Oh boy! What a toy!!

Toys are fun, educative, sometimes they are companions to the child. Especially, a single child. I used to look for a new arrival in the market, when we wanted to gift one on birthdays. kids in the family wait for their birthdays, just to get the newsest toy from me!

Year before last, it was the Beyblade. Of course, it wasn't all that new in 2004, as it was one of the hottest toys of 2002 in the U. S. They are Hasbro's battling tops. (Yes, the age old tops we all played with a thin rope). More than 2 million beyblades were sold in the U.S. alone in 2002. But the accessories and the creativity with which the toy was built over was amazing. We used to play with tops on the roadsides near our home with circles drawn with the nail in the top. And we used 'technical' terms like 'Apeeet', 'kuthu'. . . and many more.

And Beyblades too have set rules. Look at the official rules:

- All Beyblade battles must occur in Beystadium!- Beystadium cannot be on table or other elevated surfaces. - To begin official Beyblade battles, Beyblade tops must be launched after the signal of 3,2,1 Let it rip!
- Only one launch per battle - battle ends when one top stops spinning.
- If player touches opponent during opponent's launch of top, player loses 1 point. Player scores 1 point if opponent does not launch top into the Beystadium.
- If player's top enters one of the three penalty pockets anytime during battle, opponent scores 2 points (max score of 2 points er battle)
- Player scores 1 point if his/her top spins longer than opponent's top.
- If player touches Beystadium during battle, opponent scores 3 points-battle immediately over .
- Compete in multiple battles-the player with 7 or more points at the completion of a battle wins!

There are other types of launches:
DRAGOON STORM (Dragon Spirit) Reverse Launch - Opponent must launch his/her top with his/her opposite (non-writing) hand.
DRACIEL (Turtle Spirit) Delay Launch - Launch your Beyblade top 5 seconds after opponent launches his/her top.
DRANZER (Phoenix Spirit) Power Launch - Player can use a Deluxe Beyblade launcher while opponent can only use the standard Beyblade launcher.
DRIGER (White Tiger Spirit) Customization Launch - Opponent cannot use a customized top. His/her top must come straight out of the box.

Really cool!

But whats up this year? In the American International Toy Fair 2006 held in New York City between February 12 and 15 2006, nine games were selected as the best games of the year. And the best property of the Year - Dora The Explorer. It has won this award for the second time in a row.

Boy - Toy of the year award goes to Shell shocker from Mattel.It is a radio-controlled toy. By remote control you can have the shell shocker roll up into a ball or open it up into a "cyberbeast". This vehicle is also designed to stand up to play action in the dirt. As the toy opens up, a cyber extention flaps down hard and helps propel the shell shocker. It has an alien feel to it that might appeal to older boys, the tweens and the teens, as they call them!

I haven't seen the Shell shocker yet. But the mad-mad Beyblade will remain popular with our kids for another two years atleast! After all Beyblade found a place even in the annual Odyssey quiz (2006) in Chennai, which happens on every Republic Day! Sure, all the school teams would have made an additional point on that question over the others!

In and around Chidambaram

Shivaratri is a night to be awake all through.

But if you are inside the Nataraja temple, you can do a lot of things. Foremost is of course, watch the classical dance performances of artistes from all over the world.

You can go to Nritta Sabha, one of the halls inside the temple where the story of Shiva-Parvati dance is portrayed.

You can have the darshan of Govindaraja Perumal with his consort Pundareekavalli. Remember, he was the judge for the divine dance competition. Vaishnavaites call this place as Tiru Chitrakootam and it is one of the 108 Divya Kshetrams.

You can step into the beautiful 1000 pillar mantapam and enjoy the sculptured pillars.

You can watch the fish come on to the steps to receive the rice flakes from the pilgrims, in the Sivaganga tank.

The next day morning, you can go to Tillai Kali temple, on the northern end of the town. The temple was built by King Kopperum Singan in the 13th century.

