gajabhuja funda

David Pogue's lost iPhone

2012-08-03T09:49:00.002+05:30

It seems that NYTimes columnist David Pogue lost his iPhone, and mother of all surprises, managed to get it back. Here is the account straight from the horse's mouth.

After reading that, I was left wondering what would have happened if it were anywhere in any of the (almost all) Asian countries. The person who managed to pick David's pocket, would have actually walked over to the nearest "phone service centre", where a friendly guy would have rooted out the phone, changed the baseband and other software, and made sure it would not be tracked by any kind of online tools. That, ladies and gentlemen, is what a smart thief would do.

I find it amusing that the thief did not have the brains to go the extra distance !

Shyam

Most plastic (non Royal Enfield) motorbike drivers are the scum of the earth. Here's why

2012-06-25T16:06:00.002+05:30

1. No respect for their vehicles -- How long will it take to wipe your vehicle with a piece of cloth before you take it out for the day ? Most vehicles you see on the road are caked with dirt. Furthermore, in most cases, the mirrors are dangling on an awkward angle (on purpose), the chain links are loose and give out a rattling noise, the high beam lights are switched on, so on and so forth.

2. No road sense and discipline -- There is a mad rush to pass any vehicle that is there in front of them, even if it means putting their lives in danger. How often have you seen them move in an orderly manner ? Zilch. None. Nada. If there is a bus/car in front of them, it must be passed and they must move ahead, even if it means blocking the traffic that is coming in the opposite direction. Absolute morons lacking patience .

3. How many of these drivers know to use their rear-view mirrors ? More often than not, you see them cutting across lanes without even checking the traffic behind them. A sure shot recipe for accidents. Further, there is an urge to use the high beam in city roads. A simple way to get them stop using it, is to put them on a highway without a median, and make a truck double down on them with its high beam lights.

Having said all that, there are, of course, a very minuscule minority drivers who stick to the rules and drive perfectly well. And yes, there are some bad apples amongst royal enfield drivers too, who are an utter nuisance on the road.

Any better time to revive this ?

2012-06-02T12:37:00.000+05:30

Illayaraja's birthday - Can there be any other auspicious time to revive this blog ?

As long as people keep learning carnatic music, Illayaraja and his songs will never fade out from public memory.

Here is an instance.

It was the year 2002 in Bangalore. I was bit by the music learning bug, and decided to learn carnatic music. As is my wont, I wanted to try out something off beat, and having seen Prasanna strum out some nice carnatic notes on the guitar, I wanted to try out the same.

Off I went in search of a teacher in and around Domlur/Koramangala area and after many futile attempts where I was told to learn western classical, I finally zeroed in on one teacher.

This was a rather old man, who did not know any language except Kannada. My Kannada was/is rather passable, but I can always pick out phonetics from any new language, and add my interpretations depending on the context, to understand the meaning of a casual conversation.

The classes started in right earnest and call it a stroke of luck or whatsoever, the teacher was fairly happy with the way I was playing the notes. It is a different matter that when he was pushing me towards my first stage performance, I was forced to travel on business and when I returned, he was nowhere to be found, and that ended my brief stint at learning music.

Well, that was a digression and let us come to the point now. On one of those days when I was playing out some notes, he started a conversation with me. I replied in my smattering Kannada that I was from Chennai. His rather angry outburst - "Why are you wasting time in my class ?" He then asked to me to come along with him to his house. Since I thought this was something important, I take along with me another student, who can understand Kannada.

In his house, I see a room full of audio tapes, LP records and cd's of just two people. Steely Dan and Illayaraja. He then proceeds to play some of Steely Dan's records and tells me the equivalent western classical note.

He then takes a deep breath and pauses. He then gives out a stream of ascending and descending notes. He takes out his flute (he was a flautist), and plays those notes over and over again. He then tells me that in all the years that he has been teaching music, he is yet to see the ragam Vachaspathi used in a commercial format in the way he has heard till now, and yet to the purist, it was Vachaspathi in all its unadulterated glory.

In fact, I would have spent a few more years trying to track down the usage of this ragam in film music, and yet I have drawn nothing else except a blank.

