Saravana Stores in T.Nagar, Chennai is certainly a big success story of retail in India and comparable in their low price strategy only to Wal-Mart of USA.  I visited the “பிரமாண்டமாய்” store as it is called in Tamil after their popular launch TV ads few years back. I went with my wife and kid today evening as we wanted to buy a wall clock as gift for someone in the family. We dreaded the thought as the service in their stores are known to be bad to non-existent, and parking is impossible for miles around the store. Yet we braved it as we were looking for variety at a good price and nothing comes close to Saravana Stores for that combination.

Today was a normal working day so we presumed the crowd won’t be much – how wrong we were!. All the 7 floors were packed with people on every square inch, and each floor had over 100 of their staffs which made the place more crowded than it needs to be. If someone is brought blind-folded here they will certainly think some free distribution is going on here. You couldn’t see any item for more than 5 seconds in an aisle as you have to keep moving to give way to passing traffic. The management will do well for its customers if they remove one or two aisles in each floor to give more moving space.

All said, the varieties they have stocked in every item is as wide as it can get, it was incredible. Can you imagine, they have a whole floor in the annexure building for School Bags alone. If you consider Big Bazaar (BB) to be there competitor then BB will have only 20% of the variety Saravana Store has. After a 30 minute unforgettable shopping experience we came out in one piece. My 6 year old son being the most happiest of all – with 4 toys on his hand. I was happy too, as I spent only Rs.50 per toy against 10 times of that if I had gone to any other toy store in the city.

I heard few days back in RadioOne FM station, RJ Suchi say about a Mythology play "Maya Bazaar" to be performed by a 124-year old group "Surabhi". And it contains excellent special effects on stage. My son loves the story of Ghatotkatcha (after watching the film), so I decided to take him to play "Maya Bazaar" today at 3:30PM. Booked the tickets online. The group Surabhi is an entire performing family (everyone on stage and back stage are related and from the same family) and are experts at rope & pyro techniques and other special effects. You can read more about them and the synopsis of the play in the brochure they gave from here (PDF) .

 

The play was in Telugu language (I don't speak Telugu), still it was very enjoyable. They had over 50 artists  (as young 2 or 3 years to very elderly) perform brilliantly on stage. The special effects were awesome, especially considering today's viewers are used to 3D Graphics, Movies, XBOX and more. The notable scenes with special effects were a garden (with real water fountain), fireworks from Arrows, Rain to quash the fire, Bed floating on air, Narada coming down from sky,  the famous eating scene with laddos flying, birds flying, an eagle hunting a fish, dual-screen - hide and show Hero/Heroine at the same time and many more.

The play shows only today (two shows) in Chennai. If you get a chance to see this play next time (may be in Hyderabad) don't miss it.

Last Sunday I went with my son to Vandalur zoo (Arignar Anna Zoological park) near Chennai. It is about 25Kms from Chennai city on the NH45 national highway (the same road as Chennai Airport, Tambaram railway station) and driving there is easy once you cross Tambaram. There is ample car parking available inside the zoo premises. The Chennai suburban electric train service is another way to reach there with the station at walking distance from the zoo.

The zoo charges for entry are Adults: Rs.20, Children: Rs.10 and for Photo camera: Rs.25. You can see many varieties of animals, birds, fishes in the zoo. The zoo is situated on a large forest land with lot of space for each animals, so the area you need to cover is quite huge. There seems to be lot of vacant areas with no animals and the overall animal count seems to be low compared to the area of the zoo. You can cover the entire zoo in multiple ways:

1. by walk
2. by renting a cycle (just after the entrance in front of Hotel Tamilnadu)
3. buy a ride in the electric golf-carts (you need to wait for this in a queue)
4. buy a ticket in the zoo tours (in motor van or trams, these are to be booked in advance for the same day)

We went there in the afternoon (in the scorching sun, which was not a good idea) around 1:30PM. By the time we went options 2,3,4 were not available for us - so we took the trip by walk. We saw the animals near the entrance (Monkeys, etc.), then the birds and so on.

There are adequate number of resting area (shades) provided for sitting and relaxing, Toilet facilities are okay. The zoo severely lacks in food courts and cafeterias. Inside the zoo area there are a Aavin ice-cream booth, a small snack shop and in the entrance a restaurant Hotel Tamilnadu owned by Tamilnadu Government. After spending nearly two hours walking, we were tired and hungry - we wanted to get some snacks and my son wanted to eat a 'dosa'. At that time we were half-way inside the zoo, we walked all the way back to the entrance and went to Hotel Tamilnadu hoping for some eatables. To our utter dismay the restaurant was in bad condition (water stagnating on the floor), people having arguments with the billing counter staff (only one for a crowded zoo) and non-availability of any food. They don't seem to be serving Dosa/Idly or any other light snack - only rice items, veg and non-veg biryani's which too had ran out very soon. This re-enforced my general view that Governments (that too in India) have no business running a service industry, Hotel industry is a great example of that and you can add Resorts, Airlines to that list. We decided to cut-short our trip and came out of the zoo. The parking lot attendant helped us by suggesting a "Hotel Sangeetha" which was on the other side of the national highway, just opposite to the zoo. We drove down there, had some good Dosas and Fruit-Juice, came back re-energized.

We came back on time (had to buy the entrance ticket again) for our Lion Safari tour. We managed to book this ticket (advance booking for the 4:30PM tour) for the Lion Safari tour. The whole tour lasts for about 20 minutes and runs every hour twice. You are taken in a special caged van to a special enclosed area inside the zoo where lions are free to roam. The vehicle you are in goes very near to the Lions who are oblivious to our presence inside the van. If you are visiting Vandalur zoo don't miss this tour.

If you wish to see the entire zoo, you will need a full day (nearly from dawn to dusk) to cover it. Keep a good pair of walking shoes, sun cap, drinking water, food & eatables.

I have been delaying my promise to take my son to a "Zoo" in Chennai to see animals for few weeks now. Even though today was a Saturday I had some office work to complete (accounting related to be done before 31st March 2009), I completed them in the first half and returned home early. I took my son and we both went to "Guindy Children's Park", the Children's park and the Snake park (same campus) are both part of "Guindy National Park" situated in Adyar. The Guindy National park along with the adjacent IIT Madras campus and Raj Bhavan as seen in the Map here gives Chennai the much needed lung-space with greenery.

