Mazhai, ManVaasanai and Molaga Bajji
Laila's hovering around Chennai. The new cyclone strangely named as Laila puts up a thick cloud cover. No rain yet, till late in the evening. One thing that I missed in Singapore is heavy rain and a thing called 'Man Vasanai', sounds filmy but its one of those things that takes atleast 4 months of stark dryness and a gentle rain to raise that aroma around the town. Singapore has rain but almost every day. These cyclone ladies have some affinity for Nagapattinam or further south towards SL. Its been a year since my granny passed away. She was from Nagapattinam, the famous cyclone magnet. The illustrations about the heavy rain she witnessed were records of life from that era.
“Life comes to a stand still when there is an outbreak of rain. A fishing village with an iconic church facing the sea has its huts flooded. The clay which forms the base of the hut transforms into buckets holding sea water. Fishing has stopped before the rain has started and may be paralysed for 2 weeks or more. Temples and churches become humble abodes of hordes of villagers. The rain drops are heavy and decieves to form thick shiny silver strings towards heaven. These temporary settlement are not perfect shelter neither. These acts seem to remind people what are the most essential things of life. Amongst cries for people gone missing the genuine care for each other enables people to see through another cyclone.”
The first time I thought that she was exaggerating. Slowly I got to see glimpses of what might have been a terrible situation to be in. Having born in Chennai, with radio and Television. Rain is fun and heavy rain is unheard of. Oldies talk about hailstorms (Aalangatti mazhai), in Chennai, really !!. The first time i got to visit a hut house was in 1997-98, to visit my classmate's house. The house was only the size of an average drawing room but had a television, a pedestal fan and a cot. It housed a family of 5 and an infant. The sea was just 50-80 m away from those huts. My memories painted a quick picture of the yesteryears with those houses. We went passs a nearby temple which is ill-managed with a thick coat of sea-algae. I don't think prayers are offered anymore there and the last time I went to that temple was to witness distribution of rice and clothes after a heavy rain. The ration card's color decided the kilograms of rice to be distributed and the entire village was there to oversee the operations. Therefore rain, especially cyclone and now tsunami are big stories to be told about for sea-side dwellers like me.
Now, I am enjoying a light breeze with some Samosa&Sundal. I rewind myself to my yesteryears of summer rain: paper boats and games on the road. With motorcycles, traffic these; you can't have any sort of game these a days in the roads. So much have moved on and I understand that a generation has rolled over and I am in the middle of that process. Scooby Do/ Dexter/Tom&Jerry have given way to Pokemon/PowerRangers/Avatar(AirBender). I can't really appreciate these content is more proof that the ball is set in motion.
Now with a gentle drizzle, but a thick cloud cover I ride through my neighbourhood.
Stop 1: Molagaa Bhajji / Whats with Rain and Molagaa Bhajji I dono, they seem to be a wonderful pair. Molagaa Bhajji seems to have married Marina Beach nevertheless Mazhai and Molaga Bhajji make a good couple any time.
Stop2: Samosa Sundal / Traditionally the eateries pour sundal cooked as a semi gravy over smashed samosas and they make a lip smacking combination. Bought some and on my way back home, I rode slowly through one of the quieter areas to enjoy the drizzle.
The drum roll of heavy rain eludes as of now but the rain songs have started in the radios. Let me sit back and enjoy those songs from the present and past to take me to some cherished memories.
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Thursday, May 06, 2010
IPL 2010
Even before the series started I was pretty sure that Mumbai Indians will go into the finals, not because they bought Pollard or the unexpected emergence of Saurabh Tiwary/Ambati Rayudu but for that man Sachin Tendulkar and his magic. I can't but amaze and accept that there is a new found rejuvenation about the Mumbai maestro.
There is a story that goes around, Eagle is a proud creature and obviously a powerful amongst its kind but it loses it edge at halfway during its life.(Apparently this is a myth) Its beak tends to mellow down to become soft and fragile. Presented with two options: one is to live a half life with former glory or to endure great pain in breaking its beak and allowing it to regrow to its former self.
Sachin faced a similar problem during his mid career crisis with tennis elbows, he was not able to wield his heavy willow. He was asked to change to a lighter bat and change his game style from blitzkrieg to light cavalry. The fact that he created many subdued knocks that would have made the purists happy is a different story. The power and monster that Sachin has been at the crease was missing. Missing for 6 years. In all these times he was learning to master the 2,3 and 4th gear and when nobody was expecting it – Sachin announced himself with that 175 knock against Australia and then poor RSA had to face the new Sachin. The God is back.
With that sort of inspiration, the Mumbai team studded with heavyweights can gel in as a team. For there is a man who holds answers and ways for what could be achieved in a cricket ground. Being a Chennaikaran, I am fond of my Superkings and Superstars. Superstars were an excellent team – a Team in the first place. I just love the sight of Ian Harvey and Ganapathi Vignesh blasting through almost every bowling attack around. Sadly, I may sound as a strong critic here but the sight of Parthiv Patel or M Vijay along with Hayden was not making it click. I had great regards for Badrinath but he needs to put some muscles for sure. He can't clear a normal ground, he seems to time the ball very well but get caught at long on, deep fine leg, or deep extra cover. He then proved me wrong with a few innings of substance and moreover intensity.
Ok, IPL2010. The adminstrators of Superkings played down the event by not picking up any big marquee players. I just can't take Jacob Oram bowling at 120 k. We could use Joginder Sharma /L Balaji for that place. Naturally there was no teeth in Chennai's attack. I was routing for the return of ICL players like G Vignesh and R Satish but they were picked by KKR and MI teams, I was totally lost and using the choice expletives at the administrators. I still think they should have held them within CSK, but there is a reshuffle next year so who cares!.
