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Source: http://feeds.feedburner.com/Sambarman

1. <?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?><rss xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom" xmlns:openSearch="http://a9.com/-/spec/opensearchrss/1.0/" xmlns:blogger="http://schemas.google.com/blogger/2008" xmlns:georss="http://www.georss.org/georss" xmlns:gd="http://schemas.google.com/g/2005" xmlns:thr="http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0" version="2.0"><channel><atom:id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7172273958394262773</atom:id><lastBuildDate>Mon, 02 Sep 2024 02:48:34 +0000</lastBuildDate><category>rotten sambar</category><category>India</category><category>CWG</category><category>Kerala</category><category>Musical Sambar</category><category>cricket</category><category>sports</category><category>Common Wealth Games</category><category>Hindi Song</category><category>Kochi</category><category>corruption</category><category>funny</category><category>humor sambar</category><category>proud sambar</category><category>AR Rahman</category><category>BCCI</category><category>British</category><category>CWG theme song</category><category>Chinese Fishing Nets</category><category>Cochin</category><category>Container Terminal</category><category>Fort Kochi</category><category>Ghoonghat</category><category>God&#39;s Own Country</category><category>Hariharan</category><category>IPL</category><category>International Transshipment Terminal</category><category>LNG Terminal</category><category>Lalit Kumar Modi</category><category>MNP</category><category>My Songs</category><category>Personal sambar</category><category>Real life</category><category>Reality Show</category><category>Suresh Kalmadi</category><category>Vallarpadam</category><category>best sambar contest</category><category>bribe</category><category>cassia cinnamon</category><category>ceylon cinnamon</category><category>cherai beach</category><category>cinema</category><category>healthy sambar</category><category>hilarious</category><category>humor</category><category>if I was</category><category>kishore kumar</category><category>mobile photography</category><category>places</category><category>safar</category><category>tennis</category><title>sambarman</title><description>Sambar with idli for breakfast, &#xa;sambar with rice for lunch and &#xa;again sambar with dosa or rice &#xa;for dinner. Still I never get &#xa;sick of sambar. No compulsions &#xa;or obligations in having sambar,&#xa; but still sambar would be there.&#xa; It is something which I have to&#xa; live with. Just like sambar, I&#xa; see and hear those news, which &#xa;makes me think the same way as &#xa;I think about sambar…why sambar?</description><link>http://sambarman.blogspot.com/</link><managingEditor>noreply@blogger.com (Unknown)</managingEditor><generator>Blogger</generator><openSearch:totalResults>21</openSearch:totalResults><openSearch:startIndex>1</openSearch:startIndex><openSearch:itemsPerPage>25</openSearch:itemsPerPage><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7172273958394262773.post-4896987887583534478</guid><pubDate>Sun, 25 Mar 2012 17:21:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2012-03-25T22:51:19.979+05:30</atom:updated><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">cherai beach</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">funny</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">hilarious</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">humor</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Kerala</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Kochi</category><title>Campaign to save turtles?</title><description>&lt;div&gt;&lt;p&gt;A crazy scene @ Cherai beach...&lt;/p&gt;
2. &lt;br/&gt;&lt;img src=&#39;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdn_KJS-Rpky6d4rWa013tFFlzzhizXPzGpVdG6aINrOT1pr8kcfgVom5Vwi5sc6IApGX2idM_sOLBjfazRn5iaiwgAZzgEBM7JTY3DhhgeuCQfSnh03VzBRv3Rb2aYaZ4j8Zy2gkJF7xa/&#39; /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://sambarman.blogspot.com/2012/03/campaign-to-save-turtles.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (Unknown)</author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdn_KJS-Rpky6d4rWa013tFFlzzhizXPzGpVdG6aINrOT1pr8kcfgVom5Vwi5sc6IApGX2idM_sOLBjfazRn5iaiwgAZzgEBM7JTY3DhhgeuCQfSnh03VzBRv3Rb2aYaZ4j8Zy2gkJF7xa/s72-c" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>12</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7172273958394262773.post-6857688347130441367</guid><pubDate>Tue, 20 Mar 2012 14:49:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2012-03-20T20:19:30.016+05:30</atom:updated><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">funny</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">India</category><title>Indian ride!</title><description>&lt;div&gt;&lt;p&gt;Snap from Bengaluru!&lt;/p&gt;
3. &lt;br/&gt;&lt;img src=&#39;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4-8IYERnvmXZ341YBDDOQ0g2SgUP9YYvshw85n8V0108b57uJsH1hCEyBNkU-LrV2rW8ezH4EepFGq01Af6Tg8NGHE7jsk1Ci2VsmLqi9eL9f2rVdGjb066aVPiNT3Ijjh0odQBwOF10E/&#39; /&gt;&lt;br/&gt;&lt;img src=&#39;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhShrBFEWb6HnM1T8oX9LPFOGy3Ix_6sQRBRU1W2gsz3YE9OMLHNa_UKFwArOzmaO-0BdmMal-B5bJJlEbrSwEHvJxMrJbVXVoIvxJVhU0C5q2Jr3jQjdcZD4Wf7cASULZDIFrG3kFoUCr7/&#39; /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://sambarman.blogspot.com/2012/03/indian-ride.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (Unknown)</author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4-8IYERnvmXZ341YBDDOQ0g2SgUP9YYvshw85n8V0108b57uJsH1hCEyBNkU-LrV2rW8ezH4EepFGq01Af6Tg8NGHE7jsk1Ci2VsmLqi9eL9f2rVdGjb066aVPiNT3Ijjh0odQBwOF10E/s72-c" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>3</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7172273958394262773.post-1853629322405180123</guid><pubDate>Mon, 07 Mar 2011 15:41:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2011-03-08T21:10:23.503+05:30</atom:updated><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Chinese Fishing Nets</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Cochin</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Container Terminal</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Fort Kochi</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">God&#39;s Own Country</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">International Transshipment Terminal</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Kerala</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Kochi</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">LNG Terminal</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">mobile photography</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Vallarpadam</category><title>Fort Kochi Beach</title><description>&lt;iframe src=&quot;http://www.facebook.com/plugins/like.php?href=http%3A%2F%2Fsambarman.blogspot.com%2F2011%2F03%2Ffort-kochi-beach.html&amp;amp;layout=standard&amp;amp;show_faces=true&amp;amp;width=450&amp;amp;action=like&amp;amp;colorscheme=light&amp;amp;height=80&quot; scrolling=&quot;no&quot; frameborder=&quot;0&quot; style=&quot;border:none; overflow:hidden; width:450px; height:80px;&quot; allowTransparency=&quot;true&quot;&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
4. <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
5. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgycg4U-l_x6AN30Un2IJyXOAeaoz4JGv-nzIb2OVdiz7Pi_WDAh9wgf4we3kdJho25PefSdsOf8XfYwdG86KjSciTuSiBvZ_FoEk7DdUikFBNSinsxtRyDoQgyCLBhuVFO8C63QFAqnf_/s1600/Photo0104.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgycg4U-l_x6AN30Un2IJyXOAeaoz4JGv-nzIb2OVdiz7Pi_WDAh9wgf4we3kdJho25PefSdsOf8XfYwdG86KjSciTuSiBvZ_FoEk7DdUikFBNSinsxtRyDoQgyCLBhuVFO8C63QFAqnf_/s400/Photo0104.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
6. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sunset @ Fort Kochi Beach</td></tr>
7. </tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
8. </div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
9. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTNqrhiRMRyzeZbmx6He4XG0Ew9vHtUNx4cwROri1bWhzt3bKib0kd4KcJyGh6aYf7xhH5khL1sfVNAxW0STJok6q3YVy829zBAN9m8HkgLRBJk1iMf7GgapSS99S5iutTfbOQj6-4sTPO/s1600/Photo0105.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTNqrhiRMRyzeZbmx6He4XG0Ew9vHtUNx4cwROri1bWhzt3bKib0kd4KcJyGh6aYf7xhH5khL1sfVNAxW0STJok6q3YVy829zBAN9m8HkgLRBJk1iMf7GgapSS99S5iutTfbOQj6-4sTPO/s400/Photo0105.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
10. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chinese Fishing nets in Fort Kochi. Vallarpadam International Transshipment Container Terminal in the Background</td></tr>
11. </tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
12. </div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
13. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ_SFhEXXKCqoqcqdJb43r8rha2YyItQ-mg4ElM23cXOwiMoASa8AYbAwekxdKGvm3uyaS4EGQmQEEina077Mzkpn3KR_hIAz6A1xCQgbDI8cwul1BFMzlhuxx-IaxqPAtTq-92ZKsTaBO/s1600/Photo0106.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ_SFhEXXKCqoqcqdJb43r8rha2YyItQ-mg4ElM23cXOwiMoASa8AYbAwekxdKGvm3uyaS4EGQmQEEina077Mzkpn3KR_hIAz6A1xCQgbDI8cwul1BFMzlhuxx-IaxqPAtTq-92ZKsTaBO/s400/Photo0106.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
14. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">LNG Container Terminal as seen from Fort Kochi Beach</td></tr>
15. </tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
16. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
17. </div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
18. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUNYD87hydIqcxC0OuYeiqf7D-mMuugnlFdWxYxu0c4oMWKALXAo7f36C_D_hFikC-yxIMJl4SNkdKJWl00s-CILFeaPcPv0izkzic9kWKzrVjSTNzzqlouW36wsb8-P3OcAOCODcj4WAK/s1600/Photo0107.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUNYD87hydIqcxC0OuYeiqf7D-mMuugnlFdWxYxu0c4oMWKALXAo7f36C_D_hFikC-yxIMJl4SNkdKJWl00s-CILFeaPcPv0izkzic9kWKzrVjSTNzzqlouW36wsb8-P3OcAOCODcj4WAK/s400/Photo0107.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
19. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Walk way at Fort Kochi Beach</td></tr>
20. </tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
21. </div></div><a class="addthis_button" href="http://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=250&username=xa-4ca552bd6d413190"><img alt="Bookmark and Share" height="16" src="http://s7.addthis.com/static/btn/v2/lg-share-en.gif" style="border: 0;" width="125" /></a><br />
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23. &lt;/script&gt;</description><link>http://sambarman.blogspot.com/2011/03/fort-kochi-beach.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (Unknown)</author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgycg4U-l_x6AN30Un2IJyXOAeaoz4JGv-nzIb2OVdiz7Pi_WDAh9wgf4we3kdJho25PefSdsOf8XfYwdG86KjSciTuSiBvZ_FoEk7DdUikFBNSinsxtRyDoQgyCLBhuVFO8C63QFAqnf_/s72-c/Photo0104.jpg" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>11</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7172273958394262773.post-8483910247918537749</guid><pubDate>Wed, 26 Jan 2011 12:59:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2011-01-26T18:29:05.965+05:30</atom:updated><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">humor sambar</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">India</category><title>Salute to all Indians on Republic Day</title><description>&lt;div dir=&quot;ltr&quot; style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot; trbidi=&quot;on&quot;&gt;&lt;div class=&quot;separator&quot; style=&quot;clear: both; text-align: center;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3cxK4I8hGqkLJhak4_2E_k_g8ToOIFZD4GO1HY5OqqKXsF7tpNFCo94DVfJP_2Vc45-DLAFYt_ZlLIgSgcc6CVChH36Cg0PQc310YicXphuDnEH6b-Qo7qpQhRrJ7xuD6sysxcwJQC-aO/s1600/The+proud+India.jpg&quot; imageanchor=&quot;1&quot; style=&quot;clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;&quot;&gt;&lt;img border=&quot;0&quot; height=&quot;262&quot; src=&quot;https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3cxK4I8hGqkLJhak4_2E_k_g8ToOIFZD4GO1HY5OqqKXsF7tpNFCo94DVfJP_2Vc45-DLAFYt_ZlLIgSgcc6CVChH36Cg0PQc310YicXphuDnEH6b-Qo7qpQhRrJ7xuD6sysxcwJQC-aO/s320/The+proud+India.jpg&quot; width=&quot;320&quot; /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/div&gt;Saluting all Indians and Indian politicians, who have worked all day and night to amass millions ( more than India&#39;s GDP) in swiss banks, salute to all masterminds who are trying to hush up the black money issue by creating news in the valley (shame that it&#39;s been done using our national flag)...finally salute to all Indian Mango Men (Aam Aadmi) who is deep fried and sun dried in Inflation, and again preserved in brine to be used for another 50-60 years of Independence ...&lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://sambarman.blogspot.com/2011/01/salute-to-all-indians-on-republic-day.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (Unknown)</author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3cxK4I8hGqkLJhak4_2E_k_g8ToOIFZD4GO1HY5OqqKXsF7tpNFCo94DVfJP_2Vc45-DLAFYt_ZlLIgSgcc6CVChH36Cg0PQc310YicXphuDnEH6b-Qo7qpQhRrJ7xuD6sysxcwJQC-aO/s72-c/The+proud+India.jpg" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>9</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7172273958394262773.post-2659861925054552782</guid><pubDate>Sat, 08 Jan 2011 03:29:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2011-03-08T21:09:07.231+05:30</atom:updated><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">India</category><title>A Rural Indian Sales Girl in Kochi</title><description>&lt;iframe src=&quot;http://www.facebook.com/plugins/like.php?href=http%3A%2F%2Fsambarman.blogspot.com%2F2011%2F01%2Frural-indian-sales-girl-in-kochi.html&amp;amp;layout=standard&amp;amp;show_faces=true&amp;amp;width=450&amp;amp;action=like&amp;amp;colorscheme=light&amp;amp;height=80&quot; scrolling=&quot;no&quot; frameborder=&quot;0&quot; style=&quot;border:none; overflow:hidden; width:450px; height:80px;&quot; allowTransparency=&quot;true&quot;&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
24. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYenRmmFY6uIq4XY8kd3fn6NvyC0lIb3m7Zj9an7maohFtLscixIMJLWUAaPzyPhcaewQ8tgHSN-1k4hXjN9xzpE5z2ZXDLgi3dkaqilD6ZD3pXC2vle0T9-8dNIUDkmyxzSfUNLgcrvM/s1600/Photo0046.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYenRmmFY6uIq4XY8kd3fn6NvyC0lIb3m7Zj9an7maohFtLscixIMJLWUAaPzyPhcaewQ8tgHSN-1k4hXjN9xzpE5z2ZXDLgi3dkaqilD6ZD3pXC2vle0T9-8dNIUDkmyxzSfUNLgcrvM/s320/Photo0046.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">She's selling a Toy Car!</div><a class="addthis_button" href="http://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=250&username=xa-4ca552bd6d413190"><img alt="Bookmark and Share" height="16" src="http://s7.addthis.com/static/btn/v2/lg-share-en.gif" style="border: 0;" width="125" /></a><br />
25. <script src="http://s7.addthis.com/js/250/addthis_widget.js#username=xa-4ca552bd6d413190" type="text/javascript">
26. &lt;/script&gt;</description><link>http://sambarman.blogspot.com/2011/01/rural-indian-sales-girl-in-kochi.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (sambarman)</author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYenRmmFY6uIq4XY8kd3fn6NvyC0lIb3m7Zj9an7maohFtLscixIMJLWUAaPzyPhcaewQ8tgHSN-1k4hXjN9xzpE5z2ZXDLgi3dkaqilD6ZD3pXC2vle0T9-8dNIUDkmyxzSfUNLgcrvM/s72-c/Photo0046.jpg" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>8</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7172273958394262773.post-1308629300585049711</guid><pubDate>Tue, 04 Jan 2011 18:47:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2011-01-05T00:25:25.522+05:30</atom:updated><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">cricket</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Personal sambar</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Real life</category><title>An Aussie Cap Experience!</title><description>This happened during my college days when I was playing for the college cricket team. To be part of the prestegious team which won 13 consecutive university champ title was truly an honour. To make it a memorable event, I decided to buy an aussie cap (just because it looked similar to the famous aussie green test cap!). Then came the debut! I&amp;#39;s padded up and all set to go. Openers were biggies (state team players), and were ruthlessly hammering the immature bowling of the opposition. I&amp;#39;s all pumped up seeing all the pulls and hooks going over the ropes. First wicket came down, my call came- I took my aussie cap and put it on in style, walked in ,took guard and got ready to face the ball. The bowler looked younger than a high schooler, he came running and delivered the first ball. It was a shot pitched one,slow and begging to be hit. I swinged my bat in full throttle, for my misery,the ball edged and hit my eye brows. The scar remains on my face, eventhough I lost my aussie cap !</description><link>http://sambarman.blogspot.com/2011/01/aussie-cap-experience_05.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (sambarman)</author><thr:total>1</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7172273958394262773.post-6563443801725431290</guid><pubDate>Sat, 23 Oct 2010 03:47:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2011-03-08T20:57:08.606+05:30</atom:updated><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Common Wealth Games</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">corruption</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">CWG</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">if I was</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">rotten sambar</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Suresh Kalmadi</category><title>If I was Kalmadi..</title><description>&lt;div dir=&quot;ltr&quot; style=&quot;text-align: left;&quot; trbidi=&quot;on&quot;&gt;&lt;iframe allowtransparency=&quot;true&quot; frameborder=&quot;0&quot; scrolling=&quot;no&quot; src=&quot;http://www.facebook.com/plugins/like.php?href=http%3A%2F%2Fsambarman.blogspot.com%2F2010%2F10%2Fif-i-was-kalmadi.html&amp;amp;layout=standard&amp;amp;show_faces=true&amp;amp;width=450&amp;amp;action=like&amp;amp;font=arial&amp;amp;colorscheme=light&amp;amp;height=80&quot; style=&quot;border: none; height: 80px; overflow: hidden; width: 450px;&quot;&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
27. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
28. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img height="175" src="http://www.topnews.in/files/Suresh-Kalmadi-Commonwealth-Games_0.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="200" /></td></tr>
29. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Suresh Kalmadi</td></tr>
30. </tbody></table><br />
31. First, I would have never openly challenged the media, and point out a particular news channel (I meant Times Now) for bringing up an unwanted controversy. Before reacting to the media and stating all the allegations as rubbish, I would have ensured that there is no fault with my colleagues and the allegations are baseless.<br />
32. <br />
33. As a preliminary step, I would have clearly understood the meaning of "Common Wealth" and that it is not a common wealth creating opportunity for my colleagues or members of any of the associated bodies of the Organizing Committee. Even if anybody misunderstands the real meaning of CW, I would have strictly instructed them to wipe clean their plates after eating. I'll stand by my colleagues only if they scam decently and not overdo it, seriously I wouldn't mind them sharing the "Common Wealth," but there is a limit.<br />
34. <br />
35. <a name='more'></a><br />
36. <br />
37. I'm really proud of the success of the games and wouldn't have hesitated to add more sentences to praise the efforts of the OC in my speech during the opening ceremony. I would have never gone hibernating when the entire nation was expecting my reply to the questions raised by the media.<br />
38. <br />
39. Even if I failed to control the lust for money of my colleagues, I would have ensured that they be penalized for this lust, at least when the games are over. I should have known that my house is in deep shit before I asked Ms Sheila Dikshit to set her house in order, and obeyed the Congress party's restraint order, keeping my mouth shut. I wish, I had the same courage to answer the media when it was most required .<br />
40. <br />
41. I should have been more careful in my press conference where I blundered, I thanked Princess Diana instead of the Duchess of Cornwall! (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/sportvideo/8043547/Delhi-Games-chief-makes-Princess-Diana-blunder.html)<br />
42. <br />
43. By now I would regret the mistake of blaming the media, I would have taken severe action in penalizing my colleagues, I would have maintained the glory achieved by the CWG success and, save my face. However all this is possible only if my inner consciousness makes me confident that I have not or not intended to share the "Common Wealth!"<br />
44. <br />
45. <a class="addthis_button" href="http://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=250&username=xa-4ca552bd6d413190"><img alt="Bookmark and Share" height="16" src="http://s7.addthis.com/static/btn/v2/lg-share-en.gif" style="border: 0;" width="125" /></a><br />
46. <script src="http://s7.addthis.com/js/250/addthis_widget.js#username=xa-4ca552bd6d413190" type="text/javascript">
47. </script><br />
48. <a class="google-buzz-button" data-button-style="normal-button" href="http://www.google.com/buzz/post" title="Post to Google Buzz"></a><br />
49. <script src="http://www.google.com/buzz/api/button.js" type="text/javascript">
50. &lt;/script&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</description><link>http://sambarman.blogspot.com/2010/10/if-i-was-kalmadi.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (sambarman)</author><thr:total>5</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7172273958394262773.post-8761098032135445621</guid><pubDate>Tue, 19 Oct 2010 16:48:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2010-10-26T08:31:31.619+05:30</atom:updated><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Hindi Song</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">kishore kumar</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Musical Sambar</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">safar</category><title>Jeevan Se Bhari Teri Aankhen...</title><description>&lt;iframe src=&quot;http://www.facebook.com/plugins/like.php?href=http%3A%2F%2Fsambarman.blogspot.com%2F2010%2F10%2Fjeevan-se-bhari-teri-aankhen.html&amp;amp;layout=standard&amp;amp;show_faces=true&amp;amp;width=450&amp;amp;action=like&amp;amp;font=arial&amp;amp;colorscheme=light&amp;amp;height=80&quot; scrolling=&quot;no&quot; frameborder=&quot;0&quot; style=&quot;border:none; overflow:hidden; width:450px; height:80px;&quot; allowTransparency=&quot;true&quot;&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
51. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFL4T4AeL0H8UOpNyLPphBIceAL5VGlFF_BdLMITaz25H_89Xaz5Hr15Q-zVcw9539SFpHGeDC1HuKll3UUZ12CwR7ftr-LBCerXJ4JtDq9xIFijAC8AcV_BzvJK0XcuiTEYNT1PBsMSk/s1600/sambar+singer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFL4T4AeL0H8UOpNyLPphBIceAL5VGlFF_BdLMITaz25H_89Xaz5Hr15Q-zVcw9539SFpHGeDC1HuKll3UUZ12CwR7ftr-LBCerXJ4JtDq9xIFijAC8AcV_BzvJK0XcuiTEYNT1PBsMSk/s200/sambar+singer.jpg" width="141" /></a></div>An attempt to sing a song by my favorite singer Kishore Kumar. Song from the movie Safar.<br />
52. <br />
53. <br />
54. <object height="85" width="440"><param name='movie' value='http://aimaguy.podomatic.com/swf/joeplayer_v10.swf'></param><param name='flashvars' value='jsonLocation=http%3A%2F%2Faimaguy.podomatic.com%2Fentry%2Fembed_params%2F2010-10-19T09_46_15-07_00%3Ffoo%3Dbar%26color%3Def3435%26autoPlay%3Dfalse%26width%3D440%26height%3D85'></param><param name='allowFullScreen' value='true'></param><param name='allowscriptaccess' value='always'></param><embed src='http://aimaguy.podomatic.com/swf/joeplayer_v10.swf' flashvars='jsonLocation=http%3A%2F%2Faimaguy.podomatic.com%2Fentry%2Fembed_params%2F2010-10-19T09_46_15-07_00%3Ffoo%3Dbar%26color%3Def3435%26autoPlay%3Dfalse%26width%3D440%26height%3D85' type='application/x-shockwave-flash' allowscriptaccess='always' allowfullscreen='true' width='440' height='85'></embed></object><br />
55. <br />
56. <a class="addthis_button" href="http://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=250&username=xa-4ca552bd6d413190"><img alt="Bookmark and Share" height="16" src="http://s7.addthis.com/static/btn/v2/lg-share-en.gif" style="border: 0;" width="125" /></a><br />
57. <script src="http://s7.addthis.com/js/250/addthis_widget.js#username=xa-4ca552bd6d413190" type="text/javascript">
58. </script><br />
59. <a class="google-buzz-button" data-button-style="normal-button" href="http://www.google.com/buzz/post" title="Post to Google Buzz"></a><br />
60. <script src="http://www.google.com/buzz/api/button.js" type="text/javascript">
