A BYTE OF LIFE Monday, January 12, 2009

10
DEVDAS
08
REVISITED
Abhay Deol plays SHARAPOVA
the urban version to miss Australian Open
FREE CIRCULATION Vol. 3 No. 7

The Vijay-starrer
releases today.
Director Prabhu
Deva speaks
about
globetrotting
while scouting
for the film’s
locations
War and Peace
The above drawing and photograph is
» PAGE 11 one of the exhibits on display at The
Madras Terrace House. Children of Sri
Lankan refugees have penned and
drawn many such works that give a
glimpse of their troubled childhood,
torn between crisis and conflict.
» PAGE 03
PHOTO: R. RAVINDRAN
02 NAMMA CHENNAI ERGO Monday, January 12, 2009

DOGS’ DAY OUT

Vengeance using vigilance
A clerk stationed at the office of the City
Police Commissioner was recently arrested
by the Vigilance and Anti- Corruption squad
for accepting bribe from a retired police
inspector. Reliable sources reveal that the
accused had deliberately detained the
pension papers of the inspector and,
therefore, the latter had trapped him.
I t was a fiesta of the four-legged kind at the University Union Grounds in Chetpet as the 88th
and 89th dog show hosted by the Madras Canine Club unfolded on Saturday and Sunday.
Canines from around the country and even overseas made the two days a memorable moment
among dog lovers.
On the first day of the event, over 40 breeds enthralled the spectators at the show in the
‘Obedience’ round that featured canines from pugs to Pomeranians to German Shepherds and
Labradors. An All Breed Championship and Speciality Show adorned Day Two of the event. Kick-
started at 11 in the morning, the day witnessed a total of 465 dogs, including 48 breeds,
registered for the clash for the best breed of the event. ■
Ergo Correspondent
PHOTOS: R. RAVINDRAN

Back to old days

Some khakis had fallen out from key posts
following the famous split involving the
state’s first family. Now that the differences
have been sorted out, the officers are
awaiting a big comeback. One such loyal
officer is eyeing a vacant top post in the
city and is expected to move his ‘petition’
soon to the resurrected politician.

Sea-sick cops
Cops attached to the floating police station
in Royapuram are facing a tough task as
many suffer from severe sea sickness. The
thought of going on rounds is sending a
chill down the spines of most khakis in the
team as they claim to be suffering from
perpetual ill-health. Moreover, their seniors
don’t pay heed to any problems, they
lament.
 Monday, January 12, 2009
03
A prayer for peace
Violent conflicts continue in war-torn Sri Lanka, and its
impact is far-reaching, as this exhibition of drawings
showcased by refugee children portrays
LIFFY THOMAS has sketched a
liffythomas@goergo.in picture of a doc-
tor lending a sis- Some
When peace came to our Tamil ter Rs. 1,000. “I of the
homeland, there was happiness. want to become a drawings
Many coloured flags waved, peo- doctor and do- that talk
ple came out in large numbers, nate money to or-
the Yarl Devi train started run- phans who are
about
ning again from Jaffna to Colom- separated by anxiety,
bo. war,” reads his fear and
Our homes changed, our hopes message. memories
were high. We, who had lived as Each of these that will be
refugees, returned to our native poems and art
village. But when we thought we works are well
etched for
could have peace of mind, came supported with a ever. (Far
news of war and fear. vivid photograph left) A
Oh! When will there be peace in cident that affected them’ and of the child, taken by photogra- photograph by
peace in our country? ‘Peace’ to explain what the con- pher R. Sunder. R. Sunder
Vijayakumar, Nagavathi Anai flict-ridden region has done to Besides, there are a good num-
Refugee Camp them. ber of images at various refugee

T
hese are poignant words
penned in Tamil by the
teenager staying in one of
the 117 refugee camps set
up for them in Tamil Nadu, sup-
ported by an equally moving
sketch drawn by him showing the
strife in his war-torn homeland.
Around 500 Sri Lankan refugee
children have used their artistic
expression to express ‘Their
dreams’, ‘Their life so far’, ‘An in-
In the exhibition titled ‘Sun-
shine in a tear drop’, each of the
short-listed drawings on display
at Madras Terrace House has a
heart-breaking story to tell – trou-
bled minds, memories and aspi-
rations of childhood.
Like, K. Koneswaran has drawn
a prison, which he describes as
the place where his people are
being caged and tortured. N.
Sayandhan, on the other hand,
camps captured by R. Sunder put
up for sale. The photographs are
priced at Rs. 4,800 each. Proceeds
from the sale will go to Organisa-
tion for Eelam Refugee Rehabil-
itation (OfERR), the NGO
organising the exhibition.
‘Sunshine in a tear drop’ will be
on display till January 18 at The
Madras Terrace House, 15, Sri
Puram, 2nd Street, Royapettah. Ph:
4503 8391. ■
04 KALEIDOSCOPE ERGO Monday, January 12, 2009

Ask your query

Q: I visited the United Kingdom on a project
for my company. I saved some money from
my daily allowance. Will I have to pay income
tax when I get this money to India?
HOUSING LOAN
as tax saving tool –
Kadhirvel – TCS, Chennai
Answer: Kadhir, allowances will not be taxed
if you actually spend them and show proof of
expenditure by showing bills. If you get it back
in the form of physical cash it will be added to

myth or reality?
your income and taxed.
Q: I have been investing in four SIPs for the
past 2.5 years. Seeing the sensex falling so
drastically I realise I have lost quite a lot of
money, should I stop investing now?

