Man of few words

Bharat Ratna for the Little Master?

2011-05-10T10:57:00.000-07:00

Just a couple of days after the World-cup win, I saw an article in the newspaper which talked about people wanting a Bharat Ratna for Sachin. Wow! I was initially excited; it would indeed be an honour for this great sportsman.

But it also made me think. Aren't we jumping the gun a lil bit? Probably yes. We Indians either carry our heroes on our shoulders during success or dump them in the gutter during failure. Anyways coming back to our discussion, I am pretty sure, many of you would vouch for Sachin, on getting the highest civilian award. But what we should know is the about the other recepients of this award. Most of them have received it, at the culmination of their talent and when they are close to retirement.

I think we can give the young man some space. He is just 38 years old, and has more records to break. You can't draw a line to his greatness. According to me, a Bharat Ratna is given to someone who has proved his point beyond doubt. Sachin ofcourse has proved his point; but he has not reached his zenith. He is still hungry for more.

Also another point worth noting is the hype that cricket gets. You want to give the award to someone is not even close to retirement. Why aren't you considering the other greats in the world of sport. Sachin is not the only great sportsperson that India has produced. There have been others too who have proved a point. For the record, not a single athlete has ever been awarded the Bharat Ratna till date. Not even posthumously.

I think there is one person who deserves the Bharat Ratna, before it is awarded to Sachin - Dyan Chand (posthumously of course). According to me he is (or rather was) the God of Indian Sport. If this is not done, it would just not be fair

Did you know that the highest award for excellence is sport is called the Dhyan Chand award? If the Bharat Ratna was not bestowed upon someone of such greatness as Dyan Chand, then why Sachin. For me its a NO, or atleast not yet.

According to me, the greatness in the Little Master, would be further proved, if he declines the award, if it is presented to him...Ever

Connect

2011-05-08T22:15:00.000-07:00

Have you played "Connect" in quizzing? Its an interesting round, where you have 3-4 images and you need to find the connecting factor among them.

Sometimes, this happens in reality too. You look at something and connect to it in a strange manner.

I happened to pass by a Chinese restaurant one day. The name sounded familiar; "Peking". No, the typo didn't bother me. There was something about this place which struck a chord. I could remember a school-mate of mine who worked there.

I can take his name for sure, as I am pretty sure he is no where in my FB circle. But still, I won't. He used to miss Monday mornings and invite the wrath of our class-teacher. He always had some reason or another, up his sleeve.

The actual reason was quite disheartening. I am pretty sure, I must have been a picked few who really knew the truth. He waited tables at this restaurant. Weekends they closed late; 2AM at the least (Yes, that was a time when we didn't have the 11:30PM restriction).

He couldn't afford the school tution fees and worked on Week-day evenings and Weekends full time to make up for it. He still had the energy to sit through all the classes in school.

I don't know what happened to this guy. I never heard of him, since I passed out from school. I really hope he made it through.

For me, he was the true example of perserverance.

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)

2011-04-18T23:52:00.000-07:00

Corporate social responsibility drives every person is go green at work. It doesn't ask you go over-board on going green. Though it is a good thing. CSR asks you to be responsible enough.

It is best defined as something you do, for which you wont receive appreciation. If you dont do it, you wont invoke criticism either.

CSR doesn't ask you to go switch off every monitor in your office, at the end of every day. If you wrote a huge note on the white board, requesting the same, you have done your bit.

A similar message can be put on top of the white-board in a meeting room, requesting the team to switch off the lights before they leave the room.
Such small gestures can do wonders. I know this with practical experience. If you are walking down the corridor and happen to see the light turned on. Please dont stop yourself from turning it off.
You can put in an isnulting message too, to give some gyaan for the anpad gavaars!

Get a fancy mug, to avoid paper cups for your coffee. You can get a filter coffee tumbler and saucer too. You'll get noticed...

Use the stairs. You can avoid the long wait for the elevators and avoid the desi talk when in it.

Never use the printer, unless you absolutely need it. For photocopies, use your mobile camera. It usually does the trick.

This list could go on...But these basic things are good for a start. There's nothing wrong in being responsible at office... You can feel proud about yourself!

As a foot note, I must confess that I am not exactly a go-green person. I drive to office, which does more damage than anything else we talked about. But I am working on it...

Update: I use Office Transport now.

Simple encryption script

2011-04-18T22:05:00.000-07:00

I first googled for such a script, when I needed one. I didn't want the complex encryption logic that were offered. I wanted a simple script, which served my purpose. When my search went in vain, I thought of writing one myself. Its pretty self explanatory. You would need to watch out for the last few ASCII characters. The logic is not very strong but will serve the purpose.

Also the encryption logic can be your choice. The script can be made execute only to conceal the logic from other users. Here goes...

