All blogs under One "roof" project

Todd Hardy

2012-01-14T00:00:00.001-08:00

Todd Hardy (May 17, 1957 - July 28, 2010) was a Canadian carpenter, trade union activist, and politician who served as Leader of the Yukon New Democratic Party. He has also served as Leader of the Opposition in the Yukon Legislative Assembly from 2002 to 2006.

A carpenter by trade, Hardy was business agent of local 2499 of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America before being elected to the Yukon Legislative Assembly. He taught karate and also volunteered as a minor hockey coach, coaching one of the Yukon's teams to the Arctic Winter Games and the Canada Winter Games.[1] He was married to Louise Hardy, the Yukon's former federal Member of Parliament.

Supporters' Shield

2012-01-09T03:15:00.002-08:00

The Supporters' Shield is an annual award given to the Major League Soccer team with the best regular season record, as determined by the MLS points system. Akin to the Australasian A-League's premiership, and similar to the President's Trophy of the NHL, the Supporters' Shield has been annually awarded at the MLS Supporters' Summit since 1999, and has been recognized as a major trophy by the league. Since 2006, the Supporters' Shield winner has earned a berth in the CONCACAF Champions League.

With four regular season titles each, D.C. United and the Los Angeles Galaxy have won the most Supporters' Shields of any MLS team. The Galaxy are the defending 2011 Supporters' Shield winners.[1]

Chicago Fire Soccer Club

2012-01-09T03:15:00.001-08:00

Chicago Fire Soccer Club is an American professional soccer club based in the Chicago suburb of Bridgeview, Illinois. The team competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), the top soccer league in the United States and Canada. The organization is named for the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, and was founded on October 8, 1997; the event's 126th anniversary.

In their first league season in 1998, the Fire won the MLS Cup as well as the U.S. Open Cup (the "double"). They have also won U.S. Open Cups in 2000, 2003, and 2006; in addition to the 2003 MLS Supporters' Shield.

The Fire maintain an extensive development system, consisting of the Chicago Fire Premier (Premier Development League and Super-20 League teams), the Chicago Fire NPSL team, the Chicago Fire Development Academy, and the Chicago Fire Juniors youth organization. They also operate the Chicago Fire Foundation, the team's community-based charitable division.

Toyota Park is the Fire's home stadium. They are currently coached by Frank Klopas.

More on palestine

2011-11-05T16:42:00.003-07:00

In the 330s BCE, Alexander the Great conquered the region, and the region changed hands numerous times during the wars of the Diadochi. ultimately joining the Seleucid Empire between 219-200 BCE. In 116 BCE, a Seleucid civil war resulted in the independence of certain regions including the minor Hasmonean principality in the Judean Mountains. From 110 BCE, the Hasmoneans extended their authority over much of Palestine, creating a Judean-Samaritan-Idumaean-Ituraean-Galilean alliance. The Judean (Jewish, see Ioudaioi) control over the wider region resulted in it also becoming known as Judaea, a term which had previously only referred to the smaller region of the Judean Mountains. Between 73-63 BCE, the Roman Republic extended its influence in to the region in the Third Mithridatic War, conquering of Judea in 63 BCE, and splitting the former Hasmonean Kingdom into five districts. The three year Ministry of Jesus, culminating in his crucifixion, is estimated to have occurred from 28-30 CE, although the historicity of Jesus is disputed by scholars. In 70 AD, Titus sacked Jerusalem, resulting in the dispersal of the city's Jews and Christians to Yavne and Pella. In 132 AD, Hadrian joined the province of Iudaea with Galilee to form new province of Syria Palaestina, and Jerusalem was renamed "Aelia Capitolina". Between 259-272, the region fell under the rule of Odaenathus as King of the Palmyrene Empire. Following the victory of Christian emperor Constantine in the Civil Wars of the Tetrarchy (306–324), the Christianization of the Roman Empire began, and in 326, Constantine's mother Saint Helena visited Jerusalem and began the construction of churches and shrines. Palestine became a center of Christianity, attracting numerous monks and religious scholars. The Samaritan Revolts during this period caused their near extinction. In 614 AD, Palestine was annexed by another Persian dynasty; the Sassanids, until returning to Byzantine control in 628 AD.[30]

Wikipedia On Palestine

2011-11-05T16:42:00.001-07:00

Palestine (Greek: Παλαιστίνη, Palaistinē; Latin: Palaestina; Hebrew: ארץ־ישראל Eretz-Yisra'el, formerly also פלשת, Peleshet; Arabic: فلسطين‎ Filasṭīn, Falasṭīn, Filisṭīn) was a conventional name, among others, used between 450 BC and 1948 AD to describe the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands.[1][2][3][4][5]

The boundaries of the region have changed throughout history, and were first defined in modern times by the Franco-British boundary agreement (1920) and the Transjordan memorandum during the British Mandate for Palestine. Today, the region comprises the country of Israel and the Palestinian territories.

Currently, Palestine is used to refer to the State of Palestine which, since the Palestinian Declaration of Independence in 1988, has referred to a state in the Palestinian territories on 22% of the wider historical region of Palestine.[6] The State of Palestine is recognized today by approximately two-thirds of the world's countries, although this status is not recognized by the United Nations, Israel and major Western nations such as the United States.

Other terms for the same area include Canaan

Gascoigne

2011-11-05T16:41:00.001-07:00

A Hundreth Sundrie Flowres (1573)Sing lullabie, as women do,
Wherewith they bring their babes to rest;
And lullabie can I sing to,
As womanly as can the best.
"The Lullabie of a Lover", line 1; p. 272.

Full many wanton babes have I,
Which must be stilld with lullabie.
"The Lullabie of a Lover", line 7; p. 272.

The Raynbowe bending in the skye,
Bedeckte with sundrye hewes,
Is lyke the seate of God on hye,
And seemes to tell these newes:
That as thereby he promised,
To drowne the worlde no more,
So by the bloud whiche Christe hath shead,
He will oure health restore.
"Gascoignes Good Morrow", line 41; p. 287.

Quizzin vs fun...

2010-09-09T07:34:00.000-07:00

Three years ago, if I were to chose between quizzing and fun,
It's the former I would have chosen.

Today, my perceptions have changed.
I can not distinguish between the two.

LOL - Laugh On Life

2010-09-08T08:36:00.000-07:00

(Karthik Narayan)

The LOL has come a long way - from laugh on life to laughing out loud
And now its more Live On Line. But is there a Laugh Off Line?

It was in the mind earlier, now its in the chatrooms and text messages.
It seems like so long ago that I laughed for real.

Forgetting everything until you closed your mouth and mind.
Gazing at others wondering what went wrong with you

It did not matter whether you got the joke, or you didn't but we laughed anyway
Uncontrollably sometimes, without adequate reason.

Those jokes sounded so funny, maybe only to your own
But it was ever in jest, never to inflict pain.

Back then, you had friends, you had cousins.
Sometimes it was just yourself, getting the joke late.

It left fond memories amongst other things,
But most importantly, it made you feel better.

Sometimes it was a line in a movie, sometimes it was your own,
But the best ones came when you slipped those words off your tongue.

Tears flowed down your cheeks, sometimes from just one eye
Those jokes you'd cherish anyday, the best moments of our lives

Words thus spoke had such an effect,
That would never happen ever again.

Humour never turns its back but its the people who turn their backs to it,
Mementos they were of relationships, some that didn't stick but the memories do.

There is no smart way to laugh, a giggle gathers more momentum as a guffaw
No gaffe might roll a laugh out of you, if you truly remember to forget yourself

No laugh hurt a soul as a frown, every smile gathers its own respect,
Easing the pressure off your mind, it was clearing the air about you.

It didn't matter how bad the logic was, no matter what the scene was,
But one's mind opened its heaven to the flavour of the humour.

I hunt for people to make me happy, its a treasure hunt that gives me hopes
But more pain than pleasure as every finding leads me to another

Life but is a rant for various reasons for the random soul
Releasing all fears and worries, inhaling fresh ones, perhaps?

Don't have that luxury anymore. Everyone has their own work to do.
Nobody talks the same way as we used to. everything seems to be online.

To laugh at yourself seemed to be much easier back then,
Today the only person laughing is yourself, if at all.

Priorities have changed. Fun seems a long way away.
I want my old LOL back and I want the people that were in it.

Books for the poor - but can they read?

2010-09-08T08:35:00.001-07:00

The Aviva book drive for underprivileged children is a great idea and by the looks of it, many people including myself have sent out a lot of books that I haven't read for a while or not at all.

But the organizers seem to be missing one simple thing - how many people realise that those very poor, underprivileged children havent had a chance to get a real education. I am not sure how many kids will actually know to read the books, let alone the books reaching the kids.

Are we then missing the point?

Howard Roark's Courtroom speech from the Fountainhead

2010-02-18T22:35:00.000-08:00

Howard Roark's
Courtroom Speech
From The Fountainhead, by Ayn Rand

“Thousands of years ago, the first man discovered how to make fire. He was probably burned at the stake he had taught his brothers to light. He was considered an evildoer who had dealt with a demon mankind dreaded. But thereafter men had fire to keep them warm, to cook their food, to light their caves. He had left them a gift they had not conceived and he had lifted dardness off the earth. Centuries later, the first man invented the wheel. He was probably torn on the rack he had taught his brothers to build. He was considered a transgressor who ventured into forbidden terrritory. But thereafter, men could travel past any horizon. He had left them a gift they had not conceived and he had opened the roads of the world.
“That man, the unsubmissive and first, stands in the opening chapter of every legend mankind has recorded about its beginning. Prometheus was chained to a rock and torn by vultures—because he had stolen the fire of the gods. Adam was condemned to suffer—because he had eaten the fruit of the tree of knowledge. Whatever the legend, somewhere in the shadows of its memory mankind knew that its glory began with one and that that one paid for his courage.
“Throughout the centuries there were men who took first steps down new roads armed with nothing but their own vision. Their goals differed, but they all had this in common: that the step was first, the road new, the vision unborrowed, and the response they received—hatred. The great creators—the thinkers, the artists, the scientists, the inventors—stood alone against the men of their time. Every great new thought was opposed. Every great new invention was denounced. The first motor was considered foolish. The airplane was considered impossible. The power loom was considered vicious. Anesthesia was considered sinful. But the men of unborrowed vision went ahead. They fought, they suffered and they paid. But they won.
“No creator was prompted by a desire to serve his brothers, for his brothers rejected the gift he offered and that gift destroyed the slothful routine of their lives. His truth was his only motive. His own truth, and his own work to achieve it in his own way. A symphony, a book, an engine, a philosophy, an airplane or a building—that was his goal and his life. Not those who heard, read, operated, believed, flew or inhabited the thing he had created. The creation, not its users. The creation, not the benefits others derived from it. The creation which gave form to his truth. He held his truth above all things and against all men.
“His vision, his strength, his courage came from his own spirit. A man's spirit, however, is his self. That entity which is his consciousness. To think, to feel, to judge, to act are functions of the ego.
“The creators were not selfless. It is the whole secret of their power—that it was self-sufficient, self-motivated, self-generated. A first cause, a fount of energy, a life force, a Prime Mover. The creator served nothing and no one. He lived for himself.
“And only by living for himself was he able to achieve the things which are the glory of mankind. Such is the nature of achievement.
“Man cannot survive except through his mind. He comes on earth unarmed. His brain is his only weapon. Animals obtain food by force. Man has no claws, no fangs, no horns, no great strength of muscle. He must plant his food or hunt it. To plant, he needs a process of thought. To hunt, he needs weapons, and to make weapons—a process of thought. From this simplest necessity to the highest religious abstraction, from the wheel to the skyscraper, everything we are and everything we have comes from a single attribute of man—the function of his reasoning mind.
“But the mind is an attribute of the individual. There is no such thing as a collective brain. There is no such thing as a collective thought. An agreement reached by a group of men is only a compromise or an average drawn upon many individual thoughts. It is a secondary consequence. The primary act—the process of reason—must be performed by each man alone. We can divide a meal among many men. We cannot digest it in a collective stomach. No man can use his lungs to breathe for another man. No man can use his brain to think for another. All the functions of body and spirit are private. They cannot be shared or transferred.
“We inherit the products of the thought of other men. We inherit the wheel. We make a cart. The cart becomes an automobile. The automobile becomes an airplane. But all through the process what we receive from others is only the end product of their thinking. The moving force is the creative faculty which takes this product as material, uses it and originates the next step. This creative faculty cannot be given or received, shared or borrowed. It belongs to single, individual men. That which it creates is the property of the creator. Men learn from one another. But all learning is only the exchange of material. No man can give another the capacity to think. Yet that capacity is our only means of survival.
“Nothing is given to man on earth. Everything he needs has to be produced. And here man faces his basic alternative: he can survive in only one of two ways—by the independent work of his own mind or as a parasite fed by the minds of others. The creator originates. The parasite borrows. The creator faces nature alone. The parasite faces nature through an intermediary.
“The creator’s concern is the conquest of nature. The parasite’s concern is the conquest of men.
“The creator lives for his work. He needs no other men. His primary goal is within himself. The parasite lives second-hand. He needs others. Others become his prime motive.
“The basic need of the creator is independence. The reasoning mind cannot work under any form of compulsion. It cannot be curbed, sacrificed or subordinated to any consideration whatsoever. It demands total independence in function and in motive. To a creator, all relations with men are secondary.
“The basic need of the second-hander is to secure his ties with men in order to be fed. He places relations first. He declares that man exists in order to serve others. He preaches altruism.
“Altruism is the doctrine which demands that man live for others and place others above self.
“No man can live for another. He cannot share his spirit just as he cannot share his body. But the second-hander has used altruism as a weapon of expoloitation and reversed the base of mankind’s moral principles. Men have been taught every precept that destroys the creator. Men have been taught dependence as a virtue.
“The man who attemps to live for others is a dependent. He is a parasite in motive and makes parasites of those he serves. The relationship produces nothing but mutual corruption. It is impossible in concept. The nearest approach to it in reality—the man who lives to serve others—is the slave. If physical slavery is repulsive, how much more repulsive is the concept of servility of the spirit? The conquered slave has a vestige of honor. He has the merit of having resisted and of considering his condition evil. But the man who enslaves himself voluntarily in the name of love is the basest of creatures. He degrades the dignity of man and he degrades the conception of love. But this is the essence of altruism.
“Men have been taught that the highest virtue is not to achieve, but to give. Yet one cannot give that which has not been created. Creation comes before distribution—or there will be nothing to distribute. The need of the creator comes before the need of any possible beneficiary. Yet we are taught to admire the second-hander who dispenses gifts he has not produced above the man who made the gifts possible. We praise an act of charity. We shrug at an act of achievement.
“Men have been taught that their first concern is to relieve the sufferings of others. But suffering is a disease. Should one come upon it, one tries to give relief and assistance. To make that the highest test of virtue is to make suffering the most important part of life. Then man must wish to see others suffer—in order that he may be virtuous. Such is the nature of altruism. The creator is not concerned with disease, but with life. Yet the work of the creators has eliminated one form of disease after another, in man’s body and spirit, and brought more relief from suffering than any altruist could ever conceive.
“Men have been taught that it is a virtue to agree with others. But the creator is the man who disagrees. Men have been taught that it is a virtue to swim with the current. But the creator is the man who goes against the current. Men have been taught that it is a virtue to stand together. But the creator is the man who stands alone.
“Men have been taught that the ego is the synonym of evil, and selflessness the ideal of virtue. But the creator is the egotist in the absolute sense, and the selfless man is the one who does not think, feel, judge or act. These are functions of the self.
“Here the basic reversal is most deadly. The issue has been perverted and man has been left no alternative—and no freedom. As poles of good and evil, he was offered two conceptions: egotism and altruism. Egotism was held to mean the sacrifice of others to self. Altruism—the sacrifice of self to others. This tied man irrevocably to other men and left him nothing but a choice of pain: his own pain borne for the sake of others or pain inflicted upon others for the sake of self. When it was added that man must find joy in self-immolation, the trap was closed. Man was forced to accept masochism as his ideal—under the threat that sadism was his only alternative. This was the greatest fraud ever perpetrated on mankind.
“This was the device by which dependence and suffering were perpetuated as fundamentals of life.
“The choice is not self-sacrifice or domination. The choice is independence or dependence. The code of the creator or the code of the second-hander. This is the basic issue. It rests upon the alternative of life or death. The code of the creator is built on the needs of the reasoning mind which allows man to survive. The code of the second-hander is built on the needs of a mind incapable of survival. All that which proceeds from man’s independent ego is good. All that which proceeds from man’s dependence upon men is evil.
“The egotist is the absolute sense is not the man who sacrifices others. He is the man who stands above the need of using others in any manner. He does not function through them. He is not concerned with them in any primary matter. Not in his aim, not in his motive, not in his thinking, not in his desires, not in the source of his energy. He does not exist for any other man—and he asks no other man to exist for him. This is the only form of brotherhood and mutual respect possible between men.
“Degrees of ability vary, but the basic principle remains the same: the degree of a man’s independence, initiative and personal love for his work determines his talent as a worker and his worth as a man. Independence is the only gauge of human virtue and value. What a man is and makes of himself; not what he has or hasn’t done for others. There is no substitute for personal dignity. There is no standard of personal dignity except independence.
“In all proper relationships there is no sacrifice of anyone to anyone. An architect needs clients, but he does not subordinate his work to their wishes. They need him, but they do not order a house just to give him a commission. Men exchange their work by free, mutual consent to mutual advantage when their personal interests agree and they both desire the exchange. If they do not desire it, they are not forced to deal with each other. They seek further. This is the only possible form of relationship between equals. Anything else is a relation of slave to master, or victim to executioner.
“No work is ever done collectively, by a majority decision. Every creative job is achieved under the guidance of a single individual thought. An architect requires a great many men to erect his building. But he does not ask them to vote on his design. They work together by free agreement and each is free in his proper function. An architect uses steel, glass, concrete, produced by others. But the materials remain just so much steel, glass and concrete until he touches them. What he does with them is his individual product and his individual property. This is the only pattern for proper co-operation among men.
“The first right on earth is the right of the ego. Man’s first duty is to himself. His moral law is never to place his prime goal within the persons of others. His moral obligation is to do what he wishes, provided his wish does not depend primarily upon other men. This includes the whole sphere of his creative faculty, his thinking, his work. But it does not include the sphere of the gangster, the altruist and the dictator.
“A man thinks and works alone. A man cannot rob, exploit or rule—alone. Robbery, exploitation and ruling presuppose victims. They imply dependence. They are the province of the second-hander.
“Rulers of men are not egotists. They create nothing. They exist entirely through the persons of others. Their goal is in their subjects, in the activity of enslaving. They are as dependent as the beggar, the social worker and the bandit. The form of dependence does not matter.
“But men were taught to regard second-handers—tyrants, emperors, dictators—as exponents of egotism. By this fraud they were made to destroy the ego, themselves and others. The purpose of the fraud was to destroy the creators. Or to harness them. Which is a synonym.
“From the beginning of history, the two antagonists have stood face to face: the creator and the second-hander. When the first creator invented the wheel, the first second-hander responded. He invented altruism.
“The creator—denied, opposed, persecuted, exploited—went on, moved forward and carried all humanity along on his energy. The second-hander contributed nothing to the process except the impediments. The contest has another name: the individual against the collective.
“The ‘common good’ of a collective—a race, a class, a state—was the claim and justification of every tyranny ever established over men. Every major horror of history was committed in the name of an altruistic motive. Has any act of selfishness ever equaled the carnage perpetrated by disciples of altruism? Does the fault lie in men’s hypocrisy or in the nature of the principle? The most dreadful butchers were the most sincere. They believed in the perfect society reached through the guillotine and the firing squad. Nobody questioned their right to murder since they were murdering for an altruistic purpose. It was accepted that man must be sacrificed for other men. Actors change, but the course of the tragedy remains the same. A humanitarian who starts with declarations of love for mankind and ends with a sea of blood. It goes on and will go on so long as men believe that an action is good if it is unselfish. That permits the altruist to act and forces his victims to bear it. The leaders of collectivist movements ask nothing for themselves. But observe the results.
“The only good which men can do to one another and the only statement of their proper relationship is—Hands off!
“Now observe the results of a society built on the principle of individualism. This, our country. The noblest country in the history of men. The country of greatest achievement, greatest prosperity, greatest freedom. This country was not based on selfless service, sacrifice, renunciation or any precept of altruism. It was based on a man’s right to the pursuit of happiness. His own happiness. Not anyone else’s. A private, personal, selfish motive. Look at the results. Look into your own conscience.
“It is an ancient conflict. Men have come close to the truth, but it was destroyed each time and one civilization fell after another. Civilization is the progress toward a society of privacy. The savage’s whole existence is public, ruled by the laws of his tribe. Civilization is the process of setting man free from men.
“Now, in our age, collectivism, the rule of the second-hander and second-rater, the ancient monster, has broken loose and is running amuck. It has brought men to a level of intellectual indecency never equaled on earth. It has reached a scale of horror without precedent. It has poisoned every mind. It has swallowed most of Europe. It is engulfing our country.
“I am an architect. I know what is to come by the principle on which it is built. We are approaching a world in which I cannot permit myself to live.
“Now you know why I dynamited Cortlandt.
“I designed Cortlandt. I gave it to you. I destroyed it.
“I destroyed it because I did not choose to let it exist. It was a double monster. In form and in implication. I had to blast both. The form was mutilated by two second-handers who assumed the right to improve upon that which they had not made and could not equal. They were permitted to do it by the general implication that the altruistic purpose of the building superseded all rights and that I had no claim to stand against it.
“I agreed to design Cortlandt for the purpose of seeing it erected as I dedigned it and for no other reason. That was the price I set for my work. I was not paid.
“I do not blame Peter Keating. He was helpless. He had a contract with his employers. It was ignored. He had a promise that the structure he offered would be built as designed. The promise was broken. The love of a man for the integrity of his work and his right to preserve it are now considered a vague intangible and an inessential. You have heard the prosecutor say that. Why was the building disfigured? For no reason. Such acts never have any reason, unless it’s the vanity of some second-handers who feel they have a right to anyone’s property, spiritual or material. Who permitted them to do it? No particular man among the dozens in authority. No one cared to permit it or to stop it. No one was responsible. No one can be held to account. Such is the nature of all collective action.
“I did not receive the payment I asked. But the owners of Cortlandt got what they needed from me. They wanted a scheme devised to build a structure as cheaply as possible. They found no one else who could do it to their satisfaction. I could and did. They took the benefit of my work and made me contribute it as a gift. But I am not an altruist. I do not contribute gifts of this nature.
“It is said that I have destroyed the home of the destitute. It is forgotten that but for me the destitute could not have had this particular home. Those who were concerned with the poor had to come to me, who have never been concerned, in order to help the poor. It is believed that the poverty of the future tenants gave them the right to my work. That their need constituted a claim on my life. That it was my duty to contribute anything demanded of me. This is the second-hander’s credo now swallowing the world.
“I came here to say that I do not recognize anyone’s right to one minute of my life. Nor to any part of my energy. Nor to any achievement of mine. No matter who makes the claim, how large their number or how great their need.
“I wished to come here and say that I am a man who does not exist for others.
“It had to be said. The world is perishing from an orgy of self-sacrificing.
“I wished to come here and say that the integrity of a man’s creative work is of greater importance than any charitable endeavor. Those of you who do not understand this are the men who’re destroying the world.
“I wished to come here and state my terms. I do not care to exist on any others.
“I recognize no obligations toward men except one: to respect their freedom and to take no part in a slave society. To my country, I wish to give the ten years which I will spend in jail if my country exists no longer. I will spend them in memory and in gratitude for what my country has been. It will be my act of loyalty, my refusal to live or work in what has taken its place.
“My act of loyalty to every creator who ever lived and was made to suffer by the force responsible for the Cortlandt I dynamited. To every tortured hour of loneliness, denial, frustration, abuse he was made to spend—and to the battles he won. To every creator whose name is known—and to every creator who lived, struggled and perished unrecognized before he could achieve. To every creator who was destroyed in body or in spirit. To Henry Cameron. To Steven Mallory. To a man who doesn’t want to be named, but who is sitting in this courtroom and knows that I am speaking of him.”

