For a year of towering glory!

Celebrate victories tall or short!

Have a great year ahead...

- Ashwin

Movie Review- Veyyil

Veyyil. The heat permeates in every screen and manifests itself in all the characters, sometimes with a shining glow and many a time through its suffocation.Murugesan and Kadir, played by Pasupathy and Bharath, are brothers from a rustic village near virudhunagar (madurai).

Bharath is as exuberant and shiny as the sun is and Pasupathy is like an eclipsed sun, full of feared energy lying dormant.Pasupathy's crush with Pandi (played by Shirya, as the character reaches middle age) comes to a grinding halt, when Kumar (Pasu's dad) man-handles and strips him naked in hot sun, for giving a miss to school and relishing MGR movie (in the midst of rings of smoke, perhaps).The scorch of the sun in his life starts here, as Pasupathy sets off to a destination that he never reached. Losing money, jewels (taken from home), Pasupathy carries hope and MGR in his mind.

The story then is about his love for the smalltown movie hall where he is the operator. Carefully scripted poetic relationship between him and his gaurdian, Pasupathy's handlebar mouthstache, all add to director's meticulousness and focus in story telling.Pasupathy falls in love with Thangam, the opposite door food stall owner's daughter. Their love raises heat like mercury but fades soon like twilight, as the girl's family takes revenge on Pasupathy for the couple's pervious day's initimate moment in the operator room.Pasupathy escapes death even after strangling, while thangam kills herself seeing his plight!Much like the mercury suffocating you in the summer, life's travails melt pasupathy, who finally decides to go back to his dusty village.

The scene where pasupathy meets bharath and introduces himself, one where his dad refuses any emotional sidekicks to pasupathy moves you like ghee that melts in hot air. Special mention about Vasanthabalan, the debutant director, for his characterization and casting.Bharath plays the anchor for Pasupathy in the house now and rallies everyone around to show their love for their lost-and-found elder brother. While their mother (another fitting display of the characterization) shows ample love, its second to what she has for Bharath, who took the family to where it is, with his banner advertising company.Pandi, Pasu's childhood crush is another manifestation of suffocated life who is now a single mother. She offers motherly affection to quell Pasupathy's emotinal starvation.When the whole family keeps him away and still doubts him (mistakenly) for jewels that disappeared the second time, Pasupathy's reaction to the characters and props, tell you that he is the next big thing in tamil cinema.

Bharath also scores will in choosing his movies and getting into the character. As an angry rustic youth with immense desire to excel, Bharath truely epitomizes the can-do rural youth.His heroics in the advertising auction, humility in front of the business man, love for brother, care for family and romantic overlays spiced with anger, for Meenakshi, all gel well with the character and Bharath has done his role proud.The movie does not trivialize sibling relationships like other tamil movies have did. Murugesan lays his life for his brother who was chased to the edge of death by the rival business gang and saves his brother and his family's existence.Only then the family realizes that Murugesan is not a run-away kid but their savior, albeit, after the heat of life had consumed him.

Veyyil, in all, is a must watch classic that touches upon the helplessness of a cursed soul as it tries to win over life and does not live to see it, as it wins life!

Must watch!

Autobio in a post

My journey

1. Age 1 to 3 - Slept well to compensate for today's sleepless life

2. Age 4 - My biggest problem was school which shared a door with my home. That was hell to be in school when you can see your mom moving across the home

Age 5 - I still remember rekha was used to steal my kuchi in school

Age 6 - 14 - Calm and reserved boy. Good in quiz.Learnt Hindi and Vishnu sahasranamam well

Age 15 - Padma ma'am changed my life. Even I could score 197 in 10th math. Hats off ma'am. You showed me the strength of preseverence and confidence. Thanks for all that and those apples.

Age 16-17 - Hoplessely wandered around with friends and one-side dreamz about the girl whose dad is my dad's colleague. Gosh the comparisons my dad would bring up between my rank and hers :-).Hey u, If you read this just have a hearty laugh.

Age - 16 -20 - The becoming of a man. From stage-phobic boy to college anchor. From reserved kid to fashion parade judge.From stumbling in math to Belling the CAT

Age 21 - 22 -- IIT was hesitant to take me in. Called me finally and rest was history. Came out as one of the most beloved, respected and eligible student.My worst enemy (Now HOD and a person that i respect inspite of some strong optinion I have)admired me for my straight talks

Age 23 - I ruined my life by making some career related errors. The days taught me the value of parents, friends and magnanimity (My enem prof was the first guy to help me).Thanks guys for serving me the bread when I hesitated to ask for.

