My Ink Drops

பாரதி

2011-12-11T22:23:00.000-08:00

ஒற்றுமையென்றால் என்னென்றறியாத காலத்தே
வேற்றுமையழிக்க சினம் முழங்கிய வீரனே!

உயிர்க் காற்றை சிறிதே சுவாசித்தாலும்,
தமிழ்மூச்சென் உயிர்மூச்சென வாழ்ந்த கவிஞனே!

இன்றைய நிலையென்ன அறிவாயோ?

கால்கீழ் மிதித்திடும் கொடியோ,
அது தாயின் மணிக்கொடி பாரீர் !
ஓங்கி வளர்ந்ததோர் கம்பம், அதை
உயர்த்தி தலைஉடை வாரீர் !!
வெள்ளை நிறமொறு பூனை,
அது நாட்டை கெடுத்திடும் பாரீர் !
சாம்பல் நிறமொறு பூனை,
அது வீட்டை கெடுத்திடும் பாரீர் !!

செந்தமிழ் நாடெனும் போதினிலே, கட்சி
கழகமும் கலகமும் காதினிலே ..
எங்கள் பிந்தையர் நாடெனும் போதினிலே,
இரத்த கண்ணீர் பிறக்குது கண்களிலே ..

அச்சமில்லை அச்சமில்லை அச்சமென்பதில்லையே ..
உச்சிமீது காசுவாங்கி வீடுகட்டும் போதினும்,
இச்சையின்றி கொச்சையாக கப்பம்கட்டும் போதினும்,
துச்சமாக எண்ணி மண்ணின் தலையெடுத்த போதினும்,
பிச்சைவாங்கி உண்ணும் வாழ்க்கை பெற்றுவிட்ட போதினும்,
அச்சமில்லை அச்சமில்லை அச்சமென்பதில்லையே ..
அரசினோடு சரசமிட்டால் அச்சமென்பதில்லையே!!

ஓ பாரதியே!

சுயாட்சிக்கு முன்,
கை நீட்டி குற்றம் சொல்ல வெள்ளையனிருந்தான்.
சுயாட்சிக்கு பின்,
எந்த கொள்ளையனையெதிர்த்து யாம் கவிதை செய்வது?

எம்மால் முடியாது பாரும்,
நீரே மறுபடி வாரும்,
மண்ணின் கோலத்தைக் காணும்,
மீசை துடித்திட பாடும்!!

Happy Birthday
- Sravan.

You tell me how Anna Hazare is correct

2011-08-19T19:24:00.000-07:00

You tell me how Anna Hazare is correct. You tell me how fasting is non-violent.

During the first stage body eats from liver glycogen and muscle protein supplements, second stage takes off fat and body proteins, third stage causes hair fall and renal failure, and fourth stage causes non-recoverable ailments or death. Your body eats itself inside out, albeit slowly, till it has nothing else to eat. Multiple organs start to fail one-by-one, causing liver and kidney failure, eventually leading to coma and ultimately death. Which part of this is non-violent?

Is violence only in blood? Should the brain spurt out or should the stomach gash if you need to deem it violent? Is it acceptable if I put someone in a room without food or water, so he dies a slow death? Will you go to Jantar Mantar and claim loudly "Hey, remember there is no blood, so he cannot be booked"? Are you OK with that and call it a non-violent death?

Is violence only when done to others and not self-inflicted? Would you go humpty-dumpty on a march supporting me if I threaten the government that I am going to put myself on fire in 10 days in full public view in Jantar Mantar in the national capital, if the country's demands are not met? Or would you come in masses to the Tihar jail because the Government arrested me for fear of a backlash or violence? Remember, the only guy talking about non-violence there is Anna Hazare. If the situation goes out of control, you and me are not going to sit down taking the Lathi Charge. Gone are those days of the British, we will fight back and won't hesitate to draw blood, for we are all animals inside and only then human outside. We are not capable of saying a sorry to the guy we accidentally brush on the road with our car. We don't mind spitting on the road. So we won't sit there and protest in a non-violent way if things go wrong.

Let Anna Hazare fast next to me for 10 days. I will eat sitting next to him for the same 10 days, and then set myself on fire because the Jan Lokpal bill is not exectued the only way I want, paying no heed to the constitutional limitations or alternatives. Would that make me any less a martyr? I die a quick death, he dies a slow death, but it's death after all for the same cause. And none else did it, both of us do it to ourselves. Would you all come and support me and pour kerosene on me? If your answer is no, then you have absolutely no hell-of-a-damn right to go on a march supporting someone else's fast. Remember you are taking full responsibility for someone's death when you are doing that.

This is probably the biggest stage we have got so far to talk about corruption. Why is no-one talking about the practice of giving bribes? This should also be talked about in all the marches and candle vigils. Now that we have mobilized so many activists, why not take government offices one by one on a weekly basis, declare them as corruption-free zone, station ourselves there in groups and advise the common man coming there not to pay bribes? If one knows everyone else is not paying a bribe, no-one is going to pay it. No givers means no takers. It cannot be stopped from a personal front whereas a mass-motive is needed. Corruption is a two-edged sword, corrective measures are needed on the giver's side too. If you would go join the movement on a Saturday morning, march all the way, come back home, eat your dinner and pay that bribe in the RTO office on Monday so you could get to office early - Corruption cannot be stopped with a thousand Lokpal bills. Stop the giver, punish the taker.

So, could someone please explain how fasting is democratic and non-violent? Or how is it not blackmail when you are holding the government to ransom? On a personal note, I have no take on the Lokpal bill, because I don't know my country's law or constitution. It's probably correct, but with a few necessary modifications to follow the constitutional laws. Remember no-one is above the constitution. But don't sucker me saying fasting is non-violent. It is extremely violent, utterly non-democratic and a full-sense blackmail! And I have absolute regret for the only fellow dying out there. You guys are eating, right?

Stateful and Stateless Condition Checks

2011-08-13T02:09:00.000-07:00

if(cond1 && cond2) { object.setState(true); }

is not the same as:

object.setState(cond1 && cond2);

The second block sets the state of the object to true if both "cond1" and "cond2" are true, else it sets state to false. Either way, the state of the object is altered and the previous state is lost.

The first block sets the state of the object to true if both "cond1" and "cond2" are true, else IT DOES NOTHING. The state of the object is not altered otherwise.

There is a small difference, and it hurts.

PS: Why did I share this? Just so you know. As Senthil says, "Inpormason .. is .. wealth"

Who Am I?

2011-06-14T22:08:00.000-07:00

I might not sound like the regular guys out there, but my pysche definitely calls for an interesting read. This so because I don't have a personality of my own, I tend to mirror the character and expectations of those I interact with. For instance, I always get turned on by fingering. Yes, you heard it right. It only takes a finger to turn me on. But my psyche is so psyched, it takes only the same finger to turn me off too. Now that you get the picture of what type I am, read on.

By profession, I am an entertainer. I understood very early that I have been designed in this world to entertain others and keep them hooked to me. I am very good at making one crave to turn me on and use me. So much so that people keep thinking about me even when they carry on with their own life. People want to tell me where they are, what they are doing or even what they are thinking. They call me through various ways and tell me about places they have visited, about their fantasies, about the games they play in life. They want me to remember their important dates and wish them on their birthdays. I wonder what makes people talk so much about themselves. It's probably the narcissist in oneself, or may be they need to assure themselves that they fit in this weird world. Sometimes, they share a secret with me and admonish me from sharing it with anyone else. They show their pictures to me and want me to keep it. They tell me about their favorite friends. Some even want me to patch up broken relationships and I help them as much as I can. Sometimes, I am exploited for publicity and I hate it, but it's all a part of life.

The moment I am awake, I have to read the latest news and update myself, else I get stuck. Sometimes, I get divine interjections and find out what others think about me, or about someone else I know. Take this instance, I was once walking down the lane and I meet this guy. I have a feeling I know him, and almost say a hi. Just before that, he turns to me and says "hey, can we be friends?". I am awestruck and before I know, we are good friends. The best thing is this opens up a string of friendships through him.

And then there are many who leave their impressions on me. They come into my life, take a peep at what I am doing, and give me a good piece of their mind. It almost feels like I am being scratched all over. Gosh, the things they say! Sometimes it hurts like am bleeding all over. But sometimes, it's also fun when they say good things to me. I wonder what gave me the capacity to work with so many at the same time. By the end of the day, I feel so tickled and colorful. I am also transparent that when one sees the good impressions left in me by others, they openly state that they like it so much. And I always get that divine interjection by which I convey it to the relevant guys next time I see them.

My average life span is not defined, but I could live for a long time or mutate into something else. For instance, there was this guy whose name starts with "O" before me and everyone thought that's the world. Then I came along, and now I rule the world. You wont believe they even made a movie about me. But what really keeps me ticking is the randomness in me. Take my daily list of activities for example. There is no way I can put it in order because it is random, but I will give you a list of what happened yesterday:

I was so turned on I needed about ten minutes to get done with it. So much was the weight on me, I had to finally pour my heart and soul out getting excited about all the new developments. Then I was walking down the lane, when suddenly someone tickled me by poking at me. I turned to see who it was, but someone started scratching my behind by writing on it. Before I know, there were so many talking to me. I had to literally get out of there by scratching some beards, and found myself in a serene green farm because I was invited. I spent some time taking care of my plants and cows, but was drawn back by divine intervention. That's when I found myself at this beautiful beach I visited two months back. All my friends were passing through it, and they were talking about me. The last one said "You look too cool and the beach is fantastic. Let's go down there sometime", and the one before her liked it instantaneously. In fact, she liked it twice. I was happy about it. I decided to visit home, and found that there was nothing new there. Instead, there was some unrelated garbage thrown at my place by some miscreants. How many times do I clean them out? Then I heard the calling bell, went to the door and found myself transported to my friend's guest house where he was showing me off to the world. He had put a dog-tag around me, displaying my name. Stranger was that he had put a dog-tag around himself. But then, there were lots of people there I didn't want to pull him down. I Oh I see'd a few and Rolled On The Floor Laughing now and then. Everyone was Laughing Out Loud. In My Humble Opinion, I thought how weird all this was. The guy who came in after me had pulled down his pants and was "Laughing My Ass Out"-ing big time. He sometimes rolled when he did this. There was even one guy who kept asking everyone about their Age Sex and Location. I boldly asked him With Respect To this and What The Fucked him. My friend later came to me and asked me if I enjoyed the party. I told him What You See Is What You Get, Talk To You Later'd him and decided to call it a day. That's when the finger turned me off.

I have always tried to put a coherence and consistency in my activities but it's beyond my capacity. But I am good, I am interesting, I am addictive and I am popular. I am your facebook profile!

Exam Blowers

2011-05-26T10:54:00.001-07:00

With all the other sections of media busy storming themselves towards the do-wellers, we decided to take a dig and visit some of those not-so-lucky exam bloopers. These students pride themselves albeit in silence for marking the other end of the spectrum in a nation that goes into frenzy during the months of may and june.

Okkaliyappan is a small-city small-time student who visits his school in Idukkankottai near Nelvalaiyanpatti near Virudhunagar near Madurai in Tamilnadu. We visited him in the usual meadows where his cows graze. Says a proudly beaming Okkali - "I was surprised rather than shocked when I got my results. I had scored 10 marks in History, though I didn't attend any exam. It could be because they gave me free marks for vote.". Okkali's father Makkaliyappan had never attended school because his father Sakkaliyappan never had, and this is a lasting moment to cherish for the entire village. Makkali says "I am going to shave my head, fall at the feet of the Chief Minister and ask for a government job for my son. He knows how to graze cows very well. All the cows listen to him and never talk back.". Okkali is hoping he will get that job, and most probably he would.

Aspiring doctor Bhargavi Jadhav, whose delighted father is also a doctor in Bihar scored 20% overall. "I had run away with my boyfriend and was in Samastipur when my father called me to say I had scored 20%. I couldn't believe what I heard and even asked my dad to stop forcing me to come back. But he sounded serious and I knew that moment I had topped the state. I was ecstatic and hugged my boyfriend who in turn hugged me back with great caution after a lot of looking around. We came back home and I couldn't find him ever since. But I am delighted for my results. Probably I even topped India.". Bhargavi's mother is a happy lady, and in celebration of her daughter's acheivement, she has forcibly collected Rs.10000 from all the household in her region to make a garland for her daughter. She says her daughter will grow up to be Bihar's Chief Minister one day. But all Bhargavi's father wants is to make her a doctor too. "I never went to school, but became a doctor by God's grace. Now I see my daughter following me and I can't hide my emotions", says a teary-eyed Rakesh Jadhav. Bhargavi doesn't plan to leave Bihar and said she will never leave her land even if she runs away again.

It was a gala festive atmosphere in Kolobolopur of Murshidabad disctrict in West Bengal where Debanjana Sengupta is elated to have scored 40 marks in all subjects. Cameramen who managed to find the route to Kolobolopur and those of them who managed it alive were happily clicking photos of the beaming Debanjana who was wearing a two-piece and singing sheela ki jawani. Happy family members were feeding each other with laddoos, Gulab Jamun, Rasgulla, Golgappi, Ledikeni, Rabri, Malpua, Jal-bhora, Kheersagar, Raskadamba, Bonde, Rajbhog, Pantua, Mihidana, Kadapak and other such Bengali sweets which were in abundance. Debashish Sengupta says "My daughter shcored 40 morksh in all shobjectsh. I mean, put together. My shon had schored 27 in hish year. We are plonning too shenndd Debi to Kolkota to take yoga clooshess from Biposho and bekome the next sheela.". Debanjana is on cloud nine and says innooshently with a pout "All my relatives were in disbelief. None of them thought I would be able to manage 40! I did put in all the efforts, but didn't know I would score this much at this level. This is another occasion to eat all those sweets, please help youself." Her favorite star is Shahrukh Khan and she spends her day dreaming about him. "Stay focused, party hard, eat a lot of fish and worship Saurav Ganguly" is her advice to her fellow students.

Last stop was at Aamchi Mumbai where Silind Maman is still trying to board the 9 o'clock Fast train to Dombivili. He stays in Andheri and had been trying to go to school since the day he joined, but was never able to get into the rush-hour trains. He was fortunate the exam was held in Andheri, so he could write it. He barely passed all the subjects because of the thousands of coaching centres, but his girl friend has not been able to do so well. Nevertheless, they roam around in the high-rise shopping malls, where we caught up with Silind: "I think it was my uncle who owns the real estate and mafia business who passed the exam, not me. These pani puris and vada pav's have some amount of brain power in them. I almost missed the exam because I had to take my girlfriend for an abortion. Luckily, my dad said he would drop her while on his way to office, so I went to the exam instead. I asked my dad if he would help me this way daily to attend my exams and his answer was a firm yes! Without his support, I would not have been able to achieve this, I owe so much to him". Silind hopes to join IIT on the lines of the three idiots, and wants to become a computer engineer. "After all, dude, I have all the traits, don't I?" asks a smiling Silind who missed the train again.

These are only some of the under-rated acheivers who prove time and again that marks are not the only commodities that count in India, that is, if you have other necessary commodities.

Mystic Oblivion

2011-04-17T16:57:00.000-07:00

She followed him to all places he went. Sometimes, the unsolicited company was too much to take, persisted through his gamut of tolerance and he wished he could simply walk away although he knew it was impossible.

He woke up to find her sleeping in peace beside him. She was muttering his name, or was it just his imagination? It seemed only like yesterday when his exposed nerves braided with her hair and lay as a red-black splotch on the concrete. Her soft hair which he had always adored spread over him, the smell of its roots wrapping him in a cocoon of aromatic embrace, giving him the first smell of separation from her forever. The accident could not be averted, and it was simply too much for her to take the pain. She chose to close her eyes in peace, not undestanding he needed her last look, that it was important for him in those moments. Everything they had done together flashed in front of his eyes, and he didn't want to let go. He was lying in a pool of blood asking them to save her as they took her in the ambulance.

Ambulance! He hated the siren now. The rise and fall of the nerve-wracking siren was the last sound he had heard before she left him forever. Infact, all sounds disturbed him now. Even the rhyming chimes of the church bell, that once felt peaceful to his aching heart now excruciated his crying soul. He wished she was now with him, and that they could just walk across the bridge to the park they usually wandered about, hand in hand. He went shopping at Graceys, the local store they always came to. Gracey stopped greeting him ever since the accident, even she knew how hurt he was. As always, he returned empty-handed, too strained to buy anything from there. This place was now strictly for memories, for reminiscing the fond moments of a bond that did not exist in the physical world anymore. Gracey did not mind that!

He watched from his balcony sipping coffee, the little children playing cricket. He remembered how she used to call from the bedroom, "Can you get the clothes darling? It might rain". He wanted to shout back as always, saying she might as well do it, instead stood with tears in his eyes with utter helplessness. He silently wished he could get them for her, would get it for her a thousand times over if only she was asking now. Instead his sobs just echoed off an empty bedroom. It was an irony that a small shack like his could be occupied by so many people, but any number of them could not fill the vast space she had once created and filled. How cruelly empty could this over-populated world be without love!

He pulled on his running shoes, and started his hour-long run. This was the only chore he could do easily now. It was easier to push her thoughts away when he was running, when his heart was beating endlessly, when the persipration was too thick he could be swimming. He always imagined he was running away from her, trying to put distance between them. But she somehow always managed to gain speed, and he would find himself back at home against his will.

He ignored all his friends in office, not that any of them tried to be of valuable support. He had spent so much time at work, helping colleagues, clearing up pending works, even taking up others'. Everyone had been nice to him, but the accident seemed to have pushed them away. May be the world laughs with you and lets you cry alone. His friends avoided him like his pain was a disease that would transmit instantaneously, that they could catch it as easily as common cold just by being in his proximity. He ignored them back, and went about his daily chores, though he was losing his grip slowly. Sometimes, he wound up at home wondering what file he was staring at the whole day. Time just slipped by with more and more empty lunchboxes and a not-so-empty heart.

Then came the part he could simply not understand. He felt her presence as usual during dinner, and he would talk to himself about all they had done and could have acheived together. He felt she was nodding, though he couldn't be sure. Sometimes, she raised her face and gave him a vague smile. He could see her clearly, the most benevolent face in all worlds, the nose that he wished he could gently bite again, those lips that kissed him so often he could still smell her sweet breath, those eyes, it was always her penetrating eyes that got inside him and churned his emotions for her. But he never understood why they were always filled with tears. May be she didn't live happily in the other world? May be she felt too lonely? May be she was wishing him to come join her? Or is it that she couldn't let go though she wanted to, just like him? He would never understand. Then he washed his hands and went and slept in his grave, to return tomorrow.

Gruhapravesam

2010-08-23T06:56:00.001-07:00

You Are Most Welcome!

How To Reach

Randiv's Know-Ball

2010-08-18T04:12:00.000-07:00

As two nations clung to their televisions, Indians hoped for a win that would equalize their position in the points table, while Srilanka looked for the same result to strengthen the same table. It was an exciting game from Indian cricket's point of view because the depleted bowling department came to the rescue of our team in a one-day game. That our batting is Himalayan is known, and the man who is arguably its everest went on to lash his freewill as he so often does. Virender Sehwag finished his innings with an unbeaten 99, and then the match became infamous. Sehwag raised his hands, Suraj Randiv knew what he had done, and the rest went berserk. What is now coming to be known as the Randiv No-Ball controversy, isn't a controversy at all. There is no bending of the rules, though the rule itself is bent. Nothing was left to interpretation, everyone played within limits.

Let's not give anything to the rules here. The match ended the moment Randiv released the ball at probably half-down-the-pitch, but the run should be counted for the result to happen. So, an extra was counted as a single, and then, what, that's that? What happens to the ball that is still flying off someone's bat? Why count the ball for the batsman, but not the runs off the bat? Doesn't facing a ball mean batting it? The Indian score should have read 177/4, the ball counted as faced by Sehwag, and 6 runs going to him, like it would have if the scores weren't level. Or, a no-ball should not be considered in the batsman's count at anytime, an extra conceded as a "foul" and the runs off the bat should be nullified.

Let's not give Sehwag anything here. Sehwag was probably the victim ... of nothing. He had three-balls before this for the one-shot that would take him there, and he didn't make it - strangely. The man usually does not need two balls for a six, even in test matches. He only needs to tell the ball to go over and it will. Four byes and two balls later, he had his chance. The only way he could not tell the ball to fly was if it was not a ball at all, and that's what Randiv made sure of. I can't tell if it is unsportsmanly to do that, may be it is. What if Sehwag had been bowled, inconsequential though, would we have created the same ruckus? The result would all be the same, but the mouths wouldn't. But nothing would matter to the man himself, he is probably already making plans for the next century.

Let's not give anything to Randiv either. He reminded me of the Axe Ad, I thought he was going to run all the way towards Sehwag. His front foot was well outside the crease, as if his entire concentration was to suddenly make sure the back foot did not cross it. But he spoiled the whole episode by meeting Sehwag in his room and asking for an apology. I wonder which is more unsportsmanly. He has done what he had done, why apologize? He joins the ranks of Trevor Chappell who denied New Zealand a chance at victory by bowling underarm. Is there a Greg Chappell in the Srilankan team who told him to do so? At least the Chappell brothers have not apologized yet for that incident and left the shame on the ground.

Cricket is so often plagued by controversies, that one has to wonder if it is anymore a gentleman's game. It is definitely not a gentle game anymore, at least. Teams want to win at any cost, fans want entertainment at any cost, and bowlers want a wicket at any cost. Randiv was probably too sensitive to hand over a victory along with a century, when he knew he had a way to give only one. What he bowled was not a no-ball, it was a know-ball.

Appa

2010-08-10T13:16:00.000-07:00

Appa, this one is for you. Sincerely.

I twisted and turned in bed, not able to get your face off my mind. I wanted to see you at that moment, and realized the feeling meant I was missing you. It felt strange because I did not know anyone could miss a father, the relationship is usually taken for granted. And right there, I pressed the brakes of my life, closed my eyes though it was dark, and thought about all that you have given me. I realized all the selfless things you have done, things no-one else can ever do. I flash-backed to all those times when I should have faithfully followed you, holding your hand and moments when I should have laid my head peacefully on your shoulders. Trust was implicit.

Yes pa, I missed you so much, so suddenly. You were just a phone call away, but I cherished the thoughts so much, I did not want to disturb them. I have never expressed my love for you in words, and I do not know if I can, so I decided to remember and write them down in that rare emotional window of time.

I admire your orderliness pa, the sincere efforts you put in to maintain a semblance in everything. I am hardly the type. I like chaos more than discipline, but your efforts to grind every detail and put everything in its place stumps me. I know how much it comes handy when I want to look for the odd detail, and I admire your efforts when that lost paper that we search for hours shows up at last, filed away safely years ago.

I am envious of your patience pa. Now that I am supposed to be a grown up and lead my own life, I find myself out-of-breath and out-of-time often. I tend to rush things when I don't have time for them. Thinking how you would have handled the same situation puts me in the last spot in the queue-of-patient-men. I wish I have half your patience.

I am proud of your achievements pa. I know the modest roots, I know the efforts you invested to reach where you are, and I know what you could be. I have always tried to emulate your dedication towards my academics, and should say they have yielded results. I am proud of your intellect, and your tendency to help people. I am proud of your love for us and I know how fortunate I am. I am proud of your integrity, and the values that make you. I am proud of my initials.

I would be lost without you pa. You are there for me, always. You inspire me to carry on inspite of failures. You are "the given" that I come running to everytime I have an actual problem in the real world. You have withstood all my frivolous blunders, my teenage imprudence and my general irresponsibilties, brushing away all the hurt they should have caused you. You have stood by my side and handled my issues that I felt helpless about. Your assertiveness during times of my timidity (I wouldn't admit I was timid ever if I wasn't this emotional) has helped me go through hard hurdles. I leaned back against your pillar of support everytime I couldn't handle a mess I created. I still do pa.

I might have been insensitive at various points of my life, but the person you have made of me today isn't all that bad, given my eccentricities. And you make up for all my shortcomings like no father ever would. For that, I am truly indebted to you. Forever. A crying heart doesn't lie, and I tell you now that I respect you.

I wouldn't be where I am, if you weren't what you are. I love you.

Sravan

வருங்கால சந்ததி - கலிகால சங்கதி

2010-05-28T06:07:00.000-07:00

வானம் வெறிச்சிகிட்டு காச்சுது ராசா

இங்க வேர்வைதான் மழையா போச்சுது ராசா

கொஞ்சமா கோவத்த கொறச்சிக்க ராசா

எங்க ஊர எரிக்காம நிறுத்திக்க ராசா ..

