A case of jellybeans, Zak, and an Indian victory

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

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

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

Let us see what happens.

Munnabhai Chale Jail

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

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

THE WEEK THAT WAS

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

POLITICS

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

SPORTS

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

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

CRICKET

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

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

CINEMA

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

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

Bye folks, see you next week.

DVD Review

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

A flashback shows Jyothirmayee stabbing Vineeth.

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

Two thumbs up.

The week that was....

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

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

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

A RUDE SHOCK

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

POLITICS

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

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

CRICKET

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

KIREEDOM

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

I AM BACK.....

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

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

Pakistan have got a new coach-Geoff Lawson.

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

The first test match starts between India and England today.

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

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

Bye for now.

LIFE IN A METRO

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

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

Three cheers for director Anurag Basu.

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

SHIVAJI-"Full of sound and fury"

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

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

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

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

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

Overall it is paisa vasool time pass, no masterpiece.

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

My Rating ***/5.

The Early Bird Gets its Worm....

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

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

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

Cheers folks.

A TRIP TO OOTY-EPISODE 2

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

A TALE OF VOMITTING

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

DAYLIGHT ROBBERY

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

FERNHILL PALACE

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

RETURN TRIP

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

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

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

An end to a trip that was a failure.

Hope to have a better trip next time around.

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

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

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

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

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

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

To be continued...

Hi Folks.

This works, though the post took some time to appear on the blog. So what do I write about?

Saw Chota Mumbai to complete the Vishu releases, now Hello is on show and I am not very enthusiastic after reading the reviews.

I have returned to Tiruvallur, spent about Rs 550, to book a cab and bring all my dtuff to home.

Not on a live project yet, doing sample documents every day. Happy, but the food is lousy. I am spending close to seventy rupees on food.

Amma is scheduled to return from a Temple Tour tonight.

Next post is on the Ooty trip.

So finally on track, there is this tech guy in office called Prabhu who has shown me a way to blog, hope this works, let us see....

On the job..

Exams are over, training is over and I have finally "hit the floor," no I am not drunk and on the floor, this is a term that they use here at my new office to describe the process where the trainee is actually on the job.

So I am happy here. Am really worried as I am yet to receive my settlement from my previous company. Hope everything works out fine.

Will be moving into a mansion by the monthend, am praying to God to get a decent place.

Cheers folks take care.

Exam Fever...
So tomorrow is my last exam, have written the previous four papers pretty decently. MA English Literature. Pray to God that I get good marks in all the papers and get a First Class Pass.

Monday onwards back to training. Hope to move to mansion by June 1. Waiting for my pay-check. Really in dire straits now.

Cheers guys, back to blogging when I have money to pay to the browsing centre.

Bye....

Training, Training and more Training.....

I have joined the new organization that I mentioned about, its a nice place, the first week is over with sessions on MS-Office. The people are good, facilities are nice, hope th at I will settle into this place.

I am hunting for a mansion to stay, next week exams start, am afraid as preparations are not fully done. Hope for the best.

See you next week, henceforth posts will appear every Sunday only....

Bye folks .

Another Beginning.....

I have resigned today, I am joining another organization on Monday. A new beginning..., another new beginning..

Let me see what the future has in store.....

Hoping for the best.

Sunday Market Gandhi Statue Sunrise at Pondy

Pages From Pondy-Sunday

We planned to cover the Sunday Market, in the morning, return to our room, get our bags and visit Auroville, by boarding the local bus. We had our breakfast in the restaurant at Sabthaghiri, and took a bus to the Sunday Market.

The Sunday Market

The Sunday Market, is a unique attraction, in Pondy, every Sunday traders, occupy an entire street, almost a kilometre in length, and peedlle their wares. Items on sale range from, books, toys, cosmetics, dvds, electronis items like cameras and watches to cosmetics and clothes.

The street is packed with people trying to make a good deal. Both of us bought a pair of jeans and bermudas, Harish bought a bottle of English perfume, a belt and a couple of vests. I got three T-shirts, can you guess the price? Each shirt cost me just ten rupees, I bought the shirts and checked them, there were no defects, in them, good for wearing the house, or while playing cricket.

The AuroBoutique

This is a quaint little shop next to Adyar Ananda Bhavan, that sells incense sticks, diaries, calendars, gift items and souvenirs. We bought some packs of fragrant incense sticks and proceeded to Juice Wagon to have lunch.

The Juice Wagon

It will be unfair of me to overlook this restaurant, where we had two unforgettable meals. This is a great restaurant that primarily caters Continental food. The prices are decent, ambience good and the food is excellent, we were surprised to find the place empty on both of our visits. We had tomato soup, sandwiches, pasta and milk shakes. Do have a meal here if you go to Pondy.

We had our lunch and took a bus which dropped us 8 km from Auroville, autos charge Rs 100 to take you to Auroville. We learned that the Globe of Universal Peace, was closed on Sunday. We cursed the guy manning the Auro Travel infomation centre, wondering why he did not inform us that on Sundays Auroville, would be closed.

Disappointed we returned to the bus terminus and reserved tickets for the 4:25 PM bus. The return journey was uneventful, and the bus was packed with people.

We reached Kasi Theatre at around 8:30 PM. Harish was in a sorry state, as he was nauseated and was ready to puke all over the place at any time. We enterd Saravana Bhavan, and Harish rushed to the restroom.

He returned after fifteen minutes, as a much relieved man. We had dinner and returned to our room, at 9:20 PM. A nice trip, which would have to be made again, as we could not visit Auroville.

Probably the last weekend of May, will find us again in Pondy.

Pages From Pondy-Saturday

We had been planning for a trip to Pondicherry, for about a month, and finally all things fell into place, and on April 27, Saturday, Harish and myself, decided to make the trip.

On Saturday morning we reached CMBT-Koyambedu, at 8 AM, we had our breakfast at Nathan's Cafe, a restaurant adjacent to the bus-terminus.

We boarded an express-bus to Pondy, the bus started at 8:35 AM, soon, we were on the scenic ECR and the bus was moving pretty fast away from the traffic snarls of the city.

There were various villages on the way, the bus passed through Mahabalipuram, Kalpakkam, Marakkanam, and we finally reached the Pondy bus-terminus at around 12:20 PM.

We began hunting for rooms, our first stop was Hotel Mass, an imposing white building, on entering it, we realized that it was a Star-Hotel, the room tariff was Rs 1900, for a day, we left the hotel, and crossed the road to another hotel Sabthagiri, the receptionist said that no rooms were there.

Then an auto-driver suggested a guest-house, called Raj GuestHouse, on Palivasal Street, we were a bit apprehensive, but we went there, a double room with a TV for Rs 300 per day, sounded great and I paid the advance, Harish was a bit worried and said that the place was a bit shady, and suggested that I should have looked at some other hotel.

We were informed that we would get a room with the TV in a couple of hours, we left our bags at the reception, and visited the Aurobindo Ashram, then we had our lunch at Adyar Ananda Bhavan.

Then we visited the Auro travel centre to book tickets to Auroville, to our dismay we found that the bus had just left. We were disappointed, and left to our guesthouse. The room was big and clean. We switched on the TV, a local channel was playing the movie"Manamathan," and we saw it.

We left the room at about 5 PM, and walked from our guesthouse to the Manakkulam Vinayakar temple, we completed our darshan and walked to the beach and lazed around the beach till 7:30 PM, then we had our dinner at a restaurant called Juice Wagon and returned to our room.

We were just in time to view the delayed start of the World Cup final. I fell asleep immediately, while Harish saw the full Australian innings.