Saranya – CTS, Coimbatore
Answer: Saranya, it is better you hold on the
funds and let them recover unless you need
cash urgently. Also, the good thing is that you
have used the SIP route and would benefit by
continuing now. If you stop now then you will
loose the opportunity you get by rupee cost
averaging.
L
et’s look at housing loan as a for the lender.
tax-saving tool. The tax benefits
come in two ways: The principal What If I Don’t Take a Housing
component of the repayment Loan?
will give benefits under Section 80C If you don’t take a housing loan,
(See Finergo dated 5 Jan 5 2009); and you will pay an additional income
the interest component under Sec- tax to a maximum of Rs.50, 985 (even
tion 24 up to an amount of Rs. 1.5 if you are in the highest tax bracket
lakh. Salary higher than Rs. 10 lakhs per
The major benefit thus comes year). Others will pay much lesser

Mini Quiz from the interest component. Since

taxable income reduces to an extent
of Rs. 1.5 lakhs, there is a huge re-
The first person to send in gets a free executive duction in income tax too.So is
diary housing loan a wealth creator or de-
Q1: FMP is the acronym for stroyer? Finerva believes that a hous-
Flexible monthly payments ing loan is a drain on your wealth;
Fixed maturity plan here’s how.
First monthly payment
Floating monthly payment HRA becomes taxable
Q2: EPS used in stock market is the acronym The minute you take a housing
for loan for tax benefits, the HRA com-
Equated Payment scheme ponent becomes fully taxable. This
Equally Priced Shares amount gets added to your income.
Earnings Per Share The irony is that as time goes on,
Exempted Proprietary Shares your interest component keeps com-
Send your answers to finergo@goergo.in or SMS ing down but your HRA keeps in-
your answers to 92813 98889. For example if you creasing with your salary. You
choose A as the answer to question 1 and B as cannot claim your HRA unless you
the answer to question 2 type it as 1A2B and
send it.
shift to another city.
Interest Outflow does not come
back
The benefits from all the compo-
nents in Section 80C (except the
children’s education fees) come
back to us as they are investments –
including the housing loan principal.
But interest on the housing loan is
an expense. It goes out, never to
come back to us. In fact it is income
tax.
Even in the highest bracket, by not
taking a housing loan, you have a
surplus of close to Rs. One lakh at
your disposal for additional invest-
ment. Remember investments come
back to you after growing. That’s
wealth creation.
Summary
Though housing loan is used by
most salaried people to save tax -
which it doesn’t - it is negative on
wealth creation. This is because of
the structure of Section 24 of the In-
come Tax Act which gives the benefit
from a housing loan form the inter-
est component only. Interest being
an expense does not add to wealth. ■

Word in Word
Find out all seven-letter words that can be de-
rived using only the letters of the following
words.
1. Diversified
2. Investment
3. Portfolio
4. Financial
5. Insurance
Answers on Page 7
 Monday, January 12, 2009
05
Websites of the day Alert
Need a good rant? Visit this site and get it Dr. Simon Goon, head of business investments, and Ben Fisher, investment and aftercare
off your chest. http://rantasaurus-rex.com/ specialist, will be part of the panel discussion organised by TiE, Chennai on ‘Investment
Type something to see what it looks Opportunities in the North East of England’. The sectors in focus include healthcare, life
backwards http://bored.com/ sciences, biotech, digital media, animation, renewable and wind energy. It will be held today
writebackwards/index.html at Walajah Hall, Taj Connemera at 7 p.m.

Syncing business with passion

By nurturing
tribal, folk
and native
music, this
duo has
taken their
label places
ANUSHA PARTHASARATHY

T
here is always a profound
fascination for treading off
the trodden path into an-
other that is less travelled.
Though, very few take the latter.
EarthSync is one such venture
and adventure. An international
music label that nurtures tribal,
folk and native music, it is a one-
of-a-kind business started by the
charismatic Sonya Mazumdar
and Yotam Agam in 2005.
Sonya Mazumdar grew up with
parents who were avid music lov-
ers and this exposed her to world In a minute
music at a very early age. The
seeds for what would be a pas-
Company: EarthSync
sion later were sowed deeply Started: 2005
PHOTO: S.S. KUMAR

then. She went on to become a

project manager and later decid-
ed to start her very first business
venture, EarthSync.
“It was pursuing a certain pas-
sion,” exclaims the Management
graduate who worked with ship-
ping and oil companies before
turning entrepreneur, adding,
“We started EarthSync with ‘Laya
Project’ immediately after the
tsunami struck in 2004. It was a
big success, after which we offi-
cially began the music label.”
And the music flowed
EarthSync, headquartered in
Chennai, was started as a way of
harmonising different kinds of
world music — getting together
and syncing different elements.
Two-and-a-half years of research
went into the starting of the com-
pany.
“It was quite a challenge. We
had to travel all over the world to
build contacts and learn their
culture. Since we are a music la-
bel, it requires us to travel a lot to
On the record: Sonya Mazumdar and Yotam Agam
bring in fresh music and feel to
our albums. We need to identify
different art forms and see where
to get them from. It was challeng-
ing and still is. I guess that’s why
we love it.”
Initially, during the production
of Laya Project, the team faced
certain uncertainties due to the
‘newness’ of the business and
how people would react to the
music. But they made no com-
promise on its quality and went
ahead with the production.
When the project was released
worldwide, it was an instant suc-
cess, selling more than 5,000
units. This boost washed away
any persisting doubts from So-
nya’s mind and she decided to
dive into more such projects.
“I don’t come from the music
business and, hence, learnt the
ways about it on the fly. But I nev-
er looked at how it was done by
others. I did it how I felt it had to
be done.
Old lessons are not relevant in
today’s changing industry. There
is not much difficulty in branding
the product.
But we need to be clear about
what kind of brand we are pro-
moting. EarthSync is a high-qual-
Founders: Sonya Mazumdar and
Yotam Agam
Funding: Self
Website: www.earthsync.com
ity, beautiful and sensitive brand
and our products define it,” So-
nya explains.
Going ahead
EarthSync is self-sufficient in
the sense that the label also owns
a production house with a fully-
equipped studio called ‘Clemen-
tine Studios’ that takes care of the
entire production package, in-
cluding distribution and selling,
too.
This music label also holds an
annual festival where more than
20 musicians are introduced on
stage, with the EarthSync signa-
ture of highest quality production
and artistic direction. Earthsync
is lining up four world music al-
bums for release in 2009. It has
also been asked to perform at the
Perth International Art Festival
this year.
“Our music is our USP. And all
our initial anxieties have van-
ished. Now it seems very normal
to run an international music la-
bel,” smiles Sonya. ■
(This column celebrates the spirit
of entrepreneurship. If you are an
entrepreneur with a successful
business model or know one, write
to us at firstinnings@goergo.in)
06 VILLAGE ERGO Monday, January 12, 2009

Blinking women
Women blink nearly twice
as much as men.

