Can TN board exams ever be difficult?

Last Wednesday, the daily Hindu carried news with a headline “Mathematics paper difficult, say students” and I guessed they were referring to the ongoing state board examinations. Indeed it was, and I, very surprised to read this since there is nothing you can associate as difficult when it comes to the exams conducted by the Tamil Nadu state board. Guess what they had to say about the question paper. It carried unexpected questions. Since when did question papers were made available prior to the exams for the students to prepare only those set of questions and ignore the syllabi.

The School teachers and the correspondents aren’t left behind in this chaos. One particular guy gave vent to his feelings. He had been conducting many revision tests for his students and this year’s paper has been a blinder. Poor fellow could not differentiate between imposition and revision. An office bearer in one of the prestigious schools was interviewed for his views and he has criticized the board for making the exams tough. I have never known state board exams to be tough which I can assuredly say for the last 15 years. There was at least an entrance examination for professional courses which pushed students to rely on the grey cells, has been discarded in the recent years thanks to political farce played by those in power.

If students can’t be tested on the knowledge they have gained and expect a rote learning, there is no point in having an education system. I have been doing my Masters with BITS through an offline work integrated program which requires me to write only exams and no classes are conducted. I liked their Examinations not because I cleared all the papers, but for the way it was modelled. I didn’t receive any outstanding marks, quite the contrary, average marks but all the questions were application of the concepts given in the syllabus. This kind of education, though I am not drawing any advantage from it, is what would be the best course to be followed across the country and specifically in Tamil Nadu where an obsession of scoring 499/500 or 1195/1200 is ever increasing.

Note: I was not a studious person in schools or college but an average student. But that doesn’t stop me from carrying notions as said above. This note is to pre-empt any question about my academic achievements if any.

SOS - I am balding!

One thing that haunts me day in day out is the rate at which hairs from my scalp taking a dive to the ground. It all started when I stepped in Chennai, till when I was confined to my native, a temple town. It has been 8 years since and what used to be so untidy, wildly unkempt hair is left with nothing but few last ones ready to take their turn. I am still 26 but for sure don’t look like one. In the last 1 month I noticed a lot of patches and this adds to my already boring and dull life. I have been frequenting this Hair Spa at Green Trends Salon believing a turn around and so it looked like for few days but alas, the attempt has failed too.

For the last 2 weeks, I have been growing a beard and I decidedly like it very much. But truth be told, this at the least deflects the attention of people talking to me from few feet away from noticing the shine from the top of my head. What people keep telling me is that it doesn’t suit me, but who bothers. It’s all a matter of pride and that gets shattered when most of the people take me for a person in his early thirties. I have had more than few embarrassing moments with kids addressing me uncle..... arrggg....

My cousin who was facing a similar situation but not in the danger zone as I am in, started showing some sign of improvement. This he attributed to the medication he had been taking and he recommended me to consult the dermatologist he had visited. I am now looking up to him as my hope and have decided to pay a visit in the coming week. Pray, he finds a solution for the troubles on my plate or rather on my head.

Rossoneri disappoint, Red Devils dominate......

I was excited for being back from office by 19:30 yesterday and the last time I was able to sneak out by that time was few weeks back... in 2009. The last 2 weeks in particular, there was nothing going right my way and left me frustrated. Even the team I support played miserably last week as Milan crashed out 0-2 to their city rivals Inter which looked like a bunch of pensioners rolled into a team. So when I was in time to catch them play Livorno yesterday I was expecting them to maraud the minnows but they were determined not to play like the giants "MILAN" is supposed to play. Livorno played well within their limitations to travel back happy gaining a point, keeping them out of the relegation zone. This was not a result that would have blocked my spirits spiralling down further and I concluded cheering myself up was probably in a distant future.

This was followed by the clash of titans, Arsenal vs. Manchester Utd. at the Emirates stadium, mother of all pitch rivalries in BPL. The build up to the match was pretty huge considering the stake and it was an unusual silence from the northern rivals. A statement from Arsene Wenger ridiculing Rooney’s talents and boasting of his youthful side, Denilson’s comments on how they weren’t boys anymore but men and need to prove Patrice Evra wrong. It was a perfect recipe for a blockbuster movie and it did live up to the billing. What a match it was-> Speed and Youth pitted against Experience and Guile. 90 minutes of pure, fast paced, fire cracker contest that kept the crowd on their feet till the last whistle when experience proved speed and young legs weren’t self sufficient for a league glory.

