Merry Christmas!

Wishing all of you a very Merry Christmas!

The Kebab Factory!

I’m a foodie. And you can take it from me – the Kebab factory in GRT Radisson, Chennai – is one of the best dining places ever! Right from the ambience – the décor, the polite welcome and the choice of seats – to the wonderful food, everything is par excellence but more significantly it is finger-licking authentic Indian cuisine!
The specialty as the name suggests is kebabs – Perhaps because I’m a vegetarian, I never get to eat as many kebabs as I would like to, but here I indulged in nearly 3 full courses of what were supposed to be starters!
It all began, as the saying goes, with a yam (senakizhangu) and gourd (podalanga) kebab – to be rolled on a saffron flavored flour (maida) paratha after sprinkling onions and adding a tinge of mint and tomato chutney. It was beautiful – the very predominant taste of the yam with a tinge of fresh green gourd lingering in the mouth after the initial taste of saffron – yeah, it was beautiful!
Next came on the sweet potato – roasted to perfection with a tinge of Chat masala and jeera. By roasted to perfection, I mean that the outside was crisp (with a beautiful salty-spicy start) whereas the inside was just plain soft boiled sweet potato! A perfect combination of salt and sweet. Perhaps you’ve already guessed my word to describe this dish – perfect!
The next was the very much awaited paneer dish – I love paneer – but what I ate here was too amazing! They say that paneer made perfectly from pure milk can be sliced – and that is exactly what I could do! Contrasting the previous two, this kebab was marinated and then boiled with the assertive flavour of elaichi generously gracing the dish. A slight tinge of jeera on the outside added to the experience. I particularly enjoyed it with slightly salted yoghurt with finely chopped fresh green chillies. It was amazing!
What is popularly known as the ‘vegetable cutlet’ followed next. The vegetables (predominantly potato, carrot) were finely minced and mashed and made as is meant to be. What more can I say?
Simla Mirch stuffed with cottage cheese – anything more I can say? (Well, perhaps a little bit - because this was one of my favourites.. :-P) I’m one of those many pizza crazy people who populate the earth, and so I literally pounced on this kebab when it arrived! I am compelled to say that it exceeded my expectations! Capsicum(simla mirch) stuffed with cooked cottage cheese and tomatoes, with the generously sprinkled cashews giving you a pleasant surprise – a very unique and rich taste indeed!
The last kebab – rumali roti rolled with pickle flavoured vegetables and deep fried – tasted something like spring rolls, but I didn’t particularly enjoy the exceedingly invasive tamarind taste.
Those were the starters.
!
A choice of rotis from naan, butter naan, garlic naan land tandoori roti with dal makhani (umm…that soft dal with the butter just melting in my mouth was amazing!) and a vegetable gravy (with broccoli, mushrooms and baby-corn) announced the arrival of the main course! It was followed by wonderful biriyani – with fried vegetables and spices taking over the taste buds and the unleashed smell of saffron invading the nostrils!
The glass of lassi – a diluted yoghurt drink with a salty/chat taste ended the main course.
Wait…what about the deserts? From a selection of cham cham(a Bengali delicacy), a fig desert(a delicacy from Hyderabad),carrot halwa, gulob jamun and kesar kulfi (an ice-cream flavoured with saffron and pista) all I could convince my stomach to eat were the gulob jamun and the kulfi. The kulfi was amazing but the gulob jamun was exceptional! Made very unconventionally – it was deep-fried, removed, stuffed with rabadi(a sweetened form of yoghurt) and then fried again and then soaked in sugar syrup! Served hot, it was a perfect end to what was perhaps one of the best ever meals of my life!

After reading this blog, you have perhaps appreciated how much I can eat when I want to! So the next time you take me out for a treat, think again about it!! :-D

Just a thought...

Have you ever wondered why the arrangement of letters on the keyboard is such – QWERTY? I remember how puzzled I was the first time I encountered that very weird arrangement of alphabets – how I thought aloud why it wasn't arranged as ABCDEF – a pattern our mind could easily associate with; a map which we could decipher without extensive training? That was way back in 2000. Today, 6 – no nearly 7 years later I stumbled upon the answer - accidentally!

This 'discovery' brought me back to ground reality – that despite being a member of the so-called 'tech-savvy' youth and owning a desktop (with broadband connection and easy access to Google!) at home, I never really made an effort to find an answer to my question. But you would ask – why give so much significance to something so trivial? After all, isn't it sufficient to have the knowledge to efficiently use the keyboard?

Herein is the distinction between the stereotype and the creative. A creative person will take the trouble to address the issue bothering her/him whereas a typical person would take a glance and accept without questioning what is put forth.

For instance, research will reveal that the arrangement of the alphabets on the keyboard is such to facilitate typing at an efficient enough speed which doesn't cause jamming in typewriters! But does it apply to today's scenario where nearly 70% of the youth indulge in '2 finger typing'? A creative entrepreneur perhaps would even consider prototyping a new keyboard!

However it is indeed sad to note that today, most of us have questions – but very few of us take time out to put on our thinking caps to actually relate to the issue! We'd rather push it on top of the already existing stack of questions, because, we are too busy running our races on stereotypical tracks to realize that the successful people aren't those who decide how to run on the track – they are the ones who pave new ways to the future!

So the next time you feel a question nagging you, don't dismiss it from your thoughts!!

Hazy!!

I go jogging everyday - for about 2.5 km . And as I usually do early in the morning, I enjoy the fresh air, the lush green sight, the cool breeze across my face and in my lungs as I gasp - things which I took for granted - till yesterday. But when I stepped out of my room yesterday, I felt conjested. Smoke was limiting my sight even as the unhealthy air tried to invade my lungs. Dejected, I returned to my room and gave up my most refreshing activity of the day!
As you perhaps know, the forest fires in Indonesia are polluting Singapore...Well yeah, yeah, I know that all right - how many times back home have I read such a news with interest and commented on the atrocities of burning down forests - but never have I truly given a thought to the pollution caused and the suffering of the people. Do you think that that's too strong a usage? I mean, yeah, discomfort is okay, but suffering??
But that's exactly what will come about if we continue at the rate we do today. Having lived through the last 2 days - when the CO levels exceeded into the 'unhealthy band' - I actually realized the significance of what so many environmentalists, ecologists and my geography text books were trying to drill into my head! What we would loose if we were to burn down all our forests - in exchange for a conjested and dark future!
Maybe, it isn't too late yet. Maybe, I can still do something to save my planet so that the future generations will enjoy a morning jog as much as I do. I still have to figure out how to do that - but what I know is that, now I will.

Time I updated!!

