First Impressions

So I was in New York yesterday. I arrived in the US on Saturday. There wasnt too much of a jet lag, so we decided to see some parts of NY.

Our train reached the New York Penn Station and the one thing I was surprised to find out is that no one knew where the tourist information center is. Everyone was guiding us to the tickets and information center which was servicing for the train journeys. anyway, we figured something and got out.

we decided that we'll walk to times square. why? because we were somewhere close to that area. nothing special.

whatever. NY on first impression is such a boring place. its crowded everywhere. all you can find is tall buildings. the sight of just stuctures around you kind of irritates a lot. the only factor that saves is perhaps central park and the rivers that run on either sides. otherwise, NY feels like an over-crowded jungle.

and again, if a city is like that, you cannot expect anyone to be in order. although the vehicles dont jump signals because of strict policing, there are enough number of people who would cross a busy road when the signal is green.

so we walked past all the famous stops - times square, grand central, rockefeller, chrysler, trump, united nations, and all that shit. nothing phenomenal about all of these places. some have shopping malls attached, so people like to just get in and waste time.

i think my opinion of NY would never change. i would prefer a lesser built up city. more open space and less crowding. the place where i live right now - parsippany jersey is actually a nice place. there is lots and lots of space around you and its pleasant to be outdoors.

Anandha Thandavam

Theory: Aascar Ravichandran profited a lot from his last movie. So he decided to fund some of that on a project that wouldn't really take off well.
AR Gandhikrishna, who shot to fame with Chellame; thought that he could turn a Sujatha novel into a fantastic movie. But the movie was too late to the audience.

Sujatha's novel - Pirivom Santhippom was based on situations that were perhaps a decade old. Affluent NRIs marrying innocent pretty girls; going back to US to lead a luxurious life. The girl never realises that she is being ignored. Emotional drama, but not suited to how things are at present. Especially, when everyone is talking about RECESSION!!!


Anandha Thandavam (dance of ecstasy) is a movie that failed to capture the characters that Sujatha had created in his novel. In between, we also have a hero who is the most vulnerable character I have seen, maybe in years. The director, even after sticking to the novel, could not create the right impact.

Pathetic Editing - We see a car getting onto a highway in the US. In seconds, the same car is hit by a trailer in Malaysia and then the next minute, everyone's in KL Airport.

Great locations near Tirunelveli and Tenkasi. Bana Theertham is a place to visit. The cameraman has captured some wonderful landscapes in interior Tamil Nadu.

I must definitely talk about the music. An amazing rendition by Shubha Mudgal and Nithyasree Mahadevan. Kanaa Kaangiren (see my previous post) is a brilliant song with splendid choreo. Worked well for Rukmini. GV Prakash's music is just getting better and better. Poovinai sung by Srinivas and Shreya is also a great song that is shot in Atlantic City. These two songs will stay on your mind for a while.

Tamannah plays the innocent pretty girl. A mix of the child and woman - young at heart and mind too, she plays silly pranks with her brother, listens to her parents and doesn't have a clue of the outside world. If this was what the novel wanted from her, then she did 125% of what was required.

Siddharth (a newbie), does exactly what a newbie is expected of. Everything goes belly up for him - acting, dance, delivery, emotions. Totally shreds up into pieces.

Rukmini is another actor we have to watch for. She scored pretty high in Bommalattam. In this movie, she definitely strikes a chord. Her character and then few others (eg. Kitty and the US Uncle) bring a lot of direction into a screenplay that just goes astray every now and then.


This movie is a pot pourri. Its about love at first sight through the eyes of an unemployed youth who has no direction in his life; parents wanting their daughter to live a rich life abroad without understanding what could be in store; a father who gets blamed and ignored for being concerned about his son's life; a loser who cannot come to grips with what is not his own. There are too many characters who in their own way impact the storyline, but I am thinking that these characters would have been carved well in the novel.

Overall: Fails to deliver.

Kanaa Kaangiren

Kanaa Kaangiren - I am glued to this song. From the movie Anandha Thandavam (Dance of Ecstasy), what an amazing song.

Sung by Nithyasree, Subha Mudgal and Vinitra, this song would go into the history of tamil music as one of THE BEST wedding songs of the 21st century.

The video is set in Belur, Halebid and nearby temples. The one below just has pictures and not the original video.



