End note : 2008

As reaching the end of 2008,
Lets pray for no more fight

Though the economic crisis was a big pain,
Lets join to eradicate the crisis rain in 2009

Jingles all the way last week and
New resolutions this week,
Lets make it strong and healthy for the benefit of the HUMANITY

Technically, Year++
Eventually, the world is getting older
Lets fight the pollution to keep the world younger and younger

May it be Spiderman 3 or Terminator 3,
Always be healthy to balance your time and
keep the entertainment slot for free

Do not Drink and drive or Smoke and fly ,
Just keep yourself fit for more New years to come

Be it Grand Canyon or a Local attraction,
Unleash the traveler in you

To enjoy the life with its well deserved fun

One more Deepavali,
One more Christmas,
One more Id,
All awaits For us
To spread the never ending harmony

Easier said than done,
Lets hope this 2009 is a bliss
and retains the joy in us
For ever and ever.

Wishing you a Very Happy New Year 2009 to all the kind/patient hearts reading my posts :)

Note:

Actions speaks louder than words

Silence speaks better than a shout

I believe, personal words cares better than a (e) greeting card

So, please try and send handwritten letters/mails than a greeting card printed by an unknown person to convey your wishes to the one you love/care.

Trust me it works better :)

A 'Mr.Bean' in all

This is the embarrassing cluster of incidents I had when I first boarded a flight in my life and that too it’s an international flight.

From : Chennai To : London (Gatwick Airport)
Via : Dubai, Flight : Air Emirates

Scene 1:

I reached the airport in a rented quails car with 12/14 people (relatives) in the same and followed by another car load of friends. Adding to the already crowded atmosphere of the airport. However, I was completely excited and totally thrilled with a good mix of nervousness. The scene was a bit embarrassing attracting all the non-first-time-flight passengers offering them a memory of ther own when they boarded a flight first time in ther life.

Scene 2:

I entered the security gate way to international departure and I showed almost every document I had with me while the demand was only the passport and ticket.

Scene 3:

I treated the boarding pass issuing staff almost like a visa issuing officer and totally nervous to answer every single question they ask for.

Officer: Hi
Me : Hi, Good morning … Sorry, Good evening (Confused and nervous)
Officer : (Smiling) First timeaaa ?
Me : Yaa..hehehe… here is my passport, ticket, visa documents, offer letter
Officer : Wo Wo !!! i just need the passport and ticket... Ok your bags to check in ?
Me: (I had put all I got with me) do u want me to put my hand bag too
Officer : (Again with a humiliating smile) Its ok u can take back your hand bag
My take away cabin stuffs are Big leather coat, one more sweater, big bag with full of stuffs weighing 10 kg etc…
Officer: I guess you can not carry more than 8kg on your hand bag
Me: Hehehe…. Student sir.. first time sir…. I need all these sir … please sir….
Officer : (Once again smiles) ok ok …. Have a great flight
Me: Abba am luckiest in the world…hehehe

Scene 4:

I am about to leave and my mom & grand mom opened their tap from ther eyes and the embarrassment continues… hugs, kisses, advices etc…. I was more eager and worried about the rest of the formalities until I reach the destination than getting myself embarrassed…. I said ok for all and got detached finally to the emigration counter.

Scene 5:

Managed to get in to the boarding room after an obvious nervous interaction with Emmigration officer to register my exit from India. Now, who the hell are these people waiting outside boarding longue… wat the hell they are checking with all bags… I was so scared and prayed lord balaji to get my bag safely with out any problems during the scanning… and yes, my prayers are answered…. Again, a person checking my coat, pant, shirt everything …. Embarrassing, I was showing my passport, ticket, visa docs to the security person whose duty is just to check for any prohibited goods that I may carry….

Scene 6:

First time stepping in to a flight…. Prayed balaji again… and entered…. Very cold place and bloody hell (Tamil Nadu’s Thiruavalluvar transport buses are spacious than this flight) anyway that’s least of my concern….
Air hostess: Halo sir, may I help you
ME: Hi… Hehehehe… Am traveling for the first time… could you help me finding my seat….
AH: Your boarding pass please ?
ME: Here (once again I showed all docs)
AH: (jus taking out the small paper bit and had a look) over there sir (she pointed with well polished nails)

Scene 7:

Got my seat and window seat (ofcourse I got my boarding pass 3 hours in prior and askd for a window seat).. I kept(squeezed) the oversized hand bag in the top and retained my leather coat with me…The next 3 aisle seats were occupied by a couple with their 2 year old kid… and the man threw a shock, ‘Hi… can we take the window seat and you can take the aisle seat if you don’t mind as we have kid ‘… I don have a clue wat its in his mind (and vice versa)…. My mind voice talked ‘You #@#@#!@ I was waiting for window seat in a flight all my life to have a good look at the city during take off… what you think I am a regular flyer and looking for aisle seat for my comfort’…. But my actual voice said ‘Ya, sure… no problem’….. some body kill me….

Scene 8:

The flight was about to take off and I started my prayers again and beginning to get myself worried for unknown reason… mind voice->’come on … be a man’ The flight started and I jus curious looking out and praying parallely… I was astonished to see the flight moving so slowly… I thought It will move slowly then pick up the speed and fly…. Later realized the flight is being dragged by some other vehicle to run way… hell… I was too early and started praying… lemme restart… The take off happened finally and I tightened the seat belt as tight as I could….

Scene 9:

The airhostess distributed the menu card for the meals… then I called one of them after 10 mins and asked ‘Can I pick any number of these ? Do I have to pay any ?’ , she smiled and answered politely , ‘No sir, this isn’t restaurant style card… this holds the information on the list of items served in your meal and ofcourse you have paid for all these when you buy the ticket’… yet another embarrassing one … am sure the next seat chap heared and giggled…. When will I reach dubai ahhhhhhhh

Scene 10:

Reached dubai… Clueless on what to do next… first time I saw a lovely airport in my life…. Chennai is no way near… I almost asked 10 ppl for the transit gate to Gatwick flight and quiet surprised its more than 10 mins walk… huge airport man… once again I showed all docs to the security check person in the boarding longue….

Scene 11:

Reached London Gatwick airport and the reall pressure comes in here when I stood in the queue for the immigration… I know I got all docs but still I felt I need to use the restroom… nervousness you see…. The interaction was smooth and I walked out happily to the baggage claim which is the penultimate prayer …. I wonder how my luggage arrived so safely being a non living thing with no sense to think …. Why am I not in the luggage so that I cud have avoided all embarrassments and pain…

Scene 12:

I need to catch a transport to Southampton and the taxi fare is my dad’s month’s pay…. I took the help of a staff there who unbelievably helped me out to get in to a coach and guided me on my cheapest way to travel to Southampton… thank god… all my prayers answered and ofcoure with full of embarrassments…. Any one could never forget their first international flight journey… Phew !!!

I guess i can hand over this script to Mr. Bean for his next play... and ofcourse he cant make it more humorous than the actual incidents.

A quiet vacation

I guess this is the longest gap I have given between my posts in recent past. As most of you know, I was on leave for a week. No specific reason just told by my boss that I need to exhaust my leaves by this year or those will be of useless if don’t use it. I picked this whole from Dec. 1 to 5 and planned well to spend it very organized (when I say organized, It need not be a usefull one )

I started getting back to gym spree and I made full advantages of the hotel gyms in Malaysia where I am staying on the business trip. So, all days I managed to spend 2 hours odd in gym to get some health back. Swimming after is a bliss to the over heated body of mine. Then comes the KEY part of the day. Its Movie time. All the days I decided to watch one Hollywood movie a day and here you go.

