A saw a Malayalam movie yesterday called Vinodayathra which translates to the title of this post. The one and only maestro Ilayaraja (the Beethoven of this part of the world) has composed the music.
Listen to this piece from YouTube even if you dont understand the language. Its a perfect melody.
If you do track tamil music, this might remind you of a tune heard somewhere.
Sicilian Hothead mentioned in the previous post is ETNA, if you did not know.
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Sunday, May 27, 2007
Monte Carlo
Women sunbathe on a terrace as British Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton steers his McLaren Mercedes during the second practice session for the Monaco Grand Prix.
Thursday, May 24, 2007
Sicilian hothead(4)
Still a good number of days left till I join work. My trip to see the Lord Venkateshwara in his residence in Tirupati was quite good. It was raining cats and dogs when we were outside his doors waiting to see him.
The VOLVO buses are seriously good. I was quite impressed. After a long time I was sitting in one that had been serviced well and maintained properly. I was happy to see that the seats were designed by the company I had interned with. While I was there, the R&D team was also working on a high tech driver seat and I could see the results of that on that bus too.
Riding on a local transport bus back home from where I got dropped was literally a menace. I got into one of these vestibule buses that have become so famous these days in chennai.
You can imagine how long such a bus would be on the road. Over and above, think of this being driven at speeds more than 50kmph on an extremely busy road from the airport. It was scary. The driver almost killed 10 people on the road. In such buses there is no control from the driver's seat for the part that is attached. And hence, if there is a small mistake in the way the vehicle is controlled, then there is a very good possibility of the bus turning a few degrees away from the desired path. First of all, such buses should never be driven past a speed of 40kmph and overtaking should be strictly prohibited. I can understand that most of these buses are express buses and are meant to save some time. But not at the expense of losing a heartbeat. Saving time in a crowded city means not stopping in the regular bus stops and not reckless driving. I hope there is someone who has the power to take action against all this. The drivers of these buses have no reason whatsoever to run slow. They are given a schedule and they are always rushed to finish their trip because then they can get those extra minutes of sleep in the bus station.
The VOLVO buses are seriously good. I was quite impressed. After a long time I was sitting in one that had been serviced well and maintained properly. I was happy to see that the seats were designed by the company I had interned with. While I was there, the R&D team was also working on a high tech driver seat and I could see the results of that on that bus too.
Riding on a local transport bus back home from where I got dropped was literally a menace. I got into one of these vestibule buses that have become so famous these days in chennai.
You can imagine how long such a bus would be on the road. Over and above, think of this being driven at speeds more than 50kmph on an extremely busy road from the airport. It was scary. The driver almost killed 10 people on the road. In such buses there is no control from the driver's seat for the part that is attached. And hence, if there is a small mistake in the way the vehicle is controlled, then there is a very good possibility of the bus turning a few degrees away from the desired path. First of all, such buses should never be driven past a speed of 40kmph and overtaking should be strictly prohibited. I can understand that most of these buses are express buses and are meant to save some time. But not at the expense of losing a heartbeat. Saving time in a crowded city means not stopping in the regular bus stops and not reckless driving. I hope there is someone who has the power to take action against all this. The drivers of these buses have no reason whatsoever to run slow. They are given a schedule and they are always rushed to finish their trip because then they can get those extra minutes of sleep in the bus station.
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
Friday, May 18, 2007
Anger at using firearms(3)
Eight days since I blogged last. In the meantime, nothing much has happened in my life. The date for reporting to work got shifted to June 11th now. And who is going to pay me till that day. I have been trying to tell the HR people in my future firm to get me started early and they havent replied to a single email of mine. I have a heart to go and shout at them on Day One. I hope I get a chance to do it during the feedback.
I saw this movie called Just Married yesterday. A movie that brought out some serious stuff about how arranged marriages would work in an Indian setting. Or rather, what would happen in the case of arranged marriages - i mean the stuff that the man and the woman would go through. In a way it was a but over hyped. You know about indian cinema right, they cant keep quiet by saying only the facts, they have to add an extra large volume of gas to the whole concept and make it sound so melodramatic. But yes, good attempt at it.
Many more future father-in-laws have been calling home to speak to my mom and dad. Its interesting to hear to the questions they ask. One guy actually asked for my salary. WTF. Thats the state of arranged marriages in the country. They also say that there is a shortage for girls who are nubile. Not sure if the statistics are right.