Following the lines of the wedding songs in Alaipayuthae (Yaaro Yaarodi) and Paarthaale Paravasam (Adhisiya Thirumanam).

This song has amazing lines and the beats are excellent. If you get on to youtube, you can see the lyrics on the side bar.

I am just waiting for the video to arrive on youtube.

Horse-Do?

A new hairdo for the horses. And guess what, these are based on some famous people in the world.

Can you take a guess?

Clues:
Left: American celebrity, model, singer
Center: English model
Right: Australian actor

Post your comments

Ayan

Ayan - What does Ayan mean? Well, it means a lot in different languages. I am not going to delve into that.

Ayan - Suriya's latest movie after V.1000 is a super entertainer for the masses. Suriya has been telling everyone that he couldn't give a fun-filled movie because he devoted more time with character based roles in movies such as V.1000 and Kaakha Kaakha. For the long wait, Ayan surpasses all expectations.

Suriya plays the role of an educated street smart under-the-table-business associate. A computer science graduate who uses more of his brain than muscle to get rid of people who come in his way. In a lot of places, he would remind you of what Clooney did in Ocean's or Leonardo did in Catch Me. I mean, its a lot of fun to watch. Nevertheless, tamil cinema cannot do well without fights. So, there is scope for that too. One fight that was shot in Congo is bleddy amazing. Its like the one that Daniel Craig does in Quantum. Extremely fast, through small buildings, windows, terraces, winding streets. Kudos to the guys who planned the cameras. It was PERFECT.

Ayan introduces you to another world that's flourishing big time in India. A world of dvd's, cocaine, gold biscuits, diamonds - everything unaccounted. Talking of diamonds - I like the way they explain the diamonds business in Africa.

The villain gets introduced in less than 10 minutes from the beginning. So no great shakes. We always know that if something goes wrong, its always because of him. Villain is a Bollywood import and he does quite a shitty job. Very bad voice syncs.

Prabu is Suriya's boss and he controls a lot of this business. Its interesting to see how these guys get the smuggle the stuff from the airport to India and back to other countries. While we know that a lot of this could be true, its quite shocking to see what happens.

Jagan - the guy who hosts America's Funniest Videos on Star Vijay is Suriya's pal in the movie. Tamannah is his sister. NOW THATS A VERY BAD MATCH UP for a family. Black Coffee and Milk. Jagan as Chitti has a very interesting role. He has done a fantastic job. I am guessing that this is a great break for him and the future holds a lot for him.

Tamannah - this hard working Punjabi kudi rocks! In this movie, its not just love and songs for the actor. Love happens in like 5 mins. They meet and the next scene they are already in love. Costume selection would score a 4 on 5. She is surely getting better in every movie of hers.

There is no separate comedy track. Suriya, Jagan, Tamannah, Karunas, Renuka (Suriya's mom) - everyone does comedy to their own capacity. When prime characters perform comedy, it gels into the movie and it also lightens the audience's view about a particular character.

Songs and the picturisation are a treat. Hariharan's voice in Pala Pala is so FRESH. Like always, Harris' music reminds you of all his previous creations. Grinding the same dough. I am guessing that Harris is fond of a few raagas and he composes only on those. One of the songs, i think Nenje Nenje, was shot in Walvis Bay, Namibia, where the sea and sand dunes are next to each other. Beautiful Place.

Story, Script, Screenplay - would give a min of 3 on 5. Very skillful. Even though we have heard of so many con-job movies in the past, this one is quite entertaining. There is more focus on smart smuggling rather than using plain ammunition with mobs. Creativity is fabulous - KV Anand and his team will be appreciated for this. In a lot of instances, they quickly show the way things unfold from the past. That's very thoughtful and neatly done.

Overall: Great entertainer from Suriya, after a long time.

HDFC Standard Life Insurance

So, in July last year, the guys from HDFC Standard Life Insurance called me and told me about their pension plan. You know how they can make it sound very attractive and all that crap. I am not going to go into the details of all that.

My dad was telling me that just one insurance policy and a PPF account is not enough. Maybe I should put some amount from my salary somewhere else as well instead of just keeping it in the bank.

