Well, this is the time of the year when I turn older by an year. From the time I've a mental record of, I've always hated getting older. People expected you to act mature, behave responsibly, study well - whew! and perhaps build a rocket to moon as well! All this when the only change in me would have been that I would outgrown my previous birthday's shirt!
Ever since I was a small kid, the candle-cake thingy seemed funny to me! The sight of those conical party caps drives me sick with laughter - man, the guy who invented them must have a sick sense of humor, really! I have always avoided anything like a social thingy for my birthdays and had been lucky till I went to college, where, instead of cutting a cake, I was kicked and kicked and kicked and kicked and kicked till I used all my weight induced potential energy to break free and go home, with a smacked ass!
Once I was out of India, there was this kind of bday "fun" (for whom?) when after this ass-smack, everything from spoiled sambar to beer and tide detergent gets poured over you and you pretty much cant do anything other than pray that that gets over quickly. This ends only for some projectile action - eggs, bulbs and what-ever that breaks when it hits you are thrown at you. After some twenty two and half hits, it "hits" you that you can escape this by feigning a surprise hit on the eye. So I do that, people take pity and stop and as a mark of the end of ceremonies, pour whatever that is left behind from the previous round of pour-o-mania and leave you to lick your wounds - only to find you licked some tide on spoiled sambar crap - Yuck! A 2 hour bath later, with a just-returned-from-garbage-bin smell, you come out and get to sleep thinking whether the birthday was worth all this...... Perhaps birthdays are best left undisclosed!
Anyways, 23 is another number and has no connection to me! :P
Ever 16,
Karthik Sriram
Nonsense Trivia: Julius Caesar was assassinated on the ides of March and my bday falls on the ides of July (the month named after J. Caesar)- Now, I warned this was nonsense!
Tuesday, July 03, 2007
Monday, July 02, 2007
Bardhan in Devil's Advocate
Courtesy: CNN-IBN Website. For full interview, click here.
From this interview, the Communists in India act on one directive - be always against BJP. If Prathibha Patil's integrity is questioned, this guy talks about L.K. Advani, who isn't even contesting the presidential elections. Kitchen Cabinet of Sonia Gandhi is working well! And pity that the Communists have come to this level.
The following questions are the real peaches! Excerpts:
Karan Thapar: You call them lies, but lets explore some of them in detail. Let us begin with the Pratibha Mahila Sahakari Bank. She was it’s chairperson and later its director. And even when she hasn’t held those posts, she has been the critical person running the bank.
In 2003, when the Reserve Bank of India closed the bank, it commented – “allowing the bank to carry on banking business would be detrimental to the interest of present and future shareholders and hence it’s license is hereby cancelled.”
Should a woman who virtually presided over a failed bank be the next President of India?
A B Bardhan: Well, so many institutions fail. That’s quite another question. But she was the chairperson only for a certain period.
Karan Thapar: I am afraid I have to correct you.
A B Bardhan: Facts have been proved before.
Karan Thapar: You are talking about facts, let me draw your attention to Board Resolution number 23 of the Pratibha Mahila Sahakari Bank passed on January 22, 2002. It authorised Pratibha Patil to appoint the Board of Directors and the Chief Executive. So even when she wasn’t the chairperson, she was running the bank.
A B Bardhan: As the promoter and most important person there.
Karan Thapar: Regardless of what capacity, she was running the bank. When she fails, she takes responsibility for the failure.
A B Bardhan: I think the full answer has been given. Documents have shown that she was the chairperson only for a certain period. But if there’s any responsibility that accrues to her, the Reserve Bank is there to take note of it.
Karan Thapar: A woman who presided over a failed bank is the right choice for the President of India? That’s a bizarre decision.
A B Bardhan: A person who was charged with a hawala transaction, a person who was guilty of destroying a masjid (mosque), whose case was in court, wanted to be a Deputy Prime Minister.
Karan Thapar: So you have chosen Pratibha Patil in competition with L K Advani?
