Nithyananda

This Self styled god man or swamiji did well for himself when he hit the headlines and attracted thousands of followers by his good vocabulary and hold on the spiritual subjects on which he spoke!  He could easily control human minds and take them all into his fold and making them listen to him and obey his commands at any time.

It must be more than 7 years when I encountered his gang of followers in Gandhi Nagar club, Chennai where Nityananda was invited to speak and given an opportunity to attract the elite club members into his ashram fold and subsequently into a sort of slavery service.  The first floor conference hall was booked by one of the enthusiastic club members who was later seen canvassing friends and people to join the Nithyananda movement stating 101 reasons that convinced many and forced them to leave their family and households in search of long lasting peace!  I heard loud music in praise of the lord and peeped into the conference hall and  to my surprise, I saw many of my club members and their spouses dancing around this swami in ecstasy!  The godman also danced with them and encouraged.  suddenly, from out of nowhere, one of my club members came and pushed me out of the room and closed the door firmly.  I was wondering why he did so and created an element of suspicion about the truth behind such scenes and belief.  As a club member, I have the right to access all the floors and no one could stop me from that.  I enquired with the office as to how the club can permit an activity such as this where a self proclaimed person can dance with the members and spouses when he is supposed to enlighten the audience about Dharma and spiritualism for which entry should not be restricted.  I did not get any convincing reply as the persons who booked the conference room were senior members of the club holding honorary posts in the club.

When the news about the sex scandal broke out last year I heard from other members of the club that the senior members who were supporting the Nityananda movement and were themselves trying to rescue their wards from the Bidadi Ashram where they were living.  One member was in tears when his teen aged daughter refused to go with him and insisted upon staying back in the Ashram and would not believe the media reports about the scandal.  I hear many of the members of the club have had a bitter experience about this and have disassociated themselves from the activities of Nithyananda.

The government must ,monitor and  censor the activities of such god men who mushroom every now and then and cheat people and swindle money.  Any person who follows the path of spiritualism should not have bondage with any physical property and should not be allowed to accumulate wealth and properties.  The role of spiritual leaders is to guide people and show them the right path to be adopted in life.  Money and wealth should not influence the vision and purpose of such self styled god-men!!

Toyota India -Poor after sales service

My family was excited when my son booked a Toyota Corolla with Lanson Toyota, Chennai 18 and took delivery after a brief waiting period.  The car was quite stunning with its looks and made us feel proud of its possession.  Ironically, the keys provided were electronic with which you could open the door from a distance, open the petrol lid and also the boot!!  The technology had a distinctive advantage over others and something new for the Indian market.

unfortunately, the electronic key had rubber moulds to control various functions such as door opening, petrol lid opening and the boot opening.  It was quite a comfort to operate these functions from one place with a remote!  The rubber moulded parts fixed on top of the key withered due to various atmospheric conditions prevailing in the city and started giving trouble as the electronic chip was exposed and one had to really focus on a point to press or pressure to open the door.  Many times, the passerby used to wonder and doubt if we were the real owners of the car as we struggled often to open the car with the damaged key.

My son lodged a complaint with the local dealer stating the problem and after taking pictures of the damaged key and the car chassis number etc.. replied that the key would be replaced only if we agree to pay up Rs 13000/- for a replacement.  It was shocking to realise that the company charged a whooping sum of Rs 13000/- just for replacing the keys for a manufacturing defect!  Toyota must understand the types of climates prevailing in India before launch of their cars and manufacture rubber parts and moulds accordingly to suit the climate and atmosphere of that particular state.  Chennai being a humid place with sun blazing throughout the year, Toyota should have made stronger key parts to sustain the waggeries of weather.  The matter was represented to Toyota India who promised to look into the matter but never got back to us.  There is a famous saying-"Be a Roman in Rome".  Toyota India is probably following the same policy and have adopted the Indian culture of saying "No" to everything and have consigned ethics to wind?  despite repeated complaints and requests, neither Toyota India or the local dealer Lanson Toyota have come forward to replace the defective key free of cost.  This leads to believe that the company is following restrictive trade practices and force the customer to shell out more and more for everything including defective parts for which they assume no responsibility!

This is to caution the buyers to insist warranty for the keys in such a manner that it lasts at least till the car runs! Otherwise, be prepared to shell out thousands of Rupees for a key which will otherwise cost nothing more than Rs 50/- with the local key smith.  In this case, the local key smiths are unable to replicate as there is an electronic device which authenticates the genuineness and operations.  quite surely, this is a ploy and a trick adopted by Toyota to make customers come to them again and again for spares and parts through which they can steadily earn??  This is nothing but robbery- Japanese style??

I can be contacted anytime@7845265699 for an inter-action on this subject. 

