Eight Verses for Training the Mind

With a determination to accomplish

The highest welfare for all sentient beings
Who surpass even a wish-granting jewel

I will learn to hold them supremely dear.

Whenever I associate with others

I will learn To think of myself as the lowest among all

And respectfully hold others to be supreme

From the very depths of my heart.

In all actions I will learn to search into my mind

And as soon as an afflictive emotion arises

Endangering myself and others

Will firmly face and avert it.

I will learn to cherish beings of bad nature

And those oppressed by strong sins and suffering

As if I had found a precious

Treasure very difficult to find.

When others out of jealousy treat me badly

With abuse, slander, and so on,

I will learn to take on all loss,

And offer victory to them.

When one whom I have benefited with great hope

Unreasonably hurts me very badly,

I will learn to view that person

As an excellent spiritual guide.

In short, I will learn to offer to everyone without exception

All help and happiness directly and indirectly

And respectfully take upon myself

All harm and suffering of my mothers.

I will learn to keep all these practices

Undefiled by the stains of the eight worldly conceptions

And by understanding all phenomena as like illusions

Be released from the bondage of attachment.

(I found this poem in a book about Dalai Lama. I had got this book from a second hand book shop for Rs.30 and was just browsing through it for relaxation from the heaviness of reading '1984' by George Orwell. Check out this link to get a deeper understanding of this poem.)

Thana-Nana Thaana-Nana: Ennai Thaalata Varuvaalo

It is the 2nd year of my B.E degree and I had just started working on my GRE wordlist. It was in this wordlist that I first came upon the word 'ubiquitous'. My way of remembering these complex words is to come up with a sentence of my own using some incidents or things that I can easily relate to. And it is no surprise that I associated this word to the song "Ennai Thaalata Varuvaalo" at that time. The penetration of this song at that time was so deep at that time there was not a place where this song could not be heard. Local tea shops, town & city buses, hostels had this song blasting out at every possible occasion. The image that I get when I hear the song these days is the walk that I had to take from my 2nd year hostel to the college mess. In my college, the 2nd year hostel is located farthest from the mess and we need to travel through the 3rd year hostel and go between the 1st & 4th year hostel blocks to reach the mess. During a 2 to 3 month period, not a day passed without hearing this song during that walk from my hostel to the mess. Invariably, one of the hostel blocks had this song playing from their tape recorders.

The greatest compliment to this song is that I never seem to get bored of it. Many songs regularly find a place in my winamp 'Repeat' list but only a few songs retain their flavor even after years of repeated listening. Vijay appearing in different T-shirts and the scene of Vijay kicking a piece of twig will always remain etched in my memory along with the days of walking through the hostel blocks with my plate towards the college mess. Some memories like these are forever engraved in our minds like beautiful idols on the facade of a majestic temple.

According To Me: Greatest Book Ever

I have this list of top 100 books (fiction & non-fiction) that I got from a website. My search these days - to a small extent atleast - consist of searching for these books in libraries and old book shops. I suddenly got this question on what is the greatest book that I have read till now & what would be the best book that I would read in my lifetime?

I somehow feel that 'life' on earth and the interactions of people would be the greatest book that I will ever get to read. All the books (the literal ones) that I have read till now & will be reading in the future seems to me to be just a preparation for me to understand this beautiful book of life that God has written for all of us to read, learn and understand. I am sure that my friend who is a bigtime movie buff would have also realized that the most astounding piece of movie that he ever gets to watch would be the great play called life that the director God plays out for each of us. May be it is God's way of training each of us to understand life in our own sweet terms. My intuition says that there would come a point in my life when I should throw away all my books(hard & soft copies) and start immersing myself in this 'life' book; for that is where my greatest learning would come from.

Change is the only constant thing!

It's time for me to reinvent myself & my blog. If lack of time was one of the reasons for neglecting my blog for sometime, lack of motivation is the more serious problem that I had to address to keep the blog going. To drive these out, I am planning on writing on two new topics (New for me!!!). Apart from the fact that these topics occupy less of my time, it is the fact that they are close to my heart that makes these new things all the more interesting for me and makes me take these up.

