Meenu Kutty

This post is written for the Indiblogger - Incredible Stories Contest

The following is partially true and I have taken creative liberties to add a bit of spice but all characters and incidents are real did take place to someone whom I know.


It was a phone-call one Thursday evening from an unknown number; a voice from so many years back; it took me a while to find my voice and reply. The voice on the other end said - 'Hello, is this Seshu, this is Meenu, Appa passed away today the cremation ceremonies will take place by Sunday. Will you be able to come? I am sorry to barge-in after so many years, but we are struggling a bit and I don't think I have enough money for all the ceremonies' and she just broke into tears and cried. I comforted her - 'Meenu kutty. Don’t worry I will reach there tomorrow; don't worry about the expenses - I will take care - I owe at least this much to Raghu Mama.

I rushed about like a man possessed - I called my friend Somu who worked as a TTE in Southern Railways and called in a favour - 'Matchan one ticket to Palakkad -kaise bhi dila de.' He said - 'Tu station aa ja main sambhal loonga - Alleppey Express mein ek berth milega!'

I packed some clothes along with a veshti and angavastram separately in a cover checked my wallet and added my debit cards and also took some five thousand rupees in loose cash locked my flat and headed out to Central Station.

As promised Somu had a ticket ready for me - 'He winked and said - Saale, vapas aakar bar le ke jaa aur poori kahani bata'. I smiled and boarded the train. Thankfully it was an AC coach so there were no worries - the food was oK nothing great. The train had reached Arakkonam and the other occupants were ready to sleep. Lights were switched-off and the blue night-light went on.

I just lay on my berth and thought:

My father was a marine engineer and was posted in Dubai. I had lost my mother when I was three. I grew up in the loving care of my grandparents. Father used to come home on a one-month vacation every year, then he would be gone and I would once again have just my grandparents for company.

Thatha was a retired postmaster and Patti was a music teacher. I used to study at the St. Mary’s School, which lay across the river. I had to travel on a boat, which would ferry me to the school.

Meena was Raghu uncle’s daughter. Raghu uncle was the village administrative officer. Meena’s mother was Sheela teacher, my Geography teacher. They were our neighbours.
My first memories of Meena are that of a beautiful girl in a blue and gold ‘pavadai-davani’ [half-saree], with jasmine flowers in her hair and a smile on her face, singing “Alai Payudhe Kanna…” in grandmother’s music class.

I was a shy boy and had no friends except Meena. Meena was my classmate in school; the two of us would play together, go fishing in the pond near our house, and steal mangoes from the orchard. Life went on at its own sweet unhurried pace. Thatha would make fun of me saying “Dei Seshu, Meena kitta mattikitaya, [Hey Seshu got caught by Meena]; she is going to marry you and torment you like your Patti torments me.”

It was Meena’s tenth birthday; and her parents had organized a grand party. Meena was wearing a pink frock with a red belt. She looked like an angel. She cut the cake, and I gave the birthday present to her. It was a novel by Enid Blyton, which Thatha had carefully gift wrapped. During the party Meena came to me and said-“Seshu, thank you for the lovely book. I too have something for you.” She took out a small toy figurine of my comic superhero Batman and gave it to me. “Seshu, Appa has got a promotion and a transfer, we are leaving for Chennai tomorrow.” I was shocked. Meena was leaving me, no more hide-and-seek, no more singing, and no more fishing. I held her hands in mine and said-“Goodbye Meenu Kutty, best of luck.” I ran to my house without turning back, as I did not want her to see me crying.

The next morning they came to say goodbye. They took the blessings of Thatha and Patti; I had made a small card for Meena. I had drawn a rose and written-“Best of luck Meenu Kutty.”

That was the last time I saw her, though I kept getting letters from Meenu once in a while.

Somewhere during the course of these thoughts I fell asleep. I woke up all of a sudden with a start and hit my head on the roof of the coach forgetting that I was sleeping on the upper berth. I rubbed my head and looked at my watch - at least an hour more to Palakkad.

I got down and went next to the exit and stared out as the beauty of Kerala in the early morning light, greenery, coconuts, the milkmen and newspaper vendors - it was almost as if I was back with Thatha and Patti and Meenu. Raghu Uncle had been caught in a controversy with a local MLA and had lost his job and had spent a majority of his savings in fighting a defamation case against the MLA - as usual the corrupt MLA won and Raghu Uncle had never been the same. Meenu remained a spinster forever and Sheela teacher had passed away one night in her sleep.

Our ancestral home was managed by a caretaker who deposited the money earned from the coconut groves and the jackfruit plantations on a regular basis. Nair Uncle the caretaker was waiting for me with the old white Ambassador at Palakkad station.

He said 'Seshu - mone koraya kaalam aayi - Raghu saar marichu - aa kochu veliya kashta thil aana' 'Seshu it’s been quite a while - Raghu sir died that poor girl is in lots of trouble.'

I reached home, took a refreshing bath in the pond and had a quick breakfast of puttu and kadala curry and a glass of filter coffee made by our cook Narayani Chechi.

I then left to Meenu's house - Raghu uncle's body had been kept in an ice-box and Meenu sat next to the body sad but with a stoic calm on her face. When I called out Meenu Kutty there was a smile on her face - ah what an angelic smile - I was reminded of my childhood playmate and all the fun that we used to have.

She got up slowly as I walked up to her. There was an awkward uncomfortable silence and she stared at me. I said - 'Meenu, don't worry - I am here now!' She just rushed up to me and hugged me with tears pouring out - Seshu that MLA bled us blind - the house is also under mortgage my job at the school just about takes care of the medical and food expenses.' I felt uncomfortable not knowing what to do, I said 'Meenu calm down - we will sort out everything.'

The next two days were hectic - getting the vaddhiyars organised, arranging for the ceremonies, paying back old bills and other tasks.

Meenu was in tears but she bravely lit the funeral pyre on Sunday morning at the Bharatha Puzha.

We returned to my ancestral house! It started raining and the downpour continued all through the night. Meenu slept in Narayani chechi's room.

The next day I planned to leave - I was scheduled to report to work on Wednesday. Monday morning was a bit cool as the over-night rains had brought down the temperature, as I returned from my bath in the pond I noticed Meenu sitting in the courtyard reading the newspaper. Just for old-times sake I plucked a couple of hibiscus flowers from the creeper crept up to her from behind and threw them on her head!

She jumped up with a start and then started laughing and then Nair Uncle saw us and he too started laughing - it was a moment frozen in time just like our childhood.

That one moment changed my life - I took a decision and spoke to Nair Uncle in confidence and he approved of my decision. At lunch I asked Meenu - 'Meenu Kutty, I love you a lot, will you marry me?'

Meenu was shocked and stared at me and got up! She walked out of the house and I was totally upset. Nair Uncle comforted me Seshu come on be calm!

I felt sad and the left the table. My train was in the evening and I was dropped at the station by Nair Uncle. We bid goodbye!

As I walked up to the platform I noticed that the train was delayed. I went into the waiting room and there she sat all ready with her suitcase and bag - my Meenu Kutty and she smiled at me - that angelic smile again!

Poem-4 - A face from the past

A face from the past
That haunts me
Haunts me in my dreams

Wakes me up in a cold sweat.
The nightmare keeps recurring.
The face returns to haunt me.

It is the curse of the soldier
To kill the enemy to save his nation.
But what if the enemy was a young boy.

No more than 14
He brandished his assault rifle at me,
With a hardened look on his face.

He fired first and I ducked down
To dodge the stream of bullets
In self-defence I shot him.

Through the head between the eyes!
The look on his face I will never forget
As he shouted 'Ya Ali' and fell to the ground.

This is one killing,
That I will never come to terms with.
I am sure he will return to haunt me again tomorrow.

The curse of the soldier,
To relive every killing.
And pray for the departed souls.....

Poem-3 - Death-race

Everyday you run,
Run like crazy,
Chasing the buses

On the arterial roads,
Or the smaller lanes.
You run about like men on a mission.

What mission is this?
Do you want to impress,
The college-going girls?

Or is it the high-adrenaline rush
And the thrill that you get
Is it just for fun?

Think of your dear mother,
Who waits for you at home.
Your father who has a hundred dreams for you.

All those people,
Who love and care for you.
What would happen if you were to slip, fall and die.

A life less ordinary?
No life is ordinary and you are extraordinary.
Don't waste your energy - on such trivial pursuits.

Wake up a bit early.
Start early from home
And reach your destination on time.

Life is not a game.
It is a gift from God.
Use it wisely.

Do not travel on the foot-board!!!!!!

Brownie

She sits and stares at me,
With a twinkle in her eyes,
Wagging her tail.

She wants me to pat her head,
And stroke her tummy
And play catch with her.

She brings so much joy into my life,
Wishing me bye with a short bark,
When I leave for work in the morning.

She waits patiently at the gate,
Every evening waiting for me,
Her ears trying to pick my cycle-bell's ring.

Chasing squirrels through the mornings,
Surprising and scaring the neighbour's cat Tinku.
She is naughty and playful.

At times I have noticed her,
Sitting all calm and silent,
Staring into space - deep in thought.

What is it that she wonders about?
Memories of a past life as a man or a woman?
Or doggie-dreams of the land of milk and Pedigree treats?

Thank you - Brownie for bringing,
So much joy and happiness,
In my life!

NAPOWRIMO PROJECT - POEM-1

NaPoWriMo, or National Poetry Writing Month, is an annual project in which participating poets attempt to write a poem a day for the month of April. Presenting my first poem.



PROMISES TO KEEP

Every day brings new possibilities,
Challenges and surprises,
Dreams and aspirations.

Every day is a special feeling,
God has given me the chance to wake up today,
And fulfill my promises.

A promise to be a good son,
A loving brother and a loyal friend.
So many roles to play!

I thank God to have blessed me
And giving me a chance
To fulfill my promises!

IPL V Begins

IPL - V - the first match starts in about two hours from now - huge expectations this time around can Dhoni get the trophy a third time.

