Kireedom -- Movie Review

Ajith has never been my favorite actor and I was very apprehensive about watching his movie in a theatre. The last movie that I saw of Ajith in theatre was "Kandukondain Kandukondain" and that was way back in 2000. For lack of anything worthwhile to do, I have ended up watching movies like 'Red', 'Citizen', 'Anjaneya' & 'Paramasivan' in the
computer and these movies did deliver great comedy & tragedy movies rolled into one. I knew that I was taking a huge risk when I decided to watch 'Kireedom' along with my friend.

The movie gets rolling with 6 prisoners escaping from the central jail and they end up running (With their prison uniforms intact) into the marketplace in broad daylight with rain also providing perfect foil. Someone kicks one of the prisoners in the chest and the prisoner flies in the air to land 50 ft away. The camera pans towards the person who kicked the prisoner and it is none other than our very own 'Thalai' Ajith. Add to this some extraordinary stunts and stylish poses (Ajith and the other prisoners pause to allow our hero to tie his bootlace in the most stylish fashion possible) and I squirm in my seat. This sequence ends with Ajith catching all the 6 prisoners using a long 35 feet iron chain and the entire police force saluting him. One of the police who is seen saluting him is Raj Kiran. I start to cringe as my worst nightmare seem to be materializing in a wide screen infront of me. Then, the scene pans out to show Rajarajan (Raj Kiran) getting up from his bench in the police station (Rajarajan is a head constable) and we understand that it is his dream to see his son Saktivel (Ajith) as a police inspector. On retrospection I feel that the director Vijay has come up with a perfect scene. It would have satisfied the hard-core Ajith fans with a grand hero entry without compromising on the importance of the scene to the overall movie as it showcased perfectly the dream a father has for his son.

And thankfully, this scene marked the end of 'Ohh My God, how can they be so stupid?' kind of scenes. It is not just Raj Kiran who sits up after the dream but the story as well does at this point. The story is about the dream of a father to see his son become a inspector and how fate scripts a different route for the family forms the rest of the story. The movie, a remake of a malayalam movie of the same name, reeks with realistic scenes and performances. There are no exaggerated melodramatic emotional scenes and even the songs (barring the 'Thalai' song) are beautifully placed in the scheme of things.

We all believe that we have complete control of our lives and that external unforeseen events are just minor irritants that force us to deviate from our chosen path a wee bit. Is that a fact or fiction? This movie questions the above belief as the hero is forced into a situation that is totally out of his control & he is forced to be just a player who plays out the role dished out to him without having any control over the flow of things. Ajith plays the role to 'almost' perfection, the minor complaint being his monotonous voice proving to be his undoing in highly charged scenes.

Raj Kiran comes up with the best performance of the movie. He seems to have been created for these kind of roles & he dishes out an admirable performance. The maturity, the anger, the dreams, the understanding, the sorrow of a father comes as naturally as mosquitoes flocking an house in West Mambalam. I could even go on to endorse the view my brother has about him that one can expect Raj Kiran to attain the position of 'Sivaji' Ganesan in these kind of roles. And to even compare someone with 'Sivaji' is no mean achievement. Well done, Raj Kiran!

The rest of the cast play out their roles as expected and the team work pays a lot of dividends. The technical team has done a commendable job. The camera, the editing, the screenplay and direction are upto the mark and make the movie a complete one. Special mention needs to be made for the songs tuned by G.V.Prakash Kumar. Three of the songs will remain in the minds of the viewer for sometime atleast.

Final Cut: A movie that can be watched and enjoyed for the sheer honesty and lack of melodramatic elements.

Rating: 7/10

Eating My Words!!!

It is one of the most unpleasant things that can happen to you: to be forced to eat your words! Tendulkar has just proven me and my predictions wrong. He has performed extraordinarily well in England and is making me look real bad. I have no qualms in accepting that I have been proved wrong by the greatness of Tendulkar. The fact that Tendulkar is batting so well is good news for India and the Indian fans. India were able to escape from the jaws of defeat at Lords and now they have won the test at Nottingham. With the animosity in the ground increasing between the teams, the third and final test at Oval is poised for a great finish. Add to the fact that a draw would mean that this would be the first defeat of England at home after their defeat at the hands of Aussies in 2001.

Paruthi Veeran -- Revisited

A couple of months back, I was discussing with my friend (A movie freak) about the present state of tamil movies. The discussion veered to the movie "Paruthi Veeran" and I expressed my pleasure about such unique attempts. I had described the movie as a decent attempt for 'Tamil' standards and my friend (He has not watched this movie) did not sound happy about the fact that the movie is just meeting the 'Tamil' standards and not the 'International' standards. The news that this movie has won two awards in the Osian's cinefan festival is very heartening. The movie won awards in the best film and best actress (Priya Mani) category. I do not know how much 'Global' this film festival is or what kind of movies were screened in this festival.

