The trip to Wayand Apr 30 - 3rd May - Part III

We had a good night's sleep and looked all set to commence the sight seeting part of the trip. We made coffee using the instant coffee and whitener mix with hot water, and it was quite elevating to have the beverage on the terrace overlooking the typical Kerala greenery. Soon after, we had a rather heavy breakfast, consisting of chicken, a traditional kerala muslim roti/dosa type dish and few more traditional items.
We drove first up to the edukkal caves, parked the vehicle and climbed up on a sloping path leading to the heart of the cave. By the time we reached atop, we were pretty exhausted ( more because of a full tummy than anything else ). We could immediately feel the dampness which one would associate with caves, even if they are open and well lit by the sun. There was an option of climbing to the very top, but we felt that it would totally tire us and probably render the remainder of the trip a rather taxing exercise. On the way down, we stopped by an ice-cream cart and munched on some mango bars and cornetto cones.

Before emabarking for Kuruva Dweep, Harris took us to his wife's place ( it is a custom in malabar muslim family for the husband to move in with his wife ), and served us one of the best black teas I have ever had. He also showed some stunning photographs he had his film photographer friend take of him and his wife, soon after their marriage. It looked exactly like the film promos !! We met his wife's younger brother who had set his sights on an MBA program. Wished him good luck and we were on our way to Kuruva. Harris had gone to this place a long time back and hence wasnt sure about the way, which he clarified by asking the local folks on the way. I felt comfortable that I wasnt the only one lost for directions. The last 3 Kms or so was a drive over hard rubble, and at times we werent sure if we were on the right course. But on seeing another vehicle in the vicinity, we took our chances and coursed through a path that no one would want to take in normal circumstances. But the trip was worth it, for when we reached the actual island, we felt so close to nature. It had no fancy travel centric restaurants, gift shops, or anything of that kind. We were famished and eating the local fare cooked in earthen pots and like, never felt so good. There were only 3 pieces of fish left which someone ahead of us in the pack, took it in a parcel. I had too many papads for the comfort of the lady running the kitchen, and she murmurred something in malayalam with a look that asked "are you nuts ?".

This was the first time, I ever stepped on a what one would call a raft made out of bamboo sticks. I couldnt believe that this thing was going to stay afloat the entire distance until we crossed over to the other side of lake. We somehow did, and it was fun. Once in the island, we took the regular course and ended up among lots of boulders, which had a ravine cutting through the lot. We waded through the water and rocks and rested to take in all the nature's offerring. It felt so good just to get away from the humdrum of the city. The crossed back to the main land and were on our way back to our hotel. We stopped in between for some cake and other snacks for the Chennai IPL match.

We ordered dinner, as always lots of non-veg stuff, and after a heavy meal and the match, hit the bed.

Chennai Salem Yercaud (11thJulyNight->12thJulyNight)

We planned for an extended non-work team outing ( the team's strength lies in non-work related matters ) to Kodagu, sometime last year which had to be indefinitely postponed due to my sudden flight to Kathmandu. I had missed the Periyar trip as well, owing to another reason which I dont remember now. Maapillai Senthil's marriage gave us a platform to showcase our skills in eating, drinking and talk "lollu sabha" lingo. Jaanu, the PM that he is, booked the tickets but was also wise enough to extract the fare upfront, knowing our liking to acknowledge debts over email, phone or in person, but doing nothing after that. Being a working day, we had to come to office in business overalls. I slipped into my sandals while Raghav opted for his ultra cool all purpose Skechers. Basha and Jaanu were laying the bait for Nextel ( by including non-existent tasks in a KT plan ), which had to be submitted by the weekend. Basha, fearing that Jaanu might not be on time, asked Raghav and me to wait at the food court and we duly obliged by snacking on a dahi chat. Basha came and was all excited, which he blatantly displayed by barging into the shared auto to the peril of the two girls who were already seated. Unfortunately the tiny bag he was carrying hindered his lunge towards the space between the two girls. From MadhyaKailash it took us around 45 mins to reach Koyambedu, and we talked about JMX, JBPM, Powerbuilder on the way ( if only you believed that we could have discussed all that.. )

