Sehwag - The Machine The Man

In the ongoing India-Srilanka-New Zealand, India won their second match comfortably after losing by 200 runs in their first. They got the bonus point as well. The only sour point was that Sehwag who batted brilliantly ( and patiently) was cunningly denied a century by the Sri lankans when Randiv deliberately bowled a no ball. Sehwag hit that to 6 but according to ICC rules the match ends when no-ball is called and hence he was left behind at 99. Post match he was inquired about it and I thought he would mock saying anyway he hit it to 6 (At that time he thought he reached his 100 and celebrated it as well). But what he said was "Any bowler will try to bowl a no-ball or a wide when someone is on 99. "It happens in cricket, because nobody allows a batter to score a hundred against them." Fair enough!" What a true sports-man-ship and legend.

 But the Srilankans who had enjoyed a nice relationship with India on field behaved so badly. Muralidharan had a honor done by Indians when he came to bat his last test innings. When he reached 700 almost all indians congratulated him. Now this kind of childish behavior is not at all good. Why deny a hard earned century from a man who rightly deserved it. It felt like they stole a rupee from a rich man who had many hundreds with him. Silly srilankans

Usure Poguthae - Raavanan Song - English Lyrics

Usure Poguthae - Raavanan Song - Tamil Lyrics

இந்த பூமியில எப்ப வந்து நீ பொறந்த
என்  புத்தி  குள்ள  தீ  பொறியை  நீ  வெதச்ச   
அடி  தேக்கு  மர காடு  பெருசுதான்  
சின்ன  தீ  குச்சி  ஒசரம்  சிருசுதான் 


அடி  தேக்கு  மர காடு  பெருசுதான்  
சின்ன  தீ  குச்சி  ஒசரம்  சிருசுதான்
ஒரு  தீ  குச்சி  விழுந்து  துடிக்குதடி
கருண்  தேக்கு  மர  காடு  வெடிக்குதடி

உசுரே  போகுதே, உசுரே  போகுதே
ஒதட்ட  நீ  கொஞ்சம் சுழிக்கயிலே 
ஒ மாமன் தவிக்கிறேன் 
மடி  பிச்சை  கேக்குறேன்
மனச தாடி  என்  மணிக்குயிலே

அக்கற சீமையில் நீ  இருந்தும்
ஐவிரல்  தீண்டிட நெனைக்குதடி
அக்கினி  பழமின்னு  தெரிஞ்சிருந்தும்
அடிக்கடி  நாக்கு  துடிக்குதடி

ஒடம்பும்  மனசும்   தூரம்  தூரம்
ஒட்ட  நனைக்க ஆகல
மனசு  சொல்லும்  நல்ல  சொல்ல
மாய  ஒடம்பு  கேக்கல

தவியா தவிச்சு 
உசிர்  தடம்  கெட்டு  திரியுதடி
தைலான் குருவி
என்ன  தள்ளிவிட்டு  சிரிக்குதடி  

இந்த  மம்முத  கிறுக்கு  தீருமா
அடி  மந்திரிச்சு விட்ட கோழி மாறுமா
என் மயக்கத்த தீத்து வச்சி மன்னிச்சிரும்மா

சந்திரனும் சூரியனும்
சுத்தி ஒருகோட்டில் வருகுதே
சத்தியமும் பத்தியமும்
இப்ப தல சுத்தி கெடக்குதே 

உசுரே  போகுதே, உசுரே  போகுதே
ஒதட்ட  நீ  கொஞ்சம் சுழிக்கயிலே 
ஒ மாமன் தவிக்கிறேன் 
மடி  பிச்சை  கேக்குறேன்
மனச தாடி  என்  மணிக்குயிலே

அக்கற சீமையில் நீ  இருந்தும்
ஐவிரல்  தீண்டிட நெனைக்குதடி
அக்கினி  பழமின்னு  தெரிஞ்சிருந்தும்
அடிக்கடி  நாக்கு  துடிக்குதடி

இந்த  ஒலகத்தில் இது ஒன்னும் புதுசு இல்ல
ஒன்னு  ரெண்டு  தப்பி போகும் ஒழுக்கத்துல
விதி  சொல்லி  வழி  போட்ட  மனச புள்ள
விதி விலக்கு இல்லாத விதியும் இல்ல

