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En iniya kallooriye!

2008-12-12T13:47:00.000-08:00

poonchidhaRalaai sila ninaivugaL
marunda vizhigaLil pala kanavugaL
pudhu soozhalil udhikkum kuzhappangaL
vegu viravinil pazhagum naNbargaL
kadum uzhaippi edhirnokkum thaervugaL
thaai madikku yaengum andha samayangaL
vetti arattai sirippu niRaindha vidiyaa iravugaL
vaguppai maRandhu thuyil aazhndha nerangaL
vizhi mozhigaLil malarum uRavugaL
siru poovayum rasikkum unarvugaL
pala niRangaLaik kaattum manidhargaL
aRivippu palagayil niRuvanangaLin viLambarangaL
nermuga thaervu endRadhum andhap padharalgaL
adhan mudivu theriyum mun pulambal padalangaL
velai kidaithadhum magizhchi kondaattangaL
piriyum neram kaNNin neerthivalaigaL
ivai anaithum asai poda vaikkindRa tharuNangaL

Pointers pls

2008-06-10T03:54:00.001-07:00

No...Not Technical ones related to C/C++. But can someone help me find out this album sung by Anuradha Paudwal released sometime in 1999?

All that I remember is the video. It is about the life of an army soldier and his wife or fiancee. The lady who has lost him in a war, comes to the house which they had shared and recollects all the good time she spent with him and misses him very badly. That is what the meaning of the song conveys

The video shows the house deserted, with all things (including a huge piano) covered with white sheet of cloth to avoid dust and there are lotsa burning candles too...I don't know why! As the lady dressed in black, moves around the house, there are clippings shown with Anuradha singing, looking at the lady.

This album was released almost during the same time as Aur aahistaa (by Pankaj Udas – an Indian girl with long black hair falling in love with an American boy ) Oh Priya (album featuring Abbas n Preethi – (a sequel to chui mui see tum where they meet, fall in love and get married) Oh meri munni (Remo’s album featuring a school girl) Yaad piya ki aane lagee, Meri chunar ud ud jaaye (Falguni Pathak) Sayyoni (Junoon), Tanha dil (Shaan) Aankhon mein tera hi chehra (Aryan's album featuring Shahid Kapoor where he tries to propose to a girl but in the end he sees her fiancé putting engagement ring to her)

Damn! I remember all these but not the Anuradha Paudwal one :(

Note to my otherwise really sweet MIL

2008-06-03T03:08:00.000-07:00

I hate being compared with anyone. Worst scenario being compared with a relative whom I detest. Period! And yeah, the recipe of that relative to prepare paav bhaaji is all crap. Please try to understand that boiling & sauting the vegetables - onions, tomatoes, beans, carrot n potato with salt + chilli powder and "just the act of adding lemon juice to it" doesn't make it bhaaji!!!!! She is fooling you!!!!!

Your loving DIL...

For other Paav Bhaaji lovers...here is the recipe that I generally follow:)
http://www.awesomecuisine.com/recipes/54/1/Pav-Bhaji/Page1.html

Should I or Should I not?

2008-05-30T02:13:00.000-07:00

Itz been ages since I posted something in this page. Yeah! 2 years is quite a long time. But today I was digging through my archives...and that brought back lotsa memories (my posts would vouch for the fact that am a nostalgic creature) of those good old days of blogging and making friends. This space was a vent for someone like me who isn't a great writer (errr...what is the equivalent word for bathroom singer which would describe your not-so-wonderful-writing skills??)I could also feel the changes within myself over these years - Am little more matured (am I?? :-p)grown stronger & more confident. Lots of changes in the personal and professional front too. I dont even know if my style of writing would be the same!!!!

So, should I start writing again with "Back with a Bang" post or just conclude with a formal Adieu post????!!!!!!!! I sincerely don't know!

Kit Kat

2006-03-13T23:51:00.000-08:00

Yaaaaay!! Am going on a very short break to the two places mentioned in this post :D So, won't be here this week to bug u with my posts n comments :) Don't feel very happy, ok? Will be back by Monday :-P *evil grin*

Before I leave for the day, a dead easy 'visual-find'. Oh yeah! I have christened this game :)) No, am not giving any clues, a look at one particular picture, u can easily sail ur way to the answer. Actually am yet to meet any Tamilian who doesn't like this stunning piece and this is one my most favourites too(Oops! Have I already dropped a clue?)

Ok, folks!!! Have a nice time...Tata, bye bye, c ya soon!!

Sondha kadhai - A Tag

2006-03-10T02:26:00.000-08:00

Tagged by Blogger's Park. So, here goes my long long ago, so long ago story...followed by some favourite stuff

Ten Years Ago - 1996 - 9th std, Singaara Chennai

- Started attending tution for the first time in my life for 10th Std Mathematics. Aim was to get 200/200 instead of the 198 which I was scoring. That I scored 197/200 in X board is a different thing though :))

- Got all my prejudiced opinions, about my school-mate `A, cleared, who also became a tuition-mate and now she is my bessssssstessst friend :D

- Spent as much time as possible in extra curricular activities both in intra and inter school- music, sports, elocution, essay writing, science exhibitions and stuff

- Learnt Aathichoodi by-heart for a competition, which I considered a feat then.
Tried recollecting now..could go on from Aram seyya virumbu only till Oppuravu ozhugu :((

- Went for a Crazy drama in Rani Seethai hall for the first time and got a chance to speak to Crazy Mohan and Madhu Balaji. Mohan blessed me "SiRappum sirippum maaraamaa ennaikum nallaa irukkaNum" :D

Five Years Ago - 2001 - 2nd year, BE in BITS Pilani

- Kept kolu in my hostel room and prepared sundal and kesari(without kesar powder) Our Diro's wife after tasting the kesari said, "Upma romba naNNaa paNNi irukkiye maa...chutney kedayaadhaa :-P)

- Went on a cherishable, wonderful trip to Shimla, Kulu, Manali with college-mates

- Built a "friendship for lifetime" with a senior `B, who got me to the habit of watching TV late in the nights (No, no midnight masalas and Shabaab..C'mon u can't watch them in a hostel common room, votever time it mite me. We were good chamathu gals watching 80's melodies...Seriously, nambunga paa)

- Was a member of Ragamalika and helped in organising the best Sangamam (a classical music and dance festival) of my 3 and half years there - Sudha Raghunathan, Urmila Sathyanarayana and Ganesh-Kumaresh were the guests that year

- Did a course called Principles Of Management - which helped me identify that I have a flair for and an inclination towards management and finance courses. That was when I decided my electives will be mgmt related ones and will definitely do an MBA.
Though have successfully executed the former decision, the latter is still pending :((

Last one year - 2005

- Went on a memorable trip to Kodaikanal with ex-colleagues

- Faced major ups and downs in both personal and professional front as a responsible adult

- Switched job and also started blogging => made very good friends coz of both these activities :)

- Bought an A/C for home and a new mobile for myself - both of which were long pending

- Did vot all any other software engineer will do - coding, bug fixing, testing, documenting, attending meetings, calls, googling, gen browsing, chatting, complaining about proxy servers, discussing about projects, hikes, movies and every other topic under the sun

Yesterday

- Completed my appraisal formalities and submitted all my documents to HR

- Chatted with my college-mate/roomie whoz in Australia

- Went to Pondy Bazaar and did a micro level shopping

- Had Veg Masala toast as breakfast at 12 noon

- Din touch my mobile till this morning after I reached home at 8 pm last nite

Five Yummy things (Why only 5?? I'll make it as many)

- Anything prepared by amma except avarakkai and capsicum related stuff

- Potato curry, french fries, Saepankizhangu roast, Vaazhakkai chips

- Onion Vethakuzhambu, chinna vengaayam sambhar, tomato rasam

- Kaara saaramaa tamarind rice with chips and paapad

- Tomato thokku/sabji, Mango pachchadi, sweet pachchadi (served in wedding lunches)

- Veg pulav prepared by `A with potato chips and onion raitha

- Golden fried baby corn, Chilli Paneer

- Pani poori, jilebi (esp the Dhaba express one), samosas and cutlet

- Pappu's Veg Sandwich + Maggi + Chaai, Naagar Redi's Sam chat and Chimpu's milkshakes, anaar juice and lemon soda (only salt). I miss these :((

- Chocolates, Bourbon biscuit, Wafers, Jujips

- Maangaai with kaarapodi, Watermelon, grapes

- Curd rice + Lime pickle - devaamirtham any time

Have I missed anything??? Lemme think and update later if at all I have :)
Update : Karumbu juice, Panju mittati, Son papdi (I prefer the one kept in a big glass jar and sold in a mobile cart), kadalai uruNdai

Five songs I know by heart

5-aa?? Remaining??? The space is definitely not enuf and I've lost count of how many songs I know by heart :)

Places I escape to

- Computer/Internet
- Music
- TV/movies
- Mobile
- Dreamworld - I sleep a damn lot

Five things I'd do if I have money

- Eradicate the slums and unemployment in India and give free education to all those who can't afford to

- Buy a luxurious car and fully furnished dream house

- Buy a laptop, i-Pod, plasma TV, handy cam and all my favourite DVDs

- Update my mobile to latest hi-fi model

- Go on a leisurely trip around the world with my family and friends

Five TV Shows I like

- Would love to watch "Rayil Sneham" coz all that I remember in the serial is "Indha veeNaiku theriyaadhu" title song and NizhalgaL Ravi

- Tom and Jerry shows

- Crazy/S.Ve.Shekar comedy dramas

- Film Songs (old and new)

- Thyagaraja Aaradhana from Thiruvayyaru

And I pass on the tag to Kumari and Srivee :)

Another one

2006-03-06T01:58:00.000-08:00

Try cracking this phrase. PS2 of my previous post is still unanswered :( Someone help pls!!

Also, do lemme know if this is too easy/kiddish/difficult/ok-types!!

Pic Courtesy : Google images

Update: The answer is "New boys/kids on the block". And the winners are Magix Harish and Vee-jay(She'd sent me a mail!!) Congrats both!! :D

Trial

2006-03-03T04:38:00.000-08:00

Was bloghopping and found this interesting. So, me too tried a very very very very simple one. Am damn sure each one of u will be able to find it out easily. So, y wait? Go ahead and post the answer in the comments section :)

PS 1 : Tamil knowledge is necessary to solve this :) Will try an out and out English one next time!
PS 2 : Can anyone tell me what I should do so that the pictures are aligned horizontally? It doesn't look good this way, one by one :(
PS 3 : Have a nice weekend! :D

Update : Endha nalla nerathula indha post poatteno...got to watch the movie on Saturday :)) Photo konjam kevalamaa dhaan irukkum coz me clicked..adjees pls ;-)
Result : kuttichuvaru was the first person to find out that it is Panchathandhiram :)

Arasiyal-la idhellaam sagajamappa!!

2006-03-02T01:44:00.000-08:00

I'd been humming Vairamuthuvin vaira varigaL from "Ratshagan" since morning. Guess I heard it in some local tea shop on my way to office!!

Kayyil midhakkum kanavaa nee?
Kai kaal muLaitha kaatRaa nee?
Kaiyil yaendhiyum ganakkavillaye!
Nurayaal seidha silayaa nee?
Ippadi unnai yaendhi kondu indira logam poi vidavaa?

One of my all time favourites. Everytime I listen to this song, I wonder if ARR composed the music first and then VM "soRkaLai ittu niRappified" or if it is the other way round. Beautiful lyrics. Srinivas' voice just fits perfectly for this melody :)

I got this picture as email fwd with the tune still ringing at the back of my mind. Couldn't resist comparing the video of the song and this pic. Securities and MLAs in total contrast to Nagarjuna and Sushmita :D

Pic courtesy : Dinamalar

Conpeesion

2006-02-28T01:29:00.000-08:00

At times it so happens that u start singing the charanam of one song and end up with the pallavi of some other song or the vice versa. Last week, I was in a totally confused state and started singing to relax myself.

Result: My listeners (the count of which is facing the threat of extinction) started pichufying their thalai coz of my wierd combination of pallavis and charaNams. To quote a few....

