AR Rahman - Kadal - Adiye

Aiyo Aiyo Aiyo! These chaps have planned for this murder (thats literal translation for - thittam ittu kolai saiya vanthutanga da). I mean the whole team that ARR has worked with here. I guess in this case, i must ask "enna enge nee kooti poren"? ARR's answer is "listen, follow and you will know".

Sid Sriram, who is this guy? Where did he come from suddenly? Kudos to him. Listen to the lines "unni nambi vaarene" and then difference in "un pinne suthurene". Awesome. That phrase in the song alone, was enough to swoon you. ARR lets Sid out of the box, and the fellow is singing like on an "unplugged" show. Free flow, thats where the magic begins here.

Oh and i am listening to the song, and i just noticed one thing. Every "Adiye" has a loud beat, like a clap, slap, a bang on the drum or in the early stages a forceful finger on the piano. I am sure it wasn't planned, but just a happenstance from the rendering of the song. Sometimes it takes a while for an ARR song to hit you. Adiye did to me, what Aromale did earlier. This song falls in the same genre, i think. The loud music, you would think would drown the song. ARR is sometimes accused of this. But this is a perfect example of the opposite. The loud seeming cacophony, plays in perfect harmony to the singer. Oh, ya, watch out for the volume setting, specially if you are listening with headphones. Be prepared for the "Adi" you get through out the song.

As said before the background singers. ARR, uses a bunch of 'oohs' in the background often during the song. It seems like one of the American R&B being played out to tamizh lyrics. Who would have thought? He experiments, all the time. Even the piano and the drums in the background add to the ambience created in the song. Another perfect love song, rendered completely out of the blue. The background vocals sing louder than Sid, who appropriately tones his voice down, to give the right effect - a love lorn hero. Again simply oooh oooh oooh.

Karky again does a good job, providing the right words, around which this melody is woven. I liked these lines that go "Meena thooki rekka varanja, Vaanam mele nee veesi erinja, Paraka pazhakuriye, Engirunthu vanthayo nee". It all comes together beautifully. Another fantastic masterpiece by ARR.

Lyrics: Karky Vairamuthu
Artist: Sid Sriram

manasa thoranthaye nee
engirinthu vanthaai nee
adi ye.. adi ye..
enna enge nee kootti pora
adi ye.. adi ye..
enge nee kootti pora?
enna enge nee kootti pora

pallanguzhi paatha puriyala
unna nambi vaarene
intha kaatu paya oru aatukutti pola
un pinne suthurene

pallangkuzhi paatha puriyala
unna nambi vaarene
intha kaatupaya oru aattukutti pola
unpinna suththurane

adiye.. adiye..
enna enga nee kootti pora
adiye.. adiye..
enna enga nee kootti pora
adiye.. adiye..
enna enga nee kootti pora
adiye.. adiye..
enna enga nee kootti pora

meena thookki rekka varanja
vaanam mele nee veesi erinja
parakka pazhakkuriye
engirunthu vanthaayo nee..

adiye.. adiye..
enna enga nee kootti pora
adiye.. adiye..
enna enga nee kootti pora
adiye.. adiye..
enna enga nee kootti pora
adiye.. adiye..
enna enga nee kootti pora

kannaala kannadi senju
en achchaththa kaatturiye
en thoosi thurumbellaam thatti..
ullam vellayadikiriye..

adiye.. adiye..
enna enga nee kootti pora
adiye.. adiye..
enna enga nee kootti pora
adiye.. adiye..
enna enga nee kootti pora
adiye.. adiye..
enna enga nee kootti pora

oh.. bhoomi vittu sorgkaththukku
nee vaanavillil paatha virichcha
manasa kayiraakki izhuththu poraaye nee..
sorgam vittu bhoomi vanthaa
meendum kizhakil sooriyan vanthaa
naan vizhichchu paakkaiyilla
kalanju povaaayo nee

adiye.. adiye..
enna enga nee kootti pora
adiye.. adiye..
enna enga nee kootti pora
adiye.. adiye..
enna enga nee kootti pora
adiye.. adiye..
enna enga nee kootti pora

AR Rahman - Kadal - Chithirai Nela

This is another soulful melody in this album. I know this word is being repeated for each song in the album, but i can't but say it - amazing. Once again, the song starts with very little music, virtually only a  slow notes from an organ playing in the background. The notes from the organ tho' slow and steady, but is not frail and equals the voice of the singer.

