Harry Potter or Mayavi? :-)

Hey, what’s this big buzz goin thru all day. It started up right a few days back, and it’s reached a grand finale today morning – rather end of a beginning!! Does it have anything to do with the invention of some scientific ways to reduce the alarming growth of world pollution? Anything pertaining to the presidential elections conducted yesterday??
Nah…. they say it’s to do with some book that was released today. But why’s all this hype around this book.. I really don’t understand why the media has created so much brouhaha (that’s how it sounded for me).
More than the book would hook up readers, I’d say that the way the entire episode was done up with really requires all attention – guess, the books were printed at dark, so that no contents of this book could be revealed whatsoever – lucky that it was not encrypted, so that readers cud have a glossary to decipher the contents!! And security given was much more than what perhaps the First Man at the White House would get!!
Despite all these, as the world was much awaiting the release of this book, The New York Times had already come up with a review of this book days before the D-day!!
The Mayajal Comics, “Mayavi”, “Luttappi”, “Balarama” and “Poompaata” (Malayalam comic books!!), that sell pretty well without all these hypes, get their round of applause at the local markets.. These comics / cartoons have even the elderly people eagerly waiting to get their hands on the latest copies. I'd personally feel that these books deserve a better applause - they been coming thru for ages now - brings good refreshing memories of gud old days!!

Perhaps, for today’s release, such a hype was required to get a good going at the International markets as well..
Yes mates – I am referring to J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter – seventh one of its kind.

PS: No offences meant to any one of you – especially to any hard-core Harry fan. If I had the time to read, then perhaps, even I’d have been out there early morning to get a copy for myselves!! :-)

Speechless

Roommates had left Chennai to Trivandrum for the Christmas holidays. Not having much to do and having no one for a company that day, I headed for the beach – where my roommates and I often freaked out during the weekends.

Location – Besant Nagar beach, Chennai. Date - 25 th Dec. 2004.

Scene 1: It was a pleasant Saturday evening. I was sitting on the lovely beach sands basking by the warmth of the setting sun. The waves were dancing towards me as though to tell me an important message. Seconds later they were receding as if it was not meant for me. I was enjoying the taste of the Lays chips I bought at the Food World on my walk from the bus stand, as much as I was enjoying my solitude.

Scene 2: A family of three – father, mother and their son, aged around 5-6. They strolled past by me towards the much inviting waters of the beach. The young boy’s joy knew no bounds as he approached closer to those enthusiastic waters. I was able to put in myself in his tiny cute shoes – the younger days when I used to go to the Kovalam and Shangumugham beaches with my parents.

Scene 3: Just as I was getting myself involved in memories, I felt the touch of a soft hand on me. I looked over my shoulders to see a young girl, hardly 5 years of age, offering a packet of groundnuts, which she was selling for her living. I brushed aside her hand and said “vendam ma” (meaning – not needed). She tried to somehow coerce me into buying, but I was stern and harsh on her that she quietly moved away.

Scene 4: I tuned to my right side to get my eyes focused on the young boy and his family who had just strolled past me. My eyeballs were fast rolling within the limitations of my eyes and eyesight to get a glimpse of his playful enthusiasm. I finally located him amidst a group of people very close to the beach waters. He was safely standing between his parents, both hands raised above his shoulders to hold on to his parents’ hand, and enjoying the gentle waves touch his tender legs. I was cherishing his every actions.. dancing, jumping, trying to run back as the waves were approaching him.. he was really enjoying his game with the waves!!

Scene 5: Somewhere from within me I felt a sharp pain. It was certainly not a physical one.. a sort of feeling far from what I was enjoying till then. It was a totally involuntary action that I was trying to locate the young girl, the girl who was trying to make her living selling groundnuts at the beach. I got up all of a sudden and did a comprehensive search for this girl, but to vain. I put my hands into the Lays packet, took out the one last piece, put it in my mouth, munched, crushed the packet down, and slowly started to stroll on the beach sands.

Scene 6: I was again into searching for the smart little boy. Was it some sort of vacillation that I was undergoing – searching for the small boy on one side, and then for the little girl? I never had answers for such questions… I went on… This little boy was pulling up his socks to make his way back with his parents. The sun had already set a few minutes back, and darkness was just taking its grip over our part of the world. His face was a direct reflection of the darkness. I bet he’d have wanted to play there more. But still seemed content. They slowly ambled their way back to their car, which was parked quite far from the nearby roads.

Scene 7: I was getting a little hungry, and now that my roommates weren’t there for the dinner that night, I decided to have something form the nearby Dhaba before I got back to my room. Few steps from where I was, I could see a faint figure of that poor young girl handing over the money she had made through that evening to an elderly woman – her mother perhaps. I realized the contrasting levels of life that the world had to offer – a happy family on one hand and a poor soul struggling to make a living, for herself and for that elderly lady out there. This little girl was probably spending all her life on the beach striving for a life; perhaps trying to satiate herselves with whatever little she and her mother could earn. A decent life was something that they could only see through the people, who came over to the beach to spend a few extra hours, but always a distant dream for these poor souls. I walked on with a heavy heart…

Scene 8: The next day morning I was scanning through television channels only to hear that something called Tsunami had washed off many a people on the beaches and neighboring shores that morning. My thoughts were quickly filled with the young girl I saw at the beach last evening. Was she too washed off? I was filled with prayers for her safety.
I felt that I should have bought those groundnuts she was selling the last day; had she been washed off too in the morning, she’d have at least had a few extra pennies to satiate her last supper…

Weekend finally!!!

