Freedom of speech and the current society

Freedom of speech and the current society

While Johnny was crossing the road, he accidentally steps on a cockroach and the cockroach dies in that impact. This is a small and insignificant incident in everyone’s life. We might have killed many such living things without our consciousness, we will never come to know the count. The passersby who notice and even those who don’t notice it directly will always judge us and make passing comments. This is how the society is and was. Thanks to the social media and freedom of speech as a constitutional right of every citizen in India, the words that are spoken are unlimited to even fit in the current Oxford dictionary.

It is said that people living in a joint family have a better memory power when compared to those who live in the nuclear family setup. The reason, as per psychologists and psychiatrists is that in a joint family setup, the family members speak about topics and share their memories time and again just like how it is played in a tape recorder again and again. This helps in people retaining their memories and moments better. Thanks to the social media, the nuclear family members are not left out. They get reminded about events, memories and instances in almost every site/social media app. Facebook is the frontrunner in such memory retaining technique.

Coming back to the above-mentioned insignificant incident, the passerby has plenty of options to express their feelings on the social media. Social media is filled with applications which gives users a host of options to express things in a catchy way. We have known that social media and the internet is a double-edged sword. Every innovation has both benefits and drawbacks. If the feelings that we share in the social media creates a positive impact on the reader’s life then we call it positive, else if it creates more hysteria and negative impression to life, we call it as negative.

Every government all over the world is suffering to cut down the nuisances and disturbances created in the social media. Along with the feelings expressed on the social media comes the issue of privacy and security. In the European Union, almost everyday the social media innovators are called for many kinds of discussions. These discussions mainly are to do with suppressing the fake news, privacy of individuals and the likes. The more we discuss the more complicated it becomes. Life comes to a full stop. Everything in the end stops at the point where it begins. It is the self, it is how we feel or express. It is how we perceive things. It is how tolerant we are towards each other.

There are plenty of pseudo intellects in the society who knows how to create disturbance in the society. It is a fun for them to see people taking up law in their own hands to seek justice to their own selfish emotions. I might be judgmental about this claim you may think. Let it be. I have been watching the trend of social media and the generic societal behavior. It is enough if everyone observes how the feel, react and express their feelings to others in personal relationships to find out who we really are. Then it is easy to follow the societal pattern and be judgmental about it. Without inner realization, we cannot realize the truth, the basics of human psychology and behavior.

“A moron has intentionally stepped on the helpless cockroach while walking, where are we heading.” – this is the trending headlines in Facebook, Twitter and other social media apps. This small headline grabs the attention of people. The reason being is simple, we are being fed with negative headlines for many years now and the media knows that what grabs the attention of the people is the negative story line. But has anyone even thought why we are so attentive the negative headlines rather than the positive ones that every media covers too?

If we start with exploring this point, then we will unveil the personality hidden in us. Once that is unveiled, we will start to question self. The things we like, we see, and we desire. Then it is easy to understand the whole psychology of perception. Our own perception would change. We will stop rejecting the societal headlines. We will stop rejecting the negative news channels and news creators in this world. That is the starting point of self-realization for me. The social media has positive news and content also, but many of us miss to see them due to the busy bombardment of reality shows, competitions like “America/India got talent” and etc. We get lost in the jungle. Someone rightly said internet is a jungle. We need to tread our path carefully and consciously.

In the Name of Love

Love is demystifying. It demystifies that a human is capable of something higher in realms than the stupid Ego fights, wars or quarrels. Love is beautiful when it is respected and the feelings are experienced in complete acceptance without any pride, prejudice and expectations. Expectations kill love. Expectations develop possessiveness. Possessiveness destroys the love. When love is lost, hatred, anger and frustration creeps in.

Look at any young couple around, who are into each other so deeply. How beautiful it is seeing them. When you accept someone’s happiness and enjoyment, a great sense of gratitude flows in you. This is also a result of love, accepting the love in someone and feeling their intimacy. Love is the bond that keeps the humanity together. Movies, dramas and other media project love in dim light. They show only lust, hatred, possessiveness, enmity in the name of love. These are all not love.

Love is beyond the mind’s imagination and desires. Love is the necessity of humanity. It develops without one’s knowledge. In fact, all the knowledge in the world belongs to the dump yard. They only develop Egos. They do not feed the care and compassion which the humanity requires. They feed the mind, they feed the identity of an individual, the real reason for a creepy and negative society. Love is completely opposite to this. For love, object is not required, it is desire less and it is pure.

Love blossoms amidst chaos too. Understanding of love is more important than prostrating it and showing it on big terms. Taj mahal is built for his love they say, but for me it is an act of ego. To show that only he can build the magnificent structure, to possess the beauty of the lady love, to prove that he is the greatest in the world. This is not love. Love is something beyond all these crazy definitions and showoffs. Love is simple, to the earth, basic and raw. At what level it occurs defines the outcome.

Are you ready to fall in love and be a human or want to lead a life full of ego and destroy the humanity in the name of love? Love is everywhere, love is in the air they say. It has significant meaning. Love is like oxygen, it is the necessity for life. Without love life is not possible. Without life the nature cannot survive and becomes meaningless.

Nudity and sexuality

Why there is so much hankering for sex, nudity and genital parts of a human? Why are humans so corrupt? Why are there so much evil behind these? 

