I admit am a novice at economics. I always keep thinking about how the 'cost of living' in India has shot up to unbelievable heights. Don't have a clue how middle class Indians are making ends meet.
back in 92 a masala-dosa at a hotel in my hometown cost 2.50, 10 years later it cost 11.00 rupees - more than quadrupled !
agreed, the salaries also went higher may be doubled ?
but what are the mechanics ..sorry.. economics behind this ?
thinking....
Sunday, February 13, 2005
Michael Madana Kama Rajan
Where do I start ? where do i stop ? - IMHO this is *THE BEST* movie ever made. Every single dialog will make you roll on the floor laughing. Especially when you do a character analysis.
Have seen this movie more than hundred times. Entire movie is almost by-heart now :-) I sometimes wonder whether I should do a Ph.D on the movie ;)
As hard is it for a creator to identify his best creations - it is equally hard to say which was the best character. Once again, the palakkad paati STANDS OUT.
I always wanted to ask Kamal/Crazy Mohan, who was the real person that 'inspired' the paati character :-))
More on the movie later....
Have seen this movie more than hundred times. Entire movie is almost by-heart now :-) I sometimes wonder whether I should do a Ph.D on the movie ;)
As hard is it for a creator to identify his best creations - it is equally hard to say which was the best character. Once again, the palakkad paati STANDS OUT.
I always wanted to ask Kamal/Crazy Mohan, who was the real person that 'inspired' the paati character :-))
More on the movie later....
Sunday, February 06, 2005
Superbowl
Well, thus far - the only thought the word 'superbowl' brought in my mind was the 'wardrobe malfunction' and the associate hype&hoopla media managed to create and beat the topic to death.
For a change, i watched the first American Football match and that was superbowl match :-) my roomie was kind enough to put with all the typicall starter/dumbo questions - i think can watch matches atleast - if not comment on it :-)
Coming from where I do, the first thing one tries to do now is to compare it with Cricket, Football and analyse why one sport is more interesting than other. Each game has its own pros&cons.
Verdict : I liked the game - am i gonna become a NFL buff ? - sorry roomie ;-)
For a change, i watched the first American Football match and that was superbowl match :-) my roomie was kind enough to put with all the typicall starter/dumbo questions - i think can watch matches atleast - if not comment on it :-)
Coming from where I do, the first thing one tries to do now is to compare it with Cricket, Football and analyse why one sport is more interesting than other. Each game has its own pros&cons.
Verdict : I liked the game - am i gonna become a NFL buff ? - sorry roomie ;-)
Thursday, February 03, 2005
Vidyasagar
The song ore manam from villain has been on my mind for couple of days now - it has been rendered soulfully by Hariharan /Chandana Bala
Vidyasagar is the music director.
Quite a talented music director. Has created very soulful melodies, catchy foot-tapping songs and equally listless/lifeless songs.
His style is a mixture of many different music directors on top of which he has created his own trademark. You can hear a IR, MSV and ARR - three legends in their own right. It is very tough to be not influenced by the style of any of these three music directors (which is why they stand apart from each other and at the same time stand out as composers)
He uses neo-age sounds/instruments setting the dreamy/wonderland ambience (ARR style), while the structure of his songs are typically IRish and melody ranges from punjabi bhangras, to pukka carnatic passages and western classic interludes, to fast foot-tapping desi numbers.
Durbari Kanada has proved to be his secret to producing chart-busters - but the remark does not do full justice to his ability. He has given many hit songs based on many ragas/styles and come out in flying colors. Early in his career background music (BGM) was a weak point - often people complained of high volumed instrumentation - now he has taken a 'leaf' out of Hollywood movies - e.g. just observe the opening piece of BGM in Dhool - if you heard the BGM withouth watching the visual - you would swear it is Hollywood movie :-)
Vidyasagar announced his arrival with Jai Hind and followed it up with Priyam - Dilruba and Karna, Villadhi Villan, Pasum Pon etc 2001-2003 was his golden era - where he was the undisputed producer of chart busters.
Some of his songs that you'd want to not miss are Dilruba (Priyam), Malare Mounama(Karna), Madisaru Kattindu(Villadhi Villan), Thamara Poo(Pasum pon), Vennilave Vellai Poove(some movie starring Arjun, Meena) , Aasai Aasai (Dhool), (Some songs from Miss Madras that fail me now), Un samayal Arayil (Dhill), Ore Manam (Villan), Nee Katru (Nilavee vaa), Poo Vasam, Mouname Parvayal (Anbe sivam).
The best is a fusion attempt on 'Endaro Mahanu' based on Sri Ragam - the fusion is simply 'hair raising' and gives you goose bumps - very nicely done.
His nemesis has been the 'run of the mill' movies and lack consistency i.e. the number of songs that are good in a movie is nowhere close to what he can create. Rarely do two songs in the same movie carry such high quality songs (compare it with ARR and some of IR when they create, you'd rarely want to skip any song in a movie). If he can cut down on such 'slackness' and make improve his consistency - he can enter into the hall of legends soon..
May he continue to produce wonderful melodies
Long live the ear for good music.
Vidyasagar is the music director.
Quite a talented music director. Has created very soulful melodies, catchy foot-tapping songs and equally listless/lifeless songs.
