Digital Diary

11-11-11

2011-11-11T02:21:00.004-05:00

Wanted to write something on this date (11-11-11). Ok here it is, dedicating this to U_A

You know I can't smile without you
I can't smile without you
I can't laugh and I can't sing
I'm finding it hard to do anything

You see I feel sad when you're sad
I feel glad when you're glad
If you only knew what I'm going through
I just can't smile without you

You came along just like a song
And brighten my day
Who would have believed that
You were part of a dream
Now it all seems light years away

And now you know I can't smile without you
I can't smile without you
I can't laugh and I can't sing
I'm finding it hard to do anything

You see I feel sad when you're sad
I feel glad when you're glad
If you only knew what I'm going through
I just can't smile

Now some people say happiness takes
So very long to find
Well, I'm finding it hard
Leaving your love behind me

And you see I can't smile without you
I can't smile without you
I can't laugh and I can't sing
I'm finding it hard to do anything

You see I feel glad when you're glad
I feel sad when you're sad
If you only knew what I'm going through
I just can't smile without you

Dont be serious, Be sincere

2011-06-01T16:03:00.003-04:00

Nice message, got it as fwd message from one of the colleague

KPCVSS 97 Batch Meetup

2011-05-22T22:28:00.006-04:00

So that's our 12th std picture right above. How many of you remember all the names of our class mates here? I definitely do. I remember a group of us went to the Anna nagar Tower and we did speak about life after 10 years and that we should all meet up. Can you imagine its been 14 years since we all met together as a group?

I'm sure all of us would have made some friends in college, then in our work place and very few are in touch with school mates. I dint have many friends in college nor in work place, atleast not
close. We guys Anees, Karthik, Karthikeyan, Rajsekar and T-Senthil are still in touch. Randomly bump into few others like Ashok, Amarnath, Ravindar, Rajesh. Some of the others are in touch in email like Mahesh, Rajesh Krishnan, Vijayaraghavan, Athreya. We used to go to the School Alumni meeting hoping that we could see some old friends but we used to see the same faces.

Have you ever thought, how would it be if all the guys meet up? It would be really fun to know each other what they are doing currently and to share the good old memories. So I was thinking of getting the contact of all and organise a small get together. So the next question goes on ... "Who's in???"

I know many of you might be outside chennai, even abroad. But I'm sure you guys might have some plans of coming down to chennai. When I say meet up, its not tomorrow but lets plan something realistic like say Jan 2012. We can change the date time place based on the majority's choice. I'm fine even if it is in 2013 as long as every one plans it out.

My first choice would be to meet up in School during the Alumni meeting which happens every year during republic day. It would be good fun to go around the school, the classes where we used to sit. I swear, its really great feeling. You should check out the pics in Karthik's album

http://www.orkut.com/Main#Album?uid=17816449212830867860&aid=1202811213

But we can change different venue if many of you decide to meet up outside. I guess by now most of us would have been married and so we could meet up as family or just bachelors. Choice is again based on majority.

So waiting forward to meet up. Reply with your name, email, contact as a comment

Money is yours but Resources belong to Society

2011-03-29T06:27:00.007-04:00

This is my post almost after a year and a half... I have been thinking of getting back to the blog for quite some time and again fighting to find the right article and the time. For time being, to keep the blog moving here I post an article that I got as a Fwd Message.

Germany is a highly industrialized country... It produces top brands like Benz, BMW, Siemens etc. The nuclear reactor pump is made in a small town in this country. In such a country, many will think its people lead a luxurious life. At least that was my impression before my study trip. When I arrived at Hamburg, my colleagues who work in Hamburg arranged a welcome party for me in a restaurant.

As we walked into the restaurant, we noticed that a lot of tables were empty. There was a table where a young couple were having their meal. There were only two dishes and two cans of beer on the table. I wondered if such simple meal could be romantic, and whether the girl will leave this stingy guy. I noticed that there were a few old ladies on another table….When a dish is served, the waiter would distribute the food for them, and they would finish every bit of the food on their plates. We did not pay much attention to them, as we were looking forward to the dishes we ordered. As we were hungry, our local colleague ordered more food for us.

As the restaurant was quiet, the food came quite fast. Since there were other activities arranged for us, we did not spend much time dining. When we left, there was still about one third of unconsumed food on the table. When we were leaving the restaurant, we heard someone calling us. We noticed the old ladies in the restaurant were talking about us to the restaurant owner. When they spoke to us in English, we understood that they were unhappy about us wasting so much food.

We immediately felt that they were really being too busybody. "We paid for our food, it is none of your business how much food we left behind," my colleague Gui told the old ladies. The old ladies were furious.

One of them immediately took her hand phone out and made a call to someone. After a while, a man in uniform claimed to be an officer from the Social Security organization arrived. Upon knowing what the dispute was, he issued us a 50 Mark fine. We all kept quiet. The local colleague took out a 50 Mark note and repeatedly apologized to the officer.

The officer told us in a stern voice, "ORDER WHAT YOU CAN CONSUME, MONEY IS YOURS BUT RESOURCES BELONG TO THE SOCIETY. THERE ARE MANY OTHERS IN THE WORLD WHO ARE FACING SHORTAGE OF RESOURCES. YOU HAVE NO REASON TO WASTE RESOURCES.´”

Triangular Love

2009-09-03T21:11:00.006-04:00

நான் உன்னை சுற்றி வருகிறேன்

நீயோ அவனை சுற்றி வருகிறாய்

அவன் பின்னால் சுற்றுவது பல பேர்

உன் பின்னால் சுற்றுவது நான் ஒருவன் தான்

அவனை நெருங்கமுடியவில்லை என்று நீ வருந்துகிறாய்

நானோ உன்னை நெருங்கமுடியவில்லை என்று வருந்துகிறேன்

இது தான் இயற்கையோ?

- இப்படிக்கு

- சூரியனை சுற்றும் பூமியை பார்த்து நிலா

Monk & the Rich man

2009-08-17T13:13:00.002-04:00

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: IF NOTHING EVER WENT WRONG IN YOUR LIFE, YOU WOULD NEVR HAVE A CHANCE TO GROW STRONGER.

There was a young monk who was begging from house to house. There came a Rich Person who was super arrogant and egoist. The rich man started scolding the monk in bad words and abusing the monk for no reasons. The monk was still cool, calm and composed. The rich man got wilder because he thought that the monk will loose his temper. So he started shouting more and more on top of his voice & started to insult the monk. Still there was no reaction from the monk. The rich man called him to come closer to him and then pushed him into the mud. The monk fell down and all his belongings scattered. But still the monk did not say anything and was very cool. This perplexed the Rich Man so he called him and asked the secret of the monk’s coolness.

The monk did not reply directly, but asked the rich man who was sitting on the horse. Sir, whose horse is this?
Rich Man: Mine obviously

Monk: If you give me this horse whose will it become?
Rich Man: I do not want to give you the horse but if I give you the horse it will belong to you.

Monk: Good, you want to give but I do not accept the horse, then whose will it become?
Rich Man: If you do not accept the horse it will be mine, obviously.

Monk: You gave me so many Bad Words, I did not accept any. So, everything you scolded now is yours!

You can control 100% of all your emotions, if you condition your mind. So next time you choose what emotions you would like to have. Your Nature is not built in a day, so every incident will shape your life up.

Happy Friendship Day

2009-08-01T23:34:00.002-04:00

Happy Friendship Day to everyone and especially to best friends. Guys, Dedicating this climax scene from my best movie "Dil Chahte Hai" to you all...

Kadhal - Feel it

2009-07-12T22:22:00.000-04:00

My video for Kadhal - theme

MJ - a tribute

2009-06-29T20:10:00.004-04:00

When I heard the news that Michael Jackson died, I was shocked and upset too. Though I was not a crazy fan, I liked his dance and songs a lot. Especially the moves he makes, the moon walk, the rotation he does... he set a trend, he set a history, he was a legend.

Ok let me share some of my views on the Jackson I have known. I think it was in mid 90's that I first came to know about Michael Jackson. I saw a small kid doing a break dance in a TV Show. The song was so energetic and the kid did an amazing dance, walked liked a robot to shop, climbed the stairs and did awesome movements. It was then I knew it was a Michael Jackson song but dint know it was "Smooth Criminal" then. Since I was just 15 yrs I was not very good follower of the lyrics but enjoyed the music and hymmed my own lyrics. You will burst into laughter if I tell what I was hymming... "Echa kacha poching, poching, poching" - yeah this is what I was singing along with that song. After few years I thought I got the lyrics right and was singing it as "Any body watching, watching, watching..." but later came to know even that is wrong. Its only when the Net became popular, where we could get anything and everything that I listend to many of Michael Jackson songs and got the lyrcis. So finally the actuall lyrics went this was "Annie are you ok?, So, Annie are you ok?, are you ok Annie?".

After few years happen to be familiar with some of his songs like "Beat It", "Smooth Criminal", "Bad", "Dangerous". I should thank my friend Bala who gave me a CD on MJ. That had lot of videos and I was dumb stuck at the "History video" it was so fantastic and awesome. I was glued to the video by his moon walk. I tried practising moon walk a lot by looking at his video. And it was then I knew Michael was orginally a black guy and turned into white due to plastic surgery. There were lot of news about him that he is not a guy or a girl and he wanted to convert to a girl, he had lot of plastic surgeries. His life is full of mysteries and problems. He had many allegations and especially his relationship with kids. He faced one of his worst times starting from 2002 getting involved in the child molestation.

Though I didnt get a chance to meet him in person, I took a picture with his statue in Wax Museum, in NY. My message to Michael Jackson is that.. "Hey Michael, I'm not sure if you were happy throughout your life but I'm sure you made many happy, you entertained the world, you set a trend, you were an icon, you created history, you are the king of pop and you will be remembered forever..."

And here is me posing as San Jackson. Who would not want to be a super star, king of pop. Atleast in picture, I could pose ... :-)

Beautiful Pics

2009-06-29T20:04:00.007-04:00

Some beautiful pics from forward mail

Crazy Sanj

2009-06-28T12:54:00.001-04:00

My Version of "Are you Crazy" from Villu

Life, Money and Experience

2009-06-23T22:33:00.003-04:00

Money has no memory. Experience has. You will never know what the total cost of your education was, but for a lifetime you will recall and relive the memories of schools and colleges. Few years from now,you will forget the amount you paid to settle the hospitalization bill, but will ever cherish having saved your mother's life or the life you get to live with the just born. You won't remember the cost of your honeymoon, but to the last breath remember the experiences of the bliss of togetherness. Money has no memory. Experience has.Good times and bad times, times of prosperity and times of poverty,times when the future looked so secure and times when you didn't know from where the tomorrow will come... life has been in one way or the other a roller-coaster ride for everyone. Beyond all that abundance and beyond all that deprivation, what remains is the memory of experiences. Sometimes the wallet was full... sometimes even the pocket was empty. There was enough and you still had reasons to frown.There wasn't enough and you still had reasons to smile. Today, you can look back with tears of gratitude for all the times you had laughed together, and also look back with a smile at all the times you cried alone. All in all, life filled you with experiences to create a history of your own self, and you alone can remember them all.The first time you balanced yourself on your cycle without support...The first time she said 'yes' and it was two years since you proposed... The first cry... the first steps... the first word... The first kiss... all of your child... The first gift you bought for your parents and the first gift your daughter gave you... The first award... the first public appreciation... the first stage performance... And the list is endless... Experiences, with timeless memory... No denying that anything that's material cost money, but the fact remains the cost of the experience will be forgotten, but the experience never.

So, what if it's economic recession? Let it be, but let there not be a recession to the quality of your life. You can still take your parents, if not on a pilgrimage, at least to the local temple. You can still play with your children, if not on an international holiday, at least in the local park. It doesn't cost money to lie down or to take a loved one onto your lap. Nice time to train the employees, create leadership availability and be ready for the wonderful times when they arrive. Hey! Aspects like your health, knowledge development and spiritual growth are not economy dependent.

Time will pass... economy will revive... currency will soon be in current... and in all this; I don't want you to look back and realize you did nothing but stayed in gloom. Recession can make you lose out on money. Let it not make you lose out on experiences... If you are not happy with what you have, no matter how much more you have, you will still not be happy.Make a statement with the way you live your life. Respect life, live with passion.Always remember this: "If you wait to be happy u will never be happy!Start living happily, you will be happy forever and ever!" :-)

My First Spray Paint

2009-06-14T16:01:00.001-04:00

Here is my first trial on spray paint

Think about it !!!

2009-06-04T16:07:00.002-04:00

There is no one good or bad in this world, but thinking makes it so,
What people call congestion in a bus, becomes a atmosphere in a disco...

Life - Live it

2009-05-31T00:03:00.016-04:00

Life is Best
for those who want to live it,

Life is Difficult
for those who want to analyze it

Life is Worst
for those who want to Criticize it

Our attitude defines life ...

Enjoy your life so hard
that even sorrow smiles at you,

Live life so well
that even death loves to see you alive,

Fight so hard
that even fate accepts its defeat...

What is Love?

2009-05-31T00:03:00.013-04:00

From a forward mail

In a classroom there were several kids, when one of them asked the teacher: - Teacher, what is LOVE ? The teacher felt the kid deserved the best answer she could give to that intelligent question. Since it was almost time for a break, she asked every student to go around the school and come back with something that would bring the feeling of love. The kids rushed out the classroom, and when they came back the teacher said: So, I want everybody to show what you brought to the whole class.

The first kid said: I brought this FLOWER, isn't it beautiful ? The second kid said: I brought this BUTTERFLY. Look at these colorful wings, I am gonna put it in my collection ! The third kid said: I brought this YOUNG BIRD. It had fallen with another one from the nest. Isn't it cute ? And the kids were showing what they brought. After almost everybody had showed their discoveries, the teacher noticed that there was a kid who had been quiet all the time. She was ashamed because she had not brought anything. The teacher went to her and asked: My dear, why haven't you brought anything ? She then answered in an innocent voice: - I am sorry teacher. I saw the FLOWER, and felt its perfume. I was going to take it, but I preferred to leave it so its perfume would last longer and others could feel it. I also saw the BUTTERFLY, soft, colorful..she seemed so happy that I did not want to disturb it. I also saw the YOUNG BIRD that had fallen between the leafs, but as I climbed the tree, I noticed the said look of its mother, so I decided to return it to the nest. Therefore, I only bring with me: the perfume of the flower, the feeling of liberty of the butterfly and the gratefulness of the look of the little bird's mother...

The teacher thanked the young kid and gave her an A, because she was the only one who realized that we can only bring LOVE in our hearts...

Love can only be felt...not possessed, If you try to possess it for your pleasure, then love can never be "LOVE"!!!

I knew you would come!!!

2009-04-13T22:55:00.007-04:00

[From a forward mail]

Horror gripped the heart of a World War-I soldier, as he saw his lifelong friend fall in battle. The soldier asked his Lieutenant if he could go out to bring his fallen comrade back. "You can go," said the Lieutenant, "but don't think it will be worth it .Your friend is probably dead and you may throw your life away." The Lieutenant's words didn't matter, and the soldier went anyway. Miraculously, he managed to reach his friend, hoisted him onto his shoulder and brought him back to their company's trench.

The officer checked the wounded soldier, then looked kindly at his friend. " I told you it wouldn't be worth it," he said. "Your friend is dead and you are mortally wounded."

"It was worth it, Sir," said the soldier.
"What do you mean by worth it?" responded the Lieutenant."Your friend is dead." "Yes Sir," the soldier answered, “but it was worth it because when I got to him, he was still alive and I
had the satisfaction of hearing him say.......

" Man...I knew you would come ! "

100th Post

2009-04-13T22:54:00.006-04:00

Ok here it is my 100th post in the blog. I started blogging about 3 years back and the initial objective was to keep the writing in practice. I didnt have specific topics but just started writing about whatever I felt. I'm good at morphing and started posting few morphings with some humorous imaginative content. Late the same extended to the movie review with morphings. I then started writing short stories not much though but have written about 7 of them. You need the perfect mood and the time to write them. Sometimes I got busy with work and sometimes with family. But I still wanted the blog to be active and so started putting some of the impressive forward messages that I got.

So lets see what has happened in this three years within blog

I have got a good collection of my own stories, incidents, movie reviews - morphings, inspiring forward messages.
When you go back and read them it gives a wonderful feeling.
I made few friends through blog and got inspired by them as well
I should say that this did keep me occupied, entertained and gave food for my creativity

Lets see where i'm heading to

Took 3 years to reach 100 but the target is to reach 200 in the next 1 year.
So far I just wrote for fun but now want to seriously start writing more stories
Registered a domain in my name http://www.sanjayan.com/
Included the google adsense

Here are some of my collections which I have organised. Take a look

Short Stories

Movie Reviews, morphings

Incidents

Kavithai's

Inspirational Messages (Fwd)

One more chance pls

2009-04-08T23:40:00.003-04:00

It’s another morning... Again I have to go to office. Ohh, this is me… I shouted having a glance on my snap in today’s news paper. But what the HELL it is doing in the death column?? Strange…One sec... Let me think, last night when I was going to bed I had a severe pain in my chest, but I don’t remember anything after that, I think I had a sound sleep.

Its morning now, ohh….. It’s already 10:00 AM, where is my coffee? I will be late for office and my boss will get a chance to irritate me. Where is everyone…??? I screamed.

"I think there is a crowed outside my room, let me check.” I said to myself. So many people….. Not all of them crying… But why some of them crying… WHAT IS THIS??? I m laying there on the floor…

“I AM HERE” … I shouted!!! No one listen.
“LOOK I AM NOT DEAD” … I screamed once again!!! No one is interested in me. They all were looking me on the bed. I went back to my bed room. “Am I dead??” I asked myself. Where is my wife, my children, my mom-DAD, my friends? I found them in the next room, all of them were crying… still trying to console each other. My wife was crying… she was really looking sad. My little kid was not sure what happened, but he was crying just coz his mom was sad. How can I go without saying my kid that I really love him, I really do care of him. ?? How can I go without saying my wife that she is really most beautiful and most caring wife in this world..?? How can I go without saying my parents that I m … just because of u ?? How can I go without telling my friends that without them perhaps I have done most of the wrong things in my life… thanks for being there always when I need them… and sorry for not being there when they really need me..

I can see a person standing in the corner and trying to hide his tears… Ohh… he was once my best friend, but a small misunderstanding made us part, and we both have strong enough ego to keep us disconnect. I went there.. And offered him my hand, “Dear friend… I just want to say sorry for everything, we r still best friend, please forgive me.” No response from other side, what the hell?? He is still preserving his ego, I am saying sorry… even then!!! I really don’t care for such people. But one sec…. it seems he is not able to see me!!!! He did not see my extended hand.
My goodness… AM I REALLY DEAD???

I just sat down near ME; I was also feeling like crying… “OHH ALMIGHTY!!!! PLEASE JUST GIVE ME FEW MORE DAYS…” I just wasn’t to make my wife, my parents; my friends realize that how much I love them. My wife entered in the room, she looks beautiful. “YOU R BEAUTIFUL” I shouted. She didn’t hear my words, in fact she never heard these words coz I never said this to her.

“GOD!!!!” I screamed… a little more time plzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.. I cried…

One more chance please… to hug my child, to make my mom smile just once, to feel my dad proud on me at least for a moment, to say sorry to my friends for everything I have not given to them, and thanks for still being in my life…. Then I looked up and cried!!!! I shouted….

“GOD!!!! ONE MORE CHANCE PLEASE!!!!”

"You shouted in your sleep," said my wife as she gently woke me up. "Did you have a nightmare?"

I was sleeping…. Ohh that was just a dream…. My wife was there… she can hear me… This is the happiest moment of my life… I hugged her and whispered…. “U R THE MOST BEAUTIFUL AND CARING WIFE IN THIS UNIVERSE…. I REALLY LOVE U DEAR” I can’t understand the reason of the smile on her face with some tears in her eyes, still I m happy….

“THANK YOU GOD FOR THIS SECOND? CHANCE.”

So, Now it’s not late...

Forget your egos, past………..,

and express your love to others……….

Be friendly……………

keep smiling ..........

and be happy for ever…….

Lakshita'vum Naangalum

2009-03-26T08:49:00.005-04:00

Originally named the title has Lakshita'vum Naanum inspired by Abi'yum Naanum but then changed it to Lakshita'vum Naangalum. Picture paathale reason purinjurukum. This was suppose to be 100th post in my blog but later found that 2 of the articles were in draft and I hadn't written much. So deleted them, making this as 98th post.

Lakshita was born on 1st March 2009, at 8.40 pm IST. And I was lucky because I just landed India one day before, ie on 28th Feb. Expected delivery date was 14th March and I was about to start by 5th from US but should thank my client manager who had assigned me one week work offshore due to which I advanced my trip. Looked like Lakshita was just waiting for her dad to come.

Here above is couple of her picture. Top left is the first picture taken when she was just born. Top right was taken couple of days later but still in the hospital. Third on the bottom right was taken about week later. The last one was just before I started from India back and Lakshita was 3 weeks old.