Age 24 - Blossomed in a small company.Mixed bag of good and bad days

Age 25: Found and Lost!

Thats my diary.Now dont steal my identity

Winter Days of her life!

Chennai Shopping Guide

The Festival Season has arrived and so have exciting offers from the popular brands.

Now before you loosen your purse strings, beware of bloatware !

Well, bloatware is still a software concept, but not necessarily irrelevant in today's marketplace. A bloatware, simply put, is a brand that gives more than what you want and charge you for it, when all you end up getting is useless features for extra price.

Some promotions to notice in this shopping season:

1. Lifestyle says it will give you assured gift for any purchase over Rs.4000 and the gift is worth Rs.350 (not even 10%. Add to this service charge of 2% if you are paying by card. Do you need this offer?)

2. Globus once told the same thing (assured gift) and I bought for Rs.2000 and I got A COFFEE BITE chocolate!

3. Cookieman - The moment you step into a mall that has cookieman, you can not escape the aura of freshly baked cookies. But taste any cookie, they dont taste as well as they smell. Aroma Branding or False Promise?

4. Cafe Coffee Day - I counted. A glass of frappe had 29 ice cubes in it. The tender said its to keep the frappe cool. Is it experience or cheating? Your glass of frappe without ice is actually only 1/4th of a glass!

5. Pizza Hut - A combo offer costs 75 bucks and the tax is 18 bucks over and above!

6. City center in chennai charges 30 rupees for parking if you are there for more than an hour

7. Murugan idly shop - Your chilly powder costs Rs.4 extra and you come to know of it only after you have it!

While you have every right to be lavish, there is a saying in tamizh - Even if you throw our mony into the river, count it and the put it, so that you know how much you had just lost!

And now if all this making your heart burn, there are still good things happening around you - like this initiative of helping HIV patients (See the second picture)

Its a Christmas Tree with a difference. You can give donations for HIV patients and based on the denomination a card in your name (and denomination note) will be stuck to the leaves and when everyone donates, the tree will look like a snowy white X-mas tree, but just that the snow is actually more than snow...its your contribution towards making yourself a better human being.

Happy Shopping! Happy X-mas! Happy Donating!

Typically...

Knowingly (sometimes vehemently) or unkowingly we leave our signatures in the way we go about things or perhaps dont go about things..

Let me try to see what are those I consider my signatures (Dont expect a Psyhcometric analysis here..this is for tchummah)

• Elumchanga ooruga for sambar rice
• Thalai vagidu from right to left
• Some bracelet in hand always
• Swirling my phone
• Making it stand on its edge in flat surface
• Fanatic Fascination for orange and red colored dresses (including trousers)
• Losing my keys everyday but never searched for it for more than 10 mins
• Love for Sujatha novels

Thookam varuthu...

Will be continued...

Theosophically speaking..

There are roads you walk down through and there are roads that walk you through memories. The place where you first held her hands, the place where you learnt your driving, the place where you broke the news of your marriage plans to her and so on...

I prefer walking anyday to driving. The world's less faster, less chaotic, more still and more forthcoming to reveal when you walk.

The road comes free! And hence walk! I reebok'ed myself for a walk down the theosophical society road...Its a dream I lived. The road is next best thing to heaven. No sidelanes, no pot holes...just trees, avenue trees and more and a divine turn thats as elegant as a girl's hip..

Theosophical society as it turns out is not just about theology. Its a carefully crafted paradise in green. Avenues that never seem to end, take you far inside the woods that all you hear is just chirps, fading sounds of vehicles that resemble distant water falls and some odd sounds by disturbed birds.

The only thing missing was a good company. God had no one to attend to in that time of the morning. Probably his call center was free and my wish was granted instantly. Three girls from "Nizhal" took me through the lanes once more. Just this time the lanes seem to look more beautiful even when though girls spoke about things like Pongamia Glabra, Ficus Arhtecus, Fern and blah. (I have taken the liberty to click off the irritating botany professor, bunch of un-interesting walkers. They dont matter to me, this blog or to you).

But the walk came to an end abruptly when my mom called up to say that she has four horoscopes to process and that was FMI (For My Info.).

I am 26 and am still in the game. Have asked mom for a 15 day truce. After all I am a traveller with no intention to arrive and no intended place to go.

Will keep walking....