The White Tiger – Not my cup of tea.

Last week my sister brought this book “The White Tiger” written by Aravind Adiga. I have heard quite a lot about the book more so because of the recent Man Booker Prize being bestowed upon to it.

Adding too my interest was the fact that this was a Fiction based book. I started the book with great interest and after completing 50 pages felt the book was dragging. But I had my inner conscience telling me to see what’s so interesting in this book that it made to the coveted honor.

Pretending to be an Intellectual (as though I am and ardent fan of such booker prize books) I could hardly complete 100 pages. And the count is still going ahead. Whenever I am not feeling sleepy I try to induce sleep onto myself my re-opening this book.

Today after lunch, in my office I found an article about “The White Tiger” in Outlook magazine. Now since I have some information about what the book is about I tried to burry myself into the article. Off late all the reviews I read about this book, every one was gung-ho about the book.

But the article threw light on the other side of the coin. Thanks to the author for making me feel confident about my judgement. The author also agrees with me that the book was not so exciting one. Also the Times of India article quote starting with “allege” phrase made the reading interesting.

Now every book will have both lovers and dissidents, may be for this book I fall into the list of non ardent fans. May be this was not my cup of tea.

But nevertheless iam happy that an Indian author’s book has been selected for this honor (irrespective of the controversies surrounding it post the award)

Congratulations Adiga!!!

Happy diwali

It has been a long time since I blogged last. I was caught up with some new things all of which turned up at the same time….including Office shifting (only premises change not company yet),Diwali Fervor, Movie fever.,etc.

 Happy Diwali every one.

Paul Krugman awarded the Nobel Prize for 2008

Well well well…Paul Krugman has been awarded the 2008 Nobel prize in the Ecnomics Section.

 Now for all those of you who do not know who he is, take "The Hindu"  newspaper and open the Editorial, just opposite to the Editorial page will be Paul krugman’s column in the Op-Ed page.(just check 2-3 continous days and you shall find atleast one of his article). 

Iam not a regular reader of his articles, though I tried my level best at times little did I understand what he writes about.(May be coveted prizes are given to people who write like that…J). 

There were many a time, I started his article and left it in between because it didn’t make Head or tail to me. Some times it even appeared as if iam not reading an English newspaper.

 Fairly my intention  is not to make mockery of him. The way he articulates issues ranging from Economic perspective is mind boggling. To put out such an article requires great amount of Analysis and Logical thinking to put those thoughts across and not to forget the Vocab he uses (Its the finest of all) . Though at times it appears a lot more verbatim/Verbose may be I need to grow up to that stage where in I can understand his thoughts.

 Hearty Congratulations to Mr.Krugman. Your Articles set my bar higher..JJJ

 

Kotha Bangaru Lokam…Waiting for me!!!

“Happy Dussera”, now that’s what has been beeping on my mobile since today morning.

But just mere SMSing does it make my festival Happy. May be Yes bcoz atleast they have thought about me on this day or may be not as it was an exercise that they did.

Day long I was hoping to catch up with regular activity of catching up with friends and having our normal gupship but little did I realize that it can be way different from what I expected.

So what should I do?? Lackadaisically I turned onto net and fumbled up on idlebrain to see Jeevi’s review for the movie “Kotha Bangaru Lokam” (I was expecting the movie to be good because of the Music and the look & feel of the Posters and ad campaign made me feel like that…or may be its called Sixth Sense). Jeevi gave a mind boggling review of the movie and a rating of 4 up on scale of 5 (mind you he gave 4.5 for Bommarillu so can expect his rating value).

The time was 7.30 Pm and there is only one chance of making it to the movie and that’s Second Show. I checked with my friends and none of their Calendar’s was free.

As I was idling time just thought how about hitting to the movie with Mom.

Vroooooooooooooooom…that’s it went to the theatre to get the tickets but unfortunately the Queue was long enough so that I had the time to go back home and come along with Mom to get the tickets since the ladies Queue was decent enough .

Finally we got the Tickets.(also mom helped 2 more guys by purchasing some tickets for them as well).

Now my decision to take mom for this Movie proved to be a great idea as by the Interval the movie was so pleasant that mom was totally immersed into the movie.

Now coming to the movie though I plan to write a separate blog about it, a crisp review goes here…..A Fresh, Romantic, enticing, College Love Story. If Happy Days made you feel nostalgic about your Engineering Days this movie is definitely going to make you reminiscent of your Intermediate Days.

Fabulously picturised in the most picturesque locations of godavari, with music as an asset, the movie tries to balance the thin line between what parents think about children in the age group of 15-19 and what the Children feel like doing .

The lead roles of Varun and Swetha are very good.(Though I preferred to watch Swetha than Varun on the Screen….oops). Swetha is a debutant actress and she is most famous for her role of the dumb hero’s sister in the movie Iqbal. While equal importance has been given to Jayasudha & Prakashraj(Hero’s Mom and Dad) and Ahuti Prasad (Heroine’s Dad)

To put it in One line it’s a story about a middle class guy falling in love with a Rich girl during their Intermediate and how do they face the Consequences.

And by the time the move was over audience would be left with a heavy heart, feelings pouring out just like as it is with me now.(imagine I am composing this blog at midnight 1.00AM    &@$(*&@$)

 All in all my dussera concluded happily with mom as I was able to spend some time with mom and that too in the company of a Very Good Movie.

 If I were to recommend, do watch the movie with your Loved ones , not the regular friend’s circle. You will feel better and would start to add value to your relationship.

 Addukogaladhaaa vegam “Kotha Bangaaru Lokam pilsitey”……

Why didn’t Nano turn up to AP???

