As the summer semester draws to a close (not the season), it is now time for a brand new semester to begin. My second year at Graduate school would officially begin and I hope to finish my MS thesis on time and defend it as my PhD Qualifiers too, after all the delays. I also will be teaching full-time this semester along with 2-3 courses. I will also have two papers due for a conference sometime beginning of October. Hopefully, I should be able carry it all through well. There are going to be quite a few long weekends this semester, one in September first week and two in November. Also, the India shopping spree should begin sometime too(that is if I am making a trip to India this December-January).
Good luck to me ( :) ) and to others!
Aug 15, 2007
Aug 11, 2007
Enadhuyire
An instant blog for a new song! The song is Enadhuyire from the movie Bheema and music is by Harris Jayaraj.
This song from Bheema is sung by Sadhna Sargam, Chinnmayee, Sowmya Raoh and Nikhil Matthew(Vijay TV's Super Singer winner). Perhaps the promise of Harris Jeyaraj that he would give an opportunity for the SS winner, to sing in his film is finally made. I guess this is Sadhana Sargam's first song with HJ too.
Begins with Sadhna Sargam's voice then mixes into Chinnmayee's voice and some tabla followed by Nikhil Matthew's voice and Sowmya Raoh. He sounds a little like Naresh Iyer, but I am beginning to take back my words.
It is a pretty slow song, and this is the only one I heard in the album and developed an instant liking for this one. I like the "mmhhmm Tha"..... that the song begins with. And Sadhna Sargam's Tamil has improved greatly these days, as told about the song in Kireedam.
Though the song reminds me of a million other songs, it is still simple and sweet. The songs has a striking resemblance to Mayilirage in the initial stages, Munbe Vaa(esp. the Naan Naana Kaetten Ennai Naane..... is there in this song and one cannot miss that) and Aagaya Sooriyaai. Hope it is picturized well!
This song from Bheema is sung by Sadhna Sargam, Chinnmayee, Sowmya Raoh and Nikhil Matthew(Vijay TV's Super Singer winner). Perhaps the promise of Harris Jeyaraj that he would give an opportunity for the SS winner, to sing in his film is finally made. I guess this is Sadhana Sargam's first song with HJ too.
Begins with Sadhna Sargam's voice then mixes into Chinnmayee's voice and some tabla followed by Nikhil Matthew's voice and Sowmya Raoh. He sounds a little like Naresh Iyer, but I am beginning to take back my words.
It is a pretty slow song, and this is the only one I heard in the album and developed an instant liking for this one. I like the "mmhhmm Tha"..... that the song begins with. And Sadhna Sargam's Tamil has improved greatly these days, as told about the song in Kireedam.
Though the song reminds me of a million other songs, it is still simple and sweet. The songs has a striking resemblance to Mayilirage in the initial stages, Munbe Vaa(esp. the Naan Naana Kaetten Ennai Naane..... is there in this song and one cannot miss that) and Aagaya Sooriyaai. Hope it is picturized well!
Aug 10, 2007
Music Rejuvenates!
This summer has been good to me in quite a few fronts. It gave me the time to look for lot of stuff, including good music, both new and old. I found a lot of songs that seem to be quite refreshing. Though they are all not favorites of the masses, they are distinct in their own right. And here is a list of songs that I developed a liking over this summer.
The first one that comes to my mind is Shauk Hai from Guru. The song comes in bits and pieces accompanying the subtleromance between Madhavan and Vidya Balan. Mainly with music from piano, it slowly grows on you. and Sowmya Rao who sung this has definitely put in great effort to get her best out.
Yeh Rishta from Meenaxi is seemingly refreshing both to hear and to see. Never have I seen a desert in such glory, nor have I heard someone who could sing a song as flawless as this one. Reena Bharadwaj, earlier heard in Baba Kichu Tha, is an underrated singer. A. R. Rahman simply does magic with this one again.
Dil Ne Jise Apna Kaha is yet another simple song with light orchestration. The piano interlude in this is simply marvelous. I have no ides who the singers of this one are, but whoever they are, they have done a great job.
