Rendezvous with life...

Marina - Movie review

2012-02-11T11:49:00.000-08:00

On watching the trailers i was skeptic that the director of the movie has cast Sivakarthikeyan as hero falling to halo effect(I am a fan of siva and not taking any credit away from him).But on watching the movie it became obvious that sivakarthikeyan played only a small part in the movie.Built around the lives of young boys making a living on marina beach, the story starts with the scene of ambigavathy(the lead protagonist boy) arriving at chennai with the catchy 'Vanakkam Valavaikum chennai' song played on the background.He goes on to make friendship with fellow vendor boys accompanied by a beggar grandpa.The story moves on with sub plots revolving around different characters and ends with the message of the importance of educating children.

Characters & Sub plots..

Ambigavathy(Pakkada Pandiyan)..

Ambigavathy can well be acclaimed as the hero of the movie.He sells water packets on the beach,makes friendship with fellow vendors,strikes a grandson-grandpa relationship with a old beggar,gets depressed when his friend is snatched away by the police and finally emotes well when the old beggar dies..

Nathan & Swopnasundari(Sivakarthikeyan & Oviya)..

                Sivakarthikeyan plays a jovial romeo role and brings up his funny attitude on the screen along with Oviya who plays his lady love character.They break up in a funny way with Siva sending her aapu,rivet,pannada in real..

Sundarrajan(Old beggar) & Jithan Mohan(Postman) ..

                Ambigavathy meets an old beggar in the very first scene who goes on to accompany the vendor boys.He falls in love with them,helps them by sending them to children's home on seeing their sufferings,gets frustrated when he is not treated well and finally dies having got admission for ambigavathy and fellow vendor boys..
              Postman uncle enters the screen being asked to judge by the boys for their game of who pees the longest,later on again for who pees the most.He chides them but later on comes forward to award them trophy for a cricket match and accompanies them till the end..
Mentally disabled role & Jayaprakash(Teacher)..
   A mentally disabled character claims to have rent marina to the beach comers and bursts into fury on seeing couples together, well adding flavor to the movie.
   Pandiraj conveys his message through Jayaprakash(i became his fan too after watching him in pasanga,yutham sei and a few other movies).A very small role for him and he does well..
Ambigavathy's friend..
            Pulled to marina after absconding from home he becomes Ambigavathy's close friend and provides him accommodation on the beach.Having pelt stone at a police offer's son's head he is being searched by two police men who also add humor to the movie.He is snatched away by them and is produced at the police officer's home where a satirical end follows..

Marina..
             Home to vendor boys,beggars,romantic couples marina also stands as home to the movie's plot and serves as its backbone..

Director Pandiraj has written a story around the lives of young boys again and has drawn the plot well, though a bit slow moving at few places.

In short,

Marina, Signature movie of Pandiraj

P.S:My first movie after shifting to chennai.

வணக்கம் வாழ வைக்கும் சென்னை , பிடிகுதுன்னை..

Adieu Bombay

2012-01-25T02:28:00.000-08:00

From

Vijay,
Soon to be ex-mumbaikar,
Mumbai,
Maharashtra,
India.

To,

Bombay,
Mumbai,
Maharashtra,
India.

Hey Bombay,
                  Keise ho thum? Hope things are fine.I am leaving mumbai.Just wanted to write to you before leaving...

                  I dont want to waste your time with long flashback stories.I know you are a busy guy.Just a short and quick letter.

                  You know it was tough surviving with you not knowing hindi but i enjoyed the little adventure...Arrey i even used google images yaar, to explain a shopwala while buying tamarind.
'Imli' he told me...But hindi is not really needed if you have google translator and stuff with you...what say??

                  Hmmm..Hindi is ok.But i cant really bear the traffic and crowd.Mumbaikars are so used to it that we take it for granted.You are really crowded yaar..Everywhere it is a public gathering.Traffic is stressful.And local trains? Should i tell you about that? Jampacked high dense human carrying machine it is.Terrorism is not really a threat re.This local trains are.Just find some more trains or do something i dont know..

                  And about this real estate.Kithna ghar i will keep hopping yaar.I lived in 6 houses in 3 years and i know i am not alone.And rent is too high re.There are too many high rise flats with you, looking like a human zoo.Humans are not supposed to live in cages yaar.I want to live in a grounded house with pets and a small garden if possible.This flat doesnt suit me.

                  These malls are omnipresent.That is cool.I am not a party guy but i love hanging around in malls mostly at the book store and ofcourse add to that oogling.You have hot girls yaar.Beautiful.God is great.Bahoth miss karoonga.

                  And dude dont worry about this terrorists much.They attacked twice during my time.They are like that only.You carry on your work..

                  Hmmm you are a money making machine.And you make a lot in bollywood i guess.You know, in South India they have to screen a movie for atleast 50 days to earn good profit.You do it just in one week buddy.Quite a big fan base man...This Hrithik Roshan is incredibly handsome dude...And hot actressess too..
                  And what else...got very good north indian friends yaar.I will miss them definitely.'ll miss interacting with people from various cultures.

Anyways,
Bye re.Keep in touch.

Regards,
Vijay,
Ex-mumbaikar

12 things to watch out in 2012

2012-01-20T07:44:00.000-08:00

Pre-script: The following events are predicted using Turing Machine, invented by Alan Turing ,after whom the year 2012 has been called Alan Turing Year.

1--Kolaveri Rage continues.
Having captured millions of hearts with its peppy tune and non-sense lyrics,Kolaveri continues its rage ,now though among new born babies, all over the world.Several cases have been reported of new born babies crying 'Why this kolaveri di?' on delivery, replacing the usual 'hua hua' cry.Mothers are deeply disturbed over their babies's rage.Doctors argue that babies finally found the words to express their discomfort of popping out.Thanks to Dhanush and team.

2--Dhoni happy over Team India's triumph of 25 straight defeats overseas.
   Captain cool still kept his cool after Team India lost the final test match of the Test series against Zimbabwe (5-0) at Zimbabwe.Match got over on the first day after Zimbabwe refused to bowl seeing Indians deliberately giving up their wickets.They were persuaded after Dhoni told Zimbabwe captain that he wanted the 25 th straight defeat to be a memorable one.

3--Corruption in Lokpal.

   Thambi Hazare, a distant cousin of Anna Hazare underwent indefinite fast against his brother citing corruption in Lokpal committee.An official in Lokpal is reported to have taken bribe from a corrupt official for clearing his offense.He has drafted a bill asking to set up a committee to find corrupt officials in Lokpal and give them full authority to punish the corrupt.A separate committee named 'Prevention of Recursive Committee Formation' has also been formed to break recursion.

4--Chennai renamed to Madras.

                          Tamil nadu Chief minister renamed Chennai to Madras citing that 'Chennai sounds like the popular tamil slang word Vennai'. Opposition party leader slammed her for reverting the name change done during his regime .The CM is reported to have used the same slang word in reply.Local Tamils wonder when they would care about the state, leaving behind their family tussles.

5--Dirty Picture 2.

                          Vidya Balan's bold attempts in Dirty Picture is to be continued in its sequel, following its block buster performance and revolutionary ideas.Nasirudin Shah is to be replaced by South Indian icon T R Rajendran who is working on his six packs for the same, in the path of his son Simbu.The director of the movie assures that the youth of india will stop downloading porns and go for his movie instead.

6-- Terrorists attacked in Mumbai.

                           It has been a normal trend that terrorists attack Mumbai when they feel bored.But 2012 turned out be a nightmare to them when their plans were blown off by the localites, who not only attacked them back but punished them with these tasks:
                   1.Board the busiest mumbai local train during the busiest hours 5 times.
   2.Get stuck in mumbai's busiest road traffic and be patient.
                   3.Buy a house in mumbai.
The terrorists are reported to have committed suicide on just hearing the punishment.

7-- Incredible android apps.

                          If you were excited about android apps driving away mosquitoes,used as torch lights,helping you find nearby restaurants,giving you spiritual advice,book tickets ..phoo phoo them. 2012 offers even better android apps.A developer is believed to have invented an app to find out what lies in a girl's heart and boys are in chaos now.

8--Enthiran 2.0.

   Director Shankar released his sequel to Enthiran, Enthiran 2.0.Top 20 Rajnikanth jokes have been filmed in this movie like Rajnikanth giving missed call to his own number,dividing infinity by two,tsunami rising out on Rajni swimming in the Indian Ocean etc.When Shankar was asked how he could film Rajnikanth dividng infinity by two, he looked at Rajnikanth and Rajnikanth smiled.

9--Kalmadi and A.Raja regain their lost positions.

                          Kalmadi regained his presidential position in Indian Olympics Association and assured that he will continue his good work in the coming years.On similar terms A.Raja regained his ministerial position and said that he would fare better in 3G.Times of India quoted him saying 'Faster.Smarter.Better'

10.Global Warming became Global Heating.