Check out her in the video

The Lost Wallet

2009-03-17T14:26:00.007-04:00

Ajay shut his system down, took the bag and went down to the parking. Saw the time in the watch and it said "11.30". "Huh!" a big relief closing the issue. He then started to leave. When he reached half way there was guy standing and asking for lift. Ajay felt bad for him as there wont be any bus at that time. So he stopped and asked where he wanted to go. As the place was on the way, Ajay offered him lift. When the place came, that guy asked Ajay to stop, thanked him and left. Ajay reached home, with all the more tired and hungry. His head ache was even worse. When he was changing his dress he just found that his wallet which he kept it at the back pocked of his trouser was missing. "Oh my god" - he immediately sensed that the guy whom he gave lift has flicked it away. He was shouting himself "what the hell world...I help someone and that someone betrays me!!!". He felt so terrible, bad and frustrated. He had all his credit cards, original driving license and 200 bucks in the wallet. He couldnt digest it. Right from the start of the day it was bad for him.

So what happened from the morning
Ajay had a severe headache and was not able to get up. But he knew there are lot of pending tasks in his "To Do" list. So with great difficulty he woke up and started getting ready. The hot coffee that his mom gave made him feel better. He then took bath, dressed up, quickly had his usual noodles and started to office. He made sure he took his ID Card, Wallet as he moslty forgets or misplaces them. He kick started his splendor but looked like the splendor also was not wanting to wake up. After sever attempts he got really frustrated and kicked it hard but he hit his leg. "Aaaahhhh!!!" he shouted in pain. His mom came running towards him asking what happened. Then she asked him come inside, drink water , sit for couple of minutes and then start. He lost his energy and the pain in the leg also was adding so he did as per his mom's words. Drank water, sat for couple of minutes and then started. Amazing! the bike started in the first kick. He bid bye to his mom and roared his bike to office.

on the way to office, his bike got punctured. Shit!!! he was cursing himself. There was no shop to get it fixed. He enquired with a person passby asking where is the nearest puncture shop. That person directed him to a shop which was 1 km away. Ajay had to push the bike all the way to that shop. By the time he reached the shop, he was sweating like hell. As it was around 8, the shop was closed. He checked with the neighbours on when the shop will be opened. The shop owner was staying just behind the shop. Ajay went backside and told him that his bike was punctured and verified if he could help getting it fixed. Ths shop guy immediately came to the shop and started working on the puncture. It took about 15 mins and his bike got ready. Ajay paid him 30 bucks, thanked him and started.

Ajay reached office, and switched his system on. The first mail in his box was from the client, bold and red. He was aware of the issue and was expecting a mail from the client, but never thought it would be such a stinking mail. He was telling to himself "One bad day..." and started working on the issue. He knew it was a small bug but was not able to exactly find the cause for it. He tried lot of ways to find it. He had worked for hours and even forgot his lunch but he couldnt find the solution. His lead called and blasted him for his part. Ajay was thinking he could atleast find and fix the issue before his lead comes in the 2nd shift but that didnt workout. He then went to his seat back and continued the analysis. It was around 8 in the night and then Ajay found the actual cause. He felt a bit relieved but has to do the fix now. It was not as easy as he thought. His stomach started playing the music and he was damn hungry. But he was desperate to close the issue and so controled his hunger & worked on the solution. Almost all left in the office, he was the only one sitting around 11 pm. He finally completed it and sent mail to the client on the issue, findings and solution.

Back to Current
In a fraction of second the whole day ran down in his mind. He was also trying to think if he had missed the wallet anywhere else. But he was so sure that it dint fall anywhere. And the guy's face was weird but out of pity he helped him. With great difficulty he just had little food and went to sleep. His headache was better the next day. The first thing Ajay did in the morning was called up the banks and blocked the credit cards. He also went to the police station on the way to office, to file a complain on his lost license. He reached office, opened his mail box and was happy to see the appreciation mail from client. Then he vaguely opened his drawer and was silent for minute, the reason was the wallet was lying inside it. He just smiled to himself...

In the Sky

2009-02-26T01:19:00.005-05:00

27th Friday 3.30 PM IST

"When you are reading this, I might be probably IN THE SKY..." Preeti just read the first few lines from Shiva's blog. Shiva had updated his blog just before starting from Newyork (to chennai) and had mailed it to his wife. She continued reading it. "Its middle of night in India and im ready to board the flight. I was not sure to disturb your sleep. So I just thought I will write all the things that I wanted to tell you in my blog. I had a strange feeling after I checked in and was lazily sitting at the GATE for boarding. I dint know what it was but a sense of feel inside...that i missed you. Its not the usual way that I miss you, it was more than that."

===========================

26th Thursday 8.00 AM EST (26th Thursday 6.30 PM IST)

Shiva : "Mixi..."

Preeti's mom : "Hello.."

Shiva : "Enna Mixi, Valakama aluku mootai'nu thane koopiduve"

Preeti's mom : "Hello, yaaru pesrathu?"

Shiva : "Oh, athai neengala. Na Shiva pesuren, Preeti illaya"

Preeti's mom : "Iruka iruka - tho koopiduren (Preetiiiiiiii... enga poi tholanja) phonela avar pesurar!, Neenge eppadi irukeenge maaplai"

Shiva : "Na nalla iruke athai, neenge mama ellarum sowkiyama?"

Preeti's mom : "Ellarum nalla irukum, tho vanthutaa.." intha preeti

Preeti : "Sollunge!!!"

Shiva : "Ungamma ve poi mixi nu kooptenna, avangaluku onnum puriyale"

(As preeti's mom leaves the place)

Preeti : "Ha ha...Alukku mootai, innikavathu kulichiya?"

Shiva : "Guiness record, 3 days continously took bath"

Preeti : "Wow, athiyasayama iruke. Seri packed all your bags?"

Shiva : "Yes yes, all done. Flight is at 3 and 11'ku start panniduven"

Preeti : "Ellathayum oru vaati check panniko, paasport, ticket. Check if you have switched off the heater, gas"

Shiva : "100th time solre ithey... dont worry i will take care. Seri payan enna solraa?"

Preeti : "Movements neraya iruku, Enaku bayama iruku. I want you to be here with me"

Shiva : "Keep cool, tension agathey. Tho vanthuduven 1 day le. Payan enakage wait pannuvaan"

Preeti : "Payan'e mudivu panniyacha?"

Shiva : "Not really but instincts say that. Ponna irunthalam no problem I would love her all the more"

(Preeti's parents come near and so her tone changes back)

Preeti : "Seringa! paathu bathrama vaange. Airport le theriyatha aal kitta pesathinge, dont get things from strangers"

Shiva : "Ok Preeti Mixi, dont worry I will be safe. You take care, I luv you"

Preeti : "I too luv da"

Shiva : "Byeee..."

Preeti : "Byeeee..."

===========================

27th Friday 3.31 PM IST

Preeti continued reading shiva's blog. "Its not the usual way that I miss you, it was more than that. So I just thought I will let you know that I luv you very much, more than anything else in this world. I had been harsh with you at times, but I have never asked a sorry. You were the one who use to compromise always and I have felt bad about that but I never had the courage to ask an apology. These 3 months when I was alone, I missed you a lot. I might not have told you that every day but I really missed you a lot. I also knew how difficult it is, to be a home maker. I have made fun of you and teased you lot of times saying that you are always at home, not working and enjoying. But now I know how difficult it is to cook variety of food for each meal, clean the utensils, clean the house, decorate them. You used to do all of these and welcome me with a smile in the evening when I returned from office. Each day I get fed up of thinking what to cook and many times I just leave the utensils on the wash basin for couple of days. When I wash them together, I end up having back pain. I know how much you love me and how much you used to take care of me. I really missed all that. I didnt know it when you were with me but when you were not there I felt a lot. I read this somewhere "We miss those people whome we dont want to miss". I really miss you. I didnt say all these to you earlier because I know you will feel bad for me. Now I'm saying this not because to make you feel bad but to tell you that I know your pain, to tell you that I luv you, to tell you that I miss you. This time its a different feeling of missing. I'm eagerly waiting to see you and our yet to be born baby. All along the flight I would be IN THE SKY thinking of you MIXI..."

===========================

26th Thursday 10.00 AM EST (26th Thursday 8.30 PM IST)

Shiva checked the bags for the last time. He made sure they dont weigh more than 23 KGs, as he had enough experiences earlier. Checked everything around. He quickly had kellogs with milk. Washed the dishes. He then cleaned the house for the final time, cleared the fridge and kept the garbage bag outside. Checked his passport and check the flight timings once again. He sat relaxed on the sofa and switched on his TV. Checked the temperature, it was exactly 32'F (exactly 0'C). He kept his MP3 player out so that it he can use it in the airport and in the flight.

===========================

26th Thursday 11.00 AM EST (26th Thursday 8.30 PM IST)

Taxi came on time. He carried the bags outside, made sure everything was fine then locked the house. It was freezing outside and he switched his MP3 player on. "Veyilodu Vilayadi, Veyilodu uravaadi, Veyilodu mallukatti aatam potome!!!" song from the movie "Veyil" was playing. He got into the taxi and told the driver "JFK Airport". He then got into the song. As he was listening to it he was laughing to himself thinking about the irony that the weather was 0 degrees while the song is about playing with hot sunny day. Taxi reached JFK airport comfortably by an hour. By the next one hour Shiva finished the checking, got the boarding passes and went to GATE 23. He still had about an hour and a half for the flight, so just opened his laptop. It was then he got the strange feeling. "Grnnnnnnnnnnnng!!!" At the same time his mobile alarm rang as if giving a signal to his thought. He had set that alarm one day before as a reminder to do some activity. Shiva is a guy who gets these instincts and dreams that kind of come true. Whenever he gets these instincts or dreams he immediately makes it a point to tell someone so that it doesnt happen. But to his bad luck there was no one to talk about or he could think off to call. It was too late to wake up Preeti as well. Finally decided to write a blog.

===========================

27th Friday 3.32 PM IST

Preeti was in tears as she read Shiva's blog. The same moment the news flash on TV read about a Flight from NewYork crashing into Hudson River...

===========================

So was it the flight that shiva travelled ?

If so what actually happened and were the passengers saved ?

If not, did shiva make it to Chennai ?

Did he meet Preeti ?

Did Preeti deliver a baby ?

Was it a boy or a girl ?

If you want to know the answers to these questions, write a comment in this blog or drop a mail to me. When I write the part 2, I will send an email.

Excellence

2009-02-24T22:54:00.002-05:00

A German once visited a temple under construction where he saw a sculptor making an idol of God. Suddenly he noticed a similar idol lying nearby. Surprised, he asked the sculptor, "Do you need two statues of the same idol?" "No," said the sculptor without looking up, "We need only one, but the first one got damaged at the last stage." The gentleman examined the idol and found no apparent damage. "Where is the damage?" he asked. "There is a scratch on the nose of the idol." said the sculptor, still busy with his work. "Where are you going to install the idol?"

The sculptor replied that it would be installed on a pillar twenty feet high. "If the idol is that far, who is going to know that there is a scratch on the nose?" the gentleman asked. The sculptor stopped his work, looked up at the gentleman, smiled and said, "I will know it."

The desire to excel is exclusive of the fact whether someone else appreciates it or not. "Excellence" is a drive from inside, not outside. Excellence is not for someone else to notice but for your own satisfaction and efficiency...

Oscar Award - A.R.Rahman

2009-02-22T22:51:00.028-05:00

"All my life I had 2 choice Hate & Love, I chose Love and here I'm" - were the words by A.R.Rehman, the music director when he received the oscar award for best musical song. He also got the award for best musical score and he said a sentence in tamil "Ella pugalum iraivanuke"

I was lucky to watch the oscar not directly in hollywood but just in TV, still it was very good that I got a chance as I was in US. It is very special because of Slumdog Millionaire, the movie about a guy from slum making it to the "who wants to be a millionaire". Though its directed by an English director its a story based in India and more over A.R. Rehman has done the musical score for it.

Seeing the nominations and the predictions I was pretty sure Slumdog Millionaire would win atleast 5 awards and as per that it did. In fact it won 8 awards out of 10 nominations winning the Best Movie, Best Direction, Best Musical Score, Best Musical Song, Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing, Best Sound Mixing. The best part was A.R. Rehman winning the Oscar for Musical score, the first indian ever. And to be more proud he is from Chennai, Tamil Nadu.

It was good to see the entire actors including all the child artists of Slumdog Millionaire in the hollywood. It would have been the happiest moment for all of them being at the Oscar Award Ceremony. All together it was a wonderful, memorable night

29 years back

2009-02-19T14:43:00.007-05:00

29 years back, almost the same time a miracle happened.... You should be guessing it already, yes a baby was born to this world and he is none other than myself :) I wanted to give more hype but that wont sound very interesting at this point but would after a few years when I really make it big.

Last year bday was very special to me as it was the first bday after marriage. Uma had prepared wonderful dinner and we served it as buffet. Inivited the close friends home and had very good time. Few of them couldnt make it as they were not in station and missed them.

This time it was a very quite one as I was alone here in US and even Uma being in chennai it was not very exciting. But I felt very good as all my friends remembered and called me to wish. One surprise was my school principal Seetha Ramakrishnan had called my number to wish me. Uma told her that I'm in US but conveyed the message to me. Thanks mam for remembering and wishing me!!!

These were pics that were taken during last year bday.
http://picasaweb.google.com/nsanjayan/Sanj_bday_2008#

Always Remember

2009-02-04T02:06:00.001-05:00

Australian Open : Rafael <> Roger - the Rivalry

2009-02-03T21:14:00.009-05:00

What else could be the greatest rivalry in Tennis other than Rafael Nadal, the world no 1 meeting Roger Federer, the world no 2. Just a year back the numbers were the other way. I'm not actualy a crazy fan of Tennis and used to watch it rarely (main reason being dont get it telecasted in cable). It was after I came to US in 2008 that I happen to watch Wimbeldon, US Open and now Australian open 2009.

I remember watching wimbeldon 2008, Federed was No 1 while Nadal was No 2. Nadal won the first 2 sets. I wanted Federer to win the next 2 set but wished Nadal won the match. Just as I wished it happened. This time in Australian open I wanted Federed to punch back and get the 14th grand slam to equal Sampras record. The match was very interesting and went on up to 5 sets but unfortunately Federer couldnt make it.

I dint expect Federer to cry in the presentation. It was very hard to see. This shows however big you are, however rich you are, finally you are a human. I have read that "Success is counted sweetest by those who HAVENT achieved it". Federer would have felt that one. If it is difficult to reach to the top it is even more difficult to maintain that. But im pretty sure, Federer is going to break Sampres record, what a class player. And Nadal would break Federer record quickly with his athletic game.

But my man of Australian open 2009 is the 14th rank Fernando Verdasco, what a fight he gave with Nadal in the semi-finals. This being his first semi-final in a grand slam, he never looked liked playing against world no 1. He almost gave a threat to Nadal and would have infact won him if he had not done few errors in the last. With a score of 7-6(4), 4-6, 6-7(2), 7-6(1), 4-6 and a final time of 5 hours and 14 minutes, their match was the longest in Australian Open history. He had an amazing serve, style, power and stamina. He looked smart as well.

For more photos, check out http://www.tennis.com/players/playerphotos.aspx?player_name=Fernando%20Verdasco&offset=0

Being Indian, how can I miss the Mixed doubles winners Mahesh Bhupathi, Sania Mirza. If not in singles atleast in doubles, India name has been appearing quite often. Bhupathi did come to the finals in doubles as well but lost it. Among the Junior boys, Yuki bambri of India won the finals. So thats a good news that youngsters are coming up. Lets see whats the future.

I'm eagerly waiting for my baby next month... its one of the dream to make him/her as a tennis player....

Apurva missing - Help!!!

2009-02-03T20:21:00.002-05:00

I got this as a fwd mail and just added it to my blog so that incase if anyone happens to see it might be helpful...

--------------

Hello friends,

I have a very noble cause behind sending this mail to all of you.Please spare some time to read through it. My Army friend met a guy named Mr. Ravi Shankar on the train when he was returning from chennai on 26th of December, 2008. I was having a regular chat with him regarding the Army and its rules and regulations and how the forces are admired in our country.
He then told me about a shocking tragedy that his family went through and hence I write this mail to you seeking your help.

He told me that he was posted in CAR-NICOBAR in the year 2004 as a seargent in the INDIAN AIR-FORCE.. On 26th of december that year his family fell victim to the Unfortunate Tsunami that struck out eastern coast.He along with his wife and two children(photo below) were washed in the deadly waters.Reaching out his wife managed to cling onto A tree but his small son(picture insight on the left)had swollowed too much water and passed away in her arms. Ravi also in desperation to swim lost grip of his daughter's(APURVA) hand. She was washed away and was never to be found again,until one day they came to know of her being sighted at a relief camp. On contacting the authorities they came to know that this little girl Was abducted from the relief camp and was missing again. Since then Mr. Ravi shankar has been travelling to chennai every year with a hope to see his daughter. He has been publishing MISSING coloums in major daily's in chennai,and he showed me how heavily these newspapers had a charged him for a those ad's. One of the major newspapers charged him a whooping amount of 12000 rupees for a 4 X 4 cm ad(that too on the fourth page). Please donot consider this mail a regular chain mail and do care to forward this to your near and dear ones. He requested me to do something to reach out to people who use e-media(internet etc.).

I myself have posted her picture on my blog and i request people who own there personal blog pages to post this girl's picture there as it could be of significant help. In case any news of any nature is found regarding her (APURVA) please drop in a mail at the below mentioned mail id's or the following address.

1. James mathew( mailto:123.mathew@gmail.com )
2. Amit kumar ( mailto:amitkumarmajor@hotmail.com )
3. khem chandra pan ( mailto:khemchandrapan@yahoo.com )

Or contact:

Mr. RAVI SHANKAR
SMQ – 17/2
AF VAYUSENABAD
TUGLAKABAD
NEW DELHI-110062

Phone no - 09868763263

This is APURVA's picture taken in year 2004 with her younger brother.

Disturbed Mind ?

2009-02-03T19:58:00.003-05:00

When I was disturbed for something I vaguely searched the web and got a good article from this website and immediately thought of putting it on my blog. Check it out

http://www.healthmantra.com/disturbed.shtml

Is it the Emotional Turbulence ? Why are you disturbed, what is inside you that gets disturbed. Mind is the key to the whole game. It goes after things that you are attached to.

Mind can not be controlled, If you supress very hard it may bounce back with double the FURY. Do not try to fight it, Watch it like an observer. Go deeper and you may discover that you are the maker of this MIND and not vice versa.

Try to understand the basis. Why Mind is after certain things, because of attachment. When attachment goes away Mind will achieve quietness. Dead do not get disturbed, why do you allow energy flow to elements that disturb you. You have formed a mental picture and when things outside do not match this picture you are disturbed, so you SEE you are the creator of this DISTURBANCE. Acceptance of LIFE IS the the key to avoiding all disturbanc.

Disturbance is directly proportional to your view of LIFE, more seriously you take it more you will be disturbed. If you assign drama value to this life, (this too will pass) you will find that it will become much easier to face LIFE, assign dream value to the incidents and they will not cling to your MIND.

Who are we? Why have we come here, what do we seek and in the end what we have got ? Ponder over these questions, examine your past and see what you achieved so far and what satisfaction it gave ? Why still keep running after things, take life ONE day at a time, dedicate for each job as if you are doing it for your GOD. Do not give up the pursuit, persistence will pay, Path is not easy BUT the end result is worth the struggle.

Why you do not learn from past. You earned 50 then 500 then 5000, did it make you happy? and still you run after 50000 thinking it will make you happy. You have faced many problems in past, what was the outcome, did the world end ? Then WHY you allow the problem today to disturb you.

Understand the fundamentals:
We get disturbed because of our belief PATTERN, I thought he was good but he proved to be bad. Once you understand that problem is not with him BUT with your belief PATTERN then you will begin to change. To remove unwanted belief PATTERNs understanding is necessary, ONCE you have understood the secret of life then you will not be shaken in most difficult situations in LIFE.

The most important thing to understand about life problems: they are created by your unclarity of vision. So it is not that first you see them clearly, then you find the solution and then you try to apply the solution. No, the process is not that long; the process is very simple and short. The moment you can see your life problem clearly, it dissolves.

It is not that you have now found an answer that you will apply, and someday you will succeed in destroying the problem. The problem existed in your unclarity of vision. You were its creator. Remember again, I am talking about life problems. I am not saying that if your car is broken down you just sit silently and see clearly what the problem is: the problem is clear, now do something! It is not a question of you simply sitting under a tree and meditating and just once in a while opening your eyes and seeing whether the problem is solved or not.

This is not a life problem, it is a mechanical problem. If your tire is punctured you will have to change the wheel. Sitting won't do; you just get up and change the wheel. It has nothing to do with your mind and your clarity; it has something to do with the road. What can your clarity do with the road? Otherwise, three thousand meditators here cannot mend one road? Just meditation would have been enough!

But the question is only about life problems. For example, you are feeling jealous, angry; you are feeling a kind of meaninglessness. You are dragging yourself somehow; you don't feel that life is juicy anymore. These are life- problems and they arise out of your unclarity of mind. Because unclarity is the source of their arising, clarity becomes their dissolution. If you are clear, if you can see clearly, the problem will disappear.

