Reminiscence

Recently happen to see the movie Manal Kaiyru. 

When I come across 2 tamil movies in any of the social media, one person comes as a flash in my mind is my Grandma Kamalamma.

 Aarilirunthu Arubathu Varai released in 1979 whereas the other one is Manal Kaiyru was released in 1982.

In those days I used to accompany her as a bodyguard. Yes I am able to hear your inner voice, how can a 6 year old child be a body guard for an elderly women. 

That even surprises me now!!!!!Could be that was a defense used to shield herself in getting permission from her son.

AAV – was released in Kamala cinema, I remember it should be first week of release. Her first attempt for Noon show ticket was a failure and we stayed there for a matinee and she somehow managed to get tickets. Great perseverance.

MK – was released in Krishnaveni cinema, we both were successful in getting tickets in first attempt. This one was night show, we stayed at Mangesh street which was near to the cinema which made life easier for our late night return.

Both cinemas are still in Chennai with big change to their infrastructure but when I pass through them sometimes this incident flashes with a little smile in my face.

Not only I used to accompany her to movies but also to lot of temples that used to be a herculean task in those days considering the public transport. Two such temple visits bring that iron lady to my memory immediately are

Nanganallur Anjeneyar Temple – Year 1989 Lord Hanuman
was installed but the 

Kumababishekam was performed only in 1995.  During 1989 there was nothing in the vicinity, We both took couple of buses from DMS(teynampet)and reached the temple and saw the mighty hanuman standing tall in an open area. Yes it was all open those days. It was my first experience of seeing something that big. 

The picture below depicts the evolution of this temple 

Vallakotai Murugan Temple - The powerful lord Murugan in this temple is the tallest ( 7 feet) in Tamilnadu. This one is situated between Singaperumal koil to Sriperumbudur on the Oragadam high way. Imagine in 1987 travelling to Oragadam from Tambaram. I will faint if I am asked to go to this place by public transport even today. But at that age she traversed to these places with great determination. 

This temple started becoming famous in those days for the quote

 “ இழந்த செல்வங்களை மீட்டு தரும் அருள்மிகு கொடையாண்டவர்” translation  “He who restores all that is lost”.

When we both visited this temple in 1987 it was as small as what they

have now for peacocks. No big gopurams and the temple had asbestos running along the circumference. 

Agree...yes the prayer was answered by HIM..HE did restore, that was lost and the generation X Y and Z of the family can vouch for that along with her sons and daughter in laws..... To be continued.....

Australian open - 2015

Tennis curtain for 2015 unfolded with no surprises when it comes to champions of Australian open. To the delight of the players and fans, this year the temperature at Melbourne (Flinders) Park was normal whereas this used to be a tennis event in an oven. 

 

Djoker and Melbourne is now what Rafa and Paris used to be, high-quality tennis for a fortnight from Djoker. Change of coach from Ivan Lendle to a woman/ Gay Mauresmo did not work for Murray but bettered his dismal year of 2014.

 

Sad part for me was the exit of Roger which I am used to for couple of years. He entered the event as No:2 seeded and also won a tune up title before this event. If this kind of performance is going to repeated in the next two majors, I would guess Tennis will see what Cricket saw in 2014. The exit of another sporting GOD.

 

Even before the start of the ladies final, Sharapova was defeated mentally by the  statistics  where she was facing an opponent whom she was not able to conquer in her last 15 outings and this 2015 Aus open final loss made that count to 16^th straight loss.

 

There is a cohesion between Williams sisters and Waugh brothers, In both the cases not only the letter W is common but one who came later to the sport shot to prominence. Mark was the one who surpassed his twin by elegance and all round ability whereas Serena with her number of Grand slam wins. Serena needs  another  4 more GS wins to surpass Steffi which might be possible if she adds another 2 this year else it will be demanding ask considering her age. 

Scene stealer on the men’s and ladies side are the 19 year old sensation Nick Krygious and Madison Keys. Nick has got lot of flair and charisma. On the other side the ferocious striker of the tennis ball has hit the scenes of women’s tennis in the name of Madison Keys. Based on the performance from these two it is hard not to envision a success for these two in the coming years.  

Finally on Rafal, It is now a pattern for Tomas Bredych to upset someone with some great tennis on a given day and go down in the next match. He played some scintillating tennis against Rafal and in the next match lost to Murray.  

TT - Technology Trail blazer

Normally everyone who has kid will also have a designated pediatrician who will be part of the family and come all along the way till the kid grows and in some cases he will be the same person to whom our parents would have taken us some decades ago.

