Its been quite sometime since my last post.......I've been misplaced!! i.e back to the state of kuwait after a three month long break........
Now as i'm back to the country of oil,dates and money (KD power!!), i'll be more active........
Monday, July 14, 2008
Monday, May 19, 2008
Starbucked
I've finished reading "Starbucked - A Double Tall Tale of Caffeine, Commerce, and Culture" by Taylor Clark. Its quite different in style and found it very interesting for the fact that its an outsiders view on the largest cafestore in the world.
The book is also a hit considering the fact that this is the first attempt by Taylor Clark at writing a book.The book is divided into two parts. Part one: The rise of the mermaid talks about the history of Cafehouses in general and Starbucks in particular. In this part the writer takes us through the evolution of the modern day starbucks. The writer seems very generous with his appreciation of the men behind the modern day starbucks (i.e the H20).
Part two: Getting steamed (Which i found more interesting) actually looks into the histroy of coffee breweing, history of baristas, coffee chains world over and also takes a look at the controversies which the chain had to fase in its years of existense. The author has been very efficient in the fact that he has been able to state the facts in a clear and concise manner without taking sides.The book is a good read if you have been in a starbucks store earlier and is fascinated by the business. This book surely gives you a comprehensive look at the coffe chain's business model and also enlightens the reader on the coffee breweing process.
After reading the book, i feel quite knowledgable about the drink i've been having everyday from my childhood. The result, I have started checking out labels on the coffee packs to see what coffee it is, the composition etc. I've discovered today that "Davidoff" coffee is 100% Arabica (which is the superior variant) whereas the indian make ones have atleast 30% chicory (which is scrap) and are silent about the coffee variant (Intentionally??). So I know for sure that the next time i have a coffee, I'll be enjoying it far more than ever before. Happy drinking!
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
What's worth watching on TV ?
Over the last two months, I've been glued well to the television sets and theres some pretty intresting programmes on offer in regional channels as compared to the national media.
The big hit programme on Malayalam channels has undoubtedly been the "Idea Star Singer 2007" which had a grand finale recently and the winner (Whom lot of people felt was undeserving) was announced with great fanfare. The second edition of the serial for 2008 has started with a new host and new set of judges.
Another of the programme which has catched the attention has been "Sri Guruvayoorapan" on Surya TV from 9.30pm to 10pm. Inspite of the IPL frenzy, this serial has been a mega hit with the malayalee viewers.
Ofcourse the regional news channels have been on real competitive mood offlate with direct digs at each other and coverage of sensational events (recently the santhosh madhavan issue) taking up the lion share of the air time. There has been claims and counterclaims by all news channels as to who is the No:1 among them...
The big change noticeable is that the national channels & hindi mega serials seems to have taken a back seat now as regional channels have woken up and are bringing in worthable contents and thier own medicine of reality shows. Ofcourse for the youth theres IPL (daily!) and also the MTV's to keep them at home in front of the TV set.
The big hit programme on Malayalam channels has undoubtedly been the "Idea Star Singer 2007" which had a grand finale recently and the winner (Whom lot of people felt was undeserving) was announced with great fanfare. The second edition of the serial for 2008 has started with a new host and new set of judges.
Another of the programme which has catched the attention has been "Sri Guruvayoorapan" on Surya TV from 9.30pm to 10pm. Inspite of the IPL frenzy, this serial has been a mega hit with the malayalee viewers.
Ofcourse the regional news channels have been on real competitive mood offlate with direct digs at each other and coverage of sensational events (recently the santhosh madhavan issue) taking up the lion share of the air time. There has been claims and counterclaims by all news channels as to who is the No:1 among them...
The big change noticeable is that the national channels & hindi mega serials seems to have taken a back seat now as regional channels have woken up and are bringing in worthable contents and thier own medicine of reality shows. Ofcourse for the youth theres IPL (daily!) and also the MTV's to keep them at home in front of the TV set.
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Bangalore Challenged!
Its halfway through the IPL and there's lot of surprises.....the biggest being the fate of "Bangalore Royal Challengers" the big ticket team of Vijay Mallya's UB Group (Franchise fee of $ 111.6 million).
As they find themselves at the bottom of the points table Mallya is not a happy man....Sacking of CEO Charu sharma comes as no surprise following the dismal performance of the team which has been duped by the media as "Test XI" (Thanks to the kind of players who have been bought in at the auction).
Its no hidden fact that the lead in selecting the team was Rahul Dravid (The Captain who was bought at $ 1,035,000) and its only fair that he takes the blame for the poor showing of the team. One look at the team and you know this is not a T20 squad. How could you justify the inclusion of players like Sunil joshi (38 years), Anil Kumble (38 years) , Rahul Sharad Dravid (35 years), Shivnarine Chanderpaul (34 years), Misbah-ul-Haq (34 years)), Jacques Henry Kallis (33 years), Mark Verdon Boucher (32 years), Wasim Jaffer (31 years) and an ageing (reaching 30!) Zaheer Khan.The matches so far have proved all the critics right. Sunil joshi and Anil kumble have been total failures with poor performance clubbed with injury scares. Kallis has been such a failure with the bat and Misbah has not been given a proper run in the tournament yet. The only saving grace is mark boucher who has shown good fighting spirit with the bat. Ravid is the higgest run scorer for the team but he is No: 15 in the list of run getters in IPL which explains the last place which his team is holding too.
As time is running out for Dravid and his men...its only fair to expect that the youngsters in the team like kohli, kumars, patil and others will have to play a far bigger role in the forthcoming matches for the bangalore team to move out of thier place in the team table...For the supporters of the team, its time to forget about thier local team's performance and sit back and enjoy the Delhi, chennai, Punjab & kolkata team fight it out against the rajasthan royals (The black horse of the tournamaent). As for dravid, it looks like his retirement from international cricket could well be round the corner!
Saturday, May 3, 2008
Land of Festivals
Its a matter of being at the right place at the right time...and there's no better time like APRIL to be in KERALA if you love festivals (As I found out this time around).
I came to Kochi this April thinking it was goining to be another of those short sweet visits (3 days, a week,10 days which has been the case for the last 3 years). Thanks to my new employer its been now over a month and must admit has been one of the best time in my life....
First week into my vacation and I get a call from my friends and I'm more than anxious to see the NENMARA-VALENGHI vela (As I have heard about it in the past)....So mid day into 2nd of April four of us are in the car for our first experience of the vela (barrig TJ whose been there before).
The drive to nenmara is a pleasant one with lots to discuss with friends around meeting one of my schollmate on route at aluva. As we reach near to nenmara we could sense the excitment in the air....the whole village is up and ready for the annual festival.
We park our car some 4 Kms (that's according to TJ, we felt it was far more!) from the paddy fields where the actual festival takes place. The walk is some what tiring (especially if you are lazy! and don't exercise ;-)).
First view of the place, the hills, the greenery and youre absolutely stunned! So beautiful...Its surely "GODS OWN COUNTRY"
The localites tell us there is possibilities of it raining and so the fireworks would start early... Thank god we are in time and it starts.....What a display!! Its firepower that would put armies to shame....thundering skies thats wat it is.....and then "RAINS". (Run for cover)
An hour later, and a few soaked people it stops raining and what, the elephants have all been rested after a hard days work...but the festivities continues....we have our round across the decorations of both the villagers and then climb down to where we parked our car to wait till morning for the BIG!BIG fireworks.......
Come 3 AM, off we are back climbing to see the fireworks...Its one climb tats worth all of what it takes.....The fireworks were absolutely stunning...it puts everything else you seen to shame...the crowd goes bezerk with the fireworks (you just realise how passoinate mallus are about thier festivities). At 6 AM everything is over as the fireworks have ended and people start leaving...We climb down for the last time. this year...wowing to be back (whenever god permits).
Thrissur Pooram
Fresh from the experience at vela there wasnt a need for a second thought when it came to going for thrissur pooram - know as the "poorangalude pooram" (Pooram of poorams or the King of pooram). So come 16th, me and VR are on our way to thrissur.......
The people in thrissur are one lot of people who know how to celebrate a festival. The "ROUND" (that cirlces the famous Sri Vadakunathan temple) is decorated to near perfection, with people thronging the venue in large numbers.
As small poorams continue we go to check out the magnificient lot of elephants on display... They are a majestic lot of animal and you can never end being amazed by thier beauty. Localities tell us that this time around also the "Anachamayam" is going to be something to remember.
Last time around ( tats was way back in 2003) we had not gone inside the temple. (I believed that i have never been inside vadakunathan temple before till my mother corrected me later...she tells me i've been there before when i was way too young.). So this time around we dont want to miss out on wats happening inside the temple and we got a glimpse of one of the small poorams happening inside the temple.
As we try to come out, its all ready for the main pooram where the rivals (Thiruambady & Paramekavvu) display thier might!! We catch ourself a good enough spot bang in the middle of the ground where we can see both the contingents...
And sure we did see a awesome display of beauty......the "Kudemattom" as always been the focal point this year... There were lot of innovations in the nature of Kuda (umberlla) but it still retained the traditional touch....the crowd (which was a record this year - as per next days papers) was shoutingh thier support and it is one thing that makes it a truely memorable event.
As night falls the town is a view to behold. Decorative lights marks the Cultural capital of kerala. We spend our night watching two (yes u read it right) movies back to back. How can you be at the poorams and miss the famous firework display......
At sharp 4AM we witnessed the famous firework display which marked the end to the festivities. On our way back tired as we are we decide between ourselves...not to miss this one festival..
I came to Kochi this April thinking it was goining to be another of those short sweet visits (3 days, a week,10 days which has been the case for the last 3 years). Thanks to my new employer its been now over a month and must admit has been one of the best time in my life....
First week into my vacation and I get a call from my friends and I'm more than anxious to see the NENMARA-VALENGHI vela (As I have heard about it in the past)....So mid day into 2nd of April four of us are in the car for our first experience of the vela (barrig TJ whose been there before).