#!/usr/bin/ksh

# encrypt_string.ksh
#
#
# Change record:
# Author Date Comments
# Gokula Kandaswamy 09/23/2010 Created V1
# **************************************************************************************
# Purpose: This script applies a simple encryption to a string. It has the capability to also decrypt the same string
#
# # Command line parameters to be passed
# first: The string which has to be encrypted or decrypted
# second: The action needed on the string i.e. whether it should encrypted or decrypted.
# Valid values="encrypt" for Encryption and "decrypt" for decryption
# **************************************************************************************
# Usage for encryption: ./encrypt_string.ksh encrypt
# Usage for decryption: ./encrypt_string.ksh '' decrypt

MyString=$1
Type=$2

StrChange=''
i=1
k=1

while (( i <= ${#MyString} ))
do

[[ $k -eq 4 ]] && k=1

char=$(expr substr "$MyString" $i 1)
chr=`echo -n $char | od -A n -t u1`
chr=`echo $chr | sed 's/^0//'`
if [ $Type = "encrypt" ] && [ $chr -ne 126 ]
then
(( chr += $k ))
elif [ $Type = "decrypt" ] && [ $chr -ne 126 ]
then
(( chr -= $k ))
fi
var=`awk -v char=$chr 'BEGIN { printf "%c\n", char; exit }'`
StrChange=`echo "$StrChange$var"`

(( i += 1 ))
(( k += 1 ))
done

echo $StrChange

# End of Script

Few moments from the Lakshadweep Trip

2011-04-03T05:52:00.001-07:00

The best models I have seen till date...

2011-03-20T00:00:00.000-07:00

To tip or not to tip

2011-03-18T02:56:00.000-07:00

Its an unwritten rule, that if you don't tip at a restaurant, you are nothing but "cheap". 10% of the bill (or cheque) you foot, would be a generous tip. Most of us honour it either here in swades or in vides.

But what many of us oversee is a baffling 10% service charges that the Indian restaurants charge you by default. This does put you in doubt, whether you would like to tip the waiter.

People around have told me that its not mandatory to tip, as the restaurant has already fleeced you. Sometimes I give in and dont tip and sometime I do. There have been instances when the restaurant has been exceptionally customer oriented and has made your dinner special. I have happily tipped the waiter(s) even when the Service charges were steep.

But when it comes to your regular Pizza joint or run of the mill restaurant, I give it a pass. Shame on me I know, but I dont care. I would prefer to tip a waiter at a regular darshini, where you eat your heartful and feel warm, than at places where you know you have burnt your pockets for nothing.

The Chennai Lady

2010-11-24T06:54:00.000-08:00

She was the last in the family of umpteen children. Family as in a joint one. Daughter to a business-man, honarary magistrate and grand-daughter to a Rao-Bahadur

Her dad used to drive her around in a FORD. She was friends with ministers' daughters. She used to stay in a house named CROSBY which measured 33 grounds. Yes, she had her own Snow-white dress. Convent educated, and went to college at a time and in a place where it was close to being called a taboo. She was what you would call a thorough-bred

Despite all this she was married into a very humble family, by her mother. The only reason being the guy was righteous. She adjusted and found joy in the little of things. 35 years of marriage and she hasn't complained about a thing to her husband. She turned 60 in July and is a Grandma.

You might be wondering how to describe or call this lady. But I would prefer to call her MOM.

Posts deleted

2010-05-25T08:47:00.000-07:00

I deleted my last two posts, as I received feedback that they are not in the "right taste". Did make sense.

So they are history now.

Bye Bye Recession!

2010-01-29T09:00:00.000-08:00

Recession is ending (as I believe). Can see happy faces everywhere. Attrition is on a record high. The same companies which threatened their employees with pink-slips are now begging and pleading with them to stay back. Well it's "payback" time as one of my former colleagues (Yes I jumped too :P ) exclaimed.

But I suppose the ones who are more happy than the worker-class, are the head hunters. Over the recession period, recuitment agencies vanished without a trace and Job portals went dry.

Naukri.com shares its joy in this extremely expressive ad. I loved it!

Vinnaithaandi Varuvaaya: A Musical Treat

2010-01-17T22:53:00.000-08:00

When was the last time you had gooseflesh when you listened to music. The soundtrack of RDB did that to me. I now have the same kind of feeling when I listen to Vinnaithaandi Varuvaaya; the latest musical offering of AR Rahman.

To be honest, I think that the OST of Slumdog was not Oscar material. ARR did get carried away in the Oscar wave and churned out, some more "not so great" and forgettable music, in the likes of Blue et al . I think he had that guilt in the back of his head, and managed to compose this brilliant piece of work.

For the Junta, Vinnaithaandi Varuvaaya is the next movie by the talented Gautham Menon. It has, the now so(m)b(u)erified Silambarasan and Trisha playing the leads. The movie has a Telugu counterpart too (cliché).

This is the first Tamil composition (correction: has a Malayalam number too) for ARR, after Slumdog, and his first association with Menon. Thamarai, a regular associate of Menon has penned the lyrics for most of the numbers.

There are seven numbers in the soundtrack. Six in Tamil and one in Malayalam. The music is amazing, and reveals better underlying layers when you listen to it (repetitively). The vocals have been rendered by a mix of the seasoned lot (which includes ARR himself) and a couple of new ones. All of this, is of course, classic ARR for you.

I was able to draw out a subtle similarity for a couple of numbers, with popular western music. But you can give it a pass, because as a package, this delivers, and delivers exceptionally well.

Here goes, an insight on the numbers as part of the soundtrack.

"Omana Penne" - This is a hummable number, and I feel has more layers that I am yet to be exposed to. Benny Dayal sounds different and good. He manages to avoid the energy that he used for numbers like Taxi Taxi, and Adiye Kolluthe.

"Anbil Avan" - The music, when the number starts, sounds like that of Venga Boys, but quickly moves away from that crap. This a fast number, capable of shaking legs in the dance floor.

"Vinnai Thandi Varuvayaa" - The title track; a slow paced soothing number with Karthik rendering the vocals. The guitar strings making most of the music. This must be the director's favorite. Methinks he is a sucker for slow numbers and more when Karthik sings them!

