The Indian car market has traditionally been averse to Automatic (AT) cars due to the higher initial cost and the fact that an AT car is usually less fuel efficient than its Manual Transmission (MT) version. And due to lack of customer interest, manufacturers also have typically avoided providing AT options. Sort of like a chicken-egg syndrome.
If you wanted a small hatchback with AT some years ago, your only option was the Santro-AT and the WagonR-AT. If you go back in time, the Zen used to come in AT and even the humble M800 had an AT version, but this was only for people who are physically challenged.
Apart from the driver & the engine's efficiency, one major reason that determines fuel-efficiency of an AT car is the number of gears that the AT has internally - the more gears you have, the more efficient the car since the engine can move to the optimal gear for the speed/rpm at which the car is operating in. Small cars usually have a 3 or 4 gear setup, while higher segment cars go upto 7 or maybe even more.
Most Marutis till date had a 3-gear setup which found few takers. And since people were anyway buying Marutis in the MT version and being the market leader with 50% market-share, Maruti did not find much of a need to change things. Hyundai however was more pro-active and had a 4-speed AT in the Santro which found quite some takers. Especially women, elders & those returning after a long stay in the US where they are used to AT cars and find it tough to use stick-shift (as they call it in the US). When i10, the successor to the Santro was launched, Hyundai provided an AT version in that car too and currently this is the market favourite.
It was only last August (Aug-15 to be precise) that Maruti woke up from their slumber and launched their A-Star hatchback in AT version. By launching on the Indian independence day, I guess they wanted to suggest a freedom from gears/clutch for Indians. Unlike the M800 / WagonR, this was a proper 4-speed AT - the same car that is exported to Europe, where it is a favourite small car. For those that don't know, A-Star is the latest Alto in Europe. The M800, Zen, Alto, A-Star are all successive versions of the Alto, as it is called in Europe. BTW the Santro is called Atos in Europe.
Around the same time that Maruti launched the A-Star-AT, we had booked an Estilo-MT for my in-laws. However, since we found that my FIL was having trouble using a geared car, we decided to change the booking to the A-Star AT. It did mean increasing the budget, but we reckoned that if it makes life easier, the extra money would be well worth it.
The car had just been launched and there was no TestDrive car available in Kerala. However, Maruti had offered a car for an official drive and review to my car forum www.team-bhp.com and I went ahead with the feedback from the review by ajmat (team-bhpian and forum-moderator) which mentioned that it was a peppy city car. They did not do much detailed Fuel Efficiency (FE) checks, but since the AStar-MT is a very FE car due to its K-series engine, I reckoned that FE of the AT version should be maybe just 1-2 kmpl less. The detailed review can be seen here.
The only other option available in the upto-7 lakhs range was the i10-AT, but this was around Rs.75000 costlier than the A-Star AT. Also, FE is not known to be the strong point of the i10 even in the MT version & I count FE as a major factor while buying cars/bikes. A colleague who moved to Blore had reported getting 8-9kmpl on his i10-AT and I would be damned if I bought a car (a hatchback at that) that had single-digit FE. Moreover, wherever there is an option available, I would prefer a Japanese car. Korean cars are not my favourites.
We got the car on 8-Dec-2010 (the final price after all discounts was Rs4.65 lakhs) & in the 2 months the car has done 1200kms, with most of the driving by my wife. Since both FIL and wife are now good enough to take the car out on their own and are happy that it is AT with no worries about clutch/gears, I think it was money well spent. Sheena now confidently takes the car to work and recently did a 40km round trip on her own.
My FE calculations show that we are getting 14 kmpl in Kerala town driving which is not bad for a new car - it takes a few thousand kms for the engine to settle down and for the FE to stabilise. I am yet to do an FE-check by the full-tank-to-full-tank method - a more reliable way of measuring FE. Need to do this soon. You can see my review of our A-Star AT here.
A month or so after we got our car, another team-bhpian at Bangalore bought the A-Star AT and he did a series of FE checks via the tankful-to-tankful method. The latest update shows 14kmpl in Blore traffic with 25% A/C, which given the traffic in Blore, is a phenomenal FE for an AT car. More so, when compared to the i10-AT. His review can be found here.
However, there are areas where the i10 scores over the A-Star and if those factors matter to you, the i10 would be a better choice. The interiors of the i10 are better than the A-Star. Plus it is more roomier with more space inside - the rear of the A-Star can get a bit claustrophobic. Also while the A-Star is better in city driving, the i10 is a better option for highway driving due to its bigger 1.2 litre engine and higher power. While the A-Star can do 3-digit speeds comfortably on the highway, overtaking would be easier with the i10.
I am not going into looks because it differs from person to person and anyway both cars are not really lookers. For those that rate a car's handling high, the A-Star is the better handler of the two - its squat looks help.
There is a small fly in the ointment though when it comes to the A-Star - availability of the car. When a manufacturer launches a new model, I would expect them to have enough cars to meet demand. But when it comes to the A-Star AT, Maruti seems to be concentrating only on exports, . The MT version is available off the shelf, but the AT version would take anything from 1-3 months, depending on how persistent you are in nudging the dealer and Maruti folks once in a while.
Prem, if you are reading this, I know that you have been looking at buying a small car. Not sure if you already finalised the car, but if not, do give the A-Star-AT a try. I am told the car is available for TD at Popular Velachery, which is close to your place. For your requirements, it would be perfect. And since it is an AT, when you move to a bigger car later, this can be used by your wife as a 2nd car for running errands, dropping the kids at school etc.
Monday, February 21, 2011
Tuesday, February 01, 2011
When ignorance is not bliss.
I am at the office pantry with a couple of colleagues for the usual 4PM coffee break, when I notice that one of them is kinda glum. A slight prodding reveals the reason. The previous night he had dropped in at a gas station to fuel up his car and as is his usual practise, he asked the attendant to fill up the tank, which in his case takes up around Rs.1700 worth of petrol.
As the car is being fuelled up and while the meter is at Rs1400, another attendant comes over & tells him that the front tyre of his car has a flat. He moves to check out the tyre, which looks OK. Meanwhile the attendant mumbles some garbage about how using nitrogen to fill the tyres is a better option etc.
When my friend's gaze returns back to the fuel-meter, he sees to his shock that it has been reset to zero by the attendant who was filling fuel. On questioning why he reset the meter, the attendant says that the car had taken in a full tank of fuel coming to Rs.1700 and so he had reset the meter. Though not convinced, my friend pays up and leaves.
For anyone who is familiar with the cheating done at Chennai petrol-pumps, this is a clear case of diverting the customer's attention to cheat. The part about tyre being flat, when it is not the case, is a clear indication of fraud.
Anyway, after some 150kms of driving around, the fuel-gauge in his car is at 1/2 tank position, while it usually reaches half-tank only after running 200-odd kms. This is a clear indication to my friend that he has been cheated and like any normal person, it is not a good feeling.
I tell him that he has been cheated, but there is an option to get back. All he needs to do is go back to the pump, ask to meet the manager & request for the complaint-book which each gas-station has to maintain. I tell him that in all probability, the manager will dissuade him from entering his complaint and instead will make up for the loss.
Around 10PM I get a call from my friend. He thought he had nothing to lose out in trying out my suggestion and had gone to the pump. He told the manager what had happened the previous day and that he had been cheated. The manager predictably told him that they don't indulge in such practices. My friend calmly tells him to give the complaint book so that he can atleast make a complaint.
As I had told him, the manager tries his best to dissuade him from making his complaint and instead says that he will not only take action against the errant employee, but also make up for the loss by giving petrol for Rs500, which is more than what he had been cheated off. Friend accepts the deal and tells me that he is feeling good now. In most cases, we are not aware of what to do, when faced with a similar situation. And knowing the next course of action makes all the difference, as it did for my friend.
Having been dealing with the city gas-stations for many years now, I am aware of the dirty tricks they do and my modus operandi is simple. On reaching the pump, I get off the car, ensure the meter is reset to zero before fuelling & ask him to key in the amount (usually Rs2000) on the pump-keypad. Then I tell the attendant to enable auto-shutoff on the nozzle & after starting pumping fuel to take his hands off the nozzle. And ofcourse I ignore any other attendant who tries to indulge me in some discussion.
BTW, just so you guys are aware, this is the BPCL pump at Guindy - at the corner where the Velachery road meets Sardar Patel Road (opp old Concorde Motors).
As the car is being fuelled up and while the meter is at Rs1400, another attendant comes over & tells him that the front tyre of his car has a flat. He moves to check out the tyre, which looks OK. Meanwhile the attendant mumbles some garbage about how using nitrogen to fill the tyres is a better option etc.
When my friend's gaze returns back to the fuel-meter, he sees to his shock that it has been reset to zero by the attendant who was filling fuel. On questioning why he reset the meter, the attendant says that the car had taken in a full tank of fuel coming to Rs.1700 and so he had reset the meter. Though not convinced, my friend pays up and leaves.
For anyone who is familiar with the cheating done at Chennai petrol-pumps, this is a clear case of diverting the customer's attention to cheat. The part about tyre being flat, when it is not the case, is a clear indication of fraud.
Anyway, after some 150kms of driving around, the fuel-gauge in his car is at 1/2 tank position, while it usually reaches half-tank only after running 200-odd kms. This is a clear indication to my friend that he has been cheated and like any normal person, it is not a good feeling.
I tell him that he has been cheated, but there is an option to get back. All he needs to do is go back to the pump, ask to meet the manager & request for the complaint-book which each gas-station has to maintain. I tell him that in all probability, the manager will dissuade him from entering his complaint and instead will make up for the loss.
Around 10PM I get a call from my friend. He thought he had nothing to lose out in trying out my suggestion and had gone to the pump. He told the manager what had happened the previous day and that he had been cheated. The manager predictably told him that they don't indulge in such practices. My friend calmly tells him to give the complaint book so that he can atleast make a complaint.
