என் சிந்தனைகள்

Jivaji...

2005-12-14T13:48:00.000Z

Folks.. Have you ever heard of Children in our villages Calling Sivaji Ganesan??..

They wouldn't call him Sivaji..but by Jivaji...

Yes.. Welcome the hero of the masses.. the Boss... Jivaji ( i would go by those children in calling Sivaji)

Natpinile...Natpinile...

2005-11-23T09:52:00.000Z

Guys, this song Natpinile...Natpinile... from Kadhal Kondein is driving me Crazy.

When ever this song comes in my Playlist.. It loops atleast 10 times and gets tired !!!!!! before moving to the next song....

What a soft melody number by Yuvan and rendered by Ranjith.

The Lyrics of the song goes as :

Natpinile.... Natpinile... Pirivu enbathu Yethum Illlai...
Yen Manamum Unn Manamum Pesa Vaarthagai Thevai Illai....

Ullukule Ullukule Aaariyam Ennangal Oooduthadi...
Athanayum Athanayum Unthan Paarvai Theduthadi...

Ippadi Naan Ippadi Naan
Ethanai Naal Vazhnthirupen...

Neeyum Illai ..Endru Sonnal
Entha Nizhalil Oivedupaen.......

And one last thing.... this post on the song has no correlation!!!!!! ...but just love this number whenever it comes in my playlist...

Confessions of a PR Company

2005-11-16T17:41:00.000Z

Cohn and Wolfe are an International PR Agency specializing in Marketing and Public Relation Techniques to create media that are inspiring to the Clients and develop businessess for companies.

Here are Interesting Stastics collected by Cohn & Wolfe about its Employees and the Company itself.

* 56% of the Employees would never turn up on a hot date to deliver on a client project --that shows how determined are the employeess? !!!!!

* 18% will have atleast 3 celebrities phone numbers on their mobiles

* 17% have worked in Cohn & Wolfe twice --- So what do you call the Opposite of Attrition rate ?? Any ideas ???

* 6% Will have never eaten Rhubarb

* 6% Will stir their coffee anticlock wise ... Not a reasonable statistic

* 3% will marry their Own Clients ....Aahhaa... Is it a PR Agency Or a Marriage Bureau ???

* 11% will have never Owned a pet

* 58% Will read Red Topps first ---- hmm.. quiet a good confesssions by the Employees of the PR Agency...

Source of these statistics are from here

Funny ..IKEA Advertisements...

2005-11-15T14:46:00.000Z

IKEA are famous chain of stores that gives home products at a cheap rate.

Recently , Balaji's bbthots had a post on IKEA's cheap prices. I am always an admirer of IKEA's advertisements in banners and TV.

Here are two such adverts here.

IKEA usually allots a particular day for Men, targeting the young people to buy products from their store. Here are two adverts making a propoganda with the Catch Phrase ..." A Day only for Guys"...

Batchelors do any activity with anything. In the following Advert, IKEA depicts a guy using Potato Peeler to do his shave.

Machee... Vallavanukkuuu.. Pullum Ayudham daa.... !!!!!!!!!!.....

And in the following image, a guy uses the Shower Curtain Roll to Change the Channel in a Television.

Guys can do anything for they want.. to achieve

The Power of Auto Suggestion ...

2005-11-08T07:10:00.000Z

Autosuggestion is what some thing new i hear for the first time from book Think and Grow Rich. It is an art of influencing your physical or mental state by thoughts and ideas which
come from yourself rather than from other people.

So all the major discoveries and inventions must have come from the Autosuggestion of
the discoverer or the inventor.

I'm sharing a verse that i found it interesting in the book. All credits again to Napoleon Hill, the author of this book.

" If you think you are beaten , you are

If you think you dare not, you dont

If you like to win, but you think you can't

It is almost certain you won't

"If you think you'll lose, you are lost

For out in the world we find

Sucess begins with a fellows will

Its all in the state of mind

"If you think you are outclassed, you are

You've got to think high to rise,

You've got to be sure of yourself before

You can ever win a prize

" Life's battles don't always go

To the Stronger or faster man

But soon or late the man who wins

Is the man "WHO THINKS HE CAN!"

Diwali Celebrations at the Clay Oven, Wembley

2005-11-07T13:12:00.000Z

Last week end... Me and my colleagues had been to the Clay Oven Banquetting Hall in
Wembley, London.

The table where we gathered together was a mix of people of different languages and
different places of origin back in India.

It was a memorable one...and i really enjoyed it.. After the dinner... we had a dance
party and was surprised to find the dance floor fully filled with people just dancing to
the "balle..balle"'s and "Aaajaa...soniye's " .

The Diya's were lit in the centre of the table among rose petals...

