My Thoughts

The Best Ad In Recent Times

2009-03-05T21:05:00.005+05:30

It's been a while since i made a video post, so here goes.. Amidst all the rubbish they call commercials these days, this one is like a breath of fresh air.. I haven't liked any ad so much to make we wanna download it and have it on my pod but this one i did.. Maybe its cause of the really pretty woman, or the great song in the background, but everything fits perfectly.. I actually had Limca after watching this ad, beautiful (the ad.. the drink was pretty so so)

[P.S. Sushma Reddy is super hot.. We need a lot more of her on TV]

In The Age Of Technology

2009-03-03T00:38:00.005+05:30

It all started when my sister decided that the two of us together should gift my dad an iPod.. Since i was to buy the pod in Chennai, she gave me a cheque for her share of it (I know she could have done an online transfer but that's not what i wanna discuss here)..

Anyway, i promptly deposited the cheque at SBI when i got back to Chennai.. They said there was going to be some re-structuring at the bank and hence, it will take up to 10 days for the money to get transferred.. I was thinking "Fair enough, at least they warned me".. Ten days became fifteen and then after 21 days, i contacted them again since it still hadn't been transferred..

Now this is where SBI left me stunned.. They said they would check up on it and promptly sent a Telegram.. No, I'm not kidding, they did send a telegram.. In this day and age, when million dollar transactions are done online, our Indian banking system still depends on telegram to get messages across.. You can imagine what the net effect of this is, an additional delay that is added by the Indian Postal service.. Its been a week since the telegram was sent and still no response.. The telegram was sent to Standard Chartered; i wonder if the delay is because Standard Chartered didn't know how to respond to this or if they replied with a telegram of their own!!

On a side note, TCS is the solutions provider for SBI and one of the SBI employees had threatened to beat me up when i told them i had gotten placed in TCS.. I'm not sure though, if its the TCS service or the need to identify with the 'aam aadmi' that is making SBI use what i presume to be an obsolete method of communication..

25 Things About Me

2009-02-17T00:20:00.006+05:30

For non facebookers..

1. The beach used to be my second home during my engineering. I was there on over 250 days during my third year.

2. Contrary to what people think, i don't like all movies. In fact, over the last year, there are barely a handful i liked.

3. My iPod has great sentimental value for me. It was the first thing i bought for myself with my salary.

4. I have sung two consecutive years at the Thyagaraja Aradhana in Thanjavur. I'm not kidding.

5. Beer is my favourite beverage. Heineken is my preferred brand.

6. I think it is okay to lie if the truth will hurt the concerned person more at present.

7. Quite a few of my friends think i am tin hearted cause i tend to be pretty indifferent at times.

8. I hate horror movies. Guys who watched Vaasthu Shastra with me will bear testimony to that.

9. I want to learn playing some musical instrument. Current inspiration is playing the guitar after watching Vaaranam Aayiram.

10. I am cricket crazy. I actually bought the Chennai Super Kings jersey for 2200 bucks.

11. I love Chennai. I think its the best city in the world.

12. I find it very hard to make conversation with people when i meet them for the first time. I'm a hoot after that.

13. I still speak only in movie names when i need to speak in Hindi.

14. My first crush was the biggest. I don't think I've ever had so many butterflies in my stomach the first time I've met anyone else.

15. I've been abroad twice. My first trip was sponsored by my company, Yippeee!! Rio De Janeiro is on the agenda.

16. Music is an essential part of my day. I normally listen to about 3 tracks from my pod just before i sleep.

17. I tend to be very secretive about a lot of things, even to my close friends.

18. I have had big misunderstandings with almost all my friends at some point of time in the past.

19. I cannot drink water continuously i.e like *glug glug glug*

20. I think more people know me as Chandler than as Arun Chander.

21. I get very annoyed when someone corrects me, even if it is justified.

22. I love planning trips with the guys. I, in fact might do it for them even if i'm not joining them.

23. I used to be pretty sarcastic a few years ago. I've come a long way due to some persuasion (to put it lightly).

24. My bike is my most prized possession at the moment.

25. I wanna get started with my MBA soon. Work is getting monotonous.

A Week At Bengaluru

2009-02-13T12:38:00.007+05:30

My visits to Bengaluru have risen significantly over the last four years, particularly over the last year since my sister relocated there.. Though i was born in Bengaluru (no, I'm not a kannadiga.. Very much a Tamizhian) I've never really grown fond of the place, in spite of the fact that they have better beer, better weather and a more picturesque atmosphere than Chennai..

Last week, i was sent to Bangalore on work based on the simple reasoning that since i was born there, i must know the city.. My boss was highly mistaken, i can't get to anywhere except Malleshwaram, Brigade road and Indra Nagar..

Moving on, i was there to meet some people there regarding two studies we were carrying out (I've been sworn to secrecy about what the studies involved, ping me in Private later for more details).. The first thing i realised this time was that the damn city has become hotter than Chennai.. I was so drained out after the first day that i slept 12 hours at a stretch and skipped dinner in the process..

To add to this, the people in Bengaluru were not so friendly to meet.. Most people i spoke to seemed constantly irritated and this didn't help the fact that i had a tough target (number of contacts to be made) to achieve.. What also didn't help was the Nilgiris guy calling me some 30 km away from the city to meet him and then when i get there, to have his assistant convey to me that he wasn't there then.. Highly frustrating work, i appeal to every one of you who wants to enter into consult to think about this before deciding..

The one good thing about market research though is that helps you lose your ego.. The guys you contact know that you are dependent on them and make you realise that when they speak (One gentleman from Britannia raised this bar to a new high for me).. The fact that you need to get your work done makes you swallow your pride and be courteous to him.. Good experience though.. The other big pluses were that i know Bengaluru pretty well now and can manage with my kannada a lot better..

One thing i noticed about the city is that a lot of people know Tamizh there, surprising given the anti Tamizh propaganda that is portrayed on TV.. This made travelling around the city easier.. My uncle's driver (talks only kannada) claims Chennai is not so friendly to tourists cause when he asked some auto guy here for directions, all he got was what he infers were profanities..

Padikadhavan

2009-01-22T02:07:00.004+05:30

There are few films that inspire you to review them at 2 in the night.. Padikadhavan is one such movie.. Not for how good the film was or how much Tamanah lived up to expectations (both of which didn't happen) but for how much the movie insults one's intelligence..

Typical mass entertainer with zero logic, which would've been okay if it had some good humour or good songs, something for me to write about here.. The songs are the worst i've heard in a while.. Humour was there in abundance but it was at the expense of the movie.. I don't remember ever laughing so hard during the intermission.. We had our own doubts that Sathyam would throw us out for the noise we were making in the corridor..

The irritating part was how they wasted good actors.. Shayaji Shinde and Atul Kulkarni are good actors, its a pity they waste their time with such movies.. Vivek's jokes were okay in parts.. I still can't fathom why Tamanah agreed to do this movie..

There was a joke in the movie (strictly for Tamizh folks) where when Tamanah says she can't stand the sight of Dhanush, he says "Paatha pudikadhu, Paaka paaka dhaan pudikum".. Narayan joked that the same would be the case with the movie but unfortunately, it went from bad to worse.. I dread to imagine what it would be like watching "Villu" given most reviewers claimed Padikadhavan was a better movie!!

The Year That Was

2009-01-02T17:09:00.016+05:30

2008 began on a high.. I had just returned from Dubai, work was going great and i was enjoying every moment of it.. CAT results were out, i had done well enough to inspire me for the following year.. This is beginning to sound very geeky, but anyway, Life couldn't have been better..

2008 had a lot of firsts for me..

My first foreign trip with friends.. Singapore is easily the most fun I've had on a trip and the most money I've blown in four days time.. Money well spent though!

My first IPL experience.. This topic has been beaten to death and I'll move on.. I'll leave you with Niru's brilliant photographic skills though..

My poonal experience.. I know its the first and last, but what the hell.. To quote gau, i finally got 'Poonaled' at the 'tender age' of 23.. My family thought it would be fun to club this with my cousin sister's marriage and Voila!, i am officially a Brahmana now.. I'm probably the first to get 'Poonal Bumps', thanks guys, what would i do without you people!

My first experience at a disc.. Began by going to two discs at Singapore, both of which had amazing energy.. Dublin though was an extreme disappointment.. It was a Friday night and there were barely 20 people.. While i didn't shake a leg at any of the above places, i will remember them for other events that took place..

My first highway drive.. Got to drive the car from Hosur to Vellore on NH4 (Or is it NH7, I'm not really sure).. It was great fun and i probably should start taking the car out more often..

The first wedding in our group.. Shweta got married December 6th.. All of a sudden, i feel much older now (It's also probably cause the grey hair has begun to show.. Beginning of wisdom? Probably not.).. Congrats Shweta! Happy married life..

This was also the year i had a huge misunderstanding with a dear dear friend of mine, which thankfully was resolved without much damage.. And another first, which i dare not discuss in a public domain..

Last but not least, attending Conferences.. This had to be the biggest waste of my time this year.. I can understand people higher up in the organization attending them but sending me was a big mistake.. 6 wasted days, unfortunately i wasn't given a choice..

Somehow managed to squeeze in a trip to Delhi, a couple of road trips, one to Pondy and one to Mahabs.. I know they aren't long trips but great fun never the less..

After what has been a rather eventful year, things are strangely not how they began at all.. Change of job? Change of city even maybe? Higher studies? What about my personal life? Get serious with someone - yes or no? Clearly more questions than answers.. Hopefully the year ahead gives me the answers to these.. Happy New Year! Cheers!

Insights From IPL @ Chennai

2008-05-11T22:04:00.007+05:30

After going to 5 matches at the Chepauk, my IPL quota for the season is coming to an end with just 2 more to go.. Great cricket (most times, especially against Punjab) apart, there have been quite a few things that have stood out for me..

1. No matter how many cricket superstars are there on the field, the loudest noise is for our own superstar - Thailavar Rajnikath.. All this without him being present there.. The loudest cheers in the stadium are reserved for whenever his songs are played..

2. Cheer leaders haven't lived up to the hype the politicians have created.. After reading all the comments made by these self appointed moral authoritarians, i expected it to be a tad more exciting to say the least.. Disappointing..

3. Each performance at the matches so far have been moderate to poor barring the Naresh Iyer, Benny, Suchitra gig and to a certain extent Karthik's performance.. While the acoustics were horrible during Hariharan's performance, Anuradha ruined hers by singing a modified version of We Will Rock You which surely would have had 'Queen' turning in their grave..

4. Krishnamachari Srikanth maybe a world cup winner and probably the most prolific player from Chennai so far in cricket but is easily the most annoying of the Set Max lot.. It begins with his accented English and goes on to his singing the Chennai Super Kings song when they ask him for comments.. He would do well to learn from his other distinguished World Cup winenr who happens to be present at all Chennai matches, Ravi Shastri..

