“The doctor couple of Manapparai, K. Murugesan and M. Gandhimathy, whose 15-year-old son allegedly performed a Caesarean section on a 20-year-old woman at their hospital, were arrested on Monday after day-long interrogation at the Valanadu police station.”
(News Courtesy : The Hindu http://www.hindu.com/2007/06/26/stories/2007062651090100.htm)
From fake doctors, we now have a new development – Apprentice Doctors. The apprentice in this case is a +1 student.
Now I understand the meaning of ‘years of practice’, ‘master surgeon’ etc.
Jokes apart, the incident raises several questions.
1. The doctor is arrested because he showed the video at an Indian Medical Association (IMA) meeting. What would have happened if he didn’t? (In fact, several magazines have reported that the ‘doctor-in-making’ son has performed over 40+ operations in the past 7 years).
2. What is the use of health inspectors and other watchdogs? Shouldn’t they be arrested?
3. Would the trial proceed in the right direction or will the doctor lobby raise hue and cry?
The larger question that lingers is that the doctor fraternity so far has been claiming that they cannot be booked under the consumer case as they are doing a divine service and there is ‘hands-of-god’ situation.
But, many hospitals are now actively advertising on the media claiming 100% / painless results. I have heard that there is a clause within the medical laws,which strictly prohibit the medical fraternity from advertising its services. If so, aren’t they breaking the law?
Doesn’t advertisement amount to attracting ‘prospective’ consumers?
Monday, June 25, 2007
Sunday, June 24, 2007
What I am currently reading – The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins
The last 3-4 days had been a struggle. I could not grab a book that would be intellectually stimulating and I had to do away with regular magazines.
At last, I found this book ‘The God Delusion’ by Richard Dawkins.
To know about the credentials of Richard Weber, click on the following link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Dawkins
The book talks about the virtue of atheism and Professor Richard very rationally puts forward this thought through chapters counter arguing all the fundamental beliefs on the existence of god (small case intended).
I had always wanted to read his stimulating ‘The Selfish Gene’ but couldn’t grab a copy so far. Guess should try it out in India.
In all the things that we do in life, we start with an open quest, an rational approach and move towards the stage of discovery…in all the things except god.
To suggest a similar read that I had done many years ago, its ‘God is Dead’ by Osho Rajneesh. Read it to find for yourself on why nature needs no omnipotent force for its operations.
At last, I found this book ‘The God Delusion’ by Richard Dawkins.
To know about the credentials of Richard Weber, click on the following link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Dawkins
The book talks about the virtue of atheism and Professor Richard very rationally puts forward this thought through chapters counter arguing all the fundamental beliefs on the existence of god (small case intended).
I had always wanted to read his stimulating ‘The Selfish Gene’ but couldn’t grab a copy so far. Guess should try it out in India.
In all the things that we do in life, we start with an open quest, an rational approach and move towards the stage of discovery…in all the things except god.
To suggest a similar read that I had done many years ago, its ‘God is Dead’ by Osho Rajneesh. Read it to find for yourself on why nature needs no omnipotent force for its operations.
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Bona fide Tamil Awards
Yes…Its that time of the year when this blogger gives away awards.
You can be rest assured that the blogger was not tempted to vices (hey, where’s that Jack Daniels that you were supposed to offer me) nor was he threatened (Please no…don’t hit me there)
Bulls and Bushes Award: Our own beloved farmer Amitabh Bachaan and born again farmer Aamir Khan
Brothers in Arms Award: Nidhis and Marans (for upstaging the traitor controversy on a major scale)
Honey, I got a hangover Award: Captain Vijayakanth (for igniting the booze controversy)
Sudden ‘Kalam’ity Award: Madam. Jayalaalitha (for restarting the rubber stamp wars once more)
Trumpet and Cymbals Award: To the adulators of Kalaignar Karunanidhi (for showering over the top praises and gifts on their leader through multiple vizhas)
Non-Stop Nayagan: Kalaignar. Karunanidhi (for attending vizhas non-stop and listening to adulations without any embarrassment).
Old Wine in the New Bottle Award: Rajnikant (for Shivaji-The buss (spelling mistake intentional!))
