A life changing experience!

For the last two months my friends and family were wondering (and to an extent worried also) what I was doing? meeting unknown people at CCD at odd timings,spending hours together discussing strange topics, always in front of net and frantically browsing , sending tons of mails, mentioning names like Kiruba, Benny, and many more

Detailing about the menu at a place named 'Tiffanys'. Believe me it was hard convincing these guys (that includes my wife)

Then I did a smart thing, on 29 NOV 2009 I brought them to TEDx Chennai and I(we) realised that

Corruption is like diabetics, you can only control it, never eliminate.

There are many Everests inside one and the trick is to make one step at a time.

Indian cinema must be content driven.

There is one organisation that takes care of your mental health even if you are not an addict.

All District Collectors are 'super power houses' and they can really changes the lives of millions.

Everyone needs food but farmers are always ignored.

Human spirit can fight and kill cancer.

Male and female King cobras have different colours.

And above all when 20 odd young people come together nothing is impossible!

Image of the week

The vash Basin, thanks to the tape

TEDx Chennai Participants

A glance at the profiles of the participants at TED x Chennai will surely give an idea about how great a day Nov 29 is going to be. You will be meeting some great people who have really done (and continue) to do things differently, remember ‘Think different ‘ ad campaign by Apple Inc?

Meet two of them

Vinod Achanta, The wild Biker

"I grew from a timid guy to a wild biker."says Vinod Achanta

A member of the INDDIETHUMPERS motorcycle club,in 2008 he rode Mumbai - Aurangabad - Lonar - Mumbai and covered 1300kms.



To attend TEDx Chennai conference, he has planned to do what he always wanted and passionate about, to ride all the way down to Chennai from Hyderabad.

"Say no to plastic, ride only a Bullet", his web page says


Swami Pranavananda Brahmendra Avadhuta alias Christian Fabre

A French Hindu monk who is also the CEO of one of the most successful garment sourcing form in India,Christian Fabre Private Limited





Various articles will give you an idea about Swamiji.
BBC article on Swamiji

The Hindu article on ‘Swami and friends’.

So I am just waiting for Nov 29, a day that will surely change my life.

Daily dosage from the world of books

"To attain knowledge, add things every day. To attain wisdom, remove things every day."

Lao Tzu

The wonderful team behind TEDx Chennai!
As the tag suggest ‘A lot can happen over coffee’ probably the reason why we chose CCD at Ispahani centre as our regular venue for oragnisers’ meet


The Team behind TEDx Chennai is truly diverse. We have a teacher, Management student, freelance photographer, advertising professional, Engg student, IT professional, Social media entrepreneur, Graphic designer to name a few.



Apart from the usual deadlines to meet talks and next strategy to make, the topics for discussions ranges from the market price of latest Cannon SLR camera, who’s who of Chennai.




How to market TEDx Chennai on twitter. The latest rumours circulating about team members in facebook


No wonder The team has so much synergy and its started paying off.
(To be continued..)

Ideas worth spreading! Talks worth listening!

Any idea about the latest trends in Telecommunications and Computer Network Systems fields?

To know more about ‘The curious life of a Herpetologist, wildlife conservationist and founder of the Madras Snake Park ,The Andaman and Nicobar Environment Trust , and the Madras Crocodile Bank Trust?

How about listening to Carnatic music accompanied by a Classical Piano?
Meet the director of film Sringaram (Dance of Love) that won three Indian National Film Awards and two Tamilnadu state government awards.

How to run SUKRUPA, A regular school providing a high standard of education that creates various opportunities for the underprivileged slum children?
And more inspiring talks!

Welcome to TEDx Chennai conference at IIT, Chennai on November 29, 2009


(To be continued...)

Daily dosage from the world of books
"The old man's ideal was renunciation. The new man's ideal will be rejoicing."

Osho, Autobiography of a spiritually incorrect mystic

(In)Consistent Branding!

Branding needs to be consistent, especially when you are in retail sector. Inconsistency will lead to confusion in Consumer’s mind and market place.