Seeing my team, getting bashed real hard in the first half of the IPL made my stance even more obvious and the predictors said that CSK would have to play out of their skins to reach the semis. As usual there were some teams who were willing to top the IPL charts from the bottom. Kings XI and KKRs. Then the turnaround happend in the absence of Dhoni on a bright day in Chennai. Generally cinematographers use light and color themes to match the mood of the films, they picked the perfect color yellow to burn the demons away and mark the genesis of the new era. Managalam Undaagattum. It was burning hot and amber was the color painted all over Chennai. A brighter innings took the commentators and Chennai crowd screaming their lungs out. M Vijay and A Morkel smoked Rajasthan's attack to all corners and it was one of those innings where Vijay was in the zone and was timing the balls so fluently, Jujube.
From there on, we were able to witness the genesis of a team which was writing their own script. There was intense passion on display and not to forget the enormous grit and steel on the faces. The lead up to the finals is a story to be told from generations to generations.
KXIP VS CSK : Athaan vantenla says Dhoni, Yaarukitta
Dhoni had a quiet tournament till then, the last time the two teams met there was a heartbreaking tie and a subesquent loss to those Jalandhar Jalsawaalaas. Now, Marsh toys around with Chennai bowling and props up the score to 190+. It all looked bleak with Hayden and Vijay back in the hut. Much was expected of Badhrinath and Dhoni both left to prove themselves. A steady partnership was put upon and the match was in auto-pilot. With the match reaching its climax, all signs were pointing to Dhoni for Chennai and Dhoni was smiling away at the situation. Enter the final over, 15 runs were required and it was that man Pathan who added to Chennai's misery earlier with his bat. Ball 1 was dispatched through extra cover it was full toss at yorker length wide outside offstump and with the angle very difficult to even nurdle around, but Dhoni found the gap perfectly and threaded the offside field for a boundary, the second ball was a mishit and it was signs of destiny that it landed safely between long on and mid on. Still a taunting score to chase. Then came the moment and the arrival of the man. It was a full length delivery and all L Siva had to say after seeing the ball hit was “WOW”. He needed to catch his breath and say unbelievable. By then, the ball had been couriered from Dharamsala to LeordGanj, which resides over the hills off Dharamsala. The next ball was powered away to another six and semifinals berth was confirmed. Just to see Dhoni react at the opposition was tinitillating to watch, there is a remix version of that moment to “Puli Varuthu” song from Vettaikaran, believe me it matched perfectly as a backdrop to that moment.
SEMIS DC VS CSK
So there is was the big semis and neighbours in the political map of India it was Andhra VS TN. The ground DY Patil, Mumbai. Have to say that CSK had better support at the neutral venue. Half the side was lost early and again it was that man Badhrinath who silenced his critics and proved why he is in the side with a Steely 37, Dhoni provided much impetus to the score with some quick runs and yet the score was slowly moving ahead. It took some rush of blood from young Anirudha Srikanth to hit two towering sixes and prop up the score to 142 which was pretty decent. Game on, I said.
Now, now : The Chennai bowlers put up one hell of a show and was spitting at the batsmen with venom, scoring was impossible and getting big guns like Gilchrist and Gibbs bottled up the way they did was remarkable. Not to forget the catches taken by Anirudha and Raina, this is a team. At no stage was I so pumped up or feel affiliated to a unit than at that moment.
FINALS
So you have Sachin, Pollard, Harbhajan, JP Duminy, L Malinga amongst others, what do YOU have? Well we have a team. Even a team studded with superstars was not able to stop the colossus of the CSKs. Raina had a brilliant day and Sachin played amidst 5 stitches, there was coincidence that I carried 5 stitches on my right thumb just around the same time, LOL. The moment of vindication was in the destruction of Pollard. Well you have an exploding device which can ricochet the ball back with more energy wherever you bowl at it. What to do? When everything else fails don't retreat but follow the instructions. Who's that, the captain, Dhoni. Just put two fielders in the V in the offside and continue to bowl yorkers around offstump. This tactic may soon be called as “Cutting down Pollard”. The marauder hit the ball lunging outside his reach and picked the Brisbane fisherman who proclaims himself that he is a madraskaran now. Match virtually over with the stadium emptying before the final over started.
“The theory of evolutions says, only the strongest will survive, but the theory of sports says only the passionate will win”
Go Team.
Even before the series started I was pretty sure that Mumbai Indians will go into the finals, not because they bought Pollard or the unexpected emergence of Saurabh Tiwary/Ambati Rayudu but for that man Sachin Tendulkar and his magic. I can't but amaze and accept that there is a new found rejuvenation about the Mumbai maestro.
There is a story that goes around, Eagle is a proud creature and obviously a powerful amongst its kind but it loses it edge at halfway during its life.(Apparently this is a myth) Its beak tends to mellow down to become soft and fragile. Presented with two options: one is to live a half life with former glory or to endure great pain in breaking its beak and allowing it to regrow to its former self.
Sachin faced a similar problem during his mid career crisis with tennis elbows, he was not able to wield his heavy willow. He was asked to change to a lighter bat and change his game style from blitzkrieg to light cavalry. The fact that he created many subdued knocks that would have made the purists happy is a different story. The power and monster that Sachin has been at the crease was missing. Missing for 6 years. In all these times he was learning to master the 2,3 and 4th gear and when nobody was expecting it – Sachin announced himself with that 175 knock against Australia and then poor RSA had to face the new Sachin. The God is back.
