Writing about nothing to write!?

I am writing a blog post after so many days and this is to write about my emptiness of mind, that has almost rendered my blog inactive...

There was a time when I used to blog every other day, about myself, about the things I see in day to day life, anything and everything that comes to my mind...

But today, while writing this, nothing comes to my mind except that "I have nothing to write"

Let my mind come out of its shell and the thinking process start.. I have things to write about loads of movies and songs, but I don't want to make filmi posts alone :(

Ultimately, nothing exciting in life has happened.... :-|

The photo tag... :)

Ok.. finally got a chance to complete the tag from Shrinivas.. I has been over a month since he tagged :P

Here are the rules.(Copy pasted from Shrinivas :P)

1. Type your answer to each of the questions below into FlickrSearch.
2. Using only the first page, pick an image.
3. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into fd’s mosaic maker.

And happily tagging Ram, Nirmal, Vikram and Venky with this one :D

1. What is your first name?
Srinivasan

2. What is your favorite food? Right now?
Dosa - Any variety of Dosa tastes good. :)

3. What high school did you go to?
St. Anne's Mat. Hr. Sec School

4. What is your favorite color?
Blue.. Anything blue :)

5. Who is/was your celebrity crush?
Priyanka Chopra :D

6. Favorite drink?
Filter coffee made by by mom

7. Dream vacation?
Lots of places around Europe

8. Favorite dessert?
Black forest gateau

9. What do you want to be when you grow up?
I have grown enough in size so should try to grow down hereafter :D Moving further, may be a good husband :P

10. What do you love most in life?
Music

11. One Word to describe you.
Lazy

12. Your flickr name.
centumsrini (As like many other login ids :P)

Credits for photos:
1. Vineeth Srinivasan, 2. Masala Dosa, 3. St Anne's School, Bristol, 4. water droplets in the shower - o.k. bokeh, 5. Priyanka Chopra ,Film actor, 6. Simple Filter Coffee!, 7. Zuiderkerk - Amsterdam HDR, 8. My wifes todays artwork: Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte (Black Forest gateau), 9. good husband, 10. Who needs DRUGS when there's MUSIC, 11. Ci-Ci & PB, 12. IMG_0532

Thoughtless Thoughts....

It’s been months since I made a solid and original post here which is non-filmi. Thoughts are locked in a heavy box and still searching for the key. Shaking the box had a few them spilling out and here they are....

• Airtel barred my outgoing calls few days back. Calling customer care on 121 said my outgoing has been barred for non-payment. Surprised at this (my ECS payment was already taken for the month) I called up customer care from landline. Then I learnt the real reason. My team mate had lost her mobile and to call customer care she used my mobile in the morning. After asking her for all details that is as good as getting her whole bio data, the "extra intelligent" customer care representative had barred calls for my number instead of hers. Then what? After some nice talks, they had to activate my outgoing in an hour...

• The greatest entertainment channel Doordarshan Chennai aka Podhigai, after its innovative ideas like solo teacher teaching in an empty classroom, music band of bunch of school kids with kitchen wares as instruments, cooking competition where the cooked dish occupies screen background... uff... let me stop... Has come up with new idea of a Quiz show for housewives(or house paatis) called "Aasai Dosai". The team names are Onion Rava, Special Saadha and Masala :O The show is more like maamis arattai in veetu thinnai on an afternoon with no professionalism. No editing nothing. Paricipants talk haphazardly to the host and between themselves after answering the "questions"(!!!) Couldn't bear for even 5 minutes so channel shift :P

• This dance show called Maanada Mayilada in Kalignar TV is good. I watch a whole bunch of "reality" dance shows like Jodi No. 1, Aatam paatam, Chak De Bache, Yeh Hai Jalwa etc. just because I love watching people dance. But this show is something different, in the sense, the choreography and sets are really good and most participants are good dancers rather than popular TV stars. Also there is no tear jerking emotional scenes or fights between participants and judges followed by a suya puraanam singing by the judge. The show is purely for dance, dance and nothing else. 2 and half hours a week seems like too much with almost an hour gone in ads, but the show is worth a watch.