You have not to do anything other than that. Just seeing, just watching its whole process: how the problem arises, how it takes possession of you, how you become completely clouded by it, blinded by it; and how you start acting madly, for which you repent later on…. You realize later on that it was sheer insanity, that "I did it in spite of myself. I never wanted to do it, still I did it. And even when I was doing it I knew that I didn't want to do it." But it was as if you were possessed.... (by Osho)

Shajini - 8 pack sanju

2009-01-23T23:11:00.007-05:00

Ok let me go to the review of Ghajini hindi movie. If you have not watched Ghajini in tamil then this would really be an entertaining movie, watch it. If you already watched in tamil, its not that it wont be good but its mostly the same but edited well. Lot of minor corrections has been done and the 2nd half is better in Hindi. The climax especially is fantastic. Aamir is simply superb in the role. But we have already seen him in this kind of rich look it was not something new. For Surya it was totally a new charming look as sanjay ramasamy. And more over there is a lot of diff between the rich look guy and the short term memory loss patient for surya while for aamir, he was still charming with that psycho char. I liked Asin because of the character kalpana in Ghajini and she has done the same pretty good job in hindi. Murugadoss along with Aamir has re-edited the movie well. For both Murugadoss and Asin its a very good break in bollywood.

As far as music is concerned I still feel tamil was far better, may be because I got used to it. Even the background score was very impressive in tamil, especially with the scenes were Asin was introduced. Major plus for hindi is Aamir and especially with his 8 packs. Background score during the action scenes are good in hindi as well.

P.S : Thanks to Anees for getting the tickets for Ghajini in Satyam

Slumdog Millionaire

2009-01-23T23:08:00.005-05:00

An excellant movie about destiny. This is a story about a boy from the slums of mumbai who wins the competition "Who wants to be a millonaire" (kaun banega crorepati)? It has the touch of art, showing the reality of people in slums in mumbai. It has been directed by a British director Danny Boyle based on the novel "Q and A" written by an Indian Author Vikas Swarup.

However there are few things which I dint like about the movie.

The movie shows the reality (unlike the usual masala) but couldn't accept the fact that the kids are talking in english that too with such a fluency. But if it wasnt like that it wouldnt have got such recognition.
I did hear lot of controversies about showing India as a poor country or selling the poverty of India. I dont agree with that point, the story is about boy from slum. But at one scene when the kids steal all the things from the foreign tourist, the boy says "this is india" and the American's in return give him money and say "this is america". That was very hard to see because this movie is being showcased all over the world and this projects bad picture of India.
Asking all the questions for which he knew the answers could be his destiny. But do they have to be in a sequential manner of his life? I couldnt consider that also as part of destiny.

Though the movie was good but I was thinking whether was it really that extra ordinary for receiving so many awards. It may be a common story in India but I guess for the rest of world this was something new. It has won the Golden Globe Awards and now is being nominated for oscars. It has been rated as 34 out of 250 in all time best movies in IMDB (http://www.imdb.com/chart/top)

Check out more here
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slumdog_Millionaire

Yet another adventure

2009-01-23T22:35:00.005-05:00

I know you are reading the title and wondering what it is referring to. Its about the recent US Airways crash landing on the Hudson River. Why did I call it yet another adventure? It is because i have already experienced and seen couple of adventures in NY. Refer to the below links before reading this article, where I have shared my earlier experiences.

Coming to the topic, time was around 3.30 pm in US. I was in the 36th floor of 150 E building which was in the 42nd street of Midtown Manhatten. Got a mail from pfizer security desk that a Flight US Airways has crashed into Hudson River, near 48th Street but all passengers were safe. Then me and my collegue Sankar tried to look through the window if we can get some glance. Unfortunately we were on the east side and so all we could see was the distant helicopters.

Then we googled, Youtubed and did all search on the web to see the news. By now everyone would have known the news but let me rewind it to have a record in my blog.

15th January 2009
US Airways Flight 1549 took off from the LaGuardia Airport in NY but within minutes it striked with a flock of geese that made the engine go for a toss. Pilot couldnt go back to the airport and so he did a fantastic job by landing in Hudson River. The temperature outside was freezing at 20 F (around -6 degree celcius) and within 5 to 10 mins all the passengers were evacuated. Near by ferries hurried to rescue them. All passengers were safe. The pilot was Chesley Burnett Sullenberger III and he really did an amazing job by landing the flight safely. I wish I was part of this adventure :)

Vaaranam Aayiram

2009-01-23T22:13:00.002-05:00

I edited this picture long back even before watching the movie but wanted to come out with my own story of Vaaranam Aayiram. Dint find the right time and so thought of putting the picture along with my review of the movie.

I happen to go back to chennai officially for a month in december and that was very lucky as I could watch this movie with my wife uma on her bday.

Yet another fantastic movie from Gautham, the direction is simply superb. Its an ordinary story told in an impressive way. The first half is very lively, romantic and enjoyable while the second half is bit dragging but all together i liked it a lot. Songs in the movie are awesome and i have been hearing that almost everyday in my mp3 player while travelling to office in NY. Surya has perfectly done is role and infact im very jelous of him for getting such a character. I guess he would have had atleast 10 to 12 different look in this movie. I dont want to get too much detail into the story but its definitely worth a watch.

Forgot to metion the best part of it........... the six pack sanju

Man in the Mirror

2008-12-01T17:00:00.002-05:00

When you get what you want as your struggle for self
And the world makes you king for a day,
Just go to the mirror and look at yourself,
And see what that man has to say.

For it isn't your father or mother or wife
Who's judgement upon you must pass;
The person whose verdict counts most in your life
Is the one staring back from the glass.

He's the person to please, never mind all the rest,
For he's with you clear up to the end.
And you've passed your most dangerous, difficult test
If the man in the glass if your friend.

You may fool the whole world down the pathway of life,
And get pats on your back as you pass.
But your final reward will be heartache and tears
If you've cheated the man in the glass

Tears

2008-11-10T15:14:00.002-05:00

Meeting abroad

2008-10-29T23:14:00.006-04:00

Karthik and I in City Center, Dubai in 2003

Karthik and I in TimeSquare, New York in 2008 (After 5 years)

Naan Sutte Dosai

2008-10-29T22:37:00.003-04:00

At laaaaaaaaaaaast naaanum Samayal ulagathirkul Nulainthu vitten!!!

I'm very lazy and hate to go to the kitchen. I have hardly helped mom in cooking. I had always thought that I could get into that after marriage, but Uma never let me. So Aaandavana paaathu aaapu vechutaan. Yes Uma went back to chennai and im alone here in US :( experimenting cooking.

The picture you are seeing is not just dosa... but a totally new variety called "The Samba Dosa". Very simple to do. When you have Dosai maavu (flour) that is little old, it would have become sour (pulichi poyirukkum). Normally people would either add onion or rava. I was lazy to cut onion, tried searching for rava. Takkunnu kannle pattathu Samba ravai. So thought why not try this. Added the samba ravai and little water to the sour dosa flour. Mixed it and tried it. Wow!!! it came out so beautifully and it tasted good as well.

I was so excited that i made something knew on my own and so called up Uma immediately to tell her about that. She was like "why did u mix samba rava". That would need more time for cooking and if taken raw it would cause stomach ache leading to ________. I'm writing this just after having the dosa. So got to wait for some time to see the results he he!!! I'm prepared with cyclopam tablet ready :)

If you want to experiment the same... I'm not responsible for any consequences

The Last Lecture

2008-10-27T23:16:00.006-04:00

This is an excellent lecture (last) from Randy Pausch that inspires people to achieve their dreams. Randy was a professor in Carnegie Mellon university who became one of Time magazine's Top 100 most influential people in 2007. This video is about an hour and 16 mins but worth watching.

12 sustainable design ideas from nature

2008-10-27T23:12:00.002-04:00

This is a speech from Janine Benyus about 12 sustainable design ideas from nature. Check it out for yourself.

Every road ends somewhere...

2008-10-23T23:55:00.019-04:00

A Year after...

2008-09-04T09:32:00.007-04:00

Ok this is how we look after 1 year of marriage...

So its been 1 year since we got married. Celeberated 1st anniversary on 30th August in simple manner by exchanging gifts. As a rememberance got a small fish tank with 2 fishes in it (red swodtail). We went to Ganesha temple in new york. For more pictures click on this

Time just flew away and couldnt believe that its already 1 year completed. Wanted to write in detail about this 1 year but keeping it simple for this moment. Its totally a different feeling, different life that everyone needs to face it. Lot of good things, few hickups here and there (without which life wont be interesting). As I moved to US, got an oppurtunity to look for seperate house, buy things and do all the thing for a newly married couple. Altogether this travel of 1 year was a wonderful experience with Uma (without whom it wouldn't have been so happy, exciting, adventourous and colorful).

This was 1 year before ...

From Godavari to Google on wheel chair

2008-09-03T18:14:00.003-04:00

Naga Naresh Karutura has just passed out of IIT Madras in Computer Science and has joined Google in Bangalore .You may ask, what's so special about this 21-year-old when there are hundreds of students passing out from various IITs and joining big companies like Google?

Naresh is special. His parents are illiterate. He has no legs and moves around in his powered wheel chair. (In fact, when I could not locate his lab, he told me over the mobile phone, 'I will come and pick you up'. And in no time, he was there to guide me) Ever smiling, optimistic and full of spirit; that is Naresh. He says, 'God has always been planning things for me. That is why I feel I am lucky.' Read why Naresh feels he is lucky.

Childhood in a villageI spent the first seven years of my life in Teeparru, a small village in Andhra Pradesh, on the banks of the river Godavari. My father Prasad was a lorry driver and my mother Kumari, a house wife. Though they were illiterate, my parents instilled in me and my elder sister (Sirisha) the importance of studying..

Looking back, one thing that surprises me now is the way my father taught me when I was in the 1st and 2nd standards. My father would ask me questions from the text book, and I would answer them. At that time, I didn't know he could not read or write but to make me happy, he helped me in my studies!

Another memory that doesn't go away is the floodsin the village and how I was carried on top of a buffalo by my uncle.I also remember plucking fruits from a tree that was full of thorns.I used to be very naughty, running around and playing all the time with my friends.I used to get a lot of scolding for disturbing the elders who slept in the afternoon.The moment they started scolding, I would run away to the fields!I also remember finishing my school work fast in class and sleeping on the teacher's lap!

January 11, 1993, the fateful day

On the January 11, 1993 when we had the sankranti holidays, my mother took my sister and me to a nearby village for a family function. From there we were to go with our grandmother to our native place. But my grandmother did not come there. As there were no buses that day, my mother took a lift in my father's friend's lorry. As there were many people in the lorry, he made me sit next to him, close to the door. It was my fault; I fiddled with the door latch and it opened wide throwing me out. As I fell, my legs got cut by the iron rods protruding from the lorry. Nothing happened to me except scratches on my legs. The accident had happened just in front of a big private hospital but they refused to treat me saying it was an accident case. Then a police constable who was passing by took us to a government hospital.

First I underwent an operation as my small intestine got twisted. The doctors also bandaged my legs. I was there for a week. When the doctors found that gangrene had developed and it had reached up to my knees, they asked my father to take me to a district hospital. There, the doctors scolded my parents a lot for neglecting the wounds and allowing the gangrene to develop. But what could my ignorant parents do? In no time, both my legs were amputated up to the hips.
I remember waking up and asking my mother, where are my legs? I also remember that my mother cried when I asked the question. I was in the hospital for three months.

Life without legs

I don't think my life changed dramatically after I lost both my legs. Because all at home were doting on me, I was enjoying all the attention rather than pitying myself. I was happy that I got a lot of fruits and biscuits. The day I reached my village, my house was flooded with curious people; all of them wanted to know how a boy without legs looked. But I was not bothered; I was happy to see so many of them coming to see me, especially my friends!All my friends saw to it that I was part of all the games they played; they carried me everywhere.

God's hand

I believe in God. I believe in destiny. I feel he plans everything for you. If not for the accident, we would not have moved from the village to Tanuku, a town.There I joined a missionary school, and my father built a house next to the school. Till the tenth standard, I studied in that school. If I had continued in Teeparu, I may not have studied after the 10th. I may have started working as a farmer or someone like that after my studies. I am sure God had other plans for me.

My sister, my friendWhen the school was about to reopen, my parents moved from Teeparu to Tanuku, a town, and admitted both of us in a Missionary school. They decided to put my sister also in the same class though she is two years older. They thought she could take care of me if both of us were in the same class. My sister never complained. She would be there for everything. Many of my friends used to tell me, you are so lucky to have such a loving sister. There are many who do not care for their siblings. She carried me in the school for a few years and after a while, my friends took over the task. When I got the tricycle, my sister used to push me around in the school. My life, I would say, was normal, as everyone treated me like a normal kid.. I never wallowed in self-pity. I was a happy boy and competed with others to be on top and the others also looked at me as a competitor.

Inspiration

I was inspired by two people when in school; my Maths teacher Pramod Lal who encouraged me to participate in various local talent tests,and a brilliant boy called Chowdhary, who was my senior.When I came to know that he had joined Gowtham Junior College to prepare for IIT-JEE, it became my dream too. I was school first in 10th scoring 542/600. Because I topped in the state exams, Gowtham Junior College waived the fee for me. Pramod Sir's recommendation also helped. The fee was around Rs 50,000 per year, which my parents could never afford.

Moving to a residential schoolLiving in a residential school was a big change for me because till then my life centred around home and school and I had my parents and sister to take care of all my needs. It was the first time that I was interacting with society. It took one year for me to adjust to the new life.There, my inspiration was a boy called K K S Bhaskar who was in the top 10 in IIT-JEE exams. He used to come to our school to encourage us. Though my parents didn't know anything about Gowtham Junior School or IIT, they always saw to it that I was encouraged in whatever I wanted to do. If the results were good, they would praise me to the skies and if bad, they would try to see something good in that. They did not want me to feel bad. They are such wonderful supportive parents.

Life at IIT- Madras

Though my overall rank in the IIT-JEE was not that great (992), I was 4th in the physically handicapped category. So, I joined IIT, Madras to study Computer Science.Here, my role model was Karthik who was also my senior in school. I looked up to him during my years at IIT- Madras. He had asked for attached bathrooms for those with special needs before I came here itself. So, when I came here, the room had attached bath. He used to help me and guide me a lot when I was here.. I evolved as a person in these four years, both academically and personally. It has been a great experience studying here. The people I was interacting with were so brilliant that I felt privileged to sit along with them in the class. Just by speaking to my lab mates, I gained a lot.

Words are inadequate to express my gratitude to Prof Pandurangan and all my lab mates; all were simply great. I was sent to Boston along with four others for our internship by Prof Pandurangan. It was a great experience.

Joining Google R&D

I did not want to pursue PhD as I wanted my parents to take rest now. Morgan Stanley selected me first but I preferred Google because I wanted to work in pure computer science, algorithms and game theory.

I am lucky Do you know why I say I am lucky? I get help from total strangers without me asking for it. Once after my second year at IIT, I with some of my friends was travelling in a train for a
conference.We met a kind gentleman called Sundar in the train, and he has been taking care of my hostel fees from then on.

I have to mention about Jaipur foot. I had Jaipur foot when I was in 3rd standard. After two years, I stopped using them. As I had almost no stems on my legs, it was very tough to tie them to the body. I found walking with Jaipur foot very, very slow. Sitting also was a problem. I found my tricycle faster because I am one guy who wants to do things faster. One great thing about the hospital is, they don't think their role ends by just fixing the Jaipur foot; they arrange for livelihood for all. They asked me what help I needed from them. I told them at that time, if I got into an IIT, I needed financial help from them. So, from the day I joined IIT, Madras , my fees were taken care of by them. So, my education at the IIT was never a burden on my parentsand they could take care of my sister's Nursing studies.

Surprise awaited me at IIT. After my first year, when I went home, two things happened here at the Institute without my knowledge. I got a letter from my department that they had arranged a lift and ramps at the department for me.It also said that if I came a bit early and checked whether it met with my requirements, it would be good. Second surprise was, the Dean, Prof Idichandy and the Students General Secretary, Prasad had located a place that sold powered wheel chairs. The cost was Rs 55,000. What they did was, they did not buy the wheel chair; they gave me the money so that the wheel chair belonged to me and not the institute. My life changed after that.

I felt free and independent. That's why I say I am lucky. God has planned things for me and takes care of me at every step.

The world is full of good peopleI also feel if you are motivated and show some initiative, people around you will always help you. I also feel there are more good people in society than bad ones.

I want all those who read this to feel that if Naresh can achieve something in life, you can too.

Beautiful Kavithai's

2008-09-03T17:48:00.012-04:00

Got these impressive kavithai's as fwd mail... Both the picuture and the kavithai are excellent.

First Wedding Anniversary

2008-08-29T15:58:00.005-04:00

Its 1 year now since we are married but it looks like we have been living for years and I dont know how time flied. I thank god for giving you as my life partner...

I love you...

Does God Exist?

2008-08-25T16:27:00.004-04:00

This is a beautiful conversation between a professor and a student on existence of God. I have read this through forward mail long time but received it again and thought will put it in my collections

An atheist professor of philosophy speaks to his class on the problemscience has with God, The Almighty.He asks one of his new students to stand and.....

Prof: So you believe in God?

Student: Absolutely, sir.

Prof : Is God good?

Student: Sure.

Prof: Is God all-powerful?

Student: Yes.

Prof: My brother died of cancer even though he prayed to God to heal him.Most of us would attempt to help others who are ill. But God didn't. How isthis God good then? Hmm?

(Student is silent.)

Prof:You can't answer, can you? Let's start again, young fellow. Is God good?

Student:Yes.

Prof: Is Satan good?

Student:No.

Prof:Where does Satan come from?

Student:From...God...

Prof: That's right. Tell me son, is there evil in this world?

Student:Yes.

Prof: Evil is everywhere, isn't it? And God did make everything. Correct?

Student:Yes.

Prof: So who created evil?

(Student does not answer.)

Prof: Is there sickness? Immorality? Hatred? Ugliness? All these terrible things exist in the world, don't they?

Student:Yes, sir.

Prof:So, who created them?

(Student has no answer.)

Prof:Science says you have 5 senses you use to identify and observe the world around you.Tell me, son...Have you ever seen God?

Student:No, sir.

Prof:Tell us if you have ever heard your God?

Student:No, sir.

Prof:Have you ever felt your God, tasted your God, smelt your God? Have you ever had any sensory perception of God for that matter?

Student:No, sir. I'm afraid I haven't.

Prof:Yet you still believe in Him?

Student:Yes.

Prof:According to empirical, testable, demonstrable protocol, science saysyour GOD doesn't exist. What do you say to that, son?

Student:Nothing. I only have my faith.

Prof:Yes. Faith. And that is the problem science has.

Student: Professor, is there such a thing as heat?

Prof:Yes.

Student:And is there such a thing as cold?

Prof:Yes.

Student: No sir. There isn't.(The lecture theatre becomes very quiet with this turn of events.)

Student: Sir, you can have lots of heat, even more heat, superheat, megaheat, white heat, a little heat or no heat. But we don't have anythingcalled cold. We can hit 458 degrees below zero which is no heat, but wecan't go any further after that. There is no such thing as cold. Cold is only a word we use to describe the absence of heat.We cannot measure cold. Heat is energy. Cold is not the opposite of heat sir, just the absence of it .(There is pin-drop silence in the lecture theatre.)

Student: What about darkness, Professor? Is there such a thing as darkness?

Prof:Yes. What is night if there isn't darkness?

Student :You're wrong again, sir. Darkness is the absence of something. You can have low light, normal light, bright light, flashing light....But if youhave no light constantly, you have nothing and it's called darkness, isn't it? In reality, darkness isn't. If it were you would be able to make darkness darker, wouldn't you?

Prof:So what is the point you are making, young man?

Student:Sir, my point is your philosophical premise is flawed.

Prof:Flawed? Can you explain how?

Student:Sir, you are working on the premise of duality. You argue there islife and then there is death, a good God and a bad God. You are viewing theconcept of God as something finite, something we can measure. Sir, sciencecan't even explain a thought. It uses electricity and magnetism, but hasnever seen, much less fully understood either one. To view death as theopposite of life is to be ignorant of the fact that death cannot exist as a substantive thing. Death is not the opposite of life: just the absence of it.Now tell me, Professor. Do you teach your students that they evolved from a monkey?
Prof:If you are referring to the natural evolutionary process, yes, of course, I do.

Student: Have you ever observed evolution with your own eyes, sir?

(The Professor shakes his head with a smile, beginning to realize where the argument is going.)

Student: Since no one has ever observed the process of evolution at workand cannot even prove that this process is an on-going endeavor, are you not teaching your opinion, sir? Are you not a scientist but a preacher? (The class is in uproar.)

Student: Is there anyone in the class who has ever seen the Professor's brain?(The class breaks out into laughter.)

Student: Is there anyone here who has ever heard the Professor's brain,felt it, touched or smelt it? No one appears to have done so. So, accordingto the established rules of empirical, stable, demonstrable protocol,science says that you have no brain,sir.With all due respect, sir, how do we then trust your lectures, sir? (The room is silent. The professor stares at the student, his face unfathomable.)

Prof: I guess you'll have to take them on faith, son.

Student:That is it sir... The link between man & god is FAITH . That is all that keeps things moving & alive

Never Abandon

2008-08-25T16:24:00.002-04:00

WHEN A LIZARD CAN DO IT, WHY CAN'T WE DO IT?

