Photography Updates

Oh nice !!! Been to Coimbatore for a couple of days and felt so rejuvenated by the chill climate, cool breeze, warm people... The basic purpose of the trip is to accompany the newly wed couple (My brother and his wife) to the Bride's home for the customary stay (2 days) after marriage... Used this time to re-start my so called 'Photography'...

 

 The typical Banana-Leaf Food

 



The decoration lights hanged outside the home

The Raw Bananas Show

Its greenly-green all the way

 

Crispy Fried Fish

 

The soldier at gate

A Frustrating Journey: Converting Foreign License to Singapore Driving License

Ever since I returned back from South Africa, I had one thing in my mind. Get Singapore driving license for its instant recognition worldwide. This post doesn’t teach you on how to convert your foreign license to Singapore driving license. This is the long path that I took to obtain this. It could have been faster IF IF IF, I researched the procedure well and be a bit more active. Reminds me the famous quote from the dashing cricket player Sidhu, ''If ifs and buts were pots and pans, there would have been no tinkers''

January 2012:

With my lazy googling, I found that my first step is to register myself for a BTT (Basic Theory Test). I also found that there is a Traffic Police office (Branch) in Ang Mo Kio which is quiet close to my place. I believed that I can do this registration and went there on a Saturday morning only to know that I have to go personally to any of the following driving centers to register and get an appointment.

• Woodlands Driving Test Centre, level 1, co-located with the Singapore Safety Driving Centre ( http://www.ssdcl.com.sg/ ) at 2, Woodlands Industrial Park E4 Singapore 757387.

• Bukit Batok Driving Test Centre, level 2, co-located with the Bukit Batok Driving Centre (http://www.bbdc.sg ) at 815 Bukit Batok West Ave 5 Singapore 659085.

• Kampong Ubi Test Centre, level 2, co-located with ComfortDelgro Driving Centre (http://www.cdc.com.sg) at 205, Ubi Ave 4 Singapore 408805.

The worst part is that I have to go either weekdays or Saturday before 12 PM. The time is 11 already and I have no choice but to wait for next Saturday.

The following Saturday:

I reached Woodlands Driving Test Centre (you have to take a shuttle bus from Marsling MRT) right away in the morning and managed to register for BTT. Also, bought a theory book on Singapore Traffic rules and driving guidelines for 5 SGD. The appointment was given 2 Months later from that point on a Wednesday at 8 PM. I sincerely studied the book for next 30 mins while I am on bus and totally forgot this. Luckily I marked the date as reminder in my outlook.

2 Months Later:

I saw my outlook that I got a test to attend the same evening. I haven’t read that book at all. I was a bit worried that I might fail. I left the office on same evening with worried face. I was at my best speed reading the book all the way in the train. It was altogether 1.5 hours journey from Tanjong pagar to Woodlands driving center. I used the time quiet well and I started memorizing a lot in typical Madras university exams preparation style. I reached on time. The test was for 40 minutes or so. There will be 50 objective type questions and you have to get 45 correct. The challenge is not with the questions being tough. Its with questions being too easy that will make you to give less attention. I finished them in 20 minutes and yuhooo !!! 49/50. I was so happy seeing result ever since I saw my university results. The movie is not over yet. I was told to visit any of the Driving Centers during office hours or Saturday mornings to submit conversion license form. I was really excited. Later, I have to walk 2 Kilometers to get back to MRT (as the shuttle bus arrives only 30 minutes later and I was damn hungry) then travelled another 1 hour or so to reach my temporary accommodation in Queenstown.

2 Weeks Later:

On another Saturday morning, I went to Comfort Delgro Driving Center in Ubi Avenue as It was a easy access from queenstown for license application. I took a copy of all my documents (Passport, Indian Driving License, PR card, BTT result) I took the queue ticket, waited for an hour and was told that I have to bring the original copy of my Re Entry Permit that was issued along with PR. I never used this permit ever since I received it. It was not mentioned in the required documents list as well. I was totally frustrated. I have no choice but to go back home. I can not return the same day as the office is only till 12 PM. Darn !!!

2 Weeks Later:

Yet another Saturday morning. I went again with all required documents. Waited for an hour and finally the officer accepted all documents and returned the original form to me. I was puzzled. She mentioned that I need to get License verification letter from Indian Embassy as a proof that the Indian license I submitted is genuine. Bloody hell !!! The Indian embassy process is even more complex. I thought Mustafa Center can do the trick and immediately rushed there to submit the request for verification letter. To my agony, Mustafa don’t do this service alone. I just returned home with pain.

2 Days Later:

I was googling for an easy way of getting this verification letter and found this VFS office located around 10 minutes walk from office. Yesss, I walked to the office during lunch and submitted the form with relevant photocopies. When I enquired on how long it will take, she mentioned that the normal come back time is around 1 month and sometimes go more than that. Ayyylaamaaa !!! Its all uncertainties. That time one of my friend told that you may not get the letter at all for ages as it happened to his wife. I was worried, not that I may not get license but I thought all my efforts so far goes for a toss.

2 Months later:

After numerous follow ups, I got a call from VFS that I got the letter. When I asked if I can come right away and get the letter, she mentioned that I need to provide all the document copies and make payment first. I rightfully went and made the payment. She told me to come and collect the letter after 3 days. By this time, I was on my client site in Alexandra road. It was all pain commuting during office hours. I have to sacrifice my lunch times for all these. 3 Days later I got the letter and once again there was useless smile on my face.

1 Week later:

Saturday morning, reached the Ubi Avenue office to provide the letter, other documents and original form. As I said, the movie is not over yet. I was only shocked to know that I can submit this letter only during the weekdays as the system is locked on weekends to accept the final form. For once, I started swearing at this non-friendly Singapore procedure. No choice, I have to fight my way in the heavy rain to get back home. Did I mentioned that I shifted to Yew Tee home which is like 1.5 hour travel from the Driving Center.

2 Days later:

I made up my mind that I should get this damn license at any cost and hence left home like 7 AM to reach as the first person around 8.30 AM in driving center. Oh well… Finally… Finally… All went well. I submitted the form and got the temporary license. She mentioned that I will get the communication by post in a month’s time regarding my Permanent License card.

A month later:

Just the day before the registered post arrived, my family left to India. This means, there was a note left at my home stated that I have to go personally to collect the license card. Why… Why… When I just thought all was done. I have to google the post office location in Choa Chu Kang, reached there, waited in a long queue and Finally (Its really final now) the license card is in my hand. In total, it was an astonishing 8 months effort. 

My Oscar of the year ;)

For one last time, I Smiled :)

கவிதை கிறுக்கல்

படத்துக்கு  பாட்டு எழுதறது ரொம்ப கஷ்ட்டமான விஷயம் தான் ... ஆனாலும் ஆசை யார விட்டுது ... ரயில்ல வீட்டுக்கு போயிட்டு இருக்கும்போது சிந்தனைய தட்டி விட்டேன் ;)  பட்டுன்னு வந்த பாட்டு ..

  

ஆண்:

இதயம் உண் கண்ணில் மெதுவா
உருகும் அந்த தருணம் இதுவா

வெண்ணிலவே உந்தன் பிம்பம்
கண்டிடவே நெஞ்சம் ஏங்கும்
நடு சாமத்திலே உள்ளம் வாடும்

பெண்:

காதல் சொல்லவே மனது ஏங்க
நாணம் மெல்ல நிறுத்தி போக
மௌன மொழிகள் உனக்கு கேக்காதோ !!!

