Cryptic Quintessence

2006-03-13T07:28:00.000+08:00

...The best match ever (to date)!
... Speechless after seeing the final ODI between SA and Aus
You can catch parts of the match (Aussie innings + short highlight of Gibbs)HERE
If someone comes across the entire match, especially Gibb's knock - do lemme know

(Chaami Exits)

2006-03-10T22:23:00.000+08:00

...from the Largest of United's states!
(I still dont consider alaska a habitable entity)
What a wonderful trip this has turned out to be! I was recieved by chilly, rainy evening and 2 muggers in LA...and was greeted in Austin by tornado and hale.
There are 2 fascinating things about Texas - the ranches and the cowboys. BrokeBack Mountain took the glamour off one of 'em, and Dick Cheney shot down any possible interests in the other.
However, Cheney still claims he was only playing paintball and believes he wasnt responsible for the accident.

2006-03-10T04:34:00.000+08:00

I'm Revived...I'm Recharged...and I am here to Stay!
...No, this isn’t another of Al Gore's pre-elections talks. This Chaami's survival story - the story of a young kid who dreamt big. But he couldn’t dream long because he often had to wake up for a change of diapers. Then he grew. And he dreamt...and dreamt...and eventually realised it isn’t going to take him anywhere. At least not until he leaves a country that boasts of over a billion dreamers. Some all day.
Defying convention, he flew east. He'd wondered what convinced his parents he would do fine staying away from home at such an early age. A few weeks in the country gave him the answer-He was under-aged to enjoy smokes, booze or sex, and was thrown into a country where Rules is the religion ...and everybody is a devotee. Naturally, he took a liking to Malaysia. He doesnt really recollect a lot of what happened since. But he remembers a brief period of freedom and absolute emptiness in life - when he first decided he will join the huge brigade of blogarbage-makers in an effort to pile unending, chronic bullshit onto himself and the world. But he had to stop. After another year of drudgery, combined with some strong luck - he finished his degree in good time. That marked the end of any structure to his lifestyle, and he fell deep into the sea of freedom....of eternal emptiness...a state which gave him the opportunity to do anything. Or nothing at all. Now he can see the force calling out to him. And thanks to his 5 yrs in Singapore, he will succumb without a question. Blog he will.
Now that he has joined the army of numb, money-sucking, mindless slaves of yet another multinational - he will continue to nurture his corporate interests over public good...and he will definitely continue to blog!

(Chaami exits)
PS: Subsequent posts being from US - I feel it would be befitting to their habit of doing/having everything reversed if I could write it in Urdu.
Well mebbe thats why the Arabs seem to love them in a very peculiar way!

2004-10-19T19:38:00.000+08:00

....A NATION MOURNS
It isnt april 1st, I amnt sleepy or slaushed and I didnt read it from Times Of India either!!!...Now tat means its true.
In what was described as the most dramatic encounters of all times, Veerappan was shot in his home-forest near Dharmapuri Village.Spectators thought it was another Movie shoot, government's press release version claims its was an accident and the authorities were actually on a vacation, hunting deer.But then mistake is a mistake, and this one is of the highest order. Despite clear sign boards warnings like "Human Settlement ahead", "Terrorist crossing ahead" and "Bearded men at work-dont mistake for bears"...the carelessness of the Spl. Task Force has resulted an irreversible destruction of the ecological balance in Dharmapuri District.
Analysts claim that over the next 5 years, the population of trees and animals in the forest will triple.The Opposition condemned the Government for their irresponibility and demanded that the CM take responsibility and step down.
Personally, having grown up watching invincible icons like superman, spiderman and veerapan, this is the second disastrous news I am hearing in a weeks time(superman hit the bucket too!)
A: Veerapan shot by Tamil Nadu Special Task Force
Me: Ohh..not again! was it another film star...and they have actually set up a special force to track and video Veerappan's activities!!
A: No man...shot..as in the kind tats done with guns.

The Nation plunged into grief, the prime minister announced nationwide mourning and requested with the entire Male pupolation to grow their mustache as a tribune to the Man was and will be seen as the symbol and representation of moustachehood.
Women all over India were shocked about the news. When asked about her reaction, former Miss Univ Sushmita Sen said" What wil happen to the cosmetics industry now?no sandalwood any more?The future of the Nation looks bleak".
The Prime Minister Announced that Veerappan will be honoured with the title of 'SandalHOOD of India'.
Described as the Black Tuesday 2, the share market crashed following the release of the news.Cosmetic companies like mysore Sandal and Lux were among the big losers.
The Tamil and Kannada movie industry expressed deep grief on hearing the news.Their relationship with Veerappan extended well over a decade through exchange visits, monetary aid and time and again-providing a subject storyline for the insipid storywriters in both industries.
President Bush, who hadnt cared a damn abt India for so long tat he was ignorant of the change in government, called Mr.Vajpayee and wished him for successfully completing the oldest and longest fight against a single terrorist group."This success couldnt have been achieved if 'the dumb female leading the old n demented opposition' had been the PM of India" he said.
The incident has created a huge void in the terrorist groups active in the region and people are all eagerly waiting for the next veerappan.
will he have the trademark moustache anyway...