Muththam muththam muththamaa
Moondraam ulaga yuththamaa
Aasai kalayin uchchamaa
Aayiram paambu kothumaa
Ottrai muththathil, en ottrai muththathil
un uchchan thalayil piththam aeri aadinaai
Adai mazhai megam pole ore idaiveLi illaamal
Naan aLLi thandhaal innum enna aaguvaai
Naan kenji kaetkum neram
Un nenjil oram eeram
Aah chacho acho kaadhal vaaraadho
Engeyo pogindRa megam niRkkudhu
Yen paerai un paerai solli azhaikkudhu
Love pannu Love pannu

DeepangaL paesum idhu kaarthigai maasam
MaNigaL polave asaindhu aadudhe deepame
Adhu kaalam kaalamaai kaadhal kavidhaigaL paadume
Pongalu pongalu vekka manjaLa manjaLa edu
Thangachchi thangachchi thangachchi
Punjayum nanjayum indha bhoomiyum saamiyum ini
Nam katshi nam katshi nam katshi
Poo pookkum maasam thai maasam

Vaasalile poosani poo vechuputtaa vechuputtaa
Naesathile en manasa thachuputtaa thachuputtaa
Ovvoru raathiri vaeLayilum mannavan nyaabagamey
KaRpanai maedayil kaNdirundhaen manmadha naadagamey
Andhi pagal kanni mayil unnarugey
KaNNaney nee vaRa kaathirundhaen
Jannalil paarthirundhaen

Devi Sridevi, un thiruvaai malarndhoru vaarthai solli vidammaa
Paavi, appaavi, un darisanam dhinasari kidaithida varam kodammaa
Vaayaendi aadaendi mutti thaan paarkalaam vaariyaa dee
Un mutti thaan paendhudum oadi poadi
Naan pachakiLi nee vettukiLi poati enna dee
Onna aati veppaen paeyum oati veppaen
Endhan sree raaman mael aaNai
Vandhaen vandhaen meendum naane vandhen

Ayyaarettu naathu kattu ayyaavoda koothu kattu
Yaana katti aeru poottu vaaikaal vetti paathi kattu
Sivanukku nee aatam poadu sreerangam-aa paata podu
Sandhoshamnaa whistle-a poadu daa
Hey maama seeri adichaa gilli paRakkum

Nallaa irundha en manasa naaraga kizhichiputta
Karuppaa irundha en irava Color-aa maathiputta
minnalum minnalum naetru varai pirindhadhu yaeno
Pinnalaai pinnalaai indrudan iNaindhida thaano
Merke merke merke dhaan sooriyangaL udhikkiradhe

Cha! Idha ezhudhi mudichuttu oru vaati padichu paathen. Ippo nenachaa paavamaa irukku. Hope my already limited listeners won't take any revenge on me ;-) And you guyz too :D

Oorukku pogaNum pola irukku!!

2006-02-22T21:02:00.000-08:00

Last evening in the bus, on my way back to home, a group of ladies were discussing about two of my most favourite cities in Tamil Nadu. I have a special place in my heart for these two cities for various reasons.

Madurai arasaaLum meenakshi

Thirupparankundrathil nee sirithaal muruga

Madura marikozhundhu vaasam

I learnt to ride bicycle during my 2nd standard annual holidays in the sandhu bondhus of Madurai. I was told "Inga cycle oatta kathuNdaa Madras-la easy-aa oattalaam" and yeah, it is a true fact :) Tasted nungu, palaapazham, guava, appam and a different variety of juice called fruit mix for the first time there. I love each and every temple and spend as much time as I can in them.

Sangam vaLartha Madurai - Beautiful Meenakshi amman (temple), elegant Sundareswarar, serene pottRaamarai kuLam, huge mukkuruNi piLLayaar, kal yaanaiku karumbu kodutha siththar, maasi veedhis, koodalazhagar perumaaL temple, thirupparankundram Murugan with his wife Deivaanai, saravaNa poigai, scenic pazhamudhir cholai Murugan with the other wife kuRavaLLi, noopura gangai, kaLLazhagar(not Captain-Laila movie) kovil, Thirumalai nayakkar mahal, chithirai thiruvizhaa, edhir servai, meenakshi thirukkalyaNam, azhagar aathula eRangaRadhu, thamukkam grounds, exhibition, biiiiig masala appaLam, giant wheel, paruthi paal, bustling with activities night life, tasty idli kadais on the road, the famous madurai malli poo, periyar bus stand, thallakuLam, chokkikuLam, yaanaikal, simmakal, KK Nagar, TVS Nagar/School, SS Colony, Arasaradi, Thyagaraja Engg College, American college, Madura college, the ever-dry :( Vaigai river, the avinga, ivinga slang, a few theatres, including those owned by pasunesan Ramarajan and our own Gabtun, whose names am unable to recollect - I'd watched movies as old as Nadigan, KaRpoora mullai, Annamalai, Bharathi KaNNamma in those theatres

Sriranga ranganaathanin paadham vandhanam seyyadi
Sridevi ranganayaki naamam sandhatham solladi

Tiruchi malakoatta daa

My native place. That explains my very special and strong bondage to Trichy. Fond of the temples here also. Have covered almost all important temples in and around Trichy. Chinna vayasula leave-ku oorukku poroam-na it is an unwritten rule that itz to Trichy. My periappa used to take me around in the evenings in his new "Bajaj Cub" - which I used to consider a luxurious ride, then :) Can never forget those good old days when a big gang of us cousins had one of the most wonderful times of our lives. It has become a dominant topic of our discussion, whenever we get together these days.

TiruchiraapaLLi - Lofty malaikoattai, attractive uchchi piLLayaar, Thaayumaanavar with an interesting story, adivaaram maaNikka vinaayagar, guNaseelam, uththamar kovil(one of those very few temples which have a sannidhi for Brahma and Saraswathi), adorable vayalur murugan, powerful Samayapuram maariamman, short and sweet Akhilandeshwari amman, ever immersed in water Jambukeshwarar, Manakkaal Nangaiamman temple, mighty vekkaaLiamman, my favourite Ranganathar (temple), Ranganayaki thaayaar, gargantuan garudaazhvaar, physician Dhanvanthri, Sakkarathaazhvar, Yoga narasimhar, vaikunta ekadasi mohini alankaaram, rathnaangi, muththangi, sorga vaasal, Raajagopuram, ever crowded malai vaasal, main guard gate, chathram bus stand, chinthamani, anna statue, kaveri paalam, toll gate, Cantontment, Bouleward road(I used to get confused when I read it in thamizh as puliwaardu), Puththur, Central bus stand, Anbil, Thatahchariyar gardens, BHEL Township, agaNda kaveri, koLLidam paalam, N number of vaaikaals, Thiruparaaithurai, mukkombu, Lalgudi, ammazing Sithannavasal paintings, amma maNdapam padithurai, SVS school, E R High School, SRCC college, prestigious St.Joseph's college, National college, REC, St.John's Church, St.Lourd's Church, Maris theatre complex, Sona/Meena theatre (Alaipayuthey), Ramba/Urvasi theatre(Mudhalvan and some old Bhagyaraj movie), Kaveri DTS (KaNdu koNdaen kaNdu koNdaen)

And I'd also observed a couple of things common to both these places:

- Adarthiyaa thodutha poo measured in 100/200, etc and not in muzhams. The pookaarammaas count them perfectly in no time
- PaLa paLa govt and private buses which aren't much crowded with a "karam, siram, puRam neettaadheer" message
- Most people here are neither lethargic nor like the busy busy ever-charged with tension types
- The temples are crowded most of the time, but if you could manage to sneak in during one those lean hours(courtesy:info from local people), u can have a peaceful, enthralling, cherishable darshan
- Till date I haven't eaten in a single restuarant in these two places. Thanks to my athais, maamis and periammas who ensured that am loaded with stomach full of tasty home made specialities with a tag "Enna idhu, ippdi eLachu poyi irukka. School, college-nu avasaramaa porache ozhungaa saaptrukka maata. Ippo leave-la dhaane vandhrukka. Nannaa saapdu" :)

Huh!! Looks like too much of recollection for the day. But I know, I could have missed many places, which would be twice as big as this list!! And am sure most of those who are from Tcy/Mdu will agree with me :)

2006-02-16T00:13:00.000-08:00

When I read Shaam makes his decision, the first thot that struck me was, probably he was going to say goodbye to film industry and was planning to explore some other different field :) Hez one actor whom I feel had been so unlucky. He looks good, many girls do like him - call him smart n handsome, has a decent fan base. The only thing that he lacks is impressive performance - should agree that he has tried hard for it in 12B and Iyarkai. Almost all of his films flopped, Iyarkai and Ullam kaetkume being exceptions - they were a moderate hit(though not because of "Shaam" factor) Personally, I felt "Ullam kaetkume" and "Hey nee romba azhaga irukke" were ok-watchable types.

But will he get a break?? May be he can console himself with the fact that, "Even Vikram gave a string of flops before Sethu, after which there was no looking-back" :)

Five factor

2006-02-15T07:00:00.000-08:00

I took this test and believe me, it does work as long as you give honest answers to the questions mentioned there.

Your Five Factor Personality Profile

Extroversion:

You have medium extroversion.
True, medium is the right word. At times, am an extreme silent party, a chatter box otherwise
You're not the life of the party, but you do show up for the party.
Need to agree
Sometimes you are full of energy and open to new social experiences.
Yeah, I hate to be prisoned at home when am in an outdoor mood
But you also need to hibernate and enjoy your "down time."
I do want to sit alone at home, take a friday off => 3 day weekend, do nothing but enjoy solitude

Conscientiousness:

You have high conscientiousness.
Ofcourse, I do
Intelligent and reliable, you tend to succeed in life.
:)
Most things in your life are organized and planned well.
You got to check out my planner for that
But you borderline on being a total perfectionist.
Hmmm. I do try my level best

Agreeableness:

You have medium agreeableness.
That depends on the opponent
You're generally a friendly and trusting person.
Generally?? yes!
But you also have a healthy dose of cynicism.
It does take time for me to trust someone, though I go by intuitions at times
You get along well with others, as long as they play fair.
Itz human, isn't it?

Neuroticism:

You have low neuroticism.
Wait! Lemme find out and confirm if I got the meaning of this word right? ......... Ok, I did :)
You are very emotionally stable and mentally together.
Yaanaikkum adi sarukkum nerangaL undu
Only the greatest setbacks upset you, and you bounce back quickly.
Bull's eye
Overall, you are typically calm and relaxed - making others feel secure.
:)

Openness to experience:

Your openness to new experiences is medium.
Hmmmm
You are generally broad minded when it come to new things.
Come on, am not an old-fashioned idiot
But if something crosses a moral line, there's no way you'll approve of it.
I do have my own borderline
You are suspicious of anything too wacky, though you do still consider creativity a virtue.
I do appreciate for itz innovativeness, but hardly believe. For instance, those ads on fairness creams

The Five Factor Personality Test

My first tag

2006-02-09T22:50:00.000-08:00

I'd been escaping from this tagging concept for the past 6 months. But this girl has put a full stop to that. So, here goes my tag on "Top Ten Things I wish India has"

1. Lesser number of political parties with leaders who are capable, educated and confident - those who really want to do something useful to the country and who can succeed in that mission - those who strive to achieve the things mentioned in their election manifesto rather than those hypocrites who give false promises

2. 0% child abuse and rape. Hanging, those who had already been convicted, to death. 0% intervention by the Human Rights Commission, to stop the death penalty on such cases

3. Policemen and other government officials, being easily accessible, honest and public friendly, rather than being chamchas to politicians

4. A strict law enforcing minumum level of education to all. If possible, free education to those kids below poverty line

5. Greener, cleanest, pollution free atmosphere

6. Autowallahs and taxiwallahs who could be more polite and less atrocious while demanding the fare

7. A good drainage system

8. Good roads, which don't wear off after a single heavy downpour

9. A system to clean-up all cases pending in various courts across the nation, till date asap

10. Last, but defintely not the least, in continuation of my previous post, a bribe-free, red tape-free, corruption-free India

With an Anti-Tag revolution going on all over the blogosphere, me not tagging anybody. But if u r willing to take up this tag, do post it in ur page and drop a comment in my comment box :)

And now, pls don't pounce on me with Madhavan's dialogue from RDB "If you want your country to be clean, you need to get into the gutter and remove the block". I very well know that it is easier to preach and expect than to put things into practice. But once necessary actions are taken and with each and every individual of the country giving his/her utmost support to them, am sure India will be well ahead in the "development" race.

2006-02-06T06:47:00.000-08:00

Watched this movie Dhoop and am deeply touched. The film is supposed to be inspired by the true story of a Kargil martyr Anuj Nayyar. It is a known fact that corruption, bribery and red tape have deep-rooted themselves in our country. But I sincerely hope that atleast the family of those army men who laid their lives for the sake of the country aren't made to run pillar to post to get the compensation, which they treat as the soldier's memory and not as just monetary benefit!

Hooked to a song from RDB

2006-01-31T05:35:00.000-08:00

Am just not able to get this song out of my mind ever since I watched the movie. Itz a vvvv slow, romantic and simple song. Madhushree and Naresh Iyer touch your heart with their smooth and flowing voice.

Tu bin bataaye mujhe le chal kaheen
Jahaan tu muskuraaye meri manzil wahin
Tu bin bataaye mujhe le chal kaheen
Jahaan tu muskuraaye meri manzil wahin

Madhushree raises the pitch here beautifully - a pucca smooth transition

Meethi lagi, chakh ke dekhi abhi

reduces immediately

Mishri ki dali, zindagi woh chali
Jahaan hai teri baahein mera saahil wahin
Tu bin bataaye mujhe le chal kaheen
Jahaan tu muskuraaye meri manzil wahin

The saxophone(?) piece here is fantastic. Naresh Iyer comes into the song only at this point. Just 5 lines but he absolutely rocks!!

Mann ki gali tu puhaaron si aa
Bheeg jaaye mere khwabon ka kaafila
Jise tu gungunayee meri dhun hai wahin
Tu bin batayi mujhe le chal kaheen
Jahaan tu muskuraayi meri manzil wahin

And the song ends perfectly with both of them humming in sync.

All you have to do to enjoy this song is - play it in a silent room, close ur eyes, relax and let the soft music and poetic words sink in. Itz a bliss!!!