Vijay Yesudas, is blessed. Blessed with a voice very similar or sometimes exactly like his father. I do know there are a lot of people who don't like Yesudas's voice, but they are also the kind of people who think AR Rahman's songs are repetitive. Instead they find solace in a gana patty or a song from a Anu Malik factory. I love the way Vijay modulates his voice, starting slow, and then slowly increases the tempo as the song moves along. The way he sings "Manithan ninaithal, Vazhi pirakam", is different from "Kangallil irunthe Kaatchigal Thonrum" and increases the pitch to a crescendo when he delivers "Naallai thiranthal Nambikai sirikum". The same goes for how he performs with the line "Chithirai Nila", the first one as if he is crying to a dependent soul, and towards the end with a lot joy and pride, a new awakening.

How does ARR do this ? I have heard stories he let the singers have their freedom to deliver his tunes and he then mixes the interludes, and adds accompaniments to the song. If that is the case, i wonder if he gets the singer to do a retake when he feels some part of the song must now change. No wonder he works best when he is afforded the time. This song like many, is not easy to conceive the way it is. The minute but pronounced fluctuations in the voice and tune at different points, must have required a lot of thought or was an iterative process of delivery. Which is it? I wonder, but in awe of this genius. ARR lets the introductions go on for almost two minutes. Vijay plays around "Chithirai Nila", till about 1:48 into the song. Slow, and what would at first hear thing - boring - turns into another magic.

Only ARR can employ a chorus in a song very effectively. I have seen it many times, this background singers, who finally become masters in their own space, produce the right mix required. I recall, i forget the song now, but you can hear the distinct voice of Srinivas, even tho' at that time he was not a recognized singer. ARR does this often, and unless you pay attention, it will be difficult to even recognize the singers in the background sometimes.

You just love it when all things come together, i am now referring to the lyrics. I am sucker for these kinds of songs. Not that i am depressed and need these kind of words to help. But i love it, the endurance of human spirit, conquering despair or taking control of your own fate, rather than blaming it on someone else. There is good in everything, and everything happens for good - "Kalangalil irunthe Desangal thonrum , Tholviyil irunthe Gnyanangal thonrum". War is not bad after all. It is ok to make mistakes, learn from them. The second is one of my management mantra. How do you describe the moon as alone ? Never heard of that before. Usually people think the night sky is filled with stars. But our lyricist thought he must highlight that moon shines alone and equate it to a human condition, when we suddenly feel lonely, even tho' we are capable of burning bright.

AR Rahman - Kadal - Moongil Thottam

How can you go wrong with "Vera enna vennam, Nee pothume"? And ARR doesnt. Solo guitar, thats how he kicks of this soulful melody.

As is usual with Rahman's albums, i start with an instant favourite and slowly make my way to the other songs in the album. I picked this over "Chitirai Nila", only because if i needed more time to write about that one over this. But after listening to other four, over and over again - of course, this song did play every once in a while in some sequence or random order - i gave into "Moongil Thottam". Talk about something growing or rather creeping up on you !!

When i searched for the singers, i was surprised to see Harini's name. She is probably the only old singer (along with Vijay) that ARR has used in this album. She was an instant favourite of mine from "Nila Kaygirathu" (Indira). But Abhay Jodhpurkar was the revelation. I searched the net, and to no avail. Only his facebook page and a few other references to blogs and sites listing him as a singer to this song. Is this his first ? Amazing. Simply Amazing. It appears he is from Chennai, and so his Tamizh pronunciation is perfect as it can be - considering chennai tamizh itself is a bastardized version of the Semmozhi ;).

Vairamuthu as usual has excelled himself - "niranja mounam", "munthaanai eduthu,
nee mella thudaikka, naa unna anaikka" and "ushnam yaashikkum, udalum irukka, otha porvaiyila, iruvarum irukka". What more do you need, for someone to fall in love again?

But the best of all, is how ARR decided that this song does not require a lot of music, and let the voice float through. Most of the song is accompanied by the sounds strum from a lone guitar. He does fill the interludes with light melodious bits from an assortment of instruments. You can clearly hear each one, as they come to the foreground and fade to another. Listen to the few seconds before Abhay starts "Marangal Nadungum", you will understand what i feel here.

And finally the final notes as he chooses to close out the song. He has the Abhay and Harini, singing not together, but with a lag. He had done this same technique before (atleast thats where i first noticed it) in "Theendai" (En Swasa Katre). Simple twists, that make a fabulous song.