I signed up for the Pension Plan. The moment you say yes for the policy, you know how fast things happen. The representatives came home. The application forms were just ready to make the signatures and nominations. I paid the first premium through cheque and then opted for ECS to pay the remaining premiums. I had to sign a blank cheque, cross it. Also sign in two different places, just for matching signatures. Everything happened with ease. In about 2 weeks time, I got the policy papers.

August, September, October, November and December. No problem at all. Every month, HDFC would get a payment from my bank. I would get a copy of the receipt through the mail and I would also check it online once in a while.

In January, I got a call from the call center informing me that HDFC could not take an electronic payment and so I should make an online payment or go to the nearest office and may by cash or cheque. I didnt bother. I had signed up for ECS only to avoid all this headache. Then I got another call 2 weeks later telling me that the ECS payment was not taken because the signatures did not match. I was like - WTF, you morons. You took payment for 5 months using the same signature and suddenly in January the signatures did not match? I asked them the same question and you know about these call center executives. They hardly have any knowledge. The only answer they have is pre-programmed - "Sir, according to our system, the payment could not be processed because the signatures did not match. In order to avoid further delays with respect to your policy, please contact the nearest HDFC Standard Life Office."

So, obviously, you know that these good-for-nothing fellows are not going to be of any help to you. And the funny part is that they also ask you one question towards the end - "Is there anything else that I can help you with?"

For which, you have to say "NO THANKS". And the conversation ends there. The ball is in your court. For no mistake of yours. In all this while, the guy who is your policy advisor has no interest whatsoever to take up your case or do anything in that regard. If you want something, you have to call him.

With my wedding coming up, I had better things to do. So, I kept quiet. By this time, I got a letter from HDFC that the policy is lapsed and if I need to renew the policy, I have to call some random toll-free number. All this while, the guys at the top are not bothered at all. All they follow is some senseless protocol. There is no relationship manager or anything of that sort who takes up this case and tries to find out what happened. They just send letters one after the other.

A few days later, one more guy called. He had the same story but he sounded a bit more sensible. He told me that I could make an online payment. I did that. By this time, it was end January. In about a week's time, I got a receipt for the payment I made. February passed and in March second week, I got a call again from HDFC Bombay about my policy. I told them that I made one payment in Jan and will make another payment that week for Feb and March, which I made. I got a call again from someone in Chennai. I told him that I made the payment. Then the Bombay guy called again. I confirmed with him again that the payment was already made but its not reflecting on the site yet.

Then that smart ass fellow says "Please call the toll-free number and lodge a request giving all the details". Again, I was like - idiot, you get all the time to do follow up calls and check whether I have paid, but you cant do a simple help for your customer?

After so much help that they did to the customer, HDFC also did one more thing. After taking payment for 3 months, they sent me a letter yesterday.

It says
"We wish to inform you that we are unable to revive your policy since we have not yet received the information/clarification that we had sought from you vide our earlier letter"

And then some more bulshit in the letter. The letter has also come with a cheque for amount that is like one tenth of whatever I have paid till now.

I called the call-center and told them that I have a letter like this. They know that I have already paid whatever is needed to revive the policy. But all they have to say is "Please visit our nearest branch tomorrow"

I cant believe that a company like HDFC is doing stuff like this. RIDICULOUS. They put ads like "Sar Utha Ke Jiyo" and all that effin crap on every TV channel. Why the **** ??? It makes no sense. Sad part is; I guess I am locked for a very long time on this. The next thing I have to figure out is how to reduce this already "pain in the ass" pension plan to something bearable so that even in the future if i dont get the money, i wont be too worried about it.

Every private company seems to be a blood sucker of the third rate. LIC would have been better I guess. Any comments?

Back

Oh, its so difficult to get back to something after a very long break. Here I mean work and blogging.

Three weeks of vacation - first my wedding, then a trip to delhi to attend a close friend's wedding, a day trip to agra, back to chennai for the reception, then to perth via singapore; to chrischurch from perth, a week in the south island, back to perth again for about 5 days, stop over at singapore and then back to chennai. Whoooaaah!!

Whattaaey TRIP maan.

After all that, when i came back to work, there was no work. Thankfully, I had come back for something more interesting. Ultimate Frisbee. Yes, the Kodaikanal Fly Baba tournament is coming up during the last weekend of March. And Chennai is going to Bendy Field in Kodi with a 35 member team. This time we got our own bus!!!

