From Karapakkam to Harrington Road!

It was Thursday. The weekend was to start officially in another 24 hrs. Grinding myself at work, I was suddenly called upon by my friend. Unfortunately, the work schedule was so tight that I had to tell him that I would give him a ring again after I reached my home. 

I called him up when Mahabharata got over in Vijay TV. As it might be expected, the circular black clock showed the time to be 930pm. After exchanging pleasantries, I was told that tickets were available for Indian Ocean concert on Friday @ 7pm in Sir Mutha Venkata Subbarao Concert hall. Having been enthralled and mesmerized by the voices of Hariharan, SPB, Shankar Mahadevan, Karthik etc. in many concerts, The only Indian Ocean which I knew was the blue waters on which Sri Lanka resides! I did not know head or tail on the band that my friend was asking me to attend with him.This Indian Ocean was very new to me. So what? and Why not? are always questions which I used to ask myself whenever I have a decision to take and make instantly. Immediately, without any hesitation, I said yes to my friend. Finally, the long call drew to a close giving the mobile operator quite a share of the mobile balance to them.

I reached the office in my usual time. Usually, I take 2 15 breaks - one in the morning and evening apart from my lunch time of 1 hour. But today, it was different. In order to have my regular office hours to be clocked for 8 hours and at the same time leave @ 6pm, I decided not to take the 15 minute breaks and also curtail my usual lunch hour by half so that I can finish my work and leave office by 6pm to reach the concert. It was going as per the master plan. A new work at the fag end of the day delayed my plan by very little time - 15 minutes to be very precise! So, I left my work by 615pm and travelled hurriedly to my home. By the time, I left for the concert , it was way past 7 - 710pm to be exact!

After missing out on crucial turns due to the heavy friday traffic, I was finally able to reach the Lady Andal school premises by 805pm for the big free concert. A quick call to my friend enabled a hassle free entry into the auditorium. I was greeted in by a melodious song in hindi with colorful lights dancing wildly on the stage.

A speedy search on the high-speed net connectivity gave me the much needed background information on the band. The Indian Ocean has been in existence for more than 25 years and that they are the pioneers of fusion genre in India. My friend is an avid carnatic music listener and singer. I learnt from him that this band experiments and plays carnatic music with the touch and flair of rock music. Indeed, the music was really refreshing. Quirky. Original. New. Soulful. Deeply-rooted in Indianism. It was a complete different experience for me. Rahul Ram, one of the founding members of the band, kept the mood light-hearted and engaged with the audience by asking us to hum and clap in tune with his tunes. He was also very witty and quick to think on his feet whenever they needed a short break. When the band started to sing "Ma Rewa", the entire crowd were up on their feet. My friend was in a state of hyperism. I was thoroughly enjoying both the music and the electric atmosphere. So, the wave of thunderous applause subsided only to renew again with even more vigor and energy when the band announced that their last song of the day was "Kandisa". The loud cheers from the audience would have surely given the crowd at Nehru stadium a run for their money! The song was indeed very soulful. Though I did not understand the meaning of the words, I felt a deep connect within myself when the song was being rendered. I was up and on my feet too cheering loudly for this band when the curtains were being brought down after the last song of the day.

Just like a surfer rides the high waves and soaks in the water thoroughly, I was completely hit by this wave of beautiful music and rendition which was so pure and pristine without casting aside their Indian origins. The music was also deep and soul stirring thus created an overwhelming sense of peace and tranquility even in such a spirited environment. Without question, The Indian Ocean was really like the Indian Ocean!

The Appetizing Atho !!

Being born and brought up in an orthodox Brahmin family, I have been subjected to the rules and customs as in an usual and traditional TamBrahm family. Though I had understood that the rules laid out by the forefathers were for the benefit of the pursuer, I have always wanted to traverse and explore the limitless boundaries beyond the limited regulations set by the authorities. One such item on my agenda was to discover and indulge my taste buds to newer and fresher savories to satiate my hunger for different and exotic food. I will never ever deny that 'parupu sadham' with 'vetha kozhambu' and 'vendakkai' is a deadly combo but I have always had the opinion that experimenting with food enables an individual to be multi-minded than be an one trick pony. So, after trying out my hand at Mexican,Italian,Chinese,Thai and Greek , I had wanted to sink my teeth into Burmese food and relish their unique tastes. As luck would have turned out, one of my friend was from Sowcarpet. He knew completely on the ins and outs of the mouth-watering street food in and around Sowcarpet. He suggested that a street parallel to Chennai Beach station is entirely dedicated to Burmese food. He particularly asked me to try out their signature dish 'Atho'. Ever since my friend recommended this place for Burmese food, like the King of the Jungle circling and waiting for the opportune moment to pounce on its prey, I was bidding my time and patiently waited for the right opportunity to have an open battle with the Burmese!

