M U S I N G S

Sunshine (click here)

This blog has particularly kept me busy for the past 2 days. Stumbled on a friend’s blogroll and found this. I have fallen in love with this lady’s writings. There is so much that I can relate to in each and every post. I have added few of those excellent posts on to my Interesting Reads. ‘It’s not over till it’s over’ will top my list of favorites. Next would be ‘A Million Times..’ Should find solid time to read all the posts. The writings give me courage and they are a perfect echo of what I feel, just that they are put in excellent words and every sentence is aimed to strike your conscience and heart.Guys...get ready to face this fire brand !!!

L I F E

Resurrection

Its almost 3 months since I blogged ! Life has changed. I’m now working and pheww…I’m gonna get a new mobile this weekend. Well, losing my Dad’s mobile, wallet and cash is totally a different issue. I’m looking forward to get a 3G Java enabled set and try my hand in coding applications and using them on my mobile. Well, the idea looks far fetched, but yes, I intend to do all of that sometime. Life hasn’t been easy these 3 months. On the professional front, nothing much has been happening. Life is monotonous and trust me, I am a lost puppy in there with no clue about the outside world. Training has been hectic with serious scares of exit. But I’m liking it that way. We don’t study, instead, we learn ! Training at Infosys is no doubt an extension to college life with regular tests to evaluate students (intended…not professionals). But looks like I wouldn’t be able to put up with that kind of environment my entire life. My saturation limit would be a maximum of 2 years. Future seems so bleak. An MBA would be a distant dream but I wish to take it up very seriously in the coming days. Love and Marriage is the talk of the town these days. Many of my female colleagues are planning to get married in another couple of years. I for one have been clueless regarding this issue. Sometimes, it’s so distressing to even think of it.

On the personal front, life hasn’t been too fair. But yes, my friends and I had a get together in Mayajaal today. This was the first time I ever stepped into that place. We had an hour’s session of Bowling. Woww…it was so good to be around friends. I think I was happy after a very long time with absolutely nothing running at the back of my mind. This was a much needed respite from everything. On a serious note, I’m particularly happy to have such people around me. I think I owe them a lot. Friendship will always top my list of relationships. Come what may, you can resort to your friends. I would rate it the purest and the ever lasting. Thanx a ton mates for having been a part of my life.

The traffic to my blog has been on a dip of late. It’s almost defunct and this is a post for resurrection. I hope to get back my readers. But yes, I haven’t been writing political posts the last 5 months. I don’t think I would be able to come up with any for the next 2-3 months. I have lost touch with the outside world. Satyam-Maytas issue was a shocker. And heck…my friends were enlightening me on that today ! They were open mouthed at my ignorance!

Definitely, life is not the same as it was a few months back. Lot of things have happened the past 1 week. Losing stuffs that I never wanted to lose. It’s not been a great week but what is life without problems.

Vaazhkai oru vattam pol, mudindha edathil thodangadha….

That’s a yearning !!! Impossible one though :-)

And lastly, I wanted to mention about this song Pesugiren Pesugiren….

The lyrics has been extremely motivating

pesugiren pesugiren un idhayam pesugiren
puyal adithal kalangathey naan pookal neetugiren
ethai nee tholaithalum manathai tholaikathey
adangamale alaipaivathen?
manam allavaa........

Kadal thandum paravai-ku ellam
illaipaara marangal illai
kalangamale Kandam thandume...
muttru pulli arugil neeyum
meendum chinna pulligal veithal
mudivenbathum aarambame...
valaivillamal malai kidaiyathu
valli illamal manam kidaiyathu
varunthathey...
adangamale alaipaivathen?
manam allavaa........

Kaatil-ulla chedigallu-ku ellam
thanner ootra aale illai
thannai kaakave thaanai valarume...
pengal nenjin baaram ellam
pennae konja neram dhane
Unnai thondinal inbam thondrume...
vidiyamal than oru iravu ethu..
vadiyamal than vellam kidayathu..
varunthathey..
adangamale alaipaivathen?
manam allavaa........

The darkest hour of the day precedes the dawn :-)

A P P E A L

Kindly Consider

It’s been long since I blogged and mostly, this should be my last post at least for the next 4 months. This post is an attempt to reach out to everybody who can take off 2 hours of their time on Sundays.

 

The Sai Samithi Trust has been organizing ‘Reading Sessions’ for visually impaired people for the past 20 years. At least 100-150 students have been attending these sessions every Sunday. There are even people who have been attending these sessions for almost 5-10 years now. Their commitment to study hard in spite of their limitation is truly heart warming. These people have a thirst to learn new things and the best part is, all of them exude a rare aura of confidence which I have personally never experienced before.

 

I have been a part of this service for the past 2 months and trust me, the experience is mind cleansing. A sense of confidence comes over automatically. They don’t seem to be in want of sympathy. They strongly feel they are a part of the crowd but just that they distinctly stand out with special abilities.

 

I kindly request people in Chennai to take part in the reading sessions as the trust is unable to balance the growing number of students every week and the considerably fewer volunteers. Every student would require a volunteer because the subject dealt is not the same for everybody, so a possibility of group reading also seems distant. As most of them are from remote villages and Tamil medium, volunteers with Tamil background are preferred. Even if reading Tamil is a problem, at least explaining English stuffs in Tamil would be more than enough.

 

All that a volunteer has to do is read out from the text book, make them understand and memorize because all of their subjects are not available in Braille. And a small tinge of English vocabulary and General Knowledge imparting would be of a greater help to them in the future.

 

The reading sessions happen at the

Bharat Kalachar YGP Auditorium (Inside the PSBB Primary School)

Thirumalai Pillai Road

Near Vidyodaya Schools (Valluvar Kottam)

T Nagar

Chennai

 

All that you have to do is walk in to this place and the trust members will assign you a special student. No formal registration required.

 

Timings: 10.30 to 12.30 after which lunch will be served to the students. Volunteers can take part in serving lunch. Food will be served to the volunteers as well.

 

Any queries please email to

sivapriya.nagendran@gmail.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

V A R I E T Y

A Whirlpool of Thoughts !!!

