mySillyThots

Dec18

2007-12-18T23:23:00.000+05:30

I am currently car pooling with 2 other Americans. After the thanks giving weekend, one of them asked me if I celebrated it by having turkey. I replied that I celebrated by going out and not having turkey as I am a vegetarian :-)

One of them asked me on why am I a vegetarian? I said that it is the practice for generations together. The topic shifted and he asked me if it is true that I have thousands of Gods in my religion. I answered affirmatively. He, being a staunch believer of another religion, was asking me if there is not one God, then why am I worshipping so many? I wanted to give a concise reply to him as our station was just a few minutes away. I said that my religion is closely integrated with Nature. We see every object as a personification of God. The sun, fire, water, earth, sky, rain, moon and even every star is given importance. We also see God in various relationship as a mother, father, teacher, son, etc. Hence,it is of no wonder that we indeed have so many forms. Our topic of discussion ended as we reached our station.

I started to think more about the explanation given by me. What I said about closeness to Nature, is really true about my religion. We indeed had a "Bhoomi-Pooja" before starting the construction of our home. I do know that we have special prayers during Pongal, which my dad insists doing in the open area so that we can pray directly under sun. We pray the nature (sun/rain/earth) for a good harvest for the farmers and a year without any flood/famine for the welfare of everyone in the world. Most of the pooja is being done with the special mention of our birth star. I do know my friends who have prayers to a tree during the special month. Even, my sis also offered special prayers to God (upon the insidtence of my mother), when she had to kill the 3 snakes in our garden.

But, I find myself cribbing when I hear a bollywood actress marry a tree to remove the influence of her stars. I even read a few blogs condemning the act. Some of them, whom I know are quite religious. Infact, to the American with whom I was explaining about my religion, will not my actions look similar to the bollywood actress when I say I pray sun or I consider Peepul tree to be sacred? Then, Why am I cribbing so much about the actress' belief? It is her belief that such an act is going to help her hubby live longer. Do I really have the right to do it?

I am confused !!

Nov26 -Tag

2007-11-27T01:14:00.000+05:30

Tagged by Vidhya, here are some weird things about me .......

- I am very good at remembering things which I like the most. Usually, I remember even the colour and design of the actors' costume in the movies I like. I have been chided by my mom that had I used my gray cells for remembering other things, I would have fared much better in life. (No regrets from my side :-)) But to say the truth, this is not only with cinema, even with studies. I can quote verbatim of some of the "Kabhir or Rahim Dohas" that I had memorized 10 or 15 years ago.

- I remember the position of articles and can easily make out when things go out of place. My mom had found it extremely difficult to keep the snacks out of my reach. Though she made sincere attempts in keeping the dabbas back in position, yet a few degree of change in their orientation, is sufficient enough for me to trace it:-) This is not only in our kitchen. I have found that I can make out the changes made in my sis' living room showcase or furniture. It is not that I want to really observe it. I find that my mind registers it though I dont want it to.

- Well, on the other side, I am extermely absent minded. A zenith in remembering certain (unwanted, useless!!) things has a nadir in me forgetting some important stuff. This happened in my school days during my eighth grade, when I did not check the exam timetable properly. I ended up preparing for history exam when I actually had the geography exam. I realized my folly 5 minutes before the exam, when my friend clarified her doubts with me. There has been "unwritten" exam, when I forgot to go to school, as I mistook the day of exam as a holiday. Everyone at home, proactively made copies of my timetable during my public exams and pasted it in every nook and corner of the home, to remind me as well as themselves, of my exam schedule :-)

- I love to keep my books clean. I am not finicky about other things but I hate when people mishandle my books. I dont like to give my books to friends who have the habit of dog-earing or licking their fingers before turning the pages. I usually dont give my books to friends whose fingers are smeared with ink. Infact my sis is worst at maintaning books. The cover and the first few pages are usually missing in her text books. These books are usually handed over to me after a few years. I double or triple cover them with chosen colourful news papers, esp the ones which have saree ads or calendar sheets. Infact, seeing her books in such a good shape, she keeps teasing me that I need to take the books out of my shelf and use them rather than maintaining them new.

- I have the bad habit of doing things half baked, like say, not restoring things after using them. Previously, this was not having major effect as I had sufficient time to go back to things and completing them. But now with a demanding a year old toddler at home, I at times, find home in a total mess, as I leave things half complete to cater to his needs.

- I love to cook. More than cooking, I love to decorate it and present it well. I usually try to decorate my dishes and serve it like the way it is done in hotels. Infact, my sis cooks very well and she ropes me in to give the finishing touches. This is not only with cooking, I can even improve the "maa kolam" of my sis with all decorative works and enhance her already beautiful kolam. But I am lazy too. The very idea that I have do the dishes after cooking, makes me come with simple recipes with lesser work:-)

- I have never been in interested in the "girly" things. I have not discussed about beauty tips or dressing etiquettes when in school or college. I have not even paid much attention to it. I have not worn bangles (except for rare occasions) till my marriage. When I see my friends come with all matchy-matchy stuff, I really wonder how they manage to do it. Infact, I find my son's nanny dressing him up with even matching socks. She will refuse a particular dress as it does not have matching socks. I wonder why I never do it? All that matters to me, is whether he is decked up enough, to protect himself from the cold. Infact, I tease my husband that he spends more time in front of the mirror than me.

- I am very interested in "nerdy" things. Infact, my folks at home had a hearty laugh when I was using the maths tables / laws in physics for my sons' lullaby. I had even completed the Mendeleev's table :-) when my son was 3 weeks old. This is when my hubby reminded that my son might doze off in school if I am going to use all this for his lullaby. so, I stopped it :-)

Oops .. I am listing more than the required number and letting the secrets out of my bag... let me stop it here !

Sep 27

2007-09-28T01:38:00.000+05:30

I really dont know what is happening to me. The actions which have affected me or rather wounded me in the recent past, have been playing in "repeat-mode" in my mind. The more, I try to forget them, greater is the frequency of my recollection of the events.

My dear ones and I are hurt so much for no fault of ours or rather by the others' ignorance/we-know-it-all attitude. I really feel like paying back these people with their own coin. I just want them to bite back their words. The fact that I am forced to be tongue tied, magnifies my anger by zillion times. The ones dear to me, poor souls, become the target of my fury. This further intensifies my anger as I am hurting Peter to pay back Paul.

The bottled up anger pops its ugly head in various incarnations like pounding headache, acerbic words thou' I never intend to say, disinterest in everything in life esp work. I have edited Tagore's Gitanjali to reflect my current thoughts

Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high;

Where the human relationship has not been broken up

into fragments by narrow domestic walls;

Where words come out from the depth of truth;

Where the clear stream of reason

has not lost its way into the dreary desert sand of dead habit;

Where the mind is led forward by thee into ever-widening thought and action---

Into that heaven , my God, let me awake.

oh God ! please help me.

