The partly charred body of 48-year-old Basha was found lying in a pool of blood. This is the fourth murder under similar circumstances in the Ashok Nagar and Vadapalani area in the last one month, the police said.

I stay in Ashok Nagar with my wife and our 15-month old son. She is alone in the house for most of the day as I am away at office. While she is definitely scared about the whole thing, I am worried about one thing: What the $#@!% is the Ashok Nagar police doing? I mean they are hardly a kilometre away from where all this is happening and the murders continue to keep happening. I guess if the victim was a rich man they would have done something, but since the profile of the dead is like rag-picker, watchman, etc they seem to be displaying ample apathy.

Though I must admit that there are a lot of policemen/ women going around in uniform 24/7 near our house, there has not been a single public announcement or any sort of sign from the police that they are in control of the situation. Simply going around in mass wearing khakee uniform and for the murders to actually continue happening is in fact an insult to the uniform.

I trust the police to do something about it and stop the fear from spreading more than it already has. For example, yesterday night the uncle who stays downstairs actually called us up on the mobile to tell us that we should close all the doors and windows and not open the door even if someone knocks. He actually said that if there is a knock on the door, don’t open the door instead start shouting at the top of our voice and I will get help for you. I thought that he was being a little over-cautious. And to top it all, he called my wife on her mobile and told her in detail what had happend and what he thought we needed to do. While I appreciate his concern for us, this phone call of his actually made my wife panic!

My view on the whole thing is this: The probability that the four murders were all connected is remote. Further, the probability that the connected murders were all done by a single person is even more remote. Digging even more further, the probability that this person is a psycho is much more remote. So it becomes, 1/(remote)^3 to the mathematics enthusiasts like me and for normal people: just because the four murders have happened in close proximity to where I live is why I am even getting to feel the anxiety underlying this string of coincidences. I am concerned about my family for sure but I am even more sure that this is a false alarm and will die its natural death unless the ‘psycho’ theory is proven true!

My deepest condolences to the families who have lost their dear ones. May their souls Rest In Peace!

And today they have converted the ‘Bandh’ to ‘Strike’ in view of the Supreme Court’s observation of why not implement President’s rule in TN?

And there in Karnataka, I guess people themselves will go on a Bandh in few days considering all the confusion in the coalition.

Sometimes, the pitfalls of a Democratic system become showstoppers. I guess we need some infusion of youngsters into our political system. Though the process has started I guess even we, the common people, need to get our brains in one place and infuse sensibility into our system.

My primary reason of buying this phone was that. I just needed a device to make and answer phone calls and listen to FM Radio while driving (You get to watch movies if you do this). It was the need to be connected that drew me to it. Infact my first preference was a plain vanilla 6610 – the one without the camera. But by the time I could buy it, Nokia had stopped production of that one. And by the way, I am one of those who buys only Nokia mobile phones, Sony Walkmans and Apple iPods. So 6610i it would be.

It gave me excellent company. Like all Nokia phones, I found 6610i to have a very long battery life and extremely user-friendly. One of the main reasons why I always buy Nokia phones is that it is very intuitive to use. I had a Sony Ericsson phone for a brief while in between and it was hell to go through the menu of the phone. Though I must say its display and sound quality were much better than a Nokia phone in its category, it was not the easiest to navigate through. And the number of times the phone hung, countless. So, Nokia. Period.

Today I have the same fascination for the Nokia N-Series. And I can afford the N-72 alone in that series. Everything else seems fairly out of reach. But my requirements out of a phone have not changed. I still only make and answer phone calls. Even listening to FM Radio is out. I might as well go for a 1100 (if its still in production that is), but the strange fascination for N-Series is something I am unable to get over especially since I am able to afford it. God knows what i will do with the 2 MP camera, GPRS, etc.

After UniverCell we went to another multi-brand mobile showroom. The exchange price for my 6610i went up to Rs. 1500/-. And today we went to another showroom, this guy said Rs. 1750/-. Now this huge variation has left me wondering what these guys do with the second hand phones that they buy or is it just that beauty of this phone lies in the eye of the beholder?

The Lifebuoy Swastha Chetna City Meter has rated Chennai the cleanliest city among top six metros of the country. Bangalore and Kolkata have finished a close second and third respectively in the overall cleanliness perception ranking.

LOL!

And according to this:

The major determining factors of the study included greenery and plantations, clean roads, availability of dustbins in public places and efficiency of the garbage disposal system.

ROTFL!

Hadn’t laughed so much in quite sometime! Phew!
Btw, The Lifebuoy Swastha Chetna City Meter – who?

