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Tuesday, March 17, 2009A BYTE OF LIFE

M.S. LAVANYAThe rare lady saxophonist

FREE CIRCULATION Vol. 3 No. 50

REGIONAL SEARCH

An IAS officer posted in UP comes upwith a search engine chhotugoogle.com

0502

Mission

Resurrection?

Made In ChennaiCatering to customers for the last six

decades, Ratna cafe is a landmarkjoint in Chennai. The hot idli sambar

of the restaurant is still a favouritewith many.

India, twice Asian Games champions in the 1950s, werea force in continental competitions until the end of theamateur era are now looking to muscle through thenext competition in 2011. But an ambitious plan envis-aged by their foreign coach may fall flat because offinancial constraints.

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Page 08

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Sporting a traditional yellow salwar with a hintof makeup and a million-dollar smile, Indiasonly lady saxophone player seemed, to me,like a demure Carnatic vocalist who was

about to run to a concert. I discovered how right Iwas, only later.

M.S. Lavanya, 27, began her career as a saxo-phone player 13 years ago as a student of saxo-phone legend Kadri Gopalnath. Betweennumerous phone calls about concert dates andtrain tickets, she talks passionately about her fa-ther, her guru and her first love; the saxophone. Oh... I almost forgot... she consented for the interviewhalf hour before a concert!

My father is a mridangam player and used toaccompany Padmasree Kalaimamani Dr. Kadri Go-

palnath in his concerts. I tagged along with them toa few and fell in love with the saxophones sounds.I was also greatly inspired by the legend himself.One day, I walked up to my dad and asked him if Icould learn the instrument. He immediately ap-proached Dr. Kadri Gopalnath, who later becamemy guru, she recalls.

Though a Carnatic saxophone player, she did notbegin her musical journey as one. I was a singeronce, she laughs, turning a tad pink, adding, Sax-ophone concerts now take up most of my time.But, Ive started brushing up my singing again un-der the guidance of Srimushnam V. Raja Rao.

Lavanya sticks out like a sore thumb in the sax-ophone arena, being the only woman in a worlddominated by men. But she brushes it off non-chalantly and continues talking with a smile thatseems to be a part of her charming personality.Saxophone is a hard instrument to play. You need

a lot of physical energy to sustain a note and itspretty difficult to control. When I began playing,friends and relatives jeered and taunted me sayinga woman can never make it big. But now, Im hav-ing the last laugh.

With 500-odd concerts and counting, it is nowonder she is in high spirits. The spirit gets higher when I mention her tryst with Kollywood. Ivebeen approached many times but havent had thetime. Just once, I played a bit for Sivajiand had themost amazing experience meeting A.R. Rahman. I

was so taken aback by the fact that he called me. Ispent the entire day worried and nervous. But hessuch an amazing person and made me feel athome. After the recording, he complimented mesaying I am talented and must foray into westernmusic. He even mentioned this to ace drummerSivamani who congratulated me personally. It was

an unforgettable moment.As she lists out major awards she has received

Rajyotsava Young Talent award, Padmabharathi, Yuva Kala Bharathi and K.S. Mahadevan Criticsaward to name a few I am taken aback by thesudden change in mood and the scepticism in hereyes as I ask her how difficult it was to get there.

I come from a poor family. When I first came toChennai, I lived in a hostel. Sometimes, I couldnteven afford to pay my hostel bills and felt like pack-ing my bags home. And, in the hostel, I was neverallowed to practise in my room. I had to go tothe terrace from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. everydayand practise in the hot sun becausethat was the only time they wouldgive me. There were times when Ifelt so demotivated that I just

wanted to quit. But something

drove me on. I saw my par-ents sacrifice. How mymother kept encouragingme to play all day long.She is no more now.

And that pushed meon... to reach my goal.

The momentary mel-ancholy lapses and hersmile is back with a bang

when I ask her about hercritics. I have two. Myfather and my guru.My guru is a thor-ough professionaland expects noth-ing less than per-fection. This hasmade him my best

critic. My father,too, is never satisfied with whatever I do. He keepspushing me harder to make me abetter performer.

She finishes the interview witha blush and giggle and excusesherself to attend a call as a sax-ophone tune begins to play onher phone. My father is happy

with my success. And like Isaid, he is never satisfied andkeeps asking me to aim high-er. But when I visit home, thegood thing is, I am always hisnaughty little daughter.

ANUSHA PARTHASARATHY

PHOTO: R. RAVINDRAN

LLaavvaannyyaass llaasstt llaauugghhERGO Tuesday, March 17, 2009NAMMA CHENNAI02

Photo contestChennaimoms.com is organising a Funny Photo Online Contest. Thecontest requires moms to send pictures, which are funny face orfunny dress, with a caption or comment posted to each picture. Visitwww.chennaimoms.com to know more details.

A female saxophone player in the Carnatic music field

in the country, and making it big, is unheard of. Those

who called it impossible, however, ate humble pie

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For around six decades now,

a visit to Sri ParthasarathySwamy Temple in Tripli-cane is not complete with-

out a cup of coffee at Ratna Caf.Started in 1948 by Triloknath

Gupta, a native of Mathura in Ut-tar Pradesh, Ratna Caf is a land-mark joint in namma Chennai.Despite hailing from North India,Gupta had the prudence to workwonders with idli sambar, the fa-vourite breakfast of South Indi-ans. Hiring chefs and masterslocally, he started selling foodthat is synonymous with yourhome food. This attracted theconservative Tamils of Tripli-cane, who found the food cleanand tasty.