Its been ages since I blogged!!! I really miss blogging - even though its such a vetti activity according to many, when I pour out all that I think and feel, I feel much more organized! In a sense, blogging has made me realize who I really am and how I apprear to people around - it helps me comment on myself .... Ah! Well I suppose you get it - I enjoy this a lot!!
Anyways, the last 2 weeks have been just fantastic for me!! Here's about the first of those...
I really really enjoyed my stay at home this time. Festival seasons are meant to be celebrated with people you love! And Navarathri always has a special place in my heart - the entire process of constructing the padis, decorating them, lowering the dolls from the loft, dusting them, repainting a few, arranging all of them on the steps...wah! This time though, I missed this initial part... nevertheless, the other phase was equally interesting! Calling all friends, neighbours and mamis home, preparing the vetalai paku thattu with neatly packaged sundal, showing them our golu and explaining the many stories those beautiful dolls so silently expressed! Equally interesting to go to other golus!! The entire process of dressing up traditionally, going as a gang and visiting, appreciating and learning...Its really beautiful!!
And as always, I just loved my mom's food! My mom cooks a wonderful lunch - lemon rasam, kutti potato curry and thenga thogayal - And during the course of the meal, she casually says - "When I made this same menu on another sunday when you were there, the first thing that Chottu (my sis) said was that - Amu, repeat this menu again when Archun comes! " You know, this always happens everytime I go back home, and every single time I think about it, my heart misses a beat...It makes me feel that there's someone out who cares and who really misses me!!
But this time, I had most fun shopping!! The local hangout place is Pondy Bazaar and I was on a crazy spree!! What with having to buy things to take back, new clothes for saraswathi poojai and to take back for deepavali and accessories for all of them, I was totally into shopping!! After nearly a full day of shopping, I settled for 2 salwars from RMKV and Kumarans and earrings from JhillMill..hehe!
All in all it was a wonderful refreshing break which enthused me into looking forward to the harder part of the semester!

A day to remember!

I loved this weekend!! So much, that I didn't even find time for my favourite activity - blogging!! Anyways, I'm back now - just to share with you what I believe to be part of my most lovely memories!
As you know, I was restless with excitement about getting back to home terrain! But this time, in addition to the usual energy waves generated in anticipation of the 'going back home' activity, me and my Dad generated the extra ripple of surprise! I had informed my people that I would be arriving by 11am on Sunday morning - but instead decided to come on Saturday itself!
I suppose this idea sprouted from sheer peer influence! I realized that many of my friends had given their family surprises and so I thought, why not me too? I was initially planning to give my entire family a surprise, but then considering how mad my parents would be if I were to travel alone by auto in Chennai, I decided to involve my dad in the 'conspiracy'!
Daddu came, and this time also as usual, I was beaming as I stepped out of the airport into his loving arms! As I thought of how surprised my mom and sis would be, I was literally laughing with happiness! On our way from the airport, me and my dad had a few serious discussions on who would go in first - we finally decided upon Daddu going in and me following.
All I can say is, it was almost perfect! My dad rang the bell, and walked in. I was hiding behind the corridor wall and as soon as I saw my mom's turned back, I sneaked in and hugged her tight from behind and said "Happy Golu!" She turned back and I can never forget her expression! Her eyes opened wide and her mouth a little agape, before the situation sank in and her mouth curved up and her perfect white teeth beamed upon me! She said "Archun! What are you doing here!!" as she returned my hug! She was smiling and laughing and singing!! I joined in too - so happy that my mom was pleased to see me - but a little disappointed that my little sister, had chosen the right moment to bathe!! She however, had heard the commotion and so the effect of the surprise on her wasn't as dramatic! When she came out however, I saw that the shock still hadn't worn off and was a little pleased - which turned into a big smile as she hugged me too!!
My mom said it all in one sentence - " Emathithe! But it was the best surprise ever!!"
This time's homecoming was made perfect for me at that moment!

Pure ecstasy !!

I was up yesterday by 5 15am - went for jogging for about an hour, had my breakfast and returned to my room at around 7 15am; immediately went for my bath and then left at 7 45am; manned the bazaar booths from 8am to 6pm; left for my lecture which was over at 9pm; had my dinner and finally returned to my room at 9 45pm. All in all, a tight busy 8 - 10 day.
But you know what I did after I came to the room? Obviously I thought I was sleepy and tried to sleep - but I couldn't!! I lay down for about half an hour and having failed in my task miserably, switched on my laptop and blasted some music!! Very very unlike me! I always have preferred to listen to beautiful, soft music - especially in the night - but today just wasn't one of those days! At 11 in the night I was still bubbling with energy!
And the reason: I'm going back home soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooon!!!!

Rudrakaliamman Kovil - seva

Saturday,16th September, 2006
All of us at the temple!!


Super Gals!!
And now the reward...FOOD!!




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Morning colours!

"The dawn is breakin'
Its early morn..."
Quoted from one of my favourite John Denver songs, these are golden words! What is so special about mornings? You know, when I shifted from school life in Chennai to a uni life in NUS, the environment suddenly became conducive for late-night and late-morning activities - Despite this, I didn't give up on my habit of being up early.... Many people wonder and express awe at the fact that I - a hostellite, in NUS, - am up by 5 30 in the morning every day; A grunt granted if I say I go to bed early, but there's always a slightly disbelieving look that never leaves! After talking to my cousin brother in Banglore who emphasized this by saying - "Archun! You're in hostel da! We guys here sleep at around 2!" I really began wondering, why am I the odd one out?
And so, the introspection began! Well, firstly, I've generally been an early riser - what with several tuitions and school starting early in the morning, I would always be up at 5 30, no matter what! But several of my friends, who were like me, came here and began working late into the night! And that led me to the truth - I like getting up early!
Once I realized this, I thought - why? I wasn't getting any cooler, was I ? But then it struck me on the face! Every morning I get up, turn on the light and thank God for yesterday, and pray for a good one today - and once I open the blinds do you know what I see?

The dawn is breakin'
Its early morn...
The birds are chirpin'
The darkness gone...
Already, I'm so happy that I could laugh!
So kiss me, oh gentle breeze...
And smile for me, you rising Sun...
Tell me, that'll you be like this all day...
Blowing and burning all my fears away...
Wrap me in your arms
And hold me....
Like you'll never let me go...

What a wonderful way to begin everyday right? I love my parents for inculcating this early-rising habit in me! It makes me appreciate how beautiful life can be - and how happy you can be when you appreciate that!!



Not a bad movie...

OMG! I just realized that my last 3 posts are so boring!! All revolving around my studies in the uni! You must be thinking .. hey! what a geek! Well just to allay those thoughts away,here's my next blog..About Vettaiyadu Velaiyatu!!
Hmm...First things first - Kakkha Kakkha is still my favourite movie!! But to be fair, vettaiyadu velaiyatu scored higher on a few scales. It was much more closer to a real policeman's life - at least the first half. The second half was terrible! Too much violence - beating and bashing up crooks, hunting down the killers and all the masala stuff!
Not that the first half wasn't gross - well what do you expect when a thumb is hung on the father's doorstep, the body is bisected into half and so on? But it was very very practical. The line of thought and steps taken by Raghavan(DCP) to trace the murderer, were sequential and real. I also liked the fact that Kamal's (Raghavan) character wasn't potrayed as a very young man - rather an average aged police officer. The romance between Raghavan and Aradhana (Jyothika) was also handled beautifully - very mature and non-dramatic. The songs were also picturised quite beautifully and made me like them even more after watching the visuals.
Hmm....Overall, worth a watch on cd - so that you can fast forward the ugly parts.
Waiting to watch Sillunu Oru Kadal now!!

