Musical Quiz

Conducted a quiz for the employees at my work-place!

Employee Engagement :)

Simple quiz for Illayaraja and RD Burman fans :)

Try this http://www.slideshare.net/areukiddingme/musical-quiz-round-2

Do post your answers in the Comments Section :)

Happy quizzing!

Today's train accident!!!!

Early this morning close to about 4:30 AM The Tamil Nadu Express heading to Chennai from New Delhi caught fire near Nellore. Coach S-11 and at last count 42 people have been charred to death.

Some questions to the great system that governs this country:

Millions on sporting extravaganzas like the Commonwealth games or the running joke that is the IPL.

Scam after scam by politicains from all major parties.

This development, that development - sending a man to land on the moon.

Space exploration, defence program, nuclear energy and all such things for the so-called progress of the nation!

How much does it cost to install a smoke-alarm / fire-alarm in every coach of the train?

Fire extinguishers in every coach?

There is no value for a human life in this country!

This is the state-of-life in my nation, I am proud to be an Indian :( - The media will go mad - Arnab Goswami willhold a discussion at 9. Half-a-penny celebrities will speak, mud-slinging by former railway men and women will happen and the whole damn system reeking of human and animal refuse will continue to run as if nothing happened!

I spend 4 hours on the local train every day - I know first-hand how pathetic the system is!

Forget Metro-rail, forget monorail - this land will never ever move from the status of developing to developed!

Even when I reach the ripe old age of eighty India will still be developing and some statesman would have coined a new term India 2100 to aim complete growth!

The Dark Knight Rises - Review

There is a strange sense of joy when you manage to sit in the AC comfort of a plush cinema-hall and get to watch a movie for TEN bucks right in the first row. The joy is compounded when the movie is The Dark Knight Rises - before I go into the review a prayer to the dear departed souls whose lives were snuffed out by a deranged psychopath in the US.

All tickets in the executive class were full and the helpful attendant gave me a Rs 10 ticket to my shock and surprise the three gorgeous (make-up magic) girls who stood behind me in the queue managed to get the executive tickets! 'Anything for you madam' seems to be PVR's new mantra :)

Before the movie started there were trailers of Superman to be released in 2013 and The Bourne Legacy (am not going to miss it). The movie started finally and the incessant chat of two dumb chaps in Telugu was beginning to irritate me. Before I could say anythin another chap a Sardar methinks said - 'Oye chhhup kar yaar picture dekh'!

The movie starts with a plane flying with a CIA recovery team who have seemingly captured a nuclear physicist and some mercenaries who work for Bane! Then we are introduced to the menacing Bane himself played by Tom Hardy attired with a Hannibalesque mask! A crash is engineered and Bane escapes with the physicist hanaging from another plane! What an introduction scene :)

Commisioner Gordon's homage to Harvey Dent and then introduces us to the now retired Batman / Bruce Wayne. We are also introduced to the ravishingly seductive Catwoman / Selina Kyle played by Ann Hathaway:)!

To cut a long story short we have a stock market attack initiated by Bane in which Bruce Wayne loses control of his company. This follows Bane terrorising the city by blowing up parts of the city specially the stadium when an American soccer match is in progress.

He threatens to blow a nuclear device if his demands are not met and unleashes a reign of terror and revolution wherein the commoners hold mock-trials and punish the upper class society members.

There is a parallel track of a rookie cop who holds the key to the climax!

SPOILERS AHEAD - I guess half the readers of this blog would have seen the movie already!

The caped crusader wears the mask again and tries to fight Bane. But Bane overpowers Batman and sends him to a dungeon at the bottom of a well-like structure and there we see Bruce Wayne recovering from his bashing supported by two old men in the prison.

During this period complete unrest and anarchy breaks out in Gotham City while a whole contingent of policemen are trapped in the underground tunnels.

The movie keeps shifting from Gotham to the dark dungeon - apparently a few shots of the exterior landscape depicting the location of the dungeon were shot in Rajasthan!

