Thursday 27 December 2007

Top 10 Movies of 2007

As we close down on 2007, lets take a look at the movies that have met with success during the year and thereby analyze the mindset of the average Tamil film fan. As per the latest Sify box office report, 105 movies have released during 2007 and 10
have been declared super hits. Let's take a look at the top 10 movies of 2007.

1. Sivaji
2. Pokiri
3. Paruthi Veeran
4. Mozhi (Hit only in multiplexes)
5. Vel
6. Billa
7. Marutha Malai
8. Chennai 28
9. Polladhavan
10. Naan Avan Illai

Let's take a look at them one by one.

Sivaji
======
What can you say about Sivaji? Leave your brains behind at home and watch the movie. Compared to other movies, Sivaji did not have violence or sex in excess but we cannot deny the fact that Shreya was skampily dressed in the songs.

Pokiri
=====
The second highest grosser of the year after Sivaji. Movie can be enjoyed only by Vijay fans. The hero just roams around with his friends and heroine falls in love with him and during the climax we come to know that the hero is a senior police
officer. Pokiri is one of the movies that showcases Tamilnadu Police in bad light despite our former CM during her regime asking film folks not to show policemen as villains in movies. In addition, not even an iota of logic in the movie.

Paruthi Veeran
==============
Critically acclaimed movie of the year. Good performances from the lead actors. Too much of violence.

Mozhi
=====
Nice one. A movie that can be enjoyed with family and kids around.

Vel
===
Real crap. A recent report in Sify says that Surya has made inroads into B&C centers through Vel. So, is this the kind of movie that B&C audiences prefer? Bad taste.

Billa
=====
Another real crap. I spent 6 pounds to watch this movie in UK and was literally surprised to see box office reports in Tamilnadu saying that "Ajith is the king of opening and the movie is a superhit".
Ajith just cannot act/dance and looking at Ajith and Prabhu's performances, I am forced to think that Vishnuvardhan's expectations as a director are very limited. Dialogues are too boring with a lot of Malaysian words like "can", "lah" pulled in.

MaruthaMalai
============
Didn't watch the movie.

Chennai 28
==========
Good one. Nostalgia is one of the main reasons for this film's success. Most of the Tamil audiences were able to relate to the movie since it portrayed something similar to what they were in their teens.

Polladhavan
============
Excess violence and foul language. For example, one dialogue goes like this,

Local Don to his son: Dei, inna da kai ellam karuppa?
Don's son: Nai pee pa..
Don: Edhukku da?
Son: Nee dhana maanja poda nai pee venum nu sonna..
Don: Maanja ku kaanja pee venum da..idhu illa..poi kai kazhuvu..

The movie showcases gangsters/rowdies lives completely and passes a wrong message to the already violent youths of tamilnadu.

Naan Avan Illai
===============

Nothing much to say as it is a straight lift from the Gemini Ganesan classic. Jeevan cannot dance and his expressions in some scenes are funny..The film had 5 heroines to provide enough oomph and glamour...

Overall Verdict:
===============
Sex and Violence seems to be the need of the hour for Tamil audiences. People enjoy watching heroes as rapists, womanizer,murderer or rowdy in movies. With this trend in place, the next few years could bring in more movies of the same type. Censor might have to add words like "otha", "mayiru" etc in their dictionary to make them available for audiences to enjoy.

Monday 10 December 2007

An Interesting note I read recently...
There is one being who cannot think-and cannot have a sense of humour.
That being is, of course, God.Thinking involves moving from one state of knowledge to a better one.Since God has perfect knowledge he is always there already. So thinking is not only superfluous but impossible.Nor can God have a sense of humour since there can be no surprise when the punch-lines have always been known.


Different duh....

Monday 26 November 2007

Kamal,Radha Mohan,gautham menon ......












Seeing the photos you can think what is common between them...well the answer is quite short. Passion and courage in film making.
For the past 3-4 decades, the chastity (karpu) of heroines and other female leads of Tamil cinema were very pathetic. Very obsolete, superstitious and irrational notions were placed in Tamil cinema.
We can easily ignore Tamil cinema, as women's chastity were one of the poisons sowed by it, but this is special. This is special because, this is one of the most important psychological change that indian/tamil society need to undergo.
I can quote no. of. scenarios right from 70s (I am not going to sixties..) where heroines or other female characters who were raped by villain either has to marry the villain or better to die.
Or even worst, hero will go after heroine who happens to be a widow, but stop.....the first husband would have died or killed before the first night... That is she never had intercourse. Then hero and heroine will get married happily. This happened even in one karthik-ajith-meena movie (I forgot the movie name) and also repeated in Rhythm (directed by vasant).


Widow itself like this means, divorcee... chooop... please don’t ask. None of our Tamil heroines were divorcees. All are eligible bachelor girls...
Coming to my title, how kamalhassan,RadhaMohan (Mozhi director)and gautham menon are related with this issue..yes by all means,


First, kamal hassan , on an attempt to be true to his personal life(I guess so), he began depicting about widow/divorcee remarriage in his films repeatedly. Its like better late than never. His recent films like,
a.Vettayadu vilayadu(He marries a divorcee with child)b.Naladhamayandhi (Hero's sister after living with husband for some time, marries her old lover)c.Mumbai express (hero marries villain's concubine).


