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“Catch me if you can” says the Worcester express

-“Buddy, can you please pick me up at 6:45p.m today?” asked my friend, after running out of all other options.
-“Sure, I will take the 6:05 Worcester express from South station and reach Natick by 6:35p.m” - Only later will I curse myself for making this promise.

It was a quiet workday. Everything went as per plan, I left office ten minutes earlier than usual at 5:25p.m and reached the Red Line station situated across the Massachusetts Institute of Technology at 5:30p.m. Satisfied that there is 35 minutes to spare for making the 15 minute trip to South station.

South station on Dec 27, 1898

Boston’s historic South station is more than a century old. The grandeur of the architecturally rich façade built in 1898 is there for all tourists to enjoy from the outside. While the outside reminds the 1890s the inside is in complete contrast, with modern reconstructions and hoardings of iPod Nanos all over the place, the Train names, the track information rolling all the time indicating the constant flow of trains in and out of Boston, it can easily pass off for the 2010s. In the lowest level, runs the ‘Red Line’ subway trains. The ‘Silver Line’ subway bus, which takes commuters to the Logan Airport, is on the middle level of the South station. The top level handles the Amtrak trains and the Commuter trains, which includes the ‘Worcester express’. If the South station takes a day off, the number of people in downtown Boston will be lesser than the number of people wandering on a hot summer day in the vast expanse of the Sahara desert.

As the crowd gathered at the MIT Red Line station, I was beginning to get uneasy. Usually, at least there is one Red Line train every four minutes, but none appeared for the last eight minutes. “Attention Please! Due to a switch problem, we are experience some delays in the Red Line service,” yelled the loud speaker. People were standing at the edge of the platform, bending as much forward as possible, and peeking into the dark rail track, hoping that this act will somehow get the train sooner. First, I saw few smiling faces that were confident that their ‘bend and peek’ was undoubtedly responsible for what is about to happen, and then the flashing red lights of a moving train marked its arrival.

Charles Darwin was proved right yet again as only few managed to board the already packed train. I was glad to be one of the "fitter" few. This poor train had to bear the brunt of four times the usual traffic at every station. Oblivious of my urgency to make the 6.05 Worcester express, the Red Line train inched into the South station at 6:04p.m.

Standing at the edge of the door, it took me no effort to get to the platform as the packed crowd ejected me out. I rushed to the empty escalator and climbed two steps at a time and reached the Silver line bus service area. The time was 6.05p.m as I climbed through the last set of staircases to reach the South station lounge. Then, I saw what I dreaded, the automated notice board rolled the letters from left to right as I saw ‘c e s t e r e x p r e s s’ fade away from the screen.

A commuter train on the move (with flashing red lights)

Failing to note the track number from where the Worcester express departs, I ran towards the first three tracks (usually it departs from 1,2 or 3) hoping that some miracle will keep it waiting. As I entered the boarding area, I saw at a distance on track 1, the flashing red lights of the moving train. It was all over! Being totally dejected I turned back to head towards the restroom. It invariably happens, when ‘u r in’ such a situation.

As I was about to reenter the lounge, I watched the flashing red lights coming nearer, which means it's an incoming train and not a departing one. I saw couple of people running towards a train on track 2 and I started running too. Don’t ask me ‘why I ran?’ I had no clue what Train that one is. At the entrance of the last car of that train, the Asian-American conductor yelled “Worcester Express” and pulled me into the train, closed the door and the train began to move. It was 6.07p.m. At this point, I got reminded of the little emoticon from the yahoo messenger, which raises the hand to the forehead and wipes the drop of sweat. I called my friend to inform him that things are on schedule.

Abel-Daughter

"Malai da, Annaamalai"

I read the Jeffrey ARCHER books 'The Prodigal Daughter' and 'Kane & Abel' in that order, but the former was written later. Only after reading the latter, was I told that 'Kane & Abel's (KA) sequel is 'The Prodigal Daughter' (PD). The story of a Mr.Kane and a Mr.Abel forms the story of KA, and the life story of Mr.Abel's daughter - Florentyna, is PD.

