Till then she was just a kid...
She just had to study,study and study...
They were ready to pay even for her expensive coaching classes..
Till then she had no say in any matters of the house..
Not even as to what pet she can adopt or the colour her room's doormat had to be..

But now suddenly shes all grown up..
She just can't go on studying,studying and studying..
Not even if she has a fellowship or a part-time job..
And still she has no say in any matter of the house..
Not even her wedding and the guy she has to spend her whole damned life with..

Agreed,they had the right to pick a name for her..
Agreed,they knew which school was good in the locality..
Agreed,they knew times were bad and hence she had to be back home at 6pm.
But then...What the hell do they know of guys of this age?
'If you don't agree,you have no idea what we would do to ourselves?'

Cheers to the sugar-coated tyranny called Parenting!

p.s:An observation that stemmed from observing many happenings in the lives of my friends and relatives.

Posted by rajesh |

Happened to watch the movie - Paramasivan starring Ajith,Laila and MAINLY PRAKASHRAJ this weekend.It could have been named parama-PrakashRaj,as he was the one who occupied more than half the movie.

Ajith,who was deemed to return majestically into the top hero spot,with this movie,somehow was not at all upto the mark.He looked famished and still sported the 'ajakku' style speech.Hes nowhere near the so-called re-incarnations of Superstar.He sucked in almost all the scenes he featured,mainly the ones where he interacted with the Gulete guy(villian Saamiyaar).He shared zero chemistry with the heroine and it seemed there was so apparent reason for them to get into romance/wedlock.
I really wanted to know if it was the return of 'thalai' or 'thalai-ezhuthu'?

Laila still tries to sport that cute smile of hers and hope to get a chance in the next movie,just based on her smile.Absolutely no effort in terms of acting or defining a role that gets etched on to the viewer's minds.Also, why is she being made to act as a dumb,stupid lass in every other movie?If she was kiddish in Pithamagan,she continued to be kiddish and tom-boyish in Ullam Ketkumae.And now in this movie,all those overdosage of over-acting and trying hard to stay dumb,was all irritating.

Prakashraj,the stereotyped character.Why does he have to chew all his dialogues and spit every single word to make it seem as if it has a great impact?This guy needs to realise that he needs to stop yelling and over-acting in any role hes given.Why not underplay one's role and still get noticed?

Tamil films new age trend : Every movie needs to have a 'Matrix-like' body-bending act and a highly nonsensical graphic based fight defying all laws of physics.This movie adhered to this newage stupid genre too.

Vivek's comedy,for some reason didn't seem to be that good.The spontaneity and funny factor was all missing and it was well evident that he was trying too hard to come up with the limited pun and fun his dialogues carried.

Paramasivan - Parama waste..

-Raapi

Posted by rajesh |

This is a wonderful presentation from Applied Materials, Inc. - How to Make an Integrated Chip

-Raapi

Posted by rajesh |

Across

1 Shaggy,Velma,Daphne and Fred can't find their dog.What to doo? (6-3)
6 Disney Dog who is known for his goof ups (5)
8 Son of King Mufasa who is a lion (5)
10 Cartoon character raised by gorillas.He flies from one tree to another. (6)
11 Donald's friend who is also the name of a flower (5)
13 Bunny whose name means 'flies' (4)
15 Captain Haddock's best friend.Does he have 2 cans in his name? (6)
17 He and a chatterbox donkey go on a quest to rescue a princess (5)
18 Tinkle's crow? (5)
20 Are you FINDING _ _ _ _ : the small fish? (4)
21 Genie from the magic lamp helped him. (7)
22 "POcKEt MONsters" - Video Game with the tag - "Gotta catch 'em all" (7)
Down

2 This flying detective is not 'Ball'man (6)
3 This duck lives with his 3 nephews Huey, Dewey and Louie (6)
4 Blossom,Bubbles,Buttercup - not 'Vegetable Puff' girls.What are these girls? (9)
5 Little guy that Tom hates the most (5)
7 Does this bear practise YOGa? (4)
9 She is the most favorite doll of the girls (6)
12 This flier has a friendly neighborhood (9)
14 Flying man who has a "S" symbol on his chest (8)
16 Minnie's boyfriend who is a mouse (6)
19 Stitch's friend who rhymes with 'Milo' (4)

Created this for a friend's kid's Birthday Party.

Solution is here

-Raapi

Posted by rajesh |

This is from one of the forwards that I received.Usually I don't feel like posting forwards.But then this was a gem...

Some of life's most cherishable moments put together in a simple enjoyable format!

A winter evening.
Four friends.
One barsaat.
Four glasses of chai.

Hundred bucks of gas.
A rusty old bike.
And an open road.