Computer geeks learn Data on over 6,000

to flirt prisoners in UK lost
Even the most quirky of computer nerds The British
can learn to flirt with finesse thanks to a Government has done
new ‘flirting course’ being offered to it again! It has lost a
budding IT engineers at Potsdam University computer memory stick
south of Berlin. The 440 students enrolled that contained the
in the Master’s degree course will learn data of more than
how to write flirtatious text messages and 6,000 prisoners in the
emails, impress people at parties and cope country, besides some
with rejection. of their medical
Reuters records. The culprit,
according to The
Telegraph, is a health
worker of the Central
World’s largest crossword built on Lancashire Primary
Care Trust. The device
tower block in Ukraine was lost last month by
The world’s biggest crossword, boasting to be more than a member of staff and
100ft high, has been put together on the side of a tower contained details on 6,360 prisoners from HMP Preston
block in Ukraine. Clues to the massive puzzle, which is 19 and was lost on December 30. It is the latest in a long
squares across and 34 squares high, have been sprinkled series of data losses to hit the Government and prison and
around major landmarks and attractions, including parks, health staff are now having to trawl records to track those
fountains, and theatres, in the historic city of Lvov. The affected down and inform them. It contains details of
literary challenge encouraged participants to test their grey some prisoners’ ailments but not full medical history, as
matter during their weekend promenades, providing them well as prisoner surnames, their age range, cell location,
with an opportunity to work out their brains and their legs prison number and clinic appointment times.
at the same time. And since the brainteaser was too huge ANI
to be penned by
hand, solutions
are lighted in
fluorescent letters Oh Grandmother, what a
at night, reports
the Telegraph. rubbery face you have!
The idea was to A Chilean man tried to steal US$ 80,000 from his
allegedly make 82-year-old grandmother by disguising his 21-year-
partakers collect old girlfriend as the elderly woman and having her
themselves withdraw money from the bank, but the plot was
outside the tower foiled. The man falsified his grandmother’s identity
block each night card and his girlfriend wore a latex mask. They
to match or might have gotten away with it if it weren’t for a
correct their bank worker who called the grandmother’s home
answers. and learned she was visiting relatives in Venezuela.
ANI Reuters

Prince Harry apologises for racist remarks

B
ritain’s Prince Harry
has apologised for the
racial and offensive re-
marks he had made
three years ago against two of
his colleagues, calling one of
them a ‘Paki’ while other as
‘raghead’.
Harry, third-in-line to the
British throne, issued a pub-
lic apology on Saturday after
The News of the World new-
spaper reported about him
using the offensive terms.
Paki is a derogatory term for
Indians and Pakistanis.
The Prince, who is an Army
Lieutenant in the Household
Cavalry’s Blues and Royals,
made the remark in 2006 at
an airport departure lounge
as soldiers waited to travel to
Cyprus for training exercises.
“Harry was making a film
of his army mates using a
camcorder. He was talking
over it – moving the shots to
different individuals. But
when he passed over an
Asian-looking soldier, he
stopped and zoomed in.
Then he said ‘And here is our
Paki friend’ – before moving
on to someone else,” the re-
port said quoting a senior
Royal source.
The video was available on
the newspaper’s website.
The 24-year-old Prince made
the second remark in Cyprus
when he called another cadet
– wearing a headscarf – a
‘raghead’, a racist term for
Arabs.
St.James Palace, the office
of Harry and his elder broth-
er Prince William, issued an
statement saying Harry was
sorry for any offence caused
by his use of words.
“Prince Harry fully under-
stands how offensive this
term can be and is extremely
sorry for any offence his
word might cause,” a spokes-
person for the St. James Pal-
ace said.
"He used the term without
any malice and as a nick-
name about a highly popular
member of his platoon.
There is no question that
Prince Harry was in any way
seeking to insult his friend,"
he added. ■
PTI
 Monday, January 12, 2009
07
Fruity nature This day, that year
Motorcyclists in Nigeria have It was on January 12, 1976 that Dame
started wearing fruit on their Agatha Christie, queen of the detective
heads to get around a story and creator of detectives Hercule
mandatory helmet law. Poirot and Miss Marple, died.

‘Star-baby-name’ fever hits Oz parents!

S
tar baby names like Cruz,
Shiloh and Maddox are be-
coming increasingly popu-
lar among new parents in
Queensland.
According to the figures re-
leased by Queensland Registry of
Births, Deaths and Marriages, ba-
bies named after those of Holly-
wood celebrities have
significantly increased last year.
The most popular celebrity ba-
by name was Cruz.
Nearly 48, babies were named
after David and Victoria Beck-
ham’s third child and 46 babies
were named Brooklyn after the
couple’s first son. Nearly 48 babies were
Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt’s named after David and
tots’ names were also popular,
with 22 new Queenslanders
Victoria Beckham’s
named after Shiloh last year, 10 third child Cruz, the
were named Maddox and seven most popular celebrity
Zahara.
Another 20 were named Rocco, baby name.
after Madonna and Guy Ritchie’s
son, while three babies were
named Suri after Tom Cruise and
Katie Holmes’s daughter. increase in celebrity baby names “But now with the emergence child for the wrong reasons. “What some parents don’t real-
One couple has also named was “a sign of the times”. of a more secular society, we see “A lot of parents want to give a ise is that a name can become
their tot after Coldplay singer “We were all once part of a more and more people looking name which makes their child heavy baggage for a child in later
Chris Martin and Gwyneth Pal- more religious culture and hence up to celebrities - it’s just a nat- stand out, but naming a child af- life, especially as a lot of celebri-
trow daughter Apple. a lot of our names came from ural evolution of names,” she ter a celebrity might do the oppo- ties are focussed on for the wrong
Southern Cross University as- kings, queens, saints and heads of added. site, because it’s more a nod to reasons,” she added. ■
sociate professor of media stud- state,” the Courier Mail quoted However, Brooks said parents the celebrity than to the child ANI
ies Karen Brooks said the her as saying. should be wary not to name their themselves,” she said.