This is a true story that happened in Japan.In order to renovate the house, someone in Japan breaks open the wall.Japanese houses normally have a hollow space between the wooden walls.When tearing down the walls, he found that there was a lizard stuck there because a nail from outside hammered into one of its feet. He sees this, feels pity, and at the same time curious, as when he checked the nail, it was nailed 10 years ago when the house was! first built.What happened?The lizard has survived in such position for 10 years! In a dark wall partition for 10 years without moving, it is impossible and mind-boggling. Then he wondered how this lizard survived for 10 years! without moving a single step--since its foot was nailed!So he stopped his work and observed the lizard, what it has been doing, and what and how it has been eating. Later, not knowing from where it came, appears another lizard, with food in its mouth. Ah! He was stunned and touched deeply. For the lizard that was stuck by nail, another lizard has been feeding it for the past 10 years...

Imagine? it has been doing that untiringly for 10 long years, without giving up hope on its partner.

Think, will u do that to your partner?

Think, will you do it to your Mom, Who brought you after a big struggle of nearly TEN long months?Or at least to your Dad, Friends, Co-workers, brothers and Sisters? Imagine what a small creature can do that a creature blessed with a brilliant mind can't. As information and communication technology advances, our access to information becomes faster and faster. But the distance between human beings . . .is it getting closer as well? As for now, I don't think so ?

Please never abandon your loved ones.

Wrong Number

2008-08-25T16:19:00.004-04:00

A sweet little story that I got through forward mail ...

It was the day of her son's XII results and she was so tensed. She sat beside him while he logged on the website with his registration no. "Ma", he screamed in excitement," I scored 1191, with centum in 4 subjects.I cant believe it. " She kinda became numb in my excitement. Her eyes became wet. She kissed him on his forehead and smiled.Soon they realized that he stood first in the state. Oh, her joy knew no bounds when Reporters and media persons soon swamped her house for interviews and photos. She was so honored to join him in the snaps.She wanted to call her "wrong-number- friend" to tell him the news......She was so excited. He was someone whom she has known for more than 20 years.

She still did not remember when they became friends, but certainly cannot forget the first day he called her when she blasted him for giving her so many wrong calls.....after that he had called up a week later asking apology, for he had now got the right no of his friend whom he wanted to talk to . They spoke for an hour that day...even without knowing each other's names.Though he kept pestering her to reveal her name she never did and so he kept a name...Sweety. She used to get so shy whenever he called her 'Sweety'. She was doing first year of BSc. Maths then, and he was a Computer Engineeringstudent.From then he used to call her very often . They almost discussed everything ..By the final year of her college, they probably were in love, but she had been cautious. She was in a dilemma whether to tell him. But what if he was of a different religion? Does she have the courage to talk to her parents about it? ........all these questions ran through her mind.She decided tat she'll not talk to him thereafter. When he called next time she lied to him that she was going to Delhi for her post graduation. He gave her his office number and asked her to ring him up once she reach there.She never called .......

A couple of months later her marriage got fixed with a guy of her parent's choice. She was not happy but she did not complain; rather accepted it as an obedient daughter. At times she felt she missed her wrong- number- friend...... .Her hubby was a moody person; she has hardly spent any good time with him- but he was genuine indeed and never bothered her personal space. After 2 years they had a boy... Yet,she was not very happy with her married life... One day she happened to browse through her diary and found that she still had her old friend's office phone no that he had given her. she dialed it and spoke with him. He said he was married and got a kid too. She was happy for him though in the bottom of the heart she felt bad that she could not marry him.From then she used to occasionally call him on that number. She never gave him hers as I felt that would put her in trouble.. And till today she almost shared everything with him including her relationship with her hubby..... today she was so happy and wanted to call him.

Just then she got a call. "Your husband met with an accident and died on the spot"She banged the phone down. She broke. She did not call her friend.....She somehow started feeling guilty. She has never tried to talk to him properly when he was alive or moved close with him.... She felt that she had been a bad wife........

A couple of years passed and one day her son brought home a Bengali girl and said they wanted to get married. She got them married as she did not want her son to go through what she did.She decided to give her son his father's room and started clearing it. There was a phone book. She gently opened it to find, "Wrong No Sweety -26579785"

Break your bond

2008-08-05T11:42:00.005-04:00

From one of the forwards...

As I was passing the elephants, I suddenly stopped, confused by the fact that these huge creatures were being held by only a small rope tied to their front leg. No cages. It was obvious that the elephants could, at anytime, break away from their bonds but for some reason, they did not.I saw a trainer near by and asked why these beautiful, magnificent animal just stood there and made no attempt to get away. "Well," he said, "when they are very young and much smaller we use the same size rope to tie them and, at that age, it's enough to hold them. As they grow up, they are conditioned to believe they cannot break away. They believe the rope can still hold them, so they never try to breakfree." I was amazed. These animals could at any time break free from their bonds but because they believed they couldn't, they were stuck right where they were.

Like the elephants, how many of us go through life hanging onto a belief that we cannot do something, simply because we failed at it once before?

Gato amor

2008-07-21T17:00:00.005-04:00

As mani (alias subramani) got up and was having his milk, he heard a female voice in the neighbour door. Unknowingly he got attracted to that and wanted to see who was it. Hurridly rushed to the outdoor pushing all the utensils kept on the kitchen shelf down. "Dei mani, Kalaile elunthiruche odene un velaiye kaatitiya...appadi enna avasaram, thala pora kariyama?" mom shouted. By the time he went out, she had gone inside and he felt just missed. He waited for a long time outside his house, then took a walk towards the end of street crossing the neighbours house couple of times but uhm hmm no signs of her outside, not even a glance. He started playing with his street friends and if he starts playing he wont know how the time goes. As he was playing his eyes was often going to the neighbour house side. But his hard luck there was no glimpse of her. By the time he finished playing it was late in the evening and he dint even go to house for lunch, anyways this wasnt the first time. As he silently entered the house, manju (his sister) started of slowly asking "Thorai enga poitu vararu? kalaile ponavaru ippo thaan veedu thirumbartho?" And then she raised her voice ..."unna pole thaane teenu'vum, avan evalo samatha veetliya irukaan paaru." Mani dint say anything but quietly went inside his room. "Po po... iniki nightu patni thaan"- added Manju. Its always Manju who scolds the most but then pours her love.

Next day, Mani gets up early this time trying his luck. All are surprised by the difference in him but then they think it might have been because of Manju's blasting last night. Now the voice of the female started growing more and so our Mani felt all the more good. As he walked outside the house She was standing there. Mani gave a look and at the same time she looked at him... Mani's heart pounded and he could hear the song in the background (Eyes'um eyes'um meet achu, high voltage shock achu...). He couldnt look at her for long and immediately looked somewhere else. She went inside with a blushing smile. Namba Mani mind kulara odene oru duet... "Nam thana nam thana kadhal varum, ethir kaalam varum". Earlier it was only her voice that was attractive, but then after seeing her, he felt she had the most pretty eyes, beautiful face. It was time to play with his gang on the streets. As he was playing he was looking at her, she was standing by her doors and they were exchanging looks. There was a small misunderstanding with the gang which lead to a fight and Mani feeling heroic this time dint give up that easily. Finally he almost chased the other one and felt a victory in his mind. As he was walking towards his house crossing the neighbours one, giving a look to her he felt another song in the background Maani, Maani, oh ho Maani (with the same tune as Maady, Maady oh ho Maady). Whole day he was dreaming about her.

Manju who was noting the difference in Mani and was watching his actions told her mom... "Mee (short form of mummy), namba mani enna panra theriyumaa? Pakkathu veetu poonai'ye sight adikuraan". Saying this she hugs both of her cats Mani & Teenu, she loves them so much and treats them like her brothers as she doesnt have one...

Path to Happiness

2008-06-19T14:18:00.004-04:00

No one is born happy
But all of us are born with the ability to create happiness ..
So each day, make others happy ..
Flash your sweetest smile
Make every day full of smiles...

US Guide

2008-06-16T13:30:00.005-04:00

Now that I have completed a month in a US and have got many of the basic things done (like SSN, Bank account, Mobile connection, Apartment...), I just thought will share the process and guide so that it would be useful for others who are landing new just like I did.

Applying for SSN (Social Security Number)

First and foremost thing to do is to apply for a SSN which is similar to our PAN. Its very simple. All we have to do is download the PDF form from the below site, fill it out and go to one of the SSN office directly.

http://www.ssa.gov/
http://www.ssa.gov/pubs/10120.html
http://www.ssa.gov/online/ss-5.pdf

Though the site says you need many information most probably they would ask only for the following Docs:-

Passport with valid visa
I-94 (Departure card)

To find out a near by SSN office use the below site and enter the zip code
https://secure.ssa.gov/apps6z/FOLO/fo001.jsp

For Jersey City the zip code is 07307 and the nearest SSN office is
SOCIAL SECURITY

3000 KENNEDY BOULEVARD

JERSEY CITY, NJ 07306

1-800-772-1213

This office is very close to Journal Square and we can take the Mini Bus shuttle that goes between New York and New Jersey along the JFK Boulevard. Within 2 or 3 weeks we would get the SSN mailed to the mentioned address. I gave my office address as I hadn’t shifted to an apartment by then. The SSN number would be in the format:- 999-99-9999.

Getting a Mobile Connection

There are number of service providers like Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile etc. But most of them don’t give us a mobile connection without a Credit History [that refers to the transaction of payments that you have done in the country]. Obviously for a new person that is going to be difficult. But T-Mobile alone gives you a connection without any credit history. All you need is a Passport with a valid visa.

Documents Required:-
- Passport with valid visa

You should able to find many shops, can use the google to search. For Jersey City there is one in Journal Square. They have many plans for single or family use and depending on our option we can choose. I got a family plan which includes 2 mobiles free Samsung blast & Nokia 6263 (there are few mobiles in the free list and if you choose any other mobile apart from that you may have to pay extra depending on the model). The monthly rent is about $69 + tax and it’s a contract for a year. Normally the contract is for 2 years but the guy assures for 1 year. Unlimited calls to any T-mobile and 1000 mins free for other nos. This 1000 mins includes even the incoming calls. But generally (throughout US) all calls over the weekends and all calls after 9pm before 8 am over the weekdays are free.

Opening a Bank Account

If your company as a corporate account, then you won’t have any issues as the HR-Admin would do everything for you. I never thought opening a Bank Account in US is easy as well. But again it depends on the Bank. Bank of America has many branches and lot of ATM’s and so I would suggest opening the account with them. The Documents Required are:-

Passport with valid visa
Credit Card (can be Indian card - for second identity)

It takes about an hour to get all your details but instantly they give a temporary debit card and 3 checks each for checking’s and savings account. After a week you will get your Debit card with photo. You need SSN for opening a Credit card and for a new person the limit is only $500. It can be increased only on credit history for which you have to use the current card for couple of months and make the payment regularly.

If you hadn’t applied for SSN, there is an option in Citibank where you can pay $500 and get a Credit card (its like a prepaid credit card). Based on the credit history of this card you can apply for a permanent credit card later.

Searching for a House and stuff

Craigslist [http://newjersey.craigslist.org] is one of the sites where we can keep looking for posts on Rental apartments. We can also look for electronics and furniture on second sale in the same site. It has links to all states of US and so I’m sure it would be helpful whichever part of US you are in. You can search based on the type (Apartment, Electronics, Furniture), date, the range of amount etc.

For Apartments
http://newjersey.craigslist.org/apa/

For Electronics
http://newjersey.craigslist.org/ele/

For Furniture
http://newjersey.craigslist.org/fur/

Apart from this if you are looking at Laptops, Camcorder, Digital Cameras to purchase you have many discounts and sales. Keep looking at the below site for offers
http://www.deals2buy.com/

NewYork Times Building Climber

2008-06-15T20:48:00.002-04:00

New York is full of adventure. Last year in July I happen to be part of the Steam pipe explosion [Check it out here]. And this time yet was another exciting adventure that I happen to see in NewYork.

On Thursday, June 6th Sanki and I took a walk to Port of Authority from office instead of the train as we started early. As we were walking we could see lot of police vehicles with sirens crossing us. When we were almost near the port of authority we saw huge crowd and everyone looking at the top. We got curious, joined the crowd and started looking in the direction where everyone was seeing. It was the NewYork Times building and guess what, a guy was climing the 52 storey building from outside without rope or any other equipment in hand. He was almost to the top when we saw and then realised it was for this that the police vehicles were going for. The place was crowded, surrounded by police, couple of helicopters were flying. We heard from the crowd that this guy climbed illegaly from the bottom till the top but dint know the reason at that time. Then on search of google and youtube came to know that 2 guys climbed it on the same day, Alain Robert at 12 pm for global warming and Renaldo Clarke at 6 pm for Malaria. It was exciting but very scary though. Check out the article for more details and couple of videos on you tube.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/06/nyregion/06climber.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

French daredevil scales New York Times building

New York Times Building Climber #2

Our house in New Jersey

2008-06-15T19:46:00.009-04:00

If anyone likes to send me a gift or any parcel please send it to the address :-
236, Griffith Street, Apt #1, Jersey City,
New Jersey - 07307
because thats were I live now...

Looking at the picture dont ask me if the car is ours. No its not, its someone else'. This house has 4 apartments inside and we live in the first floor (Ground).

This is the beautiful Kitchen and Uma is posing with the Micro Owen (that was gifted by anna-anni). we have the Gas stove on the left. The room which uma loves a lot and spends most of her time... cooking :)

This is the living room as seen from the kitchen. We have the TV, Stand and the sofa on the side. This is ofcourse uma's favourite room as well because she keeps the Food channel on :) Obviously the most spent room for me as i love watching movies.

This is the same living room but took the picture from the opposite side to have the full view of the Sofa. It's pretty decent one, isnt it? Uma got those cushion on the sides that add to the beauty.

And finally this is the bedroom as seen from the living room. The rent is about $1100 + utilities (which includes heat, electricity and gas). Only the Gas stove and Fridge was in the house. We bought rest of the things. Mattress was new one but the TV & Sofa we got it on a second sale.

Check out more pics here But all of these were taken using Nokia 6263. Forgot the camera usb cable and so took it using the mobile.

The Country/City I would like to Visit

2008-06-15T10:22:00.011-04:00

Its been quite a lot of gap (3 months) since I updated my blog. But here I'm back with the biggest one... Ooops!!! I forgot to mention that its 2nd anniversary for my blog. I started it on 5th June 2006 [Check out the first one] and here I complete 2 years and so new layout (matching the situation) and the biggest article of mine.

Year 1993, about 15 years back I was in the 8th standard. I was an average student and not so good at English (I can hear the background voices saying "As if good now..." Believe me I have improved a lot now). My favorite teacher was Sathy Achen who taught us English and as well as was the class teacher at that time. I liked her not just because of the subject but because of her nature. She was one of the best teacher I have seen in my life, not so strict, makes the class interesting, teaches very calm and patiently. She once gave us an assignment (used to call it as homework those days ;) and it was to write an essay on the topic "The Country or City I would like to Visit". Neither was I good in English nor had the creativity to write something on a given topic. More over I wasn't good at General knowledge, I mean I dint know many country names and where they were on the map (Of course we had geography and all the maps - locations but trust me it was very difficult to memorize them and remember them till the exam itself). I dint know what to write and how to write. Luckily Dad had some essay book (which I believe he would have never used it much) and asked me to use it. As I browsed the pages, I was surprised to see an article exactly on the same topic. Hurray!!! I was telling to myself and started copying from it. But as it was big, I skipped few lines here and there. Submitted the assignment next day and Mam returned the home work book after couple of days. I dint even look at it in the class but when I went home and as I vaguely turned the pages I could see something more than the tick mark. She had marked a V.Good and I was surprised, happy and amazed. Usually the top 3 or 4 rankers only get that and as I got that one, I felt a bit great. Guess what, after that only I started reading what I wrote :) It was about United States of America and more about the New York City - one of the busiest place in the world. I wont say that the essay was extraordinary but it was in simple english without any grammatical mistakes and to the point why I wanted to visit that place [Wanted to see how the people are in New york, what is their culture, what do they eat and how do they live ...] After all this is what is expected and not so easy for a 8th grade student. [Mam - If you get to read this... please forgive me for using a reference book but still I think this had encouraged me]

At that time I would have never even thought that I would travel to US. But the fact is, Yes Im in US right now (for those who dint know it, please consider this as an information). And Guess what, My office is in New York and I'm staying in New Jersey. I never had a dream to come to Newyork or any part of US. But ofcourse I wanted to travel in a Flight and wanted to visit foreign countries. I have travelled to few other countries before UAE, Ireland, Singapore, Hongkong, Thailand & Indonesia . I have also come to New york couple of times but all were short trips for a week or 2. This time its different, Im with Uma and this trip is for a year or 2. Its already a month now and I have been planning to write a blog about the udpates. I was thinking of a different start from the usual ones and the result is the one you are reading now ...

Here is the update starting from travel, stay, searching of house, getting stuffs for house, about the place, food, weather, people

From Chennai to New York

Let me start from the travel from Chennai. As usual did many things in the last minute for the travel. This time as uma was there she did most of the things, right from purchasing, packing and arranging. Major concern was the weight of the luggage. Each is one allowed to carry 2 checkin luggage each one not exceeding 23kgs plus 1 hand luggage. We had 5 checkin baggages, 2 hand luggages and still more stuffs. My manager and my collegue was also travelling together and so planned to give 1 baggage to manager and few stufs to my collegue. After doing all this we had to remove lot of things and rearrange everything to make sure the weight doesnt exceed 23kgs. I was very much concern about this as I already had an experience of excess baggage and removing things right in the airport when I had very less time to checkin. I was hoping that there was no issues. Reached the airport much ahead of time. Bid good-bye to all friends and family, went inside the airport and first level of security was the baggage screening. I never expected any problems there but to my surprise the security people found some thing in scanning and asked whose bag was that. I had to open the luggage for them and they searched for something. They asked me if I had something like Camphor or ***Sambrani***. Took the camphor out, they screened that seperately but said it is something else that was shown on the screening. Then they asked if I had similar bag and I had to open up the other bag. And that one had the sambrani which they removed. By the time I came out of the screening, I was sweating a lot and was telling to myself Aaramabame Ippothan!!! - This was adventure 1.

We had booked through Continental Airlines, Chennai-Mumbai & Mumbai-Newark. At the Checkin counter we asked for a through checkin to newark so that we need not take the baggage out and check it again in Mumbai. The guy at the counter did it in few mins for my manager but took a long time for me. He was saying that there was some issue in giving sequence tickets for me and uma. Then after few mins he said that his friend in next counter will help me. That guy took another 10 mins and my collegue (Sankar who had just come in) finished the checkin process. Finally he completed it but said that I had to get the boarding pass for Mumbai to Newark in Mumbai only but it is through checkin while my manager and collegue got both the boarding passes. This was adventure 2.

Then the security was all cleared. The moment we boarded the chennai-mumbai flight Uma was all in tears and was saying lets go back. She was also afraid about flight travel as this was the first time. As the flight took off she was all the more scared and was saying that her ears were paining a lot. Once the flight reached a reasonable height and the seat belt sign was off she was feeling better. Flight reached mumbai, we came out of the immigration, took the shuttle bus to the international airport and was about to join the security for mumbai-newark. All the way Uma was saying lets take the next flight to chennai. Just then we saw all our luggages kept outside which was suppose to be through check in. The Contentinal airlines security person was asking our L1 docs and we dint carry them thinking that L1 visa stamping in passport would be enough. But he said that they might send us back if we dont show the L1 docs and may charge fine to the airlines as well. Then they asked if we have some kind of invite letter from the client or us office. Sankar atleast had the appointment letter but I dint carry that as well. Manger contacted our mumbai office and luckily other manager was in mumbai. Our office was also near the airport and so asked him to get our L1 docs. But as we dint have much time we had to cancel the flight and were planning to take the next day flight. At this time I looked at uma as if things were happening her way :) We checked for other availabilities and there was a Air India flight at 1 in the mid night (two hours later) to JFK, New york. We tried for tickets and got them. Meanwhile asked the other manager to bring our docs, who had then left back home. This was adventure 3. Finally we boarded the Air-India flight from Mumbai to JFK. Normally I dont sleep much in the flight and used to watch 4-5 movies. Unusally this time slept a lot and just watched 2 movies but again not a good sleep, as the neck pained a lot.

Updates from US

Flight reached New York on Saturday after 16 hours of continous travel. We cleared all the immigration and no where they asked the docs. The moment we came out, uma was shivering. It would have been around 8 degrees and it was cold for me as well. I had atleast faced it earlier but for uma it was new. She used to shiver for the chennai weather itself, so just imagine. Took the taxi from JFK airport to Howard Johnson hotel in Newark. We stayed there for 2-3 days and shifted to another hotel Econo Lodge in Jersey City as it took long time to travel to office.

