CM100

Today is the 100th day of "Chandramukhi". After the resounding failure of "Baba", few expected Rajini to bounce back like this. The movie has been a box-office not just in Tamilnadu, but also in Kerala, Andhra and even in overseas markets as this article points out.

(Pic taken during movie release. Courtesy: Mani)

Beam Scotty up

Star Trek actor James "Scotty" Doohan died of pneumonia and Alzheimer's disease at the age of 85, on July 20. The BBC reports that his ashes are being "beamed" up into space.

Airtel errors - Drilled down & terminated

Airtel promised to set right the flaws that were present in their Internet payment gateway.

So, this month, I headed to the Citibank Online website and made the payment for my Airtel mobile phone bill on July 14, 2005. A couple of days later, I was pleasantly surprised to receive a confirmation stating that my payment had been received and processed.

Looks like Airtel have indeed delivered on what they promised. Here's hoping that one has seen the last of such errors.

Nitwit ! Blubber ! Oddment ! Tweak ! Thank you.

I have more than "a few words" after I finished reading "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" over the weekend.

The novel was a cracking read and one that I mostly enjoyed.This is JKR's darkest Harry Potter novel so far and it certainly doesn't disappoint.

The death of a major character does pull at the heart strings, although the impact is not as much as say, when Harry hears his mother speak when surrounded by Dementors("Goblet of Fire") or when he conjures his dad's Patronus("Prisoner of Azkaban"). Also, the scene about meeting the Muggle Prime Minister seems contrived and perhaps serves only to introduce the new Minister of Magic.

All in all, the book sets the tone and pace for the finale to the Harry Potter saga in Book 7 and I am eagerly looking forward to Harry meeting Snape, Draco and the Dark Lord.

The Godfather Trinity

Sudish Kamath compares "The Godfather" with its desi equivalents - "Nayagan" and "Sarkar".

To me, "Nayagan" was the classic example of a movie where everything came together in exactly the right propotions. The result was a heady cocktail of great direction, superb acting ,scintillating music and punchy dialogues.

"Nayagan", which was released in 1987, was not Mani Ratnam's first foray into the world of a underworld don. He had tried this theme before with "Pagal Nilavu"(1985) starring Satyaraj, Murali, Revathi, 'Nizhalgal' Ravi. This movie had a rural ambience with Satyaraj playing the role of a zamindar.

By the time "Nayagan" was released, Mani Ratnam had already impressed audiences with "Idaya Kovil" and "Mouna Ragam", but it was "Nayagan" that established Mani Ratnam as one of the brightest stars in the Tamil Cinema firmament.

Levis & a mental hospital

eM's post about clothes and associated memories inspired to me to blog about the time when I bought a Levi's and then ended up in a mental hospital trying to get them exchanged.

I was in Singapore then and my friend Srini and I had been to a Levi's jeans outlet at Bugis, where I bought a Levis on an impulse(I am like that only). This Levi's was a "demolition fit" and looked rather bruised and tattered. Once my impulses had settled down, I began to wonder if the jeans were too radical for me and decided to exchange the jeans for something more down-to-earth.

When I called up Srini, to ask him to come along with me to the shop at Bugis, he told me that he was in Woodbridge Institute of Mental Health ! Fearing that he had finally cracked, I asked him what he was doing there. It turned out that Srini's company had developed a software for this institute and the software was undergoing User Acceptance Test. A snag had been encountered and Srini was looking into it.

He asked me to come there since he believed that the snag would be set right soon and that we could go to Bugis afterward. So, believing him, I went to the hospital and waited for him to fix the problem. It was very late by the time he fixed the problem and we never got to go to Bugis.

As for the jeans, well...I still got them....though I dont fit into them like I used to :(

Ashok, Hansa & Chandramukhi

Ashok got engaged yesterday to Hansa at Sangeetha Residency. Shanthi and I attended the bethrothal. The wedding will mostly happen next year, when Ashok gets back from his overseas trip.

After attending the engagement, Shanthi and I decided to take the day off and go watch a movie. And so, we finally saw "Chandramukhi", which was a good time-pass movie. Notwithstanding the comments that Navin had made in his blog post about "Chandramukhi", I always knew I was going to watch this movie.

In the name of God....

"In the name of God, the merciful, the compassionate, may peace be upon the cheerful one and undaunted fighter, Prophet Muhammad, God's peace be upon him."

Thus begins the text of the statement on a website of an organisation believed to be affiliated to Al-Qaeda. This organisation has claimed responsibility for the London blasts.

How hollow and inappropriate this statement sounds when one sees the havoc wreaked in London by these 'mujahideen' ! Do these people believe that their God will condone these acts of terrorism ?

Of all the crimes commited by Man, those commited in the name of God are the most reprehensible because no God, no faith, no religion advocates such heinous acts.

Airtel responds...

....to my rant a couple of days back.

The response contains the usual bromides like "We sincerely regret the inconveniences......At Airtel we firmly believe that our accomplishments lie in meeting your requirements......Our path and road to success becomes fruitful only after attaining customer satisfaction......Your feedback has helped us to drill down to the root cause of the failure and terminate the flaw....ensure such inconveniences do not recur in the near future".

Well....the proof of the pudding is in the eating. I am going to give Internet payment one more shot later this month and will post the results of my impending (mis)adventure soon.

Health(s)care

Navin describes his experience at Apollo Hospital, Greams Road.

Having been to this hospital, in addition to Malar Hospitals and MIOT Hospitals, quite a few times myself, I can only state that his experience is not unique and I too, have had the misfortune to undergo all this.

But I dont believe that this takes anything away from the fact that we have world-class healthcare. Complex surgical procedures are performed in India at a fraction of the cost that it would take elsewhere in the world(say, the USA or UK). These operations are performed by skillful, top-notch surgeons, who mostly deserve the praise that they get.

Unfortunately, all this goodwill is frittered away by the support staff and the customer-facing personnel. Hospitals usually neglect this area, leaving the customer with a bitter taste in the mouth and making a trip to the hospital, much more of an ordeal than it actually is.

Attack at Ayodha - Advani's chance

After the political fallout of the controversial remarks about M.A.Jinnah's 'secular' credentials, Advani must have been desperately seeking some issue with which he could regain his place in the limelight.

The Ayodha attack, thus, proves to be a "Godsend" for Advani and he makes full use of the terrorist attack on the Ram temple in Ayodha to gather political mileage for himself and his party, by calling for a "fitting" response.

What would this response would be ? Another rath yatra perhaps ?

Happenstance...coincidence

I have been struck by a number of coincidences lately, all associated with the books I have read:

1. State of Fear followed by the Sumatra tsunami of Dec 26, 2004
2. Q&A followed by announcement of KBC2
3. Honor Among Thieves followed by articles about Saddam Hussein in jail
4. Midnights Children followed by articles on the Emergency, the "Widow" and USA's role in the war of 1971(leading to the creation of Bangladesh)