5. Pommie Mbangwa is probably more famous in Chennai than he is back in Zimbabwe.. The number of people trying to get his attention in the stands is pretty surprising..

6. The DJ (if that is what you call the guy playing the music during the matches) was on song during the Punjab match.. Starting off with 'Pretty Woman' for Priety Zinta, started belting out of lots of 'situation' songs.. "Singam Pola" , "Raja Kaiya Vecha", "Annatha Aadurar" were the best timed..

7. The Chennai Super Kings management, India Cements, are a big bunch of idiots.. I've been waiting for the Reebok jersey to come out since the tournament started and still no signs.. The Reebok guy jokes saying it'll probably come only after the tournament is over.. In contrast is Shah Rukh Khan, who along with Reebok has opened an exclusive Kolkata Knight Riders shop in Kolkata to sell their merchandise..

8. Sivamani is an amazing entertainer.. The guy has phenomenal energy and the crowds seem to love him.. I was pleasantly surprised by the response he got for the mere mention of his name even.. He keeps moving from stand to stand and plays a piece whenever Chennai hit a boundary, pick up a wicket or just cause he feels like.. Good move by India Cements here.. I had forgotten to mention this before.. Credit to J for reminding me..

9. Last but not least, half the people with camera phones are crazy.. I can understand them taking photos of themselves at the ground or some celebrity or some hot chick but taking photos of cheer leaders some 200 meters away using a VGA or a 1.3 meg camera made absolutely no sense..

I'm sure there were more interesting moments, just can't seem to remember anymore now.. Here's wishing Chennai Super Kings the best of luck..

It Finally Happened!!

2008-05-07T01:08:00.008+05:30

After four years, the moment i was desperately waiting for finally happened.. I don't know when the obsession began but it caught flame when i missed his batting during the second test of Australia's tour of India in 2004.. Since then, i have wondered many a time if i would ever see him play live which included failed attempts to go see a match in Bangalore (Chinnasamy stadium seems to be jinxed as far as i am concerned.. Two failed attempts for tickets so far though my sister got free passes for the Terrace Pavillion!!! More on that later maybe)

How i wish he was wearing the yellow uniform as in the pic instead of Cream and black during yesterday's match against Chennai Super Kings.. Adam Gilchrist, my cricketer of the last decade, proved to everyone in Chennai why he is a match winner.. With Chennai managing a paltry 144, it would've been an easy victory for any other team (I'm not even considering royal challengers) but Deccan have proved in the few games they have played that they can make a match of even the easiest victories..

After beginning rather cautiously, he took off with some mighty blows against Ntini.. I still am awestruck thinking about the first six he hit off Ntini.. A quick fire 54 all but took the game away from the Chennai Super Kings.. Mr. Dependable Rohit Sharma and Styris finished the job rather nicely..

Gau keeps saying Gilchrist is too unpredictable but today is example of why exactly he is amongst the best.. An interesting statistic, Rohit Sharma is the leading run scorer in the IPL but the only 2 matches Deccan have won had Gilchrist written all over them (Man of the match in both matches), with little or no help from Rohit.. Not dicrediting Rohit here but just proving what a difference 'Church' can make.. Deccan desperately needed a victory today and as they say "Cometh the Hour, Cometh the Man!"

'INSPIRED'

2007-09-22T02:21:00.000+05:30

The wait for the Indian Tom Cruise is finally over!!! Look at our very own Chiyaan Vikram posing for a promo still for his upcoming movie Bheema.. Extremely disappointing to see such a rip off from such a big movie.. You have to hand it to the think tank though, they actually thought to shoot it from the other side.. Maybe this is Vikram's better side :D

Good music, talented director at the helm, huge production house backing the movie,a national award winner donning the grease paint and this is what we get.. Hmmm.. Still looking forward to the movie though.. Such huge expectations deserve something a lot better in return..

PHEW!!

2007-09-04T22:33:00.000+05:30

It's been a hectic few weeks.. Absolutely no time to do anything at all and i must blame myself for bringing this onto myself..

For those of you who are reading this and don't know yet, i joined a consultancy firm in Chennai in august.. Been working there for about 3 weeks now.. Yes, I'm not taking TCS (i think :D).. But i feel completely justified by my decision to have a career switch given how many of my friends want to quit their IT jobs.. The pay isn't as much but work seems really nice and prospects of growth seem possible..

Pretty new at this place and hence don't know the people too well yet.. I've been warned what not to do in the office already though, things like when not to greet your boss and repent for it.. Work is getting hectic and deadlines are getting extremely unrealistic, which bring me to why i started writing this..

I miss my old life.. What time i got up was inconsequential, i could stay awake till five.. Now, i had better get to office by 9:30 (It's tough man).. Beach was routine, now it seems like a luxury.. Haven't been there since i started work.. I miss watching movies.. From close to two a day, I've come to a movie in two weeks.. The thing i miss most is not having to be so responsible for my actions..

Things don't seem to be getting any lighter.. The only thing that rocks about this is that i get paid for the hard work i put in, unlike engineering, where i paid to be told what to do.. Last weekend was the best in a few weeks now.. Went to bikes and had great fun.. It was great hanging out with all the guys again..

All this seems so sudden and unexpected that it's hard to deal with.. I sincerely wish i could go back three months just for a little while.. Maybe another evening at the beach with all the guys before they head their separate ways.. I can almost hear aerosmith singing "Dream on" :D

GRRRRR

2007-07-27T08:56:00.000+05:30

The last three days have thrown some pretty irritating events at me.. I had ordered a book online to be delivered to Gau in the US.. Since it hadn't reached day before, i called the international customer care number they had given.. The lady's accent was by itself hard to decipher from and was irritating but to top it, she put me on hold on an international call for 5 minutes!!! She must be freakin stupid.. Frustrating..

To relax myself later, i decided to see a movie.. I read a review on IMDB about a movie called "Live Free Or Die", not Die Hard 4.0.. It said the movie was one of the best comedies the guy had seen.. This had to be the single most boring movie I've seen.. At least in TR movies, u have him for comedy.. This just beat that hollow.. Absolute waste of 1.5 hours of my life..

This however has to take the cake for most frustrating.. I went to the TCS office to see why they had put only 3 of us alone in Noida for training.. When we got there, the security guy stopped us and asked us to write our names in the entry log.. He called up the sourcing guy and gave the phone to me.. The bugger didn't even let me get into the damn building and shooed me off from their saying the decision has been made in the corporate office and there is no way i can change it.. The least he could have done is called us in and told us the same in person.. And to think these guys are from HR and are good in people skills.. God save us when we join TCS..

MISSION ECNR

2007-07-18T21:39:00.000+05:30

Went to the passport office to get my ECNR stamping done.. It has to be one of the most irritating things you can do when you are vetti.. No idea why they didn't do it for me when i applied for passport.. Idiots made me go again for it and charged 300 bucks for it..

The place should be on the verge of breakdown.. Endless queues(there are so many of them) of people waiting for hours together.. All i could think of standing was Kamal's dialogue in Anbe Sivam where he says "India Oru Jananayaga Naadu, Ingu Queue La Ellam Wait Panidhan Aganam".. The ventilation there is pretty bad, so it all together makes for a very stuffy morning.. There are people outside the office who fill your forms in the proper format for a reasonable price, either 10 or 20rs depending on what form it is.. Makes our job easier..

The worst part about the place is that there is just one Regional Passport Officer for each task.. The queues become serpentine cause of this.. For the ECNR work in the second floor, i had to start at the landing of the first floor.. This in spite of me being there by eight and the office starting only by 10.. Chennai folks would easily walk away with any early bird prizes.. The fun part of the place is the variety of people you meet there.. Loads of comic characters..

Once you get through all that and pay the fees, they tell you that you need to come again in the evening to collect the passport, which is another huge queue.. I started at ground floor landing for that.. Thankfully this one moves pretty fast.. The Indian government should seriously consider either employing more people to have more counters or open another passport office.. Everything in online anyway, so synchronising shouldn't be a problem.. The irony of the entire thing is that even after i stayed there and did the entire thing, i still have no idea what the ECNR means and why i need to get it..

BUSTED!!!

2007-07-17T18:45:00.000+05:30

It had to happen some time and it finally did today.. Had gone to Spencer today with a few of my friends (Try the Chinese restaurant at the new food court, really good).. On the way back, the fat man in the white shirt pulled me over.. Those guys use Walkie Talkies extensively.. He was using it then to contact the next guy to stop another bike..

I was caught on two accounts, Speeding and Driving in the wrong lane.. I was guilty of both offenses though.. Doing 60 on a 40 km/hr road and driving in the lane for buses on mount road.. Don't think he thought of either of this when he stopped me but was clever enough to point it out to me when i gave him my license..

It's just ironic.. For about 2 odd years, i used to drive all around Chennai without a license.. Never once have i been asked to pull over, maybe i was just careful then using all small lanes.. Now i have all my papers and I'm being asked to pull over time to time.. The guy bugged me for about five mins and then i had to pay him 100 bucks and leave..

I don't know if it was a lesson well learnt but it surely was a waste of hundred bucks..

STUDIO 60 ON THE SUNSET STRIP

2007-07-11T02:44:00.000+05:30

This is what has kept me entertained for the past one week.. A new TV series called "Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip".. This is a behind the scenes look of a comedy-sketch show.. The show stars Matthew Perry, Amanda Peet and Bradley Whitford..

The show is supposed to be a drama but it is extremely humorous.. The humour here is kinda intellectual at times though.. The Dialogues are absolutely brilliant.. The Matthew Perry-Bradley Whitford combo would give Chandler-Joey a run for their money.. Matthew Perry is at his best here..

Not sure if this series will come to India anytime soon.. For those who are vetti, download it and watch.. I must warn you though, each file size is about 350 MB.. I have 14 of them and am in the process of getting the , so you can collect them from me if you want..

GOOGLED

2007-07-06T03:32:00.000+05:30

Hmmm.. Being as vetti as i am nowadays, i decided to check out the various things Google had to offer.. Pretty mind boggling given the scale of the entire operation.. It's almost as if anything you want to do on the PC, can be done on Google alone.. Mostly..

What started with a simple search engine (complex in nature but easy to use) has manifested itself into one of the world's biggest corporations and the growth only seems to be increasing exponentially.. A true marvel.. Hats off to Larry Page and Sergey Brin..

Now what prompted me to write this was 'Google Reader'.. Simply amazing place.. Anything that you normally want to keep yourself updated about can be read off just one place.. This could be anything from the latest news, sports updates or even updates on peoples blogs.. This eliminates us from having to go there each time to see if anything new has been posted..

