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It’s not every day that a “Thalaivar padam” releases in the theaters. In fact, this event seems to happen only once in two or three years and is a celebration of sorts. Sivaji’s release is no exception. So, non-Tamil readers of this blog, please excuse. The others though, please see Sun TV VJ/host Vijay Sarathi’s interview with Shankar.

Part 1 of 3

YouTube link

For the remaining parts, (more…)

*****Sticky Post. Regular programming continues below.*****

A couple of weeks ago, I had posted here an announcement regarding the Chennai Right To Information (CRTI) initiative. On behalf of CRTI, I had requested a few other bloggers to plug this effort on their blogs and help us spread the word around. Thanks to all of you, CRTI is pleased to inform that we received a good response to the first meeting.

At the meeting, some organizational ground work to get the initiative off the ground was done. CRTI now has a very basic website that is slowly being updated with more and more information. We are in the process of setting up a blog as well. There has been some on the ground developments as well. Please visit the Latest News section on the CRTI webpage know more about what is going on.

As of now, the CRTI has several member/volunteers. We are looking for more people to help us get it going. Specifically we are looking forward to hearing from people in the media and the law to spread the word and also to advise on due process. Also, we would love to interact with a graphics designer to help us with some web/banner design. If you think you can make a difference in any way possible, please email us at chennairti@gmail.com.

Pattiyal forms one half of a CD (self) titled Gangs of Chennai (the other album on that CD being Pudhupettai, which I am tripping on too) that�s looping on my car�s CD player these days. It is a mostly upbeat album, boasting of six numbers, packaged with the usual zest by the youngest scion of the Raja family.

However, invoking his father’s name is probably a disservice to Yuvan who has become his own man in TFM. Though he does avail the service of his father as the voice for one number in this peppy soundtrack, the gulf between father and son is never more apparent than in this soundtrack. Again, I don�t mean this negatively. It is just that Yuvan seems to have touched genres that his father would probably never touch with a barge pole. Or may be not.

Dei namma
A regular voice in the Yuvan camp, Vijay Yesudas opens the album with a number whose mood reminds one of the title track from Gilli. While this is unfamiliar territory for Vijay Yesudas who in the past has been more known for soulful numbers, he passes the test with flying colors.

Kannai Vittu
Pattiyal is a movie with two leading pairs. So this number seems to be the customary romantic number used to develop the romance pairings. And since any soundtrack from Yuvan seems incomplete without hearing his voice (more on that later), Yuvan does the honors with this track with Swetha�s lilting voice humming on a parallel track (the melancholic effect being yet another Yuvan trademark). Despite Yuvan’s voice, this is the pick of the album.

Kannai Vittu (Remix)
Going by recent trends, any soundtrack from Yuvan is never complete without a remixed hip hop version of one other song. Yuvan groupie Premji provides the additional hip-hop vocals in this remixed track that starts rather unimaginatively with the words Hey Yo, You heard the original. Now hear the remix… In the past, his remixes have tended to be faster in pace than the originals, but in this one, the changes in tempo are subtler.

Namma Kattula
This seems to be the most talked about track in this album, with Yuvan playing around with the old MSV/Kannadasan/MGR bhangra fest Aadaludan padal (from Kudiyirundha Kovil) and using it to drive the tempo of the number. Ilayaraja�s throaty rendition instantly took me on a flashback to Nila adhu vaanathu mele from Naayagan. Pa Vijay�s lyrics which contain lines like vilayaadu vilayaadu, vidiyum varai vilayaadu; kondaadu kondaadu kudichi kudichi kondaadu add to the mood.

But what almost everyone has missed is the first line, which loops trance-like through the whole song. A Google search of the first line (and a subsequent listen) confirms that Yuvan has sampled/remixed the first line from a Chitra Singh ghazal from the soundtrack of Saath Saath (music by Kuldeep Singh), which had a better known number in Tumko Dekha To Ye Khayaal Aaya, sung by the ghazal duo of Chitra and her husband Jagjit Singh. Has this loop/sample been credited to Kuldeep Singh / Chitra Singh in the original CD? Since I heard these tracks on Raaga which is notorious for screwing up credits, I have no way of knowing. But I think I am asking for too much.

