AVATAR : Incarnation of Movie via CGI

Am a movie buff a complete one. But not willing to sit and watch a boring movie to prove a point. I do watch any kind of movie though whether its action, romance, comedy or drama it just has to entuce me and hold me on to my seat. And most of all am not a movie critic as well, as i think its easy to sit and criticize rather than go and get the job done. Last Saturday i saw this movie AVATAR (yes picked from hindu mythology for Incarnation) by James Cameron (man who yelled out "am the king of the world" when TITANIC won the Oscars). With lots of expectation i reached at the theater grabbed on to the 3D glasses and anxiously waited like a baby for the movie to get started.

This movie is an epic and for the movies sake there is so much in the plate for the viewer to watch, understand, learn and feel. It was like on a daily dose of Daal-Chaaval somebody pushed an epicure to a World Food Festival Buffet. Picturization at its helm thats what caught my eye. Its more like James Cameron had a dream and he somehow downloaded all those into a Cinema.And the added note of the movie is the casting, very carefully Cameron has rallied some old troops and some fresh faces as well. No big star so as to speak of , and the real star is CGI which catches every ones eye by its breathtaking aura.

Yes, the movie is a bit long (160 mins is not big for an average indian movie watcher) but i guess Cameron would have been in a confused state at the editing table on what to chop off? I couldnt think of a place which could be avoided as such all scenarios were carefully placed and etched together. There is a new dimension in movie making and movie watching experience. Dont miss it, it will blow you away by all means!!!!

Where are you Alisha?

Guys! As many of you might know i had been on a vacation back home for a month. From there i digged up my old collection of short notes, stories and some poems. I had this habit of penning something at the back of my notebook in classroom or some old diaries. Basically went through a few of them and this one caught my eye, dated August 21, 2000. Its titled 'Where are you Alisha?' written around a story i heard from my friend. Somehow i had tried to make a poem out of it...still i feel a gem from my old collection.

Poem goes out like this,

Where are you Alisha?

Where did i see her?
was that in the train or at the theater..
Gosh! for gods sake, i cant remember
Silver bangles,shiny skin, strong perfume
a 5 sec pause.....

you were there right in front of me

nothing said nothing heard

though our eyes kinda glued

somebody yelled out aloud Alisha!

with a giggle she walked past me

and thats the last sight of her

as if i adorned a blinker

but still can't remember...

Where the heck i saw her?

a burqa clad girl she was
all i could see were those eyes
those perfectly kajal-ed deep black eyes..
everyday i wake up from my slumber

and hope to meet her somewhere

till then am standing astrayed

Alisha, when will i meet her?

- Shabbu

I hope you liked it!

Made for each other

Story of two friends of mine. Hero is more like a big brother to me and heroin is this cute small girl. They both were the first few people i met at work and we were all part of this one big team. From the beginning ...... 'yes' there were sparks of something going on. But me just out of college every thing looked gold for me. He used to bring a packet of gems (chocolate) every day morning for her and she used to share them gleefully amongst us. As always there used to be office gossips around them but they had learnt to smile at them or the best ignore them. Anxious kid i was and amused in a way 'Whats going on?'. But neither of them said anything nor did they oppose. They just carried on with themselves. Fighting over mobile bills to auto rickshaw fares,  throwing tantrums at each other for the most wierdest thing was in their daily routine. He was her constant source of support and wisdom, while she could bring the funniest person in him and made him a tad ambitous in life. Though they disagree on most of the things on opinion they do share a lot of things in common. She would make him crazy while driving, girl for sure had a heavy foot on gas. And he would spend loads of time debugging his code making her wait forever. The beauty of certain love stories is its simplicity. It need not be a heer-ranjha or a romeo-juliet with all those episodes of love oozing in every direction, love does exists in the most noble (doesnt mean all others are killers out there) and silent souls as well.   Now that i have told you so much, well you would have guessed by now its their wedding on Jan 18th. Just couldn't stop myself writing a note on this wonderful pair, people whom i personally adore and respect a lot....Mad/Made for each other.

Thierry Henry : CHEAT

Extra time counting at World Cup Qualifier between Ireland and France. In front of the home nation France...a crunch game at paris. And the Irish players are breathing down their necks and causing trouble of all sorts.A Ball floated in and drops in the six yard box Thierry Henry plucks the ball with his left hand and passes it to William Gallas to score the equaliser and send france through to the world cup finals. What a disastrous way to get your qualification kapitaan? and heartbreak all over for Ireland. This is Irony at its best as the irish were the better team the whole game.

Now focus on Henry as he runs around celebrating with his team mates. I was furious to see it but was not surprised at all not even a tiny-winy bit as anybody who follows premiership would have seen similar stuff from Henry. Though my sympathies are with Robbie Keane and Co. King Henry as Arsenal fans hail him was a legend in premiership but many a times he has been that pricking rat who scores goals in the sinisterial manner. One such goal i personally remember when Thomas Sorensen GK from villa was working with his defenders on the wall..Henry cheekily places the ball in the net and scores a goal. And referee...well referee's all over the world have been always kind or afraid to the superstars. The game at 0-0 till then was won by arsenal in a cheap manner. The repurcussions...well very few remember they manner in which goal was scored all we could pick up is the scoreline and arsenal continued their unbeaten run. The 11 players in Villa + the manager would have felt godsmacked. Then there is the famous incident with Carols puyol in the 2006 world cup when henry grasps his face falls down and rolls over for a shoulder charge. Could some one nominate him for a Best Actor Award??? For all his tantrums and misdemeanor he was always forgiven and the worst part hailed as a great.

But this is an unforgivable offence and that too when clock runs down the extra time window and its a matter of two huge footballing nations. Alas!!! the sad part is here too the referee was made the scape goat by both the teams and the football associations. Its a players responsibilty  as well to play the game with in the right spirit. I hope no young kid around the world learn this as a trick and starts following henry's actions. Football is never to be played with hands unless you are goalie (lesson one in football). Am delighted and a feeling of parity restored for the very reason that Henry though has won many accolades through out his career but is devoid of a world player.The sole reason is his plastic behaviour, outside he acts like an innocent goat though he is the very jackal hiding under goat skin. As they say'What goes around Comes around", henry will for sure be on receiving end not too far.

Thierry Henry you were a Cheat and You will be a Cheat in everyones yes ............................... Good Going King Henry{middle finger}!!!

These are the words of Eric Cantona (Ex French and Manchester United Captain and Player)
"What shocked me most wasn't the handball, honestly," said Cantona.
"What shocked me most was that at the end of the match, in front of the television cameras, this player (Henry) went and sat down next to an Irish player to console him, even though he'd screwed them three minutes earlier.
"If I'd been Irish, he wouldn't have lasted three seconds."

Tagged again

I got Tagged by Sreejith...just way to let your thoughts known across the world by some simple questions and answers...

1) A – Available/Single?
Single (The unleashed Bull) ;)
2) B – Best friend?
My Sister Shyama..no doubt about it!!
3) C – Cake or Pie?
Apple Fudge Pie
4) D – Drink of choice?
B.E.E.R, Zingaro/KF/Budweiser would be preferred. I hate whiot drinks...beer is the best.
5) E – Essential item you use every day?
Lot of them cant list them here :) (very personal)
6) F – Favorite colour?
Blue, Black, Yellow
7) G – Gummy Bears Or Worms?
None of the Above
8) H – Hometown?
Palakkad, Kerala
9) I – Indulgence?
Music..any kind preferably Rahmanic.
10) J – January or February?
February for sure...lovers month.
11) K – Kids & their names?
Not married but open for helping any Kid lover ;)
12) L – Life is incomplete without?
Friends
13) M – Marriage date?
Want it to be Feb 29th (would come only every 4 years)
14) N – Name? Your real name!!
dude..you are reading my blog..remember??
15) O – Oranges or Apples?
Oranges...especially the raw ones....spunky...
16) P – Phobias/Fears?
Am not the bravest around, but would say not afraid of anything. May be fear of losing dear ones i cant stand that.
17) Q – Quote for today?
Jeeyo aur Jeene Do!!
18) R – Reason to smile?
I dont need a reason....smile at the smallest of things(courtesy: amma)
19) S – Season?
Rainy season in Kerala, Snowy season in Columbus
20) T – Tag 3 People?
Raghu, Athira and Sriram
21) U – Unknown fact about me?
I love baby sitting
22) V – Vegetable you don’t like?
BitterGourd..yuck!!
23) W – Worst habit?
Missing important dates
24) X – X-rays?
Once when injured my Knee while a Football Match.
25) Y – Your favorite food?
A lot of them to list..i eat anything to everything.
26) Z – Zodiac sign?
LEO, 100% shuddh LEO....

Why them?

