Motley Elements

TN introduces the Cable Bill

2006-01-25T00:51:00.000-08:00

Following months of inactivity after Chennai gained the dubious distinction of being the ONLY city in the whole country to implement the Conditional Access System from Sep 1, 2003, the Tamilnadu government announced that the State would take over take over all cable TV networks. This includes the operations of multi-system operators (MSOs) like Hathaway and SCV(Sumangali Cable Vision), which is owned by the Maran family.

I guess we can now look forward to more fights over the remote control if other family members seek to view more interesting programmes and not just weepy soaps.

I, for one, am eagerly awaiting the day when I can get to see all channels for a nominal amount, as in the pre-CAS days without forking out more than Rs.250 per month in addition to purchasing a set-top box.

Curiously, the DMK chief has, in a statement welcomed the move. Surely, there is more to this than meets the eye ?

Sometimes I wonder if...

2006-01-09T01:39:00.001-08:00

1. Shah Rukh Khan eats SunFeast biscuits.
2. Amitabh Bachan uses all those products from Boro Plus to Dabur Chyawanprash to Rin.
3. Kajol uses Whirpool appliances.
4. Ajay Devgan uses a Tata Indicom mobile phone.
5. Surya drives a TVS Star DLX.
6. Maddy uses Clinic Hair-fall Defense shampoo.
7. Govinda uses Navratna Tel.
.
.
.
8. I should be getting back to work now.

Tom The Baby Scanner

2005-11-24T20:25:00.000-08:00

is the headline of this article on Sky News. Tom Cruise has bought an ultrasound machine so that he can take a peek at his unborn kid anytime he wants. Boy ! Talk about being an overzealous father !

Kinda reminds me of that Friends episode, where Ross shows the gang the sonogram of his unborn son :

ROSS: Well? Isn't that amazing?
JOEY: What are we supposed to be seeing here?
CHANDLER: I dunno, but.. I think it's about to attack the Enterprise.
PHOEBE: You know, if you tilt your head to the left, and relax your eyes, it kinda looks like an old potato.
ROSS: Then don't do that, alright?
PHOEBE: Okay!

HP and the Goblet of Fire - Review

2005-11-19T20:26:00.000-08:00

Shanthi and I watched "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" yesterday at Sathyam.

Caution : Here be spoilers !

The movie is fast paced and bristles with action. So much so that there is little scope for emotion. The only real emotive moments appear at the very end of the movie when Amos moans the loss of his son Cedric and Voldemort(Ralph Fiennes is brilliant) spews venom at Harry. Although Dumbledore appears largely listless when breaking the news of Cedric's death to the students of Hogwarts.

If, like most, you have read the book, you will surprised at just how much has been left out from the book. For instance, Rita Skeeter has been reduced almost to a cameo role. Winky, the house-elf, who acts as Barty Crouch Jr's guardian in the novel, is missing too. Of course, all this is not too suprising given the fact that Steve Kloves had to pick and choose the most important events from a 600-plus page novel. If so, I am not sure how Sirius' appearance in the fire merits any importance to the progression of the movie.

In terms of magic, the movie brings two new elements to the screen - the Portkey and the Pensieve. Both of them are well done and the visualisation of the effects adheres closely to whats described in the novel.

Two characters really stand out in this movie - "Mad Eye" Moody and Voldemort. Moody manipulates the events that lead to the climax, which features the resurgence of the Dark Lord Voldemort. Brendan Gleeson and Ralph Fiennes turn in excellent performances in their roles.

All in all, the darkest movie in the series so far, featuring as it does, two deaths, is certainly worth a watch as it sets the stage for the "dark and difficult times" that lie ahead.

"Support" for Kushboo

2005-11-19T19:46:00.000-08:00

Perhaps stung by the criticism that the Nadigar Sangam (Actors Association) seldom looks after its own, its General Secretary Sarath Kumar belatedly decries the tendency to turn actors into soft targets.

As for Mr.Thirumavalan, he denies that the PMK and the DPI were behind the agitation ! Surprise, surprise ! But what about all those people ? Well...they were just "spontaneously" protesting against the statements made by Kusboo. But they were carrying his party flags, werent they ? He doesnt know too much about that...perhaps they just happened to have his party flags lying about at home. I can just imagine the checklist as the eager agitator sets out from his home. House keys - check, wallet - check, rotten tomatoes - check, chappals - check, DPI/PMK flag - check.

The Left, not to be left out, also issues a statement to the effect that people who wish to protest must resort to "healthy, democratic means".

Here's a round-up of all the Kushboo "supporters".

Sony's Spyware

2005-11-17T23:04:00.000-08:00

Bruce Schneier weighs in on the "Real Story of the Rogue Rootkit".

The article also provides links that guide the reader from the time that Mark Russinovich first reported this on his blog to responses from SonyBMG , First4Internet(the company that developed the XCP program).

More power to the blogger and to the blogosphere !