Other than ultimate practice, i dont have much to do. the week i landed, i spent one day in office sorting out proofs for tax purposes. the recession is quite bad. bad bonus, no promotion and maybe no hike too. promotion and hike decisions have been postponed till june or july. management is buying time to see what the market reactions will be. haha. last year, around 200 people were made directors in the office. i was like - WHAT is WRONG with the guys in talent management?

Whatever, I still have to write atleast one post about my kiwi land trip. Until, then I am just signing off.

The Persians are waiting for me to lead their army.....

The Wedding Photos

FROM MY D80

FLASH VERSION



HTML VERSION

The Wedding

Kabadi

A sport that has a small connection to an epic like Mahabharata, also widely played in many states across India, a prominent sport in Bangladesh. Yes, its Kabadi.

Director Susindran has perfectly executed a script based on Kabadi with simplicity and finesse. This is not like Chak De, Lagaan or any other sports movies like Goal or Victory. This movie has a completely different take on Kabadi. There is no money, glamour and fashion. The game itself has little popularity among the masses. We hardly find anyone talking, which probably makes it easy for the director to have a small village like Kanakkanpatti as the nucleus of this movie.

A group of youngsters, who have different backgrounds, in terms of caste, work, status, are great friends and stand united only because of Kabadi. Vennila Kabadi Kuzhu is what they call themselves and they take pride in attending the local kabadi competitions. Winning is almost like a nightmare to them and to keep their heads high amongst their villagers, they play the weaker team from the next village. Their ultimate aim is to win a tournament so that they can walk inside the village with their heads high up.

A movie where almost everyone is a newbie, maybe a budget of a few hundred thousands, no expensive props and mostly everything natural is what makes VKK so special.

Mari, the uneducated young lad who is a goat-herd, is the principal character in this movie. Other than a very sad background about Mari, what we get to see is only his inclination for the sport and his love for the anonymous girl Saranya Mohan, who comes to the village festival from Madurai. Its interesting to note that the director has beautifully brought out the love between the two without even letting out the girl's name. Also, its awesome to note that they never exchange any contact information. They decide to wait till the next years festival. It works like that in villages. How difficult but at the same time, fascinating.



The other characters have been neatly sketched. Each one has an interesting background and they bring vibrance and color to the movie. Kishore, as the Kabadi coach, sets the pace in the second half of the movie.

Comedy is not a separate track. The kabadi players by themselves are an enthusiastic crowd. Moreover, being villagers, "nakkal and nayyaandi" comes automatically to them, atleast the director has made sure that there is no need for an extra character to bring humor to the screen.

Music is quite a plus to this movie. The songs are simple and melodious. No powerful instruments to make you feel jolted out of the blue.

Overall: MUST SEE

Women and IT

Sometime back, a company ran this intolerable ad.



Between 2001 and 2007, 37000 women in the UK have abandoned IT Careers.

And Tim Berners Lee said this about sexism in IT "A culture that avoided alienating women would attract more female programmers, which could lead to greater harmony of systems design. If there were more women involved, we could move towards interoperability. We have to change at every level"

Is IT predominantly a "boy thing"?

Padikkathavan - Cool Cocktail

Super Star's son-in-law is back. A movie of the same title was another feather in Super Star's cap during his career. I guess the same holds with Dhanush. His performance in this undoubtedly commercial movie will definitely take him a long way.

Padikkathavan is a generous cocktail of all the commercial aspects that any one would look for in a movie. This movie is all about how Dhanush - a 10th Fail, who gets humiliated by his father at home for not studying, decides to get ahead in life by almost forcing someone who is highly educated fall in love with him, who happens to be Tamanna.

Dhanush is the everything in this movie. He fights, dances, jumps, runs, does all sorts of stunts in the movie. With his Bruce Lee figure, he takes a dig at punch dialogs and excels in comedy as well. We know for a fact that Dhanush himself did not complete his education before entering films, but he has to be appreciated for the great work he has done in this movie. The title of the movie by itself had raised expectation of the audience by a few notches. Dhanush has carried this movie quite well.

Music is a plus for this movie. Mani Sharma's music may not be something innovative or out of the box, but it definitely gels with the script. "Raanki Rangamma" and "Hey Vetri Vela" are numbers that would stay on charts for a few months.