A perfectly divine evening

2006-01-25T02:28:00.000-08:00

S-Scintillating experience
A-Amidst melliflous tunes
A-Air was reverberating with excellent and
R-rapturous music
A-Audience sat there enchanted and mesmerised
N-Neat selection of songs and raagas which made the
G-Glorious show a grand success

That was, in a capsule, how I felt about the first Pro Show (Classical nite by noted violinists Ganesh and Kumaresh) of Saarang, the IIT Madras cultural fest. The duo made Aarabhi and Kalyani literally dance on the stage and IMHO even someone who doesn't know the ABC of music will be able to enjoy and appreciate it. The Ghatam and Mridangam accompanists were in sync with the violin and their thani aavarthanam was one of the short and sweet ones I've heard in the recent times. The geeky IITM crowd proved that they are one of the best audience an artist can ever get.

Right from the moment I stepped into the campus, memories of my own college days flooded and me felt so so so nostalgic. Damn!! I miss OASIS - the cultural festival and SANGAMAM - the music festival of BITS...Sigh!!

PS : Though am not a very good photographer, have clicked a few snaps, shall post theem soon..adjust maadi

2006-01-23T21:08:00.000-08:00

He was studying in 2nd grade when he was so jealous of his dad's profession. One fine day, he went and expressed it "Appa, naan Diwali-ku pattaasu kaetta mattum konjooNdu vaangi thara, aanaa nee mattum daily velai velai-nu full day maththaapu vidara? Naan periyavan aanaa unna maadhiri dhaan aaven". His dad was taken aback, was extremely shocked. He took his son aside and explained him in the best possible way about his work and concluded "Indha welding thozhil ellaam ennoda pogattum. Nee nalla padichu periya doctor-engineer-aa varaNum. Nalla paer edukkaNum. Indha welding machine-a kayyaala kooda thoda koodiya nelamai unakku veNdaam, sariyaa?" His dad's words, thoughts and expectations sank into his mind. As years rolled, he passed his exams exceedingly well and secured a seat in one of the presigious engineering colleges.

And now, here he is, standing in a queue, in his first year workshop practicals session, waiting for his turn to learn the basics of arc welding!!

PS : Off topic, I see lotsa Simbu stg "Saravana" posters which say "Vettrigaramaana 15-vadhu naaL". Pongal anniku dhaane release aachu...adhukkuLLa eppdi 15th day?? Am I doing a mistake with counting????

2006-01-10T20:46:00.000-08:00

It is a belief that, "If you stay awake throughout the nite on Vaikunta ekadasi/Sivarathri day, you'll attain Vaikuntam/sorgam - the heavenly abode". But I feel indha concept-a vechuNdu theatres are making good money. They double the ticket cost and screen two movies in the nite continuously starting from 10:30 pm. A poster of a local theatre here says "Vaikunta ekadasiyai munnitu iraNdu padangaL, orey ticket-il" and u know vot the movies are - New and Manmadhan. Huh!!

Two in a row

2006-01-03T02:19:00.000-08:00

A night-out after a loooong time!! The last one was during my college days for an "arattai" session with my hostel mates :D Yeah! Watched 2 movies last nite.

Started with Mangal Pandey at 10.30 pm. Hmmm the movie was ok. May be I didn't like it much because pure history has never been my favourite subject and I always skipped the long answer on Sepoy Mutiny in my school days. But loved the way in which Gordon and Mangal's friendship has been portrayed beautifully and believably irrespective of their ranks in the East India Company. ARR's music is simply superb and gels with the situations. Rani Mukherjee looked beautiful and had nothing more to offer than a glamour doll with her "kara kara" voice. Amisha Patel (I'd never liked her) sucked big time with her emotion-less face. Gordon could have been paired with someone better. Aamir Khan suits the role perfectly with his long hair but the big mousch looks out of place. And the narration (it sounded like Om Puri's voice to me, but the title slide said Nasrudeen Shah *confused*) is clean with appropriate voice modulations.

It was so different to watch a Hindi movie with English subtitles. And I was surprised with my brain's multitasking abilities. I could clearly follow the Hindi dialogues and at the same time read and register the English subtitles too :) God is great!!!

The movie ended at around 1 pm and I was already feeling too sleepy. I was about to close the NeroSmart window when I found out that it was a 2 in 1 DVD. Lagaan's title card started and "thookam poye pochu" :) After Alaipayudhey, Mouna Raagam, Anjali, HAHK, Mounam Sammadham, Andaaz Apna Apna, MMKR (lemme stop here for the list is too loooong) Lagaan is one the movies for which I've lost count of how many times I'd watched. First time it was in my college auditorium (chellamaa audi) with more than 2000 fellow college-mates. Our Students' Union was (is??) generous in screening 12 Hindi and 12 English movies a semester at a much much much cheaper cost. We need to buy the stubs for all 12 in the beginning of the sem. Year - 2001, 1st semester, I did not buy these stubs, for I was watching each and every kuppai movie screened and was feeling guilty that I wasn't studying. October 1, 2001 - a day before Gandhi Jayanthi, I was crossing the notice board near our Central Library (Cent Lee...haven't used these slangs for more than 3 yrs now) when Lagaan team's poster with the hilly background, stuck there caught my attention. Man!!! I wanted to watch the movie. There started the stub hunting process in the 8 am common hour. Even the fundoos and studoos wanted to come for the movie coz Oct 2nd was anyways a holiday. I-dont-know-Hindi category was also ready to come, backed by their Hindi knowing wingies and hence the stubs became hot cakes. Atlast, after a 12 hr desperate hunt by me and my wingies, I got the stub from one of the day scholars who was going to attend a family function and had already watched the movie :D

We didn't get a seat in the audi, so chose the balcony steps instead and enjoyed each and every second of the movie cheering Bhuvan and team :) On our way back at 11.30 in the nite, the Gandhi statue which usually is the pigeons's favourite haunt to s**t, was washed/bathed and the students of the nearby school had decorated the place with rangoli. It was altogether a different unforgettable experience of watching Lagaan, something that Sathyam Multiplex can't provide. In those 3 and half years, I never even thought that I would ever miss my college campus this much!! *Sigh*

Even after 4 years, on January 2, 2006, I feel exactly the same way about the movie, not even a bit different from that of my first time.

- Aamir Khan has actually lived the role of Bhuvan and I wanted his team to win the match by all means
- Gracy Sigh has a zip vaai
- I like Paul Blackthorne a damn lot :) and loved his British accent
- Couldn't even think about fast forwarding the songs, to cut short the length of the movie. ARR rocks!!!
- Could feel goose pimples while watching/listening to "Kaale megha kaale megha paani tho barsaao"
- Madhubhan mein jo kanaiah still stays my best pick in the album
- Felt that the king of the province could open his mouth and speak, rather than murmur to himself
- Prayed that the wickets shouldn't fall too often and that they should reach the target
- Had a nail-biting sensation in the last but one ball, inspite of knowing that it will turn out to be a "No Ball"
- Felt a bit, say 0.00000001% sorry for Paul Blackthorne when he claims "Howzatt" for the last ball
- Was reminded of Dance Workshop on seeing the Ball dance scene
- Bhuj and the earthquake too :(

And many more!! The movie got over by 4.50 am. I went to bed after the loud speaker "Suprabhatham" in a temple near my house got over :D
Slept for just 2 and half hrs. Now feeling toooooo sleepyyyyyyyyyyy

PS : I've written in one flow...so the tense mite keep changing throughout the post. So, kaNdukaadheenga :)

Bus dhaan PTC

2005-12-28T19:46:00.000-08:00

Is there any reason behind these special M-series of buses that are being plied for MTC in Chennai???

- The ticket rates are comparitively costlier than white board buses, almost equal to those of yellow board buses.
- They stop in all (infact slightly more number of) bus stops as those of the white board ones.
- Any kind of bus pass is not valid in M series.
- They have more number of stages hence halt every now and then to check if all passengers have got the tickets
- And the speed...is pathetic.

Huh!!!! Rather than getting into this M series, I prefer to wait for 10 or 15 more mins, catch an express or yellow board and reach earlier. If there isn't any particular reason, why can't TN government remove these series and instead increase the number of faster buses??

PV vs KB

2005-12-27T21:54:00.001-08:00

Got this as an SMS fwd :

Paramasivan story idhu dhaan. Hero heroine-a kaadhalikkaraan. Heroine villain-a kaadhalikkaraa. Villain hero-oda thangachiya kaadhikkaraan. Hero-oda thangachi heroine-oda aNNana kaadhalikkaraa. Idhu therinju heroine-oda appavum hero-oda ammavum kaadhalikkaraanga. Kadaseela reNdu perum tharkolai paNNikaraanga.

Yaaru andha reNdu per? Financier-um producer-um

I thot P.Vasu is directing Paramasivan. But idhu enna KB-oda story madhiri irukku?? :-P Chandramukhi-ya copy adichuttanganu Fazil case poatta madhiri idhukkum poattuda poraanga. Beware Vasu!!

King Kong - not a review, just my views

2005-12-25T20:42:00.000-08:00

I hate Carl Denham(Jack Black) for bringing Kong to the NewYork city. I despise him for his selfish motive to make millions of dollars. I felt like hitting him hard on his face when he introduces the chained Kong to the audience as, "He was a King, now he is a captive". King Kong - the King of undiscovered Skull Island, the huge ape, inspite of its enormous size is damn sweet. He plays the macho hero rescuing the heroine from the nasty beasts. And you can't resist your heart going out to him, when he tries to stand on top of the Empire State building, hit by gunshots and tries to bang his chest to convey that hez still the King. When compared to his size in Skull Island, I felt a drastic difference when hez in the city. The animation and Andy Serkis' movements for the ape is absolutely perfect.

The scenic beauty of the forest has been wonderfully portrayed. However, the number of beasts and monsters in the movie is just too much!! There are dinosarus, T-Rex, monstrous cockroaches and many others whose names I honestly don't know. Especially the one that kills Andy Serkis is horrible. Naomi Watts fits perfectly into the role of Ann Darrow who enchants Kong. She is handled like a toy by the ape. Jack Driscoll(Adrien Brody) doesn't have much of a role to play other than falling in love with Ann.

I wonder what happened to those savage tribals when Carl Denham's crew captures the ape near "The Wall". And how did Driscoll manage to reach Ann and the ape so easily? I was somehow reminded of tamil movie "Anjali", when Kong hits Ann and makes her fall on the ground with a single finger, picks her up, makes her stand straight and hits her again ;-)

Overall, itz a "WOW!!" movie by Peter Jackson. Loved watching it and felt really bad when King Kong was killed :(

National Network

2005-12-20T01:21:00.000-08:00

What can be more irritating than

- Putting up with "so-called actor" SJ Suryah (inspite of ARR's music) or "red-eyed" Rajkiran as a hero on big screen for full 2 and half hrs

- Walking down the messy, messier, messiest Ranganathan Street immediately after a heavy downpour

- Watching a mega serial *start episode* Daughter-in-law perpares coffee and mother-in-law drinks it criticising the taste and the d-i-l's dad's financial status *end episode*

- Getting stuck in traffic and reaching office/home in one and half hrs instead of in 15 mins

- Working under a MCP-ish manager

- Listening to regular Sun Music callers konji konji fighting with VJ Prajan for not being able to make out their names from their voice or telling Anandha Kannan that hez looking damn handsome

Back to question..Whatz more irritating than these??

For me, itz watching a late nite Hindi film in Doordarshan. Thanks to Mala, the cyclone, our cable operator disconnected the network(with prior intimation though) while I was determined to watch a movie. Left with no other choice but DD's "Main Prem Ki Diwani Hoon".

Huh! Within an hour I knew I made a mistake. It went on like 10 mins movie-20 mins break-10 mins movie-20 mins break-10 mins movie-20 mins break and the cycle continues. Movie was so-so. But after knowing that Abhishek Bachchan is doing a cameo in the latter part of the 2nd half, I sat till the end of the movie cursing each and every commercial break (which I know by-heart now)

Crazy!!! I know...but still once in a while itz ok :) On Dec 24th, DD is screening "Hum Aapke Hain Kaun". Will I watch it for the nth time?? That too in Doordarshan?? Just because itz my favourite movie?? I honestly haven't decided yet ;-)

A film to relish like a good cup of coffee - says the producer

2005-12-13T22:30:00.000-08:00

Watched a Prakashraj Production for the first time - kaNda naaL mudhal. Was pretty impressed with the promos and expected a decent movie from Maniratnam's assistant Priya.

Prasanna(Krishna) - Hez just spectacular. If you find the adjective too much, can't help it. Coz I had 0% expectations on this guy, had not watched a single movie of his and the way hez performed on big screen..Wow!! He steals the show and is definitely the centre of attraction. His voice reminds me of someone else's, but am unable to catch who? He excels in projecting himself as an appavi guy and in comedy. And his periya muzhi favours it :) I was ROTFL for the entire Mayajaal sequence. Though he needs to improve a lot in the serious scenes where he looks slightly confused with his expressions. He is a big plus to the movie and Tamil film industry as well.

Laila(Ramya) - She is cute. She shouts. She fights. She wears beautiful outfits. She irriates by delivering dialogues like "En iruttum nee, en velichamum nee, en sandhoshamum nee, en dhukkamum nee, en half-um nee, en quarter-um nee". One scene I liked was when she tries to speak to her parents about her sister's love while her parents think shez so eager about getting married. The quick change of emotions on her face is commendable.