That is the magic of Illayaraja. Someone who has no idea of the language could easily listen to this song and understand the nuances involved in it from a purist's point of view, and yet I can recollect this song being played in every nook and corner of TamilNadu when this movie was released.

Happy birthday. And thank you for those wonderful songs that bring back memories.

Shyam

Anna Hazare - Black, White, and shades of Grey

2011-08-27T19:33:00.002+05:30

The recent events over the past few weeks have given rise to quite many questions.
Make no mistake, the questions raised by Anna are very valid, however bad/good his path may be. Haven't our very own holy scriptures and everything else mentioned this -- The path that you take may be through sludge, but you must reach Ayodha ? When our very own members of parliament quote vedas and such, I see nothing wrong in quoting it here.

Here is some food for thought for Anna's detractors. Time and again, the most common statement that is being brandished out without any thought is this -- India is a democracy and it is supreme. Now here are a few questions to those people.

1) Let us assume that in a constituency, a candidate A, out of 100 votes, polls 40. All the remaining candidates poll 60. Obviously enough, A is declared as the winner, oblivious to the fact that 60 candidates did not want him to be their representative. Now, candidate A is the choice of the majority and nothing else. In what way is this different from a group of people demanding something ? If they form a majority voice, why can't they get something done ? And yet, the off repeated statement is that the parliament cannot listen to the voice of a bunch of people who claim they have majority.

2) Gone are the days when a single party had the complete majority. We now have a bunch of people, whose parties would have fought against each other in a few constituencies, coming together post elections to form a government, out of nothing but pure greed. Now, consider this situation -- a convicted felon can contest an election, and win it sitting in the jail. Haven't we forgot Shorabuddin ? In the current state of affairs, assuming that a party needs one seat to form a government, there is nothing to stop this convicted felon from supporting that party and even becoming the prime minister ! Is this democracy ? Isn't this a farce ? Why should the prime minster be above law in this case ?

3) A bunch of statements are being thrown around that Anna is blackmailing the elected representatives. Haven't we forgot the times when the parliament was being blackmailed by someone who was not even elected to the parliament ? Have we forgotten Karunanidhi and his blackmailing methods to get the posts that he wanted ? Have we forgotten Jayalalitha who did the same and forced second elections upon us ?

4) Another off repeated statement is that justice will prevail and most corrupt folks are in jail. Agreed they are in jail, but what happened to the money they looted ? Why should the oppressed and suppressed tax payers of this country bear that burden ?

5) It took a Lokayutka to expose the mining lobby and the scam it perpetrated. However, the lack of sufficient teeth to it resulted in Yeddiyurappa appointing his crony into the Chief minister's post. Is that democracy ?

This country has hundreds of honest and hard working bureaucrats. It would need strong laws and a fear of punishment, for them to continue being honest and hard working.

There are times when poison must be administered as an antidote for poison. This is one of those times.

There may be hundreds of folks out there who are against Anna Hazare. But there is no denying the fact that the questions that he has posed are very real and need to be addressed immediately.

As long as we continue to think that the parliament is supreme, or our version of democracy is the best, the lack of powerful laws will ensure that the efforts of hundreds of people to uphold their duties will go down the drain.

The Indian public has let go of a golden opportunity to do something good for itself, by raising dissenting voices against this opportune moment.

But then again, haven't we known all along that the real enemy for us Indians, is our own brethren ?

Shyam

R.I.P

2011-04-25T13:37:00.002+05:30

Sai Baba, who even if his devotees claim to be a re-incarnation, would justifiably be called so, simply on the strength of his various philanthropic schemes.

Shyam

David vs Goliath

2011-03-07T13:41:00.002+05:30

The recent victory by Ireland cricket team over England during the 2011 world cup does result in some introspection.

Firstly, the ICC, and some captains have gone on record that the number of teams competing the world cup must be restricted. I am of the opinion that it should not be the case, and world cup provides the perfect platform and motivation for a large number of countries, where cricket is not a mainstream sport. The achievements in the world cup would only help in a larger set of people taking up the sport, thereby helping the minnows become better.