The last time I went to the park was when I was in school and I hardly remember from that visit, so I was not sure on how good the Children's park will be. Whether there will be enough parking for cars, will it be too crowded, opening timings, etc. Anyway I decided to go and check it out. I should say I have been pleasantly surprised - there was enough parking (even on a saturday), though there were lot of school excursions we never felt crowded as the place was big enough to accommodate all. The parks seems to be reasonably maintained, with few places you feel the authorities (Tamilnadu Forest Department) could be doing a better job at cleanliness and animal care. We did notice new name-boards and fences and more being built by workers.

The parks close by 6PM with the last visitors to be allowed at 5:30PM, we went to the Children's park first by 4:15PM  so we had a comfortable visit to both the parks and was out around 5:45PM. The parks are open on all days except Tuesday. The entry fee for Adults in both Children's Park and Snake's Park were Rs.5 each; with the Snake park alone charging for Children that too only Re.1. To see the animals (Hyena, Deers, Peacocks, Birds, Monkeys and others) in the Children Park it took us only about 60 minutes (we went slow and never rushed anywhere) and the next 20-30 minutes in Snake's park. The Children's park has animal enclosures and a large area for kids to play. 

Saravana Stores maintains the only available food-stall/canteen with a limited offering - Popcorn, Juices, Cold-Drinks, Ice-Cream and some snacks. I recommend you wear a comfortable walking shoes so you can walk the full park easily and a cap for the summer days in Chennai. Remember to carry Drinking Water with you. The rest-room facilities are not that clean and are limited in number (we could see some new one's being built) so please plan accordingly.

Overall, if you are in Chennai I recommend a visit here. If you are visiting Chennai, I will suggest you go to Arignar Anna Zoological Park (a.k.a. Vandalur Zoo) which is 30Kms from Chennai and to Chennai Crocodile park in ECR Road (my earlier post here on Crocodile Park).

The annual Chennai Trade Fair that happens in Island Grounds is a popular tourist event. You get all round entertainment for the family here - some shopping, rides, booths and government department stalls, etc.

Nowadays every year I go there to take my son in the Toy Train they have here. This year they seem to have added Horse rides, and few other attractions for kids. The Dora House was a total waste of money - just had two dolls of Dora and flashing lights. Tomorrow is the last day of this years' event, so we finally came here today - there is not much crowd at 7:30/8PM and they are open till 11PM,  and we had a good time. We tried coming here last sunday but the parking that day was full and flowing till Gymkhana club, so turned back. In the shopping stalls you get a variety of plastic items, toys, garments, cotton cloths, eatables, spices, herbal oils and so on. This year I saw a book shop too. I forgot to carry enough cash and there are no ATMs inside the fair or near-by, so we had to control our shopping urges which was good in a way. My wife says I did this intentionally!

BTW, this year the parking charges have been increased to Rs.40 (8 times the normal Rs.5 charged elsewhere by Chennai Corporation).

Can you trade in safety for convenience?. If you are like me driving every day in Ranganathan Street and Panagal park shopping areas in Chennai, you will conclude that pedestrians who come here have clearly opted in for convenience. Whether it is the T.Nagar Bus Terminus area (where for some reason people will start crossing only when the traffic light turns green, fighting in between the slow moving cars and two-wheelers) or Pothy's junction (where just after policemen has asked traffic to resume, few people will manage to run in between the slow moving vehicles) or the Ranganathan Street/Usman Road junction.

 

In the picture above (taken from my car today at 7PM while I was coming home) in front of Annai Sathya Bazaar (near Ranganathan Street), as you can see the authorities have kept barricades to prevent pedestrians (or to prevent vehicles going to the foot path) from crossing over into the two-way traffic road. If you see closely in the photo you will find two men (who came crossed the traffic from left) pushing the barricade and squeezing in; just after them over half-a-dozen followed the same route. All this inspite of the fact there is a zebra crossing with a policemen to control traffic just 10 feet away.

God save Chennai Pedestrians from harm from both themselves and our poor-planning civic authorities!

Apart from Marina beach, the popular hangouts in Chennai are Spencer's Mall and Chennai Citi Centre. I am a regular visitor to these malls with my family few times every month. This Thursday when I went to Spencer's around 6PM in the evening, I was told in the parking that due to TNEB power cuts - the ACs and Escalators will not work. We still decided to get in and brave it out. It turned out to be a complete wash-out. Many of the shops including Westside, Music world were closed down and remaining once like Landmark were nearly deserted. Since the interiors of these malls were made for an Air Conditioned environment, they have no natural air or light inlets - so it was unbearable to spend more than few minutes there.

I enquired with the check-out assistants in the shop and they confirmed that the power-cut is on all days including weekends. I purchased few books hurriedly and rushed out of the shop. We went to our favourite Fastfood snack shop in Second floor or Phase 2, it was also deserted.  This left me thinking on the impact of the power cut on the livelihood of the people in these shops. The bigger shops like Landmark and Westside will slash their staffs or their compensation. Apart from them, Spencer's has lot of small shops (like our favourite fast food  shop) owned by individuals whose only livelihood is the daily sales, which is severely being affected due to the falling footfalls.

When globally the world is suffering from a slow-down or recession, power-cut in Tamilnadu is adding an extra unbearable burden to businesses. And to think of it this could have been easily avoided by proper planning by authorities over the last few years. One of the main reasons for power shortage in India has been reluctance of all state governments to privatise power generation and power distribution which is strongly controlled by state owned power boards. Due to this, there is heavy inefficiency in both generation and distribution, with some reports claiming the power theft to be over several tens of percentages.

While doing my morning walking today (after a long time) in my neighbourhood, I saw these Public Safety Message boards kept by Chennai City Police at various places. These are aimed to educate people with simple lines along with an image on importance of common safety messages. A good initiative by the police and we should congratulate the sponsors who helped for this campaign.

(Click the above image for the entire album in full resolution)

While driving in the Chennai rains over the last two days this fact struck me. In most areas of Chennai there are hardly any road signs:

- No Pedestrian/Zebra Crossing marks on the road. This gives a good excuse for people to cross wherever they wish, and absence of X Crossings makes it difficult for drivers to identify crossings and slow-down.

