ExpertDabbler

Can someone explain why it should take one hour to travel a distance of 6 kms?

Let’s say you are visiting Chennai for the first time. You know no one here. No friends, relatives, creditors, debtors. You simply took the old rickety SETC (route no:137) from Madurai the previous night hoping to make it big in this bad city. The bus is about to stop near Guindy Kathipara. Where will you go first? Will you head towards the Anna Samadhi because that’s what they show on TV whenever they talk about Chennai? How about Koyambedu because that is the last stop for the bus and that you need not decide right now? Will you go to Ramapuram because that’s where Idhaya Deivam once lived?

Where do you go first?

Confusing isn’t it? There’s no right or wrong. There’s none to guide you. And yet you have to choose the best in the world given the circumstances. And that’s precisely how I feel right now. Lots of touch and go in lots of things. No heuristics to fall back. No God to pray. None to guide. And yet I have to choose the one route among lots of options in life. Suddenly life is offering me too many options and these are as challenging as constraints. Choice paradox, oh yeah tell me about it!..

http://expertdabbler.com/2006/12/19/vazhkaye-alai-poley/

A similar post like this 18 months back! Back to square one…

I was browsing through India’s best known online marketplace for tanjore paintings. I felt the amount quoted was too high. I maybe wrong though. I remember my MD in my first company talking to tanjore painting suppliers for Rs.1500 back in 2001-2.

But there are not many options and sellers to check out in the site anyway. A monopoly is always good for the business but bad for the consumer.

The ancient Indian arts and crafts makers should be taught how to use internet to better their own businesses. Why do we wait for the Ambanis and the Sam Waltons to bridge the gap between the consumers and the farmer / artist/ craftsman? And yet crib that they are killing the small traders?

What have the small traders done to learn to leverage this medium. Why the internet still perceived to be only for the IT pro?
The internet is nothing if not a great leveler. Fundamental yet low cost initiatives like these will be far more potent than writing cheques to NGOs who claim to protect our heritage, culture, idly, vadai, sambhar etc from foreign invaders. The language is not as great a barrier as it was two years ago. The millions of thamizh blogs stand testimony to that fact more than anything else.

Its not so okay to crib about inadequate internet infrastructure and sit on our bum, we do not have road infrastructure either but still we do make use of whatever pathetic infrastructure we have and travel, right?

All said and done, the days of regional language/local internet marketplaces and portals is not far off. This is my hunch.

We might as well have a social networking site where Muniyaandi and Palaniswamy, both small retailers, scrap each other through through their mobile phones about daily vegetable sales, Poppy seed (kasa kasa) being more expensive than cashew nut (its a fact btw), bad weather spoiling the tomatoes in koyambedu market etc. Why not??

nadhaswaram, originally uploaded by expertdabbler.

Who is taller, the nadaswaram or the kid?
The junior was just mimicking the senior. The senior was doubly happy, for obvious reasons

Back from yet another wedding. I should have around 500 wedding pictures by now. Not all of them are, ‘look straight, say cheers!’ kinda snaps. Some are decidedly off-beat and more documentary-ish. Right now the tilt is more towards Tam-brahm weddings. I am looking forward to shoot more mallu and gult weddings. Some chettiar, pillai weddings would not hurt as well. More variety the better. More secular the better too. There are good thinking and reasons behind every community’s rituals, right?

Will South Indian weddings be the same fifty years from now? To what extent have we evolved in the last fifty years in weddings? Who will know the meaning and relevance of the current customs and rituals in say, 2045?
As of now, among my relative circles, there are some specialists ladies who can be safely described as ‘All in all azhagu raanis’ as far as rituals and proceedings go. They know the process A to Z. What if those people get old and/or pass away in another 20 years? I do not see any mentoring happening. The daughters and sons of those “All in all” types are busy with project meetings and conf. calls etc. They could not care less about rituals and customs. Personally, i am sub-zero in my community customs.

I think a ready reckoner in the form of a book or documentary will come in very handy in future to those who care about.

Having said that, I will never forget one of my friend’s wedding album. I was seeing through and I felt something was amiss there.

“Nalla dhaan irukku, aana ennamo kurayudhu da!”

