நேற்றும் இன்றும்

How funny was it? How crazy was a life of a bachelor!!!

No plans. No savings. No tension.

Eat all around. Whatever you want. Wherever you go. No rules!

Sleep any time. Dont even bath. Who cares!

I was just thinking as I recollected posting an episode in a bachelor's life here.

I had to laugh at myself. So why is all the past tense...I recollected...was a bachelor....yup...I had to move on to family circle shedding out the single status four months ago! Well dont ask me, which one is better! No matter, changes are inevitable !! So if you ask me how is life as of now, I should be crisp saying "All izz well for now"

Personally so many changes!!! That too for a guy who had stayed away from family for some time...the changes are evident and welcoming. Thoughts come naturally when I write in my native language!!

அன்று !!!!

Late ஆ எந்திரிச்சு... 5 ரூபாய்க்கு...

பக்கத்து டீ கடையில் சின்ன plastic கப்பில் காபி குடிச்சு,

அவசரமா  குளிச்சு  Aunty மெஸ்ஸில்,

அந்த அதே breakfast menu வ பாத்து,

வேற வழி இல்லாம அத சாப்பிட்டு,

Office க்கு போறதுகுள்ள போதும் போதும்னு ஆச்சு !!!

இவன் Bachelor,

எவ்வளவு நேரம் ஆனாலும் இன்றே முடிச்சுடுவான்

என work குடுக்கும் மேனேஜர்!!!

Queue வில் நின்று அந்த 40 ரூபாய் meals வாங்கினா ...

இன்றைக்கும்  பிடிக்காத அந்த கொவக்காய் சாம்பார்! 

ச்சே  ச்சே..

வேலை முடிச்சு

பின் இரவில் வீட்டுக்கு வர்றப்போ அவ்வளவு tiredness!!

அடுத்த நாள்...Repeatu !!!

இன்று!!!

காலையில் எழுந்தவுடன்  சூடான filter காபி,

இன்று என்ன lunch செய்ய என்ற அன்பான உபசரிப்பு,

குளித்து முடித்ததும்... பசியை போக்கும் இட்லி காரச்சட்னி,

உடல் ஆரோக்கியத்துக்கு பழச்சாறு,

என Office க்கு கிளம்பும் முன் அவ்வளவு அக்கறை !!!

மாலை வீடு திரும்பியதும் மறுபடியும் காபி...

இடையில் சில பல snacks..இன்று

வேலை எப்படி இருந்தது என அழகான விசாரணை!

பிறகு Tension இல்லாத dinner...

நிறைவான தூக்கம்!!!

இந்த மாதிரி சினிமாவிலோ இல்ல மற்றவர்கள் பேசும் போது,

இன்று நம் வாழ்விலும் இது நடக்கிறது  என்று என்னி மனம் மகிழுது !!!

நாளை ??

இதெல்லாம் கொஞ்ச நாள்  தான்,

அப்புறம் கதையே வேற என்று மூத்தவர்கள் சொல்லலாம்.

நாளைக்கு நாளை பார்ப்போம்!!

Diwali...Then and Now...

Needless to say,Diwali is one of the biggest festivals in India, being celebrated differently for different reasons in different parts of the country where every person finds a reason to rejoice, reason to do business, reason to have sweets, reason to meet relatives, reason to relax, reason to wish, reason to shop....its diwali time!

First I hated Diwali this time, for it fell on a Wednesday!! Then I liked when my one week vacation got approved.However the rains at this time has been interrupting the schedules intermittently. Even now had plans to go out...but started blogging as it is raining now outside....so was just thinking what to blog and then i thought i could scribble about my previous Diwali celebrations and how I celebrated this time! Wow...lots of changes!!! 

It was during schooling, the excitement was at its peak. It seemed like I longed for this occassion every year. The festive mood starts well in advance where the count down begins as early as atleast by a month! I used to finish off the home work once I reach home and then bug amma for 15 Rs or so to get the 'seeni vedi' from the petty shop nearby and then spend the rest of the evening bursting one by one. In the mean time I would have gathered few of my street mates. Diwali also indicates new clothes for me. It was only during this time I get four to five sets of new dresses and keep it for all the occassions till next diwali. On the Diwali day, I get up early rather forced to get up. Then have an oil bath, put on the new clothes and make sure that I burst the 'busvaanam' and 'sangu chakram' before any of my neighbourhood does.  I used to go to my grandma's house and other relatives...primarily to fill my pockets with 'Diwali kaasu' and seeking their blessings was secondary though!! Well all i knew that time is puthu dressu, vedi, diwali kaasu! Funny aint it ?

