Why this kolaveri di

The latest anthem of the young lads (or the soup boys as mentioned in the song) is this song, written and sung by Dhanush for his forthcoming film ‘3’ which has the music composed by a newbie named Anirudh. The song was OFFICIALLY released yesterday as a single (after the draft version of the song was leaked online few days back by some UNKNOWN person). Everyone says ‘kill piracy’, but God, who is going to kill it actually?

Whatever, the song has already reached a mass. If you are yet to listen to the song, don’t get any idea that it has something to be cherished in the lines of ‘Oru Nazhil’ [from Pudhupettai] or any of your other favorites that you hold close to your heart especially for its lyrics or the music or the singer. The song doesn’t have any extraordinary lyrics, yet so catchy (at least among youngsters). To be precise, it’s a Tamil song with English lyrics, with only English lyrics. I’m not worthy enough to comment on the music front. All I want to say is it has a good music and in fact, a good start for the new composer. And Dhanush renders the song so beautifully, proving that he is a good singer too.

The ‘actor’ Dhanush has already become a ‘lyricist’ penning a couple of songs for his film - Mayakkam Enna, and has already been lauded by many sources for his nothing-extraordinary-but-so-catchy lines. Now, here goes he, penning all the songs (seven in total) for his next film – ‘3’. This one is just a sample!

The song is gonna top the charts for sure, for a very long time.

Here is the video of the recording session of the song. Watch it and have fun. (Guys, don't worry about the lyrics if you can't follow it J, it's been subtitled.)

Something special

There is always something special for us in different categories or classifications. If you ask anyone to choose something over several other things in a category, the result will be the one that he/she likes very much. That's obvious. In other words, the person would choose his/her special one. It will nothing but be his/her favorite. Unarguably, some people, in some cases, might have many favorites in a single category.

If you ask a guy, "Hey, What's your favorite football team?” it would be rare to hear him say one team's name. He, if an ardent fan of football, would end up listing at least a few. Worse, if you ask for his favorite food. But whatever be the case, he will have one thing as his special amongst his favorites list. Thereby, if asked precisely, he would not hesitate to point out that special one. That's the fact.

Likewise, take the special days into account. We people have one special day as our favorite. Of course, at any given instant, we must have quite a few days to remember and cherish - ones birthday, ones wedding day, ones lover's birthday, the day when you won something unimaginable, the day you first met the girl of your life, etc., are the few to name. But if we are asked to pick out one single date, it would, in most cases, be our birthday. That's, by far, something special to everyone. No wonder some think their date of birth as their lucky number. There can't be any other special day that we eagerly wait for, every year. And, unsurprisingly, we want that day to be special over any other, and people - our loved ones - make it special either with some gifts or simply with their whole-hearted wishes. Sometimes, their presence alone would do.

Having said that, how many of us care to wish our loved ones on their special day? Well, the immediate answer would be everyone. Or, in some worst cases, the answer would be almost everyone. Why do we do that? It can be put as simple as this - just because we want to be a part of their special day to make it extra-special. Okay, what do you expect from them in return? Is it nothing? If you say so, then you are unmistakably wrong. Just think again. What do you expect from them in return? Sweets, Treat, etc. Nah, come on, don't be childish. What anyone would expect is, a THANK YOU. Yes, a simple thanks. That recognition is what makes you gratified. That recognition is what makes your day [with the fact that you actually made someone's day in the first place].

Some might argue, “I don't expect such thing from anyone. I feel it's just my duty, or my way of showing my love to him/her. No matter whether that person replies to me or acknowledges my wish in any form.” Is that real? If you think deeply, then that's a certain NO.

In the present scenario, the following are the means of conveying ones wishes [to his/her friend] -

• Meet him/her in person.
• Give him/her a call.
• Send him/her a SMS.
• Send your wishes through the social networking sites (Facebook, Twitter, etc.).
• Drop him/her a mail.
• Send him/her a card/a gift.

