ExpertDabbler

- That I can run. I am kinda surprised that I could run around 2.5km despite being overweight. I am sure most of the folks who confine to walking can graduate to jogging. Crossing five minutes is the hardest. It gets better after that. My friend Madhu keeps pointing me to the Chennai runners website. I don’t want to see that till I hit five km

- Adobe comes with lot of options to edit and manage RAW files. Long way to go for me:(

- The more I think about Nanganallur, the more I realize that it is a fantastic suburb for the middle class makkals in Chennai. There is a temple every 100 mts. It is well connected by trains, and almost walkable distance from the airport (if you are prepared to walk 4 kms that is). It has two star hotels nearby if you are in a mood to spend. Cost of living is also relatively cheaper in Nanganallur than areas like Velachery. All IT bus routes touch this place one way or the other. An evening walk to Anjaneyar temple is part of the routine for locals I guess. The temple is crowded all the time. Two rounds of that ghee dripping prasadam there should take care of your dinner needs if you are not in a mood to cook. What more do you want?

Now I know why Keerthi commented to my post on digital trash with a reference to Wall-E.

I am not the most sophisticated cinema rasigan in general. I need someone who would lend his two cents on the whys and how of the story besides sharing his Nachos (spicy side item was better) for anything more sophisticated than the formula stories I grew up on. This would also go as my first full length-animation cum science fiction movie in the last ten years. The genre, the idea and the characters were new to me.

Wall-E still works despite my background mentioned above. For starters, there is never a dull moment. Wall-E, the title trash carrying robot is as humane as a robot would ever get. There is a love story, there is a villain, and hey there is even a side-kick. The director does not explain everything but I guess it’s not possible in a film of this sort.

First impression: Good. But I have a strong feeling I am gonna like this film even better after second and third impressions.

Worldwide Kisukisu headlines

- One important cabinet minister from TN holding a very important portfolio, who also goes by the name of a famous Shiva temple venue is all set to be replaced by a former RBI governor who goes by the name of Lord Vishnu. Good riddance!

- The shares of a well known bangalore based mid sized software company which is into embedded communications solutions is likely to go up as the SAT has approved its buy back plans. It is well known that the shares of the company plummeted from 550-600 in Dec’07-Jan’08 to as low as Rs.84 in Feb ‘08.

- The worldwide well known web search company launched yet another product which lets people see websites. The product as such is lightweight and cool. But two years back, people said they are going to kill PayPal with their checkout product, now Firefox and IE is expected to be killed with the latest offering. But all this killing talk seems to be just talk. As such the company believes in Ahimsa and haven’t killed anything yet, not even the spam ridden Yahoomail.

- Desi ka pundits portal had a piece about how a galeej Times news paper of India had stolen yet again a photograph from Flickr. The photographer cum blogger, like all bloggers including this writer had lamented about ethics, copyright violations blah blah in his blog. Not sure if the Windows and the Adobe Photoshop the blogger used was an original one or pirated.
Bloggers in general are not exactly exemplary in respecting IP laws. In matters between MSM and bloggers, the issue is always big vs small, not fair vs. unfair.

Bloggers Kisukisu
- The taste of a young research minded blogger makes anyone say ada paavi. The video he sent recently is actually (A)g(h)ory.
- Another blogger is celebrating his b’day today.
- One blogger remains the ultimate source of all news and information - from a shop lifting case by an Indian H1/Li junta in Tampa, Florida to the premiere of Slumdog Millionaire in LA, he knows it all. Adengappa!

Looks like there are conflicting theories to all pressing issues including commodity futures trading and price rises, also called ‘Yooga vanigam’ in tamil.

For dummies, there are some politicians and intellectuals in Tamil Nadu who attribute commodity futures trading as the leading cause of price rises and inflationary conditions. Maruthuvar Ayya, and the left are examples of the anti-futures trading camp, which makes me get closer to the opposite camp quite naturally.

But they simply say that as a statement, as if like the causal relation has been as proven as ‘The sun rises in the east’. There is one columnist in Kumudham Reporter called Solai (or Cholai) who claims that had rice had not been banned from commodities futures trading, the price of rice per kg. would’ve reached Rs. 100. I am not sure where and how he comes to this conclusion. He does not explain that, maybe we should believe him just like the way we believe Kalaam on N-deal? On the other hand, articles like these give a different view. Yaarai namburadhu?

If commodities futures trading had led to price rises, how come there were no price rises in all the countries where it had been in vogue all along? When did commodities futures trading come into effect in other countries? Is the correlation valid only for India?

I am not very clear on this issue, but from what I read, I am more inclined to the view taken by the Sen committee and in opposition to the view expressed by the maruthuvar ayya camp and the Solai camp whose ideas are decidedly governed by Leftist ideologies. Any pointers welcome.

Well, the N-deal has took an interesting turn. Looks like the US is intent on defacing all those who backed this deal as usual.
Check out here for more. Looks like a classic case of how perceptions can differ even when two parties communicate in the same language.

I was one of those who thought that we should go for the deal. Not so sure now.

I was curious to know more about Ramanujar the moment I realized my current favorite Indira Parthasarathy had written about him.

The introduction to the book here made me even more curious and I have already ordered it. Nevertheless i just wanted to jot down my observations.

If Ramanujar had such a liberal and inclusive view of religion and society thousand years ago, why and how did we as a society lose the plot later on? That’s mysterious to me.

Also, I am not sure if any of the so-called social reformers in the recent past, radical or moderate, have any reference to Ramanujar in their expressions or works. That’s intriguing to say the least. If I am working on a agenda, is it not a sensible strategy to reuse my predecessor’s works, words and deeds which are in sync. with my agenda to augment my own points?

If social justice and equality was the end goal, and if that could be propagated by adapting Ramanuja and his teachings which is already accepted by the majority who believe in religion, why throw all that to the dustbin and talk atheism? Now I am not sure if Periyar’s idea of atheism is a smart one to attain social justice or whatever.

If believing in God is barbaric, saying God does not exist is equally barbaric too. Religion and the concept of God as a tool has worked very well for very long, my beliefs or non-belief be damned. What matters is whether they work or not in bringing solace to the people, not whether God’s existence can be proved. I read this perspective in Jeyamohan’s blog for the first time and it did make lot of sense to me. People always do what works for them in the long run. I now think that by talking atheism, the Dravidian leaders lost the plot completely, just like the way our Kollywood directors do time and again.

Contrast this to the way Christian missionaries propagate Christianity, they do not claim that all the wisdom and literature of ancient India are stupid. Rather they nowadays claim they are essentially Christian ideas as taught by St.Thomas. This may sound laughable now, it makes for much more subtle and persuasive communication in the long run.

I hope to read this book and see I. Pa has to say.

duel, originally uploaded by expertdabbler.

Title: Fathima

This duel happened in Thiruvotriyur temple

I think duel is apt enough for now.
If you think better, please let me know

‘Give a life’ was the theme in the messily conducted Chennai Marathon. 22 year old Santhosh obliged and gave his life.

Thanks to keerthi, I finished ‘Vendhu thanindha Kaadugal’ - my second I. Pa novel.

No other urban novel had such an impact on me in recent times. I am determined to read all of I. Pa as soon as possible.

BTW I. Pa has a blog. There is only one post. I would’ve missed it had he not mentioned that he is the author of ‘Nandhan Kadhai’