It’s been 3 months since I finished my college and I guess around 2 months since I have been a graduate or precisely ‘An Engineer’, just like how my sister proudly declared to everybody back then when my last semester results were published. That was the end of a 4-year struggle with books that made absolutely no sense to me. I still wonder why I never felt happy on graduating or on becoming an Engineer !!! (I still laugh at myself when I am called one !) But I must confess that every semester was an acid test and I used to burn the midnight oil to edge through the papers irrespective of whether I understood them or not. All I wanted to do was cover 100% syllabus so that I didn’t regret missing out on something that appeared in the exam paper. Studying was getting mechanical semester by semester.

Why Engineering??

Herd Behavior. (Woww...that's a borrowed term !!! Suits here !)

We see lakhs and lakhs of students graduating every year and I am just a drop in the ocean with nothing worthy to claim as an achievement in this field. Engineering turned out to be a decree and everybody was pushed into it. I was no exception. I didn’t want to stand out in the crowd like a black spot on the Sun. I was scared that I wouldn’t find myself a decent job if I didn’t pursue Engineering. So, I joined them and now, I see myself as a half baked Engineer whose knowledge (oww…you call that ignorance !) is as dangerous as that of a nuclear bomb. I carried along this horrendous attitude all through my college life. I persuaded myself to start liking the subjects when I didn’t like them the least. My college came up with a really attractive offer tempting me to study madly and blindly. I was swayed away by the monetary rewards that the college had come up with. There were times when I really wanted to run away and hide myself from those scary, incomprehensible and gigantic book shaped ghosts. I had no other way. I had committed myself into this and there was no way out. It felt like carrying a huge boulder, preposterously clearing the obstacles that my mind had set. I finally made it with great difficulty and reached the shore. In the process, I swam back as a lifeless soul leaving behind my heart. I felt empty and I still feel empty.

Work Blues !!!

I am off to work in a month or two and I am not sure if I will like it. But I have no other choice, at least for the time being. I have to adapt and force myself to like the job. My fingers are crossed. If I realize that I am never going to enjoy the work, I will have to come up with drastic measures to sustain my sanity if that means a journey along a road less traveled.

Off the track thoughts

A note to Mr. Boria Majumdar – Sir, please stop babbling your way to eternity! I am really sick of listening to your prattles. You never let me watch the Olympics Opening Ceremony in peace !!! (I had to content myself with the news channels because the DD sports was not relayed for the first 2 days) I understand that you are the author of several books on sports and their statistics. Charu is almost inactive on your shows and you always seem to exaggerate stuffs. Please take some time off and give your never-ending lecture a halt.

Mr Shibu Soren – Sir, You are my demi God. I have rarely made use of the opportunities that came my way. You have taught me to become an opportunist. Forget the past is my motto !!! Do anything and everything to scramble your way out. Injustice and corruption can always be justified. After all, people like you are credited with the discovery of several loopholes in the IPC. Hats off to you sir. Jharkand is yours !!! Play it like a football. Congress will apprehensively continue to support you for those 5 votes.

DD Sports – What a marketing !!! Awful !!!I still don’t understand why DD Sports does not have decent number of sponsors for relaying the Olympics. It was Vijendar’s Semi finals bout today and I was all set to watch the match on DD Sports. There was just one ad that went. And the match was due in another 10 minutes. All I had got to watch was a trailer on how Vijender trains himself. What’s wrong here, you might ask !!??? The camera started focusing his bare body from the stomach, making it’s way up to the chest and the shoulders. Woww…what a sight !!! Any girl would fall for those muscles and no wonder, he is tied for the second place with Sushil Kumar in the list of the most eligible bachelors after Abhinav !!! The film was repeated 7-8 times, only because they didn’t have any ads to fill up the empty slots.

Google’s Doodles – The Doodles for few events were really disappointing. But one has to appreciate the idea of using the ‘Rat’ in the doodles as it’s the ‘Year of Rat’ in China. Few of them had a color contrast problem and there was an irregular use of bright and dark shades. For example, the actual letters are usually brighter and intense. The design stuffs were relatively dull compared to the actual letters. And I don’t understand the use of Monkeys, Dragons and Horses in the Doodles. One doodle, which really kept me thinking all day, was that of the Soccer. I still don’t understand the concept of the Doodle. The horse is actually in a position from where it could have never pushed the ball into the net. And even if it had by miracle, as far as I can imagine, how did it do with it’s 2 rear legs lifted. If it had been just one leg in the air, then it would have made sense to me. :-?
I liked the concept of Rowing, Diving and High Jump. I wish Google came up with a doodle for Gandhi Jayanthi. Woww…I get an idea !!! His spectacles could make the two ‘Os’ with the face on the background in a greyish shade. The ‘L’ could be the walking stick !!! Woww..I wish Google comes up with one !!!

Doodle for Soccer




Doodle for Cycling


What animal is this supposed to be???

Suchi – Just 2 more weeks to go for the D-day. I wish you all luck. Happy married life.I am so sorry that I can never write you a testimonial, which you have been patiently demanding for about 3 years. I can never express our friendship in words or maybe, I don’t know how to do it. I am so proud of you for what you are now. I will miss you loadsssssssss !!! Love you !!!

And finally, the video of the ‘Teach India’ campaign launched by TOI. I happened to see the video on TV today morning and it really caught my attention. I think it’s a different concept with excellent execution. I wouldn’t rate it touching, but it’s definitely worth a watch.

P.S. These days, I type a constant 55-65 words per minute. I am happy :-)

S C R U T I N Y

Gibberish !