Oh my God, this week was damn hectic.. phew.. a sigh of relief that it's weekend… what am I really planning to do?
A lazy Saturday morning wud ideally start off by 9 – 9:30 AM.. really early considering the tiresomeness after lengthy weekday hours at a software firm gazing at the computer monitor – after all those coding, testing and bug fixing.. there were more of adding bugs than bringing down its count.. guess why the clients pay heavily for adding bugs into their application!!!
After waking up and coming down, I am bound to get the same ‘weekend bonanza’ from amma – “..that getting up so late is never a healthy habit etc etc…” the rest is like a mantra…zzzzzzzz - listening to this, my first gulp of tea would be twice as refreshing as having it from the famous Tea Centre near Chuechgate, Mumbai.
A quick glance at the newspaper would suffice my quota for the day – not much to see who was arrested in the latest Galssgow blasts or how Operation Silence became noisy, but just to know the movies for the day – I am pretty good and scheduling my day’s activities based on this - you cud in fact give me a 10 on 10 for planning and scheduling – but my project lead never acknowledges my abilities!! Sigh…..
A heavy lunch and off I dose, considering that I woke up so early, and did so much of work, it’s time for a nap.. :-)
I love to spend the evenings in Shangunugham beach with friends – reasons plenty and known to all – the bliss of sunset, the warmth of nature, and what not. The Indian Coffee House would rightly provide the ambience for beachside tiffin. The roaster groundnuts, vetti-talks, refreshing memories of college days.. really adds essence to the euphoric evening.
Saturday’s done with, and Sunday – on the internet, the tv, the cell fone.. the electronic gadgets consumes half the weekend.. and turn around, it’s Monday morning – time to tune up for yet another hectic week..
But sure, this weekend’s gonna be a lot different…. guess I keep saying this to myself every Friday!! haha..

Federer’s Five

Three hours and forty-five minutes at the center court on Sunday, the 8th of July 2007, and Roger Federer had set yet another record by equaling the great Swedish player, Bjorn Borg’s record of five consecutive wins at Wimbledon. Immaculate and Impeccable are just two of the clichéd adjectives that one could recollect when seeing the master of lawn tennis in action – Roger Federer. A stunning performance, yet another display of top class tennis. A little more road needs to be covered before he can be the owner of the ‘maximum number of titles’ record surpassing the one held by Pete Sampras currently.
Not to take away the credit from the opponent and world number two, Rafael Nadal. Both the sets won by Federer prior to the final set went right up to the tie-breaker – does really prove a point when it comes to terms of who really gets there to the finals of such huge tournaments, and why tennis still retains it’s elegance.
Even as there has been a lot of uncertainty when it comes to women’s singles finalists these days, there hasn’t been a speck of improbability as long as these two play a tournament!!
Federer deserves a pat on the back, and can rejoice this feather on his hat with champagne!!

‘Sivaji’ for the second time

A first show of the Rajini movie 'Sivaji' for the second time – yes, saw the movie for the second time. A die-hard Rajini fan would see it yet another time!! But does this movie deserve another go??
Not totally would I agree with this. My first time was a mere chance when a friend of mine handed me with the tickets for the second day show, as his friend was unable to accompany him that day.. Jagadish and myself went to see it the second day itself for as much as Rs. 60 per ticket, a very nominal amount for a Rajini movie for the second day’s show!!!
The movie really lacked a Shankar movie’s effect – no creative story as such, a banal one, as was seen in Indian or Gentleman – a blend of his older stories put in the super star style. It was a Rajini movie altogether, style and humor.
And today's show was with my sister. This time I knew what to look for in the movie, and what to expect. So the movie did not fall short of expectations. I expect to see the movie again a third time next weekend, and hope the movie would rise above all expectations!!

Road thru life…

I was born on the 19th of July in the southern district of Tamil Nadu – Madurai. Yes, that’s my birthplace, but I was brought up in Trivandrum, one of the Southern most districts of India, and the capital of God’s Own Country, Kerala.
Belonging to a family of four – father, mother, sister and myself. My grandmother (father’s mother) was with us and we used to cherish every moment of her presence. She used to tell me a lot of bedtime stories, and I loved being in the pampered company of her!! Grandma, I miss you a lot…….

My formal education started from Holy Angel’s Convent, ICSE. My parents wanted me to study here for the sole reason that my sister was studying here, and she’d take care of me.. And yes, I did feel very comfortable there because I always had an sweet elder sister to support me!!
And then when I completed my 4th class, the school rulez said – enough boy, boys are no longer allowed here, find another school for yourselves…
5th to 10th – I did in Christ Nagar school. Pre-Degree – Govt. Arts College, Trivandrum. Would I say this really pushed me down, or did this give me an uplift in terms of exposure – right and wrong??!!! Classes were purely on shift basis – if you were a first year student, classes would start by 1:00 pm and end by 5:15 pm. And when you were into your second year, classes would start by 9:00 am and end by 12:30 pm. I joined Arts so that I would have enough time to prepare for my Engg. Entrance, and guess I utilized this time for all other activities…. Result?? An ‘okay’ rank in the entrance.. but no regrets at all!!!
Well, this ‘okay’ rank was sufficient to secure me an admission in one of the best colleges in Kerala – College of Engineering, Trivandrum – Mech Engg., the Royal Mexx…
As anyone would have it, my college life too was memorable, and I was blessed (really??) to have my sister as a senior in college!! Three years of college life, and I was happy to find myself placed in CTS, where I’d be joining a year later after completing my course.
Joined CTS, Chennai, and was there for close to 2 years. And now I am back to the capital of God’s Own country, working for another software firm, US Technology in technopark!!

Life is certainly a big circle, and I have reached where I started it all from...

Just signing in...

Hi,



Well I thought over how I could spend my time effectively, and came across this idea of blogging.. !!

Infact I had created a blog way back when I was in my final yr Engg. - 2003 - but I don't remember the blog name now.. hence this rejuvanated effort!!

More posts are sure to follow..........



Luv,

- Venki.