Variety is the spice of life

Attention seeker. Whenever I find this term bandied around, it makes me stop and observe that particular situation. For I feel, there is no greater insult to ego than being labelled as attention seeker. Agreed, there could be specimens who purposely do and even thrive on such activities. But for the innocent many, it’s a punch in the gut that knocks the wind out of them. The most recent instance I heard of this word was during the infamous “Big Boss” show, where one of the participant was labelled as such. That lady terms herself a failed actress and has been pretty vocal in her efforts to attain fame-dom through the program as her vehicle. She un-abashedly had taken part in every stupid task thrown at her and had “played” at the last legal extent allowed within the rules of the game and even secured top points. Yet the crowds didn’t vote for her and she had to lose out. It’s just another reality show and the results are pretty much stage managed at every single step of the way. But ...

What makes a movie a good one, might be the question for the ages. Does word of mouth publicity or viral spread or appreciative critical feedback or the performances of the artists and their honest attempt or is it the script and screenplay? Maybe is it a bit of all. For either or all of the reasons listed above, “Kurangu Bommai” movie, caught my interest. Storywise it’s a simple revenge tale, but the way of telling makes it tad more interesting than countless many on the same topic. Also the strong supporting cast with excellent performance from the leads adds to its lustre. Vidarth, hero/producer, finally seems to have made his way onto the list of notable actors, with his improved knack of picking the right scripts that suits his style. Be it “Kutram kadithal” or “ Kidayaain karunai manu” or even “Aal” for that matter, none of his releases have major promotions, but for word of mouth support. And he seems to have mastered the art of underplaying, which doesn’t bother much even on ...

The most fascinating aspect of the IT industry, is its constantly evolving nature. Several years back, I had posted about surviving in this industry and how this field is yet to witness its first batch of retirees – meaning, those who’ve started their career and completing it in this field alone. While those in manufacturing like traditional business domains, have a straight forward career path with definite milestones and end dates, IT always ensures that, being in this industry is like walking on a tread mill. You need to keep walking even to stand on the same place. The tech with which one might’ve started his career, would’ve become obsolete in few years’ time and worst part being, it would take away a good chunk of his professional profile, making him redundant. With mobile phones competing with computers for processing speed and features, gone are the days, when IT was niche and specific to those from computer background. Nowadays, anyone with a half decent smart phone, knows m...

At times, when I am more than bored, I skim through my posts from years back. As I see my own ramblings post after post, it was intriguing to understand what the trigger for all these posts was. I definitely didn’t had “Big Boss” Shakthi anywhere near me for sure. There goes my vow not to mention about that damn show in this space. It all boiled down to the very first appreciation I ever received. As a follow up from the previous post, during school days, I was the elephant in the room, literally and figuratively, about whom no one spoke and spoke to as well and neither did i. It was a dull, excruciating, monotonous and ordeal for me, day in and day out. I was never active and never partook on any events. Whenever I was leaving from school I would see my classmates practicing for sloga competitions, oratorical, skits and dance and what not. I would simply walk away for I would never be invited for such things and I was way too timid and shy and would be terrified to even stand near s...

There was a scene from a recent tamil movie, in which a boy goes to class and gives chocolate to his class teacher. The teacher takes the chocolate and enquires the occasion for which he replies it was his birthday. She wishes him and asks who he is. The query raises sporadic giggles in the class and that stunned looking birthday boy, slowly tells the teacher that he belongs to her class. I stopped watching the movie after that scene as it hit way too close home. I had the exact same scene happening to me in real life. During a PTA meeting, I accompanied my mom, who visited my class teacher and asked about me and my performance. She looked at me quizzically and asked are you in this section. I couldn’t quite fathom that question then as she quickly twisted it as a feedback, telling my mom that I am very quiet in the class. She then gave some very generic feedback on my studies and the discussion was closed. Till date I could never forget that incident and whenever I am reminded about...