• Traveling in Chennai buses has become more of a comfortable experience than a painful torture as it was before. With lots of new buses (still the green color devils are roaming for shorter routes) and routes covering whole length and breadth of Chennai, traveling has become faster and easier. And paying more charge in deluxe buses has at least the benefit of a courteous conductor, even though you don't get a seat. :P Still waiting for a chance to try out the AC buses zooming across Mount Road.

Whats not in a nick name?

I have been called with a lot of nicknames till now in life. Just thought of sharing them here so that people can choose some of these names to call me.. hee hee(Vettiya irukken nu sollama epdilaam bittu podren illa? :D)

Guru: As far as I know, this is the first nickname I had. My mom's sister used to call me by this name. She is a devotee of Lord Guruvayoorappan(of course me too :)) and was calling me by this name for sometime. After that no one had called me so.

Keerai: I don't know why and how I got this name. My uncles and cousins used to call me like this when I was about 2-3 years old :) May be because of my food preferences. ;-)

Kaaki: Supposed to be short form of Karthik.:P My cousins were calling me like that for many years.

Srini/Seeni/Cheeni: Very common for a person named Srinivasan. No reasons needed I guess :)

Kulu: Nicknamed by my youngest cousin when he was a small kid. I also call him by the same nickname. God only knows what that means :D

Professor: In college days. Because I have taken so many seminars and general learning sessions enough to kill people with my mokkais :P

Thala: Named by friends in Bangalore for no known reason. Its a common name for many people in IT industry though

KSR: Thats how I nicknamed myself on Orkut. The full form of KSR is obvious. Today many people know me like that.

Few other names were censored fearing self damage :D Anyways, guess this is enough for now :P

Good Bye 2007 :( Welcome 2008 :))

Before I start, this is my 50th post this year and 150th post in this blog :) :) :)

Thanks to everyone who have tolerated all my junk till date and still alive :D

End of yet another adventurous year and beginning of a new year... Lots of dreams, hopes and wishes...

2007 was a good year for me personally and professionally barring a few instances. Few things I want to highlight are the following. 2 was my lucky number this year it seems, as you can see from most of the ones listed below ;-)

* Got couple of awards at work place. Established a good name with my work and got a big and cheerful team to work with.

* Went to USA on an official trip for couple of months. I would have been the luckiest person to complete a trip successful in aspects, may be God's grace. Had a great weather to live in, very indian atmosphere, visited lots of places and enjoyed a lot. Bonus was a short trip around Singapore in return journey.

* Got myself a laptop from US, a long time dream come true. That increased my system count to 2 and yeah, laptop has a dual core processor :D

* Changed my mobile twice this year. Was happy with my Nokia 6270 and changed over to Nokia 6233 at the right time. I am too happy with this now :)

* My orkut profile was hacked by some idiot, but thankfully he gave me the chance to come back with 2 profiles again, clearly partitioning my interests and activities on orkut into two halves.

* Bought two household gadgets for my mom: A mixer grinder as a replacement for the out of service one and a two-in-one to play old devotional cassetes at home(inspite of having devotional songs on my PC too)

* And last but not the least.. hee hee... Enjoyed two Vijay movies this year. I care a damn about how others like it, but I enjoyed both of them very well. (Of course, there is a list of other movies I saw and enjoyed, and who knows, it might also end up with a count of 2*x :P:D)

Okie.. Enough of PJs I think... :))

Wishing everyone a New Year filled with good health, new hope and new beginnings!
May year 2008 open up for you more opportunities, lead you onto the path of continued success, happiness and prosperity! I wish that the coming year showers on you all that you ever wished for! Good luck and smiles, good cheer and ...

A Very Happy New Year! :)

Sweet Memories!!!

Two days back, I was cleaning up my table draw after a long time. Long time here indicates a gap of more than 6 months... No no.. I was not doing it to write one more tag as the purse tag. It just happened...

