Author Archives: Sekkizhar Prasanna

Kadhalil Sodhapavadu Yeppadi

Posted by on 19/02/2012 No comments

An extension of a short film, the director read the nuances between couples to be able to make the movie sustainable beyond its original form.

The movie will take you through almost all the phases in a love story. Mostly the misunderstandings. It leaves you clutching your tummy and rolling on the floor laughing. Its a semi narration and most of the conversation of the principle actor would have applied to the target audience at some point of time.

Music was enjoyable. A perfect feel good movie on a Saturday night.

Good Work! Hint: Take a friend who recently went through the “honeymoon” period of a relationship.

Abhirami has largely revamped its interiors. We watched it at a screen called 7 star and was designed as a opera hall. A significant improvement since the last time,

Call me a cynic

Posted by on 08/02/2012 No comments

Would it have been better if the British still ruled us sans the tyranny?

Its not like they were good, but they would have been better than us at this stage. Our legislation is stagnant, Our administrators horny for money, Our education system makes sure we can replicate a book but cannot understand it.

51 % FDI in retail was shot down because not everyone was consulted before its announcement. Its implementation would have slightly opened the door to progress. Bullock carts still ply on the roads. Humans are still made to carry 100 kilo gunny bags. Our sports sucks (read as olympic gold medals). Our IT industry provides services not products. Our health care system is highly deficient. Some work to impress our superiors

How do we change all this? Education.

IMO, education that is in sync with this ever changing world is the only solution and it has to be from the grassroots level. Not just in cities. Progression has to happen and I hope we dont come to the edge of the precipice before we change our outlook.

The Underrated

Posted by on 22/10/2011 No comments

6 months ago, this post would have made my life easier. I was just too scared to accept reality. That I was stuck in a job that was not fit for my education. I had the money, I had the exposure, I was not satisfied and it made things a lot worse in my personal life as well.

Job satisfaction is a highly underrated word around me now. A very small percentage of my friends actually enjoy their jobs. I am writing this as I sit in front of a SCADA screen and the MED plant has just stabilized to give me the required output. It took me 3 hours to get it to this condition. Running, jumping, calculating, formulating, understanding the system and improving constantly. At the end of it, just to taste the sweet distillate is just pure bliss.

Our motivation is wrongly directed. We settle for mediocrity and forget quality. Lets say we get into an auto rickshaw. All of them overcharge. You should have noticed by now that all autos have a minimum fare and a rate per km. If things were followed according to the book, we would pay only 50 % of the actual quoted. Would you pay Rs 15 for a biscuit packet that has an MRP of Rs 10 ?

So, ya, everything is overpriced, everyone is greedy. That makes us want to make more money to satisfy everyone right from an auto driver right to the real estate agent who is going to sell you an apartment for a lakh higher than another person because we can afford it.

Its the most vicious circle and we are stuck deep in it. Very deep.

Blessings to a Bachelor

Posted by on 19/09/2011 No comments

Baring a 2 year period, i have been living outside Chennai since i finished schooling.

A few equipments that have saved my day..

When you know someone is living alone, run and get him a washing machine! He will thank you with his slice of pizza.. Washing clothes is the one thing that has to be done regularly. (realised that a little late)

This is what i have.. http://www.lg.com/in/home-appliances/top-load-washing-machine/LG-WF-N6866DN.jsp

An electric cooker..

Eggs, soup, noodles, rice, oats and pretty much anything that can be boiled.. Also doubles up as a water heater on a cold winters morning..

To be updated..

Posted by on 19/08/2011 No comments

The Deiva Thirumagal Fiasco

Posted by on 16/08/2011 No comments

Had a chance to watch “Vikraminin Deiva Thirumagal” a few weeks ago.

Sigh.

Posted by on 21/04/2011 No comments

Someone at work wanted a willing blood donor for their grandmother. My management said they cannot send me for one hour because I have work. What work?

My adventures with the World Cup

Posted by on 01/04/2011 No comments

India plays Sri Lanka tomorrow. Its the World Cup finals.! The FINALS! We are back here after a really long time..!! Lets make it count I say! So, this could turn out to be a preview to an amazing post tomorrow of India’s win tomorrow or a silent reminder that we lost. But I hope not.

My Fantasy Team has performed really well! Thanks to Ram and his valuable inputs! I remember the 2003 world cup! Ram and me going to Kapaleeshwarar Temple and doing an archanai. We lost miserably but lets not make the past count, because “Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift, thats why its called present” – Old wise turtle from Kung Fu Panda. (BTW, did you know KFP 2 is going to be released soon..!!)

Jai Ho! Bleed Blue!

My adventures with a rooted phone

Posted by on 29/03/2011 No comments

Sometime in August last year, i bought a HTC wildfire. One of the early low cost, low spec android phone. It is a dream device considering i jumped from a Nokia 1200. Gtalk, Gmail, Wifi, GPS, Compass, touch, all these got my heart going. It came with Android 2.1 by default and was promised a Froyo (2.2) update soon by HTC. It was probably their first mistake. HTC kept postponing later. If they had not announced anything of that sort, I might have kept quiet. But then the update never came, till December. Started researching on rooting.. So, to give you an idea of how to do it, these are the steps involved. A more complete guide is given here (Link)

Step 1: Rooting the phone. This step breaks the encryption by the manufacturer and give you access to the bootlader and the ROM manager. The ROM is the software itself.. The core to be more precise. This step breaks the warranty for the device..!

Step 2: Choosing a custom ROM. Lots of after market options are available. But my research showed Cyanogenmod to be very popular since they supported a wide range of devices.

So, one night, i rooted and installed CM6.1. A solid Android build based on Android 2.2. It was fast.! Display improved. Battery improved. UI improved. Angry birds ran without a hitch. It even clocked 750 hours on a stretch! ( I had to break that stretch since i had to board an air plane and was running low on battery)

Greed did not leave me after the launch on Android 2.3. CM started working on ROMs based on 2.3 and i was tempted. Wildfire was on their roadmap and i just could not wait. A release candidate was uploaded and i jumped at the chance.

A lot of functionality was missing. The interface was buggy since it was an RC. Jumping from such a solid Froyo to a buggy gingerbread was difficult to digest. Held on for as long as i could.

But last night, i downloaded the original ROM shipped with my android phone (2.1) and installed the HTC Sense ROM. Huge step backwards. But the phones stability was back. And tried the OTA update. It worked..!! Now running 2.2.!

My suggestions. Do not root the phone unless you know the ROM you are going to install has full functionality. CM is really good. but wait for the final release to happen.

A couch, bean bag and a beer

Posted by on 14/03/2011 1 comment

Cycling was wonderful, when I had a cycle.

Then rains and winter at Hyderabad. Made me lazier.

Tried jogging. Not exciting.

Tried swimming yesterday. I think this will work.

Next requirement. Have to wake up at 7 everyday for the next 3 months and swim for an hour.. God.. I hope i do this. I have to do this.

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