3M

3M sought a strong image for their security glass. They modified a bus shelter and fitted their security glass and filled it with REAL BANKNOTES. Many have tried to gain access with golf clubs and baseball bats but obviously the glass remains intact! This is what you call having faith in your own product...
That's the company I'm talking about!
But what's this blog all about?? Well, I had the privilege of being part of an interactive session with Mr Pang - A Technical Supervisor at 3M's Innovation Center, Singapore.
You know, I've always wondered - what exactly do engineers do? Most of the engineers I know are managers! Well, there may be a few exceptions - but almost all of them, at least in India, are management oriented. And here was a job - which looked out for engineers - not just their 'knowledge' about 'technical stuff'! So I was all the more looking forward to this session - because Mr Pang had joined 3M as an engineer.
The initial presentation was about 3M - well obvious! It was like any other routine marketing startegy, but one thing that really impressed me was the concept of a 'dual career path'. A new one for me. The organization recognizes the managerial potential in most engineers - but not at the expense of engineers who'd rather take on the technical path! The managers have their technical counterparts - equal status, salary, etc.
Well, anyways, the topic for the session was 'organizing for technological innovations.' I got an insight into what this actually means for a normal employee involved in such a situation. Perhaps you read my previous blog on IDEO - Well the point here was to say that "Okay! All the informality and innovation can be managed in a small firm like IDEO; But what happens when it comes to something as big as 3M? How do you innovate and manage it?"
I learnt that in 3M there is structure and organization - evolved in a manner to encourage an innovative culture! There is heirarchy, which is respected and valued - to enhance innovation contrary to popular belief. I learnt how important this is when the organization is so big - What if there are guys in different departments working on the same project? There would be a waste of human and material resource at no extra outcome. In such situations, management becomes very important. At the same time, this should not prove a blockade to innovating teams.
Well that sounds really easy on paper - but is it actually easy? Yes! I learnt that from the way Mr Pang said so casually that "All you need to do is give your guys a call - tell them you'll buy them breakfast - and they'll be there at 8 15 for the meeting!" The relationship at the basic level is still informal and personal. Heirarchy plays a role in deciding what projects the team will work on, who is assigned a task and adhering to deadlines - All in all, a very condusive atmosphere!
All this is quite okay, but we were curious as to how they actually decide the teams? Are they cross-functional teams? How to co-ordinate the work? How to actually innovate?
We played a small game - where 6 of us had to get into groups. Each of us had to say the first word that came into our head and then pass on the buck to any other person in the group. Simple and stupid? Initially I thought so too! But when I looked back at how the game shaped up, it was very insightful! Well, I was sitting with my Indian friends and so when someone said food, I immediately said 'kozhakatai' and someone said 'rajma' and so on - but when we shuffled groups and I said 'Chennai' someone else said 'tamil' someone else 'Leonardo'!
I learnt 2 things from this little game - that your thought process is influenced by your group members - when someone said something about food, the first thing you think of is also most probably food! Another thing being that, when the group is diverse, the thought process also varies and this leads to faster innovation - for example 'tamil' appealed to that person in terms of movies and so he named the first actor that came into his head!
But actually, innovation isn't so simple. Mr Pang said, the toughest step is always defining the problem - so again he asked us what we found bad in Singapore? So one of us said 'food' (I suppose we were all hungry as the class is from 6 to 9 pm!!) And he asked - What will you define as good food? Tasty, we asked? Define tasty he said! Well, fresh, healthy, appealing and spicy! You get the point don't you? Once you have the problem defined, you can innovate in each area of concern. :-D
Another thing we wanted to know about was how much autonomy was given to the induviduals? Well, it seemed a lot! If someone had an idea, it was always listened to - and not just by the immediate supervisor alone. An idea would have to be rejected by a minimum no. of superiors before being directed away! Also, each employee was allowed to do whatever he/she wanted in 15% of their paid time! It could be anything - nothing related to the project or even with the company! Mr Pang, it seems, thought we were worth his 15%!!
Hmm...I suppose here's another of my abrubt endings! But I really enjoyed the simple session which appealed to my little brain and got me thinking about things I've never thought about before!!
Thanks Mr Pang!! And thanks to my lecturer Ms Sarah, for organizing this session!

A first for me....

It was an amazing week! Though I have begun to lag a little in doing my daily lessons, I'm thoroughly enjoying this new process! Well, yeah yeah...Its understandable that I'm learning something new and all ... But this week was even more special..
This Thursday I had my first lab session! Wow! I can't believe that I'm saying that - inspite of it contributing to 10% of my final score!!! I, who used to think labs were 2 periods of fun till my 10th; I, who dreaded practicals in my 11th and 12th!
I guess it was the exciting aspect of doing an experiment all by yourself...Till today, I have never experimented' on my own. I did give my practical exams for my boards alone! But it was not the first time I did the lab you see... So this time, even though I was experimenting on signals - after all a stimulation experiment - which involved no equipment as such, just software - I realized what 'experimentation' 'observations' and 'conclusions' meant!
I studied signals - their waveforms and spectra. Periodic, aperiodic, sampling, A to D conversion ,what aliasing meant and retrieval of the original signal from the digitized one. I really learnt these by observing the waveforms, studying the patterns, inputing different numbers and equations and reaching my conclusions. It was very very exciting. All signals - speech, sight, eeg, ecg which I've learnt about are studied in this manner - and then their traits are altered and modified to suit our needs. Like burning a music CD - what actually happens to the voice signal? What happens once it is digitized? How do we retrieve the original signal?
Ultimately, I still don't know if all my observations and conclusions are correct! I don't know if I'll get my full 10% for the experiment! But I do know that I learnt a lot. If anyone asks me today about spectra, waveforms, A to D conversion and vice versa, I'll be able to tackle the questions confidently. That's what education is all about - knowledge. And you truly learn only by doing.

I ultimately got 9.5/10 for it!!

An enjoyable Friday evening!

I watched a video yesterday in my "Technological Innovation" class and I really enjoyed it! (It is a video which is probably shown in every management/business/technopreneurship class every semester) I'm here to share what I saw and learnt with you!
Well, the topic we discussed about this week was "Motivating Engineers and Scientists" And the video was a recording from a news program on abc channel - about a company called IDEO. This is basically an innovation company - the best known in the world and one of the hot spots of Silicon valley. They innovate just about anything! Starting from a range of toys, 'monster shoes', through toothbrushes to sophisticated medical equipment, they are involved in designing/re-designing of an entire range of products!
This program's was actually structured to give an insight into how things actually work in IDEO. So, a group was assembled and given the task of redesigning a shopping cart. The first thing that struck me was the informality! I did expect a little deviation from the standard top-down hierarchy, considering that people were here to innovate, but this struck me right on the face! The founder of the company working together with a new 22 year old employee - that's the limit!
This was a group of about 20 people and all from very very different backgrounds - As the introductions were made, I realized that it just about covered every single faculty in my university!! An engineer, computer specialist, statistical grad, biological sciences major, psychologist, history major and the list went on..!! The diversity, I realized during the course, only helps add more perspectives to come up with totally crazy ideas that lead to innovation.
Even in the midst of all the informality, there was structure and organization - They first elected a group leader - not the most 'senior' member or not even the 'one with lots of ideas' but one who was good with people and with groups! They then set about trying to identify problems one may face with the current shopping cart - problems like child care safety (where the statistics came in very handy to use the no. of hospitalized to carry this idea through in the new product), the psychology of people not wanting to wait in long check-out queues, the size and thus the utility of the shopping cart, etc . They actually researched this topic - by talking to customers, 'professional' shoppers, supermarket employees, actual engineers who build and repair the cart, to get a good idea of what exactly is involved!
Then came the brainstorming session - where each group member would come up with as many designs of the cart as he/she could, make a rough sketch of it and paste it on huge boards placed all around the spacious room. Once done, each would review the ideas of the others and if they felt the idea was worth their vote - they'd stick a post it with their name on it!!
And in this manner, they finally narrowed down the options stage by stage and came up with 4 separate designs - one with several baskets in the shopping cart - one with a scanner - one with a separate level for child seating and one which focused on the fashion/size aspect! They then set about building these 4 designs - Once ready, they went on to review each of these carts, scale them back a little to come up with the final design -
Well, this can't be described in words...So have a look yourself!
http://www.ideo.com/portfolio/re.asp?x=50029
What I learnt at the end of the day was that, to motivate, you need to express confidence in your people. Don't regard them as inferior to you in any way - instead try to make it a 360 degree learning process, so that in the end, your goals are achieved! Give them their space and autonomy to do what they are best at! That's how a manager is defined in today's world - he/she leads - no more "command and control"!
Would'nt you like to work for IDEO someday?? :-D

One of my favourite poems!