Milky White Tamanna - is she going to ride a wave like Simran? She sure does a wonderful job in the movie. With the kind of offers she has been getting from directors and producers in tamil cinema, if she continues the hard work that she has been doing, I am quite sure that she will give native actors a big run. In this movie, she is total entertainment material. But what surprises all of us is how her character evolves in this movie.

This film has got too many bad guys. At one point you are bored seeing people just killing each other. Extremely Painful. And by the time, the twist in the movie is revealed, you just want everything to get over. Suman, one of the bad guys, has more scope in this movie than just handling rifles and knives. Suman's acting in those extra scenes brings some seriousness into the movie.

Vivek's comedy begins only in the second half. First half comedy is completely ruled by Dhanush and his "tea-kada" friends. Vivek starts off well, but is somewhat annoying a little later. In the second half, he is always accompanied by dhanush. so, as soon as comedy gets a little off-track, the script ensures that patching work is done.

Overall: Only entertainment, no logic.

Poem: Her favorite steel tumbler

she woke up
morning birds her alarm
this sunday
was no different

nowadays she was
used to the rhythm

prepare
deck up
new batch arrives
stand straight
genuflect
sit gentle
sing devotional
serve coffee and snacks
listen to elders jabbering
ancestral connections

nothing made sense
hot and bothered
acted with obedience
she held her emotions tight
never spoke an extra word
in her own territory

the hand had moved
a few degrees south
in some time she thought
life will be normal

with anger and hatred
she looked
at the kitchen sink
tumbler and plates
put to wash

for,
the seventeenth time
a stranger's lips had
left
another dirty mark on her
favorite steel tumbler

Villu - Hopeless Bow

In an era, where actors struggle to make an impact among the fans, Vijay gives a pedestrian performance for a movie that lacks every aspect of a good movie.

Third day after the movie has released and I saw people walking out for every song. Intermission - complete chaos. Fans were frustrated. Second half - complete damage. Atleast the first half was bearable. Second half is a disaster.

Villu opened this Pongal hoping to be a commercial success. This time, the Prabhu Deva - vijay combination has backfired. Pokkiri was phenomenal. After that one, this movie comes across as a major letdown for Vijay fans.

Now, Vijay has a few flag. An emblem rather, from his fan club. So thats the introduction for the actor. Vijay in the lead role has just killed time on the screen. No acting. Nothing that any person from the audience could appreciate. Ok, the dance sequences are quite nice. Comedy hasnt gone well. Everything else is below average. Villu for Vijay's career is like how Kuruvi did sometime back. Just more damage. I hope Vijay finds a way to fix his script choosing skills. This commercial mass entertainer formula is not working well. Gone are the days of the standard formula. Everyone wants something different and out of the box.

Music by Devi Sri Prasad. Another let down. Jalsa song is okay. Every other song has an amazing telugu touch. Devi Sri - please understand. We don't like movies where actors do 5 stunt scenes and 5 songs. We know to appreciate good music and we always like it that way. You have done a good job before. So I dont understand why you have miserably failed this time.

Prabhu Deva - the director. Some say that this movie is similar to Soldier in Hindi. The bobby deol movie. I dont remember that one. Whatever. But whats there to direct in this movie. Deva told on TV that this movie is like an MGR movie - wholesome entertainer. Well, definitely not. This movie is a pain in the ***. Was there anything called STORY in this whole movie? Bottomline is REVENGE, but the way it has been handled - extremely atrocious. Its usually the end of the first half where you can try all your direction gimmicks and possibly screw up. in the second half, you have to patch up and give a powerful comeback so that people walk out with a enthusiastic feeling about the movie. In this case, post intermission is complete trash - especially the flashback.

Nayantara - she is beautiful. Camera captures her well. Comedy goes great. She has done a neat job. Otherwise, no scope for acting.

Vadivel - first half comedy is AMAZING. Keeps you rolling. The sequence with the english song "I just cant stop loving you" is a fantastic and innovative effort. Second half comedy is again waste. Hopeless.

Prakash Raj, Anand Raj, Sriman, Gita, Manoj K Jayan, Ranjitha - all these characters add more trouble to the weak storyline.

