Broken News

I Rest My Case

2012-01-28T18:18:00.001+05:30

Five years back I joined ranks with millions of other amateurs to play India's most popular armchair sport – fixing blame for the Indian cricket team's pathetic performance. It was a sort of non-technical take on the topic which has since found some support. But the best probably is the interview with Ian Chappell in which he blames India's star culture for the 2011-2012 test series defeat and he thinks (correctly) it's a much wider problem with Indian society.

I Rest My Case

2012-01-28T18:05:00.004+05:30

Five years back I joined ranks with millions of other amateurs to play India's most popular pastime - fixing blame for Indian cricket team's pathetic performance. It was a sort of non-technical take on the topic which has since found some support. But the best probably is the interview with Ian Chappell in which he blames India's star culture for the 2011-2012 test series defeat and he thinks (correctly) it's a much wider problem with Indian society.

The serious side of Kogul

2011-05-20T22:15:00.002+05:30

From a Tehelka article about Dalit student suicides:

Kamal is a 22-year old student from a village near Salem, Tamil Nadu. His father works in a local shop and his mother is a housewife. Students in Kamal’s elite college in Chennai giggled politely when he pronounced parents as pay-rents. “Sometimes, I think so many times before saying something in English or don’t answer a question in class because I am scared to speak,” says Kamal. Over the semester, his self-confidence plunged and so did his academic performance. “In Salem, I had many friends. Here I can’t recognise myself and don’t know about English music and films, so there is not much I can talk about,” says Kamal. He now spends his evenings alone in his hostel room.

எழுச்சி மிகு தயிர் சாதம்

2011-05-13T23:12:00.001+05:30

What Gave The மதுரை ஊரான்ஸ் The (Movie) Interval Swagger in the 80s

2011-02-23T21:02:00.001+05:30

I do not know what purpose do Ishant Sharma's long hairs serve

2011-01-27T21:29:00.003+05:30

First of all, I do not know what purpose do Ishant Sharma's long hairs serve. If I become the bowling coach of India, the first thing I would ask him is to cut his hair short. He does not look like a cricketer to me.

You know, that's the basic thing, you need to look like a cricketer first. Batting or bowling comes after that.

...

I don't think the cricketers should be allowed to influence the game.
- Fannie De Villiers

A Brief History of Conspicuous Product Placement in Movies

2011-01-15T20:50:00.003+05:30

(via coudal.com)

~~Readers~~ Customers, you might also want to check Pushing Products in Movies

Chennavasis, Want to Respond to This North Indian ?

2011-01-09T12:05:00.003+05:30

அம்பி, Outlook'ல எடிட்டராம்

Advice For Software Developers From the Grumpy Old Man At கோப்பி ஐய்யங்கார்

2010-10-03T21:15:00.003+05:30

There is this little restaurant near the West Gopuram of the Meenakshi Temple , கோப்பி ஐய்யங்கார், that I discovered rather late during my Madurai days. It was known for serving tasteful stuff (I assure you that I try desperately to avoid cheesy (un)intended puns) at one time. It seems to have changed hands and the name seems to have been retained purely for the brand name; Avoid that place if you can can.

Wun evening I got into the restaurant and was trying to figure out where to sit, when a bare bodied mama (yuxupt poonal) made his way to the front; He most probably worked in the kitchen and seemed to be somewhat agitated. He turned around to someone and blurted out:

இந்த பொழப்புல சாவு தான் ஒரே வழி ஒய்

பேத்தல் பெரியசாமி: பெரியோர்கள் சொல்ல மறந்தவை (#2)

2010-05-29T20:41:00.004+05:30

"The sole cause of man's unhappiness is that he does not know how to stay quietly in his room"
- Blaise Pascal

"The sole cause of an employee's unhappiness is that he does not know how to stay quietly in his cubicle (going through the motions)"
- பே.பெ

Note: Pascal's observation is aimed at the intelligent ones; but பே.பெ's heart bleeds for the average bloke.

Why The Fruit Company Is Doing So Well

2010-05-29T20:32:00.003+05:30

Legendary Apple co-founder and boss from hell, Jobs told a woman he was interviewing for an upper-level human resources position, "I've never met one of you who didn't suck. I've never known an HR person who had anything but a mediocre mentality." And once during a heated meeting exchange, the sockless wunderkind suddenly kicked his shoes off and stuck his bare feet in a manager's face.

- via allbusiness.com

பேத்தல் பெரியசாமி: பெரியோர்கள் சொல்ல மறந்தவை

2010-05-21T20:44:00.001+05:30

ஆத்திரக்காரனுக்கு புத்தி மட்டு

ஆத்திரக்காரிக்கு எல்லாமே அவுட்டு

From The Master Repartee Class

2010-05-17T22:55:00.002+05:30

Professor Noam Chomsky, an American linguist and left-wing activist, was denied entry into Israel and the West Bank on Sunday.

...

In a telephone interview with Channel 10, Chomsky said the interrogators had told him he had written things that the Israeli government did not like. "I suggested [the interrogator try to] find any government in the world that likes anything I say," he said.

- Noam Chomsky denied entry into Israel and West Bank

Science Advances One Funeral At A Time. - Max Planck

2010-05-12T22:57:00.003+05:30

...
A new scientific truth does not triumph by convincing its opponents and making them see the light, but rather because its opponents eventually die, and a new generation grows up that is familiar with it.
...
Paraphrased variants:
* Die Wahrheit triumphiert nie, ihre Gegner sterben nur aus.
o Truth never triumphs — its opponents just die out.
* Science advances one funeral at a time.
...

- Wikiquote

Main Stream Media = Western Civilisation = Good Idea

2010-05-08T13:57:00.003+05:30

What do you have to say about national media reporting of hunger and malnutrition issues?

I am tempted to say, like Gandhi about Western civilisation, that “it would be a good idea”.

Interview with Jean Dreze, development economist.

Jakkuboys - படு மொக்கை, But A Beginning Nevertheless

2010-05-08T13:34:00.003+05:30

Jakkuboys - The Movie from Scube Productions on Vimeo.

Tata History

2010-05-03T17:03:00.006+05:30

I caught an interesting discussion on Lok Sabha TV (DD still produces some of the most in depth hysteria-free discussions in drab studios) about the naxals and grabbing of tribal lands in which Dr.Amita Baviskar of the Institute of Economic Growth mentioned some startling facts about the Tatas - that the group had it's origins in the opium trade with China. I googled a bit and sure enough, it turns out to be true.

And indeed, if you spend any amount of time delving through the voluminous online archives of the Tata Group, you cannot help coming to the conclusion that J.N. Tata was a strange brew of Andrew Carnegie and Bill Gates, with a dash of Jesus Christ and Franklin Roosevelt thrown in for good measure.

If only it were so simple. For a dissenting view of the legacy of the Tata family and the good name of the Tata conglomerate, one can turn to the manifestly uncorporate-friendly International Campaign for Justice in Bhopal, which details an egregious list of abuses. One detail that had been conspicuously absent from the glowing biographies I had been clicking through caught my eye: The family's money, it was alleged, originally came not just from the cotton trade, but also from shipping opium to China in cahoots with the British East India Co.

...

Ask of the Web, and the Web shall provide. It turns out that Hong Kong's governing body, the Legislative Council, has uploaded to the Web official records dating back to 1884. Included there are the minutes to a Legislative Council meeting held on Friday, March 25, 1887.

During the meeting a group of Hong Kong-based merchants, among whom were included Shellim Ezekiel Shellim, "of the firm of David Sassoon, Sons & Co," and Ruttonjee Dadabhoy Tata, "of the firm Tata & Co.," presented a petition "for and on behalf of the Opium Importers and wholesale Opium Merchants of the said Colony."

...

Ruttonjee Dadabhoy Tata was J.N. Tata's first cousin, and the father of J.R.D. Tata, who helmed the family business well into the 20th century, before giving way in 1991 to Ratan Tata, his nephew, the current CEO. As primary source documentation of (legal) drug dealing activity goes, the LegCo minutes strike me as fairly definitive.

In the annals of globalization, there are few contemporary crimes committed by either transnational corporations or modern governments that match the scale of the 19th century enterprise in which the British Empire fought two wars against China to ensure its right to profit off Chinese citizens addicted to Indian-grown opium. Indeed, the first Opium War was kicked off when Lin Zexu burned 20,000 chests of opium, a hefty proportion of which belonged to Sassoon & Co., one of the above-named petitioners. It gives one pause to think that members of the same family peripherally involved in that enduring stain upon history, whose echoes inform Chinese resentment of the West to this day, are now involved with overseeing the expansion of software outsourcing operations in the former extraterritorial concessions of the West.

From opium to outsourcing by Andrew Leonard

Hmm, all saints have a past you say ? So cut these corporate buccaneers some slack, eh ? But old habits die hard. Dr.Baviskar also mentioned the land grab by the Tatas in Kalinganagar in Orissa; some of the protesters reportedly got their breasts removed. Searching for "Kalinganagar massacre" turns up quite a few results.

For most Indians who never hesitate to invoke karmic retribution in the event of any natural disaster, accidents or just anything plain bad happening elsewhere (like Hurricane Katrina), the Indian angle in the Chinese opium trade should give some food for thought. Maybe 1962 wasn't enough.

Non-Veg Sweets

2010-04-30T22:57:00.003+05:30

If you are a strict vegetarian with a sweet tooth, then there’s a strong possibility that your faith has been violated. Varakh, the silver or gold foil coating on Indian sweets such as kaju katli, laddoo and barfi, is made by beating it between ox skins. While this is common knowledge among Jains because of their stringent vegetarianism, the rest of India continues to be largely unaware of this fact.

