On a personal note..

Of all the airport I have gone through Baltimore has something unique. As if being a brown man trying to get through the security clearance at the airport is not bad enough, every time I walk through the metal scanning device it beeps. Well, everyone knows what happens next, 4 or 5 people come rushing in and ask me to step aside. They then pat me down, exploit my manhood, and ask questions which are totally irrelevant. Don’t take me wrong I am not complaining, they are doing their job so it never bother me (expect one time when I went with my kid, that’s a different story). But Baltimore is different, as always it beeped when I walked through the metal scanning device, but to my surprise, they had another image scanning device, and this is a modern day miracle I tell you. You step in; it scans your body for any foreign object and badabing you are out of there. It was nice, instead of a 6 foot man exploiting your unmentionables. Makes you wonder why they don’t have it at every airport;...

Last Friday, my brother turned 40. Can’t believe that he is already 40, time is just flying by!! My sister in law gave him a surprise party, lot of my relatives were there at the party, and it was nice. He even got a BMW coupe to trick his mind to feel younger :)). Never to be undone, I made a last minute trip to Washington DC just to be there at the party. I think everyone was pleasantly surprised. The trip was hectic, but worth every minute.

OMG!!! I don’t think there was ever a Will Smith movie this bad.

The so called Dravidian states have been the saviors of Hinduism for hundreds of years and that’s the truth. If not for South India, Muslim rulers would have converted majority of India under Islamic fascism. For the past 40 years the leaders of Dravidian parties and Islamist have somehow managed to hide this idea and are proposing a deep rooted division between the sons and daughters of our country. Caste based suppression – Right now in Tamilnadu who instigates caste based suppression? Is it Brahmins? Is it the so called North Indians? No it is mainly done by a caste which is dominant in any given state. If you go to Madurai it is Devar, if you go to northern states its vanniyars, if you go to central states it will be nadars and so on. Brahmins are absolute minority in Tamilnadu, and I do agree that just like Jews they tend to help within their community but even if they do in our current state there is nothing they could achieve. So where is this fear of Brahmins some how trying t...

Of all the problem India and Tamilnadu facing, nothing could be compared against the family feud between Maran brothers and Alagiri family. Somehow our leader has managed to solve the issue without any major calamity. Forget about the hundreds dying in Bombay; forget about the people savaged by flooding; who cares about those imbeciles. Ayya somehow managed a miracle. Honestly, are they even human beings?

There were many such riots, there were many such killings, I lived right in the middle during riots in Madras but for some reason, this carnage in Mumbai has affected me more. May be time will heal; may be my life will move on, but somewhere in my heart there is voice which screams at me that I better not forget. Better not forget where they come from, better not forget the religion which feeds them, and better not forget the environment which nourishes them. I feel a beast is growing inside. I did try to appease the beast; I did try to rationalize with the beast. I tried the statement from our political leader, “the terrorist won’t win.” Who am I kidding; they have won the game fair and square. My mind went through the teaching from Jiddu, Buddha, Vivekananda, & Gandhi but the more I think, the more it screams. The beast now questions my religion, my faith and my honor. I feel powerless to see my brothers and sisters getting killed for no reason of theirs. May be...

Don't know whether to cry or scream. One thing though, if at all there was a soft corner in my heart which propagated the idea of Hindus and Muslims to coexist, that vanished today. What kind of people are they, then again why blame them? They just follow what Quran asks them to do.

My son turns 7 today. I feel as if it was yesterday that I was holding him in my arms. 7 years just flew by, but it was filled with wonderful memories. Happy Birthday, Anish!

“Given the choice between violence and cowardly flight, I choose violence.” – Gandhi. Any fool can follow Ahimsa, because for a coward it’s an easy path, it’s a safe haven. There is a reason why people in India follow Ahimsa; there is a reason why people in India like to be called Gandhians; there is a reason why we call Non-Hindu’s our brothers, because Indians are cowards. Sometime ago, I talked about how Indian politicians (Congress and leaders like Mayawati, Mulyam Singh, Karunanidhi) are playing with India. But being the cowards that we are this was never an issue. Oppression of poor and illiterate can only go so long. Take for example how conservative Islam spread in some parts of Africa. 20 years ago State and Islam never got mixed, but the disintegration of State and sheer disrespect for human life has brought in a new bread of fundamentalist within Islam. Of course this new bread is supported by money from Middle East, who want Allah to force his will through out the world. ...

Let see, if the police has stepped in and arrested these so called Law College students, then students would have went on strike, broken couple of buses and claimed that the police has stepped in without any warrant (It has happened before). Now that they didn’t, it’s the inactiveness of the police? These freaking assholes, why were they celebrating Devar’s birthday in college? What that bastard has done is started a way to celebrate caste in Tamil Nadu, and now he is a hero!!! Because of him leaders like Ramdoss, Thirumal Vallavan, Sarath Kumar have found out that caste based political system is successful and taken it to a different level. The way colleges run in Chennai (not all, most of them) is a joke. Colleges like Nandanam, Madras Law College are breading grounds for budding political superstars; all they do there is riot and degrade women. Back in 1992 when I was a student of CEG, I used to travel in 45B. The amount of abuse these so called students from Nandanam did to women ...

