Tribute in memory of late Vijay Neelakantan.

October 24th 2006, very next day to Diwali… Destiny took away our most beloved Vijay Anna from the midst of us through a very tragic accident. He & anni were just back from their first diwali celebration.
Vijay Anna although you are not physically present with us, you were, you are and you will ever remain in our minds as the most considerate and loving person, we had ever met. We never considered you as a separate entity. You are in our minds, thoughts, hearts, eyes and infact you are part our system itself and nothing can take you away from there. The name given to the relation between you and us is Friend/Brother/Father and so many names. But to put it simply you are more to us than any thing else in this world. If anyone asks us whether you will remember Vijay anna, we will say NO because remembering comes when you forget a person. When we can never forget Vijay anna where is the question of remembering? At this hour of grief, we are unable to put our thoughts into words. The only thing we intend to say is We Love You Vijay anna. We always love you. You will ever remain with us.



SHINE ON.....YOU CRAZY DIAMOND…Loved you.....!

I'm referring to the death of a good friend/brother – Vijay anna in a bike accident 2 years back on this day at midnight. His death is by far is the worst way in which reality could have hit me I believe. Even now, and for ever, He will pass through in my mind and thoughts. It’s a most cruel way to take a life, but there was no one to comment on that, are we? GOD up there finally does have his way, although we try to believe that we can lead and live life on our own terms all the time.
I’m writing all this in grief and lots of pain inside. Because, it’s not just that I couldn’t be a part of those hard times, also much more for those who watched the last rights being performed, watch 2 parents sob desperately as they tried to come to terms with the drastic end to their 28 year old son, and watch his newly wed wife trying hard to believe that her soul mate was no more.
Why I didn’t attend the call on that night. Got the call again from his number next day early hour, only to hear his wife crying on the other end to break the tragic accident!
All of us have gone through our share of SHIT in life I’m sure, and more is to come I guess, but somewhere down the lane, as much as all of us tried to hide it, we realized that we were brought back onto Earth with a big damn thud!
Natural death is one thing, and that’s very well accepted after a certain point of time in life, but death of this kind is not what you want to see. Especially, There are no justification in any world for this, he was married 45 days earlier, which is when I met them, He & his wife just returned from their first diwali celebration and on the same day…
That’s the most strange thing isn't it, GOD does things when you least expect it. All of us would surely say - He didn’t deserve such an end, but do we know what we deserve for all the good and bad deeds we've done in life!
I really don’t want to prolong the misery anymore for all of us, but just wanted you guys to sit down and think - Life cannot always be driven at our own pace. We need to realize that we're in a stage, where what we do every step of the way does affect a lot of people around us too, mainly our immediate family and our closest circle of friends and foes. Even our every single emotion may hurt others, what is the point in getting angry, what do we get by doing bad deed to other human being. Please, Please, Please be careful when you get onto that bike/car the next time, when you go ahead and do something just to please yourself, not thinking of how it would affect other people.

Kavithaiya appadina???

மௌனமாக இருந்தது அவள் உதடுகள் மட்டுமே ...
ஓராயிரம் அசைவுகளை கொண்டிருந்தது அவள் விழிகள்
..... அவை பேசியது ஒரு வார்த்தை ..... காதல்...




Sorry for the kavithai above.. inspired by Kanuvagalin Kadhali..
please comment -- no bad words plz [:(]

Nuptial Knots....

Saturday again, was pondering over my last few days incidents to have a topic to blog, and this particular conversation hit me, and here I have penned my thoughts about that.

Few days back, I got a chance to meet up with some of my friends for a coffee, and a interesting but aged topic sprouted out - Love and Arranged Marriages, the reason it was interesting because, it happened between 6 of us, Sivaranjini being married, Sheetal being committed, Megha getting ready for the marriage in 10 days, Vardhan & Krishna being single but who knew the pleasure and pain of being in a relation and Siva being single, and all belonging to different cultural backgrounds of India.
(Don't wonder about where is my name, I didn't use the original names).

Sivaranjini whose marriage is arranged, Siva, Vardhan and Krishna talked about the factors influencing arranged marriages, Most of the times arranged marriages are not just between individuals - it involves the association and mingling of the families the couples come from, sometimes the religion and the caste. It's a complicated affair, no matter who you are, what you do for a living and how good your bank balance looks; you really can't be prepared for this. And most parents consider their last duty is to have their son or daughter to see that they pass through the marital rites of their choice.

