Random thoughts

• I saw these clips of a show by the great Kunnakudi Vaidhyanathan hosted by Vijay TV for Deepavali 200#. Sri Kunnakudi, wearing a coat-suit, plays popular movie songs to the delight of the audience. The ease and elan with which he plays the subtleties in the songs just left me spellbound. Legendary stuff! It's sad the Violin Maestro is not with us any more. His music will live with us forever.

Kaadhal Yaanai (Anniyan)

Mannil Indha Kadhal (don't miss the part where Sri Kunnakudi mimics SPB by playing the charanam without lifting the bow)

He also played: Devuda Devuda , Malarndhu malaradha, MKT's Manmadha leelai

• Is he the Tamil Russell Peters? Badava Gopi! I hope they get rid of the annoying background music for every joke. Good laugh though!

• Ross Taylor said in relief at IPL being shifted from India to SA "If you're dead you cant earn any money..." - *Tonge in cheek* Honest!

• I went hiking this week at Kondalilla National Park. It rained the previous day, the circuit was damp as we walked through the cool, lush green surroundings. The vegetation was thick (as you would expect in a rainforest) and the croaks of frogs and chirps of birds and insects were soothing to the ears compared to the monotonous server hum. The hike was going smoothly until my friend (walking first in the pack) spotted this fella on the track.

We spotted him when he was approx 2-feet away from us. Since all of us were sh*t scared of anything belonging to his species, we stood there for a moment staring at him blankly and wondering what to do. We shooed and stomped our feet to make him move. To our horror, he initially moved towards us and slithered away to his left and just disappeared into the bush. Phew...all of us needed a new set of pants!

• I found a way to make Rasam taste even better. Instead of mashing the paruppu (lentils) with karandi (spatula), mash it with your hands. Paruppu mixes well as a result Rasam tastes better. Previously, paruppu used to stand out like a distant cousin. Now it is a part of the Rasam family. If you are saying "Jee...what a genius Sriram. Tell me something new!" Well, using hands to mash the paruppu may be the proper, regular way. But that doesn't matter!. For a guy who ventured into making Rasam just few months back, this is a big leap. I can never forget my first attempt at making Rasam. I ended up making what looked like a glorified manja thanni than Rasam. I've come a long way from that.
  

• IPL: I am from Chennai. I support Mumbai Indians. Why? Here is the answer in the first few paras of this post.

• I watched Sigappu Rojakkal yesterday. A typical 70s movie. Kudos on Bharathiraja for making a psycho thriller in that era. Kamal, as usual, acted well. I wonder how this movie will be if Kamal and Bharathiraja remake this movie today. Sigappu Rojakkal II. That'll be good!
  

• Saw Ayan. A decent masala movie. Unlike other masala movie directors, I appreciate K V Anand for making the assumption the Tamil Cinema viewers have some IQ in them. You can watch the movie once in theatre for two reasons: one, picturisation of Nenje Nenje song; two, (for chics) after hearing the oohs and aahs in the theatre - Surya and his abs, (for guys) Tamanna.

• A question from my friend. What is the Tamil word for 'swipe'? (as in, swipe your credit card).