Short Takes

Movies since my last movie post in the order of watching.

Tamizh Padam - One can make short parody of movies, but this full length movie parody stretched it slightly far to end up tiresome. Have to agree with chennaigirl's review sometime back. It was fun for the first hour, the second hour dragged on and on. And I loved the "meaningless words" song 'Oh! Mahaziya", which had a attractive tune. Seems to have had a good run!

Vinnaithaandi Varuvaaya - A slow movie, but I liked it for its crawl. I think I liked the uncomfortable undecidedness of Trisha's character. Silambarasan has tried hard not to use his usual irritating mannerisms, expressions, jingo and sexist dialogues and he has succeeded pretty well. Except for a very few instances where a few of his mannerisms peek out slightly, he is subdued and has done a good job. I am forgetting, what else... The classy Rahman peeks out at times. High time, Gautam Menon stops those rap-dancer sequences. The movie is fading away from my memory, but well, that happens to almost all the movies I see. :-)

The Hurt Locker - What a movie! Deserved its Oscar accolades. "...war is a drug", the movie starts with this statement. A gripping movie on an US army bomb defusal squad involved in Iraq. Death stares from all directions, no guessing from where and how, which comes near and goes away and sometimes snatching people away, nobody being a friend and the scorching weather making wrecks out of them. Gruesome in sections, but that builds the movie's character. The film's name is interesting. It is a war slang for a place where you don't want to be, where pain (hurt) is aplenty and suffering inevitable. The movie makes you feel as if you are a part of that squad and thereby lies its success. A high-five to Kathryn Bigelow!

One movie which I have been trying to see completely from start to end is the late 70s Tamil movie "Udhiri Pookkal". I am seeing it in portions on the TV channels whenever the movie is being aired, unfortunately I landup seeing the same portions. This movie is considered a landmark movie in Tamil moviedom for its realism of village life in those times and the unassuming villain. The movie's off-beat climax and a beautifully haunting song, "Azhagiya Kannē, Uravugal Neeyē", sung by S Janaki are etched in my memory.

Adsworth-Tata DoCoMo My Song

The new Tata-DoCoMo ad rocks. Hats off to their creative agency (DraftFCB Ulka).

The ad is for their My Song "Hear your tune when you call" service. It is different, simple, humorous, contemporary and non-jingoistic.

A hesitant young girl stands before her mother who is cutting veggies and says "Amma, I want to show you something". The mother looks at her in anticipation and the girl turns around, pulls her shirt up showing a tattoo on her lower back. The mom after two seconds of trepidation, gives a brief smile and says "Very nice". The girl gives a surprised smile and the tag line comes up for My Song (to hear what you want to hear) The two actors have done a wonderful job with their body language and expressions defining the unsaid.

Lovely ad! Made me really smile. Tata-DoCoMo seems to be carving a niche for different services and their different ads too. (The Hutch Zoozoos didn't impress me much this time, though there were a couple of good storyboards, probably because of over-exposure)

And here is the ad

Yada yada yada ...

Running a tad tight (weekdays on work and work on weekends) and hence no activity over the past 3 weeks. Have at last caught up reading my blog tracking list. Shunting a ramble post off, before I hibernate again.

Hail-Hail
The random summer evening showers are making our scorching days at Bengaluru a tad cooler. Two days back, it poured for around 45 minutes with hail. Señora was driving out, got stuck in the rain and she said she had never seen so much of a pounding rain and the hail/rain drops on the sheets of water on the road looked like a sea of pearl drops splashing on water. And interestingly, these cloudbursts were local and confined. In a place just 10 minutes away, there was only a mild rain and 2-3 kms away, no rain. Hope we get some more rain like this to keep the summer tolerable in Bengaluru and recharge our ground water. God save the Chennaiites, if it is so in Bengaluru. :-) The 'washed look' streets with puddles here and there after the rain is a coolant to the eyes.

