Sabari Mala Trip II

...Contd from Sabari Mala Trip I
While getting down any hill, one needs to be very careful as it's tougher and calls for great caution. But it goes without saying that it will be enjoyable. There won't be any control on one's own legs. Just that we start and go along with the momentum and take great effort to stop. Sabari mala is no different - especially with the 75 degree Appachi Medu and Neeli mala to be treaded down :). It was raining and drizzling in top of that!! Balaji, amounted for the maximum fun yet again - be it scheming against carrying the prasadam container or holding the side bars tightly and taking one step after another or tackling fast runners from behind, providing us with a running commentary through out as to how one has to approach getting down a hill :). At some point, Anand just couldn't stand the comedy anymore that he sat down and laughed and curious on lookers felt he was sick tried to offer help :). Like last year, I had kaapa kanji and kattan chai etc. on the way and signalled our reaching kanni moola ganapathi shrine with a tender coconut :)

When the entire team arrived, again Balaji expressed his anxiety over how to reach Kottayam for catching his train to Mumbai. After huge discussions, it was decided that he will be dropped at Pattanamthitta. Well, we got down after worshipping Kanni Moola Ganapathi and Pampa and praying for the next visit, we boarded a bus to Nilakkal, the place where all vehicles will be parked.

After successfully completing Erumeli and Sabarimala it was time to visit the other three adobes of Ayyappa. So, off we went to Kulathupuzha (It's very close to Pattanamthitta where Balaji got down and we had our dinner), where we were accomodated in the temple mantapa.

Kulathupuzha:

This is one of the adobes of Ayyappa, where He is a Balaka or Child. It's a small temple on the banks of a puzha or river. We had a bath in the river and the water was really good. The temple, had the main deity and shrines for Naga (snake God), Bhagavathi (in a peculiar pose as if She was dancing or saluting) and of course Ganesha. One more interesting thing is the number of varieties of fish in the river (We offered puffed rice (pori), groundnut etc. to the fish). For more on the legends of Kulathupuzha read Prasad's blog.

Ariyankavu:

This is on the Thenmala hills in the Kottayam - Senkottai route. A very picturesque drive with many hair pin bends et all. Here, Lord Ayyappa is in the form of Ayyan - the deity looks very much like the One in Sabarimala. The temple also is on the banks of a water body (I don't know which one) and has shops selling spices and fruits available in the nearby forest.

Achan Kovil:

After Ariyankavu, we were to go to Achan Kovil. We somehow had a great urge from the beginning to visit this temple. The temple is in the midst of a thick forest (20 km ride inside the forest) near Senkottai. The ride was awesome. The driver din't want to take us there but we made sure we go. We started only around 11 AM and we thought that the temple will be
closed from 12 noon till 4 PM. So we were under great tension :). But we reached the temple in roughly 70 min and came to know that the temple closes roughly at 1:30 PM. We had a lot of time and had a great Darshan. Well, in Achan Kovil, Lord Ayyappa is a King, with his consorts - Purna and Pushkala - They are not females but embodiments of completeness and wealth.
The legend says that Here Lord Ayyappa can bestow one with wealth and other earthly needs as he is a King himself while at Sabari mala he can give knowledge and contentment as He is a Yogi/Sanyasi there :) One more legend in Achan Kovil is that the sandal prasadam here can and will cure any venomous snake bite. This link has a good account on Achan kovil and it's legends.

Really happy that I was able to visit all the 5 adobes of Ayyappa.
The remaining part of the trip was in Tamil Nadu and will be covered in the next part of the blog :)
Swamiye Saranam Ayyappa
.... To Be Contd ......

Sabari Mala Trip I

I was blessed with my second Sabari mala trip (Dec 7 - Dec 11). The first part of our trip will be covered in this blog.

We were to have "Irumudi Kattu" and leave on Dec 07, 2008(Sunday) from Hosur. Like last year, my mother had come to Bangalore a day earlier. She along with my aunt and cousin started early morning and reached Hosur on time (Thanks to them!!). This time, the kattu was in a Ganesha temple. Needless to say, the atmosphere was awesome and compelling. All the kattus were over and by 11:30 we had a great lunch (prasadham) and were ready to leave.

