Oct 31, 2005

NO To Terrorism

It was shocking to know about the blasts that occurred on Saturday evening in New Delhi. Some Kashmiri terrorist outfit has claimed responsibility for these attacks. While hearing news like this, I get so much anger "Dont these people have no remorse at all, whatsoever?" Less than a month ago, Kashmir, especially its Pakistan-occupied part, got severely affected by the earthquake but still the terrorists probably belonging to that region have carried out such a brutal act.

After the massive earthquake and the help provided by India on its aftermath, I thought this would help relieving a bit of tension in that region. I had one other passing thought that, may be even God was so angry with the terrorist activities in that region, he showed his displeasure through the earthquakes. Now, it seems to me as if the terrorists are thinking "when we have just such a big calamity and recovering, how can the remaining India celebrate Diwali?".

Paharganj, where the blasts took place, is a very busy area, similar to our Usman Road. My brother-in-law stays very close to it and we have visited the market. I can imagine the huge rush on the saturday before Diwali. If the terrorists spend their time, energy and brain into some conservative deeds, Kashmir would be like any other improved state of India.

My deepest condolences to the families of those who lost their dearest ones in this tragedy.

Oct 28, 2005

Vandharayya Sachin.. Thandhenayya Ullathai


HE IS BACK.. Not just from his tennis elbow operation, but also from everything that seemed to tie down his breathtaking shots in the last 2 years or so. The effect is for all to see.. the team is back to winning ways; runs flow from his bat non-stop; everything, almost, clicks. To make a long story short, here are a few distinct differences/features that I observed in the past few weeks:

* All the bad omen surrounding the captain-coach imbroglio has been sent for a hiding.

* There is SOMETHING different (of course, positive) seen in this team, which was sorely missing when he didn't play in the past few months.

* The master-stroke of the first match, i.e. promotion of Irfan to # 3 has been hailed as Sachin's suggestion, which also indicates that Irfan's opening with Sachin in Challenger Trophy must also be his idea.

* In the India Seniors vs India B match at the Challengers' trophy, after the India B innings, the players were returning to the dressing room. Some kids were waiting to get a glimpse of their heroes near the boundary rope. Sachin comes first, one kid asks for autograph, Sachin extends his hand and taps the kid's cheek and goes. The other players show no feelings towards the kids. Felt good and bad at the same time.

* His terrific knock at the first match was a glee.. He played some of the strokes which were missing for long time.. Reminded all Sachin of 1998 (When the Pepsi ad "Ullathai thanthenayya.." was hair-raising everytime I saw/heard).

* He constantly talks to Irfan and guides him through the big partnership, which took the game away from the Srilankans.

* Even today, he was talking to Ajit Agarkar before he bowls the last ball of the over, and that ball, BINGO.. the slower ball of Agarkar gets Atapattu.

* He is intent to take on the key bowlers from the opposition - Vaas and Muralitharan and comes succeeds. He is the highest run scorer in both the matches.

I am optimistic of India's chances in the forthcoming busy season, as long as Sachin is fit and raring to go.

HOT NEWS UPDATE: Sourav Ganguly was not selected for the next three matches too.. mmm.. Have we seen last of him? Atleast his influence on this series is pretty much over, IMHO.

Have a Good Weekend, Friends !!!

Oct 26, 2005

Suttum Vizhi

this is an audio post - click to play


This is my maiden attempt to audio blogging.. Harris Jayaraj fans, ennai adikka aal anuppadheenga plz.. :-)

Oct 25, 2005

Happy B'day Asin !!

(Pic adopted from 123kerala)

Asin turned 20 just few minutes ago. Many many happy birthday wishes to her!! Waiting for her Diwali releases, Majaa and Sivakasi.

For Asin fans/worshippers, some links:

Our fellow blogger friend, Arjuna is the proud creater and owner of a yahoogroups called "Goddess Asin".

A cute video interview of Asin from indiaglitz here.

A text-only interveiw from Indiaglitz here.

A text-only interview (Post-Ghajini) from Sify here.

Asin's chat-transcript from Sify here.

"As in" Ghajini, let her look gorgeous, sweet, cute and lovely in all her movies... :-)

Bond - Strange Bond

IMHO, Mallu-Mallu interaction and Bong-Bong interaction are very strong. Among the weakest would be Tamil-Tamil interaction.. what say you?