Ek tha Tiger

After the roaring success of "Dabaang", "Body guard" and  "wanted", yash Raj Films thought to encash the popularity and the rising brand image of salman Khan to produce this "Chat-Masala" film-Ek tha Tiger!  surely, Salman takes a lead ahead of Shahrukh , helped Yash Raj films to profit out of this useful venture and stamped his authority in Bollywood as a leader!
The film is supposed to have accumulated a record box office collection surpassing the previous best and so is the rating of the star in Salman Khan who is said to be on top of the billing chart!

Salman is an Indian secret agent (RAW) who after a successful stint of operations in Iraq is assigned yet another assignment and this time to keep a watch on the activities of a missile technology- scientist who has migrated to Ireland and is suspected to pass on valuable information to the enemy agents and naturally, the ISI of Pakistan!  He is assisted in his research work by the Pretty & Beautiful Katrina who is an ISI agent and trying to steal the information ahead.  salman befriends Katrina saying he is a writer and wants to write the biography of the professor for which he has to be with him all the time and observe him  and what follows is nothing but the witch hunt of both these agents by their respective agencies who want to make sure that they do not fall in love and elope to weaken the organisation that they work for!  The action sequences are amazingly pictured and can be compared to that of any  Hollywood action movie.

 The on screen chemistry between Salman and Katrina is a great treat and a relief to watch as they are said to be in a relation even in their true life which both of them deny!!
What seems idiotic is the introduction of yet another RAW agent Gopi who instead of focusing on the vulnerable job of spying and espionage starts pampering Salman by accepting his find in Katrina and acknowledging her as "Bhabi"!  This plot could have been avoided in the film to make it parallel to movies produced in Hollywood!!

Finally, the two lovers hoodwink their respective intelligence agencies with action packed chases and shoot outs where many get killed except the main stars who manage to escape in a waiting jet only after salman shoots a few of them, rides a mo bike with a speed so as to catch the jet just before taking off from the ground with a bullet injury in his back!!  The audience is so entertained and amused that whistles start blowing to see their Hero finally making it to escape with his Pakistani counter-part lover.  No one knows where the eloped couple live but keep getting footprints of their life without confirmation!!

The music by sajid-wajid is very good and specially the last song of Masha-allah compels the audience to stay back and glued to their seats just to watch their favourite pair of salman and Kat perform the dance sequence with so much of ease and style!

Univercell communication-Phoenix mall, Bangalore

My wife wanted to be in touch with our son and daughter-in-law residing in Muscat on a regular basis.  The ISD calls BSNL landlines or the usage of mobiles attracted high rates of tariff.  My son suggested that we get an android mobile phone and download an application called Viber with which we could talk everyday provided we had a wi-fi internet connection!  We geared up to buy this android phone and went to Phoenix Mall on Whitefield Road and headed to Univercell communications who keep advertising heavily for sale of mobiles.
An enthusiastic sales man showed us some phones and explained the difference between Android and window based phones.  We explained the need to use an application known as Viber and wanted him to sell us a phone that could use the apps that we needed.
 Nokia Limia 710 is your answer said the sales guy!  We asked him if it would support the Viber apps, he said yes!  we showed our interest to buy but insisted that he download the Viber apps and show it to us.  He insisted that we pay the bill first and assured us that he will download it for us and make it available for voice calls.  We paid the bill and he explained the salient features which did not interest us and we insisted that he download the apps that we wanted.  He took some time and downloaded the said apps on to the phone.  We had to register our mobile number with the concerned and did everything that was needed.  There was a message on the phone that the voice call usage in respect of Viber was not available and that Windows are making efforts to get it at the soonest!!  We did not want the phone as it was of no use to us as we did not get the thing we wanted.  The salesman called his senior and senior ahead to discuss this problem without any proper response or assurance!  In the meantime, we had already wasted a solid 1 1/2 hours in the shop trying to understand the complex problems surrounding the "Viber" apps.
We demanded cancellation of sales and refund of money.  The salesman insisted that they have already created an on-line billing process and that it was not possible to cancel the sales!  We blew our top and insisted that we wanted refund of money and it is a clear case of cheating the customer on false promises.
The sales guy offered yet another mobile "Samsung" that could support the apps that we wanted.  These assurances were insufficient to create any confidence in us and we stood on our ground for refund.  Finally, the man on the cash counter punched a few numbers on a different machine and got the transaction cancelled.

All that I would like to say is that the persons at the stores are not trained enough to explain the functions of the mobiles that they are selling and do not know the products at all.  Their only ambition and target is to sell the mobiles at any cost!  There is no conscious effort to keep up the prestige and value of the company that they work for.  They have at least lost one customer who is dissatisfied with their service and vowed not to enter their premises any more?  will Nokia or Univercell communications take a note and address my complaint?