Two violations in two weeks and counting ...
Got fined for traffic code violation, twice, one for entering a one-way in the wrong direction and the other for taking a wrong turn at a signal. The Bengaluru police are all BlackBerry savvy now and with an attached dock which has a micro-printer, bang went Rs.100 for each violation.

I think of myself being a relatively safe driver (not so, according to Señora), but these violations are making me re-think. At least I felt that both were traps for people who drive in areas alien to them. Whoever can think of a one-way in the reverse direction on a service road, of all things, on a 2+2 lane road? Well, I was foxed in one. I missed the No-Entry sign hidden amongst ten small ad boards at the same eye level. :-( The second one was at a right turn at a signaled intersection even when oncoming traffic is blocked by a signal. I do not remember seeing a sign prohibiting a right turn and argued with the policeman who gave me a lecture on the signal having no arrow marks for me to turn right and said that the 'No Right Turn' wording is on a bin in the road and not on a sign post. :-(

I was reminded of the 'Saar, As I am suffering from ...' episode from Vivek in the movie 'Parthiban Kanavu' where he is caught by a traffic cop. One policeman flagged me down and another (the inspector), standing near his vaahanam (a bike with cheetah spots) and a BlackBerry in hand charged me. :-)

BS (a)N(d) (yel)L
I am on an unlimited data plan on my home Internet connection from our national provider BSNL. I don't what quirk is there in their subscriber management system, but I get a redirected web page whenever I cross a total of 1GB of total download/uploads in a month. I've to confirm to a 'I Agree' button to accept charging beyond this free limit which then asks me to restart the browser session. This message is like a காலை சுத்தின பாம்பு (snake encircled on your legs). Once the message comes, there is no redemption until you agree.

I get into conference calls from home (using Skype) and landed this message one morning. There was no response on clicking the 'I Agree' button. Called up BSNL broadband customer service. I have no clue what their working times are (supposedly 8 AM to 8 PM) and nobody picked up the phone at the end of navigating the interactive voice response system. Went to the landline customer service and a lady asked me to click the 'I agree' button and then restart the PC. Tried reasoning with her that clicking the 'I agree' button itself was not working, but the she persisted on 'restart'ing the PC after clicking the button. Hung up (no way that she'll understand that the servlet at the BSNL server needs to be restarted) and another half an hour of trying to get the broadband helpline, called up the landline helpline again to be told the same 'restart PC' mantra and I had to yell prompting them to take a complaint. Another half and hour wasted in clicking the 'I agree' button at regular intervals to see if the page responds and then at last it worked. I got a call from their Customer Care after 5 hours(!) asking if my Internet is working fine. Thank goodness, for small mercies.

I don't know why there should be any bandwidth accounting in my case and next, why there couldn't there be a proper troubleshooting from their end. No wonder, people exposed to a better service, run away from BSNL to other private providers. (not to mention they also have their own problems. See zeno's travails)

Pull up your socks BSNL, before it gets too late!

(P.S. I have no issues with the phone/Net service that BSNL provides, they are more nimble now than from a decade ago, but they still have miles to go)

Foodsteps - from Devagiri to SLV Coffee Bar

I know that this post is going to get Ramesh mad again, but then here it goes ...

Sometimes, you go for something and get something else in return. Last Saturday, hustled up a quick visit to Devagiri, a Venkateswara temple on a small hillock immersed in the surrounding cityscape in Banashankari after el Niño's tennis class. One treat about going to a Perumal Kovil is the prasadam. 'el Niño' loves the theertham given at temples. It is always multiple helpings for him and showing his cupped hand and gulping the water down with a slurp. Loves the fragrance and taste that the theertham has, with the Tulasi leaves, camphor et al. Seeing Perumaal or Pillayaar is secondary. Theertham is divinity, for him and the running around in the prakaaram. :-)

