882. When a girl cheats a guy

"How would a Peacock feather put kutti?", I asked her

"When you keep a peacock feather inside a notebook and leave it closed for a month, the feather will multiply into two."

So I went home and kept the feather inside my Maths notebook. I did not open the book that month and failed in my monthly exam. Later that day I was told that Peacocks don't give birth to baby peacocks. When I discovered that they lay eggs, I realized my folly. I was furious. I walked up to her and asked her why she cheated me.

"Female peacocks lay eggs. But male peacocks give birth to baby peacocks if you keep the feather inside the note book"

"But you told me that the feathers will multiply. How will a baby peacock be born?"

" After all the feathers are formed, you have to take the feathers and keep it inside a box for a month. If you do that, the body, legs and head of the Peacock will be formed"

And so I believed her again. Well I was 8 years then and I was super innocent that time. These days, 8 year old boys are becoming fathers of children and many 8 year old boys already have girlfriends. I only had a crush at that time. But even after 1 year, nothing happened to that peacock feather. I was disappointed. So I again tried to confront her.

" I think you lied to me. The peacock feathers never multiplied"

" Only male peacock feathers multiply. What you had kept in that notebook must be a female peacock feather. Female peacocks lay eggs. They don't give birth to baby peacocks. Stop blaming me"

" Sorry! I did not think of that". Can you give me a male peacock feather?"

" Okay here you go. But make sure that you follow all the necessary rules in preserving the feather in the notebook"

So I kept the feather inside a used rough notebook and carefully placed it in my desk in school. I never took it home. After a month, when I opened it there were two feathers. I was very happy. I went to her and thanked her and told that I was sorry for not trusting her completely. She forgave me and showcased her big heart. I did not fall in love with her because I was already in love with Renu. If Renu had not been there in my life, I would have fallen for her.

The very next day, I saw her opening my friend's notebook and placing an additional feather inside his notebook, when he was not in the class. I realized that she had cheated me. But I was too scared to confront her. It has taken me 25 years to finally come out of the shell and write about my pain in this blog. But I am still scared and that is why I have not revealed her name yet.

-Chronicwriter

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881. That Bodhai when you get record post views.

I have been in Quora writing answers on sports and this happened.

I know that this would be a jujubi matter for Quora experts and they would say"What is so special about this?"

For a die hard Sachin fan (I know many my age would be), writing something about Sachin gives me a lot of happiness and to get such a reception for the answer I wrote about him has taken me to murunga maram top.

Read my answer here [Prason's Quora Answer on Sachin's 200].

-Chronicwriter

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880. Autograph movie in real life

These grannies created a sensation when they decided to stitch their school uniforms that they wore 50 years ago and wear them for their alumni meet. That is swag style at its best. This happened in Vallapattanam in Kerala.  Some of them even had their old school note books in their bag.

This gives hope for all of us to conduct a school alumni meet. The WhatsApp school groups will be active for the next few days and there would be heavy planning going on to have an alumni meet.

But things may not be the same if we have a school alumni meet. We would have a scenario in which the following might happen

1) Srinivas and Radhika might come to school. Back in school, they were the inseparable Rakhi sister-brother duo. She will tie a rakhi in his hand every year. But now they are husband and wife and the proud parents of two lovely children. We will rag them to death.

2) Ravi will also come for the meet. Ravi was Radhika's boyfriend in school and Srinivas was his best friend during school days. Ravi is now married to Radhika' friend Soundarya.

3) Balaji will get an opportunity to take his revenge on Chemistry sir - Mr. Daniel. Mr Daniel just gave 20 out of 50 marks for Balaji in Chemistry practicals because of which Balaji did not get good marks in his +2 exams. Balaji swore to take his revenge some day. But he is now in a good position. But it would be funny to see how he reacts when he meets Mr Daniel. Mr Daniel is retiring this year

4) We might all have a chance to see our French ma'm. All the boys were crazy about her. In fact I took Tamil as my second language. But I was in the French class all the time.

5) The first thing I will do is to go to the school loo to see if my artwork in the loo wall is still there. I had expressed my love for Renu in the toilet wall. 

6) To see if Natarajan anna still comes to school in his cycle carrying the ice box. He used to sell icecreams for 50 paisa

There are many other things that we would love to re-live. But I can't express them in this blog as it will separate families and make some to end their life too.

-Chronicwriter

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879. Manda Bathram; because I am dangerous

In West Indies, when a boy baby is born, they will say "Okay this boy will become an opener for a cricket franchisee in the IPL". West Indies produces some of the greatest hard hitters in the world. But do they lack stamina? 