As I had told him, the manager tries his best to dissuade him from making his complaint and instead says that he will not only take action against the errant employee, but also make up for the loss by giving petrol for Rs500, which is more than what he had been cheated off. Friend accepts the deal and tells me that he is feeling good now. In most cases, we are not aware of what to do, when faced with a similar situation. And knowing the next course of action makes all the difference, as it did for my friend.
Having been dealing with the city gas-stations for many years now, I am aware of the dirty tricks they do and my modus operandi is simple. On reaching the pump, I get off the car, ensure the meter is reset to zero before fuelling & ask him to key in the amount (usually Rs2000) on the pump-keypad. Then I tell the attendant to enable auto-shutoff on the nozzle & after starting pumping fuel to take his hands off the nozzle. And ofcourse I ignore any other attendant who tries to indulge me in some discussion.
BTW, just so you guys are aware, this is the BPCL pump at Guindy - at the corner where the Velachery road meets Sardar Patel Road (opp old Concorde Motors).
Sunday, January 23, 2011
1 is lonely. So would 2 be company or a crowd ? We will know in 8 months.
Happy New Year, folks.
The last time I was here was just before the annual 10-day X'mas holidays kicked in. And for the last few years that we have been having this year-end shutdown in place, it has been pure bliss. No worry about emails, no tasks on to-do list, no nothing. Just fun and enjoyment with family. Infact after shutting down my laptop on the evening of 23rd December, I did not touch it for the next 1 week.
Year 2010 was as always a mixed bag, with its share of losses and some gains. Losses were mainly about people - 2 of my cousins lost their husbands, both young guys in their 30s. One of them died in a freak accident at the oil-well where he was working in the Middle-East. The other cousin was indisposed for some years now with a mysterious illness that rendered him dependent on others to do even basic tasks. And to think that this was a guy who was working, an adoring husband and a devoted father. Both are losses that cannot be made up.
As far as gain goes, it was in the fag-end of 2010 that we knew that if all goes well, we would be welcoming a new member to the family in end-Aug or early-September.
Knowing only too well that most of the problems in our country can be traced to the exploding population, I never wanted more than 1 kid. Sheena on the contrary, wanted atleast 2, if not 3 kids. We debated over this, with each of us putting forth arguments supporting our respecive choice. While she did agree with my reasoning, her wish of having atleast 1 more kid stayed. And that was when she happened to put forward an argument for which I did not have a counter-argument.
Her point was that after parents, the next closest bond was between siblings. Yeah, Aman has 3 cousins now whom he is fond of and they too like him. But then how often does he meet them ? Once a month is more like it. As we get more entangled in the business of life, the meetings would become rarer. And when he grows up, he might feel the absence of a brother / sister even more. Sheena infact was thinking much further into the future, when she said, "Aman's kids would not have an uncle or aunt, if he is the only kid". You have to give it to women for their reasoning.
Anyway, this one point had me cornered. It was something I could relate to because I have 8 first-cousins on my Mom's side and we do meet once in a while and all that, but they are not as close as I am with my sisters. Again, while I have no first-cousins on my Dad's side (he was the only son), there are numerous second-cousins on Dad's side with whom I am chummy, but again it is not like real brothers/sisters. I had no option but to accept defeat.
Another major reason was Aman himself. He was always complaining that he had no one to play with, which was true given that there are no kids in our neighborhood. We told him that he has us to play with, but his reply was "I don't want big people, I want small people (kids) to play with".
And so we decided to go forward with having another baby. I had always wanted a baby-girl and was kinda disappointed when Aman was born. But over the last 3 years with Aman, found out that boys are fun too. I just hope it is a girl this time - that would complete the family. Also, given the immense energy that boys come with, it would be tough to handle two boys - especially if the second one happens to be like Aman.
Aman wants only a boy though. At his age, boys don't like girls. That will change as he grows up, I know. :-) Anyway, to avoid disappointments, we have told him that we have no idea whether it will be a boy or a girl and that he should accept whichever God decides to gift us. This has not changed his choice, but he has come around to the possibility of it being a girl too.
He is all ready to take full care of the baby - I will feed him, play with him, take him to school etc. And the funniest thing is he has already named the kid. The name he chose was Ragol. We have no idea where he got this wierd name from. We tried telling him that maybe he is confusing Rahul as Ragol, but he insists that it is Ragol only.
The only thing that he finds unacceptable is the long wait. To be frank, the 8 months to D-day seem like a long time to me too. But then waiting is part of the package. Aman would be 4 years old when the kid comes and old enough to be a responsible elder brother. I just hope all goes well.
EDIT on 25-May-2011 : It is just 3 months to D-day, with the due-date being around 23-24 August. Aman has now moved on to newer names for the baby - Appu being his current favourite. He has also come around to the fact that it could be a girl and the other day he was telling cousin Divya that it is upto God to decide whether the baby would be a boy or girl and that he is OK with either - a big sigh of relief from me and Sheena.
The last time I was here was just before the annual 10-day X'mas holidays kicked in. And for the last few years that we have been having this year-end shutdown in place, it has been pure bliss. No worry about emails, no tasks on to-do list, no nothing. Just fun and enjoyment with family. Infact after shutting down my laptop on the evening of 23rd December, I did not touch it for the next 1 week.
Year 2010 was as always a mixed bag, with its share of losses and some gains. Losses were mainly about people - 2 of my cousins lost their husbands, both young guys in their 30s. One of them died in a freak accident at the oil-well where he was working in the Middle-East. The other cousin was indisposed for some years now with a mysterious illness that rendered him dependent on others to do even basic tasks. And to think that this was a guy who was working, an adoring husband and a devoted father. Both are losses that cannot be made up.
As far as gain goes, it was in the fag-end of 2010 that we knew that if all goes well, we would be welcoming a new member to the family in end-Aug or early-September.
Knowing only too well that most of the problems in our country can be traced to the exploding population, I never wanted more than 1 kid. Sheena on the contrary, wanted atleast 2, if not 3 kids. We debated over this, with each of us putting forth arguments supporting our respecive choice. While she did agree with my reasoning, her wish of having atleast 1 more kid stayed. And that was when she happened to put forward an argument for which I did not have a counter-argument.
Her point was that after parents, the next closest bond was between siblings. Yeah, Aman has 3 cousins now whom he is fond of and they too like him. But then how often does he meet them ? Once a month is more like it. As we get more entangled in the business of life, the meetings would become rarer. And when he grows up, he might feel the absence of a brother / sister even more. Sheena infact was thinking much further into the future, when she said, "Aman's kids would not have an uncle or aunt, if he is the only kid". You have to give it to women for their reasoning.
Anyway, this one point had me cornered. It was something I could relate to because I have 8 first-cousins on my Mom's side and we do meet once in a while and all that, but they are not as close as I am with my sisters. Again, while I have no first-cousins on my Dad's side (he was the only son), there are numerous second-cousins on Dad's side with whom I am chummy, but again it is not like real brothers/sisters. I had no option but to accept defeat.
Another major reason was Aman himself. He was always complaining that he had no one to play with, which was true given that there are no kids in our neighborhood. We told him that he has us to play with, but his reply was "I don't want big people, I want small people (kids) to play with".
And so we decided to go forward with having another baby. I had always wanted a baby-girl and was kinda disappointed when Aman was born. But over the last 3 years with Aman, found out that boys are fun too. I just hope it is a girl this time - that would complete the family. Also, given the immense energy that boys come with, it would be tough to handle two boys - especially if the second one happens to be like Aman.
Aman wants only a boy though. At his age, boys don't like girls. That will change as he grows up, I know. :-) Anyway, to avoid disappointments, we have told him that we have no idea whether it will be a boy or a girl and that he should accept whichever God decides to gift us. This has not changed his choice, but he has come around to the possibility of it being a girl too.
He is all ready to take full care of the baby - I will feed him, play with him, take him to school etc. And the funniest thing is he has already named the kid. The name he chose was Ragol. We have no idea where he got this wierd name from. We tried telling him that maybe he is confusing Rahul as Ragol, but he insists that it is Ragol only.
The only thing that he finds unacceptable is the long wait. To be frank, the 8 months to D-day seem like a long time to me too. But then waiting is part of the package. Aman would be 4 years old when the kid comes and old enough to be a responsible elder brother. I just hope all goes well.
EDIT on 25-May-2011 : It is just 3 months to D-day, with the due-date being around 23-24 August. Aman has now moved on to newer names for the baby - Appu being his current favourite. He has also come around to the fact that it could be a girl and the other day he was telling cousin Divya that it is upto God to decide whether the baby would be a boy or girl and that he is OK with either - a big sigh of relief from me and Sheena.
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Luck, by chance. Unplanned dinner date with a celebrity.
I left work at 9PM yesterday feeling very hungry. In my mind, I started going through all the restaurants on the 20km route to my home. And for one reason or the other, I ticked them off the list one-by-one. Reasons being, not enough parking, not in the mood for Pizza, sick of eating chicken etc.
And before I knew it I was just 1-km from home and near the last restaurant on the way. Since no other choices existed, I drive into the parking of the Nelson Sangeetha restaurant on Nelson Manickam road. Walk in and find an empty table. Since this restaurant is one I visit regularly, I am aware of what is available and place my order.
As I wait for the food to come, I look around. At the table next to me, facing me is seated a lady in a nice (actually exquisite) blue silk saree. I can see only her side profile, but I still feel like I have seen this face before. Rack my brains and the only connection that comes to mind is singer Anuradha Sriram.
For those who don't know who she is, here's a snap I googled out.
But why would someone like her come to a normal restaurant, when she can have her pick from any of the 5-star hotels in town ? I assume it is someone who resembles her. But everytime my glance falls on her, it seems more like her. Seated opposite her is a gentleman and they are having an animated discussion about her concert, dates etc.