Paddy, the man with the right info for the right occassion, was waiting for us at the rendezvous point. Without much ado we went in and ordered what each of us wanted. The waiter there felt really sorry that he couldnt offer what we wanted, much to our dismay. Jaanu joined us shortly and so did Nanda and Vetri. We finished our dinner and boarded the fully ACed KPN with berths. Raghav and me observed that the birth above us had a slight hammock like bend, and it didnt take us too long to realize that the reason for that was Basha.

We reached Salem and had the usual early morning T, and before long, we had a Chevy Tavera to take us to the lodge. Very rarely does one have the need for hot water to take a shower in Tamilnadu, and the lodge guys were liberal in providing hot water alone in the bathrooms. We braved that, and got ready in a jiffy to go to the wedding hall. Our Maapillai was beaming, and that gave us confidence to go right upto the dining hall for the pre-thaali breakfast. One normally doesnt have to stand right in front of the dining benches expecting the incumbent diners to vacate the bench, but we didnt mind it, since that was the norm. To keep a tab on the swelling waistline, we restricted ourselves to moderate servings, except for Nanda and Paddy. We were in time for what he had originally come for, and we were one of the first to give the "moii" to Maapillai and pose for the customary photograph.

Soon after, we set forth for Yercaud, while Basha was thinking of the best reason for his absence from work. We stopped on the way to get some DVDs to kill time, and we were overjoyed to land our hands on the much treasured "Mariyadhai" starring puratchi thalaivar. "Pasanga" DVD was the second option we had. The usual fare of nicknames, lollu sabha, slapstick comedy was on, but nothing came close to the "handwass" and the cellphone shrug from Gabtun. Jaanu, the spoilsport, ensured that we stayed awake through the movie. We couldnt take it and relied upon Zandu Balm to keep us sane. At At the temple, we bent and proceeded to visit the cave dwelling diety while Basha chose to contemplate on his life by laying on his back on the compound wall with a cool breeze to pat him to sleep. By now Raghav had got into his famous "pajamas", while Paddy daddy got into his cool bermudas.

Basha recommended GRT, and I was happy to alight and use their toilet and also order 7 glasses of water. Even though we liked the view and all that, we decided to check out another hotel. I recommended getting their visiting card, so that we could call and order our lunch, when we were ready. This simple act of goodwill for the sake of my co-travellers, was to be the butt of jokes for this trip :-) Sometimes, people are ungrateful, and this lot sure was. We killed time at the grand palace, harassing the waiters, changing channels, commenting on everyone under the sun, but it was pure fun.

Our return was set for 10:30 PM, so we decided to catch up on a movie at Salem, and we felt overjoyed to know that we had two movies for choice - Mirrors, and Angels and Demons. We stopped in between for some T and bajjis, and we felt liberated to drink T by siting on chairs by the side of the road. When we reached the theatre I was shocked to know that the tamil dub was being screened and I begged the rest to check out some other "real" tamil movie. But knowing this lot, I knew they were looking forward to the comic tamil sentences and not to the actual movie itself. I felt like a goat being dragged to a slaughter house, but felt at peace to realize that its been a while since I have slept in a movie. The gang empathized with me when I asked, if they were going to screen "Kal Kisne Dekha Hai" in tamil. The power went out a few times, the audio was supressed ( local censoring ), the AC wasnt as cold as we would have liked.

