Ozzie

Whenever I call home or catch up with friends overseas, the first thing they ask is about the situation in Melbourne. I have not come across any racial incidents in Australia, but I really pity the students here. They do not have cars to travel around and they work part time. Saying that, they would have to use public transport and that too during odd hours. There are some eerie suburbs in melbourne and there you would find druggists, people trying to snatch a dollar or two from you for their cigarette / drugs. I would`nt recommend anyone to go to those kind of places at 1 am in the morning.. definitely not, coz the places would be desserted after 9pm, even if you yell out hard, there is no one for rescue.

What you hear from the govt is this...Indian students are attacked because they are soft targets and all the attacks have been opportunistic. Whatever the motive might be.. opportunistic or racial dont the govt need to make sure it does not happen again. Looks like Indian media is creating a big hype and media coverage is just too much. It is really not helping if the Indian media is seeing everything from a racial angle.

When you look at what the local media says, ozzie govt is more worried about losing multi million dollars (education here is viewed as multi-million dollar industry) as a result of losing indian students coming to study here. An overseas students needs to pay far more than what a local students pay.

Is the Oz govt forced to act only because there is big money involved here ??

Break
A break from work, that too for three weeks in your home country is what any professional would dream for. I was lucky that i got my leave approved this time. The vacation is almost coming to an end, but i should say that i already feel that i have had a gala time here. Attending marriages, meeting friends, shopping, being pampered by parents and relatives, spending quality time with family was what i have been doing.

Terror - Its the capital this time
Delhi blasts makes me wonder how vulnerable India is when it comes to terrorist attacks. Looks like the governement does not have a clue of how to tackle this. It is indeed very hard to curb terrorism when it has its roots within the country. Even this time (after Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Hyderabad, Bangalore), the Indian mujahideen group have claimed responsibility. In their email, they have now threatened to target Mumbai. It is really difficult to comprehend what these millitants are trying achieve by creating panic among innocent people. wat the heck is UPA doing??

I was tagged by skely

1. LAST MOVIE YOU SAW IN A THEATER: Dasavatharam, I loved the Balram naidu (police officer) role so much. Had the storyline been better, it would have been much enjoyable to watch this movie. Kavitha and myself watched this movie on the first day of release.

2. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING: Royal Auto.

3. FAVORITE BOARD GAME: Chess, I Love this game. Playing with Arunachalam and Nawaz at the moment (Best of ten games).

4. FAVORITE MAGAZINE: Archies, sportstar.

5. FAVORITE SMELLS: Mannvasanai, coconut oil.

6. FAVORITE SOUND: When i play my mirudangam (drums)

7. WORST FEELING IN THE WORLD: When you are mistaken.

8. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU THINK OF WHEN YOU GET UP IN THE MORNING: wats the time now??

9. FAVORITE FAST FOOD PLACE? Gangothree, Hot chips

10. FUTURE CHILD'S NAME? Have not thought about it yet

11. FINISH THIS STATEMENT. "IF I HAD A LOT OF MONEY I'D...? I would buy a Jaguar car.

12. DO YOU DRIVE FAST? yes, but no speeding fines yet ;)

13. DO YOU SLEEP WITH A STUFFED ANIMAL? Nope

14. STORMS-COOL OR SCARY? scary, somethimes.. i start to think of homeless people.

15. WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST CAR? Honda civic... I am luving it :)

16. FAVORITE DRINK? Coffee, masala tea, coconut water, Lift

17. FINISH THIS STATEMENT, "IF I HAD THE TIME I WOULD....." play chess

18. DO YOU EAT THE STEMS ON BROCCOLI? first tell me if it is yuki or yummy.

19. IF YOU COULD DYE YOUR HAIR ANY COLOR, WHAT WOULD BE YOUR CHOICE?
I wouldnt

20. NAME ALL THE DIFFERENT CITIES/TOWNS YOU HAVE LIVED IN. Madras, Melbourne, Kuala Lumpur, singapore, Bangkok, Bangalore (dont think i am a big show-off...i am just answering the question)