In a throwback to a few world cup tournaments prior to this one, if India and Sri Lanka were not allowed to participate, we would not have them in the current state that they are today.

It is a different matter that Cricket prospered in India only because the moronic politicians were unable to interfere in the matters of selection, but that is a discussion for a different day.

Shyam

Alli Thanda Bhoomi

2011-02-21T10:23:00.003+05:30

While there are many a songs being listed out as a tribute to Malaysia Vasudevan, my personal favorite is this

Notice the way he uses his own breath to give an extra effect into the song. IMHO, after SPB, he infused life into Illayaraja's songs.

Shyam

Opening up the weekend

2011-02-04T09:52:00.002+05:30

Paying tribute to SPB's recent award, here are some melodies I heard on the radio the other day.

1. Just close your eyes and check out the drums, the rhythms, the percussion, and yes, that golden voice of SPB. Oh yes, you need to close your eyes to avoid seeing Baghyaraj's ugly dance moves.

2. Just check out the way Illayaraja opens this song. That graceful violins, those hums, foot-tapping drums, and yes, SPB !!

Shyam

Kai veesum Thamarai

2011-01-24T17:05:00.003+05:30

One of those days when I came home early from work and decided to have a small walk around the streets of my house, with the radio plugged into my ears.

The station played this song. I was then taken back to my returning-from-school times, when I distinctly remember this song playing out on the radio. Bliss. Illayaraja is thy name. Check out the way he opens the song, and yes, SPB's sweet voice that caresses the words & our senses.

As a bonus, here is another amazing song that is frequently played on Television. Oh yes, check out that violin interlude at the beginning of the song.

Kaavalan Review - The one in which Illaya-thalapathy roars back to life

2011-01-18T14:11:00.002+05:30

Finally ! Illaya-thalapathy Vijay comes back alive. I guess someone did some hard talk with him. All that preachy nonsense, highfalutin approach, un-necessary interference into director's realm, tampering with the story-line, e.t.c., had just one outcome -- a string of flops and thousands of internet memes and jokes.

With Kaavalan, he returns back to doing what he needs to do -- follow orders.

Kaavalan, essentially a remake from a Malayalam movie (I hear that while the base storyline is the same, there have been numerous additions/deletions), is simple and clean storytelling.

Vijay is someone who does not do anything worthwhile with his life. Fed up with this, his parents pack him off to a reformed rowdy, Rajkiran, who was instrumental in helping his mother sail through her childbirth, to serve has his bodyguard.

Rajkiran, decides that he does not have any enemies, and fearing for his daughter Asin's life, packs Vijay off as a bodyguard for his daughter when she goes off to the city for her education.

Asin decides to play a prank on Vijay to make him let-go of his bodyguard costumes, and in general, adopt a take-it-easy attitude. She calls him up and poses as his college mate, who is madly in love with him.

What happens in the end ? Does Asin pair up with Vijay ? How does Vijay vanquish the threat to Asin's life ? All these questions are revealed and much more in simple, and straight forward narration. Watch out for the rather predictable twist in the climax scenes.

Vadivelu is Vijay's side-kick. He provides some outstanding laughs. Notable among those are the "Parvathi Nambiar" joke sequence, and the barging-into-ladies-hostel sequence. As always, his facial expressions and voice modulations are out of the world.

Vijay throws out all the mannerisms and hand-swishing that we have seen in his past few movies, and tries really hard to convey the emotions through his eyes and facial expressions. I must say that he passes muster.

Asin does what is required of her, and so does the actress who appears as her friend.

Background score and songs are by Vidhyasagar. The "step-up" song has some decent rhythm and some nice moves by Vijay.

A must watch, if only to get some relief that Vijay has finally broken free from that dangerous mold that he was getting into.

Welcome back Illaya-Thalapathy Vijay. We did miss you for almost four years, where you thought that just by spewing dialogues loaded with political overtones, and trying to portray an image that you were the all saving messiah, you could be the next super-star. It takes quite a few decent movies and hits like these to get there.

Shyam

Enna Sattham (What's that sound ??)

