Kodaikanal + Elixirs

Kodaikanal : We all knew that a trip was badly needed, and it conceptualized on a friday evening get together.Ooty was the initial suggestion but things hazed out while we were watching the Rajasthan Royal VS Delhi daredevils in ascendas giant screen. Things did not take off, untill when rajarajan took up matters. The treat that was supposed to be went off as a planned get together rather. The trip: It is a noteworthy moment to write about how each of us caught up the train in the first place and the run-up to it. The train start time was said as 10:20 in the evening, and nobody even cared to pack for the trip with that luxury of time. Then it was sheepishly said as 8:20, game-on. Santhosh decided to call off for the day, while I went of with the daily chores. No rush and it was 6, so nonchalantly I walked off from office and reached home after shopping around at 7:30. People kept calling me and I kept giving bogus reports, when it was 7:50 - I realised it is going to be a rush to the train. I came to beach station around 8-05 and had a train taking off - with a long ticket queue, I skipped the tricket queue and took the train but it never really started till it was 8:08. I got at Egmore in 7 mins that made the clock to hold its hands at 8:17. I made a call and rushed to the train. phew, it really was an adventure to begin with.

Everybody else were cozying themselves up at the wagon. There was this huge gang of boarding- high-schoolers. We just could not take our eyes off. The conversation kept rolling, was a great evening. We had a quick dinner with whatever we rationed. Seshathiri joined us at Tambaram and the stories kept rolling from the vault. Atleast myself and a couple of guys had some sleep of say 4 hrs. Woke up around 6:30 - 7 torealise the train is running late and will be about 1 hrs late in reaching the staion. Ours is a set that you could associate with a college gang, for all of us had similar humble roots. Meanwhile one of the highschool gang pairs managed to get down and play some ball game while the train was stationed. The wretched kids got some stick from the TTR .

It was the dawn of the dragon warrior, no - no our very own rajarajan aka stalin got to his hometown of dindigul. In a few snaps and jokes time took us to kodai road. This is the starting point of BSB backseat boys debate. No hassles till we reached the foothills, but within a 5 km ascent up the hill - it was half boils all over. It was racing at its very best between our vehicle and a goverment bus. We crossed the bus several times but we were unable to match the consistency of the bus. With great bit of resilience we arrived Silver falls and in a few moments we reached main Kodai.

We stationed ourselves at the guest house behind coaker's walk. Tiredness/eagerness was taking turns like switching channels between a melodious song and a live t20 match. The entire crew was hungry,and we knew there could hardly be a nap. Had a good shower in the cold water. The other guys were very reluctant to accept that I just had a cold shower. Got to a hotel and began the proceedings with a breakfast, as planned and as it panned out: the agenda was to see main Kodai in the first day. Coaker's walk , Park, Boating and what else?. We had just enough time to see things without any rush or boredom either. It was around 5,pretty tired and dusted - we got into their hard fought seats. Along the way we crossed through some interesting places. We went through a passage of a small stream with huge tree covers - had lots of clicks. I personally was not able to take my eyes of the plastics and waste thats been put up all over the place. It was pretty late when we reached poompaarai and God! weren't we hungry. A special thanks to the rangers there for the quick meal (chappathi and chicken curry)- which was DELICIOUS, pity sesha that he is a vegetarian. We finished the meal with a twinkle in the eyes and were glad to call it a day. In the night though rajarajan managed to get himself a night safari.














We had to get early the next morning to have ourselves a trek.Yeah!.. trek. Not that long a trek, but it really took a toll on us, as the path was steep upwards. Phew, finally we managed to get to this huge tank had a few interesting photo shoots and the descent was nothing comparatively. Next stop was mannavanur dam. wow! what a view it was?. Serenity was finally discovered and had a few blissful moments. Had a long walk across the lake's periphery to a puddle of shrubs which looked like a green hillock to suit its enchanting beauty. When we got back to poompaarai, we were teased with the fact that lunch got over in the nearby eatery. We rumbled ourselved to the village in search of something to eat, but it was around 3 and there was nothing much we could get. We bought ourselves lots of snacks some curd and thought of steaming some rice, when we get back to the guest house. Got to go, oops, was the call. It was late already and we had to quick start and go to Berijam. Supposedly you need lots of papers to pass take this route and goto Berijam.