Similarly I had some in the area where we lived in the past, currently we have adopted Dr Srinivasan in Ashok Nagar.

Some months back saw a big change in his clinic and had a discussion with this doctor. He dropped himself into the patient’s shoes to solve their problems and embraced technology to help in his service. 

Mostly a female lady will manage the appointments and will not change for some period and in his case also the same. More the tenure the dirty 3 letter word EGO comes in and these assistants some times behave as surgeons.

Personally I have seen different phases of managing appointments in his clinic

• You need to go there physically to get token from assistants ( made out of hardboard)
• With the growth in telecommunication we can book appointments over phone was the latest method and in turn she provides a number and also writes the same in a diary  

Some of the hiccups to the existing system are

• Discrimination made by the assistant in providing the tokens
• Malfunction of telecommunication devices and bad signals etc
• Punctuality of Assistant, they have to be there in advance to distribute tokens or take calls

To overcome all these glitches Dr. Srinivasan embraced technology as his partner and solved the appointment issues faced by his patients

There might be several products available but he choose Neroor which manages his appointments. http://www.neroor.com/appt-mgr-servlet/

All we need to do is send SMS from our mobile to a 10 digit mobile number and the message should follow the guidelines to make life simple for all.

333 < Date> < Kids name> < Father’s Name> for Morning appointment

999 < Date> < Kids name> < Father’s Name> for Morning appointment

In return we get an SMS with token number and appointment time from Neroor, also the product gives message if you fail to provide any information as per the above guideline. In case if he exceeded his patient's quto it also informs that the appointments are not available. Messages like asking the patient only to be there before 30 mins will also be generated for better floor and time management. Show this SMS to the doctor and you are in and out in quick time.

By embracing this technology he not only delighted his existing customers and also ensured that they are retained, even if I move out of Ashok nagar, I will send a SMS and be there as per the time provided by none other than is remote assistant called Neroor.

If we start thinking like Dr Srinivsasan in our respective arena, imagine the delight we will be providing to our customers and also these things will act as that extra mileage in our retention program. Finally we will be the service provider by default.

But for this to happen some of the parts in our body should be open like eyes, ears, tongue, and finally the skull cap to search, listen, to win the battle of arguments from negative influences and finally accept…..

Even in his case his peers influenced him not to adopt and invest in this new technology since it will stop those people who do not have education, but he went ahead with his idea and I do not see any drop in such crowds. All you need to know is to operate mobile or if not then those who know how to operate in your vicinity…......hats off to these kind of Trail blazers. 

Dhirshyam - Visual Treat

There was a hype on the latest Malayalam movie “ Drishyam”, eagerly waited and finally saw it on 11^th Feb, immediately thought of sharing. After several years, have a feel that I watched a film worth every element.

There is a proverb in Tamil “ Poovodu serntha naarum manakum”  similarly the association with Lal epitomized others performance. Some of the performance are

1. When his elder daughter is being interrogated in school
2.  Varun’s father in the climax
3.  Lal’s reaction to his assistant when his routine is being questioned. And many more
4.  Even Lal’s eyes plays crucial role in couple of close shots

This movie has got all flavor a bit of family entertainer, lots of thriller element and tons of visual treat. Initially you will relax during the first 30 mins and slowly come towards the edge and last 30 mins only on the edge. All those nail biters please carry plenty of pop-corns during break else will suffer like me.

All through 2013 he was no where and suddenly at the beginning of 2014 the entire country is talking about his film and wants to remake in their regional language.

Die hard fans of Kamalhassan please do not watch Dhrishyam. Now Mr Lalettan has set a huge bench mark for Kamal to climb and people who have seen Malayalam version will not be able to digest if fails to touch the scale set my Lal.

The success of the remake also depends on the choice of other characters and especially the one who is going to play Kalabhavan Shajon. For those who are not aware of Shajon is a comedian and in this film his portrayal is different and every one will hate this character. Kamal should find a person like Mahanadhi Thulukanam.

Two things surprise me

1. How can Mamutty reject such a project? FYI He was approached first and due to dates it went to Lalettan and he grabbed with both hands.
2. For the Tamil version Rajini was approached and as usual he wanted to change the script and hence Kamal was approached.

First one it was a blunder by Mega star whereas it would have been a mistake if Super star had accepted. If one person who can match Lal in his performance is none other than Kamal.

Though the glimpse of the script is from Tamil movie "Vazhukku Enn 18/9" but different in all aspects and a clean entertainer. Value for Money.