2010-11-23T09:40:00.002+05:30

It is around 5.00 AM. No light anywhere on the road except for the light from the full moon. It has just stopped raining and the roads are still wet. No traffic on the road. Not a soul. No other noise, except for the sound of your feet pattering away, running, and your breath.

A gentle drizzle starts. Neither too heavy as to obstruct your running, nor too light. Just enough to wash away that sweat that has formed on your brow.

And then, as if on cue, the radio plays this song. What else does one need in life ?

Bliss.

Shyam

Bangalore Ultra Marathon 2010

2010-11-19T10:51:00.005+05:30

And so I am an ultra-marathoner too. It is rather disappointing that I could not finish within the time I had set myself for (I took around an hour or so extra, primarily due to extreme heat and deficient practice). However, there is always the next year.

The target was to finish the run, as my previous attempt in 2008 had to be aborted. The last 12.5 km took an eternity with agonizing stomach cramps and extreme dehydration. I later found that in spite of eating bananas and oranges at regular intervals, somehow my body got drained of salts. I got sugar and salt from a local tea shop, mixed it in water and gulped them down to drag myself to the finish line. But, the aim was clear. Crawl I will, if I had to, but I was not coming back home without the finisher's medal.

First 12.5km took 80 mins, next 12.5km took around 110 minutes, primarily because I was goading my brother Sathish to continue the run as he started experiencing difficulty in breathing. He later dropped out. The third 12.5 km took 120 minutes. The last 12.5km should have taken 120 minutes, but took around 180 minutes. The original plan before I started was to finish the first 12.5km in 80 minutes, the second in 90 minutes, the third in 110 minutes and the fourth in 120 minutes.

Lessons learnt:
1. Take date fruits or some other eatables. The bananas and oranges that are being provided do not quite make the cut.
2. Take Glucon-D. The lucosade that was being provided sucked big time.
3. Take a cap. The heat was bad, so bad that if I wet my head, it would dry out completely in under 8 minutes. And no, I am not bald !!

Finisher's medal dedicated to the missus (this incidentally is my first full marathon post marriage), who does not mind my continued indulgence in these crazy-ass activities.

Shyam

Pesa koodadhu (Don't speak)

2010-11-10T09:37:00.002+05:30

No, I am not referring to the song from the band No Doubt, but from someone, who without any iota of doubt whatsoever, is probably the best musician of all time -- Illayaraja.

1983 - Adutha varisu. Almost 30 years hence, this song is still so very stunning and fresh to listen to. Check out the violins, the string arrangement. Oh boy, the goose bumps inducing S.P.Balasubramaniam's voice. When this comes out on the radio on your way to work, you know for sure that your day would also rock.

Oh yes, this movie also had the other super hit song, Aasai nooru vagai, remix of which is still rocking the dance floors all over the world.

Shyam

Worrisome

2010-11-03T09:16:00.003+05:30

The recent spate of kidnapping incidents in TamilNadu is rather unsettling. Firstly, two kids were kidnapped and killed in Coimbatore, and secondly, another kid was kidnapped in Madras, and was released after a ransom was paid.

While this points to a general failure in law and order in the minority government led by an inept and a senile old man (Well, his law minister's nephew is the chief accused in a mass murder case), we shall place that aside for the while, and focus on something that is more important at a larger scale.

What do parents struggle hard for ? To provide for their kids. To provide the best possible comforts. Now, is this struggle worth the tension of leaving your kids with random strangers ? I am not saying that the women of the house must not work, or the men of the house must not work.

When the parents work hard to earn money and further their careers, do they even realize the risk that they are putting their kids to, when they send them to schools with random strangers ?

My argument is simple. If all the money that you earn cannot ensure the safety of your kids, there is no point in earning that money.

In both the kidnapping incidents, if you note carefully, their mothers were not working. There is nothing that prevents those mothers from escorting their kids to and from school.

While the wise men may come back and argue with me, that when the kidnappers want to kidnap someone they will do so, it would be prudent on the part of parents to ensure that they do not leave an opening for the kidnappers to take advantage of.