Ennuyir Thozhiye from Kangalal Kaidhu Sei is one of ARR's best songs till date. I usually used to skip this song on my playlists, but I heard it one morning and since then I have been listening to it atleast once everyday. Chinmayi is at her best in this one, though she was excellent with Tere Bina and Sahana. I just compare this one with Sahana song from Sivaji. This has beautiful orchestration and her alaaps are too good. Unni Menon as usual is great with his rendition. But, what a tragic waste of good music for the crappy movie.
Nenjae Nenjae from Ratchakan is a great duet with KJ Yesudas and Sadhna Sargam. While Sadhna struggles with her Tamil, this is a gem of a song. I am not too sure what is the background of the song, but I guess it must be in an appropriate position. A simple song, with simple lyrics(simple for me to understand) went unnoticed.
Uppu Kallu from Karupasaamy Kuththagaidharar - I already have a post on this one.
Akkam Pakkam from Kireedam is a new one, but I developed an instant liking to this one. The video is also fine and both Ajith and Trisha look good in this one. Sadhana Sargam has come a long way in Tamil Music and has her pronunciation right in this one. It is a totally sweet song.
Unnai Kandane from Parijatham is a slow one with new singers. I also like the Edho Nadakkudu song from this movie. Not bad music for an apparently watchable movie. A refreshing song, with fresh faces and unseen locales.
Maula Mere Maula from Anwar is a soothing melody from Roopkumar Rathod. The movie was depressing though.
Achchi Lagthi Ho from Kuch Naa Kaho is a great duet with Udit Narayan and Kavita Krishnamurthy. It is distinctly different from the usual duets and has a pretty well-choreographed video too. Aishwarya Rai looks very much different from her usual plastic look.
That was a long list. I am just waiting to get a CD/MP3 player with good speakers and I will be listening to these songs and many more, to glory, rather than on my Dell Laptop.
The first one that comes to my mind is Shauk Hai from Guru. The song comes in bits and pieces accompanying the subtleromance between Madhavan and Vidya Balan. Mainly with music from piano, it slowly grows on you. and Sowmya Rao who sung this has definitely put in great effort to get her best out.
Yeh Rishta from Meenaxi is seemingly refreshing both to hear and to see. Never have I seen a desert in such glory, nor have I heard someone who could sing a song as flawless as this one. Reena Bharadwaj, earlier heard in Baba Kichu Tha, is an underrated singer. A. R. Rahman simply does magic with this one again.
Dil Ne Jise Apna Kaha is yet another simple song with light orchestration. The piano interlude in this is simply marvelous. I have no ides who the singers of this one are, but whoever they are, they have done a great job.
Ennuyir Thozhiye from Kangalal Kaidhu Sei is one of ARR's best songs till date. I usually used to skip this song on my playlists, but I heard it one morning and since then I have been listening to it atleast once everyday. Chinmayi is at her best in this one, though she was excellent with Tere Bina and Sahana. I just compare this one with Sahana song from Sivaji. This has beautiful orchestration and her alaaps are too good. Unni Menon as usual is great with his rendition. But, what a tragic waste of good music for the crappy movie.
Nenjae Nenjae from Ratchakan is a great duet with KJ Yesudas and Sadhna Sargam. While Sadhna struggles with her Tamil, this is a gem of a song. I am not too sure what is the background of the song, but I guess it must be in an appropriate position. A simple song, with simple lyrics(simple for me to understand) went unnoticed.
Uppu Kallu from Karupasaamy Kuththagaidharar - I already have a post on this one.
Akkam Pakkam from Kireedam is a new one, but I developed an instant liking to this one. The video is also fine and both Ajith and Trisha look good in this one. Sadhana Sargam has come a long way in Tamil Music and has her pronunciation right in this one. It is a totally sweet song.
Unnai Kandane from Parijatham is a slow one with new singers. I also like the Edho Nadakkudu song from this movie. Not bad music for an apparently watchable movie. A refreshing song, with fresh faces and unseen locales.
Maula Mere Maula from Anwar is a soothing melody from Roopkumar Rathod. The movie was depressing though.
Achchi Lagthi Ho from Kuch Naa Kaho is a great duet with Udit Narayan and Kavita Krishnamurthy. It is distinctly different from the usual duets and has a pretty well-choreographed video too. Aishwarya Rai looks very much different from her usual plastic look.
