An Evil Eye View

Interview Jinx

2009-04-22T22:11:00.003+05:30

After coming back home from an interview, my wife asked 'interview poneengaley enaachu? moonjiya ipdi thonga potuttu vareeenga'?

"mudhalla oru 3 peru thaan'ma irundhaanga....avangalaala evlo kelvi ketka mudiyumo, avlo kettaanga...Sari mudinju veetukku anuppuvaanga'nu paarthaa, interview nadandhturukum podhey oruthan, innoruthanukku phone'a pottu 'free irundhaa vaada..inga oruthan interview'ku chikki irukkaan'u sonnaan".....avan chonnaan.."naan busy'a irukken da, nee venaa inga anuppi vidu naan paarthukrenu sonnaan..." inga mudinja udaney, anga adutha round'ku anupichu vittanga..., anga oru 4 paer'maa moochu thinara thinara kelvi kettaanga... naanum kettutu pongadaanu vitutten..."

"neenga onuthukkum answer panliyaa"

"illa'ma...Kelvi ketutrukkom podhey oruthan sonnaan..'ivan evlo kelvi kettaalum padhil solraan...ivan romba arivaali'nu ninappu pola'....naanum kelvikku padhil theriyara maadhiriye evlo neram thaan nadikradhu"

Oh No! Not again

2007-06-19T07:40:00.000+05:30

'Well begun is half done'
How True, Its never well done
I started well,
Firm on my feet
Surfing with ease
I thought, A gud ending in prospect
A moment of indecision Cost me dear.
Oh No! I had done that before
It was my core
Now its no more
Mind said 'No', but Heart superceded
There went everything awry
It peeled my confidence
Throwing me out of my sense
Putting me in defense
And Finally sealed my end.

Then came the post mortem
And the blame game
No one talks about success
When you fail badly
Even trivia is deadly
Heard some utter
'Conditions were inclement'
''You were unlucky"
'You should have been more tough'
Can somebody just stop them?
Added up the frustration
Defeat is agonising
My heart is still paining
How i could have avoided?
And finally 'Why me'?
Oh No! Not again

Came home with a dull face,
With no one to embrace
Mouthed few filthy sounds
Got Tired and lied on the ground
Dont know when i slept
Waking up i said
"Its just another defeat"
'Bitter ones are yet to come''
"You are born like that''
Learn from mistakes''
I dont know whether it makes me wise
But, atleast helps in giving advice :)

Ennai oruvan paada sonnaan

2007-04-07T08:04:00.001+05:30

Ram is on the way to his home in his new Toyota Avalon car. He picks up Jags on the way
Jags: Dei ipod thaan connect pannirukka’la. Paatu edhaachum poden.
Ram doesn’t pay heed. His eyes are on Aishwarya(Ash) who is waiting for the signal for pedestrians to cross to the other end. Ram stops his vehicle near her.
Ram: Erikkonga! I will drop at your house.
Ash: Oh! Thanks, Pakkathula thaaney irukku (Vazhinjundey she gets in the back seat)
Ram now turns on the I-Pod. “Kadhal Vandhaal solli anuppu” from “Iyarkai beeps out from the speaker.
Ram: Ayyo, super paattu’nga. Vairamuthu urugi urugi ezhudirupaar. Epdi thaan ipdi ellaam yosikraaro theriyala. Its one of his best songs’nga. Vairamuthu’voda karpanaya adichuka mudiyaadhu. Adhuvum “Irupadhu kodi nilavugal koodi penmai aanadho” paatula “maanida piravi ennadi madhippu, un kaal viral nagamaai pirappadhey sirappu’nu sollirupaar paarunga, angeyae namma vizhundharlaam. Neenga (to Ash) vairamuthu songs ketpeeengala?
Jags is now busy selecting the next song, he thinks “Ini nammal’ta enga pesa poraan?”
Ash: Naan avalavaa analyse panradhu kidayaadhu? Aana chila songs romba manasa padhichirukku. Adhuvum “Ilaya Nila pozhigiradhu”, “Pani vizhum malarvanam”, “Ooh La la la”, “ Margazhi poovey” adhey maadhiri iyarkaya rasichu ezhudina paatum irukku.
After that Ram talks about “thanjavooru mannu eduthu” song, taking Ash to the tortures of analysing the entire lyrics of each of the lines, epdi and edhukku andha oora choose pannaar’nu.
Jags who was busy juggling with the ipod for the song of his choice finally has some smile on his face. “Edhukku pondaatti, enna suthi vappaati” is now playing from the IPOD
Jags: “Dei, indha paatu yaaru da ezhudinadhu?”
P.S.: Just oru karpanai thaan, Am a big fan of vairamuthu :)

Kelvikku enna badhil?

2007-02-26T11:19:00.000+05:30

For the first time I have been tagged, Thanks to Maruthu. So Here goes the first of mine

Favorite Color
Black and Blue

Favorite Food
Definitely not the ones cooked by me :) Mathapadi Thayir Saadham is my all time favorite

Favorite Song
‘Ondraa, rendaaa’….Sorry andha paatta mean pannala…Latest’a rumba hum panradhu ‘Ennara thimaala ennavo rimaala, ennara thimaala ennavo theemaala’ hope u got this song :)

Favorite Movies
I like to watch my favorite movies umpteen number of times. So recent’a apdi paarthadhu Tamil’la Anbe Sivam and English’la The Shawshank Redemption

Favorite Sport
Goli, Gilli mudhal Billiards, Pool varai anaithum theriyum… Aanal ondrum urupadiyaa vilaiyada theriyaadhu :) But anytime I can see a football match

Favorite Season
“Padukkai Arayiley Vasantham, Kuliyal Arayiley winter season, Veliyae jolly’a walk pannum podhu megam moodi jillunu thendral vandhu thodaara maadhiri oru pleasant climate” apdinu time’ku ethaa maadhiri, naan ninaikum bodhu season maaranum

Favorite Day
Friday, the reason is obvious

Favorite Ice Cream Flavor
Karumbu thinna kooli maadhiri, ice cream saapda flavor vendumo

Favorite time
When things go good, but worst time vandhu Monday morning

8 Currents

Current Mood
Very somber coz naalaikku kaalaila 6.30’ku off’la irukkanum

Current Taste
Pakkathu veetu Paasakaara makkal kodutha Carrot Halwa

Current Clothes
Ippo Naan dress podaattiyum ungalukku therinjidavaa pogudhu

Current Desktop
Sorry this is laptop and that too my roomie’s :)

Current Time
Nallaa thookkam varra time

Current Thoughts
I have to get up early tomorrow, which is gonna be a very difficult job

6 First

First Best Friend
My brother

First Screen Name
Voldemort, vera enna

First Album
3 maasa kozhandhayaa irundhappo enga amma’voda eduthadhu

First Pet
I like pets at zoo

First Piercing
Question should be very specific

6 Lasts
Last Cigarette
I have put that in ashtray

Last Drink
Innikku madhiyam saapta Semiyaa paayasam

Last Car Ride
Met with an accident, so stopped after that

Last Movie Seen
Goal

Last Phone Call
Sweet home

Last Book Read
False Impression

Have you ever broken the law?
Sorry naan edhaachum solla, Captain, Anniyan ellaarum kochikittaa

Have you ever been arrested?
By whom?

Have you ever Lied?
Idhuvarai naan sonnaadhellaam poi. Poyyai thavira veradhuvum illai.. Even this :)

Have you ever kissed someone you didn’t know?
Enakkum adhu nadakkanum’nu rumba aasa thaan

Who is your latest crush?
Sruthi, who stays in the other room of my house. I am trying my level best to impress her and make her laugh. She budges only few times. Yenna eppovumae daddy, daddy’nu appa madiyiliyae virala sappittu okkaarndhu irukka

5 Things

Things you are wearing
Tshirt, Tracks and Mogathula oru chinna poi sogam

Things you have done today
Rest eduthu, rest eduthu tired aagi rest eduthen

Things you can hear right now
TV’la odittrukkira Nat-Geo Commentary

Things you can’t live without
Oxygen, Water and Food

Things you do when you are bored
Yaar aayachum call panni mokka podaradhu

Places You have been Today
Laundry, Hospital and Music Practice

3 People You can tell anything to
My Brother, Cousin and my best friend

2 Choices
Black/White
Computer, choices’a kadasittu nalla color choices kondu vaa…

Hot/Cold
Sorry the question should have been Raw/Mixing and then match the above two with this

1 Thing you want to do before you die
I want people say with a sigh of relief and of course with a smile “Appaa saniyan ozhinjudhudaa saamy”

I hereby tag Saravanan and Mox aka Vijay

Onsite'ku poga poraan ketukko

2007-02-15T23:51:00.000+05:30

Ram crawled out of the call taxi at around 9’o clock in the evening in front of a swarm of crowd buzzing in front of the anna international airport in Chennai waiting to see their loved ones off. His bro went to take a trolley for him to carry his two big briefcases and a cabin baggage. Few of his close pals were already there and commenting like ‘Machi! Onsite poi seekram map poda aarambichudu. Endha tea kada nallaa irukkum, etc and idhara info’laam naan anga vandhu unkitta ketukkaraen. Aana unakku thaan onnum theriyaadhey. Unna epdi onsite anupraanga? Unna vachu clients enna paadu pada porangalo theriyala?’ He was just smiling but he was still searching for his roomie Jags who said he will be coming for his send off. He didn’t pick up his call too.

Check in time started at 9.30 for the Frankfurt bound Lufthansa flight. Seeing the rush, Ram slowly took his trolley inside waving byes to all his friends. His parents and bro accompanied him inside.

As he was about to get in, the ‘Kaakka Kaakka’ ring tone beeped out from his mobile. Yes it was Jags. Ram picked up the call and said ‘Kadasila ennayum ipdi oru normal software engineer aakki onsite’ku anupitaangaley da. Onna parka mudiyaama poidumo’nu ninachen. Nalla velai vandhutta adhukulla?’

‘Ennadhu onsite’ku poriyaa? Dei over’a unnoda friends send off’ku pogaadhannu sonaa kettiyaa nee…mudhalla vandhu kadhava thora da…nethu evan onsite ponaan? Kaalaila naan varuvenu sonnenla…marandhu pocha? Idhula mudhalvan dialogue vera?’

Way to Go

2007-01-22T02:15:00.000+05:30

This is what a mad Gunners fan would love. Two out of two in league matches against ManU. If I remember right it happened last time in 2002 when they had remained unbeaten in all their away encounters and went on to clinch the title in Old Trafford. Sad that I couldn’t see the match. But after seeing a beautiful Mani film and doing late night surfing to notice that your favorite team has come from behind to win their match against their bitter archrivals, what better feel good factor and a better start one could ask for the week.