Poga Poga
This is the second hip hop and R&B influenced number in this soundtrack. The track starts out like a typical R&B number till YSR�s instrumental arrangement takes over. He has proved in the past that he is no amatuer when it comes to interludes and this track is no exception. This time it is a nadaswaram / shehnai (or its electronic equivalent) that stands out. The four voices, Haricharan, Vijay Yesudas, Harini Sudhakar and Saindhavi are more than adequate for this number which seems to be the gung-ho song of this album.

Yedhedo
This track seems to be the perfunctory melancholic number and as has been the norm, YSR chooses to sing it himself. This song ends up being the least impressive of the lot, with YSR�s voice contributing to this standing.

So, in total Sun TV istyle, should we conclude by saying: Pattiyal � Pattaiy-ya Kalappal? Well, sort of. Yuvan Shankar Raja is certainly no slouch as a music director, but as a singer he has a long way to go. Wait, he has nowhere to go. He has to accept that and let better singers sing. His high pitch whining is frankly getting to be ear-bleed inducing and would be the only factors that would pull this album down. In fact by singing two songs himself and featuring his father in another song, he has managed to lay a �speed-bump� on this album whose positive musical impact far outstrips that of his voice.

Yo Yuvan… you are the love doctor remember? Remember, you do it better than the all of us?

(This post is on behalf of a couple of pals who are behind the initiative described below. As we read the text below, we wish we could do more than just passing this message along. Way to go guys!)
==============================================================
Do you get tired of people complaining about how inefficient, unaccountable and corrupt our public authorities are, but do nothing about it?

Do you want to play your part in effecting a transparent and accountable government without having it disturb your daily life?

Can you spend two hours a week volunteering from home / work / beach / coffee-shop?

Yes? The initiative proposed here might interest you.

� What is this?
This is a citizens� initiative whose objective is to spread awareness among fellow citizens about effecting a transparent and accountable government.

� Can you tell me more about this?
This initiative will
� Aim to encourage participatory democracy.
� Use legal and constitutional methods to achieve its objective.
� Not be an NGO or a political organization.
� Strive to be a people�s movement.
� Be built on the effort of volunteers who will spend less than three hours a week on projects pertaining to this initiative.
� Not require solicitation of funds/donations from volunteers.

Interested? Read on�

The cornerstone of the initiative is the Right to Information Act, 2005.

� What is the right to information?
The right to information has been recognized around the world as an important instrument for checking corruption and misuse of power.
The Right to Information Act, 2005 (RTI Act) came into effect on Oct. 12, 2005. It is a significant milestone in the history of the right to information movement in India.

(a) Information means any material in any form. This includes records, documents, memos, e-mails, opinions, advice, press releases, circulars, orders, logbooks, contracts, reports, papers, samples, models, data material in any electronic form and information relating to any private body that can be accessed by a public authority under any other existing legislation.

(b) The bill defines public authority as any authority or body established or constituted
i. By or under the constitution.
ii. By any law made by central/state legislature.
iii. Including any other body owned, controlled or substantially financed by funds provided directly or indirectly by the government.

(c) Freedom of information means the right to obtain information from any public authority by means of
i. Extracts and notes.
ii. Certified copies of any records of such public authority.
iii. Diskettes, floppies or any other electronic mode or through print-outs when such information is stored in a computer or any other device.
iv. Certified samples of materials.

A powerful legislation like the RTI Act has to be implemented with conviction to achieve transparency and accountability. By themselves, laws can only create a climate for transparency and provide help to determine responsibility. Progressive laws such as these, however, must be backed by a citizens� movement.

� Why do we need a citizens� movement?
Right to Information laws have earlier been passed by nine state governments in the country, namely Goa, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Delhi, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Assam and Jammu & Kashmir. (The RTI-Act supersedes these laws.)

The principal objective of these enactments is to facilitate an accountable and transparent government. Information available on the Internet indicates that implementation of these laws have been far from effective. In Delhi, authorities in the administration have been found to be unaware of the existence of the Delhi Government�s Act.

