West Mambalam.

Sometimes as I ponder what I am doing in this place far far away from the people whom I love and care about, I get more questions than answers. Something seems missing from life and perhaps it because of the awesome place that had been my home for nearly 18 years that any place in this world would always not interest me.

Be it the dry and deserted Tucson, greeny Merida, hot and humid Houston or cold and snowy Denver, none can match the sheer abundance of joy and happiness in West Mambalam. With a small area of less than 1 square KM it’s always teeming with enough people to make to safe even if you return home after midnight.

Whether it is the two minute walk to a very big and cheap sabji mandi or a 5 minute walk to station where all major trains from South stop or a 10 minute walk to the bus terminus in T.Nagar or a 15 minute walk to the busiest shopping place or innumerable temples surrounding my home, I believe no place can match the sheer central location of West Mambalam. Perhaps that’s why I have never heard of any person leave my building over the last 20 years unless they had an appointment with Lord Yama.

Whats more funny is the fact that third floor apartment in my flat is costing no less than 40 lakhs INR. Well, if you wanted to buy a home in West Mambalam, you should try to contact Mani Ratnam to be casted in his movie to match upto the building costs of more than a crore in here.

Perhaps all these make my sweet home all the more pleasant and hopefully, I should soon be able to return to the place I love and to the people I care.

End-Of-World!!

When I was a kid the “End-Of-World” feeling seemed quite funny and remotely plausible. My sister would fondly say that she and her father should be saved somehow :) I hope that now her wish would get changed to she and her brother just being saved.

When I visited the Mayan heartland for my summer internship in 2009, the rumors of 2012 prophecy were so strong and had caught on like a wild fire and there was an entire section in a book store dedicated to that. I passed off the incident as a rumor-mill working its strongest to sell more books.

Even the 10 minutes of extreme catastrophe in the movie 2012 when the entire state of California is shown to be destroyed by a massive earthquake did not affect me and still the end-of-world feeling seemed very distant phenomenon.

But as I and my roomate were watching hundreds of homes being swept away in the strong tsunami tides that lashed northern Japan after the strongest earthquake in its history, I have started to believe in the end-of-world phenomenon and that our end is bound to happen sooner or later unless we take drastic steps.

I can vaguely remember my trip to Kalpakkam nuclear plant many years ago where I saw tens of hundreds of jellyfish being killed when sea water was sucked in and used to cool the plant. Perhaps the Sea god is angry that we have dumped every waste product into the sea that we have had two major Tsunamis in such a short period.

I believe our mother earth has been far too silent and accommodative to all our atrocious activities from mining, to drilling oil to torturing and killing animals and polluting all river bodies that the time for a payback is very near. Unless we learn to live in harmony with Nature, I believe our end is very near and I hope the latest warning given to us would open our eyes and help us and our future generations survive.

Harry Potter!!

(Trying to footsteps of my friend, Narendra Reddy by blogging often)

It was in my college first year that I heard about a very famous novel called Harry Potter. At that time, I neither believed in magic nor felt that I needed them.

Flash forward ten years later; life had completely changed to me and I depended on miracles to survive on a daily basis. So one day, in one of those not-feeling-to-work type of days, I decided to give Harry Potter a shot and before I realized, I was devouring through the book at break neck speed. I somehow felt that I was traversing through the same struggles that Harry was facing. I believe that everybody who read the book has somewhere felt their connection to this story in some place or other.

Even though the book lags and drags in some places, the friendship between Ron, Hermione and Harry pretty much carries the story forward and highlights the importance of great friends in our life. I was also amazed the ability of the author J.K.Rowling’s to connect every minute detail in the story to its climax. Sometimes a detail specified in one of the books is connected to a later book.Just awesome; coz I know how tough its to devise a story.

As I finished the last chapter of the last book, a certain gloom descended on me. The book series had been my best friend for over six months making me happy in depressing situations. I believe that any book I read in future would be a no-match to this absolutely great novel which has completely redefined the word MAGIC!!

P.S: Oh yes.. I have had the absolutely great opportunity to meet Voldemort and Bellatrix in real life. Blessed I am!!

Movie Time!!

Its time to blog again and what best topic to blog for a movie buff than movies. I believe movies transport us to another world, a world of pure happiness and bliss. Though I try to watch as many movies as possible, only some movies leave a lasting impression. 

