Traffic

Beautifully made movie.Rajesh Pillai, the director has to be applauded for his wonderful work along with the story writers Bobby and Sanjay.It's a multi-linear story of Sudevan Nair,the traffic constable,Sidharth Shanker,the actor,Abel Thariyan, the doctor and Anoop Menon, the City Police Commissioner.

The story starts on september 16th with Raihan, the journalist trainee working in Indiavision getting ready for his first day work.Sudevan Nair after his suspension rejoining in his post.Doctor Abel ordered a car to be gifted to his wife on their wedding anniversary.Actor Sidharth is gearing up for his new movie release.But everything take a turn as Raihan and his friend met with an accident and Raihan was in a critical condition and doctors had no hope for him and he was brain dead.

At the same the time the 13 year old daughter of actor Sidharth was admitted to a hospital in Palakkad of heart problem and her condition getting worse as time goes.The doctors contacted the parents of Raihan for heart transplant , reluctantly they agreed.The problem was transporting the Raihan's heart from Kochi to Palakkad.The distance is 150KMs which has to be covered within 2 hours.

Srinivasan as Sudevan nair

Sudevan nair volunteer himself to drive the vehicle carrying the heart to Palakkad.He was suspended for taking bribe.That was the chance for him to redeem his career as well as life.So in spite of danger he went ahead. Dr.Abel was very fond of his wife but he was not able to control his anger when he found out that his wife had been cheating him.So he hit her with his car and left without admitting her in hospital.Anoop Menon , the City Police Commissioner has to decide on the transportation of the organ on time.He risks his reputation.

Then there was a love story of Raihan and Aditi which was shot beautifully.The rest of the story deals with how these people help to transport the 'heart" to the destination.Credit should given to cinematographer Shiju Khalid for his wonderful work.Director Rajesh Pillai had done a great job my maintaining the pace of the story.Music by Mejo Joseph and Samsom kattoor was in sync with the story.well done.

Kunchako Boban in Traffic

Srinivasan as Sudevan ,Kunchako Boban as Dr.Abel, Rahman as Sidharth and Anoop Menon as City Commissioner had done their job to perfection.Overall a great movie.Wonderful story and wonderful acting!
One of the best of the year.

Harsha Bhogle's talk in Cricinfo

One of the best talk by an Indian commentator , very open and very polite. I liked it lot..

Panis Angelicus

I started to listen to Western classical music from 2008, from that time onward im trying all kind of instruments,Operas ,Symphonies etc.I always wondered by the power of the music to calm my mind midst of so many problems.Classical music listening is one of the best thing happen to me in recent years .The first CD i bought was Mozart's Top 10 Composition, i bought it at a Deepavali bazaar couple of years back.I was mesmerized by Mozart. Then comes Beethoven followed by whole lot of classic composers including modern composers like Philip Glass and Ravi Shanker.Many times i thought of writing about my liking in music but never spent enough time on it.So today decided to write about this beautiful composition.
This particular hymn was written by  St.Thomas Aquinas in his book "Sacris Solemniis" .Beautiful lyrics ,

Latin Text

Panis Angelicus fit panis hominum

Dat panis coelicus figuris terminum

O res mirabilis! Manducat Dominum

Pauper, pauper, servus et humilis

Pauper, pauper, servus et humilis

English Translation

The angel's bread becomes the bread of men

The heavenly bread ends all symbols

Oh, miraculous thing! The body of the Lord will nourish

The poor, poor, and humble servant

The poor, poor, and humble servant

Cesar Franck was a composer whose composition for the above lyrics is most famous of all.Check out this video in this Renee Fleming sings "Panis Angelicus".. immerse in the beauty of music..

CNN's World's 50 Most Delicious Food

Pride of India -Dosa(i)

Yesterday as i was going through the paper i found this article and was fascinated to see many Asian food items in the list. Masala dosa is the most common food item i eat.Among these 50 items i have tried Sushi,Tom yum goong,Fish 'n' chips,Chilli crab,Chicken rice,Laksa,kebab,Pizzas and other snacks like chocolate, ice creams and potato chips.Very interesting to see the variety in these food items.