A stroke of luck combined with right decision making helped me to see the inaugural ISL season 2 ceremony at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium. I decided that the time was ripe for me to wallow myself in the street food of Parrys. So, once when the match was over, I had asked my friends whether they would be interested in trying out Burmese food for dinner. They readily agreed and we were off hunting for the exact location in an auto. After zig-zagging through the crowded Chennai traffic, we finally reached our destination - Chennai Beach station. But, there was not even a single food stall in sight. Initially, we felt that our timing was awry. It was already 15 minutes to 10. But, I am not a person who caves into disappointments. Using the best GPS in the world - my mouth, I enquired the nearby autowallahs to the whereabouts of the Burmese food. They gave me the directions with simple and understandable landmarks in the vicinity. We followed them to the t and was welcomed rather ceremoniously by the sweet smell of tantalizing aroma coming from both sides of the roads.

What I initially thought was tantalizing aroma was actually the filthy smell of rubbish and garbage that were strewn out shabbily on the roads. I was so intoxicated by the mere thought of Burmese food that my sense of smell delved into a delusional state! So, after the bitter knock on the head, I was walking up towards the left side of the road when I saw streams of people standing in front of a brightly lit food stall. A big smile dawned upon my satisfied face on seeing the helper shouting "tasty atho tasty atho". It was finally time though the time was just past 10pm.

The roadway leading to the shop was very insanitary and unhygienic. The entire place was squalid and disgusting. If any girl would have come with us, then her only reaction would have been to scoot out of the place at the earliest whiff of that nauseating odour! I had many an experience to eat out on road side food stalls during my numerous trips to various places. So, when I had to compare those places with this ambience, I felt this place was rich and healthy! Though the place did not a provide a clean and salubrious sight to the eyes, I was able to clearly distinguish that unique flavor from the hot Burmese Atho even in that stench which reeked with sewage and rotten garbage. I strictly told the helper that I want a veg atho. To which he politely replied that all the items are only veg. So, I asked him about the other varieties in their a la carte and he told me to start with soup. It was not just any soup. But, banana stem! Even as a child, I hated the raw banana that was used to be served by my mom as a part of our normal diet for a healthy meal. I wondered what different it would be this time. Surprise Surprise!! The banana soup was steamy hot and spicy. It was just disappearing into my mouth like a famished Kumbakarnan! Now, emboldened by the brilliant taste, I was bold enough now to taste the banana stem which was floating like a boat in the soup. My Gawd! It was heavenly with ginger, pepper and other spices. Once I scrapped out the last drop of soup from the bowl, I was ready for the next course - Atho! My friends ordered an Egg Atho and I had ordered a Veg Atho. 

Atho was nothing but short and thin noodles that was tossed up with a host of vegetables whose list included long and finely shredded cabbages, carrots, fried onions, beans and spices. Even if I had been on a quarter filled up stomach also, then I would have really ended up wasting at least half of the wonderful contents! Luckily, I was so ravenous that the Atho was fast disappearing from my plate like the athletes in a 100m dash! For a moment when I realized that I had eaten fully , I pondered as to what would be the cost of such a gigantic dinner plate. To my utter surprise, when I heard it was just Rs 20 for a single plate, it was too good to be true for such a quantity yet that was the truth!

Finally, when we started to bid adieu to this place, my eyes lingered on a Kolkatta pan shop. I have always had a weakness for sweet pan ever since the old woman in front of Sathyam theatre asked  me to try one during my engineering days! Crunching and munching on the sweet pan, I made a hurried walk towards the station to catch the 1040 pm train. We had 10 minutes plenty of time ahead in front of us. The evening was not only truly scrumptious but truly memorable as well.