That draw was a dump yard for me through years from my college days where in I put anything and everything that blocks my table and will not be of any use in near future. So as I was digging in, I found:

* Compass tightener(not from school.. :D I got one in my college to draw my Sumeeth Charts)
* A car that I made by joining bits and pieces I got as free with some biscuit pack
* My set squares(from engineering drawing)
* A file dumped with a lot of my resume xerox copies and mark sheet copies(it went in after I joined my job)
* Few old magazines
* Paper cuttings from Science and Technology supplement of Hindu. I have never bothered to read any of them till now :P
* Almost a dozen wasted CDs
* One 3.5" floppy. I thought it was time to sing oppari for it, but alas!! It worked fine in my system ;-)
* Lots of invitations. I had this madness on invitation designs and had collected dozens from school days. They are still there!!

And then, I laid my hands on it. My slam book!!!

When people got cute slam books from Archies' and similar places in my fourth year, I got a rather simple one, it was actually a simple unruled notebook that was eco friendly. I mean made without cutting a tree! I had atleast the happiness of saving a tree.

I had given a small intro of myself with my likes and dislikes(almost all holds good even now) As I turned pages, I was excited to read after years once again what people had thought about me. Their funny comments, kalaasals, wishes, praises, nakkals, touching sentiments.. It was like going back to college days!!!

Those memories all still afresh in my mind and the notebook too is still new as I had got it from the shop. Friends are for away from me now, haven't spoken to many for months and years... But those few lines they had written about me speak a lot...

I miss my friends!!! Miss u all :(((

Ok, to end this on a happy note, I would like to wish a few people belated wishes through this post. Its always good to be born on the last week of the year -that's what I feel- because that one day will erase an year of all bad memories and you will expect a new year, a fresh start in few days. So the lucky ones are:

Divya - Dec 27th (Thanks to slam book)
Tanveer - Dec 28th
Nirmal - Dec 29th
Brindha - Dec 30th
Rajesh - Dec 31st

Wishing all you people all happiness and good luck in the new year and may God bless you all with good health and required wealth!!! ;-)

P.S: Watched a Telugu movie called "Happy" today, ironically almost cried towards the end becoz of so much of love feelings :P It was an entertaining movie starring Allu Arjun(I don't like him at all, but he has done a good job in the movie) and Genelia D'souza. Was a modified remake of Azhagiya Theeye in Tamil :)

A friend called Ubuntu

This post is dedicated to Linus Torvalds and one of his greatest admirers.

My system went for a toss last week because of some alleged hard disk problems and my hard disk was sent for diagnosis. That’s when my friend gave me Ubuntu, a version of Linux which I had not used before. My system is running without a hard disk for past 3 days and without me getting the slightest feel of it, thanks to the Ubuntu Live Version CD given by my friend.

Previous instances of me working on Linux was some version of Red Hat as a part of my NIIT course and Knoppix for practicing some scripting during my corporate training period. However I am still somewhat linked with open source as all project work I had done in the past 2 years were on Unix platform.

Back to Ubuntu, I never knew Linux was so stylish, user friendly and powerful, it looks more cool than a windows environment, of course with a greater stability that is inbuilt in Linux. I was back online after 10 days with this and I was even able to connect my digicam and import photos from it through an already available utility(unlike Windows where in it creates a dynamic drive from which I will have to copy the required pics).

I was wondering if I shall continue to work on the same by installing the OS once I get my hard disk up. But anyways, accustomed to working on the cheap windows UIs, I don’t think I will do it now.

Anyways, in future, any day any problem, I have a trusted friend to save me…. Ubuntu rocks!!! :-)

Non stop Non sense

Its all about the cries, yells, shouts and useless talks going on everywhere about Indian cricket team and their poor performance in World Cup. I would say, the disappointment caused for fans is only due to the attitude of fans themselves and nothing else...

The utmost stupidity of giving more importance to cricket than any other sports, considering cricket to be the prestige of India and cricketers as demi gods has all caused this utter disaster for fans' expectations...

As an SMS says and an article in recent magazine quotes, "we are not discussing anyday about the sucess and failures of our satellite launches, about why India cannot win a single gold medal in Olympics inspite being a country of 110 crores". Absolutely!!! We don't even know the names of achievers in many other sports... No one anywhere spoke about Vishwanathan Anand achieving World No. 1 status recently...

