Life in the third planet...

Yielding to Pedestrians

2011-09-17T00:42:00.000-07:00

"Yield to Pedestrians within crosswalk. Its the law." I see such sign boards in so many places in the US. This is often seen as something "Not / Applicable" to India. However I wanted to still try this out in India and see how people react. The output was very interesting that I decided to record this in this mini blog.

My drive to home from office is only about 5 kilo meters. I look out for pedestrians who stand on the busy Taramani Link Road (Chennai) exhausted waiting to cross as vehicle after vehicle zoom past them. I have to be careful with my experiment as I cannot apply breaks suddenly leaving little room for the drivers behind me to react. So I slow down in advance judiciously and finally stop to allow the people to cross. Based on what I witnessed for few weeks, this is how I grouped the reactions of people.

1. Most people posed a triumphant look when they crossed as if they forced me to stop since they stepped into the road.

2. Again a broader category did not show any expression at all. They crossed the road with a blank face thinking about their own problems running in the background of their mind.

3. Few people do not cross at all. They look surprised when I stopped and assumed that my car has actually broke down. I have to plead to them to cross and finally they do.

4. Some do not cross even after stopping and requesting them. They look scared as if I am challenging them to cross waiting to hit them.

5. Few few people say thank you and cross. In fact I was surprised at this gesture since I expected none would thank.

The first two categories would cover more than 90% and the rest about 5 - 10 %.

But my favorite were those few who showed a totally new expression not belonging to the above four categories. "A sense of pride". I was happy to see this expression in few of them - similar to what a minister might feel when the entire traffic has been stopped when the convoy passes by.

Interesting!

Pruning the Game Tree

2011-02-16T11:40:00.000-08:00

Philosophical thoughts flowing in your mind is like a raft gently taking you past the crest and trough cycle in a calm river by virtue of the flow...but when you try to jot down in paper you realise the speed is too fast to cope up. Having enjoyed such cruises many times I now feel the urge to put them on records for reasons known to a few. Ideas presented here are purely mine and any resemblance to person(s) living or dead may or may not be coincidental.

Can we pause for a brief moment and think about the complexity of the universe we live in? Definitely we are not here to model with differential equations, but just some logic sense and a open heart will easily convince you it is virtually impossible for 'Creation' to occur by chance. Our Milky way galaxy is one among the billion galaxies in the cosmos...can we imagine the vastness! Fine, why wander in space, lets just take a drop of water and try to demystify. No luck here either...Gone are the days when molecule was defined as the smallest indivisible particle...now we have atoms subdivided into electrons subdivided into mesons...and it keeps going limited only by technology and time. Now the biggest search going on in Large Hadron Collider is to look for the God Particle - Higgs Boson. Such experiments only gives more insights into fundamental laws of nature (The words Nature and God are often used interchangeably) giving us more insights about the 'Beginning'.

But why the existence of Atheist when 'Creation' is so obvious? In my view, the there cannot be anyone who can call themselves as 'Atheist' for the simple reason that God's non-existence cannot be proved. The right word to be used is 'Agnostic' which is acceptable because how can we expect people to believe an 'unknown'? But, wait a second, if God is made to stand as a testimony in front of them will they still believe? Definitely questionable! If our brains had the capacity to understand God's dimension, why would space time continuum discussed only by a handful of people like Einstein and Hawking? Are we not expecting too much revelation from God when we cannot solve mysteries like Bermuda Triangle. Nature is God and God is Nature. Nature works on laws and laws define Nature. For a believer it is easy to embrace laws and control his mind because we have the 'inner friend' named 'conscience' constantly publishing instructive guidance irrespective of your subscription to it. Obeying is individual discretion.

Atheists are intellectual nomads. Physically they can be in a place, but they do not have or have less control over their mind. No God, No Nature mean No Laws. They believe on actions but not consequence. It is like a unpruned Game tree becoming too vast to handle not yielding any solution. The result - Chaos and Confusion. And very often they blame the heart for (mis)guiding them. Well, although scientific studies have proved the existence of neurons in heart, still its capacity to think are limited. The thoughts guided by conscience and the inner urge to do something outside the perimeter substantially lies within the brain's scope. Lets not attribute the heart, an innocent organ, with things that is actually planned by brain just because we deliberately missed to program the Grammar.