A Glitzy Affair!

When I was told that the tickets were available for ISL's opening ceremony to be held in our Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, my immediate straightforward reaction was "Dude. I don't follow football at all other than to watch World Cup matches". "Okay. Just let me know if you change your mind" came the quick candid response from my friend. I wondered and pondered for some time as to why not I also try a new and different game apart from following the sport that had single handedly united our country as a whole...at least almost! The game I follow very closely is also being passionately pursued very religiously and fanatically, like the Cuttack incident, by billions of Indians across the country. It goes without saying that it's Cricket. I decided that I can try something newfangled that could open up me to fresh experiences in life. So, without further ado, I called up my friend enquiring him whether he still had any remaining tickets for the opening ceremony. I was very glad that he did not say the disappointing 2 letter word 'No'. We reached the stadium hassle free by train and were in time for the grand commencement of ISL season 2. 

After the regular checks at the entrance, we marched towards our designated stand for a fun-filled evening. In the meantime, I was asking my friend on the background of ISL to know more about the tournament. His response was a single and simple statement "ISL is the Indian version of EPL". Luckily, I knew what was EPL. So, I understood what he meant by it. On questioning him on the number of teams, he further explained me that there are 8 teams competing in the tournament and that the current champions are Kolkatta. Now, I had the rough understanding on the context as to what I was getting into. The loud blares from inside the stadium gave me the cue that the spectacle had just begun.

The opening event was star studded with many high profile celebrities like Mukesh Ambani, his wife Nita, Amitabh Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan and his wife Aishwarya. And of course, THALAIIIVVAAAAAAAAAARRRRR!!  The entire stadium broke into a hysterical state of madness when Thalaivar's visuals were displayed on the big screen. I was sure that even an alien in the Andromeda Galaxy would have become partial deaf at the intensity and loudness of the feverish decibel levels then! 

When the banners of all the teams were unrolled and spread out across the pitch, it was time for the party to begin. Alia Bhatt's scintillating moves to popular Bollywood numbers drove the spectators to cheer for her madly and wanted more from her. Following her fine performance, Bollywood queen Aishwarya Bachchan simply sizzled the complete stage with her graceful grooves. Once again the crowd broke into a delirious state of frenziness when Ash danced for a song from the Tamil film "Enthiran" and Rajnikanth's smiling visuals were shown on the giant screens. Her father-in-law  Amitabh Bachchan and her husband Abhishek were cheering her from the VIP lounge. 

The crowd fell into a hushed state of silence when the MC was inviting Master Blaster and THALAIVAAARRRR to the stage. The alien in the Andromeda Galaxy which was previously mentioned  would have become fully and permanently deaf! Such was the vociferous reception by the berserk local Chennai fans in the stadium for Rajnikanth when he was traversing to the stage in the buggy. And the energy he showed while he hugged Sachin was simply matchless! With Nita Ambani loudly proclaiming " Let's Football", the second season had officially begun. 75% of the stadium's capacity were literally bringing the stadium down for the match to begin. However, there was one more high profile celebrity to perform amidst such an already star studded power packed performances. The Musical Maestro - AR Rahman!! Just before the start of the match, his rendering of our National Anthem set the tone perfectly for a high octane match between Atletico De Kolkata and Chennaiyin. 

The night would have ended on a real high for all the Chennai fans after seeing all their favorite stars in a single stage but Atletico triumphed over Chennaiyin who capitalized very shrewdly on the lapses of Chennaiyin. Despite their team's defeat, the close to 30000 people had an indelible memory in their lives. I was completely thrilled and exhilarated at the day's events. I was very glad to have taken the right decision. 

The Hat Trick – Part 3

After the morning debacle, it was time to ride to Express Avenue to catch up with Johnny Depp’s latest flick “The Black Mass”. The journey to EA was more than eventful. The traffic police caught him for not wearing the helmet.  In his hurry to reach the theatre @ 8am, he had forgotten to wear his metal head cap. As soon as the traffic police pulled him over for breaking the safety law, my friend’s initial reaction was to give me a quick signal so that I am not there in the vicinity when he spins his own yarn to them. He knew that I couldn’t suppress my laughter when he is in his own story telling world. After waiting for more than 15 minutes, my friend hurriedly asked me to give Rs. 100 so that he could pay it as fine to them. 20 minutes later, he emerged victorious with a beaming smile on his face with a printed ticket in his hand. I couldn't stifle my giggle and burst out into fits of laughter on seeing my friend's ingenuity from escaping the clutches of the court to retrieve his vehicle. Driving slowly and my friend's abundant knowledge of short cuts in that area, I was able to reach the EA with more than 1200 seconds to spare for the movie to begin despite the comic obstacle. 

