AACHI MANORAMA

Manorama is a very popular cinema star from the Tamil Film Industry.  She is turning 70 on 26th May 2013 and has been acting since the age of 12.  She was born as Gopishantha and became Manorama when she joined the Theatre as a Tamil Drama Artist.

She has acted in more than 400 films over the last five decades and has performed in several roles.  She holds the Guinness Record for acting in most number of films.  She has done comedy, tragedy, support roles and has also acted as Heroine.  She used to have a Drama Troupe and I have seen her drama during my childhood days in Chennai.  She has done more than 1000 stage performances.


Apart from being an excellent actress she is also a very good singer.  I like all her songs very much as she has a very unique voice.  How can we ever forget the great song "vaa vadhiyare oottande nee varangatti naan uda maatten":


The other popular song is "Poonthamalliyile oru ponnu pinnale":


She has done some exceptionally good performances in Prabhu, Karthik, Kamal and Rajini films.  She did a fantastic role in Thillana Moganambal.  Cho Ramaswamy has referred to Manorama as Female Sivaji Ganesan because of her extraordinary acting abilities and versatility.  She has also acted in Hindi Films and the notable one is Kunwara Baap in which she has paired with the legendary Mehmood.

There have been several male comedians who have made an impact like Nagesh, Chandrababu, Thengai Srinivasan, Koundamani, Senthil, Vadivelu, Vivek, Santhanam, etc.  There has been only one Female Comedian who has made an impact and that is our Evergreen Aachi Manorama.

She will be celebrating her 70th Birthday on 26th May 2013 and I pray to God to give her long life.

T.P.Anand
Dubai, U.A.E.
11th May 2013

TRIPLE E SHIP

A fleet of new giant container vessels are on the way.   The new Triple E ships are 400 meters long and 59 meters wide with a draft of 14.5 meters.

The name Triple E is derived from the three design principles "Economy of Scale; Energy Efficient and Environmentally improved".  Daewoo Shipbuilding has been awarded two contracts of USD 1.9 billion each for building 20 ships.  The Triple E is designed as a successor for the E Class ships of Maersk and will be 3 meters longer and 4 meters wider than the E Class but will be able to carry an additional 2,500 containers.

The 14.5 meter draft would mean that the ship will be able to cross the Suez Canal while sailing between Europe and Asia.  Maersk is planning to use the Triple E ships in the Europe to Asia route.  In view of the 14.5 meter draft, the Triple E would not be able to cross the Panama Canal and hence cannot visit any of the ports in the Americas.  The ports that can handle the Triple E ships are Rotterdam, Gothenburg, Bremerhaven, Felixstowe, Gdansk in Europe and Singapore, Shanghai, Ningbo, Xiamen, Yantian, Hongkong and Tanjung Pelepas in Asia.

These Triple E Ships will adopt a new strategy of "Slow Steaming" whereby the fuel consumption will be lower by 37% though the speed is only 19 knots and slower than the predecessors.

The new Triple E ships will be able to carry 18,000 Containers - Twenty-foot Equivalent Units TEUs.  Over the last 15 years the Container Vessels have grown in size by three times.  If you unload all the containers from the Triple E and put them on a single train it would need to be 108 kilometers long.

The hull is "U" shape as compared to the E Class ships which are "V" Shaped.  This allows more containers to be stored at the lower level and hence the additional capacity of 2,500 TEUs as compared to the E Class.  Maersk is planning to have a fleet of 20 Triple E ships.

Triple-E: The largest, most efficient ship in the world from Maersk Line on Vimeo.

The Triple E when operational will be world's largest and most efficient Container Vessel.  Technological advancement and improvements in various fields are really mind boggling.  Long Live Technology Innovators.

T.P.Anand
Dubai, U.A.E.
3rd May 2013.

S.JANAKI

S.Janaki is one of the greatest singers of all times in the Indian Cinema.  She will be turning 75 on 23rd April and I salute her for the wonderful songs that she has rendered over the last 55 years.  Many of her songs will remain evergreen and "Singaravelane Deva" is really the top on my list:


Her illustrious career in the film industry started in 1957 and she has sung several thousand songs in several  Languages including English, Japanese, German, Sinhalese and Sanskrit.  She has received the National Award for best playback singer four times and has received several state awards in the last five decades.

She is a very versatile singer and can easily adapt into any genre.  The testimony to this is her song in Hindi Film Saaheb in 1985 "yaar bina chain kahan re":


The songs that she has rendered in Maestro Ilayaraja's music are some of the best songs of S.Janaki.  She has also worked with various other Music Directors like M.S.Viswanathan, K.V.Mahadevan, Shankar Ganesh, Chakravarthy during the 1980s and given so many hit songs through her lovely voice.  The modulation and pitch with which she has rendered some of the songs is really unbelievable.  She is a truly gifted singer and her songs will live for ever.

