Dk's Passions

Fate - As we call it

2011-07-21T21:56:00.000-07:00

A routine set of events happening in my life have raised a lot of questions inside me and most times I myself try to give a justified answer to it. I succeed few times, but fail most of the times. You wake up every morning, drive to office and on the way in a busy signal see people asking for money. You ignore them 97 out of 100 times assuming they are not genuine, as in are victims of a trafficking mafia or the fact that they shouldn't be begging given their physique. You reach office, give you car keys to the guy who does the valet parking, which you know for sure is one of the most difficult jobs given the space and the number of cars. You see a lot other employees not treating him with the respect he deserves. You think about it for a few moments and then you are off to your workplace.

You take a tea break, and when you are having tea outside your office premises, you see a family of four with two children asking for money, or at least some food for the kids to eat. You think of helping them, but most often than not you do not help. It pricks your heart for few seconds. But then you are off with your work. If it is a lucky day, you leave office early. You reach home, sit in the balcony and have a cup of tea. You watch children in your apartment play. You see two groups of children playing. One group, belonging to the children of the flat owners and tenants and the other group, consisting of the children of the domestic helps. And when one of the latter tries to communicate with one of the former, a housewife from the second floor balcony shouts asking the former to keep away from the latter. You want to throw the tea along with the cup directly on the face of the lady who is shouting. Instead you watch, just watch like a dumb man who can not speak even if he wants to.

I can keep adding events after events happening in front of us everyday. But what is the point?
The point is, what right do I have to earn more than what my father is earning in my first job just after college? A boy born on the same date as mine but to a father who is a lorry driver would be lifting bricks in a construction site now. Money speaks more than words, I agree. But what is more important than money is the mutual respect between human beings irrespective of money. It is very easy to call the situation of the boy I mentioned above is due to fate. But is it really fate or is it known as fate but in truth is human intolerance to responding to other humans needs as they would respond to their family's needs?

Respect comes with money and if you are the money provider, you never need to respect anyone. A very simple example is how we treat our domestic helps. For a fact, we know, our day will halt if they are not IN on that day. They are so essential to us, they drive the whole day for us by completing all "maintenance and ops" allowing us to concentrate only on "development". But what is our mentality towards them? We bargain with them even for INR 50, but we would not mind paying the same amount as convenience charge for booking 3 tickets on bookmyshow. Why? Because bookmyshow is not dependent on you, but the helper is. The most important factor that we forget is INR 50 is something huge for the helper and it is not something huge for you. The downsides are of their erratic behaviour, using foul language, not doing work properly and stealing/theft etc. If we, in a so called civilized society, have no sense of mutual respect and dignity towards a fellow human being, how can we expect a poor helper to be civilized?

We read articles and watch news about atrocities in villages being committed against human kind. We feel bad about it, we crib them, we call them uncivilized. Do we think for a moment whether we are civilized? Civilization is directly proportional to the amount of respect and proudness one is able to feel and is made felt by others on whatever work someone does. If someone is collecting garbage from your house, he is helping you clean your house. He deserves respect for that, we can not treat him like garbage. Another instance that comes to my mind is when I was driving my car and there was a road crossing. I slowly stopped the vehicle. And a small girl crossed the road whose mother was on the other side and a domestic help, a small girl in her teens, was along with the young girl. There was zero chances of any accident. The domestic help saw the vehicle stop and then let the small girl cross the road. Soon after this happened, the mother slapped the domestic help in public scolding her for not taking care of the girl while she was crossing the road. I agree she is concerned, but would she slap if the girl was her husbands sister or her sister or her sisters friend? This is what I can fearlessly call modern slavery. What right does someone have to beat up a young girl in public when she should have actually made her go to school?

I frankly do not have much idea about what I am exactly trying to project and I don't have a theory and I don't think I am talking wholly about communism as communism is huge and to understand what it is you have to be well read about it. The word sends fear across the cash rich middle and rich classes and I can openly admit I too do not want to get deeper into the word as I fear I may end up hurting my close loved ones. I wanted to express what I felt very vaguely and I would not mind if this post is never read. All it will do is motivate me to be respectful with fellow human beings of this world irrespective of anything else other than the fact that they are no different from me. The current generation of people who are in mid 20's and early 30's are more inclined to this and hence the change is pretty evident.
I myself, am a selfish human being who can just write some crap and actually can not do much to influence others. I am not helpless, I am just selfish to put it plainly.
Bare minimum, if not with adults, I would dream to see a day when all children in a gated community happily play together irrespective of who their parents are.

Deiva Thirumagal Review

2011-07-17T21:36:00.000-07:00

This is one of the best movies I have ever watched till date. I have this feeling of greatness when I walk out of a theatre from an emotional movie without shedding tears. I have cried lastly after watching Nayagan when I was 51/2 years old in DD in Pune. I have not cried after that in a theatre. I even escaped crying for 'Tare Zameen Par' as it was controllable for me. But Deiva Thirumagal was too emotional and I felt audience would not do justice if they do not shed atleast a tear drop watching this movie.

The heart of the movie is in a village called Avalanche near Ooty. Art direction and cinematography make it look like a village in Switzerland, hats off for that. And how much ever I talk about Vikram, it would not be enough. Krishna, the character played by him is so likeable that you just go nuts watching him on screen. Nila, played by Sara, is cute, beautiful and so admirable. I was thinking of Vishal bagging an award for Avan Ivan for his performance, but truly what Vikaram has done here will put a huge question mark on whether the former would be possible. Even Vishal would agree to that.

The other characters who hold the script together have been penned down so well that you don't feel irritated even with a single one of them. Anushka, Amala Paul, Bhaskar, his wife, Vikrams friends have all done an extra ordinary job. Santhanam, is his usual and fits in so well to make us laugh. The tea-coffee scene and the hotel room door knocking scene are worth mentioning. GV Parakash Kumar started to haunt me slowly and after the final court scene, moments before the father and daughter hug, a small bit of the BGM just sweeps you away. The innocence in "Kadha solla poren" song is so realistic that you never want that song to end.

Excluding the climax, the other scenes that just blew me away were the scene where Vikram and his friends buy shoes for Sara, the scene when the boy kisses Vikram after the poetry competition and the scene where Sara for the first time says Appa.

Director Vijay has given his best work till date. Adaptation from 'I am Sam' does not make me write this script off. Population of TN is around 10 crore and not everyone would love to watch 'I am Sam'. What Vijay has done is made everyone go back and call up their relatives and ask them to watch this movie. We, in the theatre gave him a standing ovation, I am sure everyone would have clapped after the movie.

Deiva Thirumagal is a feel good, emotional entertainer that would sweep you away and if you had forced someone to come with you to the theatre, I can definitely bet that someone would have thanked you for doing so.

Engaged!!!

2011-03-01T04:14:00.000-08:00

Srihari alias "Vadai" alias "Mr Responsible Number 1" alias "One of my close friends" got engaged on 27th Feb 2011 to Janani Ramakrishnan (we will add aliases for her once we start knowing her) in Coimbatore. The couple, food, mandapam and our short stay in Coimbatore was awesome, one because obviously, there was a function and two because we got to eat in some of our favorite restaurants and thattu kadais in the city.

Congrats to the couple.

Nadunisi Naigal - Movie Review

2011-02-23T21:46:00.000-08:00

First of all, Gowtham Menon has to be appreciated for taking a new effort of movie making without BGM and just sound effetcs. How? By reading about the movie, its storyline, camera work etc, but never by watching it. After a very long time (I think in 2002 while watching Kadhalil Azhivadihllai), I felt that a one hour forty minute movie looked like a three hour movie.
I recomend everybody to not even thinking of watching this movie, not because it is boring but because it is irritating. The Apt title would have been "Verupethum Naigal" (Irrirating Dogs), that was what everyone associated on and off screen were doing. And because none of you are planning to watch the movie, I would give a small jist of the story line.

Samar is an eight year old kid whose mother is dead and whose father abuses him sexually. Their neighbour Meenakshi saves the kid and adopts him becoming his gaurdian. She names him Veera. He starts falling in love with her and one day his old memories gets back to him and he rapes her. She gets dejected and decides to marry an old friend of hers though forgiving Veera. After the marriage, Veera kills her husband and in that chaos, fire breaks out severely injuring Meenakshi, who is saved. Meenakshi is in hospital for eight months, gets discharged, gives a statement that her husband was the reason for all this, transfers all her wealth to Veera and they move to Chennai. Veera keeps killing women, Meenakshi insists him to do so and they collect their hair. Finally, it is reveiled that Meenakshi is actually dead and Veera becomes Samar sometimes and thinks Meenakshi is alive. He is sent to a hospital for treatment. Sameera is one of the girls in the whole story.

Negatives are very bad screenply, very painful story and to the core irritating sound. Even if a real life Veera watches this movie, he will get irritated. Positives are above average acting by everyone and camera work. Please do not watch this movie, wait for a week and it will be out of theatres. My irritation reached the limits when Menon tried to convery a message in the end.
Can this be comparable to the classic "Sivappu Rojakkal"? Never ever.

Verdict: "Meenakshi ammaa. Dhaivu seidhu theatre lendhu velila poidunga ammaa".

The night

2011-02-20T22:47:00.000-08:00

The night was getting darker, just a gleam of light produced by ITO. Tempers were raising up and lowering down. One body, one heart, one sound and one silence. This wasn't a dream, am I sure?, but was it reality? I was not sure either. "What was my dinner last night?", I thought. A multi grain bread with paneer stuffing in Subway. But why was I eating in Subway in the first place. That is because I was in a mall. What mall? Why in a mall? "I am wasting time thinking of crap", I thought.

Why is it dark still? Is the night longer than 12 hours? Am I in Norway experiencing the polar night? I was not able to handle any more unanswerable questions. WAKE UP!!! I shouted to myself. This has to be a dream. Why should this be a dream? Aaargh, another question. I can not tolerate this anymore. Wait a second, Am I breathing?

I have to find the answer to this question. Yes I am breathing. Phew, what a relief. But, why am I breathing with my mouth and not nose? Please, this is torture, please never ever ask any more questions that have no answers. Think, think hard, real hard. This is the last question you may have to answer. Am I in water using oxygen cylinder and hence breathing through mouth. No. It is dark and me being inside water is irrelevant.

Let me go back to the mall. It seems to have some relevance. Before dinner, I am at Cream Stone, eating a 140 buck "Death By Chocolate" all by myself. Would any fool eat this all by himself? Why not? Ahchoo!!! The sneeze made me come back to my senses. It is 3 PM in the evening of a Monday. My laptop is nearby, screen saver running. My head is heavy, and I was relieved to realize this was all just the after effects of "Benadryl" and 2 dose of "Cold Acts". Would I ever catch up some sleep anymore today? I was again not sure. Your conscience is crazy, it creates magic. But how much of the magic someone can actually remember? Can you answer this?

Get together in "The Andamans" - Volume 3

2011-02-04T23:59:00.000-08:00

Chapter 9 : "Adieu Havelock" and Sun Sea
Date : 28th Jan 2011
Day : 4
Sunrise is not a big friend of Radha Nagar beach as it is located in the west side of Havelock and the Sun has to come out of the woods containing very tall trees. So, we decided to give it a miss. Breakfast menu, that too complimentary one, all over Havelock is quite similar, but Barefoot's was definitely tastier. We took a set of group pics near the beach jumping in air and rest was taken care by Vijesh and Arun Raag. We checked out of the hotel at around 11 AM and booked a cab back to Havelock jetty. The return journey to Port Blair was quite boring and everybody slept. Arun Raag and Srihari were the only ones to check out the deck and the news was the sea was very rough and thus contributed to a lot of folks puking that day. For the record, none of us did.

We reached Port Blair at 4:30 PM and checked in Sun Sea Resort. I don't know why they gave this name as it was not a resort and the word "Sun Sea" had no relevance to the ambiance or location. But the hotel was in the heart of the city and very easily accessible. We decided to catch up the sound and light show in the cellular jail which was at 6:30 PM and luckily on just Fridays, the 6:30 PM show was in English to help everyone understand the show. The jail was around 3/4th of a km from the hotel and we took auto's to reach the place. Sound and light show was good, not excellent. Arun Raag was the highlight when he kept looking at me on the right and Santy on the left, every time they played a Hindi patriotic song. After 2-3 songs, he started guessing the timing of the song and said, "Paatu poda poraanga da, ayyo." Overall, I would say, the show was not bad. We walked back to the hotel room and had dinner on the way in a Pure Veg restaurant called Annapurna. Dosa's, Poori's and different varieties of idlis were served. Highlight was tomato soup, which tasted like 'sweet puliyankottai'(tamarind seed) and lemon fried idli which was supposed to be shared by two, but they advertised enormously to get rid of it by calling it tasty and asking others to taste.

Chapter 10 : Jolly Bouy and Kaalapaani

While having dinner, we had a voting session on which place to visit on the next day, Baratang or Jolly Buoy island. Baratang was around 135kms drive and required us to wake up by 4AM. Initial votes were very less for Baratang and then, after some convincing and under the table dealings, we had majority. Santy and Abi were very clear on their stance and they voted for Jolly Buoy. Luckily for them, Baratang tickets were sold out and we had to go to Jolly Bouy.

Day : 5
Date : 29th Jan 2010
We got ready by 7:30 and had buffet breakfast in Sun Sea; dosa, vada and toast. It was quite filling. Chinnaya, our cab driver was on time. He promised us that if we were back from Jolly Bouy boat before 3PM, he would drop us in Cellular Jail on time as the entry was restricted after 4PM. Jolly Bouy is around 30 kms from Port Blair and is a plastic free zone. We required permits and no one was allowed to stay back. We bought some bread and snacks for lunch since no food would be available there. We reached the entry point at 9AM and out boat started at 9:30AM. On the way, we played a very good game, which I would name as, "Kannu Adi Kandu Pudi", suggested by the Vijesh Abi couple. Again for rules, contact me offline. The game was hilarious and when we were done, we reached Jolly Buoy.