Grammar in this context can be viewed as set of Society Rules derived from past experience of others over a period of time and recorded for future generations to leverage to lead a happy life. Without rules and laws we cannot live the life we enjoy now. When you apply brakes to a car, can it have the liberty to accelerate? You enjoy the freedom of driving by expecting every part of the car to follow rules. Well, Rules actually give you freedom...confusing aah? Let me explain... When you follow the rules, it gives others the freedom. They are not going to ask you to follow something since you already do what is expected. Expectations are mutual, freedom is as well. The very essence of freedom can be enjoyed only by following rules.

A pruned Game tree is the need of the hour. Pruning is achieved by controlling the flow of thoughts not by force rather naturally. All that we need to do is to trigger the logical part of the brain and increase our self awareness of actions and its consequences. Rules become naturally superficial and become invisible. Life can be lived at its best only when enjoyed with the society. Man is not an island.

Raft moves on...

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* Game Tree - A systematic way of solving game problems by constructing a tree data structure with all possible moves. Pruning is a technique to cut off unwanted branches so that the solution set is manageable.

* Large Hadron Collider - World's largest particle accelerator built to understand the origin of mass by creating near Big Bang conditions.

Trip to Poor Man's Ooty

2011-02-05T22:48:00.000-08:00

Screech... came the last paper from my printer. Quality not so bad, but definitely good enough to give some basic road guidance. I stacked the bunch of print outs from google maps anticipating a good trip...but little did I know that these papers will never be of any help to us.

Bags packed... No one can beat my wife in that department. No matter which remote place you go if you bags are packed by her, then you can be rest assured that you will get whatever you want... from pins, pencils etc.

As we drove past a fancy store near Kathipara, we were excited to see the store's name on our print out. Wow...we are on track...and nothing on earth can stop us from reaching our destination. Overconfidence Boss! Although I am not good at routes, I do some calculation on the print outs and conclude that taking the Chennai ByPass will be a short cut. Unfortunately the right turn which I planned to take was actually a road beneath the bypass...2D view disappoints. Should we go back or go ahead? OK...lets go ahead and take the Sriperumbudur route to join NH4 we decide.

After an hour travel we are at Tambaram. We felt as if we reach back home. Finally we called a friend who advised us to go to Chengalpattu and take the Kanchipuram Road. Kanchipuram road is a state highway and not so bad except for traffic bottlenecks near the temple area. Soon we were back on course on NH4. We made a pit stop for Chintu's lunch. STAR briyani at Ambur was really good... it lived up to our expectation and its reputation.

We reach Silent Waters late in the afternoon after a delay of about 2 hours... but distance wise we were only 40kms in excess. The resort really is a treat to nature lovers. The 65 cents property is owned by a guy Keshwani who has meticulously planted all the flora. Most of the rooms lies hidden amidst trees and bushes. Even the 'Touch me not' plant which is commonly seen on the road sides finds a respectful place in a pot. The lake view at the back of the resort offers a picturesque view. Yelagiri is a developing place, so not much of sight seeing places except for the park and boating.

The downhill ride to Ambur took 25 mins where we stayed overnight in our Periamma's place. The next day we headed back to Chennai... this time no mistakes made. In 2 hrs we reached Guindy. I thought the trip will mark my first drive to a hill station but it also will be notoriously remembered for the road not taken :-)

My 1st Term Holidays - Chintu

2009-09-28T10:07:00.000-07:00

[Chintu's notes]
Great, my holidays have arrived sooner than expected... hope it doesn't vanish in the same way. At least for one week let me get up at ease, breaking the getup-breakfast-dressup-school monotony. God damn, who really wanted a fast forward civilization! Bye Bye Rachna Miss. I am sure this time my parents will take me to some new places that will keep me engaged. Aah, I see a very restless mom... definitely we are headed somewhere. But, is she preparing for Chandrayaan - II? Never mind let me ask Appa. Appa - Enga porom ? [Where are we going ?]. Theriyadha unaku, Pondicherry porom, thatha paati veetuku. [You didn't know? We are going to your grandparent's home at Pondicherry]. Pondicherryaaaa! Yes, Pondicherry dhan.

Great, good to see so many bags. Hurrah let me remind them of my presence. Nice, this bag is neatly packed and is loaded with stuffs. Open the zip and throw out... like this. ~!@##$$ @#%%#$ !@#!@$$ Hahaha, the standard dialogues... who cares. Let me pretend to be crying... Oops, doesn't really work, seems they are very busy with the arrangements.

