First attempt at blogging in Tamizh

வணக்கம். இது தமிழில் ப்ளோக் செய்ய நான் எடுத்த முதல் முயற்சி. இனி நிறைய விஷயங்களை பற்றி என் தனிப்பற்ற கருத்தினை வேளிபடுத்த முயற்சிப்பேன். தங்கள் நல்லாதரவும் ஆசியும் பெற விரும்பிகிறேன். நன்றி

Mumbai Terrorist Attacks: Will the Indian Middle Class wake up from its deep slumber ?

26th November 2008 Mumbai terror attack was a very brazen attempt by a handful of single minded bunch of jihadists to show the impotency of the Indian state. This was probably the worst moment in Indian history in my lifetime, Kandahar hijack was nothing compared to this. The very fact that about dozen terrorists could hold the siege of the Taj, Trident and Nariman House for 60 hours was totally demoralizing to me as an Indian Citizen. I must admit that I had found it difficult to deflect my attention from the updates and the live transmission by the news channels. I  was so glued to the news updates that I had forgot to find out how many parents were doing while they were marooned in Chennai.

The NSG commandos, the Hotel staff, the ATS and the Mumbai Police who fought valiantly to exterminate those mean creatures (I cannot call those *#@!ers humans) deserve to be congratulated, feted and admired for the exceptional show of bravery and determination. When the first videos were shown across the new channels the image that struck me was that of the captured terrorist Kasav, the swagger, confidence and the smirk on his face was a voilent slap on the face of the Indian adminstration. I felt violated. The amount of planning and the ease with which the terrorists moved around South Mumbai was scathing critique on the state of our inadequate intelligence and our inability to counter terror attacks. Terrorist attacks on the country are not new and Im not confident that they are going to stop. I find it absolutely indigestible that these are being attributed to the status of the Muslims in India. Nowhere in the world can Muslims live in a more free and opportunity rich environment. There is no point in rewriting what the news channels and the experts have already said about the lack of  will of the political class or the non-existent defense systems that India has to counter such terror attacks.

The state of Pakistan is a rogue state much like N.Korea and Iraq period. There are no two ways to think about it. I think we had enough from this indoctrinated, illogical and irrational state for many years. Dialogue can suit only when the parties involved are atleast in agreement to listen to each other and evaluate the matter. In my opinion Pakistan does not befit this kind of approach. India should stop assuaging American fears of a breakdownin the sub-continet, rather hold up to them the same spirit that they had shown when they attacked Iraq and the Taliban. Why should India be any different?. Havent we suffered more than they have in the last 60 years?.  Did they wait for a thorough investigation to implicate either Iraq or the Taliban before attacking them ?.  Non-violent methods can be applied to an enemy that is rational, sensible and understands human suffering, but not to a state whose subjects have only one unifying factor, thier hatred towards India. All the talk about Muslims suffering everywhere in the world is just a ruse avenging Pakistan’s war losses. If infact the Pakistanis are really worried about the suffereing of Muslims in world why dont they go ahead and fight the war against the Israelis or Russians or for that matter even China. This is just a stupid excuse.
I sincerely hope that this national shame would unite the hitherto indifferent middle class of the country to exercise their right to a safe and secure environment. The middle class has been dormant for more than necessary and its time that it rises and has its say. If this doesnt get them moving then I am sorry to say that we deserve to be annexed by the rogue state. What is required is a total revamp of the current political class to ensure that we are not taken for granted by countries like Pakistan. Even the neighbour whose very existence because of India is exporting and abetting Pakistan’s machinations. In my opinion the responsibility for this squarely lies on the indifference of the educated class which allowed these illiterate and absolutely inept political class to take center stage. How many of the politicians in the country are really qualified to handle what they are doing now?. Why should we suffer for their incapacity?. Infact the middle class owes an apology to the lower class for not exercising the right. It is those poor people who are already neck deep in trouble in trying to eke in all these adversities that are most affected by this indifference of the political class. Its very sad to see that they are ones who suffer the most in these terror attacks, to the extent that have taken for granted as gun fodder.

The wake up call to the middle class is not to just exercise their right to vote, but to actively take part in politics and take up the responsibility to change the country for the better. The middle class is a vote bank of about 40% and they can definitely sway the politics if they are determined to take up the responsibility. The middle class should demand that every election is fought on issues of developement and policies not in the lines of caste and religion. They should force debates in national and regional media about the policies, force the candidates to answer questions and prove thier credentials. The country needs it and the middle class has the obligation to stand up now for the sake of the other downtrodden half of India.  Lets elect the best candidate on the basis of his ability and credentials rather than on party, cast and religious lines, even if he happens to be an independent. The responsibility doesnt stop with just electing him, the citizens need to make sure that these elected officials are there at out beck and call to sort out issues and answer our distress and put in place measures to impeach him if he doesnt deliver on these promises.