That was a long list. I am just waiting to get a CD/MP3 player with good speakers and I will be listening to these songs and many more, to glory, rather than on my Dell Laptop.
Jul 28, 2007
2005 and Two years later......
A sudden gush of hot air greeted me, when I got off the aircraft on Aug 6th 2005 at 2 am. I was like - 'What place have I landed in?', 'Is this the place I am going to spend a significant portion of my life?(Then it was 2 years, though it is a lot longer now....)'.
Excluding the two month long lazy trip to Bangalore last summer, I really have been around Tempe all while. So it does make sense to put some thoughts about my life in this _____(read blank) town.
This guy who's never been away from home had set his foot on the US soil (read concrete) and was raring to go. A lot of expectations from within and from others made him pretty responsible and not take things too lightly. But would this thing last.....
No more relatives around, all friends(mostly new ones), roommates, (who could be the best thing to happen to you, or at times the worst too!), professors, bosses at work, students of other nationalities in the classes all would seem new to this person, who has never been in a hostel either. A not-so-frequent call to back home, counting the number of minutes spoken(or the duration the calling card would last for) used to be the case with most of us. But thanks to the ever reliable company, it did seem reasonable to talk to loved ones pretty frequently. Weekends used to be fixed for webcam chat and voice chat, by those who felt 'Seeing is Believing'. For me, weekend meant sleeping for long. I still believe so.
A totally new variation in teaching style, asignments, labs, exams seemed wierd initially, but not anymore. Waiting outside a professor's office, during office hours to ask help with assignments or to talk about being prospective research assistants(read funding!) all took place. And I did land up with a very sweet professor too! There's no feeling for an exam here as back in India, and the grades really don't matter after a while. Research does matter a lot though!
A sudden change from eating cooked food to preparing food without a transitional phase in between was something shocking. But it was handled comfortably, thanks to tips from mom, cooking turns amongst roomies and free food give-aways by the hotels here. Why would I speak more about the food, it should be more emphasis on other stuff done in these two years!
Shopping was something that fascinated me in this country and I would shop away to glory, after all there is a credit card to pay! Be it groceries or other things, I would enjoy it.
The types of people I came across would be either good or bad, opportunistic or helpful. This stint did teach me a lot and made me more independent, patient(after all who would listen to me shout, other than my family). I also figured out it improved my time-management skills etc. I found myself at the receiving end, when people helped me initially. But, I am able to do it now much to my satisfaction!
After all, these two years weren't two bad and hope the next couple of years would be as smooth as this, or perhaps smoother!
God bless me and the world!
Excluding the two month long lazy trip to Bangalore last summer, I really have been around Tempe all while. So it does make sense to put some thoughts about my life in this _____(read blank) town.
This guy who's never been away from home had set his foot on the US soil (read concrete) and was raring to go. A lot of expectations from within and from others made him pretty responsible and not take things too lightly. But would this thing last.....
No more relatives around, all friends(mostly new ones), roommates, (who could be the best thing to happen to you, or at times the worst too!), professors, bosses at work, students of other nationalities in the classes all would seem new to this person, who has never been in a hostel either. A not-so-frequent call to back home, counting the number of minutes spoken(or the duration the calling card would last for) used to be the case with most of us. But thanks to the ever reliable company, it did seem reasonable to talk to loved ones pretty frequently. Weekends used to be fixed for webcam chat and voice chat, by those who felt 'Seeing is Believing'. For me, weekend meant sleeping for long. I still believe so.
A totally new variation in teaching style, asignments, labs, exams seemed wierd initially, but not anymore. Waiting outside a professor's office, during office hours to ask help with assignments or to talk about being prospective research assistants(read funding!) all took place. And I did land up with a very sweet professor too! There's no feeling for an exam here as back in India, and the grades really don't matter after a while. Research does matter a lot though!
A sudden change from eating cooked food to preparing food without a transitional phase in between was something shocking. But it was handled comfortably, thanks to tips from mom, cooking turns amongst roomies and free food give-aways by the hotels here. Why would I speak more about the food, it should be more emphasis on other stuff done in these two years!
