Book of Know-sense (No sense)

Gone with the wind - Mind Blowing

2007-12-02T03:57:00.000-08:00

Well I have been away from a lot of things off-late, thanks to some energy sapping, mind zapping working. This weekend was surely one of the more relaxing ones in the past few weeks and I treated myself with a good movie, which I've heard a lot of film buffs talk about, but never seen.

Gone in the wind is a movie set in Pre-civil war America with love being the essence of the movie, intertwined with war of words, swords and hearts. Although I could not relate completely to it right now, I can imagine that in 1939, it must have been a sensation to watch. There are a few things I admire about the movie, especially the acting of Vivien Leigh as Scarlett O 'Hara, who goes through a lot of ups and downs and comes across as a lady with great mental strength, and achieves her goals irrespective of the means of doing it.

If you can sit through all the drama, you might actually appreciate the effort that the director, Victor Fleming, has put in. I really am not movie connoisseur to enjoy every moment of the 3:45 hours of tale telling, nor do I always eye the nuances in camera techniques, and technical details. But if you surely have a lot of time to kill, watch this one.

. . . and remember it is worth watching the movie, just to spot the famous dialogue, Rhett Butler saying, "Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn"!!!

Paintballing!

2007-09-29T21:20:00.001-07:00

This is probably one of the most "Insane Game" I've ever played in my life. I dont know if there are any chances to do it in India, since I did it in London during my first visit to the city. Thanks to my ex-colleague - friend, I skipped a trip to scotland to travel to a forest to Paint-ball (although I am not too sure if the trade-off is justifiable)!!!

One of the pre-requisites is to have a big gang, that is ready to have a lot of fun, out-doors. Thankfully it was summer time in 05 and we were able to garner a decent population to Basing Stoke where we played the game. The idea is to simulate a war with guns and firing. The difference is the bullets are small paint-balls with different coloured paint in it. So you know you are out of a game when you get hit by the paint, and live and kicking if there's no paint on you. I should warn you however, that it is not as funny as it sounds because though you are given overalls and masks to protect yourself, if you get hit by the paintballs on your skin, you get terrible blisters. And these might take some time to heal.

But for me this was better than bungee-jumping and with the big crowd we had a lot of fun running around tanks, shooting each other, learning to hold a gun and fire, and trying to value ammunition. Each new reload of bullets cost us £ 10 which is quite some money, and the game itself is around £ 15 per head. The most expensive part was getting to the place costing us some £ 25. But it was quite some outing! Try it if you get a chance to!

Below is the big team of "Paint-warriors" that played the game!

Things I will do!!!

2007-09-23T06:06:00.000-07:00

We’ll I was tagged by KK on this topic. Most of my “things I will do” are really in the future – both in tense and pure sense! Although I’ve put my foot in many of the below listed things I like, have not really achieved anything as of now. But as a quote that I came across somewhere goes,

"Others will underestimate us, for although we judge ourselves by what we feel capable of doing, others judge us only by what we have already done."

So here it goes:

- Run a marathon before I complete 25 – Gonna start training for it!!!

- See the world – Trek to Machu Pichu, travel without a guide in China, Eat an exotic dish without knowing what it is made of!

- Run my best 26.2-miler filled with many “four-minute miles” at the Boston or Newyork marathons

- Own a Ferrari before I die – I really wish this comes true, or atleast drive it once :-)

- Learn to do some elegant ball-room dancing, with patience and synchronized movements with the dance partner – Right now I am the most impatient and a real bad pair dancer a lady can expect!!

- Do a road-trip to Goa with college pals – due for a long time now

- Do some serious body building, get a six-pack abs – All I have now is a back pack and a lunch pack

- Learn some decent photography and develop a hobby out of it!

- Learn to swim – Something which I have been putting aside due to laziness, high time to get to it! (Thanila gandam, sivagami computer solidichu)

- Live the extremes - Experience life in NY and in a remote South Indian village!!

- Earn a fortune from the stock markets - Warren Buffet Style

- Read a lot about world history - Other than from Wikipedia :-)

And yes the list grows and gets pruned as I get closer to reality! But really aim high - that's the moto! Thanks for tagging me KK!

ECR Run - Toll booth to Mahabs

2007-09-16T01:23:00.000-07:00

Chennai Runners have been doing some good running on the ECR between Toll booth and Mahabalipuram. Although it was unfortunate that I missed the earlier two runs, one due to laziness and the other due to illness, I was happy to join this one.

The climate was perfect with a light drizzle just before we started running, although I would have loved the drizzle a little bit later. 34 of us turned up for the run and a few kind people had volunteered to do the water points on 2 cars. We started dot at 5am and I did a slow jog and slowly increased my pace after I warmed up. Reached more than 8kms by 1 hour 15 minutes, although my muscles near my thighs started to pain a bit. I found out in the next water spot that I had missed the car with the safety kit and had to go ona few more miles. By 2 hrs I reached the other car and applied an overdose of pain-relieving cream to soothe the muscles.

I had almost planned to give-up when the people in the car told me I had done 19kms, although I discovered later that I had actually done only about 17 or something at that point. But the number 19 immediately brought me back to life and I started running, I reckon I completed the half-marathon by about 2:30 - 2:40 hrs. After this I decided to walk a bit since 21kms is the maximum I have done until now, and I was not very fit and had started my running only a few days back, after a two week hiatus! Had good company from Ramani Sir and some miles disappeared as we chatted our way to the restaurant.

Finally completed the distance of 27 kms, running :) at approximately 3 hours and 40 mts. Although not the very best of runs had a great time and did my max distance milestone. Gives me some confidence for my marathon plans down the road!

I did not click any pics, but will borrow some pics from the other runners and post some, or leave a link soon!

Must-be's in your library!

2007-09-13T21:57:00.000-07:00

I was at crossword (the bookshop within Shopper's stop) and picked up two real good books that I had wanted to read for a long time now!

Sometimes it dawns upon me really late why I tarry somethings sans reason. Probably because it is not the right time, or because my laziness is so imbibed that I dont realise these mistakes I do. Nevertheless, it is never late and I gave no second thoughts in picking up these two books.

1. DaleCarnegie - How To Win Friends and Influence People

This book came as a recommendation from my ex-Boss, American living Hispanic, who is a big fan of it. I never got to read the book and after more than two years picked it up yesterday. Hope to learn a lot from it!

2. Gary Hamel & C.K. Prahalad - Competing for the Future

This mistake dates back a bit longer, 4 years back in college a visiting professor / consultant who flew in from Newzealand to teach Strategy, recommended this book to a class of Naive wannabe corporates. Never even bothered to search if it was in the Reference library, although remember a friend telling me it is not present there!

So hope to learn about Strategy and how the authors coined the term "Core Competence" which is now the mantra for all big business firms!

A movie that I really liked - Swades

2007-09-06T00:58:00.000-07:00

This scene is really moving and easily one of those, where the director made a big impact on all NRI's watching it. This is not NRI guilt speaking, cos I am not one!

