Ergo January 5

A BYTE OF LIFE

Monday, January 5, 2009

08 BATTLE BEGINS First round action starts at the Chennai Open FREE CIRCULATION

Vol. 3

03 VIRTUAL HILARITY Jammy is India’s funniest blogger

No. 2

LEADING MAN Comedian Karunas on playing the hero in Dindigul Sarathy

PHOTO: R.RAVINDRAN

» PAGE 10

02 NAMMA CHENNAI

ERGO Monday, January 5, 2009

Is it the real estate mafia? Annoyed over no transfer In the telephone-tapping case that rocked the political circles in the city, one was arrested sometime ago. The accused is known to have leaked the tapes after he was thoroughly disappointed over a denied transfer to work at a place which he had requested for.

The fearing and waiting Following the Law College incident, most cops are praying that they shouldn’t be posted in the area under whose jurisdiction the college falls. Meanwhile, the khakis suspended after the college clashes are still running from pillar to post to revoke their orders and get back to service.

Unnecessary info Most police inspectors and constables attached to stations don’t gel well with police intelligence department constables who work in their police limits. The reason – the intelligence men are seen as ‘unnecessary information providers’ to the senior police officers and mediapersons.

Mystery surrounds the murder of three elderly couples in the city in the last two years. However, police claim to have solved the most recent one in Saidapet PETLEE PETER [email protected]

R

esidents of Jones Road near Saidapet railway station woke up on January 1, 2009 to the shocking news of the brutal double murder of an elderly couple in their locality. The victims were Anantha Krishnan (60) and his wife Yamuna Bai (55), found dead inside their apartment by the cops after a domestic help complained of foul smell coming from inside. Similarly, on November 20, Saravanan (75), a retired Tamil Nadu Minerals Limited (TAMIN) official, his wife Kasturi (73) and their maid Inbarasi (17) were found murdered in their bungalow in Ashok Nagar. The bodies were discovered by a family friend who came home to accompany Saravanan for a morning jog. In a similar case on November 18, 2007, once again an elderly couple, Jacob and Mono Jacob, were found dead at their home on Sankaran Avenue, Indira Street in Velachery. The son of the deceased found the body three days after the incident. Suspicions are running high in police circles now on whether all the three murders are interconnected and could be the hand of real estate mafia. Special police teams have been formed to investigate the recent murders and the Jacobs’ murder case is also likely to surface during investigation. “In the murders in Saidapet and Ashok Nagar, the property documents were stolen along with some jewellery and cash. Moreover, both the couples didn’t have children and even had some property dispute with relatives,” said a senior investigating officer. Apart from the victims being senior citizens, there are also some strong similarities between the first two murders. Investigators add that there are no signs of forcible entry into the houses and

there is a possibility that the intruders were persons known to the victims. All the victims were brutally hacked; their throats were slit and they were left to die. In the Jacobs’ case, reliable police sources reveal that the deceased Jacob, a retired employee of MRF, had planned to sell his property as both their sons had settled outside the state. He had changed his mind later and that decision is suspected to have sparked tension among some major bidders for his home. Later, Jacob and his wife were found dead in a decomposed state inside their home in November, 2007. Police say eyewitness saw a man clad in white abandoning Jacob’s car in Padappai a couple of days before the discovery of the murder. The car

(Top) The body of Saravanan being taken to hospital; the apartment complex on Jones Road, Saidapet, where an elderly couple was found murdered on January 1. PHOTOS: S. S. KUMAR AND S. R. RAGHUNATHAN

is suspected to have been taken away by the killer(s) from Jacobs’ home after the crime. However, to this very day police are clueless about the Velachery twin murder. The situation is more or less the same in the case of the Ashok Nagar murder. However, according to most recent developments, police have cracked the Saidapet murder case of Anantha Krishnan and wife Yamuna Bai. Three persons have been arrested and a 30-year-old woman, Sangeetha of Vellore, suspected to be involved in the murder is absconding. The arrested, identified as Dinesh (27), Pugazhendi (29) and Senthilnathan (25), had murdered the couple on December 29 with the assistance of Sangeetha, who was an old acquaintance of Yamuna Bai. ■

03

Monday, January 5, 2009

Jamming with Jammy ANUSHA PARTHASARATHY

It’s easy enough to hold a humorous conversation with ‘India’s Funniest Blogger’ but a totally different sphere to pull him into a serious one. Business head at ibibo.com, Jamshed Velayuda Rajan a.k.a ‘Jammy’ (his nom de blog), who blogs about the idiosyncrasies of life on www.ouchmytoe.com, dons a serious mask with flashes of his ever-present humour as he talks about his life and blog

When and why did you start blogging? I started blogging on May 19, 2003 for no apparent reason. I love writing and used to write short stories and poems from when I was young. The thing is, whenever I asked friends to read my poems, they wouldn’t bother. On the other hand, if I told them it was a poem by Longfellow or Robert Frost (it was still my poem), they complimented it. This led me to think that people are very biased. So I began a blog to see if people could appreciate me for my writing.