Heck, I know of sons and daughters of district collectors and other high ranked officials, who sent their children to school just like other parents -- in a government bus, or a van, along with other school children.

When you are a parent are not willing to go that extra yard to ensure your child's safety, this is what will happen. We are not living in a Utopian society, but one in which people who want to make a fast buck exist.

Shyam

Road Trip Reprise

2010-10-29T10:36:00.002+05:30

Around four years ago, a bunch of crazy folks, including me, cycled from Bangalore to Madras, during peak summer, in two days. You can read all about it here

Well, at the end of the trip, there was a crazy idea inside me that I should fight to finish it in under 24 hours.

Tomorrow, 30th October, a different bunch of guys, including me, are trying to do it.

We plan to start from Bangalore at 3.00AM. Weather, mind, and body willing, we will make it to Madras by nightfall. Fingers crossed, and yes, expect regular twitter updates ;-)

Shyam

Loud-Mouth

2010-10-27T09:00:00.002+05:30

There is a verse in a in Tamil song --நாத்திகத்தை பேசிட நாக்கு தந்தது யாரடி ?? meaning, who gave the power of speech and tongue to Atheists ?

Freedom of speech, or in general, freedom to do anything has its limits. Freedom always has a price. It assumes that the person who is going to use that freedom understands the situation in which he/she is in, and exercises that freedom with caution. Remember the words -- With great power comes great responsibility ?

The recent Arundathi Roy incidents are a fine example of utter callousness and totally irresponsible behavior. Granted that she has freedom to speak her mind and all that, being a so called "intellectual" and "thinker" she needs to understand the environment and the surroundings in which she is in, before making such silly and highly controversial statements.

Further, she speaks assuming herself to be the voice of the entire people of the Kashmir valley. When a person thinks of him/herself as a self proclaimed messiah of the masses, hubris is bound to occur, and this is a fine example.

Such inflammatory statements would do nothing towards solving the bigger problem at hand, but would only provide fodder for the extremists, and "sound bytes" for the hungry yellow journalists .(all ye folks from Times Now, CNN-IBN, Headlines Today, The Hindu, e.t.c., raise your hands now!!)

The Government of India, and the people of Kashmir would do well to ignore such silly and childish remarks from arm-chair intellectuals and moronic thinkers.

Shyam

Perceptions - The brain of Men vs Women

2010-10-18T11:46:00.001+05:30

Outrageously hilarious.

Shyam

Can it get any worse than this ?

2010-10-11T10:13:00.001+05:30

A student in California finds a tracking device in his car. It turns out that the FBI planted it there.

WTF ???

Shyam

Perceptions

2010-10-11T10:09:00.001+05:30

This short clip illustrates why men are from mars, and women are from venus.

Enjoy !!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oSIqgBP2CqI

Shyam

The trip that was not meant to be - Part 2

2010-10-07T09:51:00.003+05:30

The first part of the travelouge is up here.

And so the next day the plan was to leave at 6AM. The train journey seemed to have hit a few of us. We started from Ambala Cantonment at 8AM. The plan was to reach Manali by nightfall. We were yet to have breakfast, and decided to have it once we cross Ambala. We were out of money and started the hunt for an ATM.

What would you do if you go to an ATM booth and find it locked ? Move to next one right ? What would you do if all of them are locked and the guards outside tell you that they open at 9.00AM and close by 6.00PM ? Just slap yourself on your forehead and curse your luck. We then decided to get to Ambala town a short distance away.

We did manage to withdraw money, but not before we checked around 12-15 ATM's none of which had any cash with them. Ambala is a strange place I tell you.

The next stop was at a petrol pump to fill up our tanks. Anand got duped of 100Rs here, when the filling agent did not reset the petrol pump's meter. We then decided to check the air levels in our tyres. That is when we got the first indication that whatever happens, chance will favor the prepared mind.

The alert sardarji noticed that the tires of my motorcycle had fresh cut marks. Something was rubbing really hard against it. He gave it another 500km before my tyres burst up. We removed all the luggage from the bike and checked it. The screws of the mudguard were indeed rubbing against the tyres. We spent the best part of an hour fixing it. It was now 10AM and we were hungry. We moved over the nearest Dhaba and had some amazing aloo paratas and curd. By the time we started our journey, it was close to 11.30AM, a delay of 5 hours, which in hindsight would cost us dearly.