ஆண்:

சொப்பனங்கள் செத்து விழ உன் நினைவு வட்டம் இட
நானோ இல்லை யாரோ
தேனோ உன் பேரோ

பெண்:

நெஞ்சுக்குள்ள சோகம் இல்ல உன் நினைவே போதும் வெல்ல
ஏனோ பிழை ஏதோ
கூறு பதில் கூறு

ஆண்:

இதயம் உன் கண்ணில் மெதுவா
உருகும் அந்த தருணம் இதுவா

பெண்:

பூக்களே என் காதினில் கொஞ்சும்
உன் கைகளில் என் வாழ்வும் தஞ்சம்

ஆண்:

என் வானிலே ஒரு கோடி பூக்களும் விழுந்ததுவோ
காதோரம் சலங்கைகள் மணி சத்தம் எழுந்ததுவோ

ஆண் - பெண் (Chorus):

காலன் கூட பக்கம் வர எண்ணம் இல்ல
கொண்ட காதல்
கொஞ்சும் பாடல்
நெஞ்ச கொண்டு
கொள்ளை போக

ஆண்:

இளவேனில் கானம் ஒன்று
உன் இதயம் தேடும் அன்று
என் வானம் விடியும் என்று !!!

ஆண்::

இதயம் உண் கண்ணில் மெதுவா
உருகும் அந்த தருணம் இதுவா ...!!!

****

பிழைய பொறுத்து பாட்ட படிச்சதுக்கு நன்றி நன்றி நன்றி :)

Buying a HDB flat in Singapore

After months of hard toiling, I have finally managed to buy a flat in Singapore. This article might be handy if you considering buying a hdb (resale) flat in Singapore.

 What is HDB?

HDB stands for Housing Development Board which is a government organization that builds and sells the houses to the Singapore residents. The government basically controls the valuation price of the house and takes the responsibility to maintain the HDB buildings. More than 80% of Singapore population lives in HDB flats.

Eligiblity : To buy a HDB flat, your spouse and you should be a Singapore PR or Citizens (if your age is less than 35). You can still buy a HDB flat if you are a PR, Single and above 35 years of age. Also note, Singaporean PRs are eligible to buy a resale flat only. Only citizens can buy newly built flats in Singapore.

Prerequisites:

You need to make sure you plan the following prerequisites before even you start your house hunting.

No Overseas Properties : This will let many people down but recently HDB added this rule that if you want to buy a HDB flat in Singapore, you have to declare that you dont have any other property anywhere else in the world. I am not sure how will they find out or if they will find out or not but if you are proven guilty, you will have to face worst time of your life :(

Housing Loan Eligiblity & 20% Down payment: For PRs, you can only get 80% of the valuation price as a loan. However, Singapore housing loan interest is very cheap compared to India and many countries. The remaining 20% can be a combination of cash and CPF (Central Provident Fund) savings that you have accumulated all the time in Singapore. The suggested advice is to research on the banks and their interest rates, apply for in principal loan approval. This means, the bank will issue a letter to you on the maximum loan you can avail, interest rates etc.,

COV: You also should have enough buffers for this funny element called COV (Cash over Value). This amount could be anywhere from 0 to 100000 dollars on top of the valuation price. Basically, this is the negotiation part where a buyer can usually get engaged with the seller. This COV concept evolved only few years ago as few sellers felt the valuation price is far too low for the flat and therefore the government does not interfere with this amount. Buyer has to research himself to make sure the COV amount is reasonable enough for the house. For eg., if the house is well renovated, you may want to consider giving the expected COV otherwise try and negotiate to get the best deal. Ofcourse, COV will not be part of the housing loan in any bank. Means, you need to pay the COV completely from your pocket. However, its 100% legal and will be added to valuation price.

Stamp Fee : You normally end up paying roughly around 10K for a 500K worth house (very approximate calculation)

Agent Fee: Buyer should pay 1% of total house value (excluding GST) as an Agent fee. Normally, it’s a hectic process if you prefer to buy a house without an agent’s help unless you have humongous patience and enormous time.

Renovation Fee: This is subjective. If the house is in perfect moving-in condition, you don’t need to worry about. Even if there is a renovation needed, there are one million banks ready to offer renovation loan.

Procedure:

Here is the step by step procedure to buy HDB flat once you planned the money part.

Step 1: Engage agents and start house hunt

Have a budget in mind and start researching the market. I was greatly benefited by the site www.propertyguru.com.sg to know about the current market condition. Also start fixing the viewing appointment. Ever viewing is a new learning. Try and view as many to know more about the market.

Step 2: Negotiation

Once you feel the house is good enough, you can start making your offer and engage in negotiation. The agent is the mediator. Ideally, you won’t negotiate the amount face to face with the seller. The agent will act as a mediator between seller’s agent and you. Normally, there will b a seller’s agent (who gets his commission from seller) and a buyer’s agent (who will get the commission from buyer) who talks to their clients during the whole negotiation process. Basically, you cannot negotiate on the valuation price part as it’s fixed by government. The only negotiation happens will be on COV only.

Step 3: 1000$ payment

Once you are happy with the price, place a 1000$ deposit (this is part of your 20% down payment/ COV amount) and sign the option to purchase document. This means you have 2 weeks time to get your loan approved and get the required documents from bank. Also, incase if you change your mind, you can chose not to buy the house but you won’t get the 1000$ deposit back.

Step 4: Exercise the option

This is the first critical step you do in the house buying process. After 2 weeks from the date you signed the option to purchase, you have to pay 4000 SGD (again, part of your COV/20% down payment) to confirm that you intend to buy the house and no turning back after that. You will further sign the Exercise the option document along with your spouse. Immediately after signing the document, the agent will get in touch with HDB and get the first appointment date to go physically and sign further documents in front of HDB officers. Meanwhile, the bank will also engage their lawyers to do the legal formalities for you. There will be a small legal fee for this (around 600 SGD)

Step 5: HDB appointment

Roughly 5-6 weeks later, your spouse and you should go to HDB hub along with the agents, sellers to sign the agreement to buy and sell. At that point the HDB officer will announce the house completion date. After that you need to visit the lawyers (your agent will help you arrange) to sign further documents that explains legal fee, cpf contribution to your housing loans etc., The agent will let you know the stamp fee amount for which you need to bring a cheque in the name of ‘Commissioner of Stamp Duties’ to be handed over to the law firm. The law firm will let you know exactly by when you need to settle the entire balance amount and the exact amount as well. Normally, you need to hand the complete balance cheque to law firm 1 or 2 days before completion date. The completion date will normally be 5-6 weeks after this point.

Step 6 : Hand over

Basically, after Step 5 all you need to do is to get the balance amount ready in your bank and get the cheque ready on time before the completion date. 1 or 2 days before the completion, you can fix an inspection appointment with the current owners to make sure the house is in the same condition as you have seen before. Neither HDB nor the owners will take responsibility of any damages that you find after the completion date. You can also use this 5-6 weeks period to plan you renovation, furniture shopping etc., during the completion date, you need to visit the law firm again to collect the house keys and the house is all yours.


Keep in mind:

The whole process from Step 1 to 6 will be typically around 4-6 months depends on the mutual agreement between the buyer and seller, hdb work load etc.,

You don’t own the house until the completion date and therefore you can not disturb the current owners time to time in the name of repeated viewing etc., unless the seller is kind enough to allow you.

Renovation plan is the key. You won’t be able to renovate once you move in due to the complexities involved. So, plan your renovation bit carefully and make sure you got your money/paper works ready before completion date so you don’t waste any time.

Organize yourself well and keep the documents safe and ready all the times. You may have to take copies and submit them time to time.

Most importantly, buying private properties in Singapore has lots of variation from what I mentioned here. If you plan to buy private flats, you are reading wrong post ;)

Feel free to contact me if you need any references for House Agent, Banks for House loan, Renovation loans, Renovation contractors etc., Personally I felt satisfied with the quality of work though I am not 100% sure if I paid killer-deal money to get there services.