101 thoughts/ideas flow through my mind everyday and still I am not doing a great job in capturing these random thoughts in paper/blog. Under the topic "According To Me" (ATM in short), I am planning on scribbling those thoughts for people to comment and debate. What will this 'According To Me' have? From descriptions of the idlies of Madurai to the idiosyncrasies of life, from Karl Marx to Kamasutra, from rocket science to Royal Challengers, anything that captures my mind for a fleeting second and makes me think will find its way into this space. If you are looking for some great ideas then this is not the place for you! I am looking forward to creating some heated arguments through these topics. After all, I am an "Argumentative Indian" with a love for controversies.

Music plays a very important part in my life. From listening to almost all the new releases (In Tamil, of course) to tracking down & listening to not-so-popular hit numbers of Ilayaraaja, not a day passes without having some music playing. There are some songs that capture our imaginations and transport us to a different phase our life reminding us of the times (good & bad) that we have passed. Anytime we hear those songs, they take us through a nostalgic trip to a different place & time. It could either be the carefree, fun-filled days of our childhood, the unrecoverable & immutable lovely college days or the hard working days in front of the computer at office. Each one of us have our own set of such songs & through "Thana-Nana Thaana-Nana", I plan to fine-tune my thoughts on such songs. Do not expect any technical analysis of the songs for I am below the level of a novice when it comes to identifying raagas and instruments. These articles would just be limited to how I feel on hearing these songs and the places to which they transport me to.

As usual, I expect your comments and suggestions on ways to improve my blog, my writing and ultimately my inner self.

Click click -- Random Images

Photo #1

Photo #1: I have been hearing about the 'Macro' mode in the camera and never had a chance to test it fully. Finally, I had this red visitor to our first floor. What better way to test the 'Macro' mode than to capture this visitor in my shutter box? The yellow & red color have come extremely well.

Photo #2:

Photo #2: One of the things that I learnt recently is the value of the 'Slow Shutter Speed' option in the camera. A corn seller with the small fire near the beach side produced this amazing shot with the camera in a slow shutter speed mode.

Photo #3:

Photo #3: Nothing compares to the various shops that are there in the beach. Beach is probably one of my most favorite photo hunting grounds and this photo of a 'Bajji' shop in the natural light has come out perfectly. The trick here is to switch off your flash when you want to take photos in the natural light.

The Age of Kali -- Book Review

If 'The Great Indian Novel' showed me how little I know about my country's history, 'The Age Of Kali' showed me how little I know about my country and its demographics. The cultural beauty of Madurai, the bloodthirsty Goddess Parasakthi of Kerala, the rampant culture of violence in Lucknow, the sorrow of Vrindavan, the decadence of Bihar, the foray into politics of Imran Khan, the guerilla warfare of the LTTE's are brought right infront of our eyes with a clarity that is striking as well as disturbing.

People could easily dismiss this book as yet another travelogue but what makes this book a MUST read is the intertwining of history with a beautiful & lucid narration. Dalrymple is not yet another english traveller who travels through this great country of ours narrating what he sees. He is an observer as well as a knowledge seeker. He does his homework really well & backs up his narration of incidents with some great historical perspectives. He explains away the 'almost' lazy nature of the Hyderabad people to the wealth that oozed out from the great treasures of the Nawabs who ruled their lands for a long time. He dismisses the perceived arrogance of the Pathans of the North eastern frontier to the constant attacks that they had to endure & repulse from various conquerors.

The other thing that is so striking about this book is the almost non-chalant way of his interviews with the people concerned. Be it the measured questions that he poses to the female wing leaders of the LTTE or the satirical questions to Laloo Prasad Yadav, the earnestness of his questions filter through all of them. More than the interviews with the popular personalities, it is his interviews with the common man that he meets in these various places that add a lot of value & spiciness to the essays.

I rate books not on their literary value but based on whether the particular book made me think. Opening up new thought avenues over which my mind could float around is one of the essential characteristics that I look for in a book. Being a person brought up in a calm city like Chennai, the culture of violence that is prevalent in Patna & abject decadence of Lucknow were shocking. It is not that I was not aware of these situations but the stark naked reality when portrayed in a telling way left a lasting impression. Last but not the least, one of the major changes that this book has brought about is the way in which I would be looking at places to which I would be travelling in the future. Instead of looking at these places from the perspective of a photographer, I will be looking at these places with reference & reverence to their history & background. Due to this increased perspective, I am very confident that the world around me would brighten up in a light that my human lenses have failed to capture till now .

Bottom Line: Any person who is interested in travel should read this book. And the others, I dont think you will regret the time spent reading this book.

