Saturday, May 31, 2008

Sex and the City!

"Its no logic. Just love" says Carrie Bradshaw in the climax and takes her love back.

The only sitcom where I used to enjoy the feminine gossips, mature humor and of course the discussions on the first word of the sitcom's name, which when pictured as a movie which in turn was thought might be a 'chick-flick' turned to be a pure fun watch.

Sex and the city!

Yup. I like both!

Thursday, May 29, 2008

Tennis!

Watching Tennis is experiencing heaven on earth. Just like how kaapi is the only known elixir for humans. I wake up in the middle of the night or be up all night, just to watch some skillful back-hand returns or adept half-volleys or aesthetic aces. Tennis is the only sport which never leaves me bored. Thank God, I don't get to see this rat fight IPL. Roland Garros enthuses.

One wouldn't mind to indulge oneself in tennis 24x7, even if it means half the current remuneration and a career cul de sac!

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Kabali's Language Conservation Programme...

As a language, English has contributed a lot to the people of this planet. And as creatures who can think, people have contributed equally to the language in return. In the first place, the offer from the language was a medium for us to communicate. Once the language was completely formalized and spread to almost all corners of the world, people started jumping from 'Need to communicate' to 'Easy to communicate'. Circa 1992, a group of people met on the very objective of simplifying the language. And simplifying invariably meant shortening the words. Or in other words, screwing the language. They arrived at a chart similar to the periodic elements table found in a chemistry text book, listing all those alphabets which with their phonetics pertain to a word. For e.g., 'c' can be used in lieu of 'see' or 'y' in lieu of 'why', ‘s’ in lieu of ‘yes’, 'b' in lieu of 'be' and hundreds of different such combos.


Fortunately or unfortunately, voluntarily or involuntarily, most of us belong to the consortium established back then. But just that some of us have not completely soaked ourselves in it, while the rest are totally imbibed where I see no chance of retrieval. And this 'shortened' English became widely popular with the advent of mobile phone SMS and web-messenger-chats. People could no longer talk using normal words let alone writing. One would say 'wassup?' instead of 'what’s up?' which was already coined instead of ‘What is up?". Similarly, 'Lemme do dis' or 'Gimme dat' instead of 'Let me do this' or 'Give me that'. And coming to the worst part, some people use the word 'ma' instead of 'my'. That's the crappiest. They would say/write 'ma friend' instead of 'my friend'. While using such 'shortened' words, one truly wonders how much time such Einsteins save. And that too there is not even a shortening. Just a spelling change. Ridiculous, is what one can say, laughing at such idiocy. Maybe they think its making them cool or something. For those of you, who have the habit of using such stupid replacements, please be informed that it’s no more than a torment to read.


I'm sure there will be some 'ultra-intelligent-souls' who might come back and argue that language is used for communication and who cares as to how the words are spelt. Very smart. But then, before using such English, that too in public medium, please make sure the reader/recipient is comfortable deciphering such super-smart-code words. And one of my colleagues so used to this kind of writing, while drafting an official e-mail to the customer includes a sentence which said something like 'I wud b done wid dis tsk in 3 hrs. U ok wid dat?' I was copied in that e-mail. If I were the customer, I'd have simply replied saying 'Please resend this e-mail in English. I don't know Tulu and such languages'. I see many such instances in blog posts too. And I get totally busted by the time I complete reading most of such posts/comments. Maybe the attempt is to ease up the writer's work, but many a time, it leaves a bemused reader behind. And such usage of language, as common as it gets in today's world might totally change the written language one day. Who knows? We might end up with just 17 or 18 alphabets because of those ‘super-lazy-smart-brains’.


So, unable to bear the smear on the language, Kabali proposes a 'Language conservation Programme'. People who belong to this group and who respect this group shall try to communicate in one pure language - be it English or Tamil or whatever. On and off, it's ok for people to jump to other languages for effective communication (after all communication is the goal!), but they are definitely not encouraged to coin their own words and form a new language, whatsoever. Abbreviations such as 'lol' or 'rotfl' are fine, as long as one does not think of doing a whole communication with just such abbreviations. Kabali also considers everyone who has read this post a part of the programme, thereby mandating folks to abide by the rules. If somebody is found violating any of the aforementioned rules, they'd be sentenced to severe punishments as per Kabali's federal law. 


