Earthquake - Scare

I sit next to the water-cooler and felt strange when the water in the bubble-top began shaking - and then my chair started moving and I realized it was a tremor; all members on our floor ran out and the after-shocks continued.

The whole thing lasted for about 3.5 mins and now we are back at our work-stations.

Apparently there has been a major earthquake in Indonesia - 8.9 on the Richter scale.

Tremors felt in Chennai, Kolkatta and Bengaluru.

All back to work now :)

Chennai Super Kings hit rock-bottom and Chennai rocked by an earthquake :) - Lousy PJ but could not resist typing it :)

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.

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.

Good Used-Books at Low Prices

The book-lover is bothered by the rising cost of books. Some have also gravitated towards buying pirated copies of books. In a world where everyone wants to spend the minimum to get the maximum pirated movies and pirated books are a major source of income to many entrepreneurs and source of joy to many book-lovers and movie-lovers. A Sidney Sheldon thriller that costs Rs 250 to Rs 300 in Landmark is available for Rs 50 to Rs 60 in many of the pavement stalls that dot Chennai.

But not all books make it to the pavement in its pirated form. Only the books by Jeffrey Archer, Sidney Sheldon, Frederick Forsyth, Paulo Coelho, Stephen R. Covey, Linda Goodman, Robert Ludlum, Arundhati Roy, Arvind Adiga and a few other chosen ones make it to the pavement.

The other option is to visit the many used-book shops to find old forgotten novels and comics. Indulge in nostalgia from childhood and an age of innocence when one fought with siblings to read Enid Blyton and Asterix and the Biggles series. Adolescence was devoted to the exploits of the Hardy boys, Nancy Drew and the Three Investigators.

I am listing a few of my favourite haunts in Chennai to find old books.

1-Moore Market

This has been my favourite ever since I started college and went hunting for copies of Milton’s “Paradise Lost” and “The Complete Works of William Shakespeare.” Moore Market has a long chequered history. The current suburban railway complex is where the original Moore Market stood. My uncle used to say you could get each and every type of electronic item, exotic perfumes and various birds here. The biggest section was reserved to rows of book stalls. A planned fire led to the shop-keepers to be evacuated. A new complex (the current one) was built but many shop-keepers left the place. Today one finds most of the shops selling engineering books. Only about 12 shops spread across three floors sell novels and magazines. There are some shops that sell stamps and coins. The current complex has a lot of shops that sell exotic fishes, aquariums and related equipment. I visit the place and browse through the books. Some of the gems that I got here include: “An Anthology of American Poetry”(Got for Rs 350) a bargain as a new one costs about Rs 2000. The original James Bond novels by Ian Fleming at Rs 30 a piece. A new one at Landmark costs around Rs 200. Four Agatha Christie novels at Rs 45 a piece. The books look new and none of the pages are missing.

2-Adjacent GPO on Mount Road

There are about four stalls on the pavement on Mount Road adjacent to the GPO. Three sell pirated new novels. The fourth shop sells old books on a wide variety of topics. Novels starting from Rs 10 to coffee table books selling at Rs 500. I have picked many Enid Blyton novels here for Rs 10 and Rs 20. Other buys include an encyclopedia on dogs for Rs 200.(a picture book with details on breeds and health care tips for dogs). Lots of pulp fiction thrillers for Rs 20 and Rs 30.

Folks more shops coming soon. Cross-posted on Art, Books, Cinema and Music.

The Margazhi Season

The Margazhi season has started and lovers of Carnatic music have arrived in Chennai from all parts of the world. Events will be held in various auditoriums and sabhas in Chennai. Leading singers like Unnikrishnan, Balamuralikrishna, Yesudas, Nithyasree, Sudha Raghunathan, and many more whose names I do not know will be enchanting the audience.

If I get tickets and find time in my schedule and above all if the weather holds[everyday there is some cyclone alert-although after Cyclone Nisha things have been calm]I might go for a concert or two.

Musically yours....