Origin of SMS short forms

This is an interesting conversation i had with one of my close buddy who used to trouble me by sending SMS in short forms and i had trouble reading it and making sense out of it. She came up with a real good explanation about the origination of short forms in SMS today.

It all started back in their college days it seems where people used to SMS like crazy and all service providers were offering nice offers with free SMS. One fine day they decide to cut short on the free SMS for whatever reason and these ppl who have been SMS-ing for long went crazy & couldnt change their behavior as it had become their habit by now. Looks like if an SMS crosses certain characters will be regarded as second SMS (this was news for me). So they came up with all short forms to avoid the second SMS.

And another obvious reason would have been to make it easier to type messages since the phone doesnt come with QWERTY keyboard installed.

Kandasamy Review

I always wanted to watch first day first show of a movie and it has never happened so far. But i was able to make it to the first day last show of the movie Kandasamy. If i remember correctly this movie has been in the making close to 3 years and there has been lot of speculation & expectation about this movie. I was assuming that it will similar to the super hero movie of Hrithik Roshan 'Krish' and am glad it had no links with that movie. Its not even a super hero movie the film crew did a good job not revealing the story and it paid off well. On the overall it was a job well done. Each scene in the movie was well thought through and executed. The storyline is a blend of Anniyan & Sivaji where the hero fights against lies, deceit, corruption etc. trying to bridge the gap between the rich and poor. And they have nicely portrayed the need for helping the poor.

Vikram makes an move like rooster during his stunt with Mansur ali khan that was my favorite scene in the movie. It really shows how much effort this actor or the team has put in to observe the moves of a rooster and imitate it.

Back to my discussion with Mr.Anand about the movie. He too liked the movie and he prefered the second part better since there were too many parallel threads in the beginning. Any movie or story the first quarter will be character introduction followed by the plot and climax in the final quarter. That was my explanation for his parallel thread-phobia.As usual we were discussing about the movie and its after effects if someone like Kandasamy did exist in real life. There is a scene in the movie where Charlie wishes to have someone as beautiful as Aishwarya to dance & entertain his gang while he is boozing. And Kandasamy dressed like a lady and beats the hell out of them to arouse fear so that no one else will wish something like that again. This is exactly we think. One of the interesting topic during discussion was based exactly on this producing a spoof movie of Kandasamy based on crazy things people wish for starting with a man below poverty line who cannot fund his own needs writes to Kandasamy wishing for food & shelter and how he will wish for all the wants in his life. Man Kandasamy will make people in our country lazy what the heck is this less-communism. Probably people making movies like this should think about creating more jobs with in the country and motivating people to work more to earn more. Create more awareness about educating their child, learning to think on a long term etc.Thats the only things that going to help on a long term.

Lost in drift towards North Chennai

Everytime we drift it has been different experience different topics each time. Most often we stick to the same route and lose ourselves in the conversation. But last friday it was a bit different i drove towards north of chennai a route both of them were unfamiliar with. But Anand was too much in to explaining his business plan and myself on the wheel trying to focus on both the business plan as well as the route. Oflate i have been miserable in remembering numbers, landmarks, routes. And it was more difficult for me to multitask while driving through unfamiliar route and trying to keep up with the conversation.

We were driving after watching 'Love aaj kal' not a great movie. I didnt understand why there wanted to show two parallel love stories happening during different times probably a decade after another. It even doesnt make sense when the old Rishi Kapoor looks like Saif during his early age when they literally have nothing in common. Anyways no one can predict on what basis a movie hits box office.

The trail started of from Satyam cinemas through nungambakkam, kellys, aynavaram perambur, icf and thats were we lost trail. There was a junction in perambur and we were exploring 3 of 4 roads in each direction and we got lost exploring the road in the 4th direction. From there it was all new hope it was mostly perambur, otteri, vyasarpadi all new places were we havent been. Luckily for us we had few passers by and we came across 2 police checkpost where we stopped by for directions and finally were able to make it to the same junction. At that moment i was dreaming about owning a GPS or atleast a phone that has a phone that has GPS in it. And Anand said dude all you would need is a magnetic compass and we can always track our way back. It sounded like a cheaper solution.

So i was googling about magnetic compasses the next day i was too deep into an article and realised after finishing it that it was explaining more about navigation during older days and the invent of magnetic compass rather than 'how to' use it to navigate. Guess staying awake during nites is making my mind cloudy.

Neighbors Envy Owners Pride

July 31 2009

Anand & Myself were planning to go for this movie 'Luck' starring Shruti Hasan for almost a week. But for some reason we end up watching some other movie or going on long drive. July 31st was one such day we planned to do a few things after i came back from office (for those who are wondering what Anand is doing, he is an serial-entrepreuner looking forward to make his mark in business) 

1) Visit lifestyle and buy one Wallet - Anand's request

2) Watch Luck

3) Return IT-return forms to its auditor

and it was raining heavily when i got this reminder SMS from one of my friend about Raeesa's First Birthday. This event totally slipped my mind so we had to alter our plans. Anand went to visit his auditor and submit the IT-returns and i went on to attend the bday party so that we can still make it to the movie.