The day when MRTS became MTC bus

2009-11-17T21:14:00.001-08:00

Nov 17, 2009. 18:55.30.. 31..32

I climbed the stairs of Taramani Station with a constant Northward glance. I did not want to miss my train. I was already late, and tired.

Catching my breath, I took out my MP3 player. Ah, music heal the heart and a great refresher too.

19:03

The train should have come by now and it did. However, on the opposite platform. It usually takes about 2 more minutes for the train on the opposite direction to arrive.

19:09

I nervously looked at my watch. Sukhwinder Singh was trying his "Rab da jogi" from Taal to soothe my nerves. Tough luck pal. You ain't doing such a great job. Train still has not come at my side.

Just then, a train arrived - on the opposite direction!!

19:13

Now I had gotten used to the routine. Colloquially they say counting the bars for guys going to jail. I was counting trains today!! Train No.3, that is.

19:18

Yet another train!! A 9-car this time as opposed to the 6-cars so far.

19:25

Can you believe this? Five trains!! within a span of ten minutes!! What in the world...?

19:30

I wondered whether this was some annual conference of MRTS train drivers!!

Oh my God!! Where does one park 6 trains within a span of 3 kms? (there are only two stations from Taramani to Velachery which is the last station and the distance would hardly be 3 kms).

That would have been quite a sight!!

19:32

My train finally came. 40 minutes late, 9 songs had been heard, 12 others had been rejected.

I lived my MTC bus life again in that one hour.

When you wait for one bus, every bus other than the one we need will come; You will find similar bus routes plying on the opposite side!!

And when our bus did come, it came crowded, packed with people. heads, arms and handbags everywhere. Smelly underarms, sweaty palms groping for support to grab at the handle.

Hooray for MP3 players!! And no thanks to MRTS train conferences!!

The best of the GIs - Indian roads...

2009-11-08T21:21:00.000-08:00

(Karthik Narayan)

People are going gaga around the world over Geographical Indications. If you haven't really heard of those... they are things that a particular place is famous for, hence to safeguard it to make it more popular or whatever reason we want to call it, we try to put it in the column Geographical Indications.

According to wiki: A geographical indication (GI) is a name or sign used on certain products which corresponds to a specific geographical location or origin (eg. a town, region, or country). The use of a GI may act as a certification that the product possesses certain qualities, or enjoys a certain reputation, due to its geographical origin.

A famous example is Tirupathi Laddoo.

But I think people are missing one very important GI that even the Multi National Companies have started adopting - Indian roads!!

NaNoWriMo

2009-10-28T21:37:00.000-07:00

NaNoWriMo, OLL’s flagship event, is a free annual program which challenges people from all over the world to write a 50,000‐word novel in a month. In 2008, more than 120,000 writers from over 90 countries took part in this high‐velocity adventure in fiction. Participants exchange advice and writing tips on the NaNoWriMo website and in their own communities, where group write‐ins are held in coffee shops, libraries, and living rooms. Over 150,000 aspiring writers are expected to participate in this
November’s marathon writing event, marking NaNoWriMo’s 10th anniversary.

The NaNoWriMo Young Writers Program also takes place in November and offers a similar prose adventure for 12‐and‐under authors and the K‐12 classroom set. Resources and curriculum materials are provided to teachers, youth librarians, and homeschooling parents to help get kids and teens excited about writing. Over 600 K‐12 classrooms participated in YWP last year. “With donations like this one from Amazon.com, the Office of Letters and Light can do so much more for the kids, teens, and adults who participate in our events,” said NaNoWriMo Founder and OLL Executive Director Chris Baty. “We can launch a pilot program to bring NaNoWrimo into libraries this fall, increase our Young Writers Program outreach to hundreds of new classrooms, and improve the accessibility and efficiency of the NaNoWriMo site.”
“NaNoWriMo and YWP give people the opportunity to discover their inner writer, and to do so in a supportive and collaborative atmosphere, both online and in local communities” said Jon Fine, director of Author and Publisher Relations at Amazon.com. “We are excited to support OLL and its programs, and the many future authors who will get their start this November.”

The Office of Letters and Light is a California 501(c)(3) nonprofit. If you would like more information about OLL, National Novel Writing Month, or the Young Writers Program please visit our website at www.nanowrimo.org or contact press@nanowrimo.org.

Fortune at the bottom of the dosa

2009-09-30T22:32:00.001-07:00

(Karthik Narayan)

This morning as I sat at my breakfast table, my mom served me her delicious dosas, the aroma of which is said to awake even a sleeping Kumbakarnan.

I was eating my dosas, with sambhar when I understood the true meaning of CK Prahlad's book title - Fortune at the bottom of the pyramid.

The dosa at the bottom of my plate was quietly drinking all the sambhar, drawing very less attention to itself.

Hurriedly, I managed to shift the bottom dosa to allocate more space and thus save some sambhar for the other dosas :)

Yummy though!

Daily one question

2009-09-20T20:58:00.000-07:00

Hi

This has been going on for nearly a week now, but better late than never. I will be hosting a question daily on my gmail status msg that you can answer either thru an instant reply or thru email as is convenient for you.

check it out - these are one liners at the most supplemented with pics wherever possible...

KN

Katisms - aggregator

2009-09-10T04:51:00.000-07:00

Usually I manage to get some one-liners or witty ones (Or I like to think so). Like Bushisms these I call Katisms.

In due course of time, I plan to use them in some literary work that I hope to complete!!

Here's one that I made up today...

When i ask people an almost negligible favour they react as though i want them to swallow a live mouse!!

Back to blogging

2009-09-09T00:08:00.000-07:00

(Karthik Narayan)

Its good to get back to blogging, my Number two activity after quizzing of course.

This time, I hope to be more regular, after a hiatus there should be some justification to get back to something you consider yourself good at - in this case blogging.

I am yet to finish the book I started writing a long time ago - mainly because of personal commitments and the toll of quizzing. Now with a short break, will provide more updates on how that is shaping up.

Basically got a perspective of the book from a few angles and have ideas to re-invent the whole thing. Not sure how motivated I am towards that...

Coping with anger

2009-09-08T21:16:00.001-07:00

(Karthik Narayan)

Do not reply/ do anything when angry. Just hold back, let it cool off for at least half a day.

This is perhaps the biggest lesson I have learnt in the last two weeks, as a build up to the Madras Quiz and later, when I was taking feedback about the Madras Quiz itself.

I did not learn the lesson and hold back my anger - instead I just went wild for a couple of minutes. One of the respondents who had cared in to send his feedback got a lashing from me. A nasty one that went not only to him but also to the rest of the Quizzing community. Not good...

The problem with anger is actually - how do you smother it? How on earth would you control an emotion that comes naturally to you and blinds your thoughts? It is quite tough, let me tell you.

I did not realise the power of anger until much later when I read what I had written to that guy. The note clearly showed my disapproval of his feedback, the fact that he had called the whole quiz a hotch-potch affair and the questions were a mere-re-do of old questions.

Obviously it was not true - which was why I got angry in the first place, but maybe I should have sent him a private stinker, maybe I should have just kept quiet... These were the thoughts that flashed through my mind.

That is what anger does to you - it closes your eyes and thoughts out, the only thing you want to do that particular moment is to tear that guy to pieces. And later it makes you remorseful - why at all lose sleep over someone's views? After all, everyone is entitled to his or her own views. This certainly would not augur well to argue over nothing, really.

So again - how does one hold back anger? Sentence yourself to "Do nothing". Take in deep breaths, even if it's at the speed of knots, even if you end up looking like one of those oxygen deprived fellas on the Moon. Take time off, read something, listen to music that you like (No hard rock please). Get some fresh air (you need air for deep breaths, remember?). Do anything to take your mind off what has happened.

Be diplomatic in taking feedback. This was the greatest lesson of all. All my life, Diplomacy was the last thing on my list. At the end of it all, I ended up sending an email that went like - "hey thanks for your time and feedback. We will address the issues and come back stronger in our future quizzes"!! Where was I all this time? Was this really me?

Yep - In times when you have erred, you should quieten down, slow the pace of things. It's a lot like having pudding (payasam) - it tastes best when its cold.

To err may be human and to forgive may be divine but to forget is Godly....

So you think you know all about Lord Krishna?

2009-08-10T03:53:00.000-07:00

Lord Krishna is the darling of all hindu households, there is no doubt about that. Images/ vignettes/ statues of other deities have their own restrictions but Krishna provides that feeling within us that not many others. The factor here is comfort - He is one amongst us, yet divine. That's what makes him special. He is friendly yet formidable.

hmmm - so... here's a challenge posed by one of my blog-friends Swarnalatha.

Try out the quiz http://feastforthought.blogspot.com/2009/08/can-you-ever-know-enough-about-krishna.html

Its not all serious stuff, but there are some really good questions that would tease you!!

Presenting: Chennai's first ever Quiz-letter

2009-07-27T05:03:00.001-07:00

The Indian Quizzing League (IQL) is a quiz club based in Chennai that aims at making quizzing fun for all walks of life. The club has put together various events where fun and knowledge co-exist in schools, colleges and corporates. Some of IQL's success stories include quizzes at Vidya Mandir, DAV Group of schools, Ethiraj College, MOP Vaishnav College, DG Vaishnav College, and so on. We have contributed questions for college quizzes in Hyderabad and the annual Quiz-festivals in BITS Pilani!

IQL also conceptualized and hosted "India Unplugged", Chennai's first ever India based quiz on January 26, 2009. And most recently, we hosted a summer workshop for school children from various schools.

Over the years, we have realized that lack of time and self-confidence are the main reasons why many are not able to make it to quizzes. With knowledge sharing as our slogan, we wanted to cater to them - and our panel of experts have come up with a solution - "KnowBytes".

As the name sounds, this is a Quiz-letter, the first of its kind in Chennai, packed with crunchy facts, titbits and the latest from across the globe, with a special focus on India. As you will agree, our minds constantly need nourishment through knowledge, for this is a knowledge-based world.

The core team behind "KnowBytes" comprises of the best of minds ranging from Chartered Accountants, IT professionals and researchers who are well-read and well-informed on various topics.

KnowBytes is an online quiz-letter delivered each weekend to your desktops. We will soon have online activities such as active quizzing on an exclusive blog and real-time quizzes. Our Quiz-letter is customized to the needs of quiz enthusiasts of all ages who have the knowledge and interest in quizzing, but are unable to make it to the quizzes.

So it doesn't really matter if you are a student or a businessman - this quiz-letter is for the entire family!

Subscription Plans for KnowBytes:
Plan A - Rs.600 for six months (24 issues) starting July 2009 (*)
Plan B - Rs.1200 for a year starting July 2009 - June 2010 (#)

* - Includes free access to the exclusive KnowBytes Blog worth Rs.200/- per annum, sneak peeks into IQL events

# - Includes free access to the exclusive KnowBytes Blog worth Rs.200/- per annum, sneak peeks into IQL events and an exclusive membership to the IQL Club worth Rs.200/- per annum and access to all questions asked at IQL meetings.

If you are interested, please get in touch with us.

We are available through the following modes:

Blog: http://iquiz.wordpress.com
Email: iqlteam@gmail.com

You can ring us up @ 9962070090 (Karthik Narayan), 9176287344 (Ananthashankar), 9840649158 (Murthy)

Kariamunda?

2009-07-06T06:39:00.000-07:00

(Karthik Narayan)

As usual I was browsing the newspapers, looking for that little bit of info that would help me in my quizzing pursuits and I came across a rather unusual name - Karia Munda.

In case you didnt know like I did (before writing this piece) - Karia Munda is India's current Deputy Speaker of the Lok Sabha. His name and position are unique in the sense that the name if spoken by a tamilian would mean - "is there any purpose?". So - is that a name or a question that we should ask ourselves?

Invent, do not invert

2009-07-02T23:10:00.000-07:00

All around me, I see nobody crying foul about the depletion of electricity resources across the globe. Imagine how our nxt generation - techno rich kids will remain clueless as to how to use the gadgets they keep buying every other day when there will be no power!!

Nobody thinks of all these when they go and buy the gadgets and then also buy stuff like inverters that will help them use it in the case of powercuts!! All people think of is how do I buy this and buy that!!

To realise that inverters and similar gadgets are only consuming the resources faster might help. Every night I see the lights dimming out - its a mere reflection of our own actions, but we cry even more and go out there to buy more inverters!!

I think the proverbial - "Let there be light" will be taken off our lingo. The dark forces are catching up fast and there is nothing that we can do about it...

Buzz 140 - the micro-blogging event on June 21

2009-06-10T00:54:00.001-07:00

As announced earlier, we are hosting a unconference event on micro-blogging in Chennai. The objective is to bring people together to talk about how to share information in 140 characters. Buzz140 is the official name for this event...

When : On Sunday the 21st June 2009 between 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Where : Photon Infotech Private Ltd. Location : No. 2/102, Photon Towers, Old Mahabalipuram Road, Karapakkam,Chennai.

More about the event is here
Directions to the venue is here and here

Participation is absolutely free, though you may not bother to spend US $ 1 towards your lunch expenses.

Catch you at the event.

Oh by the way - did I forget to tell you that there will be a quiz??

Unconference - Buzz 140

2009-06-02T21:38:00.000-07:00

Hi

I am proud to announce the Buzz 140, an unconference in Chennai on June 21. People who know me will know that where there is KN, there is a quiz... so you wont be disappointed here :)

Here are the finer details:
Event is scheduled on 21st June 2009 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.

at Photon Infotech Private Ltd.

No. 2/102, Photon Towers, Old Mahabalipuram Road,

Karapakkam,

Chennai,

India

View Google Map for direction

A sketched-out Venue Route Map is put up here

All further info is available at: http://tinyurl.com/buzz140

The Supreme Speed Braker of Mylapore Contest

2009-05-08T23:39:00.001-07:00

(Karthik Narayan)

Speed breakers are called so because of the way you brake and not the literal meaning that we have come to know. It was originally speed brakers but you know these American spellings...

There are a few roads in Mylapore/ Mandavelli that bear testimony to this new finding. One is the Thiruvengadam Street that has more speed breakers than the number of sixers in a T20 match (featuring big hitters like Sehwag, Hayden). The innovative thing about these speed breakers is that the distance between two of them is less than 5-6 metres!!

The major competitors to the Supreme Speed breaker of Mylapore Title are: Luz Avenue, the lane behind Nageswara Rao Park, and Kennedy Street, near the Luz Church.

More research coming up on the physics of speed breakers.

Back to basics

2009-04-21T21:21:00.000-07:00

(Karthik Narayan)

I thought I was going the next level as a quizzer - what with knowing complex stuff like puns and tributes in Asterix to etymologies of the English Language. I was wrong - I am still wrong!!

There are loads of things we do not know, things and stuff we come across in our daily lives. I had my eye-opener in the form of a simple question from my cousin as to how an AC works; the question triggered few more questions - how do we measure the capacity of an AC, what is meant by 1 ton, 1.5 ton etc, what is the difference between an AC and a refridgerator, what is the capacity of refridgerators, how is it measured and so on...

Soon we both found ourselves gawking at the number of questions that came our way - for which we had no answers. Along the way, we tend to gather so many facts, we conveniently do not question the basics. We take it for granted - now is the time to unleash to understand those basics. The reason why I have started the Back2BaSIX quiz....

The Classroom beckons - bye now!!

Of locks without keys

2009-04-06T21:30:00.001-07:00

Karthik Narayan

Still scratching your head and your windowpanes wondering how to get your keys out of the car? Or getting locked outside your home with keys inside?

Sometimes you even run the risk of (ugghhhh) someone stealing your footprint for biometric locks!!

It's time to move on - welcome to the world of keyless locks. "What?" you ask. Locks and keys were best friends, until now!! Read on...

A remote keyless lock system is a system designed to remotely permit or deny access to premises or automobiles. There are several RKE systems on the market, including but not limited to KeeLoq by Microchip, HITAG by Philips, and AVR411 by Atmel.

In the case of automobiles an RKS performs the functions of a standard car key without physical contact; power door locks can be locked or unlocked from several feet away or even from inside a building. (In this regard, the term "keyless" is a misnomer since the fob acts as an electronic key. Locking it in the car is just as much of a problem as doing the same with a mechanical key.)

A remote keyless lock system can include both a remote keyless entry system (RKE) and a remote keyless ignition system (RKI).

Remote keyless systems first began appearing as an option on several American Motors vehicles in 1983, including the Renault Alliance. The feature gained its first widespread availability on General Motors' W-platform vehicles (the Buick Regal, Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme and Pontiac Grand Prix) in 1989.

Keyless locks and technology, hip hip hooray!!!

The sole mate

2009-03-05T03:15:00.000-08:00

They say the first two things a girl notices about a guy are his eyes and his shoes!! When such importance is given to shoes, we guys can't afford to give it a miss, can we?

There are different types and varieties of shoes - casuals for all those parties and Friday dressings at the office, formals for the regular mundane days, boots to give the cowboy look, sneakers and the sporty look for running and the athlete in you. There are also the wedding shoes, the rain boots and the uniform type shoes for school/ university.

The popular choices for casuals are Adidas and Nike; there are designer shoes by various brands

In most parts of the world (Asia, Eastern Europe, parts of the Middle East and Africa, much of Northern Europe and Canada, as well as Alaska) it is customary to remove shoes when entering a house. In some areas of the United States, especially the Midwest, it is expected that visitors remove their shoes unless a host specifically invites them to leave their shoes on. People do this to avoid bringing dirt, mud or snow into the house. For some societies, including those in Asia, indoor footwear may be provided for guests.

In the Middle East, parts of Africa, Korea and Thailand, it is considered rude to show the soles of the feet to others (even accidentally, such as by crossing the legs). Shoe throwing is a great insult in some areas in the Middle East and in India, as was seen in the recently and more famous incident with former US president George W Bush.

Units for shoe sizes vary widely around the world. European sizes are measured in Paris Points, which are worth two-thirds of a centimetre. The UK and American units are approximately one-quarter of an inch, starting at 8¼ inches. Men's and women's shoe sizes often have different scales.

Why so much importance to shoes - you still ask? Saving the best for last - the common thing about us and shoes - we both have souls (soles)... so go find your sole mate...

Papa kehte hain bada naam karega

2009-02-22T03:04:00.000-08:00

(Karthik Narayan)

Udit Narayan melted our hearts with the song "papa kehte hain...". Little did he know he would create history of sorts in the Tamil Nadu government (which is becoming a tamil industry by itself) almost 3 decades later!!

Our own papa-appa headed Tamil Nadu Government came up with a proposal in their latest budget in Feb 2009; the government is offering a gold ring to newborns with a chaste tamil name. Now what a chaste tamil name is, nobody knows! Not even the authorities that came up with this idea. The height of ridicule here is that these guys have so much time and have the guts to say they will shell out so much money. Correction, OUR money, that we, the taxpayers, in spite of recession, extreme heat and pressure manage to pay up - all on the basis of some random birth certificate of a child's name!!

The irony is - why do they want to force people to name their children with a tamil name, what extra perks does the child get? WHY is not just a three letter word when it comes to Tamil Nadu politics. It is a deadly weapon used only when the situation is not favourable (read lesser money in a politician's pocket).

What will these guys think of next? I recommend they put their precious brains on publishing a book on "tamil chaste names for your babies" - more for the flavour of the season...

I am heading to the nearest registrar office to change my name to Tamilvannan or something, maybe they will grant me a copper ring... Maybe my life will change totally; You never know - I might become the next US President, just for having a tamil name!!

Shopping is not a chore anymore

2009-02-19T19:58:00.001-08:00

The idea of online shopping predates the World Wide Web!! Fascinating but true to note - there were earlier experiments involving real-time transaction processing through television. The technology, based on Videotext, was first demonstrated in 1979 by Michael Aldrich, who designed and installed systems in the UK, including the first Tesco pilot system in 1984. The first B2B was Thomson Holidays in 1981.

In 1990 Tim Berners-Lee created the first World Wide Web server and browser. In 1992 Charles Stack created the first online book store, Book Stacks Unlimited (aka Books.com), two years before Jeff Bezos started Amazon. In 1994 other advances took place, such as online banking and the opening of an online pizza shop by Pizza Hut. During that same year, Netscape introduced SSL encryption of data transferred online, which has become essential for secure online shopping. In 1995 Amazon expanded its online shopping, and in 1996 eBay appeared.

The stuff that you can shop for online has no limits - ranging from gardening materials, kitchen utensils, the art of fine dining, home maintenance and decorative and art material that would make your home a fine place to live in. Not withstanding the above, you can also shop for music, movies, books, even movie tickets can be purchased at the click of a button.

E-commerce product sales totaled $146.4 billion in the United States in 2006, representing about 6% of retail product sales in the country. The $18.3 billion worth of clothes sold online represented about 10% of the domestic market. For developing countries and low-income households in developed countries, adoption of e-commerce in place of or in addition to conventional methods is limited by a lack of affordable Internet access.

The world is becoming a global village indeed!!

