Light of the Lamp

Hi friends,                  This is my alternate take on the age old, (more than 30 years!) all-timer, musical hit of K. Balachander, SindhuBhairavi. I have watched it many times over not just for the sheer musical versatility which it offered, but for the intellectual discussions on music between Shivakumar(JKB) and Suhasini(Sindhu), the inimitable chemistry between them which I felt every time I watched, the other characters like the mridanga vidwan (Delhi Ganesh), Gajapathi who plays tamburu, the judge, the pure and innocent Bharavi (Sulakshana), Prathap Pothan silently in love with Suhasini who all make the film wholesome, lively and never boring even for a minute. The directorial genius of K. Balachander was visible throughout the film. It is surprising that he was not awarded the best film director at the national level. I have not watched Shri Sivakumar's (Surya's father) films much, and even today I remember him only in the role of...

Dear friends,                      Yep, finally we made to the city of empirical ruins, i.e Hampi. This was in our bucket list for a long time, and each time, when we planned to go, it got 'ruined' due to 'political', 'personal' reasons. But, this time, there were no reasons to stop us except the scorching summer heat and we did not allow it to 'ruin' our plans. Summer is an off-season to visit this place, as the temperatures hover around 40 to 43 degrees during the daytime. Still, it is better to book rooms well in advance, so that you get a decent and comfortable accommodation for good deals.                                                 So, off we headed to the northern part of Karnataka for the first time, and it was different and exciting as we usually travel South from Bangalore to visit places like Myso...

Hi folks,     Don't hit me, don't get me wrong!! I am not asking you to break up with your spouses, lovers or significant others. If some of you have watched the recent ads shown in the TV, then I am sure you would not have missed the one on OLX app, which is a site to find the buyers and sellers near your area. This one with the crisp portrayal of group of youngsters swapping the goods in style and with catchy phrases looked good enough to catch my attention. The two ladies bowing in a Japanese fashion and exchanging the headphones, selling sunglasses in a stylish way, exchanging a leather bag while skating, the smile of a happy buyer of 'bean bag or rocking chair?' are to name a few. More creative OLX ads which were not aired much in TV, can be found in Youtube. It does look sleek and innovative, but we know that when we get down to facts it is actually not so!                              But more...

Hello everybody,                                                                  Feb 13, 2017                                                  Happy spring season or 'Basant Panchami'. Like Arab spring which happened about 4 years ago, the spring movement is going on in Tamil Nadu. For the past one year, Tamil Nadu, especially Chennai, has been one of the most happening places 'nature-lly' and politically. Nature has not been very kind to the people of Tamil Nadu, especially Chennai-ites, in the last 2 Decembers. The incessant rains during December 2015 drowned Chennai and it was brought back to its feet by the goodwill of the ordinary citizens who rose up to become extraordinary to save Chennai. ...

Hello everybody,                           Did not think myself I will be back this soon. Wish you all a very happy and a prosperous new year. And why this strange title 'Happy New Year with Parker pen'? Did I go to a gift store to buy a set of greeting cards and then write in them the new year messages personally? Sounds so outdated right? In this era of FB, whatsapp, twitter, Snapchat when we still don't have the patience of sending the New Year 'GIF' photos or slides to thousands of 'friends' across the globe, who still goes and buys those set of attractive New Year greeting cards? But if you have grown up during 80s and 90s, I am sure many of us would have done that. I remember that I used to wait for each New Year to arrive to feel the fresh smell and the beauty of the new cards. Actually, we were spoilt for choices when it was about buying cards. Later on, my sister used to make greeting cards painstakingly, and I ...