Early morning cuddling in my bed at home i was woke up by amma. I hate her for this aspect from my childhood days, half heartedly i looked at her and she looked a bit confused by all sorts.
She said "Vijeshinte achan vannittundu" (Vijesh's dad is here).
I got up from bed before i could walk up to him....he ran and came to me. A big Father's hug kept me weeping for the next few minutes or so. He kept repeating the words "Eee gathi aarkum varutharuthe ente eeshwara...ee oru praarthanaye enikku ullu" (My only prayer to god is that no body should go through the pain i am going through right now). It was the most unexpected starts to a morning where me, amma and uncle sitting on different couch's weeping at various decibel's. All for a guy who only provided fun and laughter, my dear friend Vijesh. Uncle then stood up
and walked off without saying anything....at the gate he said "Samayam kittumbol vijeshinte ammaye poi kaanu" (Whenever you find time go and meet vijesh's mom). As he walked away slowly i couldn't help noticing the big change he has been through. The long beard, his faded dhoti and dark spots all over his eyes. Rewind back 7 years one of our boorish college days he shouted at me, vijesh and sankar for being so irresponsible in our lives. Though on those days i hated that figure I wish i could get that uncle back, a strong face which wore a slight grimace, uncompromising and direct. My heart crumbles to see this person wither away in front of me little by little. As i see him off and remember that face on back of my mind he disappears into the lane.

That evening i went to meet Vijesh's Amma. A bit worried and tensed to face her Shyama voluntered to accompany me. As we rang the bell aunty came and opened the door. She was tired and all blacked out. Dark patches on her eye lashes and tears in her eyes. She looked weak with her hair all messy and in total she looked like a house being rampaged by a tornado.
She must have been crying from the day vijesh left us and infact made me wonder how sometimes we expect god to answer a silly question "Why her?". We made her sit on a chair and tried deviating the topic. But mother's you know them, how strong they act they cant digest losing their loved ones.His memories, his jokes, those mohanlal madness, his sarcastic tone to each and everything in life and time went discussing about him. And there was a slight relief as she laughed a bit here and there stopped crying.But inside me i could feel myself in a very odd position expecting all this to be a bad dream. I wanted to forget this face of aunty, i always want to see the cherubic, glowing face of hers with a default sandalwood paste on her forehead. But some strings are pulled from up above and it will be always like that.

As i reached my home i see Vijesh's brother Vineeth waiting for me. He didnt want to meet me in front of his mom and dad. The small playful boy i saw a few years back has vanished somewhere. He was acting strong though he badly needed a hug. I let him speak his mind out. He would blabber and go out of topic but he was strong willed on not to wilt. He knew his mom and dad looked upto him and he is their only hope and purpose in life. And i could just act like his big brother may be trying to provide that one drop of warmth and affection to him. But never can i step into vijesh's shoes. Or Can I? only time will tell.

Its a huge void and death tears our lives into shatters. People who are closely associated to you death becomes cruel to them. What fun does god get in crumbling a happy face? May be its all part of a big process, hundreds die daily for various reasons but when some one so near passes away we start thinking what to and what not to? May be its all a lesson for us to do something better outta our lives. Lot of unanswered questions looming in my mind and a barn full of memories on vijesh my friend, my brother. And hoping god would tell me "Of all the people Why Him?"

Story of a Tharoor Tweet...

Everyone these days are having a dig at Mr.Sashi Tharoor, Member of Parliament from Thiruvananthapuram. Tharoor as we all know is a magnificient personality someone any youth can look up to. He who contested for the U.N Secretary General Chair after many years of UN experience under his belt. By personal choice he find himself a place in Indian Politics as a Congress Candidate. A welcome sign for a developing India to have thinking people in politics rather than some film stars and bigwig industrialists cashing on their fame.

Tharoor on Twitter, well i knew he was in this space even before this saga happened and was quite diligently following his tweets. As a 'responsible indian youth' i felt him to be more approachable to aam aadmi this way. Moreover each of his tweets reflected his excuberance and enthusiasm towards his job and his son's work. And its new to citizens like us to learn the activities of a minister via tweets rather than some newspaper with more importance towards the dias than the speech. Infact quite a few times i have quizzed him on certain burning topics in indian politics (though he didnt answer me - understandably so). So one of his such tweets about 'cattle class' has unfuriated the trp oriented news channels, jealous ministers and few jobless top brasses (so called).

The repurcussions have been alarmingly severe. With all the youth congress initiatives, ticket to youth for elections and all the 'saviour of new india' congress still behaved like the old party that it has been. Still very conservative and split wide open when any concern arises. Though here its nothing of a concern or not even a scaer its a tiny weeny tweet, but still congress high command always had the final say on this matter. Tharoor was just made aware 'who's your daddy?' or should i say "mommy". Atleast our PM had the commonsense to brush off the tweet as a joke and had the apetitite to digest a sarcasm from a former UN representative.

FootNote: Tharoor must be wondering on what happened to 'Freedom of Speech' may be its time for you to add an amendment 'The Freedom of Tweet' sire or may be a crash course on 'Sarcasm and Diplomacy' to the HighCommand and all those 'Cattle Class Lovers'.

Vijesh memories...

Vijesh my friend just a few hours ago left us to the heavenly abode. Lot of memories, a lot of them and they are killing me even more. Feels like deja vu after binu's death. I guess everyone resigned it to be fate but still cant digest this. Macha!! da myre remembering you and all those pranks . Those good and bad times we shared, i am helpless as i write now. I am going through this arrays of emotions and memories and hoping it to be a bad dream. We are not ready for this..no way. Nallavare nerathe vilikkum ennu amma parayum pole aanenkil ninnodu aaru paranjeda ithrakku nannavaan ?

First day in FYMB Nov 20th 2000, ragging petti lakshmi posing as seniors, introducing to kutty sankaran, playing cricket in the evenings, those prolonged mohanlal vs mammooty discussions, watching maria movies in New Kerala theater, first kallu kudi in paayattamkunnu, playing cards in sreelakshmi, teaching us engineering graphics, 'enne SI thalli..sankarane verum oru constable' , the royal pushers, blue colour hero honda passion, fighting off a drunk kc on union inauguration, college election campaigning, tcs treat, ottan thullal with sarun, ..the list will go on for all these memories (sometimes remembering everything is proving to be not good for one's health).

As everyone of us have been telling each other over phone 'Nothing in our Hands' but all i can say is 'You still rule our hearts da and dont worry about inni'.

The YSR Factor

YS RajaSekhar Reddy CM of Andhrapradhesh passed away in a tragic helicopter accident. Many might have known this by now from the media or through friends. What is remarkable about this is i never knew people of AP liked him so much. I mean how could some one like a politician so much. After Rajiv Gandhi passed away and in some way after loss of Madhava Rao Scindia in an uncalled manner this must be the most mourned political death. I have had the luck of seeing him once entering a car near 'Andhra Bhavan' New Delhi. Me and Madan went for the Rs.50 unlimited lunch there in Andhra Bhavan and just saw a glimpse of a leader being escorted to his car on a cold afternoon. After that it some how interests me to read about him whenever i see his name in news.

But then working in an industry dominated by friends from andhra and especially lot of "reddy's" i get to hear a lot of good things about a legend he has been. From the knock out to Chandrababu naidu to the 1600 km walk across andhra (like a new age Gandhiji) and many more. Kishore my friend is devastated today and is finding himself short of words this morning. I found it strange and some what sweet. You know why? because i could not link myself to a politician from kerala for whom i would feel sad. Call it a stone heart smug or the lack of a heart touching politicians. AK Anthony in my books is good but never he was this lion hearted to address peoples issues, whenever there was a pressure he resigned gleefully. Nevermind!! not to deviate from the main topic here which is YSR.

In an era where there is a scarcity of dynamic and irresistible leaders this sure is a big loss to our country. A harbinger he was and destined for something real good and my only hope is his followers etch the same path and achieve it to celebrate a life called YSR.

T.E.A.M

There are many earnest endevaours i have been part of in one way or the other but i feel offlate this is the best. One of my office mate Ms.K (no names, she is just 28) is suffering from cancer and her supervisor had this superb idea to organize a fundraiser for her. One was a small rose silk ribbon to all those who donate more than a dollar to the contibution (counters were in desk and cafeteria). Another was a pancake breakfast buffet, where we can eat as much as we want and donate a sizeable amount. Small happening like this encourages each and every one of us to come daily to the so called boring place 'office'. Not only i was touched by their emotional attachment and commitment to this young girl but they were extremely careful not a soul were showering her uncalled sympathies. All our prayers are with Ms.K for her battle against cancer, but more than that she has shown me to 'keep smiling what so ever'.

Many thanks to all who participated in our pancake breakfast fundraiser! Your thoughtful spirit and generous donations allowed us to raise $781 for our dear friend and colleague who is battling cancer. I wanted to let you know how very much I appreciate all of you! This morning was great fun for the our Team to sponsor. We hope you enjoyed yourselves as much as we did. I must say that I am very happy to be working at this Building! I think it is filled with the best associates ever!
The American Cancer Society estimates that 1,437,180 new cases of cancer will be reported this year. They also report that through continued education about prevention and early detection that the survival rate is now 66% overall. For more information, please visit The American Cancer Society at www.cancer.org

K fund co-ordinator
(She is a rock star in every way)
K's reply;
Thank you so much!!! This has been amazing! This will really help as I get further into treatment and I will not be able to work as much! It really takes a lot of stress away and lets me concentrate on the battle ahead! I cannot say thank you enough! =)

Ms.K

And for the silk ribbon i have earned its in my desk safe and sound reminding me life is short the more you give the more merrier it becomes even in a small way.