Maanasthan Award: Thozhar.Thirumavalavan (for poking fun at Tamil cinema heroes for many years and taking a U-turn to become one)
Loooooong List, Atlast a Full Stop Award: Aishwarya Rai (Atlast she married somebody)
The Professors Way Award: Vaiko (for trying to become the Paer-aasiriyar (Professor) Anbhazhagan of AIADMK.
Abbreviation Twisted To Truth Award: Once again to septuagenarian Karunanidhi for waiting a looooong while to change the abbreviation of Thi.Mu.Ka to Thiru.Mu.Karunanidhi Kudumba party.
Sell My Soul, Gimme Money Award: Comrade Achudanandan (for asking Tamilnadu money in exchange for periyar water and insulting the Malayalees)
You can be rest assured that the blogger was not tempted to vices (hey, where’s that Jack Daniels that you were supposed to offer me) nor was he threatened (Please no…don’t hit me there)
Bulls and Bushes Award: Our own beloved farmer Amitabh Bachaan and born again farmer Aamir Khan
Brothers in Arms Award: Nidhis and Marans (for upstaging the traitor controversy on a major scale)
Honey, I got a hangover Award: Captain Vijayakanth (for igniting the booze controversy)
Sudden ‘Kalam’ity Award: Madam. Jayalaalitha (for restarting the rubber stamp wars once more)
Trumpet and Cymbals Award: To the adulators of Kalaignar Karunanidhi (for showering over the top praises and gifts on their leader through multiple vizhas)
Non-Stop Nayagan: Kalaignar. Karunanidhi (for attending vizhas non-stop and listening to adulations without any embarrassment).
Old Wine in the New Bottle Award: Rajnikant (for Shivaji-The buss (spelling mistake intentional!))
Maanasthan Award: Thozhar.Thirumavalavan (for poking fun at Tamil cinema heroes for many years and taking a U-turn to become one)
Loooooong List, Atlast a Full Stop Award: Aishwarya Rai (Atlast she married somebody)
The Professors Way Award: Vaiko (for trying to become the Paer-aasiriyar (Professor) Anbhazhagan of AIADMK.
Abbreviation Twisted To Truth Award: Once again to septuagenarian Karunanidhi for waiting a looooong while to change the abbreviation of Thi.Mu.Ka to Thiru.Mu.Karunanidhi Kudumba party.
Sell My Soul, Gimme Money Award: Comrade Achudanandan (for asking Tamilnadu money in exchange for periyar water and insulting the Malayalees)
Study on regional variances in mobile carriage
Here is an interesting article on the study conducted by Nokia to find out the variations in mobile carriage:
http://www.hindu.com/2007/06/21/stories/2007062150681300.htm
http://www.hindu.com/2007/06/21/stories/2007062150681300.htm
Director Shankar – An open letter
Dear Mr.Shankar,
Let me offer my congrats to the conman side of the director in you for making what seems the most financially successful film (Shivaji) in Tamil cinema history and my deepest sympathies to the real director who is waiting to create good, meaning full movies.
The artistic side is always felt by your urge to produce some of the finest movies like Veyil betting all your hard earned money in the process.
But it is the politically fascist and anarchic messages thrown in abundance in all your movies that irritates me.
Lets focus on the core of all your movies:
A protagonist (a martial artist, a young lover boy or a soft NRI man) comes on the screen, challenges the baddies, dances with the sweet heart and in the end destroy the villain.
So far its ok and you have the privilege to say that “What’s the harm? This is how any traditional masala movie is made”. You may add, “Annamalai was like that”…”Badshah was like that”
Annamalai was all about an ordinary milkman rising in his life optimistically by challenging an ex-friend who cheats him and Badshah is about a man who wants to move away from the dark side to lead an ordinary life.
But your conman side adds the fascist/anarchic text to what was plain vanilla masala stuff. You create a superhero, mix his story with pseudo- patriotism, add mythical legends (like Garuda Puranam (Anniyan) or vedic chants (Gentleman)), blow it on a larger than life frame and most importantly, take law in hands by projecting bureaucrats as corrupt, undisciplined lot.