The thing that needs to be noted is that this movie has silently made its way into this festival without much fanfare. The sad thing about the whole thing is that there seems to be very less news coverage about this in the state. I only can hope that this blog does its small bit about spreading the news.

Travelogue - Kancheepuram

“I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. I travel for travel's sake. The great affair is to move.” -- R.L.Stevenson

There is something unique about traveling and visiting new places. It is a pulsating as well as a serene experience rolled into one. The objective of travel is not about finding a new place. Rather, it is about finding a new 'You'. The objective of travel is not about exploring pathless paths of a land. Rather, it is about exploring unknown regions of your subconscious mind and heart. The land, the people and the culture of a new place lends beautifully to a learning that no modern university can attest of teaching.

I have always been fascinated by towering temples and their architectural brilliance and when one of my friend agreed on traveling with me to Kancheepuram, I was eagerly looking forward to the journey. Having heard about the fact that there are close to 108 temples (small & big) in and around Kancheepuram, it was always bound to be a great experience. With two other friends joining us, it was very clear that there would be no dearth for fun. One of the things that we failed to do before we embarked on the trip is to find out the temples that we ought to visit during our short one day trip. This turned out to be a blessing in disguise as we had a free rein and hence gave us the liberty to choose places on the fly.

Let me be honest about one thing here. I am surely not an atheist but this trip was more about seeing and appreciating the sculptures & the architectural beauty of the temple and less about God itself. A lack of mention about the beauty of the God in those temples can be expected in this article.

The first temple that we visited on reaching Kancheepuram is the ‘Kamakshi Amman Temple’. This is one of the most famous temples here and is dedicated to God Parvathi. We had to stand in a long queue to see the deity but the best thing about this queue is that there is no ‘Special Entrance’ or ‘Darshan Ticket’ through which someone can bypass the line.This queue personified to me the fact that all are the same before God. As we reached the temple only at around 11 and the temples will be open only till 12:30 PM, we had to rush the visit of this temple a bit.

The next temple that we went is the ‘Ekambareswarar Temple’, a temple constructed for Lord Shiva. Photography is allowed inside the temple (We cannot take photos inside the sanctum sanctorum though). It is a very big temple with lots of deities and a very big praharam. I have heard that one of the purposes that temples served during the ancient days is a place to take a long walk (As an exercise). This is clearly evident in this temple as it has a very big praharam. Completing three rounds of this would easily account for 2 to 2.5 kms of walking. I couldn’t restrain myself from imagining about the various other purposes that the king who constructed these temples would have thought about.

There is also a beautiful Siva Lingam that has 1008 small Siva Lingams carved into it. I was so tempted to take a photo of this Lingam but somehow I had this nagging feeling of performing sacrilege and destroying the sanctity of the deity and hence restrained myself from taking a snap there. Apart from this big Siva Lingam, there are lots of small Siva Lingams around the praharam and with various names. I would really like to know how each of these Lingams gets a different name. I did take a photo of one Siva Lingam and it has been uploaded here.

The third temple we visited is the “Varadharaja Perumal Temple’. Unfortunately, by the time we entered the temple premises it was closed and we had to content ourselves by looking at the temple and the 100 pillar hall that is present there. The 100 pillar hall with its exquisite and delicately carved sculptures is a feast for the eye. Each sculpture in the pillars of the hall is a thing of beauty and the sheer effort and perfectionist work that has gone into each one is mind-blowing. Once again, my camera became very active and two of the photos from this temple can be found here.

One is the photo from the 100 pillar hall and the other is the view of the temple tower itself. The sunlight permeating inside from the temple and the entrance blocking the sunlight to give a feeling of a photo frame is something that I loved about the temple tower photo.

As all the temples in Kancheepuram closes by 12:30 PM, we were left with nothing else to do but to visit the “Kailasanathar Temple”. This has been declared as an Indian heritage site and hence we were allowed to look at all the great sculptures that are present in the temple. This temple is around 1350 years old and I would consider this temple as one of the best temple I have visited till now. I could easily write essays about each one of the sculptures that is present in this temple.

The only unfortunate thing about the visit to this temple is that we did not have the patience to wait till 4 PM for seeing the main deity of Lord Shiva. Nevertheless, I could see God oozing out through the work of the master craftsmen who would have worked on each and every piece of carved sculpture that is present in this temple. The sheer amount of effort that would have gone into making this temple left me awestruck. The paintings that used vegetable oil colors are also something that should not be missed.

