A BYTE OF LIFE Friday, October 17, 2008 HOME

TRUTHS FREE CIRCULATION Vol. 2 No. 199 A relative peek into the pros and 12 cons of hostels, rented flats and INDIAN paying guest accommodations FASHION WEEKS » Page 4 & 5 DEMYSTIFIED 02 ERGO Friday, October 17, 2008 Hello! A comprehensive voice training workshop will be held on October 18 and 19 at Parnasus, 192, Poonamallee High Road, Kilpauk. For details, call Namma 98401 27103 / 42858848 Bookworm’s Corner Top 10 fiction 1. Sea of Poppies – Amitav Ghosh. Rs. 599 2. One Night @ Call Centre – Chetan Music Bhagat. Rs. 95 3. Brida – Paulo Coelho. Rs.295 4. The 3 Mistakes of my Life – Chetan Bhagat. Rs.95 5. A Thousand Splendid Suns – Khaled Hosseini. Rs.395 6. Unaccustomed Earth – Jhumpa Lahiri. Food Rs.450 7. The Kite Runner – Khaled Hosseini. Rs. 315 8. A Prisoner of Birth – Jeffery Archer. Rs. 270 Rock On 9. You Are Here – Meenakshi Reddy Madhavan. Rs. 199 If you are a fan of this fusion rock band, 10. Five Point Someone – Chetan Bhagat. make sure you don’t miss their performance Rs. 95 in the city. Indian Ocean promise to rock Chennai with their concert performed for a cause. When: October 19 Kebab factory Where: Lady Andal School Auditorium For bookings call at 98410 15861/ Here’s a great way to indulge in sumptuous Top 10 non-fiction 98404 10462 varieties of kebabs, both vegetarian and 1. The Secret – Rhonda Byrne. Rs.550 non-vegetarian. These Mughal dishes are 2. The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the served with an array of accompaniments. Business of Life – Alice Schroeder. Rs.995 When: October 13 to 31 Theatre 3. Stay Hungry Stay Foolish – Rashmi Bansal. Where: Pergola, The Accord Metropolitan Rs.125 For reservations, call 2816 1000 4. The Last Lecture – Randy Pausch. Rs.295 That’s reality 5. Hot Flat & Crowded – Thomas Friedman. Too busy to catch up with any Rs. 595 entertainment in the evenings? Then, here’s 6. Business Striped Bare – Richard Branson. Cinema a play that opens even in the night. Rs.515 Theatre Y makes it debut with realitY – its 7. Execution – Larry Bossidy & Charan. first public production. The play is an Rs.695 Filmy adaptation of 8. Go Kiss The World – Subroto Bagchi. Rs. The Embassy of the playwright 399 People’s Republic of Manjula 9. Empires of the Indus – Alice Albinia. China, New Delhi, and Padmanabhan’s Rs.550 The Madras Film book, Hidden Fires. 10. Guinness World Records. Rs.1460 Society are hosting a When: October 17, Courtesy: Crossword festival of 18, 19; 1 p.m., 4 Chinese films. p.m. 7 p.m. and 10 When: October 19, 21, p.m. 22, 23 and 24 Where: Alliance Where: The Film Francaise Chamber Theatre For tickets call For details, call 2495 98840 70796/ 97 8691

Sale Showbiz On the shelves Wills Lifestyle has brought out an Madhuri’s biography exquisite collection for the Autumn- She is Bollywood’s beautiful and charming Winter. Signature star. You cannot stop watching her jhatkas designer wear, and matkas. Yes? Wills classic Find out more about Madhuri Dixit’s family formal wear, Wills and friends from sport relaxed the film industry wear, Wills and what others clublife evening have to say about wear... there is a her. lot to choose When: October 17; from. 8.30 p.m. Where: Across all Where: Zoom; Wills Lifestyle Bollywood stores Biographies Friday, October 17, 2008 03 Single, no time to mingle Shaadi help! BharatMatrimony.com has launched ‘BM Privilege’, a personalised Shaadi.com has launched ‘Sapphire’ – an assisted matrimonial service service that addresses the needs of singles who do not have the with trained matchmaking assistants. Members subscribing to this time or the opportunity to search and meet potential partners service can dial 022-67752020, available daily from 10 a.m. to 7p.m. through the usual channels. Members who opt for this service will and get assistance in every single step of their matrimonial search – be assigned a personal matchmaker. from profile making to search, connect and contact.

Two-day BarCamp he Knowledge Foundation will be organising the Tsecond edition of Chennai BarCamp on October 18 Gaga about RJing and October 19 at IIT - CSIR Auditorium. The event is open for innovative minds to camp out for a couple of days with WiFi and smash their brains together. The first batch of Apart from the tech topics, other topics of discus- sion include ‘Disaster Management for Chennai’ and 12 trainees ‘Safeguarding against Cyber Crime’, etc. For details, call Veena / Vignesh at 99400 57995 / graduated from the 98407 41478. formal RJ training Website: www.barcampchennai.org course

V.HARIPRIYA [email protected]

love talking to people and radio is the best medium to do so,” said Keerthi Val- “Ilabhan, a techie and one of the trained RJs to pass from the Rathish Babu, CEO, Access Atlantech Edutainment and Tarun RJ training course. Katial, COO, Big FM (centre) with the RJ trainees. PHOTO: R.RAVINDRAN The Binny Room at Taj Con- nemara witnessed the passing out ceremony of the first batch of the technology modules. depth understanding about RJing. formal RJ training course on Katial said that the FM has plans “Big FM offered its studio for theo- Wednesday. The six-week course to recruit more than one RJ from retical sessions such that we got a was jointly offered by Big FM and the group. “The recruitment proc- hang of the environment. We also Access Atlantech Edutainment. ess will be different for these trai- had various RJs addressing us as The 12 trainees received their nees as they do have basic visiting faculties.” certificates from Tarun Katial, knowledge in RJing.” Rathish Babu, CEO of Access At- COO of Big FM. The RJ course was Thamarai, a software engineer lantech Edutainment, said that the a training programme offering a working with an MNC in Chennai, RJ course will help a number of mix of RJ training as well as future said that the course gave him an in youngsters. ■ of my dreams rban Stories: Collection of Graphic UEssays on the City of Mumbai by Ni- rupama Sekhar is on display at Tanger- ine. The Chennai-based artist, who lived in Mumbai working in the televi- sion industry, prior to a career in de- sign, has used diverse genres such as collage and typography, illustration and photography. It seeks to explore the myriad hues and dimensions of the culture of Mum- bai through a collection of stylised vi- sual essays. Woven around Mumbai, the graphic essays address a host of ur- ban issues from the aesthetics of colo- nial architecture to the politics of post-modern identities. Urban Stories finds its roots in the overt and untold influences of the city of Mumbai, its pace and its people on the outsider. Nirupama now works in the visual arts and enjoys pursuing in- dependent projects in illustration and graphic design. ■

Where: Tangerine; October 18 to 31 When: No 5, Murrays Gate Road For details, call 2435 5834/ 4211 0888 04 ERGO Friday, October 17, 2008 Big Story

The relative ups and downs of hostels, rented flats and paying MY KINDA PLACE guest accommodations

home away from home is a myth. But most of us try to make the myth a truth by living within the horrible conditions of strict curfew hours, landlords Afrom hell and cockroaches in food. There are some memories, both good and bad, that we all cherish from our days in hostels, paying guest accommodations or rented apartments. For some, hostel life is heaven. They will gulp down atrocious mass-cooked food without worrying about how it tastes and won’t disturb anyone. Others love living in rented apartments. They’ll join hands with many and are always proud of living independently. Paying guest accommodation is also voted by many for the cosiness it offers. It’s cool, comfortable and secure, they’ll say. Here’s to the pros and cons of each:

Rented apartment There are many good things about a rented apart- PG accommodation ment, like, you can cook your own food, there is no curfew, etc. Girls who are bold enough to handle issues There are a lot of good things about paying will feel safe in a rented apartment even if there are no guest accommodations. The first thing is ‘guests’ special security arrangements. will get homemade food. “But not everyone can opt for it. It is better that super- Hostel There is only a remote probability that a PG sensitive people keep away from the idea,” says Teena. Hostel life is good till you reach accommodation will be overcrowded. And for Soumya, who was working with Yahoo , a certain age, says Teena, who The security will be good as there is a family to life in a rented apartment with three other girls contin- works as team leader with Club take care of you. Bonus points if there is TV to ues to be a nightmare. Mahindra. watch. “No one was willing to take up responsibility and one The good thing about a hostel But there are irritants, too – you can’t be out till of the roommates brought a guy (whom she claimed was is that security will be good. For midnight. her cousin) to the apartment. My roommates were never students, the best option is a hos- “If you want to be self-sufficient, PG accommo- concerned about the others and disturbed everyone at tel, but it can become difficult if dation is not a wise decision. But there is a family midnight by playing music on high volume,” she said. working women and students are to take care of you. It is like home away from “I won’t opt for a rented home anymore. I prefer a put together in one room. home,” says Teena. hostel,” she says. “The food in most hostels is ter- “People who want to live their own way cannot Money is another issue in rented apartments. Prob- rible. But if there is an option to adjust in a PG accommodation, especially if the lems may rise about advance deposit, monthly rent, oth- get outside food, a hostel is a house owner is not flexible,” she says. er bills, money pooled for groceries, etc. And, in most good option for guys,” says Anu Kokila S., accounts service executive with Ala- cases, it is a tiresome job to get back the advance Warrior, who works as principal my Images India Pvt Ltd, has a different opinion amount from the house owner while vacating. correspondent with The Sunday about the food and security in a PG accommoda- But there are many positive aspects, too. There is no Indian magazine. tion. curfew in a rented apartment and you can live according The first lessons of adjustment “I was doing nightshifts and the house owner to your will. are learned from a hostel – how to not even bothered giving me a spare key. Other Guys also see rented apartments as a good option, share a cot between two, how to inmates were staying upstairs and the rooms especially freedom-lovers like Anu. “You can’t compare take a shower in three minutes were not be locked from inside, so anyone could a rented apartment with the other two. It is heaven,” and how to gulp food without enter the rooms. Food was worse,” she says. says Anu. But there should be a rapport with other bothering what it is. For girls if security is an issue, the concern of roommates, or life can just turn hell. A hostel is preferable for people guys is roommates. “You can’t blame anyone for bad food, dirty bath- who don’t want to take respon- Anu Warrior says, “PG accommodation is good rooms or blocked washbasins, as everything is the re- sibility at all. if other inmates are good and the worst if others sponsibility of the inmates. So, you will make it a point VERDICT: Best place to learn are bad.” to keep everything clean,” says Teena. about adjustments. Forget about VERDICT: Good if other inmates and house VERDICT: You are the king here. Super-sensitive your taste buds. owner are good. Good for security-lovers. people, please stay away. Friday, October 17, 2008 05