Lyrics: Vairamuthu
Artists: Abhay Jodhpurkar, Harini

moongil thottam, mooligai vaasam
niranja mounam, nee paadum geetham
pournami iravu, pani vizhum kaadu
othaiyadi paadhaiyil, unkuda podinada

ithu pothum enaku..ithu pothume
verenna venum nee pothume
ithu pothum enaku..ithu pothume
verenna venum nee pothume

kulanthaang karaiyile, kulikkum paravaiga
siragu valathume, thuliga therikume
mun kovam eduthu, munthaanai eduthu
nee mella thudaikka, naa unna anaikka

ithu pothum enaku......

marangal nadungum, maargazhi erikka
ratham uraiyum, kulirum irukka
ushnam yaasikkum, udalum irukka
otha porvaiyila, iruvarum irukka

ithu pothum enaku......

AR Rahman - Kadal - Anbin Vaasale

Movie songs in India, can be classified in to many different categories, love, sad, angry, happy, patriotic, devotional, etc. These are usually based on the story line, but are also influenced by other factors. But usually the songs tuned for each category, follow some basic patterns. Very few composers are able to transcend these confines and produce something different.

ARR has a special magic, where his composition refuses to stay within these accepted norms, and proceeds to write another unwritten rule in movie music composition. He has done this repeatedly and attempts to rewrite his own rules all the time. Maa Tujhe Salaam (Vande Matharam), is a case in point.

'Anbin Vaasale' is a prayer song, a grace to Jesus. The words literally translate, 'Door to Love' and the singer Haricharan renders this fantastic composition with fervour. The song starts with an appeal, with little or no accompanying music, just a passionate voice calling out to Jesus. Only to be disturbed by a band playing a loud drum, and a set of chorus singers. A lone church bell, sets the rhythm. What would be otherwise a turnoff, instead gives you goosebumps as all of them join this prayer. ARR shows again that he will make his own tunes.

Karky, Vairamuthu's son has done a great job providing the appropriate words to this prayer song. A song, usually, is not fully complete without the words that add justice. This prayer and ARR's composition, takes full advantage of the lyrics. The tune, modulations, and the cadence are amazing, and it shows. How beautifully the lines "kanneerai thekkum en ullathaakil, un perai sonnaal pooputhidatho" are handled. 'Causing you, the listener to join this appeal. Another high point in the song thanks to lyrics and the rendition is when Haricharan sings "Poovin mele, vannam neethane, Verin keezhe jeevan neethaane".

And then again when he closes out with the simple "Anbin Vaasale", it appears he is asking for the door to open up, wide and take him in. And you feel this in your heart. Religion to me has never been about one god, or rather it always has been about one god, no matter his name. This song does to me, what "Faya Kun" (Rockstar), "Ek thu hi bharosa"(Pukar),  "Maula Maula" (Dilli 6), "Ek Omkaar" (Rang De Basanti), or "O Paalanhare" (Lagaan) did. While some of these brought tears, and others joy, it always touched your heart. Like only ARR can do.

AR Rahman - Kadal - Elay Keechan

A few days back, i got an email alert from my friend at work, another ARR fan, who said that another single from Kadal is out. Soon i was on youtube, and falling for this new single - Elay Keechan.
Just imagine a fisher-folk song that is tuned to sound country. Not many sounds here, other than stringing guitar or banjo (something tighter than the guitar, but not as high as a banjo). And a chorus to hum in the background. Some clapping. And lo and behold you have a song to showcase the lives of fisherfolk in the movie.

Only in true ARR style, he takes a set of pure tamizh lyrics, and tunes into something out of the ordinary. The lyrics are by Karky, Vairamuthu's son, some fantastic lines there. My favourite is "Vaa Le, Konda Le, Kattumaram konda Le, Gundu meena alli vara konda le". Another line goes "Unakaaga valaiyonu valaiyonu virichirukkaen, na thavam irukken, nee vizhuvenu, velakkena uthikkitu muzhichu irukken na ara kirukaen". I guess it is country music after all, and so germane.

But the highlight i think is his rendition of the song. ARR has time and again shown he is quite a singer and i think that comes from his passion for music. He has picked an apt song to lend his voice to, and taken the entire composition to a different level. He adds just the amount of twists and turns in the tune and to his singing, so keeps the song's tone at a tempered plane. So its not just a routine ho-hum (up/down), but an interesting mix. So you tap your feet constantly, at varying pace, yet dont have to break a leg.

