Powerless Saturday :(.....

What’s your favourite day?  Back in school I would say “Thursday” just for the reason that I was born on that day. As time changed so did the answer, it has become Saturday and most people especially the software professionals would agree to that for obvious reasons.There is a famous saying “Saturday Night Full Tight “. I don’t drink though:) But, I too love Saturdays as that’s the only day you get to enjoy staying at home and watching worthless crap in TV all day long lying in the bed. God that’s become one of my favourite time pass activities in summer as it is bloody hot out and they switch off the cooling systems in most shopping malls. Well appreciated Green Initiative by those people thought that’s not their intentions.:) 

                I woke up on one such Saturday and was taken aback to know the reason why I lost my sleep!!!  The ceiling fan was slowly coming to stand still and I was sweating than usual for an early morning. Only then I realized TNEB had spoilt my peaceful beginning to a Saturday. It does not end there, As I opened the door that was kept closed all night to prevent cool air from escaping the room I heard my neighbour saying “Saravanan inaikku 5 manikku than current varum” . Well it is always current and never power for a common man in India:) . Naasama poochu I had to be at home all day with no power!!! I just couldn’t stand the thought of it. My mind started racing with thoughts and I was thinking as to how we could avoid this and decided to do few things.

The first thing I did was to take bath in nice cold water, picked few documents and got out of the home by 11, by then I was sweating like pig. My first destination was BSNL office, the reason is they had AC running 24/7. I took all the time it would take to finish this blog just to fill a form asking me 4 questions. The huge queue served my purpose to spend more time, I was happy to see people breaking the queue which would have made me fight with them any other day. I just let them pass while I was enjoying my time there and learning from people around. People were complaining for the poor service provided and the officers were blaming the government and public for they had no time for their breakfast on Saturdays. I was not bothered any of these for all I wanted was to spend as much time as possible in AC. Even after doing all this I was able to complete the request for BB plan change in an hour. Next pit stop was at Vodafone for the same reason as BSNL office. I managed to find a decent looking girl if not good and thank god she spoke about all the post paid plans and offers in a sweet voice. After an hour I submitted my proofs for pre-paid connection and left the store saying none of the plans meet requirements. It was 1 by that time, and I decided to have lunch now.

                Thanks to A2B they maintain ambient temperature round the clock. No guesses this time as expected I took as much time as possible as in other places to finish my lunch and it was 1:30 when I was done with it. I had nothing else left except for Naidu Hall to go which is a place most frequented by ladies. So I decided to head home hoping that the TNEB had changed their mind but with no luck. I played cricket with a guy in 6^th standard who had his own set rules which was dynamic benefiting him each time. Kids are always kids:).Anyways it was nice playing in one of the shortest pitch ever possible in the world. He was too tired to continue and went to sleep leaving me in despair. I wonder how on earth he gets sleep with no power around. I even thought of visiting a friend of mine nearby but decided against it for the only reason that they were newly married couple. I didn’t want to be a Nandi between them spoiling their weekend too. The good thing that day was that there was a cloud cover, so it was nice to ride a bike.

                I started riding and few minutes later I was riding into all the roads that I have never taken thinking about the poem “Road not taken“I reached a mountain nearby. I have seen few houses among those mountains and couple of uncompleted steel structures on my train journey to my office. I have always wondered what was there in the mountains. I was surprised to see that there was a huge settlement in the mountains and they had an umpteen number of houses in them and the streets were completely confusing as it was not planned. I was passing through the same way again and again thinking the reason behind the huge settlement till I hit a dead end. Then I took a different path altogether and hit the reason behind the settlement. There was huge quarrying operation carried out in the mountains and all people working there had built their houses around with little planning for the streets. Everyone were looking at me like an alien and that made me realize how close those people were with each other that they are easily able to spot a stranger. The place was more like a village with people playing “Thayam” and “Aadu puli

                This time I woke up when the ceiling fan had just started on a complete contrast to how I woke-up 9 hours before in the morning. Then I realized how kid got a sound sleep in the afternoon without this god damn power. It was a nice experience to spend time out than staring at the TV all day long even after realizing that there is nothing worthy to stare at.

It is yet another Saturday as I write this blog; I am staring at the TV for nothing and scanning channels knowing that I wouldn’t be able to find anything worthy. I should get out of this addiction somehow ASAP:)

Vinnaithandi Varuvaaya

Disclaimer:

Watch the movie before you read this.

