Ergo December 8

8/14/2019 Ergo December 8

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Monday, December 8, 2008A BYTE OF LIFE

MUSCLE MANAn IT professional is Mr. Tamil Nadu

FREE CIRCULATION Vol. 2 No. 233

Whats your reason for leave

Survey finds Americas innovative excusesfor not coming to office

0602

A walk through

CHENNAI

THE STRAIGHTSHOOTER

Gautham Menon on the mixed response to Vara-nam Aayiram, Chennaiyil Oru Mazhai Kaalam andfuture projects .... in a freewheeling chat over ahot cup of coffee with Anusha Parthasarathy.

An IIM-Indoregraduate andformer techiestarts StoryTrails todestroy themyth thattheres notmuch to doin Chennai.A group oftrainedstorytellersfamiliarisethose whosign up withthe Chennaiway of life.

PAGE 05

PAGE10


2/16

ERGO Monday, December 8, 2008NAMMA CHENNAI02

Real estate watchA senior officer attached to the suburbancommissionerate has become a terroramong real estate agents in the area.The reason the khaki pokes hisnose into all possible real estatedealings in the area and walks awaywith fat commission. The officer haseven deputed juniors to keep awatch on real estate mattershappening inside his jurisdiction.

Disaster for the expertRecently during the torrential rains, adisaster management expert, who is anadviser to the state government, wasspeaking to a reporter about how rains

affected the same parts of the city yearafter year. Interestingly the man himselfwas standing in ankle deep water inside hisown home in Velachery.

Wear theseA few days after the Law College studentclash where the police were mutespectators and faced lot of criticism, a toppolice officer received an anonymous parcelat his office. When opened, the parcelcontained four sarees and letter sayingplease wear them instead of youruniforms.

Helicopter and cricketA rumour on helicopters to keep vigil on

the cricket stadium here during Indian vsEngland Test match spread among mediacircles. The false news even made headlinesin some papers and reciprocating to thatwas a cricket ardent cop who lashed out onscribes saying how can one play when ahelicopter is creating a cacophony on top ofthe head.EOM

Will you believe it if I tell

you that a bone fracture was responsible for aperson turning

bodybuilder?Believe it or not, the physio-

therapy which I had undergone

to recover from a fracture in myleg inspired me to build mybody, says 23-year-old Murali

Vijayakumar, who recently wonthe Mr. Tamil Nadu title in theunder-80 kg category.

Bodybuilding is a passion forthis software engineer working

with Infosys Technologies. Ayear and a half of hard work mademe Mr. Tamil Nadu and now I ameyeing the Mr. India title, saysMurali, a great fan of Dorian

Yates (the six-time Mr. Olympia winner). Murali would be com-peting at the national-level con-test next year.

Shuttling between work andpassion easily, Murali says he

never found his profession task-ing. I never stay back late at of-fice. My motto is early to officeand early to leave. If I have a dea-dline, I will try my level best tomeet it before eight and rushhome. My day starts at five in themorning and ends by 10.30 p.m.Sleep is a must for a healthy body,

which many dont realise, saysMurali.

A lacto-ovo vegetarian, Muralisays he consumes around 40-50eggs a day along with lots of greenvegetables. Diet is very impor-tant for building a body, especial-ly protein. I consume food onceevery two-and-a half hours. Ipack my food from home.

Standing 5 9" tall, Murali cred-its the film stars with popularis-ing the six-pack. Everyone has asix-pack in their constitution.Based on the fat content and theperiod of workout, the time need-ed to develop a six-pack will dif-fer. If the fat content is high, itmight take up to six months; forothers it is just three months. Its

a myth that it is all about hor-mone injections. No hormoneshot can help a person build hisbody without proper diet and

workout, Murali adds.The most common complaint

which I hear about techies is thatthey lead a very unhealthy lifes-tyle. If you ask me, its not thesector which leads to such a lif-estyle but the concerned person.I have been working for the pasttwo years, take food from homeand stick to regular exercise. Myadvice to IT professionals is, beearly to office and finish your

work. Also, avoid consuming junklike fizzy drinks and chipsfirst. Skipping breakfast has

become commonfor both boys andgirls in the ITsector. It is real-ly dangerous,says Murali,

who regularlyblogs onhealthy dietsand workouts.

As far as my of-fice is concerned,

we have a well-equipped gym. If Iget the time I will

workout eventhere. But I regu-larly go to a gymin Foreshore Es-

tate. Earlier, I trained underM. Arasu (former Mr. India)for the Mr. Tamil Nadu conttrained with Mr. Murthuza Mr. Lakshmi Kumar, Muralforms.

Murali, who dreams of becing a professional bodybui

wants to popularise bodybing. Misconceptions a

bodybuilding should be erfrom peoples mind. Bodybuing should gain popularity simto cricket, Murali adds.

Mr. Tamil Nadu Murali Vijayakumar is now eyeing the Mr. India title

V. HARIPRIYA

[email protected]

Meeting

MACHO MAN


3/16

From singing songs to crack-ing jokes and enactingscenes, the winners of Vo-dafones SMS contest tried

their best to grab the attention ofdirector Venkat Prabhu at theconference hall of Vodafone of-fice that turned an audition spotfor the directors next flick, Goa,on Saturday morning.

The Wish and Act SMS contestrun by Vodafone invited the cus-tomers to wish Venkat Prabhu onNovember 7, his birthday, andwin a chance to act in Goa. Out ofover 15,000 creative messages re-ceived, 250 messages were select-ed for the second round. Finally,10 messages were picked by Ven-

kat Prabhu and the winners hadan interaction with the director

on the Vodafone campus.The winners, who had come

from places like Coimbatore andSalem, included professionals as

well as college students. BalajiMani Khumaran, a final-year En-gineering student and a part-time

VJ from Salem, impressed eve-ryone with his performance. ForS. Dhileepan, a II-year BSc stu-dent, it became a space to ventout his feelings. Still, he tried toimpress Venkat by enacting asentimental scene. These werethe two who actually wanted achance to act. For others, just ameeting with Venkat Prabhu wasenough. Especially for A. Amar-nath, who works with Reliance,

who got the chance to meet thedirector because of his girlfriend,

who is a Vodafone customer. Idont know to act and I came here

only to meet Venkat Prabhu.Thanks to my girlfriend who

alerted me about the contest. But Venkat Prabhu surprised

everyone by giving the verdictthat he will include all the 10 win-

ners in the film. He said it istough to take a decision on the

winners, since it would be a dis-appointment for them.

