Please understand me

If I do not want what you want, please try not to tell me that my want is wrong.

Or if I believe other than you, at least pause before you correct my view.

Or if my emotion is less than yours, or more, given the same circumstances, try not to ask me to feel more strongly or weakly.

Or yet if I act, or fail to act, in the manner of your design for action, let me be.

I do not, for the moment at least, ask you to understand me. That will come only when you are willing to give up changing me into a copy of you.

I may be your spouse, your parent, your offsping, your friend, or your colleague. If you will allow me any of my own wants, or emotions, or beliefs, or actions, then you open yourself, so that some day these ways of mine might not seem so wrong, and might finally appear to you as right -- for me. To put up with me is the first step to understanding me.

Not that you embrace my ways as right for you, but that you are no longer irritated or disappointed with me for my seeming waywardness. And in understanding me you might come to prize my differences from you, and, far from seeking to change me, preserve and even nurture those differences.

Source: http://keirsey.com/ (Excerpts from Please understand me II)

Artificial Life

A Frankenstein figure lifted me off my feet, half-a-metre from the ground and looked into my eyes savagely and said, You! Dumb Ass. Can't you even play the basic level in a car game and you call yourself intelligent. I woke up with a sweat. Wondered if I have been watching too many Hollywood movies, aliens, predators, terminators. Well! Not exactly. I had the opportunity of attending lectures by two giants in the realm of Artificial Life.

Dr.David Goldberg of University of Illinois is considered the Michael Corleone of Genetic Algorithms. (He is so eminent that I have heard of him despite not working on anything even remotely GA). Genetic algorithms are a particular class of evolutionary algorithms that use techniques inspired by evolutionary biology such as inheritance, mutation, natural selection, and crossover.

David and his team have come up with the next generation of Genetic algorithms (basically because he has been able to increase the speed of computation about 173 times). Though I must admit that some of his lecture went right over my head, it wasn't all too bad. I especially liked his use of 'supermultiplicity'. Well! Now that is SUPERINTELLIGENT.

The second speaker, Dr. Mark Bedau of ProtoLife was no less brilliant. His area of research is the creating of Artificial cells in a lab. Wet life, he said, as against soft life which is where GA's come into play and hard life where Robots come into the picture. It goes beyond mere cloning or gene-manipulation. The whole cell is designed and manufactured in a lab with available chemicals and possibly with some MEMS (which is Micro Electro-Mechanical Systems). Science Fiction. Nope! Research of the future.

On the whole, an eye-opener. To the infinte possibilities of life. Natural or artificial.

Goblet of fire - after the movie

Harry Potter and The goblet of fire rocks. It fared much better than what loyal Harry Potter fans are bound to dread in a big-screen adaptation of what many claim their favourite of the Harry Potters.

The movie did have its disappointing moments. Many disappointing moments.

The first task with the dragons was a major letdown. It was disheartening to see Harry hardly worried about his imminent death in the tasks. It was as if he knew that he was the hero of the story and nothing could happen to him. Where is the shock at being called the fourth champion, where is the fear when Hagrid shows him the dreaded dragons and where is the desperation to find something, just anything to make him survive the nightmare.

Why doesn't Steve Kloves understand that "Cheap thrills maketh no movie good". Harry Potter is not a wizard 'Spy kid' with cool spells instead of cool gadgets (even the 'magic' part of it was not emphasised enough).

Another major grievance; why is it that nobody no longer gasps when Harry enunciates Lord Voldemort's name (Remember even Luciuc Malfoy is scared to utter or even hear his name). Why is there no fear, no terror? And when Dumbledore declares that the cause of Cedric's death was murder, everybody just turns around and say, Yeah Right! Whatever! No Aahs! No tears!

Hermione is right! We don't care about other magical creatures. S.P.E.W. and House-Elves Liberation Front are necessary. What happened to Dobby and Winky? Dispensable, are they? Agreed you have severe time constraints. Still, what happens to Mr. Crouch (Sr.) who is shown unconscious in the forest and then nothing happens. Harry doesn't even mention it to Dumbledore (which is why he comes to his office in the first place). Could have dispensed with it as well.

Criticisms apart, I think the comic moments in the movie were tickling-had the hall laughing loud. The Yule ball was grand, the Quidditch World Cup fleetingly brilliant and Harry's flirting attempts with Cho Chang, amusing. And the confrontation with the Dark Lord was intensely, darkly vivid. Perhaps the best part of the movie.

I am eternally indebted to Ms. T who is the friend of Ms. K, who is the friend of Mr.A, who is my friend, for standing in an interminable queue for an hour to get the tickets. (And for the company - always feels good to watch a HP movie with people who have read the books and enjoy them as much as you do)

Subtlety, that was what the film lacks. And magic.

Goblet of Fire - Tonight

I am finally watching the much awaited Harry Potter movie tonite. Just so nobody questions my integrity, the latest HP saga releases in Australia only today. My more fortunate friends in India have watched the movie a week before. One whole week before. Grfffff.

Well! I should admit I am no big fan of the Potter movies. At least not as much as of the books. The first of the lot, Philosopher's Stone wasn't too bad and the kids looked and behaved their age. Now though, Harry and his friends (especially Ron) look the way I imagined they would in 'The Half Blood Prince'.

And muggles that we are, the portrayal of the wizarding families in the three movies was, lets just say unappealing. The movies depict the wizards and witches as some kind of freaks - anomalies to look at and laugh, while the book presented them with a that's-the-way-they-are spirit, perhaps even with awe. Look at Mr. and Mrs. Weasley and you would know what I am talking about.

Anyway, with the next book a long long way away, and given that 'The Goblet of fire' was perhaps my favourite of the six HPs and given that the reviews have been good, I am off to Harry Potter today. Let the feast begin.

Return from vacations

I haven’t much to write. My mind refuses to think. To relive those carefree moments. Days were they? Then why did they vanish so fast. A batting of an eyelid. That’s all it took. Those happy days, spent in merriment.

My vacation in India was everything I could ask for – I got to spend a lot of time with my family, indoors, watching, as the rain gods worked overtime, 'The Hindu' with steaming filter kaapi, the pigeons and crows of Vadapalani, friends, cousins, uncles, aunts, shopping in Pondy Bazaar and Panagal park (more like fighting for survival – and as I kept telling my sister, it was as if the entire population of Canberra which stands at around 3 lakhs was inside the new Saravana stores), one-day cricket where India wiped the floors with the Lankans (the comeback of Sachin the king), the festive atmosphere of Rama’s return celebrated as Deepavali (and I would like to think I lent to the festivity by returning from my vanavaasam), fireworks, smog, and Sun TV, dosages of Surya, Vikram, Asin and Vijay every half-an-hour – oh! Yes! It was one long party out there guys.

Been back for a long time, three weeks and just now managed to update my blog. Shall start blogging hard soon. Summer is here and good things are about to happen.

Adventures continued

Story so far: On my way to Chennai, I stop over in Kuala Lumpur and do all the touristy things; KL tower, Petronas, Bukit Bintang, Imbi Plaza and Masjid India. Read on… the adventure has just begun

Landed to 35 degrees in Chennai (and it was 8:30 PM). You see, I had not informed my folks I was arriving on the 6th. I had created a full-length drama to impress that I was arriving on the 8th. In fact even the phone call from KL was to prevent the disaster of my parents calling up my office and one of my fellow grad students blabbering that I had already left. Told scores of half-truths (I do not lie), claiming for instance that I will be roaming around all day and may not be at my desk to pick up their call, which was true, only that I was roaming in Kuala Lumpur and not in Canberra.

Already, to cushion the blow of my early arrival, I had forewarned them that a friend of mine was landing with some of my stuff (I had excess baggage) and though they didn’t have to go to the airport (stressed strongly), could they stay home and be ready to get it off her (she would drop it off and take a Volvo bus to Bangalore and she was taking the bus to B’lore because she didn’t get a flight that late in the night and she was flying to Chennai instead of B’lore direct because Malaysian Airlines to B’lore was costlier and unavailable, blah blah). There was also an ulterior motive. I wanted them home. Didn’t want to arrive to a locked house, you see. But mainly, I didn't want to give anyone a heart-attack.

Chennai Airport was just the same (was of the notion that it was now revamped to be of international standards. Hell! NO). Got down singing “Mera Desh ki dardi” to be greeted by a strong, pungent odour of phenyl. We like our airports to look and smell clean. Yeh! Took a prepaid Taxi and reached home to a dumbfounded family – my sister was halfway into her dinner and she was so stunned she forgot to eat; my mum n dad took it well (was afraid they were going to go ballistic). Only grievance they griped about (for the next 3 days) was that they had plans to welcome me in the airport (and that I took a prepaid taxi when my dad bought the car for the sole purpose of receiving me at the airport). Consoled them by offering to go to the airport on the 8th so that they could drive in their new car to re-receive me.

I am not the one to be satisfied by just ambushing my parents, am I? Certainly not! Next morning, just when I was hatching a plan to bamboozle (Wow! Feels so good to use the word bamboozle) my paati*, she arrived home and got mildly surprised (the problem with grandmas is that they are so senile they even forget to be surprised). Now that grandma was ruled out and given that my grandma has franchise to AP, Reuters, BBC, CNN, etc etc. I was forced to settle for less ‘bolts from the blue’. Poor Athai*, she became my bakra.

Our phone, dead when I arrived from Australia, became the phoenix and returned to life (a fact that wasn’t known to our relatives, esp Athai). I called my Athai and took my high-pitched ISD voice and informed her (read yelled) that I would arrive as planned on the 8th but my flight was arriving an hour early. Implored her to immediately inform my parents (by ringing their mobile) and tell them that I have been trying to get in touch with them. Overenthused, my Athai rang my dad in his office to break the good news. My dad, being my dad, played along and told her he was delighted to know that and begged her to call my mom as well.