As Triplicane was also theBachelors Paradise with a num-ber of mansions, customerspoured in. So with one branchGupta tasted success till 2002.But, due to his deterioratinghealth conditions he later soldthe caf to his nephew, RajendraGupta.

Power shiftRajendra Gupta, who was born

and brought up in Chennai, wasalso into the hotel business whenhe acquired Ratna Caf in De-cember 2002. Owner of PicnicHotel near Central Railway Sta-tion, Gupta retained the originalname of the caf.

Ratna Caf is a brand in iAnd I was particular that I wretain the name that broughcustomers, Gupta reveals. Ethough there is no parking spin front of the hotel, we still hcustomers who park their vcles on Bells Road, near Kalainar Arangam or Clock Towehire an auto to the restauran

Branching outFrom one hotel in Triplic

Gupta expanded it to six outlof which four function now. prepare 15, 000 litres of sameveryday at Triplicane, wherhave the central kitchen. Thestarts at 3.30 a.m. for our sta

we open at 4.30 a.m. at CeStation. Thanks to chef Kalirumal, sambar still tastes same.

According to Gupta, the seof the preparation is the usquality raw materials and pfied water. We never commise on raw materials. Nowin Chennai will you see hotel

ing small onions for sambarwe avoid using garlic, becau which Brahmins prefer the we serve. The dhania (corianis sourced from Rajasthan.

Customer is kingRatna Caf, which se

breakfast, lunch and dinner,ues customer satisfaction mthan anything. We treat all tomers equally. Though tare suggestions that the intof the restaurant needs a chaGupta has a reason behinddoing up the place.

A few years ago we replthe wooden tables and ch

with granite. But some of our

tomers were not that happy. Trequested us to retain at leastsets of wooden chairs and tasince they were in use since tgrandparents times. The sfaction they get when they siantique chairs is wordless anhad to heed to their request

Gupta has plans to openmore outlets in Chennai witwo years. Very soon you canpect one more outlet in T. Na

Also, we are planning to shifkitchen to OMR and make state-of-the-art kind.

(Made in Chennai is a col

that showcases the evoluti

home-grown businesses that bwhen the city was Ma

Ratna Caf inTriplicane haspeople pouringin for a taste of

the coffee andidli sambarthat theirgrandparentsloved andenjoyed

V. [email protected]

The sambars just the same

Timeline1948 Triloknath Guptaopens Ratna Caf inTriplicane

2002 Rajendra Guptabuys Ratna Caf from hisuncle

2005 Opens first branchin T. Nagar

2006 The Velacherybranch opens

2007 A new branch atCentral Railway Stationopens

2008 Opens at RMZMillienium, Perungudi

Rajendra Gupta at Ratna Cafe in Triplicane. PHOTOS: R.RAGU

Chef Kaliaperumal preparing the sambar

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Take me homeSnowy is a female Pomeranian and is just over one year old.Shes friendly and enjoys the company of people. If youd liketo be her new owner, call AWPT at 22781381 or99629-68265.

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ERGO Tuesday, March 17, 2009TECHNORAMA04

I do not fear computers. I fear the lack ofthem

Isaac Asimov

LOGITECH PURE-FIFitted with dual 2inch drivers and two mics - oto pick up vocal nuances, the other to cancelunwanted background noise this slate-box puback the ahhh into listening. There are dedicatebuttons for call answer/end and an auxillary inpmeans you can pair an MP3 player too.

PURE BLISSThe good thing about mobile phones isthat they can replace iPods nicely. Thebad part: the soundquality. Now how about an all-in-onedevice thats a Bluetooth Speaker +Speakerphone + lighter than Bellstripod? Logitechs Pure-Fi Mobilespeaker system, for example.

Rs 10,995, www.logitech.com

Make way for Lenos new bouncer, the ThinkPad W700 Workstation. Designed for thecreative crew, this think tank is chock-a-block with features that will make youswoon. Theres a built-in digitiser which can be mapped to the entire screen a boonfor animators and designers. For photographers, the built in colour calibrator comeshandy. Hardware specs include a quad core processor, upto 8GB RAM, Quadro mobilegraphics, hard drives in RAID 0/1, 7-in-1 card

reader, fingerprint reader, Blu-ray burner hold on, let us catch our breath!Rs 1,49,000, www.lenovo.com/in

BEAST

UNLEASHEDLENOVOS NEW SMOLDERING LAPTOP

Tune inThe Samsung LA22A480is no ordinary LCD TV. Afirst of its kind, it allowsyou to tune into FMstations with a click.How? Smarty pants, itscalled innovation. It hasa 30-channel memory anda five band graphicequaliser. To save power, the

screen switches off in the FM mode neat! Go get yours.Rs 18,500, www.samsung.com/in

Snippets sourced

from T3 magazine

of Infomedia18

Group

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Rs 2,95,000,www.theubgroup.com

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The World Wide Web is not afriendly place for regionallanguages. The search en-gine worms mostly scan on-

ly English documents, and itmakes hosting documents in re-gional languages a near pointlessexercise sometimes.

No less than an IAS officer hasnow come up with an innovativeportal to address the challengethat is vernacular documentsearch. Ranvir Prasad, who hadearlier served as the district col-lector of Thiruvallur district and

who is currently posted as thedistrict magistrate in Sant Kabir

Nagar, Uttar Pradesh, has comeup with a website that would helpsearch for Hindi documents inUnicode and Kruti Dev fonts; andTamil documents in Unicode andBamini fonts. The portal is curi-ously named chottugoogle andcombines effectively GooglesTransliteration and Search En-gine APIs and throws up a myriadof possibilities for searching inHindi and Tamil languages.