All I posted in this article are purely my experience and research output only. Don’t whack me if you have different experience ;) everyone is unique and you may have different experience. The purpose of this post is to give you a high level idea on buying an hdb flat in Singapore.

5 Reasons why I like Samsung Galaxy S2 over Iphone 4S

Was used to iphone'ing and ipad'ing for more than a year, I thought life was cool with those millions of free apps in istore and their unique way of working. Then, I met Android powered Samsung S2. Here are some bullet points that are attractive about Samsung S2

- Bigger screen for a phone, lesser weight compare to iphone. The slim structure and broader screen impresses any one with the first look.

- Android : I wouldn’t rate this as advantage but I felt android’s UI is far more attractive and easy to use. The voice command (I think its not android specific) in samsung s2 really impressed me and the way I can text my contact without touching the phone made me jaw-drop

- File transfer : You don’t have to convert your videos/mp3 to any common format to use in S2. Infact S2 plays more video files than many devices.

- Speed : The processor is just super fast. Can handle multiple applications well at a time. Very impressed with the internet speed. I don’t use my laptop these days. I prefer using my s2 to watch online videos than my laptop or ipad

- Pictures/Videos : The picture and video clarity I noticed is better than iphone/ipad.

The major let down factor about S2 is the battery period which I felt is relatively low compared to apple products but if you are not all-the-time-in-the-phone guy, am sure S2 will attract you well : ) Thanks to my brother who gifted the wonderful gadget when i was constantly behind Nokia N9 as my next phone : )

Charismatic Chetan

Chetan Bagath, one name that every second youth in India is definitely aware of. He was my first inspiration to get in to the world of writing called BLOGGING. I know I am doing no justification for taking him as role model but nevertheless he is sure an inspiration to many. As of last week, I finished reading his latest book Revolution 2020 and here are consolidated views about the writer and his books.

What makes him special ? Firstly, his style. He keeps things simple, thinks and writes it from heart making the narration very much practical with good blend of humour and sarcasm. He understands the pulse of current generation readers and follows a writing style that reaches any average literate effortlessly. Secondly, his thoughts speaks. He was an IIM product and settled in one of the dream life at HongKong. His passion for writing and urge to reform the Indian society is what made him more admirable. He now migrated back to India after a decades money-making-spree in HK.

I have read all his 5 books that came out so far and here are my feedback. Obviously, I enjoyed all of them with jus few ups and downs.

Five point Some one : His first book and arguably, his best book so far. I thought I should start blogging after reading first few pages of this book and I haven’t stopped blogging since then. I know it takes a lot to write well but am happy I started : ) To me, the book was more enjoyable than the movie 3 idiots itself. This book is a must read for every one.

One Night @the Call Center : The book didn’t do well like his first one but I found this one intresting too. May be its me but in theory, this had a wonderful plot for a classic fiction. This is about life of many Call center dudes and what happens one night. Read this if you like Chetan Bagath

The 3 Mistakes of my Life : This for me is the lowest ranked book of Chetan Bagath. The story of 2 friends who goes through ups and downs in making a young hopeless school boy to a great cricketer. Though CB’s narration was the only relief, everything else wasn’t so great. Still you can read once.

2 States: The story of my Marriage : This is totally a fresh story line and mostly inspired from his own life. It has lots humour, few emotions and so much practical. It’s a full length love story of a couple hailing for extreme corners of India and they need their family’s approval to get married. Must read book and am sure you will love it.

Revoltuon 2020 : I was having huge hopes on this book as the topic was very sensitive but turned out to be a 1980s Rajnikanth movie style book. A young chap poor in studies went successful with life by taking wrong route eventually becoming good person at the end. His friend, topper in studies wanted to bring a change in the society and struggling in his life. They have one common problem ‘Aarti’. Read it for the writer’s genuine intentions and don’t expect huge drama that you never seen in the past ; )

A Public Service Post ;)

Been to 0ne of my favourite place in India on a yet another road trip. Its Tirupathi... I always love to take the 3-4 hours walk to the top enjoying all the way with green surroudings, devotees' loud chants, deers and the exercise. Certain things never changed in Tirupathi in all these years and some of them are sick though.... I have clicked few of them on my mobile and please note, i dont target any particulare race or community with my comments, Tirupathi is a multi cultural place and i just care much about this world's richest Hindu Temple.

Trust me, this is an information stone that is supposed to say 3 KMS and people made it as another god :) (எத்தன விவேக் வந்தாலும் உங்கள திருத்த முடியாது !!!)


I am sorry Mr. Manu, neither Hamsa nor the god you pray will be happy with your love intentions.

One of the pillars on the way... Infact most of the pillars looks the same... (எப்ப நீங்க திருந்த போறீங்க )

This happend right in front of my eyes, a big family totally ignored the litter bins placed almost every 10 meters... ( அர்ரெஸ்ட் பண்ணுங்க சார் அவங்கள )

No one knows why people tie these clothes on trees :) I am sorry if there is any belief and if i insulted it. To my knowledge, there is nothing specific about this funny practice

Yet another Belief !!! (This only reminds the 7 stones game that i play'd during childhood)

South Africa : A country one must visit

After a year’s stay in this beautiful country, its time for me to pack up. I wasn’t optimistic a year ago when I set off from Singapore as most of my mates only warned me of taking huge life risk visiting this unsafe land. I must say they are as good as ignorant. Ofcourse, the country is not best place interms of safety but its just like any other country. All you have to be is RATIONALE. I had few friends who had horrible incidents like losing their mobiles, laptops etc but I know a lot (including myself) who had their best time living in SA.

Apart from the living, safety etc., this is a must visit place for any type of travel freaks. You can get pretty much everything that you wish on a travel sports, game drives, scenic drives, beaches, snow you name it. Here is the list of places I visited and enjoyed ranked from bottom to top.

Johannesburg

This is the economical capital of SA and my home for whole 1 year. Also, this is the city with most crime rate in Africa. Luckily, I lived all my time in the suburb called Sandton which is supposedly far safe than others. Regarding places to visit, all I could find worthy was Lions park (where you can hug white lion cubs and take pictures), Cradle of mankind (the first humans lived here), Montecasino (Off late, iam a casino freak) and Pretoria Zoo (well maintained and some rare animal species too)

Durban

In theory, it has a lots of history but practically, its just another beach city. The Ushaka marine world is defntly worth a visit for its maintenance and aquarium. I enjoyed the south coast watersports (Jet Ski) Skip this city if you are tight schedule. FYI, its 7 hours drive from Johannesburg.

St. Lucia (Elephan Coast)

7 hours drive from Joburg. Another coastal city where my son cut his cake on his second birth day. Unexpectedly, we enjoyed the place very much with cheetah farm, lovely beaches (specialy body boarding) and a decent game drive there. Go there only if you stay long term.

Drakensburg Mountains

Lies around 4.5 hours drive from Joburg. The trek to tugela (worlds second largest water falls) Was completely exciting and any trek freak would love to go here. The beautiful view of the frozen water falls made my day and will never forget the painful/exciting trek we had.