My mom, who was visiting a friend, also received a call right away with the flight information. Though a bit confused as to why Athai was calling her to update on my itinerary when I was sitting home watching TV, my mom had the presence of mind to thank her and not let the cat out of the bag. And I would have got away with it but for a chance phone call from my periamma* which I had to pick (no one else at home). My periamma who is head of all AP, Reuters franchisees immediately called Athai to announce my arrival adding to much confusion and later confession.

Thus began my holiday in Chennai. Well! I admit there were no whales-mistaken-for-islands or pythons that guard treasures in my adventure… but it was an adventure nevertheless. And it isn't quite over. Yet.

* paati - grandma

athai-aunt
periamma- literally, big mother. wife of big-father / elder sister of mother

Adventures

My expedition to Chennai was nothing short of an adventure á la Sindbad. Sydney airport was hospitable and my excess baggage was condoned, all thanks to my ‘milk dripping’ face. The flight, well! any emptier and it would be classified private jet. Had a splendid window seat by the wings, luxuriously for myself. Stretched my legs, watched a movie (whose name or plot I can’t recall), had a decent piece of dinner and snored away to Kuala Lumpur. KL airport was empty, clean and brilliantly confusing. The signs were anything but clear and it took me three rounds and six people to find the transfer lounge which ended being of no use whatsoever as I had to find immigration for my transit visa. Transit visa wasn’t a problem and I found myself taking the KLIA Ekspress to Sentral instead of a Teksi (Taxi). Malaysians, as you may have already guessed have a humour bone too many as evident from their unique way of spelling English words. The city was just waking up when I reached Sentral and I took a monorail to Bukit Bintang, as instructed by my Malay friend back in Canberra.

Bukit Bintang was the shopping district where I was to burn a lot of my hard-earned money but early as it was and lazy as they were it wasn’t to be open until 10 in the morning (it wasn’t even 8 at that time). Of course I forgot to mention a friend I made on the KLIA Ekspress, a Sydney guy who was also in transit on his way to Dhaka. The two of us decided to walk to Petronas or Menara Kuala Lumpur but he was such a sluggish character that he made me look positively SuperMan like. A few hundred pit stops later we reached Menara KL, more simply KL tower. Even that wasn’t open until 9 but we decided to while time nearby. The sun was up by now and it was soooo humid I was dripping (not milk… jus sweat). I stripped to my shorts and T-shirt relinquishing my jacket and trousers (C’berra has got me accustomed to a sweat-free living).

As soon as they opened, we were in, climbing the tower at the rate of about 50 metres a second to the observation deck and the view was simply breathtaking. A 360 degree view of the city with an audio tour chipped in to explain what is what. It was totally worth it. Due to the compulsion of UnsuperMan, we took a Teksi back to BB where we had our breakfast (and I called home). I did not find BB very shoppable considering my grad student scholarship. I did buy ‘Friends’ DVDs – season 1 and season 5 (and I believe I got a good deal).

I was looking for some Tamil DVDs (I was taking home a DVD player and not buying DVDs for them is like giving a bow without any arrows) and was directed to go to Masjid India. I should point out here that the traffic in KL was a let down for me. After Singapore and Australia, I was hoping for something more in that line and was disappointed to see traffic violations everywhere (foremost of which is sccoters on the pedestrian walkway). I had an almost impossible time crossing the road (even in a Pedestrian crossing). No ‘Why did the chicken cross the road’ jokes people, but I think if anything I guess to become Chicken Tikka Masala.

I took a bus to go to Masjid India and I requested the conductor to kindly inform me when my stop arrived. I must have been very tired for I dozed off and some time later, I found myself getting down in a place far far away from Masjid India. The conductor apparently forgot all about me. (What is it with me! Am I invisible or something?) I had to take a Teksi to get to Masjid India, something which I could have done in the first place and saved half an hour. Anywayz, Masjid India was everything you would expect of it. There were a lot of stalls, a lot of hawkers selling their wares and a lot of people buying it and a lot of noise. I roamed around and found some good DVDs (surprisingly, DVDs aren’t as popular in KL yet… I really had to look far and wide to find any). Needless to add, I abandoned my Sydney friend in a plaza in Bukit Bintang (intended to catch up with him as soon as I bought my DVDs). (If he is reading this, I swear I did not desert you with vile intent… it just happened)

I was directed to Imby Plaza for all my computer needs and I had quite a need given the ‘impression’ that Malaysia is the place for inexpensive computer accessories. In the end all I bought was a USB drive. I did not find anything dirt cheap (and I was running low on cash).

It was almost time to leave and I still hadn’t seen the Petronas tower up close. I made up my mind to walk to the Petronas (“Walk! You must be crazy”, told the Malay locals, “Take the Teksi la. Nobody in KL walks la!”), to click a few good snaps of it (consummate my KL sojourn) and then head back to the airport. But as luck would have it I got to go up to the skybridge (the lady at the service desk assured me that it would take less than half-an-hour) and I was back on the road (actually rail) to KLIA. Boarded the plane (again, any emptier and it would be a private jet) without any hassles about my newly heavier cabin baggage (milk-dripping face to the rescue again??). And then I landed in Chennai… but more of it later.

P.S. Sorry for the late blogpost... too unbusy in Chennai

In Chennai

Am in Chennai, gud old Chennai after almost 2 years (that felt positively like a few lifetimes). Soooo totally surprised my family(more on this later). Chennai looks the same to me. Nothings changed much. Ofcourse haven't been roaming around; been pretty much at home all day. Been getting a steady stream of visitors. Navarathri is grand as usual but seriously not my cup of tea. I'll be going out with frenz n stuff soon and that should be fun.

And surprisingly I actually miss Canberra.

The Rahman Concert

Waking up in the morning before the sun is one of the deadliest sins that a graduate student should avoid like the plague. But exceptions are allowed. Say, for instance, when there is an A.R. Rahman concert in Sydney that you are driving to. Woke up half-an-hour before the alarm went off and tried willing it to ring (Why is it that alarm clocks ring late only when you are looking forward to it). The drive offered us an opportunity for 'Rahman talk', speculating on the songs that Rahman would perform. I was betting on Anbe Aaruyire, Fanaa and Yeh Jo Des Hai Tera and my friends were for Maa Tuje Salaam, Vellai Pookal and Dil se re. We also wagered for/against Girlfriend, Uyire.

The venue was the Superdome in the Olympic Park and the show started with a lackadaisical compere and his banalities. Sigh! Stop talking! Let Rahman on the stage, we all prayed. And Rahman entered with a bang; with Fanaaaaaa Fanaaaaa. Now this is what we came here for. The highlight of a Rahman concert will have to be the best of the singing talent touring with him. Hariharan, Kailash Kher, Blaaze, Unnimenon, Sadhana Sargam, Alka Yagnik, Chitra and Madhushree, the singers crooning to Rahman numbers read like the Who's Who of Indian Film Music. SPB was sorely missed. So was Shankar Mahadevan, who after performing in Melbourne left due to 'unavoidable circumstances', we were told. Udit Narayan and Kumar Sanu were missed but not as much as Sonu Nigam. Was expecting some young stars like Karthik, Harini, Srinivas and SPB Charan.

Hariharan, to me is a great stage performer adding embellishments to musical pieces, engaging the audience and improvising on the stage. Of course, he becomes the conductor's nightmare. Kailash Kher was the funny foil to Hari - wearing outrageoulsy funny clothes and moving his hands and legs in a hilarious way that reminded me of the agitated devotees possessed by 'God' or 'Spirits'. And he will do better to stick to opening his mouth for singing and nothing else. But I have to add, his Mangal Mangal and Yun Hi Chalaa were awesome. So full of energy. Sukhwinder has some serious competition.

It would be inconceivable to talk of a Rahman show without lavishing praises on Sivamani who has now become synonymous with drums and anything which on tapping emits music. His solo piece with the Bosnian singer joining him was ohmigod! The Bosnian singer, who Rahman introduced as Ms.Alma working with him on the theatrical version of 'Lord of the rings' was brilliant and IMHO wasn't appreciated as much as she deserved.

Hit numbers from Bombay, Lagaan, Taal, Swades, Dil Se, Mangal Pandey, Boys were greeted with loud cheering and deafening applause. Mobile phones were flashed, shining like a billion stars adding to the celestail ambience of the concert. Humma Humma with Rahman and Blaaze got the crowd to their feet. Blaaze wowed the audience with his hip-hop and his B to the A to the B to the A - BABA. I felt cramped in my seats; fettered, while all I wanted was to get up and go dancing. My only previous experience with live shows was in Chennai when ShahRukh performed and we went crazy dancing to every damn song that was thrown at us and to think that I did not jump around dancing when 'Rahman' was performing is perhaps the only grievance of a grand evening. That and the unspectacular 3-D. Maybe it was just the position, but from where I was sitting, it was pathetic.

Sadhana Sargam's tamil diction is amazing (especially when compared to other singers like Udit Narayan and Adnan Sami both of whom have raped and murdered Tamil in the past) as was her voice. Madhushree, Alka Yagnik and Chitra; well! it was like nose-diving into a swimming pool of honey. I was truly overwhelmed and difficult on breathing.

Rahman also performed the song he composed for the UN Poverty Eradication program, "Pray for me brother". We were only the third audience in the world to listen to it. Fantabulous. Instantly likeable. We were left craving for more of it. I, for one am looking forward to the cassette/CD release of it.

An unplugged with Hari, Alka, Sadhna Sargam and Madhushree with Rahman on the piano was stirring. I totally understand that it is very diffuclt to perform live, what with sound editing technology helping even mediocre singing sound melodious. Should say that every one of the singers did a fair job and proved they were worthy of adoration. When Hariharan sang 'Nila Kaigirathu', I was transported out of this world. Navin's rendering of the Bombay theme on the flute gave me the goosebumps.

