Mall-function

Being bored going the same way, I decided to take a long different to reach my office today and I had to pass through the newly opened Phoenix Mall in Velachery. Though I had some plans of giving it a visit the earlier week, couldn't make it. So I was thinking (and also making plans) of visiting it. Then from no where certain thoughts hit me.

Phoenix Mall @ Velachery
Image Courtesy - The Hindu

Chennai has already got quite a few malls inc the good old Spencer Plaza, cozy Citi Center, adorable Ampa, enormous EA, Alsa, Abirami et al. And now a new mall; now the question arises, WHY?

This can have several answers. Approachability - Most of the malls are situated in the central / central-northern parts of Chennai and the people residing down need their own ones. Fine. Real Estate - These kind of centers surely do uplift the surroundings and increase the value of the land surrounding them, giving a good time to the real estate promoters and the kind. Good. Brand - The shopping malls and the brands associated with them surely do uplift the soul and image of the city. Great.

While pondering over the other side of the coin, we get certain other valid points too. Our state..we'll localize to our city, is already reeling over several issues - power deficit, traffic snarls, diversions due to the construction of the metro rail, bad roads at places, conditions of roads during the rainy days (not to mention the condition of Velachery during the rainy times :P; only a Chennaite would know that :D), the congested locality and few more that I may not be aware of.

Thus saying I leave my case here open.

I'm not against any kind of 'good' development. As and when a new mall is opened we almost abandon the older ones. Spencer is rotting due to lack of maintenance (this is attributed to the loss of patronage) and the Citi Center is awaiting a similar fate. And in future the others may be heading there as new ones pop up. The real need of the hour is to revamp the existing landmarks, put them into proper and regular maintenance and enhance their reachability, rather than opting for new ones.

P.S: While typing this post, alongway I planned my visit to the Phoenix Mall along with my friends, and my review about the mall coming soon ;)

Ref :
Malls can play a crucial role in urban development
Netizens speak

tHE lAW oF tHE gARBAGE tRUCK

Of late, there is some change within myself which I regret a lot, though I lost that feeling of regret once I started reading this book. I have not yet finished this book, while typing this post, though it has brought about a great change in my life and the way I think.

Though I was pretty normal all these days, all of a sudden some sort of changes occurred due to the arise of some strange thoughts in my mind. All of a sudden I got a thought as if I’m the last person on earth and the others have perished leaving me all alone here. I myself don’t know the exact reason for this sort of solitary feeling. Though I always loved being myself and being alone, for a few days I got this sort of thoughts. And ‘coz of this, I even stooped doing my favorite jobs – reading and writing. Rather I just sat alone and thought of some stupid stuffs.

It was then that one day I just went to the library in my neighborhood and my hands lay on this book. I thought it might be interesting and got it issued.

On reaching home, the book was laid to rest for a period of 4 days, when I just lost my memory that I had taken a book and I’ve got to read it.

Then one fine morning I opened the book to read it…

…

WHAT IF YOU COULD TAKE CONTROL OF YOUR LIFE WITH ONE DECISION?

   You can.

   I wrote this book to show you how.

…

Image Courtesy - Amazon

These were the only lines written by the author, David J.Pollay in the first page of the book and it really got me into it. By the way I forgot to mention the caption that appears on the cover page ( image above )

..How to Respond to People Who Dump on You, and How to Stop Dumping on Others…

I suppose I need not say more about the what this book might contain. The message is very much clear in the cover page and the first page. What exists in the 244 other pages is just the expansion of these lines. And I don’t consider myself, to be that intelligent and or in possession of any such trait and I began my journey through the book. I’m nearing halfway and hope I finish it by today night.

As I said earlier, just by reading the beginning half, I understood the truth of life and got a clearer view around me.

God Bless

Romance on Facebook

Well well..this post isn't about any romantic encounters that I might have had in FB :P, but my opinion about a book which has the name.

Image Courtesy - Flipcart

As a FB addict and also familiar with many such 'incidents', I quite had an interest on seeing the title. The story started to be as this one - a woman from Mumbai, finds her teenage crush in FB, after 19 years. Now she is happily married and the guy is also married and settled in the U.S (I don't remember his state and its not of relevance here too) And she initiates the 'romance' by sending him a friend request along with a message and he also recognizes her. And slowly they start chatting over FB. 

Now I had mentioned that both of them are married and a special 'happily married' for Geethi, our heroine. Yeah, it forms a crucial part of the storyline. Now the question arises, where the hell is the romance between a 'happily married Indian woman' and some guy whom she last met 19 yrs back, that too settled in the U.S currently..?!

Our hero Sid aka Siddartha is a nothing short of a playboy who has had many casual + serious relationships until he was steady to settle down with Anu, his wife. Geethi's hubby Ravi is a perfect gentleman, by the Indian, as well as, the International standards. 

The introduction goes great and so does the story. Sid and Geethi start sharing their lives through messages through messages, and slowly each realize that they had a mutual crush while in Cuttack, 19 years ago while they were neighbors, but dared not to express it, given that it was way back in the 1980s, both of them were from conservative families and that Geethi was brought up in the orthodox Indian mindset. They were later separated coz of many reasons and they had no reason to worry as Geethi completed her higher studies and got married to Ravi(the best person in the novel, infact) and Sid had many encounters with women in the U.S.

