Why Love Snow ?

I love snow. It could be precarious trying to walk around, but I think it's amazing nevertheless.

I enjoy going through a real winter. Bring it on I say!!

Winter unlocks a unique chapter in nature that only a few get to experience!

And it's pretty obvious that the love for winter & snow comes naturally to a true New-Englander..

A true patriot of NewEngland winter in the making:

That pic made this day, my 2nd special snow day for this winter ! !

... just less than 6 more weeks to go for an early Spring.. so has said Mr.Punxsutawney Phil.

:P

The Mozart from my Madras...

Hmm, I realized I haven't done enough justice to the Rahmaniac in me.

And on this snowy Boston saturday, I took the path less traveled researching Ad jingles by the இசைப் புயல் himself and went digging up old links and remembering past discussions on this elusive past of the genius music composer!!

I'm surprised to find out how much composing tunes for commercials was a big part of the talent that is today A.R.Rahman. So, I decided to log what I could find in this precious real-estate. Something tells me that I am missing some obvious ones. But anyways, here we go:

Leo coffee:

Cinthol bath soap:

Premier pressure cooker:

Titan:

Garden Sarees: (Lisa Ray!!)

Worldspace Radio: (There were a couple in this series in different languages and video.. but all based on the same jingle)

Indian Navy:

Airtel: (many in this series..)

Asianet TV:

MRF Tires:

Allwyn watches:

Asian Paints:

magnum icecream:

Tilda basmati rice:

Rasna: (mmmmm suspicious..)

SunTV Pongal theme song : http://snd.sc/hcS8HQ

Semmozhi Song: (I think they also wanted to include Chennai-mozhi.. small omission happened :P)

Rahman's take on our national anthem:

Okkay all the patriotic souls standing can sit down..

one more::

Remanika sarees: I think confirmed the language is Malayalam
(and if stripped down to the basic tune, this one sounds very similar to the Cinthol Ad to me!?!?)

And, I'd like to acknowledge Bing ;) for its help because just for a change I Bing'd for info and it was pretty impressive.. :P

And then one fine day she finally came to Boston..

Yes, she is here with all her white glory, the first snow of this winter season touched down in Boston area yesterday!

& just in time for Christmas..

Truly a the winter wonderland!

Can an expert be a master?

Can they ever be the same? Then how to separate them? 

Typical definition of these 2 words in English:

Expert :: A person with a high degree of skill in or knowledge of a certain subject.

Master :: One who has control over or ownership of something or some skill.

So, an 'expert' sounds like someone good at applying their skills on standard work. But may have a hard time working outside of the scope of what they know. 

On the other hand, a true master is not one who has mastered a skill, but rather one who has mastered the 'process of learning' about mastering that same skill.

In simple terms, the 'expert' just seems to know. 

The 'master' knows that there is much to learn and continually works on that task!
Looks like I have some clarity but might need to get it absolootely right before I move-on..

Stay with me patiently folks coz I am trying to get a clear understanding of these terms as a preface to a future rambling that I had to put on hold until I can get a clear idea of the distinction between an expert and a master!! (that was one big freakin sentence & I am slight-a proud of myself!)

It will help decide the fate of 2 eminent individuals who, based on how I understand the meaning of expert, master could be considered guilty!! :-O (by me of-course)

So waiteese, and yes, patience is a virtue.. :P

(Aa:) S G2 R2 G2 M1 N2 D2 M1 N2 N2 S (Av:) S N2 D2 M1 G2 M1 P M1 G2 R2 S

Disclaimer: If you stopped by expecting to read another rambling from a hopeless soul, you are up for disappointment (this time) and better move on.. :P


Not long ago and not so far away lived a boy who was ignorant when to came to technicalities in music.
But, but, he did have a pair of functioning ears and could listen to and attempt to appreciate rhythms. :P
One day he stumbled upon a couple of songs that sounded eerily similar and was intrigued! Upon seeking help of highly skilled sources with better set of ears, he found out that they were all based on same series of musical notes defined in the title of this post & make a melody(raaga) called ReethiGowla. 
Here is a flautist's rendering of the melody that started the quest:
(skip to the 1 minute mark to cut the intro in the beginning..)