Blyde River Canyon/Kruger National Park

The only place I went twice in South Africa. Its not too far (4 hours drive) from Joburg but I suggest this place for any one who visits Joburg. This is the worlds 3rd largest canyon and the largest green canyon. The whole drive is eventful with scenic landscapes around. The whole panaroma route has lots of view points and this is an excellent stop over on the way to Kruger National Park. The Kruger National Park is one of the largest in Africa with 360 KM in length and 70 KM in width. Make sure you spend quiet some time and complete seeing all the big 5 (Leopard, African Elephants, Buffalo, Rhino, Lions) Make sure you stay inside the forest to get the real Kruger Experience

Cape Town

Arguably, one of the best cities in the world a tourist must go. The table mountains are the must watch along with Robben island meuseum. They are world heritage sites and good learning for history lovers too. The drive from Table mountains to Cape point is another experience altogether. The boulders beach was awesome full of penguins and I guess one of the few beaches in world with such a huge collection of penguins. However, the beaches are not ideal for swimming due to cold temp. Tip : Stay in Stellenbosch for best countryside experience and what more you want than sitting in the middle of vineyards on a sun set sipping true South African Wines

Scroll down to see my individual blog posts on few of the above mentioned places. If you are visiting South Africa keep two things in mind. Enjoy your best and keep the safety precautions in mind where ever you go. If you rent a car, always have GPS with you. Happy travelling

Durban Diary

03/11/2011

Its Vimala’s birthday tomorrow. We wanted to celebrate in a far away place and we chose Durban. We left around 3 PM from Joburg. Babu and his family joined us too and we all set for the launch

It was a tiring 7 hours drive and finally we reached Hibberdene (1 hour drive south from Durban) around 10 PM. The kids had a good sleep in car and terribly fresh until midnight.

Babu’s family surprised us with a cake for Vimala’s bday. So, all set for a cake cut at 12 with 2 active kids around. Off to sleep soon after munching the cakes.

04/11/2011

Had breakfast at the beach house we stayed and did a quick walk around the place with kids. It was a decent choice as I always prefer out of the city stay.

Reached Ushaka marine world (Durbans famous tourist attraction/ Water theme park for all ages) around 10 AM and started getting wet. Did my first time Shark cage snorkeling inside. Though its just a small, I felt nice to get closer to those most dangerous creatures. At one point, I realized I wounded my self an hour ago and my legs are still bleeding. Slightly scared if that will distract the sharks but ironically, they didn’t give a s**t

Vimala did her first time under water ocean walk and was too excited about the experience. Her son didn’t seem to miss her at all ;) However, had a tough time to keep him occupied while she was busy with her under water mates

The dolphin show was well organized. I still liked the Singapore one except for the hot and humid part in Singapore (against the chill and pleasant viewing in Durban) Achyut enjoyed the show very much and shouting ‘Fish Fish Fish’ everytime the dolphins jumps.

The Aquarium was also a pleasant viewing. Lots of collections and very well clubbed with the viewing of snorkelers, shark cage divers and the ocean walkers on the go. Altogether, a good walk for us around the huge aquarium.

Did lots of water slides and loved it very much as it was less crowded and I gave a pat to myself for choosing this place on a weekday.

This is the memorable part of the day. The dinner we had in a restaurant called Kashmir is just horrible. The hospitality in the restaurant is close to zero. Friends, stay away : ) To make things worse, my GPS was broke and we have to navigate back on our own. Luckily, Babu was an X resident in Durban and he made it like a piece of cake.

05/11/2011

Got up around 7 AM and had a lovely walk to the beach with my family. We had to cross a hanging bridge and a river (where we got drenched till our hips) It was nice and fun. Even funnier, was the sky started drizzling as we reached the beach and then got back through same route immediately

Got back home, got read and drived further south to a place called, WILD COAST SUN which is like 45 minutes drive from hibberdene and the place lies along the easter cape border. Now, this was a surprise for me. This place had a huge water sports collection all I liked. We all did the Water Scooter ride (called as Jet Ski in South Africa) for the first time. I was bloody thrilled to go at top speed and turned at will with the same speed still not drenched. That was the best experience for me in the whole trip. Again, the sky started drizzling and we couldn’t catch up with other sports there.

06/11/2011

No plans. Just went around shopping in a huge GATEWAY mall. Later, went to this Funfair land for kids. Off to Joburg after a quick lunch in Copper chimney restaurant. Over all, our experience with food in Durban wasn’t all that great : )

Luckily, I managed to fix the GPS and we had a rainy first half drive then sunny as we get close to Joburg. At 7.30 PM we are back home in Joburg. It was a pleasant trip with lots of adventures and misadventures. My wife and me decided to do more water sports in future after this experience.

7aam Arivu : Tamizhan’s Pride

Until a month ago, I don’t even heard this name Bodhidharma and all on a sudden the term ‘wiki bodhidharma’ went on to be the popular search in India during last 1 month. That’s the massive success that the movie ‘7aam Arivu’ achieved. I was a bit disappointed to see mixed reviews until I watched the movie on Saturday, as I expected this to be a clean-sweep hit like Gajini. Here is my personal review of this movie.

The first 20 minutes of the movie gives the best impression due to heavy money shed on the locations and most importantly recreating the historic events that happened 1600 years ago. Surya as Bodhidharma just impresses with his expressions and stage presence though he haven’t delivered much of dialogues. The Chinese song in the first bit was just cherry on cake. Later, the story gets back to present day and we see Surya again as an entertainer working in Circus. The whole story plot can be told in 3 words Bodhidharma-DNA-Aravind. Here are the good and bads about the movie.

Good good, I Like it

Obviously, the first 20 minutes are amazing with well done cinematography, stunts and extraordinary BGM. Then, enters the villain Johnny. Stand out part was he never talked Tamil (unlike many vijaykanth movies where all country terrorist speaks good Tamil) and he carried himself well with gestures & emotions. Surya’s acting in both roles shows how matured he is getting in the art of acting. Surely, he could better what Kamalhassan achieved ( I sincerely wish) Next note worthy point is the actual intentions of the Director himself. He just showed his class by going out of the box, pick a forgotton character in Tamil history and showed how he went to be the founder of Shaolin Kung fu. As ARM mentioned during the launch, this movie will make Tamil, PROUDER. Indeed, if not for Bodhidharma, for AR Murugadoss who showcased what a class means to modern day Bollywood directors. Tamil Cinema for sure travelling in right path.

What the #$@$!@

While I enjoyed the never been attempted stuffs in this movie, there are few let downs that I felt, though I am not too worried about that. Shrutihassan, pretty & makes good chemistry with Surya, irritates with her Tamil accent. It’s a shame that the daughter of a legend in Tamil film industry can’t get her accent right. Is it attitude? Probably. The needless songs are another issue. I personally felt the heart-broken-surya’s song in the railway tracks and the second duet song totally messed up the flow of the movie and made the audience feel waiting-for-the-song-to-finish rather enjoying it. Besides, all the songs always reminded Harris Jeyaraj’s old tunes. Next thing that hurts is the over exaggeration of the art, Hypnotism. I agree this is a art and achievable but when you see this villain uses this as primary weapon at will is like actually insulting this art. Also, the over lengthen stretch where Johnny does rapid-hypnotism at every one to kill Surya was a bit annoying and why in Indian movies, all the civilians should die except the Hero and his pair?

Wow moments

Bodhidharman’s stunt, neat job by stunt team.

The explanation of what is DNA and how it works. Also, the explanation about Bio-war. These are a bit documentary type but much needed to know. I wonder if this actually reached C center though.

When Surya says ‘There is a difference between courage and betrayal’

Editing, the way they showed how the virus spreads was brilliant (though tiny bit)

BGM, especially first 20 minutes and the rest of the movie

Verdict

A must watch movie for Tamils to know how proud they can be and a must watch movie for Indians to see a good out-of-the-box content and some quality acting from the hero.

P.S : There was a dialogue that says 9 countries together attacked Tamil race. I know who the Tamil race was but what are those 9 countries ? Please leave it in the comment if you know.

