இது எங்கு போய் முடியுமோ?

 

“இலங்கயில் உடனடியாக போர் நிறுத்தம் எற்படுத்தப்பட வேண்டுமென வலியுறுத்தி தமிழக முதல்வர் மு.கருணாநிதி கால வரையறையற்ற உண்ணாநிலை போராட்டத்தை இன்று காலை ஆரம்பித்துள்ளார்” - tamilwin.com

ஹீ ஹீ...இதெல்லாம் ரொம்ப ஓவர்....ஒரு வேளை இலங்கை தமிழர்களும் வருகிற தேர்தலில் வாக்களிக்கலாம் என்று 'ஸார்' நினைத்துவிட்டார் போல...ஆமாம் இப்படிச் செய்யும் கலைஞர், மலேஸியாவில் தமிழர் பிரச்சினை இருந்தபோது ஏன் உண்ணாவிரதம் இருக்கவில்லை? அப்போது தேர்தல் வரவில்லை...வேற எந்த மேட்டரும் இல்லை

 

என்று தணியும் இந்த சூப்பர் சிங்கர் ப்ரோகிராம்

ஜவ்வு போல இழுத்துக்கொண்டிருக்கும் விஜய் டிவியின் சூப்பர் சிங்கர் ப்ரோகிராம் என்று முடியுமோ என்ற ஒரு ஏக்கம் வந்து விட்டது. சன் டிவிக்கு எப்படி மெகா ஸீரியலோ, விஜய் டிவிக்கு ரியாலிடி ஷோஸ் போல. ஜோடி நம்ப்ர் ஒன், உங்களில் யார் அடுத்த பிரபு தேவா என இந்த பட்டியல் தொடர்வது நிச்சியம். ஆனால் இவ்வளவு சொல்லியும் நாம் திருந்துவதில்லை, அவர்களும் ஓயவில்லை...

assisted “Button Mushrooms in Tomato Gravy”

Sunday morning and the decision to skip breakfast or probably combine it with lunch a.k.a brunch was made. Unlike the past, we did not venture into making any western / continental food but agreed to have Vegetable Pulao and Mushroom Gravy. While my wife managed to make the vegetable pulao before the littlest one started to freak out, I decided to help (??) her in making the mushroom gravy. The recipe is hers and I was just doing as she was asking me to do it. This mushroom gravy should go well with vegetable pulao, chapathi / roti, etc.

 

Just finished eating and here goes the recipe;

 

Ingredients
1 packet (250 gms) button mushrooms (of course, what else would you have expected for a mushroom gravy?)

1 1/2 medium tomatoes

1 teaspoon broken cashew nuts

1 inch ginger piece

2 medium sized onions

few curry leaves

1 pinch cumin seeds

1 pinch aniseeds

1 inch cinnamon stick

1 chilli powder, homemade by my mother, so substitute it with masala powder unless you know my mum to get the right mix

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1/2 teaspoon salt

 

Preparation (20 minutes)

• Chop the onions and cut the button mushroom into 4 quarters each and set aside.
• Cut the tomatoes in to large pieces, add the ginger, preferably cut into half and add the cashew nuts and grind them in a food processer.
• Heat the oil and add the aniseeds, cumin seeds and cinnamon stick. After a couple of minutes, add the onion and curry leaves and keep stirring until onion turns into golden brown and then add the mushrooms. Keep stirring for a few minutes. Add the chilli / masala powder and 1/2 teaspoon salt.
• Add the tomato paste along with half a cup water and simmer it until well cooked, keep stirring if you feel really bored. Check the taste and add salt if required
• If the gravy is really hot / spicy, add a little, maybe a quarter cup of milk after the gravy is well cooked and removed from the stove.
• Note: Do not try to add the milk with the gravy in stove, ‘ve been told that it might get spoilt, not tried though

அபியும் நானும்

ராதாமோகனும் பிரகாஷ்ராஜும் ரசித்து எடுத்ததைவிட, "அபியும் நானும்"  திரைப்படத்தை நான் ரசித்து பார்த்தேன்...எனது மனைவி சொன்னது போல அது ஆங்கிலத்து தழுவலாக இருந்தாலும், பார்த்ததும் கண்களில் நீர் வருவது தமிழ் படங்களுக்கு அல்லவா? மீண்டும் ஒரு சிறப்பான படத்தை கொடுத்த இருவருக்கும் நன்றி!