Nani, who had been left out of the starting line up for the first half of the season started 4^th match in a row. The winger on the Sunday that mattered most, silenced his critics with a best ever performance and rightfully picking a man of the match award. The maturity he showed on the pitch covering from 1 flag to another, piercing the defence and breaking into the danger zone lead the way for Man Utd. The first goal, a lob from Nani, deflected into the net by Almunia was a gem as he mocked at the Arsenal’s defence near the right corner before squeezing through 2 defenders and lobbing. The second was a visual treat, 4 minutes from the first goal with Rooney giving a cross to Nani from the central midfield before sprinting across like a Tiger with its prey in sight towards the net and getting a cross back from Nani to fire past the goalie. That was his 100^th goal in BPL and 22^nd of the season (20 in BPL).

With 0-2 during halftime, all MU had to do was defend but given their and Fergusson’s reputation they went in for a kill and the Korean kid Park tapped one within 15 minutes on the other side of half time. The only consolation for the gunners was a goal from Vermaelen, deflected by Evans into the net. A usually exuberant Fabregas was subdued for a very long time and Arshavin could not overcome his selfish aim of scoring when he could have passed to the attacking midfielders who could have created opportunities. Wenger was seen scratching his head and looking up to heaven for divine intervention which was not forthcoming while Fergusson was leaping in air for every goal, a rare sight given the Scot’s lack of emotion except while reprimanding his boys. This was also their first win in the new emirates stadium. I so badly wanted Arsenal to lose and Man Utd to win that when it happened, I felt relaxed a bit, having forgotten the taxing work in office for close to 2 hours. Now I so hope that Arsenal’s city rivals thrash them the next week in their super Sunday clash which would inch forward as a 2 horse race to the championship.

Film fest - weekend dhamaka

With unseen movies piling up in my hard disk, I could not ignore the fact any further and started watching them yesterday. What had kept me so long from watching those movies was my schedule, a product release to a new client. But the story doesn’t end there. What little time that was extracted from my sleeping hours was dedicated to playing FIFA 2010. So I started off with “Double Indemnity”. It was one heck of a movie and for the movie being released during the war, around 1944; it still stands the test of time. Casting was spot on and the screenplay was spellbinding, not to forget the dialogues. If I were to rate the movie, every department in that movie would score a minimum of 9/10. It is worth a watching more than once and for the writer’s sheer brilliance that radiates in his dialogues.

Since I could not stay away from FIFA 10, the idea of watching back to back movies was shelved and was continued today with “Wakeup Sid”. This cannot be compared with the earlier movie as both belong to different genres and I ended up liking the movie. It was filled with restrained performances from the artists and a stirring music from Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy. Nothing new has been churned out in this movie but the director had to be lauded for his efforts for not offering a tearjerker the production company is known to serve the audience.

Time to sign off now and resume my duties: Folder “Kaminey” is screaming for attention that I am yet to pay my respects toward it. It’s a long weekend ahead and movies galore.

Savouring till the last morsel at..... Giorgio

I was so engrossed with my office work that I couldn’t keep in touch with my friends for over 2 months. I don’t remember a similar instance prior to this since joining the IT workforce. So this led to a meeting of sorts and catching up with updates during dinner. We had to decide a restaurant and we wanted to try out someplace we haven’t been. I gave a call to my colleague (fondly called “Macha”¹ by his peers) who can rant about n number of restaurants in any place you ask for. People look toward him for suggestions on apparels/footwear/movies/Tours/anything under the sun. To cut a long story short, we use him as our yellow pages. I gave my location and my expectation and pat came the reply.... “Giorgio”.

Few meters from the Beseant Nagar church is this small restaurant where I feel the management never had to turn away any diner as it was empty bare 2 tables and it was a SATURDAY. We settled ourselves in a corner and started glancing at the menu. It was a multi cuisine restaurant that boasts with serving food varieties from more than 10 countries’. A usual routine of Soups with starters’ formality was completed with a Mexican (Nachos) and Indian (Baby corn & Mushroom) starters. It was decidedly yummy and I knew we were in for a feast. Soon, the main course followed with pastas (Al Forno and Cantolleni) and sizzlers. Both were rich in cheese, no doubt about that except that the sizzler had an Indian/Italian mix of vegetables while the pastas had more of mushroom. The starters had tickled the taste buds and when this irresistible food was placed on that table I started devouring them as if it was my last meal. If you find too much of mushroom in the food we ordered you have myself to blame for, I am mad about mushrooms or shall we say obsessed? I try to squeeze in as much mushroom as possible when I have my food outside and even enjoy mushroom “Masala Dosai”² in Ratna Cafe apart from those “Idly Sambars”³.