Puzzle Time

I am always a big fan of brain teaser puzzles. Though I am not a great solver, I love brain teasers. During my childhood, my uncle always gives me brain teasers to solve and I succeed in few as well. Later, I found its nice to solve puzzles to keep your brain sharp. Specially in IT Industries, its very common to get few brain teaser puzzles during your first interview to test your aptitude skills. Here are some puzzles I enjoyed. The first 3 are the ones I had in my first interview and luckily, I solved them all :)

The answers are at the end for your reference. Have fun solving

1. Cut a perfectly cylindrical shaped cake in to 8 equal sized pieces. Remember, you can make only 3 slices.

2. You got 2 candles; each will burn for an hour. You have no markings in the candle to measure it. Now, how will you measure 1.5 hours using just these 2 candles?

3. There is a 20 feet well. A Frog, starting from bottom, jumps 5 feet high and drops down 4 feet. After how many jumps the frog successfully comes out of the well?

4. You have a 3 liter can and a 5 liter can. Also, you got a tank full of surplus water. How will you measure 4 liter of water with just these 2 cans?

5. By moving one of the following digits, make the equation correct. 62 - 63 = 1

6. You have 12 black socks and 12 white socks mixed up in a drawer. You're up very early and it's too dark to tell them apart. What's the smallest number of socks you need to take out (blindly) to be sure of having a matching pair?

7. U2 has a concert that starts in 17 minutes and they must all cross a bridge to get there. All four men begin on the same side of the bridge. You must help them across to the other side. It is night. There is one flashlight. A maximum of two people can cross at one time. Any party who crosses, either 1 or 2 people, must have the flashlight with them. The flashlight must be walked back and forth. It cannot be thrown and other tricks like that are not needed to solve the problem. The solution is simply a matter of allocating resources in a certain order. Each band member walks at a different speed. A pair must walk together at the rate of the slower man's pace: Bono: 1 minute to crossEdge: 2 minutes to crossAdam: 5 minutes to crossLarry: 10 minutes to crossFor example: if Bono and Larry walk across first, 10 minutes have elapsed when they get to the other side of the bridge. If Larry then returns with the flashlight, a total of 20 minutes have passed and you have failed the mission.

8. You are a cook in a remote area with no clocks or other way of keeping time other than a four minute sandglass timer and a seven minute sandglass timer. (The kind you turn over - hourglass shaped) You do have a stove, however, with water in a pot already boiling. Somebody asks you for a nine-minute egg, and you know this person is a perfectionist and will be able to tell if you undercook or overcook the eggs by even a few seconds. What is the least amount of time it will take to prepare the egg? And how will you prepare it so that it is neither undercooked or overcooked?

9. You are standing outside a closed door. On the other side of the door is a room that has three light bulbs in it. The room is completely sealed off from the outside. It has no windows and nothing can get in or out except through the door. On the outside of the room there are three light switches that control each of the respective light bulbs on the other side of the door.Your assignment is to determine which light switch controls which light bulb. You are allowed to enter the room only once, and once you come out, you must be able to state with 100% certainty which light switch controls which light bulb.

10. You are given eight coins and told that one of them is counterfeit. The counterfeit one is slightly heavier than the other seven. Otherwise, the coins look identical. Using a simple balance scale, can you determine which coin is counterfeit using the scale only twice?

Answers:
1. 2 slices on top of the cake to get 4 pieces. Then, make a slice side wards

2. Let the first candle burn to get 1 hour. Now, burn the next candle on both ends.

3. 16 Jumps. On the 16th jump, the frog goes out of the well.

4. Fill the 3-liter can.
Pour the 3 liters of water into the 5-liter can
Fill the 3-liter can again.
Fill up the 5-liter can with the 3-liter can, leaving you with 1 liter left in the 3-liter can.
Empty out the 5-liter can.
Pour the remaining 1 liter of water from the 3-liter can into the 5-liter can.
Fill the 3-liter can.
Pour the 3 liters of water from the 3-liter can into the 5-liter can leaving you with 4 liters of water in the 5-liter can.
5. 2^6 - 63 = 1 (I cant make 6 as power hence used '^' symbol)

6. 3 socks. If the first sock is black, the second one could be black, in which case you have a matching pair. If the second sock is white, the third sock will be either black and match the first sock, or white and match the second sock.

7. Lets take the names as 1,2,5 and 10. First, 1 & 2 goes 2 returns. Next, 5 & 10 goes and 1 returns. Then, 2 & 1 goes together.
8. The answer is 9 minutes. First, flip both hourglasses over and drop the egg into the water. When the four minute timer runs out, flip it again. When the seven minute timer runs out, flip it over. The egg has been cooking seven minutes. Now when the four minute timer runs out again (after eight minutes) flip the seven minute timer back over. Since the seven minute timer has been running only a minute between flips, there's a minute worth of sand left. And when that minute runs out, the egg will have been cooking for exactly nine minutes.
9. Turn one light switch on, wait a few minutes, then turn it off and turn another light switch on. Go into the room and feel the light bulbs. The one that's still warm is connected to the switch that you first turned on, the one that is on was the second switch you turned on, and the last bulb is controlled by the switch that you didn't touch.
10. First weigh three coins against three others. If the weights are equal, weigh the remaining two against each other. The heavier one is the counterfeit. If one of the groups of three is heavier, weigh two of those coins against each other. If one is heavier, it's the counterfeit. If they have equal weight, the third coin is the counterfeit.

Must watch for Speed Freaks

I am a rash driver in general and i used to think its a MAN THING. I am always crazy about speed whenever I drive. Even after marriage, I didn’t change a bit. Fortunately, my chances turned lesser as I moved to Singapore and stopped driving at all for a while. Wait a minute… How does this relates to the context of this post ? You will know… It’s the review for the no-hype-but-full-of-quality Tamil movie, ENGEYUM EPPODHUM


A simple story, two buses collides and the flashbacks of the travelers. What hits the bulls eye, is the screen play. The initial 30 minutes where a bit confusing with too many cuts and moves with characters and locations but slowly you are pulled in to the story.

The director is a new comer M Saravanan and produced by the Gajini fame A R Murugadoss along with Fox Studios. ARM did a worthy gamble with debutant director and full credit to him for choosing the best possible crew for this movie. Besides screen play, another stand out part was the acting performances of the 4 lead characters. Specifically, Anjali who is maturing exponentially after each movie. I was under a opinion that Angadi Theru will always be her best performance but I am sure she wont stop at anything. After a long time, Tamil Cinema got acting potentials from female leads.

Ananya used her limited scope very well. Another cake walk for Jai, he is sure a directors actor. Debutant Shravanand impresses too. The comical events between Jai and Anjali,, not so practical but a unique flavor and enjoyable. The few minutes characters in the movie also makes a good impact and that for me, is another highlight.

The underline theme of the story is the value of life. Accidents and the associated deaths are just yet another news in the media but this movie did a good attempt to shows the emotions of many who are affected by the accident. The mind blowing bit was the actual accident and what happens inside the buses during those few seconds of the accident. This gives a feel of how gory it will be when you are physically there. I felt the movie was a bit too long with too many songs but, over all a wonderful movie to watch for the thought provoking Screen play.

Getting back to the driving habits of mine, I decided to come out of the adventurous age and be rational when am on wheels again. Looking forward for the pleasant Durban road trip next month : )

An Enigma called ‘Arulmozhi Varman’

What an exciting last few months… How lucky I am… How proud should I be… Conspirators, Assassins, Spy game, The great Indian dynasty.. you can title it anything but in Tamil, its called PONNIYIN SELVAN… By par, the best book I ever read so far.

I read first 200 pages of the book several times in the past but never got a good stretch of breaks to finish the rest… few months ago, I decided I should do what ever it takes and finish the book.. Lots of my friends suggested me to read this book for past 8 years and finally, I felt lucky, privileged and proud that I managed to enjoy every page of this amazing art work by Kalki Krishnamoorthy.