I have seen many such helpless children myself, on my many train journeys, and was moved seeing this 3 minute clip!

Dr. Chandrakant Sardeshmukh performance at Bangalore

2007-08-16T08:57:00.001-07:00

When did I become a big fan of sitar player, Dr. Chandrakant Sardeshmukh??

Well not too long back, I heard of my friends in Yuva Foundations trying to host a concert featuring the great sitar player for a fund-raising event. The proceeds will be used to fund the IBT program aimed at offering vocational skills training at the Secondary education level. Take a look at http://www.yuvafoundations.org/ for more information about them!

The show itself is at 6:30pm on September 1st at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Race course road, Bangalore - 1, and the tickets are priced at Rs. 400. If anyone is interested in getting tickets look at the poster below for their contact details and how to get your hands on one!!!

For Telebooking of tickets, home delivery and other queries, Call:
9901680139; 080 25705858; 9880164848; 9342014040

Coming to Paris

2007-07-09T20:31:00.000-07:00

Always wondered how it would be like to be in the city of lights which loves its food and is famous for a dozen other things like fashion, the revolution, romantic appeal and "rude waiters"??

Well, I had an opportunity to be there a few weeks back on a business trip and happened to go around the city and click some pics since during the weekend, there! Wanted to post on this a long time back, but somehow was stuck with loads of work. So here it is - Pariiii

Arc de triomphe - Reminder /remainder of the Napolean Bonaparte era. An aerial view will reveal that more than 7 streets meet at the junction where the arch is located!

Champs - Elysees is a very wide avenue that has Place de la Concorde on one end and the Arc de Triomphe on the other. Many contend that the avenue has lost its charm with the horde of Cafe's that have populated the pavements! What struck me was the walkway on one side was wider than many roads in the Mylapore and Mandaveli roads in Chennai :)

You wonder what a movie could do to a musuem? The Louvre is a living example, I hear the visitors to the museum has increased by leaps ever since it features in the movie The Davinci Code. And ofcourse there is the other crowd puller - A small 3 foot x 1.5 foot painting of The Monalisa!!!

And any tour to the city is never complete without THIS - The Eiffel Tower! It was peak summer in Paris when I visited and I wanted to see the Eiffel all lit-up in the night which is a special attraction, I am told. I clicked this snap at 20:30 hrs!

So much for the night effect!!

The Good German / Where Eagles Dare

2007-07-01T07:56:00.000-07:00

Have been trying to catch up on a few movies that I've got strong recommendations from my friends. Although the Good German was not on this list, I watched it this week. A surprise to see that this movie has been shot in old hollywood B&W standards. The film is about how the US forces hunted down scientists who worked on Nazi rocket programs and who were shielded from war-crime prosecution, only to work on US rocket programs in the future. Although the story is very slow-paced and has an element of suspense, it somehow did not have a good screenplay. The director was bringing too many ideas, not focusing on any though! Should be an entertaining 1:45 hrs if you like second world war related movies!

Where Eagles Dare is much older action-adventure fiction starring Richard Burton, Clint Eastwood and Mary Ure. It is an entertaining 2:30 hrs packed with a stealth mission to get the names of conspiring moles holed up in the MI-7 passing intelligence to the Nazi forces. Clint Eastwood hardly speaks but as stylish as he always is. I am told this movie was a breakthrough in his carreer and he caught the eyes of all big men. Good watch! Dont miss this one!

Chennai Runners in The Hindu

2007-06-11T06:38:00.000-07:00

Chennai Runners were covered by the Hindu yesterday, and an article about the running club appeared on the 2nd page in today's paper. I couldn't make it though and missed the photo shoot! :(

You can read the article here:
http://www.hindu.com/2007/06/11/stories/2007061103330200.htm

If you guys are interested in joining us for a run on weekends, do let me know or call the number provided in the link. Also feel free to recommend the group to any of your running buddies!

More posts by fellow runners: here and here

Inspiring Stuff !!!

2007-06-10T22:19:00.000-07:00

Chennai Runners Calling - Come Join the Gang

2007-06-05T21:50:00.001-07:00

Chennai Runners Website - Up and RUNNING

2007-05-31T22:26:00.001-07:00

The Chennai runners website is up, though we need to structure it and add content. But right now, you can visit the home page and take a look at the happy runners caught smiling before the Bangalore marathon.

http://www.chennairunners.com/

George Orwell

2007-05-29T04:49:00.000-07:00

I guess George Orwell is one of the best authors I've come across, with a unique style in satire. Read two books of his Animal Farm (this was quite a long time back) and 1984 (very recently), the book that gave rise to the term "Big Brother". I guess the movie V for Vendetta also drew cues from this book. Both books talk about political organizations, and a totalitarian governing style with limited information availability, suppression of any heresy and power politics. Great reads, wonder if our governments are moving towards this??

The one other thing I am passionate about - Dancing!!!

2007-05-24T03:48:00.000-07:00

and here's d guru of dancing!

Bangalore Midnight Marathon 2:50

2007-05-23T22:36:00.000-07:00

Guess I am the last guy in my complete group to blog on my experience at the Bangalore midnight marathon that happened at 00:45 hrs last Sunday, 20th May. I should say it is perhaps the best run I have done, completing a half marathon (21 km) in about 2 hours and 50 minutes. My training runs with Chennai Runners in the last two weeks before the run came in handy to hit a sub-3 hr completion.

I started running 2 years back actually to cut on some extra weight I had put on in college, with all the gluttonous food habits and lazing around. But somehow I couldn't push myself a lot since I had seasonal bronchitis problems that gave me a very hard breathing after running as less as less as 0.5 kms. But I slowly got into running as much as 4/5kms, which is when I started hitting the gym too and spent more time building mass and shaping up than on hitting the road.

This is the second time I am doing a half marathon and I have improved my leaps and bounds since I took 3:40 for my previous run. But that run was not as happy a finish, first because I took a lot of time, second because I was in pain. I had completed a minor surgery on my right heel a couple of months before the run and so had to stop after 10kms and walk slowly for the rest of the distance. However, this time around, I had kept myself fit, did 10 kms in a bit more than an hour and finished the run strong, except some pain in my ankles.

The other two things that helped my run were music and my running buddies. I had this sound track of Al Pacino's speech as a football coach to his team in the movie Any Given Sunday on my mobile. Everytime I was listening to it, I was motivated not to stop and hit my target. When I completed, some of my friends with whom I had trained were telling me of their completion timings. I know they had trained hard for it and deserved it, but then comparing that to my 2:50 kind of started to humble me a bit. And then I came saw the phrase "Run Your Own Race" in kk's blog and an article on "The spirit of running". It made me realise, I had won myself in my race, compared to my previous run.

Now I know that I just need to keep winning myself over and over again. I also train weights at the gym, but there never was a day I felt as elated as the two days I did my half marathons. And now, I hope I can keep running, and aim to complete my first full marathon, very soon.

