A BYTE OF LIFE Friday, September 5, 2008

’POCKET FRIENDLY’
12 SPOT THE DIFFERENCE
09
Now pockets even come on Pulsar to Hayabusa, almost
evening gowns

FREE CIRCULATION Vol. 2 No. 172

WALL-E
Review » Page 19

» Page 04
02 ERGO Friday, September 5, 2008

Tribal crafts

Namma Chennai
Women’s Entrepreneurship Promotional Association will hold
their annual exhibition of their members’ products. They include
dress materials, artificial jewellery in exquisite designs, scented
candles, herbal medicines, handbags, dolls and miniature idols
manufactured by tribal women. The sale is on till September 5
at Community Centre, C.P. Ramasamy Road, Abiramapuram.

Flamenco
fusion Homeward Bound This month’s adoption list features animals that have faced
MITHRA SURESH
mithra@goergo.in tough struggles and have fascinating stories. What they all
Ojos de Brujo’s
new album Techa-
have in common is the need for a home and people who
ri brings out a fu-
sion of sounds,
will love them.
but stays ground-
ed in Flamenco. SRIYA NARAYANAN
pets@goergo.in Sher Khan: This royal cat is an amputee
An interesting ex- who is waiting to be adopted by a fam-
ample of this is ily that has no other pets and lives in a
the track Todo house with access to the outdoors.
Tiende which fea- Contact devika.khazvini@gmail.com if
tures Asian Dub you fit the bill.
Foundation’s
Prithpal Rajput on
the dhol. The same track commences with a
tabla portion (Xavia Turull) and moves on to
Gypsy-esque hip hop accentuated with rapid
Flamenco guitar playing.
Rich in rhythms, Ojos De Brujo is a nine-
piece band from Spain whose previous album
releases include the self-produced Bari. Since,
gypsy music itself has its origins in Indian, Ara-
bic and Pakistani music amongst others, the
band itself promotes multiculturalism in their
music. Another track to look out for is Feedback
which features Satyajit Talwalkar on vocals and
tabla, Rajinder Singh on the violin and Sawh- Black Beauty: This five month old
ney who does the programming and flamenco female pup was rescued when she
guitar. Still want more fusion ? For further rec- was seen wandering about alone
ommended listening on the album, try Runali in the CMC campus, Vellore. A bit
where Senegalese rapper Faada Freddy of Daa- timid, but once she gets acquaint-
ra J. You don’t know what he is rapping, but he ed with you, is very friendly and
is in sync with the rapid flamenco guitaring in affectionate.
the background. Contact uma461@yahoo.co.in.
So what kind of an album is this? Do you
listen to it intensely or do you play it while
hitting the pedal on the highway? Well, the al-
bum is great for light listening, the kind that is
heard in the background during dinner with Crusoe: This five-month old male
expatriate friends. Kittens: For mischie- has a temperament similar to the
vous kittens that tug at hue of his brown coat: honey
your heartstrings with sweet. He has white socks, melt-
their trusting nature ing eyes and sharp wit. Email as-
and playful ways, get mamenon@hotmail.com if you
in touch with Catti- would like to be his Man Friday.
tude at
devika.khazvini
@gmail.com

Puppie
s
white : Three black
puppie
males) s (four puppies and
h m th
pair b ave been res ales and tw ree
y the cued fr o fe-
Protec Anima om
tion l Welf Mogap-
Contac Trust. are a
adopt t aw nd
one or ptshelter@gm
brats. more ail.com
of thes
e gorg to
eous
 Friday, September 5, 2008
03
17 events, 68 categories, your chance
to win some medals for your company

The observer’s chronicles

Long plane journeys resulted in ‘I Witness: Partial Observations’, Kapil Sibal’s
collection of poems
ERGO CORRESPONDENT ems from his anthology, the one politics, architecture, feminism,
feedback@goergo.in on the tsunami kick-starting the terrorism and love.
evening. MP Kanimozhi was also A few of the poems that the

“I
t resulted out of bore-
dom. There’s only so
much you can do on a
flight.” Kapil Sibal, Union
Minister for Science and Tech-
nology and Minister of Earth Sci-
ences, was speaking on I Witness:
Partial Observations, a collection
of poems the history teacher-
turned-lawyer-turned-politician
typed on his mobile phone. Par-
tial, because the minister admits
that the views expressed are sole-
ly his own and not universal
truths.
At a book-reading session held
at Landmark, Nungambakkam,
on Tuesday, Kapil Sibal read po-
present.
“I wrote these poems mostly
for self-entertainment. In May
2008, I was reading these poems
to a small gathering, when a jour-
nalist suggested that I publish
them. At that point of time I had
only 15-20 poems ready. By June I
had 30-35. Then Khushwant
Singh told me to publish them…
The publisher of Roli Books asked
me to send 100 by the end of Ju-
ly,” recalled Sibal.
On Kanimozhi’s query on how
it felt to be a poet, Sibal said, “I
don’t consider myself a poet.” Si-
bal calls his anthology a “satire
on India” and covers topics like
minister read to the gathering in-
cluded ‘Live Memories’ (on the
importance of a hand-penned
love letter over an SMS), ‘Left Me
Midway’ (on his late wife) and
‘Sunday’ (an observation of the
rituals that an average family
goes through on Sunday). ‘
Universal Mom’ and ‘My Very
Own Journey’ are about the need
for parents to let go of their
child’s hand. There’s even one on
nanotechnology! ‘Defining Mo-
ments’ is his dig on politicians,
lawyers and journalists.
“Looking at things from afar is
essential to preserve the beauty Union Minister for Science and Technology and Earth Sciences
of things,” he said. ■ Kapil Sibal, and Kanimozhi MP. and Poet PHOTO S_THANTHONI

Recalling those good times

IIT-Madras Alumni Association to host alumni conclave
ERGO CORRESPONDENT
feedback@goergo.in