Maggi noodles.
A hostel room.
4.25 a.m.

3 old friends.
3 separate cities.
3 coffee mugs.
1 internet messenger.

Rain on a hot tin roof.
Pakoras deep-frying.
Neighbours dropping in.
A party.

You and mom.
A summer night.
A bottle of coconut oil.
A head massage.
Gossiping about absent family members.

Old battalion of friends
One small Reunion
One old crush
One whole night with cards.

You can spend
hundreds on birthdays,
thousands on festivals,
lakhs on weddings,
but to celebrate
all you have to do is spend your Time.

Posted by rajesh |

Since the past 2 years,if I were to analyze the number of websites that I have visited and categories them as 'blogs' and 'non-blogs',I believe that it would be almost a 50-50 distribution.With that being the case,it becomes obvious that nowadays blogs have the equal capability of holding onto a internet browser's interest and also go a long way in imparting knowledge.Whether it is useful information or general gossip is a different question.But blogs have been really effective recently in covering major events and in publishing many new pieces of info/news much before the print media or their online versions.

I was wondering what was different with blogs that makes one come back and check them at regular intervals - much regularly than one checks the newspaper or any other website.

1)One factor is the complete absence of any bottleneck in publishing and the simple process of anyone and everyone being able to report anything that one deems fit to be conveyed or published.This is really a welcome trend for the flourishing medium of blogging considering the trouble and lack of assurance one had had earlier, while posting views to the 'Letters to the editor' column of newspapers and sometimes being lucky and yet unlucky seeing one views being completely misrepresented in print.

2)The lack of any standard and any kind of rule in reporting info.It could be a nice written write-up about something or just a picture of something unheard of or just a single liner about any much-sought after thing to be released soon.

3)The worryfree reporting where nobody bothers about the grammatical errors in the reporting.All that one is concerned is that the info is conveyed or jotted down in a a manner that it is easily understood and reaches the targeted audience.Though this seems cool,it actually brings down the quality of the entire 'Blogging' process.

4)The lack of any organization to go through the blogs' contents and establish the veracity of the info.This leads to baseless allegations being heaped and rude comments being made,bringing down the credibility of blogging and sometimes ruining the reputation of the unfortunate victim whose years of built-up name comes crashing to the earth.

5)The no-responsibilty feeling and the feel of being behind this curtain called the internet.The thought that internet is a whole new world with no real,traceability has had very interesting outcomes.We have seen some very good blogs come out of this aspect and as well some unruly and nonsensical blogs thriving out of this.

6)Voicing out of concerns and abnormalities quite vehemently through a medium which surely guarantees a sizeable readership from people who matter.We have seen instances of people who could highlight wrongdoings of a well-established organization,which the mainstream media never came forward to do.Blogs and bloggers have gone to extreme heights in exposing abnormalities in the system and this is really a welcome trend.

7) Speaking of the non-nonchallence of Mainstream media,Blogs have made sure that every piece of interesting news,however silly it is or however controversial and anti-ruling party it is,gets it due in the Blogosphere.Very obvious instance is the Manjunath episode where the unique,unreported event got the much-deserved attention from people who matter,albeit at a much later point from the time of occurence.

8)Every Tom,dick and Harry,for that matter Ram,Karthik and Hari gets a chance to bring out a variety of hidden talents and specialised interests.The technology blogs,photography blogs,crossword blogs,cookery blogs,advertisement blogs etc have added a whole dimension to channelised info sharing akin to the TV channels targeting towards specific audience.

9)Any medium needs competition to stay alive and Blogging is not left alone in this aspect.The emergence of the Indibloggies awards and many other recognitions have set the ball rolling for many amateur bloggers to start getting serious about blogging.It is these awards that have been playing a major role for even many of the veteran bloggers to still devote a sizeable chunk of their daily time towards what they have been for the past 4 or 5 years.

10)'Show me the money' Factor...Google Adsense advertising has really had its say in the number of blogs getting published daily.The thought of money pouring in with not much of an effort,other than blogging interesting stuff daily and attracting visitors,has definitely helped sustain the interest in blogging.

11)Feedback is an important element which helps any system to correct itself from its blunders in the past or sometimes provide a kick to continue with one's good work.In that aspect the 'Comments section' is really a wonderful tool,which helps the bloggers get an immediate feedback and counter-arguments on the views they have expressed.Sometimes the radical thinking and the whole debate that the comments section carry go a long way in sustaining the bloghopper's interest,than the main posting attached to the comment section.

Blogs,offlate have been getting a lot of attention from various sections of the society.The governments of many countries have started monitoring rogue blogging and have even stipulated laws to be adhered by the blogging community.Many top companies have resorted to encoraging their workers into sharing their ideas through blogs.Many product launches and reviews have started depending on feedback from bloggers and the comments from blogs.