Jolly Buoy is famous for Snorkeling and corals. It is a INR 500 package that includes one snorkeling and one glass boat ride. The water was so clear that when a glass is the base for a boat, from the top we could see the sea life. Most of us went for snorkeling. The scuba certificate holder in Vijesh and Shruthi cautiously avoided it after trying out once or twice. I would rate the snorkeling experience from the perspective of how much marine life I saw as slightly better the the scuba one though the island is the one that makes the difference. We paid INR 200 extra for more snorkeling and me and Santy went twice for the paid one. When I returned, I heard a new tourist attraction had come up suddenly in the last 2 hours in Jolly Bouy. I came running to see what it was and what I saw there was that a Tamil guy was discussing the architecture of the castle built by our girls. It was good work by Shruthi and Aparna and while we were leaving back in the boat, we could see everyone taking snaps of it(no, not mana brandi, its true).

We were on time for the jail entry. The jail, called as kaala paani, was historic and the events were painful. A must see place, if you are in Port Blair. We hired two guides, one who speaks Hindi and the other, named Arun DK, who would translate the Hindi into Tamil. The guide morally cheated me by not giving any commission, but was forgiven. And for this act, the banyan tree saluted me. Why not, it has smelt the aroma of forgiveness for the first time in history inside the jail premises. I humbly bowed. We left the jail and split ourselves while walking back to the hotel.

After reaching the hotel, we decided to shop in a nearby gift store. Srihari, who was blossoming with the butterfly effect, desperately wanted to do shopping, not for him of course, and Abi and Shruthi helped him out. They spent around an hour in the shop without knowing the shopkeeper was a high BP patient. Srihari, with his bargaining skills made him reach the threshold and he started scolding everybody around. Me, Santy, Arun Raag and Gopal has gone to another shop and 3 of us got a tshirt which was very useful the next day photo shoot. When we came back, we watched the drama in the shop. It was very hilarious from a distance. Once the shop keeper cooled down and said one item cost INR 370, Srihari again asked, "350?". The shopkeeper lost his control again and when Vijesh asked if some item was unbreakable, he started throwing it away proving that it was indeed unbreakable. Somehow, they managed to pay the bill and come out of the shop. Dinner was good in Sun sea and we guys(only guys) spent some together after dinner.

Chapter 11 : A photo shoot called Ross
Day : 6
Date : 30th Jan 2011

We had our flight scheduled at 12:45 PM so all we could afford to do was start early and visit Ross island, the British headquarters in the Andamans. We finished breakfast, checked out from the rooms, kept the luggage in the reception and were off to Ross, just a km from the hotel in auto. After reaching there and purchasing the tickets, me and Shruthi had to go back to the hotel so see if, "where Shruthi thought her camera was" and "where it was truly" matched or not. God is great, it matched, and God is double great, the camera was not there in the store where we shopped yesterday. Ross island is a beautiful place, with ruins of the British colony. Ideal place for photo shoot and would we miss it. We took around 400 pictures if I am not wrong and every picture in that place has come up great. The place is famous for film shooting and the picture on the right side is the ruined church where "Kaaka Kaaka" movies "Uyirin Uyire" song was shot. Unfortunately we could not spend much time there and came back to catch the return ferry where Chinnaiya was waiting for us in a cab. We did not waste time, took the luggage and were off to airport.

Flight was on time. And we were exactly on time. On our return journey, we again had some very ok tasting dish(name was not worth remembering) in the flight. We were in Chennai at 2:45, collected the baggage at 3 and paid adieu to each other at 3:15. The trip is over; phew, what a trip, more than the place, the togetherness was what made it so special. Ran away fast, but not very fast too. Perfect number of days for a perfect holiday, one or two more would have been good too but not a second less.

I was sitting in the flight back to Hyderabad and remembered Srihari's email. As I said earlier, the email was worth millions, but the trip was priceless...

While I am penning down the last words of this post, I am watching a song from the movie "Samurai" in Sun Music, the movie for which we went together for the first time in July 2002. The journey has continued till now and I strongly hope it does continue forever.

Get together in "The Andamans" - Volume 2

2011-02-01T22:27:00.000-08:00

PS: This is lengthy as I want this to remain as something we could recollect when read after a while.

Chapter 6 : The Arrival
Day : 1
Date : 25th Jan 2011
It was around 10:45 AM and we were in mid air, most of us cursing Mr, sorry Dr Mallya for looting Rs 200 for a worth for nothing breakfast which we assumed initially was for free. I would like to let people who are reading know that my travelogue would always have huge contributions towards the stuff we ate, so please forgive me for the same. 3-4 cola bottle cap sized idli's soaked in sambar, 1/6th of a masala dosa and some fruits for just INR 200. Gopal's concern that we would always require snacks to eat during the trip was rightly experienced as we opened one pack of manoharam (muruku soaked in jaggery and rolled like laddus) and thatai in the flight which we purchased from Grand Sweets, Adyar.

Flight landed on time, Arun Raag asked a wonderful question, "Ask in which belt the baggage's would arrive?". In an Airport that had around 6 flights operating per day, having an automated belt itself was a luxury. Our agent Ashraf had informed someone would be waiting for us with a hoarding. Yes, there was someone and the hoarding read "Welcome Mr NK Arun". He was revolutionary, providing a guy his wife's initials after marriage, the first person to do it in the history of mankind transforming Arun DK with NK Shruthi's initials. His name was Anil and he seemed quite friendly. He was a mallu and when I wanted to intervene and showcase my expertise in Malayalam, he revealed he spoke good Tamil. I was shattered.

We purchased some bananas, boarded the ferry to Havelock Islands which was scheduled at 2PM. Ferry journey was quite boring except for the bananas and snacks and the fact that we had "Ace" photographers in Vijesh, Arun Raag, Srihari(to encourage him) and Shruthi(so that I don't face any consequences).
We enjoyed the photography sessions and then killed time playing UNO in the deck. It was 4:30 PM and Hevelock Islands welcomed us. Our pickup was ready in place by the Wild Orchid resort where we planned to stay located at beach no 5. We had some issues regarding rooms as the allocation was split into 2 rooms each at a distance of around 50 meters. Sun sets in the Andamans at 5:30, so we knew all we could do would be do have food and sleep.
Food was good. I saw a lobster dish for the first time after watching it in Mr Beans holiday ordered by the non veggies. We had Roti's, Briyani's, Rice, Dal and the special item of the day, roasted papad. During dinner we decided we would check out Scuba diving and inquire about the same. Day one was coming to an end.

Chapter 7 : Bikes and Vijaynagar
Day : 2
Date : 26th Jan 2011
I woke up at 6, got ready at around 6:45 and started calling the other folks. Me, Shruthi, Gopal and Aparna had tea in the neighboring restaurant. Always remember, in Havelock, just tea means green tea, not the milk tea. And if the tea is flavoured with tulasi, ginger or honey, it is definitely green tea. We inquired about scuba diving near the restaurant in an institute called Andaman Bubbles. Everyone else joined for the complimentary breakfast in Wild Orchid. Breakfast was good. Toasts, parathas and the highlight was banana pan cakes. Please never ever order pan cackes for breakfast in Wild Orchid resort, Havelock. Any guesses on who would have ordered it and who eventually liked it and finished it? Gopal and his wife respectively of course.

After breakfast we planned to check out two things. One was regarding Scuba diving in an institute called Barefoot scuba located at beach no 3 and two was to rent bikes. Me, Santy and Arun Raag took right from the resort towards Barefoot Scuba. It was supposed to be a 5 minute walk. Please note, never ever ask this question, "How much time will it take to reach that place?". Always ask, "how many kilometers that place is located from here?". We kept walking and walking and walking and after 10 minutes asked another shopkeeper who said, "5 minutes". And as we were leaving, I think he got some sense of telepathy from our pissed off faces that he called us back and said, "3 minutes, not 5". We reached Barefoot Scuba in next 10 minutes, inquired rates and were back in auto. Meanwhile, two other things happened. One, as I already mentioned, Srihari and Gopal took left from the resort to check out bike rentals. We rented 4 bikes, 2 Activa's and 2 geared bikes. We planned to rent another bike somewhere else as this shop had only 4 bikes available and we were 9 folks. Two, as we requested we were all shifted to the same block and we were no more having the 50 meter gap we had yesterday. Arun Raag said he would not join us in the bike ride and would spend time in the beach. When everyone were getting ready, Santy and Srihari collected cash and headed towards Barefoot Scuba to book scuba diving on the next day.

We started from Wild Orchid at around 12:15PM in our bikes to beach no 7 which was located at around 15 kilo meters. The journey was enjoyable and before that we also checked the counter to booked return ferry tickets. It was lunch break in the counter and we were getting hungry. Even the bikes sounded hungry when we reached beach no 7 in next half hour. We were not sure of making it back with just one liter of petrol we had filled in each bike; we had earlier neglected Gopal's warning that the quantity would not suffice. We had lunch in a small mess. INR 50 for a thali which served rice, dhal, soya curry, potato fry and appalam. Charges for Roti was extra and we had them too. I should say, for the money we paid, the food was excellent.
The afternoon and evening were spent in beach no 7 and 5 respectively. We somehow reached with the same amount of petrol. Beach no 5 was called the Vijayanagar beach and our resort was located there. We took some amazing snaps in the beach, thanks to the photographers again. We played the double passing ball game here. For rules, please contact me offline.

The moment we saw roasted papad in today's special menu, we decided we should be eating outside given that we still had the bikes. For future travelers, bike rental is INR 250 for 24 hours with INR 1000 as deposit. We had dinner in a restaurant of Symphony Palms resort located at beach no 3. This time I will skip the list of items we ate as it was more or less the same. During dinner we played a game that has to be the part of every trip, Dumb C. Highlight was "Letters from Iwo Jima" which was written in text and given for enacting by Abi and no one knew until she revealed Iwo is pronounced as "Aiyyo". We went to bed early that day after returning the bikes as we planned to catch up the sun rise and get ready mentally for scuba diving.

Chapter 8 : PADI and Radhanagar
Day : 3
Date : 27th Jan 2011
Sunrise at Vijayanagar beach was fascinating. The moment it looked like it would disappoint, a reddish ball of beauty kept rising and we were overjoyed. Again, great pics. Vijesh got himself a Polish friend; Abi, be careful. For breakfast everyone had toast, Gopal and Shruthi wanted corn flakes eventually eaten by Aparna. Yes, both of theirs, after they complained lack of taste and had the anger of getting served with cold milk. We left the luggage in Wild Orchid reception before breakfast. We reached Barefoot Scuba, like Vadivelu says, "Ellaru kannuleyum kalavaram therinjudhu", as scuba diving was no child's play. We signed documents, where I read almost in 10 places the word "death", somehow took courage and managed to sign.

Scuba diving is an interesting and fascinating learning experience. Please do not miss this even though it costs you INR 3000-4000. And to sustain the suspense and thrill, I would not elaborate at all on the experience of a lifetime I had. I finished my session and was out of water to see a guy, a friend of mine, wearing a yellow tshirt, sitting as if somebody has offered him a banana leaf south Indian meals. His name is Gopal and he was enjoying the beauty of the island and the calmness of the sea. Of course, like everyone else, he got the certificate from PADI(Professional Association of Diving Instructors). To be fair, he did what he required to do to get a certificate. We were served pasta in the boat and we headed back to check-in Barefoot at Havelock resort.

Beach No 7 is called the Radha Nagar beach and the only private resort available is Barefoot. Awesome place, location and mesmerizing beauty. We reached the resort at around 2:30 PM. We came back for lunch and snacks. Food was awesome, Avarakai poriyal was the highlight. Evening was spent in the beach. Radha nagar is the most exotic beach I have ever visited till date. My fingers are paining while I mention this again, but the photographers did not feel any pain in their fingers. Snaps were super good. After the beach session, we had an amazing and hilarious time during dinner and then we were off to bed. Oh, I forgot, we had another time pass friend, his name is "Talking Tom", he just used to repeat whatever we said. Thanks to Arun Raag and his phone.

I was sitting in my rooms veranda before dinner with my wife thinking of the fact that we would be checking out tomorrow and would be leaving this beautiful island. But somehow, the amount of fun and happiness I was carrying in my heart didn't make me feel bad, it rather just made me look great. After completing college four years ago, after some of us got married, and after settling down in different cities, we still managed to do this. No words. Get ready Cellular Jail, I will meet you by dusk tomorrow and you will really feel like you got an old prisoner back and almost goodbye Havelock.

Get together in "The Andamans" - Volume 1

2011-01-31T23:34:00.000-08:00

I wanted to do some research with my English before writing this one but could not hold the excitement and hence writing it sooner than I intended to write.

Chapter 1 : The initiator
Date : 21st September 2009
I was overjoyed to receive an email from Srihari at 7:24 AM. It made me very happy to even think of the fact that we would get a chance to spend time together.

Guys,
When was the last time where ALL of us shared funny incidents of college that tickled our bones??? I can't remember anything very recent. It's time to bring back the the moments and joy to be fresh in our memories, so lets plan for a something Grand...
This will be NOT be the routine get-together, Will NOT be the regular meet, but we are going to make it big and special.
To the plan a Grand get-together, you guys should be send me your available dates.
My suggestion is last week of December, either the weekend ending Christmas or the New Year. I know there are married, going to get married, out here. So we will need to plan that will be convenient for all of us to spent some valuable time together.
We need suggestions on the place and I will take responsibility of planing the get-together.
The get-together will only become GRAND if there is maximum participation
-Srihari

Subsequent threads followed up and we narrowed down on the place, Andaman and the date, 26th Jan weekend. We knew we would miss the company of Dams, Sethu who opted out and Karthik who was in UK. Truly, the content and timing of the email was worth millions.