Whoa, whoa.. wait a minute! That sounded like more than one song, didn't it?
And so started his quest to crack the code where he learnt that the recording indeed mixes 2 songs:


1) (oooold) song : Chinna Kannan Azhaikkiran
    film : kavikkuyil (? sorry, this is too old and he is no expert)
    composer : Ilaiyaraaja



2) song : Kangal Irandal
     film : Subramaniapuram
     composer : James Vasanthan (the fellow who used to be an anchor on VijayTV ?!?!)

And searching even more examples of this wonder he found 1 that he already liked:

 song : Azhagana Ratchashiyae
 film : Mudhalvan
 composer : AR Rahman



Are there more? No idea but maybe there are!! 
If only Google's algorithm can also crawl inside video, audio files and tag patterns.


Maybe one day it will..:P

Rise of Hatsune Miku!

Now who/ what is Hatsune Miku? 

Check out the video here

In what is probably not only a impressive technological feat but rather a terrible omen for singers and musicians, 3D holographs are now playing sold out concerts in, where else but Land of the rising sun: Japan.

Holographic idol Hatsune Miku is the creation of the group Crypton Future Media, using software from Vocaloid, and  put the avatar on tour with a live band. The sight of thousands of screaming fans waving glow sticks while the the holograph "performs" (renders pre-programmed dance moves accompanied by super-high pitch song) on stage looks straight out of a science fiction novel. But it is absolutely, undeniably true and happening right now!

The avatar is huge and incredibly realistic. While I am amazed by how far humans are able to stretch the bounds of imagination and possibility, I am also a bit irked by such trends and kinda fear for the continued existence of the natural (original) world as I know it.

Is this the 'Rise of the machines'??

Maybe.. maybe not.. :P

(21) Deepawali pattasu vangiyachaa??

It's time folks: the loudest, brightest and busiest festivals in India..Deepawali. (not Diwali or Divali but in tamil it is spelt தீபாவளி and so in english 'deepawali').


So, what do I expect from Deepawali? 

Here are some things I remember, in no particular order:

Deepawali setting inside our home:

Seyakkai podi, oil bath, புதூ சொக்காய் (new dress), பட்டாசு (fire crackers) [Lakshmi Vedi, double sound, atom bomb, hydrogen bomb, netaji, bijili, sara-vedi, rockets, the silent ones: flower pot, changu chakram, chattai, snake, electric stones, etc etc], Deepawali மருந்து / லேகியம் , sweets, savories (காரம்), deepawali special samayal by amma, programmes on TV: patti mandram, movie: it will either be a super-duper hit Thalaiwar movie or one supposedly called  'தமிழ் திரை உலகிலேயே முதல் முறையாக, திரைக்கு வந்து சில மாதங்களே ஆன, புத்தம் புதிய திரைப்படம்'.. a.k.a some bloody-blade movie that was taken of the screens even run a dozen shows, and end the day with visit to relatives' places, more sweets, more fun....

Deepawali season in the rest of Madras: 

No making charges, no wastage, lots of variety, Pothys, Chennai Silks, GRT, Rathna, Kumaran, Nalli, Saravana stores, crazy crowd, bubbling children, oceans of textiles, throw away prices, even more prizes, bumper to bumper traffic, tensed traffic police, hungry husbands, wives hunting-for-latest saree type, jubliant shop keepers, meals at Hotel Saravana Bhavan after shopping session, roadside hawkers, fleeting rain, tension-free youth, discounted fireworks, high decibel traffic announcement, people, people everywhere, all with the same thing running in their mind: Deepawali.. 

I absolutely miss everything about Deepawali.. real real bad!!

Now back to the cold silent night today and inspite of this being Deepawali night..
Damn I am living an almost pathetic life.. :P

[கைப்புள்ள  இன்னும்  ஏன்டா  முழிச்சிட்டு  இருக்க ?? thoonfru]

(45) the creator.. who dat?

The context: 

Its that time of the year, நவராத்திரி (navratri) around Tamizh naadu (sorry, I am not that sure about other places), there starts the ritual of unleashing creativity in exhibiting dolls and figurines on odd numbered tiers (படி).

Its all good but the Altimate (ultimate with an 'A') speciality is the சுண்டல் (sundal). There is a different variety every day at each home and after that day's sundals have been exchanged, the fight for the title starts: "That day's top sundal chef". Some mushy, some under cooked, the intensity of flavour, all are tallied. Whatever the result, those few minutes of consuming the sundal with multiple senses thanking you for the feast.. total bliss!!


Moment of introspection:
When it was everywhere, too much, sometimes so much as to start boring, I never ever thought of the awesomeness of this food and this culture that helped me enjoy life, completely ignorant of all thats happening around me!