Overall: Huge letdown for Vijay fans

Nature's New Year Gift

Straight from the tree at home. Organic Produce from the home garden. After quite a long wait, we managed to get hold of these fruits. Thankfully, the arboreal rodents and the birds were busy doing something else.

Ghajini - In Hindi

Prayer to God - SRK please dont watch Vaaranam Aayiram and ask Karan Johar to copy the movie for you.

When I walked out of the movie hall, that was the feeling I had about Aamir Khan's Ghajini - a remake of the tamil version. Comparing two movies is not the way to go, but what the hell. I think this way I can represent my thoughts better.

Two hours of this movie is just the same. Copy Copy Copy. This is Bombay and that was Chennai. The last 30 minutes was dealt with concentrated effort to make it look professional.

Aamir Khan has done a lot of hard work in this movie, but gets distinction only. You have to give it to Suriya for his outstanding performance in the tamil version. Khan looks very royal in the first bit. So its a bit difficult for a third tier model to visualise him as an aspiring model. Surya does that part well. He looks pro when he is a CEO and he appears very down to earth during his part with Asin.

Props look more sopihisticated this time. A posh apartment in Hiranandani Gardens is too much to ask for. That too, well laid plans and pictures. Everything looks clean and doesnt look like a house that belongs to someone who suffers from short term memory loss.

Asin steals the show. She is the same Kalpana we saw a few years back but what an amazing performance. Bollywood lassies - beware! Miss Thottumkal has already established her position with class.

Ghajini might be a hit in Bollywood because Bollywood has not seen movies with meaningful scripts for a very long time. Most movies are luxurious commercials. So this movie will definitely go a long way.

Jiah Khan plays Nayantara's role in the movie. I thought Nayantara was such a waste of time in the movie. Jiah says - No, how can that be! I will prove that I am the worst for that role.

AR Murugadoss has done a great job. He has ensured that the second version is much better and cleaner than the first one. As a director he scores more points for the hindi version.

AR Rahman's music. I seriously could not appreciate the songs. Background score was mindblowing. Songs - sorry. Sanjay sees Kalpana and falls in love with her. "Oru Maalai" in Tamil was such a fantastic representation of the mood. Here in the same situation, the song sucks. And then Suttum Vizhi - it was another mega hit song. Perhaps Rahman thought that he shouldn't bring the same mood inside the hindi version but these songs in tamil gave such a boost to the storyline. It didnt do that much impact in Hindi.

Overall: A new experience for hindi movie lovers.

Silambattam - Little Star Rises

Little Star does it again. A complete entertainer. A bit of everything that you would expect in a excessively commercial movie.

I think the main highlight of this movie is Yuvan's music. I should talk about it before anything else. Yuvan has given the best again. The music is well aligned with the commercial aspect of the movie. Dont expect the song visuals to be aligned to the script. NO WAY. The songs are just to enjoy. 'Vechikkava' - a remix and mega hit from Simbu and Suchitra, after 'Dandanaka' in Kaalai. This song sets the mood for all the songs to follow. 'Vechikkava' also reminds you a bit of 'Maarugo maarugo' from Vetri Vizha. 'Nalamthaana' is also a cool one. Yuvan has made ilayaraja sing for one of his songs and its come out really well.

Story - well, its again related to revenge and gory fights between two families. They just keep killing each other and then you know what happens in the end. but still, there is a reasonable twist in the story and its quite nice as it generates enough masala content for the audience.

Simbhu does the role of a priest in the temple. What I dont like here is the way they have portrayed the priest community in the movie. They just make a lot of fun and its not good. I mean, I haven't seen a lot of movies that make fun of the christian nor the muslim community. In fact, I cant even think of one where they made excessive fun of these two communities. Even for that matter, a chettiar or a nadar or those deep down south ones. most movies take a dig at brahminism and this movie takes it to an unbearable level. So, Simbu's characterisation is quite nice. He has acted well, the typical styles follow. He has also worked well on the song sequences.

Sana Khan - major time pass girl in the movie. she is best used only for the songs. exposure - yes. that element is there too. lip sync is quite bad i thought. dont know whether she will go a long way. but definitely item number material.

Prabhu does a character role in the movie and it goes quite well for him. Sneha is also around for a while. She plays her part with elegance.

