The Kaleej Times

2005-11-29T11:29:00.000-08:00

2005-11-20T13:26:00.000-08:00

check.

2005-04-29T22:37:00.000-07:00

I do not which prejudiced category I fall into - a sexist or a racist.

When in the west, I hardly notice people's clothes. If at all they dress in a manner that is totally out of place/inappropriate, I take that for a kid who is trying to find his/her equilibrium. This was not restricted to the natives - I once found a desi woman walking in downtown D.C. with only a bra under her coat. Yeah, that is no exaggeration, just a bra for a shirt and a semi open coat. I really did not feel anything different, I swear.

But when the streets of Madras or Bangalore have men/women in clothes and attitudes that I do not associate with the geography, I instantly look down upon them with the contempt and disgust that I reserve for Raapi. I understand it's my failure to come to grips with the fact that India has been "growing" in my absence and I cannot expect to see intact, the city that I had left some years ago. But on other times, I get annoyed when most aspects remain third world.

I do not know if am a sexist, racist or plain stupid.

vindhu kavidhai

2005-04-29T07:30:00.000-07:00

anniyan:

vaan mazhaiyil nanaindhal payirgal uruvaagum
aan mazhaiyil nanaindhal uyirgal uruvaagum

roja:

pudhu vellai mazhai ingu pozhigindradhu

poonthotta kaavalkaran:

sindhiya venmani sippiyil muthachu en kannamma

Dravidian Movement -1

2005-04-04T17:51:00.000-07:00

This blog will attempt to provide an analysis of the Dravidian Movement and it's present day avtars, with the least bias.

Tamil Nadu has had a Dravidian Party in power since 1967. The simmering anti-Hindi movement that had for long been beneath the surface(the first registered anti-Hindi protest was in 1938, in front of Rajaji's House in Madras) exploded with a vengeance in the period 1965-1968. The start of the political phenomenon was on Jan 26 1965. This was the date that the Constitution had set for ending the "transitional" use of English. The DK and DMK had organized the typical 'black flag waving' protest which also resulted in the now familiar - painting the Hindi signs in Government establishments with tar.

The police had actually pre-empted and taken almost all of the top leadership of the two parties into preventive custody. What followed was something that has set Tamil politics ablaze - literally.

Ayyampalayam Veerappan
Kellapaluvur Chinnasamy
Keranoor Muthu
Kodambakkam Sivalingam
Mayavaram Sarangapani
Satyamangalam Muthu
Veerukkambakkam Aranganathan

immolated themselves for the "Tamil Cause". After this self immolation protest, the student unrest across the state against Hindi grew into a phenomenon that had more following than there was to overthrow the British(source : Tamil Tribune). The State supposedly destroyed all records of the hundreds who were shot dead during such demonstrations. (Whether that is true - I do not know and have not found evidence to the contrary so far). But the fact that can be verified is this : There were large scale student demonstrations and the police did open fire.
With such demonstrations holding the state in siege, the Charismatic C.N. Annadurai took control of the situation. He gave speeches that filled even a completely apolitical dud with a passion and rage that drove him into the streets. Eventually, the movement resulted in the overthrow of the Congress rule since 1947 and installed a DMK government in the state.

The next post will be on C.N. Annadurai and his ascent.

2005-04-02T15:52:00.000-08:00

What in shit's name is going on with all the News channels?

They are reporting the death of an 84 year old man who was terminally ill for a looong time, 24x7. I shit you not - CNN & FOX are covering the Pope's death 24X7. (Well it's been just 3 days, but exaggeration does work - doesn't it?).

What's worse, am now learning that Pope John Paul II is the only reason for the fall of Communism, for the spread of democracy, for the understanding of human rights all across the world, for establishing a path to freedom in the Middle East and basically for every damn thing that did or did not happen in the last 30 years. Also he supposedly has magical powers and can talk to God and stuff.............I wonder why he could not save his own ass then.

I wish I could just get on some channel and cry out loud that the world has freed itself of one sexually frustrated 84 year old man.

Degrees of freedom

2005-04-02T01:39:00.000-08:00

Thoughts and how they lead to some theories - serious or otherwise, I cannot say.

I try to imagine John Von Neumann or Erwin Schrodinger or even Albert Einstein as a kid in school. The kid enrolls in school. Mathematics, analysis, reducing the seemingly complex to the trivial - all these come easily to his mind. While the moderates and not so moderates bite their pencils,scribble furiously or scratch their heads vigorously when the maths/science teacher asks the class to solve a problem out of their scope of knowledge, the young Albert/Erwin/John looks at the problem and sits unassumingly/decides to blurt out the answer. Surprised looks as all glances turn to this unlikely responder. Albert/Erwin/John tries his best to ignore the looks of surprise from some astonished kids in search for idols early in their age, the sneers from the backbenchers who would never solve that problem for another few lifetimes or even the teacher who stands there thinking - maybe the kid's really good or he read the same book I read that gave the solution.

I now try to imagine Rahul Dravid. Or a Sunil Gavaskar. These names come to mind because the word "focus" is what I am thinking of. Dravid is at the crease. He's been there for almost 2-3 hours now. There is intense chatter from behind the wicket. The wicketkeeper,slip catchers are trying their best to distract his concentration. Someone screams a personal remark, the other guys join in the laughter. But Dravid is in what cricketers like to call "The Zone". He does not hear a thing, or if he heard it, the words pass by through him. There are no oscillations - the stone hits the water but there are no ripples. Dravid can hear nothing - there are only two things in this world for him at this point of time. Him and the ball that will be thrown at him. Nothing else matters. The rest of the world is non-existent.

I try to imagine a Jimi Hendrix or a Jimmy Page playing the guitar. The audience watches agape as Page/Hendrix strums the chords without so much as a care as to how the notes will sound like. The music flows, melodious, perfect in every which way imaginable. There are no discordant notes, no jarring chords. Jimmy does not know if that is even possible - the bad sound I mean.

I finally try to imagine a Buddha or a Jesus or a rishi or a Prophet meditating. People pass by and see them sitting in immaculate posture, eyes closed - thinking nothing, but thinking everything. Attached to nothing, yet very much existing within the scheme of reality. A mischevious passerby decides to test the enlightened one. At first some sounds, then a stone, eventually a last ditch attempt to dislodge the one from his posture. The one slowly lets it all happen. The body moves on force, but the mind - stays where it is,was and always has been looking for. There is no reaction,not even a response. The passerby loses motivation and with a resigned look - either decides to ask for forgiveness if regret is the dominant emotion or slips away from the spot. Neither makes a difference to the seated one.

What is it that made me imagine all these seemingly uncorrelated events? The mind. The mind is a beautiful thing. It can be one's worst enemy and one's best friend. If I'd sat beside Einstein in class, I'd have been too immature to understand the way his mind worked. But maybe today, I'd have given anything to sit a lifetime and watch that mind work. That mind which knows not what limitations are. A problem comes up. While I work furiously and analyze approaches within my limitations, the "free" mind takes it and reduces it to as trivial a question as 2+2. The free mind is unburdened or ignorant of its own limitations. It is unfettered and does not know where the limits lie. And that is precisely because there are no limits. A mind like mine knows there are limits, there are fears, there are boundaries. And it takes time to overcome these. Sometimes I do, sometimes I do not.

A Dravid in "The Zone" knows the exact way a spinner will turn the ball on seeing it release from the hand. Or when a 130kph bowl is directed at him, the feet move without the mind telling them to. The mind knows where the ball will eventually arrive and the bat involuntarily goes to meet the ball at the exact moment, at that exact instant where the impact will impart the ball the greatest force. A cricketer in "The Zone" is a joy to watch - because it is a free mind at work. A mind that does not know where it should stop. And it cannot stop.

A free mind as the Buddha or a rishi is unperturbed. It just acts without oscillations - if actions are involved. There is no emotion involved, no reason to. The world moves and the ripples are absorbed like a sponge - and one does not know where all of it goes. They come and they go.

As I write this I am quite aware perfection is unseen or unheard. Perfection in the truest sense is perspective. Every one has their notion of it. And perfection,if seen by our perspective, is transient. It does not last forever. Again idealism and practicality are two sides of the coin. But every now and then, there are glimpses of the sublime when "free" minds work. Minds that do not know anything, that are empty,devoid of conditioning and yes - perfect because of this emptiness.

2005-04-01T12:27:00.000-08:00

Reading my own post from the past(as in the previous post), I realized the question which used to haunt me as a late teen has still not been answered. My question was...

Why is it that an individual is subjected to the collective stupidity of his/her place of birth. Or in other words, why does citizenship become automatic by birth? - To think that I would not want to choose The Netherlands over Saudi Arabia just because my parents chose not to, is the stupidest argument that Mankind has come up with.

This really used to bother me so much that I had to make a conscious effort not to think about it. And how successful have I been at that - before I read this old post of mine, I had totally forgotten the question. What's worse - am no closer to the answer than I was as a stupid 12th grader in PSBB KK Nagar. But , 7 years and 12,000 miles later,I can take some solace from the fact that I now have a vague understanding as to why mankind rests on it's stupidity.

And now that am seriously considering a stint at Dravidian politics, I would probably propose a system analogous to the Free State Project - just to answer that. I would also want to make sure the project does not become an amateur high school crap as it has in FSP. This system would have it's origin not in the fringe elements of radical psychopaths, but would be proposed as an election plank.

What I propose is this -

For this purpose, let us consider Tamil Nadu again. The reason for choosing that state is that am relatively unfamilar with the politics of Maryland and more importantly - I do not have an intention to run for an office here. Wheras in Tamil Nadu, I am both familiar and quite willing to run for a public office. Though my purpose of running for a public office is to abolish it, working within the system does extend a sense of sanity to it(comparitive scales here).
The people of Tamil Nadu, would be given the choice to to either accept the existing laws of the land and be as is, or have a choice to totally reject the local law.
This would essentially act as a backdoor approach to the abolition of all central influence as I had wanted here. The idea is to start an experiment that is so limited in scope that people would interested purely for academic reasons if not anything else. The reason they would is because it feeds their curiosity and is still so tiny in scope that they would have no "fears".
There would be a small geographical area(say a really small village to start with) demarcated "free". The "free" part will have no government control whatsoever.
The reason I am choosing a nondescript village is this : a considerable part of my childhood was spent in one such village. I have never ever seen a single government influence in the village but for electricity. Practically the village is self run and receives "0" assistance. The roads that exist were paved my Chola Kings and even the bankments in the local river date back to the Chola age. The nearest Police Station is 12km away, and I have never seen a single policeman - ever, in that place.
The reason I list those out is that - removing government influence in such a place would be merely a technical aspect as far as practical issues are concerned. Well, this does oversimplify matters - but trust me I have a point here. Only when you go to Semangalam in Napattinam Dist will you understand what am talking about.
What would further give legitamacy to such a scheme would me yet another "back-up" plan promise. This would be a fantastic election promise and stay that. The fact that this is being done through electoral politics would also lend a lot of weight in the eyes of the "mob".
There can be freedom of movement and trade within these areas, subject to an agreement that crimes committed in the other parts of the state by the "free" folks will still be crimes.
A child born in either part would be given the right when old enough (when would that be - no answers) to choose.
Other messy details will be worked out.

