(Un)Flavour of the season - Santosh Pandit

These days it has almost become a daily routine habit for me and my wife to entertain ourselves by entering the name "Santosh Pandit " in You Tube.Entertainment is readily available at the click of this name.

A lean dark skinned creature who always wears his characterstic designer suit with slippers , has buckteeth and always boasts of the Guniess record he holds and the ....that's the man we malayalees are so fond of these days to " Teri vilikyel "

So many interviews , so many songs , so many funny visuals , so many debates ... all centered around a so called " Alien Star " Santosh Pandit.Infact all the Malyalam TV channels are only have serious debates on one person - the great pandit and his fluke movie ...or was it a fluke ???

To be honest , I initially abused this man when he first uploaded his video on " Krishnenum Radheyum " ...... ' idiot will ruin the image of all malayalis .... as if one sreesanth was not enough we have one more monkey to be embaressed about' ...now that was my initial reaction.

But today when I see the whole world against this one man .... I side with him and ask one simple question ..... What crime has this man commited ? Has he killed anyone ? Why is he being invited to public debates where eminent personalities circle him and abuse and try humiliating him ?? Kudos to this man who still accepts such invitaions and justifies ,clarifies and argues his point each time he is hit by the greats .... Also for doing an all in all in making a movie is indeed a commendable job.

It takes a lot of guts to actually to actually go to a place surrounded by your foes who are hell bent on demotivating and poking fun of you.Even the anchor will spare no stone unturned to demoralize him.

Looking at the good points of this pandit I observe the following : -
1) He has innovative lyrics and not the old fashioned poetic lyrics
2) He has good music sense
3) He has a lot of confidence and is an avid speaker
4) He is perhaps a very intelligent man which is why his movie is the talk of the town

Looking at the cons I feel he must refrain from singing as there are better trained people in the market.Also he has a long way to go before he becomes a good director.

I feel a proper grooming can give Malayalam industry our much wanted Sreenivasan like actor.

Give it a thought dear malayalees ....

My Faith in Indian History

Indians just do not seem to take pride in their history and simply categorize most sections as "mythology".I stumbled upon this wonderful article which has been written by one of the archeolgists who happens to also be a staunch follower of Lord Krishna.

Over 35 sites of the Mahabharata have been identified in the North, all of which have yielded material culture - painted grey ware (PGW) pottery painted over with designs in black pigment, and antiquities in uniform and identical levels. This pottery is made of a superior quality of paste formed of well levigated clay and fine, well-burnt fabric achieved by distributing heat in the kiln evenly. This civilisation is also characterised by the use of iron, unknown to the earlier Harappans.

Hastinapur, between Meerut and Mawana in Uttar Pradesh, is now a forgotten village, but excavations in 1952 revealed the existence of Vidur-ka-tilla (Vidura's palace), Draupadi-ki-rasoi (Draupadi's kitchen) and Draupadi Ghat (for bathing), besides copper utensils, iron seals, ornaments made of gold and silver, terracotta discs and several oblong-shaped ivory dice used in the game of chauper.

Iron objects numbering 135, and which included arrow and spearheads, shafts, tongs, hooks, axes and knives indicate the existence of a vigorous industry. There are indications of brick-lined roads and drainage systems, and an agro-livestock based economy. The PGW of Hastinapura has been assigned to 1100-800 BC. The events of the Mahabharata probably occurred around 1000-900 BC.

Later, according to the Matsya and Vayu Puranas, a heavy flood on the River Ganga destroyed Hastinapura, and Nichakshu, the fifth king after Parikshit (Arjuna's grandson) who ascended the throne after the Kurukshetra war, shifted his capital to Kausambi, 50 kilometres from Allahabad. There is definite archaeological evidence of a massive flood level. The devastation by the Ganga is still visible in the thick clay soil.

After their exile, the Pandavas asked for three villages: Paniprastha, Sonaprastha and Indiraprastha, generally identified with modern Panipat, Sonepat and Puranaqila in New Delhi. These sites have also yielded the same pottery and antiquities. Building structures with drainage systems and PGW were excavated at Purana Qila.