His style is a mixture of many different music directors on top of which he has created his own trademark. You can hear a IR, MSV and ARR - three legends in their own right. It is very tough to be not influenced by the style of any of these three music directors (which is why they stand apart from each other and at the same time stand out as composers)
He uses neo-age sounds/instruments setting the dreamy/wonderland ambience (ARR style), while the structure of his songs are typically IRish and melody ranges from punjabi bhangras, to pukka carnatic passages and western classic interludes, to fast foot-tapping desi numbers.
Durbari Kanada has proved to be his secret to producing chart-busters - but the remark does not do full justice to his ability. He has given many hit songs based on many ragas/styles and come out in flying colors. Early in his career background music (BGM) was a weak point - often people complained of high volumed instrumentation - now he has taken a 'leaf' out of Hollywood movies - e.g. just observe the opening piece of BGM in Dhool - if you heard the BGM withouth watching the visual - you would swear it is Hollywood movie :-)
Vidyasagar announced his arrival with Jai Hind and followed it up with Priyam - Dilruba and Karna, Villadhi Villan, Pasum Pon etc 2001-2003 was his golden era - where he was the undisputed producer of chart busters.
Some of his songs that you'd want to not miss are Dilruba (Priyam), Malare Mounama(Karna), Madisaru Kattindu(Villadhi Villan), Thamara Poo(Pasum pon), Vennilave Vellai Poove(some movie starring Arjun, Meena) , Aasai Aasai (Dhool), (Some songs from Miss Madras that fail me now), Un samayal Arayil (Dhill), Ore Manam (Villan), Nee Katru (Nilavee vaa), Poo Vasam, Mouname Parvayal (Anbe sivam).
The best is a fusion attempt on 'Endaro Mahanu' based on Sri Ragam - the fusion is simply 'hair raising' and gives you goose bumps - very nicely done.
His nemesis has been the 'run of the mill' movies and lack consistency i.e. the number of songs that are good in a movie is nowhere close to what he can create. Rarely do two songs in the same movie carry such high quality songs (compare it with ARR and some of IR when they create, you'd rarely want to skip any song in a movie). If he can cut down on such 'slackness' and make improve his consistency - he can enter into the hall of legends soon..
May he continue to produce wonderful melodies
Long live the ear for good music.
Wednesday, February 02, 2005
Empathy
I take public transportation to commute to my office - so i spend close to 2 hours everyday with strangers that I have never met before and may never meet again (well, I leave the propability to the mathematicians)
One could observe, at your own peril, many things that seem funny at first...you will a person suddenly shouting something and go silent- then you realize he has headphones on...a person talk and then realize, he in on a hands-free conversation with cellphone...and then people who suddenly laugh out loud (LOL) reading something...
I would look at them and would never understand how people can really LOL and that too *alone*.
On a related note, I picked up Scott Adam's (Best of Dilbert series) 'It is not Funny if I have to explain it' - Scott Adam's personal favorites with his commentary running below the strips.
Wait, before you think what has this got to do with this blog - beg you for your patience :-)
Man, does this guy have a genius for creativity :-) , ahem - well many of his strips (according to him were 'inspired' from real life incidents) have a real life parallel - so we will *HAVE* to give some credit to all of us ;-)
So far the best has been
Pointy Haired Boss (boss) to Alice : "Alice, your performance appraisal for this period is - 'Meets the expectations' "
Alice : (Furious) - "What ? I worked 80 hours a week and delivered all my projects on time"
Boss : "Well, I expected that"
:-)) before you roll on the floor laughing
Alice : "I earned two patents this year and our company can make millions out of it"
Boss : (Surprised) "Wow...really ?" (collects himself) "I mean, I expected that as well"
Alice : " I donated bone marrow twice to our customers"
Boss : " I noted that under the 'Attendance Problem' "
Dilbert to Alice : "Told you, that bone marrow thingie will come back to haunt you"
:-))
I literally jumped in my seat in the bus with laughter. I could see a few heads turning at me.....I now understand what 'Empathy' means :-)
One could observe, at your own peril, many things that seem funny at first...you will a person suddenly shouting something and go silent- then you realize he has headphones on...a person talk and then realize, he in on a hands-free conversation with cellphone...and then people who suddenly laugh out loud (LOL) reading something...
I would look at them and would never understand how people can really LOL and that too *alone*.
On a related note, I picked up Scott Adam's (Best of Dilbert series) 'It is not Funny if I have to explain it' - Scott Adam's personal favorites with his commentary running below the strips.
Wait, before you think what has this got to do with this blog - beg you for your patience :-)
Man, does this guy have a genius for creativity :-) , ahem - well many of his strips (according to him were 'inspired' from real life incidents) have a real life parallel - so we will *HAVE* to give some credit to all of us ;-)
So far the best has been
Pointy Haired Boss (boss) to Alice : "Alice, your performance appraisal for this period is - 'Meets the expectations' "
Alice : (Furious) - "What ? I worked 80 hours a week and delivered all my projects on time"
Boss : "Well, I expected that"
:-)) before you roll on the floor laughing
Alice : "I earned two patents this year and our company can make millions out of it"
Boss : (Surprised) "Wow...really ?" (collects himself) "I mean, I expected that as well"
Alice : " I donated bone marrow twice to our customers"
Boss : " I noted that under the 'Attendance Problem' "
Dilbert to Alice : "Told you, that bone marrow thingie will come back to haunt you"
:-))
I literally jumped in my seat in the bus with laughter. I could see a few heads turning at me.....I now understand what 'Empathy' means :-)
Wednesday, January 26, 2005
Of Courts & Justices
(From my collection)
Of Courts, Justice, Law and Law makers
Note: All of the legal terms here are entirely as interpreted by a layman. The author does not guarantee the validity of these interpretations.
