Ergo June 16

Tuesday, June 16, 2009A BYTE OF LIFE

MADE IN CHENNAIAmbika Appalam Depot

FREE CIRCULATION Vol. 3 No. 111

02

SOCIAL ENGINEER21-year-old Lalitha Ramesh runs Maatrutva, an NGO that not only collects funds for the needy but also ensures that every penny is well spent. Anusha Parthasarathy reports.

» PAGE 03

ERGO Tuesday, June 16, 2009NAMMA CHENNAI02

Celebrate France weekendThe Alliance Francaise is playing host to a week-long festival of movies.Fete de la Musique is celebrated yearly with a festival of movies that aremusical and where music is celebrated. For details call 2827 9803/28271477.

Their appalams have alwaysbeen a part of the traditionalmeal in most households andtheir paruppu and sambar

powders have become a hit over theyears. Ambika Appalam Depot isone brand that has carved a niche innamma Chennai, and in two dec-ades they will complete diamondjubilee.

Dawn of a businessIt all started in a humble way in

the early 1920s. K.A.Velayudham’sfather came to Madras from Thris-sur to earn his livelihood, where hestarted by making papadams at hisresidence.

“My grandfather passed away inearly 40s and hence my father Ve-layudham took over the business atthe age of 17,” says K.V. Sukumar,the third generation who runs thebusiness along with his brother Vi-jayaraghavan.

“In Chennai, appalam was pop-ular amongst the masses and my fa-ther wanted his business to grow.He soon rented a 50 sq ft shop inMadavan Nair Street and startedselling about 10 to 15 bundles of ap-palams daily.”

In 1945, Velayudham moved toNorth Mada Street in Mylapore andnamed the shop after Goddess Am-bika. In two years time, Ambika Ap-palam Depot’s second outletopened on Usman Road.

“In mid-1960s, the goddess trade-mark was registered and my fathergot a proprietorship. This is whenhe started to export to various cities

– Bombay, Delhi, Pondicherry, Jam-shedpur, Trichy, Madurai andCoimbatore. On a mutual under-standing, for easy administrationand sharing of profits, I took care ofthe business in the southern beltand my brother was in charge of theexports to various cities,” says Su-kumar. What started of with justfour people increased to 300, com-prising all relatives assisting them.

Ups and downsHowever, the unit did face some

challenges. “There was a labourstrike in the early 70s and the unitwas closed down for about twoyears. While some labourers gotscattered into other trades, a fewstarted making appalams from theirhomes. We restarted by buying ap-palams from them and soon got ourown manufacturing unit at Choolai-

medu. My mother was very good atmaking various cooking powders,snacks, vadams and we began man-ufacturing them too,” says Vijaya-raghavan.

MarketingTheir first medium of advertising

was the radio in 1975. With thebusiness getting better, shopsopened under the brand of AmbikaAppalam Depot in Adyar, T. Nagar,Nanganallur, Alwarthirunagar andTriplicane, with the latest being onC.P. Ramaswamy Road.

With requests coming from cus-tomers the depot also started stock-ing provisions and groceries fromthe late80s.

With their thinking caps con-stantly on, they launched an instantsemia payasam and health drinkpowder having 27 ingredients andvarious flavours of appalams: jeera,jackfruit, tapioca, pepper and garlic.“We plan to rename our outlets toAmbika Super Store in a couple ofmonths as ours is now a one-stop-store selling all that one needs torun a kitchen,” adds Sukumar.

What makes their appalams dif-ferent is the taste and freshness.“We use grade-A urud daal andavoid preservatives to retain theoriginal taste. Maximum produc-tion happens during the summersand we stock our appalams for theentire year,” says Vijayaraghavan.They plan to start e-business intheir website that was created in1996. ■

Made in Chennai is a column thatshowcases the evolution of home-

grown busines

This appalam companystarted in a humble way in the 1920s, has todaybranched out to over half-a-dozen outlets in namma Chennai

DEEPA VENKATRAMAN

Time Line1920 Velayudham’s fathercomes to Chennai to startpapadam business

1940 1st shop opens onMadhavan Narayana Street,Mylapore

1945 2nd shop at NorthMada, Mylapore

1966 Velayudham getsproprietorship and the brandis registered

1975 First ad on the radioand many stores opened inthe following years

1996 Website is created

Taking business forward: (From left)Velayudham, Vijayaraghavan andSukumar. PHOTO: R. RAVINDRAN

All the way from Thrissur

Tuesday, June 16, 2009 03

Maatrutva’s modus operandiis unlike your usual NGO.Though the intent is thesame – providing basic

amenities and uplifting the poor –the means used in attaining thesegoals are on a different tangent. Per-haps this is because it is being run bya 21-year-old girl.

Lalitha Ramesh, an Engineeringgraduate, began Maatrutva knowingwell that donating funds to deserv-ing orphanages wouldn’t reallymake a difference because therewere no accounts on how the funds

were used. So, she decided to pool ina group of friends to ascertain exact-ly what the needs of orphans are.

Though Maatrutva – sanskrit for‘motherhood’ – officially came intobeing February this year, it was afterthree months of groundwork and re-search to make sure the work theydid would make a difference in thelives of a few. Gathering a few volun-teers, who later became members ofthe team, Lalitha set out to differentorphanages and, with or without theconsent of official authorities there,interacted with the children aboutthe facilities and made a list of thingsthat weren’t provided to them.