Now Where to From Here.......


Once again on the crossroads of life, I can't help myself from thinking about Robert Frost's poem-"The Road Not Taken." I am reproducing the poem here for the benefit of people who have not read it.

THE ROAD NOT TAKEN
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I am quitting my current job, and taking up another job, in a totally different realm, from the one in my current organization.

So perhaps years ahead, I shall be saying that-"I too took the road, less travelled by, and that has made all the difference.

Life is a quest, everyone has a goal, and works to achieve his/her goal. As long as the quest does not end in a fruitful goal, the restlessness, and the need to keep changing paths, keeps happening.

Some people find their goal early in life, some people achieve it a bit late in life, and there are many others, for whom the quest goes on till the last breath of their lives.

Hopefully I should complete my quest soon.

Let us see what happens......

And Time Flies By.......

One more month is coming to an end. Come May 1, 2007, it will be nine years to the day when we moved in to Tiruvallur. It is been a long time, studying in school, finishing tenth and twelfth standard.

Coming to Chennai everyday to attend college. First job, now on the second one, and moving on to the third one, next month, life is going on as time flies by.

This weekend there are plans for a trip, Harish is accompanying me for a trip to Pondy. We are trying to borrow a digicam from someone or the other to take lots of snaps.

Really want to post my snaps on this blog, hopefully it will be another achievment for me.

Let us see, more tomorrow, Bye Folks.

Time is flying by.., and I need to have dinner.

A True Experience

Yesterday, I was travelling by the bus 52 B, from Chennai Central to Guindy. It was evening around 7:30 P.M., many people were returning back to their houses after a hard day's work. The bus was jam-packed, and I was able to find a place to stand. When the bus reached the L.I.C. bus stop, I felt a hand going into my trouser pockets. I realized that someone had flicked my mobile phone. I turned around quickly and shouted-"Enn phone kaanam"(My phone is missing."

I spotted a seventeen-twenty year old youth who was behaving supiciously, I stared at him, he turned around and shouted-"Ivar phone kaanam"(His phone's missing)

I looked down and saw my phone the floor, I bent down and picked it up.

When I searched for the youth, he was missing, he had alighted at the Spencer's traffic signal.

Truly an unforgettable experience.

I thank God, and am happy to have got my phone back.

Much Ado About Nothing

The "Nothing," stands for the marriage of Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai. Right from the shooting of Mani Rathnam's "Guru," rumours were afloat that the two had been married in a secret ceremony at the Madurai Meenakshi temple. Then Aish was spotted along with the Bachchans for some ceremony at a temple.

Finally Big-B announced that Aish, would be the ideal bahu for his family, God alone knows, what happened to Miss Congeniality Rani Mukherjee.

I do not know, why the media is making such a big issue out of this marriage. they are just people, famous actors, but they are just ordinary mortals like you and me, not gods, or great freedom fighters, who have sacrificed the ir youth for the country.

Every TV channel and news website, right from rediff, sify, ibnlive, Timesnow, every channel, has some article or the other related to the marriage. One article informed its readers that 20 kg of henna/mehendi had been ordered specifically for the mehendi ceremony of Aish, another discussed the wedding costume, another about the new house of the soon to be man and wife.

It becomes disgusting and irritation, when you keep getting their pictures flashed on screen, and yet another scoop, about the marriage of the scion of the first family of Bollywood.

God please give these news channels some sense.

I wish that Ash-Abhi have a happy life, but going by Ash's reputation of breaking hearts, God knows how long it will take before the cracks appear.

Let us see what happens.

The summer heat is sweltering, am really dreading May and the "kathri veyil," have to take lots of care to prevent dehydration. Drinking lots of buttermilk and eating a slice of watermelon to keep cool.

Have to try the kambu kuzhu one day.

Let us see, the summer is actually sapping the brain cells, don't you notice the length of my posts has gone down.

The Tamil New Year

The new year, Tamil, Vishu(Malayalam), is just around the corner. It will be a flurry of activity, getting up early in the morning to have a look at the Vishu Kani, wearing new clothes, feasting on special delicacies, watching the special programmes and movies on Asianet and Surya TV.

Another year has ended and another one is about to start. What does the new year hold in store?

Hope there is peace and happiness and love and joy in this world.

Signboard English

English as a global language, owes a lot to the East India Company, and other such settlers and explorers, for discovering new lands, and imposing their language on the people of those lands.
English has become the language of choice and profession, in most parts of the world. A sound knowledge of the language and good communication skills, have become a passport for a good job to many people in Asian countries, where the outsourcing business has mushroomed to unforseen proportions. Today if you can speak good English, are above eighteen years of age, and have atleast completed high school, you can get a job in a B.P.O., that will fetch you atleast Rs 6000/- a month as salary.

Now coming back to the main subject, about which this post is all about-Funny Signboards.
All of us would have seen some funny signboards, and had a really good laugh, I am sharing some signboards that I have seen, read and laughed like crazy.

1-Ramu Snakes Bar-Do the snakes have a court of law, are they lawyers, or is it a bar where snakes sip gin and brandy.

2-Flat Toilet-How can a toilet be totally flat, people will have a hard time using it.

3-Wet Paint, Don't Shit-As if someone would want to shit on paint.

4-Child Bear Available-It should have been chilled beer.

5-Hare cutting done here-Is he a barber or a butcher.

All these are actual signboards, I do not intend to hurt anybody's feelings, but these are the small things that make India such a great place to live in, even though we might have a hundred problems within the country, such things make us laugh and forget our tensions.

The OBC Reservation Row and its problems.......

Will there ever be a solution to the caste quota reservation, I had written a post on this blog about six or seven months back, that detailed the problems faced by people in the General Category to get admission in good colleges and find government jobs. The problem persists, the Supreme Court took a bold decision by putting a stay order on the reservation quota for OBC candidates, and look what happened...

The DMK so called saviours of the down trodden, disrupted life in Tamil Nadu by declaring a state wide bandh from 6 AM to 6 PM on Saturday March 31. Life was crippled, no shops, no theatres, no buses, autos or trains, and for the confirmed alcoholic, no wineshops. On Friday night itself the frequency of buses and autos decreased drastically.

March 31, the day when accounts were closed for stock taking, a day when auditors and busineesmen had a hundred tasks, well everything went awry, because of the idiotic and irresponsible behaviour of the Rising Sun.

Trains scheduled to enter Tamil Nadu on March 31, were stopped outside the state, trains and flights were rescheduled, lots of people who had planned weekend trips and picnics, faced a rude shock and had to stay back at home because of this strike.

What did Kalaignar achieve by calling this strike? Was any practical solution derived from this strike? No, a big no, school students writing their public exams, busy professionals, heck everyone right from the beggar to the multi-millionaire had to suffer at the hands of the DMK.

Thankfully no incidents of violence were reported, the only saving grace of this bandh, much unlike bandhs that happen in Kolkatta, Delhi and Bombay.

Hope the DMK, gives atleast a week's notice before calling anymore bandhs and strikes.

A Tale of Two Businesses.....

Each street has its small shop, where one gets to buy grocery, provisions, newspapers, soft drinks and other articles of daily use. The shopkeeper is trustworthy and he personally caters to the needs of his customers. He loves children the most and always has special chocolates and ice creams for them. I grew up in such an atmosphere and loved Kumar Annachi, who ran a small provision shop at the end of our street.