To put it in a sentence the movie was an intense, perfect, practical love story well portrayed by the director without making any compromise. It has been almost a year long wait to watch the movie and Gautam Menon left me with very few disappointments. He had marshaled the resources at his disposal in the best way possible. I was little confused as to what the director was trying towards the end but then it was a perfect ending to a perfect movie and there could never be a better finish to this story. I somehow get a feeling that the movie will turn out to be a flop just for the fact that the director has just stuck to the reality and gave a raw treatment to the story or may be because of the fact that Tamil audience are still not that matured to appreciate this kind of a treatment to a love story. I overheard couple of guys ranking Asal better than this movie. That gave me the state of Tamil audience… J Pathetic situation. It would be a disappointment if a rumour of original climax being replaced by a climax where the lead pair gets together comes true just to save the film from being a box office failure.

                                Nevertheless coming back to the movie, the best part was the casting for the lead roles and the supporting role that comes with Simbhu as cinematographer in the movie. Simbhu and Thrisha my personal favorites were perfect fit for the lead roles. They had done a fabulous job in portraying Karthick and Jessie with much ease. Karthick a young fellow with not much of success in life but is just ready to do anything for his love is very common character and we can see him for sure in our life easily. He enjoys his life till he meets Jessie and does whatever he can to get his love without much success in the end. His approach towards Jessie is interesting even after he knows that she is a year elder than him and the way he gets her to love him is also different. The supporting character, who renders his home to Karthick and Jessie for them to talk (Just talk and nothing else) is another character worth the mention. I liked his characterization a lot. He was hilariously serious and added to the comic value of the movie. Other supporting characters like the parents, sisters, friends and the girl with a crush on male lead didn’t have much to do and they have done their part in the movie to perfection.

Of all the characters, the character I loved the most in the movie was that of Jessie. She was gorgeous in the sarees and kurthas. I am sure this character is going to win hatred from most corners. She is a girl caught between modern world and traditional values. She is bloody confused as to what has to be given priority in life. Is it her life itself or her family’s prestige sacrificing happiness? May be she should have a look at my previous blog I suppose…. J  I was easily able to relate Jessie to many people whom I have met in my life. She gets into love with Karthick hoping to convince their parents initially but then gets ready for the marriage her parents arrange. Few people may frown in the train sequence and the next scene where she explains Karthick asking him to be just a friend and nothing more than, a desperate move to save her love. But then she runs into too much of emotion and doesn’t want to lose neither the one she loves nor her parents. I was happy when she comes out of the arranged marriage at the last moment and promises Karthick that she would come for him for sure. Poor girl finally falls into the trap of marrying another guy with loads and loads love for Karthick thinking he would be better off with someone else. It is just because she had no guts to fight and overcome her father.  Never did she realize that she had spoilt not only Karthick and her life, but also the one whom she married. Poor guy has to live with a false love for his entire life. She is just dead soul to me. Many girls these days gets into this situation, I hope they choose what’s best for them.

Apart from the characterization another aspect which was good in the movie was the dialogues. They were elegant and simple with no cinematic touches to it. It looked like we were watching couple of friends interacting in the screen. If there is any reason for me to watch the movie again then it would be the dialogues. There was a huge expectation for the music as it was composed by the Maestro A.R.Rahman the Oscar winner. He had done a wonderful job and the songs were topping the charts, but somehow I felt that it failed to create the magic which was very much evident it Gautam’s previous ventures. My humble opinion is that the music was splendid, and awesome in the audio tracks but not that great to go with the movie.

If there is anything that I didn’t like in the movie, it was the profession chosen for the male lead Karthick. I have not enjoyed watching the real cinema world in the silver screen and it was not that great to watch Simbhu being an assistant to K.S.Ravi Kumar. I would have enjoyed the movie a lot better if the male lead had a different back ground in the movie than being an assistant director. Overall it’s a different treatment to a clichéd love story of a Hindu guy in love with a Christian girl which deserves a loud applause.

கவரி மான்

"மயிர் நீப்பின் உயிர் வாழா கவரி மான்" This is a well known proverb in my vernacular language. It literally translates to "A breed of fictional deer named KAVARI MAAN will just die for it lost its hair". Little high exaggeration, but then it reflects the humungous importance given to pride and prestige by ancient tamilians.... :)

Should pride and prestige be given more importance than life itself????