(chaami exits)

2004-09-09T19:58:00.000+08:00

View this post in perspective of a villian at the end of a melodrama...or mebbe a telugu dub Vijay TV matinee special...
I havent been spending enuf time on by blog...ohh wait...actually i havent been spending any time on my blog!
But ofcourse...you woudlnt expect a guy who leaves for a lab as soon as he wakes up...and comes bak jus to crash in the room to come up with anything even remotely exciting...leave alone find the time to write it....
naah..this aint those glorious days of work...when again i got up jus in time to rush to office...but then thr was this whole empty phase from 830 in the morn to 6 in the eve...where i could do a whole world of thinking and writing and writing without thinking....
i dont intend to make this the last post..the finishing touch for my blog...but i definitely know tat the next few weeks of my life is definitely gonna be so wierdly hectic...tat the last thing i wud be left with is creativity or strength to even sign off as chaami exi...
assuming i have done enuf beating around the bush....i intend to summarize saying...damn i havent paid the blog enuf attention....and ohh..sorry folks...pardon this insipid bloke....look at him as the remake of prodigal son(original script by J.Jesus).....
...and thus explained...i re-enter the arena

(chami exits)

2004-08-09T11:30:00.000+08:00

Crazy thieves in Singapore!
Had a brilliant weekend...back to back stage drama...by crazy Mohan's troupe.
They staged Jurassic baby on friday and Madhu +2 on saturday. Though I had seen the 2 plays many times...on stage and tv....it still left me(and the close to 80 odd audience) in tight fits of laughter. jus for the stats, crazy troupe have done more than 4000 stage shows in their last 25 years (their first play was on aug 7th..so madhu+2 marked the end of 25 yr on stage).
And the best thing about them.....with 25 yrs of drama experience(being the leaders all the while) they still have not the slightest degree of aloofness or attitude.Absolutely casual...I spent almost 45 ins with them backstage...before the start of the first play...and at the end of it...and i actually felt like i was sitting amongst my friends. people were jus casually addressing each other..craxking jokes...listening and speaking to us all the time.
Wats more....during the show, for which i got the pass thanx to my friend AK(whose chittappa is the famous 'cheenu' character-one of the 2 cheenus to be exact), we sat in the first row...right next to Mrs.Mohan...another very simple lady...she shared a lot of info with us during the intervals.....
One of the highlights was Mohan introducing the troupe at the end the second drama....tat showed wat spontaneous on-the-spot humour is....as he spoke abt each person's history...or profession(most of them VRSites)..or role in the troupe...injecting every sentence with jokes..pun and a few slapstick oneliners.

this foto wouldnt need a intro i guess!..except for that the dark one on the right end is me(for those who dint still figure out...tats 'madhu' in the middle)

the famous 'cheenus'

(chami exits)

2004-08-04T11:52:00.000+08:00

I'm bak!.....
A brilliant vacation...a mini meet...and(flicking from dubukku)-Thai naadu to Noi naadu via Thailandu.
I havent been blogging or following up for almost a month now *apologetic*
Bak in India i went on my usual tirupati and kula deivam trip...on that context, for those who didnt know(till the year before i used to take the train and bus series ..making it a long and strenuous trip)..AP tourism(Tnagar) provides a very convinient one day tirupati trip package-pretty convenient.
Then was the trip to Tirumangalakudi(rings bell...neone??:P)...and from thr to salem.
Salem happens to be one of my fav places...bcos most of my childhood hols were spent there...along with my cousins-memorable days. Hoganacal happens to look the same....same old parisal...same meen varuval kadais...and the same odour(which made me puke the last time i went there).
Then there was this totally random trip we(cousin and her parents) took....went off looking for this place called aalambara fort(After reading abt it inTheHindu)...not sure how far was from chennai(along the ECR)...we almost reached pondycherry-not much in terms of ancient structure..but brilliant backwaters...and nice drive)
Then came the tricky part. Thanx to my excellent behaviour, a brilliant display of my extreme laziness and haphazard careless way of doing stuff..mom decided it is high time she sent dad to check on how "things" were bak in univ-to have a check on me-as she put it.The mother of all awkward situations...to take ur dad into ur bachelor room..which has some 8 ppls stuff piled on all corners....and a wonderful array of the the "things-that shud-not-be-named"..the solid...liquid...and smoke.
Thanx to the help of my roomie, the room was made presentable...before we reached.
Chennai hits:
veedu and saapadu
chennaiyil oru mazhai kaalam-6 days of rain
mini blog meet
tour de south
also managed to meet div and wini...and we sat thru a wonderful hindi movie(forgot the name!)
Udhayam theatre
chennai sodhappals:
TV...to hell with the settop box concept...till whe is the stay..will good old days of cable connection be bak?
(chaami exits)

2004-07-16T04:01:00.000+08:00

This bunch is wat i managed during the journey from singapore to bangkok...