Why did you choose humour as your blog’s theme? No blog starts with a theme. A theme evolves into the process of writing. That’s when you find your ground and realise what exactly people like reading in your blog. I started my blog by publishing my poems and short stories. But, I have always loved satire. And a bad satirist ends up being a humorist. I guess that explains me being a humour blogger today.

What’s the story behind ouch my toe? A lot of time was spent on decid-

ing the name for my portal. The world is a pretty crowded place and no one has time for others. Sometimes in this rush, someone may unintentionally hurt you. Don’t make a fuss about it. If, suppose, someone stamped your leg in a crowded street, don’t pick a fight. Just say “Ouch, my toe!” and move on.

And your name to fame; Jammy? Jammy was a nickname given to me by my first boss because he couldn’t decide what name to use for me – Jamshed, or Velayuda or Rajan and it has stuck wherever I have gone. You talk

about your wife a lot on your blog. How did she react? She didn’t quite like it in the beginning. She thought I was belittling her and her family. It was then that I introduced her to writers like Erma Bombeck, Bill Cosby and Townsend who made fun of their families and thus became rich; I guess ‘rich’ being the operative word. With time, readers started to get involved with Rekha and got talking to her via comments. She

loved it. Some of them even recognised her offline. This made her a big fan of my writing.

What factors do you think pulls readers to your blog? The blog talks about incidents without holding back anything. Nostalgia is always of the hard times (for example, when one only had two trousers). There is no attempt made to look cool. The incidents mentioned have always ended up being a part of the reader’s life somehow. I suspect all my readers to associate with at least some of the incidents mentioned in each post. So when a reader can associate with an incident, he/she is more likely to like the writer.

How different is Jamshed from Jammy? Very different. In the blog, Jammy is a loser. In real life, he is a bigger loser. He projects himself as a very quick- witted person. In real life he can hardly tell a joke.

Have you ever used the phrase ‘Ouch, my toe!” in real life? Yes, of course. Many times! ■

04 KALEIDOSCOPE

Mini quiz First correct answer wins a free 2009 executive diary Q1. How many stocks are there in the sensex? A.10 B.30 C.4523 D.10000

ERGO Monday, January 5, 2009

Tax planning can also be about maximising wealth

Q2. Which of these funds invest only in fixed income securities? A.Equity B.Debt C.Balanced D.Money market Send answers to 9281398889 or [email protected] If you think the right answer for Q1 is A and for Q2 is B sms as 1A2B

Word morph Below are some words related to personal finance. Try to find out the max number of words by changing just one letter For example: money - 1 toney 2 motey 3 mosey 4 mopey 5 honey 6 coney 7 boney 1. Stock 2. Invest 3. cash 4. Insure

Scary protest

쒀 Protesters hold a scary mask as they demonstrate against Israeli military strikes on Saturday in Germany. AFP PHOTO

Part 3

T

he objective of any tax planning exercise should be to maximize wealth and not reduce tax by itself. Many a times by reducing tax to the minimum, we are actually reducing our wealth. Let’s see how optimize tax benefit tools and maximize wealth. Invest, Save and Spend- Maximize Section 80 C benefits This section includes a number of tools for investments, savings and expenses with tax benefits up to a maximum of Rs.1,00,000/-. Investments options include ELSS Mutual Funds, ULIP (Unit Linked Insurance Plans) Insurance premiums (Subject to Life cover being equal to a minimum of 5 times the premium) and Pension plan investments. The Savings options are: EPF, PPF, National Saving Certificate, Kisan Vikas Patra and Housing loan principal The Expense option: Children’ school fees (excluding special fees, bus fees, etc) Pension plans are better avoided as they generally do not get tax benefits at the time of maturity which means you save tax today but pay it when you get the pension. Only 30% of the maturity amount in a pension plan is tax free. The rest can be used to buy a pension annuity or add the money to “other income” in income computation and get taxed again. Ordinary ULIPs with 5 times cover can give you the benefit without the pain. Maximize Section 80D This section is for health insurance premium. The limits are