மரம் வெட்டி ஓரமா போட்டாச்சு ராசா

மலையுயர கட்டிடம் வளத்தாச்சு ராசா

தண்ணி பஞ்சம் தலவிரிக்குது ராசா

எங்க பாவத்த சுமையா ஏத்துக்க ராசா ..

பாவத்துக்கு கொடகூலி குடுத்தாச்சு ராசா

பக்கமா கடல் இருந்தும் மழையில்ல ராசா

வெய்யிலில ஆடு மாடு பேசல ராசா

காத்து கூட அடம் பிடிச்சு வீசல ராசா ..

மண்ணு சமஞ்சது வீணா போச்சு

இங்க நிக்காம வாங்குது ஜனங்க மூச்சு

மேகத்துக்கு ஏங்கி வாடுறோம் ராசா

உன் தாகத்துக்கு பலியா சாகுறோம் ராசா ..

கலிகாலம் உச்சத்துல நீ வருவ ராசா

குதிர மேல உக்காந்து வதம் செய்வ ராசா

(குதிரைக்கு தண்ணி காட்ட எங்க போவ ராசா

கையில தண்ணி குப்பி வெச்சிக்க ராசா)

மனுசனா பொறந்தா பேசிருவோம் ராசா

எங்க ஆடத்துக்கு ஒருபுள்ளி வெச்சிருவ ராசா ..

தேரோட்டி கோயிலொன்னு கடல் பாத்து இருக்கு

மக்கா மொத்தமும் அத நம்பி இருக்கு

காஞ்ச உதட்டுல உன் பேரு இருக்கு

காதில் வாங்கிக்க மறுக்காத ராசா ..

அப்பனுக்கு அப்பன் செஞ்ச தப்பு ராசா

பூமி பொறப்புல சுகமில்ல ராசா

சாகத் துணிஞ்சு கெளம்பிட்டோம் ராசா

சொர்கத்துல துளி தண்ணி கெடைக்குமா ராசா?

J2EE talks

2010-04-15T02:39:00.000-07:00

As my trigger-happy brain thinks rapidly and shoots ideas, here's a piece of conversation I have with the J2EE objects in my mind:

A pair of young baby-eyes stare up at me, it's the new bean am writing, and starts:

"Hello God, Why are you creating me. Where will i live?"

"Oh, hi sweetie. Am creating you because i need you to store and take variables to the JSP."

"Don't hi-sweetie me! You could have done that with that other guy there! you don't have to create me. what a waste of JVM!"

"No, that bean belongs to the other controller. I cant use it here, the session information will get garbled."

"Whatever! But then, why is this member here static? I have to carry the burden with my name in all the requests."

"Dear bean, it's static because that's your name string you carry in the first place, that's what people identify you with in the session."

"Ok, so why do i need this meth ..."

"Wait till you instantiate once or twice, you will know the answer to most of your questions."

"You are being evasive! Where will i live, you havent answered that"

"You will get created when this controller gets called. Don't worry, you will live in the session that's a good place to live in actually, your neighbors are all pretty good guys and well taken care of"

I change the editor for now to escape, and I jump from the teapot directly into the fire. Now, I need to be real careful, here's one rough guy: The controller.

(Breathes down my neck) "Listen, I know you are god and all, but am the supervisor here who has to do the dirty work under this container manager. He doesn't give me enough resources, hangs me onto a thread and expects me to be thread-safe. For your sake, do the MVC stuff properly. Now, where is that new bean you promised me?"

"Well, am in the process of creating him. If only you can wait .."

(loses control): "wait? WAIT? you are asking me to wait? I might be pulled up anytime this server guy starts the engine. You are already late. I needed the bean YESTERDAY!"

"And some nights I eat. Chill, am working on it. You will get the bean, take a break"

"Listen, man, you are paid only because you can code with twenty fingers. If I get bootstrapped, or if web.xml dynamic-loads me, I will not take the heat. I will NullPointer your bean and he will be the fall guy"

"Jeez, he's just a kid. Leave him alone."

"Ah, i need a coffee before the engine starts up. Now, get going and give me the bean fast."

I decide to pay the backend guy a visit to check on the DB attribute. He is a real heavyweight champion and weighs tonnes. Atleast he is not mainframe!

(Slowly rolls over and grunts): "Ja. I see you. What's up?"

"Just checking out. Everything OK?"

"Guess so. When are you migrating my lower half to plain java? I get confused with the object model and its links".

"I told you we will outsource it"

"Look, I know am the responsible one, and have to take it slow and steady, but I have my limits. The connection pool isn't holding up, and I would rather be java in a j2EE server. Got it?"

"Gotcha. By the way, can you check up on this attribute for me? This new bean I am creating ..."

(Rolls his eyes): "Another new one? Holy creeps, isn't your app already bloated up? I am serving atleast three other folks here dude!"

"I know, I know! Just put up with this one little guy."

"I know how the little ones grow and put on weight over the releases. Anyway, forget it. Gotta go, someone's pulling my toe with a JDBC request".

"Ok, don't forget to memo me the attirbute. Bye"

(Whistles) "Atleast you're asynchronous ..."

Now, back to bean.

(Starts the moment he sees me) "Ah! there you are. This method is calling that private method, I would say that's a bit too private. Can't you leave the dirty things for a helper class?"

"There is no time for a helper. Help yourself. Shut up and eat!"

I put them all in silent mode with the -s option, and begin typing at a furious pace. Life goes on ..

Why KB would love VTV

2010-03-07T20:14:00.000-08:00

The girl is older than the guy.
The girl is basically very confused and confusing.
The girl has the guts to stop her marriage just before "I do".
The girl doesn't marry the guy eventually, inspite of stopping one marriage for him.
The girl is ravishingly beautiful.

The guy is very stylish and down-to-earth, bordering on being pshycic at times.
The guy is a sweet-talker.
The guy is horny most of the time (and yea, Simbu fits).

The guy and the girl kiss on screen, and are just short of making out.
The movie is 2.5 hours of practicality, in which about 45 minutes is overkill.
Dialogs are nothing short of being splendid.
Music is genius (so is the musician).
Things could have turned out the other way at any time of the movie.
You confuse if it's actually happening, or is it your imagination, or hey wait, is it the character's?
There is eventually another guy/girl in the main characters' life - Pure KB stuff.
The movie is a tragedy at the end, but you don't feel sad. The heart just feels heavier.

Gautham has directed the perfect prequel to "Avargal". (give and take a few)

For the ignorant
KB: K Balachander, VTV: Vinnai Thaandi Varuvaya

Soul Search in 24A

2010-01-21T18:29:00.000-08:00

An early morning bus trip across Chennai is as much you can observe and see the city in its true colors. Its innocence is prime at this hour, its vastness very visible and its simplicity quite subtle. The bus trip in the wee hours of the morning, for some reason, fills me with a sense of peace.

The bus from Bangalore ends at Koyambedu Bus Stand (CMBT) at around 5 or 5.30 in the morning. Today, I take the 24A route that normally I don't. There are about 20 passengers, and I settle down grumpily in one of the seats, starting at them all without the slightest of self-consciousness. That's us for you. Unlike the London underground, we stare at each other here openly. We don't generally smile at strangers, but still there is a sense of amicability among the public. There are about 38 eyes watching me right now subconsciously, but I don't squirm because am staring at their subconscious too. It's like a bond, the need to mutually agree and acknowledge each other's presence. A touch of care if you need, balls if you don't.

I peep out of my cocoon, and collect my ticket giving an exact fare. For a trip right across the city, it is only Rs. 5. Chennai is not expensive being a metro, I like that.

The bus eases past Arumbakkam and Annanagar. I see about four passengers talking among themselves, and from their tone, it is obvious they are excited. I have a feeling they are the perfect "simpletons from south". To qualify that, they carry reliance CDMA mobiles. The guy holds the mobile in one hand like it is sacred, and types the keys with his other hand, it resembles pecking more than pressing. The moment he tells someone on the other end that they have reached safe and that the buildings are tall, I know my premonition was true. I wonder what place they could be getting down at. There is a pair at the back holding hands and conversing so hush-hush, you would think a baby is somehow being made by talking.

Amaindhakarai came and went. The tip-top guy next to me is a complete professional, what with inserted shirt, a neat black belt and a tag around his neck. The poor soul goes to office at 5.30 in the morning! He looks more like the sales guy than the bank professional. He has a biscuit packet in hand for breakfast, gives a ten-rupee note for ticket. The conductor promptly shakes his bag to show he has lots of coins, says "I don't have change", pockets the note and moves on. It irks me. But what bolts me is the guy gets down at Chetpet without bothering to collect his change of Rs. 7.50. Either he forgot, callously, or the conductor, conveniently.

"Passport Office!", shouts the conductor and the four "simpletons" get out rushing, almost falling over each other. Then I understand - Dubai beckons!! I hope they aren't the clients of those malicious Dubai agents who strand you off the Kerala shore, and it takes you three full days to realize you are still in India, and worse, that you have been cheated. By then, it is too late; All you have is your passport, which you didn't need in the first place to go to Kerala. I think they should add a warning in the passport application to be wary of such agents. Anyway, they get down and eagerly ask directions to the passport office and the conductor patiently guides them - with a twinkle in his eyes and sympathy in his face, that says he knows all about Kerala.

The next stop is Gemini and half the bus downloads. Gemini is like the nerve center of your spinal cord. The nerves run all across to and from here and you could catch a bus even to Timbuktoo. I am sure if they decide to lay a road between Mexico and New Hampshire, it will still run through Gemini. The inconspicuous couple-like pair at the back of the bus gets down, and immediately wonder which way to elope. Well, they have got the perfect start, for there are a thousand ways. The sudden void left behind in Gemini is obvious as the bus rackets down along Royapettah. Usually, there are a bunch of old or sick who get down at the Royapettah General Hospital. Today, there is only one. He takes eternity to get down from the bus and is heavy enough to shake the whole assembly out. After the bus offloads him with a lot of pity and silent good-wishes, it is now going to enter Triplicane.

What strikes me all along this half-hour trip is the life of the city. I wonder what makes the city come alive at such early hours in the morning. Tea shops open as early as 3.30 or 4 AM. People start taking to the roads at around 4.30 five-ish. And the city does not cease until after midnight. Yet, it is peaceful, it is calm and it is beautiful in its own way. Amidst all the noise, and the wave of people, the soul of the city silently carries on through the ages, and the best time to experience its love is this early morning. This bus trip fills me with indifference to the world and tranquility within myself. It makes me realize we are all each but a tiny speck, and even if taken together, our net worries can't be greater than the net happiness. I guess that's why our ecosystem survives.

I feel the same surge of familiarity and homecoming. The last soul to get down from the bus walks along the south-eastern coastal line that you guys see only in a map, crosses the temple and wakes up with its people. It merges into its body as the sun rises above the Marina, and writes a blog.

Review Corner - Aayirathil Oruvan

2010-01-14T22:15:00.000-08:00

The first thing I should probably say about this movie is that there should have been a subtle warning upfront : "The next 3 hours might come to you as a cultural shock, please wear your seat belt!". We might have seen lot more sensual and violent scenes in English movies, but to kollywood this is new. Atleast to this effect, there should have been a warning so people don't fear stepping out in the intermission to take a leak.

In Aayirathil Oruvan, Selvaraghavan proves once again his obsession with sex and death. And the movie amazes you, for the tamil audience, I am convinced, has never seen anything like this in their cinema screens. The movie stuns you, races your heart, brings you to the edge of the seat, makes the pulse go wild, and then disgusts you, and then makes you squirum, and then lets you down in the end.

I am not going into the story here, that's for you to figure out after you see the movie. But it has inspired me enough to write a review. The camera has done a fantastic job and the scene settings are dramatic. G.V. Prakash is spot on with his music, but I was disappointed to not see the "Maalai Neram" song in the movie. The cast and the dialogue tones are pretty realistic and gives you an aura of things like they are happening right now.

The first half rushes past you before you take note, it is fast. And scary at that (not for the faint-hearted, as they say). There is everything here that has not been done before. Adventure taken to a new level, as the team crosses the seven traps: Glowing starfishes, Red-painted savages, Snakes, Thick forests, Scorching deserts, Quicksands (literally), and the best of all, the maddening village. And in each, it gets bolder.

If the portrayal of cannibals was hair-raising in washing-human-heads and stocking-their-hands, the brutality of the savages was neck-ticking in their fighting spirit and devotion to faith. You want to know where I got the first glimpse of audacity? Reema Sen and Andrea exchange about 10 fiery heated dialogues in english filled with the f-word, c-word and the b-word. For about a full minute, all you can hear is the muted "beeeeep" to cut out the obscenities. But their angry eyes dart everywhere over the body to make you understand what is meant. They haven't faked the accent, they haven't overdone it, and they haven't failed to nail it. Now, this is a first in tamil cinema, and it alone would have given the movie an 'A' rating if not for other vulgarities. I wish there is something like a "AAA+++" rating.

The audience relate to Kaarthi in the scene who stands helpless and blinking wondering what's going on. Everyone would have broken a sweat when they finished shooting that scene. Anyway, those who love similar things in tamil would not go disappointed, as Kaarthi has his share of bad words througout the movie, that makes the b-word sound noble. "Un mela aasadhan" is an entertaining song, one that disguises what is to come after. The maddening scene in the mysterious ruined village where the three of them go out of their minds is downright frightening, sending shivers inside you. That is also a first, and it was painful to see these beautiful beings go berserk. You will either laugh or cry, but definitely squirm.

So much for the first half of the movie. The first half of the second half is also in the same tone, you know something is lurking around the corner waiting to strike.

The choice of cast has taken care of that. Selvaraghavan and his team has researched Tamil literature very well and the one hour where they speak "sanga tamil" was terrific. I lost myself in the screen that one hour as some wonder if what is being spoken is Tamil, because you need to concentrate to understand. I was so intrigued and awestruck by the detail of concetration spent here to perfect the dialogue and its delivery. None other than Parthiban could have probably done justice to that role. He is in his elements, those-days-crazy-guy that we all know. Imagine him playing a descendant king of a clan of cholan dynasty guarding their little secret, isolated from reality, living their ancestors' ways. He dances and dances well. The erotica is made subtle with "veenai" in the background, and attempted to be shown within the acceptable line: but that only makes it all the more darkly sensuos, because he is making out with Reema Sen's shadow, and she is hanging in the air, responding with real emotions. Can it get any more imaginative? Selvaraghavan simply can't resist it when there is a way to twist things. Reema Sen scintillates with her acting that is more than bold, it deserves a hats-off. I am not very fond of the lady, but the way she performed this role takes the cake. She is not great at the lip synch, but you tend to overlook that with your efforts to understand the language. She has done full and more justification to her salary. Kaarthi's role is important, but it comes too late that it is not significant. Andrea is a silent spectator for most of the movie. Oh wait, except for that one-minute freely-verbal part, that is.

And after getting through all this, the climax is a big letdown. The story completely loses track after such a gripping process, and you get lost. The battle between the militia and the old-way army is comical, and it surprised me they could get as far as they got. Kaarthi's battle line commands were rib-tickling. Don't get me wrong, they are supposed to be serious. If this had been inspired by 300, then am sure he didn't get it right. You suddenly feel like there is a college skit going on, and you don't know if you should be serious or if it is meant to be a comedy. Having laid the foundation for a dramatic end, it suffices to say the climax was an unfortunate miscarriage. You don't want to watch a cholan queen dancing to "appadi podu", with that stupid military guy prodding her with his gun. Even if it was supposed to be funny, it is not what I would pay my money for. By the way, it was not funny, it was indignant! The tortures were boring, the rapes were cinematic and the king's end was an outright shame. Infact, it is even dragging towards the end and you don't know if the movie ends when it actually ends.

The movie could have been salvaged by making it the Indiana Jones way, showing it as pure adventure. Instead, they chose to show that history has a way of repeating itself; And it does, for people don't like to see a movie where the evil camp wins. But that is Selvaraghavan for you. If he had been writing this review, he would say: "Aayirathil Oruvan is like engaging in a long stint of heated sex where, unfortunately, you don't climax. Worse, everything goes flak in the end. You are knifed just before the moment, your pain is that of disgust and everything goes black!". That doesn't mean the movie is not worth a watch. Leave out the last 25%, and this is a movie that takes tamil cinema to turfs beyond leaps and bounds. Strictly not for the family man. Take your lady along if she can withstand movies like "Saw" and "Final Destination". Don't take your children along even if they give the ticket free!

அன்னை

2009-11-30T06:34:00.000-08:00

For all those missing their mom, wrote this a couple of years back for a friend:

பெற்றவள் பூமுகம் நரைகூடி போனாலும்

புன்னகைப் புருவங்கள்

உனைபார்த்து சுறுங்காது!

இவ்வுலகம் வெயிலாகி சுட்டெரித்து சாய்த்தாலும்

அன்னையோர் நினைவு மட்டும்

என்றென்றும் நீங்காது!!

தினமவள் நினைவுகள் நறுமலர் உதிர்க்க

உடனில்லை என்றெண்ணம்

ஒருபோதும் தோன்றாது!

நெஞ்சம் முழுவதும் உன் அன்னை உடனிருக்க

தூரமென்ன தேசமென்ன

எத்தடையும் கிடையாது!!

Kolangal Abhi, The Great

2009-11-30T03:45:00.000-08:00

Abhi alias Devayani, is a living legend in South India and she represents one of the greatest of greats who reflect the success women can acheive in an oppressed, male-chauvenistic, anti-feminine, always-plotting-against-her world by sheer determination, very little outside help and not to forget, litres of tears. It is an unblemished fact that she has outlived Arasi aka Radhika and Kalki aka Kushbu, proved merely by actually giving birth to two children over a gap of two years in real-life, during the Kolangal serial itself, simultaneously also keeping Abhi alive in reel-life, and still convincing her disciples. For her second child-birth, they actually tweaked the script and Abhi was in America for six months in a training. It's a pity that the cameraman did not get a visa to the US, and so Abhi could not be shown on TV.

Abhi's alter ego is Devayani, who once had the audacity to act in bigscreen movies. Devayani has given quite a few block busters such as "Appu", "Unakum enakum kalyanam", "Vallarasu", "Kuruvamma" etc. She acts too much that there is no comparison whatsoever and is one of the best actress South Indian cinema was blessed with. The loss to the producers who missed her as a heroine after she got married is not worth mentioning. Her fans were known to wake up breaking sweat in the middle of night, with nightmares featuring her smile. That, plus her dubbed voice that usually vaguely overlaps with a parrot squeaking away on a rainy afternoon from a peepal tree. She had a charming figure that held nothing for the casual eye, and trying to think of her as hot was an attempt at suicide. There was a common agreement among viewers those days that her mirror died a slow death. So much for Devayani. But we digress.

Then came Abhi. The God himself should be humbled by this great lady, for here's a case of creation-surpassing-creator. Everything happens to Abhi. While Abhi is sometimes manhandled, other times Abhi handles men. The vortex of all grief in this world centers on Abhi. Abhi is separated from her money-hungry husband and lives the life of a vegetable. Abhi runs a construction business that's one of the top firms and yet lives with her sisters in a house that's a mild advancement to a hut. Abhi walks on foot, even when blood-dripping. Abhi takes a vacation to Athipattu, and the script tweaks for a story there. Abhi is in a taxi or auto half her life, asking the driver to go fast. Abhi is Adhi's half-sister and his aunty, err, anti (villian, that is). Abhi can cry forever, for her eyes are built on a canal over the hudson river with a tap. It is Abhi's exceptional ability to cry that has made her such a great success with the South-Indian opera fans.

Coming to Adhi, he is nothing short of a madman. Adhi always talks like he is on the verge of a nervous breakdown, that all he needs the next minute is a session in the toilet. Adhi is always in an hyper state. Adhi can withhold the controlling power in any company by forging signatures, not even buying stocks. Adhi deals with global businessmen, lures them to India, abducts and threatens to kill them. Adhi commands the Tamilnadu state police force. Adhi kills everyone but our very own Abhi.

Adhi has Dilla in his side. Dilla is a policeman evolved from an ape, no doubt. His pecking hands, dwarting eyes and pulsating neck resembles a bird busy dropping, and he is definitely a cross between an orangutan and the cockatoo. Don't ask me how they did it, but the proof is for everyone to see.

Leading everyone is Tholkappian, the director himself. Why he chose to cast himself will remain a mystery. With a well-showing paunch and a face that is just shyly short of a overused dosa plate, Thols is an immaculate portrait of a moving tree that displays not only no emotions in the physique outside, but also betrays the nothingness in the mind inside. If his dialogue delivery is plotted on a graph of Pitch vs Time, it will be a perfectly flat horizontal straight line, for Thols can easily utter "I am Thols", "I am horny" and "I am dead" all in the same monotone. Imagine that along with his best friend Abhi, whose graph will be perfectly vertical. After five years of writing and directing emotional excreta, the man has completely lost track of reality and is irrevocably wrapped in the cocoon of Abhi, Adhi and other such disposables.

Though a lot of examples can be given about the logic in "Kolangal" (or the lack of it), this one takes the cake. Once recently, Abhi admits her best friend Tholkappian in a hospital with mortal bullet wounds. The nurse proclaims he is dead! The wardboy proclaims he is dead!! The duty-doctor proclaims he is dead!!! The head-doctor proclaims he is dead!!!! But fools they are, for the great Abhi still has hope!!!!! She requests, begs, orders and even wills the doctors (two days serial time) to take another look at him because SHE believes he is alive. And lo! The doctor comes out of the operation theater, removes his gloves, and he bloody says "It is a medical miracle! We all declared him dead, but your hopes brought him back alive!!". So are the hopes of thousands of women and men who are Abhi's fans. To quote Captain Archibald Haddock, "Billions of bilious blue blistering barnacles!". But when Abhi hopes - medicine, bullets, science, economics, history and geography are all proved wrong. The best part through all this cowdung is that Abhi herself is also wounded by bullets, blood-red all over, tears streaming down her face pleading with doctors, and not a single soul in that hospital realized Abhi should be given first aid. They kept her blood-red for three full days (serial time), it is only after that that Abhi realized she is bleeding and faints. That draws a whoomph from a lot of viewers. I silently pray Abhi is dead. Futile, I may add.

The slow-moving sentimental dung that Abhi churns out with tears in the name of "Kolangal" stinks in all the household for about five years now, and yet Abhi is the Xerxes of Persia who invades our Greek homeland day-after-weekday. Abhi might not be logical, Abhi might defy commonsense, Abhi might be a shame to drama, Abhi might be the worst portrayal of a successful lady in life; but all morale are within the ethical boundary of drama, as long as Abhi rules the TRP. Chellamma aka Radhika and Thangam aka Ramyakrishnan have a lot of catching up to do. For the anamoly that Abhi is, and for the fools that we all are, "Kolangal" is a great success as long as Abhi's glycerine doesn't run out!

To You, From Me

2009-10-21T06:09:00.001-07:00

The first poem that I wrote for my wife, long before we were married. I can never forget that starry sleepless night that I spent in the Bangalore-Chennai train, gazing towards the distant looming mountains racing past me as I wrote this:

Sleepless stars in the thick of night
Oh my dear, I call your name ..
With some doubts and with some fright
Growth of love in the tiny flame!

Across the skies and over the fields,
Never go back leaving a hole,
Drill the wall and break the shields
Hate my hate to love my soul,
I stand weak against your cold.

Where are you on this dark dead night,
Why are you sleeping when I aint ..
The air is stiff and the head is light,
Sounds from the moon are still so faint,
You arent a nun and I no saint.

Distanced by vast space and oceans,
On grey clouds atop the lonely tree,
Fled my thoughts all set free ..
It smiled across light years,
Winding paths that were fierce.

You stood there with stretched hands;
Calling out my name, the sweet voice,
Going ahead was the only choice ..
I fled as I looked from the train,
Across shining lakes, sans restrain.

As time runs a rainbow of smiles,
Two worlds coming to be one,
Even across the miles,
the hearts have won!!

You Are Invited !!

2009-06-22T10:15:00.001-07:00

We would be very glad if you visit our wedding website below.

It has more details about us, about the wedding and you can drop us a word too.

http://www.sowgandhisravankumar.com

Looking forward to see you at the wedding!!

On AIR

2009-05-09T04:30:00.001-07:00

Well, I went on AIR yesterday. Not in the parachute way, AIR here is All India Radio. I recited some of my tamil poems in the Bangalore AM 'Sneha Bharati' programme.

It was a wonderful experience. First of sorts, seeing the audio visual controls, I couldn't believe it was happening. The recording went through fine with the first take last month, and when I heard it yesterday, it was initially funny listening to my own voice broadcasted over the radio. But then, I got used to it, so I hope about the other listeners too :).