- No lane markings, no Yellow/White lines in middle of the road. This makes it convenient for two-wheelers and three-wheelers to go on the opposite side and block the incoming traffic, again not that the lines will cure this but it can be a good start

- No uniform street name signs. Today you are lucky if you can spot a street name sign especially if you are in crowded market areas. Having US style street name boards at an height visible while driving will be useful, they also serve as good platform for future to host CCTV for surveillance.

For all this, the money can come from advertisement and sponsorship. I feel PPP (Public Private Partnership) here will work great.

Is anyone from Chennai Corporation of Tamilnadu government, listening this?

My son was selected in his school (Padma Seshadri Bala Bhavan) to participate in a fancy dress competition conducted in Chettinad School last week. The task of coming up with the theme and the dress was left to us parents.

The first was the theme (concept), after much wrangling between me and my wife, she came with the brilliant idea of doing Kannappa Nayanar story with the message on "Eye Donation". She said since I am an avid blogger I write well so she assigned me to writing the script (this is the downside of writing blogs I learned on that day ). Add to this she assigned me to write it in both languages - Tamil and English as we couldn't agree on which language our son will feel comfortable delivering. Here is the complete script in Tamil and English on Kannapa Nayanar story in brief with a message in the end on Eye Donation (Please feel free to use it if you have a need). 

The second was to source the costume. We needed a hunter dress complete with Deer skin (or like) bottom, Bow and Arrow, Cap, Beads Garland, etc. After some search in Internet I came across an article in "The Hindu" listing some costume hires. With that information and inputs from friends and relatives, we identified 3 shops in South Chennai. We went to all the three, all of them had the dress set we wanted for hire. On an average per day of hire they quoted Rs.100-150 and a refundable deposit of Rs.200-400. We went with the first shop listed below just because the dress looked slightly better than the others. 

1. K. Nathamuni & Sons (Theatre & Cine Hires & Suppliers), New #179 (Old #73) Kodambakkam High Road, Chennai - 17. Phone: 044-2345 5990, 4212 2229. If you are coming from Valluvar Kottam towards Vadapalani, instead of climbing the Kodambakkam Flyover, get into the small lane below (left hand side of the flyover, opposite to Murasoli office) after few shops you will find this one.
2. Nathrang & Co. (Hires of Cine & Dramatic Costumes of Historical & Social pattern & cartoon characters), Nathigam Press Building, First Floor, 97/55 Arcot Road, Chennai - 600 024. Phone: 044-2480 2489. 
3. Thangam Dresses (Costumes & Ornaments for Hire & Sale, Character Wigs, Turbens & Dresses, School Drama, etc.) 199 Arcot Road, Vadapalani, Chennai - 600 026. Phone: 044-2362 3467, 98415 53888, 98418 46888. This shop is exactly opposite to Vadapalani Police Station on Arcot Road itself, few shops from the Ring Road intersection.

The famous low price shopping destination in Chennai - Saravana Stores in Ranganathan Street (T.Nagar) unfortunately has got into flames from early morning today. From my house which is 1 or 2 kilometres from the site, standing on our water tank in 2nd floor we could clearly see the massive fumes. It is unfortunate that 20 of their employees who went in to control flames are yet to come out and are expected to be in danger - our prayers for their safe exit. About 5 to 6 fire engines from nearby and several of the firemen are fighting to control the flames.

ஓவியர் மதி அவர்களின் “அடடே” புத்தக வெளியிடு நேற்று மிக பிராமாண்டமாக “Music Academy"யில் நடைப்பெற்றது. இந்தப் புத்தகத்தை வெளியிடுபவரான எனது நண்பர் திரு.பத்ரி சேஷாத்ரி அவர்களின் அழைப்பில் விழாவிற்கு சென்றிருந்தேன். இப்படி ஒரு பெரிய விழாவைத் திட்டமிடுவது, இவ்வளவு எண்ணிக்கையில் இத்தனை சிறந்த முக்கியஸ்தர்களை சம்மதிக்க செய்து அழைப்பது, கடைசியாக அரங்கம் நிறையக் கூட்டத்தை வரவழைப்பது என்பது மிக மிக கடினம். எங்களது புத்தக (லிப்கோ) நிறுவனத்தில் எனது தந்தையின் இது போன்ற உழைப்பை நேரில் பார்த்தால் எனக்கு இந்த சிரமம் நன்றாகத் தெரியும். இவ்வளவு பாடுப்பட்டு  மிக சிறப்பாக செய்ததற்கு எனது நண்பர் திரு.பத்ரி சேஷாத்ரி நிச்சயம் சந்தோஷப் படலாம்.

It has been more than 2 decades since I have been to a Stadium to watch a cricket match live, the last time was during my School Days that too only once and I remember it vaguely . So yesterday when I went to MA Chidambaram Stadium (Chepauk, Chennai) with my son to see the match it was pure fun. I didn't want to go through the parking hassles so I left my car in a relatives house in Royappetah and went to the stadium in an Autorickshaw - a wise decision that helped us to reach to our seats by start of the match at 8PM. The atmosphere was dynamic with popular Tamil film songs playing for every 6 runs, 4 runs and during breaks. The stadium was packed with people everywhere - all were enjoying themselves, cheering the entertainment below by waiving, dancing, playing music & whistling. We got good seats in Gate 13 (T-3) area which was right in front of the pitch and with an excellent view.

The match was played between the home team "Chennai Super Kings" (owned by India Cements & captained by M.S.Dhoni) and "Mumbai Indians" (owned by Reliance Industries and captained by Harbhajan Singh in absence of Sachin Tendulkar).  My home team "Chennai Super Kings" won the match by 6 runs which was largely helped by the superb batting performance earlier by the pair of ML Hayden (Australia) and Suresh Raina (UP, India). Captain Dhoni came in during last few overs but entertained the crowd with his few hits to boundaries.

Everything was great during the match, except for the main scoreboard being updated poorly and for the hot Chennai summer weather. After few overs of second innings it was getting late and becoming unbearably hot, so we had our dinner in the MCC club below and returned home to watch the remaining overs in the comfort of Air Conditioning in our house . Will I do it again, certainly "Yes" for another IPL/T-20 match but next time not during the summer.