No	Food item name	Country
1	Massaman Curry	Thailannd
2	Neapolitan Pizza	Italy
3	Chocolate	Mexico
4	Sushi	Japan
5	Peking duck	China
6	Hamburger	Germany
7	Penang assam laksa	Malaysia
8	Tom yum goong	Thailand
9	Ice creams	United States
10	Chicken Muamba	Gabon
11	Rendang	Indonesia
12	Shepherd's pie	Britain
13	Corn on the cob	Global
14	Donuts	United States
15	Kalua Pig	United States
16	Egg Tart	Hongkong
17	Lobster	Global
18	Kebab	Iran
19	Nam tok moo	Thailand
20	Arepas	Venezuela
21	Croissant	France
22	Brownie and Vanilla ice cream	Global
23	Lasagna	Italy
24	Champ	Ireland
25	Butter Garlic Crab	India
26	Fajitas	Mexico
27	Montreal style smoked meat	Canada
28	Pho	Vietnam
29	Ohmi gyu beef steak	Japan
30	Goi cuon	Vietnam
31	Parma ham	Italy
32	Ankimo	Japan
33	Fish 'n' chips	Britain
34	Maple syrup	Canada
35	Chilli crab	Singapore
36	Texas barbecue pork	United States
37	Chicken Parm	Australia
38	French toast	Hongkong
39	Ketchup	United States
40	Marzipan	Germany
41	Stinky tofu	SouthEast Asia
42	Buttered toast with marmite	Britain
43	Tacos	Mexico
44	Poutine	Canada
45	Chicken rice	Singapore
46	Som tam	Thailand
47	Seafood paella	Spain
48	Potato chips	United States
49	Masala dosa	India
50	Buttered popcorn	United States

My Favorite Poems-1

From last year onward i started reading lots of Tamil poems.I thought it will be useful to list these some my favorite poems in here.

பிரச்னை

திண்ணை இருட்டில் எவரோ கேட்டார்
தலையை எங்கே வைப்பதாம் என்று
எவனோ ஒருவன் சொன்னான்
களவு போகாமல் கையருகே வை.

                       ---ஞானக்கூத்தன்

 

   

அம்மாவின் பொய்கள்

பெண்ணுடன் சினேகம் கொண்டால்
காதறுந்து போகும் என்றாய்

தவறுகள் செய்தால் சாமி
கண்களைக் குத்தும் என்றாய்

தின்பதற் கேதும் கேட்டால்
வயிற்றுக்குக் கெடுதல் என்றாய்

ஒருமுறை தவிட்டுக்காக
வாங்கினேன் உன்னை என்றாய்

எத்தனைப் பொய்கள் முன்பு
என்னிடம் சொன்னாய் அம்மா

அத்தனைப் பொய்கள் முன்பு
சொன்ன நீ எதனாலின்று
பொய்களை நிறுத்திக் கொண்டாய்

தவறு மேல் தவறு செய்யும்
ஆற்றல் போய் விட்டதென்றா?
எனக்கினி பொய்கள் தேவை
இல்லையென் றெண்ணினாயா?

அல்லது வயதானோர்க்குத்
தகுந்ததாய்ப் பொய்கள் சொல்லும்
பொறுப்பினி அரசாங்கத்தைச்
சார்ந்ததாய்க் கருதினாயா?

தாய்ப்பாலை நிறுத்தல் போலத்
தாய்ப் பொய்யை நிறுத்தலாமா

உன்பிள்ளை உன்னை விட்டால்

வேறெங்கு பெறுவான் பொய்கள்?
                   ---ஞானக்கூத்தன்

காவியம்

சிறகிலிருந்து பிரிந்த
இறகு ஒன்று
காற்றின்
தீராத பக்கங்களில்
ஒரு பறவையின் வாழ்வை
எழுதிச் செல்கிறது

            --பிரமிள்

      

பிறந்த ஊர்

வருசம்
போனது தெரியாமல்
போய்விட்டது.

பட்டணத்துக்கு வந்து
நாற்பத்தைந்து ஆண்டுகள்
ஆகிவிட்டன.

பிறந்த ஊருக்கு
புறப்பட்டேன்.
ஒரு வனாந்தரத்தில்
என்னை இறக்கிவிட்டது
பஸ்.

ஐந்து கிலோமீட்டர் நடை
வெயில்
முள்
பனைமரங்கள்
ஒத்தையடிப்பாதை.

மணல் சுடுகிறது
உடம்பு வியர்க்கிறது
தாகம்.

ஒரு முள்மரத்து நிழலில்
இளைப்பாறுகிறேன்,
எனக்கு முன்னே
என்னுடைய கிராமம்.

என்னைப் பார்த்து
நாய்கள் குரைக்கின்றன
பன்றிகள் ஓடுகின்றன
கோழிகளும்
சேவல்களும்
பயத்தில் கெக்கரிக்கின்றன.

சிறுவர்கள்
வேம்படியில்
வேப்பங்கொட்டை
சேகரிக்கிறார்கள்.

