கோலங்கல் (Rangoli) - 6

This Rangoli was drawn by my wife - Sai Lakshmi.

கோலங்கல் (Rangoli) - 5

This Rangoli was drawn by my wife - Sai Lakshmi.

Keep away from these people...

I read this quote in Deccan Chronicle dated 28th December, 2007.

Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you too, can become great.

-- Mark Twain

கோலங்கல் (Rangoli) - 4

This Rangoli was drawn by my wife - Sai Lakshmi.

Don't talk over the phone while driving

வண்டி ஓட்டும் பொழுது செல்போன் எடுக்காதே;
கூப்பிடுவது எமனாக இருக்கலாம்!

This is one another nice quote which I read on a board maintained by Chennai Traffic department in Mahalingapuram road [on the way towards Loyola college from Kodambakkam bridge.].

கோலங்கல் (Rangoli) - 3

This Rangoli was drawn by my wife - Sai Lakshmi.

Life is Beautiful ....

Today I watched the movie "Life is Beautiful" which won the oscar award in 1998. I liked the movie very much and Roberto Benigni who was the hero, co-author of this movie has done a marvellous job.

There were lots of instances where I laughed out loud while watching this movie. For ex:

1. The way Benigni bumps on Braschi very frequently and builds a story around it
2. His translation of german officers instructions to English
etc.,

Story of the movie can be read here.

கோலங்கல் (Rangoli) - 2

This Rangoli was drawn by my wife - Sai Lakshmi.

Quote on preserving the trees / flowers

Not for you only
leave it for the next generation

I read this on a board maintained by forest department / wild life department on the way towards Munnar.

கோலங்கல் (Rangoli) - 1

This Rangoli was drawn by my wife - Sai Lakshmi.

Quote on why 'God' died!

Jesus died of our sins!
-- This is the quote which I read on a car.

Forget religion just replace 'Jesus' with 'Sai Baba' in that quote it would still hold good.
i.e., Sai baba died of our sins!

All I learnt from this quote is, let's be careful on things we do and make sure we don't increase our sins count knowingly!

Why Mohanlal isn't able to flourish in Tamil Industry?

Though I am a fan of Rajinikanth for various reasons which goes beyond the scope of this article, I have always felt that Kamal hassan is one of the finest artist now in Tamil Industry.

To my knowledge, the closest to Kamal hassan in Indian film industry is Mohanlal - the best artist of Kerela film industry.

When I went for vacation to kerela last week I happened to see few of Mohanlal's film posters there. At that time I thought about the title of this article.

Few kerela (male) artists like Mamooty and Jayaram have acted in many good films in Tamil. To be specific Jayaram's performance in 'Thennalli' if not better was on par with Kamal hassan's performance in that film. Where-as the films acted by Mohanlal in Tamil haven't performed well in box office! I am really wondering What could be the reason for it?

Do you have an opinion on this topic to share with us? If yes, post it as a comment and lets have a healthy discussion.

Few points to kindle your thought!

1. One of the way to look at it is 'Should we really bother about it as people know he is a great actor and he has proved it consitantly in Malayalam movies?'.

2. Are tamil audience looking for physic more than acting? But don't forget Jayaram is also little stout when compared to most of the tamil hero's. So is it really an issue?

3. May be Mohanlal need to concentrate more on the story line!

4. May be he hasn't understood the difference between the Malayalam and tamil audience!

Quote on the way to lead a life!

Today I read this beautiful tamil wordings in an auto.

நீ வாழ பிறரைக் கெடுக்காதே;
பிறர் வாழ நீ கெடாதே

The litral translation of this in english is:

Don't spoil others life for you to live;
Don't spoil yourself for others to live

Back from Vacation ....

I was on a vacation to Kerela with my wife. We visited Munnar and Kumarakkom. Will write a post on my experience tonight.

For now, I have uploaded few of the snaps which I took during the vacation here in Flickr.

Failure....

Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again more intelligently
-- Henry Ford

This is an excellent quote and it really motivates me whenever I fail in a task (be it official or personal) :)

Indian of the Year ...

NDTV is conducting a poll to find out the 'Indian of the year' in 5 different categories. They are:

1. Leader -- My choice was 'Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam'

2. Sports -- Out of the lot I always like the achievements of 'Viswanathan Anand' so I voted for him.

In my view, when Sehwag was in his peak form was compared with Sachin tendulakar. But he didn't last for long in international circuit with the same consistency! Now people has started to promote Dhoni .. only time can say whether Dhoni would meet people's demand consistantly!

3. Cinema - My obvious choice was 'Rajinikanth - the Boss'

4. Global Indian -- I left out this section as I am not too sure.

5. Business -- I left out this section as I am not too sure.

6. Music -- I went for A.R. Rehman

7. UnSung Heroes -- I went for 'Indian Soldiers - Super heroes'

Don't be left out, go and cast your vote here

Exerting one's strength

There are two ways of exerting one's strength;
one is pushing down,
the other is pulling up.
-- Booker T. Washington

One another wonderful quote which I read few days back. If you are powerful in terms of position, asset, contacts etc., try and help others in such a way that they can come up in life rather than blocking their growth!

Beautiful wordings related to safe driving!

Last Friday, I went to GRT Grand Days officially. While travelling somewhere after E.C.R check post I saw a hoarding on behalf of ('Traffic') police department on the left hand side. It read,

Heavens can wait
Drive slowly.

What a thoughtful wordings :) I felt this to be short and crisp way of saying 'Please drive slowly and safely as your lives is very important".

It's Superstar Rajinikanth's Birthday

[Source: http://www.dailythanthi.com/thanthiepaper/12122007/07ABRADVT.%202.11.jpg]

பிரியமான நாயகனுக்கு என் பிறந்த நாள் வாழ்த்துக்கள்.

Superstar Rajinikanth turned 58 today. The only film star whom I love to meet in person someday is Mr. Rajinikanth. Today (12/12/07) is his Birthday.