Chapter 2: Didn't your mother tell you - PLANNING
Date : 30th October 2010
We had too many discussions on the flight we should be catching and finally on this date Gopal booked the flight tickets, came up to around 95k for 9 folks.
Date : 26th October 2010
Meanwhile, Santy took the lead on checking out the places we should visit. He did a huge amount of research with the list of hotels and locations and shared the same. He sent his proposals with the complete itinerary. It was very helpful in planning. Hotel bookings were done well in ADVANCE, which proved to be highly useful as we ended up having a no tension holiday.

Chapter 3 : The Folks
Me, Shruthi, Srihari, Gopal, Aparna, Santhosh were all in in the first call. Arun Raag had to attend his mothers retirement function in Ooty the very next week but he was in. And our Suryavamsam Sarath Kumar had to wait on the confirmation dates of Devayani's exams. Somehow, even with these three slightly doubtful, they readily nodded in for booking of the tickets and hotels, which made it very easy for folks who were making the bookings.
Date: 11 Nov 2010
Vijesh and Abirami confirm their presence in the trip. Her exam dates did not conflict and to add to it, it ends just the week before the trip eventually giving her the required break.
So we were all set, close group of classmates with their family done with all the preparations for a trip to the Andaman Islands.

Chapter 4 : Shopping
Place : Hyderabad
Date : 25th October 2010 - 24th Jan 2011
I am not aware of shopping plans for other guys/girls, but trust me if I have to detail just the Hyderabad girls share in it, it would be lengthier than a Chetan Bagats book. They kept shopping and shopping and shopping. I stopped counting the number of footwear my wife was buying as it was difficult to remember the count. They would take us out saying they would buy something for us and all we learned to buy was patience. To be fair to them, we purchased one or max two items, in the span of 3 months. We landed in Chennai with our bags packed and assuming all shopping was done, but the Besant Nagar shopping ghost haunted us this time, the reason however was to get us beach shirts and of course, you would have guessed we did not get one.

Chapter 5 : Get Ready Folks
Date : 18 Jan 2011
Vijesh initiated the mail "A week to go". Objective was to plan, confirm, carry and not to forget.
We crossed checked and confirmed flights, hotels, ferry and prepared a list of stuff to bring, though not rigorously, but it helped. Gopals idea to bring a lot of munchies turned out to be quite useful.
Date : 25 Jan 2011
Time: 7:50 AM
Gopal and Aparna arrive at Chennai airport. I get a call. I call Santy and Arun Raag. Everyone is on the way.
Time : 8 AM
Me and Shruthi arrive. Gopal and me go the departure section, check the timings and grab some coffee.
Time : 8:20 AM
Everybody is in. Greetings are done. Some of us are meeting Abirami for the first time after their marriage and are yet to mingle with her.
Time : 9:15 AM
Flight is on schedule. We are on the bus to the flight. I am thinking of the next five great days we are going to spend together. I definitely knew on that day it would be great, but was hoping it would be, whats the word, Legendary.

Whats is in my mind on the last day of this decade.

2010-12-31T04:44:00.000-08:00

Life is a game, very typically, a game where you neither have a save option nor have more than one life(lives in a life). And memories are the only things that we like to cherish, can't reach there, but still heart rate increases, goosebumps spike up everytime you remember the best periods of your life.

And like everyone(high school to college to work to marriage) , the last decade has been the most eventful with respect to how much I can remember, how much I have learnt, how much good I have done and how much bad I have done. When I am alone, I sometimes try to sit back and think of the all these events, how childish I was on Dec 31st 2000, where I did not even want to think of all these. Time runs faster with age but your memories pause at so many places. In some places, you get happy and excited, in some places you heart becomes heavy and you want to press the undo button and redo it the better way so that your heart gets excited again.

Specific events I would always try to remember from this decade would include my DAV school life where I was transforming from a kid to something more than that, my rather phenomenal college life which comprises of the way I got in to the college, the fact that the first person I met and spoke to when I went for my college interview is my wife now, the relationships I share now with the close group of my college friends, the hostel life and many other numerous leaves I could pluck from my college life tree. I wil also remember the days I happyly spent with my cousin and Chennai friends. Life in a corporate needs no huge mentions, its been 4 years, its good, monotonous, cash ful and slightly independent. I would obviously remember this decade for my marriage which is one of the greatest things that has happened in my life.

Some incidents, people are never out of memories. The worst thing that happened to me this decade was the passing away of my two grandfathers. Its eventual to everyone, but when someone so dear to you is no more with you, it hurts a lot. I dream about them even today and I immediately wake up and then am never able to sleep for the night. It feels bitter to even think of the fact that the list will be additive, but do we have a choice?

Happy New Year 2011. Thank you 2000-2010 for giving me so much in life. You will always be remembered by me, always.

Who thinks he should be dropped?

2010-12-30T21:55:00.000-08:00

I am highly irritated with some of the comments in cricinfo asking Rahul Dravid to step down or asking team management to drop him after the second test in Durban. And from the comments, I can definitely say the people who commented do not enjoy or appreciate test cricket. I agree he is not in his best form, and has been short of runs in the last 4 innings. But, he has looked solid throughout. Except for the second innings dismissal where he got out playing a bad shot, he perished to gems of deliveries by Steyn and Morkel, something that we could definitely call the balls of the match. Even on the seaming and very quick track on the first day of the first test, he was the one who looked solid and was able to stay there without fear whereas the other batsmen like Gambhir and even Laxman were all over the place.

And not to forget, his match winning innings of 190+ against Kiwis just weeks before. Some could argue that they were not such a great team, but to be fair to them, they being ranked number 8 in the world drew twice against the number one team. And as a bowling unit, they were very good. Rahul Dravid played an innings of patience and with the great performance of our bowlers, we clinched the series.

In the third test, I hope he shuts the vocal chords and pen swords of ridiculous people who are suggesting him to be dropped and Laxman to move to number 3. I am rather amused with their lack of knowledge that they are talking about the best number 3 test batsman in the world along with Ponting. He may have been patchy from 2007 but he is not yet done. Most importantly, he is fitter than Raina, Gambhir or even Unadhkat for that matter and there could be no arguments with respect to this even for non supporters of him.

And yes, a huge congratulations to Rahul Dravid for reaching 12000 runs in test cricket and reaching it faster than Sachin and Ponting. And of course, congrats again for becoming the first man in history to take 200 catches in test cricket. And for the record, if some of you think he has reached this because he used to do wicket keeping, you are wrong again. He has taken all his catches as a non wicket keeper. Click here to check for yourselves.

The Wall has a point to prove in the third test and I hope he makes people realize again that Technique is Gold and Patience is King.

Va Quarter Cutting Review

2010-11-10T21:15:00.000-08:00

Directors: Pushkar and Gayathri
Cast: Shiva, SPB Charan, Lekha, John David

First of all, Va is no where close to the duo's Oram Po . Oram Po was a masterpiece. Va is just another movie.

The movie revolves around a simple concept. A guy who is going to board a flight to Saudi is informed by the agent that he would not be able to consume alcohol in Saudi. He has just one night left in Chennai before which he wants to fulfill his wish of drinking alcohol. His would-be brother-in-law helps him achieve his goal. When we movie starts we have a number of incidents taking place simultaneously and the creativity of the directors is tested in how they relate the characters involved in the incident by the end of the movie.

Positives:
1) Shivas one liners. They are very efficient and add a lot of value to the overall effort in making the audience sit in their seats. Otherwise the movie would have been very boring.
Some examples:
a) Commenting on Prince: "Ivaruku odambu edha seri illaya".
b) Commenting on Saro's mother: "Kozhuppa pathi ivanga pesaraanga".
c) Taking oath to vote for the politician: "Madha Pitha Guru Deyvam %$%$^$%^^^Devi Paradise!!! Kandippa vote ungaluku than".
2) Characterization of Charan, Prince, Saidapet SI and the "Suyetchei" politician.
3) BGM to some extent.
4) Lekha had nothing to do as Saro, but was cute. Not bad.

Negatives:
1) Songs choreography was pathetic. Very badly done.
2) Screenplay : With absolutely no story at all, the screenplay had to be very good, which was not the case. If Shiva was not there, people may have walked out during interval.
3) Climax: I thought the climax should have been even more twisted. It was ridiculous to see them boarding the lorry, which everyone would have anyways expected, and drink from there.
After seeing the directors creativity in Oram Po climax, I was expecting something like this:
Sura is not successful is fulfilling is goal for the night, says goodbye to Marthandam and Saro, boards the flight very unhappy only to learn that he is served alcohol in the flight itself. Such a climax would have been too good and would have added a lot of value to the movie.
Pushkar and Gayathri, please contact me for ideas in your next movie :-)

Overall, Va is average but definitely below expectations as the directors have set a benchmark in Oram Po and did not meet the same. But, definitely, good time pass movie which can be watched once.
Good luck to you guys for your next movie. We expect more from this pair of directors who have a completely different genre in mind.

VA Quarter Cutting

2010-09-06T04:23:00.000-07:00

They are one of the my favourite Tamizh directors and their first movie is in my all time top 10 list. Pushkar and Gayathri are coming up with a super movie called VA quarter cutting. The trailer is awesome, very differently made and the music too is very good. Every song in it has a intro song for 15 seconds.
Okay, now the point of writing this here to understand what VA means in the movies name.
I got this link from one of my fiends : http://tamilelibrary.org/teli/numeral.html
In thooya Tamizh, fractions are represented using alphabets and the alphabet வ(VA) represents 1/4, that is, quarter. I was impressed after hearing this. One of my favourite directors coming up with such a creative name. I am not very sure if that is the actual reason behind the name but I assume so.
Nevertheless, the moving will be officially named VA with quarter cutting as the caption and this would ensure tax exemption as the movie name is in Tamizh.
Tamizh cinema is reaching new heights from the past decade with very creative, native and technically sound directors coming up and in the same gang, we have a pair who concentrate on local Madras culture. KUDOS to them and I hope the movie crosses expectations.

Raavanan Movie Review

2010-06-23T02:15:00.000-07:00

To start with, I am a big Mani Ratnam fan. Expectations on this movie were sky high. It is not correct to call this movie disappointing, though I was disappointed to be honest.

Everyone knows the story, so I am not even going to talk about it. From a review point of view, I would like to list down the positives and negatives of the movie. Usually in a Mani movie, you have to search for negatives. Unfortunately, here they are right in front.

Positives:

Vikram : If he was not playing this role, forget about watching this movie. No wonder he has 2 national awards. Everything he does is good. Even the ' dum dum tap tap' whatever he says every now and then is brilliantly done. He is with no doubts the best in Tamizh cinema currently.
Cinematography : Best till date in a Tamizh movie. Mind blowing.
BGM : Many were saying it is not that great. But I loved it. Only one place where I did not like it is when a "kezhavi" sings Kattu Siriki during the fight between Veerayya and Raagini. I closed my ears.
Karthiks(Hanuman) role: This seemed very annoying for many, but I liked it very much. His characterization is amazing even with the monkey antics. He did a great job, that too in the scene when he meets Veerayya.
Some very specific scenes like Veerayyas proposal kind of scene to Raagini and the scene where Sarkarai and Dev meet and "usure pogudhey".

Negatives:

The biggest drawback in the movie and the biggest strength in all Mani movies till date are the dialogues. Sujatha being missed very badly here. Even one dialogue is not upto Mani's standard and hence does not stay in you mind and heart.
Dev's characterization: Mani has tried to project Veerayya as a guy who does not have just a bad side. In the process of doing that, Dev's character has been thrashed and instead of feeling bad for Veerayya in the climax, I felt irritated with the way it ended. When Vibeeshan(Sarkarai) could be killed by Dev which is a big twist, then why not a different ending. Of course, the counter argument would be the stupid media and other Hindu organizations who are wanting to get famous opposing this. But end of the movie, the feeling is not pity but irritation. This never happened in a Mani movie to me before.
Lack of bonding between relationships: Again very unlike Mani. First and foremost, between Veerayya and Ragini. Secondly between Veeraya and his brother Kumbakarnan. Thirdly between Dev and Hanuman and last but not least, between Dev and Raagini. Lack of simple and powerful dialogues contributed to this as well.
Priyamanis Flashback: Expect for the scene where Kumbakarnan carries a goat in his shoulders and jumps for ARRs tunes where I actually got goosebumps, the flashback does not stay in your heart. Ranjitha steals most of the flashback by appearing just below 15 seconds due to her "Nithya Leelaigal".
The worst scene for me in the movie was when Dev holds the cut off shoulders of Priyamani's husband and asks for Veerayya. It may have some significance, I am not sure, but it irritated me too much.

Overall, if you forget this is a Mani Ratnam movie and watch it, you would actually say its decent for the effort put in physically, visually and in the script. But for Mani Ratnam's standard, this movie will not be listed in his all time top 10. No way.

Kodu Potta - Raavanan

2010-05-06T05:36:00.000-07:00

Raavanan songs are out and my pic is Kodu Potta, especially for the lyrics.
This movie definitely does not seem to be a romantic flick based on Ramayana. There is sure shot some social elements like Naxalism in it and to cover it up, the genuis has come up with a Rama Ravana abstraction.