In an email interview with Er-go, Mr.Prasad said: You do notneed to know how to type inthese scripts. The site has beendeveloped using Google APIs andfont converter javascripts. Goodthing is that it is easy to add sup-

port for any other font based onfeedback. I have put together this website during my free timemainly to bring out in open alarge number of webpages in Ta-mil and Hindi which were hiddenfrom public view as they were notreflected in earlier searches.

Though there are some sites where one can search in Tamiland Hindi, Mr.Prasad points outthat one could not search in fontslike Bamini (Tamil) and KrutiDev(Hindi). This was a great handi-cap as there were several sites

which would have documents inthese fonts. For example, in UttarPradesh Government, where I am

posted right now, most of thedocuments on Government sites

are in Kruti Dev 010 font andthere was no method to searchfor any term in thosedocuments.

Now I can search using chho-tugoogle.com, for example, docu-ments about Revenue Manual

when I type rajasv mainual. This would be useful for commonpublic mostly as information un-der RTI, BPL list etc. was in thesefonts. I could find many sites onHindi Literature and Tamil litera-ture about which I was not awareof earlier usingchhotugoogle.com.

The inspiration for starting the website came from Mr.Prasads

wife, who is also an IAS officer inUP cadre. She is from Tamil Na-du and she is learning well, haslearnt Hindi and Administra-tive Hindi. She felt that if there

was a search portal for searchingHindi documents on Govern-ment websites, it would be usefulfor one and all. Then I read aboutGoogle APIs for search and trans-literation and some javascriptsfor conversion of fonts and Icould assemble the site. My sisterprovided inputs and suggestionsand also bought the domain forme.

As for the name chhotugoo.com, the young IAS officer

hopes Google would not findproblem with it. I though

would be easy to remember. rently the site has featuresearch only. Interesting add

would be dierctory of good wsites in Hindi/Tamil. I am pning to add more languagesfonts based on the feedback. planning to add a typepad spell check and also dictioies.

Mr.Ranvir Prasad wel feedback on the site. Log owww.chottugoogle.com and

your feedback.

An IAS officer, currently underdeputation in UP, combines GooglesTransliteration and Search APIs to come upwith a regional search engine www.chhotugoogle.com

ERGO [email protected]


Audiophile Alert!Sony has introduced new noise-cancelling headphones. Its new MDR-NC7 seperfect for commute. Convenient to use, foldable and with a swivel action, has a battery life of 50 hours. The best part: its price at Rs. 4,490.

IAS officer Ranvir Prasadcreator, chhotugoogle.com

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ERGO Tuesday, March 17, 2009VILLAGE06

Cops called in as crowds overwhelm IT fairMore than 700,000 Singaporeans looking for recession-busting bargains swamped an electronics fair over theweekend, forcing organisers to call in the police to maintainorder.Officers were deployed at an underground link to the venueof the IT Show 2009 from a train station to manage thecrowd, a spokesman for the Singapore Police Force said.It was really crowded and packed... (but) it was worthgoing because the items were going for rock-bottomprices, a visitor said..

AFP

Gandhi snaps in pollcampaign irk IndiansThe use of Mahatma Gandhis photos by the ruling ANCparty in election campaign has created a furore among theIndia-origin people here in Durban.The posters are part of the strategy being pursued by theAfrican National Congress to get people of Indian-origin tovote for it in the forthcoming general election on April 22.A woman caller to an election talk show on the national

broadcaster, SABCsLotus FM radio saidGandhi was being usedto get Indian people tovote for the ANC. Iwould like to knowwhether this is morallyand ethically right?,she queried.

A political analyst onthe show, ProfessorKarthy Govender,responded that he didnot think it wasappropriate for anyoneto use Gandhis namewithout the permissionof the family.

PTI

Discovery

lifts offThe shuttle Discoveryblasted off on amission to outfit theInternational SpaceStation with a finalpair of solar wingsahead of the arrival ina few weeks of anexpanded space crew.The spacecraftlaunched from theKennedy Space Centrein Florida. Just over

eight minutes later, the shuttle entered orbit and wassoaring at 28,000 kilometres per hour.The journey was expected to take two days to reach theISS, where the seven-member crew was to deliver andinstall the fourth and final pair of solar wings on theorbiting ISS. Mike Leinbach, launch director for themission, said the lift-off was picture perfect.I have seen a lot of launches and this was the mostvisually beautiful, he told reporters. It was justspectacular. When the orbiter and the tank, booster gotup in the sun light it was just gorgeous.

AFP

Anew film warning of the devas-

tating effects of climate change was screened in London in whatorganisers said was the worlds

first solar-powered premiere.Oscar-nominated British actor Pete

Postlethwaite stars in The Age of Stupid,which was shown in a solar cinema tentin Leicester Square and beamed to morethan 70 cinemas nationwide via a livesatellite link.

The events organisers said theyhoped up to 16,000 people would watchthe premiere but discouraged anyonefrom flying to London to see it.

Postlethwaite turned up in a solar carto the premiere, which was also attend-ed by actress Gillian Anderson, designer

Vivienne Westwood on a bicycle andEnergy and Climate Change SecretaryEd Miliband. In the film, Postlethwaiteplays an old man living alone in a devas-tated 2055, looking back on archivefootage of 2008 and asking why no oneacted to stop climate change.

The Age of Stupid, which opens hereon March 20, took 3.5 years to make andhad a budget of just USD 630,000 dollarsprovided by 228 individual investors.