We had left Hosur by 11:45. The vehicle was not upto the mark and the driver's attitude was pathetic and that proved to be the only hitch in the otherwise fantastic trip. After all you need something which is not good!! That's life :). On the way, we had a bath in river Bhavani (I guess), between Salem and Karur. This time we had three kanni samis (first timers - last year I was one). One was Vikram (V) and the other one Balaji (B). Both are funny people in their own rights. B was explaining his experience at the Baghu Bali temple and that became a code word for all of us at various instances. We also had a lot of arguments (political / religious / junk) through out which added spice to the travel :). V was sleeping royally, come what may...

We reached Erumeli only at 6 AM on Monday (The van driver had hit a cow / calf / bull not sure what) on the way. He was dozing through out as we were. At Erumeli, we visited the Petta Sastha temple, Vavuru Samadhi and the Dharma Sastha temple (Erumeli is one of the five adobes of Ayyappa swami - I will write in detail in the next blog). V and B were supposed to do
Petta Thullal, but they din't just as I din't in the last year :). Erumeli is the start of the peria padhai, the 50 km ascent to Sabari mala. As we din't take that path (we take the smaller path 8 km from Pampa), we got Sarams (for first timers) and knife (for second timers - me :)) there and we started to Pampa by van.

Pampa, is the holy river at the foots of the Sabari mala ascent (before Neeli mala). Mythology says, that Ayyappa was found in the banks of Pampa with a bell tied around his neck when king of Pandalam, Rajasekara Pandian found him. As is the ritual, we took bath in Pampa, carried the Irumudi and started the ascent. Irumudi is a holy package containing ghee filled coconut and rice (mainly) on the front side and two more coconuts in the back with or without other things that the traveller may require. After Pampa, one will reach the Kanni Moola Ganapathi shrine (where coconut should be broken as an offering), go up Neeli mala, Appachi medu and Sabari peetam. Our team's protocol is that no one should go beyond Subramanya padhai until the entire team reches there. During the ascent, Balaji was lured by pineapple vendors and was pressed by some external force (!!!) not allowing him to climb and he was successful in not carrying the ghee container (giving weird reasons) et all. All these added to our fun quotient.

Once the entire team reached, we were lucky enough to get a by pass and reached the Holy 18 steps and the Sannidhanam in no time and our darshan was over by 5 PM :) :) :). Everyone was emotional at the great Darshan bestowed on us by Him. We got a room to stay. Throghout the evening, we were able to have many Darshans (thanks to Him).

I and Anand had the opportunity of going for the Ghee Abhishekam the same night. The Ghee Abhishekam, starts at 4 AM everyday and goes on till 11 AM, but one has to join the Q, the previous night itself for a early completion next morning. We went to the Q at 10 PM in the night and was shocked to see some 10 layers before us, all sleeping in the Q. We were intelligent enough to define a new end (at the 4th layer) to the existing Q and soon there were people joining after us :) (trend setters). We were in the open and had very less space. Anand made himself into an 'S' and managed to sleep and even snored on top of that (gifted soul). All was well, when suddenly at 00:45 someone in the area shouted "Swamiye Saranam Ayyappa". That was enough for the sleepy members of the Q, who were disoriented in space and time, to think that the Darshan has started and there was a huge commotion. We used the commotion to move to the first layer of the Q :). From 0045 to 0400, the time flew and the next morning we were able to see the Ghee Abhishekam Darshan and back to the room at 5:30 (on Tuesday).

Then we saw many more Darshans, finished darshan of Malikapurathamma (the female deity there), ate Panchamirtham (4 rounds :)) and started getting down.

Swamiye Saranam Ayyappa
.... To Be Contd ......

Unforgettable Diwali !! - My costliest Trichy trip..

Of the five years I've been out of Trichy, this Diwali was "special". In fact, not the Diwali per se, but the things that happened before Diwali.

I had planned and booked my Diwali ticket well in advance (as I normally do). To be very specific, I booked the onward journey (for Oct 24, 2008) ticket on July 26, 2008. Exactly 90 days before (Indian Railways doesn't allow any earlier!), you can count if you have a doubt :). Actually, there were no tickets available from Bangalore to Trichy (there are people worse and more paranoid than me :)), I had booked it from Maddur to Trichy (an excess of Rs.20 doesn't really matter). This was the flashback...