Karthik(Arvindh) - He has been given a sopLaangi role in the movie, under the cover of a cool dude, business magnate living in the US. A person with a wavering mind and who can't think anything by himself. He still sticks to "I would have said itz rrrridicuuuuulous" Alaipaayudhey kinda role and heavy accent. Heard his 'Evam' plays are really good. Why this vibareedha aasai for him to act in movies? Didn't even know he has acted in yet another movie 'Vaanam vasappadum' till a few days back.
Btw, is it true that he got married to Mirchi Suchi??

Devadarshini is as usual the hero's sister. Revathi(Laila's mom) isn't appealing. Lakshmi(Karthik's mom) with an out of place jet black wig, speaks Madras tamizh (pesikine, poyikine) every now and then for no good reason. The opening scene where kutty Laila kadichifies kutty Prasanna's kannam, though cute, has been exaggerated. Endha kalyaaNathula kutty pasanga sandaya theethu vekka oru periya gumbaley varum??? Dubbing is a complete let down - totally out of sync in most places.

Loved 2 songs "Merke Merke" and "Pani thuLi". Both are catchy, especially the former, the entire theatre sings "Lai Lai Lai Lai Lai" with Shankar Mahadevan. Title track "KaNda naaL mudhalaai kaadhal perugudhadi" has been sung very well but doesn't at all suit Laila. Yuvan is worth a good round of applause here. However the beginning of the song "Pushing it hard" reminds me of "kanavugaL pookum aaNdugaL thodangum" from 'April Maadhathil'

Confusions of India
===============
1. Why is Laila's father so worried about the non-functioning of his hearing aid when his wife is in ICU?
2. The company that Karthik owns is in Chennai, doesn't look that posh to have a branch in USA, then what the hell is he doing there?
3. Why is Laila angry when her sister's lover calls her Rami akka?

Sun TV Top 10 movies style-la spoiler review sollaNumnaa
MukkoNa kaadhal kadhaya vidhyaasamaa kai aaNdadhooda mattum illaama natpu, paasam, poraamai, chinna chinna sandai-nu oru suvayaana kalavayai koduthu irukkaanga Duet movies. Chinna vayasula aarambikkra Laila-Prasanna sandai, pala varushathukkapram avanga sandhikkum bodhum thodarudhu. Idhukku naduvula Karthik-Laila thirumaNam nichayam aagi, ninnu poga, Prasanna-vum Laila-vum orutharai oruthar virumba aarambikkaraanga. Dhideernu Karthik thirumbi vandhudraaru. Yaaru yaaroda serraanga-ngradhu dhaan kadhai. Arumayaana paadalgaL aanaa kaatshigaLukku naduvula thevayillaama thiNikka pattrukku.
Mothathula "kaNda naaL mudhal" - "oru dhadavai kaaNalaam"

PS: First time review ezhudharen. So sodhappalaa irundhaa kaNdukaadheenga :)

Yummy!!

2005-12-08T03:32:00.000-08:00

Ok, am back after a long break. The project which was eating my brains for quite sometime is over atlaaaast *heaves huge sigh*

Part 1
Now coming back to the topic, went to Murugan Idli Shop last night for dinner. Had to wait outside the restaurant for more than 20 minutes to get a table. As far as idli is concerned, it is just yet another tiffin for me and not a favourite one. Amma paNNinaaley I don't take more than 4. I've heard of the cliché "malligai poo madhiri idly", but believe me, MIS lives upto that phrase. Naaney neythikku 8 idlies saaptenna paathukongaLen :D (No eye putters pls :)) And the different 4 or 5 varities of chutney and tasty sambar they give....Man!!!! Sorgam. Our initial plan was to go to Subway, but thanks to one of our Idli loving Northie friend, who adam pidichified that we should go to MIS only. We had a great time hogging the delicious, spongy idli.

Idli Trivia (Courtesy : MIS table supervisor) - origination of the word is from two tamil words ittu + avi kaala pokkula it became IDLI it seems

Part 2
Went to Dhaba Express for lunch today :) This is the 2nd time am visiting that place in the past 2 weeks. During college days on our way to Pilani from Delhi, we used to have "N" number of Dhabas where we hate to eat. Again and again the same old butter naan, aaloo paratha, paneer butter masala, dhal makani-nu erichalaa irukkum. But after saying tata, bye bye to Pilani, Cenotaph Road Dhaba Express has been my favourite hangout. (Hmmm oru edatha vittutu vandha dhaney adhoda arumai theriyum)The kayathu kattil, stone tables and benches, two Punjabi guys with turbans resembling bandhini dhupattas playing Punjabi music, asli punjabi khana, the hot and tasty jilebis, need I say more? Tried out something called Golden Fried Baby Corn as a starter for the first time and it was damn good. And oru kind & sincere advice...pls do not even think of trying the Hot 'n Sour soup there. Kaadhula irundhu pogai vaRa aLavukku kaaram. For that matter ellaa soups-umey so-so dhaan. Hez adding some colourant which gives them a different look. Spent wonderful 2 hrs there and now back to office.

When I went there last time they played "Kajra Re" from Bunty aur Babli on the request of one of the diners and from then on am not able to get this beautiful song out of my mind. Never seen this song, but have heard that Aishwarya looks gorgeous and makes the Bachchans dance to her tunes.

Dhaba Express Trivia (Courtesy : A friend of mine) - Hearsay is that the owner/proprieter is from a remote village in Punjab who had also been a chef in one of the prestigious Oberoi hotels.

Now that am back to regular blogging and will be vetti for a few days till Christmas, will keep scribbling something else or the other :D

Ouch!!

2005-11-22T02:27:00.001-08:00

1. Play badminton matches over the weekend after a full three year gap (I had not even touched the racquet for name sake too in those 3 yrs)
2. Drive around 40 kms a day on Saturday and Sunday (car-nu ellaam high level-la don't think...It was afterall in my kutty Scooty)

Result : Terribly painful right hand and sprained ankle. Idhu podhaadhunnu severe cold and cough due to the change in Chennai weather. Throat suththamaa out. My voice sounds alien to me :( Used Iodex/Vicks Vaporub in my life after ages.

This is bad...very very bad. After I became one of the many software engineers, I stopped all my work-outs and the only minimal exercise I do is climibing the stairs to reach my Unit on the 4th floor. May be I should make plans to resume the weekend throw ball and shuttle sessions which we friends used to have earlier. Or atleast do skipping/cycling regularly in the early mornings. However, the latter's possibility looks bleak due to my late rising skills :( Neways, lemme give it a try.

Highlite of the weekend was - My mobile conked off on Saturday. All my contacts are in the fone memory, am not able to access it and hence unable to reach many of my friends. Damn! the "Phone book" and "Speed dial" option, I couldn't recollect much :( Lesson learnt - Always have a copy of the information in SIM. I'd been planning for months to buy a new mobile and kept postponing it. So now, itz time to say bye bye to my Samsung C100. Nokia darling, am on my way to ur showroom :)

PS: Have given the old mobile in Samsung Service Centre. Desperately want my fone memory to be restored. Fingers crossed.

Update: Got my Samsung mobile from Technocare centre. Phone memory in tact and I got back all my contact numbers :D First thing i did was copying them to SIM.

"The Thalas" of Kollywood and Cricket

2005-11-12T04:27:00.000-08:00

Flash of thought at the moment - "Thala" Ajithkumar and "Bengal Tiger" Sourav Ganguly have something in common. Both of them had tasted the sweet fruit of success and are currently not fairing so well in their respective areas coz of their poor form.

After the famous 2 minutes Maggi noodles joke on Dada, it was the grandfather asking his grandson to go buy vethalai "poi Ganguly madhiri chattu puttunu vaangiNdu vaa. Dravid madhiri paraaku paathuNdu nikkadha". And recently happened to see Dinamalar quoting "Nam Indhiya aNi Videocon thodarai kaipatRiya sandhoshathil irukkum pozhudhu aNiyin munnaaL thalaivar Sourav Ganguly-in nilamayai paarungaL" and a picture of Ganguly appealing for an 'out' in Duleep Trophy. I am not degrading the Duleep Trophy or anything like that but still I doubt if Ganguly would have ever ever thought about being thrown out of the Indian team after having led the team for World Cup finals!! Will he be able to make it into the team again is the million dollar question.

And as for our Shalini's husband, though his initial "Madhumathi", "Amaravathi" type movies failed, he got a good break in Vasanth's "Aasai" and "Vaali" saw him come back with full josh. But that was it. "Mugavari" and "Dheena" were feeble hits and adhukku appram edhuvumey paakaRa madhiri illa. Yesterday I got an SMS

"Rajini's latest hit Chandramukhi - 230 days, Vijay's latest hit Ghilli - 209 days, Kamal's latest hit Vasool raja - 125 days, Vikram's latest flick Anniyan - 130 days, Ajith's Red+Raja+Attagasam+Ji+Jana+Anjaneya - 150 days"

Am not sure of the statistics of the other movies but last one seems quite possible. With Paramasivan on the way and after having lost a few kilos, letz c vot Ajith has in store. Ippo Shalini is also not acting. Eppdi dhaan samaaLikkaraangaLo??

Neither am I a fan of Ajith nor Ganguly is my favourite. Just found their current predicament coincidental.

Yaen endra keyLvi

2005-11-10T04:38:00.000-08:00

What is/Why Alfresco Pages? This is one of the questions posed to me very often whenever I give anyone my blog URL.

It all started way back in Jan 2005 when I took up this new year resolution of "Learn an English word a day" (Well, I have something to crib about this...shall do that later) Sometime in March, I came across the word 'extramural' which meant "Occurring or situated outside of the walls or boundaries". When I clicked the thesaurus option, the very first word I encountered was ALFRESCO - which means "In fresh air". I liked the word, it was kinda different. But couldn't find a context in day-to-day life wherein I could use it.

When I decided to blog, this was the very first word which came to my mind. And hence the name ALFRESCO PAGES. True to it's meaning, it has introduced me to a new world with fresh scented air everywhere - the blogosphere :)

MettukkaL palavidham

2005-11-09T09:20:00.000-08:00

New Year Celebrations have started in our office with a BANG!! We had Antakshari yesterday and I (ahem) had participated in that. The organisers' involvement in the event was just ammazing and it was evident from the 10 rounds that were conducted. Though it was all the regular Hindi/Tamil video clippings, instrumental and Paragraph guessing, etc the selection of songs was extremely good - a blend of 80s, 90s and the most recent ones.

There was one round which was very difficult and I found it pretty interesting though the rules were slightly confusing. We asked the organisers to repeat and re-repeat the rules. Have tried explaining it here. Hope you are able to understand it.

You pick a chit, the chit contains a Tamizh word. You can sing any one line from any song that contains this word. No, thatz not the end of it, you need to continue the cycle with related lines from different songs (any one line again not necessarily the beginning) which has a logical connection with the previous song.
You are given 3 mins to prepare once you pick the chit. And atleast 50% of what you sing should be from the middle and not the very 1st line.

Our pick was "saththam" and this is the exhaustive list prepared in 3 mins by 3 of us.

Enna saththam indha neram (Punnagai mannan)

Pon arumbugaL malargayile men melliya saththam varum (MottugaLey - Rojakootam)

Kodiyilae arumbudhaan kuLiril mazhaiyil nanayum pozhudhu (Aathaadi ammadi - Idhayathai thirudaadhey)

KuLireduththaal vaanaththiRkey kudai kodungaL neengaL - (Megam kottatum - EnakkuL oruvan)

Andha vaanam pakkam indha bhoomi sorgam - (Thirakkaadha kaatukkuLey - En swaasa kaatrey)

Sorgamey endraalum adhu nammoora pola varumaa (??)

Chennai senthamizh maRandhen unnaaley (MKSOM)

MaRakka manam koodudhillaye adikkira kaatha keyLu (Inji iduppazhagaa - Thevar Magan)

Vaadai kaatRukku vayasaachu vaazhum bhoomikku vayasaachu - (Hai Rabba - Jeans)

Rekkai muLaikkum vayasu dhaana Macareena ok dhaana? (Kushi)

Sari dhaan idhu kaadhalin aRiguri dhaan..Malligaye malligaye maalayidum mannavan yaar sollu (Ninaithen vandhaai)

Paerai chollavaa...adhu nyaayam aagumaa (??)

En keLvikkenna badhil...un paarvaikenna poruL (??)

Hey hey yeNNa aachchu unakku? (Kadhal virus)

Nalam nalam aRiya aaval un nalam nalam aRiya aaval (Kadhal Koattai)

Nee thandha otRai kadidham aayiram murai naan padippeney (Chaanakyaa Chaanakyaa - ??)

And well, that was the end of it...this was one of the high scoring rounds which helped us secure the 2nd place among 10 teams :))

P.S: This is my 26th post in 3 months!! Ah! that was not that bad :)

P.P.S: I dont know why people are biased with multiples of 25, so I decided to celebrate my 26th post with a Cadbury's Crackle :)

Harry Potter

2005-11-05T02:06:00.000-08:00

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is hitting the theatres on 18th November 2005 and I just can't wait to watch the movie. I loved reading the book and am just wondering how they would have been picturised

-Quidditch world cup
-Challenges of the Triwizard tournament
-Yule Ball
-Mad Eye Moody's rolling eye
-Rita Skeeter's irritating journalism

And ofcourse, the new spells, charms and the Weasley twins' pranks.

No change in the trio casting as usual.
Daniel Radcliffe - his craze among school girls getting wilder.