61. &lt;/script&gt;</description><link>http://sambarman.blogspot.com/2010/10/jeevan-se-bhari-teri-aankhen.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (sambarman)</author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFL4T4AeL0H8UOpNyLPphBIceAL5VGlFF_BdLMITaz25H_89Xaz5Hr15Q-zVcw9539SFpHGeDC1HuKll3UUZ12CwR7ftr-LBCerXJ4JtDq9xIFijAC8AcV_BzvJK0XcuiTEYNT1PBsMSk/s72-c/sambar+singer.jpg" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>1</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7172273958394262773.post-5265177699587505104</guid><pubDate>Tue, 19 Oct 2010 16:29:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2010-10-26T08:32:17.562+05:30</atom:updated><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Ghoonghat</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Hariharan</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Hindi Song</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Musical Sambar</category><title>Ghoonghat mey Chehra Aapka...</title><description>&lt;iframe src=&quot;http://www.facebook.com/plugins/like.php?href=http%3A%2F%2Fsambarman.blogspot.com%2F2010%2F10%2Fghoonghat-mey-chehra-aapka.html&amp;amp;layout=standard&amp;amp;show_faces=true&amp;amp;width=450&amp;amp;action=like&amp;amp;font=arial&amp;amp;colorscheme=light&amp;amp;height=80&quot; scrolling=&quot;no&quot; frameborder=&quot;0&quot; style=&quot;border:none; overflow:hidden; width:450px; height:80px;&quot; allowTransparency=&quot;true&quot;&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
62. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFL4T4AeL0H8UOpNyLPphBIceAL5VGlFF_BdLMITaz25H_89Xaz5Hr15Q-zVcw9539SFpHGeDC1HuKll3UUZ12CwR7ftr-LBCerXJ4JtDq9xIFijAC8AcV_BzvJK0XcuiTEYNT1PBsMSk/s1600/sambar+singer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFL4T4AeL0H8UOpNyLPphBIceAL5VGlFF_BdLMITaz25H_89Xaz5Hr15Q-zVcw9539SFpHGeDC1HuKll3UUZ12CwR7ftr-LBCerXJ4JtDq9xIFijAC8AcV_BzvJK0XcuiTEYNT1PBsMSk/s200/sambar+singer.jpg" width="141" /></a></div>One of my all time favorites, originally sung by Hariharan and from the movie Ghoonghat.<br />
63. <br />
64. <br />
65. <object height="85" width="440"><param name='movie' value='http://aimaguy.podomatic.com/swf/joeplayer_v10.swf'></param><param name='flashvars' value='jsonLocation=http%3A%2F%2Faimaguy.podomatic.com%2Fentry%2Fembed_params%2F2010-10-19T09_25_06-07_00%3Ffoo%3Dbar%26color%3Def3435%26autoPlay%3Dfalse%26width%3D440%26height%3D85'></param><param name='allowFullScreen' value='true'></param><param name='allowscriptaccess' value='always'></param><embed src='http://aimaguy.podomatic.com/swf/joeplayer_v10.swf' flashvars='jsonLocation=http%3A%2F%2Faimaguy.podomatic.com%2Fentry%2Fembed_params%2F2010-10-19T09_25_06-07_00%3Ffoo%3Dbar%26color%3Def3435%26autoPlay%3Dfalse%26width%3D440%26height%3D85' type='application/x-shockwave-flash' allowscriptaccess='always' allowfullscreen='true' width='440' height='85'></embed></object><br />
66. <br />
67. <a class="addthis_button" href="http://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=250&username=xa-4ca552bd6d413190"><img alt="Bookmark and Share" height="16" src="http://s7.addthis.com/static/btn/v2/lg-share-en.gif" style="border: 0;" width="125" /></a><br />
68. <script src="http://s7.addthis.com/js/250/addthis_widget.js#username=xa-4ca552bd6d413190" type="text/javascript">
69. </script><br />
70. <a class="google-buzz-button" data-button-style="normal-button" href="http://www.google.com/buzz/post" title="Post to Google Buzz"></a><br />
71. <script src="http://www.google.com/buzz/api/button.js" type="text/javascript">
72. &lt;/script&gt;</description><link>http://sambarman.blogspot.com/2010/10/ghoonghat-mey-chehra-aapka.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (sambarman)</author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFL4T4AeL0H8UOpNyLPphBIceAL5VGlFF_BdLMITaz25H_89Xaz5Hr15Q-zVcw9539SFpHGeDC1HuKll3UUZ12CwR7ftr-LBCerXJ4JtDq9xIFijAC8AcV_BzvJK0XcuiTEYNT1PBsMSk/s72-c/sambar+singer.jpg" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7172273958394262773.post-3853503549779033216</guid><pubDate>Sun, 17 Oct 2010 15:17:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2010-10-26T08:32:56.311+05:30</atom:updated><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Musical Sambar</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">My Songs</category><title>Tamil Song: Munpaniya Mudhal Mazhaya...</title><description>&lt;iframe src=&quot;http://www.facebook.com/plugins/like.php?href=http%3A%2F%2Fsambarman.blogspot.com%2F2010%2F10%2Ftamil-song-munpaniya-mudhal-mazhaya.html&amp;amp;layout=standard&amp;amp;show_faces=true&amp;amp;width=450&amp;amp;action=like&amp;amp;font=arial&amp;amp;colorscheme=light&amp;amp;height=80&quot; scrolling=&quot;no&quot; frameborder=&quot;0&quot; style=&quot;border:none; overflow:hidden; width:450px; height:80px;&quot; allowTransparency=&quot;true&quot;&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
73. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFL4T4AeL0H8UOpNyLPphBIceAL5VGlFF_BdLMITaz25H_89Xaz5Hr15Q-zVcw9539SFpHGeDC1HuKll3UUZ12CwR7ftr-LBCerXJ4JtDq9xIFijAC8AcV_BzvJK0XcuiTEYNT1PBsMSk/s1600/sambar+singer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFL4T4AeL0H8UOpNyLPphBIceAL5VGlFF_BdLMITaz25H_89Xaz5Hr15Q-zVcw9539SFpHGeDC1HuKll3UUZ12CwR7ftr-LBCerXJ4JtDq9xIFijAC8AcV_BzvJK0XcuiTEYNT1PBsMSk/s200/sambar+singer.jpg" width="141" /></a></div>This is a song originally sung by SP Balasubramaniam.<br />
74. <br />
75. <object height="85" width="440"><param name='movie' value='http://aimaguy.podomatic.com/swf/joeplayer_v10.swf'></param><param name='flashvars' value='jsonLocation=http%3A%2F%2Faimaguy.podomatic.com%2Fentry%2Fembed_params%2F2010-10-17T08_07_31-07_00%3Ffoo%3Dbar%26color%3Def3435%26autoPlay%3Dfalse%26width%3D440%26height%3D85'></param><param name='allowFullScreen' value='true'></param><param name='allowscriptaccess' value='always'></param><embed src='http://aimaguy.podomatic.com/swf/joeplayer_v10.swf' flashvars='jsonLocation=http%3A%2F%2Faimaguy.podomatic.com%2Fentry%2Fembed_params%2F2010-10-17T08_07_31-07_00%3Ffoo%3Dbar%26color%3Def3435%26autoPlay%3Dfalse%26width%3D440%26height%3D85' type='application/x-shockwave-flash' allowscriptaccess='always' allowfullscreen='true' width='440' height='85'></embed></object><br />
76. <br />
77. My first attempt in posting songs. This was sung for my wife before engagement and was recorded over phone!<br />
78. <a class="addthis_button" href="http://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=250&username=xa-4ca552bd6d413190"><img alt="Bookmark and Share" height="16" src="http://s7.addthis.com/static/btn/v2/lg-share-en.gif" style="border: 0;" width="125" /></a><br />
79. <script src="http://s7.addthis.com/js/250/addthis_widget.js#username=xa-4ca552bd6d413190" type="text/javascript">
80. </script><br />
81. <a class="google-buzz-button" data-button-style="normal-button" href="http://www.google.com/buzz/post" title="Post to Google Buzz"></a><br />
82. <script src="http://www.google.com/buzz/api/button.js" type="text/javascript">
83. &lt;/script&gt;</description><link>http://sambarman.blogspot.com/2010/10/tamil-song-munpaniya-mudhal-mazhaya.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (sambarman)</author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFL4T4AeL0H8UOpNyLPphBIceAL5VGlFF_BdLMITaz25H_89Xaz5Hr15Q-zVcw9539SFpHGeDC1HuKll3UUZ12CwR7ftr-LBCerXJ4JtDq9xIFijAC8AcV_BzvJK0XcuiTEYNT1PBsMSk/s72-c/sambar+singer.jpg" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7172273958394262773.post-1418597226163350631</guid><pubDate>Fri, 15 Oct 2010 03:58:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2010-10-26T08:33:35.957+05:30</atom:updated><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">bribe</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">corruption</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">humor sambar</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">India</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">rotten sambar</category><title>The Special Document!</title><description>&lt;iframe src=&quot;http://www.facebook.com/plugins/like.php?href=http%3A%2F%2Fsambarman.blogspot.com%2F2010%2F10%2Fspecial-document.html&amp;amp;layout=standard&amp;amp;show_faces=true&amp;amp;width=450&amp;amp;action=like&amp;amp;font=arial&amp;amp;colorscheme=light&amp;amp;height=80&quot; scrolling=&quot;no&quot; frameborder=&quot;0&quot; style=&quot;border:none; overflow:hidden; width:450px; height:80px;&quot; allowTransparency=&quot;true&quot;&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
84. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
85. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_Fnl-u3IH6RDv5hj8sCnaFKi1dFS8NKCpeSlgeH4yCWnqqAvliwmpw-rgaCzQ4MaJC-TCP-2L0xWf2x0aZc-JkBdvXi8DLJJ1E27EcvElBZ03wnf68uYgP1li2yVRxsWp_2eR1kbkVfs/s1600/underthetable.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_Fnl-u3IH6RDv5hj8sCnaFKi1dFS8NKCpeSlgeH4yCWnqqAvliwmpw-rgaCzQ4MaJC-TCP-2L0xWf2x0aZc-JkBdvXi8DLJJ1E27EcvElBZ03wnf68uYgP1li2yVRxsWp_2eR1kbkVfs/s320/underthetable.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
86. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />
87. </td></tr>
88. </tbody></table><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;"></span></span><br />
89. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;"></span><br />
90. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;"></span><br />
91. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;"><div class="MsoNormal">This post was inspired by various real incidents which happened in my life. Being an ‘Aam Admi’, I also had to be a part of numerous documentation processes, natural obligations of being a citizen of <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">India</st1:place></st1:country-region>! Have seen a lot of movies in which corruption has been portrayed as a social villain (or villainess – gender equality should be there in everything!), I always wondered why this evil character is over exaggerated in movies, as I never found anything wrong with the system, until I experienced it for myself.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
92. <a name='more'></a><br />
93. </div><div class="MsoNormal">My first encounter with bribing happened when I turned 18. My father (Senior Sambarman!) was very particular that I took a driving license as soon as I become legally eligible for it, so I went to a driving school and started to learn ‘H & 8’! I had heard from my brother that he never did a proper ‘8’ to take his license; in fact he did his ‘8’ with his bike’s engine switched off! I still wonder how the ‘H & 8’ skills would make a better driver, when all the drivers in the city find it hard to do a ‘!’ or a ‘)’. After the hard learned ‘H & 8’ driving lessons, the day for testing the same arrived. I failed miserably, my ‘H’ turned out to be a ‘Z’ and my ‘8’ was a real ‘0’. I had paid a fee of Rs. 3500 to the driving school, just to learn ‘H & 8’ and I failed miserably, I was really disappointed and depressed. I was surprised to learn that I still managed to get my license, later I realized that the fee paid to the driving school included the ‘H & 8’s to be paid to the licensing officials.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
94. </div><br />
95. <div class="MsoNormal">Fast forwarding to a more recent and the experience in question, the Sambar family (me, my wife, mom and dad) moved to a new address, and it became necessary that each of us had to change the address in our respective voter identity cards. My dad first went to the village office; found out that to apply for renewing the voter id cards, elections have to be announced, then the dates for applications will be announced. Elections were announced, followed by which the dates for voter id applications were also announced. The Sambar family was the first to reach the venue, and we were lucky to avoid the long and snail like queue. We waited in the queue for almost two hours, holding the voter id cards. At last the officer came, I first showed him my card and informed that I wish renew my card with the new address. He had a thorough look at my card, and then stared at me as if I had committed a crime. “You’ll have to get a residency proof from the corporation office to do this” he angrily replied. The tone in which he spoke implied that something which he ate last night is still irritating his stomach, and he looked really angry of it. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
