Experiencing a new city

After 10 days of hectic travelling, finally managed to park my rear side at home this weekend!

A grossly mismanaged project took me to Coimbatore few days ago. although ive had short aquaintances with the city recently, this time it was an extended stay (i think 4 days felt like ive know this place for ages)!
Wasnt prepared for the pleasant surprises in store for me..For a start the hotel i checked in (Aar Vee) had a very modest facade, but 
Rooms- Neat and very well equipped *****
Room Service- Very Good ****
Food- havent had such wonderful idlies in a long long time. Filter Coffee at its best! *****
Tariffs are a bit high, but I guess Coimbatore has always been a place for the above middle-class clan.

I love the thamizh spoken here..sounds like music to the ears (atleast mine)..always thought kollywood exaggerated the kovai dialect in all its movies..to listen exactly the same language was wonderful.
auto drivers are friendly and a bit laid back for sure.

the biggest surprise for me was the traffic management..handful of cops (young girls resembling NCC cadets) manning traffic signals, control the pedestrian movement impeccably. As a guy ud think its easy to cross the roads by not paying attention to these young ladies. gross misjudgement!! A middleaged man next to me was trying to cross the road inspite of seeing the rushing vehicles.there was a loud shriek from the opposite side and the man actually froze thinking he'd be convicted of murder if he dared to take another step..Wow, this was a very new and exciting (yes u heard me) xpreience for me!! As my auto stopped at a traffic signal, another girl in kakhis walked up to a guy in a moped to ensure tht he wore the helmet which was parked on his handlebar. Imagine a similar scene in chennai...the pot bellied cop wouldve extracted atleast three rupees and 50 paisa from the motorist.

Finally I had to take my client for dinner and I chose Residency which I was told has the best restaurants in town. The name of the restaurant was Afghan's Grill (attached a pic from the web). Ambience was wonderful and the service great..the crowd was great too.

On the whole, I think Coimbatore is definitely on the list of top 3 cities tht id like to live in.

Borrowed this video from another person's blog...really hilarious one!!



Enjoy maadi!!

Avatar-my xperience

The name has been on everyone's lips since the past couple of weeks..finally i managed to watch it yday.
One of the main reasons id been waiting to watch it in Sathyam/Inox was like everyone i was attracted to the 3d version. But Unlike others rather than the movie i was more eager to wear the 3d glasses.
I can vividly remember the number of spectacle pairs i broke as a kid watching the iconic 'My dear Kuttichathan'.. when i got my hands on them yday i grabbed them like an over xcited brat...wow, it was travelling down memory lane! Wearing the over-sized pair of 3d glasses and annoying ppl arnd me jus bcoz it doesnt fit me...being such an attention seeker(back then), how i made sure i got 3 new pairs within the first half of the movie...

How innocent and fulfilling life was back then! Hmm....
Anyways coming back to the subject, Avatar came across as a breath of fresh air entertaining wholesomely. I know the visuals and the colours in the movie hav been reviewd and wowed a brazillion number of times..i wonder y ppl are not talking abt the compassion and the empathy displayed towards fellow living species. The movie is so very touching (u dont hav to be a weak soul to feel so).
one other aspect tht i liked is JC's witty take on the US army and intelligence who blow things out of propotion and create a rucus over nothing. Their prejudized decisions kill them finnaly aka vietnam war aka gulf war (bush jr).
By the way did JC name his movie based on indian mythology?

Is Gandhi more violent than Hitler??

And that's the paradox of cinema, the paradox of belief. We don't simply believe or do not believe. We always believe in a kind of conditional mode. I know very well it's a fake but, nonetheless, I let myself be emotionally effected

 Heard of the name Slovaj Zizek?
The man is in India currently and has already courted controversy for saying that Gandhi was more violent than Hitler..
Shocking?? What he means by violence is the persistence of Gandhiji which drove the Brits crazy...anyways thts for another debate!!

Slovaj Zizek is a pro-communist philosopher living in the West, who firmly believes that Capitalism will kill the world. Its funny that the Slovakian

loves Hollywood and is also a vocal supporter of the american film industry. He has now come to India to understand Bollywood and also look at the effect of industrialization on the common man.

Zizek firmly believes that India is much better placed than China due to the fact that our neighbour is growing into a monstrous capitalist..

A recent conversation with a Chinese delegation gave me some interesting hindsights of their believes..
My amiable chinese friend mentioned the fact that the only reason they have grown/growing at such a a rapid pace attributes to the absence of religion in their culture? another shocker??
Yes! Since they do not believe or practice any religion, the only thing that they think about is money...every single chinese, young or old, is looking at diff opportunities of multiplying the buck..
those who've been to Vegas will submit testimony to this...the slot machines are always occupied with chinese octogenarians, while the blackjack tables are mobbed by young Chinese execs.

Coming back to Zizek, he's planning to write a book on India and Bollywood..research underway!! if you hav anymore info on the philosopher pls feel free to share the same!!

Screwing the Other Guy

For those who've follow the Devil's Advocate on CNN-IBN, this paticular episode would be thoroughly enjoyable..the articulate Mani Shankar Iyer takes the devils's seat grilling the "Obnoxious" Karan Thapar as described by the interviewer..

While I've embedded only the first video,  3 other  clippings complete the interview. See each one of them if you are one of those who'd enjoy Karan Thapar getting royally screwd..there are moments wher the interviewer and the interviewee swap roles (due to the familiarity), but on the whole the former Sprots minister does a commendable job in ridiculing Karan Thapar..

Laya Project

Laya Project’s musicians are the people of coastal and surrounding communities in the 2004 tsunami-affected regions of Sri Lanka, Thailand, Indonesia, Maldives, Myanmar and India.
This production is based on regional folk music traditions, recorded and brought back to the studio to create a composition that mixes and enhances the original recordings, and embarks on a musical journey crossing borders, while preserving the music of the people.
The Laya Project is a personal and collective tribute to the resilience of the human spirit, and is dedicated to the survivors of the 26th December 2004 Asian tsunami.

The composition above is called Tapatam, by a group of South Indian artistes living along the coastal areas of Nagore, Naggapattinam, Traquelabar, Vandavasi, Kanyakumari, Manuppadu, Kovalam, Adhimalathura and Paniyur Beach. The producers created a mobile studio by removing their car seats and powered them with the car batteries..

Various instruments used include the Nadaswaram, Tavil, Tabla and Mohrsung. The combination of the percussion instruments, nadaswaram, mohrsung and vocals create a splendid composition..


Switch off the Lights, Shut ur eyes and listen to the full version of Tapatam in a 5.1 audio system...believe me u wudnt stop replaying the record for another 3 times atleast!!!

The sad part is that as usual, only foreigners appreciate our indigenuos talent.....

Whistle For your Beer

Read an article recently on a strange beer drinking ritual..
In old English pubs, beer was served in Ceramic Cups/Mugs which had a whistle baked on the rim of the mug or in the handle itself....
One jus had to whistle thro' it for a refill. Therefore whenever people went drinking they would "Wet their Whistle"!!
Imagine having the same system in our country. Along with the whistle an amplifier will have to be complimentary..