Switch Off........

It’s 2050. The streets of New Delhi are dull and lifeless. As you walk down the road, you can barely see 10 metres ahead. On the busier streets people are scurrying about their daily life. But fashion has changed. The days of bright colours, short skirts, low hip jeans or branded suits are long gone. Today’s attire transcends age or gender. It’s known as the Hazmat suit. Sounds like a high priced brand from Fashion Street? Sadly, you are wrong. This suit shall be the only barrier between life and death; your protection from the various toxic substances present in the atmosphere. This is just a fictional image, but an image that could come true. Think of it, do you want your kids to live a life where they wear gas masks to school or work everyday??

The countdown has begun. The industrial revolution changed the face of production. The environmental revolution shall soon change the way the whole world lives. Statistics Show that the last 100 years have affected planet earth the most. Whatever mankind has done to enhance life have been having detrimental effects on the health of Mother Nature. The predicament that most scientists envisage will pretty much become true unless we take some action. Environmental organizations have been campaigning for more eco friendly policies and practices, but it’s only in recent times that government agencies have actually started listening to all that. But bureaucracy being bureaucracy, it’ll become a millennium by the time our heads of states get down to taking any proper action.

So now the onus falls on us citizens to put in whatever effort we can, to make up for whatever we have lost. Talking about drastic change, there isn’t any need to switch to the Stone Age and use bullock carts for transport and pigeons instead of SMS, but we can make simple changes to our daily activities which may not drastically change everything, but will obviously make a greater impact when collectively done by everyone. Here are some tips given by the greenies:

> It’s time to say good bye to Mr. Edison and his illuminating invention. Incandescent bulbs are out and Compact Fluorescent Lamps are what we need. Consuming up to 70 percent less energy and giving out more light, these bulbs are the solution to our spiralling electricity bills.

> Walk to places located nearby instead of taking your vehicle out each time. You can burn a few calories in the process while taking in the sights and scenery of your neighbourhood as well.

> Use less running water. By collecting the water required to be used, in a mug or a bucket, up to 30 percent of water can be saved in comparison to washing under a tap.

> Carry cloth bags to the market instead of getting plastic bags at each store. Wearing cargo pants if you are going to buy small objects would be a good idea too…J

The above activities are just a sample of the kind of things we could do. They just require each person to make a very small adjustment to their daily life which would go a long way in helping conservation. Reduce, Reuse and Recycle has been the mantra in many developed countries and it is high time we took it seriously here as well. Reducing unnecessary use of plastics will help in minimising landfill requirements. Recycle materials like metals, glass and paper. Reuse objects that may have finished their initial objective but can in some form or the other be used for some other purpose.

Another issue to be addressed is air pollution. Toxic gases in the atmosphere cause greenhouse warming and other ill effects like acid rain. I needn’t explain in detail about these phenomena as we have had ‘exhaustive’ study on them through subjects like environmental science. We should minimise burning and switch to alternative sources of clean energy like solar or wind power.

Automobiles are a major source of toxic gases in the atmosphere, yet I shall not advocate using the public transport system like most people do as I personally feel that our private vehicles are much more environment-friendly that those diesel powered smoke belching sheet metal contraptions that run on our roads right now. Use public transport only when bus drivers stop practicing Formula One cornering manoeuvres and lap timing records on public roads. Till that day comes though, instead we should attempt to get the best out of your vehicle. I do realize that I shall be considered an outcast by my petrol head fraternity for advocating efficiency rather than performance. Yet given the situation today, efficiency has to be given priority. Else one day we shall soon be walking the seven continents like our gods of yore. At least they had extra powers to help them….

An alternate solution would be carpooling which is a very simple and effective concept. The idea is that a few people going to the same place from the same location can share a car instead of each person driving his/her own vehicle. The end result is less congestion on the roads and less expenditure on fuel costs.

What I have mentioned are just a few solutions to a few environmental concerns. There are many more that need addressing, but have been conveniently overlooked or over shadowed by our political leaders for commercial reasons. Very clearly they aren’t going to look into them in a hurry any time soon either. So let us take a step forward and make this place a better place, maybe not for today, but surely for a better tomorrow…

Don for the Masses........

Ahh it’s comparison time again!!!!! Billa versus Don. It’s a no brainer actually, Billa just doesn’t stand a chance. I am not a fan of Shah Rukh as I’ve said in my previous articles, but I have to say, I was just in awe after watching Don. The movie has a certain level of class and panache that however much Kodambakam has tried, cannot emulate. They say it’s not a copy of SRK’s Don and only a remake of Rajni’s Billa, but unfortunately they have taken this movie while looking behind their backs at SRK’s version.