The Great Indian Novel -- Book Review

There are a couple of things that form the core for the (in)sane living of Indians. One of them is political discussions and the other is the mythological tales of eons. They are like bread & butter to the common man and even the thought of not indulging in these almost takes away all his sense of freedom. If political discussions are outlets for his inborn need to continuously to ramble & argue, the mythological tales satisfy his needs for listening to the glory days of yesteryears. What would you get if you combine these two varied & yet essential aspects into a novel? You end up getting the "The Great Indian Novel"!!!

"The Great Indian Novel" by Shashi Tharoor combines Indian politics right from the days of 1857 with Mahabaratha - the epic of epic proportions- and produces a parody of characters that is both endearing & intense. Be it Bhisma Gangaji trying his hand at celibacy by sleeping with au naturel woman or Dhiritharshtra, the blind idealist king who sternly believes what he wants to believe, anyone with even a sniff of knowledge of the stinky Indian politics would be able to identify that Gangaji is none other than the enigmatic Gandhi & Dhiritharshtra is Nehru. There are so many analogies in this book that the best place for you to check out would be this site here.

This novel brought up something that caused me intense pain; a pain that is caused when you realize how less you know about your country and the people who have sacrificed so much for the freedom that I have been flaunting so merrily all these days. The lesser that I have known about the history of my country, I feel the lesser I am able to appreciate the things that I take for granted. Maybe I would have start spending more time digging up some of the history books that I looked at disdainfully during my school days.

The greatest thing about this novel is the way in which Tharoor maintains the momentum & the interest right from the beginning till the end of the novel. Even during the deviations from the main storyline, the author is able to sustain the interest of the reader with interesting anecdotes from our great Indian history. The jabs that he takes at the various characters are noteworthy not just for the humor but also for the profound meanings that he conveys through those witty references.

The greatest drawback that I could find in the novel is that Tharoor seems to be vacillating between his opinions of the various characters. There seems to be no consistency about the way in which a character is portrayed. The interesting thing about this observation is that the author himself seems to be aware of this as he concludes the novel by starting to narrate the story all over again. The other notable point is regarding the use of the language itself. I am no expert when it comes to the English language and I had to frequently resort to the comfort of the dictionary for deciphering some of the words that Tharoor has used in the book.

Bottom Line: This is one of those rare books that amalgamates politics with mythology and comes home with its trails blazing. A definite read for anyone interested in taking a sarcastic look at the present Indian political scene.

Vellithirai -- Movie Review

Remake movies suffer from a distinctive disadvantage; the disadvantage of a constant comparison with the original movie. It takes a great effort from the director and the cast to move away from the shadow of the original and establish a territory of its own. Having watched “Udayananu Thaaram” (The Malayalam original starring Mohanlan & Srinivasan), it became natural for me to make comparisons between that and ‘Vellithirai’ while watching the movie. Vellithirai not just creates its own territory but also fortifies its territory with some solid performances and overall team work.

I was a bit apprehensive when I learnt that Prakash Raj was doing the role of Srinivasan. Srinivasan is basically a comedy actor and I was not sure whether Prakash Raj did the right thing by casting himself in that role (Prakash Raj is one of the producers). I soon found out that my fears were baseless for Prakash Raj steals the show with some brilliant acting. It is said that Prakash Raj is a director’s actor. It is very true for he can easily go overboard with his histrionics and easily spoil the movie if the director does not exert the right amount of control over his acting. A director should have complete control and Viji (The director of this movie) seems to have found the correct mix for getting the best out of Prakash Raj.

The story is about two struggling film artists trying to make their mark in Kollywood. One of them is Kannayan (Prakash Raj), an actor aiming to be a hero and the other is Saravanan (Prithvi Raj), an assistant director aspiring to be a director. Saravanan has a story ready and a producer agrees to go ahead with the film. Before the movie could start, Kannayan steals the story from Saravanan and gets it registered in his name. The strength of the story forces a producer to accept the condition of Kannayan to cast him as the hero for the movie in exchange for him to produce the movie. Kannayan becomes a superstar and renames himself as Dileepkanth. What happens to Saravanan and whether he is able to attain his rightful position forms the rest of the plot. Gopika plays the role of the lady interest of Prithvi Raj.

If Prakash Raj’s acting is the highlight of the movie, the support extended by Prithvi Raj & Gopika is equally commendable. They seem to have understood their role perfectly and go on to nail it to perfection. The fact that the director has the guts to make fun of the stardom enjoyed by some of the actors in the film industry is to be appreciated. Viji plays it safe and seems to have drawn an invisible line regarding where the satire of the film industry can stop.

