Dow Bhopal Tragedy

I bumped into an article in Business week and I was surprised to note what's happening.

In 1984, Bhopal gas tragedy happened. Union Carbide was completely responsible for everything that happened and they were liable to make any clean up that's required. They paid some money to the victims and then everything was left as it is. Neither the government nor Union Carbide did anything more to address the environmental impact that the leak had created.

Dow Chemical bought whatever was left of the Union Carbide plant. They bought the company shares.

And now, a bunch of people are holding their hands, shouting at Dow Chemical to spend millions of dollars to clean the water table.

The law ministry is also sending wrong signals and supporting this stupid idea.

I seriously don't understand. Why are these people blaming Dow? Just because an international company decided to buy a rundown plant, can you just blame them for whatever happened before?

On top of this, some students at the IITs are objecting to an institutional tie-up with Dow Chemical. That's stupidity to the highest level. Don't these students ever think at all? This is what happens when respected institutions are influenced by reservation policies, the Ministry and a bunch of uneducated politicians.

There is also an NGO that is fighting against Dow Chemical. The Chemicals Ministry has told - "the polluter should pay". What a statement. Damn it! Everyone knows that the polluter was Union Carbide and they were supposed to do the clean up. All these people kept quiet, got bribes once in a while, and now when a renowned firm entered the country, they have decided to put the blame on it. Maybe, someone gave them an idea that if we blame an international firm, they will immediately do what's required to prevent any damage to their brand value at the world market.

Do any of these parties understand that its the responsibility of the government and Union Carbide officials to solve this problem?

If we told that going forward, Dow has to be responsible for whatever happens, then its okay. Why do we have to pass our own inefficiencies to someone who is quiet?

CUF on Times of India

Times of India covered Chennai Ultimate Frisbee last week. Nice article but I still don't understand the emphasis on ruthless work ethics, mentioned on the title. I know that this guy is referring to the abusive language on the field. Yes, we do shout at our own friends when they drop a disc or don't get a proper throw across to us. But that's part of the game. Even during our 5 minute break, we forget all that. Its just the intensity of the game that makes us behave that way when were on the field. Its a different kind of passion.

When you read the article, you'll see that the words "ruthless work ethics" are actually borrowed from someone who mentioned that on the field.

My point is - let it be that way, but why do you, as the press guy, go on to say "Chennai's professionals borrow from ruthless work ethics when flinging a disc around"

There were so many better quotes about Ultimate Frisbee that were given to you that day. Very inspirational ones. Ones that would actually get someone interested in taking up this sport. And what did you do with all that?

Is someone writing a paper titled "Why we hate PRESS" on the lines of "Why we hate HR"? I'd really like to contribute.

Arasangam - Truly Unusual

After I don't know how many years, I got to watch Captain's movie in a cinema hall. When I walked out of the hall, I was amazed.

Captain has moved to the next level in his 150th movie. In a world where even Hollywood is predominantly trying to show machine power, Captain and his team have zeroed in on the importance of the intellect.

A series of killings in different cities of famous industrialists and entrepreneurs marks the beginning of this super thriller. Captain's friend is summoned to investigate this case. Friend is missing. So Captain, who is a criminology expert at the police training college takes over. When we hear Captain talking about encryption and decryption techniques, the excitement continues.

Captain's role is a bit mellowed down in this movie. No punch dialogs at all. But the unbelievable stunts are still there. The best one is the last scene where Captain and the villain jump from a crane / bridge (I don't remember), then do a quick hop (like those triple jumps that athletes do) on a container truck and then get onto a train. Captain also needs to work on his double chin, its getting bigger by every movie and in this movie its a big disturbance.

Operation Bulu Thunder (well, its Blue but that's the way Captain says) is aimed at breaking the pillars that hold the economy. There is international interest in not allowing India to become a super power. In order to create a brain drain, a network of people decide to kill the best minds in India which will hamper the progress by at least 20 years.

The makers of this movie have done their homework. They have done Root Cause Analysis. They have also understood the power of social networks. There is more technology than muscle power.

The movie also reminds us of a number of other movies from the past - Vettaiyaadu Vilaiyaadu, Hannibal, Die Hard - Part Four.



Ceril Printo, Navneeth Kaur are the girls in Canada and India respectively. Kaur is the wife and Printo is an investigation associate and a part-time girlfriend as well.

Srikanth Deva's music is quite ok. Its not disturbing to the ear. Choreography is neat as well. No heavy steps for Captain.