His repeated efforts, will definitely is a stepping stone in Tamil cinema. Slowly but steadily he is breaking Tamil cinema's opinion on heroine's hymen , which should be appreciated.


Another person to be quoted here is radha mohan. His movie 'Mozhi' is appreciated for many things, like jyothika,story,approach towards deaf and dumb etc. But prakashraj's love towards swarnamalya deserves good applause. Because, no nonsense of girl's virginity is specified in the film. It happens just like that, as part of the story.


Gautham menon, apart from vettayadu vilayadu, he travels further in this direction and tells about extramarital affair between hero and heroine in pacchai kili muthu charam.


Another director I would like to specify here is vasant, who directed 'Satham podadhe'.He didnt repeat his old mistake (Rthym) in 'Satham podadhe'.Here , hero marries heroine after she got separated from first husband.Really a good move!
All great long journey starts from single step!

It is these kind of individuals seems to be example for the word courage in the 'sentiment soaked' Tamil cine world.

Since tamilians are film crazy, any further step in the Tamil cinema will definitely change the mindset of tamilians in a huge way.

Monday 19 November 2007

Balakumaran...some thoughts...

Recently I read "Thanga Churul", a novel by balakumaran. Vasu has given this book.This is a story about a person who is a railway employee. He is very good at creating Tanjore paintings. The story tells about his life in terms of his painting profession and marriage life and about his masterpiece work.

As a reader what kind of book is this? What it conveys? What is the 'karu' or theme of this story? Nothing. It says about a life in a pleasant way.The life has nothing to do with common man's day to day challenge or nothing to do on an extraordinary man.

I am seeing balakumaran is cheating himself. He tries to copy thi.janakiraman in an ugly way. Bala's these kind of novel reduces the quality of novel.Again I am not comparing balakumaran against somebody like ramani chandran or pattukottai prabhakar.I am comparing balakumaran against prabanchan,thi.janakiraman, sundara ramasamy etc.

Since bala is writing many books, his books contains many redundant incidents.He should reduce his frequency.

I am seeing the following context in many of the balakumaran's novels, including this novel.

After marriage bride and groom goes for honey moon. The honeymoon spot is kumbakonam/thanjavur and surrounding places. Peculiar is both bride and groom's parents will be accompanying the couple. All will be happy,there wont be any difference in opinion.Everything is harmonious.Bala shows a symmetrical world.But this is very far from the real world.

I dont know how bala kind of person falls under this trap every time. This redundancy makes the novel very weak.

Again there is nothing in this story to oppose or support strongly.This makes the novel a simple fairy tale.This dwarfs the regular readers. Normal conversation will be interesting only in new base (kadhai kalam), otherwise it creates boredom. These kind of novels dwarfs bala himself, there is a potential danger of these novels becoming a 'Gnanabhoomi or kumudam bhakthi'.

Because theism and literature are separate entities. You can blend them, but one should not dissolve into another, especially at this 2007.

Here one more question arises. Can a non-hindu or atheist read balakumaran's novel? What will be the perception of balakumaran novels in non-hindus mind. I am not insisting that he should encompass non-hindus also, but just eager!

One more question, is the 'vivid description' from balakumaran dilutes the novels of balakumaran? I suspect. Is he concentrating more on 'vivid description' than the story?. I think he is getting lost in his own words. This is another form of "narcissism”. Narcissism of the novel over the novel itself. There may be better ways to describe this. But I am writing this as far as I know. I am seeing the strong vividness and characterization engulfs his novels.

Here we can compare the vividness and characterization and description of sundara ramaswamy against balakumaran.
Vasu, as you have read in 'oru puliyamarathin kadhai', the description or varnanai or characterization helps the story acts as a pleasant support to the course of the story. It is like mundhiri in payasam.We cannot more mundhiri than payasam in payasam, am i correct?


When reading balakumaran's book or novel, I am seeing letters from readers by praising balakumaran. Those letters are always praising the novels. No review or vimarsanam at all. Is it possible? I dont think, any product will have its merits and demerits. If no letters are displayed for public means something wrong in it. No vimarsanam or no suya vimarsanam.Balakumaran is becoming like kamal I think, he is becoming a great deaf.

Another bad thing about bala is giving a single strong but inaccurate and inadequate answer to questions. For e.g. I read the following question in one of the novels,

Q: What is the worst thing in Chennai?

Ans: "Parking vans and cars of travel agencies in the pedestrian way". Then he justifies how it affects the traffic and so on.

Yes indeed it is a problem. But it definitely is not the most worst thing in Chennai. There are more stronger problems. But bala never says "There are many things, one of the problems is .....". He directly says one single answer. There by he stops other possibilities.

Question2:

Q: I heard you have gone to Hyderabad. What is very interesting about the city?
Ans: "Bangles. Hyderabad is having a very big bangle bazaar.” Then he describes about the structure of bangles and how Indian women are feeling by wearing bangles.

For any question related to society especially Indian society he has single answer. That is the most worrying part about balakumaran. Because, Indian society is the second most complex society (after Africa) in the world. This is the result of sociologists around the globe. So bala's single reply makes naive readers think that he is correct and hides and reduces the complexity of the problem.

