Pranayam - The Love for life

I hear lot of fashion statements like:

"Mohanlal's time is up. He should quit!"
"Mohanlal is getting old! Man, he has lost it!"

All I could do is laugh loud at these stupid comments and feel sorry for their stupidity!

True that Lalettan's choice of movies are not up to the par nowadays, but what choices could he make? Good movies do come, but not to the extreme to exploit his caliber. But, even a midst of all these comments, he comes with a movie which becomes a textbook for acting. Pranayam is such a movie! He plays an old man throughout, a powerful presence. See it to believe it.

Mohanlal, portraying Mathews in Pranayam

The science of corruption!

Don't worry about the science part. The word was just to attract you into this blog post! Yeah, what a corrupt man I am! (Nowadays you add "science" to anything, and you would have enough ears and eyes to listen to you!)

When there are lot of noise around Anna Hazare and his fight against corruption, it would be so lazy (and unfair) on my part to not push out my feelings about the whole situation. Hence the blog post. Duh!


I am corrupt
Let me declare that I am corrupt. Or I have been one at some point of time. I remember that evening when I courageously walked to the man selling "Hyderabad Blues" tickets in black, and giving Rs.100 (for the ticket price of 40.00), and getting the ticket in pride. The movie was worth it, that's for another day....

Let me make a point here: I am not against any fight to corruption. I am for it. But before I point fingers, let me promise myself to learn to daringly say "NO" when asked by the auto-rickshaw driver to give him double the fare. Let me promise myself to learn to say "NO" when confronted with a government official who wouldn't sign my papers permitting water-line to my newly built dream home. Let me learn to say "NO" to all these distractions! Let me learn to say "NO" to my 7-year old daughter when asked for taking her to McDonald for not watching TV for a day (well, that one may be tough!). Let the corrupt me become uncorrupted!

This is the promise we all (including all the protesters) need to make when Anna Hazare is fasting.

Do I support Anna Hazare?

Well, Anna is a Gandhian. He is indeed a true follower of Gandhian principles. He is doing what I cannot even dream of doing - not eating or drinking...  I do support his cause. But do I completely agree with his way of doing things? No. But hey, I am a non-doer. He is a do-er. So, I should not say anything against. He is doing what I have been barking for long (and doing exactly the opposite).


Let the nation arise and awake! Jai Hind.

Getting Things Done

A fantastic presentation by David Allen:

What's ailing Malayalam Cinema?

That is one topic every Keralite likes to discuss, other than Politics :) This a series of blog posts (or so I plan of), about the reasons I see and the possible solutions that come to my mind.

Problem #1: Pathetic situation of Entertainment centers
I can only talk of those cinema theatres in Trivandrum (Kerala, India), my home town,  and some outside Trivandrum. I can say with 100% certainty that none of the theatres in Trivandrum are welcoming!!! Yes, that are three exclamations, and that was with purspose. :)

On our recent visit to Trivandrum, we went to watch Pazhassiraja, with much enthusiasm. Let me say, the experience (not the movie) disappointed me! I could not watch the movie with complete satisfaction. The ambience of the theatre was of very low class. The theatre had its own special effects, turning the lights on and off, and what nots!

Recently, one of my friends rented the DVD of the movie and we watched it in his home theater. Wow, I had missed the entire movie the first time! So, you imagine!

Solution: This is an easy one. Make it up! Make it trendy so that it attracts more people.

UPDATE: It seems its not only in Trivandrum. http://www.cinemajalakam.in/2010/10/blog-post_7183.html

Problem #2: The approach of movie making.
Some months back, I stumbled (yes, I never intended to watch) upon this movie called One Way Ticket. After watching the whole movie, I cursed myself of wasting 2 hours of valuable time! The director/screenplay writer did not have a clue what they were doing, for sure! That was very evident from the movie.

OK, bad movies come and go, and why am I so obsessed with this one alone? The one thing which was frustrating to me was the cast - this movie had Prithviraj, Mammootty and Thilakan.

What more could a director ask for? He just wasted lots of money, thats all!!

Recently saw Agathan, with lots of curiosity, after watching Dileep talk about it as it was the best movie ever made (in Students Only in Kairali TV). Very disappointed! It was directed by Kamal, for God's sake! What's happening???

Solution: It is time for the film makers to take a step back and think straight for a moment. They need to redefine the approach of movie making. Its not the money which makes the movie, its the movie which makes the money! :)

Movies I wish to watch

Pranjiyettan and The Saint  (Malayalam)
Brain child of ace director, Ranjith, this movie is already making waves in Kerala. Mammookka's different mannerisms has hit the hearts of Malayalees. Ranjith, who takes up different movies with different treatment, has not disappointed the masses it seems.
I was right (sometimes I do get right, honey! :))!  Ranjith did not disappoint me. Mammokka's subtle acting did not surprise me, but did put a smile on my face. One of the (few) best movies I have seen this season! Kudos, Ranjiyetta!