How about this??

2005-03-30T20:28:00.000-08:00

Maggi 2 minutes noodles pack: (Recipe)
Step 1: boil one cup of water
Step 2: as soon as ganguly goes for batting, put the noodles in the boiled water and add the tastemaker.
Step 3: stir till ganguly is on the field.
Step 4: As soon as ganguly is back in pavilion, your noodles r ready to eat

hehe...

Pratap
P.S: sorry for the mokkai.i meant to say that Ganguly should be SACKED.

Futility of the Political Spectra.

2005-03-29T19:52:00.000-08:00

Drawing distinctions and engaging in an argument about right and wrong in the philosophy of governance is as hypocritical as Nilu calling for a debate on anything in the assembly. In my opinion, there simply is no philosophical difference between the different forms of the government - none at all. In every form of organized government that exists in the world today, there is someone (or a group) at the helm. The reason they get there is the same and has been the same across time and a multitude of civilizations. The angst of those who don't remains the same, as well.

This basic power struggle that is a symptom of the single defining human trait, namely the Ego, is common to every society and every philosophy. Some try and hide in the guise of Patriotism while others try and diffuse it with an elaborate system of power sharing while some others do it with a "transparent" system of checks and balances. These methods of implementation are mere matters of detail and to call them philosophical distinctions is an unbelievable indulgence in delusions of grandeur.

In a sense that hypocrisy is actually quite interesting because it does make our absolutely meaningless life on this planet a bit more interesting than it really is. And I would probably stand for some public office sooner than most people think, but just because am residing within the system does not mean I do see the distinctions. I would because it appears easier this way.

Tsunami Relief.

2005-03-27T13:07:00.000-08:00

My mom's side of my family is from Nagapattinam District(actually, my dad's as well). I got off the phone with her yesterday with utter disbelief. My uncle, who owns quite a bit a farm land there was "given" Rs.50,000 towards Tsunami relief.

Let me say that again - Rs.50,000.

The land he owns are so far inland on the Cauvery Delta that most people in that village did not evenknow about the disaster for two days. My Uncle supposedly told my mom - "Yeah, they gave. I took".

I am not for a moment trying to imply that he should have been a "stand up" guy and refused the government assistance, but my disbelief is at the following things....

1. The government actually managed to give someone in the real population something.And how!
2. The planning of relief and it's distribution was based on "per acre" of land held.
3. In my Uncle's words - the money was literally there for the taking. No questions asked, none answered. Even if you were from Punjab and happened to be in Nagapattinam Dist on vacation,you probably could have got a lot of money.
4. My mom was furious that her Tax Rs were being splashed as such.
5. I told her - work something out with your brother. See it all evens out ;)
6. If this money is actually made available to the normal polulation, either the governments machinery in India is getting cleansed or the initial amount of money that that had allowed this much to flow after the normal corruption, must have been staggering.

Quarter Life Crises and Assorted Stuff

2005-03-26T14:37:00.000-08:00

To most (wo)men, their career is the defining aspect of their lives. To put a definition on it,Wiki says...

the series of jobs or positions by which one earns one's bread

Got that right - earning one's bread is the darn motive of all activities on this planet, well almost. Sure it is a lot easier if we also enjoy providing the service, in exchange for bread. But the fact remains, whatever we do - we just provide a service to some other human in an elaborate barter system.

Somewhere along this treaded line, most of us(on most occasions) seem to have forgotten the triviality behind the whole exercise. The indulgence in relative grandstanding that accompanies most people and their view on their beloved career just makes me want to laugh and puke alternately.

The sole reason I write algorithms for 3D Processing of Images and take a lot of crap in my working hours is that I do not have the balls to stand up to this reality.

Am 24 - and is this a serious case of early mid,quarter life crisis?

*******************

I perfectly understand why people get married - it just provides a motivation(if you want to call it that) to continue life in this society. Else people would realize sooner than later - there ain't no freakin point in existing.

*******************

That brings me to the pet theme - I am seriously contemplating going to India, and plunging myself in the Dravidian Ideology. Just for kicks, but am serious.

*******************

Am going to watch a movie now.

TRIPS - A Case in Point

2005-03-23T13:47:00.000-08:00

The question of what a law is, is answered here, though not to my expectations or to that of the standards Wikipedia has set for itself. On the wider question of what it's purpose is, there are answers that are as confusing as they are stupid - here, here, here and in infinite other places.

But I refuse to use their definitions and so let me try and come up with my own

A Law is a instrument that the society tests and attempts to perfect the use of, in an effort to further it's own cause.

I do not claim this IS the definition, but am comfortable with my own and I also believe the readers of this blog will be. More importantly this is my understanding of what it is, based on the past 24 years I have lived on this planet.That being settled, I honestly think the reliance of the society on this tool is totally misplaced, given what it is intended achieve. Let me save that question for "another rainy day".

The reason why I tried to define the above is this : The Indian parliament has passed what is now called the "Patents Bill".( I tried to get the complete text of this bill, with no success - anyone?. The best I could come up with are what started me in this process : The reports in The Hindu and NY Times). Using our definition above, what does the Trade related Intellectual Property Rights achieve?. The WTO claims it

Intellectual property rights are the rights given to persons over the creations of their minds. They usually give the creator an exclusive right over the use of his/her creation for a certain period of time.

Would this statement implemented in the form of a law, act as the tool to further the cause of mankind?..Let us assume that I come up with what an advanced algorithm and an implementation for real time Motion Detection in Noisy backgrounds. Does the onus of protecting my creation rest with the society or the individual in me?. Which approach would result in maximum benifits ?

To be continued....

A Platform for Dravidian Parties.

2005-03-20T11:01:00.000-08:00

In the previous avtar of this blog - there have been literal fist fights on the issue of linguistic chauvinism vs 'manila suyaatchi' aka state's powers in a Federal structure. But the more I read the news on India the more I believe there is an ideal opportunity for 're-using' this plank, albeit in a wonderfully packaged way - complete with punch lines in classical Tamil.

Fact 1 : Four states in the Indian Union contribute 80% of the GDP.
Fact 2 : The representation of these four states in the Lok Sabha put together is around 20%.

Maharashtra, Gujarat, Tamil Nadia and Punjab have been bearing the burden of an inefficient nation for too long and without enough political clout. Or so can the public be easily made to believe. I am not an expert, not even a passing observer, of the 'state level' politics if the other three states. But I do have a fair understanding of the way Dravidian parties gather votes. So let me go ahead and propose a political platform for the Dravidian parties for the next 20 years, with one eye on history ....

C.N. Annadurai, was one of the first proponents of the idea - "maaanila suyatchi", translated it literally reads "State's Self Rule". Critic's might find fault with his linguistic chauvinism, but I think it was because of his stand that India is even half a decent nation today(that is a another post). To quote Swaminathan Aiyer : "he saved India from Hindi imperialism, ensured the continuation of English, and so made possible the outsourcing revolution that is moving lakhs of jobs from the West to India". But facts apart - whipping passions just works in politics.

Among the many follies of our constitution, it had set 1965 as the year in which Hindi would replace "and English" as the only national language. When this date neared and the politics in the north made sense to have a Angrezi Hatao agitation, it made even more sense to have Anti Hindi Agitations in Tamil Nadu. With a rather smart politician in Annadurai, the agitation was so successful that it continues to put one of the two Dravidian parties in power in 2005.

But there is a distinct lack of issues based on the passionate "Dravidian Ideology" these days, and a little stroking of that linguistic passion driven by economic details might just make the next Annadurai. The new ideology would

1. Detail the economic achievements of the state - put in perspective with that of the other's.

2. "Explain" how the famed "Tamil Kodai Vallal" image has been taken for granted. Whoa - bring in Pari and the rest of the sangam literature, that is enough rhetoric for 3 elections. Finding someone to blame for failure to achieve the moon is an idea that will work - be it Hitler or Marx or Andorra or Dubya.

3. Propose that the state will put a freeze on all collections of Income tax and evict the central tax officials in the state.

4. Abolish all Tax collections except Sales Tax( believe me, this can be done in the state).

5. Then negotiate with the Centre.

A few self immolations here and there, and a fervent public display passion will make the guy who caused this - the next Anna. The result of all this can only be a positive influence on the whole nation as it would finally find a wrong reason to do the right thing.

mudiya pichukkaren

2005-03-18T16:22:00.000-08:00

even though it is something I can ill afford to do nowadays, when I read such things mudiya pikkaama vera enna seyya?

(it is a comment left in response to lazy geek's post about R.K.Narayan's essay "My America")

In today's global world there is no real difference between living in one place or the other.
As for the culture, my nephew who lives in US is better versed in Mahabharath than most kids of his age in India.And I personally think the culture as we see in everyday India is something a child can do without.
In the US there are so many channels of entertainment and education.The family can actually watch a movie or TV without the parents having to squrim in their seats.Can't say the same for SUN TV.One particular instance comes to mind. The entire family was watching Boys Songs Enaku Oru Girl Friend venum on video the other day (Indian Kids loves Indian music here!!!!!) but the song had such vulgar connotations and scenes all of us including the 9 yr old nephew was feeling uncomfortable.
For people who make comparisons between cultures and countries We Are Not Doing Too Great In India either!!!!!!!!!!

Also emotionally Indian families which live in US are much closley bonded and expressive than they are otherwise.

I think Indians in US have the unique advantage of both a well knit family structure and a advanced western society.Most second generations Indians kids as a result do very well.

Priya

cut down in full flight

2005-03-18T06:26:00.000-08:00

Dileep Premachandran's verdict on the day's play at Kolkata is simply superb,to say the least. While Steve Bucknor chose a momentous test in his career, that has oft-late become too error prone to ignore, to give one of those bizarre decisions that only an eye-specialist can diagnose correctly, it was today's glimpse of the Sachin the masses love - free flowing,graceful - that was a beauty. The paddle sweep,cover drive, leg glance, the flick through midwicket and even the backward defence - my rambles shall eventually prove insufficient.

Some excerpts from Dileep's article with special pointers to "what's their name" detractors.

