The Road Finally Taken – Bangalore to Chennai

The after-college-life of mine now had been neither too long nor too short. I had not seen most of my friends these days. It had been almost two years I had visited Chennai. It took me more than a year to reach Chennai from Bangalore. Yes, I had said to my friends before a year that I will visit them there. I won’t lie – “I was busy or tied up with my work”. To be frank, I was lazy to travel to Chennai. Somehow I made up my mind to finally visit Chennai last weekend.

Chennai is a great place. Lots of changes had happened - Wider roads, New Flyovers, emerging IT Parks, New Multiplexes and malls. City got bigger and beautiful. I came at the right time when there is no much heat, so I did not complain much about the weather. Earlier when I landed in Bangalore for the first time, I was complaining about the bus fares. Now I am doing the same here. There are hardly normal (green) buses plying. The deluxe buses are in no way cheaper when compared to the BMTC buses here in Bangalore. Earlier I felt the cost of living in Chennai is less when compared here in Bangalore. But now I feel it is almost the same.

I should say the trip was so memorable. Though I couldn’t spend much time with each and every person, it was really good sharing happiness, cracking jokes and pulling each other’s legs. To me it’s a kind of refreshment after a couple of months. We didn’t go out for lunch; instead we did a combined cooking. Too many cooks actually “didn’t” spoil the broth in this case.

We went to Chennai’s most visited places – Spencers Plaza, City Centre, Sathyam cinemas and of course the Marina Beach. Passing a Sunday evening in the beach! Wow, I wish a beach here in Bangalore. Sathyam complex is definitely better than the PVR and Inox here.

It’s a great feel when you get to meet your old friends after an indefinite span of time. I stayed at one of my college friend’s house. There all my other friends joined in and we were all having great fun. We were chatting in all areas – Girls, Job, Chennai, Cooking, Finance, Movies etc. I was able to sense some kind of maturity in each and every person. Alarm raises – Then why the hell are we still single?

I met my school friends in the Marina beach. I need not explain the beauty of the Marina beach at sunset. We sat in a circle nearby the shore, sharing each other’s experience, it was nice you know. We were all laughing together. Sometimes our laughter was louder than that of the sea waves.

I started writing this blog with the intention of penning down all the cherishing moments of the trip here but I am really, really finding words to describe the same here.

Altogether, it was indeed a perfect Bachelor’s meet - All singles, being together. Yet another memorable trip for me!

An episode in a bachelor’s life!

She has recently joined the company…
Somehow she felt to me as the most liking girl…
Was able to see a couple of times in the cafeteria…
Good looking fair girl with an innocent smile…
Seems that she has a couple of friends including one or two guys… (Burns!?)
Was wondering why in this world I don’t get such girls in my project. (Sighs!)
I wanted to say her “You are beautiful” and walk away…
Will she smile or regret?
Will she mistake me?
Will she think I am flirting?
So many unanswered questions…until I go and say to her “You are very beautiful”
No. I will not do that…I definitely know that!


After a couple of days…
She (another girl) joined the company…
Somehow she felt to me as the most liking girl…
Episode repeats…

Wondering how many.…

My Experiment with Oats!

Last week, was my first mission towards exploring the culinary skills of mine. Being a lazy bachelor, thought of trying Oats. Bad choice!? Phew…I have never eaten it before. I would have just added Oats with milk and would have tried that. But a thought provoked when I just saw this recipe of making Oats Upma on the cover.

I just blindly followed the instructions given there and I was at the final stage. The Oats Upma was about to get prepared. I just closed the pan with a lid and was waiting for a few minutes to get it cooked. My alter ego was appreciating the way I had started cooking. What a start! It was like inventing a new dish as if the whole world has never heard of. Silly! 3 minutes over, I was back to the cooking world. I had opened the lid to see my product. It was like waiting for the results. Did I get an arrear or cleared off?

I don’t know what should I comment now, Shocked at the first look of my product, was re-looking the recipe. The outcome was kind of a “hygienic gum”. No words to speak or rather I am mute when I tasted it…so sticky!

Mission Success, Launch failed!
Crazy moments!

Eemini..Eemini…I am missing you!

I miss you..miss you da !

Ennai vittu pogadhey!

Ishtam neeyada,

Yeakkathil thalladhey !

This song from “Sakkarakkati” drives me crazy. Wow! What a start from Chinmayi.