Rs.15,000/- for non-senior citizens and Rs.20,000/- for senior citizens. Maximize this with good insurance cover. Check Finergo dated 08 Dec 2008. This premium is not an investment per se. But in times of emergencies, it is a life saver! Literally! Shift to Long Term Capital Gain (Avoid Short Term Capital Gains) Ensure that your investments are long term in nature - >1 year for equity and equity oriented mutual

funds (zero tax in this case) and > 3 years for buildings (20% of indexed value). Don’t sell land as land itself, make some development on the land - build a house, a commercial space or at least develop it into multiple sites with water & EB connections, and then sell. That way you attract long term capital gains, which is always lesser than short term capital gains. Next week we will understand the other tax savings options. ■

05

Monday, January 5, 2009

MUSIC for your soul and for your ears Watch your lifestyle

Musically inclined

Is staying fit and healthy topmost among your New Year resolutions? Well, this online place could be your answer, where you can analyse your body and lifestyle, get tips about healthy eating, exercises, wellness and motivation, among others. LifeMojo is the entrepreneurial venture of three Engineering college friends – Himanshu Khurana, Namit Nangia and Varun Gupta – who quit their jobs with Trilogy in Bangalore to launch a “healthy lifestyle start-up”. Their target: People who are always on the lookout for interesting weight-loss programmes or those with diabetes. Or, you could be a busy bee whose free time never matches that of the nutritionist and would like the idea of a diet consultant who could answer your umpteen health queries online. “While there are many in the U.S catering to the Westerners, there is no site cater-

Don’t you love to croon? At least sometimes? You may not have a voice like Lata Mangeshkar, but you know your rock when you sing before friends. So, the next time log on to www.muziboo.com where an easy online recorder lets you plug-in your microphone and start recording. Muziboo is an online community bringing musicians – amateurs and professionals – to upload and discuss music with many like-minded people. Nithya and Prateek Dayal, the couple who started it, say their advantage over other similar platforms is their pricing – $25 per year (for 20 and more uploads). Their other means of revenue is Google advertisments. Muziboo as an idea came up during a conversation with a friend who wanted to put up a website for sharing his music videos. “Our idea was to build a solid community of amateurs and professionals who can help others

ing to Indian tastes,” says Himanshu. The friends say that having Dr. Shikha Sharma, a renowned weight management and health expert based in Delhi, on their team is one of their biggest motivating factors. Their next big task is roping in more nutritionists and popularising online consultation. “It will be a marketplace for nutritionists,” Himanshu says, citing an example of the community in Orkut where there are over 800 nutritionists. While some of the applications are free, once a member takes up consultation he/she will have to pay. If the online medium is not your kind, then LifeMojo is gearing up to launch similar features on the mobile. Diet planner, tracker…. How about getting health talk on your phone? Log on to www.lifemojo.com to learn what the startup has in store for you.

People behind LifeMojo – Himanshu Khurana, Namit Nangia and Varun Gupta

Home is their office, hiring is not on their immediate agenda, and maintaining a sustainable business is their goal. Two Bangalorebased start-ups on how simple observations and conversations became a business idea

with feedback and comments,” says Nithya, who was working in a wireless start-up with Prateek before they decided to turn entrepreneurs. Though Muziboo started as a music-sharing service in 2007, over the months it has users from all parts of the world. “People upload anything from interviews and speeches to mimicries and creative voice mails,” says Nithya talking about the success of Muziboo. “The innovative user behaviour has actually helped us diversify our offering. We have half a million page views every month.”What does Muziboo mean? “It doesn’t mean anything. We wanted to come up with some name which would have a global appeal as we did not set out to build an India-specific service. This was the first name we came up with and we stuck to it,” says Nithya. Now, log on to www.muziboo.com to upload your music.

Nithya and Prateek Dayal the couple behind Muziboo

06 VILLAGE

ERGO Monday, January 5, 2009

Goldfish survives A goldfish has amazed experts by surviving out of water for up to 21 hours.Fish usually die in minutes without water as they need it to breathe.

Bon Jovi to sing at NYC Hillary Clinton fundraiser T

he final note of Hillary Rodham Clinton’s presidential campaign may very well be sung by Jon Bon Jovi. The musician is performing at a fundraiser for the former presidential candidate as she tries to close out her campaign debt. The January 15 performance at Manhattan’s Town Hall is being billed as “a final evening in support of Hillary Clinton for President Debt Relief.” Ticket prices range from US$ 75 to US$ 1,000. The former first lady and New York senator has been working to pay down her debt to clear the way for confirmation as President-elect Brake Ob’s secretary of state. Federal ethics rules prohibit Cabinet officials from actively

The January 15 performance at Manhattan’s Town Hall is being billed as “a final evening in support of Hillary Clinton for President Debt Relief” soliciting campaign contributions. As of last month, she still owed US$ 6.3 million to vendors. She also wrote off US$ 13.1 million in personal money she lent to the campaign. ■ PTI

