My take on 20/20 World Cup

I had read somewhere that- "If there is something worse than eating insect pie, it should be eating humble pie". This is precisely what my condition now is ever since I tuned in on Saturday, September 22 to watch the 20/20 cricket match between India and Australia. As everyone might be aware by now, the 20/20 World Cup was launched with much fanfare- this being the first of its kind in the world. Most of the world was happy that they could watch another World Cup within an year of completion of the earlier one. But, the idealist in me was not. To start with, I have not been a great fan of cricket. But, I used to keep track of matches and used to tune into cricket World Cups regularly and some of the more interesting tournaments occasionally. The decision of the ICC to have a 20/20 World Cup came as quite a shocker to me. I was concerned with the change in the format of the game, the game reduced to a total of 40 overs as against the 100 over ODI's that we were used to. I was whining about the crass commercialization of the game reducing International Cricket to the status of what we call "gully cricket" in India. I was quite alarmed at the clout that the sponsors and advertisers had over the ICC. The short shelf life of the cricketers and the inability to assess them correctly owing to the short duration of the game upset me. Finally, I took that great decision- not to watch any of the 20/20 matches! I could not control myself for long. Teams after teams were blasting off on the ground and notching up unimaginable scores in their limited 20 overs. The stadiums at Durban, Cape Town and Johannesberg were overflowing with crowds- all enthusiastic and hung ho about the game. The icing on the cake definitely was Yuvraj Singh's blaster of a performance against England- hitting sixers throughout an over. I could not restrain myself any longer and finally on Saturday, September 22, I decided to watch the much touted semi final with India facing Australia. Needless to say, I was impressed beyond measure. The biggies in the Indian team stayed away- No Dada, No Sachin, No Dravid. But, that did not deter the spirit of the boys led by the formidable Mahendra Singh Dhoni one bit. It was the cracker of a match on Saturday with team India scoring 188 runs in 20 overs over 5 wickets. What added spice to the Indian innings was the fabulous performance of Yuvraj Singh (70 off 30 balls) ably supported by Gambhir, Uthappa and Dhoni. Australia, on the other hand, are also equally good with the willows. In spite of the splendid performance of the Indian team, I was not sure how the Indian bowlers were going to cope up with Australia. But, boy-o-boy, what a show it was! Kochi's own S Sreesanth sowed the seeds of destruction for Australia with a magnificent 4- 1- 12- 2 hunting down the opening duo of Adam Gilchrist and Mathew Hayden. Irfaan Pathan, Joginder Sharma, Harbhajan Singh and R P Singh also put in their best efforts and the Australian team had to return to the pavilion with an unsuccessful 173/7 in 20 overs. Yuvraj Singh was rightly declared the Man of the Match but what impressed me was the total team spirit with which team India approached the game. The guys played for the country and the interest of the team was always ahead of individual interests. M S Dhoni looked completely at ease with himself and totally unapprehensive, thus exhibiting a maturity that belies his 26 years. The cool, calculated approach, the indomitable team spirit and the exhibit of talent has thus ushered in team India to the finals of the 20/20 World Cup. All eyes today are on Johannesberg where India will clash with arch rival Pakistan in the Finals. The match in total lasted for only 3.5 hours and the spirits of the audience were soaring high. Amidst the crowds and the cheers, it really was heartening to see the Indian team walking back to the pavilion after a clinching victory over Australia. One match and all my pre- conceptions about 20/20 have gone for a complete toss! I read Wasim Akram remarking a couple of days back that 20/20 is going to be the future of Cricket ODI's. All I have to say now is as long as the spirit of the game is intact, I really don't care whether it is 20/20 or 50/50! With prayers and best wishes for the Indian team, Spiritedly yours,

Training Time

I have been writing my way to glory on my blog today, unleashing my entire creative potential thanks to the fact that my mind these days is free of any kind of tension- personal or professional. Personally, I have not had many reasons to be tense about till now (fortunately, that is). But, professionally, there have been a few instances where there was no way out but to carry a little bit of work related worries back home at night and sometimes, over the weekend. However, these days, at work, I am at a stage where I am almost out of the team that I was part of and am looking forward to something new that is coming way late this year or early next year. The next obvious question is what am I doing at work these days? Biding away time doing nothing, right? Wrong. I am still very much helping out my earlier team with whatever help they need. But, most of my time these days is spend on admin related stuff and training. I always thought of Trainings as boring but discovered last day that they could be extremely interesting too. I had a self training on a software called MS Project on the training module available at work and found out that it was highly effective. I am not a software person and I never knew about the existence of a software called MS Project. But, I fell in love with it during my first tryst with the software and the training course has further intensified my interests in MS Project. My course material had a pre assessment, a detailed course and a post assessment on MS Project Fundamentals spread across 3 sessions. I completed all the 3 in one day itself and could score an overall 79 per cent marks which I thought was good enough for a software illiterate like me. I have made up my mind to make the most use of my time at work before I get busy with my new project. I am looking forward to getting trained on the entire MS Office Suite' which probably would bring me into contact with MS Access and MS Visio- 2 software I don't have much clue about! Its raining trainings folks and I am looking forward to more :)

Hey Ram!

I am the namesake of one of the most popular characters in Indian Mythology- Sreeram of Ramayana. Ramayana is one Indian epic which every child born in India is made familiar to at a very young age considering the fact that the characters of Ramayana epitomise the various virtues of life. More so, in the case of Sreeram, who was honest, truthful, devoted, and committed to his principles, his family and his country at large. No wonder, pages and pages of literature have been devoted to this mythological character and movies after movies have been made based on Sreeram. The most popular interpretation of Ramayan in my time is that classic serial by Ramanand Sagar which was telecast on Doordarshan in the mid to late 80's when the entire country used to come to a stand still. I had read somewhere that the serial holds the record for being the one that has been shown in most countries across the World and dubbed to the maximum languages. Sreeram has enjoyed a very long run as one of the most reverred mythological characters in the World and his biggest achievement has been the construction of the Ram Setu from Rameshwaram to Sri Lanka, with the help of the monkey troupe led by Sugreeva. Yes, the same Ram Setu which is in the news now a days for all the wrong reasons. Honestly, I really don't care whether or not the Sethu Samudhram project is commissioned and I am not fully aware of the benefits or difficulties of the said project. All I know is that there is a lot of mud slinging happening between a whole lot of people occupying positions that matter in the country. What pains me immensely are the remarks that are being made about Sreeram. Ever since the Ayodhya episode, Sreeram's name has been tarnished and the BJP and the RSS have been doing whatever they can to save the reputation of their beloved mythological hero. However, the controversies surrounding the Sethu Samudhram project have surpassed the Ayodhya episode in tarnishing Sreeram's reputation even leading to questions on his existence. I am a Hindu, but definitely not a fanatic, nor am I trying to make a political statement by writing about Sreeram on my blog. But, my heart really goes out to the real "Sreeram" who after millions of years of his existence (apparently, that is) is being drawn into all kinds of scandals and unwanted discussions. Probably, my feelings for the hero is thanks to the fact that I am his namesake. But, I know one thing for sure. If he was alive today, he would have definitely cried "Hey Ram!!" responding to all the negative publicity coming his way!