My best buddy
쑸
WowWee
marketing
director Steve
Hardy holds the
WowWee
interactive robot
buddy Joebot, a
finalist at the 8th
Annual Last
Gadget Standing

Word-in-word answers event at the Las

Vegas
Convention

T he following 32 words can be made from

the letters in diversified: 1.defiers; 2.dei-
fied; 3.deifier; 4.deifiers; 5.deifies; 6.derides;
16.vestment
The following 3 words can be made from
the letters in portfolio:
Center during
the 2009
International
7.derisive; 8. derived; 9.derives; 10.desired; 1.oilproof; 2.portfolio; 3.rooftop Consumer
11.devised; 12.deviser; 13.diverse; 14.diver- The following 2 words can be made from Electronics Show
sified; 15.divider; 16.dividers; 17.divides; the letters in financial: on Saturday, in
18.edified; 19.edifier; 20.edifiers; 21.edifies; 1.financial; 2.finical Las Vegas,
22.fireside; 23.redivide; 24.redivides; 25.rei- The following 24 words can be made from Nevada.
fied; 26.reifies; 27.resided; 28.revised; 29.se- the letters in insurance: AFP
rifed; 30.verified; 31.verifies; 32.versified 1.aneurin; 2.aneurins; 3.arcsine; 4.arse-
The following 16 words can be made from nic; 5.canines; 6.canners; 7.cannier; 8.car-
the letters in investment: 1.emetins; 2.emi- nies; 9.crannies; 10.cunners; 11.encinas;
nent; 3.intense; 4.intents; 5.invents; 6.in- 12.insaner; 13.insnare; 14.insurance;
vestment; 7.misevent; 8.mittens; 9.sentient; 15.nancies; 16.narcein; 17.narceins; 18.nu-
10.sentiment; 11.smitten; 12.tennies; ances; 19.nuisance; 20.saucier; 21.scanner;
13.tennist; 14.tensive; 15.venines; 22.scunner; 23.sunnier; 24.unrisen
08 SPORT ERGO Monday, January 12, 2009

Pak players waiting for ICL dues

The Pakistani cricketers of the Lahore Badshah team that won the Indian Cricket
League (ICL) this season are still waiting for their prize money and other dues
totalling around from 40 million rupees. Some of the players who played for the
Lahore team confirmed that they still have to get the payment for winning the
ICL Twenty20 championship plus other individual bonuses.

We did not back-stab Pietersen:

Harmison
Insisting that Kevin Pietersen had
the backing of his teammates
during the spat with sacked coach
Peter Moores, England pacer
Steve Harmison has said reports of
players back-stabbing their former
skipper were “rubbish and
nonsense”.
“Andrew Flintoff, Andrew Strauss,
myself and other senior England players stand
accused of stabbing our former captain, Kevin
Pietersen, in the back over the split with our former
coach, Peter Moores, which has ended up costing
two good men their jobs. The first thing I need to do
is refute that accusation completely. It simply isn’t
true,” Harmison wrote in his column in the Daily
Mail. “I can say without a moment’s hesitation that
both Fred (Flintoff) and I supported Kevin as our
captain and our leader, Strauss has already made his
backing for Kevin quite clear and any suggestion
that we turned against him when Hugh Morris, the
managing director of England cricket, rang us for our
views over the crisis is rubbish. The idea that we told
Morris that we supported Peter Moores ahead of
Kevin is nonsense. To my mind, the only people who
have stabbed Kevin in the back are those who chose
to leak the information that he had promised to quit
the captaincy for the tour to West Indies if Peter
remained as coach.”
PTI

TTFI to hire video analysts

Top Indian players on Sunday hailed the Table
Tennis Federation of India’s decision to hire the
services of specialised video analysts to help paddlers
in their preparation for the 2010 Commonwealth
Games. TTFI will place a final proposal before the
government and other specifications, including the
estimated budget for the project, would be finalised
PHOTO: S. S. KUMAR
later this month.
Olympian Achanta Sharath Kamal hailed the
initiative as an important stride towards
professionalism. “I should say, this is a move towards
professionalising the game in the country, which is
very important if we want to improve our

Sharapova
performance in the international arena. Still we are
quite amateurish in our attitude towards sports like
table tennis. This should change immediately and we
must adopt the scientific means like this to improve
our performance level,” Sharath, who plays for the
Super Division club San Sebastian in the Spanish
League, said. “Video analysis is an integral part of

pulls out of
the game nowadays. I think, such specialised
software would definitely help
our players to hone their skills in
the run up to the Commonwealth
Games,” 26-year-old Sharath said.
The new system, which is

Australian
estimated to cost Rs. 1.5 lakh, will
analyse the players’ performance
during the training sessions as
well as the matches and dissect
their techniques to help them in ascertaining the
deficiencies and rectify them. Another Olympian

Open
paddler Neha Aggarwal praised the TTFI’s decision
and said, “This is a welcome step. If it happens, the
system will surely help us to understand the
problems accurately and will add to our
performances.”
PTI
 Monday, January 12, 2009
09

‘‘
It is our desire to continue to support the event (Chennai Open) for another
five years. The TNTA (Tamil Nadu Tennis Association) has been working
towards this goal and the event will remain in Chennai. Importantly, the event will
have a title sponsor, besides the eight sponsors, headed by the state government.
M. A .Alagappan, Vice President, TNTA

Open
and yawn
Missing biggies and many injuries made for a very dull Chennai Open
SHALINI SHAH the announcement that Scheuttler happy, getting not just tennis players
shalinishah@goergo.in withdrew with a wrist injury. (“What but also the like of Vishwanathan
did you do with that handshake, Som- Anand and actors Bharath and Arjun.