Well, PD is not literally a sequel to KA. The story of PD starts when KA is half complete. When PD is half way through, KA ends. If we take all the pages of KA and PD and sort them in a time line, i.e. the order in which the events occur, to be specific, if we divide KA into two halves say, 1 and 2, similarly PD into two say, 3 and 4, and plot them in the time line graph, it will look like this:
4
2 - 3
1
Since 2 and 3 occur at the same time, one would think that it will be boring to read 2, if you've already read 3,4 or vice versa. Ok, I am not talking any math here. In whichever order you read these two books, the pleasure derived while reading the second one can be .. hm.. how can I explain it?.. yeah! it can be compared to watching the replay of Sachin Tendulkar hitting a six off Shoiab Akthar from two different camera angles.

The same time period, same events, but we look at them using different eyes. Mani Rathnam handles this in Aayudha Ezhuthu and Kamal handles this, even better, in the movie Virumaandi. I am not commenting on the stories here, just the screenplay.

It might have been a simple task for Archer, as he wrote the second book, keeping in mind the events of the first one. But the narration was simply superb. It gives us the pleasure of discovering things which are not explicitly said in either of the books. After reading many crime stories, lawyer-solving-puzzles stories, doctor-inventing-medicines stories, this one, which plainly describes the life events of Kane, Abel and Florentyna, was a different experience. I think, in our 10th or 12th standard (grade) [Matriculation / Stateboard] English non detail section we read Thomas Hardy's 'The Mayor of Casterbridge'. If you liked that one, you will enjoy this one too.

When I started reading the 'Kane & Abel', my father told me that this is the same story used in the Rajni movie Annaamalai. Of course modifications were made to make it a single hero subject, but as I was reading the book, I was able to relate and appreciate how this one was adapted into Annaamalai. Now, don't ask me if Abel was a 'paalkaaran'.

It's a relative term.

-"ellam en Machaan paathupaan",
-"Naanum en orepadi'yum dhaan samayal velai ellam gavanichhukarom"
-"Vunga aathu maatupon maadhiri enakkum oruthi kidaichaa nalla irukkum"

We come across many terms for relations (like Machaan, Maatupon, orepadi) in our everyday life. Some of those terms have meanings too, while there are many other terms without any special meaning. In tamil grammar the former terms were called 'Kaaranap peyar' - those which are named with some reason, while the latter are called 'Idukuri peyar' - those terms which were given the name just for identification purposes. Thinking of it, "Isn't 'Idukuri peyar' a 'Kaaranap Peyar' too?".

Here is an attempt to dig deep into what some of those terms mean:

Machaan aka Machinar, Mei thunar - Husband's brother or wife's brother. We all know what 'vuyir' is. It is life, then there is 'mei' which is our body, and the combination of 'vuyir' and 'mei' is a human being. (Maybe, it is from this concept they named the letters of Tamil Language, the 'Vuyir ezhuthukkal', 'Mei Ezhuthukkal' and the marriage of the two- 'vuyirmei ezhuthukkal'). The one whose job specification includes, guarding the body, the 'mei' is called the body guard or 'Mei Thunar' -> Machinar -> Machaan. Your Machaans are supposed to act as your body guard in times of need.

Orepadi aka Oragathi - If A and B are brothers. A's wife is an oragathi or orpadi to B's wife. Long long ago, so long ago, that nobody knows how long ago, there existed a concept called 'joint family'. During those times, all the As and Bs lived under one roof. Since A's wife and B's wife set foot on the same steps ('padi'), they are called 'ore padi's. 'Agam' is another term for house. Since they both live in the same 'agam', they are also called 'ore agathi's.

Naatupon aka Maatupon aka Maatru pen - Daughter-in-law. This is straight forward. 'Maatru pen' means, the alternate daughter. This in due course became 'maatupon' and some also use the term 'naatupon'.

Thambi - Younger brother. Ambi means 'younger boy'. 'Thannudaya Ambi' became 'Thambi'. There are also other archaic terms like 'Vumbi' - 'Vunnudaya Ambi'- your younger brother, 'Nambhi' - 'Nammudaya Ambi' - our younger brother', 'yembi' - 'Ennudaya Ambi' - My younger brother.