Look at all the muscle clad body builders of the West Indian cricket team. They can enter the WWE ring and lift Big Show and Goldberg easily too. But they don't last longer than 20 overs in cricket. In test match cricket, they don't last longer than 3 days, but in T20 cricket, they are literally unbeatable. Check out for these guys 

• KKR has Sunil Narine. Who would have thought that this guy can bat? But he has the fastest 50 in this IPL
• RCB has Gayle. T20 was defined by this monster
• MI has Lendl Simmons. He is the dark horse of the team
• SRH had Sammy; he was not their opener, but he was a successful captain.Now KXIP has him
• DD has Carlos Brathwaite, the beast who smoked 4 successive sixes. He is not an opener too; but he might soon become one
• GL has Dwayne Smith, who can single handedly win a match for their team
• RPS do not have a single West Indian; but they have Dhoni. You might ask "Is Dhoni from WI?" When RPS lifts the cup, I will reveal the answer

Even Ussain Bolt is a sprinter. He can't run long distances. If you had seen long distance runners, they are either from Ethiopia or Kenya or Somalia. Guys who are just made of bones have lot of stamina. 

Note to all the body builders: This statement does not have any double meaning statement hidden in it. So don't get angry. Even if you get angry, I don't mind, because the stamina example was evident from the movie Pudhupettai too, where Dhanush (just bones) would be beaten to pulp by a gunda gang; but he will endure the test of time and eventually beat all those guys. Why am I telling this? I have a bone body too. So manda bathram.

Note: Bayathula chuchu poyiteengala? Idhukkey bayandhaa eppadi? Innum evlavo irukkey.

-Chronicwriter

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878. The knock that marked the beginning of Sachin Tendulkar

Yesterday 30,000 people sang the " Happy birthday to you" song to Sachin Tendulkar as he cut the cake in Mumbai during the IPL match between MI and RPS. It was heartening to see the effect the little master still has with the crowd. I have followed him through out his career. When I started following cricket as a 5 year old boy (1987), Krish Srikanth was my favorite batsman. 

I loved cricketers who smashed every ball and at that point of time, India had only one swashbuckling opener and his name was Srikanth. Navjot Singh Sidhu was also good with his six hitting abilities; but when Srikanth was facing the ball, you can always expect him to throw his bat at everything and that was a joyous sight to see.

I used to like Tendulkar because he scored quick. He was young, came in at 5th or 6th scored some brisk 30 or 40 runs. He would often come in to bat in the 45th or 46th over. March 27th 1994- the date is still fresh in my memory. I was writing my 7th standard annual exams. India was touring New Zealand. It was the second ODI.

India pinned its hopes on Navjot Singh Sidhu the opener.  But on that fateful ( or should I say joyous) day, Sidhu woke up with a stiff neck and he could not turn his neck. Young Sachin ran up to his captain Azhar and pleaded with him to let him open the innings. Azhar and Ajit Wadekar were surprised with a young batsman running up to them with such an offer.

New Zealand had a deadly bowling attack spearheaded by Danny Morrison. Chris Pringle was unplayable in those conditions and Larsen was pinpoint accurate. And taking the responsibility to open the batting against such an attack was an act of bravery. 

New Zealand batted first and scored a paltry 142 in their allotted 50 overs. A score of 142 in New Zealand was still defend-able because matches in New Zealand were low scoring affairs. Sachin and Jadeja opened the batting for India. I was watching the match on ESPN and was surprised to see Sachin walking into bat. Morrison and Pringle were taken to the cleaners. 

Sachin redefined the art of opening. Indians were scoring at ten runs per over. He faced 48 balls and smashed 82 runs from it. Gavin Larsen was a stump to stump bowler and Sachin clearly unsettled him by coming down the wicket and taking him to the stands. 

A star was born on that day. India chased down the total in 23 overs at a run rate of 6 per over. The world media turned their focus on this guy from India. The little master finally made the world to notice him and from then on, there was no turning back.

He no longer had to come into bat in the 45th over. He would open the bating and score a brisk 50 and take the team score to 100 odd runs in the first 15 overs itself. After he gets out, the whole team would crumble down. But more often that momentum he gives would be more than enough to help the team cross the shore. 

He went on to score 100 centuries in his career. The desert storm century, world cup 90 against Pakistan in 2003, first man to score 200 happened in his career. But in my opinion, it all started in that match in Auckland in 1994.

-Chronicwriter

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877. The story behind Jolene

Have you ever been in a situation where you had felt that someone is trying to steal your better half? Have you pleaded with that someone not to come between you and your better half? If you had been in such a situation, you could relate well with this song.

Dolly Parton, who happens to be the aunt of Miley Cyrus wrote this song Jolene, which went on to become a cult hit that has been covered by people all over the globe. When Dolly Parton was newly married to a banker Carl Dean, a red headed bank clerk tried to flirt with him. That incident became the foundation for the song Jolene. 

 "Jolene" tells the tale of a woman confronting Jolene, a stunningly beautiful woman, who she believes is trying to steal away her lover and begging her "please don't take my man." Throughout the song, the woman implores Jolene "please don't take him just because you can."