Day Light Roberry : Nice one to start with…BGM is top class… good entertainment as the whole movie is all about clever bank roberry and so u will sure be entertained till the end… I would recommend any one

Journey to the Center of the Earth : Another good BGM movie… I really admired the dialogues as it had british style (addressing all with Mr./Mrs. And a well structured English) Adventure movie with a lovely cinematography… Another good entertainer

80 Minutes: A thriller. He got 80 minutes to return his debt or he dies with the poison in his body… All the troubles in the world hez facing in those 80 minutes… good time pass…at the end…

Witless protection : A total waste of time… supposed to be humourous and totally irritating… don even think…

Pursuit of happyness : The perfect movie I loved to watch when its raining outside and am sitting on the balcony feeling the freshness of the atmosphere…. All about a father who struggled to the core to get a chance to prove his talent and ability…. Will smith is sure a top class actor.. my favourite too

And that is all I have for you on my holiday updates… the weekend was exciting as I traveled back to Singapore as a formal visit that I do once every 2/3 weeks with out doing much… been to bowling with my only mate out there and managed to watch Quarrantine which is a total mental torture for 1.5 hours…. As a whole, it was a total gym and movie spree but totally gone down as I return to work today after good long leave…

Go Gadgeting !!!

I slowly getting gelled with the gadget world around me and this time its PSP… This is one freaky gadget I aimed since 3 years and now got the chance. I happened to visit with out any plans to Low yat plaza, one of the bargain shopping mall in Kualalampur. Like Sim lim square in Singapore like Ritchie street in Chennai….

However, I found the rates of the items relatively expensive compared to the Singapore. But I suddenly spotted a small shop selling the PSP and just enquired about it… He offered the latest PSP version for 1200 Ringgits which includes

- Cracked PSP set so that I can play any copied game
- 8 GB memory card with around 8 racing games (All NFS) and 4 combat games
- Carry case for PSP
- USB cable for data transfer
- Sony head phones

Totally fascinated by the features of the damn piece

- Play games in high quality graphics
- Watch movie (high quality display)
- Listen to songs
- Surf internet using Wifi
- Watch still images

I can able to use 5 hours nonstop to utilize complete battery power. However, no replacement warranty if I happen to drop the gadget accidentally… if its broken, its gone… Also, this can be connected to any TV for watching movies and can be connected to plasma/lcd tv for playing games with bigger screen with same high quality display…

I guess I am totally mad on this one playing my favourite NFS mostwanted at the moment and watching movies…. Now, I am lookin forward to travel any wer as am sure I wont be bored at all ;)

Note : Did I mentioned that the original intention for the shopping was to buy a touchscreen ipod for my wife for her bday but pathetically ended up with me gifted with this… ok la, compensate later ;)

Unreal Classic... Utter Crap !!!

I am not much fond of Gowtham Menon’s direction for his uniformed presentation in most of the movies. The slow screen play, narration by one of the characters, kinda maniratnam’s influence etc… At times I feel like watching Maniratnam’s movie… anyways am not a great fan of Mani either…. The only 2 movies impressed me of Gowtham is Kaaka Kaaka and Minnale… I guess music and the hero plays major part than the GM’s role as director.

Watched Varanam Aayiram recently in Singapore.. I had my expectations high as its from Surya and harris jeyaraj comes together again but neva thought it will be total disappointment…. The movie is supposed to tell the bonding between father and son but focused away in many places…



Positives:

Surya conquered all our minds with his variety with make up’s, action and roles…. He done justice to the role with all his hard work

Music was absolutely mesmerizing… am stilling murmering the song and tune all the time…

The 1980s back drop… done with perfection and Surya again matching the glamour.. Also, the cinematography involving Brooklyn bridge and songs… Awesome !!!

Negatives:

Not at all for B and C centr: GM thinks all the B and C centr audience should not watch his movies at all…. This is quiet obvious from the movie… is it a hollywood movie or tamil movie…. Not much of Tamil dialogues… thank god atleast Simran explains the title at the climax… crap !!!

The slow slow screen play: The romance scenes in the second half was way too boring… I felt many are not at all needed (the rescue show from military, the delhi fiasco etc..)

Logic: Suryas all from middle class family but mostly converse in English like a posh family … this is seriously not practical…. Father is not in good health, sister unmarried, family is suffering due to debts, son is just started to click in his financial situation but inspite of all that he gets Visa to USA and is ok to spend lakhs just to find and get back his love at first sight… see how practical this being… I don’t understand on what basis he expcts ppl to thnk this as a classic movie….

Suryas hard work: I think this also was over done for this movie…. Surya’s hefty physique is not at all needed just to show that he became major in the on going stage of his life and just because he got a good physique he needs to show it up with a military rescue operation… toooooo boring.. besides, the dad Surya is too much of a cool dude and always agrees with his son for what ever decision he takes… Son Surya being a middle class family guy, opts to go to Kashmir, Delhi for a change with out showing any way of how he got all the fundings for all his adventures…. Ayooooo !!!! I know Indian cinema shouldn’t be searched for logics… but this supposed to be classic rite.. soo do justify??

Simran did some justice I should say but at times I feel she never reacts enough to be a love lady or caring mother….

Theme: The director made too many love duets and love failure songs with more than 2 heroines but failed to give a thumping, heart touching melody for Father-Son touch which is supposed to be the theme of the movie…

Neutrals:

Divya and Sameera: Refreshing one to see them but again they just don’t lift or let down the movie… they just played their part meeting expectations.

As a whole, I felt 30% of the movie extremely good (Surya, Music, Screenplay in first half) and the rest 70% was close to crap (Screen play in second half, missing logics, mainly direction).. So decided that Gowtham Menon’s movie to be watched only if one doesn’t kno how to spend time or too bored with life to watch some movie or no other good movies released or get viewers review before watching….He should be happy i got so many options to see the movie still...

One line conclusion is ‘Thavamai Thavamirunthu was a great movie’, Thanks Gowtham Menon I just realized that after seeing Varanam Aayiram ;)

Clicking all the way

Quiet a huge gap again and ironically, was busy at work and finding way to manage my time effectively. Last weekend had a chance to visit the lovely theme park in kualalampur, Sunway lagoon. What interested me was the park was neat and well maintained with varieties of attractions inside. I was particularly fascinated by the well built surf beach, the interactive zoo, terrain bikes, kayaking, scream park, water rides etc...

Top of all, being a clicking crazy dude, i saw the advert outside on the photography contest poster sticked over there. The rules are straightforward, pictures to be taken should be inside the theme park premises and there you go... here are the set of pics that i submitted for the contest. Though, i kno am not all that great and getting the first prize was a far dream, am still excited to send the entries :)

Stay away !!! Even if you like me

Set me free : PLEASE

Rest --- is all i need:

Privacy please !!!

Lone Soldier

Do Not Disturb: Am thinking

Fist of Fury

Busy Pair

I clicked lot more but the above are the ones that interested me :)

Nation’s Shame

As Part of my work commitment I am now traveling quiet frequently from Singapore to Malaysia and gotto stay in different hotels. So far the experience was not so exciting being in Kualalampur and the main reason being the Errant Taxi drivers.

Eye wash message (Drivers never cared this)

I always use the Taxis or Office shuttles to commute from hotel to office to hotel back and every time I get unique experience. Some of the taxi drivers are quiet generous and honest when they charge. Believe it or not, last week I happen to stay in a hotel close to the office and I paid taxi charge from 3 Ringgits to 15 Ringgits at different times. When I try to wait for the rite person, I am the looser (loosing money and time) ahhh !!!

This week was the ultimate experience. The hotel I stay is quiet far and I had 2 incidents nudging me to quit the country as soon.

Incident 1:

I need to go to hotel from office. None of the call taxis are ready to go there and so I have to take a round tour. So, I called a taxi that goes to KL Central (which is like a center hub where any one would agree to go) thinking I can get another taxi to my hotel from there as they got prepaid taxi counter over there. Once I got in to the taxi, I just wanted to try my luck if the taxi driver agrees to go the hotel straight but he pretended that he don’t know English and so I kept simple English communication to make him understand that I need to go hotel. He refused with a plain ‘No’ insisting that he got the call only to KL Central. ‘Fine’, I said gesturing to go ahead to KLC. On the way the driver asked me ‘You want to go Jalan Ampang (the hotel place)’. I said ‘Yes’….’Can you ?’ I asked him with curiosity. He didn’t answer and kept thinking. I thought no point in askng him and I din bother to make any more attempts. We reached KL Central. When I was about to get down, the taxi driver sed ‘You want to go Jln. Ampng. ?’ … I was surprised ‘Why the hell he is asking now’… I have to get another taxi anyway so I told him ‘Yes’. He then left me in the hotel. Later realized that this guy wanted to make money by touring around the place with me. Such a prick who irritated me a lot with his so called smart behaviour (saala Kaamchor !!!)