இதுதான்டா காமடி!

வர வர காமடிக்கு ஒரு அளவு இல்லாம போச்சு...முன்பு கவுண்டமணி மற்றும் செந்தில், இப்போ லேட்டஸ்ட் திருமா அன்ட் ராமதாஸ்...இத படிங்க எல்லாம் புரியும்...எவனோ எங்கேயோ அடிச்சுக்கிறதுக்கு இவுங்க பன்றது டு மச்...

Quality Stocks? Give me a break...

It is quite funny to read this news article on Bloomberg.

 

Apparently a couple of analysts from Credit Suisse have suggested investors to pick 'Quality' stocks after the Satyam fiasco. Who in their wildest dreams would have ever, ever imagined that an organization like Satyam, praised for its excellent corporate governance would have a fall as big as this. There were brokerage houses (incl. Credit Suisse) and investment companis that recommended Satyam a BUY when it was Rs.500+ in 2007. It was no different in 2008 as well even when the markets were in turmoil. Ordinary investors, not as savvy as the brokerage houses or the FII's etc had to merely rely on such recommendations and either Buy, Sell or Stay Invested.

 

I would rather expect such analysts to shut their mouth and look into suggesting something that might help the common man out there who might have invested a substantial amount of their savings made over several years into such companies rather than further confuse and misdirect them. To me, even while I had made money and lost at times, I've considered stock markets to be legalized casino / betting arena. Despite this, I only pity the investors who might have lost a significant portion of their savings in one go and not to forget the employees, the most pitiful lot...hope there is light at the end of the tunnel and not a train!

The good old school days

Just been to drop my kid at her school which reopened yesterday after the annual vacation and the scene apparently brought back nostalgic memories to me when I saw a few kids freaking out, probably their first days in school...the teachers and parents seemed to have jumped into a wrestling ring and trying to overpower the little one's. I was absolutely no different while I was in kindergarten too (my daughter is an exception!), my dad used to hijack me off to school, the teachers and aaya's were dreaded at the sight of me in the car ...gone are the days when I had nothing to worry of besides the school ;-)

Corporate Governance? My foot!

Considered to be one of the top IT companies in world, Satyam Computers, managed by its Managing Director, Ramalinga Raju, had to bite the dust in what could probably be the darkest days of India Inc and Indian Stock Markets. Their balance sheet being inflated by a whopping Rupees Five Billion (Rs.5040 Crores), board members not having knowledge of the latest (latest? this must have been going in for years!) situation, accrued interest of Rs.376 Crores, etc, etc would have definitely been a rude shock to the whole world for having entered year 2009 with full of uncertainties. Their stock prices on NSE, plunged from Rs.280+ a fortnight ago to Rs.40 (7th Jan 2009, close). To make it even more wild, their previous close, as on 6th Jan was Rs.180, thereby falling more than 75% in a single trading day!!!

Satyam's auditors, the high profile PriceWaterhouse Coopers would not be spared either. While no one knows or could even predict the outcome of this saga, the Foreign Institutional Investor (FII) confidence in India Inc is sure to do go down the drain and the Indian stock markets, once considered to be one of the best emerging markets, is definite to crash as well. It is quite surprising how a scam of such a large magnitude had 'escaped' the auditors, SEBI, Stock Exchange Boards in India, US, etc. While the masses rightly smelled a rat right after the maytas (Satyam spelled reverse) episode, a super large corporate with 53000 employees worldwide sinking in less than 2 weeks after that is quite astounding! Raju was always considered to be one of the smartest amongst his peers in India Inc, but this is something...

