This man is innovative in his blog posts. He talks to Gods via Baba Bangali and questions them like Karan Thapar. He watches every Bollywood movie and alerts the entire human race to avoid the bad ones. I mean he is practically a messenger of Human Rights!

This is what Dinesh Babu who blogs under the moniker maduraiveeran said when he tagged me for a ‘Brilliante Weblog’ award. I wonder what Karan Thapar has to say on the comparison, he might prefer an early VRS! I was obviously kicked and I love such cheap thrills, so stop rolling your eyes! Well I may not be all that worthy and there are many others who I would call brilliant in the true sense. It’s only a token of mutual admiration and all in good fun. So lets just celebrate some link love and pray for the mental block to vanish so that we can get back to the normal slander at Dappan Koothu. Even if there is no jury or governing body, and the award carries no value per say, it still
demands
a thank-you speechit still demands a thank-you speech! Ok here goes, I’d like to thank my parents for introducing me to computers when other kids were watching ‘He-man’ and the internet while all others could think about was Malaika in Chaiya Chaiya. I should also thank the technicians at my webhost who work day and night to keep my site up and alive, despite the heavy traffic. (It’s my speech OK!, so anything goes) Last but not the least I ought to thank my readers who over the past year have been regularly following this space and leaving insightful comments. If I have never before done it then let me say it now, Thank you for being part of Dappan Koothu.

Anantha(formerly Anti) had tagged me close to 10 months ago to recycle 5 keyword based posts. It’s always an honor to be tagged by celebrity bloggers, but I didn’t have any quality posts to link to. Late may be I, But
latest I comeLate may be I, But latest I come as the great man would say. Not wanting to undermine the tag by linking substandard posts, I take it up now also since I cant think of anything intelligent to write about beside racking up the archives. Now I’m not sure if I can stick to the rules of the tag given the wide range of stuff that features in this space. But again there’s no hard and fast rule so I’m going post whatever seems a best fit. Not sure again if you can’t link more than a single post but let some free spirit prevail! However for the benefit of others and people who might pick up the tag, the original rules were as follows.

The rules of the tag are: Post 5 links to 5 of your previously written posts. The posts have to relate to the 5 key words given (family, friend, yourself, your love, anything you like). Tag 5 other friends to do this meme. Try to tag at least 2 new acquaintances (if not, your current blog buddies will do) so that you get to know them each a little bit better.

Family: I generally don’t have many family related posts but then this one I wrote for my mom before leaving for the airport when I was going home on a vacation. There is this other post I wrote as part of a review for ‘Vaaranam Ayiram’, where I got a bit personal and wrote a note to my dad. The fact that they read my blog keeps me in check from being inflammatory and steer clear of controversy. That reminds me that there’s a lot of scope for some family anecdotes.

Friends: I just realized that I have no friend related posts and a search for the keyword gies me no concrete results. It actually gives me some ideas for further posts but sadly nothing to link here. So in trying to make a vague connection like those ‘Tata Crucible’ quizzes, I manged to think of two posts. The first is a preview I did for the much hyped ‘Kuselan’ which turned out to be a damp squib. That’s where I put together my ‘Amar Chitra Katha’ knowledge of the ‘Krishna-Sudama’ story. We can do another far connect for the keyword and link this post where I reviewed ‘Dostana’. The connection? Dostana has to do with friendship and hence under this category.

Yourself: Someone said that I’m too impersonal on this blog and I just found out that it’s true as well. I can however link this post where I huffed and puffed about my thesis and bragged about finally finishing it. No wait, I did do a flashback series some time ago and that does apply to this category. There was this post and this follow up bout a teacher in school and his butchering of the queens language. There was also this post and its sequel about a ragging incident during college.There are many such stories that may see the light of day after so heavy pruning and censorship.

Your love: People who know me in flesh would agree that me and love are as rare as Mallika Sherawat in a chudidaar. With great difficulty I was able to search these two posts where attempted to mix love with some cynicism and my favorite digs on Bollywood. There area also a few in the so-called shayari series the latest being this one that I typed on my phone on my trans-atlantic flight back home.

Anything I like: This space has allowed me to play with my two other passions cinema and mythology. There was this one that begin as a comment on KrishAshok’s post. There was this post where Lord Krishna got himself a FaceBook profile. Ganesha graced this space and so did the first ladies of Indian mythology. It’s tough to pick a few from the cinema category and I’ll link you to here instead. This post however gave me great pleasure to write and it was in the angst of being cheated by MI3. I might however toy with a similar theme pretty soon.

Now I am supposed to tag 5 bloggers whose blogs I love to read. There also has to be a newbie among the ranks for some encouragement. The trick here is that almost everyone I know has been tagged for the award tag and the 5 things tag was also done by a lot of people on my blogroll early this year. I am therefore going to tag a bunch of people who have become my virtual-roomies over the past few months. We spend more time pinging each other on GTalk than we probably speak to some real people. Never having met them, I actually know more about them than most people I know in the real world. So let’s bend the rules again and tag 7 people instead of 5, since it’s my favorite number as well. There they go in no particular order,

Buddy : Avid bookworm and someone who shares a similar liking for all forms of humor. It’s hard to imagine how we never knew each other before. Hopefully the coming years will be loads of fun and give rise to some collaborative antics. His dislike for cricket and love for reading being our only disconnect! Has a very different wavelength and lateral thingking that make for some brilliant posts.