With that sort of inspiration, the Mumbai team studded with heavyweights can gel in as a team. For there is a man who holds answers and ways for what could be achieved in a cricket ground. Being a Chennaikaran, I am fond of my Superkings and Superstars. Superstars were an excellent team – a Team in the first place. I just love the sight of Ian Harvey and Ganapathi Vignesh blasting through almost every bowling attack around. Sadly, I may sound as a strong critic here but the sight of Parthiv Patel or M Vijay along with Hayden was not making it click. I had great regards for Badrinath but he needs to put some muscles for sure. He can't clear a normal ground, he seems to time the ball very well but get caught at long on, deep fine leg, or deep extra cover. He then proved me wrong with a few innings of substance and moreover intensity.
Ok, IPL2010. The adminstrators of Superkings played down the event by not picking up any big marquee players. I just can't take Jacob Oram bowling at 120 k. We could use Joginder Sharma /L Balaji for that place. Naturally there was no teeth in Chennai's attack. I was routing for the return of ICL players like G Vignesh and R Satish but they were picked by KKR and MI teams, I was totally lost and using the choice expletives at the administrators. I still think they should have held them within CSK, but there is a reshuffle next year so who cares!.
Seeing my team, getting bashed real hard in the first half of the IPL made my stance even more obvious and the predictors said that CSK would have to play out of their skins to reach the semis. As usual there were some teams who were willing to top the IPL charts from the bottom. Kings XI and KKRs. Then the turnaround happend in the absence of Dhoni on a bright day in Chennai. Generally cinematographers use light and color themes to match the mood of the films, they picked the perfect color yellow to burn the demons away and mark the genesis of the new era. Managalam Undaagattum. It was burning hot and amber was the color painted all over Chennai. A brighter innings took the commentators and Chennai crowd screaming their lungs out. M Vijay and A Morkel smoked Rajasthan's attack to all corners and it was one of those innings where Vijay was in the zone and was timing the balls so fluently, Jujube.
From there on, we were able to witness the genesis of a team which was writing their own script. There was intense passion on display and not to forget the enormous grit and steel on the faces. The lead up to the finals is a story to be told from generations to generations.
KXIP VS CSK : Athaan vantenla says Dhoni, Yaarukitta
Dhoni had a quiet tournament till then, the last time the two teams met there was a heartbreaking tie and a subesquent loss to those Jalandhar Jalsawaalaas. Now, Marsh toys around with Chennai bowling and props up the score to 190+. It all looked bleak with Hayden and Vijay back in the hut. Much was expected of Badhrinath and Dhoni both left to prove themselves. A steady partnership was put upon and the match was in auto-pilot. With the match reaching its climax, all signs were pointing to Dhoni for Chennai and Dhoni was smiling away at the situation. Enter the final over, 15 runs were required and it was that man Pathan who added to Chennai's misery earlier with his bat. Ball 1 was dispatched through extra cover it was full toss at yorker length wide outside offstump and with the angle very difficult to even nurdle around, but Dhoni found the gap perfectly and threaded the offside field for a boundary, the second ball was a mishit and it was signs of destiny that it landed safely between long on and mid on. Still a taunting score to chase. Then came the moment and the arrival of the man. It was a full length delivery and all L Siva had to say after seeing the ball hit was “WOW”. He needed to catch his breath and say unbelievable. By then, the ball had been couriered from Dharamsala to LeordGanj, which resides over the hills off Dharamsala. The next ball was powered away to another six and semifinals berth was confirmed. Just to see Dhoni react at the opposition was tinitillating to watch, there is a remix version of that moment to “Puli Varuthu” song from Vettaikaran, believe me it matched perfectly as a backdrop to that moment.
SEMIS DC VS CSK
So there is was the big semis and neighbours in the political map of India it was Andhra VS TN. The ground DY Patil, Mumbai. Have to say that CSK had better support at the neutral venue. Half the side was lost early and again it was that man Badhrinath who silenced his critics and proved why he is in the side with a Steely 37, Dhoni provided much impetus to the score with some quick runs and yet the score was slowly moving ahead. It took some rush of blood from young Anirudha Srikanth to hit two towering sixes and prop up the score to 142 which was pretty decent. Game on, I said.
Now, now : The Chennai bowlers put up one hell of a show and was spitting at the batsmen with venom, scoring was impossible and getting big guns like Gilchrist and Gibbs bottled up the way they did was remarkable. Not to forget the catches taken by Anirudha and Raina, this is a team. At no stage was I so pumped up or feel affiliated to a unit than at that moment.
FINALS
So you have Sachin, Pollard, Harbhajan, JP Duminy, L Malinga amongst others, what do YOU have? Well we have a team. Even a team studded with superstars was not able to stop the colossus of the CSKs. Raina had a brilliant day and Sachin played amidst 5 stitches, there was coincidence that I carried 5 stitches on my right thumb just around the same time, LOL. The moment of vindication was in the destruction of Pollard. Well you have an exploding device which can ricochet the ball back with more energy wherever you bowl at it. What to do? When everything else fails don't retreat but follow the instructions. Who's that, the captain, Dhoni. Just put two fielders in the V in the offside and continue to bowl yorkers around offstump. This tactic may soon be called as “Cutting down Pollard”. The marauder hit the ball lunging outside his reach and picked the Brisbane fisherman who proclaims himself that he is a madraskaran now. Match virtually over with the stadium emptying before the final over started.
“The theory of evolutions says, only the strongest will survive, but the theory of sports says only the passionate will win”
Go Team.
Thursday, March 18, 2010
Whats cool about NUS
Whats cool about NUS
When I upload photos from my university, my friends question "Is it a resort, nice!". Well apart from the history and reputation which many of its Indian counterparts have. The university is well funded. You have a stadium within the campus for track events. Football fields. Multiple Tennis, basketball and volleyball courts. Indoor stadium for badminton, Squash. Swimming pools.