“When we approached ashrams tointeract with the children some let

us but most didn’t. They were rudeand didn’t want us to interact with-out supervision. But we managed towork our way through them with afew white lies. The kids were prettyexpressive about their problems andquite ready to tell us what they need-ed. We were shocked to find out thatsome of them didn’t even havetoothbrushes and had to share withothers over a period of many years.And we came to realise how little ofthe funds that were given were ac-tually used to help the kids,” Lalithaexplains.

After they drew up a list, they be-gan to gather volunteers, doctors,professors and donors to help themout with their tasks. And they make

sure no funds reach the orphanagesdirectly and provide for the kids inthe form of textbooks, clothes andother kind. And they don’t stopthere. Periodic visits are made tothese orphanages to make sure thematerials reach the target people.

Maatrutva will also be teamingwith Chennai-based music band Ra-diance, who will be releasing theirsecond music album next month.

“Our band was thinking of oursecond venture when Maatrutva ap-proached us for a tie-up. We knewthe cause was genuine and our workwouldn’t go vain and hence accept-ed the deal. All proceeds from ourupcoming album, Pudhu Yugam,will go directly into Maatrutva’sfunds. This way we know we are do-ing our bit for society,” Jayanth, amember of Radiance, says. Accord-ing to Lalitha, Maatrutva would beusing the proceeds to fund educa-tion of underprivileged children andset up a library for the poor.

Maatrutva has carved a niche foritself in the four months that it’sbeen around. Though the team didhave difficulty convincing people todonate in the beginning, word oftheir work has spread around andbrought more volunteers, willing tohelp.

“We have many plans but needsome support from whoever can of-fer it, to make them real,” Lalithainsists.

To contact Maatrutva mail them [email protected] orcontact Lalitha at 9952969058. ■

21-year-old LalithaRamesh beganMaatrutva as anNGO that wouldnot just donatemoney to thedeserving but alsosee to it that everypenny counts

ANUSHA [email protected]

A social engineer

“We wereshocked to findout that someof them didn’teven havetoothbrushesand had toshare withothers over aperiod of manyyears. And wecame to realisehow little ofthe funds thatwere givenwere actuallyused to helpthe kids”

ERGO Tuesday, June 16, 2009KALEIDOSCOPE04

‘‘HP’s commitment has really been there, certainlythrough the ‘90s and the fact that society is really

focusing on green right now is great. We’re in an industry thatcan truly demonstrate environmental leadership

Bonnie Nixon, HP’s director of sustainability

LG’s HS102G is a remarkable combination of cutting-edge technology,versatility and portability. What’s different here though is the use ofsolid state LEDs as a light source with an estimated life of 30,000hours. Unbelievable!Another advantage is its zero warm up and cool down time meaninginstant switching on and off. Optimised for 800x600 resolution at4:3 aspect ratio, it delivers a crisp 160 ANSI lumen, 62inch diagonalimage at 1.6 meters. But its ability to project DivX video, play MP3fi les on a built-in speaker and show JPEG images directly off the USBport make it truly a class apart.Tipping the scale at 780g, it’s light and small enough to fi t in yourpalm. Sweetly priced, this ultra-mobile projector surely tops our wishlist.

RS 59,990, IN.LGE.COM

Snippets sourced fromT3 magazine of

Infomedia18 Group

The details1 LIGHT TECH

It uses Luminus’ PhlatLight LED techthat promises 30,000 hours of lamp life

2 CONTROLSThe touch sensitive controls light up foreasy access

3 MULTIMEDIAThere’s a built-in speaker for playingDivX movies directly from an USB drive

ACER IN,PVR OUTLife is busy,Acer makes iteasy. Looks likeengineers atAcer take thisad-line a little

too seriously. Take forinstance, the H seriesLCD monitors. Powered

by Acer standard featuresalong with eColor Management,

adaptive contrast management andSensorTouch , these 23-inchers claim to bringtrue multiplex style movie-watching experienceright into your living room. Aiding this are theHDMI and DVI-D ports that ensures hassle-freeconnectivity to pure-digital devices, and a rapidresponse time of up to 2ms (G-to-G), whichmeans high-quality moving pictures for 3Dgames and videos. Multiplex owners,watch out!

TBC, WWW.ACER.CO.IN

TUX-E-TOESThat’s right, Puma’s latest Black Labelcollection claims to dress your feet the sameway as Armani does your torso, but with atwist. The new collection reinvents classicPuma sneakers and tweaks them with a sleek,modern design to amp up the luxury and

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The new Windows 7 operat-ing system (OS) will beavailable starting on Octo-ber 22, Microsoft says.

Users who buy Microsoft’scurrent OS, Windows Vista, inthe Home Premium, Business,or Ultimate versions will soon beable to take part in an upgradeprogram with “participatingdealers and PC makers.”

That will provide purchaserswith a no-cost switch to Win-dows 7 as soon as it is available.Depending on the provider,some processing charges mayapply, Microsoft indicates.

Windows 7, which was recent-ly released in a test version, of-fers expanded protectionagainst data theft and improvedenergy management in compar-ison with its predecessor. Thelatter function in particular is in-

tended to provide longer batterylife for mobile usage.

The HomeGroup function willmake it quicker and easier toadd several computers onto ahome network. The networkingof audio and video devices toplay back data stored on com-puters will also be easier thanbefore. Some functions previ-ously included within the oper-ating system itself will beavailable in Windows 7 as “cloudcomputing,” that is, on the In-

ternet. This includes WindowsMail, calendar, and contactmanagement as well as Win-dows Photo Gallery and MovieMaker. Other changes: theicons on the task bar are bigger,with a new pop-up bar to helpusers access their most heavilyused programs more quickly.There’s also the new Aero Shakefunction: users can make a win-dow bigger or smaller by shak-ing the mouse briefly. ■

DPA

Windows 7 due on October 22S

ocial media companyTwitter is struggling tocraft a profitable busi-ness model, but the

Web-based service hashelped Dell Inc chalk up mil-lions of dollars in sales.