To Ajith’s credit, I should say the stunts were good, cars were great and all the action was decent. I didn’t feel sleepy but was not at the edge of my seat either. Ajith may not have been as good as SRK, but he was good in his own way, but I must say, the girls just don’t stand a chance. Priyanka Chopra and Isha Koppikar were good with Priyanka making a stunning performance. Nayanthara was good, really good(I oogled her well enough hot kindJ of good) if not as good as Priyanka, but man must I say Namita just threw me off. Seeing her dance was like watching a shaved Female version of TR in a skin hugging dress dance!!!!! Totally bad choice. Movie has comedy, which I tell u is nice but sorry buddy, just doesn’t fit in a action thriller here. Ajith my dear man, just because you are doing a remake of Rajni’s film doesn’t mean you do everything he does!!!

All the locales were great and some were even stunning. Cinematography was nice. Music through the movie was great though I didn’t like any of the songs except for the theme music.

The cops and bad guys all looked dapper in their suits and coolers. The usual. It’s a ok kinda movie you can watch once. It will linger on though…

Don for the masses, class n Ajith’s local crowd mixed into one Hollywood styled tollywood movie…

Here is a list of the Vehicles featured in Billa 2007: (For the voracious car fan)

AMG Mercedes think CL55 or SLK55 or something…

Nissan Skyline R32(not sure if it’s a R32 or R33) The blue car he does Donuts with…

BMW Z3

BMW 5 Series

Jaguar S Type

Subaru Impreza Sti

Proton Saga (Teksi :) )

A car carrier truck with a perodua kancil, saga and other cars in it

A bunch of Malaysian Police cars which included

Proton Wira

Proton Waja

Proton Perdana

Toyota Hilux

An Ambulance Toyota Ace I think

Some vans

And a few other cars as well….

At the coffee house.......

It’s 4 o’ Clock. I look out the window onto the busy Manhattan streets. There is no sign of her. I signal to the Barista who nods and goes about preparing my 4^th espresso and I continue staring at my laptop. The figures on the screen refuse to register on my mind. All I can see are those memories of days long gone….

We were the hottest couple on campus; Ambitious individuals bonded together by love. We had dreams of a life together and all our careers pushed aside. Things had seemed great and settled until that day….

She seemed perturbed and cautiously avoided me the whole day. Inspite of her supposedly normal exterior, I could see that deep down she was thinking hard. I knew something was wrong. This went on for the next few days and I finally cornered her. She broke. The next few minutes of my life that day I shall never forgot or understand. I left the place torn and confused. All that rattled through my mind was her voice echoing the things she said. Life… Ambition….Love….Favours….Career….Climb…

I understood her dream of climbing high, but the fact that it had to be at the cost of our life together was something I could not accept. She said she loved me and that I knew was true, yet her chosen path was not something that I could agree to. “Let fate decide our life” she said and I conceded….

It just seems like yesterday, but 5 years have gone by now. Today I sit here awaiting the girl that I fell in love with. I know why she wanted to meet me today; To tell me the inconvenient truth that I’ve been dodging all along. Yet somewhere inside of me there is a part that hopes that yearns that she might spring a surprise. After all it was that very hope that made me drop everything and embark on this transatlantic journey.

“Hello”. I look up to find a woman, the woman who once was a girl, the girl of my dreams. “Ananya….” Is all that comes out of me… I pull myself together. “You look great, just like in college” I say. She looks at me, a knowing smile. Her eyes display love and for a second I think I see the heart of the young innocent girl that I knew. We just sit silent, unable to put forth a conversation. This was not how we dreamed it to end. She broke the ice. “Ramesh, I wanted to see you today… I need to tell you…. I love you still, but…. We both know… I’ve put myself into this, I need to carry on, I don’t want to put you through it….You’ll get better than me….

Silence was all that prevailed. I knew better than to argue. It was pointless. She was firm in her decision. Maybe it was for the better, Maybe not…

Minutes went by.

“A lot has been happening. I’m pretty tied up at work. I hope it’s the same for you in Brussels?? ”. All I could give was a blank look. Small talk obviously didn’t work. With nothing else to be said, she stood up. “I need to be going.” She came closer and embraced me. A peck on my cheek and “I will always love you” in my ears. This was her parting gift. She turned to leave and then again turned back. Our eyes connected. I saw a small tear down her cheek. Then she turned and left, lost amidst the crowd…

Eye am insect why a da???

Confused?? It’s just one of my crazy iterations of a movie title. Reads out as Kannampoochi yenada…which can also be interpreted as Hide n seek why da? :). beginning to sound like a Parle ad.. :P

I know I suddenly seem to be on a movie watching and review writing spree, but rest assured, this torture is about to end for all you folks out there. This is the last one I’ll be writing for sometime, I think. :)

Now about the movie, it has Prithiviraj and Satyaraj playing the male leads. But if you go in expecting it to be loaded with fun like Mozhi, you are bound to be disappointed. If you go in expecting to be entertained for 3 hours, rest assured the money is worth it.