May he haunt you more

2007-01-11T14:05:00.000+05:30

It started with 'The Wall'. Journey went like Milton, an insomniac, appeasement…..and finally back to ‘The Wall’ again. The love he expressed for his dear one had many lapping him, but the number of hits, he got were very few :) Born as a rebel, then turned to a villain and that you can point to his master and his devil-care laziness :). 100 was his target, but didnt even reach 50 . Lazy and a guy gone nuts :) are evident in his forms. His connection to Dravid, who is celebrating his b'day(May he bring more laurels to the nation) did not make him famous. Yet one can ask him 'New Year, New form but will new good posts come? Or will it be Same Shit different days again'. Any way its my baby's first b'day, lets sing (badri like) 'Lordu(plz dont suffix labakdas), Its your b'day, Lordu, its your big day, Lordu, why are you like this? Will you please stop posting' :)

Talking about Men's Rooms

2007-01-08T18:16:00.000+05:30

Yesterday, I was reading an article (a serious one though) regarding this and how it affects the people outside. Today, I got an interesting mail.

I was barely sitting down when I heard a voice from the other stall saying: "Hi, how are you?"

I'm not the type to start a conversation in the men's restroom but I don't know what got into me, so I answered, somewhat embarrassed, "Doin' just fine!"

And the other guy says: "So what are you up to?"
What kind of question is that? At that point, I'm thinking this is too bizarre so I say: "Uhhh, I'm like you, just traveling!"

At this point I am just trying to get out as fast as I can when I hear another question. "Can I come over?"

Ok, this question is just too weird for me but I figured I could just be polite and end the conversation. I tell him, "No........I'm a little busy right now!!!"

Then I hear the guy say nervously...
"Listen, I'll have to call you back. There's an idiot in the other stall who keeps answering all my questions!!!"

It reminded me of that beautiful ad that ends with “One Black Coffee Please” ;) Its quite irritating, but we have to live with it. We cant eliminate it, but we have to try our level best to keep it at a low voice in a private place.

Happy New Year

2007-01-03T14:36:00.002+05:30

I can only wish these to happen

'VeLLai PookaL ulagam engum malarhavae
vidiyum Bhoomi amaidhikaaga vidihavae
manmel manjal velichcham vizhuhavae
malarae sombal muRiththu ezhuhavae
kuzhanthai vizhikattumae
Thaayin katha kathappil
ulagam vidiyattumae
pillayin sirumuga sirippil'

Wishing every one (though belated) a happy and a prosperous new year and success in all your endeavors :)

V for Victory

2006-12-24T00:45:00.000+05:30

I have long admired them and wanted to write about them. I had even made a promise to myself. Its high time I fulfill it. You can also call it as ‘A Tale of two V’s’. Here it goes.

Robert (or was it John)Kennedy was born in a small village in southern tamilnadu. His career for quite a long long time had always been devoid of that lady luck. Even the best of efforts from him will wither away because the team effort wouldn’t be just there to support him. It was a decade long fight to achieve that elusive success. He even tried mouthing out different languages though as a dummy or a mere assistant and he was making a living only through it since he saw some success in it. Finally after all the miseries, one fine day in December 1999, after umpteen number of tries, success finally smiled on him and there was no looking back from that point. His failures have taught him to be humble and down-to-earth and honed his skills to such an extent that, he is well on the lines to become the greatest of his trade. He never wanted to be the numero uno, he just wanted to be called a good professional and a good human by his peers as well as the people. Had it not been for his self-belief, zest and hardwork and most of all a mild hope that he will make it one day, he would never have been in the position he is now. A big salute to you Vikram, you deserve what you are today. Thandhuvitten ennai, Meera, Housefull, Ullaasam etc are mere blotches in your glorious career now and from the bottom of my heart am wishing you to deliver much more character oriented roles like Sethu (oh!!! what a wait man, you are really very patient) and Pithamagan with aplomb and bring many more laurels to the tamil tinsel world.

His story is quite similar. Though he started his career almost in the same period as A.R. Rehman (they both attended the same music classes too), recognition in industry came much much later. He had given those memorable melodies like ‘malarae mounama, udayaadha vennila, oru sedhi paarthaal, nee kaatru’ etc. Yet most of his films in the 90’s bombed and it seemed his career was on the slump. Yet he kept himself busy like Vikram by concentrating on the Malayalam film industry and taking home few state awards. In Tamil it was always a roller coaster ride, with his films always had good musical composition in it. Irrespective of all these facts, his perseverance and consistent good work paid off. It was a mere coincidence that it happened to be a Vikram film along with the comeback director Dharani and Dhil proved to be a turning point. Though he was versatile in his composition from beat numbers to rock and folk, I like him for his melodies. Though am a great fan of ARR, I believed this guy deserved an almost similar appraisal. His Run number ‘Poi Solla koodadhu kaadhali’ is a master piece and ‘kaadhal vandhaal solli anuppu’ is an awesome rendition. The latter’s music was composed after the lyrics had been written by vairamuthu. He still composes music for some of his songs the same way. It shows the talent in him. For him life is like music and he breathes it in his every aspect of life. May he treat us long by composing many more hummable songs.

Its ironical that inherent talent alone never pays off in a field one want to excel. Nothing succeeds like success. Diligence, Perseverance and most of all Patience is a requisite for success. These men were written off by many during those early days. Yet they had their hopes firm. Though fame came very late, they never lost it. Their hopes thrived, it made them stronger, smarter and brighter and most of all made them what they are today with humility and affability. Whenever I felt like lost and that I haven’t got my dues, I look at them. They are living role models and a source of inspiration. May they inspire the lives of fellow country men and give something back to the nation.

The race is on

2006-12-14T15:19:00.000+05:30

Its official now. The Asian Mozart's 3 songs has made into the nominations for the Best Original Song category in the Oscars. He is the only artist to have three nominations for the same category (Khalbali and Lukka Chuppi from Rang De basanti and Chan Chan from Water). A phenomenal achievement from the soft spoken Chennai Lad whom we all adore. Hope he makes it into the final list and brings the oscar back to India. Congrats ARR, you are simply great

Oracle Exam

2006-12-08T12:33:00.000+05:30

Jags seems worried. He’s carrying a big Oracle10G reference book.
Ram: Whats the matter daa? U look so upset?
Jags: Tomorrow there’s an Oracle exam within our project da. Haven’t prepared anything. Donno what I gonna do?
Ram: I’ll give u a suggestion da. You ask the person who’s setting the paper juz two questions in Oracle. If he’s able to find an answer for both, ask him to fail you, otherwise ask him to let you off the hook.
Jags: I didn’t know you were an Oracle Expert? Tell me the questions da?
Ram: Ask him 1. Oracle’la Sun TV theriyuma? He may juz blabber something n make you convince. But am sure he can’t answer this tufie da 2. Oracle nalla database’a illa ketta database’a?

No more the elixir

2006-12-07T10:30:00.000+05:30

Lord Krishna had mud in his childhood and when he was caught red handed and asked to open the mouth, he showed the entire world through his mouth. That’s what the myth says. Reality bites. Consume a drop of metro water and try staring (at your own risk) your mouth. You may be surprised to see all the filthiest things in earth residing in some portion of it. So now when you are asked ‘What you had for drink or how was the drink like?’ and if you respond ‘It was an absolute shit’, you can mean it. Atleast that’s what this says.

Please don't do this

2006-11-29T19:31:00.000+05:30

When the gal whom a guy thinks he loves, drops a bomb by saying
‘I am getting/got betrothed’
Poor guy…Shell shocked .…Million transformers must have burst in his tiny heart, he still sports a smile n tries to show that he’s at ease by dropping a line of humor.
‘Cool!!! Who is that un(?)lucky guy???’. What else can he do?
His worst nightmare is the thing that happens most often. She wouldn’t have given him the slightest of hunch that she has a boy friend and yet one dinner she invites him and gives an intro, ‘This is my fiancee…’

The Real 'Winner'

2006-11-25T18:24:00.000+05:30

Indians are anguished over the humiliating loss the team faced at the hands of the South Africans....

South Africans might have have asked 'Evlo easy'aa enga team win pannirukke... ungalukku vetkamaa illiyaa?'

If Vadivel had been the captain, 'ennavo oru match win pannanadhukku perusaa win panninaa maadhiri peethikkireenga...ulagathula enga venaalum kettu paarunga...kevalamaa thokkaadha idamum kidayaadhu...thothaa azharadhum kidayaadhu.....oru match win panni pesa vandhuttaanga..(turns over to someone else)... annen neenga enga team'oda match aadi jaikkanum sonneengalae, varavey illa????'

Crime and Punishment

2006-11-22T13:21:00.000+05:30

Scene 1: A bus commuter throwing a banana peel juz like that through the door right in middle of the CMBT main road. It fell right in front of a bike waala who just gave an angry stare and sped off for his work.

Scene 2: A plain looking middle class guy taking a leak in what is supposed to be a dais for the ‘nadaraajas’.

A natural instinct or a typical response to a nature’s call. Will they keep quiet if some one does the same in their house or in front of it? They would have strangled those persons and mouthed out some profanities.

How do we stop this? A country (superbly pointed out by Vivek in ‘Thiruttu Payale’) where ‘Kissing in Public’ is an act of shame but not ‘Pissing’.

Because of a few miscreants the whole nation’s name is defamed. How do we stop this? Normally on the walls u see ‘Asutham Seyyaadheer. Meerinaal Thandikka Paduveergal’, i.e. ‘Please don’t defile this place. You will be punished otherwise’. But the folks are pretty sure that punishments will never happen. They continue as if they are not accountable. Instead the warning should be something like this ‘Meerinaal thundikkapaduveergal’, ‘If you violate it, yours’ will be cut off’. It might create fear in the hearts and may atleast stop to an extent.

If the problem of pissing and throwing dust in the open persists, my humble request is to employ a certain force (by picking among the unemployed youth and provide them a salaried payment) for enacting these punishments. They can start by imposing huge fines (Rs 500 for a start) and leave with a warning. If they don’t pay heed to it, have a go at the first suggestion.

Unless punishments get severe, nothing’s gonna stop.

Belling the CAT

2006-11-20T12:00:00.000+05:30

Jags: How was the CAT da?
Ram: Yeah, finally the saga is over. A bit relieved now. Expecting 3 calls atleast…
Jags: Cool . How r u so sure tht u will get 3 calls?
Ram: I evaluated my paper da.
Jags: From which institutes are u expecting calls from?
Ram: IMS, Time and Career Launcher asking me to join them again for CAT preparation.