Do you seriously believe that only NRIs/ people with vedic background (Brahmins??)/ Yuppies can offer solutions to the nation? And why is it that the American flag is somehow displayed in atleast one frame in all your movies? Your love for America, is it???
Governance, Bureaucracy, and the police force are very critical elements to run a healthy democracy. Despite corruption, India progresses because of these active players.
Anyday, corruption is more acceptable than anarchic/ fascistic elements.
Your movies are exactly like what your counterpart Hollywood directors direct. A classic example is Speed where the hero to save a bus full of passengers rams over 100s of cars and bystanders and utters patriotic nonsense in between. But the only plus point is that America does not carry (or atleast mix) religious, caste masala in its movies.
And anyways, Hollywood was never and will never be the benchmark of good movies. Many French/ Japanese/ Latin American movies can outclass them by miles.
This is plainly dangerous precedent.
You always say you want to make a low budget, decent movie. Lets hope that atleast after this mega hit, you follow the way of your heart.
Amen or shall we say Om Shanthi?
Yours friendly,
Cinema Seriouso
Let me offer my congrats to the conman side of the director in you for making what seems the most financially successful film (Shivaji) in Tamil cinema history and my deepest sympathies to the real director who is waiting to create good, meaning full movies.
The artistic side is always felt by your urge to produce some of the finest movies like Veyil betting all your hard earned money in the process.
But it is the politically fascist and anarchic messages thrown in abundance in all your movies that irritates me.
Lets focus on the core of all your movies:
A protagonist (a martial artist, a young lover boy or a soft NRI man) comes on the screen, challenges the baddies, dances with the sweet heart and in the end destroy the villain.
So far its ok and you have the privilege to say that “What’s the harm? This is how any traditional masala movie is made”. You may add, “Annamalai was like that”…”Badshah was like that”
Annamalai was all about an ordinary milkman rising in his life optimistically by challenging an ex-friend who cheats him and Badshah is about a man who wants to move away from the dark side to lead an ordinary life.
But your conman side adds the fascist/anarchic text to what was plain vanilla masala stuff. You create a superhero, mix his story with pseudo- patriotism, add mythical legends (like Garuda Puranam (Anniyan) or vedic chants (Gentleman)), blow it on a larger than life frame and most importantly, take law in hands by projecting bureaucrats as corrupt, undisciplined lot.
Do you seriously believe that only NRIs/ people with vedic background (Brahmins??)/ Yuppies can offer solutions to the nation? And why is it that the American flag is somehow displayed in atleast one frame in all your movies? Your love for America, is it???
Governance, Bureaucracy, and the police force are very critical elements to run a healthy democracy. Despite corruption, India progresses because of these active players.
Anyday, corruption is more acceptable than anarchic/ fascistic elements.
Your movies are exactly like what your counterpart Hollywood directors direct. A classic example is Speed where the hero to save a bus full of passengers rams over 100s of cars and bystanders and utters patriotic nonsense in between. But the only plus point is that America does not carry (or atleast mix) religious, caste masala in its movies.
And anyways, Hollywood was never and will never be the benchmark of good movies. Many French/ Japanese/ Latin American movies can outclass them by miles.
This is plainly dangerous precedent.
You always say you want to make a low budget, decent movie. Lets hope that atleast after this mega hit, you follow the way of your heart.
Amen or shall we say Om Shanthi?
Yours friendly,
Cinema Seriouso
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Best of Chennai
After staying for nearly a year in Dubai, my mind fondly remembers those places in Chennai that I used to passionately freak out. Here is my list:
Best Vegetarian Lunch/Dinner (Budget): Gnanambika Mess at Thambiah (Reddy) Road, W.Mambalam. They serve unlimited rice, kootu, curry, sambar, rasam, butter milk and the best of the lot vatha kuzhambu on a plantain leaf all for 20 rupees. The interesting part is that you can buy any of these items individually in two or five rupee packs (five rupee pack is sufficient for two). The place is small and usually cramped with worn out tables and chairs but who cares when you are hungry and want to have a full tasty grub.