The drive to nenmara is a pleasant one with lots to discuss with friends around meeting one of my schollmate on route at aluva. As we reach near to nenmara we could sense the excitment in the air....the whole village is up and ready for the annual festival.
We park our car some 4 Kms (that's according to TJ, we felt it was far more!) from the paddy fields where the actual festival takes place. The walk is some what tiring (especially if you are lazy! and don't exercise ;-)).
First view of the place, the hills, the greenery and youre absolutely stunned! So beautiful...Its surely "GODS OWN COUNTRY"
The localites tell us there is possibilities of it raining and so the fireworks would start early... Thank god we are in time and it starts.....What a display!! Its firepower that would put armies to shame....thundering skies thats wat it is.....and then "RAINS". (Run for cover)
An hour later, and a few soaked people it stops raining and what, the elephants have all been rested after a hard days work...but the festivities continues....we have our round across the decorations of both the villagers and then climb down to where we parked our car to wait till morning for the BIG!BIG fireworks.......
Come 3 AM, off we are back climbing to see the fireworks...Its one climb tats worth all of what it takes.....The fireworks were absolutely stunning...it puts everything else you seen to shame...the crowd goes bezerk with the fireworks (you just realise how passoinate mallus are about thier festivities). At 6 AM everything is over as the fireworks have ended and people start leaving...We climb down for the last time. this year...wowing to be back (whenever god permits).Thrissur Pooram
Fresh from the experience at vela there wasnt a need for a second thought when it came to going for thrissur pooram - know as the "poorangalude pooram" (Pooram of poorams or the King of pooram). So come 16th, me and VR are on our way to thrissur.......
The people in thrissur are one lot of people who know how to celebrate a festival. The "ROUND" (that cirlces the famous Sri Vadakunathan temple) is decorated to near perfection, with people thronging the venue in large numbers.
As small poorams continue we go to check out the magnificient lot of elephants on display... They are a majestic lot of animal and you can never end being amazed by thier beauty. Localities tell us that this time around also the "Anachamayam" is going to be something to remember.
Last time around ( tats was way back in 2003) we had not gone inside the temple. (I believed that i have never been inside vadakunathan temple before till my mother corrected me later...she tells me i've been there before when i was way too young.). So this time around we dont want to miss out on wats happening inside the temple and we got a glimpse of one of the small poorams happening inside the temple.
As we try to come out, its all ready for the main pooram where the rivals (Thiruambady & Paramekavvu) display thier might!! We catch ourself a good enough spot bang in the middle of the ground where we can see both the contingents...
And sure we did see a awesome display of beauty......the "Kudemattom" as always been the focal point this year... There were lot of innovations in the nature of Kuda (umberlla) but it still retained the traditional touch....the crowd (which was a record this year - as per next days papers) was shoutingh thier support and it is one thing that makes it a truely memorable event.
As night falls the town is a view to behold. Decorative lights marks the Cultural capital of kerala. We spend our night watching two (yes u read it right) movies back to back. How can you be at the poorams and miss the famous firework display......
At sharp 4AM we witnessed the famous firework display which marked the end to the festivities. On our way back tired as we are we decide between ourselves...not to miss this one festival..
At the Movies
Today was another normal day....ofcourse till evening. Did a bit fof shopping, temple and was back home and was ready for the IPL match (Punjabi's Vs Bengalis). Then came my partner in crime, venki.....He had a score (rather bill) to settle with Subway....Innocent me went out with him to subway which
ended up in a bag full of "COOKIES"....Then came his Question(I've grown so used to this Q) "Wats next?"....on his bike thru MG Road and u see the big poster.....its "KURUVI" the Ilayathalapathy Vijay and Trisha starrer!!!!!Gone are the days when you had to think twice!!! Off the bike and we go....Crowd..long Ques for ticket.....NEVER an issue for Venki (I must admit he has a special talent when it comes to getting movie tickets for a crowded show)...So we get in early enough to choose our favourite seats...rite at the back row!!!
As for the story.......Its a son's story of revenge! that even takes the star to Malaysia! to get his fathers loan
repayed.... And do you know...people who are send to southeast country with valuables are called "KURUVI" So much so for GK!!After lot of comedy, music and action its the INTERVAL (You just didnt realise that an hour or so has passed!)......and what more in the front row are a bunch of friends whom i had seen at temple that evening......never knew they were plotting to come for the movies tonite! (Had heard them at the temple talking abt going somewhere that nite )...Well they were all big fans of Ilayathalapathy as we were too........
The second half was more Action (obviously...you need to end a movie within two and half hours).....but to ease the tension there were Songs (A lot of them) mixed in!!!......About the movie??? Wat to say....very entertaining....Hmmm...I Know....sounds so very familiar...Lots of Music, romance, comedy and overdose of action.....Well then wat else do you expect from movies? (Especially a Vijay starrer).....Well I for one watch a movie just for the fun of it.....so dont care if there is not much of a storyline..he... (There were some voice of disapproval among the audiences...but then which movie doesnt).....So we come out of the theatre with relaxed mind....Sure to watch the next VIJAY starrer
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