Athithi Tum Kab Jaoge?

Athithi Devo Bhava!  The good old saying supported  our culture and tradition of welcoming guests at home and making their stay comfortable!  During my younger days I remember guests pouring in to our house even at odd hours and staying for weeks and months.  As years passed, the evolution of nuclear family emerged and created a distance between friends and relatives.  The new generation of children have grown up without knowing or meeting their first cousins and other relatives.  The modern day house invariably has 2 or 3 bedrooms which are occupied by the parents and  the children in separate bedrooms.  When a guest comes to the house, either the children are forced to give up  and their rights on their bedroom or the parents.  In most cases, the children are the victims and they do so with displeasure and  negative feelings about the guest in the house.  The first question that the children ask their parents or to the guest these days is the duration of the stay with which calculations are made about restoration of their rights and independence!

Some guests call up to say that they will just visit for a few minutes and stay back for hours together, have dinner and sometimes ask the hosts to drop them back?  This becomes a nuisance value rather than a pleasure which makes one think twice before inviting anyone to home.  Some guests who drop by start telling stories after stories about their achievements and the accomplishments of their children without getting to know anything about the family visited!  However interesting a person may be, it becomes boring to go on listening to his or family credits.  The possibility of fun time getting converted into boredom is enlarged with such guests who barge in without realising the fact that a meeting is pleasant only if you exchange information and not listen to one side!  Some people expect you to pick them up from their place of stay and drop them back after entertainment and dinner.  This is the cause of relationship turning sour which people should understand?  One must take care to ensure that the topic discussed is common to all and is interesting.  Special focus should also be to enquire about the welfare and well being of the persons visited and about their kith and kins.  People would like and love to be associated if one does not talk and boast about himself or his family members.  Last but not the least, some kind of appreciation should be given to the lady of the house for the efforts and care taken for serving the guests dinner as this will encourage the person and make her feel nice about the whole thing.

Aththi becomes a subject of boredom sometimes and makes you feel like telling Athithi tum kab Jaoge?

Graceful Ageing

I was overjoyed when one of my friends and classmate from the school called me up one fine morning to say that he is throwing a party to all his classmates/schoolmates to celebrate his 60th Birthday  and requested my presence.  I was quite eager and counting days to participate in the grand get-to-gether organised in Chennai.
It was pouring throughout the day and the weather punters had forecast heavy downpour due to a depression in the Bay of Bengal.  Unmindful of the natural forces acting against, I went to greet my friend to the venue.

The moment I entered the hall, my friend looked at me and instead of welcoming, the first question he asked was"where is your wife"?
For a moment, it dampened my spirits but I politely remained calm giving a smile and wished him.  There were guests who had gathered at the venue and some of them were known to me as school/classmates.  The next salvo that my friend fired at me saying" you have put on  lot of weight and should do exercise"!  My patience ran out and I told him to look at himself before talking as he too had gained weight and looked heavy!!  My friend realised that he had exceeded the limits of etiquette in commenting upon others and tried to dilute the moment by saying that he goes for a regular morning walk etc..  My enthusiasm to have a nice time with some schoolmates got weakened and I was looking for some opportunity to excuse myself and get back home.
Most of us, I am sure have already crossed 60 years or crossing in the coming year (1968 batch).  We have to evolve with time and equip ourselves with decency, etiquette and learn how not to hurt the feelings of others at any given point of time.  We must not get personal and shoot down the enthusiasm of friends with personal remarks such as "you look skinny", "you look very old", "where are your teeth?", you have put on weight etc.. which is uncomplimentary and hurts specially in a gathering where there are people around.
If personal comments are avoided, the relationship will get stronger and pleasant knowing pretty well that all of us are on the wrong side of life and have drawbacks and problems in our own ways.
Friends are supposed to walk with you throughout your life, be a source of strength and inspiration and this can be possible with mutual respect and regard for each other? There is nothing wrong in asking about my wife's absence or remarking about the physical status/ personality but the way and the time it was asked needs introspection and thinking!