On Oct 24, 2008, I (along with Karthik and Ravindra) left office at 2:45 PM (on time, normally I leave at 3:30 PM). We got a Suvarna bus and got a business class ticket ( Rs.5 extra - I am serious, please check in Suvarna buses of KSRTC if you don't believe me). It was raining pretty heavily and I got down at Silk Board. God!! It was like the Bay of Bengal. Took an auto from bG circle to my place. The guy was cool and asked for just Rs. 30 (in place of Rs. 20). When I reached halfway, I was able to see a Pacific Ocean - Bermuda triangle rather... The vehicles which dared pass through the water actually started floating and disappeared!! The devil in me enjoyed the lighter side of the sufferings of those people though :). The auto driver told me that he has to take a big detour to avoid this mess and charged Rs. 60. It really doesn't matter!!

I reached home, packed and was about to leave - it started drizzling. Din't mind it really and got an auto to Majestic at 5 PM. The auto driver told me that the road was pretty bad and flooded (I knew it !!) and that he will take a different "shorter" route. I said yes. We entered the narrowest lane in Bangalore (it was raining heavily by then) and saw the biggest possible traffic jam. I asked the auto wala, whether I can make it to the 7 PM train. He said "Aaraamaagi" (coolly!!). We were there in the jam and I was able to see all the possible vehicles that man had made. trying to turn, manouvre, race ahead... It's a really competitive world you see!!

Well, at the end of a 90 minute wait in the lane, we reached wht people normally call as main road. It was 6:30 and I asked the auto wala about my prospect of catching the train. He said "Kashta sir!!" (Difficult!!). That explains. I reached the other side of the Rly Stn at 7 :05 PM and took 2 subways (drenched in the rain in between)to reach the station. Ran to the 6th platform and found a totally empty platform. The inevitable had happened. The bloody train came and left on time!! My first time of missing a train.. It doesn't really matter!!

Came out of the station. It was raining as if it is the last monsoon in Bangalore for the next 40 years!! Searched around in Majestic bus stand for tamil Nadu buses. Later came to know that the TN buses have been shifted to the Wilson Garden bus stand. Why now??? Took an auto, who luckily charged a meagre Rs. 50. Reached the other bus stand. Got a person, who was having a ticket to Madurai, which I can take till Salem (Rs. 280). When I was waiting for that bus, a direct bus to Trichy was passing me. I was greedy enough to leave the old bus guy and go in pursuit of a ticket. The conductor later said there are no tickets (as if he din't know it before!!). When I was in the midst of nowhere, not knowing how to go, call it supernatural intervention or divine grace or dame luck or whatever, someone asked me whether I need a ticket to Trichy for Rs. 320. The bus was a Karnataka Sarige bus (worse than the Suvarna town bus I had taken!!), still, that was to be my Titanic for the night. I got a special last seat (# 52 to be precise) and the roads do have a lot of bumps... The bus was scheduled at 22:22 and eventually came at 23:15 and left at 00:00.

I reached Trichy at 09:00. I'm actually going through the 7.5 year saturn period and that sure has it's effect.

Total expense for the Diwali travel: Rs. 204(train) +60(auto1) +150(auto2) +50(auto3) +280(missed bus1)+ 320(travelled bus2) = 1064 + drenching in rain + no dinner + too much of running + too much of tension + Rs. 80 (antibiotics and vitamin C for cold).... :(

The Diwali was as usual great and had a nice return journey.....
All said and done, I will never forget Diwali 2008....

iPhone Resurrected - Rising from the water!!

She was not a phoenix because phoenix rises from the ashes. She was a dolphin !!! She rose from the water :). For people who don't get the context, please read http://prakashvis.blogspot.com/2008_08_01_archive.html. (two entries below :))

After what happened on Aug 22, Saravanan was nervous but Venu was crest fallen :). So we decided that we need to look for alternatives - to repair the existing one or get a replacement. We found that the only hope for these kind of unlocked and wet (:)) iPhones, is that upon paying an additional $200, one gets a replacement. So my iPhone went back to the US (with efforts from Saravanan et all). Thanks to Venu for his diligence in getting the replacement after a lot of to and fro and going thru some more hiccups in getting the new one unlocked etc. etc. etc. The new "she" came to India on Sep 24, 2008 and this time Dinesh got it from the same office on Sep 25 evening. I got to lay my hand on her on the same night (no pun meant!! :)).

