Variety is the spice of life

Though titled mandatory, i actually didnt post one for past two years..hehe. Now to what I kizhichified this year and what I plan to kizhichify next year. This year was a year of change to say the least. Professionally and personally there were so many seeds of change that were sown which are eagerly awaited to bloom in coming years. On the professional front, I often find myself to be at so much contradiction with my own self that I've accepted it as a personal norm. For a person who is super scared of the unforeseeable actions accompanying any change, I opt for it more than any regular person who speaks about accepting change whole heartedly. Blame it on the mind that gets bored quick. My love for routine is only rivaled by my dislike for the comfort it brings. In fact, doing routine stuff scares me to the extent that I keep jumping jobs frequently. Starting from scratch I come to a point where I can rest comfortably, only for the jump job construct to kick in. I don'...

On a blog posting roll this month. So making the most of it :) Dhanush is silently and slowly stealing a march over copyright for his Mamanaar's movie titles, who thrived not just with his punch lines but also with catchy titles. The other similarity being, he either picks his FIL's leading lady or vice versa. Edho..nalla iruntha seri. If our daily soap Opaari..err..Operas are edited to fit in an hour of a story, which in itself is a tedious task for none are having that much worth of a story line, you would get the movie script of Thangamagan. Especially the post interval portion. Pre interval is mostly a breeze with Dhanush lipping Amy Jackson only to end up marrying Samantha, who is a revelation in this movie. Her romantic segements with Dhanush are just..avvvvv...poetic. Andrea has dubbed for Amy and is pitch perfect as Anglo Indian tamizh ponnu with english accented tamil talk. And she looks bit fleshy too compared to her bonish thin feature in "I" movie. But...

If at all there are few phrases that define Hollywood -  May the force be with you - Star Wars, Live long and prosper - Star Trek, would be the two competing for the top slot. Both have their own legions of fanatics and are part of the American psyche and culture, which in turn have become the world's preferred one since the new millennium. Of the two, the Star Wars franchise is probably one of the biggest in the world giving the James Bond series a run for its money. Considering that, it was a series built on the whims and fancies of George Lukas who in all his marketing wisdom did what Steve Jobs replicated with Apple way down the line -  creating an audience market rather than catering to existing. If one watches "New Hope" the supposedly 4th part of the series which was released first in the 70's, they would be stumped to understand head or tail of it and even more how the heck the director convinced the production house to fund the project leave alone man...

When DDLJ released two decades back, the biggest challenge for any non hindi speaking tamilians was not understanding the movie but to ask for tickets naming the movie. Dilwale Dulhania le Jaayenge was more than a tongue twister for many of my school mates. Saaruk kaan became the new style icon. The thick browed heroines name was a debate topic for several folks - was it Kajol or Kaajal or Kaajol. From Sowcarpet to Saidapet amplifiers blasted "Mehandi laga ke rakhna" for every marriage function with bandmasters making it mandatory for all weddings. Saloons went out of patronage for several months with students aping for Saaruk's hairstyle. Railway stations suddenly became romantic hot spots courtesy the movie climax, despite many a Mani Ratnam inspired scenes prior. It took an Alaipayuthe to reclaim train station romance back to tamil  movie dom. When Dilwale was being promoted, the erstwhile onscreen magic/chemistry of SRK/Kajol was touted as the movie's USP. The t...

For previous episodes click Part V Chandler is busy chatting with his colleagues when his manager passes by. Worried whether he would've noticed him sitting idle, he tries to think of something meaningful of an activity. As expected the boss man calls Chandler to his room. "Mr.Bing" "Boss..before you ask me, I was brainstorming with the team, doing post-mortem on our failed project" "Post-mortem...that's good. Make sure the report reaches me by today. Wait a minute!! Which project failed?" "Err..hmm..you know right" Sensing a trick question with a booby trap for a response, the boss decides to play it safe. "Of course I know. So what was the reason for failure" Caught unawares, Chandler hems and haws into a quick response "People" "Oh. send me the list. Will fire them. Who are there in that." "Well..err..there is this guy." "What did he do" "Almost every ...