But it turned out differently the party was overflowing with kids and two of my friends hosted the party with fun events. Had to spend time at the party more than expected. Returned back from party around 10:15 pm. Was too late for the  movie with one task pending we had to visit one of Anand's Friend's house related to IT returns and back on track for our drift nite. We are talking about which trail we should probably take and decided on a usual route when we passed Velachery almost at the same time we thought of exploring Velachery. So it was an exploration of a new trail passing through Velachery, passing 2 tolls in OMR and a 3rd one to connect ECR toward Mahabalipuram. 1 stop in the connecting road from Kelambakkam to Kovalam to watch the lightning connect the sky & the earth. The connecting road was surrounded by back waters from sea for collecting Salt deposits. With no building near by the place was calm, peaceful and we had to stay in the car as it was still raining watching lightning strike earth. We were blaming ourselves for not bringing the Camera. If you are in Chennai and if its raining this is one good view of Mother Nature you dont want to miss.

Another surprise was collecting new 10Re Coin as change in the 2nd toll. They have newly introduced this 10Re coin  and many of them dont even know that it exists. Now we are proud owner of 10Re coin. Visit Anand's blog to geta glimpse of 10Re coin (www.anananataraj.com).

And then we drove ahead towards Mahabs this is not the first time am visiting this place. Its my mother's home town so i go there for every annual leave during my school days. It was even my first school trip in 5th std and this guy was my classmate, friend since then. This place is known for its heritage stone carvings, shore temple, light house. It lies in the coast of Bay of Bengal and was an established sea port of the Pallava dynasty (http://www.mahabalipuram.co.in/). I have visited this place all through my childhood and have seen it modernize with the civilization. Though they have spent effort & money to  preserve stone carvings, temples it looks brand new to me. I no more get the feeling of visiting an heritage when i visit Mahabalipuram. Probably am expecting the world to be the same so i could relish my childhood memories.

Total cost of the trip = 2 return tolls on OMR 60Rs + 45 on ECR 

Drift in Maya (a.k.a maayandi :P)

What a nite it was July the 28th 2009. We went on a drift totally unplanned, was watching some movie probably browsing through the channels when the mood to drift struck. It was a beautiful nite and it was all hush-hush, none of our parents knew our absence. Its always nice to have a mate who talks, thinks in the same wavelength and takes you on a long drive too when you feel like going on one :-). 

It was all unsure after i called Anand for a drive and he said he would call back once he gets ready. It was about 15-20 mins and i was skeptical and there was a call from Anand to check my pulse for a drive, 'cos of burger boy he started barking after hearing him leave the house so he had to stay back to make sure his parents dont wake up. Having pets could be disadvantageous sometimes. But somehow he made it  after 30mins i was one happy man set to explore beautiful drizzling nite. You dont get that often esp in Chennai.

Went to airport had a nice hot coffee. Anand had sore throat we normally go for cold coffee, as a friendly gesture i had to give him company. Fortunately the coffee was too good and then we started our drift in a more energetic mood. Having no topics in mind we started with some arbit chatter. I had to quickly comeup with a good topic to deviate the discussion, i couldnt believe this guy was trying to explain me his family relationship link to his second cousin and he wouldnt leave me until i get the link rite. 

And i started explaining this idea of owning an house far away from our parents restrictions. We watch lot of movies, play Wii, discuss about life, business, movies kill a lot of time like that.  Having an hideout like that felt like freedom for me. He joined me and started explaining about visiting his Bangalore home during weekends. Sounds like a plan to me.

We were discussing about IT industry in general how it evolved without any discipline. The industry is just bloated with people not knowing what their responsibilities are and the consequences of their actions or words, used to be a creative, well-respected domain but turned out to be one confused crowd nowadays. 

We used to pay 10Rs toll for the highway we take, its increased now to 30Rs. Unwilling to spend 30 Rs for using the highway for which we pay road tax too we took a detour in a gap made by local people in that area in the pavement landed in some place named Kovur. On the overall it was a exciting nite slight drizzle, hot coffee , problems to talk about, a new road, 30Rs in savings, came home safely and my parents were still asleep. Just couldnt ask for more.

Something Nothing

It takes a lot to blog these days...if i have something to share am too lazy to write it...when i have my system setup & logged in blogspot nothing strikes my mind. 

Something is better than Nothing :). 

Watched Modhi Vilayadu yesterday the twist after the interval took Anand & myself by surprise, we had anticipated two diff versions of the how the story will move forward and the director proved us both wrong. It was interesting to think what will happen if something like that happen in real life. First half of the movie was fun watching esp because of the gorgeous Kaajal, couple of cinematic twist after the interval and an usual kollywood ending. It was worth watching.

Missed my schedule to see Luck today. It was raining and i was sleepy so slept for a while. Awake now feeling lot fresh dont know what to do. Just called up Anand we are planning to drift. No topics to discuss its 11:47 On July 27 2009. But the feel of long drive in the midst of the nite after the rain. You got to experience it.

Let me see if i can blog my experience after the drift. 