Clearly, mere legislation does not help in the achievement of the objective. Experience has taught us that the effort of individuals and organizations, under the aegis of these laws (the aforementioned state laws), have achieved samples of success in making an accountable and transparent government possible. In Delhi, absent road cleaners turned up for duty when their attendance registers were sought. Incomplete work was completed and quality of work improved when copies of work contracts were sought by the public.

An MLA was forced to release money for a task demanded by the people, when they obtained details of expenditure from her MLA Development Fund. People could get their work done in many other departments without paying bribes. Ration cards were issued, faulty water bills were corrected, pensions were restored as soon as the people demanded to know the status of their applications and the names of the officials who were responsible.

Almost 200 people got their grievances resolved within a matter of days of filing applications under the RTI Act, claims Parivartan (http://www.parivartan.com/home.asp), a Delhi based people�s movement that worked using the Delhi Government�s Right to Information Law. Organizations like the Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangthan (MKSS) of Rajasthan, Mahadhikar in Maharashtra and PROOF in Bangalore have also been successful in their efforts to use the RTI-Act.

Thus, the right to information law can be made effective through active involvement of citizens. The movement proposed here will aim at getting the citizens of Chennai involved in enabling transparency and accountability of the government that they interact with in their daily lives. The RTI-Act, as mentioned earlier, will be the cornerstone of this initiative.

� How will this citizen�s movement achieve its objective?
Citizens� movements are typically built around a strong volunteer base. This initiative will strive to create awareness among educated citizens. At this early stage, college students and young working professionals are expected to be the target audience for this awareness campaign. We expect to build a core volunteer base from this section. The volunteers will be requested to spend about three hours a week on projects related to this initiative. The volunteers will not be expected to donate money/solicit donations. They will form groups of 2-4 members and work on small projects. This initiative will strive to build a network of citizens with administrative, legal, political, educational, media and social development backgrounds. This ensemble of like-minded people is expected to provide support to the movement.

The plan:
� The core volunteer base will have a basic understanding of the RTI-Act, the provisions and implementation, the State and the Central Information Commissions, appellate authorities and the procedure for requesting information.
� Legal, media, campaign and awareness and documentation cells will be formed within the volunteer base and will interact with the citizen network described above.
� Public grievances will be received through individual contacts, emails, mail and telephone.
� A group of 2-4 volunteers will be formed to interface with individuals/groups with the grievance.
� The group will understand the nature of the problem and determine what information can be obtained from the relevant public authority to help address the grievance within the scope of the RTI-Act.
� The group will recommend the course of action to the individual/group with the grievance to obtain the information.
� The group will not pursue the grievance with the public authority. The individual/group with the grievance is expected to do this.
� The group will coordinate with the cells mentioned above, to bring the grievance to the attention of the network of citizens with media, administration, education and political background. This network will help bring the grievance to the attention of the public, the media and the administration. Legal action if required can be initiated through the legal representatives in the network.
� The group will support the appeal of the aggrieved party by being available for consultation when required.
� The group will support the appeal by striving in all possible legal and constitutional ways to make resources available to address the grievance.
� The group will continuously learn and add to their basic understanding of the RTI-Act and its provisions.
� The group will document the grievance and the course of action employed to help build a knowledge base for future efforts.

� Where can I find more information about this?

Kaps had posted about the happenings at SRM yesterday. The issue seems to have spread to other colleges as well. Just a few minutes ago, I received an email from my sister who is in another college notorious for its segregatory practices between the sexes. Here is what she had to say.

…. learnt how a strike would look like….! Jokes apart, day was bad….really bad. Went to coll as usual at 7.30 had brkfast n all. We were asked to go to the library. There is a seminar hall in there where we were asked to wait. So after we got in we really dint know what was happening outside. Till 8.00 everything was ok.