The first transformation came during the college days. The focus gradually shifted from crackers to movies. I used to watch a couple of movies during diwali holidays. It was during college, I had this habit of watching movies during the release weekend it self and diwali was no exception. I used to come home the day before diwali. It is one kind of excitement on Diwali eve, when I used to gather some local friends and roam around the west masi street and netaji road, do some petite shopping..probably belt or socks or t shirts and swim through the crowd to reach Sunnambukaara street to bargain some local brand footwears. Man you have to be on these roads on Diwali eve to witness the crowd. Probably I did not know much about Ranganathan Street or Commercial Street then!

Well, the enthusiasm today might even not be near, to what I did then. The way I see diwali today has changed a lot. Diwali seems to be a sign of relief after long working hours in office. So what do I do during diwali! After failing through irctc.co.in which never opens during peak times and managing a costly ticket from ksrtc for what they claim as SPL, which is only little better than the BMTC buses, we reach home tired. Then you unpack the sweets you got the previous night after leaving office and before catching the bus.


New Clothes - If I thought new dresses are worn on Diwali and other festival occassions, then I have to take any day in a month as diwali. Almost every weekend is a shopping weekend! So now the zeal of wearing new clothes has gone. After all its another day!  Blame the IT-Lazy-Bachelor culture. I do make a visit to temple and grandma house. However, I still keep getting the diwali kaasu, but then it has become secondary now. :) Then come home, eat lots of sweets, scan through the tv channels, take a nap!

Crackers - Oh I dont even think about it these days...just go to the terrace or outside for some time....watch out the fireworks clearing the dark sky..have a sigh of joy and relaxation..come down...have some bajjis that mom prepared..watch out for one of the block buster movie that is aired on the satellite channels....greet and exchange wishes with friends and relatives..and that is diwali as of today!

Well one may think, what is in a celebration! However, sitting back and rewinding a few years makes one feel nostalgic! Doesnt it ?

Happy Diwali!!!

Mankatha and Ajith!

There are various type of film goers in Tamil. Few for the hype, few for the music, few for the director, few for the genre but mostly for the star cast. And we all know where Mankatha fits in. Being myself a film goer of all the type, I went Mankatha especially for none other than Ajith. So whatever I write here might be biased. Beware! :)

Is it a new trend in Tamil cinema ? First there were heroes, then they did good for the people, then they fought for the good. Next there were anti-heroes. They had a flash back to prove their bad worth and then they turn good. Now is the era, all are bad, they talk bad, they live bad, they end bad. Here comes Aaranya Kaandam and now Mankatha!  If there is anything common in both, its all about bad people and if there is anything that makes a difference and that is none other than Ajith! 

I may not talk about the plot of the movie or its positives-negatives or its music or its cinematography but I may talk about the guy who made a difference. If you had asked me, if I had liked Mankatha without Ajith...well I have to think! I think acting bad is easier than acting good! People have always excelled.  We all knew Sigappu Rojakkal and Endhiran! Ajith holds the film like John Travolta did it in Broken Arrow! Following all his movies including his flops, I cannot resist talking about Ajith here. His screen presence, his costumes, his looks are the USP and that is what that keeps the crowd cheering inside the theatre. He is damn smart in his natural grey hair and rayban coolers. He is open, natural and accepts he is aged forty. I might want to see this film once more for his daring villainous act. One of my favorite scene in the movie would be the chess sequence in the movie.

Well his characterization is of a greedy, selfish guy which is not a sort of a lead role the usual tamil hero plays in. Even if its a thief role, it ought to be a Robin Hood kind of role! But this one had broken all the conventions which is pretty new and welcoming here! It may sound awkward when the lead protagonist talks filthy language in Tamil cinema. Few of his dialogues are muted. Ofcourse we all knew those words and people in the theatre dubbed instead! So is it a question if all the female followers of him would not love this movie because he cheated his girl friend for money? Should an actor of star dom status not talk or act like this? Again all the barriers broken here!

 Well if these kind of films have been tested and received in Hollywood, be it a gangster flick like The Departed or a heist movie like SwordFish, then why not Mankatha in Kollywood? You may want to complain about logic loop holes, lengthy first half, bad content and so on.. but who cares when Venkat Prabhu had used Ajith as the trump card for his game? Mankatha da!

Lame Excuses!

I would have wanted or not wanted, 

I would have known or not known,

It is intentional or unintentional,

It is the truth or a lie,

Somebody asks or not..

Excuses! Excuses!

Lame Excuses all the way!

When I wake up late...I say Bangalore is very cold in the morning!

When I dont jog..oops.. its already eight, I have to get ready for office!

When I skip office...I think i am not well!

When I spend unnecessarily.... salary had just been credited!

When I hardly talk to my old friends.....busy at work, you see!

When I skip a friend's marriage...project release on that day!

When I dont pick up a call....I am riding my bike!

When I party hard...weekend you see!

When I fail to impress... lets look out for another!

When I dont wash my clothes for the week... well who cares!

...And many more!

Excuses! Excuses! 

Lame Excuses all the way!