"Hosanna" - The most catchy number which has a brilliant mix of rap, that you wouldn't think is on your face. Blaaze does his bit in it. At around 2 minutes 30 seconds into it, you can feel the similarity with Return to Innocence, but again Rahman manages to move away from it.

"Kannukul Kannai" - A regular ARR number, with nothing much special in it; except for the usage of Violin and Naresh Iyer providing you the comfort.

"Mannipaaya" - This is the most fabulous number according to me. It has Shreya Ghoshal & ARR. Shreya is at her pleasant best, like you heard her in Mungaaru MaLe. Also as it goes, ARR saves the best number for himself

"Aaromale" - This is a Malayalam number and is a said to a trial by ARR. It is heavy on acoustic guitar, and found it similar to a Kirtan that George Harrison composed for ISKCON (I could be wrong though).

If you haven't picked up an audio CD yet, go do it now. Last heard, they are selling like hot idlis (will stick with the desi touch! )

The idiot on Radio

2009-12-30T10:33:00.000-08:00

I was listening to Radio One yesterday, while driving to office. RJ Prithvi was at his regular jab-jab. A competition was on, as usual. Tickets for "3 idiots" were given out to the person who claimed to be the best idiot of all.

Prithvi was on air with a caller. The conversation went on like this.

Prithvi: Hi there. You have to prove that you are the "best" idiot of all.

Caller: Sure. I have a question for you.

Prithvi: Sure. Go on.

Caller: Every now and then you keep telling on air - "You are listening to Radio one". I really don't have a clue, how you realised, sitting at the radio station, that I am listening to you?

Prithvi: You are not just an idiot, but a smart idiot.

And declared him the winner. Witty guy, indeed!

Finally!!

2009-07-29T08:53:00.000-07:00

3 years back, when Harsha packed up a cooker with him for his second UK trip, we (as in V5) weren’t sure if all us could or would ever shack-up again.
Forgot shacking up, till date we haven’t met up in full strength.

Come August, this may be possible, thanks to the onsite boys going out of their way to make it happen. I so very wish it would be just were we left off. Since then, obesity, defunct lungs/liver, and not to forget receding hairlines may have changed our health/appearance, but sure when we meet up the odd sense of alienation won't affect us.

As the angrezis are coming down on a very tight schedule, we are presently struggling to finalize a trip to get "wasted". Hope things go well on this, and the other important plans for the boys are not affected...

Somehow, when I think about this, Sid’s dialogue in DCH keeps ringing at the back of my head –

"saal mein theen baar to kyaa... dus saal mein ek baar bhi milnaa mushkil ho jayega."

How rude are you?

2008-11-22T11:56:00.000-08:00

Regular return journey from Office...

Luckily get a bus...Hope onto it, and rush to find a seat. Another person tries to squeeze his way in. I over-power him and get my seat, with a smile of victory on my face...

The other person mumbles a word of apology and finds another seat. I thought, that this happens most of the time, and how people, are usually rude. This time, a word of apology felt better.

Sometime later, another guy comes over and asks my competitor; whether he knows where to get down, much to my amusement.

Stop approaches, and I get up to leave and before that, I decide to take a final look at the "loser". Except that a foldable while stick in his hand, grabs my total attention.

I didn't look up to see his face. I turned around and slowly walked to the door, with my head hung in deep shame....

Vaaranam Aayiram

2008-11-18T09:47:00.000-08:00

Due to prolonged delays in the release of the movie, the element of surprise in the plot is really lost.

The movie as now evident to most of us, revolves a full circle on both the lives of a father and son (both donned by Surya)

First scene - We see a visibly dying, older Surya. His slow and painful death is informed to his army son, who is in the middle of a rescue mission.

The story is then narrated in flash-back with a voice-over from the mourning son - It starts from the early life of his father and continues onto his - childhood, adolescence, Love, loss, drugs, rehab, and finally in the army.

His love for his father is told time and again in the way he says, "Daddy".

The movie has no great depth in plot, but does strike a chord with the audience. I could see most of the women in the hall, weeping bitterly.

Love in all forms is expressed in a very subtle but warm manner.

If you want to know the trophy of the movie.....Its got to be Surya....This must be one of his finest performances....Be it the father, as a total cool-head or his son, as a cliched young blood. The six-pack made all the girls scream their lungs out.

The gracefully older looking Simran too puts up a fine act...

Sameera surprisingly looks pretty and Ramya is wasted...

Music is a fine blend - another great composition from Harris. Except that 7 songs make the already 3+ hours of runtime seem much longer.

Other specifics like cinematography et al, are top notch. SF never looked better, in any another movie.

Reco: A movie of plain-types, but definitely worth a watch, if you can afford to ignore some out of the place action scenes; like that of a kidnap and rescue.

Recommend you to watch the video of this song.

Happy Diwali

2008-10-27T01:23:00.000-07:00

Diwali has always been a favourite festival....Not just for the firework part...but in general...

Be it-

the hot oil bath, before sunrise;
the occasional paaya from Shivaji Nagar;
the trade-mark Masala Dosa/Jamoon combination for breakfast;
the single fire-cracker that must be lit for the saasthram purpose;
or the diyas which beautifully light up the house...