My expectations are pretty high and I really wish they are met. Getting released in Sathyam, Mayajaal and Motsham in Chennai. So hurry and book your tickets all ya Harry fans :)

Hopefully I get the tickets on the 14th day from today - i.e 19th of November. Fingers crossed!

Indha naaL iniya naaL

2005-11-04T04:44:00.000-08:00

- Wake up at 8 only to realise that I need to attend a wedding (Muhurtham 7.30 to 9)
- Get ready and reach at 9.30
- Wish and gift the couple
- Off to to my uncle's house for a late but sumptuous breakfast
- In office waiting for my friend
- A few hrs of shopping
- Lunch with a few old friends
- Back in office to avoid rains (did nothing but bloghopping :))
- And now time to go home

Am on leave till Monday but loved being in office today...without work pressure, calls, coding and bug fixing...Wow!! It was altogether a different experience.
Itz 6.20 pm and pitch dark outside. Rained heavily for the past 1 hr. Hopefully I reach home before the next spell...

On the whole, it was a pleasant holiday :D

Suttum vizhi chudar

2005-10-26T08:06:00.000-07:00

I just happened to listen to this song from "KaNdukoNdaen KaNdukoNdaen"

"Beautiful Bharathiyaar Poetry" rendered by Hariharan with minimal orchestra. The music blends with the lyrics and u can actually hear the sound of twinkling of stars(nakshathirangaLadi) and chirping of birds(kuyil oasai). The abrupt picturisation where the damsel in distress (Aishwarya) is rescued by the knight in shining armour (Abbas!!??) irritates me. But for the time being am too busy admiring the lyrics and the legendary poet's views about nature & love and the way in which he has weaved it in words, that am ready to ignore the picturisation part.

Here goes the lyrics of the ecstatic song!!

Suttum vizhi chudar dhaan - kaNNammaa
Sooriya chandiraro

Vatta kariya vizhi - kaNNammaa
Vaanak karumai koLLo

Pattu karuneela - pudavai
Padhitha nalvayiram

Natta nadunisiyil - theriyum
NatshathirangaLadi

Solai malar oLiyo - unadhu
Sundharapunnagai dhaan

Neela kadalalaye - unadhu
Nenjin alaigaLadi

Kolak kuyil oasai - unadhu
Kuralin inimayadi

Vaalai kumariyadi - kaNNammaa
Maruvak kaadhal koNdaen

Saathiram pesugiraai - kaNNammaa
Saathiram yedhukkadi

Aathiram kondavarke - kaNNammaa
Saathiram undoadi

Moothavar sammadhiyil - vadhuvai
Muraigal pinbu seivom

Kaathiruppenoadi - idhu paar
Kannaththu muththam ondRu

Neytru...Indru...NaaLai...

2005-10-20T05:29:00.000-07:00

Avan - AndRu - ThirumaNathiRku munbu

Iravu uNavai veLiye mudithu koLLalaam endren
sari endRaai
udhattaal sirithu manadhaal kalanginen
nam kaadhalukku endha vidhamaana edhirppum vandhu vidak koodaadhey endRu

Avan - IndRu - ThirumaNathiRku pinbu

Iravu uNavai veLiye mudithu koLLalaam endren
sari endRaai
udhattaal sirithu manadhaal kalanginen
dhinam dhinam ippadi paathiram theyppadhilirindhu thappithu koLLa mudiyaadhey endRu

Am being followed!!

2005-10-18T04:47:00.000-07:00

After the Kushboo/Thankar Bachan episodes, here are the latest omnipresent filmy gossips which are being discussed anywhere and everywhere...right from breakfast table to tea breaks to lunch...

- Shahrukh Khan is turning 40 on November 2nd. HE and 40? No chance. He looks damn handsome. Can't be yaar. Did u check him out in the Videocon/Tag Heuer ad? Itz absolutely impossible. (Paavam, actor aayittaa avanukku 40 vayasu aaga kooda urimai kedayaadha??)

- Katie Holmes is pregnant with Tom Cruise's baby. A hushed up wedding is being planned. Katie's father Martin Holmes is absolutely upset over the issue. He isn't pleased that Cruise is the father. (Katie kooda avanga daddy kochikittadhukku ivvLo varutha pattrukka maataanga)

- Vijaykanth is going to write a thodar katturai in Tamizh magazine Kalki. But whoz gonna read it is a big question mark ?

- Names of 3 movies for which poojai has been put on Vijayadasami - Brindavanathil Nandakumaran (The hero is yaavarukkum podhu sondham to kalaachify), Kovai brothers (stg Satyaraj and Sibiraj - logical question like "When father and son are acting, why is the movie named brothers?" etc are being discussed but people are yet to come to a conclusion on it), Nee veNum daa chellam (kashtam!! enna peru idhu??)

- Shri(e)ya's full name is Shriya Saran and she won the 'Sivaji' heroine race with competitors like Aishwarya Rai, Asin, Trisha, Nayanthara and Ayesha Takia. And yes, she has agreed with Shankar for a discount in salary as shez cast against the Superstar thalaivar of Kollywood

- Aftab Shivdasani was questioned "What kind of a girl does he prefer in real life - tom boyish or homely". He wanted to have best of both!! Now what does he mean??

- Daniel Craig, the new James Bond, his mother's over enthusiasm which let the cat out of the bag, Pierce Brosnan's anguish over the decision, blah blah blah

- Maddy is hosting 'Deal Ya No Deal' game show in Sony. We'd had enough of such flop shows with Anupam Kher, Manisha Koirala and Govinda!! Will this one also be yet another in the row??

- Amitabh's bungalow's names - Prateeksha and Jalsa ;-)

- Why is Priety Zinta taking up movies like Kya Kehna, Salam Namaste, and one more Salman-Rani Mukherjee-Preity starrer (I dont remember the name) where in she has to
go around with a bumpy stomach? (vaazhkaikku evvLo mukkiyam!!)

- During the shooting of June-16 some guy tried to misbehave with Jyothika and it was captured on a Digi cam. So she is terribly upset about the issue. What will be Surya's reaction to it?

- And the last one...My favourite...The only part of the discussion in which I was an active participant...
Vairamuthu came to Cinema Paradiso - Hall of Fame and left his hand and foot prints. He joins the list after ARR :) Maniratnam :) Kamalhassan :) Balachandar, Sujatha and Santosh Sivan. Oh! yes, whenever u rent a DVD there, they give you a free pack of pop corn and a drink of your choice :D (Well, drinks in the sense..Pepsi/Coke/Mirinda/Fanta/Frooti and everything of that order only :))

Navarathri Hangover

2005-10-13T04:16:00.000-07:00

Am getting lazier. Last Sunday I was supposed to meet my school friends to pay a visit to their k(g?)olus. But I happily dozed off and when I got up and checked the 16 missed calls in my mobile I realised it was almost 3hrs since our scheduled meeting time. Then a series of fone calls, conferences, apologies and explanations set things straight and we decided that we'll catch up on Tuesday at 3pm sharp.

We assembled at Miru's house at 2.45(yeah! I made it this time :)) and started our oorvalam. We made sure that we spent enough quality time in eligible bachelors' house. An observation - Indha kaalathu pasanga romba munneritaanga u c. A guy actually helped his mom in getting the vethalai paaku thattu ready. Future-ku nallaa train aagikkaraanga. I like it :) Kothu"kadalai " sundal, Shri chakra raaja simhaasaneshwari, Himagiri thanaye, MaaNikka veeNai yendhum, VaraveeNaa, vethalai, paaku, pazham, kutty gift etc etc were all regulars. Andha kaalathula sundal-a newspaper-la suthi kuduppaanga. Now it is replaced by a kutty plastic nair kadai tea cup. Rettai pinnal madichu kattiNdu 5th std padikkra poNNu kaila kunguma chimizh kuduthu kolu-kku azhaikkara pazhakkam innum maaRavey illa. It was really cute when this kid came and oppichufied "Aathula kolu vechrukkaa. Kandippaa vaango. Kungumam eduthukongo". Kaila neraya thookindu poga veNdaameyngra nalla eNNathula we emptied the sundal cups and vaazhaipazhams right away. This invited a few "IvvLo vayasaachu, indha poNgaL ellaam ippdi irukkey looks" from a group of maamis.

It was 6 and our merry-go-round came to an end. It was then that we decided we'll go to our Arts & Crafts teacher's house. Hers is the best kolu I'd ever seen. A perfect mixture of ethnic and modern bommais arranged in the right way in 7 padis. We went to her house but she wasn't there. Uncle(her husband) said "Konjam wait paNNungo. Pakkathula dhaan poyirukkaa idho vandhuduvaa" and he enquired where we are put up, where we work, etc etc. When it took time for ma'am to return, he brought sundal in cups and juice(Kissan Fruit kick I guess) and asked us to have it and said, she'll return by then. How sweet!! The kolu was damn simple and when we asked him about it he said "Illaye, eppavumey ivvLo dhaaney vekkradhu vazhakkam". We were stunned. At that moment something dawned on me and I asked "Idhu Arts and Crafts teacher Uma-voda veedu dhaney?" Wasn't that a million dollar question?? He said "Illai ma. Avaa kaali paNNiNdu 4 veedu thaLLi poyittaa. 5 or 6 months aachey". You should have seen the way we asadu vazhinjufied, uttered a 1000 Sorrys, got directions from him and hurried off. Hopefully his Mrs didn't shout at him for giving away the sundal and juice to a group of unknown girls :D

Uma Ma'am's house - Thank God! She greeted us at the entrance. The kolu was grand as usual. We arattai adichufied, sang, laughed and lived those old school days. When we were about to leave, this beautiful girl and her younger brother (6 and 3 year old neighbours it seems) came in. After the routine inviations and stuff we asked her to sing a swamy paatu. She instantaneously agreed and muzhu moocha sang "Kumbida pona dheivam kuRukka vandhadhammaa" unmindful of our giggles and her bro's question "KuRukka ponaa vaNdi idichudaadhaa dee??" (The days' kids!! They think so much) Dheivam is swamy was the explanation she gave us :) The brother fella said "Naanum paaduven. Enakku ajajam-la irundhu paatu ellam theriyum. Aunty enakku Vinodh aNNaavoda 3 chakkara cycle kudunga" (Ajajam = Advertisement) Uma Ma'am was generous and gave her son's cycle and we were curious as to what song from which ad hez gonna sing. He started riding the 3 wheeler and guess what he sang....

Yeh kya hua....kaise hua....kyun hua...kab hua...jab hua...tab hua....choro ye na socho....MY MAN

he shouted in his mazhalai voice

Gosh! Look at the impact of ads...Hmmm ulagam romba fast-a developing eh??
At 7:15 I was back at home. Few more friends came home and it was all fun. I just enjoyed the evening like anything. One of the best after a looong time :D

You have a new mail

2005-10-06T10:14:00.000-07:00

There are better ways to start a day. But definitely not with a fwd which has a tag "Pls send pass it on to 10 people or else..." Grrr The first thing I did was Shift+Del. I hate them.

It all started with postcards. Typically Shankar's Anniyan style. Receiving a letter with a so-called important message to the society and a P.S that reads "You are supposed to take x number of copies and post it to x different people. If you fail to follow, you'll face the same predicament as Vadakkuputhur Venkatesan who was hit with a visha juram or the once filthy rich Kothamangalam Govindan who became bankrupt overnight".

This sounds rustic. But a decent version of the same is getting circulated as emails.

It is mostly a Ganesh yantra/Tirupathi Balaji mantra/Saibaba message and we are not supposed to break the chain. If broken, the person will have bad luck throughout his/her life. It should not stay in the Inbox for more than 48 hrs. If it is a divine message why is it not supposed to stay with you?

A friendship train, which needs to be on its wheels always. If not, you'll have serious misunderstandings with your best friend and he/she will become your enemy forever. So, friends fight only because of not forwarding mails to each other?

A pair of love birds - a symbol of love, carrying a lovey dovey message. You need to spread it. Here, the number of people you forward to is inversely proportional to the number of days in which you meet the love of your life.

How stupid? Does the "Send" button in the compose screen decide our fate? Who is the originator of such chains? Can we earn money and love by wasting precious time and simply forwarding messages? It pains all the more because this is getting multiplied at an exponential rate in the literate community. Come on! We are in the 21st century and still people believe in such things. The common dialogue being, "If not good luck, let me not invite bad luck" and they sincerely start shortlisting the prospective forwardees in their addressbook.

Huh! Will there ever be an end to this? This is just my opinion. Your views pls...

Mission Impossible

2005-09-28T21:33:00.000-07:00

He stared at the unfinished letter. He was still not sure how she would react to it. He and his friend had endlessly chit-chatted that day and she was the dominant topic. She was the Principal's daughter but was very friendly and down-to-earth types. They had spent quite sometime together and he liked her very much. End of that day, he knew, he had to write to her.

Though he doubted the choice of his words, he completed the letter and after one long thoughtful moment, signed it. The next morning, she walked upto his desk and asked him with a pleasant smile, "Why didn't you come yesterday?". So, she had noticed his absence. He could feel the presence of the neatly folded letter in his shirt pocket. His throat went dry and he was nervous. But an inner voice said "Don't give the letter to her. Better disclose it to your parents first and let them take it up from there"

He followed his instincts and told her "My father will speak to you about it". Without giving her a chance to question further, he rushed out. Huh! His friends were right. All night he had convinced himself that it would be a cake walk. But, bunking classes and giving a leave letter to a favourite teacher, that too with father's forged signature was not a easy task, realised fourth standard Vicky!!

