Olympics - RIO 2016

Olympics, biggest sporting event which happens once every four years. Once again it wasn't a successful campaign for India. When most of the known contestants who won in previous attempts failed our expectation, but few really surprised us.

I don't remember following Olympics closely previously. This time I have watched many events live and tracked most of the events online. Maybe because of social media and Star network's coverage are the reasons. And, I feel it's over suddenly, just when India started winning some medals ;).

The first event I saw live was Indian women team's archery against Russia. After a poor start, they came back well to win the second and third sets. And, few misses in the final and the shootouts made them bow out of that event. They were close to winning. And, in men's archery Atanu Das was stunning who constantly got 10 points and had high hope on him, but he was out in the quarterfinals. 

Abhinav Bhindra, it was heartbreaking to see him lose third place by a whisker. We were watching it live, but we didn't understand what happened for a few minutes. And, when we changed the channel, our Indian men were playing hockey against Germans and it was 1-1. We were watching the last few seconds and Germany managed to score one and win the game in the last few seconds.

Dipa Karmakar, we watched her qualifying round, even though couldn't understand the format, was happy that she got selected to the finals. Again, she too missed her medal by a mere 0.15 points. But, she was the one to watch out in the future. I hope she wins big next time. And, her performance Produnova was considered very dangerous and called Death Vault, really hats off to her to become fourth best in the world. 

Then we kept losing in most of events and didn't open the medals tally. We lost in the hockey as well, in which I had some high hopes. Finally, it was Sakshi Malik, first women wrestler to win an Olympic medal, opened India's account with a bronze medal. It was great and fantastic achievement. 

Also, P V Sindhu. who made everyone to watch badminton games live. She won the semi-finals easily against the Japanese and became the first Indian women to play in an Olympics finals. She fought hard against the world's best Carolina Marin and gave her a tough fight and she won the first set. Marin played brutally in the second set, especially her smashes. Even the third set were at 10-10 at one stage, but Marin proved to be world class. Still Sindhu made history with a silver medal in the Olympics. And, her coach Gopichand should be lauded as well, who was behind Saina when she won the Bronze last time. 

This time our medals tally were less than last year, some familiar names like Abhinav Bhindra, Gagan Narang, Yogeswar Dutt, Saina Nehwal who all won a medal in their previous attempts couldn't continue to do so this time. But, we had some new heroes emerging this year Dipa Kamrakar, Sakshi Malik and P V Sindhu. Let's hope for a better outing next time. And, all those

Including me, of course

IEL - Indian Election League - Let's Play

This summer we have two big events happening in our country. One is the much awaited IPL and the other is something which comes once in every five years promising it will do a lot of change to the nation, IEL, Indian Election League.

The IEL season has already begun. This time Modi's BJP is looking like a strong team. No one thinks Congress going to win this election. But, who knows anything can happen.

I think in the history of India we had an acting PM for so long for ten years. I feel pity on MMS if congress loses this election he will be the first person to be happy I guess. And, I hope he's happy at the end of this election. 

I had a very high hopes on AAP once they won an election in Delhi, but they just lost everyone's confidence after resigning in just 39 days. Why Kejrival why? You can achieve a lot of things being a CM than what you have achieved by resigning. Now you want to be a PM, sorry Kejri I don't think you deserve this. I am angry only because you promised to be different from others and we expected a change from you. We thought we could witness the changes you can do during your ruling period in Delhi. If you could have made a difference I think AAP could have won big everywhere in the next parliamentary elections, now I have no idea where you will end up this time.

In our Tamil Nadu I have no idea what DMK and ADMK going to do if they win many seats. For ADMK our CM's aim is to become next PM which looks little unrealistic, but will be happy if it happens. DMK has only choice of getting back to Congress if they win big, again I don't think it will happen. BJP has a terrible alliance with DMDK, MDMK, PMK among them I respect only Vaiko's MDMK. Now I am reluctant to vote for them because I hate DMDK and PMK. And, no idea how Vaiko, a follower of Periyar is with BJP, but yes "Arasiyilla ithu ellam satharanamappa".

Modi had single-handedly given a huge boost to BJP. There are still debates on whether Gujarat really developed or not, but my only hope is if he becomes the next PM he cannot be as bad as our current PM even if he is bad.