Kurukshetra, now in Haryana, was the site of the Kuru war. Excavations here have yielded iron arrow and spearheads, dated by Thermoluminence (TM) to 2800 BC. Today it is a town of bathing pools. At the Brahma Sarovar, a large lake 3,600 feet by 1,500 feet, Krishna, Balarama and Subhadra are said to have bathed after a solar eclipse. Bhishma lay on his bed of arrows at Bhishma Kund. Arjuna shot an arrow into the earth and a cool fountain of water flowed out directly into Bhishma's mouth, creating the Ban Ganga pond. Eight kilometres away is the village of Thanesar, the capital of Harsha Vardhana in the sixth century.

Yet, the excavations were stopped soon after these finds were revealed, and were never resumed. Why?

The submergence of Dwaraka is described vividly in the epic. Arjuna asked the residents to vacate the city immediately as it was going to be submerged by the sea. Dvaravati, according to the Sabhaparva of the Mahabharata, was heavily fortified. Dr S R Rao started excavating the Dwarkadish temple till he hit the remains of 15th, 12th and 9th century AD temples. He dug on, passing two earlier temples, until, at a depth of 9.5 metres, they came to the remains of two towns destroyed by the sea. From the earlier of the two they recovered the characteristic lustrous red pottery of the period and region. Encouraged by his findings, he decided to search for Dwaraka.

Underwater exploration yielded two gateways, fort walls, bastions and a jetty at a depth of 10 metres off Dwaraka, in the Arabian Sea. Apart from corresponding to the Mahabharata's description of the architectural features of the city and the mode of its submergence, it has directly fixed a date by TM for the pottery of Dwaraka at 3520 years BP (Before Present).

Other finds include pottery, bronze and iron implements, three-holed triangular stone anchors at Dwaraka, a late Harappan type of seal made of conch of a composite animal - a bull, unicorn and goat - and lustrous red ware pottery at Bet Dwaraka, linking the site to the Harappan culture, and thereby establishing its continuity.

Bet Dwaraka was an island frequented by Krishna who is said to have visited its Shankhodara Temple. It also contains the only ancient temple for Matsya, the epic saviour of the world at the time of the Great Flood. The materials discovered at Dwaraka corroborate history and myth, and fix a date for the inundation of the city - between 1500 and 1300 BC.

The most remarkable aspect of both epics is their geography. The Mahabharata mentions many small villages, tanks and hills, which are still identifiable.

What is the historicity of the Mahabharata? Our doubting historians will never accept any of these finds unless they are supported by inscriptions, which will never be forthcoming as the earliest Indian inscriptions belong to 300 BC. So, do we treat the epic as myth till they are satisfied?

Western scholars tried to establish a connection between Krishna and Christ, claiming that the former was derived from St Thomas' teachings about the latter, but literature and archaeology have proved otherwise. The Chandogya Upanishad mentions that Krishna Devakiputra was a student of Ghora Angirasa and the author of the Upanishad, which repeats the teachings of the Bhagavat Gita word by word.

In the 4th century BC, Chanakya refers to the story of Krishna's birth, while Megasthenes mentions that the Sourasenoi (Surasenas or Yadavas) worshipped Herakles (Krishna). Their two great cities were Methora (Mathura) and Kleisobora (Krishnapura?) on the navigable river Yobares (Yamuna). He also mentions that Herakles (Krishna) sent his daughter Pandaia to rule over the kingdom of Mathura (Madura) on the southern sea. Was she a descendant of the Pandavas, and did the latter re-emerge as the Pandyas, whose southern capital was named after Krishna's capital, Mathura?

Panini, Patanjali and the Buddhist and Jain works also mention Krishna and the events of the Kurukshetra war, while the Chinese traveller Yuan Chang records that a great war was fought at Kurukshetra and the bones of dead warriors lay buried under the soil.