At 8.30 a staff came in and asked us to leave the library. We dint know why. We came out. The next thing we knew was a huge group of student… must be about 100 odd, were screaming in front of the administrative block…that big long block na that one. Some staff came n asked the girls to go to the hostel. So we went. We dint have a clue as to what the probe was. We went to the hostel. That’s where we came to know it was some problem with aicte n crap.next thing we knew the hostel was locked from outside!!!! Safety apparently!!! It was 9.00…all the girls were in the hostel by then. I mean the entire coll girls crowd. So we were in there till about 11.30…then around that time we had to walk backside to the bus stand where there was a single bus to st.josephs. Felt like some refugee escaping from terrorists or something. They dropped us in st.josephs. From st.josephs back side we had to walk to jeppiar engg coll!!! There is no road connecting st.josephs n jeppiar engg coll. so we have to walk. Imagine… easily 1 or 2 kms in the open land! Buses were there in jeppiar engg coll…We left the place around 12.15 or so. Didn’t pass thru our entrance coz of road block n stuff. Went thru Hindustan. kelambakkam….vandalur n all!!!! N reached home only at 2.45 or so!!!!! It seems comp n stuff n all were broken inside…don’t know if it’s true n all. Coll is closed indefinitely….don’t know what’s going to happen n whether if courses are recognized or not. Training cancelled too I guess. On the whole one horrible day!!!!!!!

Incidentally, my sister will be working for an IT major when she graduates in June and today was her first day of training (in-house in her college). I can imagine the hardship she had to endure on a day like this. When I told her that the incident she mentioned about “comp n stuff n all were broken inside” was actually at SRM, she said that similar things happened at her college too, but the press has not been allowed inside so far. Some students were anonymously interviewed on Sun TV outside the college gate. The students were saying things like “they are cheating us by running courses without approval” and “They will give us a B.S degree. What is the difference between an arts college student and us now?”

Is this a case of the mob mentality taking over and I am not talking only about the students here. Was the destruction of property at SRM’s campus the handiwork of the management as the students claim? And did the management in my sister’s college do the same thing?

In any case the students have to be informed (though I might have felt the same way when I was in college) that it is only some countries that follow the British system, that have separate degrees awarded for sciences and engineering. In most countries, like the US, the degree is a B.S (the equivalent of the B.Sc) regardless of whether the major is biology or bio-medical engineering. In fact most students take the some common courses (with the same syllabus that is) in the same classroom, regardless of their stream of study is. So you will see a biology student and an electrical engineering student in the same math class, if the biology student’s academic advisor feels that the class will help him/her. So, IMHO, the nomenclature does not matter. However, if you had asked me the same question six years ago, I’d have felt the same level of indignation.

Another thing is that I was also under the impression that the problem is stream specific, i.e. certain new courses in these colleges are the only ones under scrutiny. But my sister’s version (and the reaction of the striking students) indicates that whole institutions are under the microscope. Could someone clarify this?

In fact the best place to clarify this SHOULD be the AICTE’s website. But does the AICTE have a website at all? My sister sent me a link to the AICTE web site that seems to link to a list of accredited institutions. But the list is on a word document which contains links to other lists (state-wise). And get this, the links all point to documents on someone’s desktop! So these students, in spite of all the claims of all information being available freely, don’t exactly have the info they need, i.e., whether their colleges have the necessary authorizations. So, now that we know the AICTE has a half-functioning website, does they have a webmaster?

Ek hi chaand hai, raat ke liye…

I must be the only thalaivar fan who did not post anything yesterday. But then, I am humble enough to admit that I cannot be as big a fan as someone who created this and this and this and this and this.

Sepia Mutiny has this post on the release of 79 desi DVD titles on Netflix. But what really caught my eye in that post are these words -

This comes in the same week that GV Films announced their intent to create a legal Bollywood (and Tamilwood [is that even a word? - ed]) film downloading system

According to a news release that I found on GV Film’s website, this translates to almost 6000 movie titles that will delivered to paying customers (who possess a credit card) via two portals - “gvtamilfilms.com” and “telugupictures.com”!

While this is awesome news, I am at a loss trying to figure out how this peice of news passed under the radar for over 2 months (the press release on the GV films site is dated 17th Aug.).

