ergo january 5

8/14/2019 Ergo January 5

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Monday, January 5, 2009A BYTE OF LIFE

BATTLE BEGINSFirst round action starts at theChennai Open

FREE CIRCULATION Vol. 3 No. 2

VIRTUAL HILARITY

Jammy is Indias funniestblogger

0308

LEADING MANComedian Karunas on playing the hero in Dindigul Sarathy

PAGE 10

PHOTO:R.R

AVINDRAN


2/16

ERGO Monday, January 5, 2009NAMMA CHENNAI02

Annoyed over no transferIn the telephone-tapping case thatrocked the political circles in the city, onewas arrested sometime ago. The accusedis known to have leaked the tapes after

he was thoroughly disappointed over adenied transfer to work at a place whichhe had requested for.

The fearing and waitingFollowing the Law College incident, mostcops are praying that they shouldnt beposted in the area under whosejurisdiction the college falls. Meanwhile,the khakis suspended after the collegeclashes are still running from pillar topost to revoke their orders and get backto service.

Unnecessary infoMost police inspectors and constablesattached to stations dont gel well with

police intelligence department constableswho work in their police limits. Thereason the intelligence men are seen asunnecessary information providers tothe senior police officers andmediapersons.

Residents of Jones Road nearSaidapet railway station

woke up on January 1, 2009to the shocking news of the

brutal double murder of an elder-ly couple in their locality. The vic-tims were Anantha Krishnan (60)and his wife Yamuna Bai (55),found dead inside their apart-ment by the cops after a domestichelp complained of foul smellcoming from inside.

Similarly, on November 20, Sa-ravanan (75), a retired Tamil Na-du Minerals Limited (TAMIN)official, his wife Kasturi (73) and

their maid Inbarasi (17) werefound murdered in their bunga-low in Ashok Nagar. The bodies

were discovered by a familyfriend who came home to accom-pany Saravanan for a morning

jog.In a similar case on November

18, 2007, once again an elderlycouple, Jacob and Mono Jacob,

were found dead at their homeon Sankaran Avenue, IndiraStreet in Velachery. The son ofthe deceased found the bodythree days after the incident.

Suspicions are running high inpolice circles now on whether allthe three murders are intercon-nected and could be the hand of

real estate mafia. Special policeteams have been formed to in-vestigate the recent murders andthe Jacobs murder case is alsolikely to surface duringinvestigation.

In the murders in Saidapetand Ashok Nagar, the propertydocuments were stolen along

with some jewellery and cash.Moreover, both the couplesdidnt have children and evenhad some property dispute withrelatives, said a senior investi-gating officer.

Apart from the victims beingsenior citizens, there are alsosome strong similarities betweenthe first two murders. Investiga-tors add that there are no signs offorcible entry into the houses and

there is a possibility that the in-truders were persons known tothe victims. All the victims werebrutally hacked; their throats

were slit and they were left to die.In the Jacobs case, reliable po-

lice sources reveal that the de-ceased Jacob, a retired employeeof MRF, had planned to sell hisproperty as both their sons hadsettled outside the state. He hadchanged his mind later and thatdecision is suspected to havesparked tension among somemajor bidders for his home.

Later, Jacob and his wife werefound dead in a decomposedstate inside their home in No-

vember, 2007. Police say eyewit-ness saw a man clad in whiteabandoning Jacobs car in Padap-pai a couple of days before thediscovery of the murder. The car

is suspected to have been taway by the killer(s) from Jachome after the crime.

However, to this very daylice are clueless about the Vchery twin murder. The situais more or less the same incase of the Ashok Nagar mur

However, according to moscent developments, police hcracked the Saidapet murder of Anantha Krishnan and wifemuna Bai. Three persons hbeen arrested and a 30-year

woman, Sangeetha of Vesuspected to be involved inmurder is absconding. Therested, identified as Dinesh Pugazhendi (29) and Senthiln

an (25), had murdered the coon December 29 with the atance of Sangeetha, who waold acquaintance of Yamuna

Mystery surrounds the murder of three elderly couples inthe city in the last two years. However, police claim to havsolved the most recent one in Saidapet

PETLEE [email protected]

Is it the real

estate mafia?

(Top) The bodyof Saravananbeing taken tohospital; theapartmentcomplex onJones Road,Saidapet,where anelderly couplewas foundmurdered onJanuary 1.PHOTOS:

S. S. KUMAR AND

S. R. RAGHUNATHAN


3/16

When and why did you startblogging?

I started blogging on May 19, 2003for no apparent reason. I love writ-ing and used to write short storiesand poems from when I was young.The thing is, whenever I askedfriends to read my poems, they

wouldnt bother. On the other hand,if I told them it was a poem by Long-fellow or Robert Frost (it was stillmy poem), they complimented it.This led me to think that people are

very biased. So I began a blog to seeif people could appreciate me formy writing.

Why did you choose humour asyour blogs theme?

No blog starts with a theme. Atheme evolves into the process of

writing. Thats when you find yourground and realise what exactlypeople like reading in your blog. Istarted my blog by publishing mypoems and short stories. But, I havealways loved satire. And a bad sati-rist ends up being a humorist. Iguess that explains me being a hu-mour blogger today.