“Ah.. adhu vandhu album fulla naanum en wife mattum dhaan iruppom”

“Oh yeah!.. yenda apdi?”

“Mothamave 10 per dhaan marriage ku..Marriage enga nadandhudhu theriyumo?”

“Enga da”

“Enga veetu hall la dhaan!”

Ahaa! this was “wedding from home” variety. Poor guy, the girl’s side vehemently opposed this marriage. So he did it in-house in true kollywood style. It’s another matter that no amount of wedding ready reckoners will impress this guy. He is the SME ( subject matter expert ) in registered marriages in my friend’s circle

Watched 21 - loved it.
Those who are looking for a good veg. restaurant can also check out ‘Rasam’ a Sri Krishna Sweets venture in Purasawakkam.
Use just dial for more info

But the highlight of yesterday’s outing was the rain and my struggles to come home late night. Anna Salai is the only motorable road in Chennai on a rainy day. We are heading for adventurous times.

–edited at 6:08 PM, 20-Jun-2008 for consistency–

Lot of folks I know are overjoyed when they get the all too sacred L1 visa stamping in their passports. But there are finer prints which are consistently overlooked in their focus to reach the dream land. I thought let me dish out a few truths.

Lets say you, aka PK aka Pushpavanam Kuppuswamy, are going to US on L1. Let’s also assume you are being offered a compensation of USD 75000 PA for a job in Sunnyvale, CA. Kuppuswamy has two kids and one wife (fortunately) who go along with him.

From whatever I have gathered, the key things which is going to make or break your stay in US are as follows:

- Which state you get to stay – this has a tax implication
- Can your wife work on L2 – challenge when there are two kids to manage.

Trust me, getting $75000USD in a place like bay area is barely okay. Not the same 75000×40 = Rs.30 lakh INR equivalent.

You will contribute rather generously to the California state exchequer (30% tax – app. $22500 USD per year ). Your two bedroom apartment rent will cost a neat 1500 USD per month.($18000 USD per year). Your monthly expenses, no matter how stingy you are, will cost you $1000USD. Add EMIs for car which is a necessity and this could again push you back by $300USD per month, not to mention gas which goes for around $4+ USD nowadays. Add the cost of bringing up children and you are left with a potential savings of $15000 USD per year. In other words you will have a slightly better lifestyle than going out with your MADE IN US thiruvodu in Sunnyvale station every morning. But only slightly. And all you would manage is the rough equivalent to a savings of Rs 6,00,000 in India per year.

There are other costs involved for which you cannot calculate the cost in dollar terms – You have to really bend your back to the manager, no matter how stupid he is, who helped you get L1.You have to be content with talking to your near and dear ones in India over phone. Unlike India, you cannot shift your employer in the next six months, or even in the next six years unless he shows mercy on you and decides to sponsor for green card. Oh yeah, be prepared to do onsite coordinator job which means folks coming to office in India at 10.30AM IST will call your mobile and will write a lengthy mail keeping everyone in CC if you do not pick up.

My 2 cents is that you can save quite a portion of that Rs.6 lakhs per annum amount by staying put in India, without the intangible costs involved.

Of course there are some rewards like being able to see new places, new culture, a relative stress free day to day life. L1 can still work if you are offered a job in some other state where the cost of living is low. It should work fine if you are single. It can work wonders for your bank balance if your spouse can find a job in L2. This is not a post to discourage someone from going to work in USA. But know what you are getting into.

PS: My dear Bay area readers, please correct me if there are any sol kutram or porul kutram

No parking, originally uploaded by expertdabbler.

Needless to say, i suck at candids!
Having said that, taking a candid is never easy. It has to have just that right kind of ‘Ull kuthu’ to make it interesting.

My salutes to folks like ravages, keerthi and velachery balu who manage much better candids.

8th Chennai photowalk in Pondy Bazaar

A remarkable James Bond film with a touch of David Copperfield.

The basic reason why someone would make a movie is when he has a compelling story to say. Here the primary reason why this movie was made is because the guy had to be there in every single shot. He had a producer who could spend like Tsunami and a top notch technical crew to back him and so this movie.