The base line story is a series of true historic events blended with fictions. The title Ponniyin Selvan is actually the greatest king of chozha dynasty, Arulmozhi Varman who never wanted to be the emperor in the beginning. Ironically, the circumstances forced him to take up the throne and went on to be the THE ONE

I have downloaded the ebook in to my ipad and disastrously addicted reading the book. Though the story title is about the king Arulmozhi Varman (Raja Raja Chozha), the actual hero is Vanar kulla Vanthiya Thevan who went in to lots of adventures to serve the Chozha Empire. There are like 1 million characters in the book. Most of them play significant role in this historical wonder.

More than the history and the narrational beauty, I really really admire the indepth knowledge of the writer (Kalki) on the geography. The names of the cities 1000 years ago, the various routes that connects the cities, the transportation methods they used, the communication methods they used, the names of rivers, the various events/festivals etc., Remember, this book is written in 1950 way before the internet and other modern communication techniques existed. One needs extreme patience and pure passion for history to come out with such a master piece. Read the book and you will agree.

Dear reader, if you know to read Tamil and if you have passion for history and if you think you already read best of best thriller/action/drama books, read this before you die. The first 100 pages or so will test your patience with too many characters and unconnected incidents but keep reading if you wanna get addicted.

I truly wish this should turn out to be a movie and here is my favorite casting if at all a movie could be made out of this book.

Direction : Sankar / Maniratnam
Production : Only Sun Pictures
Music : A R Rehman
Vanthiya Thevan : Vikram
Arulmozhi Varman : Surya
Azhvarkadiyaan : Rahman
Aditya Karikaalan : Sampath (the gay character in Goa)
Kundavai : Vidya Balan
Vanathi : Tamanna
Poonguzhali : Anjali (Angadi theru fame)
Manimegalai : Amala Paul
Periya Pazhvettarayaar : Satyaraj
Chinna Pazhuvettarayar : Prakash Raj
Anbil Anirudhar : Naasar
Sundara Chozhar : Jayaprakash (Pasanga fame)
Mandagini (Oomai raani) and Nandini: Nathiya – Double act
Maduranthakar : Aarya
Senthan Amuthan : Abbaas
Parthibendran : Arjun
Kanthamaaran : Sonu Sood
Pinagapani : Karthik (America maplai character)

Whatever the casting is, if given to right directors, heavy budget producer and good technical crew, am sure the movie will be a milestone in Indian cinema. I am so looking forward.

Here are the Ebook links if you are intrested...

To read it as Tamil PDF book

To read it in English

To read it Online

I am now all geared up to start reading the sequel, UDAYAR by Balakumaran :)

Krishna Scores over Sam

Recently watched Deiva Tirumagal and as a fan of Vikram’s versatility, I enjoyed the movie very much. However, I decided to watch I am Sam from which the Tamil version is hugely inspired from. Here is the comparison analysis of the movies.

Story and Screen play : The story is pretty much similar in both versions. The first half is inch by inch remake from English version. However, I didn’t liked the second half in both versions. In English, it suited for western audience and there fore English was a better one. In Tamil, the inclusion of needless comedies like chasing each other in hotel was rather annoying. If Anushka is not getting married to Vikram, why should there be a un necessary romantic song ? not convincing in Tamil.

Casting : Full credit to vijay. The casting is just perfect for every single character. Vikram as usual did a walk in the park. Special mention should go to the baby Sara and Anushka who made an impact. Though came for short time, the 4 friends was really a delight to watch. Santhanam, black pandi, m s baskar did the home work well for the story. Highlight in tamil version is the addition of mynaa fame Amala paul she very well added the sweet flavor part

Music : Again full marks to GV Prakash. The beauty of Inidan cinema are the songs. In this movie, the songs gelled so well with the story. The story telling song is excellent one, the initial papa song is feel good, the background song when vikram raises sara alone is heart warming. Above all, I really loved the 2 theme music moments were vikram and sara exchanges the actions. Eye jerking. This is the highlight difference from English and so touching moment. Music can speak a lot better in emotional scenes.

Vikram Vs Sean Penn : Sean got the Academy award for his performance in 2001. Personally, I liked vikram’s performance better than Sean but I can see he got lots of inspiration (synonym for copied) from Sean and in many scenes he just repeated it. However, one needs talent to do that too ;) What keeps vikram at top is he is the same one who did multiple personality disorder in Anniyan, visually impaired poor singer in Kaasi, rough and tough seeyan in Sethu, grave yard maintanace villager in Pithamagan etc., the history that Sean doesn't have.

Overall, a must watch film (Deiva Tirumagal) for the individual performances and music.

Mission ‘Frozen Water Falls’

Trekking was always my favorite activity and the urge only increases every time I attempt one. This time it was yet another unique trekking experience. Here is my experience on the pursuit to world's second largest waterfalls in South Africa.

We left on Saturday morning 3 AM from Sandton. It was 3 of us and its all boys trip. Our objective was to go to the top of Tugela falls which is the second largest in the world next to Niagra. It wasn’t an easy drive after 1 hour with all mist and fog. We finally managed to reach the place called Witsieshoek Resort around 7.30 AM. They serve a decent break fast even to visitors at 65 Rands per person. We further drived for around 20 minutes in a bloody-muddy road to reach the trek start point. We also stopped in between to click pics of the ice layers along the mountain walls.



We finally reached the departure point. The parking lot is quiet good with guards there. You got to register yourself in the office there and pay 40 rands per head for the entry. The weather was absolutely perfect with bright sunny sky and uber cool 5 degrees temperature. We set off with a medium warm jerkin. It was cool walk initially for 20 minutes or so and then slowly steeping up. The path gets rough and rougher but the scenic view of the mountains kept us going. My mates were almost rookies in trekking but they were motivated enough and we kept pushing keeping the destination (Tugela falls) in mind.

We took couple of breaks in middle to get a breather. However, we havent felt the real pressure of high altitude trekking until we reached this dangerous thing called CHAIN LADDER. This ladder was long enough that even if you climb it fast, would take 10 minutes to reach the top. For me, that was the most stunning moment of the whole trek for 2 reasons.

Reason 1 : I never climbed the chain ladders on a mountain trek with no safety harness but I always waited for a chance to climb chain ladders (thanks to the training I once received in SAP Labs outing in Bangalore)

Reason 2 : This is not a pleasant one. Will reveal at the end.

We 3 took our time to get to the top and there after it wasn’t tough walk any more. We reached the top of Amphitheater valley and therez lots of snow all around. It was a serene atmosphere after a long grueling ups and downs. We ran around, jumped around, clicked pictures of snow etc.,

Then we patiently walked forward to see the ultimate view of the frozen long Tugela waterfalls. Man, this is the worlds second largest and 90% frozen.

The sound of ice blocks breaking away with the rising heat is awesome. It was like music in the echo friendly amphitheater valley.

We chilled out there for like 30-40 minutes and enjoyed the unique experience for a while. Sadly, we didn’t get any food with us and we are not camping there like other dudes around there did. We got to leave before its dark ( we havent got the torches either) We then had a relaxed walk until the same chain ladder spot. The climb down activity was more scarier than climb up as you got to often look down with uncertainty.

All 3 safely landed and we continued the walk all the way back through the same route. Once again, lots of ups and downs. The sun slowly getting down and ice started growing again every where. I (with my few other old friends) always have the habbit of doing brisk walk for the final 1 hour or so just to keep the spirits high. So, I jumped out of the path, took the steep shallow down way to reach the bottom and had a quick brisk last leg to the car parking area we started from.

By around 5 pm we managed to get back and kick start the car to our resort. It was a bloody long day with only 4 hours odd sleep over night and there fore you feel like almost beaten to the death.

What was the reason 2 that I was bragging about in the chain ladder point ?