Government declares Bandh public holiday 

CHENNAI: The Government has declared March 31 a public holiday under the Negotiable Instruments Act for all State Government offices, public undertakings including the State Transport Corporations and industrial establishments.

Buses and trains will not run from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. All buses departing on March 30 will be terminated at 5 a.m. on March 31 at convenient destinations. After the bandh hours, transport corporations will operate special buses.

“Airlines and Railways have been advised to reschedule their services on March 31 so that there is no movement between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. anywhere in the State,” a State government release said. The Railways said some trains were being cancelled while some long distance trains would be regulated at stations. Passengers thronged Chennai Central and Egmore stations and the Koyambedu bus terminus in a bid to reach their destinations.

While Indian announced cancellation of its flights, most international airlines would operate as scheduled. Passengers had been intimated about the bandh, spokesperson of an international airline said.

Essential services such as telephones and telecommunication, water supply, milk distribution, power supply, fire services, newspapers, hospitals, treasuries and scheduled banks have been exempted. Liquor shops, cinema halls and explosive godowns will remain closed.

The Madras High Court declined to interfere with the bandh call and held that it was premature to file a public interest litigation petitions seeking to declare the bandh illegal.

Initially, DMK called for a Bandh. Then they realised that they were actually in power and could do something more. So they called for a public holiday! This is ridiculously hillarious! A Government to me is a mechanism to run the state properly. Now this mechanism decides to stop the state for a day! Somebody stop this comical nonsense please.

(Photo courtesy: epaper of The Hindu through flickr)

Click here for the larger image.

Tomorrow’s match…
SA-SL. It’s a quarter final for SL. If they lose they will find themselves on an early flight to Colombo while If they win, then they will have to wait for the Pak-NZ match on 25th and Pak-SA match on 27th and hope that Pak beats both NZ & SA. Instead of getting into more confusion let me just say the group is still open.

For the SA-SL match, I am backing the Sri Lankans yet again. Motera is a pitch that is traditionally known to take some pace in the beginning and spin later on. If that happens and SL win the toss and elect to bowl, then they are set for a victory. Handling Murali on the turning track with a dew-covered ball is going to be impossible for the inept SA batting line-up. Anyway, as Sidhu says If “ifs” and “buts” were “pots” and “pans” then there would be no tinkers! (If anyone knows what it means, do let me know. I used it because it sounded good! But I know that it talks something against this compulsive use of if’s and but’s to predict one’s own desire as the most practical outcome!)

And yesterday…
I watched this tamil movie called “Vallavan” which has Silambharasan acting and directing the flick. For the first time in my part-time career as a film critic I have come across someone who is more narcissistic than Kamal Hassan. Now, I don’t want all of you to pounce on me and say it is good to be a little narcissistic that’s when you can do great work. Well, I totally agree to that and for that I will quote every Kamal Hassan movie as proof (except maybe “Alavandan”).

Now coming to Narcissism gone haywire, welcome to the world of self-acclaimed Little Super Star Simbhu. He is mad. Crazy. Demented. He has just shot this movie to imitate Rajnikanth and Kamal Hassan and prove to himself that he is a divine combination of both of these. Also to take dirty below-the-belt potshots at S.J.Surya. [I am now shaking my head thinking of how Mr. S.J.Surya will now react to these!] “Vallavan” has been made so that Simbhu may kiss and fondle his ‘supposedly’ real-life sweetheart Nayanthara (who is stunningly beautiful after losing that extra flab around her waist!). I don’t think she even allows this guy with an oversized head near him otherwise! Why was sweet-faced Sandhya needed? And why was Reema Sen made to look like a tramp even in a school dress? I pity producer Mr. Thenappan for investing on Simbhu and totally support him if he hasn’t paid Simbhu 40% of his fees. This movie will not run beyond the first 4 days and there is a possibility that Simbhu’s house maybe stoned after this!

Even scenes with potential are spoilt in the name of some non-existent style. For eg., the scene where Simbhu walks upto some guy (who looks like he has fallen off from some RGV Factory’s movie set) and advises him on how love should be treated and induced in a girl by love but not threatened. One thing I didn’t understand amidst the hundreds of screwed up things in the movie is: Why do the sidekicks always make this puking sound while being pulled around by the rope after being hit by our Little Super Star (my foot! little super star!)?!! I am actually surprised he didn’t name it “Simbhuvan”!

To top it all…
I watched this movie in a drive-in theatre in Chennai.