Shopping was something that fascinated me in this country and I would shop away to glory, after all there is a credit card to pay! Be it groceries or other things, I would enjoy it.
The types of people I came across would be either good or bad, opportunistic or helpful. This stint did teach me a lot and made me more independent, patient(after all who would listen to me shout, other than my family). I also figured out it improved my time-management skills etc. I found myself at the receiving end, when people helped me initially. But, I am able to do it now much to my satisfaction!
After all, these two years weren't two bad and hope the next couple of years would be as smooth as this, or perhaps smoother!
God bless me and the world!
Jul 26, 2007
Favorite Movies - II
So here's it's sequel to an earlier blog, listing my favorite movies.
Kannathil Muththamittal - One movie that actually stirred up the emotions in me. Probably the first movie that I cried, a beginning of a never-ending thing. Simran fitted to here role to the T. It should have probably be named Indira, than Amrutha or Kannathil Muththamittal. Keerthana P.S. was one child artiste that I enjoyed after Shyamili. Madhavan was not in his usual chocolate boy role. Nanditha Das' performance in the climax was amazing. sad that Simran lost out on the National award, since she had her voice dubbed (by Deepa Venkat).
Flavors - A really sweet cute desi-american movie. Realistic, though most people seemed to be Andhrites,(which is one reason why it was real). All the scenes seemed as if it was happening right next door. A person who has been in the US, will appreciate this movie even better. The chemistry between Karthik and his friend was something rare, and they were the best couple in the movie. The mother-father duo from India(seen in Waagle ki Duniya), seemed really practical. One should have a mom like that one. My mom, is surely one. The Ramana Dasara... guy was fun too, especially with Karthik in the scene in the hotel. Candy alias Chandramukhi, with her rules for her apartment roommates, which had 'Candy makes the rules' as the first rule, was a practical girl. Overall, a good H1 visa holders' movie.
Bombay - The Maniratnam magic worked with the Bombay blasts as the theme. The simple romance between the lead pair was a good thing in the movie too. ARR had good songs for this one, particularly Uyire, and the theme.
Padayappa - The only reason for this to be on the list could be Rajnikant's style and more importantly Neelambari aka Ramya Krishnan's flawless acting. A typical Rajni masala movie, though with a complex storyline had a clear screenplay. And for once, Rajni let someone speak against him.
Mugavari - An Ajith movie, had the yearning of a young guy to become a music director, yet wanting to support his family which has been really good to him. Jyothika was good in this one. The soundtrack was a rehash of many English songs, thanks to the copycat Deva.
Sathi Leelavathi - A laugh riot and all characters were reponsible for the success. ONe cannot single out a character which didn't contribute to the share. Kamalhassan and Kovai Sarala were a fun couple. One of the best comedy movies till date. I want to watch the Kannada version of this one.
Michael Madana Kamarajan - Never can a movie be made this way. 4 Kamalhassans and each of them having a different storyline, yet linked later on. Why don't movies have such strong storylines these days.
Kannathil Muththamittal - One movie that actually stirred up the emotions in me. Probably the first movie that I cried, a beginning of a never-ending thing. Simran fitted to here role to the T. It should have probably be named Indira, than Amrutha or Kannathil Muththamittal. Keerthana P.S. was one child artiste that I enjoyed after Shyamili. Madhavan was not in his usual chocolate boy role. Nanditha Das' performance in the climax was amazing. sad that Simran lost out on the National award, since she had her voice dubbed (by Deepa Venkat).
Flavors - A really sweet cute desi-american movie. Realistic, though most people seemed to be Andhrites,(which is one reason why it was real). All the scenes seemed as if it was happening right next door. A person who has been in the US, will appreciate this movie even better. The chemistry between Karthik and his friend was something rare, and they were the best couple in the movie. The mother-father duo from India(seen in Waagle ki Duniya), seemed really practical. One should have a mom like that one. My mom, is surely one. The Ramana Dasara... guy was fun too, especially with Karthik in the scene in the hotel. Candy alias Chandramukhi, with her rules for her apartment roommates, which had 'Candy makes the rules' as the first rule, was a practical girl. Overall, a good H1 visa holders' movie.