Tendulkar, though, will have no part to play in what promises to be an intriguing penultimate day. A few weeks from now, jealous mediocrity will crawl out of the woodwork and nibble at his reputation, citing that inability to apply the finishing touches. In a democracy, that must be tolerated, as were the Philistines who mocked and persecuted Galileo. Only those who sat and watched a gorgeous sunrise obscured by a man-made storm can appreciate how close a supreme batting artist came to painting in the one blank space in an otherwise breathtaking canvas.

Words fail me, sports writing never saw such expression and clarity of thought.

SMS(PJ?) of the day?

2005-03-17T09:34:00.000-08:00

Trisha to Dr. : "Doctor,doctor, naan shampoo potu kulikattumaa? Illai shikai potu kulikatumma?
Dr: Amma, nee thaapal potu kuli, adhuve podhum.

Somebody's working fulltime in the PJ/SMS manufacturing business! Kindly donot bother with "sagikkalai" in the comments space :).

Madras Tamizh

2005-03-15T05:34:00.000-08:00

ennathan irunthalum... namma ooru thamizh pola varumma?

Skirts v Pants -2

2005-03-13T07:57:00.000-08:00

Part of the reason for the previous post is this : I have long wanted a good precedent to be set in the Indian legal system regarding civil liberties.

Though the Fundamental Rights guaranteed in the constitution were based on the U.S. Bill of Rights and more importantly the first amendment, there has rarely been an a formal assertion of those rights(the ones that were asserted happen to be quite basic and not enough). Quite contrary to the almost infinite precedents that have been set in the U.S.A.

There needs to be a specific precedent detailing the limitations of libel suits that can be slapped on private citizens and personal opinion. The American system does offer a lot of precedents here, but some are retrogressive. So caution please.

The priorities of bloggers should be

1. To establish a precedent which would explicitly state that Blogging is protected by all the rights accorded to "Freedom of Press".

2. However the limitations of the individual should also be recognized and all the protections of "Right to Free Speech and opinion" should also be incorporated.

3. To prevent such actions in the future, a clear case of what is objectionable should be established - on the lines of Actual Malice.

I understand that as a student of engineering and not Law, my knowledge of existing provisions in the Indian constitution is almost non existent. But as a citizen of that country, I have once too often seen limitations being imposed on the basic rights. If the provisions exist already - I want to set clear precedents. If they don't' - I think folks like Yazad and Guru have an ideal opportunity.

Skirts v Pants - 1

2005-03-13T07:54:00.000-08:00

The wonderful media watch site in its incipient stages - Mediaah has been "forced out". I always thought it was a brilliant first step in India , but it is facing problems that most 'first steps' do. I quite agree with the author and his decision to shut his site down for practical purposes, given the present situation. As an individual he would have to sacrifice too much for too little, if he were to go through the legal process himself. But this would be an ideal oppurtunity for Indian bloggers to come together use the simplest and easiest tools available in the legal system to start making their presence felt.

The resources that are available to the bloggers

1. The internet which is what started it in the first place makes communication and organization of groups quite easy and almost at no cost.

2. The pool of bloggers in the main cities in India are generally well connected already.

3. Though many bloggers are still students, there is a considerable number of young professionals in a new economy. Add to that the proverbial Bala, Srini and Nilu on any city here in the U.S. .

4. "3" would probably take care of say a minimum cost effort like (not exactly, but something like)a PIL.

5. The pool of young professionals might also have it's own inherent resources, exactly because they are what they are.

6. Other sections of the media might actually find quite an interesting story here and who knows we might end up getting good publicity and therefore the required "effect"

7. Am willing to donate 100$/month.

This effort is not a "good samaritan" act. I am willing to do this and would have done it even more had I been in India exactly because of the self important blogger in me. That was the reason most of us actually started our blogs - so why not take it to the next level fight for rights and masturbate our ego a bit more in the process.

P.S. : The title is not meant to be derogatory and has been used in the proverbial "metaphorical" sense. However if you still want to think it is sexist, you are welcome to.

2005-03-11T13:48:00.000-08:00

On a side note, why the hell do you have to pray 5 times a day? Just because someone scribbled that God would be mad if you don't and you go to hell? I'm no atheist, but I believe in living in the present and not worrying about the future. For those who want to make a good "after-life", let me put up a question or may be a couple. How do you know that there is after-life? have you been there? have you met someone from there? Unless you are a fake "Godman", your answer should and would be no. In which case I ask you, what is wrong in living your present lives the way you want to and not living it according to some book written by a deluded person?

- Ole

Logic gavanichhaya???....I bet my 5 year old cousin is having a great time massaging his ego :))...ROTFL!!!

arikkudu...arikkudu...

2005-03-10T09:36:00.000-08:00

pudiya tatuvam 1749

Kaatadikkumdan vaalu irukkudu, aana korangu parakkuma?

pudiya tatuvam 1750

anubavi, aaraayaada.

Indo-Pak Cricket (contd)

2005-03-05T17:33:00.000-08:00

This is simply exhilarating stuff (dont miss it) . Telling difference between Pakistan 99 and 2005.

Indo-Pak preview

2005-03-05T17:04:00.000-08:00

And this , and not this , is what I call amity between nations

2005-03-03T11:47:00.000-08:00

What is happening?....Why posts being deleted?

And how is Clemson?

Eminent Domain.

2005-02-26T19:29:00.000-08:00

NY Times here reports the latest court battle between 6 residents in New London, CT and the state of CT. This is a classic case of the entity called government legislating away a something which at its core questions the very existence of this "entity".

As the case itself stands, my opinion on the outcome is just as good an anybody else's - the residents will be told (politely and all) to get lost. There are almost 300 such precedents in the last 60 years alone. That they are told "that" is something I do not worry too much about, but what annoys me is the hypocrisy of the idea that a Government can somehow take upon itself the "moral and intellectual authority" to decide what is and isn't .

My earliest brush with such "eminent domain" concerns were stories that my mom and uncles told me about how my grandfather gave away 10 acres of his farm land to some public cause. Actually hearing them narrate the story with such a silly "see, I come from a generous family" passion is quite hilarious. But in India as in the U.S. and probably in every other country on Earth - the rights on the individual have been taken over quite systematically by another body. The reason for such take over and their methodology vary across such a wide spectrum that people get lost in an argument of "how" and forgetting that of "Why" which has not been answered in the first place.

The way this would have naturally happened is this - when all other residents had actually sold their land already, the value of the "residential island" would decrease with respect to any prospective resident in the area and be high only from the perspective of the business that wants to buy them off. So the residents and the business' have a meeting point : the residents would not want their property to depreciate and the business would want it badly. A deal would be reached - eventually.

But legislation is such a bad way of reaching, rather forcing, the equilibrium. What it results is a standard that has no meaning in the first place and results in exceptions which mean even less.

Death to Goverment.

2005-02-25T15:24:00.000-08:00

This one looks real good.

Ponniyin Selvan

2005-02-25T13:48:00.000-08:00

I am reading Ponniyin Selvan. Oh Boy! What an epic. I am proud to be a thamizhan. Vetri Vel! Veera Vel!

Rajinikanth mentioned this book in Padayappa's celebration function. He said that he is a big fan of Kalki and Ponniyin Selvan and that he based Ramya Krishnan's character on Nandhini. (I am sorry if I shattered how you conceived Nandhini in your mind.)

Talking about Rajini. It seems many years back there was a talk to make Ponniyin Selvan and have Rajini as Vandiyadevan. 25 years back, nothing would have been more apt. But now...eppidi irundavan ippidi ayittane!

Sole or Liberal..

2005-02-25T12:39:00.000-08:00

Guys,
Hari, Vikram and I had this conversation about Kate Winslet. Hari is of the opinion that she is a liberal and a free spirit and thus she is not opposed to any show of skin in her movies. Vikram came up with the brilliant counter argument that judging by this yardstick, Shakeela and Alfonso are pretty liberal too..
Where is this line tat seperates a sole from a liberal??

Updated and Expanded version of Awesome three some!!

2005-02-25T10:59:00.000-08:00

Hi Guys,

Based on Karthicks,Nilu and pratap views I am comin up with a updated version of this awesome three which is going to be launced by Nilu and Liga Liga on the first of March.

First of all lemme come up with a solution for all that karthick has said.First of it is quite impossible for me to give away the production name to any Tom,Dick & Hary.So it will stay as Supini Production.When it comes to Supini's destruction we can include all that karthick had said about production in destruction. This is the first issue which I wanted to address

Secondly Coming to the Question mark after pratap-Since it is awesome threesome film certain Film sequence have to enacted by expericed ppl who have expertise in that field and then should be carried out on the stage by the awesome threesome.So for that pratap cant be doing that alone.So he has to do it with a partner as everyone here would agree to the fact that he is the DON OF ACTIONS.so that question mark was meant for pratap to choose his partner.Rite now ,we can fill that question mark but later who will?? So the choice for ?? is left with pratap.
May be Mundae Kanniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii or may be???.Ok Partap ur choice wins So go ahead with ur choice.

Ok.s karthick says let hary be restricted to the cameraman role alone.So we have to fill in the third spot.Lot of contentions are there for his spot.So after hours of gruel thinking finally i have come up with this solution for the awesome threesome
1) Awesome threesome: Pisser,thaikulam,Pisser2
the second pisser has a mush,the first one dosent have.Double action.
y double action?? Pisser willweep in her ass if you put anyone else.So he wanted this kindof a role.
2) Back up threesome: Thaikulam,Pisser,Thaikulam 2
the second one has " Andhe Kurmayaaneeeeeee......kannu".In short very sharp eyes.

My next issue is that of the Background Musicians.I dont make this choice has my skills in this field are really poor and i cant make a proper choice.But due to public demand ,and as per prataps advice,let prataps say hold good. So Karthick hope u are pleased.

And based on what nilu had said,let us give the Special effect role which comes into effect from now ,a new role devised for thatha,wherby that can excerice his influence over evryone has he has done it over karthick.

Coming to Experience tip which karthick wanted me to elobarate.Simple,who is oldest of the lot here.Our Respected Srinath,who has been & seen many such launchings.So anytips regarding anythin to the film would be handled by him.Anyone who is part of the launch can ask him any doubts over anythin as he is eady to help us out.He is ready to do his part so better give in hell of a appreci-fucking-ation.

Then coming to Sandeep, after lot of thinking he has been given the post of Personal assistant of Pisser.Tough call though as Vikram was very keen or this post.But Sandeep gets the nod.

I dint understand wat you meant by " do we have a pasamalr on our commitee" .Elaborate.

We will serve "everything everywhere".So balajhi and Sabhu fit in.

So gentleman i hope i have made things clear.If anyone still has a doubt and wants to critique wat i have said,good or bad u guys are welcome.But remm the committe time is runnin out.
Nilu and liga liga have a tough one to decie i guess.