Whats the story behind ouchmy toe?

A lot of time was spent on decid-

Its easy enough to hold a humorousconversation with Indias FunniestBlogger but a totally different sphere topull him into a serious one. Business headat ibibo.com, Jamshed Velayuda Rajana.k.a Jammy (his nom de blog), whoblogs about the idiosyncrasies of life onwww.ouchmytoe.com, dons a seriousmask with flashes of his ever-present

humour as he talks about his life and blog

ANUSHA PARTHASARATHY

Jamming with Jammying the name for my portal. The

world is a pretty crowded place andno one has time for others. Some-times in this rush, someone mayunintentionally hurt you. Dontmake a fuss about it. If, suppose,someone stamped your leg in acrowded street, dont pick a fight.Just say Ouch, my toe! and moveon.

And your name to fame;Jammy?

Jammy was a nick-name given to me bymy first boss becausehe couldnt decide

what name to usefor me Jamshed,or Velayuda or Ra-

jan and it has stuck wherever I havegone.You talkabout your wife alot on your blog. Howdid she react?

She didnt quite like it in thebeginning. She thought I was belit-tling her and her family. It was thenthat I introduced her to writers likeErma Bombeck, Bill Cosby andTownsend who made fun of theirfamilies and thus became rich; Iguess rich being the operative

word. With time, readers started toget involved with Rekha and gottalking to her via comments. She

loved it.Some of them even recogn

her offline. This made her a bigof my writing.

What factors do you think preaders to your blog?

The blog talks about incid without holding back anyNostalgia is always of the hard t(for example, when one only

two trousers). There is no attemade to look cool. Th

cidents mentioned always ended up b

a part of the realife somehow. I

pect all my reato associate wileast some ofincidents m

tioned in each pSo when a reader

associate with an dent, he/she is m

likely to like the write

How different is Jamshedfrom Jammy?

Very different. In the blog, Jamis a loser. In real life, he is a biloser. He projects himself as a quick- witted person. In real lifcan hardly tell a joke.

Have you ever used the phrOuch, my toe! in real life?

Yes, of course. Many times!

Monday, January 5, 2009


4/16

ERGO Monday, January 5, 2009KALEIDOSCOPE04

The objective of any tax planningexercise should be to maximize

wealth and not reduce tax byitself. Many a times by reducing

tax to the minimum, we are actuallyreducing our wealth. Lets see howoptimize tax benefit tools and maxi-

mize wealth.Invest, Save and Spend- Maxi-

mize Section 80 C benefitsThis section includes a number of

tools for investments, savings andexpenses with tax benefits up to amaximum of Rs.1,00,000/-.

Investments options include ELSSMutual Funds, ULIP (Unit Linked In-surance Plans) Insurance premiums(Subject to Life cover being equal toa minimum of 5 times the premium)and Pension plan investments.

The Savings options are: EPF,PPF, National Saving Certificate, Ki-san Vikas Patra and Housing loanprincipal

The Expense option: Childrenschool fees (excluding special fees,

bus fees, etc)Pension plans are better avoidedas they generally do not get tax bene-fits at the time of maturity whichmeans you save tax today but pay it

when you get the pension. Only 30%of the maturity amount in a pensionplan is tax free. The rest can be usedto buy a pension annuity or add themoney to other income in incomecomputation and get taxed again.Ordinary ULIPs with 5 times covercan give you the benefit without thepain.

Maximize Section 80DThis section is for health insur-

ance premium. The limits are

Rs.15,000/- for non-senior citizensand Rs.20,000/- for senior citizens.Maximize this with good insurancecover. Check Finergo dated 08 Dec2008. This premium is not an invest-ment per se. But in times of emer-gencies, it is a life saver! Literally!

Shift to Long Term Capital Gain(Avoid Short Term Capital Gains)

Ensure that your investments arelong term in nature - >1 year for eq-uity and equity oriented mutual

funds (zero tax in this case) and years for buildings (20% of indvalue). Dont sell land as land itmake some development on the - build a house, a commercial sor at least develop it into mulsites with water & EB connectiand then sell. That way you attlong term capital gains, which i

ways lesser than short term cagains. Next week we will understhe other tax savings options.

Part 3

Tax planning can also beabout maximising wealth

First correct answer wins a free 2009executive diary

Q1. How many stocks are there in thesensex?

A.10B.30C.4523D.10000

Q2. Which of these funds invest only infixed income securities?

A.EquityB.DebtC.BalancedD.Money market

Send answers to 9281398889 [email protected] If you think the right answer for

Q1 is A and for Q2 is B sms as 1A2B

Below are some words related topersonal finance. Try to find out themax number of words by changingjust one letter

For example: money - 1 toney 2 motey 3mosey 4 mopey 5 honey 6 coney 7 boney

1. Stock

2. Invest

3. cash

4. Insure

Mini quiz

Word morph

Scary protest

Protesters hold a scary mask as theydemonstrate against Israeli militarystrikes on Saturday in Germany.AFP PHOTO


5/16


Is staying fit and healthytopmost among your New

Year resolutions? Well, thisonline place could be youranswer, where you can ana-lyse your body and lifestyle,get tips about healthy eating,exercises, wellness and mo-tivation, among others.

