Ariyalur, the Fossil Town

The moment I hear Ariyalur, I could recall the train accident which happened in 1956. That was a major accident and you can get more details from The Hindu.

A few weeks back, I read an article in dtNext, The Hindu and was curious to watch the video. I was very much surprised to know about Fossils near Trichy.

The word Fossil would immediately take us to the movie Jurassic Park. In my school days, I tried to make a fossil by keeping a bushy grass under heavy stones. After a few days, I would remove it and see whether the fossil has been formed or not. But I would find only damp grass.

After watching this video, not only the children, the parents will also be aware of subjects other than Engineering and Medicine. I am sure many children will take Geologist and Paleontologist as their Career in the future.

I used to think only Discovery and History Channels are capable of producing high quality graphics and narrations. But these animations deserve special appreciation, especially the sea water filling effect. The whole team has done a great work and have created a lot of awareness in the young minds.

I have shared the video with my office colleagues and have planned to visit the place.

Andha Naal Movie

  

As I was checking the IMDB most popular movies, I saw Rashomon and Rashomon Effect. It was interesting to know this effect was used in Andha Naal and Virumaandi. I had watched Virumaandi and could easily relate to the Rashomon Effect. Then, I was very much interested to watch Andha Naal and googled for Torrents and Rapidshare Links. All the links were dead and I thought of buying the original DVD. Moserbaer has brought lots of DVDs at affordable prices.

Luckily, I found it on LandmarkOnTheNet. The DVD cost ₹ 67 (with free shipping) and I immediately placed the order. After reading the story in Wiki, I could recall the climax, I had watched long back. But, I couldn't remember the entire story. Please don't ever read the story in Wiki as it's a big spoiler and you will miss a lot. Each and every scene is narrated well. I don't know who sits and writes everything. Even, the directors will appreciate Wiki for presenting the scripts so well. After watching English movies, I read the storyline to get more facts and to confirm whether I understood the story correctly.

Only today, I got the time to watch it. As I knew the climax already, the suspense and thrill was lost. I liked the way Veenai S. Balachander had weaved the story among the 4 suspects and experimenting such a novel theme. This movie was released in 1954 and the director should be appreciated for using this effect long back.

I couldn't believe Pandari Bai was the heroine. She is no more and had done a mother's role in Rajini's Mannan.

This film inspired by the 1950 Akira Kurosawa film Rashômon was a commercial failure. It was the first talkie in India without a song or dance. But it won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Tamil in 1955.

I love the way Virumaandi was portrayed. And Rashomon is the movie in my Next-to-watch-list.

Ratan Tata's unmatched Philanthropy

Image Source: Fun on the Net

A few weeks back, I got the below email. I was very much moved after reading it and forwarded it to all my colleagues & my ex-Manager. After sometime, the ex-Manager replied, praising Ratan Tata's noble gestures and asked whether it was a chain mail or was it from any authentic source.

Immediately, I googled for What TATA did to 26/11 Mumbai victims. But, didn't get any information regarding the source. Then, I happened to visit the Welfare trust site and got the email ID of Mr. Deepak S. Bhatia, the Welfare Trust Manager. I forwarded him the above email and asked for its authenticity. The next day, he replied, confirming its genuineness and asked me to  read the October 3rd issue of "The Week", which had covered the trust activities.

As I couldn't get the back issue from the News stands and from my neighbours too, I emailed the magazine's Customer Care team and  they haven't responded so far. I emailed Deepak explaining my situation and he was willing to courier me a photocopy of the article. Even this gesture shows the Tata's culture of helping people.

Yesterday, I got the courier and was very much delighted to see the cover story titled Wah Taj! (No other title would have been suitable for this article). Soon after reading a few pages, my eyes were filled with tears. I understood the true essence of Corporate Social Responsibility from Ratan Tata and the Taj group. I also found another article giving more information on the Tata's Philanthropy. This reminds me of JRD Tata's saying: When you are successful, you must give back to society. Society gives us so much; we must reciprocate. The article was very much thought provoking and I have also decided to make small contributions.

Edited on 5-Dec-17

Please watch the below TEDx video for more details.