Don’t dare! And now join me in saving the language!

Sunday, May 25, 2008

It's Not About the Bike: My Journey Back to Life

"You Never Quit" keeps saying Lance Armstrong more than a few times in his autobiography. Undoubtedly, his is one of the most inspiring and poignant autobiographies I have read in the recent times. Not because of the lamentable chronicle that he was diagnosed with cancer and just had a meagre 3 percentage of survival chances. Or not because of how he fought the disease with the attitude of a sportsman, dealing with it head-on than succumbing. Or not even because of how he went on to win Tour De France a mind-blowing seven consecutive times after the cure. Its just the simple way he has delineated the most challenging fight any human can endure. And he has done this in a not-so-heroic-fashion, but in a lucid practical manner, as he went thru the ordeals and successes in his life!

Simply an awesome read! Kabali is impressed!

Friday, May 23, 2008

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of Crystal Skull...

...SuperExcellelinglyEntertainmentoFantastic!

Steven Spielberg gets younger by every movie. And so does Harrison Ford.

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Celesta - Earth's Cousin!

Yesterday I was on my evening walk in the neighboring park. It was 8pm and the Sun was still shining brightly. I was thinking as to how the sun-set time increases as summer approaches and how it slowly decreases as winter approaches. And this phenomenon has been happening for eons. And it also stuck me that this movement of the time is a perfect sine wave. Every year it gradually increases as summer beckons and decreases at almost the same gradient as winter arrives. Other than possibly small deviations, this pattern has been the same for ages. A clean parabolic up and down curve along time. And all this with no planned design. My thoughts then strolled across the other fundamental constants in the universe. The acceleration due to gravity being approximately constant across the globe. The escape velocity being constant. The seasons being constant. The temperatures showing constant patterns. The distance of moon from earth is constant. The distance of earth from Sun is constant. The speed of earth's rotation is constant. Its revolution is constant. So many constant values in this universe which does not change in random.

One might say, all these fundamental values being constant are the only reasons life thrives in this planet. And I said to myself it’s gotta be too coincidental for all of this to have happened naturally. To the extent that humans know, there can't be a more-conducive place in this whole universe than our own earth. But yet again, universe is too big to be scaled by our technology or by our knowledge. For all we know, we might have another galaxy with similar planets like ours and there might still be life. Or even humans. And they may have formed later than us. Or earlier than us. What if that happens?

Let’s say, for a moment there is a galaxy called 'Coffee Way' like our own Milky Way. And let’s say there is a planet called 'Celesta' in the galaxy. And if 'Coffee Way' has a solar system and if that planet was formed precisely around the same time as ours (around 4.5 billion years ago) there is every possibility that life exist in 'Celest'a today. And life might mean humans too. And that leads to the fact that those humans might have grown scientifically and technologically just about the same level as ours. That being said, if 'Coffee Way' is more than few trillion light years away from our own galaxy, it is too far to be seen by any of our most powerful telescopes. And we would be too far for them to track us. This very fact only supports the concept that 'Celesta' might exist and we are totally unaware yet. But, day after day or in fact minute after minute, our technology/knowledge is consistently growing. One day, we'll reach farther than we can today and we may find that 'Celesta' does exist. And sooner or later, 'Celesta' might find us too. And for all we know, 'Celesta' might have people who communicate just like we do. I mean, using languages.

Initially we'd appear to be aliens for them. And they would for us. But once we understand, it’s gonna be non-stop fun. There can't be a better break-through for our space research than this. We can explore that part of the universe which would be completely new. Though one can never tell how far the universe goes beyond that, it'd be like having a watch-tower farther than we can reach. Collectively, Earth and Celesta can be a powerful combination because of their celestial positions. We can have nice knowledge-exchange programs, vacations, visits, onsite-offshore models across planets. That'd be the coolest thing! And my imagination says there might be a few other such planets, where life exists. Though it all sounds too hypothetical, this can’t be denied totally. Maybe it’s too improbable to have humans exist elsewhere, but it is highly likely that life exist. Just that we can’t see them yet.