T
here is over two months be-
fore IIT-Madras plays hosts
to the PanIIT 2008, but be-
fore that if you are longing
to catch up with you old college
mates then the IIT Madras Alum-
ni Association get-together is
here. The old students of IIT-Ma-
dras will play host to the first
alumni-student conclave on Sep-
tember 6, where it hopes to dee-
pen the strength between its
alumni and students.
Over 700 alumni and 500 stu-
dents are expected to take part in
the meet which will also see a
range of fun events. The conclave
promises to be a great place to
network especially if you are a dertaken by the alumni as part of and is a prelude to the three-day
budding entrepreneur. the Golden Jubilee celebrations PanIIT 2008. ■
A panel discussion on ‘Entre- of IIT Madras will be other high-
preneurship’ with Subroto Bag- light of the day-long meet. Pro- When, Where, What
chi of Mindtree and Srini jects to be highlighted at the When: September 6; 9 a.m.
Nageshwar, founder of medical event include: a water resource Where: IIT Campus
technology start-up, DyAnsys, management programme, an Where: Alumni meet
will be held in the first half of the education programme for help- Contact: 22578391 or email
day. The meet will also showcase ing rural schools, a seminar series alumni@iitm.ac.in
some of the initiatives of the as- conducted by the alumni A registration fee of Rs.
sociation to foster and support throughout the year and a book 250 and Rs. 300 (on-the-
entrepreneurship amongst its documenting the 50-year history spot registration) will be
alumni and students. of IIT Madras. The event is open charged.
A number of projects to be un- to alumni from all the seven IITs,
04
Big Story
‘‘
A toast to teachers
How Maths became
my favourite
Each morning, what I look for-
ward most is the hour when I
would be in front of my class. As a
teacher, one has an opportunity
to shape young minds. The big-
gest joy is therefore when one
sees a twinkle in eyes of the stu-
dents as one tries to get across a
difficult concept. One feels that
one has done the day’s work well.
Shaping the minds is exactly
what my teachers did when I was
young. I remember my Hindi
teacher, L.V. Singh distinctly. He
would teach us Hindi literature
and convey to us how literature is
reflection of the society of the
day. It is he who introduced me
to Premchand and therefore to
rural India. Through ‘Subhadra
Kumari Chauhan’, he taught us
the concept of karma and
through ‘Jayashankar Prasad’ he
taught us the ups and downs of
life.
My English teacher, Father
Carlson, taught us to take respon-
sibility of one’s action. My sports
teacher, Lawrence, impressed
upon us to work as a team and
taught us that “alone one can
achieve so little, even in individu-
al sports.” And I can not forget
my uncle who taught me Mathe-
matics, when I was barely five –
mathematical techniques which I
never knew that I would not learn
during my formal training, and
something which will make
mathematics my favourite sub-
ject. Today all I can say is that my
teachers not only shaped my
mind, but also my life.
Jhunjhunwala, Professor, IIT-
Madras
teacher has done for us and we celebrate this joyous occasion in
remembrance of the greatest teachers of India on his birthday.
They all occupy different seats of
power, yet these executives
look back up to their teachers for
lessons in life. Ergo spoke to some
top guns of the city who recall their
favourite classroom moments.
Rock climbing and
chanting in class
I studied at Rishi Valley School
and my favourite teacher was
Venks Sir (Mr.Venkatachalam)
our Physics teacher. He not only
taught us Physics but also took us
hiking, rock climbing and taught
us chanting. He would organise
the fireworks at Diwali and with-
out a doubt the cleaning up after.
He is one of the most versatile
people I have met. He not only
made physics fun, but also taught
me to look at life positively and
also brought in me a “CAN DO”
attitude. To sum up he was al-
ways cheerful and full of life.
R. Ramaraj, Senior Advisor Sequoia
Capital, India
Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man how
to fish and you feed him for a lifetime. That’s exactly what a
That Anglo-Indian
teacher
I still recall my Anglo-Indian
teacher who taught me at T.R.V.
Middle School, Royapuram in
Class III. Today, though the
school does not exist, her words
still linger in my ears. Miss Rose-
line used to tell us that the great-
est satisfaction she prides as a
teacher was to hear that her for-
mer students occupy respectable
positions. That kind of got into
my head and that’s probably my
greatest inspiration.
J. Murugavel, Founder and CEO,
Consim Info Pvt. Ltd
ERGO Friday, September 5, 2008
Dr. S. Radhakrishnan
Lessons for a
lifetime
Two of my teachers have left
an indelible impression on me.
Dr. C. R. Muthukrishnan was
my Computer Science professor
some 25 years ago at IIT-Ma-
dras.
One of the most intelligent
persons I have interacted with.
He taught me programming
and his teaching was so unique
that I never heard anybody else
teach as effectively as him.
Breathing life into Second is A.S. Lakshman Rao,
my history teacher at Sharada
Vilas High School, Mysore. His-
Economics tory became so alive with his
What is missing in today’s teaching that it instilled patriot-
teachers is patience, that skill to ism in me.
impart knowledge in an inspiring B. Suresh Kamath, Managing
way. One of my English teachers Director, Laser Soft Infosystems
in H.S.S Muthugapatti, Namakkal Ltd.
district was Mr. Reddiar who
taught us that the right way to
learn English was to understand
its grammar, pronunciation and
handwriting – everything that
goes into appreciating the lan-
guage. He used to even make us
write on sand so that we wrote
each letter clearly.
My two favourites in St. Jo-
sephs College, Tiruchy were Rev
Father Dr. Sequiera and Professor
Thomas Srinivasan. The former
taught me English and his read-
ing of Shakespeare’s Twelfth
Night is still alive in my mind, al-
though he never did repeat the
performance. And as for Profes-
sor Srinivasan, it is because of
him that I learnt Economics and
became a University rank holder.
But my academic interest in
Economics was solely because of The decision
Professor Velayudam at Presiden-
maker
cy College. It was here that the
subject started to excite me, after G. Swaminathan was my
Headmaster at SBKV Higher
which I moved on to complete a
PhD at the University of Pitts- Secondary School, Coimba-
burgh under the guidance of Dr. tore. He is one person whom I
Mark Pearlman and Dr. Marina consult in all the decisions
Whitman. that impact my life – both
My only problem with some of personal and official. He was
the teachers today is that they do responsible for shaping my
not know how to transfer their growing-up years and in kick-
knowledge. It is all about generat- starting my professional ca-
ing the highest marks and gearing reer.
Vaidyanathan P, HR-Head,
children towards examinations,
California Software Co. Ltd.
which is just marginally impor-
(As told to Liffy Thomas and
tant.
Mithra Suresh)
Dr. Palani G. Periasamy,
Chairman, PGP Group
Friday, September 5, 2008
05
Honouring teachers
The origins of Teacher Day are murky. Around 1944 Arkansas teacher
Mattye Whyte Woodridge began corresponding with political and
education leaders about the need for a national day to honour
teachers. Woodbridge wrote to Eleanor Roosevelt who in 1953
persuaded the 81st Congress to proclaim a National Teacher Day.

GRAPHICS: R.PRATHAP
 06
Village
JOHANNESBURG TO HOST
MISS WORLD PAGEANT
It is for the sixth
time that the
South African city
is hosting this
prestigious event.
S outh African city Johannesburg
has been selected to host this
year’s Miss World Pageant.
It is for the sixth time that the
city is hosting this prestigious
event, said the government of
Gauteng Province in which Jo-
ERGO Friday, September 5, 2008
Websites of the day
Watch BBC shows online:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/
Things to do in the office if you’re
bored: http://www.tbs.com/officefun/
Japan’s Koike to run for Remember
prime minister your loved
Former defence minister Yuriko Koike joined the
race to become Japanese prime minister on one - as a
Thursday, having secured the necessary backing
from 20 lawmakers, Kyodo news agency said. The diamond
previous prime minister, Yasuo Fukuda, announced Algordanza, a small
his resignation on Monday. Her opponents will company based in the
likely include frontrunner Taro Aso, a former mountainous southeast
foreign minister, and economics minister Kaoru of Switzerland, uses
Yosano, who revealed his candidacy on Thursday. the ashes of dead
Reuters people to make
diamonds as a
permanent memento
for their nearest and
Marriage dearest. And with
prices starting at less
problems? than 5,000 euros
($7,488), the jewels are
Husband’s not solely the preserve
of the jetset. “Some
genes may be people find it helpful to go to the cemetery and grieve,
and they leave their grief in the cemetery,” said
to blame Algordanza Chairman Veit Brimer. The technology for
The same gene that making artificial diamonds was first pioneered by General
affects a rodent’s Electric in the 1950s, and mirrors nature by subjecting
ability to mate for life carbon to huge pressure and temperature.
may affect human Reuters
marriages, Swedish
and U.S. researchers
reported on Tuesday.
Men carrying a Singapore ranks in top 10 for
common variation of
a gene involved in wealth funds management
brain signaling were Two Singapore sovereign wealth funds were ranked
more likely to be in sixth and seventh in the world for good governance
unhappy marriages and transparency by a US-based economic think tank,
than men with the a newspaper reported Thursday. Tamasek Holdings
other version, the was sixth, followed by the Singapore Government
team at the Investment Corp, The Straits Times said. The rankings
Karolinska Institute of 100 government investment funds by the Peterson
found. Institute for International Economics put Norway’s
Reuters Pension Fund-Global in the top position.
DPA
hannesburg is located.
Earlier, the organisers decided
Miss South Africa, Tansy Coetzee
to emulate the successes of for-
to change the previous location
of Kiev in the Ukraine after con-
mer South African Miss World ti-
tle holders Penny Coelen and
cerns about the conflict in nearby
Georgia.
Anneline Kriel who claimed the
title in 1958 and 1974 respective-
Miss World Ltd Chairperson
Julia Morley said she was im-
ly.
India hosted the Pageant in
pressed by Johannesburg’s bid as
the city implemented its proposal
1996 in Bangalore but the event
was marred by controversies over
with great speed and profession- swimsuit round which had to be
alism. shifted to Seychelles.
“This demonstrates that we
can stage a successful Miss World
in Johannesburg,” she said.
India has won the prestigious
title for five times.
The last winner was current
Zin Lin Zhang of China won the Bollywood actress Priyanka Cho-
Miss world 2007. pra, who won the title in 2000 in
The host country is looking for- London. ■
ward to their contestant, current PTI
 Friday, September 5, 2008
07
Brit woman in skydive first This day that year
A British woman plans to make a parachute It was on September 5, 1905 the
jump over Mount Everest hoping to become Treaty of Portsmouth was signed by
the first woman ever to skydive over the Russia and Japan to end the Russo-
world’s highest peak. Japanese War.