Faceless silhouette My hostel room was on the top floor of the building and I was sharing it with three other roommates. At night, when we would step out of the room, we could see the stars and if we looked down we could see rows of dotted lights of Neela mami, houses that look like glittering fireflies. It was almost like living in a penthouse. Being on the terrace, it was also the hottest room. our second One day we noticed something that made us scream and rush into the room. In the opposite building, there was a faceless silhouette hidden amidst the pillars, watching us. But by the time the mother watchman came, it had disappeared. This became a regular feature and, finally, the silhouette became a joke. We would taunt him, make catcalls, and nobody cared the least. The prepare next day, the stars were still there, the dotted houses still looked the special food same, but amidst the pillars of the opposite building there was no for us, ensure tormenting silhouette. He lost interest when he found out that we that our knew about his presence and we finally got our freedom. clothes are Namitha Jayanarayanan It was nearly 15 years ago washed by the maid. that I moved to Chennai after They were also friendly and jovial getting my first job. I was hunting and we could discuss anything from for hostels with my friend when we office love stories to movie reviews got a surprise invite to stay as paying to the latest fashions. In fact, mami guests from an elderly couple who was friendly with most of our col- were distantly related to some of my leagues and used to pack additional relatives. snack boxes for them. Open terrace welcomed me The mami, as we called the lady, We occupied a small room with a took care of me and my friend like wardrobe and there was not even a Three of us (, Radha and myself) from different parts of the her own daughters. We were both cot for us to sleep. But the kind of state met during the Sutherland induction programme. We joined employed in different organisations affection and care that was sho- hands with a few other friends and took a flat on rent at and, hence, had different working wered on us gave us the cosiness Kotturpuram. hours, sometimes even night shifts. and comfort which we didn’t even Just like the lyrics ‘men may come, men may go’, our house had new The affection the couple showed get in our own house. residents coming in and going out. We had enthusiastic people, lazy was something really great. We are When I got married, I had to leave people, cheating people, hyper people and superstitious people. But, indebted to them forever. Mami that paying guest accommodation above all, we all felt like it was home. used to cook fresh food for us at but mami and mama ensured that Each day has given us something to remember and cherish for a 6.30 a.m. if we are going on morn- we were present in all their family lifetime. I will share an incident where I was left alone. Every day ing shifts, prepare hot rotis at 10 functions, and vice-versa. Neela ma- Radha and I would return from the shift at around 3:30 a.m. On that p.m. if we are returning late. mi, that second mother of ours, left particular day, Radha left for her hometown for the weekend. She or her husband would be wait- for her heavenly abode 3-4 years So, I returned home all alone. I knocked at the door. But my ing at the bus stop if we are late, not ago, but will be fondly remembered roommates never heard me as the bedroom door had shut somehow. even knowing when we would by us forever. I tried calling them on their mobile phones. Unlike other days, a come – those were the non-mobile Sudha S, network problem appeared. My phone battery died out. At last, only days. When we fell sick they would Hexaware Technologies Limited the open terrace gave me accommodation and my dupatta become my carpet on that cold morning. Suder Remote control smugglers I am sharing my cherished memories of the PG accommodation where I stayed with my friend in Bangalore. Along with us there lived two people from Karnataka, one from Andhra, one from Orissa and one from Bengal. A little India, you may call it. The place had a DTH service with a 14-inch, all-dots-no-picture TV. The Karnataka guys always wanted the songs, the Andhra guy loved to see the power star fight, the Orissa guy liked to wind up with songs, the Bengali preferred to watch English movies, and we demanded some Tamil comedy – all at the same time. The remote control became a prized possession and we even smuggled it once at midnight. Then came a day when the battle for owning the remote control finally ended. It was the India-West Indies One Day tournament and all of us were glued to the sports channel. Glued indeed, beyond all regional differences. Rams, iNautix Technologies We are one matches and hostel Having experienced all three – hostel, rented flat and PG – I found PG accommodation the best. We were seven in the PG – three from , two My vote is for the hostel. It is the place where we are sur- from Kerala, one each from Goa and Bangalore. My PG was in a nice location. I used rounded with good and bad people. The first lesson of financial to enjoy my mornings gazing at a brown tree full of green leaves studded with management is learnt from a hostel. yellow flowers in the back ground of a red roof from my cot. The food provided When we reached the final year of BE, we were the kings in was not that good, but we used to cook on weekends. Be it a tea, or rasam, the hostel. Our word was final. So, during the 2003 cricket everything tasted good when we cooked together. If one of us was late, we would World Cup we enjoyed all the matches without any interrup- get calls from others to check where we were. Every Friday night, we would gather tion. India reached the final but Australia won the World Cup. on one cot and talk till midnight. The best moment was my birthday celebration Our college life was also coming to an end within a month. and, for the first time, I celebrated my birthday with a birthday cake. Missing you, Enjoying the event you like most with your friends is the best my dear PG, my dearest friends. moment of your life. Rashmi, TCS Kumaran, Sella Synergy 06 ERGO Friday, October 17, 2008 Websites of the day A popular site nominates its 100 most annoying things of the year just passed http://www.retrocrush.com/archive2007/ annoying/ Which Trainspotting character are you? http://members.aol.com/ Village groovydougie/quizzes/trainspotting.htm

Pollution kills more than AIDS Madrid Olympic bid haunted A study released on Wednesday by the Sao Paulo University’s (USP) Air Pollution Lab said air pollution is more by racism lethal than AIDS and traffic accidents. The study said Madrid’s Olympic bid diseases caused by pollution results in about nine deaths a chief is worrying that day in Sao Paulo, or 3,500 deaths a year, while AIDS and another racist incident traffic accidents together caused 1,624 deaths in 2007. The in Spanish sports could study estimates that the Sao Paulo metropolitan area’s affect the city’s government spends 1.5 billion U.S. dollars on pollution- chances of bidding for caused diseases. the 2016 Games. “The The six million vehicles in the city are mainly to be blamed bid is preoccupied for the air pollution in Sal Paulo. about something that Xinhua can affect us,” Madrid 2016 bid chief Mercedes Coghen said on Wednesday. Madonna hails Obama Coghen was reacting Pop diva Madonna relished in the wild cheers of 20,000 to UEFA’s decision on fans at the Wednesday night’s concert in Boston, never Tuesday to order mentioning her impending divorce but urging Americans to Atletico Madrid to play vote for Democrat Barack Obama. its next two “Hello Boston!” the 50-year-old called to out to the hordes Champions League home games at a neutral venue of young and some not so young fans who ventured out to because of violent and racist behaviour by the club’s fans see her perform hits from “Borderline” to “Beat Goes On” during a match against Marseille earlier this month. on her Sticky and Sweet World Tour. Madrid is bidding against Tokyo, Chicago, and Rio de Madonna ended the show on a political note, departing Janeiro, Brazil, for the right to host the 2016 Olympics. A backstage while a video showed images of Republican decision will be made in Copenhagen, Denmark, in White House hopeful November 2009. John McCain AFP accompanied by the words: “Don’t be stupid,” followed by a picture of a grinning Top text-message senders Obama, his arms lifted Phone users in Singapore and Kuala Lumpur are Asia’s most in victory. “Are you enthusiastic senders of text messages, according to a survey registered to vote?” released on Thursday. More than 97 per cent of mobile phone Madonna asked the users in Singapore have sent text messages in the past month, crowd when she followed by 96 per cent in Kuala Lumpur and 94 per cent in returned for the final Seoul. More than 87 per cent of people in Melbourne and ovation. “Come on Sydney said they had sent texts in the past month while the mother*******, just region’s lowest rate of text messaging was recorded by Bangkok vote for Obama! No (69 per cent). The survey was conducted by the market research more Sarah Palin,” she company Synovate, which studied the habits of more than 5,000 yelled. mobile phone users in seven Asian-Pacific markets. AFP DPA Joe steals the show Plumber stars in US Presidential debate