Kodu Potta Konnu Podu Lyrics . Thanks to Santy for this.

Kodu Poata.. Konnu Podu..Vaeli Poata.. Hey Vetti Podu..Nethuvaraikum Unga Sattam Innaikirunthu Enga SattamKodu Poata.. Konnu Podu..Vaeli Poata.. Hey Vetti Podu..Villa Pola Valanja KootamVaela Potta Nimirnthu Vittoam
Soathula Pangu Kaeta Aada Ellayapodu EllayaSoththula Pangu Kaeta, Aavan Thalaya Podu ThalayaOoraan Veetu Sattathukku Ooru Naadu MasiyathuMaegam Vanthu Saththam Potta Aagayamdaen KaekathuPaatan Bootan Boomiya Yaarum Patta Poda Koodathu
Hey Hey Hey Hey Hey Hey Hey Hey
Pamba Kooda Pazhagi Pasum Paala Oothum SaathiThappu Thanda Sencha, Aada Appa Theriyum SaethiKalli Kaatu Pullathaachi Kallapetha VeeranadaJalli Kaatu Madu Kizhicha Sariyum Kudalae MaalaiyadaSetha Kezhavan Ezhuthivecha Ootha Sothu Veeramada
Kodu Poata.. Konnu Podu..Vaeli Poata.. Hey Vetti Podu..
Hey Hey Hey Hey Hey Hey Hey Hey
Enga Kaathu Meensutta Vaasam AadikumEnga Thanni Eri Saarayam Poal OraikumVathi Pona Oosuroada Vaazhvaanae SamsariOru Sappathi Kalli Vaazha Vaenamae MummariEttukaani Pona Aada Evanum Ezha IllaMaanam Mattum Pona Nee Maika Naalae EzhaManaivi Maatha Mattum Illa Mannum Kooda MaanamthaanChiyaan Kaatta Thoandi PaathaSemman Oothu Rathamthaan
Ko Ko Ko Kodu Poata.. Konnu Podu..Vaeli Poata.. Hey Vetti Podu..Nethuvaraikum Unga Sattam Innaikirunthu Enga Sattam
Hey Hey Hey Hey..
Kodu Poata.. Hey Hey Hey.. Konnu Podu.. Hey Hey Hey..Vaeli Poata.. Hey Vetti Podu..
Nethuvaraikum Unga SattamNethuvaraikum Unga SattamNethuvaraikum Unga SattamInnaikirunthu Enga Sattam

LE-GE-AN-DARY

2010-02-22T03:41:00.000-08:00

This is the perfect word to hope and desire for an event of celebration that is going to commence.
And I was so proud of Mr X until 05/02/2010, whom I thought had coined this word. My respect grew for this guy after he coined it. It made absolute sense to coin this word for a party, dinner, sporting event, or for that matter even sleep. And it also drew me to a conclusion that reading new words and developing your vocabulary actually increases your command over a language by allowing you describe something with a word of such a simple stature :"LEGENDARY".

And on the above mentioned date, I realized a bigger fact. Watching a movie or a series in English is what is a more factual reason of great terms getting coined rather than improving vocab by learning new words.

A quote from HIMYM :

Barney: [at a party] Do you ever go behind the rope and touch it?

Employee at Liberty Bell Site: Only all the time.

Barney: Do you ever like, stick your head inside it?

Employee: Yeah.

Barney: Have you ever licked it?

Employee: Nope...I have never licked it.

Barney: I bet nobody in history has ever licked the Liberty Bell. If someone were to pull that off, I daresay it would be - what's the word? LEGENDARY.

PS: Guys who do not understand this post, please wait for the comment from Mr X.

A short holiday to God's own country

2010-02-08T21:08:00.000-08:00

4/2/10

After attending my friends wedding in Thanjavur about which I have described here, me and my wife were all set for the Kerala trip we had planned by catching Ernakulam Express from Trichy.

5/2/10

We reached Cochin at 6:15 AM and our driver Saneesh was waiting for us as we zoomed to Kumarakom, a village near Kottayam around 70 kms from Cochin. We were to check in into a house boat of Paradise Resorts in Kumarakom. The resort folks were kind enough to give us a room for freshening up as the check-in time was 12 PM, thanks to our travel agent Evergreen Huts.

I always tell my friends I do not want to go for a trip but a holiday, and this was the time for the realization of the difference between the two. Perfect holiday for two days.

The houseboat was luxurious with a big deck consisting of 4 sofa chairs, cushions sit out areas around the border, tea table, dining table and a Samsung LCD TV. It had a very good bedroom with attached bath and a common wash area. We of course had a kitchen and refrigerator. Our cook in the houseboat was Smidheesh and our driver was Mr. Baby. Both were very friendly and courteous.

We started to cruise to Azhapuzha which was 20 kms from Kumarakom at around 12:30 PM in the Vembanad Lake . The view, the breeze and feeling of blending with nature could not be described while we were traveling in the boat. We were served Elaneer plucked in front of us from a coconut tree. We stopped for lunch at around 2. Typical Kerala lunch consisting of Kerala rice, pulishery, muttai-gose poriyal, Sambar, pappadam, curd and fruit salad. The cruise continued and we reached Azhapuzha at around 5. My wife wanted to eat Pazhampori(Banana(Nendhra Pazham) sweet bajji) and Smidheesh purchased the fruit from a boat side shop. Just while crossing Azhapuzha, we had tea, french fries and Pazhampori.

We reached a village called Kalignagiri around 4 kms from Azhapuzha on the way to Kollam and we halted there. Mr Jayakumar, JK as we called him was a villager of Kalignagiri who offered us a ride in a small boat around the village canals. We rowed along with him to view the streets(canals) and it felt like we are in a place like Venice but with everything around so natural.
Reports from Jk suggested there were around 2 lakh people in and around the village and their main occupation was selling fishes and prawns. The place Kalignagiri became so close to my heart that I still miss the place. We came back to the houseboat at 7PM. Dinner consisted of Chapathi, paneer, vendakka fry, paruppu fry and rice. We saw two episodes of HIMYM and here is where I saw the "Legendary" episode about which I am planning to write in my next posts.

6/2/10

Sunrise was beautiful. We started our cruise back to Kumarakom at 8. On the way, we had our breakfast consisting of Aapam, stew, bread toast and tea. The return drive was a shortcut and we checked out at Abad Whispering Palms, the resort where we had planned to stay for this day at around 9:45 AM. We had a warm send off from Baby and Smidheesh.

Whispering Palms is one of the many resorts in Kumarakom where the notion is to just sit by the lake and relax. We had booked a lake view room and the view from our sit out area was too good. Every 2 minutes we saw some boat pass by, birds hunting for fishes; great relaxation. The resort had a infinity swimming pool giving the feeling that it is joining with the lake. I swam for around 30 minutes and we were off for the Ayurveda massage at 11 AM. Massage and the steam bath after that made sure we were very hungry. Lunch was good, though very little for vegetarians. We could not control sleep, I think was the massage effect and the next thing I remember is it was 5:45 PM.

We had Kalari demonstration at 7:30 PM. It was mind blowing. I remembered Dams, my friend who is going to this class in Bangalore when I saw the performances. After the event, we roamed around the resort taking pics and then was dinner time. And then what, another 3 episodes of HIMYM.

07/02/10
Nothing much to speak about on this day. Felt very bad I was going to leave this place. Especially was missing Kalignagiri very badly.

One thing to note was there is absolutely nothing go about and see here except for a bird sanctuary. You see so many birds in front of you and hence the need to go there does not run into your mind. I highly recommend this place for a 2-3 day holiday. Not for bachelors though, this is ideal for couples or families.

Finally, I realized why Kerala is called God's own country now and I repent the fact that I missed to see such a wonderful place which is so near to Chennai for so long.

Happy Married Life Vijesh and Abi

2010-02-07T21:05:00.001-08:00

This is in due return of respect to the guy who always made sure he posted his friend's marriage pics and description on his blog.

First of all, a very good location to have a wedding. Thanjavur was fabulous, enjoyed the stay and sight seeing there. Second of all, the location of the hotel room; it was bang opposite to the mandapam making it very easy for the ladies in pattu podavai to reach the mandapam. Third and most important of all, the food; both breakfast and lunch were delicious and filling. We actually, went past the mandapam to see if they are serving evening tiffin :) .

We booked a taxi to go to Trichy where we had a train to catch. Wonderful under construction roads made sure we ate station parcel food for dinner by dropping us just minutes before departure.

Happy Married Life to Vijesh and Abi. Will meet you guys sometime in Chennai.

Poomalai Vaangi Vanthar

2009-11-30T08:06:00.000-08:00

I was watching Airtel Super Singer Junior in Vijay TV when I heard a small boy sing this song. I could not resist myself to hit youtube and listen to the original. Songs like these would stay alive for centuries. I have listened to the song before, but somehow loving it very much now. Hats off to Ilayaraja and Yesudas.

Movie Name: Sindhu Bhairavi (1985)
Singer: Yesudas KJ
Music Director: Ilayaraja
Director: Balachander K

poo maalai vaangi vandhaar pookkalillaiyae
seviyillai innoru isaiyedharku vizhiyillai innoru villakkedharku
naalum naalum aval ninaivil ivan azhaghup

kaiyil kinnam pidiththuvittaan inikkinra vishaththukkul irangivittaan
raagam thaalam marandhuvittaan rasiganin kadidhaththaik kizhiththuvittaan
isaikkoru kuyilenru paereduththaan irumalaiththaaninru surampidiththaan
manidhargal iruppadhai marandhuvittaan maanaththin maanaththai vaangivittaan
boadhaiyin paadhaiyil poaginraan thanmughamae thaan marandhaan
soodavum thoalillai aalillai ivan azhaghup

naetru sabadhangal eduththuvittan kudikkinra koappaiyai udaiththuvittan
meendum aval mugham ninaiththuvittan sabadhaththai avan ingu udaiththuvittan
kadarkaraiyengum manalvelliyil kaadhali kaaladi thaedinaar
mohanam paadum vaelaiyilum sindhuvil raagam paadinaar
vidhiyenum oonjalil aadinaar ????

Here is the link : poomaalai
Meltdown to the tune.

Congrats Nikolay Davydenko

2009-11-29T20:46:00.000-08:00

Finally we have the winner of the prestigious world tour finals in London. And for every ones surprise, it is Nikolay Davydenko.

I have always seen him as a sore fighter who gives up if he loses a set. He has reached semis and finals of some grand slams and world tour finals, but he seemed to have missed the "something" factor. On his way to triumph, he defeated the 2009 Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon and US Open Champions in a single week. Another player whose name is worth mentioning is Robin Soderling, who made his finals debut due to the injury caused to Andy Roddick, but he proved to the world that he very much deserved a place in the top 8. Definitely, another surprise package of the tournament.

Rahul Dravid

2009-11-26T04:56:00.000-08:00

"The man who has till date made sure he gives enough confidence to his partner at the strikers end to go for his natural game feeling the optimism that even if things don't go well with him, there is a guy standing right opposite to him with a willow at a distance of 22 yards who would most often than not save the days game of cricket with sheer class."

- Arun DK.

Copy to clipboard from Gmail

2009-11-03T22:45:00.000-08:00

I have observed a strange(may be not strange) thing when copying HTML content from gmail.
It does not immediately copy, but seems to be stuck for around 3-7 seconds after which your copy is successful. Try copying something from gmail(any HTML) and immediately paste it to a notepad, it would not paste anything or would paste what was previously available in the clipboard. In the meantime, the browser is nonfunctional.

Best Joker quote

2009-11-03T01:46:00.000-08:00

"You… you just couldn’t let me go could you? This is what happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object. You are truly incorruptable aren’t you. You won’t kill me because of some misplaced sense of self-rightousness. And I won’t kill you because…you’re just too much fun. I get the feeling that you and I are destined to do this forever."

GM diet - My Experience

2009-11-01T20:43:00.000-08:00

For folks who have not heard about GM diet or want to know what it contains, this is my personal experience of the diet program.
To know more about GM diet, please see this :


Day One All fruits except bananas. Your first day will consists of all fruits you want. It is suggested you consume lots of watermelon and cantaloupe.
Day Two All vegetables. You are encouraged to eat until you are stuffed with all the new and cooked vegetables of your choice. There is no limit on the account or type. Avoid oil and coconut while cooking vegetables. Have large boiled potato for breakfast.
Day Three Any mixture of fruits and vegetables of your choice. Any amount, any quantity. No bananas yet and no potatoes today.
Day Four Bananas and milk. Today you will eat as many as eight bananas and drink three glasses of milk. You can also have one bowl of vegetables soup.
Day Five Today is a feast day. You will eat 1 (one) cup of rice. You also have to eat 6 (six) whole tomatoes and drink 12 (twelve) glasses of water today to cleanse your system of the excess uric acid you will be producing.
Day Six Today is another all vegetables day. You must eat 1 cup of rice today and eat all the vegetables you want cooked and uncooked to your heart's content.
Day Seven Today your food intake will consist of 1 cup rice, fruit juice and all the vegetables you care to consume. Tomorrow morning you will be five to eight kilograms lighter than 1 week ago. If you desire further weight loss, repeat the program again. Repeat the program as often as you like, however, it is suggested that you rest for three days before every repetition.

The above is directly stolen from GM Diet
GM, stands for General Motors.