There were definitely few more hiccups. Saturday, was the day when I explored her fully (no pun meant again - after all you can't remove the case :)). Firstly, I had to move all my contacts from Sim to the iPhone. I din't know that there was an application called SIMport in iPhone itself. Like an a** (something bad meant!!), I was trying to type all the contacts.

Later when I discovered the application, I din't realize I had loaded my friend's SIM and imported all his contacts. Here I was again, deleting all his contacts one by one (not an a** this time, coz, there is no way one can delete all contacts in one go in an iPhone!!).

Next, my iPhone was not getting detected in the iTunes but was detected as a digicam device in the PC. The whole day we googled and eventually found the following procedure from this link http://www.howardforums.com/archive/topic/1363091-1.html.

The procedure which worked for me :)
If the iPhone is not detected in iTunes but gets detected as digital camera in Windiws PC (XP).
1. Search for usbaapl in the C:\WINDOWS system folder. Typically it will be in C:\WINDOWS\system32\DRVSTORE\ folder.

2. Search for the "Apple iPod" device in "Device Manager" from "My Computer->Properties". If the devices is recognized as digicam, then you can find it under "Imaging devices"

3. Right click on the device and say "update driver". This will open the New hardware window. - Check the ‘Install from a list or specific location’ then click ‘Next’ - Check ‘Search for the best driver in these locations’. Un-check - ‘Search removable media’ and check ‘Include this location in the search’.In the text box copy the path obtained in step 1.
The iPhone will now be detected in the iTunes. :) A thousand thanks to the person who posted this. 1001 thanks to rajeev, who kept the energy going the whole day and kept on googling, up/down graded iTunes software etc.Now, I have it and am enjoying my experience with her, showing her off (just take it literally again ;)).

I just realized, how connected a world this is!! Between Aug 22 and September 22, there were three trips that my iPhone made between California and Bangalore. My God!!
Cheers!!

My Thiruvannamalai Trip - Girivalam

I realized my long time dream of going for a Thiruvannamalai Girivalam (Circumambulation of the Annamalai mountain) on Sep 20, 2008. I went with Vikram (V) and Chandrakanth (CD). Off we went directly from office on Sep 19, Friday afternoon. It was a 4 hour journey and we reached Thiruvannamalai by 8 in the evening. We had booked a room in Hotel Arunachala (right in front of the Rajagopuram). We enjoyed the tiffin that night and V bought a dhoti but CD was sceptical for obvious reasons :).

On Sep 20 (Saturday), we started Girivalam from the RajaGopuram at 05:30. The total distance to cover was 14 km and there were 8 lingams (one in each direction) to worship. The first one was the Indhra Lingam (East), which is hardly 50 m from the start. Then comes Agni Lingam (SE), roughly 1.5 km from the start. This is the only Lingam that comes on the right side of the Girivalam path. One needs to go in from the main road a bit to worship this. Yama Lingam (S) is the 3rd, aptly situated in front of burial ground and crematorium, 3 km from the start :). Nruthi Lingam (SW) is the 4th followed by Varuna Lingam (W), 8 km from the Raja Gopuram. Vaayu Lingam (NW) is the 6th. Then comes the most improtant at least for professionals - Kubera Lingam (N); Kubera is the lord of wealth, in case someone doesn't know :). The last in the row is Esanya Lingam (NE) roughly 1 km from the Raja Gopuram. The Girivalam ends once we reach the starting point (from the other side of course :)).

In addition to the lingams, there are other special places/temples on the Girivalam path. Firstly, there are Ramanashram and Seshadri Swamigal Ashram after Agni Lingam. Ner Annamalai Darshan after Nruthi Lingam, is the place from where the hill can be viewed straight. After Varuna Lingam, comes the Manickavachagar (one of the Nayanmars) temple and Adi Arunachala temple - This was the temple of Swayambhu (formed by itself) Arunachala Lingam, a must visit temple. Nandhi Mukha Darshan, after Kubera Lingam is the place from where a hillock appears like Nandhi. Then comes Idukku Pillayar temple - a small crevice kind of structure, where one has to pass through and it is believed that this place is a cure for migraine, aches and black magic. Lastly we have the Pancha mukha Darshan, where the 5 faces of Annamalai is visible. Temples of Rajarajeshwari, Subramanya, Soorya Linga, Vasudeva perumal etc. are also worth seeing.

