Death sentence for 3 ... who were responsible for burning a bus and in the process killing three innocent agricutlural college students.

How cruel death is... not content with the count already, Death like these never comes alone. Everyone(including my friend Velraj) believes that they deserve it and even more... I think the worst possible way to die is to be aware that you are going to die in a few days from now. Hope now they atleast look at each other and ask "What have we done??"

கவிதை...

படித்ததில் பிடித்தது:

விழுங்கிய மீன் தொண்டையில் குத்திய பொழுது உணர்ந்தேன்...
தூண்டிலின் ரணம்.

- ஆ. வி - வைர விழா கவிதை போட்டியில் தேர்வு பெற்ற 75 கவிதைகளில் இதுவும் ஒன்று. பரிசு பெறவில்லை என்றாலும் என் மனதை கவர்ந்தது...

எனது முதல் தமிழ் வலைப்பதிவு

எழுத்தாளர் சுஜாதா போன்றவர்கள் அடிக்கடி வலியுறுத்துவது தமிழை வளர்க்க வேண்டும் என்பது(நிறைய பேர் பேசினாலும் சுஜாதாவை இழுப்பதற்கு காரணம் உள்ளது)

இதோ Google-இன் படைப்பாற்றலுக்கு மற்றுமொரு உதாரணம் - இந்த வலைப்பதிவு(Blog) அழகிய தமிழில் எழுத உதவிய http://www.google.com/transliterate/indic/tamil

முதலில் நானும் பல முறை மின் அரட்டை அடிக்கும் போது ஆங்கிலத்தில் தமிழ் வார்த்தைகளை எழுதுவது உண்டு , இருப்பினும் இப்படி ஒன்று தேவை என்று தோன்றவே இல்லை. இதன் மூலம் வழக்கம் போல் ஆங்கில வார்த்தைகளை தமிழில் எழுத இது அழகாக தமிழில் வடிவாக்கம் செய்து விடுகிறது.

இதன் சிறப்பே சூழல் பொறுத்து(context based) எழுத்துக்களை தேர்வு செய்து கொள்கிறது. எனவே, tamil என்று அடித்தாலும் சிறப்பு 'ழ' கரம் போட்டு கொள்கிறது. ஒன்றுக்கும் மேற்பட்ட எழுத்துக்கள் வரும்படி வாய்ப்பிருந்தால்(ஒலி/ஒளி/ஒழி) intellisense மூலம் அனைத்து வார்த்தைகளையும் பட்டியல் காட்டி நம்மை தேர்வு செய்து கொள்ள சொல்கிறது

மேலும் பேச்சு தமிழில் இருக்கும் "பரவாயில்ல" போன்ற வார்த்தைகள் கூட வருவது மிகச்சிறப்பு. (இது வெறும் மொழி அன்றி ஒலி பெயர்ப்பு தானா என்று கண்டுபிடிக்க முடியவில்லை) இருப்பினும் தமிழ், தமில் இரண்டு மொழி வார்த்தைகளையும் சேகரித்து உருவாக்கி இருப்பது நல்ல முயற்சி. இதன் மூலம் சற்று துரு பிடித்து இருக்கும் எனது தமிழ் எழுத்தரிவோடு கூட எழுத்து பிழை இன்றி என்னால் எழுத முடிகிறது.

மேலும் அடுத்த கட்டமாக Google மொழி பெயர்ப்பு முயற்சியிலும் இறங்கி இருக்கிறது. அதாவது பிற மொழிகளில் உள்ள வலை தளங்களை தமிழில் மொழி பெயர்த்து கொடுக்கும் - இனி 'The Hindu' செய்திகளை தமிழில் படிக்கலாம். இது எவ்வளவு தூரம் நடை முறை சாத்தியம் என்று தெரிய வில்லை எனினும் இது நடந்தால் அது பெரிய புரட்சி ஆக இருக்கலாம். 'code' போட்டால் Google ரோடு போடுகிறது.

Google தொழில்நுட்பத்தை கொண்டு வந்தாலும் அவர்களுக்கு மொழி திறன் அவ்வளவு எளிதாக கிடைக்க வாய்ப்பில்லை... எனவே தமிழ் பற்றுடைய தமிழர்களின் முயற்சி இன்றி இது நடந்து இருக்க வாய்ப்பு இல்லை. தொழில்நுட்பத்தை தமிழ் வளர்ச்சி(??)காக பயன் படுத்தி இருப்பது சுஜாதா போன்றவர்களின் கவனத்தை நிச்சயம் ஈர்க்கும்.

வாழ்க தமிழ்! வளர்க தொழில் நுட்பம்!!

(பி. கு) நான் தமிழ் என்று குறிப்பிட்டுள்ள அனைத்தும் பல பிற மொழிகளிலும் உருவாக்கப்பட்டுள்ளது.