All that bothers our people is cricket - India wins it or loses it, whatever be the case. The height of stupidity is when people say "maanatha vaangitaanga" and "shame to our country". Is cricket the deciding factor of India's status in world stage?? What an ignorant talk is this!!!!

Let this loss in world cup be an eye opener for the morons who celebrate cricket as a religion in our country. It is just a game, atleast India has a place in it. We are not even a team in soccer, the much bigger game watched worldwide... So I guess we have lots of better works to do than to sit and analyse why and what made India perform badly.

Using this mad rage of people, FM stations, retired cricket stars and few other junk analysts earn money. Thats all happens everytime. I wish people realise this soon and watch cricket just as a game and not as India's prestige issue. And for God's sake these cricketers are just men and not super heroes!!!! They cannot do whatever ur mind wishes them to do!!!

P.S: The still in the post is for curing people who have landed in local asylum after India's world cup debacle :P

Belated Wishes for Woman's day!!!!

Woman's day was on 8th March, that too last week :-D I know... But I dedicate this article to all powerful women in this world with belated wishes from me. And I take this opportunity to post an article from Rediff.com about my Goddess :-D

India's Best actresses ever - No.1: Madhuri Dixit


India's sweetheart. Madhuri Dixit is the actress, an all-time chimera of the quintessential Bollywood heroine. From danseuse to dunce, from dreamy to droll, from Dayavan to dhak-dhak -- not just did she excel, but armed with that mega smile, she ruled over the nation with absolute power.

Miss Dixit really broke onto the scene with 1988's Tezaab, the film establishing a few simple truths -- India had flipped for the Ding-dong-ding dance, Madhuri looked good with Anil Kapoor, and the lady sure could act. Then came a spate of films cashing in on that formula: hit musicians creating songs the Kathak dancer would give her own twist to, the everpresent Anil Kapoor and a meaty part for Madhuri. And while this string ran with great glee, soon it was apparent that the only key ingredient in the mix was Dixit herself.

Like Julia Roberts, Madhuri's box office appeal is universally contagious. Bollywood's highest paid actress, she was the first to charge prices equivalent, and even eclipsing, the top heroes; it is currently rumoured that fees for her comeback feature are astronomical. Either way, it's a terrific investment. Madhuri's films have enjoyed enormous appeal, even without mainline heroes, with audiences readily queuing up to see just the superstar on screen.

Madhuri braved possibly the worst fashion fiascos through her career and yet emerged on top -- a staggering achievement considering those 80s polka-dotted frocks. She's turned barefoot artists into filmmakers, young Khans into romantic heroes, wasted scripts into eminently watchable films, cornball farce into classic comedy, melodrama into mellow.

Heck, she even made marriage seem fun.

The Nerd Test

Got a chance to attend the Nerd Test through a link given by Hell's Angel.

Atlast, got a chance in my life to prove that I am not a nerd, as others look at me :-D

Your Score Summary

Overall, you scored as follows:

47% scored higher (more nerdy),
1% scored the same, and
52% scored lower (less nerdy).

What does this mean? Your nerdiness is:

Somewhat nerdy. I mean face it, you are nerdier than about half the test takers.

"Enakku Venum"

Note: There is something peculiar or unusual about the railway ticket in the picture posted here. :P

Few weeks back, I went to Railway Reservation Counter for canceling a ticket. Normally, I take a pen with me whenever I go there or at least I will get a new one from shops nearby so that I need not beg for pens from others. That day, occupied in some thought I took a form and went straight to the line, when I realized I need a pen. Since it was a cancellation and just 2 minutes work, I thought I can borrow it from someone.

One idiot who looked like a cinema villain jumped into the queue in a single moment I left a space in front of me. I was not bothered and stayed quiet. I noticed he had a pen in his hand and was not using it as he had to look through the Train Timings chart before filling up the forms. I asked him politely, “Excuse me, pen please?” That fellow without even looking at my face shouted “Enakku venum!!!” and turned his face towards other side.