...

Not only is varakh non-vegetarian, it is also impure. Toxic metals such as nickel, lead, chromium and cadmium were discovered in the silver foil in the course of a study

...

- Those Laddoos Are Non-Veg

அம்பாளையே அடிச்சுட்டானே இந்த அம்பி

2010-04-24T00:22:00.002+05:30

அப்போதும் 'நோ' சொன்னாரம் கவுண்டர்.

2010-04-10T21:24:00.004+05:30

ஆபரேஷன் முடிந்து உயிர் பிழைத்து வந்திருக்கும் கவுண்டமணியை ஒரு பிரபல சேனல் தொடர்பு கொண்டு, 'உங்கள் பேட்டியை ஒளிபரப்ப நாங்கள் ஆர்வமாக இருக்கிறோம் ஒத்துழைப்பு தாருங்கள்' என்று கேட்டிருக்கிறது. 'நான் எந்தக் காலத்திலும் பேட்டி கொடுத்தது கிடையாது. அதான் என் காமெடியை போட்டு கல்லா கட்டுகிறீர்களே அதுபோதும்!' என்று பட்டென்று சொல்லி போனை வைத்து விட்டாராம் கவுண்டர். அடுத்த ஒரு மணி நேரத்தில் அந்த சேனலின் மிக முக்கிய வி.வி.ஐ.பி மறுபடியும் பேட்டி கேட்டு போன் செய்திருக்கிறார். அப்போதும் 'நோ' சொன்னாரம் கவுண்டர். 'சார் , நான் இன்னார்' என்று தன்னைப் பற்றி சொல்ல, 'சார், நீங்கதான்னு தெரியும். தெரிஞ்சேதான் இதை சொல்றேன். பேட்டி இல்லை' என்று டொக்கென்று போனை வைத்து விட்டாராம்"
- via ஜூனியர் விகடன் (14.4.10) பக்கம் 7

பேத்தல் பெரியசாமி: How one way roads in Chennai became such a rage

2010-04-04T16:14:00.007+05:30

I felt very sad as I was finishing the last piece of the Madurai 'Raja Barley' Mano Bun, not just because it would be gone shortly, but also because it had shattered all hopes of it ever being fair competition for the the similar Dil Pasand that Iyengar bakeries in Bengaluru make. The Mano bun can still hold its own against the third rate stuff that Chennai bakeries make. The sampling might be unfair, with samples from only bakeries in Chennai and Madurai. But, what the hell, ஒரு பானை சோற்றுக்கு ஒரு சோறு பதம் .

A couple of years back I met an ex-colleague of mine in Bengaluru. She is about as anti-Bengaluru as you can imagine. She was visiting the city after a long time and was silent for a while. Finally she blurted out, "The girls here are really pretty"!

Bakeries, Filter Coffee, இயற்கை காட்சிகள், Parks, higher salaries, climate, etc - பொறுமையா பார்த்துச்சு TN government, they even tried a few fake Iyengar Bakeries. ஆனா எந்த விஷயத்துலையும் பெங்களுரை அடிச்சுக்க முடியல. Then one day during a high level government meeting the NRI advisor, Dr.Harihara Rogith "Chet" Chaitanya Sharma proposed a new policy "If you can't fake it, make it" and the government immediately agreed. One way roads !

Raise Your Hands If You Think China Is A Threat

2010-03-26T11:23:00.004+05:30

In one of history's more absurd acts of totalitarianism, China has banned Buddhist monks in Tibet from reincarnating without government permission. According to a statement issued by the State Administration for Religious Affairs, the law, which goes into effect next month and strictly stipulates the procedures by which one is to reincarnate, is "an important move to institutionalize management of reincarnation."
- via boingboing (google cache)

தமிழ் மறையும் வடமொழி வேதமும்

2010-03-21T14:45:00.000+05:30

சிதம்பரத்தில் பார்ப்பன வெறியர்களால் மனம் புண்பட்டோர் தங்களைத் தேற்றிக் கொள்ள:

திருவாசகப் பாராயணச் சிறப்பைக் கூறவந்த அந் நூலின் சிறப்புப் பாயிரத்தில்,

விளங்கிழை பகிர்ந்த மெய்யுடை முக்கட்
காரணன் உரையெனும் ஆரண மொழியோ
ஆதிசீர் பரவும் வாதவூ ரண்ணல்
மலர்வாய்ப் பிறந்த வாசகத் தேனோ
யாதோ சிறந்த தென்குவி ராயின்
வேத மோதின் விழிநீர் பெருக்கி
நெஞ்சுநெக் குருகி நிற்பவர் காண்கிலேம்;
திருவா சகமிங் கொருகா லோதிற்
கருங்கன் மனமுங் கரைந்துகக் கண்கள்
தொடுமணற் கேணியிற் சுரந்துநீர் பாய
மெய்மயிர் பொடிப்ப விதிர்விதிர்ப் பெய்தி
அன்ப ராகுந ரன்றி
மன்பதை மற்றைய ரிலரே

பொருள்:- "சிவபிரானது திருவாக்கான வேதமோ, அல்லது அப்பெருமானது அடியாரான மணிவாசகர் வாய் மலர்ந்த திருவாசகமோ, இவ்விரண்டிற் சிறந்தது யாதோ வென்று கேட்பீராகில், வேத மோதக் கேட்டு, விழிநீர்பெருக்கி, நெஞ்சங் கரைந் துருகி நிற்பவர் யாரையும் நாம் காண்கிலோம். ஆனால் திருவாசகத்தை ஒரு கால் ஓதில் கருங்கல் மனமும் பக்தியாற் கரைந்துருகிக் கண்ணீர்பெருக, உரோமம் சிலிர்பெய்தி, உடல் விதிர் விதிர்ப்புற்று அன்பர் பரவச மடைகின்றன ரன்றோ ? இதினின்று எது சிறந்த தென்று யூகித்துக் கொள்க" என்றும்

"தேன்றேக் கெரியுஞ் செய்யமா ணிக்க
வாசகன் புகன்ற மதுர வாசகம்
யாவரும் மோது மியற்கைத் தாதலின்
பொற்கல நிகர்க்கும்; பூசுரர் நான்மறை
மட்கல நிகர்க்கும்; மதுர வாசகம்
ஓதின் முக்தி யுறுபயன்
வேத மோதின் மெய்ப்பய னறமே" ... ...

பொருள்:- மணிவாசகர் புகன்ற மதுரத் திருவாசகத்தை எவ் வருணாசிரமத்தாரும் ஓதிப் பயனடையலா மாகையால் அது தீட்டுறாத பொற்பாத்திரம் போன்றது ! ஆனால் ஆரிய வேதமோ பிராம்மண ரல்லாதோரால் ஒதவும் உணரவும் இடமில்லாத காரணத்தால் மண்பாத்திரம் போன்றதாகும். மேலும் திருவாசகம் ஓதுவதால் அடையப்படும் பயன் (புருஷார்த்தம்) மோக்ஷமாகும்; ஆனால் வேதம் ஓதினால் தர்மம் மட்டுமே யாகும் என்றும் கூறப்பட்டுள்ளது காண்க.

(from உபதேச உந்தியார் விளக்கவுரை, சாது ஓம்)

Love Sex Aur Dhokha

2010-03-20T14:52:00.005+05:30

Last night while channel surfing I found "India Shining" Arnab Goswami trying to shake down the director of "Love, Sex, Aur, Dhokha", Dibakar Banerjee (also made Khosla Ka Ghosla), on some flimsy grounds. This got me wondering about whether the Times group's shakedown operations of movie makers was now being carried out on the TV channel as well; Sucheta Dalal wrote about the TOI's brazen attempts to shake down a movie producer a while back.

There is this aunt of mine who won't read magazines like Junior Vikatan, because she can't stomach all the gory details of what's going on in the real world that such magazines typically tend to focus on. If you're squeamish like my aunt you shouldn't be watching the movie. But I don't think there is too much of exaggeration anywhere in the movie, it's fairly realistic; even the song plays only when the credits roll by at the end of the movie. The connection between sub-plots is super-contrived, but it didn't dawn on me till I left the theatre; It's so fast you won't notice.

Though I went today more out of a TOI group ozhiga feeling, I did enjoy the movie and the movie justified itself. Dibakar shows lots of promise. Here's hoping that this was not lifted from some foreign movie.

Wonder what will happen if a similar movie is made in Tamil ? Oh well, we have our own shakedown artists like Vanigar Sangam, Madhar Sangam, etc.

Here's my rating for this movie - next time Arnab appears on the screen, five toes are going to be on the TV screen.

Update (21'Mar): Thinking about it now, I think there is a song or two in the movie that have been unobtrusively woven into the story line, contrary to what I said previously.

The director has pulled this off with new faces - truly impressive.

When Robert McNamara Starts To Sound Like A Decent Man

2010-03-19T13:37:00.005+05:30

The invasion of Iraq was unquestionably one of the greatest crimes of the last several decades. Imagine what future historians will say about it -- a nakedly aggressive war launched under the falsest of pretenses, in brazen violation of every relevant precept of law, which destroyed an entire country, killed huge numbers of innocent people, and devastated the entire population. Have we even remotely treated it as what it is? We're willing to concede it was a "mistake" -- a good-natured and completely understandable lapse of judgment -- but only the shrill and unhinged among us call it a crime. As always, it's worth recalling that Robert Jackson, the lead prosecutor at the Nuremberg Trials, insisted in his Closing Argument against the Nazi war criminals that "the central crime in this pattern of crimes" was not genocide or mass deportation or concentration camps; rather, "the kingpin which holds them all together, is the plot for aggressive wars." History teaches that aggressive war is the greatest and most dangerous of all crimes -- as it enables even worse acts of inhumanity -- and illegal, aggressive war is precisely what we did in Iraq, to great devastation.