Anyway, it was a wonderful experience; a good break from an otherwise monotonous Bangalore life.

வணக்கம் உலகம்

2009-05-05T10:04:00.000-07:00

புறம் வகை வணக்கம்

{

புறம் தன்னிலை காலி முக்கியம்(வார்த்தை[] வாதங்கள்)

{

அமைப்பு.வெளியே.சொல்கூறு("வணக்கம் உலகம்");

}

The Crappiest Song

2009-04-28T03:01:00.000-07:00

After listening to this song for about 10 15 years now, I still am not able to decide if I like it or hate it. It comes with an amazing tune and the crappiest lyrics I have ever heard. Very fittingly, it is for Ramarajan!

I am so pissed off with the lyrics I am blogging it.

பல்லவி

சொர்கமே என்றாலும் அது நம்மூர போல வருமா?
- வராதா? அப்போ ஏன் எல்லாரும் செத்த அப்பறம் சொர்கத்துக்கு போகனும்னு ஆசை படறாங்க?

எந்நாடு என்றாலும் அது நம் நாட்டுக்கீடாகுமா?
- எப்போதான் நம்ம trumpet அடிக்கறத நிறுத்த போறோம்? As SRK lays it down clearly in swades, unless we accept our mistakes, we will never improve.

தேசம் முழுதும் பேசும் மொழிகள் தமிழ் போல் இனித்திடுமா?
- வெச்சிடாங்கல்லே! அது எப்படியா? எங்க போனாலும் சுத்தி சுத்தி மொழி பிரச்சினை இல்ல ஜாதி பிரச்சினைக்கு வந்துடறீங்க? மொத 2 line இந்தியா பத்தி பாடிட்டு எப்படிஉடனே communalism-a சேர்த்து விட்டாங்கய்யா!

சரணம் 1

ஏரிக்கரை காத்தும் ஏலேலேலோ பாட்டும் இங்க ஏதும் கேட்கவில்லையே!
- எப்படி? Singapore நடூல எப்படி கேட்கும் ங்கறேன்? இத கேக்கறதுக்கா Singapore போனீங்க? போன வேலைய பாக்காம ஊர வெட்டியா சுத்திட்டு பாட்டு வேற! ஊருல இருக்கும் போது தண்ணிய போட்டுட்டு அம்மாவ எட்டி உதைக்க வேண்டியது, Singapore போய் ஏலேலேலேலோ பாட்டு கேக்க வேண்டியது!

பாடும் குயில் சத்தம் ஆடும் மயில் நித்தம் பாக்க ஒரு சோலயில்லையே!
- இதெல்லாம் இந்தியாலயே எல்லா இடத்துலயும் கிடையாது. எதுகை மோனை நல்லா இருக்குனு எத ஒன்னா எழுதறதா?

வெத்தலைய மடிச்சி மாமன் அத கடிச்சி துப்ப ஒரு வழியில்லையே!
- து கன்றாவி! I don't wana write anything about this, this is the worst line ever. shows how much we take our roads for granted!

ஓடி வந்து குதிச்சு முங்கி முங்கி குளிச்சு ஆட ஒரு ஓடையில்லையெ!
- Bungee Jumping, Sea Surfing இதெல்லாம் தெரியலையாம், முங்கி குளிக்க ஒரு ஓடை வேணுமாம். வெளியூருலையும் ஓடை இருக்குங்கோவ்! சுத்தமா எருமை மாடு குளிக்காத ஓடை! இந்தியால நல்லதா எவ்ளோ இருக்கு? இத பத்தியா எழுதனும்?

இவ்வூரு என்ன ஊரு நம்மூரு ரொம்ப மேலு ..
- There you go again! Objected to as insufficient, incompetent and irrelevant!

அட ஓடும் பல காரு வீன் ஆடம்பரம் பாரு ..
- எந்த ஊர்ல இது நியாயம்? Car வெச்சிருந்தா ஆடம்பரமாம். Unforunately, a lot of people think this way. But everyone strives to buy one. And if they are not able to buy one, down with capitalism!

ஒரு தாகம் தீற ஏது மோரு?
- அட பாவிகளா! Singapore-ல மோரு கிடைக்காதா?

சரணம் 2

மாடு கன்னு மேய்க்க மேயறத பார்க்க மந்தவெளி இங்க இல்லையே!
- ராமராஜன் கிட்ட வேற என்ன பெருசா எதிர் பாக்க முடியும்? இதெல்லாம் ஒரு பெருமையாவே எடுத்துகிட வேன்டியது! வெட்டியா சுத்தறத ஒரு பொழப்பாவே ஆக்கிட்டங்கய்யா!

ஆடு புலி ஆட்டம் போட்டு விளையாட அரச மரம் மேடையில்லையே!
- You get the drift right? எத சொன்னாலும் அத பெருமையா சொல்லிக்கறது.

காள ரெண்டு பூட்டி கட்ட வண்டி ஓட்டி கானம் பாட வழியில்லையே
- Sigh! இதுலையும் பெருமையா? It's a nice experience though.

தோழிகளை அழைச்சு சொல்லி சொல்லி ரசிச்சு ஆட்டம் போட முடியலையே ..
- ஏனா எல்லாரும் இங்க ஊர்ல இருக்காங்க. அங்க போய் உக்காந்து பாடினா? Friends பிடி மகனே. தமிழ் மட்டும் தான் பேசுவேன், English hindi லாம் பேச மாட்டேன்னு சொன்னா வேலைக்காவாது.

ஒரு யந்திரத்த போல அட இங்கே உள்ள வாழ்கை ..
- கனகாம்பட்டி-ல நிறைய activities போல .. எச்சை துப்பறது, மாடு மேய்க்கறது மாதிரி ..

இத எங்கே போய் சொல்ல மனம் இஷ்ட பட வில்ல ..
- அப்போ மூடு!

நம்மூர போல ஊரும் இல்ல ..
- அட ராமா! என்ன ஏன் இந்த மாதிரி கழிசடை பசங்களோடலாம் கூட்டு சேர வெக்கற?!!

And when singing all this, Ramarajan and Gowthami actually go around singapore, and they show all the beautiful beaches, water-bikes, hi-rise buildings, boat-rides and theme parks!

Next time you listen to this song, think about it. Isn't the whole lyrics aimed towards blowing our own trumpet without any depth? Actually, we have lot better things to be proud of, than the crappy things written down here. And our people have the uncanny ability to pick up such songs, take pride in the said things and make it a super duper hit. God save India!

The Software Culture

2009-03-11T18:28:00.000-07:00

Software Engineering in India, if plotted on a graph of Time vs. State, would be a Sinusoidal wave. It has had its crests and troughs, majorly as repurcussions or aftermaths of the pressure generated across the sea. I represent a small speck in the vast number of Indians who surf the wave of Software Engineering, and the ride is pretty much what it is - A Ride. It has made its mark in India and has swept the Indians off their foot. It has been the solace of many a souls that would have done God-Knows-What otherwise. It has changed the face of Indian Economy, both in the sub-continental and international scale. The only other cult that I could think of that has made such a massive impact on Indians is Cricket. Not that I mean to compare Cricket and Software Engineering. If I do, I am sure the former will win. But when it comes to life itself, there is nothing to beat the effect of Software Engineering on Indians.

When the wave of Software Engineering started reaching the shores of India, I was probably crawling on all my fours. By the time I learnt my ABC's and moved on to bigger things, the intoxication of "My son is studying to become an Engineerrrr or Doctorrrr, and I will be a proud Fatherrr one day" had taken over most Indians. I chose MPC (Maths/Physics/Chemisty), because I liked the Pythagorous theorem, Newton's laws and the colour of Copper Sulphate, in that order. I did not choose Biology because I could neither draw a straight line without a ruler nor could I remember Complexi Nameosis. Why bother to call an earthworm an earthworm, when you can call it Lumbricus terrestris? Not my forte! Though I excelled in biology in my class, I had the wisdom to know it was more a drive for the first rank, than any serious love. Physics was waiting for me with open hands, those generous fingers and sensuous eyes with which it invited and enveloped thousands and thousands into its gravitational bosom. The Newtons and Einsteins of this world manifested themselves in me and soon, I was working 16-hour days in the foot steps of DAV (my hi-scool), the magical three letters that will suck your life out of you only to make you search for it elsewhere. The effect of Physics and Chemistry on me was phenomenal, Computers was not even an option then. I was lost in the mechanics of heat, the entropy of this universe, in the electronic rain and in orgaaaaaa-nic chemisty! Oh I loved it! The carbons and hydrogens and oxygens were my lifeline and boy, I loved it.

I mention DAV, because it was the first place I came in direct contact with computers. I opened up the DOS prompt and that was my first peek into the other world, one in which I would eventually belong. Quickly, I learnt to list files and write programs that told me 2 + 3 was 5. I was awed to learn that input and output devices existed and that I could actually touch them. You would want to know that my friends were already playing video games by this time, and some of them even had their own computers. I once pressed ctrl+alt+del because the computer asked me to, and lo, it shutdown! Obviously I did not know what that was, and I broke sweat. It was in the lab and I sincerely thought I had done some unrecoverable mistake and terminated the computer's life. By the time I gathered the guts to call the lab technician and told him my heinous deed, I was a nervous wreck. When he coolly switched on the goddamn thing with the swipe of a finger, and the monitor whirred to life, I knew I had fallen in love with the magic box, then and there.

I could never forget the counselling session for engineering admissions. It was the peak-est time of Indians craving for a seat in Computer Science or in Information Technnology. All around me, it felt like a slow-motion of students marching towards glory, those with seats in Computer Science. Fathers called for last-minute advices, Mothers prayed in temples, Sisters waited to show-off, families sat on the seat-edge. The whole of India came to a stand-still those two months in 1999, when all engineering seats were being fast-filled, especially those in computers. Management and Sponsored seats were suddenly an option for the poor government worker struggling to rake in money. I was probably one of the very few who wanted to do Mechanical Engineering in Anna University (I wanted that combo) and got it. "My son got a computer science seat, you didn't get one?" - Silence. "Infosys and Cognizant and TCS are calling and you chose Mechanical Engineering?" - Silence. "You really want to be a mechanic?" - (Gosh!) Silence. "Anna University? That's fine. But Mechanical Engineering? You are an intelligent boy, you should have chosen Computers" - Silence. All I wanted then was to do a phD in Thermodynamics. Seriously.

Seniors getting placed in Software Companies was the talk of the campus. They came in thousands and took in thousands. People talked of huge bench strength, strong onsite-offshore model and I heard of new terms like "Organizational Behavior", "Architectural Baseline" and "Growing Economy". The dual degree was offered in the second year and most of us grabbed the opportunity. This would change my life forever, the B.Tech in Information Technology in addition to B.E., in Mechanical Engineering. The C's and C plus plusses were romantic. Java was almost healing. I lost myself in computers, not because the world around me lost in it, but because I really liked it. But most of the people were caught in the wave, pushing themselves along with others, the synergy of the booming economy.

The time after graduation was one of the best! Indian culture became open-mided, and this concept of a "typical software engineer" came up. A typical software engineer is supposed to be ending every sentence with a "man" or "dude". He dresses like a hippie, except that the clothes are new. He wears faded jeans, talks of rock and jazz, comes to office with red eyes and unkempt hair, and has a small paunch. He parties, smokes, drinks - all a part of the software cult. Posters are everywhere - "Failed 10th? Failed 12th? Join G-NEET. Become a Software Engineer". Software was chosen as the last resort if you don't succeed in anything else. Why care when it is waiting? There were ads showing software managers wearing Armani Suits grabbing any guy who comes out a software learning centre. Sadly and oddly, they really did!

And the hunt was on! "24, Fair looking female, decent family, well brought-up, looking for a US-return Software Engineer" or "23, South-Indian Mallu girl, looking for a Software Engineer in US". All you had to do back then, to get yourself married was to go to the US. Even if it is just for three months, you did! Software Engineers were seen as visas themselves to settle the girls well in a foreign country. And it was rolling. "Where are you working? Haan? What is that? Mera beta working in Infosys. You know, Narayanmoorthy! Send your bio-daata to him, he will get you a job in Infosys". Mr. Narayanmoorthy became a household name. He deserves it, but not in this fashion. Then the recession hit! And it hit hard! "Hey, they tell me all Indians are coming back. Really? How can US do this to us?" - Because it's their f-country and they have the right! "Dude, I heard people are being laid off? True?" - Don't scare the hell out of me man.

The complaints against them pile up. The normal government worker is not able to accept the fact that they are being paid high. But it's not a 9-5 job. "These software engineers! They just sit in one place and they are paid so much!" - Why complain? No-one is paying if there is not a price for it. Software Engineers do work their a$$ off. So what, if there is a small party over the weekend? Is it wrong because you cannot afford it? "It spoils Indian Culture" - What spoils? Partying or beating up women for it? "Arey beta! I am too scared to look for a software engineer now. What if he loses his job?" - The most knowledgeable scheming Indian Aunties who start fretting about a girl's marriage the moment she is born, so you can't really blame them. Doctors are busy ragging juniors to death. Lawyers are busy protesting in courts and beating up students. Chartered Accountants are busy crunching numbers and planning. Software Engineers are busy partying, huh?

And the wave rolls! It goes on. I live in this world because I like it. I do want to do my masters, but I want to do it with experience, may be as honours or in research. I do want to work in computers because they run the world. They make satellites work, they generate your bills in shopping malls, they help you send mails to your children overseas, they help industries store data, they help in researching markets, they make software for your kid's learning, they are cool.

As I said to that guy who interviewed me long back - "I liked C, fell in love with C++, and married JAVA".

Ciao!

The Cost of Freedom

2008-12-01T19:21:00.000-08:00

I suppose I have to write this and find a way to save it through the end of us, so the next race of living things find out how humans terminated themselves.

Suppose some commander in an ultra-deep movement, with resources and influence all over the world thought of hatching a plan to potentially cause a war. A war needs two sides and there cannot be a better prospect than one country split into two, constantly pointing fingers at each other. With Srilanka engulfed in an internal war with the LTTE, there needs to be little said about the already prevailing tensions in the subcontinental area. It only needs a small trigger such as a group of 10 to 12 people shooting indiscriminately, to start speculations on a global basis as to who could be responsible. Speculations lead to confusions, confusions to accusations, accusations to summons and summons to wars. Idea has enlightened!

Suppose he decides to put together exactly such a group of young men who do not have anything to lose except their lives, whose love they have already been brainwashed out of. Suppose these men (boys) have always been told their only purpose in life is to lay it down for one common purpose. Suppose there are men (boys) in this world who wake up everyday thinking they are destined to die today. Suppose these young "recruits" have been rhetroically stressed to a point so it just takes less than a second to fire at someone without any private motive. Suppose their heart ticks only by the rush of insulin brought forth by seeing the fear in the eyes of someone whose death is in their hands. Recuriting has finished!

Suppose these men are re-brained to think that more blood is the only way to clean blood. Suppose the minds of these men has reached a level of fanatisicm where they just need to pull a trigger to convince themselves out of any doubt. Suppose they are trained rigorously in real combat conditions that are easily created by small terror plots, in which more innocent lives can be claimed, with the actual goal in mind. Suppose they are administered with a sense of power and money that they can never dream of otherwise. Suppose they are made to travel around the world with genuinely fake passports and trained in different parts to speak fluent English, Hindi and Arabic - Probably more languages too. Suppose they are spoken to often by the commander himself to keep their motivation levels up, to indirectly gain control of their senses and nerves and in the end, their lives itself. Suppose these men are adept enough to survive for long periods without food and sleep in conditions of extreme stress, when they feel normal is only when the heart ticks at the rate of 110 beats per second. Training is perfect!

Suppose resources are tapped and movements are made. Suppose plans are obtained and buildings are surveyed. Suppose docks are compromised and intelligence gets involved. Suppose spies are abundant and traitors are manipulated. Suppose hotels are recced and rooms are booked. Suppose cars move around and eyes pry. Suppose Cafes are chosen and vantage points identified. Suppose arms are abundant and kitchens are breached. Suppose the voyage began and the carnage completes. Suppose the war could happen. Planning is treacherous!

Suppose the men (boys) assemble and are given code names for the brief final stint they are about to pull off. Suppose they hijack a ship and arrive on the docks of an otherwise serene scenic Arabian sea. Suppose they split into groups and run away to pre-determined spots where more arms have already been made available. Suppose there is nothing more perfect for them than fire indiscriminately at men, women and even children in a railway station and hospital. Suppose it is just perfect for them to cystallize into luxurious hotels where people are prominent. Suppose the ever-hungry media, always craving for some news hit a golden goose, a bumper prize coverage for days together, providing a perfect platform to spread their message of terror. Suppose there are enough drugs, guns and time to kill a sea of people who all love their lives and relatives and friends. Suppose it is an added bonanza to actually kill the police and army, which would also salvage some pride for the operation. Suppose people cry, suppose they shout, suppose they run, suppose they die. Suppose the men (boys) get the opportunity to kill thousands of men among which could be Indians, Americans, the British, Germans and Jews. ATS chief Hemant Karkare dies. DIG Ashok Kamte dies. Encounter specialist Vijay Salaskar dies. Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan dies. Havildar Chander dies. Havildar Gajendar Singh dies. A lot of others die a martyr's death. Operation begun!

Suppose it is conveniently spoiled. Suppose only one gets caught and the others die. Suppose the one who is caught has got thousand ways to die, but he chooses to get caught instead. Suppose he plants information that he is from Pakistan. Suppose he says he has been trained by an ultra-deep movement, based out of Pakistan, in Pakistan, for an year. Suppose he plants information that he has been trained by an Ex-Pakistani soldier. Suppose he plants much more information, relating everything to Pakistan. Suppose the Indian Government is led to believe there is enough proof to take offence. Suppose Pakistan just shrugs it off by promising co-operation. Suppose there are people who are not satisfied with the investigations and play dirty politics. Suppose there is rampage everywhere. Suppose there are borders of uncertainity, of an en-masse of explosives hanging about in air, and just anyone could light one fuse and the fire spreads. Suppose the ideology is achieved without even preaching it. Suppose anything could be led to. Suppose, just suppose, there is World War Three !!

Suppose it is that shudderingly easy ..

Whereas, continuing life in the same shade is not easy. I am an Indian, not able to digest the fact that this could happen to Mumbai, a place I love and long to go to. I am an Indian, not able to believe that the doves in the shore of Arabian sea could flutter their wings to echo the sounds of gunshots rather than those of setting sun. I am an Indian, not able to digest the dirty politics played by politicians of this country to gain some leverage for themselves and their party even at the mouth of an impending disaster. I am an Indian, not able to convince myself there will be peace anymore in India. I am an Indian, not able to control the tears that pour out even as I write this, thinking about the funerals of the brave men who laid their lives down for us, so we could wake up to one more day of freedom. I am an Indian who loves the world, not driven by fanaticism that my country is superior, but by a fantasy that all countries are equal.

Freedom comes at a special cost - The cost of some unknown selfless lives which never can be compensated anything with!

Ink Drops in Crisis

2008-10-03T15:27:00.000-07:00

It dawns on me at 4 AM now that I am suddenly not able to write. The ink is just not getting to my hands. Looking back at the blogs of late, I havent written anything much compared to the previous years. God save this blogspace!

No-Complaint Day

2008-07-23T01:52:00.000-07:00

I came up with this concept a few months back and I am sure it is a great success, as you will see. It's pretty simple, what you do is refrain from complaining one full day; Complaining of all sorts. We all know that the human ethos wants to be happy always and never to be sad, though in the real world it is not always possible. It is, infact, rarely possible. So, as a bypass, we take to complaining to let loose the emotions rather than seeking a solution for the problems. And the clumsy blob of muscles and intertwined nerves siting there at the top of everyone's head ceases to function in an emotional state. And hence, this concept of No-Compaint Day! No complaints for 24 hours please!

I need to do this because there are a lots of things to complain about, like the following.

The autorick I took yester morning had the wrong meter. This one just gets over the top of my head, I hate autorickshaws that do not run the correct meter. I have stopped riding autos that dont have a digital meter fit in, though there a lot of autos that still run on old meter which are meant to be wrong. I wish I could make all ricks fit a digital meter .....

I wish I had that code to finish today, so pissing of me to have finished it last night itself. Now I have to wait till the afternoon so the changes are published and I can start working again. Don't bother if you dont understand, I don't either. But I just wish I had something worthwhile to do this morning. I hate sitting idle .....

The guy over the other side of this wing has a mouth that won't close. He talks incessantly that even his team-mates consider him incorrigible. And he pokes his nose constantly into others' email box and I wonder how they put up with him. If he had been around me, I would lock my computer the moment he comes anywhere closer than 10 yards. I don't know, I just can't put up with people like such .....

The food I ate was too cold, the icecream had become a milkshake and the cow that gave the milk that gave the curd had stood in the sun for too long. I wish the food was atleast a tard better for the cost we pay .....

The weather had been morose all this week. You could never say when it would rain and when the sun would pop out of its cloud bed. I can't carry an umbrella around like a schoolmaster and my routine is badly disturbed because of this .....

The neighbour's dog was barking too loudly in the morning and woke me up at 11 AM itself .....

The mouse skips a few curves and the keyboard is stuck .....

I am feeling lousy .....

I am bored .....

Lastly, because it is a No-Complaint day, I can't complain about any of these .....

Or, rather, did I do just that? Sigh, I can't help it, maybe tomorrow .....

Water Pebbles

2008-06-24T13:01:00.000-07:00

Colorful in the eyes is the pebble,
A dancing damsel, masterpiece of art,
Wearing a cheerful ensemble,
Blessing with her benevolent heart.

The water that flows over the pebble,
Protects it night and day,
Transparently clear and lovingly stable,
The two are forever to stay.

The Violated Subconscience

2008-05-17T16:37:00.000-07:00

It was a normal-blended day, one in which no specific incident, that would trigger a slight anamoly of senses to butterfly its effect into subconscience, happened. The day was equally hot as the rest of the mid-year summer, it was only a matter of minutes before the heat waves crawled into the cornea of any crackpot who dared to venture out, causing flourescent circles of crimson and yellow and green, intersecting like a pattern of multiple olympic rings. He dared the sun only once for lunch and was back, as fast as he went, to the copious comfort of his airconditioner. Earlier, he had finished 'The Summons' by John Grisham and had started with 'The Lost World' by Michael Crichton. It wiped out the rest of his day, and when darkness had swelled like a pregnant cow all over the coast, he saw his parents sleeping just beneath the bed on the cool floor, and tired circles swirled in front of his eyes as he fell asleep ...

... and that is when it began!

It more or less started in a fashionable way, quite contrary to what lies ahead - he heard the radio somewhere very near him. Infact he heard the music beats as they slowly inched their way up his consciousness, but he was clinging to his dear sleep like a baby that was determined not to leave its mother's hold. As persuasive as only a father can be, the music won in the end. He listened to the music for a while hoping it would stop, but it did not. He wondered where the music was coming from and for a moment, pondedred if it could be his imagination, but then dropped the idea as soon as it occured because the music was crystal clear, it was almost calling out to him. He gave up on his attempts to salvage some sleep, determined to find out what was the source of the disturbance.

He was wandering in the region of lost sleepers who are reluctant to wake up, where reality handshakes with the bizarre, where the control of consciousness is handed over to the subconscious. He woke up and on sheer instinct, tried to open his eyes only to find he couldn't - atleast not as a normal man would. He felt a cemented layer of flashing screen in front of his eyes, a heavyweight pressing on his eyelids and he could not determine if his eyes were open. But images popped up in the flashing screen and in that moment, he knew he had opened his eyes. But in some strange way, it wasn't full - the perception of images in front of him was aberrant and lacked details, and almost artificial, but almost is still only almost. In a moment, it settled and he was able to see his bedroom, but the artificiality and heavyweight lingered. It was like a projection screen dropped suddenly in front of a theatre, and what was projected was not from your back, but from its front.

He immediately recognized the wrong details - but no attempt was made to hide the mistake. His mother was not sleeping where he saw her last, but a well six foot ahead. And he could not see his father. He made an attempt and then realized his head was not turning to the side but he managed to realize his father's presence - the voluntary nerves were only partially working, like they were commanded by some source other than his brain. The commands they carried were freely intercepted, the wavelengths read at an astonishing speed and freely contaminated. He managed to call out to his mother and ask if she could hear the music. She mumbled a "No, go to sleep". He was surprised to see the voice coming from where he now saw his mother in the artificial facade, though he knew the reality was different. This was when fear struck first! He wasn't sure anymore. The picture of his father now became a bit clearer. It was like a system had initialized, the dimensions of its co-ordinates were fed with a few known clear boundary values and then, the system was slowly self-adjusting to the ground reality. He wished it would come to normalcy soon. But then, there was the unexplained music! So who was waking him up? The music kept coming and so did the confusion and fear! And as abruptly as it started, the music stopped. The fear did not.

