A BYTE OF LIFE Wednesday, May 20, 2009

10
SING IT LIKE
04
SINATRA
Jamie Foxx to play WINDOW-SHOPPER
Frank Sinatra Brass Tacks in Alwarpet
FREE CIRCULATION Vol. 3 No. 92

Amit Varma
UNCUT
Here is another blogger who has
turned novelist. Amit Varma of ’India
Uncut’ blog is the latest to cross over
from the blogosphere to book shelves.
He was in the city to launch his
debut novel ’My Friend Sancho’.

» PAGE 03
02 NAMMA CHENNAI
It was a
dance mania
F or the second year in succession, UST
Global hosted Bailemos 2009 – a
dance extravaganza that united
company
teams from across its centres in
Trivandrum, Kochi and Chennai.
Bailemos’ is a unique event as associates
display their dancing skills in a highly
charged and competitive environment
that is filled with fun. In an evening
marked by intense competition, the first
prize went to team ‘Zealers’ from
Chennai and the runners up to ‘Dazzling
Divas’ from Trivandrum.
What I liked and enjoyed about the
event is that it strengthens team spirit
across departments and locations. Every
individual has innate talents. However,
that gets buried among the busy
working schedule. Bailemos brings out
the real you. The other highlight of the
evening was to see UST global managers
dance to the music of Jai Ho.
(Contributed by Remadevi, UST Global)
ERGO Wednesday, May 20, 2009
It is year of India in Russia
The Russian Centre of Science and Culture, Indo-Russian
Film Club and The Madras Film Society are hosting the
Russian Film Festival. The festival is on till May 22. Films
will be screened at 6 p.m. and 7.45 p.m.
int dosas on
M int Street
For the last five decades the Shahs have made a mark in
Mint Street with their homemade delicacies
V. HARIPRIYA &
MONISHA MOHANDAS
feedback@goergo.in
M
int Street buzzes with
life. It is said to be one of
the longest streets in the
city. A trip through its
narrow lanes during the hot sum-
mer is tiring. We walked past the
rickshawallas, vendors and criss-
crossing vehicles in search of a
hotel to refresh. That’s when we
spotted Novelty Tea House,
which is close to Ekambareswarar
Temple. The hotel looks pretty
old from outside, but what
caught our attention was the fad-
ed banner reading about its
‘Golden Jubilee Celebrations’
held last year. Since 1958: Novelty Tea House in Mint Street; (below) pav
The inside is air-conditioned bhaji and mango shell and orange shell ice-cream.
with miniature ceiling fans, each PHOTOS: R. RAVINDRAN
for a table, which
came as a welcome lunch. Later on the shop was in- from 4.30 p.m. to 6.00 p.m. – in
relief. The bulky me- herited by his son Jitendra Shah. contrast to its name.
nu card,which had The specialties of the place are By the way, the kulfis and or-
items from medu va- its pav bhaji, pudina (mint) onion ange shell ice-cream were really
da to pav bhaji to dosa and grilled sandwich, says good. ■
pizza, came in as a Shah. “We started selling pav (Too Good for Critics is a
real surprise. We or- bhajis in 1978 at Rs. 2 per plate. weekly column to celebrate
dered two kulfis be- Now, it is sold at Rs. 40. Similarly, Namma Chennai’s ‘Kaiyendi
fore starting our pizzas were available since the Bhavans’ and small eateries. If
conversation with 1980s.” you can think of a similar place,
Raju Shah, caretaker “We prepare the masalas at mail us at feedback@goergo.in)
of the hotel. home. We never compromise on
Novelty Tea House was started the quality of the food,” he adds. How to get there: Take
in 1958 by Chandrakanth Shah, a Shah says that they add only the buses going to Mint.
native of Kutch, Gujarat, as a butter and ghee to make the del- The hotel is very close
small shop selling tea, coffee and icacies and for items which need to Ekambareswarar
biscuits. He then expanded it into frying they use oil. Interestingly, Temple.
a small hotel selling snacks and the hotel only sells tea or coffee Address: No. 175, Mint
Street, Chennai -3
Phone Nos: 25341103,
25356355
 Wednesday, May 20, 2009
03

Sancho comes to town

Amit Varma of ‘India uncut’ blog was in city Monday to unveil his book ‘My friend Sancho’
ANUSHA PARTHASARATHY
anushaparthasarathy@hotmail.com