AFP

Film premieregoes solar

2 Sri Lankan players still in hospitalTwo Sri Lankan cricket players remain hospitalised inColombo, two weeks after the squad was attacked by

militant gunmen in Pakistan, the teams doctor said onMonday.Thilan Samaraweera, who had a bullet removed from hisleft thigh, and Ajantha Mendis, who had shrapnel extractedfrom his head and back, are being treated at a privatehospital, Geethanjana Mendis said.Samaraweera and Mendis need a little bit more attentionand we are hopeful we can discharge them within a fewdays, the doctor said.

AFP

Ye olde bookA Cambridge academic has uncoverewhat is believed to be the worldsoldest joke book from the thirdcentury.

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His goal was to get a job andhis tactic was a road tripthrough all 50 US states in50 weeks that landed the

unemployed economics majorwith, yes, 50 jobs. The work

ranged from rodeos to archaeol-

ogy and even a stint keeping job-seekers of the illegal sort out ofthe country.

After failing 40 interviews in arow, University of Southern Cali-fornia graduate Daniel Seddiqui,26, got creative and launched amission to cross every US state inas many weeks, rolling up hissleeves in each one with somekind of employment.

I went through hell almost. Iinvested so much time and effortin my university and yet I did notget anything. It was pretty frus-trating. Then I was persistentenough to land 50 jobs in 50states, he said. Its kind of help-ing me decide what I want to do

with my life.Dan is probably one of themost adaptable people Ive evermet, said Randy Cruse, businessmanager at the Boilermakers Lo-

cal 83 union in Kansas City, Mis-souri. He was quick, smart. Hes

enjoyed it and the guys enjoyedhaving him, he said after Seddi-qui trained with them in January.

Seddiqui has already worked asa logger in Medford, Oregon, a

border patrol agent in Tucson, Arizona and an archeologist in

Fayetteville, Arkansas. Most em-ployers have paid him or offeredto hire him full-time. Halfwaythrough his mission on week 25,he was working as an auto me-

chanic in Dearborn, Michigan.This is my 25th state, Im half-

way there and Ive seen a lot ofdifferent things, he said, de-scribing how one man had pulledout a gun in the auto repair shop

just outside Detroit. Seddiqui

launched his driving tour in tember 2008 in Salt Lake Utah, where he worked at a Mmon humanitarian centre.then headed to Colorado, whe took on a hydrologist jobfore donning cowboy gear to

rodeo announcer in South Dta. Seddiqui set up most of

jobs in advance and found plto stay on the road, most o

with his employer or a co-woIve stayed with all kinds of ple, from cowboys to Indian

Arabs to rednecks to just aeverybody, he said.

Seddiqui, who said he wanmake a documentary and wrbook about his journey, hasound piece of advice for dents struggling to launch careers.

I recommend to networktravel. Be willing to try anythNowadays, you cant be picky, especially if you are a

grad, he said. Its going tohard; you are not going to

your dream job on the first Step out of your comfort zone

Riding the recessionthe Daniel way

ANew Zealand judge on Mon-day approved the serving ofcourt documents through the so-cial networking website Face-book on a man being sued overhis business dealings. High Courtassociate justice David Glendallapproved the serving of legal pa-pers on Craig Axe, who is allegedto have taken 241,000 dollars

from his familys market gardencompany account.

Axe was believed to be in Bri-

tain but had been correspondingby email and was known to havea site on Facebook, the court in

Wellington was told. Daniel Vin-cent, the lawyer for the familycompany who requested the useof Facebook, said there had beendifficulties serving the papers, in-forming Axe that he is being sued,by conventional methods.

He told the New Zealand PressAssociation after the hearing hebelieved it was first time a courtin this country had allowed pa-pers to be served through Face-book. The idea came from a casein Australia in December, whenFacebook was used to serve acourt order after a couple default-ed on a home loan.

AFP

Court serves papersvia Facebook

A Saint Bernard dog called Zuma watches a fully-grown miniature horse calledWillow at the Woofstock 90210" pet show in Beverly Hills. AFP PHOTO/MARK RALSTON

Dreaming About Me?

Websites of the dayWant to know what Paris Hilton is wearing thisAutumn? Check out the latest Hollywood fashions:http://www.lastarstyle.co.uk/Treat a sore throat:http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/diseases/facts/sorethroat.htm

Chocolate powerA Devon woman who eats 30bars of chocolate a week has celebrated her 100th birthday

50 jobs in50 weeks:US mans

economicodyssey

This handoutphoto showsDaniel Seddiquiworking as aco-pilot in Fargo,North Dakota.AFP PHOTO

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A

n ambitious project to getIndian football back on itsfeet at the international lev-

el may have at last hit aroadblock after running in un-usually clear tracks from some-time. National coach BobHoughton has envisaged a planthat will keep the countrys top 25professionals out of contract withany club sides for two years. Theproject, which has already drawnflak from club owners, managers

and former players, has reached astumbling block related to spon-sorship.

The AIFF, which was always inthe doldrums at the managementlevel, is now without a head since

its ever-serving president PriyaRanjan Das Munshi is still in co-ma after suffering a stroke latelast year and is yet to take a finalcall on it. One AIFF source says:Financially, the project seemsHerculean. We need at least Rs.40 crore for the players salary,accommodation and other costs.

And we are not sure in the current

financial situation if we canrange such money.

Interestingly, other develosoccer nations had run with cess similar programmes, likeUS before hosting the 1994 W

Cup, South Korea before the Cup and Mexico in 1986.