With Sachin opting to become a player and letting Bhajji lead Mumbai Indians we can expect some fire-works.

Knightriders have flattered to deceive every season but this time there is a strange feeling that they might pull a surprise and let us not under-estimate the new look Pune team headed by Dada.

For sentiments sake would like Dravid to lead the Royals to the trophy :)

May the best team win :)

King and Commissioner

Sunday morning 9:30 special show at Ampa Skywalk Mall in Chennai - practically housefull - movie starts like a Jerry Bruckerheimer movie with special agents, signals, encryption, hacking, intercepting signals, terrorism training camps and other stuff.

The movie brings Suresh Gopi and Mammooty on screen together their mission to save the life of the Indian Prime Minister played by Mohan Agashe.

You have the usual Pak-bashing, the corrupt police-officers, the king-maker Godman played by Saikumar with great aplomb. The NSA head who aspires to be the PM - a whole bunch of characters.

There is no element of suspense as we know who the good guys and the bad guys are. As a trail of corpses lines up - the IAS and the IPS officer unravel the mystery :)

The movie had great promise and deliver say till the last 15 mins. A predictable fight in an abandoned warehouse. Never realize why the Pak major decides to enter into an arm-to-arm combat with our heroes when he could have just taken out his gun and shot them.

No songs so the pace of the movie never falters.

This could definitely have been much better if the suspense element had been retained.

The movie and the villains deserved a better climax :)

There is something sacrosanct about flashbacks - tools used in cinema to reveal the past - first love, the dacoits massacring the family and decapitating the patriarch, the hit-and-run- accident on a lonely highway, the heroine's shady past, the auto-driver hero who was a don.... the list can go on endlessly. The premise being the flashback is the essential key element which takes the story forward - culminating in the hero getting the girl and (or) avenging the death of his family.

In "Kahaani" - Vidya Balan's next quest for a whole bunch of awards - the flashback takes the viewers for a ride but overall a truly engaging cinematic experience.

SPOILERS AHEAD - IF YOU HAVE NOT SEEN THE MOVIE YET - DON"T READ ANY FURTHER - GO AND WATCH IN THE THEATRE :)

For a movie that starts with the close-up of a scared white mouse which is forced to inhale a white liquid and eventually gasps for breath and dies - Kahaani sure does grip your attention and forces you to remain glued to your seats.

Cut to the Kolkatta Metro - Kalighat station - jam-packed train school-kids, a lady with an infant and her mother and other travellers and a frantic man in a black leather jacket hunting for a bag. What does the bag contain? The lady attempts to leave the train as the infant is hungry and is crying for milk - the lady's mother tries to stop her stating that the bottle of milk is in her bag and opens it.

Freeze-frame - next shot all occupants of the coach are dead!

Two years later - Kolkatta International Airport and enter the heavily pregnant Vidya Venkatesan Bagchi from London in search of her missing husband Arnab Bagchi who had come to work in the National Data Centre and never returned. She reaches Kalighat police station narrates her story and fixes the station computer as well. The immensely likeable Inspector Satyaki also called Rana - "Kolkattaey shobhar dui nam ekta asli naam aur ekta dak naam" Everyone has an actual name and a pet name by which they are called in Kolkatta - drives her to Mona Lisa Guest House. This is where Arnab stayed and used to speak to her during his stint at the NDC. The guesthouse owner Mr. Das says that Arnab never stayed here.

Next - Vidya visits NDC and speaks to the HR Manager and shows her their wedding photograph the HR manager says that no one named Arnab worked there. Later in the day she sees the photo and keys in a name in the employee database - Milan Damji. She is restricted access to the information. She is informed that the IT manager Tyagi is on leave and she would get all details the next day once he is back to work. The HR manager calls Vidya and asks her to meet at Mocambo Restaurant for lunch - on an aside if you ever visit Kolkatta do dine at Mocambo :)

She says that the photo is similar to that of a former employee Milan Damji who quit one fine day two years ago and on the day he left there was a huge hunt for him as many people came looking for him. Our suspense heightens as Vidya persuades Rana to take her to Arnab's kaka's house in Thakurpukur and also his old school - both places draw blanks and no one knows anyone named Arnab Bagchi.

While all this is happening we are introduced to a dull dry middle-aged slightly pot-bellied LIC agent Bob Biswas who is reprimanded by his boss for not meeting his sales targets. He gets an MMS which has an image of the HR manager from NDC. Bob visits her and kills her - Bob the dull fat man is a contract killer - what a twist!

Slowly a web of lies and deceit emerge - who is Arnab Bagchi and who is Milan Damji? Are they the same person? What about the Metro attack? Why did Bob kill the HR manager who sent him to kill her? Is Vidya who she claims to be?

Loads of questions that I will not answer here to do justice to the script and the story :) Go watch the movie - it's worth a watch. If you don't have a boy-friend or girl-friend to accompany you to the movie :( remember "Jodhi tomar shath keyu na aashe to tumi aekla chalo re aekla chalo re :) - If no one comes with you go alone :)


Great cast - everyone does a good role, the climax is the ultimate twist, the kid who plays Vishnu who brings hot running water deserves a special mention for his infectious smile. Mr. Khan second-in-command IB also impresses and reminds me of Irrfan Khan.

Full paisa-vasool and great to see the sights and sounds of the city where I was born and I miss so much :(!

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo

When the Millennium Trilogy got translated into English - the mammoth size of the first book with an intriguing cover was too tempting for me to resist buying it. I bought it at the Chennai Book Fair at a 10% discount. I finished the book over three days - essentially seven hours of reading on my train-ride to and from work.

It was undeniably good the next purchase was buying the remaining two books.

The books have been successfully made into movies in Swedish. When David Fincher was named director for the English version - I was really happy after Se7en and Zodiac David Fincher has been a firm favourite. Please note I have not seen his earlier movies that cemented his name as a man who could muddle your mind with his movies like - Eraserheads. Daniel Craig after a pathetic show in Quantum of Solace and The Golden Compass redeems himself to an extent as Michael Blomkvist the journalist.

The movie belongs to but one character like the books - the girl - Lisbeth Salander - a hacker / researcher par excellence - a thin and frail girl with body art, rings, and openly bi-sexual a ward of the state because she attempted to kill her father when she was 11. Naomi Rapace truly deserved an Oscar for this role.

The movie is about bilionaire Henrik who wants Michael to investigate the case of a missing girl Hannah. How Michael and Lisbeth solve this case and uncover a serial-killer who sexually violated women forms the crux of the story.

The movie is technically banned from a theatrical release in India as far as I know because of nudity and disturbing behaviour on screen. It's a shame but well torrents abound and you know where to go to get the DVDs be it Palika Bazaar, Chor Bazaar, Burma Bazaar, Singapore Plaza, Chandini Chowk etc...

Watch the movie......

The Love of My Life

The love of my life - Brownie - her name was suggested by a special friend and the name stuck! All my free time goes in pampering Brownie and playing with her!

More pictures soon :)

FOREVER FOURTEEN - A POEM BY LITTLE BOHRA

We keep trumpeting our own talents but we never realize that there are equally if not more talented persons who are too shy to display their hidden talents to others. This is a special poem by a special friend and a great human being! Keep writing Little :)

People say i have grown up!
But no - I say I have not grown up!
I still hold my Dad's hand, while crossing the road,
Because it gives me a sense of security.

I still like to put my head on my mother's lap,
And listen to her lilting lullaby,
That puts me to sleep.
For me that's the world's best bed and music ever.

I still like to argue with my sister,
Over the choice of my clothing accessories.
It's gentle sisterly bickering, and that's how-
We care and love each other.

I still cry after fighting with my brother!
And then wait for him to come and comfort me.
Because I know in spite of all our differences,
He is the world's best brother!

I still chase butterflies in the garden,
And am scared of cockroaches and creepy lizards.
I love dressing up my Barbie dolls,
And playing with my cookery=set toys.

I love getting drenched in the rain,
And eating lollipops and ice-creams and blowing up flavoured bubblegum.
I love sketch-pens and colouring books!

I love playing with my doggie Miku-
And hug her when I feel lonely and sad!
I still judge people on the basis of the birthday gifts that they give me!
I crave for the same dress and hair-pin that my friend has!

I still like to do all these things,
That I did when I was a kid.
So I conclude - that although others may call me a grown-up -
I want to remain fourteen - FOREVER!

Team India Collapse

The year has not ended on a positive note for Team India. After having Oz on the mat for 4 down for less than 30 runs allowing the remaining players to set a 290 runs-target shows the lack of killer instinct and immature captaincy. The bowlers bowled their hearts out and it was the batsmen who let us down.

Time for some serious introspection. Dhoni cannot perform outside the sub-continent and he is a liability to the team in a test match. Let Dhoni just focus on the shorter format of the game where his sledge-hammer style batting can win games. Test-matches are a test of character and skill as well, Dhoni is all heart and his records outside the sub-continent in the longest format of the game speak volumes about his ability.

Let Dinesh Karthik be flown in he is a better keeper and is solid in technique. The two tests that took place this boxing-day share a weird connection - guess - Both Kallis and Laxman had a rarest of rare test when they failed in both innings and eventually their respective teams lost the match.

Sri Lanka have finally won a test in South Africa - and Herath had a whale of a time baffling the Proteas.

The KFC Big Bash is on in full-swing and it pains to see the likes of Chris Gayle reduced to a mercenary playing in such leagues when he should be leading West Indies - a sad state of affairs.

Hope that in 2012 better sense prevails as we see him back in the international arena!

Team India come on!!!!

2011 - HITLIST

This was not exactly a great year for cinema as one turkey after the other was unleashed on the unsuspecting cinema-goer. Monstrosities like ‘Bodyguard, Ra-One, 7 Am Arivu, Kaavalan, Ready’ all backed by huge stars made money but left a lot to be desired. With the increased penetration of TV channels like NDTV Lumiere, UTV World Movies, etc. one can no longer say that the middle class Indian is not aware of the scenario prevailing in cinema being made abroad. Shameless rip-offs with cosmetic changes, mindless item-numbers and inane comedy tracks dished out as adaptations will no longer be accepted by the intelligent film-goer.