I recently heard and glanced through an editorial that had appeared in The Hindu about a month ago. It appeared two months after N.Ram’s taking over as Editor in chief of the Hindu Group and announced a re-structuring of The Hindu and its sister publications and sought to inform the readers of its re-orientation. Now about a month after this editorial, comes the first public hint of the change. An article covering a function marking the 125th day of the release of the Vikram flick - Saamy. Is this for the good or the bad? This is but a very tiny indication of change in the newspaper and can by no means construed as representative of the magnitude of such a change. There was, as far as I know, no coverage of the recent fracas involving a couple of out-of-work actresses and their subsequent arrests, but then these events happened much closer to that editorial mentioned about. So will The Hindu go the TOI way? I hope not!Coming back to the event that was covered. Too much praise on each other from Rajini, Surya and Vikram. The King and the heir-apparents. Another poseur - Vijay, was around too, but I think he got invited on stage just out of politeness. That he had just two words (apart from reading out a list of names) to speak did not add any sheen to his presence. Vivek apparently got mentioned in the same breadth as Kamal and Rajini, straight from the mouth of the big boss, KB. Vivek, in case u did not know, is a KB discovery from Pudhu Pudhu Arthangal. Dunno if he did any more with KB though.

I am strong backer of dappan koothu! The term dappan koothu probably originates from Dappa Koothu or dance (koothu) accompanied by percussion beats from the back of a dappa (tin or box). For those of you who’s knowledge of Tamil is perfunctory, Dappan Koothu is nothing but the common man’s (read as someone with zero knowledge of classical music) idea of music - the Tamil equivalent of rap. Hence, most other people (incl. my father) dismiss it as trash. But if you want to dance and you lack the moves, then the best music for you would be dappan koothu.I am a great fan of dappan koothu - the versions strongly promoted by the likes of Thenisai Thendral (LOL) Deva. For a period of time during my undergrad years, Deva produced a steady stream of such songs that have probably entered my Koothu Hall of Fame. And there have been several other composers too who have contributed lately to this list - The Raja siblings, Bharathwaj etc.

I am not a good dancer per say, but koothu electrifies me. And this is my koothu Hall of Fame (in no particular order, I should add). If you want to hear these songs, just go to Raaga.com and search for these movies. And be sure to have some empty space in your room when you hear these numbers. I am sure that you are gonna start dancing.

The Dappan-Koothu Hall of Fame.

1. Anna Nagar Andalu - Kaalamellam Kadhal Vaazhga (1997) / Deva / Deva etc.
2. Kasu Mele Kasu Vandhu - Kadhala Kadhala (1998) / Karthik Raja / Udit Narayan, Kamalhaasan
3. White Lagan Kozhi - Priyamudan (1998) / Deva / Deva etc.
4. Kothavalchavadi Lady - Kannedhirae Thondrinal (1998) / Deva/ Deva etc.
5. Vethala potta sokkula - Amaran (1992) / Adithyan/ Karthik*
6. O Podu - Gemini (2002) / Bharathwaj / SPB, Anuradha Sriram (the remix rocks too!)
7. Sarakku Vachirukken - Shah Jahan (2001) / Mani Sharma / Shankar Mahadevan, Radhika
8. Site adippom - April Madhathil (2002) / Yuvan Shankar Raja/ Silambarasan, Karthik
9. Kaathadikkudhu Kaathadikkudhu - Ninaivirukkum Varai (1999) / Deva
10. Laalakku Dol - Sooriyan (1991) / Deva / Mano

* the Tamil actor

Btw this is just my personal hall of fame - songs I enjoy dancing to. My father would not appreciate these songs as much as i love them, but if you share similar sentiments with him, I would actually ask you to see (the video) of one song - the ninth in the list.

This song is actually a fine example of what can be conveyed through these songs. Songs of this kind are quite common in street theatre and this particular song incorporates a sequence from the Ramayana (the kidnapping of Seetha), which literally comes out of the blue.