When I finished climbing the ladder, I swung the back pack to front to pick my Nikon D90 and at that point it happened. The zip opened up. The camera flew over and effortlessly, travelled to the deep. Woefully, hit the rocks. Inevitably, shattered in to pieces. There was 2 seconds silence. I couldn’t believe it. I lost the best non-family-companion who was always with me since I got him. In all these, I managed to recover the data card. The best part of the incident is that the heavy D90 camera just missed a girl’s (from another trek group behind us) head who was standing down. Now, I am waiting for the entry of Nikon D7000 in to my life ;)

Must Watch Classics

It was only last 5 years I came out of the shell of Only-Indian-Movies-are-best-in-all-genres and started watching Hollywood/British movies that were splendid than I thought it was. Ever since I moved to South Africa, my urge only doubled up and thanks to my Colleague and other friends who keep suggesting tried-and-tested movies. Going a step further, I watched a couple of non-indian-non-english classics that really made me feel WoW.

La vita è bella (Italian) – Life is Beautiful


The Italian classic that won many awards took me to surprise with the humor screenplay they built on a bloody-serious-story. The hero (director himself) Roberto Beningi is an Italian Jew who arrives to a new town, fall in love with a non-jew, got married and living happily. When his son was about 4 years old, the family was arrested by the German army as an attempt to eliminate Jews from the country. I thought the movie will take a u-turn and will get traumatic. Further, my wife was worried to see a father and son suffering in a German prison. However, our thoughts took u-turn as the father projected the whole prison life as part of a game and the lil one should survive with the rules to win the maximum points to get the big prize of army tank. Thus moving the story with all humour.

Though the whole movie was funny (felt like watching tamil classics of Nagesh (Ethirneechal), the determination that the helpless father had to give the utmost comfort to his son inside the prison was absolutely eye squeezer. The stunning climax where Roberto sacrifices himself playing a gimmick and got executed will really make any one feel heavy. My wife finally smiled only to see the son rejoined his mom at the end. A must watch movie for a movie lover.

Das Leben Der Anderen (German) – The Lives of Others

This one got academy awards for best foreign film in 2006. This is a classic German drama that showcases the emotions going through between a state security spy (Police officer) and his victim.

Here is the plot…

East Germany’s state security deployed a police officer to spy a stage play screen writer

The officer is a honest and staunch socialist. In our language, a good guy

The screen writer is a communist. A good guy but angry about East Germany’s ongoing dictatorship

The minister who used his influence to assign the spy basically wants to get the writter’s girl friend for good in spite of the fact that she doesn’t like the minister

The honest officer gets to know this and use his intelligence and honesty to reach the inevitable, save-the-good-people

Again, I loved the last sentence of the movie and that’s the Midas touch. Watch only if you like classic movies.

Hey Raam (Tamil)

This is an old Indian-Tamil movie starring Kamal hassan. I watched this movie long ago and didn’t really like it but not after reading this analysis report by a final year film institute student. I strongly suggest you to read all the chapters in the following link and watch the movie again to understand how Tamil movie attempted to match the international standards to deliver a classic.

http://theseventhart.info/2008/06/20/hey-ram-an-analysis-part-120/

Sports- Emotions- Movies

Its always a wonderful feeling when you hit the winning boundary in last over of a world cup final, when you win the Wimbledon finals in the final set, when the goal keeper stops the penalty shoot to win the champions league, when you show who you are in sports when the odds are against you. The movies all over the world never failed to capture the adrenaline and emotions the players go through on the pursuit to improbable victory.

Since I love emotional movies (like Shawshank redemption, Pursuit of happiness, 500 days of Summer, Anbay Sivam (Tamil), Happy Days (Telugu) etc., ), theme based on sports are always special. Here are some of the movies I enjoyed heart out associated with sports

Rookie of the year : The 1993 American film I watched in my younger days and so inspired with the theme. A young boy accidentally gets a golden shoulder of pitching at more than 100 mph in baseball and turns out to be star. However, the twist is that in the finals of the championship, he loses this gift and gets back to a normal person. How he tackles this to get the team to victory is the climax. Though it’s a movie under comedy genre, I liked the way the movie was filmed.

Rocky : No doubt, truly amazing film making in the field of Boxing and Knock out stuffs. Sylvester Stallone turned out to be a big inspiration lived as Rock Balboa for the whole Rocky series. I vaguely remember this movie as I watched it long back but I remember the opponent in the first part becomes his coach in second part was an interesting sequel and I suggest any one to watch the whole series. However, the last part is a bit let down.

Wimbledon : Not the best of sports movies but if you like Tennis, you may like this movie. All about an average British Tennis player in twilight of his career determined to win the Wimbledon and prove a point on his worth. Watch it if you get a chance. Tennis victories lies in the mind on top of the skill.

Psye : Well directed and well shot Telugu (Indian) movie based on Rugby. The story of how the college Rugby team wins a match against the bunch of hooligans to retain the College land captured by them. I was astonished by the way it was filmed made the sport looked so real. Kudos to Telugu cinema for the brave attempt.

Lagaan : The masterpiece sports based movie ever made in Indian Cinema. Set in pre independence era, a team from a village in India should win the 3 day Cricket game against ruling British to save the tax for the year. A R Rehman was a genius in setting the tone with good background scores and songs. The climax scene where Aamir Khan hits the ball-caught-by-captain-but-crossed-boundary just made every one in the cinema jump on the seats and clapped unanimously. The movie was nominated for Oscars.

Chak De India : Well directed and a lovely movie to watch. I however didn’t liked the plot where a complete underdog womens hockey team in India goes on to win the champions Australia in their own soil. Excuse me, this is height of drama. How will you feel when Zimbabwe releases a movie where the Cricket team under a months time comes from zero to beat India in world cup in India which never happened in history. Hence I rate Chak de India as hypothetical fiction. Ignoring that, Sharukh Khan did the role well of a Coach and the way he builds the team is amazing. A very good entertainment.

Hansie : This is not really a sports movie but all about one of the greatest captains of South African Cricket team, Hansie Cronje suffered by his one mistake and the emotions he went through all the time until his dramatic death. Watch this and you will change your opinions about Hansie Cronje

Invictus : This is the movie that drived me to post this article. I just saw last night and still cant get the movie out of my mind. Its not the conventional sports movie with full of dramas. It’s the true story of the first president of Democratic South Africa, Nelson Mandela inspired the South African Rugby team to achieve the world cup on their first appearance in their own land. It’s a marvelous movie rated based on the accuracy of history. The true story of 1995 Rugby World cup. I was overwhelmed when my South African colleague explained the whole world cup on how it happened. Don’t expect those hi-fi drama like Lagaan or Chak De India in this movie. Its pure classic by Clint Eastwood. Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon lived in this movie. A must watch for the fact of True story. Know what ? I learnt the rules of the game now ;)

I am not sure if I left out anything but guys do leave a comment if you think of any good movies based on sports.

IPL 1 – 1990

I just struck with this idea of imagining, how it will be if IPL was introduced in 1990 and the players during that period had played. Here is the end of tournament summary report

The Reliance IPL had a grand opening this year thanks to BCCI for making it as huge success as this took Indian cricket to heights ever since 1983 world cup win.

The Calcutta Choker Kings owned by Bollywood fame Anil Kapoor who was confident that the team had a right mix of players like Navjot singh sidhu (Captain), Martin Crowe, Manoj Prabhakar, Wasim Akram etc., with young talents like Ajay Jadeja and Vinod Kambli. However, the team failed to progress after a stunning opening match win against Madras Murderers led by Kapil dev. Anil Kapoor criticized Navjot Singh’s captaincy by suggesting he could rather take up some laughter challenge show as he spotted Sidhu making fun of other teams losses instead concentrating on his job. Calcutta apparently, lost 6 matches in a row out of 7 matches and Anil kapoor is confident they will come back with a bang in next IPL.