One of my colleague Debashis Senguptha along with his friend Anant
From left, Debashis wife, Rekha Chandran and Arjun Pratap Singh
Me and Anil Radhakrishnan.

Dhakshin Pillai sir and his colleague

A Loooonnnnnngg Wait ...

2005-11-07T10:31:00.000Z

It has been a long wait for me to receive a parcel from India. It has been posted on the
20th of October through Air Mail in India and the parcel is still in its Journey.

Again i am not sure..whether the parcel has broken its Journey in the mid way !!!!!...haa..haa..

When i called the local post office call centre here..they boldly said that.. the Parcel has still not
reached this country...

If i had asked her again to check ...She would have literaly beaten me over the phone...such
was the confidence in her that the parcel has not yet come to the UK.

Any way...let me hope.. it would arrive safely though it may take days together....

Has any one come across such a situation...???

MS Office goes Online..

2005-11-02T17:43:00.000Z

With the Advancement of Security features over the Internet, Microsoft has gone one step ahead in providing MS-Office application online...

Now any one who has registered for the services would be able to access MS Office from any where in the world.

And no more hassles of installing and removing MS-Office programs on your PC.

The Plan as of now for Mr.Gates is to provide the service just like how now Windows Online help goes on..

Here is the link on the news article.

Now..Hackers won't have peacefull nights unless otherwise they could find a solution to access the application the otherway round.

Happy Diwali

2005-11-01T17:12:00.000Z

Wish every one a Happy and Prosperous Diwali.

Got some thoughts on this day.

Ravana is depicted in art with up to ten heads, signifying that he had knowledge spanning all the ten directions. He was an accomplished scholar and a Veena player.

Ravana was a great devotee of Shiva and is supposed to have composed the Shiva Tandava Stotra.

Ravana gained enormous powers when he prayed to Brahma, who granted him a boon: Ravana wished that his life be protected from Devas (divinities), Asuras (enemies of the Devas), Rakshasas (demons), Gandharvas (celestial musicians), Yakshas (demigods), and other celestial and magical beings.

In his arrogance, Ravana forgot to ask for protection from man.After gaining such immense powers Ravana became corrupt and selfish; it was soon deemed necessary to rid the world of his tyranny.The poem's characterisation of Ravana serves as an example of the dangers of lust and ego.

All i could infer is , what ever may be the education you have, What ever may be the Origin
of your birth, How ever powerful you may be in terms money, How ever you may be true to
your god....Corrupted mind and Selfishness always leads to evil..

Please click Here to know the impact of a Corrupted mind.

Mr. Murthy...Do you really deserve this Criticism???

2005-10-28T10:24:00.000Z

The Ongoing Cold War between former prime minister H D Deve Gowda and the Infosys Chairman N R Murthy has reached some crucial stage.

It all started with Mr. Deve Gowda criticising Mr.Murthy that he has notcontributed any thing to development of the Bangalore airport. That madeMr. Moorthy to resign as the Chairman of the Bangalore International AirportLimited (BIAL), under the grounds that his roles have not been clearly defined as the Chairman.

Now, Mr.Gowda has struck again with his interview to rediff.com.

Here is a small excerpt of the interview :

Interviewer :

In today's situation, is there anything wrong in Infosys wanting to build a big campus?

Mr. Gowda:

Why do you only harp on Infosys, mister? Why do you want? Why do you want? [Shouts, looks visibly angry]. Is he [N R Narayana Murthy] the only person who built the name and fame of the IT sector? Is Wipro not doing anything?

If you are a true journalist you must have a fair outlook. Infosys, Infosys, Infosys. If Infosys goes, all the world goes?

and the interview....continues in a similar fashion...

Mr.Murthy do you really deserve all these Criticisms ???? !!!! ..

An Advert found at a Gas Station...

2005-10-26T12:47:00.000Z

And ....Now who wants to get GAS after eating ??? !!!!!!!!!!! hmm..

It pays to be Slim...

2005-10-26T12:37:00.000Z

A recent survey has revealed that 93% of the Bosses prefer to recruit SLIM workers

FAT workers find it harder to get jobs and promotions than thin people, a survey revealed yesterday.

More than 90 per cent of bosses admit that when they get an overweight and a slim candidate of the same ability, they are more likely to hire the worker of "normal" size.

One in 10 would not want a large employee to meet a client.

Karen Dempsey, editor of Personnel Today magazine, said :

Ben Willmott, from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, said most bosses choose staff on ability, but added that weight is a "small aspect" which some employers take into account.

Evolution of Niagara..

2005-10-25T16:41:00.000Z

Today , got a forward on the Evolution of Niagara since 1869 to till date....