Nalini Jameela- Celebrity in her own right!

If there is one society in India shrouded with hypocrisy and false morality, it has to be the Kerala society. Though widely hailed as the state with the highest literacy rate and a favorable men to women ratio (1028: 1000 which is much higher than the national and if I am right, the global average), this society has been plagued with instances of atrocities among women which include sexual harrassment and flesh- trade. These instances always hog limelight much to the dismay and disappointment of the girls' and their families involved and we have had umpteen such cases which are pending in the courts of law at various stages of cross- examination (Vithura episode and the Calicut Ice cream parlor case are examples). The victim of the sensational Sooryanelli case ended up as a government servant while there was no such luck for Shari, the Kiliroor sex scandal victim who succumbed to death following premature pregnancy. It was in the wake of these sex scandals that rocked the society that Nalini Jameela published her autobiography- "Oru Laingikathozhilaliyude Aathmakatha" (2005) with the support of social activists like Gopinath and Maithreyan. The book went on to become a best seller with a record sale of 13000 copies and six editions in one month. The average Malayalee who expected juicy episodes of Nalini's sexual encounters with her customers were in for major disappointment though (I have not read the book, this is what I heard from others who had read it and also from the reviews). Instead of getting into the erotic, the book concenterated on the circumstances that forced Nalini Jameela into prostitution. The book did give a major shock to the hypocritic Kerala society and forced it to wake up from the comfortable slumber that it was into. Consequently, there was wide spread awareness campaigns against AIDS, sex scandals, forced prostitution and the like. Nalini Jameela became hot property for the media and a page 3 celebrity in her own right. Suddenly, the sex workers in the state were out in the open, conducting seminars, panel discussions and the like and hogging the media limelight like never before. 2.5 years since the publication of the book, things have not changed much in the state. The sex scandal cases are pending in the courts of law and new sex scandals are coming out in the open. Love making clips are prevalent on MMS and still, the Malayalee society is clinging on to its false morality dictum as always. It is in the wake of all this that Westland books' have recently published the English translation of Nalini Jameela's book- "The autobiography of a Sex Worker". The language being English which is much more universal in appeal, Nalini Jameela is once again the cynosure of all eyes, this time attracting the attention of the National media. She is being profiled by major news channels and all major newspapers are carrying reports and reviews of her book. Nalini would herself not have imagined the world turning around like this for her. From a street prostitute who had to sell herself to eke out a living to a page 3 celebrity- author earning huge amounts of royalty for her books, life definitely has come a full circle for her. The poor lady is doing her bit in rehablitating and educating prostitutes with her hard earned fame and reputation. Nalini's story indeed is gut wrenching and one can draw parallels from her story to those of the girls involved in Sooryanelli, Vithura and Kiliroor. However, what one fails to understand or predict is how long this is going to go on. You have one sex scandal or the other raising its head every fortnight and one celebrity or the other getting involved in one of these. In a scenario like this, would it help if Kerala goes the Thailand way? Only time can tell.

Big B- Stylish but predictable

Marikkar Films' Big B (Malayalam) scripted and directed by debutant Amal Neerad stars Mammootty in the lead. Big B is the story of Bilal (Mammootty) the oldest of the 4 orphans brought up by Mary Teacher (Nafisa Ali) who is a social activisit based in Fort Kochi. Mary Teacher is mercilessly killed on the eve of X'mas and this causes Bilal to return to his home town from a self imposed exile in Mumbai. Bilal along with his three "brothers"- Eddie (Manoj K Jayan), Murukan (Bala) and Bijo (Sumeet Naval) proceeds on to find out the culprits behind his mother's death. How he finds them and punishes them suitably is what the rest of the movie is all about. The story of Big B is as old as the hills and everyone from Manmohan Desai and Prakash Mehra in Bollywood to Joshi and Sasikumar in our own Malluwood have made films based on the "brothers' avenging parents' death" concept in the late 70's and early 80's. Amal Neerad knows for a fact that he has nothing new to offer as far as storyline is concerned and thus, he concenterates his efforts on the technical aspects of the movie to come up with a film that is slickly and stylishly shot. Sameer Thahir's camera, Ranjan Pramod's razor sharp cuts, Unni's crisp dialogues, Joseph Nellikkal's authentic production design and Alphonse's trendy music assist Amal in acheiving his objective. Mammootty takes active interest in his looks is something that everyone is aware of. But, with Big B, the megastar raises the bar for himself a few notches higher. With his chic outfits, trendy hair style and cool accessories, Mammootty makes a bold fashion statement in Big B, something one can expect the youth in Kerala to model themselves on for a long period to come. His understated performance as Bilal is different from what you have seen of the star actor in recent times. Manoj K Jayan is credible and Bala is dependable. Innocent evokes a few laughs in his 2 scene appearance. Nafisa Ali impresses in her cameo while Sumeet Naval cuts a sorry picture. The ladies- Lena, Mamta and Manasa- don't have much to do. However, Bala and Mamta look good together in the well picturised chart buster "Muthumanithooval pole". To cut a long story short, Big B scores high on the technical aspect, but thanks to its cliched and predictable storyline, will not linger in the minds of the viewers for a long time.