Oct 21, 2005

A Wedding at School

Today, in the lawn in front of my department where Krishna Lunch is served everyday, there were two big 'pandhals'. Wondering what it could be, I went to have the lunch when I was told that, one of the volunteers of the HareKrishna Lunch program, Andy, was getting married to his wife, Merryll (yes, they are already married!!) according to Hindu traditional way.

There he was, in a Dhoti and kurta and she was dressed in a bright red saree. It was a short marriage, but with all the main customs covered. It seems Andy and Merryll wanted to marry Indian way and also the Hare Krishna people wanted to use this as a 'Demo' for an Indian marriage. So, there they were, in the middle of a working day, right in front of our department, getting married at about noon!! There were curious onlookers and well-wishers.. it was quite a big crowd.

Here are some fotos for you.. Have a good weekend!! :-)




Oct 20, 2005

Karva Chauth

(Pic adopted from Karwachauth)

Today is Karva Chauth - a Northie festival similar to South India's "Varalakshmi Viratham". Married women fast the whole day for the well-being of the husband.... (Pullarikkuthu)

Husband-kaaga wife viratham irukkira madhiri why not the other way around? The answer, IMHO, lies in the male-dominated society's customs, inherited for generations. The husband feels 'special' when wife fasts for him.

Karva Chauth has been made famous through a lot of Hindi movies over the last 10 years, beginning DDLJ.

(Pic adopted from Idlebrain)

Even Selvaraghavan has shown the festival in '7/G Rainbow Colony'. (Cha.. adhey Azhudhu vadinjufying Sonia).

Karvachauth for dummies:
* The performer (I mean, wife, or simply 'she') can eat some snacks before the dawn.
* After sunrise, she is not supposed to eat or drink anything
* An hour or two before sunset, pooja begins and 'story-telling' etc. happens
* Once moon appears, she goes to a open area (e.g. terrace), sees the moon through the sieves and then her husband (sometimes, the reflection of the husband on a still water).
* Husband gives her water to drink, breaking the fast.
* A good happy dinner with sweets, etc.

Happy Karvachauth to whoever celebrated or is celebrating it today!!! :-)

Oct 19, 2005

Free-ya vidunga


(Pic adopted from Webulagam)

Sonia Agarwal, in her latest interview to Kumudam, has expressed her opinion about what she wants from her fiancee.. I found this piece quite interesting..
Husband avar meley mattum piriyam vaichirukkanum
Naan romba possessive
En husband-kitte vere oru ponnu pesinaa kooda enakku pidikkadhu
(Over-possessiveness)
Naan avarai 'aadhikkam' seyya virumburenn
Nalla velai.. Selvaraghavan thappichar.. :-) Idhellam Sonia-voda personal wishes.. I will refrain from commenting except saying that "Oru Gents' college lecturer, or better oru Boys' school teacher romba arumaiyana poruthama irukkum... "

There are two types of people who are over-possessive about the spouse:

1) Sonia-madhiri kalayanathukku munnadiye ippadi oru decision eduthuruvanga..
2) Kalayanathukku appuram dhideernu ippadi prachnai pannuvanga (Reason could be insecureness or the spouse's apparent flirting).

Both translate to a disasterous married life, unless one of them changes completely. Ennoda oru friend nalla jovial type.. work place-le ellar koodayum sagajama pesuvaar.. but wife munnadi gupchip.. rendu moonu couples ukkarndhu pesittu irukumbodhu ivar either silent-a iruppar.. illey pasanga kooda mattum pesittu iruppar.. Yaravadhu penn kooda pesuna paavam.. veettukku ponadhum varuthu eduthuduvanga.. But wife avangaloda friends kooda phone, e-mail, pechu ellam panradhu undu.. Avaroda personality-ye maariduchu..

Indha kaalathuley Sonia- madhiri over-possessiveness aagadhunga.. for both hubby and wife. Konjam free-ya vidanum..

Oct 18, 2005

What is the limit?



(Pic adopted from Angelfire)

I always wondered what the real meaning of 'speed limit' is .. All those who drive in US know that one can drive upto 15 miles more than the actual 'speed limit'.. why the hassle of putting some number and making the driver to add 15 to it? Wouldnt it be much better if the sign boards change to, say, 'Maximum speed 84' at the freeways? It is not like the IST (Saw in Srivatsan's page: Indian Stretchable Time). In a country like US where time, etc. are followed nicely, why not this speed?