Girls, you weren't left out. Thangai - Younger sister. 'Angai' - means 'younger girl'. Similar to the Thambis, etc, we have 'Thannudaya Angai' - 'Thangai', 'Nangai', 'Vungai', 'Engai'.

Ammaan aka Maaman, Maama- Mother's brother. Ammaan comes from 'Ammavin Sagodharan' which later became Maaman, Maama. There was (is ?) also a term called 'Ammaanjee'. 'Sei' means son, 'Ammaan sei' became 'Ammaanjee' i.e Maama's son.

OK, don't ask the etymology of 'Naathanar' - sister-in-law, with all the 'stinking' fight some of them have, I can come up with a story, but it is better to classify 'Naathanar' a 'idukuri peyar'

In those days, when one is not sure of who the father of the kid is, they regarded those kids as God's kid. They called such people "Thevar Adiyavar", today that word took many a twist and turn that we can't use it anymore in a public forum. 'Boss'!, if you are not that 'tardy' you will understand what i am talking about ;)

"Should there be no restrictions then?"

- "Pasanga, padippula concentrate panna maatengranga sir."
- "Ponnunga tight jeans pottu vandhuraanga, adha paathukitte, padippa kottai vitturaanga."
- "Seri, 'No Jeans'NNu general rule pottuduvom, Ponnu, PayyanNNU piricha, periya prachanai panniduvaanga."

Anna University 'think tank' committee concludes..

Check out the link. yeah, its the college from which I completed my Bachelors. It takes a Anna University-decision on dress code for MNM Jain Engineering College to make The Hindu front page.

After so much analysis from such a high level committee (like the six member committee that discussed Chappel-Ganguly case) they decide that a Salwar/ Pant-Shirt is the best for TN students.

MNM Jail engineering college in keeping with its oneupmanship, improvised on that to add 'Shoes', 'clean shaven', 'short hair', 'light colored full sleeve shirt' to that list.

"ellam Alaipayudhey Madhavan'aala vandha prachanai, stubbles'oda vandhu ella ponnugalayum cover pannitan, adhu naala college decides that 'clean shaven' guys will help improve girl's concentration"

What is a possible motive behind a dress code enforcement?
- The students will not concentrate on studies.
- Less pass percentage will affect the ranking and in turn their "name"

Some of us had the opportunity to study in US grad schools and our outlook towards studies, attendance, dress, etc changed completely. Tell me frankly, isn't shorts (or something shorter) the best outfit for Chennai's climate? This claim is an 'outrage' in today's grad schools in Tamil Nadu (or India, for that matter)

The attitude towards education must change. Students should not attend school (engineering college) for the "Appa told me to" reason. The 'self financing' schools should concentrate towards improving the quality of lecturers and lectures. Student's attendance should ONLY have an impact on the knowledge gained. When such things happen, when the ideal students are ready, on that day, the dress code must be revised and 'T-Shirts', 'Shorts' must be added to the list.

I feel that Anna University has no right to take the dress code on its hand. The other schools have no option but to enforce a dress code to safe guard their investments (until they are confident on their quality of education, they have to rely on these peripheral things).

But seriously, It beats me as to how a 'dark colored shirt', 'not-so-clean shaven guy', 'lengthy hair' affect the concentration of a student?

9/10 at NYC

“Make sure you stay out of NYC on 9/11”
“Sure, thanks buddy, see you tomorrow”

At 6:00a.m, it was a traffic free journey to Stamford. I set the cruise control at 75mph for the first 100 miles of the trip. After missing couple of turns in downtown Stamford, I parked the car at Santhosh’s house and took the MTA train to the Grand Central Station, NYC.

Wanted to pack three veggie delights at the nearest Subway shop and searched for a Subway all around Grand Central and Time square. I did find many Subways, but they all dealt with trains only.