Grandma Gyan: We met an old lady in a tea shop, who literally scolded me for missing the Adi Arunachala temple and guided us to the same. She also conveyed a great philosophy in the simplest possible way - "The Annamalai (hill) will always appear to be coming along with us from anywhere in the Girivalam path (remember we are making a circle). This actually depicts Lord Arunachala coming along with us throughout!!!". Thanks to the patti :)
We also got to see lot of wanderers (Siddhas??!!) throughout. Believe me, they are not some simple beggars or poor people without home. When I offered a biscuit packet to one such person there, he said that he has eaten for the day and asked me to give the biscuit to someone else who is hungry. These people speak English too :).

Some tips and facts:

1. Thiruvannamalai is the Agni (fire) sthalam of lord Shiva - one of the Pancha bhootha sthalas. Thiruvanaikoil (water), Chidambaram (sky), Kalahasthi (air) and Kanchipuram (earth) are the other four.

2. Girivalam should be done bare footed. So better start early in the morning or late evening.

3. The place is divine - please avoid small talk during the Girivalam.

4. Have lots of change and food materials to distribiute to the people around.

5. It is a great experience. Do it when you have a chance or create a chance if you don't :)

After the Girivalam, we went to the temple and had a great darshan of Annamalai and Unnamulai amman and returned to the hotel by noon. We were back in Bangalore by 8 in the evening.
Hope I get many more chances, create many more rather :)
Cheers!!

The birth, journey and death of my iPhone

Like everyone else, I also wanted to own an iPhone. Not 3G, as I heard that quite a number of complications are associated with it. So settled for a refurbished <3G.

Birth:
As I was chatting with Venu (in USA) with Saravanan by my side, Venu said he had an iPhone for $271 (INR 11587.05 that day) and asked whether I want it. I was tempted and neways I wanted to change my W300i, so said yes immediately. There "she" (henceforth) was born.

Journey:
She set out with Venu's friend 'S' (henceforth) from US down to meet me and share a part of her life with me. She eventually reached India on Aug 18. It was decided that Saravanan would go bring her from S, her a few questions and hand her over to me the same weekend (Aug 23, 2008). Further interactions between S and Saravanan resulted in a lots of to and fro and eventually S dropped her at Saravanan's office early morning on Aug 22, 2008. Here she was just a day away from reaching me. Saravanan asked her a few questions - whether she can communicate properly, sing well (she was singing Bhavayami Gopala Balam by MS from youtube, through WiFi and subsequently Saravanan made me hear it over phone :) )and assessed her looks too (Wait a minute, he is my close friend and he is just a brother to her :)). She was a perfect blend of black (my favourite colour) and silver and she was stunning - as Saravanan narrated.

Death:
All was well, until Saravanan got a call (not on my iPhone, but from nature). He went to the appropriate place and when he bent for having a wash - SPLASH!!! - not the water on Saravanan's face but she fell into the bucket of water just below the basin :(. There she breathed her last. With a bit of googling and searching, we found that "a water dipped iPhone can't work
and even if it works, not fully :(". When Saravanan called and informed, I thought it was a prank and all that but over the next two days, realized that he was not joking. She was gone once and for all and I din't want to see her at all!!
There is nothing great about an iPhone any way and I am greatly thrilled with my W300i. (The grapes are nowadays sour anyways !!

This below piece is dedicated to HER...
She was my love, the daughter of Apple,
Vow!, I thought, I and she would make a good couple,
After all she was refurbished,
Never mind, I was anyways impoverished,
No doubt, compared to her sisters she was cheaper,
That made my love for her go up even steeper!

She travelled across continents and reached Bangalore,
And inturn to Saravanan whose office is close to Ulsoor,
There he donned the role of a tester,
He made me hear her and I felt better!

Before meeting me first time she took a dip in water,
That's when Saravanan called and shouted "disaster!""disaster!"
Neither have I touched nor have I felt her,
But my love for her will stay today, tomorrow and ever after!
Until I own one of her sisters !!!!

Everything in the world happens for Good and has a reason too. Hope this also results in something good sometime later. Let Chaos and butterfly effect take their own course :)

Cheers!!!!!!

