Dasavatharam

Happened to watch Dasavatharam last weekend! Went into the movie with lots of talk about Chaos Theory, Butterfly effect and blah-blah!! But I was just there to witness a definite masterpiece by an ace actor, in 10 (distinct) roles. Following are my positives on the movie.

Versatility of characters

None can deny the distinction and versatility in each of the characters. Kamal had perfected the language of ‘95-year-old-iyengar-paati’ Krishnaveni with the same ease as he had that of Chris Fletcher. Awesome! Balram Naidu with the typical Andhra accent is an icing on the cake. Not to forget Kalifullah Khan and Poovaraghan for their respective accents and characters. Overall the choice of characters and execution of them to perfection - only possible by Kamal!

Flow of Story

The story, naturally is a flowing one, starting from US and ending in Tamil Nadu. But nowhere I have found a slowdown in the movie. The pace was maintained and never gave a chance to relax, for the audience.

Occassional but strong hints of Chaos theory

As pointed out by Kamal in his opening speech, everything that happens in this world have some weird resemblance to something that happened in the past or something that might happen in the future. Following are my observations on this front:

• Govind trying to save the world from the virus, as Rangarajan Nambi was trying to save Vaishnavism
• Govind getting hurt right on his forehead resembling the ‘Vaishnava Namam’, same way as Nambi was injured
• The virus getting into the Perumal idol and Govind trying to save that - similar to Nambi trying to save the Perumal idol
• Govind and Aandal resolving to be together, near the same idol, which led to separation of Nambi and his wife and many more…

Makeup

The makeup clearly shows the hardwork - both Kamal and the makeup team has put in. Especially, the Zen master and Chris Fletcher, were my favorites.

So overall, the movie was nice mix of hard work and commercial stuff. I enjoyed watching it!!

Asin: … kadavul ilanu soladhingo…
Kamal: … kadavul ilanu naan eponga sonen. irundha nalla irukumenu than sonen …

Extrasensory Memory!

I read this interesting article about a woman, who can remember everything since she was 14.

As she rightly points out, it’s more of a burden than a blessing.  It may be of convenience at times, to remember important conversations in life.  But more often, it might turn out to be a hindrance for interpersonal relationships.  How can you be normal to a person, who had a bitter quarrel with you, that hogs your mind whenever you see him/her?

Would you like to have this extrasensory power?  In that case, will you call it a burden or a blessing?

Microsoft, Yahoo and Google

Google’s proposed advertising partnership with Yahoo, has made Microsoft withdraw its takeover bid for the latter.

Google’s gain

• Microsoft-Yahoo would have been a huge entity to reckon with, for Google. At least for now, Google can breathe easy
• By proposing a advertising partnership with Yahoo and making Yahoo think about it, Google has made the world realize the shortcomings in Yahoo’s ad-serving capabilities
• Google’s share prices have shot up after Microsoft-Yahoo break up

At the end of the day, Google is the big winner in the Microsoft-Yahoo deal break up.

HR Strategy in IT Servicing companies

Based on the interviews I gave over the past 6 months or so, following is my view on the HR strategy followed primarily in IT servicing companies

Compensation offered to candidates is primarily governed by the skill set they possess; not on their expertise in the skill set. For instance, a highly skilled J2EE Designer will fall into the same compensation range as an average-to-below-average J2EE Designer. May be there is a slight advantage for the former, but not significant

This definitely makes the highly skilled ones, to explore their choices and ultimately go towards better opportunities. As a result only average-to-below-average folks join these companies (at least in majority).

Just a thought - In that case won’t the overall Intellectual Capital of the Company move towards the average?

Trying to be a little modular

I write many posts on Indian politics. Just for the sake of modularity, I have decided to own up one more blog of mine, dedicated to my views on Indian politics.

To view it - http://indianpoliticscornered.wordpress.com

To subscribe - http://indianpoliticscornered.wordpress.com/feed/

Thanks for reaching here!!

Google Bookmarks - my new bookmark manager

I have been using del.icio.us for quite sometime now. But, I felt it’s high time I choose a different bookmark manager, for the following reasons:

• I have gathered a huge list of bookmarks over time. Found it a little difficult to manage them using del.icio.us, partly because of my bad habit of using too many distinct tags
• There were a good chunk of bookmarks, which were either redundant or of no more use
• Firefox Addons for del.icio.us (at least the ones I tried) were too slow and not user friendly. I have never had good experience with them
• I use my bookmarks for private purposes. A bookmark sharing utility like del.icio.us doesn’t add a great value to my purpose

So I decided to give a try at Google Bookmarks. Following were the steps I followed, before I successfully migrated all my essential bookmarks.

Install Google Toolbar for Firefox, from here

Export bookmarks from del.icio.us as a HTML file. This is a relatively simple task!!

Import the bookmarks HTML file to Firefox

In the Google Toolbar, click on ‘Bookmarks -> Import Firefox Bookmarks‘

Voila!! All bookmarks will be imported. You can choose to Edit/Remove any bookmarks and their labels

You are done!!

Now you can access your bookmarks from your Google Toolbar.

Following are the advantages I found (so far)

1. Accessing the bookmarks from Google Toolbar is extremely fast
2. All bookmarks are private and secure
3. Adding bookmarks is highly simplified. You will never know that they actually get stored in Server. Performance is similar to adding local bookmarks to your browser

How can Google Bookmarks be improved:

1. Direct import facility from del.icio.us and other popular Online Bookmark managers
2. Sub-tag feature can be introduced (like Blogs -> Technology, etc.)

Overall, I started loving Google Bookmarks!!