...

I genuinely don't understand why anger should be avoided or even how it could be. What other reaction is possible when one looks around and sees the government leaders who committed these grave crimes completely unburdened by any accountability and treated as respectable dignitaries, or watches the Tom Friedmans, Jeffrey Goldbergs, Fred Hiatts and other unrepentent leading media propagandists who helped enable it still feted as Serious and honest experts, ...

At least Robert McNamara had the decency to write a deeply humble mea culpa and spend the last couple decades of his life under a cloud of deep shame and disgrace until he died. Do you think any of that will happen to any of the people responsible -- in politics, the media and our Foriegn Policy think tanks -- for the unimaginable crimes of the last decade, particularly what was done in Iraq: Shock and Awe and the Fallujah massacres and Blackwater slaughters and Abu Ghraibs and all the rest?

...

via 'Remember the illegal destruction of Iraq ?' by Glenn Greenwald

alternate link: 'Remember the illegal destruction of Iraq ?'

A Pakistani On Prickly Hubristanis

2010-03-18T15:04:00.002+05:30

I suspect what upsets these readers is that an Indian should be voicing critical comments about his country in a foreign newspaper. I was subjected to similar censure from expatriate Pakistanis when I wrote for a Gulf daily. Finally, the editor told me politely that my criticism of Musharraf was incompatible with his paper’s policy, and that was the end of the (small) trickle of Dubai dirhams.

The reality is that we are all touchy about seeing our dirty linen washed in public, but somehow, Indians seem super-sensitive to any hint of criticism. While there are many dissenting voices that question Indian claims to having reached Nirvana, they do not find much space in the mainstream media. Although Indian journalists do excellent work in digging up scams and scandals, they do not often question the broad consensus underpinning the ‘India shining’ image the media, politicians and big business work so hard at projecting.

I spent the other evening at the Karachi Boat Club in the company of a European who has spent a long time in the region, and knows South Asia well, having lived in Pakistan and India for several years. When I asked him how it felt to be back in Pakistan after being away for a few years in New Delhi, his answer came as a surprise. As we have known each other for fifteen years, he had no need to be polite: “It feels great to be back,” he replied. “You have no idea how difficult day-to-day life is in New Delhi. Apart from the awful traffic, the pollution, and the expense, you have to put up with the prickliness of most Indians you meet. They are touchy to the point of paranoia. There is a lot of very aggressive poverty in the air. And when the New Delhi airport opens, we’ll have to brace ourselves for yet another self-congratulatory blast. What is truly shocking is how little the well-off Indians care about the poor.”

- Don’t shoot the messenger by Irfan Husain (via Churumuri)

Algorithms Are People Too

2010-03-03T19:52:00.003+05:30

Scrolling down while reading a story about astro-turfing by an indian IT company, what do you find ? An Ad by the same company ! The nerds in mountain view can't figure out everything, can they ?

ஏன்டா ? அவர் ரெம்ப நல்லவரு, அது ரெம்ப நல்ல பேப்பர்டா ...

2010-03-03T18:46:00.005+05:30

Tibetans and Tamils join hands against The Hindu

'Save The Hindu' campaign.

Poster spotted on Eldams road recently

Wise Men On Newspapers

2010-02-24T19:54:00.004+05:30

"If you don't read the newspaper, you're uninformed. If you read the newspaper, you're mis-informed."
- Mark Twain

"The average newspaper, especially of the better sort, has the intelligence of a hillbilly evangelist, the courage of a rat, the fairness of a prohibitionist boob-jumper, the information of a high school janitor, the taste of a designer of celluloid valentines, and the honor of a police-station lawyer."
- H.L. Mencken

(via)

There Is An Old Saying Among Marwaris

2010-02-15T05:30:00.002+05:30

"There's an old saying among Marwaris: After a point, all business is crime."

via Tehelka story on Haldiram 'baron's conviction for the supari killing he ordered

அட விவஸ்தை கெட்ட ஜென்மங்களா

2010-02-15T04:21:00.002+05:30

On Sunday, Yeddyurappa had told the press that he met Kamat on the sidelines of the Chief Ministers’ conference in Delhi and appealed to him for bilateral talks on the Mahadayi dispute. He had said Kamat responded positively. However, Kamat denied this in a press conference in Panaji on Tuesday.

Kamat said he happened to meet Yeddyurappa in the toilet during the CMs’ conference and it was not the place to discuss the issue. Further, he favoured constituting a tribunal to resolve the dispute.

(via Deccan Herald)

Fascism from the horse's mouth

2010-02-08T20:16:00.003+05:30

Fascism should more appropriately be called Corporatism because it is a merger of state and corporate power.
Benito Mussolini

One aspect of Arundhati Roy's writings that has irritated me was the use of the word 'fascist' to describe the Indian state. My mistake was சாமானிய பொருள் கொள்ளுதல், to understand it to exclusively mean a sort of dictatorial and jingoistic nationalism. The quote from one of the foremost practitioner's makes it clear that Ms.Roy is not too far off, though it's not institutionalised as in the case of China. Small comfort that.

Note to self: Always look up the meanings for words that don't make sense in a context, even ones that are familiar, especially if the author is a writer.

How To Report the News

2010-01-30T21:33:00.002+05:30

Before long, a standard news report visual language established itself. One that's immediately recognisable to anyone. Me has this report. It starts here with a lacklustre establishing shot of a significant location. Next a walkie-talkie preamble from the auteur pacing steadily towards the lens punctuating every other sentence with a hand gesture and ignoring all the pricks milling around him like he is gliding through the f* matrix before coming to a halt and posing a question ...

Note to கருத்து கந்தசாமிஸ் - டேய் பிரம்மாண்டம் தான்டா முக்கியம்

2010-01-27T20:54:00.003+05:30

சமீப காலமாக சோழர்களையும் அவர்களது வரலாற்றையும் கேவலப்படுத்துவதர்க்கும் , திரித்து புனைவதற்கும் ஒரு கும்பலே செயல்படுவதாக தெரிகிறது. 'தசாவதாரம்' படத்தில் குலோத்துங்க சோழனை அசிங்கப்படுத்தினார்கள். கோவிந்தராஜப்பெருமாளுக்கு கோயில் கட்டியவனே அவன் தான்; திருவரங்கப்பெருமாளுக்கு அதிக அளவு கொடை கொடுத்தவனும் அவன் தான். அப்படி அவன் பெருமாள் தாசனாகவே இருந்தவன். அப்படி பட்டவனை கடலில் தூக்கி போடும் பெரும் கொடுங்கோலனாகச் சித்தரித்திருந்தார்கள். இப்போது சோழர்களை பராரிகளாக, வாழ வழியற்றவரகளாக சித்தரித்து இப்படி ஒரு படம் வந்திருக்கிறது.

From an article titled 'ஆயிரத்தில் ஒருவன் ... ஆத்திரத்தில் பலர்' in Junior விகடன் (Jan 24, 2010)

The Lost Tweeple

2010-01-20T19:37:00.002+05:30

My Leg Print On Your Celebrity Ass

2010-01-20T18:20:00.005+05:30

I went to Cinema Paradiso, the DVD rental shop in Alwarpet after a long time today only to find that the shop has disappeared. Googled a bit and learnt that they had closed shop without repaying the initial deposit (Rs.2000 or 3000) to most of the customers. They were expensive and the only reason I joined was the Bengaluru move a couple of years back. I should have known - I noticed that they had started renting Moser Baer VCDs. Now to all the celebrities who left their Hollywood style hand prints on this shop's outlets in Chennai, Bengaluru, etc, and partner/owner Richard (actor and Shalini's brother) - I would like you folks to know that I'm ready to leave my leg print on your asses any time.

P.S If anyone knows reasonable DVD rental places in Chennai please let me know (in the comments), ones that don't require signatures from a gazetted officer or admission only through a snooty referral procedure.

Gandhi - How long can you keep protesting against whatever is written in the Times of India ?

2009-11-05T18:58:00.008+05:30

Itarsi

1 December 1933

Bhai Shri Vallabhbhai,

I am writing to you from a dharmashala in Itarsi at three in the morning. Meera Ben has gone to wash her face. After this we will have prayers. Immediately after that we will have to take the train to Kareli from where we will go to Anantapur. Yesterday we were in Betul and from there we took the train to Itarsi where we slept in the dharmashala.

I got your letter. How long can you keep protesting against whatever is written in the Times of India ?

- From Chai, Chai (page 117)

Chai, Chai is a book written by Bishwanath Ghosh. The author while visiting Itarsi discovered this letter written by Gandhi to Vallabhbhai Patel at a dharmashala.

The TOI must have been pretty "hot" even then to melt the iron man of India.

"We should now stop pin-pricking each other like Mylapore mamis ..."

2009-11-01T13:00:00.003+05:30

As I had hoped after my Beijing visit, the India China PMs meet in Thailand has brought back some sense into relations of the two countries. We should now stop pin-pricking each other like Mylapore mamis, and look at the macro-significant events of Asia and the globe that affect both of us.