                          With no one paying real attention to global warming, it ascended itself to global heating.Oil prices went down as people got heat energy for free.Arabian countries lost their revenue.Omlets appeared just on breaking eggs.Solar energy became the most used source of energy.

11.Birth of a new world.

                         Life ended.Privileged group of people were chosen to maintain the human species,carried on a giant ship and restored to a safe place. George Bush was missed out in the squad and he is reported to have SMS ed from hell to the ship captain 'Why did ya leave me, you idiot?Its fucking burning here!'. World map changed.Google Maps were updated.

12.SOPA (Stop Online Privacy Act).

                         SOPA bill is passed.A blogger by the name Vijay who reportedly wrote obscene things on politics,bollywood and society in his blog '12 things to watch out in 2012' (in addition to using an image downloaded from someone else's website)is arrested and put in jail for five years.His website http://www.vijayunplugged.com/ is demolished.

Watch out i am not kidding!..

Hiranandani Gardens,Powai,Mumbai-76

2011-12-20T10:11:00.001-08:00

Strolling down to office....

Beautifully crafted and built with business acumen, Hiranandani is a treat to one's aesthetic sense.My office is located in this little heaven and but for my job i would embrace this place with my full heart.It all started with one man's vision, Niranjan Hirandani, when he decided to tranform a forest area into an artistically weaved business cum residential centre.Built on Greco-Roman architecture, its faint yellow color mesmerizes me as i stroll down to my office.Bearing 42 residential buildings each named with European names like Valentina,Trivoli,Evita it hangs as a jewel in Bombay's body.

An artificially built lake(by the British) is just nearby gazing upon, adding to its beauty.Though an artificial lake it is said that they bear crocodiles in addition to flora and fauna...

Perfectly illustrating a modern business centre with call centres,software companies,five star hotels,supermarket,marts,coffee shops,book stores and parks, Hiranandani is a dream, though can be taken for granted.I am not paid for slavishly praising its beauty though i would do it free of cost.I got the first glimpse of it when my friend took me to a church nearby and my senses got lightened.I wished i could stay nearby and voila my office is in its pretty hands now.

Want to do some shopping? Galleria is nearby..
Want to have coffee?Coffee shop is nearby...
Want to have some treat with friends? Quite a few restaurants are nearby..
Want to hangout in a bookstore? Crossword is nearby..
Want to purchase groceries? DMart is nearby..
Want to have some fresh air? Gardens are nearby..
Want to go for Go Karting? It too is nearby..

On a rainy day, my office turns into a hill station with waterfalls on its backyard.Yes for a nature lover,this office can be a haven (on rainy days ofcourse).The mountains, otherwise dry and lifeless, turn lush and green with water dripping down its nerves.Colleagues who value time pass, pass time with ease.

(In picture my friend prabhu)
It has its own social network http://www.powai.me/ and its own local newspaper http://www.planetpowai.com/....

I love it.
Dont you??
What else do you find interesting here...

How this Why this Kolaveri di?

2011-12-12T01:14:00.001-08:00

(Written from mumbai)

Yo boys i am writing blogpost..
Soup post..
Flop post..

How this why this kolaveri kolaveri di?
How this why this kolaveri kolaveri di?

BigBazar u shopping u shopping u
Shop song u playing u playing u
Song u tamil u song u song u
How this why this kolaveri kolaveri di?
How this why this kolaveri kolaveri di?

Myhouse u near u boys u boys u
Boys u singing u song u song u
Boys u all u north u north u

How this why this kolaveri kolaveri di?
How this why this kolaveri kolaveri di?

Office u time u working u working u
Colleague u mobile u ringing u ringing u
Ringtone sounding u tamil u tamil u
How this why this kolaveri kolaveri di?
How this why this kolaveri kolaveri di?

Small u kid u 5years old u
Kid native u north u north u
Kid singing u song u song u
How this why this kolaveri kolaveri di?
How this why this kolaveri kolaveri di?

IIM hearing u song u song u
Song u how u hit u hit u
Research they u doing u doing u
How this why this kolaveri kolaveri di?
How this why this kolaveri kolaveri di?

I-know why u song u hit u
Dhanush has u big u mole u (மச்சம்)
That is u why u song u hit u
How this why this kolaveri kolaveri di?
How this why this kolaveri kolaveri di?

Flop post...

Muje Hindi Thoda Malum

2011-10-15T12:11:00.000-07:00

      Pre-script: This blog is a sequel to Muje Hindi Nahi Malum

Mein ek story banarahan hun abhi. Kya story mein bathathoonga.Muje hindi bilgul nahi aatha.Aap maap karna padega.
Aaj mera mobile chori hua.Mein police station gaya tha.Kyun ki , log bolatha, mobile chori hone ke bath , police station pe complaint register karna padega.Criminals mobile misuse kar ho saktha.Lekin police station mein koi police ko english maalum nahi.Muje bhi hindi maalum nahi.Lekin mein socha tha hindi mein ek conversation karna padega Oh mera 2011 bucket list mein hei. Isliye mein police station akela gaya.Uske saath mein broken hindi mein successfully baath kiya.Police bhai muje ek complaint letter marathi mein liya.Mera wish katham hua.

Bhandup police station,15 Oct 2011:

   "Excuse me, i lost my mobile.I need to register a complaint" i told a police officer clad in half-uniform(and hence i assumed that he is a higher rank officer and should know english). He stared at my eyes for few seconds and asked me to meet another police man, pushing me a little with his hand and uttering 'Lost mobile....'. I went near the police man who was already taking a complaint for another lost mobile.I waited standing ,till the petitioners were finished up with their complaint.
"Mera mobile chori hua.Ek complaint register karna padega" i told him.He pointed to another police man and asked me to get his permission first.I walked to him and took a seat without asking his approval.He looked quite comforting and asked quite a number of questions.

                                       "Kya...","kithar..", "kounsa mobile.."
                                       For most of them i had to answer in just one or two words and did it with ease."Keisa hua"(how it happpened?) he followed.I struggled,collected words from nowhere and muttered something which i am not able to recollect now....But bingo! he understood and send me back again to the former policeman.
                                       "Complaint theneke bola" i told him without being sure if those words were correct(I meant to say 'He asked me to give complaint to you') and still not sure if those words are right.He took an old register note the typical note with red-line margin and blue row lines and entered my complaint details one by one asking me questions side by side.I enjoyed the fact that i could converse a bit in hindi despite having lost my mobile.And then he asked

   "Paise chagiye"
                                       "Kithna?" i asked enthusiastically.
                                        "As you wish" he smiled and said in a unique English accent , the only three English words he used in the whole conversation.I was little taken aback that he could say something in English (May be he wanted a costly amount that he asked bribe in english).I felt like laughing but bribed him 100 rupees instead.He gave me this complaint letter.It sounds greek , rather marathi i should say..

End of story.

And let me check off the item from my bucket list -2011

See the Taj Mahal
Write atleast one chapter of my novel
Develop a software tool
Visit the United States of America
Develop six packs
Start rebuilding our family house
Have a conversation in hindi
Put on 5 kilos
Make a short video
Play a T20 or a T10 game
Cook a meal
See my close friend Richard achieve his dream
Create a painting
Learn guitar
Learn swimming
Watch a world cup match

iDied

2011-10-06T03:02:00.000-07:00

"If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you’ll most certainly be right."
-Jobs re-quote

Certainly he was right yesterday.A creative unorthodox genius ,Jobs has been an inspiration for me and millions around the globe.That he has changed the way we look at life and created an iCulture is no exaggeration.The first time i encountered his persona was when i heard his speech at Stanford which ran across our hostel computers during my college days.Ever since then he has become one of my favorite personalities.

                        He started the personal computing revolution, made us watch animation movies, revolutionized the way we hear music, enhanced our touch experience with mobiles, removed all side-fittings from personal computer and gave us the iPad and thereby created a culture of his own.
                        Being creative is a very tough job,given that you are against all norms(he was considered an erratic manager),you make mistakes,you loose your identity(he came to India for spiritual awakening),you might be considered insane and somehow you need to just follow your heart even if it is illogical and leads you in danger(he got fired from his own company). Jobs chose the tough job and has done a great job indeed.
                        I guess his death is not an event to lament, as everyone has to die one day(in his own words) and he has lived a much fulfilling life in addition to influencing all our lives.

Jobs , Your job's done.

A Day in Mumbai Traffic

2011-07-19T13:49:00.000-07:00

                           Oh man. If I had magic powers... I would hope that I would use them for good. I think I would. But I would do something pretty trivial like making traffic disappear.
-Nick Stahl

   Auto! Bhandup??
                         Autodriver: (Moves his face away)

                         Mumbai though so costly to make a living does sound relatively cheap when you ride the autos here(Assumption: You have taken autos at Chennai and Bangalore).Unlike the chennai auto-mama, the mumbai auto-bhai neither argues nor tries to deceive you.He is quite professional.Yet the flurry of autos standing in front of our office all come up with the above response.Why because Powai(my office) to bhandup(my home) road is blocked with traffic.And even these professional auto drivers refuse to take that route....

