Pulavar Keeran !!

Many of you may not be aware of Pulavar Keeran. He is a Mayavaram Man. And he lived his life doing Upanyasams (Story Telling). I have had 2 chances of attending his Upanyasams, but that was when I was a kid. I didnt know the beauty of tamil then.

Now I realize how great this Man was. Story-telling is an art, as everyone would know. And he excelled in that with the power of his Language. His tamil fluency is something you can see in a very few people. His voice was an added advantage. When he starts "Villibaratham" you are already in his plot. And he drives you to ecstacy, describing stories in a way you'd have never heard before. It would be a pleasure to hear Dhuriyodhanan speak through Keeran. He speaks to Vithuran.. "Maamane ! Maamane !! Aivarukku nenjayum, engalidaththil Vayittrayum Vaithaaye !!! Poh !! ........ Poh !". You will feel like the voice is of Duriyodhanan himself. The expression and emotion in the voice is sophisticated Quality.

"Dhaayam Uruttalaanaal, Ange Saguni Vendru vittaaan !!" - The historical Dice game played by the Pandavas and Gauravas are described with high peak tension. And every throw of dice ends with that dialogue. There are more stories recited by him, that now exist on Tapes and CDs.

If you happen to own any MP3s of Pulavar Keeran, you know what to do :)

On similar grounds, Nagai Mukundan is a disciple of Pulavar Keeran and initially i thought he imitated Keeran. He has made a successful career too, with Bhakthi on a sudden-Surge in Tamilnadu.

Sad that I couldnt even find a picture of Pulavar keeran on the Net to post with. Someone has a photo ? we can showcase him.

Chennai is now Open !

Here's something I missed. Day 2 of Chennai Open invited me with a Ticket through Saurabh Deshpande. I accepted the invite and couldnt make it because of a few official meetings and work. Damn. I hate missing commitments.

Thankfully Saurabh is another blogger, who has posted on the event that he witnessed. (He's asked me a fine of the ticket price for not accompanying... phew !).

People in Chennai, think we can get our time open for this event... Im planning to go somtime this weekend. Chennai Open is getting hit for the past few years. Way to go !! Its good to see Chennai people watch something other than Cricket match.

But I like cricket better than Tennis... emotions are lesser here in tennis.. Saurav Sattaya kazhatti suththina madhiri emotions... The emotions when the Pakistan wicket falls down... The emotions when Mc Graw is sent for a four in the opening over.... Cricket Cricket dhaan.

Mainframe Programmer ? 2+ years experience ? Willing to work in Mumbai ?

I can help you switch . Just leave a comment..

Are you ready for another Conspiracy ?

Here we go again. :) Click here

The Future of Ajith

Paramasivan movie audio has a theme song - "Vande Matharam". Singers shout Vande Matharam, and occasionally sing "Jana Gana Mana" in between. Useless song. Im wondering why movies like this, Sachin, Mumbai Express and many more have theme music.

Ignore the audio. This movie is Life/death for Ajith. He hasnt given a hit for long, and he hasnt fared in a Quality movie as well. Dont know who screwed up his career, but we can sense desparation in the forthcoming movies of Ajith.

More Movie Buff :: Vettayadu Vilayadu Kamal is being praised by some Hollywood Actor. They say never in history was such a movie shot on.. Adappavingala.. Ippdi dhaane kavuppaanga !!

Jillendru Oru Kadhal shooting starts. Surya sucks with that Girdha !! Please change hairstyle. :) Please.

Illayaraja to compose music for Ram Gopal Varma's Tamil Venture.. thats the Jyothika Starring Horror movie... Vaanga RGV vaanga !!!

How to show affection ?

I was in Tirupathi, long back and the following is a real incident.

I stood outside the premises after 7 long hours of wait , 3 seconds darshan and 2 small Laddus. We had gone through the ASRTC, and hence were waiting for the rest of the gang. From the place i was standing, i could see a wide angle. From that end of the Padma Klam to this end, where the Sudharshana entrance is. Lots of Mottais. And Occasionally, TTD workers carrying large plates of Laddus. The smell of Pure ghee in the air will take you to heavens. Only God can create a smell like that. Not Humans.

Thats when a small disturbance was under creation. A couple, who have just had a mottai, were standing a few meteres away from me. They were beginning to search. Search what ? Probably their Kid... thats what it should logically be. "Ballu".. the man shouted, looking here and there. His eyes were browsing through the ground. Should be a kid. The Lady knelt down and looked across hundreds of pairs of legs.

I showed that to my dad, who was already seeing them. We both looked at the surrounding to see if theres a kid who is alone and crying.. The search became vigorous. A few more people who heard the shouting "BALLU" from the man, cared and stopped.. and began looking. I shouted too... "Ballu...". The Man looked at me, I smiled.. Damn. I shouldnt have done that. The search continued. I swear, a place like that is not somewhere you want to loose and find something. Though the crowd was normal, it seemed to me, as if it was growing, with the vigour of search increasing.