Entering this temple is in itself a surreal experience as it transported me to a different era when kings ruled the world and the minds of the people remain unpolluted like the environment. We spent nearly 2 hours in this temple and at one point the security person who is posted there came to me to comment about the number of photos I had clicked away till that point!!! I would really love to visit this temple once again with a DSLR camera so that I could take even more close-up shots of idols and sculptures. Even though it is not fair on my part, I have given just two photos for this temple.

The fifth temple we visited is the “Ulagalantha Perumal Temple”. Ulagalantha means to measure the earth. The folklore is that king Bali, the grandson of Prahlada, conquered the whole universe and even defeated Indra, the king of Devas. On the request of Devas, Lord Vishnu took the form of a small boy and asked Bali for three foot space. When Bali accepted this request, God placed one of his feet and covered the entire earth. With the second foot, he covered the heaven. When God asked where he can get his third foot of land, Bali asked God to place his feet in his head. The idol of Vishnu here in this temple is close to 15 feet in height with his right foot on the head of Bali and his raised left foot on heaven. The sheer size and beautiful stone carved jewelry that adorns Lord Vishnu is something that can be appreciated only when seen directly. Unfortunately, cameras are not allowed in this temple and I was left to take just the temple tower from outside.

The last temple that we visited is the “Chitragupta Swamy Temple”. According to Hindu mythology, ChitraGuptan is the accountant of Lord Yama, the God of death. For all practical appearances, this temple looked like a modern one and even had mosaic floors. The unique thing about this temple is that the board outside the temple said that it is the only temple for ChitraGupta in the whole of south India.

“We must go beyond textbooks, go out into the bypaths and untrodden depths of the wilderness and travel and explore and tell the world the glories of our journey.” -- John Hope Franklin

Namakal -- Photos

I had been to Namakal to give a technical seminar for 2 colleges on "Embedded Systems". If giving a technical seminar to the final year students was a great experience, the another great thing that happened in Namakal is to be allowed to take photos of the God Anjaneyar from a close range. One of the temple priest permitted me to take snaps of the God (My colleague knew a lot of people in the temple and so they let me shoot photos!!!)

The above photo directly went to a photo studio for a lamination (12 x 8). One of my friends was very impressed with the photos and he has got a wallpaper size (20 x 16) photo of the same now!!! The photo that I have given below also has come really well. The only thing that I did with this photo is to play with it in Picassa to enhance the colors and to crop some unwanted details. Thought would share it here so that other interested people can also take print outs of the same.

Athma Jeyam (Inner Victory)

(Poem of Bharathiar on ஆத்ம ஜெயம் (Inner Victory) )

கண்ணில் தெரியும் பொருளினைக் கைகள்
கவர்ந்திட மாட்டாவோ? - அட
மண்ணில் தெரியுது வானம், அதுநம்
வசப்பட லாகாதோ?
எண்ணி யெண்ணிப்பல நாளு முயன்றிங்
கிறுதியிற் சோர்வோமோ? - அட
விண்ணிலும் மண்ணிலும் கண்ணிலும் எண்ணிலும்
மேவு பராசக்தியே!

என்ன வரங்கள், பெருமைகள், வெற்றிகள்,
எத்தனை மேன்மைகளோ!
தன்னை வென்றாலவை யாவும் பெறுவது
சத்திய மாகுமென்றே
முன்னை முனிவர் உரைத்த மறைப் பொருள்
முற்றுமுணர்ந்த பின்னும்
தன்னை வென்றாளும் திறமை பெறாதிங்கு
தாழ்வுற்று நிற்போமோ?

With Great Power.......

"With great power comes great responsibility" -- Anyone who has seen the Spiderman - 1 would be able to instantly recognize these wordings. This is also a statement that I have frequently discussed with my friend during our days in Hyderabad. Why did I think of writing about this statement all of a sudden? A couple of paragraphs from the book "The Jurrasic Park" has made me look at this statement in a totally different light. I have reproduced the two paragraphs from the book as such so that I don't dilute the meaning and the impact.

"Most kinds of power require a substantial sacrifice by whoever wants the power. There is an apprenticeship, a discipline lasting many years. Whatever kind of power you want. President of the company. Black belt in Karate. Spiritual Guru. Whatever it is you seek, you have to put in the time, the practice, the effort. You must give up a lot to get it. It has to be very important to you. And once you have attained it, it is your power. It can't be given away: it resides in you. It is literally the result of your discipline.

