Cell-phone Etiquette

Cell-phone etiquette is really just a common courtesy. Most people today have a Mobile phone. In fact, many people can't imagine how they ever got along without a portable phone. However, many people also complain about cell phone users. People complain about other people loudly discussing personal matters in public places. They complain when cell phones ring in movie theaters and concert halls. They complain about people driving too slow, and not paying attention to where they are going because they are talking on a cell phone. And they complain about people walking around talking to people who aren't there.

Whenever a new communications technology becomes popular, it changes the way society is organized. Society has to invent rules for the polite way to use the new devices. Our social etiquette, our rules of politeness for cell phones, is still evolving.

Cell-phone etiquette apply to most public places. Always try to keep your phone ringer as low as possible or put your mobile phone on vibrate, so it does not distract the people around you. A good time to leave your phone at home, or at least in the car, would be at a funeral, wedding or some event along those lines.

Basic Cell phone etiquette rules include :

Switching it Off : Know when to turn it off or vibrate it. eg meetings, movies, worship, seminars, etc . Vibrate mode when in places where you can take a call, but don't want to disturb others.

Be Brief : When you get a call and you're with friends, keep the call short.

Permission : Often, it is correct etiquette to inform others at the beginning of the meeting that you are expecting an important call and get their permission.

Be Polite : Don't scream : speak in a lower-than-normal voice, you will be heard by the caller, and not others in the room

Don't Distract : Avoid talking where you may be distracting to others.

Driving : It is not only very dangerous, but also unlawful in most countries ( even India ) to drive & talk on your cell Phone

PS: I didn't compose this blog. I got this from a lesser renowned website

Rang De Basanti - A Movie Review

'This movie is one of the very best in the recent times' - this is my opinion. In this review I am not going to reveal anything about the story or how the director has executed the scenes. This blog is just for showering word of eulogy on the wonderful crew which has given one of the best movies in recent times.

First good thing about this movie is that this is a director's movie and not the actor's movie. This movie doesn't have high decibel villain or aye aye hero. Still it manages to enthrall the audiences in big way. Something that directors like Ramana and Perarasu has to learn. This movie is classical, at the same time an entertaining one.

I will review in the descending order of their performances.

Dialogue writer and Lyricist : Prasoon Joshi. He is impecabble in this movie. Both his lyrics and dialogues are beyond words. Just for his performance itself, one can watch this movie. Whatever you get from other crew members are just bonus. If you can understand Hindi, you will surely enjoy his work. To me, he sets up the tone for this movie.

Director : Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra. After seeing this movie, everyone will start to respect this man. Today, most of the directors largely believe in one wrong philosophy about direction. Direction = Great Camera work + Fast Editing + Catchy Music. But it is not the case. These misguided directors can learn a lot from this man who looks to be a good prospect. Infact the story is simple which we can predict easily. But he took the movie to the next level with his direction. Hats off to him

Actors and Actress : Aamir, Madavan, Siddharth, Kunal Kapoor, Sharman Joshi, Atul Kulkarni, Soha Ali Khan, Alice Patten, Waheeda Rahman. Every one in this movie has done a neat job. Aamir, infact is more a supporting role than an out and out hero. For that itself we have to applaud Aamir's guts and non egoist nature for letting others act. He, as an actor, did a wonderful job and came out with full marks as usual. Siddharth is the surprise package in this movie. He can be considered as the hero of this movie. He is very convincing and we wonder whether the same Siddharth acted in the film 'Boys'. Sharman Joshi, depicted like a MTVish boy, is the one who makes the audiences laugh and he is very very lively. Kunal Kapoor and Atul Kulkarni showed immense maturity in acting. Madavan, as guest appearance, did his job very well. Soha Ali khan, as Madavan's romance, is perfect in each and every expressions. Alice Patten, the foreigner, is comfortable with the Hindi pronunciation as well the screen presence. For a change, in Indian Film industry, both of the two young women have acted and didn't do anything silly or unnecessary. Waheeda Rahman, as Madavan's mother has nothing to do other than crying for her son. Every actor has delivered the dialogue with panache and style. This requires a special mention.