By now, atleast 20 people were searching. The lady was in tears. Was saynig a few telugu words.. should be Telugu version of Oppari. The man's voice was close to crying. My heart felt bad, everytime i heard him shout. The sound was coated with desparate hope.

Then I saw a kid at some corner, close to a shop selling pictures of Perumal. I wasnt the only one.. I found another person walking towards him. he knelt down at the kid. He should be asking his name... he then turned back, dragging the kid towards the man.

This lightened the situation. or, thats what i thought.

The man, saw the other kid first and thought of running towards... but then saw that one of the searchers were bringing the kid to him... '"Balluuuu" he shouted... The lady shivered and looked at the same direction. The kid was also crying, i didnt realize from when.

The mom (i guess) took the kid in her arms and kissed it. The man came closer and

"PALLAAAAR !" - A thunder slap went it to the little kids face. The Kid shouted at the pitch of his voice and broke into tears... Kadhari Kadhari, vicki vicki azhudhadhu !!

I didnt expect this. Most of us didnt. But thought it was normal for Indian emotions. And we all dispersed in our directions.

To me, I have carried this scene, which is approximately 3 years older, till now. What do you think about the reaction ?

Comin Soon !

Avyukta Awards !

BEST SINGER 2005 - SP Balasubramainam (For Thazhuvudhu Nazhuvudhu....)

Thanks to Rahman for not making Udit Narayanan sing "taluvudu naluvudu"....

BEST MINISTER 2005 - Dayanidhimaran (For Dataone and upcoming All India Local)

Ignore the political back up... Not a single person can Come from Zero to this point, where this man has reached. I wish, he takes some other ministry soon. He can do better anywhere.

MOST POWERFULMAN 2005 - Shri. Gagan Deep Singh Bedi, IAS(For Administration)

The use of power is known when you use it. This Cuddlore Collector will never be forgotten. He is a good man.
(Know your collectors here)

BEST ENTERTAINER 2005 - Yuvan Shankar Raja (For Surplus Music)

Forget opportunities. YSR Proved good in a lots of movies. Varied Styles... kalakkittaaruppa !

BEST APPLICATION 2005 - Google Talk (For Simplicity and Stuffs)

Text Chat and that Blue emoticons.. wow ! And talk about the voice calls. wow wow !

BEST EVENT 2005 - Bihar Elections (For Sabha Vimochanam)

Bihar is atlast away from the Clutches of Shri Laloo Prasad Yadhav

New Wallpaper on Photoshop Blog

A New Year Prayer

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Resolutions for 2006

res·o·lu·tion - A course of action determined or decided on

Few of many people have this habit of setting Resolutions for the upcoming year. Stop. Read definition of resolution again. They grow funny in a conversation, and even funnier in a group conversation.

It is good to have a resolution for the year. Whether or not you follow it, you can escape from silly questions like "Whats your resolution of the year ?"..... I've asked this many times, when a conversation is about to end.. makes it interesting. Pathetic part is the silly answer I get.

My friend said, that he would Quit smoking in 2005. And you know what would have happened. It is better not to have such resolutions. Im not saying we should not have a habitual-nature-changing resolutions.. but its better not to have a close-to-impossible targets. Have a sensible one. Like ?

I will learn Photoshop/Flash this year, and make my blog or Site look better.
I will pause 3 seconds before i respond
I should respond all emails promptly. Never miss anything. (This is mine for 2006. Does it look like a non-sense ? It means a lot, guys).
I should make people smile at whatever chances i may get. Make conversations lighter.
I should be bold to deny to people.

You could as well take resolution like "Project:Anti-Dandruff", and try and remove the dandruff from your hair (if any. Dont tell me you dont have that problem.. )

Please dont take resolutions like "I will try to be a nice Human Being"..thats too much of an ask out of yourself. Or that will be a little artificial, to yourself.

Alright , after choosing a sensible Resolution... define your efforts. Please dont plan for it. Just keep in mind the resolution always. You will definitely do it.

Just let me know your resolutions....

New Year Greeting on Photoshop Blog !!

Have a happy new year, folks !

Whats 2005 for me?

2005 was not as good as 2004. Read This... My 2004 Accomplishments.

This year began with recovery and has ended up with some good spirit - to me.

It didnt change my Job... (though it should have... remember the decision ?)... It didnt change my EMIs :) But It changed my mornings. Though I started my blog last year, 2005 was effectively when I did some sensible work (nenappu dhaan..).

It changed my mornings, because 2 AM to 8 AM broadband is free. Lots of downloads that keep my rest of the day happy.

2005 gave me very importantly, Good Friends.

