Kirukkalkal

(By Source, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=51364770) Every scene seems to have been done with a deep purpose indicating how miserable certain sections of our society is in. There is a main theme about the lack of toilet facilities in many regions of the country. But, while the director spins the screenplay, he highlights a lot of other issues along the way, without actually making it look like a documentary. Every character is sketched with a purpose. The sad state of alcohol addiction, paid crowds for political meetings, miserable treatment of poors in government hospitals, sand quarrying in riverbeds - all these have been braided excellently into the main story and characters.. The film-making team showed lot of guts when you listen to dialogues. There are a lot of dialogues, one being - ஹெலிகாப்டர் பார்த்து கும்பிடறது தடை செய்தாச்சு.... ஓரு மணி நேர உண்ணாவிரதத்துக்கு ஏர் கூலர் கொண்டு வரது தடை செய்தாச்சு .... Towards the very end, the main protagonist (lawy...

வன்முறைக்கு வன்முறை தான் தீர்வா? பெரும்பாண்மையான கமல் ரசிகற்களால் பெரிதும் ரசிக்கப்பட்ட வெற்றிகரமான பட வரிசையில் இந்தப்படமும் ஒன்று என்ற போதும், இது ஒரு சராசரி மசாலா வெற்றியல்ல என்பதே எனது எண்ணம்... கமலின் நடிப்பிலோ கடமை உணர்ச்சியிலோ எந்த குறையும் மிகையும் கூறாவிடிலும், இந்தப்படத்தின் வெற்றிக்கு அவை மட்டுமே காரணமாக கூற முடியாது என்று கொளலாம். ஏனெனில் -இந்தப் படத்தின் வெற்றியை ஊர்ஜிதப்படுத்த கமல் கையாண்ட வியாபார உத்திகளும் வெகுஜன ஊடகங்களின் விளம்பர திறமைகளும் பெரும்பங்களித்ததை மறுக்கமுடியாது. மொத்தத்தில் இந்தப்படத்தின் வெற்றி சற்றே கவலை அளிக்கிறது! திரு ஞாநி அவர்களின் இத்திரைப்பட விமர்சனத்தை ( அவரது ஓ பக்கங்களில் ) முழுவதுமாக ஒப்புக்கொள்ளாவிடிலும், அதில் அவர் கூறியுள்ள அடிப்படை யதார்த்தத்தை கருத்தில் கொள்ளவேண்டும். மாபெரும் விளம்பர வியூகங்களினால், இத்திரைப்படம் முன்வைத்த கருத்து அநேக தமிழ் மக்களை சென்றடைந்திருக்கும். இந்த கருத்தின் பாதிப்பை சமூக அக்கறையுள்ள எவரும் அறியாமல் இருப்பர் என்பதை ஏற்றுக்கொள்வது கடினமே! அது ஏனோ தெரியவில்லை சமூக அக்கறையும் வியாபாரமும் பெரும்பாலும் முரண்தொடை...

This is a pretty big book for a light reader like me! That said, this one is not a tough read for a book on such a subject! I really started the book with some kind of skepticism on how well the author would stay away from the taboo 'racism'! To me, he stayed pretty away from that line and tries to give a very good bird's eye view of several thousand years of human development across the continents. It is really an eye-opening interpretation as I haven't really read anything this deep about humanity and its development. I am a little disappointed to not see any deep references on Aryan civilization and Indian subcontinent... On the whole, he doesn't credit any particular civilization as being superior to anything else. Apparently, every invention seems to have been a culmination of some kind of evolutionary process and starting point for another set of inventions designed for a totally different or similar needs. Necessity is often not a mother of invention! In m...

Today, I went to the Dentist office for a routing cleaning and also to get couple of very small fillings. After the cleaning, the Doctor came in for the fillings. Initially, I was told that I can get both the fillings on the same day. Now the Doctor said, that I have to come again because he can't give Novacaine (or numbing) injections on both sides since the fillings were needed one on either side of the mouth. I asked if the numbing was needed and he goes that it is upto me! How the hell am I supposed to know how big a deal is this thing.. I took the chance and told him do without numbing so that I don't have to go again. I've had my share of root canals and fillings in the past.. So, I hate going to a Dentist office for anything other than routine cleanings... By the time he could inject me with Novacaine, he was already done with one filling! So, totally, it took about 20 min to get both the fillings without any numbing!!! No pain, just some sensitivity... That's it...

I've had this laptop for less than 3 years and the motherboard is cooked, already! Researched HP website and found that there was a recall on my model, but would only provide a limited enhance warranty! I don't understand this - they admit they have a defective product, but wouldn't replace it unless it is dead within a certain period! I scraped through their 'limited' warranty period and my motherboard is dead after this 'magic' period. So, I am stuck with no warranty and at the mercy of HP now! I called them and they graciously gave me a discounted price for repair (I agree it is cheaper than fixing it at a local computer shop or a service center), but still I don't feel it is fair to charge your customer who has a defective product to begin with! Am I expecting too much for the life of a laptop ?!? Or the life of a 'HP Laptop'?!

I am appalled to see the reaction to his book. I will state this - I HAVEN'T READ THE BOOK, YET. Why did BJP expel him? What is BJP scared off? Jaswant wasn't trying to appease any religion or sect. Why shouldn't he have a freedom to interpret the facts the way he wanted? If you are a member of a Political Party, shouldn't you have your own opinion or takes on things? Should you subscribe your life and allegiance to a doctrine of the party like a dictatorship? Is this freedom of speech? Is this democracy? Should we take pride in being a citizen of the so-called 'largest' democracy in the world? I am just glad that he was not jailed! Even Nehru (Congress) Party doesn't seem to react that much! What is wrong in expressing some opinion and bringing some transparency to age-old facts? British did a great job of sowing seeds of separatism as a strategy (just like they did elsewhere). What a cunning strategy that they used to turn the attention from them and to f...

Today morning, I was listening to a piece on NPR about how a hospital has dealt with an illegal immigrant from Guatemala who met with an accident and rendered brain dead... Hospital claims that it has spent more than a million USD and eventually rented a charter plane and deported him to his home country with a State Court's permission.... Of course, there are legal battles going on now (What do you expect, then?!?!) whether it is right or wrong.... For me, the bigger picture is - A 'well-developed', 'G-8' and a 'Superpower' seems to have trouble treating a single human being, citing the cost associated with it... So, USA cannot take care of a single human being because he doesn't have health insurance! I am not here to justify the immigration part or legality of the illegal immigrant's rights... There are of course millions of US citizens who can't afford health insurance. Is it really the people to be blamed for their ability (or inability) to ...

So much for 'categorizing' this under 'Fiction'!! To me, it didn't sound too far away from reality, looking at all the happenings around, these days.... Crichton attempts to extrapolate the gene patents and research in the medical field into a horror story (infact, it is a horror 'happening' and not a 'story'!). The author stuck only to the gene patenting in the medical field, but to me (should, for everybody else!), it is a reality check on the entire patenting business. I really don't understand what is patenting anymore (of course, I am just a layman in the technical terms, anyway)... Here is my understanding: You don't have to 'invent' something new to 'patent'. If you can invent 'something' that had not been patented 'already', then you can actually 'patent' it. Take for example the attempt to patent Basmati Rice by a Texas company Rice Tec (ooooh... Rice Technology!), when Kashmiri farmers have on...