Hope you can find out how Niagara has evolved over the years...

The following pic, i hope it has been captured while the outskirts of Niagara was constructed.

In the following Pic, i could not find the force of force not so huge, that we used to find
these days... Could you find the difference ???

Again in this picture, Niagara looks like.. just another waterfall....

Niagara in 1911.. Yes.. by now the outskirts of Niagara has been constructed and people have started visiting the big waterfall...

Niagara in 1985... Could you identify the Rainbow in this pic...????

Niagara in 2000...

Niagara.. that stands as of now....

Quotes on Marriage ...Are Bachelors listening??!!!!!!

2005-10-19T18:13:00.000Z

Today got some quotes on marriage ... from a web page..

Here is glimpse of what i read...

"A virtuous woman is a crown to her husband" - Persian Proverb

"Husband and wife in perfect accord are the music of the harp and and lute."--Chinese Proverb

"In buying horses and taking a wife, shut your eyes and commend yourself to God" - Italian proverb

"One should choose a wife with the ears rather than with the eyes," - English Proverb

"If a man would be really happy he should praise a wife but remain a bachelor." - Italian Proverb

"the more a wife loves her husband the more she corrects his faults" -Chinese proverb

"the first wife is a broom, the second a lady - Spanish lore

"The gadding (gossiping) wife will see a snake in the fire" - Eastern Proverb

"You must get a talkative wife if you wish to receive slaps on the face from every one" - Sinhalese Proverb

"Wife and children are bills of charge," - Popular Adage

"A good man will not beat his wife,A good dog will not worry a fowl." --- Chinese Proverb

"Take your wife's first advice, not her second,"

"Even though your wife is small and little, bow down to her in speaking" - this means, be kind to her and do nothing without her advice

"A man in the power of a woman dances to her like a donkey" - Hindustani Proverb

"In the rich woman's house she always commands, he never" - Spanish Proverb

"A fair wife, a wide house, and a back doorWill quickly make a rich man poor" - Marathi Proverb

"The husband's flour, the wife's salt," meaning that both should earn something - West Indian Adage

"A good wife and health Are a man's best wealth"-- Chinese Proverb

"Observe the face of the wife to know the husband's character" - Spanish Adage

"The jealousy of the wife is the path to divorce." - German Proverb

"A man who marries a second time deserves not to have lost his first wife," - German Proverb... Mr.Charles..Are you listening to this??

Ways to reduce spending in London

2005-10-17T09:08:00.000Z

London is the Third most expensive city in the World, as it is observed from the table shown here

Now, Our desi's here have known ways to reduce spending so as to save money during their
short and long term of work here.

Here are the tips and tricks of the game followed by some of our people and other asians here.

* For Trasport get Network Rail Card. So that you get 1/3rd price offduring the off peak hours

* Find a fellow colleague who has a car and share the petrol price withhim for the month

* The best means of transportation is bi cycle or the lowest means isNada raaaja service

* Don't ever eat out. The best way to save money in eating is cook and dine at home

* Dont get Yoghurt(Curd) here. Bring the Curd bacteria from India and put milk over it and try to maintain the same curd.

* Bring all masalas, powders, rice and all other desi stuff while coming from
India, since they are costly here

* Also in your packing items the following should be there in sufficient quantity that should last for years.. Mysore Sandal Soap, Tooth paste,Shampoos etc..

* For Juices during dinner, get a concentrated juice squash and diluteit. this would last for days

* No movies to theatres. Get AOL unlimited connection and download all movies in home itself

* Still if you wife insists on going to theatres for cinema. Look outfor some odd week days on the day which theatres give some discounts.

* Find out days in which Newspapers give some free DVD's of some famous movies.

* Most movie rentals would offer free movies for the first month. Register,
watch movies and cancel the subscription at the end of the month.

Now i get it...what's the plan for the second month?? that's what your
question..am i right??

...You can give your wife's credit card details for the second
month..haa.haa..

* Don't ever call on a mobile to a friend. Instead give a text (SMS) message
to your friends.

* Find the cheapest calling card that gives more minutes to call India

* Identify which commodity is cheap in which superstore. Some super storesgive offer on some food items

* If you are not concerned about the quality, you can go for some buy oneget one free

* Go to museums in London which have their entrance fee for free

* Dont miss out the concerts which are conducted for free in major parkssuch as Hyde park, Green park, etc.

* Decided to get Clothes here. Hm..thats worst decision. Any way, there are some charity shops which offer good clothes for cheap.

Are you paying higher for your PC..???

2005-10-14T10:56:00.000Z

Samsung electronics is about to pay 300 million USD for conspiring along with its fellow DRAM
manufacturers.

