A Bunch of Nothing!!

Sachin again- The muddled Image of a Human Being

2011-12-03T15:07:00.000-08:00

At the risk of being redundant I write again about Sachin Tendulkar. This time again not to defend him or his statistics for I see no need. A lot of people have taken to belittling the landmark of 100 centuries. The so called fanatics of Sachin have started indulging in the inevitable process of self consolation, reiterating to themselves that 99 to 100 is just one step and to think of the fact that it took them so many failed attempts from Sachin to realize that, shows how trifling fame and passion could be. The self proclaimed haters of Sachin, being a mob of iconoclasts ,the vogue as is extant today, have taken the bull by the horn,just when the iron is hot to accentuate that Sachin is a mere mortal,which he is.

I would like to make it known that there is no such thing as loving or hating this man for his statistics or for his lack of decisiveness. It is stupid to compare his statistic to that of people like Kallis and say it would take Zaheer Khan and Sachin to equal his statistic. That would greatly belittle the kind of pressure handled by Kallis and perhaps he is far greater than Sachin and Zaheer put together in his own way. It is equally ridiculous to cling on to the image that Sachin is the hero of Indian Cricket, by calling for help the accrued numbers, that show up pompously every time one clicks on his name in Cricinfo.

In the past when he was just a new kid in the so called block, he shone as a beacon in the fading Indian Cricket. His genius was all too glorious to overlook. For a decade the Indian Cricket team was represented by a single man . The iconic figure of Sachin Tendulkar at that period was unanimously loved in India and away. Very few understood the tenacity of his character, or the purity of his technique or even his vulnerabilities. He was just the one thing that they all wanted and that was hope. He lighted up millions of lives by giving hope. Indian cricket and not Cricket is indeed a religion in India. A common man and the millions of others who dwell in abject poverty seek a sense of victory and derive hope from the deeds of people like Sachin.

Pushing aside all that, he was still a Genius of a cricketer for his technique. His attitude was also one of profound maturity that very few in the world have. When Indian Cricket started growing more as a team his prominence began to decline which was only natural. His shortcomings came to the fore and at a moment when his exploits were least required he was even seen as dispensable. But he survived struggling as he was from the beginning to hold on to his career amidst the varied and impossible expectations of the fickle fame.

Now he is still the Genius he was and he is by no means fading. But his utility to the team has evolved to that of any other player in the team. He is still lesser to no other person in the squad on his day but the expectations on him has not dwindled form the diehard fans who cling on to his yesteryear Image of a lone crusader. He was that and now he is but one of the 11 players in the team. It is a fact to be accepted and that is all there is to it.

Comparing his numbers to anybody else is futile as they would never have had his attitude. On the other hand it is to be accepted that his statistics are once in a lifetime but not the greatest in his time. His fellow performers though were lesser to him only in the impact they had on the world. Sachin had the inevitable fate of being thrust in the middle of a gladiatorial world but being an exceptional talent ,had to consistently keep up unimaginable levels of performances, to quench the insatiability of his fanatic fans while reassuring the fickle people of his greatness. As I have already mentioned he is the God of Indian Cricket for the hope he gave to people. He is the god of Cricket for many who have fallen in love with exploit on his heyday against some of the best.He is a standout genius for his technique and his achievement is substantial enough to thrill many.There is nothing more that could be added.

Leave alone the guy who is great in his own way . There is little necessity to bring his statistics to the fore to compare and project him as the god of cricket or to belittle him for his shortcomings. He is a human being but a genius. Geniuses are bound to have limitations and he has quite a few. Cricinfo should not ask stupid editors to write ridiculous articles which provoke even more nonsensical debates .

Rockstar-My take on the movie

2011-11-12T13:48:00.001-08:00

As is customary with all my posts I wish to begin this particular one with a few disclaimer statements. It is easy to misinterpret this as a defensive attempt to diplomatically preclude the detractors from critiquing my convictions. I am happy to live with my convictions and to evolve it when I deem it necessary without being narcissistic. I am equally happy to be perused critically as long as it enhances me.

It is not customary for me to review a movie or any art work, for it is not often I am able to come up with views that are distinct enough to be registered in a public forum. Not often have the critics and people left too many stones un-turned that I could have. But with the bollywood movie Rockstar, I feel I am deeply affected(in a positive sense) and have a unique perspective to offer. The thoughts I am about to put forth are not just mine but includes that of a friend who had similar musings. I am not a movie buff until very recently and I have not watched many classics. I know a little Hindi, though I am, at most cases able to follow a hindi movie enough to understand it completely. My review will contain spoilers and will be with the usual prejudices and biases resulting from not trying to have them. Let me nose dive in to a stirring three hours of what I consider essentially a classic movie making effort.

Rockstar begins with Ranbir Kapoor being portrayed as a naive and talented guitar enthusiast, who does not possess the drive and maturity to match his talent. He is reckoned as a dumb witted loafer by many and is constantly chided,laughed at and snubbed. As a sign of his immaturity, he expresses his desire to become like his hero Jim Morrison. His friends turn out to be loyal listeners to all his kiddish passions but with only an equal amount of irrationality. His vain attempts to audition in several shows fail to stir up the creativity in him. Again as a sign of his immaturity he takes an almost laughable advice from his friend, to heart. He is told, that a musician needs pain and adversity to bring out the music in him.

He watches the hearthrob of his college Heer Kaur perform at a dance show/competiton and learns that she has been elusive to many, who have tried to court her. Certain of getting heartbroken,Ranbir known as JJ now tries to flirt with kaur. Tango for Taj takes flight ,as Nargis dances for the beautiful music.

Up till this point, the movie is filled with light hearted humor which is subtle at times. It is a realistic portrayal of the protagonist's character. Having established this, the director takes a shot at defining the girl Kaur's character, which at first glimpse appears simple but turns out to be anything but that.

As is the case with most movies and also with reality, she tries to shoo him away. But his naiveness and honesty makes them playmates and fellow adventurers. The revealing of the dirty side of Heer's character has been done playfully and with entertainment in mind. The couple take off to Adult movies and lowly pubs. While they are having fun together, arrives the day of Heer's wedding, which was the reason behind her wanting to be prodigal with what was remaining of her bachelorette life.

It does turn out to be a period of absolute bliss. While their kiddish immaturity keeps them away from being attracted to each other, at a crucial moment before her marriage, Heer offers to elope with Jordan and do a runaway bride, but again only with playful words. Jordan with his playful demeanor appears unaffected by any real feelings of love or lust, though Heer makes him promise that he would visit her in Prague, where they can relive their moments of adolescent fun again.

The timeline of the movie is weaved between the present and the past.In the present day, a reporter/anchor from a news channel tries to get hold of Jordan and his story. She encounters several false starts before meeting the one person who apparently had set the unsuspecting youth on a self destructive run by suggesting to him that music demands pain and love gives pain. Now that friend narrates the events that occurred in the life of that youth and that essentially drives the story.

Amidst all this, Jordan's life with his family takes a turn for the worse. People at his home chastise him many a times for being a romantic.He is made to work unwillingly and later after a fall out with Heer, he returns to work more willingly for the family business. Chance leads to him being circumstantially held responsible for a substantial amount of money missing from the family safe and he is kicked out of his house. After repeated attempts to reconcile, he takes refuge in a Darga. The pain of being rejected by people around him slowly brings out the helplessness in him and his yearn for being treated as a human being. But he finds religion a suitable panacea for all his hurt feelings. Kun Fayaa Kun comes in right at this juncture as he gets into a religion induced high.

His romance with Heer is not intense enough yet to cause any real pain. But getting kicked out of his house stirs in him ever so slightly a passion which was found so wanting. He is noticed by a famous Shenoi Legend while living in the Darga, which turns out in his favor when he tries to get platinum records to release his voice. While his singing has all the inflexions to make it to the rock world, the music director is livid with his lack of compliance to the light music style. Only Ustad's vision saves his career.

He visits Prague as part of his contract, in fact voluntarily signing up for it with hopes of meeting Heer. He finds her ailing from psychological stress .The director does not explicitly depict this as a result of her estrangement from Jordan. Their relationship is seen as more of a mutual friendship and a unique sense of camaraderie. His arrival improves her condition physically and mentally but their relationship reaches the inevitable climax, where they kiss each other in a moment of passion. Heer tries to push him away knowing the path from there is not going to be good for either of them and Jordan pursues her with lust,love and his immaturity. Things get messed up when he shows up at her place at night setting up burglar alarms. He, shouted at by her, is escorted by the police and finds his name mentioned by every other sensationalist reporter for all the bad reasons. Meanwhile Heer faints after the encounter with Jordan and is diagnosed with aplasia of the marrow.

Jordan's immaturity to understand the ways of the world, pain at being thrown out of house, inability to understand or sort his emotions with a lack of meaning in life, belts out some hit numbers around the world and in India. His pain is now complete. He is the spoiled Rockstar now, that he always wanted to be. But his ascendancy was far quicker and inglorious, contrary to what he wanted . He lives in constant rage at the society, the system and the world. He lives on without conviction with his talent pouring out as a result of his emotional struggle.He has apparently broken out of the shackles that had tied him down. The society and the family are his biggest nemesis, metaphorically.

Heer's sister realizes that only he can have a positive effect on her. Having got herself out of her marital relationship temporarily ,Heer is now living with her parents in India and Jordan comes to meet her. In love blossoming out of lust and kiddish affection he tries to kiss her in death bed to sober her up. This infuriates her and gets him thrown out of her house. But repeated persuasion form him makes her realize that she is happy only with him and he with her. She decides to aid his sinking career by encouraging him to go to several places with her. The character sketch of Ranbir is amazing. He is a struggling youth unable to sort out any of his emotions but with loads of talent. He grows increasingly irritable at the nosy media but stays as he is with Heer,adolescent and immature.

After one such performance Heer returns home and her doctor declares that she is pregnant. Her condition worsens and death seems the only way out. Everyone gets back at Jordan for having been the cause of her worsening condition and for making her pregnant. His unsorted love killing him on one side and his aimless immaturity bugging him on the other, pushes him to the brink of a living coma while Heer herself is in a clinically diagnosed coma. A fitting end with "Nadaan Parindey" seals the movie,leaving both the protagonists in differing degrees of ineptitude.

Katiya Karun is used just at the right time when both the protagonists take to cheerful and boisterous merrymaking and partying. Sadda Haq contrary to my expectation was not used in the climax of the movie but was rather used after the intermission when Jordan vents out his irritation at being thrown out of Heer's life. 'Sadda Haq-Aithe rack'( its my right...keep it here) was when Imtiaz Ali shows his own convictions by giving you a glimpse of kashmir!! Aur ho is a brilliant composition of a man singing in pain. Sheher mein was used sparingly and so was Tum ho and Tum ko. Dichotomy of Fame shows its head up when Ranbir attains fame but is unhappy at it. It is magical in its depth of emotions. Jo Bhi Mein has wonderful lyrics and it perfectly portrayed the situation which Jordan found himself in, after trying to force his love on to a speculative Heer. Phir se ud chala also strikes the right chords, when it is supposed to.