The 25-odd players wouldrectly be under contract to

All-India Football Federationtrain together in preparationthe Asian Cup in Doha in J2011. The players would be their contract amounts equlent to what they would h

National football coach Bob Houghtons pla

AYON [email protected]

National coach Bob Houghton trains wAmbedkar Stadium in New Delhi. PHOTO

Mission

ERGO Tuesday, March 17, 2009SPORT08

NADALBREEZESINTO THIRD ROUND

World number one Rafael Nadal breezedpast qualifier Michael Berrer and into thethird round of the Indian Wells Mastersseries. Nadal downed Berrer 6-2, 6-1 in just67 minutes to join defending championNovak Djokovic in the third round.Djokovic, seeded third in the 4.5 million-dollar tournament behind Nadal and RogerFederer, defeated 54th-ranked ArgentinianMartin Vasallo Arguello 7-5, 6-4. TheSerbian, who claimed his first title of 2009at Dubai two weeks ago, went up an early

break in each setonly tosurrender hisserve before

breaking VasalloArguello again.He closed outthe match on hissecond matchpoint, when theArgentinian senta service returnlong. Djokovicnext facesGerman veteranTommy Haas,who downedcompatriot

Rainer Schuettler 6-7 (4/7), 6-2, 6-4. Nadalbooked a meeting with Russian DmitryTursunov, a 7-6 (7/5), 4-6, 6-3 winner overAmerican qualifier Michael Russell.

AFP

HAMILTON READYFOR STERNEST TESTLewis Hamilton has come a long way in his24 years, from a humble English housingestate to a Swiss mansion, a pop-stargirlfriend and an MBE from the Queen. He isthe youngest champion inFormula One history, itsfirst black winner and amulti-millionaire who splitsopinion both inside andoutside the paddock. NowHamilton is braced for whatcould be his most bruisingbattle as he defends thetitle he won by just a pointin 2008s rain-drenched,knife-edge Brazilian finale.You cant live in the past.I dont say I am world champion, I say Iwant to be world champion,said Hamilton.His F1 debut in 2007 in Australia saw himfinish third, quickly followed by runner-uppositions in Malaysia, Bahrain, Spain andMonaco. He won his first Grand Prix inMontreal after a flawless drive and followedit up a week later at the famed Indianapolistrack. However, his lack of experienceeventually saw him squander a 13-point leadin the championship to lose the 2007 title bya point to Kimi Raikkonen.

AFP

Plot to oust dictatorMoves to oust embattled Asian Football Confederation president Mohammed bin Hammam aregaining momentum with his key challenger insisting support for his autocratic rule is rapidlywaning. Bahrains Shaikh Salman Ebrahim Al Khalifa will pit himself against Bin Hammam for hisFIFA executive committee seat on May 8 after several recent moves by the Qatari upset powerfulfactions of the regional football body.

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earned at the club levels and willonly be available for nationalduty.

AIFF vice-president SubrataDutta, part of the committee de-liberating on the project, says:

We had a meeting and havedrawn some tentative plans. Wehave put those on paper and itwould be handed over to our act-ing president (Civil Aviation Min-ister Praful Patel). A final call willbe taken after he goes through it.

According to sources, the AIFFtop brass is serious about the pro-ject and is already in talks with a

few of the corporate houses forlead and associate sponsorshipdeals. Top on the list is telecom-munications giant Airtel, whichhad earlier entered into a Rs. 100crore deal for AIFFs proposed a-

cademy in Goa. However, thetalks have not been fruitful so far.

Houghtons plan says theplayers will live and train togetherand play at least 30 internationalmatches prior to the competition.

But if there are takers for theplan, there are many more de-tractors. Mohun Bagan secretary

Anjan Mitra, taking a dig at the

federation, says: The AIFFdoesnt even have the capacity tonurture five players and they aretalking about 25. What about theclubs, their supporters? Withoutthe top 25 national players the

domestic league will lose itssheen.

The clubs are united in theirstand and officials of defendingI-League champions Dempo also

walk the same line. I-League wasstructured as a professional setupto put football back in its rightfulplace and now if we take all thetop players away, the whole pur-

pose is nullified. Its a backwardstep, the official says.

Former skipper Chuni Goswa-mi, though, sees the logic behindthe plan; he fails to understandthe need to spend so much mon-

ey on players who are almost pasttheir prime. Bhaichung (Bhutia),Deepak (Mandal) and MaheshGawli are all good players but atthe most they will last anothertwo or three years. And afterspending crores if we are knockedout in the first round the wholemoney goes waste, he says. Onthe other hand, if we invest on

under-19 players, there is hfor the future even if we fail a

Asian Cup.National captain Bhutia ta

supports Houghtons projectsays: Even Guss Hiddink did

same with the South Korean in 2002 and they had great cess. (They reached the semnals of the World Cup). I honly heard about it from nspaper reports and it wonright for me to make sweestatements about it. But if hdled in a proper way it can immensely.

sian Cup 2011, although ambitious, might be too farfetched to implement

heTY

esurrection?


In 2007 I supported the West Indies (to win) due to the fact that, as a team, we may have been short in Testcricket but very good over a shorter game and twenty20 was a version of the game, with players like Chris Gayle,

Ramnaresh Sarwan and Dwayne Bravo, I thought we would love. But then Bangladesh came and beat us and we didnt wina match so that shows how difficult it is to predict. A team like India or Pakistan, accustomed to good batting tracks, flattracks and capable of being very innovative could be the ones to walk away with the trophy.

Brian Lara

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Bollywood provided a hilari-ous take on Parsis with the1978 film Khatta Meetha,

which starred Ashok Ku-mar and Pearl Padamsee. Thirtyyears later, Sooni TaraporewalasLittle Zizou is another humorousinsight into the community, tak-ing digs at their stereotypicaloddities.