Today Tamilnadu CM was inaugurating at 5PM the Phase 1 of the mega bridge in Chennai Katipara junction on the way to Chennai Airport.

I went to Bangalore for a Morning-Evening trip today by flight and landed in Chennai around 6:30PM. My father gave me an idea to avoid the traffic jam at Katipara due to the event on my way from Airport to my house in West Mambalam - it was to take the local electric train. I did just that just, walked across the road from Airport to Tirusulam Station (I didn't know the under-pass was already opened today) bought a ticket for Rs.4 (unbelievable) and got down in West Mambalam. Took an Auto from there to my house paying Rs.25. The whole trip from Airport to my house took less than 25 minutes and I saved myself the hassle of waiting in Traffic Jams. The last time I travelled in Chennai electric train (though I more frequently travelled by train than now during my school/college days) was few weeks back when I came back from Bangalore by train, landed in Chennai Central and then taking the electric train from Park station to Mambalam.

These two trips set me thinking into the usefulness of several new bridges coming in Chennai including the recently opened Kodambakkam/Mahalingapuram bridge.  I am seeing the fact that over bridges don't help much other than employment to hundreds of bridge workers in short term - they simply move the traffic bottleneck from place to another. It is an established finding now around the world that the real solution is to build more of mass transport systems including Trains in more routes, Buses and to educate people on the advantages of using them. The next step will be to make it convenient for people to convert to these public transport by providing Air Conditioned Trains, Buses & Terminals, easy access to the terminals including underpasses & escalators, common smart card based ticketing systems for an integrated system (bus, train, metro) in the city. If you are not convinced travel to Singapore (or) London and use their public transport for few days.

Hope our policy makers are thinking on the same lines.

I have travelled in Chennai ECR road several times, but not even once I have stopped to go inside the Crocodile Park which is there. Today being a Sunday I was thinking of a place to take my son out and came up with this place. Though I have seen Crocodile parks in many zoos around the world, my only recollection of seeing them in Chennai are in my school days at Guindy National Park. So it was exciting for me as well to see them in Chennai

Madras Crocodile Bank (as it is called) is located 40 km from Chennai city (or 10 Km from Mamallapuram) along east coast road with the Bay of Bengal as a backdrop. We started off from my home around 3:30PM, reached 15 minutes to 5:00PM. The park is open till 6PM, so we spend nearly an hour going around the park. I was expecting a small collection of Crocs, but was surprised to find they have hundreds of them and of many species. The place is also quite spread out and neatly maintained. The Entry fee for Indians - Adults (Rs.30), Children (Rs.20), Still Camera (Rs.20). The place is worth going with your kids.

Dakshina Chitra

Last year or so, again one of the Sundays I went with my family to Dakshina Chitra. This is also in ECR Road about 21Km from Chennai. This is a cultural village that have replicas of South Indian Houses, heritage items, etc. replicating the cultural settings. All 4 southern states have presence here. I found it to be interesting for the first visit. If you want to learn about South India this is a must see place.

Few weeks back I got a phone call in my office number from some holiday club in Anna Nagar claiming that I have won for a free couple pass for holiday in their resorts. I was surprised for one that I am normally never lucky to win anything in a lottery and second I didn't remember entering any draw. On being asked the lady said that the draw was done on purchases made in shops (Nalli, Pothy's, Saravana Stores) in T.Nagar during the holiday season. I started to get suspicious (which I often do get) because I had not shopped in the mentioned shops recently, so I said I will send a messenger with my signed authorization so that they can handover the prize. The lady refused and insisted that I come in person with my wife to collect it. I said I will and disconnected the call, didn't think it was worthwhile to go all the way and that was it.

Yesterday in Suriyan FM Radio, the DJ announced that a recent con plot going around the city was doing exactly this. They call people to say they have won prizes, when they visit to collect it, brainwash them to buy useless items (or) strong-arm to make them part with their jewels and valuables. So Chennai residents be warned don't get fooled by the lure of prizes for competitions you never participated.

இன்றைய தினத்தை மத ஒற்றுமை நாள் என சொல்ல வேண்டும் போலிருக்கிறது. இன்று அனேக மதத்தினரின் பண்டிகைக்கள் நடைப்பெறுகிறது - இஸ்லாமிய மிலாடி நபி, கிறுஸ்துவ புனித வெள்ளி, இந்துக்களின் பங்குனி உத்திரம், வட இந்தியர்களின் ஹோலி. உலக ஒற்றுமைக்காக நாம் அனைவரும் பிராத்தனை செய்ய இதுவே சிறந்த நாள் போல்.

Yahoo! seems to be working overtime to complete as much as they can before the (almost) inevitable takeover from Microsoft. This week they released the first meaningful (and hence useful) map service for India. Earlier none of the three (Google, Microsoft, Yahoo!) had any useful data on India for maps. I read in blogosphere that Google was active in data collection by sponsoring with mapping instruments and paying volunteers for plotting Indian cities. That's about it. Now Yahoo! Maps for India seems to have beaten the other two by significant points. Go check it out.

 

I was impressed by Yahoo! maps features like Auto Fare, Walk the Route and above all "Vernacular" languages. I got a beautiful and correct directions in "Tamil" from our Habibullah Road office to Lakshmi Colony office in Chennai.

Y.Gee.Mahendra's UAA has released a new tamil play (drama) called "சுதேசி ஐயர்" (Sudeshi Iyer). The first show happened yesterday in Bharat Kalachar and today there was shows in Rani Seethai Hall. Seeing the banner near Duraiswamy subway yesterday, I went for the third show of the play today with my family. It was advertised as "சிரிப்போ சிரிப்பு, புதுமையோ புதுமை”, but my expectation was limited due to previous experiences with plays.

Fortunately, it turned out to be true, the play was certainly hilarious and enjoyable. Worth seeing. The story was not much, a 70 year old Swadeshi type Father wants to teach his family the illness of deteriorating value system in the materialistic world now. He takes them in a time machine to 1945 and the family gets to experience the world and value system in 1945, gets to see Mahatma Gandhi and they realize their mistakes. All this is told in a very hilarious and filled with jokes. My 4-1/2 year old son and my 75 year dad both enjoyed the play, that I guess speaks for wide audience satisfied by the play.

