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Showing posts from 2011

Bye bye 2011

This happens to be the latest year ending post in past few years :) Usually my winding up-for-the-year post would be much much earlier than the penultimate day to the year end. A reflection on my dwindling interest in writing things down may be. I never carry any particular timeline to achieve my targets/resolutions and definitely wouldnt want to confine myself within a jan to dec window. But still when i get to finish them i feel happy whenever it happens. Like the time when i wanted to have kulfi in pouring rain. It was always my fantasy to know how it would feel like to have kulfi in rain. Really wanted to test that you-will-catch-fever theory. But like all sane parents mine never allowed this 'experiment' of mine. I tried having a kulfi in chilling Bangalore rainy season few years back and it was worth every rupee spent. You should've seen the look on the shopkeepers face :) that was worth more than the amount i paid. Sometimes it really riles people up, when they se

The Dirty Picture

When this movie was in the making i was thinking so cheap about Ekta Kapoor for stooping low to such extent that she has to resort to these sort of gimmicks and hated Vidya Balan for taking up the lead role. I liked her so much in Munnabhai and Parineeta that i couldnt believe that she could carry on this role leave alone take it. And when the movie got released and was declared a hit felt it was another win for the soft porn industry running within our movie land. But when i read the reviews, the feedback was unanimous. Right from hard core movie critic to casual movie watcher, every one had spoken so highly about the movie that the curiosity was kindled. I happened to watch the movie yesterday and needless to say was mightily impressed. First i thought should i even tell anyone that i saw this movie. This movie ultimately was NOT 'that' kind of movie which no one wants to talk about in public, but whose kind rules the net. Its hard to believe this movie was not a novel-to-

Where would you be??

Past few days i had been wondering what would i be doing in exactly an year's time to this day, which every ancient and modern civilization has predicted as the end of the world. As like many incidents of my past 6 years, which have been kind of chronicled on this blog spot server, thought of posting something to look back on, hopefully, from the 365th day :) Just as i am typing this post Star Movies is airing 2012 movie. These guys surely are masters of timing i should say. That movie is one of the spookiest movies i've ever seen. Though typical Hollywood disaster masala movie, the graphics and content scared the hell out of me and for several nights i had dreams of drowning in flood waters. There were only two topics that ruled the day yesterday. Believers or not, Saturn is one planet no one takes risk against with and the transit of the lord was widely discussed yesterday. For the dooms day enthusiasts, it was a field day to say the least. Each one had a 'vision'

Odyssey

I boarded the cab preparing myself for another hour long dull and drab journey pitching into my comfort zone of my playlist. Usually my 'touring' party of cabmates leave me as the last guy to get down from the cab. My place being like 20 plus kms away from office, i usually get down the last, having visited half of chennai, courtesy my travel desk for whom i am like thengai in kerala cuisine. They would fit me on any route and would  argue that, its the shortest route to my place. This one was no different, atleast to begin with. The first surprise was that i was the one to get down first. Those who commute by office cab will vouch for me,  for they can realise the joy of getting down first and the pain of a long distance commute. There were 2 other people, who were my cabmates for the day and one of them happened to be a short term acquaintance i had picked in this new office. Since there is always a standing policy that ladies should never be the last to get down i checked

Controversy be Damned

Periyar and God have never been on the same side of any coin. You name a dam after Periyar and thrust it on the border of God's own country and still wonder why the controversy?!!! You got to be kidding. The current situation on TN Kerala border reminds me of 'Quantum of Solace' James Bond movie. The story line would lead the viewers or at least the movie characters into believing that the villain group is after the oil sources while they would actually be after the procurement of water bodies. Never had i guessed that water wars would hit so closer to home. The situation is such that both the parties have valid fears. The scores of villagers who are afraid of the aftermath of a dam break are equally at peril while compared to those who want the dam to be raised to water their crops. Media being the naughty Naradar as always, play their part to perfection by fanning the fire on both the sides. Again the allegory traces itself back to 007 movie where the villain is a media

Jillunu-oru-kaathal-kathai- 5

  Story so far P.S: after a gap of nearly 18 months...JOKK is back :) at least this time hope to finish it soon :) "Dei Ram..ennada ithu..kondu pona luncha apdiye thirupi kondu vanthirukka. Unakkelaam vadichi kotren paaru enna sollanum" TUNG!!! slams the lunch box in sink followed lot of mumblings and grumblings from mom. "Ipdi kandatha thinnutu udamba keduthukka vendiathu..kondu pora luncha apdiye thiruppi kondu vara vendiathu. Naaliku udambu sari illainu paduthuntu en uyira vaanga vendiathu. Ithey pozhappa poachu. Ungappa varattum..inniki irukku unakku" "Yenmaa..naan enna dailya...." Ram wakes up from his sleep, looks around confused for a moment and realises that it was a dream and falls back onto his pillow. One glance at the watch warns him that he is already running late for office. Cursing Earth for spinning so fast during night he drags himself away from bed. Opens the door to get newspaper and yawnningly shouts..."Ammaaaa....coffee

