Archive for the 'General stuff' Category

Help is Human

I am trying to break my long blog silence with this post. This is a true story, happened a few hours ago.

With wife out-of-town, I was starting the weekend catching up with the “Breaking Bad” series on Netflix. From no where, around 9.30 PM, got a craving for burger from in-n-out. I was in my PJs and did not care to change. I put a decent t-shirt on and drove to the nearest in-n-out joint in Burbank, CA. Since I was in my PJs, I thought of taking the food over to my place and continue watching the TV series. When I was about to pull into the drive-thru, I saw an Indian guy, let me call him “X” for the rest of this post, probably in his mid or upper 20s going around people’s cars asking for something. I was waiting for a family to cross the parking lot and saw X coming towards my car. When I rolled down my window, he told me his car’s battery was down and asked if I had jump-start cables. Unfortunately, I did not have them. I politely answered no and asked if he had AAA (Auto-club membership). He replied negative and I felt sorry and drove toward the drive-thru lot. Something occurred to me and i wanted to help this guy. I called one of my best friends, Subra (who is also my ex-room-mate), and asked if it is possible for me to help X with my auto club membership. Subra is a super helping guy. He gave me the specifics and I decided to help X.

I pulled out of the drive-thru lot, parked my car and offered to help X. I called my auto-club help line and they dispatched someone from local repair shop. I told X to wait and went inside to grab my favorite cheese burger, fries and Vanilla milkshake. Man, I love this stuff from in-n-out. Seriously, I should write a separate post about it.

When I was in line, looking at the friday night crowd around realized I was wearing my PJs and felt little embarrassed. When I was waiting for the food, help from the auto club came through and so did X. He came in looking for me. I went out showed my membership to the repair guy and he started charging the batteries. Meanwhile, X’s wife “Y” came out of the car and the three of us chatted up for a few minutes. They were happy that I could be of help. X got my phone number and said we should meet sometime. I wished them good night and asked them to drive safe and bid good-bye.

I went inside and grabbed my food and left home. Here I am, at home, writing this post to share the little help I was able to offer someone today. I am not a rich, I don’t have big savings, I don’t do much charity but I felt really good when I was able to help someone in distress. As my parents would put it, you don’t need to have money to help someone. All you need is a good heart and good will.

Seeing someone happy is priceless, I saw that in X and Y’s faces today.

P.S: Call it timing or coincidence, I happened to look at the AAA’s Roadside app for Android installed in my phone today and was wondering what all my membership offered. It said it included battery service and replacement (for an extra charge).

Indian Vodafone Commercial – Happy to Help (Full)

I have worked in customer service for few years and this ad is making me feel happy for all the work I did… Enjoy….

Sivaji – Songs review (leaked songs)

Disclaimer : This is a personal opinion of the leaked songs of the much hyped tamil movie Sivaji. May have spoilers. The author is no way related to the persons who released the songs on the internet. The author is not a die-hard Rajnikanth or A.R.Rehman fan. So, expect spoilers. And one last thing, if you are looking for the links to download the songs, I am sorry! Try elsewhere.

India is out of the cricket world cup 2007. What next? SivajiSivaji, the output of Superstar Rajnikanth and director Shankar combination is making news now. Music is by A.R.Rehman and as always expectations and stakes are high. Latest news is that four songs of the movie Sivaji, are leaked out and doing rounds on the internet before the official launch of the songs. Rumours are spreading across the internet with some saying that the versions released are scratches and the final version is nowhere near to the leaked ones.

Rajni movie, news about leaked songs, media speculation, hype and rumours tempted me to listen to them. Who wants to be left behind? The four songs I listened to were of good quality (192 kbps , 44 khz mp3 quality). 

Here is my review of the leaked songs. As always with every A.R.Rehman film, the songs does not stick to the mind immediately.  :( But are catchy, after hearing them twice or thrice.