You open the door one day, you find a beautiful flower. You think to yourself, “Is there anything prettier than this?” You get ready to pick the flower, and flourish it. You want to keep it close, you want to keep it safe, and above all you want to keep it for yourself. At that moment, your mind points out that you are going kill a life. You argue that it will die anyhow. Your mind replies, “At least let it live its life with glory. Let there be many more like you, who could enjoy its splendor, its beauty and its presence”.

There are many comical events which originate from UN but nothing compares to their latest stint. Saudi Arabia is going to lead UN faith forum. After laughing out hysterically, wondered how much more money can buy. Islam is the most intolerant religion in the world that’s the fact and the place where it flourishes is a hotspot where religious minorities suffer the most. An article in Washington Post states how King of Saudi Arabia refuses to sit in the same room with Israel’s representative, with morons like this heading faith forum, future looks better and better.

For a community which celebrates the Not-Guilty verdict of a Killer as a victory for their race; for a community for whom once sitting next to a white man was considered a crime; for a community whom a normal white man can only associate with rap music or crime; getting an opportunity to sit as an elite, is a great change indeed. Mr. Obama, I have seen this all, I have been through it all. Mr. Obama, a caste system or a community differntiated by color is one and the same. I have seen innumerable politician like you who promised change, but they found out pretty quickly that there is an advantage in keeping these underprivileged in the same place where they found them. Because once you resolve, there is nothing to do. Mr. Obama, our politician have found out that they are in a better position by slicing and dicing the same issue and presenting a different view for 50 years. We are still waiting for the promised change. Hope you are different Mr. Obama, hope you are really the change y...

My Son - Daddy, Are you voting? Me - Why? My Son - You have to vote for Obama? Me - Why? My Son - Have you ever seen a brown President? Me - No. MY Son - I want to see a brown President. Me - Color doesn’t have anything to do with presidency. Who ever is capable and who ever the people choose, gets to be the President. My Son - You know nothing Daddy.

I was a guy who contemplated the idea of returning home after my first month in US. This October, I am completing 10 years, that's pretty impressive indeed...

Who ever came up with the phrase "மனம் ஒரு குரங்கு" is freaking genius...

I always thought (and still believe) that Rediff is run by college dropouts. But finally today I found an excellent article. Couldn’t have said it better. Great work by author Tarun Vijay. http://www.rediff.com/news/2008/oct/27tarun.htm

Going by our judicial system track record, I know for sure that nothing going to be done against Raj Thackeray. Too much of this shit is going for too long. Politicians in India proclaim that they don’t have any responsibility for what their party affiliates do. The judge probably will say that Raj Thackeray didn’t initiate it, let’s say I run a company and I abuse my employee everyday through my subsidiaries (with or without my knowledge). Am I not responsible for that abuse? Not for these political parties, the boss didn’t do it, but his puppets orchestrated an attack. What happened here is not a one off incident in Bombay and its not as if Raj Thackeray is solely responsible for this. This is going on all over, be it Jaya’s Bus Case, DMK Anti Hindi riots, J & K, may be I can list hundred such cases. I believe that Jaya, Karunanidhi, all J&K leaders everyone should be in jail for a murder charge.

If you have any interest to enter politics in Tamil Nadu, you better talk about 1.Rice (Free, Rs. 1, Rs. 2. Doesn’t matter) 2.Liquor (Ban it; When State is bankrupt, bring it back) 3.Brahmins 4.Hindi 5.Cinema 6.Reservation 7.Sri Lankan Tamils We have our Dravidian parties ruling our state for the past 41 years. Over this time what have they done on these issues? I can forgive everything but what these politicians are doing with Tamils in Sri Lanka is unforgivable. You don’t play with human life to get votes. We as a human being should be ashamed that we let freaking Dravidian Party leaders play us like puppies. Yesterday, our new media darling Kannimozhi resigned her MP post and her statement was, “Only the educated rich didn’t care about Sri Lankan Tamil. We always are there for them”. Really! So I guess she lives in Ayodhya Kupam, and Tamil Nadu is run by peasants. What her moral standing on this issue? To that matter the same is true for Karunanidhi. This bastard has used them agai...

Yesterday, I was talking to my patti after a long time, here it goes நான் - பாட்டி எப்படி இருக்கீங்க பாட்டி - நல்ல இருக்கியா கண்ணு? நான் - உம் பாட்டி - என்ன ராசா அமெரிக்காவிலே வீடு விலை எல்லாம் கோரஞ்சிருச்சமே? நான் - அமா பாட்டி பாட்டி - வங்கி போடு ராசா, காசு பத்தி கவலை படாதே நான் - சரி பாட்டி What can I say, Globalization!!!