Daffodils" (1804)

I WANDER'D lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;

Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.
Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the Milky Way,
They stretch'd in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.
The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund company:
I gazed -- and gazed -- but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:
For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.

By William Wordsworth (1770-1850).

Everytime I read this poem I'm really inspired! Have you ever had such an experience? You enjoyed something so much and every single little detail leaves an imprint on your heart? I don't have a single such memory... yet...There have been several beautiful and enjoyable moments in my life which I can lie back upon and ponder about, but not a single one I remember as vividly as wordsworth has described his daffodils...
Every single blog I write, I think - " Ah! When I read this 5 years later, I'll wonder - wow! That was me!!! " But I'm still waiting for "my daffodil moment" - when I won't need words to remember...merely to describe!

I've just got through my first week in the university this year - my second year! It was a very very tiring but awesome week! After a very enjoyable but long summer vacation, I was aching - actually - to start studying again! Its really weird isn't it, but as they say, humans always are in search of knowledge! And so here I am, maybe a little wiser to the ways of the world...

To be outrageously honest, last year was a breeze through...except the programming of course...I'm studying electrical engineering and my uni being an internationally recognized one with students from all over the globe, meant to standardize our basics last year - so we did physics, maths and some basic circuits and laws - all of which I had already dealt with in my Junior college. So in effect, I was only adding some depth to what I already knew about - dealing with solving real world problems with a lot more calculations - but it somehow wasn't inspiring or exciting enough! This was not the engineering I expected to study!

And then suddenly this week, it struck me - all at once! I'm doing four "core" modules this semester - and suddenly, I realized - hey this isn't just physics or math anymore! It's application! Somehow, it excited me a lot - here was something totally different - like an experience of learning a language for the first time! Every single concept in the lecture was supplemented by actual examples - for example, the concept of feedback and thus control in robotics, temperature control, etc - the concept of signals in waving, seeing, sound waves, etc - the concept of applying mathematical models like probability to data communication systems and the mathematics used as "short-hand" notation for bit representation!

Interesting no doubt, but also a lot of hard work too I suppose! Since everything you're learning is suddenly new, you need to put in more effort to get a good grasp of all the concepts. And here I am, quite exhausted but still very inspired after the very first week of just lectures - tutorials and labs start only next week! I've taken another module - Technological Innovation - just for this purpose - to have a recess from all the engineering :-D

This module seems quite fun - though it is from 6-9 on Friday evenings (I know!!) It focusses on the importance of innovation in entrepreneurship! In my first class, we had a discussion about Google - Was it right for them to become entrepreneurs? Are they being innovative enough? Aren't they shifting focus away from their core capabilities? It was a very insightful and interesting discussion and I really enjoyed it!

When you're 19, talking to your loved ones and eating to your fill everyday, living on one of the best campuses in the world with access to excellent academic and co-curricular facilities, enjoying with your friends and making new ones - from over the globe - and learning what you want to from the best aiming for the stars all the while, what more can you expect out of life??

A great programme..

A great day was already on the cards when I was to accompany my parents to witness my school’s 49th Anniversary. A day made even greater because of the knowledge of the fact that my little sister...um sorry…cultural secretary of the school would be adorning a beautiful blue saree and compeering the show! But what made today a day to remember and cherish was the actual cultural performance of the little children…hey…my juniors!

Being an Indian and a Chennaite at that, I have attended several cultural programs – Carnatic concerts, Dance performances, Dance dramas, Dramas, light music events, arengetrams, etc, etc. The fact I’m trying to hint at here is that I have experienced enough to be termed as an “art appreciator”! And I must say, today’s show was absolutely brilliant!

But to be fair, I must say – it was to be expected! My school’s Anniversary is always one of the awaited events of the year when we get to witness student’s talents enhanced by professional make-up and too-good-to-be-true-props! It was a little different this year though…

I observed that quite contrary to the last few years, this year’s anniversary was quite devoid of props (except for the finale.) It was perhaps this fact that made me appreciate the efforts even more! Instead of the usual props, like the oonjal or the swing, there were four students and they appeared to be pushing and pulling it! It was done so naturally and beautifully, that I wondered if they were the little children they appeared to be!

The theme for this anniversary was Dhana Vaibhavam – Ullathil Nalla Ullam. It was a great theme considering the innumerous tales we all know of charity, “giving without hesitation, and expecting nothing back.” Each of the tales – Akshaya pathram, vamana avatharam, karnan, etc. were beautifully portrayed by little ones!

As a student of NUS I have had the good fortune of witnessing certain other concerts as well – Chinese New Year dances, Accapella and the usual “English Concert” (as I term it) And all these factors made me realize that today, I had witnessed one of the strongest representations of the Indian art form of drama, music and dance.

On Cloud Nine!!

He's been trying for the past 6 years; it just intensified last year, when he asked me out no less than 8 times! Every single time, there was something else for me to do... But when he asked me out on 4th August 2006 again, I thought, well this is a hopeless cause...let me at least go out with him...And that's how I ended up falling in love! What began as dislike ended up this way- all because of an evening out...
Well, it was the day when I was returning to university - to a country away from my home, away from my loving parents, away from my best friend - my sis and away from my homeland...So you can imagine what I was going through...And that's when I saw him - sitting next to me and comforting me all along the journey...
You must be wondering - "Hey! She just told me that he'd asked her out many times before and now she's saying she saw him ... as though for the first time!" But yeah! That was the first time I really saw him - saw who he was, what he did and what he meant...
Anyways, there was the initial awkwardness as I pecked on his cheek but it was washed away with some coke and peanuts as we got talking and I must say about really weird things! We moved on from angels and castles to Ganesha and Amu's kozhakatais!! It was as if with him, I could be myself and talk about things I really like or things that have really affected me and all along, he seemed to be reflecting my exact thoughts on every subject!! With all this rapport building, I had even forgotten the spectacle he'd promised me before dinner...
But it was BEAUTIFUL! With the vast expanse of the Indian ocean guarding me on the sides, with him as my aide, I saw it - the wonderful sunset! And not just any sunset - one which reflected that we live in a round world!! Behind me I could see the glorious sun, just setting and ahead of me darkness was already enveloping the lands ... It left me awestruck!I think that was the moment when I was lovestruck - and this fact made dinner a very enjoyable affair!
But finally it was time to land and get back to reality from the wonderful dreams as they seemed... And as he brushed against my cheeks I suddenly felt sad...to be going away from him...
And then as I walked out of the airport towards my university - I looked up at his vast, dark expanse and said...Soon again my love!!

My trip to Banglore

I left for a short trip to my Athhai's place on 29th July... Its been quite a while since I visited this town - which has now been declared as "the IT capital of India"! Well I agree...Indeed, all the wealth is reflected in the tremendous growth phase which has gobbled up major part of this beautiful city!