view1

zooom...and tat cant get better-srini-wat a camera!...this is one of the ships from the previous snap

my fav pic...

singapore aerial view

singapore buildings..ships...view2

serendipity
welcome thailand...first view of mountains

(chami exits)

2004-07-16T03:43:00.000+08:00

these snaps r at changi airport..not many...2 at the airport and one before takeoff

changi airport

changi airport

on board

2004-06-29T01:27:00.000+08:00

HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOME
Finally home...and thanx to a brilliant camera tat srini passed to me, I got some snaps of changi,bangkok and chennai airport,...and some onflight snaps...will load 'em tomm
Bloggers in madras....could we meet up or something...neednt be any event or meet as such...neone who is free..we cud jus meet...
will post the snaps soon..

(chami exits)

2004-06-14T10:01:00.000+08:00

Finally I respond to the Wake-up call...
been long...really long.someone was actually considerate enough to remind me that atleast eight countries have witnessed a change of government ... and if i continued this way,my next post would be read by an entirely different generation-newspaper names,taste for rock,names of terrorist groups...and even the sexual preferences in some country would have changed.
Though I have been cribbing all along about not finding a topic to write on(which will be re-re-reitrated by the content of this post), a lot-supposedly-has happened over tha last few..hmm..hours..which went on to become days..and then weeks.
Ofcourse there was all tat drama at the Centre...with Mr.Ulloo trying for almost every portfolie(reuters claim he mentioned post of PM too..once).Finally we settled things by giving him the largest and most funded industry in India.Mr.Lalloo ofcourse was straight into executing his duties...as he declared "Rail travel wasnt safe in the past.Henceforth it shall be safe". He clarified that he had the interests of common man-the middle and lower class,so to say-in his mind when he released the new budget with an increase in rail fare.He also said corruption in awarding the contracts in railways are some other issues in his agenda-this is,as i wud phrase it "aandavanukku thaan velicham".
Meanwhile,halfway across the globe,USA is fighting the 'gay'issue for now it seems like the battle is almost lost- "we are gay-resistance is futile" said the banner at the gay pride parade.And now there is a TV Channel dedicated just for them...with shows such as G.A.Y.S,Everybody loves Gaymond,Scrub,Gaywatch and Will and Gays(actually will and grace too).With this bush administration has failed on all fronts....and with Moore's next movie round the corner...nothing seems to be going his way.
On the movie front, there were a few releases...Harry Potter miserably failed to kindle any kind of interest-of any kind-the third flop in a row,but this one not the worst.Then there was Shrek2..which i totally loved(yea wini-i will bring the movie when i come to madras).There is vasoolraja and Anniyan(abt which i havent heard for a long time now)to be released soon...but currently its a drought phase.
Talking abt drought phase...madras weather seems to getting more pleasant by the day...rainy season round the corner looks like...jus hope i reach madras jus in time to enjoy the brilliant transition weather..breezy days..cloudy...little rain and overcast otherwise...perfect setting for oor suthal and play thruout day!(not tat i wudnt if it were hot)
Out here...and in other places in the world too...its time for some big time losing the money spree,intercepted by small profits as betting for euro'04 kickstarts.I saw the first victim today morning,my friend at work who lost his first 100 dollars for this season on the Eng-Fra match.

A final note...unconfirmed news from my friend at work-the western stall at CanA will still be open-just shifted to the place where Jap stall was all along-not sure of this news though-but is definitely good news.
(Chaami exits)

2004-05-28T17:50:00.000+08:00

MAX is here!
...and finally NTU got its McDonald's outlet at Can A....not tat 'I'm loving it' totally...but definitely something to look forward to....

2004-05-22T09:05:00.000+08:00

Aaydha Ezhuthu

Every student dreamt of this.
All of us have discussed it.
Still,none of us have ventured a step further into doing it.
UNTIL....

Aaydha Ezhuthu- Students Shall Script India's Future

This post on Aaydha Ezhuthu. the post in itself will form 2 sections, the first one where very little of story will be given away.It would be a general review so as to ensure it doesnt spoil the elemant of suspense for people still waiting to watch it. the second section will have a detailed story analysis.

3 young men from 3 different strata of society,their nature and the one defining incident than unsettles their style of life for ever- This is what Mani had promised from his side for Aaydha Ezhuthu/Yuva.
Taking a look at the different aspects of the movie-
The story is pretty different,and a strong one too.Mani, like he always does, has taken a new subject up for this movie-As the site describes(and the trailers too), it is about how one student..oops no-about how the student population,lead by one student, tries to change the political scenario in India, his region to be particular.If mudhalvan with a concept of one day CM with a vision was welcomed by our audience, this one certainly provides more logic. The story,ofcourse, deals with the lives of the three characters and how each ones life gets entangled with the other two.
Music by ARR was recieved, first with mixed feelings and as time went by -most of the songs became chartbusters. Mani, like for Alaipayudhe(saathiya), didnt want any song for this movie too. And thankfully, even though 6 tracks were added, he ensured they blended into the movie perfectly. In other words, there were no arbitrary scenes where the hero(es) or heroine(s)were instantly transported to the Alps or Swiss or Kilimanjaro,asked to wear wierd costumes and execute hysterical steps. This in my opinion is one of the biggest plus points for the director, kudos to his attempt to make a more realistic movie.

