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.

Vijayawada Trip Images -- Part III

There is something engrossing about photos of people and their emotions. Myriad amount of thoughts go through the minds of people and when these are captured in a candid camera, they offer the best kind of images and the most satisfaction for a photographer. Given below is a series of snaps of various people and at various locations in Vijayawada.

Photo #1

Photo #1: A saint walking near the river Krishna. His colorful attire, the trident in his hands, the matted hair and the yellow vermilion smeared on his forehead was something that conveyed a lot of strength. I did not get a lot of time to capture this image for there were a lot of people taking bath in the river and I had to hurry with my snap.

Photo #2

Photo #2: There is something so soothing and peaceful about children playing in a park. Their carefree nature when mixed with the spaciousness of a park brings out the best from children. This small guy(The one in the white shirt) was slowly climbing up the ladder to go down the slide and I immediately got ready with my camera. Unfortunately, his elder brother (The one in the blue shirt) took him in his lap to go down the slide. Just before I could snap the moment, the elder brother found out that I was getting ready for taking a photo. The way in which the small guy is expectantly looking down at the slide unmindful of everything else around him best summarizes the picture.

Photo #3

Photo #3: A tricycle driver lost in his world. He seems to be totally dwelling in his own thought train with no awareness to the fact that he is driving in the wrong side of the road. This photo was shot near the hotel in which I stayed.

Photo #4

Photo #4: A person begging for alms from people returning from the Kanaga Durga temple. The kaleidoscopic nature of her dress, the dark tone of her skin and the innocent looking child in front of her evoked so deep a feeling that I couldn't help but snap this photo. The fact that I was walking down the stairs when I took this photo explains the blurred looking nature of this image.

Vijayawada Trip Images -- Part II

Photos taken through my friend's Olympus camera are presented here. I tried to categorize this blog entry with photos having flowers as the main theme.

Photo #1

Photo #1: Beautiful looking yellow flowers as the foreground and a temple gopuram (tower) as a blurred out background. The color reproduction with this camera is of the highest nature and this is one photo that showcases it brilliantly.

Photo #2

Photo #2: A blurred out white flower and a purple flower in the background. I specifically liked this picture for it kind of gives a fleeting/dreamy image of the flower in the foreground.

Photo #3

Photo #3: The cage like gate in the background and the faithful reproduction of the various hues of this photo makes it a very endearing one.

Photo #4

Photo #4: A closeup shot of a big and beautiful yellow flower in a garden in Vijayawada. Each and every color in the flower looks so resplendent in this capture.

Vijayawada Trip Images -- Part I

Had been on a trip to Vijayawada recently and I am getting a bit toooo obsessed with photography for I took two cameras for the trip. One is my 'trusted' & 'beloved' Canon A95. The other is a camera that I had borrowed from friend (A olympus camera with a 10x optical zoom). All the below photos are from my camera.

Photo #1

Photo #1: A fast moving train. I consider this as one of the best photos that I have taken till now. I had not intended the photo to come this way but I guess the best things in life are never planned for! Had got the focus on the last compartment of the train and when it came near, I had moved the camera a bit faster than I had actually intended. The result is a blurred out tail piece of the train.

Photo #2

Photo #2: This photo was taken on the Krishna river bridge. I have never seen a bridge where there are two seperate rail tracks. I got a lot lucky when another train came in the other track and I had a pretty good capture.

Photo #3

Photo #3: The Vijayawada trip was unique in that I travelled in almost all forms of transport (Except on a plane). Had seen a lot of tricycles in Vijayawada but somehow was hesitant on travelling in one of them. I went to a place called Amaravathi and there finally got into this person's tricycle. Wanted to capture that moment so that it could be frozen in my memory forever.

Photo #4

Photo #4: Nature has this uncanny ability to show humans their limitations and bring them back hard and fast to the earth. Rains & floods had played havoc for a couple of days and the above photo is a bullock cart surrounded by water.

