S

panic means no bounds :)

2008-07-01T11:44:00.000-07:00

apparently there was a diesel shortage in chennai last monday and predictably people rushed to the nearby bunks. in the process a few of them became innovative and attempted to collect diesel in just about anything that could hold it. take a look at this article and particularly the the guy with that yellow kudam in his hand :)

http://www.hindu.com/2008/07/01/stories/2008070158470100.htm

few things that we never let go

2008-04-23T20:24:00.000-07:00

we do most of our day-to-day things in an auto pilot kind of mode. the list is countless. some of the things that I do are outright out of the blue. I picked up most of these habits as result of a. suggestions from certain people and b. due to their purported do-good qualities. even though they were picked up for specific occasions, like reciting a special prayer before my 12th grade exams, I never had the heart to attach an expiry date and drop them. I'm actually better off, for I always hesitate before committing to such things. I know a few people who bear tons of these and are actually finding it difficult to handle. one of my relatives kept adding prayer after prayer to her morning recitals that she doesn't have her breakfast/lunch until 2 pm. every time I visit her I only find her lunch time being extended by a few more mins.

who should we blame

2008-04-21T22:57:00.000-07:00

the news is mostly grim, when its about the U.S Economy. we are now hearing hardship stories, from people scattered all over the country. on the surface level we blame it on rising gas prices and of course, the sub-prime fallout. job market has started shaking and so are our lives. but after reading all these stories, one thing becomes very clear. we could have simply avoided this mess ... the government could have enforced tighter regulations over the lending industry, the lending banks could have been less greedier, and oh yeah, we the consumers could have consumed a bit lesser.

this is a country where even a 1% drop in consumption sends ripples across the globe. people are now cutting back on expenses. I read a story on CNN about a stay-at-home mom, who claims that by simply switching to local super savers mart for groceries is saving her about $200 a month. thats a princely sum. such stories make me think in the lines of "if only ...".

change is something that needs to take place within every individual. no one is going to wash our laundry.

yearning for a good dosa

2008-04-03T18:55:00.000-07:00

its been ages since I had some good dosas .. exceptions being the rare trips to India. south indian restaurants in SF bay area (actually the entire US for that matter) simply don't know how to prepare a decent dosa, and it beats me. the dosas i've had are always super thin and super cold. can't figure a way to salvage it. I know my wish wouldn't be heard (by the chefs), yet I keep ordering. talk about hope :)

interviewing

2008-03-26T21:50:00.000-07:00

of late I have been interviewing to recruit some engineers in our group. the good part being that interviewers are given a free hand ... i.e. we can ask whatever we want. in the past, I was requested to probe a candidate in a specific area which I have always hated doing. managers did the "social" part and engineers did the "technical" part. while its possible to get a general idea about the candidate's strengths, its extremely difficult to get an accurate measure. when I attend interviews I typically brush up on certain "must-know" questions and most likely get only those questions (of course some of them with dumb twists). I don't know how on earth I could be judged based on these type of interviews.

I like talking about some nice design issues that are based on the candidate's past projects. its a sure shot way to find his/her claims on a project. other than that I love talking about really gen stuff .. like movies, and even politics. after all, this is a person that I may be working with and would definitely be a big plus in knowing how interesting he/she is.

an interesting NBA season

2008-03-23T07:41:00.000-07:00

after a long time I'm really happy to see a an ultra-competitive season in the NBA. and of course, when I mean the NBA I'm talking about the west teams and not the so called "leastern" teams. I've been following it since the "airness" days and dude this is a heck of a season. almost all the playoff teams in the west are contenders. and finally Kobe Bryant is going to be the regular season MVP, probably the only award that has eluded him so far.

until last yr, the phoenix suns sorta kept the NBA alive with their breath taking fast breaks. the suns were like a company that was still hiring with the economy in the trash :) and when the suns really needed some depth, they pulled off a big fat ugly trade and landed (probably crashed) with Shaq. poor steve nash. this time the self-proclaimed-superman will have to run a bit more. at least he'd shed some lbs.

my current inspiration

2008-03-17T15:58:00.000-07:00

watch these when you have a few mins

http://youtube.com/watch?v=u55G1VGuTfs
http://youtube.com/watch?v=5IXa2pNGVj8

and of course I won't post my recording. I'm still holding on, in spite of watching these monstrous performances.

if you like it, go buy a guitar and start learning the damn thing. loads of fun guaranteed :)

what do you gift

2008-03-06T16:15:00.000-08:00

this is always a sticky point. often leads to confusion in the mall and keeps me running from one store to another to quickly grab a gift that is nice, and cheap as well. I can be termed as old-fashioned when it comes to gifting. typically I prefer giving plain cash .. comes from the "put urself in his or her shoes and think" school of thought. and of course I like cash, well who doesn't. unfortunately the median gifter and giftee population don't agree with me. I do like the pre-paid cash cards but hate that 10% service fee. and gift cards aren't as great as they sound. do you know that shops can go bankrupt, still be in the business and yet decline your gift cards. happens dude, and that too in a bunch.

why shout .. coz a friend of mine is getting married this month and I'm still scratching my head .. vigorously.

and by the way .. if you are the kind that doesn't like to give/receive any gifts, then never mind.

seed vault

2008-02-26T18:20:00.000-08:00

indeed a good move to have a comprehensive seed vault like this.

but I'm not sure on how beneficial this could be if we were to face a global disaster .. just imagine an Armageddon (movie) or even an Independence Day (again movie, where else) kinda scenario. the place is some 600 miles from north pole and is buried underneath a mountain ... sigh. definitely a nightmarish task to get there.

so why is it good? at least we could conserve some of the food crops and build some redundancy ... especially with global warming threatening everything under and above the sun. just pray that your fav crop doesn't get busted :)

when they go the other way

2008-02-22T18:02:00.000-08:00

after yrs of deliberations I finally joined a guitar class. its a big deal as classes are quite expensive. luckily I managed to find an instructor who is offering yr round group classes for a reasonable fee. It indeed was a great feeling when I bought my very first guitar and tried my own version of strumming. all was good until I tried to play a single chord. my fingers simply wouldn't obey me. I couldn't believe the pathetic control I had over them. at one point I even yelled at them :) this is one hell of a task and it looks like miles and miles before I could could dream something reasonable. I haven't lost my faith yet!

I miss LA traffic

2008-02-18T16:41:00.000-08:00

this might shock a lot of people but I do miss driving in LA traffic. It does irritate when the traffic doesn't move even an inch, but when it does its absolutely thrilling. tailgating at 75 mph is a very common 'LA thing' and changing lanes in a whisker is indeed hair raising. its been about 18 months since I left LA and at last I had an opportunity to drive in full flow in LA this weekend. it was a mini homecoming for me and I couldn't believe that I was driving furiously without being conscious about it. I had to be reminded constantly. now I'm back to the sleepy bay area and I'm consciously leaving a 100-yard gap for people seem to love their brakes very much.

free ah vidu

2007-06-07T10:14:00.000-07:00

earlier in the day I wrote about the outrageous ticket price of a certain movie which has grabbed the attention of almost everyone from tamil nadu. hrs later I found that my cousin in australia, and some 30 of his friends, have bought tickets (for a similar ridiculous amount) for not one but two simultaneous shows of the same movie :)

so with that kind of fan following, my earlier post lost any kind of relevance.

maybe this is the price to see the newest solution that is being proposed in the movie to cleanse our system :)

definition of "cease fire"

2006-08-13T10:59:00.000-07:00

I always thought that cease fire means an immediate end to all on-going conflicts. and here you are, in the 21st century, watching a whole new meaning of "cease fire" unfold. the UN has finally succeeded (I'm probably sarcastic here) in brokering a peace deal for the the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hezbollah. while it is heartening to know that the killings would end (atleast blatantly), its a complete shock to see that the actual cease comes into effect only from monday (that is 2 days after agreeing to the deal). I wonder if these guys consulted an astrologer or someone. and until monday, its a "license to kill" (well anyways it is).

and the warring parties are leaving no stone unturned for inflicting the maximum damage. its a shame on all of us for giving these guys a deadline and an objective .. to KILL.

"buyer's market"

2006-07-25T22:23:00.000-07:00

apparently the real estate market in the US is now a "buyer's market". and guess who is saying that ... the national association of realtors. what a big joke. the housing market is cooling off for sure, but definitely not a buyer's market. the prices aren't going south, and nor do the lending rates.

a condo in valencia, CA costs around $400,000. renting an equivalent apartment is actually turning out to be cheaper.

you can classify it as a "choose what you want market" as you get more time to buy a home, unlike scrambling to make an overnight offer.

nice way to voice once's concern when the business is not doing great :)

read this

2006-07-18T11:12:00.000-07:00

here is an account of one of our friend's harrowing experience with HP Customer Service.