For argument sake, ignore meeting the person directly and just imagine the other cases. For instance, suppose you are sending your birthday wishes through a SMS to your friend. Will you just like that get away after seeing the notification ‘Message Sent' in your mobile? Or will you keep staring or checking (once in every 2 minutes) your mobile for it to beep to deliver a reply message? I guess everyone would fall in the second category. It's not the THANK YOU that gets counted here, but the indication that the person had actually got your wishes. That's the point, and that matters, apparently.

But there are people who just ignore the message without even sending a reply as an acknowledgement. What the hell are they thinking? Are they really worth receiving the wishes? Unfortunately, yes, of course. That’s where the real love is. We wipe the disappointment only to send the wishes to the person the following year as well, and every other years to follow. We hardly care being let down as long as the person remains special to us. We just excuse ourselves, on that person’s behalf, thinking he/she might not have got the message, or he/she was too busy to reply then, and later, forgot it.

Consider you’re getting a birthday [wishes] message from a person who once was your good friend, and later, due to fate’s call, ended up on a wrong side. To make things worse, you haven’t seen or heard from that person for quite sometime now, say nine months. How do you react on seeing the message? Will you delete the message off without even responding? I never will. One has to respect the other person, his/her caring in sending you the message. Maybe, it’s since you’re not in talking terms with him/her, he would have send a message rather than giving you a call. Sometimes, people think why the hell should I reply to someone whom I hate, or whom I consider as a stranger anymore, or whom I don’t even consider as a good-old friend? It’s not the right attitude. Just remember he/she loved you once, and maybe he/she loves you still. And for that matter of fact, he cared to send you his/her wishes. What the hell will you lose if you reply to him/her? Obviously, it’s nothing that you lose. Just don’t push yourself up to a wrong note on his/her side. People – especially who cares for you - are priceless.

How many of us remember all our friends’ birthday? It’s hard. Isn’t it? But do we, to the least, remember our close friends’ birthday? Some might even find it to be hard as well. We can’t criticize them. Some are really poor in remembering the dates. Lucky them, they have several means to get a reminder these days. They are just a mail – which is promptly sent – away. But I bet people do remember the dates if they consider someone to be special to them. They hardly need any reminder mail (excluding certain unavoidable cases!!!).

Last month, I called my friend to wish her on her birthday. During the call, she asked, “Why didn’t you post your birthday wishes on my wall [in Facebook]?” It was jovial, I know. She knows the reason. In fact, she told that to me in the call. But as soon as the call was ended, I sent a birthday message to her in Facebook. She replied to that with a smiley. I’m sure that my message would have made her smile. And her reply made me smile. That’s what matters, after all. Hadn’t she replied to my message thinking we had talked over phone already; I wouldn’t have got a chance to smile. Or hadn’t I messaged her that day, she wouldn’t have got a chance to smile. Of course, that’s not the only smile she might have had that day, but it’s just an added joy.

The bottom line – Never fail to be a part of your special ones special day(s). And invariably, acknowledge anyone’s (be it a friend or an enemy of yours) wishes and make them feel countable. If you fail to do so, just remember that you're happy on your special day, but someone somewhere would be in pain just because he/she wanted your day to be special.

Limitless

Yesterday, I watched the movie, Limitless. I was almost left with the same impression I had after watching 'Inception' last year. I, time and again, felt that there is nothing in the world that would be looked upon as outstanding as ones creativity. Creativity has no bounds; it's limitless, after all.

I would say the concept of the movie is merely as small as the pill - 'NZT-48' (shown in the movie... :-)), but the impact of the movie is as large as the effect of taking that pill. Though I'm certain that the existence of a pill of that sort, in real, is as good as impossible, it only made me think what I would be, and what I would do if I'm left with one such pill. Certainly, one won't be enough. That's a different point.