Everyday I walk through the huge football field from dover bus stop to university hall bus stop within the campus. To my right I see athletes bustling around, stretching their thighs. The track is a synthetic hybrid track for better grip. To my left there are two nets for cricket practice and also 2 football fields. Generally people practice frisbee or baseball throws. There are several handball courts. This is where football enthusiasts practice their game, owing to the team count. Not to forget the swimming pool: clean, neat and a potential venue for regional swimming games. I guess you could also play water polo. The indoor stadiums are always noisy and buzzing.
OK, so I cross over to university hall bus stop from here I have to take an internal bus to go to my department. The university is so freaky huge and this shuttle service is free of cost for NUS students, of course. As I cross over, we have a university health service. It is an obligation of the university to provide health care to the students and apart from having NUH (National University hospital) within campus, they have this primary care facility. We have a Singapore post office next to the student's service center. The block also holds office for student's union NUSSU (NUS - Student's Union) which decides about events and privileges for the students. The same block hosts a few food stalls. I love the banana cakes and freshly brewed coffee at this stall.
The university has plush greenery and terrain. You have beautiful flowers decorating your passages, which you get to see only in movies which are artificially arranged for song sequences.
The library is fantastic. You can search for the books online, reserve them online, extend your reading period online. The location of books are cataloged well. Though almost all the academic books are reserved well in advance by stiff competitive students. If you want to return the books, well just drop them in the library book collection center. The campus WIFI facility is awesome, the fact that they have it linked up to individual sessions for each students talks about good communication framework and accountability.
As far as the classrooms go, they are called lecture theaters at least the ones for post graduation. Each lecture theater is equipped with LCD project, mike and speakers arrangement, WiFi repeater, PC, white board for writing, etc. The carpeted floor makes you feel as if you are in a business meeting at a hotel. The lecturers speak very good English - just that you'd definitely find the regional flavor heavily - sometimes in their accent or in their vocabulary.
Here in SG, it seems the girls spend twice as much what our girls do back home. They spend a lot on make-up, costumes and you know what. So, what do we get. We could just sit up and take notice. micro-shorts are something girls are comfortable with here and many float around with hot stockings. I am into long legs and I just love it. Public display of affection is something you witness everyday. You have to ignore and stay in your frame, something like what Russel Crowe does towards the end in -Beautiful mind.
The fact-a-doodle is that you won't feel out of your country. You could go up to Indian food stalls in any chain of restaurants within the campus and speak in Tamil to get your food. Not that you don't have many options, but I tend to stick with what I know which is sambar saadham and parottas. Queuing-up is in Singaporean culture but not a very soft society as in London. You get genuine warm smiles which make your day, everyday.
When I upload photos from my university, my friends question "Is it a resort, nice!". Well apart from the history and reputation which many of its Indian counterparts have. The university is well funded. You have a stadium within the campus for track events. Football fields. Multiple Tennis, basketball and volleyball courts. Indoor stadium for badminton, Squash. Swimming pools.
Everyday I walk through the huge football field from dover bus stop to university hall bus stop within the campus. To my right I see athletes bustling around, stretching their thighs. The track is a synthetic hybrid track for better grip. To my left there are two nets for cricket practice and also 2 football fields. Generally people practice frisbee or baseball throws. There are several handball courts. This is where football enthusiasts practice their game, owing to the team count. Not to forget the swimming pool: clean, neat and a potential venue for regional swimming games. I guess you could also play water polo. The indoor stadiums are always noisy and buzzing.
OK, so I cross over to university hall bus stop from here I have to take an internal bus to go to my department. The university is so freaky huge and this shuttle service is free of cost for NUS students, of course. As I cross over, we have a university health service. It is an obligation of the university to provide health care to the students and apart from having NUH (National University hospital) within campus, they have this primary care facility. We have a Singapore post office next to the student's service center. The block also holds office for student's union NUSSU (NUS - Student's Union) which decides about events and privileges for the students. The same block hosts a few food stalls. I love the banana cakes and freshly brewed coffee at this stall.
The university has plush greenery and terrain. You have beautiful flowers decorating your passages, which you get to see only in movies which are artificially arranged for song sequences.
The library is fantastic. You can search for the books online, reserve them online, extend your reading period online. The location of books are cataloged well. Though almost all the academic books are reserved well in advance by stiff competitive students. If you want to return the books, well just drop them in the library book collection center. The campus WIFI facility is awesome, the fact that they have it linked up to individual sessions for each students talks about good communication framework and accountability.
As far as the classrooms go, they are called lecture theaters at least the ones for post graduation. Each lecture theater is equipped with LCD project, mike and speakers arrangement, WiFi repeater, PC, white board for writing, etc. The carpeted floor makes you feel as if you are in a business meeting at a hotel. The lecturers speak very good English - just that you'd definitely find the regional flavor heavily - sometimes in their accent or in their vocabulary.
Here in SG, it seems the girls spend twice as much what our girls do back home. They spend a lot on make-up, costumes and you know what. So, what do we get. We could just sit up and take notice. micro-shorts are something girls are comfortable with here and many float around with hot stockings. I am into long legs and I just love it. Public display of affection is something you witness everyday. You have to ignore and stay in your frame, something like what Russel Crowe does towards the end in -Beautiful mind.
The fact-a-doodle is that you won't feel out of your country. You could go up to Indian food stalls in any chain of restaurants within the campus and speak in Tamil to get your food. Not that you don't have many options, but I tend to stick with what I know which is sambar saadham and parottas. Queuing-up is in Singaporean culture but not a very soft society as in London. You get genuine warm smiles which make your day, everyday.
Saturday, March 06, 2010
Vinnai Thaandi Varuvaaya
VTV
Another love story is all I thought before I did watch VTV. I bunked my classes to entertain my UG classmate - Jagadish and ofcourse watch the movie for myself as well. Along this review I may present my perspectives on love and how it differs between the genders which is again my perspective.