This is a commercial entity in comparison to Mozhi and so you’ll get a tad more melodrama than you might have been expecting. There is more romance, more sentiment and more dumbness in the flow of the story, though I should say it’s not bad at all. It has lots of comedy which will have you laughing throughout the film pretty much till the end, but as I said, it isn’t the perfect comedy film, so it may not really tickle your senses at times with what might have been perceived as comedy by the script.

The roles aren’t impeccable or anything but yeah the artists get the job done pretty decently. Sandhya isn’t really much of a pretty gal, and she doesn’t really emote that well either in this film.

It is a movie to which you can go sit with your family and have a good laugh. A decent commercial family entertainer.

Om Shanti Om.....

Disclaimer:

I don't understand Hindi, and what I've understood about the story is from what I saw. Taking this review at face value may put yourself at considerable risk.

You may wonder what a guy who does not know a word of Hindi was doing at the theatre. Actually I do know a few words coming to think about it, but it isn’t going to make any difference obviously. So the reason as to why I watched to movie starts with D, ends with E, is 5' 9" tall and is Bloody GORGEOUS. Boy does she sizzle on screen as Shantipriya. I was just in awe at the aura that surrounded her. I could just about imagine myself in the exact same position as Shah Rukh in the film when he just switched to another planet completely at the scene of the Premier of Shanti's movie Dreamy Girl. It was for real.

She did justice to the role I believe. Next with Mr. King Khan. I haven't exactly been a fan of his, but yea he is a nice guy with a nice personality and was pretty apt in his role too. Plus he did some sexy Ab showing to let the gals drool as well :) ...

Now for the story. It ain't any great script. But the star studded cast and pretty decent acting make up for it. The little spoofs were fun to watch :) Specially the one with Akshay Kumar.. :D

I kind of nowadays understand the emotions attached with love and what Om feels for Shanti is not something new. It's something we've seen quite often on screen actually, both in Hollywood and Bollywood where a normal guy falls for a star of some sort. But yeah love, hmm it's a delicate topic and am not in the mood to dwell on it so lets move on.

The burning of Shanti with the set is Bizzare though. Pretty dumb actually, didn’t make much of sense to me. The re-incarnation bit dwells on supernatural stuff which have pretty much no answers so that shall be left untouched as well.

Mickey I mean Mikey or Mike as our villain is called in Hollywood does a pretty good job of acting, though I would like to have a word with the Americans who supposedly shrunk Mukesh to Mike. The lack of correlation stumps me. He might as well have been called speaker or tweeter.. :P

I was kind of expecting the Ghost of Shantipriya to show up at some point of time in the climax to give a huge twist and she did not fail me. Her sense of timing impresses me.. :)

The image of Shanti’s ghost looking at Om with a tear in her eye as she leaves still stays. I tell you, Deepika has left a huge impression in my mind….

Disclaimer part 2:

If you don’t understand a word of Hindi, it’s alright, go watch the movie. You should be able to appreciate it for most of the part, but if you don’t wish to be lost like I was at several times, it’s best you take a translator who will sacrifice watching the movie & explain each line or better still just get an original DVD with English subtitles or Learn Hindi….

Vel Vel Vetrivel....

I know there have been a million reviews on this. But since my topic starved blog needed something to give it life, and I could not find anything to write upon, I thought why not this??

So anyways, Vel is one proper entertainer. It has a proper smart looking hero, and a very cute n gorgeous heroine..(:P) plus a regular item- The mostly dumb and hopeless Villain, who finally seeks his own death. there is nothing really special about the movie, but it can keep you glued to the screen and that in itself is its crown. Surya has got all the 'geth' factor he could possibly have. Asin plays her charming self. I do wonder if she is really like that in nature, because i've noticed that most of her characters have similar characteristics. Ok before this becomes a platform for Asin mania, lemme say she is one of those few actors who can really carry off a role decently without too much skin show. She may not be the best actor, but she surely does not put the role into the gutters like several other barbie dolls who can't emote at all.

The case of the lost twin has been the subject of way too many flicks. What does seem confusing or should I say what a coincidence is that in all the movies the twins find their long lost siblings. How on earth is it possible that out of a population of several millions, the twins always find eacch other???! Am sure the Police could take some useful tips from these people. Atleast we might have less missing people in India.

one redeeming factor is that the twins here don't have any birthmarks or family songs to identify each other with. Phew!! One guy just walks up to the other guys family and causes havoc, finally making them agree that the other guy was adopted and not their own!!

Wait. i think i better stop here. Tamil Cinema never works on logic. I should not be looking at logic here. But I can say that this movie has been more logical that most other commercial films. The movie is worth a watch with good dialogue, good action, nice songs, a regular dose of comedy and of course the usual fun n frolic. All in all a movie to watch with the family, and you won't have any regrets.