I recorded this song on Smule. You can check my version of the song here.

When you listen to the song, there is so much desperation in the song. It echoes the sadness with which a girl pleads with another girl to save her marriage.

I love various covers for this song. I am going to add three cover versions here

1) Miley Cyrus - Backyard cover.

Though I am not a fan of Miley, I actually liked her in this song.

2) Benton Blunt's version of Jolene

I am a sucker for music reality shows. I follow almost all of them. When Benton Blunt came on stage to audition for America's Got Talent, no one was actually prepared for what's in store for them. He blew them all away with his rendition of Jolene.

3) Pentatonix and the Grammy award winning cover

What makes this version so special is that this cover enabled Dolly Parton to win a Grammy 44 years after she recorded this song. Dolly Parton also makes an appearance in this song.

In a way, if a person has to plead with another woman not to steal her husband, the husband is not really worthy because he is an easy bait. Similarly if a husband has to plead with another man not to steal his wife, she ain't a keeper. In Dolly Parton's case, she is married to her hubby for more than 50 years. Ain't that adorable?

-Chronicwriter

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876. How to prove you are a true Indian

Post the comment "Modi is the best PM in the world" in public forums, especially on FB

Go to a movie theater and search for someone who does not stand up for national anthem, If everyone are standing up, search for someone who does not stand in attention; if you find an adimai, beat him slap him and shout " Bharath Mata ki Jai". Also shoot a video and post it on FB, or go live on FB

Wheel chair bound guy kicked for not standing up for National Anthem

Give one star rating for Snapchat and Snapdeal

Abuse Pakistan in comments in FB

Write random shit in Hindi and post that Hindi script in Tamil forums and when any Tamilian argues with you that Hindi is not the official National language, tell them that they are anti national 

Stop Ogling at her

Preserve the Indian sanskari/ sanskriti by slapping any boy and girl walking together in public. Even if they are a brother and sister duo, slap them hard and make them accept that they are wrong

Randomly shout Anti Kejriwal slogans and when AAP supporters corner you, change the topic and abuse Rahul Gandhi by shouting Pappu joke

And finally, if a Pakistani attacks you in public forums, ask them to go to Pakistan.

- Chronicwriter

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875. Do not say "Don't" for everything

 "Oh baby! Don't climb the stairs. You will fall down"

That was his mother when he was a 2 year old baby

" Ashwin! Don't run fast. You will fall down and bruise your knees"

This was his father when he was 3

" My dear grand son, Don't talk with Rahul. He is from THAT caste"

This was his grand father injecting caste feelings for his 5 year old grand son.

" Ashwin! Don't share your snacks with others. If you share your snacks; you won't become strong"

This was his grand mother teaching him to be selfish

"Don't take Maths Biology. Take Computer Science as specialization in your class 11"

This was his uncle advising him on what career he should choose in his life.

"Don't select that college. They are liberal. Study in this college because they are strict and you will get good marks"

His maternal uncle gives his expert advice on college selection.

"Don't marry her. Her family does not have enough money. Marry Reethu aunty's daughter"

His mom gives him relationship advice.

" Don't have a baby soon. At least postpone it for 3 years"

That was his married friend giving him a lecture on family planning on the day of his marriage.

" Midhun! Don't run fast. You will fall down and bruise your knees"

That is our Ashwin talking to his 3 year old son Midhun.

And history repeats. Most of us can relate with Ashwin.The life that we live is conditioned by people around us. If we have gone through such a conditioning, let us atleast try our level best not to pass this disease to Midhun. 

Allow Midhun to fall, get hurt, fail.

Allow Midhun to choose a path that he wants to trod on

Allow Midhun to be independent.

Allow Midhun to live his life.

-Chronicwriter

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874. So I danced and covered "Sway"

Do you have two left legs? And do you think you can never dance? Well, this blog is for you. If you have not listened to the song “Sway”, you should probably listen to the song now. Why am I saying this now? Because, once you listen to the song, the music will flow through your nerves and veins and you would automatically start dancing.

I used to dance like a crazy monkey and my lifestyle in the last few years made me like a robot. I could hardly move to music. I sing a lot and started singing in Smule. A month ago, I decided to record this song “Sway”. It used to be a ball room/ party dance song and it is still the same. When I started to sing this song, I automatically started moving.

This song was written in 1953 as "Quien Sera" by the Mexican bandleader Pablo Beltran Ruiz. Norman Gimbel wrote the English lyrics for the song and Dean Martin recorded it with his voice. Martin sings that when he sways with his dance partner on the dance floor she is all he sees. If you are a salsa dancer, this is the dance you should try out with your dance partner. You can jive to this and even do samba moves to this song. There are so many layers to this song. Check this recording of mine here. The lyrics are added too

The song lyrics for Sway by Norman Gimbel and Dean Martin.