Stolen Madoff statue returned with note attached A statue stolen last month from Wall Street financier Bernard Madoff’s Florida home has been returned undamaged, and with a note attached, to a country club where the accused swindler is a member, Palm Beach police said on Thursday. The attached note read: “Bernie the Swindler, Lesson: Return stolen property to rightful owners. Signed by The Educators,” according to police. Reuters

Orangutan enjoys riding on a jet ski Surya, a four-year-old rescued orangutan, enjoys riding on an inflatable jet ski at The Institute of Greatly Endangered and Rare Species in Miami, Florida, USA centre, which is its home. Surya, who was dressed in a child’s wetsuit to keep warm, enjoyed floating across the wide pool, waving at onlookers as the inflatable moved around. Trainers at the centre put him in the pool every week to keep him active and challenged, and he enjoys splashing about with them. “Suyra loves playing in the water. But he doesn’t like getting his head wet, so he wears a lifejacket so he doesn’t go underneath,” the Telegraph quoted animal expert Dr Bhagavan Antle as saying. ANI

World’s longest marine causeway to connect Bahrain, Qatar The world’ longest marine causeway, a US$ 3 billion project which will link Bahrain and Qatar, will come up in the Gulf region by 2013. The over 40 km twin carriageway, running across 22km of viaducts over the sea and 18km of embankments, will reduce travel time by car between the Gulf countries by about four hours. Shaikh Mohammad Bin Essa Al Khalifa, Chief Executive of Bahrain’s Economic Development Board, said the construction of the ‘Friendship Causeway’ has already started. “Geological and maritime surveys have already started and the implementation stage will begin soon. PTI

Obama mulls compensation packages for jobless US President-elect Barack Obama is considering major expansion of government-assisted health care insurance and unemployment compensation packages for helping the jobless, a media report says. “Barack Obama and Congressional Democrats are considering major expansions of government-assisted health care insurance and unemployment compensation as they begin intensive work this week on a two-year economic recovery package,” the New York Times reported in its Sunday edition. As part of the proposal, unemployment compensation would be extended to part-time workers. PTI

07

Monday, January 5, 2009

Dead parrot

This day, that year

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

It was on January 5, 1919 that Adolf Hitler joined The German Worker’s Party and renamed it The Nazi Party.

It’s not a school, but ‘a place for learning’ T

he head teacher of a new school in Sheffield, South Yorks, has banned the usage of the word ‘school’, as it could have a negative impact on the pupils’ parents. Watercliffe Meadow, known as a ‘Place for Learning’, has 481 pupils and the kids from nursery to Year 6, are allowed to wear slippers instead of shoes. “We decided we didn’t want to use the word ‘school’,” the Sun quoted head teacher Linda Kingdon as saying. “One reason was many parents of children here had very negative connotations of school. Instead we want this to be a place for family learning. There are no bells or locked doors. We wanted to de-institutionalise the place and bring the school closer to real life,” she said. However, the decision to do away with the word ‘school’ has not been met with much favour. “A school is a school. Seriously,” local mum Kimberley Dunne, 26, said.

Prince William and Kate to get married?

British school bans the word ‘school’ as it could have a negative impact on the pupils’ parents “The word ‘school’ doesn’t have negative connotations, it’s just where you go. A school’s always been a school, why change it?” Marie Clair, of the Campaign for Plain English, said: “It’s laughable. Do they think by changing the name they will change the environment? We all know what the building is. There is this whole political correctness agenda. Using unfamiliar words instead of a simple one, like ‘school’, will get in the way of children’s ability to learn.” Andrew Sangar, Sheffield Council cabinet member for children’s services, added his thoughts. “It’s a school,” he said. “We consider it a school and that’s how we refer to it,” he said. ■ ANI

Mr. Handsome

S

peculation is rife that Prince William and his ladylove Kate Middleton may soon tie the knot this year after her parents have been invited to meet Prince Charles and his wife Camilla. Britain’s king-in-waiting and the Duchess have asked Middleton’s mother Carole and father Michael to visit them at the Royal Family’s Scottish estate Birkhall, according to the Daily Star. An unnamed friend of the Middleton family was quoted by the British newspaper as saying: “The Prince wanted to get to know Kate’s parents better, and it seemed to be the ideal time for everyone.” In fact, only two days back, William and Middleton had joined Charles and Camilla for a final break together before the second-in-line to the British throne begins his training as an Royal Air Force rescue helicopter pilot.