Does a city need so many FM Radio Stations all playing the same music?. In Chennai there are currently 8 major FM Stations:

1. All Indian Radio Rainbow
2. Suryan FM (Sun TV Group)
3. Radio Mirchi (Times Group)
4. Big FM (ADAG Group)
5. Aahaa FM (Kumudam Group)
6. Radio One (Mid-Day)
7. Hello FM (Malaimalar Group)
8. Radio City

The license issued by government prohibits them (other than AIR) from broadcasting NEWS, but that doesn't mean they can't play different music. All the above 8 channels (again exception being AIR) play only latest Tamil Film Albums. Each of them have few slots for other types of music but even that is miniscule compared to their overall Tamil Film programming.

Though I don't listen to Hindi or Telugu film music, I am wondering who will cater to those diaspora living in Chennai or for that matter Tamilians who are interested in Hindi Music. All the channels are same, with similar sounding RJs blabbering, SMS Polls, talk shows, etc. in between the same music collections. Why is there no niche stations playing different genre of music - say one for old Tamil songs, Carnatic Music, Western classical, Hindustani, Hindi Film Music and the likes.

If you have an idea why this is not happening, I am interested in reading your comments.

I finally finished reading the book "It happened in India", the reason I am saying finally is because that I have been reading this book for nearly 2 months but managed to complete the last 30 pages only today. The book is kind of an auto-biography of Mr.Kishore Biyani on the story of Pantaloons, Biz Bazaar & Central retail stores.Let me say at the beginning, I am a little biased in favour of Indian success stories - apart from being an Indian, the reason is because I feel there is a dearth of good books on Indian business stories.

The first thing that you notice when you pick the book is a close resemblance of the title It happened in India with Made in America (Sam Walton's classic book). When you start reading you will continue to see the unmistakable resemblance in the presentation format as well. The chapters are presented in a fashion of first person voice intertwined with quotes from various stake holders (business partners, employees & friends of the author). While reading the first few chapters this resemblance put me off a little as I thought Kishore Biyani had nothing original to say. Only after I finished nearly half of the book I realized how mistaken I was, the chapters starting to get interesting and the experiences outlined are very much India specific and original. Definitely Kishore Biyani and his team have to be congratulated on their exciting journey in the world of Indian retail and for brining many of the now common innovations. I was happy to read in pages 116-199, Kishore Biyani quoting Chennai's own Saravana Stores as the inspiration behind their Big Bazaar venture. He writes on how his team camped in Chennai visiting Saravan Stores every day for weeks in understanding their merchandise mix and pricing. The book tapers off towards the end where the author starts talking about his personal philosophies & beliefs on business.

Overall, a good book to read at an attractive price of Rs.99 (~USD 2.5)

I have been a member of an organization called INFITT from its inception around 2000. INFITT (International Forum for Information Technology in Tamil) a global, non-governmental, non-profit organization registered in California, USA. In Tamil known as "உத்தமம்" (உலகத் தகவல் தொழில்நுட்ப மன்றம்). Its main objective is to promote Tamil computing worldwide by bringing together professionals of Tamil IT, enthusiasts, Research Scholars and ordinary Tamils, so that Tamils can enjoy the benefits of all IT developments natively in Tamil environment.

Over the years I have participated in various working groups and activities of INFITT. Last year I was nominated as Chair to WG02 (Working Group 2 working on Tamil language related items with Unicode) and as Interim Vice-Chair. I am happy to write that now in 2008, we have successfully completed our elections at all levels (General Council and Executive Council) in a professional & transparent manner. I am honoured by the members for electing me unanimously to serve as their Vice-Chair for the period 2008-2009. I would like to thank all the members and Chair Dr.Kalyan for this honour through this post.

தமிழ் மையம் என்று ஒரு தன்னார்வ நிறுவனமும் தமிழக அரசின் சுற்றுலா மற்றும் கலை வளர்ச்சித் (ஆம் இந்த துறைகள் கூட தமிழக அரசிலுள்ளது என்று நாம் இந்த நிகழ்ச்சிகள் மூலம் தான் தெரிந்துக்கொள்ளலாம்) துறையும் போன வருடம் முதல் ஆண்டுதொரும் நடத்தும் திருவிழா சென்னை சங்கமம். அதற்கு அழகான தலைப்புக் கொடுத்துள்ளார்கள் - திருவிழா உங்கள் தெருவிழா.

சென்னை சங்கமம் சென்னையிலுள்ள பல்வேறுப் பூங்காக்களில் பொங்கல் நாட்களையொட்டி நடைப்பெறுகிறது. அழிந்து வரும் கிராமிய கலைகளான - நடனம், தெருக்கூத்து, நாடகம், களரி, இசை, பாட்டு இவைக்களுடன் இந்த ஆண்டு கிராமிய/மாவட்ட உணவு வகைக்களையும் நகரமக்களுக்குக் கொண்டுவரும் நல்ல முயற்சியாக இது எனக்குத் தோன்றிகிறது. அதலால் நேரில்காண மைலாப்பூரிலுள்ள நாகஸ்வராவ் பூங்காவில் நடந்த நிகழ்ச்சிகளை இன்றுப் பார்க்கப் போனேன். அரசு நிகழ்ச்சியென்பதால் அமைப்பு சுமாராக இருக்கும், கூட்டமே இருக்காது என்று எதிர்ப்பார்த்த எனக்கு இரண்டிலும் மகிழ்ச்சியான ஏமாற்றம். நிகழ்ச்சி மேடை மற்றும் பூங்கா சுற்றிடம் (மக்கள் அமர வசதியாக ஜமாக்களாங்கள் கூட போட்டு வைக்கப்பட்டிருந்தது) அழகாக அமைக்கப்பட்டு நல்ல முறையிலிருந்தது. முட்டி மொதும் கூட்டமில்லையென்றாலும் ஒரு நூறு பேர் மேல் வந்திருப்பார்கள், நிகழ்ச்சிகளுக்கு அவர்களிடம் நல்ல வரவேற்பு. ஒரு பூங்காவிலிருந்து இன்னொரு பூங்காவில் நடக்கும் நிகழ்ச்சிகளைப் பார்க்கப் போக பஸ் வசதி கூடச் செய்யப்பட்டது மகிழ்ச்சி. பாராட்டுக்கள்.