Must of us have matured from an age, where we would envy the neighbour for an extra load of fireworks that he has, to the touch cracker not age

In school and College, Diwali would be a season of pranks; be it the dots which were carefully placed below the chairs...Or the agarbatti bombs which were planted in the loo. The must dificult part was smuggling in the crackers.

@Work, Diwali would just be a reason for us to flaunt our traditional clothes and wait in queue to pick up the yearly mithai. Following this would be a poor dance performance in the roof.

This year many preferred to celebrate a Green Diwali, and vowed not to touch fireworks...But Diwali is far from Green for me....I would prefer more colours, for a rather yucky green!! (Forgive me for the bad humour)

So all of you out there....Have a Happy and SAFE Diwali!!!

Googled Helpline for Diwali related Accidents

To Sir, with Love

2008-10-04T11:17:00.001-07:00

We all have had teachers, helping us pave a perfect path to the future that we decide. With time, we do forget them, unless reminded by one reason or another.

One of them, who I remember is Mr. Padmanabhaiah, a retired Math professor, in pre-university.

The man had long retired from College, but continued to teach at a private tutorial institute. On first encounter, I remember seeing a bald man, with a goNicheela for a bag, and riding on a single-seater Luna.

On strong advice from friends and all, I had decided to attend his CET classes. I should say: those 12 classes that I had attended of his, were unbelievable. My approach towards numbers had taken a turn for the good. It eventually helped in cracking Maths @ CET which was quite a challenge, for most people like me.

His offline help was the best. All the other regular lots were unapproachable post the sessions. So much so for his approachability, some of us had regular visits to his place, to clear the sea of doubts we used to have. All of this, with sumptuous breakfast and hot steaming filter coffee.

As it would happen, post pre-university, college and now in Work, memoirs of him and his unique teaching style, faded away.

Then, one day, I heard from a college friend, that he was no more. In the 2 minutes of mourning, post this news I heard, my mind raced behind in time, remembering all he was, A True teacher...A True Guru.

A Wednesday

2008-10-04T10:48:00.001-07:00

When I heard the title of this movie, I brushed it aside, as just another one. But Naseeruddin Shah and Anupam Kher in the main cast did catch my attention.

When I did manage to watch it a month later, realised that the movie is a neat little surprise package. "Little" here is in the literal sense, cos the movie doesn't stretch beyond 1.5 hours. Think both Shah and Kher, must have had a mind battle, in proving their excellence in acting. Ofcourse, they can be easily dubbed them as the finest actors in contemporary cinema.

The film starts with Prakash Rathod (played by Kher), a retired policeman, narrating an incident which occurred on a Wednesday, during his stint as the Commissioner.

The next scene, cuts to a post middle-aged man (Shah), who is placing bags all over Mumbai; Railway Terminus, Police station et al. The movie gathers steam, when he calls Rathod and says that he has placed bombs all over Mumbai, and will set them off, if 4 deadly terrorists are not released.

After much dabbling and realizing the seriousness of the situation, Rathod obliges. But he gets his best officers, Arif Khan (Jimmy Shergill) and Jai (Amir Bashir), to track the unknown caller. The caller, also informs a TV reporter, Naina Roy (Deepal Shaw) about this, but not providing her the full details. The news hungry Media team implicitly helps him in keeping a track of the situation.

The movie follows through as any other regular thriller, with a predictable twist towards the end.

There are some glitches, like the justification given by Shah, for his act, which seems unreal. The RDX being easily planted in the police station (like he was not frisked) etc etc.

But overall, the plot is pretty tight, with no drag-around (or songs rather). Also, the sorry state of the Indian Media, is exhibited in a very subtle manner.

The dialogue delivery by both Shah and Kher with the camera focused on the face is awesome (Sorry Sarkar, this was much better). Jimmy looks better with less dialogues and being more of a gum chewing, no-nonsense cop.

Something which was rather hard to believe, was the technology used by the Mumbai Police. The scenes where they try to track down the caller, seems a bit Bourneish. Really hope, that they do use such cutting-edge technology, in real life.

Reco: Should watch, if you’re bored of the regular Bollywood flicks. This is a fresh one.

And all you critics who are trying to rip this movie apart, try the other ones around; they are more crappy, according to me.

Best line: "Main apko us aadmi ka naam nahi bataunga…kyunko aadmi, naam mein mazab doond leta hain" (By Rathod in the background)

The Technology Gap

2008-09-22T12:16:00.000-07:00

A few months back, on a weekday, Dad and I were waiting in a large office building, to attend an errand. To fight the boredom, I pulled out my then brand new IPOD, plugged the BOSE in-ear into his ears and made him listen to Ganesha Pancharatnam. He was all but smiles. Then came the obvious question - “How is this possible?”

I was just about to start with the regular jargon to explain the technology, when I had to stop. “Arrr…this wouldn’t be worth the effort” I thought, and it flashily occurred to me, to cook up something.

Nevertheless, my heart didn’t give heed, and I decided to give it a try. I went by the basics, like cassette tapes, “1s and 0s”, types of storage etc, until it looked a bit convincing. To be honest, seeing his face, didn’t look like he had clue.

This is one of many occasions, where the digital world has come face to face with my folks, leaving them clueless. Be it the personal computer, or sending a text from a mobile phone, they always decided to stay away from it.

My brother did take up computer lessons for my mom, until she started bunking it. After ages, she now knows to use a cell phone sans the messaging part. Dad’s not too far. He had computer basics training at work. He had happily flaunted his email-id before me, until he forgot the creds, and then, eventually lost interest.