This movie is not supposed to outline a success story. It is not a recipe for becoming a rockstar. It does not profess that love induced pain makes one a musician. It is not suggestive of mindless or eternal love. From what I could perceive it emphasizes that good music does not require a mature person but a talented individual with a need to vent his emotions which in this case is induced by a desperation to break the shackles on his personal freedom. He needs nothing but a reason to shout at people. Music is a language to reach out. It could be a cry,out of helplessness or a vent of frustration.

Imtiaz tries to depict the lack of personal freedom for the protagonist to grow as a character and as an artist. The story by no means is enthralling in itself. But the direction, character definition, acting and music makes it riveting and haunting. ARR is an undoubted genius but the movie would have stood without such brilliant music as well. It was only made better by the music.Imtiaz is a very thoughtful director and Ranbir has pulled up a wonderful performance. Nargis appears soulless at times but that is perhaps what the role warranted. I am sure Imtiaz could have made a different kind of impact with her character had he wanted to, but it was what he meant it to be. I see the movie as his creation and applaud it for what it is without trying to draw my own image of what it should be .

It is not for the casual movie watcher or an average critic. This is my personal opinion and I am sure I am entitled to it. I usually try to find something wrong with everything in an effort to strike the so called balance, but this one had either very few or the wrongs have eluded me. I loved it and I hope you did too.

I watched this movie only once and in the theaters and with no idea of writing a verbose review. I might have missed something or muddled with the timeline or a detail . It is very much expected!

A Harangue to the Haters of Sachin .

2011-11-10T10:25:00.001-08:00

In a fit of rage and frustration over the unreasonable and hollow perspectives of people, I write this. This is about one Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar and yes undeniably the god of Indian cricket, but only for reasons people rarely see.

The Indian cricket followers have drastically dwindled in quality as has been the case with the cricket being played.Once champions like Kapil Dev were worshiped for reasons and passions obvious and it is no wonder that Sunil Gavaskar 'was' the god of Indian Test Cricket. Then the likes of Dravid ,Ganguly,Sachin and Laxman became the mark of respect among purists and enthusiastic dabblers alike. Now Dhoni and Raina are in the center of limelight. Though not being a big fan of Dhoni or a Sehwag I can still live with their elevation to 'whatever you can think of' and I can appreciate their 'moments' of genius without giving way to ' too much of lets stick to old school kind of frustration and ego' pouring in.

Today the more interesting fact is that the Indian Cricket following has seen in itself a multitude of factional impulses starting from IPL teams to Indian team's old and present day Icons. People love Dhoni; People hate Dhoni.This is only natural.

Yet disturbing for me is the recently growing trend of calling Sachin Tendulkar an average and even poor batsmen, which for all intents and purposes should be hilarious to even a dumb witted yet reasonable cricket fan. One might not find it in themselves to worship Sachin but there is absolutely no denying that he is a great cricketer. The reasons that people give to justify their claim(that he being a poor/average batsman) is even more dubious.

The most common theory has been that real heroes like Dravid and Laxman are seldom celebrated while Sachin and Sehwag are.So they say Sachin is a batsmen of lesser talent? I haven't heard of a more fallacious and fatuous argument. To put my invective against such mentalities in perspective let me just set my priorities straight. Sachin is the closest person I would come to worship(too harsh a word for an agnostic like me) in sports. But that doesnt mean I don't see his shortcomings. I absolutely respect Dravid and Laxman for their contributions to Indian test cricket. Some of their performances are batting classics and they are indubitably ultimate technicians the game has ever seen. Sehwag on the other hand has the inimitable ability to categorically destruct any attack with unparalleled aggression and disdain. Having mentioned all this, to deceive oneself that Dravid or a Laxman is more talented than a Sachin is as foolish as it sounds. I have to put this down at the risk of sounding arrogant,dumb and partisan to make my point.

Dravid started as an average cricketer. He is now on the top of the ladder in the all time test cricketers list by sheer application and hard work. This is undeniable and anything less said would be a dishonorable blotch on the herculean and an almost hermetic cricketing career of the Legend! But I have to remind people that he had a handful of shortcomings. He was severely limited to playing ground strokes and scoring at 50s and 60s for every ton of balls faced. This was unattractive to most. But then people realized that his almost andriodal technique is invaluable in unplayable pitches and in good test matches! Yet to find his touch in the ODI format he reinvented his strokes, unlearned a few of his techniques and came up with artificial slogs without losing the elan that only he could be associated with. Against the best of bowlers in the toughest of pitches he usually is in a league of his own. He continued to work hard and has been evolving progressively. He can never be a natural aggressor but he has his value in test cricket. In the purest version of the game he is no less useful than anyone I have seen .

Laxman always lives between the image of a prodigy and that of a seasoned veteran. He comes into his own against the Aussies and in fourth innings of test matches. His biggest skill is his unfettered neutralism against any sort of attack in most situations. He can never be a Dravid for he lacks air tight defense . He can never be a sehwag for he cannot unleash raw aggression. But on his day he is a sight of the gods without a semblance of doubt.

Then why is it that I call Sachin more talented ? It is definitely not because his shortcomings are fewer in number to those mentioned above. It is definitely not because I don't see his frail mindset at the proximity of milestones. Nor is it because I don't see his absence from tough run chases in test cricket or his less than perfect average against South Africa, one of the best to have played test cricket in the recent years.

He arrived at the test scene and played in some of the toughest conditions with ease. He did not have to mature to mold himself to seaming wickets or turning tracks! He was naturally aggressive in tests. He began to play in a period where Indian cricket team was hapless without him. Victory was out of question as even Sachin is only a human being and had all the rights to err when he succumbs to fate. He continues to play like he did initially and because of his natural talent his performances have been largely the same throughout the two decade long career. He has been exploited by many quality bowlers and he had to bounce back by modifying his techniques. But he still has been the same player, mostly so.

In test cricket he absolutely cannot be seen lesser than a Dravid or Laxman in talent. It is the value that he adds that seem to ever so slightly dim especially in the recent years. Dravid and Laxman have far lesser pressure to handle than a Sachin and they have a far relaxed mindset than Sachin I would say! These are primary reasons why they are in the middle when Sachin isn't. Whenever Sachin comes out to play it is no longer a normal test cricket match. Miracles are expected to happen and his wicket was given too much of weight both by Indian team and the opponents. One cannot begin to think about the stress he faces match after match. This is not to defend his shortcomings, but only an attempt to portray the fact that the challenges faced by the likes of Dravid,Laxman and that of Sachin are glaringly diverse

Dravid was shunned so much at a point in his career that he would have almost felt happy about it. The expectation levels went so much down the drain that even an average inning from him was considered a bonus. This is not to take anything away from the test god but I reiterate that it is only to present the environment which made Dravid what he is today. He worked on, believing in himself not wanting to please the spectators and he turned out to be an enviable article of perfection in test cricket.

On the other hand ,Sachin never had that breathing space. He has always been besieged with expectations. He was not given the benefit of being a mere mortal. He was seen as a wizard which he most definitely was not. He was but an abundantly talented young man and later now a veteran. He still has some gifts that neither Dravid nor Laxman can dream of. He may not have appealed to the so called present day old schoolers but he is still the man who withstood storms of stress and came out of it atleast a touch ahead of the flock .

It is very difficult to lose sight of the fact that we were the ones who elevated him to godhood and when he continued with his more than average performances, we realized he was not god and we now call him for less than what he is. This is a typical case of over correction that all of us engineers fear! What we need to do is experience the magic of Sachin which is always there and will be there, but realize that when put with all other people he is but human.!

P.S just as I was reading this post again to catch some obvious typos I also happened to be browsing and I saw an article on Cricinfo about Greg Chappells' book.

Here is a link to it http://www.espncricinfo.com/india/content/current/story/539968.html.

Strangely my claims stand seconded in an indirect way.

My intent was not to offend anyone but just to vent my thoughts . If you do feel offended and feel it is stupid of me to point out Dravid's shortcomings to exemplify Sachin's talents, then you should realize this is exactly how a Sachin fan would feel when the situation is reversed, though this was not what I tried to do.

The Specialist

2011-06-28T21:40:00.006-07:00

The best in the art is seldom celebrated. It has the inevitable fate of being respected. This is a popular myth that prevails and dominates the community of the veterans; of both the art and of the world itself. This statement representing a wide spectrum of emotions from vexation to the condescending is directed as a denunciation towards the youth; of the both the art and the world itself!

Passion instigates genius. But passion alone doesn’t achieve greatness. Passion coupled with hard work does.

He was frequently praised for his innumerable exploits but was criticized profusely for what he did not possess. They never came to terms with the fact that not possessing is not lacking! The world has a known yet undiagnosed condition. It has a problem dealing with specialists. I don’t blame them, for too much of importance is attached to the virtue of adaptability. It is very easy to forget that 10 different men will have the 10 different skills which are required to handle the wide variety of situations that might manifest itself in the journey of life. In the unworthy and tainted conception of the commoner it is better to have a person who could handle 10 different situations than a person who could master one.

The spotted notion calls for a very radical redefinition of the word team. The term was indeed coined with an apparently inconceivable and divergent emotion but has been conveniently evolved and molded to suit the average Tom. After all, the entire world is nothing but geometry of averages…

But he had some unbelievable traits, whether acquired or natural is only a fool’s debate. He was more than a master. He was the disciple of the discipline. He was the soul of the divine, if ever, in the art. He was majestic at need but seldom a show off. He did not lack this ability but he simply didn’t possess it.

He was never charismatic but he oozed perfection. He was never scintillating but he was the epitome of style. I would be an absolute imbecile if I wrote he lacked charisma or that he lacked the ability to come up with dazzling productions. He just didn’t possess it.

He is hardly ever graceful. To appear flamboyant was an absolute disrespect to his art of grafting. To dream of a six even if it were against a spinner was a sin! One would reckon that the amount of caution and concentration that he expends for every single delivery is much more than what the bowler himself does! But then that perhaps would be the only consolation for the tired limbs of a bowler to whom he never shows the slightest sign of discomfort. His uncompromising defense is an encouraging torture for the bowler. When the bowler catches up with the deception he is already vexed to dejection.

For all that he seemed not to possess he had the power of abstinence. He would have said no to a comforting blanket in Siberia in peak winter for the want of getting accustomed to the biting cold. He was the epitome of resistance to provocation. He acclimatized himself to every possible situation but without changing himself. He did not lack the ability to adapt. He never had to adapt!

As brilliant as it might all seem it is difficult to recognize perfection when the milieu is short of utopia. The world changed. The averages dominated. They changed the game itself to accommodate the growing mass of average workmen. The art lost its essence. What was delivered to the onlooker was completely deviant. It was tailored to taper the focus of the audience towards what the average lot could come up with. And alas, we thought we lost the master! His art was no longer respected. The contamination was almost complete. Even the master had to don lesser roles but he just… donned them. Inside his heart lived on the purity which simmers perennially and glows at necessity when the averages are burnt up…. He stands tall, like a wall…...

P.S- Inspired by nothing but HIM.

Identifying good music- A dabbler’s perspective...

