Hope for a centrist state

http://seetheforest.blogspot.com/

This weblog by proclaimed liberals who are fed up with the right-wing is a good resource in an effort to get the country to veer off from the far right and into a more centrist mainstream.

Hope, it seems, is still there. And if you want to fight back them rightwingers, here is how.

Compassionate Conservative? What a bleeping piece of bullshit

What a joke of a response. The official US response to what is seen as the worst natural disaster of the last 40 years, is pathetic to say the least. Does it take a bleepin rocket scientist for a redneck goddamned prez to release a bleepin statement?

Atleast, on the brighter side, the American public were not in the same insensitive pathetic vein as the so called leader of the nation.

Another interesting link that puts the American Governments effort in sharp contrast to its shameless ventures into Iraq in search of oil. Also an expose on the pathetic twisting of facts that typifies the rightwing bastar**zed media. And the venerated WSJ is at it again, calling environmentalists as a bunch of hysterical leftwing liberals. And if I maybe so bold as to copy their style of news and analyses, they also called the liberals as anti-Americans and as un-American as they can be.

As for my parting guess...it is these so called left wing Americans who have probably provided the most for the disaster relief in south Asia.

F*** the South

(Bleep)the South

Pardon my French, but I sure cannot completely edit the fascinating acronym that means copulation with the Kings permit, or some such thing.

Anyway I digress....

Interesting read, about the American South. And yeah, I am a liberal...




Thanks Vish

In memoriam - M.S.Subbulakshmi, 1916 - 2004

Bharat Ratna and noted Carnatic music exponent M.S.Subbulakshmi (Madurai Shanmukhavadivu Subbulakshmi) passed away on Saturday, December 11, 2004 in Chennai India, at the age of 88.

Blessed with subliminal and possibly unparalleled talent for song, this "Nightingale of India" helped popularize the classical art form in India and elsewhere. And being born into a family of music lovers, I got lucky at an early age and grew up listening to M.S.S's songs on tape and radio.

The haunting and mesmerizing soulfulness of her voice is perhaps best illustrated in that equally haunting song "Kaatrinilae Varum Geetham" from the movie Meera. Her fluid voice, combined with an incredible vocal range and delivery served to remind me of the waters of a brook gliding ever-so-gently over rocks, lolling the listener into a peaceful frame of mind.

Like I mentioned above, my family is a musically-oriented family with spiritualism thrown in for a good measure. As a result, we were exposed to the great bhajans and hymns and chants that are part of a practising Hindu's culture. Chief among them is the ode to the rising light of the morning.. the Suprabhatam. And MSS wove her way into countless peoples morning experiences just by the sheer strength of her vocal delivery reciting.."Kausalya Supraja Rama Poorva Sandhya...". You could argue that if you had listened to someone else recite the Suprabhatam, and listened to it with the regularity that was paid to the MSS version, that would have the same appeal to it too. But, this is one of the unusual cases where the message matters, and so does the messenger.

Essentially, I guess it was the reassurance of hearing that soothing voice reciting that sloka with resonance, that put to rest any apprehension that I may have of facing the upcoming day. Similarly, her recital of Bhaja Govindam, Vishnu Sahasranaamam and Hanuman Chalisa, and her ability to be crystal-clear in pronunciation and enunciation of the Sanskrit words of these verses, has me enthralled in a way, that I will forever struggle to put that into words.

MSS' contribution to this world, if measured by the sheer number of peoples hearts she touched through her song alone, would be as close to a Herculean task as there can be. But she did not stop there, and strove to donate to charity at all available opportunities.

It is said that she rarely ever sings with her eyes opened. And for whatever the reason maybe, traditional prayers as taught to us by our parents meant that we closed our eyes and tried to concentrate on God. Hence this practise of hers was one of those implicit actions that appealed to the heart and spoke volumes of her sincerity of recitals. I do hope many of the current crop of singers would take up on similar traditions and keep the torch of classical Indian music burning high and bright.

But, her appeal was not restricted to just carnatic or classical music alone. Her famous rendition of that pan-Indian song - Vaishnava Janato, is easily one moving experience. And that song devoted to Lord Krishna - Kurai Ondrum Illai, which apparently was her signature ending to inevitably all concerts..well it is an apt encore to any concert.

My appreciation of her unique talent and ability is despite the fact that I am, you could say, musically as talented as a braying donkey. But her singing has always managed to ensnare my senses and thrown me into raptures of emotion. Thank god for the excellent invention that is the magnetic tape, and the compact-disc digitized music.

Now, even though the original beacon has attained samadhi at the feet of the Lord, we will get to hear her in unadulterated purity and sincerity through discs and tapes.

She believed that with her talents she was just relaying Gods message to the listening public. If that is indeed the case, one could easily make the argument that she did what was charted out for her, with a flourish and in a manner that far exceeded what was probably expected of her.

And we, the public - that got the magnificent opportunity to listen to her up-close and personal, either in live concert in one of the many excellent concert venues in Chennai or through the medium of TV or radio - are truly blessed to have had that opportunity.

I pray that her soul rests in peace, after having provided so much peace to her listeners.

Murder on the Orient Express...

Hercule Poirot...that French-accented English speaking Belgian detective...Agatha Christie...that wonderful weaver of mystery yarn....aah...the joy of reading the books.

Spoiler alert: Note, if you have not yet read the book "Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie" or watched the movie of same name starring Albert Finney as Poirot, I suggest you get off this posting immediately....don't tell me later that I didn't warn you.

Perhaps one of the finest mystery/crime detective novels ever written, this is a story of kidnapping for ransom, murder, and an eventually elaborate and protracted plot for revenge.

Set aboard the surreal-sounding "Orient Express", that trans-European train of luxury and wealth, it is begins rather simply with Monsieur Poirot on his way back to London to tend to a pending case...little does he realize that he is going to be close in hand as a horrific murder is perpetrated on one of the travelers, just as the train is held up by a heavy wall of drifting snow in 'Jugo Slavia' (emphasis mine).

That begins the story of Poirot's genius as he uses his wiliness and cleverness, and unabashedly come to the rather astounding conclusion (well, when I read the book the first time, and watched the movie the first time, it was astounding in the scope and depth of the plot and the scheming and planning that went into making all the things fall into place at the same time and place....a train in a desolate and freezing rural area of Jugoslavia.) as he (Poirot, of course) puts to use the little gray cells in his brain and lies down in his chair and solves the murder.

Without divulging too much, it has to be said though that the case of a certain Daisy Armstrong and her family is centerpiece to the whole case.

It is indeed appreciable that Agatha Christie even conjured up this mystery, and it is that much more appreciable that she came up with a detective who would, how shall we say....crack the case open just by using the gray matter. And her characterization of the people involved in the case....ah...sheer genius.

As an aside..it has been said that it takes a crook to nab a crook....and Poirot gets to the bottom of the murder mystery by just analyzing clues at the scene of crime and with a few interviews. So does that make Poirot a good criminal mastermind? And what of Agatha Christie? Yes, she is the author, but she did conjure up the plot in the first place and then wrote a book that was essentially how to solve it...Perhaps, she is a great criminal mastermind herself :P

Train a' Grand Vitesse

TGVweb

Continuing with the newly rediscovered enthusiasm for trains..here is the wonderful TGV detailed rather well. Information includes guides to spotting these trains, future research in improving train design and statistics related to everything....

Not to forget, a wonderful gallery of photos and some videos too..

Have fun and enjoy the site..

M.G.Emu's of Chennai...

(Thanks Pradeep for reminding me that I've not written about trains yet...)

Those of you in the know (and by that I mean, who have lived a significant amount of time in Chennai, especially the central and southern parts) must have come across the stock of the M.G. Electric Multiple Unit trains rolling and yawing and gently lolling along the iron tracks doing their regular runs between suburban Tambaram and Chennai (Madras) Beach Jn.

