The Rescue Mission

I woke up at 7 am this morning, which is very early by my standards. My house was already abuzz with some issue. My uncle, who lives downstairs was talking in a loud voice and my aunt was complaining about something. Then I heard a kitten meowing nearby. It seemed to be in pain and then there was sound of more cats. My aunt was telling my uncle that a cat probably got stuck somewhere and was unable to come out of it.

I rushed to the terrace and found the cat who has made our terrace its home. There was a kitten along with it. But the sound of the wincing kitten seemed to come from elsewhere. I checked the broad rain water pipe which drains the rain water from the terrace into the well. The sound was coming from that. I checked if I could somehow pull the kitten out, but I couldn't see it. It had fallen into the pipe and was stuck vertically inside it. There was no way to dismantle the pipe as it is cemented and the single pipe runs from the terrace till the outlet inside the well. If the kitten were to slip from the current position, it would fall into the well and its death was imminent. I wanted to do everything I could to save it.

I called my mom to the terrace and explained the situation. I went downstairs to my uncle's house and checked the open-to-terrace space where the well is located. I found the outlet of that pipe and lowered a bucket tied to a rope into the well and tied it firmly into the position so that the if the kitten were to fall, it would fall only into the bucket. I then went back to the terrace and took the long tube that we use to water the plants. I lowered the tube into the rainwater pipe and pushed the kitten along the pipe. I pushed it two floors down and went downstairs again. I could now hear the kitten near the well, but it was now stuck in a right angle bend there and there was no way to push it any further.

It was around 9.15 am by now and I was still struggling to get the kitten out. My uncle gave a hand and was keeping vigil if the kitten would suddenly pop out. My aunt went to the terrace and I asked her to pour water forcibly into the pipe. The water drained out through the pipe but the kitten was nowhere to be seen. For a minute, we thought that it had died inside. I wanted to get it out somehow and I asked her to pour more water. She poured a bucket full of water when the kitten was pushed out of the place where it was stuck and looked out from the pipe. It saw daylight after about three hours of being stuck inside.

It was afraid to come out, and went back into the pipe. The outlet inside the well is barely reachable by hand so I couldn't grab hold of it. Now my aunt poured more water and the kitten peeped out for a second time. More water. Now it peeped out for the third time when I bent down into the well, stretched out my hand and grabbed the kitten by its head (or whatever my hand could catch hold of it). It started scratching my hands with its paws and I quickly, but softly threw it out of the well into safety. It was completely wet and shivering due to the cold water. I wrapped it up with a cloth and showed it to my mom, uncle, aunt and granny. Well, now let me show it to you too:

The cute little fur ball that I rescued today!

Okay, so everyone at home seems to have started loving him. But I'm not allowed to raise pets at home, you know. But I hope he sticks around and stays in my terrace (I've blocked that pipe FYI). For the next half an hour after we rescued him, everyone at home was taking turns to cuddle him. I think they've accepted him as a member in our family, but I haven't officially asked the kitten for his permission for being a part of our family though.

The childhood that they never had.

A few weeks ago, I was shown a Micromax Android phone by my uncle. The screen had developed lot of cracks and he told me that it was time that he got a new phone. "See, this is the reason that I got this phone for 4K. Cheap, serves the purpose and it lasted long in harsh conditions!", he explained. What he had actually meant regarding the "harsh conditions" was that his kids playing games on the phone.

The only game that I knew when I was a kid was Cricket, at least till I was 10 years old. I had loads of friends back at New Delhi, with their ages ranging from three to twenty. The only thing that we all had in common was to play in the hot summer sun. Even now, I associate the word "game" with an outdoor game, than the digital one. I never took any extra classes on weekends, or had a tight schedule unlike the kids of today. We had a TV with cable connection, but I hardly remember watching cartoons. Nor there were any special channels for kids' programmes, other than Cartoon Network. Mario and Dave were almost the only two games I had ever played on a console or on the computer. Childhood was fun indeed.

I always feel cursed to be born and lived all my childhood in metro cities. There was hardly any place to play, and I was witness to every piece of empty land and playground around me being converted into high rise apartments. I studied in schools that continually discouraged sports. The standard of education was great, but there was hardly a playground to play. Yet, it was fun to hunt for empty plots and small pieces of land within my area along with friends just for the love of cricket. It was fun to break windows by hitting sixers too. I really loved the part that came next, being scolded by angry Mamas and Mamis for playing there.