A friend of mine strongly recommended the movie “Friday”. Since I couldn’t get that movie; got the next best thing (as per the store owner) “Wednesday”. Another pathetic attempt to commercialize a social issue.

1)Lets drop Ganguly 2)Lets bring in Kaif 3)Tendulkar is fit 4)Tendulkar is unfit 5)Badri is the replacement 6)Lets drop Kaif 7)Lets bring in Ganguly 8)Lets keep Badri Here is how I read it. You drop Ganguly stating that you are looking forward and that his performance is under par. You say Kaif’s work ethics and performance warrant a spot in Rest of India squad and project him as Ganguly’s replacement. Tendulkar, just to play with you says he is fit for ROI game and at the last moment says he is unfit. So now, just to cover Sachin’s absence for a game you bring in Badri. Suddenly, you realize its time to choose Indian squad, and magically you feel Ganguly still has future. WTF, how did you come to that conclusion? To top it off, you replace Kaif with Badri. Both failed in the ROI game, so it not as if Badri produced a magical hundred to warrant his place. What can I say about Mishra. BCCI was specific, “You won’t be selected in the Indian team based on IPL performance.” Mis...

'பல வேடிக்கை மனிதரைப் போலே நான் வீழ்வேன் என நினைத்தாயோ...' - பாரதி

I started a poll to check the popularity of Narendra Modi. Please vote and if possible request your friends too.

I don’t know how many people follow my posts nevertheless as I stated in January 08, stock market has taken a substantial hit. If we assume that the worst is over, we are in for some surprise. Just like the Mortgage sub prime lending the next wave will the Credit Card sub prime lending. So, for people who saw Bush’s speech yesterday and feel that by investing 700 Billion Tax Payer’s money will somehow magically bring economy back on track, all I can say is Good luck to you. I am sure that if this plan passes through (which I believe it will) they (greedy CEOs) will back tomorrow for another 700 Billion. Almost everyone read about Iacocca, he proved to the world on how to manipulate a government to get what you want. All these new CEOs have grownup idealizing Iacocca so everyone is after Uncle Sam to bail them out. The current trend in USA is on par with what happened when Soviet Union collapsed. When American forced communist Soviet Union to become a capitalist Russia, it was free b...

Your destiny will never bring happiness through an unhappy journey; it doesn’t work out that way. The way you feel today or the way you feel throughout your journey, is the way it will continue to be. So start enjoying your journey, invariably it will bring up a happy ending.

Earlier this week, Supreme Court of India made a landmark ruling on “Freedom of Expression”, by refusing to launch criminal proceedings on Mr. MF Husain, based on his painting of nude goddess in the shape of the Indian map. So, I guess we ready for Cartoons based on Muhammad?

My boss is a nice guy, but he is new to IT so he totally at loss in an IT meeting. My colleagues all understand this, so each and everyone takes advantage of him. For example, if a project requires X amount of time and Y amount of Dollars, the projection from my colleagues are always X+10 and Y+10. I should have played it safe and kept my mouth shut, but being a guy who is screwed up in his head, I confronted him and told him that he should take a deeper look at estimates and projects as a whole. Now, what do you think happened? Here is sequence of events over the last 1 month. a. My boss came to me and said he going to raise my salary by 4 percent. b. He informed me that, it’s acceptable to aim high in life, but asked me not to step on others on my way. c. He questioned why I need an MBA and PMP to do my current job d. He asked me not to leave my job in the middle of a project. e. My colleagues took offence of what I did, and thus everyone giving me a cold shoulder. Do...

After 2 months of hunting, finally moved in to a new house. Settling in.

Just when did winning 2 Gold equals winning 2 Bronze? If you go to any major websites, USA is at the Top of the Medals list. As of today USA have 81 and China has 79. So it should be right, but wait a minute; China has 45 Gold and USA 26 (almost double). From what I understand the standing is based on number of Gold not on the total tally? God, people in America they always want to be on top man, no matter what. Don’t take me wrong, people here are nice, my statement is nothing political but they can't imagine a life with someone overlooking them (not even in sports).

Under Hurricane Fay

Interesting....

Inspires me every time. Go figure!!! Want to get pumped up? Put the song on an ipod, take a walk, works like magic. Guess inspiration could be achieved through rap!!!

First thing first, I watched the movie for about an hour, and I literally walked out. The movie was horrible. I read some reviews, and I was amazed how skewed they are. Movies like Hey Ram, Anbe Sivam, Devar Magan were some of the greatest work by Kamal and there is no denying it but you can’t put Dasavatharam on par with those movies, not even close. Its hard to figure out why he does this to himself? Why a talented actor, writer, good social thinker does these sub par works? He should stop writing screenplays for movies. A man who is marked for greatness is always an egomaniac, high achiever don’t live a content life, they always think outside the box. Kamal is one among them. I don’t think he listens to anyone. But I think he needs someone to fine-tune him. I think Crazy Mohan was a good fit, Srinivasarao was good, I forgot who wrote screenplay for Kurudhi Punal that movie was good. Anyhow, one day when I am bored enough, I think I should finish watching that movie, may be s...