I know these are the questions lingering in everyone's mind. I know most of you by now would have declared that sex is bad and hankering for sex is a sin. I know most of you would be condemning your thoughts as well as the entire society for making you mad.

Well, do remember that your body, your whole life is created as a outcome of sex. If you can get this fact, then you wouldn't condemn sex as it is. Now you will ask, then is sex good? So you want us all to have free sex with anyone and everyone? Good question, but your analogy is wrong. The way you fill your mind with the madness of sex is wrong. Why this madness and overload of sexual thoughts in your minds? The reason being, you are being condemned by the society to not to talk or think about sex, really!

The whole of religion, all the religions in the world condemn sexuality. They say it is a sin, of course the whole concept of god (Lord Ganesha, Lord Muruga), son of the god (Jesus) says that only divine beings are born without sexual intercourse. They are the only saints in the world, not others, especially humans. Even our birth is condemned by the society! How hypocritical people are! They condemn even our birth because we were born through intercourse. May be that is the reason why now a days many female are not able to conceive babies, this thought has entered deep into their sub conscious mind perhaps!

The whole world is kept mad, due to conditioning and condemnation. There is chaos everywhere. Even a small child gets raped in every street corner now a days. What is the reason behind it? Your condemnation for sex, nothing else. If the society was left free to discuss and share sexuality, then there will not be such chaos as we see now. In fact that is why in ancient hindu society you see wall paintings with sexual poses. They openly preached sexuality as a natural thing and nothing to be ashamed of. Now look at the society how they are turning out to be. Really shame on humans for condemning everything and anything.

We all love nature, there is no second thought about it, but do you know why? Because nature is nude. They don't cover up like you and I do. They all express their nudeness without fear.

We all love flowers, do you know why? Because they are the genital organs of the plants and trees. What you are capturing on the camera and mobile? It is the vagina of the plants! Without shame and without fear, we are able to enjoy the sexuality of the nature, but not that of our own? How hypocritical this humanity is! I am really perplexed!

Unless and until each and every man realises this nature and lives in harmony with the nature, the madness and chaos that we see in this world will never finish. Accept the nudeness and sexuality in you. You are born without a clothe and die without it. You are born out of sex and will die splitting the seeds in your body, really have you seen any dead man, their semen will spit out and penis will be erect after death.

The nature is beautiful, accept it, do not fight against it, there is beauty in the nature and it is time that you realise this and grow matured enough.

நன்றி சொல்ல கடமை படு

அழகான நாளை ஆரம்பித்த அந்த இனிமையான குரலுக்கு நன்றி - பறவை,

இனிப்புக்கு ஈடு உண்டோ என்று சிந்திக்க வைத்த அந்த முகத்துக்கு நன்றி - காதலி,

சாலையில் நடக்கையில் என் முகத்தில் படும் சிலிர்ப்பான காற்றுக்கு நன்றி - மரங்கள்,

எப்போதுமே முகத்தில் மகிழ்ச்சி ஊட்டும் அந்த மெல்லிய சிரிப்புக்கு நன்றி - நண்பர்கள்!

என்னவென்று சொல்வேன்

இரு இதயம் துடிக்கும் அந்தத்  தருணம் வேண்டும்,

நம் விழிகள் பக்கத்தில் உரசிட வேண்டும்,

தொலைவு இல்லா நெருக்கம் வேண்டும்,

அதில் நாம் ஒருவராகக் கலந்திருக்க வேண்டும்.

எப்போதும் உன் மீதுள்ள அன்பு மறவாதிருக்க வேண்டும்,

அன்பே உன் கரங்களில் நான் வாழ வேண்டும்,

நான் எனும் என்னை மறந்து இருக்க வேண்டும்,

அன்பே நீ மட்டும் என் விழியில் வாழ்ந்திட வேண்டும்.

உடல் இரண்டும் கரையும் இத்தருணத்திலே,

மொழி மறையும் அந்தி மயக்கத்திலே,

என்னை மறந்து உன்னை பார்க்கும் பொழுதினிலே,

சொர்கத்தின் தலைவாசல் திருக்கையிலே.

மனம் என்னும் ஆயுதம் மறையும்,

காதல் என்ற போகம் அடங்கும்,

உணர்வற்ற இத்தருணத்தை,

என்னவென்று சொல்வேன் என் காதலியே.

Naanum rowdythan - my review

There are rarely any realistic movies now a days, all we see is a super hero with godly abilities to trash villains in one go. Naanum Rowdy than, is a movie which is in a rare genre that touches the reality. Our hero Vijay Sethupathi (Pondy Pandi) has got a much wanted image makeover. His neatly shaved and trimmed beard looked much better than his previous images. He is looking handsome in fact and had all the woman audience glued to the screen whenever he was present.

The way our hero aspires to become a ROWDY in this film during the built up to the grown up story adds nice touch to the film and also gives a taste of how the film is going to be – a light hearted comedy story in which our hero acts as a villain but in real is a comedy piece only to be discovered during his love for the heart throbber – Nayanthara (Kadhambari).

Nayanthara does brilliantly her role of a deaf person who watches the lip sync carefully for understanding what the opposite person is saying. She also shows her shy side of not letting others to know that she is deaf and keeps repeating more often than any other person would have actually found J. The story revolves around Nayanthara, who has so much love for her daddy just like any other woman.