While all that is happening, the state high school results were out and the next topic on everyone's mind is ragging. People want to ban ragging - they shouldnt be doing such things. There should be a ban only towards physical ragging. Any other thing should be ok. I mean whats the point in enforcing a rule and cutting off the relationship between a senior and a junior. There is no other way for interaction. And ragging is perhaps the best way to know someone. I knew like 300 of my seniors in the first 10 days of college only because of ragging. And then how can the seniors know the junior girls if there is no ragging. The only way to authoritatively flirt with a junior girl is through ragging. Please NO BAN.
Apple's stock went down by 4 billion dollars because someone sent out a SPAM EMAIL to the outside world saying that this was sent to all Apple Employees. How funny.
Chennai has a runners group. I found that yesterday. They meet every weekend and run for about 20-25 kms. I also heard from them that the local Nike store sponsored pairs of running shoes for some of their runners. Interesting stuff.
And I got myself a CAR. Its a HONDA CITY. I really didnt want to spend a lot of money on a new car and burn my pocket with another loan. I went to a used car dealer I knew from before and I saw this piece lying there. It was an 04 December Auto Transmission model bought in 05 and it had done just 9000 kms. Very Sparingly used and in immculate condition. The owner was relocating to the US and he wanted to sell it off. So I quickly decided to buy this Graphite Pearl colored beast. Pictures later.
This post's title is another clue. Its easy. The answer is within the clue itself. You just have to search for it.
I saw this movie called Just Married yesterday. A movie that brought out some serious stuff about how arranged marriages would work in an Indian setting. Or rather, what would happen in the case of arranged marriages - i mean the stuff that the man and the woman would go through. In a way it was a but over hyped. You know about indian cinema right, they cant keep quiet by saying only the facts, they have to add an extra large volume of gas to the whole concept and make it sound so melodramatic. But yes, good attempt at it.
Many more future father-in-laws have been calling home to speak to my mom and dad. Its interesting to hear to the questions they ask. One guy actually asked for my salary. WTF. Thats the state of arranged marriages in the country. They also say that there is a shortage for girls who are nubile. Not sure if the statistics are right.
While all that is happening, the state high school results were out and the next topic on everyone's mind is ragging. People want to ban ragging - they shouldnt be doing such things. There should be a ban only towards physical ragging. Any other thing should be ok. I mean whats the point in enforcing a rule and cutting off the relationship between a senior and a junior. There is no other way for interaction. And ragging is perhaps the best way to know someone. I knew like 300 of my seniors in the first 10 days of college only because of ragging. And then how can the seniors know the junior girls if there is no ragging. The only way to authoritatively flirt with a junior girl is through ragging. Please NO BAN.
Apple's stock went down by 4 billion dollars because someone sent out a SPAM EMAIL to the outside world saying that this was sent to all Apple Employees. How funny.
Chennai has a runners group. I found that yesterday. They meet every weekend and run for about 20-25 kms. I also heard from them that the local Nike store sponsored pairs of running shoes for some of their runners. Interesting stuff.
And I got myself a CAR. Its a HONDA CITY. I really didnt want to spend a lot of money on a new car and burn my pocket with another loan. I went to a used car dealer I knew from before and I saw this piece lying there. It was an 04 December Auto Transmission model bought in 05 and it had done just 9000 kms. Very Sparingly used and in immculate condition. The owner was relocating to the US and he wanted to sell it off. So I quickly decided to buy this Graphite Pearl colored beast. Pictures later.
This post's title is another clue. Its easy. The answer is within the clue itself. You just have to search for it.
Friday, May 11, 2007
Clean GI becomes divine(7)
The Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu - MK, celebrated 50 years of being in dirty politics. The function was attended by the Prime Minister and few ministers from his cabinet, and a host of other people. I dont understand why we need to waste time on such a function, block all the traffic, create chaos and trouble the common man. The evening program wasnt even an entertainer. All the people came on stage and spoke about MK's life as a politician in english and tamil. That was it. For just this, they had a huge stage, police patrol, and other staff. Obviously they have used the taxpayer's money.
A few days back, a leading tamil daily conducted an opinion poll as to who would be the next contender for the chief minister's role. In the poll results, MK's son in Chennai received 70% votes and his other son (who is apparently a third rate criminal by profession) in Madurai received only 2%. This created a lot of havoc among supporters. I dont understand why. A newspaper has done a poll and this is quite common in other countries. The agitated people with the help of the Madurai Mayor (this one is a woman and she has attacked the newspaper office along with the other supporters. Does she really behave like a Mayor? She is needs to be skinned alive in the police station for doing such things), threw petrol bombs at the press office and all this caused the death of three people. Amidst all this, the police kept quiet because the problem has been started by the ruling party and if someone tried to stop this, he would get transferred to the worst territories in Tamil Nadu.
