NaRukkunu 4 vaarthai

I came across this post through Ravi's blog

That is a very well written article and true to the last word. A must read for all Indians, especially the bureaucrats!

One of the points, discrimination against the foreign tourist, is a shame to the country. We are known as the land of hospitality, but are we really?

And for day-to-day life, the worst are the powercuts and potholes, to say nothing about potable water, traffic or clean living standards. Such simple things are a big deal for the common man.

I know a lot of people would consider this India-bashing. But these are the things that are glaringly obvious to a visitor. Something that each of us needs to consider.
In order to appreciate something or to get the bigger picture, you need to step out.
Living outside my birth nation, I have to grown to appreciate its finer points as well as to look at it objectively.

How many of us have no problems cleaning the house and throwing the garbage out on the road?

Lost friendships

Ever lose touch with friends and wonder where they are now? We live in such hurried times that we walk away from friends without a glance back. I have been thankful many a times when I have found some of them through the internet or through another mutual friend.

Drifting apart is sad, but a reality of life. Sometimes, we take the effort to reconnect, sometimes easier said than done. There are some friends we can always call after a hiatus and still have that special camaraderie. Friends who don't expect much from you. Who doesn't like them!

Countless times have I tried to find out about this girl I went to school with, but haven't been able to find out what happened to her. Another one, we drifted apart after meeting up again.

My husband seems to be better at keeping in touch with old friends than I am. Is it just a personality trait or plain laziness? I wish I could make that extra bit of effort, but it is oh so easy to drift away.

Out of the blue today, I remembered Sho and her sister Dee. Sho must be around 28 or so, her sister a year or 2 younger. I helped them with homeworks and projects, they moved out of the locality and we lost touch, although I saw them in school occasionally. Wonder what they are up to now?

Super(b)man!

He flies, zooms and rocks! A great movie with awesome special effects! Lois Lane was so-so. Routh as Superman is perfect! I feel a bit disloyal to say this, but he fits the role better than others(incl. the TV ones!). The little kid is cute! Kevin Spacey, needless to say, shines as Lex Luthor. And then our desi dood, Kal Penn as one of his side kicks. And he goes the way that all evil sidekicks go! And while on this topic, check this out. Also, a lil bit of trivia about the forelock of justice.

The trailer for Spidey was intriguing, to say the least! MY

Eeyore, etc

How many of us share his personality? Just wondering.

caught up on some movies over the weekend. Fanaa - could have been better, Phir Hera Pheri - laugh riot, keep your grey cells at home though, Chithiram pesudadi - Good one, Narain's body language needs improvement and there was a lot of needless yelling in the movie.

Krrish - yyess!

Superhero Krrish is out on the streets and the reviews are good. The movie is kid-friendly, which is definitely a rare thing in Indian filmdom. It promises to be cheesier and cornier than koi mil gaya, its prequel. How about that!

Soccer fever

(Yahoo!)

A view from the outside

Came across this website , a log of an American's journey through India. Interesting, to say the least! I haven't read all of it or watched the videos, but will get to them soon.

Back to the blo(g/ck)

Some training and some conferencing and now back to the daily grind.

Family vacation - a short trip away from the family - nice, but 10 more pounds to worry about!

Current read - Mitch Albom's Tuesdays with Morrie - Good so far!

A new favorite - Moe's

Cars - A must see movie, esp for the pseudo realistic locales!
Over the Hedge - Another good one, some risque dialogs that swishes over the little bitties' heads. Thankfully :-)

Time to watch something more on my level.

PS: 10 pounds is a lot on the way (hopefully) down.

oppression or democracy

Da Vinci code is banned in TN. Why? It offends some people. Didn't Boys "offend" more people? Doesn't SJS offend more people? Anything for a vote!

All these politicians need a crash course on democracy! Better yet, just a crash! :-)

They need to take care, if this goes on, some higher power might decide that the country needs to be "relieved" of such oppressors and deliver "freedom".

Would that be good or bad? hmm!

Reservation row

I got an email forward of the interview on Devil's Advocate between Karan Thappar and Arjun Singh (You can read it here).

Dumb politicians! They have no vision, only caste based politics is in play. To me, reservation should not be caste based. In fact, there should need be none. There is this quote by Nehru, that Thappar mentions in the interview -

dislike any kind of reservations. If we go in for any kind of reservations on communal and caste basis, we will swamp the bright and able people and remain second-rate or third-rate. The moment we encourage the second-rate, we are lost. This way lies not only folly, but also disaster.

This was after his idea of reservations failed to help the people who needed it most.

Would I want a barely-passed physician/surgeon doing a surgery on me? How many politicians would be willing to do that? If they need to help, they should help the brilliant but economically backward students. A rich sc/st guy's spoilt brat doesn't deserve it!

Would you drive on a bridge knowing that the engineer who built it was not qualified to do so?

I rant on this because I failed to get a seat in maths undergrad even though I had 91% in the subject whereas, my friend who got 70% had no such problems!!! I was lucky to have other options. But how many others lack that advantage!

Let the deserved get it. If we want to eradicate casteism, this is definitely not the right way to go about it.

Provide educational facilities to economically backward kids, provide them a good education until high school. Once they are out of school, it should be each to his/her own, if he/she is smart enough and DESERVES it, provide financial assistance for higher studies. This way, we not only help the ones who deserve it, but we make sure that jobs go to qualified people, improving the whole society eventually. And need I say, no quotas on job postings anywhere. Period!

Happy times are here again?