Thanks to the CHENNAI RUNNERS, my friends, family, the crowd on the marathon night, volunteers, support crew and all the participant runners who cheered me to the finish!

You can read the posts of my other friends who ran with me here, here and here.

Below is a pic of the Chennai Runners, before the run! (My face is kinda visible in d background :D)

AOF

2007-05-22T07:59:00.000-07:00

If you are wondering why I am yet to blog about my great running experience at bangalore, it is because my ass is on fire here at work and am a bit too busy!

Will post before end of week, and I guess until then you can try memorizing this amazing piece of dialogue that I can't stop admiring!

Voilà! In view, a humble vaudevillian veteran, cast vicariously as both victim and villain by the vicissitudes of fate. This visage, no mere veneer of vanity, is a vestige of the vox populi, now vacant, vanished. However, this valorous visitation of a bygone vexation stands vivified, and has vowed to vanquish these venal and virulent vermin vanguarding vice and vouchsafing the violently vicious and voracious violation of volition. The only verdict is vengeance; a vendetta held as a votive, not in vain, for the value and veracity of such shall one day vindicate the vigilant and the virtuous. Verily, this vichyssoise of verbiage veers most verbose, so let me simply add that it's my very good honor to meet you and you may call me V. (Vignesh??) ;-)

Need to watch this movie - before my run!!!

2007-05-17T05:31:00.000-07:00

A Good Run

2007-05-05T23:23:00.000-07:00

Did a great run (atleast to my standards) with the Chennai Runners groups today. The guys in the group are really amazing and run at an average speed > 8/9 kmph. Though I can hardly keep-up and the sultry climate in the morning almost exhausted me, I mixed up a bit of run-walking to do ~15kms @ 2hrs.

Have to get rid of some cramps now, before running again!

Aiming to do B'lore half marathon < 2.45 hrs.

Bangalore Midnight Marathon

2007-05-03T05:45:00.000-07:00

At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, A few mad men will awake to run the Bangalore Marathon on May 19th.

Yeps, I am running the half marathon this time too and hope to clock a decent time. Yet to start serious training, though running now and then. My run last time got screwed with severe knee pain due to bad shoes (although I completed it).

Lets see what I can "ACHIEVE" this time!

PS: U can download the form here:- http://www.srushti.in/crossover/images/doc/onlinereg.pdf

24 and Ticking!!!

2007-05-02T05:56:00.000-07:00

The average Indian is under a huge time pressure, to become settled with things like a profession, material possessions etc. within established time intervals. The rebels are looked upon as a grave aberration and social outcasts. My not being in the US doing MS or not working in Infosys / TCS / Wipro and not getting anywhere near settling down, puts me into an unfortunate predicament, as seen by others!

Though I dont give a hoot about this, what really bothers me is my lack of passion in what I do for my living, and what is seen as the road to Eldorado by all around me. Money and material are motivating, but does this last a lifetime? So, I keep asking myself what I really want to do and the answers are simply not flowing.

Dunno why this introspective post. But something to think about, I am 24 and the clock is ticking!

Weekend Work-outs

2007-04-02T06:59:00.000-07:00

This weekend was different and instead of hitting the gym, I joined a couple of cycling enthusiasts on ECR. (I've done this once earlier)

Although the plan was to hit Mahabs, we decided to turn-around, halfway. (wont say cos of whom :-) it wasn't me

Anyways, if you guys plan to do this i have a couple of things to say to you:

Fact 1: Ride height is a very important factor, more so in a cycle which does not have a well-cushioned seat

Fact 2: Check fact one before doing any long distance cycling as it might severly "Back-Fire"

(Ille sollu mudiyadha eduthula valikumappa)

The trees are gone

2007-03-26T07:12:00.000-07:00

My usual weekly jogging track takes me from Saidapet court to IIT campus gates, enroute Anna University and back home. Sometimes I stretch out a bit more if my legs are willing to carry me a bit longer. The past month, I have seen some change of scenes during my runs. Obviously the traffic becomes maddenning earlier than before, but more than that, the trees that used to be on both sides of the road are gone, taking along with them the shade.

Apparantley, the trees were a threat to motorists who are neither going to go slower or become more saner. Sardar patel road is now as treeless as the rest of the city roads!!! :((

College Memorabilia

2007-02-19T05:19:00.000-08:00

Came across this yesterday, when I was looking for some good song collection to listen to!

The CD in the pic has been signed by all my college mates who worked together to make Vyas Bhavan's Nite happen (a cultural program). Bits Pilani - Those were the best days of my life!

September 17th - Bangalore Marathon

2006-09-22T05:47:00.000-07:00

Last weekend was an eventful one, spent with some of my friends in Bangalore, running the Bangalore Marathon!

No not the full marathon (42km) but rather the half marathon (21km) which is equally difficult but the most I could even think of doing. I am no long distance runner and planned to do it just to see if I am physically fit or strong to take it. Well, discovered I am not but learnt it the hard way but the best way. I am used to running 3/4kms at the max. continuously and did it without any trouble. Afterwards I saw some of my fellow runners beckoning not to stop. I assured them to join in a minute not knowing I would never see them until finish. I proceeded to a walk jog mix and completed 8kms overall.

There were water outlets all along, but had not reached that stage yet and I just sipped water in some of these stops. Within 1 hour and 20 mts I was near the hebbal flyover, that would be the turning point for the half marathoners. I got a generous portion of ink slashed onto me, spoiling my shirt, as an indication of my reaching the half mark. I continued to run / walk until I
reached 13 kms. At this point my knees started to pain, my back hurt, my eyelids popped out, my brain was screaming, my stomach aching, hunger striking and so on. Too many things happenning to me and I did not know which to attend to, but there was a clear signal from my right heel, which had undergone a minor surgical operation 3 months back. I was both tired and bowled out by fear of aggravating the pain from this factor and immediately ceased running!

Noooooooooooooo! I dint chicken out of the run, I am made of better stuff that that, continued doing a walk, and any run I did after this point was only at traffic junctions, where the cops were holding the vehicles for the runners. I completed the run in 3hrs and 38 minutes with a good first half run and a slow walk for the second part of the marathon. However, the whole point was to reach the goal and that I sure did!

I dont know if I will keep running these marathons or become an avid runner, but the feeling of sitting in my air-conditioned cubilce in the office, boasting to colleagues and all is an attractive proposition, worth the effort!

Besides what would I have done had I not run?????

Still, do I want to run????

Still finding out!!!!

Saturday morning burns!

2006-09-11T03:04:00.000-07:00

A purportedly "Fun in the Sun" event planned last saturday turned out to be a bright failure. It was so hot that I got sun burns sitting in the beach, gaping at the open sea. Atleast I did not exhaust myself by dancing or palying cricket in the raging sun. Always wondered why food always sucks in the seaside resorts!