Everyone must go and vote. I have booked my ticket to my native on the same day when the dates are announced. I feel it's the only power we have in our hand that we must use. And, I feel if you don't vote you have no rights to complain about the government. You have only one duty and if you can't do that don't blame the government if they fail in doing their duties. But, I don't see the enthusiasm in many people. They don't even know their candidates in their area. They only know the election's date that too because you get a day off. I hope this changes. Everyone should know about their candidates as much as they know about their favorite teams in the IPL. Everyone must choose a capable candidate rather than voting for their favorite party.

This IEL has already started which promises to be bigger than the IPL. The whole country should play this and there will be a new winner I hope.

Some Ridiculous Advertisements

 

Intha pullaiku ethuku da Fair & Lovely

Nowadays the advertisements for some of the products are really ridiculous. THE-MOST ridiculous ads are mostly for the following things Bikes, Deo, Vests and Fairness cream / Face wash.

Deo ads : In all the Deo ads each and every brand follow same concept. I think same ad agency is doing this for all deo sprays with different actors. Spray this and girls will fall for you. How ridiculous? Why every brand think deo's purpose is only this. Its all started by AXE and every other brands are too lazy to even think of any other concept and simply following the same. Pothum da dei.

Two Wheelers : No one make two wheelers to ride on our roads. They make them to ride in mountains, forests, on Arctic and Antartic regions, etc and not on our roads. Maybe they feel our Indian roads are like those regions. And, there will be a disclaimer on every ad, please don't try this. We are going to ride these bikes only in our roads, so stop advertising your bikes as a BatPod.

Vests : Vests ads are another ridiculous advertisements. Only after wearing this vest our heroes can do so many brave stuffs, he will save a girl, he will sing, etc. This is just an inner wear damn it. Ulla podra baniyanukku edhuku da ivlo vilambaram?

Fairness cream : On top of this list is Fairness cream / Face wash now targeting both Men and Women.

Every fairness cream ads say. If you are fair then,

you will get a good job.
you will get married or even you can avoid getting married and pursue your dreams.
you will perform well in any events.

Yes, they promise you can become fair in four weeks. If this is true we must have more white peoples than USA. Only Photo-shop can transform someone into white in four weeks, I don't think any creams can do.

And, they have successfully projected being black as a some sort of disease or deficiency, you will be worth for nothing and white as beauty.

After targeting girls all these years, now they started targeting the boys as well with one extra word, special-formula for boys.

One latest ridiculous ad for a face wash shows a guy was rejected in an interview because his face is oily. Adapavigala, yen da ipdi?

If they can really prove it why don't they use some real people instead of some models. We all know they are already beautiful.

Fair is not lovely. Fair is not handsome.

Itha vangi pala varushama use panniyum palan illainu terinjum yen use panranga nu teriala. Niruthanum ellathayum niruthanum.

Interstellar - Reasons to Watch this EPIC

Interstellar, the latest movie from the hit machine Christopher Nolan. Here are my reasons why you should watch or re-watch this film, if at all you haven't yet.

1. The Director Himself : First and foremost reason is the director Christopher Nolan himself. He is yet to make a bad film. Trust Nolan and he never fails to impress you, surprise you, delight you, create doubts in your mind and he does that again and again consistently. He does the same with this movie as well.

2. No 3D : You may think why this is a reason to watch, but yes this film is not in 3D is actually a wonderful thing. Over the period of time we had too many movies in 3D format and we always wondered why this film was even in this format? It was actually a headache. Nolan who was never a fan of this nonsense doesn't bother delivering this film in 3D, so we can enjoys this without a headache.

3. Subtitles : Nolan's movies are always hard to understand. When I was nearing my screen I expected people to read some books to prepare themselves for this movie before the bell rang, like we did before entering the exam halls, but they didn't ;). Just to make our life easy we have subtitles in most of the screens daily. We don't have to download the movie with subtitles, we can enjoy this on a big screen itself, which we should.