Aaranya Kaandam - A unique chapter in Tamil Cinema!

    
As usual, it was another lazy Saturday afternoon. We had gone to the less publicized Aaranya Kaandam. There was not much a crowd. We were hardly thirty people in the theatre. I didnt mind. I knew that this is an experimental movie and also there were no advertisements in television. However I had been desperately wanting to watch this movie, since its theatrical trailer and teaser had released. By seeing the teasers, I felt this movie could have been inspired from Taratino's movies and my guess was right. This movie is totally unique, stylish, bloody. Yes, its a complete adult movie. Its not a movie where you go with your family, but still this movie is different. I am not sure if such movies will fill the producer's pocket. S.P.B Charan has the guts thought. In fact there are no songs in this whole duration of 150 minutes.

                                                      

Gangster movies are not new to Tamil Cinema. However what is new in this film is the plot is revealed at its own pace by the different characters of the movie and it is the situation which makes the characters good or bad. Its not a racy thriller. Its calm, composed and rises to peak at instances. Debutant director Thiyagarajan Kumararaja seems to have completely inspired with neo noir films like Pulp Fiction and Reservoir Dogs and he has given this product beautifully.
I completely enjoyed! Be it the blood shed scenes, the retro type background score, the ambience, the references to popular stars, its a complete inspiration from western movies. I am liking this trend in Tamil cinema. Even the plot of the movie is similar to Pulp fiction, where there is no story as such, but there are different incidents in which the characters cross each other and their transformation for survival. Every character here is a hero and every character here is a villain.

                                          

It is welcoming that there is no song in this movie. Yuvan's background score is promising. Silent in most places, violin interludes at a few places and Raja sir's songs at some places. Its again inspired from western films especially Tarantino's, where there are musical references like a popular song aired in a radio or television and some places there are references to the retro/pop culture similar to Kill Bill. Though Jackie Shroff's nude appearance doesnt impact or add any significance to the movie, the debutant character Somasundaram as Kaalayan and his son character Kodukkapuli, completely steal the show. An innocent-desperate-angry son and a completely drunk-dont care-attitude foul mouthed father. Their characterisation is laughable, interesting and entirely different.

                 


If I am fascinated with the camera work, lighting, ambience and the apt back ground music, am more amazed with the kind of dialogues that are used in this film. They are raw at some instances, they are filthy in some but everytime they are spontaneous and that is one of the reason, I did find some difficulty in understanding a few dialogues. They were so spontaneous and lowly delivered that there should be pin drop silence to hear it. There are many notable places which will deserve applause especially when Sampath asks the kid whether he likes his father so much and the kid's response is simple and sensible. Another notable place is where the lady describes men and their attitude. I spontaneously laughed and clapped at another scene involving the astrologer.

                                 


I know its not the regular movie which will lure tamil audience and generate revenue. Still, this film will be a milestone in the list of good unique tamil movies. Well...I dont mind watching it again in theatre!

Its been a couple of months...

... I had been scribbling in this space. Half the blame to the company I joined....I had been into a hectic project after a week I joined here and since then, there is no looking back. Somehow I felt that, I had been actively engaged with work in this project for the past three months.Well dont ask if I am able to deliver? :) Well I dont know. Am I trying to showcase or is there a pressure really? May be both are right. Sometimes had to work more than office hours..slog almost every day. Well more salary, more work!!! Wait Wait Wait!! Is that statement correct..no not at all...its not always true...May be its an inconvenience of being a bachelor. But in spite of all the wierd thoughts about work, slogging, working on weekends..I somehow managed to relax as well. I didnt miss to go to friend's marriages and engagements ...I still managed the weekend get to with my ex colleagues..  As usual I didnt miss to watch newly released movies. I did not miss to attend the A R Rahman concert here in Bangalore. None of my pastimes changed. Just that there is no free time. Its all occupied. I would say the lazy time of mine had just reduced. Somehow I am content about it. If you are wondering what a lazy time is, I would say its a time spent by me on a weekend or weekday doing nothing. Nothing means literally nothing.

 Now that its almost three months, I just got some breathing space and just peeped in here. Reason being, I want to blog, atleast once in a while. And thats why I made a point to scribble here, though this post has no context or significance! I am not a writer or a philosopher. I am not preaching. I may be a liar. But I wanted to blog, and thats the beauty of blogging, you have this liberty to blabber whatever you want. Wish I blog with relevance in future!! I wanted to talk about the movies I watched recently, the places I had gone, the new restaurant I had experimented. Just that I should not be lazy. I know, once in a while I post such scribblings without any specific context. I start of with something and end with something irrelevant. He he, I am liking to do that!!   :)

Cup of Joy - Regained!