Eemini..Eemini..! The metallic tone of hers just melts one’s heart. The main song is sung by another singer (not familiar with the name). It’s surely a different composition from the Mozart of Madras. Its so fresh and young that I am able to feel the theme of the song even without the visuals. Especially the humming interludes with “I am missing you” are very expressively rendered by the singers, which makes me to hear the song repeatedly. I hope the visuals keep up the expectation levels!

In the name of God...

Two weeks back a couple of groups knocked each one’s door in my street. They claimed to be the residents of my area and they wanted to celebrate Ganesh Chathurthi. No surprises! It was the usual collection they ask for, every year. Are they theists..(?). Why are they keen in celebrating this festival in the roads? If they are interested, why not spend their money? Why ask me? I am not an atheist, but I was not interested to aid them either.

The day came, the Ganesha procession was being held in the streets of my area! One of the guys was getting liquor from a shop in the corner of my street and was dancing before the idol.

I wondered...Why is all these? In the name of God…

Dhaam Dhoom - Only once!

Amidst the continuous rain in Bangalore, I went and watched the matinee show of this movie on Saturday. This is cinematographer turned director Jeeva’s last movie. I liked his Ullam Ketkume and Unnale Unnale and that had driven me to watch this movie. If it was romance in his earlier movies, it is a action thriller in this movie. The movie is about how an Indian doctor on a visit to Russia for a conference, a week before his marriage, gets trapped in a murder case and how he escapes to prove his innocence in the murder case.

The movie is a mixture of romance and action. And it is not the conventional Tamil action movie where in the hero hits ten to twenty people. It is one of the occasional action sequels in Tamil cinema, in which the hero is being chased by the Russian police force and how he esacpes from them and solves the murder case. Probably director Jeeva would have been influenced by the “The Bourne Trilogy” series and wanted to treat the Tamil audience in a similar way. Certain chase sequences in this movie had similarities with the English flick. Even one of the back ground scores reminds the background score of the Bourne Series.

Nowadays, it has been a trend in movies to involve the current sequel and flashback sequel in a mixed fashion. In this movie, the Russian episode of the hero Jeyam Ravi is frequently intervened by his love memories with Kangna Ranaut in India. In the consequence, the love sequel misses all the logical essence.

Some of the things I personally liked in this movie is the murder plot in Russia, the characterisation of Jeyam Ravi and the chase sequels (usually he does a romance cast), the place Russia which is probably a rare destination for Tamil audience and needless to say, the cinematography. Be it the city of Moscow or the hotel room where the hero stayed or the lawyer’s residence or the village backdrop in India, it was definitely a visual treat. The lighting effect was so natural. This movie also speaks about the Russian nation and its challenges to deal the prevailing crime threats in their country.

The movie would have been better if any one of the sequels alone is told - Either the murder case in Russia or the love story in India and I prefer if only the action sequel is told. The script is so racy and I feel the sequels in India and a couple of songs were the unnecessary speed-brakers. At least in future can I expect a quality action-thriller Tamil movie which has no song interventions?

Amazing start...

Neither do I speak telugu nor I am from Andhra. Yet, I was amazed at the overwhelming crowd yesterday in Tirupathi cheering “Chiru…Chiru” in Tirupathi. It was unusual for the local residents who always hear "Govinda..Govinda". The reason being none other than their own Mega Star’s official party launch. I actually know Chiranjeevi as a telugu super star and have watched a couple of films. And that’s all I know about him and nothing else. If it was NTR and MGR in the 80’s, it’s Chiru’s turn to prove his mettle.

My colleagues were all discussing about this party launch for almost a couple of days. I hardly peeped in as I am a stranger to the topic, which was totally irrelevant to me at any direction. It was only when I saw the party launch telecasted in TV and all the media experts speak about it. In fact I didn’t even understand a bit of telugu. Media people estimated that around 10 Lakh people from various parts of the state would have gathered yesterday during the party launch.

One thing that grabbed my attention is the posters of Dr.Ambedkar, Mahatma Gandhi and Mother Teresa used as one of the USP’s for promoting his party. May be it’s an old trick. The other thing is that many physically challenged persons came all their way to cheer their super star. It reminded me of the Tamil movie “Mudhalvan” (“Nayak” in Hindi).

At times I wonder, how cinema and politics are tied up together, especially in South India. Will Chiranjeevi create a revolution in Andhra politics? (Fingers crossed!)

Last Day Mail !