M.G.Emus...erstwhile lifeline of south Madras, now relegated to the scrap heap...(photo courtesy IRFCA,photo copyright "Poochi Venkat"

The venerable old trains are no longer in service though, removed from service when the clock struck midnight and turned onto July 1, 2004.

The moon only serves to enhance the nightfall on the life and times of the M.G. Emu in Chennai. This long exposure night shot in the wee early hours of July 1, 2004 just after the last commercial MG Emu service had been run, serves as a poignant reminder to something we will not see again in Chennai..the gently rocking and rolling pitter-patter of these trains....photo courtesy IRFCA,photo copyright "Jason Antony"

Ever since the humble beginnings as a direct current driven three-car rake in April 1931, these trains evolved into the conscience of people who grew up along the route served by the trains. So much, that they became part of the social life. It was not uncommon to see people fraternizing amongst fellow-travellers. Many a life-long friendships were born in the often-crowded, usually-cramped, but always rolling and rocking and lolling cars of the local trains (as they came to be called in the parlance that is uniquely desi). And this affection extended to the trains as well..so much so that people sent the train off in variously unique and not-so-unique ways. And the venerable Southern Railway, bless their souls, even accepted to run a special on July 1 just to honor the sentiment of the hundreds of thousands of riders.

Who says machines cannot evoke emotions from people? These people, apparently regular users of the services, were distributing candies and sweets as parting gift to the riders of the last train....(photo courtesy IRFCA,photo copyright "Poochi Venkat"

Yours truly fell in love with them sometime during the early 80s, when the rapidly burgeoning population of suburban southern Madras began to rely more on these to get to their destinations. Through the years, it evolved into more avatars than the average Bollywood movie star changes clothing during one song. But unlike the movie stars though, the avatars were never garish, and always beneficial..

My earliest recollection of these cutesy trains were when they were in off-white or silvery painted livery. They then went Gang Green....as in, Southern Railway went ahead and re-painted them rakes in a deep green, which, IMO was the best livery that these trains have ever had. Though they never made a comeback on the venerable MG rakes, they are now widely prevalent in their successor - the wide-bodied BG rakes.

The Green Monster...not the one in Boston's Fenway...but the massive one that runs now in place of the MG Emus in Chennai...these trains provide enhanced capacity and increased rider comfort, but they are so plastic and do not have half the charm of the trundly MG trains. And they are BIG.. photo courtesy IRFCA,photo copyright "Poochi Venkat"

But the livery that has been the most prevalent is the ones you see in the first photo above. In between undergoing cosmetic changes though, the trains underwent functional changes as well. Reflecting increased ridership, 8-car rakes were made into 9-car rakes. Improved signalling and increased coordination with the city government led to reduction of number of grade-crossings (level-crossings in Indian parlance) which then improved the punctuality.

Ultimately, what stands out for me is the fact that these little trains, restricted to operative speeds of 55kmph could still give you the impression of speed, what with the way it would huff and puff and trundle merrily, rolling and weaving its way through the city. And during those times when Chennai gets lashed by rains and roads are akin to navigating an obstacle course, it is these venerable trains that gave the safe way of passage to many commuters.

And now that these trains are out of service, it is time to move on and establish bonds with the beasts that have replaced them..the huge and impersonal looking widebody EMUs. But hey, isnt it only a matter of time before people fall in love with the BG emus as well?

Monday Toosday Thursday Wensday...

Its all in a days work for this orca doing a lively flip, one fine summer afternoon at the Sea World in San Diego, CA.






And this is all in a weeks work for yours truly...

if you know anyone that knows anyone that knows who owns the copyright, or if you just happen to know who I should credit for the copyright for this, lemme know and I will be happy to oblige....

The Grand Canyon.....enough said

Even the limited zoom capabilities of Kodak's C60 Advantix does not do injustice to capturing the breadth and depth of the beauty of THE CANYON...
hopefully one day I fulfill my dream of hiking down the Canyon and pitching camp overnight, 1 mile deep into the bowels of the earth....






Peace and tranquility...and oh yes, it does not hurt to be single-mindedly devoted to the task at hand for well over a million years...in this case the R. Colorado...at it...carving out the gorgeously colored rock strata that forms the Grand Canyon...

As different as night and day..the Canon way..

High res High aperture long exposure photograph, stabilized by placing on a pedestrian walk-way light..the view is of Jefferson Street looking east, in downtown Phoenix..



Canon PowerShot showing off its capabilities in daylight..well yeah...it was wet and cloudy..nonetheless..

Interesting point and counter-point..

Namma Nanganallur : Is this an undesirable shade of Pride called VANITY?

Excellent points and counter-points with regard to the now-infamous email forward that has been doing the rounds for a long time. Yeah the same one espousing how we Indians need to be proud of our country because......

Read it for yourself and draw conclusions...

Me? I consider it a fair beginning, only, I wish there was more factual backing of the same, something more substantial than the supposedly official Tourism of India website.

SI.com - Burns: Spurs' quiet excellence a welcome change of pace.

SI.com - Writers - Burns: Spurs' quiet excellence a welcome change of pace - Wednesday December 8, 2004 3:00PM

Almost too good to a fault, these quiet and quite good players are the dream..an elite team with role players and superstars who understand the need for each other on court, yet a team humble enough to realize its own fallibility and hence does not let its on-court excellence translate into off-court negative brouhaha that seems to be following sports everywhere.

Branded as boring by the useless and hypocritical talking heads on ESPN and Fox Sports Net, they are everything people profess to want to see. But the same voices that raise up the crescendo when a "Malice in the Palace - a la Indiana Pacers brawling with Detroit Pistons fans" or a "Desparate Terrell Owens Housewives" saga comes on TV are no where to be found espousing the Spurs and their good-guy image.

You people that follow sport but cannot realize the Spurs for what they are, its your loss. May you have a wonderful time following your team.

Go Spurs Go!

It rains in the desert too....sometimes...

The rain gods have been a little kind to the desert south west recently. We've been getting sprinkles of rain every so often. And they have provided for some interesting scenery locally - what with excellent visuals of lightning strikes on the surrounding mountains, the flashes of driving rain against the backdrop of a gray sky, winds howling through trees making them look like they were stooping with age...

Other than helping the ground water level replenish by just a tad over an inch, what this rain has done has been amazing for the weather. Its freezing..thats what is amazing.
Its early December, which usually means mild to chilly weather in this part of the country. Instead, what we've had is freezing weather that began in the last days of November.

Without much more ado though, here are some views of Tempe under gray skies.


The clouds descended on Tempe this past weekend..they stooped so low, the 300 ft "A" Mountain top disappeared. It was cold and freezing with a driving rain. The lights of Sun Devil Stadium seemed to just show up the moisture hanging in the thick air...



Finally the rain let up. But the clouds were still lying low. A tad better than the previous pic...


View looking east along the "University Drive"..usually the Superstition Mountains are visible in the backdrop...but the visibility in this is hardly over a few hundred yards.....

Baseball, we have a problem!

Disclaimer: I am a fan of the Arizona Diamondbacks, and since they play the San Francisco Giants as a division rival, my views and opinions of the Giants are not necassarily fair and objective. What I am meaning to say is that I am enjoying all this hoopla surrounding Barry Bonds and drug-use in the sport of baseball.

Those of you who follow American sports closely, probably know by now all the issues relating to BALCO (the Bay Area Labs Cooperative or some such moniker) and its supplying performance enhancing drugs to various US athletes. Primarily suspected are track and field athletes and baseball players. Anyway the point of this all is that Barry Bonds claims that he used substances provided to him by his trainer and that he did not know they were steroids. Yeah right!