I've had innumerable such experiences, particularly with cell phone carriers.

our true friends .... politicians

2006-06-01T13:42:00.000-07:00

i'm really wondering where this vote-bank politics in India is going to lead us to. first is the reservation issue and the next is the banning of Da Vinci Code in TN and Andra.

much has been spoken and written about the reservation issue. one thing has to be kept in mind, the OBC's are the majority in India. so as long as they need a reservation of seats in colleges and govt. jobs, reservation is here to stay. they are kept dumb, yes I mean dumb, for the past 60 yrs, that they would never realize that reservation is just a bull shit and there is no real benefit out of it. as pointed out by everyone, increasing seats compromises the quality of education.

in the case of Da Vinci Code, its again vote-bank politics, but of a different nature. now here, minority is treated as the majority, simply because minority sects in India are much more united. appeasing them has become a higher priority. the ruling party in TN (do I have to name it) openly derides idol worship and illtreats temple priests. and yet they would not allow the screening of Da Vinci Code as it would hurt the feelings of a particular community.

at this point I don't think if we should blaming the politicians for all thats going wrong. in fact they are our friends, trying to protect our interests and providing what we need (read reservation, color TV etc.).

Unbelievable !!!

2006-04-18T10:40:00.000-07:00

This is a follow up of Jagan's post on real estate prices in India, particularly in bangalore and chennai. I'm really at loss of words here. agreed its a seller's market when demand rises. but I do feel there should be a limit. prices are going up by atleast 10% every month. thats an unbelievable and ofcourse unrealistic growth.

an apartment in the outskirts of bangalore city costs about 60 lakhs. people are still going for these apartments. I know IT companies offer interest free loans to some of their employees, but is everyone in bangalore/chennai offered the same? to rent these apartments also costs a fortune, thereby making the city virtually un-liveable.

astronomical growth in select areas could be very harmful for the economy. its more sustainable if it could be spread out.

any accountability at all ?

2006-04-08T23:22:00.000-07:00

"15 Kgs of free rice every month to most of the families" ... "rice at 2 Rs/Kg" ... "free color tv for all" ... "500 Rs a month for 3 yrs for all women who gave birth to a child"

these are some of the most dirtiest elections promises being made right now in tamil nadu. and there are hordes of people that buy these promises. I wonder if there is there any agency that monitors and controls political parties from making such ridiculous promises. if at all the state govt ends up fulfilling atleast one of the above promises for a limited period of time, where are they going to get the money from? do these people know anything about fiscal responsibilty and budgets at all?

previously when DMK made such promises, they had one of their own partymen obtain a stay order from the high court against such schemes. this they used as a shield from not implementing the promised scheme. ha, what a clever and cunning move by karunanidhi. he is at it again, and I wouldn't be surprised if he succeeds in cheating the people once again.

catching up ... again

2006-03-30T17:17:00.000-08:00

huh, another big gap in blogging. dunno when I'll stop doing this and start blogging regularly.

like most (maybe everyone) married tamil couples in US, we too have sun tv at home :) an interesting theory from one of their serials called chidambara rahasyam -- any 2 people in this world can be connected by atmost 3 links. in other words our dear captain could be your friend's friend's friend :) I'm sure that should excite most of you :)

jokes apart, that serial has a lot of interesting facts about life and rebirth. unfortunately these guys don't have a text-archive of their episodes (like fox's 24). and it isn't possible either, coz these guys simply don't know how to finish a serial in 4-6 months.

war of words

2006-02-10T15:37:00.000-08:00

political environment in tamil nadu is always hostile, and we all know that. party leaders blaming each other is also not new for us. but I still think there has to be a limit on personal attacks. try this .... Karunanidhi on Jaya .. "Jayalalithaa's governing policies only shows her sadistic nature". and this was telecast on sun tv news (another big joke).

its election time, I'm sure the best ones are yet to come :)

been a while

2006-01-30T15:12:00.000-08:00

wow ... its been a while huh. never thought I would be this lazy to pick up things right from where I left before leaving to India last november. personal update -- got married last november :) life's changed man. New goals and a new perspective as well :)

my wife Kalpana is with me right now. and yes, like all of us she is finding most of the things amusing here ... right from the switches being upside down to the alignment of cars on roads. for me, its like going back in time.

I did manage to keep reading all ur blogs, though never left any comments. lazy again. thanks for leaving all those comments on my earlier post. some of you even mailed me to make sure I was ok. thanks guys, thanks for all the wishes.

so thats the news, I'm back to blogging (no, its not as big as Rajini announcing a new film, but still big to me :) ).

another lucrative profession :)

2005-11-09T16:42:00.000-08:00

thats my car :( happened last week when another driver carelessly cut across to the shopping market, without even looking for the oncoming traffic. I had to hit him.

took it to the body shop. know how much it costs to repair this damage ...... $4500! wish I could change my profession :)

bills galore ......

2005-11-08T15:43:00.000-08:00

atlast I have an apartment just for myself (another reason for my irregular blogging). only for a short period but still I relish it everyday :) but the downside is to take care of the gazillion bills. in my case the list goes like ... Dish Network, Comcast, Electricity, Water, Trash, Gas, Cell Phone, Rent and adding to that is my regular credit card bills, car payment and auto insurance.

if I forget to pay even one of those bills, my credit history would go south :) strange world :)

rest ????

2005-11-06T18:34:00.000-08:00

so Sri Lanka finally wins a game. and it puzzles me as to why sachin tendulkar was rested for this game. agreed he is just back from a serious injury, but he never showed any signs of pain or discomfort. rather he was playing superbly. a lot of us were hoping to see the Sachin of the Old, instead we get the message that he is getting old. common guys, he is still the master blaster, its not fair at all to rest him after a mere 4 games.

katrina's gift to exxon

2005-10-27T14:44:00.000-07:00

Exxon has posted the largest quarterly profit -- about $10 billion ... a new record in U.S Corporate history. if you dunno, Exxon is the largest publicly traded oil company. while many are worried about the ever increasing fuel costs, Exxon is probably waiting for the next hurricane to hike up the prices even more. other oil companies have also posted similar windfall profits.

maybe I should buy some stock in these companies :)

a classic password phishing

2005-10-13T13:52:00.000-07:00

here is a spam mail that I got today ......

Dear Amazon member,

We regret to inform you that your Amazon account was been suspended for a period of 3-4 days,after that it will be terminated.
During our regularly schedule account maintenance and verification we have detected a slight error in your billing information on file with Amazon.
This might be due to either following reasons:

- A recent change in your personal information (i.e. change of address)
- Submitting invalid information during the initial sign up process.
- An inability to accurately verify your selected option of payment due to an internal error within processors.

Your credit card on file with Amazon

Card number: XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX (Not shown for security purposes)

Expiration date: XX/XX

Please sign in to your Amazon account and update your billing information:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/css/homepage.html

If your account information is not up-to-date, your account on Amazon will be terminated.

Thank you for your time!
Amazon® Security Departament

If you buy this and click on the link that is provided, u'd be taken to a site which looks exactly like the original amazon.com sign in page (here it won't work as I just pasted the text). careful ones would notice a different address in the address field but most don't.

remember, don't even click on the links sent in an email. instead check it up urself.

drinking and IT

2005-10-07T15:37:00.000-07:00

read this article in hindu.

hotels and bars in chennai want to decrease the legal age for drinking from 21 to 18. and the reason they give ... "growth of business process outsourcing and information technology in the city."

now how can IT industry affect the drinking pattern of the society. at 18, people are still in college. few work in call centers at that age, but they are really in need of that extra money and I don't think they are the standard "friday night partying" type.

pathetic reasoning, the hotel industry could be bit more creative.

double standards

2005-10-02T19:41:00.000-07:00

had an interesting talk with fellow blogger ranga today. we were discussing about stem cell research and how useful it could be towards finding a cure for cancer. its a pity that all these conservative lawmakers are trying to stop this important work in the name of "pro-life". and these are the same guys that approve the death penalty. maybe their faith condones double standards.

just lost a close friend to cancer. its really painful guys, and when you learn that someone is trying to put a cap on finding a cure for this deadly disease, it just leaves you with nothing but uncontrollable anger.

First Time !

2005-09-26T07:57:00.000-07:00

There is always a first time to do anything in life. Sometimes it turns out to be the last too. Sometimes we know that the first time might be the last time and sometimes we don’t. If we are lucky, most of the time we know it is the last time. If you are clearly confused, here is what I want to say: Once we do something for the first time, that’s the last time you can do it for the first time. Sometimes we choose to see the end which is there at the very beginning and sometimes we keep trying and thats what keeps the world going.

ok finally back!

