சிற்றிதழ்கள் முகவரி

I will try to update this list whenever i find some new magazine's contact.

Magazine Name	Contact
மணல்வீடு	ஏர்வாடி,குட்டப்பட்டி அஞ்சல்,மேட்டூர் வட்டம்,சேலம் மாவட்டம் 636453.
361 டிகிரி	4/117 சி.வடக்குப்பட்டு,நான்காவது குறுக்குத்தெரு, கோவிளம்பாக்கம், மேடவாக்கம், சென்னை 600100 361degreelittlemagazine@gmail.com
படப்பெட்டி	சிவ. செந்தில்நாதன்,  ப. எண்: 96, ஜெ. பிளாக், நல்வரவு தெரு,  எம்.எம்.டி.ஏ.காலனி, அரும்பாக்கம்.  சென்னை - 106. பேசி : 9382853646.  விலை ரூ. 40
திணை	திணை வெளியீட்டகம் , 186, தளவாய்புரம் ரோடு, மேலராமன்புதூர். நாகர்கோவில் 629004 விலை ரூ. 100
அடவி	தில்லை முரளி, 15, மாரியம்மன் கோவில் தெரு, பவித்திரம்-606806. பேச:9994880005 adavimagazine@gmail.com
பவளக்கொடி	வியாகுலன்,  8/37, பி. ஏ. ஒய். நகர், குழந்தை இயேசுகோவில் அருகில்,  புதுக்கோட்டை சாலை, தஞ்சாவூர் - 5.  பேச: 9442346504
செம்மை	நஞ்சுண்டன்,semmai.idhazh@gmail.com,101, Roopa Elegance,Upadhyaya Layout,Jnanabharathi,Bangalore-560056
கொம்பு	வெய்யில்,veilmuthu@hotmail.com,பேச: 9952326742
வலசை	நேசமித்ரன், கார்த்திகைப்பாண்டியன்,nesamithranonline@gmail.com,பேச:9842171138 .
தூறல்	சக்தியூர் கோவிந்தன், govimallur@gmail.com,சந்தியூர் அஞ்சல்,மல்லூர் வழி,சேலம் மாவட்டம்-636 203,ph:9894640464,8124626781
மண்புழு	குக்கூ குழந்தைகளுக்கான வெளி, 25, மாந்தோப்பு,ப.உ.ச. நகர், போளுர் சாலை,திருவண்ணாமலை- 1.பேச:8056205053

A Beautiful Speech by Chief Seattle

Chief Seattle

Chief Seattle was a prominent figure among natives during early 1800's, he was a good orator.The city of Seatlle was named after him.Chief Seattle believed to gave this speech when the white settlers asked the natives to surrender the lands.

"The President in Washington sends word that he wishes to buy our land. But how can you buy or sell the sky? the land? The idea is strange to us. If we do not own the freshness of the air and the sparkle of the water, how can you buy them?

 As we are part of the land, you too are part of the land. This earth is precious to us. It is also precious to you. 

 Every part of the earth is sacred to my people. Every shining pine needle, every sandy shore, every mist in the dark woods, every meadow, every humming insect. All are holy in the memory and experience of my people.

We know the sap which courses through the trees as we know the blood that courses through our veins. We are part of the earth and it is part of us. The perfumed flowers are our sisters. The bear, the deer, the great eagle, these are our brothers. The rocky crests, the dew in the meadow, the body heat of the pony, and man all belong to the same family.

The shining water that moves in the streams and rivers is not just water, but the blood of our ancestors. If we sell you our land, you must remember that it is sacred. Each glossy reflection in the clear waters of the lakes tells of events and memories in the life of my people. The water's murmur is the voice of my father's father.

The rivers are our brothers. They quench our thirst. They carry our canoes and feed our children. So you must give the rivers the kindness that you would give any brother.

If we sell you our land, remember that the air is precious to us, that the air shares its spirit with all the life that it supports. The wind that gave our grandfather his first breath also received his last sigh. The wind also gives our children the spirit of life. So if we sell our land, you must keep it apart and sacred, as a place where man can go to taste the wind that is sweetened by the meadow flowers.