There was another adventure while shifting the hotel. When we shifted from Howard Johnson to Econo Lodge we asked the hotel for a cab. We were ready with all of our luggages in the lobby. As it was taking some time for the cab, I removed my laptop bag and kept it near the chair where my manager and collegue was sitting. I then took a walk outside to have a look outside. After few mins the cab came, it was van like vehicle. We loaded all the luggages and got in the van. This guy had GPS but inspite of that was taking some wrong directions and so had to roam a lot. And when we were near the hotel he exactly missed it and so he took a long u turn, trying to reach the back side of the hotel. He missed that as well, went again in the same road but finally made it to the hotel. We were unloading the luggages and then this guy asked $140. We were shocked because we had paid only $125 from the airport to previous hotel which was very far and more over the taxi to office was $80. We argued a lot with him but he was saying that it was companies rule (companikku katupidiyagatham). We got fed up and decided to give him the money but he dint have a receipt. My manager said that he wont pay unless he gets the receipt. Just then i realised that my laptop bag was missing which had the laptop, my passport and the currencies. I immediately tried to call the hotel Howard Johnson from Econo Lodge but the guy (indian) at the reception said he cant make calls unless I book the room. To book it I needed the passport which was in the bag. I was worried because my passport itself was in the bag. Explained him the situation and made a call to the hotel. They said there is no bag like that and i was tensed, shocked and upset. Then Sankar asked me to cool down and made a call again. Thank god it was there only. Meanwhile the van driver said he will pick the bag as he was anyways going back to get the receipt book. But we couldnt trust him and said we will take care of the bag. All the three of us went (sankar, my manager and I) took another taxi to the hotel. Good that Uma was in my brothers place otherwise she would have also got tensed. By the time we went there the Van driver had already taken the bag which shocked us all the more. We came back by the same taxi paying him $80. Thank God this driver had left the bag and the receipt. I had to take the same taxi ($25) to my brothers place to bring Uma to the hotel. This was adventure 4 - the biggest of all.

For 2 weeks we roamed almost all the streets of Jersey City looking for the apartment. Normally we used to search the craigslist, fix an appointment and visit the house to have a look. But on the way used to see the "For Rent" board and contact them. Thats how we found the apartment that we are staying now. It is pretty descent one, with a rent of $1100 + utilitites (that includes Heat, Electricity and Gas depending on our usage). It was 5 streets away from my brother's place and it was because of him that we easily found the place. Sanki's house was also 2 blocks away but had to cross couple of avenues. US is mosly with streets and avenues (that cross the streets perpendicularly). It was because of Sanki that I got many things quickly as he used to do a lot of research. In 3 weeks we got a lot of things done. Applied for SSN (Social Security Number) something similar to our PAN, Opened a Bank Account, Got a mobile connection, Found an apartment, Got basic things for house like Bed, TV, Sofa.

Travel to Office was already familiar to me as I have been here couple of times and have travelled from Anna's house to office in New York. Its a 2 mins walk from house to the Bus stop. There is this small bus shuttle, kind of van that keeps going from New Jersey to New York. The ticket rate is $2 and there would be lot of buses coming every 2 mins. It takes about 30-40 mins to reach Port of Authority in New york. This bus takes us through the Lincoln tunnel that goes under the Hudson River. From Port of Authority, we have to take the subway train. There are 2 levels of subways where these Metro trains run. The ticket again is $2, we got to get a Metro Card for any amount and keep charging it in the machine as and when in reduces.Just 2 stops and there is pfizer's office in 42nd Street, just opposite to the beautiful, skyscrapping Chrysler Building.

Adventure 5 : There is an interesting event that happened to me with the Metro Train. During the initial days when we (My PM, Collegue & myself) returning to the office, we took the subway to take the train. As we were going down the stairs I could see the Train and so I climbed down faster and entered the train. Its all automated doors and sometimes it will open for a 2nd time. I was thinking KK & Sanki would make it as well but by the time they came the doors got closed. I was feeling bad that they missed and was showing signals to Sanki. As the train moved Sanki was showing me the hand on the opposite direction and only then I realised I have taken the wrong train (that goes in the opposite direction). I hit my forehead with the hand, saying to myself Enna Kodumai Saravana!!! The adventure doesnt end here. It took a longer time to reach the station and as it reached I came out just to see that there is parallel platform to take the opp train just like we had it near our office. I had to go out of the subway to the main road, cross it and take the opp subway to come to the stop. I only 3$ in hand was wondering how am I going manage train and Bus (I needed $4, 2 for train and 2 for the bus. Was hoping Sanki and KK were waitig for me in the bus stop). I was doubtful If i taken the opposite subway or is it the same side one. Thinking about the same I took the wrong ticket (took some single ride ticket instead of Metro Card). I swiped the card couple of times and it dint work. Now all I have is $1 and dint know what to do. Then I searched my bag for coins and managed to get some. Used them and got a ticket finally. Then took the train to port of authority and luckily they were waiting for me :)

NewYork and NewJersey are quite opposite in terms of place & people. NewYork (esp Manhatten) is fully with skyscrapping tall buildings, while Jersey has small small houses so its like Vertical vs Horizontal. Newyork is one of the busiest place and you can see a hell lot of crowd walking in all directions especially when you get out of the train in the subway. Where as New Jersey is very very quiet, calm, hardly people come out. If you look at the picture you can see both sides cars parked but all houses closed and it looks as if bandh :) As far as food is concerned I have no issues as Uma cooks south indian dish all the 3 times a day. We get all groceries here, but have to take the Mini Bus to Journal Square where there is a street full of Indian restaurants & shops. There is another walkable place which leads to Central Avenue, where there are lot of shops but not much of Indian. We can get the vegetables, other house-old items etc. People are very disciplined and they greet you even if they dont know you. Coming to the weather, it was pretty cold when we landed like i have said earlier. After 2 weeks it suddenly got very hot touching 98'F thats about 32'C. Now its come to normal in 80's. (I'm slowly getting used to the US terms like Farenheit instead of celcius, Pounds instead of Kilograms, Miles instead of Kilometers etc). One good thing is the prediction of weather is accurate here and so you can plan your day well.

Have gone to few of the places like - Newport Mall- Bridge Water Temple

Manhatten => Grand Central Terminal, Chrysler Building
Bryant's Park
Empire State Building
Times Square
Wax Museum
Ferri to the Staten Island
Ganesha Temple

I will update the details about the places along with the pictures in the next blog.

Stars on the Earth

2008-02-06T02:02:00.007-05:00

Actor, Producer and now Director.... Aamir Khan prooved that he can be a great director as well. I had always admired his acting in movies, he choses the script so well that almost all of his movies are different and hit. And now as a director he has still gone ahead with a beautiful script. Hats off to him for this wonderful movie - Taare Zameen Par. This is definitely a director's movie and great that he chose this subject instead of some commercial aspect.

Coming to the movie, its the story about a Ishaant (8 yrs old) who has a unique problem called Dyslexia. Though his parents take care of him so much they dont actually understand his problem and put him into a boarding school. First half of the movie is fully about Ishaant and his activities. Its only then 2nd part that Aamir khan comes into the picture as an Art Teacher. He finds the problem in Ishaant and not only explains that to his parents but helps Ishaant to come out of it.

There are couple of very good scenes. One of the scene, when Aamir khan explains the class about Dyslexia he actually starts describing about the characters of such person and we get a hint that he is talking about the boy. But he gives example of famous persons like Einstein. It doesnt stop there, he again says that there is one more person with such problem in the class and that again reminds of Ishaant but finally after the class he explains to Ishaant it was him who also had this problem. The best part I liked in the movie was during the painting competition when ishaant shows his beautiful painting to Aamir and then goes around to see what his art teacher as painted, the camera takes a turn and then we see that awesome painting of Ishaant's face (the same one below).

The boy who has acted as Ishaant has done a marvellous job. Though Aamir khan selected his part of role as limited he did it so well. On the whole he has got the credits for direction. Altogether it was a very good movie ...

Evano Oruvan

2008-02-06T00:48:00.001-05:00

One of the movie that I liked the most in the recent ones. Though the movie is bit like a documentary it shows the practical situation in the current world.

Its about a normal person Sridhar Vasudevan (who works as a Bank Officer has a small family with wife and 2 kids). He has his routine life and his own principles of doing things right. But he gets affected by the society and people when they bribe to get things done, when they dont follow rules, when schools ask for donations. Reaching the frustration level with a shopkeeper for selling things at a higher price (Rs 2 more) than others, smashes his shop, destroyes the place. With that same frustration hits the Water supplier guy when he refuses to leave water without extra money and stabs a minister for he redirecting the water to build a swimming pool, breaks a bike that was parked in a no entry section. He tries to solve things on his own but not realising that he has to give his own life.

The story is similar to that of Anniyan, only difference being the Commercial vs Documentary aspect. Madhavan has done is role perfectly fine and touches our heart in the last. Sangeetha has also done her role of middle class house wife perfectly. Director has done an excellent job but the movie may not be a commercial hit.

A Very touching realistic movie and impressed me a lot.

Yaadein - 11 years back

2008-02-05T23:58:00.000-05:00

From the title itself you should have got the hint that this is a school and it was 11 years back. Yes this is the class where we guys did our 12th std.

Every year on the republic day we have a Alumni meeting at school. And it was this 26th Jan that we guys made it. Ofcourse karthik, I and Rajsekar used to be a regular alumni. Anees and KArthikeyan made it this time while Raj missed it out. Another special thing about this meeting is, that it is the first time after marriage that we are visiting our school. Karthik and Karthekeyan are still bachelors.

Friends - En Nanbargal

2008-01-06T01:30:00.001-05:00

Whoever wrote this Kavithai, hats off to him. I just got this as a forward mail, found it interesting and thought will publish it in my diary for rememberance. This is also dedicated to all my friends.

Tagged - Resolution!!!

2008-01-06T01:09:00.000-05:00

Tagged by PK

I wanted to write my own resolutions for this year but dint find time and before that I have already been tagged on this topic. Actually speaking I have not taken any serious resolutions any year and even if it was simple I have not been able to follow it up. This time wanted to be serious and follow the following things on a regular basis

Get up early
Do regular exercise
Do meditation 2 times a day
Atleast clean up something at home everyday
Account everything spent, including house expenses.

But the fact is that i dint follow this even for a single day since the new year. Let me give it a try after writing this blog. Im going to try this for 1 week and if successful then continue till a month. Whether im doing the above or not, I thought let me follow some general advice...

Money doesn't create man but it is the man who created money.
Live your life as simple as you are.
Don't do what others say, just listen to them, but do what makes you feel good.
Don't go on brand name; just wear those things in which you feel comfortable.
Don't waste your money on unnecessary things; just spend on things that you really need.
After all it's your life, then why give others the chance to rule your life.

If you are trying to guess who said these words, it is none other than the Second Richest man in the world Warren Buffet (Thanks to Jack alias Jagadeesh for forwarding me the mail). I would like to share the entire mail, here it is...

There was a one hour interview on CNBC with Warren Buffet, the second richest man who has donated $31 billion to charity. Here are some very interesting aspects of his life:

He bought his first share at age 11 and he now regrets that he started too late!

He bought a small farm at age 14 with savings from delivering newspapers
He still lives in the same small 3-bedroom house in mid-town Omaha , that he bought after he got married 50 years ago. He says that he has everything he needs in that house. His house does not have a wall or a fence
He drives his own car everywhere and does not have a driver or security people around him.
He never travels by private jet, although he owns the world's largest private jet company.

His company, Berkshire Hathaway, owns 63 companies. He writes only one letter each year to the CEOs of these companies, giving them goals for the year. He never holds meetings or calls them on a regular basis. He has given his CEO's only two rules. Rule number 1: do not lose any of your share holder's money. Rule number 2: Do not forget rule number 1.
He does not socialize with the high society crowd. His past time after he gets home is to make himself some pop corn and watch Television
Bill Gates, the world's richest man met him for the first time only 5 years ago. Bill Gates did not think he had anything in common with Warren Buffet. So he had scheduled his meeting only for half hour. But when Gates met him, the meeting lasted for ten hours and Bill Gates became a devotee of Warren Buffet
Warren Buffet does not carry a cell phone, nor has a computer on his desk

His advice to young people : "Stay away from credit cards and invest in yourself and Remember

Money doesn't create man but it is the man who created money.
Live your life as simple as you are.
Don't do what others say, just listen to them, but do what makes you feel good.
Don't go on brand name; just wear those things in which you feel comfortable.
Don't waste your money on unnecessary things; just spend on things that you really need.
After all it's your life, then why give others the chance to rule your life.

"No one can make you feel inferior without your permission, remember they are no better. "

Happy New Year 2008

2007-12-31T13:41:00.001-05:00

Wishing everyone a very very happy and prosperous new year. This is just to post the blog exactly at 12. Will update it sooon.....

Billa - Im Back

2007-12-25T23:30:00.000-05:00

I'm Back .... after a long gap ( 2 Months)

The Last Thought - Intution

2007-10-05T23:46:00.000-04:00

எல்லாம் இருந்தும் ஏதோ ஒன்று இல்லாததுபோல் இருப்பது...
நாம் இறந்தபிறகு இருக்கும் நிலையை நினைப்பததால் தானோ ?

(For those who cannot read in Tamil)
Ellam irunthum etho ondru illathathupol irupathu...
Naam iranthapiragu irukum nilayai ninaipathal thano ?

=================================================
Meaning
=================================================
Takkunnu thoniye oru kavithai thaan what you see above. Ennada ore kolapuraanennu paakureengala ? Let me explain the situation and it will be clear. One guy who has everything in life and who is very happy in life. Suddenly just feels that something is missing. He doesnt know what it is but can sense something missing. (Read first line alone). And the very next day this guy meets with a severe accident and is in his death bed. Few seconds when he gains conscious and when he sees the face of his near and dear ones has a LAST THOUGHT about all and that he is going to miss everyone. He understands that the thought he got a day back was an intution that he is going to miss everyone. ACTUALLY HE IS GOING TO BE MISSING FOR EVER....(Now read the second line and hope it makes sense)

Om Shanti Om

2007-10-05T23:25:00.000-04:00

Hey Guysssssssssss!!!

Sanju babaa back in action after Marriage.

San Players

2007-08-22T03:29:00.000-04:00

San Players
Coool..........

All are invited

2007-08-21T14:56:00.000-04:00

Kireedam

2007-07-29T13:37:00.000-04:00

Saatha Star Sanju Babaa wearing "KIREEDAM" ....

Massive Steam Explosion in Midtown Manhatten

2007-07-19T02:34:00.000-04:00

I was in Pfizer office 150 east, 42nd street at the 36th floor. It was around 6 when we heard a huge sound. Owing to the rains in the morning we thought that it was some thunderstorm. It was continous for several minutes and i went to look out through the window. Then saw some huge smoke rising up the air till our floor and it was not quite clear what had happened. I thought that the next building got fire may be. Immediately my client panicked and said take things and run immediately. Within few secs we got the fire alarm in the building asking us to evacuate it as soon as possible. Have gone through this fire alarm exercise couple of times and this time it was real :). Oh man, climbing down 36 floors on the staircase is not that easy. Not knowing what acutally happened everyone started rushing down. It almost took 10-12 mins to climb down. The moment we came out of exit i just looked back to see a huge volcano kind of explosion from the middle of road. I was very close to it, you should have seen the force with which it was pushing things out. My Collegue VijayBaskar was really frightened being his first trip. [There was another adventurous incident while we travelled from chennai to newark. The flight got cancelled in Geneva and we had stay one night there. Will write a seperate blog on that]

Then came to know after some time that the reason was due to an explosion of a 24 inch steam pipe underneath which carries steam, mainly to the Empire State Building for the hot conditioning in winter. As per the latest news (writing this down around 2.45 am in new york, helmsley hotel, 33rd floor) one person confirmed dead and around 20 were injured. I dint see any victim in my own eyes except for few guys with lot of sand, dust, water spilled all over their dresses.

Take a look at this video.

Confidence, Trust & Hope

2007-07-17T17:23:00.000-04:00

This beautiful mail is from Jagadeesh - my friend in office...

CONFIDENCE: Once all village people decided to pray for rain. On the day of prayer all people gathered and only one boy came with an umbrella.... That's Confidence..

TRUST: Trust should be like the feeling of a one year old baby when you throw him in the air; he laughs.....because he knows you will catch him.... That's Trust..

TRUST: Every night we go to bed, we have no assurance to get up alive in the next morning but still we have plans for the coming day.... That's Hope..

KEEP CONFIDENCE…!! TRUST OTHERS…..!! NEVER LOSE HOPE……!!

News in 2020

2007-07-17T17:14:00.000-04:00

With the busy schedule in New York, just posting few articles from fwd mails [Thnx to Sridhar for the mails]. This is an example of how creative people are.

Motte BOSS

2007-07-01T14:09:00.000-04:00

Photo paaathavudene................ chummaaaaaaaa athiruthule!!!

The best character I liked in the Sivaji movie is the Mottai Boss who comes in the climax. He is too good and definetly a ferocious character in the last few scenes.

I just felt if the screenplay was this way ..... showing that Sivaji died, followed by MGR taking over Sivaji Foundations and then later revealing (When MGR meets Aathiseshan at his office) that Sivaji was actually saved it would have been SOOOOOOOOPERB. That little suspense would have added to the craze of re-entry of the climax character, the MOTTE BOSS......

Put the Glass Down

2007-07-01T14:02:00.000-04:00

This was also a beautiful fwd mail from Priya. I had read this before but thought just will add it to the blog as it was inspiring...

A Professor began his class by holding up a glass with some water in it. He held it up for all to see & asked the students "How much do you think this glass weighs?" '50gms!' .... '100gms!' .... '125gms' ....the students answered. "I really don't know unless I weigh it," said the professor, "but, my question is: What would happen if I held it up like this for a few minutes?" 'Nothing' .....the students said. 'Ok what would happen if I held it up like this for an hour?' the professor asked. 'Your arm would begin to ache' said one of the student. "You're right, now what would happen if I held it for a day?" "Your arm could go numb, you might have severe muscle stress & paralysis & have to go to hospital for sure!" ....... ventured another student & all the students laughed.

"Very good. But during all this, did the weight of the glass change?" asked the professor.'No'.... Was the answer. "Then what caused the arm ache & the muscle stress?" The students were puzzled. "What should I do now to come out of pain?" asked professor again. "Put the glass down!" said one of the students.

"Exactly!" said the professor. Life's problems are something like this. Hold it for a few minutes in your head & they seem OK. Think of them for a long time & they begin to ache.Hold it even longer & they begin to paralyze you. You will not be able to do anything.It's important to think of the challenges or problems in your life, but EVEN MORE IMPORTANT is to 'PUT THEM DOWN' at the end of every day before You go to sleep.That way, you are not stressed, you wake up every day fresh &strong & can handle any issue, any challenge that comes your way! So, When you leave office today,
Remember to ......

'PUT THE GLASS DOWN TODAY!'

Where is GOD ?

2007-07-01T13:52:00.000-04:00

By reading the title dont think that this is a philosophical topic. It is rather a good humourous mail which i got from one of my friend Priya. Read it and im sure you would enjoy it.

Two little boys, aged 8 and 10, are excessively mischievous. They are always getting into rouble and their parents know all about it. If any mischief occurs in their town, the two boys are probably involved. The boys' mother heard that a preacher in town had been successful in disciplining children, so she asked if he would speak with her boys. The preacher agreed, but he asked to see them individually. So the mother sent the 8 year old first, in the morning, with the older boy to see the preacher in the afternoon.

The preacher, a huge man with a booming voice, sat the younger boy down and asked him sternly, "Do you know where God is, son?" The boy's mouth dropped open, but he made no response, sitting there wide-eyed with his mouth hanging open. So the preacher repeated the question in an even sterner tone, "Where is God?!" Again, the boy made no attempt to answer. The preacher raised his voice even more and shook his finger in the boy's face and bellowed, "Where is God?!" The boy screamed and bolted from the room, ran directly home and dove into his closet, slamming the door behind him.

When his older brother found him in the closet, he asked, "What happened?" The younger brother, gasping for breath, replied, "We are in BIG trouble this time."

"GOD is missing, and they think we did it !"

Blue Moon

2007-06-30T13:21:00.000-04:00

Im sure you would have heard this phrase "Once in a blue moon..." which refers to a rare occasion. When there is a second full moon in the same month it is been referred has a Blue Moon and not that it is blue in color. But i got more information from Wikepedia. Have a look at the below URL.

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

Some abstract from wikipedia ...

Calendar blue moons

In recent times, people have taken to calling a full moon a blue moon based on the Gregorian calendar. By this use of the term, a blue moon is the second of two full moons to occur in the same calendar month. This definition of blue moon originated from a mistake in an article in the March 1946 Sky & Telescope magazine, which failed in an attempt to infer the earlier definition used in the original Farmer's Almanac (see above). It was helped to popularity when Deborah Byrd of Earth & Sky walked into the Peridier astronomy library at the University of Texas at Austin one day, leafed through some old magazines, and found the 1948 blue moon article in Sky & Telescope. She used the definition – the second full moon in a single month – in the radio series Star Date for some years. As a result, the game Trivial Pursuit used a question and answer about blue moon. Sky & Telescope discovered the error nearly sixty years later and the magazine printed a retraction and correction.[2] By the time the correction came the calendar definition had already come into common use. As it is easier to understand, the mistaken calendar-based meaning has stuck.

Calendar blue moons occur infrequently, and the saying once in a blue moon is used to describe a rare event. However, they are inevitable because of the mis-match between the solar and lunar cycles. Each calendar year contains twelve full lunar cycles, plus about eleven days to spare. The extra days accumulate, so that while most years contain twelve full moons to match the twelve months, every two or three years there is a year with thirteen full moons. On average, this happens once every 2.72 years. Additionally, in some years there is no full moon in February at all, since February is slightly shorter than the time from one full moon to the next. This condition, known as black moon, gives additional 'blue' moons in the preceding and following months.