PRESS RELEASE OF DR.SUBRAMANIAN SWAMY IN 2009

A couple of other Swamyisms from the Janata Party's press release page:

The demonstration thus was halted half-way on the advice of retired Professor P.V.Indiresan, whose knowledge of electronics is dated and does not extend beyond soldering of two electric wires. The EC officials promised to reconvene the meeting after a fresh authorization from Mr.Navin Chawla to permit out dissembling the EVM placed before us.

...

Mr. Chidambaram, dressed like a head waiter in a five star hotel in his “suit-boot”, had to walk half a mile to the parking lot to take the car.

...

It is then the Kashmiri Pandits will get justice just as Draupadi got for her humiliation only after the Mahabharat war.

Nooo............

2009-10-28T15:38:00.003+05:30

I always wonder at human frailty, when it comes to stock markets. There are occasions when everyone agrees that, at some point, the markets are very expensive. How many actually sell? Or how many actually go short on the market at this stage? Surely, no one does this consistently. At some level, you sell your shares. Do you again buy them when the market comes off? I always wonder. No list of names of the world’s rich ever includes any stock-trader. Warren Buffet has probably never sold much and what his fund owns are significant chunks of many companies. Bill Gates owes his wealth to one stock—of the company he founded. This leads me to think that stock-traders are not all that productive in what they do. They are part of the ‘make-believe’ world that the media creates for pulling in an audience.

- Adding Zeros

What ?? You can't get super rich by sitting in front of a computer or TV screen all day long ?

Is That What People Think About Newspapers ???!!

2009-10-28T15:08:00.003+05:30

I was on the phone the other day with a seemingly bright young guy. A recent IIM graduate who is now with a reputed (so far) financial services company.

Our current media mechanism isn’t structured well so I want to set it right, he told me with enthusiasm that is usually inversely proportional to age.

Our company is launching a new product and we want to ensure it gets good coverage, he began, as I steeled myself to listen to the spiel we journos hear only a few hundred times a week. Little did I know how unusual the call would turn out.

After droning on for a few lines, he suddenly said something I would remember for a long time.

So how much do we have to pay to get the news published on the front page of your newspaper? he demanded, his tone-very much business-like, no doubt tutored well by one of the best business schools in the country.

I cringed the moment I heard it. Rewinding and playing it a few times again in my head only made it worse.

What pay? I blurted out feeling the sense of an impending disaster of a conversation.

Payment Ma’am, he replied in the same tone. Cost to get our news item on the front page headline.

There is no such cost I muttered under my breath and cut the call. I took a moment to compose myself before slumping into my seat with disbelief.

Is that what people think about newspapers???!!

- Archana Mohan in Business Standard

Either the lady is feigning outrage or is like one of my ex-colleagues who till recently could not accept the fact that the software business is as greasy as any other business or like millions of middle class parents who declare 'எங்க பைய்யன் அந்த மாதிரியெல்லாம் பண்ண மாட்டான்'.

வாங்கய்யா வாங்க, நீங்க ஒருத்தர் தான் பாக்கி

2009-09-21T18:58:00.002+05:30

இடம்: Odyssey Book Shop, சென்னை

Metaphysical Chennai Mamas - It's The Turn Of The Traffic Police

2009-09-13T12:50:00.003+05:30

For a while now, the traffic lights at many major signals in Chennai have started turning blank instead of turning green. Blank is the new green. It can't be that many traffic lights simultaneously started malfunctioning; besides orange and red are still displayed. Needless to say this is confusing to ordinary mortals, but the clued-in realise that this is a case of மௌனம் சம்மதம் .

Half Of The Last 16 Chief Justices Were Corrupt

2009-08-31T10:38:00.002+05:30

Supreme Court lawyer Prashant Bhushan makes some depressing observations about the judicial system in India:

I have been witness to judicial corruption in the courts for a very long time. I know decisions are passed for extraneous considerations, but it’s difficult to get hard evidence of this. There have been high profile impeachment attempts, for instance, on Justice Ramaswamy, Justice Punchi and Justice Anand. Yet, they all went on to become chief justices. In my view, out of the last 16 to 17 chief justices, half have been corrupt. I can’t prove this, though we had evidence against Punchi, Anand and Sabharwal on the basis of which we sought their impeachment.
(via Tehelka)

Packed Lunch or Preached Advice Never Last Long

2009-08-28T18:28:00.002+05:30

Packed lunch or preached advice never last long. So, it is important that each one learns to listen, question, analyze and make their own judgment on which way the market is heading, what is their vision of the future state, how they perceive the company’s role in such future state and plan accordingly.
- Kumar Vembu

Still scratching your head ? "கட்டி கொடுத்த சோறும் சொல்லிகொடுத்த சொல்லும் ..." என்று தொடங்கும் கிழ மொழிதாங்க :-)

Sacrilegious Times

2009-08-26T18:05:00.009+05:30

Gasp ! Someone has written a review that's critical of Kaminey. What's going on ? Does Swine flu also cause outbreak of sacrilegious activities ? First it was a politician with a fake British accent insulting Panditji and the Iron man of India in his book; now this attempt to puncture the Kaminey echo chamber. Maybe we need bigger echo chambers - but the Kamniney echo chamber was already pretty big with all bloggers on board apart from the traditional media folks. Damn it ! (to be uttered with a nadigar thilagam intonation).

(via Churumuri)

An End to Movements

2009-08-16T19:29:00.002+05:30

The best techniques for galvanizing a movement have long been co-opted and surpassed by public relations and advertising firms. Whether a movement is real or Astroturf has become almost impossible for even discerning viewers to figure out. The question often becomes the new content of the Sunday morning news panel, taking the place of whatever real issue might have been addressed.

But the problem is not simply that we’ve lost the ability to distinguish between real movements and cynically concocted fake ones. It’s that they are functionally indistinguishable. They may as well be the same thing.

- Douglas Rushkoff

American context, but still relevant.

Analysis Paralysis

2009-08-07T20:04:00.002+05:30

I finally found Ramachandra Guha's 'How much should a person consume ?' more than a year after the Bengalooru to Chennai move. Books have a knack for hiding right in front you; Not as bad as keys which can be in your pocket, while you are cursing everyone at home. The book has a quote right at the beginning, before the preface that I suspect made me buy the book. It's a magnificent quote from the Amercian playwright Eugene O'Neill. It's actually via one of his characters:

I was forced to admit, at the end of thirty years’ devotion to the Cause, that I was never made for it. I was born condemned to be one of those who has to see all sides of a question. When you’re damned like that, the questions multiply for you until in the end it’s all questions and no answer. As history proves, to be a worldly success at anything, especially revolution, you have to wear blinders like a horse and see only straight in front of you. You have to see, too, that this is all black, and that is all white.

...
Be God, there’s no hope! I’ll never be a success in the grandstand—or anywhere else! Life is too much for me! I’ll be a weak fool looking with pity at the two sides of everything till the day I die! May that day come soon!

- Larry, the fallen Wobbly in Eugne O'Neill's The Iceman Cometh

பேத்தல் பெரியசாமி - Swine Flu Testing Made InExpensive

2009-08-07T13:13:00.002+05:30

Pearl Necklace. Dangle it in front of the Swine-Flu suspect.

The test is positive if the suspect does not display any interest in the piece of jewelery. On the other hand if the patient grabs it with both hands or displays a glazed T-Nagar shopper look, or similar symptoms, the test is negative.

A simbul stroke of native genius. News anchors of that shrill Times group channel can stop hyperventilating. Frankly it's worth trying anything to shut those idiots up.

Nepotism Chinese Style

2009-07-28T21:08:00.004+05:30

About 90 per cent of China's billionaires are the children of high-ranking officials.

...

In China, discussions about the business dealings of the 'princelings' or taizidang - offspring of political leaders - are considered taboo. People might whisper about them over dinner tables, but will never discuss them in public.

...

(via)

White women want to be old Big B’s girlfriends

2009-07-25T19:47:00.002+05:30

Letter from Daniela, a white women to the editor of Tehelka:

YOU SQUEAL loud about the way ‘The West’ portrays India in Slumdog Millionaire. As a white woman, I feel embarrassed at how Bollywood and the Indian media portray the West. You may believe that India’s complexity surpasses the mental capabilities of westerners, while Bollywood has done an excellent job in portraying ‘The West’ to its own well-educated audience. Let’s see: white women enjoy wearing strips of red latex barely covering their pubic hair. White women want to be old Big B’s girlfriends and never wear more than underwear in his apartment. Most Australian women’s vocabulary does not extend beyond “Sorry?” but at least they wear hot pants to make up for their lack of intelligence. Also, in the West, male nurses are welcome to make advances to female patients in hospitals without ever earning a sexual harassment lawsuit. That is because the white woman really enjoys being fondled by Abhishek Bachchan, who — like most nurses — lives in a beach-front apartment. Drug dealers are Jamaican-hat-wearing white dimwits, and live close to brothels staffed with lusty white women, because each female tourist works the mattress for at least half of her Indian holiday. Perhaps this is why Indians ask me how much I charge for a pop, though I may be attired in full Indian dress, displaying my mangalsutra. Some of these Bollywood fantasies may exist in the West, but does that make them apt representations of an entire culture? And then again: does it matter? It reflects more on the Indian mind than the western, so why should people in the West bother? They don’t. Why do you? Your interest in the West barely outstretches white porn in Palika Bazaar and H1B Visas. I believe that Slumdog at least attempted to be somewhat interested in India, whereas Bollywood doesn’t go beyond Swiss Alps and the white woman because that is what audiences want. Danny Boyle has shown no malice toward India. I wonder sometimes whether the same can be said for Bollywood.
Daniela, Mumbai

"Tests Hacking" vs Real Skills

2009-07-24T23:07:00.005+05:30

Heard this from friend of mine who lives in the US. American boss asks a bunch of Indians programmers to interview an American; They grilled the candidate with the usual questions (which demand an excruciating grasp of details), all of which he miserably failed to answer. The interviewers rejected the candidate, but their boss over ruled them and selected the American. The guy turned out to be an ultra-productive dude and very creative as well.