Each and every scene is this movie is worth describing, because there is so much brilliance in dialogue, screenplay and acting. All the roles were perfectly played by all the characters. I couldn’t find a single boring scene in the movie, even though some scenes were slow moving at some juncture.

The story goes such that Nayanthara gets into a tangle with a police constable because the constable was responsible for breaking her mobile; the police doesn’t know that she is deaf and lands up in police station, only for our Hero’s mother to notice that she is deaf and lets her after knowing that her father is also a police officer.

Our hero follows Nayanthara from here and the scenes that follow is sure to add sugar to our eyes and ears, there is so much fun in everything that the hero does to turn the girls attention without knowing that she is deaf. Finally they end up striking a conversation and our hero finds out that she is deaf and his love grows for her from this moment. Their relationship start in the form of exchanging mobile phones and sim card and finally forget exchanging them back after hero’s mother comes in between them.

The follow up of events from here adds laughter as well as tears to our eyes. There is an external enmity between Nayanthara’s father and a politician turned gangster Parthiban (Killivalavan; yes you heard it right). They play a cat and mouse game and finally the villain ends up killing Nayan’s mother and father. Nayan wants to take revenge on the villain for killing her mother, without knowing that her father also gets killed while her relationship with hero is developing.

How our hero hides this news and tries to take revenge on the villain is the crux of the story. RJ Balaji does a superb job which is expected out of him by siding with hero and helping him in his plans to kill the villain. One particular scene in the state highway where they stall the villain’s car and make him run does add so much humor to the entire story. Parthiban is chased by another politician villain (Mansoor) and also by our hero, who both thatch a plan to get him killed but don’t succeed.

The climax is yet another twist in the story, which is worth watching than describing in words here. It sure is going to add lots of laughter in all of us. But the crux of the story is same – the hero in trying to become a villain ends up being a comedian. Yet our heroine doesn’t know this! The rest is history!! Definitely a must watch movie, if you are either a Vijay Sethupathi or Nayanthara fan. Even if you are not a fan of either, you can watch this film for its realistic nature of events and/or script. Director Vignesh Shivan has hit the jackpot with his debut movie!

A Blast from the past...

It was an intense summer that day, the temperature recorded 48°C. It was a 30 over match and I was batting at No.3 losing our opener. It was good opportunity for me to come at No.3 when the stakes were down early on. I had a chance to prove myself today, I had a feeling that today I am going to score big. Initial 5 overs were bit slow on the scoring rate, and I was just rotating the strike, I was waiting for the sun to burn down the bowlers stamina before I could counter attack.

But something was wrong, I was already burning since morning due to high fever and a blocked nose. But my determination and will power were stronger than the fever that was preventing me from being fit. I scored a handsome leg glance first up, that opened the boundaries for us. Followed by a square drive and cover drive. Next over was really easy for me, after having hit 3 fours in a the previous over, my confidence was sky high, I scored a straight drive boundary which was a pleasure to many eyes, including my father who always enjoys watching me bat.

Then came on the spinners, to give respite to their fast bowlers. I was going strong, confident and having the highest stamina among all the players out there. It was in me that every time the temperature soars in Chennai, I get a good field day. I outshine other players in hot humid weather conditions easily. It was a gift to me I thought and I realized it that day. With such thought in mind, came a dolly from spinners hand and I hit the ball straight down the bowlers head and it was a sixer, just managed to cross the ropes.

They were all getting tired by the end of 15 overs and I had just scored above 40+ that time. Few wickets fell the other end and my stronger partner started scoring some big shots giving me some rest and I was just rotating the strike happily for him. It was a good relaxing time for me, but I had to still do all the running. I could sense the hot air going in and out of nostrils by this time! By the end of the innings I emerged not out around 60+ runs and my partner scored a quick fire 40 odd runs. We scored a good 180 runs on the board by the end of 30 overs.

We came to bowl, and their players were already dehydrated and exhausted under the sun, but our players were looking fresh, well thanks to me of course ;-). We dismissed them within 100 runs and I was rightly adjudged the player of the match. I remember the words of the opposite captain that day, “You played really well even in this hot and humid condition. Well done young boy, I wish to see you play for India one day.”

This was the day that I cherished the most and the words of the opposite team’s captain did motivate me to do better in coming matches. It was also the day when I realized that hot humid climate does no harm to my body and I was adaptive to such high temperatures. It was a good realization for me that day, to know my ability, my body condition and my stamina/endurance. 

Windows 10 upgrade - quick review

Just wanted to share my side of the Windows 10 upgrade story (from windows 7). Depending on the number of devices that your PC / laptop is currently supporting, the file size for the upgrade varies. For my PC it took nearly 2.2 GB size for the whole downloading of OS / driver files.

 

Using the 1 Mbps BSNL connection, it took nearly 4-5 hours for the download to complete. Then the Windows asked for a reboot, upon reboot, the windows configuration starts with absolutely no manual interaction from the user.

 

The actual upgrade runs by starting to copy the OS files, followed by driver files and finally the configuration starts.

 

The whole process took less than 1.5 hours and the desktop was up and running within another 5-10 minutes time.