Khaata Meetha highlighted thebiggest dilemma among Parsis their problem with inter-castemarriage. An offspring from sucha union is considered to be a non-Parsi, resulting in their fast dwin-

dling numbers, which is peggedat about 100,000 now in India.But Little Zizou talks about reli-

gious fundamentalism and re-form, while putting the spotlighton traits unique to thecommunity.

One did have Basu ChatterjeesBaaton Baaton Mein (1979), butthat was more focussed on rela-

tionships. Since then all movieson Parsis have brushed aside thecomic punch to portray the com-munitys angst with grim dramaslike Pestonjee(1988), Percy(1990),1947: Earth (1998) and Being Cy-rus (2005).

Thematically, Parsis in filmshave been a more modest and se-rious vein with only two films,Khatta Meetha and Baaton Baa-ton Mein, being made on a lighternote than the handful of the rest.

While the former is rememberedfor its comic genius, the latter

was a mixed-affair in terms ofcomic touches, says noted filmhistorian Gautam Kaul.

Photographer-writer Tarapore- wala, who made her directorialdebut with Little Zizou after writ-ing Mira Nairs acclaimed filmslike Salaam Bombay!and Missis-sippi Masala, has woven togetherevery possible trait of thecommunity.

For example, Parsis habit ofboasting about every littleachievement is lucidly shown inLittle Zizou. This includes thepresence of a Zubin Mehta por-trait in every Parsi house and theoft-repeated talk about IndiraGandhi being married to a Parsi.

Zubin Mehta collectively be-longs to every Parsi mother he is

apro or our Zubin. A love forand deep knowledge of Westernclassical music is a very Parsitrait. Many people in Mumbaihave an experience of their Parsineighbours blasting classical mu-sic and I used that in the opening

of Little Zizou along with aproZubins portrait on the wall, saysTaraporewala.

Indira Gandhi was married toa Parsi (Feroze Gandhi) andmany in the community thoughtit was lucky for her that he hadthe Gandhi surname, as mostpeople thought she was related tothe Mahatma and had no cluethat this was not so. I brought thisup in a humorous way to link it

with the character of Kho(one of the characters) wname literally means god

who in reality is nothing osort and capitalises on his fonate name, just as Mrs. Gasometimes did, she explain

Both Kaul and Taraporepoint out that there have bnumerous instances where Phave been typecast for smalpearances in Bollywood mov

There have been movies the years that have typecastcommunity by depicting a Pcharacter in comic situationtrademark attire for a Parssemblance, says Kaul.

The stock Parsi man in white dugli and black phetathe woman in her gara sari is what some of us (Parsis) wto weddings but in Bollywfilms all Parsis have to be drelike this even if they are stanat the bus stop waiting for a bremarks Taraporewala.

National Award-winning fimaker Jahnu Barua says, Itry unfortunate that our audihas been spoiled over the yand they are not mature enoto accept such films. Take Kh

Meetha for example and nowtle Zizou these films are brilattempts at bringing back thbowed out culture of their cmunities.

Little Zizou puts Parsis in comic spotlight after 30 years

ROBIN BANSAL

Tees saal baad

Khatta Meetha

BatonBatonMein

Being Cyrus

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Actor Mickey Rourke has baggedyet another good role as the Rus-sian villain in Iron Man 2, afterbeing nominated for an Oscar for

his work in The Wrestler.

A report published by the websitedeadlinehollywooddaily.com says thatthe producers had earlier offeredRourke just 250,000 dollars for this role.

However, they significantly increasedthe money offer after Rourkes agent,David Unger, played hardball.

According to the New York Post,Rourke was also being considered for avillainous role in Sonys Spider-Man 4.

Rourke has also been offered a roleby Sylvester Stallone in the fifth Rambofilm. He will reportedly play the baddiein the flick, which is due to be filmedlater this year.

The actor will also start filming Stal-lones new thriller, The Expendables,alongside Ben Kingsley, Sandra Bullock,Jet Li, Jason Statham and Forest Whi-

taker. ANI

Rourke on a rollMickey Rourke to playRussian villain in IronMan 2

Jennifer Aniston is angry andis telling friends that shedumped singer John Mayer.However, media reports sayMayer was the one whodumped her.

The 40-year-old Aniston andthe 32-year-old rocker broke upafter she returned to the USfrom Britain after promotingher new movie Marley and Me,reports thesun.co.uk.

A source said: Aniston start-ed considering dumping Mayerafter he apparently went coldafter the Oscars.

Her friends reveal that Anis-ton felt angry and used. Asource said: They had a greattime at the Oscars, but heseemed to go cold right after.Its humiliating.

IANS

Who dumped who?

Ayan for April releaseActor Suriyas upcoming flick,Ayan, would hitthe theatres soon. Sources predict that the moviemight release on April 3. Said to be a love story,the movie is directed by K.V. Anand, who earliermade Srikanth, Prithviraj and Gopika starrerKana Kandaien. Suriya and Tamannah pair upfor the first time in Ayan. The music scored byHarris Jeyaraj is already topping the charts.

Busy beeDirector Vikram K. Kumar is a happy manthese days. His latest movie, Yaavarum Nalam,has reaped good collections at the box office.Even the Hindi version, 13B, has generatedpositive vibes. 13B was released in the US in 10theatres and made a collection of $1,752 sofar. Though the director has received plenty ofoffers from Bollywood, he is keen on doing aTamil film next.

