Ninaivugal...Thoughts

I am not talking about the elegant backhand crosscourt winner from Federer's racquet. I am talking about the discussion I had with a bunch of guys here. It all started over a plate of bhel puri and pani puri. We started with the serials - Ramayana and Mahabharata about how the country used to come to a standstill during these episodes. There were other serials that caught our attention - Chandrakanta, Mungeri Lal, He-Man(Remember! Masters of the Universe), Reporter, Superhit Muqabala (DD Metro) and others. We also wondered how DD Metro was launched amidst a lot of fanfare. At a time when we were living with only one channel, it was a great relief to get another one. We then went on to the advertisements - Nirma, Pepsi, Coke, Wheel, Zandu Balm, fevicol and so on. The Pepsi advertisement taken in a rustic outlook with street children playing cricket and drinking pepsi from the cyclewalah selling pepsi, and wearing Sachin masks was voted as the best pepsi advertisement till...

As Ramu gave a sulky look to his father and went back to his room, he had a hundred and one emotions flooding his head. He wished that his father was on one of those long tours that he undertook so often. He also felt miserable since his mother was not supporting him, and could not understand what he was going through. It was the 1996 World Cup cricket league match between India and Australia. India was batting and his favourite player Sachin Tendulkar was going hammer and tongs belting the Aussie bowling attack in sheer disdain. But, Ramu had to go get locked up in the room and work out the exercise problems from the Maths text book for the next day's test. Ramu sat for long hours before the Maths text book and not a word went to his head. He knew he was not made to read these things. His family wanted him to become an engineer or a doctor when he grew up. But, Ramu was never inclined to the conventional mode of living enforced upon the present day kids by their parents. ...

I was just listening to some of my all time favourite numbers in Tamil and Hindi. Here goes the list and the songs are not in any order of preference. The time period of these songs is from the late eighties upto the current time. Tamil Chinna Chinna Aasai (Album: Roja, Artist: AR Rahman) Pudhu Vellai Mazhai (Album: Roja, Artist: AR Rahman) Vellai Pookal (Album: Kannathil Muthamittal, Artist: AR Rahman) Minnalae (Album: May Madham, Artist: AR Rahman) Mandram Vandha Thendralukku (Album: Mouna Raagam, Artist: Ilayaraja) Ninnukori Varanam (Album: Agni Natchathiram, Artist: Ilayaraja) Endhan Nenjil Neengadha (Album: Kalaignan, Artist: Ilayaraja) Anbe Sugama (Album: Parthalae Paravasam, Artist: AR Rahman) Nila Kaigiradhu (Album: Indira, Artist: AR Rahman) Anbe Sivam (Album: Anbe Sivam, Artist: Vidyasagar) Chandralekha (Album: Thiruda Thiruda, Artist: AR Rahman) Ennuyir Thozhi (Album: Kangalal Kaidhu Sei, Artist: AR Rahman) Bombay Theme Music (Album: Bombay, Artist: AR Rahman) Vaanam Thottu ...

As the soccer fever is gripping the world, the obvious question to us is Why is India not able to make it to the World Cup Finals? Instead of finding fault with others, let us sit back and analyse the system that is prevailing in our country. That is exactly what myself and Karthik Chandramouli did. As a young kid, one has a lot of aspirations to make it big in something other than academics. But is he really able to pursue what he wants? There is a notion among the elders that their children can come up only in the conventional way. Score good marks right from first grade to engineering, get placed in a good software company and earn good money for the rest of the career. Why can't our thoughts progress beyond this? Why can't we deviate from the normal and try to seek a career by pursuing our interests rather than the beaten path? Coming back to football, how many schools in India support a good extracurricular system? I come from a school where let alone a football fi...

A trip to Kansas City was a must considering the number of guys who have fixed up their base there. But it was only after Yadu went there, we knew for sure we had to go and meet him. Rama wanted to go before the classes started and just as all trips are undertaken, we decided to go just a day prior to the actual departure. So, way to Kansas City on Friday afternoon. We hired the car from Denny and Ford Focus it was. Originally only the three of us were scheduled to travel (myself, Rama and Vimal), but at the last minute we had a surprise visitor in the form of KC (Karthik Chandramouli), who for no reason was later rechristened to KFC (just added a fraud for F). We left Rolla at about four in the evening, and found our way through Highway 63S. We drove through the plush green of the state. As such, MO (Missouri) is known for its greenery and we weren't disappointed. Home made onion pakodas, french fries, and rava idlies were neatly packed and they were finding their way slowly an...

It is really baffling to see the media hype so much on the Indian "teen sensation" Sania Mirza. It can really get anyone on his nerves to see a lot of reports on what she does everyday. Yes, she made a good start and got into the top 50 in ATP rankings, but that does not merit unwanted praise from everyone. Definitely her achievement is noteworthy, for no Indian girl had achieved so much in tennis. She played some good matches to lose against top players, winning a few in the process. Why in the world should anyone give importance to her comments? Who cares about her views on premarital sex? Is she the only girl who is representing the Islam community? What difference does it make if she is eating pizzas or pastas for lunch? People are giving her too much importance just because she is making grand slam entries. The media should realise that there is no point in oodling Sania so much and that too with her not having done anything extravagant till now. Sania's serve...

As we spent our time waiting in long queues in the amusement park in Kansas City , Ashwin came up with an interesting game. It is called as ping-pong. The name can be quite misleading as it does not involve ping pong balls and racquets. The game play is as follows. All of them form a circle, and each of them choses a country of his choice. One person starts with a ping, the next one follows with a pong, and the third one has to call out a country chosen by anyone in the group other than his own. The next "ping" is called out by the person who has the name of the country previously called out. Any deviations from the above pattern results in the person being out of the game. This might sound too simple but I assure you that it is not at all the case. Last night in a dinner party, we played this game, and as I explained the rules to the people present, there was this feeling What's so tough about this? But as we started to play the game, everyone realised that it i...