I guess we have similar cases with people in their generation, and older than them. If we try to find the root cause of this ignorance (rude, but the apt term), feel it has do with both us (the genx) and our folks.

Us: The good enough reason is not being a little patient in trying to explain things to them. Not that they are techni-deficient. They are just not aware. (I must confess, that I haven’t done any good either)
Them: Merely a lack of interest.

Most of the time, our elders learn to use the PC or mobile, out of sheer necessity. Son/daughter abroad, regular calls not possible, Skype looks inevitable. With time they do get the hang of it.

Special cases do exist, when they have great interest in learning new things. Like a grand mom of mine, who had ordered me to teach her messaging, on the mobile. Or his thatha, who would use Outlook with great ease!

My final take on this: The gap is prevalent throughout, but will narrow down, if the techi-brilliant youth and the oldies do their respective bit.

The Rangeela Bus

2008-09-11T09:31:00.000-07:00

The modes of transport in Bangalore still fancy me. The best one I would vote as of now, is the Rangeela bus. These buses as you should know are privately operated and ply from the city to the nearby rural areas. We affectionately christened them as 'Rangeela', owing to their colourful and mosaic/marble appearance.

My first stint with of one their kind was shortly after my return from Vides and initial travel to a new office. I had missed my company cab, and had to reach there by all or any means. The final destination seemed unreachable with the 'ric's asking you the sky, for a short distance fare. The very efficient public buses were not to be seen.

Then somewhere near the corner of the main road, I could see a couple of colourful looking buses, parked back to back. The drivers where roaring the engines of the stationary vehicles, giving you an indication that they would start off anytime. They looked, as if they were set to drag. The green and yellow bus bodies, added to the effect, momentarily giving you flashes of "The Fast and the Furious".

Nonchalantly I walked towards one of them. I was not able to hear a thing, owing to a cacophony created by the constant chanting of the destination(s) and the engine roar.
I was able to figure out that all of them were heading in the same direction and via my office. Left with no other option, I decided to hop onto one of them.

Trouble was to decide on, which one to choose. Considering the time factor, I chose the first bus in the row, brushing away wooing bus agents, with promises of DVD, luxury seats et al. This was, hoping that it would the first one to leave. Yeah I tried to put my Engineering brain into work :)
Murphy proving that he is the best, made me wait until nearly all the other buses left. I had got me Math wrong. Of course, it didn't take me long on realising how I was outsmarted.

Firstly, as pointed out earlier, the first buses in the row, give you an impression that they would be the first to leave.
Secondly they play one of your favourite movies on DVD, and make you forget about the time.
Lastly and probably the best tactic- The whole of the rear-side glass is painted, so you wont be able to make out whether the buses behind you leave or not!

So as it happened, I reached office much late than planned, thanks to the debacle experienced by me.

I vowed that I would never set my foot on another private bus again. That vow or promise that I made to myself diminished with time, thanks to more of cab misses. With time I got used to these Rangeela buses and actually started to have a liking for them. "Come on, no one offers you free movies within city limits!" :)

With experience, as you can say, I was able to figure out the buses which left first. Simple as it would seem, the first ones to leave were the ones which were most crowded! I was also able to figure out the signals given the agents (yes, there are more than one for each bus) to the bus driver.To any new passenger, they all seemed similar and made no sense. But, on close observation I was able to figure out the final signal for take off. It would be a shrill whistle, with constant banging of the bus frame. (hey hey ah ah!)

I now even have an acquaintance with some of them, who just issue a ticket (a dull piece of recycled paper) on seeing me, and blow the whistle, when my no one gets down stop comes.

The five minute journey to office on these buses, on days when I don't make it to the cab, is arguably the most enjoyable part of the day. I would owe it to the full entertainment on a DVD movie, and to more specifically the variety of people I see. Let me not go into detail, on the latter part. You need to see it for yourself. Believe me, its worth the effort.

The picture of a typical bus shown above, was I picked up from here.

A MSS Classic

2008-09-06T13:11:00.000-07:00

This post doesn't talk anything about the legend. Merely a pointer to one of her classic recitals. It's called Kurai Onrun Illai, penned by another great, Rajaji. A rudimentary translation would be - 'I have no shortcomings, Oh Lord'.

Everyone's got a source for a morale booster. For me, I would say, this is one of them. Makes me feel gifted, for whatever I have.

Let me not put the lyrics or the meaning here. There are many close to correct interpretations available for the same. A fairly correct one, as I think, is available here.

As for MSS, this is easily one of her best.

The Star Experience

2008-09-06T12:45:00.000-07:00

After much coaxing or our sheer shamelessness to be honest, the plan that we hatched to 'tax'the 'brothers' did shape up.

The treat at the Taj West End had materialised.

More than the class, there something more historic about the West End. A la British styled buildings surely gives you a different experience.

I wouldn't say I am a foodie or a hotel critic, but surely something to point out;

Pros

The Ambience for sure...Trees and all
The Lobby...woooowww
The fluids...they all looked so colourful, you see.
The candles in the loo ;)

Cons

The dark and dingy entrance.
The lighting in the restaurant...reminded me of the street lights.
The food...if you really look back...they sucked big time
The loo...nothing automatic...The boys forget to flush...

I don't have to talk about the hospitality et al, as that's something implicit, I guess. Let me not talk about the moolah too, cos that didn't bother me(us). We didn't foot the bill you see!