By the time I am halfway into the masala-dosa, she is done with her coffee and they are moving off. A quick look around confirms my suspicion that it is indeed Anuradha, because everyone from the waiters, to the manager to the customers have their gaze on her as she moves out.
She looks shorter than I thought she looked on TV - maybe because she seems to have put on weight - looked chubbier than on TV. But she does have an exquisite face - gotta give that to her.
BTW, noticed her getting into a Hyundai Elantra. If it is indeed her car, I guess it is high time she changed to a more upmarket car.
And before I knew it I was just 1-km from home and near the last restaurant on the way. Since no other choices existed, I drive into the parking of the Nelson Sangeetha restaurant on Nelson Manickam road. Walk in and find an empty table. Since this restaurant is one I visit regularly, I am aware of what is available and place my order.
As I wait for the food to come, I look around. At the table next to me, facing me is seated a lady in a nice (actually exquisite) blue silk saree. I can see only her side profile, but I still feel like I have seen this face before. Rack my brains and the only connection that comes to mind is singer Anuradha Sriram.
For those who don't know who she is, here's a snap I googled out.
But why would someone like her come to a normal restaurant, when she can have her pick from any of the 5-star hotels in town ? I assume it is someone who resembles her. But everytime my glance falls on her, it seems more like her. Seated opposite her is a gentleman and they are having an animated discussion about her concert, dates etc.
By the time I am halfway into the masala-dosa, she is done with her coffee and they are moving off. A quick look around confirms my suspicion that it is indeed Anuradha, because everyone from the waiters, to the manager to the customers have their gaze on her as she moves out.
She looks shorter than I thought she looked on TV - maybe because she seems to have put on weight - looked chubbier than on TV. But she does have an exquisite face - gotta give that to her.
BTW, noticed her getting into a Hyundai Elantra. If it is indeed her car, I guess it is high time she changed to a more upmarket car.
Sunday, December 19, 2010
When ABS and Airbags lose out to Hanuman.
13-Dec-2010:
Me, Sheena and Aman are driving back to my home from my in-laws place after spending 2 days there. My in-laws had last week taken delivery of their spanking new car - a Suzuki A-Star Automatic and we had gone there to help get my FIL get comfy with the car, since he is not familiar with automatic transmission cars.
En-route, I drop Sheena at the Kayankulam bus-stand from where she would catch a bus to Alappuzha to get to work. After dropping her, I have Aman belted in safely in the front-seat. Given that our Swift has airbags, he should be seated in the rear-seat, since air-bags if deployed can cause harm rather than good to small kids in the front seat. However, it has been tough to persuade him to sit anywhere other than the front passenger seat. Ideally he should be sitting in the rear in a child-seat.
Infact I would prefer both Sheena & Aman sit in the rear passenger seat. I can convince Sheena, but my efforts with Aman have been in vain. Anyway, as me and Aman drive home, I decide to make another effort to convince him. It's a 10-km stretch to our home which is relatively free of traffic and I try to avoid the tone of advice, instead opting for a story-telling format, which I know usually works with Aman.
I tell him how a friend of mine had called me recently and told me the dangers of having small kids sit in the front-seat. Since airbags and the way they work would be tough to explain to a kid, I decide to use an analogy that he would understand. I tell him that in the event of an accident, the front wind-screen would shatter leading to glass-pieces hitting & injuring him (and Momma) if they sit in the front seat. So, this fictional friend of mine had clearly told me to have Aman seated only in the rear-passenger seat to avoid injuries.
There is silence from Aman as he digests this information. As we drive along, I have a faint hope that maybe he now understands the implications and would henceforth agree to sit in the rear. If only things were that simple.
Suddenly he pipes up, "But won't the glass pieces hit you, Daddy, since you are also seated in the front ?"
Logical, right ? I am asking him to be seated in the rear, while I sit in the front exposed to dangerous shrapnel. Unsure how to counter this logic, I tell him that I have no option but to sit in front since I have to drive the car. He is silent again taking in this information.
And then he says, "But we can always call Hanuman and before we have an accident, he will lift our car to a safe place".
To kids growing up with TV serials like "Chotta Bheem" and "Hanuman", there is nothing these mythological heroes cannot do. Why bother about seat-belts, airbags and stuff when you can call out to Hanuman in times of trouble, who will swoop you to safety, as depicted on TV ? :-)
P.S.: During the 10-day long year-end holidays, we plan to do quite some driving around, especially a possible 800km drive to north Kerala and back. Inspite of Hanuman, I hope Aman and Sheena agree to sit in the rear of the car henceforth.
Me, Sheena and Aman are driving back to my home from my in-laws place after spending 2 days there. My in-laws had last week taken delivery of their spanking new car - a Suzuki A-Star Automatic and we had gone there to help get my FIL get comfy with the car, since he is not familiar with automatic transmission cars.
En-route, I drop Sheena at the Kayankulam bus-stand from where she would catch a bus to Alappuzha to get to work. After dropping her, I have Aman belted in safely in the front-seat. Given that our Swift has airbags, he should be seated in the rear-seat, since air-bags if deployed can cause harm rather than good to small kids in the front seat. However, it has been tough to persuade him to sit anywhere other than the front passenger seat. Ideally he should be sitting in the rear in a child-seat.
Infact I would prefer both Sheena & Aman sit in the rear passenger seat. I can convince Sheena, but my efforts with Aman have been in vain. Anyway, as me and Aman drive home, I decide to make another effort to convince him. It's a 10-km stretch to our home which is relatively free of traffic and I try to avoid the tone of advice, instead opting for a story-telling format, which I know usually works with Aman.
I tell him how a friend of mine had called me recently and told me the dangers of having small kids sit in the front-seat. Since airbags and the way they work would be tough to explain to a kid, I decide to use an analogy that he would understand. I tell him that in the event of an accident, the front wind-screen would shatter leading to glass-pieces hitting & injuring him (and Momma) if they sit in the front seat. So, this fictional friend of mine had clearly told me to have Aman seated only in the rear-passenger seat to avoid injuries.
There is silence from Aman as he digests this information. As we drive along, I have a faint hope that maybe he now understands the implications and would henceforth agree to sit in the rear. If only things were that simple.
Suddenly he pipes up, "But won't the glass pieces hit you, Daddy, since you are also seated in the front ?"
Logical, right ? I am asking him to be seated in the rear, while I sit in the front exposed to dangerous shrapnel. Unsure how to counter this logic, I tell him that I have no option but to sit in front since I have to drive the car. He is silent again taking in this information.
And then he says, "But we can always call Hanuman and before we have an accident, he will lift our car to a safe place".
To kids growing up with TV serials like "Chotta Bheem" and "Hanuman", there is nothing these mythological heroes cannot do. Why bother about seat-belts, airbags and stuff when you can call out to Hanuman in times of trouble, who will swoop you to safety, as depicted on TV ? :-)
P.S.: During the 10-day long year-end holidays, we plan to do quite some driving around, especially a possible 800km drive to north Kerala and back. Inspite of Hanuman, I hope Aman and Sheena agree to sit in the rear of the car henceforth.
Monday, December 13, 2010
A broken tap and adding up on my Green-Karma
I was giving our Suzuki-Swift a long-deserved wash at my home in Kerala when I hear animated conversation from the neighbouring house. All I can make out is that it is related to water. As I continue washing the car, the voices come closer and stop near the gate of our home. By this time, my Mom has also come out to check what the commotion is all about. It seems someone broke the public tap adjacent to our home, leading to leakage of water.
And the lady who stays diagonally opposite to our house is the one complaining about all the water going waste. She along with our next-door neighbour are the ones who use the tap for their potable water needs - rest of us in the neighborhood have piped water. Ofcourse, passersby also stop occasionally to quench their thirst. And sometimes the temple elephant too, as I mentioned in a previous post.
The next-door neighbour has also joined the conversation and complains about how he reported this to the municipality, but no action has been taken. Nothing new in this anyway. They then decide to fix it themselves. While one of them goes to buy a new plastic tap, the other one goes for a plumber.
I have now washed the car and am drying it with a dry cloth when Neighbour-1 returns with a new tap that he bought from the nearby hardware store. The other neighbour could not get the plumber - he is busy and said he will drop in around evening and that it will cost Rs.100 to fix the tap.
I tell them that I can fix it for free. I get the required tools, some cotton-waste and a bottle of shellac from our tool-shed and get to work. The tough part is removing the broken end of the old tap. Unscrewing it does not work, so I prise it out with a screw-driver and hammer. I then line the threaded end of the tap with strands of cotton-waste, apply shellac over it for a tight seal and screw in the tap. Presto, the leak is gone and we have a working tap. My 15-minutes (and 100 bucks) worth of effort seen below.
The neighbours have saved 50 bucks each in labour, while I got the pleasure of fixing a broken thing, plus the satisfaction of saving scarce water. Now, if only I knew how to lay roads, I would be glad to relay the pothole-filled road in front of our home that got damaged in the recent rains.
And the lady who stays diagonally opposite to our house is the one complaining about all the water going waste. She along with our next-door neighbour are the ones who use the tap for their potable water needs - rest of us in the neighborhood have piped water. Ofcourse, passersby also stop occasionally to quench their thirst. And sometimes the temple elephant too, as I mentioned in a previous post.
The next-door neighbour has also joined the conversation and complains about how he reported this to the municipality, but no action has been taken. Nothing new in this anyway. They then decide to fix it themselves. While one of them goes to buy a new plastic tap, the other one goes for a plumber.
I have now washed the car and am drying it with a dry cloth when Neighbour-1 returns with a new tap that he bought from the nearby hardware store. The other neighbour could not get the plumber - he is busy and said he will drop in around evening and that it will cost Rs.100 to fix the tap.