I have been thinking about this question for quite a long. The reason behind the question is that, I am just startled by the way parents force their children into marrying someone just based on the fact they are from the same caste and religion even if one chosen is not that good, just to protect their so called pride and prestige in the society. The worst part here is the usage of the tool called emotional blackmail.

"நீ மட்டும் நாங்க பாத்த பொன்ன கல்யாணம் பன்னிக்கலனா , மொத்த குடும்பமும் நகன்டுட்டு சாக வேன்டியதுதான்...." This is a typical dialogue one has to put up when they are fighting for their love.There are many more up their sleeves.


I am pretty much sure they wouldn't mean what they say in an attempt to make their children listen to them. Even if they do mean it just their stupidity and I would say that the children are in no way responsible. But poor children just fall for this trap knowing the fact that their parents don't mean what they say. They have no other go but to go ahead with the marriage even though they are not a percent interested in it. I wonder why do parents never think of the after effects of marriage which their children, whom they have loved for the past 25 years, have to go through. They are completely blind folded by this ridiculous society and I pity the parents really who ruin their own child's life by one moment of madness. This has got nothing to do with the educational status of the parents as I see even the most educated parents stick to this system of Arranged Marriage. Though many of the arranged marriages have worked, the sole reason behind that would be a huge pain and hell lot of compromises from both the parties. They just live as partners for the society and never for themselves. I know a very few who have enjoyed their lives after arranged marriage.


Let’s just consider the factors influencing the decision for an arranged marriage.

1. Religion.
2. Caste.
3. Horoscope [This one is a sole factor for Hindus]
4. Photos.
5. Family Background.
6. Security check on the bride/groom [This is very rare but developing].

The first 2 is total crap and I wouldn’t take pains to write on it here. It is bloody obvious we wouldn't check what caste is a guy donating blood when are met with an accident or check the religion of a doctor who is operating on us when we are in grave danger. So just cut this religion and caste crap.

Next is horoscope. In fact almost all from Hindu community strongly believe in this shit even before they move on to other decent factors. I seriously find no reasons to believe this. Horoscope is based on Geo-Centric theory while it is a proved fact that the solar system is in fact Helio-Centric. And going by the statistics i guess there is a possibility of minimum of 2 births at the same time in the universe. But no 2 person have the same life which is supposed to be the case if we are to believe horoscopes. So horoscopes are ruled out.

Next is the photo. This can be huge factor for few but not for the ones who are very urgent to get married. This again reveals nothing about person’s character and Photoshop can help a lot..... :) So it is not a great factor to rely on.

Moving on to the next factor family back ground, this factor contributes positively to a certain level towards narrowing down on the choices available. But I would say that it is not strong enough to bank on for a lifelong commitment. I know few children who reflect the characters of their parents but most are not that way. If a guy is ready to get his daughter married to me based on what my dad, all I can do is just ridicule him. Though I am not that bad, I am in no way close what my dad. We both have completely different ideologies towards life.... :)

The final factor is the security check and this is one factor which contributes in the most positive way of all the listed factors. But then it's a human tendency to project our self in the smartest way as if we are the best bride/groom once we have decided to get married and not until after 3 months of marriage we get to know the real characters. If we are in sync then we would have one hell of a life, if not then life itself would be a hell..... :) Even the private security agency doesn’t give us the required info. One can never get ones character unless and until they are close to them. What can a poor detective do here :)

The only person who knows best about a person is they them self and not parents or friends. These days children would for sure know what is best for them and they would be is the best position to choose their life partners instead of others. After all the next phase of life after parents for them is completely dependent on their better half. The only way to go forward is let everyone figure out what’s best for them.Just forget what the society has to say and do what's best for the children, I am sure they will make you proud than what you would have getting them married to the one you want to. I would be surprised if there is any other lovely gift than this in one’s life.

Disclaimer: No offence intended on the couples with a happy (arranged) married life and also on parents looking for bride/groom for their children based on the factors listed. It is just my perception.... :)

Tagged

1.What is your current obsession?
Eating as always and nothing new off late.