Face to Face

Faces... I wonder aesthetically how nature is able to be so creative that apart from very rare identical look alikes(double action), everyday millions of them are born and they all look different. To understand how creative it takes to achieve this : Did u ever tried to create a face in your mind that you have never met? Well, Nature is doing well to create different faces for everyone of us, so when you come up with such a face out of your imagination there still might be possible that he is born somewhere. So, if this is so hard, how can nature be able to create millions of such faces everyday?

However, If I try to think Scientifically, it looks the other way which is pretty easy.. - faces are result of permutations and combinations of millions of factors(or chemicals) and their ingredients at millions of different moments that gradually build up to faces and it is extremely impossible to have two instances of such million things happening at the same sequence and time to result in similar looking faces - some of those factors being the health of the mother, her food habits, the state of her mind (which in turn relates to the external environment)the weather around, the nature and properties of her bodily fluids to react to all these factors and above all - the genes - which again is a chemical factor which was subjected to all the above factors looped over generations and generations - means only when you arrive at such an identical look alikes who are not twins you should be surprised.

When aesthetics just sit and wonder from the ground how amazing the stars are, scientists go all the way up to explore it and realise they are nothing but big fire balls. But whats the problem in preferring to sit down and enjoy("How I wonder what you are") how beautiful things are, than to strain hard only to realise that they all are illusions??

Heroes rising...

Nowadays it's been all sports when I go back home via Comcast cable. Yesterday, I saw two greats put to test for a while before they eventually showed up the best.

First it was Federer, playing against big serving Feliciano Lopez(ESP). Earlier round, Lopez was playing teenager Young(USA) and was not that impressive. So I thought it will be simple for Federer. But I was wrong. Lopez's strategy is to go for what he thought is his strength - the serve and was serving big, even second serves going for 115mph. This made Federer impossible for breaking his serve, but was broken himself and lost the first set 3-6. And in the next set it was the same story, with Lopez easily holding the serve while Federer hustling to hold his. It was until 5-4 and Lopez serving @ 15-30 that I saw first of Federer's himself that day. It was a passing backhand winner and then it was Federer's all the way(except 0-40 start in third set) Federer then won 35 straight points in his serve that is more than 8 games without conceding a point, and had enough chances to break Lopez to win the match. Typical Federer raising the game and leaving the opponents drained of any confidence. Score : 3-6 6-4 6-1 6-4 Fed.

Next it was HHH in Monday night Raw. When roommate Sumit claimed it was kiddish to watch WWE, and most of us know its all unreal, it is still fun to watch. And HHH being a villain once against the people's champ 'The Rock',he is now a hero. And when he was performing his blood ripping illegal hits as a villain, we hate him, but now being a hero we enjoy it. Even in movies, hero won't use weapons as villains do.

The match was a handicapped one- Carlito and umaga Vs HHH. But just few minutes into the match, umaga lost temper and entered into the ring and both started hitting HHH out. Match was called off, but they were still hitting HHH. After a few bad hits, umaga posted a chair on the turn buckle, let Carlito hold HHH against it and came running in, to jam HHH against the turnbuckle. But HHH moved and Umaga hit the chair. At this point, if it were other heroes, like, say Rock, they would have hit back with legal shots although the match is officially over. But it was HHH - he picked up the chair, hit Carlito who fled away, and then on Umaga's head. But Umaga wasn't giving up and he was trying to stand erect although he was hit every time. After 3-4 hits, HHH stopped, nodded his head went out and picked up his weapon - the metal hammer and hit him on the head leaving umaga in bloodshed.

Two comebacks - I enjoyed both.

Aug 6 - 1945, The black day in the World's History when Hiroshima and Nagasaki were bombed to nothing. 52 Years and now they have rose from the ashes to enormous proportion much higher than many other parts of the world - An amazing comeback and a true inspiration.

A Salute to their spirit!!!

My Birthday diary II

It took me more than a month now to continue my last post today - a day from a week which itself in its own accord has got some importance - will deviate to it in next post. Now - let me focus on my 25th year on earth.

I remember celbrating my b'day with 2-3 new dresses and from 1.30 pm CST the previous day. And recving bumps later that night when i cut the cake - first time in my life, but better-not-to-mention start. I was in fiserv team then("was"!!!). But life was cool then, vidhya leading the team, me not with responsiblities and worries, living a wake up late- sleep in office - play pool - stay cool life in Westwood.

And it was the time i might have felt that I am gonna stay onsite for long and will be earning much that i started making trips every possible long weekend - July 4 - florida - Sep - Atlanta, etc. All with sustainment gang. And in Florida - Keywest - I swam(??!!) in the ocean - North Atlantic as it turned out to be... Well, by swimming i didnt mean "kutraleeswaran" type channel crossing effort, but just to float in salty deep blue sea with water jacket. First in my life...