The Kushboo Affair - Round II

2005-11-17T21:27:00.000-08:00

After the events of the first round in the Kushboo Affair, it was left to Suhasini to rake up the issue and bring it to the forefront of South Indian news.

Well, this set the stage for Round 2 and then DPI, PMK and other "progressive" outfits, representing the "hurt" womenfolk of Tamilnadu once again joined forces to target Suhasini. Her effigy was also burnt by "good and just" people clamouring for action against Kushboo and Suhasini.

And again, as before, the person concerned apologised.

Although other prominent people like Sania Mirza and Narain Karthikeyan and organisations such as AIDWA have spoken up in support of Kushboo, one is shocked at the narrow-minded attitude and hypocrisy displayed by those who have condemned the remarks made by Kushboo.

What is wrong if a woman dares to state that pre-marital sex is fine for women, as long as they take adequate steps against HIV/AIDS etc ? Would there be such a hue and cry if a similar statement had been made about men ? I think not.

But then, gender equality has always been joke, hasnt it ? Its ironic that those who invoke the names of "Periyar" E.V.Ramaswamy and Subramania Bharathi have paid scant attention to the thoughts and philosophies, especially in terms of equality for women, of these two gentlemen.

HP and the Goblet of Fire - Movie

2005-11-17T20:59:00.000-08:00

Harry Potter returns to the box office for the fourth time and this time, he means business. The movie has received rave reviews from most and is considered the best of the series so far. With darker movies like "Order of the Phoenix" and "Half-Blood Prince" yet to come, I believe that the quality of the movies can only improve(keeping my fingers, toes and eyes crossed).

The movie releases in Chennai today, as with the rest of the world and I hope to catch the movie soon.

Star Wars - The greatest postmodern art film ever

2005-11-02T21:05:00.000-08:00

Despite this somewhat grandiose and arguable proclamation about Star Wars, this article on Slate does a good dissection of the Star Wars series.

Quite an interesting read.

It's raining, man ! Hallelujah !

2005-10-26T22:48:00.000-07:00

No...this isnt a reference to the Geri Halliwell song.

Its a reference to the incessant rains that have been lashing Chennai since the North-East monsoon set in on Oct 12. Over 20cms of rain have been recorded since yesterday night. And it doesnt stop here - more rains are predicted over the next 48 hours due to a depression in the Bay of Bengal.

Speaking of predictions, the current rains were "predicted" or "hinted at" by Chief Minister Jayalalithaa more than two months back. Prescience ? No, just history.

Update: A colleague suggests that the depression in the Bay of Bengal may be named "Cyclone" Amma ! Ha ha !!

Dilbert joins the blogosphere

2005-10-26T21:54:00.000-07:00

Read it here.

Thanks to Rat for the info.

The name's....

2005-10-14T01:15:00.000-07:00

....Craig. Daniel Craig. He is "widely expected to be....the new James Bond" says the BBC.

Me, I was rather hoping Pierce Brosnan would don the tuxedo one more time. Oh well...the old order changeth.

Goli soda ? Codswallop !

2005-09-29T00:16:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I read Amardeep Singh's post on nonsense and then felt that "Codswallop" was a worthy addition to the list of synonyms that he had listed.

When I started to look up the etymology for the word, I came across this:

The story goes that a gentleman by the name of Hiram Codd patented a bottle for fizzy drinks with a marble in the neck, which kept the bottle shut by pressure of the gas until it was pressed inwards. Wallop was a slang term for beer, and Codd's wallop came to be used by beer drinkers as a derogatory term for weak or gassy beer, or for soft drinks.

A visit to Wiki gave me an image for the Codd-bottle. Imagine my surprise when I found that it was our good ol' goli soda !

Whats in the handbag ?

2005-09-26T22:23:00.000-07:00

Groping about trying to locate something in a ladies handbag ? Try this.

Personally, I always thought that a Google appliance would be more useful for this !

Kushboo vs Thankar Bachan : 1 - 1

2005-09-26T21:48:00.000-07:00

Incident 1 - Thankar Bachan reportedly makes denigrating statements against women. Faced with outcry amongst from the film community, especially the ladies, Bachan apologises. Kushboo is among those who is not satisfied with apology. Political parties such as Tamil Protection Movement, PMK, DPI side with Bachan.

Incident 2 - Kushboo reportedly says the pre-marital sex is fine for women as along as they take steps against AIDS. This remark causes outcry among TN women especially those belonging to the Tamil Protection Movement, PMK, DPI. No such reaction is seen from Congress, BJP, DMK and AIADMK, who presumably have no women members (!!) or agree with Kushboo's statement. Kushboo apologises for remarks.

Final score : One-all

*bong* May the next round begin !

India was discovered in 1492

2005-09-23T03:14:00.000-07:00

Pakistan is a Fourth World country somewhere in between Texas and White House.

Parvez Musharraf (born August 14, in the Third Age) is a kindly goat currently roaming the Islamabad-Rawalpindi areas. The name "Parvez Musharraf" was later adopted by the current overlord of India and Pakistan.