4. Performances : Matthew McConaughey, academy award winner last year, delivers another brilliant performance and the little girl who played the character Murph as well. They perfectly portrays the bonding between a father-daughter on screen. And, they make you senti on a sci-fi movie, which was usually rare. Also, all those sarcastic dialogues which will make you laugh and you can hear people laughing as loud as they could just to make sure that other people in the crowd also knows that they understood.

5. Science : When was the last time you discussed physics after watching a movie? When was the last time you googled some terms like wormhole, black-hole, etc., after watching a movie? This movie will make you do so. Relive your school / college days by reading some science stuffs and some topics on physics and have endless discussions with your friends and form your own theory before you revisit the film again.

And, plenty more, this is a must watch and you cannot miss this.

Saw the movie already, never mind, revisit the film again. Now, you know what's going to happen it will make you understand the movie even more than you did the first time. And, that's what Nolan actually wants.

Balu Mahendra - A legend

Cinema loses yet another legend, Balu Mahendra, who cannot be replaced. Balu Mahendra, how well someone of my age know about this legend? Does everyone know about him and his great work, if not, then the loss is theirs.

Balachander, Bharathiraja and Balu Mahendra are the big B's of Tamil cinema's legendary directors. Balu Mahendra started his carrier as a cinematographer in Malayalam language. He was a master in that, in the black and white era itself and worked with legendary directors like Mahendran and Maniratnam. He directed his first movie in Kannada, Gokila. Then, he started directing some master pieces in Tamil cinema, starting from Azhiyadha Kolangal to his latest Thalaimuraigal.

How do I know about Balu Mahendra? First, as a school kid I hear a song Kanne Kalaimane in TV, then I watch that movie Moondram Pirai and cry with Seenu in the climax and note the name Balu Mahendra at the end. That's how most of the young people might have encountered with this legend's name. Then, we watch Kadhai Neram in TV, which was completely different from other mega serials, which tell you a different story every week with minimum characters, you note down the creator of it, its Balu Mahendra.

Then, you see a psychological thriller movie Moodu Pani and you are stunned by its making and its Balu Mahendra's master piece again. You hear about everyone referring to a movie Veedu, whenever someone about to build or get a new home, who directed that, well its Balu Mahendra again.

From these films I guess Balu Mahendra is a serious director who handle only some heavy subjects and he won't try any commercial movies. But, people back then must have said the same to him so he gives them what they ask, a commercial movie named as Neengal Kettavai itself. Once in a while we watch a movie Sathileelavathi in TV, which was hilarious every time you see. Kamal Haasan paired with Kovai Sarala and the main character is Ramesh Aravind. I thought its directed by Kamal himself, but no. Every one of my friends has seen this movie minimum twice surprised when they get to know it's directed by Balu Mahendra's just like me.

And, every new directors who have given a stunning movie credits this legend as their master. Directors Cheran, Ameer, Vetrimaran, Ram and many others are from his school. These are the things that made me know about this legend even more and makes me watch all of his movies. Even though some of his last few movies were not as good as his previous movies.

His love for Illayaraja is huge, he told he doesn't know how many more movies he will make, but only Illayaraja will score the music for all of them that even Illayaraja doesn't know. It's sad to know we are going to miss those movies. And, this combo has given many evergreen classical hits like En Iniya Pon Nilave, Kanne Kalaimane, etc.

Balu Mahendra likes to handle the direction, cinematography, editing all by himself. In his latest interview he says that, if a writer writes a book that entire creation is credited to himself, a movie also should be made by himself entirely that's why he handles most of the important tasks in a movie. Even in his latest movie Thalaimuraigal, he acted as well as directing, editing. His first and last in front of camera and salute Sasikumar for making this possible.

RIP legend. Not only in Tamil Nadu, he must be celebrated all over India. You will be missed sir, but your movies will speak about you for a long time.

Valentine's Day

Its that time of the year again, the sales of Greeting cards, Roses, Dairymilk (why Dairymilk) goes high. Some people of certain groups raise their voices, you will get to know about these groups only at this time. Its Valentine's Day or Lovers day, that's how I know it first before getting to know about the word Valentine.

One group says what's wrong in celebrating this day and other says why should we celebrate, this is not our culture, blah and blah. Then, some other people, who says why should we celebrate it on a particular day, we can celebrate it on every day of the year (dei). Every year this month there will be a debate on whether we should celebrate this day or not. It will go on and on at one side, and people who celebrate this day will continue other side.