Enakkul pesugiren , a self-improvement book by balakumaran.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

First enakkul pesugiren, is a good book. It is an excellent book, it should be kept as a diary.

Definitely, this book takes good case studies, analyses and comes to a practical and concrete conclusion. Then starts analyzing solution or ways to mitigate the problems and slowly finding the solution to the problem. The problem here are behavioral problems says attitude, deportment etc. Here solutions are not one time solution but we can say practices to mitigate the problem or to eradicate the problems and practices to prevent those problems in future.

Of course, all the practices are alive because of the persistence in usage.

Personally, this book gives me many ideas and practices to solve my day-to-day behavioral problems, my deportment, and my noesis towards my professional and personal life.

So this book is good at micro level, that is for me.

But what I want to know is, who are the target audience for this book? I will/can not say, all the people are target audience for this book. I am seeing many persons who possess the qualities those balakumaran describes as the results of proposed best practices, but without following any of those practices. Definitely, they don’t know balakumaran.

In other words, Bala proposes meditation as the best way to focus our concentration. Yes this is true, meditation definitely helps people to develop concentration, to be more alert. But some people are more alert than others without meditation or other things. How this happens? Are we human being are the result of some permutation and combination of chromosomes and genes? Is the persistence, will power, IQ, intelligence, attitude all are coming by those permutation and combination? Note that here I am not talking about 'winning' but about the persistence of individual person to win!

Is this by nature? The scientific notion of "All minds are of equal capacity!" is false? I do not know.

But in a materialistic way, I want to follow these practices and occupy a good position in my life.

But my question remains alive!

Thanks Vasu, for giving this book.

Thanks balakumaran, for making this fantastic book. Actually, the word thanks will not equate what I feel. You are a good teacher for all mentally weak people. Unfortunately, many people in this place are mentally weak including me.

I think this is first of the self-improvement book that came in Tamil which identifies the actual problem of common person in tamilnadu. This can act as a base for other self-improvement books.

Sunday 28 October 2007

Another Richard Gere in the making?




Inviting all RSS and Bajrang Dal activists to start their campaign against Anil Kapoor and Sameera.

Wednesday 24 October 2007

Vaali, Rahman and Athiradee

I listened to athiradee song first on music system but after hearing it even for 10 times, i was not able to get the lyrics properly and hence decided to hear it on iPod so that i can get the lyrics right. First of all, most of the words in the lyrics doesn't make any sense(i don't have vaali's genius to make a comment like this but at the same time "vaali yaga irundhalum kutram kutrame")and second Rahman should stop lending vocal support to Tamil songs. His diction is pretty bad. Now, for the lyrics:

Pallavi :

Chorus :
Athiradikaalam - Machan ! Machan ! Machandi !
Avanukkelaamey - Ucham ! Ucham ! Uchamdi !
(I thought the first line was Athiradikaaran)
Male :
Rathi
Thi ! Thi ! Jega Jothi ! Jothi ! Jothi !
Thala Pa Thi ! Vedi Jaathi ! Jaathi ! Jaathi !
Adi Billa Ranga Baasha Thaan..
Ivan Pistol Pesum Beshaa Thaan..

Rathi ! Thi ! Sutta...

Chorus :
Dakkaal Dakkaal
Dammaal Dummeel

Paanja..Saanja..
Kaanja..Menjaa..
Thonjaa..Maanjaa..
Ja Ja...Ja Ja...
( Rathi... )
(What is the rationale behind using Kaanja, Menjaa, Thonjaa and Maanjaa? Is it only for rhyming?)
Saranam 1 :

Male :
Dil Dhik Dil
Thendral Nenjil..
Thithikkindra
Anril Kunjil..
(What is anril kunjil?) Sorry to use obscene language here but when rahman sings it looks like "Aangal Kunjil"
Jil Jil Jil
Ginger Pennil..
Jil Endroru
Jin Thaan Kannil..

Chorus :
Dada ! Thottu Konja Thodha -
Sittu Sikkuthey ! Sokkuthey !!

Oru Shocku Yerum Padu Shokka !!

Thotta - Onnu Rendu Potta -
Ponnu Thulluthey ! Thalluthey !!

Vedi Vettu Poda Vilum Flatta !

Male :
Gun ! Gun ! En Step Gun !
Roger Moore Poley - Dishum !!
Munnaal Pennundu !
Enthan Pinnaal Kannundu ! Paar !!

Female :
Fun ! Fun ! Un Love Fun !
Eddy Murphy Pol - Naughty !!

Male :
Nee Enthan -
Maan Thaan..
Naan Thaan..
Don Thaan !
( Athiradikkaalam... )

Saranam 2 :

Male :
Man ! Man ! Man... Superman Thaan
Mid Nightula - Spiderman Thaan !

Female :
NRI Unthan Eye Thaan
(This should be MRI right..He is referring to the scan i guess but rahman says NRI)
James Bond Pol Seiyum Spy Thaan !!

Cuba - Pola Oru Theeva
Ponnu Nikkuthey ! Mukkuthey !!
(Why mukkuthey here?)