He wasn't thinking clearly. He realized something had taken control over him. He realized what was fed into his senses was not reality. But then, the system made no adjustments this time. It wanted to intimidate him, it wanted to make him understand that he was being intimidated. He somehow had to get through, but did not know how. He submitted to the intimidation. He was truly afraid and plainly irritated at the heavy-set eyelids, but he was the victim. And as with all victims, he hoped he doesnt have to endure the adversities for long. He was wrong.

Murphy's rule says "If something can go wrong, it will". It was almost important that he should feel the necessity to wash his face now. He stood from his bed, and the facade moved with him. He was not sure where to keep his legs for the fear of stamping on his parents. He was not clear anymore who was where. He was definitely certain what he was seeing was not right, his instincts told him that. He managed to scramble past his mother, and came out of the bedroom. The bathroom door was just there, where it was installed. He made a gutsy attempt to cross the empty space between the bedroom and the bath. He stood and poured mugs after mugs of water on his face, but they fell a few feet ahead. After a sufficient number of futile attempts, he was terrified and shivering and gave up. He rocketed back to the bedroom, sat on his bed and suddenly felt cold. The water had after all wet his face. He wasnt sure if it was really the water or if the system was feeding in the feeling.

Time passed and he did not clearly comprehend what was happening. But the forces were kept in full throttle and he was terrified. It stifled him. He woke up his mother and asked her if she could see his father. She said yes and fell asleep again. He felt miserable. He wanted a human touch, he wanted to feel the warmth of another human being closeby. He crawled out of his bed and lied down next to his mother, where he saw her in the facade. And he was bolted when he found her there. He hugged her tight and cried out loud. He knew this couldn't be real. He confessed to his mother, who said it was nothing and asked him to sleep. He kept crying, all his attempts to understand, ending futile. The images were a blur of the war between conscience and perception, constantly reminding him of the dread he was going through.

After sometime, he found himself in the bed, but did not realize how he came to be there. He was still shaking, still terrified, still crying. And this time, Murphy came in the form of urinary bladder. He went to the toilet, found the door half-open. He tried to push it open, but it wouldn't budge beyond one point. He managed to squeeze in. He had the audacity to look behind the door. He almost peed his pants when he saw another one behind, just like the one he squeezed through. Clothes were hanging on the doors and he dared not touch anything. He relieved himself as fast as possible, but not as clean. He had a flashing reminder, a snapshot of some email that he had received a few days back, but it had nothing to do with the blasphemy happening now. He fled from the toilet, made futile attempts to wash his hands and feet and ventured back into the bedroom.

He was praying desperately as he was about to enter the bedroom. He hoped for the umpteenth time for things to come to normal, the past hour making no sense. It had driven him to the point of being terrified with himself, inspite of the narcissist that he is. He slowly rolled the door open ...

... and the facade lifted! At exactly the same moment, he walked over the border of consciousness, his eyes opened, he woke up and sat on the bed.

The continuity was apalling and the after-effects were terrifying. For a couple of minutes, he almost cried. He saw his father and mother where he saw them sleeping earlier. But he had to call out to his father, hear his words to be sure. He had to see they were where they were. He did not blink for a long time, and relived his dream. The hands were trembling and the face was cold. Most of the details were still very clear and the fear he felt lived through. He wished he had the magical cookie that he usually dreams of, to shake him out of his reverie and make him smile. The sooner, the better.

The strangest part of this dream was that it was in close touch with reality. The most chilling part of the experience was that it was almost real. The end was hand in hand with the remedy. The dream would end only when the facade lifted. The facade would lift only when his senses came back. And the senses would come back only when he woke up. This was not a dream where you wake up after it ended, but you have to wake up for it to end. In addition to the horrifying events, it was the nature of the dream itself that rendered its full effect.

He had no choice but to write it, to come over it.

Twenty Six

2008-04-29T23:44:00.000-07:00

Twenty five, the last few days of boyhood,
Twenty five it is, since I was born,
No, I don't wanna go over silver,
Twenty five, I would rather stay upon.

No more "hez still growin' up"
No more "tz only a hiccup"
No more "he'll learn to be wise"
No more "his childishness is nice"
But on the other side of twenties,
My life is full at large,
Shoes may not or shoes may shine,
And my mistakes are none but mine.

A last bid of bye to clingin' adolescence,
But I can't bite dust anymore in a brawl,
And get away with it in a overhaul.
You know I cant get into small tricks,
Coz am twenty-six!

The cart of life goes Rickety-Dickety,
And I will soon be marching on my thirty,
Babies with soft hands and orange feet,
Yeah, you know the feat,
Calling me Dad and Athimber and Chithappa,
With staring eyes of stunning awe,
And you realize you have the next generation;
What you were once, reflected to you,
You are one up in the queue!

Life is about growin' up, not growin' old,
Age doesn't matter, stay young at heart,
Oh yea, people do say so, so bold;
But it is not theirs but your fart!

Twenty six is jus' around the corner,
Inviting me with speculating eyes ..
Twenty five years has taught me this,
Let me tell you what life is:
To live life sublime,
Live it one year at a time!

Know Your Toilet

2008-03-13T17:22:00.000-07:00

For sometime now, I had been pondering about writing on this topic, more as I see unclean toilets and those that have not been used properly. This blog is not to be seen as a yucky article or as wasted keystrokes of an insomniac moron, but rather as a public awareness campaign, the sorts usually done by NGOs - a small difference: given a choice, I would rather be a capitalist!

First and foremost, we have to understand that the potty is not a place to wrench away the guts with abhorrence. This is a place of spiritual pleasure where one can download the mental stress in the form of physical release of unwanted shit, literally. This is a place to revere and wonder and gape at with awe and reflect it upon our own life. What else can gobble up tons and tons of shit thrown over from the top and still manage to sit calm and work relentlessly? (If you got reminded of some colleague of yours when you read that last statement, the pun was unintended!). This is the domicile of congeniality, a mandatory spot that demands your visit everyday, failing which you end up spending your subconscious sphere worrying about not relieving your intestines. Hence, we are not talking about an unearthly astronomical gadget that smells of or eats up unwanted digested waste, but rather of a friendly part of your home or office that demands certain moral responsibility and ownership from every individual.

Second and secondarily, we have to understand that a toilet does not comprise only of the potty that we just prided so much about. It has other things that we will deal with shortly, that you will be surprised how you missed noticing them (!). These are essentials of any toilet and maintaining these is our responsibility if you want yourself and everyone else around you to be a neat toiletarian (soon to be added in dictionary).

A toilet is to be as aesthetically designed as any other part of a home or office. This is the first step towards maintaining cleanliness. It should evoke that unknown feeling of orderliness in you. It should struggle to overcome the chaos that your mind is usually defaulted to and make you look forward to a pleasant experience of five minutes (or longer, depending on what you had for dinner last night). An ideal color could be anything brilliantly different from your living area or working place. Bright colors usually give a jolly ride experience - yellow, green, blue and other such aesthetically pleasing areas of the rainbow. Boring and intellectually non-stimulating colors such as brown, maroon etc., should be refrained from. They discourage a healthy use of the toilet and make a person want to run away before pulling up the pants.

Enough attention should be given to the location of various assets. It is a generally accepted notion that the toilet should rather be in a corner of the restroom and the area in the middle be used for bathing or shaving. Design your space with your head. A bathroom could turn into a romantic rollercoaster, depending on what you choose to use it for. It is ideal to have quite some space allocated for your bathroom so you can fit in a bath tub, a shower, a wide mirror, a locker, a wash basin, a toilet (with good-looking equipments) and enough moving area. By enough moving area, I mean more than enough space for at least two people. A big bathroom is usually a good stimulant to all kinds of metabolism that the human body undergoes. And if you are a crazy romantic, move the potty as distant as possible from the main area. It is also advisable to locate it as distant as possible from where you keep your toothbrushes, because I remember reading this somewhere: Everytime you flush, tiny molecules of dirt, germ and you-know-what can leap into air for about 10 (or more) meters. (I have been keeping my toothbrush in the kitchen ever since). Keeping all this in mind, the ideal place for the potty is the far end of your bathroom. Designers should make sure toilets are fed with fresh air using an air duct and have enough head space. Maintenance personnel should make sure there are repellents and fresheners handy.

Now comes the most important part of this write-up: using it. Please sit completely, do not strain your legs. As I mentioned before, it is a pleasurable 5-minute experience, depending on how you see it. Relax your mind and stretch your limits. Sulk in the comfort and forget your worries. Subject yourself to the luxury. Accept it as a part of your routine life. You do not have to exercise precaution to close your mouth, but do not make a sound when you try, for the benefit of others. Rather give it its time. The more you wait, the more it waits. But you will emerge victorious if you hang on, patience is the key. And once the gates are opened, thy shall hear what thy predecessors hath heard! Thy shall revel in the ecstasy that all thy colleagues hath enjoyed! The noble heavenly imperial ambrosia of an exquisitely crafted, perennially pleasing, serenely soothing, blazingly peaceful plop of a solid rushing into an eagerly waiting liquid medium in a continuous random stream of motion (movement, i mean). Lengthen the moment, strengthen the control and pull (push?) yourself up - If you had remembered to latch the door, none is seeing! It is your private moment to glory!

So much for personal pleasure! Now comes the moral responsibility that you owe to others waiting in line - Please dispose your mess. It is your toilet (OK, the company's toilet) and it is your duty to leave it the way you would want it to be when you step in. Put yourself in the shoes of the person coming next. Get up, remember to flush adequately and clean yourself. Dispose the tissues into the bin, not the potty. Most corporate toilets clog because of flushed tissues. If you know where your food should go into, you are supposed to also know where it should go out to. If you use water to clean, make sure you leave the place dry. There is no harm in using a lot of tissues to dry up the place in whatever fashion you prefer, assuming you are in the habit of washing your hands with soap at the end of the exercise. Cleaning up your own mess is a bare minimum courtesy expected of you anywhere, more so in this case. When the next person steps in, give him the same environment that you gave yourself. It is the least you can do for your colleague. And once you are done with all these, walk away in pride and satisfaction!

Things to Note

1. Leave the place dry.

2. Do not clog the flush with tissues; Use the bin.

3. Think a lot, intellectually i mean. There is no better place to instigate your intellectual stigma than the gaping hole.

4. Put your mobile in silent mode.

5. Try not to fart, if it is an office restroom. But if the pressure is beyond what you can take, let go and refrain from thinking.

6. When you step out, if there are people outside, see them in the eye, do not squirm. Most importantly, Do Not Shake Hands! If someone is raring to go in once you come out, go ahead and say "Have fun mate!"

7. Keep Smilin!

Moving on

2008-03-06T12:04:00.000-08:00

On sturdy roots that spread all the way down,
And a colossal trunk a shade of woody brown,
Stands a gargantuan mammoth tree,
On the curving offshore ..
An Oracle that people adore!

Vivid flowers dance around happy chirping birds,
Some flashy and some smiling, all in all nerds,
Sweet smell wafting thro' the water,
Rejoicing on their kinship ..
Life around a silicon chip!

Growing up together is a dream come true,
For they see each other tough times through,
A gang of brothers who care,
And they lived in peace ..
Life was flowing at ease!

One day a bird spread its wings, to other woods,
And found its nest sweeter with better goods,
Rest of them were in a flurry,
To miss their friend of long ..
Flustered about their happy song!

The news was a bolt and hearts it did pierce,
The birds gathered around with eyes of tears,
And wished their friend good luck,
One bird less in the green lawn ..
But life is all about moving on!

The chirps will continue and the smiles will last,
For friends they are through sun rain and frost,
They promised to meet oft,
Times may change, however ..
Sweet memories will last forever!

RadhaKrishna

2008-02-15T12:22:00.000-08:00

மானாட மயிலாட விண்ணோடு முகிலாட
காற்றோடு இலையாட மலரோடு வண்டாட
மதிமயக்கும் மாலையிலே மண்ணுலகம் எழிலாட
தேவர்கள் உளமாறத் துதிபாடிக் கொண்டாட
கருவண்ணன் மணிவண்ணன் கார்குழலில் விளையாட

சலங்கைகள் ஜதியாக புன்னகையே இசையாக
தேன்சுரக்கும் இதழ்களிலே தீங்கனியே சுவையாக
மெல்லிடையே வடிவாக மென்மையெனும் உருவாக

மெய்மறந்து கண்ணனுடன் இசைபாடும் ராதா !
காண்பவர் அனைவரின் உள்ளம்கவ ராதா !!

Winged Warriors

2008-01-13T01:48:00.000-08:00

Roach Roach Cockroach Cockroach wherever you turn,
Don't they run, Don't they hide, quite very stubborn!
Stare at me with moustaches that look like long long guns,
Strike at me with speed of light from sides and backs and fronts.

One beneath the kitchen stove ate my potatoes,
While one behind the bathroom door kept me on my toes.
Hither Tither fast they crawl once they see the moon,
And before I know them all, are in every room.

Warriors from the Jupiter sent over space,
To kill my peace and vanish leaving no trace;
Floated across to earth in masses, brown and bright,
Souls of menace who know no fright,
Turning dreams into nightmares,
Crawling on my skin all through night.

Chut blows the broom, Whoosh sprays the Hit,
Tup beats the Sandals, they don't move a bit,
But mock at me with a sneer in their face,
Skimper across rocking along with no disgrace.

In the bag, on the floor, over the bathroom sink,
Wardrobe, slippers, pipes and tubes, all in their link,
Zig Zag Zoom they spread slow but look at them, oh my!
Crawling cockroaches are better than their friends that fly,
I give up my fight even before it begins and cry and cry and cry.

After all is done and said,
White blood is thicker than red!
And of all lives max and min,
I know which convinced Charles Darwin;
The Survival of the fittest!
For these are the best!

And if one day humans reach the end of their story,
Cockroaches will outlive them till beyond glory!

And We Say We Are Broad Minded ..

2008-01-03T09:34:00.000-08:00

.. Not-Conservative state, huh?

Bombed Morning and Despondent Hopes

2007-12-18T21:58:00.000-08:00

The night was restless, he could not sleep. It had been this way for sometime now, in and out of perspicacity, living his hazy dreams in semi-conscious purple and blue drops, afraid to snap to reality to face his loneliness. He knew the day was approaching and that put him at ease. Atlast! He had planned it just two weeks before and because of lack of time, he decided to execute it in the morning itself. He could see it all. The huge moving masses, the snake-like chain of targets coming to a halt at the exact time he had planned, the movement of the laptop, the blaring sound of the horn, the lean thump, then the sudden surge forward, the inertia pushing him backward, people's face twisting, eyes with dreams unfulfilled blinking awkwardly at the sudden sound, the stench of human bodies around, and then nothing. He would be travelling home, to his dreams, to peace, and to her. She would be waiting for him with upturned curved lips that would kiss him on the forehead till his heartbeat reduces from thumping hard and put an end to his loneliness. Her open arms will be waiting to hold him and put him to rest. He would be travelling to where his heart belonged.

With these thoughts running his mind, sleep did not come easy. The added weight of the plan ahead and that it is early in the morning made him queasy. Others in his clan on a mission like this usually chose to execute it in the evening or night when people were relaxed, returning back home. That would be the ideal time to make the move. He fiddled the TV remote on and off, trying to think of something different. She was everywhere - playing football for liverpool in ESPN, fighting against the martians in star movies, singing in a music channel. Her thoughts made him look forward to the morning which will take him closer to her. Love filled his heart and without her by the side, he did not know where to direct it. The claws of loneliness gripped him in the dark echelons of the cold night and he hated it. He wanted sunshine, he wanted the light, he wanted the horn, he wanted her breath on him, he wanted to sleep in peace under her care. Yet, there he was unable to put her off his mind, every minute craving for her presence.

He knew he had to wake up early, an unusual practice. The plan was early in the morning and he knew then a lot of people would be missing their day. They were all sleeping in peace, looking forward to the morning like him, only that they do not know why he is going to do what he is about to do. He knew he would not make up his mind in the sleepy wakings, so he set the device on before he went to sleep. As he was doing it, he realized how little time he had ahead. He double checked the device, yes, 5 AM, yes again, 5 AM. That would be the time he expected the device to set itself off into mild beeps first and then stronger ones. He hoped he would wake up to live the moment. To realize atlast that the time he had waited for has come. After seeing the signal blinking on the device, he pushed himself to sleep.

He woke up at 6.30 AM and realized the alarm he had set in his mobile did not wake him up. The morning train to his hometown which he had booked two weeks earlier was just leaving the station and he has missed it!

Review Corner - Billa 2007!

2007-12-16T16:30:00.000-08:00

Note: This is quite a long review, but that's how my night has been after seeing the movie. Read it fully, am sure it's worth it, more so if you are an Ajith fan.

Before I go on to launch an attack on the movie, I request all Superstar fans to forget Billa 2007 as a bad dream. I am a neutral viewer as far as So-Called-Ultimate-Star Ajith Kumar is concerned and have been a victim of repeated let-downs and poor screenplay in most of thala's movies. After a not-so-good performance by varalaru, a box-office bomb by Aalwar and an unfortunately mediocre satisfaction by Kireedom, Ajith should have been more careful in choosing his movies, but the unlearning actor seems to be doting on replaying his errors. I am a Vijay fan, yes, but I do not hold any aversion to Ajith as such, though that feeling is slowly but steadily building up against his movies. I should say that, in this matter, I have been more patient than most kollywooders.

Though the plot is the same as the original movie, the screenplay is lamentable, PERIOD! Ajith has played an international don in this remake of the 1980 block-buster trend-setter movie 'Billa', performed then by the only person who can ever be Billa - Rajinikanth! The movie has been shot all in Malaysia and the backdrop is gorgeous. Vishnu Vardhan, amidst all expectations and hype, has managed to blunder in maintaining the flow and the onscreen transition of characters has ended up maladroitly. The first half felt like watching clips of a movie that keeps the viewer constantly hoping for a grip on the story.The set and the camera reminds one of Don (by Shahrukh), one could see its influence by large, though it managed to come nowhere near the attempt.

Ajith's introduction scene in the airport hangar is a balanced experiment to portray his adept skills and attitude, though it leaves behind an acidic smell for those who expected more. The car chase, with its drifts, is the best pick in the movie. The camera has done a great job here. There are innumerable local and international don's and mafia's named fashionably like Steve and Mike and Mark and John and Tom and Dick and Harry who do business with Billa to desperately prove he is an international don. The scenes lack a subtle transition from one to another and Ajith's performance is vacant, sometimes even frozen. The dialogue delivery is in monotone and occasionally, I even looked around for some assistance from my neighbours to help me understand why a particular dialogue was scripted, but they were equally clueless. Some even sighed in pregnant silence, though some Ajith fans made up for the embarassing moments with a few whistles and I prayed to God to forgive the poignant souls.

Nayanthara and Namitha are the ladies. Nayanthara has done her homework well and god knows how she lost all that weight. The transition from Surya's 'Ghajini' has been mega-astronomical, her attire and style reminding us vaguely of Angelina Jolie in Tomb Raider. OK, this comment comes highly biased from someone who likes Nayanthara, but her efforts to add style are commendable. From the stylish diva, she transforms to a regular heroine in the second half because, well, you know how some people cant take a lady for a gangster. Namitha, on the other hand, looks voluptuously STUPID. The stylish don has a very bad taste! Her attempt to prove her love for the don by pressing a trigger on her forehead goes in vain as he forgets to load the gun. Oh, how I wish he hadn't forgotten! Because then, we wouldn't have had to put up with the 'Nan meendum' song. It is very difficult not to squirm in your seat as she dances for the song, it is the perfect time to take a leak. The camera is at all wrong angles and the eyes are totally strained, not to mention the ears. What makes someone cast Namitha on the screen, beats me! She is too big for the bigscreen, you get the point right? We like mass heroes, yes, but mass heroines? A capital NO! But then some gentlemen might not agree with me here, but yours truly, I do not care!

The music by Yuvan is forgettable. The only savior in the movie is the song 'My name is Billa' that resembles Don, not bad. 'Vethalaiya potten di' will do good only with some whistles. When will Ajith dance? Someone should tell him dancing is not all about moving hips to 1 .. 2 .. 3 and shaking the fingers in 'Cheena-Thaana' style. There is more to dancing, and yes, that's why I dont try. Ajith, though, has to. 'Seval kodi' is a passing attempt but why will someone wear a freaky jean with chains and a colourful shirt for a supposed-to-be-devotional song? BGM repeats the theme that is the only good factor in the music arena. As far as comedy is concerned, Santhanam doesn't help much. Some of the look-alike-Ajith's dialogues with Prabhu have a hinting touch of smile in them, though they dont haunt. Lots of serious dialogues abound as launching pads for 'Lollu Sabha', am looking forward to that.

If you aren't an optimist, then this movie bores you to pain, disappoints you to the extreme and sucks mindblowingly. The only good positives about the movie are Ajith's charisma, Nayanthara's elegance, Prabhu's sincerity and Malaysian Geography, but that won't make a movie. Everything else is an injustice to the original. The movie would have been another 'Tirupati' if not for Rajini's brand and the hype. Ajith and Vijay have done onething in similar. After good performances in Kireedom and Pokkiri respectively, they have handed over forgettable stints in the name of 'Azhagiya Tamil Magan' and 'Billa'. An internal comparison between ATM and Billa would land the latter one step above in the podium, but then who compares rotten eggs (though I did just that)? As I was leaving, I overheard a pair saying they could have watched the original Billa at home and I thought I should echo that medicinal relief here. I am looking forward to a relentless attack by devoted Ajith fans claiming this movie as a great hit, yet again, but they did the same with movies like Red, Paramasivam and Aalwar, so let's not get there. It takes valiantly brilliant efforts to fault a movie like Billa and it takes an 'Ajith' to do just that.

Final verdict - 'Ajith's Billa, gaali Kalla.' (I did think of other things here, yea!).

For you, a thousand times over ..

2007-12-11T12:45:00.000-08:00

A response to 'For you, a thousand times over' (click here to read) by Prathiba. Inspired from 'Kite Runner' by Khaled Hosseini, this is my opinion of what Hassan would have said to Amir after the latter redeems his guilt.

Dark in these tunnels of endless abyss,
Fire around me burning my flesh,
I am tumbling down as my soul is wasted,
Leaving behind memories of childhood,
Brothers and sisters crying for peace,
No more colourful kites above our trees.

I protect you as I always did,
People who were fed from the same breast,
Played in greens peaceful and placid,
That do not exist anymore,
Replaced by faces cruel and fearest,
That brought blood and honour to floor.

My love was selfless, do not pay,
Sleep in peace for I am with the lord,
Let your heart not be heavy to weigh,
In my heart, you were never abhorred.

Only when offended, a sin is a sin ..
When they are led by the same light within,
There is no offence between kith and kin ..

Is this the absolution of a curse that was my birth?
Is this the exculpation of a guilt that was my death?
Tears well up in my eyes,
But this time for I am happy, And I see you smile ..
I shall forever hold your weight, and bend lower,
Yes! For you, a thousand times over ..

Crickocracy

2007-11-24T06:50:00.000-08:00

November 24 2007, Saturday
New Delhi
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) today announced a new policy of rule-laying, amidst a thick cloud of doubts and speculation in the minds of selectors and players, and in general the masses. Ever since the BCCI made a joke of itself and cricket, (by first revoking the rights of selectors to write or speak in media and then coming forward to compensate Dilip Vengsarkar, the chief selector, for the loss he might incur thereupon), there has been a steady stream of reactions from all facets of decision makers of in India, namely, the selectors, the media and the politicians. (The players have been deliberately left out from this list because all they are allowed to do freely is take "drinks break". And if possible, bowl and bat with constraints because performance matters). The BCCI has launched a hassle-free programme to automatically enforce and drive the rules and have fittingly named it "Rule of the Day".

"Rule of the Day is a genius idea proposed, discussed and approved, all by Mr. Sharad Pawar himself. Now that this comes into effect, none from the BCCI will talk to the media henceforth. Infact no authorities, including Mr. Sharad Pawar himself will discuss cricket in public and will not be answerable to any questions you might ask us (not that we answered them before). The media is asked to come to BCCI office in Delhi every morning to collect a written announcement that will declare the 'rule of the day'. We will be declaring exactly one rule per day and anyone related to cricket is bound by it", said Mr. Niranjan Shah, Seceretary of the BCCI.