In 180-165 BC, the Greek ruler Agathocles issued coins with images of Vasudeva holding a chakra. Several inscriptions are available in the first century BC: the Greek ambassador Bhagavata Heliodorus erected a Garuda column to Vasudeva at Besnagar; the Mora Well inscription near Mathura mentions the worship of the five Vrishni heroes, including Vasudeva; stone enclosures (Narayana vatika) were built for Vasudeva and his brother Shankarshana (Balarama) at Ghosundi and Hathivada.

The most controversial site is, of course, the temple at Mathura, the birthplace of Krishna. I am not aware if any excavation has been done here, but tradition and even eminent historians associate the site with the birth of Krishna, which is why Aurangazeb consciously chose to build a mosque over it.

Apart from knowing that vyuhas were army formations, I never really understood their formation or penetration. Rajan has computerised them to work out how the various Kaurava warriors were placed and how the Pandavas entered and destroyed these vyuhas, increasing the sophistication of what was always believed to be a primitive tribal war.

Krishna's divinity is a matter of faith, established by his identification with Lord Vishnu. But archaeology has conclusively established the veracity of the Mahabharata and the existence of the cult of Vasudeva-Krishna at a very early period. The epics form the soul of India, and Rajan has done well to document and bring alive ancient history.

Science, God and RAJANIKANTH

God made the earth,sun , moon , planets , birds , animals, humans and all living beings and then he created............ Rajanikanth. I recently received a mail from one of my colleagues and would like to share it with anyone who has been following my blog.

Also after having witnessed the "fanatic fan - following "this man enjoys... even in an isolated Perth city...I am forced to beleive he is indeed god's chosen child .......A Marathi by birth , a conductor in Karantaka and today the King of Indian Moviedom.

What I mention below is not for the purpose of hurting anyone's emotions ....please read it in a light spirit..No offence as these are not my ideas:)And to be honest I like rajnikanth movies ....he takes us to a world where we mortals cannot think of reaching ...Afterall who can think of a 60 year old man romancing the Miss World with grace ....