The first thing any person who steps into this valley will notice is the beautiful weather - its really very very pleasant! And it being July, typical Banglore weather prevailed for most part of my trip...I must admit though - that having been transformed into a complete Chennaite, returning to my birth place was a cool...hmmm...Cold trip!

Anyways, my Athhai has a beautiful place in Kasturi Nagar - with lots of gardens sprawling around the house! Its always so pleasant to see roses, jasmines, hibiscus and pavazamalli, eat curd rice with pomegranate (literally garden fresh!) from Banana leaves that grow at home with lovely food cooked by Pattu!!

I was quite pleasantly shocked when I went looking around Banglore - it is literally transforming into a mini-Singapore! Huge malls have cropped up everywhere, with lot of eat-outs peeking out of every corner! Most of the roads have been made one-ways and more importantly the average age of the driver, as my father shrewdly observed, is 30 - which in itself has instilled a discipline achieved perhaps, nowhere else in India!

But the beauty of Banglore is that inspite of the IT boom and the cropping up of the electronic city, it retains its charm and beauty...The places have definitely transformed - but not to an unrecognizable extent - instead they have evolved into dynamically improving environments! My visit to the Cubbon park, Vidhana Soudha(and Vikas Soudha!) and my favorite Ragi Gudda temple confirmed my impressions.

In spite of having lived in Banglore for nearly 14 years of my life, this was the trip when I discovered a beautiful institute here! The Tata Institute - now known as the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) came into the picture because my university, NUS, has set up an overseas college here! Curious, I went to just move about and get a feel of the campus - and I must say - I was shocked! I have seen IIT but was still shocked to see that "the campus" consisted of nothing but little buildings in the midst of what seemed to me to be dense forests!! It was really beautiful and I realized that this is the most conductive atmosphere for research and study! A sight one can witness, I believe, only in India!

I hail from Koramangala - and I loved going back to see my house in NGHC (National Games Housing Complex) It's a place that offers a lot of memories...And that always affects you....

Maybe that's why even though I profess myself to be a Chennaite, Banglore will always hold a special place in my heart...

A few nice ones....

  1. Impossible says I'm possible!
  2. When there is no wind, row!
  3. Work hard to get what you like, or you will be forced to like what you get!
  4. You fail - only when you stop trying!
  5. If at all you want to do anything behind a back, pat it!
  6. At times of distress, behave like a duck - keep calm and unruffled on the surface, but keep paddling away like crazy underneath!
  7. Take time to laugh - its the music of the soul!
  8. No doubt great heights are what attract us; learn to respect the steps though!
  9. Enjoying something makes it unforgettable!
  10. To be the best, be daring, be different and be there first!
  11. Home is where the heart is!
  12. A hungry man always appreciates his bread!
  13. If you can do it in front of someone you love and respect, its right.
  14. Love me when I least deserve it; cause that's when I really need it!
  15. I can't remember to forget you..
  16. We may have inherited the earth from our parents, but it is the property of our children.
  17. Atoms don't exist....entities are the in thing!
  18. "The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it."
    - Oscar Wilde (1854-1900)
  19. "The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, is not 'Eureka!' but 'That's funny... '"
    Isaac Asimov
  20. "The trouble with land is that they're not making it anymore!"
    - Will Rogers
  21. "Don't let school interfere with your learning!"



Disclaimer: None of this is original - all borrowed! Some from the web, some from insightful tags of friends on messenger!!

My kinda books...

Like they say, sometimes nothing but words alone can be that expressive! I, for one, love reading books - mystery, adventure, romance, science fiction or historical books. Here are a few of my favorites...

Anandmath - Rabindranath Tagore
Well, when I decided to write this blog, this book was the first thing that entered my head! I was quite surprised to realize that this story, which I read because it was my Non-Detailed reading in 8th Std, had left such deep imprints! It was the spirited narration, perhaps, that appealed most to me. To be completely honest, it also appealed to the women chauvinist part of me (kindled perhaps in the years I spent in my Girl's school in Banglore.) To this day, I vividly recall the strength of those women and derive my courage from their personalities...

One Night at the Call Centre - Chetan Bhagat
Another shock! This time totally unexpected! At least I knew I liked Anandmath..But this book!! I remember clearly telling my sister - "Oookay..!" and yet, it has wormed its way in to the second spot in my list! It took some introspection and this is what I think made me like it - To this day, most books I've read (by Indian authors) have dealt explicitly with history or myth. This was the first(that I read), that potrayed reality as it is today in India (and after all this it's supposed to be a supernatural story!!). It even awakened me - supposedly part of the youth of this country - to trends that have set in! What hit me on the face was how we've evolved to become a Westernish Indian bunch...

The complete collection of Hercule Poirot mysteries (Over 50 short Stories) - Agatha Christie
I know each story by-heart! Every character and every mystery. I adore this little Belgian detective who uses the "grey cells" in his little egg shaped head to solve mysteries ranging from finding a missing cook to serving royalty in their troubles! The logic, the mystery and the beautiful potrayal of this character ... But everytime I think, why not Sherlock Holmes?? The supposedly greatest detective of all time? I guess it is because in each of the Poirot mysteries, you have the material available to solve the mystery, which lends to it an extra thrill of guessing the correct suspect (unfortunately, never so!!)

Blue Horizon-Wilbur Smith
Simply, a gripping and wonderful narration! A fictitious story and characters all right, but so well sculpted over the vast expanse of Africa - I found it very hard to put the book down! Some scenes were so well narrated that I thought I was actually present and watching it live! Being a vegetarian, some scenes were quite gross (actually!) to read, but I learnt a lot about African cultures and practices. A must read if you are one for adventure...

The Twentieth Wife - Indu Sunderesan
Somehow, I like books by Indian authors! Even though most of the books I read are by foreigners, the ones I am able to recall after years are the Indian ones! This is one such book - but what appealed in this case was inability to recognize with anything at all! I was totally unaware of the actuality behind the splendor of the Mughal rule in India - some horrifying truths and some more splendor and luxury. But this knowledge is only secondary - the primary reason for this being one of my favorites is that it is a beautiful romantic story. It being narrated by a passionate author in a historical surrounding only made it even more appealing to the hopeless romantic that I am...

The Testament - John Grisham
Its a very boring book - take it from me. But I like it because of one reason - it made me realize the extent to which some people are involved in charity and that what we do is really small. I used to be so proud after donating blood - like I've accomplished a terrific feat and deserved an award for it - but reading about this missionary worker humbled me. I'll always remember this book and it is an inspiration for me to someday try to reach within the vicinity of the work this missionary did...

Bedtime Stories - Geetha
Quite unorthodox, yes, but definitely finds a mention in my all time favorites. Even though I'll soon be stepping out of my teens, every single night my mom ends my day with a "happy" story - and simply because of the peace that fills my heart at the end of her honest, simple and cute narration, I've placed it here...

At the S&T desk...

When I left for The Hindu office today, I was looking forward to interacting with Dr. Prasad, department head of the Science and Technology Desk. I had met up with Dr Prasad for about an hour yesterday but couldn't interact well with him given that his section of the paper would be appearing the next day. However today I got to talk to him quite a bit on how he structured and developed on his section of the paper.