And then Atlanta in sep - me, sundar, vel to visit vijay and not to hurry ourselves as in FL, and relax. We did relax, highlight being the latenight ihop dinner, voracious eating in that indian restaurant and knowing how to live happily in US from jerald and co.

Then suddenly i was aware that im spending too much, and had plans to go home for vacation that I decided to curb myself from any more tours - eventually i spent the longest long weekend of thanksgiving in the coldest cold of minnesota - waiting for the black friday deals for God-only-knows-we-get. Went to BestBuy the night before, and started playing cards out in cold waiting in queue.

But one of the best "first of my life" happened in August - Much dreamt, but a bit disapppointed - my lovely, sweet and troublesome - Toyota camry LE. I hated everything about it and would not have gone for it on a normal day, but with all my options gone, i almost ended up with this, but a big acheievement whatsoever, in life to own a car. In India it would not have happened with all those traffic and not affordable too. Thanks to Uncle Sam - Well, it is my biggest personal purchase after my mobile and laptop.

Then comes one of my most awaited career "first" - I wrote my first line of Development code - although unofficially when I did a module in Vidhya's proj - CCH, yet it was awesome to step into the land of .NET Development and my first successful step towards my dream destination right from my 11th high school- It was long deviated, struggled and finally may be fortunately turned towards what I dont know if that is the best for my career. Thanks to all those who played a part here - Vidhya, Sourav, Baskar, etc.

Time and space running up - few more are : First full year in US, Credit card and credit history, postpaid moblie connection, my cutey-motty-Sony Ericsson w600i, India vacation, Anna's marriage, Park Meadows Tennis & volleyball, etc - a very eventful year indeed. Let me see if I get time to grab these in detail, in next post.

My B'day diary

Today, I am turning 25. Many more happy returns of the day. I always wanted to write diary everyday, to record some memories, but if you know me, I need not explain.

At least let me sum it up here and take notes of myself a few memories before they evaporate into the cloudy sky. Before that, let me take a break from non-stop blogging and have my lunch (now its 3.28 pm, and if you dont know me, well, this is me.) and baskar is waiting for me.

Final Destination 1

14 Jun 2007 - I hate today, feeling as bad as someone in death bed... sorry if i sound too negative - not that bad actually, but it was about the feeling that there is no tomorrow like yesterday(Although it is true for everyday, only very few days in life will remind you of that). This is because, I have this feeling that life from tomorrow will be a downslide of a rollercoaster - if you ever travelled one, you will know it will start very slow and climb up to the max height, and from that point it will suddenly and rapidly fall to the destination, with lot of unexpected turns and slides.

Too much of hype, well it’s my 25th B'day today!!! No, it is not just another birthday. I am getting old and I hate it that I decided not to celebrate. Because I think the rest of the b'days were taking me to the peak of the life. It is like - You go up all the way, stop there and when ready to fall, you will have a scary view of what lies ahead - this b'day is like that stop.

In life, By the time your b'day reminds you of age than a day that gets you new dress, cut a cake and few gifts, you will be past your childhood and stepped into your teens. But then you will enjoy the fact that you are getting old - you are no more a "kid", you are getting matured rather than getting old, and above all you are entering adultery, meaning you can now get yourselves adulterated with all those "18 and above only" stuffs. So you are marching towards that freedom, and hardly worry about getting old. And then every year gets you closer to new destinations - first graduation, first job, first salary, first love and so on - until you reach a point where nothing fascinates you in life enough to be landmarked as your next destination - until Death with, well, few more instances to tell you how close you are - marriage where you loose your bachelorhood(Final Destination 2), day when you become a parent(FD3), day you retire to become a senior citizen(FD4). And I think here I am at that point - FD1.

And did I say why this 25th makes me feel so? Well, whenever there was some age grouping, an insurance quote for instance, they group people into three - under 18, 18-24, and 25 & above. See, thats what I mean - it doesn’t matter you have just turned 25 or 58 or 102 - you are there. Only consolation is the insurance quote will be less - but the price you pay for that is too much. From here on- every Bday gets you "older" than getting you matured.

I know that this is very too much to worry about, but gone are the days. I can hear those optimists who are cursing this pessimistic crap, saying you can always live your life and youthful at heart. But guys, you are talking about pretending to be young, which anyway I will be, but you cannot deny the facts.

On the other side, I feel very lucky to have lived 25 years in the world - I thank God, parents, family, friends and every one part of my world - to be there, wished me goodwill, and made my life as it was. I am lucky to survive 25 years, and I believe i lived them to my best healthily, wealthily and happily. I can’t ask for more.

Today, at this stop, when I turn back to look at the 25 years that passed, I feel glad and content, if not the best - for there is nothing to be stopped as best - Abiding the principle of life, I hope the best has to come yet.