Grey Matter

“Hey, how are you?”
“….”
“Don’t remember me.I am your school mate”
“Yes i remember you man.I am on top of the world.How about you?”
“Me doing OK.So much changes.You look very different now.How many years have gone by after our school days.Must be 6 and half years since we met last time.Isn’t it?”
“Yes man it is 6 and half years.”
“I actually had a doubt whether it was you.You have become fatter but it is your hair style or actually the lack of it that remains the same.That made me confirm it was you”
“Ha ha.Thats because of the barber i go to.Ever since i asked him Rajini Cutting when i was 5 years old he has been giving me this kind of cut mercilessly”
“Now when did Rajini sport such a bad hairdo,it is almost like you have tonsured your head”
“Yeah I know.But that serves three purposes.”
“Whats that?”
“One.I don’t have to comb my hair at least for a month after the cut.
Two.It takes another month for the hair to grow that much to need a cut again”
“So saves money?”
“No saves time actually.Who will go and sit in the barbers shop every month.”
“And whats the third?”
“It makes people like you to identify me even if i have become fatter.It has become an identity”
“….”
“….”
“….”
“….”

Until very recently i have never paid bribes, as i didn’t have anything to do with Government offices,that is if you dont consider BSNL as a govt office and i dont drive any vehicle.So no visit to RTO office also.
I got a call the other day from Royapettah police station to come and meet them for passport applicant
verification.The police man is supposed to come to the address of the applicant and enquire about the applicant check his records confirming that he is not a criminal.But since the phone number is given in the application it makes their job easy by allowing them not visit the applicant’s place and rather call him to the station.
The first day i went to meet him the person in charge was not there.He was not expected to come back anytime sooner.A guy had been waiting for more than 3 hours for the same passport verification purpose.So i decided to come the next day.
The next i did meet him.Here is the extract of the conversation i had with him:

Me:Hello Sir.I have come for passport verification.
Police man: Your application has been canceled!!
[Now what the hell, he didn't even ask my name,how can he know its my application thats canceled]
Me:May i know the reason why it was canceled.
Police Man:Don’t worry i know the route to go and get you the passport.But it would cost a little.
[OK,he wants bribe]
Me:/Grin/
[I pull out my purse to finish things soon so that i can get to my office early]
Police Man:Wait!! Wait!!
[His superior is passing by me]
Police Man:So whats your name?
Me:Subramanian
Police man:Software Engineer?
Me:No
[I know this idiot will never enquire about me.There is this higher bribe rate slot for software engineers.So i decide to tell him i am no Software Engineer.But any way i was Junior Software Engineer then.So its the truth ]
Police man:Come along with me.
[Takes me to the nearest fancy store.Gets inside the shop.]
Police man:Now give me./all smiles/
[Doesn't even have slightest guilt in getting money to do his work]
[I give him Rs:100]
Police man:It would actually cost more.
[I give him a hard look]
Police man:Its OK i will do it for you.I will take care of all the things.
[As if i asked him for a illegal passport]
[I leave the place]

Now i have paid my first ever bribe.Now wait is that a bribe?.A bribe is given for doing something illegal.But this guy wants money to do his job!.I could have paid him a zero rupee note.But I didn’t for 2 reasons: 1 I didn’t have one 2. I wanted to get to office soon.

Kadhana is a multilayered story with plots,subplots,super sub plots.The main plot is acutally flicked from Hindi Movie Judaai which is a remake of Telugu movie Subhamangalam which was remade in Tamil as Irattai Roja.So the director seems to have decided when its remade so many times it ought get the serial good TRP ratings.In case you hadn’t watched any of the above versions of the movie,here is the synopsis: the heroine swaps her husband for money with another lady who drools for her husband.Mix with this the regular Indian soap characters like an all powerful lady who is ever evil,who would go on torturing the protagonist lady,A dummy but good Father-in-law who
would sympathize with good people but will not be able to help them, you have got a power packed serial which could go on for years.As far as the main plot goes there is a twist in the story which is different from the movie version.In the movie the husband will be back to the original wife.But in this serial the wifes decide to live together along with their hubby.Ahh Indian Post-Modern Serial!

Watch at your own risk:

Serial Name: Kadhana
Language: Kannada
Timing: 8:30 to 9:00 pm
Channel: Udaya TV

1.Had Illayaraja monetized his works like what the western bands do, he would have bought the entire part of India below the Vindhyas.

2.People should stop the practice of referring a MSV composition and a Kannadasan lyrics as MGR song.Means the actors don’t get undue credit.

3.We shouldn’t be deceived into watching crap movies just because their songs became famous.For eg: Kadhalar Dhinam

3a.Converse of the above: We shouldn’t be listening to crap songs even if they were featured in good movies. Eg: Any good movie with Deva Music.

4.We don’t get to hear any background score and hear the five or six songs of the movie even in the official album CD, however excellent the BGM are. Read the analysis and hear the Background Score of Lagaan here

5.Plagiarism will be under control if musicians don’t have the burden to create music for some situation or create songs like some other song.The presence of some  Actors/Directors makes it mandatory for musician to create songs like item numbers,Kuthu Paatu etc.Here is a list of few songs that have been plagiarized by Indian musicians.The list includes some of the greatest names in Indian music scene.

The stretch from Mandaveli Bus stand till the corporation ground in R A Puram has got transformed often ever since i started going by the way to my college some 5 and half years ago.But the transformation has never been for the good.The position, and the geometry of the potholes are the only change.There seems to be a eternal metro water repair work which would occupy the most of the center part the road combine with it a number of disastrous potholes due to the bad quality of road laid, they make the perfect recipe for accidents.

The road was actually relaid a few years back but it would last only a few days and was back to same shape as it was earlier. And if you happen to travel in this road beyond 10 pm you will have a lot more adventure with no proper street lights, unruly share autos and other vehicles.And if you happen to be in one of those share autos you are in for a theme park ride since some of the auto man would be either drunkard or mad man to try out every pothole on the road.