Chorus :
Enthan Tension Erum Romba Fasta !

Caestro - Pola Intha Maestro
Sontham Kollavaa ? Killavaa ??

Intha First Nightu Enna Waste-a ?

Male :
Bun ! Bun ! Nee Sweet Bun !
Butter Jam Poley - Naan Thaan !
Unthan Meley Thaan - Naan
Otti Kolla Thaan Vaa !!

Female :
One Two Three
Four Five -
Mutham Thanthaaley Then Thaan !!

Male :
En - Anbey
My Fair Lady - Nee Thaan !!
( Athiradikkaalam... )

Saturday 13 October 2007

What does it take to be successful?


As a kid, i grew up hearing proverbs like "Hardwork Pays", "Those who work the hardest are the last to surrender" and similar ones at both home and school. I strongly believe in this until today but somehow i have got this feeling that hardwork alone doesn't do all the wonders. There is something more to it. To confirm if my thoughts are true, i am trying to compare the two top people in Tamil film industry namely Rajnikanth and Kamalhassan.

Both of them started off as just actors and Rajni until today has not donned any other role except being an actor(Of course, he wrote the screenplay for the movie Valli alone) and has been doing almost similar kind of roles for the past 20 years. What i am trying to bring in here is that the amount of effort that Rajni puts on for a movie is bare minimum when compared to Kamal.

On the other hand, Kamal tries his hand in Tamil Litreature, pens screenplays and dialogue for his movies, started a production company, got into direction, acted in Tamil, Hindi, Kannada, Telugu and Malayalam movies and more than anything, gives 200 percent to anything that he does.

If Kamal can change his look, his acting, his accent or his role and keep the audience interested (and indeed the National Award committee) Rajni with his sheer presence and dialogue delivery keeps the audience spellbound. It takes someone special to have a continual and universal fan following considering he does pretty much the same role over and over again.

I haven't watched Sivaji yet but the kind of impact it has created on Tamil audiences world over is surprising. I know a Senior PM of my company who planned to watch Sivaji on the first of day its release but due to a sudden customer visit he had to cancel his plan and was cursing the customer the whole day in front of us for visiting our campus on the day of Sivaji release. But from the reviews i read, i am sure, if not for Rajni, the movie would have been shown the door the very next day of its release.

On the flip side, a movie like Anbe Sivam sank without a trace and Kamal had put in so much effort for the movie. For that matter, the movie was not so bad to be thrown out of theatres in 15 days. And with Dasavatharam coming up, i am even more worried about its fate as Kamal himself told in a SUN TV interview to Gauthami that a film like Dasa cannot be committed just for the sake of monetary benefits.

So, whats all about the hardwork that we have been hearing for ages now? The success of a person like Rajni highlights the fact that hardwork alone will not help you achieve fame or money. So, what else is required? Is it time/luck/belief in god ? What is it?

Saturday 22 September 2007

Why not other religions, Mr.Mu.Ka?



There is no doubt whatsoever that the sentiments, feelings and susceptibilities of millions of Hindus in majority in India were seriously wounded by Tamilnadu Chief Minister's 'civilized' observations on Hindu Gods and Deities sometime back. Now , he has taken a new topic. He seems to question the existence of Lord Ram. What is even more shocking is the fact that the Chief Minister of Tamilnadu seems to have a total contempt for the Indian Penal Code in letter and spirit.

Section 153 (A) Indian Penal Code (IPC) states

Whoever by words, either spoken or written or by signs or by visible representations or otherwise promotes or attempts to promote on ground of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, caste or community or any other ground whatsoever disharmony or feelings of enmity, hatred or ill will between different religious, racial, language or regional groups or castes or communities shall be punished with imprisonment.

The Hindus of Tamilnadu - numerically equal in number if not more than either the Muslims or Christians in contrived and absolute political majority (!!) would like to pose the following superstitious, irrational, obscurantist and totally devoid of self-respect (I mean in the ecstatic, Dravidian and poetic 'Suyamariyadhai' sense!) questions to the Honorable Chief Minister of Tamilnadu:

Will the Tamilnadu Chief Minister dare to attack Allah or Jesus Christ in the same ludicrous and shameless manner as he has done in regard to Hindu Gods and Deities with gay abandon ?
Will the Tamilnadu Chief Minister act upon Dr Subramaniam Swamy's suggestion that the Chief Minister should first inculcate atheism in his family members with rational Periyar fervor as all of them are known to be God-fearing and practicing their surreptitious Hinduism, like frightened puppets behind the curtains?
Will the Tamilnadu Chief Minister react to the proposal of Dr Subramanian Swamy, the Janata Party leader, that Karunanidhi should change the name of his son and State Minister Stalin into a Tamil word, if his love for the language was genuine? Is not Karunanidhi aware of the fact that Stalin of Russia, was never noted for his scholarship in the field of Tamil language and literature nor did he have any ecstatic love for the beauty and glory of Tamil as a classical language?
Will the Tamilnadu Chief Minister take action on a war-footing to implement the brilliant proposal of Dr Subramanian Swamy to install Periyar statues taller than the Eiffel Towers in Paris in front of Mosques or Churches?
Does the Tamilnadu Chief Minister believe that the Hindus of Tamilnadu and their religious feelings are of no consequence to him or his minority Government?