For those not in the know, Barry Bonds, one of the better baseball players to play the game, and a graduate of my school ASU, went from being a spindly (in comparison to his bulk now) frame when he debuted in the Major Leagues with the Pittsburgh Pirates to a rather bulky/hulky frame. Conventional wisdom, and the talking heads on all sports shows that have dedicated themselves to yapping away at nothing (ESPN and FSN, take note!) would have you believe that it was all because of Bonds dedication to his body and work ethic, especially his strenous off-season regimen. And that may be the case too. But can that explain this sudden spurt in his body after the age of 35? Can this explain how a guy who never hit more than 45 home runs a season suddenly exploded for 73 in 2001?

US law has it that anyone is innocent until proven guilty. And it is nigh, but a good value to adhere to. But circumstantial evidence, emanating from the time of Ken Caminiti admitting to steroid use, to the sudden increase in the body mass of these superstars, which amazingly enough, coincided with their increased power production, has left many with questions in their minds - are Bonds achievements that of a supremely gifted super-star athlete? Or is it a Ben Johnson-esque flash in the pan fueled by steroids?

I will admit, we are living in an era when there are a bunch of super-star athletes around. World-wide, almost all major sports - team and individual - are seeing newer blood and talent, challenging the way we conventionally thought about the games.

We have 40-plus year old pitchers still pitching in the Major League Baseball like they were in their 20s and 30s.

We have a 35-year old quarterback leading a history-laden franchise of the National Football League (American Football) and still celebrating every score like a 5 year old kid on a playground, and this after having set some amazing records of durability and endurance.

We have bowlers who have set and reset records for maximum scalps in a career in International Cricket, and we have teams setting and erasing and re-establishing records for runs scored and chased to win Limited-Overs International matches.

We have tennis-artiste par excellence Martina Navratilova, at age 47, still competing in Grand Slam tennis tournaments.

So maybe it is just our lucky timing that we are getting to see tremendous offensive output in baseball. But it is still disturbing how callous the players union and the league have been treating the premise of drug-use and abuse in the sport. The National Football League has become pretty good at enforcing the substance-abuse issue and as a result, been able to establish itself as a league that is currently enjoying tremendous popularity amongst the American masses.

Hopefully, the league and the players union realize the hurt being put on what is a tremendous product. Baseball as a game, is a delight. No time constraints whatsoever, and hence the exquisite game generates pressure the unusual way - outs. Hopefully, this storm will come to a pass too, and Major League Baseball would be back up with a straight-face and claim that its atheletes do not use performance-enhancing drugs.

In the meanwhile though, I am going to sit back and enjoy the obvious discomfiture that these allegations must be causing to the fans of the San Francisco Giants. Hey, payback is often sweet you know! You should've known better than to put down the Diamondbacks franchise during our heydays from 1999 through 2002. Well, enjoy your currently rotten luck.

The Madness of the after-Thanksgiving sale..

Now, I admit. This is a big case of a pot calling the kettle black. In the past, I have been up and running at 5 am and earlier, to get in time to take advantage of the remarkable discounts offered on a handful of electronics at various stores, during that huge sale on the Friday after Thanksgiving.

Yet, I have to say, for all the lunacy you can associate with my getting up at 5 am or so, to get to the mall, there are boat loads of people that take the cake when it comes that.

The story I heard at Best Buy during this years sale - "There was such a crowd, they had to give out tickets to ascertain that the FIRST hundred or so customers got to the items that they wanted". Can you imagine? Such a big crowd that they had to give out tickets. And here is the kicker...some of them camped outside the store from the previous night, sometimes for over 10 hours, surviving through temperatures in the high 30s.

And for what? This year for instance, it was to save $150 on a digital camera. Maybe its a worthwhile saving, but I cannot imagine for the love of god, that I would be able to do such a thing. But then hey, if I were to compare the way I act to the ways people act, I am sure I will be unable to comprehend most of the actions.

Ultimately though, what transpires is that the Friday after thanksgiving turns into possibly the biggest single day of shopping anywhere in the world. Finally though, the Americans have one real thing they are the World Champions at....spending boat-loads of money in one day.

As for me, this year, I did try to get to the Best Buy asap to get to the digital camera. But hey, I got there only at the more human time of 8 am, and I got my hands only on a Canon PowerShot S1 - IS and an EPSON Stylus CX4600 Printer/Scanner/Copier and made a small but significant dent in my savings. But hey, I was looking forward to buying something interesting and with a good optical zoom level. And I got it :)

'Tis the season for giving thanks...

So, what are you thankful for, in your life?

Me? I am thankful for everything that is going on in my life. Things are not exactly all hunky-dory, but hey, considering that it could be just as well be really worse than what it is. And thats what I am thankful for.

I am thankful for the fact that I am a living breathing thinking being, who has the ability to distinguish the right from the wrong, the dos from the donts.

I am thankful for the fact that I am able to make a living for myself, and at the same time set aside time to take care of mine.

I am thankful for the fact that God has given me the ability to appreciate the finer things in life - that glorious desert sunset, the rainbow in the skies on a rainy-sunny day, an elephant caring and doting on its calf, the misty dewy crispy winter mornings at home, the hot cup of south Indian filter coffee in the morning from the loving hands of mother, arguing and talking with father, wrestling with brother, playing tag-you're it with sister, listening to cute nothings from nieces, seeing the dog making a fool of itself fawning over a long-gone visitor....the list just goes on and on and on and on

Ultimately I am thankful that there is still good left in the world that is worth fighting for - whether that good is in family or country notwithstanding.

Happy Thanksgiving

How to defend your manhood? By creating a brawl is what...

So anyone who saw that brawl during the Detroit Pistons - Indiana Pacers game Friday night on national cable television, has an opinion one way or the other. Depending on whom your sympathies lie with, it was either a brawl that was incited by some really crappy fans who asked for it, or it was a case of an out-of-control superstar athlete, who stepped out of bounds of normalcy.

To recap, Ron Artest gets fouled hard by Ben Wallace sometime in the second half. Toward the end of the game, Artest returns the favor, but what happens? Ben Wallace's manhood has been challenged, and he shoves Artest in his face and tries to get in his face. At that time, admirably so, Artest goes back to the scorers table and lies down, only to get hit in his face by a beer cup. And then, to quote Tilly from 'Guess Who's coming to dinner', "All hell gone broke loose".

In a free-for-all brawl that ensued, involving Artest, Jermaine O'Neal, Stephen Jackson and couple others, engaged in a street-fight like fisticuff, that resulted in the game being called with just under a minute to go in the game.

What this reflects on, is the sorry state of the society today. A society where courtesy, politeness, and many other virtues that are supposed to be held in high esteem, are being kicked out the window. Instead of shaking off taunts and insults from fans, taking the issue into ones owns hand results in an ugly escalation, and that is exactly what happened on Friday. What a great example they set for the millions of impressionable kids that watch the game. A wonderful example indeed. Kids, if someone insults you or taunts you, do not take the high road and shake off the taunt or insult. Instead, go after the taunter, and validate the taunting, and get into a melee.

Ego, one-upmanship, holier than thou...don't know what in the name of hell is the reason, but one thing is for sure. If you are going to taunt someone, be prepared to defend yourself to the point of death. That Friday, it was in a basketball court. What do you know, the next time this happens, it might be in the middle of a swanky restaurant with knives and other cutlery around.
Nah, I am getting carried away by all this.

The thing here is that, these kind of incidents and events are not in the majority, rather they are few and thankfully far in between. But unfortunately, typical with the modern-day mass media, they get air-time belying their status. Anyway, it is still disturbing that the so-called professional athletes, who should know better, are the ones that end up setting the crappiest example.

Even more irritating is the attitude of the people governing these sports. NBA commish Stern issued lengthy suspensions, and then spouted his spiel about being concerned for the fans. Yeah right. Concern for the fans. With the straight face with which he said these lies, he is the perfect man to sell ice to the eskimos. If he were so concerned for fan safety and such, and for fans in general, maybe he and his band of greedy millionaire owners and players can start by reigning in the player salaries and arena/ticket prices. Maybe they can decide to reign in the cash cows that feed their pockets - beer sales. But no, they would not do that, and instead hope that such incidents do not repeat themselves.