I tell them that I can fix it for free. I get the required tools, some cotton-waste and a bottle of shellac from our tool-shed and get to work. The tough part is removing the broken end of the old tap. Unscrewing it does not work, so I prise it out with a screw-driver and hammer. I then line the threaded end of the tap with strands of cotton-waste, apply shellac over it for a tight seal and screw in the tap. Presto, the leak is gone and we have a working tap. My 15-minutes (and 100 bucks) worth of effort seen below.
The neighbours have saved 50 bucks each in labour, while I got the pleasure of fixing a broken thing, plus the satisfaction of saving scarce water. Now, if only I knew how to lay roads, I would be glad to relay the pothole-filled road in front of our home that got damaged in the recent rains.
Thursday, December 09, 2010
T-20 is now T-30. But still worth the money.
I had posted here about the T-20 breakfast offer at Sangeetha restaurant, Velachery. After having achieved what they wanted with this plan (getting customer attention), they have hiked prices. T-20 is now T-30 - the menu remains the same.
I find it worth inspite of the price hike and was there again recently for breakfast. I like the concept of a decent, fairly filling breakfast (including tea/coffee) for 30 bucks. Try it out when you are around Velachery.
P.S.: Sangeetha should be paying me for this free publicity I am getting them.
I find it worth inspite of the price hike and was there again recently for breakfast. I like the concept of a decent, fairly filling breakfast (including tea/coffee) for 30 bucks. Try it out when you are around Velachery.
P.S.: Sangeetha should be paying me for this free publicity I am getting them.
Friday, November 12, 2010
And you thought public taps were only for humans
A couple of weeks ago, I was working from home at Kerala. I had logged in around 10AM & was going through my email when I hear the familiar sound of chain-links clanging. In most places of Kerala, this could mean only one thing - an elephant is coming along, with the sound being that of the heavy chains around its body & legs.
In Tamil, they have an apt saying "Yaanai varum pinne, mani-osai varum munnai", which translates to "while the elephant comes behind, the sound of its bell precedes it". Just that I don't remember seeing/hearing bells around the elephants in Kerala - it is the sound of the chain-links that herald the arrival of an elephant in these parts.
As is the norm, me & Aman rush to the main road to catch a glimpse of the majestic animal. It surprises us that instead of passing by our home, it has stopped a little away from our main gate. We walk to the gate & see that it is thirst that has made the animal make an unscheduled stop.
There is a public water-tap adjacent to our gate, which is meant for those in the neighbourhood who don't have their own water connection. Or for any wayfarer to quench his/her thirst. The mahout had turned on this tap, enabling the elephant to quench its thirst.
Scooping enough water in its trunk :
As the elephant drinks the water, its mahout turns on the tap even more :
The animal goes for another round of drink.
We standby & watch till the elephant has quenched its thirst and moves on. There is now a mini traffic-jam as most people on the road stop to have a look at the animal. This tap came to be due the initiative of the last municipal councillor of our ward. It's a pity the elephant doesn't have voting rights - else the councillor could have surely counted on it's vote.
In Tamil, they have an apt saying "Yaanai varum pinne, mani-osai varum munnai", which translates to "while the elephant comes behind, the sound of its bell precedes it". Just that I don't remember seeing/hearing bells around the elephants in Kerala - it is the sound of the chain-links that herald the arrival of an elephant in these parts.
As is the norm, me & Aman rush to the main road to catch a glimpse of the majestic animal. It surprises us that instead of passing by our home, it has stopped a little away from our main gate. We walk to the gate & see that it is thirst that has made the animal make an unscheduled stop.
There is a public water-tap adjacent to our gate, which is meant for those in the neighbourhood who don't have their own water connection. Or for any wayfarer to quench his/her thirst. The mahout had turned on this tap, enabling the elephant to quench its thirst.
Scooping enough water in its trunk :
As the elephant drinks the water, its mahout turns on the tap even more :
The animal goes for another round of drink.
We standby & watch till the elephant has quenched its thirst and moves on. There is now a mini traffic-jam as most people on the road stop to have a look at the animal. This tap came to be due the initiative of the last municipal councillor of our ward. It's a pity the elephant doesn't have voting rights - else the councillor could have surely counted on it's vote.
Monday, November 08, 2010
Celebrating Kerala-Piravi (state formation day of God's Own Country) in spirit, if not letter.
This western tourist landed in Kerala on Kerala Piravi (1-Nov) and found almost all men wearing new mundu/veshtis to mark the occasion. He goes and promptly gets one for himself. Given the way it is securely tied around his waist, he seems to have done a good job. Impressive, given that many Indians have trouble keeping it in place.
BTW, by tying it over the shirt, he not only ensures some traction for the garb to stay in place, but seems to have put in place a new trend/fashion. Am impressed.
BTW, by tying it over the shirt, he not only ensures some traction for the garb to stay in place, but seems to have put in place a new trend/fashion. Am impressed.
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
When Ms.Sherawat came hissing. Oops, visiting. :-)
Was pleasantly surprised when I picked up today's newspaper at my home in Kerala. The front page has a snap of Hindi actress Ms.Mallika Sherawat clad in Mallu attire. It seems she was at the Mannaarasala temple yesterday, which is just about 10kms from my home in Kerala.
The last celebrity to visit this temple was erstwhile cricketer Ravi Shastri and his family, to thank the deity for their kid who was born after many years due to the blessings of the goddess here. As per local lore, couples not having kids would be blessed with kids, if they pray to the deity at this temple.
But Ms.Sherawat obviously does not need kids. Atleast not now. So reason for the visit ? Her 'Hollywood' movie “Hiss” is releasing shortly in which she plays the role of a serpent-woman. And guess what, this temple is devoted to snakes.
Check out her snaps in local attire at the temple. Looks cute, na. Especially with the flowers in her hair. There is something about traditional attire, which makes women look homely and demure.
I can bet that this is one look of hers that you won't get to see in the movies.
I turn to the 3rd page & there is another snap of hers, now posing by the temple tank. Plus an interview, where she says the usual things - I love Kerala, blah blah blah.
For those who can’t read Malayalam, the gist of the above article is as below.
She says she feels like a Mallu girl at heart. Oh yeah.
And she loves Kerala so much that she has a home in Kerala, where she stays occasionally. Given that her home is at Trivandrum, it would be just a couple of hours by flight from Bombay, where she normally stays. Good option for a quick getaway. Hmm, nice. I know many who would like to own a vacation home in Kerala. Or for that matter, in Goa.
But the best part is, her home is a single-room dwelling, facing the Arabian sea, and on top of a cliff. Now that surely is something. It would be so much fun to sit on the balcony, taking in the Arabian sea and sip on a cup of hot tea/coffee. Or if you are one who likes his occasional swig, a pint of beer/rum/whiskey (select your poison).
There is only thing that could better this already surreal experience. And that would be to have it raining cats & dogs, which it anyway does for most part of the year in Kerala. And ofcourse to have friends/family with you.
Thanks for dropping by, Ms.Sherawat. It sure was good to have you in God's Own Country !!!
The last celebrity to visit this temple was erstwhile cricketer Ravi Shastri and his family, to thank the deity for their kid who was born after many years due to the blessings of the goddess here. As per local lore, couples not having kids would be blessed with kids, if they pray to the deity at this temple.
But Ms.Sherawat obviously does not need kids. Atleast not now. So reason for the visit ? Her 'Hollywood' movie “Hiss” is releasing shortly in which she plays the role of a serpent-woman. And guess what, this temple is devoted to snakes.
Check out her snaps in local attire at the temple. Looks cute, na. Especially with the flowers in her hair. There is something about traditional attire, which makes women look homely and demure.
I can bet that this is one look of hers that you won't get to see in the movies.
I turn to the 3rd page & there is another snap of hers, now posing by the temple tank. Plus an interview, where she says the usual things - I love Kerala, blah blah blah.
For those who can’t read Malayalam, the gist of the above article is as below.
She says she feels like a Mallu girl at heart. Oh yeah.
And she loves Kerala so much that she has a home in Kerala, where she stays occasionally. Given that her home is at Trivandrum, it would be just a couple of hours by flight from Bombay, where she normally stays. Good option for a quick getaway. Hmm, nice. I know many who would like to own a vacation home in Kerala. Or for that matter, in Goa.
But the best part is, her home is a single-room dwelling, facing the Arabian sea, and on top of a cliff. Now that surely is something. It would be so much fun to sit on the balcony, taking in the Arabian sea and sip on a cup of hot tea/coffee. Or if you are one who likes his occasional swig, a pint of beer/rum/whiskey (select your poison).
There is only thing that could better this already surreal experience. And that would be to have it raining cats & dogs, which it anyway does for most part of the year in Kerala. And ofcourse to have friends/family with you.
Thanks for dropping by, Ms.Sherawat. It sure was good to have you in God's Own Country !!!
Monday, October 11, 2010
A traffic-jam I sorely miss, a superb neighborhood and some TamBram speak.
It's again resolution time for me. This time it's about 2 things - getting up early every day and putting in atleast 30 mins of exercise each day. So, yesterday night I walked for 3-kms which had me all sweaty and pumped up. Had a cool shower and hit the bed, with the alarm set to 6AM.
Ofcourse, after hitting snooze umpteen times, I finally drag myself out of bed today at 7AM. I fix myself a cup of steaming hot tea, before proceeding to do some mild exercise aimed at the abs - while I would love to have a 6-pack, I would be more than happy with a no-paunch look itself. A quick shower and I am ready for work.
As I ride the bike to work, I can feel the pleasant day. The sun is missing and a cool breeze is blowing - there could be no better day to bike to work. Am reminded of the days I spent in Belgium during November when the days there would be like this and it felt the same as I felt walking to the bus-stop near my hotel in Ghent to catch the bus to work.