I see my uncle's kids who live downstairs every day go out to play at my neighbour's house, just opposite to ours. Theirs is an apartment, with little space on the ground floor where some ten kids play every day. When I feel that I was myself cursed to be brought up in metros, the childhood of these kids seems even more miserable. "Android" was one of the first words that was uttered by my young cousin Sriram. He is five years old and easily beats me in a game of Angry Birds or Fruit Ninja. He knows to play every single game that I've downloaded for him on the phone. When my uncle and aunt see this, they feel proud that their young son is capable of using a mobile phone so well at such a young age. Well, I have other opinions.

The only pastime that the kids of today have is the television. Ben 10, Jackie Chan, among others, keep them engaged, while in the outside world, each and every corner of the city is being commercialised. I hardly see anyone carry a cricket bat or a football in their hand these days to play. I must be kidding. If there no playground, where would they be carrying the bat and ball to play?

I used to play so hard every day, that I used to come home hungry and tired. I never cared what was for lunch or dinner and all I knew is that I ate it completely and as fast as possible, so that I could get ready for the next session of play. These days, the kids demand the food that they like, and want the television to be switched on for them to eat their meal. The hot afternoon summer sun, cool wind blowing on the face in the evenings, star gazing with friends in the night - all this is something they will never experience. I had a lot of neighbours who spoke various languages like Telugu, Malayalam, Hindi, Tamil and Punjabi. I learnt a bit of everything as a kid, and used to spend more time at my neighbours' than at my house. Well now, I hardly know who my neighbours are. The person who lives next door is Mr. Mali, an actor in many Tamil TV serials and movies. I saw him this morning and waved at him. The last time I saw him or any of my other neighbours was around two months back, I think.

About twelve years ago, the Shanti Colony road was adorned with lush green trees on both sides and there were hardly any shops on the road. I used to go cycling every morning and there were hardly any vehicles on the road. But now, it takes more than ten minutes to cross the road. Buses that must ply on the main roads have taken over this avenue road and individual houses are now being rebuilt into high rise apartments with shops on the ground floor.

While my neighbourhood is being encroached upon by luxury apartments, there are still people who want to go out and play. At Zoho, we have a couple of badminton courts and a dedicated play area for table tennis. When I joined here, we had a freshers meet with our CEO, Sridhar Vembu. We had a Q&A session with him, when someone asked, "Why are we building a facility at Tenkasi? And why are we planning to move some of our workforce there?". He smiled and replied, "If you suddenly want to go out to play cricket or any other sport, where would you go here?". And then, there was silence in the hall for about two minutes.

Regina Brett's 45 life lessons.

I was very impressed by this following article written by Regina Brett, for the Plain Dealer, a daily newspaper in Cleveland, Ohio. She has won the Pulitzer Prize for Commentary. The article is as follows:

"To celebrate growing older, I once wrote the lessons life taught me. It is the most requested column I've ever written. My odometer rolled over to 50 this week, so here is the column once more:

1. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.

2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.

3. Life is too short - enjoy it.

4. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends and family will.

5. Pay off your credit cards every month.

6. You don't have to win every argument. Stay true to yourself.

7. Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone.

8. It's OK to get angry with God. He can take it.

9. Save for retirement starting with your first paycheck.

10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.

11. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present.

12. It's OK to let your children see you cry.

13. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.

14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn't be in it.

15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye, but don't worry, God never blinks.

16.. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.

17. Get rid of anything that isn't useful. Clutter weighs you down in many ways.

18. Whatever doesn't kill you really does make you stronger.

19. It's never too late to be happy. But it’s all up to you and no one else.

20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no for an answer.

21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets. Don't save it for a special occasion. Today is special.

22. Over prepare, then go with the flow.

23. Be eccentric now. Don't wait for old age to wear purple.

24. The most important sex organ is the brain.

25. No one is in charge of your happiness but you.

26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words 'In five years, will this matter?'

27. Always choose life.

28. Forgive.

29. What other people think of you is none of your business.

30. Time heals almost everything. Give time time.

31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.

32. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.

33. Believe in miracles.

34. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn't do.

35. Don't audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.

36. Growing old beats the alternative of dying young.

37. Your children get only one childhood.

38. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.

39. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.

40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's, we'd grab ours back.

41. Envy is a waste of time. Accept what you already have, not what you need.

42. The best is yet to come.

43. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.

44. Yield.
  

45. Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift."

I thought that the above article was something similar to what I had written in my previous blog post, so the timing of this article has been pretty well :)

The lesson of life.