The press has reacted quite strongly against all this. But the case has notbeen registered against MK's second son. He is still out there enjoying his wine. The CBI has taken over the investigation, but what the hell, after a month or so, this case will also get shelved. The Hindu Editor Ram today spoke and appreciated MK for having handed over the case to CBI. Like the everyday news that gets printed in the HINDU newspaper, the editor supported the ruling party. It was such a stupid comment with no sense of seriousness and it showed extreme flattery. Three people have been killed for no reason and here is an editor who is praising the Chief Minister. I mean, this was a family feud and we are least bothered about MK and his stupid sons.
On the other hand, I also feel that this was a nice plan worked out by MK, his son in the city, and the newspaper team to get the other son out of the picture. If this plan works out well and if they can make this guy responsible for something, then these people can emerge as saviors and secure more votes the next time. The dumb voters here would believe them saying that MK was so great to eliminate the dirty politicians who could have emerged from within. How funny. Thats the situation here and the common man's head rolls.
Famous actor in the last post who also meant voyage was CRUISE. Remember TOM CRUISE!! This time its an anagram of CLEAN and GI and the word ultimately means divine. Isnt that easy?
A few days back, a leading tamil daily conducted an opinion poll as to who would be the next contender for the chief minister's role. In the poll results, MK's son in Chennai received 70% votes and his other son (who is apparently a third rate criminal by profession) in Madurai received only 2%. This created a lot of havoc among supporters. I dont understand why. A newspaper has done a poll and this is quite common in other countries. The agitated people with the help of the Madurai Mayor (this one is a woman and she has attacked the newspaper office along with the other supporters. Does she really behave like a Mayor? She is needs to be skinned alive in the police station for doing such things), threw petrol bombs at the press office and all this caused the death of three people. Amidst all this, the police kept quiet because the problem has been started by the ruling party and if someone tried to stop this, he would get transferred to the worst territories in Tamil Nadu.
The press has reacted quite strongly against all this. But the case has notbeen registered against MK's second son. He is still out there enjoying his wine. The CBI has taken over the investigation, but what the hell, after a month or so, this case will also get shelved. The Hindu Editor Ram today spoke and appreciated MK for having handed over the case to CBI. Like the everyday news that gets printed in the HINDU newspaper, the editor supported the ruling party. It was such a stupid comment with no sense of seriousness and it showed extreme flattery. Three people have been killed for no reason and here is an editor who is praising the Chief Minister. I mean, this was a family feud and we are least bothered about MK and his stupid sons.
On the other hand, I also feel that this was a nice plan worked out by MK, his son in the city, and the newspaper team to get the other son out of the picture. If this plan works out well and if they can make this guy responsible for something, then these people can emerge as saviors and secure more votes the next time. The dumb voters here would believe them saying that MK was so great to eliminate the dirty politicians who could have emerged from within. How funny. Thats the situation here and the common man's head rolls.
Famous actor in the last post who also meant voyage was CRUISE. Remember TOM CRUISE!! This time its an anagram of CLEAN and GI and the word ultimately means divine. Isnt that easy?
Tuesday, May 08, 2007
Famous actor's voyage(6)
There is still a month left to join and I have already started hating the firm. They somehow seem to be laggards right from the beginning. And they dont seem to be interested in giving us work that they have postponed the joining dates to June.
Right from the beginning they had a screwed up way of looking at things. The interviews were chaotic. Totally disogranized. It could have been better. They'd promised a number of panels and on the day of the interviews, two or three people didnt land up and the whole thing turned topsy turvy. Is this the way you teach time commitments and orderliness to your new recruits? People were running helter skelter during the interviews and it was the same case with the interviewers. Even they werent sure of what needed to be done. Next was the signing deadline. They were so generous that they gave unlimited signing dates to students and this created more chaos. People didnt sign their intent till the last week of Term 8. And because of this, the offer letters came one day before graduation. Cud have changed my mind and not got the job, but other personal reasons made me stick.
Now I am at home sitting absolutely idle. I have nothing to do other than running, test driving, reading which I could do during the weekends as well. Another problem started here. Joining Dates. We got two dates and that started the problem. People took more freedom and asked for changes and now all that is being accomodated for. Outcome: No work till June. What's more needed than a month's vacation? And I never need to talk about the Human Resources team. They are so resourceful that they reply to your emails only if its more than a week old. For god's sake its their employee who has emailed them with a query and they are least bothered about all that. I used to think that my previous company was all shitty. But its the same story of grass being greener on the other side. As the company grows the problems get engulfed in its growth story. Every company big or small has such characters who just sit tight and never move their ass. I hope I get a chance to change some of these things.
