CSE = Cricket Stock Exchange

It wouldn't be Infosys and Wipro here at the CSE but Tendulkar's and Lara's. Formed by whizkids from IIT and IIM, the virtual cricket stock exchange will be on till the end of the Cricket World Cup 2007. Having started with the IPO's, it is all set to launch the secondary market operations from 11th March when the real battle in West Indies begins :-)

According to the developers, virtual cash will be allocated for every participant and each of them are expected to invest it rightly to make more money. It could be IPO, Cash or F&O. The same rules as in a real stock exchange but the essence is learning the basics (or even the advanced) of stock markets without losing money :o)

Saddening...

It was yet another Tuesday morning at the office till there were mild tremors felt during 11:50 AM, just before lunch. Almost everyone on the floor felt it, and sitting on 20th floor is no joke. The tremors lasted for about 30 seconds or so but were really frightful. We had been out for lunch and the roads were much crowded than it usually used to be and we found people talking on their mobiles about the tremors. Soon after, we were back at our office and a fire alarm went off causing a bit of a panic after we were asked to evacuate. It was then played down as a false alarm. Shortly after, we again felt mild tremors, atleast not as serios as earlier. It was then on news we found out that there were a two quakes in Indonesia and quite a few lives lost. Pretty sad day after a lot of partying last evening for a farewell.

Year of the Golden Pig!

the chinese new year holidays are just over here in singapore but the MRT's and roads do not indicate so. the crowd is still thin and slowly catching up after a long weekend though few I know are getting back to work only on monday. however, most of the businesses are reopening today, the 5th day of chinese new year, as it is believed to bring luck!

while pig year comes every 12 years, a golden pig year comes in only every 600 years, that adds all the more excitement and of course babies to one of the countries that has the lowest birth rate in the world!

Gong Xi Fa Cai!

burp!

not having packed lunch from home, i tagged along with a few other colleagues of mine who started for lunch. I thought we were going to Lau Pa Sat, the food court until one of my colleagues had other planes. we decided to go to The Soup Spoon. being a vegetarian, i was kinda reluctant till another colleague of mine assured there was plenty of choices for vegetarian. i assured myself and walked towards the outlet which was just past Lau Pa Sat opposite to our office.

I should say, the choice of vegetarian food was more than usual levels for a singapore restaurant. for the soup, i had to decide among Tangy Tomato with Basil, Velvety Mushroom Stroganoff, Meatless Minestrone Soup and Roasted Pumpkin with Caramelized Apple. Minestrone being my favorite, i apparently settled for with Falafel with Hummus wrap and an Iced Lemon Tea though there were choices of sandwich and salads.

I should say the food was awesome! Nothing more, Nothing less! Looking forward for another lunch / dinner to the soup spoon.

Bon Appétit!

Oh Dear!

With RBI hiking the CRR from 5.5% by a whole 50bps to 6%, the commercial banks in India are already scratching for options. The CRR is the cash reserve that all commercial banks will have to maintain with the RBI for their operations like lending and mobilizing deposits. The CRR, sadly does not attract any interest as a result the commercial banks will have to mobilise deposits to that tune, pay an interest to the depositors, and then obviously increase their lending rates.

The impact on the CRR hike definitely is not only on the stock markets as we have witnessed in the past few days with the banks uffering the most, but also in real life like performance of the banks, real estate, cement industry, steel, automobile sector and what not? A hike in lending rates, for home loans, which is already close to 12% by private sector banks is imminent and so are personal loans, auto loans, etc. This will definitely be a tool to curb the runaway inflation which stands at 6.5% currently but this will also put a check to the improving lifestyle of the commons.

The big question here is, was CRR hike the only way to curb inflation? Are we out of options? The answer, to my mind is NO! The government must have definitely put in its heads together to control exports of consumer goods and open up imports to ease the situation rather than hike CRR which now seems to have a bigger impact!

Strategy or Stupidity?