For a fairly middle-class upbringing, my previous visits to * hotels were only during wedding receptions etctctc. That as I told some people was a gumpnalli govinda feeling.

Thanks to the gulti bros, I now KNOW. If you think, that I got a little childish during all this, the answer is YES. I was spoilt you see! :)

40 and beyond

2008-06-04T01:58:00.000-07:00

I still can’t forget that first journey from the Switch to 40. It was a strange feeling- traveling in trains, “tubes” and cabs with aliens around. I was about to meet some of my closest friends and some people I have heard of, but yet to met in-the-flesh. The excitement was at zenith during the travel in the Euston – MK section.

Dhanya-milana did happen on reaching MK. Shortly, I was introduced to 40. You should know that it’s not a stereo-typical one. A perfect “desi-touch” of the you-know-what types!

I have really lost count on the number of times I crashed in there. No London, Scotland, Paris or Wales has been more fun than being in 40. “Jack” used to take a “Walk” every weekend. The food prepared used to be amazing. The movies and cricket matches on TV were like a sone pe suhaga

And ofcourse, each and every person in 40, is a class apart and in their own league. Be it the:

“Director” - with whose help managed see the “stars” we have never seen before; or.
“Manager” whose tea preparation and the gaalis on the phone are un-forgettable; or
“Loyalist” – Whose silence compensated to the chaos created;

The others I really don’t have to mention, as they are close to my heart.

As I glance through some of the snaps every now and then, I really miss the fun and the charm of the place. I wish and hope it still remains an abode to batakti aatmas like me!

No comments

2008-03-30T09:09:00.000-07:00

Time: 19 years back approx
Place: Parade ground road, Bangalore

Two guys, A and B are in a verbal argument. A third guy C, friend to both, intervenes and tries to play peace-maker. Suddenly A pulls out a gun and makes both B and C his target. Fate as it should be, B survives, but C, shot in the kidney collapses in the hospital. All of them where not more 28.

Ask me why I possibly knew this. Well, C was in good acquaintance with our family. This incident was no pleasant one to qualify for a Dr.Bhalerao types and I was not old enough at that time to realise the seriousness.

But I somehow can still remember, my mom reading out the whole scene, from the newspaper. It had made headlines, but the accused was never found guilty.

His bereaved family still feel the pain, of losing a son who was old enough to be on the threshold of marriage...

The race of marks

2008-03-03T08:05:00.000-08:00

Time: Sometime during 1994-95
Place: School, Bangalore
The Hindi papers after correction were being distributed. I was content with the average marks I usually scored. :)
All of a sudden, one of the toppers in the front bench, breaks down and starts crying. Reason, unknown we all go to pacify him and realise that he was one mark short than the girl he used to compete with. All pleading with the teacher to get that extra mark didn't work.
Understanding the seriousness of situation most of the boys moved back except for his ardent followers. It was then, that one of my close friend who scored just a single mark, rose up and declared that his one mark be rewarded to the cry baby!
The look on my teacher's face at that moment and of course ours, would have been worth a million bucks.
I remembered this incident in typical Dr.Bhalerao style, a few days back. Yes, there are indeed some things you really don't forget….

Do you remember the time?

2007-12-08T10:51:00.000-08:00

The train journey
Residence
First day at office
Saket
Balcony talku
Lonavla
Belke nagar
AC wala room
Tub wala bathroom
Dames opposite Krishna Hospital
Akai
Water problems
Gone
Weekend ootas
Introduction to Tipu
Ghazal from Sarfarosh and a Walker
First Thamesu
Goa
Thamesu return
Paper garland
Memory loss
BHF
Muddle on Birthday
Uncle Sam
Yat another Uncle Sam
Thames
Thamesu long termu
Thames return with N70
Thames long term
Thames short Long term
Simple Thames
Simple Thames return
Bengalooru escape
Davangere Wedding
Again Thames long term
Thames short long term return
Mysore
Company escape
Company escape
Thames short long term
Trichy girl in Bengalooru
Thames LOng term?
Thames short long term return
Uncle Samu.......to be contd

Does the above make sense to anyone out there? If it does, then just to let you, that I really miss you and the rest of pack, cherishing the great time we had together. Those were indeed the best days of my life. Don't have much of an argument here. Sorry if I was ever cranky with you in the past and if I messed up the order above.

Communication via the various forms of media helps, but the magic can't be re-lived. Being pragmatic think we all have accepted this fact. Living our lives in different corners. A reunion is not certain in the nearest future.

Staying with unknowns, realise how easy it was with V5.

Strange that I don't remember much of what happened in Pune now. Had to think real hard to recollect all of this. Maybe that's how Life is....

Note: Deliberately missed out the trips, birthdays etc......They ofcourse were critical for the manufacture of the Epoxy resin we were...

Mashed Up

2007-07-25T13:46:00.000-07:00

I have caught a new fever, and its called "M*A*S*H".

Yes, its the same old sitcom, that you and I heard and watched when the TV was above our eye level.

Chanced upon it, and ended up watching 3 seasons in a row.
Briefly it is about a Mobile Army Surgery hospital.

It has umpteen number of funny characters. The main ones being two surgeons, who have a world of their own.

Wiki would offer you a better explaination of plot etc. I cant do it better here. However the two characters that really caught my attention were "Hawk Eye" (One of the surgeon) and obviously "Radar". "Hawk Eye" would be your inherently funny guy, with great one-liners. You can call him Chandler. But I would prefer calling Chandler as Hawk Eye.