Recently judicial system in India has taken proactive interest about all topics in India. This really seems to have started a lot of group-discussionsamong both legal & non-legal experts alike. The primary point of speculation being, what exactly is the judicial system responsible for. Are they responsible for upholding the constitution, upholding the implied and derived laws,upholding the implementation of laws,uphold control over creation of new laws,managing the government,running the government or acheiving zero contempt
cases
Whew, that was a long list.
Upholding the Constitution.
Constitution , describing the basic framework of responsibilities and rights ofentities of any given country, has also a mechanism of safeguarding the same;the mechanism we now call as Judicial system. It is a given thing that justiceis the primary objective of the mechanism.
This term 'justice' opens up a box, from which the points (listed above for discussion) start showing up one by one. I guess we all agree that there is nothing perfect in this world, which appliesto the definition of term 'justice'. Any fair interpretation or a look at thedictionary will define 'justice' as - being fair, honest, upholding morals/ethics.
This is where all the controversy starts. What is fair and honest today, might not have been fair yesterday and might not remain fair tomorrow. So will be the case with morals/ethics as well. And what is moral in one mind might not be moral in another. A socialistic system will say it is moral to steal from a rich guy to feed poor guys while on the other hand a capitalistic system will say it is not.
So are judges expected to be above all of this while delivering their judgementsor is it humanely possible to deliver judgements rising above such views ?
What we are imposing on judges, is to be non-personal, which is almost impossible. Rarely do decision-making process not depend on emotions. How else can one explain a lower-court ruling the same case in one-way while a higher-court rules in another way and benches of judges rarely agree on any judgement ?
The most talked about elections in USA (2000), ended by the bench of 9 judges, 7 voting in favor and 2 against. Does that mean, the same case heard by another set of judges might bring about a different result. One would not rule out the possibility.
Well, the same applies to the case being handled by different set of lawyers. People may argue that, jury system is a good alternative. Well it actually does not make the situation any better, primarily because, the fate of the accused entirely lies in the collective emotion of the jury members. The same argument of different set of jury members can/might produce a different result still applies. The point that is being made here, is justice is subjective as well. That being the case, can such a subjective decision cause capital punishments like death?.
So is there a way out ?. One would say there can be no perfect solution. Considering which, capital punishments should not imposed at all.
Upholding the implied and derived laws
Implied laws are very controversial. Take the typical example of the "lawbanning conversions" in Tamilnadu. People who oppose the argument say this.
Article 25 of the Constitution grants to citizens the right to freedom of religion and adds that all persons are equally entitled to freedom of conscience and the right to freely profess, practice and propagate religion. The right to interpret these terms rests with the judiciary. Additionally, the exercise of these rights is limited by the demands of public order, morality and health concerns. The right to freedom of religion does not include the license to build a temple in the middle of a public thoroughfare or to run down another religion
So what does the article 25 of Indian constitution say ?
"Freedom of conscience and free profession, practice and propagation of religion"
The term that is ambiguous is , what exactly does the founding fathers of the constitution mean by the term "propagation". Well, even themselves, when asked couple of times, might reply differently. On one-hand it can be said that freedom to propagate includes, freedom to convert. That to me is a very sound argument. On the other hand, Supreme court of India, in a landmark ruling...
Chief Justice Ray said, ``We have no doubt that it is in this sense that the word ``propagate'' has been used for what the Article grants is not the right to convert another person to one's own religion but to transmit or spread one's religion by an exposition of its tenets. It has to be remembered that Article 25 (1) guarantees ``freedom of conscience'' to every citizen and not merelyto the followers of one particular religion and that, in turn, postulates that there is no fundamental right to convert another person to one's own religion because, if a person undertakes the conversion of a person to his religion as distinguished from his effort to transmit or spread the tenets of his religion, that would impinge on the freedom of conscience guaranteed to all the citizens alike.
But, as often as they do, the constitution has additional clauses, that states can create their own laws to impose secularism. Well, that I guess brings us back to square one.
Now, where does that leave us ?.
Derived laws, brings the roles and responsibilities of lawmakers to judges. That in itself adds a new dimension to the already confused roles. The lawmakers and the acts within parliament in house, does not come under the legal purview of the judicial system. Makes perfect sense ( even though it has been abused time and again by our politicians, particularly M.Karunanidhi) that law-upholding people can't oversee lawmakers. But derived laws, manifest the very thing that constitution wanted to avoid, cyclic-power-struggle. Almost any new law (except the likes of cyber crimes) ends up as an extension of existing law.
So who decides and who overrules?
Upholding the implementation of laws
This, I guess, most of us are positive that, respective governments areresponsible for implementation. However, failure of non-implementation, is simply out of bounds for them. We will discuss this along with , "Achieving zero contempt cases". Contempt Is defined as disobeying, maligning the status of the court. As evidencedby the cauvery water imbroglio last winter, the supreme court was pretty handicapped. They could do nothing more than issue threats of contempt, but outcome was nothing. Till now, the issue has not been resolved and this winter it is going to stage a comeback.