The first thing I observed about him was that he was a voracious reader. He had several science magazines strewn on his desk and a hi-fi looking article was staring at me from his monitor. He first informed me about the various columns in his section of the paper - the most well-read Q&A column, where the readers asked questions about various scientific matters and received replies, a science column published from an international reputed paper like The Guardian, etc. , a journal article (usually an editorial) adopted from Nature, an article on Agriculture usually written by a member of the S&T desk after field research, two or three more articles depending on space availabilty written by columnists mostly dealing with scientific aspects of matters of latest interest and a few scientific titbits.

Dr Prasad has himself written articles (in matters relating especially to stem cell research) and so I was curious as to how he actually chose his topics and presented them to a laymen in an appealing and crisp manner. I learnt that to choose topics, he usually read through various editorials of reputed journals across the world like Nature, The Lancet, The British Journal,etc and when he observed something totally new or unconventional or related to recent topics of interest (for eg. Bird Flu) he would bookmark it. After having short-listed various topics, he would read up on them thoroughly - the paper itself, the references it made and the references' references (!) to get a clear picture of what was being talked about.

On second/third readings, he would make a note of all the major points raised in the article and priorotize them and then draw up his first draft, which usually would be thrice the length of the published article! It was in this way, he said that you could personalise the article.

To be frank, I was very curious to know how exactly does one personalise a scientific article!! I have tried on several occassions to formulate an impassive opinion on an established fact and almost always land heavily on the emotional side! As people and as Indians, we all have perceptions which alters to a great degree what we believe to be fact!

Dr Prasad beautifully put it that the only way to overcome this disadvantage is to read a lot and write all that you know! That way, as you try shortening the article, you will find yourself making several comparisons which ultimately leads to the formulation of an opinion. Well...that sounds awful!! So let me try and put it directly the way he said it:

"I am right now working on an article which reviews the way peer review is carried out in Nature. For this it is essential to first know what peer review is all about. Secondly, you should try and think why this particular procedure is being reviewed. This will itself generate sufficient material to penn your article - but if you are interested you could go ahead and check out the history of peer review and see how it came into being and so on.. The point is that now you have the fact - that the way peers review your scientific paper is going to change. And then you have sufficient material to prove why this change is "long pending" - that some papers earlier published were all farce! This way you have already given a personal touch!"

It was quite interesting to know and I, who upto that point was confident that I could write an article worthy of the Hindu suddenly realised the amount of effort that went into each article! Apart from the effort involved to stay informed, it was impertinant that I read up as much as available on the topic, from all angles to write an article. I learnt that day, what the difference was between reporting and writing!

There was the other section of the desk that I had completely not recognized - the agricultural section. It was here that "field research" in the true sense of the word was involved - and that too of a very different kind. I spoke to Mr Prabhu, who contributes almost every week to the section to get some insight.

Well, if it was possible, even more knowledge and information was required here. One had to keep abreast of activities in remote villages - and percieve any change in the scenario. And again, I bring in the context to explain myself. Mr Prabhu had just returned from a trip to Kancheepuram and he had visited a village nearby. He was surprised to know that many of the farmers were no longer cultivating the seasonal crops - instead they were opting for all-seasonal crops with less water requirement! This was a very very abrupt change, especially in a village which traditionally opted for seasonal crops. But knowledge of this fact only formed the basis for the article. It would take many more conversations and exploration to realise that such acts brought in more income than usual and that several agencies supplying seeds to farmers had already recognized this trend! In this case, Mr Prabhu said, all the information was available - you just had to know where to find it!

So having learnt over about a week the various activities of the various members of the desk and gaining revelations into the tricks of scientific journalism, I tried my hand at it over the next 2 weeks. I read up and wrote an article on "Flies Flight" and got it analysed by Dr. Prasad, who was quite pleased with it except for the fact that I had failed to give credit to the people concerned explicitly.

With that my 4 wonderful weeks at this desk came to an end and I will forever keep these memories close to my heart!

An interesting Chat...

When I got to spend an hour with a top editor who has been working with the newspaper for nearly 30 years!


When I left for The Hindu's office in Mount Road today, I was looking forward to being assigned to the section of the paper I had requested for - the S & T desk (Science and Technology section of the paper which appears in 2 pages of the daily every Thursday) I was to be assigned to the head of the desk - Dr Prasad, who apart from being the chief of the department also wrote articles himself for the section.

But when I arrived, I learnt that Dr Prasad was at a meeting and would be available in about an hour. I was wondering what to do, when Mr Mukund graciously offered to tell me about the technological history of the newspaper. I was most interested, especially as I was quite ignorant about printing technology!

Being a longstanding, top-level employee of The Hindu and having worked through all the "revolutions" personally, it was an opportunity not to be missed! But what made this session particularly interesting for me was that Mr Mukund was such a great speaker! His humility combined with his extensive knowledge and his great ability to lay out technical facts in a manner so easy to percieve, made this a memorable experience!

I would like to share with you what I learned:

The first ever prinitng technology to be invented is attributed to Johannes Gutenberg (Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press with replaceable wooden/metal letters in 1436 ) This was the standard till almost the 20th century! The Hindu which started out in 1878, used this technology initially.

Then came the monotype and linotype. The original Monotype machine used 'hot metal' to form individual letters. But what was then considered "revolutionary" was the linotype. In contrast to the Monotype machine, the Linotype machine formed a complete line of type in one bar! This was more useful for quick printing and Mr Mukund iterated that there were several of these machines occupying a full level then in The Hindu's office building(installed from 1921- 1923)! The machines were big and employed thermal and electrical heating methods to keep the lead boiling hot. (Hence these are referred to as the 'hot type')

In the beginning of the 20th century, there were continual improvements being made - like using a typewriter style keyboard for entering the type. But editing was still a problem - if there was a mistake in a word, the entire line had to be redone and if the sentence ran into several lines, the entire paragraph had to be redone!

That was when The Hindu introduced VDT (Video Digital Technology) And to repeat, as Mr Mukund worded it beautifully, " The person who sat in the hot room, typing, could now sit in front of a terminal in an air conditioned environment!" What with the visual aids and the increased levels of personal comfort, the paper could now be even more productive!

I was, to be frank, amused to find out certain details - for example that The Hindu was the first Indian newspaper to print the editorial on the first page! Before that, it was traditional to have the first page dedicated completely to advertisements! The Hindu was already rising up to international styles and standards, as it was customary to have editorials printed on the first page in international dailies like The Tribune, etc.

When The Hindu started out, it operated initially only in Tamil Nadu. Later on, it moved on to Delhi, Banglore, Vishakapatnam, Thiruvananthapuram,etc. but all the printing was still done only in TN. So, The Hindu purchased its own aircrafts for the distribution of its papers - another first in India.



Later on, The Hindu also became the first newspaper in India to transmit by facsmille its copies to other printing centres.

While everyone was still gawking unbelievably at this 'too good to be true technology' there came the digital revolution! The Hindu was one of the first newspapers to operate in a completely computerized environment. In 1994, The Hindu purchased a software tailor-made to suit its specific needs. In 2005, it underwent the most comprehensive redesigning in the history of any Indian national newspaper to make the daily more reader friendly!

Overall, I learnt a lot about the printing history of this paper that boasts of 125+ years of tradition! It was a great experience.

And of course....

Thank You Mr Mukund!!

The First few days...

I got up in the morning all excited! Just yesterday I had received 2 calls!! Think I'm going nuts eh? Well...read on...