Incident 2:

Yesterday again I wanted to go back to hotel from office. This time I got our office shuttle to reach KL central as I have no choice. Again from KL central I went further to Indian eat outs to have my dinner. Again I was waiting for a taxi for a long time. At last, I got one. The driver was a old Chinese. I asked him 'Jln. Ampang ?' and he said 'yes'. I felt lucky and got inside. All I saw in the vehicle is a motor and 4 wheels. It’s a total crap and the car is in a pathetic condition. ’25 Ringgits’ he said and I was shocked as the destination wont be worth of 5 Ringgits. I said ‘Its too much I give u 10 ringgits’. He was angry as if he is the only driverin whole country. ‘Give me 20 Ringgits .. most of the straight roads are closed and I have to go around’…since there was heavy down pour and I am extremely tired, I said ‘ok go on.. but, you give recipt right ?’ I asked back.. ‘Yes, no problem’, he replied and kept driving.. as I expected, there was no road closing.. infact he took the shortest route to reach soon…I thought doesn’t matter as I can claim this from my company with the recipt…. I askd for recipt and that so called smart cheat gave me a folded ‘House rent recipt’ thinking I wont notice. AS he folded the doubt sparked and I happened to chk to confirm he is fooling around. I asked him to give me the taxi recipt and he refused telling ‘This is all I got’….A***le !!! I got pissed off… argued with him with vain… I even threatened him that I will call police and he just din give a damn on that… I was helpless (I was cornered) ;) and got out with complete disappointment…. Thinking arguing anymore is like mud wrestling with pig…..

I then researched on the taxis in Malaysia and I found that it is one of the worst taxi lots country. The country is beautiful and the places are lovely but taxi drivers are the key locals who are turning the impression to other way (specially with the tourists and expats)… So friends, bear in mind if you happen to visit KL. Beware of Taxi touts and also be aware that you cant do anything about it as n number of complaints already registered and the govt. very well knows the situation and never bothered to change this pathetic 'Nation’s Shame' image.

Hey Saala !!!

‘Hi Vasanth, Welcome to the Performance appraisal meeting’, the manager greeted his next team member. ‘Hi Vas’, the lead gave a crocodile smile (u got any idea what a crocodile smile ??? just refer to my friend Prashanth’s JR blog in my favourite links) ‘Hi Narendar (Manager), Hi Chander (Lead)’ Vas. accepted and returned the same.

‘Ok, here we go’, the manager on his sarcastic voice. ‘Lets discuss on the projects and responsibilities that you have taken for the whole last year’, the usual dialogue he sez in all the appraisals to all the members. Vas(anth) was quiet worried this time coz he went under severe tough year as he had few health related problems, got married and inspite of that he managed to deliver what he could. He had good review last time and won accolades. However, the management haven’t offered much monetary benefits as the company haven’t collected big revenue previous year. This year was ok in terms of overall revenue and no wonder Vas is expecting a good returns.

The talk went on for 30 mins or so where Vas explained almost everything he did for the whole year and then concluded like this. ‘Naren, I feel that I was not best of my potential due to personal problems however I don’t think it was a bad year looking at the work , facts and figures. So, I hope this year I would get back to my best’

‘That’s good’, Naren again with his sarcastic voice. ‘Chander, your comments on Vas?’ he ordered. Immediate reaction from Chander like a dog wags his tail when the owner throws a biscuit. (I think the above sentence is appropriate as Vas hates Chander for some reason due to work and other personal issues. Apparently, the author (me) scripting the story with Vas. As the hero. ; ) so its ok to project Chander as baddie) ‘Naren, ya Vas did a great job but as he said he was not at his best and for me he haven’t met my expectations’, even chander was sarcastic this time. Vas was a bit shocked as he never expected such a chilli coated sentence straight away which almost sounded like a paradox (means first part of the sentence contradicts with second part). ‘A*****e’ Vas murmered deep inside. ‘Why the hell he is talking like this ?’ thousand questions inside Vas.

‘I am sorry’ , Vas interrupted. ‘The figures are correct, the customers are happy, most of the projects went fine except few hiccups’ Vas told in a disturbed tone. ‘I know but these projects haven’t been on time’, he displayed a paper printed with those worst moments he had with the work. ‘But these are only 10% of the work I did during the whole year’ , Vas mind voice speaking to himself. However, he kept silent as he thought arguing with superiors are like mud wrestling with pig (means at the end u will be dirty and the pig would have enjoyed the fight)

‘So I think Vas haven’t met expectations’, Chander continued. ‘Why the hell should I bother about his expectations.. I did my work fair enough’ again Vass’ mind voice. ‘In that case I can give him a rating of 5/10 as he also managed to deliver few. Vas was angry ‘Why Why Why should I get only 5 for the 10% of the work I did messed up’ All the time he was quiet in front of the others to know their final call. ‘Yes, Naren I guess 5/10 is apt’ , Chander agreed with Naren.

Few more formality talks but the end result was clear to Vas. Not a pleasant talk for him. Too many things happening in his mind. Why the F**K this Chander behaves so strange in front of the manager ? Is he being hypocratic to save money to the cost center or is he trying to build a profile for himself at the cost of my dignity ?’ Vas tension increased. ‘I need to think… Think Vas… Think… I cant take this… no way…’

The above scene is not so uncommon. Many Soft Engineer faces this. Inspite of good work they still don’t get the recognition and benefits they deserve. How we react to this ?

Angry man’s approach (Rather F***D up dude’s approach):
Normally stay quiet. Come out and search for other company and put the papers soon as he could as there is no point in staying back to prove his worth whole year which mite again get messed up due to 10% errors which is not sure too.

Wise man’s approach (I can still take more S***T):
Take the feed back in positive manner and work harder forgetting family and friends and social life to erase even that 10%. Try and organize team outings, butter manager/lead, laugh for sick jokes of superiors, spend time often with team in coffee corners even though you hate them… All for a better appraisal.

Ok. Lets forget the above and go to an imaginary reaction that every one loves Vas to react in the end of the same meeting. Lets continue the Scene……

’10 minutes left Mr. Vasanth, Any questions/comment from your side’, Manager once again showing his attitude with the commanding sentence. Vasanth was on the edge of his seat until that time and got himself relaxed. Moved back to occupy the complete chair. Leaned back. Gave a slow rotataion to his shoulder. Raised his chest a bit and lowered again. Stretched his arm so that every one in the room heard his knuckles breaking sound. Once again breaking his neck-knuckles by agitating his head. ‘So’, he sounded like a Vice president of the department. ‘Its all decided by now I guess’, Vasanth commented with a smiling face.

Naren and Chander showed a puzzled face as if they peed in their pants. ‘Hmmm’ Vas didn’t bothere about their reaction. ‘I can see Mr. Chander took some pain in drafting a paper on How to S**T with me’, Vas. Never bothered about his language. ‘Vas, I guess you gotto mind your language’, Chander reacted angrily. ‘I know what I am talking Chander, After all you want to make this whole meet as a formality when you both have decided on what to feed me’, Vas. Was organized when he said this. ‘Feed you ?’, Manager was showing puzzled face again. ‘Ofcourse, the peanuts you gonna feed me just because I messed up a bit and you gonna blow this as if I got your whole business down’

‘No.. No Vas, that was not the intention’, This time Naren was lowering his voice. However, Chandar still pretending to be an angry man as if he was insulted. ‘Your intention my foot. Now listen, I don’t care your intentions here. My opinion is straight forward. You don’t care me and I don’t care you I mean the company’, Vas yelled. ‘Vas, I guess you are crossing your limit’, Chander interrupted as if he is Naren’s boss. ‘Hey my friend, I guess your job is done for this meet up and thank you for your so called observation and analysis. Now, let me talk to the manager while you can keep quiet or leave the room’, Vas. Really enjoying the situation. Chander wasn’t sure on how to react. He was just sitting dumb with confused look.