The music & songs of the movie play a very prominent role in making this movie a thoroughly enjoyable watch. The director had the convenience of introducing the songs as though they are part for the movies that the characters are working on and this provides her with the advantage of not having songs that appear to have been forced on the viewer.

One of the few grouches that I have with the movie is the way the movie ended. The original movie climax appeared to be more logical and ‘Vellithirai’ seem to have faltered a bit in the way the climax is played out. It appears to have been rushed up a bit. May be Prakash Raj wanted to maintain his ‘Image’as a superstar!!!

Last Cut: A movie that can be watched for its simplicity.

Rating: 8/10

George Orwell -- A tribute

I am surprised that I am writing an article about an author and his works. Such is the impression that George Orwell's works have left on me that I feel it is my responsibility to tell the few bloggers who frequent my blog to be aware of this great writer and read his works when that opportunity presents itself. The first work of George Orwell that I read is ‘Animal Farm’, an entertaining and thought provoking novella. This book dealt with communism with allegorical references to Stalin and other Russian leaders of that period. What was so impressive about this novella is the fact that most of the concepts that are mentioned are immortal and will be relevant as long as humans survive in this universe. The work that propelled Orwell to great stardom is the novel ‘1984’. I am raring to have a go at this novel and would surely be doing that in the next 3 months.

If ‘Animal Farm’ gave me a leeway to start liking Orwell’s works, what clinched the deal would be the collection of essays called “Shooting an Elephant & Other Essays” that I picked up from the library. If the language flows freely like Tendulkar’s cover drives, the impact that it creates is similar to a tennis ball meeting Dhoni’s heavy bat. The profound nature of his writing is something that can never be described in words but can only be felt while reading. Happy Reading!!!

P.S: Check out his website here. Almost all of his work can be read from this site.

Anjaathe -- Movie Review

Is being different from the rest of the fare a criteria for a movie to be considered a brilliant movie? Should a movie be rated on its merit or should it be appreciated for trying something new (albeit failing in the attempt)? I sincerely believe that being ‘different’ is not enough for something to be considered as a ‘class’ movie. Appreciation is a totally different ballgame altogether for I am of the opinion that the good points have to be acknowledged so that someone can improve on those aspects in the next time around. Why am I talking about all this when I am supposed to be writing the review for the ‘Anjaathe’ movie? The simple reason is that this movie entirely fits the description above. This movie is nothing more than a pretender. Pretentious and full of false promises that never get realized at the end of the show!

There are some really cool scenes (The interview scene for Naren & his friend) and exemplary camera works (Showing just the legs of the main players during the scene where Kirupa brings home the villains) along the way that make you sit up and take notice. Sadly, these are few and far apart. The momentum that the story generates is lost in the tardy screenplay and the director seems confused about the genre of his movie. It starts off as though it is a tragic-comedy movie, moves to the action movie genre, then finally ends up being a psycho thriller. Each of these segments is adequate in its own way but when combined into a 3 hours & 15 minutes movie (No typo there. It is indeed 3 hours), it loses its sheen due to the director’s inability to stick to a particular theme.

Then there is the stolen background score towards the fag end of the movie. The theme music of ‘Signs’ is shamelessly lifted during the fight sequence between Naren & Prasanna. This lift of a popular theme stands like a sour thumb for Sundar C.Babu (The music director) who has otherwise done a decent job in the re-recording and the 3+1(Title bit song) songs. The clipped dialogues reminded me of Manirathnam’s ‘Agni Natchathiram’!!!!

There was nothing much to talk about in terms of the acting talents of the lead actors in this movie. I liked the role of Pandiarajan with his squint eyes rolling here & there, the unmistakable sign of working on something fishy. Prasanna was looking out of sorts in his role as villain. At best, his hairstyle would have made a poodle envious.

Last Cut: There are some movies that fail to make impressions of any sort in your mind. There is nothing terribly wrong with them for you to hate them completely. On the flip side, there is nothing really good that makes you remember it. ‘Anjaathe’ perfectly fits that bill. A pretender that could have been a lot better if the director had spent enough time on his screenplay.