Berlin’s suburban trains to get

their own fragrance
The Paris transport system, the Metro, has had its own scent since 1999

F
or the tens of thousands of commu-
ters who rely on Berlin’s crowded
suburban trains the days of un-
pleasant early-morning smells -
from stale alcohol through reminders of
last night’s dinner to overpowering per-
fumes - may soon be over, transport au-
thorities said Thursday.
S-Bahn Berlin, the city’s metropolitan
transport company, aimed to tackle the
smells by introducing a special scent for
the trains.
Plans for the perfume are still in the
initial stage, with aroma tests planned for
November. “The idea surfaced in an in-
house ideas competition,” S-Bahn
spokesman Burkhard Ahlert said. "It re-
mains to be seen if we will also invite
external test sniffers to select our
fragrance."
The Paris transport system, the Metro,
has had its own scent since 1999, when
Madeleine, smelling of lemons, oranges
and lavender, was introduced.
Some 1.5 tons of Madeleine, named af-
ter one of the stations and also a French
pastry, are mixed into cleaning fluids and
spread on station floors every month. ■
DPA

Jumbo kicks heroin Holy reading

addiction after 3 yr rehab
F our-year-old male elephant,
Xiguang, became addicted to
drugs in March 2005, after eating
a banana smeared with heroin.
According to the China Daily,
he was among six elephants
lured by animal smugglers along
the Sino-Myanmar border.
The report reveals that the
smugglers used the bananas as
bait for the animals, which were
being brought into China’s De-
hong Autonomous Prefecture of
Dai and Jingpo nationalities.
The newspaper further said
that the police captured the ele-
phants in May the same year,
and Xiguang was sent to a wild
animal protection centre in Hai-
nan three months later, after he
was confirmed to be suffering fully recovered. 쒀
from withdrawal symptoms. Xiguang is expected to arrive An Afghan Muslim reads the Koran in a mosque in Kabul on September 4, 2008,
For a year, rehabilitation ex- at the Yunnan Wild Animal Park during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Muslims all over the world are
perts gave Xiguang injections of on Saturday after a 1,500-km supposed to go without food, drink, smoke and sex from sunrise to sunset during
methadone, at five times human journey home. the month of Ramadan in order to purify themselves and concentrate their mind on
doses, and the elephant has now ANI Islamic teachings. AFP PHOTO/SHAH MARAI
08
Technorama
Technology snippets first
appered in T3 magazine of
Infomedia Group
GADGET
WATCH
Secrets in a flash, on a flask
No, that’s not a hip flask, it’s
Iomega’s eGoT Leather Portable
Hard Drive. With its luxury
leather casing it makes its low-
rent, so-called rivals look about
as exciting as, well, an external
hard drive. With 250GB of space,
you can cram on a shedload of
music and movies, as well as
work files, if you must. Just don’t
try putting Scotch in it.
Rs 8,500*, www.iomega.com
Jaw-jaw: Phwoar
First plug and play. Then sing and swing
MEX–BT 3600U, a new Bluetooth and USB In-car CD tuner.
ERGO Friday, September 5, 2008
Comic book launch
Trust Google to do things the quirky way. For their much-talked about
launch of the Chrome Internet Browser, Google opted to narrate the
development in comic-book style. Just check out http://www.google.com/
chrome to see the 38-page comic book.
Bling it on...
Blingy yet chic and on an attrac-
tive metal chain, Transcend Jet-
Flash V90P is the “in”
ultra-compact USB flash drive.
With its 4GB memory capac-
ity, stylish metal body and
golden faceplate with em-
bossed pattern, it’ll give any
fashion accessory a tech
competition. 50 Cents’ placed a bulk order,
we reckon.
2GB, Rs. 700; 4GB, Rs 1,100, www.transcendusa.com
Lightning speed
World’s slimmest
smartphone
Full-featured, low-fat
blower disrobes
Think business-minded
smart phones are duller than
dry toast? Think again:
Samsung’s new i200 is as
stylish as it is spreadsheet-
friendly. Its 11.8mm depth makes
it the skinniest Windows Mobile
Imation’s portable has landed 6.1 smartphone on the planet. It’s
friendly with Microsoft’s Office
Imation’s new Apollo Portable Hard software - that’s Word, Excel,
Drive comes with a midnight black- Powerpoint and Outlook - and
brushed surface. Weighing a mere there’s HSDPA to keep your
half a pound, it can pack all your internet connection nice ’n’
data in its ultra-slim design. speedy when you’re on the
Featuring Total Media Back- road. Finally, a light
up software, the drive offers sensor dims the
backup, schedule, syn- 2.3inch screen’s
chronise and restore backlight where
functions with just a possible, minimising
click of the mouse. power consumption,
Rs 4,500 onwards, thereby appeasing eco-
www.imation- nazis.
southasia.com Rs 17,000*,
www.samsung.com
2 flask, 2 furious
Full-featured, low-fat blower
disrobes
The new Aliph Jawbone is half the
size of the previous model, and fea-
tures even better noise cancellation
Want to mix calling and music with driving? Get the Sony technology, so you’ll be able to hear
those “riders on the storm”, even
You can plug in your USB during particularly inclement weath-
pen drive in the front panel er. As an added bonus, it’s also one
port and browse music files of the relatively few hands-free sets
via an LCD interface, or you that won’t make you look like you
can enjoy high-quality ster- work in a drive-thru burger bar.
eo audio via a Bluetooth Rs 7,000*, www.jawbone.com
compatible Walkman or Groove on wheels
mobile phone with no con-
necting wires. It even makes
hands-free calling safe. Mu-
sic is paused automatically
when a call is accepted and
music resumes when the
call is ended. Sing and drive
safely then...
Rs. 9,990, www.sony.co.in
Flashy deal
 Friday, September 5, 2008
When my Pulsar grew
up to be a Hayabusa
S
uzuki Hayabusa, Yamaha R1,
Honda CBR and Ducati Monster
are some of the fastest motor-
cycles in the world. To own one
of these state-of-the-art speed and
style monsters is a sports bike lover’s
ultimate dream. These machines
come with hefty price tags and,
hence, remain a forbidden fruit for
many in India. What if you are an en-
thusiast and do not have the big
bucks to get your dream machine?
The answer could be customising or
‘mod’ifying them.
Pulsars, Karizmas and CBZs take
shape into replicas of Hayabusas, R1s
and CBRs in namma Chennai, thanks
to some skilful custom motorcycle
builders spread around the city.
These men can turn your conven-
tional two-wheeler into a look-alike
of your dream machine. The only
catch in the conversion is the fact
that the engine will remain more or
less the same. The body, though,
takes a shape beyond recognition.
Mohammad Jaffer Sha of Pudupet
is one such replica bike builder, who
has converted more than 20 motor-
cycles for his clients. He says his
clients come to him with
their regular motorcycles
and demand it to be
converted into fancy
look-alike super
bikes of their
Dream of 1,300 cc bikes yet stuck with a 150cc decorative
piece? Ergo profiles the trend of ‘mod’ing the bikes to
make them look like the kick ass monsters
09
choice. “The bike is completely dis-
mantled, barring the engine, and the
entire body is custom-made to match
the original super bike as much as
possible,” Jaffer adds.
The customisation process in-
volves several stages. The bike’s
frame (chassis) is cut and widened to
increase the length of the vehicle. Im-
ported forks, a wider swing arm,
mono shock absorbers, imported al-
loy wheels and wide tyres with front
double disc brakes and back single
disc brakes are fitted. The fibre fuel
tank and fairing (a stylish engine
shield), which are usually moulds
replicated after the original, are also
mounted on to the vehicle to give it
the final touch. Both are given a fancy
paint job and stickering.
The front meter panel of Karizma is
usually preferred for the custom bike
as the panel is wider compared to
other Indian bikes. Finally, twin cus-
tom-made silencers are added (in
most cases the left one remains a
showpiece).
The customising could bring down
the fuel economy of your vehicle, but Original
if it is looks that count for you this
could be your resort. ■
If you have any specific queries on
customising motorcycles, ping us at
roadster@goergo.in
Modified Pulsar
10
Backpackers
Butterflies to tourists
Butterfly Garden in Singapore airport
A
welcoming tropical sanc-
tuary right in the heart of
Terminal 3 at the Changi
Airport (Singapore) official-
ly launched its new facility – the
Butterfly Garden – in the heart of
Terminal 3’s Departure/Transit
Mall. The 330 square metre gar-
den, designed as a tropical nature
retreat, is home to more than
1,000 free roaming butterflies.
One of the fascinating aspects of
this garden is the opportunity for
passengers to observe the life cy-
cle of butterflies at close range.
The two-storey open-air and
non-smoking garden is fully en-
closed by a curvilinear shaped
A modern wonder
How to go:
Air: The nearest airport is Hyderabad at a distance of 149 km
Rail: The nearest railhead is Macherla, on the Hyderabad-Guntur-Vijaywada railway line. From Macherala it is only 22
km by road.
Places to see: Nagarjunasagar Dam Nagarjunakonda Anupa (Buddhist University and stadium) Ethipothala Waterfalls
Places to stay: Punnami Vijay Vihar Tel: 08680-277362/277363; Punnami Hill Colony Tel: 08680-276540; Pongal-Ethi-
pothala Punnami Vihar Tel: 08680-277361
roof in stainless steel mesh and
glass panels. They serve to keep
the butterflies in, maintain ex-
change of wind and natural air
which is vital to the survival of
butterflies and maximise the but-
terflies’ flight activity. The timber
walkway allows visitors to experi-
ence the garden while the incor-
porated waterfall feature helps
keep the garden cool.
A variety of 47 butterfly species
that are native to Singapore and
Malaysia were specially selected
for the Butterfly Garden. These
farm-bred butterflies are friendly
and receptive to human pres-
ence. The garden is kept as close
ERGO Friday, September 5, 2008
Gearing up
Singapore is giving workers in the tourism sector a tune-up before tens of thousands of
auto racing fans descend on the city-state for the world’s first Formula One Grand Prix
night race.
Up to 2,000 supervisors who work in shops, bars, restaurants and tourist attractions will
receive the four-hour training.
N.JOSEPH NISHANTH
T he echo of enlightenment, the thunder of nature and
the wonder of modern engineering, Nagarjunasagar
is indeed a temple of modern India.
Located at a distance of 150 km from Hyderabad, is
one of the most prominent Buddhist centres and a pop-
ular tourist destination for anybody visiting Andhra Pra-
desh. Known as Vijayapuri in earlier times, ,
Nagarjunasagar takes its present name from Nagarjuna,
one of the most revered Buddhist monks, who governed
the sangha or the area for nearly 60 years during the 2nd
century AD. It is an archaeological treasure trove and
various excavations carried out by the Archaeological
Survey of India shows it as one of the main centres of
Buddhist learning in the Deccan.
The Nagarjuna dam, completed in 1966, is 124 metres
high and one km long and has 26 crest gates. The lake is
the third largest manmade lake in the world. One of the
earliest hydro-electric projects of India, the Nagarjuna-
sagar Dam is a symbol of modern India’s architectural
and technological triumphs over nature.
It is a great weekend destination from Hyderabad and
a lot of resorts have cropped up in the vicinity providing
great facilities.
An island called Nagarjuna konda is situated at the
middle of the reservoir and hosts a Buddhist museum.
One can also visit the Ethipothala water falls located
nearly 15 km away from Nagarjuna Sagar en route to
Macherla.
The writer works for IBS
Butterfly garden PHOTO: AFP
to the butterflies’ natural habitat
as possible.
Apart from the aesthetics and
relaxing aspects of the garden,
there are features that showcase
these winged beauties’ complete
life cycle at designated areas
around the garden. They include
informative panels of fascinating
facts about butterflies at the edu-
cation corners, and feeding cor-
ners where butterflies can be
observed at a close range. Visitors
can also view caterpillars feeding
at the breeding corner, and take a
peek at the Emergence Enclo-
sure, where adult butterflies
emerge from their pupae. ■
 Friday, September 5, 2008
11