Fight sequences didnt have those ill-replicated matrix steps, random double..triple..quadruple...and multiple somersaults or "I am the hero and you shall not land a single punch on me" based stunts. Very realistic fight sequences.Full Marks for it(though there a couple of shots that involve some graphics appln.,but only where inevitable).

The movie had its share of romance, not worked on much...Inba's character sketch had a lot of romantic escapades. Micheal had a lot of serious business to do on screen and hence his love life wasnt handled in-depth.Arjun's love story also wasnt handled to any reasonable depth. But we can accept it because the movie was meant to be a serious one with a major social issue being addressed, hence the inadequacy if building the life and love aspects of the characters.

Janakaraj is bak in this movie-for a very small role though. It should be noted that he is the only comedian Mani uses, and also has the distinction of acting in maximum ManiRatnam movies.

As the thug, madhavan looks perfect. Unlike any other of his fast paced action movies, he has the look of a well built "born and brought up on the streets" appearance.
Surya is impressive with his performance and siddarth has done a very good job too.

On the whole, the movie did lack the 'Mani'Magic to a certain extent, but individually madhavan and surya outshone the rest of the cast and the movie had something new to provide as story.

Section 2....here will be a more detailed story line will come up here shortly-so those who want to hold on to their elemant of suspense,stop here.
The movie is taken in a style resembling Alaipayudhe and Virumandi(or Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction). The movie shifts between an event that just occured and the recent past life of those who were involved in it(shifting between past and present as handled well in Alaipayudhe)and focuses on the views, ideas and events perspective of three youths(like virumandi handled a sequenceo of events as viewed by victims from both sides).
The first scene shows Inba following Michael along Napier Bridge.It also introduces Arjun and Meera(Trisha), Arjun doing the "baby-I love u" running behind her like her dog. Inba fires at Michael.The injured michael falls into the Backwater stretch and a shocked Arjun who sees this saves him.This scene is held as the central event from where a brief history of the 3 characters are presented.
Inba is a typical chennai roadside rowdy, huge,arrogant,brutal and wild.He is hungry for money and power and becomes the right-hand of a power-hungry minister, played by Bharathi Raja.His wife Sasi(Meera Jasmine)loves him inspite of his wrong ways and activities that makes her angry and upset.Meera Jasmine has done a very good job and certainly steals the show from trisha and esha deol. The political problems that the minister faces due to the activities of student population, lead by Michael(a genius at studies, and a person who challenges what he believes is wrong-and goes to any extent to defend his claim) brings in the Inba vs. Michael clash. Siddarth plays Arjun, a happy go lucky chap, on his way to his dream destination-US.His life changes from the moment he saves Michael from the incident-and he goes on to join Michael in their(student's) fight against the minister-as they challenge him at the elections, and win their constituencies too. The second phase of the movie is about how one side tries to stamp the other, as the elections arrive and the movie ends with a brilliant duel between michael and Inba at the same Napier bridge followed by the news that the students (4 of them) won at their respective constituencies.Trisha and Siddarth's roles are relatively less significant in the movie, and they have done their roles pretty decently-trisha didnt have much to do anyway! Esha Deol could have done a better job,but given that this is her debut (for tamizh movies)and a big one in that-we can hope to expect better in years to come. Bharathi Raja as the villian has done a good job.He doesnt go around screaming abuses or overacting his role-on the whole a good start to his acting career as a villian(which apparently has been his dream for many years).

The plus,
1.No unrealistic love scenes or exorbitant dance sequences.
2.No major punch lines for the heroes.
3.Storyline has something to offer.
4.Character sketch of MAdhavan and Surya...brilliant and their acting skills match 'em. Kudos to Meera Jasmine.
5. Songs and the way it has been blended to being a part of the story flow.
6.Madhavan,Surya,Meera jasmine,Bharathi Raja,ARR, Sibu Cyril,Ravi K.Chandran
The minus,
1.Apart from Inba,Michael and Sasi, the rest of the characters have been hardly dealt with-lack of depth.The movie in itself had so much to cover, it looked like it lacked depth on the whole.
2.Isha Deol and Trisha fumble..they could have done a better job during the minutes they were on screen.
3.Against which 4 candidates do the students stand for which constituencies and whether there particular problems in constituencies(reasons) isnt given. this though,I wouldnt consider to be a major minus-Mani is not disclosed anything reg. constituency detail or opposing candidate just avoid further complications...I feel.
4.Trisha(she definitely is pretty,but no role),Isha Deol(thr is lot of scope for improvement).