Music : A R Rahman. I have to feel sorry for my favorite A R Rahman. Inspite of giving some good music for both songs and BGM, which are very catch and situational, his effort is over shaded by the director, lyricist and by the actors which is a 'blessing in disguise' kind of thing. All his songs are very meaningful, thanks to Prasoon Joshi and BGMs enhances the scene very well. My favorite song is 'Rooba Roo', Title number and Patashala. Infact he got more applause than Aamir when his name appeared on the screen. People really recognize him and his music very well.

Camera work and Editing are brilliant, mainly in the second half. Kamalesh Pandey takes care of Story and Screenplay which is simple and flawless. Finally we have thank UTV and Ronnie Screwvala for producing this majestic movie.

Minus : First you have to wear a powerful microscopic specs to find an hole in this movie. There are two minus points in this movie and both of them we are minuscule. One the first half is little bit slow and in two places the BGMs were little bit loud. Other than these two, I can't find one.

Final Say : Great movie which is not going to leave the theaters and audiences without trace. Surely going to knock the door for many awards for dialogues, direction, performances, music and several others. 'Rang De Basanti' meaning we want to be colorful that is we want to achieve something special - this is the definition given by the director in an interview to NDTV and he has achieved that with the help of a talented crew. At the same time, how he is going to cope up with the pressure, infact expectation, when he releases the next movie. An Himalayan Task

The Hindu say 'It can't get better than this.' I completely agree with this.

See the Longest Painting in the world!!!

Tennis Quiz

1) Tennis Jargon

a) Alley - The area on each side of the singles court that enlarges the surface area for doubles play.

b) Golden Grand Slam - Aus, French, Wim, US + Olympics

2) Nick Name

a) Pistol - Pete Sampras
b) Rocket - Rod Laver

3) Relation

a) He was the quater finalist of 1981 and 1987 US Open. His father was also a great tennis player. Who are they? - The Krishnans

b) Grounds and Grand Slams : If Roland Garros represent French Open, what represent US and Aus Opens.(Current name also mention the old name.)

Aus Open - Now it is Melbourne park. Earlier it was Flinders park. Before that it was known as Kooyong Lawn Tennis Club
US Open - Flushing Meadows. Earlier some West Tennis Club.

4) Who am I

a) We played the longest Wimbledon finals. Between us we have won 8 Wimbledon titles. Who are we ? - Bjorn Borg and John McEnroe

b) I have won all Grand slam except wimbledon. I have won 94 men's singles titles.(A record) I was world number one for 270 weeks a record then.Who am I? - Ivan Lendl

5) Tough ones

a) Why we consider Aus Open, French Open, Wimbledon and US Open as grand slam and why not other opens?
These four nations won the first four davis cup titles. That is the reason

b) Who held the record for most number of wimbledon titles before sampras? - William Renshaw won 7 titles

Cricket Trivia

1) Following cricketers named their respective sons after their favorite cricketers.Who are their favorite cricketers?
a) Sunil Gavaskar - Rohan Kanhai
b) Bishen Singh Bedi - Sunil Gavaskar

2) Nicknames :
Tubby - Mark Taylor
Unit - Mathew Hayden

3) Who am I?
a) I scored 256 in a test match but was dropped for the next test match.Who am I?
- Geoff Boycott. The reason for being dropped was that he batted too slow.
b) My highest score in my career was 299 and that was against against SL. Even my brother has played for my country. My cousin is making waves in holly wood. Who am I? - Martin Crowe

4) Relation :
a) Brothers : Three brothers representing the same country. (Hint: One is the 'Real' little master of cricket, another made debut at the age of 15(a record, then), another is an successful opener). Who are they? - R they the Mohamed brothers from Pakistan. Hanif, Mustaq and Sadiq

b) Cousins : Both are from Down Under. Both represented different countries. One has acted as International cricket match referee . Another person has helped the Indian left arm fast bowlers in the recently concluded Australian series. Who are they? - John Reid and Bruce Reid

5) Bradman Questions :
a) Who is known as Black Bradman? - George Headley
b) What was Sir Don Bradman's average in 'Bodyline Series'? Name the famous english caption and the english bowler. - Avg was somewhere in the 50s. Captain - Douglas Jardine, Bowler : Harold Larwood