AR Rahman - Kadal - Nenjukulle

This is the latest from AR Rahman (ARR as many have begun to refer to him). This is the version he played on the recent show for MTV Unplugged, so the song in the movie album, may be subtly different. Cant wait for the album. This song is for the movie, Kadal, the up and coming movie being directed by Mani Ratnam. An Amazing start and composition, and high point as i recently noted on twitter, the tamizh (unlike many people who say tamil), pronunciation was high point. Hats off to the singer, Shakthisree Gopalan, too.

I have begun my ode to ARR for my other blog. Hope to find time to finish my writing. But in short, all i have to say is "Somewhere there is a God".

I can wait for a few weeks, since i am still listening to Jab Tak Hai Jaan. So cant have this album releasing soon.

MMS Advise to Beni Prasad Verma

So, while MMS ji keeps his mum most, if not, all the time; he does offer words to wisdom to his corruption ridden crew of the UPA.

The above is Ninan's view of MMS' advise to the Horrible Steal Minister, as appeared in the Times of India on Oct 16th 2012.

Hamari Ganga Maili

Sad news indeed to know that we humans, particularly, us Indians, have managed to transform a holy and pristine life giver, into a cesspool that is today believed to cause life threatening diseases.

I had an opportunity, or a near one, recently to visit the river Ganga or its banks to say more appropriately. My recent trip to Mussoorie, allowed us to take a trip to Rishikesh. But while i visited the temple town, i didnt get the opportunity to actually bathe or even touch the water from the river. It was put off, because the next day's trip to Haridwar potentially offered better scope and access. Unfortunately that was never to happen.

Disappointed to the core, that i had come all this way, north, and didnt make the best of the opportunity. I do hope to make the trip again someday. Maybe visit the actual source, as i would other spots along the Ganga.
Yet, i still may shudder, a bit, just thinking of bathing or drinking the water. Even at Rishikesh, which was upstream the water was clouded - brownish with soil, i would assume.
I have never seen Haridwar personally, but the pictures on the internet are not very pleasing.  So, even if i had visited, i may have come back disappointed.
Another sad fact is that, the billion plus Indians are very good and devout enough to make just about anything or everything holy, but we are equally or more bankrupt and indigent when it comes to upkeep and cleanliness.

I do hope we act now. Save the Ganga. Let it remain as pristine and divine, like we describe it in our scriptures. Let it remain chaste and immaculate like we believe in our minds. And blessed and faithful like we hold in our prayers.
  
 

Things better than Free Speech

There are quite few things that are more important than free speech. Here is a list of things i think are more important to average citizens, than the free speech. And i also think there needs to be big difference between"Freedom to Speak" and "Free Speech"

Free & Fair Elections	Free or Reasonably priced food
Free Responsible Press	Free Primary Health
Free impartial Judiciary	Freedom to move

What are the limits of free speech ? If my freedom ends where your nose begins, then where does free speech, begin and end ? My tongue ?

Things better than Free Speech

There are quite few things that are more important than free speech. Here is a list of things i think are more important to average citizens, than the free speech. And i also think there needs to be big difference between"Freedom to Speak" and "Free Speech"

Free & Fair Elections	Free or Reasonably priced food
Free Responsible Press	Free Primary Health
Free impartial Judiciary	Freedom to move

What are the limits of free speech ? If my freedom ends where your nose begins, then where does free speech, begin and end ? My tongue ?

Amul's tribute to Dr. V Kurien

 

Milkman of India

Latest MMS Scandal

Our MMS is caught in the middle of one of biggest scandals in the history of our country, and his reaction has only been a little more than an average speech impaired person. I guess that is doing gross injustice to the speech impaired. The cartoon below does a fantastic imitation of his responses to the various scandals rocking the nation.

And now apparently they want The Washington Post to apologize for their article on MMS and his mystical silence. And they had a perfect picture on their website, to illustrate his poise and silence. This is like one of those 'MasterCard Priceless' moments.

From above the clouds

This post has been delayed for sometime. Interesting, that i manage to jump off a plane one weekend, and then get caught up in a whirlwind of activity at the work front. Both are good and one shouldn't be complaining.

A friend of mine suggested i join him and other friends, to check-off a typical bucket list activity. This has been on my list for a long time, but time, energy and will were always a little deficient. There, apparently, is a lot of fun in making spur of the moment decisions. This was one.

The jump itself was monumental. The guys at Skydive Capitol City, made it seem like everyday chore. The most scariest thing was the site itself, which looked like a barnyard. It was, and the plane took off from a cleared grass patch in the middle of the huge farm, which was the Warrenton, VA airport complex. All said and done, it soon turned out to be inconsequential.

