"Hey! The Annual Day is on 22nd!"
22/08/08, Friday, Chennai.
I got up thinking about the fact that I've gotta attend the special classes that evening in the college. And attending it would see me reach home only by 7. I would be terribly late to attend the celebration thereafter! Hoping for the best that day I left for the college...... During class hours I had a feeling that i was developing a sense of flu and wasn't definitely feeling good. It was surely developing into a cold. Things are getting worse now! But it was only after college that I realised that i had a reason to bunk the special class. This is what happened....
03:00pm - The bell rings. The college is over. I am confused whether to attend the extra class or not!
03:05pm - I go searching for the Mathematics Mam to inform her that I wasn't feeling well and that I am leaving! Found her atlast...
Me: Mam I'm feeling sick, seems like I have a fever!
Mam: So?
Me: I'm not staying for the class!
Mam: Even I'm not staying for the class!!!
Me: Mam?????!
Mam: The other Sir is taking the class today. I'm leaving too. So you better inform him and the H.O.D and leave.
Me: But Mam, I don't have sufficient time. The bus is gonna leave in 5 minutes!
Mam: But rules are rules right? Inform them atleast if not through a letter.
Me: Alright Mam. Thank you!
03:10pm - In the H.O.D room (with a pitiable face)
Me: Good evening Sir, I'm suffering from fever, so I need to leave now.
H.O.D: Produce it in a letter and get my attestation!
Me: Sir, but I don't have time. The bus is about to leave.....
H.O.D: Okay! I'll take care about it. Don't forget to produce a letter tomorrow. You can leave now!
(Sucker! He needs a letter for everything!)
Me: Thank you!
03:15pm - I ran in a haste to my classroom to pack up my things and hurried towards the bus with a friend of mine. He was patient enough to wait for me.
And yes! I'll be home early and I shall go for the annual day! My health condition is not gonna stop me anyway.....
05:00pm - I reach home and went straight towards the bed. I badly needed a rest so that I can boost up my energy for the night!
06:30pm - Abhishek promised that he will take me along with him in his bike. I felt more relaxed since I need not take the tiring bus journey which would be a 45 minute travel. I got up from bed and started to get ready. Bharani and Pramod messaged me that they'll join us right there. It was gonna be fun!
07:00pm - I take my bike towards Abhishek's house to join him! (Note that I don't have a license and hence I can't be driving through the city!)
07:10pm - He was waiting outside and I parked my vehicle and jumped onto his. We hurried towards the school!
07:25pm - 1 message received.
Aishwarya: Hey have you reached the school? Shall I leave now or what? Come near the fancy store and pick me up. I can't come alone in the dark streets!
Me: Yeah okay! I'll be waiting.
07:30pm - She soon came and parked her vehicle nearby. We started walking towards the school! And the streets were indeed so dark! But how come in Anna Nagar????
Pramod had already reached there and so were Nandhini and Monica. Abhishek was busy with the other guys whom he knew enquiring about their college life and studies. Nandhini gave me a call and told where she actually was in the crowd. I headed towards them along with Aishu and Pramod. As usual we set our chairs in a circular fashion and started our conversation.....
Bharani calling......
Bharani calling......
Bharani: Macha, come to the fancy store da I'll be there in minutes. (But, no he's not afraid of the dark!)
Me: Haha! Sure da!
I once again went towards the landmark and received him! He's now a muscled guy working out in the gym. But he hasn't changed as a friend though....The only guy whom we missed was Vinodh. He had been to Bangalore to attend his cousin's marriage. We both once again joined our gang and started our work. I met Aparna in person for the first time, my orkut friend who too was in the same batch and also studies in the same college of mine. We never knew each other when we were in school!
Pramod then joined Abhishek and was doing the rounds. Myself, Bharani, Nandhini, Monica and Aishu shared lighter moments and were recollecting our school days, those funny happenings in the class and those never-told-anyone secret crushes! hehe! Indeed those were moments to treasure! Then about the college life and other stuff. Our all time bubbly baby Monica was unusually silent, she took some time to bring herself back to action. hehe! And then............
