In tamilnadu, every now and then, there is a news about a saamiyar caught in a scandal..But then, those were local saamiyars (like the madipaakam saamiyar)..of course the greatest scandal would be the arrest of jeyandra sankarachaariyar [Now, the case is nowhere - that's another story by itself]..but yesterday, Nithyananda swaamigal - a bigger league spiritual guru was caught on 'A' -rated video and Sun TV went all out with the expose [My view: SUN TV shouldn't have streamed the video without camouflaging the explicit content...quite a shocker to watch it in living room TV]. Another set of big time 'spiritual gurus' - Kalki Bhagvan and his wife Amma Bhagvan's fraud is the subject of discussion in an Andhra TV.
I just wish, the people who flock to these 'spiritual gurus' pause for a minute and reflect on these developments..
Should wait and watch the next move...
March 03, 2010
March 01, 2010
Subbunagam Ammal
An interesting anecdote by Mr.Sriram (Madras Heritage and Music blog) in the Hindu -
Here goes the story...In 1895, Subbunagam Ammal, a 16 yr old Brahmin shocked the conservative madras society by converting to Christianity. After the usual uproar, she became the prize catch and along with Ms. Stephans (her mentor), she toured USA in 1900, lecturing abt her conversion. Then in 1905, there's a story about her kidnap, but finally it turned out to be case of 'going back to the roots'.
Quite a personality!
Here goes the story...In 1895, Subbunagam Ammal, a 16 yr old Brahmin shocked the conservative madras society by converting to Christianity. After the usual uproar, she became the prize catch and along with Ms. Stephans (her mentor), she toured USA in 1900, lecturing abt her conversion. Then in 1905, there's a story about her kidnap, but finally it turned out to be case of 'going back to the roots'.
Quite a personality!
February 22, 2010
Maggie Noodles - Just Two Minutes
Happened to taste the new Horlicks - Foodles yesterday. It tasted just like Maggie noodles... so much for differentiating.
Maggie Noodles is way past its 25 years mark and still happens to be my fav. I vividly remember the day when Maggie was the cause of excitement in our school(then NES, now NPS), we were in our primary class ..all of us were given a packet after a small demonstration and from then on, Maggie is one brand that has stayed with us. The 'Bus Two Minutes' ad jingle was also a rage.
Maggie had everything going for it - Instant food, easy to cook, good taste and it focused on children - A sure shot recipe for success. Top Ramen was a late entrant but I guess, it is still a very distant second.
For all kitchen-challenged people like me, Maggie is a dream come true ;-))
Maggie Noodles is way past its 25 years mark and still happens to be my fav. I vividly remember the day when Maggie was the cause of excitement in our school(then NES, now NPS), we were in our primary class ..all of us were given a packet after a small demonstration and from then on, Maggie is one brand that has stayed with us. The 'Bus Two Minutes' ad jingle was also a rage.
Maggie had everything going for it - Instant food, easy to cook, good taste and it focused on children - A sure shot recipe for success. Top Ramen was a late entrant but I guess, it is still a very distant second.
For all kitchen-challenged people like me, Maggie is a dream come true ;-))
February 17, 2010
The tale of two TV serials
'Madras Eye' forced me to take a day off and I was almost quarantined in my house. By afternoon, boredom had set in and I took to TV surfing.
A scene in a serial
Lady 1: can instantly say, she is the villi. With over the top makeup, garish saree, high tempo BGM, and that iconic creepy looks.. there was no doubt about it.
Lady 1 hands over a small red packet to Lady 2. Lady 2 receives it with equally creepy looks
Lady1 : "This contains a certain drug. Mix it with her food, she is bound to misbehave and create a scene, use this opportunity and throw her out"
Lady 2 nods...Lady1 and Lady2 exchange the 'conspirator' smiles [ atleast 4 closeup shots of each are shown in a loop ]
Yeppa..mudiyale...I change to cricket and move on to other channels..
Another channel, another serial
Lady 1: can instantly say, she is the villi. With over the top makeup, garish saree, high tempo BGM, and that iconic creepy looks.. there was no doubt about it.
Lady 1 hands over a small red bottle to Lady 2. Lady 2 receives it with equally creepy looks
Lady1 : "This contains slow poison. Mix it with her food gradually. she will die after 10 days"
Lady 2 nods..Lady1 and Lady2 exchange the 'conspirator' smiles [atleast 4 closeup shots of each are shown in a loop ]
Enna koduma saravanan idhu!!
The infection in the eye, which had sobered down a little came back with a vengeance..
A scene in a serial
Lady 1: can instantly say, she is the villi. With over the top makeup, garish saree, high tempo BGM, and that iconic creepy looks.. there was no doubt about it.