Katrathu Thamizh -- Movie Review

தமிழ் பட ரசிகர்கள் பார்த்து, ரசித்து வெற்றி கொடுக்கும் படங்களின் கதாநாயகர்கள் எப்பொழுதும் நல்லவர்களாக, மிகவும் பாசமுள்ளவர்களாக பல நல்ல குணங்கள் படைத்தவர்களாகவே சித்தரிக்கபடுவர். சில படங்களே இந்த கட்டுக்கோப்பில் இருந்து மாறுபட்டு இருக்கும்.(உதாரணம்: பருத்தி வீரன்). இப்படிப்பட்ட சூழ்நிலையில், "கற்றது தமிழ்" படம் ஒரு மாறுபட்ட முயற்சி என்று கூறலாம். இதில் கதாநாயகன் பல கொலைகள் செய்பவன். மது அருந்துபவன். கஞ்சா அடிப்பவன். அவன் ஒருபொழுதும் தான் செய்த குற்றங்களை நியாயப்படுத்த முயலாதவன். சுருங்கச் சொன்னால், தமிழ் பட கதாநாயகனுக்கான குணாதிசயங்கள் எதுவும் இல்லாதவன்.

சூழ்நிலை காரணமாக, காவல்துறையில் இருந்து தப்பி ஓடும் நிலைமைக்கு தள்ளப்படுகிறான் பிரபாகர் (ஜீவா). விதி அவனை மிக வேகமாக துரத்தி பிடித்து ஒரு கொலை செய்ய வைக்கிறது. ஒரு கொலை மிக விரைவில் இரண்டு கொலைகளாக விதி செய்யும் சதியால் மாறுகிறது. காலங்கள் உருண்டோட, வருடங்கள் முன்னேற, அவன் செய்த கொலைக் கணக்கும் 22 ஆகிறது. ஒரு தொலைக்காட்சி நிருபரை கடத்தி வந்து, தன் பழங்கதை கூற ஆரம்பிக்கிறான் பிரபாகர். அவன் கதை தான் என்ன? அவன் வாழ்க்கை எப்படி இப்படி தடம் புரண்டது என்பதை சொல்வது தான் மீதிக் கதை. பிரபாகரின் சிறு வயது நண்பியாக, இந்நாள் காதலியாக ஆனந்தி (அஞ்சலி). இவர்கள் ஏன் பிரிந்து வாழ்கிறார்கள் என்பதும் கதையோட்டத்தில் விளக்கபடுகிறது.

தமிழ்நாட்டில் தமிழும், தமிழில் பட்டம் பெற்றவர்களும் படும் இன்னல்களை சொல்ல முயற்சி செய்திருக்கிறார் இயக்குனர் ராம். ஆம். முயற்சி தான் செய்திருக்கிறார் என்று சொல்ல வேண்டும். படத்தின் கடைசி 30 நிமிடங்களில், திருவிழாவில் தொலைந்து போன பணக்கார வீட்டு நாய்க்குட்டி போல அங்கும் இங்கும் அலைந்து கதையையும், அது சொல்ல வந்த கருத்தையும் பரிதாபமாக சாக விடுகிறார்.

ஜீவா என்ற நடிகர் படத்தில் தென்படவேயில்லை. பிரபாகர் என்ற அவரது கதாபாத்திரம் தான் படம் முழுவதும் நிரம்பி வழிகிறது என்பது ஜீவாவின் நடிப்பிற்கு ஒரு மிக நல்ல சான்று. காதல், சோகம், கோபம், இயலாமை என எல்லா உணர்ச்சிகளும் மிக இயல்பாய் இவருக்கு வருகிறது. விக்ரம், சூர்யா வரிசையில் ஜீவாவும் நல்ல நடிகராய் வலம் வருவார் என்பது தெள்ள தெளிவு.

ஆனந்தியாய் புதுமுகம் அஞ்சலி. பல படங்கள் நடித்து கைதேர்ந்த நடிகை போல், புதுமுகமா இவர் என்று வியக்கும் வண்ணம் உள்ளது இவருடைய நடிப்பு. கண்களால் பேசி, அழகாய் சிரித்து பல இளைஞர்களின் மனதை இவர் கொள்ளை கொள்ளப் போவது மிக உறுதியாய் தெரிகிறது. தமிழுக்கு ஒரு நல்வரவாய் இவர் அமைவார் என்று எதிர்பார்க்கலாம்.

படத்திற்கு பெருந்தூணாய் யுவனின் பின்னணி இசையும் பாடல்களும். பல இடங்களில் இசை மெருகூட்டி சில இடங்களில் மௌனம் காத்து ஒரு குட்டி கச்சேரி நடத்துகிறார். நா.முத்துகுமாரின் வரிகளில் ஒவ்வொரு பாடலும் ஒரு ருசி. இளையராஜாவின் குரலில் ஒலிக்கும் "பறவையே எங்கு" பாடல் மெய்ச்சிலிர்க்க வைக்கிறது. ஒளிப்பதிவும், எடிட்டிங்கும் ஒன்றோடோன்று போட்டி போட்டு ஜமாய்க்கின்றன. பல இடங்களில் "சபாஷ்" சொல்ல வைக்கின்றன.