LifeMojo is the entrepre-neurial venture of three En-gineering college friends Himanshu Khurana, NamitNangia and Varun Gupta

who quit their jobs with Tril-ogy in Bangalore to launch ahealthy lifestyle start-up.

Their target: People whoare always on the lookout forinteresting weight-loss pro-grammes or those with dia-

betes. Or, you could be abusy bee whose free timenever matches that of thenutritionist and would likethe idea of a diet consultant

who could answer yourumpteen health queries on-line.

While there are many inthe U.S catering to the West-erners, there is no site cater-

ing to Indian tastes, saysHimanshu.

The friends say that hav-ing Dr. Shikha Sharma, a re-nowned weightmanagement and health ex-pert based in Delhi, on theirteam is one of their biggestmotivating factors.

Their next big task is rop-ing in more nutritionists andpopularising online consul-tation. It will be a market-place for nutritionists,Himanshu says, citing an ex-ample of the community inOrkut where there are over800 nutritionists.

While some of the applica-tions are free, once a mem-ber takes up consultation

he/she will have to pay.If the online medium is

not your kind, then LifeMojois gearing up to launch simi-lar features on the mobile.Diet planner, tracker. Howabout getting health talk on

your phone?Log on to www.lifemojo-

.com to learn what the start-up has in store for you.

Home is theiroffice, hiring

is not on theirimmediate

agenda, andmaintaining

a sustainablebusiness is

their goal. TwoBangalore-

based start-upson how simpleobservations

andconversations

became abusiness idea

MUSIC for your souland for your ears

Dont you love to croon? Atleast sometimes? You may

not have a voice like LataMangeshkar, but you know

your rock when you sing be-fore friends. So, the nexttime log on to www.muzi-boo.com where an easy on-line recorder lets you plug-in

your microphone and startrecording.

Muziboo is an onlinecommunity bringing musi-cians amateurs and profes-sionals to upload anddiscuss music with manylike-minded people.

Nithya and Prateek Dayal,the couple who started it,say their advantage over oth-er similar platforms is their

pricing $25 per year (for 20and more uploads). Theirother means of revenue isGoogle advertisments.

Muziboo as an idea cameup during a conversation

with a friend who wanted toput up a website for sharinghis music videos. Our idea

was to build a solid commu-nity of amateurs and profes-sionals who can help others

with feedback and comments, says Nithya, who

was working in a wirelesstart-up with Prateek beforethey decided to turnentrepreneurs.

Though Muziboo startedas a music-sharing service in2007, over the months it hasusers from all parts of the

world. People upload any-thing from interviews andspeeches to mimicries andcreative voice mails, saysNithya talking about the suc-cess of Muziboo. The inno-vative user behaviour hasactually helped us diversifyour offering. We have half amillion page views everymonth.What does Muziboo

mean? It doesnt mean any-thing. We wanted to comeup with some name which

would have a global appealas we did not set out to buildan India-specific service.This was the first name wecame up with and we stuckto it, says Nithya.

Now, log on to www.muzi-boo.com to upload your mu-sic.

Watch your lifestyle Musically inclined

People behind LifeMojo Himanshu Khurana, NamitNangia and Varun Gupta

Nithya and Prateek Dayal the couple behind Muziboo


6/16

ERGO Monday, January 5, 2009VILLAGE06

Goldfish survivesA goldfish has amazed experts bysurviving out of water for up to 21hours.Fish usually die in minutes withoutwater as they need it to breathe.

Stolen Madoff statue returnedwith note attachedA statue stolen last month from Wall Streetfinancier Bernard Madoffs Florida home has beenreturned undamaged, and with a note attached, toa country club where the accused swindler is amember, Palm Beach police said on Thursday. Theattached note read: Bernie the Swindler, Lesson:Return stolen property to rightful owners. Signedby The Educators, according to police.

Reuters

Orangutan enjoys riding on a jetskiSurya, a four-year-old rescued orangutan, enjoys ridingon an inflatable jet ski at The Institute of GreatlyEndangered and Rare Species in Miami, Florida, USAcentre, which is its home. Surya, who was dressed in achilds wetsuit to keep warm, enjoyed floating acrossthe wide pool, waving at onlookers as the inflatablemoved around. Trainers at the centre put him in thepool every week to keep him active and challenged,and he enjoys splashing about with them. Suyra lovesplaying in the water. But he doesnt like getting hishead wet, so he wears a lifejacket so he doesnt gounderneath, the Telegraph quoted animal expert DrBhagavan Antle as saying.

ANI

Obama mulls compensationpackages for joblessUS President-elect Barack Obama is considering majorexpansion of government-assisted health careinsurance and unemployment compensation packagesfor helping the jobless, a media report says. BarackObama and Congressional Democrats are consideringmajor expansions of government-assisted health careinsurance and unemployment compensation as theybegin intensive work this week on a two-yeareconomic recovery package, the New York Timesreported in its Sunday edition. As part of theproposal, unemployment compensation would beextended to part-time workers.