Maiden attempt

2005-09-27T03:13:00.000-07:00

He was a handsome, successful, young doctor. But he broke the ground rule and got emotionally involved with his patient. She was so beautiful that he couldn't resist. They said she was an orphan but by looks he knew she was from a cultured family. She was too weak when they brought her to him, her health was in a pretty bad shape. She was only half-conscious and trembled under his first touch. It was at that moment that he decided that she belonged to him.

He treated and took good care of her day and night and his efforts were very well rewarded. She regained her complete strength and started enjoying his company. He kept telling her that she was his Princess and she was overjoyed. It was time for her to be discharged from the hospital. He discussed it with his mother and the understanding mom welcomed her son's idea. He took her to his house and told her she was also part of the family.

She looked at him starry eyed, filled with gratitude, and she did not know how to express her happiness. She liked his soft-spoken, affectionate mom too and made up her mind to serve them and care for them all her life.

They made the best pair - he, a warm hearted vet and she, a loyal pet dog. And they lived happily ever after.

September 23rd

2005-09-23T08:14:00.000-07:00

Me : Gud morning dee.
My friend (MF) : VGM! Do you know what day is today?
Me : Friday (Well,that was after checking my desktop calendar)
MF : Idiot! As if I don't know that. Something special dee
Me : Hmmm Anybody's birthday? But I don't remember any Libran in our gang.
MF : No dee. Not birthday. It is chocolate day dee Idiot!

Time 8:40 am

She kick started her work after this conversation. But I was curious. What on earth is this Chocolate day? I started googling and hit a site on this hindi movie bye name "Chocolate" stg Anil Kapoor, Sunil Shetty and Arshad Warsi. It is a thriller which portrays the mystifying personalities of seven individuals. And this movie also gives the word chocolate a different meaning - It is British slang for illegal goods it seems. Sulekha Reviewers have given it 3 stars out of 5.

After reading the stupid review, I realised my original aim and went back searching the origin of the special day. There was a music review on CHOCKLET aka CHOCOLATE. A music buff as I am, I clicked it and it was lolluexpress.com's review on that Prashant/Mumtaz movie. I remembered the gaana numbers of the film (Marudha Mala-all girls who've been in hostel can never forget this towel number) and the ridiculous climax where the nearly dead Prashant gets up with all josh when the sounds of the Ganesh Visarjan Bhajan drifts into his ears.How stupid and masalaish!!! No, this is not the one.

Quotations page - Now people had time to quote chocolates also? The inquisitive me, didn't leave that site also. Oh! There were just 2 of them

A little nonsense now and then, is cherished by the wisest men.
Roald Dahl (1916 - 1990), (Willy Wonka) Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Life is like a box of chocolates... you never know what you're gonna get.
Tom Hanks, Forrest Gump

Blogs - There were lotsa blogs posted on chocolates including Kumari's. But none of them had the information that I was looking for :(

The Virtual chocolates website. I had good longing look at the mouth watering chocolates and delectable candies. But even they didn't say anything about the reason behind chocolate day celebration!!

Discussion Forums were there..But they discussed only about how happy they were because it was a National Holiday, their plans to prepare chip pancakes, and a lady said "I missed Chocolate Day? Totally not fair. I guess I'll have to celebrate late. Or maybe turn it into a chocolate weekend" Huh!

Time 9:40 am

MF : I guess it is time we login from here for the meeting.

Oops!! I'd spent almost a full hour doing nothing but trying to gather pieces together to solve the puzzle on "Chocolate day"!!
But, still I feel that was the best hour of the day, when I was happily browsing, unaware of the surroundings, enjoying/criticising/laughing at each and every article I read, though they were totally irrelevant and all in vain :)

And yes, me and MF treated ourselves with a big pack of Cadbury's Temptation and celebrated Chocolate day (as if we needed an excuse to have a bite at the irresistible confectionary)

And this is for all those chocolate lovers!!

Friends forever

2005-09-20T06:22:00.000-07:00

The first thing that caught my attention on Sunday morning when I went to pick the paper was the beautifully decorated short wall, bang opposite to my house. When I asked my mom about this, she said "Venky,Subbu,Prakash and Avinash have come". I was surprised. Itz been years and years since they had visited our area. Apart from the discussion at home which crops up once a while or somebody enquiring about them to Babu aNNa I'd hardly heard anything about them till that Sunday.

Who are they?

They are our locality seniors. All four of the them are best friends, who were doing their graduation in a local college. One of those few colleges which was on strike for almost 3/4th of the year and their favourite pass time was sitting on the parapet n commenting each and every passer by. They were called "fit for nothings", tharudhalais, Kutty chevaru boys and by many other names. I still remember how Venky aNNa's mom was worried about the foursome's future, for they were wasting their precious time and golden years and my mom consoling her. The only one who was spared of their bullying was Babu aNNa who owned a petty shop very close to the wall.

What they used to do?

Untie the calf much to the annoyance of the milk man fondly called as "paal thaatha". The poor young one will lose its way and old man will spend a good 1 hr to find it. Shout at an uncle who takes 3 of his kids in TVS 50 along with his wife, "Your are supposed to take a family in the vehicle not an entire village". Roll out a rumour on a drizzling/cloudy day saying "Schools aren't functioning today". Distract attention by clapping & singing "Oram po,Oram po,RukkumaNi vandi varudhu" thereby making the person concerned nervous & fall down when he/she is learning how to ride cycle.

What happened?

It all started with Avinash aNNa's dad's transfer, then Subbu aNNa's elder brother bought a new house and shifted the family and one by one all four of them got separated. The wall was deserted!

How they (were) celebrated?

I stood in the balcony and was a silent spectator to the celebrations. Babu aNNa's petty shop has grown to a departmental store, a flat had come up nearby and I donno for what reason they didn't demolish that curb. All four aNNas had come with their wives n kids. They sat on the wall and tried continuing their earlier commenting sessions and ended up in splits. Sweets were distributed.

Paal thaatha was close to tears when they gifted him with a shawl and a cow-calf statue. Then there was snap session. Crest of fun was when each of their kids took up position in the wall and shouted "My Daddy Strongest". My mom asked me to go say a HI to them. But I was damn sure they wouldn't even recognize me. So I refused to join.

But they did come to my house. And what I had in store was biggest slice of the cake - a Teddy, the Pooh, Mickey, Minnie and a box full of Nutties. Well, they had expected me to be that 8 yr old who fought with them for the 5 Star they'd snatched from me, the same kid who along with her kiddo friends cheered them during the Kabbadi match and got a Poppins in exchange.

While it took 5 long minutes for Prakash aNNa for the fact that I've completed my Engineering and that am working to sink in, Venky and Avinash aNNa kept asking me repeatedly if they were right with the choice of gifts. When I showed my recent collection of soft toys, they were relieved. As per Subbu aNNa's suggestion, I accompanied them to their houses (which had once been) and at around 2 pm, it was bye-bye time. They set off to the local non-AC theatre to watch ThuLLaadha Manamum ThuLLum and carry on from there.

Who are they now?

Two of them are green card holders well settled in the U S of the A and the other two hold respectable positions in reputed concerns. Few of those who called them ne'er-do-wells were dumb-struck and other said the same old dialogue "I knew he would be succesful in life one day"

Now, wasn't that more interesting than a high-school reunion?

Great quotes

2005-09-18T04:05:00.000-07:00

By me...

" or ' - Open quotes/Close quotes

Me in office :( Thanx to the god damn batch issue. Therez nothing on this earth, as worse as working on Sundays that too in the evening :(
Hence this stupid post. Pls ignore this one & go watch TV/listen to music/enjoy & spend time with your family and friends. If you are having a look at this on Monday morning, I hope atleast you had a great Sunday evening...
Mummmmiiiiiiiieeeeeeeeeeeeee

Sing a Song

2005-09-17T04:55:00.000-07:00

I've got a brand new CD - a compact video cum audio collection of all songs from Maniratnam movies :) That was a thoughtful gift given to someone like me - a big time fan of MR.

And yes, I named it - MUSICALLY MANIRATNAM :))

Thanx dear Miru!!

I was enjoying myself, each n every song was fresh n breathtaking as if I was listening to it for the first time. My all time favourite...Thoongaadha vizhigaL penned by Vaali, composed in Raagaa Amruthavarshini sung by S Janaki and KJ Yesudaas was just enchanting as ever. A masterpiece without SPB though :( The humming is really really difficult n till date I admire the ease with which Yesudaas has sung it. Man! IR knows where to draw the line between Carnatic n light!! Doesn't he? And I dedicate this post to all those MR,IR fans out there :)

Thoongaadha vizhigaL reNdu
Than thuNai theydum nenjam ondRu
Sempoo manjam virithaalum panneerai theLithaalum
Aanandham enakkeydhu anbey nee illaadhu
Thoongaadha vizhigaL reNdu
Than thuNai theydum nenjam ondRu

Maamara ilai meley Aa..Aa..Aa *Humming*
Maamara ilai meley maargazhi pani poley
PoomagaL madi meedhu naan thoongavo
Raathiri pagalaaga orupodhum vilagaamal
Raajanai kaiyendhi thaalaattavo
NaaLum naaLum raagam thaaLam
Seyrum neram theerum baaram
Aa..Aa..Aa *Humming* (thoongaadha)

Aalilai sivapaaga angamum neruppaaga
Noolidai kodhippeyRum nilai ennavo
Aadhiyum puriyaamal andhamum theriyaamal
Kaadhalil arangeyrum kadhai allavo
MaadhuLam kaniyAda, malaraada, kodiyaada
Maarudham uRavaadum kalai ennavo
Vaalibam thadumaaRa orubodhai thalaikkeyRa
Vaarthaiyil viLangaadha suvayallavo
Meylum meylum mogam koodum
Dhegam yaavum geedham paadum
Aa..Aa..Aa *Humming* (thoongaadha)

TGIF

2005-09-16T07:01:00.000-07:00

This week had been hectic.With overseas calls scheduled at sharp 8:30 am,I had to rush to catch the 7:20 train without fail.Though it is the regular train that I catch,I do decide once/twice a week to swipe in late.I couldn't do it the whole of this week.(I missed 7.20 today,but the call was cancelled hee hee)

Amma s also coming late from office nowadays,damn tired.So I decided to be a chamathu daughter n told her (No...Don't panick!I didn't take over the task of cooking) "This week u need not get up early n prepare food for me.Neways,dad is out of station,Shriek(my bro) has only lab sessions that too in the afternoon.So u can get up at around 7 and finish cooking by 8.Aaraam se leave home by 8.45.I will manage outside".

Perumaya solliten..But now I feel "What a life is this?".Inspite of coming from home,I'd been having breakfast n lunch at canteen & company guest house for the past 4 days:( I miss amma's simple thayir saadham+vendakkai/lime pickle and my tupperware :(

But THANK GOD!IT'S FRIDAY :) Which means,for the next two days,3 meals a day at HOME SWEET HOME :)Have a fantanstic weekend folks!!Glad news is that my training session which was scheduled over the weekend has been cancelled!So "TV/MUSIC UNLIMITED" is guaranteed and I won't miss Captain's interview Part 2 also :))

Padichadhula pidichadhu

2005-09-16T00:02:00.000-07:00

From the book "Live and Learn and Pass It On"

I've learnt that
-just when I get my room the way I like it, Mom makes me clean it up. (Age 13)

-couples without children always know just how you should raise yours. (Age 29)

-you should never be too busy to say "please" and "thank you". (Age 36)

-the more creative you are, the more things you notice. (Age 51)

-the best thing about growing older is that now I don't feel the need to impress anyone. (Age 79)

Swaahaaa!!!

2005-09-15T08:46:00.000-07:00

I withdrew Rs.2000 from the ATM on Tuesday afternoon.And guess vot the curr bal in my purse is?Zuk-Zero-Poojyam-Shoonya-Cipher :( Initially thot I'd missed the money somewhere n opened an XL sheet to find out the loss incurred.I strained my kutty brain n jotted down all the purchases I did in the past 3 days.The results were shocking!!!!

Train Season - 350

Lending Library - 40

Lunch @ company guest house 3*30 - 90

Auto fare to reach office 3*25 - 75

Gifts+Chocolates when I went to meet my 1st std twin cousins - 100

Butter half a kg+coffee powder half a kg for home-poRupaana poNNu u c - 155

Petrol-Elixir of bikes 2 litres - 100

Tea n Snacks @ Residency with my friend - 150

Harry Potter + Spy Kids 6 in 1 DVD which I wanted to buy for a long time - 375

Contribution to colleague's birthday - 50

Petty purchases in Ranganathan street - 87

Paid Hutch Bill for my cousin for he flew to NJ without paying his bills - 425

My regular bribe to Mr.PiLLayaar 3*1 - 3

Grand Total - 2000

:( This doesn't include the Breakfast and Espressos had at canteen for the past 3 days. Thank you! Sodex ho coupons.Hmmm My Dearest ATM,Am on my way...

Resolution: I solemnly swear that from today onwards I will maintain a daily tracker on my spending habits and cut down the unnecessary expenses.

My manasaatshi(in a feeble voice): Nee enga poga poRa,naan enga poga poRen.Lemme see for how many days u r gonna follow this resolution :)
Me: SHUT UPPPPP!

Thumbaka dhaaney Ambi Lambaano!!