Kolaveri remixed :)

Echusme..ippovay sollidren..padichoma kaari thuppinomanu deejenta irukanum. Auto anuparathu lorry anuparathu all no no..No voilence. Gilsu paavam :) Why this delivery delivery delivery di Why this delivery delivery delivery di White coloru clientu clientu Clientu currency greenu 'IT'na jolly lifeu lifeu All smokeu screenu Why this delivery delivery delivery di Why this delivery delivery delivery di Client always tellu tellu Requirements in peiceu Retypingu codeu codeu Lifela goneu peaceu Why this delivery delivery delivery di Why this delivery delivery delivery di Onsite trippu Lifela grippu Dreams of gooddu future Round the clocku Slaveu lifeu Fully filled with torture Hearu hearu Oh my dearu To your mind voiceu Restu restu All the restu Absolute noiseu Thissu songu for all thoseu who no take risku Try to break the mouldu  mouldu Be for once boldu Why this delivery delivery delivery di Why this delivery delivery delivery di

Tipping point

As i was channel hopping, stumbled on a typical "seen-one-seen-all other' SRK movie. Shockingly it was running on Lok Sabha Channel!!! May be DD got bugged with airing '80 somethings' shouting matches and kiddish brawls and decided to take a break themselves. Watching movie without any ad breaks was a weird experience. I've been tuned to press the buttons on remote every 15 minutes and how much ever one complaints, the ad breaks do serve one purpose at least - to break the monotony of the movies, considering that even the shortest of our commercial potboilers run for close to  120 plus minutes. The movie was 'Kabhi Haa Kabhi Naa' and probably it was taken at a time when SRK was a lesser known face and an up and coming actor. He looks way too young in the movie and his support cast were regulars on DD-National's tele series like Circus, Nukkad, Fauji and lot more. Watching the movie felt like revisiting one's childhood photos. The story line so si

Murpagal seiyinn :)

Felt it made interesting read..so sharing here :) This took place in Charlotte, North Carolina. A lawyer purchased a box of very rare and expensive cigars then insured them against, among other things... "FIRE"..!! Within a month… having smoked his entire stockpile of these great cigars... the lawyer filed a claim against the insurance company. In his claim, the lawyer stated the cigars were... "lost in a series of small fires'. The insurance company refused to pay, citing the obvious reason, that the man had consumed the cigars in the normal fashion. The lawyer sued... and... WON...!!! Delivering the ruling... the judge agreed with the insurance company that the claim was frivolous... but he stated nevertheless, that the lawyer held a policy from the company, in which it had warranted that the cigars were insurable and also guaranteed that it would insure them against fire, without defining what is considered to be acceptable explanation of the term 'fire'

NRI - New Relation Induction

Olagathulaye easyaana topic and also the most difficult one apdinu ethachum iruntha..it would self introduction i guess. Everyone can talk their heads off about themselves, but knowing where to draw the line is something known only to a select few. This technique comes in handy the most in case when a new relation is entering ones life. How much is too much or how little would be considered insufficient info? If prioritizing the points is suggested a solution, which one to share and which one to leave behind to be understood on their own? What to showcase and what not to? How truthful should one be or rather which points to hide? The art of creating a good impression, revealing as much or as little information and yet be safe enough to create a positive impression is something i crave to inculcate for a long long long time and falling woefully short. I've never ever made a decent first impression and have heard my good friends tell at a later point of time in our interactions that

Future Shock

What an intriguing title :) I mean..not for this post. But in general. The one who coined the phrase must have been a genius. And so began my introduction to the book by that name - Future Shock by Alvin Toffler. I have never been a big fan of self-improvement books. Pannandu varusham iskoola padichi onnum kizhikkala. Oray oru book apdiye lifea thala keezha porati potrumnulaam advertise panni ethachum book vantha i simply avoid them. Rather than reading the success stories of people to follow ditto, i guess one should prefer to read the failures life history to avoid repetition or even better, take up what was unfinished and try to complete it too!!  Coming back to the title. This book, to describe in one word is just WOW. And an amazing thing is that, i checked with most of my book reading friends. Surprisingly, none of them had read this one!!! Felt like Columbus introducing his America to them when i sent them the soft copy (Be it Magellan or Amerigo Vespucci or whoever it was the

