The Jabberwocky Days

LOL Voldemort

2011-07-19T06:15:00.001+05:30

Almost a decade ago I took an oath of abstinence from watching any movies from the Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter franchise. Well, not really an oath but just the lack of interest in these franchise. I am a great admirer of the books. I broke that oath yesterday when I decided to watch both parts of The Deathly Hallows from the Harry Potter franchise. I'm not getting into the book vs movie debate because I never really expect a strong correlation. Such correspondence is expected of comic-book based movies because those books give you the visuals and pace to play in your head.

The Deathly Hallows movie was good. Nothing spectacular and not worth 3D but it was a time well spent. I would like to, if I may, make a special mention of Lord Voldemort. A Pottermaniac once sent me a news snippet mentioning that Lord Voldemort has been voted as the greatest movie villain of all-time (http://www.mugglenet.com/app/news/show/1740). Seriously? I mean how can anyone take this movie-guy seriously? I imagined Voldemort with a lot more vicious serpentine characteristics. What I did get from the movie was a pale bald man in an oversized gown who got his nose chopped in an unfortunate accident. He looks at a person or the camera with his eyelids wide open, trying to look menacing I'd presume. It seems to me as if he is looking at his missing nose with disbelief, reliving the tragedy when he was robbed of his olfactory senses. Or maybe he is just fascinated by the depth of perception he enjoys when his nose isn't in the way.

The 4chan verticals on Voldemort didn't help. Here's one from FunnyJunk-
http://www.funnyjunk.com/funny_pictures/671643/Voldemort+Meme/

What is with the oversized gown? Every time he walks, his gown blows up like Marilyn Monroe's skirt, only Voldemort's gown makes him look fat and not sexy. Has anybody noticed that he seems to be the only male character who screams in these movies? Each time he falls, casts a spell, gets vexed or loses a Horcrux, he just has to scream. When Harry pulls Voldemort down before the final battle again Harry, the kid, is silent as he falls down but Voldemort, the dark lord, is screaming all through the fight like his oversized gown was on fire. Snape and Dumbledore die a relatively peaceful death although their manner of death was more gruesome. But every time Voldemort loses 1/7th of his life-force he has to let out this clamorous and deafening bellow to let the whole world know that he is dying. Think I'm exaggerating? Check out the trailer again-

Who is the only guy screaming there?

When he is not screaming, he is delivering a dialogue. While reading the book, I imagined Voldemort to have a hissing accent and a mouth with a bifid tongue and fangs ready to take a stab. The movie gives you a guy with a hoarse voice as if someone has just kicked him at a place-that-shall-not-be-named.

Let me re-iterate, I enjoyed the movie in the manner it was meant to be enjoyed but I just couldn't help laughing out loud at Voldemort each time he made an appearance. I couldn't celebrate his death and mourned as you'd mourn the loss of a great comedian. For all that entertainment, I wished I could hug him in the manner I see myself trying to hug my wife before our first night together.

The grandmother of all clashes!

2011-03-28T04:27:00.010+05:30

So India face Pakistan in the knock-out leading to the finals of the ICC Cricket World Cup being played at home for India. This is the Cup that matters, because this is the global stage. Well, so is Champions Trophy- held every two years and ICC Twenty20 format World Cup- held every 2 years too. Actually, the Indian domestic Twenty20 format league the IPL- Indian Premier League, held every year, is fast becoming a global sporting event of another kind too. Does that dampen the importance of the tournament? HELL NO. Not one bit. How many people can recollect the winners/runner-ups/location/unimportant statistics/legendary clashes of the ICC Champions Trophy, ICC T20 World Cup and IPL by memory? Compare that to The ICC Cricket World Cup? I bet the latter has a lot more. Specifically the upcoming India vs Pakistan clash the mother of all clashes!

Many all over the media have claimed their reasons to look forward for the clash. I have my own reasons. I started watching cricket in 1996, the first time the Indian sub-continent hosted the World Cup. India hosted 17 of the matches in 17 different venues back then. Perhaps the first time I saw an India/Pakistan clash(quarter-finals) and boy lives depended on it! It was the now eccentric commentator Sidhu's knock with the bat and Prasad's contribution with the ball that won us that game. That, however, was followed by a humiliating defeat in the hands of Sri Lanka who eventually lifted that coveted trophy for the first time. Yes, everyone around me was disappointed but it soon followed "bright-side" discussions about the quarterfinal victory over Pakistan. It was as if that match mattered more than the World Cup itself. Each had their own reasons to believe so. Some mentioned political tensions, neighbor bragging rights, some preferred cricketing reasoning that Pakistan were defending champions, they are and forever will be the best bowling unit in the world or just there have been too many on-field antics in these bilateral clashes. Whatever reason you may choose or create, it simply rubbed off on the newbies watching the game. The enthusiasm and tension rubbed off on me.

My second cricketing stint was with the 1998 Independence Cup. You will be forgiven if you do not remember or know that Bangladesh was the third team involved in that triangular series. India expectedly met Pakistan in the best-of-three finals. India won the first final and Pakistan the second final. A third final you could not script. The excitement after the win of the first final and the gloom after the second final. The 10-year old me did not care about the history of India-Pakistan politics. I had not seen enough matches to even remember the names of all the players. I did not even understand the rules well. After every funny umpire signal I would ask dad what it meant. My match-engrossed dad would make it clear he was disturbed from his meditation then he would gather enough air to calm himself down to afford a frustrated answer. I would make it a point to not ask him again but would forget that in a space of one cricket over. I perhaps only wanted India to win because firstly, I was Indian and secondly, that would make my dad happy and put him in a great mood. Perhaps even take me to that Essel World trip he has been promising me for a year. India did win and what a win that was. India had one ball to spare chasing 315 in 48 overs. Hard even by today's standards and that too against a high quality bowling attack. India lost several times within the match. Once with their ordinary bowling and appalling fielding. Another time when Sachin got out for 41. And another time when Ganguly, Azharuddin and Jadeja lost their wickets. It is important to note here that I cluster Sachin independently from the rest. At that time losing Sachin for less than a 100 meant losing a chase. But India won the match shooting Ganguly to fame. Celebrations like I had never seen before. Great mood all around. A weekend trip to Essel World. The next day there were news reports about a mass in Pakistan collectively burning their TV sets to vent their frustration at the loss. Three heart attack in India with one causality as a result of the nail-biting finish. This was crazy, this was big. It was a huge game! Every time India and Pakistan clashed, the two countries came to a standstill. The mother of all clashes.

Only one from each team retain their places in the squad this Wednesday, over 13 years later. The still young Sachin Tendulkar and the matured Shahid Afridi. India always boasted its batting and Pakistan its bowling. They still do. Pakistan's best bowler that day was Saqlain Mustaq, who is eligible to play for England today! Afridi and Ajmal have deservingly filled in the spinners roles. But Mohali is about pace bowlers, Pakistan won't mind that. You remove their best two bowlers plagued in controversies and they maintain a pace attack to die for. The fastest Pakistani- Akhtar's final assignment.

This, many believe would be the last World Cup for Sachin Tendulkar. I don't know. I don't care. He is here today for all I care. I prefer to enjoy that than lose sleep over the future. He made me lose sleep once in 2004 with a tennis elbow injury. Many believed it was the end of the little master. He walked into the Greg Chappell's Indian side. Chappell, the controversial cynic, once famously said that Sachin would never be the same again and that his glorious days are gone. The world knows what happened after that. Sachin reached a form better than he has ever been in his lifetime. "Rested" for several unimportant clashes he again walked into the side with century after century(including an ODI double century) and now stands at 99 international centuries. 90's often wreaks the nerves of a Sachin devotee. He is notorious for getting out in the 90's but nobody puts this silly theory to rest like Harsha Bhogle does- Yes he has got out in the 90s more than anybody else but he has also converted a 90 into a century more often than anybody else has. If you want to put your money on converting a 90 into a century then Sachin is your best bet.

I was once asked- If God exists and I met Him, what would I ask or tell Him? I thought this through and the answer is- Nothing! Perhaps give a huge smile, a hi-five and ask for an autograph. I don't approve of Sachin being called God because "God" is supposed to have certain characteristics that would perhaps underestimate the 'beautiful truth' that is 'Sachin'. Sachin stands for the fruits of hard-work. Sachin stands tall for short men who want to conquer everything. Sachin stands for humility at the face of a billion people worth of fame. Sachin stands for heroes who fail and become heroes again. Sachin stands for calmness and a brave face in the weight that Atlas could relate to. God is portrayed to be flawless. It is the very flaws among perfection that makes Sachin to adorable. Sachin is no God but if I met him I would do the same as I would if I met God. Should I tell him that he is my favorite athlete? So I am a billion-and-first fan of his? That does not justify where I hold him. I have no miracle story to share about how he inspired to me to do something. He inspires me everyday, inspiration is a continuum and inspiring people all around script your life over time. I can't ask him to keep playing well. He knows that and that's why it's his profession. I can't ask him to stay in the Indian team for longer. He is too much of a team man to stay even after he realizes that his body won't allow him to contribute to India's success. What I think about Sachin can be summarized in the following photoshopped compilation I made for his club a few years ago-

This World Cup needs a mention of Yuvraj Singh. Being dropped from the ODI and Test team not more than a year ago. Dropped by his IPL franchise. Thinking about quitting cricket, Yuvraj has been the engine of India's success this tournament. Zaheer Khan has been so reliable. He has grown so much in the last 8 years. Consistency in India's pace department is a very commendable achievement. I love the team as a whole even though I'm not mentioning them here. I hold no wrath against Nehra for that last over against South Africa. I never did but one wise crack I heard from a friend is worth mentioning-(Read in Tamizh) "Oram-nu paeru aana neramma poduraan, Nehra-nu paeru aana oorama poduraan!"

Anyways, I look forward to Wednesday. I will be thoroughly enjoying the game, every moment of it. I promise to live each moment of the game than to think about the run rate required and wickets in hand. Go India! :)

Thathuvam da...

2011-03-17T20:55:00.003+05:30

My dad once told me a simple story when I was pretty young. I am sure I found the story pretty "ordinary" and even "boring" back then. It is surprising how I still remember that simple story and also narrate it to me friends when the situation demands it.

The story is as follows-

There was once a man fast asleep in the veranda of his house. He was snoring loud enough for every passerby to notice him.

A man walks past the house. He sees the man sleeping and tells himself- "Ah looks like he pulled a good heist today and has rewarded himself with this good sleep!"

A second man now walks past. He notices the man sleep he tells himself- "Ah looks like he had a tough physical day at work! Perhaps on the field under the unforgiving sun. He has earned his sleep today."

A third man now passes by. He thinks- "What a lazy man! How can he sleep when he should be working? He will face the consequences soon enough."

The fourth man thinks- "Probably his wife sent him out of the house after an altercation. Tired, he must've fallen asleep."

The short simple story ends there.

So what was the profession of the sleeping man? Why was he really sleeping? Which of the four men or neither were right? Well one can't really determine that from this story. What you can guess, however, is the nature/profession of the four men. The first man was most likely a thief, the second man a farmer, the third a procrastinator(or maybe just from HR :P) and the fourth man has trouble in his personal life.

Simply put- The way you blindly judge the world reflects who you really are.

Happy Woman's Day

2011-03-08T14:26:00.005+05:30

I just got reminded by a woman that it was woman's day and that I needed to remember such dates if I wish to have a stable marriage. I am buying myself a smartphone when I get married just so there is a device to remind me what special day it is. There is always this cute/cheesy 'men's excuse' I use when I forget a woman's birthday by saying- "I have celebrated you everyday of my life, I don't need a birthDAY to celebrate you. :)" Basically, it's that smiley that delivers the killer blow to make them go "Aww!" and forgive you for forgetting. Doesn't work all the time though, you need to invest in R&D with such issues. Consumer demand is changing by the hour. But when I do make those flowery statements, it is by no stretch an exaggeration when I (for that matter all men) say that I celebrate women around me everyday. :) (Did that work?)

Starting with my mom. She needs constant reminding that I miss her. When I was young, my mom used to chase me around the house to make me eat Spinach. I hate Spinach. Well actually I don't, I just don't like it. She goes through hours of cajoling and bribing me with carrot halwa that she'd make the next day to convince me to go through the torture of eating Spinach. Truth be told, the day she stops chasing me will be the day I would dutifully eat that Spinach or for that matter anything she cooks. She knows that too. I want her to chase me. She wants to chase me. This keeps the game running. Now that I live away from my family, I eat Spinach pretty much regularly. How can I not think of her when I do? I'll call you more often. Happy woman's day!

My sister, she is quite the Hobbes when I am Calvin. She is an accomplice in all my crimes. She is the Frasier Crane when I am Niles Crane and vice versa. Lucky to have a sister like her. Nobody knows me like she does and her love helps me put faith in my own character during my introspection. Happy woman's day to you.

My grandma, my dad often mentions how much she misses me. I have visited her a few times but never been with her for more than a month. I would not understand this bond with mundane economic rules. More time does not mean stronger bonds. Time is quite irrelevant. Her questions warm my heart on a snowy day. I sometimes have a facade to protect my introverted side. She sees right through in those questions. While still my facade answers, she already knows the answers to all her questions. Happy woman's day to you.

To those tomboys who are sensitive women deep down. To those ladies who conspire against other ladies and before you know it, sign a treaty and form an axis of evil. To those women who like Justin Beiber and Twilight (Yeah I'm still going to be a jerk about it). To those raconteur with specific taste in books who takes me into her wonderland and makes me want to read into her world. To those scathing writers who address social and emotional issues but forgive every time India loses a cricket match. To those woman who couldn't care less about Chelsea but would ask me the score anyways just because they care about me. To those women who call me tirelessly even though I never answer their calls. To that silent introspective woman at Forbes and Craig bus stop lost in thoughts but affords a smile when she sees me. To those damsel in distress who don't really need my help. To that careless woman who cares too much. To the woman reading this. Happy woman's day!

Everything I wanted to be...

2011-01-23T06:53:00.007+05:30

So I see this video by Adcom about how the child-like innocence was all that was needed to convert your creative ideas into action. As we grew up we had the fear of failures, we observed others and started being conscious of what the society would think of us. Not a new reminder, all of us know that is true. Here's the video I am talking about-

While I do have an opinion about this rather simplistic reminder for us all, I don't really want to discuss it here. To say it briefly- I feel the video simply serves as a medium to get us all nostalgic and make us feel sorry for ourselves rather than suggest an idea for becoming active again. I know, understanding the problem is the first step to a solution but the message in this video, I feel, is only a small part of the problem and of lesser significance. Something more significant is our lifestyle. Anyways, not my point to discuss in this post. I'd love to discuss this with anyone interested.

My point is to let myself get nostalgic and feel sorry for myself. This video reminds me of everything I always wanted to be as a kid. So, here is a list of everything I always wanted to be-

1. President of the World

Yeah, I believed in democracy in the most autocratic position possible if it at all existed.

2. Dictator of the World

The game Age of Empires made me feel this was possible. Ha if I can beat the hardest AI, humans would be mere villages with a measly +6 attack and +2 armor Mehehuhuhahahaha!! And if anyone tried a mutiny I just have one word

for you- Wololo! Bah was never realistic! But I do confess I had an actual world map with all the plans about which country I would invade first, in order. I had accounted for nearly 100 countries. The smaller countries came as bonuses for me.

3. President of India

Every time, I scored well in History.

4. Batman

A towel around my neck and dad's helmet was all that was needed to become the caped crusader.

5. Geologist

A part of me still wants be be a Geologist. Never lost the fascination for the formation of land. The depths of the oceans, the limitless skies, astrobiology, ethology and ecology.

6. Hrithik Roshan

My mom said I looked like him. Unbeknownst to the younger me that every mom thinks her son is a Brad Pitt and a Hrithik Roshan. Sigh! Reminds me of a Panchatandra storybook my dad once got me. The first chapter was about a Chimp's son who was made fun of in the jungle by all other animals because he was ugly. His mom though said she thought he was the most beautiful thing in the world in her eyes. Moral of that story was: Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder. So, that makes me a Chimp. Hell girls dig cool guys. So to impress the ladies, I dress an attitude-

So, Mr. Hrithik we both chick magnets. Fair trade.

7. Painter

Yeah Disha you were right in that silly Facebook quiz I made up to cajole my ego (I concede, you deserved a 100). She was right, it wasn't a geologist I wanted to be. I wanted to be a painter. And I was good at it too. My favorite piece was a scene from Mission Kashmir with Priety Zinta in a gondola sort of a thing with Hrithik on it. This was the exact scene but the following picture is a close up. There is this gondola in a scenic location in a beautiful lake.