Wooooooooooooooooooooooooo Woooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!
The power went off and the whole area was pitch dark! The whole school erupted woooooing among different gangs including us. This is the first time I experienced such a thing! Terrific atmosphere...... Then in few minutes the school managed to light the stage and the speakers alone were working with the help of a generator. Then, the power for the entire area was back in 15 minutes!
Gowri joined us after some time and apologised for coming late since she had a symposium in her college. Ganesh joined us too for a while. Our gang was getting bigger and better! We then started to meet our teachers and indeed they remembered us. Our sanskrit sir still remained a bachelor! Haha! Abhishek was mistaken as guy working in a company because he was looking too formal. He came along with his helmet in hand and he indeed looked like one professional! We met our other friends and there was a guy who had been out of control after he had joined the college. He blames it on the college environment and his friends! Disappointing to hear.....
09:00pm - We joined together once again after meeting the teachers and the program was getting over. National Anthem. NCC boy Bharani was erect. Too erect! Well......
We moved out of the school and we kept talking in the streets for almost yet another half-an-hour. Monica bid farewell! But it seemed like our conversations aren't gonna end that easily. Pramod came up asking how do you guys manage to talk for hours....? Friendship matters a lot. Not the time!
09:30pm - Nandhini started and Aishu joined her. Ganesh too was ready to move! Abhishek took his friend to drop him in his home and would be back soon. Myself, Pramod and Bharani stood waiting for Abhishek and he arrived after few minutes. Bharani took the bus since he felt that he misses the route. The city bus had a major role to play throughout his school life! I came along with Pramod in his bike. We cruised through the streets taking shortcuts avoiding the main road and also the policemen.(He wasn't wearing a helmet) Abhishek followed us.
10:00pm - Reached home atlast! Had my supper. And remembered that.....
I HAVE FLU!
Felt sick once again and I fell on the bed!
The day which we waited for a long time was indeed a memorable one. We may have moved away in different directions, but still we stay connected and this is the only day which connects every one of us together. And this happens only once in a year! I just pray to God that we all stay in touch forever. It just feels like heaven when I am in their company and I treasure them a lot. Love you lots my friends! :)
Now what's there in a train and why are you so crazy about it??? This one question which people around me have been asking me for the whole of my life so far! Well to all those people out there, here is my answer.... Its my life! No doubt about that. Not that I wanted to be different from others... but this passion of mine made me different! To be true, Railways occupy a significant position very close to my heart! Trains are ones which I love more than myself. No exaggeration here! Right from my childhood I grew up watching trains rather than cartoons.(My residence is located very close to the railway lines along the Chennai-Bangalore route) I can still remember my younger days when I used to have a notebook in which I used to jot down all the names of the trains zooming past my home with the time of crossing, sitting right from my balcony. That was all the rail-fanning I was able to do as an 8 year old kid! There were also days when my cousin used to accompany me.... He is not an ardent railfan though! I started drawing sketches of trains and did the same to win some drawing competitons too. Gosh! Were they so realistic or what??? Well I can pat myself that I'm quite good in drawing trains if not other stuff! Couple of years later when the mighty WAPs came into operation I was quite able to guess with its looks and charisma that they were dedicated entirely to passenger service just because I felt like that! Those days I used to distinguish WAPs, WAMs and their mighty counterparts WAGs as "express engines" and "goods engines" respectively. Hehe! There wasn't anyone to provide me proper information on what these mean machines were meant for actually.(After all I was a 10 year old kid then!) The "Time Table" (southern railways) remained the book which I gave the highest priority ever. Later when my dad accidentally encountered the "Trains at a glance" which is a larger version of all the zonal railway time tables covering all the routes and the trains across the country, I guessed i ve got the much needed treasure which I deserved a lot. Accidentally though! My dad is one guy who encourages me a lot in rail-fanning (He doesn't ask stupid questions like what others do. hehe!) and my uncle (who is a frequent traveler by the SCR) who shares his views about the Railways and his personal experiences and there's also a friend of mine who joins me during rail-fanning action! nice to see that atleast there are few people around me who have similar interests of mine :) Years later I was able to learn almost anything and everything about the great Indian Railways through the IRFCA website! and thanks a ton to all those people in Orkut who helped me in gaining more interesting information and stuff about railways throughout the country! Hope this journey never ends!