Will you teach your children what we have taught our children? That the earth is our mother? What befalls the earth befalls all the sons of the earth.

This we know: the earth does not belong to man, man belongs to the earth. All things are connected like the blood that unites us all. Man did not weave the web of life, he is merely a strand in it. Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself.

One thing we know: our God is also your God. The earth is precious to him and to harm the earth is to heap contempt on its creator.

Your destiny is a mystery to us. What will happen when the buffalo are all slaughtered? The wild horses tamed? What will happen when the secret corners of the forest are heavy with the scent of many men and the view of the ripe hills is blotted with talking wires? Where will the thicket be? Gone! Where will the eagle be? Gone! And what is to say goodbye to the swift pony and then hunt? The end of living and the beginning of survival.

When the last red man has vanished with this wilderness, and his memory is only the shadow of a cloud moving across the prairie, will these shores and forests still be here? Will there be any of the spirit of my people left?

We love this earth as a newborn loves its mother's heartbeat. So, if we sell you our land, love it as we have loved it. Care for it, as we have cared for it. Hold in your mind the memory of the land as it is when you receive it. Preserve the land for all children, and love it, as God loves us.

One thing we know - there is only one God. No man, be he Red man or White man, can be apart. We are all brothers after all."

Click here for more info about Chief  Seattle 
Another nice website 

Tips On Writing By John Steinbeck

When I'm searching "The Paris Review" archives i found these wonderful tips on writing by John Steinbeck.It was taken from the author's interview in 1975,that interview was one of the best, he talked about everything specially his writings.Below are the six tips on writing :

1. Abandon the idea that you are ever going to finish. Lose track of the 400 pages and write just onepage for each day, it helps. Then when it gets finished, you are always surprised.

2. Write freely and as rapidly as possible and throw the whole thing on paper. Never correct or rewrite until the whole thing is down. Rewrite in process is usually found to be an excuse for not going on. It also interferes with flow and rhythm which can only come from a kind of unconscious association with the material.

 3. Forget your generalized audience. In the first place, the nameless, faceless audience will scare you to death and in the second place, unlike the theater, it doesn't exist. In writing,your audience is one single reader. I have found that sometimes it helps to pick out one person—a real person you know,or an imagined person and write to that one.

4. If a scene or a section gets the better of you and you still think you want it—bypass it and When you have finished the whole you can come back to it and then you may find that the reason it gave trouble is because it didn't belong there.

5. Beware of a scene that becomes too dear to you, dearer than the rest. It will usually be found that it is out of drawing.

6. If you are using dialogue—say it aloud as you write it. Only then will it have the sound of speech.


Click here to read Steinbeck's famous letter to his son

Annual Ghanta Awards 2012 -(Indian Razzies)

The Ghanta awards are given to worst Bolywood movies/actors every  year.The winners are decided by online public poll.This year's winners are

1) Worst Film - Ra.One
2) Worst Holier-Than-Thou Movie -Dhobi Ghat
3) Worst Actor - Salman Khan (Bodyguard ,Ready)
4) Worst Actress-Nargis Fakhri (Rockstar)
5) Worst Supporting Actor -Prateik Babbar(Dhobi Ghat,Aarakshan,Dum Maaro Dum,My Friend 
                                              Pinto)
6) Worst Supporting Actress-Hazel Keech (Bodyguard)
7) Worst Breakthrough -Nargis Fakhri
8) Worst Director -Anees Bazmee (Thank you , Ready)
9) Worst Rip-Off - Desiboyz (Full Monty + all Adam Sandler movies)
10)Worst Song -Dhinka Chika
11)Worst Couple -Ranbir Kapoor and Nargis Fakhri (Rockstar)
12)WTF was that -How Sonam Kapoor & Shahid Kapoor don’t manage to exchange a measly phone   
                              number over 10 years in Mausam.
13)Thats Anything But Sexy -Anything involving Kangana Ranaut in Rascals


Click here to check the full list of nominations

A Case of Exploding Mangoes -Mohammed Hanif

This is the first novel by Mohammed Hanif. The author once worked in Pakistan Air Force , that experience is visible all around the book.