The next best thing in Google is that you get to do so many things with just one id.. The advantage of this is that you could use one service inside another and it takes zero effort.. The downside of this, which gau unfortunately is experiencing, is that if you lose the id, you lose everything.. And that seems to be a lot, given that Gmail and orkut have become integral to most of us now..

I recommend 'Google Reader' to everyone for how easy it makes looking up info.. Planning on testing all other Google applications too.. Will give you my opinion of the same in the coming days.. I heard Google is coming out with an OS.. If true, it could be as revolutionary as the iPhone maybe.. Wow, something to look forward to..

P.S If you are wondering why this picture for the logo, it was to portray the 'Magic of Google' given the broom etc (a la Harry Potter) :D

F.R.I.E.N.D.S Deleted Scene

2007-07-06T02:10:00.001+05:30

This one is just hilarious.. Beginning of the eighth season.. Episode 803.. Just too good.. Damn.. I miss the show.. Spent two hours on youtube now watching all F.R.I.E.N.D.S bloopers and interviews..

Jack Jack Attack

2007-07-04T17:30:00.001+05:30

One of the best animated shorts i've seen.. Hilarious.. Pre Requisite is that you should have seen "The Incredibles".. Pixar Rocks.. Just check out the other short animations by pixar on you tube.. Too good..

TO ZUNE OR NOT TO ZUNE

2007-06-30T18:48:00.000+05:30

After all this time, I've finally decided to get myself an Ipod or Zune.. I've decided on the colour but not on what i wan to buy, comic.. I want you guys to help me decide.. I'll tell you guys what i feel about the two, form your own opinions and let me know what you think i should get asap..

The Ipod seemed the obvious choice.. Tested and proved.. Ease of use.. Slimmer than the zune.. Smaller too.. Not too heavy.. More than anything else, it has service centres across India too.. So worst case, service shouldn't be that big a deal.. On the flip side, it's too common and i am for Microsoft..

The Zune has its share of flaws.. Big, bulky and some concerns over the battery back up on the Zune.. The worst part about the Zune is that it can't be used as a hard disk.. That sucks and one of the main reasons i went against it.. It's advantage is that it has Radio and is Microsoft.. Unfortunately, no service centres anywhere in India yet..

Let me know what you guys think i should get.. While you are at it, also suggest what i can get engraved on the back of the player..

THE INDULGENCE TAG

2007-06-28T21:04:00.000+05:30

Adi tagged me.. That is no reason for me to be doing this but i have nothing much else to do, so here goes..

Here are the rules:

1. Players start with 8 random facts about themselves.

2. Those who are tagged should post these rules and their 8 random facts.

3. Players should tag 8 other people and notify them they have been tagged.

(1)Movies are my life.. Language, Length, Cast don't make a difference as long as movie is great.. Unless Pam is in it :D

(2)My bike is my most prized possession.. I consider it my first love.. Always ready for a drive..

(3)I love Chennai and wouldn't want to be anywhere else in the world.. Chennai Rocks man..

(4)I am becoming more brand conscious with each passing day.. Reebok remains my favourite..

(5)I love to sleep.. Given a choice would sleep 14 hours a day.. Very Very lazy..

(6)The beach is my second home.. Spent most of my engineering life there..

(7)I am indifferent to a lot of things unless its something to do with me or someone i really care about..

(8)I am an introvert by nature.. Take a lot of time to get close to people..

I tag:

Santy

Gaurav(If he gets his id back)

LORD OF THE NET

2007-06-27T13:46:00.000+05:30

Go to www.isohunt.com and look at the most searched name there.. You'll stumble upon aXXo.. What/Who exactly is aXXo??

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=axxo

aXXo is some dude in some country (don't think anyone but him knows where) who comes up with the best possible DVD Rips of movies.. The quality of his releases have given him(or her??) demi god status in the Internet world.. The number of hits his torrents get is just phenomenal.. Most of his rips are 700 MB in size, which is advantageous given you can put a movie in a CD or six in one DVD..

All of aXXo torrents are available on www.darksiderg.com.. Pretty cool site for getting torrents.. I recently stumbled upon an interview that aXXo had apparently given,

http://torrentfreak.com/interview-axxo-the-most-popular-dvd-ripper-on-bittorrent/

Comic part, he says his country doesn't believe in Copyright Infringement.. Wonder where he is from?? The main advantage of having someone like this is for people like us in countries where movies get delayed for months and in some cases don't release at all.. The corporates might not agree but then again, if they release their movies on time here, we probably wouldn't have the need to download movies (Just being diplomatic here, Gonna download the movies anyway:D)..

This post is just a tribute to whoever that great man is who has brought hours of quality entertainment to all of us.. Long live aXXo!!

Rajini Speaks on Sivaji

2007-06-20T03:46:00.001+05:30

Thalaivar rocks.. He just had what will probably go on to become the biggest commercial success in Indian film history and look at him talk.. Takes no credit for himself and says Shankar is the reason for all that is good.. This when each two bit actor gives punch dialogues about who is first etc.. Hats off to him for showing such humility even in spite of his stature.. As he would say, 'Cooool'..

BOSS

2007-06-18T14:10:00.000+05:30

Magical would be the word to describe watching Sivaji.. Three hours of style, charisma and everything that is our superstar.. Saw the movie at mayajaal on Saturday.. Paid a little extra for the ticket but i didn't mind one bit, Rajni movie on the second day, WOW..

The new intro for Sivaji with a rather stylish 'Superstar Rajni' was welcomed with thundering noise in the theatre.. There were a lot of firecrackers outside mayajaal before the show but this would've overshadowed that noise..

The movie didn't start like other Rajni films where the hero makes a grand entry but this one was nice.. First half was really good just cause of the Rajni-Vivek comedy track.. The best part is Vivek's one liners and his punch dialogues.. Hilarious.. This half could do with some trimming though..

The second half started with a bang and just kept getting better.. The sequence at the tea stall is surely one of his best scenes.. The one when he meets the villain at the jail was also great.. 'Mottai Boss' rocks in the end..

Specific mention needs to be made about the songs.. 'Style' and 'Athiradee' were too good to be true, especially Rajni's intro in 'Athiradee'.. The sets for 'Vaaji Vaaji' and 'Sahara' were so colourful and must have cut quite a hole in the producer's pocket.. Rahman rocks.. Shriya and Nayantara are a treat to watch in the songs.. Sizzling hot..

If any other actor had done the same stunts, one would've rubbished him.. When our Superstar does the same, it's magic on screen.. I haven't yelled so much for any movie so far.. Surely gonna watch it a couple more times..

If there is one word to describe the movie, it has to be 'Coooll'.. It's a pity Indian Cinema doesn't give Rajni his due.. The biggest Superstar in the country just proves why he is just the best.. Thalaivar Rocks..

ULTIMATE BULB

2007-06-15T20:10:00.000+05:30

Thought it would be an experience and went for 'Blind Date' at Satyam yesterday.. Saw the schedules daily and narrowed the choices of movie to either 'Jhoom Barabar Jhoom' or 'Sivaji'.. Me being the fanatic that i am, was sure they'll play Sivaji.. Satyam on the other hand had different plans..

They premiered 'The Prestige', which was pretty surprising given the movie isn't even releasing this week.. That moment made me realise i wasn't the only Rajni fanatic there.. It was so disappointing, you could just feel it in the theatre.. Some guys just got up and left immediately.. I have no idea why i stayed and watched the movie, given i had already seen it two times before..

The movie was good though.. Noticed some finer details in the movie that i hadn't before.. I know that's a stupid reason for watching a movie but what choice did i have.. The best part was when we were coming out of the theatre.. AVM had organised their red carpet premiere of the movie at Satyam and it was filled with stars.. Great sight.. Wish i was part of the film industry too :(

A decent day i guess but I'm not going to Blind Date again.. The anticipation is bad enough and if they screw it up like how they did yest, then Grrrrrr..

"ORIGINAL" SIN

2007-06-06T14:45:00.000+05:30

Plagiarism and tamil music seem to go hand in hand nowadays.. A lot of songs we hear nowadays seem to be direct rip offs from songs of other regional languages or some foreign soundtrack.. All this discussion even without getting Deva into the picture, he truly has to be the king of plagiarism..

Yuvan Shankar Raja seems to be bit by the plagiarism bug too.. Some of his 'Original' numbers are

1.The song 'Walking Through The Rainbow' from '7G Rainbow Colony' is a direct copy from the background score of the movie Johnny staring Rajnikanth which ironically had his father illayaraja scoring the music.

2.'Jalsa' from 'Chennai 600028' is a copy of a song from the movie 'Jothi' or something.. Gau knows the name..

3.The music in the initial trailers of Chennai 600028 is a slightly indianised version of 'I'm Shipping Up to Boston' by 'Dropkick Murphys', The Departed theme music.

4.Not sure if the citibank music that comes on raaga is a copy from Pudhupettai or vice versa.. Someone told me the citibank is the original.. Not sure of that one..

5.The first 30 seconds of the song 'Yemmadi Aathadi' is a copy of 'yeah' by 'Usher'

For more on yuvan's plagiarism, see http://www.itwofs.com/tamil-yuvan.html . Link thanks to naveen.

Harris Jeyaraj too has a few such credits to his name..

1.The song 'June Pona' from 'Unnaale Unnaale' is a copy of the song 'One Love' by 'Blue'

2.The song 'Paatuku Paatu' from vetri is a direct rip off, no changes made even of the MJ hit 'Billie Jean'

What is more irritating than all this is the background scores on trailers.. I've lost count of the number of times the tracks from 'Warriors Of Heaven And Earth' by 'A.R.Rahman' have been used in these trailers.. I mean, if the composers can't compose a one minute musical bit for a trailer, he certainly doesn't deserve all the credit that he gets..

Tributes to other songs are fine.. Quite a few good ones recently..

1.'Ennama Kannu' in Thiruvilayadal Arambam

2.'Madai Thirandhu' by 'Yogi B & Natchathra'

3.'Ennadi Muniyama' in 'Vaathiyar'

I'm sure there are more cases of plagiarism in songs.. If any of you can remember any, let me know..

THIRD TIME LUCKY??

2007-06-03T11:53:00.000+05:30

The summer this time was very exciting for movie buffs with four successful franchises releasing there third installment, all within 5 weeks.. With 4 weeks gone, i somehow feel disappointed..

The first to arrive was Spiderman 3 on May 4th.. Opened to the greatest opening in the history of cinema worldwide.. This was due to the hype alone.. When the substance of the movie was absorbed, the collections fell drastically with as much as a drop of 50% worldwide.. Great action sequences, spectacular visuals couldn't save this movie with a pretty lame ending and a wafer thin story line..