During the height of the Cold War, India used to be a faithful ally for the Communist (USSR). Entire west and the countries like Taiwan and Japan was with the Americans. American allies prospered and India lost out on many deals. What did India get out of that deal? Kalpakkam and some broken MIGs. After screwing around for 50 years finally during the nineties Indian politicians had a brain blast. They started shifting their alliance towards the American, which was ably aided by the collapse of USSR. Now, within a short period (10 years) Russia with its Oil power has started to flex its muscle. America now is losing; an unpopular and costly war, Credit debacle, housing bubble and low consumer confidence are pushing the country down faster than ever. America now is clueless, they can’t act against Russia now, heck they can’t even act against Iran. On the other hand Russia is booming. The only thing close to Russia is China. But Russia has something which China doesn’t; Russia has failed ...

Glad to see Chennai metblog has sprung back to life....

Well folks, here we are. The pinnacle of the sports world and the debacle of sports India , Olympics is underway. Last time when I made a prediction (during the cricket world cup in Caribbean) it was horrible. I made a bold statement that India will win the cup; they didn’t even qualify for the second round. Now, I am going to make another bold statement, here it goes Shooting – 2 Gold Archery – 1 Silver Tennis – 1 Silver Boxing – 1 Bronze.

Karunanidhi sure knows how tickle my funny bone...... 5-வது முறையாக முதல்வராக இருக்கிறேன். இனி முதல்வராக வேண்டும் என்ற ஆசை எனக்கு கிடையாது. அந்த ஆசைக்கு கருணாநிதி அடிமையாக மாட்டான். இன்னும் ஒரு முறை முதல்வர் ஆக வேண்டும் என்று கேட்கின்றனர். நான் அப்படி ஆசைப்பட மாட்டேன்

After 12 long years, decided to let go my habit of fasting every Tuesday. Right underneath your thoughts and negative emotions exists an ocean of love. You have but to quiet the mind to experience it. - A Buddhist Saying I know for someone outside, there is no link between my habit and the Buddhist proverb, to my mind there is...

Motilal Nehru (Nehru’s father) lost his first wife and son during childbirth. Motilal remarried and the couple had another son, but the boy died in infancy. Now, the story goes that Motilal went to a Yogi and asked for blessings from the holy man. He informed the yogi that his greatest desire in life is to have a son. The yogi looked at his face and informed him that he will not have a son. Heart broken, Motilal begged the yogi to bless him with a son. Sympathetic, the yogi blessed him so that he will have son. He then informed him that "By doing this, I have sacrificed all the benefits of all the austerities I have conducted over many generations”. The very next day the Yogi died. It looks like it took a day for the yogi to realize his mistake. Don’t blame him at all. Until now I was bashing Nehru for India’s current state. Now, I know who really should be blamed. Reference: Nehru – The invention of India by Shashi Tharoor

Looks like I spoke too soon, one more in Ahmedabad. Just yesterday, I wrote it has been a long time since Gujarat was struck by an terrorist attack, today we have 29 dead. Its getting better and better....

Oh I forgot we have a champion’s trophy to be played Pakistan. Let’s not forget the cash strapped brothers in Bangladesh, they do need money to play cricket, and we have to tour them at least twice in a year now. We need to open the borders both in the east and west if not where would they get the money to plant bombs in our cities. We have to release Afzal now, story goes that he didn’t do his part correct. Let him go and come back with a better plan. It looks like less than 10 got killed and on top of that, the parliament building in Delhi is still standing. We have to let him go, next time I promise you brothers and sisters he will do a better job, so forgive his sins. Thank God, Sonia and our Congress were brought back to power. We are a secular government don’t you remember, it doesn’t matter that Members of Parliament were paid crores of rupees, after all that’s what you pay for being secular. Let’s not forget our good old Left, we don’t know where they stand or what...

My cousin got married in Austin Texas over the weekend. As my wife is preparing for her CPA, my son and I went for the marriage. We had a good time; at least that’s what I think! (When my son grows up he might give a better answer!!) Anyhow, the marriage was sweet. I was impressed by the bride, who even though an American sat through the entire Hindu Wedding without any fuss. After the Hindu wedding they had the Christian Wedding, which by itself was short and sweet. This has become common nowadays; my other cousin who is an ABCD did the same thing, a Hindu wedding followed by Christian wedding. Everything went well except for one thing. I saw my classmate in the wedding. It was a pleasant surprise. I called him and said hi; he then gave me a look and said, sorry have we met each other? As I didn’t expect that answer, for a minute I was shocked and then started laughing hysterically. Just 12 years, already people don’t recognize me!!! I am not bald or anything (at least not total...

