Ergo March 10

8/14/2019 Ergo March 10

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/ergo-march-10 1/16

Tuesday, March 10, 2009A BYTE OF LIFE

FREE CIRCULATION Vol. 3 No. 45

RROOA A DD

Royal Enfield is the oldestsurviving motorcycle

company in the world and

its factory in Tiruvottiyurproduces the world’s oldest

motorcycle model

PHOTO: R. RAVINDRAN

08 SOMDEV carrying India’s Davis Cup hopes 05 SEPIA STORY

An IT employee quits his 9 to 5 job to pursue his dream job that is photography

» PAGE 02

KKIINNGG

8/14/2019 Ergo March 10


ERGO Tuesday, March 10, 2009NAMMA CHENNAI02

The Alliance Francaise of Madras is hostinga Canadian Children’s Film Festival from

March 9 to 12 at the AFM Auditorium. Thefilms are being screened in association withUTV, to celebrate Francophonie (Frenchspeaking), celebrated in March.Tapdole and the Whale, to be screenedtoday, is the story of 12-year-old Daphne, anextremely sensitive girl who knows how tosing to the whales and has dolphins as bestfriends.On Wednesday, The Clean Machine, a filmdirected by Jean Beaudry will be screened. Itrevolves around the story of 12-year-oldCharles and Ben, who set up their cleaning

company. The festival concludes with HiddenFortress. Two groups of teens are carrying onan organised war game. One group mastersthe art of ambush while their feathered“enemies” have a well-kept secret: thepalatial tree house perched high.The films will start at 5.30 p.m. For detailscontact 2827 9803/ 2827 1477

It’s Francophonie!Let’s watch

Few might be aware thatChennai houses the oldestmotorcycle company in the

world, which till date pro-duces the motorcycle with thelongest production run. The leg-endary Royal Enfield motorcyclecompany in Tiruvottiyur, Chen-nai, well-known for its flagshipmodel Bullet 350, is the oldestmotorcycle manufacturer rolling out state-of-the-art cruisers inthe country.

The Chennai chapter started in1955 with Enfield India Limitedproducing Royal Enfield motor-cycles mainly for the Indian Army under license from Enfield CycleCompany, Redditch, England.

After being acquired by EicherGroup in 1994, today Royal En-field Motors Limited, India, is oneof the frontrunners in its class.The Royal Enfield factory, spreadover nine acres off TiruvottiyurHigh Road, Tiruvottiyur, rolls outover 4,000 motorcycles every month. A workforce of over 300people working round the clock

in four shifts crafts some on-marvels that are a source of efor other players in the mark

The factory greets visitors its test track, where RE molike the Thunderbird, MachisElectra and Bullet are testedengine assembly area and a torcycle assembly area are acent to each other, whereformer doubles up as a test lavarious engines like 350cc, 5and, notably, the Twinspark

A certified engine is takethe motorcycle assembly, wit is mounted on to a chassis

The Royal Enfield in India is the oldest surviving motorcyc

company in the world and its factory in Tiruvottiyur produces the world’s oldest motorcycle model

PETLEE [email protected]

The legendK.R. Sundaram of Madras Motors (C) inspecting the bikes at the Redditch factory in 1953. Phocourtesy: Royal Enfield: The Legend Rides On

Dev D t-shirtsPlanet M has launched a range of ‘Dev D’ t-shirtpriced at Rs. 249 each. The funky collection ofshirts has been inspired by the look and feel of movie Dev D. The collection is available at Planestores in Anna Nagar, Mylapore andNungambakkam.

8/14/2019 Ergo March 10


run on a 50-metre-long assembly line. At the rear end of the line

one can see a complete motorcy-cle assembled by some skilledand swift fitters. Every 20 to 30minutes, a full bike takes shape.

After this the motorcycle goesthrough four levels of inspection– static, dyno, track and pre-de-livery inspection.

S. Gunasekaran, a vehicle in-spector at the factory, has beentesting bikes since the past 34years and has seen all types of

Royal Enfields rolled out, fromthe traditional Bullet to the con-temporary Thunderbird Twin-spark.

“I test the bikes for engine per-formance, brakes, electrical fit-tings and overall aesthetics,” hesays. “I have seen the motorcycleevolve over the years. New

motorcycles like the Thunder-bird, with the gears on the left,

have revolutionised the ride foreveryone.” Another veteran at the factory

is A. Sekar, a senior mechanic atstatic inspection. He checks over30 bikes a day for electrical fit-tings.

“The company has gonethrough ups and downs butthings are good now. We are hap-py that the bikes that we producehere are not just popular among the oldies but also the younger lotthese days,” he says.

The finished motorcycles aresent out to various dealers spreadthroughout the country.

Royal Enfield also has its com-pany-run showrooms in eachcity, with Chennai’s outlet locat-ed in Besant Nagar.

Sachin Chavan, Senior Manag-er, Marketing, Royal Enfield, says,

“The legendary brand hasevolved over the years in thecountry and its latest models, likethe Thunderbird Twinspark, aredoing extremely well in themarket.”

He also informs that Royal En-field has orchestrated several bik-er community events, the mostsignificant among them being Rider Mania and HimalayanOdyssey.

“The Himalayan Odyssey, which will begin in mid-June, hasbeen highly subsidised by thecompany solely to promote ridercamaraderie,” adds Chavan. ■

(Made in Chennai is a columnthat showcases the evolution of home-grown businesses that be-

gan when the city was Madras.)

1893 - Enfield Manufacturing Company Limited, manu-facturing bicycles, was formed in England.

1949 - RE models were imported from England to be soldhere.

1955 - Enfield India Limited in Chennai started producingRoyal Enfield motorcycles mainly for the Indian Army un-der license from Enfield Cycle Company, Redditch, En-gland. The motorcycles were put up for sale for the publicfor the first time.

1968 - Royal Enfield collapsed in England.