've been an ardent reader of the epaper editon of "The Hindu" since its launch a few months ago and became addicted to it after my move to Singapore. To compliment the idea, I should say its a wonderful service, especially for those who are away from Chennai (and India).

However, It came as a complete surprise to me (and a thousand others?) when I opened up the website as usual this morning and to my horror found that the epaper website was converted into a subscription based one. With heavy heart ;-) I had to digest the fact and then opened up the subscription charges page and was dumb struck at the pricing. A one year subscription is priced at INR 4000/- which is close to 3 times the print edition price!!!

I (maybe a thousand others as well!) simply could not understand whether there was any strategy involved or sheer stupidity in the pricing. With the booming internet usage and the lesser cost to reach out masses, the pricing should ideally have been the other way. I really wish someone can enlighten me on the reality behind such moves (!#$%^&*$%!%^)

A Real Performer!

Sunday morning, 4th Feb 2007, and as always I was hooked to the TV, flipping between the only two Tamil channels (Sun & Vijay) aired here in Singapore before my wife interrupted and wanted to watch 'Koffee with Anu' on Vijay TV which had Malayalam (and Tamil) film actor Jayaram and his wife Parvati as the guests for the show. For a chat / talk show that never had me or my wife glued to it ever before, this one was the most fantastic chat show's 've ever seen.

Jayaram is a real performer. His mimicry capabilities were incredible! His expressions like Sivaji Ganesan and Kamalahassan were too good. The most funniest part of the show was the hilarious narration of his honeymoon trip to Lakshwadeep. I just could not avoid my laughter whenever I think of it!

Again, narration of his friend, Thangappan during their stage performance days, Mammooty's description of their house, pulling his wife parvati during their visit to a cinema theatre in dubai were some of the awesome moments of the show. Definitely Jayaram and Parvati make a wonderful couple!

Definitely this episode has kept me on the watch for the future KWA shows. I heard (?) there is a Sathyaraj & Manivannan episode coming up. That should be an interesting contest, to see if it can topple Jayaram's performance in this one.

Tamizh Thanthuvangal

Some of my favorite Tamizh Thathuvangal from across the internet and mobile world;

1. Meenpidikaravangalai meenavanu sollalam....naye pidikearavangalai nayavanau solla mudiyuma?
2. Enathan oruthan gunda irundhalaum avanai thupakikula poda mudiyadu!
3. School testla bit adikalam,college testla bit adikalam...aana....blood testla bit adika mudiyuma?
4. Pongaluku govrnmentla leave kodupanaga...aana idli dosaiku kodupangala?
5. Kolamavula kolam poda mudiyum kadala mavula kadala poda mudiyuma?
6. Lifela onnumey ilana bore adikum.. thalayil onnumet ilana glare adikum!
7. Vazhai maram thar podum ...aana adhai vachu roadu poda mudiyuma?
8. Pant pottu muttipoda mudiyum aanaaa muttipottu pant poda mudiyumaa?
9. Irukkurappa enna dhaan complan, bournvita nu kudichalum sethadukkapram ellarukkum pal dhaan!
10. South India-la narthangai kidaikkum. Aaana, north India-la southangai kidaikuma?
11. Nee evlo periya paruppa irunthalum, unga veettu samayalukku paruppa kadaila than vanganum!
12. Yevalavu dhaan neechal therinjalum tumbler thannila neentha mudiyuma?
13. Ennathan naiku nalu Kaal irundhalum adhala kaal mela kaal pottu utkkara mudiyuma?
14. Ennathan karatela black belt vanginalum, naai thorathina odi dhaan aganum!
15. Ticket vangitu ulla poradu cinema theatre, Ulae poitu ticket vangaradu operation theatre
16. Mukkalila ukkaralam......... Naakalila ukkaralam......... Ana Thakkali la ukkara mudiyuma?
17. Train yenna thaan fasta ponnalum , Train oda kadaisee potti kadaiseeya thaan varum!
18. Bus la collector yae erinalum...mudhal seetu driveruku dhaan!
19. Aayeram irrunthalum...aayerathu onnu perusuthana?
20. Thookam vantha kanna moodalam, mmmm vanthi vantha vaaya mooda mudiyuma?
21. Files na utkaarndhu paakanum, piles na paarthu utkaranum!
22. Adayar anandha bhavan kilai annanagar la irukkalam, aana adayar aala marathoda kilai angay dhan irukkanum!
23. Yezhu parambaraikku ukkandhu saapida kaasu irundhalum, fast food kadaila ninnukittudhaan saapidanum!
24. Yennathan ahimsavathiya irundhalum chappathiya suttu dhaan sappidanum!