Happy Vinayaka Chathurthi

2007-09-17T23:39:00.000+05:30

I really enjoy Vinayaka Chathurthi esp for the yummy kuzhakattais and the "clay" pillaiyar. Even now, my mouth salivates when I think about Amma's kuzhakattais. Appa always insist on buying the "clay" pillaiyar only in the morning. He is so meticulous that he chooses the biggest basket in the home and keeps a wooden plank at the base. This is to ensure that the fresh clay does not touch the sides of the basket and change its mould. The choice of umbrella and preparation of garlands from the flowers in our garden, add more pep to the function.

We did not celebrate the function this year. But last year's function is the one, I enjoyed the most. When we we were planning on how to celebrate the function without the clay pillaiyar, Srini gave the idea of making our own pillaiyar. We were all thrilled and eager to put our skills together. We got the play dough and pillaiyar was on his way to our home :-)

Find the snaps - men at work ... he he he, technically, I was also helping them by taking pictures of their hardwork and making the "meenjur":-)

Jun 5 2007

2007-06-05T23:00:00.000+05:30

Yes.. I am back to writing blogs.

Today I came across an article speaking volumes about how the work space have become fun filled arena, how employers take extreme care of the employees, blah blah blah. I really dont understand why the media is giving such hypes about few employers. I do not deny that they take care of employees but it really infuriates me when such employers are projected as demi-gods. C'mon, we do our work and they do make profit based on our inputs too, apart from their business acumen. There are companies which have provided pools, gyms, sports club , school for the employee's children back in 60's and 70's. I do not understand why there is so much hype and hoopla about the employee welfare programs given by the IT companies.

One of the oft- discussed topic with my friend is, "Are we really enjoying our lives in a cozy environment?". I really like her words of "corporate slavery" !! She asked me if my boss will accept without any qualms when I inform him/her about taking a day off. I could not give an affirmative reply. I have seen my neighbour who is with the Govt office taking a day off just b'cos he had not taken leave for 3 months and he wanted to relax for a day. I am sure I would not have done that because they very thought that I shall be swamped with double the work load on the ensuing day, will put the idea on the remotest corner of me mind.

Is it true that we have become a corporate slave? Have we forgotten the art of living?

Mar 31, 2006

2006-04-01T07:10:00.000+05:30

I wont call myself a film fanatic or even a fan but the tinsel world news really attracts me. I had been constantly berated by my mother for paying more attention to the Cinema rather than academics. The chidings are usually marked with the words that had I paid the same or atleast half the attention of what I do to cinema, towards studies, I would have done better in this life. ok...ok..no repentance !!

The blog world really brought to my notice the number of people who share similar interest in movies. But lately, I am finding it really difficult to sit and watch a scrappy movie. When in college and school, there have been times when I have not missed the sloppy movies shown in DD, inspite of the series of advertisements. Nowadays, I am hardly able to sit for more than 10 minutes, if the movie is bad. The hindi movies are also no exception, I find most of them to be highly unendurable.

I realised my intolerance towards bad movies with Sivakasi. My goodness, what a scrap it is!! I just could not hold myself for more than 20 minutes. I was awestruck when my friend told me that the second half was bearable than the first one. I asked her on how she was able to sit thru', as I know she is more irked by such movies.

The latest in the list is Thambi. My god !! I promised Srini that I will not complain and shall undergo the ordeal. But after 10 minutes, I issued an ultimatum that if Madhavan is going to roll his eyes again or shriek or indulge in a fight within the next 15 minutes for more than 3 times, then I am done with this scrap !! God had the grace on me, I could turn the ultimatum into action !!

Is it the falling standards of Kollywood or am I growing older???

Feb 09, 2006

2006-02-10T00:56:00.000+05:30

"Madam , Soappu vangareengala, agarbathi kooda irukku"

WISH YOU ALL A VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR

Atlast, I broke the shackles of my laziness and de-rusted my phalanges to type a few lines in our blog. I have never raked up serious issues in my blog. I dont know for sure if the ensuing lines, really have some gravity in it.

Few months ago, My hubby and I met a couple in the Department store. They gave a friendly smile. This was followed by the exchange of cliched lines of intro. We shared our phone number too. I dont know if we pursued a bit further, b'cos the guy worked in my ex-company or the tamil-tamil bondings.

The incident was completely erased off my memory, but a phone call from the lady, prolonged the acquaintance. This was followed by their friendly visit and a formal invite to their home as well. My hubby was sure that they are into marketing. Hence from the first phone call, we were also keen on not making it a closer-to-heart relationship. We were trying to find if they were into marketing, but we could noy find any hints. We obliged to their invite and went to their home. At the end of the conversation, we could feel the marketing pulse. Hence we were not interested in pursuing the relationship further. We declined their offer asking us to attend a presentation on using "E-COMMERCE FOR HEALTH AND AWARENESS".

I know about, one such marketing company in India - Amway or Ambway (however it is spelt). During my college days, One of my friends wanted me to join the group or atleast buy its products. I neither had the interest nor the money to heed to her request.

Well, the whole point of me mentioning the above is,
- Why do marketing people use the same startegy?
- Why are they so disinclined to reveal that they are into marketing in the first place?
- Why, like managers, they speak though ambiguous yet flamboyant terms like e-commerce, health, e-business, integration into domestic life, quick-success etc? I am sure half of them dont know the meaning of it.
- Who provides the momentum to such people ?
- Why do common people try to avoid them ?

Please let me know, if you have answers to the questions

Dec 08, '05

2005-12-08T19:20:00.000+05:30

Crocodile, Crocodile - What colour do you choose?

Few days back, our friend's 3 year old daughter was listing the colours of rainbow. Colour is one of the few early things taught to us. It is something that fascinates me to the core. How somber it would have been, if the world is seen just in the shades of black and white?

I always prefer to do the prism experiment to see the diffraction of light. Similarly, I wanted to see the newton's rings, but we were asked to do with a monochromatic light and hence I could see only the light and dark bands. How wonderful it would have been, if we were asked to do it with a polychormatic light. Oops, Is it sounding very technical?? Well, My intention is not to write a post which is very fundoo. Thou' I would love it but it is a long time, since I lost touchbase with my much loved, cuddled, fondled physics book- esp the light chapter.

It is said that the colours can even change the mood of our mind. It is in a way true. I somehow prefer working in brightly coloured cubicles, than the somberish gray. But, to my fate, most of the cubicles, I have worked are gray in colour. So, dont blame me if I am not working !! You see, it is just the colour of the cubicles ;-))

Personally. I prefer the colour of green - the lush green seen in the fields. It somehow lifts my spirits and whichever mood I am in, it immediately changes. My hubby and sis prefer the blue colour. I vividly remember the different shades of blue, seen in the bay area when we were driving to my BIL's office. waw, what an artist God is !!