The first call was from Mr N Ram's secretary and the second from Mr. P.K.Subramanium(PKS) both informing me that my application for an internship at the Hindu was successful!

Let me fill you in. I am on a 3 month vacation after having completed successfully the first 2 semesters of my Electrical Engineering degree. I let the first month go by; you know just lazing about, eating good food and catching up with my family. But after the first month of my hols, I was bored. So I began planning how best to spend the next 2 months...And then my Dad came up with this great idea. He suggested that I do something which I have a passion for, something which at first glance seemed completely out of line - a writing job!

I was at first quite hesitant, but then the idea caught on: why not do an internship where I wouldn't have to sit like a dummy doing some old desk job? Why not do an internship which would help me write and present better throughout my life? Why not have a glimpse of the hectic life of a journalist?

And the slowly formed idea began taking roots. I penned down my first ever CV and coverling letter with my mom's help! Even though we all finally get tired of writing them (or so I've heard) the first time is always exciting! I applied for an internship at The Hindu which is India's No.1 daily for a job as an attache' to a regular writer. Being an engineering student I thought why not give a shot at the science and technology section - and so I did!

And yesterday afternoon I received these calls! No less than Mr PKS (Chief Editor of the daily) called up personally to inform me that my application was successful! I was jumping with joy throughout the day and nervously anticipating my next day's interview, when my dad came in and presented me with nothing less than a Mont Blanc pen!! Oh yes! You can imagine my joy at being presented with the world's best pen! But what really lit the day up was the happy and proud faces of my family.

And so today I went (with my lucky charm of course - ama - ) to The Hindu's office at around 2 45pm for my 3pm interview. I was led directly to Mr N Ram's secretary (He is the owner and Editor-In-Chief) of The Hindu. After about an hour of waiting, I finally went in. It was a huge, well furnished room with a computer console at one end, a large desk full of files and papers and the entire room was adorned with shelves and shelves of books. I was and still am quite amazed at the transperancy ,reflective I suppose, of a top class organization!

It was what you'd call a once in a life-time experience I guess, but the top man's simplicity, his direct and open way of talking and his personalized attention - even if it were for a few minutes - made me feel comfortable. I was assigned to the supervision of Mr PKS and one Mr Mukund and would work under Dr Prasad who headed the science and technology section of the paper.

I then accompanied Mr Mukund who showed me around a part of the office. He showed me the pictures of the founders of the organization- which boasts proudly of a 128 year heritage. He then gave me an intro to the paper as such - 11 printing centres in prominent cities throughout the country, journalists and reporters in almost every district, each region to its own edition and suplements and different ads!

I learned that there were basically 2 parts to the office - the newsroom as they called it and a beaurau. The newsroom was the place where sub-editors and editors would select the articles and make any changes required, design the layout of the page and fit as many stories into it as possible.

over the next few days, I went to the newsroom where I was allowed to interact with different sub-editors in charge of various sections of the paper. I learnt that there were various 'bays' - one for the national news, one for the international section and one for the last page. These were basically sections of the paper which remained a constant in all printed editions.

I interacted with Mr Madhu, who was the leader of the "national news bay" and learnt about the intranet system that all the employees worked on. It was an excellent software by which the sub-editors had access to wired articles and reports. They could design the layout of their page from a set of standards, fit in articles and pictures in their allotted space, edit sections and forward them on for a final check.They had reports, alterations and corrections constantly flowing in from their various centres. It was an interesting learning experience.

I then moved on to meet the Photo sub-editor who introduced me to their photo portal. They worked on NICA which I was amazed by! It was an awe-inspiring software system by which they had perhaps millions of photos stacked! It was again very user friendly by which they could just search for pictures sent in by various agencies and select those appropriate to the tone of the news item. I was awestruck when I learnt that a total of 200 pictures were published, daily, in all editions printed throughout the country.

There was then the international section which I learnt about by interacting with one Mr Srinivasan, the leader of this bay. He told me about how they had to constantly monitor the international news channels - like Fox, CNN, BBC, etc. I was interested to learn that the international news published were mostly those which had an appeal for the average Indian - like news from Pakistan, Nepal, Iraq, London and SEA! I also learnt that pictures can sway the interest of the reader and so every page tried to have at least one horizontal and one vertical picture!

I must say it was exciting knowing tomorrow's news! I observed the complete formation of a page 22 (it was the only one finalised by 8 pm!!) I could connect with the work that was being done and the final layout. It was an interesting process.

It was time to leave at around 8pm but I noticed that the activity had just begun! News would flow in till 12 pm and the final layout would be released by 1 15pm. Each section of the paper had a deadline to meet and some sections were left blank until late for filling in any latest developments!

It was a unique, exciting and wonderful learning experience.

Internship Diary - Summer 2006

From June 2006, I was on an internship at The Hindu, Chennai.

The Hindu is a national daily with print editions in 11 prominent cities in India (headquarters in Chennai). Having been in business for 128 years, it is one of the most well read paper in India with nearly 11 million readers.

I got to meet up with the top columnists, editors and graphics speacalists. I have made a note of all that I learned during the process. Feel free to browse through the diary entries and post your comments to me.

The following 3 posts are a summary of the events...

A typical Sunday in my life...

My mom came in, carrying a hot plate of bajjis [mmmm...just writing about it makes my mouth water!] Me, my sister and my dad were at the table, banging on it and singing out loud - "suda suda bajji enga? suda suda ..." (where is the hot hot bajji!) She came in with that lovely smile which makes her look so beautiful; but I was too busy looking (rather greedily gawking) at the lovely bajjis! ( I still amaze at how I manage to push in 7-8 of those hot savouries down my throat in the parching summer heat of Chennai! )

Another of those sunday evening rituals I enjoy! They are probably the best days of my life! But I have to admit; maybe even they don't always begin very well! You see, we mostly try to make it to the saturday night show - and well you don't end up liking most movies! But again I have to rephrase that! You see, its a sort of taken-for-granted ritual that we discuss about the movie after its over (And if you've ever talked to my dad, you've probably realized what I'm going to say!) Anyways, we have this discussion about what each of us liked and disliked about the movie (FYI: my dad usually goes first or last ) and after an in-depth analysis of our thoughts we reach a conclusion. Now you may wonder what the whole 'dad' factor was about - well you see, he is an analytic and optimistic leader by character (or should I say personality.. :-D ) So he has a knack of picking up certain points about the movie which we all liked and puts it forth in a manner whereby we even manage to somehow change our view, sometimes opposite to what it previously was! Why all this by the way?? Ah..I have to rephrase that to - and well you don't end up liking all movies!

Now all that movie watching and analysis is bound to take up energy! So we usually end up getting up at around 7 or 8 am. It being Sunday, the holiday, all of us somehow convince our health conscious (and slim- now I wonder how those two match??) mom that its the perfect day to take a stroll later in the evening instead of the routine early morning jog! Obviously, its a perfect beginning for lazy me!

But in my defense, I do utilize that time well! I make it a point to read all the columns of the newspaper that interest me (though it may be a little in fear of my well-informed sister starting a topic at dinner table and me blinking!) After that, its just time to sit around a bit and relax - I used to watch the Mahabarath series on T.V ,which was really different from the sops I usually watch, but then a story can only be so long! So now I watch some cartoons and travel series instead.

By this time, again from all the activities, my stomach would start conspiring with me and together, we'd rope in my sister and her stomach too! Together we'd try to steal into the kitchen (rather be lifted by the wonderous smell of lime rasam and potato roast!) only to encounter our mom! She'd put on a strict face - but with my mom's heart, you can never leave the kitchen without a bite of your favourite!!

