Support for Srilankan Tamils

For quite some time, a number of groups in this side of the country have started raising their voices for the Srilankan Tamils.

I really don't know why. Srilankan Tamils may be connected to the Indian Tamils or the Dravidians through history. But that's like so many hundred years before. Those guys decided to move to a different country for a living. They are of a different nationality. Why do these political outfits here cause trouble for us citizens?

The other day, last week. There was a human chain staged by the DMK. Rain was already causing enough havoc all over the city and these guys added more fuel to the fire. There was complete chaos in major parts of the city. People were stranded at most places. It took at least 4 hours for the traffic to clear and find some breathing space. And on the next day, there was no news about the situation. Most newspapers were celebrating the success of the human chain. WTF.

Today, I hear that there is a trade closure. Most shops, rather all shops are closed today for supporting the cause of Tamils. But what the hell again? Why should these people disturb public life? Like actor Vikram says in the movie Saamy, all these political outfits should go to Marina Beach or Island grounds and do whatever they want.

What a waste of resources? When will these fellow learn to think objectively? Beans is selling for 80 rupees a kilo and most vegetables are above the Rs.30 mark. Not too far before we hit a crisis and someone here is worried about a bunch of Tamils. I can agree to this agitation if the Indian Army was involved in the firing of Tamils. Instead of supporting, we should be more careful about these people entering our land and causing trouble for us. There are so many hundred thousand Bangladeshis inside our country who are illegal immigrants. We have enough trouble from our neighboring countries. And we also have so many outfits within the country who keep bombing cities day in and day out. And here in Tamil Nadu, we have a bunch of stupid fellows who are busy supporting rather than safeguarding.

If the Tamils don't have food, then send them food supplies or whatever you can to support them. Why trouble me to support them?

Oasis 2008

WOW, this is such a wonderful coverage of Oasis. We never had so much publicity. These guys are talking of thousands of students and we used to celebrate when the registration crossed 1000. The guys are mentioning about a budget of half a crore and I still remember that we had a budget of less than 20 lacs. If everything else in pilani is working like before, then this year, a lot of people in SUB and StuCCA Body are walking away with a huge bank balance.

Aegan - Diwali Show-gun

The man who is known for his luck at the box office is back again. Yes, its none other than our THALAI. He has done it again! Truly this is THALAI-DEEPAVALI.



Aegan - meaning the one and only one, also referring to Lord Shiva, made a gala opening on Saturday the 25th of October 2008 all over.

Ultimate Star Ajith, whose screen name is Shiva (in line with the theme Aegan), has given a great light hearted movie for his fans, this Diwali.

Aegan is a cool copy of Main Hoon Naa - the SRK movie that made wonders a few years back. The movie has all elements of entertainment that anyone would look for. Even though it was a copy, the script and the screenplay was done really well.

Ajith is back to make you laugh after his success with Billa. He is fat and not agile at all when it comes to dance. That shows clearly. If he had lost like 5 kgs of weight, mostly at the belly and a little on his face, then the impact would have been much better. Considering that SRK looked quite trimmed in the original, Ajith here looks totally like UNCLE. Some of his actions are also remind you of his style in Billa. Maybe he is still not out of the Billa Superhit Hangover. Having said all that, Thalai still rocks.

Comedy comes out really well. With stalwarts like Cochin Haneefa, Jayaram and then support from others like Sathyan and Nasser, every moment is quite enjoyable. The Jayaram-Sathyan combo during the first half is simply mindblowing.

Nayantara is the Professor at the college. The HOT PROFESSOR. Not just hot, but too hot to handle. Continuing after Billa and Satyam, she takes glamour to the next level. Nayan dons sexy outfits in the movie. Even the saris would make you go agape. As usual, there is not much scope for acting. More for singing duet songs in the Alps and some romance filled brushes with Ajith, just to set the ball rolling in the college.

Piya (from Poi Solla Porom) and Navdeep (Arinthum Ariyamalum) are the other important characters in the movie. They have done a good job. Nothing different from how it happens in Main Hoon Naa, but they have given enough justice to their role in the movie.

Yuvan's music is good. Background score is just GREAT. Especially the AEGAN Beat. Some songs would remind you of previous compositions. One actually reminded me of Michael Jackson. But a borrow from here and there but not exactly a true copy is warranted i guess. Check the trailer for the initial beat (starting at 00.34). Its going to be the ringtone of the quarter.



