Letters to a Soul mate

Kamat.com is one site that never ceases to surprise me. Info abt how they could manage to build such a website is equally impressive.

The long-distance family life of Kamats meant frequent letter writing among them and decades later, these carefully preserved letters formed the basis of the Timeless Theater Archive. Much of the Kamat's Potpourri website's content is culled from these letters.

Some selected letters written by Krishnanand to wife Jyotsna were first published in Kannada (the original language the letters are written), as Letters to a Soul mate (Preyasige Patragalu - cover) and were very well received.

Jyotsna Kamat in her foreword to the book writes

There is no shortage of writers and poets who have glorified and immortalized love. However, there are but a few, who decades after decade have found a lover in a wife to write letters on a daily basis. I hope that readers will enjoy reading them at least a fraction of as much as I have, because you will discover a true passion for life in them.

Man..they sure had a rocking life!

Karwa Chauth

My first brush with Karwa Chauth came with DDLJ. Then on, almost every mushy-mushy hindi movie had a karwa chauth sequence...it just got grander with every movie...
Rediff educates me saying that Wives observe a 24-hour long fast for the long life and wellbeing of their husbands.

Once the moon-worshipping is done, the wives look at the moon through a sieve and then immediately turn to look at their husbands -- it is said that a woman should look at no-one but her husband straight after she has seen the moon through the sieve.
After the moon-worshipping, women receive their first bite of food from their husbands. The fast begins the night before in the presence of both the moon and the husband and ends only after the woman sees her husband and the moon together the following evening.

Oh..so touching!!...Wonder whats the equivalent fast for the husbands?

Punch-O-Punch

"If these people feel so threatened they should not come out in public places."

CNN-IBN - This comes in the order abt security for politicians - the Delhi High Court observed that politicians were not a "national asset" that should be protected.

Wonder what Madras High court will say in Jaya's security case???

Mafia - Biggest Business

Organised crime is Italy's biggest "business". Extortion, loan-sharking, drugs and prostitution have a total annual turnover of $140 billion , a report reveals. This is seven per cent of the country's economy and makes it almost twice the size of Italy's corporate giant Fiat.

More from Herald Sun

Sticky Ad

Today's Hindu has a little yellow paper sticking out...they have introduced a new kind-of Ad - Sticker Ad. Definitely attention grabbing..wonder whats the cost?

CAT & Mouse Game

Finally the 'premier' most exam in India catches up with technology! There is a definite proposal to conduct CAT exams online & more good news.. you can take the test when you are ready...the exam is scheduled multiple times in an year.
ET - Your mouse could bell the CAT

Name Change

We can expect more from Paghutharivu Paasarai (would roughly translate to rationalist group)..esp after the saibaba-ring episode at Karunanidhi's house.

An article in Kumudam reporter exposes the so- called followers of periyar - Paeyarai maatriya periyar seedarkal. Central MinisterT.R. Balu has now become T.R.Baalu and State Minister Arcot. Veerasamy has become Veeraswamy. Name change for numerological belief!

Story from IdlyVadai

Data is god, Google is pujari ;-)

From Business Week

Google will pay Nielsen an undisclosed amount to obtain detailed information about the kinds of people who watch specific TV shows.

Google's access to the information is significant because it gives the Mountain View-based company more tools to draw upon as it tries to target television ads as effectively as it has done on the Internet

Since May, Google has been delivering television ads for about 14 million subscribers to EchoStar Communication Corp.'s Dish network and Astound Broadband cable service.The set-top boxes used by EchoStar and Astound enabled Google to track when commercials were watched and for how long. By drawing on Nielsen's data, Google will now have information on what kinds of viewers are watching the commercial.

"This was a missing piece of puzzle for us," said Keval Desai, Google's director of product management for TV ads.

ChakDe India

A very nice movie. It had almost everything you would root for..it plays on the underdog syndrome beautifully. You have to give it to the director, Shimit Amin for having the guts to take a Sports movie..that too a Hockey movie & that too women's hockey movie devoid of all heroism, romance, glamour, item songs, punch dialogues (the dialogues had the necessary punch..u get the difference ) The only ace he had was the towering presence of Sharukh Khan in an image-breaking role as Kabir Khan..a sincere & power packed performance.

The girls who portrayed the hockey team are all new comers..they have done a commendable job..my fav. being the punjabi bully- balbir kaur. The movie has its share of clichés..like a cricketer fiancé who gives a damn to hockey, eve-teasers getting their due from the girls, a men vs. women hockey match to decide on the sponsors, sharukh signaling the goal keeper to defend straight in the all important final penalty goal..etc. But as long as I like seeing whats happening on the screen, there are no complaints. It was almost like watching a nail biting hockey match live. (technically superlative film too)

Language is not a barrier to enjoy this movie. Go ahead ..give it a shot!

TN Buildings

The Tamil Nadu government has introduced a Bill to protect the owners of buildings in the city who had violated building rules and regulations from enforcement action for one more year.
What happens after one year?

Sensex Soars

Its deepavali damaka at the markets. Today, it has crossed the 19K levels - a record highest. Majors boosters are Reliance Energy, ONGC, Tata Steel. With just 4 trading sessions, the sensex has zoomed from 18k to 19k. (fastest 1000 points!). FIIs have clearly pumped in massive amounts of money. But a sense of caution is advised for retail investors - the heights are quite dizzy. To join the game, just have to wait for the next big fall to buy fundamentally strong stocks or take the MF route.

what's in the hand bag?

I get really pissed off, if anyone dares to touch my handbag..Imagine a book being written about the contents inside the handbag..Wonder what the Queen would be thinking??

EconomicTimes: "Since she doesn't need to carry cash, cheques, credit cards or car keys, royal watchers have for decades been intrigued about just what Queen Elizabeth II carries in the sizable bags that she is rarely seen without. As it turns out - a lot."

If you want to know - go ahead & buy the book - 'What's In The Queen's Handbag: And Other Royal Secrets' authored by Phil Dampier and Ashley Walton will be published on October 15 in the UK.

i-pill - Emergency Contraceptive Pill Ads

i-pill - Cipla's emergency contraceptive morning pill Ads are quite eye-catchy..Kudos to the graphics team that's behind the swrils & twirls of the i-pill logo. It would have been very easy to make a crass ad with this concept but hats off to the content contributors..they chose quite a subtle way to bring the message across - three kinds of ads run - show people from different age groups. Cool execution.. High production value!

You can get to see the ads here. [to have the print ads & TV ads in ur website is another thoughtful idea!]
The glitch is.. the ad doesn't emphasize it as a single usage drug (only for emergency) and it is not an alternative to the regular contraception pills.

The print ad was in news earlier when the Director Of Drugs Control sent a notice to Ananda Vikatan, a popular tamil weekly for having an i-pill ad in their magazine. It seems the the Drugs and Magical Remedies Act of 1954 states that drugs which cause contraception in women must not be advertised. But Cipla says they have not violated any law. The moral angle is highly irritating - N Selvaraju,Director Of Drugs Control says "The advertising of this drug will mean that women will think 'I can do anything and there's an easy way not to get pregnant'. We can't allow such an attitude. We are not against women's rights, but this is a moral concern." WTF! More in this CNN-IBN report.

Blore - the week before

Had back to back holidays for two weeks - had been to Bangalore & then to Kodaikanal.

Missed all the political drama over the Bandh / Fast in chennai...but karnataka politics kept me entertained ;-)

Some snaps from Blore (my SIL's garden)...here the roses bloom to size of a cabbage!