Heritage Foods India Ltd’s grocery retail chain is Fresh@.



But when you see just ‘Fresh’, you are confused for sure.


Is ‘Fresh’ the same retail format? Is it part of the same group? If yes why just ‘Fresh’ and not ‘Fresh@’?

Daily dosage from the world of books

"A year spent in artificial intelligence is enough to make one believe in God."

Alan Perlis

Image(s) of the week!


With more than 1 Lakh Autos moving around in Chennai city,its very difficult to break the clutter unless you have something very special.


Found this Auto, with a transparent plastic roof covering part of rear side. And a nice curtain also.


Remember Jack Trout and Steve Rivkin famous mantra? 'Differentiate or Die'

Daily dosage from the world of books

" In a Democracy you don't really need to agree except on the ground rules of how you will disagree."

Shashi Tharoor, 'The Elephant, the tiger and the cellphone'

Sachin@20. What the World said about Master Blaster.




"If I've to bowl to Sachin, I'll bowl with my helmet on. He hits the ball so hard."
Dennis Lillee



"Sachin is cricket's God."
Barry Richards




"Don't bowl him bad balls, he hits the good ones for fours."
Michael Kasprowicz



"I'd like to see him go out and bat one day with a stump. I tell you, he'd do okay."
Greg Chappell





“You only get to see one Tendulkar in a lifetime. In the next 100 years you will not witness another Tendulkar. He is once in a Century player.”
Muttiah Muralitharan




"He has defined cricket in his fabulous, impeccable manner. He is to batting what Shane Warne is to bowling."
Richie Benaud

Sachin@20. What the World said about Master Blaster-Part 2.



“There are 2 kinds of batsmen in the world. One Sachin Tendulkar, Two all the others.”
Andy Flower




"You get him out and half the battle is won."
Arjuna Ranatunga




"If sachin plays well, India sleeps well. There's no better sight on the cricket field than watch Tendulkar bat."
Harsha Bhogle




"In an over I can bowl six different balls. But then Sachin looks at me with a sort of gentle arrogance down the pitch as if to say 'Can you bowl me another one?"
Adam Hollioke




"We did not lose to a team called India...we lost to a man called Sachin."
Mark Taylor, during the test match in Chennai (1997)


"He is someone sent from up there to play cricket and go back."

Ravi Shashtri





"I have watched a lot of Tendulkar and we have spoken to each other a lot. He has it in him to be among the very best."
Sir Garfield Sobers



(To be continued...)

Sachin@20. What the World said about Master Blaster-Part 1.



"I was fielding in the covers Tendulkar came out to bat in his debut Test at Karachi. I still remember Waqar Younis was at his peak form at that time. Tendulkar tried to drive Waqar through the covers off his very first ball in Testcricket but was beaten all ends up. But I walked to captain Imran Khan and told him 'this kid looks very good' and Imran agree with me."
AbdulQadir


"Sachin Tendulkar is a genius. I'm a mere mortal."
Brian Lara



"I have seen God. He bats at number 4 for India."
Mathew Hayden



"Beneath the helmet, under that unruly curly hair, inside the cranium, there is something we don't know, something beyond scientific measure. Something that allows him to soar, to roam a territory of sport that, forget us, even those who are gifted enough to play alongside him cannot even fathom. When he goes out to bat, people switch on their television sets and switch off their lives."
BBC Sports




"You take Don Bradman away and he is next up I reckon."
Steve Waugh



"I think he is marvelous. I think he will fit in whatever category of Cricket that has been played or will be played, from the first ball that has ever been bowled to the last ball that's going to be. He can play in any era and at any level. I would say he's 99.5% perfect."
Viv Richards



"Cricketers like Sachin come once in a lifetime, and I am privileged he played in my time."

Wasim Akram



(To be continued...)

Daily dosage from the world of books

" The Earth is the cradle of mankind but you can not live in a cradle forever."