Maiden visit to Orlando

It was a great trip to Orlando. This being my first visit, had quite a bit of confusion with so many choices in front of me .. Atlast, pinned down on 'Epcot' since it was, as the friends said, good for adults too.

Orlando is an amazing city. I really kick myself in the butt why I never visited Orlando, despite being less than 2 hours drive from our home to any attraction there. Anyway, better late than never. :-)

Got a good deal on the ticket, free parking and a nice tour in Epcot. Best part was the whole lot of walking and standing, which happened after a long time.. good for the body. :) I couldnt cover all the attractions on a single day.. but covered 60-70%. Enjoyed the most on the 'Space travel'... Had a real feel to it, since I had watched "Apollo XIII" just a few weeks ago.

In the evening, managed to sneak out of Epcot to visit the Hindu Temple (It was good) and returned for the 9 PM cracker show. Had a nice dinner in an Indian restaurant just few hundred feet from the hotel.

It was a real ideal day, as I had dreamt. Doesnt happen always like that. It was lotsa fun and I have decided to visit all the remaining parks one after the other in the coming months, before leaving Florida.

Oct 14, 2005

Mazhai



(Pic adopted from NRILINKS)

With the news of Shriya being selected as Rajini's heroine in 'Sivaji' and Chennai getting some real good rain, I thought it would be appropriate to put the review of 'Mazhai'.

Serious version:
Story:
MN Nambiar - time old story revisited: Poor hero and rich, rowdy villain -both in love with heroine.

So, what is different?
"Mazhai" is different as Shriya's friend. The director has to be lauded for not overdoing the mazhai part. Shriya looks refreshingly different and good.. The title has given the freedom to get her drenched for those cute romantic moments and not-so-catchy songs.

Attractions?
Hehehe.. Shriyavum Shriyavai sarndha idangalum, (I mean, scenes) of course.. She has surely improved from her "football coach" role of 'Enakku 20...'. (Ravi-yoda heroines ellam are making it big now.. After Sada, now Shriya in a Shankar movie.. and there is the one-and-only Asin.. Renuka Menon is the only misfit.. Ezhudhi vachukkonga.. adhu nijama theraadha case). The title song is good to hear but others are so-so. Kalabhavan Mani and Vadivelu are OK.

Disappointments:
Stone-faced villain Rahul Dev, as usual. Though in the field for over 6 years, seems not to worry on acting as much as his body. (Trivia: The producer of the movie has dubbed for the villain and I dont think that soft voice suits him). Paavam Ambika.. (eppadi irundha neenga ippadi ayitteenga). Paattula ellam 'telugu vasanai' balama adikkuthu.. Movie is quite predictable.

Verdict:
Worth watching once. Better to see without any expectations. Rajni fans will see this movie to see their new 'anni'.

Lighter version:
For the fourth time in a row, Ravi overdoes the "rising after heavily beaten (and even stabbed)" part. Third time in four movies, he keeps running with the heroine.. Makkal theater-ai vittu odama parthukkoppa.. Director Shriya-vai nalla "arimugapaduthuraar".. Tamil makkal thookkathai kalaikkanumnu "idaiveli" kidaikkira saakkule mazhaiyle avarai saree-oda aada vidurar. He would have gone to Ambasamudram for shooting the movie with a truck full of Vicks and Amrutanjan. Padam parkkara namakke appappo jaladhosham pidikkira madhiri irukku..

Quick and short review is what I could manage.. Have a good weekend, friends!! Off to Disneyland, Orlando tomorrow to celebrate the first anniversary of my US life..

Oct 13, 2005

Caption?


Saw this picture in someone's post on cats. Sooo cute.. A caption appeared in my mind for this foto and I wrote it in the 'comments'. Plz. comment here on the first caption that comes to your mind. Let me see how many would come up with the same caption as mine. The link to the original blog from where I stole this foto is there in the first comment.

Oct 12, 2005

Austria - A Heaven on Earth

Asin and Vikram are going to take-off to Austria for Majaa. Wow.. this brought back my fond memories of Austria. Few years ago, I visited Bad Gastein, a hilly town on the Alpine region, for a conference. What a refreshing change it was!! FYI, this was the place where most part of "Sound of Music" was shot. There was no university in that town but the conference organizers had rightly chosen Gastein for its scenic beauty. While Switzerland is the real 'hotspot' in Europe for Indian movies, I always wondered why no one went to Austria. Such a beautiful country. Those who have Google earth, type 'Bad Gastein, Austria' and enter to see the location of the place I am talking about. (Best when viewed from above 15- 20 000 feet). BTW, it is only a few miles away from Swizland.