Post movie, we settled the dues with the driver which worked out to 2K and proceeded for a light dinner. By our standards, it was really a low key affair at the restaurant. It had started raining and we boarded the same bus which we had taken for the onward journey. Paddy and Nanda got a kick out of scaring one poor soul who wasnt sure if he got onto the right bus and kept asking if it was going to Chennai. The wicked weasels, kept talking about the places enroute to Madurai to make matters worse for that chap. We drifted off to sleep, dreaming about work next day, "engal aasan" ...zzz...zzz

Indian Capitulation at T20 WC

Of late I have managed to stay dispassionate to a certain extent ( read as...not losing sleep over a loss ) whenever India plays. But watching how we floundered in the games against WI and Eng, made me feel bitter and irritated, which lingered on for few hours into early morning. By now, every possible explanation has been given by passionate fans, disbelieving cynics, former players and coaches, not to mention majumdar from TimesNow ( Man, wish someone would put a lid on that dude ). Essentially there are two groups : who think MS is a gr8 captain and others, who think he is just plain lucky. His luck has been attributed to matches on docile wickets, big hitters ( sometimes he joins that league), toss, weak opposition etc. As a fan, one can rely on media, expert commentators and occassional insider news from team officials or former team mates, to gauge what goes on in the dressing room and off the field. However, the latest comment from Kirsten seems to have vindicated those who felt that our beloved players are afflicated by fatigue and injuries, which the players themselves have been denying with a straight and sometimes, a liar's face. It is only human, especially in India with all the hype, money and glamour, to feel the need to be in tournaments such as IPL and tire onself at the end of it. I have a feeling, the Indian players wont take the opinion of Kirsten all too well that they might have to skip IPL next time around. It was so obvious that Zak and Ishant were carrying injuries. Sometimes we wonder, how much more money do they want to make and what are they going to do with all that, if they cant give their best for their country when on the field.

Yet again, our shortcoming against short-pitched deliveries has been well advertised by the WI and Eng quickies. Our pacers, with their mediocre speeds tried in vain to re-enact the same, but were tonked royally. Generation of good bat speed with the leading edge very slightly slanted backwards is the way to get elevation which is essential to clear the park : Rohit tried to keep the ball down and Raina aimed for the skies. While we have become good travellers, mostly due to docile pitches, we have to get rid of the predominantly front foot mindset. Bajji, the passionate surdar exasperated everyone by bowling on the pads of players, who are good on the leg side. No plausible explanation can be given, especially when the field is not set for that kind of a line. The less said the better about ground fielding - zak, bajji and yuvi were the serial offenders this time. If one had noticed closely, our team overall doesnt have the aggressive mindset in attacking the ball irrespective of whether the batsmen are looking to steal that additional run. With a weak throw, it is fool hardy to think that they can catch the batsmen offguard, by acting as if they are deliberately letting them to go for the extra run. Jadeja, never looked like the one made for T20, even when he played in the IPL. He is not a big hitter, and the shortest format requires big hitting. So why pick him in the first place ? No good team currently has anybody earmarked for stonewalling. Someone like even Kallis, who can drop anchor, can also clear the field.

MS did few things right - post exit mostly - in admitting that he is finding it difficult to get his big shots. He is street smart enough to understand that he doesnt have the shots as yet to collar attacks of all kinds and on all pitches. He was also wise in patching up with the media after the flare-up over the Sehwag issue.

I hope and wish, that our players learn from this mistake and show good results atleast for the next few months, before they again get back to their old ways. The real concern is about the timing when they choose to shoot themselves in the foot.

The trip to Wayand Apr 30 - 3rd May - Part II

We reached Coimbatore well after the scheduled arrival time, and were desperate to cleanse ourselves of Doraiswamy's blessings ( The bus, just in case you missed the pun ). After wandering around a bit, we chanced upon a pretty good hotel, where we did what had to be done before gorging ourselves on a sumptuous buffet breakfast. Surprisingly the price of Rs.125 was well below our expectations, in stark contrast to the quality of food. We called for a cab, who agreed to drop us to Calicut for Rs.3000. En route, we spoke with the cab owner and fixed Rs.3700 in all for a direct drop to Wayanad, since the our travel agent in Wayanad was asking for a hefty sum of 3K for pickup from Calicut.