The other aspect of contempt cases is suo-moto actions by judges themselves for people causing disrepute to the judicial system. I remember a famous quote (but as always fail to remember the 'quoter' ;) "The society can/will always speculate about judgements. It is the responsibility of the system to stay free from speculations and not the responsibility of society, to not speculate".
As complicated it might sound, it is as simple as saying, do hold people for contempt of court just because they differ with the opinion of the presiding judge. It is the responsibility of judge themselves to make sure they do NOT allow room for such speculations and accusations. Recent developments tend to indicate an inclination to file a contempt petition at the drop of a hat. However people manage to by-pass the system.
Uphold control over creation of new laws This was discussed earlier along with the topic of "implied and derived laws".
To summarize, most new laws are typically an amendment to an existing law. As long as they do not violate constitutional guarantees, amendments are allowed. Can this be technically possible? Let us consider the implications. If any changes to existing constitution is to be permitted, it should not affect any other laws. But, I thought amendments were meant to do that!
If it is an entirely new law, like the One-man one-post law by Tamilnadu government what jurisdictional guidelines will the justice system follow? (I can already hear somebody say this is not a new law). How much ever unfair a law may sound, hey it is "the law". I fail to understand, the point of questioning new laws in the court.
Finally,
Managing and Running the Government Of late, every court seems to come up with observations on the lines of Why the Government chose a particular way of doing things as opposed to another.What I fail to see is, as long as both ways are legal, how does this fall underthe jurisdiction of the justice system. One would always think, that administrative decisions, as long as theyare legally valid, should not and would not be questioned by the law. Recently,in the TN-Government vs. Employee union's case, the High-court bench came up with this question.
"If the striking government servants are willing to come for negotiations, why can't you negotiate?'' When the AG said it was not a legal issue before the court, Mr. Justice Reddy retorted: ``Why not? This is not a magistrate court. This is a court of justice, not just a court of law''
Well, well, well. I beg to differ from the views of the honorable justice. The people running the Government have their own constraints to be working with. One does not see the point in questioning such government decisions. If it is perfectly legal for government to choose one-way or the other, then it is the government's prerogative. Where is the scope for discussion?
Everyone would agree that, court can agree or disagree with the opinion. But in the process of disagreement, the observations/reasons sometimes sound unreasonable.
So going by the above argument, the unions can do whatever they like, whenever they like and when they decide to negotiate, the Government have to sit with them for negotiations? That to me sounds unreasonable.
Well, arguments like, if tenant refuses to vacate rented premises, and owner initiating removing them from the premises action, would be very tough. Since, the tenant might now want to negotiate, does that mean the owner have to sing & dance to the tunes of the person holding him by ransom?
To sum up,
The role of people acting in the Justice-system is very tough and demands Superior skills than ordinary people, because they have to stand above individual preferences to deliver unbiased, unemotional judgements.
The role of people who provision such people who work for justice-system is even more tougher, because it is their responsibility to recruit people who can perform in the Justice-system, the way they are supposed to.
It would only be a jewel in the crown, if all of these people realized how precious their powers are and started channelising them for a better living & framework for the country.
Of Courts, Justice, Law and Law makers
Note: All of the legal terms here are entirely as interpreted by a layman. The author does not guarantee the validity of these interpretations.
Recently judicial system in India has taken proactive interest about all topics in India. This really seems to have started a lot of group-discussionsamong both legal & non-legal experts alike. The primary point of speculation being, what exactly is the judicial system responsible for. Are they responsible for upholding the constitution, upholding the implied and derived laws,upholding the implementation of laws,uphold control over creation of new laws,managing the government,running the government or acheiving zero contempt
cases
Whew, that was a long list.
Upholding the Constitution.
Constitution , describing the basic framework of responsibilities and rights ofentities of any given country, has also a mechanism of safeguarding the same;the mechanism we now call as Judicial system. It is a given thing that justiceis the primary objective of the mechanism.
This term 'justice' opens up a box, from which the points (listed above for discussion) start showing up one by one. I guess we all agree that there is nothing perfect in this world, which appliesto the definition of term 'justice'. Any fair interpretation or a look at thedictionary will define 'justice' as - being fair, honest, upholding morals/ethics.
This is where all the controversy starts. What is fair and honest today, might not have been fair yesterday and might not remain fair tomorrow. So will be the case with morals/ethics as well. And what is moral in one mind might not be moral in another. A socialistic system will say it is moral to steal from a rich guy to feed poor guys while on the other hand a capitalistic system will say it is not.
So are judges expected to be above all of this while delivering their judgementsor is it humanely possible to deliver judgements rising above such views ?
What we are imposing on judges, is to be non-personal, which is almost impossible. Rarely do decision-making process not depend on emotions. How else can one explain a lower-court ruling the same case in one-way while a higher-court rules in another way and benches of judges rarely agree on any judgement ?
The most talked about elections in USA (2000), ended by the bench of 9 judges, 7 voting in favor and 2 against. Does that mean, the same case heard by another set of judges might bring about a different result. One would not rule out the possibility.