As they kept sharing their lives, I got bored and decided to skip some pages and still they were doing the same business. I really lost my interest here, and at this juncture Sid indirectly hints on intimate physical relationship, which sends a bolt of lightening though the spine of Geethi. And Geethi stops her messaging with Sid (Missed out an earlier point - Sid asks for Geethi's phone number in their very first chat and she gently refuses - this story continues time and again)

Wait, the story doesn't end here, but rekindles the interest in the novel again. So grab a copy and give a read. It is worth reading the beginning and the ending.

God Bless

Chennai..

The post heading says so..and here I post about Chennai..

Honestly saying I never liked Chennai when I came here first, some 10 years back. I hated this place so much that I'd keep constantly grumbling and complaining.

..Paatha Pudikadhu, Paaka Paaka Than Pudikum..so goes the thathuvam. In the similar way, Irundha Pudikadhu, Iruka Iruka Than Pudikum Namma Chennai ah.

Chennai as seen from my home

Today I say that Chennai is one my most loved places. I'm not a avid traveler, but still I've traveled to many places all over India and clearly Chennai is one of the best cities around here to stay.

Within Chennai, my most favorite is home sweet home, in T.Nagar. If a novel were ever written on my life, the best part of it would go describing T.Nagar. If I love Chennai, it can be, or rather, it should be, attributed to this lovely place tucked within the heart of Chennai. When someone says T.Nagar to any person (Chennai person more specifically) the first thing that would remind them would be the showrooms and their discounts and the crowded streets. Of course they do exist, but the better portion of T.Nagar is its residential colonies, where I reside. I can keep on talking and posting about it, so I reserve a future post entirely for T.Nagar, which would be coming soon.

In an earlier post, I had described about some of the roads of Chennai. And here I go right about the city itself.

The first thing a person (especially a Bangalore person) gets reminded about Chennai, on hearing its name, is that, this place is hot and sultry. True that this place is hot and sultry, but one gets used to and even love it, and believe me, I cannot count a day, if I hadn't sweated out!!

The next thing is Cooum (+Adyar). Of course its true that these 'rivers of sorrow' flow right through the heart of Chennai, creating a stench, too awkward, though they drishti kazhuchify the remaining beauty of our Chennai.

Let's chuck out these and move on to the better of Chennai. Yep, the beaches. Given a choice between the hill and the ocean, I would always choose the ocean, coz I have a mild acrophobia :D The crowded Marina, the serene mouth of Adyar along the Broken Bridge, the short Elliots, the somewhere-along-way VGP, the coast along ECR, the far-away Kovalam, the marvelous Mamallapuram,  et al are really awe!!! And not to forget the promenades along some of these beaches.

An another fascination that I have is that for bridges. And here goes the list of those which I love in Chennai. The Napier Bridge, Chintradripet Bridge, Broken Bridge and its neighbor Thiru Vi Ka Bridge, Marmaimalai Adigal Bridge (previously Marmalong Bridge), Kotturpuram Bridge, and few more tiny ones whose name I dont even know. Please don't come to a conclusion that I've lost my ability to smell, as some of the above mentioned bridges fall under the 'stinkiest' places of Chennai :o :D Its just the serenity of space being present below my foot, fascinates me.

My love for Chennai goes still long and further, which continues in a future post. Take care and keep reading.

God Bless..

Training Days

The first post in the year 2013!! A great feeling of surviving the long awaited dooms day of 2012!! :D

This was the topic waiting a long, in the queue to be posted on..Yes my days in TCS. I had been long waiting to post on it right from the day I joined and i'm posting right after the day my training i.e., the initial phase of my days in TCS is done with!! OMG Procrastination!! High time I get rid of it!!!!!

A sneak of my office

Well, in a earlier post, I had mentioned about my meeting with Java and the continuation of it is still pending. And here I go about my experiences that I came across in those training days.

Posting after the entire stretch of training is done, proves an advantage too, as I can go about the entire thing rather posting a bit and 'hoping best for the rest'.

Let me start in the traditional way of starting a narration.....My training period started on 11th October. It was a bright day and I reached the office and was waiting out there. I met most of my college friends and was very excited very much and also relieved to meet most of my friends...blah...blah......and it ends here :P

Anyway there were not any roller-coaster moments or super-exciting twists worth to be mentioned and this period of time was a smooth boat ride. My technical moments were already said with HERE. It's time now for the other ones.

The IT field is the same as I had expected it to be, unlike the other times when my predictions go awkwardly wrong. Maybe it can also be too early for me to decide upon something.

The business-skill (biz-skills) sessions were the ones which I loved the most and was eagerly waiting for. Discovered several new stuffs and learnt many nuances in these sessions. And an another good thing was that my communication skills improved drastically compared to what I had in my college days and for this I have to appreciate myself and the others who helped me over this.

Let me stop with here, with this precise post. Catch you soon with my action in the forth coming days.

God Bless..