The great Periyar who was globally noted for his Himalayan and Herculean Scholarship in the field of Hate Hinduism and Hate Sanatana Dharma, came to the axiomatically eccentric conclusion that when he was attacking the Brahmins in particular, he was attacking Hinduism and Hindu way of life in general and when he was attacking Hinduism and Hindu way of life in particular, he was attacking Brahmins and Brahminism in general. As a gigantic intellectual of ever lasting fame, Periyar was steeped in self-chosen conceptual confusion. For him, every action that stemmed from conceptual confusion was rational and every action that stemmed from conceptual clarity was superstitious and irrational. Fortunately for the country, Periyar never held any public office. Karunanidhi is not in the same unenviable position as Chief Minister of Tamilnadu. He is bound by the law of the Constitution and therefore cannot arrogate himself the rights of an Idi Amin in Uganda or Stalin in Soviet Russia or Hitler in Nazi Germany.

Source: A 'M K Hussain' of Tamilnadu by V. Sundaram

Wednesday 5 September 2007

It happens only in India



Moni Kumar Subba, the Congress MP from Tezpur in Assam, has for 16 years lied that he is an Indian. The truth is he is a Nepalese, and he is a criminal.
A report by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) says Subba is a Nepali national originally named Moni Raj Limbo, who escaped from the Illam prison in Nepal while serving sentence for murder.
Subba has always insisted that he is not Limbo though his brother and father use the surname. But Subba himself has given his game away.
In an affidavit filed before the Tezpur magistrate’s court on October 3, 1985, the politician admitted that Moni Raj Limbo and Moni Kumar Subba are the same person.
Subba was a building contractor then and signed the affidavit to get payment for bills issued under his earlier name of Moni Raj Limbo. And there is more evidence to suspect that Moni Raj Subba and Moni Raj Limbo are the same person.
Subba recently told the Supreme Court that he was born in Dabgram in West Bengal on March 16, 1958, but CNN-IBN found that the MP’s passport issued on July 5, 1993 says he was born in Harmoty in Lakhimpur district of Assam.
Then again if Subba was born in Dabgram, West Bengal, why did he tell the XII Lok Sabha that he was born in Tezpur in Assam, on March 16, 1951—that is the date which appears in his profile on the Lok Sabha website.
Subba’s affidavit before the Supreme Court, his passport and the birth date on the Lok Sabha’s website are lies but yet no action has been taken against the politician.
In March 2007, after CNN-IBN exposed Subba, Speaker Somnath Chatterjee ruled that the Lok Sabha didn’t have the authority to sack the MP.
Subba, escaped convict from Nepal, remains Honourable MP in India.

Monday 3 September 2007

Enna kodumai sir ithu...


Recently, chennai based Dr.MGR university issued D.Litt(Doctorate) to 'Illayathalapathi' Vijay & Director Shankar. Here is abstract from the university founder AC.Shanmugam...

"Why we have chosen Especially Actor Vijay when there are many other heroes in cinema industry? The main reason for He being chosen is, he has delivered the message that parents are more important than love in the movie Kadhalukku Mariyadhai and also for accepting and taking up the suggestive roles in movies like Love today and Sivakasi, said A.C. Shanmugam. He is also Honered with this Doctorate because he is a middle class and not into politics , he said. Same like, Director Shankar is also honored with Doctorate for which he has brought new technics and broke the record by directing the movie Sivaji which the Tamil movies has not done before, he added. It seems they also took the other movie of Director Shankar into count."

However, the very next day Vijay appealed to his fans to avoid using 'doctor' before his name.

"Whoever calls me 'doctor', you my fans should not. I want to remain your intimate Vijay," the actor said at a function here to mark the 126th day of Pokkiri.


Coming to our topic, I don't find or accept the above reason to give a D.Litt to these personalities. In few years, like any other degrees(BE, M.Tech, etc.,.), I'm sure that D.Litt will lose its creditability. Who got popular due to this title - receiver or university ? I don't think this is good benchmark to issue D.Litt. To avoid these kind of illogical honors : 'Why not the govt imposes ban on issuing D.Litt by private or deemed universities'.? Let me know your thoughts.

Thursday 30 August 2007

Dearest friend vasu,


Dearest friend vasu,

I am literally amazed by your in depth knowledege on "Sappadu" and especially "Food corners" in chennai. We accept that you are a "Professional eater" , but think people who are already not in india, these blog entries acts like 'rubbing salt on wound', (Vendha punnila vel!). Literally I couldnt study more than garlic rasam and chappathi.

So blog entries should not breach human rights, remember that.

Any way, I am happy that I came with you for few of the food corners(like w.mambalam bajji kadai and t.nagar kaiyendhi bhavan). Kudos... You are slowly becoming La.sa.ra, in terms of narrating food stuffs.