Konstantin Tsiolkovsky

Security at stake

Its high time to look for a new security agency


Not sure the reason for this. Could be work pressure or overtime work
Found in front of the ATM counter of a leading new age bank.

The great Indian Inflation

Couple of months back I remember having lunch from a famous restaurant@Adyar,Chennai for Rs 42. Few weeks ago the rate was Rs 44. Now they are charging Rs 46 for the same lunch.


An increase of Rs 4 in few months!!!

Daily dosage from the world of books

"If you are not part of the Steam roller, you are part of the road."

Eric Schmidt

Image of the week

After driving through an ever growing traffic, I come home and login to twitter and see this!


Twitter traffic(jam)!

Daily dosage from the world of books

"Speak softly and carry a stick."

Theodore Roosevelt

Sachin Tendulkar, the argument continues…

After the 5th ODI between Australia and India, one of my friend commented in his facebook that Sachin is not a great finisher of game. Now it’s a bit harsh (even for Sachin) for any opener to finish the game when many of his team mates just come and say a ‘Hi’ and walk back to pavilion. But Sachin tried to do the mere impossible and probably realized that Cricket is still a team game.

Sachin is not new to criticisms. Some of the criticisms I have heard.
He always plays for records. You expect him to hit a century when ever he steps out of his dressing room and in that process some records are either born or broken. Now if he hits centuries you say that it’s for records, if he don’t you say its time to retire.

Another one, when ever Sachin hits 100, India loss the match. That will happen even if he hits a double ton. The other 10 players should realize that it’s not a one man show (most of the time it will end up like that) and they are expected to contribute. But if you are so obsessed with records, there is one to disapprove this point. 32 of his 45 hundreds have resulted in the Indian victories, it’s a World record. India has won all the finals when he has registered hundreds.

Even after 20 years, smashing all records, people still expect Sachin to prove himself! That’s India. And the argument continues…..

Power of Tamil

It is often said that India's contribution to the World is Zero (0). But see the power of Zeros!

1 = ONDRU -one
10 = PATHU -ten
100 = NOORU -hundred
1000 = AAYIRAM -thousand
10000 = PATTAYIRAM -ten thousand
100000 = NOORAYIRAM -hundred thousand
1000000 = PATTU NOORAYIRAM - one million
10000000 = KOODI -ten million
100000000 = ARPUTHAM -hundred million
1000000000 = NIGARPUTAM - one billion
10000000000 = KUMBAM -ten billion
100000000000 = KANAM -hundred billion
1000000000000 = KARPAM -one trillion
10000000000000 = NIKARPAM -ten trillion
100000000000000 = PATHUMAM -hundred trillion
1000000000000000 = SANGGAM -one zillion
10000000000000000 = VELLAM -ten zillion
100000000000000000 = ANNIYAM -hundred zillion
1000000000000000000 = ARTTAM -?
1000000000000000000 0 = PARARTTAM --anybody know?
1000000000000000000 00 = POORIYAM ---?
1000000000000000000 000 = MUKKODI -?
1000000000000000000 0000 = MAHAYUGAM -?

courtesy: Mr. Anand krishnan

Dhanvantari Ayurvedic Hospital

Herbal Garden.This Hospital boasts one of India’s greatest herbal gardens. Spread across almost 15 acres, this garden has many a rare herb, collected from various parts of the world.


Special care is taken for the preservation of rarest of rare herbs. A nursery is also located from where one can get the seeds/plants of various herbs.

Dhara treatment centre has best of facilities and have various treatments, Shirodhara, or the dhara treatment given to head, Dhanyamla dhara, dhara over different body parts other than head, takra dhara-dhara with Butter milk, ksheeradhara- dhara with Milk



Other facilities include a 50 bed pay ward and a wonderful meditation track!

Welcome to “ Dhanwantari Ayurveda Hospital!!!



Thanks to my little sister’s school assignment

Image of the week

Go Green initiative:



courtesy : Lionbridge Technologies, Chennai