                         Why are mumbai roads jammed?
                         "Working professionals in Mumbai spend maximum time commuting, leaving their counterparts in Delhi, Chennai and even Bangalore far behind, thanks to the massive traffic jams in the city" -The Financial Express
   Mumbai is a highly dense city(and hence optimum utilization for bombers).I am so used to it now, that i take it for granted.When i go to my hometown or even to chennai, they look empty.Given this huge crowd no wonder the high traffic.But so is Singapore with relatively better traffic.The reason lies behind their effective urban planning.They have two programs designed to reduce traffic congestion- Electronic Road Pricing ( an electronic system that charges drivers when they use certain roads at certain times of day) and Vehicle Quota System (limiting the number of new car registrations based on traffic conditions).My cousin at Singapore says that it is more costly to maintain a car than to buy one.And so the number of car users are relatively less resulting in better traffic(and the amount collected in charges can be used to improve road infrastructure!).
                          But these rules seem to be so strict , it would rather create more rage here (and probably fasting) if implemented.But lets take United States where individualism is respected more than anywhere else.My new room mate (who has spend more than 2 years in US) says that in US , drivers don't overtake anybody,that they maintain a comfortable gap between two vehicles,that this is more a part of their culture than imposed rules,that they don't honk and honking is considered indecent,that no vehicle can halt in a place for more than few minutes (cops would rush in with GUNS!),that they have freeways where you are supposed to maintain a range of speed else would be fined.
   Oops! overtaking is an act of heroism here, a stunt to show your driving skills.And we not only honk we abuse the person in front of us with creatively arranged swear words.We don't maintain gaps (bikes drive on pedestrian platforms during high traffic jams while we return home from office, often honking us to move away!)
                          May be it is a combination of poor infrastructure and bad ethics,mumbai roads are jammed..

                                      As the auto-bhai refuses to give us a ride,we board a jam-packed bus.BEST as it is called, mumbai's bus runs on biodiesel(CNG) reducing pollution to a certain extent.'Pudiya chala' the conductor says as if there is space to move on.Pedestrians move with better speed on the roadside.Driver honks,tests if the brakes are working properly every now and then, shaking our bodies and exhausting our energies.More and more people get stuffed in, to test the maximum saturation level of BEST.
                                     Road travel sucks!Can i take the trains instead??

                          Why not to travel by mumbai trains?
                                      Mumbai is very well connected through local train network.Central and Western lines almost connect all the commerical places.They meet at Dadar where bombers recently performed their habitual ritual.Around 17 persons died i guess.It made a big news and would be talked about for years to come.But that is not a bit shocking compared to this detail..
"Under the Right to Information Act,Central and Western Railways were forced to release the death toll of mumbai train accidents and they have announced that at least 20,706 people have died in the last five
years; an average of 10 each day".(Source - wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mumbai_Suburban_Railway )

After all , they are accidents,isn't it?Not so threatening as terrorism?I have experienced this first hand and blogged on this before(Miss Bombay)

                                My stop has come.Its sangrilla , near bhandup.There is a biscuit factory nearby often emanating sweet baking smell ,stimulating our nostrils.Let me go home and blog on 'Mumbai's Traffic' today.

The TIN ppl

2011-06-11T05:50:00.000-07:00

Long long ago:
      I had just finished a presentation of my code review with my technical architect and was sitting at my desk staring at my computer, contemplating the changes to be done(yeah remember the old saying 'The only constant in software world is change').

"Hey Vijay we have an urgent requirement at one of our client projects.We are sending three ppl from our project on a temporary deputation to our client site " my PM came at my desk and whispered.He had a paper in his hand with the contact no of my future PM which he handed over to me...

Next day to long long ago:
       I reached parel station,walked under the bridge nearby,crossed the flyover and entered my client site.Flip your pan card and you will get the address.I met my then PL,had a micro interview and was taken into the project not temporarily as suggested by my ex-PM, but for nearly 2 more years to come.And thereby began my association with TIN,Tax Information Network.And there I met the TIN ppl whom i shall introduce now...

The Security ppl:
Critics say that they don't have much work(No pun intended).But still they are the bodyguard of TIN .'Authentication server' and 'C++' are their tools.Meet Abhishek Tiwari and Hirak ..

Will Abhishek Tiwari propose the girl?
Will Baba Ramdev end his fast?
Nobody knows..

The Master ppl:
If security team is the body guard , masters are the 'Interface of TIN' to the customers.Their mobiles drain out of battery at times due to continuous bombardment of calls from client(this happened to me and Manu, the master of masters on a holiday due to a critical production issue).Call center and BPO ppl envy their skills of handling telephone calls.Production issues are breakfast and lunch for them.
Here they are..

                          Manu is the undisputed champion of masters.Wonder if he still says 'Muje release chahiye' by habit to his professors at US.Many ppl were involved in masters during my 2 years of tenure and a few of those are there above.I got a close friend in Arun and a lunch partner cum friend in Vishwas in this module.

The TDS ppl:
                        TDS as the name suggests is a tedious module.They play with database queries and stored procedures.And for taking rest from work,they play with Shubankar, my good friend who gave me three advises while i was leaving TIN:
                       Never go after girls
                       Dont compromise with greatness
                       Wherever you are, be yourself
                        Like Gandhiji promised his mother before moving out of India for his higher studies, i promise you that i will never go after girls, will not compromise with greatness, and wherever i am , i will be myself.You are fun to be with, Shubankar Paul.
Btw, meet the TDS ppl..

Vikas besides being a techie guy , is also my tea partner.Sourabh was my first module lead in TIN..
The Oltas ppl:
If TDS is the right hand of TIN, Oltas is the left hand. Shouvik Basu, the technical pillar of TIN is also a fan of my blog and a good friend .I have had good times with him and Kiran.
Here they are..

The AIR ppl:
If you scratch your head bewildered wondering what AIR is, it is Annual Information Returns.Suraj is the first AIR person to my knowledge.He is no more in AIR though, left by air to USA.Ganesh is believed to have escaped four thieves in a Bollywood stunt while returning from a treat with few of TIN ppl.Gopal still seems to have an eye on the lady statues that i had kept at my desk.Here they are..

The TAN PAN ppl:
Sujeet had a crush on me.Amit G is believed to have invented 3G.Vivek can also be called Bibek.Arumugam is from my home town and Sanjib , what to say??,hmmm..., is not from my home town.

The Booking ppl:
DB2 is scared of them.The swiftness with which they write complicated queries and stored procedures makes servers cry.They are the backbone of TIN.Prabu, my room mate is incredibly hard working and talented and Divya with his vast experience and expertise makes 'Anything like Nothing'
Here they are..

The Sam ppl:
They stay still at our client site.Sreenish of SAM is very friendly and nice, and he too flew to The United Kingdom ..

So they are the TIN ppl who made my days at TIN pleasantful....

Apart from them,TIN also gave me quite a number of good and bad experiences..

Its Monday Again
One Day@Call Centre
Three point someone
The Fly Over
Miss Bombay

Those 2 years were good indeed..

Bye & Thank you,

Regards,
Vijay,
Masters&TDS team

KO - Can have a go..