PM Gounder

2006-10-12T19:41:00.000+05:30

Goundamani:Romba naalaikku appuram, indha Cobol Analysis Tool'a paarkarathukaaga oru ilicha vaaya client vandhirukkaan. Adhaan tool'a konjam dhoosu thattittu irukken. Avanukku idha market pannittom'naa konjamaachum revenuews varum
Senthil: Modhalla en sandhegatha theethu vainga'nnen?
Goundamani:Ennada?
Senthil: Annen, Indha Cobol Analysis Tool epdi nay work pannum?
Goundamani :Dei, Ippo thaanda life’la uruppadiya oru kelvi kettirukka? Perikkaa mandayaa! Initialaa odudhey idhukku per thaan pre processor, idhu program la irukkara ellaa statement’ayum comment pannirum. Adhukappuram main tool run aagum, yenna appa comment pannaa tool run panradhu easy. Apram adhu program la irukkara ellaa information’ayum kadaasi thuppirum
Senthil: Indha chinna load module’la epdi’nney entire cobol program analyse aagum?

(apdinu solli executable’a delete pannidraan)
(Gounder gives an angry look)
(Gounder gets a fone call from the client)

Client: Hello Inga yaaro Cobol Analysis Tool develop panradhaa sonnaangalae? Yaaru adhu?
(Gounder again stares at Senthil. He runs away)
Goundamani:Yaenga, Ungallukku Cobol Analysis Tool’ey thaan venumaa. Java Analysis tool, IDMS extraction tool ellaam use panna maatteengalaa?????

K.D. Review

2006-09-25T18:34:00.000+05:30

2006 is a landmark year for Tamil Cinema. After ‘Aadhi’ and ‘Tirupathi’ it’s the turn of ‘K.D.’ to rock the audience and make them scream ‘Will movies like these be made again?’ My sincere request to producer A.M. Rathnam for contemplating on a name change. I bet on an addition of an extra ‘a’ to ‘K’ and ‘i’ to ‘D’(KaDi)which would enhance the title, give it a subtle finish and help the normal movie goer expect the outcome.

Movie is rather an exhilarating ride. It keeps the audience absorbed. Indeed, for the entire duration, they can keep on guessing for the logic in screen play, coherence of events and something natural to come out from the artists, sans Atul Kulkarni. Every one would like to emote from their heart, but the lead actor here emotes from his nose and his smile can make even Maddy envy. He is a super hero indeed, otherwise who can stand up and fight your opponent within minutes of your leg getting broken. His female counterparts are really drop dead gorgeous gals (the only reason why I went for the movie). Indian cricket team has a lot to learn from Tamanna. She’s so consistent in her expressions that its quite difficult to find out what state she is in really. The rest, (except for two foot tapping numbers by Yuvan and negligible hilarious scenes), lesser said, the better.

So whats happening to the Tamil Tinsel world? Where is the think tank behind such movies? Think the directors view would have been like this, ‘See, we are a bit hasty in our decisions and actions. We don’t have patience. When you get acquainted with these kinda movies it develops your patience and endurance. Life itself is a difficult ride. You need loads of those good qualities plus hard work to come up. These movies are just preparatory events to make you work harder and get something even out of a mole. It bodes well for our future. This movie was made bearing this in mind. I hope more such moves come and help audience cope up with everything they face in their lives.’

I have never been a reviewer/critic coz I never wanted to attack the sentiments of a film maker. But this was something a very difficult pill to swallow and couldn’t restrain from writing about it.

If you wanna c a really hot Tamanna ( I still remember the forwards I got an year back with she looking damn cute) and an equally exotic Ileana, go for the movie, otherwise get some good sleep and save your energy.

Happy Anniversary

2006-09-01T17:34:00.001+05:30

Dear Spouse,
I can still remember that fine Saturday Evening, 7th June 2003, when the Broker said, “Some one has found interest in you, you are now affiliated to this relationship” and gave me a token of acceptance. I preserved it safely, though it took an awfully long time for the relationship to bear fruit and elevate to a marriage(bonded) agreement. Thus on this day two years back, we started our lives together. It was quite enthralling when I signed the relationship concord. I thought this will be an epoch in my career where my aspirations of becoming someone, who has inculcated the necessary to give something back to the world, from which he has taken a lot, will translate to reality. True to my dreams, the honey moon period of two months was indeed exhilarating and exploratory. It showered joy and learning all over my soul and laid emphatically a gorgeous path that any human would love to tread along.

As the saying of Alchemist goes, ‘When you enter into a game, you will have the beginner’s luck that may decoy you and entice you to play more. Later it slowly fades and life throws you into a real strife and struggle for existence’. A Time of joy was followed by a period of nostalgism and a thought lingering month, before you put me in a place where I have been clinging on since. It may not be the best place to put your brain and body to effective use, to mingle and sing jingles, to learn and then earn respect, gratitude, but still I learned to live with it. I can moan and groan about the loopholes and indemnities. You might not have treated me well and it was certainly the worst of places, but, “Ooperwaala” wont always put you in a favorable position. He asks you to learn from what you have got and the people you meet. So here I am, two years after imbibing very little technical and practically nil domain expertise, yet, with a propensity to learn from people and use them to impel myself forward.

I don’t know whether I love you now. But I cant hate you either. You were the one who gave my life some meaning(to be frank some bucks) and may be time has come for me to move forward. I don’t know when I will detach myself from this cord. But on this joyous occasion, its time for me to while away those feelings and just crave for those mad two months, when we had the best part for our relationship. Hope when we separate and meet again in future, we remember those glorious moments. The best way to celebrate our anniversary was by being with you which I have done all day along and might even spend the entire night. Lets join hands and raise a toast for ourselves and to those who made us carry forward this long and making our relationship work for the betterment of both.
Happy Anniversary Dear
Though I don’t know when I gonna say tata to TATA
Your loving associate/friend/hubby

Love Affair

2006-08-21T18:21:00.000+05:30

Ram comes back home dejected.
Jags : Enna aachu daa, yaen sogamaa vara?
Ram : Adha yaen daa ketkara? Inniyoda naanga meet panni 1 month aagudhu. So yedhaachum different aa pannanum nu yosichen.
Jags : Nee thaan film katradhula king aachey, enna panna?
Ram : Usual aa enakku varra gud morning mails’la peru mattum maathittu avalukku naan forward pannuven daa. Innikku different’a irukkatumae nu naaney oru kavidhai ezhudinen daa. Inspiration thaan theme.
Jags : Vow!!!! edhaachum reply vandhirukkumae?
Ram : Hmmm. Vandhuchu da. Usual’aa Good morning mails’ku reply varaadhu. Naanum innikku vandhirukkey nu excited’aa open pannen. ‘Hey! Usual’aa nee romba intelligent’aa panren pervizhi’nu ninaichu, gud morning mails content maathi, Subject la ‘FW’ word irukkunu kooda paarkaama anuppuviyae. Adhuvae nallaa irundhuchu. But innikku onnu anuppinayae, adhu padu kevalamaa irukku. Nee ezhudinadhaa enna?’ apdinu kettirundhaa. Romba insult’aa pochu da
Jags : Ada vidudaa machaan! Kazhudaikku theriyumaa kavidhayoda vaasanai.
Ram : Dei kazhudhai nu sollaadhadaa. Aayiram thaan irundhaalam ava en aalu.
Jags : Unna thiruthavae mudiyaadhu da. Idhukellaam feel pannaadhey. Call panni sorry sollirukka vendiyadhu thaaney.
Ram : Seri Call panni thaan paarkalaam’naa, Call pick up panna maattengaraa daa.
Jags : Freeyaa vidu maamu. Busy’aa irundhiruppaa. All in the game.

Twenty 20

2006-08-18T20:04:00.000+05:30

A Sample survey and how a jaded software employee would have answered it

Tell about yourself
A drop in the ocean

Whats up?
Network is up and running, coz of which am down

Howz work?
Same shit, different days

Howz life?
MOVE “SUCKS” TO OFFICIAL LIFE
SET SOCIAL LIFE TO ZERO

Den?
Cell (Cubilce i mean) no. 53, Just Another Comp, North Ward, Hell

Time spent for physical activities and Games
NULL, sorry NIL

Domain Expertise?
Health Care

Favorite place?
Loo, no one disturbs me there

Hobbies?
Right now, sleep and relaxation

What do you do on weekends?
Go back to the previous answer

Recent movies?
Okkadu in Gemini and Kannathil Muthamittal in Sun

Favorite Drink?
Coffee, it keeps me agile.

Do you have any GF?
Sorry boss, no time, long since I was out for a date

Did you see our PM’s speech on Aug 15th?
Hey, what day is it? Sorry, I thought Independence day comes next Tuesday

Whos gonna triumph in the triangular cricket series?
Who are all in the series?

Strength?
Endurance

Weakness?
Too weak to answer this

Favorite Personality?
Not my PM/GL

Ambition in Life?
Never screw and get screwed

What do you think about this survey?
A fiasco, I donno why I am taking it

Ram, the big loafer

2006-08-14T12:14:00.001+05:30

Ram and Jags (real name Jagan) are roomies. They work for the same corporate, but in different offices. Both Jags and Ram have bikes to commute to office. Jags' office is near their house.

Jags: Enna da, seekram kilambitta, 7.30 thaan aagudhu, nee 9’0 clock kilambradhey adisayam aachey?
Ram: Illa da, innikku 8’o clock oru team meeting irukku. Naanga develop panra applicationoda POC innikku da. So, kandippaa irukkanum. Bye da, evening paarkalaam.

Jags too (finding himself lonely in the house) starts early 2 his office and runs over Ram in the office canteen at around 8.30, with a gal by his side.

Ram: Hi da, this is Dhanya, (Rams turns to Dhanya and says)
Idhu Jags, ennoda room mate
Jags : Hi Dhanya, neenga project mates?
Dhanya : Illa, naan *** projla work panren
Jags : Oh, neengalum ambattur office’aa?
Dhanya : Illa, naan Sholinganallur office. Rams’ proj mate ennoda close friend. Ivan last Friday, enga office ku training vandhirundhaan. Appo meet pannom. Naan usual’aa vadapalani la irundhu thaan bus yeruven. 8.15 bus kaaga wait pannindrundhen. 8’o clock vandhutten. Bus inikku late polirukku. Ram ippo thaan yedhechayaa paarthen. Canteen polaama nu kettaan. yenakkum pasichudhu. Adhaan apdiye saaptu kilambalaam nu vandhen.

(Jags murmurs, Ada paavi, idhukku thaan nee seekram kilambiniyaa. Evlo naal naan thaniya inga saaptirukken. Appo ellaam ' illa da, late aagudhu, office kilambanum, night onnaa saapdalaam nu solliyirukka'.)

