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.