2011-04-24T00:44:00.000-07:00

The Story:
              The movie starts with photo flicks running during name-screening.Just when i thought the director didnt have anything else to display for name-screening , the protagonist comes up with a camera and shoots a bank robbery escapade.The protagonist Jeeva is a press photographer.The robbers find him shooting them and chase him when he is blocked by the female leading role Karthika nair mistaking him for a robber.With the help of public she attacks him.The robbers snatch his camera and flee away unaware of jeeva having removed the memory card and kept it safe.Finally police come in and before they make an assault Jeeva manages to explain the truth.Police catches the robbers except the gang leader.Jeeva is applauded by media and the CM Prakash raj.
                        On returning to his office jeeva finds the female lead having joined as a new employee.Piya is also a fellow employee working in the office adding some spice to the movie.She is in puppy love with jeeva and adds humor.
                        Karthika reveals a story to her editor about opposition party's leader planning to marry a 13 year old girl as suggested by a mandiravadi.The news is published evoking the leader's anger followed by his threatening at the press,making the evidence turn against the press and finally asks them to ask for a public apology in the next day news.
                        In the mean time jeeva traces the place of wedding that night and flicks his camera again thereby bringing the opposition party leader down.With the opposition party leader down , the action now moves to the current party leader.He flicks him beating a press reporter...
                        In parallel to the above story, Ajmal, an activist gathers support for his political party 'Siragugal' but finds no support for his 'honest' proposals.On one such rally Ajmal is being beaten by ruling party supporters ,again catching the lens of jeeva.It brings the ruling party down..
                        With both the ruling party and the opposition party down, now 'Siragugal' party starts to gain popularity with their public acts like saving families caught in hut fire and giving free medical treatment to the needy.On a big gathering of the sirugagal election rally, a bomb explodes killing many of the party members except the leader ajmal.Jeeva having got a messsage from piya one minute before the explosion manages to save ajmal from the explosion.Piya dies in the stampede.
                        With a twist in the tail , karthika finds out that jeeva and ajmal are college friends and belong to the same political party 'Siragugal' and accuses him of helping his friend ajmal gain power by bringing down the other political parties through his photo flicks. Jeeva convinces her.
                         On analysing the bomb blast(through a video of the press), jeeva finds the person(a naxalite) involved in the bank robbery involved in the blast too and also finds him killing Piya by stamping her.In the mean time , Ajmal becomes chief minister(he initially refuses to stand in election having seen his party members die before his very eyes but is later persuaded by jeeva and others).Ajmal offers public apology to naxalites in jail and offers to release them.Jeeva having found a naxalite involved in the bomb blast rushes to the CM office to intimate Ajmal and ironically finds the robbery leader involved in a discussion with the chief minister.As jeeva tries in desperation to convince Ajmal to take action on him, Ajmal avoids him on reason of an urgent meeting.
                          As a twist in the tail, the naxalite leader then calls Ajmal and asks for money and discusses about further demands for their group.Ajmal promises them and asks them to come to a location.Jeeva follows the naxalite as they reach the location.In the mean time Ajmal asks the police to kill the naxalites informing them about their gathering.As another twist in the tail it is later revealed that Ajmal himself is a naxalite of the same group and became a chief minister to help his group.He had also planned the bomb blast cleverly.But on fear of getting caught he had ordered to kill his fellow naxalites.The naxalites catch public people as hostage.The chief minister himself decides to go to the location and has discussion with the naxalite leader.He tries to brainwash him and kill jeeva(who is also stuck in the place with naxalites and gets all information from the naxalite leader who is shot in the chest, by giving him a drug injection, through the help of a doctor in nearby clinic).The naxalite feels betrayed again by Ajmal and chooses to kill him rather,later getting himself killed.Jeeva attacks Ajmal trying to kill him while Ajmal tries to brainwash him saying that killing him would destroy the entire 'Siragugal' team and their ambitions (the other party members are innocent and had joined 'Siragugal' for a honest cause).Jeeva keeps fighting and Ajmal finally dies...
                      While conversing with the naxalite leader , jeeva had captured the video and sent it to Karthika through his mobile (live streaming).Karthika had prepared a story revealing the true face of Ajmal as suggested by Jeeva to be published in the next day news.Jeeva later realises that this would destroy the ambitions of 'Siragugal' team and hence asks her to kill the story and hail Ajmal as a martyr who died in the rescue mission of the public..
And thereby ends the story..

Review:
                      A creative story,beautiful scenic songs,nice screenplay,good characterization and good artwork.For KO, i would suggest you can have a go...

Birds in Blue

2011-04-02T12:04:00.000-07:00

With the Men in Blue having lifted the world cup, some romantic stuff with the Birds in Blue to calm down the excitement....

Our house is home to pigeon stuff like pigeons, pigeon shit, pigeon eggs and pigeon noise.They are building a generation here laying two eggs at a time, hatching them, feeding the chicks,letting them find another mate and continue their parambariam (generation) .I managed to make some flicks and compile them to generate a story in reverse chronology...

Bleeding Blue!!

2011-03-30T12:42:00.000-07:00

   If Dhoni is considered cool, it is probably because of this..

At the toss of today's match:

Ravi Shashtri: Dhoni do you feel the stress of the match today?
Dhoni: More than the pressure of the match we had the pressure of travel .We had to travel two jets to get here( Oh really! you need to travel by mumbai local trains)
Ravi Shashtri: Do you think this is the biggest match of your career?
Dhoni: Hmm. ..I dont remember the feeling we had in the finals against Australia in ...bla bla..........T20...bla bla....

   And he elects to bat with a change in the team dropping Ashwin(which Sidhu criticized as 'It is not as bad as you thing (i thought he was favouring the decision) when he continued 'It is worse'(You do play with words Mr.Sidhu). Shewag having developed a bad habit of starting his innings always with a boundary (and in the first four matches, of the very first ball) continues the same in this innings too.He bangs 5 boundaries in a single over of Umar Gul and murders him completely that he could never recover late in the innings.And as the match progresses as if India is going to blast a 300 + score with ease ,Shewag gets out leg before wicket to Riaz who carries on to bowl a magic classic spell for his team.Gambir steps in and rotates the strike with ease playing casually against spin before falling to the same.Kohli and Yuvraj too falls in to the magic of Riaz with Yuvraj dazzled by a beautiful inswinger.Tendulkar on the other end keeps his composure and focus despite being dropped four times, given out LBW by umpire and later reversed by UDRS system and escaping kamran akmal's stumping by a frame(It seems the gods are with sachin or the pakistani players with matchfixing brokers).Luckily he doesnt get to his 100 th 100 .It would have been a shame for him to get to it in this manner, for his class.Sachin finally gives Afridi a regulation catch and Afridi having been disappointed that Sachin been dropped twice in his own bowling and yet smiling and composed against his nature , takes the catch with ease and pride.Dhoni was seeming to recover his form when he falls to the class of Riaz again supporting his speech before the match 'It is not necessary that I am in form'. And Suresh Raina makes sure that India touches 260 supported by tail enders to some extent.

   Having watched the first innings i and my roomie went out for tea.As we took our lift down, the otherwise impersonal apartment mates in the lift get into conversation as life long friends ...
    "50 ..50 chance"....."Difficult!!" ...
Cricket does seem to unite us as Indians.

                                      The roads were empty as most of the workers were suffering from dysentry, fever,headache,'grandma died' and other creative reasons and preferred to stay at home watching the match and probably taking medication side by side.Pakistan batsmen step in , with the openers giving a comfortable, confident opening partnership until Zaheer khan ,India's spearhead removes Kamran Akmal.But the confident Hafeez and cool Shafiq start threatening when Munaf Patel, the slow/fast bowler manages to get Hafeez caught behind.And then Yuvraj gives a spectacular sight of middle stump shattering by bowling out Shafiq followed by Younis khan's dismissal. Those wickets opened the gates for an indian victory .But Umar Akmal , the leading run scorer for Pakistan starts punishing Yuvraj ( using just one hand at times) giving new hope for Pakistan until he gets removed by a speedster from Harbhajan who had been out of form until today.Razzaq falls soon for a beauty of a leg cutter from Munaf . Afridi comes in and before he could become a threat is removed by Harbhajan who suddenly becomes a Gorilla out of excitement.Tail enders are removed by Nehra who proves to be worthy of taken in the team again.And finally Misbah Ul Haq who was playing a test match until the power play, gives a catch to Kohli triggering the celebration of an Indian Victory and

for the rest of us...

To Bleed Blue!

P.S: Those who bunked work today (including Manmohan Singh,Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi,Gilani,Aamir khan,Preeti Zinta.--ok let me stop here--) better pile up your boots and get to work tomorrow

The Bucket List - 2011 #3 - Develop a software tool

2011-02-03T12:01:00.000-08:00

Introducing PDMAK!

The PDF Maker which converts word documents to PDF documents.This post may be an absolute crap for non binaries (those who dont work with 0s and 1s) and may cause yawning for binaries who browse on the internet purely for pleasure.For others if it still causes yawning you may skip it.

The journey ...

Note:The roles given in the below conversation represent me only unless specific names are mentioned

The Project Leader: PDF documents are the most widely used printable documents on the web.But Adobe does not give any tool free of cost to create it.They provide reader for free but not a converter or a generator (both of them are priced.Hmmm.. good business strategy!).Let us develop a utility to create PDF documents.

The Designer: What is your exact requirement?

The Project Leader(draws on board): User Inputs Data --> PDF Generated by utility

The Developer:What technology can i use?

The Architect:Itext! Itext is a widely used library to generate pdf documents.You can even generate bar code and sign pdf documents using itext.You can use itext for free.It is open source

The Designer: Fine! Lets use itext.We shall get input from the user in a comma seperated file.Let our utility parse the data and generate pdf

(draws on board)

CSV --> utility(using itext) --> PDF

The Developer:But how will i know which data in csv is to be displayed in which location in the pdf?There should be some mapping file which provides this information

The Designer(ponders for some time):Fine we will have two xml files , one describing the format of csv and the other describing the format of pdf (draws on board)

CSV --> xml file --> utility(using itext) --> xml file --> PDF

The Developer:Looks fine.I shall develop some logic to map the data of CSV and PDF using these xml files.But hmmm what is the need of a CSV file here.Why cant the user provide the data directly in an xml file

(Developer and Designer brainstorm for some time)

The Designer:Fine we shall remove CSV part.Lets have xml file only as input.Let the user visualize a pdf document to be made up of many tables .(Draws on board)For example

Now he just needs to fill data in the columns..User needs to prepare an xml in this format(draws again)

He needs to place his data within column tags.Also within column tag we can provide attributes to choose font size,color,text alignment,text indentation etc

The Developer(ponders and replies): Ok this is possible to implement.I shall try it.But itext is too complicated.I need to store all data somewhere , probably java beans, and
then arrange the data manually on the pdf which is cumbersome.Can this be overcome?