Sometime over a year ago, I read a friend's post on Facebook about this thought that the four years that we spend at college itself is like a lifetime. Like we're born when we enter the college in our first year and die on our graduation. The post spoke about some sentimental aspects to the end of college days, such as losing friends and acquaintances, but I'm not going to get into all that. Ever since I have read that post, this thought that the college life being a lifetime in itself has stuck to me and has since then lurked in the back of my mind. True to that, staying at hostel is a different experience that added to the unforgettable memories of the college 'life'.

My high school English professor, Mr. Rajendran once said in class that the best way to know about a person's character is to put him in a room where he is alone and free to do anything and observe his behaviour in there. Well, it made no difference to me at the time he said that and I never quite understood whatever that meant. Now about six years later that I have finished my college, those words seem to make much more sense to me. These four years of college, I was away from home, living in a different world in which I was left alone, free to make choices to live life the way I wanted to.

College and hostel life gives you wings and freedom. You could fly high and reach heights or fall for petty baits that could trap you forever and make you a live a low life. I do know and made friends with people who used to smoke, drink or even did dope. I still attribute much of my jolly good times spending with such friends, but that said, I simply did not fall for what they might consider fantasy.

This lifetime of college defines certain boundaries that are intangible, but can only be felt from within. You well know when you fall prey to such petty habits and cross the limits set by yourself. Being in a group where your peers are into such habits does not imply that you need to follow suit. It isn't a matter of pride or show off that you too can do it, but it is a matter of pride that you never got into it, although being a part of such a peer group. 

These days, when I'm asked by someone if I smoke or drink, or if I'm offered a complimentary cigarette, I politely decline the offer. When being asked for the reason, I would simply say, "Thanks, but I quit smoking about a year ago". If I'm persuaded further by a close friend, I'd say "Life has been great without them. I feel there's no reason to even try them out". In the four years of my college, I simply wasted the first, but I'm convinced that I spent the rest three years working hard to hone my skills. Whilst some of my friends were busy watching TV series and movies, I used to work on something till the wee hours of morning. These three years I consider not as hard work, but as an investment. An investment whose benefits that I am starting to reap now, getting offers from companies and turning them down and choosing a workplace where I like to work.

I am a staunch believer of the saying that the years you spend at your college determine your career, character and your life on the whole. Well hey, I don't say that it's bad to get under such influence, but I'm just against to say that it should not change the course of your life. Sometimes, prevention is just better. Most of my friends say that they have tried their hand at smoking once, just for the feel it. I appreciate that you shouldn't leave any stones unturned. But then, make sure that the habit doesn't stick on to you. Whenever I see someone smoking beside me, I just tell myself "Look at this faggot. He just blew a day off his life". Please understand, that there's nothing cool or hip about it. 

My Chemistry Professor, Mr. Vallabhan in my 12th grade once told the class - "There are only two significant days in a man's life. The day when he was born, and the day when he shows why he was born". Although I didn't make it big in my academics, I'm convinced that I've made some considerable achievements in my love and passion for design and development of applications. I would also go as far as saying that I've made the best possible use of my college life than most of the others. I have a good network of friends, acquaintances and seniors who have guided and continue to guide me to what I want to become. My hard work and efforts at college and what I am so far can be found here.

Thus, as I would like to point out, these are some of the lessons that life teaches you. Learning from others' mistakes is better than learning them from your own. Always, the best way to mitigate or deal with a crisis is to avoid it in the first place.

Last week, at my office, a colleague of mine was walking past me and he suddenly stopped by for a moment. He took a glance at my laptop's screen and asked, "What is that you're chanting?"

"That's Shiva Thandava Stotram", I replied.

"Wow, you do this stuff daily? How did the guys spare a person like you at your college and hostel?", he asked.

"That's where I learnt it", I replied. Boy, you should have seen that proud look on my face after telling that!

Good cop, Bad cop.

A few days back, I was returning home from my cousin's place. I was waiting to take a right turn to Shanti Colony at the Thirumangalam signal in Anna Nagar. I saw that the Traffic police who stood there had caught hold of three youngsters who rode on one bike and without helmet. It took so long for the signal to clear that I saw the entire scene. The three guys importuned the policeman to set them free as they had all the necessary documents, but the cop had the key in his hand and blatantly refused to hand it over to them. The signal on the opposite side of the road cleared up, because of which I had to wait even longer. Now, a trio on a bike, just like the three on the other side of the road, sped past them, laughing and making fun of the guys and the policeman. The three guys were baffled and so was the cop. The guys pointed out at the ones who escaped and seemed to ask the cop how he could let them go. I would have really loved to see his reply, but the car behind me started honking, signalling that I had to proceed. I wondered if the cop had apprehended them, or simply let them go. I felt that either ways, the cop was doing something wrong. So what do you think about the job of a traffic police? Catching hold of only a few unfortunate victims and letting the others go? While that isn't much of a topic to think about, I would like to narrate a few of my experiences with some good and bad cops that I have met during my rides throughout the city.