Best Vegetarian Lunch/Dinner (Medium): Chettinad Thali @ Hotel Namma Veedu Vasantha Bhavan adjacent to Vadapalani Bus Depot. At Rs.50, they serve herbal soup, hot chettinad briyani, special snack of the day, sweet, rice, sambar, rasam, curd, special side portion, pappad etc. Absolutely delicious.
Best Vegetarian Lunch/Dinner (Costly): Hotel Woodlands in Radhakrishnan Salai or Hotel Matsya at Pondy Baazar for a typical Udupi style lunch/dinner. Woodlands charges Rs.62 for an unlimited lunch with regular sambar, rasam, curd, poriyaal, kootu stuff with dhall and ghee spread over. Their speciality is vatha kuzhambu. Icre cream and beeda are served at the end of the meal. Matsya serves the above items plus a tasty soup. The other joint is Nilgiris Nest in Radhakrishnan Road, which serves a excellent limited lunch for Rs.50. But it’s a non vegetarian hotel (I am a veggie but don’t mind taking a veg. meal in a non-veg hotel.
Best Andhra Lunch/Dinner Joint: Annapoorana Mess in the street opposite to Siva Vishnu Temple (Think its Mahalakshmi Street), Hotel Andhra Lunch Home (opposite to old Rajakumari Theater Bus Stop in Pondy Bazaar), Hotel Amaravaathi on Radhakrishnan Salai (this is owned by the Savera group and has a hotel even in Karama, Dubai where I frequent for a good lunch @ 10 AED (Dirhams)). All the three are non-veg. hotels but serve excellent veg. bhojanam. Annapoorana is cheap joint at around Rs.23 for a gun-powder (dhall powder) filled lunch. The other great place is National Lunch Home at Parrys Corner.
Best South Indian Breakfast Hotel (Cheap): Hotel Kameshwari, Station Road, W.Mambalam. Speciality is Arusi Uppuma and Chappathy served with a different side dish daily. The hotel (if you can call it that) is a mostly standing hotel with very few school type chairs offered. Best thing is to buy packed food and eat at home. Rayar Mess in a small lane near Mylapore post office where food is served with yummy chilli chutney. The hotel is a one-man show and you have to wait for your turn in this small room which should be roughly around 150 Sq.ft.
Best South Indian Breakfast Hotel (Medium to Costly): Hotel Karpagambal Mess. This hotel is situated opposite Bharathiya Vidya Bhavan, Mylapore. Excellent food especially the thavalai vadai, adai avail and ghee kichadi. On the downside, the hotel charges high for very little comfort.
Best South Indian Breakfast Hotel (Costly): Drive in Woodlands near Anna Fly Over, Mount Road. Serves excellent iddlies and dosas. However, don’t think of Saravana style 3 chutneys becoz this serves only 1 coconut/pottu kadalai chutney for many years.
Best Snacks Shop (cheap): Venkata Ramana Poli Stall, the mother of all poli stalls. Running for over 25 years, the stall is the ‘original’ poli stall. It’s situated on Thambiah (Reddy) road in W.Mambalam. The other place is Subham Ganesan’s snack shop opposite RASI textile shop (near Kapalishwara temple) in Mylapore. Snacks are sold at affordable cost and are excellent. The best shop to buy vathals, vaddams and instant puliyodharai mix.
Best Snacks Shop (medium): Adyar Ananda Bhavan. If you lucky, you can buy sweet kozhakattai at a very affordable cost.
Best Veg.Briyani Shop: Bombay Halwa House near Khadi Gramodyag Bhavan in Mount road (Anna Salai). There are two Khadi’s in anna salai and this Khadi is the larger one near The Hindu office.
Best Gujarathi Thali: Gujarathi Mandali bhojanalaya on broadway road in Parrys area. This place serves unlimited Gujarathi lunch/dinner for an unbelievable Rs.35. Unlimited chappathis and chawal or gujju kichdi.
Best Tamil Book Shop: Booklands opposite ARR complex , North Usman Road, T.Nagar.