When there are thirteen moons in a year, twelve of them are given the twelve traditional names associated with that time of year (the names vary from culture to culture), and the extra one is termed a blue moon. Which of the thirteen moons is termed 'blue' depends on whether it is calculated by the old or the new method.

The months of the Gregorian calendar are all very close to the 29.5306-day period of the moon's phases: the synodic month, or lunation. Most of the months are longer than this by one or two days, except February, which is the only month which cannot contain a calendar blue moon. Since February is one or two days shorter than the moon's cycle, very occasionally it has no full moon – there is a full moon at the end of January, and the next one is at the beginning of March. What this means is that both January and March will have blue moons. This happens, on average, once every thirty-five years.

The next two calendar blue moons (based on UTC) will be on June 30, 2007 (but May 31, 2007 in the Western Hemisphere; see below); and December 31, 2009. Because February, according to UTC, will have no full moon in 2018, January and March will each have a calendar blue moon that year.

Time zone problems
Occasionally whether a moon is called blue depends on the time zone. Any full moon occurs simultaneously everywhere, but at that moment clocks and calendars are not the same.
Example, when it is early evening on August 31 in Europe, it is already early morning September 1 in New Zealand. Hence, residents of London seeing a full moon when their clocks and calendar say it is August 31 would call what they see a calendar blue moon. People seeing the same full moon from Auckland would note by their clocks and calendar that it is the early morning of September 1, and they would not term it a blue moon. But they would probably have a calendar blue moon at the end of September, or perhaps October.

Because this is confusing, astronomers worldwide and the calendar makers who rely on them typically choose the time zone of the Royal Greenwich Observatory in the United Kingdom, known as Greenwich Mean Time, or the nearly identical UTC time zone. As a practical matter, because the moon seems to the casual viewer to be full for almost three days, the use of a foreign time zone for calendar markings for full moons makes little difference.

Check this blog out... Blue moon for the Eastern countries in May...

http://spaceports.blogspot.com/2007_05_01_archive.html

Sanju Babaa - THE BOSS

2007-06-15T11:14:00.000-04:00

Pera Kettale chumma Athiruthule ..............................!!!

Sanju babaa - THE BOSS Officially released world wide on 15th June 2007 celeberating first year anniversary for my BLOG. 41 posts in a year and thats 3 post a month on average, not bad but not upto what i expected to write.

To start with im not a hard core fan of Rajini movies but definetly a crazy fan for his styles. From my childhood i have tried to immitate his voice, style of throwing the pen (instead of cigarette) in mouth, rotating the glasses. Gives a feel that we are a hero. What i actually dont like in his movies is that he flies and hits 10 guys at a time. Catching 5 knives in each finger and throwing them back at the enemies. Logically he is not a superman, but for the Kollywood crowd he is a super hero and thats why he is called as SUPER STAR.

Ok lets get into the review of much awaited, hyped movie Sivaji - THE BOSS. In one line I could say that "A typical Rajini movie with lots more style". For the C-class crowd the movie is a soooper dooper hit. For A and B Class depending on each it may vary as "hit" or "Good" or "definetly watch once". When you go for the movie dont see the logic but only the magic.

Story
Everyone should have known it by now that Sivaji is an NRI trying to set up Free Educational Institutes and Hospitals. As usual he faces hurdles with the competitvie businessmen, politicians and other government authorities. How he handles all these and succeeds is the story. Im not telling it in detail, its better to be watched.

Screenplay
First half is comedy and the second half is where it takes on to serious mode. Vivek has done is part with his usual spontaneous dialogues and unusally this time its not our super star but the super comedian who utters most of the PUNCH DIALOGUES. At times it does feel that some scenes are added just to drag the movie. Climax also seems to be a bit lenthy but director has decided to end in action packed way just for the fans.

Cast
Super star - (Minus 10 yrs) , no doubt steals the show
Vivek - He equally has the style and acts as the reflection of rajini in deliverying the dialogues
Shreya - Good choice as money spent on dress is very less ;)
Suman - He has done his part well. But i thought Sathyaraj would have been a very good combination.

Songs
Songs have started playing everywhere and no doubt in it becoming a hit. Though they arent the class of Rehman, they are much much better than Baba. And the visuals are too good. The opening song "Kaveri aarum..." reminds me of "Aararai kodi pergalil oruvan" from the movie New. I was waiting to see the visuals for "Oru koodai sunlight..." as I couldnt imagine Rajini dancing for the song. But it has been done quite well with lot of group dancing at back and our super star mostly doing styles. And it actually dint look odd as i had thought because that song made some sense as part of the story. You should check out the sets and places the way the songs have been visualised. Definetly a huge amount of money has gone into the songs may be half the budget. "Sahana .." is the best song of all by tune as well as by visuals.

Scenes & Dialogues that impressed me [If you have seen the movie, this para will make more sense]
- "Pera kettale - chumma athiruthule!!! - this is going to be the MANTRA all over tamil nadu for atleast the next six months. A very simple but effective line and thats why may be called as the PUNCH DIALOGUE.
- "Enna e'ma karupa pethe ? - Vellaiya petha ne alukaiduvennu thaanda " - make us burst into laughter
- There are few other dialogues which are good and have a real meaning like the one "Vaalumbothu savra naal therinjudichuna vaalra naal naragam".
- I liked the scene just before interval where rajini tosses the coin and decides to take the Lion's path (Singa paathe). The way he sits (Gambeeram) with that confidence.
- After interval the way he handles the Villain is too good. Slightly it reminds me of Thiruvilayadal (Marumagan Dhanush yerkanve pinnitaar)
- Usually it is our young stars who immitates others including super star but for a change super star has immitated MGR, Sivaji, Kamal.
- Mottai Boss in the climax rulezzzzz

Some of the flaws
Again, Like I said earlier, we cant expect to see Logic in most of the Kollywood Movies. But there are certain things which can look abruptly as a flaw. Directors might have missed it
and so in that angle 2 things that immediately striked me.
1. When Sivaji looses all his property and left with single one rupee coin, they do show him with normal dress. But when he and vivek goes to the godown where Aathi sends his documents, Sivaji comes with some superb dress. Where does he get that ?
2. Hundred people chasing our Sivaji and he thrashing all of them itself is unbelievable. But what happen to vivek who was with him in the same van. None of the guys didnt attack him ?

My rating to the movie would be 3.5 / 5.0. Overall I can say that its a DELIGHT FOR RAJINI FANS

My next post would be on Analysis of the hype that this movie has got and why Rajini Rulezzzzzzzzzz ? Dont miss to read it.

Second Hand

2007-05-29T22:59:00.001-04:00

Seetha & Geetha are sisters with seetha being the elder one by 2 years. That always gave her an advantage of being first preference for their parents. Moreover they being cost conscious never got Geetha new text books instead she used her sister's books as second hand. The same was repeated for some of the toys, pencil, pen and other things right from childhood.

Seetha used to give some of her clothes to Geetha if it became small for her to wear including the school uniform. Knowing their family situation Geetha took it positive initially, but as years passed by this feeling of "Second hand" started growing in her as a hate. Though Geetha didnt show it out to Seetha, she was very concerned about it and refused any used thing that was given to her.

Both studied in the same school, college and finished the same degree B.Sc Nutrition. It was time for Seetha to get married and her parents were seriously looking out. Geetha had a odd feeling about that second hand, she was worried what if she gets her husband also as second hand which she never wanted to happen. So she also hurried to get married. She had liked a guy who studied with her in the same college but different course (BSc ComputerScience). She decided to propose him and if things worked out she wanted to inform her parents. Just as she thought the guy also accepted and Geetha told her parents with all the guts she had. Her Dad who is against Love Marriage strictly apposed it but as days went by he finally agreed. Meanwhile they had fixed an alliance for Seetha too. So they decided to arrange both the marriage at the same time. Everything went smooth and both of them got married on the same day.

Geetha was very happy that she got married on the same day as her sister and at an earlier age than her. On the first night, excited but nervous Geetha entered the room. Her husband Kumar said "I want to say you something" and even before he could finish, Geetha also said "What a coincidence, I also wanted to say you something....". He asked her to tell first and then Geetha told how she felt about being "Second Hand" in many things. She ended up saying that she was glad to get him. Then she asked him "You wanted to say something...". Kumar was like... "I...I... I wanted to tell you.. you ...that" he paused for few seconds. Geetha "tell me what ???". Kumar continued "That I LOVE YOU" and gave her a big hug. Now Geetha was reaaaaaaaaally happy as if she was waiting for this moment in her whole life.

As they were huging, Kumar thought to himself "Thank God, I dint tell her that Seetha & I were lovers in college"

5 things Not Known to others

2007-05-20T10:22:00.000-04:00

PK - are you sure you want me to write this ?? No offense later ;)

Now this is a tough topic for me because im like a open book and i discuss almost everything about me to friends. So there is nothing as such that is not known to others about me. Atleast 1 sole on this earth would know about it. That doesnt mean that i dont maintain secrets. If it is something about others or if they asked me not to tell anyone i do make sure that i dont. Its only about me that is open to all. But as i have been tagged (by PK), i spent time to think about things that is something not known to others, may not be a secret but could be anything. Here are they...

1. Handwriting
My handwriting used to bend towards left and when i heard that people having writings bend towards left will not be a good character i wanted to change it. I dint know if that would change the character :) but i forced myself to write bending towards right. I did succeed, but even now if i dont concentrate and leave it to my hand it will tend to bend left :)). So if you guys happen to see my notes you can see a different font style at diff pages, some bent towards left, some straight (thats when it shifts from right to left he he) and some right. I have not told this to anyone, but not sure if anyone has noticed it

2. Uyir-Mei Eluthu
Ok, this is going to be interesting. I noticed a unique thing in me writing some of the uyir-mei eluthu (Tamil Alphabets). If you take these letters "aA, e, Ou, Va, Nya.." in Tamil, all of these have a small circle on the top left. I think everyone starts it clockwise, complete the circle and then continue the alphabet. But you know what, i complete the small circle anti-clockwise and then continue the alphabet (which is round about way, is it not ???). Look at the picture to understand what i mean. It has become a practise and thats how i write even now. This reminded me of the incident in UKG. My tamil teacher hit me in the hand and asked me to write impositions for correcting me to write in the right way. I dint understand what she actually asked me to do, i wrote the impositions in the same way he he. The teacher wasnt good enough ;)

Ebba rendu vishayam sollichu.. innum moonu yosikanume !!!

3. Thumb Sucking
I was sucking my thumb finger (like the kids do) till i was in 6th or 7th class. The most addicting thing for me to get over ha ha. This should be top secret hushhhhhh!!!

4. Eggo-phobia
Im totally alergetic to Egg. I cant take it in any form. So i dont even have cake. First thing is the smell, oovak!!! that itself makes me feel like puking. Even if that fails, the tongue clearly sends message to my brain and i immediately vomit. Everyone says that it is do with psychology. But there were times where i have taken certain food without knowing it is egg. Infact i liked it (tongue missed to identify), after sometime it starts with a small stomach ache which then aggrevates and then finally gets everything in the stomach out. I dont know whats up with my digestive system, it is so perfect that it identifies egg in any form. Dont you dare to test it, i would be the one who is suffering. Now you dont go and search the dictionary for the word "Eggophobia" coz it was a term that i introduced.

Just one more...

5.Perfect System
Have you ever seen any one system that gives output, the moment you give the input ? I have seen it and if you think it is some software system, no you are wrong. Its my digestive system. This unique system unlike the normal ones, process the input the moment it is feeded and its ready for output. I have suffered a lot with this right from my childhood. Does anyone in the world similar to this ???

My Engagement

2007-04-24T12:11:00.000-04:00

Ok guys... here it is. Date has been fixed for loosing my bachelors degree. On the left you see is the invitation for my engagement with Uma. Its already over, but i just wanted mark this day in my calendar. Thats Uma & I in the engagement picture. Our marriage is on 30th August. Watch out for more pictures for that event...

P.Vittal & P.R.Vittal

2007-03-24T08:03:00.001-04:00

Raghu seeing his watch for the time "7.45" - huh, gives a big sigh and starts from his office. Raghu is a medical
representative who markets medical equipments to different doctors and hospitals. Most of his time is spent on the road with his bike. He loves his newly bought pulsar without which he would hate driving. As he crosses IIT, one boy waves hand for a lift. He slows the speed and corners the bike.

The boy runs towards him and says "Uncle, koncham gandhi silai bus stop la drop panringala". Smiling at him asks him to get on.

Raghu - "Enna paatha uncle maariya iruku?"
Boy - "Yaara paathalam uncle nu solli thaan palakam".
Raghu - "Enakenna vaisu irukunnu nenaikure?"
Boy -"Theriliye..."
Raghu - "18 years da"
Boy - "oh ok... enna 18 years thaana ??????, namba mudiyalaye"
Raghu - "Bryan Adams song '18 till i die' ketathillaya... enna paaathu thaan paadinaar. Actualla 24 aaguthu, but 18 at heart"

As the boy giggles, Raghu asks his name and he says that his name has P.Vittal, studying 9th std, had come for IIT tuitions and that his house is in saidapet.

Raghu - "P.vittal... nice name. Un perle maths professor P.R.Vittal nu orthar irukaru theriyuma ?"
Boy - "Theriyuma va... avarkitta thaane tutions padikuren. Vector Algebra ve karichu kudichavaru, enna ore vishayam avarkitta pidikathathu... semma aruvai poduvaar. Notes ku bathil avar kudukuru advise thaan jaasthi. sometimes crack maari pesuvaare"
Raghu - "Professor appadi ellam solla koodathu da. seri girl friends ellam irukangala, inniki Feb 14th aache valentines day'ku ethuvum special illiya?"
Boy - "Girl friends irukange.. but special friend yaaarum ille. Ungalakku?"
Raghu - "Enaku iruntha thaan, intha back seat emptya irunthurukathu le... "

Raghu keeps asking him questions and the boy keeps replying. As raghu travels via saidapet, says that he will drop the boy in saidapet itself. As they cross the saidapet bridge.. the boy says "ingaye vitturunganna, antha street la thaan enga veedu".

Raghu feels young as the boy calls him anna.. stops the bike, smiles at him. "Thanks na... " says the boy and Raghu says "Oru nimisham."

"Professor P.R. Vittal engappa thaan. Naanum avar kitta padichavan thaan. Unna maari naanum avar kindal pannathunndu, appo antha advise ellam kadi'ya irunthuchu... aana avar sonnathey keturuntha, inni ippadi road roada suthi medical repa irunthaka vendiyathule. En friends ellarum software la nalla position la irukange. Marathode arumai veyila thaan theriyum Nalla padi, Bye"

First Step

2007-02-19T13:24:00.001-05:00

"Ennage, Praveen'ku rendu vaisu ayiduchu, schoole sethu vidanumnu ethani naala sollituruken. Schools pathi visaricheengala ?" Prema started shouting at Prakash, the moment he entered house. The most important 3 things as per Prakash is Business, business and business. While Prema is worried a lot about Praveen, who just turned 2 years. Prema though a M.Phil, PhD graduate prefers to take the lead of the house and so she isnt working. "Seri seri, no tension, relax!!! Intha saturday, rendu perum senthu kelamburom, ellam schools'ayum oru round visit adichu decide pannidalam, ok va?" Prakash cools down Prema.

As planned, both of them start the visit to schools leaving Praveen with his grandmother. They see many schools and none of them impress them. Finally they go to TSG SChool which is one of the best in the city. The procedures and process is too much that Prakash and Prema are being interviewed even after they said that they had come only for enquiry. After couple of hours they get to meet the principal Mrs Leelavathy. "Neenga romba kuduthu vechurukanum, we have only 20 seats for PreKG and 19 of them were already filled. Enga schoole admission kedaikarthu is a big prestige", principal says to them. She keeps boasting about the school infrastructure, facilities, name and fame. Finally she says "Oru 1 lakh donation kattitu poidunge and the seat will be confirmed". Prakash and Prema are shocked by it and they keep starring each other. Prema asks the principal "PreKg ku 1 lakhaa, Madam ithu romba jaasthi". Principal says "Panam illama onnum ille, infrastructure ille, facilities illa, studies illa". Prema really gets wild and starts an arguement with the principal. She adds saying that "You people dont seem to run a educational institute, rather you people run business". The argument gets heated up and the principal almost challenges them that Education depends totally on money. Both leave the place with a bad taste in the mouth.

Prema gets upset a lot that they couldnt find a good school for Praveen. Prakash seeing her, is also worried. Then after thinking for sometime he tells prema - "En Prema, nambo en oru Kinder Garden School start panna koodathu ? Unne vide oru best teacher namba praveenuku kedaikarthu kashtamthaan. I will take care of the investment, you dont worry about that." Prema's face brightens and she comes near Prakash and hugs him tightly.

They start the Kinder Garden Play school and name it as "First Step". They start it with 4,5 kids and then slowly the kids strength increases every year. They extend it to LKG, UKG by the 2nd year. The school gets popular within that area and after couple of years they have classes till 5th std. They ensure that they get the best teachers and also the keep the Fees structure nominal so that Middle and low class people get good education. Soon they make First Step as a proper school having classes right from PreKG till 12th std. They take up a unique path by which they identify the talent in each student, guide them in the right way and help them decide their career based on the talent. "First Step" emerges as the best school in the city.

20 years later.

An Old woman comes to "First Step" along with her granddaughter for the admission. She is moved by the way the staffs treat every parent. She is also surprised by the process and the nominal fees structure and wonders how still the school is considered to be the best. AFter finishing all the admission formalities, she requests to meet the Chairman to personally thank her. Within couple of minutes she is taken to the Chairman's cabin. Middle aged lady, wearing simple saree smiles and welcomes the old woman. The name board reads "Mrs. Premalatha Prakash M.Phil, PhD". The old woman thanks the chairman for the admission and asks her how is the school considered as best inspite of nominal fees. The chairman says "We may not offer the best infrastructure but We offer the best education". By this time, the old woman recognises Prema's face and so she tries to leave soon not wanting the chairman to recognise her.

As the old woman leaves in her Ford Escort, Prakash crosses her and enters the school in his Maruthi 800. He goes and verifies why she had come, then goes to chairman's cabin and tells Prema "Vanthutu porathu yaaarunnu theriyuthaa?". Prema says "Mrs Leelavathye yaaru maraka mudiyum". Prakash continues "Avange Pethiku admission kuduka poriyaa?". Prema replies "Kuduka porenna... already given. Avange panna thappakku avange pethiye palivangarathu nallathille and by the way she is the main reason for our FIRST STEP, athey maranthudathinge. One more thing, avange schoole vittutu namba schoole admissionukku vanthurukarthu namakku kedaiche vettri!!!". While she is saying this, her mobile rings and Prakash jumps and takes it. "Mom, i miss you" - Praveen shouts over the phone who is doing MS in US. "Appo enna miss pannalaya, pesrathu ungamma illada ungappa" Prakash likes playing with Praveen.

My Valentine

2007-02-14T13:03:00.000-05:00

அவளை பார்த்தேன், பிடித்திருந்தது
கனவில் கற்பனையாக வந்தால்
செடியாக இருந்து, மரமாக வளர்ந்து,
பூக்களையும் பூத்தாள்

நன்றாக யோசித்து, அவளிடம் நேரடியாக சொன்னேன்
"Sorry, Not Interested"
என்று ஒரே வரியில் சொன்னாள்

எழுந்தது பூகம்பம் இதயத்தில்,
வந்தது சுனாமி கண்களில்

நாட்கள் நீண்டது ...

மறந்துவிடு மறந்துவிடு என்று ஒவ்வொருமுறை
சொல்லும்போது நினைக்கிறேனே...
பின்பு எப்படி மறக்க முடியும் ?

For the people who cannot read tamizh, here is the Tanglish version :-

Avalai paarthen, Pidithirunthathu
Kanavil karpanaiyage vanthaal,
Sediyage irunthu, maramage valaranthaal,
Pookalaiyum poothaal.

Nandrage yosithu, avalidam neradiyage sonen
"Sorry not interested"
Endru ore variyil sonnaal.

Elunthathu Bhoogambam Ithayathil
Vanthathu Tsunami Kangalil

Naatkal neendathu ...

Maranthuvidu maranthuvidu endru ovvarumurai
sollumbothu ninaikirene...
pinbu eppadi maraka mudiyum ???

I know that some may not even understand this, So here is the meaning in english

I saw her, liked her
She came as imagination in my dreams
From plant she grew to a huge tree
She event started blooming flowers...

After thinking a lot, proposed her directly
She replied in a single line
"Sorry not interested"

That caused an earth quake in my heart
Resulted in tsunami in eyes

Days passed by....

Each time i told to myself "Forget her, Forget her"
I was actually thinking of her,
Then how can i forget her ???

KOOTU-KUDUMBAM

2007-02-12T23:01:00.001-05:00

Today morning, I went to the airport to drop my friend. On the way back I happen to see a shop where they sell parrots, lovebirds, rabbit etc. At that moment a short hint stuck me which i developed into a short story...