Simbu is Karthick, he could rather change his name to Karthick for a better second innings in his movie industry, I personally thought Sidharth was a better choice and someone else preferred Madhavan. Simbu has been ripped off from his theatrics. It was a major, major worry that how he would play a subtle love story, but have to say he handled it well. All was well but for the boxer part and that he is a light foot. He hardly moves around, just does a few jigs and relies on hooks. In reality one good hook will break your jaw so I can understand the fight choreography.
Simbu meets Trisha, or Karthick meets Jessi - The girl next door (literally - a floor up). Daughter of a malayali christian self-doubted but confident, bold but craves for attention. Jessi looks at Karthick as she walks over the stairs to her floor - its a very blank look nothing to decipher from, while Karthick gets center shocked and falls not flat on the floor but bamm on a gate grill.
Jaw-dropping, show-stopping, time-freezing time capsules like that happens to almost everyone. After all, we all are Homo Sapiens aren't we? Characterization, very key here. In all his prior movies proposing is straight, fast and makes you go "WHAAT!" like Kamal's proposal to Kamalini in Vettayadu Vilayaadu or Kaakha Kaakha - Jyothika (Maya).
Here, we have a hero saying the right words, but can't look straight into her love's eyes. In reality your love's eyes are so penetrating that you are either looking down or away gathering words from heart rather than mind. You feel a big idiot, after making the proposal and try to rethink what exact sense if made, nevertheless the vibe is passed on.
SCENE 2: Jessie is shaken, agitated and it also so happens that she takes those emotions to her favorite place with some cherished loneliness. The way in which she underlines her stay back @ her second home in Kerela is blissful for her - gives a hint. She is a person who seems to be searching for some space in her busy life. We are left to wonder whether the stone dropped in this clear pond raises many ripples or she is just a confused soul naturally. When Karthick finds Jessie in her most favorite and untangled state, she is just open towards her senses to do a plain talk with him. Natural question of "the proposed", "why do you like me?", Karthick gives a predictable answer of him being shaken-up like never before. Jessie is impressed but again gives a realistic answer of she doesn't want to walk the COMMITTED route. She is just worried about passing on from her zone of security and solemn to the unknown. She goes on saying quoting real life examples of what her sister went through for having loved another faith person, and how her dad got hold of her, etc.{He goes into the details of what is so special about Jessie and what defines her in the climax which blows her away but as of now, he can't explain what struck him that bad. It seems time answered all that for him.}
I am not sure but she does propose a casual relationship in the name of friendship rather than a commitment as in love in our society. All that are set to change for her in the first kiss and moment of tender with Karthick. You are tempted to say "Ponnunga vendaam naa venum nu artham!".
I heard many stories of craves "Unna enakku ippa vae paakanum, pola irukku!", if you so happen to stay near her place - rush sooner enough to at least stand at the potti kada opposite to her house. These are the things that will stand forever rather than spending an entire day walking with her. They live and die by small things, phew!. Generally and even Girls who earn, have a good career and are totally independent in our society think more about their family, their security after their marriage{material stuff}and they tend to eat their emotions, drink water and sleep soaking their bed with tears. Very strange and the many who make easy commitments are you know, won't last forever or just don't honor commitments. The perspective is that arriving at a firm decision over heart and mind, body and soul,society and family towards a partner seems to be tough, that is the struggle that the character Jessie goes through. Okies I have had enough points of provocation already, lets move on.
From here on, it is a very intricate story and is more of life struggle and balance of emotions between these two. It is definitely a good movie to watch, and it either clicks or breaks. You either appreciate it or get confused. Anyways fall in love, such a wonderful passage of emotions to go through.
Another love story is all I thought before I did watch VTV. I bunked my classes to entertain my UG classmate - Jagadish and ofcourse watch the movie for myself as well. Along this review I may present my perspectives on love and how it differs between the genders which is again my perspective.
Simbu is Karthick, he could rather change his name to Karthick for a better second innings in his movie industry, I personally thought Sidharth was a better choice and someone else preferred Madhavan. Simbu has been ripped off from his theatrics. It was a major, major worry that how he would play a subtle love story, but have to say he handled it well. All was well but for the boxer part and that he is a light foot. He hardly moves around, just does a few jigs and relies on hooks. In reality one good hook will break your jaw so I can understand the fight choreography.
Simbu meets Trisha, or Karthick meets Jessi - The girl next door (literally - a floor up). Daughter of a malayali christian self-doubted but confident, bold but craves for attention. Jessi looks at Karthick as she walks over the stairs to her floor - its a very blank look nothing to decipher from, while Karthick gets center shocked and falls not flat on the floor but bamm on a gate grill.
Jaw-dropping, show-stopping, time-freezing time capsules like that happens to almost everyone. After all, we all are Homo Sapiens aren't we? Characterization, very key here. In all his prior movies proposing is straight, fast and makes you go "WHAAT!" like Kamal's proposal to Kamalini in Vettayadu Vilayaadu or Kaakha Kaakha - Jyothika (Maya).
Here, we have a hero saying the right words, but can't look straight into her love's eyes. In reality your love's eyes are so penetrating that you are either looking down or away gathering words from heart rather than mind. You feel a big idiot, after making the proposal and try to rethink what exact sense if made, nevertheless the vibe is passed on.