Yesterday when I was travelling to Lister Lab I saw lots of posters from varied companies carrying Rajinikanth's birthday wishes. One among them was Hello FM. Only after seeing their posters I came to know that there is a FM channel by named 'Hello FM' itself :)

BTW for quite sometime people wheren't talking about whether Rajinikanth would enter politics or not. But now that his latest movie Sivaji was a super hit that topic of discussion have started again :) Check out the below poster (Source: Rajinifans.com) prepared by Rajini fans from Madurai. I would write a post on what's my take on this topic soon.

Lister Lab

I went for a medical checkup to Lister Lab (102, Dr. Radhakrishnan Road, Chennai) yesterday as tentatively I might travel to US next month. It was a pleasant surprise to meet my friend 'Logesh' after a very long time. I actually forgot where he stays and other facts as usual (as i have a very bad memory :( ) . He walked towards me and introduced himself and said he stays in Bangaru street, Ayanavaram. It seems he is working there as 'Customer Support Executive'. We chatted for a few minutes and then got to business as I went to the Lab during my lunch hour :)

While I was waiting there in the reception for the x-ray technician to call my name I read a nice quote on the walls of Lister Lab. It was ... "It takes months to find a customer seconds to lose one.".

I was thinking through that and thought in the same quote if we just replace 'customer' with 'good/true friend' it would still makes perfect sense! What do you guys feel?

Amazing fact!

It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit

-- Harry S. Truman

Vijay TV is innovative!

Before actually talking about the topic I would like to write a short note on a debate show named ‘Neeya Naana’.

According to me, one of the popular TV shows in Tamilnadu is ‘Neeya Naana’ which is being telecasted on every Sunday @ 9 PM in Vijay TV. The host / anchor Mr. Gopinath drives the show very interestingly and he is one of the very few people I have seen speaking Tamil fluently (that too good Tamil) :)

I like Gopinath because?

1. He talks clearly and to the point
2. I love the way he translates the comments made by a person into a crystal clear Tamil sentence
3. He is assertive
4. Balances the arguments pretty well
5. I presume he is doing the home work well
6. He has a pleasant smile
7. The way he urges the participant to talk for themselves rather than quoting / referring about others
8. etc.,

Is there any change I would like to see in this program?

Yes. There were few instances where I saw people taking advantage of others. I would like Gopinath to step-in and make the point clear that they should not hurt other participants by their words.

Innovation seems to be the motto of Vijay TV

Vijay TV seems to be innovative in bringing in new programs very often and most of the Tamil channels seem to be pretty much copying their concept. These are the shows which they introduced it first among the other Tamil channels:

1. கலக்க போவது யாரு? (Kalakka Povadhu yaru?)
2. Super Singers
3. Super Singers Juniors
4. ஜோடி நம்பர் - 1 (Jodi Number 1 - though I didn’t like it totally for various reasons.)
5. கனா காணும் காலங்கள் (Kanaa Kaanum Kaalangal)
6. Story of Shirdi Sai Baba
7. நியா நானா? (Neeya Naana?)

The concept of the first four in the above list has already been copied by almost all major Tamil channels now. The only difference those channels make is ‘changing’ their program name :)

In my view, Vijay TV is in the top rating (as far as Tamil channels) are concerned in the way they innovate programs and Sun TV is in the last spot in terms of innovation :) [I have just considered these channels, Sun, Jaya, Vijay and Kalainar TV].

Normally I don’t watch TV shows / Serials at all. For the simple fact there would be too much of ladies sentiments, superstitious, waste of time (!!!) etc., but now when ever I am early from office I watch ‘Sai Baba’ serial without fail. Also Kanaa Kaanum Kaalangal was really interesting till the new 11th standard batch was introduced.

One of the popular programs of Vijay TV which I hate is ‘Jodi Number one’. I guess the director of the show likes ladies sentiments too much!! I feel they exaggerate a lot in that show. More than that ‘Jodi Number one – Season 2’ had ‘Simbu’ as one their judges. I presume him to be a publicity freak. He just cries now and then in the show! Also he tries to show himself as too clean, lots of ladies sentiments, too much of self-boasting, tough to get the mike away from him :)

That said, in ‘Jodi Number One – Season one’ I liked Raghav’s performance and really wished he would win the title. Unfortunately he lost in the finals :(

In ‘Jodi Number One – Season Two’ I liked only these two things:

1. Dance performance of ‘Master Sundaram’ (Father of dance Master Prabhu Deva)
2. Few dance steps did by Master Prabhu Deva (I am a hardcore fan of him).

If at all there is a ‘Jodi Number One – Season three’ I would like to see ‘Master Prabhu Deva’ or ‘Master Raghavendra Lawerence’ as judges. Also I wanted to just see the pure performance of the participants without any sentiments attached to it [So that audience won't be influenced based on sentiments!!]

Overall I am impressed by the way Vijay TV has come up in the last couple of years. Now that Vijay TV has set a standard for themself they need to concentrate on maintaining it consistently.

Wonderful quote by Winston Churchill ...

Success is not final, failure is not fatal:
it is the courage to continue that counts.

-- Winston Churchill

Investment in Knowledge....

An investment in knowledge pays the best interest
-- Benjamin Franklin

Bad thing about Good songs - Nice Quote

Bad thing about a famous song is it make all the people think they are great singers :)

[I read this in a restaurant]

Nice Quote by my wife's GrandFather

நெடுந்தூரம் நடப்பவன் நீண்டநாள் வாழ்வான்.

The meaning for the above tamil saying in english is - "One who walks long lives long". Her Grandfather was healthy till 95 years and he used to walk a lot. So I guess we should try and cultivate the habit of brisk walking in our daily schedule!

Budget - Nice Quote

A budget is a method of worrying before you spend instead of afterwards

[I read this in a restaurant]

Money - Nice Quote ...

Money talks but it doesn't say when its coming back

[I read this in a restaurant]

Celebrity -- Nice Quote

A celebrity is a person who works hard all his life to become known then wears dark glasses to avoid being recognised!

[I read this in a restaurant]

Good & Bad guys

Good guys go to heaven and
Bad guys go to Pattaya!