Action is an important element of this movie. Rather the main element. Kanal Kannan manages to pull it off again. Very skillful and neat.

Comedy by Santhanam and Manobala in the Brahmin setting really sucks. They just take a dig at multiple people and sometimes sound quite offensive. Karunas in the second half of the movie makes you laugh naturally.

Overall: Mass entertainer. Try once if you have time and money to waste.

Weekend Well Spent

My weekend started on Thursday evening when I boarded the train to Kodai Road. It was a fun filled three day weekend. Highlights as follows:

1. Ran to catch the moving train. I was actually sitting inside another train on the opposite platform until my friends came and told me that I was sitting in the wrong train.

2. Was forced to listen to a torture conversation from a supporting actor by name Y.Vijaya. She always comes in the tamil movies as someone who belongs to the bad guys family.

3. Got to see some of the spots where the movie Subramaniyapuram was shot.

4. Awesome breakfast at Sholavanthan.

5. Got to check out the Vadipatti artifical turf ground. Apparently, Vadipatti churns out the maximum enthusiasts for hockey from Tamil Nadu.

6. Tried Paneer Soda after almost a decade. God, it was so refreshing. And then, Bovonto, another amazing drink.

7. Took a small walk in Kodaikanal on Friday evening. Visibility was like 2 feet.

8. Saturday morning was bright and sunny. So, we ended up doing a 30 plus km cycle ride in the hills. Went around the lake and took the upper lake view road straight to the golf course, then Pillar Rocks and then the Berijam Checkpost. From there headed down another hill for about 15 kms.

9. Amazing uphills and downhills. Downhill speed of atleast 35-40kmph. Got knackered completely on the uphills. Every hill was a challenge. There was always this tendency to give up and get on to the support truck. But, giving an extra mile of effort is such a pleasant feeling and it gives you a great feeling at the end. So I kept riding the cycle until the guys just forced me to stop.

10. Bought half a kilo of home made chocolates from Kodi - Raisins, Dates, Butter Scotch, Almonds. Every possible flavor.

11. Took a scary ride back to Sholavanthan. The driver drove the Omni at 60kmph through the hills. He reached the foothills in about an hour. Every minute, I was fearing whether I was going to throw up.

12. Reached Madurai on Sunday morning and tasted the world famous Jigar-Thanda. There are only 2 shops in Madurai that are famous for this. Every other seller is trying to fake it.

13. Visited the Thirumalai Naicker Mahal, which was under renovation. So nothing much to see, other than concrete, cement and paint all over the place.

14. Silambattam - the best thing to happen in Madurai. Totally Simbhu style and killer movie.

15. A mindblowing concert by Vedanth Bharadwaj at the INTACH Madurai to end the holiday.

Just heard

One of our relatives came home on Sunday evening. They had something to tell.

Someone in their family was the Revenue Manager(RM) at the TAJ. He was leading a team of 5 people. They were holding a meeting at the TAJ about the arrival of a cricket team for the ICL. After a while, they got news that the cricket team was going to get delayed indefinitely.

The team plus RM was reporting to a General Manager(GM), who had recently joined the TAJ in Bombay. He still hadn't found a place to live, so he was living at the TAJ with his family as well. After this meeting, the GM asked the RM to leave since the cricket team wasn't going to come to the hotel.

So, our relative, who was the RM, left the hotel. He was just 10 minutes away from the Hotel, when he heard the news. Obviously he couldn't get back to the hotel to see what was happening. But he got the news three days later.

The 5 people who were in the meeting room with him that day were brutally shot by the terrorists.

The GM, who heard the news of the attack in the Hotel, was getting down the elevator. There was so much commotion that he could not get to either the team nor his family. He wasn't allowed to go anywhere, rather. But the mean terrorists had entered in multiple places. The family was shot as well. It took them three days to get the bodies out. The mother had been holding the child locked in her arms when they were being shot by the terrorists. After three days, the rescuers could not even unlock the hands to separate the bodies.

Just hearing to this was so painful. I seriously cannot imagine what the immediate families would be going through.

Mumbai Storm Chasers

WOW, Ultimate scene in India IS really getting bigger and better. Check out the news video on the Mumbai Team. These guys will be here in Chennai over the weekend for the tournament.

Chennai Beach Ultimate Championships 2008

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SEE YOU THERE