 

The Changes:

 

1)       Your old desktop and all the files are retained. Whatever theme packs you were running on before upgrade still exists (even installed ones). So the desktop still runs your themes that you would prefer to have.

2)      Start bar is really beautiful and stylish with the search box at the left side. Default search engine is Bing.

3)      Upon clicking the start button (windows key in keyboard), your recently used apps lists and the live tiles are loaded on the right side. Its rightly a marriage between Windows 7 and Windows 8.

4)      In the start menu, there is an option to search for all apps, which would list us the apps in alphabetical order as in Windows phones.

5)      Live tiles are stylish and updates real time.

6)      All the applications that you had before upgrade still exists and runs perfectly without any hitches.

7)      You can configure what live tiles you want to see.

8)      The Start menu has settings option, which contains everything you want to configure in the PC/laptop (from device drivers, to installation of apps, to configuring background colors etc.)

9)      Microsoft has dumped IE and has come up with Edge browser, which is good so far.

10)   Default programs to open pics, videos will be setup

11)    Windows media player is missing. Groove music player is the new kid on the block!

 

If you already have a webcam, that is connected via USB, you might probably need to download an update post setting up the PC. The driver will install additionally and set it up for being compatible with Windows 10.

 

Windows 10 is definitely sleek, comfortable and easy to use. With Service packs coming up, it is definitely going to fix any ongoing issues and make this OS a win-win for both MS and customers alike.

 

Windows 10 is free for an year post upgrade.

 

Note: In case you need to downgrade from Windows 10, you can do it only within one month of the upgrade. Post which you cannot downgrade the OS. This is a good option for customers to try out Windows 10 for now, and go back to the shell and live within their own comfort zone.

Products that harm us

Most of us would have used these products in our life time sometime. We would have used it mostly in our teenage I bet. I also bet that we would have at least tried one imported product of this category and would have recommended our family members or close friends/relatives. It was a part of my life too until couple of months when my wife raised a concern about cancer causing chemicals that are used in these products. These products are: deodorants and antiperspirants.

I am really against any of the products that act against our natural body system. Soap for instance, blocks the pores in our skin that would otherwise be helpful for perspiration of skin and also used as a channel for releasing sweat. The sweat contains urea, minerals and lactate. Our body sends them out because they are either in excess or they have the potential to cause cancer cells in our body. This process of sweating in humans is called perspiration (also called as transpiration).

Clearly the name antiperspirants should have ringed an alarm bells in your mind by now! Now let us see what chemicals do these products contain and why they might be potentially harmful for our body. Remember there are studies that are out there which determines the potentiality of cancer cause in people who use deodorants and antiperspirants. These studies are yet to determine and prove a direct correlation however. So caution needs to be exercised in understanding what I am going to say further.

Both Deodorants and Antiperspirants help in reducing the body odour that is a result of sweat.  This odour is caused by specific bacteria underneath our skin (underarms). Deodorants tackle the odour by targeting the bacteria. To do this, they contain antibacterial compounds, such as triclosan and chlorhexidine. Antiperspirants, unlike deodorants, don’t do anything to act on the bacteria that produce smelly sweat compounds. Instead, they contain chemical compounds whose goal it is to prevent you from perspiring at all. These compounds are always either aluminium or zirconium-based; aluminium chlorohydrate is one of the most commonly used, but a number of others can also be employed.

Triclosan has been proven to contribute to bacterial resistance to antibiotics. Though this only proven in animals and in humans it might be different and there is no concrete study yet. The solvent, cyclomethicone is used both in Deodorants and antiperspirants evaporate very quickly and easily. But studies have proved that this solvent causes dry skin and other problems. Apart from that there are growing concerns of potential bioaccumulation in the environment. It doesn’t break down easily in water, and also it is further not clear if they are the reason for toxicity in water which threatens aquatic life. Aluminium compounds that are used in Antiperspirants have been under major controversy with links to breast cancer and Alzheimer’s disease.

Both Deodorants and Antiperspirants have been under lenses and are posing a great health risk upon prolonged usage. It would be wise if each of us look at the ingredients in these products and see if any chemical used in it is having potential to cancer of other major controversies. It would be good if we can avoid such products and choose a safe alternative.

Thani Oruvan - moview review

Brilliant screenplay is all you can say about this film. What a performance by Arvind Swamy, he oozes style and smartness throughout this film. The role that Arvind Swamy got is really good and he enjoys it to the fullest, till the last scene. He is really lucky to get this role in a comeback sorts of film. What a terrific performance!

‘Jayam’ Ravi as he is famously called, completes his role succinctly. As a tough police officer who tops the ranks during training and very good in collecting information about his enemy even before his posting is confirmed really creates lot of expectations on his role. We eagerly wait to see how this brilliant cop is going to snatch an almost uncatchable enemy. The film starts with a succinct tag line ‘Tell me about your enemy, I will tell about you.’

There are lot of hypes created around the role of ‘Jayam’ Ravi’s Mithran. Mithran however disappoints us with his emotionless approach which all movie watchers would expect in a hero (main screen). But his role was such to not to display any emotions (soft side) on anyone. Nayanthara finally gets some flesh on her face, a much needed change after her appearance was commented all across the magazines and film news. We get a chance to see Mahima (Nayan) as a brave and tough woman who fittingly loves an equally brilliant hero, Mithran.