The semi final match between Andre Agassi and Robby Genepri was scheduled to start at 11:00a.m at Arthur Ashe Stadium, yeah, the center court. I was back again outside the Amsterdam Theater where we watched Lion King one week ago. The theater looked more affable with cargo pants and T-shirt. We took the subway train # 7 from Time square to the Shea Stadium / Willets Point Station. After a 30-minute delay in our schedule, we reached the stadium around 11:25a.m. The stadium looked huge. It was an amazing sight. We threw our backpacks at the locker near the entrance. Though we were carrying it in our hands, it is still a ‘back’pack and not allowed.

Transferring the Rotis and Alu mutter, which Prashant got from his uncle's place, to a plastic bag, we found our section, row and seats. It was a good view. We got the 10 o'clock / 4 o'clock view, if we consider the court, a face of a clock. The match began only around 12:15p.m. It was a wonderful feeling to watch Agassi in action.

There was an urgency in Agassi's game. He badly wanted to win the match. He ran the corners, dug out the drop shots and did all that he possible can to level the set score at 2-2.

During our lunch:
"Where did you guys get those rolls"
"We got them from home"
"Oh! that's not fair" the two ladies sighed and continued towards the cafeteria counter.

The dream came true, Agassi won the five setter. All the top pitched "Lets go Andre", "Come on Agassi", "Go Agassi" did not go waste. Federer vs Hewitt was a good treat to watch too.

After collecting the free US open wrist band, we found our way to the seven week old Saravana Bhavan at NYC and had Kaima Idly, Sambhar Vadai, Mysore Bonda, Channa Batura, Aapam, Badam Halwa, Coffee. We asked the American waiter, if he had tasted these items and he goes "Kaima Idly is my favourite", "but nothing can beat the Badam Halwa, not just among the desserts, Badam Halwa is the best of all" and he asked "have you been to the Saravana Bhavan at Chennai?". I totally lost track of time and it was past 10.00p.m when we came out of the restaurant.

As we were walking past the 'now' tallest building of NYC, I got reminded of what my friend told me first thing in the morning. Took the next available train from Grand Central and reached Stamford 50 minutes before 9/11/2005.

Lost and Found

“What time should we start da, to reach the theater on time?”

“The show starts at 8.00p.m, it seems, the opening sequence of Lion King is a must see”

“Dei, We are fifteen minutes behind schedule, and just one hour dhaan irukku, can we make it?”

We got on to and I hear “Who has the tickets? Did you take the printout with you?” Absolute silence followed.

Back to square one, and the tickets were not to be found anywhere in the house too.

On to once again, this time, with the tickets. We took a printout from the nearby office building of our friend TVK.

“Its Forty five to start, how many minutes of the show will we miss?”

“Can’t say, depends on how kind the Holland tunnel and the city traffic is, but we may miss fifteen minutes”

After risking at least 50 speeding violation tickets, and completing my maiden drive through the infamous NYC traffic, we reached a parking lot near the Broadway theater at 7.57p.m. I don't want to start on the merciless NYC traffic, Its like everyone are behind schedule 24/7.

We asked the parking-lot guy to show us directions to the theater. I was hoping and praying to see a button on the elevator that will take us to the theater entrance.

Unfortunately, it was 4 blocks away from the parking lot. With her high healed shoes my sister could not run for more than a block. 3 out of 5 took a cab, while I ran 4 blocks with my cousin to the entrance. Damn the formal dressing for this occasion. 8.01p.m, the lights were still on and the curtains were drawn. We took our seats at the balcony and the lights went out, the curtains rose.

It was a wonderful opening with a pleasant song, but I couldn’t understand one word of it. “Che! Ivvlo naal indha voorla irudhum onnum puriyalaye”, and my sister Ramya, corrected, “Illa da, it’s a tribal song of Lion King (dom), so its only good that we don’t understand it”

We failed to see the faces of the performers; no, I am not writing about the distance from the stage or an eyesight problem, we only saw the faces of the characters. The elephants, the giraffes all looked natural (‘natural’ = ‘animated’, in this case). So many minute details were taken care off meticulously. It took at least one hour for me, to believe that the sound track was not recorded in a studio, but was orchestrated right below the stage. They even pulled off feats like Mufasa falling off a cliff, in slow motion, Simbha and Nala getting air borne during a duet sequence. I never knew people cared so much for perfection in a stage play. It was nothing short of a magic show when they simulated water falls and even drying up of the lakes when the evil uncle (what is his name?) takes over the kingdom after Mufasa’s death.