A New Season awaits

August is a very special month for me personally for many reasons. One such reason is it marks the beginning of English Premier League. A football league which i have been rigorously following for last 9 years. Each player transfer, team formation all the silliest thing there excites me. As many of my friends know i support 'Liverpool' football club for obvious reasons. Last year we finished a mighty close second and were neck ahead in terms of entertainment and class compared to previous years. So as a fan it really excites me when a club improves step by step to become giant of a team in europe. I hope this year we become worthy winners and lets some loose tongues tied down.

Steven Gerard and Fernando Torres still going to be our axis but i think the wild card will be acquisition of Aquilani. He will playing in front of ever present Mascherano and is good with both foots. For sure we will miss the service of Alonso but in Johnson and Insua we have good wing backs to fly the crosses in. Gerards creativity and work ethic in the middle with torres's movement upfront is gonna make some defenders wear their dancing shoes.

This year will also be crucial for the dutch duo Babel-Kuyt, Kuyt must have been a TCS employee seeing the amount of work he does on the pitch and no body can question his commitment to the game. Babel once termed as the upcoming Star or the New Thierry henry has not stood up to his reputation yet. I hope this year he proves his critics wrong. Andriy Voronin is back from his successful loan period, guy wants to prove himself to the fine player he is. Its good to see players like him turning up and rise up to the occassion. In Pepe Reina we have one of the best goal keepers in the world and has a good ball distribution range. Carragher, Skrtel and Agger complete the best defence in premier league last year. All in all the signs are ominous and if away from injuries to prime players and the bench stands up to the occassion i have no worries over fellow premiership dreamers.

The most potent armoury in Liverpool's fire power is our manager Rafa. He might not be good at tirades (which he proved last year) like fergie. And he might not proclaim himself as the Special One. Every team in the world is afraid of the astute craftmanship this man possesses. His ethics of Football is very similar to Wenger's but a different philosphy though. Rafa can unlock any team in the world even and can vision a game much ahead of his compatriots. I personally dont care his media image because i know 'whole media is bought by Manchester United'. Rafa has a clear plan on what needs to be done and if as fans we can just rely on him he will deliver the premier league at the doors of Anfield where 'You will Never Walk Alone'.

Killing Thyself

Am attributed to a lot of bad things in my life, a lot of bad actions and their repurcussions. Some of which have caused a wrong notion about me in general to many people i know. Though i dont care about their thoughts and mood swings, i want to correct those sinisters in me. Hell no i am not here to list those one by one and their corrective actions (sounds more like my status report at work). Naah in a plain way i want to be more firm and show backbone to certain places in life. Though i believe life is a stroll on the grass and we must not think it over and confuse ourselves, its always good to rewind and think of alternatives. Its like those balls outside offstump you miss it once or twice then you practise to crack it next time. I have actually begun with the corrective actions it might be from a simple phone call to seeking forgiveness on a previous crazy action. As my colleague Raj puts in his mail signatures "Our lives become beautiful not because we are perfect. Our lives become beautiful because we put our heart into what we are doing". Though late i am upto it.

Killing my odd habits and changing beliefs and opening up is one of 'THE' things i wanna do, kinda birthday resolution [:)].

Listen to My Advice....

Advices!! Well thats a freebie anyone can give you on every walk of life. From the cricket fields to corridors in your office you are never short of getting an advice. I am not speaking this for me but for the entire group of people i know of...I am a bit strong headed for my own personal will, and its very difficult for anyone to change my views and ideologies. Some utterly foolish ideology but i live by rule that 'in MY life atleast I make the decisions' (though its not always possible and we must be open to better ideas....but bug off who cares). Apparently most of the advices i find in general not to me alone but to the whole world, it is total bullshit.

Moment you hear some one start saying "I would suggest or My opinion is " .... KLUSHSHHSHHHHH..somebody just flushed the toilet on you....i would say. Thats what i think, and because of this these days even i dont suggest anything to anyone....god has given brains for everyone to figure out themselves whats HOT and whats NOT.......
let them figure out themselves. But there is always a window of opportunity where one can go and ask "dude am in a fix what to do?". I believe am the blessed one here i have so many friends i could walk/call upto even in the middle of the night for any kind of queries/help. That wont associate to advice if u ask me....

Anyway of all the free advices in my life..there is one single advice i cherish and try to perfect it everyday. Its the "Art of saying NO", its the same advice from my previous manager, my colleague, my buddy (no names again) all sing in a single harmonic. The music hummed 'NO'. Jim Carey made a movie called YES man, i would prefer making an indian version of 'NO dude'. In a corporate jungle where we are, everyone is there to chew up each other and walk away with the final pot. In order to refrain from these evil's there is a simple word called "NO". Its how beautifully you put it that matters, "I dont have the bandwidth" , "I dont know" , "Can you check with Mr.xyz", "hmmm...", "I have too much on my plate already" , "Iraq is heavenly when compared to my work", and the best one is Silence or no response at all..either the other person will think you are dumb or else he will think 'may be i should ask someone else.

But having said that am not very good at this, i cannot say NO easily and when it comes to work am pretty transparent. My initial perception was whiners have no chance to grow at a workplace, but as i look around whiners and butt wipers achieve more at work than who do their chores properly. So as i have seen i have learnt everything the hard way and i must agree am getting good at this in last few weeks.
Say NO those headaches asap if you want a big YES to enjoy your life, thats a rephrased motto now.

Tattoo..to or not to??

I've never been a ornament person and hated women with lot of jewellery. I feel every ornament brings a sense of tied down effect on one. For how many times i have seen women in my family checking their necklaces and rings out. First to confirm if its there and secondly its at the right place. Thats one of the reason i am uncomfortable wearing a ring(the one ammamma gave me) as well . But these days i am attracted to tattoo's. Yes i consider even them as an ornament. It can be to make a statement or just a crazy fashion but its now my burning desire to get a tattoo. I have been thinking about the various designs like an Ashoka Chakra or the sanskrit scripture 'OM' or may be my sister's name on my shoulders or biceps. I really am yet to decide but ashoka chakra tops the list and for obvious reasons. And yes we are speaking about a permanent tattoo. One for the life..like picking a wife so must be extra careful aint it??


A friend of mine has a chineese symbol of 'Strength' tattoed on his leg calf muscles. Now an 'OM' on my broad biceps would look bombastic and also will give me an urge to workout daily. So its like a Win-Win situation. The safety of a tattoo was the next point to investigate, but these days everyone is using sterilized needles and there are tattoo parlours who are masters at this craft. And they are not that costly for a simple design one just needs to make a booking in advance and maybe they will play around with the design here and there. But yes i need to hit the right frequency with the artist, i dont want him to fiddle around with my personal choices too much.

Still the questions in mind are like these ;
Should i get it or not to??
If yes, which one is better an OM or Ashoka Chakra or you have any better ideas??
Dont give me dumb ideas like hanu gave(danger sign tattoo up your Ass..... lol)plzzzz
Lemme know!!!
Adois till then.................

Breaking the shackles

A few months back i read an article on cricinfo by younis khan (pakistan skipper). He like many other pakistani cricketers were shocked by the terrorists attack on Srilankan cricket team. Younis vouched for a point " if you let cricket die in pakistan it will end up in flourishing extremism (he was careful to avoid the term terrorism) " Never in criceketing history you would see a captain pleading to the whole world in such a benign manner. And yes he absolutely had a point, in a country robbed by muslim fundamentalists and high end extremism a young man (probably of our age) has nothing but cricket to chose to claw himself out of sheer poverty. Take for example yousuf youhana or abdur razzaq and many more, pakistan cricketers have been always from a very poor background but the most talented, less trained and sparkling characters. Its like you love them or hate them but you cannot ignore them.

Before the T20 world cup i personally felt srilankan's were the favourites with their all round ability, but as pakistan started nibbling victories as every other cricket fan it was clear they have arrived to the party. And younis khan had a big part in it, in the loss to india in the warm up matches he was to his best in addressing the issues and areas to be worked upon. We could see younis (he is no where near a t20 player) adapting to the game and rallying his troops. We have seen all kind of captaincies from pakistan the charismatic and lion hearted 'Imran Khan' to silent giant killer 'Inzamam' style. But younis is a new breed and full of jokes and energy on/off the field.

When the whole world speaks about dhoni and his street smart captaincy style. Somewhere we missed yet another wonderful captain in our brother nation. Hats off to younis and the whole team, the victory could mean a lot to pakistan public and a generic antidote to the blind fundamentalists grazing in pakistan.

PS: As for indian cricket fans, yeah we are a bit disappointed but i guess team india was mentally fatigued and could not spring up any ideas as such. Technology can keep one fit 365 days for continuous cricket but human beings need a break for their brains to recuperate the pressure and travel. With BCCI and a greedy indian cricket loving public its time to bring in Artificial Intelligence to Indian Cricket... coz we never cant get enough.

Tagged....