Band Baaja Baarat (Hindi)– Perhaps one of the most beautiful realistic romantic Hindi movie, I have seen after Jab We Met. Watch out for the casual yet witty dialogues and absolutely awesome acting by Anushka and new lad Ranveer as they set out to build their wedding planner business. A must watch for all romantic movie buffs.

http://travelinfo247.com/world_travel_video.php?num=1&id=6619

Yudham Sei (Tamil) – A very realistically portrayed thriller movie with Cheran in the lead. A little too grouse sometimes, but it captures your attention till the last frame. Definitely a one- time watch movie.

http://www.tamiltwist.com/2011/02/watch-yudham-sei-movie-online-tamil.html

Inception (English) – I had missed this awesome movie in theatres and had an opportunity to watch it recently. A dream inside a dream inside a dream. Totally amazed by the director who could visualize such an awesome idea and portray it so clearly as an awesome thriller movie. A once in a lifetime movie. DON’T MISS IT!!

Social Network (English) – A real jakaas movie. Just couldn’t believe that the movie’s story happened in real life also. Gotto listen little hard to capture all the dialogues in the movie. Watch out for the great performance from the lead actor Jesse Eisenberg who plays the role of Facebook founder, Mark Zuckerburg. A gud one time watch movie.

True Grit (English) –This movie transports us to the world of Wild West of 1850s. The story revolves around a young gritty girl who sets out to avenge the death of her father along with a US marshal. It’s the awesome performance from the lead actress (Hailee Steinfeld) that captures your attention all the way.

Aadukalam (Tamil) – The Pollathavan combo of director Vetrimaran and actor Dhanush have struck gold again. Their second attempt to re-create a realistic potboiler has reaped rich dividends. It’s a story of a jobless youth and his passion for cock-fights that drives the story forward, first bringing money and glory and later the realistic sadness. A definite must watch. Also look out for the beautiful heroine Taapsee.

http://www.123tamiltv.com/aadukalam-2011.html

The Other End of the Line (English and Hindi) – This movie was suggested by my best friend, Narendra Reddy. It’s a sweet love story based on the telephonic interaction between an Indian BPO employee and an American marketing executive. The film wows you with its sweet twist and turns and with its touch of realistic humor. A definite watch (perhaps with your GF or life partner)!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SzGHgAAT7VI

There were host of other movies which faltered in story or screenplay and I can count Harry Potter movie in that list also. Thankfully I didn’t happen to watch Tees Maar Khan.

Would be watching critically acclaimed 127 hours this weekend. Do add in your comments on any of the good movies that you might have seen recently.

The Viking Lord!!

“Athu va varanum, vantha thaakanum.. Thala keela thirupi podanum.. Athu thaan unmayana…” FREEZING WINTER.

As I covered my steaming nostrils with the double layered scarf, I could just not forget these beautiful romantic lines from the movie ‘Vinnaithaandi Varuvaya’ exactly matching my worst predicament as I ploughed my way through the 10 cms of snow.

-13 Deg Cel. Perhaps I was better off not looking at the weather prediction on my IPhone again as I stood waiting for my bus. As my thoughts wandered through my memories for the beautiful Chennai margazhi days, I suddenly came to realize that my thermal wear, thermal socks, jacket, gloves, scarf and ears muffs – A True Viking Lord -  were no match for weather demenetors around me. 

As a young kid I remember how I much I used to enjoy the winters in Faridabad, but perhaps I have grown much more comfortable of hot Chennai and Arizona weather. But hopefully by the end of this winter, I shall start enjoying it and perhaps might miss it going into a warmer city. However, I would recommend everybody to experience one cold winter, for that in itself is a unique experience and what is life without these unique adventures and experiences!!

The Way Dharma Works!!

“Yada yada hi dharmasya
gyanir bhavati bharata
abhyutthanam adharmasya
tadatmanam sri jamyaham”

Meaning - Whenever there are discrepancies in the discharge of natural laws of God, then God incarnates.

The above meaning sometimes hardly portrays the present world’s realities. Many a time, I have wondered as to why all the bad things happen to good people, people who think no ill-will of others. Surprisingly lots of people whom I have spoken to share similar feelings.

Then one of my friends’ presented me with a book “The Difficulty of Being Good – On the Subtle Art of Dharma” by Gurucharan Das. It’s perhaps the best philosophical book I have read till now.