This is a pattern that I have witnessed quite a few times - total and absolute lack of correlation between (real world) problem solving skills, creativity and the ability to pass a desi-style tech. interview. As my friend observed "If you pass desi style programming interviews the only thing you will be capable of doing is passing these interviews". The friend also added rather tongue-in-cheek "You know Apple is mostly white guys ...". Make what you will of that. Could be NRI thimiru, you could position this as a analytical skills vs. creativity argument, give counter examples etc. But you would be missing the point.

Insecurity

2009-07-13T20:09:00.002+05:30

The increasing number of security guards in Chennai who can't even manage functional Tamil is just scary.

Flawed Genius, Smart Ass ?

2009-06-26T19:19:00.003+05:30

To the smart ass bloggers, MSM folks,etc talking about MJ's flawed genius - Do you know of genius of any other kind ?

குடிப்பவருக்கு தெரியாமலும் கொடுக்கலாம்

2009-06-25T17:56:00.004+05:30

இடம்: சென்னை, 23C பஸ் டிரைவர் சீட்டின் பின்புறம் விளம்பரம்.

Lord NorthCliffe On Journalism

2009-06-22T11:59:00.005+05:30

"News is what somebody somewhere wants to suppress; all the rest is advertising."

"Journalism: A profession whose business is to explain to others what it personally does not understand."
- (via)

You can't dispute the credentials of a man who said, “When I want a peerage, I shall buy one like an honest man”.

... was an early pioneer of tabloid journalism. He bought several failing newspapers and made them into an enormously profitable chain, primarily by appealing to the popular taste.
- Wikipedia

அது ...

2009-06-20T15:47:00.002+05:30

The ATM was proving to be tricky, you needed to insert the card at an angle that requires a steadier hand than Capt. Sullenberger who landed a plane in the frozen waters of Hudson river recently. Then I spotted the watchman. He got it working in no time - must be a black belt. I chatted a bit with the bloke after thanking him.

Watchman: நீங்க எந்த ஊரு சார் ?

Me: இங்க தான் இருக்கேன் சென்னைல

Watchman: அத கேட்கல சார், சொந்த ஊரு எதுன்னு கேட்டேன்.

Me: மதுரை

Watchman: அதான் நெனச்சேன், நீங்க பேசருந்துலிருந்தே, உங்க முகத்தை பார்த்தாலே நீங்க இந்த ஊரு இல்லைன்னு தெரியுது

மிகுந்த வினயம் கலந்த அவர் கன்னியாகுமரிகாரர் என்றும் கூறினார்.

Hiring and Scams Hiring = Scam

2009-06-18T04:57:00.004+05:30

H Shivaraj, 29, has cultivated a taste for single malt whisky and expensive watches in the last four years. The Bangalore resident wears a “modest” Omega Seamaster. “It’s 007’s watch,” he laughs. Shivaraj is a millionaire. Back in late-2004, Shivaraj was jobless. A BCom graduate stuck in a techie town. His break came in 2005, when his cousin joined a tier-I Indian IT services company as a HR manager. “My cousin told me that his company was looking for thousands of people for the IT services and BPO business, and asked me to set up an HR consultancy,” recalls Shivaraj. His cousin pulled some strings and Shivaraj was empanelled as an HR vendor in his company. Soon, business started flowing in.

By the end of 2005, Shivaraj had placed over 400 employees across half a dozen IT services companies, including Satyam, TCS and Oracle. He would earn one to two months’ salary as fee for every placement. All along, his cousin was getting a cut from the earnings. “Companies were in a hurry to hire. Employees were job-hopping all the time,” says Shivaraj. “I would set up two to three interviews for one person the same day. The faster the talent got placed, the more money I made,” he adds.

Shivaraj and his cousin had a good scam going. The IT companies he worked with were too busy to notice. Stories of similar scams abound in Bangalore. A few have been detected. “One of my good friends, the CEO of an IT company had a strange experience,” says a Mumbai-based COO of a mid-tier IT company. “His VP for human resources had left his mobile behind. Since the phone was ringing incessantly, he picked up. A voice on the other end said: ‘Sir, the money has been credited to your account. When can I collect the appointment letter?’” The VP was sacked, but the CEO continues to wonder about the hundred employees that the company added in that period.

A techie who spoke to Outlook Business says he was asked to pay Rs 15,000 as ‘advance’ for a job at a tech MNC two years ago. The placement agent promised to “tweak his resume” and use his contacts to secure a job. The techie got cold feet, and turned the offer down.

There were other scams. “You ask an employee with whom you share a good rapport to move to a new company,” says Shivaraj. “The first month the employee gets trained, the second month he works a bit. Once the third month is over, you get him to jump ship again,” he explains. Keep them hopping jobs. The employee wins: he gets two hikes in a short period. Shivaraj wins: he gets his cut once the employee completes three months. The company itself will shrug it off as attrition, considering that just a few of the 50-odd employees that Shivaraj ‘supplied’ quit early.
- (via Outlook Business)

இனிமே தமிழ் படங்கள பத்தி பேசுங்கடா பார்போம்

2009-06-07T19:55:00.002+05:30

Where Would You Find a Belly Dancer In Chennai ?

2009-06-01T21:43:00.002+05:30

One of the cheesy colour supplements of the Mount Road Maha Vishnu apparently had a page three "event" that must be giving the TOI sleepless nights.

இன்னும் suffering from mindless 'The Hindu' addiction ? உங்களையெல்லாம் பார்த்தா சிரிப்பா வருது .

BS Reporter

2009-05-29T21:09:00.005+05:30

Don't believe me - check it out yourself. It's probably 'Business Standard' abbreviated in Indlish.

Ignorant Natives

2009-05-29T20:34:00.001+05:30

Recently a telugu colleague took his parents to a well known eye hospital in Madurai for cheapu surgery. He said that he had been struck by the number of tribals who had come to this hospital. I was puzzled by his remark since I am unaware of any tribes in நம்ம area. After asking him a couple of questions I figured out that what had firmly convinced him that Anna Nagar, Madurai was a tribal area, was a piece of jewelery worn by many of the women that he saw in the hospital:

தண்டட்டி !

அடப்பாவி இந்த yard stick வெச்சு பார்த்தா மதுரைய tribal belt/districtன்னு declare பண்ண வேண்டி வரும்.

Another colleague of mine who had never stirred out Chennai except for an occasional Tirupathi visit once went on a pilgrimage down south. After his return he exclaimed "என்னடா அங்க கோவில்கள்(எல்)லாம் பார்த்தசாரதி கோவிலோட பெருசா இருக்கு" !

It's tempting to bash English educated city slickers for their ignorance, but the Telugu colleague of mine is from a remote area of AP and is by no stretch of the imagination a city guy. Small town folks are no exceptions to this. I think this is an entirely acceptable form of ignorance - how are you supposed to know ? Besides there is no harm done.

Except that in some cases like journalists, policy makers, etc stereotypical notions and lack of first hand experience can be harmful at times. It's a common complaint against foreign news organisations that they practice 'parachute-journalism' - a foreign reporter with no knowledge of the local language, history or culture lands in a hurry and dishes out instant expertise and snap judgements to the tired viewer, only to repeat it after a few days from another place into which he has been air-dropped. I think the accusation is correct for the most part, not just with just news organisations but also with lots of foreign writers (including bloggers) as well. But what about locals ? They appear to be no better at times.

Outside of cinema, the fairness obsession leads to some misadventures. Journalist P Sainath has some biting stories about urban scribes venturing into the hinterland. “Television journalists drive into a village and see a dark, shirtless man and assume he is the quote from the poor they are looking for. If you drive into the centre of a village, you are likely to encounter the upper castes, not the dalits consigned to the periphery of the village. But just because the man is dark, they miss the fact that he is the Thakur.” (via Tehelka)

More Hysterical Than Bongs - 'twas a politically incorrect time

2009-05-23T09:16:00.003+05:30

“I must say that the Americans, for all their great achievements, impress me less and less, so far as their human quality is concerned. They are apt to be more hysterical as a people than almost any others except perhaps the Bengalis. The Russians follow wrong courses often enough but they remain calm and collected about it and do not show excitement.”

- Mihir Bose quoting Nehru

One Word Reviews of "New" Tamil Cinema Made Easy

2009-05-16T17:59:00.004+05:30

Getting tired of the "New" Tamil cinema buzz ? Tired of explaining at length to ignorant people that these are borrowed ideas grafted on an impossibly different context ? Tired of using 'wannabe', 'pretentious', 'kitsch', 'trite', etc ? Too tired even to explain to people with very little exposure to non-English foreign movies that directors are up to their cut-n-paste tricks again ?

Here's a word that does it for most of these movies -

Corny

A common definition is the one given by Merriam-Webster:

"mawkishly old-fashioned : tiresomely simple and sentimental ..."

But only the urban dictionary does justice to the word.

