds of the river during Aadi-18(18 th day of Tamil month aadi).
Cauvery is always associated with my family. My Grandfather breathed his last in the banks of the same river where he used to take bath for nearly 40 odd years.
Cauvery is still a passion for people down south. Be it a guy from Tanjore,Trichy or nearby areas we worship the river.
After all she is a daughter-in-law for us(Tamils)

Krishna ...You come fast ...

"Krishna nee begane baro....Krishna nee begane baro..." is a beautiful song written by saint vyasaraya.Here the Saint calls out to Krishna and implores him to come to him . He launches into a devotional trance where he sees Krishna at a distance. Krishna's immaculate dressing and exquisite beauty makes the Saint detail them in this evergreen song. The amalgamation of genuine Bhakti with touchingly simple composition, sets one thinking whether is Krishna who is decorated with the ornaments, or the other way around.
This beautiful song has been given a new flavour by Hariharan and Leslie(Colonial Cousins). The theme being a small family with one son and one daughter living happily.The son joins some bad elements in his school and gets involved in religious vandalism. Being in jail for sometime, the son comes back home. The video is touching and fills your heart.The concern and affection a dad has to his son is well portrayed.
Adding to this the voice of Hariharan is mind blowing.Hats off to Colonial Cousins.The lyrics of the song is worth reading. So here it goes

Krishna Ni Bhe Gha-Ni, Baroo !
Krishna Ni Bhe Gha-Ni, Baroo !

Darkness coming around,
And every body fight with the brother
Every body wants control,
Don't hesitate to kill one-another

So come back as Jesus
Come back and save the world
Bless all the future of every boy and girl
Come back as Rama,
Forgive us for what we've done
Come back as Allah,
Come back as anyone

Religion is the reason,
The world is breaking up into pieces
Colour of the people,
Keeps us locked in hate please release us

So Come down and help us,
Save all the little ones
They need a teacher,
And you are the only one
We can't rely on,
To build a better world
A world that's for children,
A world that's for everyone

Time is healer, and time moves on
Time don't wait for any one
So, Tell me you'll be back
But that will take some time
I waiting ......

I'm waiting, yeah yeah......

Come back as Jesus
Come back and save the world
We need a teacher,
and You are the only one
Come back as Rama
Forgive us for what we've done
Come back as Allah
Come back for every one.......

Govinda Guruhari Gopala hu.....

Passion for the Game

"Cricket" is another religion in India. This is under statement.India's diversity is reflected in the game. The passion for the game is widespread. Right from my childhood the game has captured my attention and its still numero uno sport for me. If I could recollect correctly I started playing the game from my 2nd standard. Making bat out of coconut tree branches,playing with rubber ball. Not onlly rubber ball,we used to play with rubber cork(hard variety of rubber ball),Cork Ball,tennis ball and very rarely cricket ball.
Tennis ball cricket is a passion for us. Its lifeline for us during childhood days. Immitating players of that generation is a normal thing that I do in cricket field. I am kind of guy who loves spin bowling and playing with straight bat(textbook style). I recollect the day that I got my brother clean bowled with a full toss. Loosing slippers in the ground,coming back home and getting scolding from mom.Can't forget those days.
Tanjore is the place I stayed during my childhood days. The place I stayed had lots of empty grounds where we use to play all day. Fighting with the opposition team for giving out to a not out. Hitting the ball out of the ground and searching all through the evening. Gone are those beautiful days.
Shifting to Srirangam from Tanjore I couldn't get privilege of huge grounds. But still I use to play cricket in the streets. Hitting the ball in neighbours house and fighting with them to get the ball. Fighting with guys over the issue of taking the ball out of drain.
There is always fight between me and my brother in silly issues like out of no ball. You have bowled fast . I didn't notice when you bowled. My brother had always been very nice to me , giving second chances everytime.Playing cricket in school is a different experience. Getting caught by teacher for playing during lunch time. kneeling down in the hot sun althrough the evening for playing cricket in a rival school ground.Recollecting so many such things today makes me laugh.
I have always been a great fan of the game. Right from the Sunil Gavaskar,Krish Srikanth days to Sachin Tendulkar,Rahul Dravid days I have been following the game religiously.Though the kind of passion that I had for the game has died down a lot.

PSA

Huh.. What a climate..Cloudy,with light drizzle. Most romantic weather you can get in India. Thats Bangalore for you. No wonder all the IT companies are here and all the IT companies have both the genders working as a team.
As usual the day ended for me with dinner at one of not so famous food courts in the campus. Me and my friend had Square paratha with Aalu bhujii . Surprisingly, the dinner was great :)
After finishing the dinner we headed back to the bus stand. Suddenly saw a guy holding a girls hands. Got my first attack. I was jokingly telling my friend, man whats happening? Is this PSA(PublicShowofAffection). Then saw two more couples holding hands inside the campus.
I got my second and third attack :)
Consoling myself I was telling my friend Why a guy/girl holds another one's hand? Are they scared one will leave the another??
The country is becoming more and more western these days ..where is our culture? where is our tradition? where is our conservatism??
Recently read the news that they are not going to allow girl and guy touch each other in schools in Mumbai. Will this rule be extended to companies? If yes, I will be the first to vote for this .
Afterall this kind of PSA gives a heartbreak to guys like me who are single and available :(

Rahmania

Rahmania ..I have this disease right from the 90's When a guy called Allah Rakha Rahman started scoring music in films. Whenever I hear his music I just love it. I simply enjoy the composition that this young man does. The first time I heard the music of "Roja", I became a big fan of him.
He started the trend of introducing new singers. He started the trend of different kind of music. I always love his modesty. He is one among the best.
I love his melodies a lot. His 90's composition stand out in terms of melody. Since in late 90's there were many musicians scoring Rahman like numbers. People started recognising Rahman in everyone. Original is always original and he is the best.
He is the only music director from south who shined in all parts of the country. The nation dances to his "Taal".
Of late , We could hardly get Melodies from the great man. I hope we could see the old Rahman back. He is young and going places.
My Top5 of A.R.Rahman(Both in Tamil and Telugu)
1) Kadhal Rojave (SPB, Rahman at their best)
2)Vellai pookal (Rahman's best)
3)Yeh jo desh hai mera (Lyrics and Rahman's voice)
4) Azhage sugama (I love shrinvas voice)
5) Ennavalae adi (Unni rocks with Rahman)
More on Rahmania in my blogs to come ...

Sandwitched

Life is hell when u r in the middle/neutral and people around you and you cannot move your feet.
Last Friday it happened to me when I boarded the hosur bus.I stepped in the bus ,rather pushed inside the bus. With bag in my hand , and no breathing space left .I asked one guy sitting near the window to hold my bag. With people invading the bus as each stop goes. I was sandwitched between many guys.You will meet all kinds of people. People who are silent,people who say "isssh" when you touch them/step on their feet,people who complain,people who are contempt. You feel like hell during these times.You cannot move in and you cannot move out.
Similarly When it comes to life its really hard to be a middle-man/neutral person. Expressing your opinion,telling the truth,hiding secrets,convincing people. who is good? who is bad. Where should I stand? whom to support? whom to report ?will I be dragged inside ?You can neither move out nor move in. Such situation comes everytime in life.
I can co-relate things in real life and a bus journey. Though the duration is different , destination is different. Concept/application is same .

Mixed Feeling

I always had a dream of documenting whatever I see daily. I know blog is an option. But never tried my hand in blogging. Lets see how it goes....
Wait for more to come :)