2005-09-20T16:07:00.000-07:00

was away on a 10-day trip to the east coast. came back and had to take care of some things ... hence the delay in blogging. yeah missed you guys :)

so here is a story of my friend who shockingly lost $700 while doing a transcation on eBay. my friend wanted to sell a laptop that he recently purchased. he listed it in eBay for a selling price of $700. if you don't know, eBay doesn't handle financial transactions. it only facilitates the auctioning part. individuals usually have a pay-pal account for money transfer. and so did my friend. when someone buys your item, you get a notification about the sale (mind you, still its not completely over). then its upto you to verify if the money has been credited into ur account and then ship the product. ok, now u have got ur 101 on eBay.

someone bought my friends laptop and promptly he gets a notification. the interesting thing is he even got an email from Pay-Pal telling him that $700 was credited to his acct. the email had a link to his acct. he clicked it, was taken to his Pay-Pal page, and there he saw the $700 sitting in his acct. being satisfied, he ships the item, thru the buyer's fed-ex acct, which would ship the product to florida. 2 days later, my friend logs into his Pay-Pal acct (not thru the link on the email), and to his shock he discovers that there had been absolutely no transaction.

how did this happen. well, the Pay-Pal mail was a spoof. the cheater (not a hacker) actually bought the item from eBay, and never credited the money. instead he sent the spoof mail. the link in it took him to his own site, which conveniently accepted any password my friend typed and showed him a page which looked like a normal Pay-Pal acct page. and the fed-ex shipment was later changed to a destination in Nigeria.

very bold indeed. my friend could have checked the addr bar on the website (looking at which u can easily say that its a phony site), but he never did and ended up losing his laptop worth $700.

long post, just wanted to let u guys know about this.

Choice !

2005-08-31T06:55:00.000-07:00

“There is a difference between being dragged into the arena to face a battle to the death and walking into the arena with your head held high. Some people, perhaps, would say that there is little to choose between the two ways and that makes all the difference in the world.” I read this recently and for people who can’t figure out from where, it’s the 6th book of HP.

How true?? All of us at one point of time would have faced (be facing) this situation, the difference is that most of us act as though we chose walking into the arena while the fact remains that we were actually dragged into it. Things will become clearer if we try to answer the question “ Am I really enjoying my career that I chose years back??” … if “yes”, we are fortunate souls.. if not, we are good actors… again a profession :).

something u shouldn't ask :)

2005-08-28T08:44:00.000-07:00

a question that you should never ask someone back home on a gokulashtami day -- "whats the menu?" :) and i did just that this past friday. while i was planning on re-heating the leftover rice and mix it with some buttermilk and pickles (which was all what I had), the answer to my question was ... "seedai, vella seedai, thattai, patta thenkuzhal, managkombu, kai murukku, thenga burfi, appam, navaneetam, paal payasam, vadai, and of course the regular 3 course meals .. udambukku mudiyala, adhanaala ivlo dhaan panna mudinjudhu" :) yenda kettomnu irundhadhu.

i was only reminded of the dialogue form MMKR "ennadhu, list angavasthram maadhiri irukke" :)

rajini and ghajini

2005-08-25T17:42:00.000-07:00

superstar and shankar, wow! me already looking beyond 200 days. and I love reading all the rumours about the upcoming movie. infact thats more entertaining :) actually I'm thinking of starting something myself and make u all beleive :) heard that thalaivar is doing multiple roles in the movie, I mean more than two. if that is the case, multiply every rajini by 100 and lo, u get the number of days the movie will be houseful :)

ghajini songs kettacha? nice ones, hearing them again and again. harris jeyaraj seems to be on a roll. and this one also has some exotic words ... like 'ona ri thaari' etc. dunno where he gets all these words :)

cricket and all rubbish

2005-08-23T08:49:00.000-07:00

its high time that we change the way cricket is played. I've been telling this for a long time ... start promoing professional clubs rather than having national teams. having a single team for the entire nation just spoils other sports. recently I read Kutraleeswaran's (remember?) interview in Hindu. poor chap, had to ditch his pro-swimming career due to lack of sponsorship and support. he ended up doing a masters in the US, and now employed in Intel, Sacramento. really sad to lose a prodigy like him. and I would blame most of it on cricket.

it hurts when people question as to how come a nation of more than a billion cannot win even a single gold in the olympics. I don't know, does vision 2020 has anything on sports? if not we should add it as well.

corporate espionage

2005-08-17T22:47:00.000-07:00

last week I was reading an article on Wall Street Journal on this. according to the article, the FBI's main focus these days (apart from counter terrorism), is to tackle corporate spies, especially by chinese nationals. apparently most of it is done by either threatening or bribing people of chinese origin who work for hi-tech companies and defence establishments. and there have been some convictions too.

I was reading this article in our company break room. after I finished reading it, I casually left it on a nearby table. and one of the guys spotted the story. well, he was a chinese :) and not just him, the whole table was occupied by chinese people. with a big smile I silently vacated my place :)

desire to hate ...

2005-08-15T17:29:00.000-07:00

violence and killings occupy a major chunk on all the news sites and news papers. and it is not a new trend, been the same way for a long time now. a lot of us have immense interest in reading such stuff. its definitely not the fault of the publishers, for they just cater our needs.

we live in a much civilized world now, as a result we are definitely forced to hide some of our natural instincts and desires. thats probably a reason why a kid likes to watch our captain cut someone's throat on screen. some of us don't even realise that we use this medium to vent some deep feelings like hatred, jealously etc.

is this because of the animal instincts that we may still have or just because we are used to reading and watching only such stuff?

What-if analysis !!

2005-08-11T04:22:00.000-07:00

I remember asking my dad “what would you have done if I had failed to establish an academic career?? (i.e) say, if I hadn’t cleared my higher secondary exams or say if I had dropped out of college?”… An ideal dad’s answer would have been “ That does not change anything my dear! I’ll still be proud of u” … A practical dad’s answer would have been “I would have got you married” …A confused dad would have asked “which subject taught you to ask such irrelevant questions?”. But my dad thought for a moment and said, “well, I would have been answerable then too, but your question would have been, what should I have done, if I had to be treated with respect!!! "

to hell or heaven :)

2005-08-09T14:35:00.000-07:00

oh my God, the fun never stops when it comes to Seinfeld. for starters, Seinfeld is a hit TV comedy over here. it stopped a few yrs back but the re-runs are still on. now a small piece from one of the episodes --

Elaine and Puddy are in a romantic relationship. one fine day Elaine finds out that Puddy is very religious and is following christianity ....

Elaine: puddy, are you religious
Puddy: yes
Elaine: aren't you concerned that I ain't religious.
Puddy: no
Elaine: why
Puddy: coz am not the one that is going to hell

by far one of the best I've seen. it was a laugh riot :) jokes apart, the beauty of Seinfeld is that anyone can relate to most it. Seinfeld actually cheers me up. me always in a great mood after a good dose of an episode :)

one more contributor

2005-08-08T10:50:00.000-07:00

as some you guys have noticed, there is a new contributor to this blog. Its my fiancee Kalpana. she has already started posting on this space, with the screen name demi :)

its always nice to have more than one contributor for a blog. everyone thinks differently and thats fun in a discussion place like this. eventually me and my friends would give up our individual blogs and continue to share our thoughts on a bigger platform. and that day is not far away.

so until then whitenoise would keep streaming steadily :)

Who taught me to be patriotic ???

2005-08-06T01:52:00.000-07:00

Was it my mom, who hoped for more national holidays or my dad, who charged off his good moods to the country losing in a game of cricket, or my school, which made me religiously take the national pledge every afternoon, or my friends who didn't know such a pledge exists, or my neighbour who was too lazy to stand when the national anthem was sung, or my fellow Indian who believed that pinning a paper flag every Aug 15th, was his way of expressing patriotism?? The best thing to do is to learn it myself, the way I understand its definition to be...

free pizza!

2005-08-03T18:23:00.000-07:00

this was something that I used to get all the time at UCSB. I never remember paying for a pizza :) all meetings, discussion sessions, company presentations, anything ... there'd be one thing for sure, free pizza. you can hog as much as you want and there will be free soda as well, just to wash it down :)

was talking to a friend today who went to Caltech for his UG. get ready for this ... google pays for all pizza bills if you are a CS student at Caltech and were working for any CS project (even course related ones), while ordering the pizza. you can work 24hrs every day ... order pizzas round the clock and google would simply reimburse you :) its an honor system, you just need to present the bills to a representative and he/she will reimburse you.