Regards

Supini

P.S : I would like to thank the following three gentleman-karthick,nilu and pratap for their views without which i guess my launch wud have been a flop.Keep the good work going guys.Any resmblance to anyone living or dead is purely co-incidential and bears no real meaning.

Re: Awesome Threesome

2005-02-24T20:37:00.000-08:00

Suppini:
Thanks for the offer. But I guess its amounts to professionalism to get a few aspects sorted before we finalize on a deal. He are my questions/comments

- I would like to restict dual perfomances to the screen alone. Camera and performance at the same time for Hari? Hari will take care of the camerawork alone.

- Dialogues: Nilu
Given the nature of the subject, Nilu-type dialogues would be apt, eg Nai/Ole/Pran**/buffalo othu poratthavane

-action(s): Pratap & ???
???-whats's that

-Spot boys: Utham and Prashanth
NILU: you might want to include dialogues such as the following: "Vignyanam mattum a valandhirukku....Vignyanekku koda than....."

-Experience tips: Srinath
Please elaborate

-Lamp holder: Lungi
Apt choice

-Preview show viewers: balajhi,sabbu
Are we serving IT on the rocks in the preview

-Do we have a "pasamalar" on the committee?

Finally, I regret our best available talent not finding a suitable role to don. Thereby it is my humble suggestion to christen your production company Ol'o'ole Productions. Please accomodate my next door neighbor Mr. Suryanarayan in this endeavour of ours.

Thanks once again

Truly
Karthik

Awesome Threesome!

2005-02-24T20:04:00.000-08:00

Karthick

I would take up the producer..for this partiular film.
Awesome three some: I have decided upon the characters of the film and which fella would do wat roles.So based on my rats knowledge,heres my list

1) Three Some: Pisser,thaikulam,hari
2) Back up Three some: Pisser,thaikulam,hari
2) Cameraman: Hari
3) Dialogues: Nilu
4) action(s): Pratap & ???
5) Director: Karthick
6) Producer: Myslef
7) Spot boys: Utham and Prashanth
8) Experience tips: Srinath
9) Spot gals: Members of parliament house( Oops Sorry Typo)
10) Lamp holder: Lungi
11) Tamil translator: vikram
12) Comedy: bhaskar
13) Critique: navin rajaram
14) Driver: Thatha
15) Preview show viewers: balajhi,sabbu
16) P.I.M.P: engal anna

This is all my brain could muster.All the positions are debatable and up for grabs.Anyone has any intresting new positions feel free to add.The final approval from the commitee will not come until the end of this month.Commitee consists of nilu and liga liga.

Please post in ur views as ur views are very important for the launch of my first new film.

thanx

Supini

P.S: any resemblance to anyone living or dead is purely co-incidential and bears no real meaning.

Wanted: vitamin-M donor

2005-02-23T16:46:00.000-08:00

I have the story/screenplay/dialogues, in English, prepared for the following, one in each genre. All I need is a producer/financier. Any takers?

One, Let's have some fun :Comedy
Tu-lips in a flower vase :Drama
Awesome threesome :Adult
4s-ful :Thriller
Five in a hive :Adventure
Six and the city :Sitcom
Say-when? :Mystery

Finally, I propose a Tamil musical, the most sought:
Ma-Sa-La

Classic Ole

2005-02-23T13:42:00.000-08:00

17 -> 17 and Under (1998)

22 -> Catch 22(1932?)

23 -> 23 paces to baker street (1959)

-Ole

That Joseph Heller wrote the Novel Catch 22 in 60's (1961) is something I do not expect everyone to know. But I do expect almost everyone who is anyone and especially those who want to show off that they know when a movie was made - to realize that Catch 22 is a satire on World War 2 and hence 1932 is simply impossible.

This man never ceases to amaze. Gandhiji's Talisman indeed.

Numbers in Movie Titles

2005-02-22T23:24:00.000-08:00

I was kind of curious to know of movie titles with numbers from 1 till 10( or even more than that).

As far as I know..

1 flew over the cuckoo's nest
2's company
3 musketeers
4 people
5 men army
6th sense
se7en
8??
9??
10 commandments

any more numbers??

2005-02-20T14:43:00.000-08:00

This isn't a typo:
CD McMillan st Gilchrist b McGrath 37
These guys are toying with the game

2005-02-20T14:40:00.000-08:00

Isnt it nice when everyone shuts the fuck up..atleast for a while ..!!!

Carnival of the Faggots

2005-02-11T20:37:00.000-08:00

I call volunteers to vote on which post here in the Blogworld is the most Gay...

1. The King of Crap shows how he is a faggot beyond compare.
2. Ole is usually just an immature SOB, but now graduates into being an immature faggoty SOB here.
3. The regularly gay Dumbs proves yet again he can even make a woman puke.
4. This is what is called "Gay by Logic".
5. I will not be doing justice to Ck if I were to single out any particular post in this blog.

2005-02-10T10:47:00.000-08:00

Glad to be enlightened by such wonderful comments. Karthik, I've already been enlightened by your comment on my blog about what you really think of me. Still, please carry on and show me more insights.

Nilu,
Enna venum unakku? why the over-acting? Oh wait! sorry! forgot that u were born to do so.
- Ole

Just one question Ole - how did you manage to write two full sentences in your first paragraph without any exclamation?

Am dumbstruck, overawed, constipated, stupified and am running out of adjectives. Please,please please tell us.

2005-02-10T01:15:00.000-08:00

Knowledge creates experience and experience strengthens the knowledge. This is a vicious circle. Both these are products of a myth that the mind is.

I'll disagree here. I classify knowledge as what people have told me something is. Say somebody comes and tells me "there is X animal in Y forest". On the contrary, I go to Y forest and see X animal and experience the incident. That is understanding. On a material scale, this is the difference. On a spiritual scale, understanding is sitting at one place and seeing/experiencing your true nature. Eg: Ramana asking us to inquire - who am i, etc by calming all thoughts.

Where does this understanding lead to? It validates your belief in what Ramana said. The point is one needs a certain amount of faith/motivation to take this road. Mere speculation burns one out and the only result is one warms one's seat weighing pros and cons.

Define Understanding.
That which comes from unlearning all that one has heard or read and transcending the grosser levels. This in itself is a principle - in which I place faith.

And these are my problems with your post. You state:

. All our efforts to raise a child seem to me, to be an effort towards imbibing our views of right and wrong. What is right and what is wrong though?.....I myself do not have a distinction

You cannot act without discrimination. In the process of acting, you discriminate. All efforts to raise a child are
a>to shore up human numbers - as is evident from the survival cause of the race.
b>to give to society such people as will ensure survival - which entails action, which needs discrimination.

go ahead and rape its own mother(to quote an extreme case)
You said:so?..

The straw-man comes into picture. He does not or atleast refuses to acknowledge what is right or wrong in the context. In fact, he goes to the extent of watching the scene because of lack of discrimination. Is that how you would react? Or is it because you believe there has been an instantaneous jump in your case from a conditioned mind to an unconditioned state?

Who said so? ....just because he chooses inaction in the areas he is not convinced does not mean he never acts

So you act without discriminating right or wrong?

Action is overrated..
Elaborate..

2005-02-09T23:06:00.000-08:00

I wanted to write a review for Manhattan, but I just realized a Woody Allen movie does not and should not need a review. After all, his movies have almost identical stories, similar characters and even the same cast. They have New York not just as the center of their Universe but as their Universe.

Despite all this, I would give one arm and a leg to watch Woody's movies. His brilliance lies in his dialogues. The way in which he brings about characterization just with dialogues is simply intriguing and mind blowing. Diane Keaton, in this movie is introduced as a pseudo intellectual New Yorker with such a babble that I can watch the movie a million times just for her introduction.

2005-02-09T21:47:00.000-08:00

To start with,there are two parameters of life - knowledge and understanding.

Navin to me,
Knowledge creates experience and experience strengthens the knowledge. This is a vicious circle. Both these are products of a myth that the mind is.

If understanding via experience were to validate one's knowledge or one's faith in principles, I find no harm in choosing a path that aims to validate that principle.

So when do you find harm?

That speculation can not qualify for what understanding gives one.

Define Understanding.

If inaction were the easy route to transcending all that is a farce in this life, will that inaction come without knowing what action really is?

Who said inaction will end farce?. And what is farce?.

Yet, this understanding can never come without going through that what is life.

Why not?. This is my problem with your post - You state.

go ahead and rape its own mother(to quote an extreme case)

so?..

straw man in my belief is worse. In an effort to transcend conditioning in one go, he abstains from all action

Who said so? ....just because he chooses inaction in the areas he is not convinced does not mean he never acts. And action is overrated by the way.

However, how does one expect to validate the first part by mere speculation?

Welcome

Jha a potential threat to ...

2005-02-09T11:05:00.000-08:00

Read Sanjay Jha's proposal for a new ODI format . Be it the number of exclamation marks, his futile attempts in trying to justify the drivel he proposesor the truly emphatic sign-off. Read it and sure you would guess what the ellipsis in the post's title stands for

Rant/Parent-2

2005-02-09T04:54:00.000-08:00

As I write this, I am as unconvinced or as confused as anyone else about the truth of my own opinions and beliefs. Why I am convinced I am right is a matter of faith - just like the faith of the man who has no faith.

To start with,there are two parameters of life - knowledge and understanding. Knowledge is accumulated behaviour - the kind that gets taught in formal education, the kind that is indoctrinated. Understanding comes through direct experience vis a vis operation of principles. One might ask where these principles come from. Are they not doctrines as well? If understanding via experience were to validate one's knowledge or one's faith in principles, I find no harm in choosing a path that aims to validate that principle.

Often I've burnt myself out in mindless speculation,of which a direct consequence is indolent inaction.Arguments,discussions,theories lead nowhere because the temporary ego boost resulting from the last word in an argument is as temporal, if not less, than the confusion resulting from hearing another belief having the last word in that argument.Hence the opinion that one may speculate lifetimes and yet have a mileu of thoughts and opinions gathered by reading,winning/losing discussions and yet it all boils down to only knowledge.That speculation can not qualify for what understanding gives one.

To quote Aldous Huxley

"The essence of humanity, it is evident, is not something we are born with; it is something we make or grow into. We learn to speak, we accumulate conceptualized knowledge and pseudo-knowledge, we imitate our elders, we build up fixed patterns of thought and feeling and behavior, and in the process we become human, we turn into persons.But the things which make us human are precisely the things which interfere with self-realization and prevent understanding.But we understand only when, by liberating ourselves from the tyranny of words, conditioned reflexes, and social conventions, we establish direct, unmediated contact with experience."