I read this wording on a T-Shirt yesterday. I didn't understand the meaning immediately. On googling for 'Pattaya' I came to know that "Pattaya is one of the most prostitution based economies of any city in the world".

'What is cynic?' -- Nice Quote

A man who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing

[I read this in a restaurant]

Anger -- Nice Quote

இயலாமையின் வெளிப்பாடு தான் கோபம்.

This is a very nice tamil phrase which explains the word 'Anger' in a short and crisp way. The english version of this tamil phrase is "Anger is a way of exhibiting our incapabilities." or "If you are incapable of doing something you become angry!".

[Guys, may be my transalation might not be 100% correct, feel free to let me know if you have better english phrase for this. I will post it here with due credits to you.]

Expert - Nice Quote

Expert - A person who can take something you already knew and make it sound confusing.

[I read this in a restaurant]

Nice Quote about 'Arguments' :)

Agreements gets better results than arguments

[I read this in a restaurant]

Diplomacy - Nice Quote

Diplomacy - Thinking twice before saying nothing :)

[I read this in a restaurant]

Recession - Nice Quote

Recession is when a neighbour loses his job; depression is when you lose yours!

-- Ronald Reagan

Nice Quote on a coffee mug

I was doing window shopping in LandMark yesterday and at that time I read a nice quote on a coffee mug. It is, Failure means delay not defeat.

Nice Quote about 'Kids' :)

Nice thing about relatives' kids around is that they go home!!

Sound which comes from the Seashell

The roar that we hear when we place a seashell next to our ear is not the ocean, but rather the sound of blood surging through the veins in the ear.

--Extract from, 'Did you Know' section of Deccan Chronicle, November 23rd 2007.

Foods which helps you be younger!

Find below the list of 7 food items which helps a person be young! as per health.msn.com :)

1. Olive oil
2. Yogurt
3. Fish
4. Chocolate
5. Nuts
6. Wine
7. Blueberries

I have just listed the item names for easy reference. I would suggest you all to check health.msn.com to know more about it.

Food you should eat everyday ...

These are the 8 food items you should eat everyday to have a good health as per health.msn.com

I am just providing the item names but go through the full article in health.msn.com so that you know that benefit of eating each of those 8 items.

1. Spinach
2. Yogurt
3. Tomatoes
4. Carrots
5. Blueberries
6. Black beans
7. Walnuts
8. Oats

Don't tell your problems ....

I read this below quote today in a cabin...

Don't tell your problems to anybody
70% of the people won't be interested to know and
30% would be glad!!

Sachin against Pakistan in home series

Sachin made 30 runs of 27 balls @ the strike rate of 111.11 in the last ODI match between Pakistan in the current series. Out of 30, 24 runs came of 6 sexy boundaries :) Unfortunately he got out nicking the ball to gully :(

Lets see how Sachin has performed against Pakistan in the current ODI series.

1. First ODI in which India won by 5 wickets -- Sachin scored 4 runs of 7 balls.
2. Second ODI in which Pakistan won by 4 wickets -- Sachn scored 99 runs of 91 balls.
3. Third ODI in which India won by 46 runs. -- Sachin scored 29 runs of 27 balls.
4. Fourth ODI in which India won by 6 wickets -- Sachin scored 97 runs of 102 balls.
5. Fifth ODI -- 30 runs in 27 balls.
Result: Match in Progress at the time of writing this post.

Average of Sachin in this Series is 51.8

Best Quotes on Sachin Tendulkar ...

Check out the best 25 quotes on Sachin Tendulkar here.

One of the best quote on Sachin is:

I saw him playing on television and was struck by his technique, so I asked my wife to come look at him. Now I never saw myself play, but I feel that this player is playing much the same as I used to play, and she looked at him on Television and said yes, there is a similarity between the two...hi compactness, technique, stroke production... it all seemed to gel! in reference to Sachin Tendulkar.
- Sir Don Bradman

Sachin on Fire :)

Sachin scored 97 runs (102 balls) in the 4th ODI against Pakistan. Check out the scorecard here

Few of points (Extract from Cricinfo) worth mentioning are:

1. SR Tendulkar: 50 off 48 balls (10 x 4)
2. @ Drinks India where 74/2 in 14.0 overs. At that time Sachin Tendulkar was on 52 (Now you know the way Sachin has dominated today).
3. Sachin Tendulkar's 97 is his 82nd ODI fifty and his 14th fifty against Pakistan.
4. As of today, in this calendar year 2007, sachin has got out in 90's for the 6th time :(

Final note left by the cricinfo commentators :)

It was Tendulkar's night at Gwalior. Exactly 18 years after making his debut on November 15, 1989, he lit up the arena with a stunning array of strokes and propelled India towards the series win. He drove, cut, whipped, walked down the track and moved outside leg stump and enjoyed himself in the middle. By the time he exited, for the sixth time this year on nineties, the game was sealed.

Globus, T.Nagar

For this Diwali, I went to Globus, T.Nagar to purchase a Jeans for me. I went last weekend and bought a Jeans and couple of Shirts for me. The total bill came to Rs. 3000+

While paying the bill the casher / sales rep on the counter asked me collect a 'Wrist Watch' as gift from a separate counter on the entrance. On further enquiry I came to know that Globus gives away a watch as Diwali gift for any purchase over Rs. 3000.

The watch was looking pretty cool. I removed my usual watch and started using Globus watch right away :)

I presume the quality of the watch is not that great as it got broken in just 2 days. Hmm one another reason why we shouldn't just go by look and feel :)

Sachin 99

Sachin played a fabulous knock today in the 2nd ODI match against Pakistan. He ripped apart the Pakistan bowlers. But the sad part is he got out on 99 yet again :(

Since June '07, Sachin has got out thrice at 99. They are:

1. Today (8th November 2007) : Against Pakistan
2. 24th August 2007 : Against England
3. 26th June 2007 : Against South Africa

As long as Sachin was in the middle I guess the Pakistan players and their coach wouldn't have blinked for a second :) The rate at which Sachin was scoring I was thinking that India could easily reach 350 run in 50 overs. But a collapse in the middle order (Is this new for Indian cricket team?) and then a good knock by Harbajan helped India reach a good score of 321.