Lady 1 hands over a small red packet to Lady 2. Lady 2 receives it with equally creepy looks
Lady1 : "This contains a certain drug. Mix it with her food, she is bound to misbehave and create a scene, use this opportunity and throw her out"
Lady 2 nods...Lady1 and Lady2 exchange the 'conspirator' smiles [ atleast 4 closeup shots of each are shown in a loop ]
Yeppa..mudiyale...I change to cricket and move on to other channels..
Another channel, another serial
Lady 1: can instantly say, she is the villi. With over the top makeup, garish saree, high tempo BGM, and that iconic creepy looks.. there was no doubt about it.
Lady 1 hands over a small red bottle to Lady 2. Lady 2 receives it with equally creepy looks
Lady1 : "This contains slow poison. Mix it with her food gradually. she will die after 10 days"
Lady 2 nods..Lady1 and Lady2 exchange the 'conspirator' smiles [atleast 4 closeup shots of each are shown in a loop ]
Enna koduma saravanan idhu!!
The infection in the eye, which had sobered down a little came back with a vengeance..
February 10, 2010
Two States
'Two States' happens to be the second book I have read after Chetan Bhagat's First one - Five Point Someone. 'Thank your stars' that's what my friends, who have read the other books - one night at the call center, three mistakes tell me. I thoroughly enjoyed Five Point Someone and the jokes continue to flow in Two States too. The story as such is not new, but the challenge is the format in which it is presented. Chetan Bhagat is bestowed with amazing sense of humor and he puts it down in a cute manner. My fav. was the campus part of the story and the efforts taken by Krish to impress Ananya's family . But, there are few occasions where he goes overboard like krish buying rings for Ananya's entire family, Ananya solving the cousin's marriage problem, the wedding at mylapore etc. Chetan Bhagat also falters by giving a generic picture of south Indian/ tamilians as veg, music loving, academics oriented people. Can safely say 80% of tamilians are non-veg, and also 95% don't understand Carnatic music ;-)). My verdict: Safe Buy !
January 27, 2010
The Soup and Salad Cafe
Somebody did hear this?
Visited the newly opened Soup and Salad cafe on TTK Road, Alwarpet, opp to Raj Park. Amazing Ambiance is what that struck me first. Was greeted by friendly waiters. The menu was exhaustive, and it is not just Soups and Salads, they have sandwiches, wraps, smoothies, desserts, etc. But the names are mumbo-jumbo! We ordered a Soup-something Italian and Mexian - corn & pepper salad with mayo dressing. Both were awesome. Soup was heated just in front of us. They have a soup & salad counter and we could actually see whats going on.
The first visit culminated with only a soup & salad. Guess, we need to go as a big group to taste all the stuff. And hey, not all salads come under the 'healthy' tag, there were many salads with boiled potato, chips and paneer as ingredients ;-) The prices are a bit expensive - soups 50+, salads - 70+ but OK..when chaat can be 50+, it is worth paying for a salad. And something remarkable happened afterwards, I got a thankyou mail from S&S team. [ I had left my mail-id in the feedback form]. That was a nice touch to customer service.
Visited the newly opened Soup and Salad cafe on TTK Road, Alwarpet, opp to Raj Park. Amazing Ambiance is what that struck me first. Was greeted by friendly waiters. The menu was exhaustive, and it is not just Soups and Salads, they have sandwiches, wraps, smoothies, desserts, etc. But the names are mumbo-jumbo! We ordered a Soup-something Italian and Mexian - corn & pepper salad with mayo dressing. Both were awesome. Soup was heated just in front of us. They have a soup & salad counter and we could actually see whats going on.
The first visit culminated with only a soup & salad. Guess, we need to go as a big group to taste all the stuff. And hey, not all salads come under the 'healthy' tag, there were many salads with boiled potato, chips and paneer as ingredients ;-) The prices are a bit expensive - soups 50+, salads - 70+ but OK..when chaat can be 50+, it is worth paying for a salad. And something remarkable happened afterwards, I got a thankyou mail from S&S team. [ I had left my mail-id in the feedback form]. That was a nice touch to customer service.
GRT - Radio FM Ad
Creating Ads is very difficult. Creating Radio Ads are very very difficult. Arresting the attention of listeners with just sound medium is a real challenge. The latest GRT jewelery ad that conveys the simple message that they have opened a new branch in Purasaivakkam gets a thumbsup from me.
I automatically switch off when ads come in between the songs in Radio FMs but GRT ad starts with a lead music to a block buster song. Now, it gears everybody into listen mode, falsely alluring the listener who thinks the song has started and the ads are over. After few seconds there comes the announcement of the new branch. And Nobody misses the ad.
I automatically switch off when ads come in between the songs in Radio FMs but GRT ad starts with a lead music to a block buster song. Now, it gears everybody into listen mode, falsely alluring the listener who thinks the song has started and the ads are over. After few seconds there comes the announcement of the new branch. And Nobody misses the ad.
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