Happy New Year

As the clock ticks signalling the end of the year 2007 and the beginning of 2008, I wish everyone, joy, peace and prosperity.

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2008.

DECEMBER 31, 2007

So here we are–technically and non-technically the last day of the year 2007. It is around 7:00 A.M. in the morning. Yesterday was frightening, a neighbour-Meenakshi Aunt's mother died. She was eighty years old and had been living as an invalid for the past five years.

I was about seven years old when my grandfather died and nine years old when my grandmother died. I do not recollect much about the incidents except that there was hectic activity in the household; relatives from various parts of the country had come and I met lots of cousins whom I had never met before.

The two women Meenakshi Aunt and her mother lived alone and their relatives were in Chennai. I returned home at about 10:20 A.M. after finishing my night shift. At 10:45 A.M. I got a call from Aunt, she asked me to come immediately to her house. I rushed to her house, Aunty's mother was lying on a mat, I knelt down and felt for her pulse and heartbeat-no response. She had died in her sleep, suffering for so long living like a vegetable, she had passed into the other world. I gave her a few drops of Ganga water, the water trickled into her throat.

Then it was time to find a priest who would conduct the cremation services. I took an auto and travelled across the town to find a priest, unfortunately all the priests had gone to Chennai to attend a "yagna." Finally I received a call from Aunt saying that her brother had arranged for a priest and I need not worry. Then we went to the funeral ground where the mortician(vettiyan) made a list of items needed.

The priest reached at 2:30 P.M. Eventually all rituals were completed and the cremation was completed at 5:15 P.M. No one cried as everyone knew how much pain the old lady had endured. They just prayed that her soul rest in peace.

Indian Paper Tigers Perish Before Aussie Attack

The so called best Indian team sent to Australia crumbled like a pack of cards as the batsmen failed to capitalise on the decent beginning that Kumble and Zaheer provided in the first innings. Set a daunting target of 499 runs for victory by Ricky Ponting India lost the plot as all the players went into defensive mode, perhaps they thought they could tire the bowlers out. All said and done Dada showed some toughness and got another 40 odd runs. Dhoni and Yuvraj must be cursing themselves for the rash shots they played and gifting their wickets to the opposition. I think Sehwag will figure in the next match and Karthik will also play the match.

New Year Test match in Sydney–Hope the team starts the year 2008 with a victory. Pick up your socks guys, give me a reason to take a Tata Sky or Dish TV connection. I don't want to waste hard earned money on seeing you lose.

Come on India jeetho.

A few lines about love....

The following is a paragraph that I found on a blog, it is taken from Tom Robbins' novel "Even Cowgirls get the Blues."-

Love easily confuses us because it is always in flux between illusion and substance, between memory and wish, between contentment and need. Perhaps there are times when the contradictions of love are so intermingled that the only way to see the truth of love is to pit it against the irreducible reality of lust. Of course, love can never be stripped bare of illusion, but simply to arrive at an awareness of illusion is to hold hands with the truth -- and sometimes the hard light of lust affords just such an awareness.

Don't know what to say kept reading the paragraph for about four times.

God help me.....

Evano Oruvan

Madhavan has convincingly remade Nishikant Kamath's Marathi film Dombivili Fast in Tamil as EVANO ORUVAN. The Tamil version is also directed by Nishikant. The movie stars Madhavan as a lower middle class bank employee a soft spoken man commuting from Nanganallur to the Beach station everyday to reach his bank. His wife is played by Sangita a mother of two who is constantly bickering Madhavan saying-"Indha pathu varshthla naan yenna sugatha kanden."-"In these ten years what comfort/luxury have I seen."

Director Seeman plays a police officer who is caught in his personal turmoil of doing the right thing and listening to his conscience. A series of incidents make Madhavan lose his cool and he takes the law in his own hands and becomes a vigilante of the truth and the rightful. If I go into the details of each episode it would be committing sacrilege, please go and watch this movie, it deserves credit.

Listen to the dialogues specially Madhavan's frustration that pours out towards the climax. His anguish at the system, his expressions, his helplessness when his wife questions him are all brilliantly portrayed. Sangita is OK in her role and Seeman has done a good job too.

My rating 3.5/5.

Go watch this movie.

Boxing Day Test-Melbourne

When the Indian team left for Australia, it was billed as the strongest Indian team to ever travel Down Under. At the end of play on day 1 the Indians were on top with Kumble taking 5 wickets and Australia on 337/9. Day 2 saw Australia losing the last wicket for a few more runs. Then the Indian paper tigers, no connection to the LTTE came, saw, and were conquered by the pace of Bret Lee and Stuart Clark. The team was bundled out for 196 runs.

Sachin scored 64 and Ganguly scored 43 runs, meanwhile Laxman scored 26, Yuvraj and Dhoni scored ducks, Dravid laboured for more than 60 balls to reach 6 runs.

The Australian second innings was mixed and Harbhajan took crucial wickets, good knocks by Michael Clarke and Symonds ensured that India have been set a target of 499 runs.

India ended day three on 6 for no loss.

Let us see what happens.

Benazir's Assassination.......the end of Musharraf?

Benazir was assassinated yesterday when she was leaving after addressing a political rally in Rawalpindi. She was shot on the head and the back of her neck. Instantaneously a suicide bomber detonated himself/herself and mayhem followed. Close to 14 people were killed in the explosion. Benazir was declared dead at 6:16 PM in the hospital. Ironically her father was hanged at a ground close to the place where she was assassinated.

Al Qaeda has claimed responsibility for the killing, the quest for democracy in Pakistan has received a serious jolt, Pervez has another opportunity to declare emergency and postpone the elections.

It is a sad day for Pakistan as well as India and the rest of the world. Her assassination was a chilling reminder of the assassination of Indira Gandhi. It is high time the American government took stern steps against it's obedient puppy Pervy or chaos will lead to a civil war and massacres of alarming proportions.

God save Pakistan.

Prayers for everyone who died in the tsunami. May God never unleash such fury on us ever again. May the souls of the dead rest in peace, and may God give strength to the survivors of the tsunami.

WISHING EVERYONE A MERRY CHRISTMAS

South India's Gift to the World

South India has produced some of the finest luminaries in the fields of arts, science, literature, theatre, etc...

As far as I am concerned the simple 'idly' is the biggest contribution of South Indian culture to the world.

Just think soft steaming white idlies with piping hot onion, ladies finger, pumpkin, and tomato sambar, accompanied with tender white coconut chutney, and crispy golden vadas, all washed down with a cup of Madras filter coffee. A heavenly experience, nothing can beat the taste of idly with sambar and chutney.

No one knows when they were prepared for the first time. References to the idly are made in works that are more that a thousand years old. Surprisingly the addition of rice as the primary ingredient is a custom that just evloved in the early seventeenth century(wikipedia).

Nowadays one can find different varieties of idlies - rava idly, mixed vegetable idly, mini idly(14 idlies floating in a bowl of steaming hot sambar), chili idly, fried idly, idly uppuma, the list is endless as one can substitute ingredients to satisfy one's taste and palate.

A simple recipe for soft fluffy idlies:

Ingredients

Idly rice 2 cups (Ponni rice if possible)
Urud dal 1 cup
cooked rice 1/2 cup
Fenugreek seeds(Methi) 1/4 tsp
Salt as per taste


Method:

• Soak Idly rice and Methi together in water for about 5-6 hours.
• Soak urud dal in water for 3 1/2 hours.
• Drain the water from urud dal and grind it in mixie with little water.
• Fine grind it until the mixture is frothy. Keep aside
• Now drain water from soaked rice and methi.
• Grind these along with cooked rice and little water in mixie.
• Now mix the ground items and add salt.
• Allow it to ferment for 16 - 18 hours. Then make idlys in the idly steamer. Steam the idlys on high for 10 minutes.
• Serve hot with sambar and chutney.

Images of different types of idlies



Vegetable Idly Channa Idly Fried Idly Special Rava Idly

Happy eating....:)

The Chottanikkara Bhagavathy Temple

I visited the Chottanikkara Bhagavathy Temple during my short trip to Thrissur. The temple has seen lot of improvement, with the entire complex getting a fresh coat of paint. The devaswom board has provided computers to issue archana tickets and tokens. The queue is also being managed efficiently. I completed the darshan of the main temple and the Keezhkavu Bhagavathy in about 45 minutes.

The presiding deity of the temple is Goddess Adhiparasakthi who depicts her powers and blessings in the form of Saraswathy, Lakshmi and Durga in early morning, morning to noon and evening respectively.

Eastern View of the temple.

The keezhukavu goddess is extremely powerful. People suffering from mental ailments especially schizophrenia visit the temple to get cured of their illnesses. Attending the Guruthy puja during the evenings is beneficial for such people.

The picture of the Goddess

Do visit the temple if you visit Kerala.

The trip to Thrisuur was short and sweet. By the grace of God the weather was good and my health was fine too, I managed to visit Guruvayur, Chottanikara, Mannur Kaavu, Triprayar, and a lot of temples in Thrissur.

If time permits I will go to Thrissur to view the Thrissurpuram.

Hopefully I should be able to go.

As God wills....

Take care folks am not in a mood to write now.

Detailed inputs on the temples that I visited will follow.