“Today is my last working day I would like to thank you for all the support you have provided and making my stay here a memorable one. I would like to thank my managers who had shaped my professional career….bla bla… (yawn!)

You can always drop mail to somename@somemail.com”

As if there is a standard Last day Mail template, I see more or less every last mail in a similar fashion.

Is it a custom? Why do you add extra coloured quotes - memorable place to work, dear ones, you have been my role model, bla bla…? Do you really feel sad leaving your company or your managers? Why can’t you say just thank you and say goodbye? It’s only in a college farewell or a school last day where you leave the place with a sigh of sorrow and haunting memories and they are the places where you are in a compulsion to leave at one time. But here this is not the case here. You go happy to another company and that is what you wanted. (Fingers crossed!). If it’s your last day, your manager will never care. If not you there will be another in your place.

This was the thought that came to my mind when I read a last day mail yesterday! I know I will also do the same thing on my last day in office, in fact have collected a few last day mails (smiles!) but was wondering why all these? No offences, crazy thoughts after all!

The Pursuit of Happyness !

I always felt if I have ever reciprocated to the care and affection that they had shown to me throughout my life. During schooling they got me whatever I wanted. During college, they gave me pocket money. When I was sick, she never slept. They bared all the useless complaints I make about the home food or the things they bought for me. I was not matured then.

Now it’s almost three years, where I am trapped in the so called a techie’s crap life which has the buzz words: Out Station- Bachelor – Office – Work or No Work – Sleep – Office – Weekend – Junk food, Home town – Once in one or two months.

I am back to office now after a 10 day vacation. I was cherishing the moments of my vacation. I felt very happy as I had time to spend with my parents. They also felt very happy. I was single and matured enough to share words with them. I don’t know if I could get another vacation like this. I do not know if they ever expect me to do anything for all that they had done for me till now.

I was about to leave my home to catch the train, it was then my father inserted a 500 rupee note in my pocket. I was surprised and dumb as tears rolled down slowly. It was a precious moment. Well my father had given me pocket money always during school, college, and the most during my unemployed days. But this moment made me to realise, I am always their little child. Should I call it "The Pursuit of Happyness" ?

They are always my caring mom and dad. How am I going to reciprocate? – The question which has infinite answers.

Chetan Bhagat – Now most of the youths in India know him!

When I go to Landmark, I almost see 4 out of 10 teens pick one of his books. One reason, probably, could be its price – One of the cheapest books in the store. J . The captions were also attractive; it read “Best Selling Indian Author”. Probably the other reason could be because he is an “Indian”. Well I bought his books probably to see why he is the Best Selling Author or why almost all present youths have his books in their shelves.


I have now read two of his books – "One night at the Call Center" and "The 3 Mistakes of My Life". The reason is simple. His books are like an unedited script before making a cinema. A time pass cinema will have all the ingredients like romance, action, comedy, sentiment mixed in suitable proportions. And of course in cinema sometimes the logical element would have been brushed aside. It’s same with his books also. His success lies in his simplicity of relating current day to day happenings, incidents in his books. Some examples to highlight are the One day Cricket match between India and Australia, night life in the metros, reference to Orkut, the communal riots etc. His writing has no complicated English words. It’s easy to understand. Sometimes the producers of a movie insist on an item number showing the hottest models to promote the film. Probably that thought provoked Chetan to include love making chapters in his book too. Movies rarely give a message, while most of them only entertain. It applies to his book as well.

Another reason the reach of his books could be the area where he targets – IIT, Cricket, and Call Centers. What could be his next area of interest?

Subramaniapuram - A Betrayal Drama!

Finally, I saw this movie yesterday. Depicting the darker sides of the unemployed youth in the 80’s in 2008 is a new flavour to Tamil Cinema. It’s really encouraging for the audience, for the variety of quality films that the new upcoming directors give.

The plot of the movie is how two friends decide their destiny and fall prey to the betrayal act of their most trusted set of people.

Debutant director Sasikumar is another feather in the crown of Tamil Cinema industry. I never expected a movie in the time lines of 80’s now. The last half an hour of the movie was fabulous and unexpected, with each and every character showing their true colours, giving shock to the audience. Debutant music director James Vasanthan has given an excellent effort in re-recording. The back ground score is in lines with the movie. Well it’s not like a debutants venture.