Now For the TITLE
The Hindi Version is pretty simple :Yuva- for youth as the movie stands for.The story revolves around the youth characters, be it Madhavan or surya or siddarth.Rebellious youth and his actions.
Aaydha Ezhuthu,on the other hand,kindles a lot of thought .
--->aaydha-akk sollu...thirteenth alphabet in tamizh.
--->the akk sollu is three dots-here it would symbolise the three characters played by madhavan,surya and siddarth-and how their lives get interlocked. Lighter vein,look at the way they are positioned on the photo at start of this article-which is the poster for the movie-seen from the top, tats 'akk'.
--->The Last Letter, that is 'aaydha ezhuthu' could stand for the final say, the stamp of a new rebellion and hence the singnificant change-here in the political system. Proceeding in those lines, we can say it stands for the 'end' to an era of dirty filthy politics-the final word is here-tats its over.
--->The movie is about the Youth, students in particular, "scripting" a change..for the better, hence the script "akk" to symbolise it.

Do Comment on any interpretation for the title tat you can think of....or your opinion on the characters or the storyline...or the scenes etc.

A final note: With the current political situation..wat with a foreigner getting thisss close to being our PM, Lallo almost becoming home minister(and then trying for denfense too!!!!)..and all the comical things happening, this movie can come out at no better time than this!

(chami exits)

2004-05-18T14:48:00.000+08:00

DEMOCRAZY
lot of funny things have been happening...LOT! One one side is USA fighting its never ending battle of legalization of gay marriages. yes they can...no they cant...yes can...no cant..yes..no.Ohh common! They just asked you to make gay weddings legal, not whether Bush could be catagorized as definitely male.
But is that the funniest thing...today, even the americans got somethng to laugh at.that too a non bush topic. Its all about the recently concluded elections of the largest democracy. only after the results were did people realise wat a major blunder they had done.

a reporter tried to find out wat was running in the mind of those people when they went voting
Reporter: so how come u voted for sonia?
tea kadakaarar: i misunderstood it when she said her every breath and love is for 'itli', saar.
reporter: wat do u feel about a foreign PM?
businessman : to my knowledge, this is the biggest job outsourcing i have seen.

I live in a country where there is soooo little happening that it covers the sonia issue and bollywood stars' arrival on the front page. To salvage some pride, i tried to explain the whole situation to my friends here.
A: so wats all these abt india i hear...wats happened to the billion indians?
me:No.lemme explain.sonia isnt any stranger. Only that she is an Italian-born Indian resident.
A: which porn?
me: born...BORN...she met rajiv during her undergrad.they found a lot of similarity, especially of the fact that neither could even get past half their undergrad course.
A: watever, No wonder they say India is the largest demo'crazy'.
Actually speaking, this could well be India's secret plan to match the Americans and Brits at the political circle, atleast in colour. Ofcourse, we have seen that we dont have to work much to match their intellectual level.
The democrats meanwhile are frantically probing into bush's past, they fear they have let thru USA's first woman president.
Indian situation attracted the US governments' attention too.
Rumsfeld:wats ur opinion on the sensex crash at bombay over last weekend.
Bush:yea,the same-sex problem. I have no idea how I am gonna hold these gay weddings activists under control anymore.
R: wats on opinion on india having a white woman lead the nation.
B: I dont think there shud be any problem, especially considering both the US and Briton have been having Whites at the head of the government for years now!
R: but sir,the situation is very different and far more serious there.
B:Ohh! In which case I would suggest we call Mr.Vajbay and tell him we are willing to send our peace-keeping army.Outsourcing is as big a problem as terrorism is. Also, skilled workers for low wage is more valuable than oil these days.

Personally, I am pretty depressed about India not being able to find one from its overflowing and definitely talented and capable population.
Ofcourse, if nothing has happened to a nation with Bush at the helm, i too dont think we are in that grave a danger.

(chami exits)

2004-05-07T10:45:00.000+08:00

IROCKED
Its been in the news for quite some time... Our dear Big brother and their suckups, and their single-minded effort of goodwill ...to ensure peace, demo'crazy' and freedom in Iraq.
Here is explained, a phase of how they went about doing it. issue becomes public..and Mr. President, like always, is beating around the Bush!

(Chami exits)

2004-04-30T17:12:00.000+08:00

hokay..for all those who are either waiting for their gmail accounts or jus cribbing abt not being able to get one..
spymac gives all u get from gmail...so enjoy!