My parents have always been generous and I always got what I wanted. I wasn’t a spoilt brat though. I consider myself extremely lucky to have been educated. My parents made sure that none of the problems affected me the least. I was always under the impression that there was a constant flow of money and I was under the delusion that our ‘assets increased, and liabilities decreased’ (as Robert Kiyosaki says). I was totally ignorant of the various problems that they were tackling. My Dad made sure that my sister and I received the best education and I have always wondered how my mother balanced her work life and domestic life. She never hesitated to buy me things that I liked. These 21 years of life have been wonderful and I was nurtured by my parents all this while. Now, when it’s time for me to step out of this small world and look beyond, a sense of panic takes over. I was never this freaking out type and I always liked to be at home, in my room, in a secluded place. My sister and I have separate rooms and we always stayed in our rooms. Both of us liked being alone strangely. We never intruded the privacy of each other. I always liked sitting in my room, surfing madly about stupid things on earth, reading books and so on. My friends have always complained that I step out of my cocoon and enjoy the outer world. But I have always felt that my stint with the outer world was more than enough for now. I like doing things that I like and that means ‘My Room and me’ with trivial stuffs around that gives me immense pleasure. I like to be around words (not sentences though, because I lose patience reading them !). My room is loaded with posters. My Dad goes mad looking at my room and there were times when he used to scream at me for dirtying the walls, but now, he seems to have realized that his little daughter is incorrigible ! I always liked to learn things on my own. It gave me a sense of achievement and immense pleasure. There were times when my sister would review a book and suggest that I don’t read it because it would be mind numbing, I would brush aside her suggestions and go on with the book. Later, I would get back to her telling the book was awful ! But this is also fun because I get to learn things myself. I don’t want to be blinded by what people around tell me and be prejudiced without the slightest trace of an idea. I admire my sister for what she is. She is brave, articulate, independent and hard working. I learnt quite a lot from her and I think she is my motivation for what I am today.

College life has been the best part of my life. I had ultimate fun there. I consider myself extremely lucky to have found good friends. I still have my college ID card tag with me and every time I see it, I am reminded of fond memories. Reminiscences !!! I wish I had cried at least once before we parted. My mind is flooded with fond memories and I always wished I had a Time Turner. But that phase of life is over now. I was groomed to face the outside world and here I am, ready to do it. I still can’t believe that I am going to work and start earning. It feels so strange and scary in fact. From now on, I will be the one to look after my finances. All these days, my future seemed safe in the hands of my parents. Now, it’s time for me to decide my future and career. I am going to fly a free bird but with heart full of apprehensions. This will be my turn to buy things for my parents (I consider my sister a parent. Parenting is not exclusive to Mother and Father) and for myself. My life will soon be in my hands and I hope I don’t mishandle it. I will file my IT returns, exercise my right to vote (I have just applied for my voter’s ID card), manage my finances,……………….Owww….I got to be responsible. But it sounds fun to be responsible. It will be introspection and I will also get to know how I fare in this competitive world. More intriguing is the fact that I will be a ‘Woman’. To me, the word woman is never complete until she is independent. In fact marriage and Motherhood according to me come secondary.

Friendship is such a beautiful relationship and I would rate it higher than any other bond, be it the relationship between lovers or a husband and wife. The latter is temporal but the former is true. Friendship lasting forever is a question but the relationship will always remain true. True relationships are more stronger and intense even if they remain dormant for a while or forever. With best mates getting married back-to-back, it feels like life is taking up a different shape altogether. Life is a formidable ‘Boggart’ and I intend to master the ‘Riddikulus’ spell. There will be a lot of practical and emotional things that will impediment me from progress. Handling them all is going to be an uphill task. I only wish I am courageous enough to face them. Finding solutions is secondary, facing them is more vital !

B A T T L E O F T H E S E X E S

This is an attempt to mimic the fortnightly edition of 'He says, She says' column that appears on the Hindu 'Metro Plus'.

He says:

Why are women dumb, boring, religious and not to forget mentioning their greatest mace against unfortunate guys – Weepers!!!???

Guys spend their time sweeping the weeps, yet she’s not convinced. Show her a diamond ring and there she goes !!! The heaps of weeps disappear into thin air. What a pity !!! A women’s smile at the cost of the guy’s annual savings ! Adding to these, she expects a few romantic liners to be thrown at her. Even if the ring looks ugly on her hands, (Yikes !!! She has ugly hands ! Why did I spend my savings on these ugly hands :-( ) the guy is supposed to remain composed and sweet talk just to make her smile. Every guy needs to carry a dictionary for sweet talking (he might run out of words because the girl is never contended !) Yeh dil maange more !!

DUMB ! Girls are all dumb. They can get boring to the peak. Their analytical skills are far too pathetic. But all girls are like that. So guys have no other choice but to choose the okay types of the lot (Unless the guy is gay!) Talk to them about sports, current affairs, economics, all that you get is a strange blank look ! Conversations less than an hour disappoint them. All the precious time in the world is lost babbling absolute non sense ! No friends, no night outs, no family !

You got to come up with poor jokes to make her laugh. Never can a guy have an informed conversation with a girl. They are too horny and all that they do is gossip and bitch about their friends or make a list of their likes and dislikes, hoping that the guy would get her a dress or a gold ornament for her birthday (owww…that’s just once in a year ! How about Anniversaries, valentine’s day, friendship’s day……)

'INVEST TIME AND MONEY' !

She says:

Weepers ! For your kind information, tears are a way of expressing her emotions. And, if you are looking out for dried rivers or a desert, there are few who don’t turn on their waterfalls even on the slightest provocation. Try them ! Girls very well know how to control their emotions.

Guys are hypocrites. Their charade does not last long. They erupt like a volcano making life difficult for the girl and now, it’s the girl’s turn to calm him down (like she does not have any other work !)

Diamond rings ! Give us a break ! She never asked you to gift her a diamond ring. You did tat of your own interest. And why do guys conveniently forget all that a girl has done for the guy. Romantic liners !! What’s the harm?? When she was ready to spend thousands on hair straightening, manicuring and pedicuring just for you, what’s the harm in coming up with such liners. You tried all that out during the wooing process !

The guy tries out every possible means to woo the girl because it’s always the best part in a relationship. If her analytical skills had been good, she would have never chosen you. She would have looked out for somebody with sense.

The guy does everything to corner the girl and proposes at a time when the girl can't say no. Cleverly played ! And once the thing is accomplished, it’s time for finding faults !

All the while it’s really strange that the guy never realized that the girl was dumb ! Why was he so dumb enough to choose a girl whom he alleges is dumb? And there are girls who love sports. Why is it always a thing of a man ! When she was ready to listen to your stupid talks (Certain things are not universally interesting and likeable) you can lend an ear as well in return !

Losing precious time is purely a result of the guys’ inefficiency to balance many things at a time. When he knew he would be missing out on so many things, why in the first place does he want a girl in his life !! hmmm…Spice !!! That’s third rated !