My Do's and Dont's while following this diet :

Drinking 10 glasses of water everyday was very helpful. Please do it; it will help in removing toxins and fat from your body in the form of water wastage, which I experienced.
As suggested eat a lot of water melon and musk melon (keerni pazham in tamil, also known as cantaloupe).
Tomatoes are must on the 5th day. If you do not like tomatoes, reduce the content to 3 and have it as chutney.
Try having Brown Rice on day 5. Brown Rice is not the Kerala rice, kerala rice is actually red rice. Brown rice will look like wheat when raw. I personally hated brown rice. It is very bad. Try to have it along with tomato chutney. By the way, one cup of rice is 125 gm of raw rice for the whole day.
For 6th and 7th day, if you hate brown rice like me, have plain white rice.
On all vegetables day, you can have subway salad. The only sauce that is suited is "Southwest", which is low fat. Just add a very small quantity of this sauce so that you would enjoy your foods taste.
If you are able to clear Day 1, you will get used to thsi diet from 2nd Day dinner.
On day 4, if this diet is working out for you, you will not be able to eat 8 bananas. 6-7 would fill your stomach.
Please avoid sugar, milk(apart from day 4) and salt. This really helps.
Work out aong with the diet is helpful, but do this from rice day.

A non vegetarian version of this diet is also available. I have no idea though. I reduced around 3.5 - 4 kgs and my body feels lighter.
It is worth trying out twice a year, but you need a lot of will power. One more final tip, on first day, do not take fruits as whole, cut them and eat, that would make the eating part easier. I thank my in-laws and wife for doing the favor of salad preparation and fruit cutting and etc etc which made this diet successful for me.

Please try this and let me know you experiences.

Sports and Drugs

2009-10-29T21:51:00.000-07:00

The topic for debate is not about usage of drugs in sports, as the whole world would say no to that.
The matter of debate is the aftermath, like in the case with Agassi. This is not a first time a sportsperson has stated, 99% of the times in his autobiography, of using drugs.

Why do people do this? At least, in Agassi's case this was not needed at all. Why? Because according to Tennis Drug violation rules, "Performance-enhancing" drugs would constitute a Class 1, which would carry a suspension of two years. However, "crystal meth" which Agassi consumed would seem to be a clear case of Class 2; Recreational drugs.” That would mean a three-month suspension. Frankly, a 3 month ban cannot make a sportsman guilty enough to reveal it after nearly 12 years of the incident. Or another argument could be that he came up to reveal it just because it was for a 3 month ban; if he had consumed performance enhancing drugs, he wouldn't have revealed this.

All violations relating to drugs have been a very thin line between accidental vs intentional and it is your past record which would speak up for you. I think the officials believed him due to that or may be covered him up, which is so unfair to the sport.

The most ridiculous outcome in all this drama was something my friend pointed out to me :
"Times of India were waiting for some chance and they posted semi-nude pics of Brooks Shields and Steffi Graf in their column for discussion about Agassi's confession."

Oats Upma

2009-10-25T06:54:00.000-07:00

Oatmeal is prescribed to be one of the best breakfasts given our current lifestlye. But, I generally do not prefer oatmeal as I hate its taste and stickiness and I prefer to totally avoid it if I knew it has been added to milk making it sweeter too.
So, for folks like me, one of my friends suggested his own recipe for a spicy oat upma(kichadi).
I tried his recipe and found it very tasty. I am crazy for spicy food and hence I enjoyed it. It is very simple and would take just 2-3 minutes of your time.
Here goes the magic oat upma recipe:

Requirements:
1) Salt
2) Pepper
3) Oats (quaker and others available in market).
4) Noodles taste maker.

How to cook:
1) Take a cup of oats.
2) Add 3-3.5 cups of water. Always, 1:3 or 3.5 oats to water ratio.
3) Heat it on high flame and stir.
4) Add pinch of salt.
5) Add pepper to the amount you would like to spice it up.
6) After the oats start sticking out, add 1-1.5 tea spoons of veg noodle taste maker, preferably, Knorr's taste maker.
7) stir for 1 minute.

That is it. Eat it when hot and the enjoy the spicy taste.

I completely understand that oats with milk add better value to your breakfast than this oat upma. But if you want to enjoy your breakfast and still make sure its healthy, this is a very good option.
Just try it once and let me know. Thanks to my friend whose name I would reveal after he gets married.

Insider Trading

2009-10-20T03:31:00.001-07:00

On October 16th, a Srilankan tamilian Raj Rajaratnam, head of Galleon Hedge Fund was arrested by the US police on charges of "Insider Trading". Let us try to figure out what this exactly means and when it is legal and when it is not.

Insider trading refers to trading of stocks or other derivatives of a publicly listed company based on potential access to non-public information about that company.

Insider Trading is legal, if in case the CEO of a comapny is buying stocks of the same company based on a non-public information, but files it within 2 days to make it public. Most of the financial websites, like Yahoo Finance have information of "Insider Trading" details of listed companies which were filed.

If the same CEO had bought the shares on his wifes name and not file it, it would become an illegal insider trading.

Another example : suppose my friend is a CEO of a company X and I happen to meet him for a drink and knowingly/unknowlingly he reveals me a private information of that company. If I use that private information to buy/sell stocks of that company or if I even have documents containing those private information, I am performing an illegal Insider Trading.

The theory behind the prohibition on insider trading is that it undermines investor confidence in the fairness and integrity of the securities markets.

The SEC lists top employees of a firm to be Insiders and makes it compulsary for them to declare their trades. Potentially, anyone could be an insider and it is very difficult to normalize the list and have very strict rules.

End of the day, we representing the firm should always remember the confidentiality signature we had signed and make sure we are morally doing justice to the firm. Most of the big shots from the top financial firms may be involved in "Illegal Insider Trading" and to charge them of this, you would have to collect a lot of evidence. For Rajaratnam, they had been observing him for 2 years. He has come out in bail and has announced he is going to defend stating he is innocent.

Final Verdict : If the BOSS has decided to screw you, there is no way you could escape :) ...

Wha about Indian Market?

Very often, one would observe share prices of firms already having moved in anticipation of a major corporate announcement. Based on market gossip, many of these pre-announcement trades are at the behest of the promoters.
While the SEBI has investigated a lot of these trails, it hasn’t been as successful in prosecution as much as SEC. To be fair to SEBI, regulators worldwide have had little success with convictions in insider trading cases. The trades are generally difficult to prove since the evidence can be circumstantial.

India seems to be in the category where insider trading laws exist, but prosecutions are too few to be noteworthy. Hopefully, the Galleon case will prompt Indian policymakers to add more regulatory measures with respect to Insider Trading.

Laziness...

2009-10-19T06:08:00.000-07:00

I used to be atleast 50% more active in college than what I am now. It is quite evident with the number of posts I have been able to write. Its just a very abnormal measure as I used to write none in college, still was active enough. But I would consider it a reasonable enough measure for the survival of this blog :) .
Its neither that I do not have anything to write nor that writing blogs does not interest me. Just some laziness to write. Will I overcome this? To have a check on my laziness(rather activeness), I have decided to judge it based on the number of posts/month.
The count should be minimum 6 to prove I am active enough; lets see.
For October, excluding this crap, the activeness threshold is minimum three.

Hyderabad Traffic Police - Jai ho

2009-07-28T04:51:00.000-07:00

I was amused when I saw this website: http://www.htp.gov.in/
Hyderabad Traffic Police information site, can you bilieve it. Locally speaking, kalakaraanunga :) .
It has provision to even pay fines though eSeva. It also has information about alternate routes given a traffic signal.
Even if you are not from Hyderabad, have a look at this, it is really good.
KUDOS, Hyderabad Traffic Police

Dhoni - Why are you spoiling my local Chennai team???

2009-04-24T00:22:00.000-07:00

What an irony that the most successful captain of the Indian national side is at least 70% responsible for the unbearable and ridiculous combination of the Chennai Super Kings IPL team this year.
I am pissed off with Dhoni due to:

1) The fact that the local TN players are not given a point to prove in the side.
2) If Dhoni has some personal problem with Badrinath, he could at least relieve him from the team, so that Badri could join some other franchise where he would be respected for his middle order batting skills at no 4.
3) Promoting himself at no 4 where he is dumb and useless, just keeps rotating his bat as if he is preparing payasam.
4) Picking R. Ashwin in the main XI as specialist spinner and not giving him a single over. Also, letting him bat at no 11.
5) Batting order decision in all three matches was pathetic, the main reason for losing 2 games.

Flintoff and Morkel have been useless so far. Mr Dhoni, please come out of your ego and dumbness, give chance to some good openers like Vidyut, Badri. Else, please leave our local team and go join some franchise where you will be worshiped. We will be very happy to play with local players and small names rather than losing respect.

Who wants to be a Millionaire???

2009-02-12T23:04:00.000-08:00

Very Interesting...Am not sure if its true or fake, but good to read considering it as fake and such a person does not exist.
Idaho resident Kathy Evans brought humiliation to her friends and family Tuesday when she set a new standard for stupidity with her appearance on the popular TV show, 'Who Wants To Be A Millionaire.'

It seems that Evans, a 32-year-old wife and mother of two, got stuck on the first question, and proceeded to make what fans of the show are dubbing 'the absolute worst use of lifelines ever.'
After being introduced to the show's host Meredith Vieira, Evans assured her that she was ready to play, whereupon she was posed with an extremely easy $100 question. The question was: 'Which of the following is the largest?'

A) A Peanut
B) An Elephant
C) The Moon
D) Hey, who you calling large?

Immediately Mrs. Evans was struck with an all consuming panic as she realized that this was a question to which she did not readily know the answer.
'Hmm, oh boy, that's a toughie,' said Evans, as Vieira did her level best to hide her disbelief and disgust. 'I mean, I'm sure I've heard of some of these things before, but I have no idea how large they would be.'
Evans made the decision to use the first of her three lifelines, the 50/50. Answers A and D were removed, leaving her to decide which was bigger, an elephant or the moon. However, faced with an incredibly easy question, Evans still remained unsure.
'Oh! It removed the two I was leaning towards!' exclaimed Evans.. 'Darn. I think I better phone a friend.'
Using the second of her two lifelines on the first question, Mrs. Evans asked to be connected with her friend Betsy, who is an office assistant.
'Hi Betsy! How are you? This is Kathy! I'm on TV!' said Evans, wasting the first seven seconds of her call. 'Ok, I got an important question. Which of the following is the largest? B, an elephant, or C, the moon. 15 seconds hun.'
Betsy quickly replied that the answer was C, the moon. Evans proceeded to argue with her friend for the remaining ten seconds.
'Come on Betsy, are you sure?' said Evans. 'How sure are you? Duh, that can't be it.'
To everyone's astonishment, the moronic Evans declined to take her friend's advice and pick 'The Moon.'
'I just don't know if I can trust Betsy. She's not all that bright. So I think I'd like to ask the audience,' said Evans.
Asked to vote on the correct answer, the audience returned 98% in favor of answer C, 'The Moon.' Having used up all her lifelines, Evans then made the dumbest choice of her life.
'Wow, seems like everybody is against what I'm thinking,' said the too-stupid-to-live Evans. 'But you know, sometimes you just got to go with your gut. So, let's see. For which is larger, an elephant or the moon, I'm going to have to go with B, an elephant. Final answer.'
Evans sat before the dumbfounded audience, the only one waiting with bated breath, and was told that she was wrong, and that the answer was in fact, C, 'The Moon.'

Naan Kadavul - Review

2009-02-08T21:25:00.000-08:00

First of all, If you want to enjoy this movie, have a open mindset. Any movie could be criticized, I would like to take the positives of the movie. Firstly, I liked the two faces of the movie. One is about aghoris and their lifestyle and what their ideology is. Bala could not open up fully in this case as censor board would never allow him to show or even mention that they feed on corpses. Second is the life of beggars, what difficulties they face and how they are marketed to date like slaves. Why I liked them most is because they are real, ruthlessly real.

Aarya has suited perfectly to the role. His height and skinny body has given him the perfect look. Pooja too has acted exceptionally. But the best actor(s) award would go the numerous handicapped and old men/women who have acted with so much dedication. The comedy sequences involving them is awesome and so practical that I started wondering whether to laugh or think. Hats off to Bala. The best thing about the movie is our realization of the fact that we know these beggars exist and their life is miserable, but we never realize it so much. Bala makes us reach that level.

One positive thought while watching the movie was everyone knew for sure the "Mottai" chapter is over when our hero meets him. Aarya would thrash him to death. That makes you feel good and you keep waiting for that moment. Some scenes in the climax were censored. Pooja's dialogues in the last scene when she pleads for mercy is so touching and is the reality and what Aarya does to her after that, only Bala can do it.

When I heard the songs, except for Om Siva om, I did not like the other songs. I realized in the movie, the reason for these numbers, all are songs sung by beggars.

Great job Bala. I am sure many won't like this movie. But for people who want to see something different but real, even though reality hurts you a lot, go for it. For people who are very emotional and cannot face reality so easily, please go for it with a positive mindset. The movie would be adorable. Even if you donot like the movie, it is worth your money. At least you did not waste it on crappy masala.

Rafa means Positive Energy

2009-02-01T21:53:00.000-08:00

I could not digest the scene after the so called "epic" finals played in Melbourne on Feb 1st 2009.
Rafa played like a champion, which no one can deny and hence he won. I wanted to see a ceremony that would honour him for his great tennis and his improvement as a hard court player. But what I saw was one sided comments from the organiser who was announcing the results. He invited 4 great legends so that they could witness the graceful Roger get his 14th Grand Slam. Openly, he says he wished Federer to win. And then, the great champion can't even take a loss. He was proud, happy and humble after wining so many Grand Slams, mercilessly destroying careers of many good tennis players like Roddick, Hewitt, Nalbandian etc. But when he cannot defeat Rafa, he cries. Should Roddick commit suicide for being humiliated by Federer?
And the worst thing about the presentation ceremony was when the organizer saw Fedex cry and says, " We shall give him some time to settle. In the meantime, we shall meet our champion." When I heard these words, I felt like killing him on spot. No fool would prefix "In the meantime" when a champions time comes to lift the crown. A losers cry is more important than a great tennis champ who shed energy and sweat and worked so hard for this.
Rafa, you are too humble, just like Roger and continue to be the way you are. Roger, you are great, charming and graceful but I did not like you stealing the show of the champion just because you felt bad losing.
This blog does not question the talent in Fedex nor his sportsmanship and is all to do about the presentation ceremony. I have moderated the comments and I will not be posting any of the Fed support ones if they are one-sided and pointless as far as yesterdays presentation is concerned.
Rafa means nothing but Positive Energy. The World has to accept this.