A B Bardhan: It is only he and his party who are levelling all these charges. It’s a fascistic trick to throw sufficient mud at a person so that some of it might stick.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Karan Thapar: But these statements were made much earlier. Let me quote to you a letter written by the President of the Bank, the Vice-President of the Bank and Secretary, all three top officials, on March 13, 2002. At least five years before her nomination, even before she became governor of Rajasthan. This is what they wrote – “There is a threat to our lives and to the lives of our family members from you. You have already communicated this to us in our meeting with you. If something happens to us accidentally or otherwise, you will be responsible.”
Can you as a formal general secretary of the AITUC support as President a woman who threatens allegedly trade union leaders?
A B Bardhan: What are you trying to say Karan? I know of people who threaten, conspire.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Karan Thapar: You see it as coincidence that while she ran the bank, her family members got loans and then defaulted?
A B Bardhan: My bother commits some crime, and I’m responsible for it? I’m not my brother’s keeper.
Karan Thapar: But it’s a different matter if you happen to be heading the bank at the time when the brother gets loans or if you’re effectively running the bank. That’s what I am pointing out.
A B Bardhan: She was the head only for sometime.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Karan Thapar: Speaking in the Maharashtra Assembly as health minister on December 10, 1975, Mrs Pratibha Patil said we are thinking of forcible sterilisation of people with hereditary diseases. First of all, do you approve of forcible sterilisation?
A B Bardhan: I don't, I don't, but that doesn't mean I agree with everything she does or says.
Karan Thapar: Let’s explore this a little further. People with hereditary diseases include people with heart disorders, infertility, diabetes, even people with bad sight and bad hearing. Should such people be forcibly sterilised?
A B Bardhan: I don't think there should be forcible sterilisation of at any stage.
Karan Thapar: So, you completely disagree with her?
A B Bardhan: I disagreed with this whole policy of Congress at one stage.
Karan Thapar: Then how come such a woman who said this in the Assembly - it is recorded in the Assembly records - is your nominee for President?
A B Bardhan: She is not going to forcibly sterilise anybody, she is not going to follow those policies, and she is not called upon to.
Karan Thapar: But she stood for it. She’s never recanted. She hasn’t apologised.
A B Bardhan: We are electing a President within the framework of the Indian Constitution.
Karan Thapar: But she still has views and beliefs. She has not recanted or apologised.
A B Bardhan: I’m not called upon to support her views and beliefs.
Karan Thapar: Should she clear the air and recant and apologise for this?
A B Bardhan: Why should she?
Karan Thapar: So she stands by it and you are happy to support her?
A B Bardhan: Many wrong things, mistaken things have been said and done by the Congress and more so by the BJP.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Karan Thapar: Let me call upon your attention to something that she declared on June 17. She has made it clear that she believes in divine spirits. On June 17 she said that she had had a conversation with a man who died in 1969 because the man had manifested himself in the body of a woman.
You are laughing because it’s hilarious. But do you acknowledge that such a woman should be President?
A B Bardhan: Most of your leaders be the Congress or the BJP believe in godmen, spirits and astrologists.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Karan Thapar: They say Caesar’s wife should be above suspicion. Doesn’t that apply to the President in India?
A B Bardhan: President of India is a Constitutional head.
Karan Thapar: So it can be suspected?
A B Bardhan: A Constitutional head is not called upon to lay policy.
Karan Thapar: The Constitutional head is the symbol of the country. Should the symbol of the country be under suspicion?
A B Bardhan: The Constitutional head is the symbol of the country whose policies will be laid down by the government.
Karan Thapar: The one thing that the Communist Party has is moral authority. No longer do you have political influence. Why are you squandering your moral authority supporting a woman who is not fit for the top turf? Why are don’t you admit you made a mistake nominating her?
A B Bardhan: Our moral authority is demonstrated in the fact that we insisted that no communal person or belonging to a communal party, to the RSS and the BJP should be nominated.
