Manmadan Ambu

With much reluctance, I agreed to go and watch this movie at the Inox theatre last week with my family. My spirits to watch a Kamala Hassan movie got dampened when I noticed that the hall  was half empty and felt justified when the show ended!  Here's Kamal, a retired Army Major who takes up a job of a detective for Madhavan, an industrialist who asks him to trail Trisha who is a film actor and engaged to Madhavan.  Knowing pretty well that Trisha is an actor and has to act in close quarters with all her heroes cast opposite to her,  Madhavan and his mother creates ruckus forcing her to take off from her schedule to be with her friend Sangeetha in Paris.  In the meantime, the character of Madhavan undergoes a change as he takes to drinking. The way of speaking also changes as he spits venom on Trisha imagining her to be in love with her co-star!  K S Ravikumar, the director has not grown up from his younger days and cherishes the olden themes which are no longer relevant in  modern times.  Kamal, the retired Major is on a spying trail of Trisha and in the bargain takes us around France, Italy and Spain for no reason.  Kamal has tried to emulate the style and script of "Crazy Mohan" but has failed to live up to the original creating unnecessary confusion of personalities and the surroundings.  The little boy of Sangeetha is an eye sore to the entire movie as he talks and behaves a bit too much for his character and size.  There is no music despite the fact that Devi Sri Prasad appears in the title as the music director.  Kamal has the habit of overpowering the music directors to sing for himself and i the bargain, you hear an old haggard voice trying to sing in tune!  I could see many people walking out of the show in the middle due to absolute boredom but I cling ed to the seat since it provided a nice cushioned seating for relaxing.  Kamal still has appetite for acting as Hero when in reality his face and structure looks old and older for an actor like Trisha! He also romances a white girl in the film who looks stunning and even better than Trisha but unfortunately dies in an accident to pave way and scope for Kamal to romance Trisha, all over again?   The Major who does all this just to fund the cancer treatment of his ailing friend in Ramesh Arvind has in the process made sure that Ramesh Arvind, who is otherwise a good actor is totally out of the film industry!  The role which Ramesh Arvind has doned does not speak well about his future to sustain in the industry.  Cleverly at the end, Kamal keeps Trisha for himself and pairs Madhavan with Sangeetha who is a divorcee with 2 ready made kids who have outgrown their size!  It will be worthwhile for   Madhavan and Ramesh Arvind  not to appear in Kamal's films as they don't add up to the  value and on the contrary, it only diminishes.  K S Ravikumar must go for a directorial course in Hollywood just to replenish his thoughts which are old and stale. The only directorial appreciation in the whole movie is when Kamal explains his life to Trisha when things roll back in the reverse mode.  Udayanidhi Stalin must have taken up this project as a sequel and challenge to check mate his relatives in Sun Pictures who made Robot with Rajini and Shankar but must be feeling sorry about the outcome of this movie.  Rajini has certainly grown in size, stature and image whereas Kamal is where he was 20 years back!  If you are looking for some nice airconditioned relaxation, I would recommend this movie any day!!

Farmer's suicide in India

It is a matter of serious concern when we read reports of farmer's committing suicide due to financial burden resulting in poverty, hunger and eventually forcing them to commit such dastardly acts which sound barbaric in the present day scenario.  One fails to understand as to how a farmer can starve when he is producing food grains?  The procurement system of the government is to be blamed for this situation.  If only the government encourages the farmer to sell his produce directly to the consumer through some system of co-operative movement, the farmers will stand to gain not only in terms of money but also help in eliminating the middle men engaged in this trade who create a situation of scarce and abundance to suit their pockets!  The entire agriculture ministry can be dissolved and the minister shown the doors if only the farmers unite for their own cause and survival?  Tamilnadu has shown that a direct meet between the farmers and the end consumers is possible through opening of "Uzhavar Sandhai" meaning Farmer's market by building facilities for exhibition and sale of the produce. By this method, the farmers are able to realise a better price for their produce.  The end users stand to gain in terms of cheaper prices as it happens to be a direct sale!  The central government should advocate this ideology and propagate the same so that the farmers are happy with their sales and spot realisation of money.  The central government can also have a sigh of relief off loading one major ministry and a few central ministers  from their piggy-back, saving considerable money!  Will the centre act to benefit the farmers and to prevent further suicides amongst the agricultural community?

