– Looks like Electric Toothbrush is not that very common in India. When I was using that at Delhi Airport, there were quite a few onlookers watching me too closely for my comfort. I was worried that if I were to put it down for a moment, one of them is going to pick up and use it.

– At New Delhi’s swanky new Terminal 3, we were getting ready to move on after collecting our baggages. There were some helpers guiding us on our way to Customs counter / Exit etc. I was quite amused by the way they asked me about my job title, employer, pay etc. and expected me to part all of that information without any reason. Perhaps I should get used to forgetting the phrase ‘Data Privacy’.

– Wifey bought a bottle of water @ Delhi Airport and made the stupid mistake of standing in the queue to pay for it. At least, 15 other people managed to get ahead of her in paying for their stuff. Of course, there was still a queue and 2 or 3 people were still standing in the queue awaiting their turn to get near the till.

– Good to see muffins with those red and green tooti-fruity bits on it. How long it has been to see those colourful looking muffins.

– Chennai Super Kings jersey was being sold at the airport for Rs 2500. Must buy one of that and Team India one soon for a decent price.

– T3 of New Delhi airport is fabulous. Of all the things, I was very much impressed with the cleanliness of the toilets.

If Airtel surprised me by providing the phone connection and broadband within 48 hours, HDFC Bank even shocked me by providing me with Instant ATM card and other paraphernalia the moment I gave their representative the documents they asked for. Last Sunday afternoon, there was some issue with our landline connection and the line went dead. I called up Airtel and they promised to set it right by 10 a.m on Monday. I was very, very sceptical about the promise mainly because it was a Sunday. But to my surprise, an engineer came knocking at our doors two hours later and the line was set right.

I am well aware that I shouldn’t generalise things by the above experience, but it was a pleasant and welcoming change. Perhaps, the key lies in being mentally prepared for the worst. In any case, I am getting prepared for the law of averages to strike.

We moved here about two weeks ago and gradually settling down. Personally, this is my first visit to Bangalore and in my short experience in the city, I should say that I like the place. We should count ourselves lucky and blessed to have friends – esp. Vijay and Priya, who ensured that every little thing was taken care of, so much so that we didn’t even have to struggle for a thing. They treated us like they would do a child and ensured a super smooth landing. I owe a lot for what they did, considering that I know them only through this blog. As I pretty much know that I wouldn’t be able to repay my gratitude in any way, I am feeling like a Ravanan or Rajapakshe due to what I owe them. (கடன் பட்டார் நெஞ்சம் போல் கலங்கினான் இலங்கை வேந்தன்)

I have known Shyam for more than 13 years and for quite sometime now, I have enjoyed the brilliant snaps that he used to share in Facebook along with apt one-liners in Tamil. Great that Shyam decided to share his snaps to those outside of his FB circle by launching this website. Good luck Shyam in your celebration of light and shadows. Hoping to see more of your lovely pixels in the site.

Buying a Digital SLR remains a dream for me for the last few years. I haven’t done any impulse buying so far. There is a good possibility that I may just go ahead and buy a Digital SLR on seeing Shyam’s website.

Those are mails from people claiming to be from some country in Africa and seek help in moving money in return for good compensation. Either the spam filters are working really well or the fraudsters have changed their strategy, I haven’t been getting any in the last few years.

Got such a mail today. See below.
—

From:
Radha Ramalinga

Namaskar,

My name is Radha Ramalinga,I am the wife of B. Suryanarayana Raju Ramalinga,the younger brother of Byrraju Ramalinga Raju,former chairman,founder and owner of Satyam Computers.

I do have a proposal for you,which would be of immense financial benefits to you and I.

My husband and his brother are currently in big trouble in India,I need your assistance to help me move some funds from Holland to India or anywhere where it would at least be of some help to our family.

I would give you more details of this proposal if you show yourself willing to take on it,I assure you that you would most certainly be compensated but please I would kindly request you to keep this matter confidential.

I am currently here in the UK where it is a bit safe for me and my kids.
You can reach me on my personal email id which is mailradha99@gmail.com

Yours sincerely,
R.Ramalinga

**

Malyasia Vasudevan – what a gifted singer he was. Sang so many high-pitched songs naturally and his voice is definitely unique. Many of the vintage Rajini songs still stay in our mind because of MV’s voice. ‘Podhuvaaga En Manasu thangam’ (Murattu Kaalai), ‘Manidhan Manidhan’ (Manidhan), ‘Aagaya Gangai’ (Dharma Yuddham’, ‘Poongaatru thirumbuma’ (Mudhal Mariyadhai), ‘Aatukutti muttaiyittu’ (16 Vayadhinile) are some of his many evergreen songs. May his soul rest in peace.