Jumbo Circus in Town?

Is Jumbo Circus in Town? naaah! Looking at this pic from The Hindu, one would tend to ask this but its School Time and this is the most common scene on Chennai Roads, though this one is a bit too much. 've seem 3 or 4 people commonly on motorbikes, but this one is a class apart. I wonder when the police and other transport officials look into such cases and clamp them down the way the auto fares are beng done at the moment...hmmm the wish list never seems to stop ;-)

brrrrr

its close to two weeks since we moved to the new office place, one of singapore's landmark buildings, in raffles and it certainly feels like sitting in a ice box / fridge. i guess the temperature set must be in negative! LOL its just that we've not had snow but definitely as cold as the snowcity in jurong east. one of my colleagues already calls this place a snow city!

it looks like we are working in colder regions of europe / canada, but i only wish i was really there ;-) outside the office, the place is a big oven!

Big Brother? nah...Big Business!

The "Big Brother" show in the UK had recently sparked off a racist row against Indians / Asians. The reality show had almost doubled its viewership in a couple of days after the controversy sparked off. Some of the sponsorships' pulled out soon but eventually, the show came under spotlight. I'd say its cheap publicity more than ignorance or racism. While it is true that sentiments of a lot of people have been hurt at this juncture, something serious will have to be done in setting up strict censorship boards or other boards to control tv shows rather than try to be reactive, diplomatic, point fingers, blah!

Latest Info as on 29th Jan> Shilpa is the Queen! Won big brother with an overwhelming votes of 63%.

Orkut yet?

I registered myself for orkut, a google service that has been existent for quite sometime now. I did that after my cousin, yegu, had sent me repeated invitations to view / join. I was'nt much impressed or to tell the truth could not understand what it was all about before I said to myself, what the heck, let me give it a try.

First looks, the concept is very interesting and nice. It looks like i was the last to sign up for this given the number of communities and users in it ;-) there's a community for almost everything one could think of be it date of birth, year of birth, schools, colleges, work place, etc etc.

I heard it is addictive, from another source, (thanks senthil) and would endorse that. Maybe orkut needs to advertise so(!!!)...lol coz with just 2 days into it, i am already missing it without any access to it from office, eeeeks!

net net, it is yet another site with a different concept compared to that of the groups that can hook on lot people...via friends network, blah blah!

as expected...

finally, MK had give way to the revision of the earlier announced pricing of tickets for multiplexes in chennai. as per the new GO, the maximum price range for the tickets would be between Rs.95 - Rs120 depending on the theatre, canteen facilities, seating capacity, etc

this move is indeed welcoming as it favours both the exhibitors and the audience. now will MK look into setting a cap for the pricing in the canteens in these multiplexes as the fear of hike in the prices of the food items sold here to make up for what the theatres may lose out on the tickets pricing has already set in ;-)

darn it! its the politics again...