If there is something that unites all the states in India, the non national game, cricket is one of the major contributor. Particularly, when India hosts the world cup tournament of the most viewed sport here and when the trophy is retained for the next four years in Indian soil, the result is priceless. There is a quote "Coming together is a beginning, Keeping together is a Progress, Working together is a Success". Today this has been a truth in the history of Indian cricket. Its not only part of Indian history, but part of every ardent lover of Indian cricket. Particularly for me, I was never born, when India gained its first ever World Cup title in 1983. So its a first in my history. May be India will retain the title next time, but this moment is fantabulous. Its a nation's pride.

 Every match after the preliminary round had been crucial. When India advanced ahead each step beating the current world cup champions and the age old rival, world cup was almost a sure shot. But the finals against the Srilankans was not an easy one though. A 275 target in a world cup final is not at all an easy task! Like its in the movies, there had been a initial twist with  Malinga giving the early break for the lankans with sending the heros Sehwag and Sachin very early to the pavilion.

This may not be a better match for the Srilankan spin wizard, but a decent world cup exit for him, with 500 plus wickets in his basket. Competition should always exist and thanks to Mahela, without him this final would have never been a tough fight. However the rest is all history with Captain Dhoni and Gambhir at rescue operations and we all are happy now.

What a match! What a crowd! When all the icons were there at Wankhede stadium - Rajnikanth, Aamir Khan, Mukesh Ambani, Sachin Tendulkar, victory is 50 percent acheived. I felt we just missed A R Rahman though! Its the power of the people. The success waves created by every single soul in India wanted this! This has to happen and it has happened. It is all written!

Its the last world cup for Sachin, and he will be the most happiest person than anybody else in the country. If this is not gonna happen, then it would definitely be a black patch despite of all his records and achievements in his two decade old career as a cricketer. We are all happy watching him being proud.

And one more feather in Dhoni's cap, the captain of success. His way of handling pressure helped us from sinking the ship in the finals. Be it the support he gave to Gambhir or his winning helicopter six, the moments cannot be erased so easily. We could witness all the emotions not only from the spectators but also from the players. Winning stroke after all!

One should experience, the after winning moments. You need not be necessarily in Mohali or Mumbai! You can be at Madurai also. Wow the crackers they burst on the streets, greeting each other, staying happy, cheering people, I dont think it can happen on any other occassion. It was an unanimous celebration altogether.


April 2, 2011 - Cup of Joy, Regained!

Run Lola Run!

I happened to see this German flick - Run Lola Run!  Life is all about probability based on time. Athletes win the race by milli seconds and nano seconds. And this movie explains it in a very interesting and fast paced manner. Especially with the style and the fast paced background music, this decade old movie seems to be technically brilliant and makes one sit at the seat edge!

Lola has twenty minutes and needs huge amount of money to save her boy friend. She decides to get the money somehow and run to the destination, where her boy friend is actually waiting. This whole movie is split into three different runs by Lola for the same situation, with the first two runs being a failure and the final run becoming successful. There are flash forward sequences shown for each of the people whom Lola encounters during each run. Even the life of the other people whom Lola bumps in take different directions for each run. The director neither says which one of the outcome is actually true nor he wants it to say as he only gives us a thought that only seconds of your time are required to change the direction of your life! Very true!

I sometimes imagine things in real life in a similar way. Sometimes very crucial turns in one's life happens in seconds. Most of the times we will not have control on it. I know we cannot go back and change things, atleast we have the liberty to dream about it. Knowingly or unknowingly, be it the past incidents or the future endeavours we always have a habit of dreaming those things in the present. We all have a wish to do something in life and most of us end up in doing something else. Like it is said in a Tamil movie - Mudhalvan "How good life be if it has an rewind option?" If every single person in this world is blessed with this option, I bet we will never go forward..what say? :)

First things First!

It could be whatever you do, wherever you live, which ever place you had gone, who ever you have met, the "first" one is always a probable moment. It could give you loads of surprises and excitement. It could be a happy moment or a sorrow one. And irrespective of the outcome, I bet the first things always have a special place in one's heart. Be it your first school, first crush, first date, they all have longing memories! This time its first last day @ work!

Well yesterday was my last day in my first company. In these five years, I had seen people staying around and moving out. I could hardly recollect faces that I saw during my first year! But there are a few people like me hanging around still as if they were anchored deep to the sea bed!  So as usual, it was my turn to send out my last day mail and I could not cut short the content. Whatever I wrote, came from the mind. I did not care if the recipient would care or not. An irony is that I had actually criticised others for their last day mails here!

It was a kind gesture having friends sending me off with all the usual cake cutting, wishes and memento. Finally, it took less than a minute to return my identity card and my longing association with my first company ended abruptly. And particularly when you are associated with a company for a very long time, it definitely takes a little time to get over the comfort zone. Its not only the organisation but the people, with whom you had built a relationship with. 