Raju Sundaram, another well know choreographer, has tried his hands at direction. For a first timer, he has played it safe and chosen a proven script. Taking less chances for experimentation and more emphasis on maintaining the script originality, the director makes a good start. We can hope to see more movies.

What didnt gel too well was the villain trying to do some comedy. It was ok to begin with but then it got too irritating towards the second half of the movie.

Overall: Nice timepass.

Beautiful Karnataka

So here is a full set of the photos that we took during our trip.. Enjoy and do let me know if you liked them... Mama



Beautiful Karnataka

Sringeri, Horanadu, Belur, Halebid, and Shravanabelagola

So my amazing trip to all these places began on Friday when I took the bus to Bangalore. By the way, never take SHAMA SARDAR Travels to Bangalore. Its horrible. The drivers are totally drunk and very customer unfriendly. They let people sleep on the aisle for half the money and some of them would just walk away with your luggage. Lucky, my luggage was safe.

At around 9am on saturday, we (myself, Abhinav Shankar - my frisbee mate and his mom) left Bangalore on NH4 and took the road to Hassan via Nelamangala, which is NH48. On the way, we made a stop at Chennarayapatna (CR Patna). There is a Kamat Restaurant just after the town on the highway. Next to that is a Cafe Coffee Day as well. After about 3 hrs of driving, this place is perhaps the best place to make a halt.


Our next stop was Belur - an important city of the Hoysala times. We spent about an hour there taking photos. If you have more time to spend, then best take a guide. We hit the road again to this place called Baalehonnur via Mudigere. We took a tea break here and then started again to Sringeri.

Sringeri is a temple town at the banks of the river Tunga. Adi Shankara selected this place to stay and teach his disciples. This place is of great importance for people who follow the Yajur Veda. We reached Sringeri around dinner time. There are very few hotels in Sringeri that provide accomodation. Most people stay with the Mutt's lodge. Very basic accomodation and just enough for one night. Advance booking is always appreciated. Now that a lot of people have taken to religion and belief in God, its better to play it safe. We showered, had food at Hotel Guruprasad and attended the Chandramouleeswarar Puja. The Puja was done by the Acharya himself. After that, we had a quick darshan of him and came back. Next day morning, we visited the Mutt again for a Paadha Puja (Feet Puja). They have a sandal made of silver worn by the Acharya, rather several copies, and the disciples do Puja for the same. Once that was done, we proceeded to Bhikshavandanam, where we get to meet the Acharya and seek his blessings. Remember, for all of this, you have to get tickets at the temple's desk at around 10am in the morning. Next stop was the Thorana Ganapathi (Its a Ganesha on a silver door frame. There is no temple, but its just on a door and frame.), where we did another special puja. Yes, you have to get tickets for this as well.

Next was photo time. We came back and took pictures of the temple and the surrounding areas of the Mutt. At the banks of the river Tunga, the devotees keep feeding the fishes. That's almost customary these days. The fishes were HUGE. Each one should have weighed like atleast 5kgs. Also, on the steps is the place where according to history, Adi Shankara noticed the cobra giving shelter to a frog. Then we had lunch at the Mutt. The Mutt provides free food to all devotees and let me tell you, the lunch is amazing. You should never miss it.

Post lunch, we left Sringeri and took the road towards Horanadu. Horanadu is about 60kms from Sringeri. The road is scenic (you can spot many lakes and waterfalls) but very bad for your car. An SUV is a better choice. Annapurnaeshwari is the main deity at Horanadu. She is made completely out of gold and her smiling face gives you such a blissful feeling.

From Horanadu, we took the road to Kalasa and then drove straight to Chikmagalur. This town is an estate town, dominated by coffee growers. We stayed the sunday night at an awesome place called the Kadur Club. Next day, after English breakfast, we headed towards Halebidu. The route was first to Belur and then 16kms to Halebidu. This city was also part of the Hoysala kingdom. Architecture is very similar to what we saw in Belur. Some of the important statues that we noted here was Krishna carrying Govardhana Giri and Ravana carrying Kailasa mountain.

Shravanabelagola was our next stop. We drove from Halebidu to Hassan and then stopped at the Kamat Hotel before CR Patna for lunch. We parked at the foothills and walked to the temple. A steep walk of about 650 steps leads you to the top for a view of one of the worlds largest monoliths. A view of the town surrounding this hill is brilliant.

From here, it was just back to Bangalore. We took the road to Kunigal and then to Nelamangala.