Temples, Temples and Temples

In the last two months I went to few temples, some of which I had visited for the first time. A blog on this..

Denkanikottai:Denkanikottai is a small town close to Bangalore (around 60 km) and Hosur (30 km). I came to know from Anand that there were some temples with historical (and mythological !!) significance in and around this town. So off we went in 5 bikes from Bangalore.
"Kamba" Ganesha temple in Anekal was our first halt. This temple had a Mallikarjuna (Shiva) sannidhi which was a miniature of the one in SriSailam. It was told that the temple was resurrected by Sri Sri Abhinava Vidhya Theertha of Sringeri and Poojas were started regularly. Lord Ganesha appears in a pole or "kamba" and hence the name.
Narasimha swamy temple - This was in Denkanikottai. The significance of this temple was that the Narasimha sculpture here was carved by Arjuna (of the Pandavas) and the rock above the sculpture was moved by Bhima. The sculpture was inside a cave and there were carvings of all Gandharvas and other Devas and also that of dinosaurs!! The temple also has the outline of Lord Vishnu's feet ("Vishnu Padham") on the top of the rock. It is believed that Lord Vishnu killed a rakshasha standing on this rock. This is definitely a place to visit.
Pettaraya Swamy temple - This temple was close to the Narasimha Swamy temple. Pettaraya swamy (aka Vettaiyaadiya perumal - The lord who hunted) is believed to have killed a rakshasha using a mace ("gadha") called "Denkani" and hence the name for the town. The perumal looked really beautiful. Another speciality of this temple was that it had a separate sannidhi for Athri rishi (I belong to Athreya gothra and hence I have worshipped the root of my family tree :)).
Madurai:Two weeks back, I went to Madurai and nearby temples with my parents.

Azhagar koil - About 17 km from Madurai, Azhagagar koil can be reached with a detour from Melur when going from Trichy. Sundararaja perumal or Kallazhagar or simply Azhagar was looking true to His name. Simply beautiful and majestic. He is the brother of Goddess Meenakshi who was ruling Madurai. This was one of the Divya Desams and a must visit temple.
Pazhamudhir cholai - The 6th adobe (of the 6) of Lord Muruga is in a hill just adjacent to Azhagar koil. We were lucky to have visited the temple right at the time of the morning puja. Small but beautiful temple with a scenic backdrop. The hill was cool and there was a distinct temperature difference between the hill and the foothills. Also, a lot of monkeys en route and
people should be careful if they have things that would attract monkeys (hope you understand :)).
Thiruparankundram - Another adobe of Lord Muruga is the place where He resides in a "Kalyana kolam" - the place where His wedding with "Deivana" took place. He resides in a sitting posture flanked by Shiva (father), Durga (mother), Vishnu (uncle), Ganapathi (brother), Naradha (rishi), Surya (The Sun) and Chandra (moon) - a real marriage atmosphere :).
With this I had visited 4 out of the 6 adobes of Lord Muruga. Thiruthani and Thiruchendur are the two left. Planning to visit those soon (with His help of course :)) For those who do not know Palani and Swamimalai are the other two.
Meenakshi Amman temple - No explanation required. Meenakshi and Sundareswara swamy were as Majestic as ever. I was born in Madurai and I always have an affinity to Goddess Meenakshi :).
Viralimalai - While going back to Trichy we also got to visit Viralimalai - another Lord Muruga temple around 30 km from Trichy. Roughly 200 steps, the temple had 11 sannidhis, the main deity being Lord Shanmuganatha (Muruga with 6 faces). Lots of peacocks and monkeys

too !!

Planning to visit more temples and will be back with those blogs soon.
Cheers !!

Dasavatharam - The movie to watch !!

"Awesome!!", "What a movie!!", "Vow" - This is what the audience of Dasavatharam say after they come out. So did I and hence this blog. For people who do not know - Dasavatharam , is a Tamil movie, conceived and written by KamalHasan, in addition to donning 10 roles in the movie.
The movie is not as touching as say TZP, not as inspiring as say Chak De, not radical as Anbe Sivam/Hey Ram ... This can utmost be categorized as a HiFi - Techie masala entertainer, which shines due to the sheer brilliance of Kamal Hasan and to an extent director KS Ravikumar. The screenplay was so fast till the interval that we din't even realize that 100 minutes passed. Post interval, also was awesome but for the fag end, which could have been better. It will be grossly unfair, if one complains for those last few minutes on an otherwise good movie. So here is my ranking and thoughts on the 9 roles (Not including the main hero - Govind Ramasamy - Not that it was not good but that these are after all cake walks for Kamal Hasan !!).