Steve Waugh, patron of Udayan came up on stage and I felt like all my Australian 'ambitions' were fulfilled. Just to see the man that close was enough for all the trouble I ever underwent down under. Salut! I shouted my throats out - atleast what was left of it. Believe me after Fanaa, Telephone Manipol, Snehithane and Hai Rama, I was croaking. End of show, it took me two days to create sound though my lips moved.

Quite surprisingly, a section of the crowd seemed unhappy with Tamil songs, not appreciating Deepan Chakravarthy, Unnimenon and Chitra when they sang Rahman's Tamil songs. Rahman (and the organisers) were considerate enough to choose majority of the songs that had both Tamil and Hindi versions. Sadhana Sargam, Hari and Alka Yagnik switched between languages in all their songs. Still, a small section of the crowd were not supportive enough. It really ticks me off because, 1. Rahman has done more movies/songs in Tamil than in Hindi, 2. There were quite a number of Tamilians in the crowd and 3. The whole concept of 'Music has no language barriers' is defeated. (I had a strong impulse to stitch Kailash Kher's mouth) Also conspicuous by their absence was the local audience. I saw no sizable Australian audience which though understandable does not bode well.

The denouement with 'Secret of Success' (alas! no Girlfriend) and the by now customary (how can Indians go to an Indian concert and not express their unaltered patriotism) Maa Tujhe Salaam (I was hoping it would be Yeh Jo Des Hai Tera) was spectacular but left you feeling it was too soon. I would have happily sat there for another four hours, as would most of the audience. It was a Rahman experience.

P.S. Chk out Preethi's take on Rahman's concert - lot more details for you)

Photo Blog

Several fleeting moments have I stolen and given you glimpses with my blog and now, I want to give you more than just a glance. Glimpses through the lens is an attempt to share some interesting things that I capture/freeze using my camera.

A.R.Rahman - Live in Sydney

You may remember that I was attending Rahman's concert in Sydney. Well! I did and it was awesome. There is much to write about it that I can't manage today - delirious with all the music and depleted with the driving around, that I am. But soon... shall blog about the supernal aural experience.

Australian Blogging

The blogmeeting in Singapore that SambharMafia and Dreamstores have written about has created in me an urge to create a list of all Indian bloggers in Australia and forge some kind of connexion. SambharMafia suggested Indibloggers and they have a good index but I believe there are more bloggers out there. So help me compile a list and maybe we could also blogmeet.

Indian bloggers in Australia, leave your name (or blog id), url and location in the comments section.

Salaam Namaste

Salaam Namaste released last week worldwide and surprisingly in the megapolis of Canberra, Australia's capital too. My friends and I waited for SN anxiously as we knew that it was shot entirely in Australia(Melbourne, as it happens). We wanted to see if we could connect to Nick/Amby, played by Saif and Preity. Saif, if I have not already mentioned, is a raging heart throb with my friends here after his Dil Chahtha Hai and Hum Tum (My friends go droool droool everytime the 'prince' comes on screen - the same kind of drool that you would expect for Brad Pitt or Tom Cruise).

There is only one thing to say - the director, newcomer Siddharth has done his homework. Melbourne sights greet you unobstrusively, the Australian accent unfeigned (as the Indians trying to speak 'affected' Australien mait), the beer stays Victoria Bitter, the clothes Von Dutch and Billabong, cyclists wear helmet, weddings take place in the beach, architects turn chefs, and yes, people, even Indians, live-in together.

The living in together concept has never been handled better but I fear that upkeepers of Indian values may ban the screening of the progressive Salaam Namaste, if they haven't already done that. While I do not encourage or support this de facto relationship, I know it does happen here. I have friends with live-in arrangements and it is nice to see the relationship portrayed honestly with less embellishments.

Preity has never been more prettier but there were a couple of places where I wondered if it was Bips; her clothes were that skimpy (not that we grudge that). Saif - less said the better. He was AMAZING. He does the Salman with no-shirt and half-shirt for much of the movie. Awesome body. (You have it- you flaunt it, right!). But at least he can act. Change that. He CAN act. The music is good and your heart goes hmmm when you listen to it. Arshad Warsi and Javed Jaffrey split you up. A riot. And so does the doctor who comes in the end (I am not disclosing who it is).

I believe Siddharth is a major 'FRIENDS' fan and he has borrowed some funny moments from the series. Saif appears to be a mix of Ross, Monica and Joey, cleaning up compulsively as does Head Chef Monica, dumb as Joey and panicky as Ross. Preity is Rachel with a 'hysterical yelling' bit of Phoebes. Arshad plays Chandler. (Just been watching Season8 - man! F.R.I.E.N.D.S rocks and we do not grudge Siddharth for any adapting/adopting)

Salaam Namaste a thoroughly enjoyable light romantic from the Yashraj Banner lives up to its hype and I do not grudge the 10 dollars I spent on it. And that is saying much.

Cinema Cinema

My 11th of July Vow restrained me from writing anything related to Cinema and I am proud to declare that I have maintained my pledge. Yes! it has been two months (1 more than I hoped to) since i wrote about movies and the kind, instead concentrating on issues ranging from the Iraq war to the 'Conversations with a theologian'. I should admit though that I have been less prolific during this period, being occupied with research. In celebration, let me write about some of the movies I have watched in this period.

1. Maria Full of Grace

A movie so simple yet so complex, it was powerful. A riveting tale of a small-town Colombian girl's 'mule' run in to the States. The turmoil of a pregnant girl in a mor(t)al crisis is a fertile ground for story-tellers, remember our own Santosh Sivan's 'Terrorists' which dwelved on the psyche of a pregnant human-bomb. The highlight of the movie are the credible characters and the straightforward sensiblity exhibited by the director throughout. The poverty, the lure of easy money, the dream of 'America', the innocence, the hope, the despair, Maria Full of Grace is all that and more - a must see.


2. Sin City

When you have Robert Rodriguez, Frank Miller and Quentin Tarantino in the directorial credits, you just don't not see the movie. I simply loved the dark nature of the movie accentuated by the 'Black and White' cinematography (with colour to punctuate), the sheer strength and savageness of the characters, the comic strip kind (my personal favourite is Marv), the best ass-whipping dialogues I have ever heard (heres one for sample: "And when his eyes go dead, the hell I send him to will seem like heaven after what I've done to him"), the cast (including big names Bruce Willis, Elijah Wood, Jessica Alba, Clive Owen) - everything about the movie was different.I must admit though that I was left wondering, "What the... ?" when I left the movie hall. A bit abstruse for a Sunday afternoon.
Oops I almost did not mention the babes, the scantily clad kind!

3. War of the Worlds

Not the best Spielberg movie I have seen. A story of the effect of Alien invasion on the dynamics of a family. It wasn't bad but I enjoyed Manoj Night Shyamalan's 'Signs' better. However, Dakota Fanning was awesome.

4. The Interpreter

Again not the best Sydney Pollack movie but had a decent storyline and passable performances by Sean Penn and Nicole Kidman.

5. The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy

Haven't read the books yet, but I thoroughly enjoyed the movie. The movie is full of clever and comical science fiction theories. From hitchhiking in spaceships to the answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe and everything, Hitchhikers Guide is a riot.

6. La Mala Educacion

A very clever movie that was compared to a Russian Doll by the maker (it has layers within layers). It was griping and disorienting and a bit like being on a rollercoaster.

7. Ong Bak

A Thai movie which is very close to our Dharani's 'Dhool'. A village boy, a village diety, a city don who steals it, a journey to the city, a breathtaking display of martial arts (hhhheeee Vikram not that much) and a happy ending. Formula movie of high calibre. (The semblance was uncanny, almost eerie when the village lad comes to the 'young age play-mate presently in the city' comedian's house for help)

More on Indian movies watched during this period later.

A loss

In my post on Iraq, I had mentioned Hatim Kathiria and mourned his death in Iraq. When a friend sent me the news little did I realise that Hatim's death was a personal loss. A lapse on my part. A bulb should have glowed as soon as that name was mentioned. I just didn't put two and two together until a chance conversation yesterday with another of my buddies. Hatim was my college mate.

Hatim was in different stream and I saw little of him in the college. Our acquaintance was limited to the pushing and pulling in the College Bus and more significantly to his room; just five minutes away from my own.

He was sharing a room with a close friend of mine and I have spent many hours in their room; frantic studying on the eve of exams, playing NFS on Hatim's computer and general hanging out together and bantering dollar to a cent. He had shown interest in my GRE preparations and my grand plans of higher studies in the US and I faintly recall that he had intention to go to the US himself.

I never knew what happened to him. Like several others in college I lost touch with, Hatim faded in to the dark recesses of my memory. Until today, that is. Now I shall remember him fondly as the roomie of my friend, a jolly guy who didn't speak a word of Tamil and survived with us chattering Tamil baboons. A guy with little dreams. A very simple man. God grant him peace. God grant us peace.

Greatness

There is something I have always wanted to drop, apart from the numerous catches I did drop to gain the notoriety as a fielder of 'Indian' calibre; drop names. I became acutely aware of it after Slice of Life columnist, V.Gangadhar wrote about it a few months back. Ever since I have been on a celebrity hunt. And now my hunt ends. I now know someone famous or rather someone I know is now famous.

Mahima, one of my closest friends and neighbour has taken her first steps to 'mahima' with her own 'Art Exhibition' and more importantly, an article about it in 'The Hindu'. The Hindu, as you know is next only to the Gita as far as authority goes in the TamBrahm household. That she would have her own art exhibition so soon doesn't surprise me. I have seen her draw and cherished her many works to know that it was just a matter of time. A charcoal piece she drew for me when I was leaving home for hostel (undergrad) is a trophy I can never forget. I treasure her work just as much as I prize her thoughtfulness, the thoughtfulness evident in making her art exhibition for a cause.