Best English Book Shop: As always, the Landmark book shops in Spencers Plaza, N.H.Road and Citi Center. The best among the three is the N.H.Road (Nungumbakkam High Road) branch, which is calm and serene. Also, had been a regular to this place since its inception in 1989 (see, am a serious reader hee hee). Also, I loved the new Crossword bookshop on Venkata Narayana road, T.Nagar. Their book collection has much more depth, especially the literature section. (I grabbed a copy of Ka by Roberto Collaso, which I had been searching for a long time since I missed the first copy).
Best Pub: Geoffrey’s at Radha Park Inn near Koyembadu Bus Stand on 100 feet road. Live band music which churns out soulful numbers. Dress code is semi-formal and its better to reserve a seat on the weekend. The other pub that I like is Bike-n-barrel in Residency Towers, Pondy Bazaar. The only disadvantage here is ladies/families are made to sit at one floor while bachelors/stags on the other. If your idea of frequenting a pub is to interact with the other sex, avoid this pub.
Best Bar (Budget): Hotel Asoka bar at Egmore. They serve excellent south Indian snacks like bhajjis and bondas free with your booze in the evenings. The place and the servers will remind you of yesteryears Madras than the modern Chennai. The other watering hole that I would recommend is Hotel Maris on Radhakrishnan Salai.
Best Bar (Costly): Savera hotel bars on Radhakrishnan Salai and Rain Tree Hotel bar on St.Marys Road, Abiramapuram.
Best TASMAC bar: Ranjith bar (though now no Tasmac shop has a name) adjacent to Sooriya hospital, Arunachalam road, vadapalani area. They serve excellent paniyaram for Rs.10. The A/C area is clean and neat and Rs.15 is charged per hour, per person.
Best Beeda Shop: Benaras Beeda Shop in front of Ganpat Hotel on N.H.Road. Taste their chilled magai beeda and you would know what I mean.
Best Rose Milk Shop: Kalathi Rose Milk shop opposite to Bharathiya Vidya Bhavan, Mylapore. You can also make it at your home by buying a bottle of rose syrup. I heard that they been in this business for over 80 years now and used to be one of the largest soda distributors in the then Madras Rajadhani.
Best Paneer Soda Shop: Soda mixed with paneer (rose water) essence is called paneer soda and used to be a favourite drink of the Tamils in the past. With Cokes and Pepsis eating (or gulping, shall we say!) the market, many manufacturers of this unique drink have since closed shop. However, Mapillai Vinayagar soda, the king of paneer sodas (which is still available in the trichy region) is available in some shops in Thiruvatriyoor area near the temple.
Best Mall: I would rate Spencers as one of the best shopping malls in the world even though I have visited mega sized ones (including Mall of Emirates, Ibn Batuta, City Center) in Dubai. The reason is that unlike these malls, a visitor can buy a shirt from Rs.50 (Unbranded) to Rs.5000 (Over branded!!!) in Spencers plaza whereas the other malls will either have a choice of other brands and its own brand. But, on the down side, Spencers is too congested on weekends and finding a parking space is tough. But, almost all the malls face this problem.
Best Cinema Hall: Satyam Multiplex. What fascinates me is the management’s patronage to showcase offbeat/ world movies continuously, which I haven’t seen in any other multiplex chain (I had visited a lot of them during my visits to Mumbai and Bangalore). The best budget movie hall is Devi complex, which has over five screens. This complex is one of the earliest adaptors of digital technology (having introduced Dolby/DTS and Continuous Loop Projection system some 10 -15 years ago) but has ever since lagged in its updates. With such a large complex and a fairly good parking lot, the management should focus and innovate.
Best TV Channel (Tamil): Even though I hate Rupert Murdoch and Newscorp for commoditising news and manipulating it to fill their coffers, I still think Vijay TV is the best run Tamil channel which churns out innovative programs. However, the programs are too urbanized and Americanized – one reason why the channel never beaten the competition.
Best Vegetarian Lunch/Dinner (Budget): Gnanambika Mess at Thambiah (Reddy) Road, W.Mambalam. They serve unlimited rice, kootu, curry, sambar, rasam, butter milk and the best of the lot vatha kuzhambu on a plantain leaf all for 20 rupees. The interesting part is that you can buy any of these items individually in two or five rupee packs (five rupee pack is sufficient for two). The place is small and usually cramped with worn out tables and chairs but who cares when you are hungry and want to have a full tasty grub.