We reached Calicut and picked up our mysterious passenger, after a bit of hide and seek. There was some serious mallu chat between the true Keralites, and I was harassed for my unfamiliarity with the nuances of their language. It drizzled a bit and we stopped at a T shop for some palam poori and chayaa. We moved on, and as we descended upon Meenangadi, the clouds looked ominous and we were hoping to reach our furnished stay before the rain gods obliged. We were given a very friendly welcome by our travel agent ( who were very young and soft spoken as well ), and soon after we settled our coimbatore cab driver his due.

Harris cheta, the travel agent, drove us in his maruti zen ( which was to be our sight seeing vehicle ) through a dense patch of greenery which had no real path leading to the house. It was dark and was kind of spooky ( if you had seen the blair witch project, you would know what I am talking about ). The house was more of a bungalow, but was infested with bugs of all sizes and shapes - the windows were left open for some fresh air. Harris then introduced us to his relatives who were the caretakers of this magnificent house and were also neighbours. This introduction was re-assuring and to show our gratitude, we ordered a rather royal dinner.

Ibnu, one of the co-owners of the travel agency, showed us the possible sight seeing places. We requested that we didnt want to squeeze in too many places during our short stay, and instead preferred to spend some quality time at the few places we were going to see. So we finally settled for :
1. A drive through Muthanga Wildlife Sanctuary
2. Kuruva Dweep
3. Edukkal Caves
4. Pookode Lake

And few other places...

The trip to Wayand Apr 30 - 3rd May

Wayanad beckoned, and we obliged. As is the case, the planning was little awful : assumed too many things for our own comfort. After the last minute gasps, we managed to zero in on a start up travel agent in Meenangadi. It was supposed to be a fully furnished house, with facility for cooking. As far as the travel modes from chennai to wayanad and back were concerned : we explored buses, trains and even flights. We were so hung up on going to God's own country. I followed up with two bogus travel agencies - who were probably not too keen on making good business and the guys whom I implored for tickets werent stake holders. As expected, they came up trumps with empty hands. With no travel options to Calicut, we tried for Coimbatore and hoped to get a cab from there all the way upto Wayanad. Meanwhile, my more resourceful comrades digged in and unearthed the valuable redbus.in - a common portal for booking bus tickets. We were due to travel on the 30th of april, and we were hunting for return tickets even on 29th. Plain awesome. With no onward journey confirmed, the return journey was booked duly and as God would have it, we were waitlisted. But my friend forewarned that the tickets would be confirmed by the time we were done breathing in the fresh coffee aroma in the plantations in Wayanad.

Man, and what a bus it turned out to be. The call themselves some doraiswamy travels and charged a hefty 640 for a non-AC semi-sleeper or something. A classic example of people being taken for a "bus ride". Chennai humidity added to the woes, with sweat dripping, people clamouring, the travel agent desk buzzing with enquiries in chaste and unchaste : it was just plain chaos at Koyembedu. Then the secret agent ( we never really knew who worked for that travel agency, coz we found all and sundry milling around issuing directions ) from the travel agency escorted us to a relatively short walk and asked us to board a bus which didnt belong to them. I was wet in my pants - from the sweat :-), and still followed the agent like a faithful dog. Inside the new bus, the seats assigned to us were already taken, by not so friendly looking guy who roared that he isnt vacating his spot unless the dictum came from the President of India himself. With tail nicely tucked between our legs, we alighted and spoke with the secret agent. He then said to walk a little more to loosen our limbs and somewhere on the boundary of koyembedu bus stand, we will find our life saver - the mysterious white bus emblazoned with the letters "Doraiswamy Travels". Oh boy, what a relief it was when we found our treasured bus standing proudly in a pool of "keechad". We got in with bated breath ( you see, it wasnt pleasant smelling what we presumed were acts of people answering nature's call ), and to our horror found ourselves in a dim-lit and dank atmosphere. The seats's heads were nicely plucked out, exposing the soft sponge interiors...aahh...what a sight. We resigned to our pitiful trip to coimbatore and dug into our curd rice and parottas. Something to chew on, and we set on course to Coimbatore.....more to follow.