All cities in India are dotted by countless such shops which are managed by Agarwals, Singhs, Nairs, Raos and Sens and Guptas. India entered into the era of globalisation and modernisation in the late eighties and early nineties, the concept of malls, where all items were made available under one roof began to gain acceptance among the common public. Shopping Arcades like-Spencer's Plaza, Singapore Shopping Centre, Forum, Shriram Arcade, Alsa Mall, began to do brisk business.

This led to the boom in the retail chain management. Brands like Lifestyle, Westside, Pantaloons, Subhiksha, Vitan made an entry into the Indian market. The convenience of a complete shopping experience appealed to the common man, and the early days of the IT boom saw the pay-packets becoming fatter. Suddenly there was a lot of money to spend and a lot of products to buy. The commercial boom had started.

Now Reliance has moved into the retail segment and started its chain of Fresh stores, which sells vegetables, fruits and provisions. Reliance has appointed people to source the vegetables and fruits directly from the farmers to avoid any brokerage to be paid to middlemen. The traders in Koyambedu one of the largest vegetable markets in India, have started a protest demanding Reliance to close down, as they say they are losing their customers.

Wal-Mart is all set to start operations in India through a tie-up with the Bharti(Airtel) group. If Bharti enters India, then it will be a catalyst in the death of small business groups. Already Walmart has led to the death of many shops across America.

On the flip side these entrants in the retail market promise to provide employment to around 75, 000 people by the end of the year 2007. Young men and women are gettting jobs as salespersons with a decent salary of Rs 4,000 to Rs 5,000. So in a way it is good for the economy.

So how will the system work, will both sides co-exist or will the multinational giants take over the small traders, only time will tell.

So one more day is coming to an end, one more day on this planet, in this life, in this city. Got some bad news today. I was not selected in the Bank Entrance Exam that I had written in January, I had pinned some hopes on it. Well whats done is done, the past cannot be changed and no point in spoiling the present by worrying about the past and the future.

I might perhaps shift to another house, bring my mother and father and stay together, as mother keeps worrying unnecessarily. Let me see by God's grace I should get a decent house, finalise a deal and move in to the new house by May 10.

Hope everything goes smooth.

Madras Nalla Madras
If you have not done this in Chennai...

Chennai, no I will rather stick to good old Madras, it is a melting pot of different cultures with people from many diverse traditions living in this city. The I.T. boom has brought in more and more tech-people from all the stes of India and many people from foreign countries also.

The following is a list of things that one should experience in good old Madras.

1-Wake up to the melodious voice of M.S. Subhalakshmi singing Venkatesa Suprabatham.
2-Have a tumbler of hot filter coffee, follow it up with a plate of steaming hot idlies with sambhar and fresh cocnut chutney.
3-Visit the Kapaleeshwarar Temple at Mylapore and the St. Thomas Church.
4-Go to the Marina Beach, walk bare foot on the soft sand, and have molagha bajji(chilly bajji) and sundal with green mango.
5-Visit Valluvar Kottam near Nungambakkam and the Theosophical Society in Besant Nagar.
6-Go to T.Nagar, a place where you can buy anything, and make a visit to Saravana Stores to look at the crowd that comes to buy all things under one roof.
7-Travel by the Mass Rapid Transit System(M.R.T.S.) flying train.
8-Go to Spencer's Plaza and blow up your hard earned money on things you can buy at half the price in Pondy Bazaar.
9-Visit the Vandaloor Zoo, and the Children's Park at Guindy. Have a look at Gandhi Mandapam and drink a glass of lemon juice from the guy who stands just outside Gandhi Mandapam(It is the best lemon juice that you can get in Chennai).
10-Travel by an auto and haggle with the auto-driver before paying your fare.
11-Go to Burma Bazaar near the Beach Station buy dvds of the latest movies.
12-Go to Devi theatre and watch a movie. I guess its Sathyam theatre for the younger generation.
13-Look at the chaos and order with which the people perform their daily tasks at the Central Railway Station.
14-Have food at a Kaiyendhi Bhavan(Mobile eatery)
15-Buy second hand books from Moore Market and Triplicane.
16-Make a trip to Mahabalipuram, V.G.P. and MGM Dizee World.(The last option blows a big hole in your pocket)
17-Attend a music concert during the Marghazi Music Festival in December-January.
18-Watch the frenzy and adoration of cinema crazy fans during the first day first show of a Rajinikanth, Kamalhassan, Ajit or Vijay movie.
19-Watch a cricket match at Chepauk praying fervrently that it does not rain and stop the match.
20-Travel by the M.T.C. bus service.

If you have not done these things then you have not experienced the true spirit of Madras.

Anger-When I lost my cool?

I am calm by nature and even if I get angry with someone or something I do not show it out and I bottle up my emotions. But everything has an exception, and a small incident occurred on March 24, 2007 when I really got angry and lost my cool.

We had cricket practice, following the dismal performance of our corporate cricket team, in the league and our captain decided that we would train well and sweat it out in the nets to regain our form. I reached the venue, and our captain divided the team into three groups. One group that included me was sent for fielding practice. The other two groups were involved in batting and bowling.

I thought that maybe after 40 -45 minutes I would get an opportunity to bat, but I found out that all I and four other members of the team would only have fielding practice. All our hands were getting numb after almost 80 minutes of catching the ball, and no sign of an opportunity to bat, I lost my cool and threw the ball with all my strength at the person who was conducting the fielding practice.

The other guy also lost his cool and we had a war of words, and we would have almost come to blows, if the others had not stopped him. The incident was reported and the captain gave a lecture, stating that-"Cricket is not only about batting and bowling, fielding is equally important....."

I was really sorry and apologized to the other guy who was still a bit angry, but by the time we left the ground we shook hands and he said-"No issues."

I guess anger is nothing but temporary madnees that causes a lot of problems.

I hope I get to bat at the next practice session.

A look at life-If I was an auto driver

Everyday I commute to office by a share auto. A distance of about 3 kilometres. People living in Chennai and Kolkatta should be familiar with the concept of share autos. I have not lived in any of the other great cities of India, so I do not know if share autos exist there. The auto drivers have fixed rates. If you get down anywhere in a stretch of five kilometres, you have to pay four rupees, after 9P.M. at night the fare is five rupees. This fare system works on the Udhayam theatre to Guindy route. On the Porur to Adayar route the fare is between 10 and fifteen rupees. Each day as I travel by these share autos, I think on the life that these auto drivers lead. I have come to one conclusion, I have a big mistake by studying.

I should have finished tenth standard and started driving an auto. Just think after taking a look at these calculations. For an average student who does not study engineering, law or medicine, but some arts, science or commerce course, the fees from nursery to college graduation would range between 7 and 12 lakhs depending on the city and the institution that the student studied in, if its engineering, well then add another 3 or 4 lakhs to that number.

Suppose I own a share auto, assuming that I have taken a loan from a bank to buy the auto, then this is how my balance sheet will appear:

Monthly payment to bank-Rs 4000(for 3 years).
Monthly petrol expenses-Rs 4000 to Rs 5000.
Monthly maintenance expenses-Rs 1000.
Monthly mamool(bribe) to the traffic police-Rs 1000 to Rs 2000.
Assuming that I ply my auto on the Guindy to Udhayam route from morning 8 A.M. to 10 P.M. at night seven days a week, I should be able to make thirty to forty trips a day. On each trip(one way) on an average at least 15 people travel by the auto. So 15 multiplied by 4 equals to 60 rupees for one trip, a two way trip gets me Rs 120, So forty trips a day gets me Rs 4800 a day.
I will keep the figure to Rs 4000 for easy calculation.
So at the end of a month I earn Rs 4000 multiplied by 30, that equals to Rs 120000.