Enroute, while crossing the Kotturpuram bridge, I can see rowers practicing in the yucky waters of the Cooum below. I have been taking this route to work for almost all my working life and whenever I see rowers there, I can't help pitying them for having to bear with the unbearable stench of the muck-filled waters, all for the sake of a sport which they love.
Rowing happens to be one of my favourite hobbies & I remember the fun rowing sessions I had on my friend's 1-man fishing canoe (called kodhumbu-vallam in local parlance) in the Achenkoil river near my home. One of my dreams (mine are all small dreams) is to buy a small wooden canoe in Kerala and have a dock made (like the ones you see abroad) at the river-side land we have in Kerala. Hopefully one day soon.
Since I left early, traffic is sparse & in around 30mins I am at Madhya-Kailas signal. My usual route to work involves taking a right-turn onto the IT corridor. But today I have some stuff to be done at one of my favourite banks (SBT) located in one of the best localities of Chennai (Adyar).
I know there is no chance of my settling down in Chennai, but if due to some twist of fate it ever happens, I would stay at Adyar. Even if it means paying through my nose for a residence there. Apart from being a nice, green residential locality with good schools, bus/train connectivity etc, there are lots of memories and quite a few firsts associated with Adyar for me. My first job was at Adyar, my first salary account, my first savings, my first bike and some more firsts that I dare not mention here. :-)
As I wait for the signal at Ambica-Appalam junction to turn green, I look around at the neighborhood where I spent 3 years and more. The first thing to hit me is that the oddly named Mallu restaurant "Traffic Jam", where I used to have lunch for years, is no longer there. It has been demolished & some other structure is coming up there. Also missing is 'Tawau" another oddly named tea-shop, where I have spent many evenings with friends over hot tea and cigarettes.
I take the right-turn into Kasturba Nagar & reach the SBT branch. It has been at the same building for as long as I can remember, just that it would keep shifting between the ground and first floors of the building. SBT is a Kerala-based bank and most of the staff are either Malayalees or Palakkad brahmins. But what endears me to the bank is the service that comes with a smile and is also quick & efficient. And this time too it is no different.
It is just about 9AM when I reached the bank and since they start at 9AM, the staff is just coming in. The manager is there and another lady manning the teller. I need to make a cash deposit and approach the teller. She is courteous (as expected) and talks to me in the TamBrahm accent, which is not really odd, given that the staff composition is as I mentioned earlier.
"Kaasu kudungo ."
// Please give the cash to be deposited.
I handover the cash.
"Account number correct thaane ? Passbook kudungo"
// Is the a/c number correct ? Let me confirm with the passbook.
I tell her that the a/c number is correct and handover the passbook. Also tell her that there is a possibility that my account has been marked dormant, as I have not operated it for a long time.
"Appa-po oru nooru roopa ATM-le edutha, account active-a irukkum"
// Once-in-a-while withdraw 100 bucks from the ATM to keep account active.
I tell her that since my office is far from the bank, I find it tough to operate it and also I don't have an ATM card for this account (never needed one for this account).
"Office-kku late aacho ungalukku?"
// Is it getting late for you to get to work ?
I tell her that it is OK.
"Passbook naalaikku vangikkrela ? Yenna software change pannittu irukka".
//Mind collecting the passbook tomorrow as the banking s/w is being updated ?
I tell her that it is OK and handover the passbook. She returns me the counterfoil for the cash I deposited. I thank her and move on to the manager.
While I can live without an ATM card, I find it tough to operate without netbanking. I collect a netbanking application from the manager, fill it and hand it over. I am expecting to be told that the username/password would be mailed to my home in a week or so. But, am surprised when the manager tells me that if I can wait a few minutes, I can collect it. Just that it will take 24 hours for the account to be activated - I can live with that.
In less than 5 minutes, I am given the netbanking credentials. Now that I have access to my account over the internet, it does not really matter whether the passbook is updated or not, because I can see the account info anytime from anywhere. So no point getting the passbook updated and coming over another day just to collect it.
I walk back to the teller. There are 2 guys in front of me and the same lady who handled my cash-deposit is getting their transactions done. One of them wants to get a cheque encashed & the other guy has cash to deposit. As I await my turn, I notice her talking to the guy with the cheque - she asks him to sign on the reverse of the cheque and also to write his phone number there. What surprises me is that she is talking in normal Tamil - not the TamBrahm tamil she talked with me.
After encashing the cheque, she takes up the next transaction and asks the guy to give the cash and passbook. Also tells him that he will get the passbook only the next day, as the s/w is being updated. Again all this is in normal Chennai Tamil.
And then she sees me standing behind this guy and asks,
"Enna wait pannindu irukkel?" // What are you waiting for ?
I am surprised that she has immediately switched back to TamBrahm tamil with me. I tell her that I have just applied & got netbanking access and so will get the passbook updated some time later.
She says, "OK. Irungo, tharen. Paeru Biju thaane ?" //OK, the name is Biju, right?
I nod my head in assent and she hands over my passbook.
I thank her and move out, surprised that she chose to talk to me in TamBrahm tamil. If she thought I am TamBrahm, this would be the first time this has happened. I have been mistaken for a SriLankan (by some SriLankan co-passengers at Frankfurt) and as a Muslim (by a hotel employee in Serbia) and ofcourse as a Tamilian by most of my colleagues who assume so from my flawless (or so I would love to believe) Tamil. But this has to be the first time and I am not complaining. :-)
Another thing that struck me was the ease with which she was shifting between normal Tamil and TamBrahm tamil. I can juggle at least 4 languages with ease and understand a couple more, but I don't think I would be able to switch so effortlessly between two variants of the same language. Awesome indeed.
I exit the bank satisfied that my work was done quickly and the pleasant weather makes it a hoot to ride to work. Hope it stays this way all day.
Ofcourse, after hitting snooze umpteen times, I finally drag myself out of bed today at 7AM. I fix myself a cup of steaming hot tea, before proceeding to do some mild exercise aimed at the abs - while I would love to have a 6-pack, I would be more than happy with a no-paunch look itself. A quick shower and I am ready for work.
As I ride the bike to work, I can feel the pleasant day. The sun is missing and a cool breeze is blowing - there could be no better day to bike to work. Am reminded of the days I spent in Belgium during November when the days there would be like this and it felt the same as I felt walking to the bus-stop near my hotel in Ghent to catch the bus to work.
Enroute, while crossing the Kotturpuram bridge, I can see rowers practicing in the yucky waters of the Cooum below. I have been taking this route to work for almost all my working life and whenever I see rowers there, I can't help pitying them for having to bear with the unbearable stench of the muck-filled waters, all for the sake of a sport which they love.
Rowing happens to be one of my favourite hobbies & I remember the fun rowing sessions I had on my friend's 1-man fishing canoe (called kodhumbu-vallam in local parlance) in the Achenkoil river near my home. One of my dreams (mine are all small dreams) is to buy a small wooden canoe in Kerala and have a dock made (like the ones you see abroad) at the river-side land we have in Kerala. Hopefully one day soon.
Since I left early, traffic is sparse & in around 30mins I am at Madhya-Kailas signal. My usual route to work involves taking a right-turn onto the IT corridor. But today I have some stuff to be done at one of my favourite banks (SBT) located in one of the best localities of Chennai (Adyar).
I know there is no chance of my settling down in Chennai, but if due to some twist of fate it ever happens, I would stay at Adyar. Even if it means paying through my nose for a residence there. Apart from being a nice, green residential locality with good schools, bus/train connectivity etc, there are lots of memories and quite a few firsts associated with Adyar for me. My first job was at Adyar, my first salary account, my first savings, my first bike and some more firsts that I dare not mention here. :-)
As I wait for the signal at Ambica-Appalam junction to turn green, I look around at the neighborhood where I spent 3 years and more. The first thing to hit me is that the oddly named Mallu restaurant "Traffic Jam", where I used to have lunch for years, is no longer there. It has been demolished & some other structure is coming up there. Also missing is 'Tawau" another oddly named tea-shop, where I have spent many evenings with friends over hot tea and cigarettes.
I take the right-turn into Kasturba Nagar & reach the SBT branch. It has been at the same building for as long as I can remember, just that it would keep shifting between the ground and first floors of the building. SBT is a Kerala-based bank and most of the staff are either Malayalees or Palakkad brahmins. But what endears me to the bank is the service that comes with a smile and is also quick & efficient. And this time too it is no different.
It is just about 9AM when I reached the bank and since they start at 9AM, the staff is just coming in. The manager is there and another lady manning the teller. I need to make a cash deposit and approach the teller. She is courteous (as expected) and talks to me in the TamBrahm accent, which is not really odd, given that the staff composition is as I mentioned earlier.
"Kaasu kudungo ."
// Please give the cash to be deposited.
I handover the cash.
"Account number correct thaane ? Passbook kudungo"
// Is the a/c number correct ? Let me confirm with the passbook.
I tell her that the a/c number is correct and handover the passbook. Also tell her that there is a possibility that my account has been marked dormant, as I have not operated it for a long time.
"Appa-po oru nooru roopa ATM-le edutha, account active-a irukkum"
// Once-in-a-while withdraw 100 bucks from the ATM to keep account active.
I tell her that since my office is far from the bank, I find it tough to operate it and also I don't have an ATM card for this account (never needed one for this account).
"Office-kku late aacho ungalukku?"
// Is it getting late for you to get to work ?
I tell her that it is OK.
"Passbook naalaikku vangikkrela ? Yenna software change pannittu irukka".
//Mind collecting the passbook tomorrow as the banking s/w is being updated ?
I tell her that it is OK and handover the passbook. She returns me the counterfoil for the cash I deposited. I thank her and move on to the manager.