Our own correspondent adds from New Delhi:
This startling announcement from the BCCI has now created (c)ripples all along the hearts of players and selectors. An unnamed source close to us in BCCI informed us that this step was inevitable, as the number of rules and their implications were difficult to manage and maintain. A sweeper has supposedly overheard an important covered discussion where the authorities were deciding if Rule A was actually contradicting Rule B, both of which were brought into effect immediately after Greg Chappel resigned as the Indian Coach. There is no way Rule B can be revoked now as that will contradict Rule C, which goes hand in hand with Rule A. This ended up revoking Rule A itself and now BCCI is left unable to implement even rule B as they decided it affects their internal revenue.

Further more, a close source in the BCCI informed us that the board has approached a top-notch information company to develop a software system which will decide if a rule can be launched without contradicting the existing set of rules. As the budget for this system reduces the income of BCCI, they have decided against it and Dilip Vengsarkar has been advised to learn Java and Database technologies to develop an inhouse rule-laying system, strictly on a honorary basis.

- Rotters

Novemeber 25 2007, Sunday
New Delhi
'Rule of the Day' came into effect. With effect from today, no player wil sign autographs on and off the field. Apparently, this decision came after the video cameras displayed Sachin Tendulkar signing some autograph books for little children when the match was being played. Rumours say that the BCCI chief has received complaints from the team manager saying other players want to field in the boundary so they can sign autographs too. Besides, some sponsors felt standing in the boundary will market their brand better to the crowd than in the in-field. However, because some players other than the bowler and the wicket keeper are needed inside the circle for effective fielding, the manager had to bring this to the notice of BCCI immediately. Sharad Pawar did not have any comments to offer as has already been laid out - none from the BCCI or the team or the management or the selectors can now (conveniently) communicate to the media. This is definitely bound to reduce the sales of Bournvita that had been giving Sachin-signed bats free. "There is nothing else to offer with the drink anyway. We were relying on Sachin to sell it to kids, now we have no option but to chak de", sources inside Bournvita Marketing department were quoted saying.

- Rotters

Novemeber 26 2007, Monday
New Delhi
'Rule of the Day' continues. No selector can select! From now on, the BCCI management will hand over a list of 15 names to the selectors who have to analyze their performances scrupulosuly unbiased and then select a 15-member squad for the up-coming series. Dilip Vengsarkar could not make a comment on this rule when approached, but his face showed like a constipated patient who finally had loose motion. He seemed to be happy that there was loose motion at last as his task had been cut out to just replicating the names in a different order, but still worried about the constipated rule that he can't write his columns in newspapers. It was almost unbelievable when he quoted last week that media writing was his only income, but considering no sponsors would reach out to Dilip Vengsarkar for advertisements, this is perfectly possible. May be, cellophene tapes could show him plastered across the mouth, and with BCCI's rule-making policy backfiring, somewhere else too!

- Rotters

November 27 2007, Tuesday
New Delhi
Rule of the Day: Shahrukh Khan and Deepika Padukone will not be allowed to enter the city where a cricket match is being played; Even Ranji Trophy matches. Additionally, Om Shanti Om will also be stopped from screening in these cities. MS Dhoni is disappointed about not allowing Deepika but is happy Shahrukh khan will not tag along anymore. Shahrukh breached BCCI's rule by commenting to the media about this. He is quoted to have said it was only a coincidence that Deepika was in the same stadium as him, where India is playing an international cricket match and that he himself was very surprised she was sitting next to him in most of the matches. He added saying he does not need cricket as the platform to market his movies and finished his interview saying "om shanti om".

-Rotters

November 28 2007, Wednesday
New Delhi
Rule of the Day: The media shall not comment about 'Rule of the Day'. Anyone who writes anything extra about the Rule or comments on it will be stopped middle way and handcuf .. "hey what the ..! who are you guys? how did you come into the office? Hey take these cuffs off my han..."

- Rotters

November 29 2007, Thursday
New Delhi
Rule of the Day: ~~None can publish the Rule of the Day~~

- Rotters

November 30 2007, Friday
New Delhi
Rule of the Day:

- Rotters

December 1 2007, Saturday
Feroz Shah Kotla
National: Within a week of coming out with 'Rule of the Day' policy, the BCCI has couped successfully against Congress and taken over the rule of the Indian Government. This is the first time a Cricket Rule has been established in any country of the world. Sharad Pawar has declared Crickocracy as the national policy that in effect restricts anyone from making any statements to the media or expressing any thoughts. Everyone will play only cricket in the country and dress only in white and white with pads on, all the time. Batsmen and bowlers will be the two recognized genders and the keepers will make sure none of the bowlers bowl bodyline to the batsmen and do not tease each other as did happen with Shoaib Akhtar. Dilip Vengsarkar has been made the chief of army who will shoot balls over the boundary to fight wars and has been overheard saying something like "only performance matters". Niranjan Shaw has been made the home seceretary and will collabarate with all states to ensure an unbiased pawar-powered regime. All aged citizens above 35 years of age will be asked to retire from whatever office they hold and will be given support on a honorary basis, no money. The fifteen member squad that played the first test match against Pakistan last week has been asked to rest for a long time to come. People can drink pepsi or coca-cola at will and no national players can influence their thoughts. Saurav's and Rahul's fans have setup naxalite camps to fight Crickocracy. Sachin has not made any statements as usual, but maintains a strict silence on all affairs. Last, and definitely not the least, Greg Chappel has been recalled and instituted as the External Affairs Minister and as his first move, Saurav Ganguly has been exiled from India inspite of his comeback performance. Sources close to us in the 'Crickocratic Government' has informed on conditions of anonymity that Ranji Trophy bowlers will henceforth bowl underarm only, under Greg Chappel's direct scrutiny.

All media forms have been asked to shut down and as a kind gesture, Sharad Pawar has allowed newspapers to write one last day, penning every word himself. It has been a good tenure and now we have realized what media-mania and political nuts can do to a country. Stay idiotic!

- Rotters

பெண்மை

2007-10-27T12:25:00.000-07:00

கருணையின் நகரம் பெண்மை,
மிக
பொறுமையின் சிகரம் பெண்மை!!

நன்மை பயக்கும் பெண்மை,
கரு
கண் மை வியக்கும் பெண்மை!!

உயர்வு தருதலும் பெண்மை,
ஆண்
நிறைவு பெறுதலும் பெண்மை!!

வர்ணிக்க முடிந்தது பெண்மை,
எனை
மன்னிக்க தெரிந்ததும் பெண்மை!!

கருப்பினும் அழுத்தம் பெண்மை,
காதல்
நெருப்பினில் வருத்தும் பெண்மை!!

உயிரினும் மகத்தான பெண்மை,
உயிர்
பிரியினும் எனக்கான பெண்மை!!

God, oh God !!

2007-10-19T13:08:00.000-07:00

If you are listening amidst your other important chores,
God, oh God!
Let me show you what you have done unto me!
Though the chances are slim I have your ears and eyes,
You should know how I have been mistreated with your lies.

Do you see the red flowing over my face,
God, oh God?
Spurted viscous straight from heart,
These eyes that followed you since they opened,
They blow blood now, you are guilty,
Are you going to cleanse or do them apart?

Let me tell you this is not fair,
Let me tell you I do dare,
Let me tell you I need a hand,
Let me tell you i cant even stand,
But do you listen,
God, oh God?
Or are you just the silent judge,
That hunts me down with a severe grudge?
And torment my soul craving for a hold,
For all I can see is distance and cold.

Thy light is supposed to guide me in the path,
But when it is all shadow, how do I know?

I am human,
A lesser soul compared to angels,
How long can I hold, how more need I suffer?
God, Oh God?
How more do I cry, How long before it is over?
Take me all at once, even without a nod,
But fill me with peace once, oh my lord!

If you exist, if you care,
If you live in water and air,
Listen to this child for it cries to you,
For love, for mercy and for solace,
God, oh God!
Tonight if I die in you, it is the end,
But tonight,
If you die in me, I am afraid it is a begining ..

Lazy Initialization Complacency Syndrome

2007-09-27T07:22:00.000-07:00

I and a friend of mine were debugging her code for a problem and I couldn't crack it at first. She later debugged it and asked me to crack it and when I did, I was kicking myself. Decided to blog it for others' benefit :)

The code snippet is something like below:

public void addToMap(Object key, Object value)
{
    if(member_map == null)
    {
        member_map = new HashMap<Object, Object> ();
    }
    else
    {
        member_map.put(key, value);
    }
}

It simply lazy-initializes a map that is a class member variable and adds the key-value pair to the map. We tested it with 2 records fetched from a database table and tried to print the contents. We expected two records, but only the last record was stored onto the map and this kept us guessing for a long time.

The problem here is in the if-else part. For the first record, the map is null and it gets lazy-initialized. And the 'put' call was in the else loop, so the first record never got stored!

Three lessons

1. Do not else-ify lazy-initialization: When you lazy-initialize, put the null check in if condition, but do not add an else to it. The code should have been:

public void addToMap(Object key, Object value)
{
    if(member_map == null)
    {
        member_map = new HashMap<Object, Object> ();
    }
    // No "else"
    member_map.put(key, value);
}

2. The importance of quantitative and qualitative test data: What we did was a typical case of testing with insufficient data. We shouldn't have tested only with two records, we should have tested with more numbers. That way, the problem would have been obvious.

3. Thinking out-of-box: We couldn't crack it coz d problem was in the perception with which we thought about it. It wasn't that only the last record was stored, rather it was that the first record was NOT stored.

And I thought I could wash away the sin of not cracking it only by spreading the lesson, hence the blog :)

Tears of solitude

2007-09-21T12:34:00.000-07:00

I sit by the window,
Transparent as the glass,
The black blanket of sky echoing my thought,
Storm across the ocean raging into my mind,
Breaking the silence as she broke my heart.

I sit by the window,
Oblivious to the blinding pain, the cut wrist,
Perspicacity dwindling with every passing second,
Perception no more a clear thought, there I see,
The soft lips and the stone heart blend,
Open hands and curved lips calling me.

I sit by the window,
Not a word spoken, no gratitude expressed,
And I let her go because the wind can’t stay,
Though it leaves behind wounds that hurt,
Phantasms that drift, anger that kills,
Eyes of tears and broken windmills.

I sit by the window,
No hands to hold, no smiles to cherish,
No breath to kiss, no love to live,
Last of mortality leaving the heaving lungs,
A desperate tear clinging to desolate eyes,
I realize dying moments are the blissful ones ..
At last the storm has swelled to its possible high,
I look out the glass one last time,
Tears of solitude pouring from the sky.

Govindha Bhavan

2007-09-14T10:40:00.000-07:00

A mild afternoon, rather lazy, one of those times you do not want to flaunt your money on a restuarant like Red-e or save too much in a kaiyendhi bhavan, you would rather settle for a mess (not chaos, this is a south-indian version of a fast-food center that specifically serves meals and some limited tiffin items), and you know you are living in an area that is referred to as "The Bachelors' Paradise" - There is an abundance of such fast food chains/lodges/restuarants/hotels and you start thinking of where to get a modest meal. It was this kinda day, and I was wondering where to satisfy my mild hunger. And that's when I remembered, there was one place I hadn't visited for a long time. Amidst all the hustle bustle of a thickly populated shore, named Triplicane, there is one mess that has been standing humble and silent for a long time, and it has fed thousands and thousands of hungry stomach and not-so-rich pockets till date.

It is simply named "Govindha Bhavan" - What a name! Sounds simple to the common man's ears, but still has a rich legend, and those who have feasted themselves to a hearty meal here will not refuse the treat they have subjected their taste buds to - repeatedly.

I remember eating in Govindha Bhavan since my school days - Those days when you wear shorts and look that age. It dates back to about 15 years, as a 10 year old, I remember holding my father's hand and walking on dim-yet-pleasantly-lit nights towards the door of bliss. Back then, it served food on wooden benches in a house under thatched roof with an open space in the middle that in no way imitates a waiting reception. There were no sofas or cushions to seat the customers, not a TV to entertain the eagerly waiting mind, not an AC to keep things cool. It was plain open to the sky, and people did not mind standing, awaiting their turn. There was a big old radio, that played old film songs when tuned to the city AM channels (there were no big FM stations then). I also remember the corner that had a leaking tap, a bucket and a mug that is supposed to be the washbasin.

All these lack of sophistication never really mattered to the minds that frequented this haven. The blend of sambar and rice mixed together to form a mound is a smell that your nostrils will never ever forget once they have smelt it. And lo! The poriyal and kootu that are supposed to be the side dishes actually become the main dishes, served unlimited. The rasam is one of the best you can ever drink and the grand finale with thick curd, more and more-mulagai with elumichampazha oorugai (lemon pickle) is just the actual combination named elixir.

There was only one better and more famous mess named Mithra Bhavan that was the topmost favourite of almost all bachelors who lived in Triplicane then. But all good things must come to an end and this closed down, only to make Govindha Bhavan the most sought after mess. The looks have changed now, the mess has been shifted to a building two blocks away and given a fast-food look. The management might have changed, back then it was managed by a family, not a management, so the food tasted closer to home. It still serves a limited meal for Rs.20 (roughly half-a-dollar!). The cuisine has been expanded to chinese, north indian and it now also serves tiffin items in the evening in addition to plain rice.

Well, I was all nostalgic when I gulped down my plate of rice and came out of these memories only after I had finished it clean. And then I thought I owed a blog to the family that once served food to the hungry stomach of many bachelors of Triplicane.

Sravan Pens ..

2007-09-13T00:19:00.000-07:00

It is easy to lose love than to find it; What is difficult is to find it again!

They say Time and Tide wait for none - Tide doesn't wait for anyone, yes, but for time, it is man who doesn't wait.

Object-Orientation is like a mild evening kiss! Do not overdo, keep it clean and simple; you are conceptualizing, not having sex.

Love is all about getting used to a person; Initially, you want to get used, and later, you don't want to not get used.

Love is when "You Idiot!" becomes "My Idiot!".

Shall keep adding more as I come up with ..

I have come to understand ..

2007-09-09T07:48:00.000-07:00

I have come to understand ..

- That the more you love someone, the more they hurt you.
- That they hurt you, because only they can hurt you.
- That it is possible to lose love over someone if you really want to.
- That tongues not only kiss, but also slash, cut, bleed and hurt.
- That people judge you wrong by one action even if they had judged you right by thousands.
- That all it takes is a second to bring down dreams built over years.
- That every rose comes with its share of thorns.
- That a bleeding heart is heavy, even for a strong mind with reason.
- That life is unfair and you dont get all you deserve.
- That time kills.

- That love is all about getting used to a person.
- That it is a sorry that heals the hurt and not beer.
- That the key to your heart is yourself : you can't get hurt unless you want to.
- That it is sometimes good to let go.
- That sweet butter separately is better than bitter taste together.
- That it is only your conscience to which you are accountable.
- That it takes years to build a dream and patience to keep them intact.
- That thorns are what that make the rose worth it.
- That a bleeding heart still beats, for life is to live.
- That time spent with friends laughing is better than time spent waiting in vain.
- That there is a child in everyone of us: so it is OK to cry.
- That time heals.

To the known unknown ..

2007-09-09T02:47:00.000-07:00

Doubts that rise in thy heart,
Shall be overcome by my love.
And the days shan't do us apart,
Though shadows cover the dove.

The same beach will behold us,
In the face of the dawning dew,
Hand in hand, I will say thus,
With all my soul, I love you!

Lesson for life

2007-08-27T04:16:00.000-07:00

I do not know what the guy must have been thinking as he was being dragged by the running train yester night. He might have been thinking about his children, waiting for him to come home. He might have been thinking about his wife, who has been loving him day in and day out, concerned if he brings home enough tonight to feed the children. He might have been thinking about his aged parents, whom he has pledged to himself to take care till the end of their days. He might have been thinking about the money he owes his landlord. He might have been thinking about the bloody pain that is slowly rising through his breaking limbs wincing every cell in his body, distorting his thoughts and getting etched in his memories forever. But the train was not thinking anything, as it is not supposed to think.

It is us humans, who are supposed to think. It is upto us to fulfill the promises we make to ourselves and we need to live, happy and whole, to do so. It was around 10.45 PM as we ran after the stopping train in the coimbatore railway station towards the coach S11. I stopped on the way to buy a water bottle and the vendor was extremely tensed as he was handing over the change to me. He murmured in breakin voices - "Trolley guy", "Train", "Limb", "Cut" - I could only manage to get a glimpse of what happened from what he said. I walked a few steps in the direction he pointed and the gory sight I saw next paralyzed me. There I saw a man - ragged clothes, fainted memories and hopelessly wasted. There I saw a man, semiconscious, holding another fellow crying for help. There I saw a man, whole except for a limb cut down from the calf-muscle, bone jutting out of what remained as his leg-and-memory, sheared skin, bloody and twitching in pain. The foot that held the weight of this man for so long suddenly had found him heavy, slid down between the train and the platform, and the broken bones with mesh of flesh lay somewhere on the tracks, below the train that had totally stopped now. The police were asking the trolley guys to go fetch a trolley as the victim was "one-of-them" (that's the phrase the inspector used) and the public looked hopelessly to the police to take some initiative. But it was too late anyway and the man had been handicapped for life.

My thoughts spun as I was looking at the ghostly figure lying there, still with life. Probably, this would be one moment the man wished he was dead instead of having to go through this. I imagined myself standing there, whole, but this could have happened to me any of the numerous times I have got down from a running train or boarded one. I realized God had already been kind to me a lot of times for not letting that happen. I was reminded of the people who would have been devastated if this happened to me. Life is too precious to risk such a stupid thing.

The train started moving, and it suddenly occured to me that I should be on that train. I took one last look at the empty space that should have been occupied by his limb, the incomplete man twisting in pain. Then I ran towards the train. As I clung to the railing and stepped onto the mini-staircase of the moving train, I saw the very small space between the train and the platform which had claimed that man's foot a few minutes back and I thought to myself: This will be the last time I am boarding/getting down from a moving train.

I wish this man a speedy recovery and hope he will get used to being limbless. And I pray to God for the welfare of the family of this man, who through his pain, taught me a valuable lesson for life!

Tears,
Sravan

வாழ்க பல்லாண்டு !!

2007-08-22T10:47:00.000-07:00

I dedicate this post to Pallavi and Sudhir and wish them a fun-filled happy married life. You guys form a great pair! keep smilin ...

இல் வாழ்க்கை துவங்கும் இக்கணத்தில்,
சொல் பலவும் சான்றோர் கூற,
கல் அனைத்து உயர் நற்பண்பும்,
செல் அவ்வழி உன் துணை நெகிழ!!

சுடர்வழி பலர்விழி இணைந்ததன் மூலம்,
இருவழி ஒருவழி ஆகிய இன்று!
தீமைகள் தீர்ந்து நல்வழி நல்க,
தீயின் தூய்மையை வேண்டுகின்றேனே!!

மனமது பரந்தது விரிந்தது அன்று,
குலமது மகிழ்ந்தது இருவரை கண்டு!
வாழ்விது மலர்வது நூறாண்டு என்று
வானத்தின் வயதினை வேண்டுகின்றேனே!!

வேகம் வளர விவேகம் பொழிய,
விழிகள் வியக்க விடியல் பூக்க,
வளமை செழிக்க வேங்கை பிறக்க,
நீரின் பாய்ச்சலை வேண்டுகின்றேனே!!

காலம், சீற்றம், மாயம், சோகம்,
பாலம் இணைக்கும் மனதின் மோகம்,
தீர்ந்தும் அன்பின் கருணை வெல்ல,
நிலத்தின் பொறுமையை வேண்டுகின்றேனே!!

தூசியும் பாசியும் நித்தமும் சேராமல்,
நினைவுகள் நீண்ட நாள் சிரிப்புடன் சிறக்க,
என்றென்றும் நெஞ்சங்கள் காதலில் மகிழ,
காற்றின் புத்துணர்ச்சியை வேண்டுகின்றேனே!!

இல் வாழ்க்கை துவங்கும் இக்கணத்தில்,
சொல் பலவும் சான்றோர் கூற,
கல் அனைத்து உயர் நற்பண்பும்,
செல் அவ்வழி உன் துணை நெகிழ!!

For those who dont have tamil font

The Marina

2007-08-11T08:59:00.000-07:00

The night sky hugs the unknowing dusk,
strong and gripping ..
Waters of Marina cooling the shore,
It is here that life beckons the souls,
Twilights twinkle and tidel waters adore.

Churning lighthouse reminds a giant eye,
watching and blessing ..
Tiny feet let loose on the seamless sand,
The wind freshens the mind for the week next,
Wiping the past, rewriting with a capable hand.

Vendors sell peanuts to the hearts adrift,
light and strong ..
The Albatross flight guiding the ship and its crew,
Raging city far behind with sounds so faint,
Kites colouring the sky - green, orange and blue.

The ideal spot for the weekend,
for families and love ..
The Marina stands at the shore of the bay,
Spreading unity that brings feel to its water,
The sheer source of energy all along the way.

Some fotos of 'The Marina'


Aerial View	The Marina	The Tsunami

கோடிட்ட இடங்களை நிரப்புக .. (என் வாழ்க்கையில்)

2007-07-29T01:35:00.000-07:00

கண்மூடி கானல்நீர் கண்ட கணமெல்லாம்,
எழுந்ததடி கண்மணியே நெஞ்சுக்குள் சோகங்கள் ..

விண்ணோடு வலம்வரும் உன்முகம் உணர்ந்தபின்,
முள்ளெல்லாம் பூத்ததடி துளிர்விடும் ஏக்கங்கள் ..

நோயாக நெருடிவரும் நினைவுகளை நீதுடைக்க,
நிஜமாக உருவெடுக்கும் மயிலிறகின் தீண்டல்கள் ..

உயிரெடுக்கும் உளறல்கள் உன்செவியில் உய்வடைந்தால்,
அமைதியாக இன்றுறங்கும் என்மனதின் தேடல்கள் ..

For those who do not have tamil font

The Witch of Portobello - Excerpt 1

2007-07-14T00:54:00.002-07:00

This book was relatively less mature when compared to 'The Zahir'. I felt there is too much stress on 'The Witchcraft' and 'Wizardry' and a slight slip of what is indeed meant - The Mother (Nature?) Earth ruled and is the Goddess. I don't understand why Female Worship is repeatedly attributed with dance, flowers, sex, trance and magic, but nevertheless I believe in nature worship, energy and aura and do not attribute a gender to it.

Anyway, there are a few good things I liked and realized from this book too and thought should blog a coupla excerpts. The following is the best of them because I could literally associate myself with most of what is being said.

I've always been a very restless person. I work hard, spend too much of time looking after my son, I dance like a mad thing, I learned calligraphy, I go to courses on selling, I read one book after another. But that's all the way of avoiding those moments when nothing is happening, because these blank spaces give me a feeling of absolute emptiness, in which not a single crumb of love exists. My parents have always done everything they could for me, and I do nothing but disappoint them. But here, during the time we've spent together, celebrating nature and the Great Mother, I've realized the empty spaces were starting the get filled up. They were transformed into pauses - the moment when the man lifts his hand from the drum before bringing it down again to strike hard.

OK, that was something. I like the term blank spaces. Though the concept of celebrating The Great Mother or whatever is not what I would do, I understood that there is something we all miss, the something that all of us do not know and keep searching for thro-out life. It is that thing which will fill these blank spaces that everyone has in life, those silent idle times inbetween what we do to keep ourself occupied! In my case, I think these blank spaces can only be filled with something that makes me feel I am being loved, wanted and cared for. It may be a person, some lifeless object or probably even a dog! I do not know yet. But till then, I think I will keep searching, continue to be restless and overlook the blank spaces by trying to fill them with some activity!

The one below (Excerpt 2) is a good-read and a thought-provoking write-up too.

The Witch of Portobello - Excerpt 2

2007-07-14T00:54:00.001-07:00

After all, what is happiness?

Love, they tell me. But love doesn't bring and never has brought happiness. On the contrary, it's a constant state of anxiety, a battlefield; it's sleepless nights, asking ourselves all the time if we're doing the right thing. Real love is composed of ecstasy and agony.

All right then, peace. Peace? If we look at the Mother, she's never at peace. The winter does battle with summer, the sun and the moon never meet, the tiger chases the man, who's afraid of the dog, who chases the cat, who chases the mouse, who frightens the man.