Have u noticed the background of "Kadhalikum Aasai illai" song of the film, "Chellame"? Man, the camera has done wonders and captured the wonderful blue shades. Every few feet of the beach, will have different shades of blue. It is said that the song was shot in Andaman. Similarly, is the song of "Mudhalam sandhipil.." - starring Prabhudeva. I dont know the name of the movie. A beautifully rendered song with excellent scenic beauty but a horrible choreography, which literally made us lose the fervour of the song and the wonderful background.

Well, Did you know why our white uniforms look whiter when we use the blue (Robin/Ujala/regal/supertone sottu neelam) ?? It is said that the diffused blue colour reflects the light which counteracts the yellowing and hence the clothes seem cleaner.

Too much of techie stuff..so let me stop here !!

Nov 07, 2005

2005-11-07T20:26:00.000+05:30

"RAIN RAIN GO AWAY, COME AGAIN ANOTHER DAY"

I always felt that this is a line which will never be uttered by the Chennaites. Rain has been so tantalizing to us for the past 5 - 6 years.

There had been times when we try to reach the water in the well, directly with the mug. My father used to proudly say that when we started digging the well, we hit the ground water at 25 feet. But, within a span 5-10 years, we saw the mushrooming of innumerable flats and the water level has taken a severe beating. The past 5 years of water scarcity made us bore the ground close to 150 feet in search of the waterbed. There had been special poojas to God in the temple, that the water level does not trickle down further.

But Sunday had been a worse day!! The torrential downpour had caused severe clogging. A special mention of the Govt Official who paid specific attention to the fact that the road work is not incomplete. It has not been laid for the past 1.5 years. To add to more woes, they took enough care in an uneven spread of the stones. It was pointed out very clearly that the road is slopy and the water may drain to one side of the road. The water started clogging in the house and had been to alarming level. We really got panicky as there was every possibility that the water will enter the house. All the important items were shifted to a higher plane, with the major confusion on what are the things that are important?

It is really disheartening to see how poor is the city infrastructure!! This rain has been the yardstick to the poor planning of the city. We always complain and crib, but the answer to the question,"who will bell the cat?" remains elusive forever.

P.S: Thanks to rediff and dinamalar for pics

Oct 17, 2005

2005-10-17T19:22:00.000+05:30

I started blogging just for time pass or to add more truth, to prevent my heavy eyelids to fall. I will not even mention it as my hobby as I dont even remember that I do blog. To speak in computer parlance, this blogging processes only comes into existence when there is a sufficient environment and all other processes are sleeping. This had been one of the reasons for me being irregular.

I was asked by my husband on why am I not blogging these days as he was expecting a bountiful of blogs during this vacation period of mine. He was citing that Filbert had blogged, even when he lost his laptop, that is what is commitment !!

Yes, I understood that what I lacked is the commitment. Very much unlike me ;-)) !!

To say the truth, I was more than satisfied to read others blogs instead of penning mine. Today I thought that I shall break my dormancy and come out of the shell.

I noticed that many of the blogs including mine (please note I mostly read those by tamilians as I identify myself in their thoughts) harp on cinema. I have seen a couple of them on politics too, but you know very well that politics and cinedom are intertwined to the core in TN.

Just name a holiday, the first thing we look forward is the string of programs hosted in TV. Now that the media is soaked in cinema, Not even one of the programs speak out the importance of the day. I even used to feel that all our senses are numbed out as we are not given the variety. We are forced to see only one thing - the pinnacle of services rendered by the artistes in kollywood. Our tastes are literally guillotined.

One of my relatives is a volunteer in Cancer Institute. He is one of the men who has inspired me to set the goals in my life. He was mentioning that how that Dr.Shantha of Cancer Institute, who was awarded the magsaysay award, wasn't given the due attention. It is really true, when mails swarmed around the world with the photographs of a film star's daughter's wedding. We dont even bother to share some revering news like that of Dr.Shantha's, which should make every Indian proud !!

Better late than never !! Let me conclude this blog with this link to know more about Dr.Shantha.

October 05, 2005

2005-10-05T14:25:00.000+05:30

LIGER

Long ago, outside the old city of Singapore, which was considered to be the city of Lions, there was reported to be giant brown beasts. This was before the Asiatic lion was reduced to such low numbers that there are now less than 200 left in the Gir forest. This huge animal might just be an explanation for this myth, for he is neither a lion nor a tiger, but he is about the size of both of them combined. The liger is the world's largest big cat. An average male liger weighs over 900 pounds and standing almost 12 feet tall.

The 10 ft Liger (from Tiger Family) who's still growing. He looks like something from a pre - historic age or a fantastic creation from Hollywood. But he is very much living flesh and blood - as he proves every time he opens his gigantic mouth to roar. Part lion, part tiger, he is not just a big cat but a huge one, standing 10ft tall on his back legs. Called a Liger, in reference to his crossbreed parentage, he is the largest of all the cat species.

A liger is the result of breeding a male lion with a female tiger. It has stripes and spots. The spots are inherited from the lion parent even though adult lions do not appear to be spotted. The liger is a hybrid cat that inherits most of the strengths of both parent species and is larger than either.

Sep 09, 2005

2005-09-09T11:51:00.000+05:30

Expectation Leads to Disappointment

Reading the title, you thought I am going to pen something pensive !!
Hurray, I laud myself for having caught you unaware.

It is just that the way I got disgusted after seeing "Anniyan" movie. I really wondered how people lauded the movie? I do accept that the movie had some lavish expenditures and the songs esp Andankakka and Kannum Kannum were upto Shankar's mark but the other departments had lots of scope to improve upon. Anyway, it is a long while since I saw the movie and I dont want to go rampant criticising it.

On the same genre, a few days back, I saw "EnglishKarran" starring SathyaRaj. I was least interested to watch it as the very name of it, made me believe that it is a damp squib. But surprisingly, I was able to sit thru' the movie atleast in the first half. Exception to it, are the dialogues uttered by the heroine's father which really wanted me to file a suit against the dialogue writer and the songs. There is one song which gets oft-repeated just like S.A.Rajkumar's score. This is a xerox version of Dhanush - Sridevi starring "Azhage Brahmanidam varam kidaikka poyirunden" song. The comedy flick of Sathyaraj is not rib tickling but definitely brings a smile. I did not see the post intermission part, as my eyelids were too heavy to be kept open but somehow managed to catch the climax. Is tamil movie so complicated that missing a few scenes will make you lose track? Well, at the end of the movie, I really felt it was a passable one !!