I had another bout of shock when I called up my friends with whom I was supposed to meet at EA and learnt that they were still in Guindy at that time. Taking a couple of pictures for an elderly couple, I was able to beat the time with my amateurish photographic skills. My friends were well in time and we started to watch "The Black Mass" after Depp's very much disappointing outing with "Mortdecai". Infact, his previous films - Dark Shadows, Lone Ranger were also as disappointing as Mortdecai. But, the reviews for "Black Mass" was good with "Sherlock" Benedict Cumberbatch in the film as well. So, we were expecting Captain Jack Sparrow to deliver his suave performance. The movie was based on a true story and Depp's character as James Bulger was very impressive. Mean. Menacing. Ruthless. Depp had all the ingredients of a gangster and delivered a power packed weighty performance. It was finally good to watch Depp in his full splendour. Yeah. I am a Johnny Depp fan! So, it was really heartening to see him in such a manner. Though the movie was slow, it was compelling unlike Puli. So, after a short ride to Black Mass, rats started to skip in my tummy and only then I realized that I hadn't had anything to eat since morning other a small popcorn. Munching to our heart's desire at Zaitoon, it was time to bid adieu to my friends and march to the Mars mission @ Sathyam

Problem Solving. Creative Engineering. Spontaneous Innovation. Frustration. Anger. Wisecracks. Cooperation. Coordination. Faith. Hope. All for a survival. Science beautifully wraps all these elements into a single intricate story to remain alive and  make through this tough ordeal on an unknown and lifeless environment which is hostile for any person to be alive. I wondered what would be the effect of 3D for such a film. But, the depth of the picturesque Martian landscape was better than one would have imagined because of the 3D effect. The Martian was an edge of the seat thriller though you know what's going to happen at the end in the beginning itself. But, it's the screenplay that keeps you engaged and you show a sense of empathy to Matt Damon who had reprised a similar role in "Interstellar" as well. Damon's convincing acting and intelligent dialogues made it a memorable movie. Dialogues like "I am the greatest botanist on this planet". "In your face Neil Armstrong". "Hi, I'm Mark Watney and I'm still alive... obviously". "I admit it's fatally dangerous, but I'd get to fly around like Iron Man". And when he did manage to fly as Tony Stark in the metal suit , the entire theatre was behind this guy who had single handedly managed to survive the unkind and unfriendly Martian tribulations. The Martian was indeed a tribute to NASA for their achievements to have the courage to go into the unknown and explore the deepest abyss of the universe.

Epilogue:

After a fantastic day's trip excepting the morning catastrophe, the day ended on a really high note when as soon as I stepped into my home, Duminy was thwacking and blazed away Axar Patel for 3 consecutives sixes and single handedly turned the tide in South Africa's favor that enabled them to clinch the first T20 from the jaws of defeat. As a matter of fact, as soon as I saw the 3 sixes, a bright idea lit up my mind to have my new blog into 3 parts weaving my reviews for 3 back to back movies and the 3 sixes with the title "The Hat Trick"!