2. What are you wearing today?
Black Mercedes T-Shirt and Blue Jeans.

3. What’s the last thing you bought?
Enchanter Deodrant.

4. What are you listening to right now?
Complete silence. Few keyboard strokes and Mouse clicks.

5. Which language do you want to learn?
Spanish and Sign Language.

6. Favourite quotes?
Click here

7. What do you consider a fashion faux pas?
For Women - Single plait with jasmine flowers on the head, when they wear a T-Shirt and Jeans. Ridiculous I should say :)

8. What are you going to do after this?
Work :(.... Well they are paying me.

9. What inspires you?
Success.

10. What do you do when you are feeling low or terribly depressed?
Just shut myself from everything else in the world.

11. What is the meaning of your name?
Click here

12. What do you love most about yourself?
I have an immense energy and I try to keep everyone around as happy as possible.

13.Why did you do this tag?
Well no mood to write a Blog, but then wanted to keep my space busy... :)

Many of whom I tag does not complete the tag generally. So no bulb this time around.Anyone is welcome to complete the tag. :)

No Wonder

After watching Top Chef and Amazing Race and wanting to watch the season finale of CSI: NY, I hit the bed reluctantly at around 11 PM just because of the fact that I need to get the office bus next morning. I did get-up on time and after my usual routine of checking my mails and sending morning mails to my friends and family, I started of swiftly to board the office bus as usual.The worse part here was that I missed to pick my mobile and the worst part was I didn't have even a single rupee in my wallet apart from the 20 which I had to pay for the Auto.

On my way to the stop I decided to borrow a mobile to make an urgent call from one of more 20 colleagues who would board the bus in my stop, though I didn’t know anyone among them and I haven't spoken to any despite of the fact that we all board there for almost more than 2 yrs. I know it is kind of weird but then, that’s the way people are these days in this industry. The four most common things these people do in the bus is either they sleep or read or sit idle else fall in love with their i-pods. I fall into the first category here :)

It was drizzling slightly that day and I boarded the bus and took the only window seat which was left free to my surprise. I was expecting a guy to take the seat by my side.You know why ??? Most girls avoid sitting beside me for some reason... :)  Unfortunately a girl sat next to me and I lost the hope of making that urgent call then. Well many would argue saying all that I had to do was to ask her to use her phone and the job is done. But all that I could think about was “What if she denies???”That very thought of getting a no made me skeptical about asking and my mind was racing with its thoughts and it was swinging in dilemma whether to ask or not. And by the time I decided the bus had crossed half the way to Office.Well the decision was to make the call after reaching office. :) It is then I realised a fact in my life..... ! ! !

No wonder I had no guts to propose the girl I liked so much :)

Living Legend

Living legend is too simple a word to describe this young man... :) Well from the innings he plays you can still call him the "Little Master Blaster". No price for guessing the man. Dravid once said that on offside there is god and then there is Ganguly. To me in the cricket field there is god then there is Sachin. It would be a crime to not have a blog on my hero for the past 16 years after the knock he played against Australia in Hyderabad. Commentators were running out of superlatives to describe his shots and his placement. He never plays to answer his critics but this knock was an answer all those senseless and brainless idiots suggesting that he should retire. I really wonder why should he retire when he scores almost 1000 runs a year studed with an innings of such quality in pressure situations.

I am sure there is hell a lot to write about this living legend but then I am going to wait till he hangs his boots. That for me would be a black day, in fact millions would feel the same. I hope he wins the world cup before he retires thats the only missing stone in his already splendid crown.

Hail Sachin and Long Live Sachin.....

Be in touch

It has been almost 5 years since I came out of college.One thing that most people find difficult is to keep in touch with friends from school and college. They somehow loose contact even with orkut and facebook :) When they come across after a long time there is some kind of a barrier developed by time and it reflects in the way they get along. I know life has to move on and you can't have your friends forever.It would be really stupid to think so, unless you start a venture together and remain as business partners ... :) 


I have even seen some of the best friends end up in a "Hi-Bye" relationship. This is not only due to the competitive world that we are in today.The major reason is that we expect a lot out of our friends even after we take different paths in life which is impossible. I have lost few good friends this way. The best way to continue the friendship is just to begin where you left. Enjoy every moment you spend with them together after a long time instead of getting in to complaining mode fighting that they didn't make any efforts to be in touch with you. Just cherish the moments that you get in this competitive and mechanical world. I hope that all my friends read this and I hope to cherish all the moments that I get with them in the future.


Love you all.  Try to be in touch .... :) 


Disclaimer : 
This is only for those value each others friendship and have little time to get together in this busy world. It is totally stupid to touch base with someone who does not value your friendship and I would never ever do that for sure...