[Car leaves to Pondicherry from Chennai, 19 Sep 2009, 10:40:07 AM]

Let me take a quick nap. [60 miles off Chennai] Why am I in Appa's lap? Probably a pit stop? No, I thought cars don't move at pit stops. And why is Appa looking a bit nervous ? Let me investigate. Hey who is that lady in the driver's seat ? Its Amma, mmm now I understand why dad was sweating inside AC car. OK OK, let her drive for some time before I pull her out. Here comes Chintu with a bang... "Amma Kitta... Amma Kitta... Ammmma Kittaaaa...". Alright Alright, let me pull over... ~!@##$$ @#%%#$. Repeat...who cares.

[Welcome to Puduchery! 19 Sep 2009, 01:30:07 PM]

Peaceful Pondicherry. Dad used to say that this former French Colony is a well planned city. Roads which once wore a deserted look a decade back, now appear bustling with activities like a honey comb. Thanks to urban population explosion and of course corrupt babus who always turn indifferent to people's woe and fail to improve infrastructure.

[PAP Barracks 20 Sep 2009, 06:30:07 PM, Navin's notes:]
No, we aren't inside any DMZ. Pondicherry Armed Police, the police quarters and residential colonies are all in a cluster. That's why peaceful Pondicherry. The Police Ground is used by school children and police personnels for training. Chintu was happy to run amok, just then I noticed a group of stray cobbys (Chintu's nomenclature for canines) rushing towards him. Chintu - run run run. Oh my God, he is running towards them, giving me a tough relative velocity to match. Chintu spotted a butterfly (a Moth actually) and was playing with it for sometime. I was exercising in the football post... gently pushing and pulling it. Just then I quickly realized that the post is going to topple for sure, I had to stop its motion and quickly vanish from the scene. Understand why resonance are always engineer's nightmare?

[Hotel Mass International 21 Sep 2009, 12:30:07 PM, Salma's notes:]

Let my Ramzan celebration be different this time - Lunch at one of the most popular hotels of Pondicherry. Chintu completed his lunch at home and we brought him so that he wouldn't let us enjoy ours. There were many such 'Chintus' in the place. We quickly removed the glass wares from our table before he notices them. The reception was well lit and nicely decorated with a beautiful floral arrangement. Chintu was quick enough to hijack the center flower and after multiple rounds of negotiations he returned back. We headed back home, got some marine items on the way. Well, all good things must come to an end. We started back home to Chennai the next day afternoon. Picked up a bounty from AuroFood biscuit factory outlet. Journey was smooth and we reached around 6 PM. We just have a day left to start our next vacation to OOTY.

[Chennai Central, on board Nilgiri Express, Coach A2, 23 Sep 2009 07:30:07 PM, Navin's notes:]

Tyeeeee ! (Chintu named an unwelcome visitor - a bandicoot. Only God knows why he named it that way.) It disappeared in one of the many hol(m)es available for them in the platform. Our ladies [My Wife & Sis-in-law] were supposed to buy dinner, of course, Chicken Briyani for me. We settled down quite comfortably, with our little one exploring all new items. Reading lights caught his attention and he was deeply engrossing reviewing its design. Needn't to mention that all his reviews strictly follow invasive techniques.

[Coimbatore Junction, 24 Sep 2009 05:10:07 AM]

Vinayaga Travels driver was waiting for us. Driver - We have to checkin in Navaratna hotels. OK OK No problem, I am a native of Ooty, I know every nook and corner. That's fine, but this hotel is in Coimbatore, we have to check in here first and then start around 10AM to Ooty. A little embarrassed driver tried to downplay the event. Hotel was better than we expected, neat and clean and comfortable. Thanks to JP and Ko-Baradhan for the arrangements.

[Hotel King's Cliff, Room: Iago, 24 Sep 2009 02:30:07 PM]

Hi, I am calling from Jago, can you please arrange for our lunch. Hi, I am calling from Jago, can you please bring additional wood for fireplace. Only of late we realized that the room is actually spelt I-A-G-O. (Pronounced IGO). Style beyond a threshold takes a toll on its comprehensibility. The building as such is more than 150 years old, recently renovated as a resort, located in a serene environment with nice view points. Climate was good. Chintu enjoyed every moment of his stay in Ooty. Room ambience was decorated in Shakespearean style. One of our black cats cracked the glass near bathroom mirror. The mystery remains unsolved until this day. Zodiac like cases need not be in California alone. Food was good, but a bit costly. Breakfast had a lot of varieties to serve everyone's appetite. King's Cliff is location very close to Willow Hill, the place we stayed during our previous trip.

Row, Row, Row your Boat,
Gently down the stream [deep breadth].
Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily,
Life is but a dream [deep breadth].