Ultimately though, shame on the individuals involved in the entire ridiculous sequence. The athletes, the fans, all of them. May you realize the idiocy of your actions and learn your lesson.

Nanganallur, Chennai

I am a red-blooded Madrasi (Chennaiite, for the PC folks) - I was born in Hyderabad but my family moved down to Nanganallur when I was just 8 months old...and thats where I grew up. And unlike many of the younger generation, I grew up appreciating the benefits of an independent home. No messy community living for me...no flats, no apartments, no sir. Hey, how can I appreciate apartment-style living, when I grew up in a house, that was in the midst of lush green paddy fields, which provided so much open space.

When I was growing up, Nanganallur was that TamBram (Tamil Brahmin) suburb, and people who could afford to commute to the city, would move here for the fact that the local municipality had bothered tapping the waters of the River Palar, to provide drinking water supply. But what was left unsaid, was that it was then, the perfect suburb. Peace and quiet, away from the city, and literally an oasis of green - what with agricultural lands and coconut palms everywhere the eye can sweep. And oh, before I forget to tell ya, it is also a mini-Kancheepuram. A mini temple town. Famous for as long as I can remember for its Raja Rajeswari Temple and the Dakshina Mantralayam (Shri Raghavendra Mutt) and the Ardha Nareeshwara Temple, it provided peace and tranquility, relief away from the stresses of everyday life.

Anyways, the point of this post is that, this morning I received a message from my friend in Madras (Chennai). She had gone to visit the Shri Viswaroopa Adi Vyadihara Bhakta Anjaneya Temple, in Nanganallur. To the uninitiated, this is the big temple that has come up in Nanganallur in the past decade, and now ranks as possibly the most popular temple in the metropolitan Madras area. And it is also a prime example of commercialization that has hit Nanganallur quickly and in huge waves. People who would not have otherwise given one second of their thought to Nanganallur, now go about thinking..hey...lets go visit the Anjaneya temple there.

If you go visit Nanganallur now, it is almost unrecognizable as a town of peace and quiet. Heck even the Metropolitan Transport Corporation went ahead and established a bus stand for the town - something that the residents had been clamoring for, for over a decade and half. People are everywhere, it is crowded quite like Ranganathan Street in T.Nagar. And, the Alandur Municipality, with its weird decision making abilities, decided to re-route the Palar water supply to Tambaram, and left Nanganallur at the mercy of Chennai's famed Metrowater.

Development has not left Nanganallur as what it used to be..an oasis of peace. Instead, it is now just another overcrowded suburb of that great urban sprawl that Chennai has become.

I have seen the town grow in front of me. I have seen the rock being brought in to Nanganallur - that same rock which was later exquisitely carved into what is the current Bhakta Anjaneya. I have seen the unborn idol soaking up in the pit that was specially designed for the carving. I have been part of a time when it was served by just one measly bus service - the 18D. When the Pazhavanthangal suburban railway station was not even in existence. And boy, most all things that we wished for when we were the earlier residents of that town, are slowly coming to fruition. Proof that you gotta be careful of what you wish for, eh?

For all that it maybe, it is still one place that no one can change it - my hometown, the little village that became a town, while making a man out of me.

From Talakanancheri Village of the taluk of Meenambakkam to the current day avatar of Nanganallur...its been a long journey. Vive Nanganallur!

I am a grand-father, go figure!

I am happily single (so far), never married, don't have kids, and yet, I am a grand-father. Go Figure!

Technically speaking, I am a grand-father twice-removed, or some such nonsense. And here is how the great Indian family of mine that I am part of, bestowed upon me this honor.

My oldest cousin on my father's side has a daughter who is older than me. And this aforesaid daughter of my cousin, in effect my niece, is married and has her own daughter, my grand-niece. Net sum of such incongruity? I am a grand-father to my grand-niece and yet, I am younger than her mother :)

Even more unique? This is repeated in almost identical fashion on my mother's side.

As if I needed further evidence that I am old..

Swiss.....Cheese.....Holes

You walk to your local Subway restaurant....you pick out a foot-long veggie max on Honey Oat Bread, and you are asked...would you like some cheese on it? You say yes...Swiss please...and out comes sliced swiss cheese with the trademark holes....

So what do you think caused the holes? Did someone sit there and poke holes into the blocks of cheese prior to shipping? You wish! Well actually it turns out, someone did sit and poke holes in it..well, not exactly holes, but air bubbles which became the source of the holes in swiss cheese.

Yes, the very same bacteria that contribute to the fermentation of milk to cheese, are the culprits behind these holes. Turns out, three types of bacteria are added to the fermentation process. Lactic acid, an interim by-product of the fermentation process, is consumed by one of the bacteria - a certain Propionibacter Shermani, or P. Shermani for short (awfully close to P.Sherman of the P.Sherman, 42 Wallaby Way Sydney (Finding Nemo) fame aint it?). Result of the consumption of lactic acid? Carbon di-oxide, which gets trapped inside the fermenting milk and ends up as air bubbles that contribute to the holes.

To put it crudely, the eyes (as the Swiss call it) are a result of certain bacteria passing gas!

Bon apetit....

MSNBC - Stress? Work overload? Think India

MSNBC - Stress? Work overload? Think India

The Reality of Reality TV

I admit it. I am an avid television watcher. But, for whatever the reason, I have never caught onto the reality buzz. And boy, am I happy about it? You betcha I am.

Here is a critique of reality television that made for some worthwhile reading.

Almost to a show, these reality shows have only served to the whoring of people for money. But then, in America, its all about making money and living the good life. So I guess if it involves subjecting your family to tears, trepidation and disgust in front of a television audience, it obviously is worth it.

Now, I can recognize some good reality shows - CBS's Amazing Race actually makes for an interesting watch on Americans in different cultures, Extreme Makeover serves to give ideas to viewers about how to carry themselves off professionally, Extreme Makeover Home Edition gives the do-it-yourselfers invaluable tips on making a better home.

But everytime I see preview ads for stuff like "Wife Swap", "My Big Fat Obnixious Fiance", "Bachelor", "Bachelorette", "Who wants to marry a millionaire?" and similar (I would use crap, but it insults crap) things that TV execs pass onto the viewers as content, I have to reach for an airline style sickness bag to puke into.

Whats sickening is not so much that TV channels carry boat loads of these idiocy-driven programs, but that they are able to get the gullible public to watch these - does the viewing public get a high seeing the suffering and humiliation of another fellow human being?

Luckily for people like me, there is content-providing channels like Discovery Network Channels, Turner Classic Movies, PBS, etc to offset the trash thats too often on TV these days.

In the meanwhile, here is an S.O.S and an A.P.B detailing disappearence of television as we knew it. If you ever come across classic television with classic sitcoms like the Cosby Show and Simpsons and with no "puke-invoking" reality shows, please contact me.

India the Great?

So, I was called pessimistic, way too cynical. I am told that India is on path to greatness and prosperity, that India is taking baby steps toward maturity and the smarts that come with being a mature self-aware nation.

Objectively speaking, I would not be true to myself if I did not recognize the truth in these statements - I would be no better than one the umpteen India-bashing arm-chair experts who pass off as journalists in India. Heck, I would be one of them.

To quote Andy Dufresne from that classic endurance story The Shawshank Redemption, "Hope is a beautiful thing, maybe the best of things. And no good thing ever dies". So, inspite of all my cynicism, inspite of feeling like the apathy of people will never change, here is a toast to my country.

Afterall, who I am, what I am, and how I became what I am, were shaped in part by family and society and culture that is us. That culture of humility, of humanity, of civility, one of family and values (mind you, more depth and width than any such thing you can ever hope to find in America!), it is the cornerstone of a civilization more than 3000 years in the making.

