Professional Documents
Culture Documents
08
JAWA DAY
Chennai’s Jawa and Yezdi motorcycle
club to celebrate Jawa Day on July 12
LIPS DO LIE
Retired bank employee
Shantha Kumar is a performing
ventriloquist. What’s more
he even teaches the
quirky performing art,
Anusha Parthsarathy finds out.
» PAGE 03
PHOTO: R. RAVINDRAN
02 NAMMA CHENNAI ERGO Thursday, July 2, 2009
In memory of
a colleague Take home a
M KITTEN
phasis CSR Education Team
recently opened classrooms in
Panchayat Union Middle School,
Neelangarai. The team comprising
of around 25 employees provide all kinds
of educational support to help
underprivileged children in their
education.
The employees had already been
volunteering at the Panchayat Union
Middle School, taking classes in science,
moral science, mathematics and
computers over the weekend. A step
forward in that direction was to support
in the construction of classrooms on the
first floor of the school.
The classroom was inaugurated by
Ganesh Ayyar, CEO, Mphasis. Also, one of
the classrooms in the block was dedicated
to Terrin Jacob, who recently passed away
in a road accident and was part of the
education team.
Whiskers: With a soulful face, Whiskers Ginger: This male cat is three months
is a gorgeous three-month-old male cat old and has striking eyes that the
who likes watching television camera loves
Bubbly: This 3-
month-old female
feline loves playing
with crumpled
paper balls
Pepper: She’s a three-month-old female Trixie: This friendly male kitten is three
with a soft voice and loves human months old and loves playing with
company people
LIPS
DO
LIE
Retired bank
employee
Shantha Kumar
not only
PHOTO : R. RAVINDRAN performs as a
ANUSHA PARTHASARATHY he became a member of the Hu- Johnny is still his favourite. and the kind of entertainment
ventriloquist but
anushaparthasarathy@hotmail.com mour Club. In 1998, he witnessed “I still use Johnny for most of needed. also teaches
another performance by M.M. my shows. But the kids prefer the “I’m a writer too,” he says at
Roy at the club and approached monkey,” he shrugs. the end, hastily adding, “I’ve those who are
interested in
“J
ohnny, do you know him to learn the art. Eight Lately, he has begun to teach published two books but that
this girl,” asks the 60- months later, Shantha Kumar ventriloquism to those interested was before I got into ventrilo-
year-old to a small boy was a performing ventriloquist. and also runs an even manage- quism. I hope to start writing learning the
puppet on his lap wear- “My guru told me that my lip ment company where he arrang- again sometime soon.” ■
ing a pink t-shirt and a flowery movements will reduce with es variety entertainment for You can contact him at quirky
orange pull-over.
“Yes, she lives opposite my
time, depending on the number
of shows I did. So I began to
corporates, weddings, anniver-
saries and other occasions. The
9444148832 or visit his blog at
http://
performing art
house,” replies the puppet. perform at anniversaries, mar- fee varies according to the hours ventshanthakumar.blogspot.com.
“And where do you live?” riages, birthdays and at
“Opposite her house.” churches on weekends
The man wipes his forehead, and during my free time.
gives me a sheepish smile and That really helped. I’ve
tries again. “Where do both of done over 1700 shows in
you live?” “Opposite each other”, the last ten years”, he
the puppet cackles at the man’s exclaims.
obvious displeasure. “That’s how When Shantha Kumar
it’s done”, he suddenly smiles retired last year, his hobby
lifting the puppet off his lap and came in handy and has
laying it out on the sofa with the now become a full-time
nine other he owns. profession. He even runs a
Shantha Kumar, a retired bank blog where he talks about
manager, has a habit of throwing his shows and puts up
his voice on inanimate things, videos of them.
animating them. It was an art he “There are two kinds of
fell in love with when he watched ventriloquism; near and
the city’s first professional ven- distant. Near is the kind
triloquist, M.M. Roy, perform in most people do, with a
1975. Back then, ventriloquism puppet on their lap or sit-
was unheard of and he wanted to ting next to them. Distant
learn it but didn’t know where to ventriloquism is someth-
start. ing like hearing someone
“When I watched M.M Roy talk from the bottom of a
perform, I was astounded. I well.
thought he had a tape running In olden days, prank-
inside the puppet but I realised sters used this trick to fool
the jokes he cracked were so people into thinking that
spontaneous that they couldn’t wells or gods spoke to
have been recorded beforehand. them,” he laughs.