James Bond, or 0007 (pronounced luxury-yacht-boomerang) is a Welsh secret agent, in fact he's two secret agents.

Sherlock Holmes is a famous author who wrote many mystery novels starring his fictional protagonist Sir Arthur Conan O'Brien.

Evidence of a parallel universe ? Nope..entries from Uncyclopedia.

Chocolate and Gajini

2005-09-22T22:35:00.000-07:00

In the space of a week, I have found out that two of my most favourite movies - The Usual Suspects and Memento have been "inspirations" for 'Chocolate' and 'Gajini' respectively.

I had suspected that 'Gajini' was inspired by 'Memento' ever since I saw a hoarding of Surya sporting a tonsured look with tattoos all over his body, but when I saw the trailer with Surya taking pics of people using a polaroid, my suspicions were confirmed. The presence of Asin and Nayantara in the movie means that the original script has been customized for Tamil audiences. Also, in the movie, Surya is supposed to be one of the richest men in India - another departure from the original.

While Sudhish Kamath describes 'Chocolate' as "shop lifted and shopworn", 'Gajini' is yet to be released.

I have seen the noodle

2005-09-19T23:48:00.000-07:00

and it has defined the purpose of my existence.

All hail His Exalted Noodleness - The FSM !

Trying times for Ganguly

2005-09-15T21:25:00.000-07:00

Saurav Ganguly has certainly been in the thick of things recently and for all the wrong reasons. After the 6-match ban was reduced, he joined the team for the triseries in SL where he scored a scrappy half-century.

Intense speculation prevailed as to whether he would be retained captain for the tri-series and test series in Zimbabwe and I must admit that I was rather surprised when Ganguly was indeed retained skipper.

Now, a day after he painstakingly put together a century against a pedestrian Zimbabwe attack and managed to "take" the wicket of Laxman "(run out Ganguly)" in the process, he revealed that he had been asked to step down from captaincy. He claimed that this had given him the determination to make a sizeable contribution to the Indian total. But it appears that the century has done little for Ganguly's future as captain or even player of the Indian cricket team. Ganguly's detractors are now baying for his blood.

As Kannadasan put it, "Uyarntha edathil irukkumbothu, ulagam unnai madhikkum. Un nilamai konjam irangi vanthal, nizhalum kooda mithikkum". (When you are on top, the world praises you. But should you slip, even your shadow will not heed you).

iPod Nano

2005-09-14T02:41:00.000-07:00

Cute, but tough.

Now, how do I get my mitts around one of these babies ?

Karuppu MGR

2005-09-13T02:59:00.000-07:00

Kaliyuga Karnan, Manitha-neya semmal - just some of the monikers for "Captain" Vijayakanth that his admiring fans have put up on his website.

Vijayakanth kicks off his party's first political conference on Sep 14 in Madurai, where he will reveal the name of his party and its ideology.

A glance at his profile reveals that he "is having nearly 45,000 Vijayakant fans welfare association...for the poor welfare"(sic), "is young lot of social works for the past 25 years"(sic), "has donated Mis. Sageetha for teacher's training" (sic).

Interestingly for someone who is gung-ho about Tamil and Tamilians, the Tamil link on his website doesnt work; only the English link does.

Yet another film star joins the political bandwagon in Tamilnadu hoping to do a MGR, as if there werent enough contenders already. Ah....the "magic" that is multi-party democracy !

Freudian slip ?

2005-09-13T02:26:00.000-07:00

Current Objet d'desire...

2005-09-13T02:21:00.000-07:00

....is the iPod Nano.

Its a pity that Amazon doesnt ship these to India :-(

Discovery of the day....

2005-09-01T00:46:00.000-07:00

...was Tilotamma's blog. I loved some of the posts that she had made and it led me to dig up a lot of posts from the archives.

Not only were the posts informative, but also the comments on the posts were hilarious(like the "Ramayana pic" post).

Some info bytes that I got from Tilotamma's blog:

1. The origin of the Starbucks "Siren" logo
2. The secrets of the FedEx logo
3. Poems of "Love and War" by A.K.Ramanujan (looked up Kuruntokai 27 which figures in the 'Theendai mei theendai' song in 'En Swasa Kaatre')
4. Senthalir and Sharanya, two minor planets in our Solar System. Also school students from Avila, Coimbatore
5. Barbers and Surgeons

All in all, a very productive morning(not something my boss would have approved of, though) ! :)

Sania moves on...

2005-08-31T21:49:00.000-07:00

...to the third round at the US Open.

From the write-up at the US Open website, where she is Player of the Day:

"Every time Sania Mirza of India wins another match, it's not just a personal victory, but one for her whole country. At just 18-years-old, she's consistently setting new records in tennis that no Indian woman has ever achieved. "

Read the full piece here.

Blog Day 2005

2005-08-31T02:26:00.000-07:00

Amit Varma mentions that 3108 is Blog Day. Why ? Mosey over here.