There was not a scene in this film where you will feel let down. Thambi Ramaiah cameo in this serious film was much needed and provides the much needed laughter in all of us. Theatres erupted in laughter for his comedies when Siddharth (Arvind) talks to his dad of his plans in the car while driving, especially the one when he says ‘Naan eppo rendu kolai panna plan sonnen’ (When did I plan to kill two people). Thambi Ramiah as Sengalvarayan provides the lighter side of politicians who match in real life scenarios, who would just read whatever is printed in their material (reading).

Mithran finds that all petty crimes lead to larger group, all the gangsters add up to one head who oversees all the operations without his name coming out. This is typical of Illuminatis mode of operation. The director is also brilliant enough to show how newspapers (media in general) mislead people and how they shape the thinking process of people. A good ground work done by director Mohan Raja this time. It needs lot of courage and effort to know these details to the point and another type of talent to bring it to mainstream media (cinema) without creating much buzz or tension. Hats off to director in this regards. He carefully handles the script.

Technically the scenes were up to the mark and how Mithran’s friends help him without much fuzz was much welcome change in the film. It shows their friendship and loyalty to each other. There were lot of truth that had been attempted to be revealed in this film and I am sure people who watched this film can connect these facts to reality (in life). Especially what the pharmaceutical giants (and mafia) do in order to make sure that our country doesn’t get the best (and cheap medicine).

All in all this film is wholesome factual movie that can still be valid at any point in future. The way the director exposes the network of goons, big business players and finally the head of all these organizations is a commendable work. A brave and breezy film that should be encouraged and watched by everyone to know the sad reality in the crimes happening around us.

Thani Oruvan is not just about a single person fighting the cause, we all must collectively (individually) know many facts around us and act upon it to make sure that our future is safe, best and peaceful. That was the message from the film as per my view. Watch it and enjoy it J!

Digital India

I was roaming jobless that time. It was a tough period, I knew I am going to win this battle and get in to one of the top IT companies in some time, but the going through the hardship was testing my patience, honesty and dedication. It was the time when I lost in crucial HR interview at Infosys itself. People were telling me that once I clear the initial technical round, then I am in the company. But the offer letters were sent for my colleagues who met me at the interview and not for me.

I felt devastated, in disbelief and also in disarray. Then came an opportunity and I really wanted to prove a point why I deserved to be in a top notch company with smart salary. There were nearly 20K people and only 30 out of them were selected in a college off campus, and I am proud to say I was one among them. First round was about aptitude test and I cleared it easily as with many other companies attended earlier.

Then came essay writing, where I am the best since childhood and my own English teachers were proud of and also referred me as a best example. I would write essays with such strong message which strikes the reader where it matters the most. I was asked to write why they would recruit me for getting in to that company and I did write it neatly.

Then came the Group discussion round which was scheduled for the next day. Around 5K people were selected for this alone. In my panel we had around 10 people who were asked to speak about “technology: is it a boon or bane”. I was only listening till the end and whenever I opened my mouth to strike a balance with my panelists, I was only taken over by a stronger voice who would not allow me to continue with my view points.

The GD panelist was noting this behavior and he did give me a chance to speak at the end. And I didn’t mess it. I spoke for just 3 minutes and without a break, with such fluency that the entire classroom wowed upon it and clapped their hands (including the panelist). Even I felt good at my viewpoint and encouraged my way of positive thinking.

The thing that I spoke 10 years back exactly echoes what our current PM Narendra Modi spoke at the San Jose CEO meet. Especially the view of ‘Digital India’. I echoed similar sentiments and view points and was vouching for empowering villages and poor with technology to update their status not only physically but also online. I voiced for learning through technology and also better planning with technological advancements.

‘Let us use technology to educate people about the good and ill effects of using it and let us create a positive, wholesome environment that doesn’t discard anyone based on their financial status.’ I concluded.

It was not over, Later I went through a technical code testing interview. This was followed by one one-on-one meeting with Executive VP of the company who testing my emotions. Later I was offered a job in their company within a month’s time. I will never forget my first employer and interviewers who shaped my career now.

Sivapuranam Vilakkam

Opt for Regional diet

Super markets are really useful in a way that we get all the products required for household maintenance at one shot. They have changed the way people used to shop for different things at different shops. They have brought the convenience factor into play which people of this generation would love to explore/use.

We get both regional and international products at super markets. One need not have to say what the perception among people upon imported products is. Everyone reckons they are quality and pure ones. Our own regional products (Made in India) are however looked down upon thinking that they do not have sophisticated machines that can give a quality output.

But one thing people forget about imported goods is their shelf life. They are very high, in fact some might have taken months to reach the shelves. Whereas our regional products are fresh and hidden from the stardom. This is somewhat acceptable for non-food products. When it comes to food-based products we must carefully reflect upon this point. This is where people turn a blind eye.