The park by then had almost grown dark. The sun had sunk. I knew its time for me to go home. And continue my mundane lifestyle - browse, eat, call and sleep. As I walk back, I silently keep my fingers crossed, for one day we might hear about 'Celesta' in the news. Or maybe 'Zest'. Or maybe 'Yoquest'. Whatever. We'd know only as time and our knowledge advances.

Till then, imagination is ecstacy, I say!

Monday, May 19, 2008

Showcase...

A blast of a weekend. Visit Philadelphia. Drive to NYC. Get to know new people. Dinner. Movie. Meet old friends. A new hi-zoom lens. A new tripod. A photo venture. Sleep drive back home. A blast of a weekend.

The intent of doing something is graduated to fulfillment only when sharing!

Thursday, May 15, 2008

NEWS!

Why was it not called SWEN, SEWN, WENS, EWNS for these can be pronounced too?

Even by folk etymology, North always has to come before South.

One Sighs!

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

Rejuvenation...

An impromptu getaway day churned out of a simple-thought lie leads one to a serene life. 9am - brush, 11am - bath, 2pm - lunch, 3pm - nap,  8pm - dinner, interim timeframes thru'out - couch potato infront of the LCD TV. Bliss.

Kabali demands a quick one day-weekend right in the middle of a work week. No work-phone calls, no e-mails, no commute. Just HBO, Sitcoms and being. 

Rejuvenation!

Monday, May 12, 2008

Mundane excitement!

To kill the afternoon boredom and to prolong the weekend feeling, one tries to enthusiastically attempt extempore-planned-long-drives after a dose of sumptuous self-made dosa. And the resultant would be arriving home late on sunday night, a confused feeling of vain-endeavor to forefend the weekday blues, a despairing hope to still procrastinate monday mornings and some self-satiating pictures. Kaapi keeps one awake at work the following day.

One totally wonders at the affairs that single people seek to move their mundane life on. Funny!

Thursday, May 8, 2008

Kabali poetry services...

All you readers (ok, most of you readers) am sure would have found the secret of falling in love and winning it. At least the falling part of it. And for some, the highly prestigious attempt of "proposing" to the opposite sex might seem like its a little delicate endeavor. Coz that's more of a decider of one's life. Though one can be optimistic and keep trying, it would be nothing like getting it right the first time. Imagine a guy proposing a girl by giving something like a diamond ring that she has been wishing for. Or a girl proposing to the guy gifting him an iphone. Such things can call for 70-30 possibility. But how many times would one encounter such easy-go-win scenario? So, let me reiterate an already known fact. Winning somebody, devoid of some 'insults or assaults or slippers' is a little complicated process than it sounds. But ensuring one gets one of these Insults or Assaults or Slippers for sure is fairly easy though.

I have an idea. One should write poetry. Yup. Pure, unadulterated poetry. If written and communicated in the right notch, it'd be a sure hit. By hit, I meant one of these : insults or assaults or slippers. After all, an attempted failure in deliberation sounds like fun too! And, at times depending on the ‘quality’ of the poetry, it might result in some heavy calamity too. Or for that matter, such poetries are powerful enough to even screw an already good relationship. So, one should write poetry. Or if one can’t, they should lease a poem from Kabali. Kabali has an enriched database of lot of such poems and the charge would be nominal, based on a case-to-case basis. But I know as customers, one wouldn't really want to lease a poem, without sampling. So, here we go for all of you, a sample from 'Kabali Poetry Services'. The below is considering a guy proposing to a girl:

"I'm lean, not lanky
Moody, but not cranky

I'm smart, not cupid
Graceful, but not stupid

I'm tech-inclined, not tech-savvy
Interesting, but not that-weary

I'm selective, not choosy
Energetic, but not boozy

I'm pretty much this, not too complicated
Lets look at you, the most coveted

You are cute, not too hot
sweet, but not too soft

You talk, not maunder
I admire, its no wonder

Your angel-smile, not fake
I fall, its no sudden brake

You pass a single-look, not a stare
I heat up, completely in a flare

Alongside me, you casually jive
Inside myself, I jump and sky-dive

Enough of us, not worth it
Boring, if I dont stop it

Don't tell me this is funny
Really, I love you so much honey!"