In a US district court Samsung electronics has admitted for fixing the price of the DRAM which
priced at 10USD more than the usual price.

Just like Match Fixing... Shall we call this CHIP Price fixing..or Cheap price fixing..???!!!!!

Thanks to Micheal Dell who first raised this issue in a financial conference about the price
fixing issue of the DRAM maunfacturing companies..

Right now ...there are four major DRAM manufacturers who contribute a major share
of the DRAM market....

Samsung (South Korea) - 30.7 %
Hynix (South Korea ) - 16.5 %
Micron (U.S) - 14.7%
Infineon ( Germany) - 13.6%

All the other DRAM manufacturers Hynix, Micron and Infineon have also pleaded guilty in
front of their respective country courts for their conspiracy...

It all shows to prove the tamil proverb : "If you are buying a cow, make sure that the price of the tail is included." ..and those who are searching for the tamil equivalent of this...here you go...

"Maataa kati vaanguraven, thalaium vaalum paarthu vaaganum".

Scotland Trip

2005-09-23T16:14:00.000Z

Dear all,

Its long time since i blogged ( may be bluffed) in my blogspot due to work pressure and other
personal work...

Mean while i had time to create an album on my recent scotland trip along with my room mates.

You can have a look at it here..

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/rajesh77_photos/my_photos

Enjoy the beauty of scotland....

Beslan - One year has passed..

2005-09-01T17:32:00.000Z

Its almost one year now..after the Beslan School tragedy was over. Rediff published a touching
photograph of a child kissing the photo of its relative posted on wall... some thing .. i wanted to share...

Think and Grow Rich - Chapter II Thoughts

2005-08-21T21:51:00.000Z

Napoleon Hill

Source : http://www.think-and-grow-rich.net/resource/napoleon-hill.jpg

The contents of the following are taken from the book, "Think and Grow Rich" by Napoloen Hill.

Here are some of the thoughts from the IInd Chapter of the book.

* The chapter starts with a quote called, "What ever the mind of a man can conceive & believe, it can achieve".

* There are six ways to turn desires in to GOLD.

FIRST: Fix in your mind, the exact amount of money you desire. Be specific in your Amount. i.e. Say Rs 10,000 or 1000UKP.

SECOND: Determine exactly what you intend to give in return to the money you desire. For example: it may be your TV watching time, it may be the time you take to chit chat with your friends, etc..

THIRD: Establish a definite date when you intend to posses the money you desire. Again this has to be specific, like 30th of November.

FOURTH: Create a plan for carrying out your desire and begin executing the plan at once. The plan is critical here. You can choose any means of plan that you are comfortable with.

FIFTH: Now combine the statements you have written in FIRST, SECOND, THIRD and FOURTH.

SIXTH: Read the statement that is created in step FIVE twice daily.

It is important that you follow the SIXTH step daily, so as to develop a burning desire in your mind about the money what you want. It may seem absurd to imagine about the money , before having it in hand. but the desire would make you to look for the ways
to achieve your goal.

* One must realize that all who have accumulated great fortune first did a certain amount of dreaming, hoping, wishing, desiring and planning before they acquired money

* If the thing you wish to do is right, go ahead and never mind what "they" say if you meet with temporary defeat, for "they" perhaps do not know that every failure brings with it the seed often equivalent to success.

* Here comes the funny part of this chapter:

When Marconi announced that he had discovered a principle through which he could send messages thru air, his friends took him to examine his mental stability in a Psychopathic hospital

* Helen Keller life served as evidence that no one ever is defeated until defeat has been accepted as a reality

* All who succeeded in life get off to a bad start and pass through many heart breaking struggles before they reach success.

Shyness

2005-08-20T22:37:00.000Z

Lakshmi Pooja and Raksha Bandan

2005-08-19T21:36:00.000Z

Lakshman, Ram and Sita - the main deity at the temple

Since it was Varalakshmi pooja today, i had been to the nearest Hindu mandir along with my nearest neighbours Harini and Ulaganathan.

Though i had heard about this temple from my colleagues, i never had been there. It was only due to the neighbours pressure , i was forced to know about this temple!!!!. This was the first time i am going to this temple. Harini anni had made strains to bring some sweets and fruits to the temple. It was a Ram temple and i could assume that the management has taken a full house and restructured to form a temple.

The pooja was nice. Harini anni offered the the sweets and fruits at the padam of the Lord to get the lords wishes. Due to this there was a special pooja offered to us by the pujari. OC'la kadavulooda wishes..!!!! ..

Eventually, we offered the same sweets and fruits to the worshipers as prasadam.

Then came a surprise to me, Ulaganathan sir said Harini wants to tie the rakhi to you. All this time both of them have hidden the rakhi in their bag. It was a total surprise for me. If that's your wish, i said...go ahead anni.

Later she tied the Rakhi to my hand and Ulaganathan sir took snap to catch this moment. Since Rakhi was tied suddenly, i could not give her a present. Atleast manasu vanthu 5 pounds koduthen....

Harini Anni tying the Rakhi to me

Shoot of The Da Vinci Code - Should it be allowed???

2005-08-17T12:50:00.000Z

Image Source : http://esoterisme-exp.com/

Dan Brown's famous novel Da Vinci Code has again landed in to controversy as the shooting of the novel is in progress.

Recently the filming of the Da Vinci Code was inaugurated starring Tom Hanks and Ian McKellen.

Ever since the film started , its in to controversy. the reason behind is that, there is an instance in the novel that says.. Jesus got married to a prostitute named Magdalene and had a child out of that relationship.

The churches here in England are divided in their opinion whether to allow the filming of this novel. West Minster Abbey in London (where the novel is set..) has dismissed the book as theologically unsound and has dismissed the application to conduct shooting at its premises.

Though Dan Brown asserts that ..the story is based purely based on fiction. Would any one allow betraying their god ..even in ficton !!!! because i believe that, every religion would assume their god to be the purest soul.

We are aware of the fact that, the Roman Catholics strongly disagreed this story and there was a huge agitation when the novel was released.

Any way, it would be safe for the director Richard Howard to take the film in a way so as not to offend Christian mythology. Otherwise, the film would expect another uproar on its release date.
Considering the title of this article.. its a topic left to debate...

Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill

2005-08-14T22:16:00.000Z

Image Source : www.affordablecovers.com

This week end i received a book from Kannan titled Titled Think and Grow Richby Napoleon Hill.

The Author promises to reveal a "SECRET" which when followed consistenly in our lifewould make us rich. Let me try to find out what the secret is??? !!!!

Some thoughts from the fist chapter of the book..

* There is a quote from Edison that goes like this... " I have learned from years ofexperience with men, that when a man really desires a thing so deeply that he is willingto stake his entire future. he is sure to win".

* Oppurtunity comes in different forms and from different directions, that is one of thetricks of oppurtunity. It has a sly habbit of slipping in by the back door and often itcomes in the form of misfortune.

* Riches cannot always be measured in money. There are great riches in lasting friendships, harmonious family relationships, sympathy and understanding betweenbusiness associates

* One of the weaknessses found in many people is the habit of measuring every thingand every one by their own impression beliefs

Will continue to share my thoughts when ever i find time...

Education

2005-08-13T01:27:00.000Z

Was Einstein responsible for Hiroshima Bombings ? ..This letter says so..

2005-08-09T16:04:00.000Z

Unakkum Kizhae Ullavar Koodi...

2005-08-06T20:55:00.000Z

Life Cycle

2005-08-04T13:18:00.000Z

We forget that the Water Cycle and the Life Cycle are one
- Jacques Cousteau, French Undersea Explorer

J K Rowling : The Harry Potter Goddess...

2005-07-19T22:28:00.000Z

Do you remember the last time when you were waiting on a long queue on a festival day to watch your favourite stars movie???.. The kids here in London had a similar waiting i.e. on July 16th, not to watch a movie but to catch hold of a copy of the book "Harry Potter and the half blood prince". It seems that the person who got the first copy had to stand in front of the waterstones book shop outlet for almost 14hrs together.

What is behind all this hype for a book?.. Its all because of the splendid writing by a person called Joane Katheline Rowling shortly J K Rowling. J K Rowling's Harry potter series has acclaimed so much familiarity among the kids through out the world.

All this because the character what she depicts is a young boy named Potter. Why the name Potter??.. the question rises in every one's mind. It seems she is fond of this name, which happens to be the family name of a neighbour hood person,when she was a child. J K Rowlings story is motivating.

Above Image: J K Rowling revisiting her home in Bristol

Rowling was born to a English couple in a place near Bristol in the UK. She grew up as a mischevious child, always fighting with her younger sister named Diane, shortly called as Di

While Rowling wishes to be called as Jo. Ada namma Jo (Jothika) .illapa...!!!!!
She still remembers an incident of throwing a battery over Di's head, that made a permenant mark on her head till date.

What would you do (if you were a mischevious child), if you find a small hole in the bench of your class room, left by your senior. You would deepen it..am i right?? Yes.. she too did the same. She dig deep with the help of a compass, so that her finger could pass through it. She always had a flair for writing. It seems she wrote her story named "Rabbit" at the age of 6, with some imagination characters in it..