Well I painted it coz I ahem, had a crush on Priety Zinta. Frankly which guy didn't? Dimples work!

I painted characters from mythology too. I loved the show Pappyland on Kermit. Ah loved the poster colors!

8. Sigmund Freud

Loads of introspective books along with 11 seasons of Frasier was all it took to make me a psychiatrist. Jakki once told I'd make a good one. Can't write that on my resumé.

9. Barber

I've cut hair for Aslam, Jakki, MS, Ranjit and most importantly, myself. I have cut my own hair for the last 3 years now to deserve this profession.

10. Philologist

For some crazy reason I once wanted to know at least 36 languages. It would sound worse when you find out that one of the languages I was trying to master was Esperanto and another Atlantis from the Disney movie.

11. Indian Winter-Olympic skiier

For those 5 seconds I skiied without throwing my body at every possible obstacle at Tahoe.

12. Novelist

I started writing this stupid book on how the universe was divided into the dark world and the world of light. It had mystical creatures which looked like creatures in Starcraft. Too much Star Trek and Anime fused to plant this idea into me.

13. Cardiologist

Apparently just knowing the anatomy of the nervous system and blood vessels isn't sufficient to become one.

14. Professor

Still intact. I like teaching things I understand. I think Physics would be my thing.

15. Astronaut

Every boy's dream. Oh the books from several encyclopedias! The mini-rockets I made. Practiced day in and day out preparing to do regular chores as if in zero-gravity. Discover the 11th planet(Pluto was still a planet back then). Discover a civilization. Conspiracy theories. Just those amazing little boy nights where I stared at the stars thinking of all the possibilities into a deep sound sleep! :-)

I wanted to be a lot of things. Honestly, I don't regret missing out on anything. Perhaps the exciting part of my life hasn't come yet. Miles to go...

Faith explained in 2 simple pictures

2010-06-24T19:54:00.004+05:30

The bittersweet juxtaposition

2010-01-31T06:36:00.011+05:30

The following are just some common situations I have been in India and the United States and the contrasting response I get from each. Note this is just my personal perspective. This is in no means a generalization. A response may always be seen in the other country too. Also I have been to the States for just 2 years with only graduate students. So pretty effectively the following is no generalization!

1. You miss a deadline.

Friend @ India: Oh my EFFING GOD!!! You are dead! You are screwed! Here use this rope to hang yourself. You have no reason to live anymore. Oh by the way can I have your Macbook Pro when you're gone?
The Office @ India: You are still alive? Let me make your life more miserable. Finish a few errands here. Lick a few boots there. Run from the main campus to the Bio-tech campus and check how much weight you lost.
Me: :'-(

Friend @ US: Oh you should talk to Mr.XYZ.
The Office @ US: Should be done in a day. Have a fine day!
Me: :-| That's it?

2. When you get the exam paper back.

Friend @ India (peeks into your paper): How much did you score? How much did that topper guy score? And that other topper?

Me (situation 1): 94! :)
Friend @ India (situation 1): Topper na topper dhaan!
Me (situation 2): 51... just pass da! I don't get it... I thought I did well... :(
Friend @ India (situation 2): Oh sorry to hear da... (MEHEHUHUHAHAHA!!! :D Amma! namma class topper fail aitaan... and I got 74!!! :) )

Friend @ US: Exams over. Up for a movie?
Me: Sure!

3. Before the exam.

Friend @ India: Paduchutaeyaa?
Me: No da! I had some errands to do yesterday... :(
Friend @ India: Nee topper... paduchirupa!
Me: F. U.

Friend @ US: Hi, all the best!
Me: Hey man same to you!

4. Classification based upon likes/dislikes.

Friend @ India: Machchan Ajith/Vijay?
Me: I haven't seen any of their movies...
Friend @ India: Oh aamala nee Peter aachey!
Other guys @ India:

i. AR Rehmaan or Ilayaraja?
ii. Rahul Dravid or Sachin Tendulkar?
iii. Shah Rukh or Aamir?
iv. Mahesh Babu or the rest of the world?
v. Which IPL team do you support?
Me:

i. Depends what I want to listen to at that time. Besides I haven't heard much from Ilayaraja.

(People reaction: Oh my God did he just insult Ilayaraja by never having listened to his works??? What do you listen to?

Me: Enigma, Shakti, Massive Attack, etc.

People reaction: Imported stuff.

Me: F.)
ii. Don't they both play for Team India? No wonder IPL is a huge success!

(People reaction: Insult to God of cricket!)

iii. They act in completely different genre of movies equally entertaining.
(People reaction: Ha ha! he likes Shah Rukh. Classless fellow!)

iv. I don't understand his dialogues. He seems cool but he appears monotonic.

(People reaction: Oh another anti-Telugu)

v. Don't watch it. Who can watch so much cricket in a day/month?

(People reaction: Oh yeah Mr. America/Mr. Soccer)

Friend @ US: What kinda music do you listen to?

Me: New Age

Friend(if he likes it): Wow cool, favorite artist?

Friend(if he does not): Oh ok...

5. I have a problem. Not a big one.

Friend @ India: OMG THAT IS MAJOR NEWS!!! Why did you hide it from me for so long? What on Earth will you do? You need United Nations intervention!

Me: Not that big a problem...

Friend @ India: WHAT! Are you serious? My mom's dad's grandson once told me that his friend committed a suicide because of that exact same trauma!

Me: He committed a suicide because his sister played loud music at night??? (@_@)

Friend @ India: What were we talking about again?

Friend @ US: Oh that's hard. Good luck! Lemme know if I can help.

6. What do you think about Ms. ABC?

Friend @ India who doesn't know her: BIAATCH! I think she is... also I have heard...

Friend @ US who doesn't know her: Oh I dunno, never met her.

7. God she is beautiful! I have no acquaintance, wish I could grab a conversation.

Friend @ US: Go talk to her. Ask her out.

Friend @ India: Machchan don't worry... en aalu ava classla irrukaan.. (one of my men is at her class). He gained top secret information that one guy is already liking her and has made advances on her.

Me: Oh damn... ok someone else then...

Friend @ India: Don't worry machchan, avanna pottu thallirulaan! (Let's get rid of that guy)

Leave that to us... you confront her... we will take care!

Me: Dear Lord, what are you going to do?

Friend @ India: Chumma lightweight threatening... he will start calling her thangachchi (sister) after that!

Me: Never mind, I have no guts to talk anyways...

Friend @ India: Every morning at 7:30 she takes bus route A18 to Tambaram. She then gets into the next local train to Potheri. She has her breakfast at the Bio-tech campus before heading for class. You follow her with the same routine then accidentally crash onto her... meanwhile we got hold of her number... I'll give her a missed call... and then...

Me: Remind me, which of us exactly has a crush on her?

8. Can't believe India lost to Australia:

Friend @ US: Tough luck. I guess it was their day.

Friend @ India: It's all because of that #$%^!@& and that @%%&#*. Aussies are cheats. Look at their history Merv Hughes, Ian Chappel and now Ricky Ponting! Who can win when even the umpires play for the Aussies man?!?!? I think we won even after losing...

Me: :)

9. Back after an emotional movie. That scene where the boy is sent to the boarding school and cries, missing his mother was touching wasn't it? My eyes got wet a little.

Friend @ US: Oh yes that was well shot and strong performance. The critics could have gone easier on it. The screenplay was well done. Great child artist, has a bright future.

Friend @ India: I cried like a baby.

Me: OMG me too!!! :D

10. Celebration for an achievement.

Friend @ US: We should celebrate, let's go for a drink shall we?

Me: Oh I will have to skip that, I don't drink. Maybe some other place some other time. You guys go ahead.

Friend @ India: WHISKEY!!!!

Me: You know, I don't drink! you guys go ahead.

Friend @ India: Oh yeah, change of plans- NOOR BIRIYANI!!!

Me: Hell yeah!

11. The teacher said he was disappointed at me. That is bothering me.

Friend @ US: Oh that is hard. Don't worry too much about it. Do this and that and you should end up well.

Friend @ India: He is a third rated jerk! He scolded me last week for just sleeping in class. I mean who can listen to his class anyways? What a freak!

12. A long moment of silence with you deep in thoughts:

Friend @ US: It's getting pretty hot these days, isn't it? How are your courses coming? Ok then I will see you around!

Friend @ India: What happened?

And last but not the least-

13. When the class has been running for 50 minutes and you cannot absorb anymore.

Friends @ US: *Typing seriously in the computer* Googling the latest unheard term. Browsing his code from the other class. Listening attentively anyways.

Friends @ India: MAAAAAAAAAAAAMMMMMMMMM!!!!!

Priceless.

The Jeya Awards -2009

2009-12-26T02:06:00.009+05:30

Where is 'The Jeya Awards -2008' you ask? Well as you know major award ceremonies are not usually held at times of global distress, similar was the case here. The previous two was The 2 World Wars. This time it was something on a similar scale except for it was code named- "The day the Earth stood still". Me and my friends were so traumatized watching that movie as did the rest of the world that the award ceremony had to be canceled. But that was the past and here we are with another edition of the Jeya awards!

So last years the movie awards were bagged by Bollywood, Hollywood, Kollywood and Tollywood. Basically all the Sillywood there is. This time in the last 2 years there have been no entries from Tollywood and Kollywood because, well, I didn't see them. Sadly I haven't seen much movies over the last 2 years at all. So of course this is going to be pretty elitist.

1. Best Movie I saw in 2008/09:
English: The Dark Knight/Star Trek
Hindi: 3 idiots

2. Worst Movie I saw in 2008/09:
'The day the Earth stood still', 'The Knowing' and 'The Happening' will have to share the honors.

3. Best song I heard in 2008/09:
English- Apologize, OneRepublic ft. Timberland
Hindi- Dhan te nan, Kaminey, Sukhvinder Singh/Behti hawa sa tha woh, 3 idiots, Shaan
Tamil- Marudhaani (ROFL!!! I can't help it!), Sakkarakatti, AR Rehmaan, I don't even know the singer!

4. Best music video in 2008/09:
English- Viva la Vida, Coldplay
By the way, Beyonce came up with her best music video of all time (Courtesy: Kanye West)
Unfortunately she didn't win here :(
Hindi- Masakalli, Delhi 6

5. Best actress in a movie 2008/09:
English- Zoe Saldana, Star Trek/Avatar

6. Worst actress in a movie 2008/09:
English- Jennifer Connelly, The day the Earth stood still. (It was your fault why we went in the first place!!!)
Hindi- Konkana Sen, Wake Up Sid.

7. Best actor in a movie 2008/09:
English- Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight (Like there were other contestants!)
Hindi- Hrithik Roshan, Jodhaa Akbar

8. Worst actor in a movie 2008/09:
Keanu Reeves. The award will not be shared by anyone.

9. Special Jury Award:
Avatar- Most breath-taking animation ever
Wall-E- To bring in emotions out of robots- wow!
Watchmen- Brilliant adaptation of a comic. Great music.
Gran Torino/Invictus- Clint Eastwood. Enough said.

We will have a live performance from the one man who dared to challenge Sam Anderson. Ladies and Gentlemen, give it up for I-have-no-idea-who-he-is-but-he-is-freakin-awesome!

Enjoy-

10. Best moment in 2008/09:
Disneyland, Anaheim. (Can't top it in a lifetime)

11. Worst moment in 2008/09:
Algorithms course @ CMU X(

12. Best sports-person(s) of 2008/09:
The Blue Flamez @ IM UCD 2009. Believe it!

13. Sporting moments 2008/09:
Best- Rafael Nadal OWNS Roger Federer in Wimbledon 2008! (Tennis)
Disappointing- Chelsea FC Vs Barcelona FC, Semi-finals, UEFA League. Genuine Barca supporters saw it, Cristiano Ronaldo admitted it, the rest of the world went myopic when they saw an English Blue. (Football)

14. Best moment online in 2008/09:
Overheard at Carnegie Mellon! (Facebook)

15. Best TV series of 2008/09:
Naruto

We have a new extension to the awards with a special section for YouTube that has become a part of my life over the last 1.5 years.

16. Best Comedian:
NigaHiga

17. Best Singer:
Tamar Kaprelian. (A special mention for her magical nose crinkle <3)

18. Best channel:
College Humor

19. Favorite video:
'The Infected' by r4ndomduud

20. Special Jury Award:
Margaret Lillian Adams aka Maggie Ririan aka Magibon (Yeah you were waiting for it :D)To people who don't find her cute. The world must be real sad in your point of view! :(

And now the time for Icon of the Year 2008/09. I guess this award is unfair. Everyone around me add up to this. The category will henceforth be scrapped.

Congratulations to all the winners. A happy new year 2010 to one and all!

Don't Juxaggerate!

2009-07-27T02:25:00.005+05:30

Ok add this word to your dictionary-

Juxaggerate verb.
Pronunciation: Jug-rah-geh-rate NOT Jux-a-ger-ate
Meaning: Juxaggerate is the superlative of the word exaggerate. To enlarge so far beyond the boundaries of truth that it sounds impossible but much more interesting than the truth.
Etymology: Once MS, Jakki and Ajay went to buy cycles in Wal-Mart. On their way back, they were a bit lost and were also getting used to cycling in the USA. On their way, MS once ignored the cycle signal and kept riding. And he stopped a car followed by a couple more later in the highway. The car played the horn alerting MS. Then MS stopped for a moment then recovered and rode away in a few seconds.

Now the version as per Jagadish- We three were riding on the bike lane and then MS ignored the bike signal and kept riding. We shouted at him to stop but in no avail. It was in the middle of a highway. And suddenly a car stopped right in front of him! The entire traffic was blocked because of him! We heard the car horn for the first time in USA. They all were staring at him. MS simply stood there for 5-10 minutes. Then he rode away to the other end!

What is the difference between the actual incident and Jakki's version? Jakki's version is more fun to listen to! Thus the word Juxaggerate!

He was the comedy relief element of the Blue Flamez. So I have compiled top 5 Jakki moments in my stay at Davis.

#5 The Breaking news
Jagadish's saga of breaking atleast one thing at each house continued with him breaking a glass on the first day of our stay in Apartment 116 in Davis. The Thamby family had come over to help us in settling down in Davis. Jakki had a great work-out at the gym. He came home tired and went for a nap. We asked him to join us for grocery shopping and banking but he was too tired to come along and asked us to go without him. He woke up for a few mins each time for breakfast/lunch/dinner. But overall the stretch covered an entire day. He woke up the other day thinking most part of what we spoke to him was like a dream! Harris and Yasmin got a pretty good idea about Jagadish on the very first day :D

#4 Take 3: I-94
We were supposed to fill in the I-94 form for declaration of customs in the flight to Davis. Jagadish had an unsuccessful start by making a mistake in filling up his. He reluctantly asked for a new form saying he never got one before. The hostess gave him one. He messed up yet again and was scared asking the hostess for the third time. When she came he asked for one more. She went- Oh sorry sir you cannot make a mistake in an I-94. You will have to land and wait in a long queue for hours and explain to the customs officer about this mistake. There was a pause. Jagadish's face was filled with guilt. Then the sporty air-hostess goes- :P Just kidding I'll get you another one!
We loved the air-hostess for that! :)

#3 The beautiful country-side
Jakki likes Chinese girls. There is one particular person that totally gets his Adrenaline shooting. We were training for soccer under Aslam. We suck at any soccer trick. Then this girl comes in. Jakki actually teaches a dummy pass to her. What was funnier is how he went come on you try its easy, when he himself sucked at it. He also dribbles in front of her to get it 4 times right! His adventures with this girl and a certain guy with a multiple split personality were hilarious!

#2 Flushed Away
Once Jakki used a kitchen paper instead of a toilet paper. That ended up blocking the toilet. That flooded the toilet completely. He tried whatever he could to remove the blocking. Then finally Ajay and Jakki brightly arrive at a conclusion that using dish washer will remove the clogging. Their logic was something to do with alkali present in the Dish washer. Well all they got in the end was a soapy flood. :P

#1 Badusha!
No seriously, this one takes the cake! Hyunjhun was our apartment mate from Korea. Cool chap. We Blue Flamez have this occasional sessions cleverly named as Badusha. Here we act as if we would molest Aslam. All because he is "homophobic". So we take advantage of his phobia. He fights back by throwing us here and there. Its fun basically! One of these days I was busy with assignment work so I was on my bed working on my laptop. The Badusha session began by an attempt from Ajay on Aslam. MS and Jakki joined soon later. We had closed the door just to make sure our maanum remains in front of our foreign roomies. These 4 were just tangled up together not knowing who is fighting who. And then the moment. Jakki finds Aslam and starts spanking him LOL! And Hyunjhun walks inside our room claiming there is a call for Jagadish! He finds Jakki spanking Aslam. He feels like laughing but controls. He says there is a call. Jakki gets up while the rest have stunned faces. Jakki says- Ok Aslam I'll wrestle with you later, to keep all his maanum alive in front of Hyun! OMG one needs to be there to know how funny it really was!