I can do that ... work on CS projects for 24 hrs and live on free pizza ... just don't ask me if those projects would work :)

new planet and an added dimension :)

2005-08-01T17:45:00.000-07:00

national geographic reports that what scientists have discovered might actually be a new planet in our solar system. ah ah, this doesn't sound good. now don't start thinking that we might be raided by some aliens pretty soon and "Independence Day" might become a reality. no guys, bush is actually planning to have a stop over on this new planet en route to mars :) and don't fantasize about availability of water et. al in this new one. not that far either.

but what we can think is the immediate impact on our horoscopes :) and I wouldn't be surprised if all the astrologers gang up and call for a world-wide discussion on this. can they waive it? or can they add a clause and say that it only augurs well for our mankind? could that be a 'guest house' for our existing planets from where they can have a better look at us (as they say "moonavadhu veetlerndhu neara guru paarkkaraan") ?wow, this looks exciting :)

professionals and personal life

2005-07-28T15:45:00.000-07:00

Nike has finally started using Kobe in its ads. kobe now has his own logo. check out NikeBasketball.com for more details. I'm eagerly waiting for the tv ads :)

just when I was hoping to catch on nike's ads sporting kobe, he was accused of raping a teenager. the case is now closed and nobody except the two know what really happened. but a lot of people went to the extent of even hating him for that. I always loved his game ... especially the performances he gave right after returning from the court room, every time. they were a real treat for fans like me.

I wonder why people attach so much to sports persons. we should just learn to like what they do on field and not off field. many adore these sports persons as role models. but they forget the fact that these guys are professionals too. they have a heart of their own and a family to feed as well.

this is similar to what happened with Azhar in India. many disliked him when he ditched his wife and married sangeetha bijlani. why? we all came to know him only as Azhar the cricketer and not as Azhar the husband of his wife (sorry I don't know her name :) )

cursing

2005-07-27T15:20:00.000-07:00

most of curse atleast once a day. generally its out of anger or disappointment, or even happiness :) and when we do, we typically curse a person as such, or go one generation upwards. then the target would be the cursee's parents :)

but thats all the languages has to offer us. knowing tamil, english, and hindi to some extent, I always used to wonder if there is any language that has words to go further up :) just for a change.
and yes there is. its arabic guys, apparently they go even 7 generations deep :)

interestingly, hebrew speaking people curse a lot in arabic. now thats what I call a healthy influence :)

world tour

2005-07-24T22:31:00.000-07:00

I wanna go on a one yr vacation ... touring the entire world :) guess its never going to happen, not even in my wildest dreams :) atleast a two month vacation to europe ... huh, even that doesn't look optimistic.

we don't have the time now, but when we do have it, we'd be too old to enjoy the way we want it. and on top of it you need to take along ur chintu and pintu as well (read kids) :)

wish I atleast get to work in different countries for every 2-3 yrs :) I'm willing to serve as an Indian ambassador for various countries ... anyone hearing :)

adult stuff and rating

2005-07-20T17:09:00.000-07:00

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, a popular video game here, gets an adults only rating for sexually explicit content. not just sexual content, but many of these games are gross and extremely violent as well. so is it OK to have violence and drugs in these games and tons of kids playing them? what kind of rating system is this?

I wonder if our Indian movies have a decent rating system at all. take the movie "Anniyan" for example. for all those gory killing scenes, it should have been given a double A. in my opinion kids below 10 shouldn't be allowed to watch this movie.

thanks to Anniyan, lot of people are now interested in Garuda Puranam, for all the wrong reasons. Garuda has much more significance, probably the most ... what to say.

snippets from my trip

2005-07-19T17:22:00.000-07:00

this was the first time I took Air India. contrary to all the negative publicity, I had a good experience. their service was excellent and it was a comfortable journey. they could improve on two aspects though - start on time (this one is on their list from time immemorial I guess) and buy new flights (think they just placed a few orders).

frankfurt airport is the crappiest i've ever been to. their transit lounge is extremely small and isn't suited for even a few hrs of wait. on the other hand, bombay's transit hall was perfect. they even had bed-like easy chairs.

got to see President Kalam in coimbatore. he was on a vist and since cbe is a small town, almost all of us had a chance to see his motorcade and Dr. Kalam was waving from his car. he even visited saibaba colony (our neighborhood) for a dinner at his friend's place. inspired on seeing him, I'm now reading his "Wings of Fire" :) :)

and dental costs in India aren't that cheap. I found it cheaper in the US with an insurance than to have anything done over there. great profession to be a dentist :)

I don't want to bore you with more :)

cousins galore :)

2005-07-18T17:05:00.000-07:00

i'm sure most of you would have atleast 10 cousins. I have about 31 :) yes THIRTY ONE. people in my office disappeared into a state of shock when they heard it for the first time. they asked me how it was possible, as if I were the one responsible for all this :)

for long I thought I held the record for max no. of cousins among the people in our company ... well today I'm shocked. A person in our company has 90 cousins ... yes NINETY :) all from her mom's side. she apparently has 18 siblings.

p.s: cousins here refers to immediate cousins :)

pongal vadai for breakfast :)

2005-07-14T22:47:00.000-07:00

though I didn't eat a lot this time, I still managed to have a good breakfast everyday (unlike the usual cup of milk I have here). inspite of the growing coffee shops and other western eat-outs, Annapoorna in coimbatore still commands the same respect. anytime of the day it was jam packed and I had to wait for a table :) but it was definitely worth it for their stuff is heavenly :)

I'm still in the India mood and yesterday morning I was just thinking of stopping by a nearest annapoorna for a pongal and vadai for breakfast. only moments later I relaised that the nearest one is atleast 10000 miles away :)

why no kate or karen :)

2005-07-13T22:35:00.000-07:00

"thats impressive. being in the US for 5 yrs, you still chose to marry an Indian girl" - invariably everyone told me this back home. and I seriously didn't know whether to cry or laugh. thanks to our stupid Indian movies, most of the people have a biased opinion when it comes to people returning from abroad.

now forget how I am when it comes to relationships ... in my opinion human emotions are more or less the same everywhere. it doesn't become suddenly easy to impress an american girl and nor do every girl just fall flat for Indian men :) its purely personal. nobody is God here :)

me back !!!

2005-07-11T23:06:00.000-07:00

so finally back after a memorable trip to India. didn't get married but got a step closer :) visited chennai, trichy and bangalore ... liked bangalore a lot primarily for its weather. it rained in chennai last week, but only made things worse.

since this was a special trip for me, I never got to do any standard Indian stuff ... like watching a lot of movies and eating a lot too. managed some here and there, but by and large I ended up shedding some weight :) watched Anniyan, thought it was one of the worst movies of the yr. ennikku dhaan shankar vidhyasama yosippano.

will keep posting from now on, thanks for all your comments and wishes :)

WANTED: Goundamani & Senthil :)

2005-06-16T16:13:00.000-07:00

for me, humour in movies is a must, unless it is a real serious movie. since kollywood doesn't make really serious movies, I always expect some humour. well if you think 7G and thulluvadho ilamai were serious ones, then pls forgive me :)

I miss those goundamani and senthil days...many of their movies were a total laugh riot. almost every movie had them... the movies never made any sense, but atleast they were entertaining. vivek was impressive too, dunno if he is still dominant. vadivelu is good in parts, still I don't enjoy his style.

kamal is still experimenting I guess :) hope he gives us one more MMKR. until then it'll be our dear captain's serious comedy movies :) Long Live Narasimha :) :)

zen again...

2005-06-15T14:39:00.000-07:00

the zenmeister is back as the head coach of the LA Lakers. and knowing the organization, I'm least surprised at this move. and this comes just a yr after phil jackson termed kobe as "un-coachable" :) and this is creating a bigger splash than the ongoing NBA finals itself (which is by the way expected, given how boring the spurs and the pistons play the ball game). this is yet another proof that the lakers are similar to a local political party :)

i'm now extremely interested to see as to how the lakers would perform the next season. to make things worse, they are already way above the salary cap.

the soap opera continues...

a way to make quick money :)

2005-06-14T00:10:00.000-07:00

you may all be aware now that michael jackson has been acquitted on all counts (what????) for child molestation. well whatever. now they are selling his court sketches on eBay. thats the only place I know where people can sell anything.....earlier poop and now this :) so hurry up people, go get those sketches. a few yrs down the road some fans might be stupid enuf to buy them for a million bucks :)

and wouldn't they make a nice wallpaper on the living room as well :)

Book Tagging

2005-06-09T09:17:00.000-07:00

thanks to chakra, I'm now hopping on to this book tagging bandwagon :) its actually a good thing, as we can get some good suggestions on books.

here is to book tagging :)

Total Number of Books I own: About 30. I use the library a lot.

Last few Books I bought:
Da Vinci Code, Angels and Demons - Dan Brown
The Fifth Mountain, The Pilgrimage - Paulo Coelhio
Ponniyin Selvan, Paarthiban Kanavu - Kalki R. Krishnamurthy

Last Book I was gifted: The Alchemist - Paulo Coelho

Last Book I read: Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown

Currently Reading: The Fountainhead - Ayn Rand

Books that Meant a lot to me:

These are some of the books that I'd recommend anytime to anyone:

The Alchemist - Paulo Coelho (I dunno, just read)
Ponniyin Selvan - Kalki (for the history, fats and fiction)
Angels & Demons - Dan Brown (for the details)
The Day of the Jackal - Frederick Forsyth (for the sheer thrill)

I do read a lot of short stories, particularly the ones written by Jayakanthan and Sujatha. I'd recommend them as well.