Now, what is interesting about this process is that, by the time someone has acquired the ability to kill with his bare hands, he has also matured to the point where he won't use it unwisely. So that kind of power has a built-in control. The discipline of getting the power changes you so that you won't abuse it."

Eleven Minutes -- Book Review

I am a big fan of the book "The Alchemist" by Paulo Coelho. I have also read "The Zahir" and it is also a great piece of work by Coelho. What is so impressive about Coelho's writing is his ability to reach to your heart through his impressive story and characterization. Be it Santiago (The Alchemist) or Esther (The Zahir), the characters in Coelho's work are people you can meet in your day to day life. This is one of the highlights of his narrating capabilities which make these characters very enduring to most of the readers.

The "Eleven Minutes" deviates from this theme as the story is about a prostitute who tries to find the meaning of her life and about herself through her journey. Maria is a girl from Brazil, who like everyone else, dreams about happy things happening to her. Life, as is the norm, does not play out the way we expect it to and this forces Maria to leave her country and head for Geneva. She 'allows' fate to take control of her life and soon she finds herself selling her body to earn her living. She also gets a chance to experience dark pleasures obtained through pain and suffering and when she gets to close to becoming a prey for the dark pleasures, she is rescued from that by Ralf Hart a handsome young painter. She discovers that sex becomes sacred when combined with love in the company of Hart. Whether she has the courage to 'live' her dream or whether she decides to run away from it when it comes knocking forms the rest of the plot.

This book might appear to have a negative tone and some might consider it depressing as well. The introduction of sadism and the vivid description does leave a bad but necessary impact on the mind. Thankfully, these are minor irritants for an otherwise impeccable book. The way the various incidents are narrated by Maria and their emotional significance by her loud thinking soul is a beauty in itself. The best part in the book nevertheless goes to Maria's diary entry at the end of each chapter. Insightful, deeply thought entries in her diary vividly describe the emotions that are going through Maria's mind at every stage in her life. The positive minded character of Ralf Hart and his interaction with Maria forms one of the most refreshing portions of the book. I have reproduced verbatim a paragraph from Maria's diary entry that describes about love.

"All my life, I thought of love as some kind of voluntary enslavement. Well, that's a lie: freedom only exists when love is present. The person who gives him or herself wholly, the person who feels freest, is the person who loves most wholeheartedly.

And the person who loves wholeheartedly feels free."

Bottom Line: The story being about a prostitute and the sexual references notwithstanding, this is a fabulous book about pursuing and living our dreams. The insightful description of the ways of the soul and the pursuance of a dream leaves the reader's with a lot of items to contemplate about the way they lead their life. The decision that I have made after reading this book is to get all the books of Paulo Coelho for my library. The minimum that a reader of this review can do is to grab a copy of this book and I can assure you that the book will leave you spellbound.

Kizhinchalgal

இறைவன்

இன்று இறைவன் தரிசனம்.
கடலிலும், நதியுலும், தோப்பிலும்
அழகிய அவன் உருவம்.




வேண்டுதல்

பல போர்கள் என்றாய்.
காரணம் மதங்கள் என்றாய்;
மதங்கள் என்ன செய்தன இவற்றில்?
மதத்தின் பெயரால் மனிதர்களின் மனங்களை
பதம் பார்க்கும் சில மிருகங்களின்
விபரீத விளையாட்டில் வந்தவை இவ்வேதனைகள்.
இறைவா -- கல்லாய் இருந்தது போதும்.
எழுந்து வா.
இம்மிருகங்கள் வதை.
அனைத்து பேதங்கள் புதை.
அமைதி வளர வழி செய்.

Punjabi Dhaba @ Mount Road -- Restaurant Review

I decided to create and dedicate a section of my blog to cater to the needs of those gourmets like me who would like to know about the best places to eat in Chennai. It also aids me by providing an excuse for the various restaurant visits that I can undertake under the name of doing a review of the food available there!!! Me and my friend Srikanth (The culinary expert!) finalized on seven ingredients under which a restaurant can be reviewed. Please feel free to post a comment about any other ingredients that needs to be added to make this a perfect concoction.

Restaurant Name: Vellore's Gyan Vaishnav Punjabi Dhaba

Ingredient #1: Location: Located at Mount Road just near the 'Raj Video Vision', this restaurant is right at the heart of the city. If you are familiar with Chennai & its traffic, this place is easily locatable. Even if you are new to Chennai, the chances of finding this restaurant is high as you can always ask for 'Raj Video Vision' and then go to this Dhaba.