PTI

Worlds longest marine causewayto connect Bahrain, QatarThe world longest marine causeway, a US$ 3 billionproject which will link Bahrain and Qatar, will come upin the Gulf region by 2013. The over 40 km twincarriageway, running across 22km of viaducts over thesea and 18km of embankments, will reduce travel timeby car between the Gulf countries by about four hours.Shaikh Mohammad Bin Essa Al Khalifa, Chief Executiveof Bahrains Economic Development Board, said theconstruction of the Friendship Causeway has alreadystarted. Geological and maritime surveys have alreadystarted and the implementation stage will begin soon.

PTI

The final note of Hillary RodhamClintons presidential cam-paign may very well be sung byJon Bon Jovi.

The musician is performing ata fundraiser for the former presi-dential candidate as she tries toclose out her campaign debt.

The January 15 performance atManhattans Town Hall is beingbilled as a final evening in sup-port of Hillary Clinton for Presi-dent Debt Relief. Ticket pricesrange from US$ 75 to US$ 1,000.

The former first lady and NewYork senator has been working topay down her debt to clear the

way for confirmation as Presi-dent-elect Brake Obs secretary ofstate. Federal ethics rules prohib-it Cabinet officials from actively

soliciting campaign contribu-tions.

As of last month, she still owedUS$ 6.3 million to vendors. She

also wrote off US$ 13.1 million inpersonal money she lent to thecampaign.

PTI

Bon Jovi tosing at NYCHillary Clinton

fundraiserThe January 15performance atManhattans TownHall is being billed asa final evening insupport of HillaryClinton for PresidentDebt Relief


7/16


The head teacher of a newschool in Sheffield, South

Yorks, has banned the usage ofthe word school, as it could

have a negative impact on the pu-

pils parents. Watercliffe Meadow, known as a

Place for Learning, has 481 pupilsand the kids from nursery to Year 6,are allowed to wear slippers insteadof shoes.

We decided we didnt want to usethe word school, the Sun quotedhead teacher Linda Kingdon as say-ing.

One reason was many parents ofchildren here had very negative con-notations of school. Instead we wantthis to be a place for family learning.There are no bells or locked doors.

We wanted to de-institutionalise theplace and bring the school closer toreal life, she said.

However, the decision to do away

with the word school has not beenmet with much favour.A school is a school. Seriously,

local mum Kimberley Dunne, 26,said.

The word school doesnt hnegative connotations, its

where you go. A schools abeen a school, why change it?

Marie Clair, of the CampaignPlain English, said: Its laughaDo they think by changing the nthey will change the environm

We all know what the buildinThere is this whole political corness agenda. Using unfam

words instead of a simple oneschool, will get in the way of drens ability to learn.

Andrew Sangar, Sheffield Coucabinet member for childrens

vices, added his thoughts.Its a school, he said.We consider it a school and th

how we refer to it, he said.

British school bans theword school as it couhave a negative impac

on the pupils parents

Its not a school,but a place for learning

Speculation is rife that Prince William and his ladylove KateMiddleton may soon tie the knotthis year after her parents havebeen invited to meet Prince Char-

les and his wife Camilla.Britains king-in-waiting andthe Duchess have asked Middle-tons mother Carole and fatherMichael to visit them at the RoyalFamilys Scottish estate Birkhall,according to the Daily Star.

An unnamed friend of the Mid-dleton family was quoted by theBritish newspaper as saying: ThePrince wanted to get to knowKates parents better, and itseemed to be the ideal time foreveryone. In fact, only two daysback, William and Middleton hadjoined Charles and Camilla for afinal break together before thesecond-in-line to the Britishthrone begins his training as anRoyal Air Force rescue helicopterpilot.

As Kate turns 27 on Friday, Wil-liam will throw a party at Tam-na-Ghar, his own secluded three-bedroom shooting lodge on theestate. The Prince has told hisfriends he is planning to spring asurprise to make her day, thenewspaper said. Later thismonth, William begins an 18-month training programme as anRAF search and rescue pilot.

PTI

Prince William and Kateto get married?

Mr. Handsome

A pugready to takepart in the160th dogshow inAhmedabadon Sunday. PTIPHOTO

Dead parrotAn ex-prisoner is suing a prison warden who he claims refused to let him make aphone call that would have saved his pet parrots life. Thomas Goodrich is seeking$500,000 in damages after he was denied the chance to contact a friend to feedFreddie the parrot, according to the Daily Telegraph.

This day, that yearIt was on January 5, 1919 thatAdolf Hitler joined The GermanWorkers Party and renamed itThe Nazi Party.


8/16

ERGO Monday, January 5, 2009SPORT08

Indias biggest tennis gala en-ters its 14th year and promis-es to keep the momentumgoing as a host of internation-

al stars descend on the tenniscapital of the country for the

week-long Chennai Open starting

at the SDAT Tennis Stadium inNungambakkam from Monday.

The last edition saw a host ofexciting matches culminating in agrand final between then worldNo. 2 Rafael Nadal and RussianMikhail Youzhny, which the Rus-sian dominated from the wordgo. But with both skipping themeet this time, the mantle will beon another Russian and worldNo. 5 Nikolay Davydenko to en-thral the crowd along with all-time favourite Carlos Moya. TheSpaniard, a regular feature at theseason-opener since the lasteight years, has a relatively easyfirst round taking on a qualifier atthe bottom half of the draw.