But all this does not matter when you are out there with friends! (hmmm...but would have been better with good food and a better choice of time or destination!!!)

Fashion Folks

2006-09-06T07:26:00.000-07:00

Well Italiano is special for many other things than just Pizaas and Sphagettis! Italians are probably one of the most fashion concious lot, including men. It was unbelievable to see Discovery - Travel & Living claim that on an average 30% of the salary earnt, is spent by men on clothing!

Can you believe it??? And we spend nights thinking if it is worth givng a shot at that discount sale in the city!

hmmm.....That's a dream 'ARMANI' suit in the pic!

We'll one day ...... I see myself having a wardrobe filled with it! :-)

Yuva Foundations

2006-08-31T20:28:00.000-07:00

This is the non-profit NGO that is an initiative of some of my Bitsian friends in Bangalore and of which I am a member.

There are quite a few people from Yuva participating in the Bangalore Marathon on September 17th, and it would be very helpful if you donate generously for the cause.

The fundraising is happening for project - Plan 100.

For details visit: http://www.yuvafoundations.org/yuva_content/project_plan_100.html

Here are the other details:

How can you help us?

Kindly contribute for this cause. There are several ways to do so and you can choose your convinent method.
Please mention your contact details in any transaction so that we can get back to you.

1). Transfer money online to ICICI Bank
Account details:
Yuva Foundations,
040101000185
JP Nagar Branch, Bangalore

2). Demand draft or a cheque in favor of Yuva Foundations and please mail it to
#416 Pranava,
8th Main, 8th Cross-,
MICO Layout,
BTM II Stage
Bangalore 560076,
Karnataka India

3). Donate online. Please visit our website www.yuvafoundations.org and make a donation using paypal service provided in there.

4).People US can follow method 3, but sometimes the charges are costlier in that process so you can send an e-check to the following my checking account number: 7021700658 & bank routing number: 042000314
Account holder's name - Sundar R Balasubramanian

5). If you wish to be a part of Yuva in the marathon or for any of the projects please us at info@yuvafoundations.org

6). Most important please forward this information to your friends who you believe can help in this effort.

So incase any of you would like to contribute, please go ahead and do so or contact me vigneshwaran.chandran@gmail.com or info@yuvafoundations.org or more details about Yuva!

Today is Blog Day

2006-08-30T21:20:00.000-07:00

Actually picked this topic from the weblog of Kiruba Shankar and on Blog day I am supposed to list out 5 blogs that interest me a lot!

I would say the following five blogs are unique in their own ways, focussing on different subjects with some built on a specific theme and others pretty random.

www.kishousk.blogspot.com - F1 racing Blog

www.sidin.blogspot.com - Sui Generis / Trivia

www.trivialmatters.blogspot.com - Photo Blog

www.quirky-stuff.blogspot.com - News in Humour

www.sudhishkamath.blogspot.com - Film Critic

I guess theres a lot more out there, just that these I keep visiting a bit more regular than others, though my regularity is more of irregularity with respect to reading blogs!

:-)

Run on ECR

2006-08-29T23:50:00.000-07:00

Well a tiring day with a lot of eats at the end of the tunnel! (Thanks to Ganesha)

Driven by an urge to test my physical endurance I decided to join a couple of colleagues for a run on ECR on Sunday. Well all was fine except that one of the runners went into an uncharacteristic slumber and I had to jump on his back and tear him off his mattress. After a lot of hardwork (I meant the lost sleep), we hit the road at 6:30am and as always, misfortune or rather the Sun was shining brightly on me. It was really sunny and I knew immediately that it would surely play its part conscientiously in killing me through the course of the run.

The first 5kms was no problem, since that is the usual distance that I am trained to do. The next one, after having another friend join us, went fine until I caught a couple of dogs sneering at me. Well, I must tell that I am shit scared of dogs, be it a cute little doggy or a doberman. ECR is damn crowded and a busy place for a stretch of 5 kms after Thiruvanmiyur and this is where a lot of my four legged enemies were wondering what this useless human is upto on two running like a mad man!

However I did do a run, walk combo (walking more out of fear of being bitten in my bums rather than exhaustion) and completed a 12 km stretch. Thanks to a friend who was cycling for some distance with us, I took up to the cycle after this for about another 5-6 kms while he hit the road. When we were about 5 kms away from the ECR Toll booth, I decided to turn back since I had a pooja to attend that morning (and a bigger urge to break my fast with lots of Ganesh chaturthi goodies).

It was a good run in all, though it could have been better had we started a bit early and if it were not for my fear of dogs! KK was the only monster who completed all the 17 kms like he was just running nothing! (he is a more serious runner unlike me) I might do the Bangalore half marathon and if I do, I hope the little training that I have put in will come handy!

Of Fools and Fluids!

2006-08-23T00:28:00.000-07:00

It is in the news once more, idols of gods are being relentlessly fed with milk ever since that small kid carrying milk to his house tripped and spilt the contents on a wayside Ganesha. While some take to a scientific explanation others are being adamant in being stupid, living stupid and relishing the bliss of stupidity. The female on the TV screen, covering the events live, cannot stop wondering how big and quickly this news is spreading without an iota of realization that she is infact one of the many culprits balooning a small act of irrelevance to unimaginanble proportions. I guess Indra Nooyi would have immediately thought of feeding some Pepsi to Lord Ganesha and then having a full page newspaper ad reading "When the Gods can drink, So can you!!!" On the other hand, The Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) is inspecting the content of pesticides in Indian milk to ban any further production by cows until implentation of stringent production standards.

Well this is how I am feeling watching eminent Indian news channels everyday!

Yuck!

Music to my ears

2006-08-21T23:06:00.000-07:00

He is the god, the guru, a great composer and a musical genius!!!

No, I am not talking of A.R.Rehman for once (No need to mention the fact that he is also a great music composer), but Howard Shore, the guy who did the musicals of the Lord of the Rings.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howard_Shore

Now dont start thinking I am obsessed with LOTR. But it is some really good piece of music composed.

The other chap I've been listening to off late is Hans Zimmer, well he did the famous Lion King, Last Samurai and Pirates of the Caribbean.

Give it a try, its worth it!

The Lord of the Rings

2006-08-01T20:34:00.000-07:00

The differences in the human mind and its likes and dislike are so different and an instance of this could be caught by the views that people take on a single book. There are some who relegate books that have a fantasy theme and are not realistic as underserving and uninteresting. Still, mine is one of those brains that loves to see culture, valour, virtues and great deeds in simple, creative, long and enthralling prose as is presented in the book, "The Lord of the Rings" (LOTR).

Well, this is not the first time I am reading it and I have seen the reproduction of the book on Silver screen too, without disappointment at all. However, there are some parts of the book and excerpts that I love really too much, which prompted me a post on it especially since it has been a long time since I sat to blog on a book that I love.