Goa will be a fun-packed en-tertainer on the likes of Rock OnandJaane Tu... The film will haveJai, Premji Amaran, Arvind Akashand Vaibhav in the lead roles.Search is on for the heroine. Thefilm will start rolling from next

year. I have not completelyscripted the story which will bemade in Tamil and Telugu, Ven-kat Prabhu said.

The director also added that inthe near future we can expect theremainder of the trilogy ofChen-nai 600 028 -- Chennai 28 Second

Innings and Chennai 28 The Fi-nals.

Venkat Prabhu decides to give a chance to all the 10 finalistsof Vodafones SMS contest for his next flick Goa. And thereis a big surprise for fans of Chennai 600 [email protected]

The winners of Vodafone Wish and Act sms contest along with director Venkat Prabhuon Saturday. PHOTOS: R. RAVINDRAN

Ten out of

Monday, December 8, 2008

On November 29, the Cen-tral Crime Branch (CCB)

of Chennai City Police ar-rested a Bangalore-basedcouple on charges of cheat-ing people after promisingthem IT jobs after collectinghuge sums of money.

The arrested were ArunKumar and his wife Rekha,

who together started a soft-ware firm called Givion SoftMake Technologies IndiaPvt Ltd at Ramasamy Streetin T. Nagar. The duo had re-portedly collected upto Rs1.5 lakh from each candi-date, promising them jobplacements and had provid-ed only training in return.

After a few months the cou-ple closed the firm and left.

This case of fraud is justamong the mounting num-ber of incidents in the city

where young IT aspirantsare being taken for a ride byfraudulent individuals andfirms they float to facilitatethe fraud.

Their modus operandi issimple. An advertisementcalling for aspiring softwareengineers is sent out. Can-didates are asked to join thefirm as trainees after payinghuge sums as initial deposit,

which can range from Rs.50,000 to Rs 2 lakh. In mostcases, an eyewash trainingprogramme is started andthe employer vanishes

with the money.In the case involving the

fraudulent Bangalore couple, more than 50 peop

were provided computraining at the companand left in the lurch after smonths. The couple hapocketed close to Rs. crore, after which Chennpolice smoked them ofrom a hideout in the teccity.

The arrest was the thirof its kind in the month November itself. Similcases are under investigtion, said a senior CCB official. Reliable police sourcreveal that there are sevesuch cases under investigtion and a few more casare yet to be reported, pehaps making this the neand extremely lucrativtype of job fraud in the cit

S. Venkatesan, a citbased IT business analysasserts that a good firm wselect candidates only o

merit basis and not aftcollecting money frothem. IT job aspiranshould always verify wittheir peers and informeprofessionals the credibiliof their future employerhe says.

Venkatesan also says ththere is at present no foruto ascertain the credibiliof particular firms, especialy the smaller ones. Oncan even try and approacthe CII (Confederation Indian Industry) as theare professionals who mighbe able to guide aspirantshe suggested.

The big companies have sloweddown recruitments. Fly-by-nightIT firms are now cashing in on

job demand

PETLEE [email protected]

Faking IT

TEN


4/16

ERGO Monday, December 8, 2008KALEIDOSCOPE04

In todays world, it is a given thathealth insurance is a necessity.The high impact of pollution,

work-related stress, odd andlong working hours, indifferentfood habits, sedentary lifestyle andthe commute to and from officeadd to the health hazards.

Is there a way out in case you arestuck with some illness? Yes, aproperly planned health insurancescheme can take care of it. Here isa ten step process for well-plannedhealth insurance management.

10-point checklist1.a: Based on your family historyand your work style, plan for thehighest expense due to medicalemergency. It is ok to be paranoid

when doing this estimation.1.b: Do the same exercise for all

members of your family. Include your children too (if you have any).In fact children are the most vul-nerable to contagious diseases.

2. Check the cover available with your companys health plan; checkfor the amount; check for the dis-eases covered; and finally check forthe emergency facilities covered.

3. Bridge the gap between your

estimation in Step 1 and the coverin your company in Step 2. Somecompanies may not have health in-surance. Some others may evencover pregnancy and child birth(which is not normally covered byinsurance companies).

4. Look for a General Insurancecompany to fill the gap with theirproducts. Consider the health in-surance premiums as necessary ex-penses. They are not investments.One good thing is that the Govern-ment also gives us Income Tax ben-efits under Section 80D for all

health insurance premiums (slab isRs.15000/- per year). The premiumsgenerally change on a yearly basis;increasing with age.

5. Take another health insurancefrom Life Insurance companies forCritical Illness only. There are sev-eral products in the market. Forany Life Insurance based healthplan - choose the longest term pos-sible and take the plan as early in

your life as possible. Here the pre-miums are fixed throughout heterm and is dependent on the ageat entry.

6. Always read the fine print ofthe proposal and the products.

Please dont entertain telephcalls where the sales person that the details will be avail

when you say YES and they the document.

7. Cross check the documen whether you have got the plan for which you applied.

8. General Insurance plans nto be renewed every year. Dforget the date for renewal. Wrthe renewal date on your difirst page should be a good enoreminder for this.

9.Dont change the insur

company you get the advanof discounts (no-claim bonus -to 50%; either in the form oduced premiums or increcover) from general insurance cpanies and fixed premiums forterm from life insurcompanies.

10. Once every 3 years (lessecase there were any claims) rethe cover available. Do the Steto 3 and increase the cover asrequirement. Never decrease cover (your next company mayhave all the goodies).