The Wandering Soul

Life completes another circle as yet another year comes to a close. I am leaving for Kerala tonight. Hope to visit a lot of temples and do some serious introspection on how life has shaped out. Like Frank in-"The Postman Always Rings Twice," the spirit of the wanderer in me continues to search for another place. Life goes on as a journey with the destination being unknown. In the process of transiting to complete this journey, one undergoes many experiences, meets a multitude of people, faces and overcomes hurdles, makes and breaks promises, laughs and cries, makes compromises, all for that one goal to find one's destination and reach there.

I do not know if I will ever find my destination–let alone reach it; but one thing I am sure of-I shall never give up on my quest. One dream that everyone has is to find that one true love and settle in life. Perhaps I will never find that one true love, perhaps I might encounter that special person in the next hour or two; who knows!

Life is an endless list of possibilities and opportunities, all it takes for the culmination of our dreams is a combination of the following-Faith in ourselves and our dreams, hard work and perseverance, and as usual a bit of Lady Luck.

Let us see what happens....

The three match Indo-Pak test series goes into the final test to be played in Bangalore on Saturday, with both sides plagued with injuries the match will be interesting, but the rain gods might dampen the proceedings as Kumble tries for a series win.

The ICL is working fine although the crowds are not coming in, most probably the next round will draw more crowds. Lara's lacklustre form has been a big disappointment, though Inzamam, Marvan Attapattu, and the other foreign imports have shined with the bat and ball.

The Indian cricket team that will play in Australia from this December will be selected on December 12. Gary Kirsten has been appointed coach and will act as a consultant for the Australian tour and assume full coaching responsibilities in March 2008.

Lets hope India succeeds.

Thinking of you.....

With each passing day,

I wish could be near you.

See you smile

Listen to your voice.

Across boundaries of time and space

We stand separated from each other.

Wish I could close my eyes.

And travel with the sunbeam

To land at your doorsteps.

Open my eyes

And see you in front of me.

Missing you a lot Honey.

Will you ever be mine.

Thinking of you...

For you forever.....

It is been 25 years since I was born, from a foetus in my mother's womb to an adult in today's fast paced world, I have spent a sizable period of time in this world. What is the purpose of life in this world? Why were we born in the form that we are? Is there a definite purpose for everything that happens to us and everything that we do?

This is the query that has haunted sages and philosophers for ages.

I have tried to find my purpose in this world, my first step was to find God. I was always a devout and religious kid, being brought up in an orthodox Palakkad Brahmin family, I grew up listening to stories from the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. Every morning and evening the lighting of the lamp in the puja room and the chanting of prayers was a practice that I was inculcated in at the age of four or five years.

When I was sixteen I entered the most important phase of my life–the Upanayanam ceremony was conducted and I became the proud bearer of the sacred thread. The moment I wore it and the sacred verses of the Gayathri mantra were introduced to me, I felt a strange sense of calm and a feeling of power envelop me.

I performed the Sandhyavandanam judiciously but the pressures of the board exams and juggling Calculus, Physics, Chemistry and Biology classes took its toll and the rituals were limited to holidays alone. As the years passed and I slowly read the works of Swami Vivekananda, Paramahansa Yogananda and J.K. Krishnamurti I found a strange sense of joy as if I had experienced the very incidents that the writers had undergone.

Realization came in the second year of college. I had to undergo a major operation and everyone was worried. For the first time in my life I felt that I was going to die. Right before the surgery when the doctors anesthetized me and I was slowly drifting into that dream world I saw my whole life flash past me in fast forward frame. When the surgery was going on I saw a powerful white light emanating from a red source. The source was shaped like a prism, and then I had a vision of a snowcapped mountain, on top of it there was a tree which bore golden fruits. In the shade of the tree was the powerful white light again. I could hear a powerful humming noise and some words too, but I just can't remember the words that I heard. That was the day I met God. The surgery was completed and I survived to write this post on my blog.

Swami Vivekananda, said-"Religion is the manifestation of the divinity already present in man."

Similarly since that day I have no longer searched for God and have found the force of the all pervading truth in my heart.

The quest continues as I continue to find my role, the tasks that I have been chosen to perform, and to merge myself in the all pervading ether.

The quest continues as the path meanders and the destination of my journey nears with each passing day......

KARNATAKA MEIN NATAK

A Mockery of Indian Politics

I am not well versed in politics, but the state of affairs in Karnataka–the tamasha created by H.D. Devegowda and his party members–is sheer mockery of Indian politics. Imposition of President's Rule, formation of a BJP-led government, and once again President's rule, hypocrisy, backstabbing, and greed continues in politics.

"Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely."

"Greed for power corrupts and if that power has been tasted once, it corrupts absolutely."

Is there no retirement age for politicians?

When the youth of the nation try to take active part in politics, does the common man even care to vote for them?

The mentality-"A known devil is better than an unknown friend." is applied here.

The drama unfolding in Karnataka, the wary coalition at the centre, the massacre taking place in West Bengal, all these incidents will be brushed under the carpet and life will go on as usual. The common man will have to bear the brunt of these political tactics.

God alone can save this country.

To conclude-

"The people should not be afraid of the Government, the Government should be afraid of the people."-[taken from "V for Vendetta"]

AMERICAN GANGSTER

Name of movie-American Gangster.

Cast-Russell Crowe, Denzel Washington and others.

Director-Ridley Scott.

I saw American Gangster on Saturday night. This is a movie set in the 1960s and 70s and shows how heroin was sourced from Vietnam and China and how a whole generation of America degenerated.

The movie is shot in a style reminiscent of the fifties with a foggy effect on screen. Lot of hard work has gone into the creation of authentic sets, vehicles, billboards, fashion style etc.. Denzel Washington plays the role of Frank Lucas the 'collector' of a big crime lord. When his boss dies of a heart attack, Frank consolidates his position by sourcing heroin form Vietnam using the U.S. Army as a courier. He distributes cocaine throughout the country marketing it as "Blue Magic."

He fights the Italian Mafia, corrupt police officials, enforcement operatives, and other Black gangs. He becomes the undisputed king of Harlem.

He brings in his younger brothers to the city to help him with his business. He also falls in love with a Puerto Rican beauty and marries on her.

On the other side of the law we have police detective Richie Roberts played by Russell Crowe. Richie is struggling to cope up with his failing marriage, he also pursues a course in law by going to night-school.

The story is pretty interesting and I am not going to reveal all of the story. The cat and mouse game between the cops and the criminals is pretty well brought out. There is not lots of explosions on screen and the narrative is gripping. The movie is going to get nominated for a decent number of Academy Awards and I won't be surprised if Ridley Scott gets the coveted golden statuette for 'Best Direction.'

My rating 4/5.

Gilchrist plays like a Gilli

Adam Gilchrist became the first player in test cricket to hit 100 sixes. He clobbered two sixes of on over by Muralitharan on Saturday. As Australia posted a mammoth total 542/5 and declared their innings. Sri Lanka were once again bowled out for 200 odd runs and Australia are batting again.

Team India face their toughest trip Down Under when they visit Australia for the test and one-day series in December. India won the ODI series against Pakistan, but are staring at sure defeat in the inconsequential final ODI today. The three test series that starts soon will be crucial. I really do not understand the logic applied by the OLD WISE MEN in selecting the team. Sehwag is going through the lousiest patch of his career, but he loves playing against Pakistan and he should have been tried for the first test at least. Dropping Irfan Pathan is again nothing short of ridiculousness. Uthappa is not justifying his selection. Today he had a fine opportunity to play a good knock and he squandered it. I hope Dinesh Karthik gets some good knocks in the Test series.

Let us hope Jumbo does justice to his new avatar of captain, which he deserved long back. Kaif needs to be selected and play for India.

Let us hope Sachin's batting magic continues.

Cheers guys.

TEAM INDIA ON SONG

Sachin was out on 97, but that did not matter as his solid start paved the way for Dhoni and Yuvraj to finish the proceedings in style. Chasing 256 for victory, India scored 260 with three overs to spare.

Earlier Shoaib Malik won the toss and elected to bat. Salman Butt was trapped lbw by R.P. Singh and somehow the Pakistan innings never took off. Then Mohammed Yousuf and Misbah provided some fireworks with 77 runs coming of the last ten overs. Yousuf was stranded on 99 not out. Ganguly got Afridi's wicket and became the third player after Jayasurya and Sachin to score 10,000 runs and also take 100 wickets in ODIs.

Ganguly and Gambhir left as quickly as they came in, Sachin and Sehwag got quick runs Sehwag was run out for 43. Then Sachin produced the best selection of shots magnificent square drives, superb flicks and a powerful straight drive. It was a treat to watch him play. I am waiting to see him battle Lee and Co. in Australia.

A success for India with this series win, it will be nice if the team wins the test series too. It will infuse confidence before the long trip to Australia.

Good work Team India.

Keep making us smile with your victories.

Musings..

Life goes on, five months into the new job-everything is fine. Feels a bit strange to come home and sleep when the rest of the world is starting their day. Food habits have changed drastically. For a person who hates Venn Pongal, well almost thrice a day I get pongal for early morning breakfast.

A really fabulous set of colleagues always ready to answer my doubts and questions. Work is good and I have learnt lots of new stuff.

Let us see what the future has in store.

Cheers folks take care.

DIWALI REPORT CARD

The big Diwali is turning out to be a damp squib at the box office.