he star of Wednesday’s final bate about the front-running those earning less than a quarter presidential debate? John Democrat’s tax policy, turned of a million dollars a year, and hit McCain? Barack Obama? him into a media star. back with his version of his chat TNo, Joe the Plumber. Both candidates spoke directly with Joe. “What I essentially said The final face-to-face clash be- to Wurzelbacher, turning him in- to him was, five years ago, when tween the two fierce White House to a real life version of “Joe Six you were in the position to buy rivals granted an unexpected 15 Pack”, the ordinary guy chasing your business, you needed a tax minutes of fame to Joe Wurzel- the American dream, as they cut then. And what I want to do is bacher. faced off in their third and final to make sure that the plumber, Until Sunday, when he debate. “Joe wants to buy the the nurse, the fire-fighter, the US Democratic presidential nominee Senator Barack Obama bumped into Obama while the business that he’s been in for all teacher, the young entrepreneur (left) speaks to Joe Wurzelbacher as he canvasses in a Democratic presidential candi- these years,” McCain said, using who doesn’t yet have money, I neighbourhood in Holland, Ohio. AFP PHOTO date was doing some door-to- Obama’s encounter with the want to give them a tax break door canvassing, Wurzelbacher plumber to flay his rival over a tax now.” Wurzelbacher said McCain did a about taxes when they met. “I was living a normal life, unknown plan he maintains would shackle Not to be outdone by the can- “fine job” and said Obama did asked the question, but I still got to most of his fellow Americans. small businesses. didates, Plumber Joe got in on the well too, though added “talk is a tap dance ... almost as good as But his encounter with Obama in Obama says his tax plan will act himself, granting an interview talk”. And he said Obama had Sammy Davis Junior.” ■ Toledo, Ohio, and a spirited de- actually mean lower taxes for to CBS news queen Katie Couric. dodged around his question AFP Friday, October 17, 2008 07 Cure for swollen hands This day, that year Ukranian boxing champion Vitali It was on October 17, 1979 Klitschko says he uses his son’s wet that Mother Teresa won the nappies to keep his fists from Nobel Peace Prize. swelling up. Titanic remnants vs. nursing home fees he last remaining survivor I have to pay these nursing home of the Titanic disaster is fees and am selling anything that I am selling it all now because I auctioning mementoes I think might fetch some money,” have to pay these nursing home Tfrom the doomed liner to she added. “The fees are quite pay for her hursing home fees, a expensive. The more money I fees and am selling anything that newspaper said Thursday. can get from the auction the I think might fetch some money better.” Millvina Dean Some 1,500 passengers and She was only two months old crew aboard the Titanic died when the Titanic struck an iceb- when the White Star Line luxury erg on its maiden voyage and ship sank in the frigid northern sank in 1912, but now at the age Atlantic ocean on its way from of 96 she is struggling to make Southampton to New York. ends meet and hopes to make Dean’s family were emigrating 3,000 pounds (3,845 euros, 5,171 to Kansas aboard the doomed dollars) from the sale. liner. She was the youngest survi- Personal items going under the vor, rescued along with her baby hammer include a 100-year-old brother and mother Eva, al- suitcase filled with clothes given though her father died. to her family by the people of New York after they arrived there Last of survivors following the catastrophe. In all, some 700 people sur- Dean has lived in a nursing vived the sinking, one of the home for the last two years. worst maritime disasters ever. Their numbers have dwindled Nursing home woes over the decades, leaving only “I was hoping to be here for Dean left after fellow Briton Bar- two weeks after breaking my hip bara Joyce Dainton died last year. but I developed an infection and The auction of her belongings have been here for two years. I will be held on Saturday at Henry am not able to live in my home Aldridge and Son auctioneers in any more,” she told the Southern the town of Devizes, southwest Daily Echo newspaper. England. “I am selling it all now because AFP

Snooping laws to For the sake of old times change Every call, text and web visit will be monitored by British intelligence ritish intelligence sleuths will of Big Brother tactics. Buse new snooping laws to log Anti-terror watchdog Lord Car- on to phone and computer rec- lile branded the idea of a data- ords of all citizens in the country. base awful. They will track and store details But Ms Smith said it was vital of every call, email, text and web and details of what people dis- visit, reports The Sun. cuss will not be held. Home Secretary Jacqui Smith The laws will be included in a unveiled the plan on Wednesday, Communications Data Bill in promising cops and MI5 more next months Queens Speech. power to gather data. Police and intelligence chiefs She warned failure to act would welcomed the step but Tories give terrorists a free rein and lead called for a proper debate. to more unsolved murders, rob- ANI beries and kidnaps. Home Secretary Jacqui Massive growth in phone and computer networks has made it Smith unveiled the harder to check who calls who. plan on Wednesday, Many firms offer free calls or ac- promising cops and İ A Lebanese archaeologist works at a Roman archaeological site in Ashrafiyeh, in cess and have no need to store the eastern suburbs of Beirut. Ancient history is getting in the way of billing data. MI5 more power to construction in Beirut’s building boom as new archaeological discoveries delay The governments move gather data the springing up of long-planned high rises. AFP PHOTO sparked accusations of expansion 08 ERGO Friday, October 17, 2008 Enthusiastic senders Mobile phone users in Singapore and Kuala Lumpur are Asia’s most enthusiastic senders of text messages, according to a survey conducted by Technorama market research company Synovate.

Mini packer This memory will serve you well A debutante from Buffalo Inc, the dual Flippin’ over drive LinkStation Mini struts its 1TB BlackBerry gets the fashion blues memory in a sleek, compact form Here’s a bit of news that could be factor. Touted as a perfect space-saving both good and bad for business solution for storing and sharing large users looking to make a style amounts of digital content, it comes statement. Good, because with a DLNA server, built-in Web BlackBerry’s just announced a Access Features and a Remote Power SNIPPETS stylish flip phone, a first from Feature, which can power the unit SOURCED their stable and bad because remotely with the included Navigator you guys will be spoilt for software. Plus it has an extra USB port. FROM T3 choice. After creating ripples Some stud! MAGAZINE with their recent ’bold’ Rs 50,000 www.buffalo-asia.com moves, RIM hopes to get OF INFOMEDIA firmly enconsced in the 18 LIMITED lifestyle segment with its Pearl Flip 8220. This flip phone comes with two light-sensing screens, a QWERTY keyboard, a We want ’one’ 2-meg snapper and a microSD expansion slot. iPhone 3G cowers in a corner as ‘the one’ wows… EDGE and WiFi promise Those "enthusiasts" who queued for hours for an to deliver your email iPhone 3G will probably feel a little silly now. The 01 is BlackBerry style, and you a 5-megapixel, 32GB, music playing, web-surfing, GPS- can edit your documents on the toting titan that leaves the 3G looking like number two. move. Time to flip out, we say! The cherries on this cellular sundae are a slide out www.blackberry.com. panel, fully loaded with music playback controls, and a laser keyboard that makes the iPhone’s finnicky on- screen keypad look as cutting-edge as wrought iron. So when will we be getting our grubby mitts on one? Well, sadly that’s a mystery since this is currently just a concept. Petition your MP: we need The 01 by the New Year. TBC, www.the01phone.com Master blaster No compromise here, says LG It doesn’t quite yell "Aiiela", but LG’s new ultra-slim ultra- light LED Notebook P300 sounds like a lappy that Mr Tendulkar would be proud of. A 13.3 inch notebook, it weighs only 1.6kg and is 21mm in thickness. It boasts of Nvidia Geforce 8400M graphics, 4GB memory, a 250GB hard disk drive and a 2.1GHz Intel Core2 Duo Processor. Project well The LED backlit LCD makes its intentions clear for Power players 3D gaming, video and picture viewing owing Want to make a ’big impression’ at the power to enhanced brightness and contrast ratio. meeting? Get the networkable projector With its realistic sound reproducing NP3150 from NEC. Supporting Windows Vista Surround System (SRS), high output stereo Cinematic video powered by HQV, it comes speakers and a 1.3-mega pixel webcam, the complete with high brightness, LAN capability notebook is the perfect mobile entertainment machine. and picture-in-picture function. That apart, it Mind blowing indeed? has a manual lens shift and multiple input/ Rs 75,000 + taxes www.in.lge.com output terminals. Also, a variety of functions can be added by updating the firmware. There you go! Rs 2,95,000 + taxes www.necindia.in

Samsung Touchwiz Apple iPhone 3G Nokia N82 LG Secret Sony Ericsson W890i Web is super-fast but 2-meg just doesn’t 5-meg cam but It’s pretty… but Sounds awesome but not quite fast enough cut it anymore, Apple weak on its features does it have a laser just 4GB tops! No dice keyboard? Mobiles: The rivals How the current crop measure up Friday, October 17, 2008 09 Noiseless Amplifier American researchers have developed the first tunable "noiseless" amplifier, which can boost the speed and precision of quantum computing and communications systems. According to the research team, the amplifier can enable faster and more precise measurements in certain types of quantum computers, which can solve some of the problems that are presently considered to be intractable.

n a breakthrough study, Euro- “The nicest example is DNA. pean physicists have devel- Our genetic code provides a set of oped a unique computer instructions that can be used to Self-assembling Icircuit that can build itself - a marshal molecules into an entire development that can lead to person, and researchers would self-assembling computers. like to come up with a similar set computers come The work, appearing in Nature, of compounds able to organise international weekly journal of each other into circuits,” he said. science, is an important step to- De Leeuw also said that the cir- wards its ultimate goal - a self- cuit is truly self-assembling. closer to reality assembling computer. Another researcher at Philips, Currently, computer chips are Edsger Smits said that the differ- made by etching patterns onto ent molecules are like little semi-conducting wafers using a bricks. “Frankly it worked much combination of light and photo- better than we expected,” he said. sensitive chemicals. Hagen Klauk, an electrical en- In the new study, the gineer at the Max scientists took a long orga- Frankly, it Planck Institute for nic molecule with mobile Solid State Research in electrons, called quin- worked Stuttgart, Germany quethiophene that acts much found the new tech- like a semiconductor and better than nique impressive but attached it to a long car- said that it still needs bon chain with a silicon we improvements. group at the end, which expected “Self-assembly and acts as an anchor. nanotechnology is cer- They later soaked the tainly cool, but the one circuit board with pre-printed thing missing is higher perfor- electrodes into a solution of their mance,” he added. new molecules. He also said that the move- The experiment showed that ment of electrons through the cir- the molecules got attached to an cuit would make for a very slow insulating layer between the elec- computer. trodes, forming bridges from one Klauk hopes that improving the electrode to the next. characteristics of the molecules “We dump it in a beaker with a and tweaking the technique will Improving the characteristics of the molecules and tweaking solution of the molecules, we eventually lead to self-assem- the technique will eventually lead to self-assembling circuits take it out, we wash it, and it bling circuits that out-perform works,” Nature quoted Dago de existing technologies, which use that out-perform existing technologies, which use thick films Leeuw, researcher at Philips Re- thick films of organic search Laboratories in Eindho- molecules.■ of organic molecules ven, the Netherlands, as saying. ANI

Click and shoot Shoes to power gadgets The futuristic shoes currently generate 1.2 watts of

Ĩ electricity, a level sufficient to run an iPod Hidehiko Tanaka, ired of your iPod running out MD, Nikon India, of power? A Japanese company unveiled the new T says it has found a way to charge Nikon D90 camera portable gadgets just by walking. in Chennai on Telecoms giant NTT of Japan is Thursday. The developing shoes that generate digital SLR camera electricity as you walk. also comes with a The shoes have a small gener- video shoot mode. ator attached to water-filled It also features a soles. Each step puts pressure on GPS powered by the soles, causing the water to software View spin a small turbine and generate NX 1.2. power, NTT said. D90, priced Rs. The futuristic shoes currently 81,900, is available generate 1.2 watts of electricity, in the market. For “a level sufficient to run an iPod more details visit mobile music player forever, as www.nikon.co.in. The special shoe that can generate electricity. AFP PHOTO long as the wearer keeps walk- PHOTO: R. RAVINDRAN ing,” said Hideomi Tenma, mobile phone,” he said. phone to your shoes and just spokesman of NTT. “The shoes do not have a pow- keep walking." “The company is trying to im- er-storage function, but you NTT hopes to put the generator prove the power-generating ca- would be able to charge a mobile into actual products as early as pacity to 3 watts, which is the phone automatically or talk on it 2010.■ amount of electricity to power a forever as long as you connect the AFP 10 ERGO Friday, October 17, 2008 BackPackers Weekend on a Scorpio