The historical 150 year old High school run by Pachaiyappa Mudaliar Trust and Yazhpanam Arumuga Navalar school are of places of interest.

On the way, you can visit the temple of Pasupeswarar at Tiruvetkalam, in the vicinity of Annamalai University. This is believed to be the place where Arjuna of Mahabharata killed a demon using Pusupatha astram given by Lord Shiva.

Visit Annamalai University, the brain child of Raja Sir Annamalai Chettiar. It had illustrious persons as Vice Chancellors. Dr. Radhakrishnan, C. P. Ramaswamy Iyer and R. K. Shanmugham Chetty, the former Finance Minister. A very big building on the model of Oxford University, London, houses the University's library.

The music department of the university, where the Carnatic music stalwarts like Tiger Varadachariar, Dr. S. Ramanathan, M. M. Dandapani Desikar and many more (the list is very long...) served as faculty. All precious and unique musical instruments are on display at this college.

Visit Ilamaiyakkinar temple in Chidambaram. Shiva is believed to have granted youthfulness to Tiruneelakantar, one of the 63 nayanmars.

If time permits, hop across to Tiruvenkadu  (means 'white forest' in Tamil) where the linga is white in colour! This temple also houses the Adichitsabhai, one of the halls permeated by the atmosphere of wisdom.

Then, trip down to Pichavaram mangrove forest. Mangroves separated by a sand bar, from the sea. Backwaters of the sea have formed a channel knitted together in such a fashion that only the boatmen find the ingress and egress. Boat riding here is pleasurable.

The village Killai, which is a symbol of religious harmony. Muslim offerings to Lord Bhuvaraha of Srimushnam (40kms away) are still in vogue, when the god passes through the area. This is a thanks giving show for the cure effected on a Nawab by Bhuvarahaswamy - the lord in the form of a boar. The Nawab has made an endowment for this.

Then, drive down 20kms. The town Sirkazhi houses the Sattanathar, Brahmapureeswara and Thoniappar (Shiva on thoni - boat) temples. There is also a sannidhi for the God-child Gnanasambandar, who is believed to have been fed milk by goddess Parvati.

In another 15 minutes, you can reach Karaikkal. There is a small but beautiful temple in the heart of the town for Karaikkal Ammaiyar, the only woman out of the 63 nayanmars.(She is one of the three women nayanmars... see comment below. Thanks Narada!)

Move on to visit the Dharbaranyeshwarar temple, which houses the Saneeswara (Planet Saturn) temple at Tirunallar.

Can you resist Tarangambadi (Tranquebar)? The remains of a fort constructed in 1620 will kindle an interest in history within you.

40 kms from here is Poompuhar. The earlier name of the place is Kaviri - poom - pattinam (the shore where River Cauvery enters the sea) The great Tamil epics Silappadikaram and Manimekalai were created around this town. The Zion Church built in 1701 is a place of interest too.

On the way back, Park your vehicle at Porto Novo, the place once occupied by the Danish. It houses a Marine biological station, which is second biggest of such stations in Asia.

From Porto Novo to Chidambaram, near Cuddalore Railway station is Tiruppapuliyur. The famous Pataleeswarar temple and the story of Appar, one of the 63 nayanmars thrown into the sea by the Jain community, saved by Shiva is in Karai Era Vitta Kuppam. The palce from where Appar is said to have got back from the sea.

Cuddalore now has a beautiful beach, after the Tsunami 2004. Lord Clive had lived here with his horses and barracks. The building now houses the District Collectorate. There is a stone inscription to this effect on the building.

Back at Chidambaram, visit Nataraja temple through the southern entrance, through which Nandanar, the great devotee the darshan of Lord Shiva.

Was this not a complete Shivaratri tour of worship and fun?

I have to make a disclosure here. The inputs are from my dad, who always narrated stories and stories about places and created an interest in us siblings in history, culture and heritage of the places where we lived in our childhood days. Thank you, Appa!

Chidambaram - the sky of consciousness. . .