I stood for a moment not knowing how to react to him… It was so embarrassing, the way he reacted in front of so many people present there. I have lent pens to many people many times and even if they forget to return it back, I will not feel like going and asking them for it. So I never expected such a thing… This might not be a big insult or issue to keep in mind(after all, its a matter of 2 words he spoke.. :-D), but I wished I could let it out some where before forgetting it.. :-)

And may God bless that idiot with a brand new pen everyday for his lifetime and also the heart to lend it to others when they are in urgent need of it :P

P.S: Of course, there was a kind-hearted old man who helped me with a pen and gave a happy ending for my story :-D

P.S.2: The unusual thing about that railway ticket is that, it has a cost of "Rs.0" on it :-D

The Blog Tag....

First time after I started blogging, I am passed on a tag by Nirmal. Going from the blog history of Hell's Angel, this seems to be a good old tag thats doing rounds for a long time... Beleive me, it took less than 20 minutes for me to answer this...

I am happy to pass this tag on to Bala, Venkat and Vikram. :-)

1.Were you named after anyone?
Partly Lord Muruga and partly my grandpa.

2. Do you wish on stars?
No.

3. When did you last cry?
When I watched Anbe Sivam on TV for the first time few months back. I was really moved...

4. Do you like your handwriting?
Yeah, it was very good till college final year. Even today I write Tamil better than English.

5. What is your favorite meat?
The skin near my finger nails when I am tensed.

6. What is your most embarrassing CD on your shelf?
I got this CD of Aksar by mistake from a friend. Haven’t watched it till now and haven’t returned it either :-D

7. If you were another person, would YOU be friends with you?
Of course…. Why not??

8. Are you a daredevil?
No.. But when ppl around me dare something, I tend to become one...

9. How do you release anger?
If at home, shout at people face to face. If in office, keep it all together and shout it aloud when I reach home :P

10. Where is your second home?
My office

11. Do you trust others easily?
Yes

12. What was your favourite toy as a child?
Train…. I loved it till my high school

13. What class in school/college do you think is totally useless?
Civics, the mokkaiest part of History… Nothing said in that happens in real world Indian politics ;-)

14. Do you use sarcasm a lot?
Yes. But only till the point where it doesn’t hurt the other person.

15. Have you ever been in a mosh pit?
~PASS~ :-D

16.What do you look for in a guy/girl?
Simplicity

17. Would you bungee jump
No.

18.Do you untie your shoes when you take them off?
Not at all…

19. What's your favourite ice cream?
Vanilla

20. What are your favourite colours?
Blue and Orange

21. What are your least favourite things?
Traffic jams

22. How many people do you had a crush ?
Many…

23. Who do you miss most right now?
My friends in US, UK and Australia with whom I have only mail correspondence that too not frequently.

24. What are you listening to right now?
Songs from Pokkiri starring Vijay.

25. If you were a crayon, what colour would you be?
Blue

26. What is the weather like right now?
Hot

27. Last person you talked to on the phone?
Vikram

28. The "first" thing you notice about the opposite sex?
Eyes and hairstyle .

29. Do you like the person who sent you this?
Yes.

30. How are you today?
Lazy

31. Favourite non alcoholic drink?
Orange juice

32. Favourite alcoholic drink?
Grape juice before it turns wine :P

33. Natural hair colour?
Black

34. Eye colour?
Black

35. Wear contacts?
No..

36. Siblings?
None :-(

37. Favourite month?
January, that’s when I get most number of holidays in the year :-D

38. Favourite food?
Dosa

39. Favourite day of the year?
June 22nd

40. Have you ever been too shy to ask someone out?
No…

41. Scary movies or happy endings?
Happy endings

42. Summer or winter?
Winter

43. Holi or Diwali?
Diwali

44. Do you like your name?
No. I like being called Karthik

45. What book/magazine are you reading?
I don’t read.

46. What's on your mouse pad?
A sheet of white paper to provide a uniform surface for my optical mouse to operate :-D

47. What did you watch on TV last night?
I don’t watch TV

48. Favourite Smell?
Smell of new books or notebooks

49. Have you ever regretted breaking up with someone?
It has never happened for me till now... I mean the break-up

50. Most tiresome thing you’ve ever experienced/done?.
Sitting in office shuttle in Bangalore Hosur Road traffic.

~*~*~HAPPY NEW YEAR 2007~*~*~

Its dawn of yet another New Year.. May this new year bring happiness, good health and prosperity to everyone around the world!!!