In keeping with Nir Ofir's recommendations, please meet the following blogs:

1. India Uncut by Amit Varma
2. The Compulsive Confessor by eM
3. Filthy, funny, flawed, gorgeous by Ammani
4. A walk in the clouds by Megha
5. The Corridor of Uncertainty by Will Luke

The first two are already on my blog roll, and the last three are courtesy Amit(thanks Amit, I really enjoyed the read).

Before I sign off, here's the technorati tag - BlogDay2005

Deja vu

2005-08-30T19:37:00.000-07:00

Loss of life, people evacuated from low-lying areas, heavy damage to structures, cell phone circuits jammed, flooding, power outages.

Mumbai ? No, New Orleans.

What ails the Aussies ?

2005-08-29T23:39:00.000-07:00

They are weary of winning says Gideon Haig.

The world is flat

2005-08-23T22:17:00.000-07:00

believes Thomas Friedman. Having looked at the various versions of Globalization (1.0, 2.0 and 3.0), Friedman lists the 10 main flatteners, which have led to the world being what it is today.

The book has, so far, been an engrossing read and is replete with examples of companies from India and China which have used technology to compete on the levelled(read, "flattened") playing field with much big players.

Cant wait to read the rest of the book....

Monday morning blues

2005-08-22T21:14:00.000-07:00

It occured to me yesterday that I had found a way to cure the rare bouts of "Monday Morning Blues" that I suffer from time to time. The answer - Pelham Grenville Wodehouse.

Yesterday, I took a copy of "Jeeves and the Feudal Spirit" with me on the way to work, with the result that I scarely noticed the rush hour traffic on Mount Road. It seemed that I had arrived at the office in a very short time plus my mood was considerably lightened thanks to Wodehouse's writing !

Mysore Trip

2005-08-16T09:31:00.000-07:00

Got back yesterday from a weekend trip to Mysore. The trip was company-sponsored, which meant that I didnt have to do anything but turn up at the bus stop, get on and get off from the bus at regular intervals and generally just walk about.

Ah...if only all trips could be like this one (managed by others) !

Life - A question of answers

2005-08-07T10:08:00.000-07:00

*Rant on*

Why does one have to go about living life answering other people's questions ? Is this one of the allowances to make for being part of society ? Why should we bother to answer these questions when the same person is bound to ask the same question the next time you see him/her ?

To answer or not - that is the question.

*Rant off*

The Eden get-together

2005-08-06T06:58:00.000-07:00

I've been affected by a severe bout of "bloggers block" so its just as well that I dont write or blog for a living. I have wondering so hard about what to write that I clean forgot about the re-union that Shanthi and I had with Siva and gang at Eden.

After days and days of planning(aptly, a mail with the subject "Plans" kept floating about), we finally met at Eden, Besant Nagar on Aug 3. The crowd consisted of - Siva, Rajiv, Lavanya, Vibhu, Shanthi, Maya, Murari, Ramya, Venkat. Naari and Naveen joined us later.

Some of the gang are on the threshold of a new start, while others are welcoming additions to their family. All this good news, coupled with Rajiv and Siva's incessant jokes made for a great evening.

I was a little worried that I may not be able to make it to the re-union since I was feeling a little under the weather earlier in the day. But, thankfully, some good rest, relaxation and recuperation through the day perked me up just enough to make it to Eden.

Back on the blog

2005-08-01T21:11:00.000-07:00

Returning to blogging after a while because I have been working out of one of the offices(Spencers, to be precise). What happened during this hiatus :

1. Mumbai hit by 94.4cm rain in a day
2. NASA launches Discovery shuttle
3. India loose the opening match of the tri-series
4. Quake rocks Nicobar Islands
5. Navin and Vidya moved house
6. Astronomers discover 10th planet

All in all, a rather normal lull. Oh wait....94.4cm in a day...wow !!

CM100

2005-07-21T05:27:00.000-07:00

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

2005-07-21T04:36:00.000-07:00

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

2005-07-18T01:21:00.000-07:00

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.

2005-07-17T21:54:00.000-07:00

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

2005-07-15T04:07:00.000-07:00

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

2005-07-14T22:21:00.000-07:00

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

2005-07-14T04:28:00.000-07:00

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....

2005-07-08T01:24:00.000-07:00

"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...

2005-07-06T03:08:00.000-07:00

....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

2005-07-06T00:04:00.000-07:00

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

2005-07-05T21:34:00.000-07:00

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

2005-07-03T22:44:00.000-07:00

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)

Disturbing incident

2005-06-30T23:51:00.000-07:00

eM draws attention to Mangs post on her blog.

While complimenting Mangs for her courage in protesting at the outrage, one is shocked to note that society has little empathy for those who have undergone such a traumatic experience.

Instead of delivering (speedy) justice, the system bogs the person down with red tape and even tries to make the affected party feel guilty for making such a 'fuss' about the whole thing.

Expressing myself towards Airtel

2005-06-29T22:57:00.000-07:00

"Express yourself" urges Airtel. So, here goes:

For a company that prides itself on being a world-class telecom company, Airtel has an appalling record in processing mobile phone bill payments from the Citibank website.