KOLLYWOOD

Yudham Sei
Cheran playing the cop uncovering a trail of chopped body-parts, while also searching for his missing sister. Myshkin’s taut screenplay, excellent background score and good all-round performances by all actors ensured that this was a must-watch.

Mankatha
Rip-off of numerous heist movies, pathetic songs but a zestful performance by Ajith in his fiftieth knock on the silver-screen, Premji Amaren playing the hacker and Arjun as a suave cop. More than the movie - the out-take montage in Jackie Chan style that showed the cast and crew having fun was excellent.

Aranya Kandam
Quentin Tarantino and Guy Ritchie land in Kollywood – that sums up Aranya kandam, a mind-blowing script, great performance by Jackie Shroff as the ageing don, Ravikrishna as Sappai, the Chennai underworld in its raw energy!

Veppam
Directed by a debutante set again in Chennai’s underworld amidst drugs and human trafficking a decent effort with good performances by all.

Mayakkam Enna
Selvaraghavan reserves the best for his kid brother Dhanush as is evident by the script and the direction. Following the travails of a wannabe wildlife photographer, the movie truly belongs to Richa and her dubbing artiste.

Mounaguru
I am yet to catch this movie; but every single friend who has seen this movie has just praise for the director and the cast, especially Uma Riyaz Khan playing a pregnant cop.

MOLLYWOOD

Unconventional scripts, debutante directors, new faces and melodious music held sway over the masses. The ageing superstars delivered turkeys but also a couple of stand-out performances.

Pranayam
Mohanlal as a paraplegic, Anupam Kher as a heart patient and Jayapradha as the lady who is now married to the former but was first married to the latter. A movie that tugs at one’s heart and is sure to bring a tear to anyone who has loved and lost. Melodious music, lovely performances and excellent direction by Blessy.

Salt’n Pepper
A love story that starts with an order for dosa and garlic chutney! Sounds implausible? Watch this delightful movie with nice performances by Lal, Shweta Menon, Meenakshi and Abu Asif. ‘Premikkumbol neeyum njanum’ became the rage of Kerala.

Chappa Kurishu
Inspired by the Korean movie ‘Handphone,’ this became a surprise hit not just due to a steamy lip-lock by Ramya Nembisan but because of a brilliant role by Vineeth Sreenivasan as the loser department store cleaner who gets an iphone belonging to a rich spoilt engineer. Great performances and some realistic punches and kicks in the movie.

Indian Rupee
Thilakan as the wise old real estate agent shows why he is the best living actor in Malayalam cinema. Prithviraj in a realistic role and mimic Tiny Tom gets a lovely role in Ranjit’s masterpiece on the current state of the youth in Kerala. Ee puzhayum was a well-tuned melody!

Beautiful
Anoop Menon’s script and lyrics – powerful performances by Jayasurya as a wheelchair bound millionaire and Annop as a struggling singer. Comparisons to Guzaarish were inevitable but Beautiful was indeed beautiful. Mazhaineer thuliggal was one of the stand-out melodies of the year.

Melvilassom
Based on a Malayalam play, which was inspired by a Hindi play – Melvilassom is a courtroom drama shot in real time albeit a military court-martial. There are no gimmicks as Suresh Gopi the defendant unravels why the accused Parthiban shot at two of his superior officers. With the accused pleading guilty and the viewer knowing that the accused will be hanged for sure the interest is held as we learn why the army-man shot the superior officers. In an era of dumb Hindi / Tamil / Telugu-inspired clones this movie was indeed a refreshing experience and I was immediately reminded of 12 Angry Men an all-time classic.

Best Actor
Mammooty in a power-packed role of a teacher aspiring to be an actor, with a film within a film set-up a nice tale told with conviction.

BOLLYWOOD

I said this last year and say this again Ranbir Kapoor is the one who has the acting chops to take on the Khan trinity. Akshay Kumar has steadily gone downhill from Chandini Chowk to China without being able to deliver a solo hit. Saif cannot play the dalit - an absolute disaster of casting in Aarakshan, Abhishek Bachchan needs a hit and should get it with the official remake of The Italian Job – Players releasing next year.

Rockstar
Ranbir as Janardhan – Jordan is on-track to receive the Filmfare Award for Best Actor in a leading role – need I say more. A.R. Rahman’s mind-blowing tracks and Sada Haq and Faya Kun on track for best songs of the year. Narghis Fakhri cannot emote but looks like a million bucks. The ending was lame but Imtiaz Ali take a bow!

Chillar Party
Salman’s maiden production was a movie for kids with lots of - kids a nice tale clean no vulgarity with a cute little dog.

Delhi Belly
Swear words in multiple languages, D.K. Bose, drugs, stool samples, underworld, Imran Khan and Vijay Raaz. Quirky, fun and a song that became an anthem till Sada Haq came in to the picture.

Stanley ka Dabba
Amole Gupte and his son Partho in a nice little movie about kids which ended up a bit preachy at the end. A lovely performance by Partho!

HOLLYWOOD

This is a very tough list to chart as many movies on this list are yet to officially release in India. It is the Internet and Torrents that help lovers of world cinema and Hollywood to satisfy the cineaste in me.

The Devil’s Double
I love Iraq, I love God, I love my Dad but above all I like cunt and I get what I love!

How’s that for a line to define a person, based on the alleged life of Latif Fahia the fidai-body double of Saddam Hussein’s younger son Uday this is one performance of a life-time by Dominic Cooper an actor whom I have never ever heard of before. Boy was I awe-struck by the double-role - one as the psychotic Uday and the other as the troubled fidai Latif. Raw energy and an intensity in his eyes, he reminded me of Al Pacino in Scarface – perhaps because of the coke-snorting scene. Must-watch – alert - Nudity and Profanity in generous doses.

Margin Call
A starcast that includes Kevin Spacey, Paul Bettany, Demi Moore, Stanley Tucci and Jeremy Irons this movie is set in an investment firm that’s 107 years old and starts on a day when many senior employees are handed the pink slip. Stanley Tucci hands a file to a member of his team and asks him to complete the risk-analysis that he had initiated. Peter Sullivan is the whiz-kid who enters the right variables and discovers that the ‘party is over’ and the company’s assets are much less than their liabilities. As a hurried board meeting is initiated late into the night – the big boss Tuld played by Jeremy Irons flies in and in a series of tense meetings the firm decides to liquidate all its stock to tide over the crisis. This is a real-time presentation of the crisis that initiated the economic recession in the USA three years ago. No special-effects, no explosions and high-speed car chases or star-crossed lovers making out on the couch. This is a serious movie about how the cookie crumbled and how billions of dollars belonging to gullible citizens were lost. Excellent acting, taut screenplay and powerful dialogue.

Tree of Life
Terrence Malik in a movie that many awaited - but very few had the patience to sit through fully. Brad Pitt and Sean Penn and all about life - a movie made for the awards-circuit - will never be a hit in India. The scene depicting the origin of life was well executed.

Super-8
JJ Abrams’ homage to Steven Spielberg – set in the 70s the movie is about a bunch of kids who plan to shoot a movie and end up filming a horrible train derailment. As news spreads the army comes in and cordons the area the movie-clip shows a strange creature. What creature is this? Why did the science teacher drive his car onto the tracks and cause the derailment? Watch the movie for answers.

The Adventures of Tintin
After years of waiting to see my boy-hood hero and Snowy on big-screen the experience of the movie in 3D with more blokes in the thirties than 10-year olds, I was slightly disappointed. But I realized that the current generation of kids with their Harry Potters and vampires and werewolves are just not into Tintin anymore. Coming back to the movie shot in motion-capture animation, the frames are surreal there are fantastic chase sequences, there is Captain Haddock and the bumbling Thompson twins but sadly no Professor Calculus. Spielberg and Peter Jackson have invested a considerable amount of money, time and energy into this but I really wonder if the box-office receipts will merit a sequel to this effort. All I can say is that with the greenbacks that you have spent on this effort could we not have a live-action motion picture – please! Perhaps Tintin in America or Tintin in Tibet!

At the dentist's

Hectic day with a minor dental surgery for mom travelling to another doctor for general check-up for mom, multiple pharmacists, cooking cleaning all done!

Mom sleeps under the strength of sedatives, with a strange smile of contentment on her face.

That one moment of calm and peace made my day!

Life goes on as a prospect of another day sets in...

This too shall pass!

For Your Eyes Only

How long have I known you?
A month or a year?
Does it even matter!

Yesterday, when I looked,
Looked into your eyes.
Your eyes only!

I discovered – A golden glow,
A glow in your hazel eyes.
As I spoke to you,
Only my lips moved.
But I was lost in the glow
The glow of your eyes.

Do I have the will,
The will to confess,
To confess and profess,
My feelings for you.
For you only!

I fear that my foolishness,
Might cause me to lose you,
Lose you - forever!
I fear that, I will never,
Ever be able to see you,
See you smile again,
And share your laughter.

Your joyous smile,
That lights up,
Lights up my heart.

Will I ever be able,
Able to stare deep,
Deep into your hazel eyes.
Take a deep breath,
Smile at you, and
Hold your hands, and say –
My lady, you mean the world to me!

Will that day ever come?
I don’t know,
Don’t know at all!

Every morning is an experience,
A refreshing experience,
As I walk past you.
Hoping that you would smile,
Smile at me, so that –
I can smile at you too.

Even as I write this,
I cherish that golden glow,
In your hazel eyes.

And I wish – my eyes,
Could tell your eyes,
What my heart wants.

This my dear is – For your eyes only!

Two movies

7am arivu - First 15 minutes is all that's worth watching. Look forward to a proper movie describing Bodhidharman's adventures on his travels from Kanchipuram to China.