And with this post, I complete 100 junk posts in my blog :-D

Random Thoughts for the month….

1) The present CM and Ex-CM of TamilNadu are very busy these days fighting about lives, wives, marks, remarks, etc etc. Will they ever find some time to actively debate on the future plans for Tamil Nadu and the people of TamilNadu? When so many are making it difficult to make both ends meet, so many die starving for food, what is the use of supplying TV sets to poor? Will these guys ever accept constructive criticism??

2) Yet another award function, the Filmfare, with results known prior to the telecast. And anyone could easily guess the winners even if it was not announced earlier, because only those who will receive the award will attend the function. Other nominees silently stay away from it… What a professionalism!!!!! And the performances of so-called stars at these fuctions.. The lesser said about it the better.

3) Vijayakanth is said to have started the shooting for Dharmapuri and this time he has Lakshmi Rai around, to fall for his killer looks and the cutest smile on the earth. Where as the no-wonder dud from Sathyaraj family, the small monkey Sibiraj has grown hair in the left out parts of his body and is acting with Nila of SJ Surya fame… Can anyone save Tamil Cinema from the clutches of wild animals???

4) My sister still shivers while narrating the incident that happened to her and her friends in Marina Beach last week. Drunken cannibals have eve-teased them while on their way to AIR, speaking all non-sense and daring to catch hold of a girl’s dupatta. The boys of her class have come for the rescue- the rascals were beaten up and driven away. Will these rouges running after female beauty and flesh ever get some good sense???

5) Suryan FM is broadcasting promo ads for “Kalaingnar”’s regime in TamilNadu. Never knew that mass media can be used as Campaign Medium. Thankfully Amma doesn’t own any radio station. Or else, we might have to listen to hues and cries of “Suffering” people throughout he day in that channel. ;-)

6) Anna University run FM, don’t know what it is called, jams with the signal of other FM stations very badly, especially Suryan FM. It happens every time any vehicle playing FM crosses the limits of Anna University. Those who have experienced it knows how annoying it is… It is horrible to listen to that channel from AU even for a few seconds!!!

7) When I was in primary school, there used to be few bitches in the name of teachers who would punish guys by taking off their shirts and making them stand outside the class. Worst is the case of girls, where these bitches would wish to see them undressed by few guys whom they thought does it well… Many times a literal rape kinda scene happens in the class!!! We were at second or third class at that time, so we were laughing at it. But when I think of it today, it sends shivers down my spine. No idea what those teaching bitches and their favorite dress removing goonda students are doing now!!!! Thank God I didn’t study there for long!!!

Hmm… that’s all for now. Will be back with more ones later :-)

The easiest way of keeping in touch...

Lots of talks are going on these days about Orkut and many people are joining it through friends. And there are stories in mail forwards about how and what for it was started and also about the profits Orkut, the guy who found it, is getting in a year. Whatever it might be, Orkut has become an unavoidable medium in the world of cyber communication.

I still remember those days when I started using Orkut. Today, after more than one year, Orkut has re-established many of my lost contacts, helped me to be in touch with the existing contacts and most important of all, has opened up my friends circle and I have gained lots of close friends today.

Even inside my own company, I gained a few friends through Orkut, and I am not sure whether I would have got to know them otherwise in my life. My school friends, with whom I lost touch many years back, are in frequent contact these days and I learned their whereabouts through Orkut.

Orkut has more things to be experienced than to be spoken about. The cyberspace today has a lot of surprises and Orkut is a blessing in disguise that has lots of such surprises in store for you everyday. Hail Orkut!!! :-)

April 14th : Dawn of a New Year

INIYA THAMIZH PUTHAANDU NALVAAZHTHUKKAL!!!!
(HAPPY TAMIL NEW YEAR GREETINGS)

Article from Chennaibest.com

The month of Chitthirai has arrived and with it the Tamil NewYear’s Day; April 14th – an occasion for celebration for Tamilians all over the world. Greetings of “Puthandu Vazthukal”, (Happy New Year), are exchangedwith fervour on this day, which is supposedly the day when Lord Brahma (The Creator of the world, according to Hindu mythology) started creation.

