Musings and satire-filled ramblings of a happily reclusive singleton who is married and a new mom now! Find things about stock market, comexes, day-to-day happenings in a sardonic tone here...
Thursday, December 30, 2010
New Year Gifts
Wednesday, December 22, 2010
When Gayathri Married Suganth (WGMS)
Monday, November 15, 2010
'Punch'athantiram
This is not a reproduction of that original lyrics wid Ramya Krishnan gyrating her hips. This is about Dravida Sudar Spectrum Raja & his chief... An imaginary duet (no, don't imagine dirty things!) between the duo.
Movie: Thollaipesi
Song: Bhajan bhajan
Singers: Raja, Karunanidhi
Chorus singers: Lady Fruitlanguage, Raoul (a) Rahul, and all Kazhaga udanpirappus
Chorus: umba umba umba...
um mere jaan mere jaan sunday hey sunday (3)
MK: vai raaja vai un kaiezhuthai vai
sei raaja sei nee rajinaama sei
Tenders ellam poi poi idhil paisa mattum mei mei
Chorus: bajan bajan padhavi bajan sei bajan bajan
bajan bajan spectrum bajan sei bajan bajan
Raja: nama nama nama nama nama namannu irukkudhey
1g 2g 3g ... 3g oozhal kolludhey
kodhi kodhi kodhi... kodhiyena kodhikkum ratham kodhikkudhey
kizhi kizhi kizhi..... media ennai kizhikkudhey
aiyayo padhavi maelae aasai ennai thuvaikkudhey
achacho en mugathil vekkam kooda maraiyudhey
MK: 2G um 3G um
spectrumkuLLae koodudhal poalae
1.76 latcha kodiyai suruttuvom oru poarvaikkuLLae
Chorus: bajan bajan padhavi bajan sei bajan bajan
bajan bajan spectrum bajan sei bajan bajan
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Marriage matter
Me: (trying to sound romantic and patting hubby's shoulder) Daaaahling, Happy B'day. Mwah!
H: he he, thank u babe... Ghorrrrrr (turns the other side and snores).
First disappointment in the morning.
Me: So what color shirt did u get? show me na? wat sweet do I prepare?
H: Nothing (for both the questions)
Me: (in a happier tone) Mani, my story is the lead tomorrow da.
H: (in a not-so-interested tone) oh. can u pls uncork the pickle dabba?
Ugh, useless :(
Household task
Me: Pls turn the washing machine to drain mode and remember to close the bathroom door. U got it?
H: Ya ya. I understood.
After a while he yells out that the bedroom is fulla water and blames me that I wuda done something. Panicked, I go and find out that he din close the door and let the drain water flow into the room. That's the end of it. All hell broke loose and I start yelling. Hubby cooly says - Diwali mudinja apromum namma veetla pattasu vedikaradhe! Oh, maybe naan thiri (pun on my name Gayathri) a killi potuteno?!
Called my friend to lament but she was lamenting to me... I think marriage is an EVIL NECESSITY (for all the women and for some men). Won't they change? what are these creatures' heads wired into?!
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Food for thought
Weather plays a prime role in any crop harvest and so let's connect weather systems with foodgrain output first. Let’s look at the global scenario: hot summer (unusually) in the US (lower supplies of corn, rice wheat), drought in Russia, Brazil (hitting grains), heavy rains wreaking havoc in Canada and Europe (affecting grain and oilseed crops to a large extent).
A global food crisis situation looms large. As soon as the US’ corn stockpiles hit a 14-yr low, prices hit the upper circuit at Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT), the world’s biggest futures exchange and as such, prices of agri commodities rose in tandem in Europe. If this price rise continues, food inflation woes will get worser. And this is likely to be aggravated by the entry of speculators who may push up the prices further.
Coming to India, we are, this year, blessed with one of our best agricultural years and record grain stocks. But the blessing seems to have a great flaw — inefficient food management system. We are saddled with a double-digit food inflation while a huge chunk of foodgrains rot in public warehouses. Rigid formulae and archaic rules (such as the disbursement of grain to States thro’ PDS a year is based on the average offtake for the preceeding three years. This was actually framed to release the grains ca
refully during times of shortage. But now, this seems to be an outdated law but yet it prevails) hinder the govt to quickly release grain to overcome crisis situations. Although the Economic Survey and experts like Pronab Sen offer a handy solution in the form of food coupons, again, one wonders whether it will be as successful here in India as in other developing countries given our inefficient and not-so-transparent governance!