Its like the timer is reset and again the time starts ticking from zero. I know this will happen and I wanted this to happen! I am a stranger now and I need a visitor pass next time to enter! But that is what life is all about. Every phase you leave something and you search and pick some other thing and move on with taking only the memories about those you had left in the first place!

Aadukalam - The ground set in Madurai Again!

Director Vettrimaran unfolds a story which revolves around the descendants in southern Tamilnadu region who care and care only to win the age old gambling animal sport in southern Tamilnadu – Rooster fight. Rooster fight is an age old game not only in Southern Tamilnadu but all over the world especially in Mexico. Wikipedia says it has reference in Tamil literature which is more than 2000 years old. Such genres are very rare and welcoming to Tamil cinema. This film not only portrays the sport but also reveals its cause and effects over the people who were deeply involved and show us how determined and egoistic are they and how extent they turn villainous for retaining and regaining the pride in winning the blood sport game. For them it’s a life and death scenario.

Definitely the director has taken me to seat edge experiences in a couple of scenes, especially the rooster tournament scene. Be it the history of rooster fight or referring the diminishing Anglo Indian people in Madurai, the director has taken close to real facts and figures and filmed it. More than rooster fight, this movie is full of emotions. Every small character marks their presence and show justification to their role.

                                     

This movie also evolves a mind game filled with loyalty, trust, betrayal, cunningness between the mentor and his beloved student and when the student outsmarts his mentor, the director has cleverly handled the characters and reveal how trust turns betrayal, and betrayal seeks guilty. It is hard to say who the bad guy in this movie is. If you think one person to be the baddie in the beginning, you are probably wrong. There is no good or bad but the situation and circumstances is when good turn bad and bad turn ugly. What is something unique is the ending. It’s not about the stunts but the emotions between people that talks more.

Madurai based theme seems to be the genre these days. Most of the movies seem to be exaggerated and over shadowed creating a misinterpretation for how Madurai and Madurai people are. Well I think I have seen Thirumalai Nayakar Mahal more in movies than in person! Tamil cinema needs a destination change! Though this movie is also set in a Madurai backdrop, people shouldn’t care as the characters and the story outplay altogether.

The White Balloon

When we were a kid, do we ever remember how we nagged our mom for a chocolate or a toy car or for that matter any thing we wanted at that moment? We were so adamant on that and we would either cry or be silent or shout until we get what we wanted. Did we ever care why our mom scolded us for not obeying her?

When we were a kid, did we ever know what is good and what is bad? We always believed whatever our teachers, our friends or anybody said is true and we follow it blindly.

When we were a kid, little we had known about the value of money and we were so determined about the small small things which would shower happiness. We didnt even know how long would that happiness last long! May be it would have lasted till our mind gets distracted to some other things we see. Have we ever remembered to talking to strangers? If so how did we do? Were we afraid? I dont recollect!


What if we had a chance now to see that cute little face of young times, when we showed all kinds of expressions through our little face - happiness, curiosity, anger, sorrow, fear, respect, loneliness, restless, adamance and so on...

It was a few days back, I came across this Iranian movie - "The White Balloon". I saw this movie, of course with subtitles and I could not say exactly why I liked the movie. The movie is about a seven year old cute litte girl who is desperate to buy a fat gold fish for the new year which is approximately 75 minutes far and this movie is narrated in a very ordinary, yet beautiful way from the little girl's perspective. Some movies are inspiring, some are fun, some are romantic, some are interesting, some are boring, some are bloody, some are crap. I felt "The White Balloon" is a feel-light-good-movie.

Be it the determined, yet sad face when her mother denies to buy her the fish or be it the change of her expression when her brother actually convices her mom or be it the way she builds confidence over the guy in the fish store or be it the affection she shows for her brother, when he is beaten by another guy or be it the determination and expression of hope she shows when she finds a way to take the money out or be it the way she tries to protect the money from the Iranian soldier or be it the courageous, yet fearsome talk she makes to the snake charmers to get back her money, or any other expression she had to make, one has to watch the movie to feel it!
 
 

 
So did I....Better late than never!

Five years and still counting...

Okay, its a milestone in my life and I have completed five years in the IT industry! Ooph! Should I appreciate myself or should I think of doin something else? Well instead of talking about my profession, I thought I will recollect what all the irrelevant things I had gained out of this journey so far!

If I am blogging here right now, I dont think I would have done it or even thought of scribbling such crazy thoughts, if I am not in this industry. May be I could have not known what blogging is! Thanks to my "bench" days which actually made me to create a blog!

Something which I can boast of is may be I have learned basic cooking or atleast made some attempts to try to make some regular dishes. No no, dont expect a delicacy, I said basic cooking...!

