About likers and liker-mockers

Recently, I saw this spat between a few friends. Let's call them L, M, N & O
It started off for me with M, N & O apologizing to L, and asking him to 're-friend' them back on facebook.  L - upset as he was - initially didn't warm up to the idea..but later on 'friended' them back.

Let's flash-back a few days: Whenever L posted an article/comment/fart on facebook - he 'like'd any and every response he got to his post ( he still does). This prompted M to joke about it that L was being a 'like-wh**e' - giving his 'likes' free to anybody that paid him attention. To M, that was like desecrating the sanctity of the 'like'. It was like saying 'great question' any post-lecture question... you get the drift.
N & O 'liked' M's witty retorts around this topic.

And of course, these were the first set of responses that L didn't 'like'. And ended up banishing the entire lot from L's facebook living room.


Personally, I use 'like' to respond to other's posts. I 'like' responses to posts I make only when - the response is funny, or extra-ordinary in some way. If I want to acknowledge people's responses/wishes, I reply to a batch - "thanks everybody, ". 
If it's something like birthday wishes, I pretty much respond to each using the opportunity for some small talk.

Clearly - I'm not a 'liker' like L. But neither am I a 'liker-mocker' like M.
I also understand the point of view of the 'L's of the world. Their 'like' is to simply say 'thanks for your comment'. For comments which touch them more - they will probably go verbal on it.
I wonder how other facebook users feel about this.

I also noticed that I notice how people respond to responses to their posts. If somebody 'likes' a comment that I put on their post, I do check if they've 'liked' every other response.

I'm real glad now that facebook's graph API is being extended by individual apps to add stuff like 'thank', 'have', 'want' etc. Hopefully the status app(?) on facebook adds one of these things.

But what would you add, if you add only one other verb to a status update?      

Baanigondu Elle ellide - Dr. Rajkumar

I taught my son Avaneesh a little bit of guitar before letting the usual things in life distract us. I've been meaning to encourage him by putting up some of his playing on youtube.. but never got around to it.
So, I thought I'll finally do it before his 9th birthday.
The original song is by Dr. Rajkumar in 'Premada KaaNike' called 'Baanigondu Elle Ellide'
I've pulled down the scale while teaching him - to be in a pitch he could eventually sing. The beat is a 6 beat.

D                 G  A G   D  ( plucking) 
Ay .. eh he...    
D                       Em       G          D    
Baanigondu elle ellide, ninnaase gelli koneyide,   
Em                G   D
yEke kanasu kaaNuve, nidhaanisu nidhaanisu    x 2


D
Aaseyemba bisilu kudure yEke ODuve
Bm                      G        D
maraLu gaaDinalli summanEke aleyuve
D
avana niyama meeri illi yEnu saagadu
Bm                      G         D
naavu nenesidante baaLalEnu naDeyadu
   A              D            G              A          D
duraaseyEtake, niraaseyEtake, adEne aadaroo.. avana kaaNike

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Religion at the bottom of the pyramid..

This is a maid story. 

(To the guys: No.. not the kind you are imagining)   

This was an experience of a friend - and I found it so interesting I thought I'll write it up. 

My friend took on a maid to help her cleanup-dishes, sweeping/swobbing..etc. The maid's husband had deserted her or something.. but she had started living with a guy that had promised to marry her. Rather, he was living in with her. My friend - to help out the maid - even took on the guy as a driver. 

But the industrious fellow built a rather robust network amongst other maids in our apartment complex. Naturally, this irked his live-in girlfriend no end.

One of the many Radhas to this Krishna was also apparently a cook - who also cooked for my aforementioned friend. The maid went crazy about it (naturally? ) and took it up with my friend. The Krishna soon abandoned plans (if at all there were any) of marrying this maid.  

The claims soon went beyond 'she stole my man'. She claimed the cook went to Kerala and got some 'maaTa' - Indian black magic - done against her. Now, she was getting possessed by demons. 

Soon, she decided that her recently adopted religion - christianity - wasn't helping her out in this regard. Clearly she's not watched Exorcist. So, she went back to Tamilnadu (where her village was ) and reconverted to Hinduism. One reason was "Christianity isn't giving me more peace of mind as promised".  Another was that whatever reversing charms had to be done, would be more effective if she were a hindu - apparently the spirits also discriminate based on religion.