쑸 A pug ready to take part in the 160th dog show in Ahmedabad on Sunday. PTI PHOTO

As Kate turns 27 on Friday, William will throw a party at Tamna-Ghar, his own secluded threebedroom shooting lodge on the estate. The Prince has told his friends he is planning to spring a surprise to make her day, the newspaper said. Later this month, William begins an 18month training programme as an RAF search and rescue pilot. ■ PTI

08 SPORT

ERGO Monday, January 5, 2009

Tennis intellectual Serbian Janko Tipsarevic who downed world No. 6 Andy Roddick to reach the fourth round of the Wimbledon is the seventh seed at the US$ 450,000 Chennai Open. A sports management student, the Serbian is an avid reader and is always engrossed reading psychiatry books of Nietzchse, Dostojevski and Goethe. He has a tattoo on his left hand with inscription “Beauty will save the world” from Dostojevski.

AYON SENGUPTA [email protected]

I THOUGH THIS YEAR’S CHENNAI OPEN SEEMS A LITTLE LOW ON STAR POWER, SPECTATORS CAN EXPECT AN EXCITING TOURNAMENT

ndia’s biggest tennis gala enters its 14th year and promises to keep the momentum going as a host of international stars descend on the tennis capital of the country for the week-long Chennai Open starting at the SDAT Tennis Stadium in Nungambakkam from Monday. The last edition saw a host of exciting matches culminating in a grand final between then world No. 2 Rafael Nadal and Russian Mikhail Youzhny, which the Russian dominated from the word go. But with both skipping the meet this time, the mantle will be on another Russian and world No. 5 Nikolay Davydenko to enthral the crowd along with alltime favourite Carlos Moya. The Spaniard, a regular feature at the season-opener since the last eight years, has a relatively easy first round taking on a qualifier at the bottom half of the draw. However, Davydenko will be up against Daniel Koellerer from Australia, ranked 125 in the world, who has had a decent success in the ATP circuit since turning pro in 2003. Davydenko, who had a great 2008 season reaching the final of the year ending Masters Cup in Shanghai, will look for some valuable ATP points and will fancy his chances against a somewhat subdued field. Although the competition this year claims to have roped in as many as seven top-50 players and 15 from the top-100, it seems devoid of any star value that a Nadal, Youzhny or Patrick Rafter had brought to the tournament in the earlier editions. Although Swiss World No. 13 Stansilas Wawarinka and the sec-

ond seed here had a relatively good 2008 reaching the finals at the Doha and Rome ATP events, his ticket to fame lies in the fact that he partnered the great Roger Federer to win gold at the Beijing Olympic Games.

Star attraction? Devoid of star powers, these players will find it hard to attract crowds at the 5,000-seater stadium, though the organisers promise a packed house. Tennis legend Vijay Amritraj rubbished the claims of a depleted field and said: “The field is even this year and you can’t name a favourite again. We have

a very high cut-off point and with a few of the top players vying for the title you can expect some good tennis.” Others in the fray are the Croatian duo of Marin Cilic and Ivo Karlovic, besides German veteran Rainer Schuettler, who won the doubles title in 2005 partnering Yen-Hsun Lu of Taipei. The fifth seed from Germany takes on India’s wild card entrant Prakash Amritraj. Apart from Amritraj the Indian contingent will be eagerly looking to some magic from Somdev Dev Varman, who shot up to become India’s top-ranked singles player at 201 after turning pro at the

What a racquet!

09

Monday, January 5, 2009

‘‘

’This would be my seventh visit in the last eight years. I always look forward to 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 popular tournament.

start of the 2008 season. The US college champion has shown enough promise on the pro-circuit, winning a challenger event at Lexington, and is expected to go past American Kevin Kim (117) in his first round match based on his present form. But in all probability, next up for Somdev will be former world No. 1 Moya, thus ruling out any chances of a fairytale debut at his home turf. The doubles event shows more promise than the singles line-up even after the top doubles pairing of Mike and Bob Bryan pulled out at the last minute. With no love lost between Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi, the Indian duo will be looking forward to surpass each other playing with their respective partners. Leander, who along with Mahesh broke into the world doubles scene from this very championship during the mid 90s and then went on to win two Grand Slam doubles before the two fell out, said: “It feels great to be back among friends and at a familiar environment. I really have a lot to look forward to in this edition

Two-times winner Carlos Moya

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

and I expect Chennai Open to act as a stepping stone for me for more success in 2009.”

Security Security measures for this year’s Chennai Open have been heightened in the wake of the recent terror attacks in the country. British security consultant Reg Dickason, who oversaw security arrangements during the IndiaEngland Test series in Chennai and Mohali, would be handling the arrangements for the ATP Tour event. Assuring a safe tournament, Dickason said: “Arrangements for the tennis event is very different. Security for cricket was enhanced because of spectator support and also the number of entry and exit points. Here also we have conducted a pre-event check in formalising the security arrangements and security initiatives were addressed to. Our role will be to add to the existing security arrangements with a lot of police personnel.”

