My first video on the roads of Hyderabad

Here's the link to it:


I know its amateurish but still...

Train travel

It was a smashing train journey this time from Hyderabad to Madras on the Hyderabad Express. Much of this happened during the sleeper class journey from Hyderabad. And before I get into the travails, it’ll be a crime if I don’t mention IRCTC, which has made most of my journeys happy and sound. The online booking is a fantastic boon for lazy bums like me who considers even visiting a website by typing the URL and logging in is a waste of time! But yes, I take the pain to do that because that’s the only pain in the whole process of booking tickets. I always print the e-tickets because I don’t have to worry about losing the tickets as I can print them again whenever I need. The only concern I have with IRCTC is that it’ll book the tickets even if I don’t get my preferred berth, which nowadays is usually side lower.

Alright, let’s come back to my journey. The start of the journey itself was fantastic because as soon as the train started moving from the Secunderabad station, one middle-aged thin dude started pulling the chain to stop the train. When we co-passengers asked him why he was doing that, he replied saying, “inkaa maavaaru kondharu raalEdhandi.” (Meaning someone else is yet to join him – in Telugu). Whew, this was the first time I’m seeing someone pull the chain. The thought of pulling a railway chain is orgasmic! It gives immense power – that of being able to stop a mass of moving metal that weighs more than a few hundred tones. The poor hapless soul was not able to pull it completely, I reckon. I wanted to help him but was scared of the “up to 6 months imprisonment for pulling the chain without proper reason” thing. The trained seemed to slow down for a while but started picking up the pace soon after. And the man was not to be found after that!

After a little while two guys on their way to Guntur got into my compartment/aisle. They had already watched the movie Shivaji in Telugu. The conversation between them and the TTE (Train Ticket Examiner) soon turned to Shivaji. The TTE was apparently pissed off with Rajini’s remarks on the current political system in Andhra Pradesh and how he wanted to change it. He was apparently annoyed that Rajinikanth said those things when a powerful hero like Pavan Kalyan didn’t say like that! What, Pavan kalyan is a mass hero? That should be news to me (He happens to be the younger brother of Chiranjeevi and his looks/personality are, well, yuck). But I kept mum and just kept smiling at the developments!J Soon, one of the two guys going to Guntur told the TTE that I’m a Chennai-gaadu and that the TTE should be a bit careful about throwing tantrums on Rajinikanth. TTE turned to me and immediately changed his locus standi. He acknowledged Rajini is a good actor and that 2 songs – godaavari teeram and sunlight – are really good! Well, so far so good. The TTE again started accusing Rajini’s colour and compared it with the co-starrer, Shriya. Well, the whole world knows about Rajini’s colour, which is one of his attractions. I told them that I’m visiting Madras to watch the movie in Tamil. They were a bit shocked and the TTE moved away for a long while! J Whoa, good fun. (It’s an entirely different story that I still didn’t manage to get tickets to watch the movie of my lifetime – which could change if Rajinikanth acts in one more movie).

The train approached Nalgonda and an old man in his late 50s got in to the train. It turned out that he had booked his tickets from Hyderabad but got in only at Nalgonda about 70-80 kilometres away. When the TTE enquired, he replied saying that he missed his train and that he drove down to Nalgonda in a car and boarded the train; and he sported a winning smile while saying that. This is crazy, at best!

It was raining buckets the whole journey back to Madras. I was pleasantly surprised when I found that stepping into Madras is not really such a bad experience (which is usually the case due to the horrible weather). Singaarach Chennai was great – the phrase really fit the city this time!

And now, I’m leaving back for Hyderabad in a 2^nd AC coach. Though the linen, pillows, AC, etc make my journey comfortable, I miss the sheer variety of people and the stinking toilets. The toilets are so clean in this coach integrated with First Class, I don’t feel like I’m travelling in a train in India.

Aanandham 'Bru'vudan Aarambam...*

TV is a powerful visual medium and the Tamil channels (or for that matter any channel that hosts soap operas) are a real waste of time. As a person interested in the advertisement world, I derive satisfaction only from the ads that are sometimes refreshing. No, I'm not talking about the 'padhinaalu muppaththonnu pyorea palpodi, bale bale palpodi' type of ads but the ones that are short, sweet, targeted, and visually arresting. One of them that I liked recently is the 'Bru' ad.

The husband returns home and asks for "Coffee?". The wife makes some coffee and shares it with her husband and then she hits upon an idea and pours some coffee into a mini-cup and passes it on to her husband. Her husband says, "Really?" and then the wife blushes! Sweet, Very Sweet indeed! This is totally warm if you consider the countless no. of ways the same message is conveyed in Indian movies. There's a stereotype to this in Indian movies. Husband comes to know of this fact thru the wife or someone else and comes rushing home and then asks something close to "really?" in a very artificial tone and then either sheds 'aanandhak kanneer**' as if he has achieved something or starts a duet. I like this ad because it's so natural & spontaneous and packs in a complete romantic story in about 15 seconds, so typical of a good ad.

*(Aanandham 'Bru'vudan Aarambam = Happiness starts with Bru)
**(aanandhak kanneer = "tears of joy" in Tamil)

Anyways... shall we forget dis?