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Faded out
Friday, September 24, 2010
Aayirathil Oruvan
M G R - the name itself has got some charisma there. Even after many years of his death his legacy lives and rules. Okay, happy being an MGR fan but at the same time very much frustrated when everyone uses his name as their self-rewarded 'adaimozhi'. In Mylapore, i see the walls near RK Mutt painted a picture of some moron with the letters "Chinna MGR". And near Royapettah - a 10 min drive from Mylapore, I see a famous actor-turned-politician being called as Vaazhum Karuppu MGR (Enna kodumai sir idhu!).
It all started with Bhagyaraj being proclaimed as MGR's filmdom heir (God knows on what basis!). Can any of these guys compete with MGR in beauty, talent, statecraft, screen presence and mass appeal. I know, some sick perverts will tend to see only his affinity, at a later stage of his career, towards his heroines. Leave that. Compare that "bewitched, enigmatic" (as described by ex-DGP Mohnadas in his book MGR-nijamum nizhalum), bunny-teethed smile with the 'asadu vazhiyum' sirippu of these guys. Look at the mass appeal the man had and still has! Still his re-released films run to packed houses and he still lives in many huts.
Even in statecraft he is second to none. He efficiently tackled the Naxals issue in Dharmapuri during the 80s (to tell in his 'dosth' MK's tone - andai maanilangalana Andhravai paarungal, pongu maangkadal ulla vangathai paarungal, oyindhu poi vitta orissavai parungal :-P ). and when the teachers threatened to go on strike demanding salary hike (as always) during the public exam time, he handled with great ease and put them in place. He has never acted in smoking/drinking scenes barring Thirudathey and Oli Vilakku.
PS: For these morons, one small piece of advice - y stop wid Chinna mgr or karuppu mgr? Go on, silly fellas - kutty mgr, kuttiyoondu mgr, dhammathoondu mgr, ithunoondu mgr, thakkanoondu mgr.......
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Bharathi en kaadhalan
A revolutionary poet he was, he saw beauty everywhere; in each of his creations. "Ethanai kodi inbam veiththaai iraiva". And he even sees beauty in the striking contrast of God's creations thus: "Chiththinai Achiththu udan Inaiththai Anghu Serum Aymbhoodathin Viyanulagu amaiththai" (You have created knowledge and ignorance together ; in that creation you have set the beauty in the 5 elements of Nature). A good musician by himself, he composed several classical songs and set them to tune in various ragas. He originally set his famous "Chinnanchiru kiliye kannamma" in Bhairavi raga but that was popularised in Ragamalika and in his work Bharatha Deviyin Dasagam he has composed hymns in 10 (Dasa - 10) different ragas! His words "Aayudham seivom, kaagidham seivom" have become true now.
And for such a visionary national poet, what has the Nation done? The Govt woke up from its woodchuck-ish slumber only in 1993 and brought his Triplicane home from a marwari (who had already embellished the house with granites/marbles like garnishing their ghee-laden sweets with pista/cashew gratings :-P) and then "renovated" (?!) it. Fie!
Enakku Vendum Varangalai Isaipen Nee Kelayi Ganapathi
Manadhil Sanchalam Illamal En Mathiyil Iruley Thondramal
Naan Ninaikkum Pozhudhu Nin Mouna Nilai Vandhida Nee Seyal Vendum
Ganakkum Selvam , Nooru Vayathu , Ivaiyum Thara Nee Kadavaye
( Oh Ganapathi ! Will you listen to my Boons; Without any anxieties and without darkness in my mind; Whenever I desire you shall give me your state of silence; Till then its your duty to bestow me with heavy wealth to survive in this material world and a 100 years of life)
Saturday, August 28, 2010
SUJATHA & KARUNA
I'm not a great fan of Sujatha. I read La Sa Ra, Thi Ja, Jeyakaanthan, Cho, Devan. But this line, I struck a chord with. Sujatha's lines hold good with today's situation (arasaanga TV - Sun, kalaignar; arasaanga sapadu - Re 1 rice; arasanga kaelikkaigal - Red giant, cloud 9, sun pictures, kalaignar pictures; arasaanga marundhu - kalaignar kaapeedu). And Mathi (of Dinamani fame) portayed this in his cartoon and drew flak from thatha. MK is overreacting these days with his regular TM words - paarpanrgal soozhchi, poonol pottorin aatchi, aariya maayaiyin neetchi. Doesn't know to differentiate between literature and politics. In a literature gathering, he speaks politics and in a political gathering he will speak about literature/cinema and his contribution blowing his 'vuvuzela' loudly. We suggest MK visit a geriatrician and retire, plssss.