Manisha rejects cameo roleActress Manisha Koirala was overjoyed when she was offered a role byactor-turned-director Amol Palekar in his new film. But later she refusedto accept the role as it turned out to be just a cameo.

Cine City

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ERGO Tuesday, March 17, 200912

Mondays Query:

The Pussycat Dolls areworking with A.R.Rahman on a Jai Horemix. What is your

favourite remixed songtill date and why?Thottal poo malarum. Because it ismuch better than the original, andHariharan and Harini lend freshnessto the song that makes it veryappealing

Ahalya (TCS)

Ponmagal vandhaalfromAzhagiyaThamizh Magan. Because ofIllayathalapathys excellent dance andacting. No one can beat him.

Kuppusamy Nattudurai (CSS), ShebinBenjamin (Allsec)

A.R.Rahmans thottal poo malarumfrom New. Unlike other musicdirectors he did not emulate thesame old tone. Came up with a new

tone and it was a massive hit, whichcreated a trend for remixes.Deena (Wipro), Ganesh Kumar (Technip)

Mitwa - revisited from Kabhi AlvidaNa Kehna by Shankar-Eshaan-Loy.They remixed their own tune of thesame movie. It was a good classical-western fusion

Mukund SCB (Scope International)Margo margo margayi. A very nicesong wonderfully remixed in theragam kanada of the famousalaipayuthey song

Padma Gopal (Cognizant)

En aasai mythiliye (Manmadhan)Pradeep (Mphasis)

Westernsuprapaatham by Rahmanbecause its trendy

Hashim (Allsec)

Inji eduppalagha because I like thefemale voice

Yuvaraj (Technip)

Remix of Vande Mataram is myfavourite. Whenever listening to thismy eyes drop a couple of tears formy mother India

Saranya.M (Cognizant)

Todays query:One extra-curricularactivity companiesmust add to theiragenda

VivekSrinivasanfrom HCL hasnominated hisfriends. Thepicture wasclicked atMamallaResort in ECR.

Premi Mosesfrom CognizantPerformanceTesting CoEsent us thispicture.The picture wasclicked for the

Testing AnnualEvent calledNakshatra,

where themembers

walked theramp.

Vijay from Accenture hasnominated hisfriends asPartners inCrime. Thepicture wasshot before ahotel in ECR.

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Man-1: Do you know my friend is a very good fast bowler?Man-2: Really?Man-1: Yes, while we play cricket in the first ground, he will be

running from the second ground to bowl and the wicket keeperwill be standing in the third ground with fear.

------------------------Man-1: Yesterday we couldnt touch your friend bowling with

our bat?Man-2: Has he bowled excellently?Man-1: No, he has bowled only wide balls, then how could we

touch with bat? Mohamed Yusufdeen J, HCL Technologies

Dear Rajkumar (Gun),Wishing you a Happy Birthday. Ihope all your dreams and wishescome true. Not just a year older, buta year better. Heres to another yearof experience. A simple celebration, agathering of friends; heres wishingyou great happiness, a joy that neverends. A birthday is just the first dayof another 365-day journey aroundthe sun. Enjoy the trip.

Jesi, Christo, Rajesh, Hari, Murali, Srini,

Kani, Chinpapa, Cheattu, Suresh, Senthil,

Samy, Jeni Dear Shailu,When god made you he was havinga good day! You are so special to us,we all respect you and get inspiredby you. Your dedication is great. Youmean so much to us. Many manyhappy returns of the day.May you live 100 more years.

Always with you,

Hari & Siri

Dear Buhari,Wishing you belated birthdaywishes!! May all your dreams cometrue!!God bless you!!

Friends,

New Age Software and Solutions, AshokNagar

Hi Vani (Immigration team, CTS)Congrats!! You have won again! Youhave proved to this world that yourwords will reach greater heights. Youhave shown me how a woman canbe so powerful, caring and anaffectionate friend. Above all I stilladmire your goodness. Keep rocking.Almighty god and your best friend(thats me) are always with you. Wishyou all success in your futureEndeavours. I wanna you see moreof your success TATA

Regards

Shankar Nagappan

My dear Sweet Gayathri,Pappu wishes you many more happyreturns of the day. Youre my mostprecious wealth I have ever earned.

I wish you a peaceful and happy life.I thank god for blessing me with sucha loving and caring girl like you.

With lots of luv, Urs,

Birahadish, Wipro Technologies

Dear Shamee,Wish you a many more happy returnsof the day. Each year of yourbirthday reminds us that we reallywant to say we are very much gladwe know you. We think of you eachday. We hope you enjoy yourbirthday. All the pleasures it has instore. And because we appreciateyou. We hope you have many more!

Cheers

SDP TEAM & Friends

Hi Anil,Glad congratulations and heartfeltwishesWish you Happy Married life.

Best Regards,

D.Yaseen Taj, Cognizant Technology

Solutions

Dear Balaji,Im wishing you another year oflaughter, joy and fun.Surprises, love and happiness andwhen your birthdays done,I hope you feel deep in your heart

As your birthdays come and goHow very much you mean to meMore than you can know

Aparna S, Tata Consultancy Services

Dear RJ BalajiWish u happy birthday.Kodiyil pookkum malarai vida orunodiyil pookkum punnagaithanazhaguSo always keep smiling.Happy birthday.

Regards,Balaji Perumal

Tata Consultancy Services

Akka,Wish you many more happy returnsof the day.

With love,Tharuthala Thambi

My dear Fathima Mariam,Making happy birthday wishes,is a pleasant thing to do,especially when the birthday is yours,and the wishes are for you.From Morning till night,May your birthday be bright,And nicer than ever before.And as years come and go,May your happiness grow,and your dreams come true.Happy Birthday My Dear Fathima!!!