Maybe I would do what Eddie does in the film. Or probably, I would act differently in my own way. When I flirt with the things I would do, I couldn't list it out precisely, but all I would do is 'act differently'. Isn't that what the pill does? Maybe, I would want to leave an impact on people by making a film in the lines of 'Limitless' in a better way. Or maybe, I would, plausibly, become an entrepreneur, and would just draw out the ideas in me, and have people work on it. Who knows? But one thing is certain. I will learn a lot. Who won't when they get a chance to do, that too, in a matter of minutes.

Well, by all means, I know there is not even a 0.00000000000000000001% chance for that to happen, and hence, I need to taper off this post before it's too late!!!

And yeah, we're developing!!!

Yesterday, as I was coming out of a departmental store after I was done with my purchase, I saw a girl sitting in the steps with a couple of shopping bags fully loaded. Her posture made me to think she was waiting for someone, and that someone, I apparently thought was a girl (her roommate).

I actually saw her when I was walking towards my bike parked next to the steps where she sat. Before I started my bike, I saw a guy rushing towards her with a lighted cigarette in his mouth. As soon he reached her, he passed on a cigarette – a new one – to her, and then the one that was in his mouth few seconds before. She put the new one in her mouth, and lighted it with the one she got next. Surprise, was the scene to me. Uh, a girl smoking wasn’t a surprise to me. I had witnessed it already - when I went for a treat with my friends - at a famous restaurant.

By then, I was all but left in awe for it was first time in real I saw a girl, well, a bunch of girls actually, smoking (I have seen girls smoking in many Hollywood movies. It wasn’t a big deal for me though for that was America, after all). Those girls, with a cigarette held in their hand, casually called out the waiter by his name (They were regular customers, maybe) and asked for a lighter. After that day, I have seen girls smoking many a time at different places.

But yesterday, what I saw was a surprise to me, not because I saw a girl smoking at a common place, but it was because she was smoking with her husband. Yes, the guy was her husband. That was evident. Eventually, he sat next to her and both started smoking, enjoying the company of one another. It took few seconds for me to realize that I was actually staring at them sitting in my bike. Luckily, I was wearing a helmet, and that no one would have actually seen me gazing at them. And maybe I would have been one among the few who were left staring at them. I was just wondering what would happen 20 years from now, maybe they would give company to their child in smoking. No offense. In many ways, there is a possibility.

I have seen and heard people quoting several facts to substantiate their point to prove India is fast developing. As I rode my bike back home yesterday, I was just thinking that the incident is merely another one to help them. Isn’t it? Yes, Indeed. India is fast catching up.

I wasn't wrong!!!

Yesterday, my friend gave me a call at an unusual time. He was one of the very few people with whom I had shared almost all my stories I wrote. He was always an active follower of my stories, and once done reading those, he would call me to give his comments. Yesterday's call was also of that sort, the only difference being it wasn't for the comments on any of my stories, but on my recent blog post - "What I prefer".

He wasn't particularly happy about my preference for the question - Tamil or English. He was upset, disappointed and, on top of all, was angry on me for choosing English over Tamil, my mother tongue. Here is the excerpt from that particular post.

9. Tamil or English.English. Simply because I was always poorer in Tamil than English.

He, in fact, kind of jovially threatened me by saying that he would start a thread on this topic in Facebook. I know, he wasn't serious. Even if he was, I'm least bothered about it. The main reason for this post is not his threat, but my responsibility - the responsibility of clearing things up. I just don't want to get to be mistaken by my friends for what I am not.

Well, to answer him, I didn't insult Tamil in any way. I swear, I never will. I just said that I prefer English to Tamil, and I guess I had given a valid reason - the fact that I'm just poorer in Tamil than in English - to back up that. I can't help but say how hard I have struggled to write in Tamil with least possible spelling mistakes. And, moreover, given the fact that I haven't got that much chance to write in Tamil in the past 7 years, not a sane person will expect me to write perfectly in Tamil.