Ram: Dei, enna da? 8.15 ku edho team meeting nu sonniyae? POC nu edho pudhu lingola ellaam pesuna? 8.30 kku thaan office vara. Enna aachu?

Are we guiding our intellects in the right direction?

2006-08-12T17:16:00.001+05:30

There are quite a few interpretations of this.

‘The earth, the planets, and the galaxies are moving at a very great velocity, the sound produced is Om, That God, who manifests Himself in the form of light of suns is worthy of bowing/respect. We all, therefore, should meditate upon the light of that deity and also do chanting of Om. May He guide in right direction our intellect’.

"O God, Thou art the giver of life, the remover of pain and sorrow, the bestower of happiness; O Creator of the Universe, may we receive Thy supreme, sin destroying light; may Thou guide our intellect in the right direction."

I was taught this when I was 11 without knowing the true interpretation. I chanted this regularly till the age of 13. Otherwise this happened to be a yearly ritual and continues to make its presence felt even in this modern age though I doubt how many truly understand what it underpins. I got the interpretation from rather an unusual resource(a quiz), and was really wondering whether it adds any value when you don’t know what it is.

Well some might have guessed it out what really am talking about. For the mortals, these signify the all powerful Gayatri Mantra though the meaning looks simple outright. Now since ‘Aavani Avittam/Upakarma’ has passed by mid-week, with the Gayathri Japam following the day later, I felt its time for me to learn what Upakarma implies? Why we have to do it?

First Question that comes to mind is “Why Aavani avittam falls in the month of Aadi?”. As far as the limited knowledge I have it is the day when pournami (full moon day ) and Avittam (Star) comes together on the same day. It should have fallen usually in the month of Aavani, People would have coined the phrase then and in course of time, it would have stayed such (Interpretations welcome). To know more about the other things and why we should perform all these poojas and tharpanams, I googled a bit and found some useful links.

Check Kandamangalam and Ahobilam sites for getting a good overview.

Though am yet to get an exclusive picture :-(

Surprise, Wiki doesn’t have an article on Upakarma. Planning to upload it once I find some meaningful stuff.

Oru Naalil Vaazhkai

2006-08-09T10:59:00.000+05:30

Every time I hear a gud song, I tend to analyse it to the full length. One which caught my eye recently (though rather late in terms of the songs release) was this awesome song from ‘Pudhupettai’. Yuvan has given life to the song by rendering his vivacious voice. A thought provoking one too, when you consider the lyrics. This is my latest crush and it may take some time till another comes n takes my heart. Anyway here goes the lyrics.

Oru Naalil Vaazhkai Ingey
Engum Odi Pogaadhu
Maru naalum vandhu vittaal
Thunbam thaengi thodaraadhu
Eththanai kodi kanneer maNN meedhu vizhundhirukkum
Aththanai kanda pinnum boomi nindru poo pookkum

Oh Oh Oh
Karu vaasal vandha naal thottu
Oh Oh Oh
Siru vaasal thediyae vilayaattu
Oh Oh Oh
KaNN thirandhu paarththaal pala kooththu
Oh Oh Oh
KaNN moodi kondaal

Porkalaththil pirandhu vittom
Vandhavai ponavai varuththam illai
Kaattinilae vaazhgindrom
Mutkalin Valiyondrum maranamillai
Iruttinilae nee nadakkayilae
Unn nizhalum unnai vittum vilagi vidum
Nee mattum thaan indha ulagaththilae
Unakku thunai endru viLangi vidum
Theeyodu pogum varayil
Theeraadhu indha thanimai
Karai varum neram paarthu
Kappalil kaaththiruppom
Eri malai vandhaal kooda
YaeRi nindru por thoduppom

Oh Oh Oh
Andha dheiva ragasiyam purigradhae
Oh Oh Oh
Engu Yedhuvum nilai yillai kalaigiradhey
Oh Oh Oh
Manam vetta veliyilae alaigiradhey
Oh Oh Oh
Andha kadavulai kandaal
Oh Oh Oh

Adhu yenakku idhu unakku
IdhayangaL podum thani kanakku
IvaL enakku AvaL unakku
UdaLgaLum podum pudhir kanakku
Unakkum illai ingu enakkumillai
padaiththavanae inGgu eduththu koLvaan
nallavan yaar ada kettavan yaar
kadaisiyil avanae mudivu seyvaan
pazhi podum ulagam ingae
paliyaana uyirgaL enGgae
ulagaththin oram nindru athanaiyum paarthiruppom
nadappavai naadagam yendru naamum serndhu nadithiruppom

Oh Oh Oh
Pala MugangaL vaendum seri maatti koLvom
Oh Oh Oh
Pala thiruppam theriyum adhil thirumbi koLvom
Oh Oh Oh
Kadhai mudiyum pokkil adhai mudiththu koLvom
Oh Oh Oh
Maru piravi vendumaa

Worst Case Scenarios

2006-08-07T19:33:00.000+05:30

You all know what can happen on Monday mornings, feeling the blues to go to office. But what if you start feeling it a day before when you are at home sleeping without knowing the consequences of the forthcomings the day has to offer. Presenting some of the worst case scenarios that can happen on Sundays.

You are robbed of that extra tinge sleep by a lingering door bell, banging noises of windows, neighbors’ babies howl etc
Musing over it, u take the newspaper in your hand, finding out the list of hot TV shows for the day with a cup of coffee and hardly u would have turned on the TV, u hear that awesome ‘Paartha Mudhal Naaley’ song waving slowly into your ears from your mobile.
Disgustingly the call is from your PM or Lead asking whether you are free for the day and requesting(?) you to stop over the office for an urgent deliverable to be done on the Mondays. Donno whether they have a heart, for u would have worked the entire Saturday and turned back late
Quickly out for a bath, only to find that the watch man had failed to switch on the motor. Throwing some tantrums, u switch on the motor yourself and after munching some junkies, u go for a shower.
Commutation problem starts. The bike key is missing somewhere. After rummaging your way through the entire house and putting it in shambles, u annoyingly lock the house trying to catch an auto only to find that the key is resting safely in the bike.
The bike fail to start and u find strangers (almost every one on the road) peering at your cumbersome position. The reason though may be simple. The key hasn’t been turned to ‘ON’ position or the petrol tank is still closed.
The dilemma doesn’t end there. The bike meanders to a stop as if some one has ordained it to do so. Petrol tank is empty buddy, it says. You forget the fact that you had failed to refuel it, thinking that u can do it aaraam se on Sundays. With no petrol bunks near by, u place the bike in a neighboring apartment and catch yourself an auto to the workstation.
Server is down. Nothing seems to work. Mail box says nothing critical to be delivered. Lead is still missing in office. Pondering over it, u make a call only to receive a retort like ‘Sorry, it seems they have understood the problem. Deadline can be extended’. U feel like hitting him with whatever you get on hand first.
To add flavor to otherwise a forgettable Sunday, u call up some of your best pals and get together at a theater mall. Again misery smiles at your face, u get tickets only for some crap.
After living thro’ 2 and a half hours of an utterly fallacious screenplay and death thro the happenings on the screen, u comeback home and try to find solace by talking to your loved ones. You call your GF/BF. They pile on the agony by not picking your calls.
You analyse the entire day’s happenings and how you have wasted it and say ‘Why me? Why is this happening on Sundays?’ and find that the cost cutting measures of government come into play by switching off the power. You go to terrace with a bedsheet and pillow and find too stressed out that you sleep before your head hits pillow’s soft head.

You go to office on Monday morning with a heavy heart of having wasted your sunday and you need some inspirational mails to carry on your day. Instead you see some blog/forward like this saying “Worst case scenarios and a bunch of utterly useless info” with a crook compiling the list of worsts that can happen on Sundays and asking you to read that shit and comment on it.

Project Pulambals

2006-07-21T13:04:00.000+05:30

Kaataadhey Error Kaataadhey
Compile pannum podhu error kaataadhey
Aagadhey dump aagadhey
Oru sound koduthu dump aagaadhey
Error yellaathaeyum debug panna
Naan onnum pisthu illa
Copy Paste panni thaaney
Odudhu padhi pozhappu inga
(Kaatadhey)

Mainframe DB2 nu naan irundhaen
Yaenda ‘C’ kulla thalli vitta
Onsite Onsite nu naan theda
Offshore la enna adakki putta
Nallaa irundha en life a
Ippadi NULL aaga aakki putta
MBA aaganum endra en kanava
Neekki ipadi Vambula maati vitta
Ennudan irundha oru figura
Vera projla thalli vitta
Enna mattum critical resourcenu
irukka vachu naaradicha
(Kaataadha)

The Missing Key

2006-07-19T10:40:00.000+05:30

A common problem with people is forgetting where you have placed some important things. The foremost of them (atleast among guys) is the missing key. An absent minded guy can keep things in places which they see first or which they feel they can remember ( but most often they forget). But while searching for the missing link, life also throws some chances by helping him find out an item which had been missing for quite some time.

Two days back, I was confronted with a similar situation. I couldn’t find the bike key (my project mate had granted me the bike because of his homeward trip). It was an unfettered single key. I thought I had left it in the back of my jean pocket. But to my surprise I found that it was not there. So I got a bit tense and almost put my entire room in shambles rummaging all the items. I was cursing myself because I had cleaned up the entire room and things were in order before I found out that I had missed the key. Suddenly everything was going out of my mind and I got obsessed only with the missing key. I was getting a bit crazy and furious over that. I thought why its happening on a Monday morning and that too when you are in the rush of things. I had two choices now 1. Either forget the key and get to office, but I was damn sure, till the key is found I cant put my best effort in anything else (or) 2. Take your own time in finding the key and then have a start. I had the volition of taking number two. I thought I would relax a bit and then calmly chronicle the events from the time I had stripped off my jeans. I went to have a shower (for the 2nd time that day in a span of an hour). The moment water touched my scalp all my tempers went off and I started basking in the comfort of water trickling down every where. It had taken some pain off me and now I felt I can sort things out. Something previously amiss was set right last night and as a mark of identity I had placed some cover in it. I hadn’t touched it since this morning and I thought of having a go. Boy!!!!!!!! There she lies beautifully settled in the back side of the cover. Now I remember, I had kept in that cover coz it was easily noticeable. I pumped my fist in air that I had done it.

The episode had taught me an important lesson. When things go hay wire, just relax and try to find out the root cause to solve the problem amicably. Being furious just aggravates the situation and the effort put henceforth will always be a failure.

Was that a red card?

2006-07-11T09:55:00.000+05:30

Here are the few reasons why i feel Zidane shouldnt have been redcarded

1. According to wikipedia article, a headbutt is a strike with the head and effective headbutting involves striking a sensitive area with a less sensitive area like striking the nose of an opponent with a forehead. Also a misplaced headbutt can cause more damage to the attacker. In this case, headbutt involved two sensitive and pretty hard areas (chest with the head), so it could have caused more damage to Zidane rather than Materazzi.