After this heady mix, we thought we could still attempt at having a Pizza and an order was placed for the same. No surprises there, a mushroom pizza of course. This was not of the type you get a Pizza huts and corners or the ones you get at authentic Italian restaurants – Little Italy/Bella Ciao. It was a sumptuous meal and none of the items were found lacking in taste. Though the pricing is on the higher side, I would still recommend people to try out here. One of the best I have had in the last few months and being a food freak, it was gratifying.

All said and done, my favourite food will always be “Vatha Kuzhambu, Thachi mammu and vadumangai”⁴.

PS:

1: Refers to being lucky and not to be confused with “Machan”.

2, 3, 4: South Indian food items.

Disgraced enroute to Africa

"The important thing in life is not victory but combat; it is not to have vanquished but to have fought well." – Pierre de Coubertin

What transpired on the field of Stade de France last week, would linger in the minds of football fraternity for a very long time. After all, this is a second “hand of god” wherein, the first enabled the demigod of Argentina secure a berth in Semi finals for his team and ultimately claiming the world cup while not less in stature Frenchman enabled the hosts to qualify for the 2010 world cup. Thierry Henry, a footballer of impeccable character couldn’t help slipping from greatness on day when his un-footballish play sealed the fate of an enthusiastic team that deserved to be traveling to Africa. Fair play and skills should dictate the outcome of a sport and not treachery. I don’t intend to smear Henry but his little aberration has given a birth to a ghost that it would be impossible to exorcise for years to come.

It seems fate is not without a sense of irony, (quote borrowed) as Henry comes from the same country as a certain visionary who advocated the spirit of playing and being sport. Times have changed where only the goal matters most and not the means which when achieved isn’t bothered. Notwithstanding the match fixing scandals and rise of racist views, this punches a deep hole in to the very beauty of sport and sportsmanship. Probably from Henry’s perspective, this would be his last chance to play in the football finals at an international level and in a rush of madness left a trail of melee behind. I feel pity for him, if he had been truthful, he would have been condemned by his own countrymen in spite of his greatness. We live in a world were past good deeds are forgotten and thrive on what holds for the future.

This could be easily avoided in the future only if FIFA takes steps toward assisting referees with technology as in other sports which they aren't inclined to do and god knows why.

PS: I could not help but feel pity of a certain Trappatoni (as a manager) who for the second time in this decade has been felled by a referee’s fault in a do or die game. He was the manager of the Azzuris in the 2002 WC 1-2 defeat to South Korea in the round of 16.

Reminiscing the good old days

                It was sort of reliving those memories when few of my high school friends and me caught up to swap our stories. We had studied together from our kindergarten till we went our own ways to pursue our under graduation. Whoa, that’s 14 years together. So when we met again (5-6 people) at around 9 PM, it was nostalgic for many reasons. The usual recitations of events that command a mention in any reunion followed by pulling other’s legs were the agenda for the evening. It made me yearn for those golden days when we had nothing to care about in the world and live life to the fullest.

                Everybody had settled in their professional careers and it was as diverse as one could expect. They range from being Strategic manager in a large corporate house to running a dance class and performing stage shows. It soon veered towards a more common subject that guys of our age never get bored even after innumerous discussions. Yes, “So when are you tying the knot?” And a revelation it was for one had already got engaged few months back and another though didn’t venture an opinion then, is getting engaged this week.

                After a marathon 2 hour session we decided to meet in the school premises the next day (actually it was a planned meet for all the old students) and I was really in for a surprise as I could not recollect anybody’s face baring a handful though separated by few years either ways. I couldn’t stay for the entire session to accommodate few personal errands. All these events occurred during my diwali visit to my native. Having come back to work, the ritual started again last week with the only difference being a mail chain which helped us pulling few more names into the loop. Without exaggerating the mails accumulated in the following 2 days would have crossed a ton and I had to keep moving them to personal folders before my mailbox could become full.

                I really miss those moments and I could only hope to meet all these friends occasionally at least if not frequently though reality stares at me with the words “chances are remote”