"Bro..y so sad" "Onnumilla Gils.." "Appo sogama iruka vendi thaan" "Yov..naanay phone pona dhukkathula irukken" "Phonuna call thaan pogum..ithenna kaanama poguthu" "Venaampa..midila" "Seri..aaruthala oru mokkai podalamaynu paathen...when it got lost?" "Nethu busla officelenthu porachay pickpocket adichitanga..ithanaikum jeansoda front pocketla thaan phone vachirnthen" "adapaavi...jeans front pocketna naamalay edukarathu kashtam..ithula epdi pickpocket!! apdi ennada yosanai" "ila..thideernu goundamani senthil comedy nyabgam vanthichu..hawa hawa nu senthil thooku potukara mathiri emathara scene..was laughing thinking about that" "aal nikkavay edam illatha busla Hawa hawa romba mukiyam..police complaint kuduthia" "aamaa..avangalta kuduthutaalum..pona varam kaanama pona credit cardaiye inum kandupudicha paadilla" "adaaapavi...ithu eppo!! card cancel panni...

"arrghh...this stupid phone never stops ringing.damn u graham bell" cursed Ram as he went to pick the call. "Ammmmaaaaa.....as usual its for you" he shouted for his mother. "A little louder and people on other side of the street will hear you clearly" "Why your relatives are always calling on the landline when they know your cell number. Why are they so cheap that they cant even afford the call charges for landline to mobile is it" "Shut up..if you cant get up to attend the call, leave it. I will handle it myself" "Always shout at me..and not on those useless people who call and disturb your sleep" "You should be thankful that there are people who think of us and call" "Duh...leeches..they don't call you without reason. I am so sure they need some help and that's why they are calling you" "So what? we should be thankful that god has given us strength to help others" "hmpf..yo...

Intha kodumai kodumai solluvangalay...athukum namakkum thaan pathu jenma bandhamaachay..ennada konja naala onnum kaanumay paatheengala....avlo easya vitruma.. I had almost forgotten madame's birthday. Point to be noted is almost. Having realized that I still had sufficient time to escape capital punishment, I started thinking of a wonderful gift worth remembering for ages. Point to be noted is that I took quite a lot of effort in thinking. As they say, more than the gift, its the thought process that counts. Apdi thinki thinkiye oru vaaram odi poiruchi. Suddenly the realization stuck that its just few more days left and I am yet to decide on it, subtle hints like "what are you going to get me for birthday" discounted. Ithuku melayum oru abarimithaamaana gift pathi yosichitruntha yosichitay irukka vendi thaannu, I decided on the rava upma of gifts - Teddy bear. Intha teddy bear giftla oru vasathi enna vendraal, pudikalinu kovathula mela veesi adichaalum valikaathu. Pay...

There comes a movie, once in a while, which is at odds with itself and us, like Tamasha- the latest Ranbir Deepika starrer. Definitely its not a repeat watch movie. Even for one time watch, its pretty tedious at best. Dialogues being heavy on Delhi accent and language, not your usual Bollywoodish hindish. Story is also nothing new and considering that every single movie of Deeps that involves a city setting, she more or less does the same role, its all the more stale. The director is very clear on what he wants from her. The first half where the story is set in Corsica, the long legged lass is at her own free will to dress anything and everything. The moment she steps into holier than thou our country, since she has to be all wrapped up, her portion also suffers the same fate. So..very less Deeps, very long story, strictly one time watch with hard on ear accent and lot more of Ranbir. The last point might work in favour of the lady audience. So discounting it, is the movie worth ...