இவை அனைத்தும் அருமையாய் இருந்தும், படம் ஒரு பெரிய தாக்கத்தை ஏற்படுத்த மறுக்கிறது. கதாநாயகன் பாத்திர படைப்பில் பலர் போன பாதையில் போகாமல் தனித்து நின்ற ராம், 2 மணி 45 நிமிடம் ஒரு படம் ஓட வேண்டும் என்ற போடாத சட்டத்தில் ஏனோ விடாப்பிடியாய் நின்று விட்டார். முப்பது நிமிடம் குறைவாய் படம் இருந்திருந்தால் இன்னும் நிறைவாய் இருந்திருக்குமோ? கண்டிப்பாய் ஒரு முறை பார்க்க வேண்டிய படம்.

மதிப்பெண்: 7/10

Satham Podathey -- Movie Review

Vasanth is one director who has directed some really great movies like “Keladi Kanmani” and “Rhythm” while also directing some utterly hopeless movies like “Hey, Nee Romba Azhaga Irukae”. The trailer of “Satham Podathey” that I saw during the ill-fated “Urchagam” movie piqued my interest. The trailer showed the movie to be a thriller movie. With an unfathomable scarcity of thriller movies in Tamil, I was eagerly expecting for this movie. Did “Satham Podathey” fulfill the expectations? Did Vasanth come up with another quality entertainer?

Story: When Bhanu (Padmapriya), a person who has a lot of dreams about marriage & children, marries Rathnavelu (Nithin Sathya) life takes her through routes that she has not even thought about in her wildest dreams. Rathnavelu is an impotent due to his past drinking habits. He hides this fact from Bhanu and gets married to her. Bhanu soon comes to know if this & also the fact that Rathnavelu is a psychologically disturbed person. She applies for a divorce on these grounds & gets it. A few months pass and a new spring season seems to bloom in her life when she meets with Ravichandran (Prithviraj) who is willing to marry her. She also slowly falls in love with Ravichandran. Whether they marry each other inspite of the problems caused by Rathnavelu and whether they live happily after that forms the rest of the plot.

Making a movie out of a complicated & emotional story such as this one requires the portrayal of solid characters that can enhance the story. Vasanth has done a pathetic job in this and hence fails miserably in evoking the required emotions out of the viewers. Movie goers generally tend to identify themselves with one of the characters that is shown and when this does not happen because of weak characterizations, the movie seldom creates an impact in the hearts of the viewer. There was a sense of emptiness that engulfed me after watching this movie as it failed to leave any visible impact. This could be considered as the downfall of this otherwise ordinary movie.

The other thing that I couldn’t let pass is the insertion of the 2 songs after the interval. The two songs are forced and they only hamper the flow of the movie. Added to this is the fact that these songs are downright cheap and make you cringe does not augur well for a director like Vasanth who has always been churning out movies which the entire family can watch without getting uncomfortable in their seats. “You too, Vasanth?”

Performances: The top prize would surely go to Padma Priya for her brilliant portrayal of the girl who interminably suffers in the hands of a psychopathic husband. She emotes very beautifully and it is really surprising to see very less of her in the tamil filmdom. May be it is her mature look that acts as a deterrent for the film directors to not cast her in their movies. Nithin Sathya as the mentally disturbed husband would come in as a close second in terms of acting honors. It is very commendable of him to come up with a highly individualistic performance and not to be ‘Inspired’ from movies that have the same kind of characterizations (Prakash Raj in Aasai readily comes to my mind). PrithviRaj sadly looks good only in the romantic & comedy scenes and fails miserably in highly charged scenes. It is really surprising that Vasanth has not meted out a much meatier role for PrithviRaj.

Other aspects: Vasanth has this uncanny ability to get the best from his music directors and his streak continues in this as well with Yuvan churning out some really great songs. The “Pesugiren” and “Azhagu Kutti Chellam” would surely do the rounds in the TV channels for sometime atleast. Yuvan seems to grow with each movie in terms of his ability to give amazing BGM’s and this is no exception for he creates the perfect ambience for a dark thriller.