Well, the same applies to the case being handled by different set of lawyers. People may argue that, jury system is a good alternative. Well it actually does not make the situation any better, primarily because, the fate of the accused entirely lies in the collective emotion of the jury members. The same argument of different set of jury members can/might produce a different result still applies. The point that is being made here, is justice is subjective as well. That being the case, can such a subjective decision cause capital punishments like death?.
So is there a way out ?. One would say there can be no perfect solution. Considering which, capital punishments should not imposed at all.
Upholding the implied and derived laws
Implied laws are very controversial. Take the typical example of the "lawbanning conversions" in Tamilnadu. People who oppose the argument say this.
Article 25 of the Constitution grants to citizens the right to freedom of religion and adds that all persons are equally entitled to freedom of conscience and the right to freely profess, practice and propagate religion. The right to interpret these terms rests with the judiciary. Additionally, the exercise of these rights is limited by the demands of public order, morality and health concerns. The right to freedom of religion does not include the license to build a temple in the middle of a public thoroughfare or to run down another religion
So what does the article 25 of Indian constitution say ?
"Freedom of conscience and free profession, practice and propagation of religion"
The term that is ambiguous is , what exactly does the founding fathers of the constitution mean by the term "propagation". Well, even themselves, when asked couple of times, might reply differently. On one-hand it can be said that freedom to propagate includes, freedom to convert. That to me is a very sound argument. On the other hand, Supreme court of India, in a landmark ruling...
Chief Justice Ray said, ``We have no doubt that it is in this sense that the word ``propagate'' has been used for what the Article grants is not the right to convert another person to one's own religion but to transmit or spread one's religion by an exposition of its tenets. It has to be remembered that Article 25 (1) guarantees ``freedom of conscience'' to every citizen and not merelyto the followers of one particular religion and that, in turn, postulates that there is no fundamental right to convert another person to one's own religion because, if a person undertakes the conversion of a person to his religion as distinguished from his effort to transmit or spread the tenets of his religion, that would impinge on the freedom of conscience guaranteed to all the citizens alike.
But, as often as they do, the constitution has additional clauses, that states can create their own laws to impose secularism. Well, that I guess brings us back to square one.
Now, where does that leave us ?.
Derived laws, brings the roles and responsibilities of lawmakers to judges. That in itself adds a new dimension to the already confused roles. The lawmakers and the acts within parliament in house, does not come under the legal purview of the judicial system. Makes perfect sense ( even though it has been abused time and again by our politicians, particularly M.Karunanidhi) that law-upholding people can't oversee lawmakers. But derived laws, manifest the very thing that constitution wanted to avoid, cyclic-power-struggle. Almost any new law (except the likes of cyber crimes) ends up as an extension of existing law.
So who decides and who overrules?
Upholding the implementation of laws
This, I guess, most of us are positive that, respective governments areresponsible for implementation. However, failure of non-implementation, is simply out of bounds for them. We will discuss this along with , "Achieving zero contempt cases". Contempt Is defined as disobeying, maligning the status of the court. As evidencedby the cauvery water imbroglio last winter, the supreme court was pretty handicapped. They could do nothing more than issue threats of contempt, but outcome was nothing. Till now, the issue has not been resolved and this winter it is going to stage a comeback.
The other aspect of contempt cases is suo-moto actions by judges themselves for people causing disrepute to the judicial system. I remember a famous quote (but as always fail to remember the 'quoter' ;) "The society can/will always speculate about judgements. It is the responsibility of the system to stay free from speculations and not the responsibility of society, to not speculate".
As complicated it might sound, it is as simple as saying, do hold people for contempt of court just because they differ with the opinion of the presiding judge. It is the responsibility of judge themselves to make sure they do NOT allow room for such speculations and accusations. Recent developments tend to indicate an inclination to file a contempt petition at the drop of a hat. However people manage to by-pass the system.
Uphold control over creation of new laws This was discussed earlier along with the topic of "implied and derived laws".
To summarize, most new laws are typically an amendment to an existing law. As long as they do not violate constitutional guarantees, amendments are allowed. Can this be technically possible? Let us consider the implications. If any changes to existing constitution is to be permitted, it should not affect any other laws. But, I thought amendments were meant to do that!
If it is an entirely new law, like the One-man one-post law by Tamilnadu government what jurisdictional guidelines will the justice system follow? (I can already hear somebody say this is not a new law). How much ever unfair a law may sound, hey it is "the law". I fail to understand, the point of questioning new laws in the court.
Finally,
Managing and Running the Government Of late, every court seems to come up with observations on the lines of Why the Government chose a particular way of doing things as opposed to another.What I fail to see is, as long as both ways are legal, how does this fall underthe jurisdiction of the justice system. One would always think, that administrative decisions, as long as theyare legally valid, should not and would not be questioned by the law. Recently,in the TN-Government vs. Employee union's case, the High-court bench came up with this question.
"If the striking government servants are willing to come for negotiations, why can't you negotiate?'' When the AG said it was not a legal issue before the court, Mr. Justice Reddy retorted: ``Why not? This is not a magistrate court. This is a court of justice, not just a court of law''
Well, well, well. I beg to differ from the views of the honorable justice. The people running the Government have their own constraints to be working with. One does not see the point in questioning such government decisions. If it is perfectly legal for government to choose one-way or the other, then it is the government's prerogative. Where is the scope for discussion?