If I keep all my auto related expenses to Rs 15000 a month, even then I am earning about a lakh of rupees every month. Much more than many IT engineers and seasoned BPO executives.
Assuming that I am driving a hired vehicle, if I pay Rs 1000 to 1500 as daily rent, then I make about Rs 50000 to Rs 60000 a month.

I really feel I should have stopped studying and persuaded my parents to buy me an auto. Then I could have worn khaki shirts and moved about in Rajini style singing "Auto kaaran, auto kaaran, naan, naalu terinja rouute kaaran.."

That is life I guess, perhaps I am destined to be stuck to a desk job for life, missing out on the adventures of life.

Why Raj, Why...?

It was three o' clock in the morning, when I was rudely awakened from my sleep, by the ringtone of my mobile phone. At first I thought it was a dream, and I continued to lie down, but when the ringtone persisted I realized that it was not a dream and the phone was actually ringing. I looked at the number, and was surprised, it was a foreign number. I answered the call, it was Mr. Mishra, a close family friend who was settled in Germany. His son Raj was my classmate at school, and he was currently working in some research facility in Melbourne.

Mishra uncle conveyed a shocking news-his son Raj had commited suicide. I was lost for words and I consoled the poor man who had lost his son. I was surprised because I had spoken to Raj ten days earlier, and he seemed fine although his voice sounded a bit shaky. When Mr. Mishra finished his call, I was no longer in a mood to sleep. I went to the kitchen, opened the refrigerator and poured myself a glass of milk, and went to the veranda.

I thought about Raj, there were too many memories, that had been refreshed by the depressing phone call. Both of us grew up in the same neighbourhood, studied in the same school, and were classmates from nursery to high-school. Then Raj enrolled for a course in Chemical Engineering, while I pursued a course in English Literature. Raj studied in Sydney and he topped the university, he received a gold medal. Things looked bright and rosy, and Raj got an opportunity to work in the research facility of a leading chemical company.

All through these years, we were in constant touch with each other and he even visited India to attend a mutual friend's wedding. He was an excellent student and a brilliant athelete, my mother always used to compare my report card with his, she used to say-"You spend all your time with Raj, why don't you get some of his intelligence, and score some more marks in Mathematics."

As these thoughts crossed through my mind, I wondered what prompted Raj to commit suicide. He was always the ever courageous boy leading the football team from the front, and never wished anyone any harm. He was happy with his job and had no complaints against anybody. Mishra uncle said that the caretaker of his son's flat in Melbourne had discovered Raj's body, he had hanged himself.

Why Raj, why did you do this, I don't know, you had such a loving family, a caring girlfriend, they were supposed to get married this October, why did you choose to end your life this way. I looked at the sea from my verandah, and saw the first light of dawn as the sun was about to rise in the east. The sun was rising as another son had set forever.

All that is left are memories, memories of playing games, watching movies, fights, now all those memories have become meaningless as the very person with whom I shared those memoreies has ceased to exist.

Had Raj accepted defeat? If yes defeat from what. All that we found was a suicide note that said-"I am tired of living in this world, I have no regrets, forgive me Dad, Ma and Anu(his girlfriend), perhaps we shall be happy in another world in another time."

A tragic end to a man who would have achieved something great.

Why I Blog?/ Why I Write?

I was happily blogging and asking my friends to read them and give their feedback. Everything was going smooth and I was getting a lot of good suggestions on improving my writing style and choice of topics, when right out of the blue, one of my colleagues posed a question-"Mahesh tell me why do you write?" I was silent, why did she ask this question all of a sudden, I thought for a while and said"I will answer this question through a post on my blog." So that is how I landed up writing this post.

Her question made me reflect on a lot of things, my childhood, my friends, my uncle, my school, my English teachers; all small factors that have shaped me into what I am today. I remember my English teachers in M.P. Birla School. Kolkatta. The first teacher who made a lasting impresion on me was Ms Rekha Gopinath. She was a Malayali and was an excellent teacher, all students in my class liked her and we used to eagerly wait for the third period of the day-English. She was a tall, dark lady and had a clear voice. I still remember the poems that we had in our Radiant Reader text books. She used to give us small assignments, essays to be writtten describing our weekends. It was fun and I believe the reason why I began to develop an interest in English, was those assignments that Rekha madam used to give us.

When I reached Class VIII, we had a English teacher who was a man. For the first time we were going to have men who were strict and carried a wooden scale or cane with them. We had Maths sirs, but the concept of a man teaching English was alien to us. He was Mr. Joseph Vincent, again a Malayali, and he really inspired me to study English with an almost religious fervour. He used to come in full shirts and Raymonds trousers and a silk tie, as they have in boarding schools in England. He was strict and we used to be afraid of him. But he was an excellent teacher and I still remember him teaching "Merchant of Venice," which was incidentally the first full length Shakespeare play that I studied. Then I shifted to small non-descript town in Tamil Nadu, called Tiruvallur.

The change from a bustling metropolis to a small town was drastic. But I was fortunate to study in a school, which has some excellent English teachers. I studied in Sri Venkateswara Matriculation School, and the two teachers are Mr.N.Nagarathinam and Mr.V.S. Shiva. Both of them were excellent teachers, Shiva sir was a simple man and I have only seen him wear a white cotton shirt and a light colored trouser. He was a true follower of Gandhiji and led a simple and unpretentious life. Each and every student of Venkateswara School respects and admires Shiva sir and he is a living encyclopaedia, who can speak on any topic under the sun.
When I completed my schooling it came as a big surprise to my teachers when I did not write the Engineering/Medical Entrance and just applied for a course in English Literature. I got admission in R.K.M. Vivekananda College, at Mylapore in Chennai. It is a college that has an illustrious past and many of its former students are heading many companies across the world. In college I was influenced by two professors in first year. One was Mr. K.Venkatramana Rao and the other was B.Suresh. Both of them were excellent educators, and told us to cultivate the art of writing. In high-school, I had started participating in Creative Writing competitions, and college-life gave me the perfect opportunity to visit lots of colleges and take part in many competitions. I particularly cherish memories of Coffee House (Loyola College Literature Fest) and competitions in Madras Christian and Women's Christian College. All this while I was writing short stories and poems and in the span of the three years that I was in college, I wrote about fifty poems and some twenty short stories. I had decided that I would be a novelist and would write novels in the vein of the works of Robert Ludlum and Frederick Forsyth. I dreamt of headlines, which proclaimed the super-duper sales of my novels, movie adaptations awards and lots of money.

I was all set to pursue my M.A. from Madras University, when I attended a Campus Interview in college. It was for selecting students who would be placed as Instructional Designers. The designation was new and unheard of, and I decided to take the written test alongwith 750 other students. At the end of the day, it turned out that only two out of those 750 students were selected and I was one of them. I had a job and a decent salary. Well all plans of a regular postgraduate course disappeared and I started working as an Instructional Designer. It took some time to adjust to the corporate world.It was like starting a long journey in a desolate jungle. Slowly I started writing courses and I began to enjoy my work. Thus writing short stories and poems transformed into writing full fledged courses on different topics for an audience whom I would never meet. It was an indeed fascinating experience, and I am still working as an Instructional Designer, but in a different organization.