21. FAVORITE SPORTS TO WATCH? Cricket, Soccer, Tennis, F1, moto GP

22. ONE NICE THING ABOUT THE PERSON WHO SENT THIS TO YOU. This bloke is always Energetic!!

23. WHAT'S UNDER YOUR BED? dunno

24. WOULD YOU LIKE TO BE BORN AS YOURSELF AGAIN? yea, i wudnt mind

25. MORNING PERSON, OR NIGHT OWL? depends on my mood.

26. OVER EASY, OR SUNNY SIDE UP? easy, i wudnt stress out

27. FAVORITE PLACE TO RELAX? Home

28. FAVORITE PIE? Apple pie

29. FAVORITE ICE CREAM FLAVOR? chokki

30. OF ALL THE PEOPLE YOU TAGGED THIS TO, WHO'S MOST LIKELY TO RESPOND FIRST?

Beloved Readers, pls feel free to pick up my tag.

Senthil Natarajan - senthil

Do we have a say?

Deepa: Hey Nickil, i was bought up in a family of 3 kids, just like my parents. I really want to have three kids.

Nickil: look, we are struggling to meet our expenses. We should be very careful here, coz i want our kids to have the best education, best of everything ...

Deepa: that is not fair Nickil, and she explains her stance.

Few years pass by...

Nikil is looking very tensed as he is waiting in the hospital. Alongside Nickil were his two kids, Dhruv and Deepthi. Deepa was admitted to the hospital for the delivery of their 3rd child.

They ended up having four kids. Yes, they had twins. This only added color and charm to their lives.

Thirukkural

I have become a great fan of thiruvalluvar. Its Amazing how he discusses things and puts across the message (the problem is .. most people dont understand) in two lines. I have been reading a few thirukkurals on the net and i am enjoying them. There are even english translations for each and every kural.

I love this kural..

Anjuvadhu anjamai pedhamai anjuvadhu
anjal arivar thozhil.

I was wondering what was wrong with my previous post. Only a part of the post appears on the page, but if u refresh the page ... a real magic happens --> u can find the second para.

Dodged a doggy

I was listening to music while i was waiting for the tram. Without my knowing i was walking back in slow motion.I could hear someone panting and turned back. There was this huge dog lying there as if it was saying "this is my territory, get back!!". I was like Ooops, i almost stepped on the dog`s feet there. Now i was in a position i cud not even run, that wud have been a terrible mistake & i knew that. I was really scared at this moment. I said to myself "Take it easy mate, cool down".

I pretended as if nothing happened, and slowly (very slow) moved towards the tram stop. I was very lucky coz the dog did not bother too much (may be it just had food and was too lazy).

Back with a bang

Yo folks, i have not blogged for centuries now. I cant believe i could do this to all my ardent fans (ok romba too much dhan.. konjam adjust pannunga).

I moved to Melbourne a while back and found a job in GE money as a Business Analyst. My life, sorry my wife is still in Madras though. That is the tuffest part. I cant even explain how much I miss her. But there is so much light at the end of this small tunnel. She will soon be joining me in Melbourne. I found a beautiful two bedroom appartment in Hawthorn, which is not far from my office. Infact it is just 15 mins walk from my office.

It is a great feeling to set up a house for your wife to move in. If you recollect the movie parthiban kanavu, srikanth sets up the house for sneha, with everything she likes. The house is ideally located with shops nearby, walking distance from the trams and close to the city and office. Best thing i like about the appartment is the view from the balcony and the balcony itself. Having spent a lot of time in my grandma`s house in Bombay, which has two balconies, i just love them. Most of the times i would be in balcony either reading, or gazing.

The idea of having a hot coffee with kavitha in the balcony thrills me. I just cannot wait to see kavitha in Melbourne.

Love is in the air

I take this opportunity to introduce kavitha to all the blog readers. Kavitha is my fiancee and we will be tying the knot on the 18th of June.