Bengaluru Airport

The Airport of Bengaluru deserves full appreciation for maintaining cleanliness.  The entire floor of the airport is  neat and clean and you can spot workers constantly at their job to live up to this credit.  The rest rooms are spic and span and there are workers who are constantly making efforts to keep the area tidy.  Once you come out of the airport, you can spot restaurants and coffee shops where you can sit and relax.  The car park is sprawling and sometimes one really wonders if he is in India!  There are clear indications for the passengers about the public transport system and other conveniences. There are at least 8 counters reserved for the CISF security to frisk passengers boarding the flight which saves a lot of time for the passengers. The entire staff of the BIAL, Bengaluru deserve compliments for raising this airport to International levels and standards.  Hope the other states will follow this level of standards and style while constructing airports in their respective states?

Recently when I was driving down to Bangalore, I saw this car zipping at speed and overtaking many vehicles. To my amusement, I noticed something strange in the number plate which read "Boss"! By the time you could analyse the matter, the car had gone! I clicked my camera just in time to catch this unique identity of the vehicle. I am sure the traffic police will also be lost for a while noticing the car which carries a different style of number plate? Credit must be given to the number plate maker for making this different?

T 3 Terminal in Delhi

The latest T 3 Terminal at the Indira Gandhi International Airport, Delhi is a class apart and enhances the prestige and speaks about the development that is taking place in India.  The terminal is huge and could be compared to any of the International Airports abroad.  The aero-bridges that connect the planes are neat and smart looking and raises itself to international standards that leaves an element of awe in the minds of travellers who use this facility!  The corridors that lead to the baggage claim looks neat and clean.  The walk from the alighting point up to the baggage claim can measure up to a Kilometer!  Obviously, our countrymen find this a difficult encounter as everyone is used to the luxury of not walking inside the airport at all all these years! Although there are walkalators provided as in Singapore, it was not working in some of the stretches causing little inconvenience to the passengers.  I could find quite a few grumbling about this walk to catch a flight or to retrieve the baggage but then, one has to understand that this is how all the big airports outside the country are!  There are battery operated carts that cater to the elders and needy to transport them to their respective gates to board like in Singapore.  There are many shops and establishments within the airport to amuse the passengers according to their wants and taste!  The airport security that frisks the passengers are a bit slow and lethargic in their attitude which is the sole irking point.  What requires monitoring is that there are men who hop on to the moving battery operated carts within the airport who keep gossipping with the driver preventing him from discharging his duties towards the public and one really wonders as to how these men get inside the airport?  If they are staff attached to some other department then they should be given warning not to hop onto the vehicle that is meant for passenger's use.  The experience of T 3 requires appreciation and both the civil aviation minister and the Airport authority deserve it richly!

Chennai requires Big Malls

Chennai, though a metropolitan city has been always content with the available resources and space.  For instance, there are only a handful of Malls resulting in overcrowding which is not a pleasant thing to happen specially when you go shopping or to watch a movie in a comfort zone!  The newly opened Express Mall is the biggest so far and attracts huge crowds.  On a given weekend, the Mall over flows with human elements!  The Escalator is so much crowded that you can feel the person behind breathing on your neck!! You have an entertaining session when you see many elders and ladies wanting to jump on to the running escalator but reluctant to do so holding the side rails and preventing others from using it.  When you beg excuse to proceed ahead, you are given a cold stare as though it is discourteous to move ahead of those struggling to get on to the escalator!! After a while, when you want to ease yourself and enter the rest room, you find a serpentine queue, one behind the other, many having unzipped their pants already!!  The city requires at least one super or hyper mall in every 5 kms of radius so that the crowd can be managed and neatness maintained?  Often you find youngsters roaming around without really using the facilities.  The Management of the Malls can impose a fee of Rs 100/- towards entrance and adjust the same against any purchases or utilisation of the facility inside the Mall so that crowd can be controlled making it pleasant for the serious shoppers.

The attraction of a Mall is its air conditioning comfort and the population in Chennai is getting used to this style and comfort so much that the crowd on the sands of Marina Beach or elsewhere is thinning as compared to previous years!  The Mall provides full entertainment of all sorts besides good eateries with diversified taste!
Chennai will do well if more shopping Malls and more restaurants are opened to cater to the ever growing crowd that is on the look out for entertainment alongside value for money!

Varanasi Blast

The holy place of Varanasi was devastated by a blast on 7th December, 2010 leaving the whole city of Varanasi in a state of confusion and terror stricken.  The State government failed miserably once again to tackle or prevent this Terror attack and chose to blame the central government for not providing  adequate security.