Guys
'INVEST TIME AND MONEY FOR GREATER FAVORABLE RETURNS IN THE FUTURE'

L Y R I C S

Munpaniya mudhal mazhaiyaa - Nanda

Every time I listen to this song, I am carried away by the intensity of the voice and the clarity in mouthing the lyrics. Malgudi Shuba was awesome in the chorus rendition. The flute bit is soothing and the lyrics are a treat to the silent lovers. The best part of the song is that neither Surya nor Laila lip sync the song. The lyricist brings out the heart’s deepest love experience beautifully. This song is special, for the composition and rendition.

mun paniyaa
mudhal mazhaiyaa
en manadhil aedho vizhugiradhE
vizhugiradhE
uyir nanaigiradhE oh ……….
puriyaadha uravil nindrEn
ariyaadha sugangal kandEn
maattram thandhavaL nee dhaanE

(mun paniyaa ……)

(start of chorus)
manasil edhaiyO
maraikkum kiLiyE
manasa therandhu
solladi veLiyE
karaiya kadandhu nee vandhadhu edharkku?
kannukkullE oru ragasiyam irukku
manasa therandhu
solladi veLiyE-ae...
(end of chorus)

en idhayathai
en idhayathai vazhiyil
engaeyoe marandhu tholaithuvittEn
un vizhiyinil
un vizhiyinil adhanai
ippOdhu kandu pidithuvittEn

idhu varai enakkillai mugavarigal
adhai naan kandEn un punnagaiyil
vaazhgirEn naan un moochilE...

(mun paniyaa…)

(start of chorus)
salanga kulunga
Odum alaiyE
sangadhi enna
solladi velliyE
karaiyil vandhu nee thuLLuvadhu edhukku?
nilava pudichukka nenappadhu edhukku?
aylo aylo aylay aylo-o
(end of chorus)

en paadhaigaL
en paadhaigaL
unadhu vazhi paarthu vandhu mudiyudhadi
en iravugaL
en iravugaL
unadhu mugam paarthu vidiyal aengudhadi
iravaiyum pagalaiyum maattrivittaay
enakkul unnai nee oottrivittaay
moozhginEn naan unn kannilE...

(mun paniyaa …….)

P.S. Lyrics borrowed from a blog.

M U S I C

Sariya idhu Thavara - Kalloori





I can't stop admiring the beautiful flute piece at the start of the 2 nd charanam !!!

M E M O R I E S

The Nellore outing !!!

It’s been almost 5 months since that unforgettable Nellore outing. Sowmy was gracious enough to book tickets for 6 of us – yours truly, Vidu, Subha, Saniya, umC, Saddy. Nellore is Sowmy’s birthplace and her grand parents stay there. And a trivia for those ignorant – Sowmy will get married in Nellore. So there is another outing that’s due early next year. ;-)

All of us assembled in the Egmore Railway Station on the day’s morning. UmC had come over to Saniya’s place since they planned to come to the station together. umC mistook Saniya’s neighboring house for her house and accidentally stepped over a sleeping dog !!! Thankfully, the dog was in a deep trance !! Subha’s parents had come over to the railway station to send her off. We had never seen Subha being so well – mannered. Why??? Her parents’ presence !!! She was not even laughing !!! It was all subdued giggles ! And we were having a nice time pulling her leg in front of her parents just to force her put the usual mokkais ! Sowmy’s mother accompanied us and the compartment was almost empty. So it turned out like we were the troublemakers. There was a session of card game, not to forget Saniya’s stint with the phone ! Yours truly had a small nap but was soon woken by the screams around.

We reached Nellore in 3 hours. Sowmy’s grandfather had come to pick us up and we left in two cars. It was a 30 minutes drive to the village. The house was a typical village one but really big !! Every room had two exits and we occupied one on the first floor. There was a huge mattress spread across the room for the 7 of us to sleep. Sowmy’s Mum used the adjoining room to sleep in the nights. Otherwise, both the rooms were ours in the mornings.

We had never eaten so much in our entire lives ! Sowmy’s Mum was kind enough to make everything that we liked and she constantly kept filling our stomachs. They had two domestic maids who worked with them since their grandfather’s time – Yenkamma and Shanthamma. Shantamma was an excellent cook and she made really delicious food.

We spent the afternoon taking snaps in different poses and by then the lunch was ready ! We finished the appetizing lunch and left to our rooms. All of us were too tired and fell asleep. Evening was sports time !!! We played Shuttle and Lock and Key. Sowmy’s Mum joined in as well. Yours truly was getting pathetic with every shot. Subha was facing problems with service. Vidhya and Sowmy were on a roll. Sadhana and Uma were mediocre. After the gaming session, it was time to watch TV. We saw Sowmy’s old birthday videos for some time. And then again, it was time for dinner !! Saniya brought few DVDs one of which was a supposedly ghost movie ‘Gauri’. Vidu, yours truly, Saddy, umC were too tired to watch the movie. We spent about 2 hours talking in the balcony and fell asleep. Vidu and Saddy were listening to songs. Sowmy and Saniya had by then finished watching the movie and when they came up, they could hear a song playing. Vidu was half asleep and Sowmy tried to scare them in the nights. She said ‘Hey Vidu, Gauri vandhurukku di..’ Vidu sleepily replied, ‘ poitu naliki vara sollu di…’ Sowmy and Saniya were in splits. Next morning, they tried to over exaggerate the movie’s scariness and coaxed us to watch the movie. We did that after a cards session. The movie was so scary that we almost fell asleep !!! :-|

Beach time !!! We traveled for about an hour and a half to the beach. Before that, we went to the Hatcheries that Nellore is really famous for. It stinked !! Seriously !!! :-|

It was a very small beach with few people. Sowmy’s Mum had brought food and snacks. We played in the beach for some time. Those still remain etched in our hearts !!! We laughed like we never laughed before. We played like we never played before. We spent about 2 hours in the beach and left late in the evening. All of us reached home at about 9.00 in the night and had our dinner. Saddy and I were yapping till 2.00 in the morning !!! Sowmy and Saniya were upto something else !!! ;-) Others had fallen asleep !!

Next morning, we got up really late. We had a session of card playing. Also, all of us sang the Kadhalikka Neramillai title song and recorded it. In the afternoon, we saw ‘Happy Feet’. It was a cute anime movie. We came up with really funny translations for those English lines. In the evening, we had a photo session for about an hour and left to the temple. Sowmy’s Mum had stressed on sleeping early because we were leaving the next day. The trip had come to an end !!! All of us were in the terrace that night and spoke till 1.00 in the morning.