A small poem on Sania Mirsa

I wrote this one after her drubbing to Martina Hingis in Sunfeast Open in Kolkatta this year

"She bought a Bread stick
then a sweet delicious Bagel
for a grand feast under the hot sun
in the Fort William amidst the
bell ring of cycle rickshaws
with the blessing of 10 hand God
from a lady from 'honeymoon' land"

Meaning of this poem:

She bought a Bread stick - In Tennis jargon, Winning a set by 6-1 is called Bread Stick (because of shape)
then a sweet delicious Bagel - In Tennis jargon, Winning a set by 6-0 is called Bagel (a kind of sweet similar to Donuts)
for a grand feast under the hot sun - Sun Feast open
in the Fort William amidst the - Calcutta or Kolkata is previously known as Fort William.
bell ring of cycle rickshaws - Calcutta is famous for Cycle Rickshaw
with the blessing of 10 hand God - Calcutta Durga(Kaali)
from a lady from 'honeymoon' land - Switzerland (and the lady is Martina Hingis)

Recipe Time

Courtesy: T Vidhya Raj, my office colleague

Adda Pradhaman (Payasam):

This is a Kerala dessert made from Adda - a combination of rice and lentils.

Ingredients Required:

Ada - 200 gms
Jaggery - 750 gms
Ghee - 200 gms
Cardomom - 50 gms
Coconut - 3
Raisins/Cashew - As Required

Method of Preparation:

• Boil water and add Jaggery. Melt Jaggery(It just needs to melt). Filter the water for any unwanted residue and keep aside.
• Boil water and add the ada to it. Boil it till ada is cooked soft. Strain after 10 minutes and keep aside.
• (Ada may stick to each other, so pour a little cold water through it and strain and keep aside.)
  
• Mix the melted Jaggery with the cooked ada and stir for ten minutes in low fire.
  
• Take two extracts of the coconut milk. First extract would be the pure coconut milk without adding water while grinding. Second extract is with water added to the mixture while grinding. Now, add the second extract to the above mixture.
• Add Cardamon powder for flavor.
• Boil this until it becomes thick. Take it off the fire and add the first extract of milk.
• Fry the cashew and raisins and ghee and garnish the payasam

Yummy!!! Ada Pradhaman is ready to serve.

Rajni Trivia

This trivia is related only to 'Padma Bhushan' Rajinikanth who turns 58 today.

Rajni and Numbers:

1. In the film Thee, SS wore a metal plate which had the number 786. What was the number he wore in Uzhaipaali?
2. Whats the connection between the number 4995 and SS (Clue: related to a movie released in mid 90s)
3, Whats the connection between the number 7465 and SS (Clue: related to a movie released in early 80s. Latha Rajnikanth will not forget this movie)

Rajni and Character Names

4. What is Rajini's father's name in in the movie 'Velaikarran'?
5. In two movies, Rajni's character name is his original name ie.. 'Rajini'. What are those movies?
6. What is Rajni's character name in the movie Sri Ragavendra before He (Sri Ragavendra) adopted an extreme ascetic life?

Rajni and Colleagues

7. Which actress has paired with SS most number of times?
8. In how many movies did Rajni and Sivaji had acted together?

Rajni and Kamal

9. Which actress has shared the screen with Rajni as heroin has never shared the screen with Kamal as heroin or as character artist (no dubbing movies)
10. Which actress has shared the screen with Kamal as heroin has never shared the screen with Rajni as heroin or as character artist (no dubbing movies)

Special thanks to Yahoo Rajni groups for lending me some interesting questions.

Rajinikanth - A Small Profile about Superstar

Swara Bedam. That is how all it started. Really an inauspicious way to start.

Rajni's career can be bifurcated as before 'Mannan&Thalapathy' and after 'Thalapathy'. In the first phase, one can witness the real Rajni where he played a normal hero . Yes, there were few exceptions where he presented a South Indian version of 'angry young man' roles which were nothing but the dubbing of Big B's super hit films in the north.