Television direct to your homes

2009-02-19T19:38:00.000-08:00

High quality television at almost the same price as your normal cable tv - thats the bottomline of the concept of direct TV, the in thing in today's world. Most of us, including me, were having the conventional cable television. With faulty lines, bad signals and watery eyes, we managed to gulp down our dinners and lunches with our favorite programs. Not any more!!

I have managed to switch over to directtv and I personally have felt the difference in the clarity, sound quality and uninterrupted services that I have been getting from my service provider. Well, what are you waiting for? Are you still watching those grains and lines with a tear in your eye?

George Kovacs and bright lights

2009-02-17T00:56:00.000-08:00

One of my passions is quizzing. I come across a variety of information on just about anything. I thought I would share one such information with you all.

Basically, I love art and consider the artists be it contemporary or classical as pure geniuses. They are in a world that is beyond our normal life yet they make our lives interesting and beautiful in their own ways. One such artist is George Kovacs, a designer, manufacturer and importer of innovative and stylish modern lighting fixtures who introduced the ubiquitous halogen torchiere in the USA.

Kovacs was born in Vienna in 1926, which makes him a contemporary genius. Starting in a small manner, he made his way from rags to riches. Today, his name is one of the most recognizable in lighting. Mr. Kovacs is famous for his desk lamps, fine art lamps, pendant fixtures, mini-pendants, floor lamps, desk lamps, picture lights and wall scones. He also marketed the products of other acclaimed designers, including Ingo Maurer, Harry Allen, Karim Rashid, Robert Sonneman and Alecia Wesner.

Kovacs made a name for himself and a name that not many will tend to forget when it comes to innovation and lighting fixtures. The name stands - George Kovacs lightings and George Kovacs lamps is almost a prefix that's taken for granted. George Kovacs died in 2007 at the age of 80, but his name will be lit in glory forever...

Social networking and me

2009-02-16T08:25:00.000-08:00

Today's times are so hectic that we hardly have time to talk to our families, our friends. I personally feel the pinch to socialize but do not have the time to do the same.

But with the power of the internet and the advent of the social networking concept, you can stay in touch. These are not only cost effective but also very quick and at your own convenience.

There are a lot of things that you can share on the web with your near and dear ones - you can tell them what you felt about a movie you saw, about a game that happened, about a television serial or just about anything. You can share recipes and the like. Social networking need not be just among the known people - you can make new friends from all over the world at the fingertip of your mouse.

I want to share with you a review about my phone. Check out my phone review on:
http://www.acobay.com/stuff/1174318/gallery

You may be interested in modern gadgets such as the iphone, the blackberry, but I am content for the time being with my current phone.

The bookmark that sank my heart

2009-02-11T21:05:00.000-08:00

(Karthik Narayan)

I am a book lover, in the right sense. I say this because my friend Ananth is also a book lover in a different way. He has a huge collection of books that he has never read and probably has no intention of reading. Perhaps he preserves the books; Maybe he is the epitome of book buyers (the printed version) that every author would love to have in his black book.

Back to the point, I like buying and reading books. I do not have the habit of putting up bookmarks in my books to continue from where I had left, nor do I "doggy-ear" any corner of the page. Instead, I make a mental note of the page number. To forget is becoming humane, and I am no math lover to remember every number. Sometimes I go a few pages before and start all over again, disrupting my reading pleasure a bit, but I don't complain.

Today on the bus, I was reading my book (I have started reading again BTW). The routine check came when I had reached my workplace - so I turned my book upside down, showed my ID and went back to my book. As I turned the book over, I was horrified - a portion of the page I had been reading was torn!! A shape by no means that would warm the heart of an arts teacher or fetch me an A in a trigonometry drawing class - my heart sank.

This is one bookmark that will continue to haunt me every time I open the book. I have pledged to be more careful in the future and bring no harm to my precious books...

The Roger Federer of Mosquito swatting

2009-02-01T18:54:00.000-08:00

(Karthik Narayan)

We bought a mosquito swatter, one that comes in the form of a tennis racquet and makes quite a racket. This is actually an electronically charged device that produces an electric field in the net. Whenever a mosquito/ fly goes past it, it gets its dose of instant hell in a cell and dies.

This mosquito swatting is not an easy task - you have to identify the mosquito first, then you need to ensure it goes into your net and then boom!!

An ahimsa-vadi like my dad wouldn't hurt a fly - literally. So it boiled down to me. These mosquitoes are smart things - it's our blood that's inside them, so what else do you expect? I'd say, those mosquitoes would become great bloggers and quizzers in time!! Anyway, once they saw the bat come out of the closet, they disappeared. It required great coaxing and some fan-less moments to gain the confidence of those mosquitoes.

I was starting to doubt the net-worth of the bat by now, but then after about ten minutes, I started getting some hits on my net-work. Then the killer count began. Kat the fizzer (yeah there was a fizz when the killings occured) was going good - 10 became 23 in no time. The kitchen and the closet carry more values than other places. I managed to kill 55 in about an hour's time (10.00 to 11.00 PM). After vain efforts of swishing around like a batsman playing McGrath, I went to bed, satisfied that I had hit so many in a day and hoping for a decent amount of sleep.

But like Nadal, the mosquitoes came out of nowhere and bit me where it hurts - the smart mosquitoes live on, and I was made to feel like Roger Federer - do all the hard work and yet lose sleep. That's taking a bit (e) out of my life... Ouch that smarts!!

WOW, Heavenly...

2009-01-10T23:32:00.000-08:00

(Karthik Narayan)

Every minute in our lives are interesting, important and intriguing. It keeps us going on "what next?". There are some moments that are memorable, some that are touching, some - testing but there are truly very few that are breathtaking. I witnessed that today morning.

Lakshmi and I went to receive my in-laws from Palakkad at the Railway station, who were visiting us for the first time since our wedding on Nov 23, 2008. Since the arrival time of the train was at 5.25 AM, we were both groaning loudly. Each day we get up at 4.45AM & 5.00AM (Yeah I get 15 valuable minutes more than her) to get to our respective workplaces. Saturdays are a big boon to sleep in. But today was not to be, obviously.

We set off at 5.00 from home and reached there at 5.20AM. It's hard to catch that crazy female accent voice over the PA system amidst all that noise. We hung around the Central railway station until the big board informed us that the train was going to be at least 30 minutes late. YES! We hear you echoing our groans now...

Anyway, finally the train arrived at 6.05 AM, without the customary "Train No.___ ravana hogi" for the train we were waiting for!! We managed to wade through the pool of walking waltzes. Without further ado, let me get to the breathtaking part...

As we came out, we were taken by the sight of the skies. There are no words to describe it - you have to see it for yourselves. I had never seen such a skyline in Chennai all through my life!!

Take a look at these pictures (courtesy the phone camera in Lakshmi's mobile - Sony camera phones zindabad!!).

PS: the title was provided by Sugar, she looked at the pics and said, "wow, Heavenly!" - the perfect pun.

Actions speak louder than words...

2009-01-10T05:29:00.000-08:00

(Karthik Narayan)

When a group of close-to-heart people come together, its always great fun. Fun becomes memorable and memorable moments are etched in our minds forever. But, post-invention of the camera, it is commonplace to capture those moments on film as well to see, narrate and enjoy the spoils of pulling each others' legs.

My cousins Aarti and Ashwat visited us (Lakshmi is my wife and me is me) and we all set off to that one place that everyone loves to be on any evening - the beach. My cousin Aarti, being the youngest and the NXG teen, had this new found interest in playing dumb charades. While the rest of us are post our teens and do not share the same fascination for that "been there done that" game.

But what the hell - Boys vs girls - Ashwat and me vs Aarti and Lakshmi. We had the theme of Hindi movies only.

For those not in the know. Dumb Charades is a game that is played with the following rules:

Each team decides on a movie name and informs one "Volunteer" from the opponent team. The volunteer demonstrates through body motions/ actions (without speaking) the movie name.

Needless to say, the name of the game was awesome fun and frolic as we made fun of each other, the acting was good in parts. We had some real great emotions displayed for movie names like Singhh is King, Thoda pyar thoda magic etc.

The best of the lot was perhaps Ashwat's portrayal for "Company". He broke the movie name into two - come and pani. Come was relatively easy for me to crack. For pani, he ran all the way across the sand to point to the beach. I promptly said "bhago"!!

I guess the game is an apt example for the famous proverb, "actions speak louder than words".

Play is all fun and games...

2008-12-06T04:03:00.000-08:00

Toys and games are part of every child's life story on the way to growing up. Toys and games come in various types, catering to various aspects of fun - learning, beating boredom, spending those lovely afternoons inside beating the heat etc.

For quizzing enthusiasts like me, the average fun game would be in the likes of Mastermind, where I get to pick out quizzes and answer them. The person winning the quiz at the end of it all is the Grand Master.

For tiny tots, there is the Alphabet mystery puzzle and of course, the current favorites - the pokemon game. If you were to choose for children of say, 6-12, I would recommend word games where they get to develop their vocabulary. For children above 12, crosswords, encyclopedias and learning guides are the best bet.

One thing as I end this piece - do not stop children from playing, do not tell them they should play less. For all those fun times add up to a child's development at the end of the day.

You know what they say, life is a game - play it!!

A primer on the US financial crisis

2008-11-13T09:01:00.000-08:00

(Karthik Narayan)

The US Financial crisis is something that has been making headlines all over the world. Everyone loves to talk about it on TV and all this because it is a universal phenomenon. But do we really know what we are talking about and reading? Not really. Let’s get down to the basics and understand what actually happened.

What happened - why is this making world headlines?

The buzzwords in the economy are Credit crunch and recession. The business world is slowing down, companies are filing for bankruptcies. That’s not new, you might think – but these are not just ordinary companies. These are huge multinational corporations that are in the business for a long time and are pioneers.

Did all this happen overnight?

No – the US financial crisis was a combination of various factors. Two of which that come readily to mind are:

1 – The sub-prime mortgage crisis.

Crisply said, real estate prices boomed and rose to great levels and suddenly saturated and started falling. The loans, lending rates and money supply in the market started dropping at alarming levels. Since such loans were made to second level borrowers (who do not have higher credit rating), the recovery became tough; more defaulters, more bankruptcies were reported than ever before. Thus a situation of CREDIT CRUNCH came into being.

2 – Excessive lending leading to non availability of credit:

The most affected companies in the US were also the giants of the industry – companies like Lehman Bros, AIG, Merrill Lynch, IndyMac Bank (the largest mortgage lender in the US), Bear Stearns to name a few. These companies filed for bankruptcy, the last thing on any investor’s mind, since these companies were world leaders in the lending business.

The seriousness and impact of this situation can be felt with the following statement by the Judge who ruled the sale of the assets of Lehman Brothers:

"I have to approve this transaction because it is the only available transaction. Lehman Brothers became a victim, in effect the only true icon to fall in a tsunami that has befallen the credit markets. This is the most momentous bankruptcy hearing I've ever sat through. It can never be deemed precedent for future cases. It's hard for me to imagine a similar emergency.”

Lehman's bankruptcy is the largest failure of an investment bank since Drexel Burnham Lambert collapsed amid fraud allegations 18 years prior

What are the implications for the common man?

(i) higher interest rates and reduced availability on loans;

(ii) lower rates of return on your personal investments;

(iii) reduced level of government spending as governments and municipalities are affected.

(iv) Higher unemployment as companies tighten their belt.

Comparison with the Great Depression of 1929

In many ways, the current economic crisis has affected the whole world and is compared to the Great Depression of 1929. This is owing to the consistency and nature of the impact.

Three phrases - Black Thursday, Black Monday, and Black Tuesday - are used to describe this collapse of stock values. All three are appropriate, for the crash was not a one-day affair. The initial crash occurred on Black Thursday (October 24, 1929), but it was the catastrophic downturn of Black Monday and Tuesday (October 28 and October 29, 1929) that precipitated widespread panic and the onset of unprecedented and long-lasting consequences for the United States. The collapse continued for a month.

Some food for thought in the form of numbers:

Borrowings in the US have shot up by almost $900 billion over the last few months – Such staggering amounts were required to rescue mortgage firms, buy the mortgage related assets (to the extent of $700 billion) and to keep giant companies afloat.

By doing this, the US government is only saving itself for the time being. In the long run it would still get affected as the debt keeps increasing each time they borrow.

The US National Debt Clock was set up in Manhattan in 1989. Picture this: in 1989 the debt amount stood at $2.7 trillion. Interestingly enough, the Clock had only 13 digits. But with the total debt going over the 10 Trillion figure, the makers figured that they had more numbers than they could handle, literally!!

As a temporary measure, the dollar sign at the beginning of the total has been changed to a "1" so the digital billboard can reflect the amount of money the federal government currently owes - some 10.2 trillion dollars, or 10,228,388,628,932.

What does this mean to India?

Even though India boasts to be an independent company and a rising star in the horizon of world business, most of the business still comes from the US. Therefore the recession in the US will definitely slow down the growth of the Indian economy. Besides India, most of the world including Europe, Asia, Russia have been affected.

The magnitude of the ripple that the US financial crisis is so severe that the entire country Iceland is under risk of being declared bankrupt!!

Just imagine - the world is at the risk of coming to a standstill and there is nothing we can do about it!!

Bond, shames Bond – the review of Quantum of Solace

2008-11-09T22:11:00.000-08:00

(Karthik Narayan)

When you see your first Bond movie in a theater, you naturally go with great expectations. Especially when a movie is hyped big time, and releases a good week before it releases in the US!

A typical Bond movie would have cheesy punch lines that would shame a Rajinikanth movie, romance scenes that would give Kamal Hassan second thoughts if he was growing old; not to forget the techno wiz and gadgets that would make NASA feel they were playing with toy balloons.

Being a sequel to Casino Royale, which many swear by as one of the best and most realistic Bond movies of all time, this movie started off with action sequences right from the word GO. All the action scenes were brilliantly choreographed; the visual imagery was mind boggling. Mind you, this is supposed to be a believable human Bond.

Here's a little something I typed in my mobile while watching the movie!!

With Daniel Craig brutally assaulting and killing people at will
The movie was all about the licence to kill

And all through the movie we had this chill
(Definitely not because of air conditioning) but because of the thrill

To get out of this movie halfway you had to summon your will
Simply because you had already paid the entire bill!!

The only thing that made Bond yet again not so humane was that in spite of his cards getting blocked, his bills being unpaid and his movements being tracked, he always managed to get what he wanted and too easily. Also, without hi-tech gadgetry, Bond always manages to get to the low down and track the enemy. Maybe some things are best untold, but if the moviemakers want to make Bond more believable, they need to make things normal rather than superhuman. But yes, there was the emotional Bond that made him human in this movie.

Bond girls and villains, however stole the show. I particularly enjoyed the role of Mathieu Amalric as Dominic Greene; his beady little eyes showed an array of emotions such as greed, lust and hatred in a beautiful sort of way. I would surely look out for more of his movies from now on, with a well toned body, good looks, he is good material for movies.

Olga Kurylenko doesn't have much to say except a few words now and then – her opening one-liner "get in" and at the end, when she says "get in" have good touches to it; other than that she isn't much. She has this resemblance to Catherine Zeta Jones (only slightly). Gemma Atherton is too cute and pretty and doesn't deserve the treatment she gets in the movie.

A hundred sms-es, a few inside jokes, buckets of drooling (Ananth, Samba and his friend were eyeing all the girls in the theater), and a few verses later, the movie finally came to an end.

Keeping in line with our usual habit, we did stay in the movie hall till the end of the credits – hoping to see something good to get our money's worth, but the sweepers of the theater were so annoying, they just popped in and asked us to vacate. So what's the big deal with credits?

As I walked to the parking lot, I asked my friend who had watched the movie with me, what does quantum of solace mean?

He shook his head at me and we never spoke a word after that about the movie. Somehow it didn't all bond…

Rating: 6/10 (purely for action)

Review of BODY OF LIES - All lies, no fun!

2008-10-25T05:02:00.000-07:00

(Karthik Narayan)

I normally take a while to write a movie review, but after watching Body of Lies, the first thing I wanted to do since getting out of the theater was write the review. No particular reason, it’s more like getting rid of wet clothes that may sting and make your body stink.

This is no gripping tale, the admission fee is worth seeing most parts of the Islamic world and some parts of America through google earth. Half the movie was a dedication to google earth, cell phones and the success of intelligence and secrecy over the failure of dumbass bureaucracy.

Inspite of the star cast of Leo di Caprio, Russel Crowe and some very handsome actors such as Mark Strong (Hani), Ali Suliman (Sadiki) and the beautiful Iranian actress, Golshifteh Farahani (Aisha, now how does that song go?), the movie lacks imagination and direction, including the wayward movement from extreme Amman, Jordan to Washington DC.

Leo di Caprio once again played a guy suffering from both sides of the law. Similar to the Departed, only here he suffers major physical injury and total frustration. He acts brilliantly, especially the toying between a broken heart and a few broken bones and a torn conscience working for Russel Crowe. Though I loved all scenes that Leo came in, there was one moment when he really took my heart away - his eyes pining for Aisha.

Russel Crowe was brilliant acting fat, stupid and techno savvy. Great job, buddy, dear sore loser! Crowe as a power hungry boss at the CIA?? Give me a break!!

Ridley Scott (producer and director) was very effective in giving the perfect medicine for sleep deprived and insomniacs out there. We were all confused and dozed off at least 5 times during the movie. Salut!

William Monahan (scriptwriter) stuck to his great script formula of having at least 2 words that rhyme with duck and missy in each line. An oscar awaits, I am sure.

If people rated this movie 7.7 for anything other Leo di Caprio’s acting, they must be out of their minds. Maybe it’s the panic that is setting in on the movie goers’ minds. Or maybe because Leo comes in almost all scenes of the movie

Rating: 6.5/10 (purely for Leo and nothing else, buddy). I’m outa here now…

Tables and table covers

2008-10-20T06:49:00.000-07:00

(KN)

I plan to get some real neat furniture sometime later this year since I would be moving to another house. I went and looked for some dining tables and regular tables as well at one of those trade show exhibits out there in the city center. As I moved along those lovely wooden marvels, I realised a good table is complete only with those exquisite table covers.

These tables and covers come in so many sizes that I had to first realise the purpose for which I was out there - to buy a dining table and table cover fit for 4-6 to sit, relax, share jokes and have dinner over. I mean, that is all fine for a dining table. But what about a regular table that you play cards on, hang around with friends at home sipping a cola and dumping all your precious remote controls and stuff? A stunning table top display is what it takes to make an ordinary table look spectacular. That calls for another hunt at those trade show exhibits. What say?

One night at the Ispahani Center

2008-10-10T11:10:00.000-07:00

(Karthik Narayan)

Some of us quizzers (mostly hungry souls) met at the CCD, Ispahani building with a fake agenda and no money whatsoever - just for the heck of meeting.

Enter: the Chitlapakkam Cheerers Ananth and Sanandan

Ananth: Hey dude, where are the others? Where's PP?

Sana: all in good time dude, all in good time...

Ananth (dials KN's number): Doi, where are you? Ithu ponavane, enga da iruke (dude, where are you)

KN (on phone): we will be there in ten minutes. What time is it? 4PM right? didn't I say it was at 430?

Ananth: Dawg - get your butt over here asap. me and sana will thrash you!!

PP (text to KN): Hey, I reached CCD, Where are you?

KN: In important meeting (while he and Achu were watching Aamir all along, nice movie too!!), Should be there in ten mins... hold the fire.

PP: Hey, its ok. take your time!

Ten minutes later and a whole lot of comments behind KN's back...

Enter KN and Achu, grinning from ear to ear.

Ananth: late as usual.

Sana: wastest fellow - you live within a stone's throw from this place...

Ananth opened his mouth to eat rather than to speak (so what's new).

KN: let's try out Ananth's newest credit card, you scratch your card, we scratch our tummies, say what?

Ananth: I am ok by it - but no more treats.

KN, Sana, Achu, PP and Subs - rolling their eyes and fingers crossed: Yes, Pantan. As you say!!!

Post a good fiesta, time for Ananth's siesta. So exit Pantan and Sana... thanks guys.

Enter the guest of the day - all the way from BITS Goa, Everybody!! please welcome Ajay Parasuraman!!!

After a brief quizzing session - exclusively for Ajay (frankly Achu handled the whole thing beautifully) while the Chitlais exited.

Ajay met us all for the first time - it was like I know him for a while from the internet. He is one of those guys who manages to answer my online quizzes.

Great having you over mate, do come more often!!

Enter Samba, looking a stud as ever!! Also Vinod Hariharan, the Mod of the IQL bogs (I mean blogs)

Photos of the meet, some coffee and lots of music and goodies follow:

Two things at the end of it all:

1. CCD is going from bad to worse in terms of menu card - a lot of items listed on the menu are never available at any point of time at the stores (Believe me, we have sampled most of the CCDs from IIT to Nandanam to Anna Nagar outlets).

2. The quality of service is pathetic and the items are overpriced then never before.

3. When you spend 5 hours (we saw the sun go down from 4pm to 9pm!!) in a single spot without even moving out for a tingle, your ligaments freeze and your balls are plateaued like pancakes. Don' try this at home, folks!!

Now you know why this post is titled so... it was a marathon meeting without a single purpose achieved!! Three cheers to coffee shops that don' throw you out...

One more kolu...

2008-10-10T10:58:00.000-07:00

(Karthik Narayan)

Guys, I know there are more than one story to how you met my kolu.

Here is a kolu done brilliantly by my neighbor Kumaran. Feast your eyes on the creativity and patience bestowed upon the marvellous art:

Krishnankutty Parthasarathy Iyer and others... at KN's kolu

2008-10-10T10:53:00.000-07:00

(Karthik Narayan)

The Kolu or the doll festival did not really catch on at the Narayanan household this year until halfway into Navrathri. Now, the reasons are plenty for being busy, but the point was - the tradition had to be completed. More importantly since Krishnankutty Parthasarathy Iyer had entered the family records. In case you are wondering who that is, look down for photos:

Now the Kolu is not about Krishnankutty alone - there are more:

You know, the saddest thing about being creative at dussehra time is on the last day where you have to dismantle the stand, remove the decorated dolls and stash them away to sleep until the next year. All that hard work and the art of work can stand only for ten days? I wish I could do a Scheherazade and the 1001 Arabian Nights to save my kolu until next year :)

Wishful thinking that! In the meantime feel free to comment on the kolu and the photographer :)

Until next year!!

Valencia dies

2008-09-30T23:30:00.000-07:00

(Karthik Narayan)

That was the subject of an email which I happened to chance upon when I was at my colleague's desk. I said to myself, is that a headline. The Quizzer in me did a mental google on valencia, and left me wondering who it could be. The search brought out results in the order of Italian names and football clubs and I could not recall reading anything on those lines in the newspapers...