We packed our bags next morning and left to the station, bidding adieu to everybody there. The return journey was exciting as well, just that the compartment was full. Saniya was busy looking at a reddie. We played cards for long. Chennai arrived and we left to our respective homes with hearts full of fond memories and never wanting to leave each other.

Few of those one-liners that we borrowed from various sources were

Aaniya pudunga venaa……………

Adhaagapattadhu ennanaa………….

Enna koduma sir idhu !!………………..

Saboothreee…………………

The trip was made even more hilarious with Subha’s constant mokkaiest mokkais. Friends, I can’t recall any of them because there were many !!! Help me out !!!

M I S C E L L A N E O U S

Inanely Dumb !

Life after college feels different and so will my work life. So many thoughts cloud the mind and never ever felt these many in rapid succession. Sometimes, they even become difficult to be expressed in words.

Cartoons are something that I love the most. I wish I could draw them instantaneously like the cartoonists. But I don’t seem to possess the artistic bent of mind. I get so excited when my reader updates the blogs of certain cartoonists. I try to spend a minimum of 5 minutes on every cartoon and I really love commenting on them.

Of late, my mouse has been troubling me and I don’t get to play Minesweeper. The computer processes the clicks late as a result of which I end up completing the board really late. Most of the times, I close the board out of frustration !

My friends say that the call letter from Infosys is due this month and that we would be joining next month. Somehow, it feels like life is coming to an abrupt halt. It is so much fun to be at home doing things that I like. I would never find time to read cartoons once I start working. I would rarely find time to read books or even blog. Life would be hollowed!!!

I am loving the Dilbert strip that comes on my blog everyday though I have failed to understand this week’s strip on some particle accelerator and Anti –Dilbert.

Owww……My mind is choking !!! I am finding it extremely difficult to put down my thoughts.

Will leave with a picture of Sara's. This is one image that I love the most where the sorrow is effectively conveyed to the viewers. The dark background shade establishes the melancholy. A picture definitely speaks a thousand words !!!!

Makes me scream 'I am there for you !!!'

P O L I T I C A L D R A M A

The Bone of Contention

The past week has kept the news channels busy and their reporters on toes. The issue boiling out there is the political skirmish between the Congress and the Left. I for one have been eagerly waiting for the UPA to topple. (That will be the most sensational news ever !!!! ;-) )

June 30, ‘08

While returning from college, I happened to see a long queue that stretched for about half a kilometer in the Sholinganallur road almost jamming the traffic. Job fair??? NO !!! Petrol !!! The bunk had run out of stock ! Good that I hadn’t fallen asleep in the bus as I usually do ! ;-)

The LEFT says they are right !

The LEFT has been immensely critical of the deal. According to the LEFT, the Nuke deal is a strategy to bind India to the US. The issue has been hyped for long, but the common man still does not understand the nuances of the deal. No political party has detailed on it’s stand regarding the deal. Do we know what exactly are the contents of the deal? Why isn’t the agreement made public? Why not have nation wide opinion polls on the issue? The LEFT enjoys 60 Lok Sabha members and its withdrawal from UPA will leave the Congress in a fix. The Samajwadi Party that has 39 Lok Sabha members has been seriously contemplating on its support to the Government. An alliance with SP could possibly eliminate the chances of early elections. One question that keeps lingering is ‘Is the deal worth sacrificing the Government?’ The DMK, RJD are not ready for early elections and if the Congress goes ahead with the deal, snapping it’s ties with the LEFT, it has the uphill task of convincing (and retaining) these regional parties for early elections.

Pride at stake

With the PM always being termed submissive and pliant, the deal’s implementation would be one of the most daring tasks he would have fulfilled in his tenure as an ‘Accidental PM’. With the inflation in double digits, the PM has been blamed for not containing the prices. Inflation is now masking the need for Nuke deal.

Uranium woes

Australia has refused to export Uranium to India on grounds that India is not part of the Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty. The nuclear power reactors in India run on uranium. Right now, India is running out of Uranium reserves. Even if not now, India will have to resort to the deal after few years by which time, the deal would almost be impossible to operationalize given the fact that Obama is not too keen on the deal. The NPT stresses on the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons and nuclear explosive devices. As India is not a signatory of the NPT, it has been distanced from the international nuclear order given the fact that India carried out the Pokhran test much against the displeasure of many NPT signatories.

IPI pipeline

The Petroleum Minister Murali Deora is now rushing up things so that the IPI pipeline deal is fixed before the Government topples. Ahmedinejad and Bush are looking daggers at each other. With Bush ordering surveillance on Iran’s nuclear activity, Iran has taken a tough stand on the US. How will Iran react to the Nuke Deal with the US? Will this adversely influence our IPI pipeline deal?

Third Front

Mayawati has snapped her ties with the Congress. Looked like she was waiting for the right time to quit. Mayawati would have longed to forge an alliance with the LEFT and form a third front against the BJP and Congress. The SP, a long time adversary of Congress is now skeptical about its possible ties with the Congress. The Congress has always been at the mercy of someone or the other. Its options are

Ø Go ahead with the deal snapping its ties with the LEFT.

Ø If SP comes to its rescue, it can possibly complete its 5-year tenure.

Ø If SP pulls the rug underneath, then the Government will have to be ready for the mid term elections. It would have sacrificed power for the sake of a country’s economic growth.

Ø If the deal proves to be worthy in the future, then the Congress can back on people’s support and use this as a weapon against the BJP in the next to next elections, provided the deal is operationalized now.

Ø The hopes of winning the 2009 Lok Sabha elections looks bleak now. So the Congress can as well go ahead with its unfinished tasks and make a gentlemanly exit.

Ø Inflation is in double digits and the price of crude oil is rising day by day. In the coming days, the situation is likely to worsen. Once the BJP assumes office, it will inevitably have to tackle such inflation at some point of time. It would be interesting to see how it handles the situation. All along, the BJP has been critical of the Government’s economic tactics, but never has it given a solution to contain the inflation.

Ø The Congress should be wary of Mayawati’s growing stature across the nation. As of now, the AIADMK, TDP and few others are orphaned. If she manages to entice the LEFT, then the biggies are in for a shock.