SCENE 2: Jessie is shaken, agitated and it also so happens that she takes those emotions to her favorite place with some cherished loneliness. The way in which she underlines her stay back @ her second home in Kerela is blissful for her - gives a hint. She is a person who seems to be searching for some space in her busy life. We are left to wonder whether the stone dropped in this clear pond raises many ripples or she is just a confused soul naturally. When Karthick finds Jessie in her most favorite and untangled state, she is just open towards her senses to do a plain talk with him. Natural question of "the proposed", "why do you like me?", Karthick gives a predictable answer of him being shaken-up like never before. Jessie is impressed but again gives a realistic answer of she doesn't want to walk the COMMITTED route. She is just worried about passing on from her zone of security and solemn to the unknown. She goes on saying quoting real life examples of what her sister went through for having loved another faith person, and how her dad got hold of her, etc.{He goes into the details of what is so special about Jessie and what defines her in the climax which blows her away but as of now, he can't explain what struck him that bad. It seems time answered all that for him.}
I am not sure but she does propose a casual relationship in the name of friendship rather than a commitment as in love in our society. All that are set to change for her in the first kiss and moment of tender with Karthick. You are tempted to say "Ponnunga vendaam naa venum nu artham!".
I heard many stories of craves "Unna enakku ippa vae paakanum, pola irukku!", if you so happen to stay near her place - rush sooner enough to at least stand at the potti kada opposite to her house. These are the things that will stand forever rather than spending an entire day walking with her. They live and die by small things, phew!. Generally and even Girls who earn, have a good career and are totally independent in our society think more about their family, their security after their marriage{material stuff}and they tend to eat their emotions, drink water and sleep soaking their bed with tears. Very strange and the many who make easy commitments are you know, won't last forever or just don't honor commitments. The perspective is that arriving at a firm decision over heart and mind, body and soul,society and family towards a partner seems to be tough, that is the struggle that the character Jessie goes through. Okies I have had enough points of provocation already, lets move on.
From here on, it is a very intricate story and is more of life struggle and balance of emotions between these two. It is definitely a good movie to watch, and it either clicks or breaks. You either appreciate it or get confused. Anyways fall in love, such a wonderful passage of emotions to go through.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Chinese new year | Year of the tiger
Hey wassup, been a while but never far away from a blog. A special vanakkam for all the friends in BMC-Bally and a special mention to the team that we were "IS - Runagalam" LOL. First things first, heard that the IS team has been completely dislodged with almost half of the team disappearing. It all started with Selvameena, followed up Siebel Muthu, then me, then in the notice of .net Muthu, followed up by Rajkumar P and Subbiah. 6+ is a very big number for Bally in terms of attrition that too from a single team. Lots of fun, memories from that period and I guess we each will miss each other as we progress from this point on. Several fun moments like cricket, booze, team meetings, vetti discussions, weekly treats and the trips to Wayanad and Elagiri. Letting out things from these tour and events will be letting down ourselves.
Now from Singapore, welcome all to the year of the tiger. We celebrated the dawn of the new year traditionally with Yusheng. A special mention and thanks to Eugene our professor for Time and Cost management, who took a lot of effort in setting up this event. The tossed up food tasted good actually, I've had my share of problems with Chinese food earlier.
Now about Status Quo, my classes are typically 2:30 hours and also got a break between them. We call our classrooms as lecture theaters. Got people from all over the world doing their Project Management here. China, Indonesia, Vietnam, Burma, India, Sri Lanka, Greece, Switzerland, Finland, Ghana, Japan and of course Singapore and Malaysia. Its cool that I've got 5 people who could speak Tamil in my class as well. Not to forget two floating friends of mine from School of Computing who are doing a select module in my class. That's wicked.
Food, never felt far away from Home. We've got three tamil shops nearby. When I say Tamil shops I mean our typical Annaachi Kadai, with Tamil music and that unique smell which is totally Indian. You could get every spices, lot many choices with vegetables, you also get that famous food called maggie noodles and just about everything. You could also move your sorry self to a place called "Little India" which is supposedly Indian architecture and a little India within Singapore. Here you could even fund a powder mill to grind your traditional sambar podi and molagai podi. Yeah, all stuffs there but how do we go about preparing the meal, I guess we've got that covered.
Dinner is usually Chappaathis, Parottas, Rava dosais, Bread sandwiches or the excess rice, that was left over in the afternoon. We got Chappaathis and Parottas rolled and packed in frozen form, we got to heat them and eat them. Rava dosais are very similar to our own ready made maavu, just that this won't get that messy as it is with dosais. The fact that we use a hot plate and not a gas-connected stove makes a lot of difference. It's very slow and doesn't heat beyond a temperature. Yet, we manage to do regular south indian meals like kaara kozhambu, sambar, rasam,biryani, poriyal, aviyal etc. not to forget the omelettes and the Pickles which taste heavenly with all the food devoid of spice.
Now, with studies.Its going smooth. Pure concepts, management routines. Managed to roll out a few assignments and now glancing through a few materials. Need to kick up and start preparing notes, that will take me through to the exams. Did I forgot to mention that most of the exams are open book and I could carry any material written, printed or hard books on the actual day of exam. Sounds crazy, yet to test this on a real exam data, though have actually done this to a great degree of success ( unauthorized) during my UG days.
That's it for now, when people come and ask me, will you blog. I turn back and say "Can, can, Lah!" :)
Now about Status Quo, my classes are typically 2:30 hours and also got a break between them. We call our classrooms as lecture theaters. Got people from all over the world doing their Project Management here. China, Indonesia, Vietnam, Burma, India, Sri Lanka, Greece, Switzerland, Finland, Ghana, Japan and of course Singapore and Malaysia. Its cool that I've got 5 people who could speak Tamil in my class as well. Not to forget two floating friends of mine from School of Computing who are doing a select module in my class. That's wicked.
Food, never felt far away from Home. We've got three tamil shops nearby. When I say Tamil shops I mean our typical Annaachi Kadai, with Tamil music and that unique smell which is totally Indian. You could get every spices, lot many choices with vegetables, you also get that famous food called maggie noodles and just about everything. You could also move your sorry self to a place called "Little India" which is supposedly Indian architecture and a little India within Singapore. Here you could even fund a powder mill to grind your traditional sambar podi and molagai podi. Yeah, all stuffs there but how do we go about preparing the meal, I guess we've got that covered.