Eighth wonder of the world

Pioneering conservancies
struggle to save Kenya’s
wildlife jewel

I
nvestors and conservationists have dreamt up an
innovative business plan to save Kenya’s iconic
Maasai Mara, a wildlife haven threatened by over-
grazing, farming and mass tourism.
Around August each year, swarms of wildebeests
come stampeding from neighbouring Tanzania’s Se-
rengeti plains to find pasture in the Maasai Mara, in a
great migration recently dubbed the world’s “eighth
wonder”.
“Twelve years ago, there were 1.2 million wilde-
beests, last year we had only 300,000. If nothing is
done, it could put pay to the migration forever,” says
Ron Beaton, a leading Kenyan conservationist.
Having lived in the Maasai Mara for the past 34
years, farming wheat before launching a high-end
lodge, Ron Beaton knows better than most the dan-
gers looming over the crown jewel of Kenya’s tourism
industry. “We could be looking at a repetition of the
bison and buffalo disappearance in North America,”
he warns.
Beaton was one of the masterminds of an idea that
came up two years ago and is aimed at making conser-
vation a viable alternative for the Maasais, the main
custodians of the country’s wildlife treasure. The Maa-
sai Mara national park is a protected area, but the
ecosystem around it – which is four times larger – is
privately owned. In 2000, the Kenyan authorities start-
ed subdividing the land into small plots for Maasai At the Olare Orok conservancy
families. within the Masai Mara eco
In a pastoralist culture where land had always been system AFP
considered as God-given, the newly-acquired notion
of ownership soon led to tensions between neigh-
bours trespassing to find pasture for their livestock.
Cramped for grazing in their shrivelled estates, many
Maasais opted for wheat farming or simply sold their
plots to developers.
In 2006, dozens of Maasai landowners in the imme-
diate surroundings of the Mara reserve and private
tourism investors teamed up to create the Olare Orok
conservancy.
“The new arrangement is that having wildlife earns
you money, whether there are tourists or not,” says
Kaelo.
Using a completely new approach to generating and
sharing tourism revenue, Olare Orok hosts four luxury
tourist lodges to form a conservancy of more than
20,000 acres bordering the national reserve.
The conservancy brings together the 150-acre plots
of some 150 Maasai landowners, who lease the land to
the tourism partners in exchange for a fixed rent pro-
viding better income than what they could achieve
with farming.
Upon signing the five-year lease, landowners move
out their huts and allow wildlife to roam freely in the
conservancy, which is run by a management company
itself operating under a foundation.
Conservationists argue that Kenya’s new conser-
vancy model can also help the Maasais – prone to
social woes such as drinking when thrust into an ur-
ban environment – preserve their identity by reclaim-
ing their original lifestyle. ■
AFP
12
Portfolio
Liz Claiborne’s spring/summer 2008
and (below) an Indonesian model
displays an outfit created by
Indonesian designer Priyo
Oktaviano during Jakarta Fashion
Week 2008
P
ockets have usually been a
symbol of utility paired
with a little quirkiness.
Trousers, jackets, coats or
even baby-doll dresses carry
them off with ease.
The gowns, on the other hand,
stands for elegance (sometimes
far removed from mundane prac-
ticality). It’s for the lady whose li-
mo can contain everything
except that little cake of com-
pressed powder to touch up a shi-
ny nose, which fits snugly in the
mini clutch that she carries.
Pockets, actually, don’t belong
here. Or do they?
Recent shows, such as J.J. Va-
a w ay laya’s opening show at the Lakme
o v e ; now sses Fashion Week in Mumbai or even
M sers d re ts Nitin Bal Chauhan’s at the Wills
u d
tro ns an pocke
Lifestyle India Fashion Week, are
a growing testament to how
gow flaunt
pockets have started occupying
pride of the place on things more
will
pretty, or let’s say feminine and
non-pocket-friendly.
Even on international ramps,
pockets on dresses are gaining
popularity, examples being the
Cape Town Fashion Week (where
Goat clothing showcased models
tucking their hands into the
pockets of elegant gowns) or the
Mikio Sakabe 2009 spring/sum-
mer collection of Mikio Sakabe
and Shueh Jen-Fang of Taiwan in
A Nitin Bal Chauhan creation
for Wills Lifestyle India
Fashion Week in March 2008.
ERGO Friday, September 5, 2008
Tokyo. The Liz Claiborne spring/
summer 2008 show also saw
pockets on dresses.
Besides, Oscar de la Renta ,
Catherine Malandrino and
Proenza Schouler have also been
fans of the pocket on girly cloth-
ing. Red-carpeters like Eva
Mendes, Jennifer Aniston and Te-
ri Hatcher are fans, too.
The pocket dress, however, is
another example of what goes
around comes around. Almost a
decade ago, labels like St. Pucchi,
Catherine Regehr and Bill Blass
put the pocket on the wedding
dress, probably to let the bride
hide twitching fingers and some
tissue for those tear-inducing
moments.
Sceptics have drawn out their
swords. Many claim that adding
pockets on something as elegant
as an evening or wedding gown is
nothing short of blasphemy, an
invention of those who substitute
class with misplaced enthusiasm.
Fashion has always been
subjective.
If you want a pocket on your
gown, go ahead. With your hands
tucked in, you can even get that
models’ gait. One word of caution
though – just because your dress
has a pocket, try not to stuff your
world into it. Leave that for the
Birkin. ■
Friday, September 5, 2008
13

Ergo Readers,
Thank you for
your response to
last week’s
Portfolio column
inviting designs for
namma Chennai’s t-shirt.
Our pick, however, are Sidharth
the designs sent by
Sidharth of Satyam Computer Services. Not only
has he designed the t-shirts, he has also taken the
effort to explain the concept behind each design.
Sidharth has sent us a total of 10 designs. We pick
our favourite five:
1. Go Green is supposed to be the awareness-
creating t-Shirt of the future consequences,
depicting ‘Veetuku Oru Maram Valarpom’.
2. Chennai is known as the Cultural Capital of
India, hence the silhouette of a classical dancer.
3. Chennai is also known as the ‘Detroit of India’.
4. Chennai is the home of South Indian cinema,
producing greats like T.R. Mahalingam, Sivaji,
Rajinikanth, Kamal Hasan , M.S. Viswanathan, A.R
Rahman, Ashokan, Raghuvaran and more.........
5. Proud Chennaiite – this is what I can call myself.
The picture denotes people from various
communities. Hence, different colours for the
fingers. The heart in the palm symbolises that we
love every one of them.