The next was Shrek 3 which released on May 18th.. I thought the first two movies were great but i almost slept through this one.. The weakest of the three movies.. The story here again is very poor and seemed more like an excuse to make a third film if not anything else.. There was so much scope for humor with 'Donkey' and 'Puss In Boots' but all was wasted.. Disappointing..

Pirates is my favourite of the three and i was pissed that it was releasing a week late here.. Somehow managed to see it the first day and this was the only movie of the three mentioned here that lived up to it's name.. My friends may disagree but i loved it.. A fitting finale to a great series.. I sincerely hope they make a fourth movie, they finished this one with a possibility of the fourth.. Great visuals, pretty good story and Johnny Depp made this movie a must watch for all pirates fan..

Ocean's Thirteen opens June 8th worldwide(Hopefully in Chennai too).. Going by initial reviews, it doesn't seem to be living up to it's hype but come what may, it can't be as bad as Ocean's Twelve.. The movie got bigger this time with Al Pacino joining in the fun.. Pity there is no Julia Roberts or Zeta Jones..

I had hoped for a better summer of movies but somehow don't feel satisfied.. Lets hope for better adventures from these stars next time.. Till then, "Drink Up Me Hearties, Yo Ho"

Life Is Beautiful

2007-05-30T01:42:00.000+05:30

This article is tribute to all the people who have made the last four years of my life eventful and great fun..

Aarthi

Jolly character who keeps smiling for everything.. Nice fun to be with and probably the only one who thinks gau's jokes are great.. Pakka 'Family' girl.. Hope you get what you desire..

Adi

The unfortunate mumbaikar settled in Chennai.. Good company always.. The kodai trip rocked and wouldn't have happened if not for you.. All the best in the USA, hope you get a good roomie.. I heard someone from CS is coming to NCSU, maybe you should give them a chance :D

Ara

An extremely rocky friendship.. A guy who lives by his rules and one who forgets something everyplace we go.. Easily the guy I've fought with the most.. Have great memories of the bangalore and goa trip though.. All the best with CAT and at CTS..

Ani

The only person outside SVCE that i am close to.. Seems like a quiet chap but is extremely kd.. Have gotten thrown out of class quite a few times because of him.. All the best at UTAH, don't forget the Cuban Cigars..

Archana

The achiever of our department.. Overloads herself with too much work always or pretends to do so and bunks all classes :D I still think you are too chicken to say okie to a guy.. All the best at Infy..

Bala

My computer guide.. Still hate him for bunking so many days of college and getting away with it.. Very relaxed approach about what the future holds for him.. Hope you do something great with your talents.. Still waiting for the Vista Cd..

Bhavya

Seriyana Enthu Pattani.. Smiling most times.. The one thing everyone will remember her for is her 'hiyeeee'.. Remember, Curiosity kills the cat.. Rock on at CTS..

Durba

The eternal talker of our group.. Always has something to discuss about.. I have no idea how she can find so many things interesting.. Have fun at Infy, help Arch unwind..

Gaurav

Mokkai king.. Spent most of my engineering with him.. Extremely possessive of his friends.. Our Sodex Ho supplier.. Santy seems to have changed him lots, for good or bad, I'm not judging :D Hope you get into some cricket thing rather than TCS..

Haresh

The latest addition to our gang.. His logic for most things is pretty 'Different' to put it lightly..180 buddy, drives pretty fast.. Never getting into your car again.. The only guy who is surely joining TCS with me.. Yeh Dosthi, Hum Nahin Chodenge..

Hayu

Mistaken to be the padips of our class, this guy is a silent killer.. Has stupid tastes though(Linux sucks).. Not sure what his intentions are in the USA, all the best anyway.. Play Safe :D

J
Probably the only guy lazier than me.. Skips breakfast each day so that he can sleep longer.. Does useless things like playing Yahoo pool for most of the day.. Good company for watching movies.. Cricket Tomo??

Jan
My closest friend in SVCE and the one i turn to for advice.. Very emotional and takes most things to heart.. Always there when you need her and the one who has influenced me most in SVCE.. Have a ball at UPenn..

Narayan

The life of our parties, used to be at least, has other commitments to fulfil now :D Used to be very quick to anger but heard has changed a lot now.. Didn't imagine i would do my project with him but was great fun.. All the best at Infy..

Niranjan

Known this bugger for 13 years now.. Spent almost every evening at the beach or at JP with him.. F1 fanatic, loyal Kimi follower.. Also part of the elite 180 club.. Distracted young man who seems to be spending a lot of time on his phone nowadays.. Anything we should know??

Rajitha

The first girl i became friends with in college.. Fought with her the most in 4 years i think, yet remains one of my closest friends.. Always been there when i needed her.. Underestimates herself way too much.. All the best with your 'endeavours' in Delhi.. Don't forget us when you reach dizzying heights..

Santy

This guy has way too much energy.. Always works with a plan.. Has a lot of skeletons in his closet which he doesn't reveal.. Very secretive at times.. 11th and 12th were great, especially the cycle rides.. Join TCS da bugger..

Shweta

She can probably sleep through a nuclear explosion.. Always yawning when in college.. Once a party starts, she's on her feet and keeps dancing.. Amazing energy.. The only one whose dance I've been impressed lots by.. All the best at CTS..

Engineering wouldn't have been the same without you people.. Loved every moment of it .. Tankoo all..

NATPE NATPE

2007-05-11T02:12:00.000+05:30

My engineering life has almost come to an end (I have a paper in 8 hours time, WHAT THE HELL AM I BLOGGING FOR??).. Was just thinking about this song i had heard.. Easily one of the best farewell song i've heard.. Compares to 'Musthafa Musthafa'.. It's called 'Natpe Natpe' from the movie 'Whistle'.. Hear it whenever you get the time, now would probably be the ideal time given it's end of college and all.. The lyrics of the song is really nice, so hear it is..

natpe natpe ini natpil thithithoamnatpe
natpe ini engae sandhipoamada
varusham moondru enbadhu
oru nimisham aagi poanadhuviLaiyaattu
viLaiyaattu viLaiyaattaa
naam kaalil udhaitha pandhugaL
indru thondai kuzhiyil uruLudhu
indha uRavum indha pirivum ini engum kidaikkaathey
(natpe natpe...)

nalla puthagam poal nammai naamae dhinam vaasithoam
andha noolagam nadandhidumaa?
nitham aRusuvai arattaiyil pasiyaaRinoam
andha uNavagam maRandhidumaa?
ketta pazhakkangaL pala kathukkondoam
nalla idhayathai naam sumandhu sendroam
paadam solliyadhu kaiyaLavu
iLamai solliyadhu kadalaLavu
indru azhagaana kanavondru kalaighindradhae
(natpe natpe...)

andru yaaro endru vandhoam ingu mudhal naaLilae
indru natpil manam kai kulukkudhey
dhinam chinna chinna sandai poatta kaayam ellaam
indru sugamaaga valikkindradhey
engu aaN ennum peN ennum baedham
adhu yaen endru naam kaekka thondrum
endha dhisaigaLil nadandhiduvoam?
engae evarudan iNaindhiduvoam?
naaLai varum naatkaL idhu poala inidhaaguma?

Gonna miss you all.. All the best in whatever you do..

ONE FINAL FARCE

2007-04-29T15:04:00.000+05:30

The end of what has easily been the worst world cup and no surprise, Aussies are champions again.. Just when everyone thought the world cup couldn't sink to further depths, Aleem Dar, Steve Bucknor and Rudi Koertzen proved that it could..

Rain playing havoc in the beginning already reduced this showpiece event (If you could call it that) into a 38 over per side game.. What followed was probably the best cricket I've seen in this world cup.. I, from the bottom of my heart don't want Australia to win.. I always used to tell gau, that if they ever had to win, it should be because of Gilchrist.. Yesterday was just amazing..

Touted as the best bowling attack in the world cup, Sri Lanka seemed to be right on target the first couple of overs.. Then it was pure genius from Gilchrist who was merciless in his attack.. 13 fours and 8 sixes with a strike rate of about 140 in a world cup final, WOW..

Sri Lanka put up a pretty good fight having been blown out of the game already.. When everything seemed to be going fine, the administration had to have one final say.. The three umpires are supposed to be the best in the world and them not knowing that 20 overs per side is enough is absurd.. It was pretty comic to see Ricky Ponting being called in between celebrations to be told they need to come back the next day to play 3 overs..

Common sense was lacking and this was obvious when images from the stump camera were shown.. It was pitch dark.. Hats off to Mahela Jayawardane to have accepted to send back his batsmen for the remaining 3 overs..

A befitting end to what has been a spiritless world cup.. Ironic that it had to happen in the Caribbean, which is known for it's fun, flair and flavour.. Australians are well deserved champions but this probably wasn't the best stage to showcase the fact..

STRANGER THAN FICTION

2007-04-14T08:27:00.000+05:30

It's become a common occurrence in chennai now for it to rain on most festival days.. It happens every year for diwali, which may not be very surprising given the festival comes during the winter season normally.. It happens for every cricket match in Chennai (India might be out of the world cup, but cricket is still my religion).. Today, Tamil New Year's day, it happened again..

Why it rains on these days specifically puzzles me.. Is it a sign of good things to come or is it an acknowledgement of good things that were or am i just reading the signs wrong?? Having said all this, am i being too superstitious about the entire thing??

I'm sure science has a perfect explanation for the entire thing but even science might fail to explain the timing of these events.. This made me wonder if everyone involved in science research etc are atheists.. How would a guy who believes in the big bang theory also believe that god created man.. More debate on that later..

I believe in god but not sure how much i should read into all this.. Education has convinced me that there is reason for all this and it's not some white bearded man(god) throwing water down on earth.. But still, it's been hot in chennai for a long time now, why rain on April 14th specifically.. Strange.. I'm a believer, so I'll take this as a sign of good things to come.. Iniya Tamizh Puthandu Vazhthukal..

NATURE'S GREATEST PARADOX

2007-04-11T23:59:00.000+05:30

I'm sure all the guys would've figured this out by just the title, I'm talking about women (It's nice to think of myself grown up enough to call them women rather than girls).. The picture probably tells you my opinion of them..

I mean I've tried understanding them but it is becoming just about impossible.. It's really hard to understand what they see in certain things.. Most times, we guys aren't given a choice.. We need to understand what they do even if it doesn't make an iota of difference to me or anyone for that matter.. They end up attaching too much emotional attachment to everything (I'm supposed to have the emotional range of a teaspoon according to them) which makes it hard for both them and us, hope they realise this sometime..