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

Rumours say that top players like Mike and Bob Bryan of the US and Croatian Ivan Ljubicic pulled out of the US$ 450,000 event because of security concerns. But differing from the popular view, Ravi Krishnan, consultant to IMG, owners of the ATP Chennai Open, said: “Not one communication came from any player or ATP about security concerns. We took the step because of the environment that we are living in today. No one expressed hostility or any concern.” ■

10 FLICK

ERGO Monday, January 5, 2009

Padikkathavan for Pongal? The Dhanush-starrer Padikkathavan may be released this Pongal. The movie is said to be a racy entertainer with loads of comedy.

The phenomenal growth of actor Karunas from a comedian to hero

[email protected]

K

arunas is on top of the world now. His new release, Dindigul Sarathy, where he plays the hero Sarathy, is the talk of the town. “Recently, director Balu Mahendra called me to congratulate me for my new movie. He said it is difficult to make the audience sit for two-and-a-half hours at a stretch, and that I have achieved it easily. This is more than an award for me,” says comedian Karunas aka Karunanidhi. Introduced by director Bala in Nandha, Karunas immortalised the role of Lodukku Paandy in his debut movie. And since then, there’s been no looking back for him, now one of the busiest comedians in Tamil cinema. Dindigul Sarathy was a surprise package for Karunas’ fans, as the comedian turned a fulltime hero. A remake of actor-director Srinivasan’s Malayalam movie Vadakku Nokki Yendram, Dindigul Sarathy is the story of an average-looking youth who gets married to a good-looking

woman and his travails thereafter. “It was initially decided that director Srinivasan himself would direct the movie. But that didn’t happen, as he had other assignments. As I liked the story very much, I started looking out for a director and producer. Sun Pictures and director Siva Shanmugham fulfilled my dream. We worked for two years to bring out the movie and from the response I get now I think we have done a decent job.” A post graduate in Tamil Literature, Karunas says that during his college days he would do anything to make himself the centre of attraction. “During one

of the college culturals, I wore a salwar for three days to make everyone look at me. Since childhood my aim was to become popular.” The off-screen Karunas is a serious person. “I am not a humorous person like actor S.Ve. Sekhar. But I can guarantee that I can make people laugh through my acting. I don’t mind appearing for just one scene, but my part should be important. In Yaaradi Nee Mohini I just had a few scenes, but people liked me very much in the film,” the actor says, adding that he would never act in comedy scenes with double-entendres.

“I am a great fan of actor Chandrababu. He is a good actor as well as musician. I started my career as a singer. I never dreamt of acting in movies. Now with the popularity I enjoy in cinema, I am concentrating fully on acting. One day I will surely bag the National Award for Best Comedian, though there is no such award category now,” says Karunas, who is now eagerly awaiting shooting for Rajinikanth’s Endhiran. ■

During one of the college culturals, I wore a salwar for three days to make everyone look at me. Since childhood my aim was to become popular PHOTO: R. RAVINDRAN

V. HARIPRIYA

11

Monday, January 5, 2009

Travolta’s son dead Jett Travolta, 16-year-old son of Hollywood actor John Travolta, was found dead in the bathroom of a resort in the Bahamas.

P

op star Britney Spears has been warned by model Jesse Randhawa, who is the girlfriend 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: “Britney’s gone through so much turmoil in her life and instead of making her a better person, it looks like she’s just left all her morals and ethics behind. She knows he’s 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 she’d just leave us alone now.” “It was Britney and her management who keep hassling Sandip to get his pictures taken with her and her dad Jamie. And one of her team even borrowed Sandip’s laptop and sent out emails from Sandip’s address saying that he was on a romantic break with her. Since I’ve known Sandip I’ve not seen him even once have a roaming eye on another girl. He would never go for Britney anyway. She’s just not his type.” Spears had first met Soparrkar at Madonna’s 50th birthday bash in London. ■ IANS

Where there’s a Will, there’s hay

W

‘Britney’s

just not his type’

ill Smith, star of Hancock and Seven Pounds, has been voted the top money-making movie star of 2008 in an annual poll of movie theatre owners and film buyers. Smith is only the second African-American actor after Sidney Poitier to top the Quigley poll, which has been running for 76 years. Robert Downey Jr came second, Christian Bale third and Shia LaBeouf fourth in the list. Anne Hathaway was named a star of tomorrow as was Chris Pine, who will play Captain Kirk in 2009’s Star Trek movie, reports the BBC. Tom Cruise did not make the Top Ten for 2008 despite being voted No. 1 seven times since 1983. Depp, the Pirates of the Caribbean star who was placed first in 2007, also did not make the 2008 list. The Quigley Poll has been conducted every year since 1932 by the publishers of the International Motion Picture Almanac. It asks movie theatre owners and film buyers to vote for the 10 stars they believe generated the most box office revenue for their theatres during the year. ■ ANI

12

ERGO Monday, January 5, 2009

Friday’s Query: Who would you like to build a temple for and why?