 



If I am lazy and not active, thanks to most of the weekends spent literally by just staying at my so called bachelor family home and not doing anything. Sometimes we dont even go out for breakfast! And now we dont even do the basic cooking. Andhra Mess is our rescuer for most of the weekend afternoons. Birds of a feather, flock together, Bachelor guys mock Andhra Mess together! Any area you are in Bangalore, there will be one such eatout. Full meals with dhaal and egg burji! Wat a combination!!!

With the increasing factory outlets and shopping malls in the city and given the fact that we have to push the weekend going, we land up in these places and have most of our money exchanged for new tees and casuals almost every alternate week! Gone are the days, where you purchase clothes only during Diwali festival!



When you are in this industry and when restaurants offer corporate lunch buffets and when colleagues throw birthday treats and farewell parties and particularly when you are in Bangalore where you have lots of eatout options ranging from south indian to international, Almost, you can say you will become a foodie and so have I! It is very obvious, you get to go to all the team outings or fun trips and so did I. No matter if its Coorg or Las Vegas, it is the enjoyment and break you get out there!

In movies, policeman are portrayed with their pot belly, soon they may show IT people in a similar way. If its one thing I think I should take measures atleast now, is to control my tummy level! In fact I know, how much lean I was in my college! Thanks to KFC and Dominos and of course Andhra mess!

Almost I have watched most of the movies in this five years. I have learnt to admire good movies. If I am not in this industry, I would not have known the torrents site and wikipedia. May be its a very useful site for all purpose, but for me mostly I have used this site searching information about movies,actors and directors. I just love to click links in a link in a link and browse information.

So far so good....Five years and still counting!

Sujatha's நைலான் கயிறு (Nylon Kayiru)

I dont know, suddenly I started reading novel. I remember being addicted to Rajesh Kumar's crime novels. Once I used to go to the streets near New Cinema Theatre in Madurai to get the second hand novels from the book stores. Somehow I came out of that habit!

And its now when we guys went to Erode for one of my colleague's wedding reception where we just happened to walk into a book shop opposite to the hotel we stayed and I picked up a couple of books which included Nylon Kayiru (meaning a nylon rope)! 

Well its the first novel by writer late Sujatha in the end 60's which was published for 14 weeks in a Tamil weekly magazine. Now they have compiled all the episodes and published as a single novel. I started reading the novel and finished in 3 hours. The reading experience is like watching a thriller movie! So interesting!

I was amazed with his writing style and given the fact that it was published 40 years before! His style was different. He is so knowledgable. He is trying to intoduce unknown facts and also explains them. In one of the episode, he hints about a medical term "sepsis" and "internal hemorrhage". These terms are definitely new 40 years back and even now "sepsis" is new for me :) ! I did a google search to find its explanation!

He has adopted a different narrative style in this novel with inserting a snippet from a person's diary and narrating a murder followed by the sequence of its investigation and finally the investigation leads to the diary. It might have been a trend set in introducing different writing style. At first you dont get to know the relation between the diary and the scene described in the episode. Given the fact that it was published weekly, it would have created an immense curiosity among the readers! In fact, after reading the whole novel, I went back and read the diary snippets alone from each episode again to get a clear picture of the story! I am sure, movies are inspired from his writings! If I was amazed with the non linear editing style in Christopher Nolan's Memento, then I had a similar feel while reading this novel. I didnt know that through writing also one could give a non linear view!

Sujatha is no more, but he has shared lots of his knowledge and views through his writings and has given work for us to read, enjoy, learn and think! Indeed, Art is long and life is short!

It striked me when..

... I went home for Diwali. I was occupied more with my laptop than with my mom! And this was not the first time. She was surprised when I started talking to her when the power got cut. She enquired for which I replied there is no power and there is no internet! She now understood the fact and asked me to disconnect the internet connection permanently.  Lately there has been such cribbings in my home that i am being a guest at home and not spending most of the time with them. Very true, now there seem to be a sort of addiction among we young guys. Either we meddle with our high end mobile or glue to our lap tops all the time. 

I guess, soon there might be a substitute name for a mobile phone as it is used for more than the required telephonic conversation. There will be no surprise at present if some body asks you that apart from being a teetotaller, how many hours you waste before the internet or how often you use your mobile phone per day. I dont know where it will lead, the destination is still unclear! And definitely not a healthy destination. On the other hand, its high time we can imagine being without mobile or internet! Its like the earth stood still and have a feeling like having losing something close to the heart.

I admit its important to stay connected when we are away from our dear ones. But, is it required when they are close and near is the next billion dollar question... Well then I can call it addiction! If you smoke or drink, it takes time to quit or you dont quit at all, may be you reduce the frequency and so is this..atleast stay away when you are at home ! 

Which generation are we?

Off late, this question had been provoking frequently in my mind…which generation are we in? Any guy in the mid 20’s and 30’s can almost feel like being in a 50-50 generation…neither previous nor the next…Being in India and keeping the fact that it is a developing nation, there are day-to-day improvements in our happening life. Be it technology, culture, movies, education, food, travel, relationship and what not…


I don’t know, I always feel like a testing rat being tested with all the changes and developments happening around us. Or may be I am glued to this digital world so much that, I am forced to think so!