If this unfortunate blot in India’s history doesnt galvanize the people across the country and bring about a revolution then I guess we do not deserve a democracy and we should abdicate our faith, culture and all that we pride ourselves with. India then deserves to be plundered, raped and trampled on. When a nation like American can shed its race bias and unite behind a Obama who promises change why cant India?.  It is the responsibility of the Indian middle class to now seek and find India’s own Obama and not hope that someone will spring sometime. I only hope that a situation like the one depicted in the movie “A Wednesday” doesnt happen.

Airtel Border-Gavaskar Series 1st Test, Bangalore

Let me start by stating right at the beginning that this is not going to be a real cricket analysis of the test but just my thoughts about the test. The test was gripping, had its ups and downs throughout the 5 days. Though India claims that it had take a lot of positives, I believe that the only positive for me was that they didnt succumb to tier habitual tendency to collapse when playing the final innings in test. There have been so many instances, as recent as test at SSC, Colombo, and I need not elaborate on those instances. Australia would have definitely missed Andrew Symonds, they sorely missed his explosive batting and very decent off spin bowling option (actually would have been much better that Cameron White).

Australia can safely claim to have dominated the test for the most part, while India dominated only 2-3 sessions in my perspective. India dominated the 2nd and 3rd sessions of the second day, last 2 sessions on the third day and probably the first hour and the 2nd session on the 4th day. Indian batting has always been suspect against the consistent and relentless Aussie pace bowling, this is irrespective of whether the conditions suited them or not. Australia were lucky to win the toss and bat for the most part when the pitch was very suitable for batting and their application helped them to secure the healthy lead in the first innings. I certainly agree with Zaheer only in the fact that the Aussie first innings was certainly very defensive where their batsmen were more intent on partnerships and innings building, uncharacterestic of the Aussies to score at less than 3 runs an over. Ponting and Hussey showed the tenacity and graft to counter some spirited bowling from Zaheer and Ishant. The Indian first innings started of very well but after the loss of Sehwag and Gambhir the usual pavilion procession started. Dravid, Ganguly were not able to build on thier starts and if not for Harbhajan and Zaheer Indians could have faced a follow-on.

Harbhajan and Zaheer were patient and punished when the ball was there to be hit, so unlike the exhalted middle order (F(l)ab Four). I had a feeling that India could salvage a hard fought draw if they cross the 350 mark. Zaheer and Ishant persevered to get past that mark. The one factor that really helped the Indians was the indifferent physical condition of Stuart Clark. There were the usual mixups and slow running between the wickets, India should thank thier luck for quite a few throws from the fielders not finding the stumps. I atleast recollect two occassions in the first innings, Tendulkar and Ganguly being the benefactors. This brings up the point of how the Aussies back thier plan with the right actions. At the begining of the series Ponting said that he would exploit the lax Indian fielding and thier running between wickets and how they exploited that very well was there to be seen amply clear. Australia seem to have q set of plans to change, upset the rhythm of the Indian batsmen by clever field setup suited for each individual player. This goes to prove how much analysis has been done. Their capability to adapt to the situation and think though another plan if Plan A fails was also clearly seen when they were able to use Mitchell Johnson when Stuart Clark was not bowling according to thier plan. This makes one wonder if the Indian team really has a plan or if they just have one plan and if it fails they just persist till the Aussie batsmen blink. This cannot work against the quality of the Aussies, as they give very few chances and the when they do they can be do with impunity given the quality of Indian fielding.

Now as the tour moves to Mohali, which is not likely to assist spin it will be interesting what India plan to take on the Aussies. I think Zaheer, after this test and Sehwag before the start of the series, committed big blunders by blurting thier opinions early. I hope that they backup what they have said with corrective actions or else they could very well be the laughing stock of the tourists. This also makes you wonder what the team management’s role in the post match conferences. Im sure there is going to be a lot of edgy situations as the series progresses. The only thing is that the Indians have never natched their talk with the walk. So I feel that they have already handed the advantage to the Aussies. I dont think that this series is going to be easy for India to win and I think the most favourable India result could be a drawn series. I hope that Kumble gets fit before the next test. So here hoping that India puts up a great show and back thier talk with the action.