Perumazhakkalam is a drag

Rasikar Films' Perumazhakkalam (Malayalam) scripted by T A Razzak and directed by Kamal tells the story of Rasiya (Meera Jasmine), a young mother who stays on the banks of the river Kallayi in Kozhikode with her father (Maamukkoya) and is always on the wait for Akbar (Dileep), her husband working in Saudi Arabia. One evening, Najeeb (Sadik), Akbar's cousin comes to meet Rasiya and her father with a bad news- that Akbar has murdered his friend Raghuramaiyer (Vineeth) following a tussle and has been awarded capital punishment by the Shareeyat court of Saudi. There is just one way out to save Akbar- obtaining a pardon letter from Raghu's widowed wife Ganga (Kavya Madhavan) who is bereaving the death of her husband at her agrahaaram by the banks of the Kalpathi river in Palakkad. How Rasiya manages to meet Ganga and how she saves her husband Akbar in the face of stiff opposition from Raghurama Iyer's parents and brothers is what the rest of the movie is all about. T A Razak has never really impressed as a script writer in the past. He is adept at choosing topical subjects for his script (Bhoomigeetham and Kanakkinavu are good examples) but is also well known for messing up his scripts (The memories of Vishnulokam, Rappakal and Bus Conductor still send shivers down my spine). Here also, Razak is in his elements. His script is loaded with excessive melodrama, his metaphor of rain plays spoil sport and drains the script of its strength and the climax is unbearably long and undesirably cliched. His depiction of Tamil Brahman community is far from reality and the characters in the agrahaaram look and sound as if they are straight out of a pulp fiction (painkilikkatha in colloqial Malayalam). It is high time Kamal looked beyond Razak for scripts. The duo have delivered half a dozen duds together including this movie. Kamal's confusion as a film maker is evident with the way the movie progresses. The trauma that the protagonists go through is unable to strike a chord with the audience. The sudden change in Ganga's attitude towards Rasia and Akbar comes out as the weakest link in the film. To a certain extent, Kamal is saved by the performances of his cast. Meera Jasmine is adequate as Rasia though her performance borders on over acting in certain scenes. She needs to restrain herself badly. Kavya Madhavan underplays Ganga effectively with her subtle body language and ample use of facial expressions. Sadik as Najeeb, Biju Menon as John, Mala Aravindan as Kunjikannan and Salim Kumar as Akbar's uncle stand out. Dilip's cameo as Akbar is nothing much to write home about. Vineeth appears in a song sequence and does not make much impact. Mamukkoya gets a chance to exhibit his acting prowess as Rasia's father and the veteran does a great job worthy of the Special Award from the Kerala Government which he won for his portrayal. M Jayachandran's background music is loud and disturbs the tempo of the movie. The songs are well tuned and well picturised but they are completely out of place. Looks like the Kamal- Razak duo were unsure about the kind of movie that they wanted to make and due to this Perumazhakkalam ends up as a wannabe Middle of the Road kind. I really hope Kamal and Razak would have caught up with Nagesh Kukunoor's "Dor" which was based on the same story. Let the mastery of Kukunoor and the subtlety of Dor be lessons enough for Kamal and Razak to come up with something impressive in future.

Sethuramaiyer CBI- A Taut Thriller

Produced and Directed by K Madhu- Sethuramaiyer CBI is the third in the 4 part CBI series from the formidable team of K Madhu, S N Swamy and Mammootty. This film had its theatrical release in early 2004 and it is only after 2.5 years that I could finally catch up with this cracker of a movie. The CBI series started with Oru CBI Diarykurippu (1988) that established Mammootty's Sethuramaiyer as the Sherlock Holmes of Malayalam cinema. A quickly made Jaagratha (1990) followed and its less than appealing box office performance forced the CBI team to take a short break. The advent of mobile phones and the CBI theme making a comeback as one of the most common dial tunes made S N Swamy wake up from his slumber. Inspired by Arthur Healy, he scripted the third part of the series- Sethuramaiyer CBI. K Madhu and Mammootty were equally keen though the producer of the first two parts- M Mani (Sunitha Productions) was not. Thus, K Madhu took up the mantle of producing the movie up on himself and came out with Sethuramaiyer CBI which brought Mammootty back into the limelight and proved as the starting point for the mega star to deliver more than a dozen hits one after the other within a short span of 2 years. In spite of the movie becoming a huge success at the BO, I could not watch it in theatres, thanks to my busy days as a nouveau professional on the hunt for a satisying job. Finally I managed to catch up with the movie on Surya TV in one of its umpteenth telecasts. Needless to say, I was impressed once again with the mastery with which the murder mystery was solved. The movie starts with Sethuramaiyer (Mammootty) coming to his home town in Kerala for a vacation with his sister and family (Urmila Unni, Kunjan, an irritating Navya Nair and an over the top Nandana). One fine morning, Iyer has an unexpected visitor in the form of a pastor (Bharat Gopi wasted in an inconsequential role) who wants Iyer to visit a culprit (an effective Kalabhavan Mani) who is waiting for his death sentence for having committed 6 murders in 2 families. The culprit calls on Iyer for making a confession, a real shocking one at that- he has killed only 5 and the 6th murder was not committed by him. What adds more shock value to the revelation is the fact that the murder mystery was earlier investigated by CBI themselves and the culprit was booked following the investigation which they thought was fool proof. After obtaining the consent from his authorities, Iyer sets out on a re- investigation of the crime aided by his favorite subordinate Chacko (Mukesh) and the newly recruited Ganesh (Vineeth Kumar looking lost and confused). How Iyer and his team manage to successfully find out the culprit is what the rest of the movie is all about. S N Swamy is widely considered the Agatha Christie of Malayalam filmdom. He has every right to be described so since no other writer in Indian cinema has been able to contribute so effectively to the crime thriller genre like Swamy has. Here also, Swamy's script is wonderful and the methodology of the mystery being solved has an onion peel effect to it. The multi layered script contributes immensely to the success of the movie, though a few hitches like the Navya Nair- Vineeth Kumar romance and the Mala Aravindan episode could have been avoided. K Madhu proves yet again that there is no one like him when it comes to directing crime thrillers. The pacing of the movie is just perfect and the importance given to the aesthetics and production design deserves special mention. Mammootty stands tall amongst the cast, as far as performances are concerned. His interpretation of Sethuramaiyer is effective but what is awe inspiring is the fact that he looks straight out of the 1988 movie- Oru CBI Diarykurippu which started it all. Jagathy Sreekumar's brief appearance as the CBI officer in disguise is another feather in the versatile actor's already overcrowded cap. Saikumar as Inspector Sathyadas, the son of Inspector Devadas (the late Sukumaran) who appears in the prequels is equally effective. Technically also the movie stands out. The camera work (Anandakuttan, if I am right) rightly complements the mood of a crime thriller and the background music by Shyam is effective. The editing could have been crisper though. Sethuramaiyer was so big a success that it prompted the team to come up with a 4th part- a quickie called Nerariyaan CBI (2005) which left the theatres quicker than one could say 1-2-3.