The story is based on the real incident-a plane(C130-Hercules) crash which killed then Pakistan President  General  Mohammed  Zia-ul-Haq and then American ambassador Arnold Raphael and some other from Pakistan intelligence.Shortly after takeoff, the plane goes up and down and crashed and debris were found near the nearby orchard .

What happened to "Pak One" ,as the plane carrying Pakistan President called, on that particular day? The story expands through the eyes of  Under Officer Ali Sigri,leader of Silent Drill Squad. He believes that his father was murdered by General Zia and plan to take revenge. His friend Under Officer Obaid(Baby 'O') who always read and quotes Rilke .Then there was a American Officer Bannon ,these three were friends.

On the other side, no.2 in the Military hierarchy General Akhtar who was long serving as second in command to General Zia want to kill Zia and become president.His characterization was unique and very funny.Zainab - a blind woman who was convicted for rape ,even though she was gang raped. The reason for sentencing her was that she was not able to identify the rapist.She too was cursing the Zia regiment for her pathetic condition.

The author gives many theories how Zia would have been killed

1)Killed by Ali Sigri's sword which was dipped in poison given by Uncle Starchy.
2)Poisonous gas  through air conditioner setup by General Akhtar's men.
3)Zainab's curse.
4)A lazy Crow which hit the plane.

The above theories are combined and overlaid.And there are other real theories still floating . The authors description of life at Air Force Academy was simply wonderful.Then the episodes of General's tapeworm treatment by Saudi prince's personal doctor,Ali Sigri's conversation with the Secretary of Sweeper's Association , National Day parade preparation,July 4th party and General's Wife's behavior made me laugh loud

The author satirically brings the political situation and how religion plays the role in it.The witty one liners makes this book a enjoyable read.Overall a great book to read and laugh. The author of "The Reluctant Fundamentalist"  Mohsin Hamid  said this book is "unputdownable" and its  true.

The NewYork Times report on General Zia's death-click here
More about General Zia

Mohammed Hanif

Cloud Computing Skills and Jobs

According to "WANTED Analytics" , in USA more than 5100 cloud computing job ads were posted in February 2012 which means it was double the amount  in February 2011.But the talent supply is no way nearer to demand.Even in Singapore  the industry players are saying that they need  more Cloud Computing Skilled workers.Now most of the employers are giving training in these areas to retain the talents.

Top Cloud computing skills and technology include :

1.Oracle Java
2.Linux
3.Structured Query Language (SQL)
4.UNIX
5.Software as a Service (SaaS)
6.Python Extensible Programming Language
7.Practical Extraction and Reporting Language (Perl)
8.Extensible Markup Language (XML)
9.Service Oriented Architecture (SOA)
10.JavaScript (JS)

No wonder Java technologies are in top, since java has all the components to develop and deploy Cloud applications easily.

Click here some useful technical information


Many employers are looking for certifications too,the commonly requested certifications are:
1.Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP)
2.Project Management Professional (PMP)
3.Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE)
4.Cisco Network Associate (CCNA)
5.VMWare Certified Professional (VCP)
6.Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA)
7.Microsoft Certified IT Professional (MCITP)
8.Cisco Certified Network Professional (CCNP)
9.Information Security Penetration Testing Professional (ISP)
10.Cisco CCIE Voice (CCIE)

The 3 most demanded occupations with Cloud Computing Skills are
1)Software Engineers
2)Computer System Engineers/Architects
3)Network and Computer Systems Administrators

Click here to know more about cloud computing jobs created in US market

Click here to go to WANTED Analytics

Top 10 Highest Paid Footballers 2012

The respected France Football magazine had released a highest paid footballers list.Below is the list:

Rank	Player	Country	Earnings in Euro
1.	Leonel Messi	Argentina	33 million
2.	David Beckham	England	31.5 million
3.	Christiano Ronaldo	Protugal	29.2 million
4.	Samuel Eto'o	Cameroon	23.3 million
5.	Wayne Rooney	England	20.6 million
6.	Sergio Aguero	Argentina	18.8 million
7.	Yaya Toure	Ivory Coast	17.6 million
8.	Fernando Torres	Spain	16.7 million
9.	Kaka	Brazil	15.5 million
10.	Philip Lahm	Germany	14.3 million

My current favorite player is at the top of the list.Today morning watched the highlights of the match between Barcelona and Granada,what a match, Barca stamped their authority once again with the wonderful display,and the hero was again the "little" Leo.I have watched almost all of the above players game except Philip Lahm's i can say -" Messi is the best of the lot".