‘Ok, Naren let me tell you what. You guys are real losers. I might be harsh but you guys deserves this and I don’t care if you escalate this to take action against me’, Vas on top of his voice. ‘Why you say that ? You can take this in a positive way to work better and show your potential’, Naren tried to convince Vas. ‘Positive huh’, Vas smiled again calmly ‘You mean just accept what ever you say with a f***g smile on my face go back and hope that I get my straw berries atleast next year.. My A*S’, Vas angry again. ‘I think you need a coffee, may be we can discuss about your concerns later’, Naren was diplomatic again as if he face 1 million situations like these. ‘Concerns ??? does that have a value here ? Listen Gentlemen do you think am still gonna chase you wasting my time to get what I deserve in a place of professionals with fulla attitude ? you got it all wrong my dear colleagues’ Now Vas. Is enjoying it doesn’t he ?

‘What do you think you are up to ?’, Naren trying to calm things and Chander showing worried face all this time. ‘What else ? Consider this meetin as notice to my resignation. Reason: Non professional attitude by Lead and Manager. I am ready to talk to any one any time on this and further I don’t want to discuss with you guys’. Naren was quiet all these time Bursted out saying ‘Fine. If that is your decision we can not stop you’. ‘I bet you cant. I would prefer changing the field altogether than working under morons like you guys’ Vas exited with a Crocodile smile on his face.

Hope you enjoyed the above hypothetical second part of the post ; ) Now, don’t ask me what made you to write this… Where you one of the victims and bla bla bla….

Hey… Guess why I chose this title for this post ???? nothing la, I was just listening to the Ajith’s latest movie song ‘Hey Saala’ (the one playing in this page) and I thought that will be apt. C ya in next post : ) Now listen to the song again before you click CANCEL.

F1 Fever

All i know about F1 is its just a 'Help' Key and nothing else but now i got to know further more. I never ever followed any F1 races until the one I watched in Singapore. Initially this whole sport is an absurd to me as lots of money are wasted than most of the sports in the world. However, in the recent First ever F1 Street night racing changed my intentions. It has actually turned out to be a treat to watch.

The Track:

Its no special reserved track. Its just the normal public road which I almost use everyday to commute to my office. I was amazed to see the government well organized and worked on their toes to construct the whole track and got it ready with in such a short period. There was around 150M spent on the whole event and the govt. claims it as ‘Well spent money’ as it has drawed the whole world’s attention to the Singapore tourism. The Singaporeans don’t complain on the problems caused of this to the normal traffic and they are totally proud to be the new host for the F1 spree. For me, what excited me was the view of the track from my office and for the first time I saw a car going around 280kmph live jus few yards away.

The players:

Until that point I never followed any races or know about any players. All I heard was these 2 chaps Felippe Massa and Lewis Hamilton are competing each other for the top spot and this race is gonna be crucial. Then I slowly started to observe the actual rules of the game and all. Though I haven’t completely got, I can still manage to enjoy with what I know.

The Race day:

I haven’t planned to get a ticket and when I thought I want to, the tickets are sold out. I left with no choice but to watch from home. It was still exciting 1.5 hours with all dramatic scenes happening. For this particular track the pole positions was considered as key factor and according to that Massa supposed to be there finishing the formalities for his competence. The crash of Piquet which got the safety car in changed everything. Further, to rub salts on the Ferrari wounds,

- Massa taken off from pitstop before the refueling person took his pipe off from the tank resulting in additional 10 secs penalty

- Kimi Reikonnen of Ferrari team who had a good lead messed up in last 10 mins resulting in no points to Ferrari team which unfortunately pulled them down to 2nd rank with 1 point difference with Mclaren-Mercedez.

Lewis Hamilton can still be happy as he showed some character and managed to stay top in the ranking even though he finished 3rd. His main competitor was Massa who had a worst nightmare that Sunday.

I am now excited and looking forward to watch the upcoming Japanese Grand Prix this Sunday. As of now, I am still not a fan of any particular player but the Hamilton and Roseberg’s skills was impressive looking at their consistency for all the 61 laps. You can check http://www.f1.com/ for updates on F1. Further more I am quiet happy that I got one another interesting sport to follow from now on ; )

Sony H50

Ok. Finally !!! I got it… The camera that I was waiting for… The brand new Sony H50. I was so damn waiting for it and finally got it… I already know its amazing features and this semi professional camera is just the perfect one I wanted….



Here are some pics taken from it right away on my first family vacation to Malaysia

The lovely street on Putrajay town (Malaysia's Legislative capital)

How is it?

The cool Genting Cable Car (Must visit one)

Another view of 1 million Ringgit Tamil Lord

Array of other gods in the temple

Mind blowing Kualalampur view from KL Communication Tower

14th January 2008

14th January 2008 : 2:58 PM

I opened my eyes with utmost effort. I. I. I don’t know. I feel the whole room is swinging to and fro. I can hear the ‘Tick Tick’ sound from the clock some where around. I. I. I couldn’t think. I feel so tired. What the hell is happening around ? I managed to open my eyes and noticed that I am inside a tub. Yes, it’s a bath tub. What am I doing here ? Iam covered by ice cubes. I am still not sure. I am confused. What happened ? I heard the talking clock saying 3 pm. I cant feel anything below my neck Why am I not feeling cold even when I am surrounded by ice. What happened last time when I was conscious ? I try to recollect and I barely remember. I noticed the daily calendar in the corner of the bathroom over the slab near the wash basin. It says 14th January 2008 : Monday. Oh my god. Oh S**t. F****g hell. I don’t know what happened last 1.5 days.

13th January 2008 : 12:32 AM

I was walking after a team dinner and dance hosted by our office in a posh 5 star restaurant. The cold Bangalore climate was a real catalyst for reckless dance. I was overwhelmed and got quiet drunk to aggrevate myself. I managed to still be on control as it is office party and not my close mates. The bartender made the announcement for the close of the bar at 12. I wanted to dance so badly but I have to adhere and walk calmly to my home. I was tired of trying to catch autos near MG road. All where quiet busy and finally managed to see one auto reversing towards me after crossing me over. I couldn’t really think a lot. My brain is full of alcohol mixed with 10% of other liquids. ‘Basavanagudi’, I puked when I was telling this to the driver.

14th January 2008 : 3:22 PM

I couldn’t recollect what happened after that. I can not. What happened? I shooked my head to get revived but I felt more pain when I do that. I managed to get up and I cant. Its just my right fore hand moves barely and manages to swing a bit. I don’t know about my left hand its drowned under the ice back below my neck. Some thingz written on the ball front of me. ‘CALL FOR MEDICAL HELP’. What ? Why ? What happened? The room looked quiet scary. I couldn’t sense what place and what happened? I saw the door half opened and tried my best to scream. I could hardly raise my voice. I know I am feeling weak.

I thought there should be some phone around. I just started looking for phone around with hand touching the floor and maneuvering around to see if I could get hold of a phone. Yes, Yes, Yes. I got it. Its my own phone. Oh yes. I quickly grabbed it and lifted up to get it infront of my eyes. I tried to locate Vasanth’s number who is my room mate. I am sure he must be looking for me. I called. I called. Its ringing. Its ringing. ‘Damnnnnnnnn’, I cant believe it the battery is off. I wanted to cry but I am beyond that stage. I screamed to the best. I felt so weak. I cant sense anything below my neck. What happened? I don’t know what they did on my body when I am not conscious. Is it the auto driver or am I being attacked by any other gang ??? Full of confusions.