1. Christian Fletcher - The American Ex CIA, also the ruthless villain in this movie. This is the best to me. He enters the movie just after the first 10 minutes and stays (rocks rather) till the end. The highlights being the scene he kills Mallika Sherawat, when he hits a biker on the road and of course the climax when he dies.
2. Balram Naidu - The RAW officer from AP. He just carries the first half on his shoulders and helps in the humour department with his Telugu - Tamil dialect. His expressions and mannerisms are just great.
3. Grandma Krishnaveni - A typical Agraharam old widow patti. The humour (s)he brings in during the movie and the mourning scene in the climax are the highlights.
4. Vincent Poovaraghan - The South TamilNadu-Kerala guy. He secures this place for his dialect of Tamil and the mannerisms again. It took me sometime to realize that he was KamalHasan.
5. Rangaraja Nambi - The 12th century Veera Vaishnavaite who lives and dies in the first 10 minutes. I couldn't really place the significance of this historical event in the entire movie's context, Kamal rocks even in this. This will remind people of HeyRam a bit. Also, the Kulothunga Chozhan episode and Nambi becoming a Vaishnavaite martyr are a bit hard to believe. However, the initial disclaimer said that the movie is a mixture of history and fiction. So no complaints and no controversies :)
6. Japanese - I don't remember the name though. This guy adds the revenge/sister sentiment aspect to the movie. He scores for his prowess in martial arts and the way he lived as a typical Japanese guy well within himself.
7. George Bush - The make up was wonderful. Really looked like Bush in some places. Surprisingly, he was used as a humour element in the movie. This needn't have been Kamal but neways a good one.
8. Khaleefullah - The 7 ft tall Tamil muslim role. I rate him at 8 because he doesn't play any major part in the script. Also, this again could have been any one else. Not to undermine the innocent humour he brought in during the middle stages of the movie.
9. Avatar Singh - Again no real role. But nice to see Jayapradha and Kamal Hasan together (in yet another blood cancer related storyline :) ).

In spite of the Hifi concepts like bio weapons, chaos theory/butterfly effect, historical events etc. there is no dearth for good (not crass at all)humour (thanks to roles 2,3,4,7,8 and of course Govind) in the script (Kamal Hasan's script reminded of Crazy Mohan's in many places - Hats off !!).
I now realize this blog is pretty long and also became a movie review- sorry about that. Just for completion sake - "So I go with 4 out of 5 and 2 thumbs up for Dasavatharam" ;)
Cheers!!

IPL - Really Premier indeed!!

A blog about something that's the buzzword now. IPL - Indian Premier League.

Adapted in the lines of the EPL (the football league), both in terms of format and the big money involved, the IPL has definitely given a break to domestic cricket in India. Though the English counties have traditionally had foreign players, the T20 format of the IPL makes it refreshing (don't forget the "cheer leaders") ;).

It is indeed great to see players from different countries playing together. I somehow liked this Afro-Asian cup. At least there, the teams were divided on the basis of continents and the players belonging to a team essentially belonged to the same continent. But in case of IPL, except for the icon players, the team selection doesn't have any rationale. It's really exciting to see Dhoni captaining Chennai, Ishant playing for Kolkata, Vaas bowling to Jayasuriya, Warne belting Symonds for 2 sixes in an over ..... This should instill a lot of team spirit in players. For instance, Deccan with a bunch of very talented individuals don't look like a good team and Rajasthan on the other hand are working wonders with a set of spirited youngsters (I know it's too early in the competition to comment!!). As Dhoni rightly pointed out, "the team that gels well will win".

Also, it is exciting to watch the Indian audience cheer for Hayden's fifty while celebrating Ganguly's dismissal, pray that Afridi performs while Sehwag flunks. Even in the wildest of my dreams, I couldn't imagine this happening, but here I was, hailing Oram, Hayden, Muarlidharan and Hussey M :). There are other interesting battles like the ones between, Hussey brothers, Pathan brothers, McGrath Vs Warne etc.