Dell said it has raked inmore than $3 million fromTwitter followers who clickedthrough its posts to its web-sites to make purchases. Thecompany, which has postedto Twitter about two yearsand tracks the sales with pro-prietary software, made morethan $1 million in the past 6months.

“We’re going to watch itover time to make sure it’stracking at the right level,”said Lionel Menchaca, Dell’schief blogger. “It is trendingupward and that’s what we’regoing to be looking atoverall.”

Three million in sales overtwo years is a pittance forDell, ranked by IDC as theworld’s second-largest PCmaker in the first quarter of2009. Dell posted $12.3 billionof revenue in the first quarterof this year, alone.

But the PC maker has be-come one of the first publicexamples of how companiesmight profit from Twitter.

Twitter does not chargecompanies for such benefits,but does not rule out doing soin the future.

“For now, monetization ofthis type of activity remainsunknown,” Twitter spokes-woman Jenna Sampson saidin a statement. “However, asthe network grows, the com-pany will be committing moreresources toward profitabili-ty.” ■

Reuters

Twitter helps Dell rake in sales

Security expertshave discoveredtwo new virus at-tacks targeting Mac

users who surf pornsites.

OSX/Tored-A - an up-dated version of the MacOS Tored worm - and aTrojan called OSX/Jah-lav-C have been foundon popular pornograph-ic websites.

Users surfing thesesites are asked to down-load a “missing VideoActiveX Object” but aresent a virus instead.

Until now Mac users didn’t need theanti-virus software.

Graham Cluley, a security expert withanti-virus firm Sophos, that the smallnumber of Mac viruses had made someusers complacent.

“There is a lot less malware on Mac

than for Windows, soMac users sometimes feelinvincible,” the BBCquoted him as saying.

“Apple has marketedtheir system on the lineof ‘you won’t suffer spy-ware like you would onWindows’ and that hasreinforced people’s atti-tudes.

“And one thing we doknow is that you are lesslikely to be running anti-virus software on a Macthan on a PC,” he added.

Christopher Phin, dep-uty editor of Mac Format magazine saidthat Mac users needed to be more awareof potential threats.

“The Apple community is guilty ofpeddling the line that they are re-moved from security issues,” hesaid. ■

ANI

MMaacc uusseerrss wwaarrnneedd ooff ppoorrnn mmaallwwaarree aattttaacckkss

Adobe’s new online serviceAdobe has launched an online service called Acrobat.com Presentations that allows for sharedediting of presentations. The tool is available for free at http://www.labs.adobe.com/technologies/presentations, the company reports. The product is currently a so-called public beta version, whichis a bit like a dress rehearsal for the final product.

Anti-virus firm Sophos revealed that

the OSX/Jahlav-C runs a script that

“uses http tocommunicate with aremote website and

download codesupplied by the

attacker”

Soccer star David Beckham wantsto have another baby with wifeVictoria as he wishes his threesons to have a sister.

Beckham and his fashionista wifeVictoria Beckham have three youngsons, Brooklyn, 10, Romeo, six andCruz, four, and the football star nowwants a baby girl, Contactmusicreported.

“I really want more kids and I hope ithappens soon. I want a little girl. Thatwould be amazing,” Beckham said.

Similar sentiments were expressedby former Spice Girl Victoria who said,“If it happens, I’d love it. You can’tchoose what you have but after threeboys I would love a girl.”

Meanwhile, Beckham also heapedpraises on Victoria for her “amazing”fashion sense.

“My wife looks just amazing. She al-ways does. Whenever she tries so-mething new she manages to pull itoff,” Beckham said. ■

PTI

Beckham wants a daughter

ERGO Tuesday, June 16, 2009VILLAGE06

Perry blown away by May’s presenceSinger Katy Perry has revealed that she was blown away when Queenguitarist Brian May came to watch her play at London’s O2Shepherd’s Bush Empire. Perry, 24, was stunned when she saw May, and just could not hideher adoration for him. “Me and Mr. May!!!” Contactmusic quoted her as writing on herblog next to a picture she had posted of herself and the legendaryrocker. “He was so sweet and my stalker side came out for sure... we had aphoto session... and I wanted to share a picture with you of me andone of the men responsible for my love of music (sic),” she wrote.

ANI

Rat Island rat-free after 229 yearsAlaska’s Rat Island is finally rat-free, 229 years after aJapanese shipwreck spilled rampaging rodents onto theremote Aleutian island, decimating the local birdpopulation.After dropping poison onto the island from helicopter-hoisted buckets for a week and a half last autumn, thereare no signs of living rats and some birds have returned,according to the US Fish and Wildlife Service.Rats have ruled the island since 1780, when they jumpedoff a sinking Japanese ship and terrorized all but the

largest birds on theisland. The incidentintroduced the non-native Norway rat - alsoknown as the brown rat- to Alaska.The $2.5 million RatIsland eradicationproject, a joint effortbetween the US federalgovernment, the NatureConservancy and IslandConservation, is one ofthe world’s mostambitious attempts toremove destructive alienspecies from an island.