96. </div><div class="MsoNormal">Corporation office was miles away from the village office, the Sambar family rushed into the car and vanished from the site, reappearing in the Corporation office premises. We were shocked to see the long standing queue, each one standing there for the same purpose- to take a residency poof! I asked my dad to go home and collect the land, tax receipts and all the associated documents. I didn’t want to come back here for the same purpose again, so I made sure I’m equipped. Couple of more hours wasted in the queue, I finally reached the officer, by then dad had brought all the documents as well. I handed over the application form for residency proof with the supportive documents, this officer was worse than the other one, she didn’t even looked at my face. She was too busy writing something in her diary, while looking at the diary, she asked me to wait. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
97. </div><div class="MsoNormal">I waited for thirty minutes, got restless, asked her when I would get the certificate, to which she impolitely replied to wait and said it will take more time. That’s when my dad came to me again and asked me to attach the ‘special document’ with the application and give it to her again. I said no, because I considered it as ethically wrong and not adhering to my principles. But, when the scene of another long queue at the village office to applying for voter card renewal, flashed through my mind, I called up my dad and informed him that I accept his suggestion. The application was handed over to the officer again, this time with the ‘special document’ attached.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
98. </div><div class="MsoNormal">I was really surprised; the rude lady suddenly transformed herself, as if some exorcist drove away the evil inside her! She asked me to pull a chair and sit, and then she addressed me as ‘Sir’, “why did you wait for so long? You could have told me when you were waiting, I got engaged with other applications and missed yours”, this is how sweet she became. The Sambar family’s residency proof was ready in 5 minutes. I couldn’t help praising the magic of the “special document”!!!  </div></span><br />
99. <a class="addthis_button" href="http://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=250&username=xa-4ca552bd6d413190"><img alt="Bookmark and Share" height="16" src="http://s7.addthis.com/static/btn/v2/lg-share-en.gif" style="border: 0;" width="125" /></a><br />
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101. </script><br />
102. <a class="google-buzz-button" data-button-style="normal-button" href="http://www.google.com/buzz/post" title="Post to Google Buzz"></a><br />
103. <script src="http://www.google.com/buzz/api/button.js" type="text/javascript">
104. &lt;/script&gt;</description><link>http://sambarman.blogspot.com/2010/10/special-document.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (sambarman)</author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_Fnl-u3IH6RDv5hj8sCnaFKi1dFS8NKCpeSlgeH4yCWnqqAvliwmpw-rgaCzQ4MaJC-TCP-2L0xWf2x0aZc-JkBdvXi8DLJJ1E27EcvElBZ03wnf68uYgP1li2yVRxsWp_2eR1kbkVfs/s72-c/underthetable.jpg" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7172273958394262773.post-2864391164690023711</guid><pubDate>Mon, 11 Oct 2010 03:00:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2010-10-26T08:34:15.220+05:30</atom:updated><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">BCCI</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">cricket</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">IPL</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Lalit Kumar Modi</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">rotten sambar</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">sports</category><title>Sorry Lalit Modi , You Just Puked it Out!</title><description>&lt;iframe src=&quot;http://www.facebook.com/plugins/like.php?href=http%3A%2F%2Fsambarman.blogspot.com%2F2010%2F10%2Fsorry-lalit-modi-you-just-puked-it-out.html&amp;amp;layout=standard&amp;amp;show_faces=true&amp;amp;width=450&amp;amp;action=like&amp;amp;font=arial&amp;amp;colorscheme=light&amp;amp;height=80&quot; scrolling=&quot;no&quot; frameborder=&quot;0&quot; style=&quot;border:none; overflow:hidden; width:450px; height:80px;&quot; allowTransparency=&quot;true&quot;&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
105. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
106. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYXc0CyqFda5ofMguezw4nZVaPsdznZsH4wCGgOUtF0a2KSGNC7a7eVWIpM2nhmwf7SzS89l38FpxawJvoxVuEffusIpvc5hVDRzPvvg5Gtvcg2pbtezfO178VHRqp0_r5WbZAxkhoF2I/s1600/cricket+sambar+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYXc0CyqFda5ofMguezw4nZVaPsdznZsH4wCGgOUtF0a2KSGNC7a7eVWIpM2nhmwf7SzS89l38FpxawJvoxVuEffusIpvc5hVDRzPvvg5Gtvcg2pbtezfO178VHRqp0_r5WbZAxkhoF2I/s200/cricket+sambar+copy.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
107. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />
108. </td></tr>
109. </tbody></table>This is for all who might or might not have noticed the recent tweets by the former IPL commissioner Lalit K Modi, and who might or might not have heard about the news of omitting Kings Eleven Punjab and Rajasthan Royals from IPL 4.<br />
110. <br />
111. This is what Mr Modi tweeted (as copy pasted from Yahoo News!): “The BCCI has shown its true colours, one set of rules for themselves and another set for the others…Members go to meetings and listen to Diktat of President and President elect. if you open your mouth you are thrown out. This cannot go on…All illegal things done by CSK amd its owners have been over looked by BCCI. Why ? Who is running the show. What has Srinivasan got om them.”<br />
112. <a name='more'></a><br />
113. <br />
114. This tweet proves the rot inside the IPL and the BCCI. If Modi knew about the illegal things done by CSK, all the while he was heading the IPL, why did he keep silent? Does these words in his tweet suggest - if CSK can do it, why not Royals and Kings Eleven Punjab also do it?<br />
115. <br />
116. May be Mr Modi wanted to imply that he was thrown out because he opened his mouth, but with such a tweet, he just puked out the rot within the BCCI and the IPL. Anyways, congrats to BCCI for being bold and throwing out the weeds. And miss you Punjab Eleven and Rajasthan Royals.<br />
117. <br />
118. <a class="addthis_button" href="http://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=250&username=xa-4ca552bd6d413190"><img alt="Bookmark and Share" height="16" src="http://s7.addthis.com/static/btn/v2/lg-share-en.gif" style="border: 0;" width="125" /></a><br />
119. <script src="http://s7.addthis.com/js/250/addthis_widget.js#username=xa-4ca552bd6d413190" type="text/javascript">
120. </script><br />
121. <a class="google-buzz-button" data-button-style="normal-button" href="http://www.google.com/buzz/post" title="Post to Google Buzz"></a><br />
122. <script src="http://www.google.com/buzz/api/button.js" type="text/javascript">
123. &lt;/script&gt;</description><link>http://sambarman.blogspot.com/2010/10/sorry-lalit-modi-you-just-puked-it-out.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (sambarman)</author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYXc0CyqFda5ofMguezw4nZVaPsdznZsH4wCGgOUtF0a2KSGNC7a7eVWIpM2nhmwf7SzS89l38FpxawJvoxVuEffusIpvc5hVDRzPvvg5Gtvcg2pbtezfO178VHRqp0_r5WbZAxkhoF2I/s72-c/cricket+sambar+copy.jpg" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7172273958394262773.post-6956421896735020677</guid><pubDate>Sat, 09 Oct 2010 08:31:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2010-10-11T22:35:34.840+05:30</atom:updated><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">best sambar contest</category><title>The Best Sambar Contest!</title><description>&lt;table align=&quot;center&quot; cellpadding=&quot;0&quot; cellspacing=&quot;0&quot; class=&quot;tr-caption-container&quot; style=&quot;float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;&quot;&gt;&lt;tbody&gt;
124. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtOIaLbep9jkdmd62PuX7Qex142UZnDhRd5gcTAPiVDMPFOftwReHUL_olh1sE0nvFoIwMdJjsnxogMb3OxFiADQr1Dvx4v8_lDDoU-7EZ53Y_oTG21pNuJpFIWJZD6he70WkPs_mgnXw/s1600/heart+potato.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtOIaLbep9jkdmd62PuX7Qex142UZnDhRd5gcTAPiVDMPFOftwReHUL_olh1sE0nvFoIwMdJjsnxogMb3OxFiADQr1Dvx4v8_lDDoU-7EZ53Y_oTG21pNuJpFIWJZD6he70WkPs_mgnXw/s1600/heart+potato.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
125. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />
126. </td></tr>
127. </tbody></table>I've been having the same Sambar for many years now. I need it to taste differently, but I still need Sambar.<br />
128.  Do you have the perfect recipe for making the best Sambar for me?<br />
129. <br />
130. <a name='more'></a><br />
131. <br />
132. No matter what vegetables or masala you add, I just want the Sambar to be different (but veg of course).<br />
133. Post your recipe with your blog link as a comment to this post or as a comment in the page "Best Sambar"  in the pages tab. Or, post the recipe in your blog and paste the link in the same way as mentioned above.<br />
134. <br />
135. Don't forget to name your sambar and your experience after tasting it yourself!<br />
136. <br />
137. Best entries to win "Sambarman best Sambar" awards ! ;)<br />
138. <br />
139. <a class="addthis_button" href="http://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=250&username=xa-4ca552bd6d413190"><img alt="Bookmark and Share" height="16" src="http://s7.addthis.com/static/btn/v2/lg-share-en.gif" style="border: 0;" width="125" /></a><br />
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141. </script><br />
142. <a class="google-buzz-button" data-button-style="normal-button" href="http://www.google.com/buzz/post" title="Post to Google Buzz"></a><br />
143. <script src="http://www.google.com/buzz/api/button.js" type="text/javascript">
144. &lt;/script&gt;</description><link>http://sambarman.blogspot.com/2010/10/best-sambar-contest.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (sambarman)</author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtOIaLbep9jkdmd62PuX7Qex142UZnDhRd5gcTAPiVDMPFOftwReHUL_olh1sE0nvFoIwMdJjsnxogMb3OxFiADQr1Dvx4v8_lDDoU-7EZ53Y_oTG21pNuJpFIWJZD6he70WkPs_mgnXw/s72-c/heart+potato.jpg" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>1</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7172273958394262773.post-131085663293558502</guid><pubDate>Sun, 03 Oct 2010 07:10:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2010-10-26T08:36:19.084+05:30</atom:updated><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">India</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Kerala</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Reality Show</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">rotten sambar</category><title>Harsh REALITY and REALTY in a SHOW!</title><description>&lt;iframe src=&quot;http://www.facebook.com/plugins/like.php?href=http%3A%2F%2Fsambarman.blogspot.com%2F2010%2F10%2Fharsh-reality-and-realty-in-show.html&amp;amp;layout=standard&amp;amp;show_faces=true&amp;amp;width=450&amp;amp;action=like&amp;amp;font=arial&amp;amp;colorscheme=light&amp;amp;height=80&quot; scrolling=&quot;no&quot; frameborder=&quot;0&quot; style=&quot;border:none; overflow:hidden; width:450px; height:80px;&quot; allowTransparency=&quot;true&quot;&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
145. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;"></span></span><br />
146. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;"></span></span><br />
147. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;"></span></span><br />
148. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 13px;"><div><br />
149. </div><div>First, thanks to the friend who forwarded the email describing this cruelty and to you who is reading this post now (and hopefully spread the message amongst your friends). </div><div><br />
150. </div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
151. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-P6A-wTlKS6Li8DwqL-AyHeGESshnEKtqsAGXrt6pmcyHqUmk7T5tBwKzTFLzP-Q1F-JYcIut2k91-AB-WGM8EORKMpid76vW3S-gfGE3GIHmdOtOhQdzla0GfVrf0FVaAfugERsxl0Y/s1600/Cruelty+in+Reality+Shows-+Thankamma+and+Family++winners+of+Ellarum+Padanu++2008+in+Kairali+TV+in+a++Press+Conference.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="198" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-P6A-wTlKS6Li8DwqL-AyHeGESshnEKtqsAGXrt6pmcyHqUmk7T5tBwKzTFLzP-Q1F-JYcIut2k91-AB-WGM8EORKMpid76vW3S-gfGE3GIHmdOtOhQdzla0GfVrf0FVaAfugERsxl0Y/s400/Cruelty+in+Reality+Shows-+Thankamma+and+Family++winners+of+Ellarum+Padanu++2008+in+Kairali+TV+in+a++Press+Conference.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
152. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Thankamma and four blind children during the press conference</td></tr>