When marimba rhythms start to play, Dance with me, make me sway
Like a lazy ocean hugs the shore, Hold me close, sway me more

Like a flower bending in the breeze, Bend with me, sway with ease
When we dance you have a way with me, Stay with me, sway with me

Other dancers may be on the floor, Dear, but my eyes will see only you
Only you have the magic technique, When we sway I go weak

I can hear the sounds of violins, Long before it begins
Make me thrill as only you know how, Sway me smooth, sway me now

Other dancers may be on the floor, Dear, but my eyes will see only you
Only you have the magic technique, When we sway I go weak

I can hear the sounds of violins, Long before it begins
Make me thrill as only you know how, Sway me smooth, sway me now

Singers who have performed this song are Bobby Rydell, Ben E. King, Michael Bublé, Cliff Richard. Jennifer Lopez recorded it for the 2004 movie Shall We Dance. If you had watched the movie Sexy Beast, with Ben Kingsley and Ray Winston, you would have  heard this song in it. This song still sounds fresh and modern even though it was made over 50 years ago. So if you think you can't dance, just try listening to this song again and again.

-Chronicwriter

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873. My Hercules Rockshox cycle

When I was 11 years old, I asked my parents to buy me a bicycle. They told me that they would buy me a bicycle only if I get first rank in School for three consecutive months. That was their way of saying No to me. So I only had a chance to ride my sister's bicycle. It was a red color BSA SLR. 

What made it worse for me was that it was a ladies bicycle. My classmates would make fun of me when I took that cycle to school. So I decided to get first rank for three consecutive months and make my parents buy me a men's bicycle.

Eventually I succeeded only when I turned 14. My dad kept his word and bought me a double shock absorber cycle( Hercules Rockshox). Back then, owning such a cycle would me that you are cool. But there was a problem. As I was short, it was pretty difficult to ride that cycle. More often, I would sit on the bar and ride the cycle.

That's Pravin and I going to school

Every morning Pravin and I would go together to school in our bicycles. We would race with each other, try riding it without holding the handlebar and try various stunts. After school, we would paint the roads by exploring and navigating through all the streets en-route to our home. I had this cycle even in my college days.

Today, people buy bicycles to exercise. Back then it was our only mode of transport. May be I would buy a cycle someday and start riding it again.

Some of the memories with my cycle include

• Locking the cycle with a chain lock
• Skidding the cycle like a boss
• Paying 50 paisa every week in the bicycle shop to fill air for the tyres
• Tightening the cycle chain when it gets loose
• Making noise with the bell
• Using the right brake for the stopee effect.
• Actress Devayani has sat on this bicycle once

Because of my short stature, I would literally sit on the bar and ride the cycle and most of the time, the bar played a big part in me lying down and writhing in pain. Even though it hurt the sensitive parts of my body, I would make it a point to ride this cycle, because I loved the cycle. Do you have memories with your bicycle?

-Chronicwriter

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872. My Primary School Teacher - Matilda

A couple of days ago, I wrote a blog post about my first mimicry performance in school. In the image used in that Blog, my teacher Matilda can be seen in the background. [link]

And I saw her after 30 years in a Facebook picture. Matilda ma'm. She was my primary school teacher. She was known for discipline and in the 1990s she was in her late 50s and was about to retire. Now she must be in her 80s. She is the same lady who is standing behind me during my first mimicry performance.

I do not know her story. I don't even know her family members. But there is something about her face that made me to write this blog post. A sense of accomplishment or A sigh of relief or happiness or sadness. I seriously don't know what emotion to connect her with for the first photo; but that stance just depicts a lifetime of achievement. The first thing that comes to my mind when I think about her are the following two sentences

Goooooood Mooorrrrnnniiinnnnggggg Misssssss
Good Morning Students! Sit Down

Some of you might just look at the above picture and say "That is a picture of an old lady". For me that is a symbol of someone who has taught hundreds of students who are all settled in different parts of the globe. This blog is just a simple tribute to all the teachers who have spent their time and energy in laying the foundation for our present life. 

Edit: After posting this blog, I realized that Matilda Ma'm is my FB friend Stuart annan's mother. I am glad that I came to know about this now.

-Chronicwriter

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871. Adios from my present workplace

As I clicked the E-resignation button, I was left with mixed thoughts. Flashes and scenes from the last two years of my life at this workplace appeared in front of my eyes. The wonderful boss Smitha who made a huge difference in my life; the vibrant marketing team, my friend Siva who has been an angel in disguise about whom I have no words to express my gratitude - all of those memories flooded my thoughts.

You can't call any place your home. We are all hitchhikers moving on in a journey 

This workplace helped me realize that I can shuffle between two masks effortlessly. The calm-lost-in-thoughts mask and the crazy monkey mask. Sadly the latter mask was used only in a small circle. When the former mask started taking control of my personality, I decided that it was time to move on.