Kahaani -Hindi Movie

A Story.....good one!!

A good thriller!

This movie is fresh and engaging.From London Vidya Bagchi  arrives  Kolkata in search of her missing husband Arnab Bagchi. She is seven month pregnant and alone.But she gets the help of freshman cop Satyoki aka Rana in her relentless search.Arnab Bagchi came to Kolkata to work with National Data Center, but he vanished without a trace. As Vidya's search progress she unravels the mystery surrounding her missing husband and the various government agencies.

To her surprise NDC says that no such person works there,she finds that her husband resemble Milan Damji who worked in NDC,who also vanished and inquiries about Milan Damji leads to deadlock and dead bodies.Will she succeed in finding her husband?  thats the rest of the story. I don't want to spoil the suspense.Just watch and enjoy it.

Hats off to Sujoy Gosh, the director,he had done justice to the neatly written screenplay,excellent work. the pace and suspense remains till the end and he did not compromise anything for that and he was brilliantly supported by the cinematographer Setu.His camera captures the city in entirely new way,Kolkata comes alive specially the night scenes including the climax,great work.Songs are nice.I like "Tore Bina" by Sukvinder Singh,"Kahaani"  by Shreya Ghosal,well done Vishal-Shekar.Background score by Clinton Cerejo was simply superb.His BGM made the movie even more livelier.

Parambrata & Vidya Balan

Vidya Balan as Vidya Bagchi was wonderful.She took her acting to next level,she just lived the character.Awesome acting.She is way ahead of the so called current "queens" of Bollywood , atleast in terms of acting. Now itself media starts talking about national award for this role but it is too early to say.Parambrata Chattopadhyay as Rana was perfect and he was charming.Nawazuddin Siddique as Intelligence Officer Khan too awesome,his unsmiling look will remains with me for long time.

Overall a great movie, watch it for direction and flawless acting by all the characters.

Do Chennai need 'Roads on Stilts'?

For sometimes now this "roads on Stilts" makes me feel sad and angry.Are there any other way to control traffic in Chennai,of course there are. But the fact is that we the people will not follow any rules specially the road and transport rules.According to the government the proposed construction of 'elevated" beach expressway along four beaches and 14 fishing villages is to reduce to traffic in Chennai.It will reduce the traffic flow but what cost-at the cost of the lives of those 100,000 fishermen and their families. Not only human livelihood but also the nature's wonderful gift - the beach's survival is at stake.
 Some facts:

1. Under Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ),1990, construction of roads near beaches and inter-tidal waves areas are prohibited.
2. Under CRZ, 44 activities are prohibited under 500 meter regulation zone.
3. Pre-draft CRZ Notification published for comments on April 22,2010 exempts 'Roads on Stilts" completely.
4. In the past Ministry of Environment and Forests had rejected twice the CRZ clearance for the construction of freight expressway which plans to connect Chennai port to NH4 (Chennai to Mumbai). 

Mr.Jairam Ramesh, then Minister of Environment and Forests(MOEF) ,who did not do anything in CRZ but changed the law to accommodate other things.This new law restricts only 7 activities , now it allows "roads on stilts" to be build along mangroves,salt marshes,fishing villages and turtle nesting ground.Why this turnaround by the MOEF? Are they seriously concern about reducing traffic?I don'think so.Then...