Incident 1: It was sometime in 2011 when I read a newspaper article stating that many traffic signals including the ones at Guindy, Vadapalani, etc. had been fitted with CCTVs and the offenders were caught and fined even at 2 or 3am and the bill was sent directly sent to their homes over post. It was around the same time when my cousin Ganesh had left his Honda Activa at my place and I used to take it for a ride. Every time I used to cross those signals, I used to notice that the CCTVs were in place. Once, I was travelling to his place on his own scooter, I passed the Guindy signal with 2 seconds to spare on the green light but found myself stuck on the middle of the road as the traffic from the right had already started coming. I managed to make it through and was promptly stopped by a bellied cop. He asked me to alight and took away my key. I went after him and he questioned me "how much do you have in your wallet?". In turn, I asked him, "What's your name? Which station do you belong to?". There's this sudden adrenaline rush inside you when you know that you are completely right and the person in front of you is wrong. This feeling makes you go crazy, and did the same with me. The policeman was bewildered and said "You violate the rules, and you question me? How dare you? I can book you under four cases and you may even have to go to the jail for a year." I told him calmly, "I crossed the signal with two seconds to spare. The traffic started coming from the right while I still had time to go. Those guys violated the traffic and not I". He did not seem convinced, so I added, "Have you read the newspaper lately? I'm aware that there's a CCTV installed here" I said, pointing to the CCTV on top of the signal. "I wouldn't want to get into trouble by myself, so I'd better follow the rules. If you still want to book me for the offense, you can go on. I can simply get away by the recorded CCTV footage", I said. Now the cop was completely confused. He had no clue what to do with me. Till the end, he had no idea if I were telling the truth or lying, but he simply handed over the key to me and said "Sir, you should be careful while driving. Look at those guys jumping the signal. I mistook you for violation of the signal and I'm very sorry. All it takes is a second for a life to end. So we need to be very careful at traffic signals". I gave him a wicked smile and left.

Incident 2: When a good looking girl passes in front of you, you can't help but notice her. Policemen are no exception to this. There was this one time when I was riding my scooter to my workplace and I was stuck at the signal at MGR College in Poonamallee High Road. Two good looking girls were crossing the road when the traffic police there was checking them out. He was so keen on checking them out that many of the passers by noticed the cop looking at them. There was this guy on the other side of the road on a bike who saw the busy bird-watching policeman and grabbed this opportunity and jumped the signal. This cop saw both the girls go till the end of the road and then came to his senses. This cop must have some great sense of appreciating art and beauty, I thought.

Incident 3: On yet another uneventful day, I was halted by a cop at the Guindy signal again. This time, he didn't stop me for jumping the signal, nor for any other offense. He asked me to pull out my license, RC book and insurance for my vehicle. He asked me to come over and I went along with him to one corner of the road. We were joined by another cop who asked "What have we got here today?". The first cop said, "Nothing. He's clear. He has license and all his papers are perfect. But as we have stopped him, we do need to book him for something". I was awe-stuck. When the hell did these guys start doing this? I mean, book offense on people just for the fun of it? I waited to see what happened next. The second policeman took a stroll and went to his bike and returned with a dark colored, hexagonal box. My heart started racing. I thought he had a bomb or some home made explosives inside the box and was going to book me for that. He opened the box and to my surprise, it was full of chocolates. He asked me to go ahead take one and told me that it was his daughter's birthday, and he had been offering chocolates to everyone whom he met that day. He then advised me to drive slowly and safely. One heck of a good cop!