Rating: 6/10

Lord of the Flies -- Book Review

The only reason that I could attribute for picking this book are: I saw the name of this book in the 'Top 100' most read books list and that I got a copy of this book for a price of Rs.60!!! A cursory glance at the plot summary was enough to pique my interest and here I am, writing the review having completed the book in a week's time (which is fast enough considering the work load at office these days)

The novel starts in a remote island where a group of school boys (12 year olds & some 6-7 year olds) are left stranded after the crash of the plane in which they were traveling. With no adult survivors, they are left with no adults to supervise and regulate them. They feel elated and start enjoying their freedom. Like any society with abundant freedom and power but no rules/laws, confusion soon ensues leaving the boys in a world of chaos. When a mysterious beast starts making its appearance, the lethal combination of fear & lawlessness evokes complete disintegration of the moral fabric of those young minds. Whether the boys realize their folly and return to their homes forms the rest of the plot.

The author, William Golding, asserts through this novel that violence is inbuilt in the nature of human beings and age is no factor on when this monster would get unleashed. Like the waves that wash ashore the dirt that we throw into the sea, Golding brings the extremely poisonous dirt called violence from the innermost corners of our maze-like heart. The clinical precision and methodical writing creates an uneasy feeling in our minds that refuses to go away easily. If the description of the forest, the lagoon and the sea are natural & free-flowing, the description of the violence and the moral disintegration is depraving and disturbing. I would attribute the deep impact that this novel creates to the fact that the protagonists are children of age 12 and below. A set of adults performing these heinous crimes would not have created such a ripple among the readers. Choosing children to highlight the darkness that lies within each other is a class act by the author.

This novel is a truly amazing psychological journey into regions hitherto unexplored revealing the true colors of human nature. It goes on to show that every human has grey areas that could get transformed into unimaginable blackness/darkness at any point of time.

Bottom Line: A classic & a MUST READ.

(The UBSPD edition of this novel has chapter-wise summaries & comments at the end of the novel. The comments section elaborates on the hidden meaning of some of the references in the story. The ‘List of Characters’ at the beginning of the novel needs to be avoided as it contains spoilers which can reduce the impact of some of the incidents in the novel)

Idleness as an 'ideal'ness

"Idling always has been my strong point. I take no credit to myself in the matter—-it is a gift. Few possess it. There are plenty of lazy people and plenty of slow-coaches, but a genuine idler is a rarity. He is not a man who slouches about with his hands in his pockets. On the contrary, his most startling characteristic is that he is always intensely busy. It is impossible to enjoy idling thoroughly unless one has plenty of work to do. There is no fun in doing nothing when you have nothing to do. Wasting time is merely an occupation then, and a most exhausting one. Idleness, like kisses, to be sweet must be stolen."

The following lines are taken verbatim from the book "The idle thoughts of an idle fellow" by Jerome.K.Jerome. Is there a need to mention that I perfectly fit into the above description?

Acacia & Ants -- A complex story

I am a great admirer of the biological world and nothing fascinates me more than the interaction between the various elements that make up the biological world. I came across this news sometime back but never got the time to blog on this. It is almost unbelievable to think about the complexities of nature. To consider that some plants start dying soon when they are kept in a protected environment is indeed amazing. The nature of nature is so unpredictable that this mysterious nature seems to be the prime reason to be so much attracted towards it.

On a related philosophical note, are humans also similar to this? Will they become ineffective & wither away if the challenges that are posed to them are removed? Are problems and complexities that we face in our life someway related to our sustained growth?

The Present -- Book Review

இன்று -1
நேற்று நினைவு,
நாளை கனவு,
இன்று நிஜம்.
நிஜங்கள் ரசிப்போம்.

இன்று -2
நேற்று நெருடாமல்,
நாளை நெருக்காமல்.
இன்றை இன்றே வாழ்ந்துவிடு.

The Present

Today morning I was shaving infront of the mirror. My thoughts, instead of concentrating on what I was doing at that moment, were still with something that happened in the office on Friday and I ended up cutting myself with the blade.

Moral of the story: When we don't bury our pasts and start concentrating on our 'Present', we have every chance of hurting ourselves.

The two tamil verses (Incidentally these were NOT written after reading the book) and what happened to me in the morning pretty much summarizes what this book is all about. It highlights the importance of learning from the past, planning for the future but ALWAYS living in the 'Present' by using a simple parable.

Bottom Line: A small book that is worth a read.

யார் யார் சிவம்......