Pedalling a 4-seater boat in Ooty Lake with Chintu in the lap is not an easy task indeed. But he was not ready to get down, so I settled down with the technical task of holding the rudder. We always preferred to arrange our dinner outside for two reasons - cost effective and can stretch your tummy. Sims park, Botanical Garden and Rose Garden are some of the other places we visited during our stay. Rain played spoil sport on most afternoons.

Return trip was quick. Back from Ooty to Navaratna Hotel, Coimbatore. Finished Chintu's dinner and rushed to Coimbatore junction. Nilgiri express was already in the station waiting for the coimbatore coaches to be connected. We picked an auto from Central who promised that luggage will not be a problem. He placed them so compactly (some even below his seat) and offered to take even the handbag. Back home after a meticulously planned and successfully executed first vacation trip with Chintu beyond 100 miles. Full Credit goes to Salma.

[ASchool, 28 Sep 2009 11:10:07 AM, Chintu's notes:]

Oops, as I expected my vacation has indeed vanished in a wink of an eye. Today is Vijayadasami and my school has reopened for 2nd term. Lots of balloons and chocolates. Yummy Yummy.

Rolly Polly Rolly Polly Up Up Up,
Rolly Polly Rolly Polly Down Down Down,
Ro...

Trip - Envisaged and planned by: Salma.
Budgeting and other Approvals: Navin.
Security Clearance: Navin.
Enjoyed By: Chintu.

Close Encounters

2009-02-17T11:33:00.000-08:00

We decided to attend Param's marriage at Coimbatore on Valentine's day weekend. A good chance to break the monotony... hope my wife is not reading this blog :-). Wait a second, why it the blog titled differently... read ahead to know the answer. In 'Panchathanthiram' style, the participants along with the hero Mahesh were myself, CK, Murali and Dillibabu. All set to leave on Friday night by Nilgris Express at 9 PM. Myself, CK and Mahesh took MRTS from Thiruvanmiyur and reached central around 8:30 and saw Murali who arrived ahead of us. While we were busy packing our dinner from Rathna Cafe and Marrybrown, Babu noted for his excellent time management has just passed Chintadripet station. But never underestimate Babu, he is noted for his composure as if nothing has happened. At that instant, someone travelling with him would have seen him as a person enjoying the ride and not as someone who is suppose to catch a train at 9. Well, thats Babu!.

2 minutes to go....all except one boarded the train. We quickly settled down. Lucky to get all tickets in the same coupe of the 3A compartment... and eagerly waiting for Babu's arrival. At last a lean figure slowly crosses the window... and there he is. For the next few minutes Babu was busy wiping blood from his ears. Our co-passengers were couple of middle aged guys who were smart enough to convey the message that they wanted to sleep asap in the lower berths...and a girl.

Readers not having personal acquaintance with the group are advised to skip this passage as they contain hidden pun intended double entendres. Someone told that the name of the girl was blabla..and her age was.... Not a difficult task to guess the culprit. The train starting moving...as expected on time. We enjoyed our Briyani and Mahesh his Idlis... These were Idlis bought from Ratna Cafe, and not homemade ones. Please don't ask me from whose home! Did someone turn down the offer of preparing idlis for us ? May be!. We were chatting for sometime... and slowly everyone retired to bed, a moment eagerly waited for by one so that private call sessions can be started. Well, 'private' only for the remote speaker, since most of B1 passengers showed signs of disturbed sleep. Not an easy job to convert a sarcastic remote speaker's "Chi Thu" into a submissive "Can I change my name to Thu or Chi as in Chinese style ?". History in the making !!!

Coimbatore Junction welcomed us. Wake up guys otherwise we will end up in Mettupalayam. Without much difficult we spotted the Hotel booked for us...Grand Plaza. Rooms were exceptionally good. All of us refreshed, sipped cup of hot coffee and then took a short nap before we start our TopSlip trip, an event planned by our Manager Babu. We all were ready by 8:30 AM, enjoyed our complimentary breakfast at the hotel and buckled up into the Qualis. Our rule to halt the car every 5 miles was never compromised be it some pharmacy or Babu's "Sev Elani" (Orange/Red coconut) quite popular around Pollachi. Around noon we reached TopSlip and after a short break immediately set off to Parambikulam Wildlife sanctuary.