2. In the earlier part of the match, Materazzi was the one who successfully headed the ball into the opposition goal. Zidane’s attempt just minutes before the incident was rather futile, Buffon saved it with aplomb. So he could have asked for an advice or few from the defender. They would have discussed the fine art of heading with Marco teaching a trick or two, after which the Frenchman in an attempt to show his guru, how well he had learnt the art in few seconds, adeptly placed his header in the master’s chest. So punishment should rather go the master coz he should have told his pupil that he should head ‘only’ the ball.

3.Or of late ‘Galactico’ would have got more devout and started following Hindu traditions,(thanks to his huge fan following in India) of getting Ashirvadhs from Gurus (by placing his hand on the head). He was heading fast towards his guru trying to bend down and touch his legs. Unfortunately it turned out too fast that he collided with him.

Italy regains glory

2006-07-10T19:20:00.000+05:30

Ah!!!! Finally the collective effort of a team studded with work men like players had the last laugh over their enemies and thus gaining a revenge for their loss in 98’WC on penalties and a heart breaking defeat in extra time in Euro 2000. A unique record has thus been set, no losses in normal period of play since their defeat to Ireland in the 94 World cup. Italians thoroughly deserved their victory. The French apparently looked better, but it was the rock like defence with a great goal keeper Gianlugi Buffon who was the star performer with some stupendous saves from great strikes that would have clinched the tie for the French. Heart felt Congrats to the Italians and their master tactician Marcelo Lippi. An ignominous exit though for one of the greatest of our generations, Zidane who played his last competitive game. It was a shameful end to a wonderful career. Though several on field incidents marred this WC, it was exciting in its own sense and proved as the greatest show on earth. Football fever still lingers and may take some time to extinguish. Hope it spurs our nation towards producing some great footballers who can carry us to the world cup finals in South Africa.

The French Connection

2006-07-06T11:40:00.000+05:30

A mad football fan like me couldn’t help but notice another hidden statistics like the Italians march into the final every year since 1970 and victory under similar circumstances in 1982. Italians think they will be lucky as they were then. True, French were rather lackluster in their win against Portugal and Italians with a bunch of indefatigable and excellent players start as favorites.

But as a fan of Henry, Zidane and Ribery, why i think France would win this World Cup? Last major tournament win for France was Euro 2000. Yes, Italians were the finalists and were the favorites. They had led till the 2nd half injury time before Wiltord sneaked in a goal, in what was virtually the last kick of the normal period and Trezeguet smashed the winner into the left hand corner of the net in extra time. Guess whom did France beat in the semis? The Golden generation of Portugal and the winner of course was scored in a penalty kick by you-know-who, Zidane again. Italians had beaten the hosts, Dutch in the semis and made it to the finals. Doesn’t it sound similar here? So history is on the French side as well, though on paper and form Italy has better chances to lift the cup.

Hope the better team wins and mark an end to what has been an eventful WC finals.

Azurris are back

2006-07-05T17:18:00.001+05:30

They were condemned as a boring defensive team and of late one in shambles after a match fixing scandal that is still rocking the Serie A(when they last lifted the trophy similar scandal had happened). Even yours truly thought they had perfected the art of defence in such a way that they can sit back on a 1-0 advantage and rely on their great defensive wall. Ouch!!! I was in for a surprise, Vintage Azurris played fascinating football and thoroughly deserved their 2-0 victory against the confident Germans, who in the second period of extra time looked as if they are going to settle for a penalty shoot out (Germans had lost only 1 out of 18 shootouts they were in). But a beautiful ball by Pirlo and a sublime sidefooted goal by Grosso settled it all at the very end and left the Germans in tears in their favorite hunting ground, Westfalenstadion, Dortmund . Moments later Del Piero ( donno why he hasn’t been in the starting 11) completed the spectacle with another neat finish. It was a great footballing match and Germans can take pride in the fact that they didn’t bow out timidly. They too had their chances which lacked that subtle final touch. A young German team bowed out to a team of diligent players like Fabio Cannavaro (who seemed to be everywhere on the pitch) and Gattuso. Now they stand as favorites to lift the cup after 24 years

Mad Press and English men

2006-07-03T17:45:00.000+05:30

Last week Times Reporter Simon Barnes gave 25 reasons why ‘England can win the world cup’.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,28782-2250086,00.html
It seemed then how ambitious and positive were the reporters who were craving for an English victory.

Aroused by the English passion, my friend had called me to watch the match on a giant screen in ‘The GRT Grand’ Hi-Time bar. Though we had a great time watching the match seated in the front row sipping the energy drinks and munching some snacks, i was left pondering, how most of the reporter’s comments had been refuted, water tight defence being a mere blur, by the end of the match.

Quoting some of his reasons with my comments in braces

1. England can get better. Hardly get worse murmur the cynics…… There are some very good players in the side capable of sustained and unified period of excellence. (True face of the English Premier League was exposed, with majority of the talented players being foreign nationals. Opposition they came against till the Q/Fs were rather meek)
2. Beckham is a seriously effective player and a dangerous opponent ( Beckham is an overrated player, very poor in the air, has a inept left foot and a slow mover in the field . Most of the English goals came from set pieces in which he is adept)
3. In Paul Robinson, England have one of those quiet-but-solid goalkeepers, a man not inclined to flap or panic or attempt the outrageous ( Ineffective in Penalty Shootouts, Prior to the WCs it was said that they were practicing hard to come out as trumps. Where as Ricardo went to the right direction when the English took their kicks, Robinson was caught offguard and one of the misses was a mishit while the other bounced off the post)
4. Rooney is not only good in himself, he brings out the best in everyone else as well. Rooney believes — knows — he can beat anybody. (Think he will be the scapegoat a la Beckham in ‘98, Evolution of ‘The Golden boy’ to ‘A Choking Toy’)
5. England have either Brazil or France in the semi-finals. Both sides, despite their excellence, are vulnerable, both have too many ageing players. It’s the right side of the draw to be on. (Far-sightedness at its best. Oops they had forgotten that they had to get past Portugal)

I am an avid follower of EPL and I do like some of the English players, but I had my money on Portugal winning the match because English men never played to their potential in group matches. It also proves time and again how boastful are the English press of their country men’s performance and how they can elevate their players with huge pay checks. Sven Goran Eriksson’s (the highest paid football coach) 6 year stint has come to an end and each time his nemesis has been ‘The Big Phil’. English team can sometimes be termed as ‘overrated under achievers’.

Coming home, I had a smile coz I pocketed some trivial sum on winning the bet.

Panic Ballshaw

2006-06-27T13:11:00.000+05:30

Got inspiration for this spoof from the bloody feud between Portugal and Holland.

(Here the main characters are Panic Ballshaw and Mokka Antony. Ballshaw discovers that there is a bomb trigger in referee’s whistle that will spoil his encounter match against Antony’s men. Ballshaw calls for a confrontation with Antony in the pitch before the match. An imaginary dialogue scene between them)
BS-Ballshaw AT-Antony

AT: Enna Panickar, Epdi irukka, ennavo engooda pesanumnu sonniyaamey?
BS: Panickar Illa da, Ballshaw, Panic Ballshaw
AT: Ha…,Ha….,Ha…, Ballshaw, Panic Ballshaw, enna edhaachum udhavi thevayaa, edhuva irundhaalum kelu. yaennaa nee namma coach kurangusaamyoda sishyanaache?
BS: Dei Unakkum ennakkum thaan match. Idhula nee saavanum illa naan saavanum. Un aalunga kaal udaiyanum, illa en aalunga kaal udaiyanum. Appaavi referee illa. Ippo purinju pochu, nee oru kozhainu. Oru Kozhai kooda vilayaaduradhu indha Ballshawku, Panic Ballshawku pidikkaadhu, Mudichudaren, Enni 90 minutesla unga ellaar kaalayum udaichu, goal adichu matcha mudichudaren.
(Kurangusaamy -KS interludes)
KS: Dei nee yaarutta enna pesittirukkanu theriyudha?
BS: Theriyum sir, Vilayaada theriyaadha oruthan ta rules pesittirukken.
AT: Vidunga Kurangusaamy. Payyan vilayaatukku pudhusu. Adhaan puriyaama pesaraan. Thambi Ballshaw, enna sonna 90 minutes la mudichiduviyaaa? 90 seconds la naan unga ellar kaalayum udaikkiren. Enna puriyalayaa? Konjam ingae paar.
(Antony team la irukkura 4 defenders kaallayum irumbu boots irukku)
BS: Kannaa konjam ingae paar
(BS team la irukkura ella 11 players kaallayum irumbu boots)
BS: Dei, Ballsaw da, Panic Ballshaw da. Naan oru kaal odaichaa 100 kaal udaichaa maadhiri. Onnu therinjukko, aandavan ketta teamukku 11 players kuduppan. Aana ellaar kaalayum udaichuduvaan. Nalla teamukku 1 player kuduthaalum avanga kaala udaikkaama match win panna vappaan.

Oh Dear, I Miss you a lot

2006-06-25T19:04:00.000+05:30

Instant, I see messages popping up on the top left corner
I remember her,
Whenever I hear ‘Suttum Vizhi Chudarae’ song,
I remember her,
The places that I have taken her,
Friends I have made through her,
Confrontations and Heated Exchanges we had,
Makes me feel bad
Yet, when I retrospect it gets nostalgic
Yearning for the time we had spent together
My pals would often ask during those glorious days,
“Why do you still persist with her?”.
“I admire her a lot”
“Shiny moonlit smiling face and a sleek figure she has got”
“Manifesting herself great in Dark Blue/Black attires”
“Dress that she often wears”
She is no more with me and has parted
Hope she is in safe hands of someone devoted
I have got some one else
Coz I felt it was time for a change
But still she was my first love
Lot of things I do owe
Oh Dear 1108,
I gonna miss you a lot

Jogo Bonito

2006-06-09T10:58:00.000+05:30

Fever, fanaticism, frenzy and fury , they all gonna possess the hearts of billions for a month. Cant help but remember the saying ‘When your mind becomes obsessed with something you will find that thing every where’. People on the eastern side are gonna spend many sleepless nights glued to the TV sets watching the ‘beautiful game’ unfold to the highest levels an eye can demand. Hangovers gonna be carried to the offices. Deadlines will be extended. World is gonna change and remain dormant for a month from now as the biggest sporting spectacle kicks off tonite at Munich. It has submerged the other bigger sporting events such as the French Open (Wimbledon will follow suite) , US Open Golf and the fast and the furious world of F1s. Stakes are many for the sporting countries as well as the sponsors and the book makers. Football indeed is a religion with the followers behaving like men possessed with a soul whose only target is to pray for their demi Gods to unleash their magic potentials and bring glory to their country. Hope the game carries on its panache without the external events distracting it and may the best team win. Well as the history goes, only few of the favorites have gone till the wire to make it big, so we may be in for a few surprises as well. New stars like Walcotts, Messis and Rooneys may rise or it may be a fitting finale for the old guards like Zidane, Ronaldo etc. What ever be the case, the world is getting united for watching an extravaganza and may be the sponsors can rope in few celebrities and politicians to make the event big and may be use it as a medium for a noble cause and spreading good will messages and enhancing tasks apart from the sport. Let the world cup may follow its normal course and bring joy to the millions of fans around the world.