3
4

5
14
Wellness
A SINGLE PEBBLE CAN WIPE OUT A VILLAGE
PERFUMES DURING PREGNANCY
MIGHT BE DANGEROUS
P regnant women who use perfumes
or scented creams may increase the
risk of unborn boys developing infer-
tility in later life, a new research by
Edinburgh University scientists sug-
gests.
The research team reckons that ex-
posure to chemicals found in cosmet-
ics during the pregnancy period of
eight and 12 weeks may affect later
sperm production. But they stressed
there was not yet conclusive proof this
was the case.
The research team was led by Pro-
fessor Richard Sharpe of the Medical
Research Council’s Human Reproduc-
tive Sciences Unit, based in Edinburgh.
During tests on rats, they blocked
the action of androgens, which in-
clude male sex hormones such as tes-
tosterone. The experiments confirmed
that if the hormones are blocked, the
animals suffered fertility problems.
Some of the chemicals which can
block the hormones are widely used in
the production of items such as cos-
metics, household fabrics and plastics.
Prof Sharpe said the chemicals may al-
so increase the risk of baby boys de-
veloping other reproductive
conditions in later life, including tes-
ticular cancer.
He added that women planning on
becoming pregnant should avoid put-
ting any cosmetic products on their
skin which could then be absorbed in-
to their bodies.
“If you are planning to become
Gene therapy to restore hearing
A new study by U.S. researchers has revealed that
gene therapy has the potential to restore hearing
in mice, offering hope for humans too.
SADHGURU JAGGI VASUDEV
K
arma means action. Ac-
tion means we are talking
about your action. Once
again when it comes to
action, you perform action in
four different ways. You can do
action with your body; you can
do mental action, emotional ac-
tion and energy action. In all
these four levels, action is con-
stantly happening.
Some of it you are conscious-
ly doing, a large part of it un-
consciously happening, isn’t it?
Every action that you perform
in these four dimensions, the
imprint of these actions is al-
ways left within you as a resid-
ue. So these imprints gather
over a period of time and they
develop their own tendencies.
This is like the software, un-
consciously you write your own
software depending upon the
type of the actions that you per-
form in your mind, in your
emotion, in your body and in
pregnant you should change your lif-
estyle. Those lifestyle things don’t
necessarily mean that you are going to
cause terrible harm to your baby, but
by avoiding them you are going to
have a positive effect. Prof Ri-
chard Sharpe said.
ANI
Women planning to
become pregnant
should avoid putting
any cosmetic products
on their skin which
could then be absorbed
into their bodies
ERGO Friday, September 5, 2008
your energy. Accordingly you
write your software.
Whichever kind of software
you wrote, now after sometime
that is how this whole mecha-
nism functions now. Once you
write a certain type of software
now this whole system func-
tions only that way, isn’t it? It is
not written by some other di-
mension or force, it is written
by you but because you did
most of it unconsciously, you
can’t believe you did it.
You went up a mountain, and
as you were walking down you
just dislodged one small peb-
ble. This pebble rolled down
and slowly became a huge ava-
lanche and wiped out a whole
village.
Now you can’t believe you
did it, isn’t it? You can’t believe
you did it, because you just dis-
lodged a single pebble, but it
has picked up momentum.
Similarly what happens to you
now is only a consequence of
your own past imprints. ■
To learn more about Sadhguru
Jaggi Vasudev and Isha Yoga, visit
www.ishafoundation.org. Call
Isha Yoga Centre in Chennai at
2433 3185.
 Friday, September 5, 2008
Fish and lemon
It has been traditional to serve fish with a slice
of lemon since the Middle Ages, when people
believed that the fruit’s juice would dissolve any
bones accidentally swallowed.
I love you, Harry Potter
If you had a crush on a fictional character, read on
MITHRA SURESH
mithra@goergo.in
J
essica Rabbit’s legs or Alad-
din’s six-pack, there was a
time when as kids we nursed
secret crushes on cartoon
characters. And now it is time to
look at fiction, where the charac-
ters do not have faces but are
packed with personality.
I, for example, had a crush on
Fitzwilliam Darcy from Pride and
Prejudice and then, later on in
college, Howard Roark of Foun-
tainhead and Edward Rochester
from Jane Eyre. Of course, their
personality traits were somewhat
similar – arrogant, aloof and sar-
castic. And it is sarcasm that most
women are attracted to in a man.
A friend, Devika, said that she
found the character Foaly the
Centaur, from the Artemis Fowl
series, attractive for this precise
reason. “I liked Foaly for his
smartness, cynicism and sar-
casm. In our early years we look
for men who can impress us. And
when real life does not satisfy,
our books are all we have!” she
says. However, in the dating sce-
nario for men, visual stimulation
works. One of my male friends,
Wanna de-stress, chew gum: New study
C hewing gum can reduce stress
and anxiety, according to a
new research.
The study, to be presented at
the 2008 10th International Con-
gress of Behavioural Medicine,
found that chewing gum helped
relieve anxiety, improve alertness
and reduce stress among individ-
uals in a laboratory setting.
The study examined whether
chewing gum is capable of reduc-
ing induced anxiety and acute
psychological stress while partici-
pants performed a battery of
‘multi-tasking’ activities.
The use of chewing gum was
associated with higher alertness,
reduced anxiety and stress, and
improvement in overall perfor-
mance on multi-tasking activ-
ities.
Andrew Scholey, Ph.D., profes-
sor of Behavioural and Brain Sci-
ences, Swinburne University in
Melbourne, Australia led the re-
search study.
In the 40-person study of gum
15
Avoid stress during pregnancy
Women who undergo severe stress during or
soon before pregnancy may be at increased risk
of having an underweight baby.
Dhruv, said that Jem Scout Finch
from To Kill a Mockingbird and
Phoebe Caulfield from The
Catcher in the Rye were particu-
larly strong characters whom he
would have liked to have met in
real life. “They were almost 10
years old in the books, so it would
be very wrong to date them. But
Modesty Blaise, who was any-
thing but modest, is top on my
list.” And then he adds that men
do not drool for ‘textual women’,
unless they are Batgirl or Wonder I liked Foaly for his
Woman.
And then some people like to smartness, cynicism
imagine the darker side of attrac- and sarcasm. In our
tion, thanks to books like Perfume early years we look
and American Psycho. Preeti Jha,
who watched Christian Bale in for men who can
the movie adaptation of Ameri- impress us
can Psycho, says that her attrac-
tion towards the self-destructive
protagonist, Patrick Bateman, be-
gan with the book. “I could relate
to his boredom and blunt man-
ner of speech,” she says. For Gee-
tanjali Dutta, the character
Jean-Baptiste Grenouille in Per-
Getty Images
fume impressed her. “That drive
to make a perfect perfume, to
own the expertise to create a
smell that can seduce is to have
great power.”■
chewers averaging an age of 22
years old, performed on the De-
fined Intensity Stressor Simula-
tion (DISS), a multi-tasking
platform which reliably induces
stress and also includes perfor-
mance measures, while chewing
and not chewing gum.
Anxiety, alertness and stress
levels were measured before and
after participants completed the
DISS.
Gum chewers showed a reduc-
tion in anxiety as compared to
non-gum chewers by nearly 17
percent during mild stress and The use of chewing
nearly 10 percent in moderate gum was associated
stress.
Participants experienced grea- with higher alertness,
ter levels of alertness when they reduced anxiety and
chewed gum.
stress, and
PHOTO: R. RAVINDRAN
Gum chewers showed im-
provement in alertness over non- improvement in
gum chewers by nearly 19 per- overall performance
cent during mild stress and 8
percent in moderate stress. ■ on multi-tasking
ANI activities.
16 ERGO Friday, September 5, 2008

Sport
More T20
Renowned cricketers like Yusaf Pathan, Mohammed Kaif, Khalid Basir and Tafiq
Omar will be seen in action at Sirsa in Haryana, during the first Jan Nayak Chaudhary
Devi Lal National Cricket tournament, slated from September 5.