Gradwolf : Once upon a time a sweet Mambalam boy now devious wolf on the prowl for unsuspecting innocent grad students. Interesting character who comes of a the quintesential chamathu TamBram but has layers to him and a whiff of the Mumbai spirit as well. Big time ARR, Mani Ratnam and quizzing fan and hence hours of masti ensured.

Sthita : Poor soul often mistaken for being bong despite tatooing the words ‘Maa telugu talli’ on his chest. Chemical engineer who chucked the pippetes and burettes for a graduate degree in Media and Journalism. Very few dare to chase their dream and refrainf from taking the safe route, here is exhibit No.1. Try asking him about telugu literature, its script or even the difference in the knots of sacred threads(poonal) for Iyers and Iyengars! A living encyclopedia on art, literature, music and the scriptures, try him sometime.

Idling : One of the most handsome looking tambrams on Facebook who gave up a lucrative career in an excitingly promising Silicon Valley startup to return to his homeland. Currently working on a venture to energise rural India using alternate sources. Irrespective of how things shape up, the guy is an inspiration to many and has thousands of stories to share.

Chutney : The lone lass among this league of cheap gentlemen, Chutney is a young chirpy CA by day and photoshopper by night. The currently presiding chairperson of the Chenai Mokkai Sangam and a great ability to whip up posts laden with humor and traditional tambram household lingo. My official tamil instructor for the Chennai dialect/slang and soon to be rechristned ‘Rowsu rani’, chutney is always spicy!
UPDATE: A perennial jollu party by day and peter party by night, Chutney is a gay-boy loving, treat-dodging Iyengaress with a flair for comical writing and a penchant for pun

G-Lady : The high priestess of the Chennai slang and a reincarnation of a 60′s movie villain. Sharp tongue, no-nonsense attitude, tonnes of wit and many stories to share. At times can be as sweet as Balu Mahendra’s heroines but can also drag you by the collar out of a bar and thrash you on the street.

kusublakki : Is technically a newbie, but none of her posts even remotely seem like that. Big fan of SaReGaMaPa and Grey’s Anatomy and Sonu Nigam which ensures tonnes of hours on GTalk. Shares a fetish for long forgotten songs and spends nights looking for them on youtube. We always share a constant one-upmanship for lyrics of old songs and unearthing gems of a lost era of Bollywood. The only other person alive I know who might have dared to watch ‘Love in Nepal’ and ‘Jaani Dushman’!

Guys, You gotta do the tag if you wanna claim the award!

A few others have also tagged me which I shall take up in moments of such mental block. I should however acknowledge Rads for having tagged me to write quirky things about myself. I frankly don’t think I’ll be able to do that for it will end up being a multi-part post and I’d rather stay away from some self-defacement. Kindly adjust!

There, done with a post that int eh end took more research thatn the usual crap. So much for a creative mental block!

(Image Courtesy: The Hindu Business Line)

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Movie Ratings: I realized that I watch far too many films and obviously I don’t review all of them. Some times it’s 4-5 a week and that includes my lazy weekends. I’d like to have a say on each of them but they aren’t always blog-worthy. These ramblings now find a spot on my sidebar and also have a dedicated page with a ten-star rating system. I must however include that these are my views and the ratings are an indicator of how much I felt the movie was worth. The previous line goes without saying, but just making sure.

Alltop and QR Code: I’ll have to thank all my readers and search engines for all the traffic over the past few months! This blog now features on ‘AllTop India‘ list along with the big names in the blogosphere! I want
to
paint my
QR Code on
my foreheadI want to paint my QR Code on my forehead, so that people can take pics and decode my name, etc! Fine, that was a tad too geeky and weird as well. For the uninformed, QR codes are cellfone-readable barcodes that can carry information such as URLs or single line descriptions. I’ve put up my QR code in the sidebar, what about yours? I don’t see it as the next big thing but then, Just for kicks!

Comment stats: This is a fantastic feature and I hope it will appeal to all my readers. When ever you comment using the same email address wordpress remembers the number and the posts. So go ahead and comment on this post. Now if you hover on the username, you should see the number of comments you’ve made, your most recently commented posts as well as your most recent post if you have a blog. Brilliant isn’t it?

MonsterIDs: MonsterIDs are identicons just like the hugely popular Gravatar service. Since many of my commentators are blogger users or non-bloggers, the WordPress supported Gravatar service returns blobs as user images. MonsterID mangles your email address and generates an image that is unique and doesn’t require any registration. WordPress users will however be able to see their Gravatars on their comments. I tried many plugins and even edited a few before Lekhni pointed me to this post. Thanks again Lekhni!