After chugging my brain's train for a while, I asked who was valencia. The answer I got was rather interesting - Apparently it was Valencia Dies as in dies and casts.

A little knowledge is indeed a dangerous thing!!

What do you call such short worded sentences that can have more than one meaning? And do share anything similar that you might have come across...

Lemon is the flavor of the day...

2008-09-16T07:23:00.000-07:00

(Karthik Narayan)

As the world is going lemon, I decided to do my own bit - tried and got hooked to lemon flavored black tea (now that's not black, or is it) and lemon flavored cookies.

More on lemons:

Lemon laws are American state laws that provide a remedy for purchasers of cars that repeatedly fail to meet standards of quality and performance. These cars are called lemons. This is the origin of selling your old cars for lemon (perichampazham or dates are used alternatively for this running joke).

The media described the following news as GOING LEMON:

On September 15, 2008, Lehman Brothers, a global financial-services firm, filed for bankruptcy protection; the filing marks the largest bankruptcy in US history...

The music video for "Lemon," directed by Mark Neale, was filmed in black and white with a grid-like background as a tribute to Eadweard Muybridge. Muybridge was a photographer who was the first person to successfully capture fast motion on film, using his device, coincidentally named the Zoopraxiscope, a reference to the lyrics ("A man makes a picture - a moving picture/Through light projected he can see himself up close").

Ah yes there is that famous Lemon Tree song by Fool's garden.

And then some titbits not so lemonish but on the color of lemon:

The trademark symbol of New York city is the yellow color taxi, which I am sure all of us have seen in Hollywood movies. The color yellow was chosen because it is distinctly visible.

McDonald's colors are Yellow and Red - colors were so chosen after research proved that the colors yellow and red stimulate hunger (what doesn't).

Got any more to share? Add on to the flavor...

Word of the week - the nobull prize

2008-08-20T10:10:00.000-07:00

(Karthik Narayan)

The nobull prize is a word that came about when I was chatting (happens all the time), and it's supposed to mean people who try to portray a perfect image of themselves, give all the excuses in the world to not have done something and in the end, actually convince you to think they are not at fault!

A shopping we will go

2008-08-09T23:44:00.000-07:00

Online shopping has been a major boom in the last 4-5 years. At least, for lazy bums like me, its a big boon not to have to run around to get things.

Well, for the record, all the accessories, clothing and electronics that I have bought have all been online. So what do I have in store for you today? Plenty of shopping options from a new website I managed to stumble upon. Try http://www.shopwiki.com/wiki/Accessories for starters.

My favorites have been on watches and sunglasses! Cool, trendy stuff to begin with, easy and discrete shopping and plenty of tips on gifts make this website a good place to hang out with. Catering to both men and women, you will lose yourself in this shopping paradise.

In particular, I was impressed with the collection of watches out here. Check it out for yourselves.

For more shopping updates, watch this space and of course, do check out the site...

Say good bye to those fat, high cost credit card bills

2008-08-09T23:31:00.000-07:00

High credit card billings, interest levels soaring thanks to the rising inflation globally.. story sound familiar?

Try doing some research upfront on the hidden costs and perils of using your credit cards. Make such comparisons as low interest credit cards, business credit cards, pre-paid debit cards across various players in the market.

The research becomes as simple as 1-2-3 - in three simple steps you can find the credit card best suited to your needs and usage. Go for it, save yourself the troubled look on your face everytime you see that credit card bill. And start saving and smiling :)

Review of Kung Fu Panda – Haiya, cool!

2008-08-07T01:18:00.000-07:00

(Karthik Narayan)

Po seems a funny name for a Panda living in China, let alone consider Kung Fu as a passion. Well, Po is a dreamy young Panda whose ambitions are to become a Kung Fu expert, maybe even a master! Being a big fat Panda and the son of a Duck running a Noodle Soup restaurant in China, Kung Fu is certainly out of question.

Po goes to watch the selection of the Dragon Warrior by the Kung Fu greats and finds himself in the irony of things.

What follows next is a series of comic events, great action from the studios of Dreamworks SKG and the final showdown between a legendary Kung Fu warrior and an ordinary Panda.

The comic attack is pleasant and not in your face, though one feels the cute panda getting hurt too often gets a little too slapstick – but then this movie is about facing life as it is vs as you like it; so the hit will be brutal, no doubt.

Two messages that are left in your mind as you finish watching this movie:

Never give up.
There is no secret ingredient to true happiness.

Overall, you will find that there is no secret ingredient to this movie, just don't give up watching this one – a must watch.

The perfect movie to watch when you really want to relax and get away from the traffic, noise and hectic work.

On the personal front, this movie reminded me of those underdogs in the quizzing circuits, who aren’t the best at what they do, and can only look awestruck, jaws open at the Greats of Quizzing.

Then one fine day, one of these underdogs rise up to become a world beater. Lessons for all those eager beavers not to give up and to chase dreams.

There aren't any Kung Fu movies around these days, this is your best bet to revive that Golden Age...

Rating: 7/10

Word of the week: quiztinct

2008-08-03T04:13:00.000-07:00

(Karthik Narayan)

The Queen-mother tapped the gentleman kneeling in front of Her with the ceremonial sword.

"Arise, Sir…"

"Huh?", it took Kat Nine, err, Sir Kat Nine, a couple of minutes to get his bearings right. The Queen's ceremonial speech had put him off to sleep and her tapping had woken him up.

-------------------------------------

If you are wondering what happens next, read on. You won't find an enchanting tale of chivalry and romance, but this would be the beginning of an ending, or a near ending.

This is what I call the Quiztinct Syndrome – the new rage that has gripped the quizzing fraternity, including yours truly.

So allow Sir Kat Nine to explain the WORD OF THE WEEK.

Quiztinct – a phenomenon where quizzing is given top priority over everything else.

Symptoms:
Can't think beyond quizzing and questions – all phone conversations, office communication appears to be a big question mark.

All regular activity comes to a near standstill – this blog is a classic example (but this blog just came out of quiztinction, mind you!!)

No, this is not writer's block, as Andy claims to be his Devil.

Redemption:
Chin up, all you poor fellows out there who suffer the same as I do, there is only one way out…

Do the write stuff!

Until next week, adios amigos.

Lessons of Life - Don't quit

2008-07-22T22:17:00.000-07:00

- author unknown but the lesson is well known

When things go wrong, as they sometimes will,
When the road you're trudging seems all uphill,
When the funds are low and the debts are high,
And you want to smile, but you have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit,
Rest, if you must, but don't you quit.

Life is queer with its twists and turns,
As every one of us sometimes learns,
And many a failure turns about,
When he might have won had he stuck it out;
Don't give up though the pace seems slow--
You may succeed with another blow.

Often the goal is nearer than,
It seems to a faint and faltering man,
Often the struggler has given up,
When he might have captured the victor's cup,
And he learned too late when the night slipped down,
How close he was to the golden crown.

Success is failure turned inside out--
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt,
And you never can tell how close you are,
It may be near when it seems so far,
So stick to the fight when you're hardest hit--
It's when things seem worst that you must not quit.

Why so serious.... put a smile on that face...

2008-07-20T22:54:00.000-07:00

Coming soon.. the Dark Knight review...

Pronto4Proto.in - Quiz Pentium

2008-07-06T07:42:00.000-07:00

Pronto4Proto.in - Pentium Quiz

Quadre - quiz 4 for Proto.in

2008-07-06T00:07:00.000-07:00

Pronto4Proto.in Quiz - Quadre

Quiz 3 for Proto.in by the IQL

2008-07-06T00:04:00.000-07:00

Pronto4Proto.in - 3's company

Pronto4Proto.in Quiz - Part Deux

2008-06-26T22:23:00.001-07:00

Pronto4Proto.in Quiz-Part deux

Pronto4Proto Quiz 1

2008-06-22T09:40:00.001-07:00

Pronto4Proto Quiz 1

The Final Act of the Play

2008-06-04T07:25:00.000-07:00

Act IV Scene 1

The battle scene
Enter the Vanaras

Vanara 1: How did Rama Laxmana and the vanaras all cross the ocean?

Vanara 2: They built a bridge to cross the ocean and get to Lanka. And there they met Ravana's good brother, Vibishana, who came over to Rama's side. Rama took him as a friend, and asked him to help him defeat his evil brother.

Vanara 1: How did the battle begin?

Vanara 2: Each side had their own ammunition of hard rock songs. Ravana's team had the power of additional electricity, so they managed to play louder music and for a longer period of time.

Vanara 1: What about Rama?

Vanara 2: Rama's side had relatively only batteries which couldn't be charged at night due to frequent power cuts in the area. The local electricians played a game of who-cuts-wins.

Vanara 1: What was the high point of the battle?

Vanara 2: There was a fierce face off between Indrajit and Laxmana, where Laxmana's Linkin Park was suitably matched by Nirvana. When that CD was fully played, Laxmana launched Led Zeppelin to which Indrajit replied with Black Sabbath. It was an evenly played battle, for each and every song, Indrajit and Laxmana seemed to have a counter song. But Indrajit got the better of Laxmana with Metallica. Laxmana wasn't quick enough to react and the blaring audio got to his head. He promptly fell flat – too much noise is no good!

Rama: Woe is me, woe is me. I never should have let my little brother into this gruesome war. Is he…? (chokes with emotion)

An old monkey shuffles up to Rama

Old monkey: The only thing that will cure him is Bring me to life by Evanescence played with a Sony mp3 player fitted with sub-woofers so that the bass reaches his ears and wakes him up. The audio quality is due to the transmission of ultrasonic wavelengths. The original CD is sold only at an exclusive shop near the Indo-China Border. This is owned by the association of CM's of India. All proceeds go to the personal welfare fund of these gentlemen.

Rama looks around and his eyes meet Hanuman's.

Rama: Only you can do it, oh Hanuman. Will you do it for me?

Hanuman: I will do anything for you, o Lord. Your wish is my command. Jai Shri Ram!

Old Monkey: Remember Hanuman, that CD has to be played only with a Sony mp3 player with sub-woofers. So please get everything right.

Vanara 1. Did Hanuman get it?

Vanara 2: Hanuman set off to find the shop and the CD. On his way, he got lost and ended up going to a shop selling pirated CDs, run by a thickset middle-aged woman.

Vanara 1: Did he find it there?

Vanara 2: Hanuman went to the place that he was told about. There were millions of shops, so he couldn't locate the one he wanted. All shops looked the same to him. So he assumed a huge form using his magic powers and lifted the entire shopping complex and took it back to his beloved Lord Rama.

Vanara 1: Oh, Superman, eh?

Vanara 2: The wise monkey found the shop after venturing into a couple of floors and got the cd and the player. No time was lost in playing the song, and no sooner than two lines of the song, Laxmana stirred.

Rama: (jubilant, hugs Laxmana hard) Laxmana, oh Laxmana, my darling brother!

Laxmana: Hey ok, careful, you are crushing me!
Rama: I see that twinkle in your eye that says you are back to your enthusiastic best.

Laxmana: Now the stage is set for me to face Indrajit again and this time, kill him.

Act IV Scene II

Both the armies have taken the battlefield – We see Laxmana and Indrajit in fierce battle for who sent the fastest SMS-es.

Laxmana: (seen with his Nokia mobile) Let me type out SMS-es.

Indrajit was on to him in a flash.

Indrajit: (grinning at Laxmana): Ha, let’s see you beat this!

Our venerable Vanaras are sitting, watching the war. As usual Vanara 1 opens his mouth first.

Vanara 1: So how long did this battle go on?

Vanara 2: Days, even months! Both of them were so furiously typing all out at full speed that they lost track of hours and days. In the end, both their fingers had gone sore and numb.

Vanara 1: Who won this battle?

Vanara 2: Well, Indrajit nearly won it. He resorted to cheating – he asked his soldiers to type smses and forward it to him so that he could smartly make longer SMS-es in a shorter span of time.

Vanara 1: Cheater, cheater.

Vanara 2: Hanuman intervened in time – he used his powers and cut off their network. With lost networks and broken fingers, the soldiers wearily gave up the fight.

Vanara 1: 3 cheers for Hanuman! Hip, hip hooray.

Finally the contest got too tight – Laxmana gave it one last shot at redeeming his position as champion SMS-er and defeated Indrajit in battle.

Vanara 1 (pointing at another battle in the battlefield) What’s happening here?

Vanara 2: That is Rama and Ravana in battle.

Music heard in the battlefield. Rama was playing carnatic vocals whereas Ravana gave the counter attack with his veena CDs.

Suddenly, a lot of creaking happened.

Vanara 1 (Closing his ears): Ugh, what is that?

Vanara 2: Look, his CD is stuck. He sounds like a DJ remixing it badly now.

A crash is heard - the CD was completely shattered into many pieces.

Vanara 2: Look at Rama. He has won this round!

Rama: Come back tomorrow and come armed with more CDs.

Ravana silently exits the stage, looking devastated.

Act IV Scene III

Vanaras are at the corner as usual and we see Ravana as well, moving quickly towards a big football stadium.

Vanara 1: What is he doing?

Vanara 2: There is a big demon sleeping in that stadium. His name is Kumbakarna

Vanara 1: That is so rude! Why is he disturbing a guy who is sleeping? Shoo, shoo Ravana.

Vanara 2: Kumbakarna is the reincarnation of the Giant from Jack and the Beanstalk. He had tried to be with the goose that laid the golden egg. When he was tricked and fell flat on earth, he started sleeping. He didn’t know how long he slept, how much he had slept. It was almost impossible to wake him up.

Blaring noises are heard. Helter skelter on screen as the Vanaras run with cotton plugged in their years.

Vanara 1: Whatever is that?

Enter Ravana’s army armed with millions of Dolby Stereos, trying to wake up the mighty Kumbakarna.

Ravana is seen in the background dialing the Hunger Helpline.

Ravana: Yes, this is King Ravana. My address is 1074, Muralitharan Road, Ranatungapuram, Lanka – 1. Make that ten large pizzas topped with capsicum, melting cheese and plenty of toppings of all kinds.

Vanara 1 (sniffing): Yummy! That smells great. Will he give us a slice?

Vanara 2: I doubt that (points to the sleeping Kumbakarna) The aroma was too good that even a sleeping giant has woken up. I don’t think he will spare a slice.

Kumbakarna: Ah, food at last! Great, give me those.
And he grabs all the pizzas and gobbled it up in a jiffy and summoned for more.

Vanara 1: Oh, won’t he stop eating? He has been eating for nearly a week now!

Vanara 2: Try sleeping years without eating. You will know!

Act IV Scene IV

Ravana and Kumbakarna in Ravana’s Board Meeting Room.

Ravana: Dear brother, we have lost Indrajit – a battle is going on. Now I need your help to vanquish the enemy and redeem our pride and prove our CD prowess.

Kumbakarna: Brother, please seek forgiveness with Rama. He seems to be a nice guy. Besides I have to sleep – I haven’t slept in the last twenty minutes. Not to forget that I have not eaten in a while…

Ravana: No way will I seek compromise with Rama now. It’s too late for that. Are you with me or not?

Kumbakarna plays Avril Lavigne’s “I’m with you”.

Kumbakarna picks up his cell: I need more food. Take my Order – 150 pizzas, 200 packets of Lay’s chips.

Kumbakarna (to Ravana): I need to prepare for the battle by staying on a diet. Get me more pizzas and French fries. And I shall watch cartoons and read Asterix comics, so I will know the art of warfare using bare hands...

Vanara 2: The preparation worked well – for Kumbakarna was Obelix incarnate! He ran through Rama’s army like a Swiss knife through cheese (smell inclusive for he hadn’t showered for a while as well!). But alas, it couldn’t last.

Vanara 1: Why not?

Vanara 2: Because Rama took over the Herculean task of killing Kumbakarna. He tempted him with arrows that brought out pillows and blankets and then finally laid Kumbakarna to rest (for good).

Vanara 1: Oh, oh, sweet dreams to him

Vanara 2: Now Ravana was alone and had to face Rama for the Armageddon.

Vanara 1: What was their mode of battle?

Vanara 2: The contest was “Play video games to death!” It was an individual contest – Rama brought with him his favorite Blue joystick. Later this was known as the Rama Color and became a new fad by itself).

Vanara 1: That would have been a closely fought match.

Vanara 2: Since both of them had been doing that most of the time during their school vacations, they were equals, though Ravana had an edge in terms of winnings – He had won all the games he had played, many dead bodies testify to that. In fact, Ravana looked like the sun displaying the finest of skills with his orange joystick.

Rama: Bravo, great warrior.

(Aside) The final game is Doom – aptly named. It is Ravana’s favorite game, and I am not the best at it. I have played it only a few times, so must take a calculated risk in the game. I desperately need to win – let me take up Hanuman’s offer of help, even if it means two against one. As they say, all’s fair in WWE and Video Games.

Vanara 2: Together, Rama and Hanuman defeated and killed Ravana. His ego and arrogance killed him, more than anything else. After his death, the instrument Veena became more popular – also, music got a great stimulant because of Ravana. The whole world, the heavens came down to salute the hero. It was a fitting farewell – even though Ravana was not good in his deeds.

Vanara 1: Then they must have been happy as well as sad! Mixed emotions.

Vanara 2: Yes and no (chuckling). They got over it soon after. Rama made Vibishana the King of Lanka and returned with Sita, Laxmana and Hanuman back to Ayodhya. By then, the entire 14 years of exile were completed. Rama took the good wishes of all his subjects and took up the position of King of Ayodhya, thus getting his laptop and Sony Ericsson Music Phone.

Vanara 1: Ah happy days are here again!

Vanara 2: Yes, Rama ruled for many years. He had two sons Lava and Kucha. But the world had changed so much – TataSky had arrived, everyone finally got bored with too much cricket, i-Phones took over normal phones, and petroleum prices had skyrocketed to One thousand per drop. Water had disappeared off the planet and humans had already half killed each other.

Vanara 1: Well, Rama would have found that difficult.

Vanara 2: Yes, he kept moaning, “Kali is coming. Time for me to die”. And when it was time for him to die, Rama moved on to become a sanyasi, sans television, computers and mobile phones. Like a normal human being, he could last only 2 minutes in that state. He then reached the abode of Vishnu, where laptops and free downloads were aplenty!

END OF ACT IV

CURTAINS COME DOWN WITH THUNDERING APPLAUSE, AS THE ACTORS COME ON STAGE TO INTRODUCE THEMSELVES AND TAKE A BOW.

While the wind blows…

2008-06-03T08:55:00.000-07:00

(Karthik Narayan)

I was trodding down the path to my workplace as usual, half asleep and jaded at 6.45 AM. My tired, sleep deprived eyes witnessed something never before seen by anyone in the past 2 years nearly – something we all had never noticed before just happened.

Lilac and yellow flowers were falling off trees, devoid of any leaves. And not just falling – falling by the dozens. It seemed as if the tree was shedding life and starting it all over again.

The most intriguing part about the whole thing was that none of us had seen those flowers the day before on those trees! It seemed like the flowers had bloomed overnight and had fallen just like that. Perhaps the trees were trying to capture our attention, but what seemed relevant was that we had overlooked the simple things of life.

The greatest things in life are those that are simple – the fruits, flowers, oceans, the life in the water bodies, peanuts – things we take for granted. Our hectic lives take us to great heights, but let us take some time to enjoy the beauty that nature provides us.

Baby's door out

2008-05-23T06:55:00.000-07:00

(Karthik Narayan)

This was really fascinating - the picture on your screen is supposed to be a doorway at the Taramani Railway Station in Chennai. The door measures roughly 2 feet high by 1 feet wide, big enough to fit a baby through.

Now I am not sure whether this was intended as the Doorway to Heaven - as this is situated in the 2nd Floor!

Judge for yourselves what could be the possible use of this door:

Act III of the play

2008-05-20T07:34:00.000-07:00

ACT III Scene 1

Enter Rama and Laxmana

Laxmana: What is this here? Oh, a cell!

Mareecha springs from behind them.

Mareecha: Hey what the hell? This is mine, man!

Rama: All right, where were you all this time… and wait a minute! Lax, I thought I told you to be with Sita.

Laxmana: Yeah, but your stubborn wife was adamant that I also go with you.

Rama (turns to Mareecha): Anyways, listen yaaaar – why did you do this? Aren’t you ashamed to leave your fantastic mobile and go?

Mareecha: Sorry, Ravana wanted me to do this, and I did it all for the sake of a world cup final ticket… listen, I know I have done you wrong. If you want I will give you this cell and the ticket… just let me go.

Rama: All right, take your cell. And don’t try this with me again… now, Lax, lets rush back to Sita, I have a feeling she is in trouble. With her un-stoppable mouth all-alone is very dangerous for this forest!

Exit Mareecha - stage fright!

Act III - Scene II

Back at the hut

Rama: Sita? Sita? Where are you?

Rama (looking frantic and worried): Where is she? She is not in the hut either. I told you something was wrong.

Laxmana: Yes, now let’s not waste time talking here. Let us search for her.

Rama: Let’s split up. You go that way. I’ll go this way.

Laxmana: Roger that, bro!

Rama and Laxmana exit stage in different directions, and re-enter

Rama: It’s hopeless. She could be anywhere. What do I do now? I am lost. I lost my laptop; I lost my dear father and mother, and now my wife as well.

Laxmana: Hey don’t fret, dude. Look at the bright side of it. She was a pesky brat.

Rama (for a minute, thinks like the proverbial husband, happy to be rid of his nagging wife): But still…

Laxmana: What is that? A cry in the wilderness for help!

Rama: Hey, listen to that. Someone is in trouble. Maybe he/ she knows where Sita might be.

Laxmana: Maybe he or she is in danger because of your wife..!!!

Rama and Laxmana run quickly across the stage and find an old eagle languishing in pain.

Rama: Who are you? What happened to you?

Laxmana: I think this is some demon that is trying to trick us. Maybe he kidnapped Sita and is acting like this…

Rama: Patience, bro. Please tell us who you are.

Jatayu: My name is Jatayu. I have been flying over these forests for quite a while. I was so thirsty, so I decided to sit and drink my Coca Cola here by the corner of the road.

Laxmana: Okie.

Jatayu: Yes, and there was this beautiful Lancer. I wanted to take a ride in it. It’s been ages since I saw a Lancer in these woods. But a guy was there inside. And he had a good-looking girl also! I don’t know if he was practicing for Formula One, or trying to impress the girl. But he was racing along at 150 Kph!

Rama: Oh no. That must have been Sita. I bet she would have enjoyed that ride with me…

Laxmana: Wait, was the girl wailing like a baby? And was she complaining about Nokia cell phones?