We had found a scenic alternative route from Amabala to Manali here. We decided to take that. As mentioned, it was indeed scenic till we reached Ropar. In case you did not know, there is now a IIT-Ropar ;-)

We did cross a canal like that and for most part of the journey, it was indeed peaceful to drive through, with minimum traffic, and a nice river alongside. Little did we know that for the best part of our remaining journey, a river would follow us ;-)

Since we had a rather heavy breakfast, we did not feel the need for a lunch. We reached Ropar town, and stopped for some tea. The shop owner told us that we would have the hills coming at us in a short while from now.

Soon enough, we did start our ascent. It was not easy, given the fact that we did have some luggage.

We crossed Bilaspur town. It started to drizzle. In a highway, if it rains, the wisest thing to do is to continue riding, as there is a distinct possibility that there would not be any rains when you cross some disance. On the mountains, it is not the case. However, we assumed that there would be no rains when we ride ahead and continued doing so. The drizzle turned into a torrential downpour. Sathish stopped as he was unable ride in total darkness with heavy rains. Anand did not notice that we had stopped and he continued along, in the wrong direction !

We all stopped in a tea shop to make sure we do not get washed away by the rains !! It did not matter much; we were already soaking wet. After sometime, Anand returned and joined us in our shelter. We met a few folks in that shelter, albeit drunk, who advised us to go forward for a few more kilometers and we should be able to find a place to stay. Sathish did not want to listen to them, and we decided to drive back to Bilaspur, a distance of around 10 or so KM. I decided to be in front and everyone else decided that we would follow our respective tail lights. We started our drive back to Bilaspur. Halfway through, after much asking around, we found out that we were in the wrong direction, and as suggested by the drunk folks, there was a place to stay further ahead.

We then drove over and reached a resort Midway. As the name suggests, it is midway between Delhi and Manali. We managed to bargain the rates for two rooms and they were kind enough to provide us with piping hot food. We wovled it down our throats and went to sleep. We wanted to start early the next day. Manali was just 100km or so away.

The next dya, we decided to enjoy the mountain journey and take it easy. Manali was nearby and hence, we decided to enjoy the sights and sounds that we saw on the route.

The first beautiful spot we reached was the dam in Sundar Nagar.

We also passed the beas river and that huge 3km tunnel.

And yes, given that it was the mountains, there was blue sky all around, of course, when it did not rain !!!

We reached Manali rather lazily at sometime in the afternoon. We had a rather lazy lunch in Kulu near the Airport. It was a rather tasty and lavish affair. We checked into Hotel Chaman, just near the shoping complexes. It was not all that great, but we just needed a place to stay for the night. We had already lost a day, and we wanted to cross Rhotang, and get to Sarchu by the next day. We went to bed.

Little did Sathish and Anand know that they would be coming back to Manali the very next day, in an Army truck, at the dead of the night.

Shyam

The perfect Sunday a.k.a how I converted the Citibank Chennai Runners Half Marathon 2010 to a duathalon

2010-10-03T11:27:00.002+05:30

And so today was the chennai runners half marathon on ECR. Give the fact that the venue was just around 25km form my house, I thought it would be nice to bi-cycle down to the venue and run the half marathon.

Given that I have quite a few endurance events coming up over the next few months, I thought it would be worthwhile to try it out.

Since the event was supposed to start at 5.30AM, I thought of leaving my house by 3.45AM or 4.00AM and cycle down in a relaxed manner, so as to not affect my run.

However, instead of keeping the alarm for 3.15AM, I had kept it for 3.45AM. By the time I let the house it was close to 4.30AM. There was a fleeting thought in my mind that I should take the motorbike, but then I decided against it.

A few kilometers away from my house, it started pouring like cats and dogs. I felt that the weather gods were helping me in my crazy ass attempt. For the next three hours or so, it rained like crazy.