The LOTR is a book filled with poems everywhere some sad, some cheerful, some potending evil and many others on different notes. However, the very verses that explain the ruling ring is a well versed rhyme that captures the readers imagination and is purported to be set in Elven-lore.

"Three rings for the Elven-kings under the sky,
Seven for the Dwarf-lords in their halls of stone,
Nine for Mortal Men doomed to die,
One for the Dark Lord in his dark throne.
In the Land of Mordoe where the shadows lie,
One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them,
one Ring to bring them all, and in the darkness bind them
In the land of Mordor, where the shadows lie."

Perhaps the best of the first part in the book, "The fellowship of the rings" is the chase of the 9 black riders on their fast steeds, in pursuit of the ring bearer, Frodo Baggins in the company of a few other hobbions. The descriptions and the arrival of the black knights and their pursuit is exciting throughout, and especially at the last lap of the journey to Rivendell where Glorfindel bears Frodo across the river.

"'Ride on! Ride on!' cried Glorfindel, and then loud and clear he called
to the horse in the elf-tongue: Nero lim, Nero lim, Asfaloth"

hearing which the animal thunders across the barren lands and the river to the road of Rivendell.

Part two, the two towers is a bridge and steers the storyline through an intermediate battle against Saruman. The most disgusting part in the book are the descriptions and conversations of Wormtongue (Grima), who poisons the spirit of the King of Rohan, Theodeon. But for his speech and the look (in the movie, man they chose a real stinker) the second part also moves fast especially when Theodeon moves his army to helm's deep and meets Saruman's Orc fighters in true bravery with support from Hurons and the Ents (tree like creatures that speak and walk) aroused from their calm living. This part also has Frodo and Sam wise his companion and servant guided by a servile, cunning, treacherous and loathsome creature called Smeagol who is forever enticed by the Ring.

The way of the author is always in the lines of hope when all is lost and help when it is most expected. When all is forlorn in the war agianst evil, when Gondor is under seige, when its beautifully constructed city Minas Tirith is burning, the Tolkien portrays the arrival of hope and help is arguably the most exciting and admirable part in the book!

"Gandalf did not move. And in that moment, away behinf in some courtyard of the city a cock crowed. Shrill and clear he crowed, recking nothing of wizardry or war, welcoming only the morning that in the sky far above the shadows of death was coming with the dawn.

And as if in answer there came from far away another note. Horns, horns, horns. In dark Mindolluin's sides they dimly echoed. Great horns of the north wildly blowing. Rohan had come at last."

The third part is by far the most exciting bit, and though anyone could guess the ending to be "Good triumphs over evil", TOlkien has taken care to keep the reader guessing when? and how? The Return of the king talks about how Gondor and the rest of the men of noble living win over the dark shadow and overthrow the threatening power, helped by two mere halfing wandering in the wild, who find the deep volcano where the ring was forged and cast it into that Mount Doom. A rhyme that I typically liked in this part was Aragorn's healing of Eowyn and Merry of the shire after they are fallen in war by the black breath.

"When the black breath blows
and death's shadow grows
and all lights pass,
come athelas! come athelas!
Life to the dying
In the King's hand lying"

The preface of the book reads, there are only two categories of men in this world, the ones who have read The lord of the rings and the one's who havent. It is so true, if you really like and appreciate creativity and extravagant thinking, you will surely appreciate the compeltely imaginary setting that Tolkien has conjured in his mind and conveyed through this book!

Definitely one of the best works of fiction!

2006-07-29T03:46:00.000-07:00

Well, offlate I have been giving a good thought at my hopeless tarrying in things that I ought to do and undetermined efforts at the things that I ought to get. For a change I am planning to move ahead and do some shopping for a companion who will lead me out of this troubled existence, who will help me feel the morning air on my face, who will refresh me and charge me with an undying energy and who will help me understand and realise a true purpose to this living.

Well,lets see if this thought of mine lives up to see the tomorrow or dies, only to become an afterthought!!!!

2006-07-14T22:59:00.000-07:00

All is not bad after all, atleast my work outs and once in a week jogs have helped me to stay fit. A check of my BMI using a borrowed 5 rupee coin(well dint have any change :-) at Mayaajal, let me know that I am in the normal height-weight bracket.

Some good news, at last!

Laugh ur ass off!!!

2006-07-11T05:06:00.000-07:00

This is such a cool telephone prank, listen to it to have a good laugh :-)

http://thisisfunnystuff.blogspot.com/2006/07/pretty-funny-3-way-telephone-prank.html

Dunno Why!

2005-12-09T21:13:00.000-08:00

Along a lost path,
amongst the old tress,
alone i walked,
without a planned way!

Belong i nowhere,
dont know a place here,
i do the same thing,
without a small grin!

Without a clue,
devoid of dreams,
dont know my goal,
within I scream!

Will wait some more time,
until it's my time,
for me to act sure,
and get what's mine!

Back after a Hiatus!

2005-11-25T22:36:00.000-08:00

After a big break, I am back in the market, blogging. I had the opportunity to be in London for a few days and the best way, I thought, to get started would be with a few pics from my travel.

CANARY WHARF - Business hub of London, where Obese Investment bankers and beautuful corporate chicks do the rounds ...

THE BIG BEN - Well it feels great to actually be at a place that you've always seen on postcards and pictures. The Big ben is a beautiful sight especially at nights ... A must see if you are there!

THE HOUSE OF PARLIMENTS - Built in the 19th century after half the building got gutted in the fire...Escaped the Gun Powder plot, and stands majestically on the banks of Thames. There goes the money from all the ex-colonies!

WESTMINSTER ABBEY - Nothing prompted me to see this place save the mentions in The Davinci Code by Dan Brown. In London everything's money. Couldn'e beleive my ears when I was asked to pay around 10 pounds to see all those tombstones! man the British are .....

TOWER BRIDGE - The Tower Bridge is on the Thames and a beautiful sight especially when it opens apart to let yachts or liners to pass through. It is old but still in perfect shape and opens up almost 500 times a year. Was lucky to catch a glimpse when open!

THE TOWER OF LONDON - I wondered what was so big about this place, until a friend pointed out that it has the Kohinoor Diamond "gifted" to the British by India during their colonial occupation....If u dont know the meaning of "Dezinformatsiya", this is the perfect example!

Rest to come ......

After 20/5 Years

2005-07-26T05:50:00.000-07:00

Brrr .... it was a cold saturday evening in Chennai! Dont get confused! My company works on saturdays and my seat is directly below, between two A/c ducts. So no wonder it was a cold saturday evening.... about 5:30pm with no mood to work and the whole floor gathered in groups discussing their weekend plans. I was pondering how my meeting was gonna be within the next half an hour!

3:40 pm, sleepy heads, tired faces, lone teacher speaking out to students who are half-heartedly listening to a uninteresting chapter in Physics. Half the guys keep staring at their wrist watches, eagerly awaiting the toll of the bell.