"Trying to be cool, but ultimately very uncool indeed, and often even
extremely embarrassing "

"Something presented as fresh or original, but which is actually tired and/or lame. Especially, when its lameness derives from being obvious or done to death. "

"really stupid ... "

"Obviously stupid. "

"Using lame old jokes trying to impress people and not succeeding. "

The Curious Case of Better Business Reporters

2009-05-11T20:04:00.002+05:30

I have had to admit after denying for a long time that the best kind of business reporting is to be found in, err, some of the business news papers and magazines rather than general news papers. Duh ? But the cynic in me had lumped all of them in the same greasy group for reasons that have probably a lot to do with ignorance than blind prejudice. Sure there is the usual astroturfing, membership of The Times group (like Pyramid Saimira), etc, but it's hard to deny that there is lots of quality reporting as well.

Well you don't have to take my word for it.

... Sam Bowles and Herb Gintis, two economists, in their work on the American educational system some years back... pointed out that the educational system is divided into fragments. The part that's directed toward working people and the general population is indeed designed to impose obedience. But the education for elites can't quite do that. It has to allow creativity and independence. Otherwise they won't be able to do their job of making money. You find the same thing in the press. That's why I read the Wall Street Journal and the Financial Times and Business Week. They just have to tell the truth. That's a contradiction in the mainstream press, too. Take, say, the New York Times or the Washington Post. They have dual functions and they're contradictory. One function is to subdue the great beast. But another function is to let their audience, which is an elite audience, gain a tolerably realistic picture of what's going on in the world. Otherwise, they won't be able to satisfy their own needs. That's a contradiction that runs right through the educational system as well. It's totally independent of another factor, namely just professional integrity, which a lot of people have: honesty, no matter what the external constraints are. That leads to various complexities. If you really look at the details of how the newspapers work, you find these contradictions and problems playing themselves out in complicated ways....
- Noam Chomsky, Education is Ignorance

Chomsky is not talking about business publications exclusively though. The last line about problems and contradictions playing out in complicated ways is probably a realistic explanation.

The Forgotten Part of Inertia

2009-05-07T13:58:00.003+05:30

'Inertia' as it is generally used has come to stand for laziness, slothfulness, etc. But there is an often overlooked aspect:

"A body persists its state of rest or of uniform motion unless acted upon by an external unbalanced force." #

The inability to make voluntary course corrections is of course not confined to the motion of physical objects. Habits of mind in fact seem to be harder to change at times. Inertia of physical bodies in motion is of course a lot more tangible and it's much harder to appreciate the effect of mental inertia. I hit a drunkard who jumped out from behind a parked auto a couple of months ago. It happened in slow motion, the inevitability could be savoured in the midst of the adrenalin rush. More recently a similar incident saw me sprawled near Adyar signal - an observer who didn't watch the whole accident or the fallen bike could be forgiven for thinking that I was a fan of Pizza Corner or Adyar Anand Bhavan. In this case it was instantaneous. The pedestrian could have stopped and checked, mini-me fumes. But inertia or the inability to change course is a devastatingly powerful force, it's almost a kind of contra, counter-intuitive, meta-physical thingie - I suspect the inertia in this case is the same regardless of speed. Vedantins, especially, use Vasanas as a way to explain behaviour - these are supposed to be latent tendencies that get manifested in action. Duryodhanan's famous remark about his inability to change his ways in spite of being aware of it is well known. It's truly an universe shaping force.

I suspect the great man was on to something. Someone should check whether it was a குருந்தை மரம் or an apple tree.

Eminent End

2009-04-24T07:50:00.002+05:30

Sir, Post நாய்

2009-04-23T13:01:00.005+05:30

இடம்: திருவான்மியூர் பஸ் ஸ்டாண்ட் அருகில்.

Be Conscious While Sleeping

2009-04-23T11:40:00.003+05:30

The Ever Reassuring Mr.Bean (Counter)

2009-04-22T21:23:00.002+05:30

About a decade bag, on a boring coolie trip abroad, I was watching a program on the Vietnam war (probably on PBS) in my hotel room. The other alternative - to call the local relative was more boring than boredom itself, not to mention the prospect of ending the day with "you owe me 13 dollars 45 cents". So I decided to stay in my hotel room and watch TV.

I don't remember much of that program, but one thing that has remained stuck in my memory is what Robert McNamara, who had been secretary of defence during the Vietnam war said - "I was selling cars, how was I to know " or something along those lines by way of explaining his personal role in the the disaster that the Vietnam war was. I thought the callousness of the remark was breathtaking as was the complete lack of guilt. Robert McNamara had been executive at one of the big car companies before he became the secretary of defence.

After that at the various jobs I have had, I have watched with amazement and shock the disastrous effects of corporate hubris. Of course the last one year has been spectacular in this regard, especially in America. But the weirdest thing about many of the people responsible for these problems is that they actually tend to be very re-assuring to an outsider, someone who is not really familiar with the problem domain, while the insider fumes and frets at his superior's incompetence. The recurring theme of modern day middle class jobs seems to be to be the helpless employee with relevant expertise watching organisations self-destruct in slow motion,while their incompetent, ignorant, and arrogant bosses pursue their disastrous policies. Other than the fact that most government and private organisations are just plain dictatorships that make it very difficult for the 'real experts' to get things done, another contributing factor is the mesmerising bean counting motions which managers go through. This creates a reality distortion field that can lull the inexperienced into a sense of complacency and worst of all even people opposed to it start going through the same bean counting motions once they become managers. Gaining a deeper understanding of problems takes a backseat, understanding issues from first principles gives way to bean counting mumbo jumbo assisted by technology.

Recently I came across a wonderful book extract, a first hand account from someone who had observed McNamara at close quarters:

"Whenever I participated in the presentation of similar briefings to new cabinet secretaries and undersecretaries, new presidents and vice presidents, and other newly elected or appointed officials, I would watch for the same psychophysiological encounter with terror at a point in the briefing that I called “the overwhelming moment”. Poker players will have observed such a moment in the glaze that forms on the eyes of the neophyte when he realizes that he is out of his depth and that he has already staked more than he can afford or its emotional equivalent on the outcome of the game. In these briefings, the overwhelming moment would invariable be followed by either a blind surrender to the exigencies of the program or by a bracing of the shoulders as the members of the [military program] had braced their shoulders in realization of the authority, responsibility, and accountability that participation entailed. Only one official, Defense Secretary Robert McNamara, would not respond this way. Initially, I believed this to be the result of a superhuman level of understanding and self-confidence. Sadly, I would discover that this only reflected his unshakable belief in a dogma of management practice that substituted bean-counting formulas for knowledge and understanding."
- From 'The Silent War' by John Pina Craven

Fiction

2009-04-18T20:36:00.003+05:30

Wisdom of the கடை நிலை ஊழியர் ?

Alone In Crowded Places

2009-04-01T13:58:00.004+05:30

No April First Issue This

2009-04-01T13:39:00.003+05:30

The cover of a recent issue of Newsweek.

ஆப்ஸ்

2009-03-18T22:47:00.002+05:30

இந்த சாப்ட்வேர்காரங்க operations department-டை செல்லமாக ஆப்ஸ், ஆப்ஸ் (Ops) அப்படின்னு கூப்படுவாங்க - இன்னிக்கு தான் வெளங்கிச்சு - ஆப்ஸ் அப்படின்னா operations-க்கு short form கிடையாது. In fact, அது ஒரு தமிழ் வார்த்தை தான்.

ஆப்ஸ் அப்படின்னா ஆப்பு வெக்கரவங்கன்னு அர்த்தம்.

எங்கு திரும்பினாலும் அதே புலம்பல்

2009-03-18T22:36:00.004+05:30

"இந்த கம்ப்யூட்டர் line-க்கு வரவே கூடாது ... ரொம்ப தப்பு"

இருட்டில் முகம் தெரியாத யாரோவொருவர் mobile-லில் புலம்பிக்கொண்டிருந்தார்.

தூ, டீ கடையாடா இது ?

2009-03-16T23:25:00.003+05:30

Tea Room Etiquette of 'The Tea Cosy', Brighton

Mobile phones must not be used in the main tearoom under any circumstances.

சரி, ந்யாயமான கோரிக்கை ...

The un-savoury habit of dunking biscuits’ is strictly prohibited and will result in you being ask to leave the tea rooms.

என்னது பொறைய முக்க கூடாதா ?

There is a correct way to hold your cup and saucer. Pick up your cup and saucer together-holding the saucer in one hand and the cup in the other. The best way to hold a tea cup is to slip your index finger through the handle, up to almost the first knuckle, then balance and secure the cup by placing your thumb on the top of the handle and allowing the bottom of the handle to rest on your middle finger. Hold the cup lightly, by the handle- your pinkie doesn’t have to be extended (contrary to popular belief, the ring and the pinkie finger should not be extended, but should rest by curving gently back towards your wrist). Hold the saucer under your cup while you sip your tea (least you should spill or dribble).

Nation of Snobs-ன்னு எப்படி பெயர் வந்துச்சுன்னு இப்பதான்டா புரியுது

When stirring your tea, kindly refrain from clinking the sides of your cup.

வெரல விட சொல்றீங்களா ?
...

Blasphemy Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, Julie Goodyear MBE, Princess Diana, Jane Mc Donald, or any member of the royal family is strictly prohibited and again will result in you being asked to leave the rooms.

டேய், எங்க ஊருல அரசியல் வாதிகள், ராஜா, ராணி, நடிகர், நடிகைகளையெல்லாம் criticise பண்ணாட்டி டீ கடைய விட்டு எழுந்து போக வேண்டி வரும்

Guests are invited to adopt correct posture and avoid from resting elbows on our tables.

கால எப்படிடா கீழ வெக்க முடியும் ? பெஞ்ச் கீழ தான் நாய் படுதுருக்கும்ல ..

Conversation should never be louder than two tones above the chink of a tea cup and
Good table manners are expected at all times.