RegardsShehanaz, Nasreen, Ismail

Thirdware Solutions Pvt Ltd

Belated messages Like the sweet music from theflute of Kannan,Your warm and friendly nature canbe matched by none,You remove darkness from our lifeby lighting the lamp of knowledge,You make us feel precious & rare like24ct gold,How much you mean to us in awords it can never be told,May god fill with joy & happinessyour every single day,Team DEPOSITS wishes you a veryHappy Birthday.

Vijay Vaidyanathan, Accenture

Jagan Mohan K. V. N. ofSella Synergy India hasbeen nominated as Office

Angel byM. Ilayaraja. Jagan Mohan is kind,

cool-headed and fun-lov-ing person. He is a greatmotivator of our team. Hehandles any issues withease. He is a positive

thinker and team builder.

Narayanan L.R. of Williams LeaIndia, Tidel Park doodle thispicture of Father of the Nation.

Art featured in this

column will re-ceive gift couponsfrom Fruit Shop onGreams Road.Send in your ad-dresses so that wecan post the cou-pons.

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ERGO Tuesday, March 17, 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

TEAMEditor: Karthik [email protected]

Sr Dy Chief Designer: J.A. Prem KumarDy Chief Designer: R. Ravi KannanIllustrator: R. Venugopal

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sudoku

KAKURO

Coffin catastropheA Croatian motorist whocrashed through an undertakerswindow woke up to findhimself in an open coffin.

Anything for that catch!Sent by SivakumarSriramulu of TCS

Preference this month is beinggiven to photographs that talkabout happiness, which you

need to tell us in a line or two.Please do not repeat any ofyour previous pictures and alsomake sure that the photographis people-oriented. Happiness isnot always a smile, so put onyour thinking caps and keepclicking!

Winners can collect their giftvouchers on Sundays, between3 p.m. and 5 p.m. at Ergooffice

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

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B.C

BORN LOSER

FREE RANGE WORKING IT OUT

PREVIOUS

ISSUES

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. Pa

Try to move out somewhat today. Youve got totake action soon. Its one of those days whenyoure at your best in constant motion, so makesure youre as busy as you can possibly be. Gansuggests you to be quick but make right decisio

Youre brimming with anger over some recentinjustice and need to do whatever you can to mit right. See if you can get your friends to rallybehind a new way of doing things. Ganesha is wyou in every right step you take.

Theres no need to take much of anything seriou

today. Youve got plenty going on, but its just tkind of day in which you can take a break and enjoy the superficial pleasures of life. So go aheaand enjoy, says Ganesha.

When shopping today, go for quality over price. need the very best! Ingredients for baking, techgadgets and even your morning coffee are all paof the program and you want what you deserve.Ganesha says go ahead and have a great day.

You have the ability to think out of the box andtoday your creative ideas are going to make a gimpact on your colleagues and friends. Be thecentre of attraction and enjoy says Ganesha.

You thrive on activity, but today brings almost tomuch for you to handle! Its one of those days

when you wish you were still in bed every fewhours or so, but you can handle it all with a smA calm and wonderful day for you.

You can see the big picture today, probably bettthan most of the people around you, so speak oand lead the way toward the next big thing. Itseasy for you to make a difference. You have thaquality in you, Ganesha wishes all the very best.

Your sense of power is making life a lot moreinteresting and you ought to be able to get youfriends to see that things are working out for allyou. A little more time to tip the balance is all yneed. Wait and watch, suggests Ganesha.

Say something that feels a little risky and see hoit goes. You are more likely than ever to getyourself some good feedback if you try a little

harder. People want to see you push the enveloGive it a push, says Ganesha.

The warmth and goodwill you generate today wbenefit you now and even later. Those living awfrom home and family will return after successfusojourn. Pack your suitcase and get ready, saysGanesha.

Try not to get too worked up over your latestrelationship glitch. These things happen and todais just a sign that things are working normally. Sspend some quality time with your loved ones aclear all the misunderstandings, suggests Ganesh

You need to slow down and cut back your sched just a bit. Things are getting a little out of handSay no a few times just to practice, so you can sit and mean it when the time is right, saysGanesha.

Words worthDeglutition (dee-gloo-tish-uhn) the action of swallowing. Theverb, even rarer than the noun, is deglute. It could be brought backinto fashion with a new figurative sense: You cant expect me todeglute that excuse! What a feat of deglutition that would be.

Trusty cuppaA psychologist says teaand coffee really do tastebetter from your favouritecup or mug.

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ERGO Tuesday, March 17, 2009!16

This handoutphotograph releasedby Tourism NewZealand on Mondayshows Indiancricketers (L-R)Harbhajan Singh,V.V.S. Laxman, YuvrajSingh, SachinTendulkar and ZaheerKhan walking on theedge of the AucklandSky Tower inAuckland onSaturday. Thecricketers performed asky walk atop the192-metre AucklandSky Tower, the tallestman-made structurein the SouthernHemisphere. AFP PHOTO

Actor Mary-KateOlsen attends TheMetropolitanOperas 125thAnniversary Galaat TheMetropolitanOpera House,Lincoln Centeron Sunday inNew York City.AFP PHOTO

Japans government-sponsored researchlaboratory AIST unveils the newhumanoid robot HRP-4C. It is 158 cmtall and weighs 43 kg and is able tomake human face-like motions. TheHRP-4C, called Cybernetic Human, has42 actuators and several sensors on itsbody and will debut at a fashion showin Tokyo later this month. AFP PHOTO

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