தமிழில் வெளிவந்த நகைச்சுவை நாடங்களில் மிகவும் பிரபலமாக கருதப்படுவது அய்யா... அம்மா... அம்மம்மா...

என் சிறு வயதில் சென்னை தொலைக்காட்சியில் முதல் தடவையாக பார்த்ததில் இருந்து என்னை மிகவும் கவார்ந்த மற்றும் ஒலிநாடாவில் (Audio Cassette) பலப்பல முறை நான் கேட்ட நாடங்கமும் இது தான். ‘கிரேசி’ மோகன் எழுதி காத்தாடி ராமமூர்த்தி நடித்த இந்த நாடங்கம், இதற்குப்பின் தமிழில் வெளிவந்த அனைத்து நகைச்சுவைப் படைப்புகளிலும் (சினிமா, நாடகம், கதை) தனது தாக்கத்தை பதித்துள்ளது. பிற்காலத்தில் ‘கிரேசி’ மோகன் எழுதிய பல பிரபலமாக நாடங்களில் அவரையும் அறியாமல் சிலயிடங்களில் இதன் துனுக்குகளை நாம் கேட்கலாம்.

ஒலிநாடாவில் மட்டுமே வெளிவந்த இந்த படைப்பு இப்பொழுது ஓளிதட்டு (VCD) வடிவில் வந்துள்ளது. போன வாரம் Landmark கடையில் பார்த்தவுடன் இதை வாங்கியதில் (ரூ 199) எனக்கு மகிழ்ச்சி. ஒரு சிறு ஏமாற்றம் இது சென்னை தொலைக்காட்சியில் வெளிவந்த காத்தாடி ராமமூர்த்தியுடன் டெல்லி கணேஷ் மற்றும் பலர் நடித்த மூலப்பிரதி அல்ல சமீபத்தில் பதிவு செய்யப்பட்டது,  

இருந்தாலும் இந்த நாடங்கத்தை இதுவரைப் பார்க்காதவார்கள் உடனே இந்த ஓளிதட்டை வாங்கிப் பார்க்கலாம்.

The other day I was in Landmark (Nungambakkam High Road Branch) and saw the largest collection of Original Tamil DVDs and VCDs from Moserbaer and other manufacturers. It was several hundreds of movies spanning last several decades of Tamil movie including those released in last few years. Before this the largest such collection of original Tamil movies I have seen only in Singapore Serangoon Road (where VCDs are priced at SGD 10 and DVDs at SGD 20). In Landmark that day for instance I bought காக்க காக்க DVD at Rs.49 and வீரா, குரு சிஷ்யன் DVD combo at Rs.65.

After several decades, Tamil Film Producers & copyright owners seems to have come to their senses. Instead of fighting piracy they seem to have realized making their recent and old assets widely available as Discs in affordable rates will bring a new revenue stream for them. Just like T-Series in early 80's brought out affordable Cassettes and pioneered in India the original music market, Moser Baer seems to have now done the trick for VCDs and DVDs by bringing out original discs at Rs.39 and Rs.49/-

This is yet another post on Chennai's traffic. Traffic in T.Nagar area is becoming worst day by day due to the bridge constructions.

Every month TiE Chennai conducts their monthly events at 7PM mostly at Hotel RainTree, St.Mary's Road. I don't attend every month, but whenever I attend I get stuck bad in traffic and go late. I leave my office (Habibullah Road, T.Nagar) around 6:15PM and reach the venue around 7:15PM or so, though the actual journey shouldn't take you more than 15 minutes. I have tried all the different (so called side roads) routes but of no use, either I get stuck at Pondy Bazaar/Mount Road junction or at Vijayaraghava Road/Mount Road junction and so on.

Today I decided to brave it out. I left office at 6:30PM, went through Panagal Park, Venkatanarayana Road, Nandanam Signal and believe it or not, I reached the venue at 6:50PM. And this at the peak time driving through two of the Chennai's renowned traffic choke points. I am now more than ever confused on the routes that take less time in Chennai.

I had a small accident with my car of 6 months a Honda City ZX GXi today. Thank god, no one was hurt and more important only my car got damaged. It happened while I was driving and about to stop for the Traffic Signal to take the Right Turn in Mount Road/South Usman Road junction.  My son was sitting next to me and was constantly asking me one question or other, there was an Ambassador coming from behind trying to go straight and honking nonstop. Disturbed by the horn sound, distracted by my son's queries I turned back, and the next moment my car banged into the Mahindra Jeep in front of me which had stopped for the signal. The front of my car got hit badly but we felt no impact in the passenger cabin. Since it was my fault, I apologized to the other driver and came home feeling bad for driving carelessly. I am sure Honda will charge me a minimum of few grands of rupees to fix this, let me check with them!

Being a Sunday I took my son to see the normally huge Ganesha that will be kept near JYM Mandapam in T.Nagar for Vinayaga Chathurti (Yesterday). Unfortunately this year they don't have one huge idol, but many smaller Ganesha's. Not wanting to disappoint my son, I took him next to the display at "Sri Krishna Sweets" shop in Pondy Bazaar, where 2500 Vinayaka Idols are kept. I was told these are from the personal collections of the Proprietor of the sweet stall.

Thanks to flyover (bridge) constructions in T.Nagar and Kodambakkam, the roads here look barren now. The few roads in Chennai that had trees for over half-a-century included North Usman Road and G.N.Chetty Road. Sadly all of those trees have been cut down by Corporation in the last few weeks. While driving I noticed the diameter of the trunk of some of the fallen trees, they should be more than 5 to 6 feet each. I was feeling sad to see them vanish. Isn't any way to save them and still construct flyovers? 

Chennai (my city) proudly celebrates its 368th Birthday today. It was on this day on 1639, a British East India Company officer bought a strip of land and the city was born. I am proud to be a Chennaite - Happy Birthday Chennai!

TiE Chennai usually brings practitioners & champions of Entrepreneurship to speak about their story in its monthly sessions. Recently it brought out one such session (29/06/2007) by the 2003 women entrepreneur of the Year Ms. Hemu Ramaiah, CEO of Landmark.