Ingredient #2: Parking Space: One of the problems that most of the restaurants in Chennai have is the amount of parking space that is provided for the food lovers. Thankfully, this Dhaba has enough parking space for atleast 5 to 6 cars and around 10 to 12 bikes. Considering that the Dhaba is a small place, this is actually ample space for the food lovers to park their vehicles.

Ingredient #3: Ambience: This is a very small eating place with probably a seating capacity not exceeding 30 people at a time. (Assuming 3 persons per side of the long table) This is purely a place to relish and enjoy your food. If you are looking for a professional place to have a business discussion or a cozy place to take your wife/girl friend or a comfortable place for a nice discussion about the events of the day with your buddies, this dhaba might not be the ideal place and you might want to look elsewhere.

Ingredient #4: Choices Available: This is a purely vegetarian dhaba and there is not even the sniff of egg available here. The variety that is available in terms of North Indian dishes is simply mindboggling. The Naans, Rotis, Parathaas come in different flavors and the choices available in terms of the side dishes is also excellent. There is also the Jain cooking available for those people who would like to have their food items prepared without garlic.

Ingredient #5: Service: The service was very fast and the waiters treated the food lovers well. One of the best things about this dhaba is the speed with which the orders were processed. I would assume that most of the side dishes have already been cooked and kept ready in the kitchen. Hence, the processing of an order amounted to preparing the Roti/Naan/Parathas that were requested.

Ingredient #6: Taste/Quality: The items were well cooked and the quality was also decent. The spice levels of the side dishes were perfect. The dessert that I had (Badam Kheer) was delicious and had the correct amount of sugar.

Ingredient #7: Pricing: Like most of the other dhaba's, this is one place where the food is cheap. Three of us visited this place and we ended up paying around Rs.450 in total (Including the tips). Considering the fact that I was real hungry on that day and ate a lot, this is really really cheap by any standards!!!

Topping: This place is something that you can visit if you are hungry and interested in eating some authentic North Indian dishes that are good and cheap.

Jurassic Park -- Book Review

Author: Michael Crichton
Year of Publication: 1990

What does it take to write a great science fiction novel that is an absolute page turner? A fertile imagination, in-depth research of the topic and a riveting plot. The pitfalls are that with a bit of 'Too Fertile' imagination of the scientific possibilities of the near future and a shoddy research work could easily allow the plot to lose its credibility and eventually the reader's interest. Thankfully, Michael Crichton produces the right concoction of these ingredients to come up with an absolutely fabulous book on the ever mysterious and ever entertaining topic of dinosaurs.

When John Hammond, a maverick businessman, decides to create a theme park with dinosaurs brought back to life using genetic engineering, he has no qualms about the possible complications and issues that would arise because of such a venture. He goes ahead with the project in spite of the objections raised by Ian Malcolm, a mathematician from University of Texas, who has been hired as a consultant for the project. When Hammond and his team of scientists successfully start 'Producing' dinosaurs, something goes terribly wrong in their scheme of things. What happens to Jurassic Park (The name of the theme park), the animals and the people in that theme park form the rest of the plot.

The characterization of Ian Malcolm is probably the highlight of this book. Ian Malcolm's nonchalant & sometimes arrogant ways, his explanation of the chaos theory, the butterfly and various other scientific phenomenons is something that leaves a lasting impression on the minds of the reader. He is one of those fictional characters that I would love and idolize my whole life. The 'Jurassic Park' brings to the fore some of the questions we humans have been grappling with for some time now. Is genetic engineering a boon or a bane? Do we have enough knowledge to 'Create' life? The 'Power' to control life forms we create? Do we have the 'Might' to completely destroy this planet to leave it without a trace of life? Crichton answers many of these questions and leaves some open for the readers to ponder.

Bottom Line: There is no doubt that the movie adaptation was GREAT but it is simply nothing when compared to the book. If you are an avid science fiction fan, this is one book that you must NOT miss. Grab a copy now and I am sure you will not keep it down till you are done with the book. (By the way, I am a huge fan of this book and this is JUST the fourth time I have completed the book!)

The 'Inimitable' Kamal Haasan!!!!

During one of those 'Search for God knows what', I came across three stills of Kamal and couldn't resist myself from posting on it. I believe all 3 of these are a bit of old stuff but I guess Kamal's makeup is something that I never get tired of and so decided to post it here.

(Still from the discontinued movie 'Marudhanayagam')

It seems a French guy who had some interactions with Kamal during the shooting of the movie 'Marudhanayagam' sent across these stills to one of his Indian friends and that is how it ended up in the net. It seems the 15 mins of movie that was made is terrific.......... How sad that the movie got canceled.