However, Davydenko will beup against Daniel Koellerer from Australia, ranked 125 in theworld, who has had a decent suc-cess in the ATP circuit since turn-ing pro in 2003. Davydenko, whohad a great 2008 season reachingthe final of the year ending Mas-ters Cup in Shanghai, will look forsome valuable ATP points and

will fancy his chances against asomewhat subdued field. Al-though the competition this yearclaims to have roped in as manyas seven top-50 players and 15from the top-100, it seems devoidof any star value that a Nadal,

Youzhny or Patrick Rafter hadbrought to the tournament in the

earlier editions. Although Swiss World No. 13Stansilas Wawarinka and the sec-

ond seed here had a relativelygood 2008 reaching the finals atthe Doha and Rome ATP events,his ticket to fame lies in the factthat he partnered the great RogerFederer to win gold at the BeijingOlympic Games.

Star attraction?

Devoid of star powers, theseplayers will find it hard to attractcrowds at the 5,000-seater stadi-um, though the organisers prom-ise a packed house.

Tennis legend Vijay Amritrajrubbished the claims of a deplet-

ed field and said: The field iseven this year and you cantname a favourite again. We have

a very high cut-off point and a few of the top players vyingthe title you can expect sgood tennis.

Others in the fray are the Ctian duo of Marin Cilic andKarlovic, besides German vetRainer Schuettler, who wondoubles title in 2005 partne

Yen-Hsun Lu of Taipei. The seed from Germany takes ondias wild card entrant Pra

Amritraj.Apart from Amritraj the In

contingent will be eagerly looto some magic from Somdev

Varman, who shot up to becIndias top-ranked singles plat 201 after turning pro at

AYON SENGUPTA

[email protected]

What a racquet!

THOUGH THIS

YEARS CHENNAI

OPEN SEEMS A

LITTLE LOW ON

STAR POWER,SPECTATORS CAN

EXPECT AN

EXCITING

TOURNAMENT

Tennis intellectualSerbian Janko Tipsarevic who downed world No. 6 Andy Roddick to reach the fourthround of the Wimbledon is the seventh seed at the US$ 450,000 Chennai Open. A sportsmanagement student, the Serbian is an avid reader and is always engrossed readingpsychiatry books of Nietzchse, Dostojevski and Goethe. He has a tattoo on his left handwith inscription Beauty will save the world from Dostojevski.


9/16

start of the 2008 season. The UScollege champion has shownenough promise on the pro-cir-cuit, winning a challenger eventat Lexington, and is expected togo past American Kevin Kim (117)in his first round match based onhis present form. But in all prob-ability, next up for Somdev will beformer world No. 1 Moya, thusruling out any chances of a fairy-tale debut at his home turf.

The doubles event shows morepromise than the singles line-upeven after the top doubles pairingof Mike and Bob Bryan pulled out

at the last minute. With no lovelost between Leander Paes andMahesh Bhupathi, the Indianduo will be looking forward tosurpass each other playing withtheir respective partners. Lean-der, who along with Maheshbroke into the world doublesscene from this very champion-ship during the mid 90s and thenwent on to win two Grand Slamdoubles before the two fell out,said: It feels great to be backamong friends and at a familiarenvironment. I really have a lot tolook forward to in this edition

and I expect ChennaiOpen to act as a step-ping stone for me formore success in 2009.

SecuritySecurity measures

for this years ChennaiOpen have been height-ened in the wake of the recentterror attacks in the country. Brit-ish security consultant Reg Dick-ason, who oversaw securityarrangements during the India-England Test series in Chennaiand Mohali, would be handling

the arrangements for the ATPTour event. Assuring a safe tournament,

Dickason said: Arrangements forthe tennis event is very different.Security for cricket was enhancedbecause of spectator support andalso the number of entry and exitpoints. Here also we have con-ducted a pre-event check in for-malising the securityarrangements and security initia-tives were addressed to. Our role

will be to add to the existing se-curity arrangements with a lot ofpolice personnel.

Rumours say that top playerslike Mike and Bob Bryan of theUS and Croatian Ivan Ljubicicpulled out of the US$ 450,000event because of security con-cerns. But differing from the pop-ular view, Ravi Krishnan,consultant to IMG, owners of the

ATP Chennai Open, said: Notone communication came fromany player or ATP about securityconcerns.

We took the step because of theenvironment that we are living intoday. No one expressed hostilityor any concern.

Leander Paes at a practice session at theNungambakkam Tennis Stadium. PHOTO: S. S. KUMAR


This would be my seventh visit in the last eight years. I always look forwardto coming to Chennai. I love the courts and the crowd always supports me. I

just want to come here and give my best and enjoy being part of this populartournament.