Everyone would agree that, court can agree or disagree with the opinion. But in the process of disagreement, the observations/reasons sometimes sound unreasonable.
So going by the above argument, the unions can do whatever they like, whenever they like and when they decide to negotiate, the Government have to sit with them for negotiations? That to me sounds unreasonable.
Well, arguments like, if tenant refuses to vacate rented premises, and owner initiating removing them from the premises action, would be very tough. Since, the tenant might now want to negotiate, does that mean the owner have to sing & dance to the tunes of the person holding him by ransom?
To sum up,
The role of people acting in the Justice-system is very tough and demands Superior skills than ordinary people, because they have to stand above individual preferences to deliver unbiased, unemotional judgements.
The role of people who provision such people who work for justice-system is even more tougher, because it is their responsibility to recruit people who can perform in the Justice-system, the way they are supposed to.
It would only be a jewel in the crown, if all of these people realized how precious their powers are and started channelising them for a better living & framework for the country.
Saturday, January 01, 2005
Book Review Archives
This is central gateway from where you could link upto (m)any of my book reviews. This will be updated when new reviews are posted. Bookmark it, comeback often and let us share the high & not so high moments of books together :-)
Tip : It is sorted reverse chronologically based on the review date. Please scroll down to the album or use the 'Ctrl+F' key on your browser to type in the Book name and then click on the name to get to the review page.
Last Updated : Sep-27-2005
Tip : It is sorted reverse chronologically based on the review date. Please scroll down to the album or use the 'Ctrl+F' key on your browser to type in the Book name and then click on the name to get to the review page.
Last Updated : Sep-27-2005
Music Review Archives
This is central gateway from where you could link upto (m)any of my music reviews. This will be updated when new reviews are posted. Bookmark it, comeback often and let us enjoy the musical journey together :-)
Tip : It is sorted reverse chronologically based on the review date. Please scroll down to the album or use the 'Ctrl+F' key on your browser to type in the album name and then click on the album to get to the review page.
Last Updated : Mar-4-2006 ***
Tip : It is sorted reverse chronologically based on the review date. Please scroll down to the album or use the 'Ctrl+F' key on your browser to type in the album name and then click on the album to get to the review page.
Last Updated : Mar-4-2006 ***
Monday, November 22, 2004
Saturday, October 30, 2004
Swa'des Music Review
Swades by A.R.Rahman
Rahman returns to the stables of Ashutosh Gowrikar after the grand musical success of Lagaan. The same combo of lyrics by Javed Akthar and music by Rahman has produced the magic again. Some of the people that I talk to feel that it is like Lagaan. They are not wrong - the musical structure/theme of the songs are very similar if not the same.
Without much further ado let us get right to the songs.
Yuhi Chala Chal : Udit Narayan, Kailash Kher, Hariharan
This is a typical Rahman number (critics - does not mean this is a repetition). Since 1995 when Rahman fever caught all the music directors throughout the country - there has been a deep divide in the 'type' of songs and 'sound' of songs. 'type' points to either traditional howling of bunch of violinists playing to a reach the highest note they can before the song starts ;) - the stereotypical hindi song or the ARR kinda a hum here, a stringed instrument there, a piece on the flute to back it up and a catchy rhythm. 'sound' essentially is the recording quality. Almost every song that has been ever recorded after 1995 falls under either category with almost equal representation. With such an elaborate definition of 'typical' rahman number, let us move on with the actual song.
It is a techno-funky sung starts with a brief but nice alaap and catchy rhythm with strings throughout. Udit provides the nice & easily melliflous flow to the song while Kailash brings the classical touch with an 'odd' voice -the best way to describe his voice is 'not run of the mill; but still nice'.With a brief interlude, the first stanza sets in along the expected lines with a melody line to finish the stanza. The second interlude is nice but sets the pace for the second stanza - where there is a nice improvisation by Kailash.The third stanza has a nice dreamy ambience to it and Kailash finishes it in style - where he sounds almost like Nusrat Fateh Ali.The song is a long one 7.30 ! - but enjoyable to the second.
Arvind's Rating 4 out of 5
Yeh Tara Woh Tara : Udit Narayan
This is what has come to be called nowadays as the standard ARR-Udit package. In structure it is very similar to 'Mitwa' from Lagaan.
The opening of the song is nice with lots of chords backing up which is not quite the usual ARR style. The interlude is a cutely arranged melodious piece in style of western classical and followed by the first stanza. The stanza is nicely done with Naveen having wonderful time on the flute, which translates into listener's joy!. The second interlude is quite lovely with a nice flute alaa. It borders along the lines of the song, very closely to speak :) - an extension of the 'theme' of the song. The second stanza is the same as first stanza. Kiddo 'Master Vignesh' follows the second stanza and he does his part nicely after which a faster paced tabla based rhythm sets in for the third stanza. The impeccable flautist he is, Naveen, does a wonderful job backing up the lines. (IMHO) digitally modified voice of Vignesh, who sang the first piece surfaces for a chorus ending of the song.
Rating 4 out of 5
Dekho Na : Alka Yagnik, Udit Narayan.