Karan Thapar: So you can have a potentially corrupt person, instead you can have a woman who stands for forcible sterilisation, or have an orthodox woman who believes in spirits.
A B Bardhan: She has more than 40 years of political career.
Karan Thapar: Alright Mr Bardhan, you can have the last word. A pleasure talking to you.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Though this show isn't original in concept, I like Karan Thapar and his pre-interview research. And Netas still live! *Sigh*
From this interview, the Communists in India act on one directive - be always against BJP. If Prathibha Patil's integrity is questioned, this guy talks about L.K. Advani, who isn't even contesting the presidential elections. Kitchen Cabinet of Sonia Gandhi is working well! And pity that the Communists have come to this level.
The following questions are the real peaches! Excerpts:
Karan Thapar: You call them lies, but lets explore some of them in detail. Let us begin with the Pratibha Mahila Sahakari Bank. She was it’s chairperson and later its director. And even when she hasn’t held those posts, she has been the critical person running the bank.
In 2003, when the Reserve Bank of India closed the bank, it commented – “allowing the bank to carry on banking business would be detrimental to the interest of present and future shareholders and hence it’s license is hereby cancelled.”
Should a woman who virtually presided over a failed bank be the next President of India?
A B Bardhan: Well, so many institutions fail. That’s quite another question. But she was the chairperson only for a certain period.
Karan Thapar: I am afraid I have to correct you.
A B Bardhan: Facts have been proved before.
Karan Thapar: You are talking about facts, let me draw your attention to Board Resolution number 23 of the Pratibha Mahila Sahakari Bank passed on January 22, 2002. It authorised Pratibha Patil to appoint the Board of Directors and the Chief Executive. So even when she wasn’t the chairperson, she was running the bank.
A B Bardhan: As the promoter and most important person there.
Karan Thapar: Regardless of what capacity, she was running the bank. When she fails, she takes responsibility for the failure.
A B Bardhan: I think the full answer has been given. Documents have shown that she was the chairperson only for a certain period. But if there’s any responsibility that accrues to her, the Reserve Bank is there to take note of it.
Karan Thapar: A woman who presided over a failed bank is the right choice for the President of India? That’s a bizarre decision.
A B Bardhan: A person who was charged with a hawala transaction, a person who was guilty of destroying a masjid (mosque), whose case was in court, wanted to be a Deputy Prime Minister.
Karan Thapar: So you have chosen Pratibha Patil in competition with L K Advani?
A B Bardhan: It is only he and his party who are levelling all these charges. It’s a fascistic trick to throw sufficient mud at a person so that some of it might stick.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Karan Thapar: But these statements were made much earlier. Let me quote to you a letter written by the President of the Bank, the Vice-President of the Bank and Secretary, all three top officials, on March 13, 2002. At least five years before her nomination, even before she became governor of Rajasthan. This is what they wrote – “There is a threat to our lives and to the lives of our family members from you. You have already communicated this to us in our meeting with you. If something happens to us accidentally or otherwise, you will be responsible.”
Can you as a formal general secretary of the AITUC support as President a woman who threatens allegedly trade union leaders?
A B Bardhan: What are you trying to say Karan? I know of people who threaten, conspire.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Karan Thapar: You see it as coincidence that while she ran the bank, her family members got loans and then defaulted?
A B Bardhan: My bother commits some crime, and I’m responsible for it? I’m not my brother’s keeper.
Karan Thapar: But it’s a different matter if you happen to be heading the bank at the time when the brother gets loans or if you’re effectively running the bank. That’s what I am pointing out.
A B Bardhan: She was the head only for sometime.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Karan Thapar: Speaking in the Maharashtra Assembly as health minister on December 10, 1975, Mrs Pratibha Patil said we are thinking of forcible sterilisation of people with hereditary diseases. First of all, do you approve of forcible sterilisation?
A B Bardhan: I don't, I don't, but that doesn't mean I agree with everything she does or says.