“Y
ou are welcome to throw a shoe at me,” he
winked, adding “I’ll become an instant celeb-
rity then”.
Mumbai blogger Amit Varma’s wit is not
very different from the protagonist of his first novel ‘My
friend Sancho,’ which he launched in the city on Mon-
day at Landmark, where he was in conversation with
blogger and poet Sharanya Manivannan.
Best known for his blog, www.indiauncut.com - ac-
claimed as one of the best blogs in the country, Amit
Varma’s column in The Mint won him the Bastiat Prize
for Journalism and he has also written for The Guardian
and The New York Times. But Amit maintains that his
first love remains fiction.
Dressed in a smart navy blue shirt and blue jeans, he
looked a tad nervous at the beginning; hunching for-
ward in his chair and constantly wiping his face. But as
the evening progressed, he had his audience engaged in
light chatter, entertaining them with funny answers and
expressive reading.
“Many people term me as a blogger-turned-novelist
but I don’t think my blog made me write a novel. I’ve
always wanted to write one. Journalism and blogging
just came along. But I have to admit, they improved my
writing to a great extent,” he exclaimed.
‘My friend Sancho’ is a contemporary love story set in “Many people term
Mumbai. It centers on Abhir Ganguly, a 23-year-old me as a blogger-
crime reporter who is sarcastic, cynical and ignorant. turned-novelist but I
His editor asks him to profile a man who is murdered
and for that purpose he meets his daughter Muneeza don’t think my blog
and falls in love with her. The change that she brings made me write a
about in him and how he writes the article forms the
crux of the story. novel. I’ve always
“Though Abhir being a journalist from Mumbai wanted to write
seems autobiographical, it isn’t. I just felt it was an in- one. Journalism and
teresting setting. A writer must always write about what
they know best. I did just that,” he said. blogging just came
The book launch was attended mostly by followers of along.”
his four-year-old blog and there was even a small be-
spectacled boy who hung on to Amit’s every word. But
most of them seemed alarmed by the fact that he wrote
t0he book entirely at night.
“Don’t take too much coffee. Tea has antioxidants
and something else that I don’t remember. Please drink
tea,” advised one sprightly man and while another look-
ing overtly concerned asked Amit “Sir, how is it possible
to live such a lifestyle.” To this Amit calmly said; “I’m
just living American time in India,” with a grin. ■
‘My friend Sancho,’ Hachette India’s first local title, is
available at major bookstores at Rs. 195.

Stray violence in city following

news of Prabhakaran’s death
ERGO CORRESPONDENT According to police sources, on lic who witnessed the incident front sliding glass doors and over Following the incident, police
feedback@goergo.in Monday night unidentified men caught three from the group and 10 cars parked on the mall prem- security was stepped-up at Citi
pelted stones at a few buses handed them to the Anna Salai ises. Security guards at the mall Centre and other malls in the city,

L
ife was normal in Chennai
even after media reports on
the death of LTTE supremo
Vellupillai Prabhakaran
started coming in from Sunday
afternoon. However, minor inci-
dents of stone-pelting were re-
ported in some parts till Tuesday
evening.
parked inside the Arumbakkam
and Velappanchavadi depot, da-
maging windshields and hea-
dlights.
In another incident the same
night, a group of college students
pelted stones at the Tamil Nadu
Electricity Board Office on Anna
Salai. Some members of the pub-
police. The culprits were let off
after a warning, police sources
added.
Earlier on Sunday, over 10 men
armed with clubs and iron rods
damaged glass display windows
of showrooms in Chennai Citi
Centre on R.K. Salai.
The group even damaged the
said that the men with their faces
covered shouted slogans as they
went on rampage.
However, police said the attack
was a repercussion of a quarrel
between the Inox management
and a group of men over the sell-
ing of cinema tickets in black out-
side the mall.
including Spencer Plaza.
A Special Action Group (SAG)
has been deployed for additional
security at key locations in the
city and also at the Sri Lankan
High Commission on T.T.K. Road
and Bank of Ceylon on Poona-
mallee High Road. ■
04 KALEIDOSCOPE ERGO Wednesday, May 20, 2009

TRACKING
Tacks
Brass
sy Monday afternoon, when our
queries are occasionally punc-
tuated by Anaka asking happy
customers to drop in their email
IDs or phone numbers so they
could get updates on the store’s
future collections.
corner of the country – West Ben-
gal, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar and
Orissa, to name a few.
Though the fabrics are indige-
nous, the silhouette is more west-
ern, more contemporary. “I cater
to a different crowd.
Clothes come with surprises –
ikkat kurta with knotted necks Brass Tacks
(Kolam Kurta), trenchcoat-style Address: 77/13,
shirt inspired by Moroccan tile- Corporation Shopping
work (Marrakesh trench shirt) or Complex,
bias dress with ruches and raw C.P. Ramaswamy Road,
edges (Anahata). Alwarpet,

“I
don’t do super fancy.
There is no embellish-
ment, no embroidery.
Just good fabric, good fit
and good tailoring. And I want to
show that even with that one can
get a lot of really good clothes,”
says Anaka Narayanan pointing
at the shelves. That sums up what
one might expect at Brass Tacks.
We visit Anaka’s store on a bu-
Anaka’s clothes are a new twist
on the definition of Indo-Western
fashion, a term that more often
than not reads ‘kurtis’. Here,
there are tops, day dresses (even
classic LBDs for the evenings),
skirts, trousers, capris, tunics and
kurtas. And the clothes don’t
come in knits, viscose or geor-
gette but are tailored out of fab-
rics sourced from every nook and
Not the crowd that is more in-
clined towards wearing salwars
and kurtis, but people who are
more comfortable in jeans and t-
shirts.” She adds with emphasis,
“And I don’t do kurtis.”
Clothes at Brass Tacks are
available in sizes ranging from 0
to 14 or even 16. Alterations are
also done if you fail to fit into a
ready size.
Also, Anaka has been invited to
sell her label from Hyderabad-
based Daram, a store run by
Dastkar, a society for crafts and
craftspeople.
The young designer’s passion,
in her own words, is
textiles. “It kills
me when peo-
ple think ikat
is a print!” ■
Chennai – 600 018
Ph: 044 - 4208 1767
Email:
shop@brasstacksmadras.com
Website:
www.brasstacksmadras.