Kamal's heart speaks

Kamal has a major share of bringing writer Sujatha into tinsel world. Both wise men thinked alike and made a great team.

Kamal's condolence letter expresses the pain and his esteem for the writer, with words straight from his heart.

(Click to enlarge)

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Asimov of India - A Tribute to Sujatha

The news carrying demise of Writer Sujatha came as a shocker.

No other writer enjoyed the status, recognition, readership and fame earned by Sujatha. What a multi-facetted personality he was? Scientist, Successful writer, Critic, Creative advisor, Producer, Screenplay writer. He even learnt to fly planes. He is one of the few Tamil writers who experimented with Tamil and modernised it. Even the younger generation who take pride in reading Sheldon and Dan Brown, love Sujatha's Tamil novels. He was Dr.APJ Kalaam's classmate and one of the brains behind the development of electronic ballot system in India.

His stories are extraordinarily loaded with lots of minute details laced with humour in a catchy stylish language and they end with a unpredictable twist.

A few of Sujatha's novels like "Karaiyellaam senbaga poo","Priya", "Gayathri" had been made as movies and he was not happy about the way they turned out. Sujatha had well-versed in the knack of writing screenplays that lured the cinema buffs. Most of the films with his script were box office hits, not to forget "Sivaji". He shared a good rapport with Kamal, director Shankar, Ilaiyaraja, Rajini . "Ganesh, Vasanth, Geno" are some of the characters created by Sujatha which are immortal in minds of people.

சுஜாதாவின் எழுத்த்துகள் மூலம் நாம் "கற்றதும் பெற்றதும்" எத்தனை எத்தனை?

Heartfelt condolences to his family.

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Destination Lima

Been to Lima, Peru on an official trip a few days ago...
Being a tropical country, the weather was same as ours and Peru has got a share of both European and American influences.







1. The moment my KLM flight landed on Lima Airport's runway, everyone gave a 'seat-belted' ovation. I began wondering, if such a safe landing is a thing to appreciate there????!!!!!

2. In Peru, about 99.7% speak Spanish. My belief that knowing English, you can go around the globe and conquer it, got shattered and I felt like an illiterate guy. My previous acquaintance with Spanish had been in instruction manuals where there is usually a Espanol version .

3. Survival is not easy for chlorophyll consumers, because its (m)eat or starve!!!

4. People are so friendly and good-mannered. They utter "Gracias" meaning 'thanks' , even when you thank them.

5. I tried and just loved "Ceviche" - a famous Peruvian food - made by marinating raw fish in lime juice and served with chopped onion and chilly.

6. Lima has mass transit buses just like our city buses. Unlike ours, the boards with destinations are carried by the conductor, who lobbies people showing the board.

7. It almost or never rains in Lima, which is good for a place with many centuries old Inca monuments still standing.

8. The taxi drivers always listen to music with volumes high enough to drive a hole in tymphanic membrane. Most of the songs remind you of those in Sundar C's movies with Sirpi's music.

9. I loved "Inca-Cola" - a golden yellow coloured carbonated drink, the famous national soft drink, which still gives a tough time to Coca cola and Pepsi .

10. The keys and functions in computer keyboards are different there and you need 3 keystrokes to type "@" (Alt+6+4)

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Bogie or Bhogi

Nothing was out of ordinary at Chennai Egmore Railway station last saturday night . There was this omnipresent nauseating odour, passengers tripping over the escalators, arguing porters, ear-splitting chimes followed by tri-lingual announcements. Anantapuri express was ready to rally on the country's longest lavatory.

Sleeping with strangers, (well .. in the trains and you have no other choice but to) always make my skin crawl. Having got a middle berth, I had to wait for everyone to fill their tummys , change into some attire that allows airflow, blow airpillows with all lung power. I felt that something was wrong, when the lights were on even after turning off all the switches. The train's rhythmic jerking movement and chugging lullaby forced my heavy eyelids close shut.

At about 2.30AM, the time when we drift to deep sleep, I woke up with a start, listening to alarming call of a fellow passenger, shouting "Fire Fire Fire " in his highest possible pitch. Short circuit in the electricity panel had resulted in a heavy spark that started the fire. It took some time for the passengers to wake up from their sleep and dreams, to take in the situation. Then suddenly, the hell broke loose.

Someone had the presence of mind to pull the chain, bringing the train to stop in a noman's land. People, as if by the reminiscent acrobatic antics from ancestors, started jumping from upper berths, rudely pushing away fellow passengers and darted towards the exit. Even in the chaos of unruly evacuation, they carried their heavy luggages. I wonder what they carry in them when a middle aged lady jumped out with all her bags and suitcases leaving out her 10 years old daughter sleeping inside the train.

The flame was immediately put off using a fire extinguisher which sprays carbondioxide and a white powder mixture. People already in panick, mistook the billowing powder for smoke and once again went berseck.The railway officials after successfully putting off the fire, disconnected the power supply to the compartment and the rest of the journey was in the dark and no one dared to sleep again.

Though the fire was spotted earlier and put off immediately, the panic in people's mind took hours to subside. It was a real experience that showed how humans behave during emergency situations . The geriatric group of passengers was concerned about their dear life and reacted and evacuated faster than the younger group of people.

Not only "Bhogi" is associated with fire and burning, nowadays, even the (train) bogie, reminds me of fire.

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