Telephone call rates charged by Mobile companies

                                       
I had the opportunity to interact with one of the outsourced executives of Airtel who exchanged useful information.
All of us have at least one mobile connection and a land line number at our homes.  The mobiles are both prepaid and post paid and the land line generates a monthly bill for the usage.  The service providers have different categories of tariff out of which a customer is forced to select one that suits him the best.  The service providers load at least 500 to 800% of profit for each application or use by the customer and 90% of the customers are all prepaid mobile customers which means the customer pays in advance for what he proposes to use?  The company is profited completely as the entire money or subscription is held with them as advance and deducted as and when calls are made from the mobiles!  This is almost similar to the restaurants that charges you upfront and makes payments to its vendors after 45 days of credit!!  Added to this is the caller tunes for which the service provider charges Rs 30/- per mobile.  The Airtel executive further informed that in Tamilnadu alone, Airtel has a subscription base of  2 crores and due to their aggressive, outsourced  marketing for caller tunes, nearly 90% of the users subscribe to a caller tune of their choice by paying Rs30/- per month which generates an income of 60 crores of Rupees every month and thereafter!  These tunes are directly bought from the producers of the tunes or songs at a small throwaway price and list them under their assets for life long!!
Yet another point of revenue is the Short text message which is known as SMS for which various tariffs are charged by telecoms companies ranging from 50paise to Re 1 per message!  Millions of messages are sent everyday across the country and the revenue earned is mind boggling!!
The telecoms operator earns several crores of rupees every month and the cost to him is only the spectrum wave that he buys from the government and the rent that he pays to the satellite providers through which the signals are gained on the earth.  Now, the satellite is again fixed in certain certain Geo-stationery orbit and beams signals right across the globe covering vast shades of land that comes within  the range!  Whether you make a local call or an STD call or an international call, the usage of the signal through the satellite remains constant  whereas the service provider charges you different tariffs for locals/STD and international calls!!  There is nothing extra that he spends for giving the consumer this benefit!  I was told that Airtel has recently fortrayed into Bangla Desh and Srilanka and have introduced the magic spell of mobile services which still remains an attraction for the millions who subscribe to it by paying  rentals and call charges and opting for either prepaid or post paid connections!!  The amount collected from an individual may be small but when you calculate the revenue generated countrywide, it describes and makes you understand the lure, allocation and distribution of the spectrum 2 G scam, master minded by the central minister who is languishing in Jail along with some top honchos of private telecoms companies!!
Even the media which makes tantrums about all other events do not mention anything about this as they themselves are contributors to this revenue!  Most of the TV shows or programs have some kind of voting which invites the viewer to choose some option and SMS it to a particular number.  This was very popular in KBC show anchored by Amitabh Bachan.  The Telecoms companies, in order to realise more profit announced that the competition SMS would attract Rs3.50/SMS unlike an ordinary SMS which costs only 0.50paise depending on the service provider.  The show is being witnessed by at least a tenth of the population meaning about more than 5 crores people watch the show and even if 10% of them participate in the quiz competition and send SMS, the companies would benefit about Rs 17.50 crores!!! This figure would make anyone think and rethink many times as to how much is the revenue for the Telecoms companies who associate themselves with the TV channels and lure public participation!!  The business of Mobile telephony is very huge and can not be estimated by an ordinary civilian unless someone tries to explain this function in details.
Out of curiosity I asked him as to why the services are going from bad to worse, the executive replied that Airtel has outsourced everything except marketing and accounts to various agencies who are not bothered about the Service aspect and concentrate only on fresh revenue yielding connections thereby throwing the ISO standards and norms to winds!!
The mobile companies can very well extend some courtesies to the public by making at least 100 SMS free for all connections and making one rate for all calls irrespective of whether it is local or STD or ISD??  The enormous profit that they make can be distributed to public justifying social distribution and its principles!!

Rock Star

Director Imtiaz Ali is known for penchant to see things beyond vision and to surprise the audience with certain facts of life which easily creates a debate in the minds and hearts of people who go to watch his films!  Rock Star is one such subject of the Rebellion director that sends out a strong message to society to learn and  accept the changes that are being brought in our lives, conflicting the traditions that are followed and breaking the rules and norms that had set a foundation in the society and from which many of us are waiting or wiling  to take off on their wings in pursuit of their ambitions and goals! Janardhan Jakhar( Ranbir ) as an innocent teen going to college looks confused and directionless as is common in today's youth, looking for a spark in life that could make him an overnight singing star!

  The journey that takes the chocolate boy to that of Jordan, the rock star is full of sweet and bitter notes! The scene where the Delhi cops (mostly belonging to Haryana) speaking Haryanvi give him a nice bashing when he tries to entertain people in the bus stop is so very true and realistic of  the Delhi Police constables who are mostly from Harana and  do not understand any form of music?  The advise of the tea shop owner to JJ that he has get his heart broken to achieve the ultimate in his life makes JJ tease and befriend Heer(Nargis Fakhri)and fall in love.

  His yearning for a heart break pushes him closer to Heer and both  start bonding over some desi Tarrah (local liquor) and some stimulating  close ups where only the lips speak!