During the 15-minute break, I realized that a balcony ticket is not the most preferred in stage performances and all along I was wondering “how did Ramya manage to get ‘balcony’ tickets at the last minute?”

I exited the show with a sense of achievement. Just when I was thinking that the $80 [I haven’t yet paid for the tickets] was worth all of it, Ramya goes “Guys, it's my treat!”

On our way back, Ramya gets back to her storybook, only to find that the original ticket printout is her bookmark!

Parlance

I was reading the Boston-Metro, on my way to work. There was this article about a person, who faces rape charges. During his trial, on his way to the courtroom, he overpowered the courthouse deputy and took the deputy's gun, then entered the courtroom, killed the judge, the court reporter and a deputy who tried to stop him. After all this, the daily reports "FBI Agents escort murder SUSPECT Brain Nichols from an FBI holding facility Saturday in Atlanta".
"yeanya, ivvlo nadandha apramum, avan murder suspect'aa??!!??"
A month ago, a leading Tamil weekly reported, "Sankarachariar kutravali koondil yeri badil alithar". When will they realise that it is "Kutram saatap patavar koondu" and not "kutravaalik koondu"

"In two days we will go home, my darling ... Do not worry."

'Baby 81' parents count days to reunion

Jenita Jeyarajah, left, the mother claimant of the infant dubbed "Baby 81" holds the child and father claimant Murugupillai Jeyarajah, center, shouts as a doctor. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)
When one has to prove such a relationship, what would be going on in their mind? Having lost all their earthly possessions, they see their child alive, only to find out that they have to prove their claim. Kudos to the third umpire 'DNA Test'.

Fight...

I was watching the thriller contest between between Sarena and Sharapova in the Australian Open Semi-finals. The set score was levelled at one set all. In the final set, Sharpova was serving six games to five, and the game score was 40-30. Match Point... Silence all around. So far I just saw drooping shoulders and sad face from Sarena, not even a "yess.." or a "Noo.." when she won/lost a point, while Sharapova was shouting her way through every point. At that moment Sarena whispered to herself.. "Fight".. the close-up lip movement showed that. She won the point and the score read "Duce", Sharapova got two more match points, Sarena fought back, saved all three match points and eventually won the game to make it 6-6, then she went on to win two consecutive games to seal the match 8-6. It was 'A'mazing. The way Sharapova was playing, I thought Sarena did not stand a chance, but she won the match. I personally wanted Sharapova to win the match until the time I watched Sarena say "Fight.."

It was heartening to see "Its-never-too-late-to-fight-back" in action.

Suicide bid by protesters

The Hindu : Suicide bid by protesters

This incident has more "mental" value than any "sentimental" value. These idiots should be sentenced for atleast few years of imprisionment. Taking away life by force, should never lead to a solution.

Price tag on Dad: 318,443 pounds

Price tag on Dad: 318,443 pounds - The Times of India

..and what next? Delivery charges due, to Mom? One jobless person conducts the study and another comments!

Four new flyovers coming

The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Four new flyovers coming

[Pic:ltramboll.com]
This is good news? Hope the construction goes smooth and we have some solace to the ever increasing Chennai traffic.

India's conspicuous economic growth

G-8 game for India's inclusion - The Times of India

India is on track in terms of economic growth and it is high time other countries acknowledge it. Earlier, analysts have predicted that India will become the number one economy by 2040. With Manmohan Singh and P.Chidambaram at the helm of affairs, one would easily guess that, it might not take that long.

Google mail to be launched soon

Welcome to Gmail

[Pic: gmail.google.com]

Atlast, Google have found their way into the free web email world. With around 1 GB of free space who will not want a gmail account?This sure will give msn and yahoo lot of sleepless nights. I can't wait to sign-up for a gmail account. That day is pretty much round the corner.