Back to Sujatha, methinks he has some soft corner towards breasts. In each and every work of his, he describes the beauty, esply breasts of his lead ladies - Priya (aval parandha maarbin mel sadhurangame vilayadalam pol irundadhu), Meghangalai thurathinavan (rathnavin meth endra andha edathil mugam pudhaikka vendum endrirundhadhu), En iniya endhira (pointing out at bra - enaku indha ullani elaam anindhu pazhakam illai.Man- naan eppedho adhai parthu vittaen), Meendum Jeeno (kuzhandai pirandhal lactation ku payanpadum idhanaal veru evvalavu payangal irukkiradhu - the dog wondering so), etc.
PS: Hubby dear likes Sujatha the most. Should ferret out why?! LOL. Infact hubby was planning to intervu him, alas, he kicked d bucket!
Monday, August 16, 2010
Rajavin Raajangam
August 14,2010 - a day that I'll never forget in my lifetime. Met the great Ilaiyaraja (chellama 'mottai') and wowed by his simplicity. Actually, it was a book release function - Sangeetha Saagaram Semmangudi authored by Shankar Venkatraman on Semmangudi R Srinivasa Iyer. I owe my heartfelt gratitude to my darling S'mani (:-P) for taking me to the event.
The venue was Kamakoti Hall at Krishna gana sabha. The hall looks simple and elegant with acoustically designed walls. But what impressed me most was the portraits of musicians such as the Trinity, Swati Tirunaal with an inset picture of their 'ankita' mudra!!!
And when I was awed by it, Hubby dear, a classical music ignoramus that he is, enquired and I started explaining. For eg, Swati Tirunaal portrait carried an inset pic of Anantha Padmanabha swamy and Annamayya's carried Lord Venkateswara. Some of the composers and their ankita mudras are:
Tyagaraja - tyagaraja
shyama sastri - shyamakrishna
Muthuswami Dikshitar - Guruguha
Muthiah bhagavathar - harikesa
Papanasam Sivan - Ramadasa
Purandara Dasa - Purandara vittala
St Vadiraja - hayavadana....
and Ilaiyaraja's - Raja!
Here are some of the songs containing his 'ankita'- Raja rajadhi rajan indha raja (Agni Nakshatram), raagangal thaalangal nooru raja un per sollum paru (Valaiiyosai from Kamal-starrer Sathya), poongatru soodaachu rajaave yaar moochu (nan thedum from Dharmapathini, an excellent work in Hindolam), rajavin mutham kollum rojapoo kannam (poongaatru un per solla from Vetri vizha), rajanodu rani vandhu serum (Sathi leelavathi) etc.
The range of ragas that IR handled is simply stunning - from the very ubiquitious Kalyani (amma endrazhaikkadha, kaatril varum geethame), rare Chakravaaha (metti oli kaatrodu, poongatre neeyum) to the rarest Andolika (raaman aandalum raavanan aandalum).
An interesting thing I heard in the event - Semmangudi mama had only two pictures in his room, lord Balaji of Tirupathi and our own IR! And once when he was asked why Raja's picture in his room, Semmangudi replied: "Ivar talkie musicoda doctor da, ivar padam illama eppadi?"
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Aamra tomake bhalo bhashi, didi!
Well, enough is enough.. It's an accident, it's a disaster, dats all... People speak as if Mamata didi has conspired against her own customers (okie, passengers). People, from their dusted memories, recollect Lal Bahadur Shastri's resignation in 1956 following a train accident that killed around 150 passengers near Ariyalur in Tamil Nadu and demand Mamata didi to do the same. An interview (of course, imaginary) with didi and here we go.
Reporter: ma’m people quote history and demand your resignation. What’s your take on it?
Mamata: I too know history. I too have read about Nero, Louis XIV, etc.
R: There is an accusation that you hardly visit New Delhi’s Rail Bhavan and you are often seen in Bengal?
M: Home is where heart is.
R(taken aback): Ma’m we found out that as many as 20,000 posts lined to railway safety lie vacant.
M: Just now an accident occurred. We are speaking to the victims’ relatives. The more train accidents and casualties, the more the rate of compensation and job disbursement. So, we will be able to fill these 20000 vacancies soon, I think. My aim is to create a super-rich class of Railway employees in the society.
Reporter goes speechless and faints.
Dirty-minded!
Monday, July 12, 2010
Aathaa.... naan pass aayiten
Nearly 147 senior police officials in the rank of ADGP from across the country will undergo training in management and leadership aspects at the London Business School in the last week of July, says a news report. This (attending classes) is not new. In fact, global media is replete with news such as Romanian traffic police attend Ballet classes, Penang police attend Hokkein classes to foster better relations with ocal tribal peoples, etc. Yes, there seems to be a cause behind these but in our case, why are the senior officials being sent to a class in LONDON? Dat too, management class, one wonders! Instead, we can suggest different calsses for our IAS/IPS officers. Like dis:
Jaffar Sait - to learn new methods in tapping phone conversations.