Brahma 2007

It's finally over... Anyways this post has nothing to do wid what happened at brahma that will be done by The Hindu.. :) . This post is about the Video presentation made by Mr.Treasurer(Aditya Bhagath) and the Quizmaster Mr Srinath a.k.a(Mokkai mannan). Sadly we were not destined to see much of his divin mokkaiying form at Brahma....

Anyways, I was not able to upload da Video to my blog.. Damn i'm forgetting how to use a comp after a one month hiatus !!!!! So here is the Link.

Our Tribute to Quizzing and the things , if not for which we would be quizzing about nothing..(hmm interesting idea i'll frame a Q from that)

Video link

Boulevard of Broken Trees........

I snicked the title frm Greenday!!!!!!! :D

Anyways am sure you people can guess what this is gonna be about..

Avinashi Road it is.... I congratulate the administration on finally realising after eons that this road needs a makeover but I totally fail to see why it has to be at the cost of mother nature. I think just by widening the road, not much is going to be achieved. I think more land acqusition should be done to make sure that proper walkways are constructed,Lamp posts and transformers don't block any walking path and proper places are allotted for parking as well. But yes i do notice that things are more fast paced this time. The trees were felled fast I agree, but even the shifting of electric poles along certain stretches has been fast so overall it doesn't seem like a govt job actually... Lets just hope that things continue at this pace and yes, hopefully Mother nature is given some consideration so that some of the green cover could return giving some of those stretches the unparalleled shade during summer...

Love Marriages.Society's death toll??

Love marriages have always been frowned upon in society. They were deemed to be unorthodox and an unnecessary inclusion to our society. The recent trends of increasing divorce rates and rising social problems have been blamed upon nuclear families. Critics conveniently insist that the root cause of all this are love marriages.

Nuclear families, supposedly a result of the growing number of love marriages, deny children the love and care of their grandparents which is essential especially in families where both the parents work. Solitude is the stage where a child will yearn for attention and thus involve himself/herself in unwanted activities in the attempt to be noticed.

A divorce in a family may result in a child being brought up by just one parent. In most cases the parent tries to make up for the absence of the other by showering extra care and concern, which may bring about a complacent attitude in the child. The absence of the other parent will also make an impact on the child’s mentality. Such children in some situations tend to feel like outcasts in society and take rash decisions.

Yet the above mentioned factors do not simply justify the argument that love marriages should be abandoned. This is due to the fact that even arranged marriages have had similar results. The statement that most love marriages end up in divorce is more of a concocted fact than completely true. Divorce is a product of the way of life today rather than that of love marriages. It is without doubt the lifestyle of today’s working man and woman that determines their marital life for the better or the worse.

Nitro Rocket!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have something called a laboratory session in college every afternoon where we sit and do nothing but chat, play hollywood etc. I decided to make better use of my time and came up with a little creation. Here is a diagramatic explanation of my hopeless design.

This design was based on a particular green coloured saffire which lurks in da jungles of Kanuvai and is driven mostly by another mysterious jungle occupant..... The purpose of this design was to provide respite from the traffic woes this particular mysterious jungle occupant faces on a daily basis.. !!!!!!!! :P

Killing time was never easy........

It’s a lazy Sunday morning. You slowly arise from deep slumber around 10, 11 odd and realize, that you have a whole day to spend, but sadly you don’t find yourself in the Party capital but in sleepy ‘ol Coimbatore. Coimbatore is the small town that goes to sleep by 9 and doesn’t boast of any swanky malls, nightclubs or even long stretches of beach to spend the evening walking in. Hence spending a Sunday becomes a more Herculean task than going to college or work. Here are a few ideas on how you could spend a Sunday both expensively and inexpensively. I should clarify though, that I could think of only ONE really inexpensive way which I’ll come to at the end of this article.

In the past two years or so, we’ve had several coffee shops sprouting in the city, offering sugar, coffee powder, ice, ice cream, cream and a host of several other supposedly exquisite ingredients at the highest possible prices. Stylish Italian and French names adorn the available selections to make you feel like French aristocracy, you know the kind that sit straight and look up into the sky (I thought they were bird watching—didn’t realize that they were actually trying to look proud of themselves). Anyways, Café Coffee Day, Barista and the clump of local coffee shops which aspire to be the CCD’s of their respective areas are best enjoyed with a boyfriend/girlfriend due to the availability of plush leather couches. Ensuring that your partner has a huge purse or a good mobile phone which can be pawned would be a recommended added safety measure.

For the bookworms of Coimbatore, frown not, Anweshana & Odyssey and even more recently Oxford book store on Trichy Road have come to your rescue. This tried and tested technique of mine involves browsing through the whole book collection at the respective shop and finally grabbing a few magazines, paying up and running without looking back. If you feel like treating yourself and getting a few original cover editions who’s there to stop you?? The best thing is, once you get home, you can actually read whatever you’ve bought and spend a little bit more time. Guaranteed that you can spend at least 45min to 1 hr in this process in Anweshana. Results may vary at Odyssey due to its smaller size. Anweshana has separate shelves for Indian, foreign, classics, cook books, maps, educational and even sex ed. books for the, umm interested.