There are a number of hit songs in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam and I have listed below some of my favourite songs from Tamil Films sung by S.Janaki:

1. Singaravelane Deva
2. Konja neram ennai marandhen
3. Kaatrukkenna veli
4. Unnidathil ennai koduthen
5. Poovarasamboo poothachu
6. Senthoora poove senthoora poove
7. Naadam en jeevane
8. Puttam pudhu kaalai
9. Kodiyile malliga poo manakkuthe maane
10. Azhaghu malar aada abinayangal kooda
11. Raasave unna naan
12. Kotta paakkum kozhundhu vethalayum
13. Nenjukkulle innarunnu sonnal
14. Vaazhavaikkum kaadalukku jai
15. Pattu poove mettu podu
16. Mounamaana neram
17. Maalai soodum velai
18. Isai medayil inba velayil
19. Then poove poove vaa thendral theda
20. Enadhu vizhi vazhi mele
21. Sandana Kaatre senthamizh oottre
22. Ye paadal ondru raagam ondru

The song in Rettai Vaal Kuruvi is one of my most favourite songs "kannan vandhu paaduginraan":

Long Live S.Janaki.

T.P.Anand

Dubai, U.A.E.

5th April 2013

CROW

Crow is a very common bird found in every nook and corner of India.  It is a very simple, humble and not-so-cute looking bird whom everybody likes to hate.

Crow has some unique and good qualities which are very important for us to learn.  They live in large groups and move in groups.  The group is known as a "flock".  When one of finds food somewhere he/she would immediately call all the members of the flock to come and share the food.

They call the flock in a unique style "kaww" and there is a long "Kaww" and a short "Kaww" for their communciation.  Crows are very noisy as they call "kaww" "kaww" non-stop and can be a nuisance.  In some countries they are regarded as "public nuisance".

We have a belief that if Crow comes and calls "kaww" there would be a guest visiting the house that day.  It is a message to the family from the Crow that we have to be prepared to receive a visitor.  This belief is proved right several times as I have personally experienced this while living in Chennai.  There is also a practice that when the food is cooked in the morning we have to first feed the crow before feeding anyone in the family.  We do this as we believe that the Crow is the transient stage of the elders who have died in the family in recent times.

Crow is considered very intelligent.  In some countries the crows have learnt to use bread crumbs as bait for catching fish.  They are intelligent enough to use tools.  There is a wonderful song about Crow in "Parasakthi" the first film in which the great legend Sivaji Ganesan acted and it is a treat to watch that song any day:


Crows are omnivorous and can eat anything and everything.  When I used to live in Santhome in Chennai we had a huge open terrace and we used to feed the crows with a variety of things.  They would come as a flock and enjoy eating whatever we feed them with including bread, biscuits, cooked rice, cooked vegetables, etc.  They also feast on dead rats on the road side and any left over food that is found near the dust bins.  They are scavengers with a wide ranging diet from grains, nuts, fruits, vegetables, meat, insects, etc.  They need about 300 grams of food every day and can survive on any kind of a diet/cuisine.  Much of what Crows eat is actually garbage and human waste.  There is an estimate that there are 34 million crows in India and at an average consumption of 300 grams each they are actually clearing a huge amount of garbage and wastage.

I like the look, walk, style, call, i.e., "kaww" and the intelligence of Crow.  The Crow's contribution to the society is completely unnoticed and mostly ignored.  I must thank my friend Sriraj for suggesting this topic for my blog.

T.P.Anand
Dubai, U.A.E.
31st March 2013.

PROCRASTINATION

Procrastination is the act of postponing things when it can be easily done immediately.  We waste a lot of time by procrastinating.  Taking action then and there will help us to transform our life but we still do not take action and push it to a later date.  Why??  Sometimes the delay in taking action can lead to a problem and when we are faced with the problem we repent and feel we should not have postponed the issue.

You may sit down to start writing your next book, but just after two minutes at the computer you will jump up and head to the kitchen to grab a glass of fresh juice.  As you relish the glass of juice and settle down in front of the computer, you suddenly feel it would be good to check the programme in your popular TV channel and hence you swing up again looking for the remote control.  The next 20 minutes goes in surfing through various channels on the Television and you suddenly realise that you were at the computer writing your book.  As you settle down in front of the computer you see the pop up which announces that there is an email for your.  You feel it is better to quickly check the mail before sitting down for writing the book.  You open the mail box and the next one hour goes in emails, net surfing, browsing of some popular websites.

You want to write a book; you want to learn how to play guitar; you have some pressing assignments at work to be finished; you want to go for a long ride on weekends; you feel it is important to read a lot as it will help you to write well; you would like to chill out in the beach with your loved one; you aspire to learn atleast two foreign languages.

In the last 12 months despite all your efforts, wishes and aspirations you have not written even one chapter of your next book; you are yet to start learning guitar; you always have loads of pending things at work; your weekends are spent in front of TV or with friends in chatting and you have gone on long drive only three times in the last one year; you hardly find time to read; you did not go for a holiday in the last three years due to several reasons; you are yet to start learning any foreign language.  You feel everything that you plan is going for a toss and nothing is falling in place.  You feel though you are well-meaning and very dedicated and sincere in life, still things are highly evasive.