A civilization and culture so deep and so vast, all it is going to take is for people all over the country to be proud of who they are, is to realize with their hearts and minds the cultural similarities, and recognize with their minds, the cultural diversities that make India a unique melting pot, a smorgasbord of cultures unlike the world has ever seen before. We already celebrate the unity in our diversity. Maybe we just need to celebrate it even more :)

As has been pointed out recently, progress is made in baby steps, and baby steps are painfully slow and painstaking. But none of our parents gave up on us when we were babies - they persevered with us, and kept us going. Similarly I think we only owe it to ourselves as a society and as a nation to be persistent and patient with this growing up.

The sheer fact that, whether by design or accident, we as a nation are making tangible progress (even if it mirrors the story of a frog trying to climb out of a well - three steps forward and two steps back) points to a culmination of total synergy somewhere. What else can explain the progress?

Recently I have been advising people on the need to develop cynicism. And I ended up being cynical about something that deserves better - my attitude toward the Indian nation. So, what exactly was I being cynical about? The peoples attitudes. And the answer? As was pointed out earlier yesterday (Nov 12) and something that I should have realized on my own - self-leadership.

And how does that start? One person at a time.

Like my father. He founded the local civic exnora and met with immense opposition to hire and pay for daily clean up and trash removal. But like a true leader, he persevered, and now apparently the moves are paying dividends.

Like Vidyakar of Udhavum Karangal. Who showed the way to render service to the society - one person at a time, by making meaningful lives out of destitute and abandoned/orphaned children.

Like Ramakrishnan and Sankara Raman of Amar Seva Sangam. Their refusal to let their disabilities defeat them. Their faith in themselves and in the inherent good of people has led to what is potentially the first disability access enabled village in India. And all this, while fighting to ensure that other people with disabilities could lead dignified independent lives to the best of their abilities.

Like that friendly next-door kannada-speaking neighbor who provided refuge to their friendly next-door tamil-speaking neighbor in Bangalore, at the height of riots against Tamils over the Kaveri water-sharing dispute. Proving yet again, that humanity's most humane face sometimes pops up under the most adverse of conditions.

We are a nation of extremes and diversities. We are a nation prone to swings in emotions - a la close friends duking it out over differences. We are also a nation that is highly capable and suave. But what we are, in addition, is also the greatest continuing experiment in society. If only, the people living in our country realize what they have at their hand, sooner rather than later.

But, I have seen the extreme nature of my thought, and instead of cynicism and despair, I should say, I have hope. Hope for our future. Hope for sense in people. Hope for maturity in thought. In the meanwhile, I am here, growing and developing, seeking ways to contribute toward what I expect out of India.

Vande Mataram

Addendum: Serious notes of thanks to my brother Shankar, Vish, Pradeep, Lisa, Aarthi, and my parents. All your points at various times during our discussions were invaluable, and helped me play devils advocate with myself, and realize the futility of my cynical attitude.

India - an accidental nation?

If you have recently been reading news coming out of India, it does paint a (somewhat unfair, ofcourse, given the culture of the main-stream English media's predisposition toward running India down at every opportunity) gloomy picture about the state of the Indian State.

All this has germinated this rather uncomfortable, yet undeniable thought in my mind - are we Indians even supposed to be together under this huge, sometimes unwieldy nation-state that we call India? Or is this just a marriage of convenience amongst the various peoples who are actually too busy and too haughty to try and come up with a common sense of identity?

I have this nagging doubt as to whether we Indians will ever be able to show a sense of pride and belonging to the country - will nationalism ever override the immense sense of regionalism and factionalism that is rampant in the country? Unfortunately the answer currently is a resounding no. And why do I feel so? Mostly a sense of apathy bordering on the ridiculous, an almost unnerving sense of not being perturbed any anything.

In short, I feel now that India is a nation put together by accident, that is bumbling and hurtling its way apparently no where, freewheeling from one disaster to another prosperity back to disaster. I usually do not like to be wrong, but in this case, I am just hoping, in fact praying from the bottom of my heart, for the love of God, that I am dead wrong in my assessment. Only time will tell....

Coca-Cola - Audio/Video Center - Coca-Cola Advertising

Coca-Cola - Audio/Video Center - Coca-Cola Advertising

Now, a collection of advertising related to Coca-Cola brands currently available on their website. My fave is Coca-Cola's I Wish an ad from the UK.

Ah...Finally...

Run and hide, America. Run and Hide. The Idiots are coming, the Idiots are coming....

Yes folks, the idiots won the Major League Baseball championship today (October 27, 2004) sweeping their opponents (the bumbling St. Louis Cardinals) away in impressive fashion.

These idiots were a fitting bunch. They had to be, in their refusal to subscribe to the pathetic excuse theory called the Curse of the Bambino - a rather disingenous creation of a sports writer to explain what in effect was the sheer failure of professional ball players to play at their best ability.

Pretty interesting that they exorcised the curse on the night of a total lunar eclipse - symbolically enough, the lunar eclipse represents the serpents of the night sky "eating" up the moon (aint that a bogus story?)

Honestly no surprise that the Sox won - they had the best team chemistry of the eight teams that made it to the baseball postseason. Indeed, it was surprising that they even went down 0-3 to the Yankees, them with their god-forsaken starting pitching. But then, with the clarity of hindsight, I can now proclaim that it was all part of a grander scheme of things to get the Sox faithful to start believing in the can-do nature of this team, and to start thinking rationally and logically (I mean, come on, it is hard for Sox fans to be rational about anything, obviously, ever since they started believing in curses).

Effectively though, thank goodness the Sox won cuz now we do not have to hear that pathetic excuse for mismanagement and terrible play. How many times have the Red Sox even been good enough to play for the title since 1918? Four times. And they failed all four times, twice on fielding errors and twice on not-so-good pitching as compared to their opponents. And oh, facing failure four times and not bouncing back to thumb nose at it indicates not a curse, but a pathological affliction for failure.

Now, we will have to just put up with the pathetic excuses of one team - those erstwhile loveable losers from Chicago, the Cubs. In the meanwhile, my love for the team that I started to follow in 2002 has been cemented - my loyalties are now officially divided between the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Boston Red Sox, unless of course when they (eventually, I hope) meet in a championship game, at which point I will simply root for the National League team.

In the meanwhile, at the risk of committing blasphemy, here is a take with which I sorta kinda agree.

Lessons to be learnt from the Red Sox' improbable 11 day run to championship glory? It aint over until it is over. Something that A-Fraud and the Yankees have learnt the tough way. To rehash a cliche, when the going gets tough, the tough get going, and the rest just get ground to the earth.

Its a snake..no no..its a fish...no no it's a..its an..

...Octopus..a Mimic Octopus.

Now, for all fans of the underwater animals it is a well known fact that Octopus are intelligent sea-faring creatures with remarkable ability to adapt to their surroundings, at literally a blink of the eye.

These intelligent invertebrates with the special skin pigmenting cells (chromatophores), can blink their cells into different colors to adjust to their surroundings. They also exhibit remarkable problem solving ability, especially through the process of trial and error. This author has seen a controlled laboratory experiment where an octopus just brought in from the sea was put into a tank with a corked bottle containing food. For a while the octopus tried doing everything to get into the bottle, and then remarkably enough uncorked the bottle to get at the food!

For all the remarkable nature of their intelligence, this Mimic Octopus is just a tad too much. I mean come on, being able to play a game of charades? Aint that amazing?

This Mimic Octopus, not discovered until 1998 or 2001 (pick your take, I have read about their discovery during either of the two years, were found off the delta areas of the Indonesian islands and South East Asia. And amazingly enough, in lieu of its rather recent discovery, in the Latin name world of "proper" speciology, the Mimic Octopus does not have a name.
Apparently the reason for this rather late discovery of a rather remarkable ocean species is put down to the fact that they inhibit what is considered a rather bland piece of ocean topography, something that is not as colorful or with the variety and splendor of a coral reef.