2004-04-27T11:23:00.000+08:00

WOW..I am a Gmailian too!
Got myself a Gmail account, thanx to blogger.com
At last a place to store all the crap I get. No longer do I have to delete mails from African or Moroccan multimillionaires wanting to share their assets or my several forward-maniac friends. No longer do I have to delete the several mails from those anonymous fanatic gal followers from Latin america, and now I can keep a record of the online degrees and diplomas that I have registered for by forwarding the 'struggle-free diploma for no fee' mails.
And also, I can remove my boss's account from junk block list. And the psbb yahoo groups too.
So i finally got myself space-plenty of it. Cant wait to tell my mom.she still thinks i am incapable of even renting a decent place-be it on the real or virtual world.
with this my computer mem space goes up by abt 2.5%...
I am gonna make accounts with ids fr101 to fr1018 for all the friends episodes...and so on for spincity,scrubs,simpsons and futurama and the 50 odd tam movs plus the 5 TR+simbu movies(a diff. genre of movies they are). This would mean i no longer need mem on my comp ...jus enuf to run IE on it!
soon floppys and cds are gonna be used as door decorators.
Prof: Students.Reports and projects will be submitted via "..." Gmail account by friday 5 pm. which means henceforth we cant try sneak the report thru after deadline by bribing the lab-tech with a few cigarettes or can of beer.
Soon exams will be written and mailed. study notes will be mailed.ftps will go extinct.A new world order will come into existence.
hotmail and yahoo can be added to our list of " when I was a child..." ramblings stored for ur grandchildren.

Amitabh: Mere paas gaadi hai, bangla hai, bank balance hai, tumhare paas kya hai?
Shashi: mere paas Gmail account hai.

chami
B.E,MIEEE and member of Gmail
(chaami exits)

2004-04-21T11:23:00.000+08:00

I am out to prove a point!
My next post WILL be some thought provoking, serious issue- challenging some social or economic or political setup.
and I clarify- I do not hold myself resposible for this decision- all blame goes to others- to people who have questioned my ability to think and write(on serious issues)...oops..now tat includes me in the list too..but never mind- the crux of this post is- my next post WILL be a serious one.
meanwhile, the hall office SOB and the suckup SOBs under him have planned and successfully implemented a major attack on us students with their installation of "water saver" taps and shower...now water trickles slower than at kutralam during summer.So wat we students do...go break their shower-buynormal ones from shop and fit it bak :) .
(chami exits)

2004-04-19T11:56:00.000+08:00

Test results....
Repeated experiments and indepth analysis of the results observed confirmed the doubts.....
The IQ calculated when we do random choosing for the Multiple choice questions is higher than when we sit devotedly, break our head over every question and answer to the best(or worst) of our knowledge.
No matter how many days given, reports shall be submitted only at the last moment. And one shall definitely leave out something that needs to go with the report and realise that just a few hours after submission...and the deadline.
Keep trying...but you just cant stay awake when the tutor(and lecturer too..for those rebellious spoilt few) starts his boring speech..and shall wake up and feel absolutely fresh the moment your class is over.
canteen table is irressitible.
You have to oversleep to miss a lab-for the unlucky few, its the one with their report.
Never shall all members of a team contribute towards the project.
whenever ur boss comes to check...u will be stuck with a couple of random webpages open on ur comp.
You will always get up to your roommates alarm- and that too, always before he does.
Person who suffers from any symptom, meaning his activities doesnt comply with the above requirements, shall immediately go to the MC.
(chami exits)

2004-04-19T11:37:00.000+08:00

Thank You Hotmail...and You too, Mr.Muyeya.
Ahh..Finally- I'm rich!!! All these years of hard work and toil- 20 years of undisturbed, single minded dream - of become rich has finally paid off. Yes, you guys shall see my name in the next issue of Time magazine under the 100 most powerful, erratic and unjustifiably worthless affluent people in the world. Its just a matter of time now, when the 10 million dollars tats on its way to my bank account gets added to my existing 470.65, I shall be all I had dreamt of being- the youngest and only undergrad millionaire(after Prince Williams ofcourse).
Hokay...lemme come down to the issue- I have been selected to inherit close to 10 million dollars-in exact quantity, 40% of the existing assets of my new found friend, Mr.Muyeya Bagelelo a leading industrialist in Botswana. I just recieved an email from this gentleman. It says he wants to share a portion of his 25 million dollars with me. So I get close to 10 million for just letting him deposit the money into my account. Obviously, a few of you would be laughing, saying I should be foolish to have opened and read thru that mail, more so because Muyeya didnt choose you. My worthiness and ability to handle money and put it to good use and profitting business dealings got me this offer, I wasnt picked in any random manner.The Ministry of commerce and outsourcing- Botswana vouched for the above attributes! They, apparently, were impressed by the way I handled my last semesters expenditures-which was contained to just within 4 times my allowance for that sem.
The best part is, I dont have to forward this mail to a 100 people, or fill any forum or elaborate opinion poll or online IQ test. The Company has asked me to keep this transaction very confidential - let as few people as possible to know about it, which is obvious because I wouldnt want to share my million with a million people.
My first decision was whether I should take a personal helicopter or plane for my trip bak home this vacation- but I decided against it after reading about the recent several incidences of private plane crashes.
...and how about running for pres. of Botswana...the popularity that I enjoy amidst the high society of Botswana and the Ministry gives me serious reasons for doing so. Back home, I would be thronged by the million parties asking if I was interested in supporting, externally or join them. I would also be thronged by the huge load of third grade directors, with their list of third grade movies starring third grade actors, asking me if I wished to be the producer of their 'dream project'.
But out here, nothing of that kind happens. The government is so strong and unchallenged, they mite even start calling their party 'The Government'.
There isnt much scope to buy large portion of land and do some stupid thing with it in this small country....I think I will pack my bag-go bak india once I get this cash- thats where I find the scope and potential....or on second thots...mebbe Rwanda or Botswana too.
(chami exits)