Urumi (Malayalam)
As of this writing, this movie is under production. Being directed by Santosh Sivan, this movie is co-produced by the young and dynamic Prithviraj. He is also playing the lead role of Kelu Nayanar, who planned to kill Vasco Da' Gama. I have been following the lion heart in twitter for some time. The crew is now in Malshej Ghats near Pune, shooting some romantic song sequences and some fight sequences involving Portugese martial artists and Kalari Payattu (a martial art in Kerala, India) dudes.
Well, the DVD has not reached me yet. I have been watching whatever I could from YouTube (except for that theatre print which has been floating around). So many clippings past, and I am not feeling the urgency to watch this flick. The dialogues (whatever I have seen till now) are not mature enough! It seemed as if they are mimicking Oru Vadakkan Veeragaadha. In some scenes even  Prithviraj gave out over-dramatic acting sequences. As of now, I would say I am not that happy with the movie. Well, at least  it didn't deserve the hype which was created.


 
Anwar (Malayalam)
Amal Neerad really disappointed me in Sagar Alias Jacky (Reloaded), wasting the much talented Mohanlal (Lalettan). Very much! I hope this is his comeback, starring Prithviraj.
I watched this movie with much skepticism. But I was very happy with this movie. The making was much better than Big B and Sagar Alias Jacky. Amal sure did learn from his mistakes. The action sequences are a must watch! This is a movie to be watched in big screen and quality sound effects (do we have such cinema centers in Kerala? :))

Shikkar (Malayalam)
Lalettan is back in action, with ace director Padmakumar (Ammakkilikoodu fame), with lot of adventure and thriller sequences.
Well, I must admit (proudly) that I am a Lalettan fan. And that too a hard-core one! And I wouldn't want to admit that any of his movies are bad ones - ever! This is one of those movies I wanted to give 9/10. But Papetta, you could not maintain the honesty you showed in Ammakkilikkoodu in this movie! Very disappointing. Lalettan was superb - no doubt. But, but, why was Balaraman's (character played by Lalettan) truck named "Shikkar"? And what is significance of Ananya's character being portrayed as Balaraman's brother's daughter? Why not Balaraman's daughter herself?  Grow up, guys! Question to the director: Were you trying to challenge my intellect? Come on! I am done with these histrionics! Time's up!

Debaangg (Hindi)
Salman Khan starrer! Making waves in India.
Should I take a chance? :)
I took the chance, alright! And it was worth it. It was an out-and-out entertainer indeed. Even though it is not a must-watch, you would enjoy it! I did.

The American (English)
I have been a fan of George Clooney for a long long time. His close-to-life acting sense has attracted me since I saw his One Fine Day. Who can forget the subtle shock he displays towards the climax of  Up in the air?
A beautiful movie. This is not an action movie. The silence is very much haunting in this movie. The whole movie has this mood of solitude as depicted by the main character, played by Mr. Clooney. He has excelled in his characterisation and he should be adored for his acting capabilities.

Inception (English)
I have not seen Nolan's much acclaimed Momento. But I am gonna watch Inception, once it lands on the DVD aisles. Mr. Caprio is one of those actors who improvises with every role he gets. He has come a long way from the chocolate boy of Titanic.
What a movie! It did confuse me for a while, but I got my grip, and I should pat on the director shoulder for his attempt. The actors were superb.... yeah just that... a must watch!


Enthiran (Tamil)
Saw the trailers in YouTube. Overwhelming. Director Sankar needs applause for sure. I think this one would be worth a trip to DC or Philadelphia when it arrives here in US.
We did not have to go to DC or Phila. The Regal cinemas in Harrisburg was showing this movie. And was that a treat! Shankar did entertain us. It was a Shankar movie than a Rajni one. Marvellous, indeed!

Teacher Appears (read Teachers Appear!)

"When student is ready, teacher will appear!"

This statement has lot of meaning. This has very deep meaning of one has to be ready for the opportunity. Be prepared, and you shall reap the fruits.

This is true in all of our cases. Some of us may just not be aware of this happening to us.

In Harrisburg, we have a small group of friends, getting together on Sundays, for a Satsang. We discuss Hinduism and it's effects of its ideologies and literature on our daily lives. So far it has been very rewarding in learning new things and applying to our lives in moderate doses.

The only challenge was none of us understand Sanskrit, which is the base language of all Hindu scriptures. There are other sources as well, in Malayalam and English, but the root source of all come from those Sanskrit scriptures.