Is it apt to have faith based on expectation? Is it appropriate to bargain with God? In other words, Is it apt to go to Him and say, I need this, in return I will do that? Is faith without expectation feasible? Is it a necessity for God to support you? Is “Evil” part of Good? If not how do you judge “Good”? Is Man created by God? Is it acceptable to depose some for the benefit of the most? Is greed a sin? If yes, isn’t evolution based on greed? Is it a necessity for God to regulate life on earth?

If you are a Tennis fan like me, you got to be thrilled with Wimbledon last Sunday. It was a wonderful display of skill, power and stamina. 80's and especially 90's produced some of the greatest tennis matches, the reason? The all time greats of the tennis world roamed during that time. Sampras, Agassi, Lendl, Chang, Courier, Edberg, Wilander, Rios, Rafter, Kafelnikov, the list could go on. The dominance of Federer coupled with mediocre pool of tennis players had made a huge drop in the quality of Tennis now. So the growth of Nadal for me is a welcome relief. The quality of tennis, especially the last 3 sets in Wimbledon was awesome.

India’s most decorated solider, Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw died last week. Even though he was born in Amritsar, he retired in Madras. He fought in WWII for British India in Burma, and one of the key members in India’s war with China and Pakistan. I forgot whether it was in History Channel or Discovery, where they interviewed him about the rumor back when Indira Gandhi imposed emergency. The rumor was that the Army was planning a coup against her. He said that Indira Gandhi confronted him and asked whether it’s true. He mentioned that he told her that India is his 1st priority and that he would never do anything to sabotage the state. May God bless his soul. P.S I am at grief with our current Tamil Nadu government and news media, where no one even mentioned this. This should be your front page news, you lowlifes; the man put his life for the benefit of us. Let me stop here, I don’t want use this as a launching pad for my attacks against the morons in Tamil Nadu after all it is a eulogy...

Oh Mahatma, there is no words on earth which describes my respect for you. But Mahatma, you erred. Well naming Nehru as your successor might top the list, but what you did with pure love in your heart now pierces every Hindu with a silver bullet. Oh Mahatma, how I wish you were here to this day, using your ideology, Indians have hijacked the country to the verge of no return. Oh Mahatma, my mind understands your words, my minds accepts that humans don’t get separated by religion. But we are a silent minority here Mahatma. Today, in my own country, our so called Muslim Brothers (as you wanted me to address them) don’t want Hindu pilgrims to step on their land. As expected, the followers of your ideology, to get some extra votes accepted it. Oh Mahatma, even our beloved Krishna, at last stood up for his right, how long do you think we can go on like this. Mahatma, I think its time to rethink our ideology. I think we have given enough. I think we have lost enough. Its time to make a stand...

Today Nelson Mandela marks his 90th birthday. In today’s world, full of corrupt and self-absorbed politicians, he stands apart. I guess he is one of those true Gandhian.

After couple of failed attempts to return to India, here I am planning to start allover again. I don’t want to fool myself by blaming others or environment, my attempts failed due to my fear, lake of vision, and my current comfort level. At least, this time I am planning to layout a plan. First and foremost, the “pro and cons” Pros- a. Better career opportunity in India, both for my wife and I b. Family support c. Kids might have better friends circle d. No mortgage e. Can get a driver, maid, cook f. Could be for the best for my parents g. My father might get my kids to a good school h. Friends i. My Physical state j. Could run a business k. Could get back to my initial love “Politics”. Cons- a. Quality of life will go down b. Time spent with my kids will go down c. Got to mediate between my wife and parents (and I hate that) d. Relatives e. Adaptation for my 6 year old f. Both my brothers are here in states g. My physical state h. Corruption i. Environment j. Need for a sustainable hi...

Standing by the crease, eyes light up seeing a ball about to pitch yards in front of me. Heart says go down the track take that risk, loft it way high clearing long on, and get rewarded with a maximum. My head says stay at the crease, nudge it for a single, and keep my wicket. If only the umpire could call a No Ball….

Congratulation. Last week, Shiva Kangeyan a 6th grader (I think he skipped a grade may be two) from Miami, qualified for the finals of Spelling Bee competition in USA. A smart kid, probably have an IQ of 130+. I think he was 4 years old, when he told me the difference between a circle and sphere. Google the name should bring details about him.