C
hennai’s most high-profile
sporting event seemed a little
off-colour if nothing else. Yes,
India’s own Somdev Dev Var-
man made it to the finals. But then,
for tennis novices (like yours truly),
what’s most attractive is the star pow-
er and the chance to say “I saw Na-
dal!” to anyone who might care.
Most big players were knocked out
or withdrew citing injured wrists and
heels. Moya lost to Somdev, fuming
till the very end how the organisers
favoured the home boy by holding a
match in the sweltering Chennai af-
ternoon. A lot of disappointment for
kids used to yelling “Moya, soya!”
Just when spectators were waiting
for an interesting semi-final between
Somdev and Rainer Schuettler came
dev,” the lucky finalist was asked.)
This when earlier in the tournament
top-seed Nikolay Davydenko, too, re-
tired hurt.
The usual fanfare was there. So was
the bunch of people hovering outside
to spot someone who looks like he/
she has an extra ticket to give away or
sell. Many got a fair share of the Sug-
arfree freebies being distributed like
sweetmeats in a festival inside. The
Volvos perched inside got a fair share
of attention, too, while food stalls like
Pathankot and Frankie probably did a
year’s business in a week.
Missing this time, quite thankfully,
was the cheerleading trio that’s been
seen prancing around since the last
couple of years.
Autograph-hunters went home
The rain came in uninvited, as is
usually the custom every year. Most
matches got postponed to next after-
noon (including the aforementioned
Moya fiasco).
If tennis got boring, the giant
screen proved entertainment for the
thumb-twiddlers.
A very bored Gautham seated in a
row in front of us got a ‘Gautham,
please stop dreaming and watch the
tennis’ SMS sprawled on the board
for everyone to see from a mischie-
vous friend during the doubles semi-
final match between Wawrinka-
Scherrer and Allegro-Tecau. “I wasn’t
sleeping,” explained an embarrassed
Gautham. It’s okay Gautham; if you
were nodding off, you probably we-
ren’t alone. ■

Russian’s shoulder to keep holder from

Australian Open

M
aria Sharapova will not
defend her title at the
Australian Open next
week after withdrawing
from the year’s opening grand
slam tournament, officials said
on Sunday. The Russian world
number nine advised tourna-
ment officials that she was not
confident of her fitness levels af-
ter a shoulder surgery late last
year.
The 21-year-old was hindered
by a right shoulder injury much
surgery in October. “I am very
sorry to announce that I am not
going to be able to defend my title
at this year’s Australian Open,”
Sharapova said in a Tennis Aus-
tralia statement. “My shoulder is
doing great, but I just started
training a few weeks ago and I am
just not near the level I need to be
to compete at the highest levels.”
Sharapova did not drop a set
on the way to winning her third
grand slam in Australia last Janu-
ary. She went on to win her first
injury hampered her progress in
the second half of the year and
the last match she played for the
year was in Montreal in August.
Tournament Director Craig Ti-
ley said he was disappointed for
Sharapova. “She played some
amazing tennis on Rod Laver Are-
na last year and I know she has
been working around the clock to
try and get back from the shoul-
der injury. In the end, time beat
her this year,” he said in the state-
ment. The Australian Open gets
PHOTO: AFP

of last season and skipped the 18 matches of the season and re- under way in Melbourne on Janu-
Beijing Olympics and the US claimed her world number one ary 19. ■
Open before having arthroscopic ranking in May. But the shoulder AFP
10 FLICK ERGO Monday, January 12, 2009

I’m in love again

Amy Winehouse has openly declared
that she is in love and is “off drugs for
good.” The ‘Rehab’ hitmaker, married
to jailbird Blake Fielder-Civil, was said
to have paired up with budding actor
Josh Bowman.

Devdas, again
This time, however, he’s an urban, city guy

S
arat Chandra Chattopadhyaya’s novel
Devdas has been explored by various
filmmakers, but actor Abhay Deol says
his modern-day interpretation of the
book, Dev D, is different.
“It’s not a verbal film; it’s very heavy on
music. If I compile my dialogues delivered in
the film, not more than four pages will be
covered,” says Abhay.
“Devdas has been made before, but this
one has a very new, fresh and out-of-the-box
approach. Nobody had ever thought of mak-
ing Devdas this contemporary way,” he
adds.
Dev D, which is set to release on February
6, is directed by Anurag Kashyap and boasts
of 18 tracks, including Rajasthani, Punjabi
and Awadhi folk numbers compiled by mu-
sic director Amit Trivedi.
Speaking on his current project, Abhay
says: “When I read the book I realised that
Devdas had streaks of arrogance and posses-
siveness. We kept those features and made
the character very urban, a city guy.”
“It’s a deep character, but I did not
have to work a lot on my body, look
and attitude because the role did not
require me to portray a character
from a different background altogether,”
adds the actor.
The idea of the film, which is Abhay’s brain-
child, is different. But will this version of the
classic click with the audience?
“Dev D adopts an unusual and contempo-
rary approach and I think that is exactly what
will work for the film, because it will be like a
revelation for people. It’s always good to turn
a stereotype image and experiment with it.”
The film will be introducing two new actors
as the new age Paro and Chandramukhi.
“Mahi and Kalki were very nice to work
with. They were so professional that it didn’t
seem they are making their debut with this
film. Very sweet, very honest with their work
and very hardworking,” Abhay says.
Deviating from his present profession, the
experimental actor is all set to don the hat of a
producer. He will be producing a film called
Junction, which will be directed by Atul Sab-
harwal.
However, Abhay maintains that his acting
career will not take a backseat because of his
newfound role.
“I will continue acting in films for sure,” he
breaks in. After Dev D, Abhay will be seen in
Dev Benegal’s yet-to-be-titled film. ■
IANS

Dev D adopts an unusual and contemporary approach

and I think that is exactly what will work for the film,
because it will be like a revelation for people. It’s
always good to turn a stereotype image and
experiment with it.

‘Am I mad to call my anti- Almost

terrorism drama Jehad!’ famous
S aif Ali Khan’s films have a tendency to go
nameless until the last minute.
The latest is a Rensil d’Silva-directed terrorist
Actor Tom Cruise has
revealed that his
two-year-old daughter
thriller, which is produced by Karan Johar and Suri with Katie Holmes
has Saif Ali Khan, Kareena Kapoor, Viveik almost stormed the
Oberoi and Om Puri in lead roles. stage during her
Nearing completion, the film has no title yet. mother’s performance
This week, sections of the media were abuzz of All My Sons on
with reports that Rensil’s film has finally found Katie Holmes with daughter Broadway.
a title, Jehad. Suri. GETTY IMAGES Cruise and Suri have
Rensil is appalled by these reports. “Am I been to see the play
mad to call my anti-terrorism drama Jehad? regularly, and the actor admits he has seen it more than 30
What signal will it send out to the audience? times since it debuted in September 2008.
Please don’t believe such rumours. Jehad was a But on the recent show, Suri almost made her unannounced
name suggested by Kareena and Saif. I am debut.
certainly not going by that title. Suddenly “I was watching with Suri from the wings and I could see her
everyone thinks it’s called Jehad. Considering feet creeping out onto the stage. I realised she was going
the current climate, that’s a really onstage. Then she got on the floor and she was going to crawl
inappropriate title.” onstage, and I’m quietly clinging onto her dress,” Contactmusic
So what is Rensil going to call his film? quoted him as saying.
“I’ve no clue. And I can’t put it to public “So I picked her up and said, ‘You can’t go onstage,’ and she
Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor star in vote because that would give away the title. said, ‘Why?’,” he added. ■
Rensil d’Silva’s terrorist thriller But it’s certainly not Jehad. ■ ANI
 Monday, January 12, 2009
11
Singer K.J. Yesudas
turns 69
Dr. Kattesseri Joseph Yesudas, one of
the finest voices India has seen,
celebrated his birthday on Sunday.