The prasadam at the counter there is laddoo and vadé. The vadé is 'milagu vadai' (pepper vadai) which is hard (almost teeth breaking) and disc shaped, but tremendously tasty once it starts to melt in the mouth. The heat of the pepper hits your senses. And add to it, the puliyogaré (puliyodharai) there. One thing I have seen in Karnataka temples, almost without exception, is the amount of free prasadam that they give there. No shooing of people or giving small helpings. It _is_ generous and the temples are usually very clean. Both Niño and Niña got their helpings, took some of ours, all of which were in our hands, stood outside the temple, with Niño eating off our cupped hands and finishing it _fast_ (if only eating at home could be as quick!). Perumal Kovil puliyogaré tastes ethereal wherever you go. [Govindaa Govinda]

As we walked down, remembered that there is another 'Brahmins Coffee Bar' [BCB] type place nearby. Trundled down there, which is across the park there (close to the BDA shopping complex), to see a milling crowd outside a small eatery. And we had arrived at the Sri Lakshmi Venkateshwara Coffee Bar. Idly and Vadé again after wading through humanity. The chutney was a tad hot, but the idly and vadé were yum-o-yum, very similar to the ones at BCB. No sambar here as well, but chutney is limitless. This place is different than the BCB in that you get a larger variety to eat, like dosé and rava idly. el Niño, fickle to eat at joints like this, asked Señora to get him the dosé with aloo and vegetables inside (masala dosai), that he had tasted for first time at a friend's birthday party sometime back. Sat on the platform for a tree on the footpath, finished it off in no time.

What started off as a short and quick temple visit ended up with a trip to SLV coffee bar. Thanks to all the little eateries that make up the little joys of life !!!

The milagu vadé pack-of-5 from the temple survived only for a day more before its extinction. If you visit Devagiri on a Saturday, you can treat yourself to the mouth-watering temple prasadam, gorge at SLV Coffee Bar nearby and wind it up with a glass of fresh and hygienically pressed sugarcane juice at "cane-o-la" in the Banashankari BDA complex, all within 3 minutes of each other by walk.

Have a great weekend.

Suttum Vizhi Chudar Thaan - சுட்டும் விழிச் சுடர்தான்

After a long time ...

One more translation of a 'soaring poem' from Subramanya Bharathi.

If emotions had arms and legs of its own, they would be dancing a perpetual ballet to the way Bharathi plays with them and his use of words of imagery.

Kannamma is his muse and there are quite a few poems addressed to her.

Here is a rendering of this poem by Hariharan in Kandukondaen Kandukondaen, with the background score by A R Rahman. It is an external link to Raaga, which may or may not work.

சுட்டும் விழிச் சுடர் தான் கண்ணம்மா சூரிய சந்திரரோ
வட்டக் கரிய விழி கண்ணம்மா வானக்கருமை கொலோ
பட்டுக் கருநீலப் புடவை பதித்த நல்வயிரம்
நட்ட நடுநிசியில் தெரியும் நட்சத்திரங்களடீ

சோலை மலரொளியோ நினது சுந்தரப் புன்னகை தான்
நீலக் கடலலையே நினது நெஞ்சின் அலைகளடீ
கோலக் குயிலோசை உனது குரலின் இனிமையடீ
வாலைக் குமரியடீ கண்ணம்மா மருவக்காதல் கொண்டேன்

சாத்திரம் பேசுகிறாய் கண்ணம்மா சாத்திரம் ஏதுக்கடீ
ஆத்திரம் கொண்டவர்க்கே கண்ணம்மா சாத்திரமுண்டோடீ
மூத்தவர் சம்மதியில் வதுவை முறைகள் பின்பு செய்வோம்
காத்திருப்பேனோடீ இது பார் கன்னத்து முத்தமொன்று

And a translation below, that evokes maybe no more than a quarter of what the original does.

The blazing radiance of your eyes, Kannamma
    Do the Sun and the Moon derive thence?
The round black pupils of your eyes, Kannamma
    Do the dark skies imbibe whence?
The silken saree, hued a midnight blue,
    With glittering stones embedded bright;
Are the twinkling stars seen,
    In the darkest hour of the night;

A bright floral garden,
    Reflects in your lovely smile.
The blue waves of the sea,
    Resonates like your heart.
The gay koel's notes
    Likens to the sweetness of your voice.
On you, the young maiden, Kannamma
    Envelops my encompassing love.