This reconversion had a temporary effect in the black magic stuff, but the most recent update is that the fight is on. 

Back to my friend -  she was in a tizzy coz the maid had to take leave pretty often to address her 'demon possession' incidents. The cook had to go- she had already cooked up a decent enough mess that this maid wasn't even around to cleanup.  Our Kishan Kanhaiya driver - he was already fired due to incompatible chemistries owing to his physical activities. Finally - the maid - she had to ultimately fire - she was not around anyway. 

Minding two little kids close in age, and carrying out the remaining chores - she's wondering when she'll get possessed.  

Yuki Bhambri -great potential

Just saw Yuki Bhambri lose against Janko Tipsarevic 1-6, 3-6.
The first set - he probably was still getting used to the fact that he was playing against somebody that outranked him (345 to 9 ) so hugely. Towards the end of the set he started showing some color that was heartening.
The second set - was an entirely different story. He fought back very well.
His two-handed backhand cross courts were pretty accurate and kept Tipsarevic in check.
His skills at running around his backhand ( once even in a service return!) are awesome. Whenever he took Janko on for long, he did have pretty good success. His strokes - drop shots, forehands and backhands were a treat to watch.
He lost out repeatedly to Janko's super-accurate down-the-line shots that always seemed to hit the lines.
 
His serves really need some work - 150-160km/hr against Janko's 190km/hr with the first serve, and 120km/hr second serves. He still did pretty good damage with them on the ad court where he repeatedly ran around his backhand and hit winners.
But his performance against Janko's serve also requires some work.
His fitness levels look pretty good - doesn't seem to tire even after the long rallies he was having with Janko.

Yuki - here's wishing a great year ahead to you - and hope you scale great heights. This new fan will surely be around to cheer you!  :)

Rewriting history - Chanakya

Lately, I've been seeing people rewriting history in many ways. Our Television channels are one big avenue. Popular historical figures are used, and fake storylines are made up - Rani Laxmibai, Tippu Sultan, Pritviraj Chauhan, etc. Facebook/Youtube also seem to be a popular medium for such things.

Chanakya- the author of Arthashasthra - arguably one of the smartest Indians ever - is a popular subject.

One popular thing seems to be various editions of 'Chanakya Neeti' or Chanakya's wisdom.
Another recent one that I came across is a lie about how Chanakya sent Alexander packing. It is a clever 'remix' of powerpoint, the 'Chanakya' television series by Chandraprakash Dwivedi, and Alexander's history from the history channel. The history channel excerpts lend authenticity to this otherwise bogus nonsense.
To the casual viewer, it would seem to be truthful -

• Chanakya lived around the same time as Alexander's invasion of India 
• The television series seems to show him delivering powerful dialogues making him a leader of sorts Chandragupta Maurya did rule most of India 
• He is one of the smartest Indians that lived 

So, lets credit him for everything - including sliced bread! Right ? Wrong!!


There is little evidence that Chanakya had any role in stopping Alexander. He was a teacher at Takshashila- ruled by Ambhi of Gandhara.(Current Kandahar).

• He did try to get Nanda's support to defeat Alexander and unite the rest of India, but was rejected. 
• Porus of Punjab put up such a strong fight with only an army of 20,000, that it shook up Alexander's army. 
• When they reached the Ganga- which was the extent of the Nanda kingdom, the Greeks almost revolted against Alexander because they didn't WANT TO fight another Indian army which was 200,000 strong infantry alone - 10 times the size of Porus' army. 
• Alexander went back without a battle there. 

The reality was probably different - Porus was a gallant commander, and his troops were extremely loyal to him. Dhana Nanda didn't have such support. He also was derided as a 'Shudhra' (lower caste) king.
  
So, if anybody deserves credit for turning Alexander back, it would be Porus. He put the fear of Indian opposition into the Greek army.

Chanakya really came to power/influence after grooming Chandragupta to fight Dhana Nanda.

About fighting the mosquito squadrons

If you live in Bangalore, you get to expend brain power on esoteric stuff like 'strategies to beat mosquitoes'.