A.T.Karthikeyan, S.Stanly George - Perot System, Minu - Sutherland, Dhananjayan - Scope International, Subhashini - CGSL

■ Everyone should build temple 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 "Shri U.V.Swaminathan". He is the real saviour of our mother tongue. Had he not been there, we would’ve missed most of the precious Tamizh literatures once for all Mukund, SCB Scope International

■ Superstar Rajnikanth for his divine look. Attitude towards problems he is facing and his way of carrying himself in on screen and off screen. He made a great impression on Indian youths. He is the role model for millions of youngsters Shiva, Perot Systems

■ Sachin Tendulkar, because he is the man who made each and every Indian feel proud to be one by being the owner of almost all the world records in both forms of international cricket S. Prasanna Kumar - RamTéch Software Solutions, Vignesh C - Cognizant

■ My ex-team leader for the support and care which I got from her during my initial days at office Ajeet, TCS

■ For my mother because she only gave life for me and she gives love, affection and everything for me

Sagar from IBM has nominated his friends as partners in crime. They clicked this pic at Queensland.

■ Actor Vijay. He proved attraction is important than beauty Balaji Thanappan, Mani, Wipro

■ A temple for my father who left this world recently. He was one such dad like Prakashraj in Abhiyum Naanum movie Priya, CSS Corp

■ Mother Teresa for her love to the deprived and devoted to be love in action on earth

Vasudevan from AdventNet has nominated his team "Sabai" as Partners in Crime.

Sathyanarayanan - FSS, Raguraman - Wipro

■ Dr.Abdul Kalam Rakshita Sreenivasan, Wipro Technologies

■ E.V.Ramasamy (Periyar). Because he is the person who said to believe in man instead of god Gunasekaran.N, HCL

■ Namitha. She is the goddess of Tamil cinema Annapoorani M, TCS

■ Martyrs’ who lost their life in the Mumbai attack because worshiping them is equal to worshiping god Archana Ramakrishnan, TCS

Today’s Query: If a new planet is discovered by India, what would you name it and why?

Neetha S Thomas of Hexaware has nominated her friends as partners in Crime.

13

Monday, January 5, 2009

Murali from Scope International has been nominated as 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 to all the employees from the Head to the canteen guy. He deserves to be “Office Angel” of our company.

■ Dear Kamesh, A warm Welcome to CGSL. New career in your life, in this New Year.Yet another successful journey, starts today. Wishes for a bright future and, "All The Best." Heartfelt Wishes from, Ramya.S, CGSL.

■ Dear Raja alias Raasukutty, Wish you many more happy returns of the Day and have a splendid year ahead. May all your dreams come true. Klarity Defect Team, HCLT

■ Hi Harini, Wishing you all the best in the year to come. May your days be filled with sunshine and beautiful colours. And may your nights be filled with comforting dreams and wishes to come. Your loving friends, Hannah and Krithika

■ Dear HCL Vijay, Iniya Pirantha Naal Vazthukkal. We wish that your HCL dreams come true by this Year!!! Where’s the Party???? Team Worldsource – TCS

■ Dear RudhraShree M, Wish u many more happy returns of the day. May the god bless you with Prosperity, joyful health and peace filled year ahead.

Bharathi of Infosys has doodled this.

With Loving Parents, Manianand & Kirthika

■ Hi Sobi & Jeni, Wish u happy prosperous "NEW YEAR 2009" to u & ur Family. May God bless U wid Hapinez, peace. My Heartiest New year Wishes. with warm wishes from, H.Nizam. Optimus Global Services

, ■ Dear Suda, Belated Birthday wishes!! Let this birthday make ur life brighter than ever and let all ur dreams come true. Regards, Naraine,Infy

If a Flower is empty what do u call it, Cauli-Flower Thiruvalluvar 1330 kural ezhidhirundhaalum avarala oru kuralil thaan paesa mudiyum Saravanan , HCL

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

■ Dear RudhraShree M, Wish u many more happy returns of the day. May the god bless you with prosperity,joyful health and peace filled year ahead. With lots of luv, Murugesan & family.

14 TRAFFIC JAM

ERGO Monday, January 5, 2009

Overdraft A student from England was left stunned after looking at his online banking statement - it showed him to be overdrawn by almost $146 billion (GBP100billion). Barclay’s bank blamed a technical error.

sudoku

Starting today till the end of the month, all photos selected for clickpick will receive a gift voucher worth Rs.1,000 courtesy Kantilal Diamonds. Readers are requested to send their addresses with their entries.