I am supposed to go to my home town yesterday. I am scheduled to meet my fiancée. I am getting married next month. Why me ? I cried. I am sure my friends and family would have started looking for me. I am missing man. I am not sure if it would be of any help even if I can call. I don’t know where the hell I am. I am panic. I don’t know what happened last 1 day, I don’t know what the gang did with me, I don’t know where I am, I am not sure what to do, Infact I cant do anything otherthan swinging my right fore arm. Ok calm down. Calm down. Let me think. I should think. Don’t panic. Come on think, think, think. I can see blood and its fully red inside the tub. Had they took my kidney and put me here ? Or is it some other organ ? Or have they robbed me and stabbed me ? Not sure. Anyways I cant even sense.

14th January 2008 : 3:55 PM

I slowly observed the room inch by inch to get any clue of the place. I can hear something. The sound of the train. I guess I am near some railway track. Where is this ? Not enough clue. I am trying to observe. Think Think. May be I can try switch on the phone again but it wont last for more than 10-15 secs due to low battery. Whom should I call ? What to convey ? I need to know this address. I don’t have much help. I just managed to get my first promotion in my work place and all set for an onsite trip to USA in 2 months time after my marriage. I was filled with dreams until 36 hours ago. I got angry. I started loosing my senses. I screamed. I tried to get up. I tried to be aggressive. I realized my hand can move much better now.

I should do something. That’s enough I cant die here. I want to live. I still have dreams to ful fill. I can not dieeeeeee. I noticed there is a bin near the tub in a distance where my hands could reach. There is a small plastic bag on the bin to collect the garbage. I got an idea. I started filling the bin with the ice cubes one by one to get a good weight. I notice the bath room’s window is open. Its right on the left hand side of me on top. I jus took a piece of paper from the bag and written HELP PLZ IM DIEING with my blood. I put 2-3 papers inside the bag on top of the ice. The idea is to throw the bag through the window and by gods grace if some one notices should read the letter and get some help for me.

The plan works well so far as I anticipated. I tried to tie the top end of the bag with one hand and inserted all the paper pieces with messages on all sides. I throwed the bag out of the window as fast as I could with my best shot so that the bag land some where in the road avoiding the sun shades or compounds.

I did all I could do and now its in gods hands to save me. I started to pray good as I am a firm believer of this controversial existence.

14th January 2008 : 4:43 PM

I slowly dozing away. I cant think any more. I switched on my mobile to let Vasanth know some how about my trouble. I switched on immdly and called him. He took the phone in first Ring. ‘Vasanth listen I am locked inside a room near railway track call police and sa~~~~~~~~’ The phonez dead. I cried again. I cant take this. Its so unfair. Why me ??? I am getting more weak.

14th January 2008 : 6:02 PM

I slowly started loosing my senses. I slowly started dozing away when I suddenly hear a noice behind the door but I can’t react any more.

S-O-M-E B-O-D-Y S-A-V-E M-E


P.S:

Moral : Nothing
Message : Nothing
Climax : Nope

Why this attempt ? : I am alone on a business trip and this is what all I thought of writing at early morning 1.45 AM.

Note: Try not to be idle or try not to be awake during nights.

Dhoni : Leadership par excellence

This is all about learning from the new leadership sensation of Indian cricket team, Mahendra Singh Dhoni… Earlier I had few reservations on him as he haven’t encouraged the inclusion of seniors like dravid and specially Ganguly in the team. Now his ideas are proved worthy as he won the ODI trophies in Australia and Srilanka and winning more ODIs… The team’s potential is undoubtedly high right from the beginning and what makes this young lad so special being ‘the leader’ did mattered.
Dynamic decision making skills:

Many leaders go with a strategy and mostly stick to it in the battle field be it a sports or in corporate world… They don’t go out of the box or go with any adhoc strategy to approach the crisis the team facing… this chap stands apart with his quick and effective decisions…. For ex… in the 4th ODI against SL in the idea cup, when Jayasurya was at his best hiking the run rate, he got bajji to attack little early only to disturb his rhythm and getting the catch at 2nd slip by well placed fielding….another ex. Is bringing Joginder sharma during the final of the T20 World cup to bowl the last critical over to win the title… this is ofcourse a big risk.. I appretiate his nature of going-by-instincts which pays good for any professional who is in the field for quiet some time…

Never say die attitude:

This is one of the key quality a leader should possess… this guys approach some times reminds me the Hansie Cronje’s XI of south Africa… no matter how many wickets lost… no matter how many runs the opponents scored… ‘We are still in the game’… although past leaders had this quality, dhoni went on take the best of it when compared with others….

Young blood, bold decisions:

Being young is major advantage…. No matter in whatever field one is in… from wat I observed with my limited experience looking at the world… most of the old managers scare to take bold decisions and also I noticed young managers or old managers who are young in themselves never gives a big thinking on taking bold decisions… ther focus being the team’s victory rather worrying about ‘how worse the impact of my decision making will be’

Good team:

This is a sort of luck factor.. however, I wont completely call it as luck… to me I feel dhoni got a better talented cricketers than what sachin had in his regime….

Taking up the responsibility:

This is something made him the best… he entered in to the team as a disaster man who got impeccable strike rates in every match he plays… I cant forget his 183 that he made so early in his career… This was highest by any wicketkeeper batsman… After becoming captain, he took more responsblty to his shoulder and did justice to his role as a captain.. which is what lagging by most of the leaders in any field… after taking up the captainship, his strike rate significantly went down, the point to be noted is his average… which has immensively raised to show his tempermant and responsblty that he had taken up to show good results rather goin on to improve his personal record… a self less person who worked for his team and country…. Also, made sure he got the best of the money he could make while he is at peak of his carrer through ads, ipl, etc….

I am sure he will get many followers for his leadership, talent and above all his ‘Sportsmanship’ : )

How good is Singapore ?.... Visit KL !!!

I was so excited and desperate to go on a weekend break to KL (kualalampur)… Lifez getting so monotonous with overloaded work….This is more a observation log than a travelogue abt the new place and trip…

I made my plans well in advance… Its gonna be coach (posh bus) trip to KL… It’s a first class coach provided enough room to park my long legs comfortably … the 10 inch lcd tv, meals on board made life so comfortable as good as a business class flight journey… however, the extreme pain is while waiting near the cause way point (the exit point of Singapore through road) made it quiet irritating .. the tv will be switched on only after the singapore emigration and Malaysia immigration… We (the passengers) all got down to finish up the emigration work and got back in to bus….

The two countries are connected by a 1 km bridge over the sea with their check points on either side…. Sooo that means we gotto get down again after crossing the bridge to finish up Malaysia immigration formalities which means more pain ahhhhh… however, the system is quiet organized as there are n number of vehicles crossing the border every day…. Then I got back and set for a long 5 hours odd journey… the route was quiet scenic with Malaysian vegetations on the way.. but I still only love my scenic rich Bangalore – Chennai route ….. hahaha

I still haven’t found any big difference… I found the price of drinks and snacks quiet cheap wen we stopped for a 10 min. toilet break… reached the majestic KL just 2 kms from the famous twin (petronas) towers and headed to the hotel…. The next day set out for a short hang around…. The taxi guys are not firm believers of meter system.. its more a show case item for them… (I found the auto guys are more generous with their meter in Bangalore) since I have no idea abt the place I have to accept their offer for 10 Ringgits to reach twin towers and he was not even driving for 6 mins… The streets are ok here and there considering the area being posh.. however, wen u go out of the city-posh area you can find the real KL there… so dirty ahhh….

As soon as I kept my leg outside the taxi I found this guy approached me and gave a sarcastic look… ‘Sir, Rolex watch’, he showed that glittering look alike of Rolex… I straight away ignored with a humble ‘No’… ‘Sir, its original’ …ayooo raama…. Leave me yaar…. I wanted to go to the sky bridge that connects the two towers… gosh ! the tickets are limited and normally it will be sold out early in the morning like 8 am…. Wat the ???? I was so disappointed and took few snaps from outside.. then entered the posh shopping mall and found all damn things costlier than Singapore Suntec city mall… Isnt that supposed to be cheap here ??? Eh???