Karthikeyan Jaw

Finerva Financial Solutions Pv

10 steps to managehealth insurance

Personal finance-related newsfrom last week

RBI reduced the repo rates and reverserepo rates (rates at which RBI lends to banks,and banks can lend to RBI respectively) by 100basis point (1%) to 6.5% and 5% respectively.The CRR & SLR remain the same. This will beeffective from Monday. The prices of petrol and diesel slashed.

The reduction is Rs.5 for petrol and Rs.2 fordiesel. The crude price in the internationalmarket has dropped to $40, the lowest in four

years. Vodafones request of no TDS has been

declined by Maharastra High Court. The com-pany can appeal in the Supreme Court. The

tax liability can be as high as $2 billion ifturned down by the Supreme Court too.

Winner gets a free Personal Fi-nance Health Check up fromFinerva.

1. What is the maximum amount for taxbenefit for Health Insurance premium under80D for a senior citizen?

Choice:A. Rs.15,000/-B. Rs.20,000/-C. 20% of Rs.20,000/-D. Rs.7,500/-2. What is the tax on the claim amount of

health insurance?Choice:

A. 0%B. The claim amount is added to the income

and taxed accordinglyC. 10% of the claim amountD. 30% + surcharge on the claim amountSend your answers to [email protected] or

SMS your answers to 92813 98889. For exam-ple if you choose A as the answer to question 1and B as the answer to question 2 type it as1A2B and send it.

Rewind

Mini quiz

Golden calendar

Anemployeeof Japans

jewelerTanakaKikinzokudisplays aox mascotwearing agold foilcalendar.AFP PHOTO


5/16


There is not much to doin Chennai. Agree? Weare not surprised if youhave heard this clich

an umpteen number of times.Well, we are here to disprovethat, and we dont seem to be do-ing badly at all. If you have sometime on your hands and like theidea of using it to explore, experi-ment and learn in the process,check us out, and youll be sur-

prised at how many enjoyableweekends we can tailor for you.

Thats Vijay Kamalakara, analumnus of IIM-Indore, a formerIT professional who quit the cor-porate world to turn entrepre-

neur, telling us about NammaChennai.His company Story Trails gets

people to experience a slice of thefascinating Chennai way of lifeusing stories as the medium.

Road less travelled

India is usually associated withelephants and snake charmers.Story Trails decided to take theroad less travelled to change thatperception. They say there is afascinating story behind every as-pect of the Indian way of life.Why do we wear a bindi on ourforehead? Why do we draw a ko-lam in front of our homes? thelist goes on, explains Vijay, foun-der and managing director of Sto-ry Trails.

The big idea behind creatingeach trail is to use a differenttheme to bind some interestingsights and relevant activities to-gether.

All trails are hosted by a story-

teller, who accompanies thegroup on tours. Story Trails has astandardised training pro-gramme for all their storytellers.

Trail desk

Peacock Trail (A walk throughMylapore); Dancers Trail (Thenuances of Bharatanatyam for abeginner); Country Roads (Wan-der in Chennais countryside);Steeple Chase (Trace the growthof Christianity in Chennai); Ba-zaar Trail (A walk through GeorgeTown); Chennai Suttru (Chennaidiscovered, with a twist); SpiceTrail (The magic of spices in Indi-an cooking); and Family Trail (Anexperiential outing for an entirefamily) are some of the trails theyconduct.

Listen to unusual tales about the city with this group

KALPAGAM SARMA

Company: Story TrailsStarted: December 2006Strengths: A team fromdifferent walks of life withinquisitive mindsVision: Creative outingsUSP: Unique new service incultural and alternativetourismWebsite: www.storytrails.in

Ph: 4212 4214/ 99400 40215

Participants at the Peacock Trail at Mylapore inChennai on Saturday. PHOTOS: R.RAVINDRAN

ON

CHENNAISTRAIL

Websites of the dayExplore the fascinating world of art with this interactive site: http://www.tate.org.uk/tateplayer/Ever wondered where the food on your plate comes from? This site has theanswers http://www.bl.uk/learning/histcitizen/foodstories


6/16

ERGO Monday, December 8, 2008VILLAGE06

Iran tests new missile

from warshipIrans military test-fired a new surface-to-surfacemissile from a warship as part of exercises along astrategic shipping route, state media reported onSunday. Iran launched six days of naval war gameson Tuesday in the Sea of Oman and the Gulfregion amid tension with the United States andIsrael, which have not ruled out military action ifdiplomacy fails to end a row over Tehrans nuclearwork.

Reuters

Only one-fourth ofJapan voters back PMSupport for Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso slid morethan 15 points to around 25 per cent in a poll released onSunday that also showed voters unhappy with his decisionto delay measures to prop up the sagging economy. Aso isfinding it increasingly difficult to keep his party in line ashis support rate falls and the economy slides deeper into

recession, intensifyingcriticism fromlawmakers who feardefeat in a generalelection that must beheld by September2009. Only 25.5percent of respondentsto a weekend poll byKyodo news agency

backed Aso, who tookoffice in Septemberhoping to lead theLiberal DemocraticParty (LDP) and itsjunior partner tovictory in an electionthat must be held bySeptember 2009.

Reuters

All eyes on Ghana presidential voteGhanaians went to thepolls Sunday to choosethe man who willsucceed president JohnKufuor, who isstepping down aftertwo four-year terms,and vote forcandidates to 230parliamentary seats.Nana Akufo-Addo, a64-year-old lawyerfrom the ruling NewPatriotic Party (NPP)and John Atta-Mills,

also 64, a lawprofessor from theNational Democratic Congress (NDC), are the leadingcontenders for president. Ghana was the first Africannation to free itself of colonial rule and the poll is beingclosely followed in Africa and further afield, in particularsince Nigerias elections last year were marred by fraudand those in Kenya and Zimbabwe by widespreadviolence. Its significant for Africa as it was one of thefirst countries to get independence and if it succeeds itadds a score for the continent, former Botswanapresident Ketumile Massire told AFP.