KOLLYWOOD

Azhaghiya Tamizh Maghan-Is Vijay's biggest flop after Aathi. Even skimpily clad Namitha and Shriya cannot save the movie from disaster.

Machakaran-Is a flop. Really expected Jeevan to choose a better script.

Agra-Interesting story, good photography, nice story, but no chemistry between the lead pair. A good effort any way. Film might break even as it was produced on a tight budget.

Kanna Moochi Ennada-Family subject, decent comedy, the women seem to like it. Will only work in the city centres.

Vel-The only movie that is going to make a clear profit, old plot but nice presentation, songs are pathetic, but the movie is a hit. Director Hari boosts Surya's image.

Polladhavan-Ranked number two after Vel, right amount of sleaze, action and emotion, for the front-benchers.

BOLLYWOOD

No two opinions, Shahrukh's Om Shanti Om is the winner. A mix of "Karz" a little bit of "Hamlet" lots of songs shot in Broadway musical style, Deepika Padukone, and lots of gags. Made in true Manmohan Desai style, the movie is a hit worldwide.

Saawariya-All hype and no substance. Sony's first Indian production-a lavish self indulgence by Sanjay Leela Bhansali-a fantasy like world where there is too much melodrama. I somehow liked the songs more. Wait for the dvd.

Bitter Truths on November 14, 2007

November 14, 2007 is celebrated as Children's Day across the country, in memory of the birthday of Jawaharlal Nehru. Children get chocolates in most schools, they are allowed to come in casual dress and receive some gifts.

The sad brutality of life is that close to 5 million children are employed in various industries in India. Small factories, garages, restaurants, fire-crackers production units, brick manufacturing units, the list goes on..

Is it fair to deprive a child of its basic right to education and freedom to enjoy their childhood?

Child abuse is another ugly demon that is causing lot of insecurity. The Nithari case that created ripples in the media and brought out the horrors perpetrated by two perverted men is almost forgotten. All the hue and cry, police investigations, CBI enquiries, everything in vain. Should not the two perverts and the policemen in cahoots with them be hanged to death?

Try to support an underprivileged child. Today there are lots of genuine organizations that help children.

Do your bit to create a better tomorrow for them.

Will Mush Survive?

Things are really hotting up in Islamabad and rest of Pakistan. Benazir Bhutto has been placed under high security house arrest. Imran Khan managed to escape to London and has found solace in ex-wife Jemima Khan and has asked for a students-revolution in Pakistan. The areas surrounding the North West Frontier Province have been taken over by pro-Taliban forces.

Mush has promised free and fair elections by February 15, 2008, Bush and Rice have demanded the General to relinquish his post of Supreme Commander. Will Pakistan end up in a mess like Afghanistan, I think it might.

Let us see what happens?

Musings

Diwali's come and gone. I believe it is the most lacklustre Diwali that I have ever been through. No crackers, no midnight celebrations, no all evening carrom and chess tournaments. Above all after seven years for the first time I did not see a movie in a cinema hall on its Diwali release date. Well we have to make some sacrifices when one works for a foreign B.P.O., let bygones be bygones.

Well we did get some sweets from office, but nowadays every office gives sweets on most festive occasions.

Saw some movies on DVD this weekend-I saw "Citizen Kane" and I was spellbound by the awesome power and charm of Orson Welles. It would be great if the movie is made in Tamil with Parthiban or Raj Kiran playing the role of Kane.

By folks take care.

CRIC-NEWS

India defeated Pakistan by 46 runs in the third ODI at Kanpur.

South Africa defeated New Zealand in the first test match.

Australia defeated Sri Lanka by an innings and a huge margin in the Brisbane test.

HAPPY DIWALI

Hi folks wishing all of you a Happy Diwali.

Sorry for the delay in wishing everyone.

May the spirit of light bring joy, prosperity and peace to everyone.

Five Star Treatment

Got a chance to have dinner at the Taj Connemara tonight, courtesy of a client visit. The food was normal as usual, nothing fascinating or different from the food served at other official gettogethers. Those of you have been reading my blog regularly would be aware of the Ooty affair and the food misadventures we had there. I felt that the food was on par with the dishes we sampled at Sterling Resorts.

Dessert was good, rasgullas and vanilla icecream topped with chocolate sauce and nuts.

Took some snaps of the woodwork and the stone idols in the hotel.

A fine experience indeed.

Sachin's 99 goes in vain..

Sachin hit a blistering knock of 99, and aided by Gambhir's 57, Harbhajan's 38 and lots of extras, India scored 321 /9 in 50 overs. Pakistan in a must-win situation aided by a brilliant century by Younis and good knocks by Misbah and Afridi Pakistan won the match with one ball to spare.

Anil Kumble has been named India's Test captain for the series against Pakistan and hopefully we will get to see some fascinating cricket as the series progresses. Dhoni, Uthappa, Ganguly and Yuvraj's failure with the bat is a bit of a worry and the overall performance has to improve. Sehwag's inclusion at the expense of Murali Karthik cost India the match.

Let us wait for the Kanpur match. Will Dravid or Kaif get a chance?

Pakistan continues to burn.....

Janaab Pervez Musharraf, continues the legacy of despotic dictators, he declared a state of emergency in Pakistan. All private T.V. channels, the internet and telephone lines have been blocked. All protesting political parties, the lawyers, everyone has been arrested, prominent politician and cricketer Imran Khan escaped captivity in true filmi style and is currrently in hiding. The Constitution stands dismissed and martial law has been imposed.

The Bush administration is embarassed and Condoleeza Rice says Pervez must shed his uniform [that would be a ghastly sight.:)]. I prefer Salman Khan any day. A civil war may erupt any time and democracy is a long way away for Pakistan. Perhaps the U.S. marines or the Navy Seals will launch a blitzkrieg-like operation and pull General Mush out of Islamabad, put him on a plane and take him to the CIA headquarters at Langley. I guess I am reading lots of Robert Ludlum novels.

Lets see what happens.

Praying for sanity to be restored in Pakistan as well as the rest of the world.

INDIA DRAWS FIRST BLOOD

The battle has begun, the first ODI between India and Pakistan, tamed out to a tame game as India restricted Pakistan to 239/7, and then notched up the target with three overs to spare. Special praise should be showered on Murali Kartik, Harbhajan Singh, and Sachin Tendulkar who bottled up the Pakistani's flow of runs.

Sachin took two precious wickets and the fielding was surprisingly OK, in fact as Ajay Jadeja put it in an interview "Finally a fielding side worser than India." SHoaib Akhtar trapped Sachin and reduced the scorecard to 14/1. Then Ganguly and Gambhir batted sensibly and the elegance of the Prince was visible in shades. When they got out Yuvi and Dhoni played sensibly and India reached the target comfortably with three overs to spare. Dhoni won the man-of-the-match award.

Let us see what happens at Mohali.

THE FESTIVAL OF LIGHTS FOR CINEMA

It is celebration time as Diwali is here. Lots of movies are geting released, it is going to be the biggest Diwali ever in Chennai. On the Bollywood front there is Sanjay Leela Bhansali's "Saawariya" and Farah Khan's reincarnation twist "Om Shanti Om." Kollywood has Vijay's first double role venture "Azhagiya Tamizhmagan," Surya's "Vel," Vikram's much delayed "Bheema," Dhanush's "Polladhavan," Prithviraj's "Kannamoochi Ennada" and some other movies also.

The Indo-Pak in full swing might show stiff competition to all these releases, and I would personally prefer to watch the matches than go to the theatres.

Waiting for the first reviews to come out.

I was really sick on Friday, severe body pain and high fever, tried to get up to go to office, but my body and mind could not synchronize and finally I had no option but to take a day's sick leave. The rains have started, it rained continuously on Friday and Saturday, there was a brief respite on Sunday morning, but by midday the rain gods started showering the tender earth with their bounty.

I was OK by Saturday night, and on Sunday morning I was 100% fit. I cleaned my book shelf and rearranged all my books. As I arranged the books I realized that I had about twenty novels that I had started reading, but somehow or the other I did not finish reading them. There was an anthology of crime fiction, three Clive Cussler novels, two novels by Dean Koontz and Dick Francis, two books by Rabindranath Tagore, two books by Satyajit Ray, I have forgotten the names of the remaining books.

Maybe my first resolution for the coming year will be to stop buying new novels unless I have finished reading all the books I have in hand:)

Then came the news of the selection of the Indian cricket team for the upcoming Indo-Pak series, Rahul Dravid has been "rested," lets see what happens. Shoaib Akhtar palyed the final ODI against the Proteas and took 4 wickets, his pace is as unrelenting as ever. Although Pakistan lost a match that they should have won, the warning bells are already ringing in the Indian camp. Some doubts why was Badrinath selected, not even given a single chance and dropped/rested, what happened to the lanky pace bowler Ranadeb Bose who was touted as India's answer to the fiery pace of the Aussies. If Sehwag fails in the first two ODIs will he be "rested?" Why was not Mohammed Kaif selected? We have so many problems with the fielding, and Robin Singh our fielding coach, can't he put in a good word for Kaif? What is the syndication controversy that Dilip Vengsarkar has landed himself int mean? Two many questions and no answers..

Maybe when the series is over, some more heads will roll.

Lets wait and watch.

MY UNDYING AFFAIR WITH DICKENS...