I'm not trying to be very critical of them.. I've been the smitten kitten quite a few times while talking to them and respect women for what they are.. This however doesn't mean I'll agree with everything they say or do.. I personally feel they have double standards but I'm sure the same argument will be thrown back at me.. Guys keeping girls on call waiting is wrong but for girls to do the same is okay?? I can understand chivalry but this is pushing it a bit.. Please realise we might be trying to score with some other girl on the other line :D

Hayu once told me Girls aren't worth all the trouble that we guys take to please them.. At that time, i used to think "There will come a time when he'll understand".. Now though, i think he might have understood it a whole lot better than i did.. The reason they are probably the way they are with us is probably cause we try too much to keep them happy..

As much as i would like to get away from all this, i don't think i can.. They've become too much an integral part of my life.. I just have to agree with the quote "You may love them, you may hate them but you just can't live without them"..

DEVELOPING NATION?? REALLY??

2007-03-30T22:25:00.000+05:30

Yesterday my friend sent me a message saying the supreme court had stayed the OBC quota and i was genuinely happy.. Being in the general category, I'm sure a lot of us would've felt extreme anger whenever they say reservation in education.. Having been brought up in the society as exists today, we understood that nothing should value more than the merit of the individual..

Yesterday, i also realised that all these were false hopes.. All the politicians seemed unanimous in saying that the decision of the supreme court was wrong.. Every single one of them looking for political leverage.. Did we actually elect these leaders?? The worst part being that the petition had been put forward based on a 1931 census.. How is such data even valid in the present time??

The government should be trying to get students who will take India to the world.. Instead they are more worried about how many of them could be convinced to vote for them come the next election.. I mean, it's probably Karunanidhi's last term, can't he at least do something right before he leaves?? The entire world is moving forward and India is probably the only country where people are fighting to get a backward caste certificate.. Sometimes you wonder who the disadvantaged are that the government talks about..

I hate people like myself.. All this anger and we done nothing at all.. Having said that, i don't think most people know what to do when they come across a situation like this.. I sincerely hope though that someone does something about it.. If they do, they have my support.. Let us pray that all the struggle that so many students across India have gone through does not go in vain..

BLACK FRIDAY

2007-03-24T17:38:00.000+05:30

Cricinfo's headlines read "A Billion Hopes Sunk" and i couldn't agree with them more.. Yesterday was one of my worst cricket viewing experiences and I've seen India crumble many a time.. The most famed batting line up in cricket was unable to achieve a target of 255 on what seemed like a batsman's track post lunch..

The captain and coach kept talking about the "process" and the "flexibility" that the team possessed but both of these wasn't seen yesterday.. The bowlers as far as I'm concerned did their job but were a little unfortunate in the beginning..

India has too many glorified batsmen.. They are treated like demi gods here.. I don't know if the players realise the importance they are given in this country.. I agree, there is too much pressure on them but failing so often and at critical times is simply unacceptable.. There weakness is exposed time and again when the play away from home, South Africa and West Indies stand as good examples..

I'm an ardent Sachin fan but his form off late has been disturbing.. A friend of mine told me about reading this..
"Has the day come when we're seriously talking about Sachin batting well against Bermuda?" one intelligent former Indian cricketer responded when it was mentioned in passing that the little man looked sharp in the last match. "
His triumphs have only been in India or against minnows.. Failed against South Africa and here against Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.. He should dropped for a series at least, something that hasn't happened since he made his debut.. India should looking for an alternative.. Anyway, nowadays "Har Ghar Mein Sachin", So shouldn't be a problem..

There needs to be a change.. Players should stop living on past glories or one off occasions.. Greg Chappell's interview yesterday was pretty comic.. Most of his answers being "It wasn't good enough" or "This isn't the right forum".. Apparently, 18 months isn't enough to hone the skills of this team to at least get them to the 2nd round..

I hate it when India lose but yesterday was too painful.. I know it's just a game.. India losing also would've been okay but them doing so without a fight is a reality i don't want to accept..

300

2007-03-19T16:16:00.000+05:30

Badly wanted to see this movie in the theatre but don't think i can for the time being.. So got the movie from Barry(Tankoo).. The movie created tremendous hype and i must say, it lived upto it..

The story is pretty simple and was given in the trailers itself.. A thousand nations of the Persian empire descend upon the greek land of Sparta, said to have the finest warriors.. How king Leonidas and his army of 300 men take on the millions of the persian army forms the story..

The entire story is based on Frank Miller's graphic novel of the same name.. It apparently sticks entirely to the book without deviating.. There are just a couple of small twists in the story but guess they are pretty obvious anyway..

It's hard to believe the entire movie except one scene(not sure which one) was shot with a blue screen.. The movie looks great on screen.. The battle sequence being one of the best.. The movie does have a bit of gore though but it isn't over the top and i guess you need it when depicting a battle.. Gerard Butler does a great job as King Leonidas..

All in all, a great movie watching experience.. Would've been ten times better on the big screen.. A must watch for every movie buff..

(If you want to read more about the battle of thermopyle, read the book 'The Spartan' by Valerio Massimo Manfredi)

WRONG TIMING??

2007-03-17T11:38:00.000+05:30

It's been the vettiest semester I've had in college.. So much fun.. So much oor suthifying.. Regained old friends.. Got closer to few people.. All in all a great semester so far..

We had a great few weeks planned ahead of us.. A trip to kodai to to escape from the Chennai heat was the first on our agenda.. Project had taken a back seat even before it had begun.. Don;t think anyone really cares.. I was living a dream..

Well, dreams do come to an end and so did this one.. In what can be called a freaky accident, a guy in my gym dropped weights on my leg and fractured my toe.. Real bummer considering i have been really enthusiastic the last few weeks about getting into proper shape.. Yes, I've put on some extra weight that i shouldn't have..

I didn't think it would be that big a deal but the last couple of days have been pretty tough.. Not being able to walk after having been able to do so all my life sucks.. Walking around the house itself has been very hard.. God knows what i would've done if not for my sister.. Love her..

To top this, had to attend CAT yesterday given how badly i had screwed up ATM in CAT1, my worst performance till date:) .. Thanks to Barry, Bill, Peter, John, Charles, J and Adi for helping me move around college..

All this ensured i miss the Kodai trip but guess it's getting cancelled now anyway.. TCS had to keep their fitness test next week.. Not sure if I'll be able to make it though..

The doctor is gonna plaster up my leg tomorrow.. I apparently need four weeks of rest minimum before I'm back on my feet, literally.. Don't know how I'm going to kill time.. Pity i watched all the movies i have, would've been the ideal time to use them.. Don't think I'll be able to make it to the scheduled trip two weeks from now, so guys have fun planning :D .. I sincerely hope my leg heals soon.. Want to get back to being vetti, oor suthifying and chumma driving my bike around.. Which reminds me, it sucks not being able to ride the bike.. Don't want to end my college life this way..

WHAT A FEAT!!!

2007-03-17T10:49:00.001+05:30

There's just one word to describe this.. WOW.. Herchelle Gibbs hitting Van Bunge of Netherlands for 6 six's in an over.. The first time ever in ODI history.. Kudos..

GRRRRR

2007-03-16T02:32:00.001+05:30

Chennai is getting extremely irritating.. I love the city but the last few weeks have got on my nerves.. All the latest movies release all over India except Chennai for god knows what reason.. Ghost Rider delayed by a week.. The lesser said about Departed the better.. Still no sign of The Number 23..

I would've been patient about it still but this week was the limit.. 300 openend to great reviews all over the world and they started playing trailers on TV saying it's releasing on the 16th.. Only yest did i realise it was for the rest of India and not Chennai.. Absolute idiots.. Wonder why they are doing this.. This is the one reason that prompts me to download most movies and watch rather than wait.. I'll make an exception for 300 though.. Hope and pray it releases soon..

BUDDING TALENT

2007-03-14T23:02:00.001+05:30

Santy playing Unn Siripinil from Pachaikili Muthucharam.. Excellent given that noone taught him this song.. Kudos.. Santy Fox!!!

MY NEW PHONE

2007-03-14T05:05:00.000+05:30

A full circle and i'm back with Sony again.. Got myself a new Sony Ericsson K750i.. A while back actually but forgot to write about it.. The phone is just amazing..

2 Mega pixel Camera, Unlimited video recording, radio and Mp3 support, Extendable memory.. Infra red and Bluetooth enabled.. All this and it costs less than 10k.. The only problem with the phone is battery which also is decent and lasts atleast a day of heavy usage..

If any of you are planning on buying a new phone, go for this phone.. Sony rocks!!!

WEST INDIES VS PAKISTAN

2007-03-14T04:35:00.000+05:30

Perfect start to the World Cup, at least for West Indies it was.. The host nation taking on Pakistan at Sabina Park, Jamaica..

The West Indies made a great comeback while batting from the situation they were in.. Marlon Samuels and Brian Lara led the way followed by a Blitzkrieg by Dwayne Smith.. Umar Gul and Rao Iftikar were the pick of the Pakistan bowlers..

The West Indies struck early blows and followed it with wickets at periodic intervals.. Dwayne Smith again played a vital part getting the wickets of Mohammad Yousuf and Inzamam.. Dwayne Bravo was amazing both while bowling and fielding.. Shoaib Malik was the only one who put up a good fight scoring 62 off 54 balls..

Dwayne Smith picked up the man of the match with a fine performance.. A great team effort by the West Indies and a thoroughly deserved victory..

WORLD CUP

2007-03-14T04:28:00.000+05:30

The mega event has begun, the one we've all been waiting for (i have atleast).. Gonna ensure many sleepless nights for everyone.. Probably the most unpredictable world cup so far given the rise and fall in form of various nations..

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that India should win the world cup.. They seem a pretty balanced side with lots of flexibility.. My ideal semi finalists would be Australia, South Africa, New Zealand (atleast for Stephen Fleming's sake) and India.. Lets see what it ends up as..

Ooh Aah India, Aaya India.. Ladega Toh Jeetega!!!

AMAZE '07

2007-03-14T04:15:00.000+05:30

Indian Institute of Planning and Management(IIPM), Chennai had organised a concert by Shaan, KK and Anuradha Shriram as the finale of their culturals on March 10th.. I hadn't heard even heard of this place till then.. Nice way to get publicity..

The turnout for the show was very poor.. They bumped us all in front since there were too few people.. The returns from the show go to some charity apparently, so that's my good deed for the week(Yaay!!!)..

The concert began about half an hour late.. KK started off with Yaaron and sang his regular set of songs Tadap Tadap, Strawberry, Pal etc.. The highlight was Kya Mujhe Pyaar Hai.. Amazing Performance.. Loved it..

I still have no idea why they asked John Britto's dance group to perform.. We conveniently used that time to go have dinner.. Pretty Unimpressive.. Next on was Anuradha Shriram.. An okay performance.. Couple really nice numbers mainly cause i like tamizh music (which most people there didn't seem to)..