We stopped at a nearby village enroute, found a real good eatery and it was just like home food, atleast for me. Back on road, we soon reached Berijam. It was about 5 in the evening and we were greeted to a near empty village. Just the kind of setting that we urban dwellers would love to be in, but the flipsyde being no electricity and the sort of creepy feeling owing to the emptiness of the village. Giving you a feeling as though the hills have eyes. Doesn't matter we had lots for company and there we were playing cricket with a wooden pole. it ended with some sledge on prakash, resulting him to hit straight to the bushes. We had nothing to do but to take a walk around the village. The entire area was quite exotic. The mood soon started to become romantic with a camp fire being raised, we had an interesting chat with Stalin's father, straight talk over how things politically are in the government sector.

The camp fire was poetic, the more so because it was a real camp fire - not something done for namesake. We burnt lots of wood and the flames were dancing in the chilly wind. The light was dying but carried a tinge of photogenic blue and it painted a silhouette around the trees.Not much sporty bunch we were, else there would have been an anthakshari or something I am sure. We soon retired to our pretty dark rooms. The local workers prepared another feast for us, this time the cooking was real neat and was wholesome. We just laid back and enjoyed the evening. For one day I am sure the lack of TV, internet and urban coziness was forgot and we were just happy about it. Every now and then during the entire trip people flipped open their mobiles to some interesting songs. We had to have a good sleep, coz the next day there was a
real long trek to be taken.

This is the mother of all treks that I have endeavored. To begin with it was 1. 8-10 kms trek from start point to end point. 2. A real wild trek, there were not many before you or after you either, we had no clue of what lies ahead. The ascent took about two hours to go there. It was like an african safari sans animals. We had to cross passages of water, prairies, steep boulders, dense foliage.. The main problem was the chilly feeling that the small leaches managed to evoke, can't bear that feeling of something lurking over your body. we had various pitstops and finally we got to this huge dam ,"ahhh! yes, atlast". We returned back had break fast and got back to main Kodai. We spent the rest of the afternoon shopping fruits, herbals, chocolates and the regulars. We managed to see some feminine green that made our testosterone tickle our brains,
while we were having some lunch. Yeah, happens every other day, wherever be it. The entire trip ended with a final trip to rajarajan's father's city residence, we managed to have a closer look at some heavy artillery.

Had a light chat, the best thing and bad thing was that we almost had too much time for everything. So finally the day ended with we signing off from Kodaikanal and the night reached with we arriving at pazhani. Did our dinner, had a few laughs and then it was finito - arrival at Tambaram, chennai. Hey, I almost forgot its time for me to start to office, catch you in my next blog.

SDLC

SDLC

நாளும் பிறந்ததா? பறந்ததா? காலமில்லை, பார்க்கவில்லை - பாகம் பிரிவரிய
ஓட்டத்தின் நாயகர்கள் நாங்கள், நேரமில்லை - நலமறிய, நட்புற
இயல், இசையோ, நாடகமோ - ஏற்றவில்லை, இயக்க இயங்க
மாற்றத்தை செலுத்துபவர்கள் நாங்கள், மாறுவதில்லை மைந்தனின் மனம்


விந்தை வினோதம், நான் மனிதன் என்னை தொடரும்
அதை கொண்டு செலுத்தும் வேதம் - மென்பொருள் கருத்துயிர்க்கும்
அந்த வேதத்தின் வேகமும் பின் வேகமும் ஓட்டமும்
மூளையை கொய்திட , எங்கள் நாட்களும் கடக்கும்

கரு, உரு , உயிர் - என சக்கரம் சுழல
எங்கே என்ன எது, எனும் இடம் பொருள் மறந்திட
என்னை எனும் நொடி, அது தூக்கத்தில் உணர
கண்கள் விழித்தும் நிற்கும் எந்த நாளும் ஒரு போல


கோடையில் மழையுண்டு, மார்கழிபோல குளிருமுண்டு
அந்த தூரலில் தூக்கம், பின் தேநிர்க்கு திரைப்படம்
குளிரும் பொழுதில் மனதின் போக்கில் உறைவதும் உண்டு
வசந்தம் வந்தால் பருவக்கால பறவைகள் ஆவோம் நாங்கள்

80s and 90s in India

80s and 90s in India

Having born in the first half of eighties, my generation saw the launch of cable TV, cartoons, WWE(WWF), POP music, internet and several other things that would make up and shape up the minds of the young minds of India in the years to come.