Money brings happpiness. Fine. In that case, every one who earns enough to have a high standard of living would be able to stop work. But then they're more troubled than ever, as if they were afraid of losing everything. Money attracts money, that's true. Poverty might bring unhappiness, but money won't necessarily bring happiness.

I spent a lot of my life looking for happiness, now what I want is joy. Joy is like sex - it begins and ends. I want pleasure. I want to be contented, but happiness? I no longer fall into that trap.

When I'm going with a group of people and I want to provoke them by asking that most important of questions: 'Are you happy?', they all reply: 'Yes, I am.'

Then I ask: 'But don't you want more? Don't you want to keep on growing?' And they all reply: 'Of course.'

Then I say: 'So you're not happy.' And they change the subject.

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

2007-07-10T05:07:00.000-07:00

'Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs' - threw a few lights in the ever-stretching path of understanding the homo sapiens. I admired it right from the day I read it in my college, was discussing it with a friend this afternoon, so blogged it. Click here for details.

Fig: Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

The Zahir - Excerpt 1

2007-06-13T14:26:00.000-07:00

An excert from the book 'The Zahir' - one book that has kinda made me read and THINK!

Yes, it had disappeared, but now I realized that the zahir was more than a man obsessed with an object, with a vein in the marble of one of the twelve hundred columns in the mosque in Cordoba, as Borges puts it, or, as in my own painful case for the last two years, with a woman in central Asia. The Zahir was a fixation on everything that had been passed from generation to generation; it left no question unanswered, it took up all the space; it never allowed us to even consider the possibilty that things could change.

The all-powerful zahir seemed to be born with every human being and to gain full strength in childhood, imposing rules that would thereafter always be respected:

People who are different are dangerous; they belong to another tribe; they want our lands and our women.

We must marry, have children, reproduce the species.

Love is only a small thing, enough for one person, and any suggestion that the heart might be larger than this is considered perverse.

When we marry, we are authorized to take possession of the other person, body and soul.

We must do jobs we detest because we are part of an organized society, and if everyone did what they wanted to do, the world would come to a standstill.

We must buy jewellery; it identifies us with our tribe, just as body-piercing identifies those of a different tribe.

We must be amusing at all times and sneer at those who express their real feelings; it's dangerous for a tribe to allow its members to show their feelings.

We must at all costs avoid sayin 'No' because people prefer those who always say 'Yes', and this allows us to survive in hostile territory.

What other people think is more important than what we feel.

Never make a fuss, it might attract the attention of an enemy tribe.

If you behaved differently, you will be expelled from the tribe because you could infect others and destroy something that was extremely difficult to organize in the first place.

We must always consider the look of our new cave, and if we don't have a clear idea of our own, then we must calll in a decorator who will do his best to show others what good taste we have.

We must eat three meals a day, even if we're not hungry, and when we fail to fit the current ideal of beauty we must fast, even if we're starving.

We must dress according to the dictates of fashion, make love whether we feel like it or not, kill in the name of our country's frontiers, wish time away so that retirement comes more quickly, elect politicians, complain about the cost of living, change our hairstyle, criticize anyone who is different, go to a religious service on Sunday, Saturday or Friday, depending on our religion, and there beg for forgiveness for our sins and puff ourselves up with pride because we know the truth and despise the other tribe, who worship a false god. (love this paragraph !!!)

Our children must follow in our footsteps; after all, we are older and know about the world.

We must have a university degree even if we never get a job in the area of knowledge we were forced to study.

We must study things that we will never use, but which someone told us was important to know: algebra, trigonometry, the code of Hammurabi.

We must never make our parents sad, even if this means giving up everything that makes us happy.

We must play music quietly, talk quietly, weep in private, because I am the all-powerful zahir, who lays down the rules and determines the distance between railway tracks, the meaning of sucess, the best way to love, the importance of rewards.

Reinstates the fact how granted we have assumed the rights we exercise and how meekly we have surrendered to the constraints/rules imposed upon us by the society's practice, without considering why they should restrict us!

Am sory, I tried ..

2007-06-03T00:14:00.000-07:00

It was lying with its tongue swaying wild under the hot sun. Infact, the heat was just too much for it to even live that much. All it did was to momentarily lift its head n squeak for help. I was afraid to touch it first, coz it was astray - might be having any kinda disease. Or it could just bite in self-defence. But it was too much for me to just walk off like that.

Dear God, I lifted it and put it in a spot that was under shade. It was relatively cooler there. Dear God, I bought it food and water. I even lifted and put its mouth on the food. It couldn't eat. Dear God, I poured water all over it, I even made it drink some, but that's all it could muster to do. It swooned again. Dear God, I called the blue cross. They said the van is on its way, but the way never was made for the dog. Dear God, I stood there crying in the middle of the road, praying to you. Were you able to hear me? The dog was dying right in front of my eyes and all I could do was pray harder. By now, it wasnt even able to open its mouth to gasp for air. Its eyes had dilated and the limbs started becoming stiff. I was clutching it, massaging it, still praying. Were you able to hear? The blue cross was nowhere in sight yet. Its breathing came down, almost to nothing now. I couldnt stand there anymore to see it breathe its last. Dear God, I prayed one last time, this time for its soul to rest in peace. Were you able to hear? Without looking back, I walked away, leaving the poor dog to die in private. There is no use even if the bluecross arrives now, it is already on its way to you ..

Dear God, I was powerless. All I could do was cry and try. I did both ......

Tears,
Sravan

Annie - Mahia

2007-06-01T01:55:00.000-07:00

The live show of Annie at IIT. This pakistani album song is now runnin in a loop in my winamp.

The original album may be viewed here

Thursday Think-Tank

2007-05-30T23:51:00.000-07:00

I was bathing in haste to get ready for the thursday tennish meeting when it struck. It made me swerve, it made me stop scrapping myself. That is when I realized how much we take things for granted and never give a thought about why something is the way it is. I couldn't soap myself in peace after that. The rose bottomless pit looked at me with such audacity that I was transported into a world of trance. Why have I never even considered so much as the name of this beauty that serves me day after day after day without fail? This happens to be the best five minutes of heaven and pleasure that we derive almost as a birth right everyday, but do we ever give as much as an eye-wink at it? Thank it for the impeccable unconditional love with which it has served us?

The pink potty has been sitting there, steady and soft, gulping blob after blob of shit for more than an year now. But it has never made me think so much like it did on this rusty thursday. May be, it was the rose odonil I bought yesterday to keep others' stink away (self never stinks!). As the rose fragrance floated across the bathroom, I suddenly found myself lost in thoughts as this eternal question popped up in my mind - Why is 'kakoos' called 'kakoos'?

As deep as I can think and remember, I still cannot pin on any word in tamil that ends with the 'oos' sound or the 's' sound. 'Dharboos' is probably one word, but that's a short form of 'Dharboosani'. 'Pattas' and 'Tappas' again are words pronounced after removing the 'u' sound at the end. So why then is this word pronounced as 'kakoos' with such preciseness and ease? Who is the genius behind this masterpiece?

I had finished my bath (both 'body bath' and 'khara bath') when I decided to put this question on to my roomie. He was equally stumped. After some serious thinking, he suggested it is not a tamil word, but english. I googled up for it, but all I could find was a restuarant named Ralph and Kacoos in Lousiana. (Am sure tamilians in Lousiana frequent this restuarant :P).

Gtalking with a friend led to another idea that was actually just forming in my mind. Probably the name has a baby-orientation to it. Kakoos is, after all, to be taken care of like a child. Down south, Peeing is more commonly known as 'kakka pordhu'. So the name could actually be a thanglish word: Kakka + Ooze = Kakooze aka Kakoos. That's the best equation I and my gtalk friend could formulate in the short time we had to discuss this mind-bogglin' issue. Though it has a loose-motion connotation to it (the oozing part), the name probably thickened as time grew.

Has it got to do something with 'Jacuzzi'? May be! I have no pointers to proceed on this investigation. So, I am calling out to ye all, the fellow human beings, to discuss in the comments section of this blog about the possible origins of this name. After all it is about our own tender 'kakoos' that we invariably, definitely, forcefully, purposefully, enthusiastically spend time with, everyday of our life. Kakoos is definitely an intellectualy stimulating spot to sit on, I have struck upon so many solutions to my everyday problems sitting on this hot oven. Hopefully, I will get the enlightenment about the origin of the name tomorrow morning!

Blogs along similar lines

http://sravanpens.blogspot.com/2005/09/it.html
http://knutties.livejournal.com/31727.html

Tagged

2007-05-29T03:26:00.000-07:00

OK, this blog tat am writin, courtesy Tsu, is a baton in the serial game (in blogs) that someone initiated. And to respect the vettiness of that initiator, am spendin a few nickels of my own vetti time. This is like that electronic rain r d nuclear fission reaction that you studied in ur 11th grade - never gona end unless ppl get bored. For every blog, therez a trigger of 8 blogs. o god! wat an ingenious idea to ... bla bla bla ..

Rules are:

       * Each player starts with eight random facts/habits about themselves.

       * People who are tagged need to write posts in their own blog about their eight things and post these rules.

       * At the end of your post, you need to choose eight people to pass along the baton and list their names.

ok, here I go .. umm, leme start thnkn ..

1. I have exterme mood swings and crave for love like a baby. I love the outdoors, I am damn good if I have company and evil if I don't. I have a bloated ego, and respect only those who respect me. You may choose to call this attitude ;) n kno wat, it probably is. There is an exception to this and that will be my girlfriend, whoever happens to be it.

2. I have a secret crush and I do not know if I should move ahead or not - well, ahem, the crush is perennial, the gal whom it is targeted towards, usually gets committed/married soon after (if god chooses to be cruel, it wud have already been past), ofcourse to some other villian.

3. I love music, java and coffee - my standard tagline; three things that keep me jiving. I do not like Aishwarya Rai, back-biters and bitter guard. I do not boil maggi, I cook and fry it.

4. I learnt violin as a kid - for 6 years. And then lost touch, planning to start my classes again.

5. My school principal slapped me when I was in the 12th grade. That was for a proxy attendance my friend gave for me :D. Well, I did have the pleasure of naming him and getting him slapped too. And it just gets better - My first sem English ma'm called me a pervert. Trust me, I have no clue how she found out.

6. Believe it or not, I wanted to do a phD in thermodynamics.

7. Math.random() always returns a positive double value greater than or equal to 0.0 and less than 1.0, irrespecitve of whether God calls it or I call it.

8. I am a good boy, well, usually ..

Now, I pass on the baton to you guys, the chosen six, to carry forward the light that has been held high so far by the knights, who have given their selfless time and mind to ... bla bla bla ..

1. Bhuvana

2. Vinod

3. VP

4. Sudhir

5. Swarna

6. CVR

Well, that's all about I could muster without a coffee. People who want to get d batons on their self-interest may write and leme kno abt it, i shal add d links here :D. am off for a coffee break ..

revealed too much,
keep smilin,
sravan

The Greatest Bulb Of My Life

2007-05-12T07:54:00.000-07:00

Chennai is scorching. Our eyes are so accustomed to the blinding brightness that the cornea has crossed the visible wavelength and is discovering new combinations of yellow, blue and green entwining particles in plain transparent air. Laptops, Mobiles, Chairs – whatever absorbs heat have all absorbed it to the maximum and are blazing. So, in order to save my laptop that is so used to the Bangalore weather and heaves to push through the weekend in Chennai, I thought I will buy a wireless router, so I can browse from the safety of my bedroom AC.

I came home on Saturday morning and decided I will buy a wireless router. And there it was glittering under my eyes – Wireless ADSL Huawei Smart AX MT841 modem. Wow! I did not know my modem already had the wireless router facility. So, all I had to do now was configure it and then escape to the cool of my bedroom. I tried googling and fiddling around with my modem for sometime, but the fear of screwing it up constantly wrangled my brain. I could hear my dad losing his cool if I spoil the internet and leave back 2 Bangalore tomorrow night. So, I decided to call professional help and tried reaching BSNL helpline.

12678 is the busiest number on planet earth. But, it is one of the most courteous and helpful helplines, if you reach through. I wasn’t able to till the evening, and then luck struck at 7 o’clock. The lady was very cool and I thought “wow, this is going to come through fine, after all, I can work at 20 degree Celsius tonight.

“Hello, yes sir, How may I help you?”

“Ma’m, I have this MT841 modem and I need to configure the wireless LAN in it. I have a laptop with a wireless adapter”

“Ok sir, Please open http://192.168.1.1 in Internet Explorer”

“Yes ma’m, I have the modem configuration page.”

“Click on the left Plus button and WLAN. Now you see there is a textbox that …..”

This went on for half hour, during which, my modem restarted twice, but as expected the WLAN light never blinked.

Okay, so this is not coming through as good as I thought. So, I decided to just get through the call and go to the local telephone exchange and ask for expert help. Suddenly came a question that kicked my balls.

“… Is the Antenna upright?”

I was startled.
“Antenna? I don’t have an antenna in the modem”

“Sir, Is there a slot in the left hand bottom of your modem?”

The damn thing was indeed there and it was hanging empty. I let out an obvious gasp, it was just beginning to dawn on me and I was reeling.
“Yea, Do I have to buy a ..”

She did not let me complete. Her tone suggested she was cherishing the moment.
“Do u have the wireless card inserted in it?”

I wanted to crawl under the table.
“Do u mean to say I have to buy a separate wireless card to enable WLAN? I thought it comes enabled by default in the modem”

My attempts to cover the ignominy didn’t pay off well and in front of my eyes scrolled all those mails from technical helpdesks, that claim how customers were so ignorant about what they wanted. So, tonight I am going to be the laughing stock over dinner.

“Yes sir, you can contact your local telephone exchange for buying the wireless card. There will be separate charges. We have just configured your modem and it should be ready to work as a wireless router if you insert that card”

My last attempt at saving some dignity was the worst and words came out without going through the mind -

“Ok, so if I do not want to buy the card, Can I go in for any wireless router in the market? It will still work right? I shall call you once I buy one soon”

“Yes sir, In that case, you might not need our assistance. You can configure the line in the router itself. But having already bought the modem, I would suggest you just buy the card. Buying a separate router again might not be a very good idea. Thanks”

The thought of having tried one whole day to configure a wireless facility without realizing I did not have the necessary hardware was worse than the heat. I hung up, ran to my bedroom to switch on the AC and searched for my pillow to hide underneath. It’s more important right now to cool myself than the laptop. This is going to haunt for sometime ..

The Cutlet

2007-05-12T07:47:00.000-07:00

Fig: The cutlet that I just ate ;)

Btw, I also discovered gaseously that cutlet and frooti don go too well together. Burp! :P

iknocks'ed out

2007-05-02T02:33:00.000-07:00

There are some things that are damn good when you try them out, and then, there are things that you don even wana talk abt. So after many many attempts, I am writing this e-mail in frustration and instead of mailing them about it, thought will blog it, for public's perview and comments. I have sent this link to inox, hope they are looking at it, if they really do have some people to check their emails and follow up.

-------------------------------------

Hi guys out there,

Has the e-ticketing at inox for chennai ever worked? Ever since it opened in Chennai, I have tried for 64390373209221 number of times including about 47 vain attempts some 15 minutes back to book tickets here

I get only two standard error messages all the time that I know them by-heart now.

Oops...
We seem to be having a problem connecting to our online ticketing system.
This is most likely a temporary issue. Please try again after 5 minutes.

(or)

Tickets are not available for this show. Please choose some other ..

Well, it happens that the 'try again' in the first message is a link and clicking on it takes me to a BLANK PAGE. All I see is a white monitor screen.

I seriously doubt if my broadband bandwidth is taken for granted. Is this some joke or are you guys having serious problems with the site maintenance? Am sure you have paid a fortune to whichever 'ABC Technologies' that developed this site, and are still paying them for maintaining it. I would like to take the liberty to suggest you guys to get some work out of them for the money paid.

I would now have to come all the way to Chennai Citi Center to get a coupla tickets for spiderman this weekend in the scorching heat, but would still do it coz tz worth it, considerin the competition for tickets. Please make things easier for customers when you have an e-ticketing option as an alternative. Otherwise, there is always satyam or mayajaal but these seem to have their own problems 2, tho they work most of the times .......

keep smilin,
sravan

-------------------------------------

You can now add your comments in the comment section if you have been iknocks'ed out before. I would be the happiest if I see someone here who has succeeded in their attempts.

iTunes - hell of a software

2007-04-17T03:02:00.000-07:00

iTunes - wat a waste of a product from apple wen it comes to user experience! I have been struggling for quite sometime now to try to understand it, in vain. wat do the playlists do? how do you delete songs from d iPod? cant these things be wayyyy simpler, considerin the fact itunes is mandatory for using the iPod? sync functionality seems to be the hardest to understand. As a buyer, am paying al those bucks for the good audio quality that iPod boasts of, but when it comes to connecting it to my PC, i go blue!

iTunes sucks! i would like to use somethn easier for the money I pay.

Chennai Rains

2007-04-13T18:17:00.000-07:00

Early monin -> 6.30 -> i stand in my balcony, wth a cup of coffee in my hand, not sure wat to look at -> tz prety much yellow for a normal sat monin -> suddenly, somethn frm space pops down on my bald head and i feel a chil of cold runnin down my spine -> a fresh RAIN DROP.

wat beter cud one ask for to start the day? Chennai is raining!!! yay yay yay! Do i even need to say more? lets keep smilin :D

self-introspection

2007-04-11T10:50:00.001-07:00

man: isnt it unfair tat sm ppl r so hapy in life tho they havent done nythn 4r it and sm r so sad tho they deserve every bit of happiness?

voice: who sed lifez gona b fair? your very existence is by chance, so life isn't all tat predetermined and is definitely random. By all probablility, the chance of you being happy is less than one.

man: so why was i born then, if i don't serve a purpose?

voice: who said therez a purpose to ur life?

man: wel, i always thought so.

voice: hmmm, then there probably is.

man: u r confusin me

voice: oh, am i? wel, tats wat ppl always say, so tats nuthn new.

man: ok, so y aint i hapy now? am not sure if am sad, but i definitely aint happy.

voice: ask urself

man: arent u me?

voice: oh, am i?

man: now, u r confusin. shud i believe u exist?

voice: did i ever say i exist?

man: then who r you?

voice (mischievous): try to find out.

man: where?

voice: in you.

man: now, don gime tat, tat u exist inside me. i have filled myself with hate and they say god is love.

voice: one, who said am god? two, who said god is love? three, who are they?

man: you are good at asking questions, but answering is the tougher part. i thot here i am to ask questions and you came to answer.

voice: you think what you want. i did not come, i am always here.

man: where?

voice: here

man: huh, you are so tuf. ok, teme y ppl suffer?

voice: i don have an answer to tat. i thnk tz juz d way they live.

man: u don have an answer to tat? then u arent god.

voice: who said am god?

man: i thot so.

voice: did i ask you to think so?

man: ok, am wrong. but ...

voice (interruptin): have u ever been right?

man: i do not know.

voice: tz gud u r able to accept tat. not many mortals around thnk tat way.

man: oh, so u r immortal, as they say?

voice: ok, i have an answer for tat. i die with you, i aint immortal. and i have a question for tat, who are they?

man: i duno, tz juz they - my teachers, parents, people arnd me. they are the THEY.

voice: do u kno they all have voices inside? to which they are always answerable and they are never able to answer?

man: why?

voice: because they are all hypocrites.

man: am i too?

voice: are you?

man: i thnk so

voice: then u r.

man: is it wrong?

voice: wat is wrong? there isnt nythn called wrong or rite in life. tz juz d way u live and answer ur voice.

man: ok, v r movin frm d topic. y is life unfair?

voice: life is a chance, none said tz gona b fair.

man: do u thnk fallin in love is wrong?

voice: wat do u thnk?

man: i thnk it is.

voice: i agree. u shud always raise in love.

man: oh, tat bulshit? ok, do u thnk raisin in love is wrong?

voice: wat do u thnk?

man: i don thnk therez anythn called raisin in love. ppl only fall.

voice: have u fallen?

man: am getn up.

voice: gud

man: so?

voice: so?

man: y aint i able 2 sleep? y am i writin crap like d blog before this? i kno it isnt too rhyming, i kno tz al fuckshit, but y do i write?

voice: coz u cant always speak.

man: y cant i?

voice: coz other voices hear.

man: voices HEAR? i ddn kno tat.

voice: wel, they do. wen voices speak, people raise in love. wen people become untrue, they fall in love.

man: whch is beter?

voice: raising in love.

man: then y did i fall?

voice: other voices.

man: so, voices arent always gud?

voice: who said they are gud? remember the life is unfair thing?

man: o yea, so wat hapens 2 me?

voice: u juz move on n cary me wth u.

man: wil u b there always?

voice: as long as u can hear me.

man: til wen?

voice: til people listen to their voices, til they behave. til worlds dont discriminate. til people smile at each other, til enemies love, til u thnk lifez unfair. after tat, u don need me.

man: ok, wen wil tat b?

voice: i duno, remember u duno if am god.

man: u kno?

voice: al i kno is am not immortal.

man: so, u agree life is unfair?

voice: i wil leave it 2 urself to answer tat. one day, wen u cal out n i don answer, kno then, life has become fair. til tat, toil but live. and believe in charles darwin. d fittest survives.

man: gud nite

voice: whew! zzzzzzzzz ....

The Cricket Religion - An Appeal

2007-03-27T11:38:00.000-07:00

The so called 'Cricket Religion' has managed to play a spoil-sport in the minds of many and it is in an extremely disturbed state of the game that I am writing this. As a kid, my dad took me to the chepauk stadium, I was in my fifth standard then. That was the first time I saw Kapil Dev in his reality. As he walked past the dressing room, I shook hands with the giant form. He was all smiles to inspire the eleven-year-old boy about the game, shook my hands real hard and said "grow up and play the game there", pointing to the green field. I might not have grown up to be an Indian cricket player but was proud I shook the same hands that held the world cup in 1983 when I was barely an year old.

The fire still burns in me. Every game that India plays, I cheer on - till the last ball, till we lose or win. But at the end of the hundred overs, it is still a sport. I treat it that way. If India loses the match today, that doesnt mean we are not winning tomorrow. After all, isnt life so much like cricket? We raise everytime we fall and that is success. When the philosophy of life itself is such, why cant it be applied to a sport? Why cant we treat cricket just as a game? We do not burn our homes everytime we fail at work. We do not call names at our relatives if they let us down once. But when it comes to cricket, we are maniacs.

A good fan is one who appreciates the game, for the spirit of it. A good fan is one who backs his star, accepts his mistakes and shows belief in him to come back again. First of all, do not be extremists! A moron who burns the effigies or posters or the national flag because we lost a game of cricket is no less than a terrorist, causing disturbance and provoking anger in others' minds. But unfortunately, public memory in India is very short when it comes to Politics and Cricket. The same moron can be seen cheering in the stadiums if India is playing well again. This is definitely not an acceptable behavior. There are heart attacks, are we so meek-minded? Cant we accept failure? There should not be so much of passion for any single entity. There should not be mails flouting around demeaning our own country-men players. Fun is fun only when it does not cross the line.

A few years back, fans in the sub-continent were known for their spirits, now is the region any safe to play a game? Lose a match, and a house in Baroda goes to rubbles; Score a naught and effgies are burnt all over the country; Is this the support we show to our so-called super stars? Shouldnt we rather treat them like wounded heroes, accept them with a warm welcome and prepare them for the future? These shameful acts only work to bring down the performance of the team and put extra pressure on the players. How can someone win with the fear of losing at the back of mind? The situation in Asia is so bad that players are advised not to come back for sometime to their own country. Who are we to decide this fate for them? We drink Pepsi when they drink it. We use Mysore Sandal because Dhoni says he is using it. We even shave with Gillette pro plus because Irfan finds it easy to bowl. We do pooja when India plays a match. All this nonsense need a call to be stopped immediately. We do not neeed Sachin to tell us Sunfeast is good for health. Cricket can do better without Mandira Bedi's show offs to increase the TRP rate. A game is a game and please do not bring the concepts of religion, passion, media and extremism into this. Our behavior so far is a shame and let's stop giving cricket more credit than it deserves. A sport is to delight you, do not fall a prey to it.

The Indian team might have bowed out of the world cup, but there is always a future. The game is still on. Do not lose your spirit because of the extremism in you. Be a fan, not a fanatic. Let me watch cricket in peace and remember Kapil's words forever.

keep smilin,
sravan

PS: The world cup is still happening and there are loads of excitement in store. Ricky Ponting and Tameem Iqbal can still thrash the ball and I definitely want to see it cross the boundary line. Mutthiah Muralidharan (wow, he was splendid in the field, playing against India and yes, I have the humility to accept that. The catch he pulled off to dismiss Saurav made me stand and clap. This is the commitment that keeps the game going. And oh yea, I am an ardent fan of Saurav Ganguly) and Mashrafe Mortaza are still bowling and I definitely want to see them ripping the stumps off. Am sure cricket is more fun if we stop attaching emotions and watch the game for the spirit of it.