While I can live without an ATM card, I find it tough to operate without netbanking. I collect a netbanking application from the manager, fill it and hand it over. I am expecting to be told that the username/password would be mailed to my home in a week or so. But, am surprised when the manager tells me that if I can wait a few minutes, I can collect it. Just that it will take 24 hours for the account to be activated - I can live with that.
In less than 5 minutes, I am given the netbanking credentials. Now that I have access to my account over the internet, it does not really matter whether the passbook is updated or not, because I can see the account info anytime from anywhere. So no point getting the passbook updated and coming over another day just to collect it.
I walk back to the teller. There are 2 guys in front of me and the same lady who handled my cash-deposit is getting their transactions done. One of them wants to get a cheque encashed & the other guy has cash to deposit. As I await my turn, I notice her talking to the guy with the cheque - she asks him to sign on the reverse of the cheque and also to write his phone number there. What surprises me is that she is talking in normal Tamil - not the TamBrahm tamil she talked with me.
After encashing the cheque, she takes up the next transaction and asks the guy to give the cash and passbook. Also tells him that he will get the passbook only the next day, as the s/w is being updated. Again all this is in normal Chennai Tamil.
And then she sees me standing behind this guy and asks,
"Enna wait pannindu irukkel?" // What are you waiting for ?
I am surprised that she has immediately switched back to TamBrahm tamil with me. I tell her that I have just applied & got netbanking access and so will get the passbook updated some time later.
She says, "OK. Irungo, tharen. Paeru Biju thaane ?" //OK, the name is Biju, right?
I nod my head in assent and she hands over my passbook.
I thank her and move out, surprised that she chose to talk to me in TamBrahm tamil. If she thought I am TamBrahm, this would be the first time this has happened. I have been mistaken for a SriLankan (by some SriLankan co-passengers at Frankfurt) and as a Muslim (by a hotel employee in Serbia) and ofcourse as a Tamilian by most of my colleagues who assume so from my flawless (or so I would love to believe) Tamil. But this has to be the first time and I am not complaining. :-)
Another thing that struck me was the ease with which she was shifting between normal Tamil and TamBrahm tamil. I can juggle at least 4 languages with ease and understand a couple more, but I don't think I would be able to switch so effortlessly between two variants of the same language. Awesome indeed.
I exit the bank satisfied that my work was done quickly and the pleasant weather makes it a hoot to ride to work. Hope it stays this way all day.
Sunday, October 10, 2010
Now this is one T20 I love.
While the T20 (Twenty-Twenty) format of cricket has been a big hit in India, with the IPL
raking in the moolah, I never felt the need to watch the game. Actually, I never felt the need to watch the other 2 formats (Test cricket or 50-over matches) of the game either.
Infact, the last match I really watched on TV was the Indian team bringing home in 1983 the Prudential Cup. We were in Assam then and TVs were a big deal. Not many homes had TVs and we watched the grainy relay of the match in the Officers Club of the organisation in which my Dad worked.
So, last week I was surprised to find a T20 format quite appealing. I was at Velachery on my way to work to pick up some colleagues who live there and they suggested we have breakfast at the newly opened Sangeetha restaurant on 100-feet road. Usually I have breakfast at the office pantry and the food is to put it midly, just tasteless.
So, we hit Sangeethas and my friends order the T20 package for Rs.20 each. It seems the restaurant being new, wanted to attract clientele and thus hit upon this novel idea of serving a decent breakfast at Rs20, comprising of an idli, a vada, a choice of Poori or dosai, pongal and a mini coffee. All this for Rs20 is unimaginable in Chennai, where it would cost you Rs.20 for a decent coffee itself. Check out the advt. in the hotel.
The food was good and a steal at Rs.20. I am sure this won't last long. So, if you are at Velachery, you know where to go for good affordable breakfast, in these times of inflation.
raking in the moolah, I never felt the need to watch the game. Actually, I never felt the need to watch the other 2 formats (Test cricket or 50-over matches) of the game either.
Infact, the last match I really watched on TV was the Indian team bringing home in 1983 the Prudential Cup. We were in Assam then and TVs were a big deal. Not many homes had TVs and we watched the grainy relay of the match in the Officers Club of the organisation in which my Dad worked.
So, last week I was surprised to find a T20 format quite appealing. I was at Velachery on my way to work to pick up some colleagues who live there and they suggested we have breakfast at the newly opened Sangeetha restaurant on 100-feet road. Usually I have breakfast at the office pantry and the food is to put it midly, just tasteless.
So, we hit Sangeethas and my friends order the T20 package for Rs.20 each. It seems the restaurant being new, wanted to attract clientele and thus hit upon this novel idea of serving a decent breakfast at Rs20, comprising of an idli, a vada, a choice of Poori or dosai, pongal and a mini coffee. All this for Rs20 is unimaginable in Chennai, where it would cost you Rs.20 for a decent coffee itself. Check out the advt. in the hotel.
The food was good and a steal at Rs.20. I am sure this won't last long. So, if you are at Velachery, you know where to go for good affordable breakfast, in these times of inflation.
Sunday, October 03, 2010
Aman's new toy - his birthday present.
Aman turned 3-years old today. How time flies. It seems like it was only yesterday that the nurse brought him out to me, minutes after being born. And to think that from next academic year onwards, he would be going to school. Ofcourse he has been going to school since end-January this year, but that is just a playschool for him to spend 4 hours a day with other kids.
As always, buying presents for someone is a tough job. More so, when the recipient is a kid who is not sure what he really wants. Aman said he wanted a push-around bike, like the one they have in the kid's play-area at ChicKing. But we could not find a similar one at the toy-shop.
It was when I was loitering around at Landmark last weekend, that I came across the demo for a remote-controlled helicopter. Looked fragile, but was pretty durable, given the umpteen falls it was taking with ease, during the demo session. Felt that this would be something Aman would love and picked it up for Rs.1575 after a 10% discount.
Not only did Aman love it, it was a hit with my nieces and sisters. They all want one now. Me and Aman had fun flying it around. And ofcourse crashing it many times during the initial sorties when he had not yet perfected the art of properly landing it.
But since this is not something that Aman can use without adult supervision, I had to pack it up and keep it out of reach along with his other such toys, only to be taken out when I am at Kerala. So, finally what Aman would actually end up using daily is this Clipo toy from Funskool - another gift he received on his birthday.
He is good with building-blocks and loves playing with blocks, but took some time to warm up to the idea of Clipos, which is more or less the same concept.
We had a small birthday-party at home for his birthday, with my sisters and their families plus a couple of close relatives. A 3-kg chocolate cake, shaped like a Teddy bear - so high on calories, it would be sinful. Lunch was Chinese cuisine, catered in. The kids had fun and the ladies did not have to slog in the kitchen, while I got to foot the bill. :-)
As always, buying presents for someone is a tough job. More so, when the recipient is a kid who is not sure what he really wants. Aman said he wanted a push-around bike, like the one they have in the kid's play-area at ChicKing. But we could not find a similar one at the toy-shop.
It was when I was loitering around at Landmark last weekend, that I came across the demo for a remote-controlled helicopter. Looked fragile, but was pretty durable, given the umpteen falls it was taking with ease, during the demo session. Felt that this would be something Aman would love and picked it up for Rs.1575 after a 10% discount.
Not only did Aman love it, it was a hit with my nieces and sisters. They all want one now. Me and Aman had fun flying it around. And ofcourse crashing it many times during the initial sorties when he had not yet perfected the art of properly landing it.
But since this is not something that Aman can use without adult supervision, I had to pack it up and keep it out of reach along with his other such toys, only to be taken out when I am at Kerala. So, finally what Aman would actually end up using daily is this Clipo toy from Funskool - another gift he received on his birthday.
He is good with building-blocks and loves playing with blocks, but took some time to warm up to the idea of Clipos, which is more or less the same concept.
We had a small birthday-party at home for his birthday, with my sisters and their families plus a couple of close relatives. A 3-kg chocolate cake, shaped like a Teddy bear - so high on calories, it would be sinful. Lunch was Chinese cuisine, catered in. The kids had fun and the ladies did not have to slog in the kitchen, while I got to foot the bill. :-)
Friday, September 24, 2010
Snaking it's way through
Was standing near the door of the "2623 Tvm Mail" couple of weeks ago, when the train was taking a curve and felt that the visual resembled a snake making its way through greenery. The only camera handy was the crappy SonyEricsson phone-cam and this was the result. This was somewhere near Kottayam, if I remember correctly.
Won't be on the mail today as I have some long-pending tasks to be done at Chennai. Am already dreading a boring weekend here.
Won't be on the mail today as I have some long-pending tasks to be done at Chennai. Am already dreading a boring weekend here.
Sunday, September 05, 2010
Aman embarks on a journey - to discover the world of letters.
Am not sure how it is in other states of India, but in Kerala there exists a specific ritual called Vidyarambham (beginning of knowledge) which marks a kid's foray into the world of letters. Till this initiation is done, kids are usually not made to write alphabets - ofcourse they are free to scribble whatever they want, on their own.
This initiation ceremony is observed every year on Vijayadasami day, when kids all over Kerala (irrespective of religion, though Vijayadasami is a Hindu festival) embark on their journey to learn the alphabets.
This year Vidyarambham is on 17th October. This annual ritual is a big occasion in Kerala and on that day, almost all newspapers would feature this on the front page, with pictures of kids scribbling their first letters - on a plate full of rice-grains.
Me and my wife would have loved Aman also to start on this day. However, it seems that this ritual needs to be done before the kid attains 3 years of age. Since Aman would already be 3-years old on 3rd October, we could not wait till 17th-Oct.
My friend Sajan, whose kid Christo is the same age as Aman, had got Christo's vidyarambham done at the local church, with the parish priest initiating Christo into the world of letters by having him write "Jesus Mary Joseph" in Malayalam, on a bed of rice-grains. Note that this is a variation on the original practice of writing "Hari Shree Ganapathaye Namaha", which is a Hindu invocation to the Gods.