Shruti Hassan cannot act. Her Tamil is heavily accented and sounds like Sowcarpet-Tamil spoken by the lovely ladies studying at M.O.P. Vaishnav :)

Hypnotising people instantly and teaching them Kung fu in an instant too much of nonsense.

DNA splicing and reintroducing all the strengths into the circus-artiste Suriya putting him in a huge glass jar a-la The Matrix. Well... don't know. Great potential of a story idea that got wasted. None of the songs linger in the mind as well.

The one part that Shruti showed traces of her paternal genes was when her friend Imran is killed by Dong Lee's hypnosis and Shruti starts howling uncontrollably :)

The fight in the climax does not befit all the build-up that went into it.

A movie which I had hoped would be awesome turns out boresome!

As said earlier a saga of Bodhidharman's adventures would be great!

Murugadoss ji Salman is not going to act if you try remaking this movie in Hindi. Please choose a realistic sensible script for your next attempt. Really liked 'Ramanna'.

Rockstar - Ranbir Kapoor is slowly proving his mettle. The saga of a wannabe singer/guitarist who becomes a world-famous 'rockstar' has its share of flaws. But the movie is worth watching on the big screen for the mind-blowing soundtrack by A.R. Rahman and amazing vocals by Mohit Chauhan. Faya Kun and Sada Haq in-line for best songs of the year.

Narghis Fakhri looks curiously like Linda Arsenio who acted in a few Tamil and Hindi movies. The movie is let down by the ending!

Kumud Mishra and Piyush Mishra are awesome as well in the supporting cast.

On movie-watching in theatres

A chap behind me was going on translating the Hindi dialogues in Tamil to his girl-friend. Another row - a group of four were going on passing comments on Nargi's Fakhri's vital stats. The movie has its fair share of lip-locks and each time the lead pair came on screen there would be hoots.

Some families had brought in three-year and four year old kids. The kids were happily singing nursery rhymes :)

Total collapse :)

Rain

I guess even the skies are sad as they are pouring out buckets of rain!!!!!

A strange image

So many memories,
Triggered by a single image.
An image that we had imagined,
Together - hadn't we.

In the not too distant past.
A past of lazy afternoons.
Conversations, walks and some movies.
Of laughter, shared joys and happy memories.

Where did I go wrong?
That you drifted away,
Away from me.
Lost forever!

When i saw the image,
There was a tinge of jealousy,
Lots of pain and anger.
Last time when we spoke,

You said that - 'We can still be friends'.
And you stressed that I was your best friend.
Then why did you think that I was an alien and an outcast;
Who did not deserve to be at your wedding!

Was it your guilt?
Anger,ego, or did you just-
Expunge me from your memories?
I will never know the answers to these questions!

But as I always wished,
And loved you.
May God bless you
As you begin a new innings in your life!

Farewell my dear!!

Notes on a Pilgrimage

A culmination of my mother's long pending wish of having me weighed at Guruvayur.

The 'thulabharam' were I sat on a giant weighing-scale and was weighed with flowers.

Guruvayur now looks like a Malayali version of Tirupati with the admin staff saying 'Poru Poru' (Go-go) instead of the 'Jaragandi'that you hear at Tirupati.

Chotanikkara has always fascinated me. The Bhagavathi is extremely powerful and the evening pujas are a great experience.

The temple is renowned for curing people with psychological problems. As the evening prayer ceremony is conducted, one can see 'the possessed" moving about as the Goddess cures the ill. The rising crescendo of the tantri's prayers eventually cause the 'patient/possessed' to calm down.

Mannur Kavu - Kaiman Kunnath Bhagavathy temple is located in Mannur a sleepy little village about 15 kms from Palakkad. One more devi temple and amongst the few temples in Kerala where men can wear trousers and enter the temple premises.

Trivandrum visit started with a couple of false notes; I lost my phone in an auto, but thankfully realized that my trouser pocket was empty and got the phone before the auto left. Then we were informed that the train we planned to take was cancelled.

We went to Kochi bus terminus and took a direct bus to Trivandrum. Six solid hours of travel through narrow by-lanes, wide highways, scenic back-waters, paddy fields in shades of green and lots of palatial houses built mostly by Gulf-returnees. With just one scheduled stop for 10 mins at Kollam, the journey was completed in 6.5 hours.

Reached a distant uncles's house which was located in a quaint little agraharam (a community of Brahmin priests). A quick coffee and a bath later we proceeded to pay our respects to Sri Anantha Padmanabhaswamy, now famous for the multiple vaults of treasures of the Raja of Travancore.

Excellent architecture, lovely murals on the walls, a dark sanctum sanctorum only lit buy oil-lamps and a darshan of the lord through three doors. Head, torso and feet each through a successive door. Truly exhilarating.

A group of Gujaratis and Bengalis struggled to wear the mundu/dhoti properly and kept stumbling as the mundu kept dropping off their waists :)

The souvenir counter had the Gujjus haggling with the staff over the price of photos of the Lord and key-chains and small statues. One of the staff knew Hindi.He said "Bargaining ke liye yeh Big Bazaar nahin, mandir hai" (This is not Big Bazaar to bargain for prices this is a temple). That silenced the Gujjus.

Also visited the famed Pazhvangadi Ganapathy temple, had a chance to witness the evening puja and was allowed to ring one among the many bells tied to the ceiling when the arati was performed.

The next day visited the Srikandeshwarar temple (Lord Shiva). Really marvellous, got pal-payasam as part of an offering that I made. Truly sumptuous.

This was the pilgrimage part. The next post will talk about the other interesting things that happened :)

Indian Fiction

Read three books recently.

Chanakya's Chant by Ashwin Sanghvi has two plots running in tandem. One Chanakya's revenge and how he instals Chandragupta maurya as the ruler of India. The second is set in the modern political scenario where one wise man installs a young woman as the prime minister of India. All the pulp needed to make a political Bollywood mishmash. Will like to see Prakash Jha or Sudhir Mishra adapting this for the big screen.

The Shiva Trilogy by Amish. Two books by a bored investment banker that struck gold. The Immortals of Meluha and The Secret of the Nagas. It pits the ancient Suryavanshis and Chandravanshis against each other and brings the great warrior Shiva from the tribal snow clad plateau of Tibet. This Shiva transforms into Rudravatar the chosen one - Mahadev and chronicles his adventures and how he discovers his destiny.

Great stuff look forward to reading the final piece in the trilogy.

Folks the Landmark Sale starts on October-1 loads of discounts additional 10% off on purchases of Rs 1000 plus made using an Axis bank debit card/credit card.

Defeat Again

160 plus and it was still not enough. Rahane seems a good prospect hope he remains in the ODI squad instead of Ravindra jadeja.

Eoin Morgan and Jade Dernbach shined with bat and ball respectively to take England to safety.

In Sri Lanka the Aussies crumbled to 270 plus yesterday. Sri Lanka outdid them today and crumbled for much lesser.

Aussie dominance will be back in form by the time we reach there for the Boxing-Day Tests.

A Fresh Start for Team India

The Test Series is done and dusted with India losing its number-one ranking. No bones about it but India was outplayed in all departments by England. The Enforcer - Stuart Broad and Ian Bell with his great knocks ensured that whenever India had a slight edge, the edge would blunt and rust.

India won all three of its practice matches courtesy some good knocks by the young ones in the team.

The single T:20 tomorrow may swing either way. With the list of injured players in the Indian team going up like the price of gold in the international market it needs to be seen how the team manages to perform in the ODIs.

Varun Aaron India's fastest bowler comes in with a lot of hype, not sure how much pace he will generate. Praveen Kumar and Vinay Kumar together with R.Ashwin hold the key.

Let us see how the matches progress.

Wake-up call for DHoni & Co

A familiar sight of the team crumbling and Sachin waging a lone battle. Indian bowlers being hammered all around the park the last two test matched in England have been like a rude flashback from the 1990s.

Unless some drastic measures are taken and a few 'made it large' players are dropped, there is no hope for victory.

Assuming Viru is back for the next test, expecting him to fire right away will be foolish.

Let us see what happens!

Quick Movie Reviews

Three Kings – Malayalam
A multi-starrer comedy with Jayasurya, Kunchako Boban, Jayasurya, Ann Augustine (the new heart-throb of Kerala), Samvrutha Sunil and ‘Kaadhal’Sandhya who needs a new costumer desperately. She looks hideous in some sequences, don’t know what happened to the young and innocent school-girl who fell in love with Bharath in ‘Kaadhal.’

The movie is about three cousins of a royal family who are on hard times. One is an aspiring cricketer, the other a reality-show participant and the third one an actor. The ‘Paara’ song that keeps playing in the background when each brother tries to foil the others plans to become rich is funny and foot-tapping. The movie ends in a treasure search/reality show. Watch the movie to find out if the ‘paaras’ get the girls. This is one movie were each heroine tries to be dumber than the other-Samvrutha is a mega-serial maniac, Sandhya is besotted by Indrajith and Ann keeps asking stupid questions?

Verdict - Time-pass no brainer for the masses!

Arjunan Sakshi – Arjunan – The Witness – Malayalam
Passenger was a surprise super-hit with a great script. The director’s sophomore offering does not disappoint as a case of mistaken identity and assumed identity are brought out well by Prithviraj who plays an architect who lands in Kochi to take a new job. He is mistaken to be Arjunan the lone witness to the former collector of Kochi (Mukesh’s) murder. Ann Augustine plays a reporter with ‘Mathrubhumi’ who receives the anonymous letter from Arjunan. The story progresses well with the mystery behind the murder linked to the scrapped Kochi Metro Rail project. A bit-overboard with the hero unmasking the villains, but it is more believable when one hero overpowers four villains instead of one hero bashing up 20 villains with flying kicks and CGI.

Verdict – Good script, mystery element runs for a while! Prithvi on his way to challenge the superstars.