SHRINIDHI HANDE quite refreshing due to its force. The drive Hairpin curves, drive through tea [email protected] through lush tea plantation was also re- juvenating. Though our original intention plantations, feeding monkeys…what can be ur recent trip to Wayanad was a was to camp at some good home stay, we memorable one. We started from changed plans as it was quite dark and we a better way to unwind with friends along! Bangalore around 6.30 a.m. in a couldn’t locate a place. Instead, we settled OScorpio and reached Matunga for Hotel Woodlands. Wildlife Sanctuary in Wayanad by 11 a.m. The route was Mysore-Gundlupet-NH 212 Day Two via Bandipura Reserve Forest. Early morning we went to Lakkidi. The High Four!: Our first two stops were disappointing, view of the valley was breathtaking. We Shrinidhi, Raviraj, but from the Edakkal Caves started the drove a few kilometres clearing hairpin Raveesh and real adventure. The place mainly has giant turns and then opted to return. Our stop Jayasimha rocks positioned such that it looks like a at Pookud Lake and Banasura Dam was cave having ancient markings and sym- fun. bols. Later, we started climbing the hill Our last stop was at Kuruva Island, after where the view got more exciting as we stopping at Manthanavadi for lunch, went up. Though it appeared steep and which is an ideal picnic spot because of difficult, we were at ease reaching Edakkal the dense forest with the Kabini river flow- Hill where we took rest and clicked lots of ing. pictures. The 360-degree view was mes- We entered Karnataka border, near merising, showing Kerala, Tamil Nadu Nagarahole forest from a non-existent and Karnataka. road. Luckily, our Scorpio could clear this Our climb downhill was equally chal- tough road with ease to reach Mysore by lenging. We stopped for butter milk, fed dinner time. The fully-illuminated Mysore some monkeys with groundnuts, and also Palace looked pretty. As I was too sleepy to had a simple but wholesome meal com- drive, I pulled over near Mandya, slept for prising boiled rice, sambar, butter milk two hours, and then cruised the remain- and pickle. We stopped by to visit the ing distance to reach Bangalore by 2 a.m., small museum on the way showcasing ar- marking the end our trip. ■ tefacts made by villagers. Later, we head- (The writer is a Business Analyst with ed to Soojippara waterfalls, which was Satyam Computer Services) An ode to my grandmother’s home

KRISHNAMOORTHY BALAKRISHNAN [email protected]

few months ago I went to Da- sand dune in Palk Strait. nushkodi with my family and my grandmother, who was a The only landmark Aresident of the place before For people who stayed in this city 1964. before 1964, it is the church which Dhanushkodi is situated in the serves as the best landmark. The south-east of Pamban. It was de- roofless shattered building, resem- stroyed in the 1964 cyclone from the bling a church, was built during the Pamban Station and a train load of British era. Inside you see a pedestal, passengers were washed into the sea. which could have been the altar. You Though the railway line was con- can almost visualise the pews (An en- structed between Rameswaram and closed compartment in a church that Dhanushkodi, in course of time it provides seating for a number of peo- had to be covered by six sand dunes. ple) packed with choir singers and One can reach Dhanushkodi only on the voice of the pastor resonating. foot or a jeep or on fish carts. The Pamban Palam was built by Interestingly, the place is about 18 the British in 1914, which connects miles West of Talaimannar in Jaffna, Rameswaram to mainland India. It is Ceylon. Dhanushkodi shares land the longest sea bridge in India and border between India and Ceylon, extends to about 2.3 km. ■ which is one of the smallest in the (The writer is an employee of Wipro The Pamban Palam bridge and Danushkodi church. world, just 50 yards in length on a Technologies) PHOTOS: KRISHNAMOORTHY BALAKRISHNAN Friday, October 17, 2008 11 All Blacks Bonus night The All Blacks are New Zealand’s national team Singapore Tourism Board has launched the 2+1 Bonus Night. This offers in Rugby Union, the country’s national sport. visitors one additional night stay free to their two-night weekend stay in The All Blacks are a respected and formidable Singapore. Bundled with the free night stay, the offer also includes two force in international rugby and have a winning days of complementary visit to HiPPO City and river tour. Log on to record against every international rugby team visitsingapore.com/weekends to know more. The offer is valid for accommodation till November 14.

Young,dynamic,Young,dynamic, volcanicvolcanic andand likeablelikeable A visit to enchanting New Zealand PHOTOS: AFP

GEORG ALEXANDER metres northeast of Rotorua lies bow. There are also bubbly water disperses into tiny droplets explosion of a super-volcano, Hell’s Gate, a thermal area cov- “champagne pools” and white that glitter like diamonds. which left a huge caldera that lat- ntold ages ago, the moon ering four hectares that is one of sinter terraces. All of this is set in er filled with water. Tourists itch- was not well and fell ill. the region’s largest. Literally a lush green valley with huge sil- Hospitality ing to dance on an active volcano Then it bathed in Roto- breathtaking is the town of Tau- ver ferns, the plant most associat- Aside from its natural beauty, can visit White Island. Situated in Urua’s curative waters and po, between Rotorua and Tonga- ed with New Zealand. Visitors New Zealand is worth visiting be- the Bay of Plenty some 50 kilo- regained strength. Many places in riro. The air there reeks of may explore Orakei Korako with- cause of its likable people. The is- metres northeast of the town of New Zealand, especially between sulphur, clouds of smoke obscure out a guide but should keep to landers are known to invite Whakatane, it is New Zealand’s Rotorua and Taupo on the North visibility, and steam-spewing fu- the paths and heed the warning tourists into their homes, where a only active marine volcano. Island, are associated with simi- maroles hiss right beside the signs. Hot thermal waters are convivial evening with good food The island, which lacks vegeta- lar myths of the Maori, a Polyne- main street. One of the most everywhere, and people who are and plenty of wine is guaranteed. tion, is covered with bubbling sian people that settled in New beautiful thermal areas on North careless are likely to be scalded. They are very interested in Euro- mud pools, yellow mounds of sul- Zealand long before the Euro- Island is Orakei Korako, also The Diamond Geyser, for in- peans who fly halfway across the phur, and a dazzling crater filled peans came. New Zealand is known as the Hidden Valley, stance, ejects boiling water up to globe to see “Kiwi Country”. New with boiling, garish-green water. young and dynamic in every re- which is about 70 kilometres eight metres into the air, some- Zealanders brave their storms, Bleak and forbidding, White Is- spect, including geologically. The south of Rotorua. times every minute, sometimes floods, and earthquakes with dry land is a fascinating place that of- North Island in particular is a tec- It can be reached via a by-road in intervals of several hours. The humour, and they enjoy outdoor fers insight into the Earth’s early tonic cauldron. Beneath New that branches off from State life and being with their families. geologic history. The volcano can Zealand, the Pacific Plate sub- Highway 5 near Golden Springs. One consequence of this is that spit out ash, pumice, or lava at ducts under the Australian Plate, The road ends at the shore of Information many shopkeepers close their any moment, and a plume of continually causing earthquakes Lake Ohakuri, and a five-minute doors as early as 5pm so that they smoke constantly hangs over the ● New Zealand High and volcanic eruptions. boat ride takes visitors to the can slip into their boots and island. Hundreds of earthquakes Commission thermal area. Orakei Korako spend the evening fly-fishing on a shake it each day, usually so mi- Thermal show means “place of adorning” in the Sir Edmund Hillary Marg, river. Every year on Lake Taupo, nor that only seismographs de- Travelling from the city of Ro- Maori language. The colourful, Chanakyapuri. New Delhi 110 fishermen pull in more than tect them. Nevertheless, tourists 021. torua to Tongariro National Park, mineral-bearing pools used to be 100,000 trout. Many a catch is so can book a day trip by boat to Phone: 011-2688 3170 you not only see volcanic cones the equivalent of a wellness cen- big – the locals are wont to say White Island in Whakatane. Be- ● Honorary Consul for New but also numerous geysers, boil- tre and make-up room for Maori Zealand with a bit of exaggeration – that fore they are allowed on the is- ing mud pools and hot springs. chieftains. Tourists taking a two- the water level drops. Lake Taupo land, however, they are given a L Ganesh The road linking Rotorua and hour hike over the extensive net- is, in fact, the largest lake in New respiratory mask and have to put Rane Engine Valves Ltd, Tongariro is part of what is called work of footbridges and paths are Maithri, 132 Cathedral Zealand and third-largest in the on a protective helmet. The last the Thermal Explorer Highway. It amazed at the gurgling mud southern hemisphere. It was cre- big eruption was seven years ago Road.Chennai 600 086. ■ could also be dubbed the “High- pools and silica deposits that Phone: 044-2811 2472 ext 21 ated by a tectonic catastrophe – but you never know. way to Hell” because 12 kilo- shine in the colours of the rain- more than 20,000 years ago: the DPA 12 ERGO Friday, October 17, 2008 Delhi is witnessing two Portfolio simultaneous fashion weeks. ERGO CORRESPONDENT However, Sumeet Nair of Fash- Another in [email protected] ion Foundation of India, which is backing Delhi Fashion Week, Mumbai will he national capital is abuzz said, “More events will have a these days. The fashion positive impact. Designers will commence soon. week calendar has a new ad- get more business and buyers a Tdition – Delhi Fashion chance to see more talents due to We simplify Week. simultaneous holding of events.” As the action unfolds simulta- Referring to fashion weeks in Pa- India’s three neously, with the Wills Lifestyle ris, which sees a number of si- India Fashion Week (WLIFW) and multaneous events, Nair said leading fashion Delhi Fashion Week (DFW) com- India, with Delhi in particular, mencing a day within each other, should become a fashion destina- events for you loyalties are split and worries tion for holding more such fash- over another divide in the fashion ion events simultaneously. industry mount – the last being Phew! Complicated? We dissect that between Mumbai’s Lakme India’s three major fashion weeks Fashion Week and Delhi’s Wills for you: Lifestyle India Fashion Week. “It’s not a very positive thing what they are doing and it makes no sense (holding the two events at the same time),” said Sunil Sethi, president of FDCI, which is organising WLIFW. However, Sethi said it is a win-win situation for the fashion industry. “If some buyers go to DFW and give some business to them, it doesn’t mat- ter to us. At the end of the day, the fashion fraternity will get the money,” he said. 01 Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week Venue: Pragati Maidan, New Delhi When: October 15 – 19 Organiser: Fashion Design Coun- cil of India (FDCI) New this year: Two new concepts have been introduced this time – an elevated area in the main lobby and a system of locking the stalls in the exhibition area. “This is an effort to bring in the best business in a practi- cal way. The safety issue was an im- portant concern for the designers, so we have provided them with cabins that can be locked, so that they can focus more on business rather than waste three hours just in doing up theirs stall every morning,” said FDCI president Sunil Sethi. Buyers: Already 160 buyers have registered themselves with WLIFW. These include noted international fashion houses like Liberty of Lon- don, Harvey Nichols of the UAE and Anthropologie of the US. Leading designers: About 80 de- signers are taking part, prominent among them being Anjana Bhargav, Manoviraj Khosla, Ritu Kumar, Ran- na Gill, Vivienne Tam, Namrata Jo- shipura, Rina Dhaka, Falguni & Shane Peacock, Satya Paul, Rohit Gandhi & Rahul Khanna, Phadnis, JJ Valaya and Rajesh Pratap Singh. Chennai presence: Rehane Grand finale: Manish Arora Friday, October 17, 2008 13 Too many BULLETIN