Then one day, it just happened.

Sri Mannadi Hari (Sapthaaham fame) happened to visit US and we invited him over to Harrisburg. He is a very learned person and it was a blessing for us that he visited our small group and attended one of our Satsangs. He gave a discourse on Dharma Sastra and its relevancy in today's world. Very informative session, it was.

After two weeks, our Satsang initiator Gopakumar told that Sri Udit Chaitanya is visiting US. He is a Swamiji and a Brahmachari (unlike Sri Mannadi Hari). He has amassed wealth of knowledge in Bhagawatham. Gopan invited him over and he was very kind enough to accept our invitation and came over. We organized a small gathering at our temple in Harrisburg (HARI Temple).  It was another enlightening day of discourse.

We were ready. And the teachers appeared.

India Trip 2009 - 1

Kuwait Airways - Low rate or Low service?

When my travel agent quoted the deal of $670.00 per person for a trip to India (Chennai , to be specific), I could not say NO. Grabbed it then and there! $670.00 is a SUPERB deal! I have never ever seen a deal below $1000.00 for a to-and-fro trip to Chennai or Trivandrum, from USA. The flght is from JFK, told my agent. Never mind, for $670.00, I wouldn't even mind walking from Mechanicsburg PA to JFK, I said. And laughed.

Kuwait Airyways was never number 1 for anyone's list flying to Kerala. The service was not at par. But it is better than Air India, which has its own internal issues to solve first, before showing some good customer service. The individual TV sets did not work properly and the seats were not that comfortable. It was ok for both myself and my wife, but for our 6 year old daughter, it was BORING!

The flight to Chennai was ok. The flight we took, was via London. So we had security checks in JFK as well as in London. Hassle, it was, but we did not mind as it was for our own cause. Once we reached Kuwait, we had to change the aircraft. There are airport officials every where in the airport, but knowing English is not enough. Because they dont know any. The airlines desk staff helped us find the gate.

Chennai - The City

A seemingly surprising wonderful weather in Chennai welcomed us. My brother-in-law had come to pick us up, with my sister and nephew.

Chennai had changed. The Airport fly over, which was in the beginning stages of construction in 2007, had completed and was pretty pukka! Chennai has its own charm even in midst of heavy traffic and unethical driving sense. The emergence of MNC and its clones, and the eat outs catering them have polished the face of Chennai.

We visited the Crocodile and Snake Park on our way to Ideal Beach Resort in Mahabalipuram Road.

The ambience in the beach resort was ecstatic. The resort was very clean and neat. The food was awesome. And the beach - simply superb!

World's greatest cuisine - Anything that Mom prepares!

The best part visiting my Mom is getting great food! She is a great cook. She is passionate about cooking! And she likes to see people eat and be merry! And guess what? All we did in Chennai was shopping and eating! From Beef Cutlet to Mutton Pulau - anything that came our way... sumptous indeed!

Kerala Cafe - The film of films

Sangam was playing Kerala Cafe. I had read numerous reviews about the movie and seen interviews about the same. And above all I am a fan of Ranjith, the director, who is the producer of the movie. Kerala Cafe is a compilation of 10 small movies. Yes, 10 movies, directed by 10 different directors. All the stories engulfed me. We had a good time at Kerala Cafe. Some of the credit indeed goes to the theatre and the setup. Sangam is a great theatre.

Trivandrum

Time went by very quickly and we had to fly to Trivandrum. Simi's parents came to the airport to welcome us. Trivandrum was very hot, an unusual condition for December. The only change I saw in Trivandrum was the emergence of flats. More number of builders have occupied the lands and build more flats in the city. More people have immigrated to the city thanks to the flourishing Technopark.

But again the infrastructure of the city has not moved an inch yet. It has moved, of course, towards the worst. The roads are in a very bad shape, thanks to the not-so-focussed politicians, and failing projects.

(To Be Continued...)

Unpopular Chief Minister. Unpopular Remarks

I would not expect anything more from him. Oh ya, I am talking about our own Achuthananthan, who had done NOTHING except getting unpopular!

The recent remarks against Major Sandeep's family is just an example. The remarks were a colloquial one, I agree. But, it was not proper. It could come out from only a person who does not have any self respect.

I am not a Congressman, if you doubt! Never. You can call me a bully, but don't call me a politician! You may say, what is the difference! And I would laugh at your remarks!

I never had any inclination towards any political parties, nor do I have now. Political parties in India have not become so people-friendly till now. It might change, and of course I am looking forward to it.

People are fed up with these anti-heroes and their anti-heroisms.

When would they learn? When would we learn?

The New Year!!!

Well, another year is passing by...