2011-06-05T12:51:00.001-07:00

It is indeed a wonder how an intricately presented art form never fails to fascinate even the laymen of the society to the fullest. I for one, being pathetically persuaded in the art of music have a great affinity towards the finer aspects of music. To dissociate any sense of agitation from the readers misconstruing this account as one that verily substantiates my facilities, I so hoping that my efforts would not be driven towards the ‘otiose’, add in a somewhat illustrative capacity, that I have observed the same affinity, in many people who have had little formal erudition towards the deeply subtle art of music.

What proliferates my fascination is that, I also find myself becoming increasingly more impervious to substandard art creations while at the same time learning to widen my wisdom which directly translates to a much bigger mind for appreciation. This again is nothing fantastic and remarkably unremarkable to highlight in a blog post! But what I wish to put forth through this fairly descriptive and elongated contrail of wordy prose is how the common man recognizes and appreciates music. This could end up being a rather untenable downpour of thoughts but I would guardedly limit my views to the contemporary world. After all, the protean world and people have evanescent conceptions and notions, which are famously touted as being evolutionary!

To the most important question- How do we identify good music? Is it something that is good to hear? Or is it the effort that goes behind the creation of something? Is it the genius who composes it? Or Is it just how funky it is?

Does a good song necessarily be soul stirring? Or should it ‘make me wanna dance’? Is good music the one that finds itself in good stead with critiques? Or is it just the one that gets rave reviews from the public? Is good music quantifiable? Or is it that apparently intangible feeling put into poetry with well-studied grammar? Should good music be natural and raw? Or is it the one, instrumented deliberately to drag it towards perfection?

Is good music a result of spontaneity? Or is good music the ability to deliver in necessity? Is good music the one which soothes you in adversity? Or is it the one which invigorates the debilitated mind?

Should good music be hard to comprehend but fascinating to hear? Or is it one that is simply composed and easily understood?

Too many difficult yet easy questions come to my mind when I try to think about how I would categorize something as good music. The stupidest answer would be to say that good music is everything mentioned above and I feel too bored to hear that answer even from the so called experts. The truth remains that many creative art forms are praised as good or great for multifarious reasons, some of which appears decidedly ridiculous to some of us. For those of you who want to experiment with the above statement by plugging in ‘some of us’ as either the people who praise the music or who critique it, I must assure you that , the inevitable truth pronounced by the statement remains unchanged.

As a final attribute to the seemingly never ending list, I must add emotion. A class of Boolean (yes-no) attributes to music cannot reasonably quantify the emotional quotient delivered by it. Be it the peppiest presentation of a vernacular prose or the most universally appealing classical composition, it is undeniable that music instigates some strong sense of emotion in everyone. Perhaps the emotion instilled alone is enough to gauge music? But then again that would be unarguably biased as human beings are a flesh of emotions and it would be too difficult to arrive at a unanimous conclusion.

So does it mean that we should leave the job of judging music to a computer? The most unemotional entity known!! Ah come on! Please don’t tell me you saw Endhiran! L

And yes now we know! It is a bad idea to judge any art form. The closest decision I would make is whether to listen to something or not. All the awards and all the accolades for art forms seem meaningless or are they? In the end musicians are just human beings. They need some form of motivation to deliver their art form. In conclusion I believe world should become a simple place where musicians perform. We as people should be free to pick our favorite and encourage them giving them the feeling of being recognized. Everything else goes out of the window ….

It should indeed be realized that felicitating someone only demeans some other. It could work out either way for either person!

Theism as an act of hypocritical Allegory -Behind the scenes!

2011-04-10T15:57:00.005-07:00

Since time immemorial the masses were demarcated as believers or non-believers. When science did not have as many proponents as it has today, believers were aplenty and found ways to denigrate science. It was always the fear that the few unsubstantiated beliefs found omnipresent in every religion would become all too obvious, leading to the dissemination of complete non-belief among the believers , which could very well sound the death knell for the credibility of the umpteen ecclesiastics! True to their name they wanted to prove that science was nothing but Ecclesiastes!

Times have changed and Science having evolved is on top right now. Human beings have discovered newer ways to explain previously unfathomable phenomena with unnerving accuracy. The intellectual acumen of certain 'gifted' human beings has baffled us on many occasions and science continues to grow. Now I believe is the time to cogitate about how science and to a large extent media treats religion. Having asked that question we must also recognize that the notion of believers and non-believers have been upturned to a great degree. Theists are still believers of god but atheists are now just believers of science or at least that is how the ideal world should be. But then we find our world filled with agnostic straddlers who are uncertain about anything to have a firm belief on.Though I am about to register a few of my thoughts about every one of them, I will begin by printing what I think about Theism.

Media depicts religion as a hypocritical allegory indulged in partly by a few irrational individuals and to a large extent by mendacious hypocrites. It is disturbing to observe the increasing trend of priests and popes being portrayed as people who seldom follow what they preach. Though, the incidence of disgusting acts by such individuals and self proclaimed spiritual-religious demagogues have proliferated, does it still justify the need to disparage the values of religion? Aren't we being stupid in designating ourselves as non-believers because of the way the religion is being projected by the media? Gone are the days when every individual had a unique opinion about every single thing that affects him or her. Media is said to have created a revolution whereby they have become bigger demagogues of distributing ideas and injecting them into the unsuspecting masses in the guise of public opinion, which is a paradoxical irony ! They destroy perspectives....

While it might seem to be a rather strong accusation against the media, I was just stopping myself from being partisan to specific media sources. It would be unworthy of me to comment on the media in general as a false prophet. I merely wish to voice my frustrations against the sensationalist attempt to publicize a particular media channel or source. When they caught "Nithyananda" red handed there is an absolute obligation vested on the media to show it to the masses. But this has led to a tidal wave of aversion against religion in general. Is it not the duty of the media to balance the views on any issue when the most intelligent and unbiased literature on it professes agnostic ambiguities ?? The way the media (some of those people around and definitely not all) commandeers the undulating and filthy mindset of people sounds more hypo-critical than anything else!

Theism or Atheism to me is nothing but what the dictionary evinces, belief or non-belief respectively. It does not mean the existence or non existence of god. It is just a choice that people make. It is foolish to attach these words to tangible notions like verity and falsehood. It is even more dubious to highlight them as a passionate belief and to indulge in proselytizing masses to accumulate a retinue. It just emphasizes the truth that there are more people in this world 'who want to follow' or 'who want people to follow them' than to 'stand by' what they truly believe.

This also warrants a definition of the "agnostics" . From the standpoint of religion they tend to be the most sensible ones 'iff ' they tend to keep an open mind to explore both the religious and scientific paths for the innumerable puzzles that life throws at us day after day . A day might come when human beings seek utopia and till then we are all just agnostic of even our beliefs, but claim to be at either end of the spectrum because of our innate hypocrisy or as a side effect of our readily influenced nature...

The bottom line is that science treats religion as bluff while the media depicts the same as a parody!

The Euphoria and expressing yourself....

2011-04-06T20:18:00.003-07:00

I discovered today that letting out pent up emotions ( most often the raw ones which you have been long curling up inside you,afraid to express in fear of hurting someone) makes you feel better. No matter how harsh naive and rude it is, when you feel it is past the level that you could contain and when you decide to push it out , do that and yeah you will feel good. You might have made someone cry and you might have crushed someone's heart but you have started being true to yourself which is the first step towards being true towards anything or anyone.

This very well should be the first lesson in every HR handbook as well! Just letting others know what you want and what you feel, especially when you need it so badly that you no longer really care about what other people feel about it.

There is always a judgement call about how much you can compromise for others. But there are specific things which you think you could give up for others but learn over time is more important to you than you thought it was. These are some of the things that define you. As long as it is not forcing someone to do something which is against the "free will" of course, you can always be true to yourself. If people call that being selfish just remember that they are being hypocritical.

Oh man the way you feel after letting out everything you had in your mind is bliss! You should try it out as long as it gives the other person and yourself an option. Being forthright with your thoughts is not a sin and it definitely does not mean being rude, again as long as you are being mature and clear about the expressions.

Some might assume this being a reflection and a defensive mechanism in my perspective to console myself for what I did. But to me this is really a self realization act and the potency of this elevated 'mature'ness I feel now is insurmountable...

The Jest and the Quest.

2011-01-18T00:35:00.000-08:00

Me: Some of the smartest guys are software Engineers.
A Friend: Don't tell me that.Writing software is much easier than living with circuits ...
(pause...)
Me:Some of the smartest guys are software Engineers : D

As I raised my arms to wave and welcome the year of 2011, several challenges barricade themselves in front of me , a few of which I am unaware of . The statement is subtly paradoxical I presume. As I brace myself for an assault which could be stated without hyperbole as a besiege, I could only stop myself from freaking out because I know there is an end for the seemingly everlasting tunnel. Again a contrasting arrangement of emotions! Alas, the ill-conceived notion of afterlife is only ill-conceived. The ray of light at the end, is the end of everything.I hope to become hopeless and this hope prevents me from being hopeless. And then I wonder, what use is of hope if it could lead me to nothing but hopelessness??

I end up muted, with a self proclaimed enlightenment which convinces me that everything in life is a pat on the back of a dying retard to increase the numbers in the perennially growing bucket list. Desires dig your grave and lets you crave and rave ...

Sorting the bucket is no mean feat as even the quickest sort would take an eternity . As human life is short and everything large is but infinity. Keeping the bucket short is a dreary path trodden only by the few who have the propensity towards abstinence of all sorts. Am but human and not the soul of sagacity; I am but idiocy and not wisdom. I end my reflections and begin my remonstrations...! But hold yourself for I was just playing with words.

In an effort to plan my life I strive for many things and one of my first and surest acid test beckons me. I would have only myself to blame, for whatever happens to me after the dead-line! I hope that I made a worthy comment to my friend when I said what I said, right at the outset of this post!

Kudos to all of you who made it till the end and regardless of how you feel, I have but one thing to convey! Thanks for treading my outburst!

Delayed Narrations of a new present.....

2010-12-06T15:56:00.005-08:00

Four months in the United States of America have flown by without any lingering feeling of home sickness. I only have my new found friends in Salt Lake City and (sigh! New found) professors willing to make our lives hell, to blame!

As the end semester exams looms, the perennial feeling of boredom seems to intensify but again every day is an experience in itself and there is only so much I can express !

My journey to America was eventual and fortuitous (by more ways than one) to say the least. I guess it warrants a succinct narration. I was flying in a two stop service from Chennai to Salt Lake City via Frankfurt and Chicago. Our gateway to the ‘nation of opportunity ‘, was the windy city. While I was left none the wiser about the climate even after being in the city for a few minutes, my short stay was windy for sure.

The flight operated by the infamous United Airlines whose tag line says a lot about ‘on time’ arrivals got us to Chicago about a hour and a half late leaving an ill fated lot which included me, jostling to catch the connecting flight which would take us to salt lake city. The delay might have gone unnoticed had the connecting flight not been scheduled for departure in less than an hour‘s time from our arrival. Those of you who have gone through the hassle of immigration clearance would only know too much about the immigration officer giving you a “are you a terrorist? “gaze.