Karan Thapar: Let’s explore this a little further. People with hereditary diseases include people with heart disorders, infertility, diabetes, even people with bad sight and bad hearing. Should such people be forcibly sterilised?
A B Bardhan: I don't think there should be forcible sterilisation of at any stage.
Karan Thapar: So, you completely disagree with her?
A B Bardhan: I disagreed with this whole policy of Congress at one stage.
Karan Thapar: Then how come such a woman who said this in the Assembly - it is recorded in the Assembly records - is your nominee for President?
A B Bardhan: She is not going to forcibly sterilise anybody, she is not going to follow those policies, and she is not called upon to.
Karan Thapar: But she stood for it. She’s never recanted. She hasn’t apologised.
A B Bardhan: We are electing a President within the framework of the Indian Constitution.
Karan Thapar: But she still has views and beliefs. She has not recanted or apologised.
A B Bardhan: I’m not called upon to support her views and beliefs.
Karan Thapar: Should she clear the air and recant and apologise for this?
A B Bardhan: Why should she?
Karan Thapar: So she stands by it and you are happy to support her?
A B Bardhan: Many wrong things, mistaken things have been said and done by the Congress and more so by the BJP.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Karan Thapar: Let me call upon your attention to something that she declared on June 17. She has made it clear that she believes in divine spirits. On June 17 she said that she had had a conversation with a man who died in 1969 because the man had manifested himself in the body of a woman.
You are laughing because it’s hilarious. But do you acknowledge that such a woman should be President?
A B Bardhan: Most of your leaders be the Congress or the BJP believe in godmen, spirits and astrologists.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Karan Thapar: They say Caesar’s wife should be above suspicion. Doesn’t that apply to the President in India?
A B Bardhan: President of India is a Constitutional head.
Karan Thapar: So it can be suspected?
A B Bardhan: A Constitutional head is not called upon to lay policy.
Karan Thapar: The Constitutional head is the symbol of the country. Should the symbol of the country be under suspicion?
A B Bardhan: The Constitutional head is the symbol of the country whose policies will be laid down by the government.
Karan Thapar: The one thing that the Communist Party has is moral authority. No longer do you have political influence. Why are you squandering your moral authority supporting a woman who is not fit for the top turf? Why are don’t you admit you made a mistake nominating her?
A B Bardhan: Our moral authority is demonstrated in the fact that we insisted that no communal person or belonging to a communal party, to the RSS and the BJP should be nominated.
Karan Thapar: So you can have a potentially corrupt person, instead you can have a woman who stands for forcible sterilisation, or have an orthodox woman who believes in spirits.
A B Bardhan: She has more than 40 years of political career.
Karan Thapar: Alright Mr Bardhan, you can have the last word. A pleasure talking to you.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Though this show isn't original in concept, I like Karan Thapar and his pre-interview research. And Netas still live! *Sigh*
Sunday, June 24, 2007
Sivaji - The Review
Student Name: Rajni Kanth
Grade - A+
Comments: Has used the opportunity to display all essential strong points - style, charisma, flair with the right dose of punch dialogs and "swish" "swoosh" hand movements. Every scene involving him has made audience sit up and watch the screen. The bubble gum (placement for centerfresh?) trick, though, CG generated, is a worth follower to the Original Cigarette "snap". Dialog delivery has slightly weakened, because of age. Shines in the confrontation scenes with Suman, with the tea kadai scene being the highlight. Really, இவரோட பெயரைக் கேட்ட உடனே, திரையரங்கு சும்மா அதிருது!! Almost no faults on his performance, delivers more than 100% for the script on hand. I can't imagine any other actor/hero delivering with htis script. Superstar, Superstar thaan!
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Student Name: Shankar
Grade: C
Comments: Big time screw up and his poor form from Anniyan continues. Though he has come up with lots of amazing scenes and outstanding song picturisation, he has failed in stringing them up all into a well flowing screenplay! His movies are beginning to be stereotyped (much like Arjun's Bharath matha ki Jai kinda theme) about corruption, politician, rowdyism, black money, cheap education etc. Shankar, take a break, go back to the basics and come back with a better script! Editor Antony is also at fault here and his grade is contained in Shankar's!