2004-04-14T13:11:00.000+08:00

Load Shedding...Voltage Drop...
Europe's seen it....the US had enough of it.....Indians treat it as a part of their life...and finally, It's in Singapore too! No...not another political or sex scandal, I am talking about the blackout in NTU yesterday.
Since the young generation of singaporeans havent seen something of this kind all their life, they obviously didnt know how to react or carry themselves around in a dignified manner. So they did what they are best at- form abritrarily aized groups and scream their high-pitched shrieks. To have a 'well planned and informed' blackout organised as a part of the army's regular safety run is one thing- to enjoy one when it comes unexpectedly is another.
What did we Indians, flooded with experience when it comes to reacting to power shutdowns do. Varied ofcourse, some soul went on devotedly with their studies taking encouragement from their several such successful ventures during the regular power failure incidences back home, invariably during exam time (this time again exams being 1 week away and we having the knack of kickstarting our prep at the very last moment when we realise our ass been on fire for long enuf its almost roasted). Then there was another bunch which decided to go on a long walk and catch up with the latest gossips and analyze, dissect, explore, develop and spread the message of goodwill. Then there was divya, who considered the powercut as a bad sign and decided to bundle up her books and stop studies as swiftly and as soon as she had started it. She had to summon all her courage and confidence to walk back to her hall(she claims it was her single most daring effort in NTU-previous one being the decision to come to NTU). Then there was this bunch of 6-7 final years who said...hmm, well..power shutdown..lets celebrate! and came down to the amphitheatre with booze bottles. Well, what did I do.....When the first fluctuation occured I laughed within myself thinking, if there is a power cut, me with my laptop can still use my comp to the fullest(as in watch movies)-and laugh at the desktop-ers. Sadly mistaken I was, with the blackout went my network connection too...and my room got heated up like a hot-plate. Die redi! plan aborted at very start and desparate sprint to get outta room(dont do tat often). There came my friend S to save me from falling into the pit of boredom! and gave me the best news too-there were sweets, from home, in her fridge. So we walked u to her room(tats 4 levels up-its like my Everest-but all for food and food for all..no-food for me).I digged into the box of ladoo and then into the other mysterious box(S, hope u found out by morning wat was in that box).
Conspiracy theories....we didnt know if this was any such plan- but the first words out of the students mouth were " LETS START FORUM..EXAMS POSTPONE OREDI!!!"...yea..tats kinda become a tradition here ....ever since the first one initiated by the sars related measures.
What our parents (singaporeans or indians or otherwise) had seen in 30 years, we have seen in a duration of 11 months! A war, an epidemic and postponement of exams, all the possible permutations of alliance between the political parties in India and the pleasure of seeing the biggest of superpowers being lead by an idiot of highest order. Ofcourse, as for the singaporeans, they are yet to see something called change of government- It doesnt qualify to call someone the opposition when you play golf with him over the weekend!
Singapore is a very different country...with different view on things...different opinions and different rules-like nowhere else in the world. Its a country where prostitution is legal, but oral sex isnt....a country where the most testing moments of relationship with their neighbouring nation is when the PM there passes some sarcastic comment on the local newspapers. A country where it is cheaper to get a car or bike than to get the license for driving them.
I am off to canteen A now(divya's hub for studies during nite- where throughout day we all sit, yapping away to glory )....gotto find out more about wat ppl did during the blackout...and mebbe start a forum too!
(chami exits)

2004-04-13T09:17:00.000+08:00

INIYA TAMIZH PUTHAANDU NAL VAZHTHUKKAL
Happy new year ....may this year bring u all success and happiness and good health and blah blah blah...
A small History: It is believed that Brahma started creating the Universe today. Calculated according to the Lunar Calendar, Vishu and Ugadi also fall around the same time of the year. Chithirai massam is the first month of the year, extending from mid of april to mid-may.
Each year has a name(like in chinese system)- I dont know what this year is called though.
Lets wish for something in addition to our personal list - something like rain for Tamizh nadu...Miraculous consensus in Cauvery Issue...stability in Srilanka...a people-oriented and successful governance...or anything else you can think of.
(chami exits)

2004-04-08T20:54:00.000+08:00

AND FINALLY...
NTU's NIE tennis courts have floodlights up and working at last!! So wini and div, there is no excuse to not playing here henceforth :).
and so sushil..we can play late nite asso henceforth.