The then would be room-mate of mine and I ,was in the same flight as he had booked tickets for me. We were waved passed the customs in Chicago and our rollicking trolley was directed to the United Airlines transfer point. We ran out of the international terminal of the O’Hare airport, climbing the stairs two at a time and caught a train which would take us to the domestic terminal. Despite the apparent hassle everything seemed normal.

In the domestic terminal, the flight officials were verifying the identity of the passengers and it was then did I realize that I was in possession of nothing that identified who I was and what I was doing there : P In short I did not have my passport (consequently my visa) and I-20. When I revealed this earth shattering truth to my would-be roommate, I was confronted with a look that suggested all of petulance, fear and befuddled bewilderment. (Forgive the pleonasm but I deem it necessary for it would be too difficult to find a single adjective that would have completely captured the transformation in his countenance)

We rushed through the throng approaching the airport, back to the international terminal only to be stopped by the security official outside the international terminal informing me that I cannot enter through that gate. I had frightened the lady by running directly into her so much that she would have shot me without a second thought had I not stopped immediately and explained my situation.

After creating a minor hustle, I tried to explain to her that I had dropped my passport somewhere inside the terminal, a stern voice bounced back at me saying that I have to go to the customs and an even sterner hand pointed to my left. Having heard too many stories of people having unspeakable trouble (:P) after losing their passports in a foreign country, the beginnings of Illayarja music began playing in my inner ear

“Then pandi seemayila….” :P

Contrary to my belief in clairvoyance (for my friends back at home ‘mind voice ’), an ‘Indian looking’ and definitely ‘Indian sounding’ man walked out of the terminal with a thing resembling my passport in hand and my name in his mouth. He had identified me with the help of my passport photo and he had a soothing laugh as he told me to rush and catch my flight but to be careful with my passport.

Thus, ended our adventure. We were able to stop the pilot and get on board to SLC: D

In the next few days I got used to the climate of the city and with the rigour of grad life. It took me two months to acclimatise with the hectic life.

Of all the good times I had here at the Salt Lake City a special mention is required of a few people who I hang out with quite frequently. One of my friends , has a very special brain. First the good things…. He rocks in math. He also rocks in making full use of university lab resources!!

It was one funny day when he came to my place and he was so high I was made to believe that he had tried to junk himself!!

With all his bubbly exuberance he asked me and my room-mate a question that left us ringing with laughing for hours together.

“Do you know what I did today to steal papers out of our grad lab?” with nothing less than a Eureka look!

For an instant, I pitied every other physicist in the world as I got a strong vibe that I had seen the second coming of Archimedes ….

He went on “I opened a blank word file…. (a very intriguing pause) I gave enter, enter ….. till I got to the end of the page and saved it” (killing silence again)”

Then came the most brilliant revelation ever.

“I gave print out of that blank sheet and took 10 printouts”

The very next second there was a blast of laughter and both my room-mate and I were rolling on the floor laughing.

After taking a few seconds to catch our breath we stopped to answer our brilliant friend why we were laughing. He seemed to have overlooked the most difficult job of opening the printer tray to pick up the paper for some strange reason.

The sheepish look on his face following this crashing observation was the ultimate expression ever portrayed by any human face. We even felt pity for him but we couldn’t stop laughing. But I had to remind myself that this was the guy who “congratulated “me for giving him good food!(confusion of words this time around).

To be continued…..

On the evils of bribery and Corruption in India…part 1

2010-11-19T10:53:00.002-08:00

A recent TV talk show inspired me to delve deep into the issues of bribery and corruption.Despite being touted as the biggest democracy of the world by some of the political demagogues, it remains a fact that India is far from being a country free of glaringly atrocious social evils.

One such social evil that has reigned through several decades and generations of leadership is Bribery and corruption. Why do they remain unchecked?

Is it the lack of responsible leadership or the apathetic people of India?

Often, people find it convenient to push the blame onto the government when it comes to facing anti social elements. Is this the right way forward? Let us try to analyze what could the government do to curb bribery and white collar crime.

They could set up anti corruption wing to oversee activities of governmental and associated organizations, which they seem to have done already, but with little success. I am sure you would agree that it is impossible to have someone overseeing the activities of each and every potentially corrupt Indian government official, for they are far too many in number and one would have to assume that even the god of gods in all his supremacy and ascendancy would deem it too arduous!

Now it is time to retort to the question of ‘who are these government bureaucrats?’ People like us are the ones who sit behind oversized desks in commodious rooms which threaten to break down much before 2012 and beneath the loud ‘overbearing’ ceiling fans that are ingeniously designed to muffle the rants of the most infuriated common man.

To assume that money is the only stimulus behind bribery, reiterates my presumption that the lion’s share of our nation’s active population is indifferent to the nauseating humanitarian and moral crime being committed on every Indian at some point of time in their lives. We only have the veterans of the trade, who are left with little to benefit from any revolution that might happen (or not happen) but who still spend their everyday life shouting their throats out about the communal and social issues clouding our society.

Now that the claim has been made, you might have taken the cue as to what might come after this. If money is not the only impetus, what is it that makes us hate our white collar men and women?

Getting down to the crux of the problem and with total lack of bias, which I would say is almost impossible to achieve, we might realize that the problem is with 'us' and not the so called 'administrators and civil officials'.

We, who fuel(ed) the system, only have ourselves to blame, when it starts to burn and annihilate. We have to face the inferno with unflinching ways! It is extremely unworthy of us when we expect the apparently altruistic government (The definition of which, I seem to forget increasingly, day after day, for it is the role of a government which defines it) yet obviously powerless in every sense other than making money for themselves,to take care of the mess which we instigated.

If one were to say that the pitiably paltry remuneration presented to some of the officials and the underlying fiscal status, besiege a person and coerce him to the path of self demeaning unethical ways, I would say that, this is only the beginning of it. This is not to suggest that a person, who is in absolute provable and justifiable misery, could resort to corruption, if the money would save him from his transient adversity, whilst pushing the average tax payer to deeper abyss.

What I am getting at is it is not just the need for money that rolls the dice out there! A system has been ‘kick started’ and it would take all of us and our unified efforts to hit the brakes to stop it from rolling anymore.

The all knowing, all having IT professionals should inculcate the virtue of patience and must force themselves to come down to earth for they are no different from common man. I mention them first only because they are all in readiness to disseminate their money to the eager wolves to trade for work done without fuss.

But again, who can blame the tired limbs of the average IT guy who is treated like a non depleting resource by IT organizations. It is understandable but not justifiable that they want to get their jobs done with what they have (money) for they do not have the luxury of spending what they do not have (time).

I would like to discuss more on this issue for I have reached all but half of what I want to express. But then my TA hour is done: D (Which I spent writing this blog post rather than helping the not so present students of mine: P)

From Salt Lake City!!

2010-10-04T19:04:00.003-07:00

Its been a while since I had the inclination and the intent to jot down my 'pensived' thoughts here. The reason behind this rather extended hiatus in posts is partly because I am finally at the United States to pursue my MS and partly because I had way too many thoughts in my mind!

And now the saturation point has been breached and the dam is flowing, ramming the confines of the secluded mind....

It has been an eventful couple of months in my life to say the least. Most people would find it hard to imagine that I did not feel excited being in America as one might expect me to be. I came here not to revel and I was seldom pulled in by the enchantment of this previously distant land. I always had the curiosity and took pleasure in visiting different cultures and environments, as long as they were just visits! :D

Enough said about my intentions and feelings!Let's talk about Salt lake city and Utah. Salt lake city is a conservative town that comes close to a well disciplined residential town. The climate is dry and has little warmth to offer for a troubled soul!!

But the residents make up for the apathetic climate. A really nice bunch of people live in this mountain county!

The University of Utah, my grad school as of now, is also a perfect place for research in certain areas of computer science. Though I must put up a disclaimer saying that no cutting edge research is being done here, a good amount of high quality work is being done by some of the eminent professors!

That's it for now..Hope to join you guys with more updates!

The Golden Era of Indian Music...Vinnai Thandi Varuvaya.......

2010-01-16T23:35:00.004-08:00

Life, quite frequently presents some exemplary and inspirational creations that never fail to instil a sense of euphoria even in the soberest of souls. While a variety of incidents could have this effect on people, one common source of exhilaration is listening to stimulating and invigorating music.

This singular sense of musical ecstasy was often associated with Carnatic musicians of yester years and classical composers of yonder.... Today ARR provides some of the most pleasing music to the ears of connoisseurs and dabblers alike.

A.R. Rehman, in his maiden attempt in Tamil, after etching his footprints in the annals of international film industry through the Oscars have yet again come up with an album that is both great to hear and has sound musical values!

As soon as one listens to the songs of Vinnaithandi Varuvaya movie, the unmistakable ARR signatures are there to feel. Love at first sight never happens to be the forte of ARR for some strange reason; if you are not too impressed with the songs when you listen to them for the first time you need not be surprised. All you have to do is, give it sometime for the alluring yet unheard of tunes to sink in!

‘Mannipaaya ‘turns out to be seven minutes of absolute bliss. A romantic melody in the voices of Shreya Goshal and ARR himself is a perfect song, which coupled with the artistic lyrics of Thamarai brings out the context of the song vividly. To imagine how the scenes would be portrayed by Gowtham Menon is an entirely different proposition! Thirukural recited in the background provides a perfect menagerie of Carnatic poetry.

Talking about ARR and knowing that these days he is intent on bringing out western music as an appurtenance for Tamil music, he makes it a habit to render at least one of his songs to stake that claim. O Mana Penna is a perfect composition for Benny who comes out all guns blazing with a stylish number. A song which has an abundant application of western percussion is cloistered with traditional Carnatic tunes to rivet the pure minded musical detractors.

Western country side music has always been one of my favourite varieties of music and not long ago was I wondering with yearn when people would start composing songs in that genre in Kollywood or Hollywood albums. Aaromale, a seemingly out of context song in a Tamil movie for almost the song in its entirety is written in Malayalam, has been a godsend, answering my mute prayers! Guitar chords that very closely resemble the country music which goes along with beautiful Malayalam and Tamil lyrics is an out of the world experience for people who have the soul and taste enough to open their hearts and ears to it. It could very well be the pinnacle that marks the summit of Indian and western music. Never ever had they both been blended so intuitively since the English note by the one great Mani Iyer!

Kannukkul Kannai leaves one in no less a wonder than the other songs of the album. Violin interludes in the song show Yaani is not the only one capable of composing breathtakingly quick notes.

If you are too worried about an album being entirely made of soft music you have a peppy score in Anbil Avan which is sung by one of the sharpest female voices of India in the recent years, Chinmayi. Her ability to capture Carnatic Sangathis are nothing new and this song is a neat and different approach to projecting her voice.

Finally a mention is absolutely required of the one song which has a high probability of making it to the top and staying there for a long time, Hosanna! A unique effort to amalgamate Indian melody with western melody adorned by the rap of ‘Blaze’ makes it in an instantly likeable score!

The lyrics of all the songs stand as a resounding testimony to the efficiency of Thamarai!