It was fun during my school days especially in our bus. There will be number of proposals. The most funniest thing is many guys will be seen in a green shirt which means they are single. They will somehow find a green shirt in whatever condition. There will be forward SMSes on meaning of each and every color (nowadays shared in social networks). I still don't know who proposed this dress code and who approved it :).

And, news channels will report some groups made lovers to marry each other or thrashed them. It must be a thrilling experience for lovers :). So not just gift shops and lovers, even these groups get busy on this day every year. They get ready for this day more than the lovers.

The most irritating question some people ask, "What's your plan on Valentine's Day?", even after knowing I won't have a damn plan. I didn't have for past 25 years and it's going to be same this year as well so its not a big deal.

So what's Valentine's Day? In my opinion, it's a day to increase the sales of greeting cards, roses and dairymilks. Should we celebrate it? Nowadays people started celebrating "Thanksgiving Day", "Haloween" and all here, without even knowing anything about it, so why not Valentine's Day?

Anyway, Happy Valentine's Day. Be careful and don't end up as a married couple.

'Hai Madhan' - Where are you?

 

I hope everyone knows who's Madhan. A famous cartoonist and also worked in few films and in some TV shows. His most noticeable work in movies is he penned dialogues for Anbe Sivam and also appeared as himself in that movie. Also, author of many books like Vanthargal Vandrargal, Ke Mu Ke Pe, Manithanukkul Oru Mirugam. He is mostly known for his work with Vikatan, both in Anandha Vikatan and Junior Vikatan.

I have been reading Vikatan ever since my school days when it was 5 Rs back then and now it's 20. One of the constant section in Vikatan for many years was Madhan's 'Hai Madhan' where he answers reader's queries on any topic and his cartoon. I thought it will go on and on. Suddenly there was some misunderstanding between Madhan and Vikatan so Vikatan stopped 'Hai Madhan' and his cartoons. I thought they will sort it out soon and he will be back, but it's been years now and they haven't sorted out. Or at least I expected him to continue his work from some other magazine, but he didn't do that also.

'Hai Madhan' is one of the best section in Anandha Vikatan, where he answers to reader's questions on any topic. It was informative, interesting and very funny as well. He gives good answers on almost any field and get to know many things every week. There won't be stupid questions like, which heroine looks good in saree? Who is in your dreams currently?, which is default in Kumudham's Arasu Bathilgal section every week. It was the best for many years and I won't miss this section at least even if I don't read the whole book some weeks. I miss this in Vikatan very much, which most of the regular readers will do I guess. And, his cartoons on current affairs was always funny and expresses his view clearly. He will nail the situation every week perfectly.

Classic :)

Both Vikatan and Kumudham claim that they are the number one Tamil weekly. For me Vikatan is the best compared to Kumudham because of their contents like Hai Madhan and its paper quality. Vikatan haven't found any replacement for Madhan yet and I don't think they can. They replaced his cartoon with a picture and funny comment and no one answers reader's questions now, which is a default section in every Tamil weekly. He was part of Vikatan for more than 30 years I hope Vikatan brings him back soon.

I don't know what Madhan is doing now. I don't see him in any TV shows or in any other magazines. I can't find him in any social networks as well. So 'Hai Madhan' where are you? Get back in action in some form. Miss your funny answers and cartoons.

One More :)

தீபாவளி - Let the Celebration Begin..!

Deepavali (I hate calling it Diwali), one of my favorite, exciting, colorful, fun festival. I really enjoy this festival as much as anything. And, the only festival I look forward to every year when I was a kid. This post is on how Deepavali was some years before and how it is now for me.

In school days, we would start preparing for Deepavali even before a month. It was fun, all our discussion will be on crackers alone.We usually start with getting the price list of crackers from all crackers shop and start selecting our crackers. The best part of that list preparation is selecting one "Fancy" item from the cracker's list. We will have no idea of what it does, we will decide by its fancy name like "Missile Launcher". This preparation will go on for weeks and finally our parents will buy us on their own without even looking at our list :(. But we will forget all those lists once we see the crackers, it's the usual story every year.