Hemu Ramaiah, who needs little introduction, shared her truly inspirational entrepreneurial journey especially the challenges & triumphs in setting up one of the leading and famous bookstores in India - LANDMARK. I have recorded my notes taken during the session as a PDF document here (352.53 KB)

Expecting rains today we (myself, wife and kid) decided to spend our sunday evening today we decided to go to Spencers Plaza. On nearing it the sign in entrace said "Parking Full". I was sure it will be the same scene in Chennai City Centre, so we decided to drive somewhere. I remembered the recently beautified Haddows Road Park maintained by Chennai Corporation. Though we had doubts whether it will be open at 7:30PM, we gave it a try - and glad we did that. The park was beautiful, clean (surprising for a Corporation Park in India), well lit and was spacious enough for jogging and walking. It had a tiny play area by kids - could have been bigger but something is better than nothing.

The sign in the entrance said the park is open from 5 a.m. to 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. So next time you find yourself wanting a peaceful place to go in Chennai, give this park a try.

The Park on Haddows Road is further down from Shastri Bhavan on the opposite side.

Very recently Chennai Traffic has become a nightmare. From anywhere to anywhere during day time nowadays takes nothing less than 45 minutes. Today I started from Asian Printers (near Royappetah Hospital) at 8.15PM and reached my house at West Mambalam at 9.15 - can you believe it, it took me 1 hour for a journey that should've taken me 15-20 minutes even during peak hours. I was spending nearly 40 minutes of this around Panagal park. It is the scene everyday and Chennai Corporation doesn't seem to be doing anything about it, though they made empty announcements. Media is abuzz that the reason why nothing is done around Panagal Park is due the undue influence of all the commercial establishments there, who don't wish the problem to be fixed. If the problem gets fixed it will mean people spending less time through the area and eventually less business. I don't understand the logic, if you solve the traffic problem here, you will have more people coming and hence more business. But who said everything in India and our politicians do things with logic.

Instead of this location Corporation is going ahead with building flyovers (bridges) in all the wrong places. I don't understand the need for building a bridge near Vani Mahal. Anyway's, the point of this post is why on earth anyone will begin work for two bridges at the same time on roads with traffic going in the same direction. I am talking about the Kodambakkam High Road/North Usman Road bridge and GN Chetty Road/Thirumalai Pillai Road (Vani Mahal) bridges here. Both roads take traffic from Panagal Park (and the surrounding areas) to Gemini Flyover (Anna Salai). Since both the bridges are being built at the same time, both the junctions have got the whole carriageway to single lane. Instead it would have been better planning to take one work after the other. May be the government wanted to complete both the bridges before their remaining 4 years in office

I have got some photos taken during peak hours in both the junctions, see them below:

In India, everyone likes to think the rich culture and close-knit families gives people the psychological cover to handle modern day stresses. This is believed to shield Indian (and Asians) societies from growing menaces of Gun shooting in schools, Sexual Harassment of kids, etc. which have now become repeated occurrences in the western world. Critics have said that, in this connected world no society can completely protect itself from these menaces - and in India though Sexual harassment of kids happen they go unreported due to community fears and pressures.

Recently (about a week or so back) I learned the news of a shocking incident that happened in a Chennai School, which was covered up and went unreported in any main stream media. The school is one of the popular private English schools in the city and I came to know about it through few of the parents who have their kids studying in the school and who were called for a meeting on this. The incident was about a school support staff (watchman or someone) had taken few girls (studying 4th or 5th standard) into a room, locked it and tried to misbehave with them sexually. Reportedly he didn't succeed much as the kids shouted and they were rescued subsequently. What was shocking was the attempt the school made to cover the incident up, they didn't handover the culprit to police and the school board's reluctance to even dismiss the culprit (he was eventually fired after pressure from parents).

As a parent this is a shocking news. Parents have been recommended by experts to teach school going girl children and make them aware to the extend possible (of course you can't make a 8 year old aware of sexual advances) of not going when strangers / adult males call them unwarranted.

Update 9/July/2007: After I posted this story yesterday I was pointed to the Deccan Chronicle (Chennai Edition) 8/July/2007 issue which has carried this same news.

In every Indian Marriage (especially Tamil Marriages) in the evening there is an event called "Reception" where you have friends and relatives gathering and wishing the newly wed. In the event you have something named appropriately as "Loud Music" which is a performance by a local orchestra singing popular film songs, wishing the newly wed and to entertain the audience - so that there is festivity in the air.

A decade or so back, it used to be primarily classical / carnatic music that will be played which makes it enjoyable especialy by the elders, but nowadays it is only Film Music and "Kutthu" songs. With the advent of portable electronics and powerful speakers, the orchestra sets the sound volume to its maximum. On top of it, imagine these playing in indoors in a closed atmosphere - you have a perfect recipe for a headache. With nuclear families and with people having less time to meet friends/relatives face to face, marriages are the only occassion to meet and catch up on happenings. But songs at these sounds levels ensures no one hears anything, even the person next to him. The whole atmosphere becomes no more enjoyable, but leaves you irritated. 

I think the only reason the orchestra's do this is so that they can get away with any person pretending to be a singer - because at these levels the instruments shadow completely the human voice.  In my mariage (2001), we were lucky to have one of the popular carnatic singers Mrs.Nithyashree singing - and we enjoy hearing the CD even today. I am not saying everyone should have only classical music, but all I am saying is whatever music you have please have it set to low-medium decibel levels.

This Monday I saw this article in Dinamani tamil daily on few incidents of Chickenpox in Chennai and around. One of my co-workers got infected few weeks back. Though I have been vaccinated against it in Childhood, when I checked my family doctor he recommended me for taking a booster injection. Though there is a strong religious mis-belief about this disease in South India, scientifically it is caused by Varicella-Zoster Virus. If you have been infected once by the disease, or have been vaccinated you will not get it again.

When I went to my doctor on Monday, he decided to administer first a Combo vaccination against Hepatitis-A and Hepatitis-B. Earlier you needed two seperate injections for Hepatitis A and B, now the single dose cost Rs.1200 or so in private clinics. Before you jump into conclusions on why my doctor recommended me to take it - I will say it myself, the disease is commonly caused in developing countries through contaminated food/water and affects the liver. For effectiveness you need a booster every 3 to 4 years once.