CSK - so near yet so far - deja vu

Chika, our chief selector, famously oracled that CSK would go on to win the IPL this time around. Being a non-filmi brand ambassador ( thank god we didnt have to put up with kollywood tantrums to go with the bollywood tamasha, unlike last year ) and a die-hard fan of the local franchise, he is bound to exude optimism. The point is, it was just a misplaced one.

To begin with, the foreign players - oram, albie and freddy - didnt do justice to their reputation. Apparently, it was MSD's push for stacking the team with all rounders, for which he cant be blamed. Had two of the three performed in line with their potential, CSK might have gone the distance. To be fair to MSD, the team itself was heavily reliant on Haydos to fire at the top of the order. CSK resembles the Indian team of 90s where there was too much reliance on Tendulkar to make up for the lacklustre bowling resources. One might argue that the allrounders didnt get a fair chance to spend some time at the crease to come to terms with the SA wickets and the format of the game, but they didnt inspire confidence in their captain to send them up the order. It was always haydos, MS and raina doing bulk of the scoring.

This team was devoid of the glitz and loud presence, unlike few other teams, and it also helped that Chika didnt quite command the kind of star power which Preity, SRK or Shilpa did. There were no real gainers in CSK this year around : to a certain extent Raina showcased his bowling skills, as did Jakati. Balaji, for all his intelligence, just tried too much to record the highest economy rate in the tournament. One wishes MSD sheds his caretaker type of batting, and throws caution to the winds and plays his natural game. Unfortunately, the winning ratio is on the higher side whenever he dons the role of an accumulator. Badri, will probably remain on the periphery of national selection - he has adapted his game quite well to suit the needs of the shorter version. But there will always be younger and more talented players staking their claim in all forms of the game. Parthiv, along with Dinesh, have acquitted themselves reasonably well, but dont see them getting a spot in the national team unless MSD opts to sit out or is plagued by injury. If there is one player who is all hype, that has to be Gony. It beats me as to how he can be called a successful bowler. His 6ft something frame, might instill fear among the shorter breed when he walks on the street, but not on the pitch for sure. CSK would do well to find a good bowler for next year's edition. Few of my friends were waiting to see the likes of palani amarnath, pity we didnt get to see him play even one game.

All in all, CSK were a one man show, which sure doesnt deserve to win a tournament. MS had predicted that it will be one innings that would seal the fate of the knockout games - it was Gilly for Deccan and for RCB, it was the greenhorn Pandey who took the pace bowlers to the cleaners.

Disappointed, but not disillusioned.

Brand Equity Chennai 09 - Prelims Answers and The final rounds

Answers to the prelims :

1. P Chidambaram
2. Kelvinator
3. Tea
4. Kukoro
5. Israel
6. Tendulkar
7. Wrigley
8. Churchill
9. Biloo Barber
10. Srilanka
11. Luxury
12. Bikini
13. Myanmar
14. Sir Martin Sorell
15. Lantern
16. JFK
17. Devil Wears Prada
18. TN
19. FBI
20. Copied
21. Bull Bear
22. PavanHans
23. Kerosene
24. Tiffany
25. Cannibalization
26. Asin
27. Google
28. Kancheevaram
29. Shankar Netralaya
30. Original


First Strike

1. Which author's manuscript was rejected 19 times before being published and had a preface written by EM. Forster
- Untouchable by Mulk Raj Anand
2. Which of the partner's wives were sisters
a. Ogilvy n Mather
b. Ernst n Young
c. Procter n Gamble
- c
3. Warren Harding was the 1st american president to do which of the following :
a. File an Income tax return
b. Pay rent for white house
c. Own a luxury yacht
- a
4. Antonio Zemperla, the Italian is the largest manfacturer of which of the following :
a. Sex toys and games
b. Silicone implants
c. Amusement park rides
- c
5. Which of the following yields biofuel as a byproduct
a. Tea
b. Coffee
c. Beer
- b
6. Which of the following was first used for TV in 1961 during the great American "Gator Bowl" college game ?
a. Product placement in a show
b. Slow Motion Replay
c. Ticker
- b