1973 - The 173-cc Mini Bullet was launched.

1990 - The RE Taurus, a diesel motorcycle, was launched.

1993 - The Bullet 500 was launched.

1994 - Eicher acquired Enfield India, which then becameRoyal Enfield Motors Limited.

2002 – Royal Enfield Thunderbird, India’s first cruiser,was launched.

With inputs from the book

Royal Enfield: The Legend Rides Onand the Royal Enfield website.

FACTFILE

Distinctive stripes

If you want to witness for yourself how the RE cycles aremade, don’t miss a chance to visit the factory on Tiruvottiyur High Road in Tiruvottiyur on Saturday mornings following prior appointment. The fee for the visit is Rs. 600 perhead. Call 044 – 42043300/ 42230400 to fix your visit.

Those perfect thingolden stripes on

fuel tanks and mud-guards that charac-terise Royal Enfieldmodels like the Bul-let and Machismo areinterestingly hand-painted by twobrothers E. Kishoreand E. Jayakumar atthe factory. “In twoshifts I paint stripeson upto 50 tanks,”says Jayakumar, whohas clocked 15 yearsin the factory. Theduo’s penchant forperfection is a sourceof awe and admira-tion for many, in-

cluding theircolleagues.

Visit the RE factory

rides on

he Royal Enfield assembly line at the Tiruvottiyur factory in Chennai. PHOTO: R. RAVINDRAN

E. Jayakumar at woPHOTO: R. RAVINDRAN

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Classic in IndiaThe Royal Enfield Classic model, an adaptation ofthe RE vintage model, is likely to enter the Indianmarket towards the end of 2009. At present, theClassic is being exported.

8/14/2019 Ergo March 10


ERGO Tuesday, March 10, 2009TECHNORAMA04

Decked up with a full 12inch capacitive touchpanel with multi-touchtechnology – which allows you to crop, edit, drag, double tap, pinch,

zoom, arc, rotate and flick – the HP TouchSmart TX2 -1005AU clearly beats

the new MacBook in its own ‘touch’ game. HP’s patented imprint finishcalled Reaction Pattern, gives the TX2 its visual fl air. Beefily spec’ed, the2.1GHz processor, 3GB of RAM and Radeon HD3200 graphics, ensureWindows Vista is butter-smooth.Audio is loud and punchy, courtesy Altec Lansing speakers.

Rs 64,990 plus taxes, www.hp.com/in

TOTAL RECALLWith its expanded 16GB capacity and muscledClass 4 speed rating that transfers data at a

fl at 4MB/ sec, Kingston’s new SDHC video cardsensure you never, ever miss a moment. So strapthat camcorder, stack an extra battery pair andgo Rec, Rec, Rec. Now where’s that T20 match?Rs 820 onwards, www.kingston.com/india

Technology

snippets

sourced from

T3 magazine

of Infomedia

18 Group

DELL MINI 12

Weighing only 1.2kg and less thanan inch thick the Mini 12 is

compact. You get Intel’s AtomZ530, 1GB of RAM, GMA 500integrated graphics 1.3-megapixelwebcam, and an 80GB hard drive.Connectivity options includeBluetooth 2.1, 802.11g mini cardand Ethernet. Windows XP HomeEdition comes bundled as thedefault operating system.

THE MIGHTY MINIDon’t let the moniker fool you, this mini packs a

punch. Certainly a crest above the usual netbooks,this wonder is in a league of its own. Dell’s resorted toits usual understated styling but it oozes quality. The12.1-inch screen is the clincher.

TBC, www.dell.co.in

SO ‘BERRY’ CHIC The sensuality of Laura Hepburn, the

machismo of Daniel Craig and the iconicopulence of Burberry all wrapped in oneframe to dress your eyes. Behold the newwinter eyewear collection fresh from UK.

Rs 10,910, www.burberry.com

No chatting please, its Lent An Italian archbishop wants young Catholics to give up text messaging, s

networking websites and computer games for Lent. Monsignor Benito Cocchthe city of Modena, said foregoing the activities would help them "cleanse thselves from the virtual world and get back into touch with themselves".

CHAIN REACTIONHP’S MULTI-TOUCH TABLET

Bucking the trend, HPhas opted for AMD’sTurion instead of Intel’sCentrino 2 platform

Multi-touchapart, abatterylesselectrostatic pencan be used

8/14/2019 Ergo March 10


“A

good dose of realism andsunshine” is the perfect

recipe for a natural portrait. And no one knows this

better than ex-IT employee-turned-full time photographer P. Manoj whodoes this for a living. His blog,

www.sepiastory.com, stands testimo-ny to his work, predominantly por-traying normal people in theireveryday whims and fancies. But whatmakes him click?

A nine-hour-job in an IT firm thatrequired him to sit in front of a mon-itor was not Manoj’s idea of a dream

job and he realized it soon enough. Anartist since childhood, his heart wasset on fine arts and photography. Oneday, he decided to quit this job andfollow his dream. Apart from working in IT, he also had stints as a press pho-

tographer, as a copywriter and as acreative head in an advertising agen-cy. But, the passion within stayed dor-mant until photography came along.

Finally, in 2006, when he felt he hadenough dough in his kitty to aid hiscreative quest, he quit his job andtook to photography, full time. “My

job at IT was not fulfilling. After thefirst three years, I knew I wouldn’t last.But I had a family to support and billsto pay. Therefore, I worked for fourmore years and in the mean timeplanned out my future as a photog-rapher. Those four years became themost crucial years of my life”, Manojrecalls.

Stylized portraits were a rage thenbut deciding take the less-trodden

path, he later came up with a betteridea; natural portraits. “Most peopledon’t get a portrait done. I felt normalpeople should also get one for keep-sakes. But it need not necessarily beportraits where one has to pose. Thiskind of portrait must be natural and inan environment where they are com-fortable in, usually their own home.That’s my style of photography. Itmixes art and photography. I finally found what I was looking for”, he says.