My earliest memories of this wonder girl goes to a time when she was 1 or 2. I used to drop my school bag in their house before rushing out to play Backyard Cricket. And I remember that I used to call her 'Maggi', which used to irritate her no end. (Sadly that name fizzled out). Dropping names, I can brag that I knew this girl as she threw her first tantrum and have seen her become the person she is.

I can't possibly express my disappointment at not being there, with her, in her moment of glory to share her joy. Neither can I express how proud I am of her success. First step, I assert. For I know there are several more things she could do and will do.

Iraq

Hatim Kathiria, an Indian in the US Army became the latest casuality in the Iraq war; the second Indian to do so. Well! I guess we should, at least now go beyond jingoistic nationalism, both Indian and American and mourn the loss of a young life for an unjust cause just as we mourn all those who died in this war. May we learn from these deaths the price we are paying for the war effort.

Read more about Hatim Kathiria here

Another historical marker in the war is Cindy Sheehan, mother of a dead soldier camping outside President Bush's Texas residence hoping to ask him a simple question, "Why did my son and so many other sons die in this war? For what?". No surprises that Bush did not meet her and there was a slur campaign to make her look like a hysterical mother; a raving lunatic. I am not surprised either that there has been growing support for Cindy and a new 'Bring 'em back' campaign has been launched, capitalising on her new celebrity status. (It is not her fault... that is the way things work)

Updates on the Cindy campaign in http://www.meetwithcindy.org/

Conversation

I know not many (of the few who do visit this site) will want to go through a longish post but I couldn't resist writing of this conversation I had with a Hindu theologian in Yahoo Chat Room. Well! I was surprised that there was another person in the hinduism chat room who didn't come there looking for a lay. I was faking to be a Aussie Philosophy student who knew a little about hinduism.

me: am bored n actually interested in hindusim. thought ppl in the room wud be talking abt it
D: good. yes u wana learn abt philosophy
me: yeah! sort of
D: ask me ur Qs
me: ok! for starters why do u have so many Gods? I accept tht all the Gods r manifestations of the one true god...but y?
D: no no... not manifestation
me: does it not cause trouble... as in who is the better God?
D: no...Look we have one GOD who is supreme and he can do all thingsbut u know what, the devotess of HIM ask for his service... so there are many demi GODS. Get the GIST?
me: i don't quite accept the demi-god theory.see God is omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent. He does not need sidekicks to do his job, right?
D: yes, absolutely rite
me: i think the the demi god thing is a human fabrication
D: no no demi GOD theory is even in Vedas. go check it
me: yes! my precise point... does being in vedas make it the irrevocable truth. wat is the origin of vedas. ofcourse i am not a theologian
D: well well vedas are eternal. and not composed. that is why there are the highest texts of truth. coz no error in it
me: vedas r not eternal... n definitely not god send. none of the scriptures of any religion are. bible is a human effort, koran is one too
D: well its not a scripture....Vedas are eternal. there is a proof for that.
me: infact i think hindu 'philosophy' is best explained in the Bhagavad Gita
D: yes.. its a summary of all vedas
me: Thats surprising. Gita went directly against some of the vedic injunctions. mainly rituals (I was goading him)
me: but wat interests me is the Philosophy of Karma and Maya. i like Advaitha. i like Shankara's philosophy n think everything is unto Him; everything is Him. Karma; that the future is conditioned by the way you live now, what you do now, what you think, what your acts are, your ethics is the philosophy of the masses.it is suited to the present age
D: well! Adviata is not correct though
me: u c, when u get into philosophy, being correct is a very subjective thing.it doesn't matter.infact there is nothing like 'correct' or incorrect'
D: yes one shud know the correct. if there is no correct it wud mean there is nothing incorrect...
me: true. they r simply viewpoints
D: well if so, there would be no concept of GOD/ TRUTH/MORAL or so
me: as long as it gives a set of ethics - dharma, every way is a right way
D: then it can lead to chaos as to there is no rule...
me: i didn't say no rules. ppl choose rules they like... with faith tht it is the right rule
D: when u set a rule.. u obiviously are speaking absolute truth and not relative. if its relative then its not a rule
me: not really... say there are 3 rules and 300 ppl and 100 ppl follow rule 1, 100 rule 2, and another 100 rule 3.everyone follows some rule. No anarchy. as long as there is no or little conflict bet'n the faiths it is fine
D: well ...ur missing a point. what if the rule 1 clashes with rule 2.... it will lead to chaos between set 1 and 2
me: tht is why i am saying tht there are no absolutes. all conflict in the world is b'coz ppl think tht only their faith is true and all other faiths are stupidly, even criminally wrong
D: well then lets debate and come to conclusion
me: there is no debate. there is no conclusion. jus as gita says... just as numerous rivers flow into the same ocean, all faiths lead to same god
D: not really interpreted properly
me: if everyone in the world follows this there is no war or conflict
D: difference is basic
me: and acceptable
D: if there was no evil at all then evil thoughts wouldnt have come
me: i think the hindu philosophy is good b'coz no other religious thought has proclaimed tolerance and emphasised it.
me: if u think islam or christianity is evil... then evil is in u
D: how can Jiva be Brahman?
me: why don't u tell me why it can't be?
D: only because... of "pratyakshaya pramana" and also "said in GITA/Purunas/Vedas".only that Shankara interpreted it wrongly
me: i am not versed in sanskrit and i accept my knowledge of hindusim is shallow
D: yea! then how did u come to conclsuion that sankara is rite
me: i did not say Shankara is rite... did I? I quote... i jus said i liked it and it appeals to my intellect
D: look! liking will only come after ur convinced with it.. so which means its rite
me: which again comes to my previous position - u must be proud tht Hinduism encouraged 'tolerance' and as learned followers of hinduism you should embrace this fact. pls do not say 'My way or the Highway'. u seem too insistent on right n wrong; black n white
D: yes
me: which i feel is very against the fundamental principles of hindusim
D: huh?
me: the fundamental principle of hinduism is 'tolerance' - again quoting Gita - there are some who reach God by Bakthi, Gnana or Karma yogas (paths) but they all lead to the One Supreme
D: well selfless act can be achived with duality also
me: i do not say duality is wrong. all i am asking is accept tht jus as duality is right so can advaitha be right
D: how can 2 statements .. which contradict each other be true
me: truth in this philosophic pt of view is not a scientific certainty. it does not follow like that if the earth is round it cannot be flat
D: we gotta debate to know the truth
me: is there anything to debate... every philosophy has its pluses n minuses and u believe otherwise. i am not supporting advaitha or for tht matter any one philosophical viewpoint. i agree tht for all i know dvaitha may be more precise than advaitha. but does it matter. embrace everything but follow one path tht u feel passionate abt. there is a tamil poetry in my desk tht says (and I quoted Yaathum Oore)
D: just a poem
me: wat do u mean by 'jus a poem'
D: do peom say what truth is
me: can't u see tht u r trying to gauge things by not wat it says but who says it
D: yes. ofcourse
me: does being in a generally accepted book means it is right
D: nooooo not at all. only authorless text can be authorative
me: who decides wat authoritative text is. how do u know there is no author
D: well there is a logic behind why vedas are said authorless
me: may be i should correct ur idea tht while Vedas as u know it has an accepted author. it is only said that seers had 'visions' of the veda as it was - tht is where the eternal thing comes in to play but there is a mortal hand in it
D: nono u are mistaken my dear. The receipeints of vedas are just seers to it. they did not create it and the seers themself have said, we are just recepients of the unauthored vedas
me: yes i accepted it, i am jus saying tht they were mortals who saw the vedas in some form
D: so now Vedas becoem the highest authorative text as its flawless
me: so.. lemme ask u as conjecture - wat if the seers wrote it themselves and said they were unauthored texts. would u or i be able to prove tht they were indeed unauthored. jus for sake of argument
D: ok for such arguments.. are raised and being answered. answer for that... its just not said by one seer... its by thoushands and all are seperated by a considerable locus. they see/hear the Vedas and thats why its called "SHRUTI"
me: i believe if u look objectively... it doesn't matter if they r unauthored or authored. wud the light bulb not glow if it was i instead of edison who invented it
D: its not that it came from recent times... its known from unknown time
me: i am leaving now - but i'll send u a couple of files. again i do not vouch for the authenticity of the views of the author and am sending it b'coz i found it interesting
D: well i only read authentic texts. i shud be convinced that it is authentic.. else no point
me: should it be signed by God
D: coz i will waste my time
D: vedas speak of puranas.. and hence these authored texts are authentic to me. puranas are written by Lord himself. like he preached GITA
me: i do not believe Gita was spoken by Krishna during the war jus as i do not believe tht puranas were written by the God himself as a sort of pastime
D: yes i undertsnad why u dont belive. coz u see the WORLD as just a illusion
me: i am afraid ppl r so much into who says wat that they forget tht the important thing is the message. as i said before wud it matter if Krishna did not speak the gita
D: Yes
me: maybe some philosopher 1000 yrs later thought it wud be nice to use Krishna as the mode of the message. message is the core. there is truth only in the message not in the messenger
D: well u dont get the GIST
me: u r so GULLIBLE...i have to laugh

Music to ears

A.R. Rahman is touring Australia. A statement despite its seeming insignificance sends electric pulses racing through the nervous system causing loud cheering, yelping, hooting and involuntary fits of banging the two palms together. Yes! Rahman will tour Australia with concerts in Sydney and Melbourne this September. And it is not just Rahman, singers and musicians including Hariharan, Shankar Mahadevan, Sadhana Sargam, Alka Yagnik, Chitra, Kailesh Kher and Sivamani will also be part of these musical extravaganzas.