There’s more to the drama !!

L Y R I C S

Un Idhayam Pesugiren :-)

One of those few lyrics that left an indelible mark in my heart –

Pesugiren Pesugiren un idhayam pesugiren
puyal adithal kalangathey naan pookal neetugiren
ethai nee tholaithalum manathai tholaikathey
adangamale alaipaivathen?
manam allavaa........

Kadal thandum paravai-ku ellam
illaipaara marangal illai
kalangamale Kandam thandume...
muttru pulli arugil neeyum
meendum chinna pulligal veithal
mudivenbathum aarambame...
valaivillamal malai kidaiyathu
valli illamal manam kidaiyathu
varunthathey...
adangamale alaipaivathen?
manam allavaa........

Kaatil-ulla chedigallu-ku ellam
thanner ootra aale illai
thannai kaakave thaanai valarume...
pengal nenjin baaram ellam
pennae konja neram dhane
Unnai thondinal inbam thondrume...
vidiyamal than oru iravu ethu..
vadiyamal than vellam kidayathu..
varunthathey..
adangamale alaipaivathen?
manam allavaa........

I am speechless !!!! Hats off to Na. Muthukumar !!!

P.S. I wanted to write about the intensity of these lines, but I am at a complete loss of words now !!!

I N T R O S P E C T I O N

Congress in a fix !!!

Looks like the Congress won’t last long and the prospects of early elections look brighter day-by-day. The BSP has withdrawn its support to the Government. Mayawati is all geared to take on the mighty BJP and the wounded, but yet, ready to fight Congress, all on it’s own. It was an expected decision and I am glad that she made the move at the right time. Now that there are a lot of skirmishes happening between the Left and the Congress, Mayawati’s BSP can be in for a plum. If the Left happens to snap ties with the Congress, BSP can effectively open a gateway and can offer to enter into an alliance with the Left (The Left is dead against the BJP). The Congress is now short of 17 MLA’s. The PMK’s exit can cost an additional 2-3 MLA’s short. But the PMK wouldn’t be too keen on snapping it’s ties with the UPA, at least for it’s own thirst for ministerial power. S Ramadoss would strongly be contemplating on the future of the party. The AIADMK does not stand a strong chance in the Tamil Nadu elections and looks like the DMK will win the next elections hands down. So an alliance with the AIADMK would be useless. Also it’s almost certain that the BJP will make it to the ruling in the coming Lok Sabha elections.

The Congress is anxiously searching for answers. Manmohan Singh was the Finance Minister in 1995 when the Inflation hit double-digit numbers. This week, it has recorded 11.05 % and he is the Prime Minister now. Frankly speaking, I don’t understand the economics and seriousness of what exactly this double-digit inflation means to the country. I only know that it’s affecting the common man. From what I understand, in spite of having the best economics background, in the form of himself and the Finance Minster, Manmohan Singh is finding it difficult to contain Inflation.

There are a lot of IPO’s in the pipeline, but how exactly will they capitalize on the sliding markets? :-?

The Congress is in a very critical state. The Karnataka verdict has further crippled its stronghold in the Southern States. The Nuke deal is still not done and there is opposition from it’s own house. Now that it’s almost certain that the Congress is going to lose the Lok Sabha elections, it can as well leave the fray by implementing the Nuke deal unmindful of the Left snapping it’s ties.

P.S. The author is totally ignorant about finance and economics and talks on Inflation are purely based on what was learnt from the Television and papers.

A M B I G R A M

On Request

This Ambigram reads 'Pradeep'. The design is too simple and I am happy with the way it has come out. I hope it is readable ! Pradeep, this one goes out for you !!!

M I S C E L L A N Y

Kit - Kat

It’s been long since I have blogged on something really interesting (Ok, that according to me definitely means a political analysis [1] !). Hold on readers, this post is not on politics, but on a song which is driving me crazy right now and I’m listening it for the umpteenth time ! The song – Madurai Maraikozhundhu Vaasam from ‘Enga Ooru Paatukkaran’, a typical village based story with Ramarajan as the hero ( Now, I can imagine the ghastly look on few of your faces (Mates, I know you !)). The song begins with an excellent chorus that’s typical of a village folk tune. Illayaraja keeps me mesmerized with such songs. I have been hunting for this song for long but ridiculously never tried googling. Today I was so out of work that I started adding videos to my Orkut profile and I added this one too ! It’s been running in my mind from noon and I’m not able to get over the music, lyrics and the voice especially that of Mano’s. Mano’s voice sounded so different from his customary tone and it was so soothing to listen to him. The lyrics get rhythmic and poetic in the charanam and I have been trying to register the lines from noon ! ( I was unlucky enough not to find the lyrics online !) There is one line that goes like

‘Maanoda paarva meenoda serum’

I have been wondering what this exactly means ! Girls are humorously and romantically referred to Maan ( Deer). Ok, because this is a duet song, does it mean ‘Meen’ refers to the guy? Can anybody sense a conflict with stereotypical reference? The eyes of ladies are generally referred to those of a fish ( Mudhalvan heyyy !!! Arjun describes his girl to be one with ‘meen’eyes !!The drawing was funny though !) So, what does ‘Maan’ and ‘Meen’ exactly refer to? :-/

Attention: Assistance needed !!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WaNG6B0bk7M&feature=related

The female lead is Banu Priya’s sister and she is such a disappointment in the song and her talents have been wasted ( I mean her dance !). The dance sucked big time and her facial expressions were annoying to the core. Ramarajan tried to look romantic but there was absolutely no kind of reciprocation from the girl !!! The Director should have looked into these aspects !!! The video was a total disappointment, but still, I couldn't stop watching and listening to the song !!! I guess it will take another day or two for me to get over this song. (Uffff, you got to study and it’s exam time !!!)


Yesterday, I happened to watch few scenes from the movie ‘Indian’. My sister was eagerly waiting to watch ‘Kappal Eri Poyachu’ song and owwww, the EB wreaked havoc. She was furious but we managed to catch up one half of the song before the current was gone. There is this particular scene where Kamal is released from being a Prisoner of War, once India is declared Independent. He runs to see his beloved and what a cinematic coincidence, the kumkum that he gave Sukanya before departing exhausts on the very same day ! While people celebrate independence, they wave the Indian flag. For a moment, I had this very stupid doubt and concluded unevidently that our flag wasn’t the Tiranga at the time of Independence. And I proudly voiced this to my sister and Mother. I was particularly pleased that I had found such a disastrous flaw in the movie ! And now, here I am surfing the evolution of our Tiranga. I am a bit ashamed of my ignorance about Indian History and the significance associated with our flag.

