ARR is God

I usually don’t review music albums too often but the latest magic by ARR is special. I stopped buying Cd’s but I am definitely going to grab a copy of VTV.  I am looking forward to Feb 14^th when the movie is slated to release. Here goes the music review.

Hosana

Sung by Vijay Prakash (man behind Manmohini from Yuvvraj), this song is likely to be on top of most charts in the coming days. This romantic song has a very western feel. Blaze’s rap has become a part and parcel of most of ARR’s album. I felt it was a deliberate ploy by the director to release this song online way before the other songs. This has raised the expectations of the album. Suzanne D’Mello’s humming of Hosanna in the background syncs perfectly with the main track. Very soothing song and I am dreading to watch Simbu in the video.

Aaoromale

This song has taken me by surprise. I never expected ARR to come out with such a track. The chant in the first half of the song is fantastic and the guitar gives me a feeling of hearing to an 80’s rock song. I have never heard of Alphons Joseph before but after this song I am sure he is one man to look forward to. Superb track.

Anbil Avan-

I am not a great fan of Devans voice. Although after hearing this song, I find his voice not too bad. But the song is probably the only fast number in the album.  The starting is similar to boom boom from Boys but the portion between 2.01 and 2.15 is my favourite. I think this peppy number has all the ingredients to be a smash hit.

Omana Penne

At the time of writing this is my favourite track. After Taxi Taxi, Benny Dayal shows what else he has in his repertoire. Kalyani menon’s ( Rajiv Menon’s Mom) malu portion is giving me goose bumps. Brilliant entry by her.  Omana Penne is a beautiful song. . This melodious song was added on the request of ARR after the making of the album. Thank god he did it. Super track.

Mannipaaya

A. R. Rahman & Shreya Ghoshal make an awesome pair. This song has beautiful lyrics. For a change I tried analysing what Thamarai tried to tell. Slow track but not the best.  I hope Simbu is not in the video. Actually that’s the rule for all the songs.

Kannukkul Kannai - Naresh Iyer does it again. The music at the beginning is awesome and I think this song is right up there on the top of ARR. Typical ARR track..

Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa

How can we have an ARR album without Karthick rendering his voice.  A slow and nice track. I have not heard it lots, but a lot of hardcore ARR fans seem to pick this one as their favourite song in the album. I need to hear it some more times to take a call.

Rarely do we see all the songs in an album of ARR being so spectacular.VTV is a great comeback for ARR to Kollywood.  Looking forward for some more great music from him. Just like Sachin Tendulkar ,ARR has nothing to prove to anybody. He composes, He conquers and He charms people. ARR Rocks…

2009 – A year to forget

Phew..It has finally come to an end. 2009 had been a year, which I have to forget in a jiffy. Just like how I ended my review of 2008, I am beginning my review of 2009. 2009 was very similar to Bollywood: A few hits, a few misses and a majority of flops.

Hits

Thinking about it, I have really nothing much to flaunt about. My presentation in a global conference was probably the highlight of my career so far. The experience was exceptional and one I would never forget. The royal treatment made me feel like a king. The opportunity came to me at the right time and I am happy that I managed to achieve what I set out for. In addition to the conference, trips to Ooty and Bangalore were special and helped me relieve the stress.  I gave back something for the community earlier this year, when I taught a few under privileged students English. The short stint would have been a long one if I had the courage to handle a couple of dogs. Thanks to Gizmo, I managed to pull through three months of dogture (portmanteau of dog and torture). Finally, one thing that has not changed over the years has been my network. I managed to meet a whole bunch of new people and also re-establish contact with a few lost people. Overall, in business lingo, my network had a healthy growth rate of 25%. The forecast for the next couple of years is expected to be more. Most of my female friends have been hitched. I attended multiple engagements, multiple weddings and heard multiple break up stories. 2010 is going to be filled with a lot more shocks. My friends have been awesome throughout the last one year and I owe a lot to each and every one of them.

Misses

I tried taking up multiple exams in 2009. Just like any other attempt at growth in 2009, I failed to do well. Nothing went right in any of my exams and I am back to where I was when I passed college. I missed a trip abroad with my friends. The timing was not suitable.  I missed Diwali due to my dad’s poor health and I missed kozhakattai due to my poor health. I had signs of H1N1, but thankfully I bypassed it.