Ideology, that you talk, Kannamma,
    You need it not!
For those in a tearing haste, Kannamma,
    Credo is sought not!
With the elders assent,
    The wedding rites, we shall follow yonder.
How can I wait till then?
    Look here!, a kiss on your cheek, I wonder.

The Class

First, wishing all a good Ugadi, that is passing by today.

This post is not a recap of the novel of the same name as the title from Erich Segal (which incidentally I liked), but just a remniscence triggered from a mini reunion of six of us from our class last weekend (from a class of 40) over lunch. Two of my colleagues came in from Canada to Chennai, and took time to come down to Bengaluru, meet the motley crowd here (six of us are here, out of which four made it to the meet). I had written sometime back when I started to blog, on the topic of  "The home that wasn't" on my observances on college hostel life.

I saw 4 of them again only now after leaving college an eon back (நாமளும் ஒரு காலத்துல படிச்சோமான்னு ஆயிடுத்து!) Lots of changes in physical appearances, but once we started to talk, the college days were back. There was constant and non-stop prattling, the flashbacks, our teachers, growing up topics and poking fun around generally. I had met three others and talked to a few more when I was in the US a few weeks back. After our meeting, I was trying to recollect all the 40 in my class, but couldn't move beyond 37. :-( I have asked for help from one of my colleagues to fill in the gaps. Each one of them kindles a tagged memory, which is something academic or something funny or some incidents at college or their nick-names :) and it is nostalgic walking through the disjointed and hazy memories of almost 3 years together before we went our paths. And while browsing our class' Yahoo! Groups archives, dug out a scan of three photos uploaded by a colleague back in 2004 of the undated old photos which were taken at the end of our academic lives before we dispersed to do our final year projects. Those were the times!

The class is now spread between the USA where the majority is, Canada, Bengaluru, Chennai, Malaysia/Singapore and Australia. A few of them are randomly in touch with the others, few more regular, a few incognito with almost no trace in the past few years. Some are entrepreneurs running their own companies, some are in regular jobs (like me) and some have chucked their jobs for the most difficult and demanding job of all, parenting.

We are still a long way from our silver jubilee re-union (the premise of "The Class") if it happens, but we have crossed around two-thirds of the way.

Memories, memories and memories! The more you stoke it, the more its embers glow! The four hours that we spent together over memories, priceless!!!

Short Takes

Short takes over movies seen in the past 3 weeks.

The Devil wears Prada - I was besotted watching Anne Hathaway repeatedly over a weekend, brought down by Señora, who paraphrased her name to 'annaathéy' to irk me. Three ladies, Anne Hathaway, Meryl Streep and Emily Blunt anchor the movie. It is around MS, who runs a powerful fashion mag in a dictatoresque fashion, and her two assistants [EB, AH] and the dynamics surrounding them. Loved some of the dresses AH wears, especially when she first walks into her office dressed stylishly in a Calvin Klein, Chanel and Jimmy Choo and also her million watt smile. Loved the flow of the movie and its characters. The Devil wears an Attitude with a capital A!

Love Happens - Watched it thinking Jennifer Aniston will redeem the movie, if not anything. Pfft!, no vibes between JA and Aaron Eckhart, weak story and flat performance. The movie never had life anywhere except for a flash or two. Love (never) happens!

An Education - I thought the movie starred Emma Watson (Hermione of Harry Potter fame) and was awaiting her throughout the movie. And she didn't, till the end. Because I misread Emma Thompson as Emma Watson. :-( Movie is a "coming of age" story of a British schooling teenager (Carey Mulligan) who falls for a married man unknowingly and then recovers when she finds out. Good in spurts. An education, it was, for me to read the cast names properly!