So here we go :-------------

1. Rajinikanth killed the Dead Sea.
2. When Rajinikanth does push-ups, he isn't lifting himself up. ...He is pushing the earth down.
3. There is no such thing as evolution, it's just a list of creatures that Rajinikanth allowed to live.
4. Rajinikanth gave Mona Lisa that smile.
5 .Rajnikanth can divide by zero.
6. Rajinikanth can judge a book by it's cover.
7. Rajinikanth can drown a fish.
8. Rajinikanth can delete the Recycle Bin.
9. Rajinikanth once got into a fight with a VCR player. Now it plays DVDs.
10. Rajinikanth can slam a revolving door.
11. Rajinikanth once kicked a horse in the chin. Its descendants are today called giraffes.
12. Rajinikanth once ordered a plate of idli in McDonald's, and got it.
13. Rajinikanth can win at Solitaire with only 18 cards.
14. The Bermuda Triangle used to be the Bermuda Square, until Rajinikanth kicked one of the corners off.
15. Rajinikanth can build a snowman out of rain.
16. Rajinikanth can strangle you with a cordless phone.
17. Rajinikanth can make onions cry.
18. Rajinikanth destroyed the periodic table, because he only recognizes the element of surprise.
19. Rajinikanth can watch the show 60 minutes in 20 minutes.
20. Rajinikanth has counted to infinity, twice.
21. Rajinikanth will attain separate statehood in 2013.
22. Rajinikanth did in fact, build Rome in a day.
23. Rajinikanth once got into a knife-fight. The knife lost.
24. Rajinikanth can play the violin with a piano.
25. Rajinikanth never wet his bed as a child. The bed wet itself in fear.
26. The only man who ever outsmarted Rajinikanth was Stephen Hawking, and he got what he deserved.
27. Rajinikanth can talk about Fight Club.
28. Rajinikanth doesn't breathe. Air hides in his lungs for protection.
29. There are no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. Rajinikanth lives in Chennai.
30. Rajinikanth kills Harry Potter in the eighth book.
31. Rajinikanth does not own a stove, oven, or microwave, because revenge is a dish best served cold.
32. Rajinikanth has already been to Mars, that's why there are no signs of life there.
33. Rajinikanth doesn't move at the speed of light. Light moves at the speed of Rajinikanth.
34. Rajinikanth knows Victoria's secret.
35. Water boils faster when Rajinikanth stares at it.
36. Rajinikanth can throw the Thackerays out of Mumbai.
37. Rajinikanth kills two stones with one bird.
38. Google won't find Rajinikanth because you don't find Rajinikanth; Rajinikanth finds you.
39. Rajinikanth gave the Joker those scars.
40. Rajinikanth leaves messages before the beep.
41. Rajinikanth once warned a young girl to be good "or else". The result? Mother Teresa.
42. Rajinikant electrocuted Iron Man.
43. Rajinikanth killed Spiderman using Baygon Anti Bug Spray.
44. Rajinikanth can make PCs better than the Mac.
45. Rajinikanth puts the 'laughter' in manslaughter.
46. Rajinikanth goes to court and sentences the judge.
47. Rajinikanth can handle the truth.
48. Rajinikanth can speak Braille.
49. Rajinikanth can dodge Chuck Norris' roundhouse kicks.
50. Rajinikanth can teach an old dog new tricks.
51. Rajinikanth calls Voldemort by his name.
52. Who do you think taught Voldemort Parseltongue? Rajinikanth did.
53. Chuck Norris once met Rajinikanth. The result - He was reduced to a joke on the internet.
54. Rajinikanth got small pox when he was a kid. As a result small pox is now eradicated.
55. Rajinikanth’s calendar goes straight from March 31st to April 2nd, no one fools Rajanikanth.
56. Rajinikanth grinds his coffee with his teeth and boils the water with his own rage.
57. The last time Rajinikanth killed someone, he slapped himself to do it. The other guy just disintegrated. Resonance.
58. Rajinikanth once had a heart attack. His heart lost.
59. Rajinikant is so fast, he can run around the world and punch himself in the back of the head.
60. Rajinikanth can run at speed of light around a tree and screw himself.
61.Rajinikant can lick his elbows.
62. Rajinikant once ate an entire bottle of sleeping pills. They made him blink.
63. Rajinikant does not get frostbite. Rajnikant bites frost.
64. Rajinikant doesn’t wear a watch. He decides what time it is.
65. Rajinikant got his drivers license at the age of 16 seconds.
66. When you say “no one is perfect”, Rajinikant takes this as a personal insult.
67. In an average living room there are 1,242 objects Rajinikanth could use to kill you, including the room itself.
68. Words like awesomeness, brilliance, legendary etc. were added to the dictionary in the year 1949. That was the year Rajinikanth was born.
69. The statement "nobody can cheat death", is a personal insult to Rajnikanth. Rajni cheats and fools death everyday.
70. When Rajnikanth is asked to kill some one he doesn't know, he shoots the bullet and directs it the day he finds out.
71. Rajinikant can give pain to Painkillers and headache to Anacin.
72. Rajinikanth knows what women really want.
73. Time and tide wait for Rajinikanth.
74. Rajinikanth sneezed only once in his entire life, that's when the tsunami occurred in the Indian ocean.
75. As a child when Rajinikanth had dyslexia, he simply re-scripted the alphabet.
76. Rajinikanth collects Honey from his private Moon - HoneyMoon.
77. Rajinikanth can answer a missed call.
78. Rajinikanth doesn't need a visa to travel abroad, he just jumps from the tallest building in Chennai and holds himself in the air while the earth rotates.
79. Rajinikanth's brain works faster than Chacha Chaudhury's.
80. Rajinikanth doesn't shower. He only takes blood baths.
81. To be or not to be? That is the question. The answer? Rajinikanth.
82. The quickest way to a man's heart is with Rajinikanth's fist.
83. Where there is a will, there is a way. Where there is Rajinikanth, there is no other way.
84. Rajinikanth's every step creates a mini whirlwind. Hurricane Katrina was the result of a morning jog.
85. Rajinikant doesn’t bowl strikes, he just knocks down one pin and the other nine faint out of fear.
86. Archaeologists unearthed an old English dictionary dating back to the year 1236. It defined “victim” as “one who has encountered Rajinikant”.
87. There is no such thing as global warming. Rajinikanth was feeling cold, so brought the sun closer to heat the earth up.
88. Once a cobra bit Rajinikanth' leg. After five days of excruciating pain, the cobra died.
89. Rajinikanth is a champion in the game "Hide n' seek", as no one can hide from Rajinikanth.
90. Rajinikant proves Newton wrong all the time. Every time he performs an action, he simply eliminates anything and everything that can provide the reaction.
91. Rajinikant is a weapon created by God to use on doomsday to end the world.
92. Aliens do indeed exist. They just know better than to visit a planet that Rajinikanth is on.
93. We live in an expanding universe. All of it is trying to get away from Rajinikanth.
94. If at first you don't succeed, you're not Rajinikanth.
95. Rajinikanth's first job was as a bus conductor. There were no survivors.
96. Rajinikanth does not style his hair. It lays perfectly in place out of sheer terror.
97. When Rajinikanth plays Monopoly, it affects the actual world economy.
98. Rajinikanth is the only man to ever defeat a brick wall in a game of tennis.
99. Rajinikanth's house has no doors, only walls that he walks through.
100. Rajnikanth doesn’t answer nature’s call nature answers Rajnikanth’s call.
101. Rajnikanth can double click 2 icons at the same time.