தெருவெங்கும்
அடுப்புச் சாம்பல்.
உடைந்து நொறுங்கிய
மண்பானை ஓடுகள்.

ஒரு பாட்டி
ஒரு ஓலையை மடித்து
அதில்
தீக்கங்குகள் எடுத்து வருகிறாள்.

ஒரு அண்ணாச்சி
முறுக்குத் தடியில்
அருவாள்
தீட்டிக்கொண்டிருக்கிறார்.

ஒரு பெண்
தன் குழந்தையை
மடியில்
கிடத்தி
சீழ் துடைத்துக்கொண்டிருக்கிறாள்.

தெருவில்
கால் நீட்டி உட்கார்ந்துகொண்டு
குழந்தை தலைக்கு
தண்ணீர் ஊற்றுகிறாள்
ஒரு தாய்.
குழந்தை உடம்பு முழுவதும் புண்
தண்ணீரில்
மஞ்சள் வேப்பிலை.

கருவாடு சுடுகிற வாசனை
காற்றில் மிதக்கிறது.

ஒரு திண்ணையில்
இரண்டு குழந்தைகள்
கஞ்சி குடிக்கிறார்கள்.

தெருக்கோடி
எங்கள் வீட்டுக்கு முன்னால் வந்து
நிற்கிறேன்.

வீடு இருந்த இடத்தில்
ஒரு குப்பைமேடு
ஒரு பெரிய கருவை மரம்
இரண்டு கழுதைகள்
படுத்துக் கிடக்கின்றன.

தெருவில்
புழுதி
வெயில்.

       -- மு.சுயம்புலிங்கம்

Fairy tale Weekend

With the World Cup

Saturday after finishing my morning run, i went to drink coffee at my favorite coffee shop till that time i have not given any importance to the Women's Football World Cup 2011.After buying the coffee i started reading the newspaper about the Japan's entry into the world cup final.Wow!! immediately i read the whole story about them , came  home and started checking in the internet for more information.

After the shoot out

While searching the information in net somewhere in my mind i thought this will be Japan's world cup.I told my wife that its good for not only Japan but for the whole world if Japan wins the Cup.Japan the land of catastrophes and the "Land of Rising Sun" . Every time they fell the rose . Japanese have the tenacity overcome everything.

Gratitude...

This football squad had an average height of 1.62m but the americans 1.69m still the Japanese beat them.Its not the winning but they way the fought till the end.The second equalizer came at the dying minutes.They were down by one goal for most part of the game but as their skipper told " run ,run and we run" they won it.

Many experts lauded this team for their "beautiful game" some even told that these Japanese are better than "Barca".. what a complement to a team which lost all their previous 23 meeting with the americans and never entered into a final before.Great team work and never say die attitude made this wonderful achievement possible.

Congratulation to Team Japan.Keep flying..

Darren Clarke-2011 British Open Champion

The next fairy tale was of Darren Clarke ,the 42 year old Irish who won the British Open.No one predicted his victory.After losing wife he thought of giving up golf altogether but he approached not one but 2 two psychologist before this tournament.
He never won a major before,i was wondering how this guy won this championship then.I got the answer from his manager's interview to some paper -" He drives himself very hard".That one sentence shows that this guy is worthy winner.Congratulation and good luck to this wonderful sportsman.

The 20 Most Expensive Keywords in Google AdWords

Among these 20 words there is only one word which i use regularly i.e "Software" .What about the word "download" ,"mp3".. but world is searching something else.. check it out:

© 2011 WordStream, Inc.

World Netball Championship 2011 - Day 5

Top 12 classification matches were played today, luckily there was only one match in the evening that of Wales and Botswana.I should say it was the best match i have seen so far in this championship.What a game!Both teams played well.The intensity and athleticism were amazing.

Wales Vs Botswana

I heard from the security that the afternoon match between and Fiji and Singapore was also very thrilling and it even went to extra time it seems.Singapore's aim of finishing in top 12 was shattered as they lost that match.

We did not had much work as there was no match at 8 PM, we just cleaned the court1 and the team benches and chairs.

Excited to see the quarter finals,semi finals and final.I hope more people will come and watch these games.

Day 5 Results:

Match No	Team1	Score	Team2	Winner
25	Barbados	63-59	Srilanka	Barbados
26	Fiji	57-47	Singapore	Fiji
27	Samoa	54-45	Malaysia	Samoa
28	Wales	47-46	Botswana	Wales

World Netball Championship 2011 - Day 4

I rushed to Singapore indoor stadium after my office hours unfortunately waited quite some time for the bus to the MRT station , i was 20 minutes late to my shift .The previous shift guy was waiting for me , he was on duty from 8 in the morning! I apologized to him.Same like yesterday 8 matches were played. When i reached Stadium  Singapore was playing against Jamaica.Jamaicans were far superior in all aspects of the game than Singaporeans. One of the drawback for Team Singapore is that they do not have a strong and tall energetic player for goal shooting.