Adengappa Prabhu, Srivatsan Murali, Prabu Karthik, Narayanan Venkittu, Sri. Narayanan, Iyengarkatz, Lazy, Chakra and Mukundan (and him mom and dad too). Without blogging, I wouldnt have got them...

I particularly enjoy conversations with Prabu Karthik and Mukundan. Yesterday, me and PK caught hold of each others shirt, and rolling over and fighting . It was a arguement/discussion /research on relationsips. It is serious pleasure to talk with PK. Very sensible :) .. Mukundan, gives an entirely new perspective, when I tell him that. You need to be blessed to be in this company. I enjoy it.

Work was pleasure in 2005. I learnt Assembler, and started working on it. Wow ! Its a real thrill to work on development projects in Assembler. Last few weeks of December was more than Hectic and fun. I was doing something like "Celebrate Work" (its the Tagline of CTS).

All the more, in every aspect.. 2005 was a no-problem, trouble free, painless, limited pleasured, Very Normal year, for me.

Cant let it happen in 2006.

Coming Up !! Top Ten 2005 (Idhu onnu dhaan koraichal).

Squidoo !

Squidoo is a very bad name to a very good service. :) Thanks to Mukund for referring.

This is one place , where you can make/post articles (Modules as they say) on topics that you are an Expert on. I wanted to post on Mainframes, but I wasnt that good to be an expert. So, droppped it off. Then I realized I wasnt an expert at anything. Damn.

I hate anything that exposes me to myself, in a otherwise way !

But yet i wanted to write something on the Squidoo, and came up with this Topic

"Ishta Mithra Bandhukkal". Meaning Desired Friends and Relatives.

Here's what I wrote there.

Of all the things that define a man, His relationships with fellow humans is what would attribute him the most. It is by all means, delicate to hold a relationship in equilibrium, and more than 90% of the people have their destiny afftected because of this.

The Title of this Lens - Ishta Mithra Bandhukkal is a common word you can find in any Tamil wedding invitation. "Ishta" - Desire. "Mithra" - Friend. "Bandhukkal" - Blood Relatives. So, it means Desired Friends and Blood relatives.

This lens considers the Friendship as a Relationship (I have seen people differentiate them). However they are a little different in the way they work.

Let us discuss and try and explore the possibility of having a relationship, with Quality.

Indian Relationships

That is all i know about, heh !

India, as I understand is viewed as an Icon for holding rich culture and heritage. Besides that, it is also popular for having Complex relationships, weaved into the skin and blood of every Indian. Complex because of Magnitude. Let us for time being, remove the Friendship from Relationship. Talk of Relatives and Blood relatives. Religion plays a major part in Relationships.

Blood relatives are those to whom we are related to, by birth. But Intimate relatives, are people who are lost a few decades ago. Or atleast thats what we think !

Will write more there. :) I want it made like a research ! Research of Relationships.

Our Boss is Younger than we thought

Rajini and Vivek...Who looks younger ? Thalai kalakkaraarppa !!

Shankarna summava ! Sivaji is rocking even before the start.

Mouna Anjali

Tsunami visited us last year, and took with it a lot of lives on its way back.

Last December 26th I was in Bed with a broken leg. Me and my mom were discussing how to evacuate, just in case if the water raced to Villiwakkam. I couldn't walk at that time(get out of the bed even), so I should be staring out of my window and accept the waters, and further.

This year, i was watching through a similar window, but in the Office. There's a Hyundai Service center next to my office. It seems to be a very huge office with more than hundreds of workers. 10 O Clock, they made an announcement. My friend listened to it and said that they are to perform a Silent Mourning for 15 minutes. And the entire workshop was silent for 15 minutes. They all mourned.

I came back from the window, and I looked at my office. Everyone busy with their own work. I thought I should take some initiative to make people do a similar Mouna Anjali for the Tsunami Victims. Then a question dawned upon me. Whats the whole use of Mourning in silence ? All of us geting up and being silent, looking laterally, when it will get over...

Is that simply an act to make us feel good ?

2006 Starts Next Week. Get ready !

How about Calendars for 2006 ? Yeah ! They have started flowing out.

Bad News. Diwali, Pongal, Vinayak Chathurthi and Ayudha Pooja all fall on weekends.
Here's something you can use. Microsoft Office's Calendar Templates for 2006

Landscape, Portrait and Landscape with space for Notes.

Getting ready for 2006 ? Your time starts next week. Good Luck !

New Photo on Photoshop Blog.

I adapted a new theme to the Blog, picking Minima White.

Happy Holidays !

All were in the room. Very Noisy. Few of them were discussing the answers for the Section A. Section A was very tough today. The entire school sounded too much. The neighbors knew why. The school will be empty for the next few days, and they may not like it. Just like people who live close to the railway lines, cannot sleep without the train sound.