But there were also moments when both Rowling and Di played together. Rowling always plays wild characters in the games they play and these sort of games still continue these days between Rowling and Di, while Rowling's 9 year old daughter Jessica, would just be a silent observer...

She did her graduation at the University of Exeter,studying French. So that it could earn her a job as a bilingual secreatary. After her graduation, she joined a firm in London as Secreatary.She herself admits that she was the worst ever secreatary !!!!. Huh.. it takes great heart to admit like this!!! Though she did the secreatary job, she was always interested in writing short stories.

Later she moved along with her boyfriend to Manchester. The story of Potter seeped out of her mind, while she was travelling from Manchester to London.By the end of the week end, she had a lot of ideas about the story and started taking the notes for the growing story.

She broke up with her boyfriend and moved to Portugal,taking a lecturer job over there. She did her lecture in evenings, so that she can find some time to write her story in the morning hours.This way ..the story of Harry Potter grew up..She got married to a Portuguese journalist named Jorge Artantes and they had a daughter named Jessica. Marriage proved futile to her.She moved to Scotland along with Jessica to be along with her sister Di.

It is only here that she found it hard to pull on her life as a jobless,single parent. But she kept writing her story.

Left Image: hmm.. Now she could find time to write at the cafe ....

When ever Jessica went on for a nap, Rowling would rush to the nearest cafe to continue writing her story.Though she finished her story. She could not publish the book due to lack of funds.The Scottish Arts council came to her rescue, giving her a grant of 13K USD.

She tried searching for literary agents to publish her work. But none of them came forward to publish it. This went on for almost one year. At last, Christopher Little referred her book to Bloomsbury, which published the book in June 1997. After that there was no looking back for her. All of her books sold in millions, that made her now the richest writer in the world with money worth 5 million UK Pounds.

Though the Harry Potter series encourages the reading habbit among children,there is a wide spread criticism that it only teaches witch craft.

At the stroke of 12'a.m. on the 16th of July, Rowling appeared in front of 80 children (Potter Maniac's!!!) selected from through out the world. These children woke till the midnight just to hear JKR to read a chapter from the new book "Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince". I'm just wondering...if they would ever wake up like this..for their exams!!!

Recently the Queen Elizabeth met J K Rowling in an interview at the BBC. Does that reiterate that "The Pen is mightier than the Sword "...???

Some more facts about J K Rowling,

· The first five books in the series have sold more than 17 million copies in the UK alone, with a value of over £100m.

· Harry Potter creator JK Rowling has been the UK's best-selling fiction author between 1998 and 2005.

· The fifth book, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, sold 1.8 million copies in the UK within 24 hours of publication in June 2003, making it Britain's fastest-selling book.

· More than 265 million Harry Potter books have been sold in 200 countries, written in 62 languages.

· More than 1.1 million cassette and CD recordings of the Harry Potter series of novels have been sold.

· The three Harry Potter movies have taken a combined income of £1.35bn at the worldwide box office.

· Movie versions of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, the Chamber of Secrets and the Prisoner of Azkaban broke all UK box office records.

· Released in May 2004, The Prisoner of Azkaban movie made more than £408.2m at the global box office.

· The Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire movie is due to hit UK cinemas in November, with plans already in place for the fifth and sixth films.

· Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets was the UK's fastest-selling DVD, selling more than one million copies in two days.

· JK Rowling has become the world's richest author and the richest woman in the UK.

· The 2005 Sunday Times Rich List estimated her fortune at £500m.

Lance Armstrong : End of a Cycling Era ....

2005-07-11T23:24:00.000Z

Tour de france (The tour of france) is considered one of the most toughest Cycling Competition. This competition spans 23 days and it is held in stages.Each stage would have atleast an average of 170 kilometers to be covered through the hills of France. As on this date of writing 9 stages are completed and it is about get finished on the 24th of this July 2005.

Every one's attention is on one guy who is expected to win this competion and he is none other than Lance Armstrong.He is the defending champion for this competion for the past 6 years. Yes.folks...he has consistently performed to be the champion since 1999, each year. Could you beleive that this very same guy was diagnosed with testicular cancer in 1996.Yes..he was..

I had a chance to read his biography ,"ITS NOT ABOUT THE BIKE. MY JOURNEY BACK TO LIFE".Its worth reading it. I have given it length so as to get the essence of his fight back from cancer.

Image : Lance Armstrong, had always been the leader

The story of Lance Armstrong is inspirational. He was born in Texas,US to LindaArmstrong. Lance's father left her mother when he was a child. Linda worked as a steno and was put to extreme hardship in raising Lance. But she always checked to that Lance's aspirations were always fulfilled. So one fine day, when this little guy asked for a Racing bike,his mother had no other choice than to get it for him.