Cursed by Mortals

Defeated Again......Rejected again...
Proved Unlucky in love ....
Here stands alone the Casanova who fearlessly swept women by their feet
Defeated again.... Rejected again ...

Wonder how you will save the blushes of the ever punishing planets
From the S's whom you shared your limelight one time
Wept and Cursed you as they left ...
Go hither you may but defeated you will be ..said they
And here you are Defeated again ...rejected again

Even the Balancing act of Sugar in Guruvayur cudnt save you ...
Cursed you are ....Defeated you are....
You may be the most eligible man around
But you are cursed by the tears of the women who wept for you ....
Defeated you Are........Rejected you are... And now Isolated you are ....

Birthday Celebration

Its been exactly thirteen months after my arrival at Perth.I finally celebrated by birthday ....... after a gap of four years...I think I have overcome the curse of Stuts finally .....I was cursed by her for having forgotten her birthday....And ever since I never had opprtunity to celebrate this occassion ...and always had reasons to feel unwanted for during this occasion as well as during the biggest Puja of Bengal .... Last four years I was never at home ... was always out ...but even colleagues never came to know my birthday ... even if they kept track of it .... Someway or the other this occassion would be slipped out ....

As fate would have it I actually celebrated this occassion thrice this time .....One day before at work place when colleagues graced the occassion in a memorable way .... had cut the cake ..... then back at home when room mates once again celebrated it ... and finally the next day when a close friend requested me to celebrate this occassion once again ....

Well Perth , I have reasons to remember you for a lifetime.Last one year was indeed eventful ..so many people .... so many moments ....so many thoughts ...My Failures,my success ...... lots to recount...

Next week I travel back to India for a two week vacation .....and as I travel I must also remember that a wedding of a close friend will get over before I step on Indian soil....Thus a sangeet which was supposed to have been composed for me will be someone else's .....but the Australian flag and beach sand I keep just for you ..... as it is indeed tough to forget some people even if you have never met them ................

CorruptionWEALTH Games

When I first heard India would organize the CommonWealth Games ... I was thrilled.Felt proud that we Indians are now out to serve as a coming out party to the world ....much like the Chinese in the last edition of Olympics or even Japan in 1964........Afterall such events are suppossed to be an advertisement for the host countries .....just like the recently concluded Soccer World Cup .... I remember some of our office colleagues went all the way to South Africa just to watch the matches and only returned to work after the event got over.

Though we all know we cannot come anywhere close to what South Africa had succeded in doing ... yet I knew India would definately come out with an event which would definately make our neighbouring foes envy us.

