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November 28, 2004

Been down for the last

Been down for the last couple of days with a ~~viral~~ fever. ~~It’s not just me but a good number of Chennaites who share this virus along with me~~[Per doctor, it wasn’t a viral fever. just a fever, whatever]. Also thanks to my nice eating habits in any roadside shop of Chennai. That noble habit is under tight scrutiny at home and I nearly swore on camphor that I would avoid (note- avoid, not stop) eating elsewhere.

For all these years, eating on Saravana/Kaiyendhi Bhavans has made me immune to most of the quick spreading germs. A few months of good home food kicked out the immunity and I am now a welcoming victim for all these germs. Enough. To cut the long story short, if you are at Chennai, the best way to protect yourself is to eat anywhere without looking for any hygiene. Within couple of months, I assure, you are Mr. Immune.

So the whole of the weekend, I’ve been at home. This is the only week I’ve been completely at home. And when you have nothing to do except books and the television it is so cool. Watched television to my glory yesterday. Not just the usual kollywood stuff but some good ones like the Biography of Sidney Sheldon, a documentary on the man behind Bram Stoker‘s Dracula in the History Channel and ofcourse Steve Ballmer‘s visit to India in CNBC. Also did watch one of MGR’s initial hits called Mahadevi and was zapped by the production values and the screenplay.

This morning the fever was again peaking and a very close friend who has come down from Canada was here to invite me for his marriage. A few hours of chatting got us nostalgic and we happily shared those days of filled with a plethora of emotions. Especially biking around Chennai even during the floods, the long evenings which we spent talking all kinds of stuff at the Drive-In Woodlands and even the toughest of events that we just laughed out.

Just after he left, I realized, the fever gone. Poye Pochu !!
November 27, 2004

Three Rupees Doctor

[Pic : vikatan.com]

Pugazhendhi[not the Arjun of Mudhalvan]. As the name goes, this Gold Medalist from the Madurai Medical College, has bagged infinite wishes from the villages in and around Kalpakkam. Has been servicing the village people for just Rs.3 a consultation.

Fourteen years back, after his passout from the medical college, when his scientist friends persuaded him to come over to Kalpakkam, he setup his first hospital in a remote village called Sathurangapattinam. People from in around that area intially misunderstood him to be duplicate doc. As time rolled over, his fair intentions became clearer and he is now lovably nicknamed as the Three Rupees Doctor. Still single and away from his family, he makes a mediocre living by selling medicine to the villagers at a nominal profit.

In his upstanding interview to Ananda Vikatan, Pugazhendhi attributes his college professors for guiding him to this noble service. He also remarks about the training he gives to the unemployed youth, empowering them to setup clinics at the villages nearby. This idea, at a first glance seemed like an illegal act. He could rather convince his fellow doctors who are busy in the metros to join him in the villages. Because this training-a-youth-as-a-doctor should never have a reverse effect on the diseased. Then, Pugazhendhi’s noble ideas would be dubbed otherway. Thanks to the current media which can transform a mouse into an elephant[or paen into perumal as in tamil].

Reading this article in today’s Vikatan, I was prompted to blog about this. Not just that. Incidentally due to my viral fever, I was at a local hospital, few hours back. While they charged me a half hundred for the consultation, the prescribed medicines amounted few more hundreds. Imagine the cost of setting right a a chronic disease. Pretty costly. Just like everyone, I only hope we have many more such examples. This dude Pugazhendhi, certainly needs to be be celebrated and encouraged.
November 26, 2004

Swades website up!!

Set in modern day India, Swades is a film that tackles the issues facing the citizens of this nation on a grass roots level, says the Swades website. To add more, what begins as a simple mission prompted by nostalgia and affection turns into a journey into the heartland of rural India, both literally and metaphorically. The site is designed intuitively and loaded with tons of wallpapers and stills. This pic of A R Rahman with Ashutosh and Javed Aktar seemed interesting.

The first line of the site reads, From the Writer & Director of the Academy Award Nominated ‘Lagaan’. Though I have reservations about sending Indian movies to the Oscars, this one was quite heartening to see.
November 26, 2004

Friday Quickies

If Adam and Eve had been Chinese we’ll all be in Paradise, because they would have ignored the apple and eaten the snake. A heady gag. Who else but Kamal Hassan cracking this during a chat about Mumbai Xpress. A good look at the pic in the link would make you guess a couple of things. Kamal as Avinasi would be a deaf and a wannabe US settler(note the USA emblem on his leather coat as he watches a plane fly high). More…

Hurray !! Just one more month for the Thiruvasakam in Symphony to release. Maestro Illayaraja will come back rocking. More…

Shahrukh ‘stereotyped’ Khan talks about lending his voice to the remake of The Incredibles as Hum Hain Lajawab in Hindi. This is however a great effort. More…

Goodbye Arthur Hailey. While a teenager, I was hugely inspired by his thrillers like Hotel and Wheels than the best selling Airport. We will miss you, forever. More…
November 25, 2004

International Film Festival of ITFA

Starting tomorrow[Nov 26th], we will have the first competitive film festival in the Pilot Theatre of Chennai being organised by International Tamil Film Academy[ITFA] and the former prime-time giant Seventh Channel. The film festival will have 25 international films showcased for five days.

Some bigges include Together[China], Bread and Tulips[Italy] and Nachbarinnen a.k.a Wanted [Germany]. Read more from Hindu. The synopsis of the german film Nachbarinnen interests me. Could be made in a well planned tamil movie. Am planning to take a spin on the weekend.

Update [26 Nov 2004] – Selected list of the movies in the screening.

Been down for the last

Three Rupees Doctor

Swades website up!!

Friday Quickies

International Film Festival of ITFA