In some ways, the movie looked like it was very producer friendly. In the first half, most parts of the movie has been done in natural settings. So no great setup cost. The second half in Canada isn't too extravagant as well.

The only message I got from this movie - Never spit out a bubble gum on the road. Always wrap it in a piece of paper and then throw it.

Comments Stealing

I found this set of comments on another blog that I frequently visit. once you start reading you'll understand the context of this huge debate. after reading through all this, i really wonder if educated people think like this? tradition, culture, religion is all apart. leaving all that, for all practical purposes, you'll still feel that this guy is all crap.

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raj, on May 20th, 2008 at 11:06 am Said:
woman are impure when they have ****. i own a travel agency, and we never allow the woman employees to take care of the ticketing needs. see so many people are going for teerth yaatra, or for imp journeys. if a woman with **** does their ticket, it could be very unlucky for them. even my wife agrees. i have seen myself pickles going bad when impure woman has touched. women are not bad, but they need to be careful to not give others bad luck. some precautions must be taken. you are wrong.

raj, on May 21st, 2008 at 5:19 pm Said:
hi neha - raj again. first of all i want to say that all of you are blindly following the western practice. their women don’t know how to control themselves - and that is why babies are born without mothers being married. that is why they are smoking, drinking and having sex without respect for anyone. following purity rules allows women to exercise self discipline. and to develop a pure mind. god has given woman **** so that she knows that she cannot do everything a man can…….. otherwise women forgets that she has to take care of babies. see, these rules remind even unmarried womens what their duties are…. that they must always sacrifice.

i am not scared of you women.. you can come and run after me.. but let’s see if you can run when you are having ****. i am betting you cannot. if you are a good hindu follower then you follow these rules, otherwise you can become a west person or convert even. why make hinduism impure with ur actions??

my wife agrees with me. not because she thinks i am mad. but because she knows that i am correct. our shastras say that wives must always obey husbands. but you are an impure so called hindu who is not really hindu, so you will never these understand these things.

raj, on May 22nd, 2008 at 11:49 am Said:
why are all you people so arrogant? what makes you think you are smarter than years of vedic knowledge and our forefathers. having a **** is natural, but it is naturally impure. why are you all laughing at me? tomorrow, when an impure women effects your luck and things become really bad for you, then i will laugh at you all.

raj, on May 22nd, 2008 at 11:57 am Said:
ALSO - ankur, i think you are controlled by all womenin your life. that is why you say these things. a real man would stick to wisdom and not try to impress.

raj, on May 23rd, 2008 at 6:28 am Said:
how dare you all say i am only joking. this makes me very ANGRYYYY. your arrogance means you never listen to anyone, and think of people like me, as jokers? i am very much real. i am very much serious. WOMEN AND MEN ARE NOT EQUAL. men cannot have children. women have children and because of that, they must sacrifice a lot. it is a gift from god, and they have to show their appreciation for god by separating herself … like a sanyasi. THIS IS NOT FUNNY AT ALL. IT IS A serious issue. you are all fools.

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Ok the reason behind getting these absolutely stupid comments on to this page is because of the following links that I happened to read.

Link 1
Link 2
Link 3
Link 4

Poem: That moment

like a princess from neverland
in front of his eyes
she rested there
in deep thought

he looked at her
that pin drop silence
her eyelids opened
he imagined
lotus petals unfolding under the sun

their eyes met
no word spilled
still volumes were spoken
the magic had happened

clasping her body close
to himself
he felt her breath
warm and heavy

lifting her chin
she closed her eyes
his lips on hers
that first kiss
he stole her breath
a new journey of love began

Kuruvi - Will never fly

Vijay works for a courier service company. A smuggling group has been using this courier service to deliver goods. Unknowingly, Vijay delivers a packet to someone and gets caught. How he escapes from the hands of the police and brings the bad men to the light is the storyline.

Well, this is what I read from some random website when I was browsing about Kuruvi.

Anyway, even though the movie turned out to have a different storyline, it was equally bad.

Dharani-Vijay combination did not create the Ghilli impact this time. I still think that Ghilli was a much faster movie and kept your thoughts racing.

Vijay lives in a huge but dilapidated bungalow. From the information we have, its somewhere on the banks of the Buckingham canal. Vijay and whoever is living with him in that house is dependent on dad Manivannan who has supposedly gone to Singapore for work. But its surprising that with no news from dad, no one is bothered or worried. When someone knocks at their door for a hefty sum of money - everyone wakes up.