Flops

Personally, this has been the worst year of my life. I lost my father on November 21st. He had been suffering for a long time and I was right in the middle of the struggle. His thorough professionalism has motivated me to follow his footsteps. Right now my career has hit a roadblock and I need to act quickly.  I had a mediocre year in quizzing. I managed to make a couple of finals, had a few close calls and some pathetic performances. The elusive open quiz final spot was there for the taking in 2009, but I messed up. Hoping 2010 would be a better year for me and my team. My blogging style and frequency has been poor this year considering my laziness and failure to accomplish goals.I really hope I can blog more often in 2010 and make it more interesting for my able readers.

With the release of “3 Idiots” Bollywood is back with bang. Along the same lines, I hope that 2010 provides me the break to get my life back to normalcy. Adieus 2009- All izz Well!!

The “Q” is not DEAD

The wedding season is back and I am here with another post. Over the next few months, my close friends are going to get hitched.  I am hoping this post could help them organize their wedding better. Over the years, the South Indian wedding has transformed from a two day extravaganza to a week of madness. This change has been more evident in the last couple of years. Traditionally, the Wedding used to be followed by the Reception with couple of events the previous day. Nowadays there is a lot more action. I would like to call it the “Hybrid Wedding”. The recipe is very simple. A pinch taken from the Gujus, a drop from the Punjabis and a smidgen from the Bengalis. To top it off we have the local flavour. The final product is a complete package, which digs a deep hole in the pocket. Events such as Sangeeth, Mehendi and the Dandiya are tailor made for our eye muscles. More women under the spotlight, a lot more razzmatazz and a great showcase of wealth.  Sounds great? Not really.

One thing that has not changed over the years is the Queue. The last few weddings I have attended have tested my patience. Queues of length up to the entrance have resulted in long waits. The end result is an artificial handshake and a photograph that can give the RTO photographers a run for their money.No one gets to spend time with the couple and people end up feeding their stomachs and rush back home. It is more like a “Power Wedding”. The couple hardly have time to share their experiences. The whole experience is very artificial. Industry experts estimate the size of the wedding industry in India to be a staggering Rs. 1, 90,000 crores. With so much of business interest, I think it is time they hire consultants to conduct the wedding in a more organized manner. The “ Q” has to go. No one has the patience or the time to wait for half an hour to shake hands or smile for a photograph that will never be seen. The only conversation that takes place on stage is this

(Bride’s friend on stage)

Guest to Bridegroom – I am your wife’s dad’s friend’s sister’s daughter.  I kn..

Groom: Yeah Thanks. ( WTF)- (She didn’t even wish him but he interrupts her)

Photo.. Please.. Click.. Done… Next…

It’s that artificial and fast.

The Western weddings are a lot different where the couple invite only a selected few and they also send their gift request along with the wedding invitations. I have a few suggestions that could make this process more streamlined and entertaining.

1)    They could have a stage built at the centre and go around the hall and meet the people voluntarily. This could provide the couple a chance to speak to people who have come to bless them.

2)     Another option could be to remove the cameraman from the stage and make it optional. Those interested in a photo with the couple could take them later while the others could just move on after giving the presents. This would at least accelerate the process.

3)    The last option could be to have tables all around the hall. Make people sit around them. The couple could go to each table and speak. This would make it personalized and will arrest the “Q”.

If you guys have more suggestions please comment. It could be very useful. The “Q” has to die. Join me in this movement. I wanted to write about a lot of stuff but I have had no time. Some posts in the pipeline are about My Trip to Mumbai, ARR Concert, B- School Essays and Chennai. Hopefully some time I could write about those events.

Maximum City????

I am 23 and it is rather surprising to note that I have never traveled alone to any other state/country. There are two reasons for this

1) My upbringing.
2) Never got the opportunity to do so.

I came close to traveling abroad alone on two occasions. I missed out on both due to some situation cropping up in the family. Here I am, after 23 freaking years, embarking on my first trip alone. I know it is not such a big deal in this day and age but to do it so late is a bit weird. The best part is that I am traveling to a city which was once my dream destination. I am heading to Mumbai after a gap of 17 years. The last time I went was in ” Udayan Express” from Bangalore. The 24  hr train journey was a lot of fun except for the fact that I was 6 years old and holding on to anything that came in my line of sight. I do not have any great memories from ” Bombay” if i may call it so. I am sure Raj Thackeray does not read my blog. I hope the city lives up to the hype. I have heard enough and more about the place from my peers as well as from movies. The night life, the women, the food and what not… I think 3 days is good enough to judge a city. Although I expect to have a nervy day 1, I am sure that the remaining two days will be legen.. wait for it…daryyy. Looking forward to it..Any suggestions for important places to visit. Please feel free to comment. Will blog about my experiences once I am back.