Bruce Wayne rebuilds his strength and attempts to climb out of the well, fails a couple of times and then climbs out without the aid of a rope!

Gordon and the rookie cop meanwhile try to prevent the nuclear bomb from detonating. Batman returns to Gotham and a massive fight ensues and good triumphs over evil.

We have a lady who sleeps with Bruce Wayne turning out to be Ras al Ghul's daughter who seeks vengeance and the Catwoman becoming Batman's saviour!

The movie ends on a positive note we are to believe that Wayne / Batman escapes a nuclear blast and lands in Florence with Selina Kyle in tow and a memorial gets erected for Batman in Gotham City.

The ends also brings the option of a new Batman franchise. Watch the movie!!!

Special mention as always for Michael Caine as Alfred the butler and Morgan Freeman as Fox the tech-guru!

Nowhere near the Dark Knight because Heath Ledger was a villain in another mode and Tom Hardy has to portray a more physical and brutal villain.

I wonder how Bane eats / drinks and if the mask is to be there always, how come there is no beard or side-burns if he can't shave :)!

Vijay Divas

Today is Vijay Divas - July 26th how many of us remember the day!

It is in honour of all the soldiers who lay down their lives to secure victory for India in the Kargil War!

A prayer for all the martyrs!

Jai Hind!

I want to Fly

Part of a fun-competition organised by the Chennai Bloggers Club about flying and the first flight! I chose to write a poem :)

As a child:

I would look up at the sky,
And smile in wonder,
At those magnificent machines,
That flew through the clouds,
With such power and grace!

It was a real joy,
To say 'tata'and wave my hands,
At the aeroplanes that flew,
Carrying unknown people,
To destinations that I might never visit.

As a teen:

Watching Top Gun and Broken Arrow!
There was a passion,
For flying machines and Aviator glasses.
A craze for posters and magnetic aeroplane stickers.

Now I am a man - or am I still a child :) -

It's all about revenues,
Value-distance and cost-per-clicks,
Tracking advertising revenue and monitoring clients.
Life goes on and I am still stuck
In a city that binds me!

The rare vacation that makes me travel!
Is still by Indian Railways!
Air-travel is still something of a dream!
Funny isn't it - in a world of low-cost airlines :)

If an air-trip materialises:

It should be to a city,
That I never visited before,
A trip without hassles,
Possibly on time departure and arrival :)
And perhaps someone interesting on the seat next to me :)

Life goes on....as this dream too remains unfulfilled like so many others!

The Hare and the Tortoise

Someone sent me an email with this picture - too funny :) read, think and then laugh :)

Quick Movie Reviews

The Spirit - Malayalam
Starring - Mohanlal, Kaniha, Shankar, Kalpana and others

The movie is a social commentary on how alcoholism is becoming a big issue in Kerala. Every day the number of alcohol-related deaths are rising. This movie is about the writer cum media-person Raghunandan played by Mohanlal who is a chronic alcoholic and is divorced but maintains a friendly relationship with his ex-wife her new husband and the mute son from his marriage.

His friend and poet dies in his arms spitting blood and tissue because of alcohol dependency forces Raghu to change the way he looks at life.

A documentary is shot titled a 'Day in the life of an alcoholic' as part of his TV show - the documentary bit shows the frustrations and problems of an alcoholic.

Definitely worth a watch Ranjit's script and direction is top-class.

Three and a half stars!

Pan Singh Tomar - Irffan Khan, Mahie Gill, Raghuvir Yadav, Nawazuddin Sidiqqui and others. Directed by Tigmanshu Dhulia.


Based on a true story of an army officer cum athlete who ends up becoming a dacoit and is shot dead in a brutal police encounter. The movie is stunning for the sheer intensity that Irffan brings in his portrayal as the long-distance runner and then the dacoit who wreaks vengeance.

Have not seen Gangs of Wasseypur yet so cannot comment on Manoj Bajpayee's acting but Irffan deserves an award for the sheer effort he has put in to portray the champion runner.

Deserves four stars :)