My uncle cherishes his nostalgia by recollecting the letters he used to write to home when he was in hostel. I can’t even do that...all I should have done is to have recorded my telephone conversation then.


During college days, my mom used to ask frequently, with whom are you talking over the phone. My dad used to ask why the phone charges are high. And now it’s mobile. You call it privacy..But yet you are not alone!


I cannot forget my cassette collections. Then CDs. We had to pay a huge price to get a CD player. By the time we get used to it, and then came DVDs and now Blu ray! Come on give me a break!


I could recollect using an ordinary Kodak camera with film rolls during my late school days. You don’t even know how the output is unless you finish it off and give it to a store to take prints! Then came the digital camera. They were tested on us. We paid more initially. Our first expression was Wow! Being able to see instantly the snaps we take and the capability to store it in our PCs without even having to print it. One single photograph in hand is worth more than the thousands of jpg files you store it in your PC! What an irony!


I still have a pass book of my first bank account. I was then thinking will there be any way to reduce the queue for money withdrawal. Now I don’t even need to know where my bank is present physically. But the queue has not reduced but switched places from banks to ATMs. I was thinking what would happen if a day comes when the internet world goes black.


What I thought in a computer was then a black and white monitor with some programs running. And thought computer programmers were genius! Am I a genius then? No not even the first letter of it. Yesterday they talked about internet, google, blogs, facebook on a larger screen…and now micro applications. We are forced to cope up or else we become obsolete.

I can say that these kind of thoughts will not strike the future minds as they donot have a chance to realise the transformations from what it was to what it is, like we realise it.


Changes are happening so rapidly that what has happened yesterday is outdated today. Somehow, we are in this period of time. Should I call it a boon or bane? It’s become an additional burden to strike a balance between our elders and our juniors. Nowadays even a short gap of two to three years between us and our juniors have a lot of differences in terms of ideas, education, technology, communication etc. So you cannot even call it a generation gap. What do you call then? The people who have hard times to stand these are our elders. It’s not their fault though. Most of our parents would find it hard to even understand what a computer is. So definitely they have hard times to cope up with the current trend. Imagine your father asking how to surf the net and your younger brother asking details about iphone. You know where you stand now!

Endhiran - An Experience!

I have to admit that Endhiran is an experience! For me, it didnt start from the title cards. Rather I would say it started from its audio release! From then, every single bit of news about the movie spiced up my expectations.  With the teasers released during the audio launch or the theatrical trailer released a couple of weeks back, one could not wait for the actual movie and I am no exception. Moreover it became a day to day activilty for me to do a google search with the key word "endhiran". I bet there is nothing unusual in it. Savvy? 

So where is the difference? What creates all the hype and fun? The only name is Rajnikanth! Its like you are waiting to have your favourite ice cream and what will you do when you hear that it would be topped by hot chocolate, crispy nuts, raisins and berries giving the final touch. Dont you go berserk? So Rajni-Shankar-ARR-Ash combo delight dons the magic here!

So why Rajnikanth? Why are his movies have a cult following in the South? I have always wondered. Atleast to my knowledge from seeing his films, he is the only man in the industry whose films can be watched along with family..along with friends..along with cousins...at least alone! He is a mass entertainer! Be it any film..Baasha, Annamalai, Padayappa or Sivaji for that matter. Ironically he is the best villain than being the hero! If you think Karunas and Santhanam are for comedy..then what is Rajni for...Media portrays Rajni as a God in the South! Director Shankar has transformed this vision in a scene in this movie which is enjoyable. One must watch Endhiran for it! All you see in each and every frame of the movie is Rajni..Rajni..Rajni.. 

Shankar is the man of execution of one's own thoughts! You may drink a coke and thrash the tin...Shankar would use it in a song in Boys! He is an out of box creator who can make an aam aadmi to virtually experience the exotic locations! Watch the picturesqueness in Kilimanjaro and Kadhal Anukkal!  However I felt the screenplay / plot in the second half could have been a little crisp. But who would think there would be hundreds of Rajni transforming to whatsoever objects we cannot think of! Visual treat! So any flaws in the story or script is covered here! Watch Endhiran second time for it!  There are a quiet bit of social awareness too, may be its not told but thats what i understood. One is such a scene which shows a humongous dumpyard symbolising the environment pollution. When the Robot asks "Did I ask you to create me?", it was touching and also strikes a chord!

                                     

ARR songs have already been chartbusters! His songs are apt  for the sci-fi-masala theme of the movie. So its doesnt make a point to compare with any of his other works! Its commercial, robotic, hypnotic, metallic.  And when you watch it on screen with the visuals, its fantastic. ARR the magician! Its inevitable for people to expect that pinnacle of background score from the Grammy winner for Endhiran, so even the better background score doesn't leave an impact at the first time!