C Umasankar (ex-Elcot) - to learn how not to interfere in family feud (grand uncle-grand nephew, to be precise) and save your job.
Commissioner Rajendran - to learn how not to prevent Kazhaga kanmanigals' from discharging their "duty" in court premises.
Intelligence wing IG Viswanathan - to create a congenial working atmosphere and be a friendly colleague with your fellow workers, esp. Jaffer Sait!
Sunday, July 4, 2010
RAJA RAJA THAAN
Numbers like Megham Kottatum (Enakul Oruvan), Oho megam Vandhadho (Mouna raagam), Anthi mazhai megam (Nayagan), Vaan megam (Punnagai mannan) and not to forget the ever-green Aathadi Ammadi (Idhayathai Thirudaathey). I still get under the shower and shake my leg while hearing it; leave alone the lines i still remember those heavenly interludes of IR in all these songs. I think IR transcends time; his tunes grow on you while ARR is only seasonal.
Being a die-hard IR fan that I am, earlier I used to quip my friends telling that "ARR songs are like the guys u see on road/mall/beach - stay in ur mind for a short time whereas RAJA songs are like ur 'murai paiyyans', ennaikume saaswadham!"
Saturday, July 3, 2010
Cinema
SEMMOZHIYAANA KANIMOZHIYAA......
1. They say almost Rs 300 crore was spent on the event. See, Kalaignar has provided some 4-day entertainment for the fun-starved Coimbatoreans. (Poonga, kadarkarai, manalveli, pala adukku sirappu angaadigal edhum illadhu verumaiyil uzhandru aalaigalile allalurum kovai vaazh makkalukku engal aatchi sumaar 300 kodi selavu seidhu magizhvithu ulladhu. Kongu udanpirappukale, anna sonnadhu pol adutha chithiraiyile thangal nithiraiyai thurandhu engaluku muthirai ittu vetri pera sei!)
2. Political commentators (Fie on them!) say it's a family show. Yes, can u see all the deities in a single go on a single day? (Pls recall poet-daughter kanimozhi calling her half-bro Stalin as 'Urchavar' as soon as he was made Deputy CM!). All the urchavar, moolavar, dwarabalagars (gate-keepers) provided 'dharshan' on a single stage. Aaha, now i'm compelled to sing 'enna thavam seidhanai, kovai nagarame....' (aka enna thavam seidhanai yeshodha) .
3. There were no power-cuts at all in Coimbatore those four days. See, besides providing a funtainment to Coimbatoreans, Kalaignar & Co made it a point that the people should not get affected by the soaring mercury levels and lest miss the entertainment!
4. And then there was this complaint - No buses on roads on the first two-days. You people listen it with your mouth agape when all those IT cos and realtors talk about 'WALK 2 WORK' concept and you bad-mouth MK when he does something similar on those llines? In fact, my 61-year old, diabetic papa dear was lamenting but i silenced him telling dat walking is a good exercise for diabetics and that he should thank MK. (Sakkarai noyinaal avadhipadum sandaalargalai nadakka veithu avargal udal nalathai kaatha naadu potrum thalaivane, udanpirappe, nee vaazhi!)
5. A national daily reported: Guzzlers make merry at tamil conference in coimbatore. See, indirectly, we have filled in the State coffers with TASMAC shops biz seeing an increase those 4 days. (Ovvoruvarum sirandha kudimagan aaga vendum enbadhe engaladhu latchiyam. Adhanaal thaan engalaal iyiandra udhavigalai seigirom. Sila parpana pathirikaigal adhai thirithu ezhudhi en meedhu avathooru solgirargal).
6. Some ardent Tamil enthusiasts (nope, other than MK and his poet-daughter) point out that 20 scholars had presented research papers on Karunanidhi and his works whereas only a few papers were presented on the Tamil language, the theme of the conference. (Thambi, tamizh veru naan veru alla. Ennaiyum tamizhayum pirithu paarpadhe thavaru. Ariya maayaiyin neetchi, parpanargalin soozhchi unnai ipadi ellam pesa solgiradhu. Thamizhukkagave naan, enakkum en kudumbathukkume Tamil Nadu enbadhai nee maravaadhe thambi).
thalaiva, a humble suggestion: Now that you are planning to rename the English-surname roads in Singara Chennai, we would like you to rename 'sarakku' brands also in Tamil. Like: Vellai Galatta(white mischief), Yesuvin thambikal (Christian Brothers), Karutha ottippu (Black label), Palaya thurai (Old port), Arasan mukkuvan (kingfisher), Sanji oothukaran (bag piper), Kilavan sami (old monk) . Three Cheers to Semmozhi Tamizh!!