Jatayu: Yeah, I think so!

Laxmana (with a laugh): Yeah bro, it was Sita.

Jatayu: Hmm. Ok. Anyway, coming back to me, I was helpless. ‘Piyo sar uttake’ (Raise your head to drink) is how this Cola should be drunk. I was raising my head and drinking it, so I didn’t see the Lancer drive. It hit me right in the middle of the road!

Laxmana: You should use your head, but not that way!
Jatayu: Yeah, maybe Pepsi hai right choice, baby.

Laxmana: Yeah, and perfect choice for pesticides!

Jatayu: Yes, you humans don’t worry about me. Let me die in peace. I am an asthma patient anyway. All you sick people from the city pollute the entire world, makes it so hard to breathe. And besides, man is destroying nature. It’s better to die now rather than suffer on Mother Earth!

Rama: Oh man…

Jatayu breathes his last.

Rama and Laxmana put him to sleep beside the rocks and move across stage, peering at the car tracks.

Exit Rama and Laxmana.

ACT III Scene 3

A clearing near a beach.

A bunch of monkeys and their leader, Sugriva watches as Rama and Laxmana wander like nomads.

Sugriva: Oh Hanuman

Hanuman: Yes, my Lord?

Sugriva: Do you see those two men? Find out who they were and what they want.

Hanuman: Your wish is my command, O’ Lord.

Sugriva: Maybe they were sent by my brother Vaali to kill me.

Hanuman: Ok, I'll find out.

Hanuman approaches them in the guise of a Brahmin-human.

Rama: Hail there, o' Brahmin. I am Rama and this is my brother Laxmana. My wife Sita was kidnapped by some crazy car driver. We are searching for her.

Hanuman: Allow me to introduce myself. I am Hanuman, faithful follower of my leader Sugriva. He is waiting to see you. Perhaps we could help you in your quest.

The brothers follow Hanuman
Sugriva welcomes them with fruits and flowers.

Sugriva: Welcome to my kingdom, young masters. Actually I thought you were my brother's henchmen. You see, me and my brother are fighting for the kingdom. Now I am banished to the edge of the forest. He rules my kingdom. I want it back.

Rama: Ok, what is your problem? Why don't you defeat him in battle?

Sugriva: Actually he is very strong, and I am not confident of myself. Only if I kill him I can become king. So will you kill him for me? In turn, I will find your wife and get her back for you. Deal ya no deal?

Rama: Deal. Go invite your brother for battle. I shall hide behind a tree and at the appropriate moment, kill him.

Act III Scene IV

Enter Vanaras on stage. Two monkeys are seen fighting, while Rama and Laxmana are hiding behind foliage of thick bushes, watching everything.

Vanara 1: Say, don’t monkeys look alike? How did a human like Rama manage to distinguish between them? Even I am not able to find out who is who

Vanara 2: (chuckles) he couldn’t, silly. So he chose not to shoot. Luckily for Sugriva, Vali had an interview for his ministry, so he left half way.

Enter Sugriva to meet Rama and his brother. He is seen limping and clutching his back.

Sugriva: GRRR… what do you think you are doing? Trying to get me killed? Oh, my aching back. Do you realize my bro beat me up…?

Rama: Arre, you monkeys all look the same to me. I can't know who I shoot. So next time, invite him again, but this time wear some identification mark, so I will know you.

Sugriva: GRRR. You better not miss this time, coz my brother will murder me!

Rama: Wear this. It is a Live Strong Wrist Band so I can distinguish you.

Enter Sugriva and Vaali – this time it is a fight to the finish.

Vaali: Did you get hit on the head, bro? You split your mind kya? This time I will not spare you…

Laxmana and Rama are seen at their hiding spot.

Laxmana: Free WWF! Wow, pass the popcorn?

Rama: Shush. Well, I hope the wrist band does not pop out of that Sugriva guy's hand. Else he gets his hide done today!

Rama shoots and kills Vaali. Just before he dies, Vaali gives a lengthy Press Conference Post Match interview that he never lost the fight and was only cheated and stripped off his title.

Sugriva gets back his kingdom and becomes king.

Celebrations of the coronation ceremony take place as the curtains come down.

Act III Scene V

Enter Sugriva wearing crown, accompanied by Rama and Laxmana

Sugriva: Well, Thanks a ton Rama. Now it is time to repay your chilling killing. My men will browse the forest and find out where your Sita might be taken. A google search ought to do the trick.

Hanuman: I have searched the vicinity. I think Sita has been taken over the Ocean to Sri Lanka. I think I can be the only person who can go. So allow me to go please.

Rama: All right, Hanuman. You are the right man, I mean monkey, for this job! Ok if you find Sita, she won't trust you. So do one thing. Take my Mobile, and when you see her, play this Popeye ringtone. She will identify that it is mine and will know I have sent you.

Laxmana: Yeah, nobody else would ever have that for a tone!

Hanuman: Ok, I shall do as you say.

Act III Scene VI

Enter Vanaras

Vanara 1: Wasn’t Hanuman a monkey like us? So how did he get across to the other side of a mighty ocean?

Vanara 2: Of course, he was. But he wasn’t just an ordinary monkey. He had the power, he had the divine spark – and best of all, he got a free Fly-to-anywhere pass from Lanka Airlines. So he flew to Lanka.

Vanara 1: Have you been on planes before? I have heard they are using planes to demolish big buildings – saves a lot of energy and power, it seems.

Vanara 2: A plane journey is never uneventful. Midway a terrorist did try to high-jack the plane.

Vanara 1: Oh, what happened?

Vanara 2: Well, he took it to higher altitudes (high-jack, get it?)

Vanara 1: Ha ha! That was a smart one. But why?

Vanara 2: He got frustrated with the slow plane speeds, so thought he could drive faster. Anyway Hanuman managed to reach Lanka in one piece.

Vanara 1: Of all people, how did Sita recognize Hanuman?

Vanara 2: They thought of it, did Rama and Hanuman. Hanuman carefully sat on the tree under which Sita was sitting and played the POPEYE tone. Sita’s eyes lit up and she searched for the person who played the Tone as it was Rama’s favorite ringtone.

The Popeye ringtone is heard all over the stage.

Hanuman set the mobile at her feet, waiting for her to pick it up and stop what seemed to be a never ending Popeye ringtone.

Sita looked at Hanuman and graced him by stopping the ringtone for a minute.

Sita: Now I will reset this ringtone to ‘Here I am’ by Bryan Adams. That will make Rama know that I have heard his goofy ringtone. Remember, Rama has to come and kill Ravana in order to win me back.

Hanuman gently picks up the mobile and bids good bye to Sita.

Vanara 1: Hey, what happened after that? Did Hanuman seek revenge on Ravana?

Vanara 2: Yes he did. And how! He programmed all TV Channels to show Soaps 24 hrs all over Sri Lanka. The people of Lanka were so annoyed and disgusted. Ravana and Indrajit, his son, promptly got him an all expenses paid trip back to Chennai airport, which included great Chinese food!

Vanara 1: (Laughs) Hahaha! That was very clever of Hanuman. And the food must have been a well deserved reward too! Doesn’t this prove that monkeys are the cleverest of all beings?

End of Act III
X X X

Act II - of the play (get your popcorn)

2008-05-15T07:14:00.000-07:00

Act II – Scene I
A scene in the forest. Rama and Laxmana are wandering onstage. The two Vanaras are in the foreground.

Vanara 1: The poor brothers, left to wander so in the forest. How did Rama manage without his watch?

Vanara 2: Time is a valuable thing, but it ticks fast. Even without Rado watches. Days became months, months into seasons. And seasons trickled past into years.

Vanara 1: So how did they spend their days?

Vanara 2: Well, there were visitors.

Vanara 1: Oh?

Vanara 2: Yes. One fine day, Shurpanaka came to the forest.

Vanara 1: Who is Shurpanaka?

Vanara 2: She was the sister of Ravana, the king of Lanka. Her real name was Meenakshi, but ever since she went on to win the Longest Nails in the world contest in the Guinness Book of World Records, she has been known as Shurpanaka.

Exit Vanaras.

Enter Shurpanaka: Oh who is that good looking dude?

Approaches Rama

Shurpanaka: Hey there, handsome dude, how would you like to give me a missed call so that we can sms each other endlessly?

Rama: Sorry, I already have someone with whom I am smsing day in and day out, even though she sits right next to me!

Shurpanaka: Aw, what fun is that? Anyway, what about your brother?

Rama: Ask him… I don't interfere in his private space!

Shurpanaka approaches Laxmana: Will you give me a missed call?

Laxmana: Nah, I am not interested now. Maybe some other time. Besides, I transferred all my balance to my wife, Urmila.

Shurpanaka: How dare you mock me, princess of Lanka that I am….!

Laxmana: Hello, I plain told you, I am not interested. Now don't bug me.

Shurpanaka: Who is bugging who? Don't act so snobby, ok?

Laxmana: (annoyed) Listen, get lost.

Shurpanaka: What? You ask me to get lost? You get lost! On second thoughts, I think you already are! (She giggles)

Laxmana gets very angry, plucks the mobile out of Shurpanaka's hands and takes out the SIM card and breaks it.

Laxmana: There, no SIM, no missed calls!

Shurpanaka: Oh my god! You broke my SIM card. Wait till my brother hears of this!

Exit Shurpanaka screaming.

Act II - Scene II

Scene opens in Ravana's court.

Enter Shurpanaka, crying straight to her brother, Ravana. She explains everything to him.

Ravana: How dare they? Don’t worry, I will get a new SIM and also teach those brats a lesson.

Act II – Scene III

Ravana whizzes by in his Mercedes

Vanara 1: What is Ravana doing there?

Vanara 2: Oh, that? He is test riding his new Mercedes. And see the advanced amplifier microphone? He can overhear Sita complaining about the lack of TV and bad signals to Rama.

Exit Vanaras.

Ravana: (looking at Sita): Wow! I have to get rid of both Rama and Laxmana to wife-nap Sita… Let me make an express call to uncle Mareecha.

Ravana: Hello, is that you, uncle?

Mareecha: Yes, hi Ravana, how are you, my dearest nephew?

Ravana: Yeah, all is well uncle. I just loaded my mobile with this new Airtel scheme, so thought I would give it a try calling my most lovable Uncle.

Mareecha: There, there. Flattery won’t get you anything out of me. Speak out: what do you have in mind?

Ravana: That is my uncle. So smart. Ok listen, now I need a little help from you. I saw a very pretty woman and I want to distract her bodyguards so that I may take her to my palace.

Mareecha: Isn't it wrong to take another's wife? No, I won’t allow you to go through with this…

Ravana: Listen, I will get you tickets to that World Cup Cricket final match at Lord's and an all expenses paid trip to and back. Besides, those guys have ragged my sister and even broken her SIM Card!

Mareecha: It is against my policy to do such acts – but you talked me into this… what am I supposed to do now?

Ravana: Nothing, really. See that cottage over there? (Points at the hut) Just leave your Nokia N-Gage mobile in the woods at a spot where Sita can see it. And leave that special charger with it. Make sure there is signal in that connection, and give a free post-paid connection. Sita will fall for it, by golly!

Curtains, with Ravana and Mareecha laughing

Act II – Scene IV

In the forest Sita hears the phone ring in the silence of the wood, while Maricha stands slightly offstage, holding his cell.

Sita: Rama, o Rama, did you hear that?

Rama: What? I didn't hear anything…

Sita: That sound, it is the clearest ringtone I have heard, must be from a Nokia phone. And by the sounds of it, it is an mp3 tone… I want it, please. Will you get it for me?

Laxmana: A mobile in the forest? Sounds suspicious…

Rama: No, Lax. Must have been left by those crazy campers from the city…

Laxmana: All right, since Sita wants you to go, you go, and I’ll guard her.

Rama: Ok, shall look for the Nokia. brb (be right back)

Exit Rama.

Sita walks up and down, Laxmana leans against a wall

Sita: Hey Lucky (one of Laxmana’s many nicknames), it is some time since Rama left, and the phone is still ringing. Looks like Rama isn't able to find that cell. Why don't you go help him?

Laxmana: No, I am here to protect you. And Rama is all right. He isn't a baby.

Sita: No, I am worried that Rama and that mobile phone might be in trouble… please for my sake go… GO!

Laxmana: Ok, but before I go, I shall draw this.

Laxmana draws a line across the stage his Laxman Rekha.

Laxmana: There this Rekha save you from cockroaches and ants…

Sita: Oh brother! Just go, rey!

Exit Laxmana.

Act II – Scene V

Enter Ravana; dressed in, a Raymond Suit and looking great in his Mitsubishi Lancer.

Ravana: Eyyy, aati kya khandala? Want to ride with me in this beauty?

Sita: Oh it is wonderful, but I cannot. I am waiting for my new mobile phone from the woods.

Ravana: Why do you bother? I have plenty more of that with me… come with me na…

Sita: Nice try, but I won't come.

Ravana: How frustrating! Nobody has ever refused an offer from me! All right, don't regret it later.

Exit Ravana

Enter Ravana disguised as an ascetic, wearing a dhoti and carrying a kamandalam – typical sadhu style. In his right hand holds an ordinary Nokia cell phone.

Ravana: Oh dear, oh dear! What will I do..? I got this phone from my dad as a birthday present, and I don't know how to operate it…

Sita: Oh respected sadhu, can I be of help to you?

Ravana: Yeah, do you know how to…

Sita: Won't you come in and sit on this chair while I check out what model it is…

Ravana tries to cross Laxmana's line of fire, but twists his ankle and falls down.

Ravana: I have hurt my ankle and am not able to come over there. Can you come here please?

Sita: Oh all right…

Sita crosses line.

Sita: Oh what a nice phone! What model is it? How does it still have such a good signal?

Ravana changes back to his Raymond form and looked dazzling. He grabs Sita's hand

Ravana: Here, get into the car.

Sita: Let go of me, you idiot. Don't you know that my husband Rama is the Hulk in disguise? If you try to hurt me, he will come and kill you with his Star Wars Laser…

Ravana (laughs): You better see your Star Wars again, young lady. Colombo, here we come!

Ravana, Sita and the car - Exit Stage

END OF ACT II
X X X

Ramayana 2020 - A Play in 4 Acts

2008-05-12T09:14:00.001-07:00

(Karthik Narayan)

Act 1 – Scene 1

Curtains up!

Two young men with bows and arrows walk across the stage with a young woman following them.

In come two Vanaras (monkeys), hair well combed, wearing Rayban sunglasses sliding down their face so their eyes pop up from behind. They are on their feet, wearing Raymond suits.

The monkey on the left pops a bubblegum into his mouth, as the other pops a question,

Vanara 1: Say, dude, who are these folks?

Vanara 2: They are Rama, his brother Laxmana and Rama’s wife, Sita

Vanara 1: Who is this Rama guy?

Vanara 2: Long ago, in a Kingdom called Ayodhya, there lived a King called Dasharatha along with his three wives.

Vanara 1: And why was he called Dasharatha?

Vanara 2: King Dasharata got his name because he could drive 10 Ferraris at the same time!

Vanara 1: Oh, and what happened to him?

Vanara 2: Nothing. That is, the king didn’t have any children, so he sought divine help for begetting children. With the help of a Magic Potion, he got four children, named Rama, Laxmana, Bharata and Shatarughna.

Vanara 1: Wow, four in one shot. Talk about wholesale! Where did they school?

Vanara 2: At Cybernet School of Browsing. In due time, the kids had access to the Internet at home, and also learnt how to wield the Cell Phone and write messages.

Vanara 1: That was smart.

Vanara 2: They were smart, you know. Even though they were kids, Rama and Laxmana very cleverly used the Nokia Ringtones to scare away the Demons that ruled the thick and dense forests! The sages had brought Rama and Laxmana to protect themselves from the Demons.

Vanara 1: What happened after that?

Vanara 2: They attended the swayamvara of Sita, daughter of King Janaka of Mithila.

The condition was: the beautiful hand of Princess Sita will be given to the man who can compose and send an SMS in the fastest time!

Vanara 1: Really?

Vanara 2: Yes. Thanks to his intense training, Rama naturally won the Fastest Fingers First contest and thus also the Princess!

And they returned victoriously home, along with free goodies such as lifetime prepaid SIM cards and MP3 and camera mobile phones each.

Soon after, the other three brothers also got married to beautiful princesses.

Vanara 1: Really? If they were all princes and princesses, what are these three doing wandering in the forest, and dressed like this?
Vanara 2: Ah, there lies a tale (waves his tail). Rama, being the eldest son was due to receive the first laptop of the family. However, Bharata’s mother Kaikeyi’s jealous maid hypnotized her by showing her Sunny TV news and made her ask Rama to go to the forest for 14 years.

Vanara 1: But why?

Vanara 2: So that her son Bharata would get the first laptop. And so Rama left for the forest, and Laxmana and Sita followed him. And this is where you see them.

Act 1 – Scene II

Vanara 1: What did Bharata do?

Vanara 2: Look for yourself – there he is (points to a clearing in the forest)

Enter Bharata.

Bharata: (Embracing Rama) Oh dear brother, all this has occurred on account of my mother Kaikeyi’s maid.

Rama: Don’t fret, Bharata.

Bharata: I love you so much. Please take the laptop and keep it.

Rama: No, no, my dear brother. You keep it and make the most of it. Surf the net during the night hours and download lots of movies.

Bharata: I cannot use that laptop. Instead, to remember you, I shall take your Rado watch and keep it near the laptop.

Rama reluctantly gives his watch to Bharata. And before Bharata leaves back for the city, they both sing the Official Family Song – Yaadon ki Baarat.

Exit Bharata with laptop. Vanaras flee for shelter – the singing felt like the sky was falling on their heads!

END OF ACT I
X X X

Yeah write; Play, right?

2008-05-12T04:35:00.000-07:00

(Karthik Narayan)

Hey there, KN was in a playful mood so tried my hand at writing this.

For the next few posts, I would be posting my first ever play in a sequence.

Don't miss it!

Also one request: Please do not be passive readers - I appreciate feedback.

Thanks,

KN

Play time!

The leaked tape of the Indian Premier Leak

2008-05-08T09:53:00.001-07:00

(Karthik Narayan)

Breaking news: guess what our lucky reporter ran into when he accidentally stepped into cow dung – he managed to overhear and tape an interesting conversation. Here are some excerpts from the leaked tape. Now that’s what we call holy shit!

Modi: Malcolm, fast!

Malcolm Speed: It’s actually Speed.

Modi: Oh? Nice movie. Saw it three times.

Malcolm Speed: No, Speed, really.

Modi: Eh? Anyway, I understand that you like instant action, but don’t be so impatient, my friend (Pauses to cough) I told Pawar about this concept and he is thrilled that we are all going to be in the money, err. I mean we will all have some good cricket action.

Malcolm: What difference does it make, anyway? So, what’s your idea?

Modi: Look, its summer in India. What makes the biggest news in the Indian summers?

Malcolm: Question Paper Leak?

Modi: Exactly! After the QPL, it shall be….

Malcolm: The ICL?

Modi: You mean, the Indian Chemical Leak?

No, not Bhopal! Anyway you are on the right track. I give you - the name Indian Physical Leak!

Malcolm: Hmmm. doesn’t sound all that great to me. I mean, we need a flashy title to it, even if it’s some dumb thing.

Modi: Ok? Then… the Indian Public Leak? Indian Procrastinated Leak? Indian Powerful Leak (or Pawar-full Leak). Practice Leak? Premium Leak? Prepaid Leak? Premier Leak? (Catches up with breath. He is panting to no end now)

Malcolm: Ah, the last one is a lot better! It’s got a nice feel to it. It’s between Premium Leak and Premier Leak – I guess we should go with the latter; the former looks pricey. So how does this work?

Modi: Do you know what is the biggest business; which is universal across the globe; that every man and woman wants, comes at a price but is worth it?

Malcolm: Umm, no can’t even guess. What is such a great thing in this world?

Modi: Almost everybody pays for it; this is done even in the jungles/ walls and movie posters. The poor worms, snails repel this so much they quit their jobs. Mosquitoes stopped tearing people’s blood cells and instead tore at their own! It gives a shiver up a snake’s spine. Lizards couldn’t stand it that they don’t leave even their tails behind anymore! All living beings go berserk because of this act by humans. What is it?

Malcolm: Hey let me have three guesses please?

Modi: All right!

Malcolm: A – watching cricket and golf in adjacent TV sets and trying to decide which is more boring. B – Listening to Sirbhajan and Resanth swearing at each other, at everyone in sight and not in sight. C – Trying to figure out who is a better actor, the cricketers or the movie stars.

Modi: No, no and no! Going for a leak, that’s what! Using the restroom. Why is it called the rest room anyway? I do not recall taking rest in that smelly place..

Anyway, it will be the world’s greatest show on earth! Movie stars and cricketers in the same ground, leaking! Imagine the crowd size, the fun and the gala time we will have…

But first, we should have a urine test and an auction! Believe me, this will be the greatest waste on earth!

(To be concluded)

Dear mom and dad,

2008-05-07T07:02:00.000-07:00

My dear mom and dad,

Thank you for the love you inspired in me
You are the creators, articulate hearts behind me,
Every day of my life for the rest of my life, I love you

You are the warmth in my pulse, mentor of my identity
When you grasp my hands, they feel your blood and life
what I seek I find, even under a blind moonless night
You are my virtue, my tranquil guiding light

You send unlimited aspirations with your positive thoughts
Consecrate my days, strengthen me and free my pain
Contagious, sometimes even outrageous,
With your humor, charm, generations of intelligence

You share your knowledge, believing and breathing life in me
Heart so full, your words so beautiful and positive, so profoundly free
You molded me for twenty five years, now I am a man
Teaching me to thrive intently, son follow a chosen plan

You are my strength, the eye to my fiercest storms
whatever fury comes our way, you are my best friends,
and to the end, my faithful direction......

- Karthik Narayan

Review of the QFI Open Quiz 2008 – Thode badmash, thode nadaan, and some shaitaani too…

2008-05-03T09:54:00.000-07:00

(Karthik Narayan)

Quizzers of a feather flock together. And flock they did – at the 4th edition of the QFI Open quiz. There were teams from Bangalore, Hyderabad and Mumbai – which is the case these days with Chennai becoming more of a quizzing capital, if not a cultural one. This augurs well for Chennai quizzing, and a hearty thanks for the support by all those who turned up, withstanding the hot and humid weather.

The air-conditioned auditorium made us all comfy. In fact most of us stayed back till the end to beat the heat, no offence meant to the quality of the quiz.

The Man:
The Man of the Moment was none other than Vinod Ganesh, the standard Quizmaster for the event. His co-quizmasters were Krishnamurthi and Vikram Rajan, who couldn’t turn up for the quiz (since they were not in the country, we were told).