The National Flag of India was adopted in its present form during an ad hoc meeting of the Constituent Assembly held on the 22 July 1947, twenty-four days before India's independence from the British on 15 August 1947. It has served as the national flag of the Dominion of India between 15 August 1947 and 26 January 1950 and that of the Republic of India thereafter. In India, the term "tricolour" [Tiranga (in Hindi)] almost always refers to the Indian national flag.

-Source : Wikipedia

It’s almost 2 AM now, and my stomach is rumbling. ( The Acoustics are bad inside and I think I will have to fill up the space so that it stops reverberating !) Signing off with a snippet from Calvin and Hobbes.


Why is Calvin giving a wrong expression at the end of the comic strip? Is that the way people react to such situations? :-/



P.S. [1] Will be back with my usual 'mokkai' once I am done with my exams ! :)

E X P E R I E N C E S

Crazy !!

Warning : High voltage.

Today happened to be a very strange day in college. So, I thought I would record the happenings.

The day’s exam turned out be a debacle ! Ok, it’s just an exam – a model exam which has virtually no significance to 99% of the final year students (I am in as well !) Today’s exam was supposed to be a retest. We had taken up the original exam on 15^th April 2008. The subject – ‘Web Technology’. Now, the subject sounds really interesting isn’t it? Not really !

What an ordeal it was to sit in the exam hall (Room 34 in the 6 th block) for 3 hours !!! None of us were prepared to take up the exam and everybody seemed to be irritated about the entire retest issue. So, I had pre planned as to what I would do in those 3 hours. Now, my plan was this – Write for some 1.30 or 2 hours, make an Ambigram and possibly multitask by giving my CPU some food for thought.

After a great session of gossiping in the breakfast area, we entered the class to take up our great examination. I never even bothered to take my decorative stationeries. We entered the room and I was sensing some faces giving us really weird looks ! I took my answer script and walked to my allotted place in a very dignified manner. The room gradually filled and so did the seats. The invigilators distributed the question papers and before I could receive mine, Sowmya gave me a ‘give up’ kind of laugh. Once I got mine, I was dumbstruck ! Not that it was unexpected, but I was all the more worried about the next 3 hours ! We chuckled constantly, looking at each other and the paper. So were the others. I read through the paper once. But it all seemed Greek and Latin (for a moment, I thought I was dyslexic and I could see the words HTML, ASP, CSS dancing their way out !) My mind didn’t budge for the next 10 minutes. And then, I listened to my heart and started with the non sense.

Bizarre Thoughts ! Hallucinations I suppose ! I could see a brain right in front of my eyes. Now, my biological knowledge was taking over that a brain has two partitions – Left and Right. A hand appeared out of nowhere and started sketching Calvin and his wide mouth. Calvin took control of my Right. Sara came in out of thin air and took control of my Left. Now, they had made a very formidable pair and I was struggling my way to the throne. Before they could take over, I did have a few thoughts running. The exam was a total disaster and I had never taken up such an exam before. The point was not about writing it well, it made me wonder about my 4 years of Engineering study. It seemed a criminal waste and I was ashamed about not writing anything substantial even after 4 years of IT study. I started wondering if I really deserved to be called an IT professional. And then a voice out of nowhere sounded, ‘I blame the educational system !’ and it wanted to convince me regarding that. But I was in conflict with the idea. I told myself that I wasn’t clever enough to exploit my academic opportunities and what use is it to blame the educational system?!!

I was almost in a trance whilst talking up the exam. My eyes were drooping but my mind was busy giving me instructions to keep my eyes open. Sowmya was getting nowhere with the answers ! So was I ! I badly needed some sprinkling of water on my eyes so that they stayed open. I and Sowmya were communicating using sign language. With great difficulty, I managed to leave the hall for water. I wet my eyes and drank some. Saranya seemed really irritated about the clock ticking slow. I took my seat and tried concentrating. Calvin took over. It got naughty and tried to delve into the mind of Remo. Owwww……Calvin sings ‘Priya priyathama raagalu, sakhi kushalamaa andhaalu…’. Sara says, ‘Woww…so romantic !!!’ Calvin emotes :P

Ok, Calvin’s next target was Saniya. Even before it could post an entry, it came running, telling, 'Its complicated like Math !!!' Sara says, ‘Let’s give it a try and Math is really interesting.’ The wiring on the way to her brain looked too complicated and Calvin received a short circuited jerk. He screamed with his mouth wide open ! I was having a good laugh looking at his mouth. Sara goes to his rescue and tells him, ‘I have seen enough to make a story out of it’. So they make an exit. Its almost 10.00 now ! Just one more hour and I still haven’t completed 70% of the question paper ! So, I start rushing up with the answers. But I don’t know any !!! So, again I start multitasking. Sara helps me out with the answers. Calvin brings in a paper out of nowhere and he starts sketching an Ambigram using an electric pen. One end of the pen touches a part of my brain and the he starts sketching. The Ambigram is ‘SOWMYA’ and its over in a matter of 2 minutes. I stop writing and start drawing the Ambigram on the bench. I am impressed. Good work Calvin ! Now, Sara is busy thinking about Speech Synthesis and Speech Recognition. And strangely, I found out that she knew Tamil as well. Speech Recognition – Thee Thee Thee Jagajothi jothi jothi…’. Rajini was right in front of my eyes dancing with Shreya. I start mentioning about the movie ‘Shivaji’ in my paper and I derive few things out of that movie.
Later, Sara comes up with something philosophical. She says, ‘A friend was asking you this. Give it a thought !’ Calvin rushes in to say, ‘ Shut the nonsense !’.

Thankfully, I had managed to complete almost 90% of the question paper. Just 1 question remained and I still had 10 more minutes. I looked around and found that everybody was busy drawing lines. ‘Shan’ was trying to exercise and he was twisting his body either ways to give exercise to his hands and waist. Calvin comes in and starts singing “Aei Twister Oye Twister, Twister Twister Twisterrruuuuu”. I was in splits !