Apart from this there were great sessions with Shaun Davis and Nelson Max. Altogether Jakki was a full out entertainer. Thanks for all that man :'-) You ROCK!

Guess who's back!

2009-07-26T23:37:00.005+05:30

...and we're back!

So why did I choose today of all the days to resume blogging? There were a few factors, one of them being a few of my friends resumed blogging. Another important reason is since I got an amazing response about my blog from my class-mates. I had no idea how many of them liked it and they wanted me to resume blogging. But probably one last push was given by none other than AR Rahman!

My friend since first sem @ SRM, Mithun had a role here. I was quite depressed over the last few weeks, or rather anxious. It was about my grad school. CMU? seriously? me? Its scary but I still want to be there. I know some of them would go- "Nee topper machchan!" (My tongue between my lips, me blowing air to make my tongue vibrate like a wave! as Jakki puts it :P ...no really ":P"). Some might give a hand on my shoulder sympathizing atleast for a second and go- "Don't worry you'll do fine". And one of these awesome people went- ''Relax, you'll do fine. I'll keep reading newspaper everyday to check when you become Nobel Laureate like them". To the one who said it, Mini, you have no idea what that meant to me. Thanks again... I will! :)

So I was depressed and then I was on facebook and saw this link Mithun posted- Superstar Junior-2 from Amrita TV with a sundari kutti (LOL!) Anakha singing 'Malargale Malargale'. To be honest, I was never a fan of that song until that moment. Soon later I found that she was voted out. Gosh where is this planet coming to? I did not want to check out the winner as the first few minutes of the finale was not encouraging.

The next day Mithun updates on Facebook about the winner. It turns out someone called Parvathy wins it. And she has got the cutest smile! I heard a few songs, loved them but not half as much as I loved her cover of 'Kannathil Mutthamitaal'. (No Ajay its not German!) After listening to it the entire day I went to listen to as much of ARR as I could. And finally at song- Ishq Bina from Taal, I found the inspiration to blog. Nothing to do with the song though. Bottomline: Here I am!

Why did I pause blogging in the first place? I lacked inspiration to blog, without which I don't get the spontaenity seen in my blogs. There were several blogposts that went discarded after writing because it just didn't feel right.

So what has changed in my blog? Well Jabberwockey Days faithfuls will find 2 of the old articles missing. Just because I don't believe in a single word, I have written there, any more. One was '5 things I have held back from this world' and the other is 'Vamos Nadal'. About the 5 things, my current stance is-

I follow Honduras time now :D;
The 'my room dynasty' has fallen, I like going out now;
I don't like silent girls, I prefer noisy 'Geet from Jab we met' types! <3;
I didn't know how to handle sentimentally fragile people, I didn't understand them. They are all important to me. I'm sorry.
I don't remember the 5th one but I'm sure, I don't agree with it any more. As for Vamos Nadal, make no mistake Nadal is the best athlete according to me, but I was mad at myself for the way I ended the article. Well I know you got the point I'm making. Deleting those 2 posts made me really happy for some reason. Felt vindicated from myself. This blog looks mine again! :)

The past year has been amazing and the dictionary doesn't have the right word. The last year was all about the Blue Flamez. It also includes some memorable moments with my last days in SRM. More about it in my subsequent posts!

eGREgious!!!

2008-08-17T22:28:00.003+05:30

Q. If Jane is 5 times the age of Judy now and 12 years from now she will be exactly 3 times the age of Judy. Then what will be her age 44 years from now?
Ans: ASK Jane! If she won't tell then don't get into other people's private life!!!

Q. In a pack of 52 cards what is the probability of randomly selecting a King, and Ace and then a 3? Also tell the probability after adding the joker.
Ans: Do not play cards! Bad habit!!!

Q. If the city of Manchester receives 22 mm rainfall on Monday. It increases to 25 mm on the next day. The trend follows throughout the week. Then how much rainfall does it receives on that week Sunday?
Ans: This question has 3 possible answers...
1- I live in Chennai and I don't give a damn about people in Manchester!
2- Sunday is a holiday! Why do you care??? Stay home and watch TV rather than measuring your rainfall!
3- With all that GSLV and PSLV the weather department still never gets any of their prediction right that what makes you think a percentage problem would make you any smarter???

Q. Which value is greater? 6745^2390 or 2390^6745?
Ans: Why the hell do you think we created the calculator?!?!?!

Q. Antonym question:
MOTHER
O FATHER
O UNCLE
O BROTHER
O SON
O EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL MARTIAN WITH A DOUBLE ANTENNA

Ans: E? BINGO!!!!
Did you know? MOTHER word is derived from Makaleleakrechwawa which in Latin means a Martian and Otherinbwahahaha which in Greek means single antenna. Thus the answer.
Really? Wow!

Ahhh! You get my point! Its eGREgious!

After such a week long struggle I did not finish my PowerPrep test on time and my confidence hit the nadir seconds before I took the test. But somehow I always seemed to guess my scores correctly. I did the same for the GRE test and declared, it was not worth watching! I then return to the routine classes at SRM among students of SRM... Ah...!

Basically this test is a Firewall to keep people like Jeya at bay. You just somehow wish to avoid this test. You reach a moment where nothing feels right. You feel so frustrated and at that point this lady comes in. You listen to her voice and then you hear yourself say- "Ah heck this world is a beautiful place after all!". Is this Jeya's new secret crush? Well to be honest every time I go angry this person makes that frustration ebb away. I totally seem to feel it. Is this love? Well if thats the case then I guess I am in love with Shreya Ghosal! I was litening to her new track "Teri ore" from Sing is Kinng and wow how many singers do you know manages that? Certainly not A.R.Rehmaan! He is a musical maestro for sure and his music makes you wonder how good the music is. English pop, rock and hip-hop. They all are fine. But eventually it is people like Kavita Krishnamoorthy, Shreya Ghosal and Lata Mangeshkar who manage to enchant you. Bringing you from that excited state to a calm state must take a lot.

Then I listen to Anoushka Ravishankar's Sitar and I drop to wonder is Vangelis any different? Enigma and Yanni are worlds apart with the same effect. Beauty of music I suppose. Thank heavens it exists!

Joker, Joker burning bright in the forest of the Knight!

2008-07-26T20:59:00.008+05:30

Would you die a hero or live until they make you a villain?

Just one of the amazing dialogs from the Nolan masterpiece called "The Dark Knight". Every single dialog of this movie was amazing and in some ways outplayed The Godfather series. This movie is about Batman, my childhood hero. My parents may recollect my childhood days with me wearing a towel as a cape and wearing the pillow or a helmet as a mask then running around the house calling it the city of Gotham and me- The Caped Crusader(^_^)

Why I love Batman is simple. Ever since my childhood, each and every comic book had a "Superhero" not a "Hero". Batman does not have any supernatural powers. He is just a masked man who is an expert at martial arts. More importantly, he has virtue. This is the precise lesson every series of Batman be it comic, TV series or the many movie series gives us. He wants to convey that whenever injustice occurs have the courage to stand up against it. Do not worry about the consequences. People will support you just because you do the right thing. Do not be a silent observer of crime or encourage the wrongdoer by submitting. By doing so you have supported the villain and thus yourself become one. That is the fact that was beautifully conveyed by the quotation that I started this post with- "Die a hero or live until they make you a villain".

Beyond my love for Batman I got a double bonanza. The movie was directed by my all time favorite director- Christopher Nolan the mastermind behind the masterpieces: Following, Insomnia, Memento, The Prestige, Batman Begins and now The Dark Knight. He ends the movie rather abruptly with Bruce Wayne almost losing everything and The White Knight being glorified by the commissioner. But that just happens to be the best ending you can possibly have in such hero movies. He wants the city of Gotham to have a hero just like one among the people, so the people have the courage to stand up and fight injustice rather than waiting for Batman.

And finally the talk of the town. Heath Ledger. Now how would you react when a girl's heart-throb would do a role of a vicious sociopath called Joker in the Batman's series? Well what he gave possibly stunned the world.

Not only was nothing short of BRILLIANT but he happens to be the only person ever to do justice to the role of the Joker or rather any comic villain I have ever seen. Clearly overshadowed the amazing Christian Bale. He is of course not alive because of drug overdose. One theory states that he had drugged himself for getting into this psychotic role so deeply that he often suffered from anxiety and stress. After sometime he could bear it no longer and he ended up killing himself!

Whatever be the case, he has delivered a masterpiece of a role and truly made people freak out. His dialog- "Why so serious? Let's put a smile on that face!" will become immortal.

Truly a once in a lifetime movie and I felt it was kind of made for me because of the triple bonanza. I'd like to end the post with my rating-

Overall- 10/10

Acting-
Bale- 9/10
Heath- 11/10
Maggie Gyllenhaal- 0/10(missed Katie Holmes! (i o i) )
Crew- 9/10

Graphics- 10/10(Years since we saw a realistic graphic scene)

Plot/Story- 9/10

Magical moments

2008-07-03T09:00:00.004+05:30

According to me, there are two emotions in this world that just cannot be put into words-

1. Laughing for something you just cannot explain because you yourself don't know why.
2. Crying for somebody you don't know.

When somebody catches you doing any of the two, you are just lost for words. I wonder if anybody can understand such emotions. Even if they do they cannot possibly share the feelings with you. It is purely psychogenic and unique for an individual.

Advertisements often annoy you. This is the part why anyone would hate sports. When in the middle of a movie you just reach for the mute button on your remote. But what if the same useless ads actually make you get those magical feelings that I have been talking about?

Let me accentuate on the 2nd of the two feelings, crying for someone you just don't know about. The first is something an adolescent would easily understand as we suddenly break into laughter for no reason whatsoever.

This one ad which makes a powerful statement, is from India. The reason it is perhaps the best advertisement I have seen till date is because it makes us feel both the magical feelings that I was talking about synchronously. Just watch it, and irrespective of your bandwidth watch it before you continue. I swear you will definitely watch the ad again. Maybe 4-5 times and notice the brilliance with which this ad was directed.

I have seen this ad over 30 times or so. Beautiful ad and is easily one of the best ads I have ever seen. Delivers the message so wonderfully! After the ad is over you actually feel even more happy about the moment they played Holi. Why are you happy? You have no idea. And just before the ad got over you just don't know why you were sad about. I personally had this question all my life about how a blind person perceives colors? And yet even without those colors the festival of Holi brought joy to those children.

The next ad I'd like to mention is so very powerful even without a word being spoken. Just watch and savor the next few seconds for it will be a journey impossible to explain-

I just broke into tears after I saw this. That is the beauty of innocence! Just how do I explain why I was in tears? A cancer patient would have to get rid of all his hair. And more than any pain he is abashed by the fact that he has no hair. Since this is one thing that makes it obvious to people around you. They wear a cap for this reason. And then this little angel who is presumed to be his little sister offers her hair to him. Now, anyone would know how sensitive little girls are about their hair. Or maybe a little kid in general. Do not believe me? have a look-

Reminds me of my first hair-cut (^0^)

Such are the moments where you generate unknown relationships with people you don't even know about and express feelings for absolutely no reason. Let me tell you sympathy is something completely different from what you would have felt. And so these moments are somehow magical. Probably bonds the world together because we all feel the same about certain situations.

Destination undefined

2008-07-02T08:48:00.003+05:30

I saw Dasavataaram yesterday and guess which avataar of Kamal I loved the most? It was Balram Naidu! That shouldn't come as a surprise to many as most people loved that role of his. There were 2 roles absolutely unnecessary- Ullah and Bush. I wonder what he was trying to accomplish by doing those 2 roles. And yeah it is pretty average work with some of the make-up. I guess a little of graphics on the face could have supported the make-up well. Coming back to Balram Naidu. He is typical person, the kind you see around us.

When you go to any office or rather bureaucracy there are somethings that you are likely to hear. When it is a profit organization it would be-
Meet Mr.XYZ he is in-charge(and where is he? he is absent come tomorrow!),
no some of the papers are missing check it from Mr.ABC,
Mr.ABC- AREY!!! stop disturbing I said everything is fine now don't bother me!,
Mr.PQR- Why were you born? Me-Excuse me? Mr.PQR-I mean When?
Mr.I_can_do_anything- Pay Rs.5000/- and I'll make sure everything is done before time!
Mr.Bus_Conductor: YOU DON'T HAVE 50 PAISE!!!! NAATTU DROGHI YERAUNGUDAA! (Traitor get down!)

In a not-for-profit places-
Mr.The_only_in-Charge: Why the hell do you people always come to me for this job huh? Can't you see I have more important things to do!!!
He speaks as to try to ignore a steel lunch-box right in-front of him else he would claim that you are some smart-ass!
And yeah the usual- Come tomorrow, which a wise man has said, never comes!

Aah I'm fed up of those nonsense, people just don't love their jobs! Sometime you wish you were the Arjun in Mudhalvan(Anil in Nayak) and dismiss all those officers. We tend to imagine ourselves like some person of great importance in the near future and then encountering these people again and just shout on their faces- YYOOOUUUUREEE FIRED! And they pleading Sir Sir Sorry Sir I have 2 wives and 4 children Sir! Please Sir! And then you just feel a sadistic pride before you snap back to the reality that you just faced! You so wish you were more important.

That brought me to Naidu. When the FBI agents came he was running around with a garland and coconut-water and the agents had a tilak on their fore-heads! You might shout HELL THEY ARE FBI AGENTS!!! But the character of Naidu aptly describes most people you have met. So I'd like to credit the story-writer and Kamal to have portrayed him so well.

Now before somebody tries to threaten to take a cat's life let me narrate the incident that makes him prompt it often so much so that he won't stop jumping unless you convince him a 24 hour deadline! Yeah you get gentle reminders from him about the deadline too. It all began yesterday when Ajay, humble as ever, let us all know that the Auto-rickshaw and Share-auto's won't ply because of the acute shortage in Petrol in the city. So the buses would be crowded and it would be wise to leave at 8 itself.

I decide to call him as I left the house 10 minutes before time. I ask him if he would get down at Thirumangalam at any point? if so then we could leave together. He asks me if I plan to go to Tambaram and then take a bus or take from Koyambedu. I say Tambaram is the better option. The city of Chennai has 4 stops called Thirumangalam. I believed a man of his stature would have no problems in deducing which stop I was referring to as only one of the 4 is closer to Tambaram, also it has the highest bus frequency of all!

After a while he, humble as ever, apologizes for the delay. Then calls me and he asks which Thirumangalam stop am I? I say the one to the left of 2nd Avenue. He asks if it is walkable? I confirm saying it is very close. After a while he calls back and asks where I was. I say left of 2nd Avanue. And he asks me a teaser, I presumed. Where is 2nd Avenue? Alas he wasn't joking! I describe him the road with the help of the lovely Water tank in Anna Nagar. And for the next few exchanges we kept speaking how each were in a better position because there is a better frequency of bus to the destination. The genii defended his case by stating that anyway I'd have to go past his stop and I stating the same. And after both of us had successfully wasted 1 hour of our lives we realized the fact-
"All these while he was assuming that we were going to Nungambakkam and then by train and I was assuming by his first call of the day that he really meant going to Tambaram"

What better way to lose 1 hour of our lives.(^-^)
So much for the suspense!

The Psychology of Laughter

2008-06-08T09:37:00.004+05:30

How do you feel when you laugh? Its hard to put in words. To put it crudely you feel happy. Now whats happy? I believe its the absence of grief, just like light is the absence of darkness. Being in the extreme end of the spectrum we still have tears when we laugh wholeheartedly or have overwhelming sadness. Its a bit strange. But I'd like to laud myself for the apt metaphor that compares light with happiness. In the movie "The Pursuit of Happyness" this part was wonderfully shown as Chris fixes the bone density scanner in a gloomy place. He tries hard to fix it among other worries. But finally he fixes it and the director shows it in form of light. The audience doesn't need a degree in EEE or a narrator to understand that the machine is fixed and they break into a smile.