When summertime comes it’s big business for the ‘softies’; not the software guys but the so called ‘Italian’ softie shops. Each and every area has its own local softie shop selling ‘Italian’ Designed softie ice cream made from Indian cows. Wait, I meant from the milk of Indian cows!!!!! Anyways I guess the list is pretty well known, from Bon Bon, Boomerang, Alps in Saibaba Colony and also Flake feast in Bharathi Park Road. Flake Feast is recommended for private meetings ;) due to the lack of patronage…

Bon Bon is recommended for its variety and slightly higher quantity than Boomerang.

We even have a few options for the eco-friendly citizen (whatever that means!!). One can drive up to Mettupalayam and there are a few places where you can go get lost. Wait, no. You can go trekking there. Going North on Thadagam Road is also a good idea. You will find a few scenic spots nearer to the Kerala Border. If all else fails, you can just fill your tank and drive up to Ooty(2-2.5 hrs one way) catch a cup of coffee at a tea shop or Coffee Day and do some bird watching if you're interested. You can expect to see a nice flock from B’lore or Kerala on any weekend :D. Wait, this is beginning to sound more like a hitchhikers guide to spotting pretty gals. Switch. Ooty is a nice place to drive around and even walk around specially on the never ending Meadows which merge into the horizon. Surely a good way to spend a day with good company. Be it your partner or your best bunch of friends.

For the Ultimate driver in you, there is the L&T National highway to test out all the way from near Eachanari up till Neelambur. A straight stretch of pure driving bliss provided no trucks spoil the party. If you're still not licensed to kill on 4 wheels, You can hit either Kart Attack or the Chettipalayam race track in one of those unidentified screaming machines that stick to mother earth on 4 pieces of eraser ends; The best place to push machines to the limits without reducing the sub-continental population, and also the best place to burn money, literally....

And finally for the ultimate spend thrift option:

If you’re the kind that believe that taking the effort to go out and have fun is a total waste of energy, time and money, the best place for you is under the covers in your room……..

I guess that's all I can think off, any additions plz do let me know....

Dawn of a new era........

From 1^st June 2007, Tamil Nadu roads shall see the dawn of a new era, called the 'plastic head' generation. Gone is the craze for customized iPods. the Indian crowd(Aged 5 & up) is busy customising their headgear now with the helmet being made compulsory for all 2 wheeler riders in six districts in Tamil Nadu. You do tend to wonder why it took them so long to come up with such a simple common sense rule. Anyways, now that the rule is there, we have lots of people cribbing over what they deem as an unnecessary act by the government. So here is a brief collection of facts which I have gathered from the net, newspapers etc about why it would be better if one wore a helmet.

When you are traveling at 50kmph, you are doing approx 45 feet/sec, which is the same speed which you attain when you jump from the 4^th floor of a building. That’s suicide!!! Hmm I wonder, who would jump from a building everyday…..

Have you ever thrown a watermelon onto the floor from say a height of 5 metres. It obviously cracks. Try making your watermelon wear a helmet, and now throw it down. Nothing happens. That shows that helmets absorb the impact thus minimizing any damage to whatever’s inside it…..

Per vehicle miles traveled, motorcyclists are about 14 times as likely as passenger car occupants to die in a traffic crash and three times as likely to be injured(of course this somehow varies a little bit in India. I guess you are more likely to die if you were in a intercity bus rather than a motor cycle…).

The average hospital charge for seriously head-injured motorcyclists was found to be almost three times that of motorcyclists without head injuries, so incase you do have an accident while riding with a helmet, you know it’ll be lighter on your purse..

Hmm I think the above few points are reason enough… An aerial view of the roads, will no longer show black heads, but you are more likely to see a multitude of colours, flames and the occasional Schumacher or Iceman and Alonso too riding their Hero Honda Ferrari or Bajaj Mclaren….

10 Cars India could do with... Phase 3

Ahh, the top three. This is the last part in my so called 3 part article.. here goes....

3. Alfa Romeo Brera

Another Italian. This one’s sexy to the core though. It’s a total poser with it’s curves and sculpted lines. This car without doubt was designed with passion and it clearly shows. There is a spider version too which looks cool, but somehow I like the hatch more…With the performance to match, it’s not exactly a cheap car and costs 25lakhs plus, but it’s not in the stratosphere….

Launch probability: 2/5 (Fiat are you listening?? Prove me wrong. PLZ…..)

2. Honda Civic

You may wonder, It’s available in India right? Well I’m not talking about that car which is a JDM and looks super cool in it’s own right. This is a Europe specific model and boy is it out of the world. It looks like it landed in from the future…. It’s got triangular motifs all over the place, the exhausts, door handles etc. and if you notice closely you will realize that the rear door handles are actually missing. They are actually hidden in the black window frame at the rear side, to make the car look like a 3 door sport hatch… it has an option of 1.8l petrol(what we have in the civic here) or 2.2l diesel. They don’t exactly give stonking performance figures, but if you want that there is always the Type-R version….