You basically have three stages: Defence, warfare and the retreat.
'Defence' : All the things you can do keep the cute little darlings out of your house.
'(Trench) Warfare' :  They've breached your defenses. Plus points range from cute music around your ears, and bites that let you appreciate the stillness of the night at 2 am - but you need to fight. There's hand to hand, Airborne (we'll come to that later), aerosol/repellant cream/coils, etc - chemical warfare,
'Retreat/Suffer': You have been introduced to malaria, dengue or chickengunya. The last one doesn't even have allopathic cures; in most cases you have severe joint pains for years after recovering. And you groan/whine and suffer your way out of these illnesses.

Clearly, 'defence' is preferable to 'warfare', and 'warfare' hits the 'suffer' out of the park.

Defence:
When we lived in single-family house, the standard plan ingrained into us was that by 6 pm, you make sure to close all windows & doors. And keep them shut until atleast 8 pm. And that is pretty effective in keeping mosquitoes out the rest of the night, so long as you live in non-mosquito breeding area.
In apartments (where we now live), they mosquito squadrons have different schedules. From 6pm till around 7pm, they feast on the evening walkers that are brave enough to wear shorts and short sleeves. Little babies are...well.. its like taking candy from babies. You can almost hear the wicked laughter while the kids cluelessly slap themselves silly.
The winged  also have allies in our local Udupi restaurants - ours keep their 'AC rooms' shut till 8pm - and force you to sit out, and get feasted upon while you feast. And the restaurants still do roaring business- one suspects some kind of deal with the devil.
Back to the apartments: Around 7 come out the maintenance staff with their own concoctions of medicine (mostly kerosene, it feels like - from the odour) and start spraying around the plants. These concoctions are designed to look convincing to the human eye in terms of the smoke produced - since they are using up the aparment-owner associations' money for this purpose.  
Convinced,  the heretofore exercising brave humans make a beeline for the elevators - all the while playing the 'slap-your-thighs, clap your hands, listen to the music and slap-your-face' game.

This is the indication to our winged crusaders to start out for the upper floors.
Theories abound on how they get to the really high floors -from some of the finest minds in the Bengaluru software service industry:

• They follow people into elevators - the very ones that are fleeing the medicine spraying
• Their wings are deceptively powerful and can fly up all those floors 
• They track wind currents around buildings, and use the right drafts to 'glide' up alongside buildings. And along the way, they enter apartments mission-impossible style upon spotting 'clients'.
• When nobody is watching, they manage to bunch up to create enough mass to press elevator buttons...  
• etc.

Warfare: There is always the 'clap-n-slap-till-you-drop' approach.
There are mosquito coils which spit out rather scary smoke. They do keep mosquitoes at bay - but there are enough suspicions about the damage they cause to humans.
There are now electronic bug swatters sold at most traffic junctions at around 100Rs. These are like small tennis rackets, and work reasonably well. But mosquitoes seem to have learned about them. I was evidence at a friend's where the little buzzers kept above 10 feet altitude. He was climbing various tables/chairs to get at them, but they pretty much hugged the ceiling. (The airborne warfare I was referring to)

Retreat: Not much to talk here- one just hopes not to fall victim. BTM Layout - the area I stay next to - is a Dengue hotspot.

Chords for Paravasha Naadenu

Just heard the new song 'Paravasha naadenu' or 'Paravashanadenu' by Harikrishna from the movie Paramaatma. Beautiful song, and chording. One of the rare songs where both paragraphs are different tunes ( even chords).

Movie: Paramaatma (2011)
Music: V Harikrishna
Direction: Yograj Bhat
Singer: Sonu Nigam
Lyrics: Jayanth Kaaykini


C#m G# 

lead 
C#m (arpeggio x 2 )

C#m                      G#           
Paravashanaadenu Ariyuva Munnave..    
C#m                               F#m 
Parichitanaagali Hege.. Pranayaku Munnave?
      
  C#m                    A                      
Idakintha Bega Innu.. Sigabaaraditte Neenu..     
F#m              F#m           B              C#m
Innaadaru Koodittuko Nee Nannannu.. Kaleyuva Munnave..

Paravashanaadenu Ariyuva Munnave.. 
Parichitanaagali Hege.. Pranayaku Munnave....

Interlude1: 
C#m F#m x 2   C#m F#m   C#m B
            ( fast Arpeggio)

E                       B          G#m
Ninna Kanniganthu Naanu Nirupayogi Eegalu..
Innu Bere Yenu Beku.. Prema Yogi Aagalu..