Note to readers: You did not understand the previous paragraph right? Good for me

The lessons have been many. In fact, my present stint has been a life-changer for me and that is why it is hard for me to move away from this place. But life goes on and we all have to keep moving.

Here is a picture of me about to make the job switch.

A post shared by Prason Christopher Robin (@chronicwriter) on Apr 6, 2017 at 12:15am PDT

Where am I moving on? I am going to be driving in the same road; but in a different gear.

A picture from the present workplace, that always makes me laugh is added below. Believe me! I am not sleeping.

When your colleague decides to click a picture of you when you are travelling from jupiter to neptune #sleepingatwork #dream #hardlyworking

A post shared by Prason Christopher Robin (@chronicwriter) on Mar 29, 2017 at 3:42am PDT

-Chronicwriter

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870. Our new Garden

We had a lovely garden in our house in my native place. Croton plants, Anthuriums, rose pots and lilies adorned our garden. My mom gave me a corner in our garden to have my own set of plants. I had a cactus space of my own in the house.

When I moved out my hometown and settled in Chennai, I was caught in the busy corporate lifestyle. My life centered around television, smartphones and laptops and soon everything became mechanical, monotonous and automated.

This is when my wife suggested that we have our own garden in our house. We went to the nursery and started collecting a few flower pots. My daughter Anya wanted cactus plants for herself. I have told her that I will buy them in another two years' time when she becomes a little big.

The joy of digging the mud, planting the plants in the soil and watering them took me back to my childhood and made me realize what I have been missing in life in this fast paced world. My daughter has started to water the plants every day. She has taken her first step into the world of botany.

Watch my daughter, watering plants in our garden

My daughter is taking baby steps into the world of gardening #hobby #gardening #wateringplants

A post shared by Prason Christopher Robin (@chronicwriter) on Apr 4, 2017 at 12:44am PDT

I hope that she will continue to stay closer with nature and start contributing to a green world.

Note: The picture is not our Garden. But someday the garden would be like that.

-Chronicwriter

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869. My first mimicry performance

It was the year 1987. I was in 1st standard. I studied in a school called Morton English Primary School. My classmates were busy memorizing dialogues to be recited the next day morning for the mimicry competition in school. 

Some were trying to imitate MGR. He was the chief minister of TamilNadu at that time and some were trying Rajinikanth's voice.

My friend Senthil was practicing the dialogue "Mogambo Khush Hua", which apparently was a Hindi film dialogue from the movie Mr.India. None of us understood what it meant, but we all thought that Mogambo was farting (Khush= Fart in tamil). He was the official fart master of the class. So the dialogue best suited him.

I did not know what I should do. That evening when I came home and told my mom that I need to participate in mimicry competition, she asked me whom I am going to mimic. I told her that I had no clue. That is when she said "Hey, You can talk like Donald Duck right?"

Me: Yes! Mom. I can

She: So do that.

Me:  I can sing a song in Donald Duck's voice

She: Yes. Try that. But can you add some more voices too?

Me: Yes mom! I can mimic a typist typing a document in a type writer

She: You mean, all sounds including typing, type setting, carriage return lever?

Me: Yes mom! I can do that. I have seen that on TV.

She: Done. In that case try it out. 

The next morning, my mom made me wear a waist coat with a bow tie. I told her that I need to look older. So she took my dad's black shoe polish and drew a mustache on my face. I felt like a grown up man now. 

My classmates were amazing on the stage. They recited long dialogues and we all clapped in unison for them. Then my turn came.

When I walked up to the stage, a new idea hit me. I took my position in front of the mic and said " I am Donald Duck. I am a typist and I am going to show you how I work happily while singing a song". Then the different sounds emerged from my vocal cords. The crowd liked it. Later I was announced as the winner because I did an extempore talk before my act and also because it was different from the rest.

Many years later, when I saw beat-boxers doing their act, I thought to myself, "Well, I did that when I was a kid. May be I should have practiced that art a little more".

Starting young has driven away all stage fear in me and I owe it all to that little stage in Morton English School which acted as a platform for me to try different art forms very early in my life. And also because of a supportive mother who always brought the best out of me. When parents were encouraging their kids to perform tried and tested stuffs, my mom always encouraged me to try and explore any creative idea that I wanted to showcase to the world. And to me! that made all the difference.

First prize for mimicry competition - It was a plastic Dappa. My school Principal- Late Mrs. Daniels is in the picture

-Chronicwriter.

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868. Hrishikesh Kanitkar - The superstar of Indian cricket in 1998

Flanked by the best batsman and the best fielder in Indian cricket

It seems as though it just happened yesterday. But time has just flown by. 19 years ago ( Jan 1998), India was up against Pakistan in the finals of the Independence cup at Dhaka. Pakistan batted first and scored a mammoth total of 314 runs aided by centuries from Saeed Anwar and Ijaz Ahmed. Chasing huge scores like 300 were almost next to impossible during those days.