When Shaan came on stage, it was dhamaka again.. Started brilliantly with Main Hoon Don ( or Shaan).. He was amazing.. Pity he didn't sing any Rahman songs though.. All three singers finally came together for a few numbers.. Shaan and KK did the 'O Podu' chorus when Anuradha Shriram sang Gemini..

They ended the night brilliantly with four tracks.. 'Dus Bahane','Koi Kahe', 'It's The Time To Disco' and 'Where's The Party Tonight'.. The three of them did a small medley of songs after this.. Suchitra of Radio Mirchi fame compered the show and she looked hot.. All in all, a great day.. Super fun..

NEW ZEALAND ROCK!!!

2007-02-20T23:51:00.000+05:30

I didn't want to blog about this again but it's just too tempting when the Aussies lose.. Imagine a team breaking the same record twice in a span of 4 days.. Amazing is not the word..

Aussies began brilliantly and set a huge target of 347.. Hayden scored 181 which is the highest score by an Australian.. I guess the Aussies will now begin to expect losing whenever they score more than 330.. Brilliant batting by New Zealand.. Superb whitewash..

Some stats about the match courtesy cricinfo,
1. New Zealand's total of 350 for 9 is the second-highest in a successful run-chase.This result also means that the top four successful run chases in ODIs have all come against Australia.

2.This is also the first time since 1997 that Australia have been blanked 3-0 in a bilateral series.

3.Matthew Hayden's unbeaten 181 has now become the highest ODI score in a losing cause.

4.The 26 sixes blasted in this match - 16 by Australia and 10 by New Zealand - equals the record for most number of sixes in a game.

5.The only two players who have been a part of all four highest run-chases are Michael Hussey and Nathan Bracken, and neither has done a bad job in these games. Hussey has notched up scores of 88*, 81, 105 and 13 - 287 runs at 95.67 - while Bracken has taken 9 for 218 from 38.3 overs - an average of 24.22.

6.Hussey has the unflattering record of having lost every ODI he has captained.

The Aussies were in enough trouble already and their next blow came today when Mathew Hayden fractured a toe.. This means that he also is highly unlikely to participate in the World Cup..

A Day that belonged to New Zealand.. A series victory that was well deserved..

PACHAIKILI MUTHUCHARAM

2007-02-20T23:09:00.000+05:30

Gautham Menon's fourth outing as director comes with a lot of expectations.. After handling 2 cop stories (Same story told twice actually), he moves into a new territory, life of a middle aged man..

The movie begins with Sharath Kumar and his happy family.. His son's illness slowly brings about some tension between his wife and him.. He meets Jyothika then on the local metro, one thing leads to another and infidelity comes into play.. What happens from here forms the rest of the story..

The best part of the movie was Harris Jeyaraj's music.. 4 beautiful songs, but i wish they had pictured 'Karu Karu' properly instead of using it as background score.. I thought the 2 twists in the second half were good though none of my friends seem to think so..

Jyothika's performance was easily the best in the movie.. Sharath Kumar and Andrea played their parts decently but they should both learn how to emote in songs.. Milind Soman would've made a really convincing villain if not for the dubbing.. I still don't understand why Gautham Menon keeps using his own voice for villain characters..

3 things i learned from the movie,
1. Never talk to pretty lasses in the local metro (Madhavan should be told this :))
2. Never go to any resort on the ECR stretch
3. Never expect so much from a movie just cause it's by Gautham Menon

A mediocre effort which i would rate above 'Vettaiyadu Vilayadu' but not up to Minnale or Kaakha Kaakha..

POKKIRI

2007-02-19T17:12:00.000+05:30

Supposedly the best pongal release.. Also marks Prabhu Deva's debut as a director in Tamizh.. I must say i expected more from this movie having seen Nuvastante..

Starts off in standard vijay style, with him bashing up twenty guys and an intro song which also features Prabhu Deva.. What follows is what we have already seen in umpteen movies.. Asin falls for Vijay.. Love blossoms with no reason.. She thinks he is the bad guy right before the interval..

How vijay proves that he is the good guy and how Prakash Raj is captured finally forms the rest of the story.. Typical masala vijay entertainer.. Normally one of the highlights in his movie is songs.. Only 2 songs stand out here though 'Vasantha Mulai' and 'Dole Dole'..

Vijay is the only one who stays in your mind after the movie.. Nasser, Napolean and Prakash Raj play their respective cameos well.. Asin's role is absolutely meaningless.. They could've reduced the amount of blood in the movie though..

Surprisng how a movie like this can get so much fame while a movie like Aayitha Ezhuthu is put down.. Anyway, If vetti and nothing else to do, go watch this movie..

A DAY TO CELEBRATE

2007-02-18T19:21:00.000+05:30

I guess Mcgrath's expression says it all, yet another day to forget for the aussies.. The phrase 'yet another day' normally figures with an Aussie win but the tides seemed to have changed now..

Aussies began the day brilliantly by posting 336 for four with brilliant knocks from Haddin, Hussey, Hodge and White.. Hodge is becoming very consistent.. Shane Bond was excellent given how quickly the aussies were scoring with figues of 9-4-39-1..

I don't know what inspires New Zealand to play so well against the Aussies.. A great cricketing rivalry.. New Zealand chased down the target with 10 balls to spare.. Ross Taylor scored another century which laid the platform.. Supporting knocks form Fulton and Mcmillan saw the kiwis home..

This was a day to celebrate not because of the Aussie loss but their fall from dominance.. Cricket was getting a bit boring with Aussies winning everything they played.. With 2 succesive series losses and 4 losses in a row, guess all teams will be a bit more confident to take on the might Australian side..

I'm sure there will be arguements like Aussies played without 5 of their main guys.. Even if Ponting, Gilchrist and Clarke had played, i don't think they could've scored faster than what Haddin, Hodge and White scored today.. Lee is doubtful of playing the world cup anyway, so no point saying he'll strengthen the team..

This incidentally was the second highest run chase ever in ODIs.. The three greatest run chases so far are,
438-9 (49.5 overs) South Africa v Australia Johannesburg 2005/06
337-5 (48.4 overs) New Zealand v Australia Auckland 2006/07
332-8 (49 overs) New Zealand v Australia Christchurch 2005/06

Aussies at the recieving end all three times.. Hmmm, guess greatness has a way of showing itself.. To be a little fair to the Aussies, they have the fourth highest run chase ever..
330-7 (49.1 overs) Australia v South Africa Port Elizabeth 2001/02

This loss meant that South Africa move to the top of the ICC cricket ratings.. Hats off to them.. Like i said in my previous post, i sincerely hope the Aussies bounce back but not enough to win the World Cup :).. Wishing them all the very best..

GOLIATH FELLED??

2007-02-16T17:11:00.000+05:30

We've witnessed some great cricket the last couple of weeks.. India showing what they were capable of, both at winning and losing.. South Africa coming back very strongly in the last 2 one dayers.. None of this was as surprising as to what happened to the Aussies..

Going into the finals of the VB series in grand style, they were expected to take the trophy home with ease.. What followed was absolutely spectaculer.. England was a team that was tarnished by media and cricket legends all around the world just a few weeks back.. Making a great comeback, they made it to the finals of the VB series..

Inspired by great batting from collingwood and a superb performance by Andrew Flintoff, England took the series 2-0.. Aussies knew they were in all sorts of trouble with Ricky Ponting admitting that aussies wouldn't make it into the World Cup semis if they played this way.. Kudos to England for a fine achievement..

The next problem facing Aussies was the World Cup squal selection.. With Gilchrist making himself unavailable for the first 3 weeks and Symonds in serious doubts of playing, the Aussie team doesn't look so strong on paper.. A surprise was the exclusion of Stuart Clark.. No idea what they have against him..

If all this wasnt't bad enough, nightmare struck Australia today.. Australia took on New Zealand in the first ODI of the Chappell - Hadlee series.. And for the first time since 1979, they were bowled out for less than 150 runs in a completed first innings.. Shane Bond just ripped through them.. What followed was worse.. For the first time in cricket history, the Aussies were beaten by ten wickets.. Hats off to New Zealand..

All this isn't very encouraging before the World Cup.. Brett Lee now is down with a knee injury and is in serious doubts of playing the world cup.. Ponting and Clarke are fighting a Back and Hip injury respectively.. With half the squad in injury or in doubt, one seriously wonders if this world Cup will see the fall of the Aussies..

Another interesting info about them is that the Aussies have been at the top position in the ICC rating ever since they were started in 2002.. If they lose the Chappell - Hadlee series, they will for the first time, move to second place..

A very gloomy month for the aussies but i sincerely hope they come back.. I surely don't want them to win the world cup but it wouldn't be a proper tournament without a really good Aussie performance.. We just have to wait and watch whether this Aussie team can bounce back..

STAR ROCK

2007-02-09T02:00:00.000+05:30

The occasion was supposed to be Gau’s birthday but due to some late planning, we never did make it that day.. So, decided in college itself and made plans to go there the next day.. Chennai has too much traffic at seven in the evening.. Most of us got delayed and we finally made it there at 7:30..

This is the second time i'm going there and i thought the place was different from how i remembered.. For one, they were playing loud music (read 'loud').. The place was a lot more crowded than the previous time..

Each one of us ordered our favourite drinks.. Santy did too, he had Fruit Punch :).. The best part of Star Rock is the pop corn, chips etc they give.. It's free and it's unlimited.. They were playing great music, loud but great.. We were laughing for everything anyone said.. Great time..

The excitement for me was on the way back.. Was driving gau's bike and we were joking.. Turned to the right to say something to gau and didn't see the bike parked ahead of me.. Some idiot frying peanuts in the middle of the road.. I hit the guy's bike, just a small part of his bike.. Santy later told me i knocked off that guy's indicator and some damage to his rearview mirror.. Panicked and immediately drove like crazy.. Took some crazy turns and saw some guy chasing me.. Finally slowed down to see who it was and it turned out to be Santy!!! Sucker..

Went to the beach from there and laughed quite a bit about it.. Great night, super excitement.. I should thank my lucky stars i didn't have a bigger mishap.. This is to the man of that day, Happy Birthday Gau!!!

THE PRESTIGE

2007-02-08T01:25:00.000+05:30

This was movie watching at its best.. The movie has a huge starcast.. Hugh Jackman, Chritain Bale, Scarlett Johansson and Michael Caine with Chritopher Nolan at the helm..

Just imagine starting a movie with Hugh Jackman dying.. Don't worry, this is no spoiler.. Sets the tone of the movie brilliantly.. The tagline describes the movie perfectly "A Friendship, That Became a Rivalry...A Rivalry, That Became a Battle."..