Bang on target E
xpectations are
high from Villu,
which is all set to
release today. (The
film’s director confirms
this). Prior to the film’s
Prabhu Deva smiled, posed, met contest winners and signed release, Prabhu Deva
met up with the winners
autographs at the Radio One office. However, he remained of Radio One’s Villu con-
test on Friday, as part of
tight-lipped about Villu’s plot the film’s promotional
activities.
There was a lot of ex-
citement in the air at the
Radio One office as the
Radio One team and 50
winners of the Villu con-
test waited for Prabhu
Deva.
The star director, how-
ever, entered fashiona-
bly late, almost an hour
behind schedule. Prabhu
Deva was welcomed
with a glittery ‘villu’ and
the winners were ob-
viously delighted to
catch a glimpse of the
Michael Jackson of In-
dia. He patiently gave
out the tickets to win-
ners and signed auto-
graphs.
Later, RJ Arun of Ra-
dio One involved the di-
PHOTO: R.RAVINDRAN
rector in a friendly chat
at their studio as he
shared interesting trivia
about Villu, not reveal-
ing much though. “It’s
a movie that will spread
a lot of positive energy
and happiness in eve-
ryone who watches it,”
he said. Villu is a very
stylish film, shot in ex-
otic locales like Switzer-
land, Turkey and many
more, he added. Shar-
ing interesting anec-
dotes behind every
song of the movie, he
revealed, “The song
‘Vada Mappala’, where
Vadivelu does a small
act, is sure to keep the
audience in splits.”
On his most unfor-
gettable experience
during the film’s mak-
ing, he said, “We had to
travel a lot for this mo-
vie.
For one particular lo-
cation we went globe-
trotting to places like
Bangkok , Munich , Uk-
raine and Turkey and fi-
nally found the dream
spot in Switzerland.” ■

The song ‘Vada Mappala’, where

Vadivelu does a small act, is sure
to keep the audience in splits

Bhandarkar for TV Crowe throwing

his weight
He’s not directing anything for the small screen, though around, literally
R ussell Crowe has been
throwing his weight