Kuruvi by name is a tribute to all those people who make day trips to Malaysia and Singapore to buy electronic goods - to sell the same back in the bazaars here. Vijay dons the role of a Kuruvi to find his dad.

Vijay - I wonder how he keeps getting younger by the movie. He has done amazing work on ensuring that he is the king of kollywood dance. Beginning from the first song, Dandaana, then Palanathu and a little bit in Mozha Mozhanu. Surprising how the dance masters come up with crazy steps tailor made for the Ilaya Thalapathi. All that keeps you engrossed to a great extent.

Acting - I am really sorry sir. Nothing is natural. The scenes in Cudappah - every artist in soaked in dust and dirt - its a quarry, whereas you are sparkling clean wearing timberland boots. Ok, I don't have any proof for the brand, but still!!! And trying a mask of Zorro act from the Petronas towers. Reminds me of the old MGR and Saroja Devi movies where they keep sitting in a chariot, shaking their heads and hands. The background keeps moving. All that is such a cartoon. Heroes are supposed to be larger than life. Agreed. But a reasonable attention to detail always helps.

When it comes to the storyline, its a huge let down. A son goes in search of his dad. That's all. During the second half of the movie, I felt as if someone was pulling a chewing gum for 3 miles. Totally frail and lacking believable content. We've had enough heroes missing an axe, spade or even the bullet. Why do directors still think that people will be fascinated by the same crap again and again?

Trisha - wow. This 83 born beauty will never stop. Her style is amazing and ever since Laysa Laysa she has been that cute damsel with sharp looks. Colors go well with Trisha. And she is not a totally fair skinned person. She sports a sexy light tan that makes her a perfect choice for Tamil cinema.

Vivek as the comedian. No great shakes. He imitates a whole lot of stars. That's interesting. Otherwise, he makes some kind of unnecessary punch dialogs that doesn't gel too well.

Suman and Ashish Vidhyarthi are the bad guys. Suman ends up being a comedian cum villain. Ashish is okay. Its hard to believe that someone owns a diamond mine / quarry in Cudappah without the knowledge of the government. That too, employing more than 200 people as bonded laborers. By the way, Kuruvi also gives you a hint about how you can upload files to the Central Bureau of Investigation India. You'll need to watch the movie to get that.

Vidyasagar's music - painful to the ears. I don't know what on earth is wrong with the music directors here. Just because a few confused Malaysians have landed up in chennai calling themselves tamil rappers, doesn't mean that you have to give them a chance to murder a song in every film that is getting released. Enough is enough. Lyrics is also equally bad. Almost every song sounds like a remix number.

Overall: Expect nothing.

And here's a cartoon on Kuruvi. Picked it up from the web. Click on the image to read it clearly.

Summer is back

Madras Summer. Anyone who has been living in madras for a very long time would be able to endlessly talk about the extremely HOT days and nights as well.

I have been observing and feeling the extremities of the weather and its simply unmanageable. Especially in a workplace like mine. You get into the office at 8.45am in the morning. Its quite hot at that time. The doors slide out and while you enter you smell jasmine in the air - that's the room freshener. The air conditioner is blowing air at sub 25 temperatures. You kinda feel the difference as you walk in. Once totally inside, you'll feel a sudden drop in temperature. Its really cool.

Obviously, the whole campus is not under a air conditioned roof. So, at around mid-day - lunch time, you HAVE to walk out. A walk for a minute or two would take you to the cafeteria. While you do this, the temperature suddenly of your body suddenly crests. And then when you come back in, it drops. This is such a bad thing to happen for your health. Sudden changes in body temperature would only result in viral fever and common cold.

On a different note, summer used to be such a beautiful phenomenon back in London. At 10 in the morning, most people would try and find themselves a place in one the large parks inside within the city. The very idea of lying on your chest and reading a book while the sun bakes your back. In between a cool breeze sweeps through and tickles your neck. You shrug and shiver a bit still enjoying the heat from that big star. Bright colors, short skirts, huge towels, cane baskets, broad hats - so lovely!

Anyway, I associate Madras summer always with this master piece. If you are a Madras fan, then you'd completely agree.

Slice of your life

I hope a good number of you would remember this ad, but I am not sure how many have seen the complete one.

The Mango season is right around the corner and it is time to revive and re-live those wonderful moments.

BONGULY

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I found this while surfing on the web. Absolutely FILTHY but quite interesting.

DO NOT USE SPEAKERS