Book Review: Khasakkinte Ithihaasam (Malayalam)

I have been hearing/ reading something or the other about "Khasakkinte Ithihaasam" ever since the time it was published first. To start with, this was the novel that brought O V Vijayan into the limelight, notwithstanding the fact that he was an eminent journalist and cartoonist associated with the likes of The Statesman earlier. Being the movie buff that I am, Khasakkinte Ithihaasam once again caught my fancy when Director Shyamaprasad and actor Mammootty declared that they were coming together with the cinematic version of the same. Mamootty even visited O V Vijayan personally to seek his blessings. However, the project never took off :( Ever since, I was on the look out for grabbing a copy of the book and finally, I did manage to. One reading and I clearly understood why Khasakkinte Ithihaasam is considered what it is. The book, as the title reveals, is the history of an imaginary hamlet called Khasak located in the mountainous regions of Palakkad district in Kerala. The story of Khasak and its inhabitants have been sensibly narrated through the eyes of Ravi, the protagonist. The novel starts with Ravi landing in Khasak as the teacher of the single- teacher school, a new government initiative to spread education and awareness among the new generation of Khasak. Ravi is a big threat for Allapicha Mollakka, the head of the local mosque who teaches the Muslim students of the village, the basics of their religious book- Koran. Ravi has his fair share of enemies on one hand- lead by Mollakka himself as well as friends in the form of progressive thinkers of the village like Madhavan Nair, Sivaraman Nair etc. The novel slowly proceeds to establish the background of each of its characters like Mollakka, Thitheebiyumma, Aliyar, Appukkili, Maimuna, Sivaraman Nair, Madhavan Nair etc interspersing their stories with that of Ravi himself. It is interesting to note how the narrative swings back and forth in time and in and out of the life of its various characters in its course forward. The authenticity of the language and the character sketch deserves special mention. All through the novel, there is nothing much that happens in the village. On the contrary, the thrust has been to unfold what had happened earlier in the village and how circumstances had shaped each of its characters into the way they are at present. The novel also deals with sensitive issues like casteism, communism, morality etc but in a very gentle and subtle manner. None of these issues gain more significance than the characters themselves and thus, O V Vijayan manages to sketch the hamlet and its inhabitants in vivid hues and strokes. I have never come across a novel like this before and it is probably the novelty and uniqueness of the plot and the style that sets Khasakkinte Ithihaasam apart from other post- modern literary works. Winner of the Muttathu Varkey award, Khasakkinte Ithihaasam is more than enough a testimony to Vijayan’s keen sense of observance and unmatched narrative skills and intelligence.

Book Review: Savithriyude Aranjanam (Malayalam)

M Mukundan is considered as one of the best writers in contemporary Malayalam Literature. My only tryst with M Mukundan till I caught hold of this book has been the cinematic version of his "Daivathinte Vikruthikal" which I have seen only in parts (Directed by Lenin Rajendran, the movie starred Raghuvaran, Malavika Avinash and Sreevidya in an award winning role). I definitely was impressed with the movie and its unconventional story line and characters and that was precisely the reason I thought I should read M Mukundan. The first book that I selected was "Savithriyude Aranjaanam"- a collection of 3 short stories- Mariyayude Madhuvidhu, Savithriyude Aranjaanam and Rasaleela. Mariyayude Madhuvidhu is about a young European lady- Maria whom the author meets at Delhi and keeps on meeting her at different points of time at different situations and in different places in and around the city. Maria is a disturbed soul who is out to find solace and gets attracted to the mysticism that Europeans often associate with India. She takes to yoga, meditation, sanyaas and goes even to the extent of sleeping around with the Baboos in Delhi to extend her period of stay in India. The story culminates in the tragic death of Maria. Through the character of Maria, the author has tried to analyze the hollow European culture which often borders on vanity and hypocrisy. How Maria wants to break away from her roots and how she gets sucked into the Indian culture has been expressed very well. The choice of language and the subtlety of the narration adds to the charm of Mariyayude Madhuvidhu. Rasaleela is the story of Krishnan, Leela and their lost love. The story starts with Krishnan coming back to the city of his love, Leela. The only difference is that this time around he is blinded (the reason for which is not mentioned) and has to depend on his old room mate, Balan for every information he needs. Balan, on his part, is never genuine and puts Krishnan into a world of make- believe. The dictum that Balan follows is very simple- "It is better to speak desirable lies than undesirable truth". Balan makes Krishnan believe that he is now a well placed professional with a happy and contented family while the truth is that he is still the same old Balan- a bachelor still struggling to make both ends meet, living in the same old pigeon hole which he used to share with Krishnan in their hey days together. Leela, who Krishnan was madly in love with, is now a prostitute. But, it is interesting how both Balan and Leela hide the truth from Krishnan. Leela is presented as a happily married woman with her loving husband Sreedharan doting on her and her kids. At times, the narrative falls down to the pulp fiction level though it is generally interesting to know how Krishnan's story progresses, loaded as it is with a lot of semi- truths and some interesting lies. The best of the lot is definitely Savithriyude Aranjaanam- the story of Ramunni, Neelakanatan, Neelakantan's wife Savithri and her aranjaanam (waist band). Ramunni is a local patriarch who helps out the needy by lending them money. Neelakantan, the local lad has borrowed petty amounts of money from Ramunni earlier and has not been able to repay him. This time around Neelakanatan borrowes some money from Ramunni by pleding his wife Savithri's golden Aranjaanam (waist band). However, the aranjaanam brings with it a hell lot of problems for Ramunni and his unsuspecting wife- Sarojini. Ramunni starts getting obsessed with the Aranjaanam and consequently with Savithri herself. He starts losing interest in his family life much to the dismay of his wife, Sarojini and also his social life, ignoring his friend of many years, Achumaash. How the aranjaanam becomes the bone of contention and puts the life of Ramunni in doldrums is what the short story is all about. It is interesting to note how M Mukundan makes Aranjaanam a metaphor for everything that is taboo from a moral point of view. Ramunni's lust for Savithri and his claustrophobic life within the moral confines of his patriarchal existence in the hypocritic Kerala society has been brought out by Mukundan in an awe inspiring style and that is what makes Savithriyude Aranjaanam the pick of this lot. All in all, a good read!