The good old days of writing letters

I was having a brief conversation with my Post Man the other day and it got me all thinking about how life would have been if we did not have E-Mail. A decade ago, I would have contacted the Post- Office close to three times a week. Now, I have no idea what their number is.The jobs of the post man have become so much more simpler.

Letters have played a brief but exciting role in my life. Ever since the advent of E-Mail, letters does not have the same charm that it used to have in the earlier days. I am glad my granddad retired from the esteemed position of a Postmaster. Those days, it was one government jobs that had buoyant competition. Now, it is outsourced to anyone above the age of 60.  When I moved to Chennai from Bangalore in 1997, I was so fascinated by the concept of exchanging letters. Most of my friends would spend substantial amount of time to draft a letter. I would do the same in return. I would in fact sketch stuff and send it to them. That is probably the only occasion where I ever spent time on art. There is a major sense of fulfillment and anxiety as soon as I send one. With E- Mail the entire equation changes. Most of them are links or quick messages that convey truck loads of information. There is minimal effort. The only and probably the biggest advantage of E-mail is the fact that it is real time. But I guess it kills the suspense.

I still have each and every letter I have received with me and it is great feeling to read them ten years later. The letters may sound silly but it makes a good read. When I was twelve years old, I have actually written a letter to Rahul Dravid praising him for his wonderful batting and asking him to hit more runs. Obviously I didn’t have his address to post it. The letter will be retarded and the English will be pathetic. Looking back at it, it is so amusing.  I have attached a copy of the letter as an image below. I doubt I will ever write an E-mail and save it in My Drafts. Sometimes technology can take away the beauty of  traditional methods and indirectly make us extremely lazy. I hate writing any more. I prefer to type. I am sure most of you will agree with me.

I am guessing that most of us would have invested a lot of time in jotting down our thoughts and feelings and sending it to people whom we wish to. A letter can reveal the mood of the person and convey more than just few lines of text.  Nowadays the only letters we receive are that of bills from the various private banks in India. No one has the time to sit and write in a piece of paper about their life. It is either communicated publicly through a social platform or privately through emails. Sometimes E-Mail can be so artificial.  There is no value for effort spent. Effort is belittled whereas Time is worshipped. There needs to be a balance between both.

I still prefer opening an envelope and read a letter rather than checking my email ever 10 minutes. I used to be the first person to open the post box to check if I have received any mail. Now days we are online all the time checking e-mails and not realizing that we have lost an able trusted mode of communication. Whenever possible try to send a few letters. It would take people by surprise and would make them feel extremely important.

BORED (of) EXAM

It is finally official. No More board exams for Class 10. The government  has made it optional.  This comes as a huge bonus to the students who are studying in Class 9  now. Longer Summer  holidays,no tuitions,  Dish Tv’s can stay,no one is grounded  and no career defining  decision to be taken. IIT Professors can now scratch their bald heads to identify ways by which they can select candidates . The need to shift schools is not required and our education system has opened the gates for students to enter into a level playing field.

I still remember how much I struggled that one year. I hardly followed Australian Cricket, refrained from meeting new women ( no kadalai) and had my phone removed from my room. Currently, I doubt I can do without any of the above tasks for one day. Phew!!! It is a huge relief for the students. I  firmly believe that it is at the end of class 9 and the beginning of Class 10 that we forget how to enjoy life. More often than not we end up in front of our books for one year on the trot.Now students all over the country can relax and think about what they want to do for another two years. The tenth standard exam has been the cause of many problems.