Launch probability: Nil(Damn I can only dream on can I???)

1. Mitsubishi Lancer Evo

On great public demand this car makes it to the top. It’s almost a cult. There are quite a few units in India with 2 or 3 running in Coimbatore itself. This is one example of ultimate engineering and the best tutorial on how to get super car trashing performance from a streetcar’s 4 pot. It may not be as comfortable as the supercar it trashes, but it’s helluva lot cheaper and can be driven safely on Indian terrain without ripping the underpinnings apart and is as fun too. The Evo has reached the end of it’s lifespan on the current platform, and followers are awaiting with bated breath for the successor….

Launch probabilty: 1/5(Mummy I want one!!!!! Mitsubishi Plz plz i'll be a good kid...)









This is the Evo concept...


Hmm I hope my reader's (if there are any actually) enjoyed my article.
Was this article useful?? (sorry, got too used to google's customer feedback... :) )
please comment on your experience, in the wise cracks section. cheers.....

10 Cars India could do with... Phase 2:

6. Citroën C6

Most people wouldn’t have heard of this brand. It’s French and part of the Peugeot group. It’s not exactly a great car, Most French cars aren’t that great, but citroëns have always had a speciality. They were out of the ordinary. Everything about them was different, from the interiors to the exteriors. They were just quirky cars which looked different and worked different. The C6 is no different. The C6 looks cool, though I admit the French have always been good designers so their cars are always the coolest among the crowd of mundane boxes. Citroëns have another trick up their sleeve. They have the best suspension setup giving a very cosetting ride and the C6 caries it on. All in all, good looking, very comfortable and loaded with tech gizmos the C6 is one car which carries it’s character with pride.

Launch probability: Nil(Sad to say it’s a really long shot)

5.Subaru Impreza / Legacy

Subaru is again a Japanese Brand famous for it’s rally exploits. The car that did it is the Impreza WRX. Subaru’s trademark is the permanent four wheel drive system on all models and it’s boxer engine. The impreza falls in the category of the lancer,Corolla etc in India while the Legacy is it’s big brother fighting with the Camry and Accord. The cars are no quirky looking machines by any chance. It’s more about the driving experience here. The frameless windows add to the looks and the sound that comes when you close the doors (it’s a muted sound which is due to the lack of a window frame. So all we have is glass on rubber-gives a sound of solidity) is just so nice you would just want to open and close the doors all day. For now, you can actually buy the Chevrolet Forester in India, which is actually a Subaru, rebadged and sold in India. In the Forester you get almost everything the Impreza and Legacy have…..

Launch probability: 2/5 (general motors has no plans of bringing these cars as they have other models in those segments)

4. Fiat Stilo

Fiat has a huge history with India. The Stilo I hope will come in one day to add to it. It’s a cool looking hatchback, but the size of a medium size car. It comes with engines ranging from the 1.2l currently here on the Palio to a super hot 2.4l unit which would make it a super hot hatch. It’s Italian and it looks good and comes at a reasonable price (ranging from 5 odd for the 1.4 till 10 lakhs for the 2.4l) so I doubt there are any more reasons why one would want one….

Launch probability: 4/5 (the 1.2l to 1.6l models have a high probability. As for the 2.4l chances are really slim)

The final part with the top 3 cars will be here within 48hours... so keep watching this space... :)

10 Cars India could do with...

Hey people, the next few days or week will see a 3 part article. It’s on one of my favourite topics- Cars!!!!!!! J. Ill be talking about the 10 cars that I would love to see being sold in India and why. This list won’t consist of any supercars. It’s going to be about regular cars with some special traits which puts them a class apart. Luck favouring us, we might see some or maybe even all of those cars on Indian roads sometime… So starting off with no. 10….

10. Hyundai Coupe

I know this seems funny. A Hyundai on this list!!!! But the fact is, this is the best Hyundai that money can buy and it is pretty much worth it. Need For Speed freaks might know this car as the Tiburon which is the name in the US market. It has a whole range of engines from a 1.6l to a 2.7l V6. Now why I think this car should be here is, because of the simple fact that it is a Hyundai. It has all the essentials of a sports coupe and is cheap to buy and maintain. You won’t believe this but this car costs less than 10 lakh rupees in the US for the basic model going upto a maximum of 15 lakhs. I guess now it’s more than obvious why it’s here just making it to the bottom of this list.

Launch possibility: 1/5

9. Honda Odyssey-JDM

Now the Honda Odyssey is an MPV. Something like the Toyota Innova here. But I loved this car the minute I saw it just for it’s looks. It looks like a space ship with those sleek headlights and vast sides. During my internet research I discovered that the US market has a different version of the Odyssey which looks like a geek. Serious. This particular model that I liked is the JDM(Japanese Domestic Model) version.it’s just ultra cool!! The Japanese automakers have lots of models on sale within Japan of which only some go on sale internationally. So models which aren’t normally sold outside Japan or at the max. Asia are known as JDM’s. There is nothing really special about the Odyssey. It’s just a very well equipped and fabulous looking car.

Launch Possibility: 4/5(There has been some serious talk of an MPV in Honda’s portfolio in India)

8. Volkswagen Golf

It’s a Hot hatch. That’s more than reason enough. A fabulous well built German car, it’s been an icon of it’s own for several decades. A street racer favourite in Europe, the GTi version will just blow you away with it’s performance and of course, it looks very cool and composed, if not totally hot…

Launch possibility: 3/5(VW has said it wants a piece of the class A and B markets here)

7. Maxda RX-8

Mechanos, I’m sure you’ve heard of the Wankel or the rotary engine. Well this car has it, and that gives it it’s special characteristisc. It’s a good looker, a great handler & a fabulous car. Mazda has a tradition with wankel engined rear wheel drive coupes and this one carries it on with flair. A must have for drifts and pure driving pleasure. It’s got just a 1.3l engine yet delivering 240 plus bhp giving the performance with all the style…

Launch possibility: 1/5 (Mazda has not even sold one car in India yet, so it’s a long way to come)

Well expect the next lot of cars in a few days.....

P.S.: the Launch possibility rating gives an estimation on the probability of the car making it to our shores within say 3 years.

Two Stroke Magic

Been wanting to write this one for quite some time….

I was recently left wheel-less due to my beloved Dio’s valves going bust. In the interim period while it was being brought back to life, I claimed the use of an ol’ kine’ which belonged to my uncle and was being used as a runabout vehicle by everyone in the workshop and service station that he owns.

Having had faced quite a lot of abuse and not in the best of attire, I expected the vehicle to feel like it was going to split any minute, and I wasn’t exactly wrong. Except for one thing. It was one helluva ride. The two stroke motor just pulled like anything, if u minus the vario lag that is, and I tell u screaming down Avinashi road, I actually had a glee stuck all over my face. Quite like how a kid does when he’s on his favourite ride at the Theme park. I guess it all has to do with the two stroke magic, which is sadly out of production due to higher emissions. All we can do right now is savour whatever’s left of the noisy boys… All hail ye 2-strokes!!.....

Here is a Aswin Top Tip^®. If you have about 10 grand to spend and you need a city run about, Buy a decently maintained Kine’(Go for the Kinetic Honda version before 98’ model) have the engine cleaned, rejetted, Vehicle completed serviced, fit MRF nylogrip zappers and you have one hell of a scooter….. You won’t regret it……

Engg in a state called Tamil Nadu.....

Three years of engineering education is over. And what have I learnt?? Here is a recap…..

- Examinations are the birthplace of mega^{^∞} serial story writers. Man the stories that are concocted in the examination are out of the world and unless you are a good writer and write stories for no less than forty pages, you will never make it big. I am one of those continuous flop producing writers mind you, so it has been a bitter experience seeing all those talented folk fly past me… sniff sniff….

- Whatever you study in the fours years of college will not in the least help you in your future, for the simple fact that, whatever you studied ‘was’ the latest in technology approximately half a century ago.

- Attendance is a matter of personal opinion. The staff’s personal opinion. If he thinks you need attendance to get through college, you are screwed. You get no internals. If the staff member is a pretty lenient guy whose just whiling away his life happily in college like several of my dept. staff, you get away easy..

- Inference from previous fact. Sign a contract with Amul. Because you’ll need all the butter that you can muster to butter up the staff. Apply as required(butter).

- As each semester passes by, study holidays tend to seem more like a prelude to what you can expect to do during the hols rather than a time when you actually get down to doing some studying…

- And finally, It’s a scam. Engineering education in Tamil Nadu is a SCAM!!! If you ask why? For heaven’s sake aren’t the above points enough?? Now I know why the industry complains about lack of graduates with proper skills. All the skills we develop thro’ 4 years are laziness, laziness and more laziness……..

Forgotten memories: 4th sem....

With everyone around writing about their experience with the wiring instructor, I thought it was about time I chipped in a bit about my experience too! But unfortunately my wiring experience was eventless with the only thing worth mentioning was that I didn’t study at all for my wiring lab test and as fate would have it got one of the complicated circuits, yet I drew the whole circuit completely by copying from a strategically placed chart with the circuit diagram on it on the wall in front of me(hail the brilliance of the wiring guy!!). So I am not going to talk about wiring. So what is it you may wonder? Read on I say……

Avanga Naaalu peru. Avangalaku bayama kidaiyathu*(at least that is what we are supposed to believe).They are part of the elite force of CIT. They toil day and night in shifts, risking their sleep to protect the institution. Yes they are the great watchmen!!!