Tittle

"Close the door and have a seat" He came and sat on the rolling chair which, having lost one of its wheels, was see-sawing. Just like his life. Some months ago in a different location, similar situation, he was on the other side of the chair. Possibly giving even better advice. "You've again put me in an awkward position" "Going by the seating arrangement, i guess that should have been my dialog" he said. "Wisecracks are not going to help you. You should realize what you are doing. I've told you even before. Losing temper in front of everyone is not going to help you anyway at all" "Well this way at least i would get some help in finding it back" "Finding what?" "My lost temper" "Enough. See..had it been anybody else i wouldn't be having this discussion at all. I strongly recommend you to introspect and try to find a way to control your temper. Take a notepad" "Why? you want me

Revolution 2020

Looking at the title itself you can realise how cheesy the content is going to be. But as they say never judge a book by its cover (or by its title for that matter) than muyarchiyil satrum manam thalaraatha gils ploughed into the story. The intro was again a let down. It was a xerox of what he wrote on "3 Mistakes of my life". Same scenario. Same result. Flashbackla katha solla kudigaara narratora vitta vera optionay teriathaa mishter Baghat?!!! Intha aal schooldaysla romba kushtapatrupaan nenakren. Something about his education is plaguing him. Oru katha udaama elathulayum education systema damage pannitrukaan. Not that the system is so great or pious to be ridiculed. But oru changekavavathu vera theme yosikalam. Bloody boring it has become. A triangular love story. One ozhukkaseela character, topping in studies (which he makes it sound like the worst thing or the uncoolest event at the best, to ever happen in that characters life), one sumaara padikara heroine and one su

Review time :)

Three movies for this weekend :) One Telugu, one English and one Tamil :) Plus finished reading Chetan Bagat's latest "Revolution 2020" and started with "Arthamulla Indhu madham" by Kannadasan. 100% Love (Telugu Movie) - When my friend gave me the DVD i thought it would be another of those rusting discs unwatched in my collection. But was feeling so bored that wanted to give it a try, remembering his promise that it had subtitles. And man...it WAS impressive to say the least. The story from the Geetha films is nothing earth shattering and typical candy floss (more eye-candy i should say :D )romance from the stables of Allu Aravind. Its the love story between a boy who has been topping studies from kintergarten to college and his uncles daughter, who not only competes with him on his studies but at every step there onwards, only to get his attention to win his heart. The guy doesnt relent till last reel as he wants to be one above everyone to win her attention

Happy Deepavali wishes

Konja naal ezhutharathuku ethuvum thoanalaina writers blocknu solraangalay...West Bengal legislative assembly peru Writers Buildingaamay. Athaan Kolkata innum urupadama iruko? Vanakkam makkalay.Ellarum Navaratri celebrate panni mudichitu Deepavali celebrate panna readyaaiteengala? :) I love this time of the year. Especially the week preceeding Deepavali. The moment you step out, its almost as if there is an unmistakable sense of eagerness on air..as if people are hurrying towards happiness everywhere. Every single shop flogs their workers, draining them to their last available ounce of strength to manage the crowds. Oops. No more negative sentences here, however true it maybe. Dont want to spoil the festive spirit. Point is, for a while now i've been getting mixed feelings about festivals. ( Udanay vayasaanalay ipdi thaannu mokka poata pichi puduven. Mokkai putting is Gils territory and trespassers will be subjected to more severe mokkais) Irrespective of religions almost all f

Hmm...aprumm? :)

"Hmm..aprum? vera enna matter?" Usuala this question is the favourite icebreaker topic for any idle chit chat or conversation to begin. If used once, it would very well serve its purpose as the initiator but i've come across scores of people who almost use it as a delimiter. Every single pause would be filled with it. Even if you reply in the negative saying "onnumila..usual life" then also it wouldnt subside. CBI CIA visaaranaila kooda avlo thadava thuruvi thuruvi kelvi kekka maataanga. Adhuvum if the person happens to be someone who contacts you after a long gap..sethaanga. Makkalay...ennadaa ivan ipdi solraan..oruthan manushana mathichi phone panni pesa vantha ivan ivlo scene podraanaynu nenachukaatheenga. Intha feedbacklaam enaku vantha feedback. Naan entha alavuku mokka podrengaratha..kodumai thaangaama surrender aana oru victim sonna vaira varigal thaan mela sonnapattavai :D Me one self confessed conversation moron. I do have a problem in spacing my spea

Mayakkam enna...

