They had a Much Clearer Notion Of 'Work' Back Then

Business still reflects an older model, exemplified by the French word for working: travailler. It has an English cousin, travail, and what it means is torture

It derives from the late Latin trepalium, a torture device so called because it consisted of three stakes. I don't know how the stakes were used. "Travel" has the same root.

- via Paul Graham

Duel

I decided to watch this old Spielberg movie again for old time's sake. It's Spielberg's first movie and was made for television. The 74 minute movie about a middle aged businessman chased by a truck, was released in 1971. The studio was reportedly unhappy with the delay - they need not have fretted so much. The 25 year old Spielberg delivered like a complete pro and completed the movie in less than two weeks. Kodambakkam likes to gloat about its technical abilities and their supposed superiority - I wonder why after thirty six years , with much more sophisticated technology at their disposal, the wannabes can't even touch the camerawork in this movie with a barge pole. This movie is proof that technology fetish, obsession with computer graphics, etc are the symptoms of a mediocre mind. There are some snooty folks who think Spielberg is some kind of American Mani Ratnam and love to hold him in contempt. Maybe he started pandering too much to audiences later . The interview with Spielberg in the DVD version is very revealing. Total inside out knowledge and mastery of the visual medium - To repeat, it's not just knowledge, it's the deep personal experience with all aspects of film making that come through. If you are interested in what an inexperienced 25 year old director can sometimes deliver, you might want to check it out.

No Ice Fruit Iyer This

Professor K.V. Iyer

1900 - 1980

Iyer was considered to be somewhat of a mystic and was a student of the Vedanta philosophy. He attempted to blend Yoga, Hindu Mysticism & Western Physical Culture.

Apart from his Gym in Bangalore, Postal Courses & Books he was also a physician to The Maharaja of Mysore.

His measurements were:

Neck - 17"
Chest - 44"
Waist - 30"
Thighs - 23"
Calf - 15.5"
Arms - 16.75"
Height - 5'7.5"
Weight - 160lb.
- Prof. K.V.Iyer

In his prime, Iyer was considered by several authorities to be one of the ten most perfectly developed men in the world. Although they might be judged unremarkable by contemporary standards, his measurements reveal a finely tuned, tight physique. He was 5 feet 7½ inches tall and weighed 160 pounds. He had a 44-inch chest and a 30-inch waist. His 23-inch thigh and 17½-inch biceps completed his well balanced body.

...

Iyer was a strict vegetarian, and he enjoyed explaining his nutritional theories to anyone who would listen. ...
- The Gallery of Ironmen

அப்படியே பழனி படிக்கட்டு தான் !

புரிஞ்சு கைய்ய தட்டுங்கடா வெண்ணைகளா

After Watching The Dark Knight in Sathyam Cinemas a couple of weeks back, I almost came to the erroneous conclusion that Sathyam Cinemas = Madurai Regal Talkies. The idiots were clapping for all the punch dialogues, gadgetry, and effects, but barely anyone seemed to notice the heavy political undertones in the movie. But the Regal theatre audience is not pretentious like the Sathyam theatre crowd. (A friend of mine likes to point out that watching English movies in Madurai is inherently pretentious). BTW, it turns out Batman talk has had political undertones even in pre-911 Amrika. Bonus: Bush or Batman quiz (video)

வெடிகுண்டு ஆசாமிகளின் சாதனை

I have long resisted wearing tags of any kind - ID cards, company T-shirts, etc. At school I was punished regularly for not wearing the badge. I could never bring myself to wear the badge that was in my pocket. After school there was a long period of relief through college. The various jobs I have held have never have never really made me compromise on my aversion for tags. I would just keep it in my pocket and display it when required, and those occasions were far and few between. After the recent bomb blasts, the security pricks have gone on a overdrive and this time I happen to be working in a big building; so, the cover your ass anal-retentive types have gone on a overdrive. Mini-me is totally shattered.

Seriously though this got me thinking about the impact terrorism has had at a personal level . Not to belittle the sufferings of victims or their families etc, but here's an observation: surprisingly there are few instances of it affecting life in a substantial way. Nearly twenty five years ago, I remember our school Principal chiding us kids for jumping with joy, when leave was announced following Indira Gandhi's assassination; VIPs who can hold up traffic for a while - VIP security has it's origins in terrorism for sure; but then I can't remember being in jam caused by VIP bandobust. Security checks at airports, train stations, theatres, etc - most Indians don't even consider them bothersome. This is really puzzling -I can't think of too many incidents in the last twenty plus years. And, I suspect people like me are in the majority. But that may not be very obvious to someone who doesn't live here. The size of the country and it's population, the extreme diversity, etc, make it very difficult for terrorism to have any real impact. The other alternative for terrorists is to do it on a hitherto unseen scale - that would invariably mean blowing their cover. The other option is what they currently practice - 'Death by a thousand cuts'. But 'death by a thousand cuts', though it sounds like a meticulously laid plan, in reality is a whole bunch of unrelated, unco-ordianted acts; there is no real plan A, plan B, etc here.

A very real threat to terrorists is the possibility of the great Indian public resigning themselves to terrorism just as they have resigned themselves to corruption.