The reason is you are guilty of putting things off till the next day.  Tomorrow never comes and still you keep pushing things to tomorrow.  As you keep pushing things to tomorrow and end up not achieving many of what you have planned, you get frustrated and lose trust and faith in yourself.

The only solution is to beat procrastination.  You should make a resolve not to postpone any of your actions.  You should stop playing the catching-up game and start taking action so that there are less and less pending items.  Discipline is the key to success and it is important to set aside one hour each day for addressing your goals in life.  Watch this video which will help you stop procrastination from today:


When you stop procrastinating you will feel energetic and your long-term dreams will come true.  Dreams are not mere nonsense they are fulfillment of desires.

T.P.Anand
Dubai, U.A.E.
23rd March 2013

SPB IN DUBAI

SPB's Live Concert was held on 8th March 2013 in Sheikh Rashid Auditorium.  He was performing live after a gap of two years and hence the Auditorium was full  by 7 p.m.

SPB showered praise on singer Ananthu and also the other singers on stage and the musicians.  He did not forget to mention about the great Ilayaraja.  He was appreciating the great Ilayaraja's music, the classicism and the great orchestration that Ilayaraja has produced.

He recalled with profound memory the last song that he has sung for R.D.Burman and rendered the song very nicely.


SPB remembers R.D.Burman and this last composition in which he has sung in almost all the concerts.  He also sang the ever green "Unakkenna Mele Nindrai" and recalled how he was given life by the great Mellisai Mannar M.S.Viswanathan.

He sang a few lines of his own composition "Vannam konda vennilave" from the film "Sigaram" and appreciated Vairamuthu for the wonderful lyrics which blended so well with the tune.  It is a fantastic composition and I wish SPB has been given much more chance by producers for tuning the Music as he would have made it really big as a Music Director.  Watch and listen this wonderful composition:


He also sang my most favourite song "enna vendru solvathamma vanji aval perazhagai" and appreciated the acting of Prabhu for that song.  He said if we watch that song we will be wondering whether it is sung by Prabhu or SPB.  Watch that great song below:
.

SPB is now 66 years old and his voice is still the same.  He has the greatest gift of God which is his great voice.  He sings effortlessly and in the same way in which he sang about 40 years back which is truly amazing.  He sang the following songs on 8th March 2013:

1. Sangeetha megam then sindhum neram
2. Enna satham inda neram
3. Kaadal kavithaigal padikkindra neram
4. Muthumani malai
5. Enjodi manjakkuruvi
6. Nenjukkulle innarunnu sonnal theriyuma
7. Ennavendru solvathamma
8. Paatu thalaivan paadinaal paattuthaan
9. Kaadalin dheepam ondru 
10. Vaanile then nila aaduthe paaduthe
11. Unna neneche paattu padichen thangame nyana thangame
12. Sankaraa
13. Kaatukkuyilu mansukkulle paatukkendrum panchamille
14. Aaja Aaja mere jaan
15. Unakkenna Mele nindrai
16. Vannam konda vennilave (few lines)

It was a three hours of entertainment by this great singer and the audience was glued to the seats for the entire duration.  Long Live SPB.

T.P.Anand

Dubai, U.A.E.

12th March 2013

WATER

Water is a very crucial and critical resource available for us in this planet - Earth.  I have always wondered if we have too much water or too little water.  71% of the Earth's surface is covered by Water and out of that only 2.5% is fresh water.  96.5% of the water is found in oceans - hence it is "Water Water everywhere but not a single drop to Drink".

Water is available in liquid form, solid form (ice) and in gaseous state (water vapour or steam).  Only 1.7% is Ground Water and another 1.7% is Glaciers and Icecaps.

Drinking Water is extremely important for all humans and other living beings.  In this world where there are over 7 billion people nearly 1 billion do not have access to clean drinking water.  Water acts as a solvent for various chemical substances.  It has some amazing properties and its use is immense.  Yet we do not take adequate care to ensure that this resource is not wasted.  We need fresh water for various purposes and nearly 70% of the fresh water is used in Agriculture.

The dimensions and proportions of use that water has is mind boggling.  We need water for a variety of applications both domestic as well as industrial.  The resources are diminishing and the usage is increasing thus leading to an acute shortage in the long run across the globe.

Every one in the world can play a significant role by conserving the water and ensuring that it is not wasted.  We waste water in the bathroom, toilets and kitchen and are really unmindful of the amount of water that is being wasted on a daily basis.  If we are conscious of the fact that there are more than one billion people in the world who do not have access to proper drinking water then we will be careful.

A cautious and sensible approach is needed when we are dealing with Water as it is the duty of every individual to conserve this great resource.  Watch this short video on the Water Crisis:


Let us do our bit and make a conscious and sincere effort every day to save Water.  It is a fantastic resource to be used for our benefit hence let us not waste it.

T.P.Anand
Dubai, U.A.E.
10th March 2013