Two-times winner Carlos Moya

From left: Lukas Dlouhy, Leander Paes,Vijay Amritraj and Rainer Schuettler atthe draw ceremony of the Chennai OpenTennis Tournament. PHOTO: R. RAGHU


10/16

ERGO Monday, January 5, 2009FLICK10

Karunas is on top of theworld now. His new re-lease, Dindigul Sarathy,where he plays the hero

Sarathy, is the talk of the town.Recently, director Balu Mahen-dra called me to congratulateme for my new movie. He said itis difficult to make the audiencesit for two-and-a-half hours at astretch, and that I have achievedit easily. This is more than anaward for me, says comedianKarunas aka Karunanidhi.

Introduced by director Bala inNandha, Karunas immortalised

the role of Lodukku Paandy inhis debut movie. And since then,theres been no looking back forhim, now one of the busiest co-medians in Tamil cinema.

Dindigul Sarathy was a sur-prise package for Karunas fans,as the comedian turned a full-time hero. A remake of actor-di-rector Srinivasans Malayalammovie Vadakku Nokki Yendram,Dindigul Sarathy is the story ofan average-looking youth whogets married to a good-looking

woman and his travails thereaf-ter. It was initially decided thatdirector Srinivasan himselfwould direct the movie. But thatdidnt happen, as he had otherassignments. As I liked the storyvery much, I started looking outfor a director and producer. SunPictures and director Siva Shan-mugham fulfilled my dream. Weworked for two years to bringout the movie and from the re-sponse I get now I think we havedone a decent job.

A post graduate in Tamil Liter-ature, Karunas says that duringhis college days he would doanything to make himself thecentre of attraction. During one

of the college culturals, I wore asalwar for three days to makeeveryone look at me. Since child-hood my aim was to becomepopular.

The off-screen Karunas is a se-rious person. I am not a humo-rous person like actor S.Ve.Sekhar. But I can guarantee thatI can make people laughthrough my acting. I dont mindappearing for just one scene,but my part should be impor-tant. In Yaaradi Nee MohiniI justhad a few scenes, but peopleliked me very much in the film,the actor says, adding that hewould never act in comedyscenes with double-entendres.

I am a great fan of actorChandrababu. He is a good actoras well as musician. I started mycareer as a singer. I never dreamtof acting in movies. Now withthe popularity I enjoy in cinema,I am concentrating fully on act-ing. One day I will surely bag theNational Award for Best Come-dian, though there is no suchaward category now, says Ka-runas, who is now eagerlyawaiting shooting for Rajini-kanths Endhiran.

The phenomenal growthof actor Karunas from acomedian to hero

V. [email protected]

Padikkathavan for PongThe Dhanush-starrer Padikkathavan mbe released this Pongal. The movie is sto be a racy entertainer with loads ofcomedy.

PH

OTO:R.

RAVINDRAN

During one ofthe collegeculturals, I wore

a salwar forthree days tomake everyonelook at me.Since childhoodmy aim was tobecome popular


11/16

Pop star Britney Spears has been warned by model Jesse Randhawa, who is the girlf-riend of Spears new love interest Sandip Soparrkar.

According to mirror.co.uk, Randhawa warned Spears to stay away from her man.The 39-year-old Randhawa is upset about reports that Spears has started an affair

with Soparrkar.Spears and Soparrkar reportedly spent three days during Christmas in Jodhpur and also

spent New Year together where he introduced her to his parents.Randhawa said: Britneys gone through so much turmoil in her life and instead of

making her a better person, it looks like shes just left all her morals and ethics behind. Sheknows hes in a relationship and is happy so why spoil it?

She added: Britney did come over to India and she and Sandip went away for a few days,but it was purely professional. They were busy rehearsing. I really do wish shed just leave usalone now.

It was Britney and her management who keep hassling Sandip to get his pictures takenwith her and her dad Jamie. And one of her team even borrowed Sandips laptop and sentout emails from Sandips address saying that he was on a romantic break with her. SinceIve known Sandip Ive not seen him even once have a roaming eye on another girl. He

would never go for Britney anyway. Shes just not his type.Spears had first met Soparrkar at Madonnas 50th birthday bash in London.

IANS

Britneysjust not his type


Travoltas son deadJett Travolta, 16-year-old son ofHollywood actor John Travolta, wasfound dead in the bathroom of aresort in the Bahamas.

Where theres a Will, theres hay

Will Smith, star of Hancock and Seven Pounds, hasbeen voted the top money-making movie star of2008 in an annual poll of movie theatre owners andfilm buyers.Smith is only the second African-American actor after

Sidney Poitier to top the Quigley poll, which hasbeen running for 76 years.Robert Downey Jr came second, Christian Bale thirdand Shia LaBeouf fourth in the list.Anne Hathaway was named a star of tomorrow aswas Chris Pine, who will play Captain Kirk in 2009sStar Trek movie, reports the BBC.Tom Cruise did not make the Top Ten for 2008despite being voted No. 1 seven times since 1983.Depp, the Pirates of the Caribbean star who wasplaced first in 2007, also did not make the 2008 list.The Quigley Poll has been conducted every year since1932 by the publishers of the International MotionPicture Almanac.It asks movie theatre owners and film buyers to votefor the 10 stars they believe generated the most boxoffice revenue for their theatres during the year.