Let me take you through this unique experience with first hand records on music, culture, lost breeds, urban scenes, travel, TV,cinema and a whole lots of stuff.VCR and VHS tapes were huge words in those days, a TV was almost there in any middle class family but it was just transforming from the black and white cathode tubes to color televisions. Brands like dianora, solidaire and Onida were ruling the roost. In my case there was this other brand called Crown which came out with Cresida series, promoting through campaigns like Color Crown Cressida.

TV/Cinema/Music and lifestyle (fall 80s and early 90s)

I could remember the scenes as silent yet closely bound(thanks to big families). Doorsharshan was doing a great job in bringing out shows like Turning point, superman series and several other shows from BBC - National Geographic and some home made. National programme was introduced in 1982. In the same year, colour TV was introduced in the Indian market with the live telecast of the Independence day speech by then prime minister Indira Gandhi on 15 August 1982, followed by the 1982 Asian Games being held in Delhi. The 80s was the era of Doordarshan with soaps like Hum Log (1984), Buniyaad (1986-87), comedy shows like Yeh Jo Hai Zindagi (1984) and mythological dramas like Ramayan (1987-88) and Mahabharat (1988-89) glued millions to Doordarshan. Other popular programs included Hindi film songs based programs like Chitrahaar and Rangoli and crime thrillers like Karamchand .A few background music loops from those are still ringing in my ears. Some are mocked and some lost in today's scene. "Takeshi's castle" is a reminiscent of its originals - a similar programme from Germany called telematch. Didi's comedy show (Jetix) was running in DD.Nobody would miss out Oliyum Oliyum.I fondly remember people talk in conjuction with that, in similar ways with which soap serials are done these a days. Old never miss out the Thamizh news and the young ones are made to watch the same. There were a few great series and a few social awareness cartoons that still lingers(Ek Anek - surprisingly sung by Shreya Goshal). It was an era when nobody complained that there is only one channel, but out of the blue doordharshan came out with this thing called METRO channel and regional channels. METRO channel was a huge hit as it aired many songs and movies and thus opened an entertainment chapter in TV. I remember the pongal comedy pattimandram where in there was a topic of Pasu maadu VS Eruma Maadu, nattupura paatu by Dr. Vijayalakshmi Navaneethakrishnan- remember the songs- onnam padiyirangi,2aam padiyirangi. The trend of airing programmes late through the night came up and people began to sleep late, wake up late and all that jazz.

Before going into the next few phases of television and a different period, VHS tapes and VCR require a special mention. VHS tape rental was the staus quo in those days, almost anybody would have watched atleast 2-3 movies in it. In those days the VCR player would go for rounds along with the tapes, what it did along with entertainment is that it opened up the gateway to the west. People began to speak about movies like Terminator, Star trek, Home alone, Rambo,Rocky etc."Maine pyaar kiya" and "Sholay" were bought all over India as VHS tapes .It lived a short life just like today's VCD vs DVD vs Bluray, as cable TV and tamil channels burst open the scenes.VHS tapes were still made but only for communal functions. It was a lifestyle product not to mention washing machines which were prototypes in those days. Videocon came by and introduced the first generation - with tag line "It washes, it rinses, it even dries or clothes, in just a few minutes", there was this other brand which taglined - " I am taking this with me to Japan" - guess it is citizen. A special mention to rajini has to be made, it was during this period that he gained to superstardom, every damn movie will run just for his presence. Strangely in all his movies he would be named as "Raja". The music loops were boring but it would be made up by excellent sequencing and extraordinary voices (SPB and Susheela).