1. For starters, this guy doesn’t seem to have a cap on the capacity. He will allow as many cars as possible. And they will park themselves wherever they find it comfortable. There is nobody guiding these cars and I guess he never stops issuing the tickets.
2. The canteen is of no use. He has bhel-puri, cutlet, paneer roll and veg roll. Period.
3. I agree that as a theatre you have no control over lights that are lighting up the background behind the screen, but please switch off those lights (Ladies Toilet lights, canteen lights, etc.) or atleast find some way of covering it up so that it doesn’t disrupt the cinema-viewers experience.
4. Can you please strictly check the cars of those coming into the theater for alcoholic drinks? The car next to us was having beer and smoking away to glory. It (Beer can smell awful and the smoke made it claustrophobic) made our experience much worse than Simbhu intended to.
5. The sound system is pathetic. The Auto Drivers’ Stand next to my house hired better speakers for their Ayudha Puja celebrations. The frequency of sounds generated by your speakers would have been better intercepted by owls and bats! Save us, we are human beings!

Sathyam Cinema wins hands down on all accounts!

I was catching up on a rare nap that had descended upon me after various positions of legs and back and hands were tried. The decibel level of the assistant was quite high and that woke me up with a startle. One of my friends, Karthikeyan, at the university hostel in Madurai, a native of chennai, had told me that T. Nagar is a place where there were plenty of lodges and economy hotels. I was looking at economy hotels because I had a mere Rs. 400/- with me. So, on hearing “T.Nagar” I jumped from my seat, picked up my proud Wildcraft bag perched on the luggage area in the attic of the bus sandwiched between a sack of greens and a Mylapore Coffee Powder cloth bag.

The bus just started moving when I felt the roads of Chennai with my bata leather chappal covered feet. It was supposed to be winter and only those born and brought up in Chennai could feel the cold. For a native Mysorean who took bath in hot water even if it were heat of 36 degree celsius, Chennai was the ultimate challenge. The blue jeans which was last washed during the rains at Madurai was beginning to feel the adverse conditions. It started sticking to my legs and made it an ordeal to walk through. Thankfully my University T-shirt was of the woven cotton material that banians are made of.

Why did I come to Chennai? Why should I have listened to her?

With the college bag hung on the right-side of my shoulder making a wierd clinking metallic sound of coins shuffling around, I walked through the road which was a curious mix of one-way traffic and both-ways traffic after a distance and one-way again after a few metres. Stranger than the road was the looks I got from receptionists at hotels along the road when I asked them for accommodation for a night for below Rs. 400/-. None of the hotels had a single room facility, only double rooms and they were all Rs. 750/- at the minimum. I didn’t want an AC, though I was having second thoughts about that, but there was very little that I could do about it considering my monetary position.

I am going to ask her to reimburse this for me. What does she think of me?

After almost a walk of about one kilometre and almost 5 enquiries, I hit upon what looked like a big old mansion. It was converted into something called “Nathans Lodge”. Though the building looked like it would collapse if there was an earthquake in Indonesia, it was almost fully occupied. The person at the reception looked at me from top to bottom and gauged the situation. “Do you have any rooms available?”
“Yes. Single or double?”

“Single”
“Yes. AC or Non-AC?”

“What are your tariff rates?”
“AC single room costs Rs. 350/-. Non-AC costs Rs. 250/-”
Wow! Rs. 250/- is within my budget and that also means I save some money for my dinner and breakfast!

“The Non-AC single room is okay with me”
“Good. Pay the advance of Rs. 500/- now”

“What for Rs. 500/-?”
“Sir (with great difficulty he uttered that word) advance is generally paid for the double the number of days one stays here”

“But I don’t have so much money with me. I have only Rs. 400/-”
“”I need Rs. 500/-”

Just then I remembered the Rs. 137/- I had collected from that small orange box in the hostel into which I used to put all the change. And since I didn’t smoke, the change generally grew over time and required something special to be done to clear it off. I was carrying it along with me as emergency fund and this sure was an emergency! The sound of the bag reminded me of it.

“Is it okay if I pay the rest in coins?”
“Yeah”, said the receptionist with a look clearly showing that he thought I was a modern beggar or something!

“Then I will need to check into my room and then pay you. Because it’s all in a plastic cover. I ll ve to count it and pay you. For now, please accept these Rs. 400/- that I have”
“Ok. No problem. But I ll give you the receipt only after you pay me the remaining Rs. 100/-”

Dei thambi!”, the receptionist called out to the helper to guide me to my room.
A puny guy in an all-white uniform and a Nehru cap came up to us and gave me a strange look. He collected the room keys from the receptionist and started walking expecting me to follow his tracks. I did so.