After I received a bill with a due date of June 21, I logged onto Citibank Online and made the payment on the Net through my Citibank credit card. Even after the payment was made(on June 21), I continually received SMS messages from Airtel stating that the amount was due. When informed, Airtel asked me to ignore the messages as it took a few days(upto 4) for the payment to reach them.

When the messages persisted even after 4 days, I called up on June 27 and lodged a complaint. The operator listened to my rants and then obliged me by raising a complaint request and assured me that the matter would be looked into within 48 hours.

Today, my wife(who uses the Airtel phone) found that she was unable to make outgoing calls or send SMS messages.

Airtel, which has proven to be thoroughly incapable of processing Internet payments, has, however, perfected the art of deactivating customers whose bill is reported 'overdue'. A phone call to customer care today rectified the situation with the operator giving me the usual bromides of "We are extremely sorry", "Regret the inconvenience caused" etc etc

It must be noted that I suffered a similar incident with Airtel, barely three months ago. At that time, it took more than a month for the payment to be reflected. Not willing to go through the agony again, I wrote out cheques and put them in the dropbox for the next 2 month bill payments. This time, I resorted to the Internet payment option believing that Airtel would have cleaned up their act. But it appears that my optimism and hope were misplaced.

Airtel's website states that its vision for the mobile business is "To be globally admired for telecom services that delight customers". But, if they are unable to win the admiration of a customer in Chennai, I dont see how they can win global admiration.

Perhaps Airtel has grown so big that it really does not care a damn about servicing the needs of a single customer.

Of books and bookworms

2005-06-28T21:58:00.000-07:00

Looking to fill that big gap in your bookshelf ? Check out Amazon's offer of "The Penguin Classics Library Complete Collection", which features 1082 titles for just $7,989.99. This is a 40% saving on the list price of $13,314.74.

Speaking of books, the BBC reports that Indians are the 'worlds biggest readers', spending, on an average, about 10.7 hours every week.

Miracles for money

2005-06-27T04:11:00.000-07:00

He flies in on a Gulfstream private jet with a large retinue including bodyguards. He is received at the airport in a motorcade of Hummer jeeps and other expensive cars.

Is it Michael Jackson ? Richard Branson ? Nope..its Benny Hinn !

And when all this expenditure didnt yield the expected results, what does he do ? Turn the miracles crusade into a ranting event, shouting "Four million dollars down the drain" !

Healing ? Other 'miracles' ? "Show me the money", seems to be Benny Hinn's refrain. Read the article here.

Child marriage ends in "child divorce".

2005-06-22T20:52:00.000-07:00

A 14 year old girl, from Andhra Pradesh, has got her two-year marriage annulled. What next ? Off to school, of course. Read the article here.

Beautiful Ugly...

2005-06-22T02:36:00.000-07:00

...is the title of the movie that Ashok Banker is making. The movie is about the life of Shiela Ray, a model in the '70s who was gang-raped at a high-society party, and who later died in 1990 aged 44.

What makes this movie particularly poignant is that Shiela Ray was Ashok Banker's mother.

Read this "intensely personal note" penned by Ashok. (thanks to Amit Varma for pointing out this one).

Batty over Batman

2005-06-21T21:33:00.000-07:00

Well 'tis really the season to go ga-ga over Batman and Forbes has an article with a slideshow that details what it takes to be a real-life vigilante a la Batman.

Here's a quick estimate :

The Training: $30,000
The Suit: $1,585
The Belt: $290
The Car: $2,000,000
The Cave: $24,000
The Alter Ego: $1,109,574
The Butler: $200,000

Final Cost: $3,365,449

Speaking of rich guys and money, here's a list of the Forbes Fictional Fifteen.

Micheal Jackson is toast....

2005-06-21T04:11:00.000-07:00

...says this BBC article. Also available on eBay, Elvis and Yoda toasts.

With hey, ho, the wind and the rain.....

2005-06-20T05:45:00.000-07:00

Has the monsoon come at last ? Or is it that the rain gods have, at long last, decided to give Chennai a break and let loose with some showers from heaven ?

Whatever the reason, its raining, RAining, RAINING !!

......For the rain it raineth every day ?

Batman Begins...in right earnest !

2005-06-20T01:55:00.000-07:00

Saw "Batman Begins" at Sree on Saturday with Shanthi. The movie was rather good. Christopher Nolan has done a good job in taking Batman back to his dark beginnings. Christian Bale fills out the Batsuit admirably, while Cillian Murphy does a splendid job as Scarecrow.

One of the things that irked me was the fact that the identity of Bruce Wayne's alter-ego becomes almost public domain knowledge. Quite a few people learn it - Alfred, Ra's Al Ghul, Lucius Fox and Rachel Dawes. This information was sacrosanct in the comic books, but movies seem to treat this identity thing in a rather cavalier manner(draw parallel with "Spiderman 2" where Spidey looses his mask altogether during the train sequence with Doc Ock).