2005-09-14T20:55:00.000-07:00

Today the first class compartment in train was unusually crowded and there was only one seat which was vacant.I occupied that one,enjoying the song "KalyaaNa then nilaa"(Some puNNiyavaan was listening to Suriyan FM on loudspeaker).Me flipping thru "If Tommorrow comes" for the Nth time.Many don't appreciate,but I enjoy each n every plot whenever I read.I opened the book n skimmed,trying to remember the page no/scene I last read,coz my bookmark was missing.Suddenly a voice near me said "HI".I almost jumped from my seat and turned to check out who it was...huh!Chamathu kodam "Ambi"(as we call him)

Well,God knows vot his real name is,but he reminds me of "Anniyan" Ambi.Ofcourse,u can make out 6 vidhyasam between celluloid and the real one.

Anniyan Ambi | Train Ambi
Kondai | No Kondai
Sreechoornam | Sandhanam+Kungumam
Vakeel | Engineer
Iyengar | Iyer
Seen in Luna | Seen in train
Movie-la avan rules pesi kazhutha aruppaan | Ivan pesiye kazhutha aruppaan

I don't even know who he is,apart from those few times when I'd seen him while travelling.But I have a pre-conceived notion that he is irritating n vexatious.(Though I don't have the bad habit of judging people by looks,this fella was an exception)

Me:Hi
(I remembered the scene!It was Big Bertha helping Tracy to escape from the penitentiary.I tried to concenterate on the book)
Ambi:Train-la padikkareLey kaNNu valikkaadhu?
Me:(Romba akkaRai dhan)Illa,adhukku dhan reading glasses pottundu irukken
Ambi:Naan school/college times-leye train-la padikka maaten.hee hee
Me:(Sandhosham) :) (I bend down to read)
Ambi:Neenga Sukanyavoda frienda?
Me:(Quizzically) Aamam
Ambi:UngaLa ava marriagela paathen.
Me:(Deiii adhu wedding daa) o i c
Ambi:Neega Lakshmi nagar road meleye dhaney irukkeL
Me:Aamaam
Ambi:Engaam piLLayaar kovilukku edhirka irukku.Neenga Scooty-la porachey paathrukken
Me:oh!(I try to get back to Whitney's masterplan)
Ambi:Inniku enna thaniya vandhrukkeL
Me:(Paathaa theriyala?)Aamaam
Ambi:Unga kooda oruthar varuvarey?Unga friend-a?
Me:(Romba avasiyam)Illa avan ennoda brother..cousin.
Ambi:Appdiya?Avar kooda avvLava pesinadhilla.Aanaa train-la adikkadi paathu Hello sollipom
Me:(Andha idiotnaala dhaan unkooda ivvLo neram pesa vendi irukku)Hmmm
Ambi:Avar varaliya?Avar keLamba late aayidutho?
Me:(I shoot a longing glance on the open page)Illa
Ambi:Pinna?
Me:(Vidaa kandaa!kodaa kandaa!)Avan New Jersey-la irukkaan.
Ambi:oh!on site offer-a?Very Good!Very Good!Unga company-layum irukka?
Me:Mmmm
Ambi:Neenga eppo poReL?
Me:(Andha pakkam train pidichu tirisulathula erangi poga vendiyadhu dhaan)Offer vandhaa poven.
Ambi:Ennoda visa kooda process aayindu irukku
Me:(Naan kettena?)All the Best!

I generally get up from my seat only after the train pops into Mambalam Station.Today,I decided to scoot once the train entered into Saidapet.

Me:Sari naan kelambaren.
Ambi:Ok!C u.Bye!

Once out of the train,I heaved a sigh of relief.Yammmaaaa!!I observed that inspite of minimal conversation from my side,he kept on chatting endlessly.I've heard about old maamaas n maamis going on and on like this.But for the first time in my life I'd met a youngster(that too a guy) who could prattle non-stop :)) In retrospect,I feel I could have been politer in this harmless conversation :(

That Day That Age

2005-09-13T23:29:00.000-07:00

Genre: Memorabilia
Disclaimer: Long post ahead

En route to office I happened to hear "Idhu Vivithbharathiyin varthaga oliparappu.Neram kaalai 7 mani 10 nimidam 20 nodi.Aduthu varuvadhu seidhigaL.Vaasippavar Usha".This transported me,the self proclaimed queen of nostalgia,to those "Sun TV less" years,the variety of programs offered then and adhai kooda vidaama paatha namma spirit.

Lemme start with the weekend special.Saturday Morning 10:30 is slot for Kannada/Telugu/Mallu movie/documentary featuring Veedu fame Chokkalinga Bhagavathar/short film written,directed and produced by the same person(Eg:Thaamarai Manaalan).Starting 3 pm-The sword of Tippu Sultan,Vikram aur betal,Panchatantra stories and a few toons.5 pm-Hindi movie *End Of Day*

Sundays begin with Tom&Jerry/Black n white legendary comedies(Laurel n Hardy/Charlie Chaplin) followed by Rangoli.8 am regular weekly serials-Ladies Hostel/Neela-Maala/Gokulam Colony.9 am Mahabharatha/Ramayana(Ramanand Sagar n BR Chopra are worth a round of applause here,coz for those who've watched these 2 epics' telecast,Lord Rama is Arun Govil n Lord Krishna is Nitish Bharadwaj always)/Chandrakanta.11'o clock-Spirit of Unity Concert with the brilliant ARR piece in the title card.12 noon-Aalavandhaar kolai vazhakku,1:15-News for the impaired where this aunty with a tight kondai is a constant factor.1:30 pm-boring award winning movie(piRa mozhi thiraipadam).4.15-Munnottam which is generally watched regularly to make a note of next weekend movie(most of the times disappoinment awaits,for the announcement goes as "NyaayiRu maalai 4.30kku Tamizh Thiraipadam" as if we don't know).Then comes the highlite-The aRadha pazhasu Sunday evening tamil movie(ok!admitted that at times they do screen good ones like Kaadhalikka Neramillai,Mouna Raagam,etc).Nights are for Ramana OLi,S.Ve.Shekar's VaNNa kolangaL and GOOD NITE TamilNadu by max 10 pm

DD has quite a number of serials to its credit.Shot in inhouse sets are Shakti'93(not sure of the year tag though),the lanky Raghuvaran as hero in Sivasankari's Idhu oru manidhanin kadhai(Tuesday 7 pm),Sujatha's En Iniya Iyandira(I witnessed waterbed for the first time in one of its episodes).KaNNuku kuLirchiyaa outdoor-la shoot paNNina serials,which are supposed
to be costlier,are Saavi's Washington-l thirumaNam,Moulie's Flight 175,NizhalgaL Ravi in Rayil Sneham(who can forget the evergreen number..Indha veeNaikku theriyaadhu,idhai seidhavar yaarendRu..composed in Sahaanaa).Medai naadagangaLa kooda vittu vechadhu kedayadhu-Cho's Saathirangal azhivadhillai(I guess),Heren Ramasaamy's Thirumalai Naicker,RS Manohar's ChaaNakyan.There will also be a 1 hr drama on Tuesdays at 7:30pm where generally ARS plays the lead role of kudumba thalaivar and directed by GPR.

Antecedent to today's mega serials is andha kaalathu "VizhudugaL" directed by Gopi Bhimsingh,where a millionaire goes in search of his long lost offspring.This one and Sujatha's Kolayudhir kaalam,where Gayathri(Soundarya of Kudumbam/Saro of Metti Oli) plays the role of Leena,will be screened in the afternoons and I used to get a chance to watch it only during times when the terminal exams are scheduled in the afternoon session at 1:30PM.PeNNin Kadhai with Mohini as protagonist was another mega serial which tasted success.

If you wanna watch Hindi songs,Chitrahaar(Wednesday 7.30pm) and Rangoli(Sunday 7:30am) were the only sources.For Tamil songs it was oliyum oLiyum(Friday 7.30pm).Not to forget the situation songs that they screen-VeLakkethu veLakkethu veLLikizhamai(Kaarthigai),Pattasa chuttu chuttu podattuma(Diwali),Devaney ennai paarungaL(Christmas/Good Friday),Ellorum koNdaaduvom allavin perai cholli(Ramzan/Bakrid),India naadu en veedu(Independence day).Point to be noted is that there will be no VJ interruptions in any of these programs.

Thirai malar,Oru pada paadal,Edhiroli with UM Kannan,Spashtamaana tamizh seidhigaL by Shobana Ravi/Sandhya Rajagopal/Fathima Babu/Senthamizh Arasu,The News with Minu,KaNmaNi poonga,Manaimaatshi,ILanthendRal,Wonder Balloon,Vayalum vaazhvum,Nalavaazhvu,etc will be the right choice if you wanna get bored,irritated & kill time all at the same time.

Adhoc programs like Non Stop Nonsense,melodious Mile Sur Mera Tumhara,"Equal rights to girl child" promotion song Odi aaduRa peN kuzhandhai iva eno onju thala kuninja will be telecast whenever they get a 15 min cycle gap.

Advertisements..I hardly see any of these nowadays-VenniRa paRkalukku Gopal Palpodi,MaapiLaikku coffee enna aachungRen-Narasus,Idea husband Arvindswamy in Leo Coffee,Chandrika soapin thooymai,Endha college padikkaReenga-Santoor,Dharani pugazhum Bharani pattu centre,Ortem fan,Coffe/Toffee Melody,Optonica TV,Readymoney shop-Itz a gr8 new way to shop,Needithu nilaikkum Lesancy(which I expected to last for months together but felt cheated when it was reduced to nothing in less than 2 weeks),Aarogya vazhvinai kaapadhu Lifebuoy,Enna aachu kozhandhai azhudhudhu Woodword's gripe water.

Topping it all-KaaNaamal ponavar patRiya aRivippu where a 98 year old veLLai veshti,neela niRa kattam potta sattai aNindha,mana nilai sari illaadha thaathaa will be missing.Ivarai patRiya thagavalaRindhor should contact kaaval thuRai kattupaatu aRai,ezhumboor,chennai 8

On a later stage,DD2 otherwise known as Metro was introduced to add color to Chennai-ites' life.And along with it came a bunch of hindi mega serials which were subsequently dubbed into tamil literally(like "Naan enna kettenna nee enna paNRannu" for "maine poocha ki tum kya kar rahe ho")

Junoon@Pidivaadham requires a spl mention.Idhukku munnaala "Kyunki" craze is nothing.Oru kaalathula Aditya&Seema Dhanraj,Sumeer&Rekha Rajvansh,Mini Aggarwal,Keshav Khalsi,Thaatha Nagarkar,Inspector Wajahad Ali,DGP Brij Narayan Bhaweja,Neel Bhati@Vakeel payya were treated as family members in most of the households.I lost track of it after Aditya's daughter n Sumeer's son went to the same boarding school.It was speculated that they both will grow up,get married and the Dhanraj-Rajvansh clash will come to an end.

Other serials were Neena Gupta's Dard(following KB's style for relationships/affairs),Naya Nukkad@Pudhiya therumunai,Imtihaan@Sodhanai which brought Renuka Sahaney into light,hilarious Dekh Bhai Dekh@Paaru kanna paaru with Shekar Suman,Pankaj Dheer(who played Karnan in Mahabharatha) in Kanoon,Detective serial Raja aur Rancho,Ajnabi@Anniyan,Madhavan in Seahawks,adventurous Streethawk and Countdown shows like Colgate Best of the Best&Superhit Muqabla.

In the pure tamil section,a brand new series of Maadhu Cheenu dramas,variety entertainment programs hosted by Metro Priya for her well-known over actions and a game show by Babloo@Prithviraj were included.

huh!!!My memory is exhausted!!Have I missed any of ur favourtie programs?Do lemme know :)

Sleeping Beauty

2005-09-10T09:07:00.000-07:00

Dreaming permits each and everyone of us to be quietly and safely insane every night of our lives.
- William Dement

Dreams allow us to create our own world where scene shifts happen at lightning speed.We dream about things we like the most and hate the most.We identify ourselves with the dream character and laugh & cry & get drenched along with them.At times they continue even after a short break.Once up from the bed, it is a mixture of emotions."You woke me up.It was such a nice dream,I could have continued with it:)" or "Thank God! It was only a dream"

I have my own collection of wierd ones:

- I am climbing a ladder which is around 1000 feet high.Am on the top most rung of it,about to reach my destination.Just a fraction of second before I alight,the ladder starts swining like a giant tora-tora in mid air.I scream for help.There isn't a single human being seen around so I cling to gadget as it is my only lifeline.At one stage,I fall down,realizing each and every second of my looong free fall.When am I sure,with heart in mouth,that am gonna hit the ground,I am into the cognizant world wide awake.uhhh!