Megha and Sheetal were more talking in the perspective, not against love marriages, but more like, even if parents don’t accept the partner we have chosen, we still will go ahead, believing/assuming parents will accept eventually in due course of time.

Personally, I feel Marriages should be an interesting experience where love and patience have to be harvested to reap the crop of affection and respect as time goes by.

In most love relationships, you are attracted to the person because of looks or personality and later you find out their flaws but still love them. It’s the same with arranged marriage, you like the person in first meet which is arranged, then have engagement period of 6 months or so, where you kind of get to know the other person by dating or whatever, and then marry.

There are several things when it comes to love marriages. Not all love marriages are successful and not all arranged marriages are successful. It’s a 50-50% ratio about love and arranged marriages.

I came to know that the odds are against love marriages working out. 50 to 60 percent of all love marriages (particularly in western countries) ending up in divorce against the mere 5 percent of arranged marriages ending up in divorce.

It’s all about love-arranged marriages or arranged-love marriages. I don’t see much difference between the two in today’s world. Every love marriage should be arranged. It’s about marrying someone and grows to love, irrespective of pre-marriage love.
Getting married will be a big change in one’s life - one has to share their life with a spouse. No matter how much love there is in between the two, it is an upward climb easing itself as you take it on steadily.

Family is a great thing and it is a huge responsibility, worth the time and effort! What is life without someone to love and a whole gang to make fun of?
And last but not least…. Hail singledom!

Nayan pola oru PM Ketten....

"Yaaradi nee Mohini"...Well it’s a catchy title and with Nayan @ her best…. all I could say... It’s a one-time must watch on a cozy evening!

And Selvaraghavan is able to come up with such a script with out any sort of eccentricity as his movie is known for.

The story is pretty simple– unemployed boy falls in love with girl — girl denies it as she was already engaged –hero has a friend — and obvious the friend would have been engaged to the girl the boy loved– and finally the friend would give way for love .

Dhanush once again plays the role of a carefree youth, fighting with his Dad (Raghuvaran), falling in love with the ravishing Nayanthara. Sad to see Raghuvaran in his last movie, he has excelled in the role as ever. His body language in the movie shows the ailing actor’s health actually. The sweet interlude between dad and son is narrated in a enjoyable manner.

The most pitiest guy in the movie is Karthick who is the friend of Dhanush engaged to Nayan. The same classic movie sentiment is been pressed on him, He again plays the role similar to Alaipayuthey , Kanda Naal Mudhal.He should get some good roles, he’s a capable actor.

The music by Yuvan actually lacks the magical touch for a Selva’s movie .And why did they had Udit Narayan sing “Yengaeyo Paarththa Mayakkam”, It took out the essence of the lyrics.

Few scenes to have the feel are, when Nayan asks Dhanush whether her sister looks prettier than her and holding his hand saying ‘Feeling a lot better…’.And the dad-son bonding is actually has been depicted in a impressive way, like the other creation of Selva – 7/G. And for how long in tamil movies, the girl changes her mind the previous night of her wedding!!!

The most anguishing fact is the way how IT environment has been portrayed in the movie. It can’t get stupid than this. Too much of exaggeration. I was actually laughing out loud and am sure it stirs up laughter from the people who work for the same.

Some dialogues and scenes to watch are, when Nayan says Dhanush, “Hey, what do you think of yourself, I am your Superior Officer….”, and When Dhanush goof-up all the systems by thumping some keys and the emergency system goes up!!!!, and again getting the whole thing straight (CODE ACTIVATED) and delivering the project in the morning, I remember the night outs we have in college, studying the whole night and passing the exam next morning…. This is an extreme… I wish I could do the same!!!!

Overall I wish I have a project manager like Nayanthara!!!!!

Song(s) of Lifetime...

At any given time, there's always a song that catches my fancy more than the others. Inspite of having a long playlist with my all time favorites, this is the song I always listen to in all my mood swings. And it’s the number, I play first when I power up my iPod. So I end up listening to that song a few times everyday. I always sing along (when no one around) and it always makes me feel just a bit better... which is the all time wonderful hit "Poongatrilae" from Uyire (Ae Ajnabi/Dil Se)

The song starts of with a country feel to it through the simple beats, and then when Swarnalatha starts of with "Kannil oru vali irundhaal" it takes you in to that mood of sorrow and pain. And the voice of UnniMenon fits the song aptly, what more... Vairamuthu’s lyrics, ARR’s music... making it a perfect rendition.