(One another still from 'Marudhanayagam')

The still below is rumored to be from the movie 'Dasavathaaram'. It seems Kamal will be donning 10 roles in this movie and a competition might be announced for fans to identify the 10 different roles of Kamal in the movie. It is a movie that I have high expectations as the director Ravikumar has generally brought the best in Kamal (And yeah....... There was a particular scene in this movie that was shot in Olympia Tech Park, the place where I work. Kamal was looking so young and smart!!!)

(Still from the movie 'Dasavathaaram')

Uthiri Pookal -- Movie Review

Uthiri Pookal is one movie that gets quoted so often when popular directors talk about the best tamil movie ever made. It piqued my curiosity and after a long search, I was finally able to get hold of a copy(Moserbaer is selling original VCD's for Rs.28 these days!!!) I guess it is not an exaggeration to say that this movie deserves all the credit that has come its way.

It is always a tricky proposition to come up with a negative character as the hero of a movie. It is as risky as walking on thin ice. One wrong move and you are destined for a nasty fall. Mahendran does this balancing act with so much elan that it leaves you spellbound to the script. The fact that Vijayan is not portrayed as the stereotypical villain adds to the authenticity of his character. What transpires on screen is a battle between a person who is sensitive enough to deeply love his kids and a person who can ruthlessly do anything to attain the things he has set his eyes on.

The effort that has gone into etching each of the character of the movie pays rich dividend as it adds a lot of value to the storyline. The screenplay is something that many of the present day directors can use as an example while writing their scripts. With a solid storyline, the onus was on the screenplay to make the movie interesting. The scenes are neatly placed that one scene gels into the next one very smoothly and without any hiccups. The tight closeup shots of the lead characters during the highly charged scenes shows the faith the director had in his actors and the actors have repaid the faith with some brilliant performances.

The scenes where Vijayan slaps Aswini or Sarathbabu are not shown directly but are shown in a subtle and beautiful way. The sound followed by the heroine holding her hands to her face or Sarathbabu washing away the blood in the river are artistic and shows the director's ability to think beyond the ordinary. One another unsung hero of this movie is Illayaraaja. For each character, he comes up with a brilliant theme music. Be it the ominous sounding tabla for Vijayan or the soft & sad music for Aswini or the funky bits for the second heroine, Illayaraaja proves his mettle in the BGM department.

This is a movie about human relations, love and the fall from grace of a person possessed by greed. A movie that should be watched for the sheer narrative style and honest story telling. A classic indeed!

Rating: 9/10

Tendulkar is GREAT but.....

Every aging sports icon has to go through a cruel phase of introspection where he has to answer to himself & his millions of fans on his impending retirement. The icon has to decide to call it quits when the question is still "Why retire now?" and before the question turns into "Why not retire now?" One of the persons who did this to perfection is 'Pistol' Pete Sampras. When the sports fraternity had started writing him off, he showed the world what he is made up of by winning the US Open championship and his record 14th grand slam tournament. Then he coolly bid farewell to the game when at the top of his game. He did not pick up a racquet for close to 3 years and when he finally did pick up a racquet for a seniors tournament, no less a person than John McEnroe wants him to return to his famous hunting ground of Wimbledon.

A similar problem seems to be haunting Sachin Tendulkar these days. Anyone who watched him play Bangladesh even for 10 minutes could clearly tell that there is something terribly wrong with him and his cricket. It is not that I don't recognize the contribution Sachin has made to Indian cricket but to still continue playing when his mind is not there in the game is doing injustice to a prospective younger player aiming for his batting slot. More than injustice to a player, it is a great injustice to the public in a cricket loving nation like India. It is unfair on my part to suggest this but the facts seem to point to only this: Sachin is still playing only for the huge amount of endorsements that he has signed for. When you think that Sachin is worth a staggering $4.6 million annual endorsement money it is easily fathomable to understand the motive behind Sachin wanting to continue playing internationally. Will Sachin prove me wrong in England and make me eat my words? I would be more than happy to do that but the chances of that happening are very slim though right now.

Tim Duncan -- Team Man Extraordinaire

What does it take to be considered as one of the greatest NBA player of the present generation and still be away from the glaring spotlight and frenzy of the media? A humility & humbleness beyond anything that the NBA watching American crowd has ever known to exist. Tim Duncan personifies the word 'Team Player' and even raises the grid a few levels for this term in his own nonchalant way. When flashing dunks and looping throws are the norm of the day, here is a man who plays a selfless game with the disposition of a Buddhist monk. He might (and he is) be considered too boring a player that not many of the Spurs fan buy & wear his numbered jersey. And he doesn't seem to care about it a lot. He is a leader from whom the likes of Kobe, Shaq and others should take tutorials from on a regular basis. As the management gurus would tell, "Point out a mistake and he would look at himself in the mirror. Praise him and he would point out through the windows".