Janapriyan – Man of the Masses/Man loved by All – Malayalam
With its heart in the right place a feel-good movie starring Jayasurya, Remya Nambeesan and Manoj K Jayan. Manoj plays a director who keeps trying to get Jagathy to finance his movies with half-bakes scripts and is on perennial leave from his government job. Jayasurya comes in as his replacement and wins hearts of everyone including Remya’s who is the rich man’s daughter fooling Jayasurya as a housemaid Complications arise when Manoj accepts failure and wants to return to his job. Jayasurya starts writing a new script and persuades Jagathy to produce a movie. Rifts arise between Manoj and Jayasurya through Jagathy’s offer to make Jayasurya the director. All things are sorted out at the end and everyone goes home happy.

Verdict – Feel-good movie, simple comedy scenes. Jayasurya still in hunt of that one career-defining blockbuster!

The Velveteen Rabbit – English
The simple joy of discovering a great movie that one has never heard of before from the usual bunch of ‘hit-movies’ is something that cannot be explained easily. Velveteen Rabbit is based on a popular children’s story. It is about the fable of a love that a child has for toys, which brings the toys to life. Directed by Michael Landon and a mix of animation and real cinema. The story narrates how a young boy is left at his grandmother’s (played by Jane Seymour – The Bond girl in Live and Let Die). Grandmom looks elegant and some ladies do age with grace! The child longs for love as his mother is dead and his father too busy to bother. The boy discovers his father’s old toys in the attic and chances upon a velveteen rabbit. The boy creates his own fantasy world with the rabbit, a swan and an old horse. His grandmother also softens and bestows her affection on him.

The boy falls ill with scarlet fever and the doctor orders all old clothes and toys to be burnt. The boy tries to save his beloved rabbit but of no avail as his father bundles all the old clothes and the rabbit in a bonfire. As the flames build slowly, surprise of surprises the old fable comes true as the velveteen rabbit comes to life and runs into the wild.

Verdict – Love makes all things true and everyone deserves our love – A truly lovely movie made with great skill and passion a must-watch for both kids and adults.

X-Men First Class - English
Based on the Cuban missile crisis the X-Men series goes back to the story of how the popular mutants joined together and how the good and the bad mutants were polarised against each other! Magneto and the Professor and how their rivalry began!

Verdict - CGI – CGI and more CGI!!!!!

Fire of Conscience – Mandarin
A cop who is lost his wife and mourning her death, another cop who has something shady on, a prostitute who is dead, a robbery, a terrorist outfit who plan bombings, 100 kgs of cocaine confiscated by the police, an innocent man whose pregnant wife is kidnapped; all these threads merge into a fitting climax. Chases, shootouts, interrogation scenes, bomb-blasts and fights – all there!

Verdict – Enough potential for someone in Bollywood to rip it with an item song by Munni, Sheila or Jalebi Bai:)

Terror Strikes Again

Yet another series of bomb blasts,some more innocent lives lost, yet another round of blame games between police, security agencies, state and central governments. Television channels going mad with the same sickening visuals of death, destruction, blood and media-persons shouting themselves hoarse about Islam, RSS, terrorists, Pakistan... Is there no end to this? When we all know very clearly who the damn villain in the piece is? Pakistan!

Cannot the Indian government take a firm stand and hang the sole terrorist Kasab who was captured during the horrifying attacks in Mumbai orchestrated by Pakistan. Is the government so ashamed and impotent that it continues to treat terrorists with food, shelter and clothing in a high-security prison on tax-payers money.

When are we going to take a stand about anything at all?

As innocent lives are lost, a section of the country only worries about aging superstars, pregnant movie divas and why Dhoni did not chase down the last innings target with 15 overs to spare.

We cannot nuke-out our neighbouring country, but can't we attempt an operation similar to the U.S. Operation Geronimo to destroy terror-camps in Pakistan?

Too far-fetched, we don't even bother to hang Pakistani terrorists in India, who is going to hunt out radicals in the Hindukush mountains!

God save this country and my prayers to the people who were injured and lost their lives in yesterday's bomb explosions in Mumbai!

MBA

Well folks after two years of hard work, classes on weekends, studying on the train journey back and forth to office, lots of internet research, and spending some money on management books instead of fiction and comics I am a certified MBA-degree holder now.

MBA in Project Management with a first-class(score of above 60%).

Now let me see if prospective brides and their family members are interested in my horoscope :)

Image source - The internet!

Till Yesterday

Till yesterday, I hoped,
Hoped that I still,
Still had a chance,
A chance to secure-
A place in your heart.

But today I know,
I know for sure -
That I am no where near -
Near your heart.

A fool have I been,
All this while.
To have chased you
With childish passion.

Harbouring desire in my heart.
Well now I know you shall never be mine.
All I can wish you is -
Good Luck and Good Bye.

As I recollect those days
Days in the past,
Where I would wait for you
To speak to me

The many conversations,
That we had about
A 100 different things
Music, Books, Life.

Now all reduced to memories
Of a yesterday
That's lost forever!
Farewell!!!

Shopping, Blood, Cinema and Marriage

It has been a while since I wrote something on the blog. Lot of events have taken place, a short visit by sister and my nephew, shopping for them till late into the night a mid-night drive to reach home at 2 AM, taking my mother to Express Avenue and Citi Centre - my mother's absolute surprise at seeing obscenely-priced shirts and sarees, lots of stuff.

In between, I had time to fall seriously ill with the doctor not able to diagnose my condition properly. I spat blood for a couple of days and ended up with complete bed-rest for four days effectively ruining a weekend and taking sick-leave for two days. By God's grace I am better now and back to work albeit still weak.

A huge good news is my classmate from college Ashwin getting engaged in Bengaluru! As I propheised on his blog earlier this year my friend is hitched and will be getting married early next year. Congrats Ashwin :)

Being ill and lying down in bed gave me time to see some movies.

Bodyguard - Kevin Costner and Whitney Houston in a romantic movie with some good songs thrown in - timepass stuff.

Unknown - Liam Neeson ages like fine wine and after the phenomenal success of "Taken" last year returns as a professor facing memory-loss in Berlin. Great stuff with an interesting twist. Good car-chase sequences shot in Berlin's busy streets.

Urumi - Prithviraj's maiden production venture is an absolute mess of history, but is good fun with special appearance songs by Tabu who continues to entice another generation of movie-goers. Prithvi and Prabhudeva play friends who plan to kill Vasco da Gama. Amole Gupte as Thampuran and Jagadhi as the effeminate minister excel in their roles. Genelia as warrior princess Ayesha does a good job too.

404 - A medical college hostel - a room which witnessed a suicide, ragging by seniors, spirits and ghosts, a professor who researches on the paranormal, a student who is haunted by the spirit. Good movie, no gimmicks, script-driven and great performances. Worth a watch!

Last Tango in Paris - Sick and nauseating, porn disguised as art-house cinema - Marlon Brando whom movie-lovers can only view as the Godfather reduced to a middle-aged sex-maniac of sorts. Hated the movie for its nudity and titillation!

KO - Jeeva gets a hit. K.V. Anand packages stunning visuals, well-shot songs, fight sequences to give a blockbuster, but personally I felt the movie was just average. Ajmal gets a good role as the idealistic young politician who is the real villain.

Limitless - What would you do if you got a magic-pill that would let you use the full capacity of your brain? Bradley Cooper and Robert de Niro in a decent comedy. Nothing exceptional! Wish Bradley Cooper gets to play a homicidal villain of sorts in his upcoming movies. He has the dramatic potential and is not experimenting enough with his roles all stuck in a comic-rut.

Rango - A fascinating revisionist Western in animated form with Johnny Depp voicing Rango a chameleon who saves a desert town from the unscrupulous Mayor who diverts the town's water supply. Great fun!

Animals United - Animation not on par with Pixar and co. but a good story-line about man's uncontrollable greed for developing forests into tourist resorts and how animals unite and reclaim their land and water.

The Lincoln Lawyer - Nothing great Matthew Mc Connaughey plays the wise-cracking lawyer who defends a murder-accused. Is the accused guilty? Watch the movie for answers. Run-of-the mill movie nothing great.

Job-opening for content editor/writer

Hello folks there is a job-opening for a reputed UK based-company operating a number of websites in the educational/higher-studies domain. The requirement and job-description are as follows:

• This role provides an exciting opportunity for someone who has experience in content writing, journalism and third media.
• Candidate will work across a portfolio of over 20 websites, liaising with educational institutions and advertising agencies in UK, USA, Australia, Malaysia, Singapore and New Zealand to create content and provide an excellent standard of customer care.
• Working in our friendly and outgoing team, candidate will be responsible for writing content to a high-standard and loading interactive web media on our websites which would in turn lead to generating the highest possible number of enquiries to institutions who are our customers.
• If the candidate has studied abroad then that would be a distinct advantage.
• Excellent communication and organisation skills are a must along with a good eye for detail, an excellent grasp of the English language and a confident telephone manner.
• Experience of managing a small team and knowledge of html and Photoshop would be useful.

If you are interested do fill in the comments box with your email id and contact number and I will get in touch with you at the earliest. Please note that the company is looking for people with at least two years of relevant writing experience and applicants should have completed their graduation. This is a full-time job and the job-location is CHennai. Please note no shifts, regular working hours from 9:30 AM to 6:OO PM.

Colleagues at work - Ethnic Day

Ampa Skywalk Mall

This was a long-pending visit!

Managed to make it to Ampa last Sunday.

Spent a couple of hours in the mall and was impressed. Spencers Plaza has been my hunting ground for books, chats and "hanging out" for a long time. City Centre and Express Avenue brought in a refreshing change with the added benefit of a movie-experience!

In all the noise on development, "big-is-huge syndrome", mega-brands, parking-space and all that, the developers and promoters forgot the common man. Remember Irrfan Khan in "Mumbai Meri Jaan", what is it that one gets without paying for in a mall?