Proponents of Isai GNyani Illayaraja and others might find themselves holding on to minor faults in the album. In some places one might have to say that the music submerges the voice of the singers. But this style of music has its own place in the world arena and one cannot be too critical to undermine it as an aberration. ARR remains to be the only one to have the depth and dare to explore the various manifestations of music and yet come up with compositions that have great cultural and universal appeal.

To have heard that MJ wanted to do an album with ARR makes one sad. What has the world been deprived of???

Epistemology of success!

2009-07-31T06:37:00.002-07:00

I was, yet again visited by a balmy day in my life. While it is far easier to forget such a day, in the tedium of a mediocre life, in which mundane activities remain mundane, the upshot of a conscious dint to keep that day extant in memory is this.

The quest for the definition of life is endeavored by one and all in this world, in ways accepted and ‘not so’ accepted, understood and inexplicable, triumphant and futile, forthright and circuitous. Despite this fact I find that, most people identify this conception with their feeling of desire for success. They propitiate themselves and other people around them, with clichés and convincing apothegms, that success is not for all.

What is success? Why is it an object of desire, which is wooed and courted by every man? Why is success the yardstick of a man’s achievements? Above all, what makes success the provider of salvation for mankind?

It might be a herculean task to answer these questions in one single page. Nor am I the father of peripatetic philosophy, who is omniscient to enlighten the world! But I wish to share with you, my perception of success and people who seek success.
Success is one which unveils yourself to you. It is the act of satisfying oneself. Success breeds confidence and develops a self worth, for which every one craves for! But is success the symbol of plenary? Can we be assured that a person who is apparently successful has identified himself and life?

Is it a veritable fact that success always accompanies hard work? Before that, how do we seek success?

Of all the questions that I have posed above, I feel highly confident to answer one of them. The seemingly inseparable camaraderie of assiduousness and success is often misconstrued as a cause and effect relationship.

Success, like every other feeling is relative and is often provincial to each man’s acumen. Success in essence, is the satisfaction of having performed to the fullest of one’s potential, the outcome of which is not necessarily what others call achievement. The demarcation, between being contented after a whole hearted effort and being satiated easily, is obscure. This is the bane of humanity and thus, before success comes the need to understand and comprehend the inherent potential of each man by himself. Great motivators say it is not wise to constrict oneself to a boundary and they persuade us to aim higher than what we think we can achieve. But I believe in a series of short term goals, where each goal is achievable and palpable. Success is the ultimate milestone in which you feel you have justified your presence in this world. I believe that, this decisive success should not placate and pacify the desire for more success in man, but it must develop a sense of fulfillment, that would steer him in the right path, toward salvation.

Salvation is mental peace! Coming back to the issue of hard work and success, I wish to express that hard work imbues that satisfaction in a human being, which is success incognito. It is the search within, that identifies to one, his or her potential. It is this very recognition that gives a man, an objective to work toward. It is this effort that convinces one, that they have achieved success. It is this very feeling of success that gives one a feeling of mental peace. Success of a man is not always congruous with the so called achievement that is advertised in the Guinness book of records!

No matter what you have understood from my musings, I have achieved the state where I am satisfied that I have made my point. This should be reason enough for me to sleep with pride!!

Behind the Wicket

2009-02-07T10:43:00.005-08:00

The once sought after trade mark stroke of Sachin Tendulkar (it is not often one would associate the God with a signature, for everything is said to be his manifestation) or perhaps one of the most beautiful stroke to observe bestowed only to the chosen few, is today the weapon of torture, put to use by many, with nothing but the sensibility and the pragmatism to play straight down the Wicket. The evolution of cricket, which many claim to have been rampant, through the seventies then the eighties and now through the entire century, is ascribed to the introduction of the ODI and more recently the 20:20. But I am among the breed of men, who still cherish the Charlie Chaplin over the more spectacular and jocular Jim Carey. I would rather see the refinement of strokes that were previously unheard of in those days, when a day -night match was a dream and colored clothing was for the spectators alone, as a sign of evolution than the slam bang cricket .

Just to express my dislike for the pace man who fails to make the batsmen play, I wish to add that I would digress no more. The sight of Denesh Ramdin, when he drove Stuart broad narrowly missing the stumps, gave me the portent, of what more Cricket can bring, in the years to come. It was the most unenviable shot I have seen in quite a while played by a wicket keeper batsmen. Unenviable for it was too perfect not to laud it. He is still at the nascent phase of his career in terms of runs scored ,though he promises much.

Dinesh Karthick, from India, was perhaps as enthusiastic as Denesh Ramdin, but he once lost his place to none other than the man of the moment. Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the captain of charisma, has been known to the world for more than just his cricketing abilities. He is accustomed to walking with his head held high, all in praise for his adversary in defeat, though he is not as used to defeats as his opponents are. Dhoni with his team in pursuit of yet another victory walked off when only he could have known for sure that he had but nicked the maroon sphere propelled on its way to the man behind the wicket. The situation of the match might have called out for him to stay.

Some get greedy when they are desperate and some are greedy because they are!! Kangaroos, which are known to hop up and down for no reason, succumbed by its habitual action, sans greed might want to preach a thing or two about its philosophy. When a person hops amidst thousands of other people, dislodging the bail with the glove, ball in hand, before the ball had passed the stump, you might be inclined to think he is “ just kidding”!!

But what if keeps hopping?? He is no kangaroo either!!

When people behind the wickets of varying caliber and style present themselves, they are noted for more than one reason. The flamboyant; the bubbly; the lowly; and the greedy. It does not take the ICC to know who is to be praised.

I sincerely hope that the ICC brings in some award to encourage people like Dhoni. It could only make cricket better .

The Valiant Viru!!

2008-08-02T10:19:00.004-07:00

It happened five years ago. One man batted with conviction and saved the faces of eleven men. He scored 195 runs against the world’s preeminent team. It was on their turf, that he managed to unveil his supremacy, as he singly handedly masterminded his team to a total of 336!!

A year after that feat he clouted 155 runs. Only one thing was different from the previous inning. This time the spectators were from Chennai and not Melbourne. Again he performed a one man show to muscle his team to 376.

Four years later he manifested again to torment his opponent. He crafted an epic 151 in a paltry total of 269. He managed to save his side from defeat. The venue was Adelaide.

The same person, whose bludgeoning ability to silence any adversary, which had held one and all in trepidation, geared up for the decisive test. In the island country of Sri Lanka, where the cricket pitches were nothing more than ultra modern tools for their spinners to weave their web, he stood tall. He played an innings of sheer brilliance on a pitch where the God himself was challenged; where the Wall was breached many a time; where the Tiger’s roar was not to be heard; where the kangaroo lover was hunted with ease.

Virendar Sehwag, born in Delhi , 30 years back ,chased the Sri Lankan mystery man and the wily fox ,out of their own backyards. His double hundred, perhaps the most sublime of knocks played ever in the island country, once again helped India to reach a respectable score. He remained unconquered which only a few have achieved, opening the inning.

He smashed Mendis for a six in his very first over, signaling that he had ostentatious plans for the carrom ball. He cut the first delivery of Murali for a boundary, to establish the fact that, he can out think him. He continued to hound Mendis to the extent that, the captain was forced to withdraw him out of the attack. A day before, his bowling was a mystery; Sehwag had made that a History ….

He played both the spinners with such sleekness that the even Sachin and Dravid were found lackluster. His inning was nothing short of a high class one. He read every ball of Mendis with an almost uncanny outlook, which made one re think the expert’s claim that he was a puzzle at all!!
His attitude was one of extreme positivity. His batting dexterity can never be criticized. He sacrificed an opportunity to take a single, when he was on 199, because exposing the 11th man at that time, would almost certainly have curtailed the team’s chances of getting more runs! He was the quintessence of unselfishness.

His arrogance to revere no bowler, his grit to heed no circumstances, his approach to alter nothing even when it meant the end of the world, is the pinnacle of his character.
Sehwag is the perfect role model for the new age Test player. He revolutionizes test cricket. Scoring at 5 an over has become a habit for India in tests. He can be a potent force when India happens to conquer the number one position in tests (If that happens!!After all u need a team to perform, not just one man)

India may lose the test match but the inning Sehwag played, deserves to be in a winning team.
Because of Sehwag , India deserves a win.

Hope the Sultan of Multan has much more in store for us in the future!!

An astute advice for a budding enginner!

2008-07-31T11:24:00.005-07:00

“Hi buddy! I am placed in infy …Heard you got into TCS, way to go”
This was what the answering machine had in store for me today when I returned from my friend’s house. Not an uncommon style of conversation among the so called “would be” graduates of the engineering stream.

It is high time you get into one of the big IT giants. This being the standard advice from parents and professors alike, the need and the urge for landing yourself into one of the companies, even before you have completed your degree has increased. It has become the fashion of the age, which very sadly for me, is just the beginning of the knowledge drain.

To start with, engineering is a profession which provides a wide array of opportunities for one to pursue his interests and showcase his skills. But in a country like India where every youth is seen as a redeemer of the clique, he/she is expected to get into the arena early to salvage as much as possible. They say the sooner the better!!

Okay the point I am trying to make is this! If every person gets caught in the hustle for a job, who is left for the ‘all important’ job of exploring??
Who will come to instruct the upcoming faction of engineers?
Isn’t there something called a doctorate? Is it just for the lecturers?

A person genuinely interested in a technology or a science would want to know more! It is a shame that academic proficiency is tested solely on the basis on retention of dumb theoretical concepts and very little of innovation and actual implementation.

It is very detestable that every student sees getting placed in one of the big IT companies as the zenith of achievement.

I recently had an opportunity to have a chat with a very highly experienced person in the field of IT. He had a few words for me.Most of the students would make fun of him for his self admiring talks and his boring philosophical attitude. But one has to accept the fact that at some point of time in our lives we too would be forced to re think all that we have done. Also I believe in taking only the best out of everyone and everyone believe me, have something that we can learn.

Coming to what he was talking to me about, it was in general about the career and life of a person in IT world. As one would very well know, an average person gets more money and more work than he can handle. If he is unable to handle either the gutter he pushes himself into is too much crap that even god forsakes him.
He was emphasizing on the importance of not loosing human and emotional values. He had for me live examples of people getting distraught due to excessive work pressure; people with no social life; people with psychological problems.

And one other thing he was talking to me about which impressed me the most was the propensity of the people to be unethical by choosing to change anything and everything to keep up with the race of life.It was his point that a person engrossed in making quick and big bucks tend to change their head to whatever technology that gives them the edge. A person starting to learn .net technology turns to sap in a month and in a year he turns to main frame. In the end he is no wiser in either.

That very person who was talking to me had taken a very subtle risk of sticking to the same technology during his entire career. By now, he told me that he was working for no one. He is a consultant in his own reign and an authority in his chosen turf.

Being a specialist is more important than being an all rounder or so I think!! Yes we need allrounders but specialists are the ones who are remembered at all times. It is some important to master one trade than being the jack of many.

This very take also implies the necessity for gaining more knowledge than just being trained for money making. For those of you whose families need you to make money, have free time, magazines and distance education to gain more wisdom. An insatiable thirst for knowledge should be the ardor of every young engineer. Ultimately it comes down to each individual’s wish to pursue their interests and be savvy in their preferred area.