AFP

Having a job may be the latest status sym-bol for Americans in the times of massivelayoffs, but many still skip work with novalid reasons and one in three employees

call in sick when they are not.Besides, workers conjure innovative excuses

for not coming to the office such as not wantingto lose the parking space in front of his house orhaving nothing to wear because the wife burntall the clothes.

These are findings of an annual survey on ab-senteeism by the largest online job site Career-Builder.com of the US, which revealed that 33per cent or one-third of workers called in sick tooffice, when they were well at least once in theyear.

In the survey, nearly one in ten (nine per cent)workers who lied when calling in sick admitteddoing so to miss a meeting, buy some time towork on a project that was already due, or toavoid the wrath of a boss or colleague.

Besides, nearly one in three (34 per cent) saidthey just did not feel like going to work thatday. The survey, conducted by global researchmajor Harris Interactive on behalf of CareerBuil-der.com within the US, also revealed a dozenunusual excuses that the employees gave formissing work. These included: employee did not

want to lose the parking space in front of hishouse; employee hit a turkey while riding a bike;employee said he had a heart attack early thatmorning, but he was all better now.

Other excuses are: employee having swal-lowed too much mouthwash, wife burning allclothes leaving nothing to wear to office, em-ployees toe getting injured when a soda can fellout of the fridge, being up all night as police wasprobing the death of someone discovered be-hind her hose and the employees psychic tellingher to stay home were other pleas for staying athome.

PTI

Whats your reason for leave

Britain plots Zimbabwe invasion- Mugabe spokesmanZimbabwes government has accused former colonialruler Britain of using a cholera epidemic to rallyWestern support for an invasion of the collapsingsouthern African nation, a state-run newspaper saidon Sunday. President Robert Mugabe has in the pastweek come under pressure from the internationalcommunity, especially Western nations who accusehim of ruining the once relatively prosperous countryand exposing its people to famine and disease.

Reuters

4:20Contrary to legend, all of theclocks in the movie Pulp Fictionare NOT stuck on 4:20.

Americans conjure innovativeexcuses for not coming tothe office such as notwanting to lose the parking

space in front of his houseor having nothing to wearbecause the wifeburnt all theclothes


7/16


Model BarbaraMeier attends

Stars In DerManege At

Circus Croneon Saturday

in Munich,Germany.

GETTY IMAGES

Miss Ecowas Ivorian Manie Murielle, 20, (C), Vice Miss Hann Fatoumata of Guinea(R), 18, and third placed Uchechi Unubia of Nigeria (L), 21, pose during a beautycontest of The Economic Community Of West African States (ECOWAS) on Saturdayin Yamoussoukro. AFP PHOTO

Actress Rita Russek attends the Stars InDer Manege At Circus Crone in Munichon December 06, 2008 in Munich,Germany. GETTY IMAGES

One look is all it takesNEWS AND NEWSMAKERS IN PICTURES

"Theres

nothingIslamic aboutterrorism. I am aMuslim, I read theKoran, butnowhere in theholy text does itsay you can getjannat (paradise)from jihad," ShahRukh Khan

AFP

Quote of the day


8/16

ERGO Monday, December 8, 2008SPORT08

Rauf to miss Chennai TestPakistans Asad Rauf has had to step downas an umpire for the scheduled first Testbetween England and India as he could notget the proper visa, the InternationalCricket Council said on Sunday.Pakistan nationals require city-specific visaswhen travelling to India and Rauf, who will

be replaced by New Zealands Billy Bowden,was issued visas for the original Test venues.The first Test, starting on Thursday, wasmoved to Chennai from Ahmedabad andthe final Test to Mohali (December19-23) from Mumbai following lastweeks militant attacks that killed atleast 171 people.With the change in venues he (Rauf)required a new visa but due to theweekend, followed by the Eid al-Adha holidays, there was insufficienttime for one to be issued, so he hashad to step down from the first Test, theICC said in a statement. It is anticipatedAsad will be able to stand in the secondmatch of the series in Mohali. Bowden willjoin Australias Daryl Harper as an on-fieldumpire for the Chennai Test.

Reuters

Its T10 nowWith Indian pace spearhead Ishant Sharmaas brand ambassador and former Team Indiamanager Lalchand Rajput as Tournament

Director,cricket is allset toexperimentwith the10-over-a-sidegully formatnext year.Targeted at15 to 24 yearolds, whohave not yetmade thefirst-class cut,the

tournament isall set to rollJanuary 16with a fewbatsmen-

friendly innovations and absolutely nothingfor the bowlers. Eight teams from Surat,Pune, Ludhiana, Thane, Lucknow, Jalandhar,Kanpur and Nashik will vie for Rs 10 lakhwinners purse out of a total prize money ofRs 25 lakh.The preliminary stage will see foursponsored teams in each city competingagainst each other to qualify for the finalplay-off. The play-off will feature twogroups of four teams each with the top-twoqualifying for the semi-finals.I loved playing gully cricket. Everybodystarts with it. This is the format that takeseveryone forward, Ishant said at thelaunch. Rajput said the tournament couldact as a stepping stone for those aspiring fora place in the Twenty20 side. It is like aselection trial for twenty20. If we manage toproduce even two or three good cricketers,then that would be great, he said.

PTI

Saina Nehwal has the potential tobe the numero uno women

shuttler but the prodigal talenturgently needs a travelling phy-

sio to retain her fitness, feels nationalcoach Pullela Gopichand. BeijingOlympics quarter-finalist, Saina,sneaked into the elite zone of top 10players on Thursday and immediatelyset herself a new target of breakinginto the top five next year.

Saina has 8-10 years of interna-tional badminton ahead. She has thepotential to be on the top providedshe remains injury-free and for thatshe urgently needs a travelling phys-iotherapist who can chart out a spe-cific fitness plan for her, Gopichand,the former All England Champion,said from Cochin. Fitness has beenher strong point till date but women

badminton is very tiresome. There arelong matches and you need the stami-na to do well consistently, he added.

Great commitmentElated to see Saina grow as a player

from strength to strength, Gopichandsaid the 18-year-old has always

been a quick learner. Saina hasdone tremendously well. She is aquick learner and you have to bereally good to be in top 10. I hadthe confidence in her since thebeginning.