Radar is a charming boyish character with an ESP. He is the one, who girls would call "Cho chweet". He is suppose to be a teen in the army. Remember an episode where he says he's 19 and calls himself a colonel! Everyone adores him and Hawk eye once offers to adopt him. He is the one who does the odd jobs.

The whole series revolves around the Korean War. It would be typical to call it a "black comedy", with an Operation theatre scene in every episode.

Another noticable character is the Head Nurse called "Hot lips". She hates Hawk Eye and his accomplice, Trapper, though at one instance she makes out with one of them

The classic part of this series is the perfect balance of humour and grief. The comedy is not vulgar, but naughty sometimes. Death and wounds are vulnerable throughout.

You would laugh your hearts out when you watch it, and maybe sob if you are of the senti types
Right now hunting around to get the whole series on DVD :)

La belle

2007-01-05T07:26:00.000-08:00

Of late I have been missing her a lot. I think I was with her for close to 10 months. Enjoyed every moment with her.

Getting her is/was not easy. They say babes like her are hard to find, leave alone getting one. The best ones are never available.
She was supposed to be former colleague's husband's first wife. Well did you think she was new??? No, you don't get new ones like her. People say she is better that way.

Everyone around me had new ones, and were poking fun that I had a used one. Guess they forgot the old saying..."Old is Gold, New is nuisance"

We were always together. I totally owned her, being really possessive about her. Never really preferred anyone to touch her, though most of them weren't interested, dubbing her as "used". Ayhay I suppose was kind of interested in her and had some secret rendezvous' with her, much to my anger. I had taken really good care, except for once instance during a trip to Sinhgad, when she had fallen sick.

Then the day came when I had to part ways with her. On learning that I was breaking up with her, there were a swarm of contenders to take her away from me. Eventually I had to give her away to a suitable guy. Hope he is taking good care of her.

Even today I miss her lot. The way she was, the way she moved... Errrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr...Dirty Minds...I am pretty sure your imagination would have wandered to the extreme. I guess none of you know that I am not taking about someone human but about my RX-100.

So long then darling, I miss you crazy.

Downtime

2007-01-04T07:26:00.000-08:00

A post after a long time....??? Dont blame me....Was tied down trying live in a jungle called Bangalore(Now Home)....A comparison with my previous lifestyle in Pune would paint a better picture...Here it goes...

Wake-up time
Pune: 9, 10, 11 AM!!!!
B'lore: 6:30 AM

Office travel time
P: 10-15 min
B: 1 hour if you are lucky

Distance to office
P: 4 km
B: 21 km

Crowd in Office
P: Dont have to mention about it!!! :)
B: 90% of the people are from a particular clan

Food at office
P: No comments
B: Then gud...now bad....

Recreation facilities
P: Many
B: What's that???

Traffic
P: Too much
B: Bumper to Bumper

Weekend plans
P: Ever best
B: Crippled by the weekend traffic...

Weekend Getaways
P: All the beautiful places around
B: Forum, Garuda, Downtown, NASA, Amoeba... etcetc (All gas....I hardly go to these places)...Eh Getaway???

Return Home
P: Anytime...!!!
B: Anytime...but welcomed with a worried and angry face....

TV
P: Its always ON
B: Its always ON...But you get to watch SOAPs

Good Night Time
P: Cant remember
B: 11:30PM Max

Dreams
Pune: B'lore
B'lore: Pune

A lot more to pen down.......But its getting late for bed....Guess its Good Night....

On a lighter note.....Its still HOME....

A taste of Biriyani

2006-09-19T07:19:00.001-07:00

Had recently been to Hyderabad on a short trip, due to a series of unfortunate events(wait for a another blog).

My last visit to this place was some ten years ago. I didn't have sweet memories about it. Maybe I didn't see the good part of it. Or maybe it never had a good one.

At around 7:30 AM on a Thursday morning was woken up by a guy saying "Ameerpur osthi". I deciphered that my destination had arrived. Got down from the APSRTC bus which I boarded from Pune. Was invited by a swarm of ric drivers who were trying to get a "boni" (no ill meanings please !!!). Brushed apart their offers, so that I could while-away some time.
Had a flight at 11:45 AM.

Slowing started walking down the road which looked like a bit posh. Was searching for an ATM.
To my surprise all I could find was cyber centres !!! Cyber centres everywhere but not a single ATM. Anyways did come across one after a brisk walk.

Well to say about the city... Wow !!! It has developed amazingly. We used to tease people who had an acquaintance with this place. They would justify that its not the same, as we thought it was. Guess they were right..Kudos to the guys who have made this possible.

When some one talks about Hyderabad, all we think about is the filth and dirt of Golconda fort or the Charminar area or people who speak caustic. Clearly a prejudice. No wonder the Titans of the software world were impressed. Leaving apart the climate (nothing less than that of a desert) there is nothing to complain about this place.

Learnt I was in the Secunderabad part (correct me if I am wrong). Clean roads. Not a spec of dirt. Looked very impressive. Spoke in broken Telugu with some localites, enquiring about the location of the airport. Surprisingly they sounded friendly. I could figure out the route from some key words used by them. I didn't continue the conversation, clearly at loss of words (pun not intended).

Boarded a public bus, which actually was a bit clean. My yardstick had reduced after looking at the PMT buses. Reached the airport in no time.

