Raavan - Music Review

A.R Rahman always brings out his best for Manirathnam. Whenever this duo teams up, you can expect the best and they have not let us down this time . A.R Rahman always has his dates for Mani-just because the freedom he gets to do his own kinda Music. If you listen to Raavan, you would realize the amount of Experimentation that has gone in. And experimentation in all fields,right from choice of vocal voices, choosing Anuradha Sriram for the humming,the instruments used. OK let's go right to the songs.


Beera - the opening song, is clearly an introduction song for the Hero(Hero? is not always the actor in Positive role. It's around whom the movie revolves. Here it's Abhishek, though he is the negative character I guess.). Just listening to the first couple of seconds, you would clearly imagine Sukhwinder's voice coming up; but it's not the case. It's song perfectly suited for Sukhwinder but it's Vijay Prakash this time, and he does full justice to the song. The song picks up pace as it goes on.


Behne de - My favorite in this album. Has a Sufi touch to it.The prelude is little long, but the wait is worth it. In fact it gives you hint of what's in store. The music looks jaded in some parts to make sure the Lyrics of Gulzar doesn't get lost.If the music wakes you up, the vocal takes you to another level. Karthik's voice is so haunting, especially the high pitched parts of the song. It would surely come back and haunt you for a long time.Surely another Sonu Nigam in the making.



Ranjha Ranjha - The best in the album. Surely Rekha Bharadwa jcan expect another award coming her way. Was excited to hear Anuradha Sriram's voice after a long time.Again a song with a Sufi touch.Javed Ali has become the voice of Rahman's best songs these days. The choice of instruments leaves you baffled.

Other songs are good,but not of Rahman's class.Surely an album worth to Own.The only big disappointment is that, Rahman has not sung a song in this Album.



Somethin interesting



Manirathnam had no intentions of having songs in the movie Yuva. He just wanted a theme music for the movie. But he made the mistake of choosing A.R Rahman for the theme music.Indeed it was a Mistake, because he ended up having 5 songs in the movie. Yes, the theme music moved him so much ,that he wanted another song.... and then another.. and it went on and ended up having 5.He ultimately fell for the seductive music of A.R once again.

Celebrities as Role Models?

Once,we were doing a weekend free Teaching class for kids.I was handling kids of first grade.Din't take much time to work out who was the brightest kid there.I threw some relevant questions and picked out Tim as best-among-equals.He was a bright kid,who knew all alpahbets(In order too) and had a good basics in Maths.



"Who is your role model in life ?",I asked Tim.The kid,who until now had confidently answered all questions, stood stranded. My intention was not put him in a uncomfortable position;all I wanted to know was Kids' choice for role models these days.I was taken back by his silence.So I put myself in his shoes for a second and though about it.


So far it had been easy for him.But now Tim realised that this was the toughest question he has faced so far..Until this point, all of the answers he had given were taught by his teachers the previous day or questions from his book.But now he had to give his own answer.


On the positive side, he never knew,this is the first opportunity given to a him to choose his own wish.But now he had so many options running through his mind..And he did come up with an answer- Hugh Jackman. And now I stood stranded.It is nothing but just to be with the trend we land up making celebrities as the role models.It's true with kids of all ages.


I still remember ,for a long time my Role Model was Martin Luther King. Now it's become a trend to have a celebrity as a Role Model.I would still digest, if kids took up Celebrity Sports Persons as their role model.But actors?They confuse the actor with the role..


It's upto Parents and Teachers to a huge extent, to teach or be, proper Role Models for kids to follow. People who remain positive throughout any situation are good examples for others to follow.Romans used to look upto Mythical and Historical figures for Role Models.


I have been to a couple of teaching class from then,and the first two questions I ask any kid is, What do you want to become 25 years from now and Who is your Role Model. And I have found out that the two answers never Sync.


A kid who wants to be a pilot has an Actor as Role model; Another kid wants to be a nurse but sees Lady Gaga as a Role model.The kid whose answers Sync for these two questions,would surely make it big..

The Joy of watchin Live Sport

A match between two teams lingering at the bottom of the table. The crowd attendance-40,000 people. Have you ever wondered about this?


Why is a league match between the two teams at the bottome of the table, attract such a big crowd?


Is it because of the Ever-So-Loyal supporters?
Is it because of the cheer-leaders?
Is it because ,there is nothing else to do over the weekend??