The concerts are organised by Charindaa to assist destitute children in India. Cricketing legend Steve Waugh, former captain of the Aussie team, is the Chief Patron of Udayan, the Child Leprosy Centre in Kolkata, which will be one of the major benificiaries.

Now for more loud cheering, yelping, hooting and involuntary fits of banging the two palms together. I got my tickets!!! Yipeeeeeee!!!!

That Rahman is relatively unknown to the 'Australian' audience despite his popular musical 'Bombay Dreams' (and Warriors of Heaven and Earth) has not detracted it from being a sell-out event. I guess there are soooooo many Indians down under that it wouldn't matter at all. Still, will have to point out that 'Bollywood' has got the Australians curious (especially after Oprah's show with Ais) and they totally adore the colourful dance sequences (of turning the bulb and tapping the ball at the same time).

It is a different issue that when I try convincing them that there is more to Indian cinema than 'Bollywood' I am laughed at. (Who am I kidding? The way things are going Bollywood would be the only Indian cinema. And my friends here would end up attending my marriage and demanding that people break into a dance for no reason every three and a half minutes).

Incidentally, Rahman has recently accepted to compose music for the theatre production of "Lord of the Rings" (we'll look forward to it doubly eagerly).

P.S. Stevie has promised he will attend atleast one of the concerts and I am praying it is Sydney

Monica Lewinsky - Where art thou?

I am, believe it or not, similar to

What Famous Leader Are You?
personality tests by similarminds.com

Is it any surprise then, that I am looking for Monica? Monicaaaaaa my darling!

p.s. Don't trust these personality tests!!!

In the blog world

Celebrity blogs, should I say. When Deepak Chopra, Shekar Kapur, Nandita Das, Vandhana Shiva and the likes blog, it is celebrity blog. Intent, they call it.
http://www.intentblog.com/

According to them, "Intent is the womb of creation that will nurture and unlock the creative and imaginative energies of Asian people as they become the prime cultural voice of the mass media in this brave new digital world"

In a way, I am glad that Asia, and in particular India will be leaders of a change. 'Americanization' of our lives is something I strongly feel against. It is widely believed that Hollywood and American TV (include the news networks) controls everything from what is fashionable to wear to what is a good read. What is right and what to believe is also dictated by a small flock of Godsends. A kinda "My way or the highway". So a voice, any voice is welcome. May it be loud enough to be heard in the din. And more importantly may it always be a righteous voice and not be corrupt by the power it gains.

Talking of celebrity blogging, came across Ashok Banker's blog. I am not sure if he counts as a celebrity given that I had to introduce him to my friends as a writer working on a modern retelling of Ramayana and they went Oh!!! I hurried to reassure that he is not a saffron clad old man or that Rama is still the good guy but is writing the Ramayana in a Tolkein-ish fashion, a fantasy with lot of demons and war. Just to lend a measure to his repute, I add that his Ramayana has been compared to the Harry Potter series - for its fantasy, its popularity and for bringing back kids to books.

I haven't yet read any of his books but I have heard only good reviews about his "Prince of Ayodhya" and "Demons of Chitrakoot".

Frankly, it doesn't matter if you are a celebrity or not in the blog world. All that matters is that you have a 'readable' blog. And readable, these blogs definitely are.

Victory in the Pacific

Australia celebrated the 60th anniversary of 'Victory in the Pacific' (the end of the WW II) last weekend. It was a grand affair with Veterans honoured and nostalgic memories of the rousing return of the victors shared with the generation born after the war.

Victory is such a sweet thing, you get to write the history. You get to laud the bravery of your soldiers while happily forgetting the suffering of the thwarted in the battlefield. Well! It is not the soldiers fault. It is war. It is war that I deplore.

I would have been delighted if amidst all the cheering and back-patting we spent a minute, just a minute to think about the pain and suffering of war. It is nice to teach the younger generation of your gallant victory, no doubt. But the lesson?

Is it sufficient to brag, 'We won and they lost'. Is there not a responsibility to urge to stop all war. Peace. Peace is the lesson. Teach them peace, the ones who haven't seen war. The ones incapable of comprehending the cruelty of war. The ones who think it is cool to fly a F-18, zoom past the sound barrier, drop a bomb accurate to within a meter and congratulate themselves for a job done well- a kill in one. The ones who think war is a terribly exciting new computer game with realistic graphics and sound-effects.

(Incidentally I was watching a documentary yesterday about how the Pentagon uses 3-D War Games, specially designed for the Pentagon, replete with Iraqi streets, Mosques and even 'terrorists' swearing in Arabic to train its soldiers for the war in Iraq. No kidding!).

Peace! Peace! Peace!

Let it snow! Let it snow!

Light snow fell across Canberra yesterday as a blast of cold weather from the Antarctic produced snowfall across the east coast. While the tall Brindabellas are often dusted in the white stuff and the skiiing resorts are just two hours from Canberra, snow in urban Canberra are much more rare. The surprise snowfall occured even at or near sea level in Victoria and Tasmania - the first time in almost 20 years. A pity that I missed out the snowfall, stuck to the bed with a flu as I was. Still all is not lost. The weather forecast for the week is cold, maybe even colder. Can another snowfall be far away? Let it snow! Let it snow!

A warm tale

There are very few things happening here worth mentioning. It is really cold. Even on a bright sunny day as today, the day temperature is 3 and nights are almost always sub-zero. I just am not able to wake up before 7:30 as I curl up in the bed with my blanket upto my ears willing the heaters to radiate more warmth. That is what is needed. Warmth.

Everything is fine despite the winter, I tell myself. The Weatherman on the television says so too. "Fine day today. A maximum of 4 degrees. Some frost expected during the night", he smiles into the camera.

Actually I am kind of disturbed. I don't know, I just feel bored with everything. Feeling very disinterested with life. Can't explain it. I know for fact that a part of me is running astray indulging himself to every whim and fancy as the other parts looks indifferently or pronounces subdued complaints. I read books when I should be working. I go to movies alone; feels to me like I am escaping the real world. Or atleast trying to.

I sit in a group and laugh at jokes but a part of me is away. When I am alone, I would rather have company and when I am with people, I would rather be alone. I am almost always aloof. Sometimes I think I have forgotten the trick of inhabiting a social world.

Maybe everything will be fine soon. Anyway, I do not wish you to worry about it much. Frankly, I don't see anything or anyone helping me out of it. I am confident it is just a phase and I'll soon outgrow it. Maybe something drastic will happen and change everything. Just maybe. Spring isn't too far.

Book Club - My Sister's keeper

Puthagam, the book club hosted by Ammani chose Jodi Picoult's My Sisters Keeper for discussion. Despite the lure of Harry Potter and Godfather (which incidentally I did succumb to), I finished reading MSK last week and have uploaded my comments on to the bookclub. All readers are welcome to view the discussion, participate in it and share your views on what I feel is a rivetting read.

*For those lazy people who will indulge me by reading my part of the discussion but would not take the trouble of going through others, I have attached it in the comments section.

A Jolt like a thunderbolt

The mobile kept ringing as I sat staring at it unseeing. It took few minutes before I was rudely jolted of the reverie by another call. Apparently from the same person. It was my flat-mate from his girlfriends place. And in a positively belligerent tone, he asked me, 'What the f*** are you doing so important that you couldn't pick the damn phone'. 'Nothing', I replied and my choked voice and tearful tone set the alarm bells go and in a concerned tone he asked me if everything was alright. In spite of me saying everything is fine, he rushed home sensing that everything was anything but fine.

He was greeted with my wails of 'XXXXX died' and he gave me one look. Who??? I could see him rack his brains trying to figure out who I was talking about. Maybe even feeling guilty that he couldn't remember someone whose death has so obviously shaken his dear friend. And then he saw me point at the book. And then... Well! Shit happens.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood prince rocks!!!

Sure, for a Potter fan this is no news! It doesn't matter. The narration was engaging and suspenseful, the ending heart-rending. I CRIED!!! (I am not disclosing who dies). HP&HBP is one of the most complete books that I have read in recent times.

Unlike the 'Boy-who-lived' who was so larger than life, that I was afraid to relate myself with him, the 'Chosen-one' is earthy, who just happened to have fame and responsibilty thrust on him. Somehow the teenager Harry (despite being the prick he was in Order of Phoenix) is more easy to connect to in HBP. Ron and Hermione are delightful, as usual.

For all you critics who believe JK Rowling is all about hype and marketing strategem... think again! Read HP&HBP. And my sympathies to all those hypocrites out there who wouldn't touch a Harry Potter book because it is 'Kids stuff'. You just don't know what you are missing. This is no more kids book than Lord of the rings.

As for the fans who like me have been anxiously awaiting this book, HBP delivers and worth 'squandering'(???) a fine sunny day sitting indoors reading and even being called a 'geek', 'baby' and 'bookworm'.

p.s. Undying gratitude to my colleague who lent me the book.

More bush walking

This weekend I went bushwalking again... Well! What else is there to do in Canberra.

Treated some friends at Tidbinbilla National Park (less than an hours drive from my place) to a day of Kangaroo spotting, Emu chasing, Koala watching and bush walking. As Australian a day as it can get. The weather was perfect; bright and sunny with just a trace of clouds and a wind that was still bearable.

The day wasn't anything spectacular but in its predictable normalcy and peaceful ambience, it was reassuring. Perhaps even invigorating.

******************************************

Life is full of surprises - I still have 'My Sisters Keeper' and 'Harry Potter and Half Blood prince' to read. And 'Suitable boy' too. But when a friend lent me Mario Puzo's 'The Godfather', a book I have wanted to read for a long long time, everything else took second place. Ended up reading the book all of Saturday and some of Sunday. And finished it.

Godfather finds itself in my Top 10 directly. Maybe in 3.

I grew wings

The azure sky was clear - no clouds in sight. The windsock was down and the sun was bright. The far mountain had a white cap; snow from the week of particularly cold weather. But today, today it was a fine day. Just as the Forecast had predicted. The black ground whizzed under me as I soared. I was FLYING.