 

Oh, and I am personally and deeply disappointed about the whole episode at Satyam since it was one of my favourite and most profitable scrips in Dalal Street...sigh!

another devil @ home

well, there were already 2 devils at my place, not to mention them, there has been an addition to it a few weeks ago...bought a Nintendo Wii after falling in love at first sight at a relative's place where the eldest one glued to it was about 20 years younger to me but that did not stop me from buying it...the last video game console I had was the first generation Nintendo, the NES and the Wii, I understand is the 7th generation...

been spending about 2+ hours a day, the weekends have been even worse...the one advantage I have here with the new devil over the other two is that I can put it off at my will ;-) oh and another one is that my kid also likes playing and so does the other devil...at sometimes...Wii definitely did not disappoint me...now for the tough part...buying games...boy they are so damn expensive...sometimes I wish I bought a modded one...but this one gives me peace of mind and stop worrying for about my console being bricked...

dream on...

"dream on..." that's what I said to myself after running yet another 10K marathon and finishing around the 80+ minutes again...well for the 3rd time...I definitely was not hoping to win it, though 75 minutes was my revised target after an ambitious less than 60 minutes set after last year's run...totally, totally attribute it to lack of practice...signs of growing old...nah extended office hours ;-)

all is not over yet, there is still a next year and there is still a 10K, hope to do it better, well maybe in 70+ minutes is all I can expect...but one thing, this years route was pathetic...if not for the route, I would have completed in 60 minutes ;-) atleast I have a reason for having run slow...but all said and done...this year's 82 minutes is my fastest among the three 10K marathon's 've run...so something to be settled with...

 

Kuselan Rocks...

Been to my first Rajini movie here in Singapore and I am absolutely thrilled.  While I have always been an ardent fan of Rajini, his First Day shows have never been anything less than being blessed by the almighty. I was quite lucky to get the tickets without any sweat for tonight's show from a well-wisher.

Having been through the crowd-packed, smelly, noisy first day shows in Chennai and elsewhere, I had a pleasant surprise with a neat entry into the theatre and comforting ourselves (better half + kid) in a row of 8, all for us. A pity the one's who were supposed to have sat besides could not turn up for the movie :-)

The movie began quietly and for about 30 minutes there were hardly any signs of the superstar. Infact my wife doubted if it was a Rajini movie. The truth, at the end, it wasn't just his... While the storyline of the movie has been blogged enough about, to summarize in 13 short lines goes like this;

Barber Balu (Pasupathi) lives with his beautiful wife Sridevi (Meena, a comeback?) and 3 kids in Maraiyur, a small town, supposedly in the border of Andhra. A straightforward and a honest man, Balu, finds the going difficult in vying against Saloon Shanmugham's (Vadivelu) cheap tactics. Finding it difficult even to pay his children's school fees, Balu still manages to keep his family happy until he hears of his schoolmate Ashok Kumar (Super Star) arriving at their town for a 40 day shooting. Having spent his childhood school days with his best friend Ashok, Balu turns out to be one worried person, feeling inferior of his current condition in renewing his friendship with Ashok.

Even with his wife knowing very little of their friendship, their childhood days friendship reach out to the mass and Balu turns out to be the man of the moment to the villagers, each of them having an ulterior motive to help Balu in order to link up with the Super Star.

Despite numerous attempts, Balu is unable to catch up with the Super Star to renew their friendship and at the end of 40 days of shooting, the Super Star accepts an invitation from a local school to preside over their 25th anniversary in which he recalls his childhood days spent with Balu who had helped him in all ways and finally providing financial assistance to excel in what he aspired, Cinema. Balu and his family listening to this break down listening to it and the Super Star finally lands up at Balu's house and relives every moment of their friendship with his family...