Kaattrin alaivarisai kaetkkindradhaa ?
Kaetkkum paattil oru uyir vizhum kanneer vazhigindradhaa ?
Nenju nanaigindradhaa ?
Idhayam karugum oru vaasam varugindradhaa ?

Kaattril kanneerai yaettri
Kavidhai sendhaenai oottri
Kannae un vaasal saerthaen
Oyum jeevan odum munnae ododi vaa ...


The hero trying to reach his lover through the air-waves. He transmits his feelings to her, by airing this song on the radio... and the song's lyrics capture not just the mood, but also the medium though which he reaches her!!! - "I add my tears to the air, with some sweet poetry, and deliver to your house!"

One of my all-time favorite songs - for the music, lyrics and the feel!!!

Right now, song is the haunting melody “Un siripinil...” from Pachai Kili Muthucharam. It is a song with minimal beautiful beats and strong lyrics, but this one has grown stronger on me. Almost all the sections in the song are very catchy and sung without any frills by the debutants Gouthami Rao and Robby accompanied by Harris Jeyaraj’s leisure beats. The husky singing is so soothing and relaxing... along with Thamarai’s lyrics…

mudhal naal paartha vanappu
thuli kuraiyavum illai unakku
urakkam vizhiipil kanavaai
unai kaanbadhae vazhakkam enakku
aruginilae varugaiyilae
thudippadhai niruthudhu nenjam
mudhal mudhal indru nigazgiradhendru
nadippadhu konjam vanjamae


The song's tempo is neat and brilliant and leaves us wanting more and more as it ends. Keep your eyes closed, your sensations will do the rest!!

கொஞ்சம் நேரம் மொக்கை …

வழக்கம் போல, அலுவலகம் முடிந்து JLO நம்ம ஊரு குத்து பாட்டுக்கு டான்ஸ் ஆடுற மாதிரி ஒரு கற்பனைல இந்த பாடலை என்னுடைய இசை கருவியில் ரசித்து கொண்டு வந்தேன்..


முதுக தட்டி யாரோ கூப்பிட்ட மாதிரி இருந்தது….. “எவா அது”-னு ஒரு expression கொடுத்து திரும்பி பார்த்தா நம்ம Rams roommate...

எப்படி இருக்கீங்க-னு கேட்டவர் பெயர் நாபகத்துக்கு வரவில்லை… செரி என்ன பெரிய deal-nu அப்படியே கதை அடிச்சிடே நடந்தோம்.. அப்போதான் கவனிச்சேன் அவருக்கும் நம்ம பெயர் தெரியாத மேட்டர்.. செரி அரசியல்-னு வந்துட்டா அப்படிதானே..

செரி-னு ஒரு வழியா 10 நிமிடம் நடை பயணத்துக்கு கம்பெனி கொடுத்த rams roomie-கு ஒரு bye சொல்லிட்டு வந்தேன்.

இரவு நம்ம Namaste Flavor-ல ஹைதராபாத் பிரயாணி – ஒரு கை பாத்துட்டு வந்துட்டு இருக்கும் போது, Rams வியர்க்க வியர்க்க வந்தார்.,

Me: என்ன தலைவா, யார் கிட்டயாவது கவிதை சொன்னிங்களா, அடிக்க வராங்களா?

Rams: ஹி ஹி ஹி ஹி ... அதெல்லாம் ஒன்னும் இல்லை, உங்கள gym பக்கமே ஆள காணோமே? ரொம்ப பிசி-ஒ?

Me: நான் உங்கள இன்னைக்கு ஜிம்-ல பார்கவே இல்லையே.. ??

Rams: நீங்க ஜிம் வந்திங்களா இன்னைக்கு?? (அப்படின்னு ஒரு ஷாக் கொடுத்து கேட்டார்)

Me: ஆமா.. as usual I was in invisible mode

Rams: செரிதான், தெரியாம கேட்டுட்டேன், மொக்கைய ஆரம்பிக்காதிங்க .. தாங்க மாட்டேன். செரி நேத்து ராத்திரி ஒரு கவிதை எழுதினேன், அத கேளுங்க...

………………………………
அவ்ளோதான் கண்ண முழிச்சு பார்கிறேன்.. bed-la இருந்தேன்..

Me:என்ன ஆச்சு .. நான் எங்க இருக்கேன்

Rams: ம்ம்ம்ம், கும்பகோனாத்தில இருக்கீங்க.. 2 பிரியாணி-ய வெட்டும் போதே தெரிய வேண்டாமா.. இப்போ உங்கள தூக்கிட்டு வரதுக்கு பதிலா.. எங்க ஊரு நெல் மண்டி-ல மூட்டை தூக்கி இருந்தா கொஞ்சம் காசாவது மிச்சம் பிடிச்சி இருப்பேன். .