Today is Maha Sivaratri. The night for Shiva, the god of destruction. Mythology says, during the great mythical churning of the ocean called Samudra Manthan, poison emerged from the ocean first. The gods and the demons who were churning the ocean, ran to Shiva for help, to protect the world. Shiva drank the deadly poison. Goddess Parvati held it in his throat by placing her hand on his throat. This turned his throat blue, and since then he came to be known as Neelakantha, the 'blue-throated.' Shivratri celebrates this event.

There are also other versions - that Shiva married Parvati on this day - that a hunter roaming in a forest was chased by a tiger and to escape from it, he climbed a Bilva tree. He spent a sleepless night sitting on the tree, but plucked the leaves and threw them in tensed mood, which fell on a shivalinga below the tree. Pleased by the vrata (hunger) and pooja (with bilva leaves), Shiva granted him moksha on this day!

One more version is that Shiva performed the Ananda Thandava (dance of joy) on this night. That is what the idol of Nataraja at Chidambaram depicts!

The lingas of Shiva are worshipped as forms of five elements. As earth in Kanchipuram, as water in Tiruvanaikkaval, as fire in Tiruvannamalai, as air in Srikalahasti and as sky in Chidambaram.(In Sanskrit, Chit = consciousness, ambaram = sky). The prolific composer Muthuswamy Dikshitar, whose travelogue kritis describe the history of the temples, had composed kritis on all these kshetras(holy places).

The sky is the symbol of emptiness and hence, Shiva at Chidambaram is worshipped in a 'formless' form, which is called 'Chidambara Rahasyam' (The secret of Chidambaram). The sanctum santoram does not have any idol, but a blank space and a bilva mala (a garland of Bilva leaves) is hung. This place is believed to be the centre of the universe and Nataraja is dancing to facilitate the rotation of the earth. It is 'cosmic dance'.

Brahmanda puranam speaks about the dance competition between Shiva and his wife Parvati, in which Shiva emerges as winner by performing Urdhva Thandava, a male gesture in dance. Parvati leaves the location and goes to the outskirts of the town, where today we find the temple of Tillai kali.

This legend is portrayed in one of the halls inside the temple - Nritta sabha. Vishnu, the brother of Parvati played the judge for the competition. In fact, some believe that he did not pronounce his judgment at all as he did not like his sister, Parvati to lose in the competition. So he said, he slept mid-way... The Vishnu idol here is in sayana (sleeping) posture.

Ironically, Chidambaram, the famous Shiva temple is also one of the 108 Tirupatis (sacred places) of Vishnu! The sannidhi of Govindaraja Perumal inside this Shiva temple is that Tirupati, known as Thiru Chitrakootam.

But, if you had planned to be in Chidambaram this Shivaratri, the trip will not be a complete one, just by worshipping Nataraja. You can make this trip a perfect pilgrimage or a pilgrimage coupled with visits to places of  interest!

Read on the next post. . .

A mouse is a mouse is a mouse!

Hickory dickory dock!
The mouse ran up the clock. . .
The clock struck one
The mouse ran down
Hickory dickory dock!

At one in the afternoon, my mouse which has been giving trouble for sometime now and reached the stage of 'run down' condition gave up! I am talking about the computer mouse invented by Douglas Engelbart!

I recollected my earlier days with the computer. The 486 computer I was using, was just similar to a typewrtite in use. I did not bother much about the mouse. The necessity to use the mouse made me play a computer game. A mathematics game. The quick addition, subtraction, multiplication and division by moving your mouse as fast as you can will give you titles - Math pro, Math Genius and so on and if you are really fast and all correct will get the title - Einstein!
I suggested this game to all the new users of mouse. . .
(If anyone wants to know about this game, write to me through - your reflections. Will try to send it by mail!)

But this addiction to mouse made my working with the keyboard difficult. Switching of the Num lock and moving the mouse through the arrow keys was really boring. As usual I looked up to the internet for solution. After going the entire page I found that my mouse is still not working. I scrolled down the page. It said,

"If you've tried all of our troubleshooting tips to no avail and are now out of options, it's time to go shopping. Here are a few shopping tips to keep in mind as you browse the aisles of your local computer store."