- When I go back to office after a nice vacation,I'm informed that I've been put into a project.I don't know ABCD about its requirements,technology or domain.Hell breaks lose when I inform my TL that am not qualified enough to work on the project.My PM and TL shout at me(in real time they are really really sweet,helpful,co-operative & soft spoken) for not updating myself with the new technology during holidays.All of a sudden, another colleage barges in,gives an invitation and invites us for his wedding(Irony is he is actually already happily married and has a 3 year old kid).I am angry,for he is betraying his wife and punch him on his face.Ouch!My knuckles pain when I get up,as I had actually hit the window sill near my bed:)

- I am on a trip to some hilly region with my friends and I get lost.I walk for miles inside the forest which is devoid of any animals except dogs (in all colors including blue, green and red ones)I am so scared and keep chanting sashti kavacham and the dogs do not attack me at all.Finally I reach something like a Main Road,where I receive the signal on my mobile.(Instead of calling my friends and informing them where I am)I call my Hutch Corporate Customer Care and squawk at them "I'm a customer who is using ur services for the past 1 year,I pay my bills regularly in time,never made late payments still was lost inside a forest.Is this how you treat your customers?Am absolutely unhappy with your service and am gonna surrender my connection once am back in the city". The customer service rep (instead of wondering what is the relation between making payments and getting lost)marks me as a good but irate customer,Hutch tracks my exact location from the tower which was picked when I made the call and rescues me.Immediate screen shift and am riding my Scooty on Anna Salai.My brakes aren't working.The signal turns red.I am tensed and have no idea what to do.Cut!Am watching a comedy movie with my friends in Satyam.The film is so hilarious that I wake up,smiling away to glory,my confounded brother asks me "Are you alright?":)

In school days,generally during weekends, I postpone my homework to Sunday evening when I can write it watching the DD1 Tamil movie.I sleep after a heavy lunch on Sunday afternoon
- Cousins of mine come, I play with them and go to school "Mission Unaccomplished".I am the only one not to finish the chore and my teacher makes me get out of the class.Am so ashamed and cry.
I get up,push the curtains aside and check the time.Itz 6.45.I do not know if it is AM/PM.Panicked and confused,I come out of the bedroom and my chithappa tells me "Go,brush your teeth and have coffee.Get ready soon or you'll be late to school".Am half convinced that the dream is gonna come true and decide to bunk classes that day and mentally work out a plan to persuade dad to sign the leave letter.Very slowly,chithappa's smirk on seeing my baffled face and Sunday evening lethargy sinks in and I realise my foolishness :)

Well,that was just a handful of the many.Recently I read an article on dreamless sleep and wondered, if it is possible in this hectic world full of pressure and tension?

Luxury or Necessity?

2005-09-06T23:22:00.000-07:00

Friends! Indians! Country men/women! Petrol is no longer Rs.44.26 a litre.Petrol/Diesel prices have been hiked again and the ruling party can be considered for nomination for "Most Frequent Oil Price Hiker Government".Chennai and Mumbai are worst affected among Metros,the increase being Rs.3.23 per litre making it Rs.47.49.If this continues at this rate, "The Inevitable Fuel" which is already consuming a considerable chunk of our salary credit,will claim the lion's share. May be Mr.Mani Shankara Iyer is emphasizing that we should adopt a simpler life style.

and sing...
Thallu model vandi varudhu thalli vidunga
ENNa vela koodi pochu maata pootunga
Shankara yenappaa paarappaa :)

Facets of life

2005-09-06T12:05:00.000-07:00

Right from 1997 June, I'd been travelling regularly in the Chennai local EMU for around 2 hrs everyday (Well,minus my college days 1999 August to 2003 June). The train is mostly filled with grim looking office goers (in peak hrs-the time I commute) who detach themselves from the crowd by reading novels/meddling with their mobiles/chattering endlessly about their sons,daughters,office pressure,etc,etc. But definitely, there are a few odd ones out who are sure to capture ur attention.My observations...

* A mom with her school going kid.The mother keeps scolding the child under her breath for not getting up in time,coz of which they missed the usual train and are forced to catch this over crowded one(Nobody will raise the question how I heard when the mother scolded under her breath,coz years before I'd been at the receiving end ;-)) Then the routine dosage of advice - Behave properly in school and creche, Pay attention to the teacher's announcement on homework, Eat the lunch without wasting, Take good care while boarding off the train, blah blah blah

* A group of middle aged women chanting all slokas from Ganesha Pancharatnam to Lalitha Sahasranamam to Vishnu Sahasranamam, converting the compartment into a mini bhajan house. After the slokas there will be a devotional song session where the lady with the most mellifluous voice (among them, ofcourse) sings the choicest numbers based on her train fans' request

* Atleast once in two weeks,there will be a lady with a baby(which is less than a week old) wrapped in a cloth, who manages to squeeze herself and secure a corner place offered by one of the co-passengers. It is a "sight" to watch the cute bundle with half opened eyes and pinky pinky tiny feet, wriggle and cuddle itself closer to its mum.This kinda scene will repeatedly remind me of the preferential treatment given to newly-borns at my home.

If this is the case in the ladies' compartment, the First Class Compartment has its own charcteristic.

* An old couple,suiting the description "dhoti-slack white shirt-bald- spectacles//traditional madisaar(9 yards saree)-hands tightly clutched to the air bag hung on shoulders with some Trichy jewellery shop name in it-hawaii slippers-kumkum+metti(toe ring)" board the train. A SRMU (Southern Railway Masdur Union) staff,who looks like a Tamil Cinema villain with a dark moustache shouts in a commanding voice "This is first class compartment.Get down n board the 2nd class".The old man,slowly but steadily pulls out his Railways Retirement pass, flashes it to the SRMU staff and takes the seat with his wife leaving him dumbfounded

* A group of college girls feverishly giving final touches to their assignment,pulling each others' legs,discussing their new chat friends and their "oh!damn smart" favourite hero.Anyone who appeal to them to reduce the decibel level is quickly snapped by a sharp tounged teen-ager "We are also paying to travel in first class" Appealer accepts the defeat saying "Uh!Nungambakkam is just 3 stations away.The train will be calm and quite then"

* Newly married couple on their way to office, exchanging understanding glances, mischevous smiles, murmuring sweet nothings as if the train is the only place where they get to meet n share their secrets ;-)

* Amidst all these hungama and noise, there will be a blessed soul enjoying a quick but sound & peaceful sleep, sailing in dreamland, with half-opened mouth, moving in all directions along with the train, their belongings safely tucked between clasped hands and get up occasionally to mutter a faint sorry when he/she hits someone unconsciously n wake up because of that.Then they resume to the noblest deed of all - dozing.. :)

As far as the general compartment is concerned, I absolutely have no idea as I hardly get into one of them :)

98.3 FM

2005-09-04T23:43:00.000-07:00

Inspired by Ferrari's Blog on Media here is my version of the same:)

Good Morning and Welcome to Hello Chennai with me Suchitra. Enna breakfast ready pannitu saaptutu kelambaradha,saapdaama kelambaradhanu yosichutu irukeengala?Health dhaanga mukiyam.Office-ku late aanaalum boss kitta samaalikka ungalukka theriyadhu?

Sari,inniku namma showoda 1st hrla nethioda Pallavaram power cut dhaanga highlite. Kitta thatta 3 mani neram current illama namma makkal vervaila puzhungi paadu pattutaanga.Idha pathi thunai min aanayar thiru Muthuvel Pandian(MVP) kooda interview, SMS kelvi ellam kekkanumna stay tuned 2 Radio Mirchi,idhu sema hottu machi...

*SONG* Navaraathiri Thookam edhu, sivarathiri thookam edhu? Pani raathiri pattu paai viri vidiya vidya sivarathiri...

That was a beautiful melody from Michael Madhana Kamarajan.Inniyoda SMS kelvi,"Nethu nite powercutmbodhu enna pannineenga A)kudumbam+neighbours kooda anthakshari velayadineengala B)Battery irukkara varaikkum Radio Mirchi keteengala C)kaathey pathalanu radio ketukitte long drive poneengala" Ungaloda choice-a A,B,C-nu type panni ippave 5566-ku SMS pannunga, Honda company-oda genset win pannunga

*SONG* peigala nambadhey pinjula vembadhey nee yosi doi...naal oru poi vaaku solbavan punnaku kaal dhoosi doi....

Mahanadhi padathula irundhu oru thriller song keteenga.Thunai min aanayar Mr.MVP line-a irukkaru.Avar enna dhan sollrarunu keppome..
Suchi: Vanakkam Sir.
MVP:Vanakkam ma.
Suchi: Sir, nethikku nadandha min vettu pathi unga karuthu enna?
MVP: Seidhi kedacha udaney naan Pallavaram pagudhikku ponen.Inspect pannina podhu venumney thundicha madhiri theriyudhu. Wilful Tampering-nu solluvaanga illaya adha madhiri irukkumonu sandhega padarom.Visarichu uriya nadavadikkai eduppom.Nethikku mattum enga call centre sevaya 2,24,403 vaadikkayalargal payan paduthi irukkanga.
Suchi: Makkal andha sevaya nalla use pannranganu sollunga. Romba nandri Sir
MVP: Nandri ma.

Ellarum fone panni enna Suchi ippdi current cut paataa podreenganu kekkaraanga. Avangalukkaga

*SONG* Ilamai idho idho...Inimai idho idho...college teen age pengal...ellorkum en meedhu kangal...

Enna nalla lights jolikkara paata keteengala.Idhoda namma showoda endku vandhuttom. Pudhu maapla Balaji thannoda show-la indha powercut pathi neraya trivia kudukka porennu solli irukkaru. Avar kitta irundhu korthu vaanginadhu "Newyork power outage-ku appram ulaga alavula para parappa pesa padradhu indha pallavaram power failure dhan endru UN council arikkai veliyittulladhu".

Thatz it for now. With this it is Suchitra signing off.Ungaloda comments n suggestions-a engalukku email pannunga. mirchisuchi@indiatimes.com...thatz m i r c h i s u c h i@indiatimes.com

Tata..Bye Bye ciao..take care

Maatrangal Niraindhadhey vaazhkai*

2005-08-21T22:17:00.000-07:00

I've always wondered what kind of a person I would have been, sans the 3 and half wonderful years I'd spent in the campus of one of the prestegious institutions, BITS Pilani. Looking back, I realise there have been a lot of changes before and after my stint there. Here are a few prominent ones:

Before:
I can't eat this lousy bread toast ma, even for one day.I understand u rn't feeling well n thatz y u opted for an easily preparable breakfast but I really don't like it.Please make it the usual dhal rice from tomorrow onwards.
After:
Ma,please make sure we have bread and coffee for morning breakfast everyday.I'm used to it & I don't think I can live without it

Before:
What is Mills & Boon?
After:
Divi, do u have any M&B which I haven't read till now.I seem to have exhausted all of them in Students' Library

Before:
Paati, will you please stop watching those idiotic mega serials. I hate them
After:
Hey, what happened to Prasad? Did Chithi Radhika find out who's son he is? Double damn, I missed that episode man.

Before:
Look at the noise these bloody guys are making.Will they ever remember that this is a cinema hall and there are around 500 people watching the movie along with them.Senseless people
After:
C'mon girls, make sure we make ourselves prominent in the theatre by our shouts and screams and whistles and claps when Madhavan appears on screen in first scene of Alaipayuthey

Before:
I am so scared to even bursh near the wash basin in train. It is so close to the compartment door n am afraid I'll trip anytime.
After:
Gai,letz grab a cup noodles n make ourselves comfortable by sitting in the steps at the train compartment door ok?

Before:
Archa,how many posters do u have in ur room? Have you gone crazy or vot? If I ever stay in a room alone, I wonder if I'll spend my money n time on posters
After:
Archa, have a look at this black chart na…I have collected all the cute baby pictures from the magazines and created this poster. Will look lovely in the white background of my room. There is not a square inch left over for this one, but will have to make room somehow.

*-Life is full of changes :)

A Humble and Inspiring Article

2005-08-20T00:20:00.000-07:00

Recently happened to read Subroto Baghchi's (COO and co-founder of MindTree Consulting, Bangalore) article on Dr.Devi Prasad Shetty. Does the name ring bells? The man behind Bangalore's Narayan Hrudayalaya, the one who succeeded in making both Indians and Pakistanis pray for the little girl Noor to revive back to health, thereby achieving harmony of thought between the countries beyond all the nuclear wars - for which the goverment is still striving. The article talks about the author's "A Day at NH with Dr.Devi Shetty" but definitely after reading it, I admired the selfless noble efforts of this DOCTOR, who has turned out to be my role model philanthropist.

An excerpt...
Farmers in Karnataka can get a free cardiac surgery at NH for just Rs. 5 per month which would otherwise cost them $100000!! Surprising..but many thanks to the micro health Yeshasvini scheme introduced by the DOCTOR who is out to help everyone irrespective of their repaying capacity. The DOCTOR who sepends almost 85% of his time in his patient-facing activity, promises his patients help and heals them by his mere presence, magical touch and his down-to-earth soothing words.

For the DOCTOR compassion and dedication to work, intersection desire for money is a NULL Set. And yeah, he is interested in software and business and has a vision for the country to become an economically powerful one by investing in healthcare. As a family man, he eats rotis packed in a lunch box by his wife (how sweet!!) and takes the family out for a vacation twice a year.

HATS OFF TO THIS MAN...

- who is an epitome for "Care with Compassion"
- who drives the point "there is only one language, the language of heart"
- who lives upto Mother Teresa's "People who work with hands, do not need a prayer on their lips"

As quoted by Subroto Baghchi
"Dr.Devi Shetty - 40,000 open heart surgeries and still beating, walking in the profusion of LIGHT!!!"

First Post

2005-08-19T06:27:00.000-07:00

So, at last, took my own sweet time to create a blog spot for myself :-)
Thanx to one and all who had inspire me...the list is tooooo long to be mentioned
at one go, though the names will flash in my subsequent blogs

Catch ya later...Have a great weekend...Keep :)