The Demolition of  Babri Masjid  occurred on 6th December several years back and it has become a routine to be on high security alert on the 6th December and once the day is over, all the security agencies  retreat and take it easy without realising that the terrorists could also attack the next day or for that matter, any time during the year!  The State government should stimulate their intelligence agencies and keep their security forces on alert specially in sensitive places which are identified by both the state and the centre.  There is no point in the state and the central government trading charges against each other as both should equally feel responsible and above all, ashamed of this incident that should not have happened.

Its time the State government assumes full responsibility of the state that they rule and liberate people from the woes of terror, once for all?

This imortal sung sung b Kishore Kumar is from the film Safar starring Rajesh Khanna and Sharmila Tagore. The music is scored by Kalyanji Anandji and lyrics penned by Indivar. This flm became a hit in the 70s and the songs were liked by one and all. This is one of my favorites and I keep singing this whenever I get time....... so much of meaning contained in this little song!!

You come across different kinds of people in your day to day  life with different brain quotient, mannerisms and completely different ways of thinking that may be just the opposite of what you think or have in mind!  During my 20 years of banking career with Oriental Bank of Commerce, I dealt with thousands of clients and staff and enriched my experience of dealing with each one of them not necessarily in the same way and often indulging in compromise for the sake of managing the branch affairs!   One such personality whom I can not forget  in the bank while working at Chennai was a Tamilian, quite fragile looking, advocate like behaviour and a strong memory power which could not be challenged at any point of time!  This gentleman named Mani(name changed) always had to say the opposite of whatever you say and used to insist that his view point is correct!  The net result was that you could never extract what you wanted from that particular person and it became a known phenomenon in the bank that Mr Mani would never listen to what seniors said ?  All the branch incumbents started ignoring this person for the simple reason that he will try and reason out not to fall in your line of thinking!  Quite often I was  pleasantly reminded of a joke that was in circulation in the 80s which goes like this:
Ram Lal a Jat from Haryana, an uneducated youth in his early 30s went for a job of manning  a Railway  level crossing.  He was confronted by a jury of higher officials and Engineers from the Rail Ministry  who posed a question to him.  Given a situational cloudy dark evening  with expected  thunder showers and gusty winds, you find that the fish plates of the rails near the level crossing  have been removed and in a matter of 15 minutes some Express train is going to pass by?  You as a  responsible gate keeper of the level crossing  notice this grave situation  and want to prevent the train from  passing and resulting in accident.  what will you do?

Mr Ram Lal  blinked for a while and mustered courage to say that he would immediately alarm the station master of the previous station by ringing him up on the railway phone  and urge him not to green flag the train as there are rails which are removed nearer to his level crossing.  Not to get convinced by the explanation that came forth, the officials again come up saying "Supposing the telephone lines are all down because of heavy showers"?

Pat came the reply from the eager youth in Mr Ram Lal saying "I would run towards the previous station shouting not to flag off the train"!

No, the interviewers remain stubborn not to get convinced and to rekindle the thought process,  pose a question back"suppose, on that given day  you are sick and down with fever and your voice is choked and down in the bin"?

Not getting worried, Ram Lal says I will hold some Red cloth and wave towards the train indicating danger ahead"?

The Railway officials quickly fires  yet another salvo"suppose there is no red cloth available in your vicinity"?

Disgusted with the officials not seeking solutins to the problem, he says"Sir, I have given some solutions with proposed actions and nothing seems to convince you all.  In that event,  I will wake up my wife and children and tell them to come out and see a real time train accident that they have been wanting to see for a long time"!!!

you come across so many faces and multiple personalities in your walk of life and there are so many with whom you would like to converse and there are equal numbers from whom you stand to gain experience!

my friend Su Ravi, a great pet from Pune wanted me to add this too:

n a 5th Grade Class room:

 

வாத்தியார்:   ராமு, உன்னை காட்டுல சிங்கம் துரத்தினா என்ன செய்வே?

ராமு:              பக்கத்துல இருக்கற மரத்துல ஏறி தப்பிச்சுப்பேன் ஸார்!

 

வாத்:             பக்கத்துல மரமே இல்லேன்னா?

ராமு:            சட்டுனு குளத்துல குதிச்சு மறைஞ்சுப்பேன்,

வாத்:            அங்க குளமே இல்லேன்னா?