Later decided to go to KL tower which is the worlds 3rd largest communication tower…. 10 Ringgits again for the taxi… couldn’t afford to bargain with out knowing actual distance… the driver refused to switch on the AC as the place is quiet near… What ‘kodumai’ is this….man petrol is quiet cheap in this country yo…. The observatory deck in KL tower is quiet catchy … well maintained and I managed to have a glimpse of the whole city and found its well surrounded my hills… Then got out and hung around for an hour to take few snaps of the tower.. the temperature is same as Singapore but since the place is away from sea, I managed to have reduced sweat with a mild breeze every where…

This time I took a prepaid taxi to Pudu raya bus terminus where I am supposed to take my return coach… The cost is 14 ringgits… and for 20 mins drive…. The driver dropped like 300 meters before the bus terminus stating the over traffic road… I can compare the scene with old paris bus stand in chennai… all garbages, dirty, quarrels and horn sounds… then entered the most scary building called bus terminus… as soon as I got in, I was mugged by several travel agents offering trips to various parts of Malaysia at cheaper cost…

I found extremely hard to find the counter for my agent… not many speak English and I don have a clue abt malay… oh my ….. the place is so damn crowded and It took like 10 mins to find my counter in the middle of the human jungle… then I got my platform and bus number… proceeded to platform…. I would rate my lovely Chennai-koyambedu bus terminus as 123 times better one for its infrastructure facilities, clean toilets, organized bus traffic handling and etc… this international bus terminus is close to crap and I cant wait to get out….

The bus left 45 mins late and reached the check point in 5 hours from that point… quickly finished up the immigration in singapore and I opted to get a local bus from ther to my place as I live quiet close to the Singapore border (like 5 miles)… I had a lovely back-to-home feeling even in the local bus and cant wait to hit the bed… and know wat ?.... till date I was hating this Singapore and all on a sudden this looks like heaven…. However, nothing beats life in India when it comes to livng comfort .... ;)

மாதா, பிதா, குரு, ~நல்ல நண்பன்~, தெய்வம்

'Mother, father, teacher, good friend and the almighty'

The line literally drawn tears almost from every one in the cinema… I was all excited to see the much awaited movie, Kuselan. I am aware that this onez is not focused on thalaivar but the hype created was so much that audience was expecting a typical thalaivar movie… I still haven’t watched the original ‘kathai parayumbol’ but I guess mamooty wudnt have got such a huge focus in the Malayalam version…

P.Vasu typically tried to deliver his mix of masala in this ‘supposed to be classic’ one… however, I wasn’t impressed with this movie for such a slow screen play… The music is close to crap… the comedy scenes are not appealing rather the comedy element itself is far away for the crux of the story… overloaded comedians like Livingston, vadivelu, santhanam lots others are like too much sugar in coffee which spoiled the taste… for me, prabhu is a useless character with full of over actions….

Thalaivar exceeded the expectations in terms of acting… I never felt myself heavy in any of the other movies in world cinema…. The closest I felt was in Thenali in the scene where kamal Hassan described his pathetic past to the interview… and in the kannada movie 'Mungaru malay' where the hero compares himself with the villain for the reason that they both have lost thr love and treated him gracefully after a fight...

Kuselan is a wonderful classic movie (if u eliminate those irritating comedy scenes which doesn’t fit) and reminded his aarilurunthu arubathu varai…. The last 20 mins of the movie is all that one shouldn’t miss… I was totally embarrassed to see those tiny tear droplets in my eyes when the movie is over… and the reason is one name ‘Rajinikanth’… no one could have acted with utmost perfection like he did…..

The story is quiet straight forward… its all about how the famous numero uno actor found his child hood best mate in an unknown hamlet…. Right from scene 1 I was charged but the slow-non appealing screenplay let my excitement down and I was literally waiting for the finish… but but but… I need to tell again that the last 20 mins was top class and the credit should only go to the thalaivar and am sure with out him the movie is hopeless…

Pasupathy continued his class performance from veyil and this guy got immense talent but thalaivar literally overtaked pasupathi with his experience and class act… Lemme jolt down the minuses of the movie….

- nayanthara – total waste of space .. just a glam doll to satisfy the glam lovers
- bunchy comedians (and the comedy scenes) again a element to add for the sake of it
- screen play – too slow and not-so-practical scenes
- music – ayoooooo …. Total disappointment
- hype – unavoidable when thalaivar is slated to appear but this is the party pooper

The pluses are quiet straight forward, its just the thalaivar and pasupathi… as a whole ‘don’t miss last 20 mins’… (doesn’t matter even if u manage to watch just the last (20 mins) bit)… also, make sure u got your hankie ; )

Lost

‘Bhaiya Chaai !!!’ the boy shouted on through the windows. Amidst a dream, I was. ‘Uhhhh’, I opened my eyes shooking my head. ‘Man, what a dream… I was in a cruise some where in a European Sea… With my girl friend… Hmmm !!!’. I am still cherishing. ‘You *****, its 8 o clk already… wake up man, its Monday today’, My friend yelled at me. ‘Oh my….. yaaaa… lemme get ready, 10 mins’.

A typical Monday morning in Mumbai, I should say. I suffered all my life to get to this point. Born to a middle class family, my dad took all the efforts to make me to get in to an Engineering college in Chennai and I managed to come out with loads of obstacles. Worked in all useless positions in various companies, finally managed to get in to this prestigious software company in Mumbai. I can’t take my desires out being an average fun loving youth. Miles to go before I could take over completely. I am still working hard to get settled. Its been 4-5 months since I shifted to Mumbai and joined this company. Working hard, harder and to the hardest to get a name and strike a career.


So far, so good. ‘Hey, got ready ? I will leave the key in doors. You get ready and come as you wish’, my friend with no patience. ‘Hey hey… wait… am ready you vennai…. Mannn I can’t take the keys. I will be late tonight. Loads to finish up in the office bro’, all the office tasks came in to my mind.

I joined this company as a contractor and it’s a deal. I made up my mind to deliver the best and be a permanent employee in 6 months time. I took up all those extra responsibilities in the office. Wasted most of the nights in the office working ‘reckless’. Yes, I need to some how get permanent, some how get a good package, some how get a decent flat in Chennai, some how get a onsite chance, some how make my morning dream come true, some how….. uhhhhhh… getting late… ahhh….

I finished my half bath. ‘Quick, drink the tea. Lets eat once we reach the office.’ my friend on a caring tone. He is one good chap who cared me well when I was in need for the most in all the times. I quickly sipped the tea to finish it in the record time of 23 secs. ‘Okiee dude, lets go’, I was rejoiced with the half milk, 30% water, 20% old tea extract that I had just now. The room iam staying is like slightly bigger than a crow’s nest. Its Mumbai, you cant afford much. I am yet to be permanent and get in to a flat.

‘Shall we get an auto? Its late already.’ I asked my friend. ‘Do you think you are a PM or some one, now shut the **** up and walk fast’, he yelled again with angry tone. The humidity killing me ah, I should first get a bike once I become permanent. Can’t run in this scroaching sun every morning. ‘Hey lets cross the railway track, no need over bridge man. I can’t sweat more’, I pleaded and my mate agreed with me too. We got through the bushy area to meet the railway tracks. Mumbai is known for its busy metro rail network. But people normally don’t bother to take bridge to cross the tracks as TIME doesn’t wait for any one to cross on their own slowness.

There were around 5 set of tracks as my place is a junction. So, more distance yo. I need to cross all the tracks to the other end and get in to the road and then gotto catch a bus to have 15 mins. travel to reach my office.

This is was never easy as the walk from my room to bus stop normally takes 20 long mins. Probably 12-15 mins if I do a brisk walk by avoiding the overhead railway bridge. I quickly jumped in to the tracks and jumped across one by one. ‘Hey watch out da, train approaching’, my friend warned me. I managed to cross it quickly but something striked on my back when I did so called safe landing after the last track jump. I don’t know but I cant think what happened. I need to catch the bus now.