Thats the end of the story. . . I bought a new basic optical mouse, but keeping the tips given by the websites in mind!

Why do I blog?

First of all, I believe that we all have a writer in us. Just lazy to put our thoughts down on a paper.

My paper boy, maid, driver and other helpers are good reporters; story tellers too! Sometimes, there are quotes and references in their conversation. The conversation with my maid usually ends up with her marketing a service. If she is in need of money, she comes out with all creativity. Heard of Alex Tew's million dollar home page?

And each one is different from the other. The same way each write - up displays the talent and creativity of the author. Of late I had started to write for newspapers, websites, but all of them are on specific assignments. Why not write about those things, about which I am fascinated?

It is the itch you get on your palms once you touch your pen and paper to write, rather your keyboard and monitor these days! I am a regular reader of Chip Scanlan's column on Poynter. And here's why he blogs!

It is not really journalism or mass communication that brings one to write. It is the curiosity to share thoughts and get the reflections of the others on what you think. If your forum is restricted to your classmates or your collegues you tend to discuss the same issues again and again on the blogs also. If that's the case, better not to blog!

No. 28 Snake Almanac

This is not a review of the book by Edward. R. As!

This is about the traditional vernacular almanac in Tamil, popular worldwide. The 'Asal No.28. Pambu Panchangam'. Can anyone believe that over 2 lakhs copies of this almanac is sold every year?

I saw a copy hanging in a book shop where I went to buy a few stationery items. Even though it is two months to go for the Tamil New Year, I picked up a copy of the panchangam for the next year. No special reason. . . I thought anyway I am going to buy one, why not now?

As kids, we have watched our dad buy an almanac, carefully stitch it on to a cover and tie a string so that it can conveniently hang on the wall. We had interest only in reading about the 'Makara Sankaranti Devatha' of that year, which normally appears on the 10th page of the almanac. The description is strange. . . The devatha appears with two faces, three eyes, four mouths and with red tusks! She is described as trvelling on any animal, be it a lion or a donkey. Her dress, fragrance, the vessel she carries, all are related to the predictions for the year.

But what is interesting is the number attached to the panchangam! The door number of the house where the original publisher Konnur Manicka Mudaliar lived bore the number 28. The almanac always has 28 pages, in all the years! (How do they maintain it?!)

The snake on the front cover has 27 circles (The almanac calls the snake as 'Rahu Phani Chakram') These 27 circles denote 27 stars as per Indian astrology. This chakram is used to decide the day for sowing seeds in that year.

The irony is the origin that from Kanjanur Appanaiyengar and his son Annavaiyengar. But now who is doing it? There is no mention about it in the Panchangam. But M. S. Pachaiyappa Mudaliar is the present publisher.

The legend also says that Konnur Manicka Mudaliar had an adopted son, Lokanatha Mudaliar. His wife was Selvarangammal. Their grandson M . S. Pachaiyappa Mudaliar is the present publisher!

Another interesting feature is that the panchangam lists the Mohammadian festivals also. It is said that many Muslims also buy this almanac!

Ready to get virally infected?

Preeti Chaturvedi writes in the web exclusive section of Businessworld India, about the viral marketing campaign for the movie Bluffmaster, through India FM. Yes, Viral marketing!
If you are a business management graduate, you could be already familiar with this. If not, read ahead.
Known by different names - undercover marketing, buzz marketing, stealth marketing, guerrilla marketing, this is a kind of marketing technique where the consumer doesn't realise that he is being marketed to.
So, got it? Do you receive unsolicited mails in your inbox? Are you being asked to refer the product or website to your friends? Are you being asked to play flash games online and provide e-mail id at the end? Nothing to worry! You are being marketed to. That's all.
Simple examples are Tupperware parties. But do you know that gmail follows the same technique? Instant messages through MSN, Yahoo! and Google also fall under the same category.
Before you could realise, you are already into it! That's the effect of viral marketing!