And now that there has been almost complete drought of this awesome sundal in my taste palette, it was time for a moment of deep spiritual insight:

Who do I thank for those few minutes of bliss while eating sundal? Who should the credit go?

God, the creator?

The first person who intentionally or accidentally discovered the recipe for sundal?

Or rather this person who made the sundal that I am feasting at that moment?

I, for now feel highly compelled to give all credit to the sundal-chef and let them spread the wealth if they are oh-so humble and generous.

And hence, for today, the credit goes to thyself. Because today, I marvel at my own creation:

The creator is indeed awesum!! Such greatness in his work and yet so humble. :P

(52) horrible, depressing, irritating

Just when I thought I could squeeze a few more weeks of warm cozy weather. Not nice-hot summer, just mildish warm weather, somebody has other plans: cloudy, rain, patchy fog, highs in mid 50's...Thats all the weather god has to offer!

Who is this weather god? I wish he had a facebook page. Would have been much easier to vent some of my frustration..

Time to dig out the layers: jackets, coats, gloves...

The only consolation is the foliage and the colors that come with it, that too for just a few more weeks!

(53) A day of mourning

There has been recent blatant attempt at (career) assassination & for the first time ever a huge group of (now ex-) loyals now turning accomplices going with the dark side!

This post for today is marked for mourning and to condemn that attempt..

Peace!!

(54) Shoot High, Aim Low

There was a big debate between an apple-fanboy (read: a friend of mine) and a realist (a.k.a. me). Having run out of points to debate after a while, we were googling for topics and I landed on a blog. We debated a bit longer, got exhausted and quit.

This is an excerpt from one of the bloggers posts:

list 8 quality( which I am looking for) in my soulmate...

1. must be a total illiterate.. like the typical pattikadu (example madhubala in roja)

2. english pesa therinja straight forward reject

3. ennoda konjam colour`ah iruntha ok but not neccessary

4. should know carnatic music (if u r a bob dylan fan straight reject)

5. obvious super`ah samaika theriyanum

6. if u r a SJ surya or a chimbu fan.. again reject, but must be a captain fan

7. of course.. intha centimeter alavakuu hair style is a big turn off.. min 1.5 ft from the root on the head

8. duh..?? one more... like homer would say i cant think abt it...

I am still undecided if should categorize it as funny or radical ?? Damn I am confused!

(55) Hello world, Endhiran mien small the kolaaru. DOT

Ugh, its almost a day since I have seen the newest Thalaiwar movie: Endhiran and there is no after effect of watching one.. WTF??

• I cant recollect one punch dialog.. nothing, nada, NIL
• I didnt even hum one song from the movie till now, all songs were mellow and bland..

The movie was good but I am still confused if I did really watch a Thalaiwar movie or was it a Kamal movie????

Shankar, you have blood on your hands!!!

(56) Theory of Moments

So there were a few things that I do or see happening that I used to assume as 'just happens' if it was something nice or 'shit happens' of its otherwise.
These are moments which I did not even recognize as significant. Usually these were attributed to the fact that they are just involuntary, monotonic or not a big deal (makes it sound that much more uninteresting!)

But a little more thought made me wonder if there was a probable design in their execution that could make the act itself and the reactions simply ingenious.

Here are a few I found worth pondering over. Some haven't happened in a long time now but still is no less amazing..

• finding a parking spot close to the entrance of a restaurant/ retail store I plan to go in a shopping mall
• the automated emails that inform that the salary for that pay period has been credited
• horrible traffic-jam on a day I carefully planned and started early to work (shit happens)
• the sense of accomplishment when I reach the counter after waiting in a serpentine queue (EB or aavin queue in India)
• being a couple of minutes early for a meeting
• always seeing a line during lunch (with almost the same group of ppl) waiting for their turn to use the microwave at the office kitchen. This happens irrespective of me adjusting my lunch timing to be a couple of minutes early or later the next day.. (shit happens)
• an elevator ride (?) in a multi-storey'ed building with no stops inbetween
• I try to help complete coding for someone on vacation and that person returns back and finds out that I broke a dozen areas in his code. (shit happens)
• finding fresh coffee that just finished brewing in espresso machine when I badly wanted one
• the day I got my name plate (sticker?) to put up on my office door when I joined my company
• getting a bug report on friday evening that needs to be fixed ASAP (shit happens)
• always forgetting if a door opens in or out (push or pull) situation and trying the wrong thing though I have used the door a zillion times before.
• having lunch buffet in an Indian restaurant (full, square meals) on a saturday, return home and take a nap while watching a movie!
• the awesum feeling while having froyo on a hot summer day
• (related but slightly different) stopping at hot-breads for hot veg-puff or vada-paav on a cold wintry day..