Au Kate

Siren is the name of this statue. Sculpted my Marc Quinn, its none other than one of the top international supermodels in the world - Kate Moss. Pure 18 carat gold - weighing 50 kgs. Thats exactly what Kate weighs in real life. This is a yoga pose and its supposed to depict the modern day Aphrodite.

One thing I really wonder... Did she actually pose like this for Quinn? Then she is really Kate Flexi Moss.

This statue cost 1.5 million pounds to make and is expected to fetch atleast 10 million pounds when it goes for the auction in January 2009.

More and more research on the topic led me to some interesting websites.

One is called Body Casting (explore this website a bit and you'll get to see some of their wonderful projects) and then the modern day Picasso called - Pricasso.

Leave the Dow and Bourses aside for sometime and learn to appreciate ART.

Old Ads

Saw a few ADS on a British Newspaper - really old ones. Not in print anymore. And yeah, they are quite alarming.

Do click on the picture and check them out.

The ET Madras Plus Coverage: Today

THE NEW BEE IN TOWN!

This bee is buzzing. And has people leaping into the air with excitement. Ultimate Frisbee is here!

Deepti Sivakumar

Come sunrise; the Elliot's beach springs to life with people. There are the aspiring cricketers, the joggers, yoga practitioners, laughter club members, the bluegreen health concoction vendors… Amidst these groups, there is one more. One that has people cheering excitedly. Ultimate Frisbee. As even a quick internet search will tell you, the sport is mostly called Ultimate since frisbee is a trademark brand name for the discs.

Chennai Ultimate Frisbee (CUF) is a group of individuals who are passionate and committed to the cause of turning unsuspecting beachgoers into Ultimate addicts. For the uninitiated, it is a lot like playing rugby or American football as far as the game-objective is concerned. Teams have to score points by passing the disc between its members in the opposing end zone. But unlike rugby or football, Ultimate is a nocontact team sport, which means if you have a broken nose, you can have no grudges.

Though Ultimate's origins can be traced all the way to North America, the sport is gaining popularity in many parts of India too, courtesy the people who fly to the US for education, and expatriates. Ultimate is only about four-years-old in India, but the national teams are already gearing up for one of its biggest tournaments. On November 29 and 30, Chennai will play host to around eleven teams; ten from across India and one from Sri Lanka. "There have been national tournaments before, but participation from ten national teams makes this Ultimate Frisbee's biggest so far," says Narayan Krishnan, one of the founders of CUF.

What's interesting about this game is that even at the international competitions, there are no referees; the game is self-refereed.

Ultimate is a sport that believes in fostering the player's sportsmanship over everything else. That explains the total absence of sledging or heckling on the Ultimate grounds. "We will win because we are better than the other team in skill, speed and stamina; and not because we can cheat, bully, sledge, trip or push them around," explains one of the Ultimate pamphlets. "Sometimes people get too caught up in the competition and they forget the spirit of the game. We're just a bunch of people who have got together for the love of the sport," trails off Manu Karan, CUF's pillar of support.

The CUF members meet four times a week to practise their dives, catches and throws. But besides that, they also teach Ultimate to children from the underprivileged sections of the society. In fact, in cities like Ahmedabad, Ultimate is being adopted by NGOs as a method to inculcate confidence, teamwork and leadership qualities among different communities. As a sport, Ultimate is associated more with the sheer joy of playing more than the "win at all costs" spirit, and the focus is more on team work and camaraderie between the players.

The fitness angle cannot be ignored too. Ultimate goes a long way in giving the players something to look forward to, at the end of the day. "Most of us have full-time jobs; some of us are techies, some business analysts. But the work-home-work rut is a little difficult to break away from, once you get sucked in. Ultimate is my breakaway from the rut, even if it means waking up earlier on the weekends," says Manu. For some, the game is that last push one needs to make or break a habit. Muthuraman, an Ultimate lover, can't wait for the tournament to begin. "Ultimate helps me take my health seriously," he says.

Currently, CUF has around 35 members. "Newbies come over weekends to watch us play and some of them become regulars," says Manu, but he does add that the awareness levels are still low. For a game completely devoid of on-field cursing, Ultimate is surprisingly competitive, and even after the game is over, you can always catch the players practising their catches and throws. What's also unique about Ultimate is that it's unisex. Regardless of your age, sex, height and weight, you can play. Go on, be a part of the frisbee experience!

PS: By the way, the man leaping in the air to catch the disc was a photography trick!