There is one thing that has never ceased to fascinate man - flight. I needn't remind readers that it took man a very long time (and innumerable efforts including tying a piece of cloth like wings) before he could fly. And he has been perfecting the art for the last hundred odd years.

My awe at flying has over the years transformed in to something quite similar to passion. Especially after I completed my Bachelors in Aeronautical Engineering. So, quite obviously when an oppurtunity to fly arose, I just couldn't say NO.


The chance presented itself when one of the lecturers at my place asked me if I could do some teaching assistance for his "Introduction to Flight". As a part of getting acquainted he offered to take me flying (it is a part of Flight Lab). And I jumped. The flight was just under two hours long and we flew around Canberra, nearby towns and the wilderness.

The Cessna that we flew in transformed itself in to a Time Machine. I saw the world as it should have been hundreds of years back. Barren lands as far as the eye could see with one cluster of houses here and another cluster there. The bush, the mountains, the outback. The horizon. The end of the world. I was in a trance and only the drone of the engines prevented me from journeying from this world.

It was by far, a levitating experience. I am flying.

Addendum to Classics....

People! Hold your breath for what I am going to declare may slap you on the face like the Canberra winter and turn you pale as my backyard lawn; a friend has lent me "Half Blood Prince". Yaaaahhhhhooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!

This generous colleague is busy (apparently!!!) writing up his thesis (but couldn't resist buying the book on the first day). If you are wondering how another poor researcher afforded the book - he had to forego his beer, fuel (he bikes) expenses for the fortnight. What do I care, I got the book.

Sadly though, I am still into Jodi Picoult for the Bookclub and don't want to start on Harry Potter as yet. Or... you never know!

Of classics, phenomenons and princes

Saturday dawned like any other day; cold but sunny, windy yet quiet. There were no owls hooting on my roof and broomsticks lay still in my muggle closet. And a pity they were. Because this was not another day... it was the release of the much awaited 'Harry Potter and the Half blood prince'. Eeeeeks!

Australia being on the east end of things and Canberra on the east end of Australia, we were one of the earliest to lay our hands on it. I am told that there were throngs of people at the bookshops by 9 AM. Children threatened to go on fasts if their parents didn't buy them the Harry Potter as soon as it was released and the threats I am told worked like magic (you know how adamant they can get). And there were events organised in all bookshops (people dressed as witches and wizards).

I am as Dudley as it can get and I didn't get to the bookshops until 4 and even then satisfied myself looking at the hard-bound book longingly, inhaling the fresh scent and holding it close to my heart (it was $22 and I am a poor researcher).

A trip to the lakeside yesterday was greeted with a line of Potterians thumbing the book, an unofficial congregation. It was a sight, I tell you. I may have to wait for some months before I can pore through it in some library. Until then, Patience - I tell myself.

Will it be worth the wait!

*********************************************

The next phenomenon is also a prince... I am not sure if he is half-blood but he is a wizard nevertheless. A wizard in stature as great as Dumbledore, sans the beard of course. Sunday, I finally listened to Thiruvasagam in Symphony. My parents had sent the original CD (not pirated or downloaded stuff this) and were raving on the phone about how Ilaiyaraaja rocks.

I have two left ears, if you know what I mean, but I still enjoyed the compositions. Bavatharini especially was amazing in her rendition of Poeru Konum. Ilaiyaraaja, needless to say was soul-stirring. This is my inititaion to the wonders of Thiruvaasagam and Manickavaasagar (barring some passages in Sivagamiyin Sabadham) and it has created in me an urge to lunge deeper. A religious experience.

BLOG as a weapon

Rediff ran a story on an amazing blog. A blog of a young Iraqi girl. Baghdad Burning.

In August 2003 she started the blog with: 'A little bit about myself: I'm female, Iraqi and 24. I survived the war. That's all you need to know. It's all that matters these days anyway.'

Some excerpts from her blog

On a typical day when Bush opened his excuse of a mouth and rattled on about the Iraqi occupation

'Abroad’ in his speech seems to indicate a land of inferior people- less deserving of peace, prosperity and even life.

Three decades of tyranny isn’t what bombed and burned buildings to the ground. It isn’t three decades of tyranny that destroyed the infrastructure.

Do the Americans continue to believe such speeches? I couldn’t help but wonder.“They’ll believe anything.” E. sighed. “No matter what sort of absurdity they are fed, they’ll believe it. Think up the most outrageous lie… They have people who’ll believe it.”

On the state of affairs in America-occupied Iraq

We’re so free, we often find ourselves prisoners of our homes... We are so free to assemble that people now fear having gatherings because a large number of friends or family members may attract too much attention and provoke a raid by American or Iraqi forces.

Water has been a big problem in many areas all over Baghdad. Houses without electric water pumps don’t always have access to water.

The electrical situation differs from area to area. On some days, the electricity schedule is two hours of electricity, and then four hours of no electricity. On other days, it’s four hours of electricity to four or six hours of no electricity.

The least pleasant situation is to be caught in mid-day traffic, on a crowded road, in the heat- waiting for the next bomb to go off.

We spent some of yesterday and a good portion of today washing clothes, rinsing them and speculating on how our ancestors fared without washing machines and water pumps.

On Condeleza Rice

She's such a contrast to Bush- he simply looks stupid. She, on the other hand, looks utterly evil.

On the bombing of Baghdad in 2003

What followed was almost a month of heavy bombing. You get to a point during extended air-raids where you lose track of the days. You lose track of time. The week stops being Friday, Saturday, Sunday, etc. The days stop being about hours. You begin to measure time with the number of bombs that fell, the number of minutes the terror lasted and the number of times you wake up in the middle of the night to the sound of gunfire and explosions.

On the reality shows aired in Baghdad... Americanisation of the media

Take 15 Bush supporters and throw them in a house in the suburbs of, say, Falloojeh for at least 14 days. We could watch them cope with the water problems, the lack of electricity, the check points, the raids, the Iraqi National Guard, the bombings, and- oh yeah- the ‘insurgents’. We could watch their house bombed to the ground and their few belongings crushed under the weight of cement and brick or simply burned or riddled with bullets. We could see them try to rebuild their life with their bare hands (and the equivalent of $150)…I’d not only watch *that* reality show, I’d tape every episode

Her blogposts on the Shias and Sunnis, specifically a misinformed Friedman's article were scathing at the least. Her readership has swelled, after people overcame their doubts, that an Iraqi could write so well and realised that there was more to news than from the conventional media.

Read her first-hand accounts of the war. Even if nothing else, it is MOVING.

Love

Extracts from the web

"What does Love mean?"

A group of professionals posed this question to a group of 4 to 8 year-olds, the answers they got were broader and deeper than anyone could have imagined. See what you think:

"Love is when you go out to eat and give somebody most of your French fries without making them give you any of theirs." - Chrissy - age 6

"When someone loves you, the way they say your name is different. You just know that your name is safe in their mouth." - Billy - age 4

"Love is when a girl puts on perfume and a boy puts on shaving cologne and they go out and smell each other." - Karl - age 5

"Love is when my mommy makes coffee for my daddy and she takes a sip before giving it to him, to make sure the taste is OK." - Danny - age 7

"If you want to learn to love better, you should start with a friend who you hate," - Nikka - age 6 (we need a few million more Nikka's on this planet)

"Love is when you tell a guy you like his shirt, then he wears it everyday." - Noelle - age 7

"Love is like a little old woman and a little old man who are still friends even after they know each other so well." - Tommy - age 6

"When my grandmother got arthritis, she couldn't bend over and paint her toenails anymore. So my grandfather does it for her all the time, even when his hands got arthritis too. That's love." - Rebecca - age 8

"Love is when Mommy gives Daddy the best piece of chicken." - Elaine-age 5

"Love is when your puppy licks your face even after you left him alone all day." - Mary Ann - age 4

"I know my older sister loves me because she gives me all her old clothes and has to go out and buy new ones." - Lauren - age 4 (hehehe kiddish innocence)

"When you love somebody, your eyelashes go up and down and little stars come out of you." (what an image) - Karen - age 7

And the final one -- Author and lecturer Leo Buscaglia once talked about a contest he was asked to judge. The purpose of the contest was to find the most caring child. The winner was a four year old child whose next door neighbor was an elderly gentleman who had recently lost his wife. Upon seeing the man cry, the little boy went into the old gentleman's yard, climbed onto his lap, and just sat there. When his Mother asked what he had said to the neighbor, the little boy said, "Nothing, I just helped him cry"

A Vow... and other 'rubbish' things

Someone on the web, some unknown faceless blogger picqued me (I wasn't the intended recipient of it) with a comment on how 'Indians' are so obsessed with movies and how more than half the content on the Indi-blog scene is related to cinema. Can't speak for all Indian bloggers but I sadly admit that cinema has had very high coverage in my blog (even if my previous post was on Indian Astronomy).

So, on this day, the 11th of July of 2005, I make a vow that I shall not write about cinema (and anything related to it) for one month. One whole month. No cinema, whatsoever.

*And the air rings with cries of all the Devas claiming me 'Bhishma' for my brave vow*

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I was shocked when I read this in The Hindu this morning. (You can take a Tam Bram away from India but not The Hindu from him)

It was about the garbage disposal system in Chennai and how it is touted as the model for other cities in India. While I have been away from Chennai for a long time and am not aware of improvements in garbage disposal (telephone conversations with home were limited to more noble things - like Rajini's daughter marrying Dhanush - Oh! my GOD!!! or AnandhaVikatan's review on Anniyan), I have some early days 'graphic images' of Chennai rubbish in my mind.

Foremost of these vivid pictures is the ragpicker who used to salvage everything that is anything from the concrete cylinders that were rubbish bins. (To think recycling is just that - in a more refined, more organised, much larger scale: ellam times of India).