321 is a pretty healthy score and it should have been defended by the Indians easily. But our Indian bowlers lacked fire in them. None of the bowlers bowled a decent line which costed India the match :(

Ian Chappel says Sachin has rightly declined the captaincy

Read the full story here

Though I also feel that Sachin is a great player but unfortunately he didn't have major success as an Indian Captain. It might be due to various reasons which I am not aware of. So I didn't want to get into that at all.

But when I went through the article on cricinfo I got a feeling what the hell has Ian Chappel has achieved as a crickter during his times!!! He has just played a mere 75 test matches and 16 one day internationals for Australia and he is talking as if he is the GOD of cricket :)

Check out Ian Chappell and Sachin records in wikipedia for yourself.

Virender Sehwag's father dies and Pakistan teams attitude!!

On Oct 30th Virender Sehwag's father died of Heart attack :(

I read 'Waqar Younis' column in Deccan Chronical today. In that I came to know that Pakistan team captain Shoaid Malik and Manager Talat Ali visited Virender Sehwag's house in Delhi to express their team's condolences in his hour of grief.

I am really touched by this gesture of Pakistan cricket teams captain and Manager. Way to go guys ... Way to go.

Rain Rain go away ....

For past one week its been raining in Chennai and since yesterday night it's raining continuously. Normally during deepavali time-frame it used to rain in this part of the world. FYI, this year deepavali falls on Nov 8th.

Today, I went out in the evening to Ashok Nagar (approx 6 kms from Ramapuram) to purchase some provision, fruits and vegetables. By the time I purchased everything and started driving back the rain increased its intensity. The roads where flooded and the wind started blowing heavily.

The adjacent road to Udhayam theatre, the old bridge near Kasi theatre, the road near Military hospital in defence colony, the area just before Chennai Trade Centre etc., where all filled with water. I guess all low-lying area's within Chennai would have atleast 1 to 2 feets of water by now :(

Water is really essential no doubt about it. But on seeing the damages done by heavy rains I hate rainfall to an extent! For example, poors residing on platforms are the souls who are affected the most. Rain to an extent is good to us. But if its going to pour heavily / for a longer duration its of no use to anybody! Because anyway ground can't absorb all of it!! and more over rain water harvesting hasn't been done 100% in all places within the city. So major portion of the rain water is going to get mixed into sea.

That said, I am praying to Shirdi Sai Baba to bring down the intensity of the cyclone which has formed in Bay of Bengal.

Beggars near temple ...

Yesterday, I went to 'Shiridi Sai Baba' temple in Mylapore, Chennai. Dharsan was good and I saw an aged man inside the temple who was asking for some help. I was touched on seeing him and so donated a small amount to him and moved on.

After my usual prayers I was walking out to the entrance of the temple when an aged lady (should be atleast 55+ yrs) approached me for help. She told me that she is not having money to travel to her hometown. Though initially hesitated I then thought would give her some money. But in my purse there were only few 100's available. So I went to a shop inside the temple premises and enquired whether they can provide me change for Rs. 100/- but they didn't have it. So I made up my mind not to help this lady now. But within a minute there were 5 to 6 beggars around me asking for help. I was really taken back. Just assume yourself being at an entrance of the temple and being surrounded by 5 to 6 beggars. It would be really strange isn't it? So I politely said I am sorry I don't have change now. But they were in no mood to listen to me. They were consistently pressuring me to donate money to everybody which really pissed me off :(

I really understand that those people are not having money for survival so is the reason they are asking others. But still people coming to the temple should not be pressurised like this isn't it! Can't temple management or government do something about this?

Power supply would be suspended in my area tomorrow

Monthly one saturday between ~9 AM to ~6 PM we live without power in 'Ramapuram'. Tomorrow is going to be one another day without electricity (check out http://www.hindu.com/2007/10/26/stories/2007102661550400.htm for further information)

The reason they say for these power cuts is 'maintenance work'. I really wonder what sort of maintenance do they carry out! If they are maintaining properly then why does power goes off now and then?

I understand that few power plants which is the source of electricity has stopped part of their production due to some techinical troubles (one such is Neyveli power plant). Apart from that many times power goes off and when we call the E.B staffs they would say some 'Transformer problem', 'Line problem' etc.,

I was in US for 3 months and during that period power went of for hardly once or twice that too for very few minutes. [Once due to some thunder storm warning or something it went off for 1+ hours].

Normally how does 'electricity' board in other countries work?

Is Sachin really performing poorly as people claim!?!

I feel really bad for Sachin when he give his 100% to cricket (my personal opinion) but still people say that he isn't performing well or he should retire etc., So I had a re-look into the scores which Sachin made in the recent past and found that he has done a pretty decent job for the country!

India's Tour of England (2007):

1. First ODI in which England won by 104 runs. -- Sachin scored just 17 of 33 balls
2. Second ODI in which India beat England by 9 runs -- Sachin scored 99 of 112 balls
3. Thrid ODI in which England won by 42 runs -- Sachin scored just 8 of 19 balls
4. Fourth ODI in which England beat India by 3 wickets -- Sachin scored 55 of 86 balls
5. Fifth ODI in which India beat England by 38 runs -- Sachin scored 71 of just 56 balls
6. Sixth ODI in which India beat England by 2 wickets -- Sachin scored 94 of 81 balls
7. Seventh ODI in which England beat India by 7 wickets -- Sachin scored 30 of 46 balls.

So in 7 matches he has scored 374 runs at an average of 53.43. Out of which 4 half centuries and in couple of occasions he has scored 90+. Moreover India has won 3 matches and in all those 3 matches Sachin has stood up to the challenge. Wasn't that a good performance!!!!

India vs South Africa (2007):

1. SA beat India in first ODI -- Sachin scored 99.
2. India beat SA in second ODI -- Sachin scored 93 of 106 balls. [During this match Sachin become the first player in the world to reach 15,000 one day internation runs]
3. India beat SA in third ODI -- Sachin scored just 8.