"And obviously I am not here to review about what the shit is happening in the politics or the world of football or cricket since I find many of my co-bloggers doing a better job!" 
Well these are the lines which are none other than mine from my very first post. But now, i can't resist from writing this one though i may continue refraining from such kinda stuff hereafter. It couldn't get better than this either!
There's a saying "Nice guys finish last!" But on a sensational Saturday, en route to registering what might go down as India's greatest ever test win, Kumble's team proved that nice guys can just win it in style. Like in 2001, this win halted the Aussies' march towards a record 17th consecutive test win 
making it a sweet revenge after the Sydney fiasco! And with the WACA being the perfect battleground, which is considered as the fastest pitch in the world. Even though i hadn't been following the past two tests since i had college, luckily i got a chance to watch almost every ball of this fast paced Armageddon (courtesy : my local cable tv operator or whoever it is. You have the CAS - Conditional Access System and the damned set-top-box thingy in Chennai. Doh!)
After winning hearts by withdrawing the abuse charge against Brad Hogg which anyone would have guessed as a goodwill gesture from a submissive team, Kumble believed otherwise. He badly
wanted to win though the thought of exacting revenge never crossed their minds. And the much awaited inclusion of Pathan and Sehwag obviously didn't let the team go down in any aspect! Sehwag, even though not providing a boisterous knock, full credit to him for chipping in with a good opening knock in the first and for picking up 2 vital wickets in the final innings which almost decided the fate of the match. And Pathan has once again emerged as the pace spearhead for India using the new ball efficiently in getting the early breakthroughs, his batting too played an important part! Another notable performance was obviously Ishant Sharma who was all successful in picking up the Punter on both the occasions. And Kumble will go down the history for his 600 wickets and Dravid becoming the second highest catcher alongside a number of feats by the team in this match!
Overall it was once again the team effort which got the much deserved victory for us. A victory 
considered the best overseas, more significant than the Twenty20 WC, and more significant than any other one in the history of Indian cricket! They have yet again proved that they can pounce back over the opposition and can make millions of hearts to celebrate. Lets hope that every encounter be a victory and every victory be a reason for those millions of hearts to celebrate which includes You, Me and every Indian! Chak De India!!!
I would like to present a countdown of what i feel as the TOP 10 MOVIES of the year 2007. This list of movies is in no way related to the Box Office charts (Or, it's not like the latest big-star movie gets the first place as shown in TV channels). It's just my forthright opinion on these movies. So here it is, the 10 best movies of the year 2007 in which a record of 105 films were released with at least a dozen of them making profits making it a landmark year for Tamil Cinema. The superstars continued to dominate, with Rajnikanth's Sivaji turning out to be the top grosser! And... there were also very good films featuring newcomers and dealing with fresh and novel scripts among which Mozhi, Paruthiveeran and Chennai 600028 deserve mention. There were also bold attempts like Katradhu Tamizh and Evano Oruvan which were critically acclaimed! So here is the list, a mix of box-office blockbusters and critically acclaimed ones.
10. MALAIKOTTAI
A routine commercial mix, all ingredients well proportioned to make a movie that managed to maintain a consistent tempo till the end. Vishal’s mass hero image well exploited, Priyamani used exclusively for song and dance routines, the label of a comedy action entertainer and a free run devoid of any competition were the factors that came together to make Malaikottai a profitable venture.
9. VEL
The biggest hit of Deepavali 2007, Vel was Hari’s yet another family drama set in a rural backdrop rode on the ability of the director to make the most out of a script. Surya’s double role and chemistry with Asin were key factors in Vel hitting the target. Hari's racy screenplay and Vadivelu's hilarious tracks with family sentiment were the other ones serving the main base for the movie's success.
