Villagers enjoy bullfight near Madurai in Spanish style

The sport of bullfighting is popularly associated with Spain, but a non-descript village in Tamil Nadu also enjoys this dangerous sport known as "Jallikattu".

Unarmed males of Keelapati Village near Madurai battle it out in the fields with enraged bulls, and in the process some of the participants suffer serious injuries and even die.

"They announce a prize of 'Kuttuvilakku' (a lamp) or a television set, to whoever succeeds in taming the bull. I won it this year. The bulls are fed very well throughout the year and they are given proper care," said Sunderpandi, the winner of the competition.

Bullfighting in Tamil Nadu is said to be a centuries-old sport. Young winners were richly rewarded and even marriages were fixed during the event.

Drunken bulls, with horns sharpened to make them more dangerous, are let loose from an enclosure into the crowd where thousands stand to participate or view the craving to showcase one's machismo motivates the young and not so young participate.

"I've been injured many times during the bullfight in the past few years. But I've always had great fun. I have been participating since the age of seventeen," said Mayandi, a participant.

A public interest petition was filed in the Madras High Court to ban the game, but the sport continues albeit with a few medical professionals present to attend to injuries.

Study says "Cocoa, not tea, calms blood pressure"

Some may see a cup of tea as soothing but chocolate is more likely to lower one's blood pressure, German researchers reported on Monday.

Foods rich in cocoa appear to reduce blood pressure but drinking green and black tea may not, according to an analysis of previously published research in the Archives of Internal Medicine, published by the American Medical Association.

The drop in blood pressure among participants who consumed cocoa products for at least two weeks was in the same range as achieved by someone taking drugs commonly prescribed to control high blood pressure.

The fall in blood pressure credited to cocoa could be expected to reduce the risk of strokes and heart attacks by 10-20 percent, the report said.

Both cocoa and tea contain polyphenols, a class of chemicals known to help prevent cardiovascular disease that are present in most fruits and vegetables. But cocoa has a different type than tea -- procyanids -- that appear to be more active.

Currently, patients with high blood pressure are urged to eat more fruits and vegetables, although cocoa and tea products account for the bulk of total polyphenol consumption in Western countries, the study said.

But don't start gobbling up chocolate bars just yet, wrote study author Dirk Taubert of the University Hospital of Cologne, Germany.

Treats such as dark chocolate might be substituted for other high-calorie desserts, based on the study's findings, but "we believe that any dietary advice must account for the high sugar, fat and calorie intake with most cocoa products.

"Rationally applied, cocoa products might be considered part of dietary approaches to lower hypertension risk," he wrote.

Ref: Yahoo news

lucky pair rules Tamil cinema - Harris and Vikram

Actor Vikram and music director Harris Jayaraj are known as Tamil cinema's lucky pair. This summer, their fifth film together will be on the silver screen.

Music director Harris Jayaraj is composing an item number for the forthcoming big-budget Tamil movie Bheemaa.

The song to be picturised on Vikram and to be shot in Tuticorin has been sung by Kailash Kher.

This, Harris says, will be the only hat ke number in the album, that otherwise has all melody tracks.

"It is a mix of all genres. Bheemaa has space for lot of melody with peppy numbers," says Harris.

This will be the fifth Vikram starrer that Harris Jayaraj is composing for. The actor and composer seem to be lucky for each other Saamy and Anniyan for example have been huge hits.

"Harris is usually very modern like Rahman, very yuppy. But here in this movie, director Lingusamy is from Kumbakonam and not too much into class so here there is a nice mix of folk tunes with melody," said Vikram.

Harris who has worked with A R Rahman, now has many offers from Mumbai.

Though it comes as a surprise that Harris has not been approached for scoring the music for the Hindi remake of Ghazini starring Aamir Khan. Ghazini's music was the biggest hit of 2005.