Reuters

Revealed: Theorigins of swine fluA new research has revealed theorigins of swine flu afterscientists discovered that thetransmission of the H1N1influenza A virus to humansoccurred several months beforerecognition of the existingoutbreak.In the new research, aninternational team, led byOxford University, usedevolutionary analysis to estimate the timescale of theorigins as well as the early development of the swine flupandemic.According to the scientists, the virus was actually derivedfrom several viruses circulating in swine, and that theinitial transmission to humans occurred several monthsbefore recognition of the outbreak.Lead scientist Dr Oliver Pybus said: “Using computationalmethods, developed over the last ten years at Oxford, wewere able to reconstruct the origins and timescale of thisnew pandemic.”“Our results show this strain has been circulating amongpigs, possibly among multiple continents, for many yearsprior to its transmission to humans.”

PTI

Arnie may become Austria’s next PresidentArnold Schwarzenegger has a back up plan after his term asGovernor of California ends next year- he has his eyes on presidencyof Austria, his home country. The 61-year-old has both US and Austrian citizenship. The ex-body builder has in fact told his home country, “I’ll beback...as President.”Nikolaus Berlakovich of the Austrian People’s Party (ÖVP) confirmed:“Yes, we are backing a Schwarzenegger candidacy.”“He is an excellent and extremely successful politician,” The Daily Starquoted him, as adding.

ANI

Saliva for saleA Chinese auction website has banneda trader from selling bottles of salivafrom “pretty” teenage girls.

Bipasha Basu should be India’s environ-ment minister because she was “the realreason for global warming all over theworld.”

This was the choice of International Indi-an Film Academy (IIFA) Awards hosts Bo-man Irani and Riteish Deshmukh whounveiled their dream cabinet before apacked auditorium at the Chinese resorthere as the annual event marked its 10thanniversary.

Director Ashutosh Gowariker shouldbe agriculture minister for what he had

done for the rural community with his hitfilm Lagaan; Raakesh Roshan, the coal min-

ister because his successful film Koyla hadshown that he knows everything there is toknow about the black product; and KatrinaKaif should be the youth affairs minister be-cause every youth wanted to talk to her, thepair added.

Aamir Khan should be home minister be-cause all he did for eleven months in every

year was sit at home and then just release asingle film in the last month.

Akshay Kumar, shown on screen with hisface on a Rs1, 000 note, should be the financeminister because with the money he makes hecould finance almost the entire population.

Slumdog Millionaire star Freida Pinto woulddo well in the post of minister for overseas andforeign affairs because she knew exactly how tostart an affair abroad, Irani jested.

Always on the defensive, Salman Khan wouldmake the ideal defence minister and MalikaSherawat could occupy the new position ofminister for the upliftment of the downtrod-den.

Others in the Irani/Deshmukh cabinet wouldbe Sunny Deol as law and transport minister;Yash and Aditya Chopra of ’Punjab Power’fame for their film Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi as jointpower ministers; and Viveik Oberoi as telecom-munications minister because he knew how tomake calls quickly when necessary. ■

IANS

BipashaREAL REASON FORGLOBAL WARMING


snakes trying to escape wereshot by our men carryingAK-47s,” said Brima Kontu,head of the police station inGerihun.

About 250 of the estimated400 snakes who had made thestation their home have beenkilled.

“Hopefully the combinedforce will be able to free thehouse from the snakes by nextTuesday,” Kontu said. ■

Reuters

Guns expel snakes from police station

Power hoses and AK-47 as-sault rifles have succeed-ed where Sierra Leone’ssnake-charmers failed by

removing 400 cobras and vipersthat overran a police station.

Authorities in the southerndistrict of Bo called in police,army and fire fighters after thesnakes scared away police offi-cers and residents reportingcrimes.

“We have forced water intothe building and some of the

� Lightning streaks the sky and reflects off the buildings of Bangkok. The ‘wetseason’ monsoon rains in Thailand start in late May or early June and continueuntil October. AFP PHOTO/NICOLAS ASFOURI

Calm before the storm

Websites of the dayA list of wacky U.S. laws:http://www.crazylaws.com/Make your own animated film:http://www.digitalfilms.com/

Woman arrested over fake sick notesA woman has been arrested for forgery after writing fakedoctor’s notes for four school children in South Carolina.

Indian captain M.S. Dhoniapologised to cricket fans af-ter crashing out of the ICCTwenty20 championship but

rejected suggestions that ex-haustion from playing too manygames caused the failure of histop batsmen.

“We are sorry for what hap-pened but we can say we gaveour best,” Dhoni told a newsconference after losing to En-gland by three wickets beforethousands of Indian supportersat Lord’s cricket ground in Lon-don.

“We had experienced guyswho can handle the pressure. Itwas a day when nothing muchworked for us.”

“India is an emotional coun-try,” Dhoni said, adding: “Weare more disappointed thanthem (Indian fans).”

But Dhoni denied repeatedsuggestions at the press confe-rence that Indian players wereexhausted from playing toomany matches in the Indian Pre-mier League (IPL).

“You can’t blame it on tired-ness. It’s not an excuse,” the Indi-an skipper said, adding playingmore matches was better forplayers.

“It is a demanding format be-cause you play at different ven-ues. It’s not like you play three orfour games at the same point,”he said.

“If you see me and say he’s notgiving his hundred percent thenhold me responsible. Perfor-mance is a different matter.”

“We didn’t really perform wellas a team.”