The Event:

The prelims carried a lot of weight-age to current affairs, which is typical of the QFI Open. It’s always a quality quiz if the Prelims hinges on current affairs and the finals on varied topics of then and now.

The whole quiz had a medley of really good music (A mix of favorite songs from all genres); a bit of a jugglery with the Mac Book and intriguing questions (the anticlockwise round in particular was good). The Clockwise round was a heady mixture of known questions like Guinness Book of World Records, Jana Gana mana. Goes to show the same information can be recycled as different questions. Whether to laugh or cry over that, I do not know. But sometimes it’s good to look beyond the obvious and frame questions on other topics as well.

Some questions hinged on Malayalam culture (not sure if Vinod has a mallu background)

The Prize:

Now, I am no news reporter, but for the record, JK, Sumo and Rajiv Rai won the quiz; they also won the Book quiz which took place earlier in the morning (hosted by Samanth Subramanian).

The Questions:

I know lots of guys are now scanning this writeup to see where the questions from the quizzes are. I hate to disappoint people, so here are a few that I can remember.

Theme song for the Chennai Super Kings (IPL team) – lyrics and music by: Vairamuthu and GV Prakash respectively.

Flag – of Tibet.

Had a question on who has won the most number of Film fare awards in India – AR Rehman at No.1 with 21.

Country with the world’s highest per capita criminal cases rate – Vatican City, much to the amusement of many a participant.

Google page on earth hour – we were asked to identify the theme for the black page. (Who turned the lights off on that one, we are not sure, but our team put it down as earth day!)

Description of an old horse carriage and what modern day word did it give rise to – cab (which again we miffed up thanks to my teamies striking off what I penned down)

A classic question on animal skins being used as currency and what word came out of this – Buck.

Song in the movie Bhootnath – sung by Juhi Chawla. Asked to identify the singer.

Who composed the music for the song Thode badmash from Saawariya – a head turner again, its Sanjay Leela Bhansali.

Sorry guys! Don’t remember much of the rest. Too many and too lengthy to even note down.

Take-a-way’s from the quiz:

Practice makes perfect. There were occasions where the guy handling the MacBook revealed the answers in a hurry, which Vinod had to “scrap”. It always pays to rehearse the whole thing, not sure if there was time for all that, but that does help rule out such problems.

One felt that 5 hours was too long for a quiz (to think I called Jodha-Akbar a loooong movie).

Nearly 100 questions in the final seemed to be on the higher side, since the quiz dragged itself to an end. Maybe the number of questions could have been shortened. Especially when you have a lot of lengthy questions and audios and videos to boot.

The new round of choosing your question was nice; but there again, people had to manually keep track of questions already asked.

Now, I am not pointing fingers or finding faults, but just trying to be a Constructive Critic as an integral part of the Quizzing society. Some areas need to be tightened in future editions.

On the personal front:

Me and my team mate Ananth (my teammate) have this concept of “15 questions of fame” right before each quiz that we attend. Will we cross the dreaded barrier (score) of 15 or more? That was a record that didn’t get broken until this quiz. We scored 18/40 (and as usual wrote and cancelled a couple of questions). Ifs and buts are part and parcel of life, let alone quizzing. So we are improving with each time.

Later in the finals, me and Ananth also opened our account with our first ever Audience prizes. Vinod Ganesh was kind enough to introduce me to the elite crowd as “Mr.Karthik Narayan” who has started a new quizzing group (don’t remember the actual words he used). But it felt nice for my hard work to be noticed in a forum. A bit of a fairytale moment, actually...

Summary:

Overall, Vinod Ganesh did a wonderful job keeping his temper under control and managing the audience and the on-stage participants well. He threw in some witty one- liners as well. The audience was a bit unruly at times, giving away free lunches to the participants by shouting out answers. And it didn’t help the Quizmaster’s cause at all. It was a little dash of salt, sugar, sour and spice. As that famous song from Saawariya goes, “Thode badmash, thode nadaan; haan magar yeh such hai, hamare jaan ho quizzing” just about sums up the Quiz.

A wholesome entertainer for an evening of knowledge interspersed with laughter. Well done, QFI! Hope to see more such events in the future (sans the faux pas).

And for those who did not qualify for the Finals, keep quizzing, never give up and try to come for our QFI & IQL sessions…

THE WEED’S DEED – ALL IN NEED OR GREED? – A PLAY IN THREE ACTS

2008-04-27T03:46:00.000-07:00

(Karthik Narayan)

Act I: At the restroom (read nets) before an IPL (Indian Premier Leak) cricket match.

A bearded saint was doing his business when a tall lanky handsome guy walks in. The introductions happen – the saint is Sirbhajan Singh (recently got Knighted by the Board for Corruption Creators in India) and the lanky guy is Resanth (he reinvented himself after coming to the Indian team!).

Resanth: Oh paaji. I have a small problemo!

Sirbhajan: Tell me; let me see how I can fix it for ya.

Resanth: it's like this – I have been offered a chance to act in a Bollywood-Chollywood types movie with four hot heroines. But there is only one snag.

Sirbhajan: Oh that is good. Really good. I could have sworn had I tried I would have got that role! Oh anyway, what's the big deal?

Resanth: No, the problem is – I need to act for a couple of scenes! Now, that is so hard, even our best of actors struggle to get through two scenes in a movie.

Sirbhajan: Aww, that's tough man. Did you ask Sach-in? He has great experience acting in a lot of commercials. Plus in the last few months, he has spent more time in ads than in cricket itself.

Resanth: Yes but he acts more or less Pogo channel types. My director has asked me to act in a scene where I have to cry!!

Sirbhajan: Hmmmmmmmm – you know what? He is a great actor. In fact, he is acting like he is injured so he can pocket easy money for this series. He is a genius, I say!

Resanth: Ok, I will enquire with him on how to do this.

Sirbhajan: Besides, don't forget – he is my Godfather. Whenever I do something stupid, he backs me up. Like the last time I did some monkey business, remember?

Resanth: Oh yeah, I remember that one. We had a good laugh at the expense of the Aussies. The first time in the mystery of cricket did the Awful Aussies crumble before our mighty money power!

Curtains – with Resanth's resounding laughter echoing and Sirbhajan trying to think with his miniscule brain cells.

X X X

Act II:
Sirbhajan is seen discussing with Sachin just before the match. Sirbhajan is unable to overcome his disability to think, so he chooses to take the help of Sachin. He has called for an emergency meeting of all senior players. The agenda is how to help Resanth become Rekanth, like one of the Superstar actors in India.

Sachin: Bhajji Bhai – be a true MumBHAI Indian. Use your brain, Err, do what you do best – shout nasty at him, make him cry like a crybaby.

Sirbhajan: No Sachin, I really got scared stiff the last time he showed that face at the Aussies! I won't dare do that to him. What if – he retaliates? No, I cannot even imagine that! No, I can’t handle this!

Sachin: I got it! This will push your TRP ratings also high – will make you feel like a man! Hayden didn't call you weed for nothing – you are the weed for this Indian team, remember that!

Sirbhajan: Don’t flatter me, hehe

Sachin: Let's have a slap bet. You slap him, if he cries you win; I will make you captain for the rest of the series. Otherwise I win, I will try playing in the future games. Again, it’s my handbook, mind you.

Sirbhajan: Anything you want! I feel so handicapped now. Just get me out of this mess. I never should have agreed to help that Resanth guy…

Sachin (with a grin): The hand in hand relationship finally would collapse in front of all those mass audiences. I love it!

X X X

The Final Act (Alternatively – the deed by the weed)

Sirbhajan hatches a plot to get Resanth kick-start his acting career, and as usual, finds the best solutions – to take matters into his own hands.

Right after the match gets over, Sirbhajan hands over the match to his opposition. Then goes over to Resanth to execute his handiwork.

As Resanth extends his hand for a man-to-man shake, Sirbhajan places his hand on Resanth's cheek.

Resanth goes ‘Oow’, and starts his acting career with tears of joy! (Thus was written, the parvata of Rekanth the great actor who would appear in movies like – The Handshake Redemption, Some like it Hard, Bravehand, Rekantha Jones and the last slapped, Slapotouille, Slap Hard (with three sequels), S for Slap, Slap Story 1 and 2, Slap wars, 12 Angry Slaps, Raiders of the Lost Slap, Lord of the Slaps, The Shining Hand and many others).

As curtains are brought down by the crew, we see the lone sulking figure of Sachin in the corner. The audience weeps for his sad state of affairs…

Fundraiser for the Blind and HIV Positive

2008-04-25T07:41:00.000-07:00

Hi guys,

Hope you are all doing well.

I am doing a fundraiser for the HIV positive affected and visually challenged - through the following modes:

one is a quiz, a theme based quiz, details of which will reach you shortly. (Thanks to everyone who volunteered, others are welcome to pitch in with ideas)...

The other is the release of my brand new book - Accounting for Non-Accountants. Priced at $2, you can download it as an ebook. http://www.lulu.com/content/1812867

All proceeds from the book go to the blind relief fund and towards my idea of the quiz for AIDS and blind.

Kindly support this project I have taken up with your inputs and of course buy the book! Also, if you think it is good enough, do pass on the message!

Thanks,

Karthik Narayan

TEN GREATEST FOOLS OF ALL TIME

2008-04-24T09:50:00.000-07:00

(Karthik Narayan)

A respondent to my quizzes once famously asked me, “Why do you think Karu is so stupid?”. The question sparked off a tremor in my thought process – why did I think so? I became reminiscent of a story of Birbal and Akbar that I had read in those famous Amar Chitra Kathas – the ten greatest fools of all, and I wondered; why not list down the greatest fools I have come across. So here goes:

10. At number ten it is all movie maniacs who think movie stars are God given gifts (I wish I could write one more G here!) – to take SRK’s/ Rajini’s blessings, one would think they would attain the Lotus feet of the Lord. Better still, the Lord be Rajini in an avatar, who knows!

9. The Indian Sports Ministry – for choosing youngsters such as Uma Bharti, Sunil Dutt to represent the country’s sports. The latest in the bandwagon being Mr.Gill who is a fish without frills to grill and toast the money into his pocket and bring corruption to the desk top.

8. Arjun Singh – for his grand decisions of making the world a bitter place. For ideas that even Suppandi of Tinkle fame cant even think about, and for his brainwaves that are shorter than the average teenager’s sms-es.

7. Our beloved, most trusted idiot of all time – Dr.Manmohan Singh, who after all his great educational pursuits, finally decided to step into the shoes of stupidity for good. For his attempts to be a silent strong man in the realm of hostility in politics, corruption and wars, not to mention trying to tolerate Bushisms.

6. The average cricket fan – who represents the world of cricket, who pays a zillion rupees to travel across the world, to let go of his family and job to sit and watch a game. A game of dirty money and politics (both of which go hand in hand). And the guy who supports money laundering ideas such as the IPL – to give impetus to a series of matches that serve no purpose other than selfish ulterior motivation; the only saving grace that brought this guy to No.6 was No.3!

5. George Bush features in the closest shave of his life – it was between him and the guy at No.3 vying for that top spot, but sadly, he lost. He did win all the fart-ass championships till date, mind you. When it comes to showing off his dumbness, he is second only to Mr.No.4.

4. The famous subject of songs like “Comfortably Dumb” and “I’ve become so dumb, I cant feel you there”; He is the legend who gave us the English phrase, “Dumbness thy come” – for his gross negligence at trying to educate himself. The greatest gimmick puller of our times, the dhoti clad, perfect advert for a ray-ban competitor – the one and only Mr.Karu! for what, you ask? – for trying to prove Ram was not a qualified engineer, to try and make tamil (and not tamizh) compulsory in colleges. When it comes to demolishing and tarnishing good work by others, there is none in comparison. And don’t forget his famous midnight joke of undressing out of his lungi when he was arrested.

3. All those people who dump away the contents of their wallets, Swiss bank accounts and other fortunes like golden, platinum, silver chairs, helmets, wallets, armor etc into the temple hundis; what they derive out of the whole act I do not know, but I know this: its gross stupidity to think God craves it! Try spending it on worthy causes such as feeding the poor, build more hospitals… ok never mind. Who am I kidding?

2 & 1 – as we draw close this greatest fools of all time – Mohammed Ali stand aside – the GOATS are you and me. You to be still reading this; and me to have written this and try to knock sense into the other eight people!

Krishna nee begane...

2008-04-13T20:30:00.000-07:00

(Karthik Narayan)

Is'nt he lovely? the delicate darling of many a malayali household. I really dont know why we are so drawn towards this naughty nimble rascal, but behold him with your eyes and adore him with your heart...

vishu aasamsagal to everyone..

Slick Flix: Home Alone 3

2008-03-22T21:42:00.000-07:00

(Karthik Narayan)

After the grand success of the Home Alone 1 and 2 with Macaulay Culkin’s cute looks and his tackling of brute crooks, I asked myself – how can someone have a third sequel? What possibly could they (the moviemakers) do new in this movie? Well, all questions are answered when we experience what we question. So I watched this movie on DVD and here’s what I have to say:

In what way is Home Alone 3 different from the first two movies? Well, Home Alone 3 has a cuter child, throw in some loving parents who like to spend time with their children (for a change), and bring in pets such as a white rat named Doris and a parrot who trash talks and negotiates deals in exchange for crackers and voila – you get a much better movie. But when things go bad in the otherwise quiet neighborhood and Alex (the 8 year old) finds out the truth of life – that adults never take children seriously, he takes things into his own hands.

Ups:

Home Alone 3 has this sweet 8 year old hero who is half the size of Culkin and takes on double the number of thieves. Villains are very respectful of each other; I doubt they are Europeans – going by their accent and looks. The toy car chase scenes are thrilling and hilarious at the same time. This movie would have been a great success story for marketing remote controlled toy cars in the market.

Downs:

The concept of using a toy car to hide a powerful chip is childish, but then this is a kids’ movie. Using an 8 year old is great, but to make him deliver punch dialogues (very responsible statements like being a good citizen etc) makes it look awry. The looks don’t match the words that come out and the dialogue delivery of the child isn’t how it should be – but who cares, anyway?

Some parts of the movie are unbelievable, such as Mrs.Hess, the neighborly grouch being so grossly unkind to such a sweet child. I mean, who will want to be rude to a kid of 8 who looks and talks nice?

Also the booby trap setting looks too much work for an 8 year old – now I am not against 8 year olds being hyperactive, but to me, it looked like an adult’s job.

A Pleasant Surprise:

And just in case you managed to watch this movie, you might have taken a look at Alex’s sister Molly (a minor role). Take a closer look and you will see Scarlett Johansson, all of 13 at that time, who has gone on to mesmerize many a man in movies like “Matchpoint”.

An enjoyable movie – irrespective of whether you are a child or an adult

Rating: 6/10 (for the kid, the pets and the toy car)

SLICK FLIX – AGENT CODY BANKS; BANKS TOTALLY ON FUN

2008-03-22T08:15:00.000-07:00

(Karthik Narayan)

A kid becoming a Junior CIA Agent? That is surely something cute and worth watching – a teenager going beyond everyday problems of homework and cleaning their lockers and rooms and taking on higher problems like assassins, gangsters. Picture that at one end, and consider this for the other side of the story: CIA agents doing the kid’s homework and house cleaning! The tagline for the movie says it all: save the world, get the girl, pass math…

The whole theme is hilarious, Frankie Muniz (best known for his “Malcolm in the Middle” TV series) as Cody Banks is funny and down to earth. He is your average teenager, definitely not your super hero type and has this very normal issue of talking to girls (any teenaged boy’s nightmare). Hillary Duff looks pretty as Cody’s love interest and is cast purely for that, I guess, since she doesn’t do much apart from looking cute.

When a super villain plans to use a scientific invention to destroy the world, it is left to Agent Cody Banks to try and stop him. En route, he has to face his biggest challenge – overcome his shyness and ask a girl out. And it’s not just any other girl – it’s the daughter of the scientist who is on the good side but has been held captive.

It’s a special day in the office for Cody Banks and Co – with a beautiful partner, cool gizmos to work with and best of all, to get a pretty girl as a girlfriend! Any teenager’s heaven, I am sure.

The best part of the film is that it is a fresh concept, is funny, even though the baddies try to be extra bad. (Yeah, it’s a tough world for baddies in kids’ movies) plus its by a director (Harald Zwart) who, with all due respect to him, was a nobody in Hollywood before this film. Now he is “BANK”-ing on this movie franchise and is directing the next Pink Panther movie.

The not so good part is that storyline is as predictable as it gets. Plus, some of the stunts are too much for a teenager to perform, and some parts are not explained at all. Overall, it felt like a Hollywood movie dished out in Bollywood style in some parts.

A good kid’s movie provided you watch it without thinking ahead of the plot.

Rating: 6/10

one cool song

2008-03-14T07:13:00.000-07:00

(Karthik Narayan)

I keep humming this song.. even though its not entirely an english song, its nice and catchy. its called "Aicha" by Outlandish - a true depiction of how music can be beyond religion, language and all that nonsense that mankind has brought to this world.

- Outlandish Lyrics

PS: I love you

2008-03-01T23:32:00.000-08:00

(Karthik Narayan)

After exactly ten years, I went back to where it all started - my school: PS Sr Secondary School. And what better setting than to see it with the other thing I love the most - a quiz meeting!

Yes, folks - a dream come true for any alumni; to have a quiz meet hosted at the very place where dreams, aspirations begin. One's own alma mater - the mother of all inventions, professions and laugh riots. Where one meets his first friend, crush, love even, in some cases. You name it, you got it.

The QFI finally changed its venue from the routine T Nagar placeholder, thanks to the efforts of VV Ramanan and Samanth (heil ramana and samanth).

The quiz was scheduled to be hosted by Gopal Kidao and Sumo, but eventually Sumo didn't make it - so it boiled down to Suresh Ramasubramaniam, a renowned quizzer at K-circle and QFI-circle.

Both Gopal and Suresh did a good job with their quizzes with some intriguing questions - but the deal of the day was done when Kabala (Ramkumar) couldn't answer a question on Rajinikanth's "robot". (Kabala's face still carries some remnants of the holy spat).

We closed out without the customary tea and biscuits, but overall it was a new experience - to celebrate it, Ramana exhibited the trailer of the latest Indiana Jones movie.

Some pictures:

My fave song of 2007 Part 1

2008-03-01T00:17:00.000-08:00

(Karthik Narayan)

My favorite song in recent times - actually one of two songs, is kholo kholo from TZP. The moment I heard it, I thought it was something special. And when I watched the movie, I realised the wisdom of pearls from oysters (or snakes giving the diamonds story even) - saving the best for the last. Amir and the team saved the best song for the end of the movie. Shankar Ehsan Loy have always been in my good books and shall remain for a while thanks to this song, and Raman Mahadevan has sung it with such emotion and feeling - sets the perfect mood.

This one is for the nerds who like to sing along - but let me tell you; this song is best watched and worth all the effort you take for it.

first learn the lyrics and sing along the second time with the actual scenes :)

Now come the lovely feel of the song that touches your heart:

The IQL Meet – 23rd February 2008 - a round-up

2008-02-23T07:04:00.000-08:00

(Karthik Narayan)

Having regular IQL meetings also meant that someone had to do the questions for the meets – and when some of our top content providers couldn’t turn up, it was left to yours truly to bring in some “old friends” and do a semi-re-run quiz (some of the questions were repeats). Which led me to think – I need to make new questions all over again.

However, we are also turning our IQL meets as Knowledge Sharing Sessions – in the sense that we would be sharing professional knowledge as well; for example, Ananth did a presentation on Open Source today. This would continue, with each of us taking turns. I dare say, this would mark the difference between this quizzing group and all the others. Personal, informational and professional development of all the members is thy motto, dear IQL enthusiasts!

We noticed that the IQL meeting attendance was going leaner, but sadly the same could not be said of the attendees – we were gorging on desserts and junk food at IIT-CCD.

With soaring bills and not so flattering tummy lines at stake, we have decided to move to a different place to hang out – one that wouldn’t have the temptations and weigh lesser on our pockets and suit our time zones as well.

With luck (and some serious street roaming), we should be able to hang out somewhere soon for our future meetings.

More info on that soon…

But the best part about quizzing at IIT is the ambience that we get, the scenic atmosphere surrounding Café Coffee Day, and our love for Mother Nature. Perhaps, that is one of the rare occasions in our daily life to be in the same league as deer, monkeys – pictures will say it all.

HEY CATCH ME IF YOU CAN...

HEY JUNIOR, WHERE ARE YOU?

HERE I AM POPPA... LOOK AT ME, AM RIDING A BIKE. YO!

Slick Flix: Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom

2008-02-22T21:34:00.001-08:00

(Karthik Narayan)

George Lucas's dream superhero appears in yet another thriller of a movie. This is the second movie in the sequel to "Raiders of the Lost Ark". This movie series has enthralled and enamored audiences worldwide for its breakneck speed of action, comedy and witty dialogues all packed in a short, crisp way.

Harrison Ford has his slick ways and punny ways of doing things, living life dangerously in the fast lane as Indiana Jones. This time, Indy lands himself a beautiful lead-actress for that touch of glamour (frankly, it wasn't required at all). As they meet, they go through dangers that lurk in the shadows and they are chased all the way to India. There, they meet a prince en route to their quest for a sacred stone and the missing children of a nearby village, and confront his witchdoctor, who salvage* Ma Kali's blessings through human sacrifices.

Amrish Puri has given a brilliant performance as Mola Ram – he looks fierce and fits the bill as a witchdoctor in India. I guess some people outperform themselves in certain roles – Amrish Puri's Mola Ram will go down in history as one of the finest villains ever. There is one scene (amongst many others) where he exclaims: "Kali Ma protects us! We are her children! We pledge our devotion to her with an offering of flesh... and blood!" – this scared the wits out of me!

The little prince provides a dangerous proposition for the viewers – whether to admonish his brash and evil acts or to adopt his cute looks. Indiana's little sidekick Short Round (Jonathan Ke Quan) steals our hearts with his acting.

There are some moments when Indians are shown in poor light – this is where Lucas really stumps us, after all that hype of his adopting Hinduism for his Star Wars sagas. Maybe he was making amends later in Star Wars! But he could have done away with those morbid scenes, and surely, there was no need for the lead actress at all.

Tantric, mystic and terrific scenes smolder each one of us in terror and delight of fine cinema, sans modern moments of cell phones and weapons of mass destruction. Here man faces man in dark moments of hypnotism.