Varanam Aayiram Review

2008-11-16T21:17:00.000-08:00

I am not a big fan of Goutham Menon. Even though I like all his movies, I always feel something is missing in his movies that doesn't make him a great director, but he is a good director certainly. Varanam Aayiram is a creation of a great director, and I wouldn't do honors to him if I do not write about the movie. The movie is like a poetry, every bit and piece of the movie is directed with immense commitment and importance. Locally speaking, rasichi rusichi ezhudina oru kavidhai madhiri irundhadhu.

If not for Surya, may be I wouldn't have been writing this blog with such great interest. His performance as Krishnan was outstanding, full credits the humbleness shown in his acting. The movie is a biography, a quick recap by a son about his father when he gets know he is no more. Simple one line story. But the emotions, love, passion and motivations in the movie make it a treat to cherish. This move just swept me off my feet.

Another important aspect are the songs. They are beautiful to listen, watch and admire. My favorite is "Nenjukul Peidhidum". One small concern was about Sameera Reddy, who gets all the hit numbers and leaves Divya with "Analmela Panithuzhi". Certainly, I did not expect this :) .
The best part in the movie for me was the train romance scene and the last scene where the father comes to his room and sends him off. He has a small droplet of tear in his eyes and he says, I will be thinking about you, man was so touching. Totally, in contrast to how he advised Surya that he was no more a kid but a grown up, and Surya would be totally in tears on his first day in college. May be its true that you become a kid again when you grow old.

This move would surely have mixed reviews. Some may feel its totally bad, many would feel it is a decent movie and some again like me, would love it. The reasons contributing to the mixed reviews being length(3 hours), English dialogs and deep emotions which may sound comical for some.

Some dialog's such as "Iva unnaye minjitta ma", by Surya when he sees Sameera for the first time could have been removed as they would invite unnecessary spoilers.

And for people who do not know why the movie was named Varanam Aayiram, it is a line by Andal when she describes what kind of guy she dreams about.
வாரணம் ஆயிரம் சூழ வலம் செய்து நாரணன் நம்பி நடக்கின்றான் என்றெதிர் பூரண பொற்குடம் வைத்துப் புறம் எங்கும் தோரணம் நாட்டக் கனா கண்டேன் தோழி நான் கனா கண்டேன் .

People may have a different view on this movie, but for me this is a masterpiece. A colorful ride into one's life which very seemingly resembles your own in some aspects. Overall, a beautifully told story of a man's dreams and a son's tribute to his father.

Writing after a very long time.

2008-10-15T05:55:00.000-07:00

Its been pretty long since I started writing a blog, do not know why, though. suddenly realized its bad not to write your own blog, so have jumped in to waste electronic paper. So what is that am going to talk about? Let see, man I have been thinking for more than 15 minutes. Ok, yeah, this is about a bunch of 4-5 guys who planned a trip to Hyderabad. Hold on, this is not about Saroja, its about a group of software geeks who spend all their time in Bangalore and have been planning a trip to Hyderabad from don't know how long.

The preparations started on Aug 2007 and I am writing this on Oct 15 th, 2008. The last reason I heard from them is an agent who promised them KSRTC bus tickets, but all of a sudden over priced the fare. So, its will be yet another vice versa trip to Bangalore which I am planning in November. Lets see if this works out at least or I am sure I'll end up making one of those geeks write a blog about me. :)

We have been fooled in school

2007-12-19T23:26:00.000-08:00

I was shocked to hear the news that "Hindi is not the national language of India". We all have been fooled in school, in our NCERT text books, stating that Hindi is our national language.

India as a nation comprises of various languages and cultures. Every individual represents his language and culture likewise language and culture are symbols of ones identity. India considers itself a federal republic because it comprises of different states which have their own language and culture. There was a strong cultural and administrative reason to form the states based on linguistic affiliation, because of the vast diversity in culture and language. Thus each state has its own official language which mostly differs from that of other states'. That language is the lifeline of the people of state and it represents its culture, since language is the media for communication and inheritance of culture.
Hindi was accepted as official language in some states and it represented the culture of only those states. Nowhere in the constitution is Hindi mentioned as the "National language". According to Indian Constitution, 22 languages are accepted as scheduled languages. Among these 22 languages a single language does not represent India's culture in its entirety. A situation where a single language can represent India's culture can only be made possible by suppressing India's diverse cultures. Hence Hindi is NOT the "National Language" of India.

Many of the languages like Bhojpuri, Pahaadi, Rajasthani, Haryanvi, etc have been systematically reduced to "dialects" of Hindi. Many other languages like Punjabi, Marwari, Gujarati,Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Bengali, Marathi have lost their entertainment industries and are happy entertaining themselves in Hindi, an alien language to most people living in those states. Students in most of the states have been brainwashed that Hindi is the national language of India. Loyalty and patriotism to the nation has been reduced to acceptance of Hindi as the sole "National" and "Link" language. Any Indian having a different opinion on this is branded as not being nationalist enough! A bigger problem this has created is the false sense of superiority in the Hindi speakers. Their expectation that the whole of India speaks Hindi, their reluctance to learn the language of the place they settle in, arrogance that they display in their interaction with fellow non-Hindi speaking Indians is the biggest threat to national integration.

Please be aware of this fact and make sure to speak back if someone speaks superior of Hindi and inferior of your local language.

Some F1 Facts

2007-10-09T02:18:00.000-07:00

* F1 car is made up of 80,000 components, if it were assembled 99.9% correctly, it would still start the race with 80 things wrong!

* When an F1 driver hits the brakes on his car he experiences retardation or deceleration comparable to a regular car driving through a BRICK wall at 300kmph!!!

* F1 car can go from 0 to 160 kph AND back to 0 in FOUR seconds!!!!!!!

* F1 car engines last only for about 2 hours of racing mostly before blowing up on the other hand we expect our engines to last us for a decent 20yrs on an average and they quite faithfully DO....that's the extent to which the engines r pushed to perform...

* An average F1 driver looses about 4kgs of weight after just one race due to the prolonged exposure to high G forces and temperatures for little over an hour (Yeah that's right!!!)

* At 550kg a F1 car is less than half the weight of a Mini.

* To give you an idea of just how important aerodynamic design and added down force can be, small planes can take off at slower speeds than F1 cars travel on the track.

* Without aerodynamic down force, high-performance racing cars have sufficient power to produce wheel spin and loss of control at 160 kph. They usually race at over 300 kph.

* In a street course race like the Monaco grand prix, the down force provides enough suction to lift manhole covers. Before the race all of the manhole covers on the streets have to be welded down to prevent this from happening!

* The refuelers used in F1 can supply 12 liters of fuel per second. This means it would take just 4 seconds to fill the tank of an average 50 liter family car. They use the same refueling rigs used on US military helicopters today.

* TOP F1 pit crews can refuel and change tyres in around 3 seconds. It took me 8 sec to read above point

* During the race the tyres lose weight! Each tyre loses about 0.5 kg in weight due to wear.

* Normal tyres last 60 000 - 100 000 km. Racing tyres are designed to last 90 - 120 km.

* A dry-weather F1 tyre reaches peak operating performance (best grip) when tread temperature is between 900C and 1200C.(Water boils boils at 100C remember) At top speed, F1 tyres rotate 50 times a second.

And that's not Magic…. Its only the Power of Human Imagination…

Courtesy: Naga

Happy Days Review!!!

2007-10-08T22:34:00.000-07:00

For people who are wondering, what is "Happy Days", its a youthful telugu movie worth commenting on, as it will touch every ex-college student.
I was not that interested to watch this movie, but by chance went to the theater. To my surprise the movie was full. but we managed 10 INR tickets, get set to watch the movie from the third row.

The movie doesn't have any special story as such. Happy days means that your college days are your most happy days. The movie starts with the freshers welcome and ends on the farewell.
The movie was so much fun to watch, just because it made me remember most of my college days.
The same well known dialogue, "You mighty mighty senior, me dirty dirty junior, May sir I sir please sir know sir your sir name sir sir sir". And yeah our Tek Salute too was there. And thirdly, the assignments were written for the seniors.

Next, it was formation of gangs in a class. One character portrayed to be selfish than friendly. One, who is a son of MLA, one normal guy who has to listen to his dad's lecture everyday. And yeah, their counterparts in girls.
I personally liked a person named Tyson. He on his first day would ask a senior, about the seniors own girl friend.
Let me not elaborate more than this, even though there is nothing much to elaborate.
If you are fresh out of college and if you miss your college life, just go for this movie and relinquish your college days which are far from rewindable now.
After watching this movie, you will surely appreciate the title as it makes a lot of sense and to prove it, ask yourself.
PS: Prakash Raj has got the rights for this movie in Tamil.

APJ Abdul Kalam - What a Leader!

2007-07-26T01:41:00.000-07:00

There are so many resons for me to be proud of being an Indian. One of them is to have a leader like Dr APJ Kalam. He is the perfect example of how a leader should be. His vision, goals and thoughts are so motivating. He always makes sure he is not a politician, but one among us.

Some lines from his famous speech in Hyderabad.

Dr. APJ Abdul Kalaam's speech in Hyderabad
"I have three visions for India. In 3000 years of our history, people from all over the world have come and invaded us, captured our lands, conquered our minds. From Alexander onwards, The Greeks, the Turks, the Moguls, the Portuguese, the British, the French, the Dutch, all of them came and looted us, took over what was ours. Yet we have not done this to any other nation. We have not conquered anyone. We have not grabbed their land, their culture, their history and Tried to enforce our way of life on them. Why? Because we respect the freedom of others.

That is why my first vision is that of FREEDOM. I believe that India got its first vision of this in 1857, when we started the war of Independence. It is this freedom that we must protect and nurture and build on. If we are not free, no one will respect us.
My second vision for India's DEVELOPMENT, For fifty years we have been A developing nation. It is time we see ourselves as a developed nation. We are among top 5 nations of the world in terms of GDP. We have 10 percent growth rate in most areas. Our poverty levels are falling. Our achievements are being globally recognized today. Yet we lack the self-confidence to see ourselves as a developed nation, self-reliant and self-assured. Isn't this incorrect?

I have a THIRD vision. India must stand up to the world. Because I believe that, unless India stands up to the world, no one will respect us. Only strength respects strength. We must be strong not only as a military power but also as an economic power. Both must go hand-in-hand. My good fortune was to have worked with three great minds. Dr. Vikram Sarabhai of the Dept. of space, Professor Satish Dhawan, who succeeded him and Dr.Brahm Prakash, father of nuclear material. I was lucky to have worked with all three of them closely and consider this the great opportunity of my life.I see four milestones in my career:

For the full speech please click here.

It is worth reading many times.

Salutations to our best ever Indian President. We will make your dreams come true because we too are having the same dream. And as you said, You have to dream before your dreams can come true.

Jai hind!!!

European Grandprix 2007.

2007-07-24T02:22:00.000-07:00

The European grandprix last sunday was a dramatic event, with so many incidents happening all around the track, during the entire span of the race.
Some of the action and trauma:

Hamilton crashes in qualifiers.
Raikonen's Ferrari crawls to a halt in a stage where he was driving great.
Markus Winkelhock making his debut for Spyker-Ferrari had the wet tyres before the start of the race and during the rain time when everyone were in pits to change tyres, this guy was leading the race for almost 2 laps, until the safety cars arrived. What a momemt for a spyker driver making his debut and still manages to lead the race for 2 laps.
Kimi going into pits to change wet tyres, but suddenly comes out and continues the race. He was actually was giving way for Massa to change tyres as they were very close to each other. Kimi would have wasted nearly 5-6 seconds in that.
A series of clashes, and the only person to slightly escape was Hamilton during rain.
The best moment came in the last 10 laps when the rain God made it clear to the Ferrari team they are not going to win. Fernando Alonso was nearly 6 seconds behind Massa, but overtook him after a heart-pounding chase. What a great sight it was. To provide you with the same pleasure, here is the video of Alonso overtaking Massa.

After the race Massa had lots to talk about Alonso, obviously he felt it was unacceptable for Alonso to overtake him so closely. but as far as Alonso was concerned, he had it. Fernando Alonso, The European Grand Prix Winner.

Goran Ivanisevic...

2007-07-24T00:54:00.001-07:00

I like watching international Tennis mathces very much. Tennis is a great sport which encapsulates a person's capability to show aggression and to stay cool. And whenever I think of Tennis, the first name that comes to my mind is Goran Ivanisevic ( why not Federer? ;-) ). I am a die hard fan of Ivanisevic, right from the day I started watching Tennis.

His 2001 Winbledon campaign was too memorable. Anybody in this world who knows about tennis will know this guy, for his great serves. He has a great service and I have seen many matches where he has taken a game with four aces in a row. Goran, along with his serve is a masterpeice, though his game is not extraordinary. He is very active on-court and does lots of things that people usually do off-court.Here is a sample video of what happened in a match between Goran and Rafter.