2004-04-07T18:46:00.000+08:00

INDIA WHINING!
Yes, we did it once and we do it again- Indians with their uncanny ability to dig out disaster - like the US airports weed out the asians from the tons of people flying in each day. Like they say "it happens only in india". They gave us a pitch that wud have passed for anything next to the Savannahs.
We gave the pitch its due respect, as played carefully to ensure the nature of pitch isnt mistaken to be remotely bastman friendly(the poor curators have been working hard growing grass on this pitch since day2 of multan test-ensuring no cow or underfed malnourished regular pakistani citizen fed on it). After we successfully managed to restrict ourselves to lesser than what just our opener managed in the previous test, the Pakistani batsmen just had to spoil the trend-thanx to their inability to lose quick wickets(even with inzi on their side). Our bowlers bowled so well- even Gul had to kick the stumps to exit.
2nd innings...and we again take it upon us to teach the pakistanis how things work at the middle. Anyone who needs to see chopra's batting needs to sacrifice slipping for tea during innings break, because his innings practically ends with it. Next lesson for Inzi(u can pull out a runout if the bowlers seem uninterested in taking wickets)-and finally paki fielders realise they need to throw at the stumps, not the batsmen or the random audience sitting on the stand shouting Aalu..Aalu.
Sehwag, the indiscipled brat is scoring away like its his backyard on one end. Dravid, seeing this as a serious threat to the score card sends message to sachin, and our bigboy is back for an lbw. In comes laxman, lasts for just a bit longer than my usual breaks from office to canA. So between two of my canteen breaks, its Yuvraj oredi.
Can I assuredly say-we are doomed for this test!
Or as we say it ...India die redi! match tapau oredi
Am I getting a taste of the mood/feeling across the border during 1st test.
Added to it, the fact that our captain finds his place on the team under jeopardy-all in a matter of weeks time. He might conveniently kick out chopra, act like there are no ramesh's and gambhir's waiting for the slot and slide in. He wouldnt have any other choice, more so if yuvraj does some more sensible batting in this second innings too.

On a totally different note, I watch Udhaya couple of days bak-ohh wat a pure delight! Just when i needed it, such an inspirational movie on physics for an engg. student like me. The movie has our hero, vijay, who is MSc. in atomic physics. The dude finds a bomb called RDY-successfully carries out a "controlled nuclear fission"-(to find a bomb which will be used for blasting rocks in quarries). Mr. Villian misuses it to blast off a train...and then how things complicate for the hero and how he comes out of it all is the rest of the story.
Suggestion: must watch when in group or drunk-absolutely hilarious under those circumstances.
(chami exits)

2004-04-06T18:29:00.000+08:00

...Fills the air...
Its musical extravaganza here in Singapore from the 2nd to 10th April-some of the biggest names in Indian classical music circuit feature in the itinerary.
2nd april: Pandit Shivkumar Sharma-Santoor. Santoor isnt one of the old classical instruments. Infact, I entered classical arena only in 1955 with the first stage classical show by Pundit Shivkumar Sharma, when he was 17.
Santoor is the oldest string instrument in india and means 'hundred strains' (persian word). The wandering musicians and gypsies carried this instrument to europe and asia, where it has given rise to several modified versions today. The Chinese version has 45 strings, the German version-135. Pandit Shivkumar Sharma's instrument has 29 bridges with 3 strings in each. Originally, this instrument was played only in the hilly regions of Kashmir till Pundit Uma Dutt Sharma(Shivkumar's father) realised its potential as classical instrument. so much about the instrument....
Shivkumar sharma played 2 pieces on that day-each one abount an hour long, including Aalapana, with his son playing the santoor too and a tabla to accompany. The first one was in raaga Kalavani(not same as carnatic kalavani) followed by a folk tune.
I still got 2 major concerts -really looking forward to both- One is Ravikiran-Viswamohan Bhatt jugulbandhi. Chitravina N Ravikiran is known to all- the child prodigy who took the stage at an age of 2 identifying raagas and thaalas and giving a 3 hr vocal concert when he was 5. Viswa Mohan Bhatt, the grammy award winner will play the Mohan veena along with ravikiran on the 9th.
This is followed by the meastro, one of my all-time favorites- Mandolin U.Srinivas, the first person to use mandolin in carnatic music.

(chami exits)

2004-04-06T17:24:00.000+08:00

I am Sam....sami..chaami...well-watever!
this my blog- say hi to my blog.
What you will find here in the days to come will cover a wide range of topics, not meaning I know all that. For one, I cant think of one thing for more than few mins. and second, the rate at which some crap flushes out another and floods my mind is unbelievable. A bit of sense through discussions on music,science,politics and after i get a full grip of it,economics too.. will be mixed with a lot of crap like how it feels to inhale helium, how to get free pizzas from Canadian, passive drinking and the social messages delivered in TR movies. As always, u will find a lot of movies and music review.
Aaah! feels better, now tat i have listed so many topics...was wondering couple of mins back as to how I am gonna fill up this page.
And yea! the speech..the speech....ok..I would like to thank all those who have been with me throughout this gruelling process of getting this page up and working-this ancient P2(blessed with 128MBram), my brilliant company(for giving me so much time to kill)...divya manian for practically setting up this page..and u for reading this and more tats to come...thank you all....
(chami exits)

2004-04-06T15:53:00.000+08:00

And the Journey begins....