Bombay - The Maniratnam magic worked with the Bombay blasts as the theme. The simple romance between the lead pair was a good thing in the movie too. ARR had good songs for this one, particularly Uyire, and the theme.
Padayappa - The only reason for this to be on the list could be Rajnikant's style and more importantly Neelambari aka Ramya Krishnan's flawless acting. A typical Rajni masala movie, though with a complex storyline had a clear screenplay. And for once, Rajni let someone speak against him.
Mugavari - An Ajith movie, had the yearning of a young guy to become a music director, yet wanting to support his family which has been really good to him. Jyothika was good in this one. The soundtrack was a rehash of many English songs, thanks to the copycat Deva.
Sathi Leelavathi - A laugh riot and all characters were reponsible for the success. ONe cannot single out a character which didn't contribute to the share. Kamalhassan and Kovai Sarala were a fun couple. One of the best comedy movies till date. I want to watch the Kannada version of this one.
Michael Madana Kamarajan - Never can a movie be made this way. 4 Kamalhassans and each of them having a different storyline, yet linked later on. Why don't movies have such strong storylines these days.
Jul 22, 2007
Self check out
The supermarkets in the US have this Self checkout option, to avoid making their customers wait in the forever serpentine queues. All items, except discrete vegetable and fruits have a bar code on them and you would scan the bar code.
The experience last week at the 'Always Low prices' store was not all that desirable. We keyed in the bar code number more number of times, than actually scanning the barcode. The machine/bar-code reader isn't sensitive at all, and even a Walmart employee who came to help, couldn't do it himself. It was worse, if one got multiple quantities of the same thing, since it didn't scan the second or the third piece of the same item. I wonder how cashiers do it all the time. Hats off to their efficiency.
At the Food and drug store, it is way better off, though I've faced the same problem, but not to this magnitude.
The experience last week at the 'Always Low prices' store was not all that desirable. We keyed in the bar code number more number of times, than actually scanning the barcode. The machine/bar-code reader isn't sensitive at all, and even a Walmart employee who came to help, couldn't do it himself. It was worse, if one got multiple quantities of the same thing, since it didn't scan the second or the third piece of the same item. I wonder how cashiers do it all the time. Hats off to their efficiency.
At the Food and drug store, it is way better off, though I've faced the same problem, but not to this magnitude.
Jul 19, 2007
Summer in AZ - My Experience
If there was an alternative to an hair dryer in the amount of hot air blown, it would be the wind in Tempe or in general the wind in the valley. It was this gush of hot air that greeted when I landed in Tempe. I never knoew I would be associated with it for this long. Last summer, I was in India, enjoying the monsoons, But this summer, here I am, enjoying the heatwave in Tempe.
It was a late summer, May was particularly pleasant compared to the last May. This June was like how last May was, the summer has had a one month offset. Hope August doesn't get too hot though. The temperatures scorch at 112 F on most days and have gone upto 117 F. This is the temperature in the shade apparently. So the really one is a few degrees higher. The worst time to walk in the sun would be between 3-5 pm. The least temperature would be 85 F at 4:30 am and may last till 5 am. I have seen the temperature hit 100 F by 7 or 8 am. The beginning of this week had some showers which made the next morning very humid. It was like Chennai, sticky and sweaty!
I chose to teach this summer, to keep myself occupied and for monetary benefits too. It would have been really boring if I had to immerse in research all the time, even though I am finiding it good to do that now. I didn't make a trip to India, in order to facilitate a faster MS thesis defense and PhD qualifier. Also I am working on a few conference-level papers, which I definitely need to have, since I have been researching for so long. I feel it was good decision that I made to stick around during the summer, since it is so relaxed and my only focus is on research.