Orbis Terrarum Challenge

Hmm… There is some food for my reading habit, which was starving for quite some time now

I got to know about the Orbis Terrarum Challenge through Ramya’s blog, which I regularly follow. She writes some nice reviews on books in her blog, which otherwise I would never have known about.

In a nutshell, Orbis Terrarum Challenge is a proposal to read 9 books - across 9 countries, 9 authors - by December 2008. To know more about the challenge, please click here.

B&b ex libris is one another good blog, for book lovers.

Following is my proposed list for this challenge. I have liberally assumed a few exceptions, as this is not a contest but a self imposed challenge.

• Few books are from authors of a different origin, from the subject
• I am not gonna maintain any order in the reading of these books. This is just a comprehensive list

Following is my list. Comments are welcome… On completion of each, I shall write a review on the book, in my own terms.

1) A Pale View of Hills

Author: Kazuo Ishiguro
Country: Japan
Amazon: Book link

2) The Color of Serendipity: A Journey Through Sri Lanka

Author: Nishantha Gunawardena
Country: Sri Lanka
Amazon: Book Link

3) Long Walk to Freedom: The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela

Author: Nelson Mandela
Country: South Africa
Amazon: Book Link

4) Paula

Author: Isabel Allende
Country: Chile
Amazon: Book Link

5) Neither Cargo nor Cult: Ritual Politics and the Colonial Imagination in Fiji

Author: Martha Kaplan
Country: Fiji
Amazon: Book Link

6) The Maya

Author: Michael D Coe
Country: Mexico (The Author is an American)
Amazon: Book Link

7) River Town: Two Years on the Yangtze

Author: Peter Hessler
Country: China (The Author is an American)
Amazon: Book Link

The Long Road Home: A Story of War and Family

Author: Martha Raddatz
Country: Iraq (The Author is an American)
Amazon: Book Link

9) India After Gandhi

Author: Ramachandra Guha
Country: India
Amazon: Book Link

Are Chennai Super Kings - (Hayden+Hussey+Oram) struggling?

This analysis is to find out the contribution of Hussey, Hayden, Oram & Co., in all CSK’s wins.

Match 1 - CSK v Punjab

Result Chennai Super Kings won by 33 runs

Contribution Mike Hussey - 116 (54)

Match 2 - CSK v Mumbai

Result Chennai Super Kings won by 6 runs

Contribution Hayden - 81 (46)

Match 3 - CSK v Kolkata

Result Chennai Super Kings won by 9 wickets

Contributions Hayden - 70 (49), Oram - 3/32

Match 4 - CSK v Bangalore

Result Chennai Super Kings won by 13 runs

Contribution Hussey - 47 (37)
So from the records, it is obvious that Hayden, Hussey, Oram & Co, has made significant contributions to all the CSK’s victories.  Also, CSK has lost both their matches, after their departure.

Is it a coincidence or were they really outplayed?  Well, we have to wait and see…

Brickbats for Anbumani Ramadoss

Union Health Minister, Anbumani Ramadoss, is targeted for his statements on the consumption of alcohol on-screen.

First it was Sharmila Tagore, the Censor Board chief, dismissing his statement and asking him to concentrate on other pressing activities pending Health Ministry’s action. Then it was the Big B, who wondered -“Now the Health Minister, Mr Ramadoss, is asking film stars to stop drinking scenes in their films. First the smoking, then the drinking. Hola!! What next?,”. Finally, it is the turn of our own ‘Puratchi Kalaignar’ Vijayakanth to give his valuable comments on this issue - “First, he should try to find out the reason for the death of the children… then he can talk about the actors. There are so many issues which have to be taken care by him. I appeal him to do that, instead of indulging in such kind of activities“

My 2 cents on this

• Though there are open issues in the plate of Health Ministry, they are free to interfere and decide on matters which they feel necessary
• I can give many instances, where teens start smoking or drinking, to imitate their favorite actors on-screen
• Rampant drinking scenes, like staggering on the roads with bottles and inebriated tussles, should be avoided
• Scenes expressing the idea of ‘love-failure-leading-to-a-drunkard’, should be avoided
• Scenes where female actors intake alcohol and behave in a dastardly manner, should be scrutinized and avoided as possible
• Smooth scenes like drinking in a bar over dinner may be permitted, based on their importance to the movie, as such

In summary, I do not wish to criticize either Anbumani Ramadoss or Union Health Ministry, for their decision to ban drinking on-screen. The ban must be a little flexible, but making sure that their objectives are met.

Life in a place called Pilani - Episode 1

He got down at the Pilani bus terminus (??), at 1 PM, on an extremely hot afternoon.

For those who haven’t heard of Pilani - It is a small village in the Northern part of India, juxtaposed along Haryana-Rajasthan border (though it belongs to the latter), experiencing extremes of temperatures ranging from 0-50 degree celsius during the course of an year, hosting a renowned educational institution abbreviated BITS…

He stood first in his class, his school, his district. He felt important. Everyone congratulated him on his achievement and were awe-struck when he got his admission letter for EEE, at BITS. He was at the top of his world. He was awaiting his joining date at BITS, which finally arrived.

It was a difficult journey for him (sorry, his name is **drumroll** Satish), all the way from Trichy to Pilani. Traveling for 3 days (Trichy-Chennai-New Delhi-Pilani), made him real sick. But he resisted his exasperation, only to get a glimpse of BITS.

But, when he got down at Pilani, he could not just believe, that it was the place, where he longed to spend the next 5 years of his life. It appeared to him, as though the world had gone back 5 years in time. Dragging his suitcase, he walked slowly towards the main gate of the institute with his father, which read ‘Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani’