September 05, 2006
Forbes 100 Most Powerful Women
The Forbes World's 100 Most Powerful Women for year 2006 is out. The ratings are measured based on Visibility and Economic Impact
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Sandiyar
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9/05/2006 02:06:00 PM
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September 03, 2006
Tanglish Part-4 : Nakkal / Sooper
Welcome...back to tanglish lessons series
If you had missed earlier lessons...please amuks here
Part 1, Part 2 , Part 3
N
Nakkals
Nakkal in tamil cinema was given a new dimensions by the kovai gang, manivannan, Sathyaraj koundamai & co. Don’t ask me what this picture has to do with nakkal…. he he he…(kumudan types jollu). Parthiban also vies for the top spot for the “nakkal thilagam” . Other nakkals thilagam's include Solomon Paappayya, Vivek , vadivelu are from Madurai….Leoni from Dindigul.
In Tamil nadu, which district people has more sense of humour?? I hope its defintely not Chennai. I think we need to get into separate discussion for this, with some vattara mozhi experts !!
O
O-Podu
This already popular college slang was immortalized by the song in Gemini
Intha paata eluthina mahaan yaarunnu theriyala, most probably it will be Vali. Whoever it is, ellarum oru “O” podunga!!
If the O is separated from the O-Podu, then it gives a dangerous meaning !! If you want to know that dangerous meaning, recollect Gilli movie and our Thanga thalavi Trisha's marvelous piece of Kuthattam for the ever green song from Apdi Podu Podu...
P
Parrot – Pachai This parrot, is used mostly used as a metaphor (uvamai) to describe the beauty of a girl
e.g. Ponnu kili mathiri irukaa
another known usage ( read in sivaji style)
e.g kilikku rekkai molaichiduthu….paranthu poiduthu
Remember a movie was made ‘kili pechu ketka va’ with mamooty and kuthira-moonchi kanaga….. Another notable usage of is the word Cleaner (lorry drivers’ assistant) is cut short and referred to as Kili. Namma makkaloda mozhi pulamaiku oru alave kidyaathu paa….
Pachai
Literally means Green( pachai nirame pachai nirame - alaipayuthe) and so used to describe things which are raw e.g pacha thanni
e.g avan vaaya thoranthaale pacha pachaya thaan vaarthai varum ( simple means a foul mouthed guy)
After a rape scene in village, the girl’s mother yells at the minor
Enna ponnu pacha mannu da, atha pazh aakitiyee..nee urupadiviya !!
Q
Quarter
This is the first and foremost word in every tamil kudimagan’s dictionary (no references to the ex-minister).
e.g machi weekend enna plan ?
enna vazhkam pola…quarter adichittu kuppura paduka vendiyathu thaan
This so called quarter has a strong relation with kozhi biriyani
this combination of quarter and kozhi biriyani is used to kannkufying items.
The character of Quarter Govindu is a famous is tamil movies and best played by the duo of Sathyaraj and Gounder
R
Ravadi
Ravadi is equivalent to imsai done at a higher level. Used when you want to refer some kind of irritable characters e.g avanoda sariyaana ravadi da… folks from madras, will be able to explain this term in detail
S
Super (Soopper) Technically correct meanings for super are ‘of the highest quality’, ‘extremely large’ (thanks to wordweb). It can be a short form of the complete word ‘superlative’. We, tamilians like to use this adjective to describe anything and everything…. from a simple chocolate bar, a movie, to a really beautiful figure. In fact the stress on the letter O elongates and stress on P increase to intensify the quality of the thing under discussion.
e.g Machi..blue chudithaar…super figure da….
e.g maapla, kalyaana saapadu super da…innoru round polaama ??
We can say everybody in Tamilnadu, knows this word, from nandu chindu..to thondu kizhams, thanks to the one and only superstar.
" super star yarunnu ketta ..chinna kulanthayum sollum…."
Click here for the complete list of rajini movies . Eagerly waiting for Shivaji, thalaiva seekiram relase pannunga !!
Saniyan
Saturn is my favorite planet in school days, since it has a ring which makes it really heavenly. Hope they don't remove this also from the planet list, as they did for Pluto.
The God Saneeshwaran (fondly saniyan) has a special place in the Nava Graha Sannithi in any of the Hindu temples. People usually worship god to show mercy to them and shower their looks upon them. On a contrary, people worship Sani Bhagvan and request him not to look upon them and to stay away from them as far as possible.
If you had missed earlier lessons...please amuks here Part 1, Part 2 , Part 3
Ciao !!
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Sandiyar
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9/03/2006 06:53:00 PM
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September 01, 2006
Tanglish Part-3 : Kissu /Jolllu
Sandiyars alphabet lesson's continues.
If you want to access the previous posts, here is it for you Part 1 - Part 2
J
Jam - Jollu
If Jam has not been invented, it would be really boring at the break fast table.
Enna thaan kissan jam, irunthaalum the proprietary carrot jam prepared in mepco mess is unbeatable in taste. Remember the days, when close-up toothpaste was used as bogus jam to fool around the ever hungry mpecoites !!
okie....I don't want to waste my time, by writing more about Jam as a much interesting topic is awaiting me.
Jollu
Means excess salivation caused when the mouth is kept open for a long term.
This word has a special mention is Tamil Dictionary and I think it etymology is derived from the phrase Jaw-Dropping. The phenomenon of Jollu occurs when your jaw drops and remains as such for a long time. When does your jaw drops, either you have be a thondu kizham or there should be a kozhuk mozhuk figure sitting in front of you. Jollu is basic right of bachelors, but now a day’s married old men are very good at this!!
Oru punniyavaan, has created a blog dedicated to Jollu… http://jolluparty.blogspot.com/
You can jollify with all the divine images of Gajala, Namitha, Shreya to Lisa Ray and Anjala Jhaveri. All states, all language figures sangamam here. ensoy pannuga…Vazhgai ungal thondu Mr. Jolluparty!!
Also, a boisterous celebration or a merry festivity is called jollification
K
Kiss – Kothu
There is a very poetic song in the ‘Rasigan’ movie
Love lovnu maama - Kiss kissu maama
Vijay and thanga thalavi Sangavi sings this duet in the jail, much to the displeasure of ‘maama’ Vijaykumar
Kiss has always derived a special place in Indian movies, with Kamal being the inspiration to many (includnig me). Oscar la kissing ikku orr award irunthu, it should go to the one and only kizz whiz kamalhassan. Vaazhga kamal in kalai thondu.Most unforgettable kisses – Hey Raam, Devar Magan , Punnagai Mannan, Kuruthi Punal, Mahanadhi, Virumaandi
Simbu is very much becoming the next varisu of Kamal, with lot of required skills up his sleeve.The still from Vallavan, create quite an arson. The poor victim is Nayanthara
Kothu
Boredom or irritating feeling you get, typically when u se a sick movie or listen to a boring presentation.
e.g. maams padam sariyana kothu da…
e.g. machi, field theory class innaiku sema kothu da
btw.. gentlemen field theory class ennaiku interesting aa irunthuchu ??
L
Love – Loosu
Look – Observe – Verify – Enjoy.
This could be the dumbest of all explanations given to this beautiful word.
I remember my childhood girl friend blushing to say Love All, when we were playing shuttle badminton. Any guesses how this score of Zero, was associated with love??
Scene from Eeramana Rojave movie
Professor questionst, What is the difference between Affection and Love?
Saar, neenga unga ponnu mela vachirukarathu affection;
Athe affectiona naanga unga ponnu mela vacha athu thaan love…
Howzzat ??
Loosu
The normal brain is considered to be tight with some screws and bolts and a normal person behaves normally.. ( konjam over aa poiteno??) So if anybody behaves abnormally or crazily, he/she is referred to as loose i.e some of the screw or bold has loosened
e.g Mani sariyaana loosu da ie. Mani is crazy da
( You should not derive any reference to my friend Manivannan from based on this)
e.g Pithamagan Moive Laila yells at 120 decibel at her da “ loosaapppa neee” In fact laila is a bigger loosu in that movie that her dad, pall doctor pallavarayan
M
Mango – Machan
Recently , I spotted a nice babe wearing a t-shirt branded as Mango. The designer should be a really creative guy. He puts the name ‘Mango’ right in front of the tight t-shirts and what else can u think when a beautiful girl wears it ?? According to wikipedia, the word “Mango” is derived from the tamil word ‘maangai’. By this time, the singaravelan song “ maangai maangai rendu maangai” should come to your mind.
Maama - Machan – Maapla
If these three great words are not present in our language, college students in Tamilnadu will be missing a lot of fun.
Machan is used by village young women to address their dear husbands. Usually your wife's brother call's you machan and you should call him maapla
Maapla means the bride groom
Thought all these words represent very close relationships, they don’t carry any specific meaning between friends. As a general rule, everybody is a machan and maama and maapla
Maama literally means uncle; but this word derives different meaning based on the context it is used. It is one of the most populate among tamilians and used to denote police men and pimps
ore maama matter arranage pannuvaaru...innoru maama pudichittu povaaru....the relation between the two maaam's is quite understandable
If you want to access the previous posts, here is it for you Part 1 - Part 2
Chalo !!
Posted By:
Sandiyar
at
9/01/2006 09:37:00 PM
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Tanglish Part-2 : Galeej /Imsai
E
Elephant - Erumai
In East Asia, White Elephant is considered as a symbol of good luck and as a protector of Buddha. This beast has high maintenance and has no practical use. There is also a legend that, folks used to gift white-elephants to their enemy, hoping that he becomes financially ruined by feeding this mammoth animal.
On a dialy basis, a grown up asian elephant eats about 15o kilograms of leaves, branches and imagine, you need a big forest to feed few animals only "summa vaa sonaanga yaanaiya katti theenai podrathu innu"
Erumai
This poor animal is known for its slow movement and "patience". Look at the usage:
When somebody blocks the way and doest move, you say 'Eruma mattu janman da, apdiye nikkaraan paaru'
The term 'erumai' is also used by our lovable vaathiyaars, to fondly call our friends who doesn't listen to them or show any improvement inspite of their advices. Also the vaathi's give their final judgement ' nee ellam eruma maadu meika thaan laayaku". Director Shankar used this "symbol of patience" to kill a villan in the movie Anniyan.
F - Fire Truck
It is very difficult to think of any other word for F, other the one which ends with K…guys…am talking about Fire Truck
In one of the recent surveys in UK, women were questioned about with whom they fantasize the most. Firemen topped the list, followed by Soldiers and doctors. Celebrities we way down in the top 10 and guess who is the least fantasized professional is? The poor traffic cop!!
No equivalent for F in tamil...so escape....
G
God - Galeej
Naan ellam Kadvaula pathi blog eluthina, athu intha blogger site ikke adukaathu…. so am moving on to……gaaleej ( is somebody saying..that is a suitable word for you )
Galeej
This term is used when you want to refer somebody who behaves in a lowly manner or from a low cultured back ground.
e.g. dey…avana sariyaan galeej party da…
This term is also used by friends, when somebody creates a mess in a public place, particularly a bar.
e.g machi …residency bar la sema galeej da, sariyaana mappu
H
Horse
Hey motorheards....am not going to talk about Mustang or Ferrari
I had a bad experience, when I took a horse to explore the areas around the Great Pyramids of Giza. The so called guide put me on the horse and went few yards to pick up his horse. These stupid horses exhibit a strange behavior in desert sands. Every few hours they roll on their backs in the hot sands for some reason. And I was at the wrong place at the wrong time. The horse pushed me down and started rolling on the sand. Then it stood up happily looking at me with a sarcastic smile….grrrrr…
I
Ink - Imsai
Imsai
Literal meaning of 'imsai' is venting out physical trouble to living beings, which vaguely translates to violence in English. Remember the Gandhian principle of “Ahimsai” which is the antonym of Himsai. But in tamil slang, this word is used to express all kinds of troubles, boredom even the very mundane.
e.g. Dey… imsai pannatha..enna konjam thaniya iruka vidu
e.g. Physics miss…seriyana imsai da…chumm noi..noi innuttu irukkum
Posted By:
Sandiyar
at
9/01/2006 08:00:00 PM
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August 31, 2006
Meeting the Lion - Nakkals !!
Kalakike pute, Sabari!!!Nee unmiyana singa kuttinu prove pannite!!!
Its really nice and dangerous snap..
Hey sabari don't play tell me the truth..adhu enna pallu and nails pudingina lion eh?Erundhalum namba mudiyala...
Hence it is proved that lions dont attack pigs! :D
Sabari, SUper.. the animals in the photo are too good!!antha singam.. polio attack aana singam mathiri iukku??? nalla saappadukodukka sollu pa
Wow !!!...So u mean to say u have tamed an african lion@!#@!#@!
This is really nice & adventurous...hey thats a kewl pic man.
Thats a cool photo...Does that zoo keeper got to keep his hand on that lion all the time?How old is that lion? Looks like a teenager...
Cool da !Were u insured before u stepped into the cage?If the trainers hand didn't show , it wud have been even better !
Lion looks smaller than you ;))
That's a cool pic man. hope the tiger wasn't hungry at that time...lol
I think the matter is,it is a female lion......,that's why it is quiet
Posted By:
Sandiyar
at
8/31/2006 08:33:00 PM
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Meeting the Lion in its Den !!

I took a while for me to find out the Lions section, of the zoo. Checked about the bribes I need to pay, with some of the guys over there. They said for Egyptians usually pay 5 pounds(approx. $1) and as a tourist you may have to cough up two or three times the amount. So I decided to risk my life, for a really adventurous encounter with the lion. Mind you, I am going to meet the lion in its own den.
After a small negotiation for the bribe, the trainer opened the back door of the lion's compound and let me in. To my surprise he closed that door immediately. Now he is going to open the cage, and I don't have any place to run, in case of any unforeseen circumstances. We were confined in a 6 x 15, rectangular area, with high rise walls.
Mun vecha kaala, pin vaikarathu oru tamilanukku thalai kunivu, egypt la vanthu namma maanam poganuma innu paathen. Let me take it, open the 25 !!
There were three lions, in three sizes, all in separate cages. The trainer chose the one in the middle, which was an adolescent and agile. I suddenly thought whether these guys feed the lion properly not, or may be they get stupid tourists and feed to the lions.....invanungala namba mudiyaathu....paa !!
My excitement is increasing by every second. By this time the middle cage was open, and the lion slowly walked toward the trainer. Oh! ithu thaan singa nadai yaa !! It was a quite lazy walk. Then the trainer made the lion to lie down to give the pose for the photo.
I slowly walked towards the back of the lion, and quickly took few snaps. By this time, i had become somewhat comfortable with the with the lion and it seems he also has understood me, that i am harmless :-)
I slowly ran my fingers through the top portion of its head, and touched its shoulders also. At this moment, some stupid fly or beetle disturbed the lion’s rear portion and it swiftly turned its head to chase the fly away. The trainer got annoyed and he asked me to leave.
I handed him the 10 bucks he wanted, quickly wrapped up the camera bag, lying in other corner of the area and came out. Hey!! That was an amazing experience.
The zoo keepers offered me to take photos with tiger and elephants, for a cheaper price. Pothum da saami, aala vidunga, me escape!!
Posted By:
Sandiyar
at
8/31/2006 06:06:00 PM
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Ambalai Singam !!
From time immemorial, lion has been a symbol of courage, pride, power and all desirable qualities. Undoubtedly, lion is the king of the forest, though there are much intelligent and powerful predators co-exist with our king. I am here to give wildlife lectures about lion, as you all will Discovery and Geographic channels at your homes
How frequent do you hear the phrase ‘aambalai singam”. Tamil movies play a major role in formulating the spoken language usage. I am pulling few leaves from Kollywood.
Scene 1
Singa nadai pottu sigarathil eru
Sigrathai adainthal vaanthil eru
En peru padaiyappa, ila vatta nadayappa
Ennodu ullathellam ilan chinga padai yappa
No comments about the lyrics, since this is thalaivar song
Scene 2
Dhool movie climax - Dappankuthu song, by paravai muniyamma
Singam pola nadanthu varan enga peraandi !!
Singam ennaiku nadanthu vanthchu…it sleeps most of the day or runs to kill the prey
Scene 3
Sivaji Ganesan addressing his boy returning from the school as, vaada en singa kutti !!
While sivaji is like a yaanai (elephant), he still calls his son as singa kutti, enna kodumai da ithu
Scene 4
Vadivelu (kaipullai) gets beaten by Riaz Khan
He tells his aides… dey, singatha asinga padithitaanga da !!
Scene 5
Election Campaign - Political Stage
Namma thanga thalaivan, thanmanach chingam munusamy annanukku Ungal ponnana vaakukalai aliyungal
Scene 6
A village minor (ponnambalam) rapes a cop’s sister, for some old revenge. Ponnambalam’s father feels proud about his son for this ‘raping’ and tells his wife Enn payyan aambalai singam dee !! His son has done a kevalmana kaariyam, but dad calls him a singam…. Thaangala da saaami…
For example aambalai puli …a tiger is more intelligent and stronger than a lion…may bcoz’ the word ‘puli’ sounds like ‘ali’. In Virumaandi movie, Kamal says, "sandiyara kattikitta puli kutti porakum"; Annalakshmi replies back "enaku puli kutti ellam vendaa chaami, pull kutti pothum" Smart isn’t it?
Posted By:
Sandiyar
at
8/31/2006 05:11:00 PM
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August 30, 2006
Tanglish Part-1: Aaapu / Baadu
I could see the beautiful Kalyani miss teaching us A for Apple, B for Ball.
I try to think hard and recollect all the words taught against each alphabet.
Alas !! I could not recollect 50% of the words also. So inspired by Reema Sen, in the Dhool movie, I decided to make my own stuff to complete the list. In one of the sequences, she teaches Vikram English, which will be cut off by Vivek and Mayilsamy as they think, it might lead to L for Love, K for Kiss and S for Sex. Btw, excuse me for some inappropriate content creeping in here and there
A
I have some questions here :
1. Why do people refer the cheeks of young women, you can’t eat them anyway ;-)
2. Why was apple chosen as the forbidden fruit, when there are so many tasty fruits around? Adam only knows !!
3. An apple a day, keeps doctor away. Then why there are so many sick people in Ooty from where we get all the apples from?
‘Aaapu” . This is vary famous in Madurai Tamil slang
e.g 1 - Machi aappu vachitaanga da…..intha semester um lab oothikuchu
Aappu – literally means a sharp metallic tool used to break big logs wood, by striking on them, with a sledge hammer. Its somewhat similar to a chisel, as i dont know the exact english term for 'aapu'. When somebody provides you with an “aappu”, he hands out a blow or breaks your reputation, with minor damages to the morality
B
Ball - Baadu
I would like to recollect one reading here;
When you grow up the corporate ladder, your balls becomes smaller….no puns here....!!
Then when you become a manager, you start playing Snooker
Then when you become a Vice President, you start playing Golf
Now, do you agree with me, the balls (of the game) become smaller when u grow up the ladder
One striking advertisement came during the FIFA World Cup 2006.
31 Days - 32 Teams – 64 Matches - 147 Goals - 352 Players – 1 Ball - 1 Game
Imagine what you can do with 2 balls
Can you guess the company, it is none other than Durex !!
Baadu
Usually this term is used in conjunction with other derogaratory and unparlimentary terms of chennai tamil. So, i cannot really give examples of the usage here !!
C
Cat - Chinduu
Cats are real naughty lovable pets, cho chuweet variety. I like the way they improvise into our kitchens and turn the milk bowls upside down very much to the displeasure of our moms. Tell me one kid, who didn’t like the Tom character in Tom & Jerry.I remember one lyric from the famous Gemini movie O-podu Song “Meen Thodaatha Poonaya”. Can somebody explain the relations between Meen/Karuvadu and Cats? The cats eat everything on earth, meen kadaicha yen thinggathu ??
Chinduu@yahoo.com
Ipdu oru email id create pannaum innu olgathulaye oru aalukku thaan thonum
The proud owner of this email address is none other than my dear friend Gokul
If you want creative ideas about creating email ids, he will be happy to assist you in the above email id Saambaar@yahoo.com ; Vatha_kuzhambhu@gmail.com
Chindu mudithal – process that you create a small hassle between 2 friends by playing a double game. This should be not related to big conspiracy or similar things
D
Dog - Dhoda
I admire the K-9 corps of the CIA and love the special website dedicated to the four-legged friends of police. Want to be a ‘top-dog’, hear straight from the dog’s mouth. These smart dogs do one heck of a job.Seen the K9 movie starring the German Shepherd (Jerry) and James Belushi. Jerry deserves an Oscar, for his performance in the movie...
‘dhoda’ - word used to point something or address someone can be used as a derogatory term
It doesn’t carry any specific meaning, but used invariably by college students and Galeej parties
Posted By:
Sandiyar
at
8/30/2006 10:08:00 PM
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Lallu teaches management @ IIM-A !!
- His secret lies in the fact that he did not convert the ministry into a Bihar Bhawan but left the crucial decision to his bureaucrats. Looks like he has taken a leaf from some management book "For a CEO, it doesn't matter what he does, but what matters more is what he gets done through his executives"
- He is achieving his targets not by increasing fares or downsizing, but by increasing traffic (cow milking example)
- The introduction of mud tumblers for beverages
- Selling of Fresh Fruits/Vegetables by railways in stations, is very profitable move
- He made the railway ministry more visible, than the earlier ministers
- The IRCTC (Online booking / catering) is a super hit idea and its still stands the indian website most with the most revenues. Hail technology !!
Posted By:
Sandiyar
at
8/30/2006 07:17:00 PM
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August 29, 2006
The “Real” Chennai Food Guide – Part I
I spent almost 3 years in our Chennai, where I landed in my first job.
Those days were so much fun, not much to do at work owing to the Fresher status, and we got a really big nice city to roam around.
I was staying with 3-4 north Indian friends in a rented flat in Adyar. We had appointed a cook, who prepares roti some sabji, daal and rice. The menu is almost the same daily – just the daal and the sabji will change. If you have noticed, there is a stark difference between the tamilnadu chappathi and north Indian roti. The former has lot of oil and difficult to consume after few hours of preparation. Anyway that is not the matter of discussion now.
Statutory Warning: This is only for those adventurous people and who have a strong stomach and really strong immune system. Please stay away, if you are so called sophisticated and used to dine with fork n knife. Also, if you choose venture out the places mentioned, you should not worry about the service levels in these places. The prices vary from very cheap (5-10), cheap (20-40) to moderate (100-150) and most of them are easy on your pocket. The signature dishes in each of the eater is given along the title
Alsa Mall, Egmore – Bread Omlette
Just stick to the plain vanilla item – Bread Omelet, with tangy green mint chutney. The cheese, grilled and the vegetable sandwiches are not up to the mark. There is similar one stand-up sandwich stall available near the SQL Star Training Center on Nungambakkam High Road, but it can’t match the taste of the egmore cousin.
Pattani – Samosa, Opp: Satyam Theater
There are quite a few shops which serve samosa, with hot pattani kuruma, but this one is right in front of the main gate of the satyam complex. Note that the pattani is not Chenna(chick peas), but green dry Peas. Two hot samosas are smashed and hot pattani with gravy is poured over tem and handed out to you in a small plate. Ask the guy to add extra onion to your plate. After I became a regular customer with my friend Dileep, we get a plate of fresh sliced tomatoes as compliment :-) .
Sree Bhavan, Thiruvanmiyur – Onion Rava Dosai
LB Road, near the Telephone Exchange, right on the signal to bezant nagar
This hotel is always crowded in weekdays, due to bachelors and family crowd and closes its kitchen around 9-9.15 pm in the night. The onion-rava dosai and onion othappam are very good here. Ask for an additional cup of sambar, when ordering the dosa itself (of course, at no extra charge). If you want eat here, u have be to present by 8 pm , after which u will get liquefied chutney and watery sambar, and one of the 3 colored chutneys will be missing.
Sapthagiri Hotel, T Nagar Natesan Street – Parotta Salna
After a 2nd show in Devi Theater or Satyam Theater, you will be damn hungry to eat what ever u gets hands on!! As a ground rule, you would have skipped dinner so that you scramble to get tickets for the movie.
Midnight Express, Alwarpet - Muttai Appam
This is good for take away, when u return from office so late. The dosa varieties and muttai-appam are good here. Living up to its name, the hotel is open till 12.30 past the mid night, but after 11.30, you might not get all the items on the menu.
Woodlands Drive-Inn, Cathedral Road – Masal Dosai
The menu is very limited and the pick among them is Masal Dosai. The ideal time to visit Woodlands is 5-6 pm in the evening. For folks, who don’t drive-in, you got to resort to self service.
Rathna Café, Triplicane – Idli Sambaar
I consider idly as one of my foremost enemies in south Indian cuisine. But served in proper form, I can much quite a few of this. Rathna Café serves idly soaked in a bowl full of steaming sambar. You need to consume it piping hot, damn tasty man!!
Hotel Ponnusamy – Unlimited Meals, Rabbit Masala, Kaadai Roast
This hotel is best visited of lunch on a weekend, Order an unlimited non-veg meals (you get chicken, mutton and fish gravies) and feast your taste buds with a Kaadai Roast or Rabbit Masala or Crab Meat. The chettinaad chicken masala goes will with steamed rice. I usually prefer the crab dish with shells, though the shell less version is also available, for the less adventurous. Never try any of the veg, Chinese or tandoori dishes here. Also I warn pure veggie people not to enter the hotel as you will feel out of place. There are quite a few branches of this chain, though my favorites are the Besant Nagar and Egmore branches
Hunter’s Choice, Perungudi Road - Masala Stuffed Egg
This hotel is midway on the road connecting Old Mahabalipuram Road and Velachery. They have one heck of a dish called Masala Egg, in which they stuff some kind of spicy Masala with friend onions inside a boiled egg. I forgot the name of other Burma dishes, most of them are lip-smacking stuff. This small hotel opens only in the night. If you are lucky enough to find this hotel, don’t forget to try out the noodle like stuff with spicy sauce.
Hotel Runs, Adyar – Special Mutton Briyani
This is a typical mallu style (porcelain plates – glass tumblers) non-veg hotel. ‘Runs’ is located right in front of the Adyar Bus Stand, next to the petrol pump. The egg and mutton briyani dishes are vary good (don’t try the fish or prawn). The special briyani comes with some cashew and decorated with egg slices. Butter chicken is juz too good and the egg masala also a perenniel favorite with this hotel. Make sure you get the Egg Masala and not the Egg Curry – both are different dishes. Never try any of the vegetarian dishes in this hotel, they are really pathetic. This hotel is open till 11 pm, making it very convenient for bachelors.
Plantain Leaf, Thiruvanmiyur – Andhra Meals, Fish Fry
This is a usual Andhra meals hotel. The meals is average but the soups are good and the vanjiram fish fry is better than many places in Chennai. So take a parcel of the fish fry and enjoy with curd rice in the comfort to the home.
Located in Vannanthurai, Besant Nagar
Kalpaga Mess, RK Salai – Kerala Beef Fry
This small dingy Kerala mess is located next to the Music Academy. You get the Kerala meals with big grain red colored rice. The service is pathetic but the Beef Fry done with pepper and coconut slices is just too good to resist.
Shakes n Creams, Adyar– Fig n Honey
You will find crazy pizzas like Panner Butter masala pizza, chicken tikka pizza – but they are very tasty and good value for money. The chicken lollipop is also a good starter but all the main course are passable.
This is a popular hang out for the Anna University and IIT crowed, so don’t dare to get a table in the weekend. I don’t suggest this place for eating, but for its mouth watering ice-creams, with Fig n Honey being my all time favorite. Don’t forget to order the extra portion of cashew and honey, to complement your ice-cream.
Fruit Shop in Greams Road, Besant Nagar – Sheik Shake
The Sheikh Shake, is essentially a dates milk-shake is the pick, though their entire menu is invariably good. Also note that this is a “chic” juice shop and the price factor is 30-40 bucks for a milk shake or fresh juice. Ideal time to visit the shop is after 11 pm in the night, once you finish you sightings in the Besant nagar beach
Posted By:
Sandiyar
at
8/29/2006 10:14:00 PM
1 Comments
Reliance Mafia !!
One thing what struck me about the news is the poaching of business leaders from various industry practices, to run the reliance business. This is the so called "A" team of Mukesh Ambani
Front End Operations: Raghu Pillai from RPG (Food World, Music world etc)
Consumer Electronics: Rajeev Karval, ex-LG, Onida man -the marketing wizard
Food & Grocery : Gunender Kapur, HLL/Unilever man
Lifestyle: Bijou Kurien, who was behind the success of Titan
The list is indeed long and has lots of big names
Do you think such a practice is ethical, for a enterprise like Reliance?
There were rumors about "threat calls" to journalists and editors of who write "bad" about reliance.
Is their corporate governance is transparent enough?
The stock holding pattern is so complex, no body can understand. Of course this is legitimate one.
The biggest PR spends in India is by Reliance (Courtesy: Vaidhy). But I haven’t seen any ads of reliance in news papers or television. Finally came to know that the journalists of leading news papers are “paid” to be the goodwill ambassadors of Reliance
In one of the rare interviews of Mukesh Ambani with NDTV, he was asked about law infringement. His reply was As far as we stay within the law, FULL STOP. He doesn't want to reply to the so called threat calls, other rumors and denied he doesn't know such stuff happening around him.
The news article says, Reliance is making offers nobody can refuse. This reminds me of the Godfather movie, in which Don Corleone makes an offer to the movie produce which he cant refuse !!! Are they playing the "mafia" of Indian corporate business scene? I don’t have the answers. Are there any b-school case studies available regarding this??
After the death of the great Dhirubhai, there was a rift between the 2 brothers over the battle for control. Out of the pages of articles i read and the numerous programs i watched over TV, one humourous comment still lingers in my thoughts.
"One un-educated poor man from Gujarat, successfully built a multi-billion dollar empire.
Two educated smart men from Stanford are busy breaking it up"
How true!! Hope i don’t get any threat calls from Reliance for this blog :-)
Ciao
Posted By:
Sandiyar
at
8/29/2006 02:49:00 PM
2
Comments
August 28, 2006
CNN Vs.BBC
We people in India, hardly turn to these international news channels unless there is a September 11 or an Israeli attack or a high profile event like Milosevic death or Saddam capture occurs.
For one of my onsite projects, I had to live in a hotel room in Cairo, Egypt for about 4-5 months continuously. Thanks to genrerosity of my employer, it was a top notch 5* hotel. So there was a plethora of paid satellite channels; without which it would have been terribly boring to stay like that for a long period. Here in Egypt, most of the news channels are in Arabic and the English language press also plays second fiddle to the regional language. The local people want passionate reporting of any issue and they can only feel the passion only if they read in their local language. I have hardly seen 1-2 news papers in english for a country of 70 million.
So I had to “live” with the 2 channels BBC and CNN for my news updates. You know news on the internet is not interesting as always. Of course, Euro News was up there, but their presentation is very monotonous and boring in-fact. Nevertheless it was not an international channel.
My personal favorite is CNN. They are simply explosive in their style and their journalists are thier assets. I love the way they present their shows and some of the hosts are so pretty that you can watch them, even with the television volume muted. Yes….I was talking about Monita Rajpal, she is terrific :-). I was never interested in watching Lifestyle programs, but started watching ‘Art of Life’ for this beauty with brains.
Usually we skip the channels when they start showing temperature and rainfall related stuff, but Jenny Harrison makes it interesting. I don’t know how the hell she has so much “enthu”, in presenting weather data, whch she does so nicely.
“Quest” is one of my favorite programs…the langy Richard with his thick British accent makes it super dooper stuff. I have to say, the special report programs are are really good. Seen this "In the Footsteps of Osama Bin Laden" ..by Christian Amanpour...what a research man !! amazing stuff... hats off...only CNN can produce such stuff.
Coming to BBC World, their jingles, graphics and presentation is all boring. The dull orange and black makes puts me to sleep, even if the news is really breaking stuff. Some programs on BBC are real good, Hard Talk with Stephen Sackur, The Doha Debate and Click Online. The websites given in the Click program are real good ones.
In BBC, have you watched the Earth TV, in which they show the live feed from all important cities of the globe with current time and temperature, I love to see the bird’s eye view of Sydney in that.
On a contrary I like the BBC website very much, and not impressive about CNN Website. The former's website is pretty much organized and easy to browse.
When the Americans in Florida took to the streets and celebrate the ill-health of Cuban leader Castro, the reporting is toned down. When the lebanese public celebrate the death of israeli civilians, they are picturized as barbarians...... CNN publishes the critic letters in one of their programs, but dont expect any responses to the critics.. its all "stone in the well" policy.
If CNN sheds is double standards and stop pleasing their US masters, they are the number one.
Posted By:
Sandiyar
at
8/28/2006 08:43:00 PM
1 Comments
August 27, 2006
Kaloori Naatkal
ok let me not deviate...for the most unforgettable moment.. ..phat !! comes the responses ...few samples for you;
The moment I got my job in campus interview..... (fair enough !!)
When I came first in school in +2 ( dey andipatti la nee first vantha, enna last vantha enna...)
When I got lost without money, in the all India tour in the college..... ( this is a good one....)
When my sister got married …( some kinda family sick comrade I think )
I thought for a while....and could not come up with a single specific event/day that is unforgettable. I told the audience that my 4-years of college life are unforgettable in my life, and followed by a big roar in the crowd. In fact it’s true with most of us and you would agree on this with me.
The sad part in this is, I was unfortunate to finish my engineering in the stipulated 4 years...there are much more fortunate souls, who enjoyed full 6 years with all the privileges of a college student.
So when somebody utters the word college, what comes to your mind ??
lem'me list down my personal favorites ...the list is exhaustive and its really difficult to bring down it to top 15 ... fyi...i graduated from a not-so-typical self-financing college from south tamilnadu
1. Class Room
We meet friends five or six days a week, if we are not sleeping and not bunking the class..
2. Canteen / Mess
we meet friends, fight with masters for larger piece of chicken, omlette eating competitions
3 times a day, almost every day for 4 full years
3. Hostel Room
How can we forget the dingy "dorms" of first year or our own private world "single-cell" of the final year ..when power goes off...its total fun....
4. Study Holidays
In which we did everything except studying ...hours of untiring Xonix, Need for Speed, Road Rash ....Matter movies... Vannathirai magazine...
5. Educational tours
Dont get dis-oriented by the name.. The tours have nothing to do with education - comes once in an year, mostly accompanied by psychic staff..but we can't afford to miss it ..its great fun...
6.Girls
Mostly stero-typed (either sydney shledon peter or rettai jadai stuff), but obvioulsy a strange commodity to handle with their strange sentiments...and resultant ...happy kadalai boys – poor lover boys
7. Lecturers
8. Examssssss ...
Terrifying isn't it..remember the papers of circuit theory, advanced control systems, transmission & distribution ...machine design for mechies.... danger "antenna" for ece folks.. fluid mechanics for civilians....each one had theri own share of nigh marish subjects.
9. Schedule Test
This is total fun...It really helped us to find out innovative methods of "bit" ing..copying
10. Assignment
11.OD (On-Duty)
....Aahaa...this is real creative stuff..... to bunk the classes.....we got ISTE, IEEE, Photography Club, Asso, Sports, Fine Arts(Front Stage, Back Stage), Paper Presentation, Project, Tour Arrangement etc etc... and guys keep inventing more legitimate stuff to bypass the attendance register....
12.Cultural Fests/ College Day
13. Apology Letter
ithu oru "kenathnamaana" concept....ulgathulaye enga college la mattume thaan ithu irukum innu ninaikaren..... we have to write a letter of apology for everything from shouting in the study hour, bunking the class and staying in hostel without permission, mid-night birthday celeberations etc....The funniest part is most of these so called apology letters end up in the trash can of the sub-wardens' room
14 . Autograph Book
would not even have spent that much amount in getting sheets for his college
lecture notes.
15. Chemistry Lab
last but not the least ...i have to mention this chemistry lab....some of my friends still have nightmares about the chemistry lab... ...the tough-to-crack ubiquitious engg. chemistry professors will literally harras you and make you feel, that you are the sickest and most dumb among all. They will ask for your chemistry scores in Plus 2 exam and if you had scored more than 195, more likey the harrasment will be doubled.
Posted By:
Sandiyar
at
8/27/2006 04:48:00 PM
1 Comments
August 24, 2006
Enaku ithu thaan first time..!!
i know what comes to your mind, on reading the blog title ( i know you filthy minds :-)
"saami" sathiyama no pun intended in the title...this is the first time i am writing a blog, consciously ...athaanal thaan intha peyar kaaranam..
ennoda nanban fred'in ooku-vippu ( athu thaanga encouragement) ithuku mukiiya karanam
dey freddu.....santosama ippo ??
cavery thanni... tamira barani thanni....koovam thaani ellam kudihcittu ( apdi kevlama paakatheenga) ippo Nile thanni kudichittu irukenellam ...
usual aa ella software company la yum onsite inna US, UK innu anupuvaanga.
aana enaku 'special' treatment . poda middle east ikku apdinnu sonnaru boss ...enga innu paathu ada Egypt.
Egypt is geographically located in Africa, but it's religion, language, culture ellame middle east thaan.
now its time for Flash back, kitta thatta oru varusham irukum, ( ithu tamil cinema ila...25 varuasham pinnadi poga)
When i landed in Cairo, the first thing my eyes were looking for, is obviously the great Nile."Blue nile" innu bookilayum website layum padichittu inga vanthu paatha, pachai colora iruku...
adango... nammala emaathi puttanga doii..innu thonichu.... udane paandiyarajan..sv sekar nadicha "kadha nayagan" padam thaan nyabagam vanthuchu; kalla thoni eri..dubai porennu solitu..kochin povaangale….
Infact some parts of the river are more blackish like the back waters of kerala.anyway Nile is beautiful and whole country of 70 million survives just b’coz of this 4 letter wonder river running more than 2000 km. Nile starts it journey in Lake Victoria somewhere deep in Sudan and ends it tireless journey into the Mediterranean Sea. Geography lesson pothum innu ninaikaren;
"mathiya tharai kadal” athu thaanga…mediterranean sea mattrum inga ulla makkal pathi elutha oru blog pothaathu.
ippothaiku ithoda niruthikaren, meendum santhipom
COPPER SULPHATE
Posted By:
Sandiyar
at
8/24/2006 09:46:00 PM
1 Comments