SPORT

Asafa Powell
(Jamaica)
Date of birth: 23/11/1982
Personal Best – Outdoor
100m; 9.72sec; Lausanne
200m; 19.90sec; Kingston Na-
tional Stadium

Brussels Tyson Gay (USA)

Date of birth: 09/08/1982

showdown
Personal Best – Outdoor
100m, 9.77sec; Eugene
200m; 19.62sec; Indianapolis

O
lympic champion and
world record holder Usain
Bolt takes on world cham-
pion Tyson Gay and Jamai-
Usain Bolt can compatriot Asafa Powell in a
mouth-watering, first-ever 100m
(Jamaica) clash in Brussels on Friday. Bolt,
who stunned the Beijing Olym-
Date of birth: 21/08/1986
Personal Best – Outdoor pics with gold medals and world
100m; 9.69sec; Beijing records in the 100m, 200m and
National Stadium 4x100m relay, faces his two rivals
200m; 19.30sec, Beijing who have plenty to prove at the
National Stadium Golden League meeting. Ameri-
400m, 45.28sec, Kingston ca’s Gay, struggling with a hamstr-
National Stadium ing injury, never made the 100m
final in China while Powell, the
former world record holder, was a
disappointing fifth in Beijing.
However, he illustrated he was
still a sprinting force by running
9.72sec at Lausanne on Tuesday,
just 0.03sec outside the world
mark that Bolt set at the Games on
August 16. “It’s not a problem for
me; it will make the race more ex-
citing. I can only say I will do my
best on Friday,” said Bolt as he re-
flected on Powell’s blistering time
in Switzerland. “After Brussels I
want to go back home. I haven’t
been back to Jamaica since the
Games and I’m in a hurry.” Since
Beijing, Bolt has shown no sign of
slacking, running 9.83sec in Zur-
ich and 19.63sec for the 200m in
Lausanne.
Competitors ready for the
fight
Gay said he is “looking forward
to it (Friday’s race)” but “I’m not
at 100 percent yet”. The American,
who picked up his injury in the
200m at the US Olympic trials in
June, had a victorious outing on
Sunday at 200m winning in a rainy
Gateshead in 20.26sec. Bolt has
only ever once met Gay over
100m, the Jamaican beginning his
current period of ascendancy with
a 9.72sec world record in New
York in May, ahead of Gay, who
ran 9.85sec. At 200m, the balance
remains in Gay’s favour, the world
champion having headed the
Beijing winner in six of their eight
meetings at the longer sprint. Bolt,
a newcomer to the 100m this sea-
son, has met the former world rec-
ord holder Powell on just three
occasions in their careers. He has
a 2-1 record, with Powell having
taken a narrow victory in Stock-
holm just prior to Beijing. Powell
leads Gay over 100m by 5-1. ■
AFP

BOLT LEADS BATTLE OF THREE SPEEDSTERS

 Friday, September 5, 2008
17

‘‘
I still maintain that Laxman needs to be more aggressive on the field
and push his players. In Twenty20 cricket the captain pushes and
motivates the players it is such a short game. I just felt that Laxman should
have played a bit more on the front foot instead of the back foot.
Shahid Afridi

S
erena Williams felt as if she had just won
a grand slam title after scraping past her
sister Venus 7-6, 7-6 in the U.S. Open
quarter-finals on Wednesday. The
American siblings enthralled a capacity
crowd of 23,000 at the Arthur Ashe Stadium
BATTLE OF THE SIBLINGS

Epic
with the best match of the women’s tourna-
ment, a cut-and-thrust encounter which last-
ed two hours 25 minutes. “I feel like I should
have a trophy now,” fourth seed Serena told FELT LIKE FINAL FOR SERENA
reporters after setting up a meeting with
sixth-seeded Russian Dinara Safina in the last
four. “Unfortunately I don’t and I got to go to
the next round. I think we played a great
match today. It just boiled down to one point

battle
here and there. It could have gone anywhere.
I just think we were definitely playing the best
(match of the tournament) so far. I feel like it
was at least a semi or the final,” she said
about the quality of the match. “But it’s not,
so I’m hoping to play two more matches.”
Serena, who edged ahead of her older sister
9-8 in overall meetings, ranked Wednesday’s
contest as the second best played between
the siblings. “I still think my Australian Open
final against Venus was an incredible match,”
she said, referring to her 7-6, 3-6, 6-4 victory
in 2003.

Staying positive
“I definitely managed my emotions a lot
better,” the 26-year-old said. “That was one
thing I really wanted to focus on going into
this match, was staying positive. I felt like I
got really negative at Wimbledon, and lost
any chance I might have had.” A high-quality
battle between the Williams sisters seemed in
the offing after their storming runs at this
year’s Open. Venus, winner here in 2000 and
2001, lost just 15 games on her way into the
last eight and Serena one fewer. “We have
been playing really with well in this tourna-
ment,” Serena said. “I thought for sure we’d
be in three sets. I thought, I’m going to go
change my dress because I’m really sweaty
and put a new one on,” said Serena, who did
not have to swap her red dress after all as the
match turned on some errors from Venus.
“And then I was like: ‘Oh, maybe I won’t have
to do that’.” ■
Reuters
AFP

Bhajji row behind Symonds’ Lee ready to return

diminishing commitment
A ndrew Symonds has not forgiven Cricket Australia (CA) for down-
grading racism charges against Harbhajan Singh and his sagging
commitment dates back to the infamous “Monkey-gate” scandal,
according to reports. Symonds, whose commitment is being questioned after he pre-
ferred a fishing trip to a compulsory team meeting, and Harbhajan figured prominently
in the Sydney row where the Australian all-rounder accused the equally volatile Indian
off-spinner of racially abusing him. Eventually, the Australians were convinced by the CA
to downgrade the charge, allowing Harbhajan to escape a ban and Symonds just could
not digest that, reports “The Age”. “To this day Symonds has not forgiven Cricket Austra-
lia for what transpired in an Adelaide federal courtroom eight months ago,” the report
said. “Harbhajan’s reprieve infuriated Symonds, who felt abandoned by administrators
he believed were more interested in kow-towing to India than protecting their own,” it
added. According to the report, Symonds subsequently refused all CA efforts to resolve
the issue and his discontent started affecting his commitment to the side. CA chief
executive James Sutherland hinted time was running out for Symonds to make the India
tour even though he promised all help from the board.
PTI
for India Test
S idelined Australian paceman Brett Lee has declared
himself available for the upcoming Test tour of In-
dia. Lee withdrew from the current one-day series
against Bangladesh following the collapse of his marriage, but caught up
with his Australian team-mates on Thursday for a light training session
and said he was ready to play again. The Australians are expected to name
their squad for India next week and depart on September 21, with the first
of their four Tests starting on October 9. The 31-year-old admitted he
considered skipping the tour, but said he was refreshed and looking for-
ward “to the tough Indian tour.” “India is a great place to tour; the culture,
the food, the people, and the atmosphere (and) the crowds over there are
just brilliant. Even though they may be cheering for the Indians, they’ve
still got a love for Australians,” he said. “It’s a tough place to play cricket,
but also very enjoyable.” Lee said it was only this week that he decided to
make himself available for India, where he is a huge star but is yet to play
Test cricket.
AFP
18
Flick
ANUSHA PARTHASARATHY &
NANDHINI RAMKUMAR
I
f you think gun shots and foreign
locales are what maketh an ‘en-
glish padam range’, Dhaam
Dhoom fits the bill. The only
catch being that the hero seems like
a desi version of Spiderman, jump-
ing off high roofs, getting shot mi-
dair in the chest and still ‘running’ to
save himself diligently from the Rus-
sian police.
Dhaam Dhoom, ‘Jayam’ Ravi’s lat-
est flick, is about an Indian medical
student who goes to Russia to attend
a conference and gets embroiled in
the murder case of a Russian model,
played by Kojevnikova Maria. How
he proves his innocence forms the
crux of the story.
Jeeva, the director and script writ-
er, has effectively brought about a
‘different’ movie but the film as such
has an inconsistent pace. At one
point of time you can see Ravi run-
ning around in the streets of Russia
and the next instant the scene
changes to a village background,
where he is seen romancing fiancée
Shenba (Kangana Ranaut). The che-
ERGO Friday, September 5, 2008
Gangs of New York
According to IMDB, while filming a
fight scene, Leonardo DiCaprio broke
Daniel Day-Lewis’ nose. Day-Lewis
continued to film the scene despite the
injury
Indian Born Russian Spiderman
mistry between them is convincing
though. But the interspersing of
these scenes is so sudden that the
gripping scenes are left hanging and
the momentary effect fades.
Kangana Ranaut, in her debut Ta-
mil movie, has done an okay job but
she may have to take more classes
on lip syncing. Somehow, she does
not fit the role of Shenba. On the
other hand, Lakshmi Rai, as the Rus-
sian-speaking lawyer, plays her role
well. She also looks pretty in formals.
Jayaram has played a significant role
as an Indian embassy officer. This is
the movie’s only suspense element
so watch to find out. Also, Srinath of
Unnale Unnale fame has given a
good comedy act.
The songs are catchy and the cine-
matography is justified, especially
the hip hop number. But, the BGM
becomes quite annoying and repeti-
tive and one of them is an ‘inspira-
tion’ of the 1960s Psycho murder
theme.
Fantastic landscapes, wintry Rus-
sia, serene Pollachi, agile Ravi, a
tomboyish Kangana and a chic
Lakshmi Rai all caught amidst a con-
spiracy with a clichéd happy ending
is Dhaam Dhoom in a nutshell. ■
Film: Dhaam Dhoom
Director: Jeeva
Cast: ‘Jayam’ Ravi, Kangana
Ranaut, Lakshmi Rai,
Jayaram
IBRS
 Friday, September 5, 2008
19
Black Hawk Down Titanic
The US Department of Defense gave The engine room scenes were
the producer a platoon of Army partially filmed aboard the WWII ship
Rangers who did the fast rope scenes SS Jeremiah O’Brien. Smaller railings
for war film Black Hawk Down. and catwalks were installed to make
the engines appear bigger.