Heartful Thanks to SCV for allowing the sports loving Chennaites to watch the matches in the free to air band by entering into an agreement with ESPN and Star. Its indeed a respite for the junta here who were planning to resort to various courses for watching the matches. May the agreement stays on course to let us empathise with the players and the fans and see till the best team take on the winner’s podium on July 9.

A Black Friday

2006-05-13T15:48:00.001+05:30

Two treats were on offer in TV. Thanks to my friends, who had messaged me about the shows on air, I saw both. The first one was ‘Best of Lollu Sabha’ with the spoof king Santhanam and Co mocking some of the best films like ‘Devar magan’ and ‘Mudhalvan’ with delightful ease and creating a laugh riot. Santhanam is badly missed these days because of his foray into films. His witty dialogue delivery and charisma had enthralled us long and it was quite pleasing to see him back, though atleast as memoirs.

The one which touched me most was the second one. It had been a while since I switched onto DD National for a program other than Cricket matches( because of the damn SetTopBox zombie that had been haunting the only cosmopolitan in India). I don’t see a movie for a second time unless it’s an awesome one. The movie which was shown fell into that category. ‘Black’ is one of those films which has to be applauded for tremendous performances of the cast, its offbeat theme, beautiful screenplay, camera work, editing ( almost everything was a perfect fit), all crafted by a wonderful director. It can make one cry and titillate your every sense. Every movie buff would consider this as one of the best movies they would have ever watched in their life time.

But I was pondering and had been doing so since the time when ‘Paheli’ was announced as the Indian nomination for the Oscars. Black was easily the movie of 2005, Paheli was no match for this exceptional movie. Paheli hadn’t been that big a commercial hit either, while Black had won rave reviews and earned huge box office success. Still politics and money influence and play havoc for nominations and awards.

The Film Maker deserved something better. These kinda movies really need to be encouraged and awarded so that the quality of movies coming from a big movie Industry like Bollywood can set new scales and scale new heights.

When I went to bed, I remembered what my friend had said when I enquired about the movie ‘Black’ before seeing it for the first time. His satirical reply was ‘A guy who can make Salman act ( Hum Dil De chuke sanam) should be a gud director man, an exceptional tool from his arsenal and a must see’. Can the National Film board pay heed to his advice and come out with something better when it comes to awards and nominations??????

Run Buddhia Run

2006-05-04T17:09:00.000+05:30

Last week, Plagiarism was the toast, now the focus has shifted to physical endurance and the extremes that human body can plunge into. A four and a half year old boy doing a Forrest Gump like act of running his way into history by becoming the youngest marathon runner in the world on Tuesday. Running 65 Kms from Puri to Bhubaneshwar in 7 hours is no mean feat, that too at an age when one would be busy playing with toys, is a paramount achievement. Hats off Buddhia Singh, may you bring many more laurels to our nation.

After the feat, during an interview he sat quiet naively in the laps of his coach Biranchi Das quite oblivious of his achievement and was staring at the camera rather curiously as if sprinting is quite inherent. His talent was spotted inadvertently by Mr.Das who had punished him (for straying into a sports ground and abusing some person) to run laps. After 5 hours, he found the boy still running.

Looks very much analogous to Gump who ran for "three years, two months, fourteen days, and sixteen hours", crossing coast to coast several times, inspiring many people on the way, but for no reason. Fiction apart, hope he inspires many people to take to something in which their heart is. But he shouldn’t set a wrong precedent and parents should be careful in not dwelling their kids in gruelling Summer Camps to emulate this kid coz not many are born with a strong heart and a body with an exceptional stamina to run for 7 hours continuously. Ramifications and the tolling that body takes, runs deep when an inappropriate person tries to do it. Rather they should take pride in the fact that when a kid coming from the down trodden society (a slum dweller to be precise) can corner glory by exhibiting his reportoire, they should nurture their kids and spot their dormant talent and groom it.

The second breathtaking stunt came from a quite accustomed American illusionist David Blaine. He has started a new “Drowned Alive” challenge by entering an 8ft (2.5m) water-filled spherical tank in New York and he intends to remain submerged for a week. He will have an air line for breathing, liquid food will be provided through a tube and he will sleep for short periods. Fans will be encouraged to touch the sphere and offer words of support. At the end of the seven days, Blaine, 33, will remove his air supply and attempt to hold his breath longer than the world record of 8min 58sec. Some times I feel this guy is one crazy son of a bitch. He has done some heart wrenching acts on TV shows and a famous suspension in a glass box next to the Thames for 44 days three years ago (and had a lot of eggs thrown at him for his trouble).

Lots of emotions and mental influences are involved in all these Dhamaka acts. They require a lot of habituation and hours of physical and mental training. These acts should be taken in a proper notion. Blind adherence just for getting into the limelight can sometimes prove fatal.
To quote Gump again “Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you are going to get”. We all have a destiny, we should know it and course our path, otherwise we have to just float around like a leaf on a breeze accidental like and take things the way they come.

A Puritan's Final

2006-04-29T14:40:00.000+05:30

goppThis season they have been defying all odds and scaling daunting peaks in Europe with a team that has been only a shadow of ‘The Invincibles’(who tore all their Premiership teams apart in a fab season in 2004) in their domestic circuit. Arsene Wenger now aspires an expedition to Alps and a romantic finale in his home town against a team studded with polished gems. Back at Highbury, the soaring expectations of a hard core gunners’ fan may be harder to contain, but Arsene Wenger, with his firm belief of pure, free flowing and attacking football instilled in the young hearts of his players can expect a fairy tale finish if the players live to their dreams which they have accomplished quite astoundingly.

Parallels are being drawn to last year’s Liverpool team, who won an amazing match at Istanbul after being 3-0 down in half time against a talented Milan. Liverpool was fifth in the Premier League last year (same as Arsenal this time), they didn’t bemoan but recuperated remarkably after the loss of Owen (Arsenal-Viera). But the Gallic head has warned that the job isn’t done yet and they start as underdogs.

The football Cognoscenti has corroborated that fact. The Runaway League leaders in Spain has players aplenty marshaled by a pony tailed smiling assassin whom they believe is firmly on the shoes of Pele and Maradona. Splitting defences with his slick passes, unleashing lethal free kicks and dribbling the ball as a magician, Ronaldinho has proven that he is one of a kind in this generation. Though he has ripped apart the opposition and found space even in water tight defences, mention has to be made of the men who finishes his moves, Lionel Messi (being hailed as next Maradona in his country) and the Cameroon Supremo Eto’o. Defence is rock solid with Victor Valdes proving unbeatable. Man to Man in every department Barcelona holds all the aces an exception being Henry around whom the entire team was built, which made Joseph Riquelme of Villareal say ironically that ‘Arsenal is a team with 9 men behind the ball and then they have Henry’.

It’s been long since the world cup, a major trophy has been won by a team with attacking instincts. FC Porto, Greece and to some extent Liverpool were all tactical teams who can sit behind and clear the ball while riding on a goal difference better than its opposition. But to a connoisseur’s delight the two teams assembling on May 17th in Paris puts all those under the mat and plays mellifluent football from the heart. Football is an art that can be orchestrated (and some times choreographed) to such an extent that the rhythm of movement of ball purgates the heart and one can fall in love with the flow more than the finish. We have seen the Brazilians link it to their Samba dance. In Wenger and Rijkaard we have two conductors who hold the batons of the show and the purists’ can only wait for the opera to unfold.

Can the Gallic connection give a dream win for Wenger’s men in Henry’s hometown or yet another feather in the crown of PSG groomed Ronaldinho(another home coming). Its gonna be a situation of who has in it to weather the storm. For us a Puritan’s final is here, let us wade through the two whirlwinds and not miss a moment of sweet thunders hitting us.

It doesn’t get any purer than this.

Singing in the Rain

2006-04-17T19:33:00.000+05:30

Landed in Singara Chennai after an arduous and exhaustive journey of 16 hours from Kanyakumari. I was expecting the three H’s (Heat, Humidity and Hostility) to hit me right from the word go and force me to sit in the comfort of my apartment rather than take a trip to office. But it was not to be.

Heat had some what subsided and Sun was generous enough not to allow me hire an auto to carry my frame to my den (otherwise who wanna bask n take a saunter in the glory of Chennai heat). Got a hunch that ‘its gonna rain today’, so was hurrying up not to miss a single moment of it. But I got hit in my face, the moment I set out my foot. Sun was back to its dazzling best. Was asking the Almighty ‘At this point of the year, with the sun scorching us, wouldn’t You be providing us some relief?’. Found myself getting squeezed like a cheese in a sandwich inside a share auto and ended up in office at around lunch time.

It was routine work with mails and lots of snippets(from colleagues)sneaking in. Thought its gonna be just another day huh……..

Boy!!!! I got answers for my prayers. I could hear the sweet or rather rattling sound of thunder and slowly drizzle started pounding gently on the glass window panes. Looked at my watch. Tea time. Called few of my colleagues to gulp in a few hot cups in a corner shop outside the office while savoring the sweet moment of water drops hitting the ground and relish the fragrance of earth evading out due to rain.

Every one seemed ecstatic at the ambience that the nature was providing and it showed in their behaviour. Some ogling at the commuters, some finding shelter in the nearby shops and even the shopwaalaahs were happy to woo the attention of the people though in an unusual way. Most of them were pleased. Though waterlogging popped out again and the real nature of adhoc roads (put for garnering votes) started to surface, it was a pleasing moment for the rain drought city. Memoirs of Oc 27th (Come on!!! It was once in a blue moon) were put under the stack. More over its mid April and what more a soothing sight can u get.