நான் யார்?

2007-02-26T03:57:00.000-08:00

அல்லியில் பிறந்து கில்லியில் மிரண்டு
பள்ளியில் பயின்று கல்வியில் சிறந்து
வில்லியில் தொடர்ந்து கள்ளியில் களைந்து
வள்ளியில் வளைந்து மல்லியில் முடிந்து
சுள்ளியில் சுடர்ந்து ஜல்லியில் கடைந்து
பணியில் முயன்று கணிணியில் உயர்ந்து
உரியவள் விரல்பட வழியினில் விழியுடன்
காலம் பொறுக்கும் சான்றோன் நானே!

LEGEND
அல்லி - Triplicane
கில்லி - Collective representation of street cricket, gilli, bambaram n hand-tennis tat i played in scool days
வில்லி - Someone who terrified my view on girls
கள்ளி - Result of extermes of love
வள்ளி - My love ...
மல்லி - ... tat is past
சுள்ளி - poonal yaagam
ஜல்லி - the flat that i bot
பணி - my work
கணிணி - the computer

The Romeo In Me

2007-02-21T07:47:00.000-08:00

Preface:
1. No portion of this blog is written with sex in mind. If it has that shade, it is only to validate a viewpoint.
2. This blog is not ranting r cribbing (polambal). I wrote this when I was excited and not a bit sad (forced to add this coz ppl thot i was doin so. There are no references to my past, whatsoever)
3. Facts have always proved so far that Sravan and love is a dangerous combination.

I feel romantic, to be extremely specific. The romeo in me (don' laugh ok? everyone is) is in a hyper terrific state to fall out and take over the dutiful dedicated-to-work me. I can literally feel the high levels of pheromones - all this in a sudden surge. Love is being pumped out of my heart at the rate of 500 roses per second, but there is none to give them to. But why? I had succeeded in pushing the romeo to one corner of my heart, and ordered him not to come back for a long long time in the future till I release his locks, till when I feel I am ready for another relationship. He has been obedient so far and promised to stay inside the dark cell. Though he needs a little walk and light now and then (which I make sure is allowed, but far below the normal needs) in the form of ogling and let-the-looks-be-there, I have definitely curbed his activities to a large extent. And it is paving results. But why this sudden shift in the metabolism now?

Hormonal Shifts! They are a part and parcel of everyone's life at all stages. We grow up without realizing these, that they become an inherent part of the metabolic system. Most of these shifts add to your vitality but others serve good enough to bog you down. Some are even dangerous if allowed to interact. The normal mortal is simply unaware of these silent fundamentals of a living being most of the times. I watch couples in the road moving along with grace and smiles, but all I see through them is the pheromone in action. I see my friends stressed in life and understand how much cortisol their adrenal cortex must be producing. Depression is a daily affair for most people and is a part of the common man's life. Mood shift is a very common phenomenon during the pre/post menstruation stage in most women. (btw, before i forget, there is this PMS community in orkut. I feel neutral about its existence, but I guess women in orkut would be better off without it). Happiness, Sadness, Anger, Sexuality, Cordiality, Loathe - All these are effects of these silent secretions in the infinite body. And these control our life - Or should I say, these are life?

I have managed to stay lonely most of these days and started enjoying and accepting it as the most important reason for my living. I see myself when I am lonely. I see a purpose in the world around me. Loneliness has taught me to be one with my soul and to watch every step and realize the consequences. It has taught me to trust the mind than the heart. It has reinforced my belief in logic and has made me proud of my actions. Loneliness has also taught me to understand the basics of life. But this is a lovely evening in the late feb, ideal for a hand-in-hand walk along the beach, a slow shallow swim in the pool, a candle-light dinner followed by an exhausting night. I can find the pink shades resurfacing in the dark corner - the need for light, the crave for love, the principality of group living, the fundamentality for someone to care for you.

But after all this loneliness and jailing of the bugger, why does he want to resurface now? Companionship! I guess that's the basic necessity of most living things around. This is the sole reason I believe in marriage from the Indian society viewpoint. But still dude, this is not the time for you to emerge from your exile. I prefer to be this lonely duty-conscious, overworking, focussed individual right now - without a damsel to fallback for support. I am yet to learn the remaining of those that are to be learnt without a woman beside and that includes getting used to the ups and downs in one's own heart and the feelings that it generates towards oneself. You destroy my loneliness. You make me want the woman I most want. You make my heart beat faster and pump the roses. You make me feel blooming and happy. You give me goosebumps. You make me attractive and I hate you most for that right now.

Listen, I hate myself and that's the best thing I love about myself - very few people have the audacity to hate themselves and accept the fact. Contradicting personalities make me what I am. There is so much of diversity within myself that I will remain incomprehensible throughout my life. So, Mr. Romeo, your time is still far ahead in the future, wait in patience! I would let you know when you have to come back and take over me, but till then, hibernate! And Ms. Juliet, wherever and whoever you are, do wait too, it's worth it.

weekend blues - part 2

2007-02-14T11:08:00.000-08:00

Somewhere near Arakkonam
8.34 AM
13/02/07

Pondicherry is an awesome union territory, if you know what to look for. The area bordering Tamilnadu was quite the same as the rest of Tamilnadu. But as you go deeper into this place, the landscape and the feel changes drastically. Particularly, as you move towards the beach, the layout is typical non-indian. A crisscross of roads which are filled with intersections and long lengths. The names are pretty funny to read with 'Rue' (Road in french) prefixed to the tamil names - Rue Muthumariamman kovil, Rue Dupoy, for examples. The beach side is pretty fascinating and as I sat in La Cafe that morning on the 10th of feb, for a coffee, overlooking the beach, I felt the same way I always feel when I see water - an internal uprising - to be one with the waves and move along the flowing ripples.

The whole day in pondy was spent moving around and making sure stuffs are fine for the evening show. The music show is named 'Sec Sat Pondy' - a fusion musical show conducted for free in collaboration with the tourism department. This show brings together to the audience, a wide range of music - ranging from carnatic to rock. Ajay Nithyanandham played some of his original tracks while neverek rocked the audience with a stunning performance.

The bus travel to chennai was uneventful. Thankfully, I wasnt bored. Slept till mahabs and saw kaakha kaakha til Chennai. Sunday was the same, watched Deepavali, the movie was very bad. Let's not even talk about it. On my way back to Bangalore now. Monday was quite productive - I have leads for both the unknown issues I had last week in the project. Hoping things will be solved this week.

Tomorrow is Valentine's day and am not looking forward to it.

keep smilin,
sravan

weekend blues - part 1

2007-02-10T23:25:00.000-08:00

Somewhere near Vellore
6.03 PM
09/02/07

Travelling in a train seems to be a pleasant experience after all, atlast. With a plug for my mobile charger, a Tamilnadu SIM in the mobile, the laptop on my lap and music in my ears, I seem to be wired and well connected to the world around me. Sitting in the reverse direction seems to add dramatics to the already wandering mind. As I look at this text in wordpad, the scenes outside run out fast against the corner of my cornea, filling me with a sensation like am leaving time behind and leaping into the future. Ofcourse, like life itself, this is a mental illusion, but sometimes the matrix world rocks. Quite involuntarily, I play Newyork Nagaram in winamp and live through the song. That just seems to be the best thing to do and befits the situation. Ofcourse, I enqueue Desert Rose for next.

The sky is an orange tinge with the setting sun spreading its last rays across - almost synonymous with a dying lover trying his level best to hold on to the life of his soulmate. What a pessimistic portrait of an amazing scenery! But that's how the mind plays tricks with us, negative thoughts springing up in the most wonderful circumstances. The train snails into katpadi to unload another bunch of tired human bodies and to take onboard people returning home after the day's work.

Why I started to write this, I dont know. The past week has been quite hectic making a bigtime UI change (look and feel). I had to recode the layout of almost around 15 screens and it was not an easy job as i thought, but was thoroughly enjoyable. Playing around with java is one of the most wonderful things that has ever happened to me. I seem to thrive in it. One other place where I feel so much excitement as coding in java is when I get into any form of running water. These two are stuffs that I can relate to almost instantaeneously. I tried skimming through a few docs and even tried reading 'Thinking in java' by Bruce Eckel again. But that's when the sun started setting in the west and spread out its orange light on me, reminding there are greater things in life. I just know there are better things but am not able to identify what they are. One day, I will. Travel is definitely one such, have to do it more.

I am feeling lonely, but that is not something new these days. Am lonely most of the time, musing over what is happening with my life in a yet-to-be-explored-part of my heart. I am becoming numb and indifferent to most of the things that happen around. Probably, I am hardening. Or learning? Whatever!

I am going to pondicherry tomorrow to help my friends in event management of a music show that is going to be held in Alliance Francais. It has been almost 8 years since I went to pondy, so kinda looking forward though I wont get much time to look around.

Oh god! Reality strikes. I have to deal with the latest tryst in my project development, but that has to wait for atleast another 2 days. Chennai is still about 2 hours away. Nothing in store there either. Life is mundane and routine, the type I dont like. I am ready to adapt and advent into new stuffs, but when will life call?

Enough of mokkai, I just thought I will let my fingers wander over the QWERTY keyboard and it has produced this almost immediate memory dump of my brain. Will continue from Pondy.

keep smilin,
sravan

2007-01-19T06:43:00.000-08:00

KSRTC ticket - Mayura - (Bangalore - Chennai)
Note: 1 x 297.00 = Rs. 298.00

hari oum

2007-01-18T10:20:00.000-08:00

Why a married man should turn devotional - The secret behind हरी ॐ ..

Being unmarried, one can freely roam !
Hava puf, drink a beer and make foam !!
After the knot, life is under one dome !
Once it's Six, pack up, start and hurry home (हरी ॐ)!!

Anything for the auto

2007-01-07T16:56:00.000-08:00

Most of the blogs I write start off with the first sentence with no idea of what the rest is going to be - and then it flows based on the theme. This time I know what I gona write - word by word - because I just lived through it about an hour ago. So writing this here is a mere formality.

People who travel by train over the weekends know what I am talking about. Yes, it is the adrenalin pump and the sense of competition that surges inside passengers as they near the Bangalore Cantonment station - to beat each other to the queue for pre-paid auto. For those who dont, here's a brief introduction. Bangalore Cantonment station comes before the main Bangalore City Junction and holds the maximum crowd every monday morning. And pre-paid autos are widely used to ply around the city the most economic way. And imagine one whole train descending upon a single booth to get to these autos - yeah, now you know what I am talking about.

Some get up as early as 3 AM so they wont miss the station that is reached at 5 AM. They just cant sleep, tz the train and c'mon, tz the end of the world if you miss getting down at Cantonment. And they do everything possible to disturb co-passengers. Sinners, how could they just sleep when it's going to be Cantonment in 2 hours? But these people are the beacon lights who tell others what station it is at periodic intervals, so the latter can sleep in peace for some more time. Some of the rest less-privileged wake up at KR Puram or Bangalore East (that's at 4.30 approx). But everyone on an average is totally up and awake and alert by the time the train crosses East and reaches Bethesda Baptist Church (duno if you ever noticed this, tz more of a small cottage). Anything for the auto!

The biological clock is set that way. Most are almost crowding the entrance to the coach now so they can hop down before the train stops. Jerkins are zipped up, hand and ear-muffins are pulled up, luggages are strewn around and people smile at each other - "hi, is it gona b Cantonment or East? Oh, ok, I was just wondering if I should go take a leak, but don thnk I have time now. tz ok, i(t) can wait!". The poor soul is gona be holding on for another 1 hr till he reaches home but tz ok. Anything for the auto!

And this is when you see the strangest phenomenon! hold on! what is this? People are moving inside the train from the back coaches to the front. Jeez! You see, being in S11, they hafta walk all through, but they can as well do it before the train halts, inside the train, so they move ahead of the crowd. I tell them not to beat the engine and run in front of it (PJ, but that's the best my brain would work then). They twine and twist through the accumulated passengers and crowded entrances as far front as they could reach. Anything for the auto!

And lo! here it comes, the final destination. Those standing first are invariably in a mental state of trauma and emergency. Having beat people in their own coach, it is time now to compete with others. The inter-coach race starts and people hop out of the running train; but, hey, wait, the train is still moving faster than you. What's the use? So, the second and third in the queue, by default, are now ahead. Anything for the auto!

Today, I did not feel like fighting it out. Something told me I have to stand back and take in all the fun around. Early mornings can be real cold in Bangalore and I pulled up my jacket. With the laptop along one shoulder and a bag on the other, I moved out of the crowd to the sideways and walked slowly - deliberately. Some who rushed past me stared - Obvious, I am supposed to be running. Anything for the auto!

I decided to ignore them, and looked around at things I would have otherwise never noticed. There was a new army mini-camp setup near the station and I could see a small fire there to keep the heat up. I hummed my way along the platform and noticed a man cuddled along a bench like he had no bones. The TV showed ads of jewellery shops and health drinks and I managed to get a glimpse of my favorite model (Pavithra - even in dubbed ads, she looked awesome :P). There was a dog curled around with fur fluffed up to avoid the cold (or is it the other way round? Probably it was the cold that made its hair stand?). I was nearing the exit and thought there must be some way out to beat the crowd. Anything for the auto!

And there it was! The ticket collector! A lady roused from her sleep by the call of duty, standing at a very narrow gate and collecting the tickets from the running passengers. Most of them stop and search through their pockets or bags. And there was a wider exit with no ticket collector next to it, but none bothers to notice anyway. I make my way out through that without having to stop and almost get a place at the top of the queue. I turn back and about ten places behind, imagine who I see, the same guy who stared at me running, almost with bewildered eyes :P. Duno why, but it gave me immense pleasure. It takes me five more minutes to get the auto than it would have otherwise. And I reach home, with less tension and peace to write this blog.

Anything for the auto!

Review Corner: Next - Michael Crichton

2007-01-03T23:05:00.000-08:00

Next - The latest book by Crichton is a brisk attempt at Genetics and its approach in the current day world. The scope for the book was huge, and Crichton could have covered more grounds here in his regular dramatized fashion than he has. The book seems to be written in a hurry! State of Fear, by the same author, that came out in 2004 raised serious questions in the reader's mind about Global Warming. And the outset of the novel was spectacular - details ranging across all continents of the world. Next, in contrast, seems to be focussed on the genetic advancements made by the USA alone - though there are a few mentions about the discoveries/inventions made in other parts of the world, say, Shangai/Europe, there isn't much weight added there.

Probably, Crichton was walking a thin line - because genetic advancements always have arguments on both sides - none has been able to put down their foot so long and say if it is right or wrong. And then comes the ethical and moral complexities in this field. The book concentrates on this aspect of genetics, dealing with quite a few issues that the human race is not yet ready to handle. The author has maneuvered these details with subtle care and has depicted quiet a few baffling possiblities in the future if cross-race-breeding and cloning are practiced.

And the book is full of technical details - am not sure if readers from varied parts of the world can relate to it. Personally, I am quite interested in genetics and have been reading any book on the subject that I can lay my hands on, but I found a few of the details and information provided, mundane and boring. These pages could rather have been filled with the story line, that lacks proper base and clarity.

To sum up, Next has lots of juggle pieces but the string that connects these pieces is not visible. At the end of the book, I felt like there are 3D blocks arranged all over the space and they have some connection between them, but the maze creator has not very succeedingly laid the pathline that illustrates how these blocks are connected. The story could have been something better and more dramatic, given the possiblities and imaginations that could span across what I would call the genetic era.

And surprisingly, there is no connection between the prologue and the rest of the book - or atleast unless I have made a mistake, something like an attention lapse. I would not dare miss any subtle information hidden under the layers that an average reader is expected to understand, given the admiration I have for Crichton and his novels. This book should have taken more time and clarity from the great thinker.

Sravan
4th January 2007,
Bangalore.

Disclaimer: The thoughts expressed above are purely my own and are not influenced by any external factor. No legal actions can be taken based on any opinion expressed above. Take it if you like it, else leave it.

Mega Mega Serials

2007-01-03T03:53:00.000-08:00

"Arasi is a woman with a prominent role in the society and also deeply cares for her family. Infact the nation and the family are her two eyes. The alias for self-confidence is Arasi. Every woman will start feeling strong and confident after seeing her. The serial is all about the innumerable number of problems that this woman faces and how she tackles them all" - Here here, but wait, isnt the last line the common theme of all mega serials these days? How many more hours and hours and hours of glycerine and 'men-are-all-morons' scenes gona be shot and played on the small screen? Quite understandably, the target audience is the common house maker who is constantly kept under the impression that women still suffer in the society.

How can all possible problems in this world come to one woman? And mostly, the problem creator will be another woman. Who else can cause problems anyway? If the trouble-makers for the noble heroine are men-morons, then, they will be villians! simple, they dont need a reason to be so. The fact they are born men is enough. But ladies who cause problems are still common women and they do it because they have a deep dark flash-back that justifies their deeds (well, acceptable, this is gona give us 15 more episodes). After all, they have also been good in their past and you know, the situation made them do it. You, men, are always bad.

It is high time these producers realize how much they are influencing the common (wo)man's mind and poisoning it with a wrong perception of things happening around them. "adiye kanaka, pona velli kezhamai kokila thookula thongita di. nekku heart-e nindhu pochu theriyumo? rendu naal sani nyayiru kaiyum odala kaalum odala. thinga kezhama anniku dhan therinjudhu idhu ellam agalya-voda kanavu nu. abba, appodhan enaku mooche vandhudhu" - tiz is a very common discussion these days. The simpler mortals around, who are not-so-(un)fortunate to get into the net of mega serials, are yet learning to differentiate between those dialogues that reflect reality and those that reflect the agalyas-selvis-kalkis.

Either way, these set of serials have ended up ruining my evenings with cricket matches and Nayanthara dances. "Nayanthara-va ennada pathutruka? Avale rendu kerchief-a kattitu aadra. Vaaya mooditu paaru, ee poida pordhu ulla. sari sari, sun TV mathu, inniku anandhi ava purushanuku vesham vekka pora, pakanum". Which is evil? But you see, Anandhi happens to be Abhi's sister and Abhi happens to be the lead role, so she has the rights - even to spoil my one-sided-assumed-date with Nayanthara! (this reminds me, hafta write a blog about Nayanthara - sema hot machi!)

All said and done, serials when I was a kid were interesting and good. Vizhudhugal, Ethanai Manidhargal, Yugam, Sea hawks (Niki Aneja .. am drooling!), Anniyan, Kanoon, Naya Nukkad and so on. And my favorite was Junoon. This is the java.lang.Object of all MegaSerial classes. (means the ancestor/parent of all the mega serials). It was, yeah, interesting and served to create one separate stream of Tamil - Junoon Tamil - "Vara mudiyuma inga konjam?", "Thara mudiyadhu unkitta indha book-a nan", "Kolladha enna nee pesi pesi", "Poitaru ticket vangitu un thatha, vaa seekiram nee kelambi" - Where else could we have heard these? WoW, hats off!

But the ones these days are mundane, but capturing just enough for the target audience. And the mass influence these create is beyond tell-tales, and it is definitely not on the positive side. I hope these serials are replaced with something beter, or atleast something that is not so drastically and so profusely boring.!

Anyone ok for a protest against these megaserials? Count me in.

Footnotes
1. Uma, I am happy you have stayed so long in TV and managed to stick with Pepsi ungal choice without diverging to serials. Please stay away from them, talk with people on the phone and make them happy.

2. Pavithra, you are gorgeous! Please do keep modelling for Alukkas and the other saree showrooms. Everytime I go below Anna flyover towards Nungambakkam, I cant help stare at the big hoarding of yours for some saree showroom (Never bothered to look which one, guez it is Manmandir). You are too good for serials, please dont venture into them. After Isha Gopikkar, you will be the best face they can find for jewellery ads, cant afford to see your eyes full of glycerine and tears pouring down that beautiful face. Megaserials are for lesser mortals ;)

3. Anyway, I do like some of the ladies who are regular-faces in these serials - Aishwarya, Pooja, Priyadarshini .. Always wanted to ask one question to u guyz - is the glycerine separate sponsor or a part of the pay package? nevertheless, if any of you happen to read this blog, feel free to comment. And do drop in a mail here: sravantaurus@yahoo.com :P

Going the orkut way

2006-12-12T00:53:00.000-08:00

The five letters that are so common in everyday world 2day - ORKUT.

"Hey, are you in orkut? no? jeez! crazy? i wil send u an invite rite away" - you can hear this statement in one form or the other everyday. And the number of users in this online community seems to be increasing multifold everyday. Having an orkut account is considered mandatory these days - as mandatory as havin a girlfriend.

So, does orkut really serve what it is supposed to claim? That's a question I would expect individuals to ask themselves. It definitely has brought to light the theory of six degrees of separation. You will be surprised to see how close people are connected to you. The chick you used to drool over in the IIT classes was, after all, a friend of Jeevitha and you did not know that all the while. "Hey beauty! did not know you were a friend of jeevi, we cud have known each other better before and definitely not thro those hard equations and stupid theorems". wow! how easy it is to connect to people and say a hi.

One of my friends was telling me yesterday how he met an old friend in orkut. She had studied with him in the fifth standard and people used to tease them together. So wat do you do now? Just drop in a scrap - "Hi, remember me? We sat next to each other in the fifth standard and I used to empty your tiffin box everyday? [:D] Wow, i loved the curd rice you used to bring, does your mom stil make it?". How can someone forget the recipe for curd rice? nevertheless, a gud pick-up line. and don forget to enclose the :D in square brackets - gives a nice touch to the pick-up.

Orkut Communities have become so popular. Your school is bound to have a community, so juz join in. If not, start one, tz free. I have met quite a few old friends there and manage to stay in touch with them thro orkut. There is a community for the samosa shop near your school, for the funny teacher who used to fart in class, for pyscho-the-rapists, for pizzas, for iyengars, for people who copy in exams, for angelina jolie, for your workplace and so on. There are also communities against the college VC, against education, against terrorists and ofcourse against attu figures. So if none of ur friends are online r talkn wth u, these communities help you kill time.

I should mention the get-to-gether's people arrange using these communities. "Hey guys, all of us belong to Mannarpatti, why dont we all meet in the bessi beach this sat eve at 5 and share our experiences? Probably, we can also find our better halves there. After all, where can you find the best life partner, if not from Mannarpatti?" - wow! wat a desperate cry-over of saying "I am single and looking for a partner in the same area so we can have coffee one late night and you can still make it to your PG on time. I am bored of the girl at the other end of the city". And the best part is you end up with a partner ..

The only thing that has really irritated me so far is the about me in some profiles that read "I am fun loving, amicable and love to meet people and get to know them. Do not bother adding me as a friend if you dont know me" - shows they think too much of themselves. And their testimonials read - "She is such fun to be with and makes my life a lot more easy by juz bein there. You are definitely missin somethn if you don kno this girl yet." - beats me! who wud not love to have such a friend? A very paradoxical profile and probably the girl is that way 2. Stay away! Do not entertain complexities in life.

And there is the Lexy London column in the media lounge for the interested, i have never gone thro it but one of my friends has definitely gained a few moral advice from this gifted lady.

All said and done, orkut has definitely helped people who really want to stay in touch or discover old friends. I have found a lot of them here and have no clue if I would have ever met them if not for orkut. And with google's effort to integrate many of its features with orkut, the fame is definitely bound to go up. Just a few words of suggestions to fellow orkut buddies -

1. If you are a girl, it is better to avoid putting your snaps. There definitely are guys out there who are ready to cause trouble. Avoid it. Guys are guys.

2. If you are a guy, never give up. There are some girls who do put up their pictures just to attract you to their profile, don fall for them. If you like a girl, go ahead say a hi, but never try more than twice. If there is no reply, she is probably not worth it. Gals r gals.

3. The funniest part of orkut is a fake profile - guy posing as a girl or viceversa. It is fun to pick these profiles up and have fun by givin them d bait and have a hearty laugh at the replies.

4. There r quite a few communities and messages flyin arnd, so u mite have to take sometime in filterin messages tat r relevant. but tz worth it. u never kno wen a fella needs real help. n don miss d scool alumni get-2-gether, u can afford 2 miss the caste get-2-gether tho - mite lead to complications.