To help kick start his career, he be-gan his blog in 2007 and began narrat-ing his experiences while clicking thepictures. Thus ‘Sepia Story’ began.

“Most photographers give technicaldetails on their photoblogs. I don’tcare for technical details. Anyone cangive you those. There is an interesting story behind every photo. I would like

to tell the world those stories. Normal-ly a Sepia tint conveys nostalgia. Sincethese pictures trigger memories, I de-cided to call it Sepia Story.”

Though the blog did not take off well initially, his persistence paid off and people began to notice him. “Se-pia Story helped people know not only about my photos but also about me asa person, through my vivid descrip-tions. People were fascinated by thestories I narrated on my blog. Soon, Ibegan to get a lot of positive feedback and word began to spread about meand my works. The blog helped mereach out to my clients in a way noother medium could have helped,” hesays.

According to Manoj, there are two

things that set apart his photosfrom the rest. “I do notuse flash

when I click photos. They are taken ina natural surrounding using naturalight. That is what I meant by ‘a doseof realism’. Also, I take candid shotsand do not like my subjects to pose for

a photograph. This gives me room tocommunicate with them, make themfeel comfortable and then click photosnaturally. Therefore, the pictures arenatural and show true emotions.” Healso maintains a database of all thephotos he has clicked till date.

Apart from portraits, Manoj has alsoventured into architecture, interiorsand furniture photography. His services cost anywhere between Rs. 2,000to Rs. 20,000 depending on the placetime and kind of photography. He

works based in Kerala but is also opento outstation orders.

“I do not know of anyone else in thiscountry who offers this kind of service. There are a few abroad but nonehere that I know of. At the end of it all

a picture is about visual communi-cation, mood and what you wan

to communicate. And I’m happy with the way I’m doing it,”

he smiles. ■You can contact Manoj on

his mobile 9444916905 o

email him [email protected]

Manoj from Kerala pursued his dreams of becoming a full-time photographer through his blog www.sepiastory.com

ANUSHA PARTHASARATHY

[email protected]

Behind every PICTURE …

“A picture is aboutvisual communication,

mood and what youwant to communicate.And I’m happy withthe way I’m doing it.”


8/14/2019 Ergo March 10


ERGO Tuesday, March 10, 2009VILLAGE06

Taliban kill US spy Taliban militants shot dead a man in Pakistan’srestive northwest tribal belt after filming himconfessing to spying for the United States, anofficial said on Monday. The bullet-ridden body oflocal tribesman Tahir Khan was found dumped in abazaar in Wana. “Khan, who was kidnapped 10days ago, had multiple bullet wounds on his body,”a security official said. A DVD found with the bodyshowed Khan confessing to spying and passing oninformation that led to a series of US missileattacks in the region.

AFP

Discovery set to soarto space stationAfter a month of delays, the US space shuttle Discovery isall set to head to the International Space Station tocomplete an overhaul of the power-generating systems onthe orbital outpost. Weather permitting, Discovery will lift

off from the KennedySpace Centre at CapeCanaveral, Florida, atabout 9:18 pm (0648IST Thursday).Discovery’s sevenastronauts, includingJapan’s Koichi Wakata,are to deliver thefourth and last pair ofpower-generating solarpanels to the ISS. The

launch, originally setfor February 12, hadbeen delayed fourtimes due to problemswith control valves,which channel gaseoushydrogen from theshuttle’s three mainengines.

AFP

Man fined$2,300 fortext messageA court in Germanyfined a man $2,300 forinadvertently passingon an SMS textmessage, which toldthe recipient they had

just killed a Turk byopening it, his lawyersaid.Shortly beforeGermany defeated

Turkey in last year’s Euro 2008 soccer tournament, the28-year-old sent a message that in German read "byopening this SMS, you have killed a Turk."The recipient was also urged to forward the SMS toencourage a "clean" tournament, landing the man incourt charged with inciting racial hatred, his lawyer KarlLaible said.However, the court in the southern town of Lindaudropped the charge, which could have led to a prisonsentence -- in exchange for the fine due to uncertaintyabout the accusation and the man’s motive, he said.

Reuters

Health seems to be going hi-tech, thanks to scientists

who have now developedcamera pills and ultra-

sound creating maps, which they claim will facilitate in accuratesurgery and stressing patients aslittle as possible.

In fact, an international teamhas created a new IT- based win-dow on the inside of the body,

which makes a patient transpar-ent on a screen when a surgeoninserts instruments via small

openings in the abdominal wall. What the system actually does

is transform X-ray and nuclearmagnetic resonance (MR) imagesinto three-dimensional maps, by

which the surgeon can navigate when he performs keyhole sur-gery in the abdominal cavity.

Moreover, the system providesinformation that enables the sur-geon to avoid blood vessels andother vital organs when he oper-ates through small openings inthe abdominal wall.

“With a better view of vitagans and blood vessels, a surgcan perform keyhole surgery an extra high margin of saand can employ keyhole surmuch more often than beforremove tumours in organs

would not otherwise be easilycessible to keyhole intertions,” said lead scientist ThoLange of SINTEF in the Netlands. ■

The technique enables the surgeon to select amore lenient keyhole approach in operations

Now, camera pills for surgeons

Kangaroo hops into bedroom windowA kangaroo woke up a Swiss family when itcrashed through the bedroom window of their

Canberra home, news reports said on Monday.“I thought, this can be really dangerous for thewhole family now,” 42-year-old chef Beat Ettlintold Australia’s AAP news agency. Stans-bornEttlin said he managed to wrestle the bloodied2-metre animal out of the front door of hishouse. Wildlife officers were unable to find akangaroo who looked to have sustained cutsduring the accident.