Few minutes of plain ride, till we hit the required altitude at about 10,000 feet. And then it was the moment i was waiting for. A split second of uncertainty as the instructor (Dimitrije) made the move to the exit, and we were off. Exhilaration, was clearly defined over the next few seconds, as we fell down to the earth. I later found out that my face is filled with a lot of extra skin and flab. We wont discuss that further here. The chute opened shortly and then it seemed like it was just another day - cruising slowly down the interstate from the clouds to the land below. The landing was soft, as soft as it can get on a bonny backside. My trousers later needed some extra special cleaning to get all the grassy-mud out.

Will i do this again? Sure. Why not ? Then again, maybe i should rather go climb Everest.

Power outage @ VA

An hour or two of thunderstorm late night on friday, knocked the living daylights out of the DC metro area. The northern VA area where i live, we lost power at around 10:30pm on Friday. Its past 10:30 am on Sunday morning, 36hrs later, we are still out of power.
The pic below is from Panera Bread store in Tysons Corner, my temporary home. Also home to a long line of people, who are trying to get some food, an electric outlet to charge the phones and other essential devices and also surf the internet, the only social life many of us seem to have these days.

I observed a peculiar facet of us, human beings. At first, all i wanted was power (electricity) so i could get some food to eat and hot water to bathe and clean. When i had access to this, from a friends house, i was peeved that there was no internet and or cable. Am sure if cable or internet was available, i might complain that it was slow or there was nothing good on it. Somewhere in the middle of all this, i also lost all my battery charge on my cell phone. Guess how depressed and depraved i should have been.

Men (human beings), you cant have it and you cant have it.

Gopuram to an Emblem

A few years back, i was traveling from Madurai to Thenkasi. I had caught the early morning flight from Chennai, and hence was enjoying the bright morning drive with my window down. Long drive meant chit chat with the driver. I was also enjoying my first few glimpses of this part of Tamil Nadu.

Srivilliputhur is enroute. The gopuram of this Andal temple was towering above the many small hamlets and buildings surrounding it. It is one of the tallest (second tallest) temple towers in Tamil Nadu. The town is also apparently famous for its paal-kova.

I was straining my neck out of the window to soak in the entire height of the gopuram, when the driver asked if i wanted to stop and visit the temple. I would have loved to, but i passed, for want of time. To be fair and consistent, i also denied his offer to stop and pick up some of the famous paal-kova. Although that was a little bit more difficult choice to make.

It was then that the driver announced, "the gopuram from this temple figures prominently in the Emblem of Tamil Nadu". I was racking my brains to recollect the emblem. I did a double take from the window of the car, trying to comprehend what the driver had said. I must have seen the emblem a million times, specially on the side of PTC buses and also elsewhere, but never really noticed the gopuram in the emblem.

While i quickly forgot the place and location soon, i never forgot this connection. It took me until now, to lookup and locate the name of the town, temple and gopuram again. Unfortunately the government sites do not carry a lot of information about the emblem and its creation. There are references to the emblem in the temple town's website. But that's just a one liner. Most other references are far and few, and difficult to authenticate.

The only real good thing that my search threw up, was on the creator of the emblem. Artist, R. Krishna Rao, asserts to have designed the emblem for the State of Tamil Nadu in 1949. The emblem and its design was in the news recently, because of its overtly religious symbol.

Girls outshine boys

This year too, girls outscored boys in the XII exams in the state of Tamil Nadu. This has been a reoccurring theme every year, for quite sometime. I dont quite recall a time, when boys ever scored more.
When i saw the picture below in The Hindu, i was suddenly filled with a sense of pride and happiness.

Susmitha from Namakkal topped the exams by scoring 1,189 out of 1,200 marks

Small town girls, reveling and partaking in their friends success. If every small town shared similar success and girls from these places truly know their place in society, what a better place this world would be.

Yet, it is disheartening to note that this self-confidence is left by the wayside of life. And we remain forever a male dominated society, reducing women to mere vassals in a larger scheme. I long for this situation to change. Many ills of our society are driven by the male ego, and hence i feel the world would be a better place without that.

Looking forward. Hoping these cheering girls would lead that change. Good luck to Susmitha and all those girls who successfully took on this years class XII exams.

PTC

Three thousand new buses in Tamil Nadu. Excited on seeing this news, i wanted a quick peek at the new buses. Only to find this picture below. Now that leaves me wondering, what is new about these buses !