This is a rehash of 'Baba Keechu tha' from Baba (Rajini's lifetime flop ;) ). IMHO this song is the only odd one out of the otherwise wonderfully done album. Not to say this is bad, this still is better than other run-of-the-mill junkies we are dished out by the so-called music directors(plural for the pairs -the more the number of people in composing the worser the quality of the album, with the exception of Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy) Occasional segments still ooze melody like the sections between 1.12-1.30. & 2.30-2.45. The first interlude is simply wonderful. The stanzas themselves are nothing much to write home about. The song just switches from one mode of melody to another - leaving a feeling of disconnect between the lines.
Rating 3 out of 5
Pal Pal Hai : Madushree, Vijay Prakash, Ashutosh Gowrikar.
Simply the best song of the album and ranks along with some of ARR's best of bests. It is a devotional song. Most people(I dont understand hindi)tout as wonderful lyrics extolling praises of Ramayana.
The song starts with a haunting melody that forms the backbone of the song with nice mridangam/tabla back up. The first few lines themselves gives you goose bumps with such passionate music and adequately sung
Interlude starts wonderfully to be intercepted by the narration of Ashutosh.
The first stanza is a very very nice work on harikhamboji,kaapi lines. Naveen once again plays the role of bridesmaid but what wonderful touch God has blessed this man with such talent. Long live his touch with flute!. One word 'Excellent'
Second interlude, is a stereo-typical Darbaari Kaanada flute/veena arrangement. Nicely done.
Second stanza is wonderfully done on Hamirkalyani. I felt that there should have been more in that stanza than what was offered. That is where I feel ARR teases you leaving you longing for more - intoxication/addiction ?
The grand finale is unbelievably passion evoking. One will start dancing unconsciously to the tune.
As said earlier, one of the best songs of ARR
Rating 5 out of 5 (can I rate it as 51/2 of 5 - it would be a better reflection on the song ;) )
Aahista : Udit Narayan, Sadhana Sargam.
ARR seems to have been in a mood for 'Charukesi' while he composed a set of songs like 'Udaya' from 'Udhaya' & 'Aahista' and from E20U18 etc
The song starts with beautiful hum by Udit - soothing to the core, melody flowing all over you like the river over the marbles in its way. This has become one of the favorites of mine for 'peaceful-balcony' hearing i.e. the world is dark, you out on the balcony with just earphones on - staring at the stars that seem to wink at you and pleasantly caressing mildly chil breeze and this song ! if only every feeling can be like this :) would you want the pleasure of sleeping or pleasure of listening to the song ? or would you sleep lightly to wake up to the pleasure of the song continuing to only lose your sleep to the music again ?
The interlude is simply beautiful with electronic version of xylaphone adding more pleasure to the opening. The stanza takes you through a path of tilting melody bordering on sadness adequately evoked by the background instruments. Second interlude continues from where the first one left off - second stanza starts with Udit's humming panning out and Sadhana taking over. Here i'd like to add a note saying that Sadhana, as wonderful as she sounds in other languages, for some reason i dont find her as appealing in Hindi !- she breaks the jinx with this song. Her voice expresses ever so slight in changes of notes like one would notice a coin rolling down a road.
I have to confess am deeply addicted to such kinda songs. Simple superb !
Rating 5 out of 5
Saanwariya : Alka Yagnik
This is another wonderfully done song by ARR. The song opens with a nice arrangement that evokes memories of 'Mahive' from 'TLOBS'. vocals themselves starts with unconventional notes - along the lines of 'Vennila Vennila' from 'Iruvar' continues along the same structure backed by a nice and easy rhythm. With occasionally so 'cool' chords thrown here and there.
The brief interlude is followed by a tabla setting for the first stanza, which in itself is very nice - but Alka once again sounds so shrill when she hits the high notes.The second interlude is very nicely done.Stanza follows without any surpises. Song ends once again with a lovely arrangement with a hum on the lines of raaga 'Maand'. The instrumental piece that takes over from Alka is excellent.
Feel Asha would have done better justice to the song
Rating 4.5 out of 5
Rahman returns to the stables of Ashutosh Gowrikar after the grand musical success of Lagaan. The same combo of lyrics by Javed Akthar and music by Rahman has produced the magic again. Some of the people that I talk to feel that it is like Lagaan. They are not wrong - the musical structure/theme of the songs are very similar if not the same.
Without much further ado let us get right to the songs.
Yuhi Chala Chal : Udit Narayan, Kailash Kher, Hariharan
This is a typical Rahman number (critics - does not mean this is a repetition). Since 1995 when Rahman fever caught all the music directors throughout the country - there has been a deep divide in the 'type' of songs and 'sound' of songs. 'type' points to either traditional howling of bunch of violinists playing to a reach the highest note they can before the song starts ;) - the stereotypical hindi song or the ARR kinda a hum here, a stringed instrument there, a piece on the flute to back it up and a catchy rhythm. 'sound' essentially is the recording quality. Almost every song that has been ever recorded after 1995 falls under either category with almost equal representation. With such an elaborate definition of 'typical' rahman number, let us move on with the actual song.
It is a techno-funky sung starts with a brief but nice alaap and catchy rhythm with strings throughout. Udit provides the nice & easily melliflous flow to the song while Kailash brings the classical touch with an 'odd' voice -the best way to describe his voice is 'not run of the mill; but still nice'.With a brief interlude, the first stanza sets in along the expected lines with a melody line to finish the stanza. The second interlude is nice but sets the pace for the second stanza - where there is a nice improvisation by Kailash.The third stanza has a nice dreamy ambience to it and Kailash finishes it in style - where he sounds almost like Nusrat Fateh Ali.The song is a long one 7.30 ! - but enjoyable to the second.