DPA

Hitch-hiking snakeA couple drove 170 kilometres (100miles) from South Africa’s famousKruger National Park with a highlyvenomous spitting cobra in their car

8/14/2019 Ergo March 10



US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, in a sideshow to

diplomacy, divulged whenshe fell in love and shared

how she dealt with personalstruggles.

Appearing on a Turkish televi-sion chat show, Hadi Gel Bizimle

(Come and Join Us), Clinton tack-led a few diplomatic questionsbut the main focus was on herpersonal life, such as when she“last” fell in love.

“It was so long ago, with my husband,” she told the studioaudience.

“We have been talking to eachother and enjoying our life to-gether ever since,” she said.

Asked what she missed mostabout private life, Clinton said it

was shopping for herself andting around in pavement cdrinking coffee “people-watching.”

“I sacrificed a lot of my priv which I regret,” she said, adthat the benefits of public ser

were huge.But despite her love of sh

ping, Clinton said she did have good fashion sense andten told her daughter Chelsea“fashion gene” had skippe

generation when it came toformer First Lady.

But she praised currentFirst Lady Michelle Obamaher “fabulous” fashion sensehandling of the job. Interviedelicately asked Clinton toplain how she had dealt withter personal experiences, witmentioning a scandal involBill Clinton and a former WHouse intern Monica Lewin

“Oh, love! And forgiveness,friendship, and family. You knfamily, faith, friends are the of my life and I don’t know body whose life is smooth ing,” said Clinton. ■

Re

She first met Bill Clinton in thespring of 1971when they were at law school

Hillary tells how she fell for Bill

For some delegates, China’sannual meeting of Parlia-ment is often as much aboutmaking a fashion statement

as it is debating affairs of state.The most colourful of the

group are the ethnic minorities,who regularly get surrounded by reporters as keen to

photograph them as tohave pictures takenwith them.

There are also ac-tors, writers and enter-tainers, many of themfinely turned out in thelatest trends, bureau-crats, some in suitswhose cuts and col-

ours defy description,and other fashion faux pas that give the eventa sort of carnival-likeair.All of China’s 55 of-ficial minority groupsare represented at themeeting of the largely rubber-stamp body,from Mongolians andKoreans to the Muslim

Uighurs and shamanistic Oro-qen, and almost all come dressedin traditional clothing.

“This is traditional Manchuclothing. I designed this outfit,though I only wear it for big meetings,” said Na Hui, a Man-chu from frigid Heilongjiang

province, dressed in a

bright red, figure-hug-ging silk dress pat-terned with sparkly green sequins.

But Liu Qiaoying, aBouyei from south-

western Guizhou, saidshe was wearing hereveryday outfit to Par-liament, whose sessionthis year closes onFriday.

“This is normal forme,” said Liu, a laven-der-hued headdresstucked neatly into herhair, and wearing asimilarly coloured toptied over a simplecream blouse. ■

Reuters

Fashion fever hits

Chinese Parliament

A Chinese ethnicminority delegatetakes a photo as sheleaves after a sessionof the NationalPeople’s Congress inBeijing. AFP PHOTO/

GOH CHAI HIN

Australian model Erika Heynatz cuts a 2.1 metre high ’Barbie doll’ chocolate mud caketo celebrate the 50th anniversary of the doll on the foreshores of Sydney Harbour onMonday. The 1,200kg cake covered in gold icing, gold silk and 2,000 Swarovskicrystals was based on the design for toymaker Mattel’s limited edition 50thAnniversary Barbie Doll, which wears a champagne silk gown.AFP PHOTO/TORSTEN BLACKWOOD

Barbie clocks 50

Websites of the day Test your spelling ability - are you as good as you think?www.badspelling.comDiscover the stunning Italian region of Tuscany:http://www.terraditoscana.com/default.aspx

Kiss car codeA British man who drove with a licenceplate modified to read “kisses” in Frenchhas been fined 150 euros ($190/GBP130) bya French court.

8/14/2019 Ergo March 10


ERGO Tuesday, March 10, 2009SPORT08

Ready for Indian challengePromising teenaged England opener SarahTaylor on Monday said England will not count

on its past glory against anin-form India as the twoteams square up in the ICCWomen’s World Cup matchhere tomorrow. “I amexcited about the game. Wehad a pretty successfulsummer against them lastyear but that doesn’t meananything now and we areobviously looking for a win,”said Taylor. “We want toprove a point and improvein Tuesday’s game,” she said.

The 19-year-old put a braveface when asked about India’s 10-wicket winagainst Pakistan in their opening match and saidher team would focus on their own game.“India is a good side and we have neverdoubted that. We are focussed only on ourgame and we know if we play to our best wecan be unbeatable and we just want to play atthe top of our game,” she said. Taylor feltIndian batting would be bolstered by the returnof an experienced Anjum Chopra and a hardwork for the opposition. “Anjum is a solidbatter and I am glad that she is back in thesquad as she is a person that lesser experiencedplayers can look up to in a World Cup situation.It is good for them but it will be hard workgetting her out but I think we are capable ofthat,” she said.

PTI

Suspect actionEngland fast bowler Jenny Gunn and Sri Lanka off-spinner Rose Fernando have been reported forsuspected illegal actions at the ongoing ICC Women’s World Cup. The two bowlers were reportedumpires Gerard Abood and Kathy Cross at the conclusion of Saturday’s England-Sri Lanka World Ctie at the Manuka Oval, Canberra.

A fter his fairytale run at the2009 Chennai Open, Som-dev Dev Varman wasquickly put to place as he

failed to qualify for the AustralianOpen main round.

Undeterred by the sudden fallfrom grace, Somdev toiled hardin the circuit and broke into thetop 150. On Sunday he establish-ed himself as a worthy successorto Leander Paes and MaheshBhupathi in the Indian Davis Cup

side. Playing against Chinese Tai-pei in Kaohsiung, he won bothhis singles to take India a stepcloser to the World Group Play-Off stage.