Epic animation: Cine City

Wall-E
MITHRA SURESH
mithra@goergo.in

T he sci-fi animation Wall-E is vi-

sually stunning, and the story
manages to grip you despite the
lack of dialogues until well into the
second half.
The movie opens with a pano-
ramic view of New York 700 years
from now. The sight is not pretty.
The skyscrapers are replaced by
bales of crushed cans, the flyovers
are deserted and dusty and the only
life forms are a waste-collecting ro-
bot, Wall-E, and his pet cockroach.
Life is routine for Wall-E, until an
investigating robot, EVE, is sent to
assess Earth’s life sustenance. What
follows after is a journey of love,
sacrifice, war, exodus and all those
themes that epics are made of.
And Wall-E is really made on epic Film: Wall-E
levels. If the breathtaking beauty of
water and the sea was encom-
Director: Andrew Stanton
Voices: Ben Burrtt, Elissa
Ameer likely to direct Ajith
passed in Finding Nemo, the same Knight If the Internet buzz is to be believed, Ajith and
director, Andrew Stanton, has cap- Ameer are joining hands for a remake. Director
tured the infinity of space, the was- Ameer, who gave us Paruthiveeran, has not done
teland of Earth, the self-destructive any remakes so far. He has apparently told close
existence of mankind in details that friends that he plans to remake yesteryear comic
can only be appreciated with a sec- flick Bale Pandiya, with Ajith playing the lead.
ond watch. Ajith has shown great interest in doing the
project. But nothing has been confirmed
Little did you know officially.
Wall-E’s name is an acronym, www.cinesnacks.com
standing for ‘Waste Allocation Load
Lifter-Earth-class.’
EVE stands for ‘Extraterrestial
Vegetation Evaluator’

Jai, Lekha
Washington
pair up
Lekha Washington’s
performance in Jayam
Kondaan has been
fetching her rave reviews
as well as good offers.
Pushkar-Gayathri, the
husband-wife duo, have
now roped Lekha for
playing the female lead
in their next project, titled
Raakkoli. Jai of
Subramaniapuram fame
plays the male lead.
20 ERGO Friday, September 5, 2008

Band Members

Scan
According to IMdb, Writers, Carter Bays and
Craig Thomas of “How I Met your Mother”
are members of the band "The Solids," which
performs the show’s theme song "Hey
Beautiful".

PICK OF THE DAY - Friday

HBO NDTV Imagine CNN IBN Star World

The Peacemaker – 9 pm
A pair of mismatched government
operatives set out to recover stolen
nuclear warheads from international
terrorists. When missiles being
transported on a Russian train are
supposedly destroyed, a brash army
specialist is teamed with an
ambitious female executive.
The Unforgettable Tour
Diaries – 10 pm
The show brings together the
greatest icons of Indian Cinema -
Amitabh Bachchan, Abhishek
Bachchan, Aishwarya Bachchan,
Preity Zinta and Ritiesh Deshmukh,
on one common platform, the show
travels to exotic destinations.
Late Night Edition – 11 pm
For those who are busy at work the
whole day, this is an opportunity to
catch up on all the major news
stories. .
Seinfeld – 7-30 pm
Elaine is humiliated when she
accidentally shows a bit too much
on her Christmas card photo, that
she has sent out to everyone she
knows

PICK OF THE DAY - Saturday

Channel V
Tony B Show – 8-50 pm
Celeb interviews by an anchor who
appears dumb about the guests
achievements or expertise. Master
of disaster and Prince of Faux pas,
Tony B is constantly lost and makes
his guests lose their temper.
The History Channel
Bollywood Bosses – 10- 30
pm
This series dedicates stand-alone
episodes each to one A-list
filmmaker drawing out insights in
their own words through
introspection by themselves and
their own colleagues
Zoom
Star Movies
Casino Royale – 9 pm
The Rakhi Sawant Showz
– 7-30 pm
Superb spy action and a blistering
Watch all the spicy gossip about our
return for the new Bond: Daniel
colourful film industry via the bold,
Craig is the ruthless double 0 with
brutally honest and much talked
orders to crush terrorist banker Le
about host, Rakhi Sawant
Chiffre in a high-stakes poker game

PICK OF THE DAY - Sunday

Star Vjay AXN SS Music Animal Planet

Neeya Naana – 9 pm
Polarized sections of the society
debate on a topic that affects them
the most and they share their views,
opinions and counter-arguments. All
of which will all be presented in a
stylized format.
Spider Man 2 – 8 pm
When the scientist transformed into
super villian after a failed
experiment threatens the well being
of his city, spider man is forced to
battle him. But can he battle his
inner demons first?.
Just In – 10 pm
The show features music that’s just
in from all over the world, in
between your favourite shows. So,
if you want to be the first to hum
the latest tunes of your favourite
artists and from the latest movies,
don’t miss J̀UST IN’.
Way of the Warrior - 11 pm
From the monstrous Great White
Shark to the tiny army ant to the
lethal pit viper these animals are
built to kill.
 Friday, September 5, 2008
21
Religious tatoo sold
A Swiss man has sold an elaborate
Virgin Mary tattoo on his back to a
German collector.

Greetings
sticky@goergo.in

A GLIMPSE INTO REALITY

‘Satva’ is a two day event to
Dear Renuka & Sathish, bring about awareness
To the beautiful couple, Happy amongst the general public on
wedding anniversary. May the coming differently abled children. It is
year be filled with happiness, love. May an outlet for children to express
god blessings shower on your family. themselves, for parents to work
Best wishes, Subba Reddy, Patni closely and see through the
Hi Charlie eyes of the children - A glimpse
Many more happy returns of the day. into reality.
May God bless you with happiness and Where:
success in your life. Have a wonderful 21/30, Corporation
and beautiful birthday. Community hall
Best wishes from Subasis Das, Sify Technology C.P.Ramaswamy Road,
Hi Neeraja, Opp. To Kirtilal Kalidas,
Wish you many more happy returns of Alwarpet
the day. May god bless you with When: Sep 06,
health, happiness and let all your 4.00 p.m. – 7.00 p.m.
dreams come true on this wonderful
day. Happy Birthday Neeraja.
Annie C. Melinda, New Age Software &