As I was boarding the flight to Chennai, I sent a silent apology to all the people who were trying glorify Hyderabad. How I had literally shunned them off when they were trying to describe about the place.

Now, it does seem, that the Biriyani comes in different flavours...

Note : Another apology to all the Hyderabadis, if I have missed the others greats of the city. This is what I could capture in a short span of time.

An eye-opener

2006-07-17T05:46:00.000-07:00

Date : Somewhere in april 2006
Time : 3:05 PM
Mood : Tensed.

Me: Boss, got to leave now. Have a flight at 4:00 PM
Boss(trying hard to think): teek hain…call me once you touch down Bangalore.
Me: Ok…

That sounded like freedom. Had to rush. Was of course short of time. Picked up my luggage, and was literally sprinting to the exit, amusing the onlooker
Did Manage to find a lone rickshaw. Shouted at the driver- “airport… jaldi boss”. He shot back- “180 sir”. I was like…”what the…???”
Anyways was in a hurry, agreed for a lesser amount and jumped in.

Now comes the interesting part. As far as I can remember, I think I had one of the best conversations with a rickshaw driver.
First he was all silent, trying to keep up the traffic.(You can imagine traffic at that hour in Pune !!!)
He was maybe 50 or odd and obese.
I was poking him-.”Jaldi karo”.

He then looked back and started the conversation

Driver: Which flight ??
Me: Spice-jet.
Driver: I think kingfisher is better.
Me: Ya I know (surprised by now cos of his flawless English)
Driver: See I how fast I can drive.
Me: Ya thanks.
Driver: For which company do you work at sharda Center.
(Told him the damn name !!)
Driver: I think Infosys is good. You can try there
Me: Ya sure (Angry with myself now)

He went on to ask some personal and professional questions. All of this, in near to perfect English.
It took just 20 minutes to reach the airport, thanks to his amazing speed !!!. Reminded me of Alonso for once. There were some near misses which made me feel something in my mouth (you know whats that !!!).

As I was walking into the security-check area, the driver’s words were ringing in my ears.I was just telling myself- NEVER under-estimate anyone.
Looked like a learned guy. Don’t know under circumstances he ended up as a rickshaw driver.

Maybe that’s how life is. Being unfair sometime. Like there’s guy whose a cashier in a super-market. But is a MSc in CS !!!
Pretty sad, thanks to unemployment.

Im just happy that I have job that pays me and something that I like………Hey wait a minute….Do I really like my job ???? A question worth pondering about !!!!
I sometime really think, that I am no less than that rickshaw guy…..

RDB@TechM

2006-04-21T09:03:00.000-07:00

Everyone knows why the cubicles @ TechM are deserted on Friday evenings. All the jobless ones are there to catch up a movie at the cafeteria.

Any crap movie... theres always a crowd. But today was kinda different. They were playing RDB. Believe me...it was packed to the max....was literally suffocating...A tent was much better...

But people were having all the fun they needed. The only ones who had a surprised look on their faces were some bunch of firangis.

Well did catch up some bit of the movie....Just the JOSH part of it...

Be a Rebel !!!!!

Romeo ya Shravan ??

2006-04-03T22:39:00.000-07:00

Well college time is fun time…. In and out of relationships…most of them light, but some DEAD serious….People who make it all the way to marriage….
I don’t know, haven’t been there completely to know how it feels to be in a relationship (Though being in innumerable platonic ones).

We had this love-pair in college, dubbed as Jodi No.1.Both being my close acquaintances. They surely looked like they were in serious love. Making all vows that they are going to make it all the way.

Being in college was fun for them…Nothing stopping them in the nearest future and not worrying about the ultimatum.
A finger snap and college was done. Both got placed via campus. Still going strong…meeting everyday at lunch. Until both were finally caught. Both their parents were red-faced about their court-ship..

Oh! Forgot to mention, both are from strict religions not allowing conversions. It seems silly but not for the family members. One person marries out of the religion, the whole family is banished from the religious house. Didn’t sound palatable, but was supposed be a ground reality. (Typical filmi ishtyle )

But what the heck … what age are we living in. Religion, caste or whatever - Stuff that are perishing by the day. Religion just can’t be the reason for someone not to make his or her own choice.

Now they are on a detour, trying to make it work from both ways. They just can’t shun their parents just for their love or whatever they call it.
You can call this a catch 22… Weighing the love of your life with someone who has shaped half your life.(Though the choice looked simple for me)

Eventually it is the parents who give in, or compromise to whatever that is coming up. Sometime this compromise works or sometime it doesn’t.
But in this case there is no word of compromise. They are not really interested in one.
From my friends’ point of view, they are in a point of no return. Not ready to break up for good. 3 years was, “sometime” in a relationship. Well all the best budds. There’s nothing that we can do from the ringside.

No suggestions or advice from my side… Do you have any????

What the novice blogger says

2006-04-02T11:03:00.000-07:00

Thanks to avid bloggers like Viky, and now the keen one, santu, here I am plunging into the world of blogging.
Frankly speaking not knowing much of this religion that has crept into the internet world, was wondering what is it that excites people to blog, big time. Did realise in due time...this is serious fun. A window to vent your feelings. Whether you want to swear at your boss, or rather leave out your frustation or express your true feelings about someone. I think it does work......
Having read innumerable blogs, that float around, found out some really great ones... People with dark humour, The MCPs or the romantic ones.....People who would have made great authors or tried getting there !!!!

Well all said and done, lets see where I get, in this world of avid blogging !!!!