Light is also an apt metaphor for Knowledge. It has been represented by humans in numerous forms. One fine example is the halo over the heads of the enlightened ones. When a place is in darkness and suddenly the lights turn on, you suddenly give a knowing smile maybe not displayed by lips but surely somewhere in your mind you are thankful of the knowledge of the place by seeing it. One day I dropped to wonder if these expressions are so closely related then how can Laughter and Knowledge not be related? I was wondering this as I searched for a good example. I finally found an answer from a random video, of a man playing with his toddler, I saw in my favorite website 'YouTube'.

Have you seen some people(mostly a mother) play with toddlers? They play a dangerous game. They toss the baby high and catch as the child descends. The child is actually in pain by the dangerous height and as the person catches with a force. But the child actually laughs!!! Do you know why? because this is the moment the child develops trust in their parents! For a split second the kid is exposed to his fears the next moment you know he is safely in his mothers arms who snuggles him with a broad smile!!! When the child realizes that he is in his mom's arms who is actually smiling, the force with which she caught him doesn't feel like a pain at all. The happiness has actually removed his fears!!! Now the kid has learnt 2 things-

1. There is a person whom he can trust probably for his lifetime. You just don't know why but you just develop that trust by a game that looks silly! The child also learns walking by trying to approach the person he now trusts and loves. And the game is just one such example, observe a mother playing with her child and you can enumerate millions like I can. Peek-a-boo, bathing, feeding, etc. try finding a correlation.

2. The child learns to bear pain to achieve happiness! Yes when the mother catches him he does feel hurt but his happiness is more important. This sets the tone for his lifetime. Be it learning to ride a cycle, studying, in love, in career, etc. the person is now modeled to bear pains of different forms to achieve what would make him happy!

I believe this is an ideal example of gaining highest form of knowledge about oneself as he is on the pursuit of happiness. This form of knowledge lasts a lifetime! Clearly obvious as a child without parental love tends to resort to habits considered ill in a society. Check out the poster of "The Pursuit of Happyness" it is no coincidence that the designer places a corona of light where the dad and son hold hands.

Most of the crime are done out of fear and nothing else. Taking a man's life is the highest form of cowardice! This because there was the need in early part of his life to give him strength, wisdom and virtues.

So far I discussed one aspect of laughter. There is another aspect I'd like to present. Its about a personality. When a person laughs to a common joke they tend to form a better group together. I believe people diversified to form society and religion because of what would make one group happy. Can't get the point? I'll make it simple- Lets see Urban and Rural areas. There is no significant reason why one is better than the other. For the residents they are satisfied with the place they live in. They are happy with their residence. For ones who are not go on a pursuit to gain happiness. This can mean coming to a town, city or even abroad. All about happiness. Clearly it has formed religions(idol worship vs nature worship), society and countries(Kashmir issue). Conflicts are our failure to understand another person's psychology and definition of happiness.

One more aspect of laughter is something I realized when I heard a lecture from a professor of Psychology in YouTube. He says comedians are reformists. He says almost 99% of the joke is created out of frustration that you wish to get rid of. He quoted many novels of the biggest names in English literature. He says the greatest reformist the world has known spread their discontent and frustration by composing it into a joke. They do it so wittingly that people irrespective of any sect actually laugh at it. Sometimes even those at whom the joke is targeted! The joke gains popularity and people finally start taking the issue in a lighter vein! And suddenly I felt I was a reformist too. I realized the jokes I write in my blog are basically issues which bother people. I was flabbergasted(I dunno this was the only word big enough to fit the purpose)! In one old post I was specifying that I like songs of many different languages. In that post I said that I was upset with Tamil Nadu's obsession with people who speak Tamil 24X7, I had also said that I had overcome that sense of insecurity, in that post. And then I analyzed the "The Academy of Taminglish Aptitude" (TATA) wherein I teach the greats of English literature, how to learn Tamil!!! Clearly I was still upset with people's obsession with Tamil speakers so I turned it into a joke. I know it for sure because its me I am talking about! I realized the spontaneity and honesty with which I write my blog has actually helped me realize my insecurities!

At this point the blogs of the comic posts of Abhinav and Jagadish flashed. I concluded that in a way they are reformists too. Abhinav often narrates the Indian mindset. Jagadish is frustrated at the obsession of Indians with individuals like Sachin, Saurab, Dravid, Ajith, Vijay, Rajini, Kamal, etc.

Everything that we do is related to happiness, even when you smell a rose. Laughter is contagious. When you see your competitor win, with him in tears of happiness, you can't help but be happy for his efforts. When you read you wish to gain knowledge it is happiness of knowing things. You love the sunrise, thats happiness too. Nothing that humans do is random. It is just their philosophy of the psychology of laughter!

Chef Paulov has left the building!

2008-05-25T10:49:00.005+05:30

This day 25th May 2008 will go down in the history of mankind as the second major event guiding civilization. The first one being the discovery of fire and now, today. First I'd like you all to hold on to your seats and scroll down!
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All this scroll-work to build up suspense!
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Isn't it beautiful? (^_^)...*sniff* *sniff*
It is I who has created that piece of art that mortals call- "Breakfast!"
This because my mom is in her native for a few days and I have been home alone for quite sometime and that is the beauty I created this morning. I decided to skip going to a restaurant and cook all by myself for the very first time!!!
And the results well you can see it, a proud owner of an omelette, 6 toasts and a sandwich!
Just look at that beautiful omelette. It is a perfectionist's omelette! Not one tinge of burn. After years of experience my mom could never beat that! That is golden crisp, smells great! Not even Chef Paulov could beat that!

Now for the toast. Not a single one burnt! All perfectly golden, a perfectionist's toast!

And just look at that adorable little Sandwich. It has all the vegetable nonsense for "nutrition" and dash of sauce for that extra flavor. A cheese sandwich never looked so happy before!

All these combine to form a perfect breakfast for anyone in any country in the World! Take that Chef Paulov!

At this point of time you must be wondering a few questions-
1. Do you have any prior experience with cooking?
2. How does the omlette taste?
3. And WHO THE HELL IS Chef Paulov!?!

I fortunately, have answers for all of them!

A1: Nope. This is my first and successful stint at cooking. I have experience of cooking Maggie noodles before though(All 4 flavors!!!).

A2: I haven't eaten it yet. It looks too good to eat!

A3: I dunno. Sounds like a French name doesn't it? And French are supposed to be good with cooking stuff, right?

I wonder why they don't recognize such feats while applying for an MS degree. At least I can fill up the pages saying I know to cook-

Maggie Sambhar Noodles
Maggie Masala Noodles
Maggie Chicken Noodles(Non-Veg)
Maggie Tomato Noodles
Maggie Cuppa Mania(Both Veg and Non-Veg)
Omlette(Specialization)
Toast
Sandwich

I mean that would cover half a page and they'd know this guy means business! Besides how else do you beat Mithun's resume!

Ah whatever it may be it is time to eat and let all my creation disappear forever!!! Cruel this world may be, I know its not fair but life's not fair!(>_<)
As for people like Jagadish complaining that their mom make the same routine food all the time- Jeya's tutorials is open for admission!

The Kiwi that made me cry!!! :'-(

2008-04-16T18:03:00.002+05:30

Ok let me confess never did I ever in my wildest dreams thought a Kiwi can make such an impact on me! Just enjoy the video and then read further. You'll love this!

Hope you saw the entire clip. If not please do so before you proceed to read beyond this statement. This is one animation clip at around 3 minutes long that made such an impact in the end. I was left speechless! Wow!

The story is about a little Kiwi who was sad all its life about the fact that it couldn't fly. The Kiwi takes pains to create a scenario to give a look of flying. When I started watching the clip it was merely for the funny movements of the Kiwi. When I noticed the video had 16.5 million views in YouTube I was taken by surprise. Easily the most viewed clip I have seen in YouTube till date! It also had 91,000 votes to give a rating above 4 stars. So what was really so great about this video. Do all love Kiwi's suddenly. After the clip ended I confess I went through an emotion I just couldn't put in words! According to the video we never know what happens to the Kiwi. The creator claims that the Kiwi may have died for the sake of witnessing its final wish. It was evident with a silent thud in the end. All my years with languages failed to describe that idea. How on earth did the creator think of such a simple and signature video! Kudos to the creator!

Also it was heartening to see several video replies to this video that claimed so many possibilities that the Kiwi could just be alive. Most of them are utterly funny! One such video stated that the Kiwi carried a parachute with it for a safe landing! (^_^) Another video my favorite of the lot called Kiwi Reloaded enacted a CSI episode for investigation about all possibilities of how the Kiwi could still be alive. It includes the use of a trampoline!(^O^) They investigate with the inhabitants to find where the Kiwi could be right now. Well I don't know exactly where the Kiwi is but it has already made a place in my heart! :-)

The Academy of Taminglish Aptitude: Part 3

2008-01-15T12:44:00.001+05:30

After a wonderful class last time round Jeya Balaji could already see a revolution, a fire within his students. He entered the Colloquial Colosseum with a new-found pride. His students were now capable of defending themselves all thanks to the exposure given by the one and only Potheri Jagga. He stepped into the classroom for the final time.
All: Good morning Bajji saar!
JB: Good morning students as we all know this is the last class of TATA. It is indeed a moment of mixed emotions. Sadness to see you off. Pride because you will be now equipped with the stat-of-the-art communication skills.
JL: Sir but we haven't learnt anything so far!
JB: YOU AGAIN I SAY GET OUT!
JL: Podaaa &%$# @#$*( #&^*(( #^&@ ^&%&@*? (The wordings have been censored with respect to our tender audience)
(JB fell in disbelief)
JB: You have actually done your home-work given by Potheri Jagga?
(JL sniffed back his tears with a soliloquy saying yes)
JB(Holding back his tears): For the first time I'm even proud of this poromboku! please take your seat. Let the last class be your first and last one!
(All took a second to understand what JB said, including JB himself)
JB: John why are you carrying your seat?
JL: Sir you only told to "take my seat"!
JKR: Mokka!
JB(broke to tears): Vaa daa yen raasaa!
(They hug!)
(After a moment clearing the emotion of the last day)
JB: Students today we'll learn the art which is all important that needs to be mastered by every student of Taminglish.
JK: Sir are we going to learn about Tamil literature and the great temples of Madurai?
JB: Of course not, today we will learn about punch-dialogues!
(Anticipation filled the room)
JB: Let me test your current knowledge about punch dialogues any volunteers?
(JK raised his hand, he was followed by his bitter rival JRRT)
JB: Go on boys do it!
(JRRT takes the opportunity and gives JK one hard blow on his face that makes a new moon day on JK's face)
JB: WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE!?! Although this scene does qualify for mokkai's but you have gone completely out of topic! I say get out!
(JRRT leaves with JL left all jealous)
(JKR nurses JK's eyes)
JKR: Does that hurt?
JK: che che!
(JRRT comes back and lands one last blow before he permanently leaves)
JKR: ippo?
JK: lightaaa...
JB: Seri you people can continue your love story later! Lets move to the auditorium for you classes by a special guest for punch dialogues.

(All hurry towards the auditorium as JK seems lost in JKR's eyes. If only he could see it!)
(As they reach the auditorium they see only one man standing with his back facing the students)
WS: Saar, with the build-up you gave I thought a panel of teachers will be required for teaching this art. But what we see here is only one man. Why is that?
The man turned 3 times. Whoosh Whoosh Whoosh!
It was unmistakable. It was the one and only God to most Tamil's. It was him. Could it be, Rajinikanth???
Rajini: Haha! Kanna panninga dhaan koottama varum. Na singum singala dhaan varuven!
Then he somehow magically spun his goggles thrice and wore it and said the magic words.
Rajini: Ow iss itt?
WW: Suuuper!
JK: Sir is it necessary to do every thing thrice?
(Nobody considered his question)
JB: Oh thank you sir for coming on time and taking time off your busy schedule.
Rajini: Nan epudi varuven, enga varen nu yarukum theriadhu. Aanaa vara vendia nerathula correct ah varuven!
JB: *applause*
WS: What crap!
Rajini: Shut Up! Rajinikantnu sonna vayithula irukura kozhandhai kooda vaaya moodum!
WW: Rajinikant.
(A sullen silence filled the room whether it was because thala was named or was it that everybody were waiting for something to happen. However the power of punch dialogue was delivered!)
Rajini: Paatheyaa? This is the power of a punch dialogue and an art to master before you head to India to keep up with this generation.
JK: One doubt saar... doesn't an unborn child always shut its mouth?
Rajini: *ahem* How dare you! As a punishment write 'I will never question thala' 100 times and come!
(JK goes and writes only once as he sits down)
Rajini: What gives...!
JK: Saar naan oru dhadava ezhuthuna noor dhadava ezhudhuna maadhiri!
Rajini: Adhu kulla yen effect vandhirucha???
JB: Rajini Saar I believe you will be an inspiration to these people i believe you must start with your classes...
Rajini: Jeya sollaraan Rajini seiraan!
(For a long time there is a discussion going on and the classes reach the fag end)
JL: Sixku approm seven da Rajiniku approm yeven da?
JB: Oh that would be me! I will guide you through the final moments. Thank you Mr. Rajini for sharing those precious moments with us!
Rajini: Vartaa!(With a stylish salute!)
(And Rajini takes a rope fixes onto a stand and throws it down the ground as he descends to leave the auditorium)
WS: Saar can't you use the staircase instead?
Rajini: Yen vazhi thanii vazhi!
(WS smiled and so did the rest. Then there was a strong thud followed by a painful sound Yamma! but the students were already bothered about the farewell.)
JB: Students it has been such an exciting time that I have spent with you guys! I'll always remember you guys. now you are geared to face the modern world much better and well equipped. Hope I will meet you guys again in Chennai soon!
(Everybody are in tears)
JB: But before you guys leave I have always had the doubt. John Milton, after so many days and hours of classes we have never heard a single word from you. Why is that so?
JM: Sir I was wondering wouldn't it be easier if I learnt Tamil instead?
Sullen silence fills the room.

Anand Sridharan- A Tribute

2008-01-07T23:03:00.000+05:30

You you know which is the saddest feeling in the world? When you hear about a tragedy on the news and you decide not to pay much importance to it since you believe these things happen everyday and you choose to watch a Test match instead. A few moments later you get a call and you hear an old school-mate. Why would he call at such an unearthly hour? You wish its about a get-together. But then what he really called you for was to inform you that the tragic news you heard on TV about a young student dying in a hotel mishap turns out to be none other than your best friend in school! The moment you hear the heavy tone your heart just feels like no he is playing. After you hear it you long for someone to shout that he was only joking, you check to see if its April 1st even in January. That exact moment while it lasts is the saddest moment in the world. That split second is all you need to recollect all the wonderful moments you have spent with that buddy. I felt this today. And now my heart feels like it doesn't want to give space to any other emotion at all.

It was New Year's Eve and Hotel Savera had organized an illegal party on a stage over a swimming pool. Due to overload the stage broke and a software engineer dies by drowning. Another 19 year old and his cousin are critically ill. Hotel Savera does not bother to call an ambulance. The friends of those two students decide to pull them out of the swimming pool and call their parents. By the time their parents arrive the students have reached a near death situation. They are then rushed to Apollo Hospitals at the death of night with festive season. 7 days later 2 hours ago as I type they were declared dead. I decided to pay attention to the news after all and browsed this from The Hindu archives. It clearly states one of the youngsters name is Anand. But Anand is such a common name you still wish it is not Sridharan. After some moments you decide to accept it. One of my best buddies I have ever made in my life, Anand Sridharan passed away today.

I had no knowledge of him being in a hospital. All I can do now is recollect when I first met him. It was in Velammal in 10th standard. I hated Chennai, I missed Mumbai. I was a newbie and I just did not like anything about Chennai. He was the third person I met in my class. He asked me about Mumbai. For the first few days I just did not know the difference between Manoj and Anand. They seemed so alike to me. As days went by I sorted out the differences. Anand was a good student and spent most of his time in the first bench with Keshavram, Achyuth and Prem Kishan. All of them scored well. Vaidyanath joined the first bench in a few months. That formed the strength of the class, the toppers. As for me I was in the last bench. Just trying to avoid anyone's attention. Anand kept promising that he'd come to my house some day. One fine day that he did decide to come I messed up the whole thing and he was left stranded. But finally one day Anand made it to my house.