Tag five people and have them do this on their blogs:
(All you hav to do is, prepare similar stuff and post the same on your blog)

Manoj and AP, if you guys are reading this, then please do the same in my comments section (since u don't have a blog). atleast try to suggest a few books, that'll be very good.

one of those songs

2005-06-08T17:05:00.000-07:00

I can't resist listening to the ra ra song from chandramukhi. after a long time its one of those songs which you feel like hearing again and again. I dunno what the lyrics mean, but I'm sure it'd be some crap :) who cares, actually its nice that I can't understand it :)

even the song in the movie was amazing. I was reminded of the villain rajini. hope our thalaivar does one more negative role :) even that would be blockbuster.

deals and stuff

2005-06-07T16:34:00.000-07:00

of late I've been trying to get a digi cam for a decent price. and surprisingly, zeroeing on the camera didn't take much time at all. but getting it has suddenly become an increasingly difficult task. I found a really good deal on Dell and even placed the order. later on learnt that they will take atleast 2-3 weeks to ship it, which is way beyond the date I would be needing it. same case with many other popular sites. looks like all these sites propose a price, see the response, and then shop for the promised price...all the while maintaining that the items are in stock.

in this market, prices are ever fluctuating and over a period of time they gradually drop. and this kind of marketing technique is actually brilliant. basically these sites give a discount on items that will be bought in the future, say atleast 2 weeks from the day the order was placed. and while we feel happy of getting a good bargain, the sites easily manage a sizeable profit.

nyways I have decided to pick one from a store...I'm finally compromising on the price against the time factor. its better to be late than never :)

no more entrance exams

2005-06-06T15:57:00.000-07:00

the tamilnadu govt has decided to do away with the Common Entrance Examinations (CET), from this yr onwards for all the professional courses. and they claim that this would give the rural students a fair chance. now come on, what difference is it going to bring. more coaching shops would now open in the cities, focussing on the plus two exams. so wouldn't that be unfair to the rural students?

plus two exams are nothing but a farce. in my opnion, it needn't even be given. and just when other states and universities (read BITS Pilani) have realized it and started their own entrance exams, here comes the TN govt with another blinder. this is definitely a step backwards. I doubt if they even had a proper debate on this.

unless and until we are going to change the "textbook reproduction" type exams, please don't expect any spectacular results.

needless arrogance

2005-06-02T21:05:00.000-07:00

have you ever experienced really bad customer service? not like the ones in an odd restaurant where you might not be greeted warmly and served properly. atleast there they serve you. I'm talking about the stores on rodeo drive in beverly hills, los angeles. these guys think that they have come to earth directly from heaven. people like us are not even invited. once I went into a ralph lauren shop. I didn't have any intention of buying clothes there...but don't we go to other shops with the same mentality? ok coming back to the visit, we were 5 of us just looking around. then came this manager sort of lady...never greeted us...and pointing to us she yelled to her assistant "Can you go and talk to them, else they won't leave". we left the store immediately.

I don't understand this sort of behavior. in today's world anyone can become a millionaire within a few yrs. who knows, the people turned away by these idiots might also become super rich one day. do you think they will ever shop at these stores? why can't they treat people with respect? beats me totally.

I'm in love

2005-05-31T17:02:00.000-07:00

yesterday, a friend of mine gifted me an iPod Shuffle. I've seen and tried it before in an apple store, but nothing like owning one...obviously :) its hardly the size of a USB memory (and it can be used like that as well) and looks super cool. when I thought iPod was the best thing, then came the awesome iPod mini and then the Shuffle. just keeps comin huh :) but can't keep buying everything :)

I'm simply in love with this gadget, it rocks :)

my lone crush

2005-05-27T16:04:00.000-07:00

boy oh boy I was reminded of my college life crush yesterday by a friend. those were amazing yrs. I had a major crushe during my college life. it happened in the first week itself :) she used to live in the same neighborhood. but it took me a few months to find her home. and that I did by following her dad :) I still remember the confused look on his face when I asked for time, pointing to my watch and saying that it was mal-functioning :)

a few more guys had a crush on the same girl, and they used to ask me some insider info, as I happened to meet her mom once in a temple :) I somehow have a feeling that she too had a crush on me, or why else would she ask me for those electrochem notes when there were 50 more people in my class? and she was in a different class too. some guys would simply pep me up "ava un notes ah mattum kekkala, unnaye kettu irukka" ...a typical yethi vidura dialogue :)
and I even wrote some lines like "vaaymaye vellum" and "sri rama jayam" on the first page, just to impress her. dunno if she got the point :)

and like most of the crushes, mine too got crushed soon. now she is married to an old friend, who used to tease me with this same girl :)

ennada ambi....

2005-05-19T16:47:00.000-07:00

was watching some stills of the movie "Anniyan". looks like Vikram is an iyengar boy in that movie. and as expected he was wearing a 'panchagajam' and 'kurtha' with a 'kudumi' (pony tail for males). barring the priests, almost none sports a kudumi these days (even they combine it with sunglasses for a kool look) :) I dunno where the tamil movie industry got this idea about the brahmin community.

the most hilarious ones are --

"thoppanaar" instead of "appa" -- enakku therinjadhu ellam moopanar dhaan :) I haven't heard anyone adressing their father like this :) enga appava naan ippadi koopta oadi poiduvaru :)
all married women wear 'madisaar' and unmarried girls wear 'paavadai dhavani' on all days -- can someone tell me where this happens :) and almost all the time, they'd either be singing, or drawing some 'kolam' in the agrahaaram :)
address someone "ennada ambi" -- this too happens very rarely

and all these will happen in chennai, let alone a place like Sri Rangam :)

shiatsu massages :)

2005-05-18T16:49:00.000-07:00

these days I visit a local brookstone store atleast once a week :) yeah just visit, I don't buy anything from them. its their amazing massage chairs that attract me all the time :) these guys are so generous, that they have been putting these for demos since time immemorial :) Oh need I say how comfy I feel after a nice full-back massage, that lasts anywhere btw 20 - 45 mins :) they call it some shiatsu massage, didn't even care to look up what it is...its SO NICE :)

since I'm using it and would never buy it (the price is simply too much), I felt a little indebted to them, so thats why me publicizing here :) :)

hindi prachar sabha

2005-05-17T17:06:00.000-07:00

wondering if still people have the same enthu to learn hindi through this organization? back then, when I was in 8th std, lot of us flocked to these classes to learn hindi. and we found it very useful too. its always nice to learn a language like hindi, as it is spoken by many within our country. and thanks to some insane politics by parties like the DMK, many never got a chance to learn it. even these sabhas were vandalised every now and then.

learning hindi wasn't just for communication (that actually never happened, thanks to my grammar :) ), it infact helped us in learning about a totally different culture as well. I had some friends from Bhutan who picked up Hindi by watching all those mindless bollywood flicks :) their hindi was actually good, for colloquial purposes though. doesn't take you beyond an extent.

the dakshin bharat hindi prachar sabha is actually doing a very good job. their syllabus is also excellent, in terms of coverage. some might say that these sabhas are just supressing our tamil language, but in my opinion they are just racists!

the last laugh

2005-05-16T08:58:00.000-07:00

so today is the finale of the hit show "Everybody Loves Raymond". as rightly pointed out by everyone, even after 9 yrs, everybody still loves Raymond :) a nice family sitcom with clean humour, thats what ELR was. I'll miss him for sure :) but am sure there will be re-runs for the next 100 yrs :)

but I doubt if ELR can match Seinfeld, in terms of being a classic. Seinfeld was something. as my friend Manoj once mentioned - it has given so much to the pop culture, that none can ever match it.

IIM selection process

2005-05-11T16:39:00.000-07:00

does a manager need to be analytically super smart? is it an absolute necessity that he/she has to crunch numbers accurately and probably much faster than even a super-computer? this is what one will tend to beleive if he/she looks at the selection process of the IIMs. recently I learnt that a CAT score of 95 percentile won't take you even near the gates of these prestigious institutions. I think its ridiculous to filter out people just based on an analytical test. I'm not having any reservations against the ones that get more than 98 percentile in this test...I mean they are good. but who knows, there might be people who can't do well on this test but still become a really good manager. I think its unfair to screen them based on the performance on a single test.

there are people who can crack any test, lot of us cannot even compete with them. its like me against a professional assassin...maybe I can shoot accurately, but not like a pro, definitely no.

IIMs are not IITs, then why bother about technical and analytical skills. they should consider the whole application...instead of just screening blindly.