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A movie, much panned around for it crazy song lyrics written by the bro duo of Dhanush and Selva, also boasts of a gem of a song below. Sung by Harish Ragavendra, a person who brings so much sincerity and dedication to all his efforts to sound correct with his pronunciation and tone, it literally melts your heart. At the risk of sounding blasphemous, i would still go on a limb and say that GV could be the answer to the successor of Ilayaraja kind of music. In almost all his tunes, its the voice that sounds over the music and he allows the talent of the singers to score over his tunes. Enjoy the lyrics of this wonderful song :) என்னென்ன செய்தோà®®் இங்கு இதுவரை வாà®´்விலே எங்கெà®™்கு போனோà®®் வந்தோà®®் விதிஎன்னுà®®் பேà®°ிலே காணாத துயரம் கண்ணிலே ஓயாத சலனம் நெஞ்சிலே இறைவா... சில நேà®°à®®் எண்ணியதுண்டு உன்னை தேடி வந்ததுà®®ுண்டு சன்னதியில் சலனம் வெல்லுà®®ா இறைவா... அன்பான புன்னகை செய்வாய் அழகான பாà®°்வையில் கொல்வாய் நீ என்பது நான் அல்லவா விடை சொல்கிà®±ாய் கல்லாக இருப்பவன் நீயா கண்ணீà®°ை துடைப்பவன் பொய்யா உள் நெஞ்சிலே

Apple - Jobs less

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I am not a gadget freak. All those that i use fall on the essential category, borderline basic models. Till date i dont have a single Apple product in my kitty. But Steve Jobs has been one man in the techno world whom i've followed with keen interest all along. His rise to fame is a stuff made for legends. A man who was truly a visionary of our times. A person who dared to dream and make them into reality too. A maverick who cared less for failures and was never afraid to lose sight of the shores in search for newer horizons. To me, as much as the product, the best part about all those Apple products were their names too. Couldn't think of a more personal way to name a product, with each of them prefixed with "i". To many he was the tittle over the i on all their products. Here was one guy who forced people to share his dreams by out thinking the demand. He created his own market and forced his competitors to run his race. The amazing part of his life is that, as much

Engeyum Eppothum - Review

Sometimes...amidst all the magnificent fireworks which light up the night sky, a simple candle steals the heart. It not just serves the purpose of giving useful light, but also looks beautiful too. Engeyum Eppothum is one such movie. Right from first frame the movie oozes with freshness and a serene calmness only to be shattered by a saddening climax. Anjali and Jai form such a lovely pairing that whenever they come onscreen it makes you smile unconsciously. After Kani (Angadi Theru) Anjali scores again as Manimegalai in this movie. A dominating yet subdued lady lead, a first for our kind of cinema i guess. Jai plays the innocent villager role to the T and all his scenes are a laugh riot. Loved the exchanges between him and Anjali. Especially the scene where she asks him to meet one police constable. After the meeting she asks him does he knows who that police constable was. He innocently replies "if he is a constable for me, will he be D.I.G for you". Believe me, the instan

Corporate Culture in Ramayana :)

Lord Ram..sitting on the seashore with a worried look. After convincing the Sea Lord to support him on his mission to build a bridge over sea, he is now left with the arduous task of actually building the bridge. He is seen comforted by Sugreeva, Hanuman, Jaambavan and Sugreeva offers his monkey sena to perform the monumental project. Hanuman is appointed the project manager. Nala and Neela take the role of chief architects. Millions of monkeys take to quarrying for stones and form an assembly line to build the bridge. They toil day in and out, cheerfully performing their tasks. There lived a squirrel family close by to the sea. Watching the monkeys helping the Lord in his quest, the squirrel family decides to throw their hat in the ring too. Without further much ado, they jump into the fray and begin to carry small pebbles. Lord Ram, moved by this noble act, takes the squirrel on his hand and lovingly smoothens its fur. Legend has it that, the marks we see on the backs of the squirrel

Social Network

He logs into FaceBook and posts "Bored with life". It receives 20 LIKES. Few of his 300 and odd friends asks permission to repost it. Majority agree with "Same pinch" replies. There are few wisecrack comments. More LIKES follows. One of his long lost friend posts "You still alive. Call me" without giving his number and also POKES him. Few days later the status message reads "Life sucks". This one receives more LIKES than previous one and is responded with philosophical quotes copy pasted from other posts. His long lost friend POKES again. Soon the status message reads "Planning to commit suicide". Of all the three posts this one receives maximum LIKES. "Can i be by Su's side when you commit to her" wisecracks a friend. That mokkai receives more likes than the original status message and the topic digresses away. One guy posts YOU TUBE video of a person streaming LIVE his suicide and recommends the same. It gets the maximum