The Architect: You can use Apache FOP in that case.Apache FOP(Formatting Object processor) is an
open source tool to parse xsl-fo files and convert them to pdf / html /.. files . Shouvik mentioned about this to me..That guy is really curious about technology

The Designer: Oh! thats fine..What is xsl-fo ? We only have xml as input

The Architect: XSL-FO is a language for formatting XML data for output to screen.You dont have to write the code to convert an xml to pdf.Just generate xsl-fo file from xml.Give this xsl-fo file to apache FOP.Apache FOP will generate the PDF for you!!So the flow will be like this (draws on board)

xml --> utility(to convert into xsl-fo) --> xsl-fo --> apache-fop -->pdf

The Developer: Looks complicated but interesting.I need to surf through the net.I shall let you know.Give me some time

The Architect and The Designer: Yeah Go on!

The Developer (after 2-3 days):Hi everybody! I am done with my coding.Look at this.

The Designer,Architect test it and find it to be good.

The Designer:Looks good!But find it difficult to place data in the correct column.It needs some visualization and trial and error tries.But anyways good work.

The Developer feels good and shows it to his team mate shubankar

Shubankar(after seeing and getting a brief description of the technical flow): But how will a dumb user know about xml?He should have a simple interface

The Developer got struck and decides to change the input again

The Developer(to Architect):I need to provide a simple interface.May be an editor where user can provide his data

The Architect: Abhishek told me about tinymce , an online editor used by facebook,microsoft and wordpress.You may check it out.But it can be used only for web applications.Not for your stand alone application.You may try with a word document.The user can provide a word document as input.You can convert word document to xsl-fo and your utility can then convert it to pdf using apache fop.

(draws on board)

document --> utility (to generate xsl-fo) -->xsl-fo --> apache fop --> pdf

The Developer : That is a word to pdf converter! Now how will i convert word to xsl-fo

The Architect: Luckily microsoft word has provision for that.Ask the user to save word document as an xml file.Now the flow remains the same as before

(draws on board)

xml --> utility(to convert into xsl-fo) --> xsl-fo -->apache-fop --> pdf

The Developer: But how will i convert the xml to xsl-fo.I dont know the structure of this xml.In the previous case i decided the format of the xml .So i could convert it to xsl-fo in my code.How can i do it here?

The Architect: XSLT!! eXtensible Stylesheet Language Transformation.Microsoft provides the stylesheet for word document saved as xml.So just provide the xml and xslt to your apache fop.It will generate xsl-fo.Again pass this to apache fop to generate pdf

The flow will be:

document --> xml & xslt --> apache fop --> xsl-fo --> apache fop (another method) --> pdf

The Developer:Okie! I will do it

Within few hours the developer completes the coding and goes home.At home his room mate kannan tests the code

Kannan: Your tool failed my testing! It does not work with 2007 microsoft word

The Debugger(after a little analysis) :Yeah! from 2007 version microsoft word provides support to save word document as pdf in their own reader.And the format of 2007 document is different from that of 2003.Whhoosh! All a waste of time??

The Blogger: No dude! Your objective was not to develop a tool which no one had developed before .It was only to develop and enjoy the process and ofcourse , check off one more item in your bucket list....

Appendix 1:

Revised bucket list:

Still having problems?? Raise your bugs on blogspot!!

The Bucket List #11 - Cook A Meal

2011-01-23T11:21:00.000-08:00

My first try at cooking ...

Menu: Rice,Sambar and Carrot dish

And so two of my bucket list of 2011 are to be ticked today.One as obvious from the above video is

'Cook a Meal' and the other which happened accidentally is 'Make a short video'.This is my first amateur video, so please disable critical mode while viewing it.

And so, my updated bucket list of 2011:-

See the Taj Mahal
Write atleast one chapter of my novel
Develop a software tool
Visit the United States of America
Develop six packs
Start rebuilding our family house
Have a conversation in hindi
Put on 5 kilos
Make a short video
Play a T20 or a T10 game
Cook a meal
See my close friend Richard achieve his dream
Create a painting
Learn guitar
Learn swimming
Watch a world cup match

14 more there

The Bucket List - 2011

2011-01-19T22:05:00.000-08:00

Can life be designed?Can it be lived the way one wants it to be?.Probably not.Probably yes.Ok the probability is 0.5.With this probability theory in hand i am experimenting the following in 2011.This is my bucket list for 2011.I have selected 16 of my wishes and put it in the above bucket.These are just my wishes and not my goals.I shall try it for fun but not with grit determination.I shall check it out once i am done with it.If everything remains unchecked at the end of the year it should be no surprise.But still, here they are:

Super Six Moments - 2010

2010-12-31T07:45:00.000-08:00

Pleasant Tsunami

It has peculiar behaviours.None of us would survive without it.In fact the very possibility of existence of life in a planet is determined first by its availability.It creates disputes and chooses rulers of states.Yet when available in plenty it provides so much fun.We enjoyed this fun at Water Kingdom situated at the coastal Gorai village in northwest Mumbai(claims to be Asia's largest theme water park).Missphisly Hill(the vertical scary slides) was heart pumpingly exciting.Drifting river(the smooth circular ride) was heart soothing.Other curvy rides of Adventure Amazonia were refreshing.Musical rain dance even let me loose and dance.Waves of artificial beach were lovely.More info can be got here http://www.waterkingdom.in/ .

And the position of this Pleasant Tsunami Experience in my Super Six Moments of 2010 is

Tour De Goa

Srihari:"We are planning for a tour to Goa.Are you coming?"

Me:"Yes!!"
Home of exotic beautiful beaches and an international tourist place Goa is worth visiting atleast once.This was the second time though for me and i joined அறை எண் 753 நண்பர்கள் (Friends of room no:753) for a memorable tour.It was excitingly fun with those of my friends.
And the position of this experience in my Super Six Moments of 2010 is..

Rendezvous with US travellers

She imitated me in the course of our chat:soft,silent and observant.I guess she liked me.Her name is Eme..

           'Do you want cookies?' she asked and i thought she was offering american chocolates.Instead she gave britannia biscuits.She started our chat and was more curious than others.Her name is Cara....
          'May be she finds you attractive!' i mocked at him while a shemale was fiddling with him asking for money.'It boosts my self esteem!!' he replied back at my comment.His name is John..
       I had a very nice chat with these US travellers on my journey to mumbai from home town.It was a joyous experience that i could relate myself with them and themselves with me.
And the position of this experience in my Super Six Moments of 2010 is

Beauty:
Beauty of Kids

'புண்*** மவனே' (belongs to the family of bad words like 'fucker') he shouted at me from his house's roof top.That was the first time a bad word sounded so sweet.Exchanging bad words is common among our local adults and he had probably overheard one of them.He has watery deep innocent eyes,honey voice,creative childish acts and lovable mannerisms.He is irfan , probably 2 years old, my friend at nagercoil.He calls my mother 'akka' (sister) and me 'vijayanna'(vijay brother-- not always do i get this privilege).Each moment with him is joyful...

'Pani wala kiya?' (Are you water boy?) a marathi kid asked me as i entered my apartments lift.A water boy(a guy who delivers water to our apartment) had just left the lift and hence the kid assumed that i coud be one too.'Fire wala' i replied trying to mock it.It took its two hands,held it together,acted as if it is holding a fire extinguisher hose and demonstrated the act,enquiring me if that was what i do.And thus it did win in mocking me back and winning my heart....Marathi kids look more cute and always are a source of joy.

Beauty of mumbai girls

If there is one reason i should stay in mumbai that could be for this(not blushing).They are so beautiful...No more discussion on this :-)

And the position of this experience in my Super Six Moments of 2010 is :

Zoho Mania

What if the CEO of a fast growing company mails you in acknowledgment of your work(blogging in my case) and provides an opportunity to work in his company?.It did happen to me in 2010 and i had a series of exciting,joyous,thrilling and confusing moments.I shared those moments here :Zoho Mania

It was the biggest surprise in 2010 for me.
And the position of this experience in my Super Six Moments of 2010 is

And finally the most satisfying and joyous moment..