Reckoning that winning tour-naments will be more important

than focusing on ranking, Gopi-

chand said Saina would look for consistent podium finish in the up

coming tournaments. Rankings aindicative of how you play in that priod. It is good to have high rankingbut podium finish is more importan

We will try to win or reach in semis ofinals in the coming tournaments, hsaid.

Future plansHe said that apart from Asian an

World championship, Saina will pl12 Super Series events next year anhe is quite optimistic about the champion shuttlers chances. Asked abouhow he is preparing Saina for the 201Delhi Commonwealth Games, Gopchand said it is still two years awaand the duo will churn out tournament-wise strategy. Of course, w

want to do well in CommonwealGames but there are so many tournaments to be played in between. Ouimmediate plan is to do well in Korean and Malaysian Super Series to bheld in January. he said.

With her popularity graph soarineach day, Saina is now giving tougcompetition to tennis sensation SanMirza but Gopichand said it would bunfair to compare the two stars. Bohave many similarities. They hafrom the same city (Hyderabad) anhave taken Indian sports high in international circuit. Instead of comparing them, we should enjoy thesuccess.

P

Saina needs atravellingphysiotherapistimmediately:Gopichand

PH

OTO:MOHAMMED

YOUSUFBBrriigghhttfuture ahead

Bracken turns to spinDesperate Nathan Bracken is eyeing to cash in on the void in Australispin department to force his way back into the national side and nowdays the left-arm pacer is busy fine-tuning his spin bowling skills in thnets, instead of swing. Ive been practising them (spin) a fair bit. Ivebeen bowling them at training but the hardest thing has been trying get the chance to bowl them in a game, said Bracken.


9/16


ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat will be in Chennai for the first Test and I will be in Mohali to show the ICCssupport for India and the two teams. I would urge as many supporters as possible to join us during the series, n

only because they will see two excellent sides playing Test cricket, the pinnacle of our sport, but also because by doing swe will demonstrate that we will not be dictated to by terrorists.

ICC President David Mo

Man-ny Pac-quiao of thePhilippines

stunned 10-times worldchampion Oscar De La Hoyawith an eighth-round TKO in

their non-title fight in Las Vegas onSaturday. Moving up two weightclasses for his first fight at welter-weight, WBC lightweight champion

Pacquiao dominated De La Hoyafrom the opening bell, defying theAmericans longer reach and pickinghim off with straight left hands to theface.

Clearly ahead after the first few

rounds, Pacquiao backed De La Hoyaup against the ropes and opened upwith combinations in the seventh andeighth. At the end of the eighth roundDe La Hoyas trainer signalled he hadseen enough and the referee stoppedthe fight. From the first round, Iknew we had him, said Pacquiaostrainer Freddie Roach. He had nolegs, he was hesitant, he was shot.

Dejected champion As Pacquiao celebrated, De La

Hoya walked across the ring to Roach.Im OK, he said. I just dont have itany more. Widely regarded as thebest pound-for-pound fighter in theworld, Pacquiao was still the under-dog entering the bout as De La Hoyawas favoured to defeat the smaller

man by utilising his longer reach and

stiff left jab. How-ever, it was the Filipinos jabthat looked superior, keeping De LaHoya at bay as he bounced on his toesand waited for openings to throw hisstraight left hand. I knew right away I

would win this fight, said Pacquiao.I controlled the fight. I was able todefend against his jab. I was able toconnect with everything; he was ableto connect with nothing.

Price is rightPacquiao (48-3-2, 36 KOs) looked

ahead to a possible clash with Bri-tains light-welterweight championRicky Hatton, who won in the samering two weeks ago. I will fight himanywhere they want if the price isright, said Pacquiao.

But not until after I take a longvacation. After an explosive first fewrounds, the pace dipped slightly inthe fifth and sixth, as De La Hoyaseemed increasingly reluctant toleave himself open to Pacquiaospunches. But in the seventh, Pac-

quiaoturned up the

heat. A series of right hooks to thehead backed De La Hoya (39-6, 30KOs) up against the ropes.

Pacquiao opened up with fierce

combinations that forced The Gold-en Boy to cover up as referee TonyWeeks kept a close eye on how muchdamage De La Hoya was taking. Theeighth was even more lopsided withDe La Hoya offering no resistancebacked to the ropes and Pacquiao un-loading with impunity.

As a dejected De La Hoya sat in hiscorner at the end of the round, histrainer Nacho Beristain signalled hehad seen enough and Weeks called ahalt to the contest. Im not shocked,said De La Hoya. At this stage, when

you fight someone like Manny Pac-quiao, its going to be a tough fight. Ifelt flat. I just didnt have it. Askedabout the prospect of retirement, DeLa Hoya said: we will have to waitand see.

Reuters

Pacquiao stuns GoldenBoy De La Hoya

A newicon

Manny Pacquiao of the Philippinesconnects with a right to the head of OscarDe La Hoya during their welterweight fightat the MGM Grand Garden Arena in LasVegas. PHOTO: AFP


10/16

ERGO Monday, December 8, 2008FLICK10

What led to the recent riftbetween you and HarrisJayaraj?Just like the media got an email

from him, I got one too, onewhich was formatted differently.I wont go into details because Idont want to discuss it but thereasons he has stated are not the

real ones. I have no issues withhim. Of course, music has alwaysbeen the strength of my films.

You did not see it coming?Nope, none at all. I had no idea

all this was brewing until I got theemail. If he wants to disclose thereasons, let him. I have nothingmore to comment.