Aug 15, 2005

2005-08-17T16:57:00.000+05:30

Belated happy Independence Day wishes !!

One more reason for celebrating the 58th year of Independence is that it has been a long weekend. If I remember correctly, we have had a holiday sometime in the month of April and we or rather I was eagerly looking forward to this holiday !!

During these holidays, One of the inexcusable maladies we need to face, is the string of the TV programs - all harping on the same subject - viz cinema. c'mon folks, It is high time the programme organizers understand that we are not fools to watch the same kind of stuff. The usual combination of having one comedy flick, one serious or the so-claimed superhit movie and having interludes filled with cine artistes' interviews. Highly sickening !!

The worst of the lot was a program in which one of the new faces in the Tamil tinsel world was interviewed. I dont remember her name also. The nomenclature of this show - "Actress - her independence in cinema". Just b'cos it is the Independence day, it does not give us the right to abuse the word. That lady was really sitting on my nerves as she did not even know to speak English, Tamil or hindi. She was citing one of the worst glamorous song as a service to the world of art !! Heights of stupidity !!

Yeah, I can get what is running in your mind - why the hell did I watch if it was so very cheap? I did not watch but was following my usual routine of browsing all the channels. To say the truth, the channel increment and decrement button alone has worn out in our home. Ok...coming back to the topic, when I scan these channels inspite of the scorn of my parents for not allowing them to see one for a while, this same channel comes to my purview atleast 5 times. Thanks to my sister, who managed to store the same channel at 5 different places. I am forced to see the program.

The only respite was an hour programme in Vijay TV where the comperer was dressed like "Anniyan- Vikram" citing the mistakes, we commonly do. One of them really affected me, as the programme was shot in the Chromepet railway station-yeah near my college. It highlighted how people disregard the safety rules and crossed the railway tracks, inspite of having the railways gates locked . The programme was really worth the watch. When such people were questioned, None of them had a valid reason to support their action. All of them were in a hurry in their rat race.

This reminded me on how during college days, we used to cross the railway tracks inspite of having no hurry. The first hour in the day is mostly handled by HOD. Albeit my HOD was so generous hearted to give us the attendance even when we made our gracious presence only in the last 5 minutes of our class, yet we always crossed the railway tracks, rather than using the ovehead steps.

Improvements should always start first with the man in the mirror!

July 21 '05

2005-07-21T11:04:00.000+05:30

Advetisements

How much we detest when the series of advertisements, hinder the flow of the favourite movie in TV?

But, I always liked to watch/ hear the songs and good concepts used in the advertisements. Till date, I dont get tired of seeing the Saint Goban Glass advertisement, where the cleaning woman throws the dirty water on the glass and the customer ducks himself b'cos he does not realise the presence of the glass.

Even now, we laugh, when we hear the "ponvandu ponvandu soap paarunga" song in the radio. Infact, it was also one of the contenders for the family song among our cousins. But of all, saree or rather clothes ad, has always been a fascination. May be the variety of colours add to its richness of the ad.

There was a time, when only Kumaran and Nalli, were ruling the market. I dont remember the Ads of these two shops. The recent times have seen RMkV, Pothys, Saravana and chennai silks joining the group. The ads of the last 4 are very nice. I always used to wonder how do they manage to sustain the interest and make people look forward to their shop and their ADs.

The ad of the young kid narrating the store of cindrella from her silk pavadai, was simply wonderful. Do you know people who wanted to buy this full skirt for diwali, could get it only during pongal. To match with it, is the ad of Pothy's where they erected a set to make their shop look like a palace and made their customer feel like kings/queens.

The recent ad of Saravana Stores sung by Anuradha Sriram is nice, but Sonia Agarwal has not done justice to it, with her lip movement.

But yet another anonymous one has been rocking in tha past few weeks!! This ad anchored by Jyothika, is about she asking what colour she can wear for the wedding muhurtham. Everyday, suggestion will come from lay man like students, house wife, office goers, including herself choosing the colours of any object she sees, like even the brown of the broom stick. The best was a bullock (Boom boom maadu) coming with the suggestion of the paint colour of its horns.

I was very curious to know how will the ad proceed and what is the ad about - is it for paint colour or a dress or cosmetics ?

A beffiting climax was bestowed to this ad of RMKV. It is for a saree. They have created a saree with 54,600 colours. Think of a colour, it is in it.

Kudos to the person who conceived the idea and also to Jyothika. Thou' I did not like her Idhayam oil ad this much, yet she has rendered this ad superbly, esp when she says that now the saree is ready but what about the bride groom?

18-Jul-05

2005-07-18T16:06:00.000+05:30

Who has the most beneficial influence on the youth - parents, tachers, society?

Sounds like an oratorical competition topic, right!!!
You are correct. This is the topic given to my niece!

In the country of blind, the one-eyed man is the king !!

Yeah, yeah, yeah I was contacted to write a few lines on the above topic. he ... he ... he !!! When I get a bhakra, do you think I shall lose that opportunity!!! I conceded to her request to write my perceptions about it. If you ask me to prepare my status report for the weekend activities, this shall occupy a lion's share of it, excluding my hours of sleep and time on telephone!

With my limited knowledge in English, I rolled up my sleeves and sat down to write my thoughts on it. I ensured that all rules are imposed in our home to provide the congenial ambience to have an unhindered flow of thoughts. Infact my mom and aunt were commenting that just like the cine script writers, whether I need a special room in a hotel in the midst of a serene nature to write these few lines for a school competition.

Little did I realize then that it is not the factors outside but rather the factors inside, that matters a lot. I really cannot express my anguish for having left my Barron's guide to dust, and having given the special privileges to the spiders to happily weave their cobwebs. Oh my god!! how many hiccups in eihter finding the right words and the usual lucid flow.

With copious inputs flowing from my mom, sister and my aunt, I started penning my (our?) thoughts. Just like the final year project work, I had my prologue and epilogue well prepared and then came the herculean task of writing the middle portion. Atlast, after hours of pensive thoughts and rumination, I managed to churn out few pages of my thoughts on the topic. I can see your brows rising high formentioning it as MY thoughts. Albeit my conscience pricks me, yet I convince myself that Subha, you are not really bad as you really took pains to put it in black and white ;-)

I now conveniently shifted the burden on to my niece's shoulder and now all of us, repeatedly ask the same question and put sufficient pressure on her if she has prepared the speech well.

Ok, Ok Monsieur and Madam, I go along with your view -"Oops! My niece is indeed a poor soul!!"

Jul 05, '05

2005-07-05T15:43:00.000+05:30

Long time no blogs.......yeah I know....blame it on my lazy bones.
Lot of things happened!!! I wanted to share my thoughts, especially on the interview of Illayaraja in SS Music on the release of his thiruvasagam. But I really did not have time to put it down in black and white, due to work pressure.