I think i haven't talked about the gorgeous lead actress Aishwarya Rai. Full credit to Superstar for grabbing my attention in spite of her on screen presence! It was very clear what to expect and what not to expect from the proven masters in their respective field! Thanks to Shankar for giving a new genre for the Indian audience and also making us to understand it as well. I thoroughly had a very good experience watching the movie in theatre.

Endhiran is an agmark Indian recipe with all the native masala ingredients topped with spices imported from foreign soil DOT.

When childhood pals meet...

Its been almost nine and a half years we completed schooling and its almost five years, we had visited a place together. After Kodaikanal in 2005, its Pondicherry now!

Its been a long pending item, which we had achieved now. We missed our other guys, but still we six managed to make it. It was like married guys being single for one day and singles feeling even younger and surprised by the mature talks of the latter ;). The talks about our school were still fresh, still remembering and cherishing the good old days we were in school.  It was great to see how we have transformed ourselves from how we were in school to how we are now. Altogether, it was a pleasant holiday! Lets see when we meet up again! Sometimes these kinda activities give us a sigh of relief from our routine...aint it?

I dont recollect how we came to this topic...

...but suddenly one of my roomie commented about social networking especially twitter or facebook, that most often people use it to show off. He also added saying that some tweet unnecessarily saying that they are in the middle of so and so movie or they are in so and so restaurant or bla bla bla... My thought was completely different...I feel we have at least this freedom of expressing our thoughts. If some body tweets something or posts on his wall in Face book, take the one's which is relevant for you and leave the rest. Something which you dont like may be liked by others and vice versa... :) We dont get to talk to our friends everyday and atleast these networks help to keep us atleast aware of what our friends are doing currently, even if we dont respond. Of course, you may or may not be really interested in what he or she is doing at this current moment. But at some cases, it may help recollect good memories. Say for example, you happened to visit your old school recently and you tweet that, it may bring good old memories to your school friends who are following you. May be social networking is a time pass, may be it is useful, may be it is a show off, its how we see it...thoughts ?

Its been a regular routine....

... to start my blog with.."its been a little while i blogged..." i wondered if i could try out some new way to start off with...

Now its been over a month, I am back to namma Bengaluru. Seems nowadays i feel even more lazy to tweet...some how made up to scribble here...so what shall i talk...should i talk about my stay abroad or should i talk about the way they see a guy after he returns abroad or for that matter how you take it....I am no exception..u could atleast find some symptoms of an onsite return..... and whatever i scribble here is the fun teaser my colleagues had to tease on me...

Once when my colleague looked at my playlist - Rihanna's Rated R...thats it gone...they even asked if i changed my name to Kish..or Ken or something...

The lift was really slow in the new building of my office...Should nt i ask about it ? It was the talk of the cubicle the next moment.. :) :)

I was a liitle cautious in whatever i speak...some how when i was speaking to my manager... "okay" turned "k"..and it repeated a few times and he also didnt leave me without making fun.... :) :) I was extra cautious in not using the word 'appreciate'.

One afternoon, I had my parota at the road side opposite to my office. It added more flavour to the talk...They had to tease me somehow and started like "See the simplicity of this US maapillai having parota in the roadside...(now i am not an Indian it seems :( :( ).

Mostly you will find a Cheroke brand in the Mega mart stores here. Is it my mistake to buy that brand? :) :) It had the eagle logo...They were asking if i remember our national bird.... :) :)

..i think its been a month and hope the fun teaser is over...you go away for one month or one year...they dont care...your legs need to be pulled...

What to blog? Why to blog?

Hey ya! This piece may not be something interesting! Its a sort of cribbing at my own!

I have been into this space for quite a while. I was just lookin back at my own piece of scribbling. Either I just pour my thoughts on a movie or exagerate one of the place I visited or contemplate about my wierd cooking or some nostalgic memories to cherish! Is that all ? Why am i doing all this in the first place? Am I self centric and trying to attract with my extended testimonies ? Should I talk philosophical ? Should I comment on what is goin on the surrounding ? Am I not using the space properly ? Should I crticise something on a current hot topic ? Is it like being selfish and not thinking about others? Is it I am single and want to impress ? Who?

Hmmm...I dont know... The one that turns me on or at which I am interested more, drives me to scribble in this piece! I dont say that you judge a person completely by his writing here. It may be partial result. Of course I dont record bad memories or negative thoughts here. So why? Is it because people who read my blog might have a balanced impression on me? If so, should I care? So am I marketing my self in this arena ? Well whatever! At this moment, I didnt know what to blog and wanted to blabber something here! Blah..Blah...Blah!

No offence if this piece is boring and irrelevant or out of the context! I think I had given a warning at the start! :)