"Paadhi Kaadhal" - Refreshing song

My first music post in a while. And this song from Modhi Vilaiyaadu (Music by Hari and Leslie) is really worth it. Strikingly similar in its core and interestingly even in part of its orchestration to "PorkkaLamaa, thee kuLamaa" a.k.a Oneness by RR - (Subbu will remember it as one of the songs of our PGP1 days in IIMB. ), this song is intriguing, catchy, classy and involved at once. Sunitha Sarathy and Jayashree in one song was the USP which led me to download the song uninitiated, and man - are they a combination or what! Jayashree is seen singing full throated for a change - after the irritatingly monotonous usage by Harris Jayaraj. The percussions of the thavul when Sunitha is crooning away is really a novelty... What an exciting song, that keeps changing till its end... Enough to make this the most interesting song of the year so far. It's interesting how both singers stick to their strengths in the same song and make it click!
I dont want to post MP3 links here - but check the song out. Its available everywhere.

It is not really "Chennai" Super Kings playing out there

I have half a mind to stop watching CSK games after today's CSK match. Dhoni is 100% responsible for it. He picks Parthiv Patel ahead of Chennai's Vijay. I think Vijay is better in these conditions being a test class opener. But that's still acceptable. He drops Balaji for a different combination of bowlers. Not fair on someone picked to play test cricket for India not too long ago.
He then picks R Ashwin and does NOT give him a bowl. Why? Why? Why? Even after Flintoff gets tonked for 3 sixes in the 18th over. It is irking me even more as the spinners won it for MI in the end. Dhoni also got CSK's batting order horribly wrong. Patel is no opener in SA conditions in my book. Flintoff at 4 when 2 early wickets fell is again a slap on Badri's face. He then picks himself and Oram ahead of poor Badri who was forced to come in at 7 when they needed 60 off 30 or the like. Not too surprising given similar shoddy treatment in last season's IPL. I remember hapless Kapugedara coming ahead of Badri in last yr's final. Badri needs to shift to Royals in order to get more opportunities. Dhoni is getting too involved with his foreign cricketers and going too much on face value. He needs to back performers like Badri, Ashwin, even Vidyut and Vijay. Even if we lose, we lose with our Tamil boys screwing it up... Atleast give our boys the chance Dhoni. Don't be this autocrat. If you continue in this vein, you might lose your biggest supporters...
Dhoni seems hell bent on losing the respect of Chennai fans like me.
(The following is my reaction to Monkee's comment that informed me of 5 TN cricketers being sent back to India)
Who is Viraj Vilas Kadbe? He averages 26 in 6 matches with the bat and has taken 7 wickets for Vidharba in Domestic ODIs. He is yet to play T20. What has someone like Vidyut or Suresh Kumar done to miss out on selection ahead of this Kadbe? Suresh Kumar is a useful all rounder who averages 51 in 10 list A games for TN batting at 6 or 7.
Vidyut was more than useful last year. I am not citing Abhinav/ Anirudh's case yet cus the mandate seems to have been to retain the bowlers/ bowling all rounders. Vidyut and Suresh can both bowl ok. They have done enough to retain their spots. What has Kadbe done to stay in the CSK? He is 19. Even if some unbiased sport was to argue saying that his age was on his favor - Napoleon Einstein my friend. He is an allrounder as far as I know, and has been in India's Under 19 squad. What has Kadbe done?
And in any case I find Jakati staying on inexplicable. He is NOT getting a game in any case. Murali, Ashwin are the top 2 spinners. Even Indian teams dont take 3 spinners for tours abroad, and you are looking at players with Murali Kartik/ Amit Mishra's class missing out. Surely Jakati is not their class in left arm spin (He has 103 wickets in 41 first class matches!!!!). The guy has never played even Zonal cricket if I were to believe cricinfo. Face it Dhoni - HE IS NOT GONNA TURN OUT IN CSK's XI ever!!!! There will never be injuries to BOTH Ashwin and Murali. Even if such a situation were to arise, we could have managed with Vidyut/ Einstein if only you had retained them.
Dhoni seems to be in a rampage to send back TN cricketers and eventually lose supporters from Chennai. God save him. Finally "Idhu Chennai Chennai Superkings!!!!!"

2008 - Year in review

I have not blogged on this topic ever, but it does look like a good idea, given that a blog is really also an archive of thoughts to reflect on later reading. So here I go. This entry is about my life in 2008, so - those looking for a global events review might give this a skip.
This year has been a pretty memorable one for me, for various reasons. Some developments in personal life that my friends will know of - are certainly for the good. But let's not go into that. Let me focus on other aspects of my life. Let me do a month by month tracking to check if my memory serves me well on this year till date.
January -

• Got really health conscious thanks to an overdose of ready to eat I was consuming in Australia. Was glad to be back in India in late January.
• Watched my first grandslam tennis event - the Australian open. Watching Sania-Hesh in action with Sumant was very exciting. The centre court experience was a letdown though.
• Went to the casino for the first time ever. Enjoyed playing roulette. Time flies in a casino. Let me tell you that.
• G's wedding. Quite an event. Probably one of my happiest moments this year. Flying back in time for his muhurtam sent my pulses racing and made me feel very important :)

February

• A very memorable trip to IIMB. Quite a nice way to start the month.
• I only remember some good times with . Watched a lot of movies - Billa, TZP (second time onwards).