Okay, maybe, he might have thought I choose English over Tamil in the context of a better language. If so, I just want to make it clear that he was completely wrong. My preference was just in the context of writing and communicating. That was the way I felt. If anyone wants my preference in the context of a better language, I will, obviously choose Tamil over any other language. No doubt in that. Reasons -

1. It's my mother tongue, after all.
2. I have read and heard several positive things about Tamil all through my school days.
3. I have been talking in Tamil umpteen times more than English ever since I started talking.
4. Lastly, I didn't know the history of English unlike I do about Tamil.

So, to him and other followers of this blog, I still say I prefer English over Tamil in the context I had explained earlier. If you guys still think I was wrong, then help yourselves. So there.

Commitment - where everything starts

How often have you seen your friends rambling about getting a job before they finish the final year of their course in college? Pretty often, isn't it? No wonder, you yourself were one among them.  In fact, I was, and frankly, anyone and everyone falls in that category. It's not something to be ashamed of for no one here is being sheepish by being a rambling person in this regard. Everyone, at some point of time, sooner or later, rambles about it. If you happen to see anyone saying otherwise, then you are witnessing a person who is trying not to be ordinary. Don't mistake yourself by rounding him to be extra-ordinary, he is just less-ordinary.

The rambling continues till one lands up getting a job by the time they finish their course, and it only gets worse when one has to spend time with the fellow mates who were placed already. That's really a horrible thing to experience. Luckily, or unluckily I didn't get a chance to experience that. By the way, that's not the point I wanted to discuss here about. The real point is this question - How many of us are being committed to our job once we are on board? By committed, I mean a-genuine-commitment.

I have been working for almost three years now, and I have seen and been with many people in my tenure. From my very own experience, I would say, strong and hard, that not many were committed to their job, their work. I'm damn sure about that. Okay, there could be few days where people get frustrated, or feel sick, or have some (personal) things troubling them, or some stupidity running over their mind, or what not. At those times, you can't even expect them to be normal let alone being committed to what they do. Also, no one can escape from these unfortunate events, after all, we are humans. But that's acceptable as long as that happens occasionally, and even then, everyone has to, at least, try to be committed. Because that's what we are paid for - for being committed and get things done at our end, in the best possible way.

From the personal perspective, one can be lenient on people when they face any of the above said unfortunate events, but from the business perspective, one can't expect the same leniency, and you can't blame anyone for that. If that is the case, how can being-so-uncommitted be accepted from someone who is (or seems to be) normal? Honestly, I hate that, I hate the person to the core, no matter who and how close they are to me. Though I try not to put it out to that people, inside of me, I still hate them.

I just go by the motto, give everyone the best of you whether or not they deserve it. So when my company pays me, I should pay back them with what they deserve - the commitment. And I expect that from my colleagues as well. In the past 3 years, I have seen few people being uncommitted to their work. When I say that, I'm not referring anyone in particular, and moreover I just don't want to do so. Many, at least, at times, were a victim. They just take things in a rather casual way. I just want them to realize the importance of their work, the basic quality of being truthful to the employer, thereby, to themselves. Sometimes, a person's failure from being committed causes a stir among other employees, which drastically affects the commitment of theirs as well. We should inspire others to make them grow, not to make them fall.

For anyone who say, "I try, but I just can't be committed!!!". Just try to -

• Be responsible - Responsibility makes you to finish any work in time with at most sincerity, and that turns you to be committed.
• Enjoy - Just enjoy the work you do. You will always be committed to do something you enjoy yourself.
• Inspire others - Always think yourself as a leader. A leader should always inspire his/her (team) mates at any cost. To be inspiring, you have work on your work first, and that pushes you to be committed.

I can't help but say, Commitment - this is with what everything starts!!! So always be committed. That's what I wanted to put forward. I just quoted this with my job, and my colleagues. My sincere apologies had I hurt someone by this post. I mean it. The commitment has to be with everyone no matter what place it is, what work we do, and top of all, what others deserve.

Having talked about commitment, I can't sign off without mentioning my colleague here. She is my inspiration when it comes to commitment. Unfortunately, she had to put in her papers last October. Wherever she is, by now, I'm pretty much sure that she will always be committed to what she does, and inspire others just like she did to me.