God's own country have their own rules... to let people in only in batches of 14. So we joined with another group to commence our safari in their van. Cost per head was 150 bucks. After our lunch (Kerala Meals + Fish) at the "only" eatery available, we set off at 2:30 PM. Someone attempted to eat fish only to realise later that his fingers only performed a port-mortem of the fish. Bond helps such souls. Safari took us to couple of big dams along and helped us sight the following faunas - Wild Elephant, Wild Squirrel, Black Monkey, Peacocks and Deers. Definitely I was so surprised to see the size of the bark of Kannimara Teak considered to be the largest naturally grown teak tree of the world. Safari was OK types... came back to the border and picked our Qualis and started our return journey. When we were just about to exit TopSlip suddenly some animal crossed the road like a flash. Someone shouted "Puli Puli...". We all watched with jaws wide open a young Cheetah barely 5 foot away giving a death stare at us. Chill in the spin... after few seconds it decided not to give us a try and vanished in the woods...Thank God. Cheetah is gone...can you please leave my hands now Babu ? Next few minutes everyone was busy discussing "what if..." stories. Does the blog title suit the situation ?

After Tea Breaks, Pharmacy Breaks, Sev Elani Breaks, Temple breaks, Banana Breaks we at last reached Coimbatore. Well, banana break reminds me of an interesting episode. A banana lover set out on his mission to buy a bunch. After repeated rate negotiations the vendor finally gave up by peeling off a banana and thrusting inside the mouth. Without much option, finally he bought it for Rs. 10/- (Rupees Ten only). Just then, a beggar was behind me... I quickly dismissed him by paying something. He slowly walked away and stood behind one of our guys who was busy on his cell phone. Not willing to give any breaks to his "precious" call, he quickly signalled the beggar that whatever I paid included his contributions too. What an idea... Sir ji. !

With a quick refresh at our hotel room, we rushed to Param's reception. Oh yes... we came to Coimbatore for Param's wedding only ;). Better late than never. Param in suit give us a warm welcome and after few minutes of chit chatting we finished our dinner. Exhausted we reached our room and everyone slept soon. Clock strikes 10:30, some one's hands start shivering and he immediately retires to a solitary place with his mobile and vanishes. History in the making !!!

Next day morning we reached the Mahal by Auto, witnessed the wedding ceremony... then the plan was to go to Marudhamalai Temple. We wanted to taste "Angannan Briyani", but it did not live up to our expectation. Veggies and Vegans went out hunting herbs. Rejuvenated by TR's "En Thangachi Kalyani" we set off for Marudhamalai by bus via Gandhipuram. 108 steps to climb... definitely a hectic task for me. From the top, view of Coimbatore was fabulous. We swiftly climbed down the steps and picked the bus on time. The bus ride almost dislocated every organ inside every one's tummy. The driver enjoyed every speed breaker with a gallop as if he was riding a horse.

Back in Grand Plaza, Babu was quick to complete the checkout formalities. 2A coach this time in Nilgris Express. We got side only lower and upper which makes no difference between a 2A and 3A coach. Of course, the rituals at 10:30 continued unabated in the train. Reached Central at 5AM and our "Panchathanthiram" story ends for now... We will meet again with another interesting episode.

Caring the Dracaena sanderiana

2008-11-21T11:42:00.000-08:00

What are we talking about uh ? Any guesses ?
Yes, its the botanical name for Lucky Bamboo, commonly know as the bamboo plant. I first thought it was the actual "bamboo plant" that can survive drought conditions. But its not true. It is a shrub that requires fresh water and indirect sunlight abundantly to keep it hale and healthy. I learnt it the hard way by sacrificing few stems. Direct sunlight turns its leaf yellow and sometimes may even burn them. Also do not let the water turn too murky as its detrimental to its growth. Replace water once in 2 weeks at least. Water with less Fluoride and Chlorine content is better. This can be achieved by exposing tap water in the air for 24 hours before using to water the plants.

Ever wondered how a twist is given to these plants ? Well, that requires lots of patience and its difficult to achieve at home. Commonly, gravity and directed light sources are leveraged to give such appealing shapes. Enjoy !

Diwali @ Pondicherry

2008-10-29T14:15:00.000-07:00

All set to spend this Diwali at Pondicherry. As usual, this was a mega project for my wife Salma and I needn't say how complicated this would have been with my son Ryan. Hats off to her efforts, it was an impeccable execution. The plan was to leave on Saturday at 11AM, but our car wheels began rolling only at noon. First pit stop was at ICICI Bank Vijayanagar and the second one at HPCL Gas Station at Bypass road adding another 30 mins to the delay. Finally we all set off at 12:30 PM.