1) When you looked at yourself in the mirror today, what was the first thing you thought?
Oooh i am losing a lot of hair. 'achante mon thanne' :)
2) How much cash do you have in your wallet right now?
$17.62
3) What’s a word that rhymes with DOOR?
CORE, may be too much of time at gym in last 6 months ended in core.
4) Who is the 4th person on your missed call list on your cell phone?
Kishore Reddy, he is my friend/colleague for an issue but i was on another call.
He complains its difficult to get me over phone..i am sorry dude am working on it (maybe i can offshore that as well LOL).
5) What is your favorite ring tone on your phone?
Rang De Basanti/Vaseegara from Minnale
6) What are you wearing right now?
Formals, white shirt with black stripes (Dhanya's Gift) and dark blue trousers.
7) Do you label yourself?
Yes and always..
8) Name the brand of the shoes you’re currently own?
Woodland, Red Tape, Skechers, North point, Nike, Adidas(Mullai's gift) (last 3 being my sports shoes). Not to mention am a shoe addict..i buy lots of them.
9) Bright or Dark Room?
I always prefer bright rooms..even dont mind lights while sleeping.
Wasting energy is a sin so thats the only reason for turning off the lights.
10) What do you think about the person who took this survey before you?
One helluva person, great person to spend time with and the first person i met in college whom i didnt know in my school days (pehla outsider)
11) What does your watch look like?
A Seiko with a metal strap and grey dial. Its my dads watch i exchanged it for mine.
12) What were you doing at midnight last night?
Came back after the movie "The Hangover" and was preparing for my early morning call with offshore.
13) What did your last text message you received on your cell say?
The bill for last month has been debited from your account.
14) What’s a word that you say a lot?
AWESOME
15) Who told you he/she loved you last?
My Sister
16) Last furry thing you touched?
The Hairy Bastard (Teddy Bear) in my Car.
17) Favourite age you have been so far?
Every age had its own beauty and fun quotient...i love all ages, god must rethink of giving us a second chance as well ;)
18) What was the last thing you said to someone?
Good Night to my mom.
19) The last song you listened to?
Lathika's theme in Slumdog Millionaire
20) Where did you live in 1987?
Avadi, Chennai
21) Are you jealous of anyone?
Rahul Gandhi, he is gonna be a part of something big in coming years...
22) Is anyone jealous of you?
Naah..why should they be? I am as ordinary as you get.
23) Name three things that you have on you at all times?
'Charadu' or the sacred thread around my neck and wrists, LiveStrong Band, Most probably will get a tattoo in coming years
24) What’s your favourite town/city?
Los Angeles/Toronto comes a distant second but its always PALAKKAD forever.
25) When was the last time you wrote a letter to someone on paper and mailed it?
Wrote a letter in malayalam to my grandmother in 2004, as i e-mail everyone else.
26) Can you change the oil on a car?
Yes
27) Your first love/big crush: What is the last thing you heard about him/her?
She is married, settled and 'so' happy with her husband.
28) Does anything hurt on your body right now?
No
29) What is your current desktop picture?
Wallpaper of Kaka (brazilian footballer)
30) Have you been burnt by love?
Ohh yes, but thats been a big blessing in disguise to move on in life.

That was quick, many of the questions might give you another set of answers if you ask me any other time. But the ones which i really mean them are never gonna change.

I tag Raghu, Sriram, Gireesh, Deepak and Swarna.
C'mon guys have fun!!!

Am i a leader?

One can find a million book about personality development and leadership skills, the role it plays in modern corporate species to become CEO's at 19 [:)]. But i am a firm believer that leadership is more decided in your genes(born leader as they say) than training your brains (only upto an extent). I have experienced quite a few time in my life the moment one reads from a book or attends a personality development course he/she enthralls fully into leading others. This doesn't even stop them from commanding their stupid ideas across the board (assertively). One basic etho in leadership in my view is, you can only be a leader when you like to be lead as well.
Its a two way path and thats where the success lies. Most of us misunderstand leadership by the skills we drive a project or make somebody do he doesn't want to (either by force or compulsion) or to be successful with a team you play any sports.
To drive a project more than leadership its the organizing abilities that come into picture, how well you can accomodate the ego's in your team? thats the question to be answered. Some times we find people who enter "All In" to a scenario with high octane energy and has immense drive to take people to the next level. So is he a good leader? Yes, only if he can maintain the energy through out because most of the time he runs short of energy/enthusiasm to lead and is very skeptical about criticism and failure. There are times when someone who dislikes to play the second fiddle and he feels he has no obligation to anybody. These are all no one else but me at various stages of my life whether at work or sports or life in general. I find leadership very amusing and am always interested in running the show, but still i know am not a complete leader though i would love to be. I personally look up to a few people on various stratas of life and take a leaf out of their book on leading or captaining. On the contrary am not a fool either to jump first into the well to show that am a leader.. lol that will be crazy.
Why i felt writing about it now? Last week we had a soccer game, after a series of disappointing results i decided to take up the matter into my hands(which itself is a rarity). We did remarkably well and i had to yell around and stick to our guns (more of a commander than a leader). This was a drastic change as same scenario some 3 years back in chennai, every weekends we used to lose badly in cricket but i never had the drive to make it as a team. I used to believe less in my team and took the responsibility on my shoulders and a few other restricted souls. Same at work as well either its full adrenalin action or accept defeat in a meek and self effacing manner. May be with various experiences, good tips from friends i guess there is some improvement in that periphery. And at this stage of my life where there are leadership opportunities at every walk of my life i am looking forward to it....but still this question keeps pondering me "Am i a leader? and that too a good one?"

A Silent Wail

Its a sad feeling when you lose someone forever and just his memories to cherish all along. An array of emotions uncontrollable and which eventually breaks you down. My roomie a colourful character and a bubbly person as ever, i saw him get shattered right in front of my eyes upon his dads demise. May his Soul rest in Peace!!!
Life is so fragile aint it? One moment you are jumping around teasing and fooling around with your friends with no idea what so ever whats in store for you? And the irony being how cruelly it subdues into this unknown zone where no person wants to be no matter how strong you are. This incident also showed me the importance of friends or relatives in our life. We associate friendship to the number of happier moments and the fun we have, but there is a beautiful side of friendship when it becomes a shoulder for your sorrows. Alleviates the pain and gives the atmost care and love we need to bite through the phase. All our friends were present there to console and help him ease through it. For a moment i felt very proud to have dear friends like them. As far as my roomie is concerned he is one son of a gun, he will bounce back from this setback and most importantly be the strong pillar his family needs right now. Having said this still an iota of gloominess lingers in our room, and time is the only medicine for it.

Shut the fuck up!!!

One thing i have noticed in our generation as such is that we are confident speakers compared to our elders. We speak as if we conquered the world and napolean is just another king in our backyard. But having said that we hardly put our speech into action or to be more clear the verbal assaults are just for the sake of it. Offlate i have been experiencing quite a few of these amongst my friends and pointing finger at them would be brutal as i know 'am no saint either'. But an average mallu is always a revolutionary and he cannot shut the fuck up :). So i am venting my disappointment and anger down this drain called B.L.O.G. Its not that am frustrated at people as these are my loved ones whatever they do, but i detest the huge gap between their talk and the walk.

Recently there was an intiative at my workplace, it was a fund collection for the education of a less priveleged little girl. Her father is a security at our office in chennai and a help of any sort would be appreciable. Ammamma always says its the mentality that counts more than the amount. May be she is the catalyst in my mind for all these magnanimous(i truly believe it is) ventures. So there is Mr.X who collects the funds/co-ordinates and the amount is very meager compared to the one time overpriced indian buffet or the price of tennis balls we hit out in a cricket or tennis matches. But still, these days every one is a philanthropist but before that a true ideologist. Though this effort cannot be classified as a classical charity proposal i would say this was more of a help. But then my buddy Mr.Y says 'Helping one girl wouldn't change anything if you are really doing something you have to do to the core there are still millions like this girl, this is like a drop in the ocean'. Initially he made no sense to me, its either he didn't like the purpose or he thought am just another jackal in a goat skin. But however he added 'for that 20 buck i would buy a better cricket bat'. I feel for this person he is and nothing can be done to make him understand about the tiny step a person/society needs to take to change a whole world. His first statement is very true and embodies a person who think holistically but second statement depicted 'he didn't want' for some obvious reasons. The silver line in the second line will be his frankness and wholeheartedness hats off to than one sire.

Some associate helping to charity and that to a form of 'divine begging'. Personally begging is a No-No in any part of the world and worst one could ever go through. But if there is a god given opportunity to help someone (i personally feel) one must not overlook it. Whether its an idea carried forwarded by the very person you despise, if you see an element of 'good' in it one must go all guns helping it. This also reminds me of a girl Ms.Z who can leave her tongue wagging all around when it comes to global warming and our usage of tissue papers in the toilet/household resulting in cutting of trees in forests of amazon. But when it came down to the same venture by Mr.X she blankly shot a 'NO' to him (surprised or shocked you decide). When i heard it from Mr.X i felt i would have traded a slap from someone instead of a 'NO' from the so called Menaka Gandhi V2.0 herself. And then there is a big group of Mr.A to K who spent hours talking on indian politics and the outcome of it causing a change in rural and urban population, poverty line statistics, money made in alliances, status quo of our economy and the poverty stricken millions in our country. What Rahul and Sonia Gandhi must do in coming years? but as always turned a blind eye (must have been the work pressure and hitherto lack of time) on this venture.

I know 2 colleagues of mine sponsoring kids back in india and taking care of them of all their necessities. He might not be an eloquent speaker but i respect him for his actions than anything else. Elsy Aunty used to tell us every time she gave something back to the society she felt more richer and more divine. I adapted that leaf out of her book and it trulyis warming when god feels you are powerful enough to help someone in the slightest way possible.