ராமு:           ஒரு புதர்ல ஒளிஞ்சுப்பேன்

வாத்:            புதரே இல்லேனா?

 

ராமு,கடுப்பாகி : யோவ், நீ யார் கட்சி-என கட்சியா, சிங்கம் கட்சியா அத மொதல்ல சொல்லு

 

சு.ரவி

 

Political leaders Bee-line to Putaparuthi to be seen with Sai Baba!

Amongst various scams and charges the political leaders including the CM of Karnataka and the defacto CM of Tamil Nadu were seen alongside the great saint of the century Satya Sri Sai Baba at his abode in Putaparuthi to seek blessings to get out of murky waters that they are in and to win sympathy overall.  Hindus in general have a great quality to pardon and forget any body's sin if repentance is shown in such religious forms!

Sai Baba who celebrated his 85th birthday could have utilised the opportunity to advise the politicians to refrain from such scandalous acts of money making or creation of wealth in any form.  He could have talked about living a simple, spiritual life and working relentlessly for achieving social and economic goals for the well being of human beings. He could have highlighted the Bakhti Marg to achieve objectives and goals in life and lift the spirits over and above the worldly pleasures which is called "Maya"!

Unfortunately, none of our swamijis or God Men preach anything about cleanliness in public life and the necessity of being sincere, disciplined and honest to attain a place that will be closer to God, once the soul leaves the human body.  It is essential that such noble and Holy  people utilise the opportunity to show good  directions to all our politicians who scurry for cover and blessings whenever they are trapped in scandals.  I bow my head to Satya Sri Sai Baba and offer my sincere pranams and wish for meaningful life which will take me a step closer to God?

Guzaarish

Jodha Akbar created waves in recent times with Hrithik and Aishwarya leading the movie in box office collections and both came to be remembered as the ideally suited lovers on the screen!  Not wanting to allow Aishwarya to age, Sanjay Leela Bansali and Ronnie screw wallah quickly applied their minds to spin out yet another movie with the same pair and make a quick buck!  Sadly, the theme selected is a heavy painful story which may win some filmfare or National awards but not the Box office.  Hrithik as a quadriplegic patient has shown what acting is all about siting on a wheel chair or lying on a bed purely with his facial expressions and makes even hard core men jerk their tears with his acting.  Aishwarya as a nurse treating Hrithik for well over 12 years is fully decked up and dolled to make any paralysed men to wish for a nurse like Aish!!  Aishwarya as a serious nurse devoted in service of Hrithik does well when she argues a point in the court for the quadriplegic patients who opt death instead of undergoing the secluded life and inevitable slow death!  The following Spanish dance in a pub explains the talents of this world beauty in dancing, foot tapping and  the understanding of the rhythm.  The graceful actor does a dance which is the only main  entertainment in the whole film!!  The editing of the film is wonderfully mixed with scenes depicting Hrithik as a magician and the performances which are magical and captivating. The 3 scenes of magic that's is pictured is absolutely amazing and the audience watch it with awe! There was an expectation that more of such magic with Hrithik will be shown to keep the audience amused and be mesmerised under the aura of Hrithik who looks more an Italian with his long curls and unshaven beard stubs!

 All the other performers justify their roles in the most befitting manner to support the main roles played with such ease and perfection by both Hrithik and Aishwarya Rai.  It is worth mentioning that Aish has picked up some great nuances from her actor father-in-law Amitabh and applies it correctly wherever wanted to leave an impression on the audience.  The music score is soft and melodious and brings more melancholy to the already tear-filled story!!
Those who have not washed their eyes for many days can watch this movie to wash their eyes perfectly and for at least 2 hours of the movie.  The movie will be liked by all matured audience who understand the spectrum of Paralysis and quadriplegic world.  For the common man, despite the presence of Hrithik and aishwarya, there are no romantic scenes or songs shot on outdoors and there is no trace of comedy anywhere in the whole theatre!!  This is a  movie which thrills your heart and brings down a bucket full of tears but there is no happiness at the end!!

Oman- the great nation!

I visited Muscat recently.  One thing that amused me the most is the behaviour of the Arabs and their friendliness!  Arabs have their own style of greeting people with  their  friendly gestures.  I was in the super market looking for some biscuits when at least 3 Arabs came up to me and shook hands saying Salaam walekum!!  I was just thinking if I had become so popular for the Arabs to greet me?  Later on I came to know that if you meet the eyes of people coming in our way, that's how you get greeted! Oh well, it was a good experience!