Dhoni, however, admitted

India out ofWorld T20after heart-breakingdefeat

Dhonapoloto fan

ERGO Tuesday, June 16, 2009SPORT08

Arthur: We wanted toknock out IndiaSouth Africa coach Mickey Arthur is disappointed that India has been knocked out of theTwenty20 World Cup as he wanted his side to do what England did and extract revenge

from Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s men for sending theProteas packing in the 2007 edition.South Africa have already made it to the semi-finalswhile the other spot from Group E will be decidedby the match between England and the West Indies.“It still does hurt us, to go out in our own country.India beat us and played better than we did. RPSingh bowled fantastically well. It’s funny how it’scoming back on us against India again,” Arthur said.“Well, now the match has only academic value butgiven South Africa’s resolve, and Dhoni’sdetermination to secure even a consolation win forhis team and countrymen, tomorrow’s (Tuesday)game would be anything but an aimless match bythe two sides.”

PTI

Phelps beaten twicein Santa ClaraTwo races, two defeats - it definitely was not a normal day at the pool for MichaelPhelps. The Olympic hero lost to Canada’s Brent Hayden in the 100-meter freestyle and to fellowAmerican Ryan Lochte in the 100m backstroke at the Santa Clara Invitational.

Phelps, who won a record eight gold medals atthe Beijing Games, now has lost four of eightraces since those Olympics last summer. “Anyone is beatable, it’s just a matter of timeand where,” Lochte said. Phelps has won tworaces and lost two others at each of the twomeets in which he has competed sincereturning from a three-month suspension lastmonth, a penalty imposed by USA Swimmingafter he was photographed with a marijuanapipe. Phelps, who is venturing into new events as helooks toward the London Olympics, said he waspleased with his times in both races, despitethe defeats.

AFP

Buchanan, Warne in warof wordsJohn Buchanan defended himself against Shane Warne’s allegation that the high-profilecoach “overcomplicate things” with his methods, saying the legendary spinner felt so

because he was naturally gifted and for himeverything was straightforward.“Because of his natural gifts, for him everything wasstraightforward and he would accuse me ofcomplicating things. However, Shane underestimatedhow easily things came to him. After all, when youhave such natural talent, why would you want to’over complicate things?” Buchanan said.“What he was doing by dismissing me was belittlingthe role of coach,” he was quoted as saying by theHerald Sun.Warne had taken a dig at Buchanan for acceptingthe role of a consultant with the England teamahead of the Ashes, saying the coach’s habit of “overcomplicating things” would only benefit Australiaagainst their traditional rivals, England.

PTI

Ferguson eying TorresManchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson is likely to use his 80 million pound bonus from CristianoRonaldo’s shift to Real Madrid to rope in Liverpool striker Fernando Torres. Liverpool, who had paid20m pounds to bring Torres from Atletico Madrid, would like to keep him with the club, but a recordtransfer offer may give the Anfield boardroom serious food for thought, the Sunday Express reports.

that he was failing to fire hisguns while batting, havingscored only three boundariesand not a single six in a knock of30 on Sunday that was relativelysedate by his explosive

standards. “I’m not comfortably clearing

the park - that’s for sure. I’mworking hard on it, and hopeful-ly I’ll be back with hitting sixes.”

Dhoni said he elected to fieldafter winning the toss becausethe wicket plays “a bit better”under the lights.

He gave credit to England’sbattery of pace bowlers, whofired a steady stream of short-pitched shoulder-high balls atthe Indian batsmen, working toa game plan.

“Their bowlers started well.They were aggressive and usedthe bouncer and the short ballwell,” Dhoni said.

“They bowled the bouncer re-ally well. They used the shortballs and mixed them with slow-er bouncers. There are quite afew lessons to be learnt fromthis, hopefully during the timewe have off from here, we canreally look to work on this area.”

“The run rate climbed and thetiming of the wickets was crucial.We failed with the bat. There isno excuse.”

He said the decision to pro-mote Ravindra Jadeja in the bat-ting order was taken to helpstabilise the Indian innings.

“Yuvraj could have gone inhigher but we expected Jadejato play for a few overs and stabil-ise the innings for us.”

“It was unfortunate that Yuv-raj was out that way (by stump-

ing)…. It was one of those days.”“We lost wickets at unfortu-

nate times. If the oppositionscore 153 runs and you are notable to score them there is noexcuse.”

“If the run-rate was close tonine or 10 an over I thought wecould achieve that but the tim-ing of wickets was crucial andthe run-rate really climbed onus.”

However, Dhoni promised In-dia will bounce back at the nextTwenty20 World Cup in the Ca-ribbean.

“We lost in the 2007 WorldCup and we lost in 50 overs thatwas the worst part of my career.This loss is disappointing but stillI don’t think it comes near to theloss we had in the 50-over WorldCup.” “We were never really upto the mark but in nine months’time there will be another WorldCup and that is the only goodthing we can say now.”

“We’ll try to do well.”“Cricket never tests your char-

acter when you are doing reallywell. It tests you when you arenot doing well. I think this is atesting time for us but it’s notthe end of the road.”

Asked if injured opener Viren-der Sehwag’s absence had an im-pact on India’s performance,Dhoni said: “He is the sort ofplayer you can’t really replace -we missed him. When he startsoff the bowler is under pressure.He’s a great player to have inyour side.”