I know "eye-candy", window-shopping and the occassional glimpse of a B-grade heroine or a forgotten cricket-star etc can be optional answers. How about the basic need "A glass of clean and cold purified drinking water" - the elixir of Life.

Ampa and the folks behind it, a salute to you!

Ampa offers purified drinking water and clean well-maintained rest-rooms with signs for a wet-floor. The big brands are there - Landmark, Westside and the usual electronics and designer boutiques. Great dining area with a number of brands selling their food. PVR with its movie-screens seems to be exciting!

Star Bazaar, Tata's answer to retail stores seems to be a huge success with seemingly endless rows of stuff from fruits, vegetables, food and provisions, clothes, cosmetics and perfumes. They definitely seem to be better organized than Big Bazaar.

All-in-all a great Sunday at the mall! Looking forward to seeing more outlets which can cater to the lower middle-class income group.

600 and counting

600 posts and a number of friends who continue to read and post comments, have lost out on a few who have distanced themselves away from me, but I am sure they still read the blog but their massive ego prevents them from emailing me or posting a comment on my blog.

I thank each and everyone who still continue to spend some time and read my blog, SMS me asking when is the next post, or suggest ideas about potential topics to write.

Thanks to everyone:

Ashwin - college-mate and dear friend.
Antony - Social networking king :)
Priya - former colleague and friend who writes on a wide variety of topics.
Kavitha - former colleague and friend whose blog is a delight for food and photography lovers.
Rajesh - former colleague and very good friend.
Neha - former colleague and a very good friend - do post comments :)
Nithin - Who's blog sparked this pursuit.
Shiva & Sudha happily wedded in matrimonial bliss now.
Revathi & Sukumari at SFY whose early reviews and encouragement were of great help.

Life goes on and I hope I get the time and energy to maintain and monitor this blog.

Thanks again to everyone !!!

A splendid tie

Any team that does not manage to defend a total of 338 runs in an ODI match, has some serious soul-searching to do. Dhoni's captaincy was absolutely pathetic. Two wickets when Dhoni simply forgot to appeal. UDRS decision that was over-turned. A lot of pedestrian fielding, too many negatives for India.

Sachin's century and Yuvraj's batting form where the only positives. Piyush Chawla bowling the 49th over was a wrong decision. Why did not Pathan get more overs to bowl? Munaf is a new-ball bowler and his quota should have been completed in the first 30 overs.

I hope Ashwin gets to play the next match and opens the bowling with Munaf at the other end. Team India - buck up or you will be bowled out by the real opposition not the minnows.

All credit to Strauss and Beresnan and Shahzad's six!

The Oscars for 2010

An interesting choice of movies this year. "The Social Network," "The King's Speech," and "True Grit" lead the race. Can "The Fighter" and "The Winter's Bone" make a surprise win. "Black Swan" is a bit gloomy but Natalie Portman end up all smiles with a Best Actress trophy. Or will "The Kids are all Right" throw a big surprise?

David Fincher is my bet for Best Director. Though Christopher Nolan deserved a nomination for Inception.

Christian Bale is not likely to win an Oscar for his crack-devouring Boxing Trainer role in "The Fighter". Geoffrey Rush as the language and speech therapist deserves the Best Supporting Actor award. Colin Firth is also likely to win the Best Actor award for "The King's Speech".

India's connection A.R. Rahman is highly unlikely to win an award for his song for 127 hours. Let us wait and watch.

India start on a winning note

Sehwag's heroics and Kohli's cool-headed performance ensured that India's loss at WC 2007 to Bangladesh was avenged.

175 runs from Sehwag and 100 by Kohli and a 4-wicket haul by Munaf Patel and India have a great beginning.

Let us hope for the best.

In the Shadow of Gotham - Book Review

In my earlier post, I had written that I picked up two books from Odyssey. I finished reading one of them.

"In the Shadow of Gotham" by Stefanie Pintoff

The book won the Edgar Award for the "Best First Novel" by an American. It is set in 1905 in New York.

The protagonist, detective inspector Ziele is assigned the task of solving the murder of Sarah Wingate a doctoral student of Mathematics, who is working on the Riemann Hypothesis.

Who murdered her?

Ziele is assisted by Alistair Sinclair a researcher who analyses what drives people to commit crimes. He says that one of his case-studies Michael Fromley might have committed the crime.

The story progresses as more mysterious happenings take place and Fromley's dead body is discovered.

Read the novel to discover who the real villain is?

A good mix of history and crime. Interesting and definitely a good read.

Pongal, shopping, books and malls

Well Murphy's Law really worked for me this Pongal!

First the water purifier stopped working, then the Tata Indicom Walky's battery died, the gas cylinder delivery rules have changed and the delivery van stops 100 metres away from our house. Imagine carrying one empty cylinder down the stairs and then carrying a full one up the stairs. The biceps really cracked:)

The Tata Indicom helpline was an absolute mess as I did not get any reply at all. Guess all the folks at the call-centre or support centre were relishing hot sakkarai pongal.

The water-purifier repair guy came in at 10 AM thankfully and after examining the purifier said that the internal purifying chambers had to be replaced. Rs 3000 washed away right in the morning!

Because of a couple of deaths in the family none of the usual celebrations were there! I had already visited this year's book fair; even worse than last year! Same complaints - I want more translated Tamil fiction or at least audio books in Tamil. Not everyone can read Tamil. The massive English-reading public should not be deprived of the literary genius of Kalki, Sujatha, Jayakanthan,and many more giants of Tamil literature.

I spotted an English translation of the scripts of Parashakhti and Manohara by our dear CM M.Karunanidhi. But Rs. 350 was a bit to steep for a badly printed book without any photos from the films. So I skipped it.

When are the publishers going to wake up!

Arrangement of the stalls was haphazard. In the past 10 years that I have visited the book-fair I have never ever won the daily lucky draw. This year was no exception!!! God knows if it is a sham:)

I then decided to visit the Express Avenue Mall at Royapettah.It has been close to two years since the mall has been opened but I had not visited it so far.

The mall is massive, parking area needs to be made smarter. Approach roads and pavements are filthy with dogs and humans making a mess of the area! Pan juice, gutkha stains, human and animal shit! All kinds of filth! Once again proof of the massive difference between the haves and have-nots? No, probably it's more to do with civic sense and lack of public lavatories in the country!

There are a number of international brands and ample space to window-shop! There are a number of toilets and specially designed toilets for the physically handicapped. Unfortunately a number of them are locked. You know its festive shopping time and nearly 30,000 to 45,000 people are expected to enter the mall, why are the damn lavatories closed?

Girls, girls and more girls, dressed in bright fluorescent colours,figure-hugging jeans and high-heels, in groups giggling away to glory! Guys in tight jeans and tee-shirts showing of their muscles, harried husbands tagging behind wives carrying shopping bags from Marks and Spencers and Westside, young kids with their parents pestering their parents to buy icecream and chocolates. An entire cross-section of society. Tatooed foreigners buying Tantra tee-shirts and organic food, a couple of blokes in full formals probably part of some international delegation digging into pizzas at Pizza Hut.

Odyssey store with its 15% discount on all books; had Rs. 500 earmarked for books and I spent an hour trying to get two books by authors whom I had never read so far. Found two books, reviews to come soon!

Big Bazaar with its discount on fashion was fun. Picked up a couple of tees for Rs 249. By now I was famished and I visited Pit-stop in the basement area. Rs 109 for a small Garden-Margherita pizza (6 inches) an orange soda-slush drink for Rs 65 (absolute mess, will never waste my money on such indiscretions again) Pizza was undercooked and not warm enough! Service was poor, 25 minutes to serve an undercooked, luke-warm pizza with two pieces of onion, two pieces of capsicum and one olive sliced into bits-daylight robbery!

Overall a hectic day, expensive day but fun and satisfying! I still wonder why that girl in the pink tee and black jeans kept staring at me in Odyssey and hung around the same book-shelves as me!

Hmmm!!!! :)

New Year 2011

Folks hope all of you had a great new year!

You might have spent your new year at a temple, with friends and family, at a pub or discotheque. Lucky folks:)

I was banging my head in frustration looking at my project management question paper in the exam hall.

1 more paper to go in this semester. Hope I clear the papers :)

So folks may God bless you and provide a safe, fun-filled and prosperous New Year 2011 to all of you.

Cheers :)

Can India win the second test at Durban?

Laxman's pain-stakingly crafted 96, is it enough?

A target of 303 and the Proteas are 70 for 1 when I type this.

Can India win this match???

Down Under Trott's marvellous knock and an Aussie batting collapse ensure that the Poms will retain the Ashes tomorrow.

X-mas cake

Inspired by kavitha's marvellous images and cooking my humble attempt at baking a cake.

A combination of refined flour, drinking chocolate powder, milk, a bit of orange pulp and peels, cashew nuts and cherries topped with strawberry wafers.

Came out brilliantly. 12 minutes in the microwave and great fun to eat.

Merry Christmas!!!

Hitlist 2010

So folks it's that time of the year again when I make a list of the movies, which I enjoyed watching this year. So here's the list without much further ado:

The English Club

Shutter Island and Inception
Power-packed roles from Leo, one helmed by the old master Martin Scorcese and the other by the modern genius Christopher Nolan. From playing a psychologically disturbed cop to a thief who implanted dreams and stole stuff from you mind absolute mind-benders.

The Social Network
David Fincher's take on the creation of a modern phenomenon that the world's hooked on - Facebook. Pre-dominantly dialogue but still interesting. The truth behind intellectual property theft, how an idea got modified, stolen and became a billion-dollar brand.

Despicable Me
The world's greatest villain plans to steal the moon and is assisted by three little girls and an army of small yellow creatures. Excellent animation and a good story.


The Ghost Writer
A thriller of a different sort, Pierce Brosnan playing a disgraced British PM, Ewan Mc Gregor a failed novelist, war-crimes and death. Excellent stuff from Roman Polanski.