Yesterday, I was reading Vikatan and came across an article ''யாருக்கும் வெட்கம் இல்லை' ஜூ.வி. இதழில் தமிழருவி மணியன்; The author was belligerent about a proposal to increase politicians’ salary. As any good Indian he references lots of material involving Gandhi and demands that the politicians should work for free and states that politics is social work and couldn’t contemplate the idea of money in politics. Over the past 50 years, starting with Nehru our politicians has done some great work to hijack Mahatma Gandhi’s principle into a false ideology. Like Marxism, Mahatma Gandhi did propose a new political philosophy, there is no denying it, but even the guy who was handpicked by Mahatma Gandhi didn’t follow his principle. He did make sure to use the name and manipulate his principle into something which is totally different from what Mahatma Gandhi preached. One of the biggest beliefs with the so called Mahatma Gandhi’s followers is that to be a good politicia...

For the third week in a row, my young one got wheezing. Sunday it became so bad they admitted him in the hospital. Poor guy had all kinds of needles in his hand, unbearable. Anyhow back at home now, on medication, hope he makes a full recovery. Really rough here in US, all by ourselves, have to juggle work and family. Since my wife started to work it became even tougher. Miss the family support!!!

When will it end?

My son and I spent the Sunday on the new Iron Man Movie. Movie was OK nothing spectacular. One thing I don’t understand in these new age movies is the philosophy of unmasking the superhero. For me, to be superhero, being “stealth” is one of the necessary point. But in today’s picture, No!!! In the movie at the end, Iron Man addresses a News conference and says “Yeah, I am Iron Man!!” What’s with that? The same thing in Spiderman movie!!! (Well at least it was not a news conference) And another thing, Why try to show the human side of a superhero. Well, for that I would see Mahanadhi and cry for about a day. We go to Rajnikanth and Spiderman movie to see the hero kicking some bad guys butt….

Between me and my 6 year old, we both might be the biggest fans of SpongeBob Square Pants. I know, I know, a naysayer would say that a six year old shouldn’t be watching SpongeBob Squarepants, but the show is damn funny. Here are some of the quotes. Spongebob: Patrick look what we have found. Patrick: Well, What is it? Spongebob: If you press this button, it will make everyone dumb. Patrick: Lets do it? Spongebob: Click Patrick & Spongebob: Duhhh Spongebob: Click Patrick: Duhhh Spongebob: Patrick, I turned off the machine hours ago, why is it still you are acting dumb. Patrick: Duhhh Patrick: are they laughing at us? Spongebob: no, Patrick. They’re laughing next to us. Squidward: Would you not stand so close. I'm getting claustrophobic. Patrick: What does claustrophobic mean? Spongebob: It means he's afraid of Santa Claus! Squidward: No it doesn’t! Patrick: HO HO HO! Spongebob: Stop it Patrick you’re scaring him! Patrick: HO HO HO! Spongebob: what do you usually do when I’...

Nice movie. Movie has lots of sublime messages hidden beneath humorous cast and theme. Metaphors for death, external burden, spiritual journeys etc are all over the place. If you have time, should be a good watch.

A good friend of mine (weird but good) called me over the weekend. I was seriously looking for jobs in management, and as if he had copy of my brain, advised not to go into management. I cursed him with couple of Tamil words which cannot be repeated here and asked why? He says that as per my astrological signs, managing people is not one of my strength. After spending time and resources on MBA, PMP and 6 Sigma he tells me this. I think I am going to cry....

Yesterday, had a business trip to Houston. We had lunch at Yao's restaurant. Decent, not extraordinary. As most desis, had an option to choose between TSO Chicken and Kong pow Chicken. Kong pow was OK. Then the Guy told me about a special room within the restaurant, where all Yao's basketball friends have food. It seems that the room has high chair, high ceiling, no kidding!!!

Have you seen the new advertisement from Pepsi, with Dhoni? Or one of the all time best, ICL Superstar advertisement? 10 years back, there used to be a Big’n Murugan advertisement in Channel V, have you seen it? Have you ever tried to walk in the street, with red pants and green blazer? Can parents encourage their kid to watch a man flip a cigarette into his mouth? Can a certified grandfather, dance around with girls who are barely over their teen years? With all their talks about Dravidians, is it possible to hijack a mass when you don’t even speak their language right? I can go on, but what makes Rajni click? The name “Rajni” sells, why? The society which is deprived of common essentials in life is badly in need of a superhero. They want their superhero to come out of thin air and save them. Alas, but as with every good superhero, Rajni exist only in fantasy world. But Rajni the name can make them forget their starving family, their volatile future, their abusive environment and ever...

My son is sick. I really don't know what the diagonisis is? They just treat him with albuterol whenever I take him and he feels better for couple of days and gets hit again. We have spent 2 week in a row that we have spent the weekend at the hospital. Poor guy, hope he gets better soon.

I want to address what Harbajan Singh is doing now. First, let’s get the facts right. He called Symonds a “Monkey” and that’s the truth. What he did was a mistake, but our so called God of Indian Cricket, Mr. Tendulkar defended him and he got out without a scratch. Now today, his arrogance has gone so far, he hit Sreesanath. I know this will also be brushed under the carpet, but in my view he should be suspended from IPL this year without pay. But, I want to see what our God Mr. Tendulkar will do now. He is after all the Mumbai team’s captain. People like Gavaskar and Shastri where so eager to jump on sledging by the Australian, but I am yet to hear any comment on this from them. Protect your house first, then we can think about our neighbours. Morons....