So in 3 matches he has scored 200 runs at an average of 66.67. Out of which he has hit 90+ twice. Wasn't that a good performance!!!

Full story of India South Africa 2007 series can be read here

Australia's tour of India (2007):

1. First ODI was abandoned due to rain -- Sachin got out without scoring [I want to give the benefit of doubt to Sachin as it was pretty heavily drissilling and it's really difficult to concentrate on your game]

2. Second ODI in which Aus won by 84 runs -- Sachin scored 16 of 25 balls.
3. Third ODI in which Aus won by 47 runs -- Sachin scored 43 of 71 balls
4. Fourth ODI in which India won by 8 runs -- Sachin scored 79 of 119 balls
5. Fifth ODI in which Aus won by 9 wickets -- Sachin scored 47 of 73 balls
6. Sixth ODI in which Aus won by 18 runs -- Sachin scored 72 of 72 balls
7. Seventh ODI in which India won by 2 wickets -- Sachin scored 21 of 36 balls

So in 6 matches (one match is abandoned and so it won't be considered for records) he has scored 278 runs at an average of 46.33. Wasn't this a decent performance!!!

Just for the sake of completion: If at all the abandoned match is also considered then his average becomes 39.71.

In all the last 3 series which I have mentioned above he has exceeded his career ODI average which is 44.23 (Source: cricinfo.com) . So let's stop cribbing about Sachin and appreciate the good things he do on the field.

Related: You can check the stats of Sachin (or any player) easily with the help of 'StatsGuru' feature of Cricinfo.com

Update on 18-Nov-07:

Check out Sachin's Performance in the home series against Pakistan here. FYI, he averaged 51.8 in the ODI series. (Also got out twice in 90's).

Are Indian Cricketers over paid?

I often get this doubt (atleast when Indian's lose crunch matches :) ) on whether Govt of India is giving too much to Indian Cricketers?

Pouring cash rewards, flats / house / plot etc., for winning a series is acceptable if it is done by BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India). But if the same thing is being followed by Govt of India then I guess there is some problem.

Cricket has a huge following within India than anyother sports (it's my personal opinion). So media coverage is more on that, so are the advertisers. It's business for them so they invest their time and money on something where they get more ROI. To me its perfectly fine and I don't see any issues with that.

But the only problem is Govt shouldn't do the same thing by announcing awards / prizes to cricketers alone! For a government it should be like anyother sports in India. There are lots of people who have shined well in 'atheletics', 'Table Tennis', 'Chess', ' Hockey' etc., in India. Are everybody treated the same way?

One good thing which I saw in the recent past is Tamil nadu Cheif Minister (Dr. Karunanidhi) treated all Tamil Nadu sports as equal and announced prize money to almost every achiever according to the contribution they have made to their respective sport. Way to go!

Prize money won by Indian Cricketers for winning Twenty20 Championship

Extract from cricket buzz

1) The Indian team received a prize money worth $490,000 for winning the Twenty20 World Cup.

2) The BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) announced a prize money of $3 million (Rs 12 crore) for the team. Each member got a check of Rs 80 lakhs.

3) A special cash reward of Rs 1 crore given to Yuvraj Singh for his 6 sixes in an over.

4) The support staff including the Manager, Bowling Coach, Fielding Coach and Physio got Rs 15 lakhs each.

5) Lalit Modi, Vice President of BCCI gifted a Porsche car to Yuvraj Singh on his personal capacity.

6) Neosport presented a Mercedes car to R P Singh for excellent bowling performance in the tournament.

7) Sahara India has announced to give flats (worth Rs 25 lakhs = $62,500) to each cricketer.

8) The Delhi government has decided to offer free Air services to all members of Team India for 5 years.

9) Air India and Indian Airlines announced out-of-turn promotion for some cricketers including Dhoni, Uthappa, Gambhir and Harbhajan Singh. They will also get a steep hike in their salary.

10) The Haryana government has given Rs 21 lakhs to Joginder Singh.

11) The Karnataka government has announced a cash reward of Rs 5 lakhs each for player Robin Uthappa and bowling coach Venkatesh Prasad.

12) Maharashtra government has announced a reward of Rs. 10 lakhs each for Ajit Agarkar and Rohit Sharma.

13) Virender Sewhag and Gautam Gambhir will receive Rs 5 lakhs each from the Delhi government.

14) The Kerala government has announced a cash reward of Rs 5 lakhs for S Sreesanth.

15) The Baroda Cricket Association has handed over checks worth Rs 11 lakhs each to Pathan brothers - Irfan Pathan and Yusuf Pathan. In addition, they also received Rs 5 lakhs each from the Gujarat government.

16) RP Singh became the first recepient of the Manyavar Kanshiramji International Sports Award that carries a reward of Rs 10 lakhs.

17) The Jharkhand Government has bestowed the first "Jharkhand Ratna" award on Mahendra Singh Dhoni. According to the Chief Minister of the state, Dhoni will get a "surprise gift" on arrival.

18) The Union government has decided to give Z+ Security cover to M S Dhoni. Although it's not an award, only few eminent and VVIP persons in the country receive such security cover.

Related Article : HindustanTimes

Television journalist asking stupid question to Master Blaster :)

Extract from Cricinfo.com

Sachin Tendulkar endured a prickly moment on the eve of his 400th one-day international when a television journalist asked him if his career had more lows than highs. "Go and check up the records," he shot back. "I think you are watching a different game." And Tendulkar, of course, is right.

The complete article can be read here: http://content-ind.cricinfo.com/indvaus/content/current/story/314833.html

Well said Sachin we know what you have contributed to Indian Cricket and I am sure you are one of the very few players who can't be replaced in Indian side.

Nice Quote by Gandhi...

Be the change you want to see -- Mahatma Gandhi

Yoga::measure for a long life!