Even though he turned the key open of the Link-brand lock, the door wouldn’t open. The latch was stuck. After some little muscular tiff with it, the puny guy opened the door with a victorious smile. Halfway through reciprocating his hardfought victory, my smile faded as I surveyed the room.

The walls though painted looked like they were washed with water too. The wet stains on the wall meant that the water pipes in the building were leaking since there were never any signs of rain in this part of the country. There was a bed with what-was-once-white bedspread, a table without a chair but with a bottle of water on it, a telephone and a dust bin. The washroom was of Indian style with a 3′x3′ space for bathing with a tap running cold water (Puny told me hot water taps were there only in the AC rooms. Quite sensible I thought. In this weather nobody else would even think of hot water. No! Not even a Mysorean!) accompanied by a bucket, mug and a small medimix soap.

The puny guy had heard the entire conversation with the receptionist, so he didn’t linger around for long in the room. By the time I had finished my survey he had dissappeared. After I closed the door behind him, I changed into my usual pyjamas and settled down on the bed to count the coins in the plastic cover. There were 15 Rs. 5/- coins, 21 Rs. 2/- coins, 13 Re. 1/- coins and 14 50ps coins. I somehow managed to make up Rs. 100/- through coins and gave it to the receptionist. He accepted it without any expression on his face and gave me the receipt. He had not even kept it ready by then. Probably he was unsure if I was going to cough up 100 bucks. Thankfully, there was no one around when I was giving that money.

I made a phone call at 11.30PM and spoke for approximately 45 minutes
in kannada. We were about to do something that the whole world would later see with a different eye.

I was in Chennai unknown to everyone else. I wasn’t supposed to divulge where I was to anyone. If only I knew! I was supposed to be at Egmore the next day morning that was all I knew. After finishing the letter, I slept. The journey had sapped me enough.

Got up early at 6.00AM and bathed and got ready by 7.00AM. Packed my bags, wore the same jeans and t-shirt combination and trudged along to the reception. There was a different person at the reception counter. Seeing the receipt, he returned Rs. 250 in notes. I was very happy that from a beggar I had become a somewhat respectable idiot. And the bag had stopped making those metallic sounds!

I got into the bus from the T.Nagar bus stand and was there at the Marriage Registration Office at 9.15AM. I was hungry but it all dissappeared on seeing her. She was there dressed resplendently in a white silk saree with a beautiful blue border. Her sister was standing next to her with the garlands.

Are we really going to do this? Is this all real or is it a dream? What will her parents say who have known me from childhood? My parents would understand but what about them? We have been schoolmates and neighbours and our parents know each others’ families very well. What will happen after this? Am I doing the right thing? Will the marriage work?

We went into the registration office. The officer was used to such clandestine stuff.

He asked, “Do your parents know?”
She said, “What do you think?”, looking straight into his eyes.
The officer didn’t speak to her again.

I had always admired her for her straightforwardness and practical thinking
ability. She was very practical and knew what is to be done in situations. But
it still surprised me that she would have said yes to something like this
that would hurt her parents the most. Especially her father who had a
heart attack once already.

The officer asked me to sign on the dotted line meant for me. I did.

And they went away married. I hoped and prayed that they lived happily in the future. I loved her still. Is it wrong? Is it right? I didn’t know. I don’t know.

So, now you can expect Colour TV’s and Set-Top-Boxes into the houses of people in Tamil Nadu. With DMK taking over, rowdyism is expected to grow. But not at the cost of development I hope.

Media is slowly deteriorating to its worst-ever. Jaya TV (AIADMK’s mouthpiece, obvious from the name right?)continued to give wrong reports of the election even when it was established that AIADMK had lost it! Sun TV was going gaga over its victory; what with its owner’s brother Mr. Dayanidhi Maran occupying the space below the left-arm of 82-year old Mr. M. Karunanidhi – who becomes the chief minister for the fifth time. The CNN-IBN and The Hindu were quite satisfied with the fact that their exit poll was proved correct. Probably for the first time ever some opinion poll was proved correct on TN elections!

Sreenivasan Jain of NDTV, characteristically was pulling the mikes away from the speakers halfway at his post-elections show on TN. And his act of being spontaneous generally backfires. There are so many “aaa..”s and “mmm…”s in his speech that you will go to sleep. And he never does his homework for any programme. Sports a beard similar to Prannoy Roy and thinks he is better than Prannoy Roy! Something like Sehwag thinking he is Tendulkar!

SunTV, well, I don’t know when these fellows will improve their presentation. The winners list was displayed like it was an invitation for a funeral! Blue background (that Doordarshan blue) with white font. And it was being read out by the newsreader. You can’t get worse than this!