One major factor of the whole Vidyarambham ceremony is the person initiating the kid to the world of letters. It cannot be just anyone you fancy. It has to be a learned person, someone well-educated and respected in society, the belief being that this will rub on the kid being initiated, leading him/her to be good at letters (education).
I felt no one would be more apt for leading Aman on the path of knowledge than my father, who is not only learned, but who also taught me and my sisters much more than what our schools could ever possibly do. And ofcourse so many other kids have benefitted from being taught by him after he retired.
My in-laws (both of them) could also do the honours since they both retired as teachers, but since they stay an hour or more away, we ruled that option out. My wife said in jest that if I at all I wanted to do it, I would need to re-learn Malayalam as I would have long forgotten how to write the language.
Anyway, we chose today as the day for Aman's Vidhyarambham and Aman was excited about the whole thing. He sat in his Grandpa's lap and my Dad held his fingers tracing "Hari Shree..." over the bed of rice-grains. After the ceremony was done, Aman gave his teacher (Grandpa) Rs.1000 as guru-dakshina. Here is Aman writing his first letters - pardon the poor cellphone snap.
The other day, when Sajan came home, he was telling us in jest that "Christo has started writing with a vengeance after his vidyarambham, and looks like he will become a doctor one day". I guess Aman was around when this was mentioned, because after his initiation was done, Aman proclaimed to all of us, "Christo has started writing and will become a doctor. Now I have also started writing and I will become a train-driver". All of us could not help laughing.
For a kid, being a train-driver or pilot must figure really high as a career option. I don't really care what career path he opts for - doctor, engineer, teacher or even loco-pilot as long as he grows up to be an educated and responsible member of society.
Aman, here's wishing you a fun journey into the world of knowledge.
This initiation ceremony is observed every year on Vijayadasami day, when kids all over Kerala (irrespective of religion, though Vijayadasami is a Hindu festival) embark on their journey to learn the alphabets.
This year Vidyarambham is on 17th October. This annual ritual is a big occasion in Kerala and on that day, almost all newspapers would feature this on the front page, with pictures of kids scribbling their first letters - on a plate full of rice-grains.
Me and my wife would have loved Aman also to start on this day. However, it seems that this ritual needs to be done before the kid attains 3 years of age. Since Aman would already be 3-years old on 3rd October, we could not wait till 17th-Oct.
My friend Sajan, whose kid Christo is the same age as Aman, had got Christo's vidyarambham done at the local church, with the parish priest initiating Christo into the world of letters by having him write "Jesus Mary Joseph" in Malayalam, on a bed of rice-grains. Note that this is a variation on the original practice of writing "Hari Shree Ganapathaye Namaha", which is a Hindu invocation to the Gods.
One major factor of the whole Vidyarambham ceremony is the person initiating the kid to the world of letters. It cannot be just anyone you fancy. It has to be a learned person, someone well-educated and respected in society, the belief being that this will rub on the kid being initiated, leading him/her to be good at letters (education).
I felt no one would be more apt for leading Aman on the path of knowledge than my father, who is not only learned, but who also taught me and my sisters much more than what our schools could ever possibly do. And ofcourse so many other kids have benefitted from being taught by him after he retired.
My in-laws (both of them) could also do the honours since they both retired as teachers, but since they stay an hour or more away, we ruled that option out. My wife said in jest that if I at all I wanted to do it, I would need to re-learn Malayalam as I would have long forgotten how to write the language.
Anyway, we chose today as the day for Aman's Vidhyarambham and Aman was excited about the whole thing. He sat in his Grandpa's lap and my Dad held his fingers tracing "Hari Shree..." over the bed of rice-grains. After the ceremony was done, Aman gave his teacher (Grandpa) Rs.1000 as guru-dakshina. Here is Aman writing his first letters - pardon the poor cellphone snap.
The other day, when Sajan came home, he was telling us in jest that "Christo has started writing with a vengeance after his vidyarambham, and looks like he will become a doctor one day". I guess Aman was around when this was mentioned, because after his initiation was done, Aman proclaimed to all of us, "Christo has started writing and will become a doctor. Now I have also started writing and I will become a train-driver". All of us could not help laughing.
For a kid, being a train-driver or pilot must figure really high as a career option. I don't really care what career path he opts for - doctor, engineer, teacher or even loco-pilot as long as he grows up to be an educated and responsible member of society.
Aman, here's wishing you a fun journey into the world of knowledge.
Monday, August 23, 2010
A grand Onam to you all Mallus out there
It is Onam today - the Malayali's harvest festival.
Like with other parts of Kerala, our town was also in a festive mood for days leading up to Onam, with apparel/jewellery stores doing brisk business & people out on the streets making purchases to celebrate the grand day.
I was able to show Aman the traditional puli-kali (tiger dance) and we also spotted a Mahabali on the road, dressed in the traditional attire going around visiting his people, as the legend of Mahabali goes.
Yesterday night was spent with a group of friends, most of them working outside Kerala and now in town for Onam. We had a fun time singing the traditional Onam songs, with one friend working in Oman singing the song via cellphone straight from Oman, which we enjoyed via speaker-phone.
Today morning started with atha-poo kalam (flower decoration) - Aman helped his Mom do the decoration at home. Here's Aman posing before his creation, wearing his new Onam dress.
Me and Aman then went out to visit friends, wishing them Onam and taking in the grand poo-kalams made at various homes. Here's Aman posing as Mahabali and blessing his subjects at a friend's home.
Wish you all a great Onam with allround happiness and prosperity.
Like with other parts of Kerala, our town was also in a festive mood for days leading up to Onam, with apparel/jewellery stores doing brisk business & people out on the streets making purchases to celebrate the grand day.
I was able to show Aman the traditional puli-kali (tiger dance) and we also spotted a Mahabali on the road, dressed in the traditional attire going around visiting his people, as the legend of Mahabali goes.
Yesterday night was spent with a group of friends, most of them working outside Kerala and now in town for Onam. We had a fun time singing the traditional Onam songs, with one friend working in Oman singing the song via cellphone straight from Oman, which we enjoyed via speaker-phone.
Today morning started with atha-poo kalam (flower decoration) - Aman helped his Mom do the decoration at home. Here's Aman posing before his creation, wearing his new Onam dress.
Me and Aman then went out to visit friends, wishing them Onam and taking in the grand poo-kalams made at various homes. Here's Aman posing as Mahabali and blessing his subjects at a friend's home.
Wish you all a great Onam with allround happiness and prosperity.
Monday, August 02, 2010
Packaging news according to the target segment.
A couple of weeks ago, there was a news article in the Times of India (ToI) about a suitcase found abandoned at the Nagapattinam bus-stand. In this day & age of terrorist attacks, this naturally evoked fear / suspicion & the cops were called, who upon opening the suitcase found the body of a 5-year old boy.
A day later, ToI reported that the kid was identified to be a boy missing from Chennai, whose parents were one Jayakumar & Ananthalakshmi, who from the names sounded to me like a Tamilian couple. There was also a snap of the kid - so cute. Found it really tough to believe how someone can have the heart to kill kids.
Cops unravel the mystery and find that the boy was killed by his father's paramour, who was miffed that he was not marrying her as promised and had also asked her to undergo two abortions resulting from their affair. It was her way of taking revenge on him. Hmm.
The Deccan Chronicle (DC) also had similar content as the ToI that I read at office. Both being more of tabloids than newspapers, all the necessary ingredients were present to add spice to the whole story. The woman was known to the father before marriage, they had an affair, he got married to someone else, had 2 kids, then meets her after a long time, gets her a job in his company, she gains the confidence of the whole family, they continue their clandestine affair etc etc.
Yesterday while doing some weekend cleaning, I chance upon a copy of the Malayalam daily "Malayala Manorama" (MM) lying at home, bought my by in-laws who were in town the week this incident happened. The front-page screams the following headline,
"Malayali balan-e konnu pettiyil-aakki, sthree arrest-il"
which translates to "Malayali kid murdered and stuffed in a suitcase; woman arrested".
Huh! Inspite of following the news fin 2 different English newspapers, I never saw DC/ToI mention any Malayali connection. It seems the kid's parents are from Kerala. Anyway, for DC & ToI, both English newspapers, the readership is pretty diverse and it does not really matter to them as to which state the boy/parents belong to. But MM caters specifically to the Malayali readership and guess this extra info matters to their readership, which shows in the way they packaged the same news so differently from their English counterparts.
P.S. : A couple of days after this incident happened, on my way home, I was listening to this radio-show by Bosskey, which is about playing a line-up of movie songs with some comic one-liners interspersed. Normally I like his comedy, but that day he chose to make humour out of this murder, which was not in good taste IMO.
A day later, ToI reported that the kid was identified to be a boy missing from Chennai, whose parents were one Jayakumar & Ananthalakshmi, who from the names sounded to me like a Tamilian couple. There was also a snap of the kid - so cute. Found it really tough to believe how someone can have the heart to kill kids.
Cops unravel the mystery and find that the boy was killed by his father's paramour, who was miffed that he was not marrying her as promised and had also asked her to undergo two abortions resulting from their affair. It was her way of taking revenge on him. Hmm.
The Deccan Chronicle (DC) also had similar content as the ToI that I read at office. Both being more of tabloids than newspapers, all the necessary ingredients were present to add spice to the whole story. The woman was known to the father before marriage, they had an affair, he got married to someone else, had 2 kids, then meets her after a long time, gets her a job in his company, she gains the confidence of the whole family, they continue their clandestine affair etc etc.
Yesterday while doing some weekend cleaning, I chance upon a copy of the Malayalam daily "Malayala Manorama" (MM) lying at home, bought my by in-laws who were in town the week this incident happened. The front-page screams the following headline,
"Malayali balan-e konnu pettiyil-aakki, sthree arrest-il"
which translates to "Malayali kid murdered and stuffed in a suitcase; woman arrested".