At one stage when no one was interested in Cycling in the US, Lance was determined that he would never give up this sport. Surprised by his efforts, a local bike shop owner sponsored him for a major cycling competition to be held in Dallas. Lance was a far ahead of his peers in the competition. Days rolled by, he started to win each and every small competition held in Texas. One fine day, the national team selector called him to attend a Medical Examination at the National Testing Laboratory for Bikers. They were surprised to find the test results. The tests showed only less amount of Lactic acid secreted in Amrstrong. When a person does a stress full activity such as running, the secretion of Lactic acid is what causes tiredness. but it seems,Lance was not all tired!!!!! even after 3 hours of cycling.

Then came the good news. He was selected for the US National team. Initial days in the team was hard for Lance, loosing all the competition he participated. He was appointed with a coach named Chris Carmichael. Lance would always be aggressive in his approach right from the start of the game. But Chris expected him to be patient during the initial stages of the competition, So that he can gain stamina during the terminal stages. But Lance would never listen his words.The coach was so determined to change Lance's approach. But one fine day,Lance changed his approach as that of the coach. Since then he understood the idea of performing consistentently and started to finish among the leaders in the competition.

It seemed every thing went fine for the aspiring cyclist. But Lance started feeling bad during his european tour. He felt too much tired early in the race. Also there were signs of his prostrate getting enlarged day by day. He didn't give attention to that and started concentrating on the consecutive Cycle tours in Europe.After coming back to Dallas, he had a medical examination being held. Though Lance had a faint idea of a possible cancer, he was shattered by the news that he has a 3rd stage Prostrate Cancer. Lance did not panic.His mother Linda was by his side always.

Lance started taking treatment with proper diet and pills. This was way back in 1996.He had 2 years to recuperate and came back with a vegeance. He was feeling normal by the end of 1998 and the medical examinations showed that he was fit for cycling competition as well.During his 2 year break, Lance was always practising Cycling. Lance announced that he would participate in all european championships to be held in 1999.

He had good start at the Italian Championships. Then came the Tour de France. He wanted his mother to watch the competition. So the simple steno, Linda was forced to take leave from her work and fly all the way from Dallas to France to watch his son, racing.

But her coming only added a moral boost to him that made him to be the Champion. Every one were taken by surprise..How come a person who was affected by Cancer would win such a tough competition.

Image: The Proud Mother Linda Armstrong , after Lance's victory in Tour de france in 1999

After that there was no looking back for Lance. He started winning almost all the major cycling races. Truly he is considered a Legend and no one would match his fighting spirit.

But all good things come to an end. At the start of this Tour de france championships,Lance announced that he would retire after the Tour de france. In his Own words.." I dont need fame. I dont need attention. I dont need money. All i need to have peaceful family life". While 34 is the normal age to retire from Cycling Sport, but Lance still has the confidence of winning the championships for another 2 years. But he feels thathe is missing his son and wife. Perhaps he wants to give the parental guidance to his son,which he missed in his childhood !!

One fine morning, if you are feeling that you are at Ground Zero, remember Lance. He came with an vengeance from negative (cancer). He fought back his disease and was successful in his career that spanned 14 years.

Come this July 24, whether Lance will be in the Podium of the Champioship or not. We would always remember him as a tough fighter not only in his competition but in his life too...

About the film "Sarkar" ...

2005-07-08T13:05:00.000Z

Last tuesday i.e. on July 5th... i had been to a hindi film called "Sarkar" along with my colleagues to a near by Cineplex in a place called Luton..

You can ask why on a tuesday??? not a week end.... On tuesday's we get discounted tickets at that cineplex...the Economy factor plays in...!!!!!

Luton is a place mostly dominated by Asians... so we would have all the latest bollywood films premiered there...

It started with leaving the office early....hope u can very well judge that... we are just enjoying after our latest application release...and the development work for the next release..has just started...

One of our colleague who stays in Luton dropped me and 2 of our colleagues (Vijay and Abhishek) near to the cineplex...

It was raining ..and still we continued to go to a near by Burger King outlet perhaps to grab a burger....

Later we were joined along with other colleagues and their families at the cineplex....

The cinema hall was small with just some 50 seats in it...

To begin with the Film was Nice from the start...though i read the preview of the film before going there... i had a faint idea.. that Ram Gopal Verma was inspired by the God Father film...to make Sarkar...

As usual Amitabh was good in his facial expressions... Abhishek is now transforming to a matured actor... Katrina Kaif had no scenes to have romance with Abhishek.... all she could
do...is to just persuade Abhishek to return back to the US...

The funniest part was the character of a telugu comedian acting as a Politician...when ever
he says..." My style is South...Actions are North...."...my fellow colleagues..would start
looking at me..and start calling...Rajesh...Rajesh... Is that true???