My friend was running ahead of me. I was following him worried about my office work. ‘Machi, wait da I feel weird’… He dint bothered. He kept running like a stranger. ‘Dei… I am calling you idiot… Stop’.. He still didn’t bothered to turn back. I am not sure about what is happening, why the hell he is ignoring me. I thought I can go slowly. He got the keys anyway. Let me walk slowly.

I suddenly saw some one running towards me. May be he wanna cross all the tracks to the other end. But he is coming straight in front of me. I was like scared as he gonna hit me any time. But he came too close before I react. And suddenly, I never thought that will happen. He ran towards me he got in to my body and kept running crossing my body. How the hell this happened? What the F**K is happening around me ? ‘Nooooooooooooooo’ I shouted at top of my voice. No one around bothered to look at me. Every one was going towards the track with an obnoxious look.

I turned back and saw a crowd. I just went near. I saw it and shocked. It was ME, lying down dead. I was shouting at the crowd ‘Hey look am here. Am here. I don’t believe this’, no one bothered. I felt some thing at my back head. I touched. Blood !!!

Did I, .…………………… 'LOST' my life ?


Foot note:

The above is a true incident happened to one of my very good friend a year ago. I still can not forget the day we cremated him. He was the only son for his parents. The family was relying on him. The scene was 100% devastating. It was sheer carelessness that ended up with a full stop in the chap’s dreams and his family’s expectations on him. I guess I don’t need to write down on the value of ‘LIFE’.

Centurion me

Oh wow !!! am in my 100th post…. This post will be a minor recap of landmark posts I made earlier… I attached the links as well for your reference : ) here we go….

My very first post

Tuesday, March 07, 2006

This onez the kick off… I was laughing myself as its very silly with no much info… jus a pic. And a small desc. To show I started engaging myself here…

http://aravindhindia.blogspot.com/2006/03/hi.html

Long time no c... ;)

Monday, March 27, 2006

So jobless and spending my time mostly on the blogging… surprised that I have made like 11 posts in the same month I started blogging… all are just status updates hahaha… this post was little different describing the cinema and ofcourse with the status update…. So far it looked like I am writing a diary.

http://aravindhindia.blogspot.com/2006/03/long-time-no-c.html

Coorg Trip !!!

Monday, April 24, 2006

This is my first decent blog which I liked myself…. So refreshing to read this again as this kindled lotsa old lovely momories on the trip we had….

http://aravindhindia.blogspot.com/2006/04/coorg-trip.html

Mission: Unplanned Freak out !!! :-o

Tuesday, June 13, 2006

This time its an adventure post… I was really happy I put my adventure trip in writing…. I can never forget this experience and my frnds too…

http://aravindhindia.blogspot.com/2006/06/mission-unplanned-freak-out-o.html

Route No. 11 (A Short story)

Friday, October 13, 2006

My very first attempt to write a story… I always loved to write a good long novel but realized I need more training… to start with this short story, I just took a piece of a morning in a typical Software engineer’s life… my friends appretiated this by calling me… that was a surprise : ) More important…. This was my 50th post… hahaha it took only few months to complete my 50th post but 2 years to complete 100th post…

http://aravindhindia.blogspot.com/2006/10/route-no-11-short-story.html

Being Citizen.

Thursday, November 30, 2006

This is one of well appretiated article of mine… I never expect this to come out so well.. my frnd infact forwarded this to his mates… I was so elated when he said this… I wanted to be more practical than being a typical critic….

http://aravindhindia.blogspot.com/2006/11/being-citizen.html

****_-_-_- Time chaser ride -_-_-_****

Wednesday, April 04, 2007

I always love my Bangalore-Chennai drive… specially in the early morning.. now rite time to show up ; ) this memory always there to cherish..

http://aravindhindia.blogspot.com/2007/04/time-chaser-ride.html

10 degree heaven

Tuesday, August 07, 2007

Was always kept writing and I thought of giving a short break to write and put some pics and let the pics do the writing… it’s a lovely Kemmanu gundi trip I had with my office mates…. Must visit place..

http://aravindhindia.blogspot.com/2007/08/10-degree-heaven.html

Jillunu oru Cricket !!!

Wednesday, August 01, 2007

On the lighter side of the life… this post is a kind of Chennai – 600 028 (famous cricket movie in tamil) adaption and its all about a tough match we won with our local cricket team we had… the joy is boundless…



http://aravindhindia.blogspot.com/2007/08/jillunu-oru-cricket.html

Beat this --> "An" adventure !!!

Thursday, November 29, 2007

This is one helluva adventure I ever had in my life… I din intend to write this big but the content is sure worth the size I have written… the most dangerous trip I ever had and it took like 1 week to finish writing this post…

http://aravindhindia.blogspot.com/2007/11/beat-this-adventure.html

Uncle

Thursday, March 13, 2008

First time I tried to write a story from my life by putting myself on the shoes of some other character in the story…. It was much appretiated by my friends and I really love to read this my own post though it was a totally embarrassing story for me….

http://aravindhindia.blogspot.com/2008/03/uncle.html

What the …!!!!.

Wednesday, April 09, 2008

This was the worst experience… I cant stop laughing myself when I went to one of the world famous actor and asked him ‘Are you Mr. Kamal hassan’… hahaha… roadla poravana kooptu kalaicha maari irunthichi.. hahaha…. BTW, this was my first blog after shifting to Singapore….

http://aravindhindia.blogspot.com/2008/04/what.html

Avatar spree

This time it’s the movie review… and the movie is none other than the much hyped DASAVATHARAM by Dr. Padmashree Kamal Hassan… I watched this movie 2 weeks back in the only Cinema in Singapore that shows Tamil movies. The most pathetic part is that the cinema don’t have online or phone bookings on top of that no DTS or special equipments.. its more a sort of village cinema with basic facilities to pass through the govt.’s basic standards requirements criteria. Highly pathetic and totally irritating for 10$ that u pay… moving on !!!

I was damn curious to see the movie purely due to the hype created for it… Kamal Hassan is one of the few actors/technician who attracts general audiences with his unique approach to the movie… Though I am not a ardant fan of him, I appretiate his talent in many movies… Few are…

Anbay Sivam – The best to say that the god is with in human
Salangai Oli – His olden master class
MMKR, Kathala Kathala, PKS, Panchathanthiram Etc.. – Comedy block busters
Kuruthipunal, Hey Ram – Classic reality

The list goes on.. lets get in to the focus of the topic….

Again, Kamal outclassed all with his core acting talent… but I felt he acted quiet too many characters which I felt not needed when I looked for the first time… later I realizd those characters are needed and appretiated the theme and story…. As the name suggests the movie is all about 10 avatars that does ther bit to save the world… if you have seen the movie, the avatar and description are as below which I found in a discussion board…

1. Krishna avatar - Vincent PoovaraghavanLord krishna is actually a dalit, he is dark-skinned [shyamalam]. He saved draupadi when she was being violated and he was the actual diplomat in mahabharatham. Lord krishna dies of an arrow striking his lower leg. Now look at how vincent was introduced.. he appears when asin is about to be molested and he saves her like draupadi. Vincent is the dalit diplomat, fights for land issue [soil issue to be exact] and dies from the metal rod striking his leg. Oh even five of vincent’s men are drugged at P. Vasu’s.. sounds familiar???

2. Balarama avatar - Balarama naiduThis is an easy given. as the name suggests and the role personifies you can easily get it.

3. Mathsya avatar - Ranagaraja nambinambi is thrown into water in an act of trying to save lord from being thrown into sea, though vainly. what more clue do you want?

4. Varaha avatar - Krishnaveni paattiDuring the mukunda song, krishnaveni paatti does varaha avatar in the shadow puppetry. The frame freezes on it for a second. there is the clue. Moreover, in varaha avatar lord actually hides earth so as to protect life forms. Here too krishnaveni hides the germs - life form inside the statue so as to protect.