 Soon after, Heer goes off to Prague marrying an NRI.  JJ is thrown out of the house and seeks shelter in Delhi's Nizamuddin Dargah where he bonds with other followers singing praises of Allah and eating happily.

 Many youngsters will be trying to experiment this option as there is a wide belief  that if you take panah(asylum) in a dargah, your vision will open new vistas and avenues to enable you to achieve whatever you have wanted in life?  Infact, A R Rehman himself has gained all this popularity and fame only after he changed his name from Dileep to what he is known as today!  Ranbir as a musician is so full of music and all his behaviour in various situations is wonderfully related, narrated and  insulated with soul stirring music of the genius in  A R Rehman who has once again proved that songs can also be sung without lyrics or any words and by just humming Tinga linga ling...  The maestro has proved himself worthy of creating music for this off-track film that stands enhanced for viewing pleasure with some heavy metal strings of guitar adding value to the Rock Star concert.

 At the same time, the music maestro also shows his class when he sings "Kun Fayakun" on the lines of "Kwaja mere Kwaja" from Jodha Akbar and conquers the hearts of the film goers!  The heart sizzles with joy listening to the song "hawa hawa" which is set to Spanish tunes and still  more joyous to see the beautifully choreographed dance by the lead lady Nargis Fakhri and Ranbir.  Thus, the magic of music  retains  50% of the goodness that the film has. The fresh face in Nargis Fakhri is a big relief and she has acted and lived the role to her potential.  The Italian looks of this lead lady brings in an air of freshness and coolant to your eyes!
The struggles that Janardhan Jakhar undergoes to become Jordan has been well described and has projected the hardships that an artiste faces in life to become something big.  The rich and famous Jordan is a heart throb of millions but inside his heart he longs for his love. A foreign tour reunites the long lost lovers and the passion in them kindles the love for each other passionately. The touch of Bollywood comes alive when suddenly Heer refuses to meet Jordan and discovers that her relationship will ruin her family.  She starts drifting away from  him and subsequent events lead  Jordan to the jail in Prague! The lead lady falling sick and bed ridden with Bone marrow unable to even get up from the bed is effectively nullified with the Midas touch of Jordan who comes to see his lady love leaving his concert in India high and dry?  These moments of love are well characterised and explained by the director who deserves compliments to give some new thoughts and ideas to the film in comparison to the usual films.
Ranbir Kapoor is most certainly the next actor who will be talked about for his acting skills right from the simple boyish image of Janardhan Jakad to the ultimate Rock star image that has added value to the film.
                                                                               

The beautiful scenic Kashmir and the snow all around, a favourite spot for shooting for the director, is as amazing as the nature could be followed by the scenic Prague in the Czech Republic which catches the attention to make one feel happy.  Nargis Fakhri supports the character in the best form and exhibits undiscovered, freshness and beauty!
Imtiaz Ali, the flamboyant innovative director has told whatever he wanted to say through Ranbir in this film!  The first half of the film is brilliant with innovative direction whereas the second half is more about the film connected to Bollywood

Choolenedo Nazuk honton ko- song from film Kajal

                                                                                   




choo laney do nazuk hoonton ko 
kuch aur nahi hay jaam hay yeh
qudrat nay jo hum ko bakhsha hay
wo sab se haseen inaam hay yeh
choo laney do nazuk honton ko..

sharma kay na youhi kho dena rangeen jawani ki ghariyan (2)
betaab dharaktey seenoo ka armaan bhara peghaam hay yeh 
choo laney do nazuk honton ko

acchon ko bura sabit karna duniya ki purani aadat hay (2)
iss may ko mubarak cheez samajh mana kay bohat badnaam hay yeh

choo laney do nazuk hoonton ko 
kuch aur nahi hay jaam hay yeh
qudrat nay jo hum ko bakhsha hay
wo sab se haseen inaam hay yeh
choo laney do nazuk honton ko..