Friendship:
I got new friends in 2010,some of them got close to me while others gave pleasureful experiences.The moments with my friends were the most satisfying of all.Few of those made a great difference.Those few dudes in random order(there are other friends too but they made a difference in my life in 2010 )........

abhishek diliwal

arun bhaud

senthil srihari

simma

richard

Sivaraj...

And the position of this experience in my Super Six Moments of 2010 is

Thanks to all those who made 2010 a wonderful year...

Wish you all a joyous 2011!!

Impervious Sachin

2010-12-19T12:03:00.000-08:00

Hi,

Find who i am!
Need some clues?
Let me tell you , you rather count the hairs on my head than counting the records i break and create.
World Cricket Day is celebrated on my birthday
Still haven found out??Something seriously wrong with you....

Let me take you through a small unorthodox journey of my life
I took the cricket bat at so young an age and since then i am all smiles and the bowlers all tears ..

I loved playing cricket with my childhood pals and we had loads of fun.

I love wearing cricketing uniform and ordering the cricket ball to measure cricketing pitch's length and breadth

I started winning accolades a little too yearly i should say and has never stopped since then

I am a normal boy like you yet blessed with cricketing genius.That doesn't mean i play only cricket, i love playing other games too.

I love having fun on the field yet i am too professional

I make fun of fast bowlers though i dont find anything funny in them

Every cricket match is a battlefield for me.I am extremely sorry i dont show mercy on anyone.

I've got too many records that i get too many awards and honors and titles ,sometimes from unexpected sources too

Someone said that i can stop time:
* Peter Roebuck:"On a train from Shimla to Delhi, there was a halt in one of the stations. The train stopped by for few minutes as usual. Sachin was nearing century, batting on 98. The passengers, railway officials, everyone on the train waited for Sachin to complete the century. This Genius can stop time in India!!"

My fans are crazy about me

I thought cricket is my only love until i fell in love with a girl.May be that my heart falls for big numbers it also fell for a girl more of age than me

I have a happy family.My son might soon dance on the field like me

I love the superlative degree and hence the words 'greatest','first','most','best'.This blogger says he is in love of me that he and his brother collected pictures of mine from magazines,newspapers,cricket cards and prepared a scrap book during their childhood days.He mimicked me in a mimicry show at his college function and got huge applause.His father is a typical indian whose expectations would never die even if i create record number of records.He always sighs,"See how irresponsible he is.Getting out so cheap".I wouldn blame him.

I feel overwhelmed at times by too much of love

Ok buddies!.Time to part. Just yesterday i created one more record(I have no more records to BREAK that i am CREATING them now).See you later, I shall try to avoid a defeat against the south africans today.

Bye bye

Sridhar Vembu

2010-12-07T13:15:00.000-08:00

So who is he?

That would have given the gist of zoho and that sridhar vembu is the CEO of zoho.Forbes calls him The Smartest Unknown Indian Entrepreneur.I guess and wish that soon(or is it already so??) it will be 'The Smartest (Known) Indian Entrepreneur'.I have little knowledge of the jambavans in business,the trends and the complexities that rule the business world.But if anyone asks me 'Who is the smartest entrepreneur you know?' i would point my finger to him.My opinion might be biased as he made a personal human touch on me.But whatsoever let me share what impressed me about him

College degrees?? Move it to recycle bin

Sridhar ignores college degrees.He has recruited almost 10 percent of his employees from schools and that too poor children who would not make up to college graduation for their low profile economic background.This saves a lot of money,gives new life to the poor and proves the point that college degree doesnt really make any difference, particularly when all information needed can be googled.Now will this trend, if it becomes popular, remove schools and colleges altogether??.Schools and colleges i guess were a product of industrial revolution, built to instill discipline,prepare students to become efficient labourers in factories.Now we are in the information age.May be schools and colleges will be replaced by institutes which would prepare students for specific courses of their choice in the future(A wild guess).

Move everything to the cloud.Thy be empty!

Zoho is about cloud computing.Every application is on the cloud.Zoho Writer (Write on the cloud!),Zoho Creator (Create and use applications on the cloud!),Zoho CRM (Manage from the cloud!) and many more.Sridhar believes it is the current trend and the future.When microsoft saw the rising fame of zoho, it mocked zoho as fake office.Zoho mocked back using this http://fakeoffice.org/

I dont want Anybody's Money!

Zoho is absolutely bootstrapped meaning it is not a public company.All the funds needed to raise and grow this company is from the pockets of Sridhar,his family and friends.This is totally against the current scenario!He turned down Sales Force's offer of buying his company and replied its CEO Mr Benioff with this :Mr Benioff Turn Down the Wall

Does this sound to be too egoistic?

He is an absolute down to earth person.His mail to me was entitled 'A Modest Proposal'.When he was called the most influential leader in CRM market he replied with this:

Want a visual proof??

Sridhar with his village guys

His personal battle:

His son Siddhu suffers from autism(I went through his parenting blog and found this.Curious to know his progress now).His parental struggle can be felt here http://blogs.jambav.com/svembu/

I gave two virtual hugs to his son.If he is not recovered until now, i wish him from my heart a recovery very soon.

Sridhar,

You have become an inspiration for me.I wish zoho achieves even greater heights and one day i bite my nails muttering 'Stupid! You missed it!!'

Where have my bucks gone??

2010-12-02T12:41:00.000-08:00

1 message received

Salary of INR XXXXX has been credited to your account.Please check A/C for balance

Month end has arrived with a beep.I've got salary.This is the only purpose of my labor, of everyone's labor.Money seems to be a major driving force of life.From the beggar on road to Bill Gates, it is every human's need.And why is it so?Why and how did this money appear to influence and decide our fate?Let me wind some tortoise coils...

Long long ago so long ago, man lived his life hunting animals and birds thereby satisfying his hunger,wore animal skin thereby hiding his private parts,lived in caves thereby satisfying his need for a shelter.Thus the basic needs of food,clothing and shelter were satisfied.And so he lived his life forever and forever, until one man started to think...

As human brain is intelligent and creative, he sorted out an alternative way to make food rather than hunting.He invented agriculture.And there began the agricultural revolution.Man's primary occupation became farming.He lived happily with his tribe...

And so man lived peacefully doing soft-core jobs as a farmer,shepherd and so and so.But suddenly he started feeling bad...

The shepherd didnt have rice to eat whereas the farmer didnt have shepherd to taste.And likewise, the man growing apples in his field wanted to have oranges.And the man growing oranges in his field wanted to have apples.

Man started thinking...

And thereby evolved the barter system.The shepherd exchanged his sheep for bags of rice with the farmer.The apple guy exchanged his apples with the orange guy.Both were satisfied.And so man lived happily...

But there arose a problem. The shepherd now wanted a new cloth for his baby.He couldnt exchange his shepherd with the farmer for the cloth , for the farmer didnt have any.So he went in search of a guy who had cotton clothes.And one more condition nagged him-the guy having cloth should be ready to exchange his cloth for the shepherd's sheep.He found this a hefty task.And so

Man started thinking...

Man thought a common medium of exchange would solve the problem.He would give metals of agreed quantity to the guy having clothes in exchange for the cloth.The guy having cloth can exchange the metals with some one else for his own specific need.And thereby the metals would circulate.Voila! There began the journey of money!!

And so man lived happily.But there arose a problem.The metals he exchanged were exchanged based on weight.More weight meant more value.But forgers mixed worthless metals with the metals used(copper/gold/silver) and made trading difficult.Further these metals were precious and were not available enough.And so..

Man started thinking..

Man invented a standardized method of trading.Silver coins and paper(cheap) money were invented with intrinsic numeric value.Problem solved.And so man lived happily....

Man started to think..

Why should i carry all the money in my pocket.What if i want to make a bulk purchase??.And so man invented debit card and credit card...And the internet revolution struck.A new virtual world was born.People started living as much in facebook,twitter,orkut,mail,chat,blog etc as they live in the real world.And so man thought.Why not even move the money to the virtual world???

And so arose internet banking..

Almost all trading can be done online now or atleast in the near future.I hardly use paper cash except for travelling and local food and so is the case with many of our affluent generation.If i were sufficiently rich i dont even need paper cash and coins.I can live with virtual money(numbers on my computer screen).Wonder if the Ambani brothers and their co billionaires use paper money or just swipe cards and click computer mouse or just touch mobile screens..

Man will keep thinking..

Its not so far that the money at a mouse's click will become money at a mobile screens touch.And the customer will be promptly intimated of his transaction:

1 message received:

An amount of INR 5.00 has been debited from your account for your purchase of cutting chai at 'Road Side Naina Tea Shop'.Please check your A/C for balance.

Once Upon a Time in Nagercoil

2010-10-08T10:30:00.000-07:00

Pre-requisite for reading this blog:
Knowledge of gilli-danda game :-)

                     'Kaatha?'

                     Keethu

                     'Kaatha?'

                     Keethu

                     'Kaatha?'