Shimsha falls, Karnataka

                           
Shivanasamudram falls popularly known as Shimsha falls is about 150kms drive from Bangalore and it takes about 4 hours to reach the spot by car.  Shimsha river originates and flows in the state of Karnataka before it joins Kaveri, the life supporting river of both Karnataka and Tamilnadu.

My son Neeraj and his wife suggested that we go on a long drive to see this beauty of the nature and enjoy the serenity.  My younger son Pushkar and his wife Taruna were excited about this trip as they came from Muscat where Water falls stands as a myth!!  We were also joined by Pavithra's parents and brothers who took charge of the entire planning and were instrumental in making the trip memorable.

                                            

once you reach this place, there are about 300 steps that you climb down to reach the spot where the locals thrive taking the tourists very near the falls in a float called "Theppa" or "Parisal" in Tamil.  The water mist that bounces off the rocks and splashes on your faces makes you feel as if you are in heavens!! The summer heat quickly evaporates the water drenched clothes and gives you one of the finest experiences equivalent to that of Niagara falls where you are allowed to go very near the falls by the "Maid of the mist" boats.  The only difference is that Niagara is well developed and Shimsha falls has tremendous scope to develop and attract tourists from all over the world!  The only draw back in this beautiful place is that there are no proper eateries or comfortable places where you can sit and dine?  The Karnataka Tourism Development Corporation must realise this potential centre for tourists and make everything possible to make it an attractive destination showcasing the water falls!

After a small drive and detour, we reached a place called Mudukuthore, near Talakkd which is on the banks of river Kaveri.  Mudukuthore is a quiet, tranquil village.  Mudukuthore also means Turn and move forward which depicts river Kaveri which takes a turn in this part and proceeds ahead!   The ancient Shiva temple stood on top of  Somagiri hill which is about 200 feet high, as a testimony of Hindu religion and provided solace to heart and mind. This is also one of the Panchalinga temples of Talakkad.    From atop the hills, one could see River Kaveri flowing magnanimously and in peace giving life line to all those dwelling on the river banks and near.  Talakkad is a holy place in Karnataka which is also called Shivasthala as it has many Shiva temples, leading them all is the Vaidyanatheshwara  temple!  Adjoining the main deity's sanctum and sanctorum is the temple of Brahmarambha Devi, celestially known as Parvathi. We offered Puja at both the Sannidhis and spent some time listening to the history of the temple as narrated by one of the priests with interest.

We spent quite some time watching the river flow and the calm that was spread all over the place for devotees to meditate and attain oneness with God!  It was already dark by the time we decided to start our journey back to Bangalore.  It was destiny and our fortune that prompted us to visit these interesting places which can be better described as "pleasure and religion" mixed.  We were thankful to God for creating a good sense and to offer worship that will go down in our memories for ever to cherish and be happy about!

Sandhya,Raju,Taruna,Pushkar,Neeraj,Pavithra,Praveen,Renuka, SomaShekar

Borewell tragedies in India

(the borewell into which the 4 year old Mahi fell)
   (the borewell covered with 2 bricks after the incident)
The falling of Mahi, a 5 year old child into the unused Borewell in Manesar, India reflects the apathy on the part of both the Government authority and that of the public collectively.  The entire media attention was drawn to this episode for atleast 3 full days forcing the public to watch the proceedings live and finally drawing a big "Nil". The media in India just blows up the entire issue beyond perception just to hold the Government responsible for the situation and collecting public sympathy by showing images of the child trapped deep inside the Borewell and interviewing the parents and relatives who are ready to kill the persons holding positions in the government.  There should be some kind of gag on the media and regulations about showing the incidents live to create public sympathy for an incident that has happened and  that can not be unwound?  The child's parents in their interview to the media said that they reported the incident immediately as soon as the child fell into the Borewell and that the police came only after about 50 minutes and that too without any tools or preparedness to pull her out alive out of the bore that was dug 80 feet.  There is no disaster management team concept in India and what I hear is that they have started one specially after the Tsunami that hit Asia a few years back leaving memories that still haunt the Asian region?  What intrigues me is that why did not the people around the area cordon off the Borewell site or atleast complain to the authorities about the Borewell that could end as a death- trap for innocent playing children?  The collective social responsibility failed leading to this kind of incident that has ashamed the entire country.
   (the rescue team comprising of Army Personnel)
Unable to cope with the situation, the local police summoned the army to help them out.  The army whose duty is to defend the country is engaged in such matters defeating  the purpose for which they are trained and stationed!  The army came in and took nearly more than 3 days to dig a parallel pit and make a tunnel to the place where the child was stuck without life.  Obviously, the child died without food and water for more than 3 days, stuck deep inside a Borewell where there was lack of Oxygen for her to breathe.  The army should have planned their strategy precisely and retrieved the child within a few hours of their engagement and that would have enhanced their image and respect.  Instead, the army chose a full 3 days excercise drawing the entire focus of the country through the media without any accomplishment.