We get lot of processed food in super markets in the name of Macrons, Noodles, Pasta, Ready mix powders, so on and so forth. Though we have the foreign vendors manufacture them in Indian premises, we must carefully explore their ingredients and nutritional information. Here is the recent case of a famous Noodles vendor going in a soup. Reason being they have high levels of lead and MSG. This is uncalled for and unwanted ingredients in a processed food. They are the prime reasons for causing cancer in our human body. The research has exposed this lately. But do you think people didn’t know the ill effects of such ingredients while making this product? Were they blind eye to this fact? Why to have them in accepted levels at all, if that is what the vendor is claiming as in the case of the above said one? Poison is a poison be it consuming a table spoon or ten table spoons!

Now let’s shift our attention to vegetables and fruits. We get export quality vegetables and fruits from super markets and other markets too. But when you closely look them, especially in the case of apples, they have a sticker stuck to it with some other country’s name. Even the vendor selling that apple knows how bad that apple for our health is. It has high level of preservatives applied to make sure that it travels all across the border for months and stored in multiple places/climate/environmental conditions before coming to our place. If we eat such an apple, we get many diseases which goes unnoticed with time. We all assume that we had healthy fruits/vegetables and yet we get ill and blame it on the pollution outside.

We can apply the same to all vegetables. We have lost the nutrient value of vegetables due to high application of fertilizers and pesticides. Affording Organic vegetables is also out of reach for middle class. Still some argue that those who sell organic products are also lying and using pesticides and fertilizers instead. This leads to a void on whom to trust and whom not to. Then we think about growing fruits and vegetables at home, which is not feasible for all.

Our daily diet should be divided into three. Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner. I need not have to remind you how each should be since there is an old age adage to this. We are sacrificing our healthy diet to the likes of Noodles, Cakes, Burgers, Oats, Corn flakes etc. We do not realize that they are not of Indian origin and that we have even forgotten what our Indian diet consists of. How many of our households cook breakfast for us? How many of us eat outside for breakfast and lunch? How many of us have homemade food at least once per week? Thanks to this competitive world, it has given birth to TWO minutes noodles which comes as a boon to most of our folks to cook this unhealthiest of food and bill ourselves in hospitals within 10-15 years of time.

It is time to go back to basics, ask your grandma, grandpa, your old age friends and relatives what they have for breakfast. I am sure there will be some who stick to the ancient diet of Idly, Dosa etc. They were the best scientists to date. They knew that really needed for our body to sustain it without any diseases for 100 years. They are your best doctors. We must learn from them. We must stick to their diet plans. We must get their opinion on food matters. If you haven’t done it yet, I request you to do it right away.

Now a days even water is packaged, and people have forgotten about the tap water filtering and boiling it for consumption! Let us understand how the foreign multinationals are exploiting our life style to sell their products to support the medical industries. Let us not give a chance for them to exploit our future generation at least. Let us choose healthy diet, a regional diet that your forefathers used to have. Let us say no to Noodles, Pizza, Burger, Coke etc. Let’s bring back the good health. Are you ready to take the oath? I have taken already.

Live and let live!

Learning the way to live - Hinduism

Now a days I have been keeping busy learning new things which connects me with my inner self. I am searching for answers that long haunted me. I am practising meditation and doing all the readings which helps me in answering the questions which have been troubling me.

In this field I am sure I will be successful. Praying and healing for the most needed is the best a Human Soul can do. I found this truth via my meditation. This Earth is troubled by violence, discrimination, threats, and lot  of negative energies. It is our collective responsibility to wipe out the bad energy and cleanse every human soul to help lead a better Spiritual life.

Spirituality is nothing but finding yourself, finding the path which leads you to bliss, to realize the ultimate truth. Who ever wants any help in this world mentally, I suggest that you guys take up to Meditation, esp which connects with your subconscious mind. Nothing else matters, all other meditation techniques can give you peace of mind, but there are things which you need beyond this. I am sure many people feel that they are cut off after a point where they reach a peace of mind.

I wish everyone a happy journey forward as we went past the much debated Mayan Prophecy 21 DEC 2012. Take care all, praying and wishing for you all! Happy 2013 and journey forward.

2012 - We enter

There have been lot of hypes and scare surrounding the year 2012. Many people fear this is the year when our world would come to an end.

Some people rejected the hype as nonsense and try to play out the fears out of people's mind.

What I feel is that we are entering into the stage when the World starts to end from this year on. It does not mean that our world would end this year itself, but that the stage has been set for the world to end in about million years from now on.

Do not panic, and do not try to get into too much details. Speaking philosophically, do good and the good will come back to you ; do bad and the bad will come back to you even strongly. This is the phrase and belief which Hindus believe the most.

So please from at least now try to clear your mind from bad thoughts and pessimistic view of the world and try to bring in the positive thoughts. Whenever you will bad about something or some situation, try to cut that thought saying "No you are wrong. It should be like ***positive phrase***."

After all it is our thoughts that is driving this world and our life. So please make the most of the opportunity and keep your mind occupied with good thoughts. Let us bring in a world of positive thoughts filled with love, joy and unity.

Number Eighteen

Why is that number 18 has so much significance?