Jeans ang baggies /Salwar kameez would dominate in the years to come. Frocks were worn only by anglo-indian teachers and lil girls,Skirts had a natural death. TShirts and round-necked shirts came into existence. Baggies gave way to the current anti-fit trend and bell-bottoms had a hair-cut and is renamed as boot-cut pants. It was the days of Complan boys and complan girls, along with it came "Boost is the secret of my energy". Brands like Bournvita,MILO, MALTOVA etc did well. Do you guys know that the original complan girl and boy is Ayesha Takia and Shahid Kapoor. The advertisement industry with the arrival of heavyweights like Coke, PEPSI made bollywood what it is today (wiped out local colas like Kalimark, bovonto,fruitnik, goldspot) . BSA came with the revamped cycles along with Lady bird series targeted at girls. LUNA the predecessor of sunny/scooty made a simple run. Chennai was becoming a smaller place.

What metro channel and late VHS culture brought to India is Michael jackson, Bryan adams, Madonna and other big names. MJ's 80's phenomenon was grappling India only in the late 80s and early 90s. One has to say MJ made Prabhudeva what he is today.

TV/Cinema/Music and lifestyle (94+ 2000s) AR Rahman era

It was the days of Junoon,Karamchand ,Dekh bhai Dekh(an Indian version of "Mind your language" -BBC sitcom). Rewinding I remember Junoon being cast as "Pidivaatham" in tamil as well. The colorful days almost had no complaints. There is a saying called "All good things are free", and now with Tata sky - I fondly reassure myself thinking of how joyous those days were. Jain TV can be hailed as the original Cartoon network : It broadcasted very old cartoons, and thus educating young minds with fables and fairy tales. It brought about a show called "manal manidhan' which never was broadcasted - but , "Mann.. the promo was scary".

Nobody will forget those two weeks of Oliyum oliyum, where in songs from Roja were played in TV. AR Rahman just changed the way music was heard and composed. Firstly "Chinna chinna aasai" and "Pudhu vellai mazhai" in the second week. It sent chills down the spine in every sense. It was played over and over in AIR, and what a moment it was. The coming years brought in a huge chapter in Indian media, cable TV. Star Plus, Star Movies, Star Sports, Jain TV, Sun TV along with the cablewala's own channels were in the cart. What transcended down then is history.Sun TV came late into the scene -in cable, even though it was on air (It was exclusively for dish holders). Star plus was the entertainment option and MTV asia was the only music channel. Sun TV claimed fame with its original soaps like Rahuvamsam and psychedelic shows like Marma dhesam. It got everybody's attention fair and square.

Buses were rebranded as MTC from Pallavan, and 4 stroke bikes like 4s champion and 2stroke Yamaha took over from Royal enfield and bullets in the early nineties (which were superceded by splendour and subsequently by pulser). The scooters were officially scrapped off from existence. TVS 50 rallied all over Tamilnadu. Brand consciousness increased and Mount road was and partly is the hoarding street carrying movie stars as well as brands and ad campaigns. Complexes grew around mount road and attracted youth from college road - making Nungambakkan, T Nagar grew up to what it is today. The entire lifestyle thing had lots to do with IT, and the trend of big salaries. Globus, lifestyle jumped into the act and forced Naidu hall, saravana stores to reinnovate. Chennai grew as a city massively from 85 to 2k, creating many districts and making way for single family culture.Ethnic and casteist gatherings were soon shrugged off as the land rates increased. Chennai became the capital city in real sense by carrying a healthy diaspora of people from all ethnic backgrounds.

http://nonstriker.wordpress.com/2007/08/01/the-best-of-the-best-made-better/

1996 saw cricket world cup being aired and played all over India. 1998 was the year of Sachin and "The Desert Storm". Between 1996 and 2001 "Pistol" Pete Sampras ruled all grass courts. Schumacher was the God of Speed and Tiger Woods was and is the smooth criminal. Michael Jordan was flying all over the basketball court.Definitely it was the days of Titans.