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Student Name: Shriya
Grade: A
Comments: Perhpas the next Simran on the cards - good looks (understatement?) with okay kinda acting in a limited script. Must learn to smile more. ALways with a lip pout makes for a tiresome viewing.
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Student Name: Sujatha
Grade: A
Comments: Excellent dialogues. Bajji kadai dialogs, Suman's dialog to rajni (autokaran, Bus conductor etc) outside the court are supero super! He has delivered what Shankar failed to do.
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Students' Name: K.V. Anand, Banu (make up) and Manish Malhotra
Grade: A+
Comments: Though working as a team, they have combined to present Rajni in a never before "Cool" avatar. Every frame rocks. Song picturisations alone make the movie a must watch in theatre. Athiradeekaran will remain as one of the best shot tamil songs for some years. The novel concept in Oru Koodai is surely worth a "repeatu"!! Manish' designer costumes sit perfect on Rajni and the collers and brown coat take the cake. Three cheers to these three!
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Student Name: A.R. Rahman
Grade: B
Comments: Songs are nowhere near his personal bests, but Rahman has played to the galleries, especially in Athiradee, where his different attempt has paid rich dividends. Oru Koodai, though a hip-hop kind of song, appealsin terms of novelty. Vaji Vaji is again pristine Rahman - superb song with Hariharan cpaturing the right pitch and the audience too! Overall, Rahman has definitely pleased Rajni's fans!
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Student Name- Vivek
Grade - Somewhere between A and A+
Comments: Sivaji might prove to be the cornerstone which Vivek needed, after he has put himself in a rut, trying to chase hero dreams. All the jokes are very situational and makes you laugh your intestines out! That he has been given screentime that is comparable to superstar itself talks volumes.
(Thanks to a comment, or else Vivek would have not been mentioned here!)
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Overall Reuslt for the class - If you are a rajni rasigan, you would have already seen it. For others, go for it only for Rajni.
Friday, June 22, 2007
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Close Encounters of the "Canine" Kind!
I share a tryst with dogs – I can’t stand them and they can’t avoid me! Quite a combo right? My earliest recorded encounter with the canine kind came about when I was in the 1st standard and I used to come home walking everyday and as every kid does, I found it a long and boring walk. One day one of my friends who generally is picked up by his dad’s peon, walked home with me and showed a shortcut for which we had to jump the wall of a few houses and voila! I could be home 10 minutes early! I was impressed with that guy for showing me “the way”. The whole of next day in school, I was dreaming about how I would go home 10 minutes early and surprise the people at home and about my parents would recognize what an intelligent bloke I was. The school ended and in my eagerness, I half ran and reached the first among the 4 houses over which I had to jump the walls to reach my home. I was slightly hesitant as to what I would do if the house owner calls up the police to report me for being a thief. I cursed myself for not taking this fact into consideration when my friend had shown me the route. Somehow, jumping walls with another guy felt far more secure than attempting it alone! Somehow, half expecting to see a policeman anytime, I entered the second house and it went smooth. I gloated over my “stealth” and with extreme overconfidence, I jumped over the wall into the third house, right onto to the tail of a dog which could have done with some more flesh over it ribs. Out of its nature or because it was ill-fed, I don’t know, but the dog was up in a flash and trying to see if it could sink its fangs into some part of me. I ran and ran for dear life and cursed the house owner for building such a big house. I was afraid to shout for help as that would land me in a bigger problem – police (this is what I thought then). So there I was trying to run around plants, upturned vessels kept to dry and the well, trying to avoid the skinny monster. And after some hide and seek around the well, the dog was not to be seen moving. I thought that I had outwitted the dog and started walking away from the well, when with a yelp it came for me and I had nothing to hide myself and so I made a dash for the wall and kept running. My legs kept hitting some part of the dog and that nasty feel gave me wings and in one clean jump, I cleared the wall and was in the next house. Unfortunately, the dog was inspired by me and it made a clean jump as well, landing 2 inches away from me. I thought I was finished and waited to be bitten when a stone came flying from somewhere and hit the dog square in the jaw. I looked up and saw a guy standing there, smiling at me. At this moment, I was strangely reminded of the Gajendra Moksha story and I ran home and as soon as I latched my gate, sat down on the porch, trembling! This episode left me with a deep misgiving about the Canis lupus familiaris.