• The right to vote comes at this age.
• You are called an Adult once you attain this age.
• You are an minor if you are less than 18. No not even 1 month to 18, you are still a minor.
• Adult rated movies are for 18+ audience only. This and point 2 are mutually inclusive :).
• You feel adrenaline pumping and your hormones raging seeing the opposite sex when you reach eighteen.
• In Mathematics, Eighteen is a composite number (its proper divisors are 1,2,3,6,9).
• Adding to the above point, Eighteen is a semi perfect number (three of its divisors 3,6,and 9 add upto 18).
• In Chinese tradition number 18 signifies that one is going to prosper. Thus building floors numbered 18 are expensive in China.
• In Northern China however, number 18 is to be avoided since it represents the 18th level of hell.
• The Hindu epic Mahabharata has eighteen sections, involves eighteen armies and is about a war fought over eighteen days.

Microkia is the word

So it is clear from the recent updates that Nokia is sliding along towards Microsoft to get themselves aligned to the Smart phone concept of Microkia (Nokia plus Windows 7).
From what I understand, surely Nokia will have customizations over Windows seven to get a look and feel of Nokia's propreitary Menu style. This is sure one thing to happen. Apart from that other features of the great Windows seven OS will be there in this mobile version. It is a big bet that Nokia is taking and I am sure that a sturdy design of nokia and cool UI of Windows seven will rock the Smart phone sales and make a split in the profit for Android and iPhone. But how much remains to be seen. But I am sure, it will be a significant one.

Although these are interesting developments, I am let down by the fact that they are dumping the much anticipated MeeGo platform (Linux-based Mobile OS) in partnership with Intel. I thought that was a good move by Nokia, but the fact is they are too late already on the Smart phone segment given the criticisms about Symbian OS. This fact made them to go further and invest in something which is already available in the market. But still, I feel a partnership with MeeGo platform should continue and Nokia should look to invest in this space, because Linux as an OS that too on a mobile sounds brilliant.

I am sorry for all Symbian users, who will see the demise of Symbian OS by 2012 and their support probably will end by 2014 going by the current plans. I personally felt Symbian failed as an Smart Phone given the number of Viruses released to attack the same. I am also sorry for all the engineers who are working at Nokia developing new updates and fixes on Symbian. So sorry for symbian developers too, there are thousands of them who will be threatened with their job by this move.

If I was a CEO at Nokia, I would have went ahead with Symbian, MeeGo and Windows seven, all parallely and would have delivered each one of them to different geographies based on the end users taste and interest. But Elop has other plans. I understand that he is bigger than me :-).

Five Years of Profession

I am excited today as I have completed five years of Professional life on 23rd Jan. Time just flew by and I still feel like a Fresher :).

Happy to grow in Career!

The Eleven

I wanted to post this on 11th of January but due to lack of time and resources I am posting this today. Hope you all like it.
 
The Eleven

Today being a special day (11-1-11) I attempt to bring in on memoirs, those wonderful moments of a Game, which is loved in each and every part of the Country. After all, Cricket is a game played by eleven players a side, isn’t it? Nice coincidence to start this topic I must say. I know most of you, like me, are obsessed with Cricket. For a few it is just another game played by eleven fools and followed by eleven thousand fools (as said by John Bernard Shaw). For the rest, they just ignore it. Cricket is a passion especially in India and nobody dares to deny this fact.

We started watching Cricket when Kapil, Gavaskar, Pataudi, Ravi Shastri, G Viswanath and the likes were at their final stages of their Cricketing career. Most of us were born either a couples of years before or after the Glorious World Cup triumph. Then we grew up watching Sachin, Manoj Prabhakar, Srinath, Prasad, Raju, Azharuddin etc in action. Some of them were the reason for our motivation to play this great Game. We loved batting all the time, didn’t we? More than bowling, batting was a matter of Pride for us. We wanted to hit the ball all around the park.

Most likely most of us would have started our playing Cricket with the tennis ball. When the ball was new we loved to bowl Pace bowling with it and when it was considerably old, one or both sides of the canvas was torn, we used to bowl spinners. We started learning to hit the tennis ball only on on-side. Off side runs were prohibited those days due to space constraint/players constraint or weather constraints (due to wetness in ground on one side). We learned the trick to hit the ball out of the park even when the ball was bowled wide outside off stump, the very scene would have made Azharuddin, G Viswanath and Laxman proud of.

When there were too much of water in the ground, we would fight against local fellows to get some space in the Basket ball court. Even the Basket ball players would be obsessed to play with us instead of playing their game. We drew stumps using the slippers of players, piling one over another. The scene, the drama would be so amazing. Two teams hardly a meter away from each other would be playing so close to each other and cause chaos. Most of the hits which are so important would be prevented from crossing the boundary by someone from team ‘A’. And he would throw the ball to his team’s bowler, who would wonder who hit him like that and throw the ball further down the line to some other guy who is waving his hand 10 meters away for his ‘B’ team mate to throw the ball for a run out. Apparently the ball would take a 360 degree round trip and come back to the original team ‘X’, by which time the batsmen from team ‘Y’ would have run more than 6 runs.

It would be fun to watch the strategy when people play using rubber balls instead of tennis balls. The bouncers that they bowl would keep any batsmen under threat. People would think even Aussies or Proteas can’t handle our bouncers, such fierce bounce they produced using the rubber balls. Moreover, with rubber balls the pace bowlers would seem faster than B Lee, even fiery. Batsmen would run to the offside when the ball is bowled on the leg stump to prevent the ball from hitting their butts.