Late 90s and 2000s saw POP music and band culture at their peak again. There was a band here, there and everywhere. Many a names revolved around this period and now it is in Hip hop mode. Got to say that the hype has gone down a bit. The desi fication of MTV took place and consequently VH1 was born. Suddenly India fit in the global puzzle big time.

WWF was a big craze - children who din't know about it - were clowned off, from classes. It was making its rounds as Trump cards, stickers, post cards, VHS tapes and all such memorabilias, a recent trend that i could associate it to is Power rangers or something of that range. It had a natural death when superstars from WWF went on to join WCW nitro, which did not take off that well. It was the era of Hitman VS Diesel.Preceeded by yokozuna, undertaker etc. The 2000 reincarnation saw rock VS HHH VS Stone cold raise above all, and let all hell loose. Thereafter with CAS system, the craze did not go off well with viewers.

Food/Festivities and Scenes (fall 80s and 90s)

Nobody will forget the festivities of yesteryears and how special they were. The festivities were more religiously observed and intensely celebrated. The sweets preparation and home decor will start - one week prior to the actual day. They would also be on a stringent budget and would be very much a family affair with all regrouping at one place. It is only on these days that families will be able to afford for new clothes. People will look forward to the festival very much for many such reasons that it all would make a pongal or deepavali very special. Which is not the case these a days.

Food has not changed much - but the way it has been prepared has. People are opened up to many new dishes (indian and international), though i would say fast food culture was an entirely 2000+thing. The traditional Geetha nivas, or Vasudheva bhavan or an Udipi hotel saw a slump.The reverse effect came into existence from 2002 onwards where in, people searched for authentic south indian (home made) food. Hotels like Rathna cafe, Murugan idli kadai stayed authentic, while saravana bhavan became contemporary. Pizza became a buzz word and made a grand entry with Dominos, pizza hut and pizza corner. In reality they were just not affordable. The goli soda and paneer soda were completly wiped off from the city by 2001. North Indian traditional dishes like Kachoris/samosas and their "CHAAT" stalls were well recieved late in this period and opened up another dimension. It has become a rare sight to see "Kai yaendhi bhavan" these a days. I remembered fondly of them, when I visited to a temple in AP, the stretch from our hotel to the shrine was reminiscent of yesteryears.

There is an account of people missing from Chennai in the mentioned period, those rare species are spotted here and there nevertheless.

http://chennai.metblogs.com/archives/2007/10/the_missionary_agenda.phtml

Trip to Kodaikanal with College friends

It was work as usual in office, but on the receeding front. Jaga called me up and continued on the B'lore plans that we were talking, the previous weekend. All of a sudden he opened up a hill-station plan which was indeed to Kodaikanal as the title suggests. We obviously had very little planning and very very little time to go with it but nevertheless we were free on the decided time. Fast forwarding the action to friday evening, I started from office around 7-30 for a 9-15 bus from office. Given that I have to take some money from ATM to even catch the bus, I was catching up fast with time and rain. It wasn't pouring though, but the rain made a nasty mess of the up and down Chennai road. Having reached CMBT pvt bus depot after a timely help from my colleage, I was well ahead of time at around 8-45 in the depot.

The combination of rain, mud, turned into more catastrophe when I got to know that the tickets were lost and Karthik was under the assumption that the bus was scheduled at 10-30. It was 9-05 when we got that information, he drive like a maniac to drive back and find that the 9-15 bus has not even arrived till 9-20 his check in time!

We started from the point writing an apology letter to the Bus unit for the tickets and left Chennai which was strung by a kaatrazhutha thaazhvu mandalam.Good morning! Madurai was the radio that I woke upto. Bus travel wasn't that bad after all. I almost got to sleep for 6 hours and sleep sound for 4 hours which happened - never before for me. We caught up a Maxi cab and drove amidst a mixed crowd towards Kodaikanal. It was discomforting to hear that the North crowd wasn't sport enough to hear tamil music along the way.