I pedaled hard and covered the 25km distance in 48 minutes. There wasn't much time to relax before the run began. I did not want to exert myself too much as I needed to cycle back home for a distance of another 25km. I set myself a target of 150 minutes to complete the 21km run, and I did complete it in 165 minutes.

I managed to bump into the Chennai Runner's regulars. After a nice shower and breakfast, I started the return bi-cycling trip back home. I was in no hurry and completed the distance in around 70 minutes.

Now, for a nice bath, and to plonk myself in front of the idiot box. This is what a Sunday is all about !!!

Shyam

Endhinran Review

2010-10-01T18:46:00.002+05:30

What would you do when you see super star Rajinikanth on the screen ? Whistle, howl, cat-call ? What would you do when you see 100's of them ? 1000's of them ?

That ladies and gentlemen, is what endhiran(robot), Superstar Rajinikanth's latest flick, is all about. What would happen when a robot acquires the ability to feel ? To sense ? The so called sixth sense ? Now, whether a robot can get that sense or not is immaterial. After all, we have seen movies prior to this with the same theme.

Rajinikanth is a scientist, who is trying to create a humanoid, who can help the Indian Army. His senior is trying pretty much the same, albeit with a darker motive. Aishwarya plays his love interest.

Santhanam and Karunas play his lab assistants and try to evoke a laugh or two, but fall hopelessly flat.

After a rather bizarre fire rescue attempt that goes hopelessly wrong, Rajinikanth infuses the idea of sense, the ability to feel into the robot. The robot now falls for Aishwarya Rai.

What happens next forms the story. Does the robot succeed ?

The first half of the movie moves at a rather relaxed pace. One can actually term it slow. One expects the second half to pick up steam and chug along. However, that is not the case.

In an act of sheer frustration, Rajinikanth destroys the Robot. WHat happens next to the robot forms the best part of the second half.

The last 30 minutes or so of the second half is where Rajinikanth creams everyone in the movie. Some brilliant voice and facial modulations make for more than 120+ minutes of slow paced story telling.

The camera work is of rather decent quality. Special mention must be made of the special effects, particularly in the climax scenes. Unlike any other special effects that we have seen in Indian movies, the effects do not look jarring or out of place. The only one place in the entire movie where the special effects looked totally bad was when Rajinikanth tosses a baby to play with it.

Aishwarya Rai is/was expected to sleep walk throughout the movie and she does what is expected of her.

While this movie is in no way comparable to Rajinikanth's earlier cult classic Padayappa, this movie does have its moments. Watch out for that goat bleating sound.

The songs by A.R.Rahman are not pretty bad at all. However, considering his earlier scores, this does not impress that much. There could have been some more effort on the background score.

Shankar has been trying to change the time tested formula of Rajinikanth's movies -- an opening song showcasing the hero as demigod, sentiments involving sisters, mothers, the usual formulaic jazz. He tried that in Sivaji with quite bad results. He does seem to have succeeded in this movie.

All in all, this movie is definitely worth the price of your ticket. In fact, one could actually sit through a best part of the movie, to be treated to a 25 minute or so graphical extravaganza.

Shyam

Mistaken Identity

2010-09-24T09:30:00.003+05:30

And so yesterday, I was returning back home in my Maruthi car. The car has totally darkened windows and a fairly large portion of the windshield is tinted too.

I was having a minor problem with my ear and the itching was fairly un-bearable.

Suddenly, there was a cop near my window, on a motorcycle, barking at me to slow down. I did, even though I did not know why he was asking me to do so.