“I lost my three previous DavisCup games and that made memore determined. My recent suc-cess in the circuit, especially inChennai, has given me the confi-dence to take on anybody in the

world,” Somdev says. “I just needto stick to my game and get the

job done for my team. There’s noadded pressure.” In the reversesingles, Somdev downed AsianNo. 1 Lu Yen-Hsun, ranked 59 inthe world, 6-1, 6-2, 6-3 to seal the

tie for India and thinks he playedsome of his best tennis during thegame. “I was determined to winevery game and this is one of themost special days of my life. Win-ning for India is something I havedreamt of all my life,” he says. “Iexecuted my game-plan really

well and never gave Lu a look into the match.”

Recalling the tie, Somdev says:“I was a bit rusty in the opening singles but still managed to win. Iknew I had to raise my game afew notches against Hsun andtried to keep my unforced errors

in check. Thankfully, things worked out and it was a comfor-table victory.”

No doubt, he will be India’smain weapon when they take onformidable Australia at homefrom May 8 to 10. Keeping inmind Somdev’s prowess on hard-court, the Indians are planning toprovide a surface tailor-made forhim. Non-playing captain S.P.Mishra says: “We have to closely look into at what surface we play.Usually, it’s grass-court for us athome but I think Somdev is bet-ter off playing in hard-court and

we should have some consider-ation for our No. 1 singles

player.” But putting the ball in All-India Tennis Association’scourt he, adds: “The ultimate de-cision has to be made by the AITA and we also need to take intoconsideration the composition of the visiting side.”

National selector Akhtar Aliechoes the view and feels Indiashould play on courts that willgive Somdev an advantage.“Whatever surface we play on, weare sure of Leander and Mahesh

winning the doubles match. Butto win a rubber you have to win atleast two singles games and here

we have to bank on Somdev,” hesays. “I will definitely vote forhard-court because his game isbetter suited for it.”

The player himself is not per-turbed and says he has the gameto play on any surface. “As aplayer you do have some comfortlevel in some surfaces but to besuccessful in the circuit you needto have an all-round game suitedfor very occasion. Even (Rafael)Nadal winning on grass andhard-courts a few years ago wasunthinkable,” Somdev explains.“I want to play on every kind of surface and build my game ac-cordingly.” ■

Somdev Dev Varman on downing the Asian No. 1 and preparationsfor the upcoming home tie against the AussiesAYON SENGPUTA

[email protected]

No flashin the

pan

8/14/2019 Ergo March 10


David Beckhamis paying alarge amountof money out

of his own pocket toremain with AC Mi-lan, club chairman

Adriano Galliani hassaid. “A lot of playersshow their affection

just with words. DavidBeckham is one of the very few who has shown it withdeeds,” Galliani said on Sunday after Beckham extended his loandeal from the Los Angeles Galaxy through the end of the Serie A season.

“I won’t cite any numbers, but I can say thatthe player will stay with us until June. He hasmade an incredible economic commitment, paying a lot of money from his own pocket,” Galliani said.Beckham and the Los Angeles Galaxy announced late Sat-urday that the club had struck a “multimillion dollar deal”to enable the former England captain to remain with Milanthrough June 30.

“Let’s say it’s official, even if we’re still lacking the finalpapers,” Galliani said. Beckham performed well in the play-maker position during Milan’s 3-0 win over Atalanta on Sun-day. Filippo Inzaghi scored a hat trick. “He was involved in the

action and handled himself very well,” Milan coach Carlo An-celotti said of Beckham’s performance.The Galaxy had sought US$ 10 million for the outright pur-

chase of Beckham, but Milan officials had offered US$ threemillion. The two sides were negotiating for weeks and agreedon the loan extension hours before it was due to expire afterthe Milan-Atalanta game. After the MLS season ends in No-vember, Beckham could return to Milan, either in anotherloan deal or a full transfer. “It wasn’t possible to make adefinitive choice, so a temporary one was taken,” Ancelottisaid. “He’ll stay here until the end of the season, then he’llgo back (to Los Angeles). Then we’ll see what happens inNovember.”

Beckham wants to stay with Milan to improve his chancesof making England’s team for next year’s World Cup. ■

PTI


‘‘I’d expect tours to start again as soon as possible. I’d give it six to nine months. I definitely thinkthat we will stage part of the World Cup in 2011. I would want us to get security to a level that

would be a guarantee from my government that no such incident like this could happen again, or I will notinvite anybody. I cannot give that guarantee, but my government can. If they cannot then we will nothave cricket in Pakistan at all.

PCB Chairman Ejaj Butt

In lovewith

Milan

China accused of match fixingMalaysia’s national badminton coach has accused China of fixing all-Chinese matches at major tournaments to allow a smoother ride forits top players. Rashid Sidek claimed the powerful Chinese team had arranged for defending champion Chen Jin to retire injured from hisAll England championships semi-final on Saturday, giving compatriot and Olympic champion Lin Dan an easy path to the final.Rashid said China had used the tactic before in qualifying events for last year’s Beijing Olympics, where the home country won three ofthe five gold medals. “Everyone in the world of badminton is talking about it. They (China) know our reaction but they just do not care,”Rashid said. “They do not see that their actions are bringing a bad reputation to the sport. Yes, this is affecting the sport as a whole. We(Malaysia) do not condone such tactics. For us, we want the best players on the day to win.”China enjoyed its first clean sweep of titles at the All England championship in Birmingham with Lin capturing his fourth crown in themen’s singles after beating Malaysia’s Lee Chong Wei 21-19 21-12.

Reuters

PHOTO: AFP

Beckham payingout of own pocket to stay in Milan

8/14/2019 Ergo March 10


ERGO Tuesday, March 10, 2009FLICK10

No Holi for Big B A mitabh Bachchan has

announced he will refrainfrom Holi celebrations inremembrance of the 26/11Mumbai terror attack victims.