In reply, Sachin and Ganguly gave a brilliant start scoring 41 and 124 respectively. Robin Singh scored 82 and India were cruising at 250/1; Robin Singh got out in the 38th over and wickets started tumbling and soon the score became 306/7 in the 47th over. Requiring 9 runs from 6 balls, Srinath the senior batsman had a newcomer Kanitkar as his partner.
Srinath was known for his big swing and massive hits to the fence and he was more often sent up the order as a pinch hitter. So if he had faced the bowler, India had a huge chance to win. But with just 2 balls remaining, India needed 3 runs to win. Kanitkar was on strike and we almost lost hopes. The best spinner in the world at that time (Saqlain) was bowling. It was a perfect David vs Goliath moment. The unthinkable happened. Kanitkar blasted the ball to the fence. A new star was born.

Watch the last ball four here.

- Chronicwriter

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867. Three life lessons from Kaipulla

Vadivelu (Kaipulla) in the film Winner gives us a life lesson. Kaipulla is the working President of "CarefreeYouth Association". His main enemy in the film is Mr. Kattadurai who also happens to be a bodybuilder.

Kaipulla is always surrounded by his trusted aides. 

1. Mr Blue shirt maama is the driver of his chariot. 
2. Mr. Aruva is the Lieutenant General of his army and 
3. Mr. Orange Banian is his right hand. 

Once during an altercation with Mr. Kattadurai, Kaipulla decides to teach him a lesson. So he goes to Kattadurai's fort and bravely enters into an argument which is still now etched in Tamil film history as the greatest Don- conversations ever. This epic scene is the greatest ever don conversation scene in movie history followed closely by the Godfather opening scene. What makes this scene better than God father are the three life principles that Don Kaipulla showcases in this scene.

Life Principle 1: Always draw the line

This one principle is not even covered in the 13 chapters of "The Art of  War" by Sun Tzu. The simple lesson is that when Kaipulla begins his conversation with Kattadurai, he clearly defines the rules of the war. Mr Aruva uses his veecharuva to draw a twisted line (part of the plan) on the ground. Once the line is drawn, Kaipulla makes his epic speech

Indha line-a thaandi naanum vara maatein; Neeyum Vara koodaadhu. Pechu Pechaa dhaan irukannum.

In English, it translates to "Do not cross this line". This shows that Kaipulla is a follower of Ahimsa and is a true  Gandhian by heart. It also teaches us to always draw a line in relationships and in our conversations. When we cross our limit and boundaries with people, we tend to hurt them and get hurt. To avoid all these, we should always draw the line. No one has ever conveyed this message so beautifully in any art form in human history.

Life Principle 2: Never take revenge

When Kattadurai ignores the first statement made by Kaipulla and when he crosses the line to attack him, Kaipulla just receives all beatings without attacking back. He shows the same calmness that  Manick Basha showed when Anandraj tied him to a post and beat him with a uruttukattai to derive thakkali chutney from his mouth. Kattadurai plays foul game by attacking Kaipulla from behind with coconuts. He surrounds Kaipulla with his goons and punches him with boxing gloves and with uruttukattais (The same uruttu kattai used by Anandraj in Basha) and still Kaipulla just forgives them and never hits them back.

Kaipulla receives all his beatings because he has a noble principle not to beat anyone or attack anyone because revenge is not a part of his dictionary. Even though when his trusted aides tell him that they will take revenge by attacking Kattadurai by bringing goons from near by villages in Lorries, Kaipulla stops them. This principle teaches us not to store anger; because when we store anger, we are just storing poison which actually harms us and kills us slowly.

Life Principle 3: Always have the Trust of your well-wishers

Even though Kaipulla is beaten to pulp, he is always held with high regards by the people in his village and by his well-wishers. They always trust him and treat him with respect.

The testimony from his fellow villagers, and the support showed by his trusted aides tell us that we should be a people's champion just like Rock. It is tough to win the trust of everyone around us. But Kaipulla won that with his principles. If we also follow the principles he adopted in his life, oorey onnu koodi nammala paarthu sirikkum. But who cares? Let us at-least be the reason for someone to smile.

Let us take a decision today to follow Kaipulla's three principles in our life too. Just keep your hand on the laptop/desktop/mobile screen and take a oath now. Let us make this world a better place to live in.

Jai Ho

-Chronicwriter

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866. A very important reason why you should save trees

You would have heard people saying that Trees give us oxygen and rain. I totally get that and agree with them. But there is one more important reason why you should save trees. Check this 30 second video to know the reason. The video may change your outlook towards life. 

Let us plant trees and make this world a better place to live in.