Deepak was all happy, like all his friends were. Exam days are cool. no normal bags and Lunch carriers. Just a Pad and a Geometry Box. Todays Question paper carried high importance, as the empty portion will be used for noting down the Assignment for the holidays.

Class teacher came in.. Nobody stood up to wish.. they were all busy talking to friends. Few were still regretting for choosing wrong options in Section A. Linda Miss was able to accept the behaviour. She was also a little happy about the holidays. Only a small bunch of Kids answer sheets. Piece of cake, to correct them.

Deepaks mind was thinking much like others.

"No more 6 O Clock wake up alarms. No more studies. Lotsa TV. Lotsa games. Lotsa fun... Yay ! I will be a free bird.. am gonna enjoy these days.. " ... Few guys had planned the assignement at the end of the Holidays, a few guys wanted to end them tonight and take the rest of the days into their hands. Their minds showed the calender, and these Holiday days were painted Gold. The Contiguous days were like a dream gift.

Linda Miss surprisingly did not give huge assignements. It was very light. There was still time for the bell. So, Linda Miss was asking every student the plan for their vacation. As the general protocol, they all said the reply the first student.. "Nothing.. simply at home.. TV"... few geeks said "Iam going to read books". There was a rich guy, who was going to Srilanka to visit his uncle. That raised the eyebrows of a few middleclass students.

Bell.

Yaaaaaaahhheeyy !! Vuttaachu Leeeeavu !!

They had the excitement in mind. But they did not run. They walked out, and cycled further out.

Deepak woke up by 6 O Clock the next day. The day looked just normal.

Aththaribachchaa !

Google Zeitgest India for september is out , and I find this as top of te chart. The term - SureRoute

Looks like a software for deciding the path.. not my area. But why so many people searched for it, remains a Question. That too this one is topping Sania Mirza. Now you know how many people searched for SureRoute.

Hey, Got a look into this site, and their Cartoon pages are really good and clean. Check it out. The picture on the left is my personal fave. This came out when Amitabh fell sick :)

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The Aththaribachcha Story !! (Thanks to Aparna's Comment)

If you had not heard this story, when you were a kid.. you missed something. Atleast tell this to your kid. Our version of Bed-time stories.

There was this guy, who was really empowered with short-term memory loss (!). Once he visited his Sister's house. And his Sister was very happy to host him. She made him a lots of sweets and dishes. One such thing was Kozhukkattai. :)

Boy, he was delighted to eat it.. and he wanted more. Finally after a full-kattu, he asked his Sister the name of the item that he just had slaughtered. Sister said the magical name "Kozhukattai". Whaw ! He wanted to explain that to her wife and make her do it at home. But he had this memory problem, you know ! But there was no Polaroid Camera at those times to photograph it..(duh !) So, he thought he would recite the name all the way back to his home, and the first thing he would do, when he reaches home is shout "Kozhukkattai" to his wife, and make her do it.

So, our Gajini was on his way back home, after a very happy return from his Sister's. He was chanting "Kozhukattai.. Kozhukattai.. Kozhukattai.. Kozhukattai.." while he was walking. It looked like it would work this way. Then came a huge pit on the road, with dirt water. He had to jump over it to carry on with his journey. He took a step back... and ran forward and made a jump (Shankar would show this on a 360 degree camera with slow motion).... while jumping he yelled "ATHTHARIBACHCHA!!!" (An exclamatory word. Somebody add this on Wiki :)

Gone ! Now Kozhukattai was out of his memory and only Aththaribachcha remained. So, on his further walk, he was chanting "Aththaribachcha.. Aththaribachcha..Aththaribachcha..".

He then reached home and as expected, the first thing he told his wife was "Aththaribachcha..". his wife gave him a pale gaze, and asked him what he meant by that. He said that his sister had made him Aththaribachcha, and it was so very sweet and delicious. The wife got puzzled... she had never heard a dish like that, before. So, she grew wild on repeated hearing of Aththaribachcha. She said that she never knew how to do it, and would not make it.

Our guy got crazy, and with anger ignited - he started hitting the wife for not complying a husbands request. After some time the neighbour pops in, and is surprised to see swellings in the face of the wife.

"Ennadi Kannam ellam kozhukkattaiyaattam veengi irukku !!!".... On hearing this sentence, a 1000-watt bulb glows on the Husband's face. In Guna - Kamal style, he says "Adhaaan ! Adheeeedhan... Kozhukkattai.. Kozhukattai...". (read as "Abiraaami .. Abiraaami !!") He then explains his wife, that Kozhukattai was the dish that her sister had made, and that was what he was trying to explain her......

By the time, my Patti had ended this story, I would be sleeping.

[ps - we never know who invented this story, but it has come across ages, and spread by word of mouth.. amazgin aint it ?]