Sara gets pretty tensed and my hands automatically start moving. It’s an irrelevant answer for the given question. HTML tags…..the pen kept writing….And in the end, I wrote,

<> This is stupid < / B >

What a good note to finish the paper with !!! ;)

Soon after giving my paper, I get reminded of Edward Munch and a Google's Doodle. Calvin and Sara run away to their hideouts !



Good !!!


P.S. Content edited.

Flunked in the exam. :-)

A M B I G R A M

This Ambigram has given me immense pleasure ! I am very contented with the way it has turned out. This one reads 'SUBALAKSHMI'. I dedicate this to Suba akka. Today is a very special day for Suba akka since she got promoted to a very deserving higher post in her team. (She works for Wipro). Congrats akka !

P.S. Visitors...Please give honest comments. This Ambigram is an inspiration from Nagfa. So, you will get to see traces of Nagfa here.

A M B I G R A M

Shabby paper !!! Is that what comes to your mind? Well, it looked pretty tidy but the scanned image reveals the shabbiness. This is just a rough draft. Will include coloring effects using Photoshop later.

This one is specially dedicated to my best mate 'SUCHITHA'. It reads her name. And I have tried including some Tribal Designs. These designs were borrowed from a website. Modifications have been done to suit the Ambigram.


P.S. Does it read Suchitha? Please fine tune your eyes and say YES !!!!

K A L E I D O S C O P E

Miscellany

I’m in a weird mood and all that I am trying to figure out is to how to put an end to my eccentric thought process. The gradual metamorphosis to a grown up individual and a to-be responsible professional seem to have taken a toll. I am probably getting rigid now as an individual, but still, I don’t fit the bill ! The surroundings are hazy (is it because I have stopped using my glasses???!!!) and everything around me defines everything in total contrast with how I interpret things ! The disparity is wide and I am trying relentlessly to get back to the usual and normal interpretations. The chivalrous and brave Abhimanyu who was adept at breaking and entering the Chakravyuham was himself trapped due to his inability to break the pattern while exiting. (Am I faintly over exaggerating the situation??? Or am I faintly trying to compare myself with the incomparable??!!) uffffhh….Eccentricity !!!! Never fails to peep out even while writing ! Within is a smoldering wick that is waiting to be put off I presume !

*****Breakpoint******

The past few weeks have been hectic and it’s been a heterogeneous mixture of all kinds of human emotions. Of late, my routine schedule has taken a back seat and my priorities have changed. The list seems haphazard and procrastination and laziness is creeping over adding on to the mess. But I seem to be better off when compared to Kenya or Pakistan !!! (ufffhhhh….Eccentric evaluation !!!not again !!!) That reminds me of Obama – Hillary clash and I deeply regret for not having done enough justice in following the happening. Lack of time !

That reminds me of something else too !! Today is the presidential poll counting in Pakistan and once again I seem to be ignorant about the proceedings. The PPP has had a surge of sympathy votes of late in a recent survey and the PML (N) would scrape certain bits and pieces. It would be interesting to see a coalition drama between PPP and PML (Q) staged at Islamabad. (What if turns out be like Karnataka !!??? ufffhhhh…not again !!! hushhhh)……

*****Breakpoint*****

I happened to take up typing classes in my 10 th and very unfortunately had to discontinue after a month as my new school timings in 11 th gave no respite that was long enough to take a deep breath ! There always used to be a friendly rivalry with my fellow mates in college about the typewriting speed. And here I am to reveal my number of words / minute of typing. I happened to step onto a speed test and found myself deeply engrossed for 60 seconds with my hands working their way to speedy completion. It was fun. Gave a crazy take and found my score to be astonishingly less. But that very well demonstrates that I’m a slow learner (or a poker??!!) :-) At least I’m happy that I am not a two fingered hunt and hit kind of typist. (Wowww…now that’s optimism creeping in for a change !!! I guess I would be back to normal by the time I finish the post ! )

47 words

*****Breakpoint*****

Why do I always get to sit on the foot board in my bus almost every morning !!?? Why do my juniors lack even the basic etiquette of lending their seats to lecturers when they don’t find a seat !!??? I wonder ! And my driver ‘anna’ is always ready to make hay with my presence :-( To add on to my miseries there is yet another homosapien in college that takes great pleasure in making me ‘a laughing stock !’ (Poor me !!!) I’m eagerly waiting for my day !

*****Breakpoint*****

The Google’s Doodle for Valentine’s Day turned out to be a disappointment as the design looked quite shabby. There was a color contrast problem and a first look at it gave me a feeling of irregular usage of bright and light shades. The ‘G’ and ‘O’ are in their usual brightness but the following old couple (he has a cane and is bald, she has white hair and a long stalked rose that is actually supposed to be ‘L’) do not actually resemble the letters ‘O’ and ‘G’. The color tone of the characters and the background RBY shade is markedly less. So there seems to a gradual decrease in brightness and a sudden picking up of color intensity in the final ‘E’ which makes the entire design visually inconsistent. The V-Day’s doodle for 2004 and 2000 suited the occasion even better. But 2000' s Cupid looked really scary and ghostly ! The concept behind V-Day 2008 failed to instill a romantic feel in me and I wonder how many had liked the concept ! It all sounded and looked naïve and not at all moving. (Many would disagree though !!)

V-Day Doodle 2008

V-Day Doodle 2000



V-Day Doodle 2004


*****Breakpoint*****

After almost a year of having been a crazy Sara admirer (I still am !!!) where my Orkut profile saw a series of ‘Sara’ display pictures and my album, a mini still image story of ‘A Little Princess’, I switched over to displaying Lakshman’s cartoons. A couple of days back, I stepped upon a very interesting image (currently the one on my profile). But my friends failed to see the essence of the picture and I was utterly disappointed ! Did anybody tweak their eyes to see a girl caught up in the middle of too many complications?

Paranoid Girl

*****Breakpoint*****

Has my mood swung back to normalcy? I doubt that ! Too many things queued and I need to sort out my priorities and schedule my brain in a round robin fashion so as to avoid starvation. (Back to square one !!! Bottom Line : Incorrigible !)

P.S. Why the hell did I include those breakpoints? :-/