2007 was a fast year for me and my family. My daughter turned 4, my brother-in-law got married, we go to visit India, I got MCAD. Lot of good things happened... Bad things happened too, but I tend to forget all the bad things and project the good things that happened to me... that keeps me alive and energetic...

Wish you all the readers a happy new year 2008!!!

Cheers!

Stage and me

I always wanted to act in a movie, when I was a teenager. I still have the passion of acting! That might have seeded in me by seeing my father on stage, on different occasions. No, he was not a professional actor. He was better than lots of them, but he acted in his official annual function skits.

My only outlet was the extra curricular activities in my school. I was totally involved in those, that I almost forgot (another term for being lazy) to study. And that hit me hard once, which I will never forget. Since then I have been keeping myself away from arts and theatre activities and concentrating on my studies and mainstream job related activities. So my hobby list included reading .NET books, writing .NET related blogs and attending actively in the local .NET user group.

Once again, the acting bug has hit me. It is with the local Kerala Association (Kerala is the state in India where I am from) connection. And they have made me the Entertainment Committee Lead. I am excited as well as afraid at the same time. When I am on stage, I forget everything... I just go with the flow...

This time, I have sworned myself that it would be different. I would be more careful than before. One lesson in life is more than enough to learn, right? My family and career comes first and everything else is second (or third or fourth...)...

What a Request

A request, from 113 MLAs to the President of India, to show some relief to the jail resident Madani, was not welcoming to me.

The question is who are these MLAs? Relatives of Madani? It is an open secret that he was responsible for Coimbatore bombing.

By releasing such a creature is doing injustice to our country!

SOMETIMES, I FEEL THAT THESE WRETCHED POLITICIANS ARE FOOLS BY BIRTH!!!!

10 Years, that is!

Celeberating 10 years in IT Industry. Yes, I am that old (no grey hairs till, but!).
I have learned from a lot and given a lot to the industry in the past 10 years. Its been a great journey and am still on it. I have seen the ups and downs of the industry and myself. If you (or Larry King) ask me how do I feel, I would say "GREAT!!".

The New House

We just moved into a new house (4 year old town house) and are enjoying it. To be frank, we had not enough time to sit and relax and enjoy the house, but been relatively busy.

There are lot of things to do, which I plan to do myself, with help from my friends. There are couple of projects that interests me and would start on them relatively soon. I will document those in this blog, so that some day some one might get help from the ones I post.

Celeberating the Death

I was never interested in Politics. May be because I was born in Kerala. You would be thinking what a nincompoop I am. Being born in Kerala should make me more aware of politics and should make me more agile in learning the political developments in the state. That's true. But you don't see the other side of it. In my opinion, there is a politician in every man in Kerala. People think politics and they discuss politics as it is their family matter. And that is where we go wrong. We discuss and we are concerned about what one party is doing to another, but we seldom understand that the both parties are the same - just with different faces.

Why am I so irritated with Politics? Just because it has never given our State a good image. NEVER. Communism or Congressism...both are same...they chose different paths to torture the people....

Not all politicians are bad. There are politicians, whom I have heard of and read about and whom I know personally, who really take their job seriously and with passion. One of such politicians is our respeced P K V. He was true Comrade. How could the politicians be so cheap by creating violence in such a situation? This is a time for mourning; to be silent; and praying. Instead they are "preying"!!! Kashtam


According to UNESCO, Kerala is 96.5% literate. But it could never tell how many percentage of the God's Own Country is EDUCATED!!! 9%, may be :-(

My Lady Love

I hug her and she looks at me...

I kiss her on her cheeks and she looks at me...

I kiss her on her nose and she looks at me...

My fingers stroll through her hair, and she looks at me...

I look at her, and her gleaming eyes tell me quitely....

"You are the best dad in the world!"

What Do I Read?

I liked reading. Not a lot, but still I used to read. Novels, poems and biographies.
They inspired me. They inspired me good!

Now that I dont get enough time (finding no time is an absolute farce!), I spend my free time in reading technical books. .NET has been my latest love for the past 2 years. So I read more about that reigning technology.

Reading has been a gift to my family. My maternal aunt is a voracious reader and writer. She is not published though. She is quite shy, in that matter. I have insisted umpteen times to get her works published, but she has been dodging through my attempts.

Well, my wife is also a voracious reader and she completes a book in 2 days. 2 days! Well, thats unbelievable for me atleast. Recently one of my closest friends, who also happens to be a heavy book worm, got her a novel - The Da Vinci Code. As she was busy in some other novels, I put a hand on it. And that was it. I got hooked. But it took me 4 - 5 weeeks before I completed the book.

This book was awesome. It taught me a lesson - there are things that we do not know. THAT WE DO NOT KNOW!

Karunakaran - The live Tsunami