This story has one hero (just one particular watchman). The story begins….

A summer evening around 5.30 p.m. The CIT parking lot. Amidst the few remaining bikes, stood a guy and a gal chatting. The guy was me. Wait, I can hear a few ‘ahems’ here. Let me clarify. The girl in this context, is technically speaking, my aunt.!!?? My mom’s direct cousin, but being younger than me by a few months, yet in a senior class to me, she prefers referring to me as her cousin to prevent any embarrassing moments in her class. Hence forth she shall be referred to as my cuz. So we were chit chatting standing by the bikes and this is what happened. (It is in conversation format and whatever is in brackets was what was running through our minds)

Cuz: So how are your studies and stuff?? Blah blah blah…(great Q. Exaclty what is not my forte and she asks about it)

Me: Blah blah blah….(Boring totally unnecessary crap. You don't wanna hear it, which is why i've used blah blah blah.)

As this goes on the afore mentioned watchman creeps up…

Wm: Which college are you from? Where is your ID??(At me)

Wm: same Question as above at my Cuz.

Me:huh? We are from CIT… (Hi I am Dr.Woodwards from MIT, USA and am here to do a survey on the dumbest college watchmen. You fit our specifications perfectly. Would you like to be our prime example? ) (Add a weird look to my face)

We showed him the ID cards which he promptly grabbed from us, turned around and started bunny hopping towards the main block while uttering the following lines.

Wm: Don’t you know that you are not supposed to stand and talk here? Get you ID cards from the principal’s office tomorrow…

Me: Huh?? What??(WTF?? Dear me had you told me earlier that standing and talking in the parking lot was a crime I would have brought along 2 folding chairs and a coffee table with tea and biscuits to have a conversation here….)

As he gracefully hopped towards the Admin block, we followed behind…

Cuz: (What an idiot!! Man wish I had a tennis ball and racket, I could play superbly on that sheenlac finished court…. (Reference: the bobbing shiny bald head of w/m walking oops sorry, hopping ahead…) )

Me: (What on earth does this guy think he is doing?? The princi is gonna stare at him like he was some alien fugitive if he goes up to tell him that he caught us talking in the parking lot. Talking! For heaven’s sake!!!)

Suddenly as if what I thought hit him, He stopped, turned around, and with a huge sigh of relief, he said, ‘The Principal won’t be there now, he would have left.” And with a collective frown and bloodshot eyes that could give the Captain a run for his money, “Next time I catch you people standing and talking there I will take you there for sure”…

I swear I saw him wipe a few drops of sweat from the side of his face….

Me: (yeah sure buddy, I would love to see you do that….)

He gave our cards, turned and collectively marched and hopped simultaneously back to his cell (To the background score of ‘ Baasha… tng da dng tng, Baasha…. tng da dng tng)

Cuz and me(looking at each other, bewildered, yet suppressing a laugh): Are you sure we haven’t teleported ourselves to Kilpauk by any chance??!!!

End of story.

Dear readers, those who expected to see me going to the principal’s office; facing the dreaded enquiry (Rumours say that they give catching practice in there) and bringing you an insider story, I deeply apologize to have disappointed you. Due to the lack of any occurrence, I couldn’t write a book on ‘how I got caught for talking in college, went through an enquiry and got kicked out’, sell its movie rights and become a millionaire. Damn! (Thought I could retire ASAP for a moment!!) The judge (read god), refused to let me out on parole from my 4 year prison sentence. Sadly.

P.S. the watchman doesn’t speak English. I repeat he doesn’t speak English. I just typed the conversation in English for ease of typing. :-)

The Bi annual event at CIT- Semester Examinatons

The complete murder of intellect.
The rise of Memory power.
The triumph of the 'mug and spit' technique.

Come and watch the greatest test of mankind on earth,
Semester Examinations.

Showing every April and November at CIT(Inc. other dote 1 colleges), and in May and December at every college affiliated to Anna Univ. Don't miss it!!!!!!!!!

ANNA UNIV PRESENTS A MESSED UP VC'S
PRODUCTION SEMESTER EXAMINATIONS STARRINGUNSUSPECTING STUDENTS
PRODUCED BY PRINCIPALS DIRECTED BY GOD
WRITTEN BY FATE A ANNA UNIV PICTURE
RATED AS HOPELESS BY THE BOARD OF STUDENTS.
SOUNDTRACK TO BE RELEASED SHORTLY IN THE
ALBUM SONGS UNDER INFLUENCE OF 'WATER'

Some interestin pics i found in my hard disk...

That's intel, my sis's penguin, n he's learnin calculus in case you can't c...

Roof Deck anyone???? Far far away from human civilisation, in a house amidst a jungle, a dog rides his stallion, a silver Swift....dec 06'

I clicked this one on a door at a music store in singapore.... nov 06'