All the above might contribute a small percent. But it's majorly due to the excitement of watching a live match in the ground .


The adrenaline rush you get while watching a live match has no other substitute.Always the final score says very less about the game. Only when you watch it live in a Stadium, you realize it was in no way a one-sided contest. When you see a game on TV,you don't really get the feel of the game. The Ads in between don't help too. It slows the excitement.


Hold on, I could sense a argument here. The comfortness of watching the game at home. True , I agree to some extent. The conditions in certain stadiums don't encourage people to go out there. But the pure excitement of the watching the game Live at the stadium overweighs all other comfortableness...


Go to the grounds, support your team.. Supporting from home helps the business not the sports-person. His performance increases ten folds,just by the chant of his name by the crowd..

Is Racism Justified?

Just been a week old in Melbourne and every other person asks me the same question.... Did you feel the heat?? Honestly speaking the answer is a Very BIG NO, a Big "Fontsize 30" NO ...But should accept that there's indeed a small racist community over here,which is comprised of Nocturnal "Jerks".


If you are a 6am - 6 pm Kinda person, moving around Non- remote areas, you would never feel any discrimation... Ok let me address this issue in two parts.


Normal 6am-6pm Life in a Non-remote area:


First reason you would Love Melbourne is the nature of People here. You don't have to be a friend to get a "Hi" here. Every person who walks past you, throws a smile followed by a 'Howdy'.. It happens everywhere You go. People pick up conversations so easily.. They always have so many things to say.. Most of the people who meet in the "day time", seem pretty worried about the racism against Indians.


The So called Happening time - Night Life:


But if you are kinda Nocturnal person, then you have reasons to worry.. And those reasons are not limted only to Melbourne, it's the same anywhere around the world.Most of the issues that have been reported have all been during off peak hours in remote places. If you happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, you should consider yourself unlucky; careless to some extent too.


Having said all these, I still realise that there are some occasions where you could clearly see a rasict inclination..


What is the reason for such deep rooted racist thoughts? What provokes people?


All of that and much more in another article, because it requires a completely different mindset..


                                                                                              Coming soon.....

Dan Brown - Lost Symbol

I have just got a copy yest.

The cover itself has improved a lot from the previous books. It gives more of a tempting look to get it. The design on the cover itself gives a toast of wat is to come......

I have just started the book,,,, the pace that is set in the first few pages is amazin,,,,,

More to come tomorrow... probably will give u a day to day update as the story move s on with me

Train Journeys

One thing that has always fascinated me, has been the Train journeys. I should admit though, it has not been the same kinda fascination always; at different ages I have enjoyed different faces of a Train journey.


At 2 it just took the mere sound of a train to amaze me; At 4, it was the length and gigantic structure of train that caught my eye.


At 6 ,the addictive movement pattern of the train excited me. 5 days after the journey I could still feel my body swaying. I term it as addictive movement ,because you started wanting it more and more. At 8, the biggest ambition was the Upper Berth in a Train. It takes a year to convince your dad that your grown up to move up. If You succed this, you are the hero next day among friends.


Trains are not always associated with fun and entertainment alone. It taught you lessons you would never forget.


At 10, we learnt Helping and Sacrifice ,when we swapped our Lower berth to an elderly person who had difficulties to climb up. It would have taken ten years for any teacher to teach you the virtues of Helping and the satisfaction a Sacrifice could give. At 12 , when struggling with topics of Parallels and Perpendiculars ,Train
tracks came in handy.


At 14,"Chaiya Chaiya"(Famous A.R Rehman Bollywood song) popularised trains more. All your fantasies were revolved around the train from then on for a long time. At 16 the TGV Atlantique fascinated me.These trains from France ran at speeds of 300 km/h, at a time when Indian train delay units were not minutes or hours but Days.(At 20 though , I realised that, If France had India's Population their train delay units would have been Months).


At 18 , you learnt to fill the first form of your life(Not knowing that you would spend most of your life ahead filling forms), when your dad asked you to book your own tickets and travel on your own. At 20 ,Trains gave you an opportunity to show your respect to Elders. Whenever you see an elderly person, you would be the first one to offer a seat.


The current happenings on a Train requires a whole new article. What a 22-Years-and-above person Observes on the Train,requires a whole new article...