All i could do..is to just keep smiling and persuade them to continue to watch the movie...

English subtitles were on...so it was a nice chance for me..to learn some unknown hindi words...

There were no intervals... Neeraj Sharma was generous enough to spend some time to go out and grab popcorns... that was shared by all of us...

It was a good time pass on a long summer evening here...and we enjoyed it....

About the song Ninaithu Ninaithu from 7GRC

2005-07-08T09:24:00.000Z

Ninaithu... Ninaithu ...song had 2 versions...

One was rendered by Kay Kay and another by Shreya Goshal....

First let us take the Shreya's one (Ladies first!!!!)

The song starts with a initial gushing of Saxophone and later by a piano... Many think that this initial piece is by Yuvan Shankar....but the truth is ..its NOT...

When the song came initially... most of my friends said...they have heard that initial gush..some where ...but they could not remember ...by who and where it was...

Later we found that... it was by Peter Brotzmann...a famous musician know for his saxophone skills in the US. His work is mostly based on emotions...though his style was Jazz...

Have you ever felt ..that deep feeling and emotional reaction...when ever that Shreya's version starts playing..

if it is so..that is due to Peter Brotzmann... may be Yuvan must have taken this
piece..since the film is also based on emotions....This piece must have been taken from either his master piece Machine Gun or the from the Nipples album... It seems Brotzmann is famous for his synchronization with fellow musicians...it may be...either 6 persons or even 8...

I am looking forward to hearing his Machine Gun album atleast...

Coming to the song... Shreya Goshal would have made a tamil kolai in that... some words were not clear in expression...

The other one by Kay Kay is a good number...

In case if you are searching for this Lyrics of this song... here you go.....

ninaithu ninaithu paarthaen
nerungi vilagi nadandhaen
unnaal dhaanae naanae vaazhgiRaen
oh unnil indru ennai paarkkiRaen

eduthu padithu mudikkum munnae
eriyum kadidham edhaRku peNNae?
unnaal dhaanae naanae vaazhgiRaen
oh unnil indru ennai paarkkiRaen
amarndhu paesum marangaLin nizhalum
unnai kaetkum eppadi solvaen
udhirndhu poana malarin mounama?
thoodhu paesum kolusin oliyai aRaigaL kaetkum eppadi solvaen?
udaindhu poana vaLaiyal paesuma?

uLLangaiyial veppam saerkkum viralgaL indru engae?
thoaLil saayndhu kadhaigaL paesa mugamum illai ingae
mudhal kanavu mudiyum munnamae
thookkam kalaindhadhey

(ninaithu ninaithu...)

paesi poana vaarthaigaL ellaam
kaalam dhoaRum kaadhinil kaetkum
saambal kaRaiyum vaarthai kaRaiyuma?
paarthu poana paarvaigaL ellaam
pagalum iravum kaeLvigaL kaetkum
uyirum poagum uruvam poaguma?

thodarndhu vandha nizhalgaL ingae
theeyil saerndhu poagum
thiruttu poana thadayam paarthum
nambavillai naanum

oru tharuNam edhirinil thoandruvaay endrae vaazhgiRaen naanum....

Blasts rock London !!!

2005-07-07T17:06:00.000Z

It was a sloggy day today... with the news of the bomb blasts in London Underground at the Aldgate station spreading across our office....

We thought it was a minor incident ... but later it turned out to be worst...as when the news of the series of blasts started coming...this made Tony Blair to return to London from his G8 summit from the Gleneagles in scotland....

With lots of emails pouring in... reagarding my safety... i was forced to convince my friends...that i am safe here...sitting some 25 miles away from the site of the bomb blast......

Thank god...one of my previous colleague Rashmi ...had a narrow escape from the attack at the Kings Cross Station... She reported that she heard the sound of the blast after leaving the station and heading towards her office...

The series of blasts has made london stand still... People of London were expecting this sort of
attack...at some point of time... its their anticipation that had made them to face this terrorist
attack with a bold face...

People have started referring to this attack as 07/07... similar to the 09/11 attacks at the
WTC in US way back in 2001.

The stock prices down drastically... though the US stock exchange gained later in the day.. Rediff reported that indians have lost almost 33k crores in the BSE trade..due to this news...

By the end of the day, it has been confirmed that 39 people are dead and 700 were injured...

My First Posting...

2005-07-07T15:39:00.000Z

Well to begin with, let me start with how i created this blog first of all...

It all started with chatting with one of my friend today morning...who referred this website...

For a long time, blogging was in my mind ....and today it became true...

So today, the best thing that i have learnt...is hw to blog my ideas...

Will start posting , as when time permits....