ANI


12/16

ERGO Monday, January 5, 200912

Fridays Query:

Who would youlike to build atemple for andwhy? Everyone should buildtemple to their parents for

their care and love

S Balaji, Amit, Lokee - TCS,

Sandy - HCL,

Baskaran Ramasamy- Ramco Systems,

Sasi Kumar Thiagarajan

- Infosys,Lavanya.R

- Hexaware

Tamizh thaathha "ShriU.V.Swaminathan". He is thereal saviour of our mothertongue. Had he not beenthere, we wouldve missedmost of the precious Tamizhliteratures once for all

Mukund,

SCB Scope International

Superstar Rajnikanth forhis divine look. Attitudetowards problems he isfacing and his way ofcarrying himself in on screenand off screen. He made agreat impression on Indianyouths. He is the role modelfor millions of youngsters

Shiva,Perot Systems

Sachin Tendulkar, becausehe is the man who madeeach and every Indian feelproud to be one by beingthe owner of almost all the

world records in both formsof international cricketS. Prasanna Kumar

- RamTch Software Solutions,

Vignesh C- Cognizant

My ex-team leader for thesupport and care which I gotfrom her during my initialdays at office

Ajeet,

TCS

For my mother becauseshe only gave life for me andshe gives love, affection andeverything for me

A.T.Karthikeyan,S.Stanly George

- Perot System,

Minu- Sutherland,

Dhananjayan

- Scope International,Subhashini

- CGSL

Actor Vijay. He provedattraction is important thanbeauty

Balaji Thanappan,Mani,Wipro

A temple for my fatherwho left this world recently.He was one such dad likePrakashraj in AbhiyumNaanum movie

Priya,

CSS Corp

Mother Teresa for herlove to the deprived anddevoted to be love in actionon earth

Sathyanarayanan- FSS,

Raguraman

- Wipro

Dr.Abdul KalamRakshita Sreenivasan,

Wipro Technologies

E.V.Ramasamy (Periyar).Because he is the personwho said to believe in maninstead of god

Gunasekaran.N,

HCL

Namitha. She is thegoddess of Tamil cinema

Annapoorani M,

TCS

Martyrs who lost their

life in the Mumbai attackbecause worshiping them isequal to worshiping god

Archana Ramakrishnan,

TCS

Todays Query:If a new planetis discovered byIndia, whatwould you nameit and why?

Sagar from IBMhas nominatedhis friends aspartners incrime. Theyclicked this picat Queensland.

Vasudevan fromAdventNet hasnominated histeam "Sabai" asPartners inCrime.

Neetha SThomas of

Hexaware hasnominated herfriends aspartners inCrime.


13/16


If a Flower is empty what do u call it,Cauli-FlowerThiruvalluvar 1330 kural ezhidhirundhaalum avarala oru kuralil thaanpaesa mudiyum

Saravanan , HCL

avar romba munjakkirthai ullavar inu eppadi sollura?Avar Email ku kuda stamp otti anuppuvaar.

Sivanandam

Wipro

Dear Kamesh,A warm Welcome to CGSL. Newcareer in your life, in this NewYear.Yet another successful

journey, starts today. Wishes fora bright future and, "All TheBest."

Heartfelt Wishes from,Ramya.S, CGSL.

Dear Raja alias Raasukutty,Wish you many more happyreturns of the Day and have asplendid year ahead. May all

your dreams come true.Klarity Defect Team,

HCLT

Hi Harini,Wishing you all the best in theyear to come. May your days befilled with sunshine andbeautiful colours. And may yournights be filled with comfortingdreams and wishes to come.

Your loving friends,

Hannah and Krithika

Dear HCL Vijay,Iniya Pirantha Naal Vazthukkal.We wish that your HCL dreamscome true by this Year!!!Wheres the Party????

Team Worldsource TCS

Dear RudhraShree M,Wish u many more happyreturns of the day. May the godbless you withProsperity, joyful health andpeace filled year ahead.

With Loving Parents,Manianand & Kirthika

Hi Sobi & Jeni,Wish u happy prosperous "NEWYEAR 2009" to u & ur Family.May God bless U wid Hapinez,peace. My Heartiest New yearWishes.

with warm wishes from,

H.Nizam.Optimus Global Services

, Dear Suda,Belated Birthday wishes!! Letthis birthday make ur lifebrighter than ever and let all urdreams come true.

Regards,

Naraine,Infy

Dear RudhraShree M,Wish u many more happyreturns of the day. May the godbless you withprosperity,joyful health andpeace filled year ahead.

With lots of luv,

Murugesan & family.

Murali from Scope International has been nominatedas Office Angel by his friend Dhananjayan.

He is a very nice guy, never says NO to any request from

the employees and completes it before the deadline. He

knows 90 percent of the staff by their names. He is nice toall the employees from the Head to the canteen guy. He

deserves to be Office Angel of our company.

Bharathi of Infosys hasdoodled this.