SENSitive indEX scales 10000

Just at noon yesterday, Rueters posted online that SENSEX reached 10000 mark.
India's news channels got excited; traders fired crackers in Bombay.
Also known as BSE 30, the SENSEX is exclusive to Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which is more than 130 years old. The first trade dates back to 1875. The hisory of this Stock Exchange is really interesting!
The abbreviated term SENSEX was first used by Deepak Mohoni, a Stock market analyst from IIT Kanpur and IIM Calcutta, who now runs a company TrendwatchIndia. The term came to stay and Mohani came to stay in CNBC TV's Awaaz!
The 1979 base index of 100 crossed 1000 in 1990 and after 15 years it has crossed 10000 (Read the post dated Feb. 7, of Jigar Chandrakant Vikamsey's blog) . If you are keen to be a part of this money game, you can learn basics at the official website of BSE.
If you are lucky, you may gain a lot as the market is marching towards 12000 mark.
Beware of bulls and bears!
All the best!

Golden jubilee of the 'Black Gold'

I do not normally look for PM's itinerary, when I open the newspapers in the morning. But today the news about the change in the itinerary of our PM, took my memories back by 25 years. PM Mr. Singh arrives at Neyveli to take part in the golden jubilee celebrations of the Neyveli Lignite Corporation (NLC)
Neyveli used to be in our minds, as school students. Not necessarily for its lignite deposits or the artesian wells. But for the school Jawahar Vidyalaya, the only CBSE school of those days in and around Cuddalore. The students of Jawahar Vidyalaya were looked at, with a bit of green in the eyes, by the other school children of the then South Arcot district (now Cuddalore district). Jawaharians used to be associated with cerebral stuff. . . We, students from Cuddalore, competed with them in all quiz, essay and oratorical competitions. (After one such competitions, a student of the school described about the autocrat principal, who whipped the boys and scolded the girls in public, snatched the ice cream from the hands of the kids, when the 12th class students were seen with one, after school hours, we started looking at our school teachers with more respect!)

The school got its name from Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. Neyveli Lignite Corporation shares its birthday with that of Panditji (Nov.14)

The district level competitions used to have questions on the places within the district. This only industrial town in the district has a few trivial info. It is the first lignite-fired Thermal Power Station in South East Asia. It houses the first boiler to be cleaned by hydrofluoric acid and many more.
It is said(!) that NLC also supplies a large quantity of sweet water to Chennai, from the artesian wells in the lignite mines. Of course, Chennai must be getting drinking water from all possible sources, to cope up with its legendary water scarcity.

Even if it is not sweet water, Neyveli's neighbourhood town Panruti supplies the sweetest jackfruits. My dad used to say that he was leaving for Neyveli on an official trip, if he went for buying a jackfruit on a holiday in summer. Once the jackfruit is in, even the neighbours can't resist asking my mom, "Oh you got the season's jackfruit?" The spread of smell (fragrance?) used to keep me away from home for a long time. But on returning for dinner, I could not resist having a cupful of jackfruit pieces!

It is really sweet of the Govt to approve the modification in the NH67 in Dec.2005. It will now connect Kumbakonam and Sethiathope - Neyveli Township, Vadalur, Panruti and terminate near Vikravandi on NH-45. Such industrial towns with cultural places closeby should be well connected so that tourists can make a round trip experiencing different characters of the cluster of towns. Neyveli, for instance has a few places like Vadalur( famous for 'Thai poosam' festival and Ramalinga Vallalar, who wrote the sacred hyms 'Thiru Arutpa' and Srimushnam (famous for Bhuvarahaswamy temple) and a little away, Cuddalore, Chidambaram, Pitchavaram (mangroves) to club with, for a sight-seeing package tour.
Let's us have a tourism itenerary for this place.
This is exactly what came to my mind on seeing PM's itenerary!