உயிர்களெல்லாம் தெய்வமன்றிப் பிறவொன் றில்லை;

ஊர்வனவும் பறப்பனவும் நேரே தெய்வம்;

பயிலுமுயிர் வகைமட்டு மன்றி யிங்குப்

பார்க்கின்ற பொருளெல்லாம் தெய்வம் கண்டீர்;

வெயிலளிக்கும் இரவி, மதி, விண்மீன், மேகம்

மேலுமிங்குப் பலபலவாம் தோற்றம் கொண்டே

இயலுகின்ற ஜடப்பொருள்கள் அனைத்தும் தெய்வம்;

எழுதுகோல் தெய்வமிந்த எழுத்தும் தெய்வம்!

(பாரதியார் கவிதை)

A Comedy of Errors -- Book Review

Author: Prasanna Kumar
Year of Publication: 2007

This book has been there with me for quite sometime & the day to read it came only yesterday. I have been reading Tamil books continuously and so wanted to read something different to freshen up my thoughts. This book was small & it deals with something that has always been one of my greatest pet peeves (Or secret interests?): Management!!!

The book has all the ingredients for a great read. Like ’Just out of microwave' popcorn, this has all the spiciness/crispiness to sustain interest throughout. Laced with this is the fact that the story is set as a narration between a couple of characters. Sam (Short for Saminathan) is the hero of this book and he works for a company called Y2K technologies. He is going through a professional mid-life crisis being stuck in Y2K technologies for the last 5 years. He is not sure on whether he is a valued resource in his company or yet another programmer who goes through the bugger (Used instead of the word 'Grind' to differentiate the work of a programmer from the other menial tasks!) He is assigned to travel to US for a new project and he is assigned to work under a new manager called Bob.

The witty (And thought provoking) conversations between Sam & Bob form the crux of this book. Bob is a person who has seen it all in the world of marketing & management and fills the role of a mentor for Sam with pleasure. His profound and yet down to earth practical solutions brings out the manager in Sam. Whether the hidden manager in Sam is capable of landing the big project forms the rest of the plot.

The greatest plus for this book is that it covers almost all the important concepts like presentation skills, employee retention, motivating people and all other relevant stuff. Ironically, this also is this book's greatest minus. The author Prasanna Kumar tries to squeeze in everything in this small book (127 pages) and in successfully doing so, he fails to deal in-depth into any of the essential topics.

Bottom Line: All said & done, this is a book that is worth reading as a quick refresher for your management principles. At just Rs.95, it can easily fit into your budget as well. Read it when you want to do some light and humorous read.

En Peyar Raamaseshan -- Book Review

ஒற்றை வார்த்தையில், லோக்கல் பாஷையில் இந்த புத்தகத்தைப் பற்றி சொல்ல வேண்டுமென்றால், அந்த ஒரு வார்த்தை: நெத்தியடி. முதல் பக்கத்திலேயே சிக்ஸர் அடித்து கவனத்தை கவரும் எழுத்தாளர் ஆதவன், Virendar Sehwag போல 40 ரன்னில் அவுட்டாகாமல், ஆவேசமின்றி ஆசுவாசமாய் 200 அடிக்கிறார். ஒவ்வொரு பக்கத்திலும் "சபாஷ்!" சொல்ல வைக்கும் வகையில் உள்ளது இந்த நாவல் என்று கூறினால் அது மிகையாகாது.

மனிதர்களும், அவர்களின் பல வேஷங்களும் முகமூடிகளும் தான் இந்த கதையின் கரு. மனிதர்களின் பல திரைகளை கிழித்தெறிந்து, அவர்களை நிர்மூலமாக்கி, நிர்வாணமாக்கி, மேடையில் ஏற்றி நமது hypocrisy மீது spotlight அடித்து காண்பிக்கிறார் ஆதவன். 1980ஆம் ஆண்டு எழுதப்பட்டிருந்தாலும், இன்றைக்கும் புதிதாய், நடைமுறை நிகழ்வுகளுக்கு பிரதிபலிப்பாய் உள்ளது தான் இந்த நாவலின் சிறப்பாம்சம்.

ராமசேஷன் என்னும் கதாபாத்திரம் சொல்லும் தன் சுயசரிதை என்று மேலோட்டமாக சொன்னாலும், இது சுயசரிதை என்பதை விட ஒரு சுயவிசாரணை என்பதே சரியாக பொருந்தும். ராமசேஷன் தன் இன்ஜினியரிங் படிப்பை தொடங்கும் காலத்தில் தொடங்கும் கதை, அவன் படிப்பை முடிக்கும் போது நிறைவடைகிறது. தான் சமூகம் ஆட்டிவைக்கும் பொம்மலாட்ட பொம்மையாகி விடக்கூடாது என்னும் ஓட்டத்தில் கலந்து கொண்டு, அவ்வோடத்தினாலேயே அந்த சமூகத்தின் கைப்பாவையாகிறான். In trying hard not to be a product of the society, unknowingly, he becomes a product of the society.