With the latest emphasis on seemless media sharing and efforts to bring content providers' programs to the living rooms through Intel's Viiv/AMD's Live campaigns and more proliferation of Yahoo/Google Videos,I think it is not long before the blog world is going to explode with a variety of Video blogs,that one could choose like the TV programs,based on specific interests.

Does anybody have any other factor that you think has aided this whole new arena called 'blogging' and have inputs as to whatelse is in the offing,that is going to radically change the way info is propagated/exchanged through blogs?

-Raapi

Posted by rajesh |

Windows Live Local

Doesn't this appear to be extremely similar toGoogle's webtool ?

One cool feature is the availability of 3D images of important landmarks such as this
We can rotate the image to view an object from all sides. It doesnt seem as polished as Google Maps in terms of the interface and user-friendliness yet.

-Raapi

Posted by rajesh |

I think most of my friends are idle..
Why would I say so?
That is what Yahoo Messenger says of them!

How would life be had there been no online chat programs,especially Yahoo messenger?
In the last 5 or 6 years,my only means of being in touch with meaningful civilisation has been through the messengers.I ve talked/laughed/scolded/ridiculed/quarrelled/cried/fought/advised/questioned/watched/debated/discussed/grilled/chatted/cheated/lied/spied and whatnot through the messengers!
Really 1 thing that has become an indispensible part of my life!

-Raapi

Posted by rajesh |

Restaurant chain Saravana Bhavan plans hotel, shopping mall foray

Saravana Bhavan has always been a favorite in my family mainly for its aroma filled coffee.Even when the prices have been jacked upto 20 Rs for a coffee,the place remains still a favorite among my coffee crazy relatives.

During this trip,I observed something really worth noting.The standard of Saravana Bhavan has definitely taken a beating.The items in the menu are all over-priced.
Yeah.They are overpriced even for a person coming down to India from the U.S.
Was quite bewildered to see the price of ordinary Dosa/Idli/pongal etc which usually remain under a 20rs tag,to be priced around 40 to 50 rs.
Apart from being too expensive,the service was also very poor.The food served was cold and when complained about it,the server didn't even apologise and gave a glare which kind of indicated 'This is what we got.Eat it or leave'

If this was at the T-Nagar branch of theirs,the newly opened Mylapore restaurant was even more horrible.The items in the menu where just there to fill the page but were not available.Everything that I tried to ordered was turned down by the waiter and finally I had to throw away the menucard and listen to the old-fashioned 'IdlyVadaPongalDosaChapaathiParotta' song of the waiter and settle down to something I never thought I would ever eat at Saravana Bhavan.

Before the ordering of food,there was this supervisor who behaved like a smartass and refused to join 2 tables(as we were 6 of us) stating that it was the direction from their management.The tables were not even 10 inches away from each other and probably no one would have noticed had I done the joining act myself.

What the smart Alecs in these places don't understand is that such minor acts of stupidity go a long way into tarnishing their restaurant's image.But what do they care?Thay got their eateries always 'Houseful' as if food was being served for free.

-Raapi

Posted by rajesh |

Sitting through a Carnatic Music Performance....

At first,I thought it is going to be 2 hours of wholesome entertainment.The first of a kind to me,which I had never been through.I had come across many of those carnatic recitals on the mornings that my TV carried,when my mom wantedly used to turn the volume up so high that even Kumbakarna would have had to wake up and get on with his morning activities.Also,the diwali programs and pongal specials carried the recitals as their first shows,which were very smartly skipped onto the sports channel using the remote.

But then,being physically present at a carnatic recital of a friend was a different experience altogether.The starting moments didn't seem to indicate anything odd.But then few minutes into the performance,It felt extremely weird to be sitting amidst ardent followers of music who totally get involved with the vocalist's performance that they won't even notice that someone behind them is actually whispering right into their ears to set their chair right,lest its going to fall off the edge of the platform and create a ruckus.

The eerie silence in the sitting area was so threatening that I had to sneeze with special silencers on, in order to avoid the annoyed looks of the afficianados in the hall.The 2 hours seem to be like 2 days when the music quotient is not upto the standards of the average quotient of the occupants of the hall.Infact its horrible when the quotient is somewhere near zero when it comes to Carnatic Music.