The day starts with viewing the 'kani' (the auspicious sight) at dawn, in the expectation that beginning the New Year by looking at auspicious or favourable things will bring good fortune throughout the year. The auspicious things include, gold and silver jewellery, betel leaves, nuts, fruits and vegetables, flowers, raw rice and coconuts. This isfollowed by the ritual bath and a visit to the temple to pray for a prosperous and happy New Year. After which, the Panchangam (almanac) is read.


The ladies adorn the entrances of their houses with ‘Kolam’(design made with rice flour) and deck the door way with mango leaves. A grand Car Festival is held at Tiruvadamarudur near Kumbakonam every year on April14th. Also during the month of Chitthirai the marriage of Goddess Meenakshi to Lord Sundareswarar is celebrated as ‘Chitthirai festival’.

The highlight of the festival is the 'Maanga Pachadi'(a dish made of raw mangoes, jaggery and neem flowers), which is at the same time sweet, sour and bitter. This signifies all the different aspects of our life.April 14th also happens to be the Bengali New YearDay, Naba Barsha, which begins with the ‘Prabhat Pheries’ (an early morning procession) with songs and dances welcoming the New Year.

In Kerala ‘Vishu’ is celebrated by Malayalees commemorating the beginning of the astronomical New Year in the Malayalam Calendar.The Tamil Calendar, which has 12 months from Chitthirai (April - May) to Panguni (March - April), has a 60-year cycle.

Its Lingo - I.T.'s Lingo...

Being in the IT world, you get to learn lot of new phrases and extended use of words. Many of them may be even conventional, but for a pucca local guy accustomed to only local slangs and lingos, even the conventional ones sounds new.

I still remember an incident that happened when I was a new joinee. One of my seniors wanted to check with me if I am lightly loaded, so that some pending work can be assigned to me. When he came to my desk, I was struggling with a website as the net connection was very slow. He came over and asked me “Srinivas, how is your Bandwidth?” I seriously replied, “Yeah, it is slow!!!” He was like “?!?!?!?” and then managed with a laugh explaining to me what he actually wanted to ask. :-)

Well, that was when I learnt that I should not derive literal meaning out of anything and that Bandwidth has also got something to do with work load apart from frequencies and speed. :P Few more of them, I have learnt all these days are: to take a call, per se, taking things offline, giving a buzz, pinging people, FYI, FYA, deliverables etc etc., Added to this, the great questions mentioned in my earlier post. ;-)

It’s a strange world!!!!

A question of answers

Whats up?

Howz life?

Wat r u upto?

Wats going on?

How r u doing?

Few of those questions which I find the most difficult to answer... I am still not aware of how to answer these questions and when someone asks me, there will be a big pause before I blabber something :-)

Any suggestions?? ;-)

Gold hunt...

Today the commonwealth games have come to an end with India finishing 4th in Medals Tally… 50 medals on total including 22 gold medals. And a big gang of Filmi and sports fraternity were present at the closing ceremony where the games flag was handed over to Indian representative… Yes, India is gonna host the next commonwealth games in 2010!!!

Link: http://www.cwgdelhi2010.com/

The Indian athletes are slowly being put into limelight with such outstanding performances. When the whole nation is drowned in the ocean of cricket, the politicians are busy fighting for Ganguly-in or out, media is running after cricket stars.. These bunch of people from our motherland have made us feel proud by winning accolades. Sure to follow up in a few months is Government conferring awards on these athletes in a dirty way. Yes, Government wakes up late in recognizing such talents…

There was an article in a magazine once stating that Dhoni was offered a high posting in Police Dept. of his state where as an athlete from Tamil Nadu was offered the post of a peon in a Government office. She had declined the offer with a heavy heart. Such is the fate of non-cricketers in India. Many of them, from lower middle class make it big only through the support of coaches and families…

A match winning shot is enough for a cricketer to endorse a soft drink. Sponsors pour in like anything. But these sportsmen who represent India in Olympics, SAF and Common Wealth games have a sponsorship more worse than Ranji cricketers. How many of their names do we know? As for Tennis, Sania Mirza hogs the whole limelight, ppl are least bothered to know the names of other Tennis players from the country.