Me: :(

Rams: செரி வருத்தபடாதீங்க... இந்த situation-கு ஒரு கவிதை வச்சு இருக்கேன்..

Me:*&#*#$(*&#$*&$*&#(*&($&

P.S: This is my first try, hopefully will get better in coming posts.

btw, Rams is a good poet too.. here u can find his poems..

The most soothing blend....

As we are nearing our deadlines, the pressure mounts up… all the alien features (Programmer’s utterance) or so called bugs (!!) and their kids(actually their generations) in the project needed a clean up... Yesterday was one such day... started breaking some code (!!!) … starting sometime around 11 in the night... which made me go fanatic… thought would pack it off by 3-4 in the morning... dragged me... along with my room mate’s snoring which turned roaring towards the dawn :(
Finally it went till afternoon…finishing it was such a reprieve …. Then thought of giving a try for Michigan driving permit… which has been swinging whether allow or not provide driving license for non-immigrants and me along with that swing, with lack of documents to produce... Finally got it through…
Came back home, had a victory toast in a pleasant and perfect weather, called up a friend, who made my day by unexpectedly singing “Nila Kaikirathu”, I always wonder how other language people singing in Tamil pronounce the words so perfectly, which we, at the least I can’t achieve.
Perfect combo, after a tiring 30 hour day’s work along with a toast, pleasant weather and a classical song…..in a soothing voice..from a good friend!!
Nothing can beat this….!!!!

Cancerian.....

Usually, I am not bothered or have much belief about the zodiac signs.

Today one friend of mine, asked me to look at a link, and recommended with so much enthu, that it was so true.

I did read that for my friend and was surprised, out of curiousness looked at my zodiac sign.. and was literally shocked, it was as if someone has been beside me for a long time and observing and reading me.

Below is the link. Click for the surprise.

http://zodiac-signs-astrology.com/

What US did to me!

It's going to be a year, since I came to US … and it’s been a wild ride !!!.
And I thought, Coming to US would make you a more 'happening' person... Hah! Here's a short post of some of the ways I've changed since I've come to amreeka.

1. I can actually converse in Telugu!
2. I have watched more no. of movies (though its online) in the past one year than in my entire lifetime.
3. I can cook! (Sambhar,Tomato Rice, Chicken, Pongal... you name it ;) Cooking became my loathing hobby, next only to working!!). My culinary expertise was limited to finishing my roomie’s cooking until last year.
4. I've learnt how to keep up a conversation on weather for atleast an hour (Americans dig this!)

Worst of all….

5. I have zero Non-Desi friends! ( sigggh! )

Automotive evolution -- Boon or Bane???

American cities (at least The Motor-Capital of the world - Detroit, Michigan) have virtually non-existent public transportation infrastructure. Came across an interesting article over the web.
The author says that GM, Ford and Chrysler (The Big 3 in the motor-city) made such rapid progress in automobile sales during the 1970s that public transportation went out of taste for the masses!

"Under the impetus of capitalism, several gigantic corporations came to dominate ground transport in the U.S. during the Twentieth Century. Through sustained efforts of a shared monopoly (or oligopoly) led by General Motors, the automobile-- together with a complex culture supporting it-- was foisted upon the American people, for the sake of private accumulation of capital. As a result, the country is mired in unnecessary car-caused environmental, energy, and social problems."

Now, as someone from a country where public transportation is the primary (and for many -the only) mode of transport, this sounds crazy to me. Back in India, I cannot ever recall facing the problem of some city not being accessible, just because there was no bus or train service to that place. Well, even the smallest and remotest of towns are neatly connected to bigger cities via reliable public transport. But here, many a times, I've felt handicapped, and can’t go to work after morning 8, just because of the lack of transport!
So, why should we not have a solid public transport system in all cities complementing the privately owned hummers!?

Stats: According to the Census bureau, there were 129mi passenger cars plying on American roads versus 696K buses !!!!

This part of my life is called........

This entry is especially dedicated to my two brief years after college (in Hyderabad and Chennai).

It’s going to be 3 years I left college, ever since life has rotating its course.

And the last year being here in US, Everyday has been a search in unconsciousness. I miss that home food, Hyderabad biriyani, monthly Chennai visits, I miss the chaos of Hyderabad Traffic, miss those endless night outs and I miss her! And left out only with a helpless tear every night, hoping that life flips through soon. But to get something you need to lose something.... but the price paid is too high, Fear and loneliness haunt me for losing all these golden days with my friends, while they are in the transition phase of bachelor to tying the nuptial knot.