I would thought new buses would look something like this below:

Democrazy

Its not real. Its just a crazy demonstration. There are no rights, limited duties and most importantly, the answer must always to be the question "Ask not what your large corporations can do for you? Ask what you can get the country to do for the large corporations?".

Facing the Voters in 2012
Patrick Chappatte - International Herald Tribune

A whole bunch of fools, the crazy part of the democrazy, are going to vote, thinking they can make a difference. All the best.

ICICI Security Services (Formerly called ICICI Bank)

Below is my favourite ICICI Screen. I see this screen most times i try to logon to ICICI Bank account. It is difficult to determine the exact cause of this phenomenon. Recently i have noticed that its appearance and chances have increased manifold.

Not willing to take anything for granted, i call the friendly neigbhourhood customer service specialist, of course the one who is responsible for ICICI. I have noticed a few things, about them, from this call and from my experience in the past.

• They are not friendly. Even common courtesy of hello, good morning, and or evening is stated so fast, one wonders if they even mean a word of it.
• Rarely in the neighbourhood. They are usually located in Gurgoan or some other far surburb of a large metro, usually very fluent in Hindi, with decent grasp of the english sentences they are trained to utter. 
• Customer Service according to them, starts with a 'No'. And if possible will take 24 to 48 hours to activate. 
• The only thing they are a specialist of is saying "It is for your own security". Or may be, if pushed "Please provide me your details, so i can authenticate your profile".

I have never seen a bank who is more bothered about my security, than their own. What is the use of a user-id and a password, if you have to provide additional authentication every-time you log on to their system.

The customer service specialist who appears on the phone, after repeated authentication of yourself, starting with the 16 digit debit card number and the 4 digit pin provided only to you, in a special secure envelope and cover. This is sent you separately from the plastic card to ensure zero abuse.
You would think that, after having spent a lifetime entering so many digits on the phone, that when someone says hello they know who you are and some relevant details. Thats not always the case, and most times you may have to begin again by providing more information, your name, address - full postal address, right down to the last digit of the pin code, registered mobile number and email id.
In the past, i have been advised after a long call wait, and entry of all relevant information. Sir you have reached the local banking line, the NRI special line, can provide you more detailed information regarding your NRI account. My pleas of "no i dont want special information", and only "wanting normal information", would fall on deaf ears. At this point they would simply repeat what they told me before.

Invariably everything i have always wanted done, was very secure and cannot be accomplished, because in some way it would compromise my security. I am wondering if ICICI should start operating our RAW and IB. They could help, considering all the years of expertise built on defending their bank from their own customers.

I am used to the good old days of being greeted by an account manager, clerk, teller, etc. So a small mistake in your signature, bad handwriting and even lack of funds were not a problem that couldnt be overcome. Like the video, from an advertisement that runs on Indian TV channels, sometimes "peeche account number likho", can work wonders.
I am also familiar and happy with the internet banking. I have used citibank, chase and bank of america in the US. The service over the internet is based on a paranoid design. They do allow the user to change email ids and passwords without a slew of harassing questions. Its also possible to make a mistake and recover, without having to endure the same. 

Prosperity Measured

Saw this interesting table/graphic in The Hindu, this week. The title of the article will be the matter of another blog. What is interesting is the progress that India has made in the acquisition of material wealth.
For quite a many years i have been reading and hearing that Indians are typically spiritual and have a better understanding about material wealth. I quite believed then, and this is  good proof now, that we were spiritual only because wealth was non existent in India, up until the fag end of the twentieth century.

The prosperity ensued by the crass pursuit of capital, has helped bring out the true human spirit, greed. I first heard this, many years back, in my economics class, greed is the biggest driver for a prosperous economy. So i guess the wheel has begun moving, and remember, there is no getting off. Enjoy the ride fellow Indians.

 

Lost millions in Apple stock

I am sure the news that the Apple stock hit 500$ per share and zoomed past it, is all old news now. However, no one seems to understand or comprehend the amount of money that could have been mine.

Ya. My bright instincts told me buy the stock when it was in double digits. I did. And some even brighter set of instincts told me to sell the stock when it reached or touched 300$. I did. But i cheated, and sold only half of what i held at that time. Well, so i made a killing in that sale. Only to curse my instincts soon after. So the AAPL stock has set new highs, just short of the 550$ mark.
I could have been a multi-millionaire now, only if i had a few millions to start with, and more importantly a set of instincts that actually worked. Damn it.