I mean I can see the hero’s effort and suffering and all that in doing ten roles. But tell me the frickin reason why he had to do ten roles? And why not the parts essayed by Santhana Bharathi or P Vasu or for that matter, Asin?

Probably he had solved this like he would an operation research problem. Minimizing for the constraint of presence in every shot for the given screenplay would’ve given him an answer of at least ten roles. And so he did ten roles. The rule of thumb is like this: If you cannot recognize some face in the movie, you know who it is!

Somewhere in the title, some one gets credit for story.That was meant to be a joke. Don’t get fooled by that. If you know Mahavishnu the saviour and Tsunami you have the story.

The screenplay moves at break neck speed leaving you with no time to think. And thats the biggest plus point of the film. Thats why after all the fuss and blog posts like this, the movie is very watchable.

But alas a fast screenplay does not a great movie make. And this movie could’ve easily been a great movie if only he had cut at least five characters, given the characters some more depth, attemped a reason as to why those had to be done by the same person and made the screenplay a bit more realistic.

I could sense dialogues right at the end - “Naan kadavul illai nu sollave illai.. Kadavul Irundhirundha innum nalla irukume nu sonnen…” But some other dialogues are more statements from the actor the person than dialogues from characters.

Among the characters, Balram Naidu and Rangaraja Nambi stand out. I could feel bhakti and defiance when Hariharan renders “Om Namo Narayananaaaya” in the background. The humor in Balram Naidu makes him likeable.

The expressions when Vincent Bhuvaraghavan and Rangaraja Nambi drown is just top class. The details to body language and dialogue delivery are all spot on. He is not what he is without those. But we know about those ever since the days of Velu Nayakkar some twenty years back. I don’t want to praise a movie because the actor had great attention to details or can endure six hours of make-up. It should cascade down from the characters which in turn should derive from the story. Without those it looks the idea is not very different from the way K Bhagyaraj took stills like Vakeel, Doctor and graduate in ‘Rasukutti’.

Nevertheless its a remarkable movie from a technical standpoint. The first and last thirty minutes of the movie HAD to be watched in wide screen. Forget Tubetamil. Three or more characters performed by the same actor in a single scene never looked this natural in my knowledge. This is a landmark film in that sense.

Kudos to the entire technical crew for bringing to life a movie like this. And if at all this movie fails, very unlikely given the way the audience watched open-mouthed the rolling credits with the actors’ make-up et al, you know whom to blame.

And oh yeah, its N times better than last year’s Shanker’s debacle of a movie or the more recent Indiana Jones. Its another matter that comparing with films like that is a deserving insult.

Po Po Kutti Priya (read as pozhudhu pogaadha Kutti Priya) tagged me for eight facts that people should know about me to attain moksha. I was vetti too and so decided to do this tag for the welfare of mankind.

Facts

#1 - Popular
I have been as popular as the dance artist in the first row behind Vijay third from the left corner in any famous Kuthu song.
Name less, face less. I can be easily missed in any crowd situation. ‘Oh nee inga dhaan irukiya?’ is common to me especially during school times.

#2 - Details
I suck in details. But am kinda okay with the seeing the big picture. For e.g don’t expect me to focus on a beautiful woman’s feet

#3 - People
I can be in touch with people regularly for a long time if I want to. I can also deliberately avoid some people for years if I want to. Well what I am to you depends whether you are a friend or a relative.

#4 - Secrets, tips and tricks
About a subject will always be a secret - safely put away in my blog. Its slightly different with people though - broad casted to the minutest detail in my mind.

#5 - Conversations
I am great at opening conversations with strangers. Like I would smile at the person when she is not looking. And unconsciously turn away when she is trying to smile at me.

#6 - Dosa
It’s easy to kidnap me. Actually you need not. Just promise me you will give dosas with different chutneys, spicy thogayals and Podi. Give me the address and the time. I will be there.

#7 - Discipline, Studies and Exams
I love exams just as the way Mark Twain loved quitting smoking. I am very disciplined - like reading Osho the day before exams et al. That keeps my love going.

#8 - Women
I love a woman’s mind. Especially love the way women ( mom and some friends so far) give you options. Its like having two radio buttons, both with the same values and you MUST choose one.