This film and songs were released in the year 1965 when I was in the 8th standard studying in DTEA school, Pusa road, Karol Bagh, New Delhi.  Studying in a Madrasi school with totally Tamils, all of us had terrific confusion about the usage of Hindi and application of grammer while talking at that age!  Hindi was certainly an alien subject with which most of us struggled specially while speaking!  Fond of singing songs that were being heard on the Radio(vivid Barathi and Binaca geetmala) we could pick up some words and verses here and there and compile our own edition of the song.  Most of my classmates and Madrasi friends used to appreciate even that as they also did not understand the words or the essence of the song!  I used to sing this song something like this as that's what I gathered or understood after hearing it on the radio!
"Chule mein do nazuk honton ko........."  One of my north Indian friends started laughing when he heard me sing this song and corrected my Hindi after pointing out the mistake that I had made.  Thus, the romantic, lovely song rendered so beautifully by Mohd. Rafi saab was straightaway butchered by me and consigned to flames!!!  What the poet envisaged as a gentle, romantic kiss was sung by me as "chule mein do" meaning put it in the oven!!  The magic jugglery of words gave out a different meaning and even today when I think about this incident, I keep smiling within myself while secretly thanking my friend who was instrumental in getting the right pronunciation of the right word in Hindi.  This created lots of interest in me to learn the language and present it the way it should be done!  Jai Hind!!

Garbage clearance in Chennai

During the previous regime of the present CM Selvi Jayalalitha, the garbage in the city used to be cleaned and cleared by one Onyx company that did its job perfectly well.  The trucks and the bins they positioned at various places were quite large so that there was  no litter on the ground.  The uniformed employees of Onyx used to be active during nights and were efficiently clearing the city of its filth contributing to make Chennai a stink-free, clean city.  When the DMK toppled the government and came to power, they were quick enough to remove the otherwise efficient agency and appointed one Neel Metal Fanalca to do the job of cleaning up the city which  never really took off right from the day of commencement of operations.  The bins were smaller in size and the incinerator truck that gulped the garbage collected was also small in size as compared to that of Onyx.  The personnel employed were  substandard and hardly knew their jobs with the result that there was always garbage strewn all over the roads and localities at any time!  The corporation appealed to the households to segregate bio-degradable and the plastics separately and the household followed the orders but then the corporation did nothing to prevent those rag pickers who dwell in the dust bins to undo what the households did.  They took away the plastic bags that segregated the waste for recycle and use and made money in their own way.  In the process, the garbage was removed from the bins and thrown all around the bins and making the roads look as prettier as ever with stench that could wake up a man from his sleep!  Added to the woes were the stray dogs that were digging  into the garbage along with the rag pickers to find some food for them to pull on for the day!   One could find a peaceful co-existence of both the stray dog and the rag picker inside the garbage bins throughout the state!The government has not done  anything in the matter and the situation is the same even after the present AI ADMK government taking charge of the state.  The government should seriously advocate for safe disposal of garbage and introduce collection of the same from the households by prefixing days of collection.  The responsibility should rest with the households to hand over garbage to the collection van or maintain bins on their own. Penalty should be levied on those establishments and eateries who dump their food waste into the bin without adequate packing which dampens the waste and causes unbearable stench.  Unless the government is strict in
implementing the system, Chennai will loose its sheen and will no longer be known for its cleanliness and attract Tourists from abroad!.

Mr PM when you talk about decontrolling prices, why dont you allow fresh and new market players in the field to generate competition? You have been giving so much concessions to Mukesh ambani all these years. can you tell what the people of India have gained out of these concessions granted to RIL? why is that only our currency is devalued while countries like Thailand and Pakistan are going stronger? You say our economy is growing with consistent devaluation of rupees? is this a criterion for the economic growth? You are an economist yourself. Do you find justification?

Political immaturity of leaders in Tamilnadu

The recent announcement of the present chief minister to convert the much talked about public library inaugurated by the previous chief minister with pomp and show into a world class Paediatric hospital has not gone well with the common public.  The flip side is that the same land was earmarked by the present chief minister for a new secretariat when she was in power earlier and for which foundation ceremony was conducted with much fanfare!

The government fell and the new Kalaignar government took over and converted the piece of land into a modern world class library just to defeat the aims of the previous CM in Jayalalitha and for personal ego satisfaction.  Now that Selvi Jaya is back in the saddle, she is hell bent in converting the public library into a paediatric hospital.  The present CM also sidelined the state of art building constructed by the previous incumbent for use as the government secretariat and announced the same to be converted into a modern, public health care hospital. The octogenarian, partially disabled man is shattered and says its vendetta politics!  People are amused to see both the leaders at loggerheads ready to draw a dagger to kill the other at the opportune moment?  It is like a sewing  needle pointing out to a sieve the holes that it has!!!
It has been years and years that both the parties that are seated to rule the state are not seeing eye to eye and ready to avenge whenever the government looses power.  The state is deprived of any developmental activities as most of the time is spent digging at the other's graves to look for any mistakes that the previous government might have done during its rule.
What the leaders must realise is to give and treat the other leaders of other political parties with respect and not interfere in each other's projects and schemes.  They will attract public appreciation if they develop new projects and institutions instead of converting the existing ones built or conceived by the previous regime just to satisfy their personal ego.  The leaders must learn to respect each other and invite each other for their social programmes and other developmental activities.  If these guidelines are followed, Tamilnadu can expect fresh and new developmental projects which will add value to the assets of the state and auger public support!
will the leaders oblige a wish like this from an ordinary citizen of the state?