While mimickry is often part of natural adaptation of many species for sheer survival purposes, this is the first time that the scientific world has had a chance ot observe a species mimicking more than one species - in the case of the Mimic Octopus it has been observed to mimic atleast three and maybe more species.

Sole Fish or Flatfish(mimicked by aligning its arms in a flat oval and swimming close to the sea floor), Sea Snake (by sticking 6 tentacles together with body and undulating the remaining two to mimic the balck and white striped sea snake) and Lion Fish (by holding tentacles out in a "burst of sunlight" like spines of the poisonous lion fish) were the routine victims of this tricky charading octopus. See here, here and here for visuals of this amazing creature.

One thing is for certain - if this creature is able to imitate a bunch of species, it did pick it up as an evolutionary upgrade in terms of its ability to protect itself from the environment. And it is just as highly likely that the three species of sea creatures that the Mimic Octopus has been observed to imitate, are part of a larger range of creatures that the Mimic can imitate.

Personally I have been impressed over the years by the various social and survival skills seen in various animals - both land and sea-borne. But aside of the family tendencies of a herd of elephants, this is the only other animal that has impressed me so. So much so, I have my MSN sign-on name is Mimic Octopus in honor of this tricky creature, which seemingly has the ability to take a disguise at the drop of a hat, and in response to the situation at hand.

Mesmerizing Organized Chaos...why Mumbai can be exasperating and exhilirating all at once

MSNBC - Mesmerizing Mumbai and the Big Bazaar

To people that have gotten stuck in Mumbai at the wrong end of the stick (the riots of Jan 1993 or the serial blasts in mid 1993) I feel sorry your experience of this vibrant city is limited to something that you would never want to wish on your worst enemy.

But Mumbai represents everything that is India, and then some. Organized chaos in what is arguably the world's largest slum can be depressing. But just don't tell the proud Mumbaikars that, as they go about their business in what is IMHO the world's most throbbing city. Sorry New York, sorry Paris, sorry Rome and sorry London, but you are all the glitz of the high and mighty and rich. This is sheer citizenry at its varied and earthy non-sophisticate best.

Beat that if you can!

The New Yorker: Fact

The New Yorker: Fact

What Kerry doesn’t say—and cannot say—is that when it comes to real threats, like North Korea and Iran, Bush’s fixation with Iraq may already have made it too late for any American President to find a peaceful solution..

Fixation..just like a stubborn 5 year old who is fixated on a candy in a candy store and would go to any lengths, throw any and every tantrum in the book and call others names. Fixation...that should be treated with a good dose of spanking, just like you would do to your disobedient kid.

Come on America, you are better than this. You deserve better than this. You dont need a whimpering crybaby up at the White House. Vote Bush out!

The harder the route..

Ever so often, we are out to achieve a goal, fulfill an ambition, flat out want to realize our potential. And just as certain as the sun will rise from the east tomorrow morning, we encounter difficulties enroute. Fate throws a curveball at you, or you swing and miss badly on a fastball in the strike zone, or you just simply make it tough on yourself, or it simply is hard just because life can be like that.

So, do you give up because you stumbled into these road-blocks? Do you accept defeat and say that you are not capable of doing the things that you set out to achieve? Or do you plod on and say to yourself, the harder the route is, the sweeter the success at the end of the journey will be. The tougher the route, the more pleasant the conclusion of the journey will be.

Green Bay and its Packers

So, the question to me goes - "You're not even from America by birth, so how is it that your favorite National Football League team is the Packers from remote Green Bay"? And mind you, this is not a one-off question, but rather has been the norm with almost anyone that I talk American Football(for all the fact that I am a fan of the NFL, Football to me is still the game where the play is with the foot!).

The usual off-the-cuff answer has been that I like Brett Favre, their gun-slinger of a QB. Well I have umpteen reasons to like him, mostly that he makes bone-headed mistakes just like I am prone to. Anyways, I fend off that question saying that Brett Favre is my favorite QB in the league.

But inwardly I began to think, so why is it that I really like the Green Bay Packers? So much that I even made a pilgrimage to legendary Lambeau Field in the summer of 2003, when I went to visit a friend in Madison, WI. It came down to just one simple thing - they are the one professional league team in the United States, that is publicly owned. Can you really believe that? In the midst of the greed and riches story that is organized professional sport, the Packers are owned by people, who paid to own a share of the team. At a time when we see the likes of Bill Bidwill and his kind swindle the genteel people of Arizona into trusting them to make them Arizona Cardinals a competitive team just on the sheer strength of a new stadium, when we see the likes of Wayne Huzienga and his infamous dismantling of the 1997 Florida Marlin team just days after the team had captured an improbably MLB title, it is refreshing to see a team so tied with the public that it is supposed to entertain.

Managed in much the same way a publicly-owned company is, the one major difference is that none of the share holders receive any dividends for their share holdings. In effect, it is a "contribution" from the share holding public to the welfare of their beloved team, a privilege that seems to be equally recognized by both parties.

Skeptics, amongst them a certain ex-boss of mine, have called Green Bay a one-horse town and implied that its sheerly coincidental that the Packers receive so much support - there is nothing much else to do in northern Wisconsin anyway. All I can say to them is, shame on you. Shame on you that you cannot recognize the spirit for what it really is - a sense of ownership and participation in the team that is unique in pro-sports.

Consider the following facts/figures for a moment and draw your own conclusions
1. The Lambeau Field, the home of the Packers, has been sold out on a season-ticket basis for well over 30 years and running. This has to be a sort of parallel record along with the Irish Fans of the "Touchdown Jesus" at University of Notre Dame.

2. The organization renewed/refurbished/face-lifted the Lambeau Field from a simple edifice to a modern, sleek, brick and glass edifice. And to achieve that, they did not raze the old stadium and build a new one - instead they worked around the old structure and just provided props on the exterior. The result - re-dedication to the fans of the Packers, by maintaining the interior bowl seating arrangement with aluminum bleachers, as it has been for these past many years.

3. The current season ticket waiting list - a tad over 60,000 - amounts to a wait time of just over 30 years from today. Imagine, if I applied to the Packers today to obtain season tickets, I am not likely to get them until my kids will be as old as I am now.

4. For the second year in a row, an NFL team that had the Packers visiting them for a regular season game, tried to dissuade avid Packer fans from buying up tickets, by clubbing the single game tickets in a package deal with tickets to a meaningless pre-season game. If it was the Minnesota Vikings in 2003, it was the Indianapolis Colts in 2004. And boy did they succeed. Just about 15000 Packer fans were in attendence at each of those games.

All that can be said in this is that, it is my privilege to be a fan of such a distinguished team - afterall, no other team has won as many league championships as the Packers have. So distinguished, Green Bay is referred to as Titletown, USA.

If you don't mind, it doesn't matter..

Brett Favre, Quarterback for the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League (American Football's biggest stage) hurt his right thumb (the throwing hand) during a game at the Track Meet stadium (Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis, if you insist on knowing the real name) and yet managed to play through injury, finishing the game with impressive (for him) statistics for an indoor game.

He went on to play the rest of the season as well with that injured thumb. Asked how he was able to do it, he answered simply - If you don't mind, it doesn't matter. It is really just a simple case of mind over matter!.

Self Pity

I never saw a wild thing sorry for itself
A bird will fall frozen-dead from a bough without ever feeling sorry for itself

Self Pity

A poem by D.H.Lawrence

And a poignant piece in that women-power movie G.I.Jane

Oh..the sheer joy of watching tennis at its fluid best

Roger Federer stood about six feet inside the baseline on the right half of the court, waiting patiently for his opponent Lleyton Hewitt to fire a return to his side of the court. Then like a tiger waiting to attack, he pounced upon it, planting his legs so his body gave him the perfect angle he desired and fired a forehand winner, which curved a steep left and danced away from Hewitt. "Obscene angle", one of the commentators called it.