Nadodi Paattu

Its been a long time since my last post, so here Iam back to revive this almost dead blog from ashes. This is so typical of me, laziness, procrastination and just lack of will. I have now made up my mind to atleast blog a lot lot more frequently than I have earlier. I also hope that this enthusiasm doesnt get dampened as is the case with other things that I start. What better post to start it again than something about one of my more consistent interests and passion: Tamil Film Music, especially the compositions of Music Directors in films of the 70s, 80s and early 90s.

There are quite a few songs that are my favourites when it comes to Tamil Film Music. They are favourites because they are good compositions characterized by great singing, wonderful interludes, fantastic preludes that take you into a different world, catchy beats and well suited lyrics. Then there are some that grow on you as you listen to them more and more. One such song is the song “Nadodi paatu paada thamthana thamthana thaalam” from the movie Harichandran. The movie was another run of the mill Karthick film of the late 90s, a time when he was trying to stay alive in the film industry with the “neither here nor there” kind of bland family films. The songs of the movie were composed by the Music Director trio “Aagosh” (Anand, Gopal Rao and Shaleen Sharma). Aagosh has done quite a lot of jingles before venturing into film music. Their first tamil movie was “Shakthi” and they went on to do another film “Kodeeswaran” that was supposed to be the launching pad for K.T.Kunjumon’s son.

I remember that S.P.B once said in a television interview that a great composition is one which is attractive with just the vocals sans any orchestration. He gave the example of the song “Keladi Kanmani paadagan sangathi” from the movie “Puthu Puthu Arthangal“. The song that I have picked also falls into that category.  I tried to analyze a little bit into the aspects that made it attractive to me and it was nothing but this song is a simple melody with very suitable, meaningful and simple lyrics. In my opinion, its like a lecture or a presentation made by a very clear mind. I strongly feel that the melody did have some effect on the lyrics or the other way around.

There is very little orchestration in the entire song (except for one interlude, where the chenda is played, the only bit that was a little overdone). The song is accompanied by a very light, melodious and infectious guitar strumming throughout. A.R.Rahman had the habit of having one such song in almost all of his movies, early in his career. “Vellai Pookal” from Kannathil Muththamittal, “Uyirum Neeye” from Pavithra, “Vidukathaiya” from Muthu, “Nenje Nenje” from Ratchagan are a few that come to my mind. Of all these except for “Nenje Nenje” and “Uyirum Neeye” others havent been so recollectable or long lasting.

The other thing about this song is S.P.B’s rendition. I feel that S.P.B is best when he sings songs that do not have a lot of phrases in higher octaves, are slow in tempo and where there is very little scope of vocal gimmicks. Songs like “Poonthalir aada” from Nenjaththai Killaadhe and “Manadhil Enna Ninaivugalo” from Poonthalir.

You can listen to “Nadodi Paatu Paada” in the following link

http://www.musicindiaonline.com/music/tamil/s/movie_name.4473/

The other song that is very much like this is the song “Unakkenna Mele Nindraai” from Simla Special.

What’s on your eyes dude !!!

This is the tag-line of the advertisement by Car Zeiss in India. Carl Zeiss the renowned lens-makers for professional cameras (both video and still photography) is using this tag-line to establish itself as an eye-wear brand. I’m a little surprised and amused at this.

I wear glasses (as is evident from my blog title), and at a lot of times have changed my glasses. Generally people who wear glasses are typically not fashionistas. The more fashionably inclined in-fact prefer not to wear glasses, they wear contact lenses. Nowadays the trend is to wear glasses that are thin and light. This makes the glasses sit easily on the nose and the ear without feeling heavy and leave no permanent black marks. What I’m trying to point, is that there is very little real estate to print or embed a brand name when it comes to glasses. I have tried (rather made futile attempts) to get noticed for my eye-wear. What I have come across is that hardly anyone admires or notices anything when it comes to glasses even among the spectacle wearing public. Occasionally what gets noticed, though, are the frame designs. Hardly does anyone admire the lenses. Though Carl Zeiss may be good lens manufacturer, I don’t think this strategy of imprinting their trademark on the lenses is going to increase their market share compared to its competitors like Bausch and Lomb. I also fail to understand the reason behind this branding exercise, as they are pretty well known already for their lenses worldwide.

Is it because Indians are getting brand conscious even when it comes to eyewear. ???. If a branded pair of lenses does get noticed please let me know, I shall buy one soon :-).

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