Shambo Mahadeva!

Last Saturday i heard about Skandavale from a friend... It was interesting to know about a place which is similar to Pazhani hills - abode of Lord Murugan. The curiosity to visit the Hills heightened... Could you imagine non-indian priests performing Hindu ceremonies etc... I decided that i would one day go over to Skandavale. FYI: Skanda refers to Lord Murugan.

So the next day i visited their website and found this controversial news. It's really a delicate issue to handle - as a Hindu follower i signed the petition; but as a good citizen should i follow the rules? If i look at the supporters views, the government could have given some more time... why?

A. The bull was not infected, but a carrier only
B. The effectiveness of the tests are still debatable
C. A similar case in Devon was given more time
D. the supporters were ready to pay extra money to get tests from US that's more conclusive

Given all the above, my heart feels for Shambo; having said that would the Government start slaughtering AIDS infected or carriers? What about people who oppose death penalties? what does blue cross say about these?

On a different note, people appreciate non-pujaris doing Hindu ceremonies in places like Skandavale, would they agree the same in India?

I did it!

In the limbo world of browsing, I bumped into robinsharma's blog... I visit his blogspace once in a while for some good pep-tips. I spotted a suggestion that was to use the summer time to the full and an idea was to re-do a thing that you would have done in your childhood days and the one you would have not done for years together..

Today i got a chance to do something like that: I was very eager to do, the ambiance was perfect, forecast for the weather was coming true, it was all raining, gloomy. The rains started pouring, lightnings flashed, thunders thundered... it took me to my teenage days and to add i was working from home too. It may be a perfect day for me to do what i wanted to do, this i have done this many times in my teenage. But when i was teen and when i wanted to do this, my parents would not allow me to do that. Now i am married, and my wife would not be too happy if i did that. But today all conditions were set, no one was home; but i felt a bit shy to do in this civilized world. How could a grown up man like me do it? that too in daytime??

I told myself, i have to do now or i have to wait for a day like this... though England is a nice place where such days come in abundance, today was a special day - Friday, weekend, you could let go your tensions, but what would people think of me? - who cares so i did it - yes i changed my clothes into PJs and straight walked into Rain! whooohooo! Walking in the rain again - people looked at me from their cars like what? i did not care - i enjoyed every step of it and got fully drenched!

Vaaji Vaaji!

Thousands of blogs, thousands of reviews, thousands of comments - the tide has not fallen down: yep about Sivaji - 'The Boss' few like Anuradha SenGupta of CNN-IBN came out with a stark review.

Just rewinding back to my college days - I used to be an ardent Kamal Hassan fan boldly facing the outnumbering Rajini Fan club... I have to mention this incident... 1997 i was preparing for my Master's exams and the local Rajini Fan club blared music on his birthday (12 - Dec); i cannot forget this... The blaring songs at 5:30 AM irritated me to such an extent, i dared those guys and my parents kept me in check - lest it became a big problem around the locale... I used to hate Rajini & co to such an extent... I still disapprove such a mad following... but years passed on...

I don't fancy calling myself a fan of any actor - may be my age or my exposure to global cinemas - French, Spanish and a few other cine craps... 'Things changed'. I was in US of A when 'B to the A to the B to the A' - BABA released; My sister, bil & co we payed around 10$ each and waded through the hyper charged fellow Indian fans, managed to get a few seats in the 4th row from front!!! Watched the movie in such a disbelief - the movie a big flop; but what i disbelieved was the Indian fan's behavior in a foreign land - ignoring the Gora shaming us etc...

I think i actually learned something... hey its an entertainment, its meant to be fun and can be enjoyed as long as its okay to your neighbours... coming back to Sivaji:

I was actually awaiting the release - long queues (in fact theatre staff sold snacks in the interval - within the screen premises) the brits would have not seen such a fanfare - third day after release we made it! everyone enjoyed the fanfare, people around me were talking about their college day rajini releases; other rajini related movies - which director directed him the best; why he is such a great person, his religious attitude etc etc etc... I can't believe myself - a man who used to hate Rajini & co, awaits for Sivaji release!? (partly due to the media hype)

As people did, i too found loopholes in story etc, but truly enjoyed the movie - 100% entertainment. I enjoyed the mail forwards about people queuing in 'Bangaluru' PVR theatres; How tax people were reaping entertainment tax benefits; corporates sponsoring gold class tickets to their star employees; rajini's salary and what not...

Just think for a moment about Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings and other magical, mystical movies - going rounds, why not Sivaji - it may have many holes, less of logic but it was truly an entertainer - our armchair critics like Anuradha should do a sense check and see CNN-IBNs reviews on Harry Potters! Also people need to unwind and keep away the learning - should go for entertainers rather than finding faults...

friends c'mon: go on throw away your masks and have fun - unwind yourself and watch Sivaji the Boss!