"Professional" in today's world- some thoughts

"Professional" is generally regarded as something related to a Profession and conforming to its standards. As a noun, Professional means a person following a Profession. Which brings us to Profession- a calling requiring specialized knowledge and often long and intensive academic preparation. (Courtesy: Dictionary.com) From an analysis of the above words, the following characteristics of Profession/ Professional come to the fore- Standards, knowledge, academics, preparation. What I feel when I think about these characteristics is that a Professional should have sound knowledge, should be good at academics, should continuously prepare meticulously for the various challenges in his work life and should carry out his activites conforming to certain standards in life. I enrolled myself for a couple of Professional courses completely believing in the above, managed to clear the various exams (albeit after repeated attempts) and started with what I thought is going to be a long, rewarding and exciting professional career. 3.5 years into my professional life and today I feel, "professional" is a much maligned, much abused and much misused word in the current cut throatish corporate scenario. 16 years earlier, our country opened its doors to the world. LPG (Liberalization, Privatization and Globalization) was the key word and from then on, our economy has moved from strength to strength. Unemployment has ceased to be a problem, Foreign Exchange Reserves are in excess, Rupee is strengthening continuously against Dollar and the Indian Economy is expected to be the 3rd largest economy in the world by 2025, next only to US and China (overtaking Japan in due course). Professionals, they say, have never had it better. Medical research is opening up new avenues for Doctors, Software is luring Engineers by the dozen, Back office operations are attracting the Finance professionals and there is wide spread happiness and contentment on all faces that shout in unison- "This is the best time to work in India". In the middle of increasing opportunities, fatter pay checks and reverse brain drain, is somebody noticing the degradation that has befallen on the word "Professional"? Suddenly, everyone is professional, every activity is professional and every means to a professional end is, well, again professional. It definitely is a world of cut throat competition, one upmanship and survival of the fittest out there. But, does that mean that one needs to compormise on one's standards, thoughts and beliefs to make one's superiors happy or to earn a promotion or a few extra brownies??? Things have reached a stage where all a professional today is concerned about is the end. To achieve an end in view, one is ready to go to any extent- certifying untrue to be true, trampling others on one's way to success, deceiving others to achieve one's end- all this without batting an eyelid. Today's avant grade professional institutes are interested in creating next gen professionals who firmly believe it is only the end that matters, not the means. In the middle of all this, one really feels the word "professional" has lost it's meaning, significance and value. If professional is added as an adjective, it looks as if anything can be justified. Sample this- Professional rivalry, Professional disclosure, Professional non disclosure. Celebrated books and movies are made about Professional crooks, Professional con men and Professional killers. All this reducing the word "professional" to the standards of the world's oldest Profession! Mark Twain had earlier remarked- There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics. The time is just right to rephrase it- There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and professional lies.

Three cheers for Chak De India.

I have not been a great admirer of Shah Rukh Khan, nor do I consider him a great actor. But I have always been the kind of person who normally watches an SRK movie during the first week itself. Mostly because they would be directed by one of the top notch directors in Bollywood (Karan Johar, Farhan Akhtar, Aziz Mirza to name a few) and they will have him paired opposite one(some) of the best and the most glamourous actresses in Bollywood (Madhuri Dixit, Juhi Chawla, Kajol, the list goes on). However, Chak De India did not really figure in my list of most anticipated movies before its release. First, it was a Yash Raj Production (Their last few releases have not appealed to me at all- Jhoom Barabar Jhoom, Dhoom: 2, Neel n Nikki, Salaam Namaste, Kabul Express, Ta Ra Rum Pum, Fanaa); Second, it was directed by Shimit Amin (one time assistant to Ram Gopal Varma who made his debut as a director with Ab Tak Chhappan, which according to me was no great guns) and third and most important, it did not have a commercial Bollywood heroine. Instead it had 16 actresses, all of them unconventional, but prima facie unattractive. The movie finally did release on 10 August 2007 and the fanfare normally associated with an SRK movie was largely missing. But, a week unto its release and all of a sudden, everyone was talking "Chak De". SRK and his girls were here, there and everywhere, everybody from Rahul Dravid to Shobhaa De were commenting on how inspiring the film was. To add to all this, the film was supposedly running to packed houses even during its 4th week in Kochi. (Normally Hindi films are out in a week from theatres, unless they are exceptionally good). This was more temptation than enough for me to catch up with the movie and there I was at the theatre at noon, all set to watch SRK and his girls. Needless to say, I was really bowled over by the movie. As it is known to all by now, Chak De India is all about Kabir Khan (SRK), the once upon a time captain of the National Hockey team who has to make a disgraceful exit following a no show at a game opposite Pakistan and amongst allegations of match fixing and conspiring against the National team. 7 years later, he re surfaces as the Coach of the National Women's Hockey team- a job that has no takers. The job is definitely not a bed of roses for the coach- 16 girls from different parts of the country- some raw and untamed, some naive and conscious and yet others experienced and haughty. To add to his vows is the completely hostile attitude of the National Hockey Association- it knows nothing of the game, it has no faith on either the team or the coach, nor has it any sponsors or adequate funds to send the girls to the World Cup. Being the high spirited, uncompromising and patriotic sportsman that he is, Kabir Khan manages to evoke in the girls a spirit of oneness, a confidence in them as a team and a passion to excel and achieve the unattainable- all step by step. He manages to convince the association to send the girls to the World Cup and the movie ends predicatably with the team winning the World Cup! There definitely is something about this underdogs playing a sport meets patriotism kind of movies (Lagaan is a good reference point) and this plot is clearly what sets Chak De India apart. A hurt sportsman's attempt to regain lost ground and his unfailing passion towards his game has been effectively portrayed by Shimit Amin in the movie. The coaching scenes, the meetings of the association, the match between the men's and women's teams, the scuffle between the girls and the men at the restaurant and the final matches in Australia have been very well shot. Jaideep Sahni's script is tight and effective; his dialogues are witty and sparkling (The Hindi voice over in Australia that sounds like a commentary is mediocre). Music by Salim- Sulaiman definitely takes a back seat, but then this was not meant to be another Yash Raj Musical anyways. Photography is classic, editing is crisp and art and sound are authentic. Chak De gets a thumps up for having come up with such a brilliant casting- the girls are real, unconventional and natural, their performances lending credibility to the narrative. [Some of them are attractive too ;)] The real hero of the film, however, is Shah Rukh Khan. The superstar is in fine form and takes to the role of the coach like a fish to water. The last time I liked a movie for SRK was Yes Boss (1997). 10 years later, SRK comes up with a stunning performance without even a single instance of hamming! SRK simply rocks :) Chak De India literally takes you to the stadium and evokes wolf whistles. This is a film that needs to be watched in a movie hall with the entire family!