(Right hand corner caption captures the essence perfectly)

And why did I suddenly go raving about Duncan? I found two articles pertaining to Duncan here and here & couldn't help but thinking about his greatness. The chances of the Spurs becoming the champions this year are very high and even higher are the chances that Tim Duncan will be the finals MVP. Mark my words: if that happens, the chances of Duncan talking about how great his team is, his coach Popovich is are really high. And do I expect him to talk about his contributions for the victory? Not a chance. Duncan is beyond all that!!

The Starfish Story

Very frequently I get to hear from people about the futility of someone trying to change the way things are done at office or at home or in the world. I always get to hear these words from those people: "It doesn't make a difference". Whenever this statement comes up, a story that I have read and internalized springs to my mind.

One day a man was walking along the seashore. He noticed that during the night many seashells and starfish had washed upon the beach. Thoroughly enjoying the morning sun and cool sea air, the man walked for miles.

As he strolled along, he noticed a small figure dancing in the distance. It made him chuckle to think of someone celebrating life in such an uninhibited way. As he drew closer, however, it became apparent that the figure was not dancing. Instead, she seemed to be repeatedly performing some ritual.

He drew nearer still and noticed that the small figure was a child. She was methodically picking up starfish and tossing them into the surf. He paused for a moment, puzzled, then asked, "Why are you throwing these starfish?"

"It's high tide," she replied, "If I leave them on the beach, the sun will soon dry them and they will die. I am throwing them into the ocean so they can live." The man considered her actions, impressed with the child's thoughtfulness. Then he motioned up and down the miles of the beach. "There must be thousands of starfish along here," he said, "You cannot possibly make a difference."

The young girl stopped. Her face darkened. She chewed thoughtfully on her lower lip, "You're probably right," she said softly. She looked down at the sand. Then she leaned over, carefully picked up another starfish, pulled back and arched it gently into the sea.

With a tone of gentle defiance, she said, "But I made a difference for that one."

Paradigm Shift

I am presently reading the "The 7 habits of highly effective people" by Stephen Covey and the story reproduced below is one that has greatly impressed me. I don't think the concept of "Paradigm Shift" could have been explained any better than this.

Important note: This story has been taken verbatim from the book and is NOT my own writing.

I remember a mini-Paradigm Shift I experienced one Sunday morning on a subway in New York. People were sitting quietly -- some reading newspapers, some lost in thought, some resting with their eyes closed. It was a calm, peaceful scene.

Then suddenly, a man and his children entered the subway car. The children were so loud and rambunctious that instantly the whole climate changed. The man sat down next to me and closed his eyes, apparently oblivious to the situation. The children were yelling back and forth, throwing things, even grabbing people's papers. It was very disturbing. And yet, the man sitting next to me did nothing.

It was difficult not to feel irritated. I could not believe that he could be so insensitive to let his children run wild like that and do nothing about it, taking no responsibility at all. It was easy to see that everyone else on the subway felt irritated, too. So finally, with what I felt was unusual patience and restraint, I turned to him and said, "Sir, your children are really disturbing a lot of people. I wonder if you couldn't control them a little more?"

The man lifted his gaze as if to come to a consciousness of the situation for the first time and said softly, "Oh, you're right. I guess I should do something about it. We just came from the hospital where their mother died about an hour ago. I don't know what to think, and I guess they don't know how to handle it either."

Can you imagine what I felt at that moment? My paradigm shifted. Suddenly I saw things differently; I felt differently, I behaved differently. My irritation vanished. I didn't have to worry about controlling my attitude or my behavior; my heart was filled with the man's pain. Feelings of sympathy and compassion flowed freely. "Your wife just died? Oh, I'm so sorry. Can you tell me about it? What can I do to help?" Everything changed in an instant.

Periyar -- Movie Review

I was eagerly waiting to watch this movie ever since it released for two reasons. First is due to the fact that it is about Periyar E.V.Ramasamy, a known atheist and rational thinking proponent. I am very poor in history & wanted to find out what Periyar's philosophy is and why he is so highly rated & respected. Second is because it is directed by Gnana Rajasekaran, the director of the movie "Bharathi". Though Bharathi was not a great movie, it was a decent attempt in making a biopic of a very popular person in Tamilnadu.