"A lazy sheep thinks that its wool heavy."

An apt description of me not writing blogs citing the heavy work load.

A good one right!! Please dont mistake me to have the fascination for adages like the "thatha" in S.V.Sekhar drama who says adage for every dialogue he utters and who cannot even repeat the same.

One of my friend,Vidhya sends the morning mails everyday and I really find it interesting to read her quotes. The conventional morning mails with messages, runs to lines. I usually tend to forget the exact wordings of them by the end of the day. Hence, When I recollect/quote them, it is usually with my own words but the ones sent by Vidhya are one liners which are quite catchy and easy to remember.

Infact, I found this more interesting because I have heard many proverbs in tamil and dont know their equivalent in English. So, "Yours truly" (flicked this from ,Filbert;-))) translate them literally in English, like "Donkey does not know camphor smell"

In this blog, let me mark a few of the quotes from Vidhya, that I really enjoyed.

- A wolf will never make war against another wolf

- Advice after mischief is like medicine after death.

- A work ill done must be done twice

- A closed mouth catches no flies.

- Before a real friend, one can think aloud

But this I enjoyed to the core. I think I can always use it, whenever Srini blames me.
- Adam must have EVE to blame for all his faults.

Phew!! I can hear the mutterings - "Poor Srini". sssssssh!!!!!!!

June 14

2005-06-14T09:40:00.000+05:30

I just completed listening to the songs of Chandramukhi once more. To be frank, except for the intro song, the other numbers did not sound impressive to me when heard for the first time. The album was pretty much ordinary and there was nothing to rave about. But on repeated hearing, some of the songs sound really interesting. Again, the objective of this blog is not to review the songs.

This being a Rajni movie, the other artistes who also played their part exceedingly well in making this film a success are not getting the due recognition. Really wonder if it augurs well for the industry. In a way, it is good that Rajni rarely comes on-screen these days. Let me talk about the people who deserved better for this movie:

Vidyasagar - This guy had a huge responsibility on his shoulders. The expectations were very high since Rajni was coming back after an hiatus. I would say he did not let down the people. The album may not be termed as "best ever" but nevertheless impressive. The songs are all on the melodious side which is great considering the fact that we mostly get to hear cacophony in the name of songs these days.

Jyothika - She played the title role and surely deserves more credit for her performance. Again, she also would have had pressure coming behind Shobana's and Soundarya's stellar performances. This can be termed as one of her best-ever, if one were to write an appraisal for her. In Jyothika's case, I would agree to some extent that her performance is being talked about. But, she would have been the talk-of-the-town had this not been a Rajni movie and also had her makeup in the movie been a little down-played.

Binni Krishnakumar - If you ask who is it, you cannot be blamed. Singing the most important number of the movie in an entrancing style and not getting the due credit, hmmm... life is too difficult for some people. All these days, I was under the impression that this one was by Chitra. Googling on Binni did not yield much results except that she sang this number. There was this one link talking about her credentials. Looks like Chandramukhi is her first tryst with filmdom. How I wish it is not her last. Raa Raa, Binni.

There could be others too who i have not mentioned here but still deserve a better deal. Why are their performances not prominently mentioned. Where is the fault?

June 13, '05

2005-06-13T17:06:00.000+05:30

Su|Do|Ku...

A puzzle that is being published daily in "The Hindu".

I read the article in "The Hindu" few months back on how this puzzle game has ignited profound interest in Japan. People have become crazy about it.

If you ask me to say in a word...I would term it as superb - for the simple reason that it is years since I did calculation in mind. I feel that my gray cells have got rusted. I need to accept the fact that I take time to calculate things. When I find my mom calculating tables even after 30 years of schooling and I fumbling for a multiplication of 13, is really exasperating!! But these puzzles are refreshing (b'cos they are simple :-))) and gives the confidence that I am not far behind and that I can actually gear up to speed.

Ok..here are the details.

First of all, there is absolutely no math involved in it. It is a 9*9 grid and we need to fill in the grid such that every row and column and every 3*3 box contains the digits 1 through 9.

As stated in the web page, it is fun, it is challenging and more, it is addictive.

Try your hands at - "SU|DO|KU"

This rhymes with "Soduku" of tamil right!!

Ah... those good old days...

2005-06-09T06:47:00.000+05:30

I happened to see one of my all-time favorite movies - Groundhog Day. It is one of the funniest movies I have come across. The story-line is simple - A weatherman goes to a small local town, Punxatawney, in Pennysylvania on the eve of Groundhog day. For the first-timers, Groundhog day, observed on Febraury 2, is the day when a rat-like species comes out of its burrow and checks for its shadow. It is believed that the winter would last for 6 more weeks if the shadow appears... otherwise, an early spring. Well, the movie shows this event but that is not the main theme.

Our protagonist, being a weatherman, goes to cover this event along with his cameraman and producer. It is just another day for him and he sails through it. Little does he realise that he had to do it umpteen number of times, for he experiences the same day over and over and over.... An innovative plot, albeit implausible, but what makes the movie such a treat to watch is the script. The protagonist's reaction to the situation is crazy at the start, then hopelessly negative before he starts seeing the positive side of it. Bill Murray, as the lead actor, does an excellent job here displaying the transition.

He laments, in one of the scenes, why this repeating day could not be the day he really enjoyed in the past with his girlfriend. That brought me the thought: We too have had many moments in our past which we still feel nostalgic about. Like the school/college days, the days we roamed with friends, the days we felt the sense of achievement, the days of romance et al. The question is: Will we be ready to get into the time-warp to such an interesting moment. And after going through those moments twice or thrice, would we still find it interesting and wish to stay right there. I guess not. We may like reliving it another time but that is it. I think one of the reasons why we still find those moments interesting is because of the fact that they never recur.

June 08 '05

2005-06-08T16:27:00.000+05:30

Blessings........

Today is the "reopening day" after summer vacation for a number of schools in Chennai. My husband's nephew came home early in the morning, to seek the blessings of his grandparents on the first day of school. how nostalgic did I feel?

Unlike others who seek the blessings of their parents and other elders at home on a daily basis, we do it only on important occasions like birthdays, school reopening days or when the real need comes. An appearance to an examination, expecting the results of it, attending an interview or a client call or a bug that remains unfixed in the code making the blood pressure overshoot 200 mm of mercury, promptly ring the bell to remind us that we need to get the blessing of our parents.