On my sixth birthday, I received an illustrated classic version of "Oliver Twist" by Charles Dickens. I still remember the details of the book. It was a small and thick Jaico publications book and had a pink cover with the picture of a young boy on it. In the days succeeding my birthday I used to wait for school to get over, I would rush to my house, and finish my homework quickly. In first standard, we had one page of handwriting in Hindi and English, and some simple addition and subtraction problems, on Wednesdays and Fridays we used to get homework in other subjects.

Once homework was done I would go to my favourite reading corner, a small chair painted red and white, that was kept in the living room. I would look at the beautiful pictures in the book and read each sentence slowly and aloud, I would wait for my uncle and elder sister to return from office and tell them what adventures Oliver had faced. It used to amuse both of them and they would listen to my enthusiastic mumblings patiently. I finished reading the book in a month, and my passionate affair with Dickens, his books, and his powerful characters started.

I used to pester my uncle to get me books, I used to say-"Mama(Uncle), just get me one set of dresses for Diwali, for the remaining amount of money get me books." I really thank my uncle from the bottom of my heart for all the generosity and affection that he showered upon me, and the love for literature that he kindled in my mind when I was just a small boy. By the time I was eleven years old I had finished reading the illustrated classics versions of Dickens, Alexandre De Dumas, and Jules Verne. I especially loved "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea" by Jules Verne and "The Count of Monte Cristo" by Dumas.

When I was thirteen years old we had "A Tale of Two Cities" as our supplementary reader and this time the text was pretty close to the original. Once again Dickens weaved magic with his words, portraying Paris during the revolution, Darnay's love for Lucy, and the supreme sacrifice of Sydney Carton. From then there was no looking back, the Library hour that we had once a week in school was devoted to devouring the works of Dickens. I started by reading "Oliver Twist" again; then I read "David Copperfield" and "The Pickwick Papers."

By the time I reached my tenth standard I had finished reading most of the works of Dickens. High-school was absolute misery, I hated Mathematics and Chemistry, drawing the diagrams in the record-books for my Science laboratory classes was another torture that I had to undergo. Finally in May 2002, when the Class XII results came out I realized I had passed in all the subjects.

There was no room for any doubt, it was English Literature for me, and to the dismay of most of my school teachers and friends I joined B.A. English Literature in college. Three years that I really enjoyed and learnt a lot about literature and life, I would like to thank Mr. K.V. Rao. Mr B.S. Suresh, Mr. P.V. Ramanathan, Mr. Balaji, and Mr. Prasanna for imparting a lot of knowledge and teaching me to believe in myself.

Three years passed like a breeze, and the campus recruitment started, I took a test along with about 700 other students to join an e-learning company. The test contained questions on basic English grammar and usage and an essay section where we had a choice of six topics, of which we had to write essays on three topics. My first essay was on "India in the year 2020" the second essay was on "The Impact of Computers on Modern Industry" and the third one, my personal favourite "My Favourite Author." The author of my choice was Charles Dickens, and I poured my heart into the essay. When the results were announced after an hour of anxious waiting only two students had cleared the test and I was one of them. The other boy who was selected did not join the company as he decided to pursue his higher studies in Australia.

I was called for a personal interview and to my surprise and joy at the end of the evening I had an offer letter in hand. Today three years later and in another company, I really thank Dickens for I am sure my essay on Dickens got me my first job.

Hi everybody, I reached home safely at about 12:15 A.M. on Saturday. I left office on Friday night at 10:05 P.M., after waiting at the bus-stop for about 10 minutes, I got bus no. 18-K and reached Chennai Central Station at 10:30 P.M.

I was surprised to note that the train to Arakkonam scheduled to depart at 10:15 P.M. was still there, I got into the train, and reached Putlur by 12:05 A.M. The station was empty except for a couple of dogs playing with each other and some beggars who always sleep on the platform.

There was a hint of moisture in the air and a cool breeze blew which made me pull my monkey-cap over my head. I cycled to my house whistling an old Hindi song. I reached home without any incident, and slept like a log till 10 A.M.

I don't know maybe I will be put in the second shift the next month. Let us see what happens.

First Experience in the Second Shift

A colleague planned to go to his native place and he swapped his shift with mine. So I am here on Friday evening, no jobs at the moment. Just finished an early dinner of pooris at the canteen. Navrathri is about to end, I am really missing Kolkatta, how I wish I could go to the local pooja pandal, watch the majestic idols of the Goddess, sigh! will that life ever come back...

I need to leave office at 10 P.M., hopefully I will reach Central Station by 10:20 P.M., my train to Tiruvallur is at 10:50 P.M., may be I will reach home by 12:15 A.M. Saturday.

Shall post an entry on Monday describing my late night train journey.

Cheers folks, back to work.

Indian Cricket-Back to square one or square zero?

All that euphoria surrounding India's victory in the 20:20 World Cup has lost its sheen after India received another drubbing at the hands of Australia. With one inconsequential match to be played at Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium, the score reads 4-1 in favour of Australia.

Dravid does not even look like a shade of his former self. Perhaps its the curse of being India's captain, his batting has been unusually horrible and he does not have a big score for quite some matches now. Maybe after Dada's soul searching in domestic and county cricket, its the "Wall's" turn now to take rest for a while and regain form.

Bowling has been horrible, Sreesanth, Zaheer, R.P. Singh, Romesh Powar, everyone has taken a beating. Except for India's victory at Chandigarh, nothing much to write about.

India need to win the match at Mumbai to save their dignity.

This series has been in the news for all the wrong reasons the Australians abusing everyone as usual. Sreesanth and Bhajji giving it back to them, then the crowds at Nagpur calling monkey chants at Symonds. Cricket is no longer the gentleman's game, we will see how the crowds behave when India go to Australia.

Golu

Just a random image from the web, golu at my house is smaller and simpler. Worked really hard on Wednesday night to assemble the golu racks. It was a seven-tier rack and it took me three hours to assemble it.

By the grace of God just received some minor injuries, nicked my thumb and index finger, hurt my knee, but all that is trivial as it is the spirit of Navrathri, the joy and devotion that matters most.

Wishing everyone a :Happy Navratri and Durga Puja."

Shutter Bug-A hunt for a normal camera

At the end of my shift, I decided to pursue my luck and buy a camera. In this world of digital fantasy, I was shocked to find that fifteen camera showrooms were no longer selling a normal 35 mm camera. I wonder does no one use these good old 35 mm cameras anymore. I scouted shops in Cathedral Road, Alwarpet, and Mylapore, but everywhere I got the same response -" Saar sorry, ippo andha camerallam vikkarudhilai" [" Sorry sir, now we don't sell those cameras."] I was tired having walked from Cathedral Road to Mylapore and was in a mood mixed of anger and frustration.

Finally I found a small photo studio at Luz Corner near Mylapore, where I got a 35 mm camera with a flash function. It is simple and black in colour and uses ine battery. When you open the shutter a green light glows on the panel which indicates that the camera is ready for use. The flash facility enables one to take photographs in the night.

I took some photos of the Golu dolls arranged at my house. Will get to know how well the camera works when I get the film roll developed and printed.

For the record the camera, fim roll, and battery cost me Rs 958/-.

A Close Shave

India defeated Australia by 8 runs to secure its first ODI victory against the world champions in four years. Dhoni won the toss and decided to bat first. Ganguly and Sachin opened the batting and both players were tested by Brett Lee's unerring line and length. Sachin was unusually dormant with the bat while Dada produced some early fireworks. Sachin was lucky to be given not out to a caught behind appeal. Ganguly departed for 41, Yuvi scored 39, Sachin got run out in an extraordinary way for 79. Dhoni-Captain Courageous scored 50 while Robin Uthappa scored 30 runs of 18 balls. The Aussies were set a target of 292 runs for victory.

The chase started in the usual slam-bang fashion with Gilchrist and Hayden milking the bowlers. then Gilchrist was caught by Zaheer Khan on the boundary. Ponting and Hayden continued to plunder the bowling, then Ponting was stumped by Dhoni. Symmonds joined the party, and almost all the viewers thought we are finished. Some inspired bowling by R.P. Singh, Harbhajan and Murali Kartik produced the desired result for India. R.P. Singh shattered Symmonds stumps and on the next ball he produced a brilliant throw to run Brad Hogg out.

India sniffed victory and with 16 runs required of the last over Zaheer bowled sensibly and India won by 8 runs.

The Baroda match has become all crucial now and India really have to improve their batting, with Gambhir ruled out for the rest of the series, Ganguly and Sachin have to ensure that solid and quick starts not ball wasting Test-innings are produced(comment for Tendulkar). Bowling by Zaheer and Pathan is worrying, I am not very sure how the pitch will behave, most probably the the track willl crumble and enable the spinners in the second innings; and there might be a fair bit of bounce during the first innings.

Let us hope for the best.

WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS

India defeated South Africa, then Australia in the semi finals and finally Pakistan in the finals to win the inaugural 20-20 World Cup. Dhoni, Yuvraj, Rohit Sharma, Sreesanth, and Irfan Pathan starred in the unexpected victory that India achieved. At this juncture a spare a thought for Greg Chappell who had the foresight to give an opportunity to these youngsters who were groomed to attain victory. It is happy to note that Greg is back in India to be a coach at the Rajasthan Cricket Academy.