Singapore Vs Jamaica, Singapore in blue jersey ..

After the match we refilled ice cubes and water in all the water point.Again there were lots of people in crowd  in yellow shirts - the Australian supporters.Australia was due to play against Srilanka. As teams were preparing i noticed a tall in fact very tall girl among the Srilankan players.My gosh! she was the tallest human being i have seen in my life. I learnt from my fellow volunteer that she is the tallest player in this world cup.
Only thing the srilankans have to do - pass the ball to her, she will easily scored the goal.

Australian team before the match

 But Australians were well prepared , the blocked almost all the passes to her and effectively made her inactive.

Cheerful Australian crowd

Once again Australians were far superior in all aspects of the game.Excellent team work.

The tallest player in this championship..  in brown jersey

On the court 2 South Africa was playing against Botswana.First 2 quarters were neck to neck but South Africa took control of the game in third and fourth quarters.South Africa too played a close passing game.After the first 2 days , the organizers felt that the courts were sticky specially the on the advertisement stickers.So we moped the courts with detergent,rearranged the chairs,water points and the score boards. At last we finished everything around 10PM and left for home around 10:10PM.

Loud and cheerful Botswana crowd.. they were so much noisy

Day 4 Results:

Match No	Team1	Score	Team2	Winner
17	Northern Ireland	66-37	Samoa	Northern Ireland
18	Fiji	48-38	Wales	Fiji
19	Malawi	73-44	Barbados	Malawi
20	New Zealand	75-23	Trinidad & Tobago	New Zealand
21	England	95-22	Malaysia	England
22	Jamaica	93-40	Singapore	Jamaica
23	Australia	97-20	Srilanka	Australia
24	South Africa	57-38	Botswana	South Africa

World Netball Championship 2011 - Day 3

Another great day of volunteering! Our team worked for three matches in that 2 matches simultaneously.We positioned each one of us in each corner,that means 2 guys per court.Lots of Australian and New Zealand supporters were there.

Australia Vs Northern Ireland

When i entered into the court Australia was playing against Northern Ireland . By far Australians were the best i have seen.They are energetic ,flamboyant and wonderful passers.Their game made huge impact on me.I think that's the way Australians play all the games.Very impressive performance by them.

Cheerful audience..

The Australians showed remarkable sportsmanship, they mingled with the supporters and with the opponent players easily.Very rare to see these characters in Australian Cricket team.I came to know that the Australians are the reigning World Netball Champions.I hope they will be having a good outing this time also.

Singapore Vs South Africa

After the Australia match there were 2 more matches to be played in 2 courts.So we were pretty much busy for the 30 minutes.And the matches started on time .The first match was played between Singapore and South  Africa in Court 1.Both the team had last their previous match.Singapore started brilliantly,everything looked perfect- passes,shots on goal,goal defense. But they started to loose their grip on the lead in the 2nd and 3rd quarters.Again their passes were not accurate and they did not run as they should.South Africa on the other hand played better and their passes were excellent.South Africa won the match quite easily in the end.

Play in progress in both courts

In court 2 ,Malaysia and Malawi fought out. Malaysia from the beginning did not play well and their passes were erratic.Malawians covered the court quite beautifully -they ran and ran.Malawians won the match hands down.
Day 3 Results:

Match No	Team1	Score	Team2	Winner
9	Trinidad&Tobago	58-40	Fiji	Trinidad&Tobago
10	England	74-42	Barbados	England
11	Samoa	57-53	Srilanka	Samoa
12	New Zealand	91-21	Wales	New Zealand
13	Jamaica	74-23	Botswana	Jamaica
14	Australia	75-33	Northern Ireland	Australia
15	South Africa	70-33	South Africa	South Africa
16	Malawi	65-35	Malaysia	Malawi

World Netball Championship 2011 - Day 2

Second day of the championship.Our shift started on 6PM , i was little late to the stadium.When i reached the court 1 ,i saw England playing against Malawi. I was posted near the Malawi team bench.

England Vs Malawi

Regarding the match,The english  played far better than the Malawians.It was a easy win for England. For the next match we had almost 45 minutes ,we refilled the water and ice cubes.Unfortunately water spilled out from the water dispenser while dragging it to refill.so we moped the floor for almost 20 minutes.Again quick response from our team and ably supported by our manager .