Arvind's Rating 4 out of 5
Yeh Tara Woh Tara : Udit Narayan
This is what has come to be called nowadays as the standard ARR-Udit package. In structure it is very similar to 'Mitwa' from Lagaan.
The opening of the song is nice with lots of chords backing up which is not quite the usual ARR style. The interlude is a cutely arranged melodious piece in style of western classical and followed by the first stanza. The stanza is nicely done with Naveen having wonderful time on the flute, which translates into listener's joy!. The second interlude is quite lovely with a nice flute alaa. It borders along the lines of the song, very closely to speak :) - an extension of the 'theme' of the song. The second stanza is the same as first stanza. Kiddo 'Master Vignesh' follows the second stanza and he does his part nicely after which a faster paced tabla based rhythm sets in for the third stanza. The impeccable flautist he is, Naveen, does a wonderful job backing up the lines. (IMHO) digitally modified voice of Vignesh, who sang the first piece surfaces for a chorus ending of the song.
Rating 4 out of 5
Dekho Na : Alka Yagnik, Udit Narayan.
This is a rehash of 'Baba Keechu tha' from Baba (Rajini's lifetime flop ;) ). IMHO this song is the only odd one out of the otherwise wonderfully done album. Not to say this is bad, this still is better than other run-of-the-mill junkies we are dished out by the so-called music directors(plural for the pairs -the more the number of people in composing the worser the quality of the album, with the exception of Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy) Occasional segments still ooze melody like the sections between 1.12-1.30. & 2.30-2.45. The first interlude is simply wonderful. The stanzas themselves are nothing much to write home about. The song just switches from one mode of melody to another - leaving a feeling of disconnect between the lines.
Rating 3 out of 5
Pal Pal Hai : Madushree, Vijay Prakash, Ashutosh Gowrikar.
Simply the best song of the album and ranks along with some of ARR's best of bests. It is a devotional song. Most people(I dont understand hindi)tout as wonderful lyrics extolling praises of Ramayana.
The song starts with a haunting melody that forms the backbone of the song with nice mridangam/tabla back up. The first few lines themselves gives you goose bumps with such passionate music and adequately sung
Interlude starts wonderfully to be intercepted by the narration of Ashutosh.
The first stanza is a very very nice work on harikhamboji,kaapi lines. Naveen once again plays the role of bridesmaid but what wonderful touch God has blessed this man with such talent. Long live his touch with flute!. One word 'Excellent'
Second interlude, is a stereo-typical Darbaari Kaanada flute/veena arrangement. Nicely done.
Second stanza is wonderfully done on Hamirkalyani. I felt that there should have been more in that stanza than what was offered. That is where I feel ARR teases you leaving you longing for more - intoxication/addiction ?
The grand finale is unbelievably passion evoking. One will start dancing unconsciously to the tune.
As said earlier, one of the best songs of ARR
Rating 5 out of 5 (can I rate it as 51/2 of 5 - it would be a better reflection on the song ;) )
Aahista : Udit Narayan, Sadhana Sargam.
ARR seems to have been in a mood for 'Charukesi' while he composed a set of songs like 'Udaya' from 'Udhaya' & 'Aahista' and from E20U18 etc
The song starts with beautiful hum by Udit - soothing to the core, melody flowing all over you like the river over the marbles in its way. This has become one of the favorites of mine for 'peaceful-balcony' hearing i.e. the world is dark, you out on the balcony with just earphones on - staring at the stars that seem to wink at you and pleasantly caressing mildly chil breeze and this song ! if only every feeling can be like this :) would you want the pleasure of sleeping or pleasure of listening to the song ? or would you sleep lightly to wake up to the pleasure of the song continuing to only lose your sleep to the music again ?
The interlude is simply beautiful with electronic version of xylaphone adding more pleasure to the opening. The stanza takes you through a path of tilting melody bordering on sadness adequately evoked by the background instruments. Second interlude continues from where the first one left off - second stanza starts with Udit's humming panning out and Sadhana taking over. Here i'd like to add a note saying that Sadhana, as wonderful as she sounds in other languages, for some reason i dont find her as appealing in Hindi !- she breaks the jinx with this song. Her voice expresses ever so slight in changes of notes like one would notice a coin rolling down a road.
I have to confess am deeply addicted to such kinda songs. Simple superb !
Rating 5 out of 5
Saanwariya : Alka Yagnik
This is another wonderfully done song by ARR. The song opens with a nice arrangement that evokes memories of 'Mahive' from 'TLOBS'. vocals themselves starts with unconventional notes - along the lines of 'Vennila Vennila' from 'Iruvar' continues along the same structure backed by a nice and easy rhythm. With occasionally so 'cool' chords thrown here and there.
The brief interlude is followed by a tabla setting for the first stanza, which in itself is very nice - but Alka once again sounds so shrill when she hits the high notes.The second interlude is very nicely done.Stanza follows without any surpises. Song ends once again with a lovely arrangement with a hum on the lines of raaga 'Maand'. The instrumental piece that takes over from Alka is excellent.
Feel Asha would have done better justice to the song
Rating 4.5 out of 5
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