Two upcoming magicians, Hugh Jackman and Chritian Bale go out of their way to ruin each other's career.. Their friendship is embittered by one incident which makes them rivals, and this becomes an obsession to be better than the other one.. Brilliant story, an even better screenplay.. The last 30 mins of the movie is absolutely electrifying (literally, watch the movie and you'll realise why)..

I can't think of any two actors who would've pulled off the 2 roles like these guys did.. Hugh Jackman was just awesome in a role that needed to show obsession and loss at the same time.. I never thought Christian Bale was a great actor but this movie changed my mind.. He seethes evil into his character.. This is a pure evil vs evil battle.. Michael Caine and Scarlett Johansson are perfect as supporting cast..

Most credit for this movie must go to the director.. To visualise of a story like this shows his creativity.. Magic is no simple thing.. Christopher Nolan achieves it here with great applomb.. A must watch..

For those who want to know what the title means,
The Pledge : the magician shows the audience something that appears ordinary, but is probably not, making use of misdirection.
The Turn : the magician makes the ordinary act extraordinary.
The Prestige : the effect of the illusion is produced.

AUDIO COUNTDOWN

2007-02-07T00:39:00.000+05:30

I've decided to start putting up a songs countdown whenever a significant number of songs have released between each rating.. So here goes my current list

1
Song : Thoduvaen
Movie : Deepavali
Composer : Yuvan Shankar Raja
Singer : Haricharan

Song : Karu Karu

Movie : Pachaikili Muthucharam

Composer : Harris Jeyaraj
Singer : Naresh Iyer, Karthik, Krish

Song : Unnakul Naane
Movie : Pachaikili Muthucharam

Composer : Harris Jeyaraj

Singer : Bombay Jayashree

4
Song : Pogadhe
Movie : Deepavali
Composer : Yuvan Shankar Raja
Singer : Yuvan Shankar Raja

Song : June Pona

Movie : Unnaale Unnaale
Composer : Harris Jeyaraj
Singer : Krish, Arun

Special mention to Unn Siripinil from Pachaikili Muthucharam and Unnaale Unnaale title track.. Yuvan and Harris have been giving some great music for a while now.. Hmmm.. Wonder if Rahman's reading this..

FIRST LOVE

2007-02-04T02:03:00.000+05:30

This post is to pay a tribute that means so much to me and has been a vital part of the last four years of my life, Besant Nagar beach.. It all started in 11th standard i guess.. Going for a small ride along the beach after IIT classes. . The frequency of visits slowly started increasing and last year i'm sure i went there atleast 250 days (I'm not kidding)..

This has become my favourite hangout place.. Initially just friends meeting up and chatting.. Then came the craze of frizbee which died out due to some unfortunate circumstances.. We had made it a point to meet at the beach and play frizbee during every day of our exams.. Awesome fun..

Over the last year and a half, have started parking my bike in front of JP, sit there for a while and then go to beach.. Juice Point (JP) is a small coffee shop at the end of the beach.. Lovely place, guys will just love it.. Do go there sometime..

Niru has been the one guy who was always ready to come to the beach.. I remeber so many times when we've messaged each other saying "Beach?" at 9:30 and we would both end up going there at 10:00.. Or stopping at the beach at 10:30 before going to stay over at some friend's place.. Thanks for those wonderful times mate..

This place is not only about all the fun, it has seen my sad times too, which is what makes it great as a whole.. Whenever i am upset or angry, i immediately take my bike and head to the beach.. Go to JP, complete 'formalities', have a coffee and chumma sitting helps getting back to normal.. I've had quite a few arguments here (Some pretty serious).. But when you leave the beach, you still find yourself somehow calm and free of worries (atleast i do)..

The beach has given my friends and me a lot of wondeful memories, pity i can't quote most things here.. Gau will remember a couple.. Meeting up in the beach at ten in the night to discuss 'current developments' and its consequences.. Making Niru and me go in search of things along the entire stretch of the beach..

We've had a lot of hilarious moments here.. Niru giving his various theoris on stars and what not.. Each guy commenting about people walking past.. Referring to various directions to look in 'Machan, super hot chick at 3'0 clock'..

I could go on and on about this place.. I hate one part about me though.. Been going there all this while and i keep forgetting the name of the monument in the picture (Yes, it has a name).. This place has been integral to me for the past few years and i have no idea what i'll do without going there every week.. Hope TCS has a heart..

BABEL

2007-02-01T01:12:00.000+05:30

Just got back from watching BABEL.. The title means 'A scene of confusion and noise' and that is exactly what the movie portrays..

An american couple (Brad Pitt, Cate Blanchett) go to moroco to spend sometime alone.. When Cate gets shot at, all hell breaks loose.. America immediately say it's terrorism.. Everything that follows is confusion..

Simultaenously, story moves to San Diego where Brad's house keeper takes his kids across the border for her son's wedding.. Here again, the cross border conflicts arises..

The last track is that of deaf-mute chinese girl who feels lonely and alienated.. A small thread that connects all three stories is what forms BABEL..

While each part was shot brilliantly, the thin connection doesn't have much significance.. Some sequences that were particularly well shot were the Boy going to the cops saying he only shot the ameriacn and that his brother wasn't at fault, Brad pitt's anger when the ambulance doesn't come & the scene that follows and finally, the scene when the house keeper is deported back to Mexico.. The finale with the girl willing to begin life afresh was also well written..

I'm now not sure what the Indian government uses as guidelines for censoring.. If the level of nudity and blood shown in the movie is allowed, then i see no reason why AXN should be banned.. Wierd..

As usual we guys ended up laughing for lots of mokkai's (Thanks mostly to ara).. Nice movie experince.. I still don't see how this movie beat 'Departed' to win the golden globe though.. Realistic cinema is the order of the day i guess..

MOVIES I LIKED IN 2006

2007-01-30T20:38:00.000+05:30

The Departed
Probably 'The Movie' of the year.. Huge star cast.. Jack Nicholson, Matt Damon, Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Wahlberg, Alec Baldwin.. Directed by Matrin Scorsese.. Doesn't that say everything.. The movie talks about moles in the Boston State Police and moles in the mob.. A great story (adapted though) with amazing screenplay made this movie a must watch..

Pirates Of The Caribbean : Dead Man's Chest
Marked the return of one of my favourite characters, Captain Jack Sparrow.. Savvy?? It is tough to match upto a succesfull prequel, but this one did that with effortless ease.. Hats off to the writers for bringing so much creativity on screen incorporating real life legends in reel life (Davy Jones, Flying Dutchman etc).. This was the movie i liked most in 2006.. Lots of twists and turns with a finale that made everyone sit up.. Did we just see what we think we did?? Can't wait for the third movie..

X-Men 3 : The Last Stand
Probably the most anticipated movie of 2006.. So much hype around it given the popularity of the first two movies.. What a way to wrap things up.. Amazing is not the word.. Cyclops was removed from the story and a couple of new characters added.. Wolverine and Jean Grey stole the show.. It's a pity they killed the character of Charles Xavier but that scene did take the movie to a higher level.. The last scene was the best.. Great movie, Great series..

Lucky Number Slevin
I'm not sure how many of you have even heard of this movie.. Still hasn't managed to release in India though Sathyam has had the poster there for a really long time.. Starring Bruce Willis, Morgan Freeman, Ben Kinsley, Josh Hartnett and Lucy Liu.. This had to be the best screenplay of 2006.. Extremely funny when it needs to be and serious simultaneously.. Josh hartnett comes up with a brilliant performance.. Highly recommended..

Rang De Basanti
Indian movie of the year.. Formidable cast, Rakhesh Mehra at the helm, A.R.Rahman music.. Everything was perfect.. A movie that made every Indian realise that he/she has a voice too.. The impact was mainly due to the cast.. Aamir Khan, Atul Kulkarni, Kunal Kapoor and Sharman Joshi played their parts to perfection.. Maddy was good in a brief cameo.. The man who stole the show though was Siddarth.. A south indian making Bollywood look up to his performance (Kamal still doesn't have that hold over them) is not a simple thing.. Kudos to Siddarth.. To all of you, Rang De Basanti!!!

Lage Raho Munnabhai
Yet another sequal this year.. This year has been really good as far as sequels are concerned (atleast the popular ones).. Great movie, no two ways about it.. Extremely funny and heart warming.. If Rang De Basanti followed Subhash Chandra bose, this spoke about Gandhigiri.. I don't think anyone else could've pulled off the roles played by Sanjay Dutt, Arshad Warsi and Boman Irani.. Great story, excellent screenplay.. This movie would've influenced more people than any other this year..

Don
Now, this is one movie i'm sure will meet with mixed reactions.. I haven't seen the original Don, so i didn't go to the theatres wondering if SRK will be better than the Big B.. Good story, nice twists and extremely stylish.. SRK played both parts perfectly.. Wasn't too impressed with Piyanka Copra.. Boman Irani is becoming really good at negative roles.. This movie may not be highly spoken of or win any awards, but it delievered what it promised.. Entertaiment..

Pattiyal
There have been many tamizh movies talking about gangsters this year.. But this movie stood out due to it's presentation.. A story about 2 orphans and what happens when they become hired hit men.. Perfect casting was the trick.. Aarya as the perenial drunkard was fun to watch.. This was probably Bharath's best role upto date.. Playing a deaf and dumb isn't easy but he seemed to do it with great applomb.. Terrific acting.. Certainly my tamil movie of the year..

It's a pity only one tamizh movie made it into the list.. Here's hoping to another great year of movie watching..

LONE WOLF

2007-01-29T21:02:00.000+05:30

I did something last night which i never ever expected myself to do.. I stayed back at IIT for the lone wolf quiz that was supposed to go from twelve in the night till the first rays of the sun appeared.. I do agree, the hope of free vodka influenced my decision more than wanting to stay for the sake of the quiz..

I guess the cops knew about the drinking too.. They were there at the OAT till about 1:30.. The quiz began an hour late.. I couldn't believe that so many people were actually vetti enough to watch the quiz.. A major part of the audience were people from Quiz Federation of India (QFI).. Those guys have a pretty good sense of humour..

They went about the quiz in a very slow and relaxed manner which was okay given the fact that they had the entire night ahead of them.. At about 1:45 the QFI guys started passing a bottle of beer amongst themselves and people started smoking.. The guys who conducted had vodka as their theme i guess.. They had a round called absolute round and all of them had brought absolute vodka bottles.. Before the quiz, the caption on the screen read
God made grass,
Man made booze,
Choose your pick,
Main Quiz OAT
Guess their objective was clear from the beginning..

I am not an avid quizzer, so i may not be a good judge of things but i still think the way the guys answered the questions were phenomenal.. I have no idea how these guys are able to corelate all these things and even more surprised by how they came up with such questions.. Adi made us all proud by getting an answer about 'Pulp Fiction' right.. The brilliance here was that none of the QFI guys knew the answer.. Kudos Adi!!!