Best Vegetarian Lunch/Dinner (Medium): Chettinad Thali @ Hotel Namma Veedu Vasantha Bhavan adjacent to Vadapalani Bus Depot. At Rs.50, they serve herbal soup, hot chettinad briyani, special snack of the day, sweet, rice, sambar, rasam, curd, special side portion, pappad etc. Absolutely delicious.
Best Vegetarian Lunch/Dinner (Costly): Hotel Woodlands in Radhakrishnan Salai or Hotel Matsya at Pondy Baazar for a typical Udupi style lunch/dinner. Woodlands charges Rs.62 for an unlimited lunch with regular sambar, rasam, curd, poriyaal, kootu stuff with dhall and ghee spread over. Their speciality is vatha kuzhambu. Icre cream and beeda are served at the end of the meal. Matsya serves the above items plus a tasty soup. The other joint is Nilgiris Nest in Radhakrishnan Road, which serves a excellent limited lunch for Rs.50. But it’s a non vegetarian hotel (I am a veggie but don’t mind taking a veg. meal in a non-veg hotel.
Best Andhra Lunch/Dinner Joint: Annapoorana Mess in the street opposite to Siva Vishnu Temple (Think its Mahalakshmi Street), Hotel Andhra Lunch Home (opposite to old Rajakumari Theater Bus Stop in Pondy Bazaar), Hotel Amaravaathi on Radhakrishnan Salai (this is owned by the Savera group and has a hotel even in Karama, Dubai where I frequent for a good lunch @ 10 AED (Dirhams)). All the three are non-veg. hotels but serve excellent veg. bhojanam. Annapoorana is cheap joint at around Rs.23 for a gun-powder (dhall powder) filled lunch. The other great place is National Lunch Home at Parrys Corner.
Best South Indian Breakfast Hotel (Cheap): Hotel Kameshwari, Station Road, W.Mambalam. Speciality is Arusi Uppuma and Chappathy served with a different side dish daily. The hotel (if you can call it that) is a mostly standing hotel with very few school type chairs offered. Best thing is to buy packed food and eat at home. Rayar Mess in a small lane near Mylapore post office where food is served with yummy chilli chutney. The hotel is a one-man show and you have to wait for your turn in this small room which should be roughly around 150 Sq.ft.
Best South Indian Breakfast Hotel (Medium to Costly): Hotel Karpagambal Mess. This hotel is situated opposite Bharathiya Vidya Bhavan, Mylapore. Excellent food especially the thavalai vadai, adai avail and ghee kichadi. On the downside, the hotel charges high for very little comfort.
Best South Indian Breakfast Hotel (Costly): Drive in Woodlands near Anna Fly Over, Mount Road. Serves excellent iddlies and dosas. However, don’t think of Saravana style 3 chutneys becoz this serves only 1 coconut/pottu kadalai chutney for many years.
Best Snacks Shop (cheap): Venkata Ramana Poli Stall, the mother of all poli stalls. Running for over 25 years, the stall is the ‘original’ poli stall. It’s situated on Thambiah (Reddy) road in W.Mambalam. The other place is Subham Ganesan’s snack shop opposite RASI textile shop (near Kapalishwara temple) in Mylapore. Snacks are sold at affordable cost and are excellent. The best shop to buy vathals, vaddams and instant puliyodharai mix.
Best Snacks Shop (medium): Adyar Ananda Bhavan. If you lucky, you can buy sweet kozhakattai at a very affordable cost.
Best Veg.Briyani Shop: Bombay Halwa House near Khadi Gramodyag Bhavan in Mount road (Anna Salai). There are two Khadi’s in anna salai and this Khadi is the larger one near The Hindu office.
Best Gujarathi Thali: Gujarathi Mandali bhojanalaya on broadway road in Parrys area. This place serves unlimited Gujarathi lunch/dinner for an unbelievable Rs.35. Unlimited chappathis and chawal or gujju kichdi.
Best Tamil Book Shop: Booklands opposite ARR complex , North Usman Road, T.Nagar.