 Wilbur Smith Associates Private Limited,a corporation which does planning and designing of public infrastructure and transportation facilities(according to its website) came in and did what the typical "big boys" do.In 1990, it prepared a feasibility report and concluded that 'roads on stilts" are possible, even without mentioning the CRZ  prohibition of such constructions and without consulting the local people specially the fishermen.Then..

Mr.Jairam Ramesh's letter to National Fishworkers Forum explained that: “Road on stilts [were] retained keeping in view the congestion of the urban sectors in the populated areas of the coast. The road on stilts is primarily to be laid on the mangrove areas which will not affect the tidal inflow and cause minimum destruction to the mangrove area. The road on stilts cannot be equated with projects like express highway etc.” The above statements was to justify the inclusion of 'roads on Stilts' in the 'new" CRZ 2011.The law has been changed to accommodate these changes ,logically, open the doors for 'those' infrastructure/building corporations.

Almost all the major environmental issues were skipped in this new CRZ , more importantly as i mentioned earlier the feasibility study or any government agencies did not meet the people who will be displaced if the construction starts. Moving from the homeland is not easy , it is the most painful part.And as we all know how government keeps the displaced people , take the example of  people displaced by Narmada dam construction,they are still fighting for justice.Another looming danger is lives of  'Olive Turtles' , this beautiful creatures unfortunately chose chennai as their nesting ground years before."Student Sea Turtle Conservation Network(SSTCN)" is a voluntary group which every year patrol the beaches during  Olive Turtles' breeding season. Watching animals at work is the best way to learn from nature, these students are doing it.The proposed "Elevated Beach Expressway"  will damage all these things.

Constructing "roads on stilts" is nothing wrong if it does not affect the livelihood of people.In case of  Bangalore , its possible if it runs through current highway .Infosys suggessted that "roads on stilts" can be constructed from Electronic City to the Bangalore City proper.Its better if government thinks it terms of livelihood of people than dollars and cents.Will it?

Click here to checkout the videos about "roads on stilts"

Top 10 Competitive Cities in the World

According to the survey conducted by Economic Intelligence Unit, NewYork tops the list of top competitive cities in the world.Singapore is the top Asian cities in the list.The list is based on their" demonstrated ability to attract capital,business,talent and tourists".This survey was commissioned by Citi bank group.

Here is the top 10 Competitive Cities in the world:

Rank	City	Country	Score(out of 100)
1.	New York	USA	71.4
2.	London	England	70.4
3.	Singapore	Singapore	70.0
4.	Hong Kong	Hong Kong	69.3
5.	Paris	France	69.3
6.	Tokyo	Japan	68.0
7.	Zurich	Switzerland	66.8
8.	Washington	USA	66.1
8.	Chicago	USA	65.9
10.	Boston	USA	64.5

Click here to know more about Economic Intelligence Unit , it is a research wing of "The Economist".

The Recipe -(Korean Movie)

The Recipe

A beautiful love story.The story starts with a notorious criminal wishes "Doenjang"  a traditional korean fermented soybean paste ,as his last wish, before hanged.Choi Yu Jin ,a television producer who came to know about the convict's last wish was curious and started to dig deep to find the reason behind those words.

Choi Yu Jin's search for the secrete recipe takes him to many different places and meet many different people.But beneath all these search , he finds a love story of Jang Hye Jin and Him Hyun Soo.Jang Hye Jin is the one who prepared Doenjang for that criminal on the day he was arrested, to put it clear,the criminal was mesmerized by the deonjang which he was eating and did not try to escape even though he had time to do so.The story shifts to Jang Hye Jin's life, she is living with his grandmother and she learnt to cook doenjang from him mother.After her mother's death she moves around the village and find all the necessary ingredients as her mother used.

Jang Hye Jin falls in love with Him Hyun Soo.But Hyun Soo who is from Japan, left her to Japan to attend his grandfather's funeral, but this funeral drama was staged by grandfather to bring Hyun Soo back to Japan,thats the end of Hyun Soo as he dies when he tries to escape from Japan in a boat.But not knowing the fact Jan Hye Jin waits for him , She leaves the village with a crock so that when he meets Hyun Soo she can make doenjang.But she never meets him again.But he brings the 'sense of taste' to a big businessman who loves her but understands her feelings for another man and promise her to return her to him.

"The Recipe" is the second movie of the director Lee Seo-Goon and he did an excellent job-this story is the mixture of human feelings and nature and ofcourse about food also.His story narration is something unique-partly crime,partly  roadd movie,partly  romance and partly melodrama.Definitely its not like Indian masala movies, i can assure that.A quite experience!

Cinematography by Na Hui-Seok was awesome.The entire film was shot beautifully specially the village sequences and the scenes of smell.Awesome locations, it seems Korea is a very beautiful country( i never visited Korea).Music by Han Jae-Gwon was mesmerizing,too good. Lee Yo-Won as Jang Hye Jin was just apt, her silence and her look was simply stunning! She did act well in other scenes too.Ryoo Seung-Ryoon as Choi Yu Jin was nice , his expressions were funny and he did not overdo anything..

Over all  a great movie, something about this movie remains with me till now. A great visual treat!

The TCS Story .. and beyond- S.Ramadorai

After a gap of nearly a decade i read a business book.My First one was "Made in Japan" by Akio Morita in 2001-2002 when i was in college, that time i did not know much about how a big companies works.But now after joining in a job,i was able to correlate many things in this book with my job and with the industry which im in.

 When i was in college the name TCS struck a cord with me ,even though more of my friends talked about Infosys ,CTS and Wipro.To my surprise i got an opportunity to do my college project in TCS.I had a great 4-5 months,learnt many things technically and personally,found some good friends.That was the end of the relationship with TCS for me.

 So when i was asked to read business books, without thinking twice, i choose this book when i was in New Delhi.My decision did not let me down.This book is a wonderful book written by lovable CEO and MD.This is a story of Ramadorai and TCS,sort of semi-autobiography since he was with TCS for 40 years and he did not deny that.The approach of TCS was bit different from other companies-they started doing overseas business first followed by the local, this gave them an ample opportunity to explore in variety of industry starting with banking,insurance etc..

He explains the initial struggle to find customers specially internationally as there was no local business, then the struggle with government agencies to procure IBM/ Burrough Machines,in short he explains the Licence Raj of 70's. The author was well aware that by doing the initial maintenance work and dealing with onsite client that they were creating new industry in India, that thought motivated them to explore other models of business and other industries.

According to the author timesheet and meetings (i prefer to call participative meetings) are the two important components of a startup company.I firmly agree with that since in my limited experience i have seen how these 2 components brings the best of everyone in a company.The author vividly describes how Y2K problem created a whole lot of opportunities to Indian IT industry.Once he became CEO, he changed the hierarchical leadership and allowed everyone to involve in discussion, he used strong analytics to find out the reason for problems occurred which made his managerial style different from his predecessor Mr.Kohli who was like an autocrat.His anecdotal approach and one policy for everyone made him unique and popular with TCSers.

Even though the author is IT insider, he did not write anything bad about other IT companies like Infosys or Wipro,which is good on his part.In the final chapters he explains the role of IT in India's future specially in Education,healthcare and sustainable energy solutions.The typical Indianess of "more with less" was epitomized in his tenure as CEO of TCS as he shuffled his managers for more tough tasks and giving them all support which made them to handle variety of tasks at a time which made them more productive.

This book is not a typical retired businessman's memoir, it is more than that.Mr.Ramadorai seems to be good writer, his writing is grip and straight to the point.The book ends with the quote from the author

"A CEO should be judged not just by what he built but more importantly by what he leaves behind for his successor to build upon"

Overall a great book,not to be missed.

*Boxed quotes are taken from the book.

59th National Awards

Here is the list of award winners :

Feature Film Categories

No.	Category	Winner	Movie
Acting
1.	Best Actor	Girish Kulkarni	Deool
2.	Best Actress	Vidya Balan	The Dirty Picture
3.	Best Supporting Actor	Appu Kutty	Azhagarsamiyin Kudirai
4.	Best Supporting Actress	Leishangthem Tonthoingambi Devi	Phijigee Mani
5.	Best Child Artist	Stanley Ka Dabba&Chillar party	Partho Gupte & Chillar party kids
Direction& Screenplay
6.	Best Diretor	Gurvinder Singh	Anhe Ghorey Da Daan
7.	Best Debut Film of a Director	Kumaraja Thiagarajan	Aranya kandam
8.	Best Screenplay	Vikas Bahl,Nitesh Tiwari,Vijay Maurya,Rajesh Bajaj	Chillar Party
9.	Best Adapted Screenplay	Avinash Deshpande	Shaala
10.	Best Cinematography	Satya Rai Nagpaul	Anhe Ghorey Da Daan
11.	Best Diaglogues	Girish Kulkarni	Deool
Feature Films
12.	Best Feature Film	-	Deool & Byari
13.	Best Popular Film	-	Azhagarsamiyin Kudirai
14.	Best Children Film	-	Chillar party
15.	Best Tamil Film	-	Vaagai Sooda va
16.	Best Malayalam Film	-	Indian Rupee
17.	Best Marathi Film	-	Shala
18.	Best Punjabi Film Film	-	Anhe Ghorey Da Daan
19.	Best Manipuri Film Film	-	Phijigee Mani
20.	Best Kannada Film	-	Kurmavatra
21.	Best Hindi Film	-	I Am
22.	Best Bengali Film	-	Ronjona Ami Aar Ashbona
23.	Best Dogri Film	-	Dille Ch Vasya Koi
24.	Special Jury Mention	-	Byari(Byari)
25.	Special Jury Mention	-	Adimadhyantham(malayalam)
Music& Singing
26.	Best Male Singer	Anand Bhate	Bal Gandharva
27.	Best Female Singer	Roopa Ganguly	Abosheyshey
28.	Best background score	Mayookh Bhowmick	Laptop
29.	Best Music Direction(songs)	Neel Dutt	Ronjona Ami Aar Ashbona
30.	Best Lyrics	Amitabh Bhattacharya	I Am
Others
31.	Best Choreography	Bosco-Cesar	Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara
32.	Special Effects	-	Ra One
33.	Best Makeup	Vikram Gaekwad	The Dirty Picture
34.	Best Costume Designer	Niharika Khan&Neeta Lulla	The Dirty Picture&Bal Gandharva
35.	Best Editing	Praveen KL	Aranya Kaandam
36.	Best Production Design	Indraneel Gosh	Naukadubi

Good to see Appukutty in the list,congratulation to Kumaraja Thiagarajan,Praveen and "Azhagarsamiyin Kudirai" crew.Nice to see many regional languages winning awards.

Aravaan(அரவான் )

Hats off to director Vasanthabalan and producer T.Siva.A wonderful effort to showcase our ancestors life.This movie is based on the novel Kaaval Kottam(காவல் கோட்டம் ) by S.Venkatesan.This novel has more than 1000 pages - a story which portrays Madurai's history.I have bought the book 3 months back but have not finished reading it yet.Now i think i have to finishing reading it as soon as possible.

I did not had any expectations before watching this movie just watched.Definitely this is not the best of Vasanthabalan but it should be one of the best of this year.The story was about Kallar coommunity, set in 18th century Kotayur,Tamil Nadu.Kombodhi was the leader of a group of thieves.Their occupation was robbery.They rob rich and share with the whole village.They were challenged when the necklace of the queen was lost and they knew they did not steal it.The queen's men offered them 100 barrels of rice if they return the ornament and the robber ,Kombodhi agreed.Kombodhi and his gang were in pursuit of the robber who robbed queen's ornament, eventually Kombodhi found him.He was Varipuli .Attracted by his talent Kombodhi made him to stay in his village and joined him in his group of robbers.Kombodhi's sister fell in love with Varipuli and he was not interested to marry her.The reason was the flashback which leads to the climax.