What I prefer

As I was stalking this blog, I ended up reading this post. Well, Sameer Jha, (I don’t know who he is, or what he looks like for I have never met or talked to him yet. In fact, he doesn’t even know I’m stalking to his blog lately) himself had stated that anyone, who has a blog, is more than welcome to do a post on this topic. He had also given the right to modify the questions. So here I am, with this post. Unlike the reasons for his post, I just do this to increase the count of the posts in my blog (and yeah, I guess, I can also copy a part of his reasons – personal time pass – as well).

So, here are the 15 questions with my preference. NOTE: Few questions are edited to suit me, and my stand on life)

1. Night or Day

Night, for I always feel the complete me in the night’s silence accompanied by the moon light (just the darkness will do on a New Moon day).

2. Facebook or Twitter

Twitter. It’s always nice to follow the celebrities – whom you admire and cherish – to know what’s happening with them, in a quick, elegant and simpler way. Who cares what of yours reaches others as long as something of others reaches you.

Moreover, I got used and attached to Twitter more quicker than Facebook. Although, by and by I found FB has more to offer, it was just too late. Additionally, I could spend a day without logging into FB, but that’s not the case with Twitter.

P.S: I also considered Orkut as a choice, but it’s out of question in today’s world of Facebook and Twitter (and well, that’s strictly my personal view. Pardon me, if I’m wrong).

3. Arranged Marriage or Love Marriage

Love Marriage, though my mom is leniently against it.  I would always say, marrying a good friend of yours would make your life only better. “Love the person, Marry the person, and Live the life.”

4. Pudukkottai or Chennai

I have spent my past 7 years in Chennai, which of course, by the fact, are the most crucial years of my life. Chennai, offered me a lot, both in a personal and professional front. But how can one choose something over their hometown that still holds the top spot in their heart for the cherishing, everlasting memories it had given. So I go for my ‘Newfort’ (that’s the name I tag for Pudukkottai to my friends).

5. Good looks or Intelligence

Intelligence. Good looks might take someone to greater heights, but won’t grip them there forever, whereas Intelligence always does.

6. Money or Respect

Respect. Money, at times, could make you selfish, but the respect you own will always make even a selfish person to be altruistic to you.

Plus, money doesn’t get you respect,whereas, respect gets you money (you can easily borrow money from someone when you have the respect). 

7. School or College

College. It’s where I had no fear of the teachers, my parents, and moreover no worries about being less studious than my siblings. But no second thoughts, I always loved the care-free life of my school days.

8. fingerspoint.blogspot or fingerspoint.wordpress

WordPress, maybe because it’s new to me. Anything new is always interesting and exciting to be associated with.

9. Tamil or English.

English. Simply because I was always poorer in Tamil than English.

10. Tea or Coffee or Milk

Coffee. But the fact is I had gulped a lot more of Milk than Coffee or Tea, all my life (Thanks to my Mom).

11. Maths or Physics (or any other science subjects)

Maths, any time. It’s after all my favorite subject in all my classes. I love to solve some problems than sketching some crap figures. 

12. Football or Cricket or Hockey

Football. Hockey comes a close second, but Cricket is way behind.

13. US or UK

I love football. So I’d choose the land for Football over the land for Baseball/Basketball. Even this day, watching a premier league match, preferably at Old Trafford, Manchester, tops my wish-list. 

14. Director or Writer

Director, always. I’d choose to be Selvaraghavan over Chetan Bhagat. They both are my favorite in their path.

15. Me or You

Well, having talking about selfishness in the 6th question, I can’t be selfish here.  So, unarguably, it’s ‘You’.

And yeah, for that compliment for ‘You’, you owe me, and it’s your pay back time. I know you’re genuinely a good person who just don’t like to owe someone forever. So you could repay me by dropping your comments in this post. Also, if you are tempted to throw any random questions at me which, you might feel, should have made to this list of 15, you’re most welcome. Dare it. So there.