Book Review: Professor in America (Malayalam)

The first time I heard about K L Mohanavarma was when, as a kid, I had a chance to read through a chapter of his popular novel- "Ohari" that was published in Mathrubhoomi Weekly. Though I could not understand much of the novel at that stage, I could make out that there was something about Economics and Commerce in it. Later, I grew up to be a Finance and Accounting professional that I am today and when I chanced upon K L Mohanavarma's books at D C Books today, did I come to know that the celebrated author has also been a student of Economics and Commerce in the past. I thought I would check him out once again and that is how I selected Professor in America, his smallest book available at the store. And Boy, to declare that I was impressed with his narrative style would be an understatement for such is the quality of his writing and his satirical take on his Professor. Professor in America has been modelled as a series of meetings between the author and his Professor, where in the Professor shares his experiences out of a recent trip to the US and urges the author to put them together into a book. The Professor is the epitome of hypocrisy for which the so called "intellectuals" in Kerala are very famous. He participates in anti- booze campaigns, but never fails to miss a drink; he purports to be an atheist but secretly visits temples; he declares that he is not bothered about whether or not he is respected by others, but gets upset if he is not recognized and welcomed at any gathering he visits. The Professor wants to share his experiences in the US with the common man thereby contributing to their "intellectual upliftment" but being the mediocre writer he is, he entrusts the responsibility of writing his memoirs to his trusted student who is the author himself. The Professor's views and opinions of the world around him (shrouded in hypocrisy, of course) evoke laughter, but even more hilarious is the author's (here the protagonist since the narrative is in the first person) reactions to the same. The Professor's take on air hostesses, liquor being served on international flights, his encounters with a call girl and with a couple of homo sexuals in the US deserve special mention. The expertise of Mohanavarma lies in the manner in which he has modelled his "Professor". One can find traces of this Professor in all the popular Malayalee intellectuals (Buddhijeevikal in the local language) and this is what makes the book very interesting to read. This book is high on time pass and definitely belongs to the "start to finish" category. A good option before an afternoon nap or during a short travel!

Book Review: The Namesake

The first time I heard about "The Namesake" was when Mira Nair was planning a film with this name in which Abhishek Bachchan was supposed to play Rani Mukherji's son (!). When I researched more about the movie did I come to know that The Namesake is a book written by Jhumpa Lahiri on which Mira Nair was making a movie. The movie starring Tabu, Irrfan and Kal Penn is out and has won rave reviews all over the world. I could not watch the movie in theatre, thanks to my Chicken pox. That's when I decided to grab a copy of the book. If not the movie, at least the book! And thus I started with the Namesake and to put it squarely, I was blown away with the book. I was literally sucked into the lives of Ashima, Ashoke and Gogol from the very first chapter itself and the it seemed as if I was there, witnessing the lives of these 3 principal characters over 3 decades. The story of the young Bengali couple (Ashima and Ashoke) coming over to the United States of America, getting attuned to the life and culture in the US, their dreams, hopes, aspirations, their children, their social life, their longing for India- all this and more have been effectively captured by Jhumpa in her evocative narrative style. The best thing about the Namesake is that you cannot single out a character as its protagonist. The novel easily switches over between the lives and thoughts of Ashoke, Ashima and Gogol. If it is about Ashoke's life, studies, job and dreams about children on one hand, it is also about Ashima's loneliness, coming to terms with an alien culture, social life and longing for India on the other. Half way through the book, Gogol takes centrestage with his own life, his dislike towards his name, his indifference towards his parents' attitude and culture and his inability to understand their thought process. This narrative style contributes effectively to the reader understanding the nuances and thought processes of each and every character in the book. The characters are real, identifiable and endearing, all at the same time. Jhumpa Lahiri made her mark as a writer with her Pulitzer prize winning collection of short stories- "The Interpreter of Maladies". With her first full fledged novel- "The Namesake"- she declares to one and all that she is definitely a writer to look out for. Great going, Jhumpa!

