Gold from the Ravi Eshwar mint

There was a time when ads were written. Thank goodness somebody remembers. That said, I haven't, for a very long time, seen them written as well as these.

Advertising Agency: Republik Communications, New Zealand
Copywriter: Ravi Eshwar
Art Director: Greg Wylie

La-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-Law

What ever happened to the lane system on Mount Road? Separate strips for 2-wheelers, cars, autos, buses etc. It did get me into several sticky situations when I moved in to Chennai last year, and tried my best to be a law abiding citizen.

And to think you're told to obey the law to stay out of trouble.

Valet 'Illatha' Parking

Take your car into a mall, movie theatre, hotel or absolutely any other business that doesn't believe in wasting space on parking for its customers, and almost immediately a new breed of service providers loom large in your windscreen.

They are called valets, though I believe that 'parking consultants' will be the norm in future. Now I'm allergic to letting some bloke with dubious driving skills have a go at my dream boat.

Why?

Do I want it driven off like the route was Paris-Dakar, as soon as my back was turned?

Do I want its gear box to croak in protest, as it is put through the paces by someone who could have been a wrestler if he weren't trying to be a driver?

Do I want to wonder where my car will be parked when clearly the lot looked stuffed to the gills?

Do I want to puzzle over what "PARKING AT OWNERS' RISK" means when somebody else has the key?

Do you?

A number of numbers

Landline number.
Mobile number.
PAN number.
Bank account number.
ATM Pin number.
Internet Pin number.
Telephone Pin number.
Credit card number.
Debit card number.
Company employee number.
Vehicle registration number.
Gas connection number.
License number.
Passport number.

And if that weren't enough, we have this.

Karnatriix

The band's album's out and it can be bought at itunes and cdbaby.

I strongly recommend this album. It's a haunting new sound, and all you need to do is open your ears, and perhaps your mind as well.

Wall art for a cleaner city

Since the Goverment's doing sweet nothing about preventing people from peeing on every wall in sight, the Chennaiite has a few solutions of his own. If only to keep the walls of his establishment from raising a stink.




It however doesn't help to paint senior politicians' pix on walls. Opposing parties will only welcome, with open zips, an opportunity to dirty the image of someone on the other side.

Additional income

While the economy is booming for 20% of Indians, the rest are simply trying to add one side dish to their daily meal. Here's one example.

It's coming down, and it's not the rain

The only downside of wearing a 'lungi / mundu', a popular South Indian lower body garment garment is that it is not immune to the effects of gravity. Some people do use a belt to keep the garment in place, but it's not common practice. Anyway it's great fun to see the lungi slip off an unsuspecting soul's hips. And what if the afore mentioned soul has his hands full? And worse still also happens to have a panty fetish? Did I hear you heave a sigh of relief?

Happy Diwali

We sent this e-card our to our clients and friends in the industry.

Express your expectations

Gold and saree shops are by a very long distance, the busiest businesses in Chennai. And I've often wondered why. I found my answer on a street close to my home. And on the next. And the one after that.

Going by the number of such signboards I've spotted, I can honestly say I haven't seen a city as obsessed with marriages as Chennai.

Malayalee special

The UK isn't offering Mallus / Malls much love and affection, but this public utility building in Chennai does look like it's laying out the red carpet for my folks.

PS: I hereby confirm that I am of less than average intelligence and do not see what most people do.

Long road out of Eden

20 songs. 70 odd minutes of listening. 2 discs. The long road out of Eden. I bought it because of my faith in the Eagles. But I must say it's been shaken. I wouldn't swear by a note more than 5 tracks. And here's my favourite of them all

kill to get crimson

November has started off on a wonderful note. I added Mark Knopfler's latest to my CD collection. kill to get crimson. Have heard it a couple of times. First impression? I like it. In a week, I'll be in a better position to voice what may be called a review. And to tell you if 'like' turns to 'love'.

Only Malayalees have humour sense.

Tourism. Banana chips. "Chaya, chaya". Soft porn. 'Gelf'. Bakeries. Toddy. Colourful lungis. Coconut oil. Sing song accents. Unions. Comrades.

There are a lot of things that are very typically Mallu.

"Know why Kerala is 100% literate? All the illiterates are in the Gulf."

"Humour sense? Endhu parayannu saarey?"

Bangalore Travels

I landed in Bangalore last weekend but I didn't go much further than that. I tried to venture out in the approximate direction of some of my favourite eating places, but auto drivers were disdainful of requests towards MG Road. One chap was kind enough to explain why.

You see there's this Metro Rail thingie that's been in the works for a while (apparently to ease traffic woes in the city). It's finally on its way now, and the road has been dug up from one end to the other to lay the tracks. Leaving very little road for the city's vehicles to conduct their business on.

As if that wasn't traffic jam enough, a few blokes from the BJP decided to put their shoulders to the wheel. They had occupied a portion of the road near the Mahatma Gandhi statue to stage a protest against President's rule in the state. Incidentally, the man who desperately wants to be the next Chief Minister of Karnataka was at the centre of this piece of action.

A friend who returned to the city after 4 years abroad had only a couple of words to say. "Bangalore sucks". Well if you look on the right streets at the wrong times, that's very possible too. Cheers.

You miss, I hit.

I love cricket. Played serious tennis ball cricket for 15 years. Stopped when the demands of professional life knocked the middle stump out of my morning practices and weekend games. But I'm not out yet.

I still manage to catch the odd game with colleagues on weekends. I still manage to follow every ball that's bowled to and by the Indian team. And I still manage to sound fairly knowledgable when I talk about the game.

So I decided to start a cricket blog. My take on what's happening within and outside the circle. It's called You miss, I hit.

And yes, I've often wished I could be a cricket writer. So that takes care of that.