Now to answer the question-"Why I write?". Well I really don't know, maybe it has to do something with my childhood. I was a very shy and silent boy. I had very few friends, but I loved animals a lot. I used to enjoy the company of dogs, cats and cows more than boys and girls. I loved playing with puppies, and I remember the scoldings that my mother used to give me. She used to say-"Even if you spend half the time that you play with your dogs in your studies you will top your class." I never did that and consequently never topped my class. I used to love Enid Blyton as a kid and used to fantasise about a world of talking animals, toys and dragons and princes. I used to write very small poems, of four to ten lines about my teachers, classmates and my favourite Enid Blyton characters. I wrote the following poem, when I was in the third standard.

GOOD OLD FATTY
I wish I was like you.
I wish I was like you Fatty.
Good old Fatty, eating icecreams,
And solving mysteries.
Playing with Buster and his four friends.
Wish I had a doggie like Buster and a friend like Bets.

This was based on the principal character of The Five Find-Outers series written by EnidBlyton. There were many such small poems and some mystery stories modelled on the adventures of Famous Five. My first recognition came when I won an Inter-School Story writing competition for students of class five, six and seven. There was no specific topic, we were given a word limit of two thousand words. I wrote a science fiction story titled"The Submersible," based on Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, by Jules Verne. When the prizes were announced, I was shocked, I had never thought that I would win. I got a certificate and a book-"The Hound of Baskervilles" as the prize. After that I participated in a number of competitions right till I finished college and won a number of prizes. I believe that the first prize that I won acted as a catalyst, and I thought why not write, I can get more prizes. Initially it was the prize factor that prompted me to write. Then there were magazines like Gokulam, Tinkle and Chandamama that offered cash and free subscriptions as prizes. In college, I read the works of George Orwell and realized the might of the pen. I thought I would complete my post graduation and become a journalist. I still might become one, you never know.

I write because I love writing, I blog because it gives me an opportunity to express my views on the things happening around me. My articles are read by my friends and other people whom I have never met, they share their comments and we have healthy discussions. We may not solve the problems in the world, but the discussions do clear the misconceptions that any of us might have had. Sometimes it becomes a tool, which enables me to vent out all my frustrations and anger. On completing the article I feel refreshed and regain my tranquility. To conclude, I write because my heart directs me to write, and my mind prompts me to write what my heart directs me to write.
By the way this is my hundredth post.
Happy Reading and thanks for all the suggestions and encouragement.

Mission Not Impossible for Men in Blue

Dravid's men have left for the West Indies for the World Cup. They carry the hopes of more than a billion people. The team has achieved two series victories just before the big show, but the victories came on home turf, can Dravid inspire his team like Kapil did in 83.

My best wishes to the Indian Team. Guys bring back the trophy for us.

All readers support the team, it might not be the best, but cheer for them, they need our support.
Come on India kuch karke dikhao.

Twenty Five years on Planet Earth

February 23, I woke up a bit stiff and bitten by mosquitoes in twenty different places, don't know if it was a single mosquito or a troop of mosquitoes. Got up had my bath and bought chocolates to distribute in office.

It was fun and I got a greeting card and a chart paper full of birthday wishes. In the evening went to a really expensive boutique cum restaurant called Anoki and met some of my former colleagues. They bought me a chocolate cake and a pair of dolls as a birthday gift. I think this is the first birthday when I did not get a book as a gift. Usually someone gifts me a book or I buy a book for myself. May be this will be a year of new experiences and new joys.

The restaurant was a high-class high cost one, but the bloody fellows did not even give a class of water free of cost, you need to buy a bottle of Himalayan mineral water to quench your thirst. My friends ordered some variety of coffee and some Mexican-Spanish dishes. I ordered a non-alcoholic pinea-colada, I loved it and I think I am going to be a regular of Anoki just for that one item.

The bill was presented I paid for it close to Rs 750(birthday treat) and left for my room. It was good to have a reunion with my colleagues. It is nice to know that you have friends who care for you and are there to lend you a helping hand in times of need. I thank God to have given me such good friends and I wish that all of us remain good friends all through this life. Such good friends are priceless and the time that we share together inspite of our respective hectic schedules is invaluable.

I received a lot of phone calls from friends and relatives wishing me on my birthday, but I was expecting one call and was getting worried that the person had forgoten me or was angry with me, but late in the afternoon, the call finally came and I was relieved that the person remembered the date. Thanks God thanks for that too.

So I have completed twenty five years on Planet Earth, have evolved from a toddler to a man, passed out of school, college and have secured a decent job. I have had my fair share of frustrations, depressions, fights, friendships, enemities, crushes, disappointments, joys, failures, successes. I guess that is what life is all about, and life is all about living life kingsize.

Let me see what happens this year and what I blog post 23/2/2008.

Cheers.

A New Beginning

So I have finally moved out of the shelter of my mother and family and started living on my own. Well to be more precise with my friends and my cousin. Travelling to office has become simpler, no more herculean journeys of four hours a day(to and fro)to commute to office.

I will be sharing a flat with my friends and cousin. It is a double bedroom and double bathroom/toilet flat. Four of us would be staying, of which two have night shift(Call-Centre). It will be a new experience to be without mother, father and T.V.. Yes, that is the problem no more T.V., no movies on dvd, no live telecast of matches. I do believe the World Cup fever will ensure that we will buy a T.V. so no worries on that aspect. Will be returning home every or alternate weekend.

Let me see how this new phase of life treats me and how I face the challenges it throws.

More posts will follow, perhaps a new blog altogether something like Four Men in a Room.

Cheers and Keep Reading.

Does God Exist?

Before I start my article let me make one thing clear, I believe in God, worship him/her go to temple regularly, perform puja regularly and have a deep and unshaking belief in God and the power of sincere prayers. I am not an atheist, so having made my stand clear I will move on to the article......

THE ARTICLE

Recent happenings, the past forty days or so have proved the sorry state of affairs of child security in India. On one-side we have the Nithari horror, where two men indulged in their sexual carnage on unsuspecting children, killed them, cut their bodies into tiny pieces and even put them in acid.

Now the Kochi incident, where a pleasure trip, that turned into a tragedy. A hundred students and some teachers visited a dam at Thattekada near Kothamangalam. One boat sprung a leak and it sank quickly. As per the last news received 15 children and three teachers have died and some children are battling for their lives in the hospital.

I will never forget the news clip of a father hugging the bodies of his two children, twins who had died in the accident. The government will pay compensation, there will be some hue and cry about security, and then for two three years an anniversary with the lighting of candles and lamps will take place and then everyone will forget everything.

How many of us remember the Kumbakonam school tragedy, where more than a hundred children died in a stamppede when a fir broke out in a private school. God where are you? Are you watching all these events from heaven or from wherever else you stay. Please answer my questions. What sin did those unsuspecting children do, to suffer such a horrible death. I shall not take Fate and Sins committed in previous lives/biths for an answer. If these children could die for their sins committed in a previous birth, then what about Osama-bin-Laden, George Bush and hundreds of other terrorists and politicians who are the direct and indirect cause of the deaths of thousands of innocent people. When will they be punished?

The question shall remain unanswered and life will go on as usual. If you find some injustice happening to somebody, please take a stand, you need not bash up the perpetrator in filmi style, but atleast you can inform the police or someone else who may lend a helping hand.

God please let justice prevail and let innocent children live without fear and grow up to be adults.

I know that the article has deviated a lot from the beginning, but I have poured out my heart and if even one person changes his attitude after reading this article, I shall feel that I have done something worthy.

Be the change you want to see in the world.

Fall of the Titans-Collapse of the Australian Juggernaut-

Michael Hussey, is utterly depressed and so is his team, he has led Australia to its first white-wash in a long period, personally I don't remember having witnessed an Australian whitewash by any team.