You would call it obscene too if you were watching it. All you could do then was to stare in awe and disbelief that the "artist in motion on a tennis court" Federer can even launch such winners. Hewitt, the ever so gracious runner-up to Federer conceded - his shot selection is impeccable, and he has superb reach and can make almost any shot.

Watching him play the Wimbledon and US Open finals has given me a new hope that tennis would be a worthwhile sport to follow again. Afterall, for someone who grew up watching another artist-on-court Becker and the ever gentle Swede serve-volleyer Edberg, it was getting oh-so-boring to watch baseline duels where the players would slug it out from six to eight feet behind the baseline, and points were decided by not deft movements at the net or a flick of wrist passing shot or a delicate volley, but by stupid forehand/backhand errors or shots sailing wide due to sheer pace from an opponents return. Sampras and Agassi provided a wonderful watch, but with Sampras retiring, and Agassi in the sunset of his career, tennis was getting boring.

And then, Along Came Federer..he who was a wild kid with immense potential...he who suddenly woke up and said, I can do this...he who is one of the fortunate few who has realized his potential and started acting upto and beyond it.

What is even more amazing is that Federer's amazing 2004 run at the ATP Tour has come at a time while he is his own coach. And how successful is he in being his own coach? Look no further than his performance in the Championship match at the All-England Club to capture the Wimbledon Men's Singles title. A rain delay forced the players to take a 40 minute breather, and when play resumed, he had talked himself into mounting aggressive challenges to the challenge thrown at him by Andy Roddick. Said Roddick in the presentation ceremony, "I threw the sink at him, and he went in and got the bath-tub!".

The gentle Swiss, who loves to watch the play of another artist on the football pitch, Zinedine Zidane, has the knack for that cliched term - making something out of nothing. Time and again, both against Agassi in the Quarter-finals and Hewitt in the finals, you would see him make a shot, where, when the ball left his racquet, it seemed to be headed long, only to have it drop just inches inside the baseline.

He has been gracious enough to accept the cow presented to him at the 03 Swiss Open in Gstaad. And he was gracious enough to accept the Alp-horn presented to him at this years Swiss Open. And he is appreciative enough of people's goodwill that he is raising the cow at a pasture, and also learning to play the alp-horn. I guess he is doing that so in the 05 Swiss Open, he can entrall the home-crowd to a dual symphony - tennis on-court, and music on the alp-horn.

For now though, what is here is the simple fact that Roger Federer has given milllions of us tennis fans a glimpse at the glorious past of tennis, when artistry and skill of play ruled over the brute power of serves and returns. Nothing against people who rely on their huge serves and booming forehands but I would rather watch a sledge-hammer at work rather than watch robot-machine like serves.

Good luck Roger Federer. You are already a great champion, and may you also find a way to win that elusive title on the red-clay of Roland Garros.

A Season of Faith's Perfection..

A Season of Faith's Perfection...a wonderful title to an article in a wonderful movie - Finding Forrester. So why is it stuck in my mind like an impression etched on the rocky sides of the Grand Canyon by the raging torrents of the Colorado River.

If you have not watched that movie, find some time to go rent the video and watch the movie. I promise you, it is going to get on your nerves initially, probably even bore you. But I will also promise you, from the bottom of my heart, that it is worth your while to sit and watch the entire movie in one sitting.

Endearing in its own way, the movie taught me the concept of soup questions. As Sean Connery's William Forrester so eloquently puts it, the object of a question is to elicit information that matters to the person asking and no one else. So the next time I pop a question whose answer is irrelevant to me, you can rap me on my head and say, thats not exactly a soup question is it :)

More important though to me is the depiction of friendship between two of the rather strangest people - one an aspiring writer who would rather keep his talent under wraps rather than risk being not "cool" with his crowd, the other, a decorated (once, exactly) writer who stopped writing because of some personal tragedy and now lives coccooned in his apartment.

A Season of Faith's Perfection...the movie, to me, is the season, where there is perfection in the faith of friendship. Being the sentimental mush-prone geek that I am, I fell hook-line-sinker for the mush. But wait, thats not necassarily what this movie is all about. It is about sagely advise from a sage to a young kid....

"The key to a woman's heart is an unexpected gift at an unexpected time"

"The first key to writing..is to write, not to think"

"You write your first draft with your heart..you rewrite with your head"

Sentimental mush aside, this movie reinforces the concept of how first impressions are not always correct...and how friends and friendship can never grow old or tired

Have a wonderful time....

You're either very bad or I am underestimating your ability...

So said the greatest whiner in sports this week, Andy Roddick.

While in Rome to play the Italian Open, a fire broke out in the hotel he was staying, and whether it was out of really good intentions or to cash in on the free publicity (and for the sake of giving him the benefit of doubt, I will accept good intentions) he helped rescue people, at the expense of his progressing beyond the first round at the tournament. And we all read about his exploits in the media, and I for one, appreciated his being a good human being.

And now it has come to this...in a second round match against a random 18-year old kid (I think Rafael Nadal it was), the chair umpire called a let when he saw a ball had slipped out of the pockets of Roddick. Yes, the umpire noticed it after about a shot or two were played. Yes, the umpire could have let it slide. Yet, he called a let...and that was enough to start Roddick going off on the umpire in the most unsportsmanlike conduct I have seen at the US Open 2004 so far.

If you are still miffed at Justine Henin-Hardenne for her controversial point against Serena Williams in the French Open 2003 semi-finals, consider this...Roddick started to whine and berate against the umpire in a match that he was "leading" and was well on his way to winning as well. I mean come on, it was not like he was freakin losing...he was manhandling that kid, serving up 152 mph bombs that sometimes smacked the kid in the face or had that kid dancing away just to dodge getting hit by those serves. And yet, Roddick chose to whine.

Thank goodness he did because his power game never appealed to me, and now he has given me a legitimate reason to root against him.

What is so painful is that he is a successor to the great tennis lineage of Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi. Well, good for us...we will never have to confuse abilities with being great human beings. The Roman helpfulness that he displayed notwithstanding, Roddick has proven once and for all to me that he is not worth my support.

Thank you Roddick for saving me my precious time..and have a happy career whining away at chair umpires while serving for the match at 6-1, 6-2, 5-3 40-0.

Good luck!

It's all in the mind silly..

You are prone to getting tickled easy? You feel pain even from the smallest of pin-pricks? You think you like to pick up soft cushy things but hate to even touch slimy creepy things?

Guess what? Its all in the mind silly.

Tests conducted on volunteers at a pain-sensation study bore out the fact that pain is all in the mind of the beholder. Subjects were first given a moderate electric shock through electrodes in their forehands and asked to assess their sensation of pain on a scale of 1 to 10.

Then the subjects were either given a pain-enhancing drug or a pain-killer, and then the test was performed again. Voila...the folks given the pain-enhancing drug felt more pain when administered the test again, whereas the folks with the pain-killers didn't feel as much pain even when the shock threshold was raised.

Guess what though...the pills were dummies...just candy of sugar and flour with vegetable coloring. It just happens the people that were given the so-called pain-enhancing drug went into the test "expecting" to feel enhanced pain and presto..they did...And the folks that expected to feel less pain ended up feeling that way.

Further proof of pain and it being just in the mind can be seen in hypnosis experiments.

Nigel Marven, host of a BBC/Discovery co-produced program on the incredible senses, was subject to what could be a potentially painful experiment - having a hollow concrete block smashed on his bare-chest with a sledgehammer, while lying down on a bed comprising of 4 swords...and he walked away from the experiment unharmed. How did he do it?

He just imagined he was swimming in a warm temperature-controlled pool on a glorious spring day..and the fact that he was not expecting to feel pain while expecting the actions, combined with his mind thinking of something pleasant and pleasurable meant he walked away from the experiment with just a small pressure-impression of a blade on his back.