But it's embarrassing to see that the Aussies are out performing others even here. The match winners and the trump cards in all teams are Aussies, three out of the four centuriions so far are Aussies. I am actually waiting for May, when all contemporary Aussie palyers wil get back. Then, there will still be retired (from international) players like Warne, McGrath and Gilly left. I am sure they will have a say in the outcomes of their respective games.

What's best about this entire thing is the amount of exposure that the local lads are getting and the boost for the Indian domestic arena. But care should be taken that India doesn't end up being T20 masters and Test/ODI minnows. That will be really bad for Indian cricket. Well, Imran Khan once said that there are 3 Ts that make a complete batsman - Technique, Temperament and Talent - while the tests test all the 3 Ts, the T20 tests only "Talent" and hence a 33 % batsman can shine in T20s :). But it is definitely a litmus test for the bowlers and some real good bowlers may come out of this exercise.

Before signing off, let me list my favourites in that order - Super Kings, Royal Challengers, Deccan Chargers, Daredevils, Indians, Royals. The South zone bias is there to see (I think it's natural ;) ) and the two missing teams are not there because of their owners :).

As far as the team composition goes I feel DC, DD, CSK and KKR have a fair chance. Yet, cricket is a funny game!!
Wishing the IPL all the very best. I will blog more, when more interesting controversies prop up :)
Cheers!!!!

Am I an extended SI Statesman?

I repeated my SI statesman thing again and would you believe it, it's the same set of places again in South India. It happened sometime back but was able to write it only now as I was busy, if I may say so :)

Palakkad (Kerala) on Feb 23/24 for my cousin's wedding. The groom's name happened to be Prakash. I wish them a very happy married life :).

March 1-2, was Tirupathi and Sri kalahasthi (AP). 7 of us, and we climbed up and down as ususal. All my 4 venduthals are over. I think the next time I go, I need not mandatorily climb unless I have some things in between :). Luckily, we did not have any road adventures on the way to kalahasthi as we had last time. We even came back to Bangalore in a cab as we did not want to wait for the evening bus. It was fun though. Anand and Venkatesh are yet to send the expenses settlement which was done promptly last time :).

March 8, I was at Trichy (TN). It happened to be my birthday and Kannan's wedding. Wishing myself a happy birthday and Kannan a very happy married life again.

March 9, I was back in Bangalore (karnataka).

This time, the SI thing extended a bit to West India also and hence the title. I made an official trip to Pune. I kinda liked the city. Lots of open spaces and not as fast as Bangalore. On top of all this, we had a suite accomodation there and that was also great. What was most interesting was the airport. It was a cute airport maintained by the air force. The passengers need not go too far in bus etc. to reach the aircrafts. A simple 1 min walk is enough as good as a railway station. The next time I go, hope I have some time to explore the place.

The next blog will be about the temple trip with my family in the third week of March. Signing off, hoping that I can blog that soon.

Cheers.

Happy New Year!!

Am a bit late in wishing. Neways, Happy New Year to all of you and to my blog(if no one else is there reading :))

My blogs, of late, have become like Quarterly reports, capturing my three/four months of activity. Hope at least this year I come out of this.

Between August 2007 and now, the only significant happening in my life is my Sabari Malai trip in the first week of December. On December 9, 2007 2100 Hrs, my 25 year long wait came to an end when I had the Darshan of Lord Aiyappan in Sabari mala. It was all the more enjoyable as we waited (climbed, rather) in the queue for 10 hours. The entire period of fast (around 40
days) was great, as I felt, it imbibed in me a bit (more :)) of of discipline. We even got to visit around 8 temples in Kerala. That was also enjoyable as it was more than 15 years since I visited these temples last. Over all, a memorable experience.

Ever since our return, I had very hectic days at office working towards demos and shows. Not long before did I think that it was quite sometime since I slogged like an a**. I am ruing that thought now :(. The last time I worked like this was a good 2.5 years back :). Never would I think like that anymore. Take it from me :). Hope the happy days will soon be back :)

I watched TZP (Taare Zameen Par). Awesome movie. Liked it really. Have to watch it again.

I want to write a blog about the recently concluded Sydney test between India and Australia. Saravanan has also written one. I want to write mine first and read his later as I don't want to get influenced by his thoughts.

Happy New Year once again.See you soon.