Australia scored 300 plus runs twice and they have been well and truly beaten by a confident Kiwi team. Today's match was an absolute delight to watch, hmm well I was at office so I could just check the scores on the net. Australia posted a mammoth total of 346 runs mainly due to the herculean effort of Matthew Hayden, who remained unbeaten on 181, the highest score by an Australian in ODIs.

Hussey would have been confident of a face-saving victory when New Zealand were 4 wickets down for 41 runs. Never in his wildest dreams would Hussey have thought that he would be captaining the losing side at that juncture. Well as they say-"Man propses and God disposes." The disposal came in the form of three brilliant knocks by Fulton, Brendan Mc Cullum and Craig Mc' Millan. They scored 51, 117 and 86 respectively.

In the 50 th over New Zealand required 7 runs to win. Nathan Bracken bowled the last over and Brendan struck a superb six and four to seal the match in favour of the Kiwis.

All of you doomsday critics wait before you write off Australia in the World Cup. The services of Lee, Ponting, Adam Gilchrist and Andy Symmonds were missing in this Trans-Tasman Series. In the World Cup three of these players and perhaps Symmonds will play for Australia, so the results could be different. This double series loss for Australia is good for World Cricket and now every team believes it has a chance to win.

Let us see another 23 days to go for the grand spectacle of sport. Wait and watch.

Three Cheers for Dada

It has to be the mother of all comebacks. Three months ago no one would have even dreamt that the Prince of Kolkatta, will return to international cricket. As they say-"there is no substitute for hard work." Sourav sweated it out in the gym, lost weight, played some good knocks in the Ranji Trophy, showed flashes of brilliance in South Africa and proved his class against the Caribs and the Lankans. When Sourav was declared Man of the Series in the India-Sri Lanka one day series, millions would have heaved a sigh of relief in Kolkatta.

I pray that his form improves and he wins matches for India in the WC, maybe the Cup of Joy itself. Let us hope for the best.

Go Dada, Go, make Chappell and your detractors eat humble pie.

Water Wars

In the wake of the judgement given by the Cauvery Water Tribunal after sixteen long years, some really nasty things are happening. Tamil Nadu has been given a larger share of the Cauvery water, which Karnataka feels should have come to them.

Here is a popular SMS message sent across - 'Sakkare Keli, Paaya Kodtivi, Neer Keli Panaka Kodtivi, KAVERI kelidre, Kav Yerovargu Baarusteevi. Jai Karnataka, Jai Kannada, Pratiyobbarigu Kalisi.
That means - if you ask for sugar we will give you sweet Payasam, if you ask water to drink we will give lemon juice, if you ask for Kaveri water we will beat you till the heat. Jai Karnataka, Jai Kannada, send this message to everyone.

It is shameful that political parties are gaining poularity by increasing tension among communities. All buses to Tamil Nadu starting from Bangalore have been cancelled. A blanket ban has been issued to stop the screening of Tamil movies in Karnataka. It is tragic. Aren't we all Indians, in all our cultural diversity are not we united as one family. Sons and daughters of Mother India.

I just pray that all differences are resolved and there is no rioting and conflict. Oh! God please show some sense to these selfish politicians.

A Case of Plain Stupidity, by me..

I had to deposit some money in my uncle's bank account. He stays in Coimbatore, and holds an account in a branch of IOB there. I went to a branch here in Chennai and filled up all the details and gave it to the lady in one of the counters. She finished all the procedures and handed me the receipt. I just asked her when the money would be credited into my uncle's account. She replied"It is done, into Mr. Ramesh's account." I just stared at her like an idiot, and said"Madam, there must be a mistake. My uncle's name is Sundar. He holds an account in R.S. Puram branch." If looks could kill, well the lady gave me a glare, and I almost kicked myself. I had not entered the branch name, and she had entered the amount in the same a/c number of that branch.

I apologised to the lady and she made some entries in her computer and said,"Neenga pogalam, coimbatore accountla money deposited."

Next time I think I will send a cheque.

Cheers.

Veeru ab tera kya hoga re....

Can Sehwag redeem himself?

As I write this, I wonder what thoughts would be going on in the mind of the Nawab of Najafgarh. The only triple centurion in a test match for India, is definitely in one of the most turbulent phases of his career. The tour of South Africa was a total disaster, and he was dropped from the team for the just concluded West Indian series of India. He has scored a century for Delhi in the Ranji Trophy, but it is certainly not enough.

Robin Uthappa, demonstrated the art of pure accelerated big-hitting in his knock of 70 at Chennai, and he is certainly in the flight that India is going to take for the World Cup to be held in the Caribbean. If Sehwag does not score runs in the first two one-days against the Lankans, I believe that it would be a liability to include him in the World Cup squad. Remember that both Uthappa and Dinesh Karthick are in good form. I feel that Dinesh should also make it to the World Cup. India can play Dhoni, purely as a batsman and make Dinesh the keeper or the other way around.

Let us see if Sehwag redeems himself tomorrow.

Cheers.

The End of an Era, Sidney Sheldon dies-

I got my first Sidney Sheldon book at the age of 13, I think it was "The Other Side of Midnight." I was captivated by the sheer brilliance of the author, suspense and drama, that made me turn each page with eager expectation. As the years progressed I graduated to serious literature and philosophy, but Sidney Sheldon along with Robert Ludlum and Jeffrey Archer are my favourite authors.

Sidney died yesterday at the age of 89, because of complications related to pneumonia. He donned a variety of roles in his long and eventful life. Jewish by birth, he won his first prize of $ 10, for a poem that he wrote as a ten year kid. During the Depression of 1929, he held various jobs. He worked as a script-reader and eventually emerged as a script-writer himself, writing plays that were staged on Broadway. He served in the War as a pilot and used his experiences in "The Other Side of Midnight." He wrote and produced serials for television, with "I Dream of Jeannie," being one of the most loved comedies on American television. He wrote his first novel at 50, and then there was no stopping him, as his books broke one record after the other. His works have been translated into more than 30 languages and will be cherished as an author who was loved by many people across the globe transcending all boundaries of differences.

My favourite Sheldon books are-"If Tomorrow Comes," "The Doomsday Conspiracy" and "Master of the game."

Adieu Mr. Sidney Sheldon, you will be missed...

For Once, it did not rain...

The Tamil Nadu Cricket Association and cricket-lovers in Chennai, breathed a sigh of relief when it did not rain in Chennai during the third ODI between India and West Indies. The match ended in favour of the Caribbeans, but it was a good contest. India frittered away an excellent start given by Uthappa who scored 70 and Dravid and Sachin who scored 57 and 60 respectively. At one stage India were 232/3, but the devil popped up its ugly head and India were all out for 268.

West Indies lost Chris Gayle in the first over and it looked like India might sneak a series win but Lara with his knock of 83 and Marlon Samuels's 98 ensured that the series was kept alive.

The match at Baroda will be India's litmus test and a victory would boost the overall morale of the team and the fans, let us see what happens..

A Challenge for Saravana Stores?

People living in North India are familiar with Big-Bazaar and the various services offered by the retail chain. January 26-28, saw a major traffic problem near the Vadapalani bus-stand. The reason-The three-day special price sale offered by Big-Bazaar. A whole range of products offered under one roof.

I visited the place on Jan 27, and I got the shock of my life, the place was jam-packed with people trying to get a good deal for their money. I guess this is how the retail chains like Wal-Mart generate mass hysteria among American shoppers with their unbelievable offers. Big-Bazaar has been open for quite some time in Chennai, but they embarked on an aggressive ad-campaign from mid January 2007 and have managed to give Saravana Stores a run for their money.