I hope friends that we will turn out to be valuable engineers to our society than just money makers for our family!

Ashwin's theory and the dasavatharam effect!!

2008-06-22T08:35:00.003-07:00

The muggy day provided no respite even as I sat down to watch the most awaited movie of the year, the Dasavatharam. Before I go into, how I feel about the movie, let me just put down a few things straight.
I am not a person influenced much by any single character be it in real life or in story, let alone an actor. In short I can assure you that am not exaggeratedly fanatical about any solitary iconic figure and so hero worshipping is out of the way. My review of any movie won’t be prejudiced but you must understand that these are just what I feel and after all I too am entitled to my views. No fret! Enough confessions!!
I guessed it was going to be another Kamal movie which would take a bit more than just a casual interest of the average movie spectator to comprehend fully the crux ideas of the movie. So I braced myself for the deal!!
The movie was satisfying to say the least. It is one of the better ones. But, it lacked the flavor to be a super hit kollywood movie! It simply won’t reach out to the common masses.
The movie has a story line which very meticulously portrays a reasonable illustration of the chaos theory. The submerged idol of Vishnu causing a tsunami almost 8000 years later by placing itself between two tectonic plates is a bit far fetched at first thought, but then chaos theory is far fetched.
One small glitch! Kamal gives a very agonizingly small explanation of this event in the climax while he is conversing with Asin , which one of my friend seems to have missed and had very un hesitantly mentioned it in his blog, that there was no explanation given for the tsunami in the movie. He may be wrong but the truth is that a much better dialogue by Kamal explaining in a bit more detail, the cause of tsunami and its relevance to chaos theory would have done justice.
The second most interesting fact about the movie is that how the story line attempts to connect the 10 characters and all this by mere chance which makes it all the more an interesting graphic of the chaos theory.
The roles Kamal takes also talks about his acting prowess which is unarguably one of the top most I have ever seen. His ability to take up a host of roles, all diversified, makes him a true star.
Very interestingly many people concur at the notion that the movie solicits an atheistic attitude but it doesn’t. It just depicts the philosophical truths of life in a ‘fairy tail’ish way.
The costumes and dialogues were excellent. The main theme of the story which guided it in the middle phase was a science fiction thriller based story line and it threatened to become monotonous with expected chase sequences and high end action scenes reminiscent of Tamil movies trying to incorporate Hollywood themes but it was provided enough variation with Kamal appearing as different people with different attitudes and languages. He was especially good in the role of Balram Naidu which was that of a Telugu police officer trying to speak strained Tamil. The role of that as an old grandmother was provided enough significance to substantiate its existence. He was good enough as Bush and the CIA agent Fletcher. His Japanese needed a bit of trimming as even catching an arigatou gozaimasu (thank you) was tough. But that can’t be blamed on him. He did a reasonable job. The Dalit activist role was superb. He sent out some noble messages through him. The Punjabi singer and the muslim role seemed to have been included in haste to link up an open ended story line. One might feel it was a touch unnecessary but again they were proven to be vital characters to finish the plot.
The thought of a bullet taking away just a cancer was outlandish even by Hollywood’s level. It was even kid dish to some extent. Thinking about the possibility you have to accept that in academic sense it makes sense!!
Initially I thought himesh resh did not did not do a good job since oh! Oh! Sanam…. had the touch of a Bollywood song but then again it was supposedly sung by a Punjabi. The song kallai mattum kandal was enough for me to prove the rationale behind choosing him. He did a fair job. You might have expected more had the music director been ARR.
The story had a good collection of comedy delivered through the dialogues of Balram Naidu and co.
A few stunts defied reality but give it a chance ….its a movie and not real life….
Over all I feel the movie was good and even excellent in some notes. It could have been slightly better. With the proven fact that no one is perfect I am more than willing to accept the movie as a top class one.
The verdict is that the superb beginning and ending could have been spoiled by the guile less middle period which was smartly rescued by the antics of Kamal Hassan. If it had not been him I doubt one could have made a movie out of it!!
Kudos to Mr. Kamal. He did it again!!

the failure of a relationship!!

2008-06-17T10:02:00.005-07:00

Its time, I say to myself , that I do something insightful enough to quench the thirst of wanting to waste my time rather usefully ,and so I find myself showering a few of my umpteen thoughts which are resultant of a few more hundred brain impulses , sitting in front of my reasonably out of date PC.
They say it takes two to make a relationship! Well what is that two?
Yup! It is touchier and even, more appropriate to come up with a response which sounds like heart???
Interesting! Giving a bit more thought to it and a profounder effort on your part if at all your mind is free of nothing but anything you might agree with what I have to say henceforth!!
It is indeed a fact that heart is the one where scientifically or not that one is found to have the feelings of hate and like. Obvious as it may seem and so it is, the fact that heart is the one which guides you to develop hate or like for a person or a thing.
So the claim that heart itself of two people can form a relationship in theory at least holds one hell of a valid truth.
Is that all? If it were so I wouldn’t be sitting here typing these fluidal thoughts of mine. It’s not all; at least according to me. I hope you agree every one is entitled to his or her opinion and as I turn out to be him I too have say of my opinion. So here it goes …..
Is the beginning of a relationship is what you are worried about? Then you are in much more trouble than what you asked for buddy!!
Making and breaking turn out to be the two easier phases of a relationship although breaking is not the one would want to end up with! At least “all is well that ends well”. We got one thing settled then.
So how are we going to end things well? Heart again????
Only heart??
I guess this time I got a strong case on my part to oppose your claim, if at all you do have one I suppose.
Human nature is guided by variables. External or internal, they are not all engineered to be handled by the heart. If it can handle it all why do we have the incidence of heart attack or the heart failure or a shunt in the heart or whatever pulmonary disease you could come up with? Again scientifically speaking or not, one has to concede heart is not THE almighty by any stretch of imagination or is it???
As I expressed my view that human nature being guided by variables; this simply brings us to the conclusion that human nature in itself is variable. How in the hell do you expect your heart to be even paced with all these variables around you?? But it stays steady; at least most of the times, the limitation being that the heart not holding up to cope up with the variables. Again it is neigh infallible.
So here without emphasizing my point further I would like to bring this to the point whether heart by itself is enough to sustain a relationship??
Well now I have framed the ultimate question a bit better??? Odd!!
No I say again!! Most of the times relationships driven by pure heart fail!! I have many a proof to suggest this!! Do not mistake the natural relationships with the ones am talking about. I am intending to talk more about friendship love and so forth. But I can extend my theory even to the natural ones if I may!
A relationship driven by heart and brain or more relevantly mind is bound to succeed. After all humans are interdependent creatures!!
Having as much mind and putting it to work in maintaining a relationship helps a lot.
A good outspoken chat with whomever it may be at a time of bitterness is bound to soothe it!! Most of the time the heart doesn’t suggest this!! But always the brain does!! At least if you think straight!
Egos, suppressed expectations, miss communications and a whole lot of other reasons attributed to failure of a relationship could be corrected through proper thought and action. One thing stands out though. It is the belief in your heart’s decision to choose to start the relationship on the first hand which will fuel you to think to maintain it with your brain. If the belief is non existant, there no sense in trying!!
So brain alone can do it??? I am sorry friend I never made that claim!!
You got me wrong if you think so! It is both the brain and the heart which matters!! The priority given to either of the one, according to me decides the permanence of the association.
A mindless person gets a mental asylum but think of a heartless one!! He is most often branded soulless!!
Be rather a mindless one than a heartless one but when it comes to relationships trust your brain too; heart to kick start it and brain to drive with heart being the captain of the ship!
Think of it!! If heart were the only thing that matters what use of is a brain!!
It takes two to form a relationship and yes two humans with a lot of heart and a tiny brain!! And so it goes it takes two (the hear t and the brain) to form and maintain a relationship!!
I hope I stand corrected now!!
It takes lots of patience to go through this! Thanks for hearing me out…. I would not have been able to put my thoughts out in any other way!!

Mumbai Masti!!

2008-03-08T23:49:00.003-08:00

The deplorable thing about life is that, most of the so called adages come true, most of the times. Very incongruously and cunningly had the aphorisms been quoted, seeing which, even though one might feel cynical of the author, the wisdom they possess is beyond measure and is grasped when it manifests in reality.
And so they say that "Distance lends enchantment to the view" and so, it is. We always have an unexplainable charm toward things, which are far from our reach and fail to comprehend the splendor and substance of those things that are nearer to us. (I am talking about geography here! Mundane huh??)
I was always lured by the cities and places other than Chennai (of course!!) in India. And you might presume, I dint have such a pleasurable experience, from the very philosophical poise I had assumed earlier. Well, it is the other way around. I had had some of the adventurous and greatest experiences of my life recently.
Bhubaneswar, Pune, Mumbai and Surat were the cities which I happened to visit in the month of February and it also turned out to be my maiden visits to these cities.
On the day when I and my friend arrived in Mumbai, we had a mixture of emotions. We were there to attend a conference. My friend’s brother was a resident of Mumbai and he had assured us that he would meet us at the railway station .The ride from the Dadar railway station, through the very many flyovers of Mumbai in Honda city, especially in the breezy and refreshing early morning, when the sun too was found guilty of being lazy, stretching its rays lethargically, reminiscent of the boredom of a man who had nothing to do but to stretch his hands and legs everyday for a million years, was invigorating.
I and my friend were treated to a warm reception in his brother’s house. We had a short nap in the early morning and woke up at about 7 30 as our program was scheduled at 8 30 that morning. We hitched a ride in an auto to the appointed place. In the executive five star hotel we searched for the majestic ball room where were to present our paper. The conference hall awed us to the core.
Present amidst a host of demagogues of every conceivable echelon, I was faced with the toughest and biggest task of my life. Pretending to be at home, in front of hundreds of entrepreneurs and techno wizards was no mean feat. We were asked to get on the stage which was to provide us with a first but a marvelous opportunity to elicit our idea. After an almost unbelievable effort I and my friend amidst some jeer, but mostly applause, got down to take our seats just like the hundred other people who were there to attend the program.
The most prominent of our moment came minutes after, when we were mobbed by a group of foreign delegates who were very much engrossed by our initiative and were encouraging us to go forward with it. One might be tempted to think that this was end of the game for us, considering the kind of opposition we faced, for the best paper award, which included corporate marketing executives and IIT professors.
One might even take a few breaths and swear that we have a terrible lie at our hands and all else I said before a mere hyperbole of things, which just went our way, that day. If any of you have any such ideas then I might very well assure you that, you and I have much in common, at least when we start thinking!!
On the next day we had a great outing and I had the chance to be driven through the express way of Mumbai, racing through at 160 kms per hour in the safe Honda city, driven expertly by my friend’s brother. After many a mile of travel , the express way getting bored of itself and of us paved way to Loona wala , the hill station , some 150 kms from Mumbai. After a glimpse of the tiger valley we made our way back to Dadar station where I and my friend had to catch a train that evening, which was supposed to bring us to normal life.
As I mentioned above considering the kind of under dogs we were at the conference, little did I even dream of anything special. But that didn’t stop me from jotting down the mobile number of an acquaintance, whom I got acquainted with, at the conference.
I called him up, to query him as to what happened on the second day of the conference, while we had spent eating corn savories, away from the luxury of the hotel intercontinental Grande.
He informed us, much to our amusement that we were honored with the best paper award!
It took another telephone call, to another acquainted acquaintance, to assure us that we really had got that award!!
I felt at the top of the world! It was our first attempt outside the state and there it was!! A victory we least expected!!! The amount of confidence that news brought me was inestimable!!!!
And so I was, delighted to say the least, during my return journey, which even made me endure so many things I had revealed in my previous post!
And so, was my journey to Mumbai pre written and eventually, so it happened! I wish to say much more!
But when the day has departed and when your body knows it time for shut eye, one can provide very little resistance to supersede that command.
I give up as I do the every other day!!
Ciao friends!! ’ll right again soon!