Also, there are sentiments associated when we get the blessings. The blessings from parents have never betrayed us. So even before we seek the blessings, we usually provide the list on what they should wish us ;-))

As per Murphy's laws, the chapter that was left unread, will pop its ugly head in the paper in 2 questions, forcing us to choose atleast one of them. Rather than blaming ourselves for not preparing well, the blame is conveniently moved to amma for not coming out of the house & waving a good bye when we turned at the street corner on the way to school for writing the exam.

Not even that, she usually has to listen to us, when we fail to wake up early in the morning before dad leaves for office. "Amma, Why did u not wake me up? C, I did not get the sacred ash from appa. I dont know what shall happen to me in the exam!!!"

After the exams, when we discuss the answers with parents, the way in which the logic struck at the last moment and the problem got solved easily - be it in the "bode plot of control system" or "interupt handling in the microprocessor" or "the fourier transform in the maths paper" , the success is always attributed to their prayers. The gleam of joy is radiant in their eyes!!

Is it b'cos they see history repeating itself except that their roles have changed?

May 31, '05

2005-05-31T11:52:00.000+05:30

After a long time, I heard the sweet sound of cuckoo by 6:00 a.m in the morning. It brought the reminiscence of my good old school and college days.

One of the most favourite hours in a day for me, is the morning 6:00 a.m - 8:00 a.m. I really enjoyed it, since my school days. The sweet sound of cuckoo (but somehow we refer it as "akka kuruvi" rather than "kuyil" at home), the cawing of the crows, the breeze which sweeps you off the feet, fills the day, even before I manage to open my eyes but is alert enough to find a cozy position near the well or on the washing stone in the backyard, where I can sit and brush my teeth.

I love to study in our terrace in the morning. I somehow feel that whatever I glance, gets imbibed in me. This does not only include the text book ;-))

I had (please note it is "had)" been an early bird. Even when I have to leave for college by 8:00, I get up by 5:30 a.m and never missed my morning share of the newspaper (even during exam time).

I like the freshness that is seen in everything, in the morning. My dad leaves for office by 6:30. so he is usually up and ready for office by 6:00. May be it is this habit, which got inculcated in us!!!

The mixed smell of the coffee which is brewing in the coffee maker and agarbathi, the slokhas from the radio, the dampness of the platform, which my mom cleans and puts a fresh kolam, the smell of the sacred ash from my father, who just then finishes his prayers, the neatly folded Hindu paper thrown by the newspaper boy, fills the energy in the cup of life. As said, if there is heaven on earth, it is here, it is here !!!

Wait, wait the morning is not yet complete, if I dont mention the tension of my elder sister. There was a time, when both of us left for the same office at the same time as we go by the same van. The whole house is filled with her words/needs and we (mom, my younger sis and I) are all busy serving it, like searching her document left on the sofa, which grew wings overnight to fly and nest in her shelf or the duppatta - I used to wonder how she always selected a dress which has the duppatta safely secured in the other bedroom. It would be incomplete, if I dont mention her forgetting the watch and the helmet (when she was going to office by two wheeler) on an everyday basis. To say in local parlance, She is such a "tension party" !!! When I used to relax myself citing, I have another 2 "more" minutes to go and can easily glance thru' one more article in the newspaper, my sis' is worried that she has "just" another 10 more minutes to leave the house. It would be incomplete if I dont mention the leg-pulling of my younger sis. She always manages to time her comments and fills nitrous oxide in our busy rat race. That is us!!!

Really mom is a poor soul who had daughters, who are poles apart !!!

May 27, '05

2005-05-27T17:31:00.000+05:30

Taken for Granted - An oft used phrase by many of us in various circumstances. One of the most common cribs of any foreign returned folk apart from the weather and hygiene, is the poor customer service in India. One of the inexcusable maladies in the Indian society.

Yesterday we had been to watch the much hyped movie, Chandramukhi. I am not going to review the movie as I will start berating my friend, Filbert for giving so much hoopla to the movie.

Well, the "taken for granted" attitude began from the time I boarded the auto from office, to make it to the movie on time. The autowala without any conscience demanded 90 bucks for a 8 km travel. The callous attitude of the autowalas in Chennai is known world wide. But to remain silent inspite of knowing that we have been made a bhakra, pains a lot.

Next, the theatre representatives has increased the minimum cost of the ticket. The autowala was commenting that he saw the movie only once in the theatre but could not make a revisit as he cannot afford to spend 50 bucks everytime. When everyone has the mindset to exploit, I feel even the theatre owners should not lament so much for the mushrooming of VCD shops. I am not trying to justify the usage of CDs but want to drive the nail, that it is better to clean our dirt before blaming others.

Next comes the canker in almost all theatres, however good they are. It is the switching of air condition in the theatres in these movies. It is really disgusting to note that the customer service is of lowest priority in this case. With Chennai's summer at its zenith and people thronged in a cinema hall where not even a seat is vacant, the theatre authorities switching off the ACs. oh God!! where to go and vent the letdowns.

Things did not end with it, the most user "unfriendliness" attitude of all those bike stand inchargees. Why this cold stare and acerbic words for no fault of the bike users?

People never gauge the depth of the causticity of words. When a passenger requests for the return of 50np, the bus conductors' trigger the negative energy by bad mouthing. As stated in physics, this energy cannot be created or destroyed, but can be changed to another form only when we feel someting postive happens like the cherubic smile of a child, sweet fragrance of a flower, the warm hug/pat from the mom.

Why don't people realise that being good to others or giving a warm friendly smile, will lit up the world. A word of thanks from an unknown person, makes up the day and gives the sense of satisfaction for the day. I don't claim that I do all these hings. I know "Rome was not built in a day" but there is no harm in taking a baby step towards it !!!

May 23, '05

2005-05-23T15:22:00.000+05:30

Sunday Night 9:00 p.m is one of the most dreadful hours in my life, as I suddenly remember that all my tasks I had planned for, during the weekend, still remain unfinished in my plate. I suddenly realize that I have not been careful enough in completing the tasks. What next?? ….he he he I conveniently procrastinate it to the coming week ;-)

Let me enlist the 5 top things I dread about(not necessarily in order).
- Civics – one of the subjects I have been paranoid about. I sincerely don’t remember how I passed it (much to my amazement in flying colours). Till date, never in my answers, I have written all the five principles of “Panch sheel”. One of them is usually drafted by me ;-)) I vividly remember the way I threw the book after my Tenth exam to commemorate the fact that I have rang the death bell and nailed the coffin for civics in my life ;-)

- English Memory – Oh God, this has been the Herculean task for my mom. She to make me remember the below six lines, broke all my 208 bones.
“Two birds sat on a wall
one named peter, one named paul
Fly away peter
Fly away paul
Come back peter
Come back Paul”

Even now, my sisters and mom share a secret laugh with me when some kid recites it in the T.V

- English Grammar – I really crib to my mom for making me read it. During all those times, when I find that my score is the lowest in the grammar section, I save my face saying that the English mam is not having enough knowledge to appreciate my writing and honing my skills

- Heat / Thermodynamics – Physics is one of my favourite subjects. But, thermodynamics is an exception to it. I have really cursed Carnot for having invented the engine cycle.

