Back !

It is ages since I posted....A whole month has gone by....football world cup is over...Italy are the champions... The tournament had fair play as its motto but many matches weren't....created a record in the number of yellow and red cards.....Few days back there was terror in Mumbai-"terror tuesday"...Mumbai is having a bad time...was rated the "rudest city" in Readers Digest survey....heavy monsoon...continious rains...and now the serial blasts... a lot of people are coming up to help the victims...CNN-IBN is giving Re.1 for every e-candle lit in its website...here is the link http://clients.ibnlive.com/features/mumatt/index.php ...please do visit the link and help the victims of the blast....

New Friends and old ones

Many of my old friends have moved out of town except for a sparingly few ones...I miss them a lot ....but life goes on...making new friends is not easy for me....but still I keep in touch with my old friends...few calls...few mails...few sms....rare letters and cards...and a lot of forwarded mails have kept our friendship going....and few times a month we talk in yahoo chat....few of them are able to spare time now...with their family and looking after thier kids they hardly get time for friends....we meet once in a few months....exchange news...and part....for some months I haven't made new friends...just acquiantances....

Election results

The results were out on 11th May....Quicker results due to the EVM's...by 11 AM it was decided in most places....The Left swept the polls in West Bengal and Kerela and the congress won in Assam and Pondy...No single party has secured majority in Tamil Nadu...But the DMK is forming the government today with the support of Congress and PMK from the outside...How the DMK is going to fulfill the promises of the election manifesto is a big question mark in the minds of many...The verdict of the people...let's see how long it lasts...

Election Day

The month long campaingn ended and today was the D-day. Parties are fighting it out and it is still a close call...the first ever assembly elections that does not have a wave....Polling started from 7 am and continued till 5pm...65% turnout the highest in 15years....the third time the Electronic Voting machines are used....I did vote at around noon...my brother was very excited since he is voting for the first time...Results will be known on 11th....the most eagerly awaited results...

May Day

Today is May day, the international labour day.Holiday in many parts of the world.Here too it is a holiday. A world where the rich are getting richer. Two professions which make you millionaire in India at present are in cinema and politics.Industries especially manufacturing are getting hit by the policies of the government.Services and Retail are perfoming quite well but the money involved in politics is huge.And with the elections in the fray it is unbelievably high. Cinema is a revived industry now after the control of sale of pirated VCD's. Theatres are brimming and there are much more hits in the box office than 2 years back. Actors in lead roles earn sums of 6 figures but the technicians are not highly paid. Software is another Industry that is doing good in India. High salaries but long working hours. For the manufacturing industry to survive there should be reforms in the policies of the government.

Akshya Trithi

Today is one of the most auspicious day in India....today is akshya trithi ... the third day after the new moon day of the month chitra...Akshya means never reducing and trithi is the third day....On this day bringing home Gold is bringing the Goddess of Wealth and Prosperity home.... The crowds and queues in Jewellery shops is a sight to see...People trying to get how much they can...And Gold prices hitting an all time high has not seen any reduction in buying....and the shops are wooing customers with special offers the whole week...newspapers pages are filled with advertisements ...and this year has seen the banks jump into the bandwagon....many private sector banks have started selling gold coins to customers on this day....Bigger Jewel houses are opening special counters for a day...and NRI's around the world don't want to miss the bus....Never mind the shooting up of gold prices just take your wallet and go shopping...bring home wealth and prosperity for a year

Election campaign

This election campaign is a bit dull. No posters...No scriblings in the wall....No cut-outs of party leaders....No arches and flags all the roadside. The only thing usual is the accusations of the leaders on the others and roping in film stars for the campaign. Madurai last two weeks was chaotic ...had all the major political leaders addressing the people...I did see Ms Sonia Gandhi and Mr. Vijayakanth addressing the people... promises were flying at an all time high...the political parties are desperate for power....The two major parties have private television channels and telecast news favourable to them...and on top of all this a chaos sorrounding the Central ministers from the state... there are 12 of them... the congress promising a hand to hand governance if the DMK led alliance gets to form the state government...the AIADMK accusing the central government of treating the state in a step-motherly way...all voters are confused....pre-election estimates are very close....many are expecting a hung assembly...May 11th will show the results...