Twists and turns, ups and downs and hey we were there!. We found luxury, comfort and home in a 2-bed room appartments barely 5 mins from the lake view. The afternoon was spent in the most appropriate way - sleeping!. In the evening we went to a nearby theatre which was screening Shivaji movie. It was quite entertaining to watch the movie again, sans logic et al - (coz I knew what was coming). We walked out of the movie theatre to darkness. It was totally dark and we had 2 kms to walk back to the cottage. We walked through a Eucalyptus oil manufacturing neighbourhood and the entrancing smell stung on us for the rest of the walk. We had a few interesting topics to churn out though. The 2 kms math was soon forgotten as we hurried down to the cottage with little discomfort. Thus ended Day-1 in getting ourselved accustomed to Kodai.

Day - 2 can officially be called as Trek-day, the first place we headed is for that cascade falls which ideally is not a falls, but quite an incredible place indeed. It would have been a great sight to see it cascading over and over through the steps that it has created (That would have been a reality a 30 years ago). There was a cave which could play host to 2 big lions - rightfully named as Lion caves along the same route. It is not very much a trekking kinda for sure had some fascinating frames waiting there to be captures in frames *click*click*. Next top was over the hill top to the dolphin nosed rocks. Thus began mission Dolphin - affirmative.

"Calling all troopers, calling all troopers - we are left with the task of descending down the slopes to capture the dolphin and its nose is JPG format. Do you understand. -Affirmative(replies). Lets proceed"

It was almost a kilometer walk along wretched hilly roads which was slippery to say the least. As we took a good ten steps below, a person came up towards us finishing his trek beneath. Just looking at him blew us all out. He was of good built and shape, sweating all over struggling to put one foot followed by another. We gathered ourselves and started to walk, going down was not a problem atleast for me. Finally destination reached, we reached to the dolphin nose point which was like the pridelands rock from lion king ,extrapolating itself from the cliff towards the valley. Kodai was brimming with couples all over. almost all couple dared enough to come to the edge of the cliff and pose as if standing on the edge of the titanic. NOW! we had to take up the behemoth task of climbing all the way up. We had several pitstops here and there, and fiinnaaallyy we were able to drag ourselves out of the dolphin's lair.

Time out!Time out!, that is it, we rolled out from there to our bedroom. By the time we hit the rooms it was 4.00, by 5-15 we ventured out to take a bicycle ride around the lake, we were intimidated by the fact that it took around 45 mins to finish one lap around that kodai lake.Damn..!. We spread over the dew drops settled on the lush green lawn set besides the lake. Looking across a dark blue sky decorated by rocketing trees spreading all over the place. The hotels and cottages that stood before this divine scene were like Jewels glittering. A moment of bliss celebrated by ripples carrying the colors sprinked by the buildings on the other side of the park and with spicy roasted corn in this side of the park. We gathered around the bus stand to recieve Yogesh. After several stumbles he arrived on the pattaapatti bus stand. while we were expecting Yogesh, unexpectedly rain made its way in, we hurriedly packed the barottas we ordered - took a cab and rode all the way back to the cottage.

All thadiyans under one roof, there was no hero no zero. Everybody was pulling others legs whenever an opportunity was presented. We fell flat early to wake up early to the long trip to mannavannur. We were treated to some unbelievable and least expected sights on the way from Kodai to Mannavannur. The Silent valley, the other Pine forest, and some totally unchristened places, which were waiting for us to name them. The best part was that there was a car coming by in a period of 10 mins. No traffic absolutely, now can you think about that anywhere in any highway. Though this wasn't exactly a highway, it qualifes as it touches two states across over the hills. The best part was coming, we got down in this mannavannur village, took a 2.5 odd kms trek from the village's outskirts to all the way along the lake, across the dam, over some trickling water and what not.

From there on along the way back, we stopped at an exclusive restaurant which was serving on demand. We place our order, bought our chicken en route to this trek of ours and on the way back we were treated with some grand lunch arrangements. Appalams, Chicken curry, basmati rice, curd , porial and rasam .ohhh. I love home made stuff. .