"Hottest" blackworm!

The morning newspaper says - the new virus will attack the computers all over the world today! How many of us did not boot the computer on? I had always wondered if booting a system or connecting to internet will open the doors for viruses?
Or should we not open emails with strange extensions? Or no e-mails at all?
In any case, how do the 'intelligent' programmers write these virus programmes and announce the world that it will attack your computer on this day?

And what a name! Kamasutra a.k.a Blackworm! Techtree says that this virus is designed to overwrite all .doc, .xls, .mdb, .mde, .ppt, .pps, .zip, .rar, .pdf, .psd, and .dmp files. Is there any other extension left out? (By the way, Techtree is a good technology e-daily of India. Worth a click)

Though this virus is considered highly dangerous, Symantec says that this is a slow spreading, 'Troy horse' type. (Hey, have you installed Symantec anti virus solutions on to your computer? Have you renewed your subscriptions promptly?)

Anyways, if you are on your computer and is at work, do read this!

Its time to say good night!

Rang de Basanti - Laal rang?

Why is this movie being talked about much?
Who are the youths of India, the film talks about?
What is the message passed on to the present generation about patriotism?

This film encountered a controversy, but on MIG 21 airplanes. Did the jury think that the violence and blood in the movie can be tolerated, just because it linked patriotic leaders of the past with the youths of today? Can justice taken on their own hand by the students be justified?

Unfortunately, the senior citizens of our country, who experienced the freedom struggle are not seen in the cinema halls to watch such movies! Today's youth can easily be misguided about patriotism depicted in this film. They can be made to think that justice can never be achieved in this country. What did this group of angry young men achieve, by killing the corrupt Defence minister and in the process the whole group embracing death! A dangerous message is getting on to the student community!

A truck-load of talents, Aamir Khan, Siddharth, Madhavan, Soha Ali Khan, Anupam Kher, Kiron Kher, the vintage classic actors Waheeda Rehman, Om Puri.... A big sigh... the film could have been made a great feel movie, with the beautiful and timely theme. A fine fabric is got when carefully chosen threads are woven by master weaver.

Where were these people who speaks volumes of Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra, the director of the film, when 'Iqbal' directed by Nagesh Kukkunoor was released?
The great spirit of a deaf and mute youth, dreaming big and achieving the goal, by sheer hard work and with the support of a cute sibbling... The family and moral values are expressed with subtle comedy. A film to be shown in the history / PT / Moral Instruction periods of any school.

If Rang de Basanti is recommended for a History period - O! my dear 'futures of India'! Bunk the history class! (Read the post of Jan.31, 2006)

The Mumbai formula

Deepak Ramachandra, Narayan Ellappa and Vinay Sharma. Heard about them? They are proud of themselves as Schumacher, Alonso and Montoya do after Formula One racing!

These three emerged as winners at the 'Dhoom Mache De' Autorickshaw race which was a part of the Mumbai festival concluded recently. The Go Karting track at Hiranandani Gardens, Powai is where the auto drivers took part in the race in a fun, yet professional way.

Each semi-final had four pitstops, very creative ones, like tying lemon and green chillies, eating samosa and water. . .

One of the semi-finals was flagged off by the Regional Transport Officer K. T. Gilani. My friend from Mumbai says, the RTO told the drivers, "We are the ones who gave you a license, justify our faith in you." There was a perfect tie among the three sections, the auto-drivers, RTO and the cops!

There are big banners behind the festival, huge prize money for this race and insurance in tact for the drivers! But what kept this race and other events of Mumbai festival is the involvement by the 'mumbaikars' for the city - 'Amchi Mumbai'(Did this term come into vogue, because of the popular surnames of Maharashtra - Gavas'kar', Tendul'kar', Ambed'kar'. . .??!!)

Wonder if this Mumbai formula could be applied to 'Enga Chennai' and 'Namma Bengaluru'! But the initiative is already on in Chennai - they are celebrating the Madras Day for the past two years