My favourite food joints in Chennai

I have been in Sweden for more than 3 weeks now and already started feeling homesick. I think i need to be specific here. I have started feeling foodsick. I am missing the garlic rasam that my father makes when i am at home, my wife's chappathis and north indian sidedishes and similarly my favourite food joints in chennai. So, the essence of this blog is to post a list of my favourite food joints in chennai. Here, it goes:

1.Night kadai opposite to brilliant tutorials in Masilamani Street, T.Nagar, Chennai. The podi dosai is so famous here and the sambhar taste has no words to describe. And very cost effective too. 2 idlis, 1 podi dosai and 1 sambhar vadai should cost you 28 rupees.

2.Mami's soups in Station Road, West Mambalam. Soup of the day costs Rs.6 and all other soups Rs.5. Very good taste.

3.Manikandan sundal kadai in Bakthavatsalam Street, West Mambalam, Chennai. The prices are a little bit on the higher side and the quality is not great but the combos he provides is what makes the place tick. You can try sundal/molaga bajji with a pinch of chilli powder and lemon added to it or you can try sundal/potato bonda combo or sundal/samosa. I am a favourite of the chinna molaga bajji that is made here. The shop is usually crowded between 6-8p.m in the evenings.

Listening to Haridwaramangalam Palanivel spl.thavil for ramanavami festival after a plate of sundal/molaga bajji and 2 potato bondas during April in Ayodhya Mandapam is a connoisseur's delight. :-)

4.If you come from Lake View Road in West Mambalam and take a left to doraiswami subway you can see a sundal kadai on your right. No shop name and all that but all the items are good here. My favourite is molaga bajji fry.

5.Sundal shop next to Sarada Vidyalaya, Panagal park. All items only Re.1 and Sundal costs Rs.3. Very good taste.

6.Chappathi shop opposite to Deluxe Tea bar in Thambaiah Road, West Mambalam. Run by a north indian and is a very good place for hot chappathis in the evening. You can see a lot of bachelors in the evening trying to munch a few chappathis on the way back from work.

7.Hot chappathis in Nanganallur opposite to Roja Medicals. Place to try different types of Chappathis like Alu, Onion, Gobi, Panner, Raddish etc. They provide dal and Sabji as sidedish. Only problem is the owner who will always ask for change(even when u eat for Rs.90 and give Rs.100, he will ask for change) and keep on saying not to park vehicles near the shop entrance.

8.Sundal kadai run by a marwari near Rangarajapuram railway gate. The chilli bajji is typical north indian since they do it with a filling that comprises of potato masala, onions and some more vegetables. Golgoppa is of superior taste and for me, it resembles the one that i get in Kolkata near my wife's house.

9.Bajji shop located on the east entrance of Kapali koil, Mylapore. You can get different types of bajji here. Close to this you have a tiffin centre that is run inside a house where you get "Arisi Upma" in the evenings. They also have Dosai and Adai and they cost Rs.3 each.

10.Bajji Shop in Radha Nagar main road, Chromepet. Run by two brothers, you can get different types of bajji here. The onion chutney sidedish is too good.

There are so many places apart from this but i want so share them in a different blog after some time.

Sunday 26 August 2007

How India reacts to terrorism?






Once again a complete mockery of the country's intelligence/security system. Just a few months back we had a bomb attack in charminar area and now this one has happened in Lumbini park and Koti which are prominent places that people throng in Hyderabad especially during weekends.
We have had the usual stuff that happens during every terrorist attack in India. The chief minister witnessed the scene of crime with full security and claimed that this is the handwork of pakistan and bangladesh terrorists(please note that bangladesh also had bomb attacks in three places yesterday). The BJP has called for a state wide bandh tomorrow and at the same time didn't fail to mention that "Congress is not fit to rule in the centre anymore". I am sure that RSS/Hindu/Shiv sena groups will come up with a statement tomorrow asking muslims to leave India, but we'll never get a solution to the problem.And as usual, we, the stupid masses don't have a choice except to watch all this and discuss it with our friends and neighbours. I am sure that this is not going to stay in our memory forever, unless we have our own family member who was affected by this.
I am sure the government will nail down the culprits probably in the next couple of months but then the question is will they be punished? We have a classic example in Muhammed Afzal who masterminded the parliament attacks but still we have Indian muslim leaders who defend Afzal more than his own family/friends by saying that he doesn't deserve a death penalty just because he was the brain behind the parliament attack and in fact he should be given clemency because he has a family. But these leaders don't care about the kith and kin of members who died during the parliament attack.

Can we claim to be a developed country? In my opinion, a big "NO". Let me give you my reasons.

1.Can the government identify the people who died during these attacks in Hyderabad? No, it is not possible because we don't have a concept similar to social security number in place that would help identify every citizen of the country.

2.The US suffered a terrorist attack once in 2001. They came up with excellent security measures that ensured no one can enter the US without proper reason. In fact if my memory serves me right, there was no major terrorist attack in the US after 2001. Can we say there won't be terrorist attacks in India after this one in Hyderabad?

3.As a country can we all stand up together and fight terrorism? No, because we are divided on the basis of caste, religion, creed, language, economic levels and what not? How can we fight an alien when we have so many problems to solve within us?

"JUSTICE DELAYED IS JUSTICE DENIED". Let's just hope that these heartless monsters who spearheaded these attacks are sent to the gallows as soon as possible.

JAI HIND.