From the day the results come till you are around 30, people want to know your tenth standard score. It is crazy that one set of exams can determine what kind of a person he/she is. It used to be a benchmark for most parents to decide what his/her son is capable off. Intelligence cannot be measured with one exam and the students ought to be tested in a wide range of subjects to determine how good or bad they are. The Indian mentality is way behind the west in this regard. There is too much emphasis on marks or money and as a result the competition is sky high. A lot of deserving students get unnoticed while a lot of undeserving students take center stage. According to me, this is very visible in a country like ours and it would perfect if the government can standardize education and  increase the quality. Currently, the rich get richer and better education while the poor get poorer and mediocre education.

By abolishing the 10th standard board exam, the government is sending positive signals to the Mango junta about Next Gen Education. As any other reform, I am sure this would evoke a strong debate and help Barkha Dut and Arnab Goswami earn their grub. Jokes apart, I am in favour of this decision and I am sure most people will be. Teachers and local government officials must stop tampering with the system further and just abide the law. It would do wonders for our country.  Next up is Class 12.

10 Things I want to do before I DIE

1) Spend 16 whole days at the Oktoberfest.

I have heard so much about this festival that it is something which I have to experience at some point of time in my life.

2) Play the lead Actor or at least play a small role in a Film

I have always wanted to see myself on the big screen and see what it is like to be in front of the lens. I have heard so many versions of how easy or difficult acting is. Want to give it a shot.

3) Write a Book

Preferably an exciting book loosely based on my life.

4) Meet Steve Waugh

I have so many role models but I hope to meet Steve Waugh once before I die. He is my biggest inspiration.

5) Start my own Restaurant/ Sports Bar

Another very important task is to start a world class sports bar and eliminate the concept of last order.

6) Drive a Plane and if possible land in a parachute

I want to be a pilot for sometime and experience flying at wuthering heights

7) Be the manager of a Cricket/ Soccer team.

I have always been predicting on new moves and strategies which teams could take during the course of the game. But it is all very easy at home. I want to implement my ideas and strategies and check out the outcome.

Cook a full 3 course meal.

I have never been fond of the kitchen but would love to try my hand once in my life. Starting from the entrée, move to the main course and finish with the dessert.  All this without any assistance.

9) Run a complete MARATHON.

My fitness is poor and I have never felt confident enough to run. But It is something which is right on top of my wish list.

10) Last but not the least. Wait For It………………………………………

I want to somehow make the WROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM sound (BIKE sound) without any problem. I know this is impossible considering the birth defect I have but I would love to take treatment and cure my most embarrassing problem.

My count stands at ZERO now but I hope to complete them one by one. Will update experiences as and when I ever do it.

Reality Bites

It might be surprising to note that the amount of time I have spent watching television over the last month stands at an impeccable 6-7 hrs. Partially this could be because of the Internet but still it amounts for very little time. I have become a very selective watcher and end up watching live Sports or Bollywood at it skimpy best. TV has very little to offer off late and this could be because of the hazaar Reality Shows and Soaps that channels come out with (I am referring to Indian Channels). The TV shows are either too melodramatic or they end up being staged.  I sat for around ten min watching Sach ka Samna and could not stand it. MTV is no more Music Television. It could be called RTV or reality TV. There are just way too many reality shows in that channel and I frankly have no time. MTV Roadies was a huge hit and I am surprised that came through without much criticism. Apart from that, I do not see any of the other shows in any channel having high TRP’s.

It is disheartening to see the talent of India being wasted. Almost all shows are copied from the WEST with absolutely no creativity. Adding a bollywood hero to host the show does not add any value to the viewer. We might as well watch the stars in movies. Across boundaries in the WEST we see television Sit-Coms and reality shows running into 8th or 9th seasons respectively. Big Brother and American Idol for example are doing great because the whole program is conducted professionally. Our programs are constantly hitting high TRP’s for all the wrong reasons. We need original shows that have an element of skill and not just high stakes. Rakhi ka Swayamwar is a good example of an original show but what were the producers thinking. Seriously, they need a life. Why will anyone be interested in Rakhi’s husband?  The reaction below sums up what viewers think of a show like that. This is the status message my friend had on FACEBOOK.

I feel like I want to remove hair in my head, one by one, then scratch and peel off the skin in my scalp, reach out to my skull, use an electric torch weld and melt my skull bones, then use a sewing needle and completely rewire my brain cells to make …it forget that I watched 10 seconds of “rakhi sawant ka swayamvar” on NDTV Imagine.