The State governments in India give scant respect to the rulings and verdicts given by the Supreme court in respect of various matters and one such ruling is a directive from the Apex court to cap the borewells that are not in use so that precious lives could be saved!  No one cares for the judiciary and things happen as they were and sometimes, its all barbaric!

Mahi is dead.  Unless the guilty or the accused are punished, there will be many more Mahis who will die unable to breathe in mother earth's womb and perish.  Who will take the first step forward to arrest these kind of incidents and very surely, it has to be the government who must pass orders to this effect, monitor  and give out punishment to those found guilty.  Indians are thick skinned and they fear only third degree punishments and this has to be done immediately to save and discipline humanity in India!!!
 (Mahi-the innocent child)
May god bless the innocent soul and allow it to rest in peace.

Ferrari ki sawari is all about dreaming high about ambitions and making it realise!  Compliments must be paid to the director Rajesh Mapuskar for giving a clean breathe of fresh air and for giving  a different film with simple star cast and no heroine for glamour part!  A bold attempt by the producer vidhu Vinod Chopra ably assisted by Raju Hirani to churn out one of the best movies of the year!
Sharman Joshi as a patient, encouraging father(father of 3 children in real life) gives his best shot to suit the role of a Parsi Bawa, all out to encourage his only son Kayo achieve his ambition to become a national level cricketeer at a very young age as Sachin Tendulkar did a couple of decades back!  Sharman Joshi blends himself with the Parsi character and  proved his acting skills after having toiled in the Bollywood for the past 15 years!
                                   
The scene where Sharman with his son Kayo on the back seat goes to a cop and confesses having jumped the red light and willing to pay the fine reflects the purity in the heart  of the character that he was playing and a message given out loud to the citizens of the country.  The young boy's role played by Ritvik Sahore is commendable as he was able to enact like a mini Sachin Tendulkar aping Sachin's mannerisms and postures while playing cricket!  The combination of Cricket and Ferrari is the ultimate dream of any youngster and the film maker and the director have capitalised this bonanza to give the best of family drama, sports and comedy mix for the viewers.

Boman Irani as the grand pa of Kayo makes a perfect disgruntled Parsi who is averse to cricket as his good cricket friend plays foul to make him fail in cricket and a career emanating out of it.  The friend who betrayed Boman Irani is now the selector (Paresh Rawal) who justifies his character and lives it?

The film is totally an inspirational film pushing the youngsters to look beyond what they see and set goals to achieve them in life!  Any young kid will draw tremendous inspiration from the film to get set and go??

The director has done well to bring in the Ferrari owned by Sachin Tendulkar without bringing him in any scene but making the story revolving around.  The local corporator and his son make a good duo to set the hall rolling in laughter with their mannerisms and dialogue delivery!  The role donned by Seema Bhargava as the "Juggadu" event manager is commendable and reflects the attitude to bring in the impossible and charge a bomb for the same!  Vidya Balan does an item number which does not suit her stature!  Probably, she must have realised the short span that she is going to live in Bollywood and thought of en cashing her present popularity??

What attracts the most is the way the movie tells about parenting- be it with Kayo and Rustom or the way Kayo's cricket coach handles the young boys emotions and feelings together with Rustom(Sharman Joshi).  Any young kid would love to have a father like Rustom and a coach like the one Kayo is blessed with to live a hearty life!  The relationship between Deboo played by Boman Irani and Rustom and the relationship between Rustom and Kayo reflects a perfect battle of parenting styles and probably a good suggestion to the modern day fathers about bonding with their kids!  The politician father and his glamour struck son adds good humour to the Ferrari ki sawaari.

Your money is realised within  those few minutes of the film when Boman walks in to the room of the selector(Paresh Rawal) and the subsequent exchange of words coupled with excellent skills of acting and emotions displayed by both the veterans!

The last 20 minutes of the film is stretched beyond elasticity and is testing and this could have been avoided making the film more crisp??

The combination of Vidhu Vinod Chopra and Raj kumar Hirani who have given quality pictures earlier have done well not to disappoint the audience?  With no big names to boast and without any female glamour, these guys have done extremely well to give an entertainment that will also inspire many aspiring youngsters and push them towards realising their dreams, one day or the other!!! A movie which you can boldly watch with your children and to inspire them!