After such a sumptous and delicious afternoon meal, comes the other important exercise of the day - HP! (Horizontal Position for you stay-afternoon-awake-people!) So after a cool retreat into an artificially created 21 degree temperature for about 3 hours, our energy levels high again (again? what am I talking about!! ), we'd go out to and enjoy a few games of badminton in the sun, sweating it all out!

That would ultimately bring me to the evening snack ritual I mentioned earlier. The rest of the evening would be spent in a relaxing manner -doing what each of us liked best - catching up with latest magazines, watching the news, listening to music, playing chess (my sister is damn good at it ) or just penning down memories like these!

Sundays always unfortunately end (and even more unfortunately usher in mondays), but there are always more such sundays to look forward to where you do the things you do do best in life - eat, sleep, relax and enjoy with the people you love!

The City of my dreams...

When I moved into this city in 2000, out of compulsion from my father's transfer, I was quite unhappy. Not only was there the initial shock of being uprooted from the garden city I was born and brought up in; the harsh weather conditions initially blew a dry impression of Chennai on me.

There were so many things I was unhappy about: missing my friends at home, going through the process of making new friends in a culturally different atmosphere in my awkward teens, the drinking water - which 'tasted' very different from the Cauvery water I was used to- and perhaps what first struck me as a very conservative environment.

Banglore will always have a special place in my heart, it being the place I was born. But nineteen years later (the last six of those in Chennai), today, if anyone asks me where my home is, pat will come the reply - Singara Chennai! This expanse of land (and maybe a little water) has an inherent beauty and culture, which not only acts as a repellent to the sometimes adverse weather conditions but smuggles into your heart a special place which can be replaced by none!

So what is it that Chennai has that takes your breath away? Thinking back, I believe that it was the beach which started re-sculpting my opinion of Chennai. It was here, under the influence of cooling breezes, that I began appreciating my surroundings. Viewing the sunset, with the famous 'sundal' (which by their very mention have the effect of causing salivation!) warming me to realization of the scenic setting I was witnessing and the very comfortable noise levels of people chattering, children playing, joggers puffing and the waves restrained by the soft sand, established my first link with this beautiful place I call home.

They say your company determines who you are. In Chennai then, you are in the midst of friendly, warm, talented and cultured people! I warmed up to this fact in my school where unlike in Banglore, the class ate lunch together and not in small groups, where my friends unbashedly opened, offered (!) and ate their curd rice daily and where the interaction at every level was open, topic oriented and challenging! After picking this up in school, I began observing this trend; and to my surprise, I found that it applied outside the school walls as well - whether I went shopping where the shopkeeper would engage in small talk while drawing up a list, or my mother bargaining with the fruits vendor or when I accompanied my grandmom to the silk store where she enquired about the place the silk came from!! Where else in the world can you discuss openly with your neighbour - "Didn't you get that free calender they promised with every purchase?"!!

But what began as a love affair became much more serious (!) after I lived through the festivals in my first year here! Be it getting up early in the morning (at about 4am !!) to see 'mamis' singing bajans in groups during margazhi masam (the month of december), trying my hand at coming up with creative 'kolams' inspired by the extensive and colourful ones of my neighbours, going to a vendor in a locality a few kilometers away to purchase four plantain leaves (!!), or just wondering at the variety, activity and din at 5am at the local markets! These were certain aspects I never associated with festivals, but which are now an integral part of my life!

But don't conclude that 'utsavams', the amazing 'kutcheris' or the traditional dramas make Chennai a city of the past, becuase that is not true. Why, the food available itself is evidence enough! Be it the delicious South Indian Cuisine of dosas, idlis and the plantain meals or the hot Tandoori dishes of Northern India or Italian, Malaysian cuisines or even the fast food junctions famous in America, you can enjoy all of them in Chennai! Being a foodie myself, I believe that the way to a person's heart is the stomach. What more can I say than that Chennai is here in my heart!!

I could ramble on and on about shopping, places to hang out, theatres to go to and local parks (oh yes! there are a few), but that you can find in any local guide book too! What you wouldn't know perhaps is that a very beautiful place in Chennai is the IIT campus where you can enjoy the experience of waiting on the road for the deer to cross or that if you are lucky enough to witness rains in Chennai, you witness nothing short of a miracle, what with the enticing smell of the wet earth and the visual of the raindrops splashing against the parched ground!

All said and done (almost), I compell myself to conclude with a final word: (though there can't actually be any) Chennai is AWESOME!!

A complete voting experience!

A first time voter's views on the 2006 Assembly Elections - Tamil Nadu, India

Born in 1987, my first chance to vote came on 8th May, 2006. Living in the largest multi-party democracy in the world and existing in an age where everything is hyped up by the media, the run up to the elections, the actual voting process, the post analysis and finally the results naturally fascinated me.

Being a teenager whose fickle mind is susceptible to a variety of factors, many of them trivial at times, my decision was based on the following reasons. To begin with, I was influenced by a recent Hindi movie, Rang De Basanti, which potrayed the rise of today's youth in Indian politics. Moreover, the knowledge that this time, a group of IITians (students of the Indian Institute of Technology, perhaps the most reputed and sought after educational institution in India) would contest impressed upon me the importance of us, students, expressing our views. In addition to this, the views of my parents and grandmother (who have never missed voting in an election) and the mini political debates and discussions we had, made me realize that as a citizen it is my responsibility to participate in not only criticizing my government but also actually choosing it. It made me realize that my single vote counted, even in the midst of a few million others!!

Secondly, it was again the media; this time the small screen. I watched various analysts on several news channels scrutinize the performance of the government in power, follow leaders on their campaigns, talk to various candidates, discuss the manifesto of various parties and rope in the general views of various sections of the public. I learnt how to critically view the current government's actions against its promises five years ago, the accountability of the leader/party and the feasibility of actual execution of various promises!! Obviously, a factor that also weighed upon me was the extent to which I would personally be affected by the proposed agenda of the concerned party.

Thirdly, the realization that this time around the elections were no longer centered around 'personalities' but the actual public and the people, deeply affected me. The very fact that each party was vying to be the one to promise the most benefits proved this! It made me understand that we - the people - were important; no longer were past achievements of famous predecessors sufficient!

Lastly perhaps, it was the knowledge that after exercising my franchise, I had the right to remain silent and keep my vote a secret, which empowered me as a citizen of my country, that sealed my decision to vote!!

I must say though that I was perhaps part of the most organized elections ever held!! (These impressions I got from talking to various elders in and around my apartments). Personally, I was extremely satisfied with the voting process (held in a single phase throughout the state!! ) and even a little excited about being among the first to vote electronically in India!

About my actual voting decision, I must say that I was quite confused. I was undecided as to whether I should vote for the party of my choice (who I hoped would come to power ultimately) , or whether I should vote for the candidate of my choice in my constituency. I decided upon the former after much self debate - rather self consideration as to which move would benefit me more personally.

I thought the exciting part was over...But no! I must confess that it was on the counting day that I was most enthusiastic! I was on the edge of my seat, with my fingers constantly on the remote, toggling between various channels, eager to know who would form the next government! The fact that these elections were close, made this process all the more exciting and it was nearly an hour to the finish when finally the trends became decisive.

All in all, I must say that my first participation in an election was an exciting learning experience!

May, 2006