FUTURE CUP

After all the joy and jubilation of winning the 20-20 tournament. Team-India needs to pull up their socks as they have lost two matches on the trot. So the honeymoon is over and Dhoni & Co. need to put runs on the board and the bowlers need to find their line and pitch the ball at the right places and use the one bouncer an over rule.

Dilip Vengsarkar, has made his point by saying no one can take their place for granted in the team.

India have to win the remaining matches to win the series.

Let us see what happens....

First of all an apology for not writing anything for such a long period; as my colleague says-"Business Requirements." I found some free time today and am back to what I enjoy most-blogging. Lots of things have been happening.....

1-India versus Pakistan in the Twenty:20 World Cup in Johannesburg, Dravid resigning his captaincy, Yuvraj's flurry of sixes, Dhoni's charm, will Team India fulfill the dream of the billion cricket fans. Hope to see a cracker of a match. Lets pray for the best.

2-The Ramar Setu or Adam's Bridge controversy is being raked by every politician in the country, and all parties are (if I may use the term) milking the bridge to their own advantage. Karunanidhi continues to play with the emotions of the people and calls Lord Rama and the bridge a myth, then he says Lord Rama is a drunkard. Enter B.J.P., R.S.S., and L.K. Advani-demands for apology, more bad blood and more free air time on news channels. Then a bus is torched in Bengaluru, two innocent people die, Karunanidhi's daughter's house is pelted with stones and a crude petrol bomb. Please note the attack was so meticulously planned that conveniently no one was present in the house at the time of the attack. Then a fatwa is issued by someone called Vedanti; Karuna's blind and loyal supporters go about destroying B.J.P. office-property as the police remain mute spectators.

Why does not the bloody old man retire? I respect him for his contribution to cinema and literature as a poet/writer, but why stoop so low to garner votes from the SC/ST vote bank. God alone knows what is going to happen to this country.....

God save us.

3-Rajni's "Sivaji" completes 100 days, amid news that cases have been filed against the producers and the director for stealing the story's idea from a manuscript that was sent to the director. The complainant says he sent the manuscript by registered post, and he received it a couple of days with "Refused" written on it, on opening the envelope he was shocked to see blank pages. The mystery deepens, let us see what happens.

4-Finally a good movie from Bollywood, even though it is a remake of Roman Polanski's noir classic "Chinatown," we have "Manorama Six Feet Under" starring Abhay Deol, Gul Panag, Sarika, Vinay Pathak and others. A slow paced mystery of a different kind, watch this.

5-The Left is all hammer and tongs against the Congress for signing the 123 Agreement with the United States, will the U.P.A. fall from power? Will there be mid-term elections? Let us see what happens.

6-Jayalalitha is once again in the news for all the wrong reasons her bungalow and estate in Kodaikanal are about to be seized by the government.

Folks got to go home and sleep, pray that India wins.

Chak de India:)

Hum Honge Kaamyaaab....We Shalll Overcome......

The stage was set for the clash of the failures of the World Cup, India and Pakistan, both teams with young blood infused in them upto the challenge. India batted first and had no answeres to Asif's devastating spell, he took four wickets. Aided by a knock of 50 by Robin Uthappa and 20 runs by Irfan Pathan, India reached 141/9.

The Pakistani chase...

It was supposed to be an easy target, but like a Hitchcock movie with twist after twist, the match threw one surprise after the other. At one stage Pakistan were 55/4, and then Misbah-ul-Haq played a brilliant innings scoring 53 runs. Shahid Afridi was out for an ambitious shot and India thought they had the match in their bag; but it was not to be. Arafat hit some boundaries to bring it down to 29 runs of the last two overs.

Agarkar the villain.....

For the hundredth time I felt like taking my cricket bat and bashing Agarkar's head like breaking an egg to make an omlette. I do not know why the selectors insist on persisting with Sir Aggy!@#$. He has been the reason number one for India's failure in the ODI-series against England; drop him, give Yusuf Pathan, or some other bowler a chance.

The last over......

Twelve of six, and Sreesanth with the ball in hand, a boundary, a single, some doubles, 1 run of two balls. The fifth ball of the over was a dot ball. 1 one of 1, memories of Chetan Sharma being whacked to permanent obscurity by Javed Miandad with a huge six is still fresh in memory. The tension is gripping, you can cut the air with a knife, silence and more silence, what is going to happen..... Phut. The power goes off !@#$%%^&

Power is back, and I regain my sanity.....

The replays show a jubilant Indian side, well what happened a run-out Misbah-ul-Haq run out for 53.

Bowl out....

The scores were tied, and to decide the nail-biter a bowl out; five players from each side had to bowl at the stumps attempting to break the stumps. Sehwag, Uthappa, and Harbhajan hit the mark, while Asif, Gul, and Afridi failed.

The jinx continues......

What a finish India once again stand undefeated against Pakistan in the World Cup.

A great victory for Mahinder Singh Dhoni and Team India, let us seee what happens.

By the way Sehwag is still failing with the bat.

Drop Agarkar or God help us.

Come on India ........

The Hospital Adventure

I decided to prepone my visit to the ophthalmologist as my eyes were hurting a lot on Wednesday morning. I finished my shift at 6:30 in the morning and went to Agarwal Eye Hospital. I was pleased with the ambiance and the first thing that I noticed where two giant LCD TVs, one was telecasting an eye-surgery and the other was beaming NDTV.

I was asked to fill in a form and pay Rs. 300 as consultation fees. Then I was asked to wait, I dared not look at the eye-surgery being shown on TV as it created a sickening feeling in the pit of my stomach and I decided to concentrate on the pretty lady on NDTV. By 8:15 I was called and I was subjected to some tests in front of a machine. Some notes were made and there were some sighs of "Ooh Oh.." by the trainee doctors. I was not amused, I was asked to wait and then called into another room, where I met the senior doctor Mr. Agarwal, he was a genial man and reminded me of Peter Sellers in "The Pink Panther."

Some more tests and I was handed a note and asked to meet another doctor. This time two women examined my eyes and then they put some sticker on my eyebrows and some liquid to dilate my pupils. The sticker hurt my eyes a lot and I had to endure the pain for ten minutes. Then the sticker was removed and a really strange thirty minutes followed with my eyes being tested by a plethora of instruments. Then I read some alphabets on a chart, with a series of different lenses being put on my eyes.

I realized that I was reading m as the number 2. Then I was given a prescription for spectacles and asked to go to the optician. There I was shown a variety of frames and lenses and I chose a stylish Aviator frame. The final bill for the glasses alone Rs 3050/-. Then some drops were put in my eyes and my eyes stung like hell and the procedure was repeated thrice in an hour. Finally I got up and my eyes felt really funny and I could not find out the time from my watch. The drops were supposed to do that and I would not be able to read anything at a short distance for a day.

I was prescribed some drops and an ointment, and they cost me Rs 375/-.

At the end after spending almost Rs 4,000 and a receipt to collect spectacles the next day, I left for home.

Guys you know the people call me Gandhi, with my semi bald look and the glasses, well that's a consolation.

Cheers folks.

The Giant Killers....

I am writing this with shell shocked joy. I do not know why, but there is some manic thrill in watching the Aussies lose, maybe because India lost to the Aussie team in 2002 WC finals, maybe it s because of their racism and high-handedness, but whatever be the reason I love the look of defeat on Ponting's face. No hard feelings mate, I like Bret Lee's aggresssion, Hussey's level headed approach, and Symmonds' clever technique, but blokes you were defeated by a team that all news channels referred to as the "bunch of schoolboys." I am waiting for the expression on the stupid smiling faces of the IBN and NDTV reporters, who all through the day made me feel as if the Zimbabwe team was a bunch of dummies.

Australia managed to score just 138 runs of their alloted 20 overs and Zimbabwe reached the target, helped by a superb knock of 60 runs by Brendan Taylor and 27 by Maskadaskza.

Let us see what happens now. Suddenly India looks extremely vulnerable and today's match against Scotland might have a twist in the tale. Veeru Dada almost totally bald now, will be raring to go at the Scottish attack. Meanwhile Newzealand annihilated Kenya and Pakistan had a good victory against Scotland.

More updates will follow at the end of each day's matches.

I am so happy man......:)

Life Goes On....

It is about 3:20 in the morning, surprisingly I am not feeling sleepy, no work today, finished reading some online short story collections. This is my second month in the night shift. Work is good, though it gets monotonous at times. Looking at the way the company has grown, I feel privileged at having gotten a chance to work in this organization.

Night shift is tiring, and is taking a toll on my eyes. Right eye is perenially red like Vijaykanth in a fight scene, and I am feeling a bit uncomfortable while reading stuff on the computer screen. Need to go to a doctor and get my eyes tested.

So the show must go on, and we need to earn our daily bread, and we need to perform our duties.

So folks cheer up, some more posts around the corner, bye take care.

The Series Stays Alive..

It was a make or break match for India, and with some good knocks by the top order and the rain gods showering their generosity India defeated England by 38 runs on the Duckworth/Lewis Method.

England won the toss and put India to bat, as the moisture in the air was beneficial to the pace-attack. The usual slow start continued as Sachin and Saurav decided to go into test-match batting mode. It was the calm before the storm, and Sachin slammed four boundaries in one over bowled by the hapless Lewis. Sachin, Saurav, Yuvraj, and Gambhir, all went on to score fifties. The final score was 324/6.