I was talking to a friend of mine yesterday, and I was talking to him about Krishnamurthy, and he put me and Krishnamurthy in the “Atheist” group. If only my grandmother could hear him, she would banish him to an ungodly world. People, who know me, might go on hunger strike and request (rather demand) him to take the words out of our conversation and won’t withdraw until he offers unconditional apology. Jokes aside, is that were I leaning to? All my life, I have been deeply religious; I used to pray for hours. People think that I spiritually enlightened one. For example, some time back, I walked into a room, where my brother’s mother-in-law was reading and discussing a book about meditation to some of her friends. The moment she saw me, she introduced me to her friends and said, that I have the power to go into deep meditative state by the snap of a finger. I asked her, where she got that idea from? She told me that she has seen me in the prayer room, sitting and performing puja for ho...

A westerner wanted to understand eastern philosophies. So he went to the Himalayas, and started to travel along Ganges. On his path he meets a Shadhu. He looked sad. So the westerner went to him, and asked the reason. He said he left all the pleasures of life and have been searching the true meaning of happiness. He said, all these years of searching for spiritual enlightenment through many different methods and scared books didn’t help him find the answer. Confused, the westerner continued, and he came across a fishing village. He saw an old woman, playing with her grandkids. She looked like the happiest person on earth. The westerner went to her, and asked, whether she is spiritually enlightened? Confused, the old woman told him that he did not understand the question. She replied that she is having the time of her life and she has no time for things like spiritual enlightenment. The westerner ran back to the Shadhu, and told how he wasted all his life. He told him that he found the ...

"You have to be the change, which you want to see in the World. If you want the world to be happy, you have to be happy" By Gandhi

Thanks. It has been a trying month. Too many thought process, too many negativity, too many constraints. In all these I forgot why I started a Blog. I stopped writing. The Blog was medium to let my mind to go free, to write what I think. But with all the commotion, I forgot about my Blog’s existence for a month. All it took was a comment from Ela to one of my post then it hit me with the reason why I blog. I don’t know whether it takes away my constraints but it sure makes you feel better. Thanks.

During my initial days of school here in US, I went to a Business Management class. The professor asked us all a question and requested us to rank our answers between 1 to 10, based on how strongly we agree or disagree. We all choose an answer, and he then grouped us based on our answer. He grouped 1 and 2 in one set and 9 and 10 in another. He then addressed to the people in the middle (I was one among them). He asked us to look at our thought process very clearly. He said life is like a computer, it only takes binary codes. You either go with one or zero, and there is nothing in-between. Be it business or your personnel life, choose a side and stick to it, he said. Did I follow his advice? It has been 2 years since I finished my MBA. Still in the same old job thinking if only….

I have never heard Churchill’s speech; I have learnt about Swami Vivekananda’s address to the republic of religions, where he opened with ‘Brothers and Sisters of America’, which by itself had 2 minutes applause; I have learnt about John F Kennedy’s ‘And my fellow Americans, ask not what country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country, ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the Freedom of Man’; I have learnt from others how Gandhi and Hitler mesmerized audiences with their powerful speech. But what I heard from Obama yesterday regarding race should be judged as one of the best. If time permits do hear it in youtube. The oratory, gestures, word choice, all where exemplary.

Sledging – Uthappa Style Uthappa has written a column in cricinfo about sledging and how he and his teammates are not bogged down by sledging. He also mentions a conversion he had with Hayden, Hayden, "This boy has got an average of 27; let’s bring it down to 20 before he leaves Australia." Uthappa, “You know Matt, if you had batted in different positions that I have batted in you wouldn't even have had the average of 20” I think someone should tell him that what he did was called defending and not sledging. All he was trying was to be a cry baby. Sledging is an art, and being a hardcore guy who grew up in Triplicane, I have seen guys cry, seen guys getting angry and guys who do what Uthappa did. They think they reciprocated well, but in turn they only made fool of themselves. Where I grew up, It’s not just on cricket field where sledging happens; it was part and parcel of life around me. I have to admit, I have been on the receiving end lots of time but yo...

I am one of those, who don’t take failure/rejection well. I know it is part of learning and part of life, but that’s who I am. My physical and mental state (don’t ask me why) is in a way, that the moment I accept failure I know for sure I will be down the drain. Given the background, for 2 weeks I underwent lots of interviews and session with one of the leading consulting firm in US for a job. Everything went well, and they were happy with my credential, and I was mentally preparing myself for a new job. All of sudden, I got a call yesterday; the lady informed me that they have a “Non Compete” clause with my current company and they will run into legal trouble if they hire me. She informed me that if I quit my job, then they can hire me after 3 months, which I don’t want to do. Anyhow,didn't expect that. Upset!!!!