Wal-Mart in India

2005-05-06T09:08:00.000-07:00

looks like Wal-Mart might enter our market pretty soon. I'm not really that left, but still I feel that wal-mart would only be a bane for our economy. ours, as I keep repeating, is primarily a manufacturing-dependent economy. if this happens, we could see a huge influx of foreign goods in India. already it is prevalent, and this could entirely wipe out domestic consumer industries. not good at all for our country.

why wal-mart is good for the US? primarily because US has a service oriented economy. there is so much IP (intellectual property), that they can still survive without manufacturing even a small small toothbrush :) ours can never be like that. US economy is more like the famed IBM Corp. they are still a guerilla in the tech industry, but are slowly shedding away their manufacturing components and concentrating more on business consulting. they rely on their patents and IP. I don't think if any Indian company could do that.

hitting the saturation point

2005-05-02T15:27:00.000-07:00

well guys I have hit a saturation point and finding it difficult to come out of this :( my daily activities have become so routine that I find it no more interesting. nothing really bad or dangerous but just that I'm finding everything boring. the only thing that I still passionately follow is the NBA playoffs, which also will end in a few weeks.

does this happen with a lot of you guys as well. when we do the same thing every single day, at some point we hit a wall and things seem to just stand still. this happens at the gym too, when the same set of exercises stop producing those expected results. its easier over there, to change the workout sets, but much harder in life.

I think its time to pick up new things :)

the "BIG" stores

2005-04-28T09:27:00.000-07:00

yesterday I went to a nearest WalMart to buy a pair of gloves. this store was just opened for the public and it's a really huge one. its 2 acres inside and I easily got lost :) and I never managed to find what I needed, though the store claimed to have them. none of the customer service people were able to help me, as they themselves are figuring it out inside.

I'm beginning to wonder the real use of these huge stores if customers cannot find what they need. its cheap, ok, but definitely not worth the time searching for stuff and standing in those never ending queues at the counters.

the same applies to the big grocery stores as well. their fresh vegetables aren't that great either. I have resorted to organic stuff and farmers market, and I'm enjoying it :) somehow I find these small shops filled with more life :)

changing times

2005-04-24T22:12:00.000-07:00

its been a long time since I've written anything on a paper, like an essay or something like that. and these days most of the communication takes place through emails. and even the meeting minutes, I take my laptop and type in the stuff. finally, when I settled down last week to write something, it was then I realized how shaky my writing has become :) it was really pathetic...not that I had a great hand-writing, but its wasn't this bad atleast :)

this is just one of many things that has changed over the past decade. computers and internet in particular, have changed our lives to a very great extent. I dunno if it is for good, but I do realize that if I don't use it, I maybe left out :)

and the real season begins...

2005-04-23T12:09:00.000-07:00

the day I was eagerly awaiting so long, has finally arrived. the NBA playoffs begins today and I'm looking forward to an exciting post season. this is the real season, all those 82 games during the regular season were only teasers :) this is when teams play a totally different ball game.

this year there were many surprises, most prominent being the domination of the Phoenix Suns (thanks to Steve Nash). it was absolute fun watching them play the game up and down, complete magic. thats how I feel basketball should be played, instead of the versions played by the dull Spurs and Pistons. but this is playoffs, so teams play only defense. lets see is the Suns break that trend and emerge as champions, playing only offense :)

the Lakers demise was no shock for me, what else can you expect when you trade the most dominant player away. lets see if they rebound next season.

I want the Suns to win it all, and they have a fair shot at it too. but I somehow feel that its going to be the Spurs or the Pistons again.

baharatanatyam and men

2005-04-22T16:47:00.000-07:00

though dancing is common for both the genders, I think Bharatanatyam (and even a few other classical Indian dances) is more feminine (well its just my humble opinion, I may be wrong too :) ). I don't like watching men performing Bharatanatyam, even the established ones. and they make it even unbearable by having long hair, no moustache or beard, and a big thilak on their forehead. can't stand it man. whay can't it be normal, I mean why can't the guy perform with a frenchie. I'm sure it'd be good.

Reason for the shout out ---- watch Chandramukhi. Vineet would have a dance sequence in the final song. he has done a wonderful job, but still.....

But if you see Kamal in Salangai Oli, he never sported any long hair. Instead he even had a moustache and it wasn't that bad.

just and observation :)

Mumbai Express

2005-04-18T08:45:00.000-07:00

a clean comedy movie after a long time. thankfully this one was not like Thenali or Panchathanthiram. I never thought Kamal could do such a wonderful script job for a comedy movie. hats off to him.

If you think that Kamal would have dominated this movie, then you are wrong. Its Pasupathy, the guy who played the villian in Virumaandi. this guy is unbelievable.....his facial expressions are hilarious. he is not of the Senthil, Vivek type, this is something special :) I'm sure he will go a long way.

my friends and I kept recounting most of the scenes, especially the "avaru A, B hospital la irukaaru, naan C...pudhu C" and laughed the whole weekend :) this is an offbeat movie, so most of will find the climax sudden and even disappointing. don't go for any logic, you will enjoy the express :)

But still, I don't think there can ever be a funnier one than Michael Madana Kaama Rajan...and I'm sure even Kamal knows that :)

why Gandhi bashing.....

2005-04-14T22:40:00.000-07:00

its has become more or less a fashion for many people to take a dig at the Mahatma. "what has he done for the country", "he didn't get us independence", "it was because of him that Pakistan is creating all the trouble"..... and many more.

its very sad to see how ignorant people are. well to tell the truth, I was like that while in high-school and early college years. what people don't realise is that Gandhiji created a movement. A movement that had no shape or structure, but a movement that resided in people's hearts. non-violence and non-coopertaion, these are not easy to follow. Gandhiji practised before preaching them, and that made him a Mahatma. it was quite a big movement, led by a man with a singular vision.

had we (that includes pakistan as well) only listened to him properly, we wouldn't be suffering today.

Kanden Chandramukhi ai :)

2005-04-13T23:58:00.000-07:00

hey people, just came back from the theater. My verdict ---- Superrrrrr!!! All thumbs up, including yours :)

Good movie but don't expect any usual Rajini punch dialogues and styles. expect him to be the Rajini of Guru Sishyan :) absolut fun when he is on screen. Super Star and Vadivelu rock.
a good family entertainer, SURE HIT. padam kandippa 175 days :)

songs are beautifully picturized, every single one of 'em. kathi kathi thondai kizhinchiduthu :)
and oh yeah, Nayan Tara looked great.

thanks for all the comments to my earlier post :)

and the day has arrived.....finally

2005-04-13T15:39:00.000-07:00

after a long time, I'm gonna watch a Rajini movie in a theater today evening. Yup, Chandramukhi is released here a day earlier and I'm excited to be one of the privileged few to watch it the first day, first show :)

initially it was scheduled only for the 22nd, but looks like the distributors here managed to get the film rolls from somewhere :) i don't care as long as they have it :)

mark my words, this movie is gonna be the hit of the century, seriously. never underestimate the power of our super-star :)

12 Angry Men

2005-04-13T00:05:00.000-07:00

this 1957 classic is a mind blowing movie. Its about the delibrations of a jury, comprised of 12 men, on a murder trial. the whole movie takes place in a small room and it involves just the jurors, thats all. a very simple and yet a powerful movie.

its starts off with a 11-1 vote in favor of a conviction, with Henry Fonda being the lone questioner. and slowly he sows the seeds of doubts into his fellow jurors minds.
the emotional outbursts of the jurors, the un-avoidable personal feelings on the case, and their egos are so naturally portrayed in this movie. really a treat to watch such a smooth movie. it also has some catchy one liners.

economy......here and there

2005-04-04T20:38:00.000-07:00

other day I was at a friend's place. I've been to his place before and this time I noticed a new TV sitting in the living room. thought he moved the old one to his bedroom, well actually he trashed it.... and it was only a yr old :) apparently something went wrong and to just examine it, the cost was about $125, while the original cost of the TV is itself $200.

not only TV, any consumer product in the US is basically use and throw. the economy here strongly encourages spending. In a way its good for the general economy of the country, as stagnation can be prevented. But looking at the middle class here, a significantly large chunk lives paycheck to paycheck, some without even medical insurance. and they are forced to spend too, on a variety of stuff.

in India, the situation is totally reverse. we still have that TV we bought more than 10 yrs back :) people can keep saving for unforseen expenses, but generally we tend to burden ourselves with minimal stuff. people don't embrace new technologies quickly.......it may hamper growth.

both have positives and negatives, but the more I think about this, the more confused I am :)

birthday treats :)

2005-03-29T18:16:00.000-08:00

was at a birthday lunch today, and remembered those good old days while at college. back then, it was a custom for the birthday boy/girl to host the party or treat their friends in a restaurant. and when the friend circle is huge, like mine, the pressure is enormous. I used to live in a monthly budget of Rs. 400 (thats all my dad gave me) and out of that Rs. 330 went for the petrol. and the remaining is what I had for the whole month to eat out, watch movies etc. :)

to raise capital, I used to do the classic Indian thing, fall at the feet of relatives to seek blessings on my birthday........ and as expected they would dole out a Rs. 50 note. Ippadiye kaaalatha oattinen, even during my final yr :)

here its totally different, the birthday boy/girl is treated. while its a relief to avoid that huge bill, I still like the former :)

Ramayanam

2005-03-27T21:06:00.000-08:00

for many of us Rama is God, and for others he is just a mythical figure. the former is as hard to prove as to disprove the latter. well I don't need any proofs, its just a beleif and I like it that way.
Valmiki Ramyanam doesn't glorify Rama as a God. Instead it just presents a plain and straight portrayal of Rama as an ordinary king. its more like a contemporary account on Rama. thats the beauty of it.
Kamba Ramayanam, an epic in tamil written by the great poet Kambar, does glorify the divinity of Lord Rama. one can actually find a good deal of difference between the Valmiki and Kambar version of the same story.

