McDonalds in Madurai

I read very few books, though I have a big wish list! One of my favorite author is Thomas Friedman and I love his "The world is flat". His other book "The lexus and the olive tree" is primarily focussed on the globalization and the impact it made on various cultures around the globe. Mr. Friedman has a great technique of narrating even the complex subject in a simplified way.

I would like to quote one of the observation (with some context changes) in his book that I consider as the best.

"No two countries that has McDonalds is likely to wage a war in near future". A great point conveyed in a simplified way.

Anyways, globalization has made McDonalds play in both Michigan and Madurai. That's no problem. As long as the identity of McDonalds is associated with San Bernardino and not with Salem, its just fine.

You may be wondering what am I talking about. I heard "Taxi Taxi" from Sakkarakatti just now and I felt like writing this post with all due respect to the composer.

Kamal Bhagavathar

It was a pleasant surprise to me when I heard in an interview (way back) that Kamal Hassan learnt Carnatic music from none other than Dr.Balamurali Krishna. Here is the clip from an interview with Kamal Hassan and he even demonstrates his skill as a singer in our classical system.

Thanthaen Thanthaen

Of several actors who managed to stay in the stardom with the grace of Raaja's music, Ramaraajan would stay top in the list. 'Villupattukaaran' is one such movie and there is a situation in the movie where the heroine challenges the hero to sing a song where the lips never touch !! Meaning, never use Pa, Ma, Va etc.

A challenging situation for a lyricist, ofcourse!! I think this song was written by Gangai Amaran. Hear the song and you will find that never lip touches in the whole song.

Illayaraja about Kannadasan

Any amount of appreciation would be less for the brilliance of Kannadasan's instinct when it comes to lyrics and his philosophy.

Though Kannadasan and Illayaraja worked for a brief period, here is what Raaja has to say about Kannadasan and his experience with Kavignar:

I apologize about the quality of the clip.