Sahara pookal poothatho

Unwritten law - Every Rajni  movie should have a melody song shot at a foreign location.

I guess this song sung by Udit Narayan must fall into the category of Baaba kichu kichu thaa, Konja Neram konja neram and the like. This song is a mellifluous one and I have started humming it since I heard it the first time. It’s been long time since one heard Udit Narayan singing a Tamil song the Tamil way. Thanks to Rehman for making it happen. ;-) Hope that the song is shot well with Rajni not dancing the way he did for Baba kichu kichu thaa song. :-P 

Poompaavaai aambal aambal, Punnagayo Mouwal mouwal (vaa ji vaa ji vaa ji, en jeevan nee Sivaji)

The track by Hariharan and chorus has some and good lyrics in Tamil (Vairamuthu?). I think it is time for me to buy a good Tamil dictionary.;-) Sample lyrics (easy ones).

Male : Adi Nettail Nilavey, Rettail Thimirey

Nenjai Mutti kollu

Female : vaa ji vaa ji vaa ji, en jeevan nee Sivaji (twice)

Oru Koodai Sunlight

Sivaji song

This number made me laugh the first time I heard it.  :mrgreen:  Are we in India or at US? Why should one have a RAP song that too in a Rajni movie? Did Rehman forget the BABA RAP? Leave RAP to the westerners. They are good at it. Let us do what we are best at. Rehman, notorious for his late night recordings might not have left the singers out for nature call. One can feel it when the singers try really hard under the cover of rapping. In tamil slang we say it this way when a singer tries to hard. :-P

இந்த முக்கு முக்குறான்

intha mukku mukkuraan

 One consoltaion is that Rajni’s smile is included in bits at certain instances of the song. :-)

Theme Music

Is this the real theme music? I doubt it.

Overall the music is good. One need to wait for the official audio launch till the April 4th and give the final verdict on the music. sivajiAnd also watch the movie to see how Rajni has danced in style. 

Tid bits

Was going through a Tamil weekly and it was mentioned that punch dialogue in the movie is “ji, Sivaji” and Rajni says this is in different voice modulations and it might resemble ”Bond, James Bond”. And adding to this, music will be blared and voices shouting ji sivaji in the background with DTS effect. I think it is a festive treat for all Rajni fans.

Rich kids in high spirits shatter poor’s dreams

Following Salman Khan, Neel Chatterjee, Aliston Pereira with 5 of his friends have come under media’s light for hit and run cases. Last night, Aliston Pereira and his friends, who were in high spirits , shattered the dreams of 20 poor souls sleeping peacefully in the pavement of Bandhra’s Carter road, Mumbai. Six of them were killed and fourteen of them injured. The accused were returning from a five star hotel’s night club and were on their way to a friend’s birthday party. Aliston Pereira, the man behind the wheels, was drunk. When asked about this gory incident, he says that his car lost control due to a mechanical problem and ran into the construction workers. A bottle of liquor was also found in the accused’s car. Pereira and his friends were took into police custody. He is booked for culpable homicide not mounting to murder and others are booked under the Bombay Prohibition Act. Pereira is still under police custody and his friends are released out on bail.

In September 2004, Stephanie was killed on the road by drunken youths. Chennai was shocked by the incident. And since then the police has tightened the security measures a bit more and is a bit harsh on the night clubbers. In a way, it is good as it guarantees a safe environment for people to live. I have seen myself a few of these drunken youths, who race at Marina and Besant beaches in their modified bikes and cars. It is really difficult for the citizens to walk or drive on the roads when these unruly youths go crazy and do all the stunts on roads.

Bike, car stunts in movies and TV ads also inspire young people to try them on roads. Young people fall into the trap that they are super cool if they are involved in any of these.
A lot of examples include the movie Ghulaam, Rang De Basanti, The recent Apache, Pulsar ads and the list goes on. Not only the media, the parents of these young people are also to be blamed. If they were careful enough in drawing the line of control at certain point, these kind of incidents can be avoided.