Anand introduced me to a lot of games. He was a die-hard fan of Max Payne. He was so committed to win Max-Payne 2. He also introduced me to Need For Speed a popular game I was completely unaware of. He was the person who introduced me to Spencer's Plaza. Yes, I had no knowledge of its existence. He also took me to Mayajaal. He introduced me to Ega and Sathyam too. It was him who showed all the Pizza locations in Chennai. Isphani center for the MOP girls. Landmark for great books and window shopping :-). In short he introduced me to Chennai. The bright side of Chennai. And suddenly I got cured of my Mumbai nostalgia. I love Chennai. Its his fault why I got the habit of commenting the same story, when I see a building, to the same person over and over again. Yes my reference to the Orchid Towers :-D. We guys even planned to have high school together. But I preferred Velammal to where he decided to go. Communication between us was affected. When he came to know about the offer in SRM University he asked me to go for it. I reluctantly agreed. Now, I dare say my college is the best college in Chennai! I am so glad I joined SRM. He was in Sri Venketeshwara. We got back in touch through orkut. And last we had a discussion about who is the stranger Ankitha who knew both of us. That was about 8 days ago and we still didn't find out.

Anand I have been an introvert all my life. People call me an ambivert because of you. Thank you for curing me of my Mumbai nostalgia. I suppose I never said that to you. The nickname I kept for you "Andy Bacardi" was the nickname of my best friend in Mumbai. I kept it because you were my best pal since I came to Chennai. Another thing I never told you about- The "Jumbo" prank that some person played on you hacking your account was me. Just look at the situation I am in right now. I don't have one decent picture of yours that I can load here! Miss you.

Taare Zameen Par (with translation)

2008-01-03T07:45:00.000+05:30

Taare Zameen Par(Stars on Earth):
Dekho inhe yeh oosu ki boondein,
Pathon ki godh mein aasmaan sey khoodein,
Angdayee lein phir karvat badal kar,
Nazuk sey mothi hans de phisal kar.
Kho na jaaye yen taare zameen par!

Look at them they are like fresh drops of dew,
They are in the lap of the leaves jumped from the heavens,
They stretch turning over and over,
Tender pearls laugh when they slip and fall.
Hope they don't get lost, these stars on Earth!

Yeh toh hain sardi mein dhoop key kiraney,
Uthrein jo aangan ko sunehara sa karne,
mann ke andheroon ko roshan sa kar dein,
thithurti hatheli ki rangat badal dein.
kho na jaaye yen taare zameen par!

They are the rays of sun during winter,
They have come down in gardens to decorate it,
To enlighten the darkness in our hearts,
They give us warmth,
Hope they don't get lost, these stars on Earth!

Jaise aankhon ki dibiya mein nindiya,
aur nindiya mein meetha sa sapna,
aur sapne mein mil jaaye farishta sa koi,
Jaise rangon bhari pichkari,
Jaise tithiliyaan phoolon ki kyari,
jaise bina mathlab ka pyara rishta ho koi.

Like the sleepiness inside those eye-lids,
In those sleep are sweet dreams,
and wish in those dreams we get some sort of an angel,
Like the fountains filled with colors,
Like butterflies upon blossomed flowers,
Like a relationship of selfless love.

Yeh to aasha ki lehar hain,
Yeh to umeed ki sehar hain,
Kushiyon ki nehar hain.
Kho na jaaye yen taare zameen par!

They are waves of hope,
They are a dawn of wishes,
Its eternal happiness.
Hope they don't get lost, these Stars on Earth!

Dekho raaton key seeney pe yeh toh,
Jhilmil kisi lau se ugey hain,
yeh to ambiya ki khushboo hain,
baagon se beh chale,
Jaise kaanch mein choodi ke tukde,
Jaise khiley phoolon ke mukhdey,
Jaise bansi koi bajaye,
pedon ke talay.

See they are like on the chest of the nights,
Blossomed like brightness,
They are the fragrance of the orchard,
flows from the gardens,
Like broken bangles on glasses,
Like the face of blossomed flower,
Like somebody plays a flute,
from the trees.

Yeh to jhonkey hain pawan ke,
hain yes ghungaroo jeewan ke,
yeh to sur hain chaman key,
Kho na jaaye yen taare zameen par!

They are breeze of the winds,
yes they are the life in music,
like the rhythm of tunes,
Hope they don't get lost, these stars on Earth!

Muhalley ki raunak galiyaan hai jaise,
Khiltey ki zid par kaliyan hain jaise,
Mutthi mein mausam ki jaise hawayein,
yeh hai buzugoon ke dil ki duwayein.
Kho na jaaye yen taare zameen par!

Like the lighted streets of a locality,
Like a determined bud set to blossom,
Like the seasonal breeze caught in your palms,
They are the blessings of the elders,
Hope they don't get lost, these stars on Earth!

Kabhi baathein jaise dadi nani,
kabhi chalkein jaise mum mum paani,
kabhi ban jaaye bhole sawaalon ki jhadi,
Sannatey mein hansee ke jaise,
Sooney hothon pe khushi ke jaise,
Yeh to noor hain barse agar teri kismat ho badi.

Sometimes sit like grandpa and granny,
Sometimes naughty like the streaming water,
Sometimes create an array of innocent questions,
Like a giggle in grave silence,
like gold lips that smile,
They are the shining stones that shower on you if you are lucky.

Jaise jheel mein lehraye chandha,
jaise bheed mein apne kandha,
jaise manmauji nadiya jhaag udaye kuch kahe,
jaise baithey baithey meethi si jhapki,
jaise pyaar ki dheemi si thapki,
jaise kaano mein sargam hardam bajthi hi rahe,
jaise barkha udati hai bundiya.

Like the moonshine on a lake,
like a known person in a stranger's crowd,
like the falls which froth as if giggling,
like taking a nap as you sit in the noon,
like the cosy touch of love,
like music to the ears that plays forever,
like the drizzling heavens.

The Jeya Awards -2007

2008-01-01T06:15:00.000+05:30

And its time again for the Jeya Awards for movies in personal life. This year was splendid for Bollywood and Tollywood in terms of box-office as well as according to me. Kollywood on the other hand saw no movies tempting enough and that has reflected in the box-office too. The only Tamil movie I saw this year was "Sivaji: The boss". Hollywood was average as always. So let's get on with the awards.

1. Best Movie I saw in 2007:
English- Ocean's 13
Hindi- Taare Zameen Par
Tamil- Sivaji: The Boss(No nominations, default)
Telugu- Pokiri

2. Worst Movie I saw in 2007:
English- Natural Born Killers
Hindi- Jhoom Barabar Jhoom
Telugu- Athidhi

3. Best song I heard in 2007:
English- Running Away, Midnight Hour
Hindi- Addat, Atif Aslam
Tamil- Sahana, Udit Narayan ft. Chinmayi
Telugu- Happy Days Rock, Naresh Iyer ft. Mickey J. Meyer

4. Best music video in 2007:
English- What I've done, Linkin Park
Hindi- Saawariya, Shail Hada
Tamil- Sahana, Udit Narayan ft. Mickey J. Meyer
Telugu- Oh my Friend, Karthik

5. Best dialogue in a movie 2007:
English- Matt Damon in The Bourne Trilogy
Hindi- Shah Rukh Khan in Om Shanti Om
Tamil- Rajinikanth, Sivaji
Telugu- Nikhil in Happy Days

6. Best actress in a movie 2007:
English- Julia Stiles, The Bourne Ultimatum
Hindi- Kareena Kapoor, Jab We Met
Telugu- Genelia D'souza, Bommarillu

7. Worst actress in a movie 2007:
English- Angelina Jolie, Beowulf
Hindi- Deepika Padukone, Om Shanti Om
Telugu- Tamanna, Happy Days

8. Best actor in a movie 2007:
English- Jake Gyllenhaal, October Sky
Hindi- Abhishek Bachchan, Guru
Telugu- Mahesh Babu, Pokiri

9. Worst actor in a movie 2007:
English- Ray Winstone, Beowulf
Hindi- Shahid Kapur, Vivah
Telugu- Vamsee Krishna, Happy Days

10. Best moment in 2007:
Industrial Visit, Goa

11. Worst moment in 2007:
When Structural Biology ma'am was disappointed at me.

12. Best sports-person of the year:
Kimi Raikkonen, F1

13. Sporting moments 2007:
Best- Kimi Raikkonen edges Lewis Hamilton by a point to become World Champion(F1)
Thrilling- India Vs Pakistan Twenty20 World Cup Finals, Johannesburg(Cricket)
Exciting- King Pete Sampras Vs Prince Roger Federer(Tennis)
Funny- Misbah-ul-Haq jumps to get run-out(Cricket)
Disappointing- Indian collapse Vs Bangladesh(Cricket)

14. Best e-mail/SMS/orkut-scrap in 2007:
Monday repeats and Sh*t Sh*t Sh*t.

15. Best TV series of 2007:
The Simpsons

16. Worst TV series of 2007:
American Inventor

And to end this ceremony I'll announce the person who has been most influential this year. The Icon of the Year 2007. And it goes to- my father! Thank you for guiding me and listening to my non-stop nonsense all the time! So let me pack up the awards ceremony. Congratulations to the winners and wish you all a very Happy New Year 2008!

Taare Zameen Par Review (no-spoilers)

2007-12-31T20:55:00.000+05:30

Ok let me confess one thing I was in half-minds when I entered the cinema hall for Taare Zameen Par. My friend and I had this discussion about if we should spend the new year's eve watching an emotional Taare Zameen Par(TZP) or the comedy Welcome. Yes sure we get to see Katrina Kaif there added to that Akshay's comedy, but when I just saw the poster of TZP something just gripped me. I loved it. It was so simple. There was this little Ishaan(Darsheel Safary) who was staring at something that made him smile and Aamir in the back bench watching him and himself giving a knowing smile. The title of the movie is written in such a childish hand-writing and then some pictures around it drawn by some child. It said a lot in-fact. I just wanted to see this movie.
It was directorial debut for the most innovative man in Indian industry- Aamir Khan. He delivered from the word go! What he has designed is certainly Oscar material. If this movie misses out on Oscars I'd certainly lose faith in the Oscar committee. I know the plot is very simple but he convinced me about something I always had questions about- What is the future of under-average students? Aamir tries to convince how maturity somehow gets acquired by every human! I outright agree with you Aamir! and the audience did too replying by applauding when the movie ended.
I just want to make sure the viewers refresh and ponder over 2 basic facts on life. Firstly, when a child outshines his teacher it means he is the best teacher in the world. An achiever! Secondly Every child is indeed unique we fear only when we don't know what we can do.
To end with Abhishek Bachchan's comedy cameo's continue. Every time I see that man I just cheer up! And for TZP he made a guest appearance in a form that you'd least expect.
Most wonderful aspect of the movie was how well I was able to relate my school-life with Ishaan. No I was in no way like him but somehow wonderfully the Ishaan character reflected each one of us! Aamir delivered a wonderful speech on dyslexic condition. Its a psychological state of a child miraculously described in the movie. If you haven't heard about it don't go searching for a dictionary! Leave it to Aamir! I cried in the hall on 3 occasions and I'm sure anyone with a heart would. Also without telling I'm sure everyone can relate themselves with Ishaan, the movie is that well made! This is Oscar material from India!
IMDB rates it 9.6 now with 1200 votes. I'm not surprised.

Report Card:
Movie: 10/10
Acting: Darsheel= 10/10, Aamir= 8/10(Thats right the kid out-did the icon!)
Script: 10/10
Sets: 10/10 (No sets used but locations were just right!)
Dialogues: 10/10 (Aamir just delivered)
Songs: 7/10

The songs are undoubtedly poor but when I went for the movie I realized something that Bollywood had lost for decades now! That is lyrics of the songs having to do something with the story. Each and every song actually narrated the story! Thats wonderful -since the black/white days I cannot recollect any other movie with such songs! I also cried at 2 songs - the title song "Taare Zameen Par" and "Maa". The line "Kya main itna bura hoon" it was like my heart reached out to Ishaan. Even as I type I can re-collect that scene so vividly and I can feel my tears itching to come out! This movie is a must-watch for everything also bring along every member of your family there! The movie is perfect so please do not commit the mistake of reading any spoilers, story is simple and predictable but do read between lines!

Of Jingoism, Religion, Lies and Pranks (Senti-mental)

2007-12-26T23:26:00.000+05:30

Guys I'd like to take time off all the jokes and write something about a fact that has been plaguing me often lately. Writing this I also know 90% of you will stop at this point but I just wanted to write on this somewhere. I remember my mother asking me once as to why I skip quickly to the sports section of a newspaper as soon as I get my hands on it. Silly question I thought. There is that typical men vs women answer ready at the moment saying that all men really care about is sports. I never bothered to find out the actual reason why I do that. Not until I read a rather funny quote on sports-

"Men always prefer to read the sports column first as the last pages(sports) of a newspaper always bears news about man's accomplishments whereas the front few pages usually covers man's failures."

I dropped to ponder how true he really was. Funny because it did reflect something that saddens me or maybe many people around me. I do prefer reading comics and also enjoy cartoons at this age. But newspapers do often make you sad when you start with the political news. One fact that has got this nation like stigma is jingoism. Excessive pride and liking for ones own country. But in this article I do not refer to the national jingoism but rather regional jingoism. Showing excessive pride of belonging to a particular state and speak a particular language.
This caught me lately which might surprise a few. My series of TATA meant no offense to anybody and was written in a light hearted note. Little did I know that a few of the readers would interpret this as a signal that I am actually being offensive to the South Indians since I never made a mention of any language in North India. I am a South Indian. Madurai Virummandi in fact (^_^). Blame it on my ignorance but I did not know terms like Golti and Mallu is taken so harshly! Probably they decided to show their anger by giving me a silent treatment.
Languages was made just to communicate. It brings us closer. Why these boundaries. They have been airing a good AirTel ad lately about 2 children across borders playing soccer just by communicating a few lines. But a sense of belonging and possessiveness has taken over us. Different languages is a product of illiteracy and is a variant of a mother language. But even be it Latin driven or Sanskrit driven it helps us communicate in the end.
National jingoism itself is harmful. I often found a batch of Pakistanis offensive to Indians in orkut. That until I decided to act like a Pakistani for a day. Only then did I realize that misunderstanding is in both sides of the border. Orkut has helped me meet some really awesome Pakistanis like Adee, Zahir, Sunny, Syed and of course Harun. Meeting people like them has proved me that people long for friendship. Its larger than any nationality. As I type I recollect the lyrics of "Imagine" by John Lennon he rightly said-

"Imagine there's no countries, nothing to kill or die for, and no religion too, Imagine all the people living life in peace, You may say I'm a dreamer. But I'm not the only one."

Very true I too have those dreams! Sit back and think you'll realize there indeed is no reason for boundaries at all. It is a bad sense of possessiveness I use the common term jingoistic until I enrich my vocabulary :-D. The literate world today has realized that. I do have reasons to say that these are indeed few in number.
Same goes with religion. I got my answer just by sitting back relaxing for a moment thinking about origin. Strange how much History teaches you. Miss Roveena(my school history teacher) wasn't wrong after all. Religion indeed started as a set of rules that are acceptable in the society. Any person who did not follow that was inflicted with angry glances, brand of an outcast and the popular origin of the term "villains". The outcast's started a rebel set of rules and created their own religion and tried to make it as different from their previous religion as possible. Mostly as a sign of protest for the acts of forcing or maybe the pride of being unique. Soon there were sense of possessiveness and pride, jingoism. That same stigma has infected humans to create religions.
The third and fourth categories might have raised a few eye-brows. Some would have made conclusions before reading so far. Others just cant make out why I'd add such odd elements here. As for lies I just don't know if it is right or wrong. Mithun is one person I know who claims he never lies. Good enough he has proved it often. I don't even know what he means by the term honesty. He can never keep any secret either. He breaks pretty easily. We call it women generally. But I had never favored his philosophy since I was of opinion that a little lie is good if it helps a person happy and does not harm anybody. But when you look at it personally I would seriously want to see the real world and mend upon it rather than be kept in darkness. So to a good magnitude Mithun is right to what he does. Often I have realized the terms that we associate to feminism are the good and often the one referred to as male is negative. This reminds me of a Tickle test which measures femininity of a person. My results showed 51% I took it as gender discrimination and making fun of me! But then psychology is the king of all science. It gave me the brilliant answer. In the test the femininity did in fact reflect how good you really are! So next time somebody makes fun of another saying you can't keep a secret you're like a typical woman I'd rather take it as a compliment! Also saying this I am aware of potential secrets something even a chatterbox Indian girl wouldn't leak out.
The final element is probably the strangest in the set. Pranks why on earth would that make any person sad? Probably the prank was on me. But this isn't the case. Funny when you yourself are the prankster and it makes you sad. I remember one on Varun, and one on Anand and also one on Anish. All these I do only convinced that the target would take it sportingly. The former 2 didn't work out as I had planned but Anish was a sport. Vimal and Hari too have a great attitude towards life. I mean this when I say I'd rather not play a prank on any other person I know. Possibly I'm just bad at it. But Anish, Vimal and Hari are just quite different from any other person I have ever met. It just struck me all are Telugu's and I have often called them Goltis without anyone minding it(genuinely)!
Then there is a person with a completely carefree attitude in life Jagadish(don't worry wise men finish last) who also knows when to shift gears of emotion. He must be upset at me right now for a real dumb joke that I played. I know it was a real stupid one. I earnestly hope his sister gets it like he does! Else I'm really sorry!
To end this rather huge article of sentiments, I'd like to celebrate my Christmas with the 12 most wonderful gifts I have got in life!