Both these epics offers us a lot. you don't need to even believe the actual story, just read to enjoy it, and ofcourse learn too :) particularly Kamba Ramayanam, its something guys. tamil at its best, thats all I can say about it.
fortunately, dhool.com is having a series on the same and they are posting verses with meanings too. read and enjoy :)

a clever deal

2005-03-25T09:31:00.000-08:00

and so finally the Bush administration has decided to sell its famed F-16 fighter jets to India, and Pakistan as well. and the claim is that there won't be any change in the balance of power. well yeah, what else when you decide to sell them to foes rather than to friends. Its been a while since Pakistan had forgotten what its GDP is and the meaning of 'development' as well. they are gonna buy these F-16's like crazy. expect Musharaff to sell even his military uniform to Al Qaeda or Taliban to pitch in money for this buy :)

unfortunately India has to match as well. Nice deal for the US.

Idha thaan solluvaanga "Ooru Rendu patta Koothadikku Sandosham" innu.

its about time

2005-03-23T22:54:00.000-08:00

I was really glad to see that JetBlue is gonna offer services out of the Burbank airport. JetBlue is a low cost airline, and Burbank airport is very close from my place. technically LA airport isn't that far, but with the ever increasing LA traffic, its atleast a 3 hr drive from my place.

news is that JetBlue would be offering a $99 one way trip to NY from Burbank. thats really cheap, compared to what American and Delta charges. its high time these major airlines take a leaf out of the business model of low-cost airlines like southwest and jetblue. even after slashing prices a bit, these major airlines are still struggling. some of them are on the verge of bankruptcy. instead of selecting a good route and cutting on the unnecessary management, these airlines simply took out the meal service, put forth a useless customer service (sometimes irritating too). and reduced the prices only a bit, just to claim that they are competitive. well, time to rethink guys.

In India, Air Deccan is doing the good work :)

no more statements..........

2005-03-21T17:54:00.000-08:00

I don't know under what moment I wrote this, but after that post, its been raining like crazy over here. Over the past two months we had enough rain and is soon going to shatter a century old record. we even surpassed seattle this season!

I have decided not to make any statements on mother nature in the future :)

What a Disgrace

2005-03-18T09:39:00.000-08:00

Narendra Modi has been denied a diplomatic visa to enter the US. This is a disgrace to the whole nation and the BJP is single-handedly responsible for this. whether US is right or wrong, I don't care. All I can care for is the people of Gujarat... who still live in a state of fear. trust me guys, communal riots is the worst thing that can happen. We had some major bomb blasts in coimbatore, my hometown, in 1998, and I witnessed all hell break loose.

why do these people keep figting all the time? violence can never be a long-term solution. it only spreads to the future generations. Aren't we the proud children of the great Mahatma? I know its difficult to live like him, but we can atleast stop fighting, if not love each other.

and a big disaster is waiting to happen in the Israel - Palestine region. My friend says that according to bible, the world will come to an end when God's people (Jews) leave the holy land (Israel). And I replied, "You don't need bible for that, common sense is enough".

we keep hitting back in revenge, nobody has a count of these attacks. we don't know who started it first, all I say is please stop now, the world will atleast remember the ones who stopped it.

global warming

2005-03-16T00:20:00.000-08:00

Its actually quite scary to read all these reports on global warming. Here is one about the Himalayan glaciers. Most of the world's glaciers are melting more rapidly than ever and they pose a severe environmental problem in the near future. While its heartening to know that the Kyoto pact has come into effect, we are still not sure about its future as the world's major polluter, the US, has not joined it. while we all talk about the Iraq aggression, this just flew under the radar. In my opinion this is a bigger issue.

Also there was interesting an article on Wired as to how the market on the greenhouse gases can turn into a multi billion dollar industry within the next decade. well it sounds optimistic, but when some nations aren't participating and some others are allowed more relative Kyoto credit allocation, how long will it take for these polluting companies to disobey the treaty? Only time will answer.

On the lighter side, during the california governor recall election in 2003, an ex porn star ran for the governor's post as well (that was a unique election in which every tom, dick, and harry for the post :) ). Her solution to global warming "Dress Less" :) But Hollywood's captain, Arnold Schwarzenegger said "asta la vista, baby" and became california's governor :)

a good trend

2005-03-14T17:49:00.000-08:00

as we all know, the Hindu marriage comprises of various rituals over a day or a 5 day period, depending on how religious the families are. I've been to a lot of weddings and I guess its the same with most of you as well. but how much do we know about the process itself? not everything but atleast the major ones like Saptapadhi, or Kaasi Yaatra, or Vratham etc.

gone are the days where everyone used to perform some ritual or the other and hence can understand the process in general. these days most of us need a manual or a website to understand anything :)

and I'm really glad to see that a few people have taken note of this and started issuing a small writeup on some of the important procedures, during their wedding. Infact one of our bloggers, Ranga aka The Last Blogger, had it on his invitation itself with some nice illustrations. I saw a similar one, with a detailed explanation, last month. It was very nice!

try this

2005-03-11T18:03:00.000-08:00

you might have known about this, if not give it a try. Its basically 20 questions and freaks you out with its precision.

blogger is getting slower and slower, and for the past 2 days I'm unable to post or view any comments :( I hope this doesn't turn out like orkut.

and its friday again :)

a classic and a classic in making :)

2005-03-09T16:55:00.000-08:00

I don't know what's wrong with Chandramukhi songs. I liked all of them at the first run itself :)
I had very high expectations too, but I also visualized Rajini in his usual attire and style while listening to the songs....that made a huge difference :)

speaking of Rajini, I watched Aarilirundhu Arubathu Varai last saturday. I wanted to watch a really sad and depressing movie (just for a change) and opted for this one. I've watched AAV a few yrs back, but still wanted to go for it........no disappointment, it kept me occupied for a good 3 hrs.

there are only a handful of movies in which all the actors would have done a splendid job. this is one among them. particulary Rajini, its one of his best and I doubt if anyone else could have given a similar performance (not even Kamal). be it the anger when he finds that his siblings aren't recognizing his hard work, or the frustration when he isn't able to muster all the resources to meet his ends, or the joy and relief when his brother informs him about his placement, or the emotional breakdown when he realizes that nothing is really working for him ---- this is one hell of a performance form our superstar. he has taken acting to new highs in this movie, and thats an understatement!

also the movie has 2 deep messages --
a. carry on with one's responsibilities without bowing down to any kind of pressure, and
b. treat both imposters, success and failure just the same

it takes a long time to acquire these qualities, so till then watch aarilirundhu arubathu varai :)

a scam called insurance

2005-03-08T16:43:00.000-08:00

this whole auto insurance thing looks like a scam to me. I don't know on what basis they change our premium amount. we pay upfront so that we can get coverage when something happens. then why does the insurance company increase the premium amount after an accident? because we claimed? but we have already paid. and now we also pay for the costs incurred by the insurance company.
If the claim is immediatley after a new policy, then charging some amount is definitely justified. but the curve isn't that linear, its rather a constant one (which again is linear, but in a totally different way) :) No matter what, you get charged. and keep paying for the next 5 years, as their database remembers you for a long time :) and not only that, it even informs its cousins (read rival insurance companies) about your conduct :)
and they rely on some exotic surveys to come up with the numbers. here is an example: farmers insurance offers a 15% discount if you have a masters degree :) I really want to know how these surveys are carried out.

all this happened to some friends of mine. they had no other way out but pay more.

aha aha aha..... aha aha aha

2005-03-04T15:56:00.000-08:00

its friday and on top of it I'd be eating in Saravana Bhavan in a few hrs from now :)
authentic south-indian food is something that is very rare to get in the US. there are some amazing punjabi and gujarathi restaurants, but I'm really surprised when it comes to south-indian food. all these udupi palaces, woodlands, and annapurnas are good for nothing. they don't even have the proper sambhar. any day I can cook better than these guys.

thankfully there is Saravana Bhavan (yes it is a branch of the real Madras Saravana Bhavan) in the bay area. everytime I go to the bay area, I never miss the Saravana Bhavan experience :) I hope they open one in the LA area soon :)

this only reminds me of the famous S.V.Ranga Rao song "Kalyana Samayal Saadam...........aha aha aha" :)