I spent the entire show trying to Shantha Kumar’s ven-
find the source of the voice but I triloquism career began
couldn’t. Later a friend explained with Johnny, a human
that it was called ventriloquism puppet that he bought
and that it was a rare skill,” from his guru and has
Shantha Kumar remembers. now grown into ten in-
His work with a bank meant cluding two monkeys, a
that he had frequent transfers girl puppet, a dog, a duck
and when he came to Chennai, and even a crow! But
04 VILLAGE ERGO Thursday, July 2, 2009
Bear break-in
A couple in San Bernardino County were shocked to discover a break-in
at their home - by a bear with a sweet tooth. The peckish critter raided
their fridge and gobbled a box of chocolates. The bear also attempted
to open a bottle of champagne - but failed.
Kournikova
in nightclub
brawl
T
ennis player and model Anna Kourni- when a fellow reveller took offence at the
kova has broken her subdued image group’s behaviour and felt “Anna was in-
after being involved in a “huge” brawl vading her space”.
at a nightclub. The woman reacted by soaking Kourni-
The Russian star was reportedly involved kova in an alcoholic beverage that led to a
in the brawl at a Las Vegas nightclub after a fight as the model-sportswoman “sprung
woman threw a drink over her, reports con- into action” and started to push and shout
tactmusic.com. at the woman before the reveller was kicked
Kournikova, who is dating Spanish singer out.
Enrique Iglesias, was partying with her “It was a big fight,” said a source. ■
friends at the nightspot Lavo in Sin City IANS
Thursday, July 2, 2009
05
Websites of the day
Keep an eye on your finances: Stolen snake found
www.moneysavingexpert.com A snake stolen from a laboratory in Perth, Australia has been
Feel all warm and fuzzy with these found - as the crafty reptile swallowed a tracking device shortly
cute critters: before it was taken.
www.worldscutestanimals.com
T
hirty years ago Sony It initially planned to call the
launched the Walkman, a machine “Soundabout” in the
gadget which revolutionised United States and “Stowaway” in
the way people around the Britain, but changed its mind af-
world listened to music but has ter hearing that children in Eu-
since been overtaken by an icon rope were already asking their
of the digital age - the iPod. parents for a “Walkman”.
The July 1, 1979 rollout of the The name stuck, and in 1986 it
portable cassette player helped was included in the Oxford En-
transform the Japanese company glish Dictionary.
into a global electronics power- For people who have grown up
house. Sony sold 30,000 Walk- with iPods, Sony’s original gadget
mans in the first two months after can leave something to be desir-
its launch, and 50 million within ed. They include 13-year-old
a decade. Scott Campbell who was asked by
Times have changed since So- the BBC to swap his Apple gadget
ny engineer Nobutoshi Kihara for a vintage Walkman for a week.
sketched out designs for the His friends, he said, “couldn’t
Walkman by hand. imagine their parents using this
The initial reaction to the monstrous box.”
Walkman was poor. Many retail- It also took him three days “to
ers thought that a cassette player figure out that there was another
without a recording mechanism side to the tape.”
had little chance of success. Sony has tried to repackage the
That changed, and today total Walkman in recent years with
sales of the Walkman have reac- new versions, including one that
hed 385 million around the looked like a jelly bean, with
world, including newer digital some success.
models that use flash memory. For many observers, the suc-
Sony says it chose the name cess of the iPod illustrates the
“Walkman” partly because of the way Sony has lost its golden
popularity of Superman at the touch in recent years, failing fully
time and the fact it was based on to exploit the opportunities of the
an existing audio recorder called Internet and the digital age. ■
the “Pressman.” AFP
A Sony employee displays the first model of Sony’s stereo cassette player "Walkman TPS-L2" (L) and the latest model of Sony’s digital music player
"Walkman W-series" at the company’s museum in Tokyo. PHOTO: AFP
SERENA
beat India by eight wickets in Kingston
to stay afloat in the four-match series
currently tied 1-1.
“Rampaul swings the ball really well,
bowls in the right area, he forces you
to play a big shot like the cover drive,”
Dhoni said.
GAME
Rampaul’s spell left India tottering at
82 for eight after they won the toss
and batted first, but Dhoni hit a responsible 95 to lift his
side to 188 all out.
Dhoni said lack of assistance from the pitch in Kingston
makes Rampual and fellow pacer Jerome Taylor’s
performance all the more creditable.
5
“I don’t think there was that much in (the pitch) for the
FOR
bowlers,” Dhoni said.