Sivaji - My Personal Review

2007-06-25T21:07:00.000-07:00

Finally "The BOSS" hit the screens. Its a pity every movie gets dubbed in telugu. Sivaji released across 40 theatres in Hyderabad amongst which there was just one show at 8:45Am in just one theatre. What a pity...
I booked the ticket and was off for the show on Tuesday(5th day). The first time I wathced the movie, I felt something was missing. May be I was'nt in a good mood as I had bunked the training and was thinking of what the trainer is going to say.
I had booked again on Sunday to wathc the movie with my parents in the same theatre, and this time Sivaji Rocked.
For people who said the story was not strong, I wanted to ask what was wrong with the story. It was a good theme, with great screenply, with enough Rajni comedy and action. I want just one thing out of a Rajni movie "ENTERTAINMENT", 3 hours just flew both the times I saw the movie.
Superstart was looking stunning, and of course was Shriya Saran.
The only thing I felt is there is no need to spend so much for thalaivar's songs. Its enough if he is present in the song, adhu podhum. Set, location ellam no need. But, hats off to Athiradee and Oru koodai sunlight visuals. Vaaji vaaji also was very good.
And I have no words to describe the second half.
Here is a small conversation between Rajni and Suman in tea kadai:
suman's assistant : aiyaa ungala koopduraaru.
rajini : ungoyyaava ingey vara sollu.
rajini : goyyaa.ukaarunga.unoda books,hard disk,documents,panam, pinaami per la sothu,etc nu kanakula kaataama 200 crores black money iruku.
suman : adhuku enna ipo
rajini : bajji saapdu. saapdunga sir
rajini : enaku adhula paadhi venum..... aaah bajji la illai.andha 200 kodi la
suman : apdi illainaa
rajini : motha panamum income tax office kulla poidum. akkada choodu. remo maamaa.polaaam right.........hold on...un 200 kodiyum muzhusaa nakkitu poidum. cease,penalty,interest nu arrest variakum pogum... potu koduthadhuku enaku 10% 20 kodi reward kidaikum.epdi paathalum en business success dhan.
suman : velu, commisioner ku phone podu.
rajini : aadhi. nee onnum comedy kemedy pannaliye. adhu karupu panam chellam.complaint koduka mudiyadhu.thirudanuku thel kotnaa madhiri pothinu irukanum.
suman : nee thani aalu.en kaila govt eh iruku
rajini : en kaila un kudumiye iruku.... repeatu.......hold on... andha 100 kodi piraanji vai.engey epo vaangikurenu adutha phone la solren.tea saapdu.. thalaivaa evlo aachu
tea kadai payan : 20 rubaa anney
rajini : aadhi.pay pannidu.andha 100 kodi la kazhichukalaam

vaadaa vaadaa vaangikoda vaaila beeda potukodaa...............

WOW!!!, too good and only Rajni can do this...
A speacial mention to Suman for his good performance..."Adhiseshan na pottu vechitu pongal saapadravannu nenachiya" was his best one liner.
And yes, finally, "THE BOSS, MOTTA BOSS" was the best part, Rajni's style ans ARR's rap for motta rajni was more than enough to satisfy everyone.
Last but not least, my parents enjoyed the moive so much and they were happy after watching a movie in theatre after 2 years( last one was chandramukhi ).
Thats the power of superstar, he will make everyone go for his movie and enjoy it.
Am sorry to say this but have to as a fan of superstar, People who say the movie is not good and there is no story(including me whne I saw first time), Go to hell and don't be beaten up by a Rajni fan, due to your jealously towards his fame.

The Maestro

2007-06-13T05:34:00.000-07:00

This was in draft for a long time, posting it only now. Then too, its worth it.
A week back, I watched "Cheeni Kum", a movie containign a seven song album from the maestro Ilayaraja. He cannot get more beter. what wonderful songs and a perfect selection of asking "Shreya" to use her voice box. Am just overwhelmed and the feel of listening to the songs make me happy. People who can make others happy are Gods like our super star. Ilayaraja is definitely one of them.
The best number from the album, Baatein Hawa, is posted

I jus dunno what I am writing

2007-06-13T00:22:00.000-07:00

Am so fed up with the training sessions am attending that I decided I would write some crap here, instead of thinking of what to do.
Lets talk about life, is what I feel now. LIFE, I sometimes imagine why people are so desperate to spoil the peace or to do something out of the world in such a short span of say 65-80 years.
I sometimes feel, life is huge, there are so many days you remember to cherish and wai to occur. but on the contrary, a weird feeling also develops that may be life is too small, which drags me into a position where I feel like spending most of the time available. This thought is the reason sometimes for me waking up early, making me think whether am wasting some precious time sleeping. I know its weird, but am bored in this classroom and I have decided am gonna blaber, and u guys are gonna read ahead.
"Saagara Naal Therinji Pochu na Vaazhra Naal Naragam Aayidum, Sandhosham than Mukkiyam", is the line from the trailer of Sivaji- THE BOSS. And its quite true.
Alarmingly, I still donot understand the reason for most of the problems that becomes the part of life. Everyone knows the span of life, why not share then???
the trainer has left us, we can go for lunch, so enough of my vrap. Wil talk about Indian Democracy in my next post, Chal Seeya...

Hurray!!! We prepared Veg Pulao

2007-04-10T22:38:00.000-07:00

There you go, our story( me and srihari) of pulao preparation.
It was around 6:45 in the evening, whne we decided to prepare veg pulao for dinner. Planning to start at 8:30, we were in spencers daily at 8:40 sharp. We purchased basmathi rice( forgot the brand) , garam masala, ghee, finger chips and were off to vegetable shop getting beans, green peas, tomato, onion, carrot,chilies, karuvepplai, kothamalli and of course curd.
Here is how we prepared Pulao:
1) Soak basmathi rice(2.5 cups) in water.
2)Meanwhile cut all vegetables, cut my finger too :-).
3) Keep the vegetables( beans, green peas and carrot) in presure cooker. Wait for three whistles.
3) Put ghee in pan, add kadugu, onion, chillies and tomato, and fry till onion gets pink.
4) Add 1-1.5tsp garam masala.
5) Add chilli powder, salt.
6) Add a cup of water
7) Keep the gas in "sim" and colse the pan. Switch off gas after 5 mins.
8) Now in rice cooker ( electric) add 2.5 cups basmati rice, 5 cups water, the vegetables and the masal prepared in pan.
9) Nicely mix the, add a bit of salt and let it cook.
10)Switch off cooker after 20-25 mins. Wait for 10 mins for the rice to get better.
11) Serve with onion Raita.
Raita is simple to make( srihari made it, was too good ). Jus add salt, onion, small amount of water, chilies and chilli powder.
We had it stomach full( 11 PM) , and gave some to our neighbours, who were very happy to eat high quality veg pulao and onion raitha.
KUDOS DK and SRIHARI!!!

Pro's and Con's from the World Cup

2007-03-26T21:57:00.000-07:00

Its good that India is out of super eights, for Indian Cricket, in general for cricket.
Pro's from the loss:

India has learnt it clearly does not deserve a place even in the top eight
Average, strike rate and whole bunch of runs and so called reputation is no longer a statistics to decide fate of the team.
Sponsors, ICC who, according to me give more importance to money than the game, would have learnt some lesson.

What according to me will be done by BCCI.

They would drop the coach( which sounds ok as his contract expires).
They may drop the captain( according to me is not a good decision).
Future prospects like Uthappa, Dhoni would be removed from the team, and old but reputational so called super starts will be retained.
Virendhar Shewag will be in the team, come on guys, he scored a great century against a great team, so Veeru back to form.
They would again hyphe the practice sesions saying the team will practice along with Indain Navy this time :-).

What would I do if I was the borad president( Konjam over than )

Drop all the batsmen except for Yuvraj(feilding),Uthappa( he is playing his first world cup, when people having 10k runs cannot deliver, why drop him? )
Bring back your fielding heros, Kaif, Raina and other youngsters who are brilliant in the feild.
Make bowlers who are more aggressive like Sreesanth to play every game.
Just send this team across one series and see how it works out.( anyways even if we send the normal team, they are going to lose :-) )
This will put pressure on senior players to perform, and their performance should be credited only if they do so outisde India.
For some reason, I would Retain Dravid, who is modest, good overseas and a gentlemen role model.

I don't mean to say the senior players would never get a chance to play, its just to create some pressure on them to perform.
Everything I spoke here is impossible, as this is India. If we had this much courage in decision making,we would have been playing super eights in the carribean right now...

Its only a game - too good article

2007-03-23T01:56:00.000-07:00

Courtesy: Cricinfo

This piece was written before it was established that Bob Woolmer was murdered. We don't yet know for sure why or how Bob Woolmer died. We shouldn't rush to judgment; it is still possible that it was an accident. It is equally possible he was murdered. And, while conspiracy theorists are working overtime on the motives, it is also quite possible that we will never know the full truth.

And in the event of this not being an accident, it is quite likely that Woolmer was a victim of cricket's seamier side. Either it was the stress, induced by the most obscene and blind expectations of cricket fans who brook no failure, or he was killed by people who felt let down or had something to fear.

Either way, it should serve as a wake-up call to those who run cricket, and those who profess passion for it. If a game starts taking lives, there is something sickeningly wrong with it. But this is not really about Woolmer. We didn't need someone to die to awaken us to a problem. The signs have always been there, it's just that most of us have found it expedient to ignore them. Commodification has been chipping away at the soul of cricket for years, and now the game is the danger of losing its head.

Take the current predicament of this World Cup as an example. The major stake-holders in the tournament - the television channels and major sponsors - risk losing millions, either in cash or kind, if India go out in the first round. They are not the number one team in the world by a mile. Not even number two. They are ranked sixth in the ICC team ratings and, while that might not always be the best indicator of a team's worth, they have not won a competition of note outside the subcontinent since 1985. Yet the fate of the World Cup rides on them. It's a disaster waiting to happen.

Cricket has acquired a dangerous obsession with money, to the extent where it is not a question of a game needing the money to survive or grow but making as much as possible at any cost.

The reason for this is not hard to comprehend. Cricket has acquired a dangerous obsession with money, to the extent where it is not a question of a game needing the money to survive or grow but making as much as possible at any cost. Players have been ground to dust and cricket, the one-day variety in particular, has been divested of any meaning and consequence. It would seem that the administrators have learnt very little from the match-fixing scandal, which was as much a result of greed as of a surfeit of matches that meant little to the players.

Meanwhile, the Indian administrators have managed to market a massive captive television audience to acquire financial muscle that relies little on the capabilities of the national team. As a result the cricket economy has gone ahead of the game, which is struggling to catch up.

It's an economy that relies more on projection and hype than reality. SetMax, the entertainment channel owned by Sony, paid nearly 40 % of the total cost of the ICC rights in the hope of recouping it from advertisers. Luckily for them, India made it to the final of the last World Cup and one Champions Trophy. But that was clearly not enough and Sony didn't even bother to bid for the next set of rights, which have been won by ESPN-Star for US $1.1 billion.

ESPN-Star is a joint venture between Disney and NewsCorp, but there is little doubt which television audience they are banking on. It is an unhealthy dependence. So much should never depend on the performance of one team. Apart from putting unfair pressure on the players -- it must take a lot for the Indian players to play normally in such an abnormal situation -- it leaves the cricket economy dangerously imbalanced and prone to huge risks.

The passion of the fans is the biggest strength of cricket in the sub-continent - but it is also its weakness, particularly in case of India and Pakistan. Sri Lankan fans are far more stoic about their team's fortunes and far more accepting of failure, whereas in Bangladesh they are grateful for every little or big victory, be that of the team or individual. But in India and Pakistan, the passion borders on frenzy. As an Indian, I would like India to win the World Cup. But it might not be such a bad thing for cricket if they were to be knocked out in the first round

In India it is brazenly and cynically fueled by an increasingly sensationalist and populist mass media, which treats cricket as one of the biggest baits to attract advertisers. Instead of providing perspective and being the voice of reason, the media feeds the frenzy and cashes in on it. Stars are built up and decimated. Exaggerated glorification is matched by proportionate vilification. So cricketers are either to be worshipped or denigrated. There isn't a middle ground, a measure of reality, or a sense of proportion.

The reality is that India reaching the World Cup final would be an overachievement. Australia and South Africa possess superior teams, New Zealand have more balance and depth and Sri Lanka are the most improved team in world cricket. India have proven, but ageing, batsmen, a bowling attack that's susceptible to pressure and poor fielders. To be a fan is to dream. But to many Indian fans the dream is the reality.

Nationalism is the bedrock of cricket. But you can't call yourself a true fan if the sight of 18-year old Tamim Iqbal charging down pitch to belt Indian quick bowlers brought you no thrill. Yes, India played below themselves, but every cricket match has a winner. To be unable to comprehend, and appreciate, this runs against the spirit of the game.

Yes, India not making past the first round would be a huge setback. But it would be accorded the status of a national calamity. It will be discussed in Parliament. Television channels will conduct inquests. Effigies will be burnt, cricketers' homes will be attacked, and these will be gleefully publicised. A couple of months ago, Greg Chappell was slapped on the back by a man in Bhubaneswar seeking his fifteen seconds of fame. He was obliged. It could get worse. Someone could get killed. Perhaps someone has already been killed.

As an Indian, I would like India to win the World Cup. But it might not be such a bad thing for cricket if they were to be knocked out in the first round. Cricket needs a reality check. It has an unhealthy, and unsustainable, business model that relies primarily on an increasingly delusional and one-dimensional fan-base. The bubble has to burst for a semblance of sanity to be restored. We must learn to once again enjoy cricket as a game.