Enough said about this movie..it is time to go and watch in the screens..

Double Dhamaka

Most of you are aware that 27^th July 2012 is Varalakshmi pooja and it will be celebrated in grand fashion. As part of the grand, my wife insisted that we should polish the Goddess face that is normally made up of silver.

So we both went to GRT and inquired on the polish and we were redirected to a vendor. Upon reaching there we were told that it will take 2 days and the charge was Rs 300, I want to get this done on Sunday else I need to step again on any one of the week days to collect.

Went to another Jewelry show room and the guy over there gave us a contact of another Vendor, called and checked with him if he will be able to return us on the same day and he readily obliged. With a big smile and some sort of achievement I marched towards the shop. He had a good look and said it will take 1 hour as it requires effort and asked us either to wait or come after 1 hour and the charge for polish is Rs 450.

My better half immediately pounced on the opportunity and requested for a window shopping at Chennai Silks which was near to this place. Hmmmm after a deep thought my head nodded and foot followed hers.

We both went in and came out after 2 hours with a bill of Rs 2000/- and reached home after collecting the polished idol of Goddess. Later in the night realized that my lazy attitude towards returning back to Usman road has burned my pocket with an additional Rs 2150 that includes premium amount paid for 1 hour service and expenses at Chennai silks

Big Lesson Learnt……

The Shift from One to Many

Let me start with a question that is familiar to all us.

What is the similarity and difference between Sachin and MSD?

Both of them are brilliant cricketers and icons of Indian cricket with fans all over the world. But have a significant difference; let us see what it is.

Sachin exhibited his individual brilliance in batting and have established records that will not be touched upon for several decades. He was able to elevate his performance YOY

But as a leader of a team he had limited success and not able to shine as a leader, that required special skills.

Whereas MSD is smart and was able to get the desired results in all versions of cricket starting with T20 WC victory, IPL, Champions Legue and World champions. He is being proclaimed as “Our Lovable Captain” by millions of fans and whatever he touched turned out to be Gold.

Will anyone forget the six he scored in the WCFinals….or the six he hit for CSK in final over against Kings XI at Dharmasala

You can see similar kind of results among the people you meet every day in your office, where someone will exceed in their assigned tasks and exhibit individual brilliance. Also you will come across those people who will take a stride with a team and succeed. These people will get respect and will be considered as role model.

Is it possible to transform from former to latter?? Question to ponder?? and the answer is Yes.

Yes possible, but need to use an inverter technology. What is this all about?? Is this something like Nano-technology, No it is all about applying 3 steps and conquering the world around you.

Three steps to invert M to W….Me to We

Step1 :-  Always feel proud about your brilliance and the way you achieve the results. Feel this differentiator and ensure that you do not drop this character.

Step 2:- Gradually shift from step 1. Always add “ We” in place of “ Me”, that is replace “ I did it” with “We did it”. You can feel the difference.

Step 3:- Now transfer your responsibilities to others and also ensure that everyone gets a part to contribute. Closely follow and provide directions if needed. Encourage them to provide results, by this you are not only motivating your team but you yourself moving away from “Me” factor.

These will help you in shifting yourself from Me to We and thereby a leader will evolve.

Now going back to our original discussion ..Focusing only on creation of records Sachin failed to move away from Step 1.....

Reunion

2nd Week end of July 2011 was something special.

Before proceeding further will throw some light on what is all about special.

Six of our posse’s association started way back in mid 80s when we started sharing our school bench which went on perpetually till our Graduation.

Unfortunately we have been separated by career, family etc., and have to disperse ourselves to various part of the Globe. Each one us would have added to our existing list, a numerous additions to our connections but always cherished the bonding we had with each other and all believed something special about our group.

In both 2007 & 2009 edition everyone was in Chennai for some occasion and we all had a lunch together with respective families and recollected good old events and shared some censored version during the event with our better half and kids.

Though this year only 4 of us were able to reconvene we want to do it differently due to reasons like grown up kids and want to spend quality time etc.,

Meticulous planning was made with respect to accommodating everyone’s calendar priorities and choosing a resort. We zeroed down to a resort in Mamallapuram, we found this place to be a decent one with nice sea facing cottages and good food too. More importantly no overpromises made by the resort people and set our expectations.

Although we all stay connected by technology this kind of reunion is required once in a while to energize the battery.

We also made sure that each reunion happens twice, one with family and other one without any hindrances…

Eagerly waiting for the next one…….Photos are available @ link

https://picasaweb.google.com/gbramy16/Mahabs#

Together Everyone Achieve More

Together Everyone Achieve More ( TEAM)

This month would like to share some of the events that was used by my team as part of Fun @ Work.