எட்ட  இருக்கும்  சூரியன்  பார்த்து
மொட்டு  விரிக்கிது  தாமர
தொட்டு  விடாத  தூரம்  இருந்தும்
சொந்த  பந்தமோ  போகல

பாம்பா விழுதா
ஒரு பாகுபாடு தெரியலையே
பாம்பா இருந்தும்
நெஞ்சு பயப்பட நெனைக்கலையே 

என் கட்டையும் ஒரு நாள் சாயலாம்
என் கண்ணுல ஒன் முகம் போகுமா
நான் மண்ணுக்குள்ள ஒன் நெனப்பு மனசுக்குள்ள

சந்திரனும் சூரியனும்
சுத்தி ஒருகோட்டில் வருகுதே
சத்தியமும் பத்தியமும்
இப்ப தல சுத்தி கெடக்குதே 

உசுரே  போகுதே, உசுரே  போகுதே
ஒதட்ட  நீ  கொஞ்சம் சுழிக்கயிலே 
ஒ மாமன் தவிக்கிறேன் 
மடி  பிச்சை  கேக்குறேன்
மனச தாடி  என்  மணிக்குயிலே

அக்கற சீமையில் நீ  இருந்தும்
ஐவிரல்  தீண்டிட நெனைக்குதடி
அக்கினி  பழமின்னு  தெரிஞ்சிருந்தும்
அடிக்கடி  நாக்கு  துடிக்குதடி

 உசுரே  போகுதே, உசுரே  போகுதே
ஒதட்ட  நீ  கொஞ்சம் சுழிக்கயிலே 
ஒ மாமன் தவிக்கிறேன் 
மடி  பிச்சை  கேக்குறேன்
மனச தாடி  என்  மணிக்குயிலே

அக்கற சீமையில் நீ  இருந்தும்
ஐவிரல்  தீண்டிட நெனைக்குதடி
அக்கினி  பழமின்னு  தெரிஞ்சிருந்தும்
அடிக்கடி  நாக்கு  துடிக்குதடி

At midnight 12.15 in Andover, I never thought that a song would make me sit and write its tamil lyrics after hearing it continuously for 25-30 times. Amazing song from A.R. Rehman, Karthik and Vairamuthu... It took quite some time (1.5 hrs) even with blogger's tamil mode. But it was worth it....

The Marathon Match @ Wimbledon

We casually browsed Wimbledon.org to see if Federer is up to another fight and what do we see.. an 8 hour long game with 40 all. Not the deuce, 40 games each between 23rd seeded Isner and Mahut. They had continued after bad weather stopped play the previous day with 2 sets each. And as we looked on the 5th set went for a long time before it closed at (can you imagine)  59 all due to bad weather again. The next day they went on to play till Isner won it at 70-68. Amazing match and we watched it live online during the end.

New York

New York was not as tempting as say a 'Niagara Falls' or 'Great Wall of China' but the Statue of Liberty symbolizes USA and hence it was sort of an item somewhere in the list that needs to be ticked, whether it is worth the effort or not. So on a Friday night at 11.30 PM I decided to go ahead with the plan. Another colleague was to join me and we were to start next morning. I slept that day at 01:00 AM and woke up again at 5.15 AM. We left at around 6.20 AM. I drove for about 3.5 hrs and we reached White Plains at 10: 15 AM with a breakfast stop. We took the Train there to New York Grand Central Station. It was 15$ for a round trip. The train arrived at 11.11 AM and we reached Grand Central in about 20-25 minutes.

The we got the subway tickets for 8$. The subway network and its functioning was very good. There were 3 layers of trains routes and between them they connected the city well. On the sides of major roads there will be steps down leading to subway train station. Amazing public transport connectivity. We had to go downtown and the trains 4, 5 and 6 went there.

We reached Battery station and took the tickets for Liberty Statue Ferry for 12$. The wait for the Ferry was about an hour and 15 minutes. The Ferry took us to the Statue. It was nice seeing the symbol of hope and freedom but nothing much to do in the island. In fact the view was much better from the ferry.