Mun kurippu: intha post padichi sirichi vairu punnn agalainalum paravala..adichi nekku punnn aaga panidapdaathu. Ithu oru mokkai postay andri verondrumillai. pizhaigalai porutharuluga. EAM Stri checking FB. Suddenly her eyes spikes up looking at a distress status from Gils. "EAM..a family in triplicane, near parthasarathy temple needs dry clothes and dosa batter. can you help" Stri rushes to her house motta maadi plucks all the clothes hanging dry and runs to near by kadai to buy 2 liters dosa maavu and all this happens in stop block moment. "Gils..i am ready. Entha area in triplicane?" "err..unga veedu thaan EAM. Unkitta maadila thuni eduthundu vaa..maavu vaangittu vaa sonna seiya maatengaranu enkitta status update poattu tag panna sonnanga" "Adaii gilss...." EAM chases..gils races. Surprise and Naughty Peroli on field work, drained of all energy sitting dead tired. "hey...power couple" "gils..odiru..semma tired" ...

Rommmmba seriousa poitrukara postsku nadula, main purposea maranthida koodathu sollitu, kadamai ganniyam kattupaadoada here are the reviews for the deepavali block busters Vedhalam - This movie and Puli before this one, introduced me to the world of troll memes on the lead actors. OMG!!! Shudders at the amount of venom spewed forth on those pages. I am not entirely convinced that its the blind fanatical support of the fans or just their hatred towards the other actor, but its definitely beyond any of these. Every single act of the actors are defamed in derogatory terms and are rejoiced madly!!! Hope their creative ire can be directed better. Now to the movie. Even before i could watch it, as like for any major release, social media is abuzz with reviews and majority of them had written off the movie. So my expectation levels were sub zero when i started watching it. I felt it to be a typical masala entertainer which could have been better cooked for a bigger result. Ajith is on...

Any or all of these questions can form a nice movie script for conspiracy buffs. But this is the very sad fact that is going to lead us to war.This apathy towards whatever that happens in Kashmir, stays in Kashmir is what, that has the potential to severe the very thread that unites this great country. Else news channels wouldnt be covering Sheena Bora's death when millions are stranded on the southern end due to never before seen floods. Its this apathy towards major happenings on anything remotely south or north east that is going to bring down the concept of one nation. Its this seriousness with which they enquire every single sneeze or fart of a person sitting on parliament and the callousness towards farmers committing suicide, without bothering to understand how come so many kill themselves despite the world's biggest write off on farmer's loans is going to bring the downfall. Its this silly attitude of asking for the caste and religion of a victim before decid...

It all traces back to the myth that having scrapped the rest of the world off their resources and pride, the western world has created an image of a safe haven about themselves where roads are paved with gold and peace and prosperity is birth right of its citizens. That they care so much about their citizens that every single loss of life is condoled world wide, raises goosebumps and becomes symbol of something to follow world over is something that restores faith in humanity time and again. But why such price tag of protection applies only to its own citizens and not to humans in general? why is that every single life of a being born on their land is much superior than one born else where? Its the answers to these questions that are growing in to the Hydra of terrorism which is raising its wicked heads back at its creators spewing venom. Again the victims are no one else but common men who have no say over the policy decision on their law makers. Surprisingly neither the elected g...

My prediction is, WW III will be more like a rehash of WW I. Imperialists brought in mirrors and Bible in exchange for gold and land and that triggered the dog fight of WW I. Replace that with Democracy and we've the recipe for WW III ready. The sequence of any recent war goes like this - There will be a corrupt democratic government, ruling over a land flush with oil, with the people of those countries who couldn't care less for who ruled them as long as they don't get into their rulers blacklist. The government would soon be over thrown by a military coup or an army strongman with western backing. He would get all support to let leash his tyranny on his own folks with the blessings of the biggies.  By the time the people of the country come to terms with the new order, one fine day, the tyrant would wake up to mess up with the business leaders from the biggies which would cause them to suddenly realize the absence of the very same democracy that they over th...

A recent hot topic of a debate that raged in one of the FB pages that i follow is the seed for this post. There were serious arguments supporting and opposing our first prime minister, who to me has always been a riddle wrapped in a mystery incensed with enigma. Majority of his political decisions are baffling at best with obvious help of hindsight. His decision on Kashmir and dealing with China are still haunting the nation and are Yet, that he was accepted as one of the leading statesman of the world at his prime and time was unquestionable. The NAM movement pioneered by him resulted in dictatorship in almost every major country that participated. Even he for one never relinquished his post till his death bed and sowed the seeds of dynastic politics in Post Independence Indian politics. The fore mentioned deed probably attributed to his own heritage having been connected to the throne of Delhi that stretches back to his grandfather's time. Him along with Gandhi muddled...