The one-week before Deepavali will be spent visiting each and every one's house of our friends to look at the crackers they have got. And, our daily hobby is to take a look at those crackers and to decide at what time each and every cracker should be burst. Don't tell me we were polluting, I guess there are so many other ways out there that can be followed in other 364 days of the year, which we are not.

On Deepavali there will be a small competition on who wakes up first and starts bursting. Mostly one of my friends will be the first every year and he will start with "Krishna vedi" (according to him Krishna is the reason behind this festival, so it will be only fair to start with that :)) as a sentiment. I will usually start with "Saravedi", no reason behind it though. The whole day will be spent only in crackers. We will have a specific cracker for every hour.

All these fun was during my school days. It was all over now. In recent years Deepavali is not the same. It is just yet another day where we will wear new dresses and may go for any new release. It has lost it's charm now, as we get old. Nowadays it's mostly spent sitting home and watching those useless Deepavali special programs in TV.

Deepavali should not be like this. Deepavali should be celebrated. With all your family and friends, enjoying crackers, wishing each and every one you see in your street, praising your neighbour's dresses, sharing the sweets prepared, having a nice breakfast and lunch together with family. This is how Deepavali should be and it was before some years, but now, we are too lazy to even celebrate something.

Wish you all a "Happy Deepavali". Let's Celebrate..!!

People in Facebook - Just for Fun

• Everybody is happy when it rains, going by their statuses. Aana yen da mazhai vantha ellarum oodi poireenga? nanainju enjoy pannungalen da.

• Everyone is a film critic, nothing wrong in it. Aana ellarum orey padatha pathi vara kanaka pesi kaduppakareenga.

• There will be always a Like vs Comment fight between any two actors in any of the facebook pages. Dei ithu ellam nattukku romba mukkiama?

• People now only started realizing their MOM cooks well, I don't know whether they realized it before. Facebook la update pannunga aana athuku munnadi unaga amma kitta neradia sonnenga na innum santhosa paduvanga.

• They always miss their hometown and it gives them extreme pleasure to get back home. Dei Chennai, Bangalore la irunthittu vettuku porathuku ennamo US la irunthu return aagura mari feel pannatheenga, every week neenga veetuku easy pogalam.

• Everyone is having a great birthday year after year, even though no one calls or even sends sms these days other than posting on their wall.

• Even if they are sad they want this world to know this through their statuses. Yen da yen?

• Even in Facebook we have peoples who think if you don't like or share a God pic then "Saamy will kanna kuthify". Unagala ellam thiruthava mudiatha?

• And another set of peoples who thinks facebook will donate money for their likes and share, dei SMS kalathula irunthu ippa vara itha ellam nambitta irukeenga? romba peria manasu da ungalukku, neraya pera save panniteenga.

• Last but not the least, a mokka figure's profile pic will get a minimum 50 likes and 30 comments of "awesome dear". Dei awesome ku artham teriyuma da ungalukku?

and, lots more. Even I have "been there, done that" :).

Happy 67th Independence Day

As we get ready to celebrate our 67th Independence day, I like to share few thoughts. So much of worst things happened last year, few good things also happened. I think we are not getting better with each year passes by. Even at present we have so many problems like rupee losing its value to dollars, Pakistan killing our soldiers, dividing Andhra Pradesh, we have too many troubles going on. Lets forget all and celebrate our Independence.

I don't think there is a problem with our country India, the problem is because of few Indians at the top. If we have better Indians at the top we will have better India.

As a citizen of India we can do something on our part to our country by following few simple things, like not littering on roads and try to keep our city clean, obeying traffic rules, saving water and electricity, casting our vote. These are the few things I think we can easily follow. Let us become good citizens to make India a better India. I hope we will be in better state next year.

Be an Indian and proud to be an Indian.

Happy Independence day

Jai Hind..!!

Hello

நானும் ப்ளாக்  ஏழுத போகிறேன் :)
இந்த blogin பெயர் காரணம்: Im a biggest fan of Author Sujatha.
I have read a lot of books which are way ahead of its time even now.

In this blog, I think I will write about movies I saw, music I hear and books I read.