That pretty much concludes it in perspective to the grand trek kodai tour, but the fun, faults continued - Yogesh who was fighting a strict timeline plan, came back to the bus stand and to his very delight all was in right place for him to meet his schedule, a bus exactly took off for him to goto thirupur. We gathered ourselves on his depart and went to buy some fruits, in just two minutes we came to know that Yogesh left his purse with us and that he got down 3kms downs the hill. He had to make a travel arrangement to reach thirupur that cost his around 900+600 rupees. We had no clue what the reasons were!.

Finally we hit back the cottage wished everybody adieu and hit back home. whoaa man!

Hectic weekend

Thaaru maaru
==========

It was quite a hectic week at iSOFT, challenging in many ways. We had a critical build that has to be sorted out before being released to Leidon Beta environment.Being an upgrade it had its more than usual share of complexities. Wednesday,Valentines day - 14th had more than what I could accomplish in a single day. Having completed the entire song choreographed by monday, I was driving a bit earlier to office on build day. Just as I was about to take a turn towards Mount road I skidded off from the sandy road strip. All I knew was that I was looking the road in front of me while turning, rather than the curve, even if I did - it would have been the same outcome.

The sandy cover over the oil spill was taking its class on fluid dynamics upon me. I toppled but I felt I was in control when I wasn't when the wheels gave away their pivot to the front footrest of my pulser.and I had to give my elbow to get to the balancing act, in just 2-3 seconds- I was left with a grilled forehand - which was looking like a peeled off fish with masala on it.I knew the damage is done and was ready to get over it, people got stumbled and were throwing their looks all over me. Thanks to a humane PC, I got some medical attention not to forget a cyclewaala who was more than just helpful. I got some first aid with some bandages I rushed back to my home.

The pain was not burning as I thought it would be, but neverthless the pain was there. Having got some proper treatment and some medication I decided to remain back at home for some rest. A phone and then Duty calls, I took an auto and came to office and took on the build chores. I missed out practice and raised some alarms to the group. Shavin was petrified about it, and found an able ally in Priyanka dhadha to perform. Having worked overtime, I rode back and reached home around 2 on the same day of the accident.

A new day and a new set of challenges, I thought I could manage with my scraped hand and gave an OK signal to the guys in STORM. The day was sapping though, it opened up more and more issues and gruelling error screens. I absconded around 10 PM and walked into the practice floor at Shafika, having finished the choreo I was quite confident about things. We sorted out the things in respect to transitions and positions and appeared a better outfit. I walked back to my floor around 12 and was amazed to see that the entire crew was still there, trying to sort out possibilities. I decided to flee though, I waved off and took off.

Friday, saw a nice jelly fill amidst the tight sausage of sandwiches in Thursday and Saturday. Work was pretty much simple and talkative with chat masala flavor. I was working along, and it was 4 when I was called in by kiruba to get the staff- stickered. We roamed all around General Patterns road and finally got them stickered. From there we hit the office and swam across the traffic swamp and reached Nehru Indoor stadium. It was like walking into the Bull ring, the Bay area had this striking look at us.

Soon we got the feel of it and got a know-how about things to be put up. Then started a marathon day that was about to follow. We had a brief stint of practice in the stage set up, and found things comfortable and organized. Priyanka was now feeling the rush and was keen in getting a few things straight right before the performance, so what do we do? We do the practice routines over and over again till it is 1. Waking up the next day around 10 wasn't a problem, being the big day that it is. I got ready and headed to Kiruba's room, from that point - things went all awry, but fell back like a jig-saw puzzle. The punctured tyres, the forgotten helmet, the lunch that was missed and the ride spanning 50 Kms all over. I got back and had some curd rice and before I knew it was around 5 and by 5-15 I set off.

It was a unique experience to be in the backstages of such an event, its been more than 10 years in the waiting since I performed on stage. I played sombre cameos on the other fronts in the years in between and this knight of all trades was chanting "Bring it on". It was very much a family in the backstage, people supported and comforted others really well. We all went along with our performances with the same thirst and energy. Before you know, the entire song was done and the performance of the day was over. With lots of cheers and smiles we all ushered to the change rooms. Wah! What a ride it has been. I had this flow of adrenaline coming to a stop only when I started socializing amongst others in the lawn.

A special evening in many ways or rather in a rediscovered way.