I enjoyed the movie very much. The first half of the movie is balanced with the romance sequences while the second half of the movie is where the theme of the movie lies in. The Television set, the heroine’s house, the telephone, the Ambassador car, the tricycle which is used for announcing film releases, the kind of advertisements they do in the walls of the houses, the PRC bus, the central theatre in Madurai and lots more which show the 80’s just bring a nostalgic feeling for my parents, if not for me. Kudos to the team. We had the old model telephone and the Dynora TV set till the 90’s. Well now it had got changed. Actually it was a nice feeling watching a movie which is backdated. It is backdated not too much that it is not history and elder people now can definitely rewind 28 years in their mind.

This movie shows three types of people.

The first is the set of people, who do anything for the other person, whom they feel trustworthy. In this film the two heroes kill a person for the most trusted person. In return they get nothing but ruin their lives.

The second set of people, who are like the cunning fox. They show case themselves as the most trusted person and trap the innocent people to almost do everything for them. In this movie, the ex-councillor’s brother convinces two of his faithful persons to do a murder for his benefit and ignore them totally after the execution. A perfect act of betrayal! Also this kind of people has a unique talent to convince people or create faith in them. In one scene, the ex-councillor’s brother brain washes the heroine’s mind which leads to the barbaric killing of her lover before her.

The third set of people, who are fond of money and can do anything for it. In the climax, the hero’s friend betrays him for money. Atlast the betrayer himself was betrayed by the ex-councillor and sent to jail.

Subramaniapuram – A Betrayal Drama enacted in the stage which is more than 25 years old.

Behold ! After all it’s your money !

Yesterday afternoon, on the way to have lunch, I dropped by the HP Petrol bulk near Tin Factory, Bangalore to fill fuel for my two wheeler. I handed over a hundred rupee note to the guy and told to fill petrol for the same. He was diverting my attention by talking some other unwanted things, and by the time the meter read 100 Rs and the fuel quantity read 1.65 litres. I was shocked. I saw my fuel indicator, which moved only by a mm. I did not move my vehicle. I argued with him that he did not fill petrol for the amount I gave. After a couple of arguments, he accepted that he did not reset the meter before filling mine. Later he put petrol for 50 Rs and I left the place.

I just wanted to share this because; these guys are doing this intentionally. At the time of filling the petrol, they will try to divert our attention and do all the malpractices they want to do. If the fuel hike is more bothering, these kinds of activities add more fuel to the fire.

Hope people are aware of such activities. Whether the fuel quantity is same as the reading in the meter is a different topic. :)

Cheers !

Tobacco-Free Campus - The Greener Way !

Last week, in my company iGATE Global Solutions Ltd, a new rule was brought with immediate effect that the whole campus will be smoke free and there will not be any smoking zones inside the campus. Instead there will be smoking zone put outside the office premises. This is one of the initiatives taken by the management to bring a greener environment inside the campus.

Its a very bold decision made. My view is that this may also bring down the count of the number of cigarettes a person smokes per day by at least one. The reason is many people may feel lazy to walk out of the premises, which may be approximately 150 metres from a person’s desk. Well being a non-smoker, I don’t have any regrets to this. Definitely it will be a little bit hard for my smoking pals. But it also has a positive side. The whole point of iGATE is not only to keep the environment smoke-free but also a gut feeling that it may tend to bring down the cigarette consumption of its employees.

Let’s say no to tobacco ! Cheers !

Kangal Irandaal - A song to fall in love with itself !

Kangal Irandaal, Un Kangal Irandaal
Ennai Katti Izhuthaai, Izhuthaai podhadhena
Chinna chirippil, oru kalla chiripil
Ennai thalli vittu, thalli vittu moodi maraithaai !

The first stanza of a song from Subramaniapuram goes like this. This song is haunting me since morning. A gentle romantic song visualized very well. Wow, a lovely song with neat facial expressions especially the hero’s romantic smile and the heroine’s cute smile. Simply superb!

Yet to watch this movie as it did not get released in Bangalore. Will have to watch it, probably next week.

If I had fallen in love with somebody now, this song would be in my background for sure :)

Of course this is my current caller tune as well !

Is that what I wanted to cherish ?

I am in Bangalore and it’s almost two and a half years. Still I fuss over the food here. And this is especially making sense for the non-cooking-bachelor who comes from the southern part of Tamilnadu. There are a quite few restaurants that offer food of our style but yet we can’t afford it always. At times when I don’t like the food here, I’ll say to myself… “This time when I go home, I should go to either Konar Mess or Kumar Mess.”