Dear Nandhini,
Solutions (I) Pvt Ltd
FULL MOON OVER Colonial India – a look
Many more happy returns of the day.
LIANGZHOU
Mercury COE wishes you all the very
best on your future endeavours. May
god bless you and may your dreams
back
come true.
Regards, Mercury COE – HITS, Hexaware
Technologies Ltd.
Dear Malo,
In soft gleaming night of stars, may all
your dreams come true. May every star
of every night bring love and joy to
you. Happy birthday.
A Lot of Wishes from Team GIT – Cognizant
Hi M.G.Ram,
Many more Happy Returns of the day.
May god give all success in your life.
Have a dazzling and Flourishing Future.
Yours ever-loving Roommates, Ahmed (FSS),
Vasanth (IJL), KanagaRaj, Seenu (Softcell)
Dear Tirzah,
Wish you a very Happy Birthday. May Embassy of the People’s Republic of China
the coming year be filled with The Goethe-Institut / Max Mueller Bhavan Chennai is organising a
and the Indo Cine Appreciation Foundation photo exhibition by Wiele & Klein on Colonial India at Dakshinchi-
happiness, peace and love. May all your are organizing a Chinese Film Festival. On the
dreams come true. Have a great year tra. The photos exhibited are printed from glass plate negatives
fifth, the movie ‘Full Moon Over Liangzhou’ from the years 1885 until approx. 1920 which have survived almost
ahead. will be screened.
With Luv, Sudha, Emphasis one century and today form the Vintage Vignette collection, kept in
Where: South Indian Film Chamber Chennai.
Dear Nasreen, Theatre,
On this special day, I wish you a very Where:
Anna Salai DakshinaChitra, East Coast Road, Muttukadu.
Happy Birthday!! Which will bring you When: Sep 05, 6.15 p.m.
success without delay, loads of joy, and When: Sep 07
sufficient time to pray. Have a great
year ahead! All the very best for your
future endeavours! With Best and Hearty
Wishes I.Ismail ,Thirdware Solutions Pvt Ltd
Dear Krishna,
TOP 5 WAYS TO SPOT A MANIAC
We wish you many more happy returns
of the day. May God bless you with 1. Get rid of the obvious. In their feet, have clenched teeth or who are wonderfully in bliss then
happiness and success in your life. addition to waving a butcher twitching cheeks, or be dressed suddenly start screaming at each
Wishes from Your Eternals, knife, obvious maniacs will totally inappropriately for the other for no apparent reason.
Tata Consultancy Services generally stick out because they weather.
Hello Gang, are weaving through the crowd, They are the ones who wear 4. Listen. People that scream at
Send your greetings to sporting a sign that says “The sky shorts in the snow. the top of their lungs about elves
sticky@goergo.in, with the word is falling at 2 o’clock” or scaling in the pantry, talk gibberish or
‘greeting’ and the preferred date of the side of a building in a 3. Once obvious and less obvious are having a very loud
publication in the subject line. Example: Spiderman mask. maniacs are spotted, it’s now conversation even though they
“greeting: July4”. This will help us time to find the hidden maniacs. have no cell phone can be safely
organise the column. Also, those who 2. Look for the subtleties. The These will often disguise categorized as maniacs.
want to dedicate greetings, please send less-obvious maniacs will have themselves as a benign lady
your full name, company name and downtrodden or highly excited walking her shih-tzu who starts 5. If you have done any of the
contact number for verification. demeanors, sport a manic glare to freak out if a larger dog above, then stay away from
Cheers, that gazes only upwards or at comes within 200 feet, a couple yourself!
Team Ergo
22 ERGO Friday, September 5, 2008

Traffic Jam No flush for Swiss goldfish

Swiss goldfish owners are not allowed to flush
them down the toilet alive since strict, new
animal protection laws have come into effect.

sudoku

John Thomas C.X.

of Accenture
spotted this rare
fish on the ECR
Beach. Any guess,
folks? Hobbies:
Photography and
swimming.
Email:
cx.john@gmail.com

Prize sponsor for

Clickpick this week is
the travel portal
www.yatra.com.
Phone: 4210 5353
KAKURO
So you think you would make a terrific photographer but never really had the
platform? Mail us your best work and we’ll publish it in this space, with credit.
E-mail: clickpick@goergo.in

TEAM
Editor: Karthik Subramanian
karthik@goergo.in

Sr Dy Chief Designer: J.A. Prem Kumar

Dy Chief Designer: R. Ravi Kannan
Illustrator: R. Venugopal

Technical Support:
V.R. Vasudevan, K.G. Gurumurthy
N. Ravichandran, E. Baskar

Head of Advertising:
Sriya Narayanan
ads@goergo.in

Head of Circulation:
RA. Babu Vijay
copies@goergo.in

SNAIL MAIL
859/860, Anna Salai,
Chennai - 600 002
mail your feedback to
feedback@goergo.in
FAX 2857 6691

ADVERTISING ENQUIRIES
Call our
Advertisement Manager
at 2857 6695.
email: ads@goergo.in
Website: www.goergo.in

Printed and Published by S. Karthik on behalf of

KASTURI & SONS LTD., at Plot B-6 & B-7,
CMDA Industrial Complex, Maraimalai Nagar,
Chengleput Taluk, Kancheepuram Dist., Pin:
603209 & at Kasturi Buildings, 859 & 860,
Anna Salai, Chennai-600002. Editor: S. Karthik
(Editor responsible for selection of news under
the PRB Act). RNI No. TNENG/2007/24553
 Friday, September 5, 2008
23
Condom lube for acne cure? Word’s worth
A condom lubricant designed for sex "Galimatias" (gal-uh-mat-ee-us) nonsense,
workers and gay men has become a popular meaningless talk. Of unknown origin, first found in
acne cure among female Cambodians the sixteenth century.

B.C

ARIES MARCH 21 - APRIL 20

You may be little conscious and alert at office today
and see to it that others respect you. If you don’t
take care of the schedule or routine, chances of
falling sick are very high. You may be very
passionate in case of love relationship.

TAURUS APRIL 21 - MAY 20

Your energies are concentrated on others at work,
specifically if you are a ’team leader’. Ensure that
you are not taken on a ride by someone from your
team. If your beloved one tries to influence your
likes and dislikes, you may not like it.

GEMINI MAY 21 - JUNE 20

You may dedicate lot of time to work and try hard
BORN LOSER to match frequency with others at work, however, it
may be little difficult to strike perfect balance. Your
love life seems uneventful but you may be seriously
thinking about certain issues related to personal life.
CANCER JUNE 21 - JULY 20
You will have lot of food for thought even while
you are busy doing routine work at office. This is
due to your increased desire to progress and reach
to a better level on the career front. Love life may
be full of emotional expressions.
LEO JULY 21 - AUG 20
You may remain inflexible today. In important
meetings at office, you may have very firm views
but express them with right words, else people may
consider it as your ego. Ensure that you try to be as
flexible as you can in love life.
VIRGO AUG 21 - SEPT 20
You may be in a mood to prove others wrong. You
FREE RANGE WORKING IT OUT may end up criticising your colleagues for no
reason. Ensure that others don’t think you are
acting too smart. Love life may remain demanding
and you may end up confronting with life partner.
LIBRA SEPT 21 - OCT 20
Although you believe in complete balance in each
and every area of life, today you may imbalance
your relations by foul speech at office. You will be
very straightforward yet sentimental while dealing
with your beloved.
SCORPIO OCT 21 - NOV 20
You may be very assertive and demanding today,
says Ganesha. At work, no one will come to you
with any weird request or proposal as you seem to
be serious in your behaviour. It is perfect time to
solve burning issues of love life and start afresh.
SAGITTARIUS NOV 21 - DEC 20
If you have determined to complete a project today,
the process of completion may be stretched beyond
expectations. In love relationship, you may not be
interested in superficial expressions but may expect
passionate reaction from your mate.
CAPRICORN DEC 21 - JAN 20
Ganesha finds you addressing issues related to
group of people or a team today. You should try to
deal as nicely as possible with others in order to
sort out problems. Today you may be very much
concerned about what your beloved thinks of you.
AQUARIUS JAN 21 - FEB 20
PREVIOUS You will try your level best to achieve success on
the career front. There will be a realisation that
ISSUE’S there is no substitute to the hard work. Ganesha
feels that your love life may be sidelined today, for
SOLUTIONS your focus on vocation is much stronger.
PISCES FEB 21 - MARCH 20
Instead of wasting time behind fruitless pursuits,
you may be working in right direction without
getting confused. Bond between your lover and you
may become stronger with help of some gift or
sweet conversation.
Predictions by Bhavesh N. Pattni
24 ! ERGO Friday, September 5, 2008

Flavours of Ganesha

An idol of Ganesha held by another of Shirdi Saibaba

installed in Kandulavari Street in Vijayawada.
Photo: CH. VIJAYA BHASKAR.

This 43-ft Ganesha, the tallest idol in Visakhapatnam,

was installed by Vizag Defence Academy
PHOTO: K.R. DEEPAK

Devotees offer darshan

at the ‘Instantâ Vinayaka
Temple’ (a make-shift
Vinayaka assembled on
the spot) at Vallalar
Street in Purasaiwalkam.
PHOTO: S.S.KUMAR
A 3-tonne Vinayaka, decorated with 1008 kg of 27 different vegetables,
standing tall at 15-ft, at Venkatnarayana Road in T. Nagar.
PHOTO: R. RAVINDRAN.