Ranting at MPL Hyundai

2005-06-15T05:35:00.000-07:00

MPL Hyundai has a sprawling workshop at Tambaram Road in Velachery and since its close to where I stay, I decided to take my Santro to this workshop for its periodic service.

Tunings, tweakings, minor repairs and a bill of about Rs.3300 later, I got back my vehicle on June 14 evening. As I was driving it home, I honked my horn at a straying cyclist only to find my vehicle producing only about 50% of the sound that it usually made. Assuming that some water had got into it during the wash, I let it be.

But when the same half-tone sound persisted today, I took the car to the workshop and asked the service technician to check why I was getting only a half-tone now, when I was getting a full-tone from my horn earlier. His explanations(in order):

1. "Sir, this model has only one horn. The new Santro models have two. " (After opening the bonnet, he could locate only one horn, hence this gem of an explanation. So, how was I getting a full-tone earlier ? Only God knows.)

2. "Sir, while doing the service yesterday, we have tuned the horn." (What ? So, after tuning, the horn goes from full-tone to half-tone ?)

3. "Sir, you said to keep the costs below Rs.3500. Thats why we let the horn be."(By this time, this ace technician has located the other horn which was located behind the left headlight).

Not only did he come up with such ingenious explanations to cover the gaping holes in MPL Hyundai's customer service, but at one point, he actually turned and walked away from me in mid-conversation !

High on rudeness and abysmally low on customer service - appears to be MPL Hyundai's mantra. Shame ! All those posters in their customer's lounge about how valuable their customers are, seemed like an awful waste of money and a mere eyewash.

The incident ended with me shelling out an extra Rs. 169 for a new hi-tone horn assembly. Note that this horn was fully functional before MPL Hyundai's mechanics began the so-called service.

Incidentally, the car's AC seems to emit some sort of odour after the service. Must be the effect of MPL Hyundai's "Magic Hand of Service". I am too exhausted for another fight today. Will take a rain check on this.

Harry Potter, Batman and a "busy" day

2005-06-14T04:40:00.001-07:00

Things I did on June 13 :

1. Booked the latest Harry Potter at The Corner Bookstore in Spencer Plaza. On offer was a 20% discount plus free home delivery

2. Went to Landmark to buy some Batman comics. Curled up with same later in the evening.

[Aside : What is it about Batman that makes him my favourite comic book hero ? Its probably because he is entirely home-grown(unlike Supes), doesnt have any "special" powers(unlike Spidey) and can still kick ass like no other.]

3. Bought some yummy cookies at "The Cookie Man" in Spencers Plaza.

4. Was "busy" waiting all day to talk on conference call with customer, only to find out after just 5mins that customer had already got the product info and wasnt too keen on listening to me talk !

Milky (High)Way

2005-06-08T23:59:00.000-07:00

Location : Sholinganallur junction on the IT Highway

Scene : Traffic jam due to absence of traffic policeman(despite the presence of a police checkpost in the immediate vicinity)

Event : Milk spurts out of an Aavin milk lorry(Regn No TNH 6911) that is headed for the Aavin factory located on the IT Highway at Sholinganallur. By the time the traffic jam clears somewhat and we begin to move, almost a litre of milk has spilled on the road. I shudder to imagine just how much milk has thus been spilt in the lorry's entire journey.

Holy Cow !

2005-06-07T01:36:00.000-07:00

Whilst zipping across the IT Highway in Chennai, one is required to expected to keep a sharp eye out for the cows that walk leisurely across the road.

Time for measures like this ?

Kerala temple's pee fine edict reversed

2005-06-07T00:08:00.000-07:00

The BBC has this article about a man asked to pay a fine of Rs.1001 for cleansing because his baby son urinated during prayers at the Vadakkunathan Temple at Trichur in Kerala state.

The parents of the boy(whose father earns less than Rs.3000 a month) have won an appeal and the fine has been reversed.

When I had been to Guruvayoor recently, I noticed a signboard that states that parents must pay for 'purification' rites if their child pees or defecates within the temple premises. The Guruvayoor Devaswom website urges parents not to detain babies for a long time within the Nalambalam, perhaps fearing such a mishap.

Incidentally, Shanthi, I and our six-month old daughter stood in the queue at Guruvayoor for almost 3 hours. Thank God for Pampers, otherwise we would have ended up paying for the cleansing !

Oops, we did it again !

2005-06-06T22:54:00.000-07:00

CNN Money mentions in this article that CitiFinancial told its customers that personal information on 3.9 million consumer lending customers was lost by UPS while in transit to a credit bureau.

Apparently, in recent months, a number of institutions(banks, retailers etc) have reported that personal information has been compromised.

What can the aggrieved customers do ? Grin and bear it ? Or institute a class-action suit against these companies ?

Tagged ! Now, I am it !

2005-06-06T08:27:00.000-07:00

Navin does the honours by tagging me and therefore putting me in a spot of bother. Would I be able to confess about the skeletons in my closet ? I take a shot :

How many books do I own

Very few, really. Only about 100 or so.