First trek

Its been ages since i blogged though there were too many things happening i didnt take time off to ramble. There were too many things happening in my life and one of it was my first CTC trek last weekend. It was an amazing experience an horrible one too (being the first time). One of my junior, ex-colleague was part of the trek, it really doesnt help much 'cos you tend to talk less & preserve energy for the trek. 

CTC is a recently founded organisation started by a trek enthusiast named Peter Van Geit. Mother nature loves this guy you could see that when you trek with him. A man with great stamina, climbs cliffs, crosses water stream, literally runs on dry stream filled with rocks as if on a plain surface and he does this with 1/10 of water, food i had during my first trek :). 

Nagala 23 was my first trek was the first trail even for CTC. I never knew that until late afternoon the first day when we ran out of water standing on top of the second moutain under hot sun. It was meant to be a 2 day trek and i was in wait list of 34 ppl who registered for the trek. The response for the trek is just mind boggling they got around 50 registrations with in just 2 days. I got in the last minute 'cos i agreed to take my car. It was only a 2hr drive from Chennai and drove through pickup points in Guindy & Koyembedu. We were advised to carry 4 litres of water since we wont be able to find any water stream during the first half of the trek, sleeping mat, one pair of dress. Man i sure took it lightly or never knew how it feels when there is no water. We rushed through the first mountain with ease and being my first trek i was eager to see whats ahead of us. Peter kept advising us to go easy on the water and providing us status with his little GPS gadget he had on his hand. In his own rough accent  'Make sure you finish of 1 bottle every 3 hrs mate, we wont be hitting a water stream till late in the afternoon...' 

'We have been walking for 1:30 mins and stopped for 1:46 mins' -  It looked as if this guy was providing us false status we never stopped for 1:46 mins. But in reality we were making stops often finishing of water, glucose... It was not a pleasant view it was an usual hot day inside some not so lush forest, didnt come across a single animal during the whole trek. On top of the first mountain i was already down in energy they showed us the second mountain that we were about to climb it was half burnt due to forest fire i guess.  By then i had almost completed my 2nd bottle. Downhill was relatively easy how can one not appreciate gravity but i was dehydrating a lot so started with my 3rd bottle of water. When we hit the bottom i was already searching for the s0-called water stream. Peter was leading us and i managed to keep up with him till the first mountain. I wanted to rest before i start the second climb. So i decided to stay back wait for the rest of the ppl to join. Apple never tasted so good. ah, enjoyed the last bit of it. There i got in touch with a new guy with no energy to talk we just showed signs 'shall we start' i gave a nod and than asked for another 5 mins. There was a sweeper in our set who being an experienced trekker was uncomfortable in letting us go but after gaining energy after the rest and apple, we said we will follow the dry stream and wait if there is a fork and unable to find the way. So he decided to let us go and we moved up hill. According to the master (Peter) it was a 3km climb and then down hill we hit another dry stream and just 300m from there is the water stream. Wow the thought of water was appealing, whatever you gained in life so far doesnt matter at that moment. Actually nothing matters when it comes to survival of the fittest. Ego, Money any tangible, intangible asset that you have earned, learned doesnt matter.
Having  a fit body, ability to swim, anything that has got to do with the survival matters a lot. So we start climbing the second mountain i got tired more easily than the first one...but managed to keep up resting a min or so often. It was getting steeper & steeper if only we had water my thoughts would have been filled with fear. Slippery & no shade it was a horrible sight on top of the second mountain. There i was sitting in the blazing sun left with no choice other than to follow the lead to the water stream. By that time i had completed half of my 4th bottle. I was asked to wait till the next set comes over show them way, i disagreed. Not able to bear the sun, i had to move on. The sight was awe-inspiring, it was dense with dry plants, thorns and no ledges or grip at all. Not a good sight esp when there is no water or energy.  Half way down like a four legged beast couldnt bear the weight of my back pack anymore. It was heavier than it was during the start of the trek with 4lts of water. Now with less than 1/2 a litre it weighed a tonne. An idea suddenly clicked and instantly i removed my bag off my shoulders and threw it down the mountain and managed to slide down the hill. And there we reached the bottom of the second mountain and with no water i convinced myself that it was only 300m. But 300m at that moment felt like i was a light year away from the water stream. By that time i had lost my water bottle during my down-slide. The best thing about the CTC is 'no-litter' policy, we had to carry our trash back with us.

We managed to cross the 300m and hit the water stream and the sight of water fall was beautiful during sunset. It was around 6:30 when we reached the water fall, 3 hrs behind Peter. The master must have been disappointed  not able to extend the trek. So he decided to extend the Nagala 22 trek (all ladies trek).  There was another group with all ladies following another trail in Nagala which is supposed to be our exit trail. By the time we took a dip in the pool near the waterfall there was sight of few ladies. There was lot of activities around ppl cooking maggi, soup. Few other demonstrating their diving capabilities in the pool. I was too tired for all that took my share of maggi and went off to take care of my sprained ankle and then dozed off...

So much for the entry trail...let me see if i can manage to write about my exit trail which was fun-filled when compared to the entry, with ladies joining us and the rain it could never get better.