Ore Kadal is a Classic

Ever since Shyamaprasad announced "Ore Kadal", I was waiting with baited breath for the movie to release. For once, Shyamaprasad is one director who I have really liked from his television days (Peruvazhiyile Kariyilakal, Vishwavighyathamaaya Mookku, Uyirthezhunelpu, Maranam Durbalam, Manal Nagaram). His debut film (Kallu Kondoru Pennu) was dismal, but he more than made up for it with his next two releases (Agnisakshi, Akale). Shyam has been an expert when it comes to depicting complex human relationships on screen and this is precisely what Ore Kadal is all about. Based on the Bengali Novel Hirak Deepthi by Sunil Gangopadhyay, Ore Kadal is the story of Deepthi (Meera Jasmine), a housewife and a mother married to Jayan (Narain). The story starts with Deepthi in a fix, thanks to her unemployed husband who is out of town in search of a job and her ailing son bed ridden with fever. Without any one to turn to or any money to tide over the situation, she approaches Dr. Nathan (Mamootty), a noted economist and social scientist who lives in the same apartment complex as Jayan and Deepthi. The generally reticent Dr. Nathan helps her out and from this juncture, starts what one may call an illicit relationship between Deepthi and Nathan. They meet, they make love to each other and at the end of it all, Deepthi gets pregnant with Nathan's kid. Nathan lives his life on his own terms and does not believe in family, commitment etc. Looking at Nathan's indifferent attitude towards her pregnancy, Deepthi severs all ties with him and proceeds to deliver a girl child. However, her sense of guilt and self pity coupled with her unrequited love for Dr. Nathan continue to haunt her and she ends up as a schizophernic. Jayan steps in and takes Deepthi to a mental asylum. After a couple of years at the asylum, Deepthi returns to her old self only to be disturbed again by Dr. Nathan, who is on his way to self destruction pondering over the unjust treatment meted out by him on Deepthi. In between all this is Bela (Ramya Krishnan), a high society Call girl cum restaurateur who assumes the role of Dr. Nathan's alter ego, telling him things that he refuses to believe or acknowledge. Adapting a literary classic to celluloid is always a challenge. Shyamaprasad is adept at that. If his version of Lalithambika Antharjanam's "Agnisakshi" was excellent, so was his "Akale" based on Tennessee William's "Glass Menagerie". Shyamaprasad raises the bar a few notches higher with Ore Kadal. His expertise lies in the fact that he is able to bring out the finer nuances of his characters and extract stellar performances from his cast. The use of silence, props and an excellent background score to bring the emotional turmoil of the characters to the fore deserves special acknowledgement. Ore Kadal is easily Shyam's best work till date. Shyam is ably supported by his excellent crew- Azhagappan's camera angles are imaginative and captures the emotions of the protagonists very effectively. Vinod Sukumaran's editing is sharp. Ouseppachan's background score is lilting and the songs (Lyrics by Gireesh Puthencherry) contribute effectively to taking the narrative forward. Special mention should be made about Cuckoo Parameshwaran's Wardrobe. The art director (Muthuraj, I believe) is successful in creating authentic background, his expertise coming to the fore while portraying the Jayan- Deepthi household at various stages of their prosperity (From unemployment to under employment to adequately paid to upper middle class income levels) Ramya Krishnan's extended guest appearance is a treat. The actress literally lives as Bela and comes up with a power packed performance, easily her best till date. Narain is earnest though his character appears card boardish and one dimensional. The reason could be that Jayan is presented from Deepthi's point of view only and hence, it appears as if he shares a frivolous marital relationship with Deepthi. The Mega Star crown can be quite a headache for a lot of actors when it comes to taking up complicated and image defying roles in meaningful films. But, Mamootty is an exception. His Dr. Nathan is a study in contrasts- on one hand he is a person who poo- poohs the sentiments and familial commitments of the middle class and on the other hand, he is a social scientist who performs a research on the lives of the Indian Middle Class. Playing an ill dressed, philosophy spouting, womanising alcoholic who refuses to accept his heart over his head is not an easy job. But, trust Mamootty to come up thumbs. He is completely at home portraying the oh so complicated Dr. Nathan. However, the star of the movie definitely remains Meera Jasmine. The young lady has travelled a long way since her Soothradharan days and is definitely moving from strength to strength. She underplays the docile, domesticated Deepthi to perfection. Her transformation from the dutiful family woman to the guilt struck wife to the schizophernic to the new age woman who follows her heart is magnificent. Meera seems to have taken adequate care about each and every aspect of her acting- subtle expressions, perfect body language and excellent voice modulation. This is definitely worth another national award for the highly talented actress. Ore Kadal is not the regular commercial fare and might not find astounding success at the theatres. But, the movie is sure to bring laurels to its cast and crew. This one is definitely a classic!

My Dental History

The one thing that I like the most about having born into the family that I am part of is its excellent Medical History (Touchwood!). In spite of being a large family (my father has six brothers and two sisters) that is spread all over South India (Hyderabad, Bangalore, Palakkad and Kochi with the second generation extending to places like White Plains, USA on one hand to Chennai, India on the other), all the family members have had a healthy life till date and traveling across cities, states or countries have not really affected any of them. Which brings me to the other topic that I wanted to stress- Hospitalophobia :) I have always been afraid of hospitals. The sight of blood makes me see red, the smell of dettol sends me into a dizzy and the very thought of entering a hospital makes me feel giddy. As a kid and even at a time when nothing much of a kid remained in me, my once in a bluemoon trip to hospital for reasons like fever etc used to frighten me a lot. The less said about my phobia towards injections the better. Till the time I was a teenager, I used to cry at the sight of the injection needle :( Fortunately for me, I have not really had to be hospitalized till now and I sincerely hope and pray that I don't have to see such a day in future either. In the middle of all this came a day when I partly broke my front tooth, thanks to a good old hit against the wall. A small portion of my front tooth broke out and this was very evident whenever I opened my mouth to smile. I was in Class 9 then and noticing my tooth, my parents decided it is time for them to take me to a dentist. As luck would have it, I chanced upon a poem called This is going to hurt just a little bit by Ogden Nash where the poet was describing the pains of visiting a dentist. This poem was part of my curriculum in school and one reading of the same, I decided that there is no way I will visit a dentist. I could successfully abstain myself from visiting a dentist for 8 more years and then, one fine afternoon, I discovered that I was having a cavity in one of my tooth. I dragged on as much as I could and when finally the tooth started paining, I had no other go but to visit a dentist. So, there I was at a dental clinic near Jalahalli, in Bangalore (I was working at Bangalore then). The dentist was a very kind, unassuming and nice person, but the moment I saw the torture chair, I started getting jittery. The dentist and my aunt who accompanied me to the dentist tried their best to put me at ease and somehow managed to get a few jobs done in my mouth. Filling a couple of cavities, putting in a bridge for my pre molars and putting a cap on the front tooth- these were the various activities that the dentist performed on my teeth and after almost a dozen sittings, I was free. Or so I thought. 4 years later I realized that the crown on my front tooth had turned black and that I had developed a cavity as big as a cave in another of my pre molars. There was no way I could go back to the dentist in Bangalore since I had moved back to Kochi (Tripunithura, to be precise). And thus I started visiting Dr. Rajkrishnan's dental clinic. I had heard a lot about Dr. Rajkrishnan and his clinic. He was supposed to be the last word in dentistry and had a lot of movie stars and other prominent personalities as his patients. He had patients from all over the world and his dental clinic was really state- of- the art. But when I actually visited his clinic, I found out that things were even better that what I had heard. I was welcomed by the staff at the clinic with smiling faces, my appointments were fixed according to my convenience, I was reminded of all my pre fixed appointments once again over Phone calls or SMS and not to mention, the extreme professionalism with which the whole process was handled. Not that all these came for free. I had to pay a whooping 13K for a crown on my front tooth, but the cost definitely was justifiable vis-a-vis the benefits. On my first appointment, I was introduced to the very professional and very friendly Dr. Roshni who surveyed my mouth and teeth and told me what all needs to be done. I met Dr. Rajkrishnan soon and he also gave me his opinion on what needs to be the course of the treatment. And thus started my series of visits to the clinic to get the crown inserted to my front tooth. The older crown was taken out, the tooth was cleaned, an impression was taken, a temporary crown was put and after 5 sittings, the new permanent crown was inserted on Saturday, September 1. The result was truly mind blowing and even I could not make out which was my original tooth and which was the crowned one. Such was the precision with which the crown was prepared and inserted. I have heard somewhere that once Smile increases one's face value. In the current world where anything and everything is taken at face value, Dr. Raj and his team have contributed significantly to increasing the value of my smile and thereby, my face. This might sound like an advertisement to the readers, but this is the honest feedback of an extremely satisified customer. I would definitely not look forward to a long lasting relationship with Dr. Raj's dental clinic for obvious reasons (my phobia towards hospitals, the difficulty of sitting on the torture chair with one's mouth wide open etc), but I would advise all of you to turn to Dr. Raj next time you have any problems with your tooth. Smilingly yours,