England started solidly and the Indian misfielding horror continued as catches were dropped, balls were allowed to reach the boundary rope, and run-out chances were muddled. Collingwood played an excellent knock, and I feel if the rain had not started India would have lost the match.

The next match is extremely important as India needs to square the series.

Lets hope for the best.

A Mockery of the Law

Sanjay Dutt is convicted and sentenced to six years in jail for unlawful possession of an AK-56 rifle.

Salman Khan is sentenced to five years imprisonment for killing a chinkara deer.

Both of them are out on bail.

Picture this the culprits behind the Nithari killings where more than fifty children were gruesomely molested and killed, are still under interrogation and the case continues.

Cases of money laundering, and the fodder scam exist against our Railway Minister Laloo Prasad Yadav.

Many more ministers have cases pending against them.

The Bofors case that rocked the nation, is still in progress.

Shibu Soren of Jharkhand has umpteen cases against him, was imprisoned, but now the court says he is a free man, as the C.B. I. had botched up the case.

I am not a judge, and have no right to judge the actions of these famous and infamous people, but the law of the land has made the common man a fool, and it is a failure of the judiciary, in not providing efficient justice.

God save my country and its people.

So close yet so far...

Misery continues in the Indian cricket team, as England defeated India by two wickets in the 48th over with a heroic eighth wicket partnership of 99 runs between Stuart Broad and Ravi Bopara. Earlier India managed to stutter and scored a paltry 212 with Sachin scoring 55 runs and Yuvraj scoring 71 runs.

Ganguly, Dravid, Dhoni, Karthik, all of them failed.

Then the Indian bowlers did a good job and had England on the backfoot at 114/7, but Bopara and Broad had other plans and ensured that England had the last laugh.

India face an uphill task ahead of them and need to win the next three matches, to win the series.(HIGHLY UNLIKELY)

Let us see what happens.

India fails again...

India lost the third one day match against England at Birmingham, chasing 282 for victory, the Indians were bundled out for 239. The batting failed miserably, the two southpaws Ganguly and Yuvraj made valuable contributions, but Sachin, Dhoni, Dravid, and Karthik failed to score.

The bowling was O.K. but the fielding was extremely poor, lots of dropped catches, missed run-outs and bad or rather horrible throws from the deep to the wicket. Let Karthik be the specialist wicket-keeper, Dhoni should focus on his batting, he has strong arms, and can be stationed in the deep while fielding.

Robin Uthappa seems to have become the specialist substitute, he deserves to play a couple of matches, I feel that sending Sreesanth home and playing Agarkar was a grave error. With four more matches to go, lets hope for the best.

Moving away from THE WEEK THAT WAS some in-depth articles this week.

THE HYDERABAD BLASTS

Terrorism has once again raised its ugly head. Hyderabad was rocked by two powerful blasts on August 25, 2007. The explosions occurred in the evening at Lumbini Park and an area near the Hussain Sagar Lake. Close to 45 people have died so far and many more are fighting for their lives in various hospitals.

A laser show was going on in the park when one bomb exploded, the other bomb exploded near Gokul Chat Bhandar, a famous eatery. The Andhra Pradesh government has announced a compensation of Rs. 5 lakhs each to the families of those who were killed in the blasts.

Reports have also been received that a bomb was diffused in Venkatadiri theatre, and a couple of more bombs were discovered in other areas. It seems that the bombing was planned in a sequence similar to the horrific 1993 Bombay Blasts.

A powerful and advanced explosive Neo gel was used to make the bomb that was set to a timer device. Close on the heels of the bombings Rs. 2.5 crores in counterfeit money was seized in Hyderabad, and a man was arrested on August 26, 2007 in Nagpur, in connection with the blasts.

My heartfelt condolences to the families of the people who died in the blasts.

All Alone On Sunday Night

It is 2:21 A.M. Monday morning, and I am sitting all alone in my bay as I am the only one on this shift. I came in on Sunday night at 10 P.M. Shift gets over at 6:30 A.M. in the morning. Moreover I am in the night shift for the next month too. Let us see what happens.

Too sleepy, am fighting to stay awake.

Cheers.

August 15, 2007-Sixty Years of Independence

When I drafted the first copy of this post, it was 12:45 A.M. on August 15, 2007; and I was in office, with a ten minute break from work. First things first, wishing everyone-"Happy Independence Day."

I am happy and proud to be an Indian, but the things happening in the country bring in more sadness than joy. The nuclear agreement with the United States of America is causing lot of heartburn, everyday the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha witnesses chaos and pandemonium, ending in adjournment of both the houses. Is it for this tamasha that the hard-earned money of the tax-payers goes in making the fat salaries of the MPs. My question is if this agreement would have been signed when the BJP was in power, would the Congress accept it?

The kidnapping and murder of sixteen year old Adnan in Mumbai by his friends, has once again brought into fray the role that social networking sites like Orkut play; and how the youth of today are degenerating with gross disregard for moral values. Drinking, smoking, indulging in sex, addiction to drugs, the list is endless. Have we reached the point of no return?

The BPO culture of today with its easy money, work hard and party hard culture, zero-balance salary accounts has a role to play in this degeneration. There has been a substantial increase in the availability of jobs and the average income of the middle-class family, but we are a paying a price. Night shifts, increasing number of divorces, children not cared for, alcoholism, substance abuse, once again the list is seemingly endless.

I saw something that really made me sad and made me stop and think for a while. I was walking on the road on a Friday evening about 7:30 PM, there were a line of roadside eateries during steady business, selling parottas, omelettes, and fried chicken. There was a big garbage bin one corner of the road where the used banana leaves and paper plates were dumped. I saw a man, a begaar dressed in rags, rummaging for food in the garbage bin. The man was weak and impoverished and looked as if he would fall down. In the same garbage bin was a stray dog also rummaging for food, in comparison to the beggar the dog was well-fed and looked strong. The dog was growling at the beggar and it appeared that it would bite him. The beggar found some leftovers, put them in a plastic bag and walked away.

Even after sixty years of independence a country which calls itself a farmer's nation is not able to feed its citizens. Whose fault is it, is it the individual, the government, or the policy makers; it is a question that remains unanswered. Thousands have died in West Bengal, Bihar, and other parts of the country because of floods. Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Karnataka have witnessed a lot of suicides by farmers.

The propsed Tata small-car plant at Singur in West Bengal, has caused bloodshed from day one. The titanium di-oxide plant at Sattanukulam in Tamil Nadu has again caused problems. Where do we go from here? What kind of a country are we going to leave for our children? Are we going to offer them a better tomorrow or a living hell?

Think and reply, please post your comments.

Cheers.

THE WEEK THAT WAS

Sports

The Nehru Cup has started after an eight year hiatus and India won its opening match.

Cricket

England Lions mauled the Indian bowling attack in a friendly match before the ODI series. Rain stopped India from chasing the target of 296 runs.

ICL

The Indian Cricket League announced its teams, though there is no Brian Lara or Shane Warne, we do have Lance Klussener, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Mohammed Yousuf, Imran Farhat, and Nicky Boje from foreign shores. Lots of Indian cricketers like Dinesh Mongia, Rohan Gavaskar, S.Sriram, and many more Ranji players have joined the league.

Lets wait and watch. This means big money, big business, and big entertainment. I am waiting for Klussener to launch a scathing attack of fours and sixes.

Politics

The political tamasha continues as the Left goes to war against the UPA, we are on the way to mid-term polls, let us see what happens.

Cinema

Mohanlal's "Alibhai" releases with great fanfare, Mohanlal's good run at the box-office continues. Yet to see "Hello." Vishal Bharadwaj's "Blue Umbrella" is making waves.

Cheers folks.

See you next week.

THE WEEK THAT WAS

Politics

For once the puppet stood its ground and made its stand clear(No offence meant). Our P.M. Dr. Manmohan Singh has stood his ground firmly saying the Left(Communist Party of India) can leave the coalition but the Indo-U.S. nuclear deal will stand. Good show Manmohanji finally you showed courage.

The Nuclear Deal

The deal from my perspective is heavily in favour of America, yet I think we needed some concrete backing and resources. so this deal had to work out. Hopefully it will be beneficial for India.

Cricket

India is on verge of a historic series win against England, as India posted a mammothe 664, aided by Anil Kumble's maiden test century. He hit an unbeaten 110, Dhoni, Sachin, Karthik all of them joined the run-making feast. In reply England were 324/9 at the end of the third day's play.

Football

Manchester United defeated Chelsea 3-0 on penalties.

Cinema

"Chak de India" opens to positive reviews, Vishal Bharadwaj's "The Blue Umbrella" has also garnered praise.

"Gandhi my Father" wins critical acclaim, is bound to get some awards the coming year. Cash bombs at the Box Office.

Cheers folks!

The Third Shift

It is two weeks now, since I have been working in the third shift or the night shift. The shift timing is from 10:30 P.M. to 6:30 A.M., the next day. No complaints, I just feel a bit sleepy between 12:30 and 1:30. The company provides a cab from Avadi for pick-up, there is free dinner, and early morning breakfast. I return home by 9:00 A.M., take a bath, have one solid meal, watch the news channels for thirty minutes and sleep till 6:00 P.M.