Three trousers for Rs 597, Four formal shirts for Rs 999, DVD players for Rs 1800, 21 inch television sets for Rs 7000, microwave ovens for Rs 2200, mobile phones starting from Rs 999 the list goes on. The crowds just went crazy and I believe that the three days would have generated business close to Rs 1.5 crores, if not more than that.

The billing section needs to be revamped, with each section having its own counter, the present system of having all the billing counters at the exit is not a good idea. I had to wait for an hour and a half to complete my payment and leave the shopping centre. Big-Bazaar, has strted on a strong note and opening more outlets in other parts of the city and suburbs like Avadi, Tambaram, Thiruvotriyur, would be a good idea.

The Chennaite's fascination for Mambalam and Ranganathan street and Spencer's Plaza is bound to change with companies like Reliance and Bharti-Wal-Mart, entering the Retail segment. This year will see more malls coming up, let us wait and watch, I guess the middle-class would be the happiest as they have more options and will get more value for their money.

It is Happy Shopping for the middle-class, husbands beware take care of your wallets.

The Return of the Prodigal

I guess that India will win a match, if the match is not telecast live on T.V., India defeated the West Indies by 14 runs in the first match of the Pepsi Series. The pitch at Nagpur was a beautiful batting track, and had absolutely nothing for the bowlers in it. Lara won the toss and asked the Indians to bat first.

The mess that Team India created for itself in South Africa was still vivid in our memories, and it was a gamble of sorts when Gautham Gambhir and Sourav Ganguly opened the innings. The Carribean attack was bludgeoned by the two south paws and shared an opening partnership of 144 runs, India's best in almost nine months. Dada scored 98 runs of just 109 balls and missed out on a century because of an excellent piece of fielding by Dwayne Smith. Sachin was out for 31. Dravid and Dhoni scored 54 and 62 respectively. The last 12 overs yielding 119 runs. India set West Indies an imposing total of 339 for victory.

The West Indies chase started in true calypso style with some powerful shots from Gayle and Chanderpaul. Some shoddy fielding resulted in the Indian fielders dropping three-four catches.
Harbhajan got the breakthrough by removing Gayle and Morton. Chanderpaul was batting as if he was on a mission and spared no Indian bowler, he remained notout on 149, but it was not enough as they could only score 324 at the end of 50 overs for the loss of 8 wickets. Gayle scored 52 and Samuels scored 40 runs. If somebody in the tail would have supported Chanderpaul, the result would have been different.

Well let us celebrate when we can, Dada has acquited himself, though he should have completed his century and boosted the total. I am really happy for him and hope he plays an important role in the forthcoming matches and the World Cup.

The bowling and fielding needs to improve and the bowlers need to get their act together, or the series will definitely go the Calypso way. Let us hope that the Nimbus-Prasar Bharathi battle is sorted out and we can watch the remaining matches.

Happy Pongal

It was a simple celebration, to thank the Sun-God and seek his blessings for the coming year. Mother prepared Ven Pongal and Chakarrai Pongal and after the rituals we had a late breakfast of pongal.

T.V. rules all celebrations and public holidays and Pongal was no different. The various channels were and are fighting tooth and nail by airing some of the biggest blockbusters of last year. Some of the movies on show include-Autograph, Anniyan, Pattiyal, Vanakkam Thalaiva. I was glued to Autograph and after failing to see the movie in a theatre or on dvd, I finally saw the whole movie. The advertisements mar the tempo of the movie an ad-break of around 10 minutes after 25 minutes of a movie is a crime which all viewers have to face. I guess Sun TV will launch Movie on Demand and only then we will escape from the torture of the advertisers.

So folks hope all of you had a gala time celebrating Pongal, bye for now.

A Step in the Right Direction

Finally the BCCI has taken a right step by dropping Sehwag for the first two matches of the upcoming series against the West Indies. I have added the list of players at the end of this topic. Let us hope that the Indian team regains its winning form.
15-man team for West Indies ODIs: Rahul Dravid (c), Sachin Tendulkar (vice-captain), Sourav Ganguly, Robin Uthappa, Gautam Gambhir, M S Dhoni, Dinesh Karthik, Zaheer Khan, S Sreesanth, Ajit Agarkar, Joginder Sharma, Ramesh Powar, Harbhajan Singh, R P Singh, Suresh Raina.
World Cup probables: Rahul Dravid (captain), Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Yuvraj Singh, Mohd Kaif, Gautam Gambhir, Sourav Ganguly, Robin Uthappa, Joginder Sharma, Ajit Agarakar, M S Dhoni, R P Singh, Dinesh Karthik, Suresh Raina, Zaheer Khan, S Sreesanth, Romesh Pawar, Harbhajan Singh, Irfan Pathan,
Munaf Patel, Anil Kumble, Dinesh Mongia, VRV Singh, Parthiv Patel, VVS Laxman, Rohit Sharma, Ishant Sharma, Cheteswar Pujara, S Badrinath, Rajesh Pawar.

That Sinking feeling again-Indian cricket team flatters to deceive, yet again

At the end of India's first innings, in the final test, I felt that India had a good chance to win the test and the series and create a new record. Unfortunately India lost the match and could only score a measly 169 in its second innings.

I still do not understand why the batting order was changed once again when Jaffer and Karthik put on a solid display of batting in the first innings. Sehwag at the top of the order has consistently failed in this series and he is having a negative effect on the batting of the other players. One more thing why was Munaf picked for the final test, John Gloster will have to answer some bitter questions to the BCCI for giving a clean chit to Munaf, who was limping like a granny through most of the match.

Sreesanth, Zaheer and Ganguly have cemented their place in the team with good performances and I feel Dada should be a part of India's World Cup plans. Drop Sehwag bring in Uthappa and make Karthik play as a batsman along with Dhoni as the keeper or vice-versa, but both of them should be a part of the squad as it adds depth to the disappointing batting line-up.

The umpiring was horrible with Munaf getting out on the SEVENTH ball of an over, plus some very awkward and bad decisions with respect to Kartik, Dravid and Sachin.

Let bygones be bygones and may the Indian team win the upcoming series.

memories
Well it took very little time to complete all the formalities of leaving my old company and the HR guy Susei was very helpful. I have joined my new company, and got my own workstation. The setup looks pretty professional and the office decor is pleasing. I was pleasantly surprised to meet my college mate Ashwin here, even he joined here just a week ago, so we will be having training together. More details will follow.

memories

The Noida Tragedy

2006 has brought to light a tragedy in Noida that has taken the nation by storm. Skeletons were discovered buried inside the backyard of a house and the drainage beside the house. As investigations continue it is believed that businessman Moninder Singh Pandher and his servant Surender are responsible for the deaths of about 36 children, both boys and girls who were first brutally raped and then killed.

The people of Nithari village have gone on a rampage and the police were shown beating the angry parents. This shows the apathy of the police towards the public. Can the police dream of beating the wife of the CEO of Adobe India, whose son was rescued after a kidnap-drama. Different yardsticks for measuring people from different strata of society.

As more shocking news is being leaked out to the media, there are suspicions of an organ-racket as the skeletons that have been recovered show missing torsos. The mystery is deepening and bitter truths are going to come out.

These criminals have to be hanged or better still they should be presented to the parents of the poor dead children who should stone these people to death.

If the law is allowed to take its course these people might get released saying that they are lunatics and get admitted to some asylum to escape from the death sentence.