Is this the reason why twoof your upcoming movieshave A.R Rahman behindthe music?Not at all. I have always wanted

to work with Rahman. I signedhim up last year for Chennayil

oru Mazhai Kalam. So, it hasnothing to do with Harrisand me splitting. If Harris

has an issue with this, thenI cant help it. Its not asthough he doesnt work forany other director but me.Music is an area I can af-

ford to explore. And I want toexplore in every avenue

possible.Varanam Aayiram hasreceived mixed reactionsfrom the public. Do you feelit is justified?From what I know, eighty per-

cent of the audience liked themovie. The response has been ex-traordinary. Of course, there arealways exceptions. I never makemovies for the critics. I do takecriticism but I make movies that I

want to make. Its not targeted atany audience. If I feel that people

would like to watch a certain kindof film, then I do it. Especiallythis one was a tribute to my fa-ther and is very close to my heart.I would say I discovered myself

with Varanam Aayiram.Considering that the averagemovie goer may lack Englishknowledge, what do you

think about the generalfeeling that there was anoverdose of English in themovie?I didnt write the script in En-

glish, on purpose. I went with theflow, thats all. The movie is for amature audience and it was dif-ferently handled. Even if there isa lot of English, I dont see why itis a problem. And people fromU.S.A and others who do notknow Tamil were able to under-stand the movie because parts ofit were in English.

Your comments aboutSuriyas performance in themovie.He was tremendous. He trans-

ported everyone into anotherworld. And thats the point of anymovie. Hes the most versatile ac-tor Ive seen since Kamal Hassan.He gave his everything and hecertainly looked the part whetherit was a 17-year-old or a60-year-old.

Suriya was portrayed as anNSG commando in VA. Inthe light of recentdevelopments, how do youview the co-incidence?I think it was tremendous. Ive

always had a fascination for thearmed forces. It was only after theMumbai attacks that peoplestarted noticing the army andNSG. But I think the highest pointin a persons life is when heserves the country. I believe every

Indian should go through 2 yof compulsory military traiin their life to be equipped toconsequences.

What is Chennayil OruMazhai Kaalam about?Its a story about a grou

guys and girls who have Theyre fresh out of college

looking out to get settled inThere are three girls and guys. Its about how they meach other, fall in love therlove triangle there and if get what they want, in the Trisha, in the lead role, happto work in an IT firm. Its aourful, yuppie, feel-good mo

Other future projects? Apart from Chennayil

Mazhai Kaalam, I will be doiTelugu film with Mahesh Babthe lead. It will begin in Aprilalso signed up for a film Soundarya Rajinikanth and Wner Bros. Weve approached itabh Bachchan to play the and he has shown interest.

also going to start on anoscript in a couple of days. Isurprise, though.

How do you work on yoscripts? After every movie, I nee

unwinding period, which I spwith my family. After this, I my bags and travel. I neetravel to write a script. As sooI fasten my seat belt and openlaptop, Im off, writing astretch, until the entire scriover in a week.

Finally, would you like toremake Varanam AayiramHindi?I would love to. I think its

kind of film they would lov watch. If I get the right kinactors, Im game.

Its not everyday that you get to have a cup of coffee with Gautham VasudevMenon. But when you do, his answers are straightforward and as crisp as thelight blue shirt he is wearing, says Anusha Parthasarathy. She caught up withthe ace director last week just a day before he left for New York


11/16

It was a childhood fantasycome true for Hollywoodheartthrob Keanu Reeveswhen he was asked to star as

the lead in the remake of the1951 sci-fi thriller, The Day The

Earth Stood Still, which he thor-oughly enjoyed watching on TVas a teenager in the early 1980s.

I saw it first when I was 14 or15 on a black and white TV and Iloved it. I remember as a youngboy enjoying the spectacle, thedrama, the flying saucer, thescary music, and the power wheneverything stopped in the world.But watching it (the film) again, Iobserved the sly and clever socialcommentary about the mediaand the world, says Reeves.

In the movie, Keanu portraysKlaatu, an iconic alien messengerin human form whose arrival onEarth triggers a global upheavalas governments and scientistsrace to unravel the mystery be-hind the extra-terrestrials visit.Directed by Scott Derickson ofThe Exorcism of Emily Rose fame,The Day the Earth Stood Still isbeing released worldwide on Dec12.

Besides Keanu, it also stars Jen-nifer Connelly, Kathy Bates, Ja-den Smith and John Cleese inpivotal roles.

Known for his disapproval ofremakes, Keanu was impressedby the new interpretation andscript for the film, which hedeemed to be a reimagining.He even spent many weeks givingadvice on the script and makingKlaatus transition from an alienin human form to one who ap-

preciates human emotions andbeliefs in a subtle manner.

Throwing light on his charac-ter, the 44-year-old actor says:Klaatu has a wonderful sort ofease about him. He has a qualityto him. You (audiences) will be-lieve his naturalistic bemusementand also his frustrations.

The star of such films PointBreak, Speed, A Walk in theClouds, The Devils Advocate, TheMatrixtrilogy and Sweet Novem-berwill be next seen in RebeccaMillers drama, The Private Livesof Pippa Lee, which is scheduledto be released in 2009.

IANS

I saw it first when

I was 14 or 15


Mom firstThe shooting of Mani Rathnams next film, Ravana,in progress in Chalakudy, Kerala, had to betemporarily suspended when the films lead actors,Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai Bachchanhad to rush to Mumbai without prior notice.Apparently, Jaya Bachchans health was the causeof concern.

Karuppu in dual roleComedian Ganja Karuppu who startedhis journey with Ram, directed by Ameerwill now be seen playing a dual role inthe filmAaru Maname. He acts as anauto driver and as a cheating agent inthe film. The actor has also played oneof the lead roles in the film Arai En 305ilKadavul.