Changes at Work

I am very close to completing 2 years with the organization that I am currently part of and as mentioned in an earlier post, this is the organization which I have served the longest after I qualified as a Chartered Accountant (I had put in less than one year each at 3 organizations before I joined this one). Ever since I joined this organization, I have been working with a single team. I joined the team as a team member, gradually rose to the position of Team Leader and took over as the Project Manager for the client later. I was managing a team of 40 members and over the past 22 months, had developed a great bonding with almost all of them. It was as if I had gone back to my school/ college days, such was the kind of relationship that existed within the team. The average age of the team was somewhere around 26 to 28 though we had team members as old as 44 on one hand and as young as 23 on the other. The production floor was FUN. We would make stories about each and every team member, teasing him/ her and would be all ears for someone to blurt out something stupid so that the same could be highlighted and the whole team could have a hearty laugh! I myself have been the butt of jokes more than once, but all of us have taken it in the best spirit till now. The fun used to extend to sending e mails making stories about people to meeting up during weekends for movies, shopping, eating out and the like. At the end of all this, it is time now for me to move out of the team. I was first given a hint on this a couple of months earlier. The decision to move me out was taken almost a month back (of course, after having discussed with me and obtaining my consent). From the time I was given a hint, I was preparing myself mentally for the change and trying my best to reconcile to the fact that I would not be with the magnificent and dynamic team for long. However, during the team meeting that was convened on Tuesday, August 28 to convey the decision to the team formally, I could not help getting emotional. Once the decision was conveyed to the team by my Manager, I was asked to speak to the team and this was one of the few moments in my life where I was completely at a loss for words. I stammered, started mumbling, slowly picked up courage and managed to say something. As at the end of last week, I have almost completely handed over my responsibilities to the new Project Manager (who incidentally was the old Project Manager with whom I had worked as a Team Leader. You can read more about her at http://ruminateatleisure.blogspot.com/) and shifted to a new seat very near to where my (erstwhile) team sits. I have not been given a new project and looks like it will almost be a month for a decision to be taken in this regard. Till then, I am supposed to be helping out my (erstwhile, again) team with whatever assistance they need. It definitely is difficult to be moving out of a team with which one has worked so very closely, but at the same time I am really excited and thrilled, looking forward to taking up another project. There is a chance that I might get a few team members from my earlier team to work with me on my new project in future. Till things fall into place, I am hoping that I would very soon be part of another exciting project and working with another team as lovely and lively as my earlier team. Hopefully yours,

Dismal Failure

I have almost always been lucky as far as exams are concerned. Without putting in much efforts, I have managed to clear most of the exams that I have written in my life and that too, quite creditably. Today when I look at my friends, colleagues and team members in office sweating it out like anything to clear their CA/ CWA/ CS exams, I express my gratitude to the Almightly for having taken me through my set of exams and having made me the successful professional (I believe myself to be one) that I am today. I think my streak of luck with exams are almost over; thanks to my dismal failure at the APM examination about which I had mentioned in my earlier post. I had taken quite a lot of pain to complete the 7 chapters of APM on time. Not that I was reading something that I had no idea about. The whole syllabus was very much about Accounts Payable processing, Internal Controls, Technology used, Outsourcing, AP Process Management etc- things which I regularly apply in my professional life. To add to this, the study material was completely different from what I had read for my CA/ CS exams. It was more like a story book or let's say, a lightly written article in one of the many business publications we come across. The contents and styling of the study material and my familiarity with the topics had given me enough confidence to take the exams head on. So there I was in the Board Room of my office at 6.30 PM sharp on Tuesday, August 28 logging in to take the online exam. I was supposed to answer 100 questions in 90 minutes time- all objective type. Let me confess this first- I was not really used to objective type examinations since all the exams that I had passed in the past required me to write descriptive answers. To add to it, the questions and the options given were so confusing that you could not single out one answer as correct from the four options given. They all appeared equally correct to me. Finally, I had to use my sense of judgement (!) and select the option which I felt was the most appropriate in each case. Being the over confident and hyper active person that I am, I finished the 100 questions in 20 minutes sharp. I had 70 more minutes with me and the Study Material was lying next to me. But, thanks to my sense of self pride and an inflated ego, I decided to submit my answers without even bothering to glance through them once. The moment I clicked "Submit", I received an e mail from IOMA saying, well, what else but "Sorry- better luck next time." Needless to say, I was flabbergasted on receiving the e mail and for the first one minute, was not sure what to do. In a couple of minutes, realization dawned on me and I accepted the fact that I had lost it. Almost everyone who knew me in my office were not ready to believe that I had lost the exam. But, the fact stays put. There were apprehensions from various quarters that I had taken the studies lightly which was completely untrue. For, I still remember what all I had read in the study material and had the exam been of descriptive nature, I am sure that I would have emerged victorious. It was not the study material that I took lightly, it was the whole process of writing the exam that I took casually. With the kind of time that I had after finishing the exam, I could have easily done a re check of my answers with reference to the study material (IOMA openly calls this an open- book exam), but my sense of pride did not allow me to do so. I did reap the results of my pride and now I have very clearly understood why they say- "PRIDE GOES BEFORE A FALL." When I look back at the whole experience almost a week later, I feel what happened served just right for me. I am supposed to take the examination again on October 1 and this time around I will be real careful and take adequate care to answer the questions properly with reference to the study material. And hopefully, might be able to make it as an APM...