14/16

ERGO Monday, January 5, 2009TRAFFIC JAM14

Printed and Published by S. Karthik on behalf ofKASTURI & SONS LTD., at Plot B-6 & B-7,CMDA Industrial Complex, Maraimalai Nagar,Chengleput Taluk, Kancheepuram Dist., Pin:603209 & at Kasturi Buildings, 859 & 860,Anna Salai, Chennai-600002. Editor: S. Karthik(Editor responsible for selection of news underthe PRB Act). RNI No. TNENG/2007/24553

TEAMEditor: Karthik [email protected]

Sr Dy Chief Designer: J.A. Prem KumarDy Chief Designer: R. Ravi KannanIllustrator: R. Venugopal

Technical Support:V.R. Vasudevan, K.G. GurumurthyN. Ravichandran, E. Baskar

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FAX 2857 6691

sudoku

KAKURO

OverdraftA student from England was left stunned afterlooking at his online banking statement - itshowed him to be overdrawn by almost $146billion (GBP100billion). Barclays bank blamed atechnical error.

So you think you would make a terrific photographer but never reallyhad the platform? Mail us your best work and well publish it in thisspace, with credit.E-mail: [email protected]

Pradeep from Infosys sent uspictures of Niagara Falls,

which he took last July.Hobby: Photography

Starting today tillthe end of themonth, all photosselected forclickpick willreceive a giftvoucher worthRs.1,000 courtesyKantilalDiamonds.Readers are

requested to sendtheir addresseswith their entries.


15/16


B.C

BORN LOSER

FREE RANGE WORKING IT OUT

PREVIOUS

ISSUES

SOLUTIONS

ARIES MARCH 21 - APRIL 20

TAURUS APRIL 21 - MAY 20

GEMINI MAY 21 - JUNE 20

CANCER JUNE 21 - JULY 20

LEO JULY 21 - AUG 20

VIRGO AUG 21 - SEPT 20

LIBRA SEPT 21 - OCT 20

SCORPIO OCT 21 - NOV 20

SAGITTARIUS NOV 21 - DEC 20

CAPRICORN DEC 21 - JAN 20

AQUARIUS JAN 21 - FEB 20

PISCES FEB 21 - MARCH 20

Predictions by Bhavesh N. Pa

The first half the day seems very good. You will working on money generating ideas. Ganesha finyou full of vigour throughout the day. Try to relasuggests Ganesha, or you will be completely draout even for a sweet romance with your beloved

You may feel as if you are married to yourcomputer, but do not worry much, its just for aday. As soon as you are done with work, you mwant to rush home. A tiring day at work maymotivate to attend recreational activities.

You may be in a self-developmental mood toda

You may get inspired by someone. All yourcommunication will be affective. On the relationsfront, if you want to receive affection, you shoulbe considerate towards your beloved.

Work may not be too heavy hence you will remabusy with routine work. Ganesha warns you agawasting time as work pressure may increase. In evening you may entertain your beloved and havgood time. The day might be tricky to handle.

Sentiments and emotions might drench you in thmorning. Interestingly, the noon may appear witparadox. Ganesha feels you will be more practictowards your final objective later during the day.Love life may take a back seat.

Ganesha finds you behaving very amicably withcolleagues. You will be able to put your point

across in official meetings. Love life will be floodwith sweet conversations and moments. Due to tyou will feel on the top of the world today!

Your memory will be very sharp today. Hence yowill remain good with digits and integers. Also,memory will also ease the process of rectifying perrors related to work. On the love front, you mineed to develop a compromising approach.

To err is human and to rectify is smart. If yourealise that you are working in the wrong directstop immediately and change the direction. Ganeassures that your efforts wont get wasted. In lolife you are noticed to be judgemental.

You may try to be friendly with everyone at officAlong with the routine work, you may also feel doing some more research on work related topic

Ganesha advises you to work according to yourpriorities in life. Love life may be full of emotion

The day favours combination of creativity andtechnology. Ganesha feels you should work on fidesigns of products and softwares. If finalized nothe final product will be wonderful. Since you arengrossed in work, personal life may suffer a bit

Philosophical and practical thinking go hand in htoday. Your advices for others might just go in vtoday. Since you are feeling divine, you might tto establish a spiritual connection with beloved.Ganesha finds this Karmic day to be good for wo

It is always advisable to clear the back log.Ganesha feels your pending work might bother ytoday. Ganesha also advises you to avoid mentastress and take proper care of your health. Love will not cause any tension today.

Words worth"Empasm" (em-paz-m) a perfumed powder sprinkled on the body toprevent sweating or for medicinal purposes. A similar word with the sammeaning is diapasm; both come from a Greek verb meaning to sprinkleThere is no recorded use of either word since the late nineteenth centu

Vegetable oilAn Air New Zealand jumbo jet hassuccessfully completed a two-hourtest flight that was partly poweredby vegetable oil.


16/16

ERGO Monday, January 5, 2009!16

Amitabh Bachchan and Aamir Khan attend the book launch of Bachchanaliain Mumbai on Saturday. PTI PHOTO

A member of the Sikh Nihang Army Baba Jagir Singh wears aturban made with 250 metre of cloth while paying homage at

the Golden temple in Amritsar on Sunday. AFP PHOTO

A man dressed as a King distributes candies to residents duringan event to mark the end of Christmas season in Manila on

Sunday. AFP PHOTO

One look is it takesNEWS AND NEWSMAKERS IN PICTURES

ergo january 5

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