Sipping the tea, we felt how we could drench ourselves in the shower of nature rather than getting back to work? Was remembering the lines of Vairamuthu,

‘Andha megam surandha paalil yaen nanaya marukkiraai
Nee vaazha vandha vaazhvil oru pagudhi izhakkirai
Nee kangal moodi karayum podhu mannil sorgam yaedhuvaai’

(Don’t Curb ur instincts if u wanna soak urself in the rain coz u r missing a part of life and by the time u realize and repent ur decision you might have reached heaven)

We had a long chat discussing from Sreeshanth’s exploits to Amma’s ventures that v got back to work an hour later ( Whos gonna care as long as the work is getting done by EOD). Some one was telling about a Sidney Sheldon novel in which a guy conjured up a device that could manipulate weather. I was pondering if that can become a reality then the miseries of this world can be just blown off since we are accustomed to the vagaries of it and the crisis that it throws off.

We were having pure fun though the drizzle somewhat abated and by the time we got back to our seats, I could hear the oozing sound of car and auto horns buzzing around my ear signaling that the rain had stopped completely.

O God!!! Please make this low pressure zone stay here and alleviate us with some occasional showers and please don’t allow this to drift to northern parts.

‘Rain, Rain Please don’t go away, We Chennai Johnnies want you to stay’

Appeasement and Identity

2006-02-28T00:14:00.000+05:30

The other day, our office librarian was telling me ‘My mom feels my voice is a bit authoritative and clamorous. She wants it to be a bit yielding and soft coz it may imperil myself getting betrothed and my fiancée may not like it’ I told her ‘This is pretty absurd. I feel your USP is your voice. It has a subtle distinction of bringing the listeners under your control and is quite captivating. Why do you have to tone it down to appease your mom? Every one is unique in their own respect, be yourself and whats inherent in you is gonna stand out even if you try to curb it. You may live without it but it is not where your heart goes.’

I was awe struck coz I said the word ‘appeasement’. Was it me? Do I deserve to say that? When I did introspect, I found that most of us try to appease some one. Considering myself, I was (am) a sports buff. I was pretty decent in chess and badminton. I asked my dad in my school days whether I could become a Vishy or a Prakash one day in future. Dad gave a wry smile, ‘Something is easier said than done. Considering the Indian scenario where only cricket is a religion (those days in India sports meant only cricket except for a few glitches somewhere in other sports), do you think as a middle class family leader, I can afford you to have a very good coach or rope in a sponsor to foster your career.’ He was telling about the intricacies of what I could face and the cons when I don’t succeed. I couldn’t help but accede to his thoughts and atleast appease him by studying well, coz, afterall he is the one who has brought me up and who showers unrequited love on me. Like so many of us I became a needle in the stack, studied well and joined a good college to pursue my engineering studies. But, whenever I grasped a shuttle racket during that period, my heart pounded ‘Have I missed something?’

In my college days, I turned my attention to cricket and football apart from studies. Though I didn’t play these much since I was inept, I had a pretty sound knowledge of these and started watching matches more for fun. I admired the presentators and the host coz they were like me, who never excelled in sport but who still became one of the most talked abouts. They became my heroes and on came my next aspiration, ‘I wanna be a Harsha Bhogle or John Dykes.’ This time I was pretty confident that I could become one coz I had the knowledge and the skill to back. But the aspirations were again put to rest by mom, ‘Now you have reached this level. Papa gonna retire very soon. So you better get placed in a good company and stand on your feet before nurturing your dreams.’ True indeed, my father was in the fag end of his career, more over I had a brother who was still in school. Again for the sake of appeasement, my forte remained dormant and became one of those millions in the software industry. Another chance to be one among the elite got ripped of its buds and I became a drop in the ocean.

My future might glow well here and I would have done justice to my parents dreams of me earning well and getting settled in life. But what I have done is just curbing my instincts to appease them. Now I am earning and have started a living of my own. I still can become the person I want, but what about the persons who don’t get a chance now. They would have yearned for a career in music, films, sports, literature and arts, but would have been doing something just for bucks. So is appeasement right (is it the right word) or is it obligation? It is a pretty tough question to answer. It may be right in one sense since we are obliged to the persons who have lived for us and it is quite natural for anyone to enliven them. It would be a fruitful attempt too when you are trying to woo a person of the other sex and courting their favor requires much more than appeasement alone. Moreover money is always a deciding factor and you have to churn it out in larger numbers to make the ends meet.

On the other hand, dreams of joining the likes of Sachin, Rahul, Sania, Harsha Bhogle, Arundhati Roy, Kiran Bedi, T.N.Seshan etc as cult icons are submerged under this and most of us end up in doing mundane activities. In the end one may ask, ‘Am I selfish, I have taken so much from this world. What I have done to give back my fellow country men or the world rather? How have I stood apart and Why I haven’t been able to translate the lives of many people?’

The ramifications of this question is pretty much deep, so many things to change, education system, policing, bureaucracy, government giving requisite incentives and proper motivations to people dwelling in fields other than academics…….. But the irony is that even in academics pretty scanty is the investment in research and because of the meager amount you are paid not many people set their foot in and we are lagging way behind in invention and innovation.

In a broader perspective, take the case of India-US Nuke deal a raging controversy still discussed in nook and corner of the country. Are we really trying to appease the Big Brother? Are we playing a second fiddle in extending their clout in this world or is it just an entente? Again the answer can be both affirmative and derogatory. Considering Pakistan (one of US’ major nuclear allies), Iran’s position in the Middle East and how its getting nuclear can put India in jeopardy, our dependence on the millions of revenues earned from ITES, competition from China etc…….. we may be right since we have to thrive. Again with our economy booming, we slowly becoming a market hub with spurting advances in retail and telecom and with so many FIIs and FDIs zeroing in here, do we need a person to hold our hand to carry us forward?

The question still looms large and one may ask, ‘Can this (as the famous movie tagline goes) ‘Change the system before it changes you.’ happen? Are we losing our real self and becoming a shadow of numerous others and driven by the persons whom we are bounded to? When does appeasement end and when are we gonna do out of the box thinking?

The Sweetest Thing

2006-02-06T00:40:00.000+05:30

‘Insomniacs don’t sleep because they worry about it and they worry about it because they don’t sleep’

Part I – My New Year Resolution
Dec 31, 2005 Saturday nite., New year was juz abt to blossom. I had sent wishes 2 all my close pals. Standing on my house verandah, i was contemplating a new year resolution, only the second of such a kind i had ever thought about. The 1st was the one which i had taken last year 'Never take a resolution this year', which i had sincerely kept n went on doing all the filthy things in life thro out the year. Being a pragmatist, this time i thought abt some useful thing which i can sincerely pursue. Suddenly an idea cropped up. Of late i hadnt been sleeping well. So the thing went like this 'See to it that i get adequate sleep every nite'. Went 2 beach, took some snaps n came back. Saw the clock, the time was 2 a.m. I had never ever made up my bed neat. I could see the 'jollu' (tamil slang for the saliva spit by us in sleep) beautifully inaned to the pillow cover and trying to change its texture (circular, elliptical.... man its really amazing) n the pictureseque beauty that it collectively formed after each sleep. Only God knows how much shit it contain. I can easily argue that atleast i am liking this sustenance job (for the organisms) more than the one which i do in office.

I have this inherent habit of hearing lullabies before sleep. In college resources were aplenty for that even in day time. Lectures turn into lullabies and as always professor is some one who always talk in some one else’s sleep. The moment you take a book in hand during night you are immediately drawn into utopia. But I see to it that I carry huge books so that I can safely rest my head upon it. Never felt like I was deprived of sleep during those golden days. So thought of reading some thing to make me somnolent and plugged the head fones of my roomies’ mobile onto my ear.

I didn’t know when I had slept, the lights were turned off and the book replaced, when a familiar voice woke me up ‘Come on man! Its gonna be your day, Plz wake up’. All the people were sleeping and still the voice is coming from some where. I realized that its coming from my roomies’ mobile, he had set it as an alarm tone with his own voice recorded. Looked @ my watch. 6.30 a.m. Ouch!!! Another gud nite’s sleep lost. Turned off the alarm. My other room mate was already up awake.

‘When did you sleep?”
“12.30”
“Hey its only 6.30. A normal person needs 7-8 hours sleep. Why are you depriving yourself of it?”
“I am not a normal person” ( He being a “Kaakha Kaakha” fan)
“Hey, you are an exact replica of Surya man” (He was blushing)
After a second, I threw “S.J. Suryah”. There was a sudden change in his facial expresion. Trying to appease him, I changed the topic, “Sorry for that. Lets come to the point. Though its mundane, it’s the sweetest thing that we do. I have seen so many insomniacs who are yearning to get a gud nite’s sleep. The number of hours that we sleep is very less. It’s the only thing that rejuvenates us and increases our productivity and relieves us from the enormous stress that we undergo. ”

“You are only partially right. The quality of sleep also matters a lot. To be short you shouldn’t be doing all the things that you are doing now before sleep”

“Create a sleep conducive environment that is dark quiet and cool, u loafer u sleep with the lights turned on thus disturbing the other guy also. Finish eating atleast two hours before bed time, whereas you hog whenever you get a chance even when its juz before sleep. Sleep on a comfortable mattress. The pillow covers and the bed sheets should be neat and should be basking under sun’s rays to bereave itself of all the microbes that you are providing fodder for. I have never seen you washing or replacing it. Maintain a regular bed and wake time schedule. Though its quite tough for us, we can stick to it if we think we can. Establish a regular relaxing bedtime routine such as reading a book or listening to soothing music, but not in the way you do. Fagging close to bedtime can lead to poor sleep. Gulping caffeine, tea, soft drinks and alcohol keeps you awake and so does munching chocolate. I have seen you doing atleast one of these.”

He then taught me the intricacies of sleep, how dreams are generated, what they signify, Rapid Eye Movement sleep and non REM sleep etc. Apart from insomnia he told me about other sleep disorders like Sleep Apnea (Obstructive Snoring) and Nacrolepsy (excessive day time sleep). Napping is useful, but one should avoid napping since it is an indicator that we are not getting adequate sleep in the nights. He was getting too technical that by the time he completed his lecture I was caught napping. But I could get in heart the point he is trying to underscore. Sleep is important. It’s the sweetest thing that we do daily. I should not rob myself from doing it. I should savor every moment of it and dream like no one has ever done in their life (For only in dreams proposals become easy, Chiding your boss becomes natural, The world becomes fun to live in and almost everything turns exotic and romantic). So I was quite proud of myself in adopting such a wonderful resolution.