153. </tbody></table><div>This is the story about Thankamma, from a small town called Karunagapally in Kerala. She is the mother of four, and the unfortunate part is that all four are blind by birth. Eldest amongst her children is her son and other three are daughters. Only blessing to her family is the knowledge in singing and the voice of her children. </div><div><br />
154. <a name='more'></a><br />
155. </div><div>It was during 2008 when this family participated in a reality show called 'Ellarum Padanu' (everybody is singing) aired in Kairali TV, a regional channel in Malayalam. The four blind members of the family and two of Thankamma's grand children, participated in the competition in the name ' Thankamma and Family'. It was not surprising as this team easily won the first prize for the season, with their superb talent. The first prize, as promoted during the competition was a villa worth 35 lakh Indian Rupees, and situated in Kandanassery, near the famous Guruvayoor Temple in Kerala. The project in which the villa is, is being promoted by a well known (not mentioning it as reputed, as their reputation is limited to whatever they advertise) builder in Kerala. Each villa in this project as claimed by the builder is of 1571 sq ft, has 3 bedrooms and has two floors. </div><div><br />
156. </div><div>On winning, the builder registered 5 cents of land where the villa is to be made, to the name of Thankamma, on 5th November, 2008. After a few months, the builder invited the family for a 'Vishu Festival' celebration, and was informed to the family that the 'key handing over' would happen during the event. All that happened then was nothing but a cheap promotion; the builder proudly announced 'Thankamma and family' as the winner of the builder sponsored 'Ellarum Padanu 2008' and the poor family was made to sing for the gathered crowd. The family did inquire about the villa to be handed over to them, all they got to know from the builder was some vague replies which stated that the project is still in finishing stages and it will take more time. Then followed a series of repeated requests by the family to hand over the villa, and as an answer to which they were awarded with a villa made of hardboard and a thermocoal key cut out. The same was handed over to them by none other than the famous singer KJ Yesudas. Still the real prize offered never reached them. </div><div><br />
157. </div><div>Again after repeated requests, the family was informed that they will get their villa when the finishing work on 200 villas are completed, which has not happened till date. The hardest period for the family was during the days of the show, when they had to buy new cloths to appear on TV and above all spend on traveling to the studio from their home, which eventually has led them into a deeper financial crisis. Winning the contest was not just a matter of pride for them, it was the lifeboat sent to them for the SOS calls they have been making to the Almighty. Thankamma and family went to the TV channel seeking help in this matter, who in turn replied with their helpless situation describing that only the show was aired by them, but the builder sponsored the prize. Another notable fact in connection is that Malayalam Communications Limited, the owner of Kairali TV, has Padmasree Dr Bharat Mammootty, the great Malayalam cine-star as its Chairman. </div><div><br />
158. </div><div>Thankamma and family had no other option than to proceed legally, the result of which was an agitated reply by the builder (through his lawyer), which stated that Thankamma was not a participant in 'Ellarum Padanu' and she has no right to claim the prize: To which Thankamma had replied as, why was the prize then offered in her name if she was not a participant. The entire history of  'Thankamma and Family Reality Show' was made public through a press conference, unfortunately none of the media came forward to report this. How can the media publish such a news which could tarnish the image of their most valuable client who spent crores each week to advertise. </div><div><br />
159. </div><div>Now I wish to ask a few questions...</div><div><br />
160. </div><div>If Kairali TV does not have any responsibility over the prize offered by the sponsors, how could they promote the event by howling about the so called prize as the event's main attraction?</div><div><br />
161. </div><div>Mr Mammootty passionately blogs about social responsibility (through his blog in Malayalam <a href="http://blog.mammootty.com/">http://blog.mammootty.com/</a>), if he is honest about what he blogs, being the chairman of Malayalam Communications Ltd, why is he still silent on this issue?</div><div><br />
162. </div><div>Mr KJ Yesudas, does he ever bother to check the credibility of what he is awarding to somebody before doing it?  </div><div><br />
163. </div><div>I wanted to blog about this cruelty just because the media refused to publish it as a news. If at least a few read this and spread it amongst their friends, may be it will reach the right person or power, who, or which could become the reason for bringing justice to this poor family. Let no more 'Thankamma and Families' become victims of such 'Cruel Shows' in 'Reality' by 'Realtors'. </div></span></span><br />
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169. &lt;/script&gt;</description><link>http://sambarman.blogspot.com/2010/10/harsh-reality-and-realty-in-show.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (sambarman)</author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-P6A-wTlKS6Li8DwqL-AyHeGESshnEKtqsAGXrt6pmcyHqUmk7T5tBwKzTFLzP-Q1F-JYcIut2k91-AB-WGM8EORKMpid76vW3S-gfGE3GIHmdOtOhQdzla0GfVrf0FVaAfugERsxl0Y/s72-c/Cruelty+in+Reality+Shows-+Thankamma+and+Family++winners+of+Ellarum+Padanu++2008+in+Kairali+TV+in+a++Press+Conference.jpg" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>1</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7172273958394262773.post-2065334478797132038</guid><pubDate>Thu, 30 Sep 2010 15:05:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2010-10-26T08:37:43.585+05:30</atom:updated><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">British</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">Common Wealth Games</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">CWG</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">India</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">rotten sambar</category><title>CWG Filth and the Filthiest!</title><description>&lt;iframe src=&quot;http://www.facebook.com/plugins/like.php?href=http%3A%2F%2Fsambarman.blogspot.com%2F2010%2F09%2Fcwg-filth-and-filthiest.html&amp;amp;layout=standard&amp;amp;show_faces=true&amp;amp;width=450&amp;amp;action=like&amp;amp;font=arial&amp;amp;colorscheme=light&amp;amp;height=80&quot; scrolling=&quot;no&quot; frameborder=&quot;0&quot; style=&quot;border:none; overflow:hidden; width:450px; height:80px;&quot; allowTransparency=&quot;true&quot;&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
170. <div align="left">This post is meant for those foreigners who complain about the  filthy facilities offered in the CWG games village, those participants who  pulled out of the games complaining the facilities and the media that is still  doing the deepest autopsy possible on CWG . Thanks to the friend who forwarded  this mail.</div><div align="left">Is this for what you wanted a clean and shining games village?<br />
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187. &lt;/script&gt;</description><link>http://sambarman.blogspot.com/2010/09/cwg-filth-and-filthiest.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (sambarman)</author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3cGerTSg3H6UzyulFMdh2QM1SzWMEJ2XGT5M3zkd3Fp85L9zsjdYfHkTN4700H_dsYomgaLFPy_qiYmX8Xfa1P5p2GPd_OetrPpdxK_XXE2E0V4993IU0W-f5xp4fDJ-W2gf8Zo10mfA/s72-c/sleeping+on+garbage.jpg" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>2</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7172273958394262773.post-3955041570846824636</guid><pubDate>Mon, 20 Sep 2010 15:23:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2010-10-11T22:32:05.409+05:30</atom:updated><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">AR Rahman</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">CWG</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">CWG theme song</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">rotten sambar</category><title>Half-Boiled CWG Theme Song is Now Hard-Boiled!</title><description>&lt;span class=&quot;Apple-style-span&quot; style=&quot;font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;&quot;&gt;XIX CWG games has been there in the headlines so far, not for good reasons though. It all started with the news channels started to howl over the delayed progress in developing the infrastructure, which includes the track and field in Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, the swimming pool complex, and the ITDC towers in the games village. Making the shame more vivid was that most of the completed works many has collapsed and are continuously reworked on; vinyl flooring at the weightlifting venue is peeling off, the shooting range embankments collapsed, water seepage in the boxing stadium, granite pavements in Khan Market are re-paved as it became slippery beyond control and further humiliation happened when the swimming pool flooded!&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
188. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a name='more'></a></span><br />
189. <div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">With all these embarrassments, carried in the backpack, CWG organizing committee still went ahead optimistically towards putting together a full fledged venue for the prestigious event. Then came the shocker, the scam reports that unfolded from nowhere and popped up in TV screens of millions of viewers through a news channel. If it was a tip of the iceberg for the first news channel that aired it, the others came up with numerous facets of scam reports relating to the CWG. There wouldn't be a single news channel that missed out in celebrating this 'glorified' shame for our country. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Have had enough with the scams, now it is time to talk about the legend of Indian music, AR Rahman. A genius who once stormed the nation with his patriotic album 'Vande Mataram', he became the nation's pride when he won the Oscars. There was a time when even a school child was asked to sing Vande Mataram, our national song, he or she would sing Rahman's Vande Mataram (Maa tujhe salam) song accidentally, that popular was the song. Maybe would be those patriotic instincts within him that prompted him to come up with an album like 'Vande Mataram' during the fiftieth anniversary of Indian Independence, the same which made him accept the responsibility of composing a theme some for CWG 2010, and that too charging only a modest fee of Rs. Five Crores!</span><br />
190. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
191. </span><br />
192. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
193. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiBa4g4a7ym-k7VckzVED9EFV4GRgCwWuxFpmRujkYAP-bh-e-L7sbRKACthH7Ms18i710HBxp60OX4vyb7sKXusV5wOpNIV6JWcREubcizw56Alw24Zxbw9WJxLDd3Xy-nbKM1e1LR9s/s1600/music+egg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiBa4g4a7ym-k7VckzVED9EFV4GRgCwWuxFpmRujkYAP-bh-e-L7sbRKACthH7Ms18i710HBxp60OX4vyb7sKXusV5wOpNIV6JWcREubcizw56Alw24Zxbw9WJxLDd3Xy-nbKM1e1LR9s/s320/music+egg.jpg" width="301" /></span></a></td></tr>
194. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
195. </span></span></td></tr>
196. </tbody></table><br />
197. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Headlines claim that Rahman took six long months to make this theme song, which is not a rare incident as the film industry knows it as a fact that he takes a long time to complete his works, but never fails to come up with marvelous results, most of which top the charts. Unfortunately, here, that all turned out to be wrong. It could not be said that the theme song didn't have the maestro's class or style, but it could only be compared to the pace of any lullaby and obviously an odd choice for the event. A theme song for much awaited and high profile sporting event, should obviously have some fire power in it to inspire both the participants as well as the spectators (including the TV spectators like the sambar men) and most importantly to motivate the Indian participants. So sad that the theme song by Rahman would only make the participants and spectators go zzzzzzz....Recently, a new version of the theme song was launched, on which lyricist Prasoon Joshi has reworked by cropping it down and Rahman also has managed to do his part by making it sound more lively. This was done after huge criticism over the song and especially after the fee paid to him was made public.</span><br />