- Probability – The chapter in maths that is of maximum aversion in my life. I am so damn poor at permutations and combinations. I really don’t know who or why did they take so much of pains to formulate it, when people like me just remember the keywords or use the cliché (inky – pinky – ponkey ) to decide, whether it is going to be a nCr or nPr, to be used for a particular problem.

Ozone Hole

2005-05-19T16:48:00.000+05:30

Ozone hole
==========
Yesterday, we had a discussion on what an ozone hole is? Why do we always say that there is a hole over Antarctica? Is it because of the poles? If so, why don’t we talk about hole over the arctic pole?

Thanks to google, I found answers to some of them

How is the ozone hole created?

Each spring in the stratosphere over Antarctica (Spring in the southern hemisphere is from September through November.), atmospheric ozone is rapidly destroyed by chemical processes.

As winter arrives, a vortex of winds develops around the pole and isolates the polar stratosphere. When temperatures drop below -78°C (-109°F), thin clouds form of ice, nitric acid, and sulphuric acid mixtures. Chemical reactions on the surfaces of ice crystals in the clouds release active forms of CFCs. Ozone depletion begins, and the ozone “hole” appears.

Over the course of two to three months, approximately 50% of the total column amount of ozone in the atmosphere disappears. At some levels, the losses approach 90%. This has come to be called the Antarctic ozone hole.

In spring, temperatures begin to rise, the ice evaporates, and the ozone layer starts to recover.

British scientists Joesph Farman, Brian Gardiner, and Jonathan Shanklin of the British Antarctic Survey discovered the Antarctic ozone hole in 1985.

The ozone "hole" is really a reduction in concentrations of ozone high above the earth in the stratosphere. The ozone hole is defined geographically as the area wherein the total ozone amount is less than 220 Dobson Units. The ozone hole has steadily grown in size (up to 27 million sq. km.) and length of existence (from August through early December) over the past two decades.

Why is it concentrated over Antarctica?

As mid-May brings on the onset of winter, the Antarctic stratosphere cools and descends closer to the surface. The Coriolis effect (caused by the earths rotation) sets up a strong westerly circulation around the south pole, forming an oblong vortex which varies in size from year to year.

As temperatures in the lower stratosphere cools below -80'C, Polar Stratospheric Clouds (PSC's) start to form.

In the area over Antarctica, there are stratospheric cloud ice particles that are not present at warmer latitudes. Reactions occur on the surface of the ice particles that accelerate the ozone destruction caused by stratospheric chlorine. Polar regions get a much larger variation in sunlight than anywhere else, and during the 3 months of winter spend most of time in the dark without solar radiation. Temperatures hover around or below -80'C for much of the winter and the extremely low antarctic temperatures cause cloud formation in the relatively ''dry''stratosphere. These Polar Stratospheric Clouds (PSC's) are composed of ice crystals that provide the surface for a multitude of reactions, many of which speed the degredation of ozone molecules. This phenomenon has caused documented decreases in ozone concentrations over Antarctica.

In fact, ozone levels drop so low in spring in the Southern Hemisphere that scientists have observed what they call a "hole" in the ozone layer. The ozone destruction process requires conditions cold enough for stratospheric clouds to form. Once these stratospheric clouds form the process can take place, even in warmer conditions.

We do have ozone hole over the Arctic pole also.

Is Ozone really caused due to the emission of automobiles like our Chennai's pride MTC buses, Autos.....?

The Ozone Hole often gets confused in the popular press and by the general public with the problem of global warming. Whilst there is a connection because ozone contributes to the greenhouse effect, the Ozone Hole is a separate issue. However it is another stark reminder of the effect of man's activities on the environment.

Over Antarctica (and recently over the Arctic), stratospheric ozone has been depleted over the last 15 years at certain times of the year. This is mainly due to the release of manmade chemicals containing chlorine such as CFC's (ChloroFluoroCarbons), but also compounds containing bromine, other related halogen compounds and also nitrogen oxides (NOx). CFC's are a common industrial product, used in refrigeration systems, air conditioners, aerosols, solvents and in the production of some types of packaging. Nitrogen oxides are a by-product of combustion processes, eg aircraft emissions.

Courtesy

theozonehole

ozone hole

Akshaya Trithi

2005-05-12T17:48:00.000+05:30

Yesterday, May 11th 2005, was the day of "Akshaya Trithiyai"(AT). Buying gold on this particular day would lead to heaps of gold right through the year - so goes a school of thought. In fact, the media managers were quite busy for the last 2 weeks creating a hype targeting the women folks. I felt that the hype was more pronounced this year. I was not aware that such an event existed, say, 5 years back.

If you ask me if I went for this "Gold rush", my response would be in the affirmative. I saw an eagerness in my mom when she asked me, 2 days earlier, what to get on the eve of AT. I got the cue and promptly took her to, you know it, TNagar - the hotspot in Chennai. The crowd was amazing, to say the least. Even the small jewellery shops were not spared. The stores were open as early as 5:30 in the morning and went on till 11pm in the night.

I just talked to one of the employees in one of the stores about his experience that day. It was already late evening. His voice dropped when he mentioned that he was working since morning and could go home only by midnight. He could not move anywhere and was surviving on biscuits/tea alone for the whole day. Poor folks. But then, who cares about them when there is a wave of people thronging the shops. The Gold business succeeded, for they made a sale of, hold your breathe, 100 crores (1 billion) in Chennai city alone on that particular day.

I am really wondering as to why the purchase has to be of gold only. Why not some other consumer durables or any other thing? In fact, the other retailers were also trying to woo people to buy their products on this day. There was this ad, trying vainly, "Why buy gold on Akshaya Trithiyai. Buy a mobile phone, instead'. I am sure he may not be laughing his way to the bank as the jewellers did.

May 12, '05

2005-05-12T15:48:00.000+05:30

I came across the mention of "Everybody loves Raymond" show in Filbert's blog. I really felt bad for having missed to see it during my earlier trips to US. I like Friends, Bill Corsby's show. Man, they create wonders!!

I was contemplating on the reason for the serials in India not unto standards or rather, as a matter of fact much below standards. Why do the serial makers harp on the same formula? They have the same run of the mill stories - the heroine to be soft-spoken and another female in a negative role, who decks up in jewels, jeopardize things for the heroine especially because she lost in the game of love or else it is the fight of two women for the same man or a mother in law abusing her daughter in law. God, I need a break!!!!