Anybody who says such songs are trash should see this song to understand the messages that can be possibly expressed through this medium. Maybe then Deva and his ilk would get the respect they deserve. But for that to happen, Deva should probably first lose the “copy cat” tag that has overshadowed even his best work.

The Old Lady of Mount Road is celebrating her 125th birthday. I have a been reading it for atleast 15 years now. Yeah, I was a early starter with it and usually headed for the last pages to get the daily update on my cricket and other sports as per the season. These days, I usually go to the Tamilnadu section of the Southern States page of the online edition.

In my house, The Hindu was usually handed to me via my cousin. My father left early in the morning, often meeting the newspaper boy at the door when he left. But sometimes, if I was lucky I got it first when my cousin was brushing his teeth or heading for his morning ablutions. But he was sure to snatch it from me as soon he was ready to read it. But after he got married, I got first shot almost everyday, spending a quality 15 minutes everyday. And according to my mother, everytime I got delayed for school, it was always because I chose to spend time with the “Hindu paper” rather than putting my school books into the bag or filling my water bottle. And whenever it was our class’s turn with the news during the morning assembly at school, I had to spend another 10 minutes at least to make sure that I got valid reasons to say “This is Ananthanarayan with the morning news hoping that your news isn’t bad news”, a la-Clark Kent. Hence the Hindu was as good a part of my life as cricket or the Hardy Boys.

When in college, I spent time each day at the college library checking out the news in the Hindu and also for other unmentionable reasons. And in college I also became hooked on the word games, the Sunday crossie and the weekly Discovery Channel Quiz in the Indian Express. So much that even in Chennai, I bought the Express every Sunday much to my mom’s chargrin that I read not one, but two newspapers.

Here in the US, its the online editions. Though I have almost stopped reading the Express, due to the time zones, The Hindu is almost always my first read in the early afternoon, when it is usually updated. I wish they would improve the design of the online edition, but then the whole charm would be gone.

The Hindu has always had a reputation of being a staid newspaper without any sensationalism. So much that even when a certain N.Godse broke a million hearts by killing Gandhiji, The Hindu still was calm enough to put news of this incident and subsequent happenings not on the first page, but in one of the inside pages. Its another fact that in 1948, The Hindu used to have only ads on the first page. But its exemplary that they did not want to change their usual activities even at the face of such extraordinary news. Btw, does someone know whether this same practice was followed when India became independent?

Closer to present, I heard that R.Mohan, one of the foremost cricket journalists in the nation, had to resign his position in The Hindu’s staff when his name came up in connection with the match fixing scandal. Though his name was mentioned only in passing and he was never really even censured, he still had to leave on the instructions of the Hindu’s top brass.

The Hindu is one of the familiar sights that I remember from my childhood and reading it is one of those things that I hope to do for a long time now.

UPDATE: Dunno how i missed this, but there are atleast two instances of highly sensationalised investigative journalism from the Hindu, one of which I keenly followed. The other, I learnt after reading the special supplement today. I don’t know how I missed mentioning about Chitra Subramanian and her Bofors investigative peices filed from Stockholm. I keenly followed the case and for a time was the in-class expert on the Bofors 155mm Howitzer. I have heard she was pregrant during the time she spent in Sweden covering the case. In that way, she reminds me of Chief Marge Gunderson from Fargo

The second case (which predated the above mentioned Bofors series by atleast 80 years) was the The Crash of Arbuthnot & Co.. Arbuthnot & Co was one of the Big Three companies in the then Madras Presidency, the other two being Binny and Co. and Parry and Co. and was a big player in South Indian commerce and had financial interests even in the American Railroad and South African gold mining. It was a banking firm, the precursor of the numerous nidhis and chitfunds of the recent past. The Hindu then was just finding its feet and when Arbuthnot & Co. crashed, it became the mouthpeice of the affected investors who ranged from small families to Maharajas of various princely states. This opposition indirectly led to the incorporation of the first ever “Native” bank, “a bank which depended on the savings of those in the South had to be incorporated locally and managed by Indians who were locally known and respected“, which a couple of years ago, ironically fell into the bad times that befell its predecessor too - Indian Bank. If that is not irony, what is ?