One more month, when all the media attention starts to move away from this case, the rich kids will be let out free and they will start clubbing again. The poor as always will hold demonstrations and will go quiet as they cannot stand and fight for their rights.

Where is justice?

Will the rich kids be punished for this gory act?

Will the police tighten up more security and punish drunken drivers?

I have a few suggestions for the police and the people to stop these kind of incidents from happening.

1. On every major road, have check posts and conduct regular checks on people for drunken driving. Especially, near pubs and night clubs, have more people to check. If a person is caught for drunken driving, put him under bars for that whole night and leak the news out to the dailies. This should be done irrespective of the status the person has in the society.

2. A lot people get away by using their high profile contacts when they are caught for drunken driving on the roads. If a person tries to boast his influence by saying Do you know who I am ? , He should be smacked at least ten times in the back and put under bars. The next time he will dare to think of using it.

3. Close all the pubs and night clubs at 11.00 PM.

4. Canceling of licenses for the joints who serve liquour for minors and are open after the stipulated time. The owners of these joints must be put under bars for at least ten years.

5. Seizing the bikes and cars that are modified or tuned for racing and stunts on road.

6. Curfew for bikes and cars to run after 10.00 PM on New Year’s eve. This way, all the drunkards will shut indoors and gory incidents can be avoided.

In this way, we can build a healthy and safer society. What ya say?

Advice to buy a car

I am planning to buy a small car.car Here are my requirements,

  • Seat 4 persons comfortably.
  • Mileage of 14 to 16 kms per litre of petrol.
  • Easy to drive in Chennai’s traffic.
  • Less maintenance charges.

I have Alto LXI in mind. Which car do you suggest? Will appreciate your time and advice.

Accent and slang

Me : What’s the difference between accent and slang?

My Alter-ego : Good question! Here is the answer.

accent (n) : a mode of pronunciation, as pitch or tone, emphasis pattern, or intonation, characteristic of or peculiar to the speech of a particular person, group, or locality. For ex: French accent; Southern accent, Indian accent.

slang (n) : (in English and some other languages) speech and writing characterized by the use of vulgar and socially taboo vocabulary and idiom expressions.

Me : oh I see!

Welcome to gallery.karthickraghavan.com

I have hosted a new sub-domain under karthickraghavan.com. It is going to be my online photo gallery. It is Karthick Raghavan’s gallery. Have used Gallery 2.0 as the photo management software. Thanks to Balaji, I have made it. have planned to update it as an when I find time and pictures. Do check it and let me know how it has come out. :-)

Do you have ICE on your mobile?

My Alter-ego : Do you have ICE in your mobile?

Me : Crazy or what? ice in mobile? !%$#@&? :-(

My Alter-ego : I meant ICE and not ice.

Me : What’s the difference?

My Alter-ego : Good question! Here you go…

ICE stands for In Case of Emergency. It is a new concept catching on in the developed and developing countries where cellular phone usage has become essential. ICE numbers or ICE contacts are nothing but the contact numbers of people stored in your mobile phone, whom you think are to be intimated in case of any emergency. For example, you store your home number as ICE in your mobile’s contact list. You are caught in an emergency, a person who rescues you picks up your mobile and sees your ICE number and intimates them. It is as simple as that. If you have more than one contact to be informed, you can store them as ICE, ICE1, ICE2 and so on.

Me : Oh I see! It is a good thing. Who started it?

My Alter-ego : Bob Brotchie, a paramedic is the man behind this concept. He is travelling places to promote this as a universal concept. Hope, everyone follows suit. Imagine a world, when people are informed at the right time so they don’t miss there loved ones.

Me : Oh yeah! That will be great! By the by, Where can I find more information on ICE numbers and their usage?

MY Alter-ego : icecontact.com

Me : Thanks! I am gonna chill my mobile with some ice sorry ICE numbers. :-)

My Alter-ego : :-)




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