                                                                       x--concluded--x

The Hat Trick - Part 2

Continuing with 'There is more"!! We were desperately squiggling and fidgeting in our seats and were anticipating for the arrival of...No! not the father Vijay or another of the can't-even-remember-the tune songs.! We were eagerly awaiting for the word " Interval" to be displayed on the screen to make a dash out of the theatre and escape from this savage inferno. Looking at the time, we were barely into 50 minutes of the movie. I quickly equated this horrible feeling with Einstein's The Theory of Relativity and framed a new example - "50 minutes in Puli is like spending your one life time of 71 years, be reborn and still the interval would not have happened when you are watching it in your second life". The pace of the movie was so slow that even the oldest of oldest tortoises would have overtaken the movie's speed! Its not that I was bothered on the slowness of the film. I have watched many slowly moving movies - Gone with the wind, Casablanca, Lawrence of Arabia, Barry Lyndon, Lolita etc. These movies had stuff.  Substance that made it worth investing my time and effort. But, Puli belonged to the elite cadre of slowness combined with abominable balderdash that made us to want to dash out of the theatre at the slightest opportunity. Finally, the interval arrived after what seemed like aeons. We contemplated whether to make a run for it during the recess. But, our hard and well earned money and effort has been spent to buy the tickets even depriving our sleep on the Mahatma Day. So, we hatched up a brilliant plan to sit through the full movie and comment on every single scene to get the true value for our money. Second half began. The massacre continued from where it was left before the intermission. Chimbudevan and Vijay were really on a mission. We were severely slaughtered by the blunt screenplay and story. Nevertheless, the icing on the cake was yet to come. The story moved into flashback. Then, suddenly a man rides a horse and arrives to save the people of the village. It is revealed that it is Vijay again. Words seemed to slip away from me. My mind was blank on seeing the scene. 

HA HA HA HA HA HA HA...was the loudest comment that I could muster up. The entire theatre was looking behind instead of the screen. My friend asked me to shut my mouth as some Vijay fans were starting to hoot and root up for their hero. It took me some time to come back to normal state on seeing the appearance and make up for father Vijay. Like Neelambari in Padayappa who watched the marriage scene again and again,  I felt like playing that scene over and over again whenever I was bored or serious. It ate up Tom & Jerry hands down as if the entire cartoon series were a cherry! Finally, the last of the bashing, bashing, bashing happened and Vijay was crowned as the King to end this abysmally horrible extra ordinary piece of narration stitched together rather badly from various sources. I wanted to come screaming out of the theatre gates issuing a public warning to have their lives insured before watching Puli. But, my friend restrained me from doing such an impulsive act lest the SPI employees issues a mandate to us from ever entering their gates again. I overheard a guy saying to his friend "Machi. I am going for the 630 pm show at Prarthana today. Wanna join me?".  "There are better options for a second suicide" The bursting comment was so very spontaneous that the onlookers around me burst into fits of laughter. 

I always believe that there is always a silver lining to any situation. I must say and appreciate the director's pluck and boldness to visually entertain the audience in a grandiose manner. It would have actually clicked had it not been for the insipid and lacklustre screenplay from many known and popular sources tailor-made to suit Vijay's image. I felt the injury caused by this Puli was very painful and damaging than my sustained injuries during the accident. But, as they say. The best was yet to come. I still had "The Black Mass" and "The Martian" to make me forget the unforgettable Puli.

---To be completed---

The Hat Trick - Part 1

It started with an innocuous phone call to my friend with whom I hadn't spoken for quite some time. Knowing that I was badly injured after the accident and hadn't be up for a month during the weekends, his initial reaction was to catch up with some movie over the long weekend of Gandhi Jayanthi. Searching through the numerous movies in spi cinemas site, we finally decided to watch a comedy to start with on Oct 2nd. Little did we know that our assumed comic film would turn out to be a ridiculous and a farcical nonsense. After watching 'Kathi', my friend and I were under the false delusion that Vijay's 'Puli' would live up to the expectation set by its predecessor. As they say, Expectations hurt. My friend and I learnt it the hard way. I had booked for the 8am show @ S2 Thyagaraja and got up @ 6am itself for the movie. I have never even gotten up so early even during my classes in engineering! though experience has taught me that that's not the case in a professional working atmosphere. On time is the mantra ever since I started to work. It clearly reflected in the fact that I had reached 900 seconds before 8am and was waiting patiently for my friend to show up for the show. We stepped into the theatre and occupied our seats when the long needle in our watches struck 12 and the small needle was @ 8. Let the show begin!