He said Sehwag’s replacementRohit Sharma “did the job in per-centage terms”. ■

IANS

DEJECTED DHONI PROMISES TO

FIRE AGAIN. PHOTO: AFP

niogisesns


‘‘A lot of English supporters were there (to watch the game) but we got booedat the home of cricket by the Indian fans. It felt bit strange to be dealt so on

our own home ground at the home of cricket. So that gave us a bit of motivation.England captain Paul Collingwood

ERGO Tuesday, June 16, 2009FLICK10

James Bond totake on Talibanin new filmThe 23rd edition of the

James Bond franchisewill see the super spytaking on the Talibanand heroin barons inAfghanistan.

Newsoftheworld.co.ukreports that scriptwritershave been quizzing

British Embassy staff in Kabul about life in the war-torncountry for the next Bond instalment.

An ex-member of the Foreign Office’s Afghan anti-drugsteam is also giving an insight into the British operationsthere.

“They (producers and writers) are trying to get an accuratepicture of the military situation (in Afghanistan),” said aninsider at Eon Productions, the producers of the franchise.

The film, starring Daniel Craig as 007, is earmarked forrelease in late 2011. ■

IANS

Tom Cruise toreturn with MI4Tom Cruise is certain to reprise his role as agent

Ethan Hunt and return in the fourth instalmentof the Mission Impossible franchise.

The actor will join forces with Mission Impossible3 director J.J. Abrams, who will act as producer onthe new project, reports thesun.co.uk.

“I am incredibly honoured that Tom has invitedme back as a producer on Mission Impossible 4,”said Abrams. No casting has yet been announcedbut the movie is expected to release in 2010. ■

IANS

Kajol, who is busy shooting for herfriend Karan Johar’s upcomingfilm My Name Is Khan, will not bea part of her actor husband Ajay

Devgan’s new directorial venture. “I’m directing a film in mid-2009.

There is no role for Kajol in my next film.The leading lady’s role in that filmdoesn’t suit her,” says Devgan.

His directorial debut U Me Aur Humwas critically praised for its brave por-trayal of the ravages of Alzheimer’s.

Devgan, who has not done an actionfilm for long now, said: “My next film asa director would be an action film withan undercurrent of dark humour. EvenMilan Luthria’s film that I’m acting in isan action film. I believe audiences wantto see me back in action. In fact when Imade my entry balanced between twospeeding cars in Golmaal Returns peopleimmediately remembered my entry inmy first film Phool Aur Kante. The actionin my directorial venture will be someth-ing unusual.”

Recalling how he broke many of hisbones while performing stunts, the actorsaid: “Action scenes have become muchsafer now. Earlier we had to do it all byourselves. Now when you jump from thefifth floor you’re harnessed. Earlier you

just did it, or didn’t.” He also complained of the stories be-

ing made out of his bonding with actorSalman Khan. The two actors recentlycompleted shooting for Vipul Shah’sLondon Dreams in which Devgan plays amusician.

“We always have been friends eversince we did Hum Dil De Chuke Sanamtogether. But we didn’t go out partyingand pubbing every night together, aswas reported. And he didn’t present mewith any paintings. Where did that comefrom? I’m right now neck-deep in pro-ducing my next film and putting togeth-er my next directorial venture,” Devgansaid.

Devgan, who altered his looks for Lon-don Dreams, said: “I needed to lookcooler. So I cut my hair, grew a stubble.Salman and I play very close friends, sonaturally we had to have a certainamount of bonding between us. Butthat’s it. What I really enjoyed wasshooting in London at one go. No dis-tractions. Vipul is one of the most orga-nised filmmakers I’ve worked with. And Ididn’t get much of a chance to miss myfamily. Kajol and my daughter came fora visit.” ■

IANS

Ajay Devgan on his next directorial venture

PHOTO: AFP

‘There is no role forKajol in my next film’

Bond girl getting married?According to rumours, Bond girl Gemma Arterton isgetting married to her new boyfriend. Reportedly,Arterton’s unnamed suitor popped the question and theactress was celebrating the news with friends at Britain’sDownload music festival this weekend.

ANI

A still fromMission Impossible 3

Daniel Craig in Quantum of Solace


His shoulder surgery and In-dian Premier Leaguematches put him out of sil-ver screen action for a

while. Now Shah Rukh Khan is allset to do daring stunts in the se-quel to Don: The Chase BeginsAgain, though there will be nodouble role.

Director Farhan Ak-htar will shoot Don 2with the original starcast from May 2010in Ireland and Ber-lin and says ShahRukh will dosome of the mostheart-in-the-mouth stunts,making it hismost audaciousactioner yet.

“He’s alwaysgame for the auda-cious. But the healthproblems really frustratehim,” said Farhan referringto the superstar’s shouldersurgery this year.

Sources say there will be nodouble role for Shah Rukh in Don2.

Shah Rukh underwent a suc-cessful arthroscopic surgery foracute pain in his left shoulder atthe Breach Candy hospital inMumbai in February. He neededto rest for a month after the sur-gery, which had put on hold thefilming of Karan Johar’sMy Name Is Khan tillMarch 14.

When the pro-posal to do the se-quel first came up,the superstar wasvery sure it wouldhave to go be-yond the firstpart in termsof locales, ac-tion and dra-ma. Don 2 willbe the first In-dian film to beshot in Du-blin, Ireland.

“We’re shooting Don 2 in Du-blin. No Indian film has beenshot there. We want to make surethat the sequel goes ahead of thefirst film. While the first part wasa remake (of the Amitabh Bach-chan starrer Don), the sequel isan original script and would bemuch tougher to film for ShahRukh and Farhan,” said producerRitesh Sidhwani.