198. <div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
199. </span></div><br />
200. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 15px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">However the question that fell like a cockroach into my sambar was - "why the hell did he take up this assignment?." With the endless scam reports on CWG flooding the media and fresh allegations popping up each day, why would an artist of his reputation want to jump into that sewer? If patriotism is what drove him to take it up, then it should have been done for free or at least the 'moderate' fee that he charged, should have been reduced. Many might justify him as being professional, like what Vishal Dadlani did, but sambarmen like me, who are not just serious fans of Rahman but also patriotic to some extend ( just because I've saluted the men in blue at more occasions than the men in military), would say this was not at all patriotic and was professionally unwise as well for AR Rahman! Where were the so called organizing committee? When such huge amounts is paid out to make  the theme music, they didn't even bother to brief Rahman properly or were they not sure that what they really wanted as a theme song?</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">   </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 15px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span></span><br />
201. <div style="text-align: right;"></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 15px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">For AR Rahman, the sweetheart of millions of Indians and the winner of Oscars, this will remain as a stain in his career and a bad decision, how much ever he remixes and tries to re-tune. Everybody has a bad day, and we the fans will forget and forgive you for this unintentional mistake from your part Mr Rahman, and feel sorry that you also fell into the stinky ditches of the system. </span></span></div><br />
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207. &lt;/script&gt;</description><link>http://sambarman.blogspot.com/2010/09/half-boiled-cwg-theme-song-is-now-hard.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (sambarman)</author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiBa4g4a7ym-k7VckzVED9EFV4GRgCwWuxFpmRujkYAP-bh-e-L7sbRKACthH7Ms18i710HBxp60OX4vyb7sKXusV5wOpNIV6JWcREubcizw56Alw24Zxbw9WJxLDd3Xy-nbKM1e1LR9s/s72-c/music+egg.jpg" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>0</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7172273958394262773.post-5295311410438931476</guid><pubDate>Wed, 15 Sep 2010 14:10:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2010-10-26T08:38:24.604+05:30</atom:updated><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">cricket</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">rotten sambar</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">sports</category><title>A Whore called Cricket !</title><description>&lt;iframe src=&quot;http://www.facebook.com/plugins/like.php?href=http%3A%2F%2Fsambarman.blogspot.com%2F2010%2F09%2Fwhore-called-cricket.html&amp;amp;layout=standard&amp;amp;show_faces=true&amp;amp;width=450&amp;amp;action=like&amp;amp;font=arial&amp;amp;colorscheme=light&amp;amp;height=80&quot; scrolling=&quot;no&quot; frameborder=&quot;0&quot; style=&quot;border:none; overflow:hidden; width:450px; height:80px;&quot; allowTransparency=&quot;true&quot;&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
208. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
209. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1npe18YEvVnAhnkHiLGKRXY2yA-9h72_XjBJREQ2lfzz8QnZtdYSK_BQPGWZieba8bDaR_N0m5nJu0PcJ8-ro1bYijVNoXHX2vzupNFwLB-dEgH7acuEN2EURAMD9i5jlRXx0qa93LMg/s200/kapil+dev+with+world+cup+2.gif" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="135" /></td></tr>
210. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kapil Dev with World Cup</td></tr>
211. </tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
212. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img height="138" src="http://www.indianteam.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/09/twenty20cupindia.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="200" /></td></tr>
213. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Team India with T20 World Cup</td></tr>
214. </tbody></table>Indian Cricket got it's most ecstatic orgasm in the form of 1983 World Cup and another elated one in the form of T20 World Cup in 2007. In its international life history, cricket has had its own ups and downs, but cricket has never ever had any sort of arousal dis-functions so far. The sweet sound of the leather hitting the middle of the willow, has been the heart beat of millions of Indians and followers across the globe. It might have got turned off due to a few stinky incidents behind the scenes, like the match fixing scandals which ended the cricketing life's as well as the 'real lives' of a few in the game, but never did it effect cricket in moving ahead. <br />
215. <a name='more'></a>Test version, a prolonged intercourse between the viewers and cricket, gradually lost its flavor, as the more vivid form of intercourse, the One Day International (ODI) format became the 'Game'. If Test cricket preferred the day for its pleasures, ODIs went on all day and night, and it didn't had to wait 5 days for an orgasm! Later on cricket and viewers started to indulge in quickies, the T20 format, which proved to be more convenient, exciting and had all the pleasures of ODIs to offer.<br />
216. <br />
217.  Right from the day when cricket started to lean more towards the ODI format, little did the lovers of the game realize that it has lost all its sincerity and affection. That's when the pimps of the 'ad world' persuaded cricket, letting it fall on its impious traps and thus it became the most wanted whore for the brands. In the beginning, cricket was innocent and it still remained loyal to the viewers; but the lust for unknown pleasures dragged it to the darkest and the deepest dungeons. Now the whore has gone so far, that it lets itself to be utilized to the limits of humiliation. The lust bites of the brands haven't even spared the underwear's of the players, that is the extend of branding invasion over this whore! The evil rulers of the Underworld too wanted to share the day-nights with this lusty creature.<br />
218. <br />
219. Viewers on the other hand are still in love with cricket; they have been seeing cricket going out with the underworld Lords, also they are aware how worse a whore it has become. Still it has not made the viewers lose their affection for cricket, that deep is the love! But, a strong message to Cricket- if you keep on ignoring the true love of the viewers, remember, once you get betrayed by the brands and the underworld...the viewers  might have found the love of life elsewhere.<br />
220. <br />
221. <br />
222. <br />
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228. &lt;/script&gt;</description><link>http://sambarman.blogspot.com/2010/09/whore-called-cricket.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (sambarman)</author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1npe18YEvVnAhnkHiLGKRXY2yA-9h72_XjBJREQ2lfzz8QnZtdYSK_BQPGWZieba8bDaR_N0m5nJu0PcJ8-ro1bYijVNoXHX2vzupNFwLB-dEgH7acuEN2EURAMD9i5jlRXx0qa93LMg/s72-c/kapil+dev+with+world+cup+2.gif" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>3</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7172273958394262773.post-8078319645796311106</guid><pubDate>Tue, 14 Sep 2010 12:10:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2010-10-26T08:39:02.199+05:30</atom:updated><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">cassia cinnamon</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">ceylon cinnamon</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">healthy sambar</category><title>The Cinnamon Challenge</title><description>&lt;iframe src=&quot;http://www.facebook.com/plugins/like.php?href=http%3A%2F%2Fsambarman.blogspot.com%2F2010%2F09%2Fcinnamon-challenge.html&amp;amp;layout=standard&amp;amp;show_faces=true&amp;amp;width=450&amp;amp;action=like&amp;amp;font=arial&amp;amp;colorscheme=light&amp;amp;height=80&quot; scrolling=&quot;no&quot; frameborder=&quot;0&quot; style=&quot;border:none; overflow:hidden; width:450px; height:80px;&quot; allowTransparency=&quot;true&quot;&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
229. The Cinnamon challenge in which an individual has to eat a tablespoon of cinnamon without inhaling the cinnamon or vomiting. As what Wikipedia says, despite several video documented attempts, a few seemed to beat this challenge. Well what I'm concerned is not about the real cinnamon challenge, as I don't have any intentions to accept such challenges, but about the cinnamon challenge that our households are facing.<br />
230. <a name='more'></a> <br />
231. <br />
232. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
233. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="Cinnamon" src="http://www.ceylon-cinnamon.com/CeylonCinnmaonImages/RealCinnamon.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></td></tr>
234. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://druera.com/shopping/product_info.php?cPath=2_19&products_id=69">Ceylon cinnamon</a></td></tr>
235. </tbody></table>Cinnamon, also known as Ceylon cinnamon is obtained from the inner bark of cinnamon trees (of the genus Cinnamomum), and is obviously an integral part of Indian cuisine irrespective of which region it is in India. Even though belonging to same family, cinnamon is different from cassia. Cassia is usually used as a substitute for cinnamon and is much cheaper. What makes cassia and cinnamon similar is an ingredient called coumarin, a natural flavoring and perfuming agent. Synthetic coumarin is used in cosmetics and it smells like fresh hay. Coumarin is also used medicinally to treat edemas. Even though isolated coumarin is not used in food, but spices like cinnamon has traces of coumarin in it.<br />
236. <br />
237. Even a small quantities of coumarin can cause serious damage to liver in the form of elevated levels of liver enzymes in the blood; prolonged usage of coumarin in small quantities may even lead to jaundice. In addition, coumarin is a strong anticoagulant, where in regular excess intake of the same can result in a reduced ability for blood to coagulate. Coumarin, to be specific is a benzopyrone, a chemical compund found in plants like tonka beans, vanilla grass, woodruff, mullein and sweet grass. coumarine was banned as an adulterant in tobacco, especially in the manufacturing of cigarette. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has listed coumarin amongst the 'substances generally prohibited from direct addiction or as human food'.<br />
238. <br />
239. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
240. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img alt="Cassia" src="http://www.ceylon-cinnamon.com/CeylonCinnmaonImages/Cassia.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></td></tr>
241. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.ceylon-cinnamon.com/Identify-Cinnamon.htm">Cassia cinnamon</a></td></tr>
242. </tbody></table>Using the actual cinnamon, which is the ceylon cinnamon in smaller quantities may not be of much harm as it contains only traces of coumarin. But cassia cinnamon, the cheapest and the most widely used cinnamon is a serious threat. As per the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment, 1 kg of cassia cinnamon contains approximately 2100 to 4400 mg of coumarin, which is equal to 5.8 to 12.1 mg of coumarin, and this is quite an alarming rate.<br />
243. <br />
244. In the US and the European nations, since they maintain severe regulations over the imports and usage of food products, threats from cassia cinnamon is negligible. What happens in India? Here lies the so called cinnamon challenge. Luckily sambarmen like me are hardly affected since cinnamon has no place in sambar! Even though there are restrictions on importing and selling cassia cinnamon, still the cheapest substitute is the one which is easily available in the market. Things get more complicated as the Indian household prefers ready made masala powders, which makes it difficult to make out as of which cinnamon is used in them.It is believed that the leading suppliers in the country do not import cinnamon from Sri Lanka (the native of ceylon cinnamon), instead they opt for the cheapest from China and Indonesia. They import it at a price as cheap as Rs. 23 per kg and sell it at the highest of Rs. 800 per kg!<br />