5. Vamana avatar - Kalifulla khanremember in vamana avatar, lord vishnu takes the vishvaroopa, that is the giant form! Hence the giant kalifulla here symbolises vamana avatar.

6. Parasurama avatar - Christian FletcherParasurama is actually on an angry killing spree and killed 21 generations of the particular kshatriya vamsa. Hence the real KILLER… Guess what thats what our Fletcher is! He comes around with the gun [modern upgrade for axe] and kills everyone around. I have to check if he kills 21 people though.

7. Narasimha avatar - Shingen Narahashifirst of all the name itself is a play on the words singam [means lion in tamil] and narasimha [the avatar being symbolised]. Lord Narasimha manifests himelf to kill the bad guy and he also teaches prahaladha. In the movie, he shows up to kill the killer fletcher! and is also a teacher.. Lord Narasimha had to kill the asura with bare hands and hence the martial arts exponent here.. get it?

8. Rama avatar - Avatar SinghLord Rama stands for the one man one woman maxim, kind of symbolising true love.. Here Avatar portrays that spirit by saying that he loves his woman more than anything and wants to live for her.

9. Kalki avatar - Govindaraj RamasamyAs you know, the hero in kaliyug can be none other than the Kalki avatar!!!

10. Koorma avatar - BushThis is the most loose adaptation I couldn’t clearly comprehend. But if you look at the real koorma avatar, the lord is the turtle/tortoise that helps in stirring the ksheera sagara and bringing out the amruth. This essentially creates war among the devas and asuras. Similarly today Bush facilitates war between you know whom… May be Kamal also indicates that this avatar is a bit dumb like the tortoise…

There are few positive and encouraging (to new movie makers) points handled in the movie

- The concept is the key and the way they modernized the 10 avatars is an awesome idea
- Balaram Naidu is my favourite who acted brilliantly with perfectly needed humour to his character.. hats off
- Climax was awesome with the sentence ‘ Kadavul ilainu naa solalai aana irunthiruntha nalla irunthirukum’
- I am thinking wat more I could tell but nothingz standing in my mind… hahaha

The story is ok… the concept is great… the 10 avatars of kamal acted wonderfully as it is no surprise… 1-2 songs are hear’able… but I felt the following ‘letting down’ factors…

Make up:

Fletcher, Singh and few are ok… though I wont say marvelous and all… but the kaifullah and Paati were irritating… I can see the glare in the face and it clearly shows it’s a make up (did they paid that make up guy from Hollywood properly ?? or his name was projected for name sake ?) Gosh !!!

Music:

I have no idea why A R Rehman is not pinned in for this amazing concept… HR music is uniform one normally… this movie has only average songs… am sure there are lots of in-state talents like yuvan, vidyasagar, harris jeyaraj, ilayaraja who can do much much better than this…. I am not sure about the idea of bringing this useless musician….

Non-Racy Screen play:

There was many points in screen where the screen play wasn’t appealing at all… Firstly, Govind starts the movie with his speech which is at 100 mph speed and moved to 12th century sets before a lay man could realize wat he is speaking about… then all those Govind- Asin comedies which doesn’t fit well to the intensity of the problem.. If this movie is about some concept and a classic they should have excluded this non-geling comedy … if they wanna project as an entertainer, the research for the movie is not required. Silly scenes like the bullet takes away the singh’s cancer, nimbi character overacts to show he is body builder, paati being hyperactive at the age of 95, govind travels to India over the courier box so easily etc.. could have been avoided

Stunts:

Every one (hero, villan, heroine) jumping in the movie as they like… ironically, all the time they are doing safe landing…. Am not sure this is a lollu sabha kind of comedy or a serious stunt… Its deftly not convincing.. The pleasing stunt was the Japanese and fletcher fighting in the climax (its top class infact)… no other managed to capture my attention….

Visual Effects:

I seriously cant understand whats so amzing in this movie on visual effects… is it like I expected too much to match the perfection in Hollywood like spider man or mask …?? The visual effects in independence day was better even it was taken long long ago… did they forgot that thre are better softwares to get realistic visual effects…. The initial scene where nimbi is taken to immerse in to the sea was crap… the tsunami set wasn’t a catchy one though the effort was immaculate to get that scene…

K S Ravikumar:

Doesn’t look like a ravikumar kind of movie… had he went on a vacation once the movie started? Or he changed all his style of directing to go with other big heads involved in the script… no idea la…. I can see ravikumar only in the name in credits but no credit to him at all…

Oh man am going over the limit already.. the disastarous size of the post was not my intention but I was worried that too much of money went in for this mixed reviewd movie… this is supposed to be a mega hit movie for the money, concept and kamal but lots of factors had jumped in to spoil the output and overall my review is ‘OK movie to watch once’

Fried rice? Its Macau Express

For a Ovo-Lacto-Veggies like me food is not a easy life… Specially when you are out of India... Am in Singapore for quiet sometime and I have to say that food being a major problem when ever I go out…

One fine day I discovered this place Macau Express near the Expo. In Changi… Though the restaurant is famous for its seafood dishes, I can spend anything to get this lovely yummy yummy Macau Vegetable fried rice… Infact, this is the only vegetarian food one can get in that restaurant... however, its still a unique item…The place is really really far from my home situated right on the other end of the island…near to the airport…

First time I have been with my mate looking for some change in my food cycle and I accidentally got in to the restaurant with out any expectations… my mate, who had prawn fried rice also appretiated the quality of the food. Later, I went with my wife when we were on our way to rcve our guest to the airport…. My wife liked it too… later again I went with my family to ther…I started this habbit of rcvng and sending off ppl in airport having this as a key reason ; )

The ambience is just like yet another restaurant but the food factor is awesome… The vegetables are quiet fresh and the rice is golden fried on butter nicely mixed with other fried rice ingredients from Macau… Please don’t underestimate the typical Chinese chilli sauce pots laying on the tables… one should respect the spice factor in that god damn sauce and consume as little as you could… else u need to roar all day and keep regretting for the mistake… I love to have a cold coffee with milk on the side which really adds the flavour to my perfect dinner…

How to get there?

For Singapore residents,

Alight at Tana Merah MRT get the train goes to Changi airport… Alight at Expo for a 4-5 mins walk to Macau situated in the food court…

For International folks,

Get whatever flight that goes to Singapore Changi Airport… catch the train to Tana Merah MRT…. Alight at Expo….

So dudes....

If (veggie_lover = TRUE)
IF (fried_rice_lover = TRUE)
Must_to_eat = ‘Macau Vegetable Fried rice’
Optional = ‘Scrambled egg on the fried rice’
Drink = ‘Any cold drink with milk’
Endif
Endif

Mobile Photography

Oh heyyy... managed to save some time to update this space... moving on with my photography styles, i attached few pics taken recently of my N73... i call this as mobile photography as

• -i still havent got my dream Sony H50 Camera yet
• -its easy to get my mobile any wer i go as it is always in my pocket
• -easy to use in terms of technology and giving the needed work only to my creative brain

Only 'Nuts' can seperate us:

This one is taken in the Jurong Birds park in Singapore. I patiently waited for around 15 mins to get these 3 cute things to face in one direction and get my cam in the right position and click with out any shakings...

Dead Leaf adds the life:

This one taken on the way to the Merilion park in Singapore. I saw the climate is so perfect for this scene. Also, i was embarassingly waiting for the crowd to clear a bit as i needed in the picture. The leaves here and there had been the integral part of the decoration.



Parking Zone or a Space Station:

Full credits to the interior design skills of the people. It is just a car parking lot and i was totally perplexed with the blue light gives a kind of space station effect. Also, the inhabbited atmosphere triggered me to click.

Red Rules:

I always like the colour RED in few models (cars). This one is my uncle's and i got the urge to click this purely coz the petrol stations in this country wont give a damn if u use mobiles inside. Also, the colour of the car is the real flavour.

Traditional is my way:

The intresting fact about this duck is that they live with only pair through out its life. Its called the Mandarin Duck and many chinese couple have this in their house. Why not ?? Click.. Click..