Little bit of travelogue: I landed in Munich airport, Germany and took a bus to Gastein. It was a wonderful drive on a cool July afternoon. That was my first trip abroad and everything FELT sooo good... Cool breeze, clean air, broad roads, scenic driveways, etc.



I was put up in a hotel and got a double bed-room. Opened the balcony curtain and wow.. icy, cloudy Alps in front of my eyes!! Damn happy.




Turned my head to the other side and saw my neighbor home. Beautiful flowers.



Refreshed, wore a formal dress to attend the conference inaugural dinner. The conference center was located at such a wonderful place... there was a water fall, right next to the left wall.. !!



BTW, it was a conference on 'Synthetic Metals'. Sounds strange? Was very highly excited to see all the pioneers working in my field, whom I had seen only in fotos.

On the very first day, in one of the talks, someone from UK quoted our work which was published just 4 months ago. Oh man, I was on cloud nine.. My poster session went very well and made some good friends. It was a big success.

Was completely tied up with the tight sessions of the conference that I couldnt go for sight-seeing.. (would be a different story if I get such a chance now.. :-) ) On the last day, took a long walk on the mountain side along a clear stream. A truly unforgettable afternoon it was!! mmm.. looking forward to visiting the place all over again - but this time, not alone. :-)

Oct 9, 2005

Some recent movies

1. Ghajini:

Serious version:

No time to write a full review. I liked it for the most part, except when the director seemed to lose his grip on the movie in the last quarter. The highlight is the excellent chemistry between Asin and Surya. Asin was awesome and attractive as usual. The song picturization left a lot to be desired, especially my two favorite "oru maalai" and "suttum vizhi". The screenplay shuttles back and forth between present and past, and makes the viewer keep guessing the finer details.

Lighter version:
Surya kanji kudicha madhiri moda modannu nadakkurar, especially in the 'present' scenes. Andha villain-ai 'Viduthalai siruthaigal' kitte pidichu kudutha punniyama pogum.. Tamil-ai kadichu, mennu, kuthappi, thuppurar. Climax-le enn avaroda adiyaalgal ellam dhideernu es- ayidarangannu puriyale.. Surya niraiya iron tonic kudichiruppar pola.. kaiyale adichey rendu hefty villains-ai kolai panrar. 9thara Chandramukhi odo odonnu odunadhule nallaa santhoshama oru rendu moonu round peruthirukkanga. Namitha kooda pottiya? Avanga panra 'thathu pithu' velai ellam partha paavam, avangaloda patients ellam insure pannittudhaan parkka poganum (Ammani final year medical student-am.. Kizhinjudhu)

2) Nuvvustanante Nenodantanna:

Serious version:
Prabhu Deva, in his directorial debut, has come up with a family entertainer. Though the second part of the movie is quite inspired from hindi hits like "Maine pyar kiya" and "Pyar kiya to darna kiya", it has some refreshing moments and keeps one engaged throughout. The minutes before climax lead to a needless tragedy and it appears to be just for the sake of having a climax. Siddharth and Trisha make a lovely duo and their initial interactions are sweet and cute. Sid seems to be watching a few Shah Rukh movies of late. It would be better if he tries to keep it original as he did in Boys and Aitha Ezhuthu. Trisha is getting better with each movie. Prakash Raj, as usual, does a remarkable job in the few minutes of cameo he gets. Songs are melodious and the cinematography is neat. Saw a Telugu movie after 7 years or so, it was worth the wait.

Lighter version:
First the title. I had to copy and paste it after some googling. Vayile nuzhaiyadha title plus I dont know the meaning as well. Sid's hairstyle yaaroda idea-vo? (Trisha-ve 'kurangu madhiri irukku'nnu comment adikkira). Padathoda periya jokers-e adhoda villains.. adhuleyum karuppa varra villain sirichu siriche kolraar. Original comedian pendha pendha muzhichinde sokku adikkirar. Kashtam. Trisha-vai vida avaloda friend suuuper. Yarachum andha devathaiyai Tamil-ku kondu vaangappa plz plz..