245. Might be a bit harsh on the typical Indian homemaker, to make a sudden switch to the practices of good old days (when the ingredients for masala were hand picked and the masala was made at home) from the present ready made scenario. Unless and until the government gets serious on this, the only option available is to buy individual ingredients for the masala after ensuring that they are of good quality, and grinding them in the kitchen! The next probable question would be as of how to identify ceylon cinnamon from cassia cinnamon, well I googled and sourced this link- <a href="http://www.ceylon-cinnamon.com/Identify-Cinnamon.htm">http://www.ceylon-cinnamon.com/Identify-Cinnamon.htm</a>, it might help you.<br />
246. <br />
247. <br />
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250. </script><br />
251. <a class="google-buzz-button" data-button-style="normal-button" href="http://www.google.com/buzz/post" title="Post to Google Buzz"></a><br />
252. <script src="http://www.google.com/buzz/api/button.js" type="text/javascript">
253. &lt;/script&gt;</description><link>http://sambarman.blogspot.com/2010/09/cinnamon-challenge.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (sambarman)</author><thr:total>4</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7172273958394262773.post-2820729692239972327</guid><pubDate>Fri, 10 Sep 2010 15:57:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2010-10-26T08:39:39.348+05:30</atom:updated><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">MNP</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">rotten sambar</category><title>MNP-o-phobia and service providers</title><description>&lt;iframe src=&quot;http://www.facebook.com/plugins/like.php?href=http%3A%2F%2Fsambarman.blogspot.com%2F2010%2F09%2Fmnp-o-phobia-and-service-providers.html&amp;amp;layout=standard&amp;amp;show_faces=true&amp;amp;width=450&amp;amp;action=like&amp;amp;font=arial&amp;amp;colorscheme=light&amp;amp;height=80&quot; scrolling=&quot;no&quot; frameborder=&quot;0&quot; style=&quot;border:none; overflow:hidden; width:450px; height:80px;&quot; allowTransparency=&quot;true&quot;&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
254. <div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidpmgM8UQ36wq_b0-fagbw2b5tw2EsEbOG-pEseizXww1finnFAOSagJmy7b_a3v731I9bKOf7vBIeTHsAVrP4zdtK6yAvL1DFqGT786ABqs5MTbkde8uJy0glh4PAcIZas4nFx6MsQp0/s1600/mnp.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidpmgM8UQ36wq_b0-fagbw2b5tw2EsEbOG-pEseizXww1finnFAOSagJmy7b_a3v731I9bKOf7vBIeTHsAVrP4zdtK6yAvL1DFqGT786ABqs5MTbkde8uJy0glh4PAcIZas4nFx6MsQp0/s320/mnp.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Mobile number portability or MNP, as we all know is what that helps customers to switch operators without changing the existing number. The service presently available across the globe (minus India obviously) allows the customer to change the service provider, if he feels discontent over the existing or if somebody else is offering a better service, and also letting him free of the hassle of spreading the 'change of number news' amongst his contacts. Moreover, MNP could be done irrespective of whether it is a GSM network or a CDMA network. Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) have divided the servicing area into two zones and has given license to two companies to carry out the MNP operations: MNP Interconnection Telecom Solutions (MNPITS) and Syniverse Technologies India. </span><br />
255. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><a name='more'></a></span><br />
256. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
257. </span><br />
258. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Initially, MNP was scheduled to be implemented by Dec 31, 2009, in Major Metros, which failed to happen, after which there has been 3 more deadlines which failed and the latest one falls on October 31 2010. It is learned that MNPITS, one of the licencees, is showing a slippery nature to its commitments as it had send concerns over security issues to the Foriegn Investment Promotions Board (FIPB), which the later rejected instantly. More over, Telecordia TEchnologies, a US based company in joint venture with MNPITS, has pulled out of the venture recently, making the situation much worse for the later. </span><br />
259. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
260. </span><br />
261. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Even though a lot of drama is happening behind the scenes amongst the MNP service providers, BSNL has assured confidently that it is all set to start MNP services and meet the deadlines. What about the others? Is Airtel, Vodaphone, Reliance and the rest still sleeping? Or, is it an intentional hibernation?</span><br />
262. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
263. </span><br />
264. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">What really happens when you call your service provider's customer care number, seeking a solution for a problem you have been facing with the service? First of all, you have to follow the prolonged voice over, follow the instructions and test your patience until you reach a stage when the voice over says 'to speak to a customer care executive press #'. And, this doesn't get over with that, what follows is the most irritating part of the call- 'the official service provider music', mixed with 'please wait while we transfer your call to a customer care executive', and the promotions of the 'most value less' value added services! After a long struggle and endurance, we are blessed with the opportunity to speak to an executive, followed by which, we have to narrate the entire history of our relationship with the service provider and then about the problem for which we called. Like a saint, the executive apologizes and rains the words of assurances to our ears, and registers the complaint. He/she will also give us a set of numbers, the so called reference number for the complaint raised. With all the assurances offered by the executive, we relax and believing that the problem would be sorted out soon, we go to sleep. What happens the next day? The same process is repeated for the same problem, and the same continues for many days depending on the complexity of the problem; each time you have to repeat the history of conversation (even though you are given a reference number) to the respective executive.</span><br />
265. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
266. </span><br />
267. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">What more could a hired call center operator do with his limited capabilities and authority? When a problem could not be resolved through a call to the customer care number, what's the point in having such a 'care number' ? This entire lecture might sound like an outburst of an utterly dissatisfied customer, true, but not just one, the millions which the big brands boast of in their ads. Now, it is obvious that why MNP is snailing in the pipeline. Except for BSNL, even though they are losing customers day by day (might be because of the typical 'sarkari' attitude), no service provider in the country has come forward and said- 'Yes, we are ready'. This non-cooperative and lazy attitude towards MNP by the private operators is obviously not security reasons, a customer who expects the best for what he pays would would obviously say that 'they are scared of MNP'!</span><br />
268. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
269. </span><br />
270. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">A message for service providers who salute with us for Independence day, hug us for valentines day, burst crackers with us for Diwali and bring Santa home for Christmas, through their spamming SMS and promo calls- This Sambarman and millions of your customers will not stop availing your services even when we have MNP, all you have to do is give us what we deserve for what we pay. </span><br />
271. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
272. </span><br />
273. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">For those who doesn't know: MNPITS has former biggies from Airtel as their Program Management and Market Management Heads. Now, does that have something to do with the smoke we see above MNPITS skies? ;) </span><br />
274. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
275. </span><br />
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286. &lt;/script&gt;</description><link>http://sambarman.blogspot.com/2010/09/mnp-o-phobia-and-service-providers.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (sambarman)</author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media="http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/" url="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidpmgM8UQ36wq_b0-fagbw2b5tw2EsEbOG-pEseizXww1finnFAOSagJmy7b_a3v731I9bKOf7vBIeTHsAVrP4zdtK6yAvL1DFqGT786ABqs5MTbkde8uJy0glh4PAcIZas4nFx6MsQp0/s72-c/mnp.jpg" height="72" width="72"/><thr:total>1</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7172273958394262773.post-7763039465266237297</guid><pubDate>Fri, 10 Sep 2010 03:34:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2010-10-26T08:40:22.635+05:30</atom:updated><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">proud sambar</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">sports</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">tennis</category><title>The Indians who Grand Slammed!</title><description>&lt;iframe src=&quot;http://www.facebook.com/plugins/like.php?href=http%3A%2F%2Fsambarman.blogspot.com%2F2010%2F09%2Findians-who-grand-slammed.html&amp;amp;layout=standard&amp;amp;show_faces=true&amp;amp;width=450&amp;amp;action=like&amp;amp;font=arial&amp;amp;colorscheme=light&amp;amp;height=80&quot; scrolling=&quot;no&quot; frameborder=&quot;0&quot; style=&quot;border:none; overflow:hidden; width:450px; height:80px;&quot; allowTransparency=&quot;true&quot;&gt;&lt;/iframe&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
287. <div class="MsoNormal">Tennis is believed to have originated in the country in and around the 1880s, when the courts were restricted to the British elites. Later on there came the championships like the Punjab Lawn Tennis Championship in <st1:city w:st="on">Lahore</st1:city> (Now in <st1:country-region w:st="on">Pakistan</st1:country-region>), the Bengal Lawn tennis Championship in <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Calcutta</st1:place></st1:city> and the All India Tennis Association Championships. The British dominated these championships in the early years and the first Indian to win a championship in an Indian Tournament was Mohammed Saleem, who won the Punjab Lawn Tennis Championship in 1915. The All India Lawn Tennis Association (AILTA), stationed in <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Lahore</st1:place></st1:city> was formed in 1920. That was about the history of Tennis in the country.<br />
288. <a name='more'></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
289. </div><div class="MsoNormal">Even though the nation’s favorite sport is cricket, which incidentally was also contributed by the British rulers, Tennis has also managed to find a place in its own corners in the hearts of millions of Indians; thanks to the legends who made a mark in the history of Indian Tennis. Tennis, predominantly an individual’s game than being a team game, even though doubles matches are popular as well, provides the player with the credit of winning the tournament ‘single handedly’; so is the pace in which the player shots to fame. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
290. </div><div class="MsoNormal">It was during 1980s when the AILTA renamed itself to All India Tennis Association (AITA) in New Delhi, and a decade later, Tennis in India gathered some momentum with the association growing financially sound  and as an evidence of which, there stands high the  National Stadium in Delhi with a seating capacity of around 5000!</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
291. </div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
292. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img height="255" src="http://passionforcinema.com/wp-content/uploads/brothers-amritraj_vijay-anand1.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="320" /></td></tr>
293. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://passionforcinema.com/wp-content/uploads/brothers-amritraj_vijay-anand1.jpg&imgrefurl=http://passionforcinema.com/dan-in-real-life-review-the-amritrajs-nude-juliette-binoche-my-de-nuded-accent/&h=800&w=1000&sz=318&tbnid=T3opv9vql7YrmM:&tbnh=119&tbnw=149&prev=/images%3Fq%3Damritraj%2Bbrothers&zoom=1&q=amritraj+brothers&hl=en&usg=__OqxcElJ8oshDevnDwQWbUkJGTxY=&sa=X&ei=i6WJTJipCIaCvgPNm4nBCQ&ved=0CC0Q9QEwAw">Vijay and Anand Amritraj</a></td></tr>
294. </tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal">The Amritraj Brothers were arguably the first to create history in Grand slams; Vijay and Anand became the first Indians to reach the <st1:place w:st="on">Wimbledon</st1:place> men’s doubles semifinal in 1976. Vijay Amritraj earlier accredited himself with quite a bit of success when he managed to reach till the quarterfinals of 1973 and 1974 Wimbledon Championships respectively. He again shot to fame by repeating the same in 1981. In 1984 Vijay created history by beating the legend, John McEnroe. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
295. </div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
296. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img height="135" src="http://www.indiabuzzing.com/wp-content/uploads/leander-paes-wins-another-gland-slam-title3.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="200" /></td></tr>
297. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.indiabuzzing.com/2008/09/05/leander-paes-wins-another-gland-slam-title/">Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi</a></td></tr>
298. </tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal">Then it was the turn of another prodigy who lifted Indian Tennis to much greater heights- Leander Paes. With 6 doubles, 6 mixed doubles and numerous grand slam finals appearances, Leander is undoubtedly the invaluable contributor for creating a much needed appreciation for the game in the country. The Mahesh Bhupathi- Leander Paes duo is considered to be one of the best doubles team in the Grand Slams till date. Leander Paes is also a proud owner of rare distinctions like being the winner of Mens Doubles and Mixed Doubles Titles in the same Grand Slam (<st1:place w:st="on">Wimbledon</st1:place> 1999), also, he is the only Indian to have won Grand Slams in three different decades and the second to achieve the same after Rod Leaver.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
299. </div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
300. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img height="320" src="http://www.thepicky.com/images/2007/09/sania-mirza-38.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="239" /></td></tr>
301. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.thepicky.com/sports/sania-withdraws-from-sunfeast-open/">Sania Mirza</a></td></tr>
302. </tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal">And now, about the better half of Indian Tennis, Sania Mirza, who launched her career in 2003 was the first Indian woman to be seeded in a Grand Slam. Undoubtedly,  she is the highest ever ranked female player from <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">India</st1:country-region></st1:place>, with a highest rank of 27 in singles and 18 in doubles. Even though she has not accomplished any major Grand Slam titles, she did give a hard time for the biggies like Venus Williams in 2007 Australian open and <span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 10pt;">María José Martínez Sánchez</span></span> in 2008 Wimbledon Championships. It is not just for the accomplishments in the court which Sania is to be praised; she has definitely created a fan following by becoming a youth icon. Thanks to the modern day legends of Indian Tennis that many young talents are getting inspired and seeking out avenues to train themselves with the techniques for the sport. Hope Indian Tennis has many more Grand Slammers in the line for the future! </div><br />
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314. &lt;/script&gt;</description><link>http://sambarman.blogspot.com/2010/09/indians-who-grand-slammed.html</link><author>noreply@blogger.com (Unknown)</author><thr:total>4</thr:total></item><item><guid isPermaLink="false">tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7172273958394262773.post-7293801493730149095</guid><pubDate>Fri, 10 Sep 2010 03:23:00 +0000</pubDate><atom:updated>2010-10-11T22:33:45.743+05:30</atom:updated><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">cinema</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">places</category><category domain="http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#">proud sambar</category><title>Kerala goes Hollywood!</title><description>&lt;div style=&quot;text-align: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;br /&gt;
315. </div><br />
316. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
317. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img height="132" src="http://www.greatdrivingchallenge.com/ee/images/uploads/Bakel1.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="200" /></td></tr>
318. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.greatdrivingchallenge.com/ee/images/uploads/Bakel1.JPG&imgrefurl=http://www.greatdrivingchallenge.com/ee/index.php/nomines/blog/unny-bindhu/bekal_fort_of_tu_hi_re_fame/&usg=__l6IkKd1Hpsb3NOGTigHEiQqqZcM=&h=332&w=500&sz=78&hl=en&start=0&sig2=p1FhSWK7odYTw1ILpbKh8w&zoom=1&tbnid=37R0Ndb9unPGDM:&tbnh=124&tbnw=158&ei=lJmJTPf3JYHGvQOj74G6BA&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dtu%2Bhi%2Bre%2Bsong%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%26biw%3D1024%26bih%3D677%26tbs%3Disch:1&um=1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=439&vpy=375&dur=2498&hovh=157&hov">Bakel fort</a></td></tr>
319. </tbody></table><br />
320. <br />
321. <div style="text-align: right;"></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Kerala, the God's own country as labelled by the state's tourism promotion council, is not just a tourist's paradise anymore.  The picturesque locations are not just pretty sights and refreshing vacation spots for the tourists, the state is gradually rising to stardom with many of the landscapes being featured in Bollywood movies. The trend of featuring locations in Kerala in Bollywood is thought to have bud when the acclaimed director from the south, Mani Ratnam, got the dubbed version of his movie <st1:city st="on"><st1:place st="on">Bombay</st1:place></st1:city> in Tamil to Bollywood.<br />
322. <a name='more'></a><br />
323. <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: 1em; padding-bottom: 6px; padding-left: 6px; padding-right: 6px; padding-top: 6px; text-align: right;"><tbody>
324. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><img height="118" src="http://www.yaatrika.com/traveler/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/athirapally-2.jpg" style="cursor: move; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="200" /></div></td></tr>
325. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px; padding-top: 4px; text-align: center;"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><a href="http://www.yaatrika.com/traveler/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/athirapally-2.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.yaatrika.com/traveler/2010/03/waterfalls-in-kerala/&usg=__n4VaLbC">Athirappally Falls</a></div><div><br />
326. </div></td></tr>
327. </tbody></table>Bakel Fort in Kazargode, a monument which was never (to the knowledge of a movie buff) seen in any of the movies in Bollywood, thus became a 'celebrity' monument by getting featured in one of the songs in the movie- 'Tu hi re'. Even though the history of the fort dates back to the Perumal Age, it had to wait this long to be famous and it even got featured in a series of advertisements and various other South Indian movies later on. <span id="goog_176154693"></span><span id="goog_176154694"></span><a href="http://www.blogger.com/"></a></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
328. </div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
329. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img height="150" src="http://images.travelpod.com/users/caznjasonescape/6.1265401846.fort-kochi-street.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="200" /></td></tr>
330. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://images.travelpod.com/users/caznjasonescape/6.1265401846.fort-kochi-street.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.travelpod.com/photos/2/India/Kochi.html&usg=__OmeCwUO9rnEm3cipIGKWI1BrXmg=&h=413&w=550&sz=92&hl=en&start=2&sig2=DgSbWtcLoIQnrgt6WulAqA&zoom=1&tbnid=Qdakbe6TGnMQWM:&tbnh=100&tbnw=133&ei=taKJTMSEK4jqvQPcvemLBA&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dfort%2Bkochi%2Bstreets%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26biw%3D1024%26bih%3D677%26tbs%3Disch:1,isz:m&um=1&itbs=1">Fort Kochi Streets</a></td></tr>
331. </tbody></table><div style="text-align: justify;">Other Bollywood movies in which Mani Ratnam has utilized the scenic beauty of the state are Dil Se and Raavan. In Dil Se, in the song 'Jiya Jale' featuring Shah Rukh Khan and Preity Zinta, the backdrops kept on changing; from the beauty of Athirappally waterfalls and forests, and then through the enchanting backwaters of Alleppey. Might be because of the overwhelming appreciations which he got for magnifying the virgin beauty of Kerala through his movies, he decided to make Athirappally forests the backdrop for his latest movie Raavan. It is not just Mani Ratnam who is obsessed with the scenic beauty of Kerala, another ace director, Ram Gopal Varma chose Munnar, a beautiful hill station and a tourism hot spot in Kerala, for his movie Nishabd which had Amitabh Bachchan playing the lead. Another movie, starring the gorgeous Deepika Padukone and Farhan Akhtar, Karthik calling Karthik, also had glimpses of <st1:place st="on"><st1:placetype st="on">Fort</st1:placetype> <st1:placename st="on">Kochi</st1:placename></st1:place>, whose streets have the inheritance of Portuguese, Dutch and the British colonial era. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
332. </div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
333. <tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img height="123" src="http://www.rediff.com/news/1999/dec/02cott1.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="200" /></td></tr>
334. <tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.rediff.com/news/1999/dec/02us.htm">A scene from Cotton Mary</a></td></tr>
335. </tbody></table><div style="text-align: justify;">The tourism department in Kerala is upbeat with this trend and is planning to capitalize on it by promoting Kerala as an ideal location for movies; and they don't have any intentions on making this a local branding, instead, they are eying <st1:place st="on"><st1:city st="on">Hollywood</st1:city></st1:place> itself! Starting from Cotton Mary in 1999, Kerala has been on the radars of foreign movie makers. The Tea estates’ scenic beauty was also captured in The Mistress of Spices (2005), which had Aiswarya Rai in the lead role, and the movie’s screenplay was by the much acclaimed Gurinder Chadha. The promotions done by the tourism department has so far created only a minor impact amongst the film making fraternity world over, but it did manage to win the hearts of Mark Ratering and crew. Mark, a <st1:place st="on">Hollywood</st1:place> film maker came out with a horror thriller, Pirate’s Blood in 2008, three-fourth of which was shot in Athirappally and in the serene locations of Cherai beach. Unfortunately the movie failed to generate any impact in <st1:place st="on"><st1:country-region st="on">US</st1:country-region></st1:place> box office, and so the scenic beauty of Kerala went unnoticed. More over it might have got a negative publicity as it had Sunny Leone playing one of the lead characters, who happens to be a well known porn star!</div><div style="text-align: justify;">Hope it is high time that the tourism authority in Kerala adopts innovative means of promotions like in-film branding, better deals for film makers (like cheaper accommodation and facilities), and etc. Consumer brands do it, why not the tourism authority also does it? Since they have a much better product to offer- ‘The God’s own country’!</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br />
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