Billa - Don
Ram Robert Rahim - Amar Akbar Antony
Thee - Deewar
Padikkathavan - Khuddar
Mr. Bharath - Trishul
Velaikkaran - Namak Halal
Panakkaran - Laawaris
Dharmathin Thalivan - Kasme Vaade

Most of them were huge hits in Tamil too. But these were movies in which Rajni acted and not made for him. At the same, he has given some exceptional performance in that period. He delivered a stellar performance as 'Iyyampettai Arivudainambi Kariaperumal Chandran' in Thillu Mullu and he continued his work as a 'reckless rich man's son' in Thambikku Entha Oorru, as an 'Absent minded professor' in Dharmathin Thalaivan, as a 'slum prankster' in Guru Shishyan - a film which was completed within 30 days and my personal favorite is 'Rajni-Goundamani' combo in Mannan. All these movies proved the natural sense of humor that he had. If it is 'Sivaji' Ganesan for historical role then as a 'Sadist', Rajni is the best. His 'Parattai' role in 16 Vayadhinille is beyond time and he didn't stop there. His role in Avargal, Moonru Muduthu - in my opinion his best performance along with Parattai, Gayathri, Pollathavan and Netri Kann bolster my opinion. He gave a contrast but classy performance in Mullum Malarum, Jhonny and in Sri Raghavendra. He gained the attention of female audiences through some - what I will call it as a 'Betrayed by siblings or friends' - roles in 6il -60varai, Padikaathavan, Annamalai, Dharma Doorai and Bhairavi. He never felt ashamed to use dupe in the stunt sequences. His belief is that if the final product is good, people - especially the kids - will accept and another reason being that if the hero gets hurt it will stall the entire proceedings.

His second part is more of directors making stories to suit his image. But if the people are happy with this trend and every movie is going to make a business of 40C who will complain and it is not Rajni's fault. In the first, he was like 'Uthsava moorthy' where he was able to do different roles and in the latter part, he is like a Moolavar where he is cemented in the same place (here role) by the people.

Reason behind Rajni's success is that he always delivers 'Entertainment without vulgarity' movies and he never targets a particular set of audiences. Today's young heroes can learn a lot from Rajni and Kamal. They didn't reach this level overnight. First and foremost they had skill and the zeal for the profession. They were ready to toil hard. At the same time they were lucky to have directors like KB, Mani, Barathiraja and Mahendran. They had different styles and they gave movies with new flavor and didn't try to imitate their superstars (MGR and Sivaji). I feel today's heroes are trying to imitate Rajni and Kamal a lot and they expect fame within a short period which will never happen. They can take some lessons from these two great actor's life, but they should have their ownness.

Art of Fielding

'Catches win Matches' a very famous quote in cricket.

Fielding is one of the three important aspects of cricket. One peculiar thing about fielding is that a player can master fielding through sheer practice while batting and bowling require some inborn talent. A player will never become a decent fielder without practice and hard work. While batting and bowling require continuous concentration, fielding requires a different type of concentration. Aussie legend Ian Healy has explained this one convincingly. He, in his book, has stated that a player can concentrate only for 2 hrs/day. After that concentration level will start to diminish. So the player should have the capacity to spread this 2 hrs over 7 hrs - a day's playing duration in a test match. For that he should know to take respite between balls, overs and sessions. He should know to relax himself. He says that he came to this conclusion after doing some study for a period of time.

Problem with fielding is that most of the times it doesn't cost (may the player's place in the team) the fielder himself rather costs the bowler and in turn costs the team. Who can forget the 'contribution' of our Parthiv 'Butter Hands' Patel in Steve Waugh's farewell test and in the one dayers that were held in India. All the time the casualty was Murali Karthik. Parthiv missed the crucial stumping of 'Tugga' of Murali Karthik ,who went on to save the test match with a brisk 80 odd. On the whole he missed 3 stumping and 2 catches of Murali Karthik (alone). If he had not muffed up those chances, Murali Karthik would have become a match winner at least for a short period of time and it would have improved his confidence. But now both Murali Karthik and 'Butter' Patel has lost their place in the team.

Now let us see some of the famous fielders in the history of cricket.