Since you cannot take ChickenPox vaccination also on the same day, my doctor administered that (Okavax) vaccination on Wednesday. This costed Rs.1400.

So if you are in this part of the world, and can afford the vaccinations, it is highly recommended to take them.

Having nothing else do on a Sunday Evening, we went to Chennai Trade Fair at Island Grounds. Though we have gone there few years before, my wife was skeptical whether we will like it now - but we certainly had a good time. My son certainly enjoyed the Toy Train ride and the huge open spaces.

For me, I do go to the fair every few years once - the event happens every year for 3 months from Jan 15 (Pongal Day). Whenever I do go to the trade fair it brings nostalgic days when my father used to take me there as a kid there in his scooter. Recollecting the fun those days this simple 5 KM trip and the fair brought to me, I definitely don't get it even when I am in Las Vegas. I was sharing my wife, when you are kid you get "happy" with a 2 Rupee toy / train ride, but as an adult with each year, your "happiness" becomes more and more expensive.

(Above photos are not recent they were taken in 1999 - 9 years back)

If you are in Chennai, this is certainly a good place to go. Be prepared to pay Rs.30 (US$0.70) for Car Parking - which is 3 times the normal parking fee you pay in Chennai.

Today while driving to office from home, a two wheeler narrowly escaped from getting hit by my car.  It happened in front of Ayodhya Mandapam, West Mambalam. An elderly person was driving the motorbike, straight from the opposite street to ICICI Bank which is on the other side of Arya gowda road without even glancing for the traffic flowing on the main road. I was driving towards Brindavan street and had to stop my car with all the energy applied on the brake pedals. Thank God, my Opel Corsa stopped within Centimetres of the bike, otherwise the impact would have been fully on the bike and the rider.

I wanted to shout at the bike driver for his carelessness, but as I said he was a grandfather figure looking very respectful, he apologised, so I moved on. Anyways, what is the use in arguing with him, the act has been committed.  

Please share your similar driving incidents in the comments below.

In general there is talk in market circles about how Retail in India is set to boom in few years. The trend has certainly started and I feel the retailers are slow to keep pace with the consumers demands.

To understand look at the massive crowd in Saravana Stores (பிரம்மாண்டாமாய்), Pothys or RMKV in Usman Road, or in Spencer Plaza or Chennai City Centre. Earlier it used to crowded only before festivals & weekends - now it is crowded 365 days. The time is right for Saravana Stores to follow Singapore Mustafa and keep the shop open 24 hours a day. More than anyone I will be happy to shop if they keep it open 24 hours - you can go in the night, park easily and shop without the hassles.

Today I went with my wife and kid to the new entrant in the city Pantaloons' Big Bazaar. In the store and in the parking lots there were hugeeee crowd (ஃபிரியாக {free} கொடுப்பது போல் கூட்டம்) . There was an attractive exchange offer going on, people can bring any old household items, old papers, old clothes or anything. Based on the weight they are given coupons of "N" value. You need to shop for 4 times the "N", then you can get "N" as discount. Not a total free deal, but certainly a good marketing plot to get the mass foot fall - especially the lower income and low middle income who otherwise will consider a brand like Big Bazaar to be expensive and not walk in at all. We didn't buy anything today, as we didn't have the patience to stand in the huge "Queue" for check-out. In the 30 minutes or so that I spent in the store, it seemed to be well-laid, staff informed and well stocked - and this is a complement from someone who enjoys to spend time in all major retail stores around the world (US, UK, Aussie &  South-East Asia). If BB can maintain the prices, quality and ambience - I feel Big Bazaar can give a good competition to "Wal-Mart" whenever it enters India.

Big Bazaar seems to have an online version at FutureBazaar.com

This week (Post Deepavali) has been good to Chennai City for couple of things.

After a month of frustrating traffic and hour long traffic jams in T.Nagar Shopping District, driving on Monday & Tuesday (23,24 Oct) felt relaxed. On Monday at peek hour (7PM) I was able to drive from my office (Habibullah Road) to Srinagar Colony (Behind Saidapet Magistrate Court) for a meeting in 15 minutes. I just wish everyday is like this . The reasoning (do you need one?) for roads being empty - one after Deepavali people have to return at last to work, second they are left with no money after all the Deepavali shopping.

In one move - Chennai City Police went to NYPD range. I was driving to my house and was surprised to see a stunning white color Police Car fitted with Hollywood Police like Lights parked in a tea-stall in Thambiah Road (West Mambalam). For a minute I thought it was for a Hollywood Movie - Why in a Tamil Movie would they want this car, for Tamil Movies it is always a Colonial day Jeep which itself would have acted in over 10,000 movies. Reading the next day newspaper I realized that Hyundai India has donated 100 of these beauties (Hyundai Diesel Accent) to Chennai City Police Free. Critics might say it is a marketing move by Hyundai to make the Police trial run this, get hooked to it and then make them more. I just hope after 12 months, parts of these cars are not sold in platform in front of commissioner's office.

Last two-three days we have been having good down-pours here. Thanks to weather gods, all the reservoirs aroud the city are getting filled. Hopefully this should help the city ride through the coming summer comfortably.  

I live in West Mambalam (Chennai) and everyday to come to work in Habibullah Road T.Nagar, I have to drive through the T.Nagar Panagal Park Shopping crowd and traffic. The distance of less than 3 Kms can take on peak hours more than 30 minutes. The main reason is the pedestrian crossing (can you believe it they don't have a overbridge here) near Nalli/Pothy's textile stores and the traffic jam in front of New Saravana Stores. Anyways, today I made the journey in about 10 minutes - thanks to it being a "Tuesday". In Tamilnadu Tuesdays are considered inauspicious and people don't buy new items or start new work on Tuesday. Because of this, the shopping districts in Chennai are not crowded on Tuesdays - if you want to do relaxed shopping then you should avoid the other 6 days in the week.

Anyways I like Tuesday's a lot - One because of less traffic while coming to work and second I was born on a Tuesday 31 years back. So do you agree with me that Tuesdays are lucky