“They bowled really well, they were swinging the ball well
and, when it stopped swinging, they were able to get
reverse swing,” he added.
PTI
S
after several months out with a knee erena Williams admitted have reached the semi-finals
injury, missed the team bus for that she would be happy to without dropping a set; world
Saturday’s visit to the World War One play five sets at Grand Slams number one Safina has dropped
trenches at Ypres in Belgium. as new questions arose over two but still came through.
“Andrew Flintoff is back and the talk, the credibility of the women’s The total time it took the Wil-
once again, is not of cricket but of game. liams sisters and Dementieva to
discipline, timekeeping and alcohol,” Williams, sister Venus, as well negotiate their quarter-finals was
former England captain Atherton, now cricket as Russian duo Dinara Safina and half an hour less than it took Bri-
correspondent of The Times, wrote of his fellow Elena Dementieva will contest tain’s Andy Murray to get past
Lancastrian in Wednesday’s edition of the British daily. the Wimbledon semi-finals on Stanislas Wawrinka in a cliff-
“It is a distraction that nobody needs right now, in the Thursday, all having virtually hanger men’s fourth round on
week before the Ashes (which start in Cardiff on July 8).” coasted into the last four. Monday.
AFP Serena, a double Wimbledon “I’m ready for five-set matches.
champion, five-time winner Ven- On grass it would be fine. I can
us and fourth seed Dementieva definitely play five sets,” said Se-
Thursday, July 2, 2009
07
‘‘
I thought Ricky was crap when he was first captain in 2004 and
nothing much has improved since then. I couldn’t believe it when
he’d been picked as captain. There was no-one else to pick but Ponting
still had no experience.
Pace legend Jeff Thomson
Dutch dream
A Dutch team has fulfilled a dream by building its own super
sports car, the Savage Rivale Roadyacht GTS, fitted with a
supercharged Corvette ZR1 engine with an output of 679 hp
and a top speed of 330 km/h.
Jawa jiv
The city’s Jawa and Yezdi motorcycle club, Roaring Riders, is set to celebrate
International Jawa Day and the club’s sixth anniversary with a trip to Hogenakkal
PETLEE PETER celebrate for Roaring Riders, tivities and a lot of bike discus- kal are the two tentative routes,
petleepeter@goergo.in Chennai’s Jawa and Yezdi mo- sions during the course of their of which one will be chosen for
torcycle club, as the club’s sixth stay. the trip.
T
he second Sunday of July anniversary falls on the same Chennai-Vellore-Krishnagiri- A poster for the motorcycle
every year is celebrated as day. To commemorate the occa- Dharmapuri-Hogenakkal and ride by Roaring Riders is now out
Jawa Day the world over in sion, the club members are all set Chennai-Vellore-Krishnagiri-Pa- and an exclusive t-shirt for riders
commemoration of the leg- for a two-day ride to Hogenak- lacode-Pennagaram-Hogenak- will also be printed.
endary Jawa brand of motor- kal in Dharmapuri district in Ta- The anniversary ride is exclu-
cycles from Czech Republic mil Nadu and back. sively for members of the club.
(formerly Czechoslovakia). According to Sabyasachi Deb- However, non-members who
Brought to India by Mysore- nath, moderator, Roaring Riders, own a Jawa or Yezdi motorcycle
based motorcycle company Ideal 35 members on 31 vehicles, in- could enrol with the club and
Jawa in the early 1960s, the cluding 12 Jawas, will participate then ride along.
motorcycles went out of produc- in the anniversary ride. “We start For more information on
tion after two decades. But even from Porur at 5.30 a.m. on July Chennai’s Jawa and Yezdi mo-
to this day there is a cult follow- 11 and should reach Hogenakkal torcycle club log on to Yahoo!
ing for the two-stroke Czech by afternoon. Next day we ride Groups and search for Roaring
beauty. back to Chennai,” he says. Riders. The members of the club The poster ann
The 7th International Jawa The club members have meet at Besant Nagar beach at 8 anniversary rid
Day on July 12 is twin reason to planned a party, recreational ac- a.m. every Sunday. ■ Hogenakkal
ve
Railways develop
new freight wagons
to transport cars
Modified rail wagons can tranport upto 270 cars
R
ailways have developed Gurgaon-Chennai circuits, (RDSO) recently which con-
new freight wagons sources in the Railway Minis- verted a particular type of BCL
which can transport cars try said. wagon to transport cars.
