Madras Day Celebrations - Randor Guy

Had been to one of the meetings in P.S.Senior High school, Mylapore. The meeting was organized as part of the Madras Day celebrations. It had Randor Guy, the learned gentleman speaking on Old Madras with timely old movie clippings.

It was an enthralling speech...I should say. For more than an hour, we were transported to the good old days of cleaner madras. The speech by itself was a treasure trove of Madras trivia..I sorely missed taking a pen and paper.

The clippings were from many pre independence movies like En Manaivi, Sabapathi, Thyaga Bhoomi and some oldies like Parasakthi. We could get a glimpse of old time Mylapore, Adayar, Kodambakkam railway station, Port, Egmore railway station and of course the famed beaches. The one thing that stood out was the near absence of traffic in those days. It must be have been great fun to have traveled by Trams in Parrys corner..Hmm..people really had a calm and relaxed life in those days.

I was thrilled, when one the clippings (En Manaivi - early 1940s movie) panned across the very P.S.Senior high school in which the show was being organized. Not much change. Good.
The grand finale had the song Enna paarvai undhan paarvai from the film Kaadhalika neramillai(1964). The song was extensively shot on the Marina beach with the regal Madras University, Presidency college buildings forming the backdrop.

The sadder part of the evening was the poor turnout of youngsters; of the 75+ people, there were hardly 10 who would be below 35. So much for heritage.

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The government banned Thyaga Bhoomi, 1939 (written by Kalki) and said there should not be any further shows of the movie, the movie was kindling patriotic feelings amongst people. S.S.Vasan, the starlwart producer, decided to run continuous free for all shows in the erstwhile saffire theatre. The crowds were pouring in to see the continuous shows and the police could not technically carry out the ban; they had to resort to lathi charge inside the theatre. Randor Guy made a sarcastic remark that now days you see lathicharge outside the theatre to control the crowds.

Father / Husband's name

I hate every form on this earth that asks me to fill up Father / Husband's name.

There are two things here..
one, being asked to choose between father and husband irks me. I certainly dont want to disown my father by striking his name, just because I got married.

And another is the MCP tinted question that has almost become the correct thing to ask.
I'm no big time feminist wanting 33% reservation. But I strongly feel against these 'small' stuffs that society is made of. Let me see, how many guys fill their wife's name if at all the choice is Father /Wife's name. Wonder why mother is not considered as an entity at all.

Another thing that irritates me to the core is calling the wives as Mrs.Hari..Mrs.Kumar.. as though the wives are prized trophies of the husbands. Talk abt individuality..these womenfolk dont even have a name of their own.

Being Sharukh - NDTV's We the People

Happened to watch 'We the People' special on NDTV yesterday night @ 8 pm. The discussion point was on marriages and of course Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna.

I just had the feeling that the usually reliable Burkha went overboard by focusing the discussion on sharukh and his personal life, when you actually had a bigger problem for discussion.

Questions were like this ..What would you do if the film replicates in your life..will you leave your son if you find your soul mate outside your marriage...Did your wife like the film..

I pity this guy who had to appear on national television and swear that he is pro marriage, he loves his wife n family and that he would never leave his children for anything.

Milk Miracle - Oh.No..Not Again

There are reports in the media that idols are taking in milk offered by devotees.

Wow..the gods do have a strict diet schedule. After 1995, they return back to their drinking days again. Wish they act magnanimous by not taking in milk but by giving milk to mankind.

Revolutionary Blog

I came across this path breaking blog - http://www.livingsmile.blogspot.com, written by living smile vidya. Living smile vidya is a Thiru Nangai (tamil..till now, I didnt know such a word existed) , generally referred to as Ali/Aravaani. Vidya blogs abt her experiences in trying to lead a normal life. Right now, she is with an NGO in Madurai. Earlier she had been in pune, begging in the trains .. then turned to selling goods in the trains..and now works in IASC in madurai.

Earlier Thenkudu had conducted a contest on the topic death. Vidya had bagged the second prize; the poem is very touching. She pours out the humiliation they face in the society and finally ends with the line

Maranam mattum thaana Maranam (Is death alone death?)..It really moved me.