India unveiled!!

2008-01-18T09:28:00.001-08:00

The tyrannies of traveling in Indian trains, in particular the long distance ones range from having to sustain in an environment of rotten smelling lavatories to watching some low level sleaze activities. One might say residing in a country like India where bribing is perhaps an informally accepted universal solution to a hoard of problems that one might face, be it a millionaire or a normal person, who has anything but self righteousness, which would readily be termed as an idiosyncrasy that would pronounce only trouble, it is quite a predictable spectacle, as much as one would expect a kangaroo running wild in an Australian suburb. Even a person like me, who would under normal circumstances abide by the so called customs, unless of course the actions do not affect some one seriously, is piqued and pushed to the wits end , when the degree of such grubby actions vary to a large extent.

The Bombay mail carried me and a thousand like minded passengers united by the thought and aim of arriving at Bombay through a thousand two hundred and odd kilometers from Chennai. It was my first trip to Mumbai.

My coach mate, a guy from Chennai on his way to Pune , was one among those thousands I mentioned traveling the train , though I must say , it is a pity very few were legitimately doing so. The first of the two events that pressed me to write this post was to happen on the eve of the second day of our palanquinish travel.

A TC came by scrutinizing our tickets very much sincerely. He verified the proofs of each person who had done his booking via the internet. In not so much of a narrative mood I am writing this post, so I would cut the some things short.

The person, whom I was thoughtfully aware of to mention earlier, was fined 700 rupees for the fact that he did not bring his original driving license. That was the proof he had mentioned online to identify himself. He had the duplicate, which by all means should have been sufficient along with other identifications he had. But the TC sticking to the rule book fined him and provided him the receipt for the fine. Though I was sorry for my friend, who had left the license ignorantly as this happened to be his first travel in long distance train booked through internet, I was happy I could see one government official following the regulations; yet, it seemed a bit stringent at that juncture.

On my return journey I was very much gifted to have booked a ticket in Dadar express.

Then it happened, the most frustrating of events. A mob of local people entered the reserved compartment. They apparently had no reservations. They made themselves comfortable in the available seats. This was quite usual in Indian trains, so nothing much to brood on nor would I have, had not the following events taken place.

A TC came. He was given 20 rupees by the men who had no tickets. They were allowed to travel comfortably and TC came back to see whether there were people who had not paid him his DA .

It was sickening to see them traveling comfortably while my coach mate on my onward journey was penalized so justly yet so sternly.

Me and my friends who saw this sight were burning from the inside to do something। My friend let go of a frenetic slur of words in tamil of which they were all not intelligent off though they might have caught our feelings, which I say so, because they visibly started feeling uncomfortable.

I have nothing more to say as my deportment toward this event is so strong. You might not understand the passion burning inside me. You have to see them close up and feel the atrocities to detest them!!

Nothing is going to change this world...conceivably …not me not you……

But at least WE can be just. We can not cure the whole India. But we can make ourselves truthful. And one step ahead we can try to force our near and dear to be true to themselves and India.

Let’s not see the extinction of a species, the noble person. I want to disprove Darwinism in this context.

Hope we can turn one Indian good in our life time…..

JAI HIND!!

Uncloaking the clock

2007-11-26T09:05:00.000-08:00

I woke up wearily as the alarm on my mobile phone, set to wake me up at 5 o clock, played the greeting tune I had chosen previously, with a compelling punctuality. The depths of the unknown world, in which the brain of mine was exploring, transformed immediately into the so called world attributed to reality. Switching off the alarm tune I walked bleary eyed to my study to make a final review for my examination.
I sat before my table initially oblivious to the stillness of my house, opening my operating systems book. Then I heard it. In the solitude it was unnerving. It was rhythmic. It was not loud, it was not a blare but it was prompt. A sense of alacrity crept over me.
I felt an inevitable force rushing me. I dint know where??
The clock heedless of the swirl it was causing in me ticked away with a rude disposition. As I heard more and more of the ticks it distressed me greatly. My mind diverted by the wily clock went in to a stream of thoughts.
It dawned on me that every tick was taking me a wee bit closer to the end; every second I was losing something which I would never get again; every second was unique ; which would never again return;
Every tick instilled a weird trepidation in me. A very difficult to believe but a very true verity confronted me.
Every tick I was wasting was a second taken away from my lifetime, against my will.
My thoughts went on to recollect many happenings of my life. I started to count them in my clogged mind. It was enormous!!But how many of them had been meaningful?
A very few instances I recognized which would assure me that I indeed had done something in my life!! This theory instantaneously axiomated to me that the trillions of ticks that had gone by unheard by me were taking from me, that something, even before I was sentient of it! To make a long note short I had done nothing in my life!
By procrastinating the commitments of life, we make it less attractive and less prolific. We miss a chance.
Is it a sane attitude, to defer taking gold, lying in front us to some other time???
Is it sagacious to pass an exam in the second endeavor when you can in the first??
Laziness is the quintessential demon of destruction;
The clock ticked on and away; taking the precious seconds; shoving me closer to heaven or hell!!(god knows where…)
My mom, awaken by her alarm, came out of the bedroom which broke my reverie. As I did reveal formerly how ignorant was I of the bigger implications of a clock’s tick, I now became conscious of the reality that I had been temporarily unaware of the minor but more imperative implication. My time was running out; it was close to 6 30 and I had to revise a couple of more topics!!He he he……
Too much thought given to the past is wasted; the best elucidation is to live every second and also, never regret it, because regretting takes another second away, for which you might regret the next second.
Happy living!!!To hell with those clocks …………..

Sivaji , the betrayal!!

2007-06-20T04:17:00.000-07:00

The crowd was rowdyish, the mood ecstatic and the climate belligerent as we stood at the gates that were locked with the intention of keeping out an overly eager and enthusiastic mob from breaking into the theater. A local theater was the place where we ended up on a Saturday afternoon to see the ‘sivaji’ movie.

After the usual hassles we were finally let into the wide and high hall which had a somewhat bigger than 21 inches screen and a group of blaring speakers which were turned high (extremely high!!) when a song was played. It was very funny that they would call this a theater. I should admit that the hype of the movie was too much for these trivial things to stop me.

I sat with my friends with the same passionate mood which seemed to have propagated itself throughout the hall. The preview of an upcoming movie sultan was shown and it received as much whistle blows as ‘Namita’ would have dug up. Gosh it was just an animated movie!! The short preview was followed by the usual AVM logo and music. As my friend was asking, it made me wonder why people would not whistle as much when an AVM logo was shown in suntv before a TV serial. Well, maybe the mood of the previous serial where lakshmi’s husband would so unfortunately was discovered as a drunkard would linger!!(Sob! sob!).Can’t blame them!!(Sob! Sob! Sob!!!)

The movie started with applause which immediately reached ‘Everestian’ magnitude as the superstar made his entry into the movie. The movie progressed for the first hour without any surprise elements. A typical Rajini start with Vivek’s comedy complementing it.

The villain was introduced soon enough and Suman presented a decent opponent as well (hehe!!). The intro song was too standard and predictable. The usual feisty rajini walk and all those were the constituents of that song. ‘Ooru kudai sunlight’ was very well portrayed. The sets were elaborate and the costumes were exquisitely chosen. The hair dressers painstaking work was palpable and the use of ‘combustion’ was all too obvious but fitting. To put it short the first hour was fine and made a level and firm start. As the movie progressed we were made to search for the story, which before long we realized, was almost not existent. A fiercer hunt was organized to see any signs of Shankar. That too turned out to be futile!!

There was no indication of Shankar’s usual innovative story telling skills nor any plot let alone a twist. It was too damn plain and usual. The ‘Sahara pookal’ song was beautiful. Everything was gorgeous and it was one of those very few moments which very distantly but surely reminded us of a man, Shankar who was supposed to be the man ‘behind the screen’!!

The fight sequences do claim a mention. The first action scene was as a slapstick comedy and the other scenes a mix of both Rajini’s style and Shankar’s skill. They were up to the mark one might say.

Vivek’s comedy and dialogue was another one of those things, which when removed of the expectations of this very movie, can one safely say was well tailored. Rajini was without mention at his usual best in all the situations. I could not find any flaw with him.

As the film finally came to an end the following observations were obvious.

Rajini and Vivek were as good as they were anytime.
The hall mark was the costumes. Sets and dialogues were good enough
The fight scenes were as expected but brilliant.
The story line was poor. The background score was acceptable.
Nothing to comment on direction.

To sum up Sivaji is an average movie not matching the hype it was given!!

foolish ideas and senseless decisions....

2007-06-13T11:00:00.001-07:00

The night was humid and I felt pity for the bread and chicken placed in an oven. The clamminess was unrelenting as I sat before the computer with all the possible ventilations wide open. The windows were a mere spectator of a still atmosphere bereft of any movement. The usually enthusiastic trees seemed to have taken a sober stance swaying with the wind was almost an action it could never have possibly performed.

I guess one could call this very post really sweated out!! Damn these horrid nights!!!

A month before I sat during a much too similar night with a determination to widen my wisdom. Those who are not familiar with Chennai climate I suggest them not to think am crazy because the similarity between that night and tonight is too great ..Especially not much has changed in terms of temperature.

The fortitude I felt that day was pointed towards enumerating a set of characters that are consistently expected of a perfect leader. On that leverage I was forced to do some research on the life of some leaders.

Many might say he was a meddler but he was a leader and he too had some qualities worth noticing. He may fail to give us a lot of ‘should follow’ set of characters but at least we can use him to make a list of those which we should be careful not to have.

The reason I have chosen him as my first candidate of study is that I like certain facets of his character very much. He is the fuhrer’. He was the man who threatened to topple Europe and dismantle the superpowers. A single man who charged against great men and countries, armed with nothing but instinct and passion. A crucial overview of the administration of Hitler which is well known as left wing totalitarianism would connote the point that he was the person directly controlling even the tiniest of activities of his empire. He was not intent in the division of authority in the fullest sense. Every man was answerable to him and his next in rank authorities were fully responsible for the activities of the men in the next level of the hierarchy. He was the ultimate deciding authority in taking the simplest to the biggest of decisions.

Many of his generals were not entirely trusted by him. This was because he was of the idea that his generals were cowards and he expressed that publicly many a times. This caused a muted but suppressed dissension among his generals.