Dynamic Tracing in sun Solaris - DTrace

2007-03-22T00:32:00.000-07:00

A simple document I prepared for understading DTrace Probes...

What is DTrace?

DTrace is a comprehensive dynamic tracing facility that is built into Solaris and can be used by administrators and developers to examine the behavior of both user programs and of the operating system itself. With DTrace you can explore your system to understand how it works, track down performance problems across many layers of software, or locate the cause of aberrant behavior. It is safe to use on production systems and does not require restarting either the system or applications.

DTrace Overview

DTrace dynamically modifies the operating system kernel and user processes to record data at locations of interest, called probes. A probe is a location or activity to which DTrace can bind a request to perform a set of actions, like recording a stack trace, a timestamp, or the argument to a function. Probes are like programmable sensors scattered all over your Solaris system in interesting places. DTrace probes come from a set of kernel modules called providers, each of which performs a particular kind of instrumentation to create probes.

Project Objective

The major focus from the perspective of a project would be to

Provide a real-time FAQ answering questions as per request.
To solve common operational problems faced by Back Office.
To provide appropriate resons for aberrant behavior.

To sum up, the tool should act as a perfomance analysis tool helping Sun Solaris 10 users know where they are stuck and identify the internal details of their processes running.

Basic DTrace Functions

Examine the behavior of user programs and the Solaris OS and quickly identify the root causes of system and application bottlenecks.
Highlight trends and patterns to tune systems for best performance.
Track down performance problems across many layers of software.
Locate the cause of aberrant behavior.
Write reusable scripts for common or complex routines.

How to use DTrace?

DTrace includes a new scripting language called D which is designed specifically for dynamic tracing. With D it is easy to write scripts that dynamically turn on probes, collect the information, and process it. D scripts make it convenient for users to share their knowledge and troubleshooting methods with others

Introduction to D Scripts

Template

probe description
/predicate/ { actions }

Probe Description

provider:module:function:name

Provider: The name of the DTrace provider that is publishing this probe. The provider name typically corresponds to the name of the DTrace kernel module that performs the instrumentation to enable the probe.

Module: If this probe corresponds to a specific program location, the name of the module in which the probe is located. This name is either the name of a kernel module or the name of a user library.

Function: If this probe corresponds to a specific program location, the name of the program function in which the probe is located.

Name: The final component of the probe name is a name that gives you some idea of the probe's semantic meaning, such as BEGIN or END.

Predicate A predicate can be any D expression. Below are a few examples. The action is executed only when the predicate evaluates to true.

Actions The action section can contain a series of action commands separated by semi-colons (;)

Compilation and Instrumentation

How DTrace Command Executes? When you use the dtrace command you are invoking the compiler for the D language. Once your program is compiled, it is sent into the operating system kernel for execution by DTrace.There the probes that are named in your program are enabled and the corresponding provider performs whatever instrumentation is needed to activate them.
What about the Performance? All of the instrumentation in DTrace is completely dynamic: probes are enabled discretely only when you are using them.No instrumented code is present for inactive probes, so your system does not experience any kind of performance degradation when you are not using DTrace. Once your experiment is complete and the dtrace command exits, all of the probes you used are automatically disabled and their instrumentation is removed, returning your system to its exact original state. No effective difference exists between a system where DTrace is not active and one where the DTrace software is not installed.
Where does DTrace run and why should we prefer DTrace? The instrumentation for each probe is performed dynamically on the live running operating system or on user processes you select. The system is not paused in any way, and instrumentation code is added only for the probes that you enable. As a result, the probe effect of using DTrace is limited to exactly what you ask DTrace to do: no extraneous data is traced, no one big �tracing switch� is turned on in the system, and all of the DTrace instrumentation is designed to be as efficient as possible. These features enable you to use DTrace in production to solve real problems in real time.
Are D-scripts safe? DTrace D programs are compiled into a safe intermediate form that is used for execution when your probes fire. This intermediate form is validated for safety when your program is first examined by the DTrace kernel software. The DTrace execution environment also handles any run-time errors that might occur during your D program's execution, including dividing by zero, dereferencing invalid memory, and so on, and reports them to you. As a result, you can never construct an unsafe program that would cause DTrace to inadvertently damage the Solaris kernel or one of the processes running on your system.These safety features allow you to use DTrace in a production environment without worrying about crashing or corrupting your system. If you make a programming mistake, DTrace will report your error to you, disable your instrumentation, and you can correct your mistake and try again.

DTrace Limitations

Dtrace is not a good tool for post-mortem analysis. For example, one problem frequently encountered in Networking is the "where did my packet get queued up?"
dtrace will not be able to directly analyze the sequence of events that led to a memory leak or reference-count leak after the leak has occurred.

DTrace Code Snippets

The pid Provider

Here is the D script you can run to print all the functions that process id 1234 calls

/* The above line means that the script that follows needs to be
interpreted using dtrace. D uses C-style comments. */
pid1234:::entry
{}

You can run .d files using the command #dtrace -s file.d

The following example adds aggregates in the script you are developing to see a summary table of user functions

 pid1234:::entry
{
 @count_table[probefunc]=count();
}

This script will collect information into a table and will continue to run until you press ^c (Control c). Once you stop the script, DTrace will print out the table of information. Notice that you do not need to write any code to print the table. DTrace automatically does this for you.

This script can easily be modified to collect a table with function and library name by changing the index to probemod, probefunc

 pid1234:::entry
{
 @count_table[probemod,probefunc]=count();
}

Find how much time is being spent in each function. This can be done through the built in variable timestamp. You can create probes in the entry and return of the functions and calculate the time spent by the difference in timestamp from entry to return. The timestamp variable reports time in nanoseconds. Here is the modified script

pid1234:::entry
{
 ts[probefunc] = timestamp;
}

pid$1:::return
{
 @func_time[probefunc] = sum(timestamp - ts[probefunc]);
 ts[probefunc] = 0;
}

Note that the ts[] is an array, and D has automatically declared and initialized it for you. It is good practice to save space by setting the variable to 0.

How to monitor a process from the time it starts until it ends. DTrace allows you to do this using the $target variable and the -c option. This script will count the number of times libc functions are called from a given application.

pid$target:libc::entry
{
 @[probefunc]=count();
}

Save this script as libc_func.d and run it.

# libc_func.d -c "cat /etc/hosts"

You can easily replace "cat /etc/hosts" with the command of interest.

Sysinfo Provider

The following script counts the number of times various processes get to run in the CPU. Note that the sysinfo:::pswitch probe fires when a process is switched to run on the CPU. Remember to press ^c (Control c) after a few minutes.

sysinfo:::pswitch
{
 @[execname] = count();
}

Syscall Provider

This is probably the most important provider to learn and use because system calls are the main communication channel between user level applications and the kernel. Knowing which system calls are being used among other information establishes metrics of system usage and identifies possible misbehavior. With the syscall provider you can easily identify who executes what and how much time a certain operation takes, helping you to identify the root cause of system misbehavior.

Script to find the stack trace when the program makes the write system call. Note that you need to run this with the -c option.

syscall::write:entry
{
 @[ustack()]=count();
}

To list all the occurrences of the probe when it was fired and give information about the system calls at entry into the system that are performing a close system call, use the following script:

# dtrace -n syscall::close:entry

To start to identify the process which sent a kill signal to a particular process, use the following script

syscall::kill:entry
{
 trace(pid);
 trace(execname);
}

To determine how much time your webserver is spending at read, use the following script. This script can easily be modified for other processes

BEGIN
{
 printf("size\ttime\n");
}
syscall::read:entry
/execname == "httpd"/
{
 self->start = timestamp;
}
syscall::read:return
/self->start/
{
 printf("%d\t%d\n", arg0, timestamp - self->start);
 self->start = 0;
}

Proc Provider

This provider fires at processes and thread creation and termination as well as signals. It is a more sophisticated approach to the simple kill probe and will tell you which user sent a given signal (3head) to which process.

The following script prints out the process name, pid and uid when a new process is started in the system. Note that proc:::exec-success fires when a new process is started successfully.

proc:::exec-success
{
 printf("%s(pid=%d) started by uid - %d\n",execname, pid, uid);
}

Trace all the signals sent to all the processes currently running on the system

proc:::signal-send
{
 printf("%d was sent to %s by ", args[2], args[1]->pr_fname);
}

Note: We have to use dtrace -w for this example along with -s.

Add the conditional statement (/args[2] == SIGKILL/) into the script and send SIGKILL signals to different processes from different users.

proc:::signal-send
/args[2] == SIGKILL/
{
 printf("SIGKILL was sent to %s by ", args[1]->pr_fname);
}

Sched Provider

This provider dynamically traces scheduling events. Use it to understand when and why threads sleep, run, change priority, or wake other threads.

The following script determines the amount of time the CPU spends on I/O wait and working. It also breaks the I/O process and indicates that the data that was retrieved during the I/O wait time by sendmail. This script can easily be modified to fit your particular situation.

sched:::on-cpu
/execname == "soffice.bin"/
{
 self->on = vtimestamp;
}
sched:::off-cpu
/self->on/
{
 @time[""] = sum(vtimestamp self->on);
 self->on = 0;
}

I/O Provider

This provider looks into the disk input and output (I/O) subsystem. With the io provider you can get an in-depth understanding of iostat(1M) output.

Trace which files are being accessed on which device and to determine if the task being performed is a read or a write.

BEGIN
{
 printf("%10s %58s %2s\n", "DEVICE", "FILE", "RW");
}
io:::start
{
 printf("%10s %58s %2s\n", args[1]->dev_statname, args[2]->fi_pathname,
    args[0]->b_flags & B_READ ? "R" : "W");
}

Sivaji - the BOSS

2007-03-21T22:19:00.000-07:00

Today was one of the memorable days I was waiting for. thnaks to karthik for pinging me and giving me a link where I could find songs of Sivaji. Am a great Rajni, for just a simple reason that he is the ultimate entertainer and the gives me a chance to watch a movie in theatre with my family coz my parents would never come to theatre, except for Rajni movies. The recent lists of movies I went with my parents are : Chandramukhi, Padayappa( 2 times ), Arunachalam, Muthu. Wat else to say, my parents were ready to come for Rajni movie twice. Thats superstar for you. Thing is my parents are never interested in movies at all, thats wat surprises me.
The songs are good, the same AR Rehman flavor, which no one will like the first time.
One song, his usual style song is too good.
My duty as a fan to give you the lyrics.
Film : Sivaji
Music : A.R.Rahman
Song : Oru Koodai Sunlight

\"oru koodai sunlight..
oru koodai moonlight..
ondraaga saerndha colour dhanay en white..
appo dhaan pichai karrupay,ippo dhaan chekka sivapay..
eppodhum pachai thamizhan,ippo naan vellai thamizhan...

ada ada ada asithudhu un style
nada nada nada nadapadhu un style
gada gada gada siripadhu un style
pada pada pada pesuvadhu un style..

kalakudhu un style,izhukudhu un style,jeikudhu un sytleee..
kozhandhaiku un style,izhasukku un style,perusukku un styleeee..

ada ada ada asathudhu un style
nada nada nada nadapadhu un style
gada gada gada siripadhu un style
pada pada pada pesuvadhu un style
suda suda suda thoduvadhu un style
thada thada thada adhiradi un style
adikadi mudi kalaivadhu style
vara vara ellamay style....

ragalai seiyura thiru veera
mirala sei manmadha maara
kavi thedum kalaga kaara
kann thadavum kandhala maara
ginn nidru kanniya koora
thinn nindru vellai kaara...

adada nee kaithadi mittai
nadandhayae maraikira kattai,
irundhayae uruvathail ettai,
malarndhayae kozhu kozhu muthai,
ice nadhiyai nerambukul vittai,
g ennum sollilay suttai,
eiffel tower idhayathil nattai,
pattasai paatai,...

a o a o lets throw the fido
a o a o lets throw the fido
hero hero heraadhi hero
staro staro nee superstaro\"...

Sivaji - Indeed is a BOSS...
Nallavana aandvan sodhipaan, aana kei vida maatan...

Whooo haaa INDIA!!!

2007-03-21T04:36:00.000-07:00

World Cup is up, and everyone are having their hearts in the mouth coz India, as usual, is into another do or die situation. And a personal feeling I have is, we never lost to a minnow. We lost to a side which is felding like they are having wings. And I feel, the difference between the two sides was the feilding. India was too casual in the feild, Dhoni missing a catch, which was not that difficult, off Munaf and Dravid missing a difficult chance, which the Bangladeshians would have surely taken.
Let India have the best batting line up in the world and a very experienced and clever bowling attack, they will never be champions until they grab the chances their bowlers ignite by feilding well.
I saw a television show in Jaya TV, in regard to cricket, when one of the selectors said that, when asked about Kaif's ommision from world cup, Vengsarkar said, we cannot take him into the team just for his fielding. And so they have taken Shewag and Pathan, who did excellently with bat/bowl, so ironic. Atleast Kaif was felding and gauranteed saving 20 runs/innings, even though he didnt bat well like shewag. The selection commitee, the board, the players have one concern that is more important than the game, and thats, personal interest.
ICC knows the loss it wil incur if India is out of the torunament soon. So they would surely try some bargaining. "Whoo haa India" - very sad India...
Jonty Rhodes once in an interview, said he used to bat at number 8 or 9, and the only job he did was feilding. Kaif was an exception. If kaif was in the squad and if he could save some runs and throws at stumps, your teams confidence is so high...
Indian cricket is more run by Politics, Money, Perosnal Interest and Greed, rather than talent.
But still, some where in my heart, I want INDIA to be there and win the Worlc Cup :-). this is the weakness Indians have, to be with your team even after knowing all this, wat to do, I am an Indian :-).