Slip Catching: To win a test match, a team has to get 20 wickets. Almost 40%-60% of the chances will occur behind the wicket and to convert those chances one should have a strong slip cordon. Most famous slip fielders are from the 'Down Under'. It is also one of the reason why they dominate the international scene consistently. To be a good slip fielder, one should have a soft hands and should allow the ball to come rather than dashing toward the ball. Sir Walter Hammond, from England, was considered to be the first best slipper. Aussie had Bobby Simpson, Greg Chappell, Mark Taylor, Mark Waugh, Martin Love (Played only one test but has more than 100 caches in the domestic circuit. A clone of Mark Waugh). Big Mac from South Africa was a safe bet. 'Beefy' Botham was an aggressive slip fielder who stood very close to the batsmen even to the fast bowlers.

Fielding inside circle: This is the area where one can save runs and create confusion between the batsmen. To do this, one has to be very agile and nimble on their feet and should possesses a good throw. Reflex is an important criteria here.

Joel Garner (Gully), Viv Richards (Mid wicket), Roger Harper (on his own bowling) - known for their reflexes.
Herschelle Gibbs (Covers), Clive Lloyd (Covers), Derek Randall (Point), Chapman (Gully), Chris Harris (Backward Point), Roger Harper (on his own bowling) - has the ability to stop runs and take some great catches.
Allan Border (Mid wicket), Ponting (Point), Viv Richards (Mid wicket), Roger Harper (on his own bowling) -has the knack of hitting the stumps.

One ironical thing in the above list is Joel Garner. He is 6'11" tall and he would make some diving stops and had taken some fantastic catches in the Gully area.

Close Catching: This is India's zone. We can proudly say that most of our close catching fielders are very good in all the four areas - Slips, Forward Short Leg, Silly Point and in Backward Short Leg - but none better than Eknath Solker. He, without any fear or protection, stood for the famous spin quartet and had taken 14 great catches for Bishen Bedi alone. When I mean 14 great catches I means 14 life threating catches. Infact Bishen once said the those 14 wickets should be added to Solkar's tally and not to his. He was well supported by Wadekar, Venkat, Gavaskar. Four 'quality-variety' spinners along with these magnificent fielders around the bat posted a great threat to the opponent batsmen and was a treat for the spectators. Aussie opener David Boon tried his luck in the slip cordon without any success and was on the verge of losing his place just because of his inability to field.Then he took short leg position and performed extremely well in that area till his retirement.

Wicket Keepers: Wicket Keepers are like the third captain of the side and can be referred as Fielding captain. They, with their skill and confidence, can act as an energy tonic to all the drooping shoulders and at the same time can become a real villain. Most of the time, they have to perform a thankless job. Some of the renowned wicket keepers are Rodney Marsh, Ian Healy, Allan Knott, Farook Engineer, Syed Kirmani and currently Adam Gilchrist.

Deep Fielding: Fielding in deep requires a fast moving legs and a strong arms. Having good fielders in deep can curtail the run flow and, in some situation, can affect a runout or two. Dean Jones, Brett Lee, Kapil Dev, Patrick Patterson, Criag McDermott are some of the finest fielders in the deep.

All round Fielding: These fielders are just a treat for any captain. They are just captain's dream. You can put them in any position, they will perform. For these player, it doesn't matter whether they are in the deep or in the close catching or within the circle. They adapt marvelously and do their duty without any blemish. To my knowledge, best all round fielders are Mark Waugh, Sir Garfield Sobers, Azhar, Kapil Dev and Andrew Symonds.

Greatest of them all: Two players who can enter a team just for their fielding abilities are Jonty Rhodes and Colin Bland from South Africa. Why these two are so special? What make them superior over other great fielders? Just with their presence, they command respect from the batsman and has won many matches with their fielding ability alone.

First to Jonty Rhodes. Fittest cricketer till date. Excellent anticipation, great stop, good recovery and shy at the stumps. All in one motion. This is his mantra. Can maintain the same energy and intensity for the whole match and never commit any blunder as Gibbs did in the world cup semi finals. Who can forget the famous runout he did against Pakistan in Sydney to get Inzamam. He would easily save atleast 25 runs and has taken around 170 catches in both forms of cricket.