Huh! Inspite of following the news fin 2 different English newspapers, I never saw DC/ToI mention any Malayali connection. It seems the kid's parents are from Kerala. Anyway, for DC & ToI, both English newspapers, the readership is pretty diverse and it does not really matter to them as to which state the boy/parents belong to. But MM caters specifically to the Malayali readership and guess this extra info matters to their readership, which shows in the way they packaged the same news so differently from their English counterparts.
P.S. : A couple of days after this incident happened, on my way home, I was listening to this radio-show by Bosskey, which is about playing a line-up of movie songs with some comic one-liners interspersed. Normally I like his comedy, but that day he chose to make humour out of this murder, which was not in good taste IMO.
Monday, July 05, 2010
Pray and let pray ... For a better world.
Another boring weekend at Chennai. Saturday went by without much ado. Since it was a long time since I expended any effort on this activity, I went through the whole sweeping /mopping routine. As always, it felt good to walk around the apartment after the effort.
A little more sweating ensured that the laundry basket was back to empty.
Getting through Sunday was tougher though. No football games on TV - just boring movies and programmes. Decided to do some cooking as I was getting bored of hotel food. Turned out to be a nice decision, given that lunch was mouthwatering chicken curry and rice, with just 30 minutes of effort.
And then it struck me that I could go to church. What ? It was a long time since I went to church. Infact the last time I saw the insides of a church was the Syrian-Christian church in Alappuzha a few months ago - and that was on celluloid, in the Gauthan Menon movie "Vinnai Thaandi Varuvaaya".
Anyway, since Sunday is the best day of the week to enjoy a drive in Chennai, I get the covers off the car and drive out to St. Theresa's church, Gemini, Nungambakkam, which happens to be my (and my wife's) favourite place of worship at Chennai. Their 6:30PM English mass is for lazy-heads like me who sleep late on Sunday mornings and thus miss the morning mass.
I am there by 6:15PM, find a good parking slot and stroll around the campus, taking in the changes since last I was here some years ago. And that's when I see a new shrine for the Virgin Mary, to the left of the church. It has a rock-theme with quite some greenery in the background.
The moment I saw it, what came to my mind was the similar shrines seen in most Kerala temples. Apart from the main temple, you would have smaller shrines for various gods / godesses and this shrine looked like a straight lift from any temple. Check out this similar shrine I photographed at the Kandiyur temple near my home - same rock-based theme, with greenery behind it.
Not sure if the creators of the Virgin Mary shrine took inspiration from any temple, but there sure was quite some similarity. So, we have two religions, as similar as chalk and cheese, yet having something in common.
If only people looked at religion/prayers as a way to communicate with the power above and not something to fight over, quite some serious problems facing the world today would immediately vanish.
P.S.: As I wrote this post, I was reminded of the lovely & thought-provoking single 'Krishna nee begane' from the hit album 'Colonial Cousins', sung jointly by Hariharan & Lewis :
So come back as Jesus, Come back and save the world.
Bless all the future of every boy and girl.
Come back as Rama, Forgive us for what we've done.
Come back as Allah, Come back as anyone.
Krishna nee begane baro. Krishna nee begane baro.
A little more sweating ensured that the laundry basket was back to empty.
Getting through Sunday was tougher though. No football games on TV - just boring movies and programmes. Decided to do some cooking as I was getting bored of hotel food. Turned out to be a nice decision, given that lunch was mouthwatering chicken curry and rice, with just 30 minutes of effort.
And then it struck me that I could go to church. What ? It was a long time since I went to church. Infact the last time I saw the insides of a church was the Syrian-Christian church in Alappuzha a few months ago - and that was on celluloid, in the Gauthan Menon movie "Vinnai Thaandi Varuvaaya".
Anyway, since Sunday is the best day of the week to enjoy a drive in Chennai, I get the covers off the car and drive out to St. Theresa's church, Gemini, Nungambakkam, which happens to be my (and my wife's) favourite place of worship at Chennai. Their 6:30PM English mass is for lazy-heads like me who sleep late on Sunday mornings and thus miss the morning mass.
I am there by 6:15PM, find a good parking slot and stroll around the campus, taking in the changes since last I was here some years ago. And that's when I see a new shrine for the Virgin Mary, to the left of the church. It has a rock-theme with quite some greenery in the background.
The moment I saw it, what came to my mind was the similar shrines seen in most Kerala temples. Apart from the main temple, you would have smaller shrines for various gods / godesses and this shrine looked like a straight lift from any temple. Check out this similar shrine I photographed at the Kandiyur temple near my home - same rock-based theme, with greenery behind it.
Not sure if the creators of the Virgin Mary shrine took inspiration from any temple, but there sure was quite some similarity. So, we have two religions, as similar as chalk and cheese, yet having something in common.
If only people looked at religion/prayers as a way to communicate with the power above and not something to fight over, quite some serious problems facing the world today would immediately vanish.
P.S.: As I wrote this post, I was reminded of the lovely & thought-provoking single 'Krishna nee begane' from the hit album 'Colonial Cousins', sung jointly by Hariharan & Lewis :
So come back as Jesus, Come back and save the world.
Bless all the future of every boy and girl.
Come back as Rama, Forgive us for what we've done.
Come back as Allah, Come back as anyone.
Krishna nee begane baro. Krishna nee begane baro.
Monday, June 28, 2010
Surely a Mars and Venus difference in perception.
We were at the PVR-multiplex on a Sunday night a week ago, to watch the Tamil movie 'Singam', which happens to be Surya uncle's (as Aman calls him) latest movie. While it is good to have such a swanky multiplex in walking distance from home, a visit sets you back by close to 500 bucks. So, unless it is a really good movie, I ain't wasting money watching movies there.
We managed to get tickets only for the 9:45PM show and are in our seats by 9:40PM. After some advertisements (mostly for gold jewellery), they play the promo-video of the Semmozhi Thamizh Manadu (Classical Tamil conference). A nicely done video, it features many big names in the music, letters and movie industry. But since everyone has to be accomodated & keep the video short and interesting, most personalities get only a few seconds on screen.
We are watching the video and the stars (A.R.Rehman, Hariharan, Susheela, Yuvan Shanker Raja etc etc) and I can't help admiring the awesome blend of lyrics & music, which gel perfectly with the way the personalities play their part.
And then a female appears on screen singing. Actually, we hear her singing even before we see her. The voice is more shreak-ish (in a nice way), with the facial expressions matching the voice.
In less than a second, my mind has looked up the stored sound-tracks in my brain and identified the voice to be similar to the magical one in the "Adiye kolludhe" song from the movie "Vaaranam Aayiram", sung by Shruthi Haasan, and emoted oh-so-magically by the cute-yet-sensuous Sameera Reddy.
I had just about identified Shruthi Haasan as the singer before the promo moves on to some other personality, when my wife goes, "She has got herself a nose job and now looks gorgeous".
What ???
That girl was there on the screen for just a few seconds, during which time one had to listen to the audio, look at the moving images on the screen, recogize the personality and still there was time enough for my wife to notice the nose-job. Such a sea of difference in perception between the male and female of the species. No wonder the book "Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus" is such a big hit.
P.S.: Movie was typical Tamil-masala, but fast-paced. Surya gave his best as usual & Anushka was cute.
We managed to get tickets only for the 9:45PM show and are in our seats by 9:40PM. After some advertisements (mostly for gold jewellery), they play the promo-video of the Semmozhi Thamizh Manadu (Classical Tamil conference). A nicely done video, it features many big names in the music, letters and movie industry. But since everyone has to be accomodated & keep the video short and interesting, most personalities get only a few seconds on screen.
We are watching the video and the stars (A.R.Rehman, Hariharan, Susheela, Yuvan Shanker Raja etc etc) and I can't help admiring the awesome blend of lyrics & music, which gel perfectly with the way the personalities play their part.
And then a female appears on screen singing. Actually, we hear her singing even before we see her. The voice is more shreak-ish (in a nice way), with the facial expressions matching the voice.
In less than a second, my mind has looked up the stored sound-tracks in my brain and identified the voice to be similar to the magical one in the "Adiye kolludhe" song from the movie "Vaaranam Aayiram", sung by Shruthi Haasan, and emoted oh-so-magically by the cute-yet-sensuous Sameera Reddy.
I had just about identified Shruthi Haasan as the singer before the promo moves on to some other personality, when my wife goes, "She has got herself a nose job and now looks gorgeous".
What ???
That girl was there on the screen for just a few seconds, during which time one had to listen to the audio, look at the moving images on the screen, recogize the personality and still there was time enough for my wife to notice the nose-job. Such a sea of difference in perception between the male and female of the species. No wonder the book "Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus" is such a big hit.
P.S.: Movie was typical Tamil-masala, but fast-paced. Surya gave his best as usual & Anushka was cute.
The twins are out of the game. But in come new twins to cheer about.
While showing promise initially, both Serbia and Slovenia got knocked out of the FIFA cup. Did leave me a bit disappointed that neither could make it even to the next round.
But news of another set of new twins was more than enough to erase this disappointment. A close friend and his wife were blessed with twins - a baby boy and a baby girl. What a way to have a complete family in one go. Congrats, new parents.
And being a die-hard optimist, I am now rooting for Slovakia - another underdog. They play Holland today and it is going to be tough. But then who said the once-in-4-years soccer world-cup was easy ?
But news of another set of new twins was more than enough to erase this disappointment. A close friend and his wife were blessed with twins - a baby boy and a baby girl. What a way to have a complete family in one go. Congrats, new parents.
And being a die-hard optimist, I am now rooting for Slovakia - another underdog. They play Holland today and it is going to be tough. But then who said the once-in-4-years soccer world-cup was easy ?
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