As I closely watch reports and updates about how the Commonwealth expenses have been blouted only to fill the pockets of officials handling it ......from top to bottom,I wonder how big an enemy CORRUPTION is for my India.When Britishers ruled us ... we knew who all our enemy were .... but Corruption ...this devil can exist anywhere from top to bottom and you cannot spot it with naked eyes .....We are all subjected to the atrocities of this devil that has enslaved India once again ...

Suresh Kalmadi may keep protesting and declaring he is innocent but every onlooker knows that this whole CWG nautyanki is nothing but a bundle of corruption and dishonesty....inflated bills ....poor quality materials imagine anything related to corruption and you will find it all here.....

In the heart of hearts Iam pretty optimistic to believe that in true Indian fashion we will manage to ride over all the obstacles in the 11th hour and the Games will not be the fiasco that our Television news anchors and newspaper or magazine columnists have been declaring.But I do believe that it is high time we think of some strong laws to arrest and kill this big evil we have in India - CORRUPTION.

Though I know this will never happen because for passing such a bill in Parliament, will need honest people ..... A LAW which sentences a DEATH PENALTY to a person who is found guilty of corruption is the need of the hour.

The allegations — kickbacks, needless commissions to mysterious off-shore companies, forged letters, unexplained payments to non-existent London firms, inflated purchase figures, etc. — is so great that no denials will seem convincing. Clearly a lot of people have got very rich out of these Games.

With ugly worms tumbling out everyday, the organisers of the Games have now started blackmailing. We may be crooks, they say, but if you act against us then this could endanger the Games which are only a few weeks away. So like it or not, you are stuck with us.

Any action against the crooks may have to wait till the Games are over. The racketeers are hoping that, in classic Indian style, if the Games go off relatively well, we will forget about these charges.And public memory is indeed short and we will forget everything in sheer ecstacy and joy of the success of this Game .... and the crooks will go scot free again waiting for their next prestigous assinment when they would again have inflated bills of 4000 INR for a roll of toilet paper.......

There should be CBI enquiry into all details and a death penalty should be given to all accused.Our hard earned money is lying in the personal accounts of the scoundrel officials.

RAJNEETI

Yesterday watched Rajneeti at Carousel ..... Thanks to Chris he persuaded me to accompany him and we made it to this hall.Its been almost a year and gosh !! I reallized Ive never been to Carousel even once before......Well Piccadelly was too close so had reasons to avoid a far off mall.Must however say that Indian INOXes or Theaters are definately at par with the best at any point of time.In Europe , in Africa and now Australia .....India must be back in whichever area ....when it comes to watching movies we are still at par with any of the other countries.....Reasons big enough for the Bollywood Industry which keeps thriving and boosting the Indian economy in a big way......

Ahh ..coming back to rajneeti I must say its a purely influenced out of mahabharata.Obviously I liked it because Mahbharata has always influenced me.Ajay Devgan who plays a role similar to Danveer Karna attracts pethos and sympathy in one.There were'nt any specific reasons to hate Manoj Bajpai's role. He plays Duryodhanas role in this movie , Ranbir plays Arjuna and Nana plays Krishna ( I remember he was named Brij Mohan )...Ahh forgot to mention Arjun Rampal ...he plays the ever snobbish and immoral Bhima and sexy Katrina plays a role simliar to Draupadi always being shared by brothers.....

The ending was as expected but then the ending looked more like a forced one .... with Prakash Jha hell bent on delivering immediate results to the anti hero.Perhaps he was too influenced by Mhabharatand time was a constraint..... All in all I would say the movie is watchable at least once for sure.

And before I end this topic I would like to mention that Duryodhana was not as bad as projected in our Television serials and Bhima was anyday the snobbish and unruly person.Kunti was a characterless lady and Arjuna was a successful person just because of the blessings of the Lord.Karna was always the best persona both in warfare and character alike...And just to add about Duryodhana's benevolence ..... Dont forget he was the only one among everyone who accepted and befriended a Suth Putra(Shudra or lower caste).... So who do you think is the justified emperor ? Yudhishtra or Duryodhana.....And yes of course the root cause for the battle was a woman - Draupadi who insulted and tauntingly referred to Duryodhana as a blind man's son who is also blind....... She is the real vamp......