Dinner is usually Chappaathis, Parottas, Rava dosais, Bread sandwiches or the excess rice, that was left over in the afternoon. We got Chappaathis and Parottas rolled and packed in frozen form, we got to heat them and eat them. Rava dosais are very similar to our own ready made maavu, just that this won't get that messy as it is with dosais. The fact that we use a hot plate and not a gas-connected stove makes a lot of difference. It's very slow and doesn't heat beyond a temperature. Yet, we manage to do regular south indian meals like kaara kozhambu, sambar, rasam,biryani, poriyal, aviyal etc. not to forget the omelettes and the Pickles which taste heavenly with all the food devoid of spice.
Now, with studies.Its going smooth. Pure concepts, management routines. Managed to roll out a few assignments and now glancing through a few materials. Need to kick up and start preparing notes, that will take me through to the exams. Did I forgot to mention that most of the exams are open book and I could carry any material written, printed or hard books on the actual day of exam. Sounds crazy, yet to test this on a real exam data, though have actually done this to a great degree of success ( unauthorized) during my UG days.
That's it for now, when people come and ask me, will you blog. I turn back and say "Can, can, Lah!" :)
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Good bye Chennai
OMG
What an experience, truly life altering experience. It is completely a different world out here. I know the feeling of being lost but this is completely different. I had to attend an interview in Bangalore when I was 21, I went there in a morning train and reached bangalore around 11, and that day got wasted - the travel took a toll on me. I blew-up in an easy interview and that was the end of that. The next visit to Bangalore was in an air-con shatabdi express : life sure does change.
Now, here I was sitting in Jet airways air carrier getting on with my life. Beautiful stewardess hosting the show but can't help the butterflies in my stomach. The flight did a slow chicken dance before launching itself into air, felt more like a lift at the adventure rides in amusement parks. Felt as if Chennai was celebrating "Kaarthigai deepam" the amber street lights looked awesome from the sky. The kathipaara juction: majestic. The harbor kissed me goodbye, and the ships near anchorage winked at me while I was moving out from the east coast.Was a bit nervous throughout. "Eat light while traveling" should be something to learn from the trip, skip non-veg especially if you are traveling. I was worried all along on questionings and things that I can't control or plan, like luggage delay or something like that. All went well, I walked through a security gate, who gave me an entry card for ICA to verify. Here I got petrified since I could not find my ICA (Immigration control authority letter). I dropped my laptop in hurry and it prompted the officer to chirp - "so unprepared, silly boy". I got through that and got my luggage and found my friends(Ganesh and Babuji) waiting for me in the reception. Phew!, a big sigh of relief - now have to do a whole lot of procedures in my first day. Second advice:"Don't plan anything on the same day of travel, especially if you lose your sleep over it". I thought, well I got over this and I could manage - but no, it takes a huge toll on you mentally.
Got on a taxi, which were easy and plenty. The driver was a motor mouth. I don't know how they groom taxi drivers, my idea of Asians being shrewd and cold broke that day. He was so much fun, he had a good command over English and talked through a lot of things. Sooner than later, I was not able to wear my blazer with the sun doing its bling bling. I have to report at the university department, check-in at my allocated housing and also got to meet the folks at ICA. Well I was left with no other options but to travel on 6th, since all the flights were charging exorbitant rates and a few were full as well on 4th and 5th.
My session with Bee Mei at SDE(MS-department) was a quick process. She gave me my identity cards. I had to meet ICA staff shortly from there on. She said the location was walkable. Myself and Ganesh had a tough time walking up hill. Had a 6" sub near the student center, paid my hostel fees. Took a long queue to report with a few papers missing. The xray was supposed to be attached with a radiology report and I had to complete the formalities tomorrow which I was able to do. Singapore is a tight place with rules and I was told that the report would come after 1 week. The doctor was gracious on her side to push things faster to get it done the same day.
All these while I was totally lost in the midst of singapore, traveling. North-East-West-South all seemed out of place, the MRT is the best of its kind though. About singapore girls, food, places et al in the next blog.
What an experience, truly life altering experience. It is completely a different world out here. I know the feeling of being lost but this is completely different. I had to attend an interview in Bangalore when I was 21, I went there in a morning train and reached bangalore around 11, and that day got wasted - the travel took a toll on me. I blew-up in an easy interview and that was the end of that. The next visit to Bangalore was in an air-con shatabdi express : life sure does change.
Now, here I was sitting in Jet airways air carrier getting on with my life. Beautiful stewardess hosting the show but can't help the butterflies in my stomach. The flight did a slow chicken dance before launching itself into air, felt more like a lift at the adventure rides in amusement parks. Felt as if Chennai was celebrating "Kaarthigai deepam" the amber street lights looked awesome from the sky. The kathipaara juction: majestic. The harbor kissed me goodbye, and the ships near anchorage winked at me while I was moving out from the east coast.Was a bit nervous throughout. "Eat light while traveling" should be something to learn from the trip, skip non-veg especially if you are traveling. I was worried all along on questionings and things that I can't control or plan, like luggage delay or something like that. All went well, I walked through a security gate, who gave me an entry card for ICA to verify. Here I got petrified since I could not find my ICA (Immigration control authority letter). I dropped my laptop in hurry and it prompted the officer to chirp - "so unprepared, silly boy". I got through that and got my luggage and found my friends(Ganesh and Babuji) waiting for me in the reception. Phew!, a big sigh of relief - now have to do a whole lot of procedures in my first day. Second advice:"Don't plan anything on the same day of travel, especially if you lose your sleep over it". I thought, well I got over this and I could manage - but no, it takes a huge toll on you mentally.