Toy-Story-3
With Woody and Buzz and Andy a lovely saga that sadly got over. An overdose of emotions but one of Pixar's most loved creations comes to an end.

The American
Slow, moody and a look into the mind and actions of a specialist gun-smith and assassin. Splendidly shot with a lovely actress in tow George Clooney shines.

Salt
Angelina Jolie kicks bad ass in a role originally written for Tom Cruise. Possibilities of a sequel in tow.

Tamil Hits

Nandalala
Mysskin's take on Takeshi Kitano's Kikujiro. A heart-warming tale of a mentally unstable man and a young boy's road-trip in search of their respective mothers. Excellent stuff and it takes lot of courage to make a movie like this.

Angadi Theru
Visiting and shopping in T. Nagar will never ever be the same again. A tale of dreams and the struggle, which the thousands of young men and woman face while working in the huge super-stores of TN's shopping capital.

Aayirathil Oruvan
Selvaraghavan remains the rebel with his mix of history, Mackenna's Gold and a metaphor on the plight of Sri Lankan tamils. Splendid acting by Parthiban, good job by Karthi and Reema. Movie could have been edited better to make it more interesting. A truly different attempt.

Irumbukottai Murattu Singam
Tamil cowboy Lawrence, funny adventure with liberal spoofing from Simbudevan. Clint Eastwood beware, Singam is here.

Nan Mahan Alla
A revenge movie shot unconventionally with four menacing villains. One being the kid who played junior Surya in "Nanda". Karthi does a great job and excellent chemistry with Kajal Agarwal.

Vamsam
Vilage-setting, revenge and a sweet love-story. Great debut by Arulnidhi.Nice comedy by ganja Karuppu and Arulnidhi too. Imposing role by Jayaprakash and Kishore.

Vinnaithandi Varuvaya
Gautam Menon resurrects Simbhu's career and image with a love-story with great songs. I enjoyed the songs not a great fan of the movie though.

Enthiran
Money, money, explosions, robots and a fantastic looking Aishwarya under layers of make-up. Rajnikanth the phenomenon under Shankar's direction makes a lot of money for distributors and theatre-owners.

Mynaa
Super-stuff, a romance, a village tale told with passion, excellent cinematography, decent inspired-music score, great acting. Amala Paul a name to watch out for in the future.

Boss engira bhaskaran and Madrasapattinam
One a light-hearted comic-caper, the other a period saga. Arya shone in both roles. Santhanam's comedy in Boss with his "Nanben da" and "Thala Thalapathi Saloon" was excellent. Nayanthara for a change looked good in her salwars and sarees instead of her idiotic skimpy outfits. Amy Jackson had a great debut with Madrasapattinam and is acting in Gautam's Hindi remake of VTV.

Hindi Hits

Peepli Live
Aamir Khan's production, a black comedy about politics and farmer suicides. Nathu's travails and a song on rising costs that became a chartbuster.

Dabanng
Salman as Robinhood Chulbul Pandey, gorgeous Sonakshi Sinha in a dream debut and of course "Munni Badnaam Hui". Sphagetti Western meets Indian cop saga. Funny stuff, great fights, foot-tapping numbers. The biggest hit of the year.


Do Dooni Char

Rishi Kappor and Neetu Singh on screen in a heart-warming comedy of Laxmanesque proportions. A Maths teacher who almost accepts a bribe from a rich student to buy a Maruti car. Disney's Bollywood venture won many hearts with its simple tale.

An update I would also like to add Udaan, Rajneeti and Ishqiya to the list.

So folks wishing you all a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Praying for sensible, interesting and original movies in the coming year.

Kiwis cut a sorry figure

The demoralizing defeat, a 5-0 whitewash by an Indian team without Dhoni, Sachin, Harbhajan, Viru and Co. Daniel Vettori and his beleaguered team have a lot of soul-searching to do.

This comes at the end of a similar white-wash at the hands of Bangladesh.

Once considered to be a strong ODI team which consistently defeated higher-ranked teams, New Zealand cricket is at an all-time low.

Let's hope the Kiwis get in-shape for the World Cup 2011.

Mynaa - Movie review

Directed by Prabhu Solomon, Mynaa starts interestingly with the preparations being made in a huge joint family for celebrating Diwali. We are shown various women speaking with another woman regarding the saree they plan to wear. We realize that the youngest daughter of the family would arrive to celebrate her "Thala Diwali".

From here the scene shifts to the woman's husband a police inspector who leaves for duty assuring his newly-wed wife that he would come in the afternoon.

Then we are introduced to an unkempt bearded youth - Suruli in a jail-cell who reminsces about his childhood - a gambler for a father, a loud-mouthed aunt and the love of his life Mynaa(played by Amala Paul). A girl whom he rescues and falls in love in childhood itself.

A visitor a 12-13 year old boy visits Suruli and gives him a message. Suruli escapes from jail. The senior inspector and his subordinates are put into a tizzy and leave in pursuit of Suruli.

The rest of the movie is about Suruli's love for Mynaa, his arrest by the policemen and the journey of all four back to the police station.

Excellent photography, good performances, a Braveheart-inspired music score and a couple of good songs ensure a fairly enjoyable movie.

The movie is let down by its climax. I am not revealing it.

Watch the movie to find out if Suruli succeeds in marrying Mynaa.

Life

Sivankutty was tired and sad. Acchhan after a long silence of two years had called to say that Apoopan had died in his sleep.

Sivankutty was never close to his Apoopan having hardly met him thrice in his life-time. After Acchhan had left home after the big-fight with Ammachi, Sivan never bothered about Acchhan.

The sudden news was shocking and spoiled his mood!!!

All Sivan could do was pray as Ammachi lit a lamp facing the south.

Harbjajan is the new saviour

Harbhajan with two successive centuries against the Kiwis is turning out to be the new batting saviour. Wish he started taking wickets with more regularity. In the absence of Anil Kumble he is India's mainstream spinner now.

Bhajji should stop his on-field and off-field antics and start focusing on his bowling. The World Cup is a few months away, blind slogging of the ball is just not acceptable when the World Cup is at stake.

Come on Bhajji!!!!

Battling cold and fever

This has been an extremely tiring Diwali as I battle fever, throat infection and a blasted cold. It is raining profusely with a cyclone centred near the TN and AP coast.

Hope I can make it to work tomorrow.

Inception

Finally saw Inception today. To be honest I did not understand most of it. There were phrases like "dream within a dream", "implanting ideas", "mind architecture" etc.

Great background score, superb performance by Leo. Stunning photography and slick editing.

If time permits I will watch the movie again. May be a detailed review will follow if I understand the movie.

Pages from My Diary

It’s been a couple of years now since I realized that she never looked at me in the same vein that I saw her. At that juncture she was supposed to get engaged to one of her classmates. Later I came to know that things did not work out and the engagement was cancelled. She never calls me or sends me a message; did her ego get bruised or did she find someone else; I will never know. Surprisingly my affections for her continue to remain in the same vein.

My only comfort is that I let her know how much I loved her. As I continue to meander about performing my duties as a son, a brother, a friend, a disciple and so on and so forth; I wonder if I will ever find someone to call my ‘own’. Even if I do will I be able to erase ‘her’ memories from my mind and heart.

Everywhere around me there are people bursting fire crackers, celebrating the “Festival of Lights” – Diwali. I wonder as I sit alone and write this – “Will someone light up my heart?” or to put it more accurately – “Will I be able to light up someone’s heart?” – Ever?

And on that pensive note, life goes on….

Happy Diwali

With Diwali just a couple of days away, here's wishing all everyone a "HAPPY DIWALI".

While bursting crackers spare a thought for the elderly, ill and the animals on the road.

Be safe, be happy, opt for a noise-free Diwali!

Death

Loved ones are leaving me.

One more death of someone whom I respected a lot.

Uncle R.I.P.

A Great Victory

A fantastic victory for Team India.

A new star Cheteshwar Pujara is born.

The hockey team walloped England 5-4 in a penalty shootout to qualify for the finals of the Commonwealth Games hockey tournament.

Can an inspired team defeat Australia in the finals?

Let us hope for the best.

Come on India!!!!!

Sachin

Sachin cracks a double hundred, Murali Vijay gets a maiden test hundred. North shows his talents for Australia. Will the match show a result.

Knight & Day

Image source - Wikipedia

Jolly good fun!

Good chemistry between Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz.

Tom Cruise is Roy Miller a rogue CIA agent who holds a zephyr a pocket-sized battery that can power an entire city!

He meets June (Diaz) a car modelling expert on her way to her sister's wedding and uses her to get the zephyr passed through the checking counter at the airport.

The movie has its share of twists, chases, humour, shoot-outs and is shot in Austria, Germany and Mexico.

Roy and June are chased by CIA agents, the police and an assassin hired by a Mexican weapons dealer. Watch the movie to find out how Roy outwits everyone.

Rating - 2.5 stars.

Chennai Super Kings are the Champions

Many considered the crowning of Chennai Super Kings as IPL-3 champions to be a fluke.
Dhoni has proved his critics to be wrong by leading his team to victory in the Champions League in South Africa.

Murali Vijay, Bollinger, Michel Hussey, Raina, Ashwin and Muralitharan have been instrumental in CSK's success. Obviously getting a place in Group-A was an added bonus with the weaker teams from Sri Lanka and New Zealand being present in it.

There was heart break in the match against Victoria, which CSK lost in the Superover. A remarkable victory defending a meagre total in the last group match against the warriors moved CSK into the semifinals. A rain curtailed semi against Royal Challengers Bangalore was made memorable as Suresh Raina went all hammer and tongs against the RCB bowlers. An injury to Dale Steyn while attempting a catch and a top-order batting failure 13/4 brought CSK into the finals.

Disciplined bowling and excellent fielding resulted in CSK defeating the South African Warriors. All-in-all a great performance by the men in yellow. The next edition of IPL with two more teams will see many members moving to other teams. This victory should boost Dhoni's confidence and help him face the Australians in the home series that will start in a few days.