So here is my FIRST SHORT STORY

Balaaaaaa!!! engada tholanju pone, Vanthu intha saamanellam kaluvi vai - shouted his step mom. Bala is 8 years old, his mom died when he was born. From that day his dad used to curse him as the reason... "Saniyan, porakum bothey ammave mulingitaan". His dad happily married another woman and they have a daughter kavitha, who is 6 yrs old. Bala likes her a lot, but his step mom always keeps him away from her. His step mom's parents, brother all stay with them. He loves to call everyone "Mama, thatha, paati.." but none of them treat him well. Bala often feels sad, depressed, never shows it out but cries to himself when he is alone.

He likes Parrot a lot and whenever hears the parrot in the morning, runs to the terrace to see them. He has a desire to get a pair of parrot's for himself but doesnt have the guts to ask his dad. Whenever he goes to the market he passes by a shop where they sell birds like parrot, love birds, rabbit. He feels bad for the birds in the cage so more than the desire to grow them, he wants to relieve them from the cage. He starts saving money from every little amount he gets.

After few months he has enough money to buy a pair of love birds. "Annachi rendu love birds kudunge" - Bala asks the guy in the shop. The moment the birds are out of cage he is very relieved. He gets the birds, lifts them to the sky and leaves them on the air. An elegant smile in his face as they go up high in the air... Few mins they come back and they stand outside the cage itself. Amused by it, Bala keeps starring. The shop keeper says "Ingaye valanthuchu pa, kudumbathu vittu poga manasu ille polaruku paavum ..."

Kootukkul irunthaalum Kootu-kudumbamaga irunthaaal Suthanthiram(Santhosham) thaaanaa ???

Freedom is DOING what we LIKE
Happiness is LIKING what we DO ...

Sunset - From Space

2007-02-10T15:04:00.000-05:00

Thanks to Ganesh for this email.... Me being a lover of astronomy really liked this picture.

The photograph attached was taken by the crew on board the Columbia during its last mission, on a cloudless day.

The picture is of Europe and Africa when the sun is setting. Half of the picture is in night. The bright dots you see are the cities lights.

The top part of Africa is the Sahara Desert. Note that the lights are already on in Holland , Paris , and Barcelona , and that's it's still daylight in Dublin , London , Lisbon , and Madrid .

The sun is still shining on the Strait of Gibraltar . The Mediterranean Sea is already in darkness. In the middle of the Atlantic Ocean you can see the Azores Islands ; below them to the right are the Madeira Islands; a bit below are the Canary Islands; and further south, close to the farthest western point of Africa, are the Cape Verde Islands .

Note that the Sahara is huge and can be seen clearly both during Daytime and night time.

To the left, on top, is Greenland , totally frozen.

Dream

2007-02-10T14:54:00.000-05:00

One of the most important topic, atleast as far as I'M concerned. I wanted to write a detailed blog on this and thats why couldnt write this TAG by PK immediately. Dream and I have a very long, deep relationship he he!!! I get dreams almost every night and i dream even during day time. Few I can recollect fully while for many I faintly remember. Before going to my dream section, I thought i will share some notes on DREAM

My own definition of Dream :
The best thing about human being is the SIXTH SENSE, the ability to think (though most of us dont do it ;) When we sleep, our brain doesnt sleep. It still keeps working and so some of the thoughts, happenings that we see, feel which are recorded in the deep of our mind gets activated in the RANDOM function of brain and result is the DREAM.

What Wikipedia says :
A dream is the experience of envisioned images, sounds, or other sensations during sleep. The events of dreams are often impossible or unlikely to occur in physical reality, and are usually outside the control of the dreamer.

Ok, coming back to the topic "Dream that has come true or Dream that will never come true". Quite interesting topic. Most of the dreams i have had were weird. They were all very weird that they cannot happen :) The best part of dream is that it will look very real untill you get up. Some examples : When i was small, once had a dream where I would be pissing on the road side... koncham nerathule soodaaa irunthucha ennane paatha, I was pissing on the bed itself :)). Another dream, dont remember it fully but was some adventure and at one point I was falling from a top building or cliff... dopp nu satham, I really fell from the bed.

There is one dream which was very close to have happened. Let me tell about that. I think i was studying 1st std. Mom had gone out for some function. Brother was also not there at home. Only me and dad. I was sleeping in the bedroom. All of a sudden the roof from the corner cracked and started falling on me. I just woke up and tarted running..shouting "amma appa..." Dad was also not there. I ran to the neighbour house and was shouting "Veedu idinju viluthu, veedu idinju viluthu". Neighbours took me back to my house, I was scared. And Dad to came by that time, he had taken a walk to the end of the street. All were asking what happened ? I repeated saying "Ange, bed room la mele edinju viluthu". Everyone came inside and i was moving slowly behind them. Everyone looked up and so did i. There is no difference, the roof was as it is. I was still saying "Illa naa paathen, inga thaan mela idinju vilunthuthu"... It took some time for me to realise that it was dream. I call this as close because after 10-12 years later, our house had become old and i happen to see a huge crack starting from the top to the middle at the same corner which came in my dream. Thought the house dint collapse at that corner place, the ceiling outer layer did fell once when brother was shaving. It even hurted him :). Now that house is demolished and we have rebuilted it 5 years back. :)

Happy Birthday Nagesh!!!

2007-01-25T09:43:00.000-05:00

Hi da nagesh - many more happy returns of the day

Im proud to introduce my younger brother Nageshwaran in my blog. He is doing 3rd year B.Tech IT in SVCE. He is very good at mimicry. Got a chance to pariticipate in the EQ program conducted by Vijay TV. Here is the program that he did...

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2007

2007-01-01T09:11:00.000-05:00

WISHING EVERYONE IN THIS WORLD A VERY HAPPY AND PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR!!!

Wanted to write blog continously and 1st day of the year eluthina, thodarnthu eluthuven'nu oru chinna centimentaaa he he.

Next immediate question... "New year resolution" thanee ??? Entha resolution'um edakka koodathebathey this year resolution :P. Eppadi eduthaalum maximum one month, athuku mela thaaku pidikarthu kashtam... so why strain.

Seri athu enna, New year mattum resolution... How does it make so much of difference. Koncham yosichu paarthen. Its yet another day just that one cycle has completed and this is a cut off followed universe'ly. Nambalum intha circle kullare vilunthathale, new look .. both myself n the blog.

First thought of posting a blog on "Why did we grow".. this question mainly arises during our birthday, vaiyasu era era, more responsibilities, more difficulties. When i see the small kids playing around, felt that we could have remained at that age itself. Though there were some frustrations, dissappointments for that age those were much much little than what we are facing now. When we see selfish, egoistic, arrogant people start hating the life and antha vaisule ithu ethuvume puriyama namba baatuku irunthurupom. Enna da new year athuvumaa ippadi pesurennu nenaika venam, just felt that and wrote it immediately. Evalo pesinalum, what to do the reality is we are growing, years are passing, time is flying... Lets try to forget the bad in past and look forward for new achievments in the future.

Oru chinna santhosham enna na.... "Asin" is selected as the Dream Girl for 2007... hurray!!!!!!!!!

;)

Saddam Hussein Executed!!!

2006-12-30T13:40:00.000-05:00

I wanted to write on this topic and PK enakku munnadi munthikitta. So read her blog first and this is a reply to that.

I dont know much about Saddam, so its actually not right on my part to comment. But with the knowledge of what I have I feel that punishment was right, probably life imprisonment kuduthurukalam. I know you are not justifying Saddam's act.. and i also understand the way you said he was good for his people. Something like Namba Nayagan padam style "Naaalu peru nalla irukanumna enna vena pannalam" . Whether it is Nayagan or Samurai or Ramana or Anniyan... all of these examples show the main char as killers, but they do good to common people by eradicating the bad ones. Ramana movie shows a very good example that PUNISHMENT shoud be harsh and Vijaykanth accepting death sentence himself was very good.

From the news what i heard, Saddam was the main reason for killing 148 shiyads in IRAQ. I dont think all the 148 people were bad ones and infact most of them should have been innocent which is what makes saddam as a villain. So arresting him was right but again like i said earlier whether hanging him is justice or not is a different question. If what saddam did was wrong, ofcourse what Bush did was also wrong. As per his orders, US invaded Iraq and many innocent people got killed. That way even he should be punishable.

Another question which I have is : Punishments are actually for the guilty person to realise his mistake. Do we really think in those angles while giving punishment or is it just to satisfy our own anger/revenge on the person ???

Check out all about Saddam here :- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saddam_Hussein

December 26th

2006-12-30T13:30:00.000-05:00

I wanted to write a big blog on this topic. But kannu ippo sokkarathale, keeping it short. Topic paathe odenu, you could have guessed what is it related to ...

Yes this is mainly about the Tsunami that we faced on 26th December 2004, before which most of us dint know what was Tsunami. Does the date December 26 or just "26" has something to do with this... Look at the below happenings

January 26, 2001

Day : Friday

Time : 8:46 AM local time

Scale : 7.7 on the Richter Scale

Epicenter : 43 miles northeast of Bhuj in Gujarat State

Destroyed large parts of the state of Gujarat. Of the 18 affected districts, Kutch-Bhuj, Ahmedabad, Jamnagar and Rajkot are the most seriously damaged. In these four districts more than 16,000 people have died

December 26, 2004

An earthquake of magnitude 9.0, the strongest earthquake in 40 years, strikes in the Indian Ocean off the western coast of Sumatra. While initial reports state that the resulting tsunamis killed approximately 100 people, by the end of the day this estimate has increased to over 14,000 people in coastal areas of Thailand, Sri Lanka, the Maldives, India, Bangladesh, Burma, Indonesia and Malaysia. Tremors are also felt as far as Singapore, eastern countries of Africa, and north-western Australia. A state of emergency is declared in Sri Lanka, where over 31,000 people are feared dead.

December 26, 2006

Southwestern Taiwan is shaken by a 7.2 earthquake at 20:28 (GMT+8). A second aftershock, estimated at 7.1 and centered in Pingtung County, is felt 5 minutes later. According to the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre, no Pacific-wide tsunami is expected.

Something Fishy ?????

Enjoy Life!!!

2006-12-16T02:59:00.000-05:00

Thnx to Karts for this mail...

A group of alumni, highly established in their careers, got together to visit their old university lecturer. Conversation soon turned into complaints about stress in work and life. Offering his guests coffee, the lecturer went to the kitchen and returned with a large pot of coffee and an assortment of cups: porcelain, plastic, glass, some plain-looking and some expensive and exquisite, telling them to help themselves to hot coffee. When all the students had a cup of coffee in hand, the lecturer said:

"If you noticed, all the nice-looking, expensive cups were taken up, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones. While it is but normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the source of your problems and stress. What all of you really wanted was coffee, not the cup, but you consciously went for the better cups and are eyeing each other's cups."

"Now, if Life is coffee, then the jobs, money and position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold and contain Life, but the quality of Life doesn't change. Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the coffee in it."

So please, don't let the cups drive you...enjoy the coffee.....

& Enjoy Life!!!

Faith keeps u going!!!

2006-12-14T13:32:00.000-05:00

I got this in the mail from my collegue Ganesh. Was really impressed with it and immediately added to my blog...

Arthur Ashe, the legendary Wimbledon player was dying of AIDS which he got due to infected blood he received during a heart surgery in 1983. From world over, he received letters from his fans, one of which conveyed: "Why does GOD have to select you for such a bad disease"?

To this Arthur Ashe replied: The world over -- 5 crore children start playing tennis, 50 lakhs learn to play tennis, 5 lakhs learn professional tennis, 50,000 come to the circuit, 5000 reach the grand slam, 50 reach Wimbledon, 4 to semi final, 2 to the finals, When I was holding a cup I never asked GOD "Why me?". And today in pain I should not be asking GOD "Why me?"

Happiness keeps u Sweet, Trials keep u Strong, Sorrow keeps u Human, Failure Keeps u Humble and Success keeps u glowing, but only .........

Faith Keeps u Going.....

Eppadi Iruntha Naa Ippadi Ayiten

2006-12-01T13:50:00.000-05:00

Appadaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa - thats a sign of relief from the braces that i was wearing for about one and a half years (19 months). Just met Dentist today, got the braces removed, Still have to wear a temporary one for another 3 months. I would call it as "THE WORST TORTURE EVER" - Probably people who have had braces will agree with me as they would gone through similar pain.

The first picture was taken somewhere after 9 or 10 months after i started wearing the braces. That was looking even more pathetic, frightening (picture paatha therile!!!). Current version eppadi ??? Maddy maari ille... Asin fairever ku ad kuduthaa, Na Closeup ku ad kudukalam polaruke!!!

I was thinking of various titles for this post and here are some of them...
- From Pallavan to Vallavan
- Out of braces on the First day of the Last Month
- Jack Dawson with new look and new nick

Beautiful Babes ;)

2006-11-23T12:08:00.000-05:00

I know most of you would have misunderstood by reading the title ;) ...

Posting this blog from the 22nd floor Hotel Mulia, Jakarta. Actually on travel around asia for the past 5 weeks and really dint get time to write blog. So just thought post this picture of my cute girl frnds (Click on the picture for the full image). Wanted to give a new look to my blog and so changed the template. OOOPS, guess what, forgot to copy the "links I visit often", it all got deleted. Now got to add it again.

Ok here are some details about the girls

From left :- Sonia, Bavatharani, Shivani and Sakshi. Except Bavatharani, the other 3 are sisters. All of them are my neighbours. Sonia is eldest one and she reallly proves that, taking care of her sisters and the way she talks elderly among them. Sonia is in the UKG, while Shivani is in the LKG. The last one is trying to utter some words. Dont wonder if i say that very soon they are going to have a brother boy or another sister... These 3 sisters are marvadi's while Bavatharani is Brahmin. If all join together thats it... no one can control them. Sonia dances well, Shivani tries to imitate watever sonia does. Shivani is always my fav. Im sure they are waiting for me to come back to india and So am I

Six weird things about me!!!

2006-10-20T13:53:00.000-04:00

Ok .. so i have been tagged again by PK ... This time on Six Weird things about me!!!

1. I think im one of the weird'est person on this earth because of the following weird things :-(Dont you think this itself is weird ?)

2. Whts this world ?
I always have this thought on "How this world was formed ?, How did human beings were created, Why did these all happen, where is it goin to end". If i get some lonely time.. thats it, I go to the terrace, gazing at the sky, stars, moon will keep thinking about how all these happened ?

3. Am I Real ?
In continuation with the above.. I think who am I? Why was i born ? Why do I think like this when most of them i see, does not even care to think about it. Have you ever felt "Am I Real?". I have felt it, many times. At any busy schedule also.. suddenly I take a deep breath and think, if all the things happening around me is real or just imaginary. I look around people starring, if they are real are just made to act. And wonder if others will feel like this ?

4. What others think about me ?
Whatever I do or I say, I tend to think from others point of view. In a way its good that I adjust so much for others, that im very easy going and helping, but too much of anything isnt good rite ? I go very deep in this thought and so get confused while taking decisions. One thing what i have learnt is "ITS DIFFICULT TO CONVINCE EVERYONE". The worst thing is even if i happen to have a glance at any girl passing by... i would go deep into the thought of meeting her, getting close to her n sudenly all the problems that could happen b/n us comes in front of my thought.

5. Talking to myself
Thookathule nadakurethe pathi kelvi patiruken. Naan appadi kedaiyathu.. but sometimes (only sometimes thaane ? ) I talk to myself forgetting the whole world. People might think that im mad... so bad that im sad (he he he!!!)

6. Sadest!!!
Kadavul paathi Mirugam paathi kalantha seitha kalavai maari - On the outside im very humourous guy. I want to make others happy and dont mind being a comedian (At times people make fun of that, and though i get hurt, wont show it out as my motive of making them happy has been achieved). On the inner im a very sadest guy. Soga padam (Tragedy ) na romba pidikum. Especially Moondram pirai, Nayagan... Antha padam paakum pothellam i will get into that character and literally cry - and i dont know why.

Ippo 1st point padichu paarunge... Na sonnathu rightaa ?
Ithellam sonna piragu, dont get afraid. I know how to behave with whom... :)

God created Man or Vice versa ?

2006-10-11T14:22:00.000-04:00

Before reading further, have a glance at Kanya's Blog on "God - the almighty???"

Did God create Man or Man created God?
Let me start with the ironical statement that "God did create Man... but indeed Man created GOD". Means, no one (atleast whoever exists now) knew who is god, how God looked or what was his objective. All we know is that there is some Almighty Power and this was told to us by our ancestors through each of their Religion. So it was Man who gave a name to that Almighty power as "GOD".

Religion - how would it have been formed ?

I feel that group of people would have joined together to set rules what is life, how to live and so. People who had contradiction for those would have started another group. Apart from that, people from another part of the world would have also had their own principles and rules. (Those days, people from different parts of the world wouldnt have interacted). Guess this is how the religion would have formed. Whichever be the religion Hindu, Muslim or Christian, what they all believed in is the almighty divine power. And to spread their rules or believes people would have started writing it or passing it to the next generation through teachings. Thats how Bible, Kuran and the Geethai would have been written. Probably it would have taken many versions as generations passed. Not really sure as to if all the existing ones are the actual ones too.

Ethics - did they really happen ?

Human beings have both good and bad attitudes or thoughts. Some of the elders who have felt that it is necessary to teach the good and bad to the younger generation, could have used the idea of narrating imaginative stories. Kings could have asked the poets to create such stories. And i feel that is how the epics like Ramayana, Mahabharata would have also come into action. Does any of us have a proof that all these historic epics occured for real ?

Justification of Mahabharata
Kanya's View : "I disagree. I see the entire war in "Mahabharatha" as a cause of unjustifiable pride, ego, greed, sarcasm, disrespect and more unsatisfied humanly desires. Just becoz there was a symbolization of god (Krishna) taking the pandavas side, doesn't mean that pandavas were the "GOOD" and the kauravas were "BAD"!! Was god even neutral here? Not to mention the tricks he played on Karna and Thuriyodana to make them most vulnerable to death!!! No matter what the cause was, is it "dharma" to kill ur own family to win a war??"

My Reply : First of all I see Mahabharata as a story. Before going to the detail of Mahabharata.. a small explanation. Though a Star plays a "Anti-hero" role in a movie, he is the main subject of it and so his character would have been justified. As in, even he does kill people (villain) or does some tricky things.. but the director smartly shows a reason as to why he does that. Probably the villain would have either killed the hero's father or would have destroyed his family for money, wealth n so. Obviously he is done a mistake, killing is not the revenge for it and if so.. next the villain's son would take revenge and it would go endless. Though if it continous for generation, one question here is who started it all ? That way, alteast our hero is justigfied.

Similar to the above, Mahabharata starts of with 2 big teams, Pandavas and the Kauravas. The story itself shows that Pandavas are with good ATTITUDE while the Kauravas are kind of greedy. Everyone is human and everyone is capable of doing mistakes. But one who accepts it or learns from the mistakes is forgiven. This is one of the message that is told through this epic. The main message being "Dharmathin vaithanai soothu kavvum, aanal iruthiyal dharmame vellum". In the last it is Dharmam that wins... If you take the current world, this happens in many families. Fights between relatives, brothers & sisters.. either for the property or money or for some misunderstandings. Can you disagree that ? We do find many relatives with ego, jelous, greedy. Inspite of all these messages in the epics... do you think they try to change ?

===

Kanya's View : "Let us examine this part of the whole mahabharath a lil more explicitly. What was the reason behind pandavas accepting a lavish gift like the mayamahal? what gave panjali the right to humiliate a man for a reason as silly as tripping over an illusion!! what gave her that much of pride and sarcasm? what made pandava irresitable to a game of gambling? what made dharmar bid his wife on the game? what made the rest of the pandavas resist questioning dharmar then? why did that respect for elders fail when they faced their previous generation on the battle field??"

My Reply : Again this is a story and the creator as his choice to make it however he wants. He gives an example of such situation where Pandavas are forced to take the gambling (which could have been a custom in those early days). It was the author who had given rights to Panjali for humiliating a man for tripping her dress. I dont understand why you ask that way. Any girl even now for that matter, if someone tries to trip her off in front of a crowd, will get humiliated.. wont you ? Ofcourse even i dint like the way of gambling with your wife, but again thats the author's choice of creating a situation. Rest of the pandavas do get angry ofcourse. There are different versions of mahabharata itself. From one of them which i studied in my school days there is a stanza where Bheema says bring the firewood, lets burn our brother's hand. "Erithalal kondu vaaa, Anan kaithanai erithiduvom". In the Mahabharata serial (which they used to telecast in TV), they show how Arjun feels bad to fight against his guru Dhronacharya in the war. Krishna explains Arjuna, no option other than fighting.. if someone supports a guy, and if the guy is bad, then obviously he is encouraging bad things. is it not ?? Though Karna is also a gem of a man, he supports Duryodhana (who has been depicted bad character) and so even if he was the elder brother of pandavas, Krishna says that he has to be killed.

Kanya's View : "If everything that pandavas did were humanly mistakes, is a man seeking revenue for the humiliation and all the isolation he went through from his youth make him vulnerable to similar mistakes as well. Why is that pandavars mistakes forgiven and kauravars not!! who gave krishna the right to choose sides? Wasn't he suppose to be neutral!!??"