March

• Remember facing a few problems at work, and a lot of hardwork. Quite a bit of soul searching work wise.
• Anjathey. My best movie watching experience of the year. Remember being quite stunned watching it, first with G and then with Mad and Mk.
• A Bangalore trip with Ven, Mad and Kr adding some great times. Very insightful fundaes gained.

April

• A very memorable trip to Pune and Bombay. The night with friends in a bungalow turned hotel in Pune was an experience in itself. Bombay with G and family was quite interesting. Remember making my first resolution to buy Scotland yard at home during this trip.
• IPL. Remember getting hooked to the concept and watching the first game in a CCD in Pune. Watched 6 IPL CSK games in Chennai. Enjoyed it thoroughly. Had a long and interesting discussion on IPL with GN.

May

• Memorable start to the month with GN.
• Got into reading a couple of books, Kiterunner was quite a nice experience.
• More IPL and a lot more time pass watching it.
• Watched Hazaaron Khwahishen Aisi somewhere in this time.
• A great evening over coffee and dinner at Cedar.

June

• Had some health niggles around this time, did not enjoy the month at all. Became diet conscious though and that was a key takeaway.
• Had some tough times at work as well, quite the low point of the year.
• A below par trip to Bombay added to this month's low-key nature.

July

• The beginning of a new chapter in life :)
• Quite a few changes in my life, and operation fitness took its first baby steps.

August

• Remember getting into the Super Singer routine big time now. Wonderful times with Super Singer and the subsequent discussions with BK and Vat.
• Got much more in touch with Music around this time of the year. Wonderful times indeed. IR reinvented himself in my life.
• Rock On happened sometime around now. A great experience.

September

• The 14th hogged all the limelight, dont remember much else in this month. G's trip was good fun for all of us.
• Ranga made the trip to India around this time. Was great having him around. A morning near the consulate as we waited for C to get her Visa was old times revisited. A walk on the Cathedral Road, discussing movies, life and where we have been all these years was great. And yeah - the tiffin at Saravana Bhavan discussing IR in Pallavi Anupallavi. Awesome.

October

• My mind goes blank as I think of this month. The beginning of my most satisfying times at work might be the only highlight. I just continued the routine built over the previous months.
• One bad bout of fever is the only other thing worth a mention.

November

• A memorable concert in Music Academy with BK and family. Quite a wonderful experience listening to Srini and AS and Chinmayi and Naresh Iyer.

December

• The season. TM Krishna. Bombay Jayashri. Sanjay. Maargazhi Raagam. Dwijavanthi. Hamsanadham. Canteens. Rava Pongal. Coffee/ Tea. Bliss.
• BK's wedding. Great times.

May god bless all of you this new year. Have a great and productive year. In Chinmayee style, God speed to all you good people.

Children of Heaven - Highly recommended

I watched "Children of Heaven" (Iranian movie in Farsi with English subtitles. Directed by Majid Majidi). One of the best movies I have seen in the last few years. Taare Zameen Par looks SO inspired by this movie. The simplicity, the music, the innocence and genuineness in the children who play the lead roles are the movie's biggest pluses. This movie treats lower middle class families in a very realistic and positive fashion without ever treading the sympathetic line. The positivity and energy in the movie is so refreshing and is sure to bring a smile to anyone's face. Without revealing any more about this movie - I share the movie's google video links. PLEASE WATCH IT.

Link to Part 1
Link to Part 2

Vaaranam Aayiram

I don't write reviews, give movies star ratings and all that, and I am not going to attempt it here either. I couldn't resist this entry given how much I looked forward to this movie. Period. So here goes.
I have decided to list down what I liked/ did not like, after watching the movie today in Kamala Theater in Chennai, rather than follow any other structured way of writing this piece.

Positives -

• The OUTSTANDING segment between Suriya and Sameera Reddy. So what if it is "filmy," I loved it. The scene in the train is beautiful, Sameera is charming and the scene outside Sameera's apartment when Surya offers to move out has got to be my favorite.
• Authentic art direction and choreography - The Simran - Old surya segment has outstanding art direction. "Mundinam" is a joy to watch due to the props and sets. Gautam has handled this song very intelligently to give the authentic 70s feel. Again, the choreography in "Yethi yethi" is SO SO SO similar to Anjali's "something" or Agni natchatram's "Raja". (As acknowledged by Gautam Menon in one interview. I am not bad afterall!) The song is complete in being a tribute to those times with its rain dance segment - the signature of the 80s songs. Very enjoyable indeed - both these songs.
• The dad-son chemistry - Ok, it is slightly idealistic and full of "nuni-naakku-english" but it is pretty much from the heart and I could see the genuineness in it. It connected with me. The image of a young kid surya looking at his dad when their family poses for a snap is a brilliant director's touch to summarize the hero worship integral to any dad - son relationship. Right through the movie - I loved the chemistry as much as the intent to pay an honest tribute to dads.
  