Dad, tussi great ho!
Mom, rasgullay de plate ho!
Sister, ande de omlete ho!
Hari, jalebi ki tarah straight ho!
Vimal, barf se sedate ho!
Anish, mujh sey cognate ho!
Karpagha, mere best critic ho!
Yeshwanth, over-praising school-mate ho!
Mithun, sachayi ke mandate ho!
John Lennon, kamaal ke lyricist ho!
orkut, dosti de estate ho!
Jagadish, vadde unique trait ho!

Khair jo bhi ho tussi sab log mere vaddey favorite ho! Merry X'mas everybody!

The Academy of Taminglish Aptitude: Part 2

2007-11-19T02:01:00.000+05:30

The class was buzzing as Jeya Balaji entered the Colloquial Colosseum for yet another day for inspiring young Taminglish enthusiasts on their pursuit to acquire excellence in the language of tomorrow. As soon as he approached the classroom he could already hear voices inside the classroom. He could catch the words dei, poda, machi and some guy singing "figaru figaru dhaan ni super figaru daan" which was the unmistakable voice of his favorite student John Keats. He drew a deep breath patting himself for a job well done as he entered the classroom.

All: Good Morning Bajji Saar!
JB: Good morning, good morning all can have their seats.... by having ur seats I meant sitting not eating... HAHAA get it! I'd kill myself!
WS: Terrible joke saar!
JB: That is precisely what is called a mokkai!
(All stumble to get their notepads open and start scribbling)
JK: Saar what will we learn today?
JB: Friends today we will have a guest lecture on a vocabulary field very essential for the very survival of mankind!
JRRT: And what is that saar?
JB: Its self defense?
JL: You are actually going to teach us to swear? You know thats illegal in class don't you?
JB: Who let you in I SAY GET OUT!
(JL all excitedly runs out... and there is a silence for sometime broken by a sudden shout ESCAPE!!! from outside the class... JB decided to downplay the excitement outside)
JB: Class I have another good news for you... to teach you about verbal self-defense we have from TATA invited an expert in this field from Tamil Nadu!
(Class cannot hide their excitement)
JB: So without wasting any further time let me introduce you all to one man who has stood out in verbal self defense... This man has survived in adverse Tamil local conditions to gather enough experience to teach you guys this fine art... He is also the Tamil father of evolution who did studies on himself... So ladies and gentlemen I give you Potheri Jagga(PJ)!!!

(suddenly everything went silent... the students look here and there searching for this new teacher... they guess his look, his etiquettes and just are too anxious!)
Then the silence is broken by a sudden noise of drums outside the class. JRRT peeps out to see a bunch of drunk people dancing to a haunting drum music as they approached the class. he had never seen anything like it before. At the center was a man with lot of garlands on him. That was unmistakably the one and only Potheri Jagga!

JRRT to JB: Saar namala vachchu idho kaamedi keemidi pannu layey?

(PJ enters the class and gestures his army to leave)
All: Good morning saar!
PJ: Yeven da enna saar kuptadhu!?!?!
(PJ lifts his lungi up and ties it on his waist and stylishly folds his tongue back-downwards to everyone's amazement)
JB: Saari thala adhu vandu they are still children!
JB: Class kindly refer to your new saar as thala!
WW: Saar what does thala mean?
JB: It mean head students!
JK: Saar what about the rest of the body?
PJ: DEI! ni inna periya parupaa?
JRRT: Saar doesn't paruppu mean Bengal gram?
PJ: Naayey ni modhalla gaali da!
(JRRT almost gulps down his heart in his throat)
JB: Patience thala!
PJ: Avengla doctoraa paaka anuppu!
JKR: Mokka!
PJ: Ni inna di?!?!?!
JK: Aei!
PJ: AEI!
JKR: AAAEI!
JRRT: AAAAAAAEEEEEEIIIIIIII!
WW: AAAAAAAAEEEEEEEEIIIIII!!!!!!
WS: AAAAAAAAEEEEEEEEEIIIIIII!!!!!!

JB: innada font sizeaa mattum maathurengaa?
PJ: Congratulations students you all have learnt your first lesson in verbal self-defense!
All:???????????????????
PJ: Indeed shout AEI and co-ordinate it with your hand in a motion depicting as if you were preparing dough for a pizza!
JK: Saar kalakkitaenga saar!
PJ: thanku thanku!

PJ: Now lets begin by understanding the ultimate trilogy!
WW: You mean Creation, Operation and Destruction?
PJ: No. Bemaani, Somaari and Kasumani. Always use them together to attack your enemy!
PJ: Also randomly place Ot** and B***u in your statements!
JK: Saar what do they mean?
PJ: All you need to know is that they are complementary... just stick with that answer!

PJ: Next you people should know what you all will be referred to as in TN. You all are Peter's!
WW: Saar I am William!
PJ: No as soon as you land in TN you will all become Peter by default!
JKR: Me too saar?
PJ: No kutti you will be Maria!
(JK fumes)
PJ: Now, reference. Remember students all people from South India are Madarasi's whether or not they came from Madras or have ever seen the city. Similarly people from Andra Pradesh become Golti. People from Kerala are similarly called Mallu's.

PJ: Now draw a table and write word in column 2 and English complimentary in column 1
It goes like- For deaf= Sevuttu, headless= mundam... alternatively ariva ketta mundam to glorify that his brain is rotten, barren land= porombokku, stupid= loosu, fool=kaena and so on.
PJ: Any questions?
JRRT: Saar how does a headless person have a rotten brain?
PJ: No questions? Ok let's proceed!
PJ: To learn more I encourage you all to go to Kodambakkam or Mooremarket and get in fight with the locals there! Or better off go to Potheri-SRM where I developed my skills!
(Students note down the address!)
WW: Saar can you provide us with video tutorials?
PJ: Sure just download the movie Thiruda Thirudi they have a song that gives in-depth analysis of all important words that you need to know!
(the class has a long session of enlightenment)

After 3 hours

JB: Now, now students let us all bid Mr. Potheri Jagga a goodbye!
All: O**a b***u ippo ve apeetu aidu.... illa nee gaali!
PJ(with tears of happiness): I'm proud of you students!
(PJ leaves the hall with a scent of success refreshing him up)

JB: Ok students hope you all had an awesome time. Let us all meet each other again in the next class. Goodbye!

All leave the class with a great sense of satisfaction. They just can't wait for another day at TATA. Till then BYE BYE!

The Academy of Taminglish Aptitude: Part 1

2007-11-13T17:42:00.000+05:30

Welcome to "The Academy of Taminglish Aptitude"(TATA)... students are requested to enter the "Colloquial Colossium" to take over the classroom proceedings.
(Little John Keats(JK), William Shakespeare(WS), John Lennon(JL) and John Milton(JM) just can't wait to have their first day at the famous TATA classes for the English of tomorrow)
Jeya Balaji: Good morning friends it is indeed a pleasure to have you all here. As you all know Taminglish is the language of tomorrow and your contributions to the English literature mean nothing now!
(Sudden silence fills the room)
Jeya Balaji: But you guys can still make a mark in this ever changing world by learning the language of the next generation, yes you guessed it its Taminglish! So lets not waste any more time and just get on with our lessons... Hope this journey proves to be very exciting to all you guys!
Jeya Balaji(JB): My name is Jeya Balaji... but please feel free to call me Jey Bajji.... With my experience in Tamil Nadu I hope I will deliver all that you people need!
(Keats Raises his hands)
JB: Ah! our first doubt!
JK: Sir what does Bajji mean?
JB: Wonderful Keats! and that shall be our first lesson friends... Always call a person with the name Balaji as Bajji its a default nickname to the most popular name in South India.
(All start scribbling their pads)
JB: and second most important thing never and I mean NEVER call me sir always say "Saar" which is how the phonetics will take you for Taminglish.
(Students already have their first page filled)
WS: Bajji Saar what will we learn today?
JB: Most important part of every language of course... the grammar!
(Keats can't help jumping, its his favorite class before reincarnation!)
JB: Now friends can anybody give me an example of Question Tags?
(JK just jumping and is inches from the ceiling)
JB: Keats why don't you go with your answer?
JK: Saar this statement has a question tag, doesn't it?
(proudly sits down)
JB: Anybody else?
JL: Our Taminglish Saar is awesome, isn't he?
JB: haha! nice try Lennon you're not getting those extra grades!
(JL grumps and sits down)
JB: Well nice try boys but all of you are wrong!!!
(Keats almost felt his life slipping away!)
JB: Its simple no matter what the statement it is, just add a no to the end and that is the Taminglish version of a question tag! For example- This statement has a question tag no? and I am awesome no?
(JL gets away with his tongue sticking out)
JK: It is so simple no?
JB: Good JK thats the spirit!
(JK jumps back from the dumps!!!)
JB: Next interrogative statements, if a general question is to be imposed simply end the statement with an elongated aaaa.
JB: Like, you came lateaa? After class we'll go to movieaa? and so on.
WS: Saar is that so simpleaa?
JB: Yes indeed!
JB: Next lesson in sentence framing is the common way of ending a general statement in Taminglish... always add a "da" at the end of the statement!
JK: Bajji Saar you are fantastic da!
JB: Now now never use it against people who are elder than you or bully you!
JK: Sorry Saar!
JB: Now next lesson, whenever you want to express a feeling show it by elongating a syllable of an existing word.
WS: Saar I don't quite catch you!
JK: Yes da! confusing no?
JB: For example- If you feel bored in the class simple elongate Saar into a elongated Saaaaaaaaar try innovating by experimenting with your tone!
JL: Saaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaar!
JB: I SAY, GET OUT OF THE CLASS!
(JL moves away with a droopy face)
JB: Also remember whenever you employ such tactic do it in chorus! Or else you all will be outstanding like him! Understand!?!
JB: Also show displeasure by elongating "noooooooo"
JB: And whenever you want to make a judgment or authority flank...
JK: I say?
JB: Why thats brilliant Keats how did you get that?
JK: Saar you just used to send out Lennon.
JB: Brilliant observation Keats I'll recommend you to Thiru. Laad lapakkudaas!
JK: Yes!!! How ya like me now?
JB: No no Keats never say "how ya like me now" in Taminglish always use "Ow is it?"
JK: Ow is it?
JB: Suuuper... notice my elongation!

(in the meantime a cute girl and 2 handsome chaps enter the class)
Newbies: Sir, may I come in sir?
(Keats is helpless he has never seen a girl that cute ever before in his life! He grows all pink as he blushed)
JB: Now you three both of you introduce yourself to class!
Girl: My name is J.K.Rowling and Dumbledore is a gay!
(Keats was left "petrified")
JB: Take the seat next to Keats!
(Keats was as good as a tomato)

Guy1: Three rings for the eleven kings under the sky...
JB: Boooring.... Tolkien(JRRT) since Hobbits are short you take the seat next to Rowling(JKR) up in front.

Guy2: I'd like to share what I had composed upon the Westminster...
JB: Ya ya nobody wants to hear it take the last seat William Wordsworth(WW)....
JB: And now lets move towards next lesson and that is personal reference... like da for boys and di for girls...
JK to JKR: Hi di
JKR to JK: Po da!
JB: The most important reference to a person however is "machan"... its the equivalent of dude! Always end statements with machan and da to show that you are close to that person.
JK to JKR: Hi di machan free tonight?
JKR: Sir how do you say Get lost to a person?
JB: You can always use podaangoiyyala which is a composite word made up of poda that is go and goiyya that is Guava!
JKR: Thank you sir!(winks towards JK)

JB: Now lets come to the last chapter for today... and that is Exclamatory statements. This is used to express emotions.
JB: Instead of "Bravo" always employ "Kallakku machi!"... instead of "Alas" use "Govinda goooovinda"... instead of "Cheers" use "O podu!" and so on.
JK: Saar how do I express an amazement for feminine beauty?
JB: You can always use- "Sama figaru machi!"
JK: Thank you saar!(winks towards JKR)
JKR to JK: Podaangoiyyala!
JRRT: Sir is ir Figure?
JB: No its fi-ga-ru. You can modify this word to describe a variety of feminine beauty ranging form Terrible- Atta figaru, Poor- Sappa figaru, Good- Sama figaru, Great- Super figaru....etc.

(Students have almost reached the end of their notebooks)
Ok children I think its time to pack up and see you students tomorrow with some more lessons in Taminglish... do join us in the next class and learn more in TATA till then BYE BYE!
(All students pack up to sum up a very exciting day in class)

Review: Om Shanti Om(OSO)

2007-11-10T03:54:00.000+05:30

Diwali can't get better than this! This was truly an awesome movie. A full out entertainer. Saying this I am also aware that a few of my fellow folks that is Jagadish, Srikanth, Mithun, etc. will HATE it! Jagadish will go further and even puke in the movie hall. But at the same time few other chaps that is MS, Anish, Joey, Vikranth, etc. will LOVE IT!
The surprize factor here may be that MS and Mithun are actually in separate groups well according to me they never really belonged to the same group of movie lovers! As of what feed in I got I wasn't very keen in going to OSO and watch a 40 year old SRK showing his abs. But then I am so glad that I did watch it in the end and that too in the day 1 release.

Now about the movie I don't know where to begin... I presume from the start! I'd rather start with my favorite quote which is also the tagline of the movie-

Like Bollywood all stories in our life also have a happy ending... If there has not been a happy ending... Toh picture abhi tak baaki hai mere dost! :)

I understood the whole theme of the movie when I saw the first flash on the screen it said Eros Entertainment Productions- Celebrating 30 years(1977-2007). That explains the 30 years flashback and finding Rishi Kapoor dancing in the evergreen tunes of "Karz"... Karz oh wait isn't that a movie about reincarnation? Oh yes it is and this movie was a 30% remake of that Karz. And the first dialogue in the movie- Farah- "Apney aapko picture ka hero samajhta hai kya?" and SRK replying- "Tu apney aap ko picture ki director samajhti hai kya?" HAHA started with a well written irony!

Its a story of a junior artist "Om Prakash Makhiyya" who wants to be a superstar and his friend(Shreyas) tells him that Makhiyya is the only thing between him and Bollywood! and suggests to change it to "Kapoor" as its a more filmy name! One excellent scene he also goes and meet a struggling actor(who is supposed to be Govinda) and suggests him the name Govinda would suit him better!(HAHA IT JUS WONT END WILL IT?). Kirron Kher also delivers her best. Om has crush on a superstar- Shanti Priya. He gets into all sorts of trouble just to meet her and finally makes friendship with her. in one of those excellent scenes he goes on and tells he is a south film industry superstar "Murugan" OH MY GOD that was a laugh riot! He mocks Rajinikant in it... again and again jumping and saying- "innada rascala!"easily my favorite scene! Then some unfortunate turn of event sees both Shanti and Om into the heavens.

The next half in a true Bollywood style they reincarnate as Om Kapoor(OK) and Sandy. Only now Om is a superstar and Sandy has a crush on him. And this very part will make Jagadish puke! But as I have always maintained movies are for entertainment not write real life biography. Bollywood gives us something like that just fun nothing else. So I forgive the stupid script as always. And 2nd half was to put it simple galaxy of stars!
LOVED Abhishek Bachchan's cameo he SIMPLY ROCKS! his Dhoom 5 (HAHAHA! OH GOD) and then the lovely "Deewanigi Deewanigi" song. It was an all out entertainer.

Positives: First time I have seen the entire crew behind the screens in the movie in some role or the other! Lovely galaxy of stars. Good merger with 30 year old blockbuster Karz. Songs are just heavenly.