While no doubting it is a Rajini film, remarkable, emotional and power packed performances by Pasupathi and Meena with splendid support by Vadivelu, Santhanam, Manobala, Livingston, MS Basker and Santhanabarathi had indeed enkindled the movie. Nayantara had nothing serious to do in the movie but for a steamy number which could have definitely been ignored. The songs were okay, though not having created waves like earlier Rajini movies seem to have been picturized pretty well. Unlike Chandramukhi, Prabhu's role was a real misfit and seemed to have been either under utilized or probably even unutilised. Maybe Vasu just wanted to ensure that he had all the ingredients he had in Chandramukhi to make this one a an equal success. I'd say he definitely did a better job here than in Chandramukhi despite both being remakes. Infact my home ministry too approved the film as a good one especially this being her first "First Day" Rajini film, it just can't get any bigger or better...

Final verdict: A thorough family entertainer with loads of comedy, emotion and warmth.

FDSS (First Day Second Show)

Will be going to watch Kuselan tonight, watch this space for review and more...

Vrooooooooom.......

I finally managed to get my driving license here in Singapore thanks to a last ditch effort after my better half managed to get her license converted last week. I am extremely excited and have been google'ing, onemotoring, oneshift'ing since last week to compare various models of cars and narrowed down on;

• Nissan Latio
• Chevrolet Aveo, and
• Toyota Vios
• Mazda 3 SP Sedan aaa

I guess it will take a couple of weeks more for me to decide on which one to buy, wish me good luck and send in your suggestions...;-)

* Latest as of 15th Aug, 2008, celebrating Indian Independence :-)

Whoa...this is so cool...

I have just laid my hands on my new Compaq V3843TU bundled with Microsoft Vista Home Premium. VHP is just awesome though I wish Office Vista was packaged along with it...nevertheless, Microsoft has done what it is best at, bundle it with all the bugs that were undiscovered...being user friendly...Oh BTW, the laptop is also a neat one...stay tuned, will blog more on the two...

Same old story...

It's the same old story...'ve been really busy at work, infact travelling and in Chennai, away from my better half and my lovely daughter for 3 weeks now and will be going back home for a short while next...have a lot to post...

Changing times?

Well today, it took my (almost) 4 year old daughter to make me realize that I was getting too complacent about a few things that I never thought were too big to be worried of in life, but she imagined otherwise.

 

First in the morning, I was off with my daughter, starting a bit late today to drop her off at her school and while we neared the school, I realized it was quite late indeed and whisked across the road with the pedestrian signal still not on for us. My daughter was quick to notice it and pulled me up with the question "Why do we cross while the signal is still red for us?" I was definitely amused. I knew that I did not have any convincing answer to her question. All I could do was to admit the mistake and assure her that it was not to be done again in the future and I had to blame it on being late for school.

 

The second one happened late in the evening when I was taking my daughter back home in the MRT and asked her to finish off the little bag of walnuts she had brought from home. She was instantaneous in her reply to win over me saying that eating was not right or permitted in the MRT's. I was dumbfounded. I gave her a big hug and took her home.

 

Such little things we teach our little one's mean so much to them, but we, grown up's, seldom take them to heart. I am indeed proud of my lovely daughter!

Prize Catch!

I've been wanting to post this for a long time, infact more than a month now.

After very little preparation (maybe a month or so) and lot of inspiration from my wife and a good friend / colleague, I ran the Singapore Marathon 2007, 10 KM run for men and completed it in about 82 minutes. While its definitely not something to boast of in terms on the time taken and the top guy finishing it in 35 minutes, I am still (one month now) excited about the finish for the reason that I won the finishers medal and this happens to be my first medal win in my lifetime. Whoa!

Since the marathon, Its been a different story. I am jogging regularly these days and planning to run this year's 10 KM marathon, and target to finish it in 45-50 minutes! Wish me good luck :)

Happy New Year!

Who said "Silence is Golden"?

Mine definitely isn't, its just that I am being tossed around at work, well, a lot so! Hang on...things should be okay in sometime and I should start blogging soon. There I go...

என்ன கொடுமை சரவனன் இது?