5. Keep orkuttin' - tz fun.

You can find me here in the orkut world.

keep smilin,
sravan

The Best Two

2006-10-25T03:43:00.000-07:00


best two of al-time-comedies in d world of tamil cinema. cant resist postin' it in my blog ..

Happy Deepavali

2006-10-21T00:21:00.000-07:00

This is the day of lights,
The day when things shine, The rejoice,
Crackers making happy noise,
The day to make a good choice.

This is the day of good,
The divine slays the evil, Smiles around,
Happiness knows no bound,
The day to better your ground.

This is the day of diwali,
The fest of the year, The happy sun,
May happiness rule your life,
And may you have all the fun.

How I lost her ..

2006-09-13T07:53:00.000-07:00

Everyday i grip her tight,
As we bathed, she used to bite,
Move over me in all possible ways,
"You gota nice body !!", she always says.

She touches me from tip to toe,
And goes down my skin real low,
I squeeze her as tight as i can,
And feel her touch all over my tan.

The warm water makes me moan,
She licks me raw and makes foam,
I hold her with al my hand,
Not to let go off her in the sand.

This morning i was doing the same,
But she slipped off in the game,
The soap is now in the sink,
Gone is the brown, so is the pink.

tz time 2 buy a new pink soap ;)

Taj Mahal vs. Tejo Mahalaya

2006-04-10T22:52:00.000-07:00

oh yeah, so taj mahal is actualy a temple n shah jahan simply converted it 2 tiz marble beauty with d whiff of a magical band? n every fine arts college goes about proposing taj mahal was built by shah jahan ??? ppl who dedicate their work 2 ancient art 'n' religious architecture are so easily duped by a powerful man in history?

nay, now read d true story of taj mahal. shahjahan was 14 years old wen he first met mumtaj. he was a typical arabian prince, tal n handsome n attractive. he was once walkin along d market and al girls were pourin' over him 2 grab so much as an eye twink from him. then, there was this girl at the far end of d road, d daughter of a diamond merchant, who not even so much as a look, cared about the walking prince. she was keeping a watch over her dad's diamond collections (those days, diamonds were sold in markets, yeah). shahjahan was so intrigued over her negligence towards him tat he went and started enquiring about d diamonds. n out came her outlandish reply "you are simply not rich enuf to buy any of my dad's diamonds" - and hero immediately falls in love wth tiz then-arrogant female.

so, shahjahan goes 2 jahangir's court (for those ignorant of tiz fact, jahangir 'n' shahjahan are dad n son in tat order) and says she wants to marry tiz lady he met in the market. there are stil some controversies, but ppl say mumtaj is older than shahjahan (to this date, duh!). the emperor kindly tells his son tat he is too young to decide and if he still thinks so at the age of 20, he wud get him married 2 her. so, the dutiful hero waits for 6 years and then on the same day at the age of 20, he goes 2 his father n claims he wants 2 b her man. and d emperor kept his word n got them married.

they were so much, so much in love tat the world turned rosy al over 4r them. shahjahan courted mumtaj like there was no other woman in the world. every war tat shahjahan went, mumtaj used 2 accompany him 2 b of moral support 'n' loved him in his camp. tiz brot shahjahan glory in al his wars and attempts and he soon grew 2 b a great emperor. wish i cud complete sayin "n they lived happily ever after" but sadly, tats not d case.

mumtaj was pregnant wth their 17th kid (i do not stake authenticity of tiz num, am not sure) n shahjahan was in war. she knew she could not deliver this baby alive and also knew she wil not live. after al a human body is a human body! (yeah, my dad's aunt has 18 kids, i thnk is totaly non-human and heavenly to be able to accomplish that, and she out-lived most of her children! gosh!). so, she cals shahjahan n asks 4r 3 wishes:

1. he should never forget her after her death
2. he should remarry
3. he should build a tomb tats unique in its own self in tiz world n shud visit it daily so she knows he remembers her

n then she dies. shahjahan goes in2 a deep depression n stays wth her body for one whole week inside d tent. no visitors allowed! not even on a ticket-charge basis. he goes in2 grief 4r about a week n wen he comes out of d tent, most of d ppl who see him faint. hez so changed, full of sorow, the charm n vigour tat made up shahjahan was gone. he lost tat war, n went back 2 his kingdom. there he started 2 concentrate on architecture. he temporarily buried her remains and started to build taj mahal. architects were invited frm al over d world 'n' so much money was put in2 its construction. n then after about 20 years (am not sure again on tiz num, but tz al over d interest, so i aint botherin over its preciseness).

His interest in d kingdom started 2 dwindle. more tombs and buildings came up but d righteousness of ppl began to come down. Taj mahal was complete and mumtaj's tomb was shifted. Aurangazeb (hero's third son) saw d state of affairs n decided tz time 2 act. he killed his 2 brothers (ouch, tats d problem of bein d eldest in family), out-threw his father frm d throne n tuk over as emperor. neat job, i shud say. n jaile shahjahan but gave him a smal vent frm his jail tat overlukd tajmahal, so shahjahan can stay wth d spirit of his mother. n there, after some years, our hero died!

tiz is d actual story of taj mahal. it was built, not converted! and even if tat was so, there have been huge number of hindu shrines tat have been converted 2 mosques n tombs in d mughal period. therez no hue n cry tat needs 2 b raised coz taj mahal may b 1 2. if at al it is converted, it wud most probably b only d location site 'n' a few shrine features of hindu cult but most of d construction in mughal-ish and we all now kno it is original!

i havent seen tiz masterpiece yet but wud melt if i c it under d moonlight. probably, tats my idea of a perfect date ???

how it backfires ..

2006-03-29T03:55:00.000-08:00

My frnd sent me a mail where u hafta keep looking at a pic n try 2 find a beautiful damsel .. n suddenly pops an ugly witch 2 scare u. this was written 2 describe tat pic; thanks 2 stella who sent it.

here it goes ..

Waitin along d glowin sand, i dreamt with heaved sighs,
About the darling damsel with flowing hair and glowing eyes!
Every passing minute was an eon dragging along,
When will she come, singing the same happy song?

My friend had said she saw her a few miles away,
Looking beyond the horizon, my thoughts were at bay.
The winds were kind to bring her smell to me,
Giving me happy hopes of setting my soul free.

Oh boy, then i saw her, she did come around,
Was I dreaming or was it the shaking ground?
She was nowhere near what my friend had said,
I wondered wat i did, here my fate had me led.

Getting together my senses, I talked with the witch,
"I was waiting for a dame, not you, dirty bitch!"
That's when she told me without a single hitch,
"You first mind your holes, your pants are out of stitch!"

ha ha ha!

How I wish am a Stateless Session Bean

2006-03-28T04:00:00.000-08:00

How I wish am a Stateless Session Bean,
With a face so cute and a sense so keen.
No sweet memoirs to think 'n' cheer,
But more important,
No bad hurts to woe and fear.

How I wish am a stateless Session Bean,
With a face of smile and a robe of jean.
Get reset 'n' start afresh every time,
And hence,
Anger of the last state, I don't mime.

How I wish am a stateless Session Bean,
With a smell of rose and a beauty queen.
No carryovers or memory or false wrappers,
On the other hand,
Full of methods, all with useful purpose.

How I wish am a stateless Session Bean,
With a life of freak and an age of teen.
Harshness of yester gets lost after the end
And the today,
Will proceed with a happy new trend.

You name it ..

2006-03-28T03:36:00.000-08:00

It's a lazy a'noon, I sit by a cozy bay;
You with the rosy bloom, Smiling all the way !!
The face that gleams, The touch so rare,
The happy ray beams, I know you care !!

Love can do wonders, as does time,
With my life, it does rhyme;
It can hurt, it can heal,
The power of love I do feel.

Joy and sorrow start in the same place,
As strange as love is also the case;
My heart leaps from dusk to dawn,
You are the rose and also its thorn.

My Lady

2006-03-26T22:59:00.001-08:00

The night was dark, tides high
Blue stars in the black sky
Shadows in the white sand,
Wish there is a lady to hold my hand.

As memories come back slow,
My blood rushes head to toe,
There is cold and frost in the land,
Wish there is a lady to hold my hand.

Then it happens like a dream,
I see the light, I see the gleam,
She dances to my melody band,
Wish there is that lady to hold my hand.

My soul rises, my spirits lift,
My murk dies, my eyes drift,
There is Zeal in every gland,
Wish there is that lady to hold my hand.

She goes across the green tree,
Spreading light all around me,
It dawns as she wades her wand,
Wish there is that lady to hold my hand.

The red ball rises across the vast,
And the gloom is now past,
Life takes on its way, as planned,
Wish there is that lady to hold my hand.

This too shall pass

2006-03-26T22:59:00.000-08:00

Be it even a small issue,
When ur friend doesnt beleive you,
It gets hurt down to the tissue,
And you get so sick as flu.

When you feel stupid and guilty,
And know tz really not a mistake,
You feel yourself so filthy,
Coz your friendship is at stake.

It feels morbid, offending your friends,
When you know you didn mean to do it.
You juz intended somethin else to do,
But it led you both to this pit.

Juz know tiz wil dissolve like water n salt,
You get lost in the work and mass,
Let tiz time juz come to a halt,
For as usual, tiz too shall pass.

The IT highway

2006-03-26T22:56:00.000-08:00

Fresh in the morn I start from home,
It's gonna b a ride to writhe and moan.
The traffic is too heavy to steer and brake,
When I reach my seat, am only half-awake.

IT-Highway is what they call it,
But even to be a lane, it's not fit.
The road is too bumpy, leave alone the board,
Ouch, on a second thought, is there a road?

Who will tell them it cannot take the traffic?
Everytime I travel tiz road, my pulsar is sick.
The share vans zoom across the way,
Insecure is my life even to this day.

To make matters worse is the rain water,
I lose my mind peace and laughter,
and the lorries and heavy trucks,
and the bad road, to them all, I say my yucks.

And as they keep working and dig and pop,
The traffic jam is never going to stop.
Someone save me this killing knife,
To her, then, will i owe my life.

trrring trrring

2006-03-26T22:55:00.000-08:00

It was a moonlit night and there was this eerie noice,
I was trying to read and put out all my inner voice.
Tring Tring went the mobile, your name came on it,
It felt so good that my room was totally lit.

What did we speak, What was the time,
Who cares about it, Nothing else is worth a dime.
Voice could have magical effects on one,
It could be a killer too, no intended pun.

Friendship is a treasure, to be nurtured and grown,
It should not be insulted, for it may be thrown.
Friends are like roses, how much ever you tell,
The thorn can prick strong as the flower can smell.

It is more to give than to get, to forget all errors,
It is more than a wish to remove all terrors,
Enjoy life with your best buddies without any bitter,
For they are the ones who can make you better.

I am with you, whatever happens

2006-03-26T22:53:00.000-08:00

Friends are not the same,
There are better times and there are worse,
They may be a bit lame,
It is true that it is both a boon and a curse.

Relax for it is time to let go,
If it belongs to you, it will be back.
There are things that are worth your bow,
Pick them up and fill your sack.

A shadow in the current,
just means a light around the corner.
The mind may be in a torrent,
but that doesn't mean you are a loner.

To the world, you may be someone,
but to someone, you are the world,
Just remember to believe in the one,
to whom you are the world.

It's okay to be feeling bad,
for it shows who really cares,
The heart may be feeling sad,
But go on to do what your aim dares.

You can reach heights not climbed yet,
You can become great, do not fret,
For life is after all a battle well fought,
One time it's so nice and the other time it's not.

I am with you, whatever happens.

Life goes on ...

2006-03-26T22:50:00.000-08:00

When people go away from life,
We all know it is not for long,
Sooner or later, our paths shall cross,
And then we shall sing that happy song.

There may be fights, may be smiles,
In the end, it's all the miles
that have been travelled together,
Other things, Oh, don even bother.

It vanishes like mist in air,
What remains is the shown care,
So, watch for the words of knife,
When you row along the river called life.

So that is it, wait it out and see,
For there are aims to which we bind,
Leap into the vast blue sea,
Things unknown to the mind.

What you are to me

2006-03-26T22:44:00.000-08:00

Your wink, the innocent smile,
I am caught in a spell.
Your smirk, the witty talk,
goes down my deep well.

Your warmth, the grace,
Is all I need.
Your embrace, the lovely face,
Is my happiness' seed.

Your love, the tender hands,
I shall always feel.
Your foot marks in the sands,
My heart, they seal.

Your zeal, the care you show,
I shall always see.
An angel with a lovely bow,
That's what you are to me.

Life is a process

2006-03-26T22:43:00.000-08:00

Life is a process,
that humans evolved from nature.
Waste it not,
For it has a short stature.

It's worth not measurable,
We don't know if there is a second chance.
Life can be found anywhere,
from streams to sky to lawns.

Friends are the pillars,
that make life strong and high.
Waste not the time,
There are still peaks to fly.

Hurt them not,
For it is feelings that remain.
It is not the words told,
but untold that reach the brain.

Live life its way,
For there's always a better morrow,
It is always the friends,
who show the smile to remove thy sorrow.

I have learned ...

2006-03-26T22:38:00.000-08:00

I have learned that
Friends are the treasure,that I can ever wish for;
For they are the milestones in my life.

I have learned that
If I understand friends change,I do not get hurt at all;
For only change is permanent.

I have learned that
However true a friend is,Sometimes, they do hurt me;
For only a true friend can hurt.

I have learned that
Absence is to love what wind is to fire,It extinguishes the small;
And enkindles the great.

I have learned that
My actions pay me back;Something I do for an instant,
Can haunt me for life.

I have learned that
Often people whom I expect, to kick me when I am down;
Are the ones who will get me up.

I have learned that
Even after hours of long walk,I walk faster;
Only after I think I can't go any further.

I have learned that
There are only three Words,That summarize our lives;
It goes on.

Ode to Balaji, My best friend

2006-03-26T22:25:00.000-08:00

I wish you are here,
For loneliness I fear,
There is none near
That I consider dear.

You are so far away,
The distance is long.
Yet so close to heart,
Singing a happy song.

Miss you my friend,
Sad and happy moments a lot,
We know things do change,
But, friendship not.

I wish you are here,
To wipe away the tear.
There is none near,
That I consider dear.

Vazhkai (Tamil)

2006-03-26T22:23:00.001-08:00

சிறு பிள்ளைகளாய் நாம் சிரித்த நாட்கள்,
சீறிப் பாய்ந்து செல்லும்.

பருவப் படிப்பும் பேசும் பெண்களும்,
பார்க்கும் போதே பிரியும்.

உண்ணும் உணவும் உலக அழகும்,
உந்தன் முன்னால் உருகும்.

கானல் நீரும் கிழிந்த காதலும்,
காலம் கழியக் கரையும்

Ennaval (Tamil)

2006-03-26T22:18:00.000-08:00

வடிவான அவள் உருவம்,
மெலிதானதொரு சருமம்,
அன்போடு என் முன் ஒரு பெண்.

நூல் போல் அவள் இடைகள்,
மயில் போல் அவள் நடைகள்,
ஜாடை பேசும் இரு கண்.

விரல்கள் சுடும் குழல்கள்,
கரங்கள் எனும் மலர்கள்,
என் மனம் பாடும் ஒரு பண்.

இனிக்கும் இரு இதழ்கள்,
எனக்கு அவள் இலையேல்,
என் உடல் சேரும் இந்த மண்.

what it is to love someone

2006-03-22T04:38:00.000-08:00

Everyday you walk unto me,
And ask which is more important?
“Me or my happiness?”

I always answer the latter,
Whatever be the matter,
And you walk away in silence,
Smiles fading off in distance.

What you do not know is that,
Your happiness is mine too,
So is your sorrow, I love you,
that's love, whatever you do.

Review Corner - Pattiyal

2006-03-20T01:02:00.000-08:00

The Crew
Cast: Pooja, Padmapriya, Arya, Bharat, Cochin Hanifa
Director: Vishnuvardhan
Producer: 'Punnagai Poo' Geeta
Music: Yuvan Shankar Raja
Lighting and Camera: Nirav shah
Dialogue: Raj Kannan
Editing: Sreekar Prasad

Vishnuvardhan seems to continue his winning streak from Arindhum Ariyamalum into Pattiyal and proves his class yet again. The movie launches the customer into a non-boring two-and-a-half-hour visual treat, the minimum requirement that most movies do not provide today. Pattiyal is a good attempt by the bold director, proving he can yet again handle an adept storyline into a movie worth watching.

The story might ring a few bells, it is an already walked lane - Anti-hero seems to be the favourite spot for young actors these days. Selva and kosi (Bharat and Arya respectively) are two street rogues, who are clever enough to cover their grounds, so they are not exposed as what they actually are, 'contract killers'. They are professional death dancers (dappan koothu). And to prove they are bad guys, Bharat smokes and Arya drinks throughout the movie. Little wonder, this actually upholds their hero image. The friendship between these two has been beautifully portrayed by the director and cameraman, who captures the emotions picture perfect.

The heroines do not have much role to play - Sandhya (Pooja) comes as the partner for Selva and Saroja (Padmapriya) for kosi. You will have some raised eyebrows in the theatre when the latter dances for an item song. There will be doubts in the mind if this was the same heroine who played in Cheran's Thavamai Thavamirundhu. Pooja has tried to act in some scenes and in the climax when Selva dies, she screams out for her critics to watch her acting.

Bharat has been scintillating in his performance, daring to tread in dangerous waters, choosing a different role yet again, deaf and dumb this time. He proves his credentials in many scenes - trying to convince Sandhya when she discovers him, all his murders, expressing his friendship for kosi etc. There is talent in this young lad and he will shape up well. Arya vaguely resembles his character in Arindhum Ariyamalum, portraying a character that drinks away to glory, knows no emotions till he actually gets to feel them with the heroine, and has provided some all round entertainment with his physique, style, dance and acting. There is scope for improvement, if he wishes to work hard and learn.

Sami (Cochin Hanifa) comes as a typical middleman, treacherous and un-trustworthy. His character has also been portrayed without flaw and he fits the job. The scenes where he introduces the rogues to using guns and how they pick up training themselves with it are worth an appreciation. Sappai (the boy in the tea shop) tries to be a very brief comedy relief in between scenes and there is no way someone forecasts he relieves Selva of his life in the end.

There are too many villains in the movie to name, including the heroes. The story hinges on the old but proven fact - violence kills everyone, including those who adopt it. Kosi dies in an encounter with a local garment factory owner, after he successfully vents out his vengenance by killing his lover's rapist. Selva, in the meantime, plots and carries out an excellent kill in Coimbatore, comes back only to learn of his dearest friend's murder and seeks out vengeance. Everyone dies in the end with a new contract killer (Sappai) emerging in the end with Sami's guidance. If murders are only as easy as this movie portrays, there will be more contract killers than there are software engineers in Bangalore and Chennai, put together. ;)

The camera has been used very effectively and the editing makes its mark. 'Punnagai Poo' Geeta has come out successful again. The music score goes well with the movie's theme though a lot more could have been done in this area, given Yuvan's talent. It is high time he starts making a few corrections in his tamil pronunciation. This movie is worth a watch, nothing obscene about it. Though violence plays a major role, it is not shown intolerable. People end up enjoying the subtlety in the rogues' hearts, the violence to which they naturally adhere to and the failure of love in the end. When one comes out of the theatre, there is one name in everyone's mind - Bharat. He has a long successful path ahead.

Pattiyal - Pattai Kilappal

Comments are welcome !!

Disclaimer: The thoughts expressed above are purely my own and are not influenced by any external factor. No legal actions can be taken based on any opinion expressed above. Take it if you like it, else leave it.

2006-03-02T22:16:00.000-08:00

I, Me, Myself

Angels and Demons

2006-03-02T02:09:00.000-08:00

Though it might be a bit late, I finished reading Angels and Demons only today. The plot of religious symbolism is pretty much the same as DaVinci Code, but what struck me was the idea of equality of God and Science.

Many points said in the book agreed with what I perceive as God. My blog Science, Nature and God talks about the same issues that Dan Brown addresses and I felt increasingly anxious as I read the initial pages. It was nice to know scientists like Galileo and artists like Bernini thought on the same line.

'God, Buddha, The Force, Yahweh, the Singularity, the Unicity point - call it whatever you like - the result is the same. Science and religion support the same truth - pure energy is the father of creation' - Dan Brown

Science, God and Nature are three parallel paths approaching the same unit source of light - the light that is bound in the cone governed by these 3 co-ordinates, the light which we are not meant to understand, the light which when understood makes us God! More about this here.

Angels and Demons might not be a page-turning thriller like DaVinci Code, but it definitely reinforced some of my beliefs.

Thanks to my CTS colleagues

2006-02-22T08:54:00.000-08:00

Ladies and Gentlemen,

These are my heart-felt words and I request you all to spend a few minutes reading this.

Working in Cognizant was a dream-come-true experience for me. For two years in college, I had been aspiring to get into this then-small American company, with a cutting edge on market-hold and master of leading technologies in the industry. I have now seen my dream-company rise to glory in front of my eyes and it was a savoring experience.

I have absolutely no regrets in the past two years that have been filled with fun and learning, blended together. There could have been no better place to celebrate work and the rich memories I carry with me will last my lifetime. The Manlog day trip to Pune, the countless luncheons with my friends and managers, the fun-filled treats and outings that I have participated in, the client visits for which I have contributed more than just ideas, have all been a rich learning experience for me.

Lots to mention, all these would not have been possible without continuous support from my superiors and managers. These are people who have guided a young mind fresh out of college and molded it to seek knowledge and grow. In return, I promise to keep up the good work that I have been doing and contribute to this industry and technology in all possible means.

It is worthy to mention a few people whom I think stand out as beacon lights in my pursuing path to glory.

Mr. Rajesh Balaji Ramachandran has been a very effective administrator and an efficient manager. For the six months that I have been associated with you, you have continued to impress me as an individual and a professional. We share a special relationship as junior-senior (me, obviously, the former J) in College of Engineering, Guindy, Anna University.

Mr. Nirav Patel, the manager, and later, the senior manager to whom I looked up for anything and everything official has been a … well, I cannot think of words. You are one of the best managers I have worked and will ever work with and have kindled in me a ravishing desire to be a manager myself soon. It is apt to say you have been and are my benchmark!

Mr. Badri Ramanujachari has been with me through my thick and thin times and has been a constant source of hope and a terrific manager. The training that we underwent for TIBCO business works have been mutually beneficial and I would look forward to this gentleman (gentle man too J) as a source of inspiration.

Mr. Mahesh Venkataraman was a person I looked up to for technical challenges and a smiling face. Your ideas and suggestions for problems that I could not crack have been more than splendid.

Mr. Natarajan Balasubramanian has been an excellent manager and helped me fit into 3M in minimal time period. Working with you for the past six months has been excellent and helped me groom myself for challenges at work.

Mr. Frank Jegannath Antonysamy is a man of giant stature (pun, un-intended J) in confidence and skills. I have always seen him calm and relaxed and his very presence elucidates confidence and inspires people to work. Kudos!

Mr. Raja Sankar was my first reporting manager and I owe my enthusiastic levels to you. You have been a guiding friend! First time in field work, a crude mind looks for support, and you have been more than just that for me.

Mr. Suji Vasavan and Mr. Kiran Kumar Bachu have been enlightening managers who continuously and successfully pushed me towards delivery management and skill development.

Mr. Kumaran Narayanaswamy and Mr. Thiyagarajan Shanmugam have been my immediate source of answers and solace. I did my engineering in the same alma mater as you did and you would always stay close to my heart.

Mr. Anandkumar Babu has been my project leader in EWCD and has helped me face challenges and issues in the project with confidence. You have helped me learn Websphere Portal Server in a very short span of time and have been very good in providing solutions.

Mr. Pradeep Kumaar Karunakaran was my project lead for Load Planning and from you, I learned that projects could be led with a terrific attitude and go-easy way. Your efforts to solve the issues we faced and provide solutions are commendable.

And my friends, Dev, Naveen, Siva, Rathna, Bharat and Jayasree; But for these people’s constant belief in me and encouragement, I doubt if my two years would have been as pleasant and successful as they actually are.

I would like to convey my sincere thanks for the efforts you all have spent on me, and my heart-filled elation for having acquainted you all in my professional life. My last day in Cognizant is 22nd February, 2006. I am pursuing a career path in life that I believe is aligned with my career goals, and would be joining Oracle Corporation in Bangalore soon.

My personal e-mail id is sravancs@gmail.com and I will keep in touch with all of you through this surely. I request you to keep me abreast with improvements and milestones in your life as well.

Thanks for your time. I sincerely hope and wish our paths will cross sometime in the future again, in our common pursuit for excellence.

Keep smilin,
Sravan