In an era of multiplexes, IMAX theatres, state of art sound systems, seating, etc, it is quite ironical for the government of tamilnadu to fix a maximum price for the cinema tickets. Given the grave differences in the facilities offered by theatres like liberty, devi etc with that of sathyam, sangam, mayajaal and etc the price fixing is unjustified. as a common man, i am happy, but the question here is, will these state of art facilities remain for those who can afford it? I’d say no!
Upcoming cinema halls like pvr and sathyam (expanding) have created a lot of employment opportunities and it would be interesting as to what these halls will offer back to the government. It would be ridiculous to expect sathyam or pvr to price their tickets at 20 / 30 rupees and offer state of art facilities.
While I am with the government, to curb the spiraling prices of the food items sold within these theatres, the fixing of max prices for tickets will definitely have to be based on the facilities offered by these theatres. I’d suggest segmentation of the cinema theatres based on the facilities offered and curb the maximum ticket price. That would be a wiser move compared to what has been done recently.
if the cause was for the common man to go to the theatre and watch a movie and eventually curb video piracy, why then pay loads of money to the film stars, the key for element for high production cost, higher distribution cost and finally the sky rocketing price of the tickets? Ideally the government must control if not curb the salaries and refrain from taking such hasty decisions that might deprive the viewers to experience such state of are facilities. At this rate, we might end up with the "touring talkies" days...sigh
ps: I own no theatres, cinema halls or associated with the film industry except watching it ;-)

welcome back!

phew...it was really relieving to see ganguly hit back at all the critics in his very first test match after a 10 month lay off from the national team. most importantly, ganguly pulled india out (yet again!) from the drain when "star" performers could not pull any strings. its not only been a landmark return for ganguly but it marked india's first test win in south african soil thereby joining the elite club of winning a test in each of the test playing countries. india's win was well crafted by the prince of kolkatta along with another returning star, laxman and the bowlers.
wishing india all the best to keep their heads cool to win the series to make dada's return a memorable one!

the grand finale!

there is this reality show on one of the Indian TV channels that is aired here in Singapore, "jodi number 1" a dance competition (jodi means pair in tamil). the participants in this show are popular artists of various TV programs (especially mega serials!). the show i think started about 2-3 months ago and initially, i wasn't too excited or impressed about the concept. but later on, when i moved into Singapore, and given the scarcity of tamil tv channels, unlike chennai and the repeated telecast of already aired programs, this one caught my all my attention. i liked it for quite a few reasons, the participants had been classified into 2 categories (though all compete with each other) reel and real, telecast of the making of each week's program, interviews, behind the scenes an what not!
currently the show is towards the fag end, with the finals scheduled for the next week. from 4 reel life and 4 real life pairs, the finals is down to 2 real life jodi's and 1 reel life jodi. my bet is on the reel life jodi, prem n pooja while one of the real life jodi's, raghav n preetha are most likely to give my favorite's a run for the race. would the winners eventually turn out to be the other, cute pair of vijay adhiraj n rachana?

watch this space for further updates!

Latest Update >> My favorites, prem and pooja have won the reality event :-)

exciting lah!

the indian stock markets have been really exciting (though they have always been so in the past 2-3 years) towards the end of last week and most importantly the first two days of this week. almost 1000 points fell in 3/4 trading sessions causing panic all around. what was more scary were the intraday falls of 500 to 600 points (eeeks!)on the BSE. however, as i (and a millions of others) expected (prayed infact!) the markets bounced back pretty smartly in the next few days and is on its recovery path. no doubt, millions(?!) of investors money would have eroded in the 3/4 days but i quickly managed to do some value buying at the lower levels and hopeful of handsome short term gains...wish me good luck ;-)

Its been fun...so far!

Its almost a decade since my undergraduation and things have moved in all directions since then. 've made quite a few but very close friends during my undergraduation and postgraduation. Life was at its best during undergraduation with my dad doing the earning part and me balancing it ;-) Its been quite a transformation for each of my close friends from what we were to what we are now. We called ourselves the 'big8' though we are more in number now with the entry of the two malayalathan's and comedy!

The crew goes like this: arvi, lawry, palam, bhai, vijay, ram, arun's, comedy and myself. We have few other as well having made way into the big8, arun b, sowmith and comedy...hail big8!