Incident 4: Some of the best moments of my life have been with my cousins Ganesh and Vandhana. It was in my 10th grade when Ganesh had finally started including me in his outings with his friends. Those were the days of transition from a kid to a teen as I had just started to observe Ganesh's lifestyle and how he enjoyed with his friends, the way every guy does. Vandhana was in her 9th grade and during this period, Ganesh, Vandhana and I used to ride triples on Ganesh's bike. During this particular incident, we three were going for a movie along with four of Ganesh's friends. It was somewhere in interior Vadapalani where we were driving when we passed a traffic police who noticed that we were riding triples. Just a few yards away, Ganesh and his friends pulled over as his friends wanted to take a puff. The policeman having seen it all, came over to us, joined by some more constables (if that's what you call junior traffic policemen). Vandhana and I were on one side of the road, while Ganesh and his friends were on the other side. Once Ganesh saw the police coming, he crossed the road and came over to us. He told me, "Look, if the cop asks you anything, tell him that you are in your 6th grade". He turned towards Vandhana and said, "And you are in 5th grade. Don't talk anything else, I'll do all the talking" and he went back to the other side of the road. The policemen stopped and inquired them. As the road was bustling with traffic, we couldn't hear a thing that was going on with them. We simply stood and kept watching them beg the policemen when the senior officer told something to Ganesh and he came over and took us to them. The policeman asked us, "Do these guys smoke in front of you regularly?". We nodded or head from side to side signalling that it was the first time we had seen them smoke. He said "If you see these guys smoking in front of you ever again, make sure you break their hands". We nodded in unison and the cop asked Ganesh to leave us on the other side of the road and get back. He gave them his advice for about forty minutes about not to smoke in front of us, but didn't utter a word about riding triples on the bike. Well, we didn't miss the movie in spite of the forty minute discourse. Ganesh and I still continue to recollect this incident very often. Since when did the job description of traffic cops include ban on smoking in public?

Incident 5: In another incident, I was riding my new Access 125 from my house to Vandhana's. I missed a left turn on the GST road near Tambaram and had to take a U turn to reach there. I was now waiting at the signal on the other side of the road, waiting to take a right turn. As soon as I saw the signal turn green, I accelerated the vehicle and scooted ahead. Only at the last second, I saw a bus approached from behind me from the left and I applied the brakes and my vehicle came to a standstill. The bus missed me just by a few inches and it stopped. I saw that he had jumped the signal from the left side from where I had earlier stood. Suddenly, a huge crowd gathered and blocked the bus from leaving the place. A traffic police came rushing and asked the driver to park the vehicle at the corner. He then caught the driver by his collar and dragged him out from the bus. He told me that there was no mistake of mine and he clearly saw the driver jump the signal. People among the crowd asked me to leave the scene and I did just that. When I was leaving, I saw that the driver was being pushed inside a Mahindra Bolero that belonged to the Chennai Traffic Police. The traffic police department indeed does its work, I thought.

Incident 6: In yet another encounter, I had taken my cousin's Activa to Hotel Kohinoor Asiana on the OMR. Gokul, a junior of mine at college had come along and was riding pillion. On our way back, I took a wrong turn from the OMR and reached a toll booth. I knew that we had lost our way and took a U Turn from there. A police highway patrol jeep parked on the other side of the road was watching us. After taking the turn, we were just about to pass by the jeep as two policemen walked out and stopped us. I was asked to produce the necessary documents and I hoped that my cousin had kept all the necessary documents in the vehicle itself. I showed whatever documents that were inside to the cop and he told me that the insurance had expired two years ago. I was shocked, and I called up my cousin and he told me that he always had a copy of it in his wallet so he hadn't kept it in the vehicle. I had a situation now and couldn't get away. I got the cop to talk to my cousin, but that didn't help. He told that he would inform someone at workplace and come over to resolve this. Meanwhile, the cop had a little chat with me. He asked my name and where I was studying. He asked my dad's name and occupation. I told him his name and I also told that he was working for the central government. The cop was interested and asked me "Which department does he work for? What is his post?". I replied, "He works for Income Tax Appellate Tribunal. It's like a court for income tax issues. He's the Senior Secretary there". The cop handed me the key and told "I know you won't break the rules. But next time you drive someone else's vehicle, make sure the documents are in place". I nodded my head and we left the place. On the way back, Gokul asked "Anna, does your dad really work in Income Tax?". I said "Yes da, I guess the post that I mentioned really exists in the department after all!".

Nevertheless, policemen, especially from the traffic department tend to be very helpful. I have heard many say that if you want to know directions to a certain place, ask the auto-walas. I do that, but I also don't hesitate to ask the traffic cops. Surprisingly, they direct you very well and explain the route quite patiently. You too should try asking them for routes some day.

P.S.: You might be thinking what makes me write a post on the city's traffic police. I did an internship at the National Informatics Centre, Govt. of India last year, and my intern was an R&D project for the Chennai Traffic Police to develop a mobile application to book traffic offenses on the spot. I had to study some sections of the Indian Penal Code that involved traffic offenses. Since then, I've thought a bit about these poor fellas who stand there all day under the hot sun just to make sure that we reach our destination safely. Some are good, and some may be bad, but believe me or not, they are really kind. You just have to talk your way out to get away from them!