Oh, Daddy!Actor Hugh Jackmans adopted son got a chance to act in the movie

Australia, but his role got cut out finally. Now Jackman is convincedthat his son will never want to act in another movie. After fourdays, he came up to me and goes, Dad, you have the most boring

job in the world. I never wanna do it again, said Jackman.IANS

Cine City


12/16

ERGO Monday, December 8, 200812

Fridays Question:

If you are given a boon tochange one aspect of yourday-to-day, life which onewould you change? Change my work timings to only 2hrs aday

Hariprasad T, Wipro Technologies

Waking up early and cooking

Gulzar Nizam, Infosys The ability to spend more time with mydaughter

Senthil Kumar P, RR Donnelley

Change the aspect of going to work dailyas it affects me from eating, sleeping androaming whenever I wish

Sundar Shri Ganesh, CGSL

No eating habits through life because ittakes long time

Idayath, Perot System

I want to change taking bath and brushKarthikeyan.A.T - Perot System, Karthika - RR

Donnelley, Annapoorani - M TCS

Its going to officeM. Hariharakumar, Zylog Systems Ltd

Instead of 8 hours working time and onehour lunch break I need to change vice versa

Rajee Anand, Coastal Training Technologies

The client should no more be interested inthe Daily Status Report on the assignmentswhich I dont have anything to say daily

R.Ganapathy Subramanian, Polaris

Ill change day as night and night as dayso that I can work in morning shift

Shabber, Raj Kamal - Sutherland

I would like to work from home insteadof travelling in this busy traffic

Rajesh Khanna J - Datamark Prodapt

I would like to plan my day perfectly thatI will have no hurdles in work and home

Praveen, CGSL

I would like to change my long workinghours to shorter ones

Rakshita Sreenivasan - Wipro Technologies, Anitha

- Ramco Systems

I would definitely change the field Imcurrently working

Deepthi, Dhivya - Infosys I will try operating my computer mousewith left hand

Balaji Mohan, Inautix

I will change my entire body profileAshiq Rahman, Datacraft

I will call my TL at 3 in morning and askabout project status

Sofiya Ambrose, Wipro Technologies

Todays Query:

If you get a chance to actin a film, with whom would you like to act and why?

Rajee Anand, Coastal Training Technologies

Vimal Kumar ofWipro has nominated his friends as Partners in Crime.

Elumalai J ofAdventNet has nominated his friends as Partners in Crime. This pic was clicked atCoorg.

Anthony and Rajeiv of Ford have nominated their team as Partners in Crime.


13/16

Saravanan Vaithiyanatof HCL has doodledthis.


Why did the man suddenly stop his bike and start dancing?Answer: - He was a break (brake) dancer.

Railway stationla police station irukkalam; Ana police stationla

railway station irukka mudiyadhu.

Idli podiya thottu idly saappidalaam;Aanaa, mookku podiya

thottu mookka saappida mudiyuma? Manonmani Kesav, HCL

Yaar adichalum thirupi adika mudiyum

bore adicha thirupi adika mudiyuma..?Sivanandam, Wipro

Dear Prabhu,May you have all the joy your heartcan hold, all the smiles a day canbring and all the blessings a life canunfold. May you have Gods best ineverything. Happy birthday Prabhu!!

From,

Friends,New Age Software and Solutions

Dear Rekha,Only very few people give the gift ofpeace and tranquillity to every lifethey touch upon. They are always

who they really are. They areblessedly reliable, dependably good,predictably pleasant, loved andtreasured by all who know them. Youare one of those people. Wish u veryhappy birthday!!! Wish u many morehappy returns of the day... Let allyour dreams come true and we willall be there with you to make everystep of your life HAPPY!!!

Cheers,

TCS (friends)

Hi Barath (VIRUZ),When you were born that day rainingheavily do you know why?The Sky, Moon and all the Planets arecrying because they are losing a cutelittle star to Earth.

We wish you many more happyreturns of the day to our DearestFriend. We will pray the god to giveyou all wealth and health.

With Lots and Loads of loveYour Friends

Murali,Shab,Muthu,Sudhan,Jish,Archana,Kezia and Brooklin

Hi Shobhi,Wish you a many more happy returnsof the day! May all your dreamscome true in this year! Have a niceyear ahead.

With Love,

Jayakumar NatarajanHCL Technologies

Dear Honey Anitha K.L (Belated

wishes)We all wish you a Very HappyBirthday!!!Let all your three dimples be filledwith Happiness, Joy and Prosperityforever.....Keep Smiling always :-)))

With loads of luv,

"IgNiTe GaNgStErS" (TCS)

Hi Nari(Aruna),Belated birthday Wishesd..................!!!!!!!!

Regards,

Revathi (Nick Name??) & Duglas Akka(Sasikala B)

CitiCards.

TCS.

Dear Naks ( Nakiran - NavisTechnologies),

Wish you a many more return of theDay May God bless you with alllove and affection. Wish you allsuccess in your future

With blessings from,Balasubramaniyan (Thalai),

Senthil Kumar Thangavel (HCL),

Muthuraman (Infosys),Chandrasekar Panuganti (CTS)

and your beloved friends.

Dear Kavitha,Belated birthday wishes. Have aFantastic Year ahead. On yourbirthday we wish you much pleasureand joy;We hope all of your wishes cometrue. May each hour and minute befilled with delight so that yourbirthday is perfect for you!

By

MS Team

(Technology SOFA),Ramco Systems,

Dear Balaji RWish you a very happy birthday.Birthdays are feathers in the broadwing of time.I wish you happiness and joy in life

and many more birthdays to bringyou delight.

With lots of Love,

Balaji Deepa

Hi Pandeeswari (Kelvi KetpathilVilli),Now that you are leaving, thingswont be the same again. But wewant you to know, we will always bewishing the best for you. Good byeand Good luck in all that you do!!!!!We will miss you lot Pandi..........Dont forget us......

With Lots of luv,

Wakeel,Sivanath,Prabha,Ravi,Devaraj,Pushpa,Daniel,Deepasankar,Jyotsna,

Charles,Devikala,Uma,Geetha,Lokesh,

Duraisamy,Bhuvaneswar,Shankar,

Shakthi.TEAM PSI - Perot System.

Hi Abilah,Wish you many more belated happyreturns of the day. We wish you allthe Success in your life.

From,

T&Q TEAM(DATAMARK PRODAPT

PVT. INDIA LTD.)

Dear Lakshmi Kiruthika S,Wish you many more happy returnsof the day. May all your dreamscome true.

Ever Loving Brother,

MMA & family

Syed Khader Ghouse ofHCL has been nominat-ed as Office Angel byPrabu M.