What follows is an exchange between me and the cop

Cop: Pay up 1500 Rs fine.
Me; Why ? What did I do ? I even have me seat belt on.
Cop: I shouted at you in the signal for talking on your mobile while driving, and I have chased you for almost one kilometer. (At this moment I wanted to reply back like vadivelu in the movie Kandasamy -- Unga judgment Romba Thappu!!)
Me: Sir, I have problem with my ear. It is itching.
Cop: Don't act smart. In the meanwhile, some arbitrary fellow stops is motorcycle next to my car and tells the cop that I have been talking on my mobile for quite sometime.
Cop: See even the public have noticed you.
Me: No public or private business, I was not talking on my mobile. It is not even there in my hands, and it is in my pocket.
Cop: Show me your license.
Me: Take it. He inspects it and is satisfied that I have a license.
Cop: No, I am not convinced, am I lying ?
Me: No, you are not lying, but you did not notice it properly.
Cop is still hesitating.
Me: Switching to local tamil. Anna, trust me. I am not lying, nor are you lying. You did not notice it properly. The glasses are tinted and so is the windshield. There are a lot of cars on the road like this.
Cop: Hesitates and gives back the license.
Me (in a lighter vein): Look around you, lots of guys are speeding, and not wearing helmet. Stop them quick.

The cop goes away.

Shyam

The trip that was not meant to be - Part 1

2010-09-14T11:11:00.002+05:30

This is not an ordinary travelogue. This is a story of how a few people tried to motorbike all the way to Leh from Delhi, and at every point along the way, kept meeting the obstacles that the elements of nature threw at them, and yet, at the end of the day, survived.

What would you do if you are in a remotest corner of Spiti valley and find that the motorbike has a flat wheel ? Further, what would you do when you have the tools, and yet do not have a foot pump to fill up wheel ?

Read on.

It was a simple plan. Book the bikes on a train from Madras to New Delhi, start riding from New Delhi. We did exactly that. The bikes were off on a train to Delhi. We used the services of Green Express Cargo, a private contractor, who has taken out railway compartments on lease.

On the 30th of July, Sathish, Anand, Missus, and N, boarded the train at Chennai. We were scheduled to meet a few other friends in Delhi. The train journey was rather comfortable. Well, who ever said an air-conditioned compartment is not comfortable ? The only sore point was the absence of the hawkers, but on the plus side, we did not have to squeeze half-a-dozen of us into one single seat.

For a journey of 30+ hours, the train was surprisingly on time. We got down at Delhi and moved all our luggage to Ginger hotel right next to the railway station. The plan was to get the motor-bikes out from the train and leave as early as possible. Anand had to go to a different place to collect his motor-bike.

We had just two weeks time with us. In hindsight, you would need three weeks to enjoy the journey and the destination. If you have two weeks, your concentration must be to reach Leh, not to enjoy the journey. If we had done that, in all probability, you may not be reading this post, or our motor-bikes would be left stranded in Leh !!

At around 2.00PM, the bikes were made ready. In the time that Anand had gone to collect his bike, Sathish and myself went over to Karol Bagh and got a carrier fixed on one of the motorbikes. Note to future travelers -- get your motorbikes checked with a mechanic in Karol Bagh. The point is that most mechanics in Madras, or down South, are not familiar with tuning the bikes for the hilly terrain, but the mechanics in Delhi would be. One such mechanic is Gurdayal Singh, a.k.a, Bawa. His garage is close to Southern Hotel.

The ride plan was simple, Delhi to Manali, Manali to Leh. Since we had a late start, we decided to halt for the day in Ambala. The ride till Ambala was fairly peaceful, on a four laned highway. Of course, we needed to ask around quite many people for directions to get out of Delhi, which took us an hour or so. But once that was done, we were on the highway. As always, I decided to stick to 75-80 kmph speed for a comfortable ride. We stopped for lunch on a highway Dhaba, which strangely enough was a pure vegetarian joint. I was rather surprised to find a highway dhaba that was purely vegetarian.

By nightfall, we reached Ambala. Of course we did get to see a nice setting sun along with verdant grass fields.

We checked in Hotel Puran Palace in Ambala Cantonment for the night. An air-conditioned room was going at 850 Rs. After some haggling, we got it down to 650Rs per room. It was a rather decent place and the food was quite tasty. We slept for the night. Tomorrow was going to be a long day. The plan was to reach Manali. Did we ?

Shyam

Tanjore Brihadeeshwara temple

2010-08-31T11:46:00.003+05:30

Sometime back, I visited the Brihadeeshwara temple in Tanjore and managed to click a few snaps.

I think this one came out pretty decently.

Click here to see the rest of the pictures.

Shyam