I signed the exit register, (god my company is still in the 80's) and walked through the sparsely crowded street enjoying the sun, knowing that I will start hating it in the next two minutes when I recover from the deep freeze state I was put in because of the a/c! I caught a bus to a nearby place, but alighted half-way. These were familiar roads that my legs had trodden and known for a long-time. The residential colony was too familiar though a few buildings had come-up and a few others gone. There was the play-ground and the nearby decrepit juice corner.

Saturday afternoon - 1:00pm there's the school bell. 1:05 pm a 100 guys pour out into the nearby playground sans any regard for the terrible summer! Cricket - the sport that drives India crazy could be the only thing on their minds. The crowd is so dizzying that at times a fielder would chase a ball hit by a batsman from a different team. Nevertheless they play on and on ... until their tireless legs betray them!

I had always loved this haven of trees surrounding this special place where I spent my childhood! Its like u r in the woods of a great city - an oxymoron but a reality! And then there was this house where someone had lived long back. Nothing special now, but a few years back my heart usually skipped a beat when I crossed this house, and usually sang some melodious song that soothed the heart!

A boy and a girl in their teens, talking to each other, laughing and sharing jokes, speaking of the crushes their friends had in the class on others, and a dozen other things that would have been graded meaningless by some sane people. A small trace of perspiration, a dry throat, an intimidated mind ... and he mustered all his courage to tell the girl a truth that was a long-kept secret. But then, he bent his head bade good-bye and walked his way home with a heavy heart, holding back a revelation that would be unuttered and undisclosed for eternity!

While all this while, this spate of cherished moments were flashing through, I heard a loud and deafening call .... There they were, faces that I had last seen in the farewell that we bade each other on the day of the last exam! Sometimes u never know why contacts are lost. The world is at that phase of technological advancement where losing your friends is not possible. But this happens to most people due to changing environments and people and attitudes that an individual is subjected to in life. Anyway the agenda of the day was enjoyment not introspection of the follies in young people! So we did enjoy our evening with a long chat and dinner at Tandoor in Aruna's [I hit on a wonderful luck and was sitting along with two really Gorgeous girls all the time that is really worth a separate post]!

We had all fared well in our respective areas ... and hoped that each of us do well in the future too! But this time when we parted we made a vow to stay in touch! :)

Running - Around

2005-07-11T20:30:00.000-07:00

Bad days these .... I am running around thinking to myself that I am occupied for the day. But actually bad-time management is costing me to stay away from blogging and also, the new distraction Orkut!

neways, will post soon on a very hot topic!!!

Kung-fu Hustle

2005-06-28T06:18:00.000-07:00

Like most creative people, neither did I want a movie review to enter my blog (Though my degree of creativity is a highly debatable point). But my movie habits are infact ocassional which implies reviews also come that way. So you can actually excuse it!

Most of you would actually have expected an action movie seeing the movie title and the publicity posters posing a brawny top-less Male!
But actually the movie was a big surprise! Anyways I wasn't generous minded to go to a theatre to watch this one (Actually I seldom go there, probably Anniyan might draw me). My cousin got a CD from his friend and my parents were already watching the climax when I came home after office!

By Jove this movie is gonna beat Matrix, I thought ..... Hey wait a second! Damn! I thought it was special effects but afterall it was my wonderful CD player getting stuck all the time and playing the CD frame by frame. Whatever, I thought I am gonna see this one for sure. I sat down with a pack of chips on a saturday evening to watch the movie.

The first thing that put me off was, the fact that the movie was in Chinese and not in English ... I wonder why the title appeared in English in a Chinese movie CD. And then luck was on my side again cos there were English translations available at the bottom of the screen. The movie is actually eulogising the art of Kung-fu! But the director got a bit too excited when he picturised his emotions in the movie. He made Newton bend down in shame because, if an apple knew kung-fu it could actually control g=9.8m/sec and land safely and in style.

All the best athletes can start looking for other means of living cos, if Kung-fu masters participated in Olympics, then they would reach the finish line before the stop-watch can even be started. If opera singers can only break glasses with their shrill pitch, they better be careful because a roar from a Kung-fu master can break buildings and bones much the same way. Musical instruments can go only to the extent of entralling a person, but in China sound waves from an instrument can dissect objects, better than a knife!

Basically, this movie proves to the whole wide world that Physics is a big hoax! (Now Why didn't they direct the movie before I had to do my Physics course in college. Atleast I wouldn't have thought I was the only brainless brat). If you have a dislike for reality and want to always defy logic, then this is a wonderful action movie.

On the other hand, if you are a pretty normal human being ... watch it with your friends for a good laugh!!

But if you are more sensible than that ... keep away from this!

Few hour fantasies ...

2005-06-20T05:48:00.000-07:00

Wonder what its all about ... Tagged by lucas, review on movies. Okay. I dont watch much. But there are a select few that have impressed me a lot. It goes like this

Best movies I have ever seen
Indiana JOnes and the Last Crusade:

That's what I call a real moview.

Guns of Navarone:

For those who love war-stories, this is simply fantastic. Gregory peck and his team were too good in their roles.

Nayagan:

Read the book by Mario Puzo. Watch the Godfather. Then watch Nayagan. You wont have words to appreciate all three ....

Titanic:

Some people might say this is becoming a highly redundant and banal list. But what the heck, this was a great movie. I loved the special efects (Though the love story was Indian Masala packed in English cartons)!

Missiamma:

Dating back to early 60s and 70s. This is a comic Tamil movie. Classics sometimes remain unmatched.

Dilse:

Picturisation, Maniratnam, erstwhile beautiful Manisha are the only reasons ....and ofcourse A.R.Rehman

The Legend of bhagat Singh:

This movie ought to be a real Legend, though the tasteless bollywood buggers sent it to the pits in box-office....nevertheless, its still awe-inspiring

Moondram Pirai:

Tamil movie. National award winner. Kamal at his best!

Worst movies I have ever seen

Kabhi kushi kabhi Gham:

I would kill anyone who liked this movie

Aalavandhan/Abhay:

Kamal at his worst

Last movie I saw

Chandramukhi:

Good entertainer

The BITS factor

2005-06-15T21:25:00.000-07:00

Early morning in office, when work beckons though you are in the laziest part of the day, is the best time to check-out blogs...
(Being an early bird in office also has its advantages)

The blog topic in one of my friend's blog-site's made me a bit nostalgic today. The blog was his expereinces travelling by the countryside ... and I must say that in India, like most developing nations, whatever lies outside a handful of towns is country-side!
Journeying is at its best in some parts of India and if you haven't been to the Indian Wild Wild West (Actually north-west to be precise), then you are missing out on a great experience. This is one memorable experience you will cherish for the rest of your life!

The incident dates back one and a half years when two desperate beings (Thats me and my friend) undertook a historical trip to the (until then hated but now revered) great Bits, Pilani. I was into my final year of college then and was an intern at General Motors. I took up the six month internship at GM in the notion that I will learn a lot by working with the world's largest car maker and it would be an enriching experience which I could use once I enter the Corporate world. It is another story that I was rather forced into GM since I had opted for other better places ...