Syed is a very sweetperson. He is cool and

stong-hearted and wevenever seen him lose his

temper. Hes also

intelligent and we cancollect details of any

domain from him. He also

knows everybody in theoffice.


14/16

ERGO Monday, December 8, 2008TRAFFIC JAM14

Printed and Published by S. Karthik on behalf ofKASTURI & 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 underthe PRB Act). RNI No. TNENG/2007/24553

TEAMEditor: Karthik [email protected]

Sr Dy Chief Designer: J.A. Prem KumarDy Chief Designer: R. Ravi KannanIllustrator: R. Venugopal

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

ADVERTISING ENQUIRIES:Contact: 2857 5757

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Head of Circulation:M.G.M. [email protected]

SNAIL MAIL

859/860, Anna Salai,Chennai - 600 002mail your feedback [email protected]

FAX 2857 6691

sudoku

KAKURO

Printing snakeAn Australian couple got a shock whenthey went to use their printer and foundit was jammed - with a huge snake.

So you think you would make a terrific photographer but never really had theplatform? Mail us your best work and well publish it in this space, with credit.E-mail: [email protected]

Dennis J. ofMindTreeclicked thispicture of theBigBen inLondon withhis OlympusE-300.Hobbies:Music, movies,going on long

walks anddrives


15/16


B.C

BORN LOSER

FREE RANGE WORKING IT OUT

PREVIOUS

ISSUES

SOLUTIONS

ARIES MARCH 21 - APRIL 20

TAURUS APRIL 21 - MAY 20

GEMINI MAY 21 - JUNE 20

CANCER JUNE 21 - JULY 20

LEO JULY 21 - AUG 20

VIRGO AUG 21 - SEPT 20

LIBRA SEPT 21 - OCT 20

SCORPIO OCT 21 - NOV 20

SAGITTARIUS NOV 21 - DEC 20

CAPRICORN DEC 21 - JAN 20

AQUARIUS JAN 21 - FEB 20

PISCES FEB 21 - MARCH 20

Predictions by Bhavesh N. Pa

There may be many distractions, when it comes work. Ganesha feels you should be careful ininteracting with colleagues. Time after lunch willproductive. On the love front, you may have tocompromise a little or may have to woo beloved

You may feel as id time is playing tricks on you.Ganesha feels it is best to strike the hammer whthe iron is hot. Be quick in taking decisions ormaking moves. However, on the love front, donrush with things. Take things as easily as possib

Waiting might get on your nerves. Ganesha feels

most of your things may get delayed today. Youshould be careful about controlling your playfulattitude. On the love front, let your playful sidecome out. It will earn you more points as a love

Luck will suddenly appear to be on your side aftlong time. It is better to make the most of it.Ganesha suggests you should try to get things inyour favour. In love life, Ganesha is amused to syou boasting and trying to impress your beloved

On the work front, you may have to deal withtechnical errors or complexities. Use proper logicsolve such problems, or else you may end upwasting the entire. The evening will be wonderfuever, of course in the company of your beloved.

There is no risk in taking risk today. Ganesha feyou will be enthusiastic in meetings and will han

office work brilliantly resulting into appreciation colleagues. Love birds will get their share ofromance and togetherness by the grace of Gane

Gear up for a busy and hectic day at work. Thework will be hectic enough for you to spend timon chatting or games. In fact, you might be so tup with work that you might not even pay attento family life. Handle your love life with care.

Do not lose focus today, warns Ganesha. Also, ieverything you do today; try not to be loud abouit. On the love front, you might need to comproand adjust. Ganesha assures that this the best wto tackle emotional issues with your partner.

You will have to tackle a lot of stress today. Whyou are advised to keep your cool, you should bcareful about not hurting anyone elses feelings.

the love front, do not try to confront your beloveOn the contrary, be as supportive as possible.

Important decision should be put on hold today.case you still go ahead with decisions, you mighhave to rectify them later. Extreme decisions likechanging job, etc should be strictly avoided. Youmight face some emotional stress with your belo

Creativity and innovation will come to your naturtoday, says Ganesha. In fact, stars are in yourfavour throughout the day. Since you are feelinglucky, you might act dramatically with your belovwhich of course will amuse both of you.

Ganesha says its a power day for you. You mighbe assigned new projects at work today and youwill be ready to take up initiatives and more.Ganesha thinks you will be full of vigour. A posturning point in your love life may double your j

Words worth"Ombrifuge" (ahm-bruh-fyoodj) a rare wordmeaning a rain shelter. From a Greek wordmeaning a shower of rain. A semantically relatedword is paravent, a wind shelter.

Stone flowerVillagers in China have flocked to catchglimpse of a flower-shaped rock - afterheavy rainfall changed the shape of amountainside.


16/16

ERGO Monday, December 8, 2008!16

EL DIEGO!

Fans show their support for the football legend. PHOTO: PTI

After enthralling thousands of soccer crazy citizens ofKolkata on Saturday, Diego Maradona took some time

out of his packed schedule to pay a visit to Mother Tere-sas Missionaries of Charity on Sunday.

The Argentinean legend lit a candle and prayed atMother Teresas tomb during a special mass arranged forthe occasion. Later he also interacted with the sisters ofthe order and also thechildren at the home.

The recently appoint-ed Argentine coach alsowent to Mohun Bagan,Asias oldest footballclub, and shared his vastknowledge with theplayers. The football ge-

nius is also expected tomeet veteran Commu-nist leader Jyothi Basu atthe latters residence be-fore leaving for Argenti-na.

On Saturday, he hadexpressed his surprisewith the excitement lev-el in the city and said: Idid not know that I hadso many fans in Indiaand people of the coun-try loved football somuch.

Ergo Correspondent

Diego Maradona shows his juggling skills at the MohunBagan ground. PHOTO: AFP Diego Maradoma hugs a wax impression of himself at the Salt Lake Stadium. PHOTO: AFP

Diego Maradona visits the Mother House in Kolkata. PHOTO: AFP

Ergo December 8

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Transcript of Ergo December 8