                     Kaathu

         Periya Manikandan (there are two manikandans in my street,this one is fat - so periya(fat) manikandan) drags the gilli with danda using his utmost energy.The gilli having got 'danda's order' flies with the exact specifications given by danda.All our fielders' eye balls are tracking the gilli's flight.It swirls and swirls finding the gaps.And as it happens often it strikes the cranium of the passerby old-lady.

         'Kollaile pora payaluve.Kannum munnu theriyama vilayaduratha paaru' she bursts out.

         'Lei ennale olunga adikamattiya' chinna(small) manikandan shouts at periya manikandan.

         'Paati(grandma) sorry paati, inimel paathu vilayadurom..antha pulla(gilli) kudunga patti' chinna manikandan begs at patti who has the ownership of gilli now.

         'Pullum kodukamudiyathu *** kodukamudiyathu.Pethu potrukuthu paaru..edupatta payapullaigala' ,Patti refuses.We all maintain absolute silence for her anger and pain to subside.

         And as it subsided, she throws the gilli and walks away 'pressing the resume button'.We continue our game ignoring 'Patti Rebuke' for the 395 th time.
         .........
         Periya manikandan waits at his gilli corner with his danda placed at right angles, behind the oval hole dug exclusively for playing gilli-danda and breaking Patti crania.Chinna manikandan picks up the gilli from where Patti had thrown it and directs it at the danda.It once again takes a flight, now though obeying the orders of Chinna manikandan's hand.It bounces,swirls and bounces, and finally lands near the danda neither striking it nor landing one danda length near the hole, which would bowl Periya Manikandan out.
         'Aiyyyooo' we shout, our forearms caressing different parts of our head.Periya Manikandan blows out air acknowledging his escapade.He takes his danda and gets ready for strike.He raises the danda and strikes hard at the gilli's left tapering end.The gilli bows its head down refusing to jump and kissing the ground.Sparring no time Periya Manikandan hits the right tapering end now.The gilli swirls up this time giving an oppurtunity to be bashed by the danda.He sways hard aimlessly, missing the gilli completely.The gilli swirls down and hugs the ground again.

        Frustrated, he waits a second,holds his breath and makes his third and last attempt.The gilli swirls up again defying gravity.He makes a sway again aiming with utmost care this time.Danda kisses gilli.Gilli flies in excitement ,up above all of us,then away from all of us and towards heaven until gravity pulls it again and makes it its own possession.


        'Irunooru'(200) Periya Manikandan blurted

         'Alakanum' (Need to measure) Chinna Manikandan reacts immediately.He snatches danda from Periya Manikandan and starts measuring the distance between the hole and where the gilli had fallen.He rolls the danda over and over ,counting and walking simulataneously.We all follow him eagerly.As he reaches the gilli he rolls over the danda for the last move.The danda hits the gilli and he gasps 'Noothi thonnathi moonu' (193)

         Periya Manikandan is out!


         Its my turn next.Everyone has their unique style of dragging the gilli with the danda.Some show their butts and drag the gilli through their legs' gaps,some swat and, I most of the times swat and make a leg sweep keeping it as fine as possible.I decide to do the same this time


         'Kaatha?'

         'Keethu'

         'Kaatha?'

         'Kaathu'


         As decided i make a fine leg sweep.The gilli swirls and rolls and decides to enjoy the comfort of Periya Manikandan's hands.



         'Outtu! veliya po!'



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Judgement Day - Ayodhya

2010-09-30T09:53:00.000-07:00

Hmmm....So the verdict is out.No violence as of now.Thank God.Fear had gripped almost the entire nation.Its over finally..hmm..Some one is calling me ..Wait a minute..

Hello??

Hey Vijay?Whats up?

M fine..May i know who this is?

Guess buddy!

I dont know.Who.. who are you?

I am GOD man!

Oh why are you calling me on my cell phone

Leave it dude..where are you

I am in office.What about you? Are you in ayodhya?

Ayodhya? Idiot! Dont you know i have no form?Do you think i will occupy myself in a small earthly place?

Oops Sorry..But a fight has been ON for your place..Dont you know that?

Yeah i know.

And one sec..Are you hindu God or muslim God?

None of them

Oh! Christian God ..Mine then..

No stupid! I neither have a name nor a religion

Oops..You are confusing me!They are fighting for you

Hmmm

Now that the judgement is out, what do you think the right solution would have been?What should be build there?

You suggest

A temple i guess.After all hinduism is an ancient religion.Its in the scripts and all stuff??

Okie..Then let them build a temple there

But wait..There was a mosque there already.Why to destroy that and hurt the feelings of millions?

Okie..Then let them build a mosque there

Come on! I thought you are stable.

Hmmm..You are a christian right?? Do you know there was a church there?

Whatt???

Yeah ..Whose place is that?

Gods place i guess.After all that is what they are fighting for as far as i know!.But let me tell you i dont know about this stuff deep

Hmmm..If it is Gods place..then it is Christ's place since Christ is GOD..Isnt it?How can you let someone take Christ's place???

Errr..Now what do you say?

Go and fight for your place!

Whatt?

Ha ha ha

Oh no!That sounds like a villain growl.So what will happen now?

Whatever.. it doesnt matter...Have a nice day dude..Catch you later.Bye

Hello ..hello..hellllloooooo

Ahhh he hung up

Abyss - Random Thoughts

2010-08-29T12:43:00.000-07:00

A sense of emptiness erudes my mind every now and then.Life seems to be a painful mystery and a beautiful miracle.Mystery that it came out of nothing.With just two resources ,time and space god has spinned this whole earth in his hands and continues to spin.With just an atom he has built all those on earth,using different combinations and quantity.Its amazing that the fingers which type this blog are not really solid, that they are made of cells which inturn are made of atoms which in turn contain protons,electrons and neutrons with a lot of empty space between them!...

That i didnt create myself leaves out any question of having full control of my life yet hands over the responsibility of it to me......

Every individual is so unique that in his/her originality they add up to the beauty of nature but ego steps in and searches for false identity.As i write this too my ego is scared that i am getting into an unknown territory and going deep within.But my search would continue not as a stereotypic spiritual search abandoning earthly life but as a balance between both.There is some niche in life which only i would be able to fill and i believe every individual has the same responsibility.Being myself and exploring life is the only challenge before me...

There is none inferior or superior on this earth for a creative mind.All are just different and playing their own roles.Every face has two eyes,two ears,one nose and one mouth yet it looks so different.There had been,there are and there are going to be trillions of faces.Every voice arises out of vibration in the throat yet they are so unique.Everyone has their own gait and own mannerism.God is too creative.The abyssmal depth of his creations will continue to give bliss to any open mind....

.A small sperm and a small egg starts a human life and withers out after a few decades.All drama will be for a limited time....

All pain is egoistic.It is ego which seeks power,money beyond need and recognition.A man of high self esteem does not need any to cover up his weak ego..

I cannot blame anyone for any of my situations.I have the responsibility.That i would die oneday invigorates the mystery....

There is probably a limit to what the human mind can comprehend.The creator could not have instilled a more intelligent memory in his creations than himself.No matter how much we evolve there would be a lot many things beyond our grasp and comprehension.Does it mean life is meaningless,just an illusion?...

There is every possibility that there are millions of earths out there and millions of universes.Who knows?...

My idea of good and bad,right and wrong are all based on my acquired knowledge and experiences which can never be complete.I will be always be inferior to some and always be superior to some, by earthly standards ofcourse....

So what is the purpose of life.If it is just an illusion then what is the meaning in making a living.I dont know....

But onething is for sure.
God's creativity gives bliss.I would just spend my life exploring it!!

Natpu kaditham

2010-08-04T14:08:00.000-07:00

From

     Vijay Sahaya Raja,
     Your Friend,
     Friendship Street,
     Friends Colony,
     Life-000 001

To

     All Friends,
     Friendship Street,
     Friends Colony,
     Life-000 001

Dear Friends,

     Sub:- Friendship week greetings - reg

          With reference to friendship week,I would like to thank all of you friends for influencing and shaping my life.

Please find below my 'Ode For Friendship'

Dear dear friends!!

Without you guys i would not be what i am now.
Without you guys i wouldnt even be sane
You wouldnt neglect me for my weaknesses.
You wouldnt isolate me for my strengths.

All it matters is that i am your friend
All it matters is that i am a part of your life
I see a part of myself in my close friends
May be thats what makes friends close friends

.......

Ma gives unconditional love
Pa gives conditional love
Bro gives respectful love
Sis gives sweet love
Dude you dont give
You let me find love

.......

I would like to name a few
Yet scared that might leave a few
Whatever lemme not keep any due
You all give me my life's view

.......
If ever my ego let you down
Lemme bend with my knees down
Am just another human being
Perfect not as a spiritual being

.........