The special effects are awesome, and that too for a movie made in the timeline of the early 1980s (1984 to be exact)

Sacrilege to those who cannot stick to this storyline! You are doomed to be glued to your seats in this gripping tale of dripping sweat and blood and the final triumph of good over bad

“Pee” yo Math, thou Download demons!

2008-02-22T06:24:00.000-08:00

(Karthik Narayan)

No, this is not a crusade against drinking – this is more a play on the word "pee" – the people who like to empty their bowels and bladder wherever they deem fit. In simple words, those who urinate wherever they go, however they want to.

I had this horrible experience when I walked down the steps of a railway station in Chennai; the stairway smelt like it had been washed and cleansed with the holy urine of the download demons who stalk mother earth to its very end. And I was right, too!

I do not wish to claim to be a clean soul – I have my sinning moments as well, but I do not do it at free will.

Now, I decree capital punishment to all those who wet our environment to their relief!

Thou shall walk through the same path thou sinned on, and thou shall not have any physical aid in the form of nose covers; your accompaniment shall be remix item numbers in Tamil, the same song back to back until you are ready to scream your lungs out for the next.

We will handpick T.Rajendar dialogues for you to listen to, once you are done with the songs.

Even after this, if you try any of your pissed off ideas again, we shall be having a special session for you to watch Tamil serials for 2 hours together without the commercials – so that at the end (if you lasted this long, you are an insane person, let me tell you), the next time you want to "do" it, try your own pants!

Under the carpet without a regret – the gladiators that don’t gladden

2008-02-20T07:56:00.000-08:00

(Karthik Narayan)

It is said that you can buy anything with money. I was aghast to read stories of fathers and mothers being bought, but I didn't realize it would eventually go back to where it all started; buy and sell MAN!

Yes, shocking as it may seem, cricketers are being auctioned for money by various ImPeriaL owners in various parts of the country.

Does this make cricketers the new age gladiators, fighting to the death, one on one? Well, in a lot of ways a cricketer does seem to be a warrior. The fast bowlers unleash their lethal weapon, (the red cherry) for the "lance" arm-strongs to defend themselves with?

The forces of evil lurk in the shadows in the form of betters, (not for the better, I am sure)!

It doesn't paint a picture that makes you glad, in spite of having gladiators in it. It only means that money thrills and kills, surely. Cricket seems to be the living truth of that fact.

It’s no longer cricket on the wicket – it's a market where huge sums go into the pocket without regret while you and I walk into the sunset on a plummet.

I am no prophet, I stop my fidget right now!

main aisa kyun hoon

2008-02-12T20:43:00.001-08:00

(Karthik Narayan)

When a clean shaven guy starts growing a beard a fortnight before valentine's day, people's eyes and minds get to one single thought - why the beard - love failure?

At first I thought it was just one or two who would notice, but when an entire cavalry of men and women alike started asking me the question, I felt like a cricket umpire. Standing up for oneself against all the rain of the same question feels a lot like peeling the same onion over and over again. Or even worse, watching a TV serial non-stop for more than one hour...

So here goes: for the record, I am on my fasting period for a trip to sabarimala; and nopes, sorry - your drink of gossip just got a bitter gourd in the mixer: no love failure!

RELUCTANT RELEASE OF REVIEWS – A RE-VIEW

2008-02-11T08:49:00.000-08:00

(Karthik Narayan)

Of late, I have been relentlessly writing (read as re-writing) reviews of recently (and not so recently) released movies. But over the last few blog posts, I noticed that I am reluctant to review my favorite movies of all time for no good reason – Bruce Almighty, Singing in the Rain, Finding Nemo, Shawshank Redemption and so on.

I was holding on to Ratatouille and Pursuit of Happyness for quite a while, but managed to break that jinx and wrote out the reviews.

Maybe it is a bias in my system, that I have to be a critic and a fan at the same time, and just that I am more a fan than a critic. Sometimes it is very hard to find a flaw in something you like a lot. It is like trying to count the number of holes in a dosa, when you would rather be eating it; or for that matter, trying to guage the temperature of an ice cream, at a time when you would love to beat the heat with that delightful dollop!

Some moments, I guess, are best left enjoyed. Some movies are of this genre.

Maybe I will come to terms with reality and give it a try, maybe not. Read the remains of this one and remind yourself to watch out for that one!

Now that I have written this, I feel relieved and so - I shall relax!

A SURPRISE FOR KN – THE VAISHU EPISODE

2008-02-09T22:42:00.000-08:00

(Karthik Narayan)

Saturday last week was one of the finest days I have had, when I met Vaishu for the first time (after a few failed attempts). Then Sunday took over…Yeah, by this time, I am sure you must have read about that one.
And it was time for another Saturday. This time, it was not without its surprises! We had our regular IQL meet at IIT Madras (which I am loving, BTW), and guess who turned up – Vaishu, in the flesh!

People whom we like a lot and those who like us a lot love to play games on one another – all in good spirit, of course. And when it provides you that extra bit of happiness at the end of it all, it becomes the highlight of the day – something to remember the occasion by. These are the moments which come with you along the course of your life, makes you want to say after all those years – "hey, remember that one time…?"

So, most of the people around me knew Vaishu was going to be here, except me! Imagine the look on my face when she called from her number and told me she was in IIT that very instant! What did I learn out of it all – that there is a thin line between surprise and shock – I guess it depends on the nature of the news that hits you; in this case it was pleasant. (Maybe, maybe not)

Anyway, we all had a great quizzing-and-eating evening (two activities I relish doing) and my day was done!

Thanks for the lovely evening, guys! Also for the surprise, which I am still coming to terms with.

The Best Sunday of my Life

2008-02-09T09:40:00.000-08:00

Hi all,

First of all lemme tell u all that I had the greatest day of my life last Sunday when I met one of my good friends from the internet - her name is Savitha; she’s from Mumbai, we have been good friends for a while over the net, so thought it was high time that we met.

But we wanted our first meeting to be extra special, so we spent the entire day at orphanages in Chennai, India. She sponsored lunch for the children and I took her out to the places, did the driver job (a lil I cud do for a nice person). Notably, there were more girls than boys amongst the orphaned, which was disturbing.

It was arguably the best Sunday of my life.

Hope to have more such Good Samaritan days.

Thanks and lotsa love

KN

SLICK FLIX: Ratatouille – a delicious stew well served

2008-02-09T09:04:00.000-08:00

(Karthik Narayan)

I am not sure if the movie title and the lead character being a rat is purely coincidental. ‘Ratatouille’ brings with it a whiff of freshness - a tale of the adventures of a rat, as perceived through the eyes of the rat; now that’s not something you see too often in films. The novel concept simply melts your heart; as Remy (the rat) goes on to realize his greatest dream in life – becoming one of France's best chefs.

Just goes to show that you can do anything when you believe in yourself. To quote Chef Gusteau: "If you focus on what you left behind, you will never be able to see what lies ahead".

Adrenaline-rushing first few moments lead up to a fascinating watch over the next one hour, as the creativity and fun begins. Witty lines add to the comedy and the storyline is fast paced and charming.
It's a food lover's delight, a message that cooking is fun and anyone can be good at it

The voice-over blends with the nature of the character and the mix of characters provides for most of the human emotions of anger, love, jealousy and most importantly, the value of thought and intellect.

The quality of the animation is tops, especially the scene where Remy and the cookbook get wet – one can see and feel the wetness, the droplets of water. And the scenes with food! The food looks and feels so much like real food that your tongue drools with eagerness to taste it.

This creativity is what makes this movie one of the finest.

Virtual integrates so seamlessly with the real that you simply cannot believe that what your eyes see is computer generated. Pixar has done it again (after the grand success of "The Incredibles"), to prove that they are the best – the closing credits are innovative as well. No stone unturned in the innovation category – Ratatouille sweeps it all!

Killer lines, great animation, brilliant storyline and music, scenes etching human (and animal) thoughts and of course, lovely mouth-watering food! What else can you ask for in a movie? What are you waiting for – hurry up, the stew's getting cold!

This was a movie which I did not want to end. Rather like feeling hungry and wanting more, even after a full, delicious meal. I would rate this in my top 50 movies of all time. Bring it on!

Rating: 8.5/10

KBC SPECIALS featuring SACHIN TENDULKAR

2008-02-07T09:12:00.000-08:00

(Karthik Narayan)

After the performance of the Indian team at the world cup, KBC started an exclusive series of "charity special" episodes with each member of the team. The charity eligibility was anybody who could afford a minimum of 20 cars or 5 star hotels or have property worth less than Rs.50 crores. All the proceeds would be use to acquire whatever the deficit of cars/ property/ hotels was.

In one of these special episodes, Sachin Tendulkar was called in by host Shah Rukh Khan.

Sachin Tendulkar (SRT): "Hey there Shah Rukh. How are you doing?"

Shah Rukh Khan (SRK): "Fine thanks, Sachin"

SRT: "Yeah, the last time we met was at Lord's cricket ground for the pepsi ad shoot, remember?"

SRK: "Yeah I remember pretending to be you. Nice promo for the 1999 world cup in which I could have played instead of you in the real match."

SRT: "Yes, nobody would have found out, you know"

SRK: "Yes and I would have scored more runs too! By the way did you know you created a new world record?"

SRT: "Wow, what is that?"

SRK: "You have acted in more ads than even the actors out here! Fantastic performances… personally I am a great fan of your ads."

SRT: "Great, yes I have recommended a special Prize by BCCI for best Actor of the year award. Soon we will have that instigated. Once it’s done, I shall be winning it consistently surely. I have a nice strategy up for it!"

SRK: "Whoa, what is that?"

SRT: "Wait and see. I always let my acting do the talking"

SRK: “Hey give me some cameo acting chances in the movie too. Anyway, now that we have settled down with a stirring conversation, lets proceed on with the game, shall we?”

We will be right back to KBC Specials with SRT right after these messages…

AD 1: BOOST IS THE SECRET OF MY ENERGY, OUR ENERGY!
AD 2: YEH DIL MANGE MORE; PEPSI HAI RIGHT CHOICE BABY
AD 3: SACHIN FEAST BISCUITS
AD 4: REPEAT OF AD 1 FIVE TIMES
AD 5: REPEAT OF AD 2 THREE TIMES

Part Two of SRT and SRK coming soon…

the Original McGuru - Peter F Drucker

2008-02-02T10:29:00.000-08:00

(Karthik Narayan)

The speed of thought is more than the speed of anything material in this world. Management is a gamble between speed of thought and speed of action. And management is about handling any particular situation, with the factors affecting it.

Management is all pervasive. It covers every aspect of life - time, resources such as capital and labour need to be managed. Management is needed for efficiency and effectiveness. Management is like water – water can go anywhere, without bounds; similarly management is a discipline, which is present everywhere. And the word management immediately brings one name to mind – PETER FERDINAND DRUCKER!

Peter Ferdinand Drucker is synonymous with the world of management. And as already stated, management is all pervasive, and comes through all organizations irrespective of their size and nature. Its only fair to say that Peter Drucker’s

Peter Drucker is the father of all management gurus. He was instrumental in changing the radical way in which many organizations were working. In short, he revolutionized the world.

Master Drucker – Early Life

Peter Drucker was born in Austria in 1909, and studied in Vienna and Germany. He completed his doctorate in International and Public Law from Frankfurt University in 1931. He fled from his hometown, out of fear of the Nazis and the world wars. He went to USA, and did odd jobs such as banking, consultancy and journalism. His thoughts wandered around the politicization of the economy. He began to hate the politicians and realized that people had to depend on themselves to make their lives better.

His thoughts made him take up teaching politics, philosophy and economics in the US educational institutions.

Management and Drucker

Everybody needs a first break – for Peter Drucker, it came in the form of his desire to change the way the world spun. He ventured into writing books on the science of management of men and resources. His first two books were “The End of Economic Man” and “The Future of Industrial Man”. His viewpoints received quite a bit of brickbats, even though he had won admirers for his clarity of thought – notably Winston Churchill and General Motors!

His work for General Motors changed his life- thereafter he never looked back. His book for the company, “The Concept of the Corporation” brought him accolades from America. Even the Japanese were impressed with the book. Peter Drucker’s concept of decentralization was something fascinating for the dynamic leaders of all corporations, and by the mid 1980s, Peter Drucker had become the true Management GURU!

Suddenly the whole world was into the new fad called decentralization. Even though Drucker’s books never directly pointed to the decentralization concept, indirectly his principles empowered the labour force, decentralization, knowledge economy, and industrialization.

Peter Drucker was a messiah of the management world, because he could foresee accurately the future economic climate, many decades in advance!

Peter Drucker was an one man army – even though there were many fundamental management gurus, he took the world by storm with his “management by Objectives (MBO)”.

He was the architect of his world – a world where managers had to make important decisions at quick speeds.

Many world leaders and thinkers like Bill Gates, George Bush are ardent worshippers of the ideas laid down by Peter Drucker.

Books

Drucker’s contribution to Management has been immense – one can say he rocked the entire universe with his ways of thinking. Here was a person who gave his life to bring about a blossoming change in the ways and ideals of the managers all across the globe. He has authored more than 30 books, and has written thousands of articles. Yet, for someone dedicated to just business thinking, Drucker also wrote on social issues, and worked on the management of voluntary organizations – more based on religion, towards the later stages of his life.

Ideal IDOL

Peter Drucker died on Nov 11, 2005 at the age of 95, but his ideals shall never cease to exist. They shall be relevant and shall stand time immemorial for all future generations.

Many common phrases used in business today are the brainchild of this great management theorist.

Great people leave their footprints everywhere they go, and have followers all around. Their thoughts are immortalized in many ways – on paper, in practice… and in the HEART.

For his outstanding work in the field of management one could say, that Peter Drucker is the Mt. Everest in his field, a peak which no other peer or successor can reach!

Portrait: APJ Abdul Kalam – the Icon of Young India

2008-01-28T06:07:00.000-08:00

(Karthik Narayan)

Some people come into this world with short names and live a short life. Long names may be hard to remember, but this person with his long name, Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam is a legend for us to remember.

So what makes Abdul Kalam an icon? What does APJ have that all our style gurus and macho mans don’t have? It is called intellectual presence. Something that everyone respects and gets inspired by. We would rather be called a great human being, a wonderful teacher and a great man of peace and knowledge like APJ Abdul Kalam than any of the politicians. When someone goes beyond the borders of money, religion and war, he deserves more respect than anyone else. That takes him to the top of the summit, which is precisely why he becomes an icon.

Today I am proud to say that Dr.Abdul Kalam is the only Indian to have been awarded all the three famed civilian honors in India – the Padma Bhushan, the Padma Vibushan and the Bharat Ratna. But it was not an easy roadmap for him to get to all those wonderful moments. It has been a life of hard work, sincerity and great confidence and intelligence all the way through.

He took more honors when he became India’s president, but never once did the crown of Presidency make him a different person. He was still a down-to-earth, simple soul who always enjoyed his teaching, students. He has authored many books, and more importantly, more intellectually stimulating books that glorify our culture, the youth and the nation as a whole. His speeches have mesmerized many students and stirred in us feelings of what we have to offer for this great life ahead of us all.

He is broad minded, imagine a Muslim reading the Bhagwat Gita and preaching the meanings of the Thirukkural in his books –

To quote from his book “Wings of Fire”:

“This Earth is His, to Him belong those vast and boundless skies;
Both seas within Him rest, and yet in that small pool He lies.”

Abdul Kalam hails from an ordinary middle class family in Rameshwaram, his humble beginnings didn’t stop him from becoming a great man of our times. Many personal problems and the evil forces of religion, caste and poverty tried to separate this man from glory, but he didn’t give up. He had to deliver newspapers in order to make money to go to school and to afford books. He overcame it all and became an engineer and then later to lead his country’s satellite programs. He went to NASA on behalf of the Indian engineering community and spent six months there. He was associated with the Thumba space center and was instrumental in launching India’s first Satellite Launch Vehicle.

This is what he had to say about the ways of our world, the wars and mankind, which reflects his maturity and ability to foresee events of the world.

We create and destroy
And again recreate
In forms of which no one knows

Being a strict disciplinarian, he sets a fine example for each one of us by being a vegetarian and adopting the good values of life and preaching them for others to follow. Strong belief , values for life are the things that separate a mortal from the immortal. Abdul Kalam was a person who came on earth for a reason, a special person who lives amongst us. Here I would like to quote Mother Teresa, who said “We cannot do great things on this Earth, only small things with great love.”

We are all proud to be alive at the same time and to breathe the same air as this great man – it is only a small tribute to this great man through this essay, but I think I have done myself justice by even being able to write about him.

Books written by Abdul Kalam:

1. Ignited Minds
2. India 2020
3. Indomitable Spirit
4. Wings of Fire

A Tale of two quizzes

2008-01-26T23:00:00.000-08:00

(Karthik Narayan)

Statutory Warning – for all those quizzicians who keep hunting for questions please don’t bug me for the questions. I was too lazy to note down any questions, so look around, poke your nose in other blogs.

After a drought of open quizzes, Chennai had two open quizzes in two days – the Anna University Open Quiz (Kurukshetra) and the Odyssey Quiz 2008.

Both were quite contrasting in terms of event management and man-management.

Kurukshetra Open Quiz – Jan 25, 2008 at Anna University, Chennai

Notwithstanding a working day (Friday), the Kurukshetra Open quiz saw the familiar faces from the Chennai quizzing circuit, and some outstation quiz enthusiasts from Hyderabad, Coimbatore, Bangalore and Mumbai.

At Kurukshetra, we found out just why it’s called so – all of us were fooled into rolling our wallets over for Rs.10 per head instead of the Rs.10 as advertised on the website. Next we had to do a little piercing of the Chakravyuha – as the saying goes, the door of opportunity is opened like a small window. It looked a similar picture, with a hundred odd people outside the doors of Vivekananda Auditorium stuffed with one small door opened.

It more seemed like stuffing a wad of bankrolls into one’s mouth. That stuffy feeling reminded us of Dridarashtra crushing an image of Bhima, needless to ask which side we were in (Bhima, for those who aren’t in the fast lane). Again, dejavu of the Kurukshetra War!

Next, I am not sure if they were trying to glorify their skills of lifting documentaries from the internet or if that was their idea of a Scientica Gita (the Gita on science, starring Albert Einstein and Newton), but they did a good job of getting us all to sleep in. then again, the standard teams and faces had not yet assembled – as is the case with most Chennai-open quizzes, the start is delayed to accommodate the entry of those “Usual Suspects”.

After the hiatus of all that action, the quizzing action finally hit us all and brought us out of our slumber. It wasn’t exactly a power nap – Dr.Navin Jayakumar and Gopal Kidao got us frowning, groping around for answers in the prelims – 30 questions of the toughest standards, though I must admit some of them were vague and can’t be classified under “General Knowledge”. But, then today’s quizzes are just that – specific knowledge is required in the name of general info. With cut-throat competition amongst the quiz enthusiasts and big prize money involved, it can’t get any better – some things are to be taken for granted. Then again, it’s only my opinion, heck!

QED won the quiz along with their usual stash of goodies, a name to cherish. Overall, a badly organized quiz with some high quality questions.

Rating: for the quiz element alone – 7/10
For the event management - (-)2/10 (minus two)

Odyssey Open Quiz, Jan 26, 2008 at Music Academy, Chennai

The Odyssey Quiz, on the other hand was a well managed, quiet Saturday afternoon event, with teams flocking in pretty late for an early start. The atmosphere was electric, with the young and not-quite-young interspersed, happily locking arms, exchanging wisecracks.

Quizmaster Dr.Pravin Goday (I should say, he is the Real Quartermaster, being one of 4 Quizmasters) said, “Chennai is the quizzing capital of India” – and I agree! Where else would one find an ocean of heads racking their heads in desperation for answers out on a National Holiday, sacrificing their Saturday afternoon snooze?

It was a good eye opener with such a tough quiz – every year it gets tougher and with all those quiz blogs (I do contribute handsomely here) floating around, the number of quizzes that happen across the country and the number of participants, it can only get tougher.

The Prelims was tough – it’s like what Bruce Nolan would have said – “there’s always an anti-Bruce Barrier” (in my case, an anti-KN barrier?)

The finals had rather interesting and intriguing questions as one would associate with a high quality quiz. With Quiz Mountains, table top mind-grinders and heart-gripping moments, the Odyssey Quiz brought out the best from all teams on stage.

The Quizmaster went into his break-mode too frequently, which brought about quite a few glee faces with the audience getting amused by the sheer silliness of the concept. But that is understandable, since the television industry brings out the funny side of people (intentionally or otherwise).

It was good to see Arul Mani back in action and winning in Chennai after a hiatus, and for a change it felt like Australia biting dust, when the Defending champs QED finished runner up. It was a spirited effort, they were in the bottom part of the scorecard earlier; they came back exceedingly well.

Rating: (Quiz element) – 7.5/10
For event management – 8/10 – take a bow, fellas, you did a great job!

Personal Front:

It was a good experience on the personal front - I met and made some new friends – like Amit Verma, and Sumanth Srivathsan whose blogs I have read and enjoyed; and then some good friends like the TV Quizzer Nambirajan from Coimbatore and Jump, our very own Chennai-bees-hazari-blogger. It was funny how we met – I needed two members and his team needed one more sparring partner. With luck and unaware of each other’s names – we just fused our teams, and a pleasant surprise awaited both of us when we exchanged names.

On the flip side, a friend (Goutham) deserted us for a different team, which was a disappointment. Not qualifying was as usual the biggest of disappointments.

Verdict:

A sense of dejavu that sweeps the minds of all the No.2’s in quizzing (My term for those who didn’t qualify) continues – it’s like seeing a pack of cards – I see the same Jacks, Kings and Queens (Queens are a rarity in quizzing circles, admitted – a worrying trend that should change). When do we get the Joker in the pack? And why isn’t it me?

When will a new team rise from above the ashes of the same old faces that we see on stage in all of these quizzes? And more importantly, when will it be my day?

The above questions cannot be answered by any quizzer on earth but yours truly - and the answer is - Soon, which is what I tell my team-mates and the rest of you reading this.

Adam Gilchrist – the guile glove man

2008-01-26T21:35:00.000-08:00

(Karthik Narayan)

Australian cricket can be divided into 2 stages: BG and AG. Before Gilchrist and After Gilchrist! Such is the impact made by this go-getter, and his contribution to a whole lot of cricketing records has been unique.

“Glee gloves for a gleeman make a glove man who is glee while he is gloved!”

Well that’s a tough tongue twister, no doubt, but lets talk more about the best wicketkeeper of all time, the Guile Gilchrist. Ever enthusiastic and cheerful, cheering on his team mates that’s what makes this wicket keeper tick on and make the team do ever so well. Once a player dons the wicket keeper’s gloves, it seems it is forever, especially if the wicket keeper is an opener.