Funny isn’t it. But that’s the truth.  We need to step up and come out with quality programs to woo people like me to watch television again. The Indian Television Industry has to create a BLUE OCEAN in the next couple of years. Otherwise it is just matter of time before television becomes an “Idiot BOX” literally.

Technology post with a difference..

Which technology do you think has had the biggest impact in your lives?

It is an extremely hard question to answer. Each person would have his/her own take on that. Let me go through my list.

Internet

Topping my list is definitely the Internet. I started using the internet pretty late in my life but I have compensated for the lost time. I used it only to check results of WWF Main events on a SHELL Connection. It used to be bloody expensive. A decade later, it is the cheapest and best form of communication.  Gone are the days when I rush home to watch the 9PM news or the days when I go the nearby library to borrow the latest edition of Sportstar. Most of the things I want to do are just a click away. There is absolutely nothing that cannot be found online. I get paranoid when I am without access for a couple of days. Internet stands for Inter -Networking and trust me I have done great justice to the name separately. Jokes apart, Internet controls my mood, my emotions and finally my life. The perils of using the internet are huge but it is important to use them wisely and judiciously.

Cable TV

Surprisingly, cable television finishes a close second. I was lucky enough to get Cable TV in 1992.Not many houses had cable TV around that time and it kept me well informed through my school days. Most houses didn’t permit cable TV since it was expected to affect the studies of the children. I really don’t agree with that. I was bored of watching serials such as Fauji, Di-Di’s Comedy, Chitrahar, and Superhit Muqabla etc. It was time for a change and I got it at the right time. I will never forget the years from 1993-1996 when I used to return home from school to watch Small Wonder, Robocop, TMNT and Batman. We hardly had any SITCOMS during those days and these four serials were the most discussed. If twitter was available then, one of the four serials would have been a trending topic. The coverage of WWF by Prime Sports was a master stroke. It changed the lives of millions of kids around the globe. Everyone wanted to watch these guys in action and this led to Channels such as Star Plus, Prime Sports and Channel V to give me a new lease of life in the 90’s just as how Internet has given me a new lease of life in the 2000s.

Mobile Phone

When I joined college in 2003, most of my classmates had a mobile phone. In school a couple of guys had them. It was known to be an Upper Class device. Most of us would be awestruck with the features on the phone. I was wondering when I would ever get to own a phone. 6 years from then, auto drivers to watchmen possess a phone. It has become a necessity than a luxury. It is practically impossible to survive this day and age without a phone. Mobile Phones were a boom for us since the sales picked up during my college days. I was benefited in many ways that changed my lifestyle. SMS’s helped in reducing the time to reach the opposite sex,  planning became a whole lot easier, missed calls showed how parsimonious one could be and finally cameras helped me to identify the most photogenic person. Overall I have sent close to 1, 00, 000 SMS’ and spent close to 1 year of my life on telephone conversations. Mobiles have been etched as part of my life and it is highly unlikely that it would ever change.

I-Pod

It may be a very new technology but I sure did have a great liking towards it.  4 years of college life would have never been the same without the I-Pod. Even till today I am not well versed with using the Pod but I do have friends who will help me out with the organization of the songs. Unlike other technologies, I was one of the first few to get hold of an I-Pod in my college. It was great to have all your songs in one device and hear it dynamically. Cd’s and Cassettes seemed ancient when compared to the I-Pod. A great innovation and I am sure it would end up as one of the best ever in the next 5 years or so. Kudos Apple!!

USB Port

It might be surprising to many of you but I was wondering what it would be like without an USB port. It is a superb invention and something that is used by every single computer user. I-Pods would never exist and nothing could ever be transferred. No images, no songs, no videos and no movies. Everything has to be only downloaded of the net and that is obviously not going to be FREE. Great invention and something which all of would definitely cherish.

I have left out a few such as gramophone, Digital Cameras, Portable Hard Disk, X-Box 360 and Kindle. It is for you guys to decide if these fall in your list. You can have your list in the comments section.

Yours Skillfully!!

My first post at wordpress..

It was another lousy evening and I was all alone reading this great man’s life story. This inspired me to start thinking about my life. At various junctures , I have been good at a particular skill but never have I pursued one of those skills seriously. I wonder how my life would have been if I had taken up one of those skills a bit more seriously. Unfortunately to realize the path my life would have taken, I guess I need to approach someone who would make a sequel to a movie along the lines of 12B.