cooks spoil Palin specs spark fashion wave Republican Vice Presidential Candidate Sarah Palin is doing more than just rocking the political world. She’s is finding her niche in the fashion industry with her glasses. the dough? Thousands of women around the world are rushing to their local optician demanding a pair of Palin’s Kazuo Kawasaki MP-704 rimless glasses. The spectacles are flying off the shelves so fast that the manufacturer, Masunaga Optical Manufacturing Co Ltd, based in Fukui, Japan, has stopped producing other Kazuo Kawasaki models to focus on ‘The Palin’. 02 ANI Lakme Fashion Week When: October 20 – 24 Queen’s Where: National Centre for Performing Arts (NCPA), Mumbai ‘dressmaker’ in Organiser: Lakme and IMG This year: The ‘Menswear Day’ will see an entire day dire straits dedicated to menswear. Another addition is the Group Ac- Hardy Amies, the fashion cessory Designer Show. Testimony to the growing interde- house which ‘dressed’ pendence between art and fashion, ‘ArtStudio’ will feature Queen Elizabeth II for works of 20 artists, to be displayed at the fashion week more than half a century, venue. announced that it had Leading designers: Nikhil & Shantanu, Shane & Falguni filed for administration after funding talks Peacock, Narendra Kumar, Tarun Tahiliani, Lecoanet He- failed. The firm, founded in 1946 by the mant, Raghavendra Rathore, Vikram Phadnis late (Sir) Hardy Amies, who died in 2003, Chennai presence: Karunakaran for Westside, had been suffering losses for several years Chaitanya Rao and warned in June that poor womenswear Grand finale: Sabyasachi Mukherjee sales would see losses accelerate in the first half of this year and would continue into 2009. The group, which still has its headquarters in Savile Row, the London street famous for bespoke tailoring, has a number of outlets across Britain and licences around the globe. Delhi Fashion Week DPA Venue: Emporio Mall, New Delhi When: October 14 – 18 Marimekko, D&G Organiser: Prodigy Fashion. The Delhi Fashion Week is endorsed by Fashion Foundation of India. Sumeet Nair, a settle over founding member of Fashion Foundation of India, was the former Executive Director of FDCI, which backs rival Wills flower pattern Lifestyle India Fashion Week. This year: The Delhi Fashion Week claims to be a plat- Finnish textile design form for talented designers who have been handpicked by company Marimekko said it an eminent jury. Tarun Tahiliani’s defection from Wills had reached an agreement with Italian Lifestyle India Fashion Week is the hot topic. fashion house Dolce & Gabbana to end Buyers: DFW expects the number of buyers to touch 175. their spat over its trademarked poppy International buyers include ISETAN of Japan, SEIBU of flower pattern ‘Unikko’. Hong Kong and Paris-based Showroom Romeo. “The parties have agreed on the handling Leading designers: A total of 33 designers are participa- of already manufactured products and on ting. Vineet Bahl, Lecoanet Hemant, Raghavendra Rathore, the fee to be paid to Marimekko, and will Sonam Dubal, Tarun Tahiliani, Meera & Muzaffar Ali, both withdraw all the legal proceedings Rohit Bal, Gaurav Gupta, Malini Ramani and Anamika concerning the Unikko trademark,” the Khanna are the prominent names. Finnish firm said in a statement. Chennai presence: It’s still early days The dispute started when Marimekko Grand finale: Anamika Khanna discovered that the Italian fashion house Inputs from agencies had been using a red flower pattern similar to Unikko without permission. 03 AFP 14 ERGO Friday, October 17, 2008 Bean fact From the royal tombs of ancient Egypt to the Old Testament cultivation, preparation, and consumption of beans are recog- nized. In some Eastern cultures, legumes were a basic dietary Wellness staple that can be traced back more than 20,000 years. Grace descends upon you

SADHGURU JAGGI VASUDEV Awareness empties the vessel. Sadhana cleanses the vessel. he nature of the mind is al- When these two aspects are sus- ways to accumulate. tained - awareness and sadhana When it is gross, it wants are sustained for a sufficiently Tto accumulate things; when long period - then your vessel be- it becomes a little more evolved, comes empty. it wants to accumulate knowl- Only when this emptiness edge. When emotion becomes arises, Grace descends upon you. dominant, it wants to accumulate Without Grace nobody really gets people. But the basic nature is: it anywhere. If you need to experi- wants to accumulate. Mind is a ence the Grace, you have to be- gatherer - always wanting to come empty or your vessel has to gather something. become totally empty. If you are When a person starts thinking living with a Guru just to gather or believing that he is on a spiri- his words, your life has been tual path, then he starts accum- more wasteful than the ant which ulating the so-called spiritual gathers food for the winter or wisdom; maybe he starts gather- rainy season. If you do not experi- ing the Guru’s words. One has to ence the Grace, if you do not go beyond the need to accumu- make yourself receptive for the late - whether it is food, or things, Grace, if you do not empty your- or people, or knowledge, or wis- self to bear the Grace, then spiri- dom. It does not matter what you tual path is something that needs accumulate. The need to accum- to be pursued for many, many life ulate means there is an insuffi- times. ciency. And the insufficiency, the But if you become empty feeling of being insufficient has enough for the Grace to descend, entered into this unbounded be- then the ultimate nature is not far ing only because somewhere you away. It is here to be experienced. got identified with limited things It is here to be realized. It is going that you are not. If one brings suf- beyond all dimensions of exis- ficient awareness and above all, a tence, into the exalted state. It is constant sadhana (yogic practic- not tomorrow, not another life- es) into his life, slowly the vessel time. It becomes a living reality. becomes totally empty. ■

Mobile phones do up brain cancer risk Forget troubles and

It’s official: mobile phones do raise the risk of keep heart healthy brain cancer, claim boffins. According to the Forgetting troubles might help you keep your heart experts, the chances of developing a healthy, suggests a new study, which has found that malignant tumour are “significantly failing memory in Alzheimer’s helps reduce high blood increased” for people who use a mobile for pressure. Previous studies have put cognitive problems ten years. The shocking finding is the result of suffered by some Alzheimer’s patients to low blood the biggest ever study by the International pressure (arterial hypotension). However, the new study Agency for Research on Cancer, part of the led by researchers from Osijek Medical Faculty in Croati World Health Organisation. The experts found suggests that as the patient’s memory fails, they forget a type of brain tumour called glioma is more the causes of anxiety and worry that was causing high likely in long-term mobile users. French blood pressure: failing memory causes hypotension. It experts analysed data from 13 countries, also suggests that heart disease could including Britain. Although researchers admit be substantially reduced in old the cause is unknown, but according to them people simply by making them radiation from handsets could be the trigger. happier about themselves and “To underestimate the risk would be a their lives. The study proposes complete disaster,” the Sun quoted study that some people suffering from chief Professor Elisabeth Cardis, as saying. Alzheimer’s disease experience a However, a British expert insisted mobiles are reduction in their high blood not dangerous. Professor Patricia McKinney of pressure because of cognitive the University of Leeds said: “Reasonable use decline. The study is published in ■ is unlikely to increase the risk of tumours.”■ Bioscience Hypotheses. ANI ANI Friday, October 17, 2008 15 Watermelon, a natural viagra Scientists say that watermelon contains a chemical called Citrulline that relaxes the blood vessels, thereby making blood move around the body more easily and make the consumers aroused. What do you want? Men prefer women who are different from themselves and women want like-minded soulmates

MITHRA SURESH lence’ it involved, how we liked [email protected] different actors and movies, how our parents and friends xamine your loved one: it would never get along and that has been observed that too not because they would not while men prefer women like me as person, but that we Ewho are different from came from different back- themselves, women want like- grounds – which has nothing to minded soulmates. do with religion, just lifestyle.” “This whole soulmate con- What Poonam, his girlfriend, cept was invented by a wom- had to say was that women an,” says Radhakrishnan, a tend to get easily attached if software engineer. But, women they give in to affection, which say that it is important to be was why she resisted for so compatible and the term long, till she was absolutely means that a couple should sure. agree on something. “Excuse Ramya Jayachandran, a rela- me if I am looking for conversa- tionship advisor, says that tion and not sex. I want to be women and men need to enjoy inspired by him, otherwise why the differences. “Men on one am I still in the relationship?” hand have to understand that asks Radhakrishnan’s tired they should continue the atten- girlfriend, Lakshmi. tion, whether they are at work Dhruv, a professional boxer, or at home. Women, on the says that his girlfriend initially other hand, need to stop com- shied away from him. “When I paring.” was courting her, she stated a That said, I would think my number of reasons about why mantra in a nutshell would be: we would not work as a couple, Girl lets, man lives, humanity such as my boxing and the ‘vio- survives. ■