3) Paheli:

Serious version:
Paheli is based on a Rajasthani folk story and is based sometime in the 18th or 19th century.
It is a cute ghost movie. I dont know how many die-hard Shahrukh fans would accept him in the role of a ghost but the heroine does. In India, there are hundreds of unbelievable folk stories. I think they are better left to read and enjoy. If someone tries to fit a larger-than-life actor like Shahrukh, it may not click, as is the case with Paheli. It is very colorful but songs by MM Kreem (our good old Maragathamani aka Keeravani) disappoint us. They are nowhere near his previous Sur or Jism. Shahrukh does for the umpteenth time the role of someone who steals the heart of his near and dear by acting chooo chweet..

Lighter version:
Husband roopathule oru pei vandha enna pennalavadhu ethukka mudiyuma? I doubt, especially since this movie is based long ago, when the men had a final say in whatever way the family has to be run. Pei kooda kudmbam nadathi kuzhanthai pethukkaradhu scientifically epadi sathiyam? Nalla kaadhule poo suthurangappa.. Mothathule idhu 'thalaiyum illatha kaalum illatha' oru kathai (namma vooru peikkku ellam kaal irukkathunnu kelvipattirukkenn). Shahrukh-ai meesaiyoda parkka comedy-ya irukku.. Pavam Amitabh.. Rajasthani dress-le baffoon madhiri vandhu 10 minutes kalaichittu porar. Kal anaalum kanavan, pei analum purushan-nu Tamil-le dub pannalam.

4) Chanakya:

Serious version:
When Sarat appears as 'Publicity Ganesan', an autodriver who seems to be interested in getting famous by gaining media coverage. The first quarter of the movie is pretty different and we get to think that the director has come up with totally new ideas as a surprise package. Unfortunately, the story takes the age-old track of "revenge for dear ones' death". The climax is heavily inspired from 'Phonebooth'. Vadivelu's comedy raises a few laughs and it seems Sarat has struck a great liking for his comedy. The first half thus has lots of Vadivelu moments, and, as expected, he slowly disappears in the second half. Namitha as usual is for just songs. Good to see Salim Ghous after a long time.
Lighter version:
Namitha-vai parthuttu Deepak-oda latest post padinga. Ammani is growing in all dimensions (acting-le ille, makkala..). Sarat adikkadi punch dialogue-ellam vidurar. Appuram perusa onnum ille.

Oct 7, 2005

Brahmins and Jews

Before going into the topic, I want to mention that I am the firm believer of ‘Jaadhigal Illaipadi paappa’. I would be among the happiest in the world if everyone gets up one fine day and the disease called ‘caste’ had gone from their minds and from all records. Most of my closest friends have been non-brahmins; my best friend from KG to class 7 was a Muslim; our family doctor for almost 25 years belonged to a ‘SC’ and I don’t have a caste surname. I hate to tell all these things, but I don’t want to be painted as a casteist. I am a big fan of K. Raghavan, who writes for Kumudam reporter the ‘Nilamellam Ratham’, where he discusses all things about the middle east conflict, starting pre-christian ages.

I found several similarities between Brahmins and Jews. IMHO, both the communities are proud of what they are; Plenty of great, world-famous intellectuals can be found among them; they are ambitious; they are also mostly highly religious and god-fearing; they are still criticized for some of the things that their ancestors had done ages ago. I was watching Anniyan for the fourth time last weekend and it made me think on ‘Brahmins’. I remembered an article I read in cinesouth on how much pro-Brahmin Anniyan is and some stupid arguments on capitalism and Brahminism.

It is a fashion for some self-proclaimed ‘Dravidian’ leaders to use the word ‘paarppaneeyam’ and take a swipe at Brahmins, and sometimes, on Hindus in general. If he is an atheist, he should keep it to himself.. why issue public statements? I remember the post ‘Aham Brahmaasmi’ by Kasthuri. Very nice one, which says who is a Brahmin and who isn’t. Those who attack Brahminism, take a break.. For quite long time, there is no caste issue due to them. All the flares that have taken place in the past few decades have been due to some other aggressive castes who are against Dalits.