(57) Those ingenious Thai folks..

I never realized thai cuisine can be really imaginative! They have really interesting naming convention for their food and the taste beats chinese cuisine any day! Time for indian restaurants to step up?

Birds nest (it is what the name says it is):

And this is Tom-Yum Tow-Hoo chicken with rice: (moi dinner):

ps: ingredients were vegan and sourced from natural, farm raised, soy-based silken tofu. In simpler words, it was all faux meat!

(58) Missing-matter

There are a lot of things I realized are missing from my life in the years I have lived away from home (Madras). Here are a few things that I am not able to find replacements for, yet..

1) The distinct smell of Madras.
I am not sure if eveyone gets this but I do and I totally enjoy it when I land in Madras and leave the airport terminal into the actual city.. I take a couple of deep breaths just to savor it: the closest I can compare it to is the smell you get in an old temple that has seen a gazillion festivals and poojas. Just the unique smell of the place indicates the steeped culture and instills a sense of respect! :P

2) Brewing coffee in the Indian style coffee press.
Im not a big coffee person but the hissing sound of boiling water as it flows across the kettle and the aroma of coffee as it brews.. heavenly.. Best motivation to get out of bed!

3) Parents discussing things early morning.
Happens early morning as dad is reading the paper and mom starts chopping vegetables. The subject can be anything, work, our studies, something out of the newspaper etc.

4) Mustard splattering in hot oil.
Just when you get out of shower, the smell and sound of mustard sputtering in oil as mom finishes cooking and dunks this roasted mustard and spices in whatever is that days meal! Perfectly appetizing..

5) Chaotic rhythm in the ever-silver utensils.
The unique pitch in those stainless steel cutlery: spoons, dabarah, karandi, etc etc as it hits one another: whether its while cooking, cleaning or when someone goes through the basket with the clean vessels searching for something. It used to be sort of an irritating noise. But now since its not there anymore, I seem to miss it.. :P

6) Rasam made in 'eeyam pathram'
This metal container (some aluminum, tin alloy) beats anything else as the best help to a cook in preparing rasam.. Unique-est taste!!

7) PTC bus
The whole experience: erratic schedules, crowd, footboarding, breakdowns..
The variety: LSS, PP, Express, M-service, Cut-service, deluxe/luxury, AC special, ladies special (thoroughly hated this one)...

8) Tanglish: the Madras variety
Has all the strategic combination of 2 major languages: english and tamil while including hindi words in strategic situations..
You just know what it means.. and it makes perfect sense!!

9) Train journey
Especially the long distance, overnight ones.. rocks you into sleep. blisssss...

10) Crowd
Whether it is ranganathan street, pondy bazar, cinema theater, central station or simply the crowd at a temple on a festival day!

11) Cycles (no gears please)
The ride, their convenience, the bell = absolute simplicity in transportation.

12) Rainy day and mom's school is closed.
Whether its working day for me or not is not the deal. If mom is off, there 'will' be hot kesari and pakkoda waiting int he evening. And especially on a rainy day: adadadada....

13) Shoping in TNagar that includes lunch at one of the bhavans.
Could be saravana bhavan/ ganesh bhavan or some other one..
An absolutely filling "Full, square meals"!!

14) Bakshanams
Sweets, savories that you get from a wedding or some other religious festival..

15) Tamizh TV channels.
The absolute nonsense that is packaged as entertainment. There is song, news, serials, movies running in some channel all the time..

Hmm.. thats all I can remember now. Will add more as they come up..

(59) Last week of summer

The last few days of summer are winding down.. The final harvest for this summer:

Time's up for the summer of 2010.
But nothing to worry, weather is already murky, evenings are colder and the almanac predicts a much harsher winter for this year.
I am not sure who works on this almanac or what it looks like but I hate it already..

(60) sit tight, baba counting starts..

A post everyday will hopefully keep my rage at bay!

Whats appening here?

Nothing happens without a reason..
There will be some day when this space will start filling..
hoping for that reason to come soon ! !