Maybe am reading too much between the lines or getting too personal or high on emo, but you know what? thats me altogether. I cannot motivate a dead person to walk the talk with me. But its my privilege to show the right path to a lost traveller. No love lost here its just a mad moment..some where down the lane your rights and my wrongs will merge then may be we will be able to co-relate. But for that lemme know your views wholeheartedly.

PS: Mr.X you rock!! whatever they say kudos for your effort.

4* not out

May 19 is one of those important days in my life when i finally took a plunge into the corporate jungle. All those vague ideas of working in my home town as a lecturer or in Electricity Board as an AE or to become a politician sounds so funny now. I think the lure of money and prospect of travelling the world seduced me to join TCS. I would say 4 years have been fantastic for me with lot of learning, unlearning and relearning. I have made a lot of friends in TCS and some good colleagues as well. But still my first two months of initial learning program or ILP as we call it was the best time in this whole episode.

The day i joined i came to know i had been put under the C-03 batch with 28 others. Some of them i knew from my college and some other i met them during the marathon interviews in shreds, aluva (TCS walk in). We were different from one another by all means but we hit the right note right away. Training in TeknoTurf Coimbatore is a 'P.A.I.N' but still we managed to find ounces of happiness in coffee breaks and sad claps. Cooking up stories and pulling each others leg was the order of the day.

The soft skills classes (yeah the one where they teach you etiquettes phone/dining and you name it what) was hillarious as every time we try think out of the box and end up doing something very clumsy. Nihongo(japaneese) lessons were funnier because Mridula San tried to teach us japaneese through the other fold of teaching its the 'fun filled' way. Dude it used to be so hillarious and kick ass and the best part is we were getting paid for all this. There was this drama or skit we had to perform and one of the villain(no names again) who is a Murderer in the story says "Sorry". And the first C programming class where i personally had a very tough time as i had no clue about programming apart from 'printf' statements. The night we all left to our base branches and home inturn we gathered in my room and spoke till the early morning hours. Still many many more to write of those hillarious moments in Ooty trip, Paheli movie etc etc. But might be a case of overcooking the dish. to round it off i would love to go back to those ILP days again where i met thos wonderful mates of mine.

Most of us are in different parts of the world now and we contact each other through mails or phone calls and yes mostly through orkut. As of today the plan is to make it BIG on our 5th anniversary (19/05/2010), if god helps that is gonna be one helluva get together.

Am i getting Matured?

Maturity well thats a 'redundant' word i hear from my friends for all wrong and right things. I am a bit childish when it comes to pranks and also admit the point i get too messy with silly stuffs or should i put 'used to get too messy'. But time and tide has taken me to this zone where i dont get concerned about stuffs. I aint bothered about lot of the stuff and tend to just forget and look forward. One such big thing is 'failure'. It eats my mind and makes me all high on emotions, anger and awkwardness.

By failure please dont misunderstand to anything else, these are just the losses in sports. Yes just a cricket or soccer game. Some times a bad shot or a runout or a goal missed would haunt me for days altogether. The football final we lost in our college, i took it as a personal failure of my life that the next 2 weeks i felt ashamed to face anyone in college. So i would say either emotional or immature it was me. But i think its a part in everyones life as we move on to better ourselves day in and day out.

Yesterday we played a cricket tournament and we were really sailing off with wins in league matches performing in all departments pretty well. Then we lost thee QF's to another team obviously disappointed but wasn't carried away. I think the losses or my age (should i say experience) has made me to take the blow on my chin and just go forward. As they say it takes a fighter to comeback with vengeance after a mighty blow. Same way i am learning to look forward for some thing better in future. So what do you say are those signs of getting 'Matured'?

Shake the Fake

Fake IPL Player - you may or may not heard of him. But i tell you this guy is groovy hillarious and out and out sarcastic with an apna desi twist. Long story made short Fake IPL Player aka FIP claims himself to be a part of the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) playing in the IPL (indian Premier League). He blogs about intricate and sensitive matter inside the KKR camp to his blogpost (no points for guessing the blog link it : http://fakeiplplayer.blogspot.com). If he just blogs like a normal reporter or a commentator there is no brownie points or marketability, his attraction is the list of nick-names he has kept for the various players and celebrities in IPL. Some are real funny ones like 'Appam Chutiya' for 'SreeSanth' and 'Pedophile Priest' for 'Gilchrist'. He has not even spared the commentators and the team owners, for example Shilpa Shetty is 'Big Sister' and Vijay Mallya is 'Batliwaala' and above all 'Dildo King' is SRK himself (LOL).

FIP hits the right spot if you wanna hit your tickle cells and injure your laughter bones. I feel is its the Best Ab workout for this season.. You read this once and you can easily relate to the blunder called IndianPL in South AFRICA. Al the hype and halo just to fool the much fooled indian cricket loving public.

Now lots of theories are in air about who the fuck is FIP? Some say it thejeswar Pujara and some point fingers to Aakaash Chopra and Sanjay Bangar. Some times i think its Sourav Ganguly and his compatriots himself after his break out with the team management. Doesnt seem to be a single man deed for sure, lot of helpers and facilitators.

One thing is pretty clear he is breaking the KKR team into million pieces without any efforts, he plays the james bond with out any guns or cool gadgets (if we exclude mobile/laptop). And as always media frenzy indian public and millions of cricket and gossip lovers are enjoying this dirty lines washing in public (even me too). And as i write this some time next week FIP has promised to reveal himself in public but probably thats gonna be a false alarm i suppose. With all the media attention and thousands of crazy people behind his back he is gonna sure be careful about it.

Kudos to the Faker himself for stirring interest in the much boring IPL2.

Who is your Best GirlFriend?

Humble, Down to earth, Simple, Talented of all the traits AR Rehman owns the most unique one will be his uncoditional love and respect to his Mother. In every interview or award function you can find him speak about his mothers role in him shaping to this great person he is. May be sounding quite obvious but there is an ocean of sweetness in it. As they say every successful man has a woman behind him, there too some possessive girlfriends and wife's have taken over the importance of mothers....hmm just kidding eh!!. I think no one can even dare to debate on the importance of mothers role in a person's upbringing. Some where i heard this line 'She knows there is a devil in her womb but still she is a loving mother'. How brat, cruel, unjust and all those bad adjectives you can add to a person still his mommy is gonna love him infinitely.

Apart from generalising all those views i am grateful to god every day that i am blessed with a super mom for me and shyama. Yeah she is our best friend since childhood. Our dad had a knife on the edge approach that made us always to stand on our toes and sometimes uncomfortable too. Amma was the more childish, funny and in general easier target for me and shyama. From our slightest wishes to the mightiest greed all happen only through amma. This must have been the case with anybody i suppose. Even at my friends place i am more comfortable speaking to my friends mother
or a frequent visit to her kitchen (to eat and joke around). What i mean to say is mothers are the informal way to feel easy at any house dont you feel?. Mothers day might be marketing gimmick by all senses but its one of those days you can whole heartedly give a hug or say 'i love you' to your amma. After all shy individuals like us either dont find it necessary or cannot find time for it. I already wished my best 'girlfriend' on mothers day. Did ya??

മലയാളത്തില്‍ഒരു ബ്ലൊഗ് കിടക്കട്ടെ..........

ബ്ലൊഗ്ഗിങ് തുടങ്ങിയത് മുതല്‍ വിചാരിക്കുന്നു മലയാലളത്തില്‍ ഒരു ബ്ലൊഗ് ഇടണം എന്നു. കൂട്ടുകാരി ഹിതയുടെ ബ്ലൊഗ് വായിച്ചപ്പൊള്‍ ആണു ഇതും കൂടെ ഒന്നു പയറ്റി കളയാം എന്നു തീരുമാനിച്ചത്. കെ.വി. സ്റ്റുടന്‍റ്റ് ആയതിനാല്‍ മലയാളം ഒരു വിഷയമായി പടിച്ചിട്ടില്ല എന്നാലും അമ്മൂമ്മ ഒരു പത്രം വായിക്കാനുള്ള വക പടിപ്പിച്ചിട്ടുണ്ട്. സ്വന്തം മാത്രുഭാഷ എവര്‍ക്കും പ്രിയമാണ്` എന്നാല്‍ നമ്മളില്‍ ഭൂരിഭാഗം പേര്‍ക്കും മലയാളം എഴുതുവാനും വായിക്കാനും അറിയില്ല എന്നതു ഒരു നഗ്നസത്യം.