Being the first day of the year and that too a Sunday, I had planned to go for a movie with my college mates. Movie, though it was one of the crappiest I have ever seen I had a good time with all the people. After that we had a good chat in one of my friends’ houses and by the time I returned to my house I found that the clock had struck one. But this time I made my bed quite neat, thanks to my roomies’ advice and thought of keeping in mind what he said that morning and promised to keep my resolution intact. I told myself ‘Sweet dreams man (both of my roomies were sleeping like they have never slept before). You gonna make it big in life’

Part-II
Aftermath the truncated sleep

Jan 2 Morning. Woke up very early (at 7.30:-)). I cursed the mobile alarm. Its one of the most irritating sounds. What to do, a mail had come from my GL last Friday that every project member should be sharp @ 9 from this year to work. I was greatly perturbed by the fact. After all, at the end of the day we have to see to it that we work for 8 hours and get the job done. The hang over was still there and coz of inadequate sleep, it was still loitering around my eyes. Feeling the Monday blues, i rushed to office. I made it some how by time and finally swiped on to my work haven. Hardly i would have got seated, a call comes from PL. Another important assignment and another deadline by the end of the day.

I have jotted down the happenings thereafter.

1. Skipped breakfast (I argue with others about the importance of breakfast and its link to good health), since I had to expedite my job.
2. Conveyed my gud mornings and have a nice day wishes to all my team members who happened to come on the way to my seat.
3. Took a comfortable position in the chair
4. Checked mail.
5. Took a hard copy of the requirements and the work to be completed (huh!!! quite a lengthy one). Started to yawn.
6. Read over the assignment carefully and made certain i understand it.
7. It was 11. Walked down to the vending machines and sipped some coffee to help me concentrate and get rid of my rising appetite and arouse me from the drowsiness.
8. Stopped off at another floor, on the way back and check with my college mate who is there in the same office. After that checked with my team mate. He hasn't started the work yet. We both walked to cafeteria and buy a sandwich to help me concentrate more.
Had he told that he’s about to complete his part, I would have dropped that plan
9. Got back to my resting place sat in a straight position in the chair and checked mail.
10. Glanced over the assignment again to make absolutely certain i understand it. (Yawn galloped over and still was not able to grasp it).
11. Checked mail.
12. Suddenly remembered that I hadn't given a report (due on Friday) to the client for whom, am doing production support. Thought I 'd better sent that now and get it out of my mind so that i can concentrate.
13. The report was done. Suddenly there was an urge to leak. Went to loo. I thought of the slogan ‘Come with pressure and Go with pleasure’. It brought a smile to my face.
14. After that, wanted to listen to an inspirational song. So attached a head set to my comp. That was it. ‘Seriously, as soon as it's over i gonna start the work.’
15. Checked mail.
16. Rearranged all the papers into an alphabetical order and get some physical movement.
17. Called the same team mate on the other side of my quadrant and enquired if he's started yet. Exchanged derogatory remarks about my PL, the deadline, the company and the software job at length.
18. Slamming the phone down, again took a straight, comfortable position in the chair.
19. Brought all my thoughts to focus and read over the assignment again. Was Still feeling sleepy.
20. Pondered about the movie, its characters and yearned to have a wife as beautiful as the gorgeous heroine. Was about to fall asleep. A window suddenly popped up on the screen without my intervention (Thanks to Instant messaging in intranet) ‘Oye, its.1.30, chale,lunch time’. A pal from my training days was pestering me. Realised without any input I wont be able to give any output. Nodded to his call.
21. Took a small walk (for about half an hour) to abstain from sleep. Quickly surfed thro the newspaper in library to make sure i aint missing anything truly worthwhile.
22. Came back and again took a comfortable position. Checked mail and found that an important corporate announcement had come.
23. Like a reflex action I dialled the 4 digit extension number of my team mate and discussed about it.
24. Sat down and brooded over the plans for the future, MBA, onsite etc. Thought, ‘Slowly am getting back to normal condition’.
25. Checked mail.
26. 3.30. Back to machine again to have some coffee. It was really invigorating and again ran into my college mate.
27. 4.00 Read over the assignment one last time, just for heck of it. Found it to be astoundingly simple and wondered why did i think it as unfathomable at one point. 31. Suddenly i realised that i hadnt moved an inch since morning.
28. 4.15 PL turned up and enquired about the progress. I gave a silly pretext.
29. Face down i moaned and finally put my hands on the keyboard.
30. Checked for possible alternatives (i.e. any other solution already available, to do CTRL-C and CTRL-V). Checked with my team mate again on this regard
31. No affirmative reply. So started thinking about the work finally and had become a paranoid in no time.
32. 10.15 PL came around. Put up an apology, "Actually its pretty difficult, will finish it in an hour" (Was pretty confident that he actually was nescient ).
35. 12 Finally everything was done and delivered to PL as well as client
36. 1.30, Found my self in room again after munching some junk foods. Roomies were already on time for bed. Read and slept.

Next morning, I complained to my roomie ‘After all its not entirely my fault. I wont get adequate sleep as long as I am doing this job and a foolish, lazy bucker is heading me. I wont be able to return in time to sleep.’ I was consoling myself, ‘Resolutions are meant to be broken’.

Paradise Regained

2006-01-19T22:48:00.000+05:30

The road to perdition started one fine Sunday morning in November end. Couldn’t bell the cat. IIFT was inscrutable. Screwed the SNAP. JMET jettisoned me. XAT was sucking. Finally FMS was a respite and left me with a feel good factor. Only after the results I do know how fucking great was it. Though I could nod a sigh of relief that the grueling exam period is over, all these left me with a feeling that I am a loser in life.

Something inside told me that ‘Why don’t you take away your life? You are not good at anything’. It was not just the exam results about which I am getting perturbed. Being servile to some one who reports you just the error log and asks for resolution or doing a job just for the sake of getting salary is no fun. It’s all shit in the working hours and at the end of the day I was going to bed with a heavy heart. Mental agitation was reaching the pinnacle of my life.

I was discussing this with one of my close friends. Told him, I just have 3 things in mind ‘Get into a B-school (the prospects of which are bleak) or Get out of this project (the chances of which are as remote as rain in the desert) or death (the only viable option)’. He was surprised by hearing this and asked me whether I was serious. I just nodded(Coz one of my other close friends was saying the same thing with 3 diff options but for fun). He threw in a riposte, “Yaar, Think about the two souls that created you back home. What bad they have done for you? They have spent their entire life in bringing you up and you are just going to shell their dreams just because you feel depressed. It is nothing but horrendous. If you are not happy with this project go and talk to your PL and ask for release or if possible quit this job. Moreover Life is not only about being an MBA, you can be an successful entrepreneur even without becoming one.’

He was telling me the options I have in life and told me that so many people don’t even have the opportunities that I have. He asked me to pay a visit to an orphanage that he has frequented, once. He told me the story of a small boy he had seen there. The chap was yearning for his parents’ love and still had hope that one day his parents gonna come and take him home. It made me think some what. But the icing on the cake was the apt panacea that he told me his father had suggested. ‘Next time you think of depression, Just make a paste of green or red chilly and rub it in your ass. All the depression would be gone’. Though I never tried that, I can perceive how it will be and how bad a plight I would be in. The only thing that I would be worried about that time is how to get out of that filth. ‘Then relax and ponder over what I have told you and how preposterous is your view of life’.

I thought, ok let me chuck the CAT etc and think about something more useful than it. If I could make a world of difference to atleast a single person who is in dire need of help, I think I have made my life worth living. The mist that had surrounded my head is still there. But I feel it can be cleared.

Sorry if this note turns into an advisory one. How the road to perdition can be changed to the road to incarnation is in our hands. Approach everything with a positive mind and think about the millions who are below you in various forms of life. Sure you can make them come up in life. So mate, keep a paste of chilly ready and the next time you feel depressed just don’t forget to spread it down your bums.

A Homage

2006-01-12T12:53:00.000+05:30

When one is down, so many things happen round your head and you feel as if a dementor is sucking your soul and you are left only with your worst memories. But a wizard will still be there in some cases to wield the Patronus Charm to drive them away. India has been able to produce one such in its own backyard without having a Hogwartz of its own.

In a cricketing field, when the first Indian wicket is down, bowlers start licking their lips with a demntor kinda look of ‘gimme more’ in their ebullient faces. Cometh the hour, the scrawny guy with a school boyish face walks down the middle with a sheer determination. He is indifferent to the atmosphere he is in. Unfazed by the sledges thrown at him, he just shows two fingers at the umpire, asks for his guard and takes his position. A furtive glance around and down the pitch and with his left elbow drooping forward he signals the bowler, who looks like a predator, that he is ready for action. One can infact hear the rhythmic music of his bat thumping down again and again on the pitch while eagerly waiting for the opera to unfold. But none happens. The ball dancing thro the air after unfettering itself from the palm of the bowler is just touched down to safety or left free with a ‘take care baby’ saying in the safe hands of the keeper. The moment the bowler sees this he gets a hunch, ‘The phenomenon has begun’.

Rebels please move over. Let’s welcome the purist. No glitches, No hoop ups. Fielders, sorry mates, its gonna be that day when even the God has to bend down to take the offering. Nothing is gonna come out of air. More the time he spends, more impenetrable he becomes and acts like a Terminator on his duty to guide the team to safety. Balls are treated on their merit and there is a touch of class and poise in all the shots. Think, he loves the kith and kin of the pitch. The smell of grass in fact acts like a potion that keeps him glued and develops a special affinity. An occasional smile turns up only when the hamperings are lead astray and the rivulet is about to join the ocean .

This kind of scenario, one can even say is clichéd, if you are an ardent follower of Indian Cricket. The team has risen to glorious heights in the past 5 years in Test and ODI cricket and one would associate only one person with this monstrous success.

To put in simple words, Rahul ‘The Wall’ Dravid is the man, of the team, for the team and who stands by the team. Blending with his fellow mates and doing sacrifices for the squad has become his forte and he has a penchant for carrying the onus on his shoulders. Off the pitch, he is a gentleman to the core and humility personified. No emotional out breaks, No frivolous comments, No deprecation, No pompous speech. Pure Grit and common sense prevails in all his actions . He just restrains himself and his team from being targeted by the parparazzi. He has embodied the cricketing spirit and fever in a nation where the sport is a religion and cricketers are being deified. He has enough credentials to pen a book titled ‘Art of Living and Cricket’. What he is, can be only envisaged here and for a man of his stature even euphemisms bend to have a softer and a positive note attached to it.

Lets all thank Mr Sharath, Ms Pushpa and the Almighty for bringing the gem to earth 33 years ago. Fortunately, the day I felt that I should join the blogging fraternity has coincided with the birthday of such a great idol. I felt it is my obligation to pay a homage by contributing my first blog to one of the amazing Indians. A hearty wish for an immortal career from a mortal and may the world see many of his sorceries in the years to come. May the wizard unveil his magic wand and lead India to its prime in the summer of 2007.

For the bloggers and net surfers, wishing you a wonderful new year and success in all your endeavors. Hope you visit often and throw in your comments to my (sometimes drabJ) scribblings. I am here trying to make a difference with my views and writings with help from you folks.