Chicken soup, also known as Chicken soup may ‘Grandma’s Penicillin’, appears to be a great source help fight high BP of collagen proteins

hicken soup, which has been to be a great source of collagen Cused for years as an effective proteins. home remedy to deal with the During the study, the research- common cold, can also help fight ers extracted collagen from high blood pressure, researchers chicken legs and tested its ability in Japan have learnt. to act as an ACE inhibitor in the Study leader Ai Saiga, a re- laboratory studies. searcher from Nippon Meat They identified four different Packers, says that chicken breast proteins in the collagen mixture contains collagen proteins with with high ACE-inhibitory activity. effects similar to ACE inhibitors, The proteins were then admin- mainstay medications for treat- istered to rats used to model hu- ing high blood pressure. man high blood pressure, which The researcher concedes that produced a significant and pro- chicken breast contains such longed decrease in blood pres- small amounts of the proteins sure, according to the that it cannot be used to develop researchers. food and medical products for An article on the study has high blood pressure. been published in the Journal of Saiga, however, insists that Agricultural and Food chicken soup, also known as Chemistry.■ ‘Grandma’s Penicillin’, appears ANI 16 ERGO Friday, October 17, 2008 Young Gun Asher Gusti Noria not only shot a double trap gold for India at the Commonwealth Youth Games on Wednesday but in the process he bettered Athens silver medallist Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore’s score by one bird. The 16-year-old, who picked up shooting four years ago under his father Gusti Jall Noria, a former national double Sport trap specialist, shot a total of 180 en route to the gold.

Pak skipper and coach hits out at selectors Kirsten bats The skipper and the coach of the Pakistan cricket team have revealed that the squad selected for the four- nation Twenty20 tournament in Toronto was not of their choice. Pakistan lost the final match of the for skipper tournament to Sri Lanka early this week. and Geoff Lawson interacted with media after reaching Lahore from Toronto on Wednesday night. “The team that went to Canada was different from the one the selectors, Shoaib and I discussed. The selectors picked that team and it is their responsibility. Their Chairman has resigned so you should ask the selectors what happened between them,” Lawson said. Chief selector Salahuddin Ahmed had resigned before the tournament in protest to a change made in the selected squad without the consent of the selectors. The selectors had picked off spinner Saeed Ajmal in the squad but he was replaced by the rookie batsman Shoaib Khan in the last minute change. The batsman from Quetta played in all four games in Toronto and flopped in three including the final. “I was Team there when we discussed the team but we didn’t discuss who to take and who to drop. Certainly the team that went to Toronto was India not the one I had in mind,” Malik said. PTI coach defends Indo-Pak clash in erratic Hong Kong India and Pakistan have been included in the Kumble same group of the Hong Kong Cricket Sixes

event, and the arch-rivals will clash on day PHOTO: PTI one of the event, beginning at the Kowloon Cricket Club in Hong Kong on November 8. mbattled India skipper Anil form in one Test but over a long ing the success his seamers en- The Asian giants will bring the curtains down Kumble has received a period of time. He is one of the joyed in difficult conditions in on the first day’s action when they face off in ringing endorsement from greatest Indian players ever. the previous Test. “These are ex- a crucial Group encounter. Eight teams have Ecoach Gary Kirsten as he Any champion player who strug- citing times in Indian cricket. been divided into two groups of four and only struggles with his form and fit- gles comes back stronger. He is Seamers are making a contribu- two teams from each group would advance to ness ahead of the second Test going to come back more deter- tion and affecting the course of the next stage. Apart from India and Pakistan, against Australia. Nursing a sore mined than before to put in a a match and that too on any the Bradman Group comprises England and shoulder, the 37-year-old leg- match-winning performance. He kind of wicket. The skills that South Africa. “Any game between India and spinner failed to bag a single has been doing this for the last our fast bowlers showed in Ban- Pakistan is to be savoured. But what makes wicket in the drawn first test at 17 years.” galore have given them a lot of this clash even more mouth-watering is that Bangalore. It was only the third belief, so we are looking at dif- there is every chance a place in the Cup will time in his career and the first Confident ferent options and will decide be at stake,” said tournament director Mark time ever in front of a home The former South African on the final bowling combina- Burns. “If either team has the opportunity to crowd he has walked away emp- opener also spoke about the up- tion after having another look at knock the other out of the Cup, then we ty-handed. He also dropped two beat mood in the Indian camp the Mohali wicket.” really can expect some fireworks,” Burns catches off his own bowling to following their match-saving he- added. cap a miserable outing and trig- roics in Bangalore. “As a coach Fast and furious Players who have taken part over the past 16 ger a debate as to whether he or even when I was playing The Indian fast bowlers, led by years include , Sachin Tendulkar, was fit enough to lead the Indi- against them, I have never seen left-arm paceman Zaheer Khan, Steve and , Vivian Richards, an side. such strong team unity and to- gave the team crucial break- Andrew Flintoff, Adam Gilchrist and Wasim However, Kirsten reaffirmed getherness. They are very eager throughs and picked 13 of the 16 Akram. his faith in Kumble and warned to win this Test series. They have Aussie wickets to fall in Banga- PTI Australians of a comeback from the belief that they can beat lore. Kirsten heaped praise on the stalwart in the second Test, Australia. The greatest catalyst Zaheer, who finished the match which begins in Mohali on Fri- has been the fact that we are up with six wickets. “Zaheer has a day. “Kumble is a warrior,” Kir- against the number one team in tremendous belief in himself, he sten said on Wednesday. “He is the world. is intelligent and understands alright at the moment. He has a No one is talking about indi- how he must bowl in different little bit of pain but he is very vidual records but what we can conditions. He has great varia- keen to play. I am sure that re- do as a team.” tions which come from experi- gardless of how he is physically, Kirsten did not rule out play- ence. He is a highly skilled he would be ready to represent ing an extra fast bowler at the bowler.” ■ his country. We don’t look at expense of a spinner, consider- AFP Friday, October 17, 2008 17

Warne’s been the best legspinner that I’ve ever seen. There’s not an obsession there (to find the next Warne), but everyone would like someone to come up as Warne did virtually from nowhere. Richie Benaud

rgentina were outplayed and beaten World Cup finals in South Africa and the fifth didn’t let us settle,” said Argentina coach Al- 0-1 by a Chilean team led by their for- plays off against a side from the North and fio Basile. “It seemed like there were 15 of mer coach Marcelo Bielsa in the World Central American CONCACAF region for an- them against 11 of us. We thought they ‘‘ACup qualifiers on Wednesday while other place. Argentina and Brazil, who both would get tired in the second half but they Brazil continued their astonishing run of won at the weekend, continued their incon- kept going very well.” goalless draws at home. Dunga’s team, held sistent campaigns. Argentina, missing mer- In Rio de Janeiro, Brazil struggled to mus- 0-0 by Bolivia last month and Argentina in curial playmaker Juan Roman Riquelme ter a chance against a resolute but negative June, this time played out a dismal stalemate through suspension, never found an answer Colombia team, who completed their fifth with Colombia as the Maracana crowd jeered to a lively, creative Chile team led by their qualifier without scoring and have managed the team, insulted the coach and then left former mentor Bielsa, whose six year stint in a total of only four goals. Kaka blamed their early in what has become a sad ritual. charge included the 2002 World Cup. lethargy on the 15-hour journey home from Paraguay moved further ahead at the top Venezuela following their 4-0 win over Sun- of the 10-team South American group with a Fifteen players day. “I don’t like to make excuses, but the late 1-0 win over bottom side Peru and Vene- Fabian Orellana turned in the winner in the journey took its toll,” he said. Substitute Ed- zuela kept their faint hopes of a first World 36th minute in Santiago following a sweep- gar Benitez, called into the squad as a re- Cup appearance alive by coming from behind ing move to move Chile level on 16 points placement for the injured Roque Santa Cruz, to beat Ecuador 3-1. Paraguay, who have with their opponents and give them their scored an 82nd minute winner in Asuncion to won seven of their 10 matches, have 23 first win over their neighbours for 35 years. keep Paraguay on course for a fourth succes- points, six clear of Brazil. “I have never seen a performance like this sive World Cup. In Puerto La Cruz, Ecuador Argentina are third with 16 points and on- from Chile, it was amazing how much run- got the perfect start with Isaac Mina headed ly six separate them from eighth-placed Ve- ning they did, they were like a machine and them in front after 10 minutes. Venezuela, nezuela, with Chile, Uruguay, Ecuador and pressed us in every part of the pitch and however, hit back as Giancarlo Maldonado, Colombia sandwiched in between. The top Alejandro Moreno and Juan Arango scored in four qualify directly for a place at the 2010 a 25-minute spell after the break, giving them their first win in six qualifiers under Cesar Farias. The defeat left Ecuador in sixth place on 12 points. ■ Reuters

Paraguay head CONCACAF points table

Chilean players celebrate after scoring against Argentina in their World Cup qualifier in Santiago. PHOTO: AFP MORE MISERY FOR ARGENTINA, BRAZIL 18 ERGO Friday, October 17, 2008

Birthday bumps! On this day in 1972, Eminem also known as Marshall Bruce Mathers III, Flick was born in Kansas city, Missouri.

Lens perfect: Lindsay and Madonna

Lindsay Lohan might record album with the Queen of Pop

ollywood actress Lindsay Lohan may soon be seen rec- Hording a duet with Madonna, as the actress has got a nod from the Queen of Pop herself. The Mean Girls star expressed her desire to work with Madonna, saying, “That would be incredible. That would be beyond...’’ And the Material Girl seems to be up for the idea, when she agreed to work with the 22-year-old actress/ singer. “Yeah, sure. Why not?” Contactmusic quoted Madonna as telling U.S. news show Extra, on being asked about the idea. ANI

THAT WOULD BE INCREDIBLE. THAT WOULD BE BEYOND...