Not a day passes by without any uproar over some or other controversy stirred by the right wingers and the far left. The latest fad being "Tipu sultan". People who cry foul over the state government's patronage towards pushing Tipu centenary to the very day when he massacred an entire village over suspected attempts to overthrow his government must voice out the reason why they were silent all this while? Or had they been regularly vociferous but the media is selectively highlighting the issue now to stir the country against the elected government? In either case, its a blatant abuse of playing with people's emotions. Coming back to the Tipu issue. Not just Tipu, any Indian king for that matter, have always been painted as a picture of benevolence. As much as their arts and cultural deeds were glossed over and their victories cherished, their war acts were mere one liners which never spoke of the cruelties inflicted on the opposing forces and the struggles faced b...

They've done it again. The high lords of HP have decided to split the company in two and the divorce has reached an amicable(??) situation. I've most of my fondest memories of my career and personal life in HP, a place where I've spent more than half of my small career. From what I've observed the company as an employee and also as an eager follower, the management, irrespective of the so many chopping and changing at the top level, always favour the "7 stones" games approach, when it comes to structuring the company. They go on a shopping spree of purchasing every company in their sight only to de-cluster based on the whims and fancy of the Lordship (wo)manning the board. When i joined, they were on the cusp of completing probably the most controversial and criticized deal of the industry - the ill famed HP-COMPAQ merger. Co-incidentally my first project was around the AGILENT spin off from HP. I've no inputs to offer on debate of whether it was a succe...

As the phone kept ringing again, without any answer, i was praying for two things - firstly for someone to pick the phone and second for that person to be her. As i was about to cut the call, it got picked and to my joy it was her. "Heyyy..finally you lazy bones managed to attend the call" "Lazy bones who? one who hasn't called for months or the one who have to eat extra course of medicines just to boost up her energy for this useless phone talk" "Ok..i am hanging up. bye" "Stop your nautanki...ok. whats up..how are things your end" "Nothing much..but for...yeah..we had a baby boy" "Aahaa..ok mister modest..just because i can't kill you dont take that as an advantage. I am halfway through to the process of ghosthood and you are right on top of the "to be haunted list"..hahaha" After listening to my troubled silence..she continued "you are still so dumb when it comes to celebrations, arent...

"Ars longa, Vita brevis" could soon be replaced by "Project longa, Tech brevis"!! for the rate at which newer techs are identified, they far out speed the life span of existing trends. With the IT industry in itself being autosarcophagic in nature, it forces the issue rather than wait for action to be taken. Due to this fickle nature of the industry, re-skilling resources, becomes a necessary evil which has to be given its due. Necessary - to meet the need of the hour. Evil - will try to explain why. Unlike educational institutions that have the luxury of a specified syllabus, which probably could be the root cause of the issue faced by the industry, learning programs in corporate organizations are more driven by market strategies, need of the hour requirements and at the core of all - Budget. Every year sectoral giants strengthen their employee base by recruiting entire batches of final year college students. The reasoning could be manifold from staffing fo...

I firmly believe that, for a stable, simple and strong process, which can easily reach people and be used by them, mobile or the digital version is the only way. For we have proof of more than half a century of  "manual" governance that has failed to live up to the expectation of empowering the masses. The real empowering people can only happen with knowledge about their rights and simpler processes to safeguard and utilize the same. What better way than making use of the current start-up boom alongside the push for digital drive and smarter cities. With so many start-ups shooting up every single day, one would be tempted to wonder that the above thought process would become a reality pretty soon. But a quick look at the list of start-ups registered till date for this year at least throws a totally different picture. Of about 59 of them listed in  http://trak.in/india-startup-funding-investment-2015/   retail shopping, paying utility bills ...