At times, I used to wonder how much revenue do these ladies generate for the glycerin factories. How many times the dialogue writer scripts the same words? I guess he may not recheck his wordings. The negative energy associated with these words is so high and is bound to affect the writer himself!!!

The twist and the turns in the plot are based on the availability of the artistes. There are births and rebirths also. More than it, it is a major achievement if the same artistes partake from the start till the end of mega serials, if at all it has any.

One of the major things that capture the attention in these serial especially the Hindi ones, is the costume. I really wish the directors spent more or rather at least an equal time on the script than the costume!!

I don’t remember having seen any good comedy serials for a while. The current ones are really pathetic. To say the truth, pathetic is also euphemistic. Just as in silver screen, where the Tamil movie thrillers have its theme adapted or rather fine-tuned from a Hollywood movies, these small screen serials too ape the successful English comedies and fail miserably. Why don’t they understand that the viewers expect originality?

May 09, '05

2005-05-09T15:48:00.000+05:30

Folks like me who are the core fanatics of Chennai, would fail miserably in one topic i.e. the Chennai climate, which of late had been the "hot, hotter and hottest". The Agni nakshathiram had begun on May 4th with a squall and light drizzle preceding it. This gave faint hope of having a cooler summer and as well as raising our collar against all those who complain about the Chennai Summer to say, "After all, our Chennai weather is not so bad. you see"

But the heat on Saturday really shattered all the hopes and little did I realize that all my hope would crash and tumble with a heavier acceleration to the ground. My God, what a summer it is!!! Being in the air-conditioned rooms on most of the weekdays, did not give me the chance to meet the summer.

We had been on a trip to Chengalpattu on Saturday. The sweltering heat of Chennai summer totally diminished the car AC and I really had doubts that I shall have a pronounced dehydration or that I shall see myself melting.

Chennai is one of the most beautiful cities, which can boast of having a beautiful shoreline. It is a place where people can afford to eat a meal from five to five hundred rupees. It is a city, which nurtures many industries. After all the weather had not been so bad some 15 years back. The power cuts during peak summer was always taken with a pinch of salt. Yes, I do accept that during those years, we did have some free space for the wind to move around. But why there are so many changes in the recent years. Is it b'cos of a gross fault in city infrastructure or a dearth of city planning?? Where did we fail?

Is it the recent sprout of multi storeyed buildings or the deeper search for ground water or the sudden explosion of vehicles or the consecutive failure of monsoons the reason for such a climatic change???

All I can say to end this blog is “May God save our singara Chennai!!!!”

05/05/05

2005-05-05T13:42:00.000+05:30

Last week was not just about humour. There was melodrama too. While I am very much against all these melodrama in soap operas, I, surprisingly, enjoyed this one.

It is about the movie Kannadi Pookkal. One of the heartening fact in this movie is that we got to see a kid who just behaved like a kid, in the truest sense of the word. He was humourous, lively, playful, mischievous, insecure, fearful, loving and what not. Kudos to the director for having created a child character sans the adult-like smartness.

Parthiban and Kaveri performed just enough for their subdued role. But the clear winner in this movie is Master Ashwin. What a find! The entire movie revolved around him and he carried it with elan on his slender shoulders. He deserves appreciation and award, if only the awards were to go to the deserving ones.

Special mention has to be made about the scene where he does something out of his insecurity and it backfires. The way he displayed fear in his eyes is a testimony to his histrionic skills. Another interesting scene was where he pleads guilty for his folly and explains the reason behind his action. His dialogue delivery was exceptional, mallu accent notwithstanding. I was personally moved with this particular scene and had I been in Parthiban's position, I would have rushed to carry him on my shoulders to comfort him.

The movie comes with its own downsides. It was surprising to see nil-reaction from Parthiban when his son is being ill-treated by his father-in-law in front of his eyes. The second half looked like a bit stretching. Maybe, we could hardly wait to know the ending. A romantic song between Parthiban and Kaveri looked like a dampener, when the director had his audience enthralled with the plot. Thank God, he did not try to cater to the masses by bringing in Mumtaz or the likes for a song.

Final verdict: An interesting movie, especially for those who wish to sire more than one child.

May 04 '05

2005-05-04T17:16:00.000+05:30

I happened to get the drama tickets of S.Ve Shekar's drama, "Vaal payyan" at Narada Gana sabha. This is the second time, I am attending such stage plays. Though, I have seen the recorded version of this drama and listened it umpteen times on the tape, still seeing it live had only added to the enjoyment.

One of the things that is to be noted, is the turn out of audience. It was not sparse but at the same time, it cannot be graded as a better one too. When people pay more attention to all soaps, which uses the maximum amount of glycerin, it is really disheartening to note the poor turn out for the dramas. Infact, S.Ve Shekar thanked the audience to have spared some time for such stage plays, inspite of the dominance of such monotonous melancholic daily soaps.

This blog is not to review the play but rather delve into something else viz. the repeated mention of lack of women artistes in such stage plays. I know it is a harsh truth that women don’t pursue their interests inspite of the talent. Infact, when Srini asked me jovially, if I would be interested in it, it made me think why did I not pursue it or rather why my sis who has ensured that she is on the stage for all the school plays, did not make it big… I don’t know why I curtailed all my extra curricular activities in college inspite of the avenues available to vent out the talent. I am sure it is absolutely not stage fear. I don’t know if the cliched – “a male dominated society” holds good here or is it the mind set to pursue success in the “road most traveled by the middle class”???

May 03 '05

2005-05-03T15:21:00.000+05:30

No specific reasons to start this blog, I was trying to control my midday siesta at office and was browsing thru' the blogs of my friends. This led to the idea of me starting my own blogs and put all my thoughts (however silly it is) at one place.

Usually the first of any thing in life is very interesting.....be it the first day to school or the first day at office, we usually have lot to say or rather share with our parents,siblings and friends. I dont know if I shall be sharing the first blog also in a similar fashion.

As per the norms of blog, one should not think too much on what to write but rather blog whatever that comes to the mind. The idea that is currently racing in my mind is.....why dont they abolish the idea of writing documents in software industry. One of the worst things....I have faced is to write a document on what I have done. But, worse than it, is to write the appraisal form in which we need to think on the tasks, which we had done some six months ago. I find it difficult to remember on what I have done 6 days or even 6 hours back :-((

Coming back to the subject of documentation, One of the jobs I always wish to delegate is documentation especially those related to processes.....what a silly way to spend our time when we have the other golden opportunity of keeping our eyes closed and claiming that we are ruminating on the nuances of the fix for the recently discovered bug.......

Well, writing this blog also robs me the pleasure of meditating the intricacies of the bug ;-).....let me stop my blog here and enjoy the other pleasure......