Blogroll: I noticed that I have a very boring looking blogroll and decided to spice things up. Take a look at the new and improved blogroll which not only links to the blogs I read but also parses their feed. You can also see feed snippets of their most recent posts. I must however apologize to blogger users as the atom feed doesn’t support previews. After hacking the plugin, I’ve got it to atleast display the most recent post. Let me know if you use feedburner and I’ll make the change. If you have a blog and don’t find yourself on this list then just subscribe to my feed and leave me a comment! I apologize for the bathroom joke on the Olympics. I really love all my readers and it was only in jest, and I couldn’t resist it.

Rate and Print: I’m sure that these would be the most unused features but then there’s no harm in shameless publicity. If any of you would like to print a post you found interesting then from now onwards all posts are printer friendly! You can also anonymously rate the posts on a scale of five, so go ahead and give it a shot! Do rate the posts you read however, for the statistics help to identify a trend.

Twitter: Twitter is a highly addictive micro-blogging service and it bit me in the last month. The good thing is that most of my fellow bloggers are on twitter as well and we connect on a daily basis quipping on new links and other stuff. Twitter enables me to post those one-line blogs that I don’t feel are worth this space, or to share interesting URLs. Try Twitterrific, TwitterFox, and Twhirl are popular clients. I’ve got my twitter updates in the sidebar you can find me here. If you use twitter, leave me a comment so that I can follow you.

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I know you don’t read this space very often but still. I know that I’ve been a bad boy, I don’t call you very often. I argue, I fight but I guess that’s how all sons are. Work has been tough and compounded to that living alone doesn’t help either. I want to run away from work, servers, conference calls, meetings, cooking, cleaning, and just about everything. I want to run into your outstretched arms at the airport, sleep on your lap while we watch the 9-O-clock news, drown in the aroma of your sambar and gobble up a dozen of your pooris.

I close my eyes and see your white fluffy idlis begging to be eaten,  hear the crackle of your crisp dosas, smell the invigorating flavor of your rasam and feel your upma melt in my mouth. It’s a sign and I know someone’s calling me, and it’s none other than you. So here I disappear form the radar, and dart towards the airport, void of any worries or pressure. Forget the servers, forget the conference calls, forget the meetings, for all I can think of is to sink into your arms. Peace is what I seek and there is no other place in the whole wide world, more peaceful than a mothers hug. Everything can take a back seat for a fortnight because amma, I’m coming home!

luv,
max.

Click here to view the embedded video.

PS: Folks around sambarland, drop a comment if you wanna meetup.

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I resumed blogging after a six-month hiatus and it had to start with a review of a ‘thalaivar padam‘. Not that I hadn’t watched any movies prior to it. There were good ones like the unforgettable ‘Guru‘, the thought provoking ‘Black friday‘, the masaledaar ‘Pirates III’, etc. There were many that escaped being featured on this space like the Bollywood inspired ‘Spidey III‘, the traumatizing ‘himesh ka suroor‘ and the megastar’s mega woeful ‘Shankardada‘ to name a few. I still feel bad for the hate mail my ‘Fanaa‘ review attracted! It however feels good to be back to blogging regularly(almost) and wordpress has helped me connect to a much larger circle of bloggers.

A strong tamil flavor has been surrounding recent posts but this isn’t a deliberate attempt, just that I’ve been watching too many tamil movies offlate and build my sarcasm around them.The frequency of the posts has not been constant and that would be attributed to my (never ending)research work and thesis manuscript. With that out of the way now, I hope to post more frequently and add two sections namely ‘Ad of the week’ and ‘Gaana of the week’ which will showcase my googling abilities and youtube prowess.

The biggies of the year for me would my first job, relocating to Detroit, new car, my thesis and graduation. Though I would love to get back to school, it feels good to be able to meet deadlines at work without having to worry about midnight submissions, assignments, exams and grades. Finishing school and working at the same time is something that is to be attempted with caution, and is not widely recommended. I don’t want to sound cliche

The highlights of the year for me have been my first job, relocation to Detroit, first car, thesis and graduation. I feels great to have finished my thesis and to have graduated which seemed like eternity. I don’t wanna sound clichéd but I really enjoy what I am doing at work. I would love to go back to school but being able to meet deadlines at work without having to worry about obtaining experimental results and tweaking algorithms for optimal performance is a huge relief. I definitely will miss those midnight submissions, assignments, exams, grades and the tomfoolery we did on campus.

It felt really good to submit my thesis on my birthday to the library and get them sign off on the last piece of documentation. I would here like to thank one all all who called me with their wishes and the international calls in particular made me feel very special! I was initially mad at people for using malicious javascript hacks to bastardize orkut scrapbooks and post new year wishes, however each and every one of the 115 scraps I received felt so very good.

Thank you!

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I have now made a so-called significant contribution to the world of science and our proposed algorithm can now protect mobile agents from attacks by malicious hosts. I know it sounds convoluted, but then I myself share the same feeling. After being officially kicked out of grad school I can now dedicate all my time to work(ya rite!). Blogging and my playstation will now fill the void created by the completion of my research and that means more vetti hours.

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The twelveth night of January in 2004 shll be remembered as the night we first blogged.

So it shall be written, so it shall be done!

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