And there’s Priyanka Choprafor company again. Though theactress has apparently been leftout of Dostana 2, she’s very much

part of Don 2. “We’re very much goingahead with the original

cast of Shah Rukh, Pri-yanka, Boman Irani,Arjun Rampal andOm Puri. Only thosewho died in the orig-

inal won’t return,obviously,” said

Sidhwani. ■IANS

Double theaction, but nodouble roleShah Rukh to dodaring stunts in Don 2

SUBHASH K. JHA

Family songNow that the music album of Selvaraghavan’sAayirathil Oruvan has released, you can get to hearDhanush and wife Aishwarya crooning. The song,which has both Tamil and English lyrics, has beenwritten by Selvaraghavan and Andrea Jeremiahrespectively. Initially, Selva had planned to maketwo separate songs. It was Dhanush who suggestedcombining both the songs. The couple also surprisedthe audience at the audio launch by singing thesong on stage. Aishwarya Dhanush has also workedas assistant director for Aayirathil Oruvan.

Where is the spot?Naan Avanillai II, the sequel to Jeevan-starrer NaanAvanillai, was extensively shot in Switzerland. Aninteresting incident that director Selva shared withErgo was about a shooting spot there. The unithad shot some scenes in a snow-covered area.After a few weeks, the team returned to the samespot and was surprised to see a river there.Confused, the team asked the locals and theylearnt that the crew had actually shot the sceneson the frozen river.

Adam Levine to write a song on Cameron DiazMaroon 5 singer Adam Levine, who is reportedly dating Cameron Diaz, is allset to write a song on the actress. “I tend to be inspired by and write aboutthe relationship I’m in,” Contactmusic quoted Levine as saying. “Cameron andI have known each other for a while and have been hanging out,” he added.

ANI

Cine City

ERGO Tuesday, June 16, 200912

Monday’s Query:

If you were to give anaward to your favouriteactor, what title wouldyou give and to whom?■ Actor 360 degree to the greatKamalhasan because he is matchless

Sridhar.D TCS, Saranya.M Cognizant

■ Vikram Nadigar Thilagam – IISivaramakrishnan Allsec

■ Best flopper to Vijay.Senthil, Magesh, Srinivasan,

Rajesh, Divahar.R Wipro, Mayilraj Allsec,

Ranjith.R Menon, Sugan.P IBM, KuppusamyNattudurai CSS

■ Talent star to AjithSubha Cognizant,

Abhinetri TCS

■ Surya - cute smilerDhivya Wipro

■ Ramarajan - ’Trendsetter of theMillennium’, even now his name ismentioned whenever somebody wearsbizarre colored dress

Manoj Wipro

■ Manithan to RajinikanthRajarajan.R Cognizant

■ Jackie Chan – Air walkerPinky IBM

■ Vijaykanth - Terrorist catcherSohail IBM

■ Kodura Joker to VadiveluN.Deepan TCS,

G.Sudha Cognizant

■ Messiah of acting award to AntonyHopkins

Guhanathan CSS,

Today’s Query:Who according to you hasthe best voice to croon formovies among the youngheroes?

Syed from Sify Corp has nominated his friends as Partners in Crime. This picture wasclicked at Kodaikanal.

Kausik Bhattacharya from TCS has nominated his friends as Partners in Crime. Thispic was clicked at Basera Restaurant, ECR.

Sridhar from Wipro Ltd. has nominated his team as Partners in Crime. The photo wasclicked during their team outing at Nagari.


1) Daughter (by seeing the big wind): Daddy, is this big wind called "Cyclone"?Father: Looking at the speed of the wind it could be "Bikelone" or may be "Carlone" Daughter: ??? 2) A man built two Swimming Pools and he left one of them unfilled. Why??? When asked him,He said, "Oye, that’s for those who don’t know Swimming.

Raghavan S.S.Tata Consultancy Services

■ Hi AnbuselvanMay this special day be filled withsweet memories and happy hours.Wishing you all the fun andexcitement that only birthdays canbring!

With Cheers, Human Resources,

Coastal Training Technologies India (P) Ltd, Chennai

■ Hi Sudee...Because today’s so specialit really wouldn’t do, to send onesimple birthday wish to last thewhole year through... So this wishes happy moments, a day when dreams come true,and a year that’s filled with all thethings that mean the most to you.

With lots of loveOrion gang

■ Dear ABAP Thaya,Wish you a happy B’Day and have a delightful year ahead. Please sponsor a treat today @ Nallas Appa Kadaiand we are not ready for Dutchtreat.

From,Suresh, Selva and Sakthi,Cognizant-TCO, Chennai

■ Hi Anbu thozhiEngal anbu thozhi karuppu vairum nee minniya indha pon naalai un pirandhanalai kondadugiromWish u many more happy returns ofthe day dear

RegardsPriya, Sathya & Team Members

■ Dear Usha, Instead of counting candles, Or tallying the years, Consider special people Who love and care for u. Think about the memories Passing years can never mar, Experiences great and small That have made you who you are. May each hour and minute be filled with delight, Crispy Birthday Usha !

with luv, Surya, Hema, Subha,

Shobana, Vidya Wipro, Chennai

■ Dear Arul.T,Tons and tons of birthday wishes toyou…

Tons of lov, Ecnet,

R systems

Murali Krishnan fromSpryance India Pvt. Ltd, Ti-del Park, has been nominat-ed as Office Angel by histeam members.

Murali is a sincere,dedicated, and terrific team

player. His alertness to thework assigned to him is

always appreciated by hissuperiors. He is always therewith some snacks in his bagwhen needed and entertains

us with his mobile.

VeeralakshmiD. fromCognizantTechnologySolutionsdoodled this.