The attitude of people should change. All sport activities should get equal focus and Government should do more to develop athletic academies in the country. A single digit medals tally in Olympics from a country of one billion is a shame on us. We, the people and our Government should realize this at least before 2010. Or else we don’t deserve by any means to host Common Wealth games,2010!!!

A legend's history

This is the cine life story of my dear Athai(father's elder sister) about whom I had mentioned in my earlier post on Music Interests.

She is a legend for me and I am blessed to have lived in the same era as her!!!

Born near Ilathoor near Thenkasi in 1925, her original name is Thenkasi Seenivasa Bagawathy. She was stopped from shcooling after class four. Her grandfather who was a kathakalatchebam singer paid the foundation for her to become a singer in later days. When the grand father died, the grandmother joined the Trichi Radio where she introduced the 14 year old TSB. TSB was paid Rs 20 per month as a singer in Radio Trichy. She alos was acting and singing in the radio dramas. While ther she got the acquaintence of many music directors.

Soon she went on a tour singing for the Tamil Isai Iyakkam. In viruthunagar she was awarded the title of "Isaikkuyil" in the presence of Ramasamy Nadar.

While TSB was singing in the Trichirapalli Radio station AV Meyappa Chettiar heard her voice and pulled her into cinema. Initially she hesitated to sing for cinema, as cinema industry was looked down in the 1940s. But owing to financial situation she had to accept the offer in 1947. That was the turing point for her and her fans.

In 1947 AVM was producing the famous film Naam Iruvar. TSB sang a few songs for TA Jeyalachumy. The most popular was of course "Vasantham Tharum Maalai" But her fams shot among the Tamil song fans and the educated bracket for singing Bharathiyar songs in Naam Iruvar. "Solai Malar Oliyo" is the song that was liked by many. "Kannnil Theriyum oru Thotram" is yet another song that shot into popularity.

We may remember another famous film of AVM- Vaazhkai, where TS B sang some songs, but those songs did not become greatr hits. The only famous song here is the Uzhavan Nadagam song. It was Parasakthy that made her most popular from 1952.

TS Bagawathy would always be associated with Parasakthy for the good songs she gave there-

1.Ilvazhviniley Oli Yetrum Dheepam (With Hussein)
2.Poomalai Neeye
3.Porule Illarkku Thollaiyaam
4. Konjum Mozhi Sollum
5. Ellroum Vazha Vendum

SO these five songs of Parasakthy are songs for different emotions- kathal, thalattu, sogam, thathuvam. Ultimately the sad songs became most famous on account of the emotions that she was able to sucessfuly deliver in those songs.With the kick of her sad songs in Parasakthy, the cine world trade-marked her for sad songs. For a decade at least TSB had been singing mainly sad songs.

SAD SONGS
Following her fame for singing sad songs in Parasakthy, C. S. Jayaraman made her sing "Thatti Parithaar En Vaazhvil" and "Pengaley Ulaka Penkaley" in the film Ratha Kanneer. Thencame Malayitta Mangai of Kannadasan. In this film she sang "Purappadu maganey Purappadada" Kannadasan used her again in another sad song in his film Sivagengai Seemai. The sad thalattu song sung along with S. Varalachumy is "Tendral Vanthu Veesatho"

Then she sang another song in Kavalai Illatha Manithan-Kannodu Vin Pesum Jaadai, along with GK Vengkadesh. This song did not become popular.

In Kairasi, Govarthanam-the brother of Sudarsanam made her sing a song with P.Leela-"Paalilum Thenilum Suvai Ethu" a very melodious song.

By this time TS Bagawathy was showing reluctance in singing for the cinemas for two reasons- firstly her songs were no more becoming hits, and secondly the producers were not good paymasters as far as she was concerned. So she went back to radio.

Therfore, TS Bagawathy became famous for singing sad songs, and her era was short lived. To recapitulate, Parasakthy will always be associated with TS Bagawathy.