The second incident happened when I was in Chennai, and I remember, I was in my 5th standard when I got a cycle, troubling my parents to no end. And as soon I learnt to drive the cycle well enough, I started to be apart of the road racing group – we had a race track of fixed length, it was around a block of houses, much like the pradakshinam around the temple. We played it much like the old world format – league phase, when it was A Vs B, C Vs D and so on. This procedure was continued and gradually people got eliminated. Due to my extraordinarily high energy levels, I was in the last four (semifinal) when IT happened. As I already told, the track was much like a rectangle, with houses filling it. I was leading for the first two corners when suddenly, at the third corner, I felt the cycle wobble. I first thought I had a punctured tube, but all my doubts were dispelled when I saw a tail from the corner of my eye. I got such a scare that I braked so hard – resulting in a somersault over the handle bars – proved to be a blessing as it got me away from the fiend and I left my cycle with the dog as a keepsake and ran away. This meant automatic disqualification from the race. I ran home and when my mom asked where my cycle was, I told where it was. She kidded me for being such a wimp and took me to the spot and there it was – my steed – lying in the dust. The dog was prancing around from the leash, held in place by the owner of the corner house. To me the dog seemed to be celebrating its successful bid to derail my race. Everybody was laughing, without realizing, how humiliating it was for me – one, I had given a ride to a dog (!) and the next my somersault and the ensuing actions, though “lifesaving”, had been such a funny spectacle that the guy who was racing against me, had also stopped and was laughing uncontrollably, as though, he had seen an oscar winning comic performance! I was so ashamed with the whole incident, that I just tugged the cycle along, walking back home, turning my back on road racing once and for all – more out of fear, than of humiliation and the India lost Karthik "Armstrong" Sriram.
The second incident happened when I was in Chennai, and I remember, I was in my 5th standard when I got a cycle, troubling my parents to no end. And as soon I learnt to drive the cycle well enough, I started to be apart of the road racing group – we had a race track of fixed length, it was around a block of houses, much like the pradakshinam around the temple. We played it much like the old world format – league phase, when it was A Vs B, C Vs D and so on. This procedure was continued and gradually people got eliminated. Due to my extraordinarily high energy levels, I was in the last four (semifinal) when IT happened. As I already told, the track was much like a rectangle, with houses filling it. I was leading for the first two corners when suddenly, at the third corner, I felt the cycle wobble. I first thought I had a punctured tube, but all my doubts were dispelled when I saw a tail from the corner of my eye. I got such a scare that I braked so hard – resulting in a somersault over the handle bars – proved to be a blessing as it got me away from the fiend and I left my cycle with the dog as a keepsake and ran away. This meant automatic disqualification from the race. I ran home and when my mom asked where my cycle was, I told where it was. She kidded me for being such a wimp and took me to the spot and there it was – my steed – lying in the dust. The dog was prancing around from the leash, held in place by the owner of the corner house. To me the dog seemed to be celebrating its successful bid to derail my race. Everybody was laughing, without realizing, how humiliating it was for me – one, I had given a ride to a dog (!) and the next my somersault and the ensuing actions, though “lifesaving”, had been such a funny spectacle that the guy who was racing against me, had also stopped and was laughing uncontrollably, as though, he had seen an oscar winning comic performance! I was so ashamed with the whole incident, that I just tugged the cycle along, walking back home, turning my back on road racing once and for all – more out of fear, than of humiliation and the India lost Karthik "Armstrong" Sriram.
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