Playboy mansion Cameron Diaz gives needs playgirls acting tips Cameron Diaz has turned into a real-life teacher for the sake of love Hugh Hefner’s former No. 1 girlfriend - the stunner is giving her British Holly Madison is not moving out of the boyfriend Paul Sculfor a few acting Playboy Mansion any time soon, for she tips. doesn’t have time to pack her stuff. The British model, who has The busty blonde had recently dated Jennifer Aniston, said that announced her split with the Playboy he turns to his stunning girlfriend ♥mogul, but is still staying as a guest in when he needs to rehearse a his house. Apparently, Madison is scene or when he’s having lending a helping hand to Hefner’s trouble with it. new 19-year-old twin gal pals, Kristina “If I need to go over a scene or and Karissa Shannon, in moving in. something, then we help each other “I don’t have time to pack. Nobody out,” the Daily Express quoted him as can pack for me. Nobody knows what I telling New! Magazine. need to keep or what goes into The 37-year-old further said that storage. I have to do it myself,” despite their common acting interests, Contactmusic quoted Madison, as the duo had not drawn any plans to telling HollyScoop.com, work together. She added, “I’m making myself useful “We have no plans to act together - I worked with the twins this summer but who knows about the future?” on their playmate layout. I directed he added. their pictorial. I just want Hef to be ANI happy and have fun (with them).” ANI Friday, October 17, 2008 19 I don’t think anyone should write their autobiography until after they’re dead. ‘‘ Samuel Goldwyn, US movie producer Cine City

iley Cyrus, the 15-year-old ‘Han- Mnah Montana’ star, has finished writing a book detailing her life sto- ry. The young actress, who shot to fame after the Disney’s TV show made its debut in March 2006, has apparently been paid with a seven-figure sum to narrate her life accounts. The book recounts the sing- er’s childhood days and her up- bringing, especially as a daughter to the renowned country singer, Billy Ray Cyrus, reports the Sun. It shall further “reveal how her solid relationship with her family, espe- cially her mother Letica, helps her navi- gate the spotlight.” Miley, who is currently filming ‘Han- nah Montana: The Movie’ said, “I’m not sure when it’s going to come out. Big B in Soundarya’s film It’s finished but you’ve got a long This was supposed to have happened earlier, process of editing and all that kind of when Amitabh Bachchan was offered the role stuff, so it takes a while.” of Raghuvaran in Shankar’s Sivaji. But ANI Bachchan couldn’t sign the project due to call Miley Cyrus GETTY IMAGES sheet problems. Now plans are on to make Big B act in the movie produced jointly by Soundarya Rajinikanth and Warner Bros. under the direction of Gowtham Menon. AN AUTOBIOGRAPHY AT 15? Soundarya would be meeting Bachchan next week regarding the project.

ormer James Bond girl Honor FBlackman has hit back at the claims that her role ‘Pussy Galore’ Bond girl was was that of a bimbo, insisting that the character was a strong feminist. In an interview to TV Times, the no bimbo 80-year-old actress described her kung-fu kicking character in ‘Goldfinger’ as a career woman who ends up collapsing into Bond’s arms. “In so many of the films, the girls just looked at James and fell flat on their backs,” the Telegraph quoted her, as saying. “Yet Pussy Galore was a career woman - a pilot who had her own air force, which was very impres- sive. She was never a bimbo,” she No shows on Oct 19 added. She says that Pussy was a real- Honor With the entire Tamil film industry planning to istic depiction of a modern woman. Blackman protest in the coastal area of Rameshwaram on “Pussy’s flying a plane, so she’s GETTY IMAGES October 19, it has been announced that there got to be a strong feminist, but then would be no matinee shows on that day she collapses into Bond’s arms at throughout Tamil Nadu. The protest is against the end. the ill-treatment of in Sri Lanka. The “Deary me. Unfortunately wom- entire film industry, including the producers’ en do that. We’re good at our jobs, Pussy Galore was a career woman - a council, directors’ association, artistes’ but if we fall in love, we’re a bit pilot who had her own air force, which association, FEFSI, theatre exhibitors and stupid,” she added. was very impressive distributors have extended their support to the ANI protest. www.cinesnacks.com 20 ERGO Friday, October 17, 2008

9884373581 Thursday’s Question: ■I would sing ’ushar aiya ushar’ song. Babloo, ALLSEC What is the one song you ■"Andha vanathai pola manam padaicha mannavaray.. would like to sing to your Rajasekar, TCS ■ To remind my boss about salary hike, I ll boss, so that he gets the will sing "Varavu ettana, selavu pathana, so pls put ettana more" hint? Abul, TCS. ■ “Naan oru muttaalunga;romba nalla ■ Nan poladhan poi solathavan kai kati padichavanga 4 per(am de 1 among them) vaimudi yar munbum nan nindru athayam sonnnga naan oru muttalunga!" thadathavan nan polathavan Mani 9790853362 CCSL ■ Yen kadhai mudiyum neramidhu.... ■ Who let the boss out....? who who who? Dilipkumar, INFOSYS who let the boss out? who whom who?:) Ezhilan Vikraman, ■ Aadatha aatamelam potavanga PEROT SYSTEMS manukulae pora katha unaku theriyuma .? 9894369726 ■ Vetri meethu vetri vanthu unnai serum,athai vangi thantha perumai ellam ■ After good appraisal manithan enbavan Manomani J of HCL Technologies nominates her team members ennai serum;) theyvamagalam vari vari kodukumbothu as Partners in Crime. They clicked this pic at V.G.P Resorts. Lakshmi Rajendran, valal agalam PEROT SYSTEMS Latha, TCS ■ Poda Poda punnakku podatha thappu kanaku ■engirundhu vandhay ada ennai paadu Bala, paduththa, nee ennai paadu padhuththa... PEROT SYSTEMS JS ■ "Budhi ulla manidan ellam vetri ■ Thoongaadhe thambi thoongaadhe nee kanbadillai... Vetri petra manidan elam somberi endra peyar vaangaadhe.. Guess budhisali illai" its explicit, i’l sing it while he is asleep in Padma Gopal, his cabin.. :-) CTS Bragadeesh, VDSI ■ Yenga yeria ula varadhae. . ■ Enge sellum indha paathai.... Yaro yaro Sundararajan, Interglobe arivaro... Dominic xavier. ■ ’Mujhko bhi to lift kara de’ Cgsl. Vipin Mittal, TCS

■ “Sodhanai mel sodhanai pothumada ■ Unakenna maele ninraay.. O saami. Sodhanaithan valkai endral nandhalaalaa thaangathu boomi” G.R, TCS Elaiyaraja, ALLSEC ■ Olimayamana edhirkalam en ullathil Meenakshi of Infosys clicked this picture of her Partners in Crime ■ “Thenpandi seemaiila therodum therigiradhu.... on their project trip to Wayanad. veedhiyila maanpola vandhavane yaar Vijayakannan.S, HCL Tech adicharoo yaar adicharoo Suresh, ALLSEC ■ ’ rum bum bum arambum , rumbum bum perum thunbum ’ ■ enkite mothathe na rajathi rajana da... 9710918871 Sridher,Miva, PEROT SYSTEMS ■ Yaen pirandhai maganey yaen pirandhayo... ■ If my boss is girl, my song is unakkaaga 9841624060 thaney intha uyir ullathu unthuyaram thaanga en thool ullathu. ■ Gangai karai thottam kanni pengal 9884016663 kootam kannan naduviniley oh kannan naduviniley. ■My Boss is a nice man. I’ll sing ejaman Anand.k kaaladi manneduthu nethiyila pottu veppom Today’s Question: Vijay, CGSL ■ Treking in a hill station with your boss What would your reaction singing vaaraai ne vaaraai , poogum edam veygu thooram illai , ne vaaraai.... be if your blind date SAM - Athena Timber Wolves, PEROT SYSTEMS turned out to be 10 years Rashmi Nandita from Satyam Computers sent this picture of her ■Unkuthama...enkuthama... elder to you? Partners in Crime Friday, October 17, 2008 21