efficiently and is plan- Transporting by rails would The wagons are bi-lever and
ning to run them in routes be far more efficient than modified in such a fashion
with a good business trucks, they said. Each rake that they can transport cars of
potential. comprising the modified wag- varied shapes and more effi-
At present, bulk of cars roll- ons can transport up to 270 ciently than trucks on roads,
ing out of factories for city out- cars of various types with 100 the sources said.
lets are transported by road. kmph speed potential. Recently, Railways had an-
The trial run for these spe- The technological break- nounced a slash in tariff rates
cial purpose wagons is over through of modifying such for transportation of iron ore
and they have been already in- wagons was achieved by Luck- for export purpose to consoli-
ducted into regular service in now-based Research Designs date its market share. ■
Gurgaon-Mundra Port and and Standards Organisation PTI
nouncing the
Electric vehicle
de to
maker Kabirdas
Motor planning IPO
S
outh-based Kabirdas Mo- es on the rise, industry is ex-
tor Company, makers of pecting rapid growth in the
electric two wheelers, has segment.
chalked out mega plans "Over the next few years, you
for expansion with the firm tar- will see the market flooded
getting to manufacture two with electric scooters," he said.
lakh electric scooters from its The company currently sells
new plant near Chennai. its scooters, though in small
The total project cost is little numbers, at a price range of Rs
over Rs 100 crore and the com- 26,500 to Rs 32,500 a unit. The
pany would soon come out cost of running a scooter works
with an IPO for about Rs 60 out to only 10 paise per km
crore, Managing Director Mu- against more than Rs 1 per km
rali Kabirdas said here. for a conventional petrol-dri-
At present there are three to ven scooters.
four organised players manu- The battery of the scooter
facturing electric scooters, needs charging and each
while quite a few are in the un- charge could take 6 to 8 hours
organised sector, he said. and offers mileage of about 75
The current market is esti- km. Electric scooters can
D
eepika Padukone has eve- er senior actor, Saif Ali Khan. But
rything going for her in she is not complaining.
Bollywood. She has “Ranbir and I work like pals.
worked with top stars and But I wouldn’t say I had more fun
big banners. But she does have working with him. You are not on
one regret – making her relation- the sets to have fun. But yes, defi-
ship with Ranbir Kapoor public. nitely the comfort level with him
“When we got into a relation- was much higher even when we
ship, we decided to be open weren’t seeing each other. My
about it. Otherwise there would other co-stars were a lot more
be reports about us being spotted mature and I was a lot more re-
holding hands, kissing, hugging, served with them. But I’ve to tell
etc. Since we were so clear about you, Shah Rukh completely pam-
our relationship, we had nothing pered me,” she says.
to hide. I thought people would Talking about her Love Aaj Kal
respect that. But it didn’t work co-star Saif, she says: “Saif is re-
out that way,” says Deepika. served. I’ve heard he wasn’t like
Deepika was especially upset this earlier. I believe he has
about paparazzi pictures of her calmed down a lot because of Ka-
and Ranbir. reena or whatever. Saif and I just
“We both have families – very did our work on Imtiaz Ali’s sets
respectable families. People who and went our separate ways.
take pictures of us secretly must That’s the way I like it. I’m a very
have families and boyfriends and reserved person. I’m not here to
girlfriends. We’ve now decided make friends. But yes, Bipasha
not to talk about our friendship. Basu and Minissha Lamba are
At the end of the day no one is now friends.”
going to see our films because Deepika has signed Sajid
we’re a couple,” says the actress Khan’s full-fledged comedy,
who teamed up with Ranbir in Houseful.
Bachna Ae Haseeno. “It’s not just a few comic
Any other film with Ranbir af- scenes here and there. It’s a hard-
ter Bachna Ae Haseeno? core comic role. And I wonder
“We get offers every day to act how I’ll manage it. I’ll try. Sajid
together, but we’re waiting for has a great sense of humour and
the right opportunity. The script I’d go by his vision. Sajid just told
has to be special. But we’re very me to follow him. If my director
clear about not mixing business has so much confidence in me, I
with our relationship,” she adds. can’t let him down,” says
Tell her there was no upward Deepika.
movement in Ranbir’s graph as “But that doesn’t mean I don’t
an actor from Saawariya to Bach- have a sense of fun. I plan to have
na… and she protests: “His graph a ball doing Houseful. I’m a re-
was already so high in Saawariya, served person in real life, but that
where could he go? Bachna Ae doesn’t mean I can’t be funny for
Haseeno gave him a chance to do the camera.”