As display of respect, guests in residents at the stroke of 4pm on Sundays are required to rise for The National Anthem, followed by three cheers for Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth. Un-cooperative guests will be promptly issued with their bill and escorted from the premises. (Disabled and infirm exempt).

டேய், இப்பதான்டா புரியுது, அந்த மனுஷன மகாத்மான்னு ஏன் கூப்படராங்கன்னு ...

Not Everyone Can Be Beautiful, But They Should Try

2009-03-15T23:37:00.003+05:30

Beauty queens are encouraged to think of themselves as role models so it was easy to ask Manisha what she would do when she was one. What would she advise people who were short or dark? Very seriously she replied, “Not everyone can be beautiful but they should try.” Manisha clearly equated short and dark with ugliness. We waited to see if she will qualify this line of thought. She didn’t.

- One of the girls (Manisha is not her real name) shortlisted for the Lucknow round of Miss India 200

Bollywood Awards are a Joke

2009-03-15T01:26:00.002+05:30

These awards are a joke and anyone who takes them seriously needs to have his head examined. Which in turn means that a lot of our film industry needs to get their heads examined. But for some reason, people feel happy when they win them. I suppose it is the appreciation that they receive. Also, they like to get together and pat each other's back, praise each other, give each other awards. They make sure that everybody is pleased, everybody is satisfied. In ten years' time, there will be another award called Best Actor in the role of a Cruel Aunty and there will be another award called Best Actor in the role of a Crooked Cop and so on - there are going to be like 200 awards. Because everybody has to be pleased you see.

- Naseeruddin Shah

ஏரியா குமார்

2009-03-11T22:30:00.003+05:30

இடம்: A beach in south Chennai.

I noticed him pushing the தள்ளு வண்டி rather erratically while arguing with two women. Galeej, ,drunk, women shouting at him and predictably enough he ran his tricycle into the side of a parked car. A man got out to inspect the damage; a woman got out after a few seconds and started with "என்னங்க நாங்க ஓரமா நிறுத்தி இருக்கோம், நீங்க வாட்டுல வந்து மோதறீங்க " and the ladies who were accompanying him joined the chorus , although it was not immediately clear whose side they were on. Area Kumar cut short the ladies thusly:

பொம்பளைங்கெல்லாம் வாய மூடுங்க !

என்னை கொடுமை சார், இது ?

2009-03-08T22:36:00.008+05:30

Comical yes, but comic book hero ? சுத்தமா முடியல ... our childhood fantasies like castles built in the beach sand get washed away, but for them to get pissed out of existence like this ... take a look at the sample of the pantheon, it's blasphemous to even suggest he deserves to be in it. This is not the first time this is happening, but does mark a new low.

'High' College-House Kaapi

2009-03-07T18:29:00.006+05:30

I was talking to two fairly conservative பெருசுகள் - there seemed to be general agreement that filter kaapi standards in Chennai were pretty bad; I was very happy to hear them blame the water quality, since this tallies with a pet theory of mine.

One of the mamas slipped into a flashback mode - நான் மதுரைல படிக்கும் போது daily college house'ல காப்பி குடிப்போம். ரொம்ப நல்லா இருக்கும். அப்படியே ஒரு addiction மாதிரி . அந்த காப்பில அவன் அப்ப்டியே கொஞ்சம் அபின் கலந்துருவான் - ஒரு சிட்டிகை தான். அந்த காப்பிய விடவே முடியாது

I rudely interrupted the college house days nostalgia fest that followed by pointing out that college house had gone to dogs and had changed hands.

Then the topic drifted to medical use of drugs. முன்னெல்லாம் medical use'காக உப்யோகபடுத்துவாங்க, now they have unnecessarily made it a taboo. அந்த காலத்துல எல்லாம் கொஞ்சூண்டு கொடுப்பாங்க - நல்ல relief கிடைக்கும். பாரதியார் கூட ...

You can guess how the rest of the thread went.

யாராவது இந்த காலேஜ் ஹௌஸ் காப்பி கலப்பட விவகாரம் பத்தி விஷயம் தெரிஞ்சவர்கள் , preferrably பெரியவங்க இருந்தா கேட்டு சொல்லுங்கப்பா.

Heart Popping North Indian Sweets

2009-03-01T19:03:00.006+05:30

A couple of years back, I remember reading that Ratna Cafe had passed to North Indian hands. I stopped for a quick bite yesterday while passing through திருவல்லிக்கேணி. There is a counter selling North Indian sweets up front. One of the sweets appropriately enough is called 'Dil Bahar' - அதாவது there is so much ghee/dalda in it that your heart will explode. உள்ள healthy இட்லி, வெளியில் North Indian Junk Food ... Intel Inside, Idiot Outside as some Linux fans once observed of their enemy.

P.S. Not a Ratna Cafe fan, but couldn't let this opportunity pass ...

P.P.S. Right to misinterpret/twist வட இந்தியன் சொற்கள் reserved.

பேத்தல் பெரியசாமி - பரசுராமர் Version 2.0

2009-02-26T21:22:00.003+05:30

Were பெருமாள் to consent to a Ver 2.0, it will be the turn of the Vaishyas this time. வணிக பெருமக்களே, you can't bribe your way out of this one.

But the Lord must carefully weigh the pros and cons this time - last time it left us depleted us of Kshatriyas and centuries of slavery.

Outsider in Chennai - The Dead Giveaway

2009-02-25T21:04:00.004+05:30

A few English newspapers from other states have trying to worm their way into the consciousness of Chennai மக்கள் with cheap tricks (with word-drops like மச்சான் etc) ably aided by disgruntled ex-staffers from the existing newspapers. But it's hard to keep up the pretence for long. Here's the Deccan Chronicle surprised by the heat in February:

Feb. 24: The cool weather that comforted Chennaiites all these days is set to change with the impending arrival of summer.

The city, which experienced a minimum temperature of 18 to 20 degree Celsius for the last two months, has now started recording around 24 degree Celsius.

அய்யோ, அய்யோ டேய் கிறுக்கு பசங்களா , இந்த ஊருல ஒரே ஒரு season தேன் - சும்மா விஷயம் தெரியாதவங்க ஏதோ ஹாட், ஹாட்டர், ஹாட்டெஸ்ட் , ஹாட்டெஸ்ட்டெஸ்ட் etc ன்னு ஒளருவாய்ங்க ...

மாணவ ஜால்ரா மணிகள்

2009-02-19T07:43:00.000+05:30

இடம்: சென்னை அரசு இசை கல்லூரி, அடையார்

அதிகப்பிரசங்கி நாய்

2009-02-17T23:01:00.002+05:30

Fraud Impacttu

2009-02-15T14:44:00.006+05:30

The moral of this narration is that Satyam is neither the first nor the last ripoff of the Indian public. It represents not only the ruination of the retail share buying middle class (2.07 lakh investors holding 5.27 crore Satyam shares in just two trading sessions saw the price per share fall from Rs 179.10 to Rs 23.85) but also of the poorer classes who faithfully deposit their savings in public sector banks and who in turn lend to Satyam (the company market cap fell from Rs 15,262 crore to just Rs 1,607 crore). No doubt these banks are re-capitalised by the government but that is by a higher fiscal deficit and hence inflation. The question is why such sophisticated plunder of the nation takes place with very little punishment.

- Subramanian Swamy, Truth about India’s corporate சுச்செச்ஸ்

Update (18/2/2009): The Bank re-capitalisation predicted by Su.Swamy is happening. The Satyam fraud is not the only reason for this, though.

Edible Rats

2009-02-14T17:27:00.011+05:30

While my friends, more or less my age, would play flying kites, I would go bearing on my head palmyra fruits. I liked being of help to mother. But I liked to play a particular game, joining my friends - the game of catching rats in the fields.

During the rainy season, rats would get into the burrows in the sand-mound on the soutern side of the village. They were field-rats. They could be baked and eaten. We would all join together, cut the burrows and catch the rats inside.

- (From 'I Set My Heart On Victory', english translation of ஆசை வைத்தேன்', autobiography of Saravana Bhavan 'Annachi' Rajagopal)

There is no Tamil Nadu in Chennai

2009-02-14T10:06:00.002+05:30

Elaborating on his decision to work in a village instead of the state capital, Ram Krishnan says, "There is no Tamil Nadu in Chennai. It's another big city. It has nothing to do with Tamil Nadu."

- Ram Krishnan, a good samaritan, on his preference for Vilathikulam village

The Dopey Film Makers Club

2009-02-10T22:18:00.003+05:30

I was just in time for the movie last Friday, but I was famished and rushed to the Peter's road S.Bhavan for a quick bite. The bloke must have returned from the previous show, "Sir, Odadhu Sir, Pettiya thirumbi vandhurum orey vaarathula. Romba Paavam Sir (he seemed to be referring to the distributors or some party likely to be affected in a very knowing way). Ganja adichittu padam eduthirukaan Sir ..". He finished his kaapi and walked out.

Meanwhile, At the Dopey Film Maker's Club:

Bala, This is Anurag ...
Anurag, Bala ...

2009 has started on a "high" note.

Bribery was their Business Model

2009-02-08T00:10:00.002+05:30

From an investigation of Siemens' business in Europe and US:

A former midlevel executive at Siemens, he was one of several people who arranged a torrent of payments that eventually streamed to well-placed officials around the globe, from Vietnam to Venezuela and from Italy to Israel, according to interviews with Mr. Siekaczek and court records in Germany and the United States.