"New developments in the centre" - last post title has not been solved yet. The answer is RECENT. Its jumble from centre and it refers to new developments.
This time, the clue is a bit tricky but its workable. Its a SIX letter word and it refers to voyage. THINK HOLLYWOOD!!!
Right from the beginning they had a screwed up way of looking at things. The interviews were chaotic. Totally disogranized. It could have been better. They'd promised a number of panels and on the day of the interviews, two or three people didnt land up and the whole thing turned topsy turvy. Is this the way you teach time commitments and orderliness to your new recruits? People were running helter skelter during the interviews and it was the same case with the interviewers. Even they werent sure of what needed to be done. Next was the signing deadline. They were so generous that they gave unlimited signing dates to students and this created more chaos. People didnt sign their intent till the last week of Term 8. And because of this, the offer letters came one day before graduation. Cud have changed my mind and not got the job, but other personal reasons made me stick.
Now I am at home sitting absolutely idle. I have nothing to do other than running, test driving, reading which I could do during the weekends as well. Another problem started here. Joining Dates. We got two dates and that started the problem. People took more freedom and asked for changes and now all that is being accomodated for. Outcome: No work till June. What's more needed than a month's vacation? And I never need to talk about the Human Resources team. They are so resourceful that they reply to your emails only if its more than a week old. For god's sake its their employee who has emailed them with a query and they are least bothered about all that. I used to think that my previous company was all shitty. But its the same story of grass being greener on the other side. As the company grows the problems get engulfed in its growth story. Every company big or small has such characters who just sit tight and never move their ass. I hope I get a chance to change some of these things.
"New developments in the centre" - last post title has not been solved yet. The answer is RECENT. Its jumble from centre and it refers to new developments.
This time, the clue is a bit tricky but its workable. Its a SIX letter word and it refers to voyage. THINK HOLLYWOOD!!!
Sunday, May 06, 2007
New development in the centre
Spamming was never a problem. After we've graduated, we have successfully started off a new chain of spam emails on 101 things to do after graduating from the ISB. Its quite interesting to see what all people can think of and come up with.
This Friday, I saw yet another Tamil Movie that had released during April this year. After a long time, I liked a love theme tamil movie. And, after a long time in the history of tamil movies, the guy and the girl dont end up living happily ever after. There is a happy ending here too, but its the same guy and a different girl.
I remembered Gary Barlow's song called Love Wont Wait when I walked out of the movie hall.
So the storyline in just few words was: Keep questioning my character without taking time to understand me for what I am and even though I might be kind enough to accept you as you are, I might just be happy to walk away with another woman who can listen. Sounds quite typical of most love themes but when you see something like this after an array of stupid stereotypes, you just tend to love it. Thats what happened with me I guess.
My test drive season has been quite successful. I tried the Ford Fiesta sometime back which was excellent. I liked the American car but definitely for the reason that it is american, not too many sell in this country. The Reanult Logan is a cheap luxury. Its as big as any car in that segment and a lot cheaper - in fact, the cheapest. The fully loaded version is less than Rs.650000 but the car lacks style. Interiors have been compensated for to make it less expensive. And I dont like the customer service in Chennai. I havent got a call from them for almost a week now. Ford Guys keep calling me every other day. Hyundai launched an upgraded version of its Accent called Verna. Its affordable and comfortable but nothing compared to HONDA. Honda has exceeded all my expecations from a car in that segment it occupies. People say that Honda charges more for its name but thats ok. The car is amazing. The engine (Honda is the best in the world for its R&D on engines) is so small and very powerful. I used to wonder why very few Hondas came on the USED CAR Sale and now we know why. People dont want to sell it.
The crossword theme continues with this six letter word which is the answer for this clue. The answer is already there in the clue. YOu just have to find it!!!
This Friday, I saw yet another Tamil Movie that had released during April this year. After a long time, I liked a love theme tamil movie. And, after a long time in the history of tamil movies, the guy and the girl dont end up living happily ever after. There is a happy ending here too, but its the same guy and a different girl.
I remembered Gary Barlow's song called Love Wont Wait when I walked out of the movie hall.
So the storyline in just few words was: Keep questioning my character without taking time to understand me for what I am and even though I might be kind enough to accept you as you are, I might just be happy to walk away with another woman who can listen. Sounds quite typical of most love themes but when you see something like this after an array of stupid stereotypes, you just tend to love it. Thats what happened with me I guess.