As the theme song goes Dhoni Chennai Super Kings kku Whistle Podu

Prince of Persia

Image source-Internet

Jake Gyllenhal goes into six-pack mode and comes out as a convincing Prince Dastan. The boy who was picked from the streets of Persia and became a prince. The movie is based on one of the most successful video games of all time and has excellent production values.

The story is about the King of Persia who is poisoned and killed by his brother Nizam played by Ben Kingsley. Dastan is falsely accused of killing the king and is chased by the rightful sons of the king Tus and Garvis.

How Dastan proves his innoccence is linked with a magical dagger, which allows its holder to control time. The dagger is safeguarded Princess Tamina played by Gema Arterton. The chemistry between Dastan and Tamina is forced but has its share of laughs. There is a slavetrader and his faithful African slave as a side-plot.

Great timepass but not an adventure of epic proportions. The biggest problem is how does a supposed Persian speak with a prim and proper British accent:) Children will enjoy the movie.

I am still waiting to see Inception.

Hope to see it soon.

The CWG - A Mess beyond Redemption

All this while when corruption was rampant, the general public had no other choice but suffer. Years of being left disappointed has brought in a stoic calm to the psyche of the common Indian when it comes to politicians and bureaucrats.

The Commonwealth Games in comparison is a national spectacle of great proportions. What was to be India's moment of pride in replicating China's successful Olympic Games has ended up in a matter of shame for the country.

Everyday there are reports about a ceiling falling down, roads in bad condition, uninhabitable residences for players, the list goes on. When the CWG scam came to the spotlight the news that caught my attention was "Toilet Paper Scam". Apparently each roll of toilet paper was purchased for Rs. 4000. This is just the tip of the iceberg. Scams for the purchase of treadmills, toiler cleaners, there is a whole list. Everyone has a share in the pie.

Things are moving on at breakneck speed and at the eleventh hour our PM Manmohan Singh is leading the operations. I hope for the sake of the country that things are put in place. Already top athletes have pulled out citing various reasons. I guess in an unfair sense it will give an option for lesser known athletes and players to reach the podium and win medals.

Once the games end a thorough investigation regarding the financial irregularities concerning CWG should be conducted and the guilty should be punished. But knowing the way how things work in our great land it will be one long case with hearings and additional hearings, cases getting transferred, one more mess the judicial system of which I will blog later.

As of now I hope the CWG goes on smoothly and that there are no terrorist attacks. Security has been lax as shown by some Australian journalists who went about with semi-explosives without being questioned.

As they say - "May the games begin" and punish the guilty in the Organising Committee.

Back on Track

Thankfully the break was short.

Life is back on track and I am at work.

God has been kind and merciful in answering my prayers.

Now I need to work with patience and stick to this job.

On Staying at Home

What does one say?
When people ask you,
Hey aren't you leaving yet?

How do I tell them,
I'm jobless at the moment.
Dusting all my books,
My music and movie collection.

I get endless calls a day.
Some from HR personnel,
Some from friends,
And some from relatives.
Sympathetic folks, angry folks, folks who say!

You deserved it!
I always told you don't quit SFY!
Another chap says "Man, you shouldn't have refused those KPO offers!
It's the curse of that angry HR bloke.
Well reasons may be many, excuses even more.
What to do?

Helping mom wash and cook and clean the house.
Updating my resume across job portals.
Shooting e-mails to companies across the country.
Life goes on at its own pace.
So folks till something worth posting comes up!
Or till I find something I love,
Or well if I find someone to love!

Well that was cheeky:)

It's ADIEU!

One more chapter closes

Life is falling in to a strange routine, where in every six to seven months, I join a new firm, make friends, and then am forced to say adieu.

So the quest begins all over again.

Don't know how I am going to manage.

Very very scary future.

SALT

Tom Cruise missed a chance to belt out a blockbuster. Yes, the role portrayed by Angelina Jolie in SALT was originally written for Tom Cruise.

The story is about how a section of Russia's KGB trains children to become spies and sends them to the U.S. In addition, to children they also replace American adults with look-alike Russian spies.

Angelina plays a CIA agent Evelyn Salt who is accused of planning to assassinate the American President. This info is provided by a Russian defector. How Evelyn goes about escaping from the CIA and proves her innocence forms the crux of the story.

Chases, shoot-outs, plot-twists; it's all there.

The climax proves that there is room for a sequel and SALT might well end up becoming a franchise like the Mission Impossible series.

With Knight & Day tanking at the U.S. box-office, Tom Cruise might be regretting his decision of skipping SALT.

Need Help

Folks need help.

If there is a job opening for content writers / copy writers / copy editors.

Please send me an e-mail with the details of the company at rmaheshiyer@hotmail.com

You can also add the details through the comments section.

Thanks in advance.

HAPPY ONAM

May King Mahabali bless you with joy and riches.

Wishing everyone a HAPPY ONAM

The Wolfman

Image courtesy Google Images

Starring Sir Anthony Hopkins and Benico Del Toro, the movie is a remake of the 1941 classic with the same name.

The story starts on a dark night in the woods of Blackmoor. A man seems to be chasing someone when he is mauled by something. The next scene shows a performance of Hamlet. A woman Miss Gwen approaches Lawrence (Benico) and says that her fiancee Ben is missing.

We learn that the person mauled at the beginning is Lawrence's brother, Ben. During the train journey to Blackmoor, Lawrence is given a cane with the head of a silver wolf by an old man.

The old castle holds many secrets, we learn that Lawrence found his mother dying in his father - Sir John(Anthony Hopkin's arms)many years ago. This resulted in young Lawrence losing his sanity and being admitted to an lunatic asylum.

Lawrence investigates his brother's death. He sees his corpse and is shocked by the mutilated body. He discovers a medallion in his brother's belongings, which leads him to the gypsies. It is a full moon night and again the strange creature attacks the gypsy camp. In trying to save a young boy the creature bites Lawrence.

The gypsy-woman nurses Lawrence and stitches his wounds despit others asking her to let Lawrence die. The woman answers "He can die only at the hands of someone who loves him."

Lawrence finds out that his father is the werewolf. He realises his father killed his mother many years ago and is now tormenting the people of Blackmoor. Circumstances cause people to suspect Lawrence to be the werewolf and he is once again sent to the lunatic asylum.

Lawrence escapes from the asylum seeking revenge.

What happens? Does he become human? Is he killed? Does he kill Sir John?

Watch the movie to find answers.

The movie moves between slow suspense and super quick CGI action. The fight between the two werewolves brilliant. The cinematography and music catch the essence of the dark theme of the movie. Acting is good. Worth watching once.

Team India's Moment of Truth

India's mammoth loss by 200 runs to New Zealand has brought to the fore-front the inability of our batsmen to tackle the short-pitched ball.

It was practically fielding practice for New Zealand as catches kept coming.

Dhoni's run-out was brilliantly executed.

What was MSD thinking when he started on that run?

Can somebody please explain why is Ravindra Jadeja still there in the team?

It was his spell that initiated the onslaught from Styris and Taylor.

Team India buck up for the remaining matches!!!

Book Fairs in Chennai

Folks two minor book fairs or exhibitions are happening in Chennai.

One is at the Guild of Service in Egmore, Chennai. All new books on display.

The other one is at Chetpet in the premises of the Women's Hostel located near Palimar Hotel and parallel to Sparky's Diner. For exact directions...

Walk past the Palimar Hotel, cross the fuel-station and you will notice banners announcing the "Book Sale".

A mix of new and used books. There are fabulous discounts n the used ones.

It is a treasure trove for comic-book lovers as lots of old comics are available. In addition picture books for children, coffee table books on cuisine, architecture, music, well pretty much every topic are on display.

New books get a 10% discount.

I picked up some real comic-book gems. I got a 1987 Dennis the Menace Annual comic for Rs. 50. 5 lucky Luke comics and 4 Iznogoud comics for Rs. 99 each. The big surprise was the complete illustrated Panchatantra by noted Indian cartoonist Bujjai for Rs. 99. Believe me it is a real treasure and a book that every child should read.

I got two novels based on the 24 TV Series, a Pink Panther novel based on the Steve Martin movie and some old Tinkle digests.

Folks do not miss this, you never know what treasure you might find for a real good bargain. This "book-sale" at Chennai is been on for quite some time and will continue for a few more months as per the organisers. Open from 10 AM to 9 PM on all days.

The Ghost Writer

Image Courtesy-Wikipedia

You are an ex-prime minister (Pierce Brosnan, living in a foreign land. Your auto-biography is being written by a ghost-writer, who is found dead. A new ghost-writer played by Ewan Mc Gregor is appointed to complete the auto-biography.

Tension builds slowly and we realise that things are not correct. Was the death of the earlier ghost-writer an accident or a murder? As Ewan tries to find out the truth allegations of war-crimes are thrust upon Pierce Brosnan. He becomes the centre of media attention and a bitter war of words starts.

Ewan digs in to the PM's past as skeletons slowly tumble out regarding the PM's college days. Ewan rummages the belongings of the earlier ghost-writer and discovers photos and a telephone number. As he tracks his predecessor's activities many secrets are revealed. Ewan realises that the PM was a CIA agent and helping USA.

He confronts the PM with his findings. Pierce is shot dead as he steps out of a plane. The autobiography is published and becomes a best-seller.

I am not revealing the climax!

It is a minor twist and somehow the movie is let down by it.

Do watch the movie for an old-fashioned cloak and dagger kind of thriller.

Roman Polanski's direction is great, Pierce and Ewan excel in their roles.

Background music is restrained and the visuals of the sea and the rain are well shot.

Raavanan

An unintentional comedy:)

Aish manages to track down Vikram's hideout without any troubles.
While the police and special commandos could never find him.

Loved seeing Karthik as the drunken forest guard.

Songs were good.

The climax-fight on the wooden bridge was executed well.