I was told by my son that even if there is an accident between two motor vehicles, the Arabs are so cool that they first shake hands and enquire if every thing is well in the family and get to know each other well before they call the police as it is mandatory for the police to clear vehicles after certifying the accident to enable processing of insurance claims!!  No one swears at anyone and people generally are cool!

The entire country of Oman is filled with our brothers from Kerala who almost run every business right from the Coffee shop, the Sikhs engaged  in A/c and fridge repair works, Gujus running Pharmacy and restaurants!
Our south Indians, most of them employed with Saud bhawan LLC and  other Building contractors!!  I was quite amused and pleasantly taken by surprise when I found Malayalees working in almost all departmental stores and super markets!! On a lighter vein, so much is the Kerala power felt that if one day they decide to get out of the country, the entire economy of Oman might collapse!!


Trees are being planted all over the Kingdom of Oman and beautiful parks and gardens are being  developed where you can find absolute green grass to walk or sit on?  The trees and the grass are being watered regularly by sprouting sprinklers all over!
In contrast, trees are being  felled in India and the fast fading greenery is visualised in almost all the cities! It will be worthwhile if this act of wiping off greenery results in oil find as in Oman?   There are no wine shops anywhere in the country in contrast to what is being seen in India and in particular reference to Tamil nadu.   In India, the political parties lack will to introduce family well being measures and prefer to stick a label on the whisky bottle highlighting the ill effects of drinking instead of prohibiting production of alcohol.   Permission to manufacture high end foreign cars which can zip @120 kms/hour are given but restrict the public from driving beyond 40 kms/hour by obstructing roads with speed breakers and speed limits!  Smoking is banned in Public but the factories are flourishing and expanding pouring the exchequer with income generated from the Excise-duty!!  Our political leaders are old and carry old school of thoughts without realising the progress made by other countries that were way behind our great Nation!  For instance, even until about a few decades back, the gulf countries depended solely upon India for virtually every thing to live and the freely accepted currency was  our Indian Rupee!! Today, our Indian Rupee has no value anywhere in the world and once you step out of India, you realise that our currency has no value  and to match a wad of Omani Riyals, you need to carry a sack full of Indian Rupees!!!

sometimes, I wonder as to what is wrong with our Indian Rupee?  In 1972, the U S dollar was trading @8.60/Rs100, the Deutsche Mark was trading @4.32/Rs 100 and the yen 3900/Rs 100.  Now, after 40 years we are so low in comparison to all other currencies to make us think what is our Finance minister and the respective ministry doing about it?

I was told that the King of Oman,  pleased with some Indians who have been loyal to his Majesty Sultan qaboos for many years, have been granted the citizenship with a right to live peacefully. They can acquire property and build their own houses but certainly not outside the fundamental designs  and concepts approved by the authority! They are a lot of lucky Indians, oops.. lucky Omani! People are made to work hard to earn their decent living with comforts!  The Sultan stands up tall to look after the developments of the country and helps his citizens!! There are no taxes of any kind and all that you earn is all yours without the tax men cutting into your cake!  sometimes, you wonder if India is taking cues from his majesty the sultan  of Oman to form dynasty rule in many of our states?  ahhhhh.... one such state that I know for sure is Tamilnadu!!!

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Oman should merge with U A E for issuance of Visa

Oman is one of the largest countries in the Gulf abutting the UAE which consists of  7 states termed Emirates!  Buraimi is a place which is included in the state of Oman and is hardly an hour drive to Dubai, the show case of Emirates!  People with an UAE visa can travel freely within the 7 seven states of the Emirates.  The locals and Ex-pats with their employment card can also travel freely not only in UAE but also to countries like Qatar & Saudi Arabia.  The people who get stuck are the visiting family members of people working at these places who are contained with a particular visa of a particular country. It will be a welcome change if Oman and UAE visas are merged so that visitors can travel across without much problems.  As such, prior to 1971 UAE was known as Trucial state or Trucial Oman in reference to a 19th-century truce between the United Kingdomand several Arab Sheikhs.  Buraimi as such is part of Al Ain oasis which belongs to UAE and where most of the things to be seen are present!  It is said that Al Braimi was given to the ruler of  Oman by the ruler of Abu dhabi as a gift in one of the marriages within the family.  It will be a welcome proposition if both these countries acknowledge visas issued by the respective countries  and allow tourists to travel freely within these two states which will only bring increased revenue to the exchequer of both UAE and Oman!