One day I wish to buy an IPL franchise, put them in a good market and name them Dare Devils. A great stadium could be built at the footsteps of Nilgiris. A good star hotel near that area, the stadium will be multipurpose, with shopping mall around the stadium. We could carry on events such as political meeting, cultural programs during off season. In addition, a good public park near the stadium. Man, if only.

After couple of decades in international cricket, Tendulkar for the first time carried India for a win. Great win though, good job.

Visited St. Augustine with my family this weekend, beautiful place with an artistic European flavor. Founded by Juan Ponce de Leon, the city’s historian claim that this city was the first western settlement in America. Hence, Juan Ponce de Leon founded America and not Columbus who landed in Bahamas and never laid foot in the Americas. Visited the famous Fountain of Youth, and of course drank some water, hopefully brought down my age at least by 2? The city has some great history, Henry Flagler, a real estate and railroad developer and business partner with Rockefeller seems to bet heavily on this city. As a father of Florida, Flagler built railroad connecting New York to Florida. As a shrewd businessman Henry Flagler, promised his high paying aristocrats a winter heaven. During Winter, his rails will load guests in New York and in a mere 35 hours they will be in a hot oasis. During the time when average pay for Americans was 55 cents per day, Henry Flagler built hotels where cost per ...

How they got into a name like Super Kings, I really don’t understand!! May be they wanted the next best thing to Super Stars? It would have been better if the team was named “Kings”. Anyhow, I wonder what our politicians will do now. English name for Chennai team? That’s a no-no.

I am 33 years old. I wake up everyday at 5.30, drink coffee browse the internet, and I get my 30 minutes of serenity. I have 2 kids; my wife gets busy preparing breakfast and lunch. I wake my kids, give them a shower, feed them their breakfast, drop them at school, and run to office; I physically impose myself at work for the next 8 hours. I leave work at 4.30, run to school pick my kids, feed them and work with their homework and take them to their classes, again feed them their dinner give them a shower, play with them for about 30 minutes, put them to bed. 90 % of time, I sleep before they close their eyes. Except, my 8 hours at work there is not a minute which I do not enjoy everyday. Is this what they call love?

Finally after pondering for more than 5 years, I stepped into stock market this week. I even bought my first stock. If things workout based on my luck, I would advice all my friends to get out of the market right now.

All signs point to a spectacular fall in the global stock market. FED just cut interest rate to 3.5%, that’s huge. Sincerely, I do not think that’s going to boost anything this time around. Buckle up boys’ crunch time is around the corner!!! I would say by June, we would be in a clear state to judge whether US economy is in a recession or not. One good thing might be, India along with China and Brazil might be sought as an alternative to invest money. This could be a big test for Indian Congress government. Lot depends on how they work to gain consumer confidence. On paper at least, both Chidambaram and Dr. Singh have great economic background, we have to wait and see how they work this out.

For those who feel that Modi is a bad news for India, where you have been for the past 50 years? Have you seen the world around you? Do you even understand that political playground both in India and abroad? Even after 50 years of failure, if you want to live with the false promises of Congress and Left, what can I say? Religious fundamentalism, it is used by everyone isn’t it? Let’s define this term “religious fundamentalism”. It is a narrow set of belief which glorifies one’s religion at the expense of the others. Given that, if we dig deep, in our current world there are only 2 sources for all our religions right? One originates from the west, the so called Abrahamic religions. The other is the so called eastern religions which include Zoroastrianism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Confucianism etc. By now, we can take it for granted that religion whether it’s from east or west work towards attaining heaven or Mukti as it’s called in Hinduism. Buddhism and Jainism don’t have an ab...

I got to completely restore my Laptop. The worst part was I lost lots of pictures which I stored in there :( Well anyhow, I was talking to the Dell Support group in Chennai, and the most weird thing happened. Until now I thought my name was unique, I was talking to a guy, and he informed me that my name is exactly the same as his friend working next to him. I have to say, it was little bit sad, you don't want to lose your individuality right?

Back from my vacation to DC. What did I do? Same old schedule of course; sit at my brother’s house & do nothing. One change though, went to Raleigh, NC and I did see couple of movies, I am Legend was good. I always get stressed out meeting my parents, specifically my father. My father and I are totally apart, that’s a good thing though, if not we would be fighting every day. The main difference between us is, I like a good argument but not a fight but he likes a fight without any argument. Anyhow, 2007 is done. For me 2007, was a confidence builder. Other than that, I don’t want to rate a year good or bad, because honestly, a year is just a passage of time isn’t it. Event List for 2007 1.Got my EAD 2.Wife got a job 3.Younger one started his pre-school 4.Elder one started his regular School 5.Read some good books. The 2 best are a. The universe in single atom by Dalai Lama b. Life Ahead by...