■ Dearest Janu, 25 years of service in an organization. "Happy Anniv" At this time, we learn from you, the Hi The past one year has made a lot of dedication you have towards the job. Ergo is a really good newspaper. This is my small suggestion. Can difference to my Life. Thank you for We wish you good Health, happiness, you please allocate a separate column for ‘Health Tips for the Day’? being my "Sweetheart". I will always be Cheer, Love, Laughs, Good times and Thanks & Regards there for you. many more Success this year and in years Ramya R. lotss of Love to come. Congruent Solutions, Guindy Deepu 9962212223 Happy Silver Jubilee Anniversary! Hi , ■ Hey Criminal! Cheers, SVT Team, Amb-1, I really like the U-Turn section of Ergo and the Doodle corner Wishing you a very Happy Birthday! May HCL Technologies. initiative is really commendable. Ergo has become a part of our daily all your dreams come true. ■ Dear Chinnari dose of refreshment and we eagerly wait for it while travelling from Enjoy!!! Wish u a very sweet n warm birhday. ECR to OMR. Cheers, Cheeku ;) May god bless you and have a rocking All the very best for your novel effort. ■ Hi ALCATEL Guys, year ahead. With regards Happy Journey to the Gang going for With Love, Rupesh Dubey "Kodaikanal" this Weekend. Nanna,Amma,Bulki. Cognizant Technology solutions Njoy the days & Have fun !!! ■ Hi Aunty(Akhi), !! Happy Journey !! Wish u many more Happy returns of d Thanks, Vijayasankar day :-) ■ Dear Pooja (O3), Have a Blast.Waiting 4 ur treat ;) I know, Its a bit early, but i will be the By GOG first one to wish you Happy B’day. ■ Dear Himachal (FSS), May GOD bless you n have a Wish You Happy Birthday (Pirantha naal sweet,special and rocking day on 19th. nalvazhthukal). We wishing you all Chalo Chaa peen Chaleye !!! success in your life, may all your desires Pakore Khaeye !!! come true… Have a great year ahead… Yours Lovingly, With lot of love, Sunder from Cognizant Manpreet Verma (KD) Ganapathi, Kuhan, Sandhiya, Uma, Gayathri, Technologies doodled this. ■ Dear Kavitha, Sampath, Gnana Prakash, Sathya, Shoaib, FSS Happy Birthday(Oct 17th)...Many more ■ Hi Sangeetha (Admin - ETA) Happy Returns of the day... Wish you many more happy returns of From, the day. Indu, Dhanashri, Apoorva, , Suresh, Have a great day and wonderful year Pandi, Rajan, Ashok & Sheshu ahead. ■ Hi Priya, Shan – Admin Wish you many more happy returns of ■ Dear Krish, the day.. This is a special day as special On your birthday, special one, as you. May God bless you and let this We wish that all your dreams come true. new year bring you all success and May your day be filled with joy, happiness in your life. Wonderful gifts and goodies, too. Regards, On your day we wish for you Mohan Favorite people to embrace, (YFC President) Loving smiles and caring looks Ramco Systems That earthly gifts cannot replace. ■ Dear Ravi Sir, Happy Birthday Krish!!! Here’s wishing you a very HAPPY Best Regards, BIRTHDAY. Wishing you all success and Route No. 4 Friends, Scope International. happiness in all your future endeavours. ■ Hey Pooja, Thanks for all your support,moral Advance Birthday Wishes !! boost,confidence and many more that Let all your dreams come true & may you instilled in us to make our lives a you have a lovely and blessed life ahead. better one. ~~~ HAPPY BIRTHDAY ~~~ Thanks for being there for us. Hearty Wishes, Ashish (Wipro) Regards, ■ Chweet ANIMAL PLANET(Divya), FDC Oracle DBA Team, Athaadiku Iniya Piranthanaal Wipro Technologies. Nalvazhthukkal.. J ■ HI Prakash(Kutty Mani) Itha Padicha udanae un palla Wish you a Happy Birthday.We wish u all kadikkatha.. J Adi paadavathigala nu success in life and may all ur dreams will thitatha.. J come true. May God Bless You with love, happiness with love, and success all through your way J R.Deivendran(InterGlobe Technologies) Wish all your dreams come true (May ur One thief is praying before the photo of Arcot Veeraswamy, EB R.Suresh Kumar(TCS) bro get you your favourite mobile)… J Minister, K.Senthil Kumar(Mobious) Inaikavathu unnoda new dresses la onnu “Swamy thozhiluku poraen, tayavu senju current varama pathu- C.RajKumar(HOV services) podu.. ka swamy”… ■ Hi Goutam Marakkama “Le Royal Meridian” la treat - Marie, Belated B’day wishes to u man…. kudu J Already Taj la 3 treat baaki iruku CTS From ma kannu.. A sardar proposed to a girl.. Sandy , Surya , Pramit , Jhinku and Rash. Ithellam padichitu un favourite dialogue Girl :“I am a year older to you…" Hexaware Technologies ( “Eruma Maadaeeee…….”) nu sollatha J Sardar: “Okay, I will marry you next year…” ■ Dear Krishnan, Love, - Suganthi, It is probably first time for us at work Urs favourite Manidha Thozhigal CTS place to see one in our team, completing Uma, Sangee, Raji, Jayu 22 ERGO Friday, October 17, 2008

Poisonous hazelnuts Thieves who stole 300kg of hazelnuts in Germany have been urgently warned not to eat them - because they’re Traffic Jam poisonous.

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So you think you would make a terrific photog- Vinoth Kumar P of Zylog KAKURO rapher but never really had the platform? Mail us Systems Ltd. clicked this your best work and we’ll publish it in this space, picture in the Masinagudi with credit. forest. Hobbies: Playing TT, E-mail: [email protected] roaming on his bike

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ARIES MARCH 21 - APRIL 20 Today, you have scope of getting some good financial rewards of your work. This doesn’t need to be in the physical form but whatever you do may add positive points to appraisal in future. You may exchange sweet words with your life partner.

TAURUS APRIL 21 - MAY 20 Your basic qualities are highlighted today so it is a ‘power day’ for you. At office, you can finish off your work as per the schedule. In personal life, if you are not careful your relations with your spouse may get sour. Handle everything diplomatically.

GEMINI MAY 21 - JUNE 20 Hard work is on the cards but ensure that nothing BORN LOSER goes in vain! Ganesha foresees you working in wrong direction today. Colleagues may try to tarnish your image. You may try to woo someone. If you are married, you may be attracted to your partner. CANCER JUNE 21 - JULY 20 It’s a perfect day to organise regular group activities like meetings. Your diligence and commitment to work will prove beneficial to you in the longer run. Love life or married life may remain ‘stress free’ which will make you feel better, emotionally.

LEO JULY 21 - AUG 20 This is a perfect day to handle creative part of your job. Slogging alone may not work but you may need to use your imagination. Your relations with bosses may need to be handled carefully. You may not be able to pay much attention to love life. VIRGO AUG 21 - SEPT 20 Ganesha foresees you in a very practical mood at FREE RANGE WORKING IT OUT work. This will help you finish off your job in time. You may plan for a trip with your family or beloved one. Travelling is not on the cards but planning is surely foreseen. LIBRA SEPT 21 - OCT 20 Whatever you have learnt from seniors and superiors may be useful in your job. You can be trying to solve complex issues at workplace. In love life, you may enjoy very high-quality private time with your beloved one. SCORPIO OCT 21 - NOV 20 You may not be in a mood to put in more efforts at office. Even if you wish, you may not be able to stay back at work till late evening. Health requires attention. In personal life, you may receive positive response from beloved one or life partner. SAGITTARIUS NOV 21 - DEC 20 Complimentary day for you, predicts Ganesha. You may not sit relaxed for a moment and utilize your time at office. Take rest and maintain good health. Love life may require attention but you may not be able to devote time to it because of busy schedule. CAPRICORN DEC 21 - JAN 20 Your professional life may offer you plethora of opportunities today. If you work hard, you may get good incentives. Love life may blossom as you are likely to express your emotions very creatively to woo your beloved one or life partner. AQUARIUS JAN 21 - FEB 20 PREVIOUS It is high time you think about your own shortcomings in routine office work. Ganesha finds you contemplating over some matters related to ISSUE’S work. You may wish to reach home early to spend SOLUTIONS more time with family members. PISCES FEB 21 - MARCH 20 Your creative talents may be boosted. You may change your modus operandi which will help you handle work easily. In love life, you will be almost unpredictable and may leave your partner puzzled about what you actually expect from him or her! Predictions by Bhavesh N. Pattni 24 ERGO Friday, October 17, 2008

Early welcome to Santa Claus A Gloucestershire, England, town has already put up its Christmas decorations - with 73 days ! to go.

Rabbit invasion Beliefs gone Batty shuts Mandela It is considered unlucky to do anything good museum South African’s Robben Island with one’s left hand. In tune with this, the museum will be closed while authorities cull a colony of rabbits article has been typed only with the right hand, that has invaded the site where Nelson Mandela was jailed. to adhere to social custom. Sounds familiar? Authorities said on Tuesday the museum, popular with tourists ANUSHA PARTHASARATHY where that came from. wanting to see the former ●Thou shalt not sleep at the entrance of president’s cell, would be f you had a time machine that could thy house. temporarily closed while the take you back fifty years, not only There is a very logical reason for this rabbits were killed to protect would you land up in the late ‘50s or one. Anyone entering the house will plant life and historical buildings ■ Iearly ‘60s, when your fathers and stamp your head on their way in. at the World Heritage site. mothers were running around playing ● If thou hurts thy leg on a piece of Reuters ringa-ringa roses, you would also find furniture, then thou hath done someth- many customs and beliefs very unique to ing wrong for which thou are being puni- Chennaiites. But how did they come up shed by Him. with them? You are most probably blind if you hit Here are likely reasons why those be- yourself repeatedly on pieces of furni- liefs were created. ture. But, according to reverse psycholo- Disclaimer: All sentences written below gy, people mostly get hit by furniture are subject to the writer’s opinion! when they are moved by others and not in their original place. Home Rules ●Thou shalt not accept anything that Rules for communication does not taste sweet like bitter gourd. It is ● Thou shalt not swear on Fridays bad for not only thy health but also the home, in general. Even in olden days, people used to Let us look at this objectively. Either swear. The wise old men, who I men- ways, bitter gourd is cheap and it’s not tioned earlier, wanted to give those poor much of a gift. Imagine yourself celebrat- swear words a holiday as they were being ing your birthday misused. Henceforth, and your uncle gives Friday was called non- you a bitter gourd swearing day. saying ‘Happy birth- ● If thou choke on day!” Wouldn’t that anything, someone is be a spoiler? thinking of you! ●Thou shalt not Well, I don’t really question thy rela- know why people say tives about their this but if someone’s agenda, just as they thinking of you and are about to leave. you choke then it’s The basic rule be- kind of bad. Either hind this is not to they have telekinetic ask too many ques- powers like Stephen tions. Suppose your King’s ‘Carrie’ or they uncle wants to go to would love to choke the loo and just as he the life out of you and gets up from his are thinking of doing chair, you jump up so that very instant. asking “Where are you going?” what kind Does that sound pleasant? of reaction would you except. ● Thou shalt begin any new venture by ●Thou shalt not clip nails after sun- breaking a pumpkin. down in order to prevent bad health. When people usually smash pumpkins Nail cutters are not exactly what you on the roads after they start a business, think they are (Shh!!). I’ll let you in on a there’s an ulterior motive. Just as they secret. As soon as the sun goes down, they smash it, they would be thinking “Oh turn into Dracula! They suck your blood lord, please make sure my rivals all come and drain you dry, which is why most this way today and slip and fall on this people advise you not to cut your nails pumpkin and injure themselves!”. Nice after sundown. Scary huh? tactic, eh? ●Thou shalt not confuse ull patharam ● Thou shalt start each new page in a (‘in’ vessels) with veli patharam (‘out’ notebook with a ‘Pillaiyar suzhi’ vessels) This is very useful for students. You re- There is this card game called ‘Man- member how your teachers always com- gatha’ where one has to choose a card plained that there is ‘nothing in your and also if it is ‘ulle’ (in) and ‘veliye’ (out). paper’? Well, the next time you (or your If the card comes in the set that you’ve kids) can point to the ‘suzhi’ and say chosen, you win. In olden days, when “Ma’am, there is something. Please open people did not have cards, they used ves- your eyes and see. It’s a pillaiyaar suzhi.” sels to play this game! So, now you know ■