പണ്‍ട് കത്തുകള്‍ അയച്ചിരുന്ന ചേച്ചിയും അനിയത്തിയും ഇന്നു ഈ-മെയില്‍ അയക്കുന്നു ( എന്റെ സ്വന്തം അമ്മയും വല്ല്യമ്മയും ) അമ്മൂമ്മക്കു ഇപ്പൊളും ശരണം മലയാളത്തില്‍ എഴുതിയ കത്തുകള്‍ തന്നെ. ഞ്ഞാനും എഴുതി ഒരിക്കല്‍ മലയാളത്തില്‍ ഒരു കത്തു ടീച്ചറായ അമ്മ കണ്ടു പിടിച്ചു ഒരായിരം തെറ്റുകള്‍ അതൊടെ ആ പൂതി മാറി കിട്ടി. ഒരിക്കല്‍ രാഗിങ് കാലത്തു സിനിയര്‍ ബെജിസ് ഒരു പ്രെമലെഖനം എഴുതിയിട്ട്` വരാന്‍ പറഞ്ഞു ദീപ്തീക്ക്` കൊടുക്കാന്‍ ആണെത്രെ.
"എടാ ലവ്-ലെറ്റര്‍ മലയാളത്തില്‍ മതി!!" ഇതാണ്` ഉത്തരവ്`.
"അതു വേണൊ ചെട്ടാ?" എന്നു ഞാന്‍.
"പഭ്!! *&*%$ എന്താ നിനക്കു പറ്റില്ലെ??... നിന്നെ കൊണ്ടു ഞാന്‍ എഴുതിപ്പിക്കും"
"അയ്യൊ! അതല്ലാ ഞാന്‍ മലയാളത്തില്‍ ഒരു പ്രെമലെഖനം എഴുതിയാല്‍ ചെട്ടന്ടെ ഉള്ള chance കൂടെ പൊകും ഇംഗ്ളിഷില്‍ പൊരെ? "

ഇതില്‍ നിന്നും നിങള്‍ക്കു മനസിലായി കാണും എന്‍റ്റെ മലയാളം എഴുത്ത് എത്ര കുറവാണെന്നു?.. പറയാന്‍ ലജ്ജ ഉണ്ടെലും മലയാളത്തില്‍ അധികമായി ഒന്നും എഴുതിയിട്ടില്ല ഈ ബ്ലൊഗ് ചിലപ്പൊള്‍ അതിനുള്ള ഒരു തുടക്കമാവും, ആര്‍ക്കറിയാം??

ജഡ്ഡ്‌സണ്‍ ബെന്‍ നിങ്ങള്‍ ആണു ഇനിമേല്‍ എന്‍റ്റെ ബ്ലൊഗ്ഗെര്‍ ഗുരു.....

Twitter : tweet to tomorrow

When this millenium started we were guaranteed of one thing 'stronger ties'. Here neither it means the tie (that usually hits our brains) among countries and their co-operation nor the tie which we wear to office. But the ties amongst your family and friends. Of all the pleasures in life the one i personally value the most is ineraction among our loved ones. Science and technology has matured itself for easy access to my dear ones. Phone, mail booms, chat engines, social networking sites like orkut/facebook are all doing their part beautifully.

I know a friend of mine married and happy but career and job profile wanted them to be away for a small period. For ragesh and minu skype is the best invention of this century, i have personally felt the amount of time they spent and found it quite fascinating. Reminded me of my mom's story when my father was posted to Assam , he was not in a position to take her along. So writing letters and that to in my dads case once in a bluemoon was like her biggest relief. She used to read the same letter 'n' number of times, very sweet huh? Think of it now, we are blessed with advancement in technology. My room mate brenesh speaks to his mom for hours daily, most of the time she knows whats cooking in our kitchen :)

Yesterday i digged into one other pettern of web-logging its called TWITTER. Basically we give short updates on ourselves into web. Something like a log in terms of a software engineer. For a person with a very mechanical life twitter makes you understand "what the fuck?? You need a change man!!" if i extrapolate my tweets it will look like this :"wakeup, breakfast, office, lunch, tea breaks, gym, dinner, sleep ". Its like you need to open your horizons, pickup a hobby or something learn new stuffs etc etc. You can integrate your mobile to your twitter and keep tweeting.
As they say in twitter.com life happens between mails and blog posts how about logging that too (sounds like a web-hijack).

So i found my answer the most redundant question of our times. If someone asks me "Hey waasup? Howz life?". I can either answer "Oh nothing much man, Life is going on pretty much the same. All's good by Gods Grace" (typical answer huh?) or else ican give a cool and YO answer like this: "Dig this my friend http://twitter.com/ShabbuChandran ". This will tell you what i am doing right now and what i was in times i was not in touch with you or what kept me busy" Happy Tweeting my Mates...Cheers!!!

Happy Vishu

Happy Vishu to All...
This vishu completes a hatrick of vishu's away from home. Here are some memoirs of vishu day,A vishu day when i wake up with eyes 'still' closed and first thing i see would be the 'vishukkani' arranged by mother. Amma's moist hands on my eyes covering me not to see anything but the 'vishukkani' at first. Then the best part comes up blessings form the elders and money (vishukaineettam), heavy source of pocket money during my childhood. Bursting crackers during ealry hours on a vishu day, the crackers go on till sunrise. We malayalees do not celeberate diwali so all our cracker wishes are fulfilled on vishu day. This is also the time to 'show off' or demonstrate your bravado. Bursting malapadakkam in your hand, throwing the olapadakkam at the last moment, flying skuds or rockets to your neighbours window. We do everything possible that minor burns and holed up clothes are a part and participle of every vishu.

Then ammamma's turn comes to this parade of temple visits. Our house is nearby kalpathy (south kasi as they say) where we are never short of temples. So from morning 6 in our new clothes we walk and walk through these temples. Prayer time with ammammma munching some mantra's and instructing us what, how and when to pray. As morning unveils we make trips to our aunts and uncles nearby, call up relatives on phone etc etc. Every year we(small team from our locality) play a cricket match against 'thonipaalayam team', as we grew older the betting amount increased up. Once we lost almost our entire vishukaineettam in one match and one of our team member started crying. But on the whole it was a big bargain as most of the time we won and used the money to buy new bats or football or something else.

Afternoon vishusadhya is majestic, with lots of varieties and typical malayalee style on banana leaves with 2 types of payasam. A treat for an epicure to say the least. Sometimes my mom's colleagues and their family too chip in for sadhya so the occassion becomes grander. Having said all these its not that we did not celebrate vishu here away from home. We do our share as well whether its going to temple, new dress and making semiya payasam ( as per amma's mailing instruction). But still the sanctity and joy is missed. Maybe it took me a long time to understand vishu is not about crackers, new dress, kaineettam or the sadhya for that matter. Its blessings of your elders and celebration amongst your loved ones.
Once again, Evarkkum ente hridhayam niranja Vishu Aashamsakal!!!

Story of 1.5 GYM

"yevanmaar enthinaa ee cheriya praayathil ithrayum cigarette valikkunne?"
Consider these words coming out from a naive, a bit headstrong and bold girl. I replied "enikkariyilla..athil ippo entha prashnam?". She reply's back "Avante okke kidney'um liver'um adichu pokum..athre ullu..aa vivek full time theevandi poleya eppolum aa mili storil ninnu ore valiya....koode raghu'vum undu" I could just stand there and smile and listen to her concern in the most brash way. So this was possibly a small gossip between two classmates about the ill- effects of cigarette smoking amongst their friends. The girl here is 'Sinu Padmanabhan' one of my dear friends and the guy in the discussion is Vivek Ravindran my classmate and a dear friend. So it could have easily ended there, but me being a big mouth and good for nothing turned this gossip into a wild wild story.

That evening i meet vivek and see him bragging amongst his hostelites on politics and cricket and many more, so to basically irritate him or in a way make fun of him i let him know sinu's personal views about him. And 'me being me' added some masala for the other ears listening to the whole cover story(and am pretty good at it).So after this i leave to home that evening but igniting one whole issue altogether unknowingly. Vivek and a big group (no names here) get drinking that night and feel their male ego's crushed and end up in a tirade (therivili) against sinu at her lady's hostel 'Gokulam'. The issue becomes so huge that vivek comes to me next day and says her hostel might issue a police case against him. Dude what are you saying?? i was so worried obviuosly my involvement was omnipresent but also being the first year we were a bit worried too given the history of our college.

Story didn't end there, luckily the exam season came up and there was a month break as well. Technically everything would have forgotten and forgiven after a brief hiatus, expecting this i went to college for our first exam Maths-1. I saw sinu on the hallway, she gave me one helluva look and didnt bother to smile as well. So chapter is not so closed uh? And its still burning and very much ALIVE!!! Exams are over and before classes could start there was this gimmick parent meeting by our tutors. Sounded like a formality with all students lining up with their parents like primary school days.

On the meeting day morning i come with amma to college and i introduce some of my friends and meet up with their parents its all good and friendly environment. Unnikuttan comes to me and says " nee sinuvinte chettane kanduo?" . I asked "enthu?". Unnikuttan in his prem naseer voice starts elobarating "eda oru 6-6.5 adi pokkam, urukku polathe shareeram, kai ennokke paranjaal nammude kaalinte thadi, mukathu kadannal kuthiya pole bhaavam. churukki paranjaal oru onnu onnara gym". Unnikuttan is a master in telling stories and like a thespian his expressions match his tone as well with ease no wonder he is called 'BBC'. He continues "nammude okke kaaryam pokka, especially ninteyum vivek'inteyum" .Sacchi i was a bit worried but knowing unnikuttan i ignored and said to him "poda nammude colleg'il vannu nammale aaru thallan? nee pedikkenda" somehow i knew i was giving him false hopes :) . As we finish saying this i see vivek coming to us and he asks "Sinuvinte Ettan'e kandaa?". Suddenly unnikuttan "aah kandu..nee kandaa?". Vivek said "Mone orumaathiri gym..ente kai odiyum ennu urappaayi". "lagaan'ile otta kayyan spin bowler'e pole aavum njan". Probably this worried me and made me a bit tensed as well, before coming to meeting my tension was when amma finds out i was under-sessional for 6 subjects but now all my worries were conglomerated to sinu and her 1.5 brother(cheeky). As i was guiding amma to the meeting room i see one big fella with blue jean and white t-shirt walking towards us with sinu. I am 6 foot and about 82 kg's in first year so when i call him big fella you can imagine 'he is REAL big'. And sinu she wore a proud grimace on her face totally understandable if you have a giant (metaphorically) on your arms.