-Chronicwriter

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865. Guangzhou diaries

It happened 10 years ago. But the incident is still fresh in my mind. I was working as a Business Analyst at IBS Software services. I used to travel to South Asian countries because my work demanded me to travel for requirement gathering and product demos. As our clients were "airlines" around the globe, I had one of the best globe trotting experience during my IBS days.

I spent the summer of 2007 in Guangzhou, China. This place is quite close to HongKong. After a hectic week of client meetings where my boss Gunjan, our sales director Joben and I slogged to demonstrate our product to our client, we finally had some breathing time one night before returning to India. As we did not have time to even shop much in China, we decided to cut loose and paint the city in all colors before taking the flight back to India early next morning.

So around 8 PM that night, we took a local cab and asked the cabbie to take us to a place where they play good music. He did not understand a word. Back then, English was not enough to survive in China. We tried to explain to him in sign language too; but he did not seem to get it. Finally Joben said "Is there a Karaoke place around?" The cab driver understood the word "karaoke" and took us to a club. Once we arrived there, we walked in with some Chinese-trance music inviting us. It is a genre that I have not heard after that in my life. That music made me dizzy and we decided to leave the place.

After roaming around the city, we finally came back to our hotel at midnight. As we had only few hours to catch our flight early in the morning, we decided to go to the Marriott lounge bar and to our pleasant surprise a Filipino band was playing English songs there. There were not many people in the lounge at that time. Seeing us, the Filipino girls  got excited because they finally had three people who were able to understand what they were singing.

One of those girls initiated a conversation with us and when she found that we loved western music, she invited me to join them on stage. I ended up singing a Cliff Richard song (Bachelor Boy) and an Elvis Presley song (Judy). I came back to our table and suddenly they announced " To the three gentlemen from India, we would like to dedicate an Indian song" and dedicated "Made in India" by Alisha Chinai for us. 

How often does an incident like this take place? As in, a Filipino band singing a Hindi song for Indians in China? Of the many things that took place in my Guangzhou visit, this incident is still etched in my memory.

Read my funny experience with a pimp in my Beijing diaries [link]

-Chronicwriter

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864.Happy women's day to all the fake IDs in Facebook

Fake IDs! They make this world a better place to live in. If Facebook had been a country, it would have been the largest country in the world in population. Fake IDs have contributed a lot to this glorious growth. 

There are different kinds of fake IDs and each one of them exist on FB for a reason. I am going to dedicate this post to one particular group of fake IDs; the group that is responsible for spreading love, laughter, lust and glamour. Yes! I am talking about guys disguising themselves as women on FB. I want to greet all these fake IDs with women's day wishes.

If you ask me why I should wish them, I would say "Why Not?". The reasons are many. Here are a few reasons why these guys deserve all the praise on this special day.

Fake ID 1: The girl who does not know how to hide his (her) kondai

This guy does not use his brains while creating a fake ID. He uploads a woman's photo but forgets to change the gender to female in the most important column.More over he uploads a picture of an aunty with jasmine flowers; but has a FB name "Sweety Doll" or "Priya Jillani". The common names Priya Sweety and Angel Priya are popular in this list. There would not be any connection to the name and the photo. Any guy will find out that it is a fake ID. But the good thing about such fake IDs is that they chat with anyone at any point of time. 24/7 chat support is guaranteed from them. They always initiate the conversation and some guys even fall for such fake IDs.

Time till they are caught: Less than 24 hours

Fake ID2: That aniyaayathukku vetka padum Fake ID

The guy behind this fake ID comes with the notion that women are supposed to feel shy all the time. They will show their shyness when you initiate a conversation with them. They will never initiate a conversation with anyone. If you ask them personal questions like "Which college are you in?", they will suddenly get angry and log out. They are capable of fooling guys for a minimum of one month.

Time till they are caught: 24 hours to 1 month

Fake ID 3: The feminists (Read misandry) 

In fact these guys should have been born as men bashers. They attack men for everything. Guys can't carry a normal conversation with these fake IDs. These fake IDs use pretty girls' images and hence inbound chat flow is always high. If Anushka Sharma cries, they will attack Kohli and these fake IDs write long blogs and facebook posts and have 1000s of followers. They seldom entertain private chats with men. They always chat with women as like-minded women feel safe and secure with them. Once they win the trust of the women, these fake IDs introduce their real ID (Men ID) to these women and give good conduct certificates to these men.

Time till they are caught : 1 month to 3 months

Fake ID 4: The glamour queens

90% of fake IDs belong to this category. They exist to spread lust, love and glamour. Pasanga will be crazy about these girls. These fake IDs keep all the rapists and rogues occupied by putting kadalai with them. If only all these fake IDs shut down, the number of crime against women will increase. I know that is a bad thing to say; but that is the reality.

Time till they are caught: More than a year

If you ask me how I know all this stuff, just look at the picture below, meditate on that and just say "I am a victim too bro"

Message

I encourage women to publicly post all the messages they get in their "Other message box" on Facebook. I want to wish all these fake IDs a happy women's day. May your tribe increase and may you all make this world a great place to live in. Jai Ho.

