Well, for want of a better title I chose this !
Gajabhuja in Sanskrit means the trunk of an elephant !
So, in short, the title means big/huge fundas !! :-)
30 November 2009
Memories
Before I got bit by the travel bug, a typical weekend, if I am in Madras, would mean relaxing in front of the Television and getting myself stuffed with all the nonsense they show in the name of a movie.
Last weekend, I managed to reprise it. I was, as usual, doing my channel surfing thing, where you do not see any movie in full.
It suddenly stuck a chord in me. I have heard it for sure. The orchestration and interludes seemed so similar to Illayaraja's.
Google to the rescue.
This song is from the movie Ullathil Nalla Ullam, some obscure movie starring Vijayakanth and Radha, scored by Gangai Amaran, Illayaraja's brother (music does seem to be in their genes). It was directed by current comedian, Manivannan. Obviously enough, with just a few scenes, I could judge that the movie must have sank without a trace.
I then started racking my memory for a time frame in which I have listened to this song. I know for sure that I have listened to it sometime ago, but I was unable to place it.
And then it came to me in a flash. I was studying eleventh grade when Radio Ceylon picked up some real momentum and use to play some nice songs. That is my first recollection of listening to this song.
Shyam
PS: NO. I am not making up about my memories. I can still reel of some really obscure songs which I have been searching for years. Here is one: "O radha O radha, kooda va; poomalai naan thanae soodava; kadhal ennum mandhiram, kaadhil sonna kannanae;". I will post one such song, which I was successful in collecting, tomorrow.
PPS: Gowri Manohari is another of those obscure movies with nice songs that I remember about. However, victory is mine, and I have all those songs, thanks to some Sri Lankans living in Norway.
PPPS: That is the power of Illayaraja, or rather, his family, or, oh well, the musicians of 80's.
This is Thusharagiri falls, near Wayanad. It was raining by the time we reached the waterfall. The bottom right corner has a rock on which a few friends of mine were standing and enjoying the waterfalls, striking various poses and getting themselves caught on camera. I was squatting somewhere near the bottom left corner, holding on to a log that was wedged in and relishing a dip in the cold water.
Suddenly the log moved. I looked up and saw water gushing out possibly due the earlier rains.
90 seconds later the waterfall looked like this.
Notice the bottom right corner awash with water.
Two friends of mine were almost swept away. Fortunately enough, I was able to hold on to both of them. I had to go underwater and hoist the last guy to safety before I pulled myself back onto the bank.
A 75 year old doctor lost his leg to a disease. He was crushed. He could not longer do whatever he wanted to do. He retreated into a corner, and became more inclusive.
Kids have a strange way of making everyone open up to them. Along came a 7 year old kid and started talking to the doctor. Halfway into the conversation, the kid tried making the doctor walk along with him. The doctor resisted as much as he could.
Finally, with much hesitation, he pointed to his wooden leg and said that he cannot walk or do whatever he wanted to do.
The kid replied with much glee -- "Same pinch". It had a wooden leg too.
No prizes for guessing that shortly after that, the doctor returned to his normal life, and became a vocal advocate of pursuing your normal life even when you miss a leg.
That is the power of positive thinking.
Sometimes, in our rush to live our lives, we never pause and see the world around us. There is so much to learn from little kids.
Shyam
PS: Yes, this is a real life incident of a friend of mine. The old man is my friend's father and the kid was some random kid that popped into their house, supposedly the kid of some friends friend.
PPS: Yes, even doctors get depressed. They are humans too.
As I read articles about Chrome OS, I cannot help thinking that this might be Google's way to get into enterprises.
How ? Well, the enterprises of today buy a volume license from Microsoft, create a pre-defined image and use it across all workstations.
Tomorrow, they just need to download a version of Chrome OS, add a few configuration settings to point to their internal clouds for data storage, and voila, cost reduction. Which manager in the world would not want that ?
If I were Microsoft, instead of brushing away Chrome OS, I would take some serious action here. Given that Microsoft has now been forced to open up the file format for outlook, it is just a matter of time before native outlook clients spring up for Linux. Further, the OpenXchange project is now gearing up for a drop in replacement for Microsoft's cash cow; exchange server.
Approximately a decade ago, when I started my career, I was personally convinced that some day people would stop paying for software as a product. It is quite possible that I did not posses enough convincing abilities to convert that instinct into a business idea, which lead to me being the butt of ridicule of so many people. Well, it is news like these that make me feel vindicated.
I repeat whatever I said at that time; open source is an idea whose time has finally come.
It has been many many years since I walked in the rain with an umbrella in hand and avoiding puddles of water that have collected on the road. May be that is what moving up in life means -- you loose track of these simple pleasures.
Well, who else but Illayaraja will come to mind when it pours down ? Check out this song that came to my mind in a flash as I was walking in the rain today.
Incidentally, this song is not even a song that is sung in the rain, like this one is.
Crazy Mohan's latest play, Chocolate Krishna, is quite decent. It has quite a few predictable jokes and quite a few of their usual timing jokes.
All in all, it was an evening well spent.
A few interesting things noted during the play:
1. It was a Sunday evening and the hall was full. I must check out some other play to see if anyone else have the same kind of patronage. I am sure S.Ve.Shekar has the same kind of fan following, but I have to see the other troupes to judge it.
2. Madhu Balaji, who plays the lead role in this play, must be one of the most coolest guys ever. Till fifteen minutes before the play began, he was outside the hall chatting away with his friends, extending welcomes to a few others, and what not. I was rather amazed to see that in spite of that, his dialog delivery was flawless. Well, that is experience I guess.
The 10 year old Surya in Aadhavan is a major let-down. It is a fine example of what can go wrong with computer graphics.
1. The director should have removed the bushy eyebrows. 2. They should have at-least morphed a photograph of a 10 year old Surya and not a contemporary image.
Three reasons why Aadhavan is a must watch:
1. Vadivelu 2. VADIvelu 3. VADIVELU.
IMHO, he is any day better than Vivek, simply because of his body language.
This is another of Illayaraja's rather un-noticed and an amazing composition. Just notice the soothing and amazing flute that comes out after the "Yedhedho mogham", and during the first charanam.
None of the instruments that are used throughout the song make you even think that they could have been synthesized. They just sound pure and original. I think that is why even after 25 long years, this song sound fresh.
Oh yes, once again, as was the case with so many stunning songs that Illayaraja produced, this one has a rather bad video. But hey, at a time when a radio was the dominant mode of getting to know the songs, did it really matter ?
2003 - I travel all the way from San Diego to Virginia in February to meet up with a classmate from School. We hang out in Washington D.C the first day. The remaining two days are buried under snow. History's second worst snow storm, the President's day snow storm catches up with us.
A word of caution to all drivers on the road: Most of your cars, in addition to the "D" on the gear shit panel, would also have a "L" and/or an "I". While you would not even know what it is to be used for, use it now. It would increase the torque on your engine, thereby keeping the water out of your exhaust pipes. The easiest way to prevent your cars from skidding, or getting your exhaust system flooded with water, is to provide your engines with higher torque. I saw at-least 3 cars skid off the road into the gravel today morning.
"The true tragedy of a routinely spent life is that its wastefulness does not become apparent till it is too late." Amitava Ghosh in his book "Hungry Tide"