I read an article titled 'Yoga fights chronic diseases' on 23rd Sep 2007 in Deccan Chronicle. It was a good read. Yoga instructor Suneel Sigh has said the following in that:

A study conducted in early India showed that a tortoise breathes three times in one minute and lives for 300 years. An elephant takes 5 breathes in one minute and lives for 120 years. A dog breathes 42 times while a human being takes 15 breathes in one minute. Both live for 14 and 65 years respectively. Kapalbhati pranayama teaches one to control one's breathing and prolong life

Article on 'What is Hinduism?' by Ed Viswanathan

I read the article on 'What is Hinduism' by Ed Viswanathan few days back and it was a really a good read. The major topics covered in this article are:

1. What is Hinduism?
2. Who is the founder of Hinduism?
3. Who is a Hindu?
4. What Attracts One to Hinduism?
5. When did Hinduism Take Birth?
6. What was the original name of Hinduism?
7. What is the language in which the Hindu scriptures were written?
8. How was Hinduism Started?
9. What are the Sacred Books of Hinduism?
10. Rig Veda – Knowledge of Hymns – 10589 verses
11. Yajur Veda – Knowledge of Liturgy – 3988 verses
12. Sama Veda – Knowledge of Music – 1549 verses
13. Atharva Veda – Knowledge given by Sage Athrvana – 6000 Verses
14. Is Bhagavad Gita the Hindu Holy Bible?
15. Father of Atom Bomb and Bhagavad Gita
16. If there is only One God, Why Hindus worship many God forms?
17. Why Hindus Workship Idols?
etc,

Extracts from Ed Viswanathan's article:

Hinduism and Judaism are mothers of all modern religions in the world. Buddhism, Sikhism and to some extent Jainism and Zoroastrianism came from Hinduism. Ofcourse, Jainism existed during Rig Vedic Period. Statues of Rishabha, the first Thirthankara and founder of Jainism was found in the Mohenjadaro, Harappa excavations. Islam and Christianity came from Judaism. Judaism, Islam and Christianity have Abraham as the common father figure. All three have many common prophets. There is even mention about Jesus Christ many times in the Holy koran.

The Hindu Rig Veda is the foremost book of Hindus. It is the oldest book in the world. Nobody knows when Rig Veda was written. According to Bal Gangadhar Tilak it was written in 5000 BC. German philosopher Max Muller dates 1500 BC.
According to some it took centuries to write this book from 1500 B.C. to 500
B.C. Rig Veda is older than Gilgamesh (2500 B.C) and the Old Testament.

Nice Quote on doctors desk...

I went to a clinic few days back in Ayanavaram. There I read this quote in a board on the doctors desk... Your confidence helps me heal you faster.

Nice Quote on the topic "Health"

I read an interesting quote on the topic "Health" in Madras Scan Center, Anna Nagar, Chennai. It is, "You are what you eat. Watch your Diet"

Did Shah Jahan really built Taj Mahal?

I was searching for some good travel agency as myself and my wife wants to visit Delhi and Agra after few months (based on the climatic condition there). I have been there to those places during my school days for a weeks trip.

During the search I stumbled upon this article which has made me think whether "Shah Jahan" really built Taj Mahal or not? [Don't forget to check the Photographs section at the bottom of the article.]

After that, I also went through http://www.flex.com/~jai/articles/tajmahal.html where an exhaustive summary of evidence ranging over 100 points!!! has been provided. The actual source is from the book "TajMahal: The True Story" written by historian Shri. P. N. Oak.

I am now wondering whether what we studied in History are all wrong? Have we been fed with incorrect information for this long? If yes is the answer then what could be the motive behind this!?!

How did the name "Hindu" came into existance?

Based on what I read in many sources I came to know this:


Sanatana Dharma is the original name of Hinduism. Persians are the one who coined the word "Hindu" when they invaded India during 6th century B.C.

In Persian language the letter H and S seems to be pronounced almost the same way. Because the Sanskrit sound of “S” converts to “H” in the Parsee language. So the Persians mistook the word Sindhu to Hindu.

Experience of watching preview show of Rajinikanth's Sivaji...

In the last week of Feb '07 I went to US for a 3 months official trip. I was very happy for the fact that I can watch Sivaji in US itself (As the initial date for the release was April 12th or 15th). So I was enquiring on where normally tamil movies would be aired and the way to get tickets etc.,

Unfortunately the movie got postponded quite a few times for various reasons known only to Rajinikanth, AVM and director Shankar.

In the end my return date was confirmed as May 21st '07. I was following www.rajinifans.com regularly to keep me updated on Sivaji news :)

After coming back to India I didn't have plans to watch the movie on the first day. It's because I normally hate watching any movie on the first day as it would too crowded and the fans would go crazy inside the theatre and would make it difficult for us to understand the dialogues. When Rajinikanth's movie BABA was released few years back I got tickets for the first day first show in Rohini complex (Koyembedu) via my friend Rameesh Ramachandran. But my wife was too adament that I should not go on the first day so I informed Rameesh to go along with somebody else :(

Coming back to current affairs :) When Sivaji's release date was announced as June 15th almost everyone of my friends were keen in finding a source by which they can grab a ticket. I also wanted to watch the movie on the first day but as usual didn't try for anything presuming that it would be too crowded to go and stand in a queue.

On June 14th my manager asked me whether I am interested in watching Sivaji on the same day evening show in Albert theatre!!! I first thought he is just kidding as the movie is about to get released the next day only (June 15th). But on further enquiry I came to know that a day before preview shows would be normally shown (majorly for Fan clubs) and he has managed to get 2 tickets. Wow it was a pleasant surprise to me and somehow I managed to get permission from my wife this time lol.

The actual show timing was 9.45 PM. So we both left in a two wheeler to Albert theatre at 9PM. We were there by 9.20 PM and the entire road was flooded with Rajini Fans :) Man I was getting prepared to experience a preview of Rajinikanth's movie for the first time. The theatre security didn't allow our vehicle inside the complex. We were informed that we need to park the vehicle on the road only for now. Later we can park it inside few minutes before the show starts. I was fine with that idea!! (because its my managers vehicle hehe) and so parked the vehicle near a tea stall which is just opposite to the theatre. When we entered the theatre I was shocked to see the notice board there. It read, the first show which was about to start by 6.30 PM has started only by 8.15PM. Which means our show will start by 11PM or so. We had no other go than to watch what's happening around us within the theatre complex till the show starts.