The book dwells into mystic world of Dharma, cites current examples like the Satyam scandal and questions the moral values of people in this world. It then takes us deep into the great Indian Epic –Mahabharat and tries to understand the mind of Yudhishtir, the eldest of Pandavas, ‘the protector of dharma’.

Yudhishtir had grown up as a crown prince, but had detested from lying at any stage of his life and tried to uphold dharma whenever possible. He was greatly respected for that priced possession. However, his stance towards upholding dharma did not protect him from his wicked cousins and led him to see his wife disrobed in front of King’s assembly. Still Yudhishtir does not cross swords with principles of dharma.

Years of struggle follow the Pandavas in their forest life after the dice game. One fine day, Draupadi and Bhima get obsessed with Yudhishtir and his principles, and incite him to wage a war against the Kauravas. However, Yudhishtir, even though moved by Draupadi’s plight, refuses to oblige and explains the rules of Dharma and how God will help them eventually.

But the thirteen long years in the forest followed by the cruel 14th year of disguise, hardens Yudhishtir and he slowly soften his hard stances on his principles of Dharma. Strangely enough, it is the same Yudhishtir, who is the first person to declare war on the Kauravas when he knows that Lord Krishna’s mediation had failed. Yudhishtir later tricks Dronacharya to believe that his son is dead and finally turns into an ordinary mortal warrior as his chariot which till then floated a few inches above earth for his dharma values, lands on the war field soil.

By the end of war, we see that Yudhishtir has modified his principles of dharma. He had understood that version 1.0 of dharma may not work properly and upgraded to the next version, wherein he protects dharma but also makes sure that he does not suffer from upholding it.

After reading the book, I had felt that I had gained a little knowledge about the way Dharma works and would strongly encourage everybody to read this absolutely great book.

Comments are highly appreciated :)

Ponniyin Selvan

“Had this book been written and published in US, it would have been on the New York’s best seller list for a quarter century.”


This was one of the comments that I saw in one of the many forums when I was searching for an online version of one of the greatest Tamil fictional books, Ponniyin Selvan. The book was published in a series of small stories in the Tamil weekly article ‘Kalki’ about 60 years back by Shri. Kalki Krishnamurthy. The book became so popular that the government of TamilNadu nationalized the book and it’s now available as an open source for anyone to publish.

Ponniyin Selvan is a historic fiction which is based on historically real characters. The book revolves around the life of the greatest king of South India, Raja Raja Choza (who was also called Ponniyin Selvan meaning the son of the river Cauvery) and his early days. The story is set around 968-970 AD, when Raja Raja Choza's (also known as Arulmozhi Varman) father Sundara Choza is on his deathbed and questions about the empire’s successor ruled foremost in the minds of all the people.

Sundara Choza had taken over the throne after the death of his elder brother. So many chieftains believed that the elder brother’s son, Maduranthaka should be crowned as the next king. Another contender to the throne was Arulmozhi’s elder brother, Aditya Karikalan who had already been declared the crown prince. Conspirators from Choza’s dynasty’s biggest enemy, the Pandya Dynasty, who had been completed routed by the Choza army, also play a venomous part in trying to kill all the heirs of the Choza Dynasty and thereby destroy the kingdom.

The story is taken forward by a very brave youth, Vandiyathevan Vallavarayan, who acts as a messenger between his general Aditya Karikalan, his sister, Kundavi Pirati and the younger brother, Arulmozhi. Will the Pandya conspirators kill Sundara Choza and his sons or would the chieftains be able to install a king of their choice or will Arulmozhi and his brother overcome all the treacherous situations and conspiracies and save the kingdom forms the rest of this beautiful racy story.

The descriptive words detailing the beauty of the Choza Empire and its towns and also the beautiful description of all the gorgeous princesses would make us feel a little bad for not being born in the times of the Choza Empire. What makes this story more interesting is the fact that the events that take place at this crucial juncture determined the rule of Choza Empire, which survived for nearly 300 years after this event. It’s a must read for all fiction lovers and for people who would love to know how our great country was ruled once upon a time by great kings.

I have just completed two of the five books and have been completely blown away by it. I have specified the link for the english online version of the books below.

http://www.wattpad.com/121249-ponniyin-selvan-english-part-1