Seems to be the season for comedies in Tamil. Crazy's Jerry is on its way, while Shankar's house will be coming out with Imsai. I hope this signals a new trend for kollywood. They are any day better than sappy melodramas!

Visitation

I had to go to a visitation yesterday, a close friend's mom passed away. It was only when I saw the body, did I realize that the last time I had seen one at close quarters was my dad's. Till now, I hadn't had the nerve to attend a funeral/visitation - a fear of re-visitation.

There is a smell you can associate with death. And it came back yesterday. I still haven't been able to get rid of it. Time heals, but the scars never go away!

How valid are these exit polls?

IBN live posts the possibility of DMK achieving power (the right word).

Do these exit polls mean anything? Some say not.

I can't believe there are people who think he would be any better. They both belong to the same category, he is more seasoned in corruption, she is more seasoned in arrogance.

As long as the common folks keep running in circles, nothing will be achieved, except more corruption. We need to think out of the box, er, circle!

Disgustedly ranting...

Naushad

One of Hindi cinema's greatest composers passed away. I have grown up listening to and enjoying his songs. He gave some of the best classical numbers in movie music.

His biography

Some of my favorites:

my most absolute favorite of his - madhuban mein radhika naache re and Rafi was superb here.

O Duniya ke rakhwale

Pyar kiya to darna kya

Suhaani raat

mohe bhool gaye saanwariya

aaj ki raat mere

gaaye ja geet milan

Almost all songs in Pakeezah, Ganga Jamuna, and countless others.

Aptronym

What is that, you ask?

Refer here.

Now check this out.

polygraphing campaign promises

I think we need a new rule that all campaign promises should go thru polygraph testing. Where are the color tvs and 2 acre land going to come from? sonnatha thaan seivaara? Enge pochu intha concept last reign timela? Vanthutaangapa!

Thaanga mudiyala! Oru saathaarana clerk postukkey retirement age limit irrukkum bothu, oru oora katti meikkarathukku vendaama? nadakkave rendu aalu help vendirukku!

inge ittaanga antha manchaa colora (RDB)!

ellarum mosam thaan, aana ivanunga worsht of the worshtu!!!

Ithaiyum nambaraanga paaru, athungala sollanum! democracy is not for them. ivanga servilelaavey irunthaachu, maara maataanga!

propaganda vent! :-)

Spring fever

What I like about Spring:

Driving up a just rained road on a hill, surrounded by lush green, roads carpeted with mowed grass.

Driving up through this dense cluster of green, green trees, a moment's vacation during a busy work day.

A carpet of red and green beside the interstate - wild flowers at their best.

The warmth, oh yes, balmy, not too hot and not too cold. I can spend the whole day out there.

Being able to jog outside, listening to birds, and if I am lucky, meet a bunny or two sneaking into someone's garden.

Sighting a crane in the creek. (haven't seen this one yet this year)


What I don't like:

Tornado weather

sneezes, itches and headaches.

Car covered in yellow (thick pollen)

Not exactly Dickensish, as in best of times and worst of times, but close.

Jane Austen

I love Jane Austen novels. I love their spinoffs as much. I have been reading a series by Carrie Bebris, who writes mysteries solved by Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy and Mrs. Elizabeth Darcy. There have been 3 so far in this series. All the three were good mysteries. This last one, North By Northanger is based on Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey. We see a return of quite a few Austen characters. It has a good flow and is a quick read. If the locale was shifted to modern times, I am sure it would be as good.

Her first 2 were Pride and Prescience and Suspense and Sensibility. I am not sure how many would be in this series as there were only 6 novels written (published) by Jane Austen.

If you like Jane Austen, you might also enjoy the Jane Austen mystery series by Stephanie Barron. What is interesting in her books is that she introduces an historical figure in each of those books. I have seen Kipling, Churchill, Jack London and others featured as characters in her books. And they are good mysteries.

Then there is the Darcy's daughters book series by Elizabeth Aston. I have read 2 of those, and I think the third is out now.


Some interesting links:
Jane Austen: A Love Story


A review of Barron's first mystery

A list of other spinoffs

An austen blog


Who knows, in another 50 years or so, we will have Potter spinoffs!

Amirtham

When I saw a trailer of this movie on Sun TV, I was intrigued by what I saw and was curious enough to rent it over the weekend. There was the Brahmin background and good music.

The direction was shoddy at best. It could have been done better, much better. Navya Nair can act, and can also dance, I discovered. I loved the songs and the rich classical aura in the movie. If the thought is what counts, then yeah, they got that one right.

So, this was Bhavatharini's music, I hear? Loved a lot of it. Especially that small piece on kurai ondrum illai followed by the little alapanai. nice.

A good social message but the chaos was overwhelming. The hero was pathetic. I think I would have been better off watching just the songs (actually just the one where Navya dances) and buying the audio cd. Not that any of this was a surprise when I rented it!

Comeuppance?

Mugglenet.com has this little news blurb today:

Warner Bros. charges Bajaj with copyright violation

Warner Brothers has charged Bajaj Auto Ltd., a motor company located in India, with copyright violations. Jadoo, an Indian television show, has been running ads with a character that bears striking resemblance to our favorite boy wizard. A spokesman for Bajaj had the following to say:

The West feels that anyone in a red bikini is Baywatch and any flying boy is Harry Potter. Our concept of Jadoo is unique and we don't believe it's copied from Harry Potter....We feel the claim is exaggerated.

More here

I have seen this ad on SunTV, and it is very very , I mean very similar. But then these people (WB) need to look at all the movies that are released in the country. It is a way of life, copyright as in right to copy.

...that which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet