Twenty Years And Counting

It is not everyday that you would find someone who has worked their way up in a company for 20 years.

Here is a little something I had written for the 20 Year Anniversary celebration

Life is a game of Chess,
And you’re the recipe to Success

You trust yourself when others doubt you
And make allowances for their doubting too.

You think outside the box time and time again
And convince folks in our office domain.

To all of us here, you are the epitome of virtue
Something that everyone can buy into.

You always think with Clarity,
And turn spreadsheets to prosperity.

You often burn the midnight Oil,
And love Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

You take excellent decisions
And have turned mission statements to visions

You can whip cream into a dessert,
Which is like water in a desert.

You are the time tested Pier
And I am proud to be your peer.

You are a BRAND,
Who will always be in great demand

POLITCAL MUSINGS

PART 1- WHO GETS MY VOTE

There are 5 days for the General Elections to begin and I still am not sure who I should vote for

My political view:

Am a moderate right with a soft corner for the BJP.

Am strongly anti-Congress who dislikes the Gandhi dynasty.

My options:

Being a voter in the Chennai Central where the BJP does not have a strong presence and this time around no allies as well, logically the choices are the fronts led by Amma (mother) and Thatha (grandfather). Big J or frail K ?

That’s really encouraging.. Wah! hhhhhmmmmm…

Ground Reality and My Views:

The Omni Present Karunanidhi is with the Congress, but am sure given a choice he would have loved to join the Third Front which would have given more flexibility. But unfortunately for him Jaya pipped him and he had to stick with the Congress. It’s more likely that K will stick with the Congress which is propping up his minority govt in Tamil Nadu which definitely is his first priority right now. Things are not going too good for K of late. He was in the news when he celebrated his eighty something(god knows how old he is ) birthday the same day when the world was chanting ‘Change’ and muttering the name Obama , moving Tamil New Year’s day form April 14^th to Pongal, splitting with the PMK after a lot of fiery exchanges and now the Tamil Eelam issue. More bad times ahead with his front facing a tough challenge form ADMK

Jalyalalitha’s ADMK is with the Opportunistic Alliance, I mean the Third Front. But I am sure nothing is certain. J has so far made the right moves and keeping options open to strike at the right time with the right alliance. From being a strong critic of Sonia’s foreign origin by attacking Sonia at every opportunity and publicly opposing her for the PM’s post ,she has toned her aggression that definitely suggests she is open to the supporting the Congress. Always known for soft Hindtuva, an alliance with the BJP would not come as a surprise as at all...Right now she is with a group of other opportunistic parties like hers who have no idea where they stand. There is something eerie about J which gives me a feeling she is up to something big. Is she up to something big or has she learnt not to count her chickens before they hatch. Knowing her and the plain fact that she is a politician makes me pick option a

What is puzzling making me uneasy is how she is allowing Mayawati to take all the attention and remaining a very peripheral figure in the coalition. Jaya’s PM aspirations are very well documented; the alliance arithmetic is with her, all the exit polls point to ADMK victory so in all probability she is going to be the Kingmaker.

But for the first time, it is not J not K on National TV. It’s V who is making the national news from Tamil Nadu. V as in Vaiko. Making hate speeches always reminds us that it is election time. This time there were two Vs who made hate speeches. Always known for a Pro-LTTE stand, V’s stunning hate speech on the SriLankan Government in support of the LTTE has made even J and K take shelter in silence. The good orator in V seized the opportune time and made anti-Eelam parties like Congress and even J’s ADMK become mute spectators. How on earth is V still free? This is a sad reflection of the state of Indian Politics. A FIR has been filed but if the TN got arrests him, V will become a martyr and the probability of ADMK‘s front victory will become all the more bright.

How can I not think of the PMK when thinking about whom to vote? If there is one party which I despise, it’s the PMK. The most opportunistic party with a ruffian at the helm. Though I grudgingly agree Anbumani Ramdoss was one of the better performing ministers , my dislike for them has grown when they shifted loyalties from DMK and ADMK after enjoying power for 5 yrs and then made an atrocious statements gloating about the fact that the front they are a part of always wins.. What a bunch of intolerable people. I just hate them

As I sit here thinking about my options and looking at the jokers around me I am finding it so hard to decide who to vote for. It definitely is not DMK and Congress so it has to be J’s ADMK. But I have still not forgotten how J misused the votes to bring down the 13 day NDA got , trusting J with my vote is like giving candy to a young kid . So a portion of me is telling me not to vote for her. BJP is going alone and am not even sure if they are contesting from my constituency. So that’s ruled out as well.

Should I even vote for one of these useless politicians wasting the tax payer’s money? Of course I should as an Indian citizen and knowing very well that if I don’t vote some X/Y/Z would anyways misuse my franchise. Since the D-DAY in Tamil Nadu is still some way of I still have many more days to ponder over and get confused thinking of the lesser evil. Any suggestions??

How I hope that the one man whom the entire Tamil Nadu wants to enter politics takes the electoral plunge. The stage is set for him. But being a realist I know he can’t change the system nor win the elections overnight but at least my choice would become easier.

Some of you might think I am wasting my time since I would not be exercising my franchise since I am so far away from home. But it’s high time the young Indian community takes more interest in politics. Though I don’t expect us to take the political plunge, I seriously think we the younger generation ought to taking more interest in Indian politics and at least exercise our franchise by selecting the right people to rule us.

To all those who have a chance to vote, please do so intelligently.

Make full use of your voting rights.

AN EMOTIONAL AND PASSIONATE VOICE AGAINST…

The classes have ended, exams out of the way, and the course is completed.

I see out of my apartment window aimlessly and all I see in the car park is four cars .The apartment complex, which until last week was bubbly with activity, is suddenly abandoned place. Its summer time and all the students have left for home. Boredom is hitting me hard I have a month to kill before I move. I have so much time to kill. Therefore, I thought I would restart blogging.

What do I blog about? IPL, Rahul Dravid hhmmmm…What about blogging about one of my favorite topics, whether every Indian (read hard core Tamils like me) should know Hindi, which is the so-called National Language.

India has a national bird, national animal even a national flower. We do not have a national language. When did Hindi become the National Language? If my mind is correct, Hindi is just an official language. There is a lot of difference between official and National Language. Hindi along with English has been named the official languages for governance just because they are widely spoken languages. They are not national languages my friends.

Why is their so much criticism of Tamils? Why are we branded as being regional (Tamil first and Indians next)? Why are we considered as people who are so against the spread of Hindi? Actually the number of Hindi and Arabic speaking people in India have increased (I saw this info in either CNN IBN or NDTV)

"If Hindi were to become the official language of India, Hindi-speaking people will govern us. We will be treated like third rate citizens" - Former Tamilnadu Chief Minister C. N. Annadurai, speaking at a Public Meeting in Chennai Marina (Madras Marina) on April 29, 1963. That is exactly is happening. I was surprised to know that Non Hindi students lose out to Hindi-belt students coz the latter can take their exams in their mother tongue. Students from Karnataka, Kerala and Andhra where Hindi is a compulsory subject in schools did not fare any better than Tamil students, as Hindi is not just our mother tongue. Irrespective of hard you study you can never compete with the Hindi students.

Why should even road signs along highways in Tamil Nadu come with Hindi signs? If there are signs in English and Tamil is not that enough. Why should every government office in TamilNadu have signs in Hindi? It is absurd. The Tamil signs are there for the locals. For all the others we have the signs in English. It is not possible for signs in everybody’s language. It is impractical to post signs in hundreds of languages. English has evolved as the international language. No one expects to find signs in Tamil Nadu in Chinese, in German, in Vietnamese, in Nepalese, in Telugu or in Bengali ... Then why a special superior privilege for Hindi people?

Why do people want Hindi to be forced upon us? What have we lost just because we do not speak Hindi? Tamil Nadu has the highest level of urbanization, is the second most industrialized state in the country. We have not suffered politically or socially. Our culture is still intact. There are industrial and IT parks everywhere. Dell, BMW, Nokia, and Hyundai just to name a few MNCs are filling up their coffers fast.

Why is our patriotism questioned because we cannot speak Hindi? Tamil is one of the oldest languages (in fact it is now been declared as a classical language) which evolved independently in a script totally Devanagri languages.

It hurts when IIFA and Global Indian Film Awards (GIFA) only honor Bollywood films and artistes. How can ‘India’ be used only when only Hindi speaking artistes get their due share or does the Hindi film fraternity consider itself equivalent to the Indian film industry. There are more sensible movies that come out in Marathi, Bengali, Tamil and Malayalam than in Hindi. The Hindi imposition has reached to dizzy heights. An educated American (includes Indian kids in America) thinks Hindi is the only Indian language and there is no mention of the famous Bharathiyar ,Kattaboman and other South Indian freedom fighters in the history text books. I read about how the Congress Party was started in Std.8, how the Congress Party evolved in Standard 9 and how Congress Party and Gandhi helped India get freedom in Standard 10.

I do not want Tamil to be made the National language of India. I don give a damn about what the national language is, just as I care little about the tiger being the national animal etc. I am not anti Hindi. I have many friends who speak Hindi. Even yesterday when I had gone to one of my good friend’s house I felt embarrassed because I dint know Hindi. I just wished I had understood Hindi. A couple of years back I did not have the need for Hindi .My situation has changed now.

Do not try to force Hindi upon us. That is all what I am saying. People will learn Hindi if it is required. India’s beauty lies in diversity. Just leave us the way we are. We are proud of our roots ,our language and our culture.

Thamizhan enru sollada thalai nimirinthu nillada

(Raise your head high and be a proud Tamil)

The Boss

Late Saturday evening tired of grading my students’ exam papers, I decided to take a break and started chit chatting with my friend who was also TA-ing the same course with me. We chatted for sometime before she showed me a mail forwarded from one of her friends mocking Rajinikanth. Being an ardent fan of Thalai like so many fellow Tamils, I was a little hurt and start defending him as though my life depended on it.

A man born and taken by life through the roads of Bangalore in a government bus and then by the hands of fate brought to Chennai, has immortalized his name in the hearts of every person who speaks Tamil. Today is Sivaji Rao Gaekwad’s birthday.

The year 2007 is yet another year in which history was rewritten by the Rajinikanth (read Sivaji) .I just cannot help but glorify his Superstar status by pointing to the fact his movie collect nearly the same amount as all other movies of a year put together.

He definitely is not the best actor around. Most of his movies do not have any social messages. His screen presence and his charisma is just mind blowing. He simply outpaces all his fellow colleagues and leaves them gasping for breath. It’s his charisma that has made him attain a cult status in Tamil Nadu and among the Tamils living all over the world.

Can u believe that a ticket manager of a theatre in Bombay was called out by some fans because the booking for a Tamil Movie was not running on time? Can u imagine ticket rolls in North India being replaced in a matter of minutes when booking opens for a Tamil movie? This was the hype which was generated when Thalai’s Sivaji was released.

National News channels shamelessly jostling with each other, trying to outdo each other by bringing fresh stories about Sivaji. The presidential election which was already a joke (considering how Madame Prez was chosen by her own party by means of elimination) had taken a back seat. Sivaji is still running in a couple of theatres in the US. All this is coz of one man. Enga Superstar.

It’s just a thrill watching a Rajini movie in Madras. The feeling can never be described in words. Those towering cutouts, the Milk abhishegam and the pooja that is done preceding to the first show on the first day in every theatre where his movie releases gives you a festive spirit. You get inside fighting your way through the crowds .The theatre erupts when the Rajini’s name with the Superstar animation comes. We go crazy and get hysterical when Rajini gives us magnetic smile in his intro scene. There is no way you can hear the dialogues. You can only hear those high pitched cries of ‘Thalaiva’ when he opens his mouth for delivering those crisp one liners. In some theatres the songs are repeated just for the sake of the fans. I tried explaining this to my friends who have not seen his movies. They are scandalized and think that we are fools idolizing him.

Believe me watch one Rajini movie first day in a theatre in Tamil Nadu and it will be an experience you will never forget. That man’s charisma, his style, on screen persona is just magnetic. Rajini will dominate the movie from start to finish in a manner that only he can to leave you asking for more. You won’t know what struck you.

Eagerly waiting for your next movie…

Happy B’day Thalai

Appetizer

Sitting in my room on this Monday night wondering how to spend time, I thought I would finally create my blog. I have heard from my friends that blogging can be addictive. I personally feel that either you need to be totally jobless and bored in life to write a blog or be a wannabe author who is immensely motivated to maintain a blog. I definitely fall into the first category. I am not a person who enjoys typing a long mail so my motivation to write a blog is definitely a big zero.

It is the end of my third semester at Purdue. Christmas break is almost here. My one final exam got over today. I am just happy I am done with my exams, though I messed it up. I am happy it was not as bad as I expected. What more can I expect without attending classes and playing the fool so lightly. This semester has been a roller coaster one. Glad it’s behind me finally.

With no definite plans for the break my roomies all having exams till the end of week a dull and boring vacation is casting its shadow on me. I am hoping that this new found interest of mine keeps me occupied during the Christmas break.