8. POLLADHAVAN
Deepavali and a bevy of biggies, it is not exactly the safest time to release a movie. But Polladhavan with Dhanush and Divya in the lead stood tall on its merits. All credit to Vetrimaaran for showing enough courage to take a path less traveled and come out with flying colors. His style of narration and takings are very similar to the ace director, though he has told a dark and disturbing tale, throwing light on the bad and ugly underbelly of Chennai underworld.
7. UNNALAE UNNALAE
Unnale Unnale is an urban romantic fun film that explores love from a slightly realistic and different point of view. The movie does not have clichéd characters nor the typical masalas associated with Tamil films and is packaged in Bollywood style. Though some of the scenes are straight lifts from various Hollywood and Bollywood films, director Jeeva has succeeded in bringing out brilliant performances from his lead actors ( Vinay, Sada and Tanisha) and presenting the film in a chic and sophisticated manner. It was made for youngsters and they lapped it up, Harris Jeyaraj’s music playing a big part in it.
6. BILLA
Ajith’s popularity, the tremendous hype and the release that matched the hype. Receiving good
reviews and word of mouth. To remake a 27-year old Rajinikanth film with another actor at a time when he is still the superstar, is a major challenge for any director. But Vishnu Vardhan is a daring young man who took up the challenge along with Ajit and they have come out with a fresh new Billa, an escapist comic book like fantasy film, which has been faithful to the original in spirit and soul. Slickly shot and stylishly packaged, the remake is slick and has certainly appealed to today’s youth audiences.
5. CHENNAI 600028
So, what made Chennai-600028 tick? The screenplay is minty cool and our heroes are ordinary middle class guys, not the larger-than-life super-heroes you encounter in Tamil commercial cinema. The basic storyline is woven around galli cricket match and a tournament, along with an assorted group of guys making it a thoroughly enjoyable film targeting the urban youth audience. A celebration of youth, friendship, fun and cricket- the essence of life, Chennai 28 managed to touch a chord in every person young at heart. Formula for success- Refreshingly fresh theme, totally youth based!
4. POKKIRI
Officially the first superhit of 2007. Vijay and his fans celebrated Pongal in style with Pokkiri going
from strength to strength. Facing very little opposition after the first few weeks, this taut entertainer with a few good songs kept going on and on. Vijay’s first role as a cop and Asin’s presence did not let the interest die down. The on-screen chemistry between Vijay and Asin was great and the film turned to be the biggest grossing Tamil film in Kerala and also overseas apart from Tamilnadu which found it place in the UK TOP 20 for its impressive opening!
3.SIVAJI
It could'nt get better than this. The Rajnikant - Shriya starrer, directed by Shankar, is said to be the costliest ever made Tami film and was sold for a record price. The film actually opened huge with a record number of screens. Sivaji once again ascertained the fact that Rajnikant is the undisputed numero-uno of the Tamil film industry! Sivaji turned out to be the biggest ever film in the history of Tamil cinema, a fitting record for a movie that saw the coming together of the most skilled, dedicated and iconic figures of Tamil cinema.
2. PARUTHIVEERAN
Not many debutants have come this high or this far but Karthi has proved that he has got pedigree and class. Under the masterful hands of Ameer, he molded himself into the rugged village youngster who would throw a punch at you. Priyamani’s contribution too should not go without mention, same with Yuvan’s music. Undoubtedly, it is a brave film and full credit goes to the director for making every scene realistic and characters life-like. However after the end of it all, we wonder why he had to make it so morbid and disturbing!
1. MOZHI
No larger than life hero, no blood and gore, no loud villains, no punch dialogues, no crass comedy, no skin show and no item numbers…… Then what? Here is the verdict - A feel good love story is what Mozhi is all about! Director Radha Mohan has once again proved that he can make a perfect family entertainer with characters that you can relate to. Mozhi is indeed a feel-good entertainer with a simple straightforward story, knock out performance from the lead actors, melodious music and a glossy look bringing a new freshness to Tamil commercial cinema. For this alone they deserve a big applaud.A pleasant departure from the usual entertainers, Mozhi delighted without resorting to formula elements. Well made in all aspects and giving Jyothika the perfect platform for a swansong!