Some of the things i like about kavitha:

1. She has got tremendous patience.
2. Extremely caring and adjusting
3. Straight forward and bold
4. She is very good in prioritizing things - she can make a good manager.
5. Highly Creative
6. She says she cooks very well.. hmm, have to wait and see if she can match my skills in cooking

Kavitha is crazy about ice creams that she ends up eating one every second day. Music must be her second love (stop pondering, i am her first love) that she listens to music most of the time. Her voice is amazingly good but she refuses to sing how much ever i try to make her sing. She has got this ability to give spontaneous excuses which makes it difficult for me to force her.

I have started writing some nice Tamil poems (kavithai) about her. I am not going to post them here though :P

When i asked her if she can drive a car, she said oh yea, i have got a licence too. Slowly i got the story of how she banged into a van which was stationary (not even a moving van, he he). That was the last time she drove a car. I wonder who gave her two wheeler and four wheeler licence.

I just want to say one thing to kavitha - "i love u".

On the edge of the seat

I have been asking this question for a long time. Dont get hyped up. I have been wondering why Auto-walas always sit on the the edge (or corner) of the seat while driving.

Some of the possible reasons i could think of are:

1. The auto-wala himself is very curious to know wat will happen next.
2. To make those zig-zag turns easily (when you least expect)
3. To run away in a jiffy if he gets caught by a cop.
4. Not too interested in padhavi (position / seat)
5. To accomodate another passenger besides him.

I have used a masculine term for auto drivers since i have not seen a lady driver sit on the edge / corner of a seat while driving.

Caribbean world Cup

Cricketing world is eagerly awaiting to see the sporting extravaganza of the year 2007. The fact that the world cup is going to be held in the caribbean islands makes it even more intersting. The warmth and hospitality the teams will recieve would be great and who would say no if it comes with the love for the game and the calypso.

Though there is a minor slump in the performance of the Aussies in commonwealth series, the Aussies are gonna be the favourites to win this time too. Other teams that we should take notice of are New zealand and south Africa. Cricketing experts are still speculating about the nature of wickets we have in store for the world cup. I belive that all the wickets are relaid and we have to wait and see if the wickets are going to offer the bounce that traditional caribbean wickes do.

Men in Blue

As an Indian, i wud like to see Dravid and his men come back with the coveted trophy. There is a sense of hope after the return of dada, who has regained his form. Something in me tells that the Indians are peaking at the right time.

Pros: Batting clicking at the right time, good pool of medium pace bowlers & quality spinners

Corns: lack of Self belief, unable to find a genuine all rounder, mediocre Fielding & running between the wickets

If the batters put up enuf runs on the board, there are chances where the pros would outweigh the corns.

The strategy:

Ganguly & sehwag/Utthappa should be make use of the field restrictions and score at 6.5 to 7 an over. Dravid and Sachin to consolidate in the middle overs. We can spring in a surprise by promoting Dhoni or Dinesh Kartik at no.3 depending on the match situation.

Yuvraj and the lower middle order batsman to finsih of the proceedings with a bang.

Nostradomous in me says India, SA, Australia and Nz would reach the semis.

moral of the story is ...

Every morning in Africa, a deer wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the fastest lion or it will be killed.

Every morning a lion wakes up. It knows it must outrun the slowest deer or it will starve to death. It doesnt matter whether you are a lion or a deer.

When the sun comes up "you better be Running".

you must have guessed it by now that i copied this piece of lovely message from somewhere. I am not gonna reveal from where i got the info ;)

Moral of the story - wake up in the morning :p

Have a fabulous New year.

Goa galatta

It seems as if a light year has passed since my last blog. Lets not go into the reasons now. I must tell ya folks that i had been to Goa recently with four of my friends - Rajesh, Skely,Akki and Biju.The Goa plan started way back (actually 4 months back) when Akki and skely got a flight ticket from Goa to B`lore for the price of a peanut. Rajesh, myself & Biju could`nt resist to join these guys.

Life away from the routine office work in itself is an enchanting experience. The amount of fun we had is worth a bagful of diamonds. It all started in the train from B`lore to Goa when Biju celebrated his B`day. The Charlston resort in Calangute with amazing rooms on the shores of the Calangute beach was one of the cleanest beaches in Goa. Banana boat ride and Para-sailing experience is worth a mention here. Though i had accomplished Banana boat ride in Bangkok, the excitement level was at its peak. Right from the word go, i knew that the banana boat will be made to topple, and due to this, there was a small sense of fear in me (i am yet to learn swimming).