 By the time we were done with it and returned back after another wait for the Ferry, it was already 3.30 PM. We were both exhausted and hungry too. But I wanted to see Wall Street and so we checked it out along with Trinity Church and the 'Bull' of New York Stock Exchange. We then took the subway to reach 14th Street Union Avenue and walked till 27th Street in Lexington avenue for an amazing food at 'Saravana Bhavan'. I had South Indian Thali and it was the best Chennai food in US so far. The 'Kaara Kozhambu' was exotic. We then walked back to 14th Street and took the subway to Grand Central (Later we realized that 23rd and 28th street had subways - probably on the sides).

From Grand central we took Train 7 to get to Times Square. It is like our 'Pondy Bazar' market in Chennai or 'Sunday Market' back in Pondicherry but more hi-tech. After walking there for some time we realized that US could be crowded too and messy and polluted and chaotic and 'not follow rules' and on and on... We bought T-Shirts there and were back to subway by 7.15. We reached Grand central in time to catch the 7.48 train to White plains. I took the car out at 8.30 and we reached hotel back at 11.50.

It was a nice trip but more of a must do thing when we are this close to 'New York'. I would remember having been and walked in Wall Street more vividly than seeing Liberty. More so I will remember the chaotic city\, buzzing with Car horns and madness which most other cities of US don't seem to recognize in their hypocritical behavior. From now on if someone comments about our Bangalore Traffic being chaotic they should first go and have a look at New York and then come and speak about India and Bangalore.

The Niagara Falls

When there were talks of me going on an official trip to Canada, the first thought that sprang was - will I get time to go to Niagara falls. Along with Grand Canyon, Niagara falls was there on my list of 'must-see' in US. The scheduled date of travel was somewhere in January and there was a consensus that Niagara might be frozen during that time. Eventually a lot of things happened and my travel got pushed to June. Not only that, the travel destination changed from Canada to Andover. Still the falls was not out of plan as there was a US side of it - 7 hrs drive from where I was put up.
Two more colleagues (Bhanu and Parthiban) expressed their wish to go and the plan was made. We started at 5.15 in the morning and reached by 1.30 P.M after stopping for mini breakfast and lunch. On the way GPS cranked and we had to do some debugging on it to get going.

The first falls was rather a small affair but the horse shoe falls was a might one and was more like the photos and videos we have come to see of the Niagara. There were a couple of rides - Cave of the Woods and Maid of the mist. The first one takes you to below the falls and you can even stand right under the falls and get some water splashed on you. The water hits you after falling on a rock and the speed and pressure considerably reduced. Even so, the force is unimaginable. It was great fun. The maid of the mist is a boat ride which takes you quite close to the horse shoe falls and you are drenched in the mist of the falls. That is another amazing experience.    
The only sour point was that we paid 10$ on a 'Niagara Falls' parking which turned out to be a 'False' parking set up by some local guys to lure the newbies (mostly desis fall trap to this) to pay 10$ rather than a free or subsidized parking elsewhere. We saw a few more of these 'Falls Parking' on the way.

We had dinner at 'Kohinoor Indian Restaurant' where the food was very good. We started at 6.15 P.M and reached at 2.00 A.M. We had driven close to 1500 Kms on that trip and if I look back at it, it surprises me a lot. Back in India I take 7 hours to go from Bangalore to Pondicherry which is just 300- kilometers.
All in all it is a trip that we will remember for a long time to come...

3 Idiots

The film is fun and made me laugh aloud a lot of times with its excellent comedy. The songs are amazing. My favorite was 'Behete Hawa..' but who can stop singing 'All izz Well'. Aamir and co have acted well. Aamir does justice to a college going student look. The social message is good and Aamir should be praised for the way he handles such subjects. A strong message in a beautifully sugar coated movie.
The film is not without its share of, shall we call it cinematic loopholes. I don't understand what is a professor to do if his students piss on his doors - congratulate them? And that baby responding to 'all izz well' is a bit too much to take. Finally why do heroes end up in someone else's marriage to get their girl. Why not propose and close it when she was with him, instead of playing with someone else's life. Did they ever give a thought to the boy who was to marry her - even though he is a gada. Many movies had this ending and I lost count of them now - Dil chahta hai, Jab we met.. the list goes on and now 3 idiots. Guys marrying beautiful girls, beware - she could be someone else's heroine. Nothing is for sure till the knot is tied.

Coming back to the film, ALL IZZ WELL in 3 Idiots, a must watch movie and keep it as a collection for those stress buster sessions.