These manic paedophiles should be hanged.

memories
A New Year-A New Beginning..

A HAPPY NEW YEAR TO EVERYBODY

So one more year has flown by and another year has started. The year had its fair share of highs and lows of me and I am looking forward to 2007 as I am leaving my first job and joining a new company.

The 18 months that I have worked in this company, has brought in a lot of happiness and knowledge. The joy that I felt when my first month's salary got credited into my account, the nervous tension that I experienced when I had my own bank account and used an ATM for the first time will all be cherished forever.

Life is a constant sea of change and I believe I have taken the right step in joining another company. I pray to God to give me strength to carry on and learn new things and fulfill my dreams.

Thanks God for all you have given and for all that you will give.

memories
To Hang or not to Hang Saddam

Saddam is likely to be hanged this weekend. Well we all know he is guilty of killing many people. Some reports suggest he even killed his sons-in-law. He has been held responsible for the death of more than 140 people. The judgement of the Iraqi court decrees that he has to be hanged before January 27.

I am no fan of Saddam, but with the current situation in Iraq, Saddam's hanging will only add to the confusion, and there will be a clash between the Shias and Sunnis and the U.S. forces and supportere of Saddam's Baath' Party.

What about George Bush who is responsible for the deaths of thousands of innocent Iraqis and Afghans. No answers for that as he is the most powerful man on earth and everyone has to follow his whims and fancies.

God help Iraq and God help poor America.

memories
Second Test Update

The Indians had to sweat it out before they could bowl the Proteas out. Prince scored 121 before he was caught by Laxman of Sreesanth's bowling. The surprise package was Morkel who was notout on 31 and Ntini scored 16 runs and was out lbw to Kumble. The final score was 328.

India started disastrously losing Sehwag for a duck. I personally think Pathan should have stayed back and Sehwag should have returned home, he is becoming a liability for the team and not scoring at all. Next to depart was Dravid who was given out lbw of Nel, but I think the ball struck him a bit high on the legs, but he is out.

As I am writing this, Sachin and Jaffer are playing on 14 and 26 respectively. Let us see what happens..

A

memories
The Singur Controversy-What went wrong?

"Mamata Bannerjee put on oxygen support," screams the news headline in a news website. Mamata has been on a hunger strike for the past 21 days in protest of the proposed Tata small car factory that is supposed to come up in Singur. The problem is that the government has sanctioned prime agricultural land for the factory. Already a sizeable number of farmers have accepted the generous compensation given by the Tatas for their land, almost 6 to seven times of the actual property value.

Buddhadeb Bhattacharya, the West Bengal CM says that he cannot ask the Tatas to back out as it was he who took the initiative for inviting the Tatas to set up a factory. The argument is why was prime agricultural land offered to the Tatas when barren or unfertile land could have served the purpose, and why do they require such a vast area for their small-car factory?

Let us wait and watch and see what happens...

memories

Pathan Sent Packing

Irfan Pathan, has been given an air-ticket back home and literally sent packing to regain his lost form by playing in the Ranji Trophy matches. The fact is he is the only Indian player to have scored a century in the ongoing series in South Africa. In Vengsarkar's words-"He is in the team as a bowler who can bat a bit, not as a batsman who can bowl a bit."

So Pathan has about 4 months in which he has to master his reverse swing and wicket taking ability, to play for India in the World Cup in the Caribbean.

When I am writing this Sreesanth is being belted across the park in Durban and Zaheer has taken two wickets in the second test. Let us see what happens. Best of luck Pathan.

memories
Merry Christmas

It is that time of the year again, prayers and celebrations, carols and choir performances, plum cakes and rice puddings, Santa Claus and gifts... A Merry Christmas to everybody, and may the new year bring happiness and prosperity to everyone.

Breaking the Protean jinx

A Victory finally..
India finally broke the Protean jinx. We managed to win the first test match by 123 runs. Sreesanth who took five wickets in the first and three wickets in the second innings, destroyed the South African batting line-up, and will hopefully maintain his form in this series.Ganguly and Laxman played some crucial knocks and Zaheer's thirty odd runs in the second innings was a good performance.What worries eveyone is that the top order has failed again and I do believe that Jaffer should be replaced by Dinesh Karthick.For the moment let us enjoy our victory. Enjoy guys.

Paes and Bhupathi, end of a golden era

India won another gold at the Doha Asian Games yesterday, when Paes and Bhupathi defeated a Thai pair in a thrilling match. The result read 5-7, 7-6 (9-7), 6-3. Immediately after the victory, Paes announced his break-up with Bhupathi and said he would never partner Bhupathi again. The duo who have won many laurels for India in the past and have had ego-clashes for quite sometime and the end was inevitable, but the sudden announcement after the gold medal came as a shock to everyone.

The duo inspired a new generation of players like Sania, Rohan Bopanna, Ritwik, Rushmi Chakravarthy and others to take up tennis as a career.

I guess all good things have to come to an end and that is what has happened to Paes and Bhupathi. It is bad news for Indian tennis. We have to move on and identify new players to carry the mantle of Paes and Bhupathi.

memories
Finally a victory

The match between India and the Rest of South Africa team, ended in India's favour. Ganguly hit a brilliant 83 in the first innings but went for a duck in the second. The top order comprising of Sachin, Sehwag and Jaffer failed to boost our confidence with another disappointing performance in both innings of the match.

It was Pathan who made India's day, he scored a brilliant 111 not out in the first innings and 40 n.o. in the second. Some superb bowling by Zaheer and Sreesanth ensured a victory for the Indians.

The test series is extremely crucial for India as the one-day series was a total debacle. Sehwag will be the key. He is a different player when it comes to the longer format of the game. Remember Pakistan, if Laxman and Dravid can support Sehwag and Sachin and Ganguly play decently, there is some hope for the team.

You cannot expect the bowlers to defend a total less than 300 or 350 runs. Sreesanth, Zaheer and Pathan have to do well, Kumble knows his job and the veteran has his task cut out before him. Harbhajan is bound to get hit all across the park, but his doosra and variation in speed might do the trick.

I hope Dinesh Karthick is retained in the side. His batting is good and he is an able fielder. All eyes will be on Dada and he has a good opportunity to redeem himself. He has to be very careful about the bouncer aimed at his ribs.

December 15 is when the first test starts, let us wait and watch.

memories
Well and truly beaten
India were well and truly beaten by the Proteas in the recently concluded one-day series. The only consolation was our victory in the 20:20 match. The test series starts on December 15. With just another eight days remaining and a practice match against teh rest of South Africa team, Team-India has to get back to its winning ways. Laxman and Ganguly are good on paper and their batting in the upcoming matches will decide their future for once and forever.

The positives that emerged for India was the form of Zaheer with the ball and Dinesh Karthick's impressive batting. Dhoni was the only player to score more than 100 runs for India in the one-day series.

Bowling wise, the team failed in the last match and squandered impressive starts in the other games.

Let us wait for the test matches to begin.

memories
A chance to salvage their pride-

India have chance to salvage a bit of their pride when they meet the Proteas today. I hope that India plays the 20 overs fully and not get skittled out in 10 or 12 overs. Dhoni and Sehwag have the ability to hit the ball very hard and I feel Dhoni should be promoted up the order say at number 3.

The key lies in restricting the Proteas and avoiding silly goof-ups while fielding the ball. Let bygones be bygones India have to pull up their socks, do some serious soul-searching and win this match.

This is a desperate request from a die-hard fan. Please win this match...