But the six months were the worst part of my life till now. I took up a housing at Gurgaon, near my office and found out that when Magazine photographers shoot a picture of a high-rise in this fast-growing city, they take a lot of care in covering up all the wretched slums and small gullies adjacent to these towering structures. It was a pathetic city growing in a unworldly fashion!! One of my worst-nightmare was transport. In Gurgaon an average resident owns a car and so the government took it for granted that Buses are no longer important. So you have the best super luxury buses plying at the right times ....

So much for the background. Imagine two guys putting up separately in a concrete jungle with nothing to do, knowing noone and a generrous stipend. Obviously me and this guy wanted a break and our immediate or rather the only respite then was a super-place 200km away. We decided to abscond for 2 days after the weekend and left to Pilani. And then how do we travel, by one of those super-bus coaches of-course. I was told that all outbound buses stop at a junction in Gurgaon, since the bus-stand was 6 kms away from my rented house. I was adviced to whistle, wave my hand or shirt, Jump in the middle of the road or other innovative methods to make them stop.

So, all prepared and planned we reached the junction and started our wait. One hour no signs of a bus headed to Pilani. Two guys smoking bedis came on either side.

The guy: "Baiyee, aap Pilani jarahey kya."
Me: Han ji (The only words I can speak clearly in Hindi)
The guy: "Gurgaon mein ek aur bus-stand hey ... Sivaji jn"

Now I was surprised by the philanthropy of the guy only to find out that he was a local Share Auto wala gathering people for his ride! We gave our bags to him and were shocked when he just threw it on top of the vehicle as if it were a gunny bag. There was no use fighthing with him and trying to educate him. So we got in and almost choiked to death from the fumes coming out of the vehicle's exhaust. I wonder what he used as fuel. Atlast at 9:00 we reached the bus-stand and behold, we were the only people out there except some METRO workers which is expected to connect Gurgaon with Delhi in 2010. Before we could turn around and ask any questions, the guy gunned his engine and speeded down the high-way.

Two poor souls stranded in the middle of the road, on a cold night with no transport to go back to their homes but faith in the words of some unknown Auto driver's words, that we get buses to Pilani at this hour. Hopeless, we stood watching wonderful deluxe buses heading towards Jaipur. Just when I was asking myself, why the Birlas missed out on Jaipur to build BITS, there came a rickety bus treading the empty roads. We jumped into it without a word only to find that there were no seats. We got the tickets from the conductor and then started scanning the seats ... Was this a Love Coupe - Adults only bus. In two of the seats a Husband and wife we happily sleeping cuddled and hugging each other .... We complained to the Junta only to be told that they are sick. I didn't know what I should say in Hindi for, "I am sick of you guys too".

Anyways for the next 1.5 hrs we stood all the way playing Snakes in our mobile phones. There were a few nice guys at the back who shared their seats seeing us standing all the way. Then started the worst trouble...In all the enthu of leaving to Pilani and seeing friends, I forgot to stuff enough woollen garments into my backpac - result I started to shiver! After killing time in the night by chatting with each other (we couldn't sleep with the wonderful aroma of beedis and feet and clean people besides us), atlast we reached Chidawa.

oh..I forgot to tell you something. This bus was headed to JhunJhunu(a small town near Pilani). SO we got down in the bus-stop and behold there was no bus-stand. There were no people, it was deserted like one of those uninhabited Texas villages. We asked direction to a man in the corner of the street and he showed us the way to a tea stall where purportedly buses left to pilani at 4:00am. It was 2:00am in the night. Life can't be better, there were a few thugs sitting the tea stall joking to one another (I guess seeing us at that hour)! Finally we got hold of a guy who generously offered to drop us at the Gates of our college for 250 bucks(It was 10 kms away). I never knew the cost of living was that high in the city of chidawa until then.

We got in and waited for the next 20 minutes. We were completely surrounded by the cold mist and visibility was 0.01cm. I dont know how the driver was finding his way, but he did and at last we reached BITS. Once there life was easy .. 4 days great fun. A respite from a hi-tech city was a village 250 kms away. That is what friends mean to you and the magnetism behind the BITS campus....

People come there even if they have to face all these .. why? That's BITS, Pilani

Veranear

2005-06-01T05:21:00.000-07:00

Dont think I have misspelt very near. I know my english is bad, but not as much...

I was reading a drab travelogue in a magazine about Spanish delights! I know what is delightful differs from person to person. But there was this funny new verb in the article that interested me and took my thought swirling across oceans!

Veranear, is a word which means 'to summer'. I guess that must be a spanish word since I failed to see any entries against it in Dictionary.com (A bad assumption). I was immediately transcended with thoughts of a summer in the Spanish coast, basking in the beaches of a wonderful resort, mouth-watering delicacies (though some of them are unacceptable to semi-veggies like me), wonderful wine, excellent Sight-seeing (u know it) on the beaches.......aahhhh that's life.

But a vacation in Spain is unappealing to denizens of Chennai for a few obvious reasons:

1. Usually basking in the sun is done for skin tanning, and most of us need nothing of that sort.

2. Food would become a big problem for "thair sadhams" like me who cannot enjoy dishes made out of prawns or squids

But doesn't mean we cannot survive these conditions. I guess I am a fox now telling that the Grapes are sour because here I am in a concrete Jungle with the same routine forced onto me and no respite from this hellish life. A holiday is most welcome, but least available. For me the change of jobs sans a time-gap has proved to be bad planning! I might have to wait a few months before I accrue even a couple of days to beat it from this wretched routine.

Blue sky and golden beaches are not things that everyone gets to enjoy in life. I lie in wait of a time when I can reach it!!!

End of Days

2005-05-11T12:36:00.000-07:00

Ok...so all the formalities are over with my current employer and I am already looking forward to my new job that I am all set to join next week.

Less than a year and 3 Job-hops. Wow! sometimes I feel I am a real example of a rolling stone. But my ultimate intention is to stay in a real cosy and great place for some time and gather considerable knowledge. At the same time I am no stone that would want to fall into a ditch and stay there forever. My first job was worse than that, a bad stinkin' pit. This second one is ok to an extent, but not too satisfactory. From what I hear from friends and the company themselves, this new third company is supposed to be a great one! I might have to find out for myself.....but I am really looking forward to it.

This transition period between jobs is sometimes like what Dickens says, "It is the best of times, It is the worst of times". You are bored to a ridiculous degree and you wait to be relieved or in most cases kicked-out from the current employer. At the same time you are feeling on top of yourself when you think that there is another stupid person who has accepted you in his company because he believed whatever blatant lie you told in the interview. My company wanted me to stay 3 weeks to wrap up stuff! God...am in some company. Everything's wrapped up if I switch off my computer, cos there's nothing big to it. Nevertheless, I agreed and I am into the final 3 days at work.

