No content to write, nor content with life

I do not live in the war-torn region of Lebanon/Israel.
Nor I have any connections in Baghdad/Tehran.
I don't have to take the Subway to NY or the trains in Mumbai to get to work.
I do not subscribe to the "Religion of Peace" to feel the stress in the West.
I am lucky to be born; to the north of Palk Straits.
More so to have escaped the Grandfather's rule there.
I was not affected by Katrina or Rita.
I pay no state tax.
Yet I feel life can be better.

Greed or Motivation?
Be it either. It doesn't seem to have an end.

Want more and more.....
I mean buttermilk. Heading to my refridgerator...

What Roberto Baggio failed to bring to Italy comes home.

Italy wins the cup. I celebrated the win too.

Roberto Carlos - Arigato

Imaginations run galore @ Pepsi. But does Roberto Carlos really have to go this far against Japan?

Jose + 10

It took me a while to get over dissapointing Dirk's lack of big match gamesmanship , as Wade walked away with all the laurels. Switching to football, where the ball hits the net probably just once or twice in the entire game, was not an obvious alternative. Mexico and Netherlands losing to lesser opponents (yes I do mean Argentina) inspite of better display of talent and strategy brings out the irony, haunting me of the Maverics's loss to the Heat from 2-0 lead.

Now I am left with no choice but to root for Ghana which has been the only other team that I enjoyed watching. They are playing Brazil tomorrow.Who knows?

Watch these Commercials. These give me a respite.
Jose + 10
Continued here

And the funniest one sporting David Beckham as if he is not having enough trouble from the media.

ABLE WAS I ERE I SAW ELBA

Malayalam, Madam... were the simple words that I was using to test my little BASIC program to check whether a given string was a palindrome. My dad mentioned this to me for the first time and introduced me to the history of Palindromes and its use in historical events. I loved Palindromes thereafter and I still have the habit of reversing the letters while I read a new word.

"Able was I ere I saw Elba" was a palindrome used to mark the defeat and exile of Nepolean Bonaparte.

"A man, aplan, a canal, Panama" when Panama Canal was conceived.

"Madam, I am Adam" was the first reference to the first man of the world in the Bible.


In Tamil, a different kind of palindrome. Read horizontally and vertically.

Si va ji
va yi le
ji le bi

Fascinating, is'nt it?

The longest palindrome has 17259 words.

Preah Karuna Preah Bat Sâmdech Preah Bâromneath Norodom Sihamoni, Preahmâhaksat

Rajadhi Raja Raja Marthanda Raja Gambeera Raja Kula Thilaka Sri Vettaya Maharaajaa Paraar.

I have only heard such titles in movies. The King of Cambodia, Preahmâhaksat Norodom Sihamoni has the title which has a mixture of Sanskrit and Khmer words that is comparable to our own cinematic titles.
Hey!!! he is a bachelor and there is no direct successor to his throne.
Do I hear you girls say Paul Allen would be a better pick?

Captain spoils Amma's party

My assessment
Vijayakanth ate up her votes although neither won except for the one seat that they grabbed out of PMK at Virudhachalam.
Add to it, the Sankaracharya episode which antagonised many Bhramin voters.
Vaiko's defection from DPA at the last moment did not go well in the rural areas.
Amma's anti coversion policy made no significant change as Christians always voted for DMK. So did the muslims except for the votes to IUML that was an ADMK ally.

But Vijayakanth's voters in almost every constituency made the difference between victory and defeat for AMMA.

On the otherside, Karunanidhi won purely because of the coalition.
He tactfully sacrificed absolute majority to share seats with the other members of the DPA only to ensure he stays CM. He even let go the hold he had on the centre, where he always threatened to withdraw support unless his demands were met. Now it is a stalemate as his govt. depends largely on the relationship with INC, PMK and CPI-M. In a way it works out well for both the centre and state as there is a check and balance.

I am sure that everyone would agree that the centre and state relationship will become much better now than it was during J's reign. How long this will last needs to be seen.

After Karunanidhi
Inspite of Yoga and idlis, the fact remains that Karunanidhi is not getting any younger. There will be a race for leadership among the younger generation while the likes of Balu, Anbazhagan, Arcot Veerasamy and Duraimurugan are likely to stick behind Stalin who to his credit has worked for the party as much as anybody else. However the new kid around the block, riding high on his brother's media weight, Mr. Dayanidi Moron is likely to garner support from the lesser loyals. Whether family prevails over politics is yet to be seen.

The post-Kamaraj Congress is just beginning to see some faint light after four decades of indifference from the Tamil public. Vaiko and Vijayakanth will stand to gain too. If Amma can keep the other three mentioned above in bay, she can rule TN for the rest of her life. Amma's celebrations are merely postponed till next elections if she plays her cards well.

nAsadEya sUktam - The Song Of Creation

The Truth in Veda shines at its best when we read the Naasadeeya Sooktam. The acknowledgement of "the unexplicable" is very ardently brought out after giving thorough insights on the earliest perception of Creation.

But, after all, who knows, and who can say
Whence it all came, and how creation happened?
The gods themselves are later than creation,
so who knows truly whence it has arisen?

Whence all creation had its origin,
he, whether he fashioned it or whether he did not,
he, who surveys it all from highest heaven,
he knows - or maybe even he does not know.

-Excerpts from Naasadeeya Sooktam Rg Veda 10th Mandala, 129th Suukta. By A. L. Basham.

A Must Read commentary.

Arisiyal - Rice politics

The Tamil Nadu Arasiyal has par-boiled down to "Free Arisi". While the "Old Man with no eyes" has promised Arisi for Re 2/kg, Amma tops him by offering "Buy 10 kgs for Re.3.50 and get 10 kgs free".

I feel that Amma's offer is sensible because there is a minimum buy catch that many small families may not choose to avail. This is certainly beneficial for the larger families with low income. A win-win situation.

However, the FM, Mr. P.C conveniently overlooks the catch and plays Arisiyal or Ricetics with the issue. God alone can save our India from this man.

Btw, I have no clue as to how much rice, a regular four member family consumes per month. Does anybody here know?

Hu meets Bush - Ignarance is Bliss.

Bush: The Chinaman is coming in. I have to go and receive him. (Leaves White House in a hurry).

Condi and crew are waiting at the airport where Bush joins them to receive the Chinese Premier. As usual GWB doesn't know his name.

The flight arrives and the Chinese contigent is getting off.

George Bush: Every one looks alike. Who is the Premier.
Condi: Hu.
GB: I am asking you.
Condi: Hu
GB: Chinaman
Condi: Hu
GB: Ok there's no time for all this now. (As Hu arrives closer to shake hands with Bush)

GB: (Extending is hand he greets) George.
Chinese guy: Hu
GB: George Bush
Chinese guy: Hu
GB: George W. Bush, the president of America.
Hu: Hu , the president of China.
GB: No the America. Pretty perplexed at the lack of English knowledge in the part of his Chinese counterpart. I know these guys don't speak English. But I didn't think that they will find it difficult to get the common (proper) names.