“Holi, the festival of colourand rejoicing, and music anddance, is around the corner. Itwas one festival that weenjoyed liberally... We havenot done that for severalyears... this Holi will also begiven the miss,” Bachchanposted on his blogwww.bigb.bigadda.com onSaturday.

“That joyous spirit has beendampened by the atrocitiesthat our city faced on 26/11. Inits wake, somewhere inside usthere is a reluctance to involveourselves in any kind ofexhibition,” he added. ■

IANS

The new face ofEstee Lauder?Slumdog Millionaire star Freida

Pinto has reportedly landed asix-figure sum to become the face

of cosmetics giant Estee Lauder.The Hollywood newcomer, who

has taken the industry by stormsince starring in the multipleOscar-winning movie, has beenapproached to front the beautycompany’s future advertisingcampaigns, reportscontactmusic.com.

Pinto, who will become thebrand’s first Asian spokeswoman,is currently in negotiations over a$280,000 (200,000 pounds)contract.

Freida will follow in thefootsteps of former Estee Laudercampaign girls Liz Hurley andGwyneth Paltrow. ■

IANS

D

irector-choreographer Fa-rah Khan says Australiansinger Kylie Minogue was

“a dream to work with” inforthcoming film Blue , but shewas even more excited to work with Akshay Kumar after a year’sgap.

The two had last come togetherfor Farah’s directorial venture,Om Shanti Om, where Akshay wasseen in a cameo as ‘Khiladi Ku-mar’. And she didn’t miss the op-portunity to work with him in themuch-hyped song featuring Kyliein director Anthony D’Souza’sBlue .

“I enjoy working with Akshay and have always had great funshooting with him. In Om Shanti Om he was a riot and sporting enough to have consented to do a

cameo. We were in splits through-out when he came back in his‘Khiladi Kumar’ image. This was ayear and a half back and when weshot again in Blue , it was quitenostalgic,” Farah says.

The ace choreographer bondedquite well with Kylie even thoughthey were working together forthe first time.

“We hadn’t interacted earlierbut knew about each other’s

work. She had seen Om Shanti

Om and was also aware about my musical, Bombay Dreams . Once

we started working together forthe Blue song, we gelled well quitequickly. She is a dream to work

with.”Farah has now become very

choosy when it comes to taking up choreography assignments ev-er since she donned the director’shat for Main Hoon Na in 2004. Butshe has made exceptions.

In fact, one of the songs she de-cided to choreograph earlier alsofeatured Akshay. The number was‘Mast Kalandar’ from the filmHeyy Babyy , which was directedby her brother Sajid Khan. Of course, the song had her favourite

actor friend Shah Rukh kahanmaking an appearance too.

Apart from Kylie and Akshay,the much-awaited song also fea-tures Zayed Khan, Lara Dutta andSanjay Dutt. Composed by Oscar-

winning musician A.R. Rahman,the number has been sung by Ky-lie and Sonu Nigam.

“The number is a mix of West-

ern and Punjabi bhangra, henceturning out to be a great mix. Rah-man has come up with a great

tune again. To begin with, whileKylie sings her own portion in En-glish, Sonu Nigam brings on aPunjabi element in the secondhalf of the song,” she explains.

Blue is set to release in the latterhalf of 2009. ■

IANS

Farah Khan on choreographing a song in Blue

‘Kylie’s great, but working with Akshay nostalgic’

The number is a mixof Western andPunjabi bhangra,hence turning out tobe a great mix.Rahman has come upwith a great tune

again. To begin with,while Kylie sings herown portion inEnglish, Sonu Nigambrings on a Punjabielement in the secondhalf of the song

Tom Cruise to go campingActor Tom Cruise wants to take his family campingacross the US. Cruise, his wife actress Katie Holmesand their daughter Suri will stay away from luxuryhotels in tents and cook under the stars, reportsmirror.co.uk.

8/14/2019 Ergo March 10


A sin, who shot into popular-ity with Ghajini , made inTamil and then Hindi, isnow aiming to scale even

greater heights in the multi-lin-

gual film 19 Steps, to be directedby Bharath Bala.

“The film is being produced byWalt Disney and a good portionwill be shot in Kerala. Kamal Has-san plays an important role inthe film, which also has popularJapanese actor Tadanobu Asano.This is going to be made in Tamil,Japanese and English and wouldcommence in the second half ofthis year,” says Asin.

“For 19 Steps, I am now soongoing to learn martial arts be-cause the storyline demandsthat,” she says.

This film, being writ-ten by veteran Ma-layalam

scriptwriter,M.T. Vasude-van Nair, tellsthe tale of aSamuraiwarrior try-ing to con-

quer the ancient Indian martialart of Kalaripayattu.

Kamal Hassan plays the role ofan Indian martial arts guru.

Asin, who studied in Kochi,

made her debut in the SathyanAnthikkad-directed NarendranMakan Jayakanthan Vaka in2001 when she was just 15 yearsold. Since then she has acted inboth Tamil and Telugu films.

Now settled in Mumbai, shesays she is selective when itcomes to roles and after her de-but Malayalam film she justcould not work in any other Ma-layalam films.

“I got a few offers but some-how it did not work out,” she

says. Asin is now completingher second Bollywood

film, LondonDreams, in

which Sal-

man Khanand AjayDevganplay keyroles. ■

IANS

‘19 Steps’ is Asin’snext big film


Arya pairs up

with AmyIf sources are to be believed, Amy Jackson, theBritish teenager who won the Miss Teen Worldtitle last year, plays the female lead in Arya’supcoming movie, Madharasapattinam. Directed byKireedom fame Vijay, it is said to be a period filmSet in the pre-Independence era, the movie isabout the struggle for freedom and romance. Thedirector says the audience would be treated to a

rare view of the beautiful Buckingham Canal(now Cooum river) and the old Mount Road inMadharasapattinam.