Negatives: Only thing I hated- VERY DUMB reason for the death of Shanti in first half! Otherwise others would find many other negatives-

Jagadish type people- There is no logic behind the script and it would just seem like many stars, most of which you wont even recognize, just getting together!
General tamil folks- You need to follow Bollywood of 30 years to really understand it and appreciate it besides numerous stars which will be new to you. Most irony will be missed.
Mithun type of people- "Nevermind" you are hopeless!

Report Card:
Movie: 9/10
Acting: 9/10
Script: 4/10
Sets: 9/10(Only Sivaji and Saawariya could better that)
Dialogues: 10/10
Songs: 8/10

I leave you with my favorite song:

Vegitto: Feel the power!!!

2007-09-06T21:23:00.000+05:30

You may have control over my body and invaded my mind,
But there is something a Saiyan always keeps...
You fall to the ground with the sudden rush of power,
As you lift your head, you will feel the blood flowing through,
Your views, your fears fades... your weakness becomes strength,
Your pain becomes enjoyment and your destiny is to be the best!

These are the inspiring few words that sets the juices flowing for a saiyan heart living in the dungeons of SRM University amongst mere mortals! His magic words thunders the sky- "Vim-bar gimme the power" and you get... no not the "Milky bar kid" but "Vegitto" himself (not even Rajini gets such an introduction!). Anyways as most of you would've guessed my reference to Vimal Jayachandran, he decided to start his blog finally after repeated compulsion from a person who himself gets forced to start a blog by the apostle of IT God himself.
Now to tell something about this amazing chap called Vimal... I dunno where to start... oh probably from the start. Vineeth my classmate on my first day also 15th working day for my class guys told me about a guy who is exceptional in SRM handshake! I fell puzzled asked him what this SRM handshake was... he told me to go ask the king of SRM handshake himself a.k.a. Vimal. My first talk with him was in the college Library after him and I were the only guys who managed to reach the library on a library period. He took a book on cars whereas I decided to settle in with a sports magazine. And there on we became friends. He has 8 packs which obviously didn't come out of the blue!
Coincidence started playing a strange game between us after that! It all started with the great know-all Narasimhan! Who knew everything from flirting with Pavithra to the Rupee vs Dollar trend as each day passed... or atleast thats how it all appeared. And during the judgement day the turn of events made chatting with Vishwanathan Anand more interesting to me than carrying on a conversation between Narasimhan, Hari and I (who happened to be classmates in BVS). Vimal told about this great bluffmaster Narasimhan whom he knew from his alma mater.
Great then that was the fall of the Greek Gods in my story!
To describe Vimal is hard in words but then video will do just the trick! Vimal according to me perfectly resembles Vadivelu in this video-

Yup that beautifully explains our dear Vimal. No matter how much we tease him he never teases back. "Iven evula kindal aduchaanavum thaangara da... iven rumbo nalla aven da":'-(
Kannu kasakudhu! *sniff* *sniff*
The most beautiful part is the way he reacts Oh my goodness I'd tease him all my life to see those reactions. Some of my favorites being-
1. When we teased him with Lakshmi of our class!
2. Whenever I mention the name Aruna. (Stop blushing Vimal!)
3. When he turned back gravely when Sunil shouted easy wicket! easy wicket! when he came to bat!

He has a crush and a confusion basically both are on the same thing. I did doubt his guts once. But I'm convinced he is no coward but the girls are. Vimal has a great imagination and his day-dreams wow! Karan Johar needs lessons from him! (T-shirt eh?) He does have a huge crush on Aruna for reasons u may ask another thousand SRMites why? Hope he atleast manages to say excuse me to her some day! Or maybe give a shot to Aakansha! Or better go for Asin!!! Either of the cases they'll accept u coz u rock!
So ladies and gentlemen join your hands together as I give you Vimal!-

http://vimzrock3r.blogspot.com/

Malgudi Days Vs Jabberwocky Days

2007-07-25T19:40:00.000+05:30

Malgudi Days Intro:

There is a place in the outskirts of every other town in the pre-independent India. A little village called Malgudi. Come here from the railways and you will meet Raju. He will guide you through your days in the Malgudi. On your way through the Lawley's extension you'll visit Ananda Bhavan where you can have a sip of coffee before continuing the journey. Some of the remarkable characters you'll meet during your visit are the town gossip, the financial expert, a sweet vendor, the man who owns the Truth Press, the English teacher and many others. Before long you'll also come across our protagonist, the adventurous boy called Swami!

Jabberwocky Days Intro:

There was a place for every other great pal I had in first year college. A little bus called 266. Come here chasing it like Srikanth and here you'll meet the Dobbie. He'll bore you through your days in 266 as he "meditates". On your way through the girl extension part of the bus, you'll visit Saravana Bhavan where you'll have a word of wisdom about reservation in bus seats before continuing the journey! Some of the remarkable characters you'll meet during your trip are the bus gossip, the aero mathematics expert, the man who's a kadalai he won't confess, a confused gender, the English accent teacher and many others. Before long you'll also come across our protagonist, the vociferous boy called Swami!Taana na tana na na naa... Taana na tana na na naa...

2007-07-22T15:37:00.000+05:30

Hello u guys, I know you missed me a lot if not you wouldn't have ended up into my blog! Now now don't start thinking of excuses! I decided to write something as I myself was browsing through my old posts and dropped to wonder why has this genius not posted for so long now? And after realizing that genius was me myself, here I find myself writing yet another stupid blog entry.
But I know that my blog is always been about me, me and me so I decided to write a line about u! Thats right u out there and then get on with myself!

U is the 21st alphabet in the English language!

Now getting back to myself. Through these gap I can tell you what I have learnt.
1. Nothing.
2. Refer previous point.
3. Keep doing that for sometime! Its fun.

What I have done is spent 2 months of vacations doing my usual Garfield chores. I also had a recent face off with Vineeth. that brings to my 5th point when Mithun tagged me-
I cannot do with sentimentally fragile person. That does not refer to emotionally expressive people or people who easily break down. It refers to common theory of certain people what I now call the Over-reaction theory!
My face-off with Vineeth is a result of the over-reaction theory. Even though I witnessed it only after I came to Tamil Nadu its pretty obvious that such people are everywhere. So here is Jeya again up with 3 new theories-

Action theory:
People who wish to do what they wish. Its called the tit (damn! all you perverts I meant "tit" in tit for tat!!!)

Reaction theory:
People who believe in equal revenge. You do something to me I do the same to you. You take something away from me prepare to lose yours! This is called tit for tat (Stop smiling you pervert!)

Thala vanakkum!

Over-reaction theory:
This I call tit for dhanda naka ey dhanakunaka! Yes those people who over react to something you do. Do something small, playful and harmless and they react by doing something unthinkable.

Same is the case between me and Vineeth as of now. I'm sure you guys would've also witnessed of what I call tit for dhanda naka ey dhanakunaka!

And after a day wasted in HP book 7 and Final Fantasy 1 I have decided to do something noble and get back to sleep! ciao!

Off to Bengaluru

2007-05-29T05:15:00.000+05:30

Bengalore Fort

I leave back the excitement back in Chennai...Finding about Hari's crush on his teacher (successful Vallavan part 2) ...Bajji's endless voyage against Mathematics... Vimal trying to build up his muscles to impress a person he has never spoken to... Jagadish carrying on his monkey business... to be on pursuit of greatness. Initially it was just another trip. But my dad told me you are leaving to the India's capital of Bioinformatics why miss this chance. And now I have a set of places to visit of which I am sure the HR department will not be responsive about. But hell its worth the try. My dad always said- "When you are going at full force towards your goal help tends to automatically come to you." Although he has witnessed numerous times he claims but I have never! But more than anything its my battle against introvertedness is what I am looking forward to. I have never done all of this alone. And now bang! I visit so many places without anyones help. Sure I have a chance to meet Anish there. But I am eager to explore with well its potential can be my future place of work and stay. So stay up Bangalore coz here I come!

The Sound of Music

2007-04-25T18:53:00.000+05:30

I was asked a simple question by my uncle off recently-
Which language music do you listen to?
Just about when I opened my mouth for an answer the list in my iPod scrolled in my mind. Hmm... That question wasn't so easy after all! I listen to maybe 5 different language music I replied. He was astounded he said what do you understand? He told me music is not only about instrumentals but about the lyrics too. I said it is not that I do not consider lyrics. That conversation fell flat. I came back into my room to find how many languages music do I listen to anyways. It wasn't surely 5 as I scanned though- Latin, Spanish, English, Japanese, Malay, Hindi, Marathi, Tamil, Gujarati, French, Sinhala, German, Russian, Greek, Gregorian, Urdu the list went on! I already mentioned 16 here. And as I was browsing these songs I found some of my all time favorites there. I started enqueuing in the WinAmp play list.
Tal Vez (Latin), Forca (Spanish), Daisuki (Japanese), Pehla Nasha (Hindi), Daghama (Marathi), You (English), Kummi Adi (Tamil), Ninaivugale (Sinhala), Freude Schoner (German), tatu (Russian), Anna Vissi (Greek), Uns Dos Tres (French), Afreen (Urdu), Sadness (Gregorian)... all of them one better than the other. And then I realized if I understood any? Let me analyze this small list of 14 first-

Tal Vez- It means perhaps. Its a beautiful song, very soft and love its video. It has nothing in it to admire or narrate yet makes a statement. Honestly had I not seen the video I may not have liked this song that much. Its purely a communication of body language. I recollect the video as I listen to it. Truly I understand this song uncle!

Forca- The world cup song. Video shows boys playing football in a lesser developed world. It sounds too inspiring. It does communicate its feeling and I do interpret the lyrics in a way.

Daisuki- Too soft. Vimal gave me thinking I am a Norah Jones fan. Nevertheless I loved it, its obviously a girl expressing what she goes through when she falls in love.

Pehla Nasha- I understand a-z of this song. Its a perfect crush song. I always wanted to play this on a guitar. By far this is my favorite song. I feel the same what Aamir feels in that movie when I hear this song! Dear Uncle I believe this is super-lyrical understanding. JEYA BALAJI TOTALLY LOVES THIS SONG!!! Any person who knows Jeya Balaji knows this. Enjoy even if u have listened to it a khazillioin times-

Daghama- Its a local Marathi song. Everything about this song is truly Marathi. Its one of those numbers you cant stop tapping your feet to. And for the lyrics it has no meaning at all. But honestly who cares?

You- I am totally addicted to this song. Its a love song OST of Lover. It till date has the highest play count in my iTunes ~100 I am not surprised really. For its much more than 100 I know considering I use iTunes rarely! Its far ahead than the second highest ~40! So I guess you get the picture. Lyrics wise it has too many grammatical errors. All he says in the song is how a girl makes him feel.Its something else that makes me totally love this song. It has a not so impressive video. It as per billboard is an outright flop. The band lasted only one album with absolutely nothing new in it but "you" by far my favorite song up there with Pehla Nasha!

Kummi Adi- Tamil songs I loved a plenty after I came to Chennai. My friends would ask me to listen to their favorite songs and I ended liking many. My first favorite Tamil song was "Chikupuku chikupuku raile" The lyrics is nonsense but it sure gets the entire room dancing. Kummi adi is a total folklore of the local Tamils. Its the counterpart of Daghama in Marathi.

Ninaivugale- Lyrics is similar to Tamil so had no problems in understanding. Its a modern Sri Lankan music. Its the best Sinhala song I have heard till date.

Freude Schoner- Almost everybody knows this song! As soon as a person sees this title he would be twice assured that in no possible moment in his lifetime has he heard this song. But I can prove u wrong EVERYONE has heard this one! It was composed by Beethoven! Its a fast moving song really charges me up. And for Mithun (question boy) play the Modern Crusaders song by Enigma you'll get the answer!

tatu- Its the bands name. Am not really a big fan of their Russian numbers but their english numbers and russian ones sound pretty alike!

Anna Vissi- Greek song has a dash of Arabia in it, hopelessly remade in Hindi called "Kambakht Ishq hai jo".

Uns Dos Tres- Hey atleast I learnt how to count in French!

Afreen- WOW its a fantastic song by the one and only Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan! And Lisa Ray in the video was just too HOT and was the first time I saw her. The music totally takes you over. Urdu knowledge helped me with the lyrics.

Sadness- I have no clue what the lyrics mean! but nobody does actually. Enigma is all about trance music!

I would like to conclude by saying that Uncle I disagree. A few weeks back somebody asked where I was from. I told him I was from Tamil Nadu. He told me being from this place why do I embrace English so much and annoy others around. I took that seriously for a day or two. I wanted to ask my mom. I didn't have to! She knew that I wanted to speak to her. She kept pestering me to tell. By doing so I had got my answer from her. I said thank you and I left. She did not ask any questions. She didn't know the question or the answer, what was important was she knew that I had found it out. That is when I actually faced reality! Its simple. People communicate not by words. Loved ones just know it somehow! Its not body language either. The world is more united with things other than words! Music, its not about lyrics at all. They communicate somehow language is no barrier. As for me I am open to languages around the world and I am glad about it. No drunken man can keep me down again!

Bingo AD (Japanese version)

2007-04-25T08:10:00.000+05:30

After drawing inspiration from ITC's Bingo advertisement I decided to create its Japanese version.
Anatawa kirei desu!
Confusing no?
Milke jhulke Japanese padenkey mein aaj ka topic hai Japanese language... Yani bathameez baney Japanese!
Japanese language ko kahengey- Ni-hon-go!
Japanese oral language ko kahengey- ko-o-go!
Japanese written language ko kahengey- bu-n-go!
Magar agar aapko padhna likhna nahi pasand hai aur sirf khaana pasand hai to kahiye sirf Bingo! koogo bungo nahi!

Sayoonara Japanese!!!

2007-04-24T00:47:00.000+05:30

日本語, ah today was my last academic day with that language. And wow what a great language this has been. I have experience with a lot of different languages and scripts but this language simply stands out! Its the land of the rising sun. Almost everything about that nation inspires me but am in no plans to go there. One thing not really the negative about Japanese is that they are workaholics. That just happens to be the same point what makes them so inspiring!

Japanese is such a 丁寧語 language. It was evident when I learnt the word "shitshirei shimasu". It means sorry for being impolite, it is used everytime a person is late or rather an equivalent for pardon me. They are such humble people. My teacher or 先生 himself Mr.Natarajan is a polite man. We fondly call him Natsu which is summer in Japanese. He is absolutely modest. I wonder if ever his words would have hurt anyone. It has always been my prayer that my words must not hurt anyone. And so I really look up to him.

It turns the pages to last year when we were asked by our Value Education teacher to pick up a language- Dutch, Spanish, Japanese, German and French. I felt the gleam of the word "German". I totally wanted to learn that. Not exactly the Hitler factor alone. It also happens to be a great destination for Bioinformaticians all over the world and they tend to prefer German speaking people. And for all reasons I told the teacher that I wanted German. She was stunned by the overwhelming number of people interested in German. She later told us that German staff was small and that Dutch and Spanish were no longer available. After that I had my first converstaion with Mr.Narein (has been mentioned twice already in this blog). He told me Virginia Tech was not as advanced in academic approach as SRM. He told me to blindly select German. I did exactly that.

I eventually learnt that due to lack of German staff they gave my second option which was Japanese. I was very upset at that. I hated attending the class. The teacher designated for us Mr.Natarajan was nice he gave us a lot of good reasons not to mourn at this turn of events. But just nothing could make me happy. I hated when the first letter "あ" was written on the board. He told us that in all there are 83 hiragana characters, 86 katakana characters and 6330 kanjis. In all combination hiragana+kanji can form 2.5 lakh words. We fell flat! I hated the prospects of immense hard work that lied ahead. I hated it till the first cycle test. He told us that both hiragana and katakana script was there. I was annoyed. I spent 3 days trying to get the knack of the script. At the end of those three days however there was a magical transformation. Everything looked so easy!