We saw few guys climbing through the advertisement racks and pouring 'Milk' on the banners of Rajinikanth. Next I saw three guys with lungi who climbed on the advertisement rack and a big rope was thrown from the ground to them. Only then i realised that these guys have climbed up to place a new 'Rajinikanth' banner there. It wasn't as easy as I was thinking. The rope got cut twice and the guys standing below somehow managed to catch hold of the banner without tearing it.

Though I have heard pouring 'Milk' on Rajinikanth banners it was very odd for me to see and digest it in reality. Why should these guys spend their money and pour milk on a banner which goes totally waste to the ground? In many movies/functions Rajinikanth himself has said 'first take care of your parents / house'. I don't know when these guys would realise that!

Apart from these the fans who were standing outside the theatre were electrifying. The tea shops and the hotels opposite to the theatre where open all through the night. We went there to drink a coffee for the sake of killing time. The road was crowded and it was very noisy too. I didn't feel like its 11PM. It was as if I am standing in the road during afternoon :)

Somehow we managed to kill time till 11.30PM but there were no signs of our show getting started. It got delayed... delayed....delayed and at last they opened the doors for us to enter and by the time I managed to locate and sit on my seat it was 1AM. Just when I entered 'Rajinikanth' was climbing down the escalator in the airport. Man to watch him on a theatre after a long gap was really great :)

The song 'Ballelakka' was really good. As I was thinking all these days I wasn't able to watch the movie peacefully. Fans where shouting, dancing and even fighting among themself!

All the songs (lyrics, music and coreography) where excellent. There were lots of scenes in the movie which I like very much. For ex:

1. The punch dialogue which he speaks 'Kanna panninga dhan Kootama Varum ... Singam single'a dhan varum'.
2. The sequence done in a Tea stall where Rajinikanth and Summan (Villan) discusses about Summan's illegal wealth.
3. All the scenes in which he comes with 'Mottai' :)
4. The way he said 'Pera kettalley chumma adhirudhulla' :)
5. Nayendara (who acted as heroine in Chandramukhi) came for the dance number 'Ballelakka' was looking cute (actually cuter than Shreya. I would have loved if she had done the role of heroine.).
etc.,

Overall I felt that the first half was full of comedy (but slightly dragging) and the second half was fast moving. Punch dialogues were great but it would have been awesome if those punches have come from Rajinikanth himself. Rajinikanth rocks as usual and I loved this movie more than 'Badsha'.

Sachin Tendulkar reaches 11000 mark

The only cricketer I love to watch anytime is 'Sachin Tendulkar'. For past few years I don't watch a match in which India plays if Sachin is not there in the team.

He is one of the person in my list of personalities whom I would love to meet sometime in my life (along with Rajinikanth, Abdul Kalam, Vijayakumar I.P.S etc.,).

For me, he is the best attacking batsman India has ever produced. Understandably due to age / physical conditions he has changed his style of batting now. Still I love watching him :)

I know of many people who still have hope in India winning a match as long as Sachin is there in the crease.

The latest record of Sachin is: He is the 3rd person in the world to reach 11000 runs in Test cricket and the 1st person from India to do so. Congrats Sachin. Keep 'em coming.

Btw, Brian Lara and Allan Border are the two persons before him. I am sure he would overtake them in the near future :)

The best part which I like in Sachin is he seldom responds to his critics via media. Mostly he responds with his BAT. I guess that is one attitude everyone of us may want to practice ourself in our respective profession!

Do you know?

1. What is the original name of "Hinduism"?
Sanatana Dharma

2. Where does the words 'Mother', 'Father', 'Geomentry', 'Trignomentry' etc., came from?

It seems these words where created based on the following words in Sanskrit.

a. Mata - Mother
b. Pita - Father
c. Gyaamiti (meaning, measuring of earth) - Geomentry
d. Trikonamiti (meaning, measuring triangular forms) - Trignomentry

Check out this for knowing similar information. It was a nice read for me.

Why does Hindu's alone do Idol Worshipping?

In my view, there is only one GOD who doesn't have a form. Based on individuals beliefs, creativity, intellect each one thinks of different forms. That is, everyone of us can worship GOD in whatever form suits us and based on the stage of spiritual evolution we are in! We know the need of having a flag for each country so an Idol does the same thing for the devotees of an religion. So no harm in it!

May be its a myth to say that Hindu's alone are into Idol worshipping! I always wonder whether there can be any person in this world who does not believe in an idol or symbol!
Though all religions have the concept of God with name and form I have read that Hindus alone have the courage to admit that fact.

In Christianity,

1. The Holy Cross in the church,
2. The picture of Jesus Christ,
3. The statue of Mary,
4. Statues of patron saints, etc., are all idols.

The point I am trying to drive across is "Idol worship is there every where.".

In my view different names of GOD and Religions are created by human beings living in different parts / communities / cultures. Mostly situation based but the ultimate aim for everything would be to lead the human to good life.

For example,

1. I remember seeing sculpture of Christ in the form of a boy holding on to a Book.
2. Christ in the form of a boy holding on to a sheep.
3. I have also read that 'pictures of Christ vary according to their culture'.

3.1 A loving young white man in USA,
3.2 A tough man looking like a judge in Russia,
3.3 A nice black man in Africa (may be you want to read this too) and
3.4 A man looking like a typical man from China with a sheepish beard. (May be the picture in this site refer to it.)

Aren't all of these are idol worships?

For further understanding on this topic please refer http://www.geocities.com/profvk/gohitvip/1202.html

I always advocate these:

1. One should not say that its wrong or right for any issue! All we need to do is just understand the situation and learn that there are one set of people who say this as right for these reasons and there are different sets of people who say otherwise. We need to just analyze and gain experience out of it. All these experience would help us make a well informed / matured decisons at later stage in our life!