Sana Khan to play

tennis playerSana Khan, who made her debut in actorSilambarasan’s Silambattam, is pairing up withBharath in his next flick, Thambikku Indha Ooru.The movie was initially titled Enga Veetu Pillai butwas later changed to Thambikku Indha Ooru. Sanwill don the role of a tennis player. Sanaappearing as yesteryear actress Saroja Devi in asong with Bharath would be one of the highlightsof the film, according to sources.

Best dressed starGirls Aloud singer and X Factor judge Cheryl Colehas landed the top spot in Tatler magazine’s ‘bestdressed’ list of 2009. Cole has become a style icon asher star has soared in the last year.

Cine City

8/14/2019 Ergo March 10


ERGO Tuesday, March 10, 200912

Monday’s Question:

What is the best way tocelebrate Women’s Day?

■ Telling amma neenga vanga instead of neeva po and whatever you talk to her tell aamama, illa ma, seri ma.

A.Priyang, Tata Consultancy Service

■ Let’s make the world with full of love,hope and fit for her.

Dandapani, Baskar, HCL

■ Let them take their kids to work place on aweekday rather than weekend and make allof them happy.

Lakshminarasimhan, Verizon

■ Keep your mom and wife happythroughout the day.

Mohan Kumar, Tata Consultancy Service

■ Have to give a surprise and unexpectedgift to mom.

Asath Kani, Tata Consultancy Service

■ Create awareness about Bharathiyar’sdefinition of modern women.

Mukund, SCB Scope International

■ Bring all the powerful women of the worldin one place and let them say how theysucceeded.

Senthil, Wipro Technologies

■ A hug to express our love, priceless.Diwakar, CSS

■ All men must take oath to respect andhonour women and give them equal rights.

Kamesh, Infosys

■ Get some money from mom and have anice drink at Tasmac.

Rajesh, Imran, Allsec

■ To present special halwa to women. Arunee, Infosys

■ Kedaai vetti biriyani kudukalaam.Afroz, Verizon

■ By telecasting mega serial the whole day.Pandiyan, CSS

■ Avoid gossips, shopping, and watchingmega serials to celebrate Women’s Day

Dee Jay R Systems

Today’s Query: Your favourote Holi prank you played on your friend?

Elango of FirstsourceSolutions, Tidelpark, hasnominated histeam as Partnersin Crime. Thispicture wasclicked inPondichery.

Ajay, Arun andFriends from

ALLSECTechnologieshave nominatedtheir friends asPartners inCrime. This pic

was clicked at theDefenseExhibition in

Anna University.

Sunitha Aabar, Associate ImageExecutive,Perfect Relationshas nominatedher team and the

AmericanMegatrends Indiateam as Partnersin Crime.

8/14/2019 Ergo March 10



Question : Its midnight on New Moon day and its pitch dark. At this time a man walks alone boldly in a dangerous neighborhood.He has no weapon.He just has a bathing soap.HOW?

Answer : HAMAM IRUKKA BAYAM YEAN ?Bhaarath,

S C P L

■ Dear Mr. Designer,Many many happy returns of theday. At least today take a breakand enjoy with friends andcolleagues.Don’t work day and night, as itsalready hampering your image ofbeing a cool guy.Stop drawing cartoon pictures onyour board as no one is reallyinterested in them …ha ha ha, just kidding.Stop eating too much of chicken as

its bad news for chickens.Once again Ranjoy,wish u a very happy birthday….

Best wishes Bala, Debanjana, Mangai,

Rakhi, Rishabh, Sathya.

Excelacom Technologies Pvt. Ltd

■ Hi Nayaki,Wish u a very happy birthdayMay God Bless you and Devil kissesyouWish you all Success in your life ...All the best .

Wishes fromTaj (HCL),

Nithya(L&T) ,

Subathra(RR Donnely), Arathi (HCL),

The 7th July team

■ Dear Babu & DhanaHoping that the love you sharedyear ago is still as strong today as itwas then bringing you much joy,love and happiness to celebrateagain.Happy Anniversary !!!

CHEMOIL-ODC Calsoft

■ Dear Ranganath,Making happy birthday wishes,is a pleasant thing to do,especially when the birthday isyours,

and the wishes are for you.Happy Birthday Ranganath !PS: Plz don blush ;-)

Lots of Love & Best Wishes,Tata Consultancy Services (NOKIA)

■ Dear Deepak Ji,Wishing you another wonderfulyear of happiness and joy.Happy Birthday!

Greetings & wishes

from Team – GIT,

Cognizant, Chennai.

Belated Wishes■ Dear Vijayalakshmi,

May God shower his blessings onyou, today and for evermore!!!Belated birthday wishes to you!!Have a great year ahead!!!God bless!!

Friend

New Age Software and Solutio

■ Dear Manikya,Your birthday only comes aroundonce a year so let’s make today aday to remember.

RegardPrudenti

Tata Consultancy Servic

■ Hi Shafique,Wishing u a gr8 n WonderfulBirthday!!!!!God bless u...Oops sorry, Angels bless u ;)Have a fun-filled day loose.

With lov

Ur best Bud

■ Dear Rajesh Khanna RBelated Birthday Wishes.Have a Fantastic Year ahead.Wishing you all success in your lifemay all your desires come true.

With lots of lov

Non-Tandem Testing Team

Financial Software & Systems (P) L

■ Hi Meera (Priya),From morning till night, May yourbirthday be bright, And nicer thanever before.And as years come and go, Mayyour happiness grow, and yourdreams come true.Enjoyful Birthday Meera.

RegarFrancis Xavier Fitheliy

Tata consultancy Services lt

■ Dear Thushara

Birthday wish remindz u da first crmamma...Start Ur Day Wid Her ...Sweeeet blessingz da day will beurs. Many happy returns of the damy dear.