Back home, at 4 o clock children would gather around their streets to play Street cricket, popularly known as Gully Cricket. Children would play so interestingly that any disturbance in the form of Vehicles movement would be severely dealt with. Either the motorist would be hit or chased. Apparently children prefer playing with tennis balls here; it is the best for the tar road pitch. At least the chances of breaking the glass windows are less when tennis ball flies. When the climate is not conducive to Gully Cricket, Children played Cricket inside their house in a room. Yes in a room, if your memory takes you through, good, else I will project that also in the coming paragraphs.

We used ping pong balls, tennis balls, softy balls, paper balls. Each one was best in its own way. Play with ping pong balls when you are planning for a one-pitch catch mode of dismissal. Play with tennis balls when you are playing in a relatively bigger hall or something and with your brother or sister. Play with softy balls when there are babies around. Play with paper balls when you run out of all the above options. Paper balls were the best innovative finding I have seen so far. So innovative which my mom thought me :). Take some old news papers which you consider as useless, take say 3-4 pages and then crush them between your hands making a round shape. Once done, take one plastic cover and put this paper rolled ball inside and make the round shape and burn one end with fire in order to make the plastic cover stick over and prevent the paper from falling outside. Your paper ball is ready in less than 2 minutes. Even noodles preparation would lose in front of paper ball preparation.

If there were no company to play with, we used to take a tennis ball and dash it against the wall in the room and with a bat in hand. Our reflex action needed to be amazing. Between the time the ball is thrown over the wall and it returns, you were supposed to clasp your bat with both hands. This was one way to keep us occupied and increase our forearm strength also. You would speak Cricket, play Cricket, discuss Cricketers and emote cricketing events like Four, Six, and Out etc whenever you are bored and playing alone. And when we grew, we bought our own Cricket bats, specifically Oil bats those days and seasoned them using Cricket ball inside a sock hung by a rope in your verandah or balcony.

Those were the days, we lived and breathed Cricket. This great game has come of age, new inventions in the form of IPL, T20 have evoked heavy fan following all over the world. The tradition may age, but the passion for the game will never age. We will still be finding innovative ways to make Cricket interesting and one day we will all watch only Cricket in Olympics events. Such is the charm of Cricket.

2010 - A Past Preview

2010 - A Past Preview

2010 had been a fascinating year for me personally. I am recalling all the important events that happened in my life in this entry and will try not to miss out any significant event.

Though there were major scams running all over the country, 2010 by far was the best year for India too. I will also list some major events that had happened all over India since New Year's eve of 2009. If you find some data is incorrect please let me know. Similarly if you find that I have missed some major event please inform me.

Personal Front:

1) I became a proud father of a Daughter, feels great to be a father and take the responsibilities in running a family.

2) My previous company got acquired by a major corporation and our Chennai operations were terminated. Luckily thanks to my Daughter, I ended up in my 3rd Company.

3) Watched the first 3D movie of my life this year only.

4) I stopped playing Cricket completely, did not even appear near practise nets.

5) Went to Subramani Swamy temple at Swamimalai second time in my life only after my Mundan and Ear piercing ceremony. Ofcourse I went for my daughter's Mundan and Ear piercing cermony!

6) My elder brother also became a Father this year.

7) Moved away from my home place, T.Nagar to Guduvanchery for the first time in my life. Since my birth I have not even moved an inch outside the house either for education or job purpose.

8) I bought a touch screen phone. First ever touch screen phone in my Life.

Indian Front:

1) India conducted its first international event - the XIX Commonwealth Games successfully amid huge corruption charges.

2) Attempt to replace INSAT-2E satellite with GSAT-5P failed horribly due to snapping connectors.

3) Indian Cricket team climbed to No.1 status in Test rankings for the first time in the second half of

2009. This is since the introduction of ranking system. They did not lose the spot in the year 2010!

4) Indian atheletes grabbed 38 Gold medals, this is by far the best result in atheletics for India.

5) In the entertainment industry, India had produced a big budget film under the Sun pictures banner,

starring Super Star Rajini & beauty queen Aishwarya Bachan and directed by Super director Shankar.

Budget of the movie was 162 crores. Interestingly, the GSAT satellite that was flopped by ISRO costed

150 crores only.

6) World Classic Tamil conference was held at Coimbatore for the first time in which prominent writers and Tamil Linguistic experts were invited.

7) Scams ran all through India - a shame shame year for India!

8) The last native of India's Andaman Islands fluent in the Aka-Bo language dies, rendering the language extinct.

9) Russia signs a nuclear reactor deal with India which will see it build 16 nuclear reactors in India.

10) India test fires two short range missiles, the Dhanush and Prithvi II.

11) The Indian government initiates The Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act to provide free and compulsory education to all children aged between 6 and 14 years, making education a fundamental right for millions of children.

12) India launches its new 2011 biometric census, the largest census in the world.

13) The Indian government unveils a solar power touch-screen laptop, cheaper than America's iPad, expected to be on sale next year.

14) 20-year-old Nicole Faria from Bangalore, Miss India, wins the Miss Earth 2010 crown in Vinpearl Land, Nha Trang, Vietnam.

15) First ever International Kabaddi World Cup was held in Pujab. Winner was India beating Pakistan in the Final 58-24.

PS: I have made references to Wikipedia in trying to list out a few important events.