Realism triumphs in Tamil cinema with 'Paruthi Veeran'

Director Amir's 'Paruthi Veeran' has been declared a blockbuster, more successful than Vijay's 'Pokkiri'. This is a great achievement for debutant hero Karthi Shivakumar and the director

The top five Tamil films are:

1. 'Paruthi Veeran' - Director: Amir. This is one of the most realistic films to hit the Tamil screens in recent times.


2. 'Mozhi' - Director: Radhamohan. Mozhi continues to have full shows in all the city theatres.

3. 'Pachaikili Muthucharam' - Director: Gautham Menon. The film is not going to be another 'Vettaiyadu Vilaiyadu'. But Sarath Kumar's natural performance is worth watching.

4. 'Thirumagan' - Director: A.M. Ratnakumar. This is yet another lousy film from actor S.J. Suryah. Only Meera Jasmine is watchable.

5. 'Pokkiri' - Director: Prabhu Deva. Nothing can stop Vijay starrer 'Pokkiri', which is on its way to breaking records.

Software Jokes and bpo company jokes

The Leave Applications and other letters from outsourcing executives


Infosys, Bangalore: An employee applied for leave as follows:

"Since I have to go to my village to sell my land along with my wife, please sanction me one-week leave."


Joke: Leave applications & letter writing by executives
Krissy March 15, 2007
Know More: Outsourcing Joke Bangalore, IBM, Infosys, O&M, Sun Microsystem, Wipro

The Leave Applications and other letters from outsourcing executives


Infosys, Bangalore: An employee applied for leave as follows:

"Since I have to go to my village to sell my land along with my wife, please sanction me one-week leave."

joke-outsourcing


This is from Oracle Bangalore: >From an employee who was performing the "mundan" ceremony of his 10 year old son: as I want to shave my son's head, please leave me for two days.."


Another gem from O&M. Leave-letter from an employee who was performing his daughter's wedding:as I am marrying my daughter, please grant a week's leave.."


From Accenture Administration Department:
"As my mother-in-law has expired and I am only one responsible for it, please grant me 10 days leave."

Another employee from IBM Daksh applied for half day leave:
"Since I've to go to the cremation ground at 10 o-clock and I may not return, please grant me half day casual leave"

An incident of a leave letter: I am suffering from fever, please declare one-day holiday."

A leave letter to the headmaster: "As I am studying in this school I am suffering from headache. I request you to leave me today"

Another leave letter written to the principal of the school: "As my headache is paining, please grant me leave for the day."

Covering note: "I am enclosed herewith..."

Another one:"Dear Sir: with reference to the above, please refer to my below..."

Actual letter written for application of leave: "My wife is suffering from sickness and as I am her only husband at home I may be granted leave".

Letter writing:- "I am well here and hope you are also in the same well."

A candidate's job application: "This has reference to your advertisement calling for a ' Typist and an Accountant - Male or Female'... As I am both(!! )for the past several years and I can handle both with good experience, I am applying for the post. "

Technorati Profile

Technorati Profile

Chennai has Symantec Innovation Center

Minister of Communications and IT, Dayanidhi Maran inaugurated Symantec Corp.'s Center of Innovation in Chennai.

"Symantec's Center of Innovation at Chennai will play a key role in developing new solutions and enabling an environment of safe and secure computing for enterprises and consumers in India and globally," Maran said in a statement.

The firm already has an Innovation Center in Pune.

According to W Thompson, Chairman and CEO, Symantec, “The Chennai center would play a critical role in the development of the company's next generation of security products and solutions for enterprises and consumers the world over.”

The statement said that the new center would accommodate more than 1,000 employees. Its Pune center accommodates more than 2,100 employees and works on high-end product development in the security, storage and compliance domains.

“This center will further augment our already existing R&D and engineering strengths in India. Our focus is also to be the solution provider of choice in a rapidly 'Connected India,” Thompson said.

Anil Chakravarthy, VP, India Technical Operations, Symantec, said, "In the coming year the center will focus extensively on developing next-generation `Security 2.0' products including the distinguished Norton product line."