So the next time you think you are more prone to be tickled than the person next door or are susceptible to pain more than your friend, just remember...its all in your mind.

Tall Decaf Cappuccino

It's 8.45 am and you are on your way to work. You stop by your favorite kiosk to pick up a local newspaper (which is alright as long as it is not an ass-wipe rag like the NY Post or the Pittsburgh Tribune Review. But then, I digress..)

Then comes the ritual of the day..paying what has become to millions of people, a homage to their favorite Starbucks store. Ritual, because Starbucks is perhaps the most glamorous seller of the world's most effective addictive/stimulant, the wonderbean called Coffee. Ritual because you are programmed (almost to a fault, you start to resemble a clock-work robot) to pick up that coffee at that point in time every working day.

More importantly a ritual because, you have formed that invisible bond with that barista who knows your order even before you have ordered it.

Reviled, ridiculed and otherwise made fun of in movies and in the press (remember Tom Hanks, You've Got Mail! - "The whole purpose of a place like Starbucks is for a man with no decision making abilities whatsoever, to have to make six decisions just to by a $2.95 cup of coffee...dark/light lowfat/nonfat caf/decaf...."). I dont care to remember the entire sequence of dialog, but it has me in side-splitting laughter whenever I see that sequence in that movie and then see that nerdy-looking guy order a "Tall decaf cappuccino" for himself :). Yet another instance of recent harmless fun was in Shrek2, when the crowd runs from one Starbucks to another, right across the street.

Which brings us to another of Starbucks quirks - the seemingly endless intent to have its franchises poach on each others customers. Case-in-point, in the neighborhood where I live, there are 8 Starbucks stores (6 of them full-fledged nothing-held-back stores). Of course its a densely populated urban area, yet having three stores in a mile-long strech makes me wonder..are they out for global domination or are they trying to make us all lazy?

Ok, so Starbucks is that giant corporation which probably rakes in millions in profits every year and maybe is from big bad Seattle. But some of my best customer service experiences in this country have been at Starbucks. And now look at the oodles of free publicity they are getting. :)

What do I order at Starbucks? Depending on my mood, a Grande Drip Coffee (especially if they have the breakfast-blend or the lightnote blend on the brew) or a Grande Latte (Hot), or a Venti Coffee Frappucino..

And yet, for all the lavishness of my praise toward Starbucks it is my second favorite coffee. Nothing can replace my special "South-Indian" filter coffee with its jolt of taste and stimulation. So much for Starbucks' promotions :)

The wonderful world of advertising..

The wonderful world of advertising...reaching into people's minds and hearts...do whatever it takes to not just establish a brand identity, but also to gain remembrance in peoples minds through notoriety or excellence. This brings us to the new series of advertisements by Haagen Dazs..the ice-cream maker.

It begins with the words.."there is a school of thought that says.....less is more...that elegance is simplicity...." I am not going to bother with rehashing the details of the ad because simply said, you HAVE to watch that advertisement. If there was a statement made in advertising, this was one. 60 seconds of pure and clear and simple message being delivered at its very best. Touch of class that unfortunately hasn't been the hallmark of advertising lately. You have an issue with this statement?

Ok...go take a look at the new McDonalds commercial for its chicken whatever food. Go defend your chicken? What the heck is that supposed to be? Who ever came up with that idea? But then hey...if its fastfood, anything goes right? Drop the chicken and step away from the deliciousness I say. what are you? some kind of nutbar?

Equally lame are the commercials on local television channels. I am being easy on them...lame is praise for the quality of those commercials.

Then there are these crass idiots who advertise their products not on the strength of their products, but by putting the competitors product down. Gripe, snipe, snip, cut, grumble, crib...do whatever it takes to compare their product with their competitor. Talk about them asses not trusting their own product. If you need proof, think back to all those lame Pepsi taste-test ads, those equally lame Pepsi ads showing some idiot music star who chose Pepsi over Coke and found fame (ha..if only life was so easy). Visa insists on taking the cake though with its advertising blitz where it has to always compare with American Express. I mean give me a frikkin' break..if you are so damned exclusive, go shove yourselves up the orifices of rich uppity Republicans and leave me alone.

This gripe brings me back to the first commercial that I really appreciated in my time here in the US..the MasterCard commercial that started airing during the 2001 baseball regular season in the form of two friends making a road-trip to pay homage to all 30 major-league ballparks.

60 seconds to watch one of the classiest commercials of all time....$ 0

6 hours arguing with friends over why baseball is still a better sport over football...$ 0

appreciating the game of baseball being played without the constraints of time and enjoying the excellent commercials and their related memories...priceless

of course, just like my friend pointed it out the other day, I am obviously biased toward the Mastercard commercial because some of my happiest sport memories are associated with the 2001 baseball season when my beloved Diamondbacks cut Mariano "Mr. Automatic" Rivera and them damned-Yanks to size with a sizzling bottom of the 9th inning rally. but say hay kid...what the heck...three years later the adapted version of the Mastercard commercial now featuring Homer Simpson is still adorable

Then there is that extreme of creativity Honda Accord ad featuring many parts of an Accord made to work on a work-shop floor in a domino-trigger effect. That 2-min long commercial...apparently was on the verge of being given up on when all the gazillion parts that were supposed to be part of the domino chain would screw up..sometimes with about 10 or 15 seconds remaining to complete. After 600-odd exhausting takes..it finally worked...and guess what the voice-over says at the end of the commercial? "Isn't it nice when something just works" :)

Without much ado..the following commercials that have left a mark in my memory...

1. MasterCard
2. Haagen Dazs
3. Coca-Cola (the Life taste's good commercials that often times featured Penelop Cruz in a bar just slugging down a Coke, or a little girl offering a bride-to-be a Coke, and the new ads featuring a woman happily singing and handing out Coke bottles to people on the street)
4. Budweiser Zebra commercials from Superbowl Sunday

May the creative juices of ad-execs flow at its convincing best so we can all appreciate excellent commercials for their excellence.

Good night America!

In celebration of being alive..

My friend showed me a book today "Don't sweat the small stuff at work"..a cute little book that essentially strives to point to people what they ought to know themselves...it just doesn't pay to be stressed out and in conflict all the time. The book implores us all to work together to bring out the best in us and others...

In short, what I call...celebrate us being alive.

Life is a sweet little thing..you can do fun little things and you can do fun big things...you can screw up a $2000 PC (aw shucks you say? well its still a device and can be repaired. so if you screwed it up, so what? just be careful the next time around) or you can repair a $20 roller-ball computer mouse. you can eyeball a supermodel or you can go and marry the homely girl-next door type..you can treat the entire apartment block to your best dessert...or you can make your friend treat you to the best Haagen Dazs icecream there is.

It is about appreciating the beauty in the dew drop on the leaf of a plant in your front yard. It is in taking a hike up that desert mountain trail to view the glorious sunset that graces the western skies. It is in staying up at midnight in a campsite to see hundreds of meteorites and cometoids zoom by in brilliant flashes of light.

Life comes at you with dazzling variety of things to do and see and appreciate and learn from. That usually does not include the theme parks or movie studios but it sure can include that visit to San Diego to see dolphins at their prankster best.

Life is for all of us to share and enjoy...it is in having a few friends over for a quiet spot of dinner and talk..it is in having the same group of friends go over to a restaurant and become the boisterous center of racket (and by extension center of attention as well :) )

There is more to life than carrying along petty differences and egos. It is not worth your while or my while for us to hold grudges against each other. More importantly it is always worth your while to smile and make someone's day.

Let us make this world an easier place to be in...one person at a time.

The buy-in..

So finally I decided...what the heck...and took the plunge...into the worm-hole that is blogging. Inspired by two rather politically-active friends of mine...

If you are on the right side of the political divide...I guess we will be arguing from here to eternity!

Have a wonderful day..