Oru Cup Coffee

It seems like ages since my last post. So I decided to break the impasse with something that comes to my mind right now.

I am listening to "Arindhum Ariyamalum" songs. Wow, I must've listened to it like 100 times now and everytime I listen to the songs, they entertain me to no end. Especially the "Theepidikka...Theepidikka..". Have not listened to such mix of old and new. BTW, I've the old song also and I alternate between the old and the new. Though I'd have liked more of old in the new, but I am not complaining. And the other songs are in this movie are just as good.

During my college days, my friend Saravanan and I used to analyze the songs, especially Illayaraja's, to every bit of detail. Like the humming that comes in between the last word of the first line and the first word of the next line. It used to drive some of our friends crazy. As we would eloborate that a single note in the corner of a song added to the life line of the song. The reminiscence of this is due to the fact that I self muttered (having lost the active audience like Saravanan) the 'boing's and 'dooing's in the song as I heard them.

Another song that I liked recently is the "Freea vudu" song in Aaru. Wow, Madras was right in my ears. Especially, Saroja akka...cool

Here is an article on about this subject. I remember reading something similar to what Dr. Charles Weelan says in a right wing magazine. I guess the effects of outsourcing is not completely measurable, but I feel that the long term effects would be to bring equilibirium to the cost of the resources. In a way, few (or many) years from now, an Indian software engineer would cost the same as the American counterpart. Because you cannot make a particular region get on to a wealthier life-style and have them earn the same salary as before. Already, the high end talents are cost almost the same between India and USA. For instance, an IIT and IIM graduate in India makes around Rs. 80,000 - Rs. 150000.00 a month ($1800 - $3300.00) + lots of tax deductible perks. In the US a similar candidate would cost anywhere from $5000.00 - $8000.00 per month. The motivation for these guys to come to the USA for money is not there anymore. Because, $1800-$3300 in India can buy a lot more than $5000-$8000 in the US.

This year has been a year of mixed bag like every year. I would very surprised if any one year was not. We started with the remnants of last year Tsunami that hit South India and Andamans. I had exchanged first hand stories of bravery, compassion and also perseverance from the people that were involved in this tragedy. Overall, it is a great effort from the government and also non-governmental organizations to pull people out of the tragedy. This tragedy just contiued in different form in the north with the earthquake. I hear that there are people still waiting in the cold without any help. Then the never ending Iraq insurgency continued on. There is some hope now with the elections complete. I hope Iraqis get a breather from everything and get to lead a normal life. The job market in the US got better with continued bashing about jobs going off-shore. And off-shore (especially India) got lots of wheels turning to maximize the opportunity. This has lead to a social change in India, in the metros and also the satellite cities. I guess, the villages remained untouched with regular exodus to the ever promising cities. All this made Thomas Friedman wonder and write book about how our world has flattened. Mumbai, Bangalore and Chennai had their rains more than expected and remained crippled for few days. And I had my vacation during this nature's fury in Chennai, though there was a day of reprieve for Deepavali. Anyway, overall as it should, lots of things happened this year. What to expect in year 2006? Here is short list of what I expect:

1. No terrorist attacks
2. More respect for nature and eco-friendly environment
3. More quality time for me to travel, read and be with my family
4. Good movies (Tamil, English, Hindi...) and less that test patience
5. Good blogs to read..

Bye Bye 2005.