The second image is of the housemaid flinging the plastic cover (full of yucky stuff) like a National Basketball champion. Believe it or not, 8 times of ten she used to get them perfectly outside the bin. It was another story that the bin was divinely inaccessible; what with a fortress of impregnable waste (thrown by other wannabe basketball champ housemaids) complete with a moat of urine.

Images of the reeking garbage lorry which distributed the wastes throughout the street as it travelled and the cartoons in AnandhaVikatan (or Kumudham) about it were dark humour at its blackest.

The subsequent images are less repelling - thanks to ONYX and their glow-in-the-dark uniforms.

Taking care of the environment is not a matter of choice anymore - it is an abso-bloody-lute necessity. I am glad that Chennai is on its way to fulfilling its dream of a 'Singara Chennai', if it is! (Chennaivaasigal comment seyga).

I hope we would also become 'Green' Chennai. The pollution levels in the city as I remember it were itchingly high.

Singara Chennai - here I come. In 88 days.

India - Among the stars

Just attended a seminar on "Astronomy in India - new initiatives" by Dr. Ravi Manchanda of TIFR. I am so totally bedazzled; he was brilliant like a supernova. Frankly I had as much interest in Astronomy as I have on the mating habits of the great white shark - which is nothing.

Nevertheless, Astronomy in India touched a nerve and I was curious to know why someone would want to deliver a seminar on Indian Astronomy in an Australian University, even one with a fairly decent Astronomy department, that too on a Friday morning during semester break. I was curious to see if anyone did turn up. Not only did academics, enthusiasts, students and the have-nothing-better-to-do s forwent their precious tea-break (I had my tea an hour earlier) to attend the seminar, they were attentive and appreciative.

Dr.Ravi enlightened us on the capabilities, research projects and current proposals of India in the field of Astronomy. For one, I learnt today that there are several branches within Astronomy - Optical, UV, IR, X-ray, etc. Until today, Astronomy was sleeping in the terrace while looking at the stars. So the seminar was a collection of A-ha!! experiences, a true eye-opener.

Did you know:

• Mt. Abu has a solar observatory that is one of its kind.
• Ooty has a Radio telescope that is the largest of its kind.
• India has a Balloon facility for research on the upper realms of the atmosphere and astronomy and is the only facility in the world where the balloons are produced in-house.
• Universities and Research institutes from around the world are competing each other to collaborate with an Indian consortium (of TIFR, ISRO, IIA and several other organizations)
• ASTROSAT, the proposed satellite for Astronomical purposes, scheduled to be launched in 2007 (Dr.Ravi is incharge of the satellite) will have world space agencies 'buying' time of the satellite for their own research.
• Chandrayaana, the proposed Moon Exploration programme will investigate the side of the moon away from us (apparently the moon always shows one face to us and the other side is always hidden from view and has not been studied)
• Research is being undertaken in India that will validate (or disprove) the Big Bang theory and we have a whole heap of dishes (nothing to do with food), 35m dia. that is helping us do it. (I am a bit sketchy on the details... sorry)
• A new minor planet discovered by India Institute of Astrophysics in 1988 has been named Ramanujan (it is the first such discovery by modern India).

Indian Astronomy and Astrophysics research is comparable to any country's in the world. Our expertise in Space technology is helping it in a big way.

Now, we don't have to sing past glories; of astronomical treatises written by Aryabhatta. The glory is here.

I am mighty proud of our accomplishment. And so should you.

Tam Bram on the web

There has been so much written about the Tam Brams (for the uninitiated - Tamil Brahmins) on the web and some of them are outright funny (even if, as a Tam Bram myself it is at my expense). The Tam Brams have been called "An interesting race".

Puja writes about them: "I can spot a tam bram from a hundred yards. Neatly combed oil hair, wheatish complexion but sparkling white teeth, an aura of intellect( imaginative), gold plated thin rimmed glasses, nicely tucked in check shirt in Levi's blue jeans, belt and Nike" and sagely adds "He will go to a pub, but won't drink. He will goto a disco and dance like a robot. He will slyly look at the pretty young gals, but pretend as if he is much too mature and dignified".

This one has gone through several rounds in the e-mail circuit - Tam Brams and their obsession with Maths and Science.

"Centum, Math, Science, BrilliantTutorials, Engineering, IIT, B.Tech., Computer Science, USA, Financial Aid, I-20,Student Visa, M.S., San Jose, California, Oracle, Microsoft, Intel [add Green Card, stock options]. These words and names are like carefully arranged furniture in the mental landscape of a Tam Bram boy-and increasingly girls".

Another important (distinct) feature of the Tam Bram is their insatiable thirst for frothy Filter Kaapi in Dabara Tumbler (You wouldn't imagine how people used to stare at me when I say I don't drink coffee - it is as if I have turned a heretic). The complicated process and the procedures to be followed are explained by Gapsa.

There are heaps of literature available on the 'Adventures of the Tam Bram' but let me conclude with this poem on Tam Brams.

Tam Brahm Blues

The Tam Brahm is an antique creature
Pompous thinking his fancy feature
Takes big crises in lighter vein
Looks down on fun, in disdain
Thinks too long, thinks too wide
Not more than curd-rice on his side
Likes to soar, over the worlds
Has a weakness to hear his own words
Frets on the future, of humanity
Has property rights on sanity!
But curls up then, in foetal grace
Sacred ash, upon his face
In a jiffy makes those numbers tally
Goes forth to conquer the Silicon Valley
But misses his roots, all the same
Sambar and cricket, entirely to blame
Seeks power in ideals, ideals in wealth
Adores simplicity, loves some stealth
Three thousand years, upon his genes
Amuses oldies, annoys the teens
He still might change the new millennium
With the excess packed, in his cranium!

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I have been writing my Literature Review and the effect is evident in my style of writing. Please forgive.

Shankar and Anniyanism

I find Shankar's premise that only fear; fear of death is the solution to the societies' ills intriguing. In my humble opinion, a solution found thus is totally temporary. As soon as Indian and Anniyan leave the scene, people will revert to doing their things again. What is needed, is not stimulate fear but stimulate an interest, pride and ownership in the progress of society. And education. An education on how individuals can make a change, how drops make an ocean.

However, I think Shankar's movies are laudable. The anger that his protagonist possesses at the indifference of the general public to the plight of the country is inspiring.

Sometimes I fear that most youngsters have no set of beliefs, no personal ideals. I fear they are all empty and their creed is whatever is the popular trend. I fear that we are breeding a generation of conformists and followers. I don't know who is to be blamed for it or how we can remedy it. For now, let me just say that Shankar's expression of rage with Indian and Anniyian are welcome.

My previous life

My past life diagnosis:

I was a male in my last earthly incarnation, born somewhere in the territory of modern South New Zealand (let me see if I remember it when I travel to NZL next year) around the year 1150. My profession was that of a dancer, singer or actor.

My brief psychological profile:

I had the mind of a scientist (actor with a scientific bend - great!!!), always seeking new explanations. People often misunderstood me, but respected my knowledge (I am beginning to believe this crap).

Lesson from past life:

Magic is everywhere , even in the most usual, most ordinary situations. My lesson is to understand this magic and to help other people to see it, too. I am a magician! (Yipeee! I feel like I got an admit card from Hogwarts!)

At least I wasn't a nun.

Tamil Film Tag

Ram comes to the aid of Ram. Well! not an aid, technically speaking. He has tagged me for favourite Tamil Films and this is a topic very close to my heart. In fact, even if Ram hadn't tagged me, I would have gone ahead and written about "My experiments with Tamil Cinema" (Yes! I am shameless). Thankfully, now I can say that I wrote b'coz it was 'requested' (as if the whole wide world is waiting to know what I think of Tamil Cinema). Add to that, Rediff is asking 'Famous Personalities' their list of Top ten Indian Movies and it serves my ego that I am a part of this elite group. hhhheeeeehhheee

Naayagan
That someone can potray a young rebel to an ageing don in one movie - I still find hard to believe. Naayagan is for Kamal, even if Mani scores his points for the direction.

Iruvar
Cinema! Iruvar introduced me to the world of cinema (even though I must have watched heaps of movies until then, Iruvar was the first movie I saw - if you know what I mean). I was 'drunk' with this movie.

Hey Ram
An important milestone in my growth. Personally, I feel that its a shame that not one in Rediff put this movie on their top 10. A pan-Indian movie, painfully true, transforming in its screenplay. An almost perfect movie.

Thiruvilayadal
Shivaji was so good in Thiruvilayadal, that sometimes when you try picturising Lord Shiva in your mind's eye, you get Shivaji. It is perhaps true of also Kappalootiya Tamizhan and Veerapandiya Kattabomman as well.

Veedu
Perhaps I like my world slow and coffee cold. So??? Chockalinga Baghavadhar is my all time favourite HERO.

Alaipayuthey
Who said cinema cannot teach LIFE-CHANGING lessons? To me, Alaipayuthey was a lesson in life - giving me a trust in love, a faith in marriage. The best stroy-screenplay for the 'madly-in-love, and 'happily-ever-after' youth. Yes! the domestic quarrels were amateurish (Chalte Chalte dealt with that much better). Still...

Sethu
Bala breathed in new life to Tamil cinema with dare-to-be-different filmmaking when people were happy to do the run of the mill stuff. Stark, real and brooding.

Guru-Sishyan
Rajini at his comical best. Hilarious. Surely the super-hero Rajini was no match to the Guru. Underwear.

Thillu-Mullu
Need I say Ayampettai Aavudai Nambi Kaliapperumal Chandran was unstoppable? Thengai Srinivasan was equally good in this KB ribtickler.