Days went on me and sinu became good friends and still are (until she reads this blog), and sinu and vivek are engaged now (had to happen rite?) to be married soon, and her brother 'binu' he is in the indian army (right person for right job) and is no where near the person unnikuttan explained to us. From sinu and litty i have heard a lot of pushings about their brother binu's unconditional love and affection but still somehow that initial image of a 'giant' and an annexed fear lingers some where in our deepest thoughts.
"Vivek'e ninte kaaryam pokka ninte aliyan is an 'onnu-onnara gym' " was one of our punch dialogues to him earlier and still. Last week i was speaking to sinu, she was speaking about binu and he got engaged and all other stories....may be that evoked me to write all this.
Thought would be a wonderful story addition in my blog about a person whom i have never met in real life ;) . Call it FEAR FACTOR eh!!!

Its (S)Election Time!!!

"Humble Simple Able Noble, That is what is ABVP!"
Election campaigns during college days invoke these slogans we yelled out in my memories. The vote canvasing, big speeches, ever smiling candidates, fights... a college election has all the flavours of a general election. Every one had their own agendas some work for the party, for some its a reason to cut classes, for a few it was time to pick a fight and take revenge but also there were a few like us who would only campaign where some attractive damsels are present. I have no shame in admitting i must be a harbinger in that group. Yes ofcourse i want the 'side' i support to win, my friends to taste success but this was a glorious opportunity to talk to all those girls who were in your so called 'crush-list'. And i had ideal accomplices in Vijesh and Kutty Shankaran from Mechanical. Its like once we go to a department we will cover all the top 'figures' and convince or try to convince them to vote for our friends. Height of Irony is that Shankaran is gonna marry the same girl whom he talked to the most (geetha was one of our juniors then) ;)

College union election also gives us a lot of funny moments of which many are truly incidental. Like the left supporting (communist) student wing were a funny lot because they were unwantedly serious or loyal to the red flag. I remember certain student leader speaking about 'globalization' in his 'Meet the Candidate' speech (copied from his party manifesto maybe). There were also some serious student leaders in our side who thought the whole political machinery runs because of their
thought process and ideologies. Also this awkward state where your school mate supporting the opposite side and you end up in a heated discussion with him/her. But thinking about it now it all looks funnier than ever. Also the big victory celeberation with all those slogans, songs etc. "Petti thurannappol SFI potti..pappadam pole potti poyii..". My top funniest moment will be my "Meet the Candidate" where i prepare this big speech (with help from vivek) on our plans, promises and ideals we believe...but few moments to the dias i thought 'fuck it' am not gonna be dragged into this storm. So i step in and speak in my normal tone and virtually plead for vote and make some sarcastic remarks at the way our college and our opposition is!! (no details pls)

On a personal front my interest to politics increased by a huge percentage in my college time. The group dynamics are far more than your final year projects. Creative ideas spur in your mind due to some long discussions and team work. For an outsider election and politics is just the fights and stupidness, but you need to feel the energy inside it to understand it. Some think politics as a curse to educational institutions, but are students only supposed to breathe, eat and study rather than explore new ideas and expose them to the real world. All everyone cares about is career and personality development these days (related to corporate placements) but there is a tiny space in your heart called 'freedom' and politics gives us that. It is easy to stand outside and give commentary on the pros and cons
but it takes a bigger heart to take a side and defend it. I am proud in that sense atleast though my involvement was negligible.

NOTE: Its General Elections in India around April, this time around i will be unable or unavailable to vote. I hope/pray my fellow citizens vote for a Secure, Stable and Development oriented Front...If america can vote for a HOPE and CHANGE so can we as well..

Sucker called Nostalgia...

After Effect of a movie is significant in my life. Since childhood certain movies make me adhere to the characters and the story line that i hardly come out of it for a period. Recently i saw 'Rock On' again. A sweet story of gettogethers and an old music band. I was wondering what will be i doing in the same note. Gave a good and sincere thought about it for few weeks that i started reminiscing those beautiful days of my college life. Of all those bird watching(not the salim ali way), politics,laziness,homely and unhomely foods(unlimited food on raghu's account+ikka's quadruple omletes), k-thals in hostel rooms, i think the most happiest time i personally had were on the football grounds. The pride of playing for your college, the big win against sakhavu vijay's team by 'Men in Blue' (i scored the winning goal ahem!!!), morning tea at MH-1 underworld wing after football practise (mostly provided by unnibhai or kk), all those heated discussions before and after a game as if we were paid for it.

For almost 4 years since binu passed away we all are equally trying to make something happen for him. Like in Jeevan's case we organized a scholarship in EEE Dept. Something like that worthy enough for our dear binu. But as easily said or typed we all had a defeatist attittude from the beginning to lose it more than make it happen. Yeah i admit, its not that we did not make an attempt but there was not an iota of honesty in it. The orkut group or yahoo groups and those big-big mail discussions where we all pour in those 100+ ideas but in the end curse the very own time we lack and the miles between us that seperated one another. Having said that its not easy as most of us are just beggining to make a mark in our life the practical ambiguity leads us to nowhere.

This is where i think movies like 'rock on', 'classmates', 'ullam ketkume more' etc breath a new life. Its not about building a statue or library or charity organizations actually its not materialistic at all. Its about the remembrance in the little time a group of friends spending together thanking god for the spirit of jeevan and binu. That will be more than enough for our hearts as well as their souls wherever they are , yeah i do believe in reincarnation. If we all friends could meet up and may be we should play once in our hostel ground ,smoke in manjula and drink in govardhana. Many might think after this blog, i have lost it and recession has kicked me so hard that i lost my senses. But seriously cant you imagine?? I can still hear binu shouting and cursing them sfi's. I dont know when??, but its not impossible that one game at the hostel ground.
Man i am loving it....WooooooooaaaaaaaaaHhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!
Lemme know what you think..are you in for that one game???

*sfi guys dont take it personally..the hatred against you guys was the binding thing that kept us together. I am sure now its all buried deep some where in those woods in our college.

Ammamma@80

Nancy is the old lady at our cafeteria. A very sweet and caring old lady always busy cleaning, billing and buzzing around. Everyday morning at work the "Good Morning" from her really cheers me up. For many things she reminds me of my ammamma (as in granny)Though nancy isn't that old the very way she carries herself is typical ammamma style. Very restless and active, always reading something or the other, the beaming smile and not to forget the glasses.

Ammamma is 80 years old since yesterday. Her 77th birthday was like 2 days ago when we all went to guruvayoor. Dude time does flies like hell, aint it? With working parents it was most of the time me,shyama and ammamma at home. She would sit in the hall on her chair reading newspaper or some devotional books. Sometimes she even writes down some points from them to a diary for later reading. With hearing aid 'ON' she closely monitors what we do and sometimes gets real finicky asking lot of questions. The best part about her is she would start telling these stories from her past or her friends and gets immensely involved that she starts crying,laughing like the people in the story. I adore those moments because she has gone through so much in life that in the end i feel god has blessed me in every sense.

Since i got this job i have been away from home, its her i miss the most coz she never speaks on phone. I miss those daily morning prasadams she brings from the temple and the sandalwood paste on the forehead. Then i used to remove them on the way to college as i felt they make me 'un-kool'. I miss her big lectures when i return back home all drenched in rain. Am sure she misses my crazy ways as well. Celebrating another ammamma birthdays without ammamma but this time around Nancy. Happy Birthday Ammamma!!

"Ellam Pukazhum iraivan oruvanukke.."

"Ellam Pukazhum iraivan oruvanukke.." these words are gonna ring in every indians ears for a long time.Rahman the genius, the mozart, the wizard..of all the adjectives i prefer the 'down to earth' rahman. A person is measured by his gratitude and love and rahman is immeasurable by any yardstick here. Resul's acceptance speech dignifying the very word "OM" that precedes with silence and ends with a deep silence are well quoted. We are one helluva secular nation aren't we? Resul is now a star and i hope this will encourage youngsters to foray into black and unknown side of movies. As any other indian even i was on cloud number 9 when rahman was on stage receiving his first oscar. I was dead sure about jai ho!!, but background score was the bonus completely (i personally feel defiance had a better bet for oscar, may be i have heard too much of indian films in my life).

Danny Boyle i love him every time i see him on screen, whether on acceptance speech or an interview. Bloody Brilliant person in all senses, he is friendly, big hearted and more over is funnier by all means. Tell me who else would be on an oscar stage and admit that he missed to add the choreographers name in the title credits. The entire crew of slumdog had a sense of unity, from the technicians to the actors you would see a flock of people enjoying themselves. Academy awards was a change for an indian viewer who are bored by indian film awards where every actor gets an award. for example i have even seen riteish deshmukh receiving a best actor award for bluffmaster, lo kar lo baath!! Danny Boyle has just shown the indian film fraternity on how to make a movie for global audiences. Good Story, Attention to details, a fresh cast and some brilliant music and cinematography.
And the best part of direction is his idea of depicting a work of fiction in the most unique way. The blend of hollywood and hindi film was adorable and refreshing.