F ilmmaker Madhur Bhandarkar

is all set to produce television
software for Sony Entertain-
around on the pre-production
of Nottingham so much that
Brit actress Sienna Miller has
ment. dropped out of the flick.
“But I’m certainly not directing Crowe is reportedly telling
anything on television. Where do I producers to get a new
have the time? My next feature director and demanding script
film, Jail, starts at the end of Febru- rewrites.
ary. And then I’m planning another Miller, who was supposed to
big-budget film this year which I’ll co- play Maid Marian, left the
produce. People probably presumed I production on January 9 after
was going to be directing stories for tel- she was put on hold while
evision because some of the 10 stories shooting was pushed back
assigned to us are female-centric,” Madhur from February to April.
said. “It is a mess. Russell never lost
The television wing of his firm is being run by two the weight he put on for
filmmaker friends, Ashok Pundit and Raman Kumar. Body of Evidence – and so the love scenes between him
Madhur said: The television wing of my company, and Sienna would have been laughable. He’s so old and fat
Bhandarkar Entertainment Pvt. Ltd., will be looked and she’s so young and gorgeous. It’s just . . . gross,” the
after completely by Raman and Ashok. They’ll New York Post quoted an insider as saying.
choose the directors to make these telefilms.” One producer said Crowe has to shed 35 pounds, adding:
Already on board are Suhail Tarari, Anand Rai and ‘We can’t have Robin Hood looking more like Friar Tuck.”
Javed Sayyed. ■ ■
IANS ANI
12
Friday’s Query:
Which movies would you
nominate as the Best
and the Worst of 2008
and why?
Best movie n worst movie of the year JK
Ritesh’s Nayagan. Best because I
appreciate people who had guts to work
in this project. Worse because enna
koduma sir edu
Jagan Capgemini, Mari HCL
Best movie Nayagan by JK Ritheesh and
worst movie Kuruvi (Mask of Zorro)
Nivedhan,
Infoview Technologies
Best movies Anjathey, Dasavatharam,
worst movie Silambaattam
Ashik Shareef,
HCL
Best movie Varanam Ayiram. Worst
movie Kuruvi
Geetha, Perot Systems,
Amritha, TCS
Best movie Subramaniapuram, story,
screenplay, down to earth dialogue,
music etc. is good. I watched this movie
more than 5 times I can’t find any
mistake. Worst movie was Kuruvi. No
comments
Arun Kumar C, Congruent Solutions Pvt Ltd,
Suresh, Allsec
Best film Dasaavatharam. Worst film
Kuselan
Gopinath.R, Kalai, Gomathi, Mani, Durga,
Sudha, Senthil, Vanarani PMC
Best movie Saroja because of best
entertainment movie and worst movie is
Kuruvi because of Vijay’s long jump
Rajesh, Perot Systems
Best: Dasavatharam - a complex script
with thousands of events connected
together which was handled with
maturity to make even a layman
understand it.
Worst: Kuruvi - Too much of unrealistic
heroism. Even Vijay’s die-hard fans hated
it
Mukund SCB,
Scope International
Subramaniapuram, Pollathavan are the
best for the superb screenplay and
Kuruvi is the worst for Vijay overacting
Mahesh Rajamani,
Perot Systems,
Hariprasad
T Wipro
Best movie Blood Diamond, Worst movie
Rab ne banaa di jodi
Harin, Wipro
Dasavatharam is the best movie, because
one man shows ten body languages.
Nayagan is the worst movie. J.K.Ritheesh
is an example of how not act like
Seenivasan, Technip
Best is Kuruvi because hero teach us to
fly like Kuruvi and the only Indian film
ERGO Monday, January 12, 2009
that can compete with films like
Spiderman, Hulk etc worst is Anjadhey
because it didn’t celebrate 150th day as
Kuruvi celebrated, cannot relate myself
to that story, no graphics in the stunts,
no duets in foreign locations
Santhosh, Wipro
Best movie Varanam Ayiram for Suriya
ever clever acting and worst movie
Casino Royale for boring screenplay
Gowri Shankar, Abi, Glory RBS
Best movie is Poo . Worst movie
Sakkarakati song only helped the movie
to release
Mohan Kumar, TCS
Best movie stylish Billa and laughing
Saroja. Both are full entertainment.
Worst movie Kuruvi. Over scene over
mokkai
Josh, Caliberpoint Star
Best: Poo (manmanam irukku) Worst: Dhana Balan from HCL Technologies has nominated
Kuselan (over build-up erukku) his friends as Partners in Crime. They clicked this photo
Saran, Anbu, Tamil, Mohana, Buela, M.Rani at Kodaikanal.
PMC, Meenakshi Mohan TCS
Best movie JK Ritesh in Nayagan no
need of explanations. Worst movie is all
Hollywood movies. Because they have
wasted their time by not seeing
Nayagan
Balaji S, TCS
Best movie: Poo for best screenplay and
the worst movie is Aegan, it doesn’t
have even a single reason to say it’s a
film
V.Ravimohan, Cognizant
Worst was Kuruvi, its all because of
unimaginable stunts done by Vijay. Best
was Poo, the only movie dominated by a
female lead
Pradeep Maran, TCS
Best - Slumdog Millionaire for making
the whole world talk about it; Worst -
Kuselan for hyping an individual more
than the story
Senthil Kumar, P RR Donnelley Ananda Subramanian from CGSL has nominated his
Best is Subramaniapuram and the worst Citishare Operations Team as Partners in Crime. This
is Kuselan photo was taken at Kolli hills in Namakkal.
Prabhu G, HCL
The best movie is Santhosh
Subramaniam and the worst movie is
Kuruvi
Sankar S RSystems International,
Krishnamoorthy CTS
Best films: Taare Zameen Par,
Subramaniyapuram, Dasavatharam, Poo.
Worst films: Silambatam, Kuruvi
Lakshmi.S CTS, Sivalingam.P HCL
Abiyum Naanum as best which showed a
true affection of a father and
Subramaniapuram as worst because of
too much of tragedy
Hema Indus Rsystems
Saroja - the best and Kuselan the worst
Asath Kani, TCS
Today’s Query:
Who is your favourite Ravi C. from FSS-Tidel Park has nominated his friends
tennis star and why? as Partners in Crime. This pic was clicked at Tidel Park.
 Monday, January 12, 2009
Srinivasulu Namala, Project
Manager of HCL Technolo-
gies, has been nominated as
Office Angel by Mrs.Manon-
mani Kesav.
He always carries a smiling
face. He carries out many
activities, but never looses his
temper or looks disturbed. He
executes everything according
to the plan. There won’t be
any mismatch in the
execution. That his specialty.
Sundaravel.M of Sutherland.
doodled this
1."Avan ean rupaai nottula iodexai theicchukkitte irukkaan?"
"Avan panaveekkatthai kuraikkiraanaam".
2.Maampoo pinjaahi maangaaya maarum,aanaa jaathippoo
jaathikkaayaaha maaruvathillai!
S Dheepa,
Infosys
■ Dear Siva & Poornima,
Wishing U Many More Happy
Returns of the Day.May
All Ur dreams comes
true.Have a great Quarter
ahead.Ippadikku Treatukkaga
greeting anuppum
Colleagues Sangam:)
With Best Wishes,
HCM BOFA team
Infosys
■ Dear Shanmuganathan,
Happy birthday to you
Shanmugam
From the bottom of our
hearts,
And may your good times
multiply,
Till they’re flying off the
chart!
Friends,
New Age Software and Solutions
■ Hi KK,
Its a nice feeling when u no
dat sum one likes u,
sum 1 thinks about u,
Sum 1 needs you;
But it feelz much beter when
You know that someone
Never ever forgets your
birthday.
We never!
Happy birthday…may
almighty’s best
blessings.....many many more
happy returns of the day.
With Love & Regards
FTP GT 2007,
Hexaware Technologies
■ Dear Bhai,
Wish you a many more happy
returns of the day!! Have a
Fabulous days ahead!!
Happy Married life! Insha
Allah! Be happy!
Dnt forget Briyani Treat !!!
Cheers
(Guess who I am)
Anonymous
■ Dear Gautham @ Ragu,
Your life is a gift from the
Creator. Your gift back to the
Creator is what you do with
your life.
Today’s Top news Story, a hot
and happening dude,
celebrated his birthday with
great style on Dec 11th.... He
was totally absorbed in high
voltage fun and his day was
full of colours... Hey that was
You, GAUTHAM... Sorry, since
no circulation for ERGO on
Sunday, We missed it.
Belated Birthday Wishes ...
Keep Smiling
13
With Luv,
Sangdevrekhs
Sify Technologies, Elnet
■ Dear Friends,
"Thanks a bunch for all the
wishes, you Advees made my
day"
Thanks & Regards,
Vasudevan.S
■ Dear Durga,
Hearty Congratulations!!!
Wish you happy Married life
with lots of surprises!! Keep
Rocking!!
Wsihes from,
Kalpana
Wipro Technologies
Belated Wishes
■ Dear Anusha( AGAS),
May there always be work for
your hands to do
May your purse always hold a
coin or two;
May the sun always shine on
your window pane
May a rainbow be certain to
follow each rain;
May the hand of a friend
always be near you
Their hearts full of warmth
and gladness to cheer you
"Happy Birthday Kulli"
With Love,
Nithya, Bala,Vithya,
Sharanya, Deepa, Priya,
WIPRO
■ Dear Vimal,
We wish you many more
happy returns of the day.
This day is special day because
it gives you for us.
We wish for you that
whatever you want most in
life, it comes to you
Just the way you imagined it.
Hey this day is yours Man!
Keep rocking and keep on
rocking.
Once again we wish you a
fantastic birthday.
Kastapatu ivalavu
ezhuthirukom so at least give
us chocolates
By
Your Friends
■ Dear Ramachandra S,
You make wishes and we ll
pray to God for all ur wishes
to come true.
Happy Birthday
With Regards
Team DTCC
Tata Consultancy Services
14 TRAFFIC JAM ERGO Monday, January 12, 2009

$1.5 million kidney row

A husband who donated a kidney to
his wife wants $1.5 million for it now
since the pair are divorcing.