One tends to think all thoughts and hence all opinions can be shed at one instant. In fact, jumping from a state of conditioning to an unconditioned state can never be instantaneous.Society however cannot function without individuals functioning with
interaction with the environment, which in turn requires conditioning again. If inaction were the easy route to transcending all that is a farce in this life, will that inaction come without knowing what action really is?

My beliefs tell me society needs to be put through the rigours of action - futile as it may sound or look - to realize the futility of it. When it comes to raising kids, let the kid start with formal education. Then go on to learn science,technology. Paradoxical as it is, let them be encumbered with the very intellectual and emotional baggage which is an impediment to understanding. Mortal tragedy,emotional upheavals and grave failures sometimes bring out the farce that is life much sooner before our eyes than later. Yet, this understanding can never come without going through that what is life.

The world is not all black and white, but that does not mean that there can never be a
right or wrong in an issue.A child that is raised without so much as a conception of whether it is right to go ahead and rape its own mother(to quote an extreme case) is a straw-man. A 'moral man' is chicken hearted if he deludes himself into thinking that his principles make him superior to another. A straw man in my belief is worse. In an effort to transcend conditioning in one go, he abstains from all action. Deluding himself into thinking that he is free of discrimination, he rejects action, when in fact it is action that will lead him to proper discrimination. Morality is not intended as a means to pass judgement on others or as an ego-boosting exercise. It is intended as discriminatory behaviour in regulating one's own interactions with the environment. Sadly, it has assumed negative connotations in this age and time when it comes to issues like misinterpretation of religion.

Conversations and dialogues cannot substitute personal experience. In my belief, the entire cycle of a human's birth and successive conditioning, experience of worldly joys and sorrows is an effective precursor to transcending these very things. If life does in fact possess no deeper spiritual meaning, there is enough meaning in living itself to prove the futility of all mortal acts and/or thoughts. However, how does one expect to validate the first part by mere speculation?

2005-02-08T10:37:00.000-08:00

Nilu,
Yet again, if u think I'm not worth having an argument with, fine with me. I'm not bothered by what you think.
- Ole(in his Blog)

Pratap - naan enna pannalam sollu?, kaium odala kalum odala.

Rant/Parent.

2005-02-07T23:25:00.000-08:00

A former friend of mine became a mother recently. How exactly Visalakshi became "that" is beyond the scope of this blog, as I have no means to verify. But I can restrict it to the following possibilities

1. Because she is married, she felt the need to raise a family.
2. Because she is married, she has(*) to share a bed with a guy who might refuse the idea of contraception.
3. Maybe she did not like the idea(as in 2)herself, and marriage gave her an excuse not to.

If the reasons were 2/3 I would understand. But what I cannot understand is the fact that people(maybe that would include myself one day)give birth to a new being and are willing to face, what is to me, the greatest quandaries of human life.

I as an individual am absolutely certain, my ideas on life and the Universe are exactly right. Else why would I hold on to those opinions of which am not convinced myself. But I also live with the fact that the parameter of creation allows every individual the luxury and pleasure of perspective. In fact that is the reason why this blog or my own self exist. These two factors combine to make me wonder if reason 1 can ever be used with a straight face.

If I actually do become a parent ,who am I to force the world view as I understand and give the child say a formal education?. Even putting the child through Kindergarden/Play Pen/Processed food etc etc would be an effort to win over numbers for the society. I personally think academics is a good way of understanding it's own futility, does my opinion matter here? - at all. Inaction seems the only option if I were to respect the child as another individual. Inaction also seems a terrible mistake if am convinced am leading my own off-spring to a downward spiral, as I should be because of my already existing opinions.

The whole purpose of a conversation or dialogue is only to convert the other person to my point of view. If I have no point of view, there is no way he can convince or convert me to his point of view. This holds at the other end as well, including a newborn. All our efforts to raise a child seem to me, to be an effort towards imbibing our views of right and wrong. What is right and what is wrong though?.....I myself do not have a distinction and hence my questions. A 'moral man' though does have one, because he is a frightened man - chicken hearted man; that is why he practices morality and sits in judgment over others.

If the Chicken hearted parent chooses to inflict brain damage on the kid by instilling a sense of right and wrong, I understand its an attempt at survival and shoring up numbers to his cause. But what I detest is the fact that this obvious hypocrisy of making children accept our way of life so that our own perceived equilibrium of the existing society be preserved, is passed of as what it is being passed as.

That is the reason I think thought is detrimental to civilization. The limited 'advantages'(am not convinced of one yet) far outnumber the disasters that it results in. How recursive and apt;). Why should life have any meaning? Why should there be any purpose to living? Living itself is all that is there. Your search for spiritual meaning has made a problem out of living. Minimal existence would never have brought in such a dilemma.

(*) - "has to" as in what is going on and not as aderogatory sexist observation.

2005-02-07T08:15:00.000-08:00

I have not seen the movie Black yet.

But Lazy here has written a review with such passion that reading it I had a feeling I had watched it. Forget the awards that the movie is going to bag, this in my opinion is one of the finest reviews ever.

2005-02-02T23:03:00.000-08:00

I nominate this for the most immature rant in the history of ........TIME.

2005-02-01T01:38:00.000-08:00

I do not understand why the President of India has such a large fan following. Well, actually I do. But I the cliche "I do not understand why" slipped out of my fingers and I don't want to delete it for what its not worth.

I have heard A.P.J.Abdul Kalam speak in person and on TV. Have read what he has to 'say', in case he hadn't made it any clearer already. And am still looking.

The first time I ever knew that a person by this name existed was when India Today carried a cover story on India's missiles and its missile man. I must have been in sixth grade(whoa! how time flies - its been 13 years) if I remember right. As just another stupidly patriotic kid then, I read the story with great interest, thinking Agni was a source of personal pride. Then I met him in my undergrad days when he was the chief guest for one of the million farces that take place in any college in India. His speech was pretty boring. But just as boring as all other chief guests were. So I did not take much notice.

After a couple of years he became the President of the land. Gave more such unimpressive speeches and wrote similar stuff into two widely popular books. But the problem was - I seemed to be the only person who apparently thought his speeches and ideas belonged to Bollywood. I still do. In my opinion he is either really playing up to an audience with a masterly understanding of their ego masturbating feeling called Patriotism or he has been watching SRK too much.

Regardless - anyone with me?

2005-01-31T09:23:00.000-08:00

Sunset

how do i post a photograph?

2005-01-30T15:03:00.000-08:00

2005-01-30T11:52:00.000-08:00

Supposedly, Music is an evil influence on humans. Here, and here.

More fun here, here.

I declare am the biggest fan of Islam. For people who are not yet aware, the religion is actually a work of Oscar Wilde.

2005-01-29T22:17:00.000-08:00

Elegance.

Often I long for such a thing in my line of work. But here it is - the very definition of elegance, The Proof of Fermat's Last Theorem.

P.S : I do not claim to have understood the proof in all its glory. But whatever little I did, it sure is glorious.

Ottai's birthday

2005-01-25T22:06:00.000-08:00

Guys,
Just to remind you,Ottai a.k.a Prashanth's birthday is also coming up.So, be there at 807 #8 on Wednesday night.
Allaarum vaango!
Kick ass hard guys!

Pratap

Vikram's Bday

2005-01-25T11:08:00.000-08:00

Guys,
Expecting all of u to turn up at Vikram's Bday on Thursday night at apt 151. There are none among us whom he hasnt ticked off in some way or the other...Now its time for PAYBACK !!!
guys who live in VG, we havta give new meaning to the term..stink up the place..so pls do contribute generously..

P:S. Wear shoes.

Proselytizing and Tsunami

2005-01-24T01:56:00.000-08:00

One of the fundamental flaws with Christianity and all other religions which have a prophet is that they are based on the idea of humans "spreading the Lord's word". I can, in fact am tempted to, use this single fact to argue that if there ever existed such a God, he/she/it is as screwed up as the rest of us schmucks are. But let me save that for a rainy day.

The point of this post is the Poselytizing zeal of American aid workers in Tsunami hit areas. The American aid organizations in India are mostly evangelical Christian organizations(there are obviously a few exceptions, and am not undermining their efforts for what its worth) and they seem to be up to the age old trick that has been used in India to shore up numbers. This is what am talking about.

The earliest incident I remember of such nature is when our watchman in Madras one day changed his name and declared himself a Christian, when the local church told him he would get 100Rs and bag of rice. Since each conversion was priced the same - he took his wife and children as well. Thus the family of four which had a hand-to-mouth existence had an extra 400Rs and enough grain for a month. That is the story of how Dasappan became Richard.(I do not remember what the names were of his family members). My grandfather who was visiting us then was furious, my mom was amused and I always thought that was quite brilliant of the man. He would have normally taken an entire fortnight(in 1988) to earn that money and probably a whole month for the grain. He understood that what he needed was bread and a matter of detail such as what his name was in some record in a church paled in comparison.

Fast Forward 2005. The evangelical zeal is probably dampened these days because the country is doing reasonably well in the economic sphere and it is not affordable for the churches to buy out those who earn a decent living otherwise. But then, their "God" has come to their rescue - or so they want to think/proclaim. The Tsunami, my mother tells me - is now preached to the totally devastated and homeless in parts of the worst hit Nagapattinam district(which is my mom's native place) as the wrath of God in the land of spiritual darkness.

If I were a victim and had no hope otherwise, I would gladly take the deal that the evangelists are offering - "Building materials and temporary food - for Religion". But my mom complains this is the abyss that mankind can reach.

I told her - "So what's your problem - just call 'em Richard. This is an arrangement where everybody gains. Those idiots get to think they are going to heaven for spreading the gospel, people get to build their houses". But she is not convinced.

Elliptical head tracker

2005-01-22T15:06:00.000-08:00

Who am I- 1

2005-01-21T22:11:00.000-08:00

I have long wondered were I stood in the "religious" spectrum. Am not an atheist in the strictest of definitions, though am closer to this end of the spectrum than the other(By the way I do not like the idea of an Agnostic, though am one). Its not that I believe in some kind of "creator" that puts me in such a dilemma, but my idea is that the human race is not dimensionally equipped to grasp the Universe in all it splendor. But that's just my theory.

The reason am rambling is - Bertrand Russells' "Why am not a Christian". Though his arguments are old and the associated familiarity has bred the requisite contempt, the sheer number of sworn thesits around me, make re-reading the obvious necessary. The basic arguments that the theist puts forward

1.The First Cause Argument
2.The Natural-Law Argument
3.The Argument From Design
4.The Moral Arguments For Deity
5.The Argument For The Remedying Of Injustice

are easily answered(though not with absolutely fool proof logic, I warn) by Russell.

But these are typically the pseudo-intellects' questions. The honest guy's dilemma - to be continued...