Next to Colin Bland. He was very tall when compared to Jonty Rhodes. Infact he was around 6'4". He was a better batsman than Jonty averaging around 50 in Test cricket. His specialty was to hit the stumps from point and even from the deep. Jonty is better than Bland when it comes to stopping and diving but Bland was way ahead of Jonty and others in hitting the stumps. He was referred as Fielding Bradman and 'The Great Eagle'. He was a great athlete and a superb fielder in the deep. He combined speed, perfect balance and a quite exceptional throwing arm, and thrilled spectators and intimidated opposing batsmen in equal measure. He performed a throwing exhibition at the request of Ted Dexter of England. He was asked to hit the stumps 10 out of 10 times and completed that exhibition successfully. Also he repeated the same effort in South Africa. His famous moment came when ran Ken Barrington and Jim Parks out in a test match at Lord's and South Africa won that match just because of his fielding. However his career terminated abruptly at Jo'burg against Australia when he crashed into the concrete boundary fence which resulted in a severe knee injury and he never returned to international scene after that.

Bottom line: 'Glue hand' cricketers always contribute to the team on crunch situation and will lift the moral of the team.

Guru Music Review

Album from Mani-Rahman combo will definitely stir up music lovers. This one is no exception from that. In one line 'This album is very good which will become great once the movie is released'. This has good lyrics, variety in tunes and different orchestration and most importantly life and feel in them. A special kudos to Gulzar for begetting these kind of lyrics especially for the song 'Jaage hain'. With the media sniffling the story line as Dhirubai Ambani's life, combined with this kind of meaningful songs, certainly the curiosity of the movie goers will be snowballed.

1. Barso Re – Shreya Ghoshal & Uday Mazumdar
Rain song. Will be picturised on Aishwarya Rai. Good catchy song sung very well by the 'always improving' Shreya. I can guaranteedly say that she has given here second hit with Rahman after 'Munbe Vaa' from SOL.

2. Tere Bina – AR Rahman, Chinmayee, Additional Voices – Murtaza, Qadir
Sufi based qawaali song. Best song in the album. Also the theme song of the movie. Nowadays Rahman surprises his fans through his voice regularly. He is improving a lot with every song. Good thing about his voice is that he is able emote very well when he sings. He also picks the correct song which will suit his voice. Days are not far away for the award jury to realize his voice potential.

3. Ek Lo Ek Muft – Bappi Lahiri, Chitra Additional Voices – Tanvi, Saloni, Boney, Jaidev
A peppy 'Bhang' song. A situational number by Bappi Lahiri. Mischievous lyrics by Gulzar. Immediately one can imagine a young Amithab dancing to this song. Let us see whether Small B is able to fill in Amithab's shoes and recreate the Bhang magic of his father???

4. Baazi Laga – Udit Narayan, Madhushree, Swetha, Bhargavee Additional Programming – Pravin Mani
In my opinion this is a weak link in the album. Has a strong 1980's hindi song flavor in it. But the story of the movie spans across decades (1950s to 1990s). So we need to ration our word till the movie is release. Mani, able director, 'could have asked/can use this as' a situational number.

5. Mayya – Maryem Toller, Chinmayee, Keerthi Programming & Additional Arrangements Ranjit Barot
Hip hop song for Mallika Sherawat. This is a Middle East song genre. Very peppy indeed. If properly picturized, it will become another 'Humma Humma' or another 'Hello Mister Ehtirkatchey'.

6. Ey Hairathe – Hariharan, Alka Yagnik Additional Voices – AR Rahman, Aslam Mohammed
A Ghazal song sung by the Ghazal king Hariharan. Initially it starts in the same way as 'Poong kodiyin punnagai' from Iruvar. May be because of the usage of Accordion. Very soothing song. Alka Yagnik adds more melody to Hariharan's. Additional Voice by AR Rahman needs a special mention.

7. Jaage Hain – Chitra , AR Rahman and Madras Choral Group
A motivating song. This song has four heroes. First Gulzar for his lyrics. He must be ready with a well ironed Sherwani to receive a lot of accolades from many award panel including the prestigious national award jury. Next is A R Rahman as a singer and Chitra for a wonderful rendition of the song. Then the musician Rahman for the arrangement. I feel this song is going to be the heart of the movie just like Bombay theme music..

Certainly worth a wait. In the making of a great album.