I would have added a few more fake ID lists in this post; but while typing this post, I got reminded of chinnamma Sasikala. As I type this, I have tears in my eyes. Our beloved chinnama should be having a tough time behind bars. I wish her "Happy women's day" too.

-Chronicwriter

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863. Priyanka Chopra sets fire at the Oscars

Priyanka Chopra set fire to the Oscar red carpet with a dress that has caught everyone's attention. With matching bangles and ear rings, she had gone into the minute details of carrying herself well at this year's Oscars.

I was scared that her dress would fall anytime. But I am glad that my fears never came true much to the disappointment of millions of fans around the globe. A mason who was working on bathroom construction made a remark that Priyanka Chopra had made a costume out of bathroom tiles.

How ever, what ever said and done, the whole idea behind her dress is an inspiration from Santhanam's costume from the movie "Siva Manasula Sakthi" (SMS). You might argue with me saying that Santhanam's hands are inside and Priyanka's hands are outside. Yes! That's true, that is a result of women liberation. Priyanka Chopra is a woman and she has every right to keep her hands outside. Do you have a problem with that? [I just scored some extreme browny points from 21st century feminists]

I would have been glad if Priyanka Chopra had given due credit to the makers of SMS. But in an era where copy paste is done shamelessly, we can't expect ethical standards from such artists.

Meanwhile Charlie Theron copied actor Jiiva's costume from the same movie (Compare both pictures). She also did not give credit to the actor.

- Chronicwriter

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862. What are the various career openings after Engineering?

Are you studying Bachelors in Engineering? People around you might even discourage you saying that the job market is pretty bad for Engineers these days. Don't believe them. You have an amazing opportunity to get a job in many fields. Engineering degree gives you the perfect platform to get into multiple roles. You can get one of these jobs after completing your Engineering degree

1) Pani puri guy - I have seen a Bihari Pani puri guy in Chennai with an Engineering degree in EEE

2) Auto driver - There are many auto drivers with engineering degrees
3) Ola cab driver - We can also see many Uber and Ola drivers with ME degrees too
4) Hotel bearer - I don't understand the connection, but I guess they were unhappy with hostel food and became a hotel bearer
5) Call centre executive - When you don't get a job in the core subject, this is the immediate option that many resort too. 9 out of 10 people who join a BPO after engineering grow up in the BPO sector
6) Banker - In the last 5 years, the number of banking people with Engineering degrees have gone up.
7) Photographer - All photographers may not be engineers. But all engineers are photographers.
8) Software Engineer -Even if you had specialized in Civil/ Mechanical and Instrumentation Engineering, you end up writing codes and testing them
9) English teacher - Those guys who participate in literary competitions end up as english teachers.
10) Engineering college lecturer - This is one of the biggest punishment; getting ragged by your own juniors and some take this punishment on themselves.
11) Writer - He He. Oorukulla pala writers these days
12) Blogger - I am also an engineer only
13) Standup comedian - I qualify for this too
14) Terrorist- Laden kitta pesureeyaa? Bin Laden
15) President - APJ Abdul Kalaam is an example.

And the list goes on and on. If you are wondering why I used a model's picture for this blog post, it is just a gentle reminder that the jobs that a person gets after completing their engineering degree is similar to the connection between this post and the picture of the model.

-Chronicwriter

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861. Life is a wonderful teacher

I learnt the basics of Tamil from Jothi Mam (My Kindergarten Tamil teacher) and the grammar behind it from N. Thassiah Sir.

My grand mother taught me Indian History and English. 

My mother taught me to sing.

My father was my mathematics and Physics teacher.

Ashok annan taught me to play the guitar; I hated it when I started to play the guitar as a 7 year old boy; but now it is really useful for me.

I have lost special people in my life because of their wrong doings and also because of my foolish behavior.

I have seen people die.

My maternal grandmother was the first person who encouraged me to write. She was extremely humorous too.

I have never ever got a job through a job site; it has always been through a friend or an acquaintance or my blog.

I have cheated people and I have been cheated too and I have learnt a lesson or two from those experiences too.

I still don't know why I did Bachelors in Engineering. I have no clue about the subjects in Engineering. But I learnt to survive in the big bad world, thanks to those 4 years.

My daughter, wife and my sister have taught me many a lesson too.

We can learn from anyone around us. Children, teens, young adults, married couples, elders, teachers, beggars, crooks and even from murderers. Some times the greatest lessons are learnt from failures in life and relationships. 

Everyone around us have something to teach us in this phenomenon called LIFE.

Be it a happy moment, a sad reality or a betrayal; every single thing gives us valuable life lessons.

The only thing that we constantly do is Learn.

I am still learning.

What about you?

-Chronicwriter

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