The story of Periyar (1879-1973) starts with E.V.Ramasamy being shown as a person who hates the traditions and the associated superstitious beliefs that were prevalent during his time. He criticizes the orthodox practices of his mother and family. When his father openly condemns him in front of others for a 'perceived' disrespect to the Brahmin's community, he leaves Erode to make his own living. His growth from that stage as a rational thinker to a leader of the people is portrayed in a beautiful albeit slow manner.

Some of the scenes & dialogues are thought provoking and add the necessary spice to an otherwise slow narration of the events. Considering the fact that the director has to deal with narrating the life story of a person who lived for 94 years with a major portion of it spent under the public radar, it is indeed a commendable effort to sustain the interests of the viewer for a 3-hour span. Due to my lack of knowledge about the life of Periyar, I am unable to comment on whether the director covered all the significant events in Periyar's life. The only thing that I could vouch for is that the director did indeed keep me interested throughout and not even once did I feel bored with the proceedings. The music of Vidyasagar and the lyrics of Vairamuthu give able support to the director. Sathyaraj (as Periyar) comes up with a brilliant performance and portrayal of the aging Periyar is exemplary and surely deserves rich accolades (Check out the small peeve I had about Sathyaraj in the negatives)

The negatives of the movie are:

1. There is no mention of the year of the incidents. The director assumes that the viewer is familiar with the dates & years (Which I was not) of those events and hence the narration appears incomplete
2. Only the positive image of Periyar is projected. The balance that comes out of projecting the human frailty of Periyar is missing
3. Some of the events look contrived and seem to be inserted to please Periyar's followers
4. The camera work by Thankar Bachan is atrocious (Or was it the projector at Sree theater or my sullied glasses?). Many of the long shots appeared hazy and out of focus
5. Sathyaraj's acting in the initial stages of the movie(As the middle aged person). He seems to have acted in a lot of action movies these days and his body language reflects that
6. The makeup leaves a lot to be desired. The face of Sathyaraj projects a different age while his hands project a different age (Check it in the photo above). It is applicable for the rest of the cast as well
   

Last Cut: Despite the long list of grievances against the movie, Periyar is a movie that is worth watching for the honest attempt. Go with an open mind regarding the discussions about God and you will enjoy this movie.

Rating: 7/10

P.S: For an entirely different view about this movie, check out my friend's review here. Read the interview of Gnana Rajasekaran here.

Spiderman 3 -- Movie Review

"We have a choice" -- this is one of the dialogues that Spiderman tells in the third edition of the franchise movie "Spiderman". Very true indeed. I had a choice of heeding to the review posted by my friends here or to this one here. I made the 'wrong' choice of still going ahead to watch this movie.

Assume that you are the director of a franchise movie like the Spiderman. What would you do to make the third edition of the movie become a greater grosser than the previous two movies? Elementary, Dr.Watson.

1. Add more villains. More villains equals more stupid fight sequences involving the 'Super Hero' Spiderman
2. Throw in a bit of revenge to add more dramatic action scenes
3. Add some silly tiffs between Spiderman & his love interest so that the 'Super Hero' could show his human side
4. Add oodles of sentiment to make the public sniff and sob during the movie

The director does all this and more. What we get is a English movie that looks more like a Hindi movie (Tamil movies have more 'Logic' these days in their stories) devoid of any logic. The director gets caught in his own web (Pun intended) and struggles to get out of it. The long winded battle between Spidey & the set of villains and himself goes on & on & on............

It is not that the movie doesn't have any worthy scenes or sequences or dialogues. It is just that those are few & far in between that the disappointment of watching this movie cannot be expressed but can only be wished upon others. The hilarious scenes are played out superbly by Tobey McGuire with so much ease that you are left dazed by his performance. Sadly, the above mentioned scenes come when Spidey feels lost in love and you are supposed to empathize with the Hero!!!

Last Cut: Get out of harms way by avoiding this movie at all cost. After all, 'we have a choice'........ Exercise it intelligently

Rating: 4/10

P.S: Spiderman 3 has broken all the box-office records in the USA & internationally. Read about it here.

Ooops.......... Traffic Jam

No graphics here in the adjacent photo. It is just that a Boeing 737 flight that was being taken for aviation academy got stranded midway in the busy Chembur area of Mumbai. It seems it has been lying there for the last 5 days. Now the process of dismantling it & selling the parts has started. It would indeed be a sight to watch a 'Stranded' aircraft in the busy roads of Mumbai. If only I were in Mumbai, I would have surely paid it a visit!!!

You can read more about this news here. I was also able to get a much bigger photo of the aircraft. Check it out as well.