What is striking about Mr. Siekaczek’s and prosecutors’ accounts of those dealings, which flowed through a web of secret bank accounts and shadowy consultants, is how entrenched corruption had become at a sprawling, sophisticated corporation that externally embraced the nostrums of a transparent global marketplace built on legitimate transactions.

Mr. Siekaczek (pronounced SEE-kah-chek) says that from 2002 to 2006 he oversaw an annual bribery budget of about $40 million to $50 million at Siemens. Company managers and sales staff used the slush fund to cozy up to corrupt government officials worldwide.
...

MR. SIEKACZEK’S telecommunications unit was awash in easy money. It paid $5 million in bribes to win a mobile phone contract in Bangladesh, to the son of the prime minister at the time and other senior officials, according to court documents. Mr. Siekaczek’s group also made $12.7 million in payments to senior officials in Nigeria for government contracts.

...

The bribes left behind angry competitors who were shut out of contracts and local residents in poor countries who, because of rigged deals, paid too much for necessities like roads, power plants and hospitals, prosecutors said.

...

The S.E.C. complaint said Siemens paid its heftiest bribes in China, Russia, Argentina, Israel and Venezuela.

...

I would never have thought I’d go to jail for my company,” Mr. Siekaczek said. “Sure, we joked about it, but we thought if our actions ever came to light, we’d all go together and there would be enough people to play a game of cards.”

...

“Bribery was Siemens’s business model,” said Uwe Dolata, the spokesman for the association of federal criminal investigators in Germany. “Siemens had institutionalized corruption.”

Before 1999, bribes were deductible as business expenses under the German tax code, and paying off a foreign official was not a criminal offense. In such an environment, Siemens officials subscribed to a straightforward rule in pursuing business abroad, according to one former executive. They played by local rules.

Company Hierarchy

2009-02-06T06:43:00.004+05:30

(Drawn by Hugh MacLeod)

Some people have a knack for these '... worth a thousand words' thingies.

ஆத்தா Attack

2009-02-03T22:31:00.003+05:30

I was slumped in front of the idiot box listening to one of the main news stories of the day:

ஆத்தா: என்ன ஆச்சு ?

Me: யாரோ போலீஸ்காரங்க ஒரு சின்ன பெண்ணை போட்டு அடிக்கறாங்க - அந்த பொண்ணு ஒரு முன்னூறு ரூபாய் திருடினதா சொல்றாங்க.

ஆத்தா: அப்ப அந்த ராமலிங்க ராஜுவ எவ்வளவு அடிக்கணும் ?

Deviants Unlimited

2009-01-29T22:34:00.002+05:30

Criminality is about deviance, so the more widespread undesirable conduct turns out to have been, the more difficult it becomes to treat it as criminal. The collapse of the Bear Stearns hedge funds in July 2007 was shocking, as was the demise of their parent company eight months later. Likewise, Fannie's, Freddie's, Lehman's, and AIG's failures were all stunners. But by the time Washington Mutual fell, indignation was beginning to flag.

- From a Fortune article 'Payback on Wall Street'

In case you have trouble understanding the above, Fortune magazine, one of the support pillars of capitalism is pointing out that criminal behaviour seems to be par for the course on Wall Street.

The Best and the Brightest Led America Off a Cliff

2008-12-16T21:41:00.005+05:30

Over the last five years or so I have had several opportunities to study the graduates of elite educational institutions including the crème de la crème of institutions abroad at close quarters. What I have observed has left me completely disillusioned. I have concluded that most of them are just plain bean counters with no moral fibre in their souls; colouring within the lines and mindlessly climbing up the career ladder with little to no trace of creativity. The lack of an ethical basis (even after making concessions for stupid and corrupt government, etc) to their actions has been most appalling of all. But the elite don't unravel so quickly, it takes a while to discover and understand the phoney virtual reality world that they have created and live in. Once a school classmate of mine who went to IIM described his job as ஈட்டிக்காரன் வேலை. After all this financial mess started in the US in September, I was idly wondering how much the graduates from elite schools who typically end up in investment banks and such were responsible. Suddenly jail sentences for pickpockets seem to be such a raw deal. Since most of our institutions are modeled after ones in the US or UK, it might be worth listening to what a discerning observer has to say about the role of graduates of elite schools in screwing America:

The multiple failures that beset the country, from our mismanaged economy to our shredded constitutional rights to our lack of universal health care to our imperial debacles in the Middle East, can be laid at the feet of our elite universities. Harvard, Yale, Princeton and Stanford, along with most other elite schools, do a poor job educating students to think. They focus instead, through the filter of standardized tests, enrichment activities, advanced placement classes, high-priced tutors, swanky private schools and blind deference to all authority, on creating hordes of competent systems managers. The collapse of the country runs in a direct line from the manicured quadrangles and halls in places like Cambridge, Princeton and New Haven to the financial and political centers of power.

The nation’s elite universities disdain honest intellectual inquiry, which is by its nature distrustful of authority, fiercely independent and often subversive. They organize learning around minutely specialized disciplines, narrow answers and rigid structures that are designed to produce certain answers. The established corporate hierarchies these institutions service—economic, political and social—come with clear parameters, such as the primacy of an unfettered free market, and with a highly specialized vocabulary. This vocabulary, a sign of the “specialist” and of course the elitist, thwarts universal understanding. It keeps the uninitiated from asking unpleasant questions. It destroys the search for the common good. It dices disciplines, faculty, students and finally experts into tiny, specialized fragments. It allows students and faculty to retreat into these self-imposed fiefdoms and neglect the most pressing moral, political and cultural questions. Those who defy the system—people like Ralph Nader—are branded as irrational and irrelevant. These elite universities have banished self-criticism. They refuse to question a self-justifying system. Organization, technology, self-advancement and information systems are the only things that matter.

...

Intelligence is morally neutral. It is no more virtuous than athletic prowess. It can be used to further the rape of the working class by corporations and the mechanisms of repression and war, or it can be used to fight these forces. But if you determine worth by wealth, as these institutions invariably do, then fighting the system is inherently devalued. The unstated ethic of these elite institutions is to make as much money as you can to sustain the elitist system. College presidents are not voices for the common good and the protection of intellectual integrity, but obsequious fundraisers. They shower honorary degrees and trusteeships on hedge fund managers and Wall Street titans whose lives are usually examples of moral squalor and unchecked greed. The message to the students is clear. But grabbing what you can, as John Ruskin said, isn’t any less wicked when you grab it with the power of your brains than with the power of your fists.
- via TruthDig

பேத்தல் பெரியசாமி, Part 1 - Male Chauvinism

2008-12-14T21:20:00.001+05:30

Male Chauvinism is all about releasing the bitch inside.

Real Estate On A Plate

2008-12-14T20:55:00.006+05:30

இடம்: திருவண்ணாமலை

The Dismal Science

2008-11-24T20:11:00.002+05:30

But there are at least 15,000 professional economists in this country, and you’re saying only two or three of them foresaw the mortgage crisis? Ten or 12 would be closer than two or three.
What does that say about the field of economics, which claims to be a science? It’s an enormous blot on the reputation of the profession. There are thousands of economists. Most of them teach. And most of them teach a theoretical framework that has been shown to be fundamentally useless.
- NYT interview with James Galbraith

BTW, it was James' father John Galbraith who famously described India as a "functioning anarchy".

Shankaraaaa ...

2008-11-24T19:39:00.002+05:30

Matter is built on flaky foundations. Physicists have now confirmed that the apparently substantial stuff is actually no more than fluctuations in the quantum vacuum.

...

The Higgs field is also thought to make a small contribution, giving mass to individual quarks as well as to electrons and some other particles. The Higgs field creates mass out of the quantum vacuum too, in the form of virtual Higgs bosons. So if the LHC confirms that the Higgs exists, it will mean all reality is virtual.

- It's confirmed: Matter is merely vacuum fluctuations (New Scientist)

வாரணம் ஆயிரம்

2008-11-19T21:14:00.003+05:30

Part of a deep conspiracy to flood the market with movies totally lacking in native feel and reduce the proud Tamil nation to bunch of side kicks. Curse the day on which Sani Ratnam made his entry into movie making - the wannabe clones he has inspired are far worse than him. We need a new grammar, a new vocabulary, a new political incorrectness against directors of this sort. They need to be ostracised and marginalised within a framework of decency, humour, and good old tamil nakkal. To begin with, how dare this charlatan choose a misleading, but elegant tamil title ? I am sick and tired of this pretentious asshole of a director.

Mr.X loses his Shirt

2008-10-26T18:38:00.005+05:30

Mr.X suddenly remembered with a start that he had completely forgotten about a 'safe' investment he had made a couple of years back. He visited the office of the நாலெழுத்து fund company to discover that the difference between the current value and cost value could easily buy an old Bullet or two second hand. Mr.X while waiting for his statement noticed that they were having a Deepavali celebration of sorts in the office - most of the guys were wearing silk veshtis and there was one even dressed as a மடிசார் மாமி. Handing over the account statement, the guy said "சார் மார்கெட் யாருமே predict பண்ண முடியாது சார்". Mr.X nodded and wondered what they were celebrating - blowing away crores of investors money, especially those of Idiots like him.

In the evening Mr.X noticed a well known talking head on TV dishing out advice - "Invest in type X funds which are safe", exactly the same kind of investment that Mr.X had made. That was said without any riders or caveats, with two of the country's top fund managers nodding in agreement. One of the managers even added that whatever you hear on TV should not be believed.

Mr.X has decided to cut back. You might hear him saying, எங்க பாப்பா அந்த லக்ஷ்மி வெடிய இங்க குடு, அந்த திரிய நான் பிச்சு தரேன் ...