2005-01-21T11:55:00.000-08:00

How would I introduce Prophet Mohammad to himself:

Abivathehai ashtaka lohitha vishvamitra thriyarishhai pravaramvrithaha'h lohitha gothra bodhayana sutrah yajur saga.. Prophet mohamadaha sharma namam tvam asmiboho:

You, Prophet mohammad, bound by the sutras penned by Saint Bodhayana, belonging to the vishvamitra endorsed lohitha gothra hereby introduce yourself.

Senile Decay + Marx = Erectile Dysfunction.

2005-01-17T20:49:00.000-08:00

The difference between the insanity of Leftist propaganda and senile decay is almost non existent, but only 'almost'. Kuldeep Nayar, here, shows how to walk the thin line and confuse the hell out of readers on whether he really is suffering from brain damage or if slept with Yechury the day before.

His title "Read the Small Print", fooled me into thinking there might afterall be some small detail that we all missed which the Old man picked on. I knew it was wishful thinking as I started, but what the heck - miracles do happen (I was once a theist).

I digress.

Nayar has reached new heights in premature ejaculation of thoughtless crap resting on the hardness(or the lack of it) of logic which is matched only by his own erection. He actually goes into the details of Gujrat and BJP while trying to argue against FDI in print media. He gives the details of when the cabinet resolution was passed by Nehru and assumes it was/is sacrosanct because..(err he does not say why),he says it will actually result in NY Times printing papers in India but refuses to answer us proletarians asking "why not?",he theorizes scenarios that are supposed to strike more terror than Tom Clancy can ever attempt - but you know what his terror rests on. So am sparing the agony of "limpness". But,here is just a flavor....

It is more than a coincidence that the BJP-led government opened the print media to foreigners through an order it issued after the Gujarat carnage. Was it because the press had vehemently criticised the party? With 26 per cent share, NRI stake-holders will have a veto power on the board of a newspaper and can influence it. Maybe the Vajpayee government felt that this was one way to chastise the press which was critical of it.

And this guy was once hailed as India's best columnist? - was he not given some award for excellence in Journalism by the GOI??

I would be guilty of sacrilegious blasphemy if I were to accuse Nayar of sophistry. So am not. He has an assumption and much like the stupid fuck Islamic websites that justify themselves on various aspects like why a Muslim man who farts is holy but not a woman, Nayar attempts to convince the reader of his views by convincing them of his stupidity. Pity on such a screwed up socialist is the only reason someone may read the article in full - it sure did work with me. A sense of pity combined with a curiosity to see for myself how stupid mankind can actually get helped me all the way.

2005-01-15T16:46:00.000-08:00

CENSORSHIP ends in logical completeness when nobody is allowed to read any thing except the thing nobody reads.
- G.B.Shaw

The administrator of the Blog has failed in his primary responsibility to retain sanity over two nincompoops, thus making himself a target that begs to be shot down. I am actually tempted to make a long post invoking Ayn Rand, but I resist.

What I wish to raise is this : a PIL(aka Publicity Interest Litigation) in the TKT challenging the rights of the administrator to continue office.

Happiness.

2005-01-15T15:10:00.000-08:00

Time Magazine's recent issue has a cover story on "Happiness". The story in itself is a typical Time hodge-podge masala, that is in no way better than most Bollywood movies - consequently not worth the paper it's printed on. But the fact that it had this cover story and because Charlie Rose had the story as a topic last week - it seriously got me thinking.

More than the cover story and the Talk show itself, an anecdote that one of his guests(it's been a week, so I forgot who) recalled, has really stayed with me for some reason. The person said

In some cultures, people do not accept happiness. The French are famous for it. In spite of having one the highest standards of living across societies, the French are not "happy" in almost all areas satisfaction. The epitome of this was when a journalist asked President Charles de Gaulle whether he was happy, he replied with - 'What do you think I am, a fool?'. (as I recall)

Then he went on to say the reasons for such behavior vary from 'intellectual' in France to religious is Arab countries. The French supposedly think that if one admits to happiness it's an admission of them not being "smart".

It really is a fascinating insight. Most people I know, including myself, worry because they think they "can". This manifests itself in such varied characters. The leftists' worry about the poor, my mom about me, AYM GRAMD about everything else. The only time there is no worry is when the individual knows the idea/objective really is well and truly way beyond his ability. So friends here is Nilu's contribution to mankind

"Give everything the respect it deserves, which is basically zilch. And understand what you are capable of - which again is zilch because of statement one and because of itself. Statements one and two together result in a total lack of worry. Some refer to this as happiness."

Thank You!

2005-01-14T06:56:00.000-08:00

I disagree with Shankara fundamentally, and believe I have a reason not to call myself a Hindu.Profound reasons. But those later.

The point of this post is to dispel the notion that

" Nirguna Brahman,the corner stone of Advaita Vedanta is actually Madhyamaka Buddhism( and it's idea of Nirvana)"

A superficial look at both philosophies makes them look eerily similar - but the differences are clearly indicated here.Siddhartha seems to sum it up in one sentence of his :

"Where there is nothing; where naught is grasped, there is the Isle of No-Beyond. Nirvana do I call it -- the utter extinction of aging and dying."

It was only Vedantins after Shankara who debated on the reality of Brahman - whether it had attributes or was without any. However, one must remember that Advaita Vedanta in itself did not deny Saguna Brahman. Indeed, Shankara counseled worship of God in his very real forms, and has composed numerous works deploring the uselessness of intellect and calling for the true intuition of the heart to be found in love of the Lord. Advaita Vedanta is commonly misapprehended as an intellectual philosophy, whereas it is supposedly quite practical, seeking to mold the body and mind back into a purer state of being.

2005-01-13T14:41:00.000-08:00

Religion is fascinating.

Fight against those who (1) believe not in Allaah, (2) nor in the Last Day, (3) nor forbid that which has been forbidden by Allaah and His Messenger (Muhammad), (4) and those who acknowledge not the religion of truth (i.e. Islam) among the people of the Scripture (Jews and Christians), until they pay the Jizyah with willing submission, and feel themselves subdued
[al-Tawbah 9:29]

O you who believe! Fight those of the disbelievers who are close to you, and let them find harshness in you

[al-Tawbah 9:123]

I actually wanted to write something about how any religion is logically flawed by definition, then I just stumbled on this when researching that "religion" called Islam. I seriously think Islam is the Dhil/Dhool/Saamy of religions. It seems to be perfectly designed with the audience in mind, who want a specific thrill from their experience of the "divine". And I have come to appreciate Muslims for this, for that exact "lack of ambition"(for want of a better phrase).

In lighter vein:- TKT- Tsunami reactions

2005-01-12T22:46:00.000-08:00

Typical reactions of members of TKT, on learning about the Tsunami attacks:

Mr. X: dude! I believe Tsunamis struck Chennai, following an earthquake in Indonesia, claiming 800 lives and leaving many devastated

Vikram: Perusu ellam shorts pottundu summa scene jogging pannum ille, vechangala apppppu!
Nilu: Cool deal! Death rocks. Ask the victims to have sex!
Hari: Why did this not happen when I was in Chennai? Even the Tsunamis dont like me.
Suppini: Dei! Calls 650-5852- harry, dei thevi**** paiyya.. Thevanukku vakku thane mukkiyam
Pratap: su..., su..., su.., Tsunami ya? zzzzzzzzz
Urs truly: It is the conspiracy of an Islamic nation. Tsunami is Allah's benomee.

But, the award goes to
Guess Who?: What are you- Tsunami?

Thus spake whoever...

2005-01-12T20:44:00.000-08:00

vaanathil irukkum andha dhosaiya paaru,
suttathu yaaru? ada nilavunnu peru,
kaalaiyil kaaNaom adhai thinaadhu yaaru,
ada adad adada adada

Man! Logic Rajaraman feels threatened

Read this....

2005-01-11T13:36:00.000-08:00

Excerpt from Colombo Times..

On 26th Dec '04 early morning several hrs before the catastrophy
happened, Honolulu Tsunami Monitoring center have been trying to call
our Meteorological Dept. monitoring center in Colombo but
failed. They also got in touch with presidents' office however it was
informed that she's out of the island on a private vacation.

Finally they called Prime minister's secretariat, but Prime minister
was out on his morning walk. Thinking at least it's best to keep him
vigilant on this, the Honolulu officials left the message with the person who picked up the phone to inform Prime minister that there's a Tsunami coming from Indonesia.

On prime minister's return, the operator told prime minister about the call, said T. Sunami from Indonesia is arriving in 2 hrs. Prime minister promptly took action to send a delegation to colombo Airport
with name boards ' Welcome Mr. T. Sunami - Indonesia.

ROTFL!!

2005-01-10T14:35:00.000-08:00

There are six basic beliefs shared by all Muslims:

* Belief in Allah, the one and only one worthy of all worship.
* Belief in the Angels.
* Belief in the Books (sent by God).
* Belief in all the Prophets and Messengers (sent by God).
* Belief in the Day of Judgment (Qiyamah) and in the Resurrection.
* Belief in Fate (Qadar)

ROTFL!!!!!

Common People's Idiocies (Manifested)-CPI(M)

2005-01-10T13:06:00.000-08:00

The tsunami striking us in the last days of 2004 must be seen not as an ominous signal for the future, but as the culmination of a legacy of hate and destruction that we, the Indian people, unitedly and finally overcame in the political sphere in 2004.It is also a reminder that gigantic tasks lie ahead. The defeat of fascistic communalism is only half the battle won. A more bitter engagement awaits us to cleanse our society of this communal virus. This is a task that needs to be addressed with great earnest in the coming year. Likewise, the Indian people had brought about a change in the political leadership of the government in 2004 with the strong hope of improving their livelihood and enhancing their quality of life. This objective is as yet very far from achieved. The struggle against retrograde economic policies, and for policies that are pro-people, will have to be intensified in the coming year. Nature’s fury and the consequent human agony dramatically, in fact cruelly, remind us that we all will have to redouble our efforts to change India for the better.

The CPI(M)'s weekly editorial, ironically titled "People's Democracy", on the Tsunami. Am sure thatha is jealous

Rajni's Pic/Dick from Chandramukhi......

2005-01-10T09:14:00.000-08:00

Guys, here is a pic of rajni's dick. totallllllll galeeeej.

http://www.behindwoods.com/Gallery/Movies/chandramukhi_gal/chandra20.html

Celeb-Necrophilia

2005-01-09T18:26:00.000-08:00

Mussolini and his mistress, shot and hanged upside down in 1945. I believe he said "Shoot my chest" before being shot.

This "official" photograph of Hitler's morgue, is that of his doppelganger's.