The moment I go home, I never eat out and always prefer eating my mom’s food. Of course nothing in the world is tastier than mom’s food. Kumar Mess and Konar mess never come in my mind. There were days during my childhood when I make a fuss about having milk in the night served at my desk. I should only drink it and that’s the only thing I should do. And Today?

I would not have realised this elixir if I had not stayed away from my mom, dad and of course my Madurai.

Dasavatharam - My scribbles about it !

This is not really a review and more over you would not need it as it’s almost a month since the movie got released. When I read reviews in Orkut or in other blogs, I feel every other person gives their own views on each and every sequel of the movie. One thing is clear from this is that Kamal has left it to the viewer to take the message from the movie on their own.

I feel the whole concept of narrating a four day incident in three hours is itself new to Tamil cinema. Well only people who know this language will understand the movie better.

I enjoyed this movie the most, when I watched it for the second time. Most of us would have enjoyed Balram Naidu’s character in the movie. Another humour character whose attention was grabbed other than Kamal is M.S.Baskar. I enjoyed this character only when I saw it for the second time as I could pay more attention to his Tamil-to-English translation dialogues. There must be Crazy Mohan’s contribution to these two characters I guess. Without him those dialogues will definitely lack the essential sense of humour. Yes I noticed his name when the credits were screened at the end of the movie. I should also bring light to Late Sujatha’s contribution to other notable dialogues in the movie. Though the dialogues were written by Kamal himself, these two persons contribution added more flavour.

Some characters of Kamal were made to feel unnecessary in this racy script. But it was inevitable because that is the main selling strategy of the movie and he has mostly managed to relate them.

Many people give multiple views on the movie that it’s about Theism or Atheism or Science or Environment and again this is also left to the viewer to decide. I personally feel in this movie he has tried to show Agnosticism*, basically trying to express both spiritual and non spiritual aspects of life and nature. Whatever the view may be, one thing everybody who watched this movie must agree - it’s definitely an entertainer for all people.

Dasavatharam – Kamal’s show case of ten avatars with various makeup ingredients including Chaos Theory, Butterfly Effect, Atheism, Global Warming, Bio-Threat, Environmental pollution, Terrorism and the list goes on.

*Agnosticism - It is the position of believing that knowledge of the existence or non-existence of God is impossible. It is often put forth as a middle ground between theism and atheism.

Gulkhand – Tastes Healthier !

I had throat pain, which I never realised till I felt my tongue and inner part of mouth burning whenever I had food or tea. For the first couple of days, whatever food, I ate; I felt it was too spicy. As I was staying away from my parents, there was no one to guide me with proper food habits in this situation. While talking to my mom over the phone, I was just saying about this throat pain. She said to take one or two spoons of Gulkhand everyday. I was wondering, if that would set it right. I just thought it is just used as a key ingredient in Sweet Beedas.

I bought one small pack of Gulkhand. I had two spoons daily (morning and nights) for one week and it really worked well. I am not sure that I am cured completely or not but I don’t feel my tongue or mouth burning now. I then realised that Gulkhand is more than what I thought it to be. From the web I found that Gulkhand has a medicinal value, though I am not sure if it is universally approved.

The main ingredients of Gulkhand are rose petals and honey. It is believed that it keeps your body cool and we should not prefer taking it in cold nights or in winter. Apart from being a mouth freshener, it also helps to keep away acidity. Since it tastes sweeter, one doesn’t need to fuss about having it. It is easily available in all super markets at a considerable price.

How is 2008 so far?

It’s been a little long I had visited my own blog. I thought it would be ideal if I pour in some thoughts how this 2008 went so far. Like everybody, with the global markets blooming, I was also expecting a fabulous 2008.
It was only a three weeks of the year that passed and the first blow came. Yes it’s one of the biggest downfall of the Sensex. Being a fresher (IT Terminology) in Stock Market, I was not much affected as I hadn’t had a firm portfolio that time.

I was much occupied with my work mostly these days, as it was the Coding phase of my development project. A little sign of relief came from the Finance minister Chidambaram’s financial budget. The individual tax slabs were raised from 1,10,000 INR to 1,50,000 INR for the current year. I dreamt that I could save some money. My dreams never came real as Inflation rose to historical highs, Basic commodity prices increased. The worst thing is Crude Oil also hit historical highs.

The increased salary after appraisal and the tax slab relaxation seems to just meet the increased petrol expenses and food expenses. So far 2008 has not been a promising year, may be for me!

Thanks!