The Long Visual Connect had 28 images.. Phew!!! Swami (Last year's winner) actually cracked it within 12 images.. The next correct answer came at 24 i think.. The first break was at 3:30.. Think most guys there got high at this point only.. All of us went outside in J's car to a place called 'Hi-Look Cool Bar' outside IIT.. The bread omlette there is amazing..

When we got back, the quiz had started.. The effect of alcohol was pretty obvious in the audience.. The audience prize for correct answer was vodka again BTW.. The best question in the quiz as far as i am concerned was the second Long Visual Connect.. Here, instead of using images, they had used videos.. Hats off to Ramkumar (Kabala) for actually cracking it when he did..

The best part of all this was that it all happened in the presence of 2 professors from IIT who were part of the quiz team.. They didn't seem to care and were enjoying the proceedings.. It was a pity none of us had any alcohol with us.. It might have made the night a whole lot more memorable..

I always had this impression that IIT was Nerd Central.. Yesterday showed me how wrong i was.. Chetan bhagat had shown a similar scenario in 'Five Point Someone' but i wasn't convinced.. These IIT guys know how to have fun.. Work while you work and play while you play seems to be their moto.. Another thing that surprised me yesterday was the number of girls who stayed back to watch the quiz.. I didn't know Chennai had stop being extremely conservative..

We left by five thirty cause we had college that day.. Guess the quiz would've gone on till six or six thirty.. Gau later told me 'Pota' (not sure if that is how it's spelt) won the quiz.. He was leading comfortably anyway.. Nice experience.. Next time though, we need to make sure we don't go there empty handed..

LIGHT MUSIC AT SAARANG 2007

2007-01-29T06:20:00.000+05:30

Went for the light music finals last night.. Didn't go with much expectation.. Was vetti anyway, so went there..

The performances ranged from average to good.. Nothing extraordinary.. I personally don't like people performing hindi songs here unless it's a really good track, so didn't like the first performance by the team from Bangalore..

CEG, guindy were okay.. 'Hello Mister' from 'Iruvar' was really well done.. SSN i thought were really good.. They performed 'Chaiya Chaiya' and 'Konjam Nilavu' very well..

Crescent didn't register much of an impact.. I liked only 'Aadat' in the performance by Patrician college.. They could've done a lot better considering they are an arts and science college.. Loyola began with a very old song but i thought the singer was just brilliant in that.. Very well performed.. They screwed up 'Dhoom' though..

When the judges said they had looked for consistency and then said Loyola were the winners, i was pretty surprised.. SSN deserved to win..

The judge was Naresh Iyer, who's been singing a lot for A.R.Rahman off late.. When he came on stage, we realised the night wasn't over yet.. He began with 'Roobaroo' which was nothing short of brilliance.. Followed it up by an energetic rendition of 'Paatashala' that left the audience wanting for more..

He then performed 'Munbe Vaa' with just his vocals.. Beautiful.. The next song was a pleasent surprise.. 'Breathless'.. I'm running out of words for praise here.. The IIT guys said time was over and he had to stop performing now.. The crowd wanted a lot more.. The airtel sponsor was nice enough to request IIT to let Naresh perform one more song.. And what a way to end it, 'Dil Se Re'... I may not have been too impressed by his judging skills but his rendition ensured he won himself a new fan..

CHENNAI DREAMS

2007-01-28T00:08:00.000+05:30

Yes, Chennai finally got a match that wasn't rained out.. India Vs West Indies.. Though i've got bored of seeing these two teams play so much against each other in the past one year, i still went cause i was sure we would have a match..

Chepauk never ceases to amaze me.. Each time u enter the stadium, it's just breathtaking.. Gau and me got there an hour and half before play thinking there would be too much crowd.. The roar that greeted the players when they came for practice and warm up was unbelievable..

Indian innings began badly with gambhir getting out the second over.. It was all fireworks after that.. Uthappa's innings was one of the best i've seen by an Indian in recent times (Dinesh Karthik's innings in the previous match comes close).. His timing was so perfect and he seemed to play with so little effort..

I thought Sachin and Dravid did a great job by staying there long enough and taking India to about 230 in 34 overs.. Both played beautifully and got to well deserved half centuries.. An interesting point to note is that Sachin hit just 2 boundaries in his knock of 60 and still managed a strike rate of 91.. Terrific running between the wickets..

When Dravid got out, all hell broke lose.. The famous Indian batting collapse began and i still can't believe we were bowled out for 269.. Horrid performance considering the start we had..

It was a dream start for India in the bowling department too.. Getting Chris Gayle LBW first ball.. Morton followed soon but not before Sreesanth bowled what was possibly the worst over of the innings(22 runs with 10 runs as extras).. I still can't believe Ajit Agarkar has become India's pace spearhaead (Barring Zaheer Khan of course)..

Samuels is an underrated cricketer.. Economic bowling and he showed us today that he can weave magic with the bat too.. Amazing balance and placement.. Terrific innings to watch.. Pity he was dismissed at 98..

Lara is just style personified.. There is so much grace in his batting and today he showed why he is considered one of the best batsman ever.. Super innings by him and his partnership with Samuels ensured a Windies win.. Windies of course have a reputation to keep up and hence still managed to lose 7 wickets from the comfortable position they were in..

The only sour point of this match was a kid in front of me who kept jumping right through the match and kept blocking my view.. Idiot.. His dad must have given him an entire bottle of glucose before bringing him here.. So much energy..

Chennai crowd is just amazing.. They applauded not only the Indians but also when Windies made good stops etc.. It was very nice to hear them chant 'Lara Lara' when he was batting.. Great atmosphere for cricket..

Actor Rajnikanth was in the pavillion and apparently everyone there spent more time looking at him, than at the match.. Like they have a rule that each bowler must bowl only 10 overs, there must be a limit on number of times a trailor is played on the big screen.. They must've played the trailor of 'Pachaikili Muthucharam' like a million times.. I wanted to watch this movie badly but now i think i'll reconsider my decision (I know, i'm gonna end up watching the movie anyway)..

All in all, a great day of cricket.. Five really good innings that kept us entertained.. Samuels might have ensured his team a victory but it was Uthappa who won our hearts with a spellbinding performance.. This may not be the fairy tale ending that we hoped for but hey, it atleast didn't rain.. Thank God for that..

CREAM CENTER

2007-01-27T00:05:00.000+05:30

Heard a lot about this restaurant called Cream Center in R.A.Puram, so thought i'll go there for dinner.. A few friends of mine and me went there today..

They had told me there are a lot of people waiting there everyday but we were lucky and got a table pretty quickly.. The ambience was pretty good.. Very well designed.. We happened to see actor Aravind Swamy there.. The menu was pretty similar to New Yorker's..

Those were the only things good about the place.. The Cheese Quesadillas was not that great and quantity was miniscule given the price.. I particularly didn't enjoy the pasta.. The worst had to be the starter.. The lesser said about the paneer chilli fry, the better.. Bad would be an understatement.. The channa batura was good..

The only good food we had were the desserts.. The sizzling brownie with ice cream was just amazing, so was the chocolate sundae.. The chocolate milkshake wasn't that good apparently..

This is a place i certainly wouldn't recommend to people.. Extremely over priced, food not that great either.. Disappointing..

GLOBAL RHYTHMS

2007-01-25T23:45:00.000+05:30

Just got back from IIT.. Went there for the opening of Saarang 2007.. It began with a performance by a group called Global Rhythms.. They play a lot for Rahman nowadays..

I wasn't too keen on going in the beginning but the article in 'The Hindu' which said Rahman had made a promise to come if he was in town pushed me to go.. Got calls at 5PM saying IIT was jam packed and that there was no point going there.. Was vetti anyway, so a few friends of mine and me ended up there at 6:45..

To my surprise, the place was half empty and the band hadn't even come.. It was a long wait and the show finally started at 8:00PM.. By this time, the place had become full..

They started off with a classical number (which made a couple of my friends leave).. This was followed by a good fusion piece called 'ecstasy' and solo performances on the drums..

They played a mix of rahman songs next but sang only the raaga in each.. Very innovative.. The mandolin performance next was amazing.. The 'Thaniavarthanam' (not sure if i spelt it right) was a brilliant fusion piece on the drums, mirudangam and gadam..

What followed was the best part of the show.. They performed 'Shakalaka Baby'.. Amazing.. When the host said that their chief guest was coming, i was so excited it was going to be A.R.Rahman.. To my disappointment, it was his sister A.R.Rehana.. She performed 'Chaiya Chaiya' which began badly but was pretty satisfactory in the end..

They say the best is always saved for last but it unfortunately wasn't so.. The 'Dol Dol' performance didn't match upto Shkalaka Baby.. All in all, it was an evening well spent.. A little part of me thought Rahman would actually come.. Pity, guess i just have to wait till next time..

OPPORTUNITY LOST

2007-01-25T12:08:00.000+05:30

Yet again India missed out on making it into the final five of the oscar list for Best Foreign Film and this time we have only ourselves to blame.. Take a look at the nominations and you'll see Water amongst them as Canada's official entry..

Directed by Deepa Mehta and comprising of an all Indian cast of John Abraham, Lisa Ray and Seema Biswas, this movie has been through all problems that a movie can go through.. Shoots being cancelled, sets being wrecked.. Many would've given up under such circumstances but Deep Mehta gave it everything cause she wanted to finish the Fire-Earth-Water trilogy.. What a way to end it, an Oscar nomination..

You now wonder why this movie wasn't sent as India's official entry.. When Deepa Mehta started shooting for the film in varanasi, Hindu activists protested against the movie saying the movie besmirches India.. I didn't know Deepa Mehta was handing out bound scripts to everyone..

The movie focuses on the lives of widows forced into poverty in the city of varanasi during the pre independence era.. Water was appreciated all over the world getting rave reviews but didn't even manage to release in theatres here.. Not that they didn't try releasing it.. Every theatre that accepted to release the movie were threatened into not doing so.. Every distributor was scared to even buy the film..

On Feb 27, 2007 we'll know who takes the oscar for Best Foreign film.. I sincerely hope it goes to Water, not only cause it is an Indian film but it would some appreciation for the woman who put her everything to make this movie.. The good news is, the film might actually release in India before the Oscars.. It's been slated for a Feb 23 release.. As Deepa Mehta gears up for the oscars, i am sure so are the 'Hindu' activists for Feb 23..

GETTING STARTED

2007-01-25T01:45:00.000+05:30

Well, everyone seems to be blogging.. So i thought, why not see what it is all about?? I wouldn't say i'm good at writing but this sounded like fun.. Anyway, Welcome, Namaskar, Vanakkam..

ps: This maybe my only post..