I have no words to describe the Para-sailing experience in Calangute beach. Sailing in the sky at a height of 80 odd meters with the beautiful view of the beach at your disposal made me wonder why i had not experienced this before. 1200 bucks for 2 of us was really worth the money. Biju had the privelege of sailing twice, coz we were 5 of us in total and 1 of us had the chance go twice.

All the guys were really co-operative and the four days passed away like a jiffy. Except for Rajesh who missed Suki, the rest of us were in semi excited meta-stable state all the time. The car drives from one corner of Goa to the other was like an icing on the cake for most of us who loved driving. There is lot more to tell, but let me stop here for want of time.

I am now looking forward to Bunjee-jumping, snorkeling, scuba diving and similar thrilling adventure sports.

Rules - watt !#$&??

I do not know if it is just me who gets pissed-off with the traffic sense of fellow citizens. Its hard to fathom why ppl fail to understand the simple rules of traffic. If it is red, u bloody put the breaks on and wait for the green signal. It is also hard to see people stop behind the "stop line" in a signal.

After the timers being introduced in the traffic signals, the traffic sense is even worse. People start off when the descending count nears 10. I do not understand if time is so valualbe to these gentleman? It is not a crime if you do not follow these simple rules, but wat pleasure do you really gain from not following `em ?

I have found a way to take these things off my mind while riding in my bike - listening to the latest film songs from VV and SOK. I keep the volume to medium so that i do not miss anyone honking from behind. I am not claiming to be "Rules Ramanujam" here. It is a nice feeling for a pedestrian if a vehicle stops for him / her to cross the road. It makes the world so different and a lovely place to live. It will be hard for me to explain unless you experience what the pedestrian feels if he is given way ( I have experienced it several times in Australia).

Now a days, folks who follow the rules are considered "old fashioned" and "un-imaginative". Let me tell it is quite tuff to follow rules, since an opportunity unfolds every minute for you to break the rules. Breaking the rules (watever the rule be) is the in-thing these days. I bet there are a billion other ways to show ur imagination and creativity.

Just wondering if this simple idea would solve pollution and fuel problem in India. How about switching the Engine off when the vehicle is waiting on a signal. Most of the signals during the peak periods are about 2 to 4 minutes long, and there is a timer for you to indicate as when the signal would turn green. There is something called "Rules" which you can enforse to make this happen. But the fundamental question here is - How many of us follow rules?

1st Anniversary

It has been a year since i started blogging and i cant believe this fact. When you think that time could fly like anything, you want to enjoy life to the fullest when you are young. When you are 35, you want to be like "Been there, done that" kinds. Travelling around the world is a great feeling and i thank my company for giving me such opportunities. Adjusting with the new culture, people, food, colleagues is a challenge. Singaporeans are very hardworking and they expect you to work duing week ends too. Very well mannered people and they treat you like a gud friend.

I went with a lot of expectaions to watch VV, but felt there was too much violence and the story line was banal. I dont know where tamil cinema is heading to. Though most of the movies are sub-standard, it is bringing in the money to keep the movie makers happy. For example, movies like Anniyan and Gajjini seemed very ordinary to me (except for the songs), but they made it big in the box office.

Wish i could attend Rajesh`s engagement next week with the whole gang eagerly waiting with enthusiasm.

Lot of people around me have lost interest in blogging. The initial josh is no longer there. There is influence from your buddies too. When you see your peers blogging with enthusiasm, then you would feel left out and want to compete with them. But things are dormant now. People sometimes become lazy ;) , dont they ??

Work is a hectic here in Singapore, but as long as i like wat am doing I am willing to slog. Singapore is a nice place, but am still searching for places to go. I have seen the zoo and night safari before, but still want to go again. One of my wild fantasies is to take picture of me hugging a Lion ot a Tiger. When I was a schoool kid, I wanted to buy a little tiger and keep her as a pet.