In the early days of war, it is said that, his strategies, were much better than his generals, which indeed handed the third Reich with a handful of victories.

Hitler was too easily deceived by the tiny triumphs. He failed to keep in touch with the big picture.

His one fatal decision was to attack the Great Britain, the Russians and the Americans all at the same time. He was too high handed and convinced that his race and ideologies were superior to others and that alone would bring him victory.

That led to the downfall of the fuhrer, a man who rattled the world.

He is not an ideal exemplar for a leader but a man with passion and driven by his gut feeling. His disbelief in his generals was a path to disaster and announcing his thoughts publicly was unintelligent. A person not ready to treat victories and defeats alike can’t make a good soldier let alone a leader. But being intuitive to a certain degree is necessary. A good judge of when his knowledge is better than his team members is also essential. Further a good leader should have realistic ideas, should have no ideologies and should be free to espouse the noblest and the most proficient principles to achieve each goal.

I intend to read the life of many great men....this is just a start….

2007-04-07T06:59:00.000-07:00

Everyone start their day with just one thought that the day would be a more contented and a successful one. They pray that their endeavors be gifted with as much luck as the world has been gifted with water.

Many hope that the goals they have failed to achieve yet would somehow be fulfilled by that glorious day … some believe that day would make them perform better than any other.

a lawyer wants a guiltless client...a doctor an undying patient........a common man a day in life lived with ecstasy...

the wide vista of world gives us as much scope to hope as we can.......

if only the best things that we usually hope to happen happens, then what would we hope for the next day and the next???

If people were to stop hoping where would the essence of a fresh new day be???

The sunrise gives new life to everyone. It gives people a reason to hope. …to enjoy …..to expect....to live...........

as the glistening sun , perhaps the quickest and the only overseer of earth returns to where it has started a day before, rises in the horizon ,the place unknown, simply continuing his routine survey over the place it inconceivably awakens many body and rejuvenates many souls.

The powerful warrior brandishes his glittering sword very peculiarly intending to smarten souls rather than destroy them....the silent waters, the sultry mountains, the windless ranch, the colorless fields, the soulless person …everything alike sanctified by the munificent combatant rise from the dead…

He moves steadily up, unmindful of the many that don't care to accept his bestowal;. he enlivens the people who do.

Thus a new day has begun.....

Have u missed it????

You are one behind …..You have missed one day!!!

Enjoy the sunrise as long as you can, for the warrior may not always be so generous ….

GOOD DAY!!!

Of leadership and relationships…….

2007-03-30T07:31:00.000-07:00

Having nothing more than 2 hours to spend before the essence of sleep would manifest its forceful effect on my soul, I decided to do something which was much more worthy and prudent than my usual pastime of chatting and watching movies. That endeavor eventually made me to jot in this trash a few gibberish thoughts.

A portrayal of a complete leader from the voice of some of my friends had some common thoughts and some distinctive ones. The gist of those thoughts, I have summed up in a reasonably “nutshell’ish manner.

Co ordination-understanding-wield power-good judge in handling situations-take every ones ideas –share ideas-be a best friend (??!!??)-Extracting the best -motivating-understand the limitations of the team-do not push then harder-able to control everyone.

Hmm…thinking a bit more deeply one would notice the palpably overlooked characteristics. The critical one being the fact that no description of a perfect role model is complete if you fail to specify the do not’s.

One thing of importance that nudged me was the fact that a good leader should first know his limitations. This knowledge would play a imperative role in his ability to administer others. And the aspect of much more significance is that he should know to secrete them well…..

And the don’ts I was talking about was that he should never become too close with anyone in his team. many may argue with this point but the point he should take care that his decisions should not be predisposed by these factors…he should always have in mind that he and only he is responsible for whatever is the outcome of a work. Sharing of honors comes only after that…

Over the coming few days my search for a comprehensive leader will continue. Rather begin…I have decided to learn more about the so-called great leaders (Iam not being cynical!) and come to a worthwhile conclusion…

iam back!!

2007-02-25T06:19:00.000-08:00

When the year of 2007 was born I decided to change my blogger account and start a new one.....so strong was my resolution to keep my blog updated regularly that I have returned here after nearly 2 months of really "nothing".... with only 2 of them to show my tenacity(it isn’t steely..)

This has indeed made me detest resolutions (I mean the 1s I make...and will not hopefully make again...)

Don’t keep your hopes high!!Cuz iam taking a pledge again...that I will TRY TO keep my blogs updated.....at least I have learnt about me now: D......

As I think of the many things that have happened around me in the few days I have been forced to stay away from my blogs, I feel thrilled to say about one incident.....

Sundays as it is so commonly called and more enthusiastically a holiday by many....have always provided me with some time to enjoy the pleasantries of life...but now even they have started being tougher to me..Have I been so naughty???????

I was waiting in mambalam railway station to board the train on my way from my java class...it had been an altogether depressing day for various reasons....and frustratingly I was made to wait 30 minutes that day.....(foolish of me to expect anything more or rather less..After all I wasn’t in London...I should be thankful for the suburban train which was likely to give me less than one square feet of moving space for my 10 rupees)!!!

Not surprisingly I found myself surrounded by people grumbling and mumbling...fanning themselves with caps...hands...news papers...to wade of the sweltering heat...

I found a man standing near the railway canteen looking at a couple of men curiously......he was decently dressed at least by Chennai standards.

He saw me watching him which forced me to turn away and then a crowd of north Indian people who evidently had arrived from some tough bargaining and fat purchases, evaded me from observing him further.

When I was compelled to wonder about the cricket match happening that day to stop myself from shouting...I felt so hysterical and it was damn hot....the velvety voice over the pa system announced in a monotonous tone of voice that " the next train to tambaram will arrive shortly"..This was amazingly irksome to hear as it sounded so unmindful of the predicament of the passengers...

The word shortly is so deceptive that I found myself more agitated....but luckily this time around the shortly turned out to be pretty shorts and I boarded the train at exactly 2 minutes after the announcement..I almost felt like kissing the women who had announced that (joke)

The train ever so wearily started, guided by the proficient hands of the driver and several hardworking signal lights (;)) made its way towards tambaram.....what I had missed...which was probably a bit too many to enumerate ....but 1 thing of consequence was that the stranger who had stared strangely at the two men had boarded the same car which I had and so had those two men....

he was ,as of then leaning on the walls of the train near the door seemingly uninterested in anything....the crowd was too much that even 1 square feet of breathing space was too much to expect ..So I stood fatigued hanging on to the steel hold above dangling like a hanged doll....Michael Jackson would have felt credible to invite me to dance for his album: D...

Two stations went by without incident ...at least I thought so then...so must you...for now.....

I moved towards the door as the next station was where the farthest my ticket would allow me to travel...incidentally that was where I lived...

And then it happened. The man who had previously enterprised his yearning to stare at people had palpably hassled a man near him, who glanced at him naively and moved to the inner regions of the compartment....I was left standing immediately beside him. I noticed he was a bit older than what I had thought...he suddenly grasped my hand...

I didn’t know what to do...my first reaction was to present him with a sharp look. Then I considered his age and his demure and thought perhaps he was sick.

The man noticing my stare smiled and explained bluntly “just holding “the bearded face no signs of either distress or wiliness. I dint answer anything because I really dint knows what to reply...nor did I push his hands away...but I continued to stare....
He continued to smile benevolently.

Suddenly I felt his hands move and I was scared and moved away...the person next to him saw this and caught hold of him by his shirt collar...he had tried to pick my pocket!!!!

The people around me started to turn towards us and realising the situation started staring and shouting at him....in the next few second whatever happened was a blur...

The station arrived I tried to get down the would- be thief tried to precede me and I almost tripped...but the people caught hold of him and I alighted the train. nobody raised an alarm. But as it started to move I saw the man fall down in the compartment ...I didn’t know what happened and I was unnerved...

I forgot about the incident after that....even my mom doesn’t know about it!!!So i am going to tell it 2 her!! Bye...enough of me boring you...

A.R Rehman delight

2007-01-03T22:45:00.000-08:00

Recently AR has taken to singing some of the loveliest and poetic songs with extraordinary grace that makes one wonder and question his wisdom of choosing to become a music director!!No offense to the fans of AR's music direction which is way above the level of any other.

If the artistic voyage through the song “New York nagaram” was divine the journey through “tere bina” was rapturous. The lyric of course which was the best part of the two aforesaid songs were extremely elegiac which only a deep romantic mind could have envisaged. Voicing these exemplary words with a compelling and mesmerizing tone and alluring music has added even more elegance to these songs!

Who else could have done it better than AR...?If you do not believe me hear these songs!!

Hoping for many more beauties from the wizard!!

Long live AR.

a rare patriot!

2007-01-02T02:14:00.001-08:00

Some things never change. Being a bit of an optimist myself I am forced to say this!!Such was the ennui of the sea waves which crawled in an unremitting pattern that day when I was eating with hunger the beach sundal with manga, lying down on the beach sand leaning on only one of my elbow. My friends (two) had parked their vehicles near the light house and we have been strolling in the beach for about 2 hours then and had finally sat down, just then. I was very curiously watching a couple who were seated in the grass far-off from where we were, but very much near to my friend's vehicle which had been the reason for us being in the place we were then , in 45 minutes(and not less!hehe!!) ,Since we started from our house in Nanganalur.Having fatigued ourselves with as much chitchat a teen could muster we were eating the sundal when suddenly breaking the silence my friend turned towards the boy who had sold us the sundal. The boy was checking his wallet(it was nothing more than a torn cloth bag) and was animatedly counting what would have been an extremely paltry sum if you were looking for a good meal in saravana bhavan which nonetheless promised the boy and his family enough money another half fed day.

My friend finishing his sundal, steadfastly asked the boy “thambi ne 'school'ukku poriya pa?"("Bro do you attend a school")

The frail boy diverting his concentration from the all important job of book keeping ,looked up at my friend's face with a befuddled look, which clearly suggested that he hasn't ever been addressed with that question.

He answered with a nod prompting "yes" and my friend chatted with him for a couple of minutes with some friendly questions. After the boy had left my friend turning towards us said how his father had from his childhood impressed upon him the habit of asking child laborers to attend school. Though not much of an act in itself it was heartening to see such deeds!!

I have seen many self proclaimed jingoist blabbering about the present political shambles of our country, faking to help the poor and all that...but what my friend did that day was an eye opener to me!!

To take real care about the downtrodden is the factual and only way for betterment. What my friend did was just ask that boy about his education and at best he might have convinced him by speech to join a school had he answered in the negative, but his question merely could have caused a young boy to think. Maybe he would ask his parents to make him join a school. Maybe they would ....maybe he could be an intellect and maybe he would become an Abdul Kalam.......

Long shot one might say; but the alarming rate of child laborers in spite of various laws and regulations definitely requires the efforts of common man to curb and exorcise this social evil.

A small act, but in this world of ifs and buts and mightbes and maybes it could just make a difference and 'maybe' that could turn out to be big!!

The bottom line is that,we need responsible citizens who are wise enough to indoctrinate these nobler qualities in their children!! There on that day I ended my search for a true patriot even though I wasn't looking for one!