I get up a bit groggy-eyed, and freshen up, have some light tiffin, read for a while, and then it is back to the railway station, to board a train to reach Avadi. The cab-driver is a good chap, shy, nervous, and a big FM radio enthusiast. The cab picks up to more people on the way, and then we head to office making it by 10:20 P.M. Well that is my life for you.

By the way will have to come to work on August 15, I remember attending Maths special class in high-school on August 15, but this, well everything has to start some day or the other right; anyway the company does provide double wages for working on a holiday; so no complaints.

People the exam fever has hit me again, I am performing miserably in my assessments at office, and I am worried like anything. I thought my exam phobia would end with school, but somehow it keeps returning to haunt me in some way or the other. Have to get a grip on myself and stop being nervous.

Started reading "Life of Pi" it is Booker Prize winning book; will post a detailed review after I finish reading it. A team outing is on the cards, but there is a budgetary constraint, hence I am not sure if the trip will materialize.

Results of my M.A. Exams are yet to come, beginning to feel a bit edgy, hope I get good marks.

Cheers folks.

Black Friday

I got a chance to see a movie titled "Black Friday," it is based on a book of the same name and highlights the 1993 Bombay blasts, and the investigation of the Maharashtra police. I enjoyed reading the book a couple of months ago, and I was a bit apprehensive about seeing the movie, five minutes into the movie all my fears were laid to rest, as the drama unfolded on the screen.

There are no rumours and impersonations, real names and actual situations, the movie directed by Anurag Kashyap brings out the bare facts, the anger, and the frustration of Mumbai after the blasts. K.K. Menon as the police officer in charge of the investigation, Pavan Malhotra as Tiger Memon, and another T.V. actor who plays the role of Inspector Abhijeet in Sony's C.I.D.[I don't know his real name:)], perform brilliantly.

The movie shows how Tiger Memon plans the Mumbai bombings, with the help of Dawood Ibrahim and the I.S.I. of Pakistan. The psychological turmoil of the people who planted the bombs, their meticulous planning, and how they are caught, these are portrayed on screen.

Watch this movie.

I rate it ***/5.

A case of jellybeans, Zak, and an Indian victory

When the English cricketers probably Matt Prior, Collingwood, and may be Pieterssen scattered jellybeans near the batsman's crease, when Zaheer Khan was batting, they did not fathom the destruction that Zaheer, referred to as Zak (for the past few days by the media) would unleash on their batting lineup.

Zaheer scalped five wickets to restrict England, even while Michael Vaughan showed his class with a defiant knock of 124 runs. All said and done, the damage had been done, and India were set a target of 73 runs to win the Trentbridge test. Chris Tremlett scalped three wickets on the final day, but India won the match with four byes.

It is India's fifth victory in 47 test matches in England. A good morale boosting victory, India should do their best to win the final test.

Let us see what happens.

Munnabhai Chale Jail

At the end of one of India's largest criminal case trial, Sanjay Dutt was sentenced to six years rigorous imprisonment. All of Bollywood was shocked, but justice has been served. It is the producers who are kicking themselves as films worth almost Rs 60 crores are stuck in various stages of completion.

Sanjay is going to appeal to the Supreme Court and we will wait for further developments.

THE WEEK THAT WAS

Hi folks this post comes a bit early, as from Monday onwards, I am on night shift, and might not find time to blog. So happy reading....

POLITICS

A.P.J. Abdul Kalam bids goodbye to the Rashtrapati Bhavan and Pratibha Patil becomes the first woman President of India.

SPORTS

Another controversy hits the Tour de France cycle race as more cases of doping are reported.

Sania wins a WTA doubles title, and has defeated Pattie Schnyder to reach the semi finals of the Cincinnati Open.

CRICKET

India escape by a whisker due to the fury of the rain gods to draw the first test at Lords, England failed to get the last wicket, and a sensible knock by Dhoni saved India.

At the end of the first day of the second test match played at Nottingham were tottering at 162/7. Zaheer scalped three wickets, and was ably supported by Sreesanth, R.P. Singh, and Kumble.

CINEMA

As predicted Kireedom flops (rather fails to do the expected business/no usual Ajit opening).

Veerappu a remake of Mohanlal's Spadikam, and a movie Thee Nagar starring comeback king Karan released, both carry good reports.

Bye folks, see you next week.

DVD Review

Over the weekend, I saw two Malayalam movies on dvd, they were radically different and I enjoyed them both. The first one was "Nottam," with Nedumidi Venu and Jagathy giving solid performances. Venu is a Koodiyattam dancer, and Jagathy is his assistant. The movie is simple and has excellent music by M. Jayachandran. The songs "Pacha Pannantathe..." and "Mayangi Poyyi..." are superb. This is one of the most underrated Malayalam movies in recent times and as it did not boast of a stellar star cast it hardly had a theatrical release. Watch this movie.

Moonamathoral, starring Jayaram, Samvritha, Sherin, Vineeth, and others is a brilliant attempt at horror, I really fail to understand how this movie bombed at the box office. The movie starts with a police officer looking at two figures hanging by the noose from a tree.

Two young and beautiful nurses move into a nice cottage on the edge of the woods, a mysterious boy chasing his tennis ball keeps appearing and disappearing, one of the girls sees a mysterious lady dressed in white-Jyothirmayee. When Samvritha is frightened, Sherin ridicules her. Meanwhile Samvritha is too shy to reveal her love for Vineeth the psychiatrist.

One day Sherin also sees the lady in white, after taking a bath, and is scared out of her wits. The two girls rush to meet Vineeth, thinking he might help them. Now comes the best part, the two girls go to Vineeth's house and call him, he does not hear them, and continues to read his newspaper, and then throws it on to the table. The girls are perplexed and glance at the newspaper; it has their photos with a caption that they are dead. I do not know if this is an original idea or if it is ripped from some foreign movie, but it is one good idea. Kudos to director V.K. Prakash.

Then we are introduced to the police officer Jayaram and his wife Jyothirmayee, who is a novelist. They stay in the same house where the girls stayed. Now Jyothirmayee sees the spirits of Sherin and Samvritha and is possessed by their spirits and goes into a trance like stage from time to time. Jayaram takes his wife to the psychiatrist Vineeth, who gives her some sedatives and advises Jayaram to move to another house. Jyothirmayee sees the framed photographs of Samvritha and Sherin in the hospital and faints. She informs Jayaram that the photo resembles the spirits she sees.

Jayaram investigates the death of the two girls, a flashback shows the dead bodies shown in the first scene to be the corpses of Samvritha and Sherin. Jayaram visits Vineeth and congratulates him as Vineeth is scheduled to go to Australia the following day. Vineeth thinks about the incidents and in a flashback we are shown Vineeth killing Samvritha and Sherin. Then we are shown Jyothirmayee stalking Vineeth, Vineeth escapes from her clutches and runs in the pouring rain in the darkness of the night.

We are shown a shot of Jayaram escorting Jyothirmayee in a jeep. Vineeth returns to his house and sees a crowd, outside it. He sees a dead body covered with a white cloth, he moves closer to have a glimpse of the corpse. The face is uncovered and he is shocked to see his own face.

A flashback shows Jyothirmayee stabbing Vineeth.

This is one movie, sans lots of bloodshed, and really holds your suspense.

Two thumbs up.

The week that was....

This is an experiment, every Monday I am going to write about things that happened to me, or had some impact on me in the previous week. Thursday saw big protests at Chennai Central suburban railway station. July 1, onwards a loony railway minister altered local train timings, which wreaked havoc on the common man's schedule; lots of protests and strikes led to a commuter-friendly train schedule.

On Thursday evening, commuters were left stranded as there were no trains for close to three hours, frustrated passengers squatted on the tracks and demanded an explanation, regarding why the trains were not running on time. Many people including my father could not return home on Thursday night and went back to their office/shop, slept there, returned home on Friday morning, took a bath, had breakfast, and then back to office.

I did not get my usual 4:25 train and had to take a day's casual leave. An extended weekend as it was my double off (Saturday and Sunday holidays). I had lots of work to do, arranging my books, writing some poetry, and watched some movies on dvd.

A RUDE SHOCK

Dvds that I buy for Rs 40 and Rs 50, from the footpath, work fine, but to my surprise and shock an original dvd that I bought from a reputed music store in Spencer's Plaza, did not work at all. I need to take it to them and find out if they will replace it.

POLITICS

Pratibha Patil has been elected as the first woman President of India. You know what that means?

One more puppet for Madam Sonia Gandhi, I guess all of you know who the other important puppet is:)

CRICKET

India face an uphill task and require 243 runs to win with 7 wickets in hand to defeat England in the first test match at Lords.

KIREEDOM

A great performance by Ajith and Rajkiran, but this lavish remake of Mohanlal's classic is most likely to bomb at the box office.

I AM BACK.....

So many things have happened in the world of cricket, since my last post here; I have been extremely busy, and have just posted some topics on the other blogs, anyway it is good to be back in business.

India defeated Bangladesh, in both the test and the ODI series, then defeated Ireland and South Africa to win the Future Cup. The India-Pakistan match was unfortunately washed out.Chandu Borde, I will refer to him as Grandpa, is the manager of the team, and will be in charge, till the end of the inaugural 20-20 tournament in South Africa.

Pakistan have got a new coach-Geoff Lawson.

Sangakkarra and Murali tormented the Bangladesh team, with Murali reaching the magic figure of 700 test wickets; and Sanga smacking two double hundreds.