While there were still discussions going on between the Tata Motor’s management and various State governments, I had a very strong urge for Nano to come to Andhra Pradesh expecting that there would be an international Exposure of AP.

While Karnataka, Gujarat and AP left no stone unturned to bag the project to their hometown, the Tata’s were also weighing their options against one another.

The day before Mr. Ratan Tata announced that Nano would roll out from Gujarat, the Tata Motors team headed by Mr.Ravikant the Managing director of Tata Motors was in Hyderabad to meet Andhra Pradesh chief minister Mr.Y.S.Rajasekhar Reddy. The Team was also planning to go to Karnataka to take into consideration their offerings amidst which Mr.Tata made the announcement of camping from Gujarat.

One possible reason for AP being deprived of Nano may be, after having discussions with AP Government officials, Mr.Ravi and team proceeded to the proposed site which was planned for Nano set up.

The Team had a bitter experience as the Villagers protested against setting up and industry in their Agricultural area. The Resentment must have reminded the Nano Management team to re-consider their thoughts as they had been through this Imbroglio situation in West Bengal.

Also adding fuel to fire was Gujarat Government’s swift action to acquire land and to be in a position to transfer the land into Tata’s account while Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh were still in the process of getting approvals and the Land Allotment would take sometime , the time which Tata’s didn’t have much in their roll out of Prestigious Nano Project.

 

Trip to Anantgiri Hills

Though our Mission Godavari plan is being chalked out and is yet to be implemented, we were struck with the thought of another Small trip which was primarily a 100 Km drive away from Hyderabad.

 During Googling for Mission Godavari we came up across some interesting Locations in the vicinity of Hyderabad. We thought we shall explore them beginning this weekend to a trip to Anantgiri Hills supposedly to be a trekking spot.

 A Google search of  “Anantgiri Hills” takes you to numerous pages that talk about Eastern Ghats and the Hilly terrain surrounding Vizag and anantgiri hills located nearby.

 Interestingly  nearby to Hyderabad, at a distance of 100 Kms on the Vikarabad Tandur stretch is another place called anantgiri which is famous for a temple dedicated Ananta Padmanabha Swamy.

 I started at 9 AM after patching up with my friends Lucky and Shali. After small breakups for Tea we reached the spot in 3 Hours. Though the roads were not that great bits and pieces of the stretch were good.

 The Temple was being renewed with added features while we were said that there are some naturally formed caves and a Small Koneru (pool) down the hill. The Caves looked to be made of Natural red Soil with pores. Also near the Koneru were the Dome shaped structures.

 If you remember the movie “Aithe”  where the youngsters prison the mafia Don after kidnapping him, it is here the Dome shaped structures that the scenes were shot.

 Surrounded by lush greenery, the weather was pleasant enough due to the natural Vegetation. After trekking the caves for about an hour we though it was time to continue further.

 6 Km from there we heard that there was a place called Bugga Rameshwaram popular for its Underwater spring. The Road to this place had some hair pin bends and you feel like you are traveling though some valleys. Being the Jammed Roads during the weekdays we found solace in those roads where there was hardly any other human being .

 Occassionally the Village Cattle said hello to us but there were no other disturbances.

 As we reached the Temple we identifie dteh Underwater Spring. The Priest of the temple informed us that this was the Originating place for the River Musi. Though it sounded exciting enough I didn’t find the answer convincing enough.

 Out of our sheer curiosity we asked the priest if there were any other Places nearby to visit ,for which he smilingly said that there is a natural water fall 18-20 kms from here.

 With our adrenaline pumping, we geared up ourselves on the kacha Road expecting to catch a glimpse of our Niagara Falls for the ay.

 After 30 mins drive through the dirty Roads (or better if I call it as No road) all  our aspirations have been lulled down at the site of a lake but no falls.

 Dissappointed by the site we started back to home.

 All in all it’s a great trip as we found some natural beauty and splendid locations which we managed to capture in our Digi.

 

 

No Smoking in Public Places – Forever vs Time being

Rejuvenating myself over my favourite cup of tea (mom made one with Ginger flavour), I started off my Dry day. 

As I opened today’s News paper was reminded that from today Smoking is banned in Public Places. So all in all today is Dry Day cum No Smoking Day while the latter is for ever for the time being. 

As a Passive Smoker what does this mean to me. The new law says “A Public Place is defined as a place with more than 30 People”. And all the Incharges/supervisors/CEO’s of that particular public place have to implement the law. 

Do we know who is the Incharge/Suprvisor/Ceo of a Bus Stop/Parking Lot/near grocery Stores ., etc. Even if there is a person who monitors this, is he equally empowered to punish by levying fine upon people who make a mockery of law.

 Can a Parking Lot incharge go and levy fine upon a Honda City owner for Smoking in a Public place.

 How about this, Can I as a passive Smoker when I feel not so comfortable when people near me Smoke - go and say them that this is a public place and you should quit smoking here. I would be lucky enuf to get out of that place safely.

 Now the Ministry also provided a remedy for such situations saying that coming soon there shall be Contact Numbers and names of people whom I can call and complain against a guy who is trespassing the law by smoking in a public place. A smoker completes his heinous act in not more than 3-5 minutes, does this timeframe give enough evidence or time for the other person to respond.

 All in all another new law in to the system which has been infused by laws and laws over years.

 Let me re-iterate, I am not against banning public Smoking. It’s a wise decision and is the need of the hour. But the means resorted or the way it has been planned to implement is something which I am apprehensive about.

 This reminds me of my high school concept “Rules are meant to be observed in Spirit not in words”. If we can drive out this message of No Smoking through the right channels of medium we can strike the chord with many.

 For the moment I hope this law will also yield good and Positive results like the recent compulsory helmet restriction implemented by Hyderabad police.