Best English Book Shop: As always, the Landmark book shops in Spencers Plaza, N.H.Road and Citi Center. The best among the three is the N.H.Road (Nungumbakkam High Road) branch, which is calm and serene. Also, had been a regular to this place since its inception in 1989 (see, am a serious reader hee hee). Also, I loved the new Crossword bookshop on Venkata Narayana road, T.Nagar. Their book collection has much more depth, especially the literature section. (I grabbed a copy of Ka by Roberto Collaso, which I had been searching for a long time since I missed the first copy).
Best Pub: Geoffrey’s at Radha Park Inn near Koyembadu Bus Stand on 100 feet road. Live band music which churns out soulful numbers. Dress code is semi-formal and its better to reserve a seat on the weekend. The other pub that I like is Bike-n-barrel in Residency Towers, Pondy Bazaar. The only disadvantage here is ladies/families are made to sit at one floor while bachelors/stags on the other. If your idea of frequenting a pub is to interact with the other sex, avoid this pub.
Best Bar (Budget): Hotel Asoka bar at Egmore. They serve excellent south Indian snacks like bhajjis and bondas free with your booze in the evenings. The place and the servers will remind you of yesteryears Madras than the modern Chennai. The other watering hole that I would recommend is Hotel Maris on Radhakrishnan Salai.
Best Bar (Costly): Savera hotel bars on Radhakrishnan Salai and Rain Tree Hotel bar on St.Marys Road, Abiramapuram.
Best TASMAC bar: Ranjith bar (though now no Tasmac shop has a name) adjacent to Sooriya hospital, Arunachalam road, vadapalani area. They serve excellent paniyaram for Rs.10. The A/C area is clean and neat and Rs.15 is charged per hour, per person.
Best Beeda Shop: Benaras Beeda Shop in front of Ganpat Hotel on N.H.Road. Taste their chilled magai beeda and you would know what I mean.
Best Rose Milk Shop: Kalathi Rose Milk shop opposite to Bharathiya Vidya Bhavan, Mylapore. You can also make it at your home by buying a bottle of rose syrup. I heard that they been in this business for over 80 years now and used to be one of the largest soda distributors in the then Madras Rajadhani.
Best Paneer Soda Shop: Soda mixed with paneer (rose water) essence is called paneer soda and used to be a favourite drink of the Tamils in the past. With Cokes and Pepsis eating (or gulping, shall we say!) the market, many manufacturers of this unique drink have since closed shop. However, Mapillai Vinayagar soda, the king of paneer sodas (which is still available in the trichy region) is available in some shops in Thiruvatriyoor area near the temple.
Best Mall: I would rate Spencers as one of the best shopping malls in the world even though I have visited mega sized ones (including Mall of Emirates, Ibn Batuta, City Center) in Dubai. The reason is that unlike these malls, a visitor can buy a shirt from Rs.50 (Unbranded) to Rs.5000 (Over branded!!!) in Spencers plaza whereas the other malls will either have a choice of other brands and its own brand. But, on the down side, Spencers is too congested on weekends and finding a parking space is tough. But, almost all the malls face this problem.
Best Cinema Hall: Satyam Multiplex. What fascinates me is the management’s patronage to showcase offbeat/ world movies continuously, which I haven’t seen in any other multiplex chain (I had visited a lot of them during my visits to Mumbai and Bangalore). The best budget movie hall is Devi complex, which has over five screens. This complex is one of the earliest adaptors of digital technology (having introduced Dolby/DTS and Continuous Loop Projection system some 10 -15 years ago) but has ever since lagged in its updates. With such a large complex and a fairly good parking lot, the management should focus and innovate.
Best TV Channel (Tamil): Even though I hate Rupert Murdoch and Newscorp for commoditising news and manipulating it to fill their coffers, I still think Vijay TV is the best run Tamil channel which churns out innovative programs. However, the programs are too urbanized and Americanized – one reason why the channel never beaten the competition.
Height of Hypocrisy
When you shed tears for people massacred in Iraq, you are known as an empathetic human. When you do the same for Srilankan Tamils, you are branded a Tiger man and hence a militant.
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