I need you all as long as i live
Without you all my life would be still
May be i am reserved
In my heart though for you i have seats reserved

.........
I may not be in touch with you
But the gentle touch you made in my life
Would always remain as my wife

..............

If College life the epitome of friendship acts
There did silently i enjoy your friendships
A few were hard friends
Few soft
Few always smiled
Few didnt have to smile
All was understood

.....

The midnight tea
Valli bakery chats
Birthday cracks
Evening cricket
Noisy classes
Mokka Mokkkais
Hearty laughs
Messy mess
I miss them all
I wouldnt want them back
For how much can one owe Life
Whatever lies ahead lemme face with straight head

Dear dudes let me sign off
You all made/make my life wonderful
Thank you all
Happy Friendship Week
.......

Also,
PFA my greetings with this letter :-)

Regards,
Vijay,
Your Friend

######################Attachment#############################

###########################################################################

Fish Story

2010-07-09T23:41:00.000-07:00

Warning:Vegetarians and light hearted, please do not read this post..

Hi..

I dont really know how to introduce myself for i dont have a name among my clad.I know you guys have a name for me but to be frank i am least bothered about it.And to speak about myself, i dont know really have to work to make a living as you do.In fact my life is so casual and peaceful, i live it on my own terms.My family and friends are not emotionally bonded to me.They leave me as i am.All i do is keep roaming around and fetch my appetite of hunger.Here at this moment i am searching for my prey actually...I love fish.. especially the small ones..Yummy yummy tasty tasty...Wonder none is around now ..

Wait!...Hurray! there comes one..hmmmm..Let me hide...

Hmmm hmm hmmm
Little cuddy come here buddy
M gonna eat you steady
Not scared you are though tiny
Here come I to kill you baby
Eight arms have I to wrap you tight
Dont try to flee you rather wait
Hmmm hmm hmmm

'Clutchhhhhhh' my arms around the little fish.I have caught it tight.It cannot escape by anymeans.Oh pity!It is struggling with the last moments of its life.Am I so cruel?Leave it! I cant help it.I need to make a living.My world is so cruel.We are each other's prey.I cannot have a heart.Ok come on! stop your fighting....

Hmmmhnnn...

yumnnn yumnnnn..

hoOOoupp...

Yummy yummy tasty tasty indeed...

Wait a minute...

What is that?

Seems like a fish net...

Oh oh! I shouldn have come all along this way close to the sea surface
Those humans have made a trap...Nooooooooooo...

I should intimate my fellow friends and flee this place immediately

'Antha manushanga nammale pudika varanga...Yellarum oodunga....'(Guys those humans are coming to catch us!..all run)

And then...

Noise of sea water rumbling...

Moments of absolute silence and darkness...

After few hours.....

'Amma kanava meenu paaruma ...onnu 20 roopa...venumaaa', the fisherwoman asks my mother at market.My mother buys it for me.After all his son has come after 6 long months to home.He needs a hefty treat.My aunt who had come to visit me puts all fish in a mud dish,fills it to the rim with water and cleans it.She removes the head seperately and it comes out yielding smoothly.The head has 4 pairs of arms,2 tentacles and an eye which almosts resembles mine.She uses her nail to remove its rosy skin and it comes out like plastic sheath exposing a white body.She puts her finger inside its stomach and finds another fish,the fish which was its prey a few moments before it was caught!My mother had bought more than one.I do post mortem with another fish.Wow! It is cool.A few moments later it is on my food plate neatly prepared with masala and onions..

Yummy yummy tasty tasty indeed....

Squids with its clad...

On my hands a typical squid...

Yesterday this fish's cousin was part of the cooking ceremony..

Before part of curry:

Before the final act of cooking:

And day before yesterday this fish's distant relative was part of the cooking ceremony...

Masala mixed prawns...

My mouth is watering..

When is my next vacation to home???

B13

2010-06-30T13:27:00.000-07:00

            Vacation is over.I bid good bye to everyone including the doggie at my neighbours house and started to kochuveli in kerala for my train.I took bus to trivandrum and then an auto to kochuveli.The auto driver with a typical malayalam moustache asked me 110 rupees for driving me to kochuveli.I argued but later gave in to his humble requests in malayalam.As i reached kochuveli station, a brown attire-clad security stopped us
           'Train cancelled' he said
            I enquired the reason.
          'Paalathile mannu udanchi...' he muttered.I understood that there had been a landslide on the train route.I had no other go but to return the way i came.Malayalam moustache auto driver got 200 rupees from me happily.As i was returning by bus to my native i booked ticket for the next day through tatkal,thanks to technology,all i needed was a gprs activated mobile.

Next day:
        I didnt bid good bye to the doggie today for she wasnt there.I had booked ticket from trivandrum hence went unreserved upto trivandrum from nagercoil.And as trivandrum arrived ,i switched from unreserved coach to Third A/C coach.I walked inside the narrow pathway between the berths searching for my berth B13.All six berths,lower two,middle two and upper two were raised and i saw three white people sleeping on the lower two berths and one middle berth.I wished my berth was nowhere here but it happened to be so.Mine was the other middle berth.I slipped in without making any noise and silently covered myself with the blanket provided.I slept.They were sleeping hard.At around 10 am ,one among them, a guy, woke up.I gave a side glance to have a look at his face.He, still wrapped in his white blanket glanced my glance.I immediately switched my glance.

Little moments passed....

       Another person from the left lower berth woke up.She, still covered in her blankets, sat comfortably and was reading.I too was reading at that time in dim light, made dimmer by the window sheets.But i didnt mind and kept on reading.Noticing this she enquired something to the other person on the right lower berth.I got only her last few words 'He is reading'.And suddenly light got brighter.I turned my face to see her and gave a half smile muttering 'Thank you' to myself.She too stopped her smile halfway and i saw 70 percent of her cute face.And she kept on reading.I did the same

Little moments passed....

   They kept conversing to each other in American accent.I had never been so close to hearing American English.I had heard only in Hollywood movies with my eyes fixed most of the time on sub-titles not able to follow through their English.

Little moments passed....

A 50 plus year old man joined us in the upper berth.He kept on talking loud in malayalam but the americans looked undisturbed.Another keralite joined on the right upper berth.All berths were full but no one interacted with the americans.I felt disturbed.I should atleast say a hello to them.I am really sick of my shyness.My guilt feeling didnt help me

Little moments passed...

Evening turned to dawn.
'Can i switch on the light?' i asked the american on the left lower berth.She didnt hear me.Neither did I.I spoke too softly.She brought her torso in front to listen.I again asked.
'Swith on?Yeah No Problem ...You can....' she replied and nodded with interest
I switched on the light and kept reading

Many little moments passed...

'Are you getting down at Salem?' the same american asked.I said 'No' and as if i was waiting for this moment i started asking them questions.And then our conversation started.We got introduced to ourself and put mokkai(chat) on favourite movies,favourite music,namakkal eggs(they were supposed to go to namakkal from salem,they are doing their masters degree in US and had come to India to research on HIV positive people),fish,their travelogue,Colarado(their native in US) ,sudoku(the american guy was solving it on train) and quite a few things.And by the way ,the guy's name is John,the girls' names are Cara and Eme.

Little moments passed...
A he/she came at this moment and started fiddling with the american guy.He felt shy.I mocked at him

'May be she finds you very attractive'
'That boosts my self esteem!' he replied
I gave he/she 20 rupees
'50 roopa kudukarthu ..hmmm..'(why dont you give 50 rupees...hmmm.) she asked/seduced
'Change illa ...'(I dont have change..) i replied
Giving me a dirty look she went.
The americans thanked me for giving her money on behalf of them(I hadnt i just gave on my behalf!)

Little moments passed...

'Do you want cookies?' Cara asked me.I thought she would offer me some american sweets.Thanking her and saying NO would be decent, but i thought accepting her offer would make her happy.And so i said
'I shall get it for your pleasure'
She took two britannia biscuit packets,offered it to me,one held in the left hand and the other in the right hand.
'We have two cookies.One is butter coated and the other one cashewnut.Take whatever you want' she offered
The butter biscuit packet was already open and on her insistence i took two biscuits.
Then she offered chewing gum.I hesitated.She told not to accept it if i were not interested.I accepted.She nicely held the cover between her hands and broke it ,the gum fell smoothly into my hands.

Eme was relatively less involved as she was unwell suffering from diarrhoea.
'It is her turn now' mocked John as the other two had already been through the same
She was lying with her hands resting on her stomach and enjoyed the conversation and my answers

Little moments passed...

'Can i take a photo with you?'

'Yeah sure' they all replied in unison

And the following followed...

Pick the odd one out

Me,John and Cara

Black&White&White

Me,Ame and Cara

And then they took photo with their digital camera.I did look terrible before their cute faces.John got my email id and said would mail me the photo.

Little moments passed.....

Salem junction arrived.John,Cara and Ame bid me good bye.

It was a good journey indeed.Thanks to the landslide.