2. Don't get bogged down by any religion saying that I will read only Bible or Quran or Bhagavad Gita and decide that others are wrong! Learn the good points from all sources and try to practice them as much as possible.

3. Just be helpful to others as much as possible.

4. Trust and Humanity are basis for human life.

5. What ever religion we belong to, lets just have trust on the GOD (in what ever form we believe) and lead a good life :)

[Tamil Poem] Volleyball team

Yesterday we nominated our Volleyball team for my companies this year sports event. To that mail one of my friend Mahesh sent out a response as follows :)

Register pannia-vargolo PALA
Vilayada varuba-vargallo SILA
Adhiley Nee dhan - THALA
Opponent'ai Pottu - POLLA

I have translated this as-is into Tamil version here

ரெஜிஸ்டர் பண்ணியவர்களோ பல
விளையாட வருபவர்களோ சில
அதிலே நீதான் தல
ஆபணன்டை போட்டு பொல

Superstitious belief...

What does "superstitious beliefs" mean? In my view, anything which you don't understand properly but you blindly practice can be called as superstitious belief.

In my experience, UNDERSTANDING is really tough, generally we ASSUME and screw the entire thing :)

Science in Vedas

We have all been brought up in a such a way that we automatically believe we are steeped in superstitious and are ignorant scientific knowledge. We believe only the west gave us lessons on science.

But the fact is completely the reverse. When Copernicus forumated the theory of earth being a sphere and not flat, he was so prosecuted by the christian clergy that he had to disown his discovery. But our vedas speak of planetary positions and their movements in the Universe. Even our tamil sanga literature, almost 2500 years old, talk of the Universe as a conglomorate of innumerable spherical planets.

Our Panchangas (Almanac) have a cycle of 60 years. For example: This years panchanga will be exactly replicated after 60 years. The calculations will be so exact that even the Solar and Lunar eclipses will be predicted to the exact second.

We laugh at the picturisation of our Sun as riding a chariot driven by seven horses. But then we dutifully accept the fact that the Sun rays are actually made up of seven colors. What we call as Vibgyor, Violet, Indigo, Blue, Green, Yellow, Orange and Red. This is what our vedas conveyed in the seven horse driven chariot parable.

Our Vedas, Upanishad and Puranas are rich store-houses of the deeper meaning of the universe. This can be exemplified in the well known tales of Dhasavathara in vyasa's Bagavatham.

If you ask an educated person, who propounded the theory of mans evolution, the person will unhesitatingly identify Charles Darvin. But in reality it was Vedavyasa who propounded the theory of evolution.

To prove this, we will have to go first to the eigth Avathar. You may know 'Balarama' is the eigth avathar. You may also know that he is shown with a plough in his hand as a weapon. Now, let me ask you, can anyone use a plough as a weapon of war or aggression? As you might be knowing plough can never be used as a weapon. It is truely, only an instrument of agriculture.

Then, what is the real significance of plough at this juncture? Now go back to the 6th and 7th avathars. 'Parasurama' the 6th was a hunter in the forest with a crude weapon made with a stick cut from a branch of a tree, which had at one end a sharp stone tied with fibre extracted from the bark of a tree. This axe was the first weapon that came in the avathar. With the axe one can attack someone in hand-to-hand fight or kill some animal for food.

Next avathar is Rama with an improved version of a weapon which can kill or wound some enemy or some animal from a distance. In fact Rama was the first to invent a launcher. His bow can launch an arrow and attack from a distance.

These two avathars exemplify the primitive man who probably lived in caves in the forest and worked out a living by hunting. From this hunting man advanced into social life with agriculture as his occupation. Consider also, ploughing can be done only by tethering the plough to a pair of bulls.

Now, that needs a herder of cows and bulls. So, Krishna came as the ninth avathar. He, not only was a cowherd but also the first to advent into the fine arts with his musical instrument, a flute. His weapon was a chakra which cannot be used as a weapon of war. Probably, it was the introduction of wheel in the human world for easy travel. Since agriculture presupposes a social life Krishna was the first to propound each ours duty in a society. His 'Geetha' is a set of rules for social life.

We can now begin from the beginning. As we all know life form evolved in water. So the first of the Ten avathars is shown as 'Mathsyavathar or fish avathar'. Then in course of time the life form tried to venture on to the land. Though it often ventured on to the earth, it lived mainly in water. That was 'Kurma Avathar or Tortoise'.

Then, the life form began to live on land, but its affinity to water was still pronounced. So 'Varaga Avathar' or 'The pig' came into being. Now, evolution has reached a crucial stage. Man has to evolve. But, before that, some being halfway between beast and man has to come-in. That halfway mark is signified by 'Narasima Avathar', a half man, half beast. Naturally, he used his teeth and finger nails as weapons.

Then evolved man himself. When compared to the other life-forms, he was very punny. That was 'Vamana Avathar'. He was the first to invent an instrument. He took a stick from a branch of a tree and attached a dried palm leaf on top. That was a crude form of umbrella to ward of the wrath of Nature, like the scorching sun rays or the pelting raindrops. But in that avathar itself man is shown to have conquered the element by his sheer brain power and mental capacity. That is the significance of 'Vamana' transforming into 'Thirivikrama'.

Then, ofcourse came first the crude hunter with an axe and advanced hunter with a bow and arrow. They were primitive forest dwellers. After that evolved the agriculturist with his plough and his co-worker, the cowherd. They were the representatives of social gathering with sets of rules and regulations.

Now we are in Kaliyuga. Kalki has to appear. Kalki has been picturised as a warrior on a white horse with a shinning sword in his hand. Actually, he could be a man on a white space-ship with a ray gun or some weapon in his hand.

If we begin to think in these lines and delving deep into the significance of our ancient literature and begin to interpret them properly we will be astounded to know how far advanced in scientific knowledge, our ancestors had been.

Hello World {Once again}

I would keep this blog majorly as non-technical and talk on almost all topics to the best of my ability :)