Life has taught me so many things, and i am happy that am experiencing things that i have never come across before. Now, its like entering unfamiliar terrains and unseen territories. I always believed in doing things according to my conscience and i will continue to do that.

My Soccer Team

I came up with a soccer team, considering the present form of the players.

Strikers

• Thierry Henry
• Klose

Mid fielders

• Ronaldinho (left flank)
• Frank Lampard
• zidane
• David Becham (right flank)

Defence

• Roberto Carlos (left flank)
• Alessandro Nesta
• Lucio
• Cafu (right flank)

Goal keeper

• Buffon (Italy)

Bench

• Ronaldo
• Franchesco Totti
• Kaka
• Ferdinand
• Vieria

Laugh it out !

Sometimes I kick myself for being absent minded. But now these incidents seem so funny to me.

About 6 years back i went to a nearby bank in my scooter (like Kannathil Muthamittal maddy) and returned home walking. After a while, i realised that the scooter was missing. I couldnt think of anyone taking the scooter, coz it was so old and no one but me knows how to kick start the machine. It took hours to figure out that i had left my scooter in the bank.

I was going to my friends appartment, and i wrongly entered the nearby appartment (truse me both looked similar) and went in. I was enquiring about Hari there and luckily this guy spotted me from the next house to rescue me out. What an embarrassing situation..

My friend and myself were returning home from college in his bike. Suddenly the bike stopped and my friend found it difficult to handle with too much traffic behind. So i got down and thought i could help him handle the bike, and this guy without realizing happily speeded up and went away.

I went to watch a movie in on of the multiplexes which had about 5 thetres and i wrongly entered a different cinema hall and was watching the movie for 5 minutes ( I thought they were showing a trailor of a different movie movie). Then i realized that this was a different movie and checked with the guy next to me only to find out it was a different cinema hall.

I hate Process !

I never used to be so formal in wearing my dresses. But i am forced to comply coz i have to go to a "customer site". The daily routine of polishing my shoes, wearing a tye, making sure your shirt and trousers are wrinke free makes me wonder wat am here for.

And I have to mention about my Project Co-ordinator here who is from IBM (actually the project is sub-contracted to us by IBM). Let me tell you she is making our lives miserable. The amount of crap work we are doing is more than the amount of project work we do. She wants us to prepare the following,

1. Sessions callender ( which details all the sessions we have with the users)
2. Minutes of the meeting ( i never knew meeting minutes will be scrutinized so much)
3. Weekly status report
4. Issue tracker list
5. Open items list

let me stop here, coz the list is so big..

Imagine we almost took a day to prepare a weekly status report (wat a waste of time!). My point here is i have lot of other important work to complete the project. Instead of doing that this lady is expecting me to do other stuffs ( in my opinion not so important things).

From that picture, you can realize that Thailand ppl can eat anything that is red/black/brown in color when cooked.

I had never been superstitious in my life, but let me tell you "13" is not that lukcy.

Swad e crub ! Swad e ka !

Bangkok is a place known for its hospitality. I realised that from the way I was treated here. It has been a good experience so far. I thought food might be a problem, but to my surprise, no issues at all.

Sitting in a meeting for an hour without understanding a word was quite an experience. I did not understand anything was contrinuted by the fact that the meeting was in Thai. After 15 minutes, i thought what the heck i am doing here and just went off for my lunch. I had a hard time explaining the taxi driver that i need to go to a nearby shoppingmall so that i can find some veggie stuff.

You must be wondering what the heading of the blog meant. It is just a greeing to say Hi in Thai. Swathikrub used to greet gentlemen and swathika for ladies.

Atlast i finished reading "Da vinci code". It was a interesting book with lot of facts, but the ending could have been better. I also read "five point someone", thanks to skely and dada. The book was too gripping and can u imagine, i finished the book 4 working days.

Bangkok Invites

It has been long since i blogged. I dont think i would be blogging so frequently as i used to, but will surely chip in when ever i find interest and time.

I will be leaving Bangkok tomorrow for a project which might last for 2 months or more. Being a vegetarian food is going to be a big issue. Hoping to learn a few Thai words there.