My test drive season has been quite successful. I tried the Ford Fiesta sometime back which was excellent. I liked the American car but definitely for the reason that it is american, not too many sell in this country. The Reanult Logan is a cheap luxury. Its as big as any car in that segment and a lot cheaper - in fact, the cheapest. The fully loaded version is less than Rs.650000 but the car lacks style. Interiors have been compensated for to make it less expensive. And I dont like the customer service in Chennai. I havent got a call from them for almost a week now. Ford Guys keep calling me every other day. Hyundai launched an upgraded version of its Accent called Verna. Its affordable and comfortable but nothing compared to HONDA. Honda has exceeded all my expecations from a car in that segment it occupies. People say that Honda charges more for its name but thats ok. The car is amazing. The engine (Honda is the best in the world for its R&D on engines) is so small and very powerful. I used to wonder why very few Hondas came on the USED CAR Sale and now we know why. People dont want to sell it.
The crossword theme continues with this six letter word which is the answer for this clue. The answer is already there in the clue. YOu just have to find it!!!
Thursday, May 03, 2007
Outside could be boring
I think i had mentioned before about "The Camel Club" - the book i was reading. got bored of it becos of the same old west wing politics and then stuff about the secret service. well it turned out to be somewhat interesting towards the end. i thought it was going to be the usual attack on the US president, but this has taken a small twist. ultimately it means that you have to waste your time reading about 500 pages and get to the best part.
some thoughts from the book - america talks about a free world, but they are least bothered about the problems of genocide in africa. they are more bothered about the middle east because there is more oil there. talking more about the free world, america is the country that held the blacks as slaves for so many hundred years. and did you know that america represents less than 5 percent of the world's population and consumes nearly one quarter of the energy? well, here i really dont know what the author is trying to prove. energy consumption is based on economic activity and industrialization and that is no way connected to the number of people. if business demands more energy then use it. but then the other problem of not accepting to conform to greenhouse gas effects comes into picture. when the whole world is worried about melting ice caps and rising water levels, mr.bush is busy fighting for more oil. if america claims that they are trying to make every country into a democracy, then why arent they trying anything in china? practically, they cannot. if they did something and china reacted, then the american economy would crumple down in minutes and that would be the end.
india might be the fourth largest when GDP is measured in terms of purchasing power parity but the country still has problems in improving the infrastrcuture of the rural economy. manufacturing still holds a lot of scope. social infrastructure has to be improved as well. primary education system is very poor when compared to china and our country still has significant poverty levels. The main question is whether India will be able to meet the expectations of such a vibrant and buoyant economy. Although, we have somewhat managed to ride on the wave in a not so efficient but happy-go-lucky way, it might trigger a social imbalance which would end up disastrous.
The Treaty of Rome completes 50 years this year and all through this while Europe has enjoyed a sufficient level of prosperity. But still the level of innovation has come down. we still see that most of the talen drifts away to the united states and never comes back. is there a need for another Renaissance?
i have started spending time on the hindu crossword these days and hence, my subject line has become a crossword clue. this one is seven letters long. leave your answer in the comments section.
some thoughts from the book - america talks about a free world, but they are least bothered about the problems of genocide in africa. they are more bothered about the middle east because there is more oil there. talking more about the free world, america is the country that held the blacks as slaves for so many hundred years. and did you know that america represents less than 5 percent of the world's population and consumes nearly one quarter of the energy? well, here i really dont know what the author is trying to prove. energy consumption is based on economic activity and industrialization and that is no way connected to the number of people. if business demands more energy then use it. but then the other problem of not accepting to conform to greenhouse gas effects comes into picture. when the whole world is worried about melting ice caps and rising water levels, mr.bush is busy fighting for more oil. if america claims that they are trying to make every country into a democracy, then why arent they trying anything in china? practically, they cannot. if they did something and china reacted, then the american economy would crumple down in minutes and that would be the end.
india might be the fourth largest when GDP is measured in terms of purchasing power parity but the country still has problems in improving the infrastrcuture of the rural economy. manufacturing still holds a lot of scope. social infrastructure has to be improved as well. primary education system is very poor when compared to china and our country still has significant poverty levels. The main question is whether India will be able to meet the expectations of such a vibrant and buoyant economy. Although, we have somewhat managed to ride on the wave in a not so efficient but happy-go-lucky way, it might trigger a social imbalance which would end up disastrous.
The Treaty of Rome completes 50 years this year and all through this while Europe has enjoyed a sufficient level of prosperity. But still the level of innovation has come down. we still see that most of the talen drifts away to the united states and never comes back. is there a need for another Renaissance?
i have started spending time on the hindu crossword these days and hence, my subject line has become a crossword clue. this one is seven letters long. leave your answer in the comments section.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)