Thursday 23 August 2007

English Errors

http://www.rediff.com/getahead/2007/aug/20eng.htm

Identify the movies from the dialogues given below

1.ஒரு நல்லவனுக்கு கிடைக்க வேண்டிய எல்லா மரியாதையும் ஒரு கெட்டவனுக்கு கெடைக்குதே, ஏன்?

2.விதை விதைச்ச உடனே பழம் சாப்பிட முடியுமா? நாளைக்கு நீ சாப்பிடுவ, அதுக்கு அப்பறம் உன் புள்ள சாப்பிடுவான். இதெல்லாம் என்ன பெருமையா? ஒவ்வொருத்தன் கடமை.

3.இந்த உலகம் ஜெயிக்கலேனா மக்குனு சொல்லும், ஜெயிச்சா அதிரிஷ்டம் அப்படினு சொல்லும்.

4.வலிச்சா ஜெயிக்கற இல்ல? அப்போ வலி தாங்கு.

5.ஒரு நல்ல அனுபவம் கிடைச்சா அதுக்கு பரவசப்படணும், ஒரு கெட்ட அனுபவம் கிடைக்கும் போது பக்குவப்படணும்.

Tuesday 21 August 2007

Rise and Fall of Empires

I am reading sivagamiyin sabadham and ponniyin selvan.

After reading these (still iam reading ponniyin selvan), many questions arised in my mind. One of them is,

"What makes a society excel at one point of time"?

The society touches the zenith and after some time the descendents of same people became very weak and debile.What is the reason?

a.Is this fate , everything is preplanned by god? I
dont think so.

b.Is this due to any single person (king). That is
also not a fully satisfactory answer because I dont
think a single person can establish an empire
without the help of other able persons.

c. Is there any extraordinary co-incidence that all
the able handed warriors/state heads are born
contemporary and they come together and form an
empire? It seems to be a fairy tale for me.

But it is repeated again and again in history. From chandragupta to rashtrakudas to pallavas to cholas to moghals to british.

Let me know your opinion.

The monk who sold his bugs

Once upon a time, not so long ago, a monk set out looking for a job in India that could help him earn enough to feed his family. Monk knocked the door of a few software companies and by God's grace, a company did consider him for an opening in testing that they had.

The monk was new to the software industry and had calculated his monthly salary by dividing the CTC ( or cost to company per annum ) by 12 and felt happy about it but when he received his first pay check, he did come to know that maths in software industry, especially when it comes to salary is different. It was not possible to run his family with the monthly pay check he received and hence had to find a way to earn more.

Looking out for another job means, taking time off the work, which also implies that he earns lesser for that month and might end up not getting an offer. So what is the way to work in the same company and yet earn more?

In conversation with other testers in the company during lunch, the monk heard a couple of testers lament about the development teams not fixing the bugs found by them. One tester said, "I bet a 100 rupees on each of these bugs" and other testers too started making similar statements. The monk who was listening to this got an idea and asked all these testers, "did you say 100 rupees to convince developers to fix a bug?" and then testers replied, "Oh yes!"

The monk went back to the monastry in search of his Guru to seek help to win the bet that was placed on each bug. The Guru had left for a world tour but had left a note to all the monks who came in search of him and the note said, "Your problems will be solved even if I am not here to help you and the one who can help you this time is yourself". After reading this the monk didn't get disappointed but thanked his Guru for leaving such a wonderful note.

The monk boarded a bus to head back to office and at the bus he handed over a 10 rupee note to purchase a ticket. The conductor said, "Sorry, I cant give you the ticket, the low battery condition in this ticket generator will make the ticket get stuck during the print out and its a very painful job to remove the paper out and fix the roll in the position and hence we are losing money and business because of this" and the monk said, "Thank you! I got the answer for a question that was bothering me".

The monk, on reaching office called for a meet with other testers and asked them to bring their bug report print outs. Everyone gave their bunch of reports and the monk started his homework.

He picked a bug that was logged with a low battery operation of an embedded product where the developers had commented "Users are not supposed to use the product in low battery". The monk went to the developer and narrated the incident that happened in bus and also added that, "I guess the government is planning to sue the company that provided that machine. As ours is a huge company where different products are developed, are you sure its not our company thats going to be sued?"

That question to a developer was enough for the monk to make his first 100 rupees. As days passed, the monk narrated a lot of real time stories to developers who had offered reluctance to fixing a lot of bugs assigned to them and the monk made a lot of money. As the stories from the monk became popular among the developers in the company, developers loved listening to monk' stories and the monk had a very high credibility among all teams.

The testers conducted a meet and discussed about the monk who made a lot of money through them and decided to cancel their bets thereafter and some testers said, "Ah! I can say better stories, what big deal? Let me convince the developers hereafter and I am not going to pay that already rich monk anymore"

The monk had not only caused a revolution within himself, he had also created an evolution, the way other testers wanted to work.

The monk decided to go to a new place looking for more and different kind of problems. He made a lot of money solving such problems and eventually became one of the richest tester of the world!