7 (அல்லது) 8 முக்கிய கதாபாத்திரங்கள் மட்டுமே கொண்டு 200 பக்க நாவலை மிக அழகாக நிரப்பியுள்ளார் ஆதவன் அவர்கள். ஒவ்வொரு கதாபாத்திரமும் நம் ஒவ்வொருவரின் ஒரு வேஷம் போல் symbolically அமைத்துள்ளார். புகழ் விரும்பும் ஒருவர், புகழினால் கர்வம் கொள்ளாத ஒருவர், புகழ் அடைந்த மற்றவர் மேல் தன் காழ்புணர்ச்சியை எறியும் ஒருவர், மரபுகளை எதிர்க்க தைரியம் இல்லாத ஒருவர் என சராசரி மனிதர்களின் பல பிம்பங்களை கட்ட அவிழ்த்து விடுகிறார். கதாபாத்திரங்கள் அரைகுறையாக இல்லாமல், நன்கு செதுக்கப்பட்ட சிலை போல் இருப்பது கதைக்கு மேலும் மெருகூட்டுகின்றது.

Bottom Line: நான் இதுவரை படித்த மிக சிறந்த புத்தகங்களில் இதுவும் ஒன்று. நிச்சயமாக தமிழ் தெரிந்த அனைவரும் படித்து மகிழ வேண்டிய புத்தகம்.

மனதில் நின்றது: நாம் நம்ப விரும்புவதைத்தான் நம்புகிறோமே தவிர, நம்ப வேண்டியதை அல்ல.

(தமிழில் நான் பதிக்கும் மின்குறிப்புகள் சுத்த தமிழில் தான் இருக்க வேண்டும் என்கிற வரைமுறை நானாக போட்டுக் கொண்ட விலங்கு என்பதை எனக்கு உணர வைத்த ஆதவன் அவர்களுக்கு என் "Thanks")

Bheema -- Movie Review

Fight. Violence. Guns. Bullets. Violence. Guns. Bullets. Violence. Guns. Fight. Violence. Guns. Bullets. Violence. Guns. Bullets. Violence. Guns. Bullets. Violence. Guns. Fight. Bullets. Violence. Guns. Bullets. Violence. Guns. Fight. Violence. Guns. Bullets. Violence. Guns. Story. Bullets. Violence. Violence. Guns. Bullets. Violence. Guns. Bullets. Violence. Guns. Fight. Violence. Guns. Bullets. Violence. Guns. Bullets. Violence. Guns. Bullets. Violence. Guns. Fight. Bullets. Violence. Guns. Bullets. Violence. Guns.

If you found the 'Story' in the above paragraph, there is every chance that you would end up finding a story in this movie as well. And if you had never understood the meaning of the term "Colossal waste of resources", I would recommend you to watch this movie. Top notch performers like Vikram, Prakash Raj, Raghuvaran, the great cameraman R.D.Rajasekar and the lilting tunes of Harris Jeyaraj are grossly mishandled & what we get is a product that can be directly dumped into river Cooum.

Is this director Lingusamy the same one who gave us such racy flicks like 'Run' & 'Sandai Kozhi'? Is he the director who gave us the family entertainer 'Aanandam'? So much is the gulf between these movies and Bheema that I am planning on writing to Ripley's 'Believe it or not' to add these as facts so that the common man believes they are by the same director.

Vikram tries real hard to carry this movie on his shoulders but, like the 'N' number of people who fall prey to his bullets, he also falls pathetically short. Vikram looks aged and maybe its time for him to consider roles that suits his age instead of prancing around with young heroines. Trisha looks perfectly like a doll. Beautiful & lifeless. Acting and Trisha are like south pole & north pole; miles apart and no chance whatsoever for an overlap.

The editing, camera and background music are top notch. It seems Harris Jeyaraj spent close to 48 days for the re-recording and the effort shows in each & every frame. Except for minor aberrations here & there, he scores BIG time in this movie. The song "Mudhal Mazhai" is pleasing aurally & visually. All said & done, this is a movie that really tested my patience. My friend summed up the movie perfectly when he turned to me just before the intermission and asked me with a serious face the question, "When will the movie begin?". Enough said.