Got on a taxi, which were easy and plenty. The driver was a motor mouth. I don't know how they groom taxi drivers, my idea of Asians being shrewd and cold broke that day. He was so much fun, he had a good command over English and talked through a lot of things. Sooner than later, I was not able to wear my blazer with the sun doing its bling bling. I have to report at the university department, check-in at my allocated housing and also got to meet the folks at ICA. Well I was left with no other options but to travel on 6th, since all the flights were charging exorbitant rates and a few were full as well on 4th and 5th.
My session with Bee Mei at SDE(MS-department) was a quick process. She gave me my identity cards. I had to meet ICA staff shortly from there on. She said the location was walkable. Myself and Ganesh had a tough time walking up hill. Had a 6" sub near the student center, paid my hostel fees. Took a long queue to report with a few papers missing. The xray was supposed to be attached with a radiology report and I had to complete the formalities tomorrow which I was able to do. Singapore is a tight place with rules and I was told that the report would come after 1 week. The doctor was gracious on her side to push things faster to get it done the same day.
All these while I was totally lost in the midst of singapore, traveling. North-East-West-South all seemed out of place, the MRT is the best of its kind though. About singapore girls, food, places et al in the next blog.
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Reunion | The classroom
The classroom
Not that we had just one classroom over our 8 semesters in college. But the corner room in Mother Teresa block has been special. Looking back we shifted between Anna block, Abdul Kalam(AK) block and Mother Teresa(MT) block during the course span. All these three will pull different strings from our guitar speaking metaphorically that is.
What follows is a recap that only a few could relate to:
Anna block bound all of us as one class. I knew Anandakumar, Ganesh, Jagadish and Babuji walking into that class. Babuji being from Royapuram and the rest from my class in the first year. I still remember the day I was set up as Student Representative for the class. Myself and Prasanna Prakash were put on that position. That year also saw the genesis of Super XI, introduction of L.Jegan, Lavanya and other Diploma students. TechnoTalk (News letter) brought all of us together and not to forget the infamous industrial visit to Elnet technologies. Myself, Prasanna, Murugappan and Meera Tony had fun while organising those events. Amidst all this we switched various classes in Anna block and AK block is an entirely different story. Eating snacks during Indhra Gandhi ma'am class was a classic. The first seminar that I and Aishwarya had to take for the Digital systems paper. It also had my first arrear paper in Digital systems.
3,4 and 5th semesters where a period of bliss and all these class rooms had lots to do between them. The college culturals event, the symposium each forms a distinct period of transit in that era.Running into the 6th semester Super XI was an inseparable bunch and a known gang name to reckon with in the college. Lots of games, lots of paper bits passing, lots of poems, lots of phone calls, lots of SMS and just whole lots of fun. By this time Section A - B divide came into place. Hearing that debate between students and staffs alike was so kiddish. What started as a divide and conquer strategy blew up into a serious head ache. By this time Pranam came into place and it also had our trip to Kodaikanal, Munnar as part of our college trip.
To describe each will take a blog in itself and a ride down the memory lane. On that day 19th, December I just happen for a moment relive all these memories with the actors who played their original roles. We had a couple of photo shoots and videos. We were meandering around the classroom when it was time to leave. Atlast we had to leave and next stop was SkyWalk in Aminjikarai to have our lunch. The episode reached its climax when Jagadish arrived on the scene. Jaga despite his 36 hours journery was more alive than the rest of us on that special day. A few laughs and gags and time finally had its say. We bid adieu and cut short our programs and called it a day.
Not that we had just one classroom over our 8 semesters in college. But the corner room in Mother Teresa block has been special. Looking back we shifted between Anna block, Abdul Kalam(AK) block and Mother Teresa(MT) block during the course span. All these three will pull different strings from our guitar speaking metaphorically that is.
What follows is a recap that only a few could relate to:
Anna block bound all of us as one class. I knew Anandakumar, Ganesh, Jagadish and Babuji walking into that class. Babuji being from Royapuram and the rest from my class in the first year. I still remember the day I was set up as Student Representative for the class. Myself and Prasanna Prakash were put on that position. That year also saw the genesis of Super XI, introduction of L.Jegan, Lavanya and other Diploma students. TechnoTalk (News letter) brought all of us together and not to forget the infamous industrial visit to Elnet technologies. Myself, Prasanna, Murugappan and Meera Tony had fun while organising those events. Amidst all this we switched various classes in Anna block and AK block is an entirely different story. Eating snacks during Indhra Gandhi ma'am class was a classic. The first seminar that I and Aishwarya had to take for the Digital systems paper. It also had my first arrear paper in Digital systems.
3,4 and 5th semesters where a period of bliss and all these class rooms had lots to do between them. The college culturals event, the symposium each forms a distinct period of transit in that era.Running into the 6th semester Super XI was an inseparable bunch and a known gang name to reckon with in the college. Lots of games, lots of paper bits passing, lots of poems, lots of phone calls, lots of SMS and just whole lots of fun. By this time Section A - B divide came into place. Hearing that debate between students and staffs alike was so kiddish. What started as a divide and conquer strategy blew up into a serious head ache. By this time Pranam came into place and it also had our trip to Kodaikanal, Munnar as part of our college trip.
To describe each will take a blog in itself and a ride down the memory lane. On that day 19th, December I just happen for a moment relive all these memories with the actors who played their original roles. We had a couple of photo shoots and videos. We were meandering around the classroom when it was time to leave. Atlast we had to leave and next stop was SkyWalk in Aminjikarai to have our lunch. The episode reached its climax when Jagadish arrived on the scene. Jaga despite his 36 hours journery was more alive than the rest of us on that special day. A few laughs and gags and time finally had its say. We bid adieu and cut short our programs and called it a day.
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