With lo

Saraswa

■ Dear AshokLet da God decorate each GoldenRay of da Sun reaching u withwishez of Successss,Happinessss and prosperity 4 U,Wish You a super duper HappyBirthday.

Your ever loving frien Ashuto

V.Rajaraman of HCL Technol-ogies Ltd-ISD has been nomi-nated as Office Angel by hisfriends Prasad.N andRajkumar.

Rajaraman is a kind hearted,

cool-headed and fun loving person. He is a great motivator

and mentor for our team. He

handles any issues with ease.Truly he is a positive thinker and

team builder.

Mohammed Mazhar Yahya fromRR Donnelley doodled this.

Art featured in this column will receive gift cou-pons from Fruit Shop on Greams Road. Send in

your addresses so that we can post the coupons.

8/14/2019 Ergo March 10


ERGO Tuesday, March 10, 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

ADVERTISING ENQUIRIES:Contact: 2857 5757

E-mail: [email protected]

Website: www.goergo.in

Head of Circulation:M.G.M. [email protected]

SNAIL MAIL

859/860, Anna Salai,Chennai - 600 002mail your feedback [email protected]

FAX 2857 6691

sudoku

KAKURO

Lucky moveA father in Michigan told his teenage son to get off thefloor - minutes before a truck smashed into their livingroom and threw their huge television across the livingroom to where Joseph Rabadue had earlier been sitting.

So you think you would make a terrific photographer but never really had the platform? Mail us your best work and we’ll publish it in this space, with credit.E-mail: [email protected]

Amazing! I picturedthis lake shaped likea heart whiletrekking to Chembra Peak in Wayanad.Muralikrishna K of 3iInfotech sent us this.

Preference this month isbeing given tophotographs that talkabout ‘happiness’, whichyou need to tell us in aline or two.Please do not repeat anyof your previous picturesand also make sure thatthe photograph ispeople-oriented.Happiness is not always asmile, so put on yourthinking caps and keepclicking!Winners can collect theirgift vouchers on Sundays,between 3 p.m. and 5p.m. at Ergo office

8/14/2019 Ergo March 10



B.C

BORN LOSER

FREE RANGE WORKING IT OUT

PREVIOUS

ISSUE’S

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

You may feel energetic, confident, and assertivenow, but might be less inclined to be patient wiothers’ needs and demands. This is an excellenttime to take the initiative for improving things ayour workplace.

Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder, saidShakespeare. Your thoughts will reflect yourperformance today. Think positive, act positive ayou are sure to get positive results. Write a lovepoem or send a love letter to your beloved!

This may apply to everyone, but to you in partic

it can be dangerous. The misuse of personal powand domination may develop ugly results. On thlove front, things will largely depend on your daproceedings.

Errors made in haste, speaking too forcefully, shwords spoken on impulse, or accidents occurringdue to restlessness and impatience are all possibat this time. Ganesha advises you to be extracautious. Love life may seem to be in turmoil.

Ganesha begins with wishing you good luck for day. Emotions, prejudices, or unresolved issues fthe past come up in your interactions with othernow, and you may not be very objective. But thia good time to finish of piling work at office.

You may feel extra happy today. You will be abpass on some positive energy today and your

colleagues may refer to you as a great motivatoyou are not happy in your personal life, yourproblems will seem to disappear today onwards.

Twists in romantic relationships are likely now, bmore on that later. Professional career may takesudden turn or some unexpected things mighthappen. IIn personal life, the morer you try, themore you will get, but only if there is perseveran

While most things will go in the right direction, pessimistic attitude may leave you dissatisfied weverything around you. Focus more on your actiothan results. Do not let your mood swings affectyour personal life or things may get worse.

This is an excellent time to begin a new businesenterprise or any new venture. You have the drivand courage to make your vision a reality. Today

can be easily defined as the best day of the weefor you.

Your imagination and intuition is heightened, whbenefits any creative or artistic work you may dofeels Ganesha. However, your practical reasoningability and your ability to focus on the here-and-now are diminished. Family life will be smooth.

Dream all you want, but you have to realise thayou will have to wake up and work if you want fulfil them. Office won’t be hectic today; you mabe able to find some free time in the evening. Aromantic candle light dinner awaits you perhaps

Don’t let the word ‘share’ scare you due to thedipping Sensex. Ganesha feels you should shareyour emotions more often. You are a very goodlistener, compliments Ganesha, but you also havvent feelings out.

Word’s worth“Widdendream” (wid-un-dreem) an obsolete Scottishword meaning ‘in a state of confusion or mentaldisturbance’, often in the phrase in a widdendream.From an Old English phrase meaning ‘in mad joy.’

Cash crisisA would-be armed robber inWest Virginia used his debitcard to pay for a soft drink atthe store he was trying to rob.

8/14/2019 Ergo March 10


ERGO Tuesday, March 10, 2009!16

Australian artist James Brennanstands beside his painting of horseracing legend Bart Cummingsentitled ‘Old Owl Eyes’ afterwinning the Bald Archy Prize forportraiture in Sydney on March 9,2009. The annual art award iswidely regarded as a low brow sendup of the prestigious ArchibaldPrize. AFP PHOTO/TORSTEN BLACKWOOD

English Sheepdog ‘Cruella’ and handlerIngela Wallstrom react after being

named ‘Best Pastoral’ at the Crufts dogshow 2009 in Birmingham, on March 8,

2009. The annual event sees dogbreeders from around the world

compete in a number of competitionswith one dog going on to win the ‘Best

in Show’ category. AFP PHOTO/LEON NEA

This handout photo show’s AamirKhan’s new look for Tata Sky’s nextcampaign. “As an actor it’schallenging for me to try and playwith my age. I am playing a 60-year-old Sardar for the new TataSky campaign... So you know, theget up, all the make up for theeyes... trying to age the face... For

an actor it’s always interesting andfun to play roles which are not yourown self,” said Khan.

Ergo March 10

Documents

Transcript of Ergo March 10