EthirNeechal
The multitude of distinct and very interesting characters (the potrayals were thorough), Nagesh and KB's genius; everything stands apart from current movies where we have one-dimensional characters sloppily shown.

p.s. Pls note that the movies are not ranked in any order

Addendum
As Ranganathan pointed out, I have regrettably not included any MGR movie in the list. So...

Enga Veetu Pillai
An MGR classic which should have been in the Top 10, with right proportion of comedy (the malapropisms of Nagesh were screaming hilarious), politics (who can ever forget Naan Aanai Ittal), villainy (Nambiar, the villain of villains), and not to forget MGR's double act (of the contrast bet'n the timid and the ebullient MGR). RightO!

Mars and Venus

I never quite figured out why the sexual urge of men and women differ so much. I never did resolve the mystery of the whole Venus and Mars thing, either. And I never figured out why men think with their head and women with their heart.

One evening last week, my girlfriend and I were getting into bed.

Well,the passion started to heat up, and she abruptly stopped and said "I don't feel like it, I just want you to HOLD me."

I said "WHAT????!!! What was that?!"

So she said the words that every boyfriend on the planet dreads to hear..."You're just not in touch with my emotional needs as a woman enough for me to satisfy your physical needs as a man."

She responded to my puzzled look by saying, "Can't you just love me for who I am and not what I do for you in the bedroom?"

Realizing that nothing was going to happen that night, I went home.

The very next day I opted to take the day off to spend time with her. We went out to a nice romantic lunch by the lake and then went shopping to David Jones (a big, expensive department store, where you get everything from Armani to Zucci Golf). I walked around with her while she tried on several different very expensive outfits and selected a Gucci and a La Prada. She couldn't decide which one to take and I told her we'll just buy them both. She wanted new shoes to compliment her new clothes, and I suggested that she get a pair for each outfit.

We passed by the beauty section and she bought her make-up; lipsticks from Colose, face packs from Yves Rocher, Rouge, etc. etc while I smilingly stood by and even selected colours. Fragrance wafted by, and she jazzed to the Perfume section and got herself a Chanel.

We went onto the jewellery department where she picked out a pair of pearl drops for her ears. And I still had my indulgent smile. Let me tell you...she was so excited. She must have thought I was one wave short of a shipwreck. I started to think she was testing me because she asked for a tennis wristband when I knew she didn't even know to play tennis or cared to. I think I threw her for a loop when I said, "That's fine, honey." She looked like she was near orgasm from all of the excitement (a la Theresa).

Smiling with excited anticipation she purred, "I think this is all dear, let's go pay up to the cashier and leave".

I could hardly contain myself when I blurted out, "No honey, I don't feel like it".

Her face just went completely blank as her jaw dropped with a baffled "WHAT???!!!"

I then said, "Really honey! I just want you to HOLD this stuff for a while. You're just not in touch with my financial needs as a man enough for me to satisfy your shopping needs as a woman".

And just when she had this look like she was going to kill me, I added, "Why can't you just love me for who I am and not for the things I buy you?"

Obviously I didn't get sex that night either. Apparently I'm not having sex for a long time to come.

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This is the work of some unknown Martian (who has all my sympathies). I have merely added some spice and written it in my style.

Movies, this weekend

It was a very relaxed weekend with a lot of sleeping, some reading (nothing related to Engineering - even remotely), a bit of Cricket (Aus. vs B'desh - I was hoping to catch the Aussie blokes squirm on the field but they ended up winning quite comprehensively) and some Wimbledon (I watch only Maria Sharapova matches, hhhheeee) and two very good (in their own way) movies.

The First Movie needs no introduction to any Tamil movie-goer. It was thespian Shivaji Ganesan at his histrionic best (arguably) in Veerapandiya Kattabomman. Well! there were too many songs than was required (or bearable) and too much noise that made Saamy look decibelly benign. But what the heck! It was a great movie. You need proof!, look at the impact of VK on modern cinema. For instance, Vellaiyamma's (Padmini) unchallenged 'Kaalai' finds expression in Virumandi and Jackson Durai's trick of not giving a seat to VK in Padaiyappa. (Jackson even says, in a muted much tamer Ramya manner, un style innum maaralai). If only Shivaji had noted the oonjal.

The second movie needs no introduction to any Sci-Fi movie fan. The inimitable Spielberg at his best (the problem with Spielberg is he surpasses himself with every movie he makes - proof: Terminal) with an insanely clever plot in Minority Report. The premise of Pre-cognizance and Pre-crime, is scientfically and morally disturbing and the deft handling of the screenplay (with not one slack moment) rivetted you to the couch (even if your Microwave beeped a million times to remind the food was cooked and your stomach growled in hunger in a synchronous orchestra of sorts). Throw in some religion, politics and philosophy (fatalism, cause and effect, etc. etc) and Voila, you have a Spielberg classic. The greatest feat of 'Minority report' was that it remained HUMAN at its core.

Spielberg's WAR OF THE WORLDS is releasing this week and boy! am I excited. There was a preview of WOTW yesternight and Spielberg talked about how H.G.Wells wrote the original WOTW as a critique on the colonisation policy of Britain (after he witnessed the treatment of Aborigines in Tasmania-Australia). He wanted to point out that strength is relative and wrote the invasion of the world by Martians as a warning to the British empire.

Spielberg, casually remarked how the movie was in a way appropriate at this time, due to the recent Imperialistic policy of America; of the past five years as he euphemistically put (please note: no mention of GW Bush - but it quite can't be mistaken for someone else, can it?)

Veerapandiya Kattabomman or Minority Report, a good movie is all that makes weekends weekends. Right???

Mayakkam thantha Tamizh, Amudhu, Kavi

All around the blog world, people tag each other; to know their fellow-bloggers' interests, favourites - in books, songs, movies, and what not. I am still new to the blog world and haven't 'taggers' and so I decided to tag myself (How sick can one get!!!).

And the first instalment - SONGS, the ones with wordings that even I, with my notorious memory (see I am named RAM - I have volatile, strictly short-term memory only) can remember.

1. Paarthaley Paravasam – Sugama

Sirumai kandu thaviththen , en siragil onrai muriththen
Orrai siragil oonapparavai ethanai dhooram parappen

Truly, there cannot be a better way of expressing this particular situation – of an estrangement caused by unfaithfulness

2. Sethu – Vaarthai Thavarivittal

Boomiyin thevathai puzhuthi mann moodalamo

Made one feel as if the whole world was at its end – what powerful words. If it didn’t melt a heart, it was no heart.

3. Duet – En Kadhale

Amudhenbatha, Vishamenbatha, Idhu Amudhavisham enbatha

A perfect question about love. Is it good at all? Is my lover my greatest strength or my greatest weakness?


4. Five Star – Enkirundhu Vandhayada

Oruvar vaazhum ulagil mounam thane paechu…
Vizhakalil ival thaniththu nirkiral, Kanakkalil thinam vizhiththirukkiral

Brings the essence of a forlorn heart – totally alone even in the midst of a crowd

5. Vaanam Vasapadume – Uyire Uyire

Marumurai en thaayin karuvaraikkulle naan irupathu pol ennam varugiradhe

The joy and security of being in love


6. Uyire – Nenjinile

Vaanila naanume mugil eduthu kanmoodume

Though, Vairamuthu had recycled his earlier works in this song, the ‘intimacy’ of the song was enchanting

7. Bombay – Alla Gulla

Kaanaththane kangal, kaneer sindha illai…
…Vaazhathane Vaazhkai, Veezhvatharkku illai,
Vellaththane Veeram, Kollvatharkku Illai

Simple verse, elegant meaning

8. Alaipayuthey – Snehithane

Nee azhumpodhu naan azha naerndhal, thudaikkinra viral vendum

The concept of "Rahasiya Snehithane" itself was endearing and this line was my only solace during a period when I couldn't cry.

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Shouldn't just say that only thoughtfully written, 'pregnant' with meaning lyrics were unforgettable. Some silly ones too were for their frivolity linger in my RAM. For instance -

9. Kaadhalan – Kaathalikkum pennin
Sinthum vervai theertham aagum, Chinna paarvai mokshamagum

10. Boys – Girlfriend
hach enral kerchief neetta, icch enral idam kannam kaata

11. Mudhalavan - Shakalaka Baby
iyantharathu kadaikuttiyaa... nee meesai vaitha chedi kodi yaa; ki.mu vil piranthavanaa

p.s. I would do great injustice if I fail to mention Kaviarasu Kannadhasan here. Lets just say that, to keep the blog within reasonable length I have considered Post Kannadhasan era only (We have a scarcity of good ones in the PK era where one needs to jog his memory to find a poignant song).

I acknowledge his genius and my respect for his works is boundless.

Love - the eternal question Part 2

Read Part 1

Shashi commented on it and this is my response. It just got so long, that I ended up making a post of it.

As I had mentioned, the observations may not be accurate, but thats the way Sudhish looks at it and I agree, with at least the majority of his reflections.

I can't see how ego will determine the will. When you resolve to do something, you do it - that is will. Of course, I do admit that despite your strong will things could go wrong and Ego can play a part in it.

Physics has a brilliant explanation for this (Three Cheers to Physicists, who believe that all universe is controlled by the Laws of Physics).

Marriage is like a body with multiple forces (all vectors) and moments acting on it. Will is a positive force, Ego is a negative force. You do not say Will is caused by Ego or Ego by Will. They are both forces, though with different direction vectors.

If ego is stronger than will (of higher magnitude), the resultant vector moves the body in the -ve dir. As simple as that. But remember the number of forces (parameters) are umpteen. And all the forces have an effect on the outcome, positive or negative. The outcome is decided by the overall effect, say (Sum of all Positive forces - Sum of all Negative forces). And most forces are not entirely positive or entirely negative. So, you have to take Cos and Sine of the force in the +&- directions.

Analyse this situation or any for that matter, and you would conclude that every cause has an effect and every effect should have a cause.

Hence proved.