The film would have been a massive hit had it been released in the theatres at least 15 years earlier. But now, at the beginning of the movie itself, my friend and I were in tears - sadness and hilariousness. Sadness - as we had missed out on our good sound sleep and hilariousness because of the sound of idiotic punch dialogues thrown so loosely, unintelligently and effusively in the movie. As we hadn't watched movie for more than a month, my friend and I wondered whether it is only we who had lost our sense of cinematic touch.  But, excepting the die hard vijay fans in the theatre, everyone else shared our miserable plight of sadness and desperation to punch those punch dialogues! The best was yet to come. After one point of time, when things became really unbearable, the theatre was abuzz with numerous outright and downright comments which were extremely hilarious and worth every penny hearing those witty and sarcastic dialogues compared to the mundane-MGResque sentimental dialogue scenes. The entertaining comments from the audience were more than chucklesome. It left us with a rib tickling, hysterical and too funny for words laughter throughout the film. Leaving aside the good portion of the film which is we making snide remarks, the worse part was yet to come. Puli was totally a jumbled assemblage from comics, novels, hollywood movies and MGR films. The director had copied from Gulliver's travels - the scenes where Vijay and his helper friends are in captive by the little men, Asterix - the potion which makes Vijay to acquire superhuman strength , Vampire and Twilight series - where the vedhalam have blue eyes and teeth like the vampires who have red eyes and fangs! But, the grand daddy of all this herculean copying effort is undoubtedly and unanimously reserved to Sri devi's costumes and reactions! I think the director might have watched Snow White and Maleficent many times to duplicate, imitate and replicate the costume designs and expressions for Sri devi's character!!  There is more.

------to be continued------

The Karmic Love - Teaser 4

It was midnight. Suddenly, Harsha burst the door open with a bang, rushed into the room and switched on all the lights. Slightly opening up his eyes, he could see the distinct height and weight of Harsha standing in front of him who was gasping for his breath. "Fuck You, Harsha. What the hell is wrong with you at this time of hour" screamed Rahul. Rahul was utterly dejected as he was slowly taking Swetha's hands into his when Harsha came barging into their room. "You Dick Head. I have some big news to tell you guys. So, stop sleeping and open your ears" exclaimed Harsha loudly. Now, Ankit, Anij and Balu woke up from their slumber one by one. "We have a long day at the camp tomorrow. Four of us are here. It would better be good,dude. " Ankit gave a stern warning to Harsha. "Guys guys. Chillax!! I was there when it happened. The news is true. He kissed her". Harsha was immediately under attack by a barrage of ballistic questions from everyone. There was a pure and an unadulterated cacophony that engulfed the room then. Harsha knew he was the cynosure of their eyes, ears, nose, mind and heart at that moment. He was silently smiling with patience for the boisterous din to subside. When the initial crescendo of clamorous questions had slowly descended to a pin drop silence, Harsha cleared his throat. Ankit, Anij, Balu and Rahul waited with bated breath for the big news. Without warning, they could hear the blaring "Nakku Mukka nakku mukka" breaking the stillness. Balu's mobile was ringing very loudly on the window sill. He just brushed the call off with a nonchalant shrug. "Bro. Enough of this suspended suspense. Who kissed whom?. Tell us quick" bellowed Ankit. "I was walking on this lovely night" started Harsha when Rahul interrupted him sharply like a biker cutting in front of another vehicle "Get to the point, you motherfucker!". Sensing that he might be beaten to pulp, Harsha apologetically muttered an apology and said " I was coming back from my walk. Then, I saw Swetha speaking and laughing with Sriram". Rahul's heart skipped a beat. His insides were churning and twisting like a coiled up reticulated python. He was waiting for that dreaded news to reach his ears. Harsha continued "There was another couple. Kumar and Ayesha. You guys know right?". Everyone nodded their heads. "Dude. Tell me what Sri and Swetha were doing" chipped in Rahul. "Ah ha! I knew it. Bugger. I  always smelled a rat at your animosity with Sri. We will deal with you later" came a mischievous reply from Anij. "Dude. Continue the story" yelled Rahul. "You guys keep on talking and not let me finish. What can I do"? replied Harsha softly. "CONTINUE" came the unanimous murderous response from everyone. "Okay okay. I was entering the doorway when the power went off. Then I heard a giggle and a soft voice was saying do not come near me". Rahul felt that his heart was in his mouth now. "Then suddenly, I heard a swift 'pachak' sound. At that instant, the power came back and I saw Swetha going back towards her corridor smiling and blushing at Sri". "Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo". Rahul was screaming at the top of his voice.