Last book bought

State of Fear by Michael Crichton

Last books read

In reverse chronological order:

1. Age of Kali by William Dalrymple
2. Q&A by Vikas Swarup
3. Red Dragon, Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris

Books that mean a lot to me

1. Day of the Jackal by Frederick Forsyth : For impeccable research and the ability to make fiction virtually indistinguishable from fact, there is no one to rival to Forsyth.

2. The Annotated Sherlock Holmes by William Baring-Gould : Not just the stories about the Doctor and the Detective by Conan Doyle, but the excellent, meticulous notes and articles by various Sherlockians and Holmesians make this well-worn tome a worthy addition to my book shelf.

3. Yes Minister/Prime Minister by Jonathan Lynn & Antony Jay : For some reason, I am totally bonkers about this book. I have read, re-read and re-re-read this book about a zillion times(I had just finished reading one episode, when I came online and found the tag from Navin).

Persons tagged

Amit Ray

No smoke without fire

2005-06-02T21:41:00.000-07:00

Debate rages on whether the Indian government's decision, to impose a total ban on smoking scenes on TV and the silver screen, is correct or not.

The Hindu's editorial feels that the Health Ministry, headed by Dr Anbumani Ramadoss has over-reacted and even goes on to say that the ban "is a direct infringement on the freedom of the media." The no-smoking-on-screen law does have its supporters and most notable among them is Dr.Ramadoss, founder of the Pattali Makkal Katchi(PMK) and father of Dr.Anbumani Ramadoss.

In an another news item in The Hindu, Dr.Ramadoss Sr. welcomes the ban and believes that such a ban should be extended to the consumption of liquor as well !

Dr.Ramadoss Sr. has a long history of criticising on-screen smoking and had earlier taken on Rajinikanth for depicting/glorifying smoking in his movies.Now, his son(Dr.Anbumani) has been instrumental in passing a law banning on-screen smoking.

Although cigarette tricks have always been an integral part of Rajini movies, his latest flick "Chandramukhi" has substituted the cigarette with chewing gum !

Looks like Dr.Ramadoss has had the last laugh, after all !

My, my !

2005-06-02T04:07:00.000-07:00

"Longhorn" is the code name for the next version of Windows. The latest, greatest and best operating system from the Microsoft stable choc-a-bloc with lot of cool features(Never mind the fact that its ever-stretching release date would put Mr.Fantastic to shame !).

The latest addition to those features, this site(link through Slashdot) says, is that Microsoft will drop the "My" prefix. So, prepare to bid farewell to "My Computer", "My Music", "My Pictures" et al. Apparently, there is no longer a need to create a 'bonding' between people and their computers.

Wonder what they'll think of next !

A trip, a book and a wedding

2005-06-02T01:48:00.000-07:00

Trip - To Guruvayoor with Aditi on May 26
Results - Aditi wasnt too impressed with the whole thing - the 3rd AC coach on Alleppey Express, the 3 hour wait in the queue at the temple, the stay at Mayura Residency. She signalled her displeasure in clear, strident tones ! Shanthi and I are dreading our next trip with Adi which, thankfully, is nowhere in the near future !

Book - Q&A by Vikas Swarup
Review - Quite a riveting read ! The book has an interesting concept and presents a sometimes -amusing, sometimes-poignant look at society.

Wedding - Navin(NOT this Navin) weds Archana on June 1
Impression - A whopper of a marriage ! Got a brief glimpse of how the rich people do weddings. A massive mandapam(Sreevaaru Venkatachalapathy Palace), tubelights on the road leading to the mandapam, designer clothes(by Chaitanya Rao) and a general show of wealth all around !

How to be a Bond girl

2005-05-30T01:32:00.000-07:00

This article (link through www.mi6.co.uk) outlines the latest fitness craze to hit the USA.

As if the female of the species wasnt already deadlier than the male !

Brain's sarcasm center located

2005-05-24T02:06:00.000-07:00

According to this article, researchers have located the brain's sarcasm center.

On a 'related' note, Sarchasm is defined as "The gulf between the author of sarcastic wit and the recipient who doesn't get it." Source of this definition and other words are here.

A disturbing trend

2005-05-23T00:13:00.000-07:00

This article in The Hindu mentions that stressed students, before and after the Plus 2 exams, have kept the distress helpline busy. Most of the callers say that they considered committing suicide. The most disturbing fact about this is that some of these suicide-comtemplating students have scored as high as 88% !

What sort of society are we turning into where anything less than 90% is considered too "low" ? Since when did 95% marks become de rigueur ? Why is it unacceptable for a student to score less than 90% ?

Some parents do their bit by constantly pushing their wards to score high grades, telling them that if they score poor grades, their entire future will go down the drain. And since "high grades" are defined by grades in the higher nineties, is it any surprise that only a select few get there, whereas the less-fortunate are left to jam the distress lines and vent their thoughts about taking their own lives ?

Time and again, the follies of depending on the results of just one exam to determine the fate of a student has been highlighted in commission after commission, survey after survey. But do the authorities in question have any intention of implementing the recommendations of the survey ?