Tuesday, May 6, 2008

Rebel XTi...

...is God!

And my recently-found love:




Click here for some of the first few photos taken in my neighbourhood.

One only wonders how such temporal bliss interposes exuberance into one's life otherwise overwhelmed in modus operandi!

Monday, May 5, 2008

Indian population minus one!

Ramesh wanted to adopt and make Swathi an elder sister
Meera concorded and elders in the family agreed
A baby boy was adopted and Ramesh/Meera were extremely happy
For they contributed to one less number in the Indian population!

Sunday, May 4, 2008

What's in the title?!

This afternoon amidst one of those lazy-after-lunch-TV-sessions, boredom resulted in thinking. I casually began to wonder what if one day somebody comes and asks me why this blog is titled "Arun Sundar thinks" and not 'Arun Sundar writes". I might think for a while and answer (read blabber) that thinking is very closely synonymous to writing and since I write in this blog, which is the direct outcome of my 'thinking' process, I decided that this blog would be named 'Arun Sundar thinks' and not 'Arun Sundar writes'. It is very normal that the other person might look a little perplexed. And he/she must have already got how much can I piffle when confronted with such intelligent questions. Somehow, I would get out of the situation by inducing the usual 'Oh he gibbers like a loser and we would also turn like him if we continue' feeling on the person who posed this question. Good that people know that such imbecile handling of situations is highly contiguous. But I got to accept that the blog's title does sound a little debatable. And it reminded of why Amar calls it 'Arun Sundar stinks' in his blog roll. I laugh and shrug it off!

After all, the title of this blog spot can be ridiculed. That, if looked with the rightly skewed perspective. I did so and it made me think maybe this blog should be named as 'Arun Sundar writes'. But still some intelligent soul somewhere might come and ask 'You actually type. You don't write in the blog spots. And it indeed is a little stupid to name your blog so'. I might take one good look at the title. And I might agree. So, I go ahead and change the title to 'Arun Sundar types'. Now, one more Einstein might come and ask 'You are really silly! Why do you have your blog title so? A blog is not a medium to keep typing as if you are practicing your typing skills. The emphasis should be on the thought process and not how you do it!" And as lame as it sounds, I might accept and tell myself 'Yaa this guy makes sense. How could I have titled the blog so? I should come up with something better’ and I think of a nice title. I come up with 'Arun Sundar scribbles'. And for all we know, the reaction might be 'Who in the hell's bathroom scribbles in their blog? You write stupid'. I'm no different than what you expect. I come back and think again to promptly change the title.

After little thinking, the following occur to me, not necessarily in that order: Arun Sundar babbles, Arun Sundar stumbles, Arun Sundar bumbles, Arun Sundar feels, Arun Sundar cries and Arun Sundar is lost! Wait - if I keep thinking like this to name the blog (and end up nowhere), I need to do same amount of thinking (or make people believe so) to come up with blog posts too. And since every other option for title looks a little inept, I might as well name the title 'Arun Sundar thinks'.

I can’t answer better if somebody asks about the title.

Or maybe there are two monkeys in my brain and only one banana. Whatever!

Saturday, May 3, 2008

Kuruvi...

Kandraavi!

It would be too much even if 'Thoo' this movie. I should 'uvwaaaack!'

Thursday, May 1, 2008

Philadelphia to Chennai in 42 mins!!

History channel says if a tunnel is drilled through the centre of the Earth to reach the other side of the earth and if I utilize nothing but gravity to travel thru the tunnel, I'd reach the other side in just 42 mins.

I can commute to work from Chennai to Philadelphia daily.

That'd be cool!

[P.S : Just saw this : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravity_train]