• The young kid rescue mission and the re-recording in that segment. Very racy, supported by good music. The Kaakka kaakka chase scenes were truly memorable - and having set such a standard, Gautam does not disappoint in this segment.
• Finally - SURYA. Period. Watch the movie for him.
  

Negatives -

• The length of the movie. Alright, the movie is intended to be on its own terms. But it does sag and has some unneccessary segments that could have been chopped off. The journalist rescue mission, the gaana song are the most obvious waste of time segments in the movie. No value added by these portions.
  
• Surya - Divya portions. The scenes with this pair pale in comparison to those between Surya - Simran and Surya - Sameera. The "anal mele" song disappointed me, I expected more given the placement of the song when the audience are bound to get uneasy on their seats. It did not justify being present in the movie at all.
• The finish. It doesn't pack the punch I kind of expected. Simran's gospel speech in the end is average at best. I expected a more poignant ending.

Overall - Given my very high expectations as I entered this film, I still came out satisfied. There were a lot of portions to feel happy about as an avid Gautam menon and Tamil cinema fan. It could have been better - and that feeling is sometimes hard to take given the potential of the creator and actor on view. I will watch it again for its good moments.

Vetti chat.

S: nothing da. have to send some "%%%%%%%%%%" briefs away to ffffff today... my &&&&&&&& project seems to be coming around well.. growing &&&&&&&&& business xx% faster than Rest of yyyyyyy :)
4:05 PM
me: outstanding4:08 PM
my "Reduce mobile bill" project has also partially succeeded
S: idhellaam pee! uncalled for projects these :P
me: it has reduced by 6% to finish at Rs. 4600 4:09 PM
it has to be noted that in the month ending 2/10 it had increased by 14% to 4900..4:10 PM this is very blog worthy.
S: lol.
S: this reduction is misleading, as i would attribute bulk of the reduction to external events like the recipient's sister's marriage... :P4:11 PM
me: bingo. vaango pongo illa.4:15 PM
and also cost cutting activities like deliberate cutting of phone calls by the caller when it exceeds a number of minutes and blaming it on the network when the callee calls back4:16 PM
S: outstanding. i shall keep that in mind :P
me: pls to exercise it on others and not on the owner of the trademark4:17 PM
S: on the contrary, i will need to keep these things in mind only wen the aforementioned caller bothers to call.4:18 PM
me: you might encounter a situation where the intention to call might be blamed on the caller's neural network4:19 PM
S: this is the worst exhibition of verbosity that meant nothing :P4:20 PM
me: best.4:21 PM this might endanger verbiageold practices upheld by M/S NowNeat, MugCase et al4:22 PM
S: .
me: .

Cricket trivia

Was kinda jobless when I got enthu to do some queries on Statsguru at Cricinfo and I have come up with the following interesting facts -
1. How many of VVS Laxman's 48 test match scores of 50 or above (35 fifties and 13 hundreds) as on 30th Oct 2008 contain a sixer?
None! His highest score that contains a six is 44
2. Sticking to VVS - How many of his top 4 scores in Test cricket have come against Australia?
All four! and 5 of his top 6 scores are also against the Aussies.
3. From 2001, How many boxing day test match hundreds has Mathew Hayden scored?
Six! The only year he missed out was 2004, when his top score in the test against Pak was 56. He averages 102.4 in the MCG from 2001.
4. Hayden has scored 17 of his 30 hundreds to date in just 4 grounds.
MCG - 6, SCG, Gabba - 4, Adelaide - 3. This I consider as quite staggering. And in Australian venues - he has 100s in all venues but Darwin.
5. A strange coincidence is that Ponting too has scored 17 of his 36 test hundreds in the same 4 grounds :P (Adelaide, SCG - 5, Gabba - 4, MCG - 3). No wonder they are so strong at home.
6. Sticking to Ponting - 24 of his 36 hundreds have been scored in 4 calendar years (year wise split 2002-5, 2003-6, 2005-6, 2006-7). Quite amazing runs of form in those years.
7. When a similar analyis was performed for Hayden, it was found that he too has scored 21 of his 30 hundreds in 4 calendar years. But what is really striking is the fact that, Hayden and Ponting together have scored 11 hundreds in each of 2002, 2003, 2005 (2002 - Hayden 6, Ponting 5; 2003 - Hayden 5, Ponting 6; 2005 - Hayden 5, Ponting 6). This was and still is truly a pair of devastating batsmen, much like McGrath and Warne.

Will post more as I find interesting stuff...