While congratulating those who top-scored in the exams, we would do well to keep in mind that some of the low-scorers "may be...potentially superior to those who just memorise and do well in examinations, without comprehending very much."( Yashpal Committee Report 1993).

Let this thought provide succour to the minds of those who are complating such dramatic actions such as taking their own lives.

May this also serve as a pointer to those parents who compare the performance of their wards with others and spur children towards competition.

Revenge of the Sith

2005-05-22T22:18:00.000-07:00

Read an excellent review of "Revenge of the Sith" at DecentFilms.com by Steven Greydanus. Click here to read.

SPOILER WARNING : If you havent seen the movie, you may want to give the review a miss.

R(ough) D(igital) X(perience)

2005-05-22T09:33:00.000-07:00

Navin, Vidya, Shanthi and I went to Sathyam Theatre to see "Revenge of the Sith" yesterday. The movie was a grand visual spectacle and as dark and foreboding as the reviews mentioned.

The digital projection system installed at the theatre delivered rich sound and crystal clear pictures...whenever it was working, that is ! Our movie viewing was marred by the occurence of a couple of technical snags, the second one lasting almost 15mins just as Master Windu and Emperor Palpatine were wrapping up their duel.

As Navin and I went out into the lobby to find out what was happening, we found a small group of people talking to the theatre management folks. They informed us that the outages were due to power failure compounded with a malfunctioning UPS.

Apparently, the digital projection system takes about 20mins to "reboot", which was what happened during the second time we lost power. We were further informed that the digital system had been tested for about a month before it went mainstream on May 20. We were assured that these wrinkles in the system would soon be ironed out.

I have high regards for the management of Sathyam Theatres, after they managed to locate(at 2am !) a mobile phone that I lost in their premises, and hope that they do deliver a Real Digital Xperience soon !

Fan(atic)s of the Force

2005-05-16T21:55:00.000-07:00

The Beeb has a reporter's log covering his experiences at the Star Wars movie marathon at Leicester Square in London.

Reading the log makes me go (yoda)green with envy ! If only I had been in London now....

Went to Sathyam Theatre yesterday to find out when advance bookings for "Revenge of the Sith" will open. The "helpful" person at the counter asked me to check the newspapers. I thought briefly of crushing his trachea a la Darth Vader, but since my midichlorian count was running somewhat low yesterday, thanks to a recent viral infection, I desisted.

Akshaya Trithiyai

2005-05-10T22:16:00.000-07:00

"What is Akshaya Trithiyai ?", asked Suchi on Radio Mirchi 98.3 FM today. This was the SMS Poll Question on her programme "Hello Chennai".

Choices :

a. Akshay Kumar's bday
b. A day to "thiruthu"-fy("Thiruthu", Tamil for "Correct") Akshay Kumar's mistakes
c. None of the above(I dont care, just gimme the prize)

My answer : an occasion for people to engage in a mass hysterical act of buying gold in the fervent hope that they will continue to get wealth throughout the year to follow.

Traditionally, it was believed that if a person performed a good deed on this day, he/she would be rewarded multi-fold. The usual practise was to give food and clothing to the needy. Gradually, people began to believe that any deed(especially, buying gold for oneself) would be rewarded multi-fold ! The jewellery companies were quick to catch on to this practise, with the result that this day witnesses people indulge in a frenzied shopping for gold.

This year, elaborate traffic arrangements have been made in and around T.Nagar(where most of the jewellery shops are) so that people will not be inconvenienced in their efforts to "acquire wealth". Most jewellery outlets in this area are open from 6:30am to 10:00pm today !

Most jewellery outlets allowed people to book jewellery a week in advance and collect it today ! No mess, no fuss !

Quite a few Indians have joined the billionaires club in recent years. Reasons: Entrepreneurial skills ? Booming Indian Economy ? Or buying gold during Akshaya Trithiyai ? You decide.

As for me, I am going to step out and buy that gold ring that I reserved during last year's Akshaya Thrithiyai.

Guruvayoor Trip

2005-05-09T00:37:00.000-07:00

Athirapally Falls
Originally uploaded by s vibhu.

Made a trip to Guruvayoor for Raghu's wedding on May 6.

Also visited the splendid Athirapally Falls. Navin, Naveen and I were totally bushed by the time we finished viewing the falls, but it was worth it !

"Objective Reality"

2005-05-05T01:22:00.000-07:00

According to this article on the BBC, tsunami victims in the Andaman & Nicobar Islands received some "ridiculous" cheques, as tsunami relief, from the Indian government. The one that takes the cake is a cheque for the sum of Rs.2 !

The island administration has said that it is now probing the incident.

Genesis

2005-05-04T03:11:00.000-07:00

After some persuasion from friends, colleagues and other "do-gooders", I decided to take the plunge into the blogging scene. It remains to be seen if I am as profilic as some bloggers whose output I have read and relished. Will my innate sense of laziness triumph over my ambition to share my thoughts and ideas ? Time will tell....