Let me rewind the few moments of those years...

Me, more of a person who cherishes the moments and relish on them, after all memories are to be cherished at the least, as those won’t repeat in the future, even many of us wish it would !!!

Life has changed… not as comfortable as it used to be in our India, they are in different dimensions now After five years of my college, once out of my sweet home things have definitely changed. We, actually I came out of my class, and now a different part of the world.

Our lives have changed, my ways have changed, my routines have changed, our priorities have changed, our interests have changed and everything around us has almost changed compared to those years when we were together having fun, fighting and repenting for the same, those useless conversations/arguments we used to have…
I recall one such sleepless night in Arun’s house me, Ajeeth, Lokesh and Jeno on the other end… “namma ellarum nallavana kettavana”(!!!).

And with the my circle… my school gang… those laughing over anything and everything that is silly!! those kindals… vidiya vidiya aatam.. vidincha pirakum athey aatam..

But trust me, though at times we had fights/clashes/disagreements we really enjoyed being together, in every activities we did, either getting caught for all the roguish crap things we did or spending time in our Parvathipuram channel.

Oh! Am I getting sentimental or what... I don’t care… Thanks fellas for having a mark in my life. I will always look back at those days and miss those times together.

Might sound like a cliché but the one thing that really stays unchanged is the memories that we cherished together. Those have become good ol' days now. Time seems to compete with the speed of light.

To say a few things in my ~2 years of the life after college..., all the anna’s I got 2*Saravannan’s , Aravind, Maruthu, Vijay Neelakantan(unfortunately he is no more), Sivaram sekar… who all should be given award, for tolerating me !!!!

From the moment I stepped in Hyderabad, I was so comfortable, they were throughout with me, showing their caring nature, teaching me life, tolerance, responsibilities, corporate politics, I learned a lot from them, they being my seniors.

Those times, when I started washing my clothes (!!!), continuous movie evenings (2 movies @ a stretch in IMAX), this setting up the kitchen together, and me being there to finish off all of their cooking. Aravind anna’s perfection, Maruthu’s political speeches and chattering till morning 4 everyday, Birla mandir, chilkur trips, once in a while polambification with each other, my first trip from Hyderabad to Chennai… which was planned that day’s morning and I was able to catch the train and Saravannan anna who planned so early, he almost missed the train, and the 2005 Diwali when Chennai was flooded and no access either by road or air to Chennai, then me and Sivaram took the longest route in train from Hyderabad-Coimbatore-Dindigul -Madurai-Virudhunagar-Nagercoil and again Nagercoil-Chennai-Hyderabad, everything in 3 day weekend.. and didn’t stay in my house more than 20 hours !!!! but still it’s a diwali… when compared to those diwali’s where the fireworks will go on for couple of days and final year diwali celebrations @ kumaracoil for 3 days…!!! Those are the moments....

And 3-musketeers me, Vijay Neelakantan anna and Sivaram sekar.. Saturday nights at Cloud Nine ;). Catching up with all the happenings of the week. I was immersed in the love of brotherhood… was totally broken when Vijay anna left us…..

Apart from that, breeze in my life and which also turned out to be a wild storm in my life… when those numb moment of mine… as ME and SHE parted without any answer. We went past each other as if we didn’t have any chemistry.

I recollected those dates, those walking her back home, holding her hands to cross the road.She has always been my better half and without her I am feeling incomplete.

I remember the times when I lost my pride and ego first time in my life. Irrespective of how I handled her, she always gave me her constant best... yea it was unconditional love!!!

Now I stand here seeing her go past, starting a new life. We didn't even make an attempt to change things. Infact I was the one who selfishly sent her away. But I am equally helpless, not that I did not want her besides... circumstances and time make you do things you never wanted to...I miss HER!

Now that part of my life is called ‘LIFE’….

Inoru vetti time-pass

When talking about Photography, I had for all time admired the creativity and the way the photographers capture the places so animated and present us a feast for others, I remember my dad’s passion on photography, who has an old Nikon.
I got my first point and shoot Canon SD 800 camera which so far was a very good companion everywhere, either a dance floor, or a scenic drive or just another moment.
Ok, let me get my scene down… appadi enna padam pidichitenu ketkireengala..
Itho… here I present my clicks..

http://www.flickr.com/kesavane

My first entry to the Photography competition - Vatta Paathai