My Reply : Again like i said earlier, Kauravas are depicted as bad people. They are shown as greedy, egoistic people. Provided they are equally strong and powerful. They do have magical powers that can be challenging more to the Pandavas. For the same reason Krishna helps Pandavas. Nayagan Stlye le sollanum naa... "Naal peru nalla irukanum na enna venum naalu pannalam". Antha mistakes ellathukkum mannippu kedaichidum (na sollale.. mahabharatam solluthu ;))
==

Kanya's View : "If killing ur own kith and kin on a ego clash that started with a mayamahal is dharma, then we would have to accept one of us killing one of their distance brother for their grandparent's property as dharma too. Is shooting Vaali from back is ethical then I will have to accept my kid throwing stone at his senior from his back as ethical too. If destroying an entire city of Madurai, unjustice was done to kanaki, then when our youth destroy public property b'coz their professors did not correct their papers properly should be looked upon as seeking justice!!!"

My Reply : One question to you... If your own brother joins a terrorist gang and involves in bombing common people or if he rapes girls what would you do ? If i were you in this situation i would definetly kill him. (if not atleast try to put him in jail by complaining). As per the story Vaali kidnaps his brother Sukreevan's wife. Do you justify what vaali did is right ? (this happens even in real life... ) Provided Vaali has a boon that whoever comes in front of him, he will acquire 50% of that person's power (as per story). In that case what will you do to get rid him off ? I would have definetly done the same thing what Ram did. Professor paper seriya correct pannalane paravale. But nalla padikure payano poonnayo kare vechu fail panna ? (Do you know that there are many professor who takes things egoistically and spoil kids future .. instead of teaching them what mistake they did. I have read in papers such incidents where one of the boy or girl have sucided). Avangula ellam summa ve vidurathu ? Anniyan Padathule vara maari "Anju paise thirudinaa thappa ? -- Periya thappilinge, Anju kodi peru anju paise thirudina thappa ? -- Thappu maarithange theriyuthu, Anju kodi peru anju kodi thadave anju anju paise thirudina thappa ? - Periye thappunge ------------ Athanda inge nadunthukittu iruku "

By all these im not concluding that Mahabharata was a great epic nor im not saying that it is a bad example. Its up to us to take it... either we can see the half empty glass or we can see the half filled glass.

Is God - the Almighty ??
Kanya's View : "I am not a god-hater.. but when I look behind in my life, there were people who came in my life for a very short period of time, made an impact on me - as if their whole purpose of life is to come into my life at the right moment and help me, and then they vanished leaving a deep hurt!! I sometimes truely belived that god sent these people in my life only b'coz he had to help me at that point of time and he choose to do it through them.
But what gave him the right to take these people away from my life once his purpose was done? Is he making choices for me? what gives him the right to do so? when he created human beings as a bundle of complex emotions ... did he not have a FAQ and technical support document prepared?? Did he not know it was going to hurt me worst when he is going to take away something from me?? or is he going to blame that on Satan and say even I have a satan on my back!!??

That brings us to my starting question... Is god really an almighty.. does he always make the right choices for all of us. It is not just about my or your emotions but as a bigger picture too. Why are there soo much negativity in the world.. no matter how positive we want to think, we still see bad in the world. I can understand certain things like volcano or earth quake... why is there rape, child abuse, killing, hunger and disease? why din't god make good choices for these criminals?"

My Reply : Ok here is were we both are in sync. Good that you are not a god-hater and so am I. Ofcourse I do have the same question as to "Why this whole world was created, why was I born ? People are born, people live and they die.. what is the objective ? where did these all start from and where is it going to end ?" No one has the perfect or satisfactory answer to these questions. When I tried to verify with some of the Swamiji's all the answer I get is "It is not your right to ask questions, you are born to live and you are given a job.. just do that" Makes me feel like a slave of god. If only he comes in front of me, that would be the end of him (he he!!!). All I need is answers to these questions.

World - A Game of Gamble between GOD & Satan

Kanya's View : "That brings us to my starting question... Is god really an almighty.. does he always make the right choices for all of us. It is not just about my or your emotions but as a bigger picture too. Why are there soo much negativity in the world.. no matter how positive we want to think, we still see bad in the world. I can understand certain things like volcano or earth quake... why is there rape, child abuse, killing, hunger and disease? why din't god make good choices for these criminals?

Is it true that all these are called "BAD KARMA"... but every thing freezes at the starting point. Why did god not make a choice to protect adam and eve from eating the filthy apple!!! "

To an extent a satisfactory answer that I have known is :- Initially it was only one power that was existing and it was GOD (As we have named). He did have both good and bad thoughts. GOD then created his better half and gave equal power to him. I guess the better half had more of bad thoughts. He was called by us as SATAN, and he started opposing GOD and wanted to show that he had more power. The basic thing in the Universe is TWO :- Male-Female, Good-Bad, Plus-Minus, Positive-Negative, On-Off, True-False, Yes-No. Probably to show his power God created Adam and Eve and told Satan, "Hey look, what I have created, 2 creatures called Human Being and the beauty is that they can Think!!!". Satan plays a game saying that "I will turn them against you" and tries to get the negative thoughts into them. (Ivange podure sandaile naamba maatikittu mulikirom huh!!!). The rest you know ..... and today You and Me are having a small discussion (is it small ??) about this...

Lage Raho Sanju Babaa

2006-10-02T10:38:00.000-04:00

Dedicated to Mahatma Gandhi

Ok, before going to "Lage Raho Sanju-babaa" I want to write my review about the real movie "Lage Raho MunnaBhai".

One liner for the movie "A Perfect example of telling message in an entertaining way". After coming back from the matinee show, right away sat on the comp to write about it. The reason being :-

1. I just loved the movie a lot.
2. It was coincidence that I happen to see the movie on Gandhi Jayanthi (Who have seen it will know it and if you havent yet, a movie to be watched - dont miss it)
3. I want the blog to be dated on the same date (October 2nd for Gandhi ji's birthday)

Take it from me.. If "MunnaBhai MBBS" was superb then this one is much better than that. First of all this is not a continuation of "MunnaBhai MBBS" (atleast i heard like that and was in that impression). Its altogether a different movie but with mostly the same cast and some of the characters repeated (Munna Bhai, Circuit).

Story

The MunnaBhai and his best friend Circuit are a team of local mumbai goon who take money for beating people or doing any such activity. MunnaBhai is in love with the voice of Jhanvi who is a Radio Jockey (Slightly reminds Preity Zinta in Salam Namasteee). Just to impress her MunnaBhai takes up a call on answering details about Mahatma Gandhi which he manages with the help of some professors (ofcourse by threatning them ...). Later is forced to give a lecture on Gandhi for which he starts reading about him. He reads, reads and reads for 3 continous days that he is able to see Gandhi ji in front of him (visual illusion). After that what he does as per Gandhi's words is the story. {I dont want to say the entire story he he!!!)

Cast

MunnaBhai - Sanjay Dutt, Abey aur kaun karega ye character mamuuuuuuu - Ek tham perfect se fit hotha he na!!!. [His real nick name is Sanju baba.. and thts how i got the nick too. Thanks to Anees for giving that nick to me]

Circuit - Arshad Warsi, he is simply superb, the way he safe guards MunnaBhai, the way he speaks the slang. He definetly adds to the movie's comedy.

Jhanvi - Vidya Balan, What do i say for this girl... I have fallen for her. So cute, beautiful, her nature of helping the oldage people. I wish i was Munna bhai (he he)

Lucky Singh - Boman Irani, ooh is it the same guy who did the role of principal in "MunnaBhai MBBS", couldnt recognise him that easily. He surely needs an applause for his acting.

Crew

Director : Rajkumar Hirani (Hats off to him)
Producer : Vidhu Vinod Chopra
Cinematography : C.K. Muraleedharan
Music Director : Shantanu Moitra
Lyrics : Swanand Kirkire

Apun ka blog mein, welcome hai. Apun ka naam maalum hai na, "Sanju Babaa... bolte hai log". Idher aneka, apun ka blog padneka aur enjoy karneka. jadoo ki jhappi deneka, life mein enjoy karneka. Bole Toh... Solid timepass karneka.

After watching the movie while coming out of the theater... i suddenly shouted a bit loudly towards my friend "Abey Circuit........ Muje Baboo diktha hai re, tuje diktha hai kya" and many laughed at it. Though i made a comedy there, i seriously felt that Gandhi ji hasnt expired, he still lives in many of our hearts. The only way to show our tribute to him, is to follow his messages. "Non-Violence, Truthfullness, Patience, Honesty, Discipline and Punctuality"

Jai Hind

Vande Matram

P.S : Thnx to the movie for fullfilling my long term wish of writing a blog in Hind-ish. Please dont mind my hindi (Apun ka hindi hai na.. bahuth acha hai ;)

Golden Days

2006-09-13T13:43:00.000-04:00

Inspired by Mystery's blog on "Back to School".

I would simply call it as "Those were the best days of my life". For me, even the college wasnt that fun, but school days were the best. I did recollect a mail which simply took back to those golden days. Here it is ...

Gone are the days........but not the memories

Gone are the days
When the school reopened in June,
And we settled in our new desks and benches.

Gone are the days
When we queued up in book depot,
And got our new books and notes.

Gone are the days
When we wanted two Sundays and no Mondays, yet
Managed to line up daily for the morning prayers.

Gone are the days
When we chased one another in the corridors in Intervals,
And returned to the classrooms drenched in sweat.

Gone are the days
When we had lunch in classrooms, corridors,
Playgrounds, under the trees and even in cycle sheds.

Gone are the days
When a single P.T. period in the week's Time Table, Was awaited more
eagerly than the monsoons.

Gone are the days
Of fights but no conspiracies,
Of Competitions but seldom jealousy.

Gone are the days
When we used to watch Live Cricket telecast,
In the opposite house in Intervals and Lunch breaks.

Gone are the days
When few rushed at 5:30 to
"Conquer" window seats in our School bus.

Gone are the days
Of Sports Day, and the annual School Day,
And the one-month long preparations for them.

Gone are the days
Of the stressful Quarterly, Half Yearly and Annual Exams,
And the most enjoyed holidays after them.

Gone are the days
We learnt, we enjoyed, we played, we won, we lost, We laughed, we cried,
we fought, we thought.

Gone are the days
With so much fun in them, so many friends,
So much experience, all this and more.

Gone are the days
But not the memories, which will be
Lingering in our hearts for ever and ever and
Ever and ever and Ever.

I hope this took you back to your Golden Olden days..........

For a while..........as I DID!!

Didn't U ????

Good-Bad-Worse

2006-09-03T13:54:00.000-04:00

WHEN THE BAD IS WORSE, THE GOOD IS BETTER - NAYAJ'NAS

Above phrase was taken from some book. When i told about this to my collegues, they all laughed at me. But this has got a deeper meaning. Ok let me explain.

Remember the school day story of Birbal. Where Akbar draws a big line and posts a challenge to make that line small without touching it. No one is able to find a solution except Birbal. He smartly drew another line very big, next to the original one. By looking at it, the original line was looking smaller.

Now read the title once again and guess it should make some sense. Another way of conveying the meaning is "Life is all about comparison".

Few weeks back one night the power went off and my god couldnt sleep after that. Without fan and with the mosquitoes singing their beautiful songs in the ears... The worst is the mosquitos will not leave you untill you listen to them and they start biting you. If you all think why the hell am i diverting from the topic.. im not. Think about the olden days where there was no power, no fan (But mosquitos were there). Did it mean that they dint sleep ? They did. But we think it is an amazing thing coz we are comparing it with the current situation.

We can quote many such examples. On a hot summer, get inside a theatre and the whole place will be totally dark. Its because of the change in light. Our eyes are used to the hot sunlight and all of a sudden if we enter a closed place without light, it would be abruptly blank. After using a hero honda splendor, if you ride a TVS-50 vehicle it will be like small one. And similarly after riding a Pulsar bike, if you ride a splendor, even that would be small.

In the above examples, what im trying to say is "We dont understand the value of something or someone untill we miss it/him/her". Do we praise the Fan everyday for its giving the air... no. Not untill we have a power cut we know its value. We dont know the value of Splendor unless we take a ride on TVS-50. There is a phrase in tamil... "Nizhalin arumai veyilil thaan theriyum".

Lesson from this - When you are in a bad situation, think of worser situations and this would be much better.

In a tricky way, when you are showing something to someone, show the bad one first and then show them the good one. Definetly the good one will have more value.

Funny tip for lovers using the same topic. Say, your parents are against love marriage (esp intercaste) and you love a girl of different caste. Go tell your parents you love a muslim girl (diff religion..). They will be shocked. Be stubborn and keep telling that you will marry only this girl, if not no marriage. At one point they would say atleast you could have loved a girl in the same religion. Then open the truth that this gal is same religion, ha ha!!!

P.S : If anyone wondered who is Nayajnas, its none other than myself. My name is spelled in reverse :). The phrase wasnt copied from any book, it is my own composition.

Serial Killer

2006-08-27T11:52:00.000-04:00

Serial - a definition

Peru podurathukku oru 5 mins. Start with the RECAP ( oru 2-3 mins). Then rendu peru dialogue pesuvaanga. Avanga pesurathu ennavo koncham dialogues thaan. But you should see the camera focus, angle and the background score... my god hollywoode thothudum. After than advertisement - atho oru 5 mins pogum. Again vitta edathule arambipange. konja nerathukellam again advertisement. Mudikum pothu eppome oru suspense (creating the eagerness in people to watch the next episode...)

Returning back frm off, the moment I enter house , parents would be watching this so called serial. While having dinner im forced to see it. Naduvule ethavathu channel change panna.. engamma tension agiduraange. Appa, padame paakuruthile.. but serial addict ayitaar. He gets involved totally and starts shouting at some guys in the serial. The worst part is, these serials are so bad now a days. All of them showing bad relationships and on top of it justifying them. 1 husband - 2 wives, 1 wife running away with another guy, fight, revenge, murder... all crap.

Manaivi - Starring Kausalya in double action. Both are twin sisters (Udan pirantha Sagothirigal). 1 kausalya likes a guy and marriage is fixed. But she comes to know that if she gets married then her dad will have some danger (As per horoscope - gandamaam). She runs away. Intha edathule, the other kausalya gets married to that guy. First kausalya ve pavama kaatirupaange... but later she will change. She will still like the guy, will act as her sister and she would have relations with him. Worst thing she would even become pregnant (Enna kodumai saravanan)... Apparum akka thangachi kulla nadakure fight a normal kaati iruntha paravale... First kausalya ve oru soooooooper villain akiduvange... Kidnap, black mail... ayyyyyyyo saami.

Kanavarukaga nnu oru serial. 2 best friends (girls), 1 girl is married and the friend likes her husband... and she starts moving with him. This guy who was not interested in marriage at all.. also goes along with his wife's friend. They get into relations, this girl wants to get married, does all cunning activities, that girl becomes mad, when she becomes alright she realises that she cannot become pregnant so she herself makes her husband marry her friend (Friend appa than thirunthi appa-amma vode london polamnu irupaa). Apparamthan theriyuthu medical report was wrong and she becomes pregnant. Now her friend is feeling jealousy. saatha cunning activity pannituruntha nammba friende semma criminal aakurange.. ava payitham agura... namba herione sister vera naduvule payithiyam agura (some rogues rape her itseems... her husband himself forgives but she always thinks abt it)... Mothathulle namba ellarayum payitham akurange.. Enna kodume na, athu makkalukku theriya matenguthu.

Ithu maari neriya serial... sollikite pogalam.

Beauty of serials :-

1. Even if we miss any episode, we can easily track the story of it
2. Apart from that there will be re-telecast of same serial at another time (AThayum nammba makkal vidame pakurange... its like homework for them)
3. The story/script is very flexible. They can change any character (including physical character) at any time and they can stop it any time.

All these things happen in Movies also but the issue is, movies are very short and so they dont stay throughout. But these serials are draaaaaaaaaaaaging. They keep putting the same thing again and again. Our people dont have any other work to do and so they keep seeing this. These people smart in a way that they arouse the interest in the viewers by keeping a suspense at each episode. And finally our makkal are addicted.

Ithellam olikanamunnu... oru SERIAL KILLER thaan varanum.

Miss World missssssssss me!!!!!

2006-08-26T11:12:00.000-04:00

Abishek Bachan, Vivek Oberoi, Salman Khan .... Evangallukku ellam oru ottrumai (Athan Similarities.. pa!!!) all were boy friends of Ash. But there is one secret which no one knows. Even before them, Miss world had a boy friend. Athu yaarunnu en vayalaye sollanuma enna, Picture paatha therile.

Asin ne airdeccan le meet panna porennu appave enaku theriyum. Athan Ash kitta na ok sollale. Avalvom paavum, evalvo naal than wait pannuvaa. Athan paatha, takkunnu salman, vivek nu shift ayitaa.

Onnu gavunichingala... Asin'um A, Ash'um A.. what a similarity. Namakku amaire girl friends name ellam "A" le start aguthu.

Im keeping this blog very short. Its mainly the picture. Ithukku mela kathai adichaa, Anti-Fan club start agidum So let me stop with this (stop with Ash only, not sure who is next. he he!!!)

P.S : Ash, please excuse me for this blog. Naan Cine Field kku varum bothu ne continue pannirupiyannu therile, so a cheap thrill. Thanks for acting in this role.

Tagged by Princess of Gold

2006-08-19T15:38:00.000-04:00

I'm thinking about: the next blog (Miss world miss me!!!)

I said: i will defintely make it one day to Princess of Gold on chat .

I wish: to make everyone happy and im trying my best.

I hear: the noise of fan rotating and the noise of a motor inside the CPU.

I wonder: the creation of universe, creation of human being, creation of nature.

I regret: that i am not able to think of something to finish this line

I am: what iam. Dreamer... for more read my profile. hehehe

I dance: a lot in front of mirror with the songs on in my comp (have taken a video too ;)

I sing: songs while riding the bike too.

I cry: when i see a tragedy scene in a movie (Esp., Nayagan, Moondram Pirai...)

I'm not always: happy or not always sad. Happy paathi, Sad paathi, kalanthu seitha feelings.

I make with my hands: drawing and painting. I used to give greetings done by self to friends.

I write: when i feel like writing. (Writing is so difficult, huh!?)

I confuse: things when things are confused.

I need: a girl (Enakoru girl friend vendumada!!!)

And finally:before i finish, let me thank PrincessOfGold for tagging me on this...

Airdeccan le Asin

2006-08-12T07:07:00.000-04:00

Recently I travelled to Delhi for one of my friend's wedding. When returning back to chennai i came by Air Deccan. Airportle security clearance la paatha oru algane ponnu (Engayo paathe face). Ennaiye paarthukitu iruntha. Flight le partha, enakku pakkathu seat. Hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii appadinna. Naanum hi nnu sonen. Avala vanthu enkitte pesina. Appo than ava "Asin" nu enake theriyum. Pesa arambichaa, pesa arambichaa, chennai airport vara varaikum non-stop'a pesikitte irunthaaa. Apparum "I Love You" nu sollitaaa. Na mudiyave mudiyathu nnu solliten. [Amma vera adutha masathulurnthu ponnu paaka poren sollirukanga, intha nerathule ippadi ore gunde thooki pottuta]. Aal mela aal anupina, phone mele phone panna. Na kanddukkve matten. Kalyanam panna Sanjay'e thaan pannuven nu otthai kaale ninaan. Ore picture message (Check out the picture she sent to me) vera anupchaa.. Kadasile pona poguthunnu othukkitten.

Enna pathi oru intro vendama ?

En Per Sanjay............ Mulu peyair Sanjay Ramasamy (appa pls, kathaikaga pera maathi vechuruken. Naan always Sanjayan.N thaan. Hush!!! Appa numerologist). Ennodu poluthu pokku, thozhil rendume KATHAI ADIKARUTHUTHAN. Appovode latchiyam padathule ella heroines koodaiyum nadichi No.1 varanumgarthuthan (na nadikanum nu, avar ille he he). Ennode latchiyamum athaan. Pidiche edam MADRAS, Amma porantha edam. Ithu than Neo-Dreamz website - Ennode Blog. Ethaiyume perusa aasai pattu perusa ulaikanum nu appa solvaar. Tamil nattu le mattum anju kodi blog eluthanum karthu ennode latchiyam. Acharyama iruka, Ennale mudiyum. Thannambikkaikum, thalaiganathukkum nool alavulathan vithyasam. Ennale mudiyum nu solrathu thannambikkai. Ennal "mattum" (note the keyword) thaan mudiyum nu solrathu thalaiganam. One more thing. Kashta pattu ulaicha jaike mudiyathu, ishta pattu ulaicha thaan jaike mudiyum. Seiyre Velaiye Virumbi pannuvom. Thank You.

Dei dei dei.. niruthuriya un kathaiye... appadinnu neenga solrathu en kaathuku kekuthu. Enna panrathu....Enakku Asin ne nalla theriyum, aana avalukku than enna theriyathu (sooo sad!!!). Airdeccan le delhi to chennai vathathu ennavo unmai thaan. Koncham neram kalichu paathaa, en koode vantha ellarum apeetaitange (slept off). Enaku thookam vanthirunthaa enno de dream land ku poirupen. Athan varalaiye nnu kaane moodi "Imagination World" kku ponen. Appo thattiye kathaithan Airdeccan-Asin (A-A rhyming eppadi ???)

Coming Soon : Miss World miss me !!!