Barbados Vs Malaysia

The next match was between Malaysia and Barbados.I was very pleased to see the support the Malaysian team received from the locals.I thought that the match will be a good one but Barbados won it easily.I can not say anything about the techniques of the teams play but what i found was that Malaysian same like Singapore did not run and pass and shot the ball well.These 2 teams needs to lot of hard work to catch the top teams.

After the match ,we took all the water dispensers and ice holders back to the water collection area. We arranged the chairs for the next day's play.We stood down at 10PM.

Day 2 Results:

Match No	Team1	Score	Team2	Winner
2	Jamaica	72-45	SouthAfrica	Jamaica
3	Australia	81-23	Samoa	Australia
4	Trinidad&Tobago	51-48	Wales	Trinidad&Tobago
5	New Zealand	80-25	Fiji	New Zealand
6	Northern Ireland	65-56	Srilanka	Northern Ireland
7	England	65-33	Malawi	England
8	Barbados	62-40	Malaysia	Barbados

Another great day of volunteering!Still 6 more days to go..

World Netball Championship 2011 - Day 1

I never heard of netball till 2009 ,through some contacts i registered as a volunteer for this event some months back.Once i went for orientation at Netball Singapore  near Singapore Stadium, they showed and explained us the plan for the WNC2011 and volunteers work.

Last month i received a mail from Netball Singapore stating that my role will be FOP i.e Field Of Play assistant.I was really happy to know that i will work near the playing court!!.The sad part is that i don't know the rules and regulations of netball .On 2nd of july we had a briefing session, our manager explained our duties. Great ! Everything ready!

3rd July 2011

Dragon dance...

   It was a wonderful day, great sunshine.We reported at Singapore Indore stadium around 3PM immediately we started our work.It was real fun to mingle with so many different personalities at a same time. The opening ceremony commenced at exactly 5PM . Honorable President S.R. Nathan presided over the function, he was accompanied by IFNA president,local associations dignitaries and Mission food executive. The entertainment begun with Urban drummers and NUS dance ensemble .

Team flags were displayed on the court using lights

President Nathan declared games opened at 6:30PM.we had only 30 minutes to arrange the court and we did well on time.Great team work.The first match was played between Singapore and Botswana.The match started on schedule.

President Nathan(gray suit)

The Match:

Botswana players singing their national anthem

I was curious to know how they will play the game.Interestingly it was similar to basketball but in netball they are not jumping and shooting the ball to basket,just pass the ball to GS i.e Goal Shooter who will stand and shoot the ball.Its not point ,its called goals.The game is played in 4 quarters 15 minutes each with interval of 3 minutes between 1st and 2nd quarter and 10 minutes between 2nd and 3rd quarter (half time) then another 3 minutes between 3 and 4th quarter.

before the mach:Singapore Vs Botswana

Botswana played better.Their passing was immaculate and they scored at every turn.Singapore on the other hand missed many opportunities and their shooting was not upto the standard.Atlast Singapore lost the match.They have to work very hard to bounce back from this defeat,hope they will.

View from the Workforce area

After the match ,we prepared the court for the next day, this time we prepared 2 courts.We finished the day with 3 minutes meeting.Still 7 more days to go.

Final score!

For more information check out the official site  : click here

Mr Popper's Penguins

Two reason to watch this movie:-First , a different Jim Carrey.Unlike his comedy performance in previous film , Carrey did a wonderful job in this movie. Second , CG Penguins, they are simply wonderful, i liked  them so much.

The story is based on the classic children book with the same name written by Richard and Florence Atwater. Popper, like his father did not spend much time with his children,he is divorced.His children and wife lives separately. His father was explorer who never spent his days in home.

Story is based on this book

His life takes a turn when his father's penguins arrive at his store step.First one arrives, due to miscommunication  five more arrives. His children loves the penguins, once again he is getting closer and closer with his children and wife.Mean while the zoo keeper is pursuing Popper to send the penguins to the zoo where they will be given proper care.

One of the penguin's egg did not hatch as Popper expected, so he ask the zoo keeper to them to zoo.When his children asks him about the missing penguins he told that 'those are birds and they dont have love'. They were angry on him for giving the birds to zoo. While searching something he noticed the letter sent to him by his father with the penguin , his father wrote about filial love and the love shown by penguins.  He decided to get the penguins back from the zoo.

He call his wife and kids and visits  zoo and to get those penguins back.The climax shows whether Mr.Popper got his penguins back or not.There is a side story of Popper pursuing the old lady to sell the restaurant but the old lady refuses until she understood his love for his family and the penguins.

Feel good movie, can watch once.