One good thing about this whole episode is that I can stop working like the Barn Owl from next week and come back to normal life...... :-)

Plebeian Interests

2005-05-09T15:07:00.000-07:00

Another Monday morning and the usual bored expression is what I bore when I woke up, early in the morning. Funnily, I am free till 6pm which is the usual time I start to office and work in the nights. So, here I was sitting with nothing to do, or rather not wishing to do.

I heard my mom call me and make a request to the nearby store. Oddly enough I was the chap who used to speed in my bicycle to buy all general provisions a few years back. But then, 4 years in Pilani had blessed me with laziness and I was not willing to move an inch though I was getting petrified in the bed with nothing to do. I finally resolved I'll put my 2 cents worth to use and decided to go to the shop.

By far the only commodity that my mom still buys in the traditional Co-operative store is Sugar. I still dont see a reason why she buys it from the dingy store, when she buys all other stuff in one of those supermarkets where u get all stuff at once. This co-op shop is about a 10 minutes walk from home and I was cursing the heat while I walked to this place.

You can visualize the kind of people whom you usually find at such places. I found three Stolid, Unconcerned, Dull, Empty brained, Uscrupulous, Immoral rats in the shop and I told them what I want. He never listened to what I said and billed me for 5 Kilos whereas I asked just two! I threw the bill on his face and asked the remaining money back. He gave it and now I was in-front of the second rat, he purportedly weighed two kilos and emptied the contents into my bag. There was a sudden relization that something was terribly wrong with the weight.

I could easily feel the stuff was underweight and I asked him if all the balance and stuff were proper. The immediate intention of the crooks was to get me out of the store. I went to a neary store and weighed the Sugar on a digital balance. BINGO! There was 1.8 Kgs instead of 2. I was fuming on my way home. I couldn't do a shit. There is no way I can complain for this small amount and even if I do, it will be a mockery since all these grievances are looked only by the higher-ups who are as corrupt as the lower workers.

This incident is making me think of various things! Many people might even think if this issue is worth a post. I am least bothered because a dumdum robbed me of .2Kg sugar. But these are the stores frequented by a majority of people in the lower strata, and most of us easily know that this is more than 80% of our population. If the people are corrupt right from the meanest possible levels to the highest levels of Indian Polity, how are we going to eradicate poverty?

We see ourselves competing with super-powers in the global economy and we still are not free of cheap attitudes and philosophies. While half the population strives to take India to a better place, the other half acts in the opposite direction to pull down the country. I read a Book Excerpt in India Today that China almost extinguished the problem of poverty by doubling its percapita income in the 80s and 90s. While a similar goal is set by the UPA regime, we will never reach the destination if Purchasing power is scraped by unaccounted elements like these in-addition to the evergrowing problem of inflation.

It is not enough if we just formulate 'n' number of methods to subsidize basic food stuff thus claiming to address the worries of the common man. We must also ensure that the channel of disbursement is smooth enough to enable fruitition of these schemes. I know not much, about the complex laws of economics or how these factors will affect our economy. But I do know that a country whose people do not have fundamental moral principles can never succeed, no matter what.

Empty Brains

2005-05-05T02:02:00.000-07:00

I was thinking of what to blog for the past half an hour. They say you are short of words when you are too Emotional!

I guess that is not the case today....Just some emptiness which seems boundless!

They say Ignorance is Bliss!

I guess now I know why.

Will blog soon ..............

Auto Drivers!

2005-04-28T13:04:00.000-07:00

I just hope India becomes advanced in technology to have automatic taxis and all you do is just drop the buck and it drops you at the desired place. One of the many dark patches on the Indian physiognomy is dishonesty - and the best place to find it (Or should I say it will find you) is in an Auto-driver.

I simply cannot imagine that this cute little motor propelled transporting vehicle has become despicable because of a bunch of brutes who maneouvre it along the streets of Chennai. I dont know if other cities have started adopting this corrupted phenomenon as a practice. Why cannot a standard rate be evolved with a definite profit margin (per km) for Auto-rickshaws. The concept of a Tarrif Meter is simply non-existent with Chennai Autos. Although it is mandatory for an Auto to have a meter, it is considered more of an antique display than a measure of tariff.

Each time you are looking for alternate modes to transport, you find these guys coming to you and demanding an utterly unreasonable rate for a very short distance. And these are guys who talk about bad governments and unscrupulous politicians. I feel these are a separate species of humans who are deprived of rational thinking, because by being what they are today, the auto drivers are reducing their potential turnover. One day a guy could be profitable because he wheedled Rs.100 instead of an actual fare of Rs.50 But by doing this, the chap who travelled would only become more averse to travelling by autos and over a time-period there would be a large community that hates this transport.

On the contrary, some places like Bangalore have a better turnover simply because of the fact that it is more reliable and trustworthy there (Though the situation is fast deteriorating). I only hope that these fools have an enlightment to resort to better ways for the good of all.

Me, I would like to curb these rascals with an iron hand and break every driver's bones, before bringing a strict metred City transportation for Chennai!

Eureka!

2005-04-27T15:14:00.000-07:00

Ok .... don't blame me if I bore you right at the beginning!

I think the first comment I will have for this is, "Hey Dude! This is your first bloody post and you screw us with your philosophical shit"

But the truth really is, that I think about these things more, stolid they might be, when I am alone. And the fact it, it is 4 am in the morning and I am at work when everyone is having the eternal pleasure promised to every human - sleep! Anyways, I always ensure patient people a respite, and this time-around I will bless my readers with a short item ... so you dont take eons to read the stuff.
I have been thinking of the reason people keep blogging and there have been several reasons popping up ever since I gave it a thought. Things like its an effort to express ideas, Display writing skills, Update peer groups about latest happenings etc...... But there are a million other ways to do things. Why Blog when there are more effective means like e-mail.

There could be a few reasons. A blog serves as an avenue to express real repressed feelings and thoughts. It is displacement of a kind...where a person does self-confession.

I will not explain the above facts in detail....Repression and Displacement are powerful and strong words and convey a lot of meaning! So, keep blogging and express yourselves.........!

Why do this?

2005-04-26T13:54:00.000-07:00

Here I am in a lonely corner of the world sitting at 2:30 in the night and writing something! Why am I doing it? This is a decision on impulse that I made at a time when I am trying to find out the real purpose of a Blog when human energy can be channeled into more useful or rather purposeful activities (It is another matter that I already own a Yahoo blog account with no idea why I created that).

If you remove the circumlocution from my thoughts, the reason is simply that I am changing jobs and I can already feel how rapidly I am losing interest in the existing one.That is making me work lesser and lesser, by the day. I know one of my friends who did the same when he did the same. So, I thought I'll explore this new joint and see if this excites me or other souls! I hope my future posts will throw insight (If only there is any) into my thought process on a myriad of my experiences with life.....