My perspective on Tamil Cinema

About two months ago, I watched two Tamil movies - David and Kadal in two consecutive days. Most of the content in this post was written on the subsequent day after watching the movies, but I just got the time to complete this post and publish it. Honestly, In the past six months, I have watched more movies (about 70) than I have watched in the past six years. Before I begin, I would like to tell you a few words about myself, something close to a disclaimer:

1. I am not a fan of any actor or director in the Tamil cinema industry. 
2. I watch movies on an 'as-is' basis, making no assumptions of my own. 
3. The actors or their looks doesn't matter to me at all.
4. History doesn't matter. How good or bad their acting has been in their previous movies is literally of no concern to me. Only the one in currently in question counts.
5. I look for 'acting' and not 'performance', there is a subtle difference between the two.
6. I am no one to judge a movie, neither do I understand the art of film making, nor do I have any experience in directing/acting even in a short film. But I guess you wouldn't disagree with most of my views.

There are certain things that I expect from the movie I watch. My rating for a movie is based on a number of factors. I try to completely indulge into the movie for the ~150 mins that I spend at the cinema hall. Throughout this post, I will be giving examples of some of the movies that I have felt to be exceptionally good or bad to help you get a better idea. Here are some of the core aspects that I look for in a movie:

• Justification: Why did the director decide to make this movie?
• Intent: What is the movie trying to tell me? Is it a complete entertainer, or a movie with a message?
• Genre: I would like to classify the movie to a particular genre, but combining two genres would be perfect too. Hollywood movies do this in a wonderful way. Directors of Tamil cinema have this practice of combining all possible genres into a movie - they call this one a 'Masala' movie.
• Immersion: How far does the movie indulge me into itself? (A perfect example of this was the Edhir Neechal [1968] movie. Nagesh's performance was so brilliant that he completely became one with the character that he played).

Every movie is known better with the actor who plays the main protagonist, than being known by the director who actually made the film. So I guess it would be fair to start with the protagonist (always male in Tamil cinema). So here's what I expect from the lead male character(s):

1. Please do not show any superhuman stunts unless you are making a superhero movie.

2. A lead male character doesn't always need to be a protagonist. The audience have grown out of the 'Truth alone triumphs' concept and are looking for something different. This was wonderfully shown in Mankatha by Ajith and Arjun.

3. I look for the acting, and not the hero/villain stuff. Switching sides once every few movies can be really cool (I would really like to see Vijay or Ajith with all their 'Gethu' in a negative role).

4. Opening song or an opening fight sequence totally sucks.

5. Don't carry over the same attitude or 'Gethu' in every movie.

6. Different costumes/roles/characters would be great. Kamal Haasan is known for it, Vikram has done it in Deiva Thirumagal, Sethu, Anniyan, Pithamagan, etc. and Ajith has done it too in Villain, Red and Citizen.

7. I would love to see the hero being portrayed something other than a jobless person, mechanic, or a college student. Jeeva did well as a Journalist in Ko, Kamal as a scientist in Dasavatharam, Madhavan as an author in Kannathil Muthamittal, Samudrakani as a school teacher in Saatai were very realistic.

Now for the lead female character(s):

1. Having a character a movie doesn't actually mean that she has got a character. Almost all tamil movies portray the heroine having a dumb personality. Jyothika's character, for example, was really well sketched in Mozhi.

2. If there is no reason to have the lead female in a movie, remove the character. I still don't understand the purpose of Kajal Agarwal's character in Thupakki. Her presence only made things worse.

3. Let her make an impact: If there's a female character, use her well. Make sure that she too has a say in the plot and the way things turn out in the movie.

4. Women aren't stupid: Vidya Balan played a brilliant role in Kahaani. Show women as highly intelligent creatures, as much as you show the hero to be.

5. Treat them equally: There haven't been a lot of movies made give as much emphasis to the heroine than to the hero. I liked Poda Podi just because the heroine was given equal priority.

6. Truth hurts: A heroine doesn't always need to be a rich girl with fair complexion. Anushka was shown as a prostitute in Vaanam and I thought she did really bring out the emotions of the character she played. It is worth a mention here that Sangeetha did a wonderful role in Pithamagan.

7. Enough 'Item' roles: Close shots, partial nudity or exposing their body should not be done to show the heroine as an 'Item'. It would make more sense if their role is so compelling to show them that way (like Vaanam).

Some suggestions that could be adopted in the future:

1. 1 Hero + 1 or more Heroines + 1 comedian + 1 or more villains = FAIL. There has been infinite permutations and combinations of this concept since the dawn of cinema and it simply doesn't appeal anymore.