I'm jealous

2005-03-03T16:10:00.000-08:00

I was at toysRus the other day to buy a tri-cycle for my 1.5 yr old nephew. Oh my God, there were zillions of models that my head started spinning immediately :) I never thought buying a simple toy would be this tough. I still haven't made up my mind, would be going again :)

not just tri-cycles, any toy has a rack full of models to choose from. and in most cases, it was the first time I even knew such toys exist :) today's kids are really fortunate......wish I was born now :)

still I play with all the toys my nephew has, whenever I visit him. for some reason he is always possessive about his toys :)

electronic anklets

2005-03-02T17:40:00.000-08:00

I was shocked to hear about this pilot project of the dept. of homeland security, on the national public radio today morning. this project mandates some immigrants who have applied for permanent residency to wear electronic anklets, apparentlyt to track them. today's morning documentary featured a middle aged man who is working as an asst. manager in a big restaurant (I forgot his name and city). he owns a house, pays all his dues and taxes promptly. due to some mix-up in his permanent residency application, he found himself as one of the 1700 individuals selected for the initial trials, and is now forced to wear this anklet. and on top of it, he *has* to be in his home from 6 pm till 6 am every single day, for monitoring purposes. No Exceptions at all. and he should also appear in a local security office, called behavioural monitoring office, periodically. all this inspite of him being a legal immigrant!

I understand that monitoring immigrants is a need today, especially after 9/11. but to make someone wear an electronic anklet is a bit far-fetched. I hope the dept. of homeland security reconsiders its plan and come up with better and lesser invasive techniques.

tidbits

2005-03-01T16:49:00.000-08:00

i'm actually finding dinamalar to be less biased. I love most of their articles, especially "tea kada bench" - an everyday analysis of politics in tamilnadu. its hilarious too, afterall its our politicians who are under the cross-fire :)

they also have a great weekly magazine - varamalar. in the latest issue, the section 'Anthumani Pa.Ke.Pa' has a good description of our nation's budget process. it was a pretty interesting read.

and ofcourse I can't wait to read varamalar's weekly cinema updates - 'thunukku moottai' :) its probably the one-stop place for all tamil cinema gossips :) of late they have been successful in covering some portions of telugu movie industry as well :)

another not-so-good place for tamil cinema is www.tamilcinema.com . I said not-so-good because this is what they had to say about Ajith for his performance as a college student (yeah, way to go man) in Ji -- "Azhage, un peyar Ajith ah" - koduma da saami :)

lessons from politicians

2005-02-28T17:09:00.000-08:00

so gear up for another session of horse trade in Bihar. the election results look promising for all the traders and tradees as well :) this situation could be worse than giving Lalu a majority. but what totally beats me is the way these politicians 'bury' their differences and join hands. I know money is the big, and probably the only, player here :) but how is it possible to completely ignore all the personal attacks and even the lawsuits. maybe we are too human to understand these things I guess, after all they could be highly idealistic(?) and hence forgive each other :)

in the case of tamilnadu, PMK's ramadoss is clearly the front runner in changing alliances. at this stage he may not even remember whom he is with :) any day he can beat a Lalu or Jayalalithaa hands down :) I'm really impressed with his record..........
from being a wood-cutting activist to a politician who runs a green revolution organization,
from being an unknown doctor to the father of the Nation's health minister,
from being a literally non-existent individual to the one who controls the naming of tamil movies

he has indeed travelled a long distance in a very short period of time :)

actually I'm counting on him........if I were to enter politics ever :)

looks like I can also learn from politicians, let alone movies :)

another good movie....

2005-02-25T16:25:00.000-08:00

this is one movie that makes me laugh even when I think about it. and the winner is (sorry Oscar fever is getting on to me :) ) - Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron.
If you haven't watched, go to the nearest store immediately, rent or even buy a copy, and watch it. The movie has a small sequence on Mahabaratha at the end and its undoubtedly the most funniest of all :) the way characters come in during that sequence, taking the designated Pandavas and Kauravas by surprise, is hilarious......especially the turnaround of dushasana :)

humour apart, the cast has also done a terrific job. no wonder it made careers for Nasiruddin Shah, Om Puri, and Satish Shah.

perfectness

2005-02-24T17:06:00.000-08:00

so finally became a member of Netflix. I get 3 movies out at a time and I'm really enjoying it.

was watching Good Will Hunting yesterday. what a wonderful movie. I liked the interactions between Robin Williams and Matt Damon. In one scene Robin Williams tells Damon, "Nobody is perfect and can never be. All that matters is if you are perfect to each other (from a relationship standpoint)". that was a good one.

and I have started watching a movie everyday to glory :) a good friend of mine, Manoj, once remarked that he is following the American way, learn anything and everything from movies. Looks like I'm well on track with him :)

p.s: thats why I watch our dear captain movies..... to know how Veerappan was captured, if Osama would be captured, and finally how kargil was won :-)

air wars

2005-02-23T15:48:00.000-08:00

over the last few weeks, we saw Airbus and Boeing unveiling their new planes respectively. while the former unveiled the biggest ever, the latter tried to catch up by unveiling the longest non-stop flying machine ever, both for commercial purposes. both are technical marvels. I happened to watch a documentary on the making of A380, the superjumbo by Airbus. it was mind-blowing. the assembling factories are so huge that it took more than 2 yrs to just build them.

now coming to the main point, how comfortable are these aircrafts gonna be for a passenger. Its already taking more than 1 hr to just board the existing jumbojet - 747. I hoping that the airlines and airports would devise a clever way to board the 800 plus people on the A380, without too much delay. same goes with security and baggage claim as well.

ah, now comes Boeing's 777. while it sounds cool to read that it can fly 11,000 miles non-stop in 18 hrs, in reality, its a pain in the neck to travel that kind of distance in one stretch. The longest I have flown non-stop is about 15 hrs, from Los Angeles to Taipei. and everytime I do this, at the end I feel like killing someone :) its not worth it at all.

lets see how these two come up in the next few yrs :)

and the trade wars between Boeing and Airbus is even more interesting :)

pro-choice or pro-life???

2005-02-22T17:11:00.000-08:00

I feel this question should not even be asked in the first place. who are we to decide if abortion should be banned?
yes, it is really bad to kill an unborn baby. personally, I wouldn't do it. at the same time, I wouldn't want to preach that to a young girl either. I still feel its the responsibility and personal choice of an individual. and what if a girl gets pregnant because she was raped. with the super slow court system, it would take yrs before everyone gets convinced that she was indeed raped, and in the meantime her child would have attained the age to date someone. its really impossible to distinguish cases and make abortion part-legal and part-illegal. GIVE the choice to the concerned people, they are better judges of their own life.
this has become a very sensitive issue.... to the extent of even deciding the next president of US!

and read this for pope's views on abortion.....

a tale of two movies

2005-02-21T13:06:00.000-08:00

After taking a dig at tamil movies last week, I felt a little bad :) though 99% of tamil movies fall under the serious comedy genre (e.g: captain/vijay/ajith movies), there are some adorable ones too. One such movie is Anbe Sivam.

Anbe Sivam - thats what the movie conveys in the end (meaning Love is God). how true. the transformation of a self-centered person to a more caring individual is delightfully presented in this movie. It just takes us on the same path as well. on the way, it depicts the economic disparities in the society, and reminds our responsibilities, in a very realistic manner.
the most touching part was the ending and it really made me cry.

last weekend I watched Swades (atlast). A good movie, and more or less conveys the same message as Anbe Sivam. A non-resident Indian returns to India for good, after seeing the plights of his own countrymen in the remote villages of India. good message..... but to me, it wasn't conveyed in a moving way at all. it was all melodramatic instead. it never really had the conviction.

when I think of Anbe Sivam, I can only remember the characters, not the cast. and when I think of Swades, Gayathri Joshi comes to my mind first :-)

and if you still haven't guessed, Anbe Sivam was a big flop at the box-office while Swades turned out to be a big grosser.

sneeze and learn :)

2005-02-18T17:21:00.000-08:00

its a common practice to say "Bless You" when someone sneezes. Since I live in a cubicle zoo, whenever I sneeze, I get a lot of 'Bless You' wishes. strangely, I got none when I sneezed today. I looked around only to find just one guy sitting across. shamelessly I aksed him to bless me :) little did I know that I would soon be blessed with the history behind wishing "bless you".

Whatever I learnt, you can also find it here -

http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mgesundheit.html
http://biowww.clemson.edu/biolab/sneeze.html
http://www.snopes.com/language/phrases/blessyou.htm
http://www.oldwivestales.net/QandAarticle1112.html

and here is the biggest of all...... my colleague didn't bless me because, yeah try this, he considered it as a pagan belief :)