It is rather unfortunate to look back at my life so far and say that I was a “Jack of all trades and a master of none”. I really don’t know if I have to attribute my inconsistency to a lack of interest/urge or to any other clichéd teenage distractions. I am sure most of us have enrolled in a Summer Camp of some nature at some point in life. Are summer camps meant to keep us occupied for 2 months or are these skills potential career changing skills?  It is definitely an answer which none of us would know unless we have gone the distance.  How many of you have actually converted a skill to a profession? According to me, the difference between the good and the great lies here. Those who convert the rare skill to a profession are the outliers. The others are always twittering (Following the herd)

I have had a life that has been filled with many opportunities to stand out but unfortunately or fortunately I am still a long way away from achieving it. They may be attributed either to a few external factors or may be due to sheer negligence and laziness.

It all started way back in 1994 when I was forced to join a Personality Development Summer Camp. This was a move to divert me from watching Re-Runs of Small Wonder and TMNT. I still don’t have the answer to the question on how a Personality Development Class in Grade 4 would help in shaping my overall personality. Anyway my parents felt that way and I embarked on what turned out to be a scary two months. I had hardly learnt the socializing skills I possess now and I was sobbing from Day 1 till the end missing the Re-Runs and enjoying the luxury of Cable TV. I do have a decent personality now but this camp did nothing to aid it.

Next up, was in 1995, when I made a great attempt to idolize the great ARR. After hearing Mustafa Mustafa, I decided that it was time to learn music. It was a phase in life where each individual wants to become everyone he/she sees. I was going through that phase and little did I know that it would work against me. I was very adamant that I wanted to learn ARR’s tracks only and hence I lost interest in the fundamentals. Somehow every Keyboard Tutor I have come across seems to be a Christian. Is it a Co-Incidence or is it a Fact?  Nevertheless, no teacher was willing to teach me ARR songs and I was left without a teacher. This trend continued for another 4-5 years where I switched another 4 teachers and finally ended with in-depth knowledge about Sa re Jahan se Accha and Jingle Bells. I was never a music person and I don’t think I can ever be one. I have friends who are great with the Guitar and the Keyboard but not one has really made me regret the thought of missing out on a great skill.

So after personality development and Music, it was time to be adept in a few physical activities. I took up Karate and Yoga at different times in my life. Yoga was a dull and boring activity. Apart from looking at the women there, I had never felt motivated to practice it. With respect to Karate, I think I reached the green belt when I called it quits. After learning for two years, my fear of dogs only seemed to increase. I never found myself in a   situation to defend or leverage my karate skills. Hence I called it quits and wanted to be actively involved in sports. This was a crucial phase which I wish could be changed.

I took up Cricket coaching in 1996 under the guidance of an Indian Wicketkeeper batsman known by the name Sadanand Vishwanathan. It was brilliant. Getting up at 5.30 in the morn and walking with my dad to the ground and having a hit at the nets was bliss. I would go for another session in the evenings and I felt that it was not too late to take cricket as a profession. My debut match got me a MOM and I was motivated with a small prize of 100rs. Before I could take it up full time I had to shift to Chennai and that prevented me from pursuing it. I think that’s one of my biggest regrets in life. I may have not gone to become a great player but I did not grab the opportunity that came knocking.

With Cricket also buried, I took up TT and Basketball in Chennai. TT came naturally to me and I was playing pretty well. I took up Basketball for various reasons and one of them was because it was touted to be favourite sport among women. With respect to BBALL I did manage to achieve my objective although on bizarre circumstances. Having broken my hand due to a freak accident, I was out of all activities for 6 months and that ended my tenure in TT as well as BBALL. Very unfortunate but that’s the truth. I had entered class 10 by then and it was time to focus on academics.

So to summarize, I have kick started 6 different activities and I have failed to pursue even one for a long time. Either I have failed in it or I have faced a setback beyond my control. Ten years later, my life is as monotonous as it can get. I have nothing spectacular or exciting to look forward to each morning. I wonder how it would have been if one of the above skills I learnt were pursued.

I had never attended summer camps for quizzing or for writing. These are skills that I have pursued for a long time and been relatively successful at. What an IRONY sir ji!!!

I guess that how life is. It takes you through unexpected routes and you end up in an unknown destination far away from where you want to be.