My friend said Bombay by maniratnam was a better movie than SlumDog. Yes, if its shown in india. Our viewers need that dose of 1 item song, 2-3 fight sequence and a drag taking the movie close to 3 hours. Western audience prefer a crisper version and we prefer a long version to sit in that theatre and forget our sorrows for atleast those 3 hours. So do you think we are gonna get an oscar ever? Our best bet for oscar still will be from technical side of movie making. Unless our directors start making bold moves and cut down the flab of some same old ghisa-pita story line. Its a choice we need to make either apna-indian way of complete entertainment or aim higher in a world platform like the academy. We need to just enjoy the sweet success of slum dog millionaire, boyle, rahman and nammude swantham resul'ikka(mallu's u know) ;)

Moral Policing..Did we ask for it?

"Babel' is a movie with 4 different scripts in it and at one point they converge in a superficial manner. The one tiny script i like in it is the Japaneese girls story, a dumb and deaf cute girl (rinko kikuchi) who somehow wants to lose her virginity. Various scenarios where movie is shot depicts the 'great' americanization or westernization of japan.
Japan we know from books is the 14 hour working class, fishing industry, bullet trains etc. But one thing you will notice in current japan is its 'lost' it self in a cultural upheaval. The kimono wearing young girls are flushed by britney spears or jessica simpson modelled japaneese blondes (Aww!! japaneese blondes can u believe it?). Asians rely a lot on their culture and beliefs, for us its the soul part of our making. Seeing japan slide down its culture is simply appaling.
Yes, one must be liberal and foreward thinking but westernization is not the answer for it. If we dont protect our culture and core values who else will.

So do you think what the Bajrang Dal or Sree Ram Sena did is correct?
hell no!, No one has any rights to take law in their own hands and muscle us into oblivion. Yes they pretend to be saviours of humanity, indian culture and moreover of hinduism. But it clearly depicts their political agenda than anything else.
Atal Vajpayee gave the historic speech before babari masjid demolition, after which our country is never the same. BJP came into national scenario, ISI brainwashed a few young muslims to avange it by further bloodshed. Hells broken all over, but no one understands the intricacies where followers of Ram had to flee because of an ever increasing muslim population. Its all filthy down there....politics in our country is mixed with religion and causes even more foul smell. I dont wanna get into that and deviate from the core issue...here. My personal opinion is a big No-No to the pub culture, yes who doesn't want to have a peg or two once a while. But that should not keep our cultural values on check, if you are so called independent and outward why do you have to drink or make out in the darkness of a pub. A pub is not what it looks from outside, the moral quotient inside a pub is all time low. Public display of Affection differs from a sexual outbreak. Drinking to get the feel is different and drinking just for the heck of it and dancing around is gross. And please dont give me an explaination.."i am cool" may be you need a 'coolant' on your head.
Discuss my friends Discuss...

Remember our culture was never against drinking or dancing , we must be against the inept western culture marauding ours (something we see in japan right now).
India shines the brightest when we are contempt with a happy family around us and not by the single moms and seperated parents. The pub culture eventually will lead us there where west is struggling now. But there needs to be a law and amendment for these, one Shree Ram Bhakt just cannot run into a pub and start beating and molesting around. No one is a bloody Sree Ram if he raises his hand against a women, how good or bad his intentions are. One of the core value of hinduism is to respect women whether dev-gan, asura-gan or manushya-gan. I think the mistake is on both sides, the right step will be to reduce the pub licenses or increase the taxes for them. Being an indian, its discomforting to see my culture going down the ditch for a few horny-tipsy young blood of my country. Stand against the pub culture but never ever in a Sree Ram sena method but on the basis of a Social Revolution.

Jai HInd

I met ME

Nostalgia, its quite a heavy word synonomous to all those good, bad, evil, naughty, frenetic and of course romantic moment in life. Though quite easily we relate that to our college life. I guess nostalgia was invented in 2004 for me, just when i came out to the big world. Since then time has just flown across between those endless hours in front of computer and long never ending conference calls. "orkut.com" is the find of the decade if you ask me, as it helps me to keep myself afresh to those memories either through a friend's scrap or some old photos one uploads. Compared to our past generation the current crop is blessed with the power of internet and other communication facilities to keep in touch with our loved ones. Spreading love has never been so easy.

Recently i caught up into a new hobby, its like reading my old mails. You know that the likes of yahoo, rediff and gmail give you ample storage to save mails for generations to come. Its really fun if you try it, in my case its a bit contagious. Last weekend i spent like 6-8 hours on it, just reading my old mails. I infact did a comparison of 'me-then' and 'me-now', what would be my reply if it occurs now (call me crazy or what??). I dunno how many of you will find this interesting enough, but i would tell you beware of those sentimental mails. The one which you would like to read 4-5 times to conquest your inner self. Between all those leg-pulling, sarcastic remarks, poking fingers i guess there is something deeper in me. A deep self, it was great meeting that self again!!

The Original DON

April 11th one sunny afternoon me and noufal were in the cafeteria for lunch.
I get a call from Jojy. As i pick up and before i say hello to him...
he says "Binu marichu poyi"("Binu passed away").
Some kinda slap or i dont know what it felt like it felt pretty bad. I erred and he repeated "Nammude Binu John..avan marichu"("Our Binu, he passed away"). "Enganeyada?? Accident aayirunno??"("was it an accident??, how can that happen?")
Jojy said nothing more..after a brief pause he continued.....
"Alleda..accident alla!! Entho nerve problem aanenna arinja..ithuvare details onnum ariyilla"("Not an accident, it is a kind of nerve problem")
clearly he didn't want to speak more about it. He cut the call and for no reason i kept saying "hello" back to him. Didn't feel like eating anymore, went back to my cubicle. Did not feel like working either, came out and told JD. he too was shell shocked..both stood there at the corridoors like a portrait. Got permission from yogesh and went home early..on the whole drive way back i was not at all concentrating on the drive. Many pictures went in front of my eyes felt like crying loud and hug somebody tightly.

First thing after reaching my room called my home..no one was there to pick up the call. Called amma's school and told her the news..all of a sudden amma could not recollect who binu was??
i said "guy who spoke hindi to you..from bhopal"
Amma recollected binu "ohh..binu john with glasses"
again the same pause and she asked me "where are you now?".
"in my room i replied...i dunno what to do" again a brief pause.
Amma was in her headmasters room so she had to put a brave and bold face..she told some consoling words and gods will in ones life etc. Cried the whole evening sitting in my room..frustrated, angry,emotional it was a bag full of bad moments. Then there was an array of phone calls..to gireesh,to vava, to unda,raghu,jojy....until the prepaid charge got used up. Virtually collapsed into the bed and laid down there eyes gazed on the roof. Sreekumar came to the room and he too was dumbstruck on the news. Didnt feel like talking to him either. Disintenrested a feeling of robbed or something lost. That single day went like an year..with waves of thoughts on my minds.

I regret still not getting down at bhopal on my travel from delhi to palakkad. He would have invited me umpteen times to come there. Even the day before i booked the tickets he called me for changing the plans. Laziness or a sense of taking-granted-on-him or whatever..i felt 'will do it later'. Until now that time never came..to be frank. Still when someone speaks about bhopal or france(he is an avid france supporter) his voice still rings in my ears. Our room was called "BASE" (binu,ashok,sabarish and ejaz) was the hot bed for all the football/political discussions. Sometimes i think our friendship with each one of us solidified or got a bit more strengthened after Binu left us(physically though). I dunno how to put it in writing but the feeling i pass through is 'never lose an opportunity to speak or to meet your friend'. Its not like a bad omen but its in the pleasant way of sharing love with each other. A statement of 'you never know', though puts me in defensive but atleast keeps the contacts live.

Binu was not exactly a charismatic guy, he was more like a soulful person (a very rare trait these days). Spoke to people with a lot of conviction and self belief. Everyone amongst us respected him like a big brother though he never craved for that ounce of respect. A very very passionate guy...sometimes leading him to some irrepairable mistakes, but would easily pump that explosion of passion in to you. A very creative person at heart and his poems had a slant for the lover inside him. Many did not know the person he was, for that fact i know him only in meagre amounts.
But as time passes by and everyone flourishing in their respective lives i feel i ought to pay some dividence to the person who made that tiny difference in my life. .The long walk one night with him in a way changed my outlook on some circumspect thought of mine. It wasn't a radical change but his words had a multitude of effect on them. Its easy, for an adamant person like me to re-think huh?? he must be a damn good speaker and i must have some place for him in my heart.

Since the day i started my blog i always wanted to write something on Binu here..infact some of these lines are stolen from my diary and the few pointers i made on those days. This may or may not pay justice to the person he is, you may or may not wanna read it again. But this is one of those things that fills your heart, so please bear with me friends. i personally feel no blogs would pay justice for the relationship we shared...always loviing him.
-Shabbu