The camera work was horrible to say the least. Whoever taught the cameraman that swinging the camera from one end of the screen to the other when the characters are talking to be a modern technique seems to have taught him the wrong things about handling a camera. It becomes highly irritating very soon and I wanted to shout out (Oops, pun unintended) to stop prancing around with the camera. The only saving grace is the picturization of the songs. The lush green forts of Kerala act as a treat to the eyes.

Last Cut: With its unique theme and sensitive & sensible handling of the script notwithstanding, the lack of depth in characters bring down this movie. A movie that should have gone out loud & clear instead goes out with a whimper. Wait for the DVD release to watch this movie.

Rating: 6.5/10

Kannamoochi Enada -- Music Review

Music by: Yuvan Shankar Raja

Andru Vandathum Athe Nila (Shankar Mahadevan, Haricharan, Swetha) -- It is no secret that I hate the re-mix versions of the old popular numbers. All that the music directors end up doing to these songs is add a track containing heavy jarring beats which incidentally makes me crave for the original version more than ever. One exception to this rule was the song 'Thottal Poo Malarum' from the movie 'New'. Rahman had actually 'Retuned' the song and it was refreshing to hear it. Yuvan does the same thing here for this yesteryear classic by adding a jazzy mix and a funky tune while keeping the starting lyrics the same.Special mention to Shankar Mahadevan who breezes through this to make this an extremely catchy song. What transpires here is a beautiful reinvention that makes you yearn for more of these kind of retunes. The best song of this album. Once the song is over, go for the 'Repeat' button.

Kannamoochi Aatam Aadithaan (Palghat Sriram, Sainthavi, Prasanna, Dr. Narayanan) -- This song starts with a small beautiful rendition of a song that is normally sung during marriages. The interludes are tastefully peppered with small english lyrics. This one appears to be more a situational song and is not instantly catchy. Nevertheless, surely worth a listen. Allow this song to 'Play'.

Sanjaram (Shankar Mahadevan, Madhushree) -- A beautiful duet and a perfect melody that has Yuvan's stamp all over it. This is the Yuvan that I have come to love and he proves all the way why he is considered as the most promising music director in Tamil industry. This song also features Shankar Mahadevan at his best with his nonchalant yet pleasing to the ear kind of singing. The sore point of this song is the pronounciation of Madhushree. Can someone ask her to spit out the lollipop that she has in her mouth atleast while singing? Once the song is over, go for the 'Repeat' button.

Megam Megam (Haricharan, Swetha) -- I have not heard about this Haricharan (Is he the one who sung the "Unnakena Iruppen" in Kaadhal movie?) but he does a great job of singing this song. And I am even more unaware of this Swetha but she sings the song as though she has doing this for years together. A simple but excellent rhythm runs all through the song. And then there is the beautiful lyrics that are uncomplicated conveying the meaning in such a crystal clear way. The lines that particularly caught my attention is "Muthal muthal vaazhvil thondrum vanna kuzhapam vaanavil thaana". Too good!! Allow this song to 'Play'.

Putham Puthu (Shankar Mahadevan, Vijay Yesudas) -- If Sanjaram featured Shankar Mahadevan's singing that I have always yearned for, this song features the Shankar Mahadevan I have come to despise. Loud & uninspiring singing for a pretty mediocre tune. A tune set in the lines of "Kuyilukku Koo Koo" song from "Friends" and the "Ohh Nanbane" song from "Mounam Pesiyathe", this is the weakest link in an otherwise wonderful album. Go for the 'Skip' button.

Last Shout: Buy this album and add it to your music collection.

As Bad As It Gets

What crime did the bowlers commit for them to suffer such torture? Is there a role that the bowlers have in the Twenty20 form of cricket other than being made scape goats to be mercilessly slaughtered by the batsmen? If the idea of the tournament is to allow the public to enjoy watching some brutal batting displays, why not replace the bowlers with a bowling machine?

I feel that the bowlers in a team can be replaced by batsmen and then a bowling machine can be introduced to throw balls at the batsman. The captain of the team can be allowed to choose the speed, the type of delivery and may be some other finer variations regarding the delivery. He can control all this from the field using a wireless controller or some other highly sophisticated device. This approach has the benefit that it allows a team to be fully loaded with batsmen (which I am sure the public would not complain about) and also spares the bowlers of mindless brutality they are put through (And I am sure the bowlers would not complain about this). What you guys say???