7 aum Arivu

 Director Muruga doss must be complimented for his forward outlook and courage to make a movie by linking history with DNA research which is something new to the Tamil  audience.  The  film takes dates  back to 6th century A D depicting a super natural human in Bodhi Dharman, a decedent of Pallava dynasty who goes to China to preach and teach the art of self defence coupled with medical science and treatments for unknown dreaded, epidemic diseases from out of herbs and personal skills and goes on to become a respected  human and eventually to attain the status of a god amongst the people of China.  The statue of Bodhi Dharman is offered  prayers even today in the temples of Shaolin.  However, the claim of Bodhi dharman being a Tamil and a deity of Shaolin temple raises the eyebrows of viewers  in disbelief as there is no resemblance or shade of any Indian origin in those sculptures and statues.  The film jumps to the modern day and the story of the modern Surya takes birth.
The Chinese are ready to wage a Biological warfare over India and the only hurdle seems to be a young scientist in Shruti Hasan who is into research and DNA analysis who is hell bent to find the descendants of Bodhi Verman, successfully finds out the best matched DNA descendant in Arvind(Surya) who is employed in a circus and  is able to activate the Sleeping DNA cells in him  to fight and defeat the Chinese plans to conquer India!    The fight sequences are quite elaborate with the hero and the villain flying up in the air and exchanging kicks and blows that could break a wall or pierce through glass windows and doors!  The audience is amused and partly happy to see the humans fly in the air and fight while they are unable to even get up from the seats after a session of pop-corns and hot samosas that are served in the hall itself?  The Chinese villain Dong Lee is as handsome and impressive as Surya and justifies his character role.  The action scenes where motorists and trucks, whose brains  come under the control of the Chinese villain trying to ram their vehicles on Surya and Shruthi are quite brilliantly taken and can be easily compared to that of a Hollywood action movie!  

Actor Surya looks smashing often showing off his 6 pack module while Sruti Hasan looks pretty.  Bodhi Dharman's  ability to make the dust and leaves rise out of the ground and directing them towards the opponent shows the skill of the camera person rather than the actor?  However, Surya makes up in showing his acting skills in the second half romancing Shruti Hasan with a couple of duets scored by Harris Jayaraj who seems to have lost his composition skills and dwells on repetitive tunes lifted from earlier songs.  The opening song which has some awkward, unheard sounding phrases quietly passes on to be Chinese and neither the lyricist nor the music director have any role in turning out the song as it sounds totally alien with hardly a few Tamil words in it!   The last frame fight between the hero and the Chinese villain is too stretched and only full of dry leaves, mud and shrubs which triggers Asthma in those who are prone!  The eventual killing of the villain is disappointing considering so much of efforts and trick shots that were formed  to boost the climax to make the audience sit on the edge of their seats.  The final dialogue spoken by Surya is meaningful and sends a message to one and all to cite science as a reason for many of our beliefs rather than traditions and to embrace the olden ways of medical science that were available  for the present day ailments and fitness.  One thing the director should have also asked Surya to speak is to pronounce Tamizh as Tamizh and not kill the language with the present day music and singers!  Shruti also has to learn Tamizh from her father to anchor her presence in the Tamil film world. Her skills prevail when she prefers to speak in Tamizh in the meeting of scientists assembled to discuss about a Tamilian and takes them all single handedly and walks out in a huff.  The difference in characters portrayed by Surya as Bodhi Dharman and as a circus artiste has given Surya a wider scope to prove his mettle in acting.   The pair does well in the romantic scenes as well and are impressive.

The picture can be watched with interest once despite the boos and hoots the audience gives during the film looking at things which are beyond digestion?  Director Muruga Doss has induced dialogues speaking about the glory of Tamils in many scenes and has brought in shades of politics in supporting the slain Tamizh rebel leader and the burning of Tamil library etc.. which are unwarranted for this movie.  As the news goes, this film has been released in Srilanka duly censored by the authorities which defeats the very purpose of these dialogues. These heroic Tamil dialogues are heard only in Tamilnadu for the locals to hear and fan their ego!
The opening credits in the film  are shown in such speed that one requires 8 aum arivu to read them super fast!!