The first test match starts between India and England today.

This might perhaps be the last tour in England for Sachin, Sourav, Dravid, and Laxman.

The latest update is that Laxman has been signed on by Lancashire to play county cricket, once the test series finishes.

Bye for now.

LIFE IN A METRO

I saw this movie, and really enjoyed it. It is not in the usual commercial formula of five songs, four fights, songs in exotic foreign locales, and a comedy track. It is a story of modern life, where money and status rule over sentiments, emotion and a happy family. The life of people in BPOs, harried executives, frustrated housewives, families on the verge of breaking, homosexuality among office colleagues, secretaries sleeping with their bosses, and a mad lovable city in which they all live. The movie has good performances by Kay Kay Menon, Sharmaan Joshi, and Irfaan Khan; Konkona Sen has given a credible performance, Shilpa Shetty hams through the movie, and Kangana is O.K..

The music by Pritam and his group is the biggest highlight of the movie, no running behind trees, no group dances in New York or Amsterdam. Just plain soulful singing. I am not going to go into details about the plot, saying who is who, so go watch the movie.

Three cheers for director Anurag Basu.

My Rating-****.5/5*****.

SHIVAJI-"Full of sound and fury"

It was the biggest combination in Southern Indian cinema, A.V.M., director Shankar, music genius A.R. Rahman, and superstar Rajnikant. When you get such a huge canvas of talent one expects nothing short of a masterpiece. Honestly speaking after watching the movie, I feel it is hyped too much. When all news channels run Rajni specials every day for a week, leading to the release, one tends to get irritated, then again the Superstar, is the Boss, and no one can deny his charm, flair, style, and the adoration that people have for him.

Shankar has just one story that he remoulds and recycles again and again from Kaadhalan, to Gentleman, to Indian, it is one man against the system. Boys was a group against the system. Shivaji is no different. Shivaji a software engineer returns with a lot of money to Tamil Nadu and plans to construct hospitals, colleges, and create job opportunities for the unemployed. He has a nemesis in Adiseshan played by Suman a kingmaker who runs education and hospitals to mint money.

The conflicts, accusations, corruption in society and how Shivaji succeeds in his realizing his dreams makes up the movie.

Shriya Sharan looks anorexic,Vivek is the gem in the cast and has excellent lines. Livingstone playing a police officer also gets some funny lines.

Songs are O.K., fights have been choreographed well.

Overall it is paisa vasool time pass, no masterpiece.

Shanker has to break away from his single story mode and do better.

My Rating ***/5.

The Early Bird Gets its Worm....

No time for proverbs, it is just that from this month onwards I have been put into the first shift, I have to be in office at 6:30 A.M. and my shift gets over at 2:30 P.M., it is a new experience. I have to get up at 3:40 A.M., brush my teeth, have some bread, dress in formal wear with a tie, and cycle to the station. I have to catch a 4:30 A.M. train, get down at Avadi and board another train leaving Avadi at 5:10 A.M., I manage to reach office in the nick of time, at around 6:25 A.M.. Then it is work, with lots of practice documents, I feel terribly drowsy between 7:45 A.M. and 9 A.M., but my seniors tell me the drowsiness will go away in a couple of days, till I get used to coming early.

I have breakfast in office, the food that they serve here for lunch, does not suit my taste, so I have lunch in a hotel and retun home by around 5:15 P.M., then it is time for a bath, some reading, then dinner, and I am asleep by 8:15 P.M..

That is my life till August 8, and then the shift will change. I will write about it then.

Cheers folks.

A TRIP TO OOTY-EPISODE 2

We reached the resort and found that not enough rooms were free, about twenty of us did not get rooms, the others got rooms with three people staying in one room each. We proceeded to a hall, to have our much needed breakfast. I tasted the worst coconut chutney of my life, which had absolutely no salt or spice in it. I had some idlies and aloo parathas(not bad).

Then we went to the reception and finally I got a room, I shared my room with two members of my own team, we actually got a separate cottage instead of a room. I switched on the T.V., (no remote) and the resort is supposed to be a three star one. Only 14 channels were available, thankfully I got to see the India-South Africa cricket final.

I took a bath in hot water, the geyser took an hour to warm the water, then went to the dining hall to have lunch(lot of stuff but quality was just O.K. not befitting the standards of a three star resort).

Then we left for the Boathouse, it was drizzling incessantly and we had a boat ride on the lake.

We returned to the resort and had dinner and had a peaceful night's sleep. The power went of a couple of times in the night(no generator), but it was already cold and I just huddled into my bed(the bed was comfortable), and one thing I noticed about Oooty there were practically no mosquitoes there.

The next morning we had breakfast and went to the Botanical Gardens, once again it was raining in short spells and there was a biting chill in the air. There were varieties of flowers and trees in the garden, there was a greenhouse devoted to roses, and also a small shop selling seeds, plants, and jams.

Then I went shopping an bought some tea, chocolates and a raincoat. By now the rain had increased in intensity and I ran to the bus and sat in my seat waiting for the others to return.In the evening we went to Dodabetta, which was closed, so we went to a tea factory and experienced first hand the process of manufacturing tea.

We returned to the resort, and we were informed that we would not be able to visit the Pykara Lake as the route to the reservoir was not motorable because of the heavy rains and the landslides.

A TALE OF VOMITTING

The last day of the trip, June 3, 2007, was one of the most horrible days of my life, a feeling shared by almost all other trip members. Everyone was vomitting like anything, the badly cooked food, the horrible weather and the incessant rain had taken its toll, I felt too nauseated to have anything. Then one of my roommates suggested a walk to the Fernhill Palace, saying the fresh air would do me good. I accepted his offer and we were joined by three others and we took a "short cut" actually a longer circuitous route to reach the palace. We paid an entry fee of Rs 50 each and entered the palace, a part of which has been converted into a resort.

DAYLIGHT ROBBERY

I was feeling very thirsty and tired and decided to get a bottle of water, and the hotel staff charged Rs 35, for a bottle of Kinley water priced at Rs 13, that is bloody robbery in the name of tourism. I guess only the Maharajas and CEOs stay there, and they don't care two hoots about paying triple the price for a bottle of water.

FERNHILL PALACE

The palace was excellent, and transported the visitor to the era of the British Raj with its elaborate furniture, ball room, piano and paintings. They showed us the kitchen and dining hall, the bedrooms of the Maharaja and the Maharani, the palace is owned and run by the Maharaja of Mysore. It was a memorable experience, and I wondered how life would have been 70 years back in the palce, with their elaborate feasts, gala parties, fox hunts..., a time gone by, the glory of the maharajas, no longer ruling the country.

RETURN TRIP

We returned to the resort and boarded the bus that took us back to Coimbatore, they played Dhoom 2 and Stealth on the bus. The return trip was no good for the already suffering travellers and we made about five stops for people to vomit. We reached Coimbatore railway station at around 7:30 P.M.

We were once again conned by the trip organisers, who packed parottas(almost no one had them) and ooothapam for dinner. Anyway we were tired and I had the foresight to buy bread and jam. I had it and slept. There were many complaints of an upset stomach and vomitting by people who risked the parottas.

I got down at Perambur at around 4:30 A.M. and was at home in Tiruvallur by about 6 A.M.

An end to a trip that was a failure.

Hope to have a better trip next time around.

A TRIP TO OOTY ALSO CALLED A STUDY IN VOMITTING IN THE MONSOON

I felt extremely lucky to have joined a new company and get a chance to go on a team trip almost immediately, but by the end of the trip, I felt foolish and this post will explain my feeling foolish and nauseated. The trip was to the Queen of the Hills-Ooty.

An entire coach was booked on the Nilagiri Express and about 60 employees and five or six kids boarded the train at Chennai Central on June 30, 2007, the entire team looked as if the members had returned to school, there was total confusion and we finally found our coach S-10 and got into it. My first shock was that there was no ticket in my name, I was a replacement for someone else who ahd backed out after giving his name. So I assumed a false name, (was really frightened thinking that good old T.T.E. would catch me). Then the train left half an hour late and the party started, a full fledged TASMAC shop was on show as a group decided that it was time to make merry and I believe alcohol flowed till about 1 A.M., on another end Antakshari(song-fest) was in full swing. I left my berth, found one berth belonging to a reveller and shut my eyes and slept.

July 1, 2007-Sunday-Coimbatore Railway Station-4:30 A.M.

I had woken up at around 3:30 A.M., so I had brushed my teeth and was awake and alert. We reached Coimbatore, and a representative from the resort where we were staying met us and took us to a couple of luxury buses. There was a pale yellow coloured bus and an orange coloured bus. I chose the orange one, put my stuff in the luggage compartment and sat in the comfortable cushioned seat. The buses started and stopped after fifteen minutes to fuel(Bloody drivers couldn't they fuel the bus before they reached the station), then we stopped in front of a bakery cum tea shop, where I had some bread and coffee. Finally we started moving at around 5:45 A.M., the sun had risen and there was a cool moisture laden breeze that accompanied us.

I took some snaps with my camera mobile(have to find a way to upload the images onto the blog). The bus left the plains and climbed the hilly roads and we crossed the breathtaking beauty of the Nilgiris travelling through Coonoor and Mwttupalayam. The bus finaly reached Sterling Resorts, Fernhill, Ooty at a round 10 A.M.

To be continued...