Round Two - Visual
1. Showed the book cover in which the title and some items were masked.
- Al and Laura Ries' "War in the Boardroom"
2. Advertisement was shown - Reynolds Permanent Marker
3. Sudha Moorthy in her younger days
4. A photograph from Zimbabwe showing a wallpaper made of money and highlighting the effects of inflation
5. Jimmy Wales - founder of wikipedia
6. Perfume bottle - Armani Attitude

Round Three
1. What did ICICI give to its customers for last year's diwali - Money Plant
2. Tom Peters positioning era began with David Ogilvy creating the 38 point for advertising that ........ ?
- Sells
3. Mar15th, 1962-JFK when announcing the consumer rights, outlines 4 principles :
Right to Information
Right to Safety
Right to be Heard
Right to ?
- Choose
4. In 2008, Ramazan Baydan of Istanbul had to hir 100 extra workers to manufacture model 271. What is model 271 ?
- Shoe thrown at George Bush
5. What did UN define as the "Silent Tsunami" ?
- Financial Crisis
6. The 1st recorded laws governed two things. One was about re-posession. what was the other ?
- repay

Audience Q :
Which emperor imposed tax on non-muslims ?
- Akbar
Since 1983 Finn Air is the official airline of ?
- Santa Claus

Round 4 - Darkness

1. In South India, micro-ovens startet kits carry which feature ?
- Idli Mould
2. Warren Buffet when sharing his two cents on the financial crisis, attributed it to three Is : Innovators, Imitators, ?
- Idiots
3. Allen & Overy,Clifford Chance,Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer,Linklaters,Slaughter and May - form the magic circle of London. What are they ? ( THe five biggest of something )
- Law Firms
4. Bulgaria, Czech, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, UK, Poland, Sweden. Denmark, Hungary, Greece, Romania etc - what is common ?
- Yet to adopt Euro
5. Fence mount, door mount, anti-arson, weatherproof, top loader, front loader - variants of what ?
- Letterbox
6. Thailand is favourite destination for MICE industry. What is MICE ?
- meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions

Round 5 - Complete Darkness ( Audio Visual )

1. Sameer Mirchandani - naukri.com
2. Polo cologne - Carrie Underwood Singing the ad jingle
3. MTN Series - some video or song
4. Dr Reddy of Reddy Labs, talking
5. Something to do with Shreyas Talpade
6. Chodh do Aanchal - Song ? Paying Guest and sung by Shubodh Mukherjee

Round 6 - Ignorance is complete Darkness
Commemerating 200 years since Louie Braille invented Braille System

1. More than 500 groups related to barbie are on facebook. However whom does the group caribou barbie refer to ?
- Sarah Palin ( due to her fondness for caribou hunting )
2. Which group of islands' per capita availability of fish is the highest in India ?
- Lakshwadeep

Audience Q - a picuture showing pearls. What is special about the pearls ?
- Mikimoto Kokichi pearls - spherical pearl producing technique was used

3. In 1863, the 1st person to patent on nitro glycerine, 1867 for dynamite, 1876 for blasting gelation
- Alfred Nobel
4.Past decade, Novartis has sold "Coartem" at subsidized prize to developing world for a loss of 200 millin $ every year. What disease does it treat ?
- Malaria
5. Which golfer was highest earner of PGA tour of 08?
- Vijay Singh of Fiji
6. Genre of Media, first telecase on 23rd July, 1977 in Chennai ?
- FM Radio

Tie Break Q :
In 1982, which technique did Mastercard first use ?
- Hologram