Whenever I think about the caste issue in Tamilnadu, I feel angry and it is depressing too. When Suhasini made ‘Indira’ 10 years ago, everyone said “nay, that kind of casteism doesn’t any longer exist in Tamilnadu”, and “what does a Brahmin Suhasini know about the peaceful and reformed villages comprising Dalits and other communities?”. Within a few months, there were caste clashes in southern TN, which was really shameful. Brahmins are a subdued community, minding their own business and however orthodox they are, it is like “we wont mind your business, you wont mind ours”. Fair.

When Mel Gibson made “The Passion of Christ”, the Jews feared that it could lead to some hate-attacks on them.. For what they did 2000 years ago, they still have to pay the price!! 50 years ago, there was Hitler, 100 years ago, Russia, and before that, the entire Europe. People tend to get scared of them because they work hard, thrive for excellence and succeed.. Those who feel insecure about it make noises all the time.

In TN, except Brahmins, everyone else is in ‘backward class’ or lower, am I right? How can that be? How can business class be backward? How can the past rulers be backward? It is funny that people think themselves of a top section of the society but don’t want to come out of ‘backward’ stamp. It is high time the 69% quota gets abolished. Those who are economically well-off should all be erased of their caste details in all the records once for all, and, as the plate keeps moving down, there will be a good percent of people with ‘no caste’. Unless the government does something like that, we will always have caste and reservation. While I am glad that most in TN don’t carry a caste-based surname, it is high time they take it off their mind too.

Oct 5, 2005

Nobel Prize


Just a minute ago, the 2005 Nobel prize winners for the year 2005 were announced. As I expected, one of my shortlists, Robert Grubbs of CalTech shares the prize with Schrock and Chauvin for the development of 'metathesis'. Congratulations to them!!

On my very first day at work in US, I met Robert Grubbs (Bob Grubbs as he is called), as he was visiting our department in University of Florida and was a guest to our group. It was very inspiring to get introduced to him and attend his series of lectures. I dont know about Chauvin but Grubbs and Schrock are two names that have been synonymous with 'metathesis'. I havent done any metathesis myself but my wife has.

It involves a reaction between two molecules having double bonds, in the presence of 'metathesis catalysts'. It gives rise to two new molecules having double bonds and one of them is usually a gas, such as ethylene. The gas escapes out of the reaction, thus driving the reaction to completion and in only one direction, i.e. towards the products. It is hard to explain to non-chemists about it so I will try to walk you through the work of this year's physics winners.

For physics, the award goes to pioneers in 'optics', especially 'laser optics'. Roy Glouber, the founder of 'quantum optics' gets a half of the prize for his theoretical work on blending quantum mechanics and optics. Two others share the other half, for their work on 'precision spectroscopy' using lasers. Their work has helped in getting the exact speed of light, to the precision of centimeters!! Ultrafast laser techniques such as femtosecond (1 in a million billion second) spectroscopy have been immensely benefitted by their work.

PS: Something about 'Nobel prize'. Everyone except Swedes pronounce it similar to 'noble'. I heard from one Swedish prof. that 'there is nothing noble about Nobel'. It is supposed to be pronounced differently... like how u would say 'nobale' or 'nobayl'.

Came across this cool game in the official site on my area of work, which is 'conducting polymers'. Will give you an idea of the exciting possibilities with these speciality plastics. Check it out.

Oct 4, 2005

Best Titles

For quite a while, I was thinking about the titles in tamil movies. Ram had posted on naming them after some previous famous songs or straight on old movies. In this post, the titles that I have considered the best are given. IMO, a good title is defined as something coming from deep inside the heart of the director and not inspired by any old hit song or the song from the same movie. Rajini fans may not like agree, but I would say that the worst way of christening is using the name of the lead character itself. (His movies are the major culprit in that sense, followed by the other heroes)

The following are the titles, which someone as a kid would have lot of difficulty to understand but as he/she grows up, with experience, the meaning of the title in the context of the movie dawns on oneself. And it is no surprise that the best titles have been chosen by some of the most distinguished directors that we have been fortunate to have had.

Sila samayathule, oru title or paattu pathi yosikkumbodhu mana-k-kuthirai ella dhisaiyileyum tharikettu odum.. ennennavo ninaippugal ellam varum.. Andha director or lyricist avvalavu deep-a yosichiruppara-nnu doubt varum.. Ennoda maramandaikkey ivvalavu yosanai varumbodhu andha arivujeevukku, andha padaippoda karthaavukku innum ennavellamo thonum-nu ninaichuppenn.