Amaj7         G#         E     F#m   E  F#m  A
Hoo.. Araluva Saddhanu.. Ninna Nageyali Kelaballe..
C#m           B       G#Aug               C#m
Nanna Ekaanthavannu.. Tiddhikodu Neeneega Ninthalle..
            C#m                          A     
Naanene Andaroonu... Nanagintha Chooti Neenu.. 
     F#m                     B                   G#
Tutiyalliye Muchchittuko Mutthondhanu.. Kadhiyuva Munnave..
     
Paravashanaadenu Ariyuva Munnave..
Parichitanaagali Hege.. Pranayaku Munnave....

Interlude2: TBD

C#m                A         C#m
Haa.. Naa.. Naa... Na Naa... nam

        C#m                         F#m  (riff)
Kanasali Thumba Kettiruvenu Ninnanu Keladhe..
       C#m             G#m          F#m
Rekkeya Neene Kattirulu Ee Hrudayavu Haaridhe..
B           E          F#m
Nanna Kouthuka Ondonde Helabeku..
G#                          C#m
Aalisuvaaga Nodu.. Nannanne Saaku..
C#m                     A                       
Sahavaasa Dhoshadhinda Sari Hoga Bahude Naanu.. 
  F#m                       B                  G#
Nanagaagiye Kaadittuko Hatavondhanu.. Kenakuva Munnave..
  
Paravashanaadenu Ariyuva Munnave.. Parichitanaagali Hege.. Pranayaku Munnave....

Tablatures: 

Intro Lead:

E-----------------------------------------------------
B---------------------------------4-5-7--4-5-7--------
G-----------------------------5-6---------------------
D-6666-7-6-5-6-7-6-5-6--6-7---------------------------
A-----------------------------------------------------
E-----------------------------------------------------


E-4-5-4--------------------------- 4----------------4-----------
B-------7-5-7s9------------------5---5---5--------5--5---5------
G----------------88888888888888--------6---6--7--------6---6---7
D------------------------------------------------------
A-------------------------------------------------------
E-------------------------------------------------------

1st Lead: 0:55 to 1:00 
e|--------------------------------------------------|
B|----5s9-9-9s7-7-7h9--9p7-7-7h9-7---7h9-9-9-7------|
G|--6------------------9p8-8-8---- 9-----------9-8--|
D|--------------------------------------------------|
A|--------------------------------------------------|
E|--------------------------------------------------|

1st Lead: 1:01  to 1:06
e|---------------------------9----------------------|
B|---7s9-7-9-10-9-7---7h9-10---7--------------------|
G|-6----------------9------------9-8----------------|
D|--------------------------------------------------|
A|--------------------------------------------------|
E|--------------------------------------------------|

1st Lead: 1:07 to 1:09
e|--------------------------11-12-11----------------|
B|-------7--9-7-9-10--12-14----------14-------------|
G|-9-8-9--------------------------------------------|
D|--------------------------------------------------|
A|--------------------------------------------------|
E|--------------------------------------------------|

1st Lead: 1:10 onwards Hotel california style begins
e|-12-------12-------12-------12--------12------------|
B|----14-------14-------14-------14--------14--------|
G|-------13-------13-------13--------13--------13----|
D|--------------------------------------------------|
A|--------------------------------------------------|
E|--------------------------------------------------|

1st Lead:
e|-14-------14-------14----16-14-----11----------|
B|----14-------14-------14-------14----------------|
G|-------14-------14--------------------------------|
D|--------------------------------------------------|
A|--------------------------------------------------|
E|--------------------------------------------------|

1st Lead:
e|-12-------12-------12-------12--------12----------|
B|----14-------14-------14-------14--------14-------|
G|-------13-------13-------13--------13--------13---|
D|--------------------------------------------------|
A|--------------------------------------------------|
E|--------------------------------------------------|


1st Lead:
e|-11-------11-------11----11-----------------------|
B|----12-------12-------12--------------------------|
G|-------11-------11--------------------------------|
D|--------------------------------------------------|
A|--------------------------------------------------|
E|--------------------------------------------------|

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Several of you have asked about how to play the song. The videos are below.