On the contrary, Madras Murderers made a poor start with a shocking loss to Calcutta failing to chase the mammoth total of 100/7 posted by Calcutta at the end of 20 overs. Opener Srikanth tried hard by hitting a six with opening ball and a 4 in the following over but very expectedly, got out with a simple catch to the slip. Martin crowe later joined Kiran More to achieve this improbable target but eventually the Madras ended up with 67 all out in 19.2 overs. It was a steady raise after that for Madras murders but only finished fifth in the points table before semi finals. The local star L Sivaramakrishnan was show stealer with his consistent performance

The Hyderabad Himalayan Blunders was never in the contest with series of defeats right from the beginning. The captain Sunil Valson who condemned the franchise owners ‘Zandu balm’ as a bunch of useless management team and the team selection was never right. He however mentioned the under 19 local talent named Mohammed Azharuddin is extremely tolerant in extreme situations showing no emotions for anything and could be right captain in future.

Semifinals :

The first semifinals were between Banglore Backpackers Vs. Bombay Beeda Eaters. The Banglore captain Syed Kirmani led his side to a tight contest. Batting first, the backpackers scored a modest 80 / 8 in 20 overs with Duncan Fletcher scoring an impressive 23 of 26 balls. With easy task on hand, the beeda eaters started well with the openers Allan border and Mohinder amaranth almost scoring run a ball in first 3 overs and then both lost their wickets to Backpackers young strike bowler Anil kumble. Eventually Kumble took 6 wickets in 3.2 overs and got MOM match award. The Beeda eating losing captain Ravi Shastri seriously stated ‘It was an event ful day and the team was confused if this kid (Kumble) is a spinner or pace bowler and no excuse we played poor’

The second semi finals were between Kerala Lungi Masters Vs. Delhi Dum Maaro Dums. The Kerala team owned by Appu kuttan Textiles (Lungi manufactururers) was the only team with out any local talent but still gave a tough fight to the mighty Delhi but the Dummers smoked the lungi and eventually burnt them out of tournament. The Lungi master captain Roger Binny mentioned he is proud of being here and mentioned they are no match to Delhi’s Clive Lloyd who was dominating with both bat and ball.

Finals :

The finals was called off as it was scheduled in Madras and shockingly no one turned up to watch the match as that was the day Super stars Rajnikanths ‘PANAKARAN’ movie was released and all were queued up in Cinemas and proved IPL carries no priority to this Demi god of Tamil Nadu. Clive Lloyd was shocked and frusturated initially but spotted in the night show of Rajnikanths movie 2 days later. Apparently, the trophy is shared between Banglore and Delhi.

ஒழிந்தான் பாதகன்...

ஒசாமா பின் லேடன அமெரிக்க ராணுவம் வெற்றிகரமா ஒழிச்சி கட்டிடிச்சி (அப்டின்னு தான் நியுஸ்ல பாத்தேன் .. உண்மையாதான் இருக்கும் ) இதுக்கு பிரபலங்கள் என்ன சொல்றாங்க

கௌண்டமணி : அட்றா சக்க !! அட்றா சக்க !!! தெருவல உக்காந்து பிச்சை எடுக்க வேண்டிய மொன்ன நாய் என்ன அட்டகாசம் பண்ணிச்சி .. மிஸ்டர் ஒபாமா அயம் ஒன் டவுட் ... அந்த பரோட்டா தலயன ( செந்தில் - ஒசாமாவ கொன்ன அமெரிக்க சிப்பாய்) நம்பாதீங்க அவன் எதோ ஒரு சொறி நாயா சுட்டுட்டு உங்க கிட்ட புருடா உட்ருகான்... எதுக்கும் இநோருதடவ விசாரிங்க ஆபிசர் ...
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இளைய தளபதி : எவன் படம் பாத்தா மூணு நாள் வாந்தி வந்து தல சுத்தி இ.சி.யு ல அட்மிட் ஆரானோ அந்த படம் தான் என் படம் (தளபதி என்ட்ரி) அண்ணா அவன கொள்ள இவ்ளோ டென்ஷன் எதுக்கு அண்ணா ... என்னோட டி.வீ.டி ரெண்டு அனுப்பி இருந்தா அவனே தூக்கு போற்றுபானே ... ஒபாமா அண்ணா .. அவன கொன்ன கதைய எனக்க ஈ மெயில் பண்ணிடுங்கன்னா ரீ மேக் பண்ண யுஸ் ஆகும் .. தாங்க்ஸ் தலைவா
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சாலமான் பாப்பைய்யா : அன்பு ஒபாமாவே , அருமை அமெரிக்காவே ... எதுக்கையா அவசரப்பட்டு கொன்னீங்க ... பழகி பாத்ருக்கலாமே ... புடிச்சிருந்தா பிரிண்ட்சா இருந்த்ருகலாம் இல்லாட்டி கொன்னுருகலாமே .. என்னய்யா !!
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நிருபர் : கமல் சார் ஒசாமாவ கொன்னுடாங்கலாம்
கமல்ஹாசன் : ஹா ஹா ஹா

நிருபர் : என்ன சார் சிறிக்கறீங்க ... அப்ப கொள்ளலைன்னு சொல்றீங்களா ?கமல்ஹாசன் : நா எங்க சார் கொள்ளலைன்னு சொல்றேன் ... கொன்னுருந்தா நல்லாருக்கும்னு சொல்றேன்

நிருபர் : @#@#@??

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வடிவேலு : ஐயோ !!! ஐயோ!!! ஒசாமாவ கொன்னது யாரு ... அமெரிக்கா தான ... இங்க ஒருத்தன் கேப்டன்ன்னு சொல்லிக்கிட்டு நா தான் பார்டர் போய் ஒசாமாவ கொன்னேன்னு சொல்லிட்டு திரியறான் ... இத நாம வளர விட கூடாது ... அதனால தான் சொல்றேன் ... உலக அமைதிக்காக அய்யா கலைஞர் அவர்களுக்கு உங்க ஓட்டுகள போடுங்க ....

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நீயா நானா கோபிநாத் : வெல்கம் டு லைன் டேட்ஸ் சிரப் நீயா நானா ... என்னோட நிகழ்சிக்கு அடுத்த தலைப்பு ... ஒசாமாவ அமெரிக்கா கொன்னது சரியா இல்ல பாகிஸ்தானே போட்டு தள்ளிருகனுமா ... தீர்ப்பு என்னானா கொள்ள வேண்டிய நெறையபேர் நம்ம ஊர்லையே இருக்கும்போது ஒசாமா கதை பாமர இந்தியனுக்கு தேவை இல்லாத விஷயம் ...

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இந்த கதைய வச்சி நம்ம தமிழ் திரையுலகம் படமா எடுத்தா என்ன பேர் வச்சிருபாங்க

டாக்டர் ராஜசேகர் : இது தாண்டா ஆப்பு

டி ராஜேந்தர் : ஆமா... இவன் ஒசாமா

கெளதம் மேனன் : கிருமிய கொள்ள வருவாயா

சூர்யா : ரத்த சரித்ரம் - பாகம் இருபது

கருணாஸ் : அபோடாபாதில் அம்பானி

இதுக்கு மேலயும் எதாச்சும் மொக்கை தோணிச்சினா கமெண்ட்ஸ்ல தாராளமா போடுங்க :) மொத்த போஸ்டும் தமிழ்ல அடிக்கற அளவுக்கு வெட்டியா இருக்யானு சத்தமா சொல்ற உங்க மைன்ட் வாய்ஸ் எனக்கு கேக்குது... அரசியல்ல இதெல்லாம் சாதரணமப்பா !!!