I'm strongly opinionated and I get easily annoyed on certain things like bad traffic manners and bad use of English grammar. Let me start with the disclaimer that I'm no God in English grammar but pick up stuff if someone points out my mistake. In this globalized world, it's very important that we speak English as close to the native speakers as possible - both in terms of syntax and semantics.

This time, my grouse is on the usage of 'anyway'. This is one of the most abused English word in India. 'Anyways' is wrong. It's plain wrong to say anyways. The adjective any qualifies a singular noun, not a plural.

Do the following words sound correct to you?
Any people
Any nations

Or, do these sound correct to you?
Any one
Any nation

Then, why do you use 'Anyways'?

While the usage of 'Anyways' is a more sophisticated syntax error, relatively speaking, the use of 'da' for 'the' and 'dat' for 'that' by the teens of today is plain stupidity. What energy do you save by not typing one extra character? It doesn't make you look "cool" but it definitely makes you look foolish in front of a native speaker. Anywez, please consider changing for da better!!

Gang Wars - Malarum Ninaivugal - Part I

There are certain things in life that just don't fade away from your memory. This memory has been a boon as well as a bane for me; boon when you're carrying pleasant memories and bane when you have to live with unpleasant ones and think about bad exam results. I'm now going to remember and write what happened about 18 years ago - when I was in my 2nd or 3rd standard! hmmm... that's a heck of a lot of days.

Like Russia (erstwhile USSR) and USA, we had 2 groups - rather gangs - in our class mainly because of 2 power centers - Jayakumar and M. Vinodh. They were neighbours in the TNHB quarters and had always quarralled whenever they met. This carried over into the school as well. Both of them had their own followers, who were made to follow them either by kinship or by power. Apparently, these guys were the best fighters in the class.

These guys had power centers and had divided the class into almost two. These two groups almost always clashed for no reason. The fights were not among the entire groups but individually. I still doubt if those 2 guys ever fought with each other. I was in two minds for a long time before I decided to join Vinodh's group because he appeared less evil. This one day, a fellow named Arshad approached me and asked me which group I belonged to. I knew he was in Jayakumar's group. So, I lied and told him that I belong to the same group too. But I got a nice beating and after a good couple of minutes, he told me he had changed his affiliation. Poor me. I didn't know that and I felt enough is enough.

Then came a breather. Another fellow, named Barath, who lived in the same colony as I and unable to take the beatings any more, devised a clever plan! He formed a new group - something like the Non-Aligned Movement started by India! Another guy, Mannar Mannan, who lived next door to Barath and his big 'allakkai' was this group's second member after Barath. I felt so relieved by this peaceful approach and readily joined and accepted Barath as the leader because Mannar Mannan advised me so!

From then on, we had pressure from other members of the other two gangs to join their gang, but we didn't budge. Whenever we went out of the class, always the 3 of us would go with Barath at the centre laying his hands on both of our shoulders. We were able to brave the threats from others, who always approached us individually and felt scared to bring up a fight because we were always in triplet...

Then USSR broke into pieces and after that only USA remained the sole super power. Vinodh lost his popularity and power and the whole gang thing was rendered meaningless because there wasn't a need for a gang!

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Some clarifications on New year resolutions

I don't believe in the adage, "New year resolutions are just that; they are meant to be broken." But I consider the resolutions as guidelines(!) into what one really wants to be and what the steps are. Taking my new year resolutions in the same vein, here is a progress report on what I've been up to in the past couple of months.

1. Wake up before 7.30 am everyday, including weekends. I get a quota of 10 days in the entire year, when I can get up later than half-past-seven.
I don't know why I had this as a resolution. The main aim of this resolution was to wake up just in time so I can catch the office shuttle. I've been getting up at around 8 am so I catch the office shuttle at 9.15am. So, I think this resolution is pointless.

3. Give my bike for servicing.
Yes, I did it!

6. Work only 40 hrs/week. No more, no less. This includes time spent on meetings and conferences.
One can do only one thing at a time. It's not possible to grow in the team and simultaneously be adamant that I'll work only for 40 hours.

10. Move to a new house that has a kitchen and then cook at least 1 meal a day.
Yes, this is happening! Moved to a new expensive house and cook atleast 1 meal on most of the days (>85%). To start with, I think this is good.

So, if you have any new year resolutions don't follow it as if it were a bible. Just strive to follow it! J

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2 good songs...

I'm going to share 2 good songs (actually, too good songs) that I loved. Both are quite different in their genres but invoke some inexplicable emotions in you.

First song: Vallavaa enai vellavaa
Singer: Sunitha Sarathy
I can't comprehend what kind of a talent this singer possesses. If you won't trust me just listen to this song. Also, just listen to the song carefully from 2:38 to 2:45. Incredible! The 8 seconds are a great lesson on sa-ri-ga-ma-pa-dha-ni... (If somebody is knowledgeable in music, please tell me which notes she exactly used in those 8 seconds)



Second Song: Siththiraiyil enna varum
Singer: Don't care!
Watchout: Well, no doubt, the song is amazing but the actress, Mamta Mohandas - Slim, tall, nicely complexioned, and very beautiful! If there's anyone who can give a tough fight to Ileana in South Indian film Industry, it should be Mamta.
Check out her bible: Mamta Mohandas Wiki

And... here's the song.