Urchagam -- Movie Review

Why do I make such stupid mistakes? How did I believe that a movie starring a hero who has only a couple of movies to his name and a heroine whose only credit till date has been her 'bare all' first movie would be of any good? Why did I think that good songs would automatically get converted to great visuals and a decent story? Why? Why? Why? Like everything else in life, I am searching for the answers to all these above questions.

Even writing a review for movies like this is an atrocious waste of time but I feel that I have a 'Social' responsibility (Look at my generosity here!!!) in making sure that other people out there do not make the same mistake as me and end up watching this hopeless parody of errors compiled in the name of a movie. There is no shard piece of evidence to show that this movie has anything original in terms of its screenplay. The term cliche would start appearing cliched if I start to list out the cliched sequences that appear in this movie. It would be better if I just said that it is so FULL of them.

There used to be a time in tamil movies when the heroine would take up a small bottle & the camera would zoom in to show the words poison (With the tamil translation below it) to explicitly show to the viewer that she is about to commit suicide. Then directors like Bhagyaraj came in and they just showed the heroine drinking something from a small bottle and in the next scene people would seen crying and the viewers understood what it meant. The latest line of directors like Bala show just the corpse of the heroine & let the viewer understand the sequence. The underlying pretence here in all this is that the movie watching public is assumed to have a certain amount of gray matter in their heads and that they can understand things without the need for an elaborated explanation. The director of this movie (I have no clue who it is.....) questioned my intelliegence by explaining even the simplest of things and made me look even more stupid than I am actually is. Then, towards the end, there were sequences where the villain would have made the FBI team go green with envy with his detective & deductive capabilities. And when I was expecting some answers from the directors on how the villain was doing all this, he provides me with none!!!

There is nothing to write about performances or technical aspects and I would directly go to a sour point that irritated me the most. There is this beautiful song 'Naram Pookal Thedum' that I was eagerly waiting for and when it finally showed up in screen, I immediately knew why I was not able to catch this song in the regular song programs that comes in every other channel these days. I was, afterall, looking for this song in the wrong program. I should have been checking 'Hot, Hotter, Hottest' or 'Midnight Masala' instead....... What a complete waste of such a brilliant song.

Final Cut: When movies like 'Paruthi Veeran' and 'Kireedom' try to take the tamil movie industry forward, these movies end up pushing them back by a solid 30 years. Avoid this at all cost.

Rating: 2/10 (The only reason I gave this movie 2 points is for the songs. If you have not listened to it yet, you are surely missing something)

Succeeding -- The Jordan way

Couldn't resist myself from posting this. Truly inspiring lines from Michael Jordan. This is a very famous phrase from the Nike ad in which Jordan appeared.

“I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career; I’ve lost almost 300 games; 26 times I’ve been trusted to take the game-winning shot, and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”

Photos for Fun -- Part II

Till now, I never realized the importance of having a good optical zoom camera. I have been pretty satisified with my Canon A95 camera and the photos that it has been giving me. The various scene selections that are possible in this camera is amazing and is more than sufficient for an amateur photographer like me. I had a chance to use my friend's cameras and that is when I realized the need for an optical zoom in the camera. I used the Canon S2 IS and also the Olympus SP500UZ cameras and these cameras left me amazed by the kind of photographs that I can get with these. Below I have given some of the photos that I took with the Olympus camera.

Photo #1

Photo #1: I have taken so many snaps of this flower using my camera and it has never come this well. The color reproduction and the way in which each and every strand of the stamen of the flower is visible is just amazing.

Photo #2

Photo #2: Cats are never my favorite animals and so I did not take photos of the cat when my friends were clicking away photos of this one during out trip to Udupi. Finally, I took up the camera from my friend and my friends had let go the cat by this time. The cat started chasing something in the nearby wood pile and I couldnt resist myself from clicking this photo. The blurred out background and the various shades in the picture make it a decent one.

Photo #3

Photo #3: A water drop on a big leaf!!! Every photographer's dream snap. The crystal like water drop & the light green shade of the leaves makes this near perfect. (It would have been perfect if only I had the patience to cover the entire leaf. A small portion of the leaf is now missing in the left hand side of the photo)

Photo #4

Photo #4: A fluttering butterfly in an open space is one of the toughest to capture in a camera. This one kept flying from one plant to another so fast that it was almost impossible to get a proper snap. I got lucky and I ended up with this decent shot. It would have been a lot better if I had zoomed in a bit further but with the amount of time that I had to shoot this snap, this is all that I could ask for!!!

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')