We have our first short-listed photograph, taken sudoku

by Sathishkumar Bhoopathy (Saku) of MphasiS,
of a village festival. He calls it
Maariamman Kondam Thiruvizha, celebrated
during April-May at Sadumugai in Satyamangalam

The harvest season is

round the corner and
it’s time we made the
Click Pick column a
little more
interesting.
Photographs of the
harvest festival, rural
India and little-
known rituals will be
given preference this
month. Please send
us fresh photographs,
preferably those
clicked by you on a
recent trip, to
clickpick@goergo.in KAKURO
All photos selected for clickpick this month
will receive a gift voucher worth Rs.1,000, cour-
tesy Kantilal Diamonds (Ph: 2828 1700). Read-
ers are requested to send their addresses with
their entries.

TEAM
Editor: Karthik Subramanian
karthik@goergo.in

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

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copies@goergo.in

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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
 Monday, January 12, 2009
15
Boy racer Word’s worth
A 6-year-old boy who missed the school "Jentaton" (jen-tay-shun) a rare and obsolete word
bus took the family car and drove meaning ’breakfast.’ Also, jenticulation, Jenticulate
there. is the verb, meaning ’to breakfast.’

B.C

ARIES MARCH 21 - APRIL 20

Necessity is the mother of invention, but today your
high spirits at work will guide your innovative
methods of work. Your good mood will encourage
you to help others. As smiles are infectious, you will
find your beloved in equally pleasant mood. Cheers!

TAURUS APRIL 21 - MAY 20

Gulp up your energy drinks as work today seems to
be hectic. Ganesha thinks you might not get the
desired private time with your beloved. A tiring day
can be winded up merrily with an impromptu
get-to-gather with colleagues at your place.

GEMINI MAY 21 - JUNE 20

You tend you feel brave today. Personal life will be
BORN LOSER smooth and easy. Technologically speaking, today is
the best day to buy new software and if you have
already bought one recently, you may start using it
now. Overall, a cool day!
CANCER JUNE 21 - JULY 20
Buckle up soldier! A tough day at work. You might
have to put in a lot of efforts for mediocre tasks.
Do not worry though, blame it on the planets. Your
partner will try to cheer you up and get you back
into action again. Be happy, suggests Ganesha.
LEO JULY 21 - AUG 20
Trees of Patience bear the sweetest fruits. At work
you might feel underestimated, unappreciated and
underpaid! This is a temporary phase, patience is
the best virtue. Your partner will shower you
affection making your evening pleasant.
VIRGO AUG 21 - SEPT 20
Just like a duck on the surface of water, you might
FREE RANGE WORKING IT OUT seem calm but underneath your rigorous efforts will
be noticed today. Knowledge increases by sharing
and that is exactly what you tend to do today, .
Health should certainly not be ignored today.
LIBRA SEPT 21 - OCT 20
All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. You
feel like sharpening you skills and fell like proving
your capabilities at work. ‘Play’ comes in when
Ganesha thinks you will have a good time with your
beloved at the movies.
SCORPIO OCT 21 - NOV 20
All batteries need charging and so does your mind.
Take proper rest and boost yourself out of this low
energy day. You might not be able to transfer the
gush of ideas from mental computer to workstation.
Fortunately, you will have leisure time with family.
SAGITTARIUS NOV 21 - DEC 20
Ganesha thinks you will be in an exploration and
learning mode in your work area. Nevertheless, give
the first priority to your prime responsibilities. Since
you are feeling bright, you might want to carry this
of further with your beloved as well.
CAPRICORN DEC 21 - JAN 20
A busy day today to plan busier days ahead. Fixing
up meetings and schedules will keep you busy.
Loaded meetings naturally will result into ample
amount or research work and avid communication.
Wear your best suit to work!
AQUARIUS JAN 21 - FEB 20
PREVIOUS Ganesha finds you in high spirits and brimming with
energy today. This will definitely help you in future
ISSUE’S planning. Ganesha thinks this is the best day to
transfer your energies to the cupid. In simple words,
SOLUTIONS it’s the best day for proposing to someone.
PISCES FEB 21 - MARCH 20
“To do or not to do” might be your state of mind
at work today. Learn to handle pressure. In personal
life, the same confusion seems to linger. You might
not feel like sharing your feelings with your partner,
which is not at all advisable.
Predictions by Bhavesh N. Pattni
16 !
Shilpa makes a flying visit
ERGO CORRESPONDENT
feedback@goergo.in
A
ctress Shilpa Shetty made her first public
appearance in 2009 in Chennai on Thurs-
day. She was here to officially unveil pop-
ular celebrity Sona Heiden’s store, Uniq.
After making the press and audience wait for an
hour, the 33-year-old Miss Body Perfect was
thronged by photographers and cameramen even
before her appearance on stage.
After much confusion, Shilpa Shetty officially
launched Uniq. Answering the sole question from
PHOTO: R. RAVINDRAN
ERGO Monday, January 12, 2009
Snow for sale
Cash-strapped Alpine farmers are
raking in a fortune harvesting snow
and selling it to desperate ski slopes.
the media about her working in Tamil cinema,
she said, “I love Chennai and I have many friends
here. Prabhu approached me for a role sometime
back but I could not do it.” Shilpa looked in quite
a hurry and vanished immediately after the
event. If organisers were to be believed, she had
an immediate flight to catch.
Uniq is an exclusive store for designer accesso-
ries with a range of handbags, footwear, hats,
scarves, earrings, belly rings, bangles and anklets.
It is located at 59/28, Kavingar Bharathidasan
Road, Teynampet, Chennai 600 018. Ph: 044-4200
0030.■