Art director -Vijay Murugan

The highlight of this movie are undoubtedly cinematography by Siddarth and art direction by Vijay Murugan.Both made the film enjoyable and realistic.I really believe that both have great future.All the best guys.Pasupathy as Kombodhi was awesome, he is one actor who can perform any character with ease, hopefully the directors will use him to the fullest in future.This movie is another milestone in his career, well done sir. Aadhi as Varipuli too had done his job to perfection,his body language was too good.Dhansika as Vanapachi was not bad but definitely better than Peraanmai.Bharat,Anjali and Swatha Menon did their cameo roles well.

Cinematographer-Siddarth

Music by Karthik is not upto historical movies standards,some songs are good but background scores are bad.As im typing this im listening to Ilaiyaraja's "How to name it?" , wondering how Ilaiyaraja would have composed background scores for this movie.Hmm wasted opportunity for Karthik.Hope he will learn from this.

Kudos to Vasanthabalan for not using any unnecessary characters.The second half story narration is not upto his own standards nevertheless not a bad one.His efforts in gathering details of the life style of those people was visible throughout the movie,well done.There are flaws in this movie but still we can watch this movie.The movies "Paalai" and "Aravaan" should be given due credit for showcasing  the many unknowns of Tamil history.

Go with open mind and you will enjoy this movie.

Diagram Prize For Oddest Book Title Of The Year 2012 - Nominations

I came to know about this prize in sunday's 'The New Paper' ,the author quoted "The Great Singapore Penis Panic"- a weird name, i started searching about this prize and i found this year's shortlisted books.

1.A Century Of Sand Dredging In The Bristol Channel -Peter Grosson
2.A Taxonomy Of Office Chairs-Jonathan Olivares
3.Cooking with Poo -Sayuud Diwang
4.The Great Singapore Penis Panic And The Future of American-Scott D.Mendelson
5.Mr.Andoh's Pennine Diary(Memoirs of Japanese Sexer in 1935 Hebben Bridge)-Stephen Curry & Takayoshi Andoh
6.Estonian Sock Patterns All Around The World-Aino Prakll
7.The Mushroom in Christian Art- John A.Rush

We can cast our vote in this link click here..

The book "The Great Singapore Penis Panic and The Future of Amercian" details the epidemic-Koro that happened in late 60's.For more more info click here.

"Managing A Dental Practise :The Genghis Khan Way" won 2011 award.I wonder if there is a prize for Oddest Tamil movie name, which movie title i would have selected for 2011? Any guess?

U Run & Vertical Climb 2012

This was my second race of this year.It was 10KM race and vertical climbing of 30 floor NTUC building.It was really a challenge. I had practiced enough to run 10KM but never did any practice for climbing. The race started on time, i started the race with third wave.Started smoothly did not over do anything , just relaxed and started enjoying the race. The race route was not that scenic as other Singapore races nevertheless not the bad one.Most of the time we ran in public roads.

Background-Helix Bridge

I had no problem in running in a consistent pace.I should admit that this race was one of the slowest 10KM race i ran.Before the race day i was in a confusion whether to run or not because i was sneezing a lot and bit tired. I waited till the race day morning to check my health- on the race day i felt alright and decided to run.But while running i was keep thinking about whether i took the correct decision in running the race that really affected my pace.I ran as slow as possible to avoid any injury. Now i learnt a lesson , never run when in doubt.

Background- Marina Bay Sands 

Back to race,even though i was running slow but i felt was doing well and finished 10KM under an hour.I was so much tired to climb the stairs , thought of quitting then something in my heart made me to move on and i started climbing as slow as possible and took more than 30 minutes to reach the top.There were around 600+ steps. I was happy to be on the top of the building and the lovely view it offered.

The sad thing was to get the medal and the goodie bag we have to go back to the starting point at the other end,of course the organizers arranged shuttle buses.In spite of tiredness i boarded the bus and got my things.Once again the special thanks to the wonderful volunteers,they were awesome! My Next race(Cycling this time) is OCBC Cycle Singapore , i have registered for 39KM Challenger category but i decided not to participate as i have not practiced enough. Last year i volunteered for this race, the reason why i registered to race this year-i was really fascinated by the pace of those cycles but unfortunately im not racing this year,may be next year  i will try. All the best to all cyclists.