Last Cut: Avoid it at all costs.

Rating: 3.5/10

The Year That Was.............

I am not a person who usually waits for a new year to dawn to make resolutions or to take corrective action (Or for that matter making those resolutions public for everyone to see & verify). It just so happens that this time I am planning on doing an analysis of how the year has turned out and what I want to make the year 2008 to be.

2007 was:

1) A normal year as far as professional life was concerned. The expected growth in terms of a position did not come & that left me annoyed a wee bit. (Alright. Annoyed me a wee bit more than a wee bit)

2) The personal front had its own share of ups & downs. Considering the fact that years 2005 & 2006 have been turbulent, I would actually consider this as a pretty decent year.

3) Blogging started of on a promising note but trailed off towards the end. Blogging took a big time hit in the last 4 months. One of the reasons that I could think of is the increased responsibilities at office & being lazy to the extent of not applying for an Internet connection at our new house. (The graph is an indication of how much I have 'grown' to being an useless manager of things!!!)

A stupid graph indicating my laziness and managerial potential!!!

2008 needs to be:

1) A year where I get the much expected change in my designation. (Which I feel I deserve!!!!)

2) A year where I blog much more regularly. Even though setting a specific target for a creative work like blogging doesn't bode well, I would like to post close to 80+ items in the coming year on variety of topics.

3) A year where I join in some course to improve my amateur photography skills.

4) Last but not the least, a year where I need to be happy always & to keep myself and others smiling.

Have a Great Year 2008!!!!

Iacocca: An Autobiography -- Book Review

Expectations are bad for mental & physical well-being. I am not even talking about misplaced expectations with other people. I am talking purely in terms of reading books & watching movies with expectations. The book "Iacocca -- Autobiography" had so much hype surrounding it that I was forced to believe that it would be highly inspirational. For the uninformed, Iacocca is the chief architect responsible for the revival of the Chrysler company. When a person who has brought a company from the jaws of bankruptcy writes an autobiography, I believe it is natural to expect some highly motivating stuff and an interesting narration of how things worked out. I was totally wrong on this count.

The story starts at an intermediate point in his career when he was fired from the post of the president of the Ford Motor Company and how humiliated he felt at that time. This start definitely promised a lot for it made me look forward for the reason of Iacocca being fired from his post and also raised my expectations on how stoked up he would be to seek sweet revenge by taking the mantle at Chrysler.

The story (The first part) then traces back his childhood days with his father coming & settling in US as an immigrant from Italy. The lead up from here to Iacocca getting hired at Ford is pretty fluid and retains my undivided attention. His honest admission (after completing a Master’s degree in Engineering) that he was not cut out for engineering and his switching to sales talks a great deal about the kind of person Iacocca is. His initial years at Ford are explained in great detail to the extent of explaining the kind of training that is given at Ford. The conception of the Ford Mustang and the associated marketing frenzy that his team created for selling the car is a lesson on successful management of ideas and forceful action. What follows after this is a dull & one-sided narration of the events that led to his fight with Henry Ford Jr. The reasons & justifications that Iacocca provide for him to stick with Ford even after learning at close quarters the type of person that Henry Ford Jr. is unconvincing and stinks of a selfish attitude. His bad-mouthing of Henry Ford Jr. is the worst part of this autobiography and it greatly brought down the respect I had for Iacocca. Even though Iacocca tries to convince us that he has forgotten about the humiliation of being fired from Ford, it is highly apparent that it is not the case.

The second part of the autobiography where he describes about taking up the challenge of reviving Chrysler is where the book goes horribly wrong. Loaded with legal jargons and details that fail to make sense for most part, it appears at best to be an effort to fill a particular agreed amount of pages for the book. This is the part of the story that should have taken the reader on a magical ride & sadly all that it does is to take us through a tragical ride with no timeline details that left me wondering about how long it actually took Iacocca to get Chrysler out of its losses. The last two chapters (About the need for seatbelt & yanking up the competition to the Japanese) seemed a total waste of time for it is readily apparent at this point that Iacocca has run out of things to write and that he is writing all this to fill up the space.

Bottom Line: Read it only if you are a BIG fan of Iacocca. You will be better of reading some of the other self-help and management books if you are looking for motivators.