The angst of a professional

2005-01-09T18:10:00.000-08:00

Yes, they think "Mumbai Express" is an Anglo-centric title. By calling my film "Mumbai Express", I am practising cultural erosion and never mind if there are recent Tamil films with titles like "Boyz". Never mind if dozens of trains in the country have 'express' in their names and if there's a leading newspaper by that name in the country. Never mind if it is my job and prerogative to 'express' myself. It is a very provincial Tamil Nadu-centric attitude. First "Virumaandi", then "Vasool Raja" and now "Mumbai Express"...my films seem to be constantly getting into title hassles

- KamalHassan on his next bilingual venture Mumbai Express

Living with Arrathu

2005-01-08T22:26:00.000-08:00

Here's how to Ole uses his comebacks in arguments:

Ole says: As Swami Vivekananda said in 1905...
You say: Vivekananda died in 1902
Ole: You don't care about what am gonna say - all you want to do is find fault with me. You are getting on my nerves.
---------------------
Ole says: Egyptians, like most Asians...
Your say: Egypt is in Africa.
Ole: You're being defensive. How does it matter where Egypt is?

------------------------

How to shut this Ole up.....

You should use some Latin abbreviations such as "Q.E.D.", "e.g.", and "i.e." These are all short for "I speak Latin, and you don't."

Here's how to use these words and phrases. Suppose you want to say, "Pakistanis would like to order Chicken more often, but they don't have enough money."

You never win with Ole talking like that.He's too much of a pain in the ass to let that go. But you WILL shut him up if you say, "Let me put it this way. In terms of chicken vis-a-vis Pakistanis qua Pakistanis', they would like to order them more often, so to speak, but they do not have enough money per se, as it were. Q.E.D."

Not even a fool of Ole's calibre would challenge that statement.

2005-01-08T19:50:00.000-08:00

A favorite pastime of Bum's around the world is this : questioning the credibility of the person who makes a remark, while making it amply clear they have not so much as a freakin clue to the answer.

I am actually tempted to make a long post - but will save that for a rainy day.

P.S : Ole, Stop making a fool out of yourself again by making a stupid comment here. Not that am concerned about your screwed up self, but just that am really getting annoyed by the depths to which you pull this page and whoever is part it down with you. Either make a freaking pertinent point - or STFU.

Dr. Strangelove's Game

2005-01-07T11:19:00.000-08:00

Stanley Kubrick,Russell Crowe - all somehow related to one of the greatest minds of this century? Surprised? Dont be.

In the past year or so,movies and books alike led me to the name of Von Neumann more than a few times. Whether it was while watching movies like "Dr. Strangelove" or "A Beautiful Mind" or reading about computers, quantum theory or games, Von Neumann has a mention anywhere and everywhere.

Born Hungarian, Von Neumann as a kid entertained parents and family friends alike by memorizing pages off the phone book or multiplying/dividing 8 bit numbers in the head. A photographic memory and innate genius with numbers saw him find his way through a Phd in maths and a chemical engineering degree a cake walk. A mathematician to the core, he still went on to leave his mark in mathematics,quantum theory,computer architecture, automata theory and finally devised the principles of game theory with Oskar Morgenstern. All this of course, excluding the man's contribution to one of the single most "advances" of the age - the American nuclear program.

Impossible as it is to chronicle this great mind's work and times, his life had its strange twists and turns.

Early 1920s found mathematicians being thwarted by strange paradoxes. Contradictions in set theory prompted the Hilbert program - where David Hilbert set forth with Von Neumann and other great minds of the time to formalize mathematics. Hilbert's aim was to resolve these contradictions and prove the completeness of mathematics as a problem solving area. All seemed fine and well as these great minds laid a solid axiomatic foundation for mathematics until a smiling geek called Kurt Godel popped up. Godel's infamous theorem that "no formal system powerful enough to formulate arithmetic could ever be complete and consistent" literally sucked the wind from the Hilbertian sails. So much for Act I of the Von Neumann play.

In late 1920s, inspired by Werner Heisenberg, Von Neumann decided to foray into quantum theory. In a 1932 work, Neumann set about discussing indeterminism in quantum theory. The physics world was still hoping to resolve "hidden parameters" to make quantum theory a completely deterministic theory. Von Neumann set about developing a mathematical base for quantum and concluded(albeit mathematically) that indeterminism lay inherent in quantum theory. Along came Einstein who talked of relativity and there were more additions/changes to the Von Neumann work. Act II concludes.

In 1930, Neumann was a visiting professor at Princeton Univ. Computing machines were just beginning to take shape in concept. Neumann, being the mathematician that he was, was thinking on the lines of a machine that would do the mathematician's work. At the same time, a diminutive individual namely Alan Turing was around in Princeton. Turing proposed in one of his papers - the concept of the Turing Machine (the earliest conception of a computer). Neumann was impressed and set about working on the concept using vacuum tubes(transistors being non existent then). Turing's concept was essentially extended into what we know today as the Von Neumann architecture - logical components sharing resources,memories with instructions and data being stored in memory as well. Act III ends.

At the same time, Von Neumann set about finding his feet in a new field altogether. Poker was one of his favorite games. Neumann saw numbers behind the bluffing and winning ways of poker. Game theory was born. Von Neumann proposed a best strategy for two-person zero-sum games. His classic paper,co-authored with Oskar Morgenstern heralded game theory's application to economics and political strategy. But wait, here's the catch. Game theory as proposed by Neumann was not extendable to >2 player games because of the possibility of alliances between players. So while Neumann got the ball rolling, he did not quite score.Along came John "A Beautiful Mind" Nash who extended Neumann's work, came up with the "Nash equilibrium" and an even more solid foundation to game theory.Act IV - happy but not so happy for Neumann.

1940s saw the American nuclear program take off. Von Neumann teamed up with Kahn to build the hydrogen bomb with the RAND corporation - the military's consultant organization. Inspite of his European origins, Neumann was quite happy to preserve his adopted motherland - USA. That by advising nuclear action on a first-use deterrent basis. In the 1950s, Neumann was slowly falling to cancer. Confined to a wheelchair, he proposed repeated use of the bomb - a conceptual Doomsday Machine - a computer that would activate a bunch of hydrogen bombs, cometh the hour. Towards the end of his time, Neumann's genius waned and he became the prototype of a scheming,ailing,wheel-chair confined intellectual - Dr. Strangelove as Kubrick put it. Neumann , in his last days, was a frustrated soul - aware of his immense powers slowly slipping away with disease. Final Act I guess.

Mathematics as applied to quantum theory,computers,politics and strategic economics - he's been everywhere and left his mark. The next time a Russel Crowe or an Alan Turing is talked about, you'll know Neumann's somewhere round the corner.

2005-01-06T17:45:00.000-08:00

Kancha Ilaiah takes the cake for the funniest piece of logic, ever. Exerpts from his interview.....
This is stuff that will seriously put Chris Rock to jealousy.

Q: Do you see what you call the Dalitisation process operating in other spheres as well?

A: This is evident everywhere—the fact that a Brahmin doctor is willing to treat a Dalit patient is a reflection of this process, as is the willingness of a Brahmin woman to divorce her husband or smoke and drink in public or a Brahmin widow going in for another marriage. You must remember that smoking and drinking , divorce and remarriage have never been problems for Dalit-Bahujan women, in contrast to Brahmin women, so all this is nothing but Dalitisation in action. M.N.Srinivas and other Brahmin sociologists wanted to bolster Brahminical hegemony by claiming that India is getting Sanskritised. But when we asked them what is all this surge in drinking and smoking and women’s emancipation all about, they said it was Westernisation, when actually it is nothing but Dalitisation. Of course, they do not want to admit that because that will mean recognising that it is from the Dalit-Bahujans that others are learning.

2005-01-05T17:46:00.000-08:00

Yusuf told the story of an Aceh woman carrying a child through the streets three days after the tsunami. The woman found a dirty bottle filled with sewer water and she was preparing to drink it. She saw a man familiar with Islamic teachings and asked him "Is it halal?" -- is it lawful?

"In this stressful moment, she and her baby have not had anything to eat for days, and yet she is still able to use the concept of halal in her life," Yusuf said.

ROTFL!!!

2005-01-04T17:19:00.000-08:00

This is an atheist's argument against God.

Even as an agnostic - I agree, a lot of it is trivialized and sometimes the argument becomes pathetic, but still it sure is funny all the way.

Such a god is as much a contradiction in terms as a square circle, and thus logically impossible, for numerous reasons including the following:

1) Omnipotence is impossible because God would, at a minimum, be unable to limit his powers, e.g., make a stone he cannot lift; if he could make such a stone, then his inability to lift it would defeat his omnipotence;

2) God's omnipotence conflicts with his omniscience, because if God knows everything that is going to happen in advance, he cannot do anything in the present; he must simply watch the future unfold as previously foreseen, because changing anything would falsify his prior belief concerning the future;

3) God's omnipotence precludes him from having knowledge of any sensations or emotions associated with weakness, e.g., fear, frustration, despair, sickness, etc., and thus conflicts with him omniscience;

4) God's omniscience precludes him from having knowledge of any emotions associated with surprise or anticipation, and thus conflicts with itself;

5) God's omniscience conflicts with his disembodiedness, since a being without a body could not know how to drive, swim, or perform any activity associated with having a body;

6) God's omniscience conflicts with his omnibenevolence, since a morally perfect god could not have knowledge of feelings of hate, lust, or envy, or cruelty, etc.

7) God's omniscience and omnipotence conflict with his omnibenevolence, since a god who could prevent evil would do so unless he were unable to do so or unaware of the evil.

Liberal Balderdash

2005-01-04T16:22:00.000-08:00

A really good objective analysis by David Brooks on the stupidity of the liberal's arguments against the "low tax, high growth" model.

An Ode to the Vending Machine

2005-01-04T11:04:00.000-08:00

I think there is a deep rooted communist plot to throw the good natured libertarian off guard.I really do. The seat of this conspiracy seems to be at the Vending Machines across campus. No am not kidding, there really is an evil commie behind every Vending Machine in Clemson.

Whenever I want a snack and I have the Tiger card(and no change) all the machines I can go to seem to accept only cash and not my Tiger Stripe. Just to add a touch of Marx to the plot - they would also have Soda Machine adjacent to the snack one, which would accept the card. Of course the whole thing happens in reverse when I want a Soda and not a snack.

Assuming by some divine intervention, which I know is non existent, I happen to find a machine which accepts the kind of money I have - it would only be a proletariat attempt at robbing the libertarian of a $. The machine would in all innocence gobble up by green colored paper with George Washington on it - and then stand there as though nothing happened. Fuck you!..that's my hard earned buck, and more importantly I need a chocolate - and now!