ERGO Tuesday, June 16, 2009TRAFFIC JAM14

Printed and Published by S. Karthik on behalf ofKASTURI & SONS LTD., at Plot B-6 & B-7,CMDA Industrial Complex, Maraimalai Nagar,Chengleput Taluk, Kancheepuram Dist., Pin:603209 & at Kasturi Buildings, 859 & 860,Anna Salai, Chennai-600002. Editor: S. Karthik(Editor responsible for selection of news underthe PRB Act). RNI No. TNENG/2007/24553

TEAM

Editor: Karthik [email protected]

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sudoku

KAKURO

Pregnant man gives birth againThomas Beatie, the transgender man who shocked theworld by giving birth to a girl last year, has given birth tohis second child - a baby boy.

L. Varun fromTataConsultancyServices shotthis picture atCentral Park,New York usinghis Canon S5IScamera.Hobbies:Photography,blogging, socialactivities

So you think you would make a terrific photographer but never really had the platform? Mail us your best work and we’ll publish it in this space, with credit. E-mail: [email protected]


B.C

BORN LOSER

FREE RANGE WORKING IT OUT

PREVIOUS ISSUE’S SOLUTIONS

ARIES MARCH 21 - APRIL 20

TAURUS APRIL 21 - MAY 20

GEMINI MAY 21 - JUNE 20

CANCER JUNE 21 - JULY 20

LEO JULY 21 - AUG 20

VIRGO AUG 21 - SEPT 20

LIBRA SEPT 21 - OCT 20

SCORPIO OCT 21 - NOV 20

SAGITTARIUS NOV 21 - DEC 20

CAPRICORN DEC 21 - JAN 20

AQUARIUS JAN 21 - FEB 20

PISCES FEB 21 - MARCH 20

Predictions by Bhavesh N. Pattni

Today, you will be highly creative. Your laid backapproach, however, will slow things down. So avoidconflicts with your seniors as it may blow in yourface. Today you will go out of your way to impressyour beloved, says Ganesha.

Today is your day. But you will feel lethargic andwill avoid doing anything more than your routinework. Ganesha suggests that you adjust andco-operate with your beloved to avoid strains inyour relationship.

You will stay busy communicating with yoursuperiors today. Ganesha says, be careful in whatyou say or write as you are prone to bemisunderstood by your superiors. You will surpriseyour partner with a gift or a candle-lit dinner.

Your colleagues may find you a bit domineeringbecause of your choice of words. Make sure yourrelations with others do not get strained because ofit. You will spend quality time with your partner,says Ganesha.

You may take crucial decisions today at workbecause of your positive and innovative approach,which will also help you impress your colleaguesand seniors. Your beloved will find you appealingand pleasing, says Ganesha.

Today, you will have your priorities all mixed up.You will lack confidence in what you do. Technicaldifficulties will bog you down. Ganesha advises youto relax and take every matter one at a time. Don’tbe extravagant in spending money on your beloved.

By the Grace of Ganesha group discussions,important meetings and conferences will go well.You will be able to express your talents well andyou will be immediately rewarded for all the hardwork that you have put in.

Ganesha finds you taking it easy at work. However,you will be very focussed while working.You will nottolerate indiscipline and may reprimand thoseworking under you for failing to deliver desiredresults. Your love life may take a backseat.

You will be oozing with energy and vigour and willbe able to achieve the day’s target. Your superiorswill take a note of your hard work and there will bea marked improvement in your relations with them.Personal life will be good.

Today, you will be in an irritable mood and eventhe most trivial matters will frustrate you. Ganeshaadvises you to make sure that your outbursts do notcreate problems between you and others at office.Keep your temper under check.

Don’t participate in unnecessary arguments at work.You may feel a bit threatened at work but yourfriendly nature will help you win people’s heart andprevail upon all attempts to tarnish your image.Avoid arguing with your beloved.

You have a lot of grey matter. You will need everybit of it today. Work will be demanding and so willbe your personal life. There will be no respite andyou’ll have to match the expectations and demands.Be careful about your health.

Word’s worthUnwelewable (un-well-yoo-uh-ble) an obsolete and rare adjective thatmeans ‘unfadable.’ This word is related to an obsolete wallow, meaning‘to fade away, to waste.’

Burglar bites through steel barsA thief who can chew his way through metal barswas caught after police identified a string of brokenwindows with teeth marks on them.

ERGO Tuesday, June 16, 2009!16

E X T R A V A G A N T F A R ESelva Raghavan’s magnum opus Aayirathil Oruvan’s audio was launched at a glittering event on Sunday.

Celebrity couple Dhanush - Aishwarya, actress Andrea and music composer GV Prakash Kumar belted out few foot-tapping numbers live from the movie. The audio DVD of the film was carried in a palanquin and was unveiled by director Shankar. Karthi, Reema Sen, Parthiban and Andrea made

their presence felt. Latha Rajinikanth, director A.R.Murugadoss and Yuvan Shankar Raja were present.The event included a fashion show, a Kalari performance, Singaari Melam by an all-women troupe from Kerala and a classical dance by actress Poorna.

Renowned magician Dayanidhi floored the audience with his pigeon vanishing act. PHOTOS:: S.S.KUMAR

Dazzling duo: Selva Raghavan and Sonia

Engrossed: Yuvan and Karthi

Family fare: Director Selva Raghavan’s brother Dhanush, his wife Aishwarya croon along with Andrea

Ice maiden: Reema Sen

Documents

Ergo June 16