**

Enjoyed every bit of PM Manmohan Singh’s presser last week. I am so glad that he called for such a press conference. There were quite a few who believed on his so-called ‘Mr Clean’ tag. If not anything, last week took Mr Clean to cleaners and showed him what he is (in)capable of. More than Manmohan Singh, a lot needs to be said about the media. But, less said the better for electronic media sucks big time.

**

Almost six years after moving to my current locality, we just discovered a lovely book warehouse – just a mile away from our home. They are open only on the third weekend of every month and have an impressive collection of books. Best part is not their collection, but that they offer 80% discount on all their stocks. Another, better late than never story. Have I been closing my eyes all these years?

**

Got £30 worth of Tesco vouchers that need to be used by the end of February. We were planning to use it for a day out since summer, but the weather gods seem to have different ideas. Looks like I may have to get their validity period extended. But, sonny seems very keen on going to ‘Cadbury World’. Lets see.

***
Handled an interesting interpretation assignment recently. It was for watching couple of Tamil films along with the examiners of the agency that classifies the movies. In short, they are the British counterparts of Indian Censor Board. However, unlike the Censor Board in India, these people will only classify the movies in to the right category and will not normally cut any scenes from the film. Although in most cases, the visuals in the movie will form the base for classification, in some – it may be the case of dialogues. Apart from telling the examiners of the story line, my job was to spot bad language, any references to drugs etc based on the guideline given to me. Downside of this assignment is that, you can’t just walk away from movie if it was boring. Loved this assignment, despite the fact that I had to watch ‘Siruthai’. The other one was ‘Aadukalam’, which was good.

***
Twitter rocks these days. Especially people behind the handles – DrYumYumSingh and Queen_UK are simply superb.

***
Cricket World Cup, IPL, TN Assembly Elections. Amidst all these lined up for the next few months, how is one expected to keep track of the scams that get unearthed every other day?

***
Had a lovely weekend by visiting a friend’s place in a town called Basingstoke. Though the journey was an hour long from home, we got to meet another couple apart from the hosts and it was good to have a free-wheeling chat after a superb lunch. The best part is that we got the privilege of attending an exclusive practice session for their light music programme. Lunch, Chat, Live Music. Couldn’t have asked for more.

Here is a country that is aspiring to be a super power, but couldn’t do anything more than raise a feeble protest when some of its innocent citizens are getting killed.

This is not the first time the Sri Lankan Navy is killing fishermen from Tamil Nadu. It has happened before in regular intervals for so many years now. Whenever that happens, CM of TN will write a letter or send a telegram to the Prime Minister and that will be the end of it. Now, as the elections are looming large, they have gone one step further. Foreign Ministry has ’strongly’ condemned the actions of Sri Lanka, much like the way our dear Prime Minister will vow to deal with ‘iron fist’ whenever a bomb blast happens in India.

Isn’t this shameful? Aren’t those poor fishermen citizens of India? Isn’t Tamil Nadu part of India? What is the difference between a Ajmal Kasab killing people in Mumbai and a Tamil fisherman getting killed in the mid-sea by a foreign force. Though the scale is different, the nature of the crime is the same, right?

Well, the government is impotent. They give a damn when it comes to these. Lets look at the media. All the 24×7 news channels that go hysterical when someone in Australia gets attacked (rightly so) are maintaining a deafening silence now. CNN-IBN is so very concerned about the IT raids on Priyanka Chopra and Katrina Kaif. NDTV has got actor Vijay’s interview for its share of TN news. Apart from the local media in the state, no media organisation has thought it worth to highlight the plight of fishermen dying at the hands of a neighbouring country. If only there is enough media attention, there will be some sort of action from the powers that be. People on Twitter have taken this up a bit seriously and have been trying their best to highlight the issue using the hash tag #tnfisherman. Visit www.savetnfisherman.org to have a look at the online protests. Despite the heavy presence of famous media personalities on Twitter, very little seems to have happened so far. It is very difficult to wake up those who pretend to sleep.

One may think that it is only happening to some unknown fisherman from a remote village. What happens to him today might happen to anyone tomorrow. An attack on an Indian is an attack on India. If we don’t stand up for a fellow Indian today, it will be too late. It is a call for the collective conscience of the nation. People must do whatever in their powers to wake the sleeping Indian Government and make them answerable. Responsibility must be fixed on the Sri Lankan Navy for the death of the fishermen and concrete steps be taken to prevent the occurence of such events in future.

India aspires to be a Super Power. Given the attitude of those who rule, it can’t even be a Super Power’s pubic hair.

For once, I am glad that I am not an Indian.

I’ll try to be back!