The soda machine probably employs the KGB to run it's side of the conspiracy - for it's far more complex than the naivete of the snack machine. It would reluctantly accept the payment through Tiger Stripe - and respond to the press of the wanted drink button promptly. Just that the KGB morons inside get a kick out of sending a Diet Nestea when all I want is my Mello Yello.

What's worse - when am trying to reason out the faux paux with a kick or two, there will be self righteous bastards around who would suggest I go to the nearest refund place in campus instead of venting my anger at the machine. Losers.

2005-01-04T10:15:00.000-08:00

Belt use laws in only 22 jurisdictions (Alabama, California, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas, and Washington) are standard, or primary, meaning police may stop vehicles solely for belt law violations. Police authority to enforce belt laws in other jurisdictions is limited. Officers must have some other reason to stop a vehicle before citing an occupant for failing to buckle up.

2005-01-03T13:21:00.000-08:00

I have long wondered about Marx's idea of social justice. The modern derivative - concept of "redistributive justice" is based on the idea that we should create a level playing field for all individuals .

However, my question is - why stop with money?

Why not scar the faces of the beautiful and inflict brain damage on the intelligent?

Ordinary People - A Review

2005-01-03T02:09:00.000-08:00

So overhyped is the idea of "brilliance" that we often, in fact almost always forget the elegance of the average. Ordinary People by Robert Redford(his first movie) does exactly that. The movie does not have stunning screenplay or brilliant dialogues. But it has a haunting feel of reality to it which is what makes the simple movie a really good one.

Timothy Hutton playing a troubled teen who is caught up in the veneer of sophistication that has been pulled over him by a mother who is the "perfect" suburban woman(Mary Tyler Moore), endears himself to the audience. His frustrations and his shield were things I could associate myself with. Donald Sutherland, playing the father, was so reminiscent of days when I myself was in situations not very different.

The story revolves around Conard - a teenager who blames himself for the death of his brother in a boating accident. He is so overcome by guilt that he had attempted suicide. His parent's(especially his mother) being affluent and all that do not understand his plight. The story is actually just that. But the emotions were so powerful in this two hour drama that little do we realize the lack of a complete story.

This is a movie to be watched alone, and without letting the "Best Picture" Oscar over Raging Bull and The Elephant Man affect you. It is no masterpiece in art and probably did not deserve mention alongside two of the above movies. Pity is - 1980 was such a great year for movies that no one had the time to recognize it.

2005-01-02T23:17:00.000-08:00

'The Stranger' has been renamed as 'A Kaliedoscope'. Ole, before you even start posting comments which would require a Pranav to puke at, please recall what should have been covered in 3rd grade grammar

Rule

Write I before E
Except after C
Or when it sounds like an A
As in "neighbor" and "weigh"

In short your "Kaliedoscope" is spelt Kaleidoscope.

P.S : Don't try to activate that pea brain of yours and change the spelling now, I already have a snapshot of the page :))

Update : See this ROTFL!!!

Please enlighten us Ole - How does something in public domain become "none of my buisness"??

My Top 10

2005-01-02T23:09:00.000-08:00

For sale

2005-01-02T20:37:00.000-08:00

A masterpiece-Da Vinci's Last Supper- Starting bid: $10. The Art connoissuers take on this?

2005-01-02T16:30:00.000-08:00

If I manage to get my first pay Cheque, this is what am buying. That would be a 6000$ well spent.

Natural Born Killers

2005-01-02T13:34:00.000-08:00

Apparently(as the NY Times review suggests above) the critic's and the box office did not really like "Natural Born Killers", but I for one found really funny.

Woody Harrelson (Mickey), Juliette Lewis (Mallory) are totally convincing. Infact I remember Julitte from "What's Eating Gilbert Grape" and have come to be a fan of hers. She has convinced me(and therefore I hope, the audience) that she really is "wild" and her actions seem quite suited for the character. Tarantino's story in combination with brilliant editing did have me at the edge of my seat for 2 full hours.

The movie is not for the queasy, and maybe not even for most people who are regular - but I enjoyed it to the hilt.

2005-01-02T13:05:00.000-08:00

Navin,
The reason why I have never entered into an argument with you is a post of it's own. Will make it soon. But now I am entering into one, again with reasons same as above to be explained in subsequent posts. Let me begin by countering what you said,

few fallacies in this post of yours.
I think its necessary to put oneself through action to see the futility of it. Else it is an escapist step. If one claims to have seen ego-boosts as the primary motivation behind all actions or acts and hence refuses to act, then that in itself is an escapist act. What is required is not complete cessation of all action, but action with the correct attitude - detachment to eventually relieve oneself of attachment to action or its fruits.

My post asked one to question oneself as to where the thought of charity originated. So I am still acting when am questioning myself as to how I, and therefore the world works. I become aware that every act is a product of my thought, and hence the motive is myself (or I act to preserve myself). Just that I have, through this process come to understand the action of charity is not any more in my interest than sex is. Am acting, just that I choose sex over charity - and it makes more sense to me.

The second part of your statement relating to detachment is one of the infinite contradictions in Karma Yoga. If you act with an intention to be detached, why do you do that? - where does that thought of detachment arise?

1. Is it not the case where the idea of detachment arises within yourself??

2. Is it not because you are convinced that being detached is a 'good' way of dealing with the world that you are trying to be "that"?

3. If that inherent 'good for me' is the reason, why is this particular 'good for you' any better than other 'good for you'...eg. sex?

Russell peters

2005-01-01T16:55:00.000-08:00

Russell peters: This Indian belongs to the Conan O brien, Drew Carrey league. Here is proof. In this 45 minute video, he takes a dig at the Indian outlook on marital and monetary issues. Hilarious and am sure every Indian can relate to it.

2005-01-01T13:32:00.000-08:00

Tamil cinema, has one of the oddest, and most remarkable forms of storytelling where the audience is mostly unencumbered to seek logic, rationality or even intelligibility. No one seems to care if in the middle of a serious scene, someone breaks out into song and dance. Simply by virtue of convention, habit and tradition, the audience can reach a stage of readership where they can purely skim through the text without stopping and re-reading and actually trying to find out the meaning. Even the creators of the images have by virtue of the same habits, conventions and traditions, formatted their storytelling to be as non-textual as possible, and consequently the telling allows itself to be told in such an abstract a manner. (By non-textual I mean in a manner that seemingly defies common understanding of storytelling)

My Top 10

2005-01-01T13:27:00.000-08:00

This is my list of all top 10 movies in Tamil. The considerations were (not in that order) Originality in Thought/Efficiency in execution of the thought, dialogues,Screenplay, cinematography,Mis-en-Scene, era, Entertainment value etc.

1. Kannathil Muthamittal
2. Thevar Magan
3. Hey! Ram
4. Andha Naal
5. Mahanadhi
6. Iruvar
7. Michael Madana Kama Rajan (ain't no acheivement in art, but still it rocks!)
8. Veedu
9. Bama Vijayam
10. Ethir Neechal

The Myth of Charity

2004-12-30T16:43:00.000-08:00

I don't believe in philanthropy, I simply don't. To prove my point,Let's begin at the beginning.

Why do humans act ?....
To understand this let us first consider how they act. It gives a profound insight into why they act. Human actions fall into two categories :

1. Involuntary.
2. Voluntary.

Involuntary actions relate to those which are not products of "thought", and include breathing, hunger - therefore a desire for food, sleeping, sexual urges , self preservation etc . So any action that is involuntary is by definition - a selfish act and works towards basic survival.

The second action(and more importantly it's hypocrisy) is what makes life pretty interesting. All actions that we arrive upon after atleast one bit of thought happen to fall into this category. To use a technique that a man I respect used, let me ask this - if the action is a product of a 'thought', to whom did that thought arise?.

Stop that line of thought so that you are still in my league. So let's see where Philanthropy stands. It is an action - which is a product of thought. The thought arises in your self. The primary objective of the self is preserving itself - pretty obvious, but hardly understood. So as a consequence, any thought that arises from the self is selfish(by definition), and consequently the action cannot be anything different either.

But the same self also wants to indulge in delusions of grandeur about itself so that the futility and hallowness of itself are not visible. And thus came up this concept of "Philanthropy". Stripping down philanthropy to its basics, it is ego boosting at it very best - just as any other of our actions are(varying in scale). People basically do it with ... "See, I made a difference" feeling, or what is infinitely worse, a patronizing attitude.

In times of disaster it might graduate into a more raw form. The Tsunami Relief is a classic case. What people are trying to do by involving themselves in the various relief Organizations is this

1. The prospect of an imminent disaster they are personally involved now seems real.
2. They want to feel safe in their illusion that the collective psyche of humanity will come to their rescue in such an event, just as they doing are now.

Pretty stupid, if you ask me.

Tsunami and Stupidity.

2004-12-30T11:45:00.000-08:00

As soon as the shock and panic ceased the more predictable reactions - crying foul at government inefficiency or ranting at some apathy, have taken precedence.

The degrees are varying - depending on the geographical location, political affiliation, economic status etc etc. Examples here and here.

In my opinion - what such tragedies bring to people is nothing but brief moments of grief that they want enjoy(/feel)vicariously - just like watching a really touching movie. They want to demostrate they are really compassionate and all. They also want to think that by such behavior of theirs, they are gathering numbers which might comfort their illusion of 'compassionate humanism'- which in their opinion would help them if they are at the receiving end one day.

My suggestion - go have sex.

Compassion eh?

2004-12-29T14:03:00.000-08:00

....

2004-12-28T18:02:00.000-08:00

Blockbuster list continued.....

Anthing else
Elephant man
Rashomon
Very bad things
Dead-man walking
What about Bob?
Planes, trains and automobiles
K-Pax
Negotiator
Sleepers
R<>omance
Breaking the waves

2004-12-28T14:58:00.000-08:00

To those going to Block Buster, this would be our queue......(add as you please)

1. North by NorthWest
2. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)
3. Unforgiven (1992)
4. The Apartment (1960)
5. Natural Born Killers (1994)
6. Rear Window (1954)
7. To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
8. The Third Man (1949)
9. Blade Runner (1982)
10. The Big Chill
11. Wise Blood
12. Ordinary People
.........

Timeless times of India

2004-12-28T14:10:00.000-08:00

Times of India - on Tsunami affecting tourists in Thailand.

Top 5 Tamil movies......

2004-12-27T21:53:00.000-08:00

Top 5 tamil movies in all respects... story,cinematography, actors and direction.......

1. Villivakkam beauty
2. Mamanarin Kamavery
3. Kanigal Jagiradhai
4. Driving school
5. Banupriya hits

The deluge

2004-12-27T15:40:00.000-08:00

Watch it here (Waves hit hotel..requires real player)

Lazy :
Tsunami, what?....I initally thought they had just a named the tremor attack like naming tornados in the US. I was completely wrong.