I thought this time I would take the GST road to Tambaram instead of Velachery Main Road via Medevakkam. As usual the traffic woes made us progress in a snail's pace. An hour gone and my odometer just showing 30kms ! Thanks to Chennai Traffic. Now that we have crossed the bottleneck portions of the road, its time to blast off. In the next one hour we were at Tindivanam covering 90kms with most of the stretches driving at a comfortable 110+ kmph. Who says NH45 is bad ?

Now comes the next crucial NH66, which is still a double lane highway connecting Tindivanam and Pondicherry without medians, but to my surprise I see the 4-laning of this stretch had already made good progress. This is one of the project I have been waiting for years when I used this strech very often. A project approved during the previous Vajpayee's regime under "Bharat Jodo Pariyojna" has taken such a long time to kick off. As a hard core nature lover, the felled huge trees lying battered shattered by heart. I have admired them for several years since my childhood. With all trees neatly numbers, I remember (g)olden days when I used to count them while travelling by bus. Now they are gone! The only thing that brought relief at this point is a huge chunk were still left. Only to be cut later ??? I hope that doesn't happen. I still feel the Engineers could have planned applying their mind in spirit to design the trajectory in such a way that minimal trees were harmed.

Around 3:05 PM we were at our home. After Ryan finished his lunch, we enjoyed our yummy fish. Relaxing at our garden rejuvenates any tired soul. For the first time I see our garden without any coconut trees. Mom told that the last 2 were cut down as they grew very tall dangerously leaning towards the building. Looks like the recent monsoon rains has kept all plants flying in high spirits. Aloe vera was the top attraction. As usual I engaged myself with some gardening activities to set right few things. My favorite Palm plant given my friend (Late) R. Jegadheeswarar stood majestically with all its glory.

In the evening, myself and my dad left in car for some groceries purchase. While returning we visited JIPMER, the recently declared "Institute of National Importance" by Dr. Anbumani Ramdoss and several new blocks including the Super Speciality Block inaugurated by Former President Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam. My dad never misses any opportunity to take me to his BioChemistry department. We parked the car outside and we both entered the department. Probably the securities thought I was another doctor discharging my night services in shorts and t-shirt. :-) As my dad was showing me a demo of how the new Auto Analyser from Randox (UK Firm) works, I recollected the old machine from Bayer which was in the next room. Cuvettes - nice name - the tiny plastic containers that mixes sample (blood/urine) with reagents. Oops its late now, mom has already called dad to check the status...so we rushed back home.

Enjoying Diwali Sweets, movies et al... finally we packed off on Monday evening 4 PM. This time the delay was only for 30 mins, and our wheels started rolling at 4:30PM. In 2 hrs 23 mins we were at F1B, Regal Palm Gardens. The newly constructed Airport Flyover and Kathipara Grade Separator posed a magnificient view with all the serial bulbs. Several people stopped by to take a glimpse of the view and were busy taking pictures. Our apartment people were very busy bursting crackers and Ryan was curious to watch them all. So that brings an end to another memorable episode of our Pondicherry trip with good memories that we carried along apart from sweets, savories, a dozen "kopura thenga" and mani plant. Mani plant was brought in exchange for Lucky Bamboo plant taken from Chennai as a good will gesture. :-)

Journey to the center of the Earth

2008-10-10T12:16:00.000-07:00

My first 3D movie... that too in RDX (Real Digital Experience) @ Sathyam Cinemas. With much expectations myself and Salma planned for a Friday evening show. Chennai Traffic was at its zenith especially in Cenotaph Road and Turnbulls road junction. Seems the dream of the riders for a grade separator there will remain a dream for ever. After negotiating bikes, buses and cars we reached Sathyam Cineplex almost on time. We picked up our favorite Cold Coffee, Sprite and 3D glasses for Rs.20/- each and settled down in SERENE.

More than the movie, I love the ads they screen before the movie. Journey begins... with the 3D glasses on...cool nice experience. I would definitely advise anyone who haven't experienced a 3D movie to try this one. The difference was very clear... we can enjoy the depth, which is missing in 2D movies. Some of the special effects in movie will give you knee jerk reactions.

The Plot:
Brendan Fraser, a vulcanologist goes in search of his brother along with his nephew and guide Anita Briem. The volcanic soil caves in and the trio find themselves deep inside surprised to see a whole new world beneath. They also find the remains of Brendan's brother and his notes guide the crew in the strange world. The story revolves around their adventurous journey miles below and how they come out through a geyser.

On the whole, the movie was a wholesome entertainer.