Lessons to learn from the story of a monk who sold bugs:

1.Everyone needs something convincing to take up a task, be it fixing a bug or executing scripts.
2.Developers need some real time scenarios, facts, customer information and information about customers knowledge, models in which the customer uses a product in a packaged form - story - to get convinced to fix bugs.
3.One who constantly thinks of solving a problem, will find the solution anywhere.
The most reliable person for help, is yourself.
4.Testers need to develop and practice a skill of story telling to get better at selling bugs.
5.Testing is not an activity of improving quality, its an activity of finding information and it is the product/development teams who fix those issues for improving the quality. In case you still want to think that testing is an activity of improving the quality, you might want to become a best bug seller to continue thinking of it.
6.Testing is not necessarily a computer science subject and its life science, social science, ... all science and all non science, too.
7.There is a traditional way of making money and as a tester if you take the traditional way, you make less with it.
8.Some bugs are born with self explanatory story but some aren't and testers need to build them.
9.More your sales figure ( selling bugs, I mean) higher is your credibility and as testers if you don't have credibility, you might not be able to boost your sales figures further.
Source: http://testertested.blogspot.com

Monday 20 August 2007

Are today's youth too short tempered?


SCENE OF CRIME: The ATM kiosk at Ezhilagam complex where the incident happened on Saturday night.

A guard at the automated teller machine (ATM) kiosk in the Ezhilagam office complex, Chepauk, was allegedly done to death by a youth from Nagaland on Saturday night.

According to the police, a 26-year-old computer science graduate had tried to withdraw money from the ATM, located in the complex on Kamarajar Salai. Since the machine flashed a message about inadequate balance in his account, he made repeated attempts. The accused belonging to Kohima and whose name was given as Dietmovolie Rhakho tried to use another card.

When he did not come out even after 20 minutes, the guard, Ravi (43), told him to contact the bank in the morning and asked him to leave the place. This resulted in an argument and during the scuffle that followed the youth allegedly stabbed Ravi with a knife in the neck and fled.

Wednesday 15 August 2007

Happy Independence Day


What Independence Day means to different people in India?
1.Chocolates for School Children.
2.One day leave for working class.
3.Special cinema programmes in TV channels for housewives.
4.A speech that has no significance to Independence Day for Politicians.
5.Kudimagans to have enough stock of sarakku since tasmac won't be open.
6.Actors to give advice to fans in TV on how they should respect our country and its tradition.

LONG LIVE INDIA

Tuesday 10 July 2007

Sivaji - Review

1. Shankar araicha maavaiye thirumba araichu irukkaru. Indha murai sariya araikkala.
2. Shankar rajiniyai supera use panni irukkaru. Indha alavukku rajiniya yaarume
velai vaangunadhillai, recent timesla.
3. Rajinikku vayasaayiduchu.Inime nadikkaradhai niruthidalam.
4. Apart from story logic, every thing like fights,sets,camera,choreography,costumes,makeup,editing,dialogue... ellame super.
5. Shreya is looking very good.
6. Shankar has used CG very well.Many things which we see in screen are fake.

Rajini has lost his form guyz.Though people do not want to accept it, the fact is evident. He looks very tired. Mogam kizhadu thattiduchu. Pallu ellam sari illai. Wig nalla illai.Somehow his tone has changed and his dialogue delivery is slow. Aana tamizh naatu paithiyikara rasigar kootathukku idhellam pathi enna kavalai.

Cho will tell a dialogue in one of his dramas. He will be a doctor.He will tell to patient "Unga heartukulla ottai illai, ottaikkulladhan hearte irukku!, avvalavu periya ottai" appadinnu. Same thing holds good for sivaji, padathila logic ottai illai, logic ottaikku ulledhan padame irukku.

Sunday 8 July 2007

DMK Magalir Perani in Chennai


Kalaignar: Enna panreenga?
Pratibha Patil: Kai Aataren..
Kalaignar: Nalla aatunga, enn na president ayitta indha madhiri nigazhchi la ellam kalandhukka mudiyadhu.

Jayanthi Natarajan(thinking to herself and smiles): Ippo ippadi dhan solvaaru..Ivarum neenga president aaga recommend panni irukaare..Inime neenga delhi function la ellam kaladhukareengalo illayo, aana thi.mu.ka voda mupperum vizha, kalaignar kavidhai nool veliyeetu vizha, stalin peranoda kaadhu kuthu vizha ellathalayum neenga kalandhukitte aaganum. avvlo enn, adutha magalir perani la ungalaye indha madhiri dance aada sonnalum solvaaru.. Adhellam pannalena, murasoli la "janadibadhi ennum jaganmohini" appadindra thalaipula unga kudumbathaye thitti kaditham ezhuthuvaru..

Friday 6 July 2007

How it will be?

1. Tamilians without movie.
2. Software people without internet.
3. Politicians without money.
4. Police without Bribe.
5. Peak hours without traffic.
6. Dinathandhi without cinema Ads.
7. Sun TV without cinema programs.
8. Indian cricket team with world cup.
9. Tamil cinema without Boozing scenes.
10. Marriage without noise.

English Bloopers



The picture was found outside a restaurant in Kolkata.

Wednesday 4 July 2007

Anti-fly drive planned in City

E Adikaranga
Indha linka padicha koundamani enna solvaru, "Idhellam aavardha da mandaiyya".