The laughter that I evoked when I silently asked my companion if there would be an interval during the performance,is still fresh in my memory.Now,I dont really think that was a joke.Even my HOD's most boring 2 hr classes used to have a 5 minute break,when most of us would escape from the campus with the safe thought that the attendance has already been marked for the special class.With that being the case,I felt all those uccha-staayis and non-stop singing definitely atleast meant there would be a break,atleast for the singer's sake.The clock in the music hall seemed to have halted ticking as the songs never seem to be ending.The artist's 'aalaapanais' followed by solo performances of the violinist and the Mridangam artist made the songs seem like an eternity of music.If you are wondering what an 'aalaapanai' is,dont feel out of place.Even I didn't have any idea as to what it meant until I sat next to a diehard follower who explained that its the improvisation of the same raga of the song by the singer.As I waited and waited for the lyrics during the aalaapanai,there was no signs of it and then I realised that an 'aalaapanai' never carries any lyrics and it could extend somewhere from 5 minutes to even half an hour based on the singer's involvement with the raga.

Watching my periamma nod and sway her head upon getting too involved with the songs was a bit funny.As I started to slowly look around for anythingelse happening in the hall,my eyes fell on a few Maamaas peacefully sleeping with open mouths and some maamis in the back busy discussing silently the 'Vambu's of their locality.I noticed that the Music Halls of Chennai nowadays seem to lure their listeners by offering good food adjescent to the halls at rock-bottom prices.Thats when I understood why some of my cousins had suddenly taken a liking to carnatic music started attending the daily tiffin time kutcheris.I heard that the food served at Music Academy was the most sought after,as it was prepared by 'Arushuvai Natarajan' caterers and was being offered at a modest affordable price.Nothing wrong in offering such food for the stomach as well as some food for the ears!

For someone who had heard of 'Pallavis' and 'Krithis' only when the attendance rollcalls were being called out in college,this was definitely an eye-opener to many many hours of such blissful music to follow.I have always been awestruck by the way some of my friends could differentiate the subtle variations in music and attribute raagas to them and compare with other songs with the same raaga base.I have got a lot more of listening and reading to do to come anywhere near that kind of a level in comprehending the nuances of music.

Personally I feel 2006 is going to be 'The year of Music' for me..
Looking forward to increasing my knowledge in carnatic music.

Disclaimer:This being the age of being politically right and diplomatic,I would like to stress that this write-up was in no way meant to comment on the Kutchery singer's performance.Eventhough I would be the last person whose opinion or criticism one would like to hear,I would like to sincerely say that it was really an interesting and memorable exprience.

Posted by rajesh |

Banana chips(Naendharangaa chips) from Palakkad is one my favorites.When in India,its one thing that I look out for.

In U.S too,its the chips that make my day,but the different ones.So whats it gonnabe for 2006?

Posted by rajesh |

Something that I realised when I was in India.
I somehow found that I had so many interesting things to jot down and many wonderful observations to blog down when i was there than what I have in mind when I am here in the U.S.A.
May be its because of the mood out there..
May be its because I was surrounded by people I love the most..
May be its because I had nothing else to think about other than ponder about little nostalgic enjoyable things.
May be its because of the variety of activities that happen out there and the lack of monotonous,mechanical life routine as in the U.S.

The main contributoe could be the shortness of the trip out there and the will to look out for as many events/memorable events during the stay.

-Raapi

Posted by rajesh |

IBNLive : CNN-IBN Exclusive: Fear in the Sky

Kindly the excuse the multiple the posts about Air traffic/airways etc.I am just back after a ridiculous Air India based trip.They overbooked my flight and that screwed my itinerary and was late by 1 whole day to my destination,losing the opportunity to be a part of my best friend's 'Maaplai Azhaipu' occasion.
Added to that,my baggages got delayed by 6 days and am yet to get any response or apology or compensation from the airlines.

The nonchalance and complete lack of understanding exhibited by the airline people taught me a lesson.Never ever travel book tickets in Air India.
-Raapi

Posted by rajesh |

IBNLive : Air Sahara offers free tickets#

For this one time Air Sahara could afford to offer free tickets;What about the rest of such innumerable instances which are definitely imminent in the future?

-Raapi

Posted by rajesh |

day_trading_101

Just look into this website early in the morning.
Track the highest % gainers/losers and immediately look into marketwatch.com for the news about the chosen ticker.
If you find the news big enough/analyst recomendations positive,just buy the stock immediately.
Hold it till about noon and sell it off.

Posted by rajesh |

Now...The ill-treated Doctors .

I find this piece of news so pathetic,particularly upon realising how hard it is to get a medical seat in India.I had the first-hand experience on how a medical graduate(a house surgeon actually) is treated in India.They are made to do shitloads of stuff at the hospital and yet paid a paltry stipend of ~2500rs/month.My sister who is doing her house-surgeoncy wasn't even able to spend a single day fully with me because she had work round the clock at the hospital.They are definitely being ill-treated and there is nothing being done to address their hardships.
-Raapi

Posted by rajesh |