A moral dilemma

I've always had my reservations about death penalties. Not exactly convinced on their usage. Always felt that taking another life is god's realm and humans, especially those in garb of black gown sitting under a smiley oldies photo, have no business in it. But this particular issue, a severely sensitive one at that, is irking me so much that, thought of posting about it. I am talking about the appeal raised against the capital punishment sentenced for the (erstwhile) LTTE trio. There are so many reasons, valid and humane at that, with which it can be argued as to why their death sentence should be annulled. But our shameless dirty pigs of politicians have decided to bleed the sentiment, dry out of this one too, which has already cost a poor lady's life. I dont understand how can speaking a common language and belonging to a war ravaged country, contaminated with ethnic cleansing and lead by the worst psychopath of a leader, who would make Khmer rogue guerrillas sound like k

Situational song :D

Last weekend i happened to see "Mangaathaa" movie and had posted a review on the same under the review and WMW tag. The generous sponsor of the free pass was rt, a fellow blogger, who is truly the Jill of all trades. Any place worth hanging out in chennai, any decent restaurant or shortcut routes to any place in chennai, she is my google cum wikipedia :) (Ipdilaam bittu poatta..aduthavaatiyum ticket sponsor pannuvaangannu oru nappasai thaan :D )The generous sponsor, though couldnt make it to the movie as she had other engagements. I was left with not one..but two movie tickets for the hot cake movie of the weekend. Yet i couldnt find any takers for the other ticket!!! All the people i knew were either in want of both the tickets or werent in a position to make the show timings. I am never punctual to any place but almost always make an exception for movies for obvious reasons :) Here too, for 10.15 show, i was there by 9.45 and to kill time, was listening to songs in radio. A

Flights of fancy

The noise was deafening and the crowd inside was suffocating. Yet, each one managed to squeeze whatever little space they can to catch a glimpse. The moment they saw "it", the kids who were sitting close by to the window had a happy glow on their face. Some of the elders had a longing look. While some had the look of pride, with recollections of their past experiences on "it" shining on their eyes. Some had a look of irritation wondering what the heck is so special about something so trivial. Either they would have given up all hope of ever coming anymore closer to "it" than they actually can or they must have got fed up that their otherwise peaceful journey being disturbed by the over enthusiastic audience. I witness these scenes almost 5 days a week on the way to office, whenever the bus crosses Meenambakkam airport. When cellphones first came into our college campus (well..actually it was pager which came in first) looking at the cost of usage, i th

Mangaathaa daa... :)

MMoneyyy..MMoneyyy..MMoneyyy..Muaaaahhhh Guess this would be THE catch phrase in days to come. Right from the first frame Ajith owns every single screen second. Such is his screen presence that, its almost as if he is the only person in the three hour long movie. He is truly the King of Spades midst the deck of remaining cast. No mean achievement considering that the movie boasts of not one, not two, but THREE cute heroines in Andrea, Anjali and Trisha, how much ever miniscule their roles be. The movie well and truly deserves to be a landmark movie in Ajith's career. Its his show all the way through. Its very evident that he had a gala time doing the movie and pity that people dont wait till the screen credits which is actually funny and nice. He cusses with vengeance...dances as if no one is watching...gives Salaman a run for his unbuttoned brawn in fight sequence..unabashedly cheats on his girl friend(s)..drinks gallons and smokes tonnes of cigarrrttes..not giving a damn

2011 Anna Domini

So..the mighty have fallen..FINALLY. And another old man with (almost) bokkai vai ends up all smiles akin to the smiling oldie on all our currency notes. What next is the question on everybody's lips. This is the problem with all major demonstrations involving mobs. They unite for a single common cause and the mob hysteria moves them towards achieving it. But once they reach the pedestal, thats when the common misgivings and selfishness and confusion creeps up. The villain all through the show was corruption. Yeah! Right. Corruption is the root cause of all evil and should be overthrown..demolished..destroyed at the root level. All said and agreed more than hundred percent. All these beg a simple question. WHAT IS CORRUPTION? People are so used to fight against individuals as villains, like protests against dictatorships or even election rallies in Tamil Nadu for that matter, that they picturise corruption also as a human and this time they have painted the Parliament with that col