2. Multi-starers are the way to go - Bollywood has realized this and almost all of the upcoming movies have 2 or more male actors teaming up. I would love to see a similar shift in Tamil cinema too.

3. A supernatural movie wouldn't be bad, given that it falls into proper places of justification, intent and genre (as mentioned above) with the appropriate cast and exceptionally great screenplay.

4. One thing at a time - This again reflects on the genre, but cramming too many genres into a movie often makes it look messy. One such example is Varanam Ayiram - I didn't know what to look for in the movie - was it the emotion between the son and dad? The love story? The action sequence at Kashmir? Or the emotional breakdown after Sameera Reddy's death? Well, give me a break!

5. A good story line is not actually necessary - While it is hard to come up with a totally fresh or different movie, a repetitive story with a minor twist might just be able to pull it off. But the screenplay makes all the difference. We saw this in Vinnai Thandi Varuvaya - it was the same old love story but brilliant, although being heavily criticized for Trisha's character in the movie.

6. Punch dialogues aren't so cool - While they worked out in the 90's while Rajinikanth was still young, punch dialogues delivered by the actors today can often be related with Captain Vijaykanth's.

7. A good fight sequence doesn't mean people or objects (like cars) flying around. I wonder how a normal actor becomes a superhero during the fight sequences. The audience of this generation isn't so stupid to believe it. Watching the trailer of Alex Pandian fed me with enough bullshit, that it made me decide against watching the movie at the cinemas.

8. Whoever invented the 'Dishum' sound for a punch? Every time I hear that, I get an itchy feeling. A fight sequence can be much better without the sound effects.

9. Inclusion of songs - This is perhaps the single most thing that frustrates me while watching a movie. I wonder if the songs could be included as a background score, and keep the story ticking along with the songs. This was wonderfully done in Slumdog Millionare by Danny Boyle and it went horribly wrong in Kadal, which isn't even worth mentioning here.

10. Know when the time is right: I wouldn't like to watch a movie that drags, but we've seen in movies like Nadodigal that even movies with long running times can be good too. Yet, I feel most of the movies have a lot of fillers that could be eliminated.

11. Movies completely made with graphics/animation is still a distant dream in the Tamil film industry, while Roadside Romeo was a brave attempt in Hindi, but failed unfortunately. Naan E (dubbed), on the other hand, really did well.

12. It is okay to kill the protagonist. There have been several movies that have shown this, like Vaanam, Bheema, etc. and I think it just conveys that not all stories have a happy ending.

13. Even the most prominent actors should consider doing small roles too. In Hollywood, actors like Bruce Willis, Kevin Spacey, Samuel L. Jackson, etc. have acted for very short roles (<5 minutes). I wonder how great it would be to have actors like Kamal Haasan Rajinikanth, Vijay or Ajith in small guest roles like Simbu plays in Kanna Laddu Thinna Asaya or in Goa.

14. Tragedy can be good: Movies with a feel good nature alone just aren't the thing for today. 

What about some good movies that go unnoticed just because the actor isn't a prominent one? I would like to compile a list of some good movies by actors that are considered not-so-great:

• Newtonin Moonram Vidhi (SJ Surya) - This movie was gripping, till the end. The vengeance was well served and the acting was really worth a watch. Sadly, no many know that this movie was even made.

• Ramana (Vijaykanth) - Well who do we have here? Our very own captain! This movie was a good watch, without much of the usual elements that we see in Captain's movie. The best thing was his death (no kidding), which I never expected Captain to do so in any of his movies. Brave attempt indeed. The story too was for the first time, a bit believable, and good too!

There might be many other movies that I might have missed here and I'll add them once it knocks my empty head. 

I have a list of some of the different movies that Tamil film industry has come up with, than the usual ones. They may have been re made from other movies, but hey, it was a brave effort in all. Some of the movies that fit in this category are: Ghajini, Anniyan, Pithamagan, Deiva Thirumagal, Dasavatharam, Saatai, Mozhi, Abiyum Naanum, Unnai Pol Oruvan, Kannathil Muthamittal, Angadi Theru, Chennai 600028.