something totally different. I too After working with Farah Khan,
want to get away from the glam now it’s brother Sajid.
sham. Of course, I want to wear “I’m very fond of both of them.
good clothes and sing good At a time when the entertainment
songs. But I’d be uncomfortable industry wasn’t too confident
doing just songs and dances. Be- about me, Farah trusted me com-
yond Sajid Khan’s film I haven’t pletely.
signed any movie. Imtiaz Ali’s She didn’t even audition me.
films are very real and relevant to Farah was the one who spotted
today,” she says. talent in me and cast me opposite
Deepika has mainly worked Shah Rukh,” she recalls. ■
with older actors – Shah Rukh, IANS
Thursday, July 2, 2009
11
Monroe bathrobe auctioned
for $120,000
A Marilyn Monroe bathrobe, which was sold at an auction for
$6,000 a decade ago, has gone under the hammer again in Las
Vegas for a staggering $120,000. A private collector snapped up
the robe Saturday during a two-day Julien’s Auctions
memorabilia sale, which also featured items which once
belonged to Elvis Presley and Michael Jackson, reported
femalefirst.co.uk.
Mariah Carey
appears on set
Cine City
during filming for
her new music
video, ‘Obsessed’, at
The Plaza Hotel on
Monday in New
York City. PHOTO:
BRYAN BEDDER/GETTY
IMAGES/AFP
Obsessed
with revenge
M
ariah Carey gave glamour a day off as she dressed in a baggy track suit and donned a
beard for her latest video.
The diva transformed into a hairy man, modelled on Eminem, for the video of A movie on kite flyers
‘Obsessed’, which reportedly is an answer to the rude comments made by the rapper After movies based on cricket and kabbadi, here comes
about Carey in his song ‘Bagpipes From Baghdad’, reported Daily Mail. a movie on kite flyers. Titled Baana Kaathadi, the
The ‘Hero’ singer switched between playing her usual glamorous self and a man for the movie has actor Murali’s son, Adharva, playing the
video which was shot in the streets of New York. lead. Directed by Badri Venkatesh and produced by
The video shows the man trailing Carey as she shops in Manhattan and then he doubles up Sathya Jyothi Films, it has Samantha of Moscowin
as her chauffeur as she steps out of her limousine onto a red carpet wearing a snake skin print Kaveri fame playing the heroine. The director is
mini and high heels. planning to shoot the movie in Chennai, Gujarat and
‘Obsessed’ is the first track from her new album, Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel, and takes a Thailand. An importance sequence of the film will be
dig at Eminem with whom she had been romantically linked in the past. ■ shot in Gujarat, where the International Kite Festival is
PTI
held every year.
12 ERGO Thursday, July 2, 2009
Wednesday’s Query:
One tax sop your sector
needs and which you are
waiting to listen from
the Finance Minister on
Budget day
■ Taxes should be completely Bharath Narayanan from Wipro Technologies, Sholinganallur has nominated his
removed on liquors and make colleagues as Partners in Crime. He wants to wish them all a great career ahead with all
up items that they want in life. This picture was clicked in at Barista counter inside their office
Priyanka Cognizant after they successfully completed their assessment ending their training period.
■ IT exemption limit to be
raised to 3.0L per annum
from current 1.5 L
Aravindkumar Cognizant
■ Benefits to usage of
mobiles
Lexsminarayanan TCS-eserve
Today’s Query:
Baby Shamili of Anjali
fame is making her
debut as heroine in
Telugu with ’Oye’. Do you
think she can reach the
No.1 position in South
Indian Film Industry?
Suganthan from Royal Bank of Scotland Group has nominated his friends as Partners in
Crime. This pic was clicked in Bengaluru at Lalbagh park.
Thursday, July 2, 2009
13
RooTube is a wallaby
A live broadcast of kangaroos in Australia, designed to lure British
tourists to the country, has been labelled a failure - as the time
difference means U.K. surfers can only see the creatures at night -
with RooTube showing nothing but a pitch-black screen.
sudoku
Ravi Kailasam
from Hewitt
Associates has
shot this
picture at
Kodivery falls
using Nikon
6 MP camera
KAKURO
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B.C
A Russian Proton-M rocket blasts off from the Baikonur Model Jacqui Buchanan parades a 19th century neck-to-knee
cosmodrome carrying a US Sirius FM-5 radio satellite. swimsuit outside the National Maritime Museum in Sydney.
PHOTO: AFP PHOTO: AFP