GRT Day out + iSOFT

Day out in GRT Chennai weather, hot hotter and hottest for ten months and warm et chill for 2 months. It was just one of those days in the two months that we planned out for a beach resort. I walked in at 8'05'' which was probably the earliest I've been to office. I was not the early bird and was happy to see a few souls in colors. I went about moving from floor to floor curiously in pursuit of meetings other warmed up colleagues- who were equally earnest about the day-out.

Having got a digicam I got flashy, and by 9 all of the people were ready for the long ride through ECR to mahabalipuram's GRT. I hafta say that I was home when I got into Bus no.3. The party started soon. Having been aroused by sentimental song, we decided to become hyperactive // ear drum bashing // vocalists. Singing anything and everything that struck our mind, from the alphabets to nila paattu, from Gaana to Hip hop - God save the rest of us.

Finally we arrived at GRT and with the familiar sun, there was some unfamiliar greenery as well. Fountains, Decors and an ambience that recieved a 8/10 rating. We walked into the grand hall with an event host who did quite good in setting up some interesting games. Having got bored by the usual house game, which kept everybody to their seat, we decided to take it off to the sun and the sand. We were greeted by an impressive set of cottages with elegant chairs and swings. It also helped us in taking a few snaps across some beautiful backgrounds as well.


Volleyball was the exotic choice and cricket was the local favorite. I remained a local and swung myself into some tennis ball cricket. By the time we got hungry, tired and done - a few games got over at the other end in the party hall as well. I just got in @ time when the DJ started to scratch his disk. Notwithstanding the boom / dhoom of the music we went crazy dancing kuthu and some kool moves as well. After some 30 minutes I got behind my camera lens against the option of being under the laser lights.


Soon it was time for lunch, it was a well served - neatly presented lunch. People enjoyed their lunch after a dosage of beer fest, after lunch a few chose to go back to the dance room and for the rest of us the beach was calling. "Now" was the time for Volleyball, it was the flavor of the afternoon session - almost everybody thronged into the Volleyball quad. We had a gravity defying catch session, a long walk through the sands. By 4 I thought of giving it a wrap and took it into the showers. Almost everybody had a great time with things like a business man kinda sport with a hammer sort of driving gear or be the launch ride into the bay of bengal over the submerged Mahabalipuram temples.


That was not the end of it all, the day entered into a grand climax with a crazy remix session by mixing one song with another, one of a kind experience which is very hard to be simulated and reproduced- one would say.But it would n't be me, what else do you expect from a bunch of let loose maniacs. For about 2 hours all the way from GRT into the heart of Chennai, we almost made every bypassers in the road to look amused at us(As if we were some college students going on a tour). The city lights were not new, but there was something special about them - every color and every detail was seen in the real world plasma. Thus ended a fabulous day out from the concrete jungle.

Flashback 2006

2006 - A year that signifies "Eppadi iruntha naan ippadi aayiten" in all its positive sense ofcourse.

2006, took in all of us doubty individuals in a group and transofrmed us into mighty individuals of(f) a group.

If one recalls that magical January -01-2006 and compares it to the Dec -01-2006, it all encompasses the journey that has sped away from the point that is January.

Time-out is always time spent within. Allowing to beind special chords of relationships that were too good to be seen sitting next in the same bench.

"Extra Ginger Spice" was the flavor of the season. Thru moments of "Say what ?" and "Stop! kidding me". Whatever happened is a matter of crunch decisions and "Give into me- music".

There was a fraternity building up in the online world, and suddenly the world was a small place.


The followin words signify the year that it has been

1. Orkut
2. Gtalk / Yahoo voice
3. IBN Live.

1. Shreesanth's dance.
2. Zidane's Header.
3. Schumi's last race.

1. Karan Thapar VS P.Chidambaram in Devil's Advocate.
2. Tata VS Murosoli Maran.
3. PS3 VS XBOX 360

1. Jodi No.1
2. Citizen Journalist and Polls.
3. PCO- Southern Spice music.

The year that passed by saw the invasion of automobile world into India, with a sky-scraping sensex and a youth that we are - "Beware of 2007!".