Here are some themes that can be made into serious, highly appealing movies:

• Natural Calamities 
• Disabilities
• Social Issues
• Terrorism
• Historical stories/epics
• Religion
• War
• Terrorism
• Corruption

If you have read the post this far, please do take a few moments to comment below. I am not an avid watcher of movies, so I might have missed a lot content that could have been written here. You could help me expand this post to make it better :)

Memoirs of a train journey

As all good things come to an end, the time had finally come to say goodbye to Zoho Corp. Three months of work, learning and fun had come to an end. I said bye to all my friends there, who in due course of time became like my family. I had to make a journey back to my college, and I had to book a ticket for the same. I had a plan of going via a day train and for the first time, I did not prefer an overnight journey. I wanted to experience the journey in a train and look out from the window all along. Thus, I booked a ticket in the second seater coach of Guruvayur Express, for the 3rd of March 2013.


It has been quite a while that I haven't woken up early in the morning. I woke up with a start at 5 a.m. on the day of my journey and boarded the train at 7.30 a.m. I had booked a window seat just for the heck of it. The seating was cramped and numbering of the seats suggested that three people were supposed to be accommodated on the seat that could hold just about two. I decided to manage, put on my headphones and started listening to the song 'You'll be in my heart' by Phil Collins. It was a pleasant day, I couldn't complain about the weather. It wasn't too hot and there was a mild drizzle, just perfect for a train journey. I didn't pay much attention towards the people around me, and just kept to myself. The train zoomed past all the local train stations. The real fun began when the train approached Chengalpattu.


The tracks are laid just alongside the Chengalpattu lake, which makes for a beautiful scene to behold. I was staring in amazement at the vast lake, with the cool breeze blowing on my face. As it had rained in the past few days, the lake was full of water. I looked around and saw that all the other passengers too were admiring the scenery. I quickly pulled out my phone from my pocket as I badly wanted to click a photo of the lake. As I started early from home, I had skipped my breakfast and was starving. I bought ildis from the IRCTC pantry staff as I am a big fan of eating stuff that are sold from the Indian Railways pantry and have tasted almost everything they serve.

A view of the Kolavai lake at Chengalpattu

It has been about thirteen years since I have traveled in a train during the day time. All my train journeys since then have been overnight and all I had done was to sleep throughout the journey. In the first ten years of my life, I have made numerous journeys from New Delhi to Chennai and vice versa. The duration of the journey was for about 36-40 hours and I initially used to insist my parents for journey in an air conditioned coach. But as I grew up, I craved for every chance to go on a second class compartment for I started loving the journey very much. I don't remember much about the early days, but there was this specific journey when the co-passengers included a Kashmiri family of three - a dad, mom and daughter. I guess I was about eight years old at that time and I was with my mom and dad as well. I remember the girl to be about two or three years elder to me and in course of time, my parents started talking to hers and got acquainted. I had a pack of playing cards with me I started playing it with the girl. It was evening and the guys from the pantry brought bread omelets to sell. The Kashmiris bought the bread omelets and while they were eating it, the girl's dad offered me some. I had always wanted to eat a bread omelet  as I had heard from my school friends that it tasted great but had never seen or tasted one myself. That wast the first time that I saw a bread omelet and I badly wanted to eat it. I accepted his offer, but my parents declined and scolded me, telling that I wasn't supposed to eat such things. Before the end of that journey, my parents and the girl's parents exchanged their contacts, only to be never seen or contacted ever again.


As there are many rivers that the train passes over during the course of the journey along the 2000 odd kilometers, I used to look for the sign boards of every river and try to remember the order in which we passed through them. Every time we would pass over a river, my mother used to give me a rupee or two and asked me to drop it into the water. I had never questioned her for the reason why we need to follow this routine, and I would simply drop the coin into the river. It was one of our final journeys from New Delhi to Chennai when my mom gave me a coin and asked me to drop it. I asked her for the reason why we did this every time. She replied, "See, you drop this coin into the river and somewhere someone who is really in need of money finds it. That person will thank God for giving him the money and God will reward you for that."


Snapping back to reality, the train was now passing over a river that was completely dry. People had even built homes made of hay at the areas where the water was supposed to flow. There were to kids playing on the soft sand and they were two little girls looking up at the train and were waving their hands at it. In return, I stretched my hand out from the compartment and waved back at them. One of the girls noticed it and called the other, and showed her that someone was waving back at them. They seemed to be very happy to see that. It was about noon and a person from the pantry was selling 'Sappadu' and Biriyani for lunch, which many of the folks around me bought and ate. The train passed over another river, and this time I read the sign board that said 'Cauvery River'. I knew that we were nearing the destination and the journey was about to end. I saw outside the window and found that this river wasn't dry and there was a stream of water running in it. I took a quick glace around and saw that the people were either sleeping or busy eating their lunch. I quietly took out my wallet from my bag and pulled out a five rupee coin and secretly dropped it into the river. That simply made my day.