A lot of my reasoning make good sense with the character and proceedings of the movie, so I would not detail them exactly.

1) Moondram pirai: (MP)

When I saw the movie as a very young kid, I just couldn’t understand what the title meant. Now, when I think about it, “MP” tells me something about incomplete growth. The moon is always FULL scientifically but MP means despite being full, it shows itself us as a young moon. Also, one cant say, just by looking at MP, whether it is going to grow or fade the next day. It appears more interesting than a full moon. It is called a ‘pirai’ though it is always a part of the moon. Despite being small, it can still give light in the night.

2) Ayutha Ezhuthu (AE):

Ayutha ezhuthu has three dots forming the three corners of an equilateral triangle. All the three parts are important to form the complete structure (triangle). Remove one, and you would get a one-dimensional line. If you look at the AE, you wouldn’t know whether the three points are running away from each other and gonna collapse into a single point at the center of the triangle. Whatever it be, each has its own path, which is pretty different in direction from the others. AE is the only alphabet in tamil which has the symbol of an ayutham. “Aayiram ilaignargal thunindhu vital ayutham ethuvum thevai illai”.

3) Mullum mararum (MM):


Can be taken as ‘mul’ and ‘malar’, or as ‘mul kooda malarum’. ‘Mul’ and ‘malar’ both belong to the same plant but how different are they!! They are liked totally differently by people. ‘Mul’ serves to protect the ‘malar’ and that’s the reason the plant has it.

4) Gentleman:
In the list, I would have also included “Strictly no English titles plz..” but for this movie. A gentleman, according to Wordweb, is “A man of refinement” among other things. According to what the protagonist in the movie does, it could easily be defined as an oxymoron but his deeds justify the way and make him a perfect gentleman.

5) Mudhal mariyathai (MM):
Though a common phrase in villages, I thought it had several meanings in the movie. Sivaji was the person who would receive ‘MM’ in whatever happens in the village, but it appeared that some people were happy to make him fall at his “mudhal pizhai”. MM is what he would have given to Radha for what she did. Mariyathai is what he got from everyone in the village except from his own wife. Radha, at ‘first’ has ‘mariyathai’ on Sivaji which later turns into love.

6) Aval oru thodarkathai:
Thodarkathai is surely interesting to read, it has its own twists and turns, keeps its audience guessing at crucial moments but, even a thodarkathai has to have an ending, right? ‘Aval’s story wasn’t.. when everyone thought that it was leading to a happy ending, it starts all over again. It is painful for any ‘aval’ to be a thodarkathai but how that ‘aval’ keeps tough as always and goes on with her life..

7) Kuruthipunal (KP):

Even ‘Ratha Aaru’ is a good and new title but to choose such a tough title takes some real guts. And this movie was all about kuruthi, esp. the climax. From the titles, when kuruthi makes the screen red and slowly the redness being used for something else, till ‘KP’ runs from the sieved body of Aadhi, it was a masterpiece.

8) Azhagi:

Whereas external beauty is skin-deep, internal one is heart-deep. The ‘Azhagi’ in that movie was actually a dusky woman who is beautiful in her heart. This is one rare movie where infatuation due to age and beauty gets transformed to love due to thoughts and care. One would have thought an Aishwarya Rai would have been more apt for such a title, but Nandita Das was much more than azhagi.

9) Kaakha kaakha (KK):


Inspired from the famous “Kandha shashti kavasam”, where we pray lord Subramanya to save us from all evils. We just want ourselves to be saved, no matter how he does it. The police officer, who has the responsibility of keeping the evils away does it in his own way.. his only motto is to save people. Though he gets criticized and severely tested, he continues his march on the path he knows the best and believes the best to save the people he serves.

10) Marupadiyum:
It is more of a conjuctive word but it has its own meaning. How much can a woman bear injustice? Not again and again. How much she can trust someone who betrayed her? How can she accept someone else in her stormy life? Marupadiyum is similar to the ‘thodarkathai’ but it ends with a comma.

Other unique titles that I liked were ‘Munthanai mudichu’, ‘Gokulathil Seethai’, ‘Sivappu Rojakkal’, 'Varumaiyin niram sivappu' and ‘Engeyo Ketta Kural’. I am not a big fan of too long titles like 'Oru pullankuzhal aduppu oodhugirathu'.