I got 49 in the Cycle Test. I scored 99 and Semester I managed an S. In the second year It was no different Cycle Test 49, Model 99 and Semester got over today and I did well. I was always short of that once decisive mark of perfection. The best part was I never really look close to preparing anything before the exam. I never found it boring, never. It just gets more and more challenging with the chapters. I used to hate it when our teacher used to ask us to read lines from the text book. But after the first cycle test I saw myself actually interested in reading in class. This way I made a fool of myself many a times in class. But it just got better and fluent.
One more reason why I liked Japanese is that it academically still connected Mithun, Sharath, Prem and Myself, after 1st sem. This way I finally had something to talk with Prem and Sharath. Since Sharath, Mithun and I had the same teacher I was expecting all of us to get in the same class someday. When I had a chance with Sharath in first Japanese class he was absent and I joined Thanugayan. I wasn't really close to anybody in my Japanese class at that time. Eventually Gaurav, Manoj, Avinash, Darshik, Karpagha and Abhishek became my friends. In fact it was this Japanese that really connected all of us.
Apart from making great friends there were some good unforgettable moments in the Japanese class. Like once when Arjuna was to translate a line that said watashiwa paano tabemas, which read I eat bread. She read I eat Paan and Tobacco!!! Oh my goodness we couldn't hold our laughter. There were some awesome moments when our class mingled with other Japanese class in my general class. Thats when Vimal came in the same class. He loved coming there he would have his eyes fixed at the window for a trace of a specific passerby.
Then there was a time when our sir asked us to tell him about ourselves in Japanese. Gaurav ended up telling watashiwa suzushi des. What he didn't know is that the term is only appropriate for describing climate! Then there was a moment he asked me what a beautiful watch u have there how much does it cost in Japanese. Me clueless said hai sensei! Since day one that is 2 words all of us were good at!
In the second sem of Japanese I was all excited to learn that finally Mithun and I end up in the same class. I so wanted to share the same desk with him. We couldn't normally he was in IT and me in BI. But then he told that he couldn't come as he wanted to prepare for his Math exam the other day. I was disappointed a bit but I thought maybe I could do that in the next class. When I did reach college I was surprised to see him there. I was very much excited I finally get to be with Mithun in the same class same desk! But then he was feeling a bit unusual maybe. I waited for him near the class for about 20 mins only to learn that he was already inside. He was with his classmates I did not want to say anything then. Gaurav and Darshik invited me and so I sat with them. Got to know Rohan a little there. But as for Mithun he was somewhere in the back a place I always hated in a classroom. In the break Darshik invited me to canteen, I had a great talk about movies with him and then I said I wanted to go back. I noticed that Mithun was finally alone but all busy doing Math. I talked to Joey after that. All in all never had a real talk with Mithun. He eventually told that he was mad at me for something everyone has been. My hatered for phone. He finds it difficult to believe that fact and terms it a lame excuse! Well that really blew up my chances with him in same class as the second class was cancelled. This time I knew I just cannot share the same class with him again!
The most beautiful thing about the classes was how it brought our class so closer. Japanese as a language in itself is beautiful. Our teacher who had worked in Japan for a few decades told us the beauty of the place. He told us about the beautiful castles of Kyoto and Nagyougi (on top), the spring festival where they celebrate the blossoming of cherry blossom flowers called saagura (last picture), The hard working people of Oosaka and Kyoto, the hardships of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, The great buildings there and so many things more. It was fascinating and inspiring.

As for now Japanese course is over and I confess I am totally going to miss it.

さよなら日本語!!!

God protect the innocent

2007-04-21T20:21:00.000+05:30

Almost everyone is aware of the horrible tragedy that struck The Virginia Tech last black Monday. It is indeed shocking and puzzling and a lot has been left unanswered about the episode. What good is it being in an advanced country that cannot defend itself. An amazingly true tagline of the movie Apocalypto says- "The downfall of any and every great civilization begins within itself". So true not only for the Mayans but also for Aryans, Greeks, Egyptians name it they have been through it! This through the course of history has never really changed. Even today the worlds most developed country is facing a huge downfall ahead of it. It is referred by the name The United States Of America.
Is it really any better than living in maybe Chad or Afghanistan? There was the 9/11 episode that nobody can possibly forget. Was the US not capable of defending itself? Can't the world's largest literate democracy choose a leader who does not surround so many controversies. Much was left to a yet another conspiracy theory that USA was involved in. The point that I make is not to accuse the ethics and ways of the Americans. Its is just a question mark over whether a developed country and a safe country are two separate entities?
A fresh debate arose linking to the Virginia Tech debacle. A disturbed student killing ~35 students in a shootout. The news sources say he started the massacre in the morning when he killed 1 person. Then there was a 2 hour gap wherein he had time and sources enough to post a video to a news channel! What on earth were the people in the place where the first shootout took place, doing after one inmates had fallen? Did anyone report that a maniac with a gun was on loose? If they did was the internal defense of USA's one of the best secure places sleeping so as to let loose an armed sociopath? Not too far away from the first terror site this person kills another 33 odd students in a filled classroom! And finally shoots himself. My dad mockingly commented this would never happen in our country once something happens the students immediately send SMS's telling everyone about it. We owe it to the ladies of our nation who have not yet learnt the art of staying silent. The social, ethical and moral issues surrounding the killer is not only unforgivable but also not worth any empathy.
Seems so funny when I asked myself what could be the solution to horror of any kind on earth. The answer sounded so simple and unconvincing. Its "communication". The killer just needed to communicate his problems and feelings. The students needed to communicate to avoid further killings. The authorities needed to communicate to rest the panic .
It was more depressing a news when I learnt my mentor Mr.Narein was the in-charge of the Asian students entering Virginia Tech. He is answerable to many a people. I hope you have an answer and a solution to this terror.

Bioinformatics ROCKS!

2007-02-23T19:40:00.000+05:30

I might be having a real bad time in college this semester but that does not have anything to do with how cool my course is. I wonder how many people out there can really say this- My course rocks and so does my college! People, newspapers and neighbors might say whatever they wish about my college but I think what really matters is how do the students there feel. And as far as I am concerned I really like my college. Having said that I might have hurt the opinions of many of my colleagues. But no offense guys.
It all began when my dad told me about this beautiful course called Bioinformatics. A few valuable feed-ins through Dr.Padmanaban, Father Ignacimuthu and my mentor Narein have made me find my true love in form of Bioinformatics. It was as if I was poised to enter this field. And this field was tailor-made for me. (you see made for each other!)
The entire history of Human Genome Project is fascinating! The beautiful blend of Business sense, innovation and nature is bound to win over any Jeya in this world! This even being an interdisciplinary course nobody gets misled or mistaken. Often the most common fault with Bioinformaticians all over the world is tempted by the creations of fellow Bioinformaticians some of them tend to do what Biotechnologists are expected to do. But a fully mature Bioinformatician is definitely excellent in a few fields much more mature to their mother field counter-parts.
And so my dear Bioinformatics I long for you and I desperately hope to make a mark in this beautiful field.

I wonder...

2007-01-26T21:41:00.000+05:30

I was in a middle of yet another lazy day and I was pondering over a few things in academic life. Now I need answers. Some of them are-

1. When Velammal did not want boys and girls to mingle at all (no talk, NOT EVEN USE THE SAME STAIRCASE, etc. etc.) why did they not open an all-boys or an all-girls school??? Don't tell me they did not have enough infrastructure!
2. What really is slower, the process of making a passport in India or SRM announcing holidays? There have been moments in SRM where we got the announcement after the holidays were over!
3. We are taught programming saying that it makes our life problems easy. So when they do gives us problems like write so and so 100 times and come, why are we not permitted to use a for loop in our impositions!?!
4. When they have 2 floors unused in the Biotech park why do we have to occupy a building which is still under construction???
5. When just entering the terrace in the Biotech park is fineable, then why do they always keep it invitingly open!!!!
As time passed by I was inflicted with more such astounding questions... Oh I guess thats just another student's life!

System Error 042#- Please restart my life!

2007-01-12T21:41:00.000+05:30

In a world where you have achieved it all, where the laws of physics obey your very will. Life is... boring! Nope there seems to be absolutely no strategy for defeating my boredom. I tried to do all those funky moves in matrix behind closed doors and even knock myself on the nose like the duplicate Morpheus did in this movie, but still nothing keeps me interested at all!!! I did have a great career discussion with my brand new idol with moments of embarrassing silence but still life is boring as ever in vacations. But this time unlike my previous college vacations I am actually not willing the college to re-open at all! I have quite a few reasons. One might be the stupid assignments, another maybe a teacher I dislike, it may also be a number of dry subjects this semester but probably the award unanimously selected goes to the stupid seminar that I have to give. As earlier this time too the only things that keeps me going in college is the will to get back and meet my friends. After all you do need people to suffer with as man is a social animal.
So how do you combat extreme boredom?
I Jeya Balaji taking pains has formulated over these days of my boring life just for you guys so you have something to do when you have nothing to do at all-

20. Learn Ventriloquism and go to your neighbor's room with just your neighbour and his house maid and then throw your voice as your neighbor's voice and say- "Aey chikni palat"(Hey babe turn around) and enjoy the fun that follows!

19. Have nothing to watch in the TV??? No problem! throw your TV remote control from the terrace and rush down and try to catch it before it hits the ground... if you are late you can forget about all your chances of making it into the Indian Cricket team and start counting the number of pieces your remote broke into... next time try it with your neighbors remote... lets see whose remote breaks into more number of pieces!!! (We're match on dude!)

18. Run around your colony screaming AAG! AAG!(Fire! Fire!) lets see how many people run around with you, then scream happy advance April's fool... he he he April Fool banaya... tumko gussa aaya!

17. Make paper planes with a paper on which you write "Apne aap ko Aishwarya Rai samajhti ho kya"(Do u think that you are Aishwarya Rai?) and throw it on your colony girls... lets see how many open it with anticipation!

16. Go down near a road and keep staring at the traffic policeman with suspicious eyes and every time he looks at you just nod and say "hmmm!" When he gets annoyed and asks why you are doing this say- "Uncle main bada hookar aapke jaisa banna chahta tha lekin mujhe nahi pata tha ki aap kaam chor ho jo kaam chodkar mere paas gupshup ke liye aa gaye"(Uncle I wanted to grow up to be just like you, but not anymore I never knew you are such a fatcat as to leave your job and come here and chat)

15. Go with your mom to her kitty party taking your comic book with you and keep acting like you are reading and start laughing as soon as you hear someone whisper.

14. Send an SMS to your classmate stating that the results have been announced and wait till somebody forwards this message to you. Count your score and let your friend with you start another rumor and see how much he scores compare the score and the person with the higher score gets to have the other guy's mobile for a day.

13. Go to a bhajan sangam with your taperecorder and play the superhit song- "Hi hello choriye...jai mataji boliye!"

12. Call up one of your teachers and verify if it is actually his name or is it prefixed by Lord Lapakkudaas.

11. Call up your cell phone company and start flirting with the woman who picks it up.

10. Start a procession to protest against the non inclusion of gilli danda from international Olympics.

9. Stand on your terrace with a stick and post your shirt on it and wave it till some helicopter comes to answer that.

8. In the morning when your dad is reading the newspaper sit near him and keep imitating him until he pops out to have a look at you and every time he does say good morning and give a formal smile.

7. Go into a theater running an emotional movie and keep screaming and crying- WAAAAAAA!"mere saath bhi aisa hi hua tha"(this had happened to me too) with a wet kerchief each time blowing your nose do not forget to carry a bottle of glycerine with you.

6. Distribute all your current semester books to the less fortunate as a mark of goodwill.

5. Dress up as Neo Anderson in Matrix when your parents are busy watching a movie and stand in front of the TV and say- "I'm not here to tell you how this is going to end. I am here to tell you how this is going to begin. I'm going to hang up this phone(use your parent's mobile tie it with a string of thread and hang it) and show the world what you didn't want to see." And break the phone in front of their very eyes!

4. Go running in front of your mom- "Mommy mommy you're never going to believe this thing!!!" And she goes all serious asking what? tell me? and then you say- "I am the new president of America!!!" Wait for her reaction and say- "Told you you're never going to believe this thing!"

3. Have a sixth sense look on your face and go in front of your dad and say- "I SEE dumb people!"

2. Go to a public hospital and say I am here for organ donation wait until the nurses eyes fill with tears and then hand over your old pipe organ and move away in tears!!!

1. Take your photo and write Most Wanted on the top print out the image and go around roads asking people- "Aapne inhe kahi deekha hai? Zara ghaur se dekhiye yeh mujlim aapke saamne bhi ho sakta hai!"(Have you seen this criminal anywhere? Look at it attentively he can even be around you right now!)in a hoarse whisper.

These are some 20 things that can keep you busy and help you win crucial battles against boredom. Here's me signing off and reminding you if you are alone feeling bored and haave nothing to do in life....?!?! You are not alone my friend You are certainly not alone!!! (T_T)

The Jeya Awards -2006

2007-01-01T08:58:00.000+05:30

And its time for the Jeya awards for personal life excellence-
Its the time of the year where Jeya declares the best of the best.

1. Best movie I saw in 2006-
English- Memento(release 2001)
Hindi- Don(thankfully 2006)
Tamil- Anniyan(2005, I saw it in 2006)

2. Worst movie I saw in 2006-
English- Happy Feet
Hindi- Home Delivery
Tamil- Ghajini

3. Best song I heard in 2006-
English- Must be dreaming, Frou Frou.
Hindi- Kya mujhe pyaar hai, Woh Lamhe.
Tamil- Munbe Vaa, Sillunu oru Kaadhal.

4. Best music video 2006-
English- Believe me, Fort Minor.
Hindi- Main hoon don, Don.
Tamil- New York, Sillunu oru Kaadhal.

5. Best moment in 2006-
Aquaria, 3rd week of December.

6. Worst moment of 2006-
popularly known as the worst day of my life, early February.

7. Best actress in a movie 2006-
English- Hilary Swank, Million Dollar Baby.
Hindi- Kajol, Fanaa.
Tamil- Asin, Ghajini+M. Kumaran.

8. Worst actress in a movie 2006-
English- Famke Janssen, X-Men: The Last Stand.
Hindi- Celina Jaitley, Jaanasheen.
Tamil- Jothika, Vaetayadu valayadu.

9. Best actor in a movie 2006-
English- Guy Pierce, Memento.
Hindi- Ajay Devgan, Main aisa hi hoon.
Tamil- Vikram, Anniyan.

10. Worst actor in a movie 2006-
English- Hugh Jackman, X-Men: The Last Stand.
Hindi- Vivek Oberoi, Home Delivery.
Tamil- Kamal Hassan, Vaeteyadu valayadu.

11. Best sports person of the year 2006-
Rafael Nadal.

12. Most unnecessary and disappointing retirement in sports 2006-
Michael Schumacher.

13. Best sporting moment 2006-
Thrilling- Mammoth chase in Johannesburg, Cricket.
Emotional- Andre Agassi retirement, Tennis.
Funny- War-dancing by Sreesanth vs South Africa, Cricket.
Shocking- Head-butt by Zidane to Materazzi, Soccer.
Disappointing- Victory by cheating Italy vs Australia(FIFA World Cup), Soccer.

14. Best e-mail I got in 2006-
Mokka jokes from foolzparadise.

15. Best SMS in 2006-
The goldenboy of SRM -sunil, SMS.

And last but not the least the icon of 2006!!!
This is the place wherein I talk about a person whom I found to be the most inspirational in the year 2006-
And the award goes to......-Anitha B.
Yup my sister...thank you for everything!
I also would like to congratulate all the winners of the Jeya award. I also raise a toast to all of my friends who made this year more eventful than any other year since I was born. Thank you guys and as for year 2006 it will always be fond in my memories...! Happy new year 2007 to all!

Merry X'mas and a Happy New Year

2006-12-29T22:23:00.000+05:30

Yes, yes, yes! its the moment you've all been waiting for...the release of my blog! Although it was the result of the Mimo pressure. Anyways lemme start this blog by wishing all u guys a Merry Christmas and a great new year. Though I have celebrated Christmas before, but it was absolutely different this time round. For the first time I was a part of the celebrations in a Christian nation. The morning carols in the air, scent of candies, Christmas trees, people wearing Santa caps it was beautiful! After all, all we humans need is an excuse to celebrate humanity.

I wish to deliver a similar Tiger hug to all u guys. @=<(^_^)>=@
I was popularly(at least in my class) and formerly known as "the toonager" that is coz i have a lot of toon alter egos. One is my all time favorite Calvin and Hobbes of which I have been a replica of Calvin since childhood. My second alter ego is of course "Garfield". Most of my present day time table are inspired by Garfield. It includes Sleep, Eat, Sleep, Eat and yeah almost forgot Sleep!
And as the new year approaches I must also finish the formalities of having a new year resolution. Which is as every year of giving a promise to myself of never ever having a new year resolution. In this way I also happen to be the only guy among my colleagues who successfully achieves my resolution. Wish you all the best with your new year resolution and as for me my new year is all about my routine-