I salute the power of Blog, a medium that has crossed the boundaries of TV, Radio, Newspapers, Magazines, etc.,No where else, this highly victimized community could dream to open their mouth (leave alone..raising their voice)

The original super star returns

The MGR charisma is back...His 1958 film 'Nadodi Mannan' has been released in theaters and it is running to packed houses. I had always wanted to see the Shivaji's fiery Parasakthi, MGR's charismatic Aayirathil Oruvan, Sridhar's comedy riot Kadalikka neram illai on the big screen. Perhaps ..if the main stream cinema halls decides to screen them..

In the meanwhile..wonder how Kabhi Alvidha Naa Kehna is..
Please move aside marketing moghuls..Karan just knows how to market his films..The film is declared to be a super hit just on the basis of advance bookings itself.

Cellphone Menace

Apart from AIDS, I guess the fastest spreading menace is the misuse of mobile phones.
In my 20 minute 21L bus journey from kotturpuram to velachery, today I learnt
1. Ganesh Anna has got a new job in teynampet; the family is pleased
2. Pradeep's girlfriend (figure?) had ditched him
3. Kavitha's breakfast was Idli sambar
4. someone-1's visa got rejected
5. someone-2 has got a appa, amma, athai, thambi in srirangam and appa's sugar level is OK..

All the above said is for public consumption; people just forget the basic decency to shut their mouth in public. With abject disregard to the disgust/curiosity shown by the others, people continue to shout on top of their voices & proceed to discuss their personal affairs. OK..a few words on the phone is reasonable ..but continuing a big discussion can be a real 'tension-padithifying' matter.

I also know a mole

Well, I intend to write an 'all time-best seller' autobiography. It's always handy to make these kind of statements ..you know ;-)

638 Ways

638 ways to kill Fidel Castro, made an interesting read in today's Hindu. The article ended with a good joke about Mr. Castro's apparent indestructibility . One person, recounted in The New Yorker this week, tells of him being given a present of a Galapagos turtle. Mr. Castro declines it after he learns that it is likely to live only 100 years. "That's the problem with pets," he says. "You get attached to them and then they die on you." —

Hmm..its just an interesting read for us; wonder how it will feel 'being Fidel Castro'

This is going nowhere

Once again, I'm forced to use pkblogs.com. Grrr...Blogspot has been blocked by VSNL in chennai. I think the 'joke' has gone too far...it is high time the mess is sorted out.

Harry Potter & the Goblet of fire

Two weeks back, I had started reading this book at the Blore Railyway station at around 11.pm. I had to board the kaveri express (11.45 p.m..what a time to travel). Nothing prepared me for the shock in the first chapter...it was no longer a light reading fantasy children book...The tone was dark and the happenings darker.

The major events in this 4th edition are the Quidditch world cup - the death eaters - Triwizard tournament - Harry's mysterious entry into the tournament - the tasks - Mad Eye Moody(The new defense against dark arts teacher) - Rita (paper paparazzi) - bewitched trophy - the raise of 'he-who-must-not-be named'- battle between Harry & Voldemort - the great escape.

Apart from the twists and turns, I liked the emotional undercurrent in this story. There is a rift between Ron & Harry and they dont talk to each other. Then Ron comes over to Harry when he finishes his first task in the tournament, realizing how risky it was. And then, there is this Ball. It was very funny to read how Ron & Harry scout for partners. Both of them are turned down by the girls they like. But somehow, they manage to get Parvati Patel & Padma Patel (Yes..Yes..the Indian link in the story). But Ron turns very jealous when he sees Hermonie with another partner, a star player. And there is this paparazzi reporter, Rita who writes according to her own will and in the process hurting Hermonie, Ron, Hagrid & Potter.

And then there is this talk on equality and compassion, when Hermonie takes up the cause of the house-elfs.

On the whole, the book is very entertaining and I have to read the next book 'Order of Phoenix'.
Cant wait to know, how voldemort plans his comeback.

Chennai on the web 2.0 world map

It is a matter of pride to see chennai highlighted in a world map. And to know that your company is the reason.. you have more reasons to smile.

AdventNet's Zoho has captured the imagination of the web 2.0 world with its online weboffice products like Zoho Writer, Zoho Show, Zoho Sheet, Zoho Planner and the list goes on.

Richard MacManus in his Read / Write Web has written an article on the various webapps thats creating interest.