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]

TEAM Editor: Karthik Subramanian [email protected]

Sr Dy Chief Designer: J.A. Prem Kumar Dy Chief Designer: R. Ravi Kannan Illustrator: R. Venugopal Technical Support: V.R. Vasudevan, K.G. Gurumurthy N. Ravichandran, E. Baskar

ADVERTISING ENQUIRIES: Contact: 2857 5757 E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.goergo.in Head of Circulation: M.G.M. Sharief [email protected]

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

FAX 2857 6691

Printed and Published by S. Karthik on behalf of KASTURI & 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 under the PRB Act). RNI No. TNENG/2007/24553

Pradeep from Infosys sent us pictures of Niagara Falls, which he took last July. Hobby: Photography

KAKURO

15

Monday, January 5, 2009

Vegetable oil

Word’s worth

An Air New Zealand jumbo jet has successfully completed a two-hour test flight that was partly powered by vegetable oil.

"Empasm" (em-paz-’m) a perfumed powder sprinkled on the body to prevent sweating or for medicinal purposes. A similar word with the same meaning is diapasm; both come from a Greek verb meaning ’to sprinkle.’ There is no recorded use of either word since the late nineteenth century.

B.C ARIES MARCH 21 - APRIL 20 The first half the day seems very good. You will be working on money generating ideas. Ganesha finds you full of vigour throughout the day. Try to relax, suggests Ganesha, or you will be completely drained out even for a sweet romance with your beloved.

TAURUS APRIL 21 - MAY 20 You may feel as if you are married to your computer, but do not worry much, it’s just for a day. As soon as you are done with work, you may want to rush home. A tiring day at work may motivate to attend recreational activities.

GEMINI MAY 21 - JUNE 20 You may be in a ‘self-developmental’ mood today. You may get inspired by someone. All your communication will be affective. On the relationship front, if you want to receive affection, you should be considerate towards your beloved.

BORN LOSER

CANCER JUNE 21 - JULY 20 Work may not be too heavy hence you will remain busy with routine work. Ganesha warns you against wasting time as work pressure may increase. In the evening you may entertain your beloved and have a good time. The day might be tricky to handle.

LEO JULY 21 - AUG 20 Sentiments and emotions might drench you in the morning. Interestingly, the noon may appear with a paradox. Ganesha feels you will be more practical towards your final objective later during the day. Love life may take a back seat.

VIRGO AUG 21 - SEPT 20

FREE RANGE

WORKING IT OUT

Ganesha finds you behaving very amicably with colleagues. You will be able to put your point across in official meetings. Love life will be flooded with sweet conversations and moments. Due to this, you will feel on the top of the world today!

LIBRA SEPT 21 - OCT 20 Your memory will be very sharp today. Hence you will remain good with digits and integers. Also, memory will also ease the process of rectifying past errors related to work. On the love front, you might need to develop a compromising approach.

SCORPIO OCT 21 - NOV 20 To err is human and to rectify is smart. If you realise that you are working in the wrong direction, stop immediately and change the direction. Ganesha assures that your efforts won’t get wasted. In love life you are noticed to be judgemental.

SAGITTARIUS NOV 21 - DEC 20 You may try to be friendly with everyone at office. Along with the routine work, you may also feel like doing some more research on work related topics. Ganesha advises you to work according to your priorities in life. Love life may be full of emotions.

CAPRICORN DEC 21 - JAN 20 The day favours combination of creativity and technology. Ganesha feels you should work on final designs of products and softwares. If finalized now, the final product will be wonderful. Since you are so engrossed in work, personal life may suffer a bit.

PREVIOUS ISSUE’S SOLUTIONS

AQUARIUS JAN 21 - FEB 20 Philosophical and practical thinking go hand in hand today. Your advices for others might just go in vain today. Since you are feeling ‘divine’, you might try to establish a spiritual connection with beloved. Ganesha finds this Karmic day to be good for work.

PISCES FEB 21 - MARCH 20 It is always advisable to clear the back log. Ganesha feels your pending work might bother you today. Ganesha also advises you to avoid mental stress and take proper care of your health. Love life will not cause any tension today. Predictions by Bhavesh N. Pattni

16 !

ERGO Monday, January 5, 2009

One look is it takes NEWS AND NEWSMAKERS IN PICTURES

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

A man dressed as a King distributes candies to residents during an event to mark the end of Christmas season in Manila on Sunday. AFP PHOTO

A member of the Sikh Nihang Army Baba ’Jagir’ Singh wears a turban made with 250 metre of cloth while paying homage at the Golden temple in Amritsar on Sunday. AFP PHOTO