My teaching experience this summer is something that I need to make a mention of. I was handling the basic Circuits class for the first time, even though I have TAed for the next course in circuits. But this was an experience, since it was mostly non-EE students and most of them had this as their first course in EE. The labs that I taught were pretty simple and not too demanding. I tried to experiment around introducing a new lab and giving guidelines for their reports. It did help me a lot, since I saved a lot of grading time. I should probably implement it in the next semester, if I am let to handle a lab all by myself. Also, I had the opportunity to set a lab final and it was like reliving my BE lab exam experiences. I did receive good feedback from the students, though there were these usual complaints. But one thing that I was surprised was that 'I was rude/impatient' from a particular student, so I learned what I had to control. Be it my saccharine tone or liberal attitude or my impatience, it needs to be offered only in moderation.
I didn't watch too many movies, probably because I found a lot of company to talk to. But I did watch Hrishikesh Mukherjee's two classics, Khoobsurat and Chupke Chupke, thanks to Kumar. I watched Sivaji, in a movie hall, and at home I saw Flavors, and a few other ones that I don't remeber at this point in time. I prefer watching TV, now that lot of India channels are up on the net for free. Also, I tried to build my music collection and I felt happy doing so.
Also my work at the administrative office in the university was of great relief from the stress and boredom :)
Overall, not a bad summer!
It was a late summer, May was particularly pleasant compared to the last May. This June was like how last May was, the summer has had a one month offset. Hope August doesn't get too hot though. The temperatures scorch at 112 F on most days and have gone upto 117 F. This is the temperature in the shade apparently. So the really one is a few degrees higher. The worst time to walk in the sun would be between 3-5 pm. The least temperature would be 85 F at 4:30 am and may last till 5 am. I have seen the temperature hit 100 F by 7 or 8 am. The beginning of this week had some showers which made the next morning very humid. It was like Chennai, sticky and sweaty!
I chose to teach this summer, to keep myself occupied and for monetary benefits too. It would have been really boring if I had to immerse in research all the time, even though I am finiding it good to do that now. I didn't make a trip to India, in order to facilitate a faster MS thesis defense and PhD qualifier. Also I am working on a few conference-level papers, which I definitely need to have, since I have been researching for so long. I feel it was good decision that I made to stick around during the summer, since it is so relaxed and my only focus is on research.
My teaching experience this summer is something that I need to make a mention of. I was handling the basic Circuits class for the first time, even though I have TAed for the next course in circuits. But this was an experience, since it was mostly non-EE students and most of them had this as their first course in EE. The labs that I taught were pretty simple and not too demanding. I tried to experiment around introducing a new lab and giving guidelines for their reports. It did help me a lot, since I saved a lot of grading time. I should probably implement it in the next semester, if I am let to handle a lab all by myself. Also, I had the opportunity to set a lab final and it was like reliving my BE lab exam experiences. I did receive good feedback from the students, though there were these usual complaints. But one thing that I was surprised was that 'I was rude/impatient' from a particular student, so I learned what I had to control. Be it my saccharine tone or liberal attitude or my impatience, it needs to be offered only in moderation.
I didn't watch too many movies, probably because I found a lot of company to talk to. But I did watch Hrishikesh Mukherjee's two classics, Khoobsurat and Chupke Chupke, thanks to Kumar. I watched Sivaji, in a movie hall, and at home I saw Flavors, and a few other ones that I don't remeber at this point in time. I prefer watching TV, now that lot of India channels are up on the net for free. Also, I tried to build my music collection and I felt happy doing so.
Also my work at the administrative office in the university was of great relief from the stress and boredom :)
Overall, not a bad summer!
Jul 15, 2007
Help Vinay!
The bone marrow drive for Vinay was held at Chandler temple on Ray Road today. I went and gave the sample and registered. I really felt happy doing so. It doesn't hurt to do this. After all, it is spending some time and giving a few samples of saliva. The collection does not even take a minute.
After all there are 1 in 20,000 matches for South Asian and you could be the one to save a life.
My friend Suchindra informed me of this and I felt I would go if there was a drive in PHoenix and luckily there was one.
More information on http://www.helpvinay.org/dp/index.php and http://www.helpvinay.org/dp/index.php?q=node/252
After all there are 1 in 20,000 matches for South Asian and you could be the one to save a life.
My friend Suchindra informed me of this and I felt I would go if there was a drive in PHoenix and luckily there was one.
More information on http://www.helpvinay.org/dp/index.php and http://www.helpvinay.org/dp/index.php?q=node/252
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