Adam was selected to replace an aging Ian Healy in 1996 only for the ODIs when Australia toured India. He played not so badly but did not really make a lot of runs, but with Healy not playing the ODIs, he was drafted as the favorite for the keeper’s slot. He got his first test cap only in 1999-2000 when Pakistan toured Australia. His selection was questioned, but he sealed everyone of his critics’ lips with a blistering 81 on test debut. It was aggressive right from the word GO. The right Innings at the right time, when Australia needed those quick runs in that game. Ever since he has never looked back, be it with the gloves behind the stumps or in front of it.

If Gilchrist was asked to back track and take control of all the records he has set over these years, heads will spin like a Shane Warne Delivery! He has created so many records that its going to take decades to even come near some of them:

Records Galore: (As of 26th January 2008)

• Highest strike rates for wicket keepers in any form of the game: 82 in tests and 94 in ODIs.

• Highest score for a wicket keeper in ODIs: 172 vs Zim in 2003 - This was later elipsed by that noob Mahendra Singh Dhoni when he scored 183

• Most Centuries by a keeper: 10 in tests and 10 in ODIs

• Fastest double hundred by a keeper: 204* against South Africa at Johanesburg (for a brief time he had the record for the fastest test hundred by any batsman until Nathan Astle blasted England!)

• Quickest test hundred against India in tests: 84 balls in the Mumbai Test (2001), when Australia won their sixteenth Consecutive test. (Happens to be third fastest ever in Indian soil after Kapil Dev’s and Azhar’s 74 ball hundreds!)

• World record for Maximum Dismissals in an ODI : 6

• World record for most number of dismissals in tests and ODIs – 410 & 454

Man walking

It was the Semi-Final of World Cup 2003, and Adam Gilchrist was facing Aravinda De Silva of Sri Lanka. Adam edged one ball from A de Silva to the keeper. The Umpire Mr. Rudi Koerzten did not hear the nick and declared Adam not out. Gilchrist however, knowing he was out, started walking. It was a truly inspiring act. He upheld the Spirit of the Game with his noble action.

Really nobody expected him to walk, but he did. And that match being the World Cup Semi Final, it was a shock, yet a surprising act. This is why this game is called the Gentleman’s Game! Imagine if Australia had lost the game, surely Gilchrist would have been blamed. Luckily Australia packed off the Lankans.

Gilchrist went on to enthrall his huge fanfare when he scored a brilliant century at the 2007 World Cup Finals and helped his team clinch the coveted title of World Champions for the 3rd consecutive time.

One cannot pick Gilchrist’s ODI innings, one can’t pick one innings to be the best; they are all aggressive. For him, batting simply means thumping the ball, with the finest of ease. Coming in as opener, slam bang, fierce cuts, pulls all are typical Gilchrist stuff. The aggression, the passion and the immersion of the bowlers under a tub of water every time they bowl to this southpaw are the normal things that happen. He makes things happen, does this Dasher!

The game just never ceases to lose interest when this guy is around. He is so good that people flock to see him play. Last time, he played in Indian soil, he stamped and packaged the Indian Bowlers at Mumbai in the First Test, back to the post office with a classy hundred. Sadly he did not mesmerize again in that series. The only chink in his armory is playing spin. He is a bit suspect in that regard.

I would have thought retirement blues wouldn’t catch up with Gilly, as he has surely one more year. But then, that’s a personal decision and we should respect him.
I tip off my hat to this great hero who has showed us how cricket can be such a beautiful game, with its values and ethics intact. I will surely miss him personally, he has been an inspiration for hard work and being open in his views. i wish him all the best in his personal endeavors, and say hi to the family for me, willy-a, gilly?

Flashback to those glorious cricketing days...

2008-01-24T03:16:00.000-08:00

(Karthik Narayan)

AUS Vs SA, 17.06.1999

DATE : 17-06-1999

VENUE : Edgbaston, Birmingham, England

MATCH : 2nd Semifinal of the 1999 World Cup, Australia Vs South Africa

Cricketfundas.com pursuits to pen down its exclusive coverage of the Tied ODIs and Tests and it’s incomplete without the presence of a World Cup match. For the simple reason that Cricket World Cups are special occasions. That void was filled in the 7th world cup played in England in 1999.

After a gap of 16 years, England hosted the World Cup again. This was a Cup with new formats such as the birth of the Super Six Stage and the teams were more evenly grouped and matched. It all promised great fan fare and good cricket all around.

The match we shall relive today shall be the best ever World Cup match for many years to come. Those who witnessed this match were verily blessed with a cricketing fairy tale of mighty goodness.

This was the most important and most interesting match – since both teams were world beaters and both had performed exceptionally thus far, it was winner TAKE ALL! And also the result of the previous match between the same teams in the super six stage was a staggering match which went down to the wire. And it was Steve Waugh’s brilliance that had taken Australia to this stage.

The teams:

Australia:
Adam Gilchrist (Wicket Keeper), Mark Waugh, Ricky Ponting, Darren Lehmann, Steve Waugh (Captain), Michael Bevan, Tom Moody, Shane Warne, Paul Reiffel, Damien Fleming, Glenn McGrath.

South Africa:
Gary Kirsten, Herschelle Gibbs, Daryll Cullinan, Hansie Cronje, Jacques Kallis, Jonty Rhodes, Shaun Pollock, Lance Klusener, Mark Boucher (Wicket Keeper), Steve Elworthy, Allan Donald.

Toss:
South Africa won the toss and elected to field first in this all-important game.

Australian Innings:
Australia did not get off to their flying starts that we had seen over the course of many a ODI – Pollock pouched Mark Waugh for a catch to Keeper Boucher in the 5th ball of the match for a blob! It was a beauty of a delivery, with pace and bounce and just kissing the face of the gloves, and Australia were one down for 3. Gilchrist was joined by Ricky Ponting, and the two set upon their task in an arduous manner. Pollock extracted pace and bounce and bowled beautifully with Kallis who was getting considerable sideways movement off the pitch. With veteran Allan Donald into the attack as second change, things remarkably changed – Donald picked up two quick and important wickets of Ponting and Lehmann in quick succession. Australia was reeling at 68/4 in the 17th over when Gilchrist was out to Kallis.

But Steve Waugh with a robust 56 off 76 and Bevan with a rather sedate 65 off 101 were just pulling back things when Waugh was caught behind off yet another great Pollock ball. Pollock and Donald, the deadly pair was at their deadliest in this match.

Together, they quickly wiped off the middle and tail of Australia and the super team was all out for just 213 in the last over. Pollock bowled a dream spell 9.2-1-36-5 and Donald chipped in with hostile bowling figures of 10-1-32-4. if Donald hadn’t messed up his batting and running between wickets, surely he deserved a lot more accolades for his bowling. His great bowling was submerged in foolhardy running at the end.

South African Innings:

So the target was set at 214 for South Africa. Considering normal circumstances, this would have been an easy task. But this being DO or DIE for both teams and with the World Cup at stake, the game was never over until it was won.

Things were not going Australia’s way until Warne came on as second change in the 11th over. Warne bowled what is being described as one of the best ever spells by any bowler in ODI cricket, especially world cups.

Warne clipped Gibbs’ off stump with a magnificent ball, pitching outside the rough and opening up the batsman. Gibbs took a while to realize he had been out. One has to watch Warne in this match to see him at his best. In walked Warne’s bunny Daryl Cullinan, and Warne smacked his lips. Cullinan absolutely had no clue whatsoever to Warne’s magic, and he succumbed as usual. A measly 6 runs came off 30 balls; Warne picked up Kirsten similar ball, and similar result. OUT! Warne was just too good at this stage. Hansie Cronje lasted all of 2 balls of Warne, the second was edged to first slip, Mark Waugh ever ready to pouch yet another great catch. 3 wickets in 8 balls meant that Warne was all worked up! Cullinan and Kallis struggled to make runs, and it seemed Cullinan would not get out to Warne. And he didn’t. A crazy mix up saw Cullinan take a dangerous single, and that too testing the arm of the best Australian fielder – Michael Bevan. And Bevan has had enough throw practice to hit the stumps with precision. South Africa were 61/4 in the 22nd over.

Rhodes and Kallis steadied the ship with an 84 run partnership, but then Rhodes tried a shot too many. A slog against Reiffel, and the ball rose in height but did not cover the distance beyond Bevan, taking a running catch at deep square leg.

Pollock followed his good bowling with a cameo batting performance – a quick 20 off 14 balls came. A partnership of 30 between Kallis and Pollock drew South Africa closest to their chances of reaching first ever Cricket World Cup final. But Warne that Magic Crusader spun yet another astounding ball, Kallis did not read it, Waugh gleefully took the lob at cover. The greatest spell in this World Cup ended, much to the delight of the Proteas. But it had done the damage.

Now the stage was set for a tight finish to this amazing match of more see saws than a children’s playground. Exactly six balls after the dismissal of Kallis, Fleming castled Pollock, thus finishing his little cameo. But with Zulu Klusener, this match was all but over. The score was 184/7 in 46 overs.

All boiled to 38 off the last Four overs. McGrath-Fleming-McGrath and final over by Fleming. Boucher, being rather new to pressure, managed to do his part of playing the singles. McGrath knew best to bowl at these stages. Klusener and Boucher managed to make 5 runs off that 47th over.

Fleming was in charge for the first three balls of the 48th over – all being great Yorkers well dug out by Boucher. Somehow Boucher managed a single off the 4th ball, and the ball was in Klusener’s court to hit. People strive in pressure and Zulu loves it! It seems he was born with so much pressure that he keeps such a cool head and bats as easily as sleeping with a soft pillow on a featherbed. Six runs came off the last 2 balls with 2 clean strikes.

Boucher had his bitter taste of a deadly McGrath delivery, his short batting digging out was all over – a Yorker knocked out the middle stump and it was now time for Boucher to loosen his gloves. Score – 196/8.

Steve Elworthy came in with battered bowling figures and little batting experiences. And he could not last no more than 1 ball. A risky single became a horror when McGrath ambled down to deflect the stumps off a Reiffel throw to get rid of Elworthy. Things were real hot and more sweat was seen now on everyone’s brow.

198/9 and Donald walked in with a nervous grin and butterflies in his stomach. Luckily he did not have to face McGrath. Klusener struck the next ball of McGrath with great power and believe me, at Long on, Reiffel could not hold on to what would have been a good catch – the ball lobbed on to dribble over the fence – SIX valuable runs. Off the last ball, Zulu took a single to take strike for the last over.

9 off 6 balls – the team that would keep its cool would win. With Klusener in the middle and on strike, Australia was looking down and out. Fleming began his run up for the last 6 balls of the match. The field moved in, anxiously, everyone in the stadium and those watching were on the edge of their seats and hearts.

The first ball was a backfoot drive an amazing astounding strike hit with the speed of a bullet, and it raced cutting across everyone on the field. Nobody, and I mean nobody could have ever stopped that from crossing the boundary.

The next ball was fuller, and Klusener had answers ready for that ball. It was dispatched with the rage and power of a bull at its maddest – it streaked through Mark Waugh at long off and hit the fence. The scores were TIED.

With the match ending in a tie, (according to new rules for this World Cup) Australia would go to the final by virtue of their win over the same team in the Super Six stage.

Now things were simpler than ever – 1 run off 4 balls. All 11 Aussies were inside the 30-yard circle. Singles were not going to be allowed. The third ball was pulled by Klusener – mishit and rolled straight down the wicket – what was Allan Donald doing? Backing up too far, he nearly got himself run out. If that throw by Lehmann was good enough, Donald would have been run out by miles. That instant Donald would have seen his heart in his mouth.

Pressure breeds real warriors to show their gut, it also shows the real cowards and those who take it to their heads and hearts. HOLD YOUR BREATH FOR THE NEXT BALL. A mishit pull again – and the most foolhardy single was taken by Klusener. He who had planned and executed this match so very well thus far lost his mind for that single. Donald was in no position to take that single having seen his heart pop the previous ball. He dropped his bat, lost his mind and started late for a single that was never to be.

While Zulu managed to ground his bat at the non-striker’s end, Donald had no words for this situation – absolutely no words for the sensational finish. Gilchrist knocked over the bails easily, Donald could not face the world.

A heart attack struck all South Africans in the stadium and an eruption of glee on the faces of all the Aussies- they had reached the finals. And this match had been tied from the open jaws of a Dinosaur, saved just before it shut its jaws. The Aussies had made a remarkable comeback thanks to Warne.

All sorts of adjectives sprung up at this stage – Hansie Cronje had his hands on hips looking dourer than Mr.Grouchy or Mr.Grinch. The South Africans had 2 balls to spare and just a single separated them from a win and a place in the Final.

Jaws dropped and eyes pooped to watch the end overs – and they had a great treat by all means. The heat was turned on and the hearts were pumping like mad.

As my heart slows down and I catch my breath, I conclude that this was perhaps the best ever ODI match that I have witnessed in my entire life. So be it for so many other players and lovers of the game of cricket.

This day was definitely that of the bowlers and the batsmen had little say in the matters. While Pollock and Donald routed Australia, Warne rocked the whole world with his magic, and it was vintage Warne to pick up the man of the match award.

It was very ironical that South Africa was very much in the same situation in the next World Cup as well, and that also they tied and lost their place to play further. Some lessons to be learnt for them, maybe?

CASELET – BIRD FLU

2008-01-23T05:16:00.000-08:00

(Karthik Narayan)

Freecell sat across his normal position at the corner near the rear window of the coffee outlet. He was focusing on a Sudoku game in one of the dailies, frowning. He had been trying it out for the last 30 minutes waiting for his friend Greycell to join him. The eye candy certainly wasn’t present, nor his patience now.

Greycell walked in just then, waving to Freecell and a couple of others he seemed to recognize. Sometimes Freecell felt someday they would hand over the ownership of the outlet to them – they had been there so many times by now they would have paid the capital required for starting a new outlet!

Greycell took his seat opposite Freecell and smiled – clearly Freecell was fuming, first for not getting his sudoku numbers right, then having been made to wait for a long time. He crumpled the newspaper and threw it at Greycell, who reached and caught it as it was dipping past his seat.

Greycell: Howzzat?

Freecell: Not so good. You are late!

Greycell: Hey don’t sound like one of your girlfriends! Anyway, you better play it safe with your bird eating – there’s an outbreak of bird flu again!

Freecell: Why should I care?

Greycell: Laid back, that is the very attitude I hate about you. Why do you take things so easy?

Freecell: Don’t you realize this is not about not one silly bird which has stomach disorders, but about the disease of Bird Flu spreading across the globe? And don’t you think it’s high time you quit eating poor old birds? What do you get from eating that little bird endlessly?

Freecell: Oh yeah? Try it once, I think it’s the greatest delicacy that mankind has ever made.

Greycell: Yechhhhh not me. I don’t want to lay my eyes on the poor bird after its been killed, roasted and fried totally. That speaks of mindless and heartless humans!

Freecell: Chill out, what are you yelling for? The whole world didn’t become lonely because some bird got sick.

Greycell: I really wish the whole world would not lay such a lot of emphasis on this bird disease and concentrate on other important things.

Freecell: Oh yeah? Like what?

Greycell: Hmmm…. Like turning vegetarian?

Freecell: What? Sacrilege! Do you realize what you just said?

Greycell: Err.. Yes. Why?

Freecell: My gawd. Give your last prayers and make it good. Because I hope nobody listened to you. What is your problem with people eating non-vegetarian food? Are you jealous of it?

Greycell: Did you realize that it’s not about one single person? There are millions out there who favor it.

Freecell: You cannot change the way man thinks by one single stroke overnight.

Greycell: I think its plain stupid to eat non vegetarian. We kill animals for our own goodness and welfare. Hey think about it. The poor bird will die of starvation and sickness.

Freecell: So you save the poor bird by burning the farms and destroying the eggs?

Greycell: Either its about eating the birds or killing them because they have developed flu. To me either way it’s the same.

Freecell: There you go. Might as well eat it instead of killing it right?

Greycell: How about finding a cure for the disease and help the chicken live a decent life?

Freecell: See here, buddy. I don’t mind your “freaked up” idea. But tell me this, euthanasia works for the birds too right?

Greycell: In the end we will kill all birds in the name of flu, and then promote eating mankind because it might end up being more delicious!

Freecell: Oh, that is morbid. You are going over the limit!

Greycell: Wait and see, dude, wait and see. The world isn’t going in the right direction. You will hear things you haven’t thought of.

Greycell: Its all about selling, marketing and price fixation, dude!

Freecell: What has that got to do with this?

Greycell: Right now the whole idea goes like this – when people try to convert to vegetarian, the government will post a message that the world is coming to an end because chicken is coming down with flu. Then the culling begins. Chicken prices rise like midsummer temperature, then finally the government releases a statement that its safe to eat, the whole gamut of bollywood stars come down to tell you how good a chicken tastes. There you have it, folks – the perfect marketing strategy!

Freecell: (whistles) Wow, I never thought on those lines. You have a point there, dude! So, what is your final stand on this issue?

Greycell: Hit the greens and spare the bird!

Freecell: Guess some things aren’t worth talking about. Blow a horn in the ears of the deaf and you won’t get anything out of it. How can you appreciate taste without tasting it?

Greycell: Okay, okay, eat up your chicken sandwich and let’s get out of here. I have a couple of chores to do.

Freecell: What’s the matter, chicken? (Chuckles)

Guys, whose side are you on? Give it the ending you want to…

Counseling and the great spectacle behind it all

2008-01-21T18:52:00.000-08:00

(Karthik Narayan)

You got a problem, you need a solution. At that particular time, you don’t care how, where and what of that question. Your fast racing mind wants only one thing – the answer.

In the heat of the moment, you rush yourself frantically making appointment calls to anyone and everyone you trust, that guy next door who you despise for all his egoism.. whoever comes in your way today and whoever comes to mind… and at last, you get an appointment with a counselor, just like all modern people…

All that matters is, you need an outlet at that juncture. And I shall help you get there. There is a therapy called tension therapy. In order to get this new science, that involves the combination of modern gadgets and the study of human psychology, you go to a counselor. And oh wow, he tells you all the things you already know and gauged yourself against. And then again, after discussing with you at length (read - boring lectures running into minutes that seem so long), he presents you with a small little perfumed bill that pumps more blood out of your heart, than lava from volcanoes. And at the end of it all, you know where you stand – at the doorsteps of wretchedness. You have realized that you threw away your lifetime earnings for understanding your own self. And self-restraint keeps you from foul-mouth-ing the individual.

Anyways, the objective of this article is not to get the counselors and consultants tense about their own jobs. What I want to say is, a self-analysis test is the first step before even going to a third person to check out your SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, Opportunities and threats) test results.

A simple testing and a little patience comes in handy a long way before you even want to shell out a bunch of notes to a professional. Tell yourself what you need out of life, what your dreams are, and what you want to attain before you set yourself to rest in peace in this world.

Unclear vision of a smoggy morning

2008-01-21T18:42:00.000-08:00

(Karthik Narayan)

As I opened my eyes and was about to get out of my seat in the bus at 7am today, I witnessed something I have never seen before - SMOG completely surrounding my workplace (mind you, we are talking about a good 300 acres!)

Now when I was in school, smoke + fog = smog would have earned me One mark in the exam and a couple of brownie points with my teacher, but I couldn't have asked for a practical experience, that too in a hot city like Chennai. A dozen years later, I get just that, even without my asking!

At first I wondered if my vision had become so blurred that bad after all that time spent at the PC the night before, but I soon realised I wasn't the only one with blurred eyes and smoky ice on my nose.

It was as though the sun had been blocked, people were moving around into a white mass of nothing. The smog was as thick as a brick wall. Not sure how it would have been on a photograph - maybe the image would have shown a white screen, as though I was taking it from Cloud Number Nine up from heaven.

Is this the effect of global warming, I shirk to know, but it doesn't augur well for people like me who like a clear picture of things!

Our IQL meet – Jan 19, 2008

2008-01-19T22:29:00.001-08:00

(Karthik Narayan)

IQL had gone somewhere that it hadn’t before in its history – IIT Madras. Yes, folks, this time we met at the IIT campus in the Café Coffee Day nestled in the center of the peaceful locale.

Now, having a quiz meet at IIT Madras gives a high. It’s like going to the First day first show of a super hit movie and getting a cosy seat, or getting a commentator’s box seat at Lord’s cricket ground – even though the match may be played between Bangladesh and Australia, and Bangladesh may have no hopes of winning.

We had just three of us – Ananth Sr, Ananth Jr and me. And I was on time, so there! Punctuality may not be my middle name, but repeat certainly isn’t either. I don’t like to repeat the same mistakes – like my Economics teacher at school used to say: always find new mistakes to make.

Anyway, the whole thing was put together in a matter of an hour or so, and you how it happens - unplanned events go well. So I sat and did a quick powerpoint complete with connects (which I am getting better at).

I must say, the food at CCD at IIT is very cheap (50% cheaper compared to CCDs in the city!) and good as well – the atmosphere is splendid for relaxing, with foliage around, people found sparingly. The perfect setting for a quiz!

And I should say grace to the veg wraps we had there – hot and spicy. With tears already from non-stop laughter and fun, it gave us another reason to “cry”. Plus it helped us survive the cold on our way back – IIT must be the coldest place in Chennai currently, even though it warmed our hearts and stomachs today.

This was definitely our best meeting so far – and we hope to have all our future meetings at CCD in IIT.

Ananth and Ananth at work - attacking the foodies while thinking about the goodies; Ananth Sr calls this food for thought!

Breathless!

2008-01-19T10:51:00.001-08:00

(Karthik Narayan)

talk about breathless! this is the real one.. check out the pretty girls and the one playing the flute! breathless stuff!

Keep laughing...

2008-01-18T20:13:00.001-08:00

(Karthik Narayan)

First watch this song..

make em laugh... Donald O Connor from Singing in the Rain. Steals everyone's hearts... for all the acrobatics he does in this movie, he deserved an Oscar for sure.

anyway that's life - some undeserving always ends up with the Oscars. The deserving just sit and watch... It's called the Un-biased approach to living life.

Taare Zameen par

2008-01-18T07:10:00.000-08:00

(Karthik Narayan)

It seems an outrageous title for a movie, let alone this blog post, but I saw the glittering stars on the earth. All that glitters is not gold, but they could be stars. As I walked past the blocks that surrounded my home, I saw some glittering stars strewn on the floor by the children of the neighborhood. I am not too sure if the photo would come out right of these stars, but will try to post one on the blog.

Some outrageous titles do come true, sometimes!

It does pay to dream big and high… I guess that is why they say, nothing is impossible!