Normally we will dedicate close to an hour on Fridays as part of FUN@ Work and this month ( August) the team did a commendable job and have gained an entry to this page.

Themes of each Friday was another laudable one ….

1. Independence day

2. Twin Towers

3. Baby’s Day out


I think most of you would be able to guess the 1st one but I bet not on the other two.

In all the events the teams were picked so that it has a mixture from all regions and process.

Independence Day

Dress code :- White Kurtas

Most of them were in with agreed code and the day concluded with a quiz about India’s history during Independence day and the best team got memorabilia to cherish.

 As part of team building each team were asked to speak about other.

Twin Towers

Team of 2 was picked from different process and an outline was briefed and left to each of them to plan…


What an effort ….One team had a “Go Green” Concept where they not only came with Green dress code but cascaded the importance of making this universe Green.


Another team represented as Sales team and finally winners were Smoking guns…

Baby’s Day Out

Everyone has to drop their childhood picture and the winner is the one who is able to relate the current team member to the picked photo. It was an interesting one and created elation during that moment..


Finally it ended with each of the member in the team has to opine about others and I tell you it created lot of positive energies in the team when a peer praises you in front of a crowd.


I sincerely welcome any suggestions to improvise….


Photos : Please click below link…

http://picasaweb.google.co.in/gbramy16/CGB?authkey=Gv1sRgCL6xqN7oitDO-QE#

Immense transformation

Immense transformation

In my earlier blog, I had written about my kid’s school admission pursuit. This one is an extension of that…

Assurance from all quarters coupled with some high recommendations, also my weekly visit to meet the school officials gave the confidence that I will get admission either in PSBB or Chinmaya Vidyalaya but ended up on the losing side.

One Friday afternoon in the month of May, Swiftly decided to admit Ananya in

“ A School”, logged into the school website filled in the form and got an appointment for next day.

Was Skeptical of the school, considering the tender age of the school( since it was started 2 years back ) but one encouragement is that it falls under the banner of Chettinad helped me in taking this swift decision and paid the fees.

School started in June last week…certain uncharacteristic to a typical school made us think that we have made some erroneous decision in the selection.

Uncharacteristic things include No Uniform, Shoes and Books for 1st Standard which will look weird in the eyes of any normal parent.

Personally I feel and able to see a lot of changes in my kid and now she is firm that she will not move out of this school for any reasons.

I do not have visibility on what is happening in the school but one good factor is that I can see lot of changes and would like to thank not only current school but also to other ones who had declined admissions for no reasons.

Another piece of information if you and your kids are interested. http://www.jetchennai.org/

Promise Accomplished. Yet Again !!!!…

Promise Accomplished. Yet Again !!!!…


Six years ( flash ) back, yours truly has promised Prathiba ( Better Half ) that every alternate year will have vacation.
This promise was made during our honey moon and I am proud that I am able to fulfill till 2010

2004 - Goa (Honey Moon)
2006 - Madikere, Coorg & Mysore
2008 - Kolkata, Cuttack
2010 - Ooty


Want to make 2010 a different one from the previous promises ( Trips ) and hence planned in a such a way that it should be a memorable one ….hence Prathiba’s birthday ( May 30th) was chosen as the day.

Unlike previous years this time it was difficult since I have to take care of my grown up daughter, both Mudumalai and Black Thunder came to my rescue.

Thanks to Google search engine for aiding me in identifying a hotel and IRCTC for getting tickets.

Started on May 28th and returned back on June 2nd, away from laptop and anonymous (irritating) calls that lands up in our mobile.

Lingering pleasant moments are….

 Decent hotel @ good deal.
 Place was selected so that we are away from noise commotion. It is on the
gateway of Ooty from Conoor. Downside is lot of walking…
 On the verge of closing stages of season…fewer crowds…
 Fortunate to have Enthusiastic & buoyant cabwala
 Finally all the 5 days are treasured moments

Forgettable moments are…

 Potential loss of Ananya in the Black Thunder horde. Almost lost her.
 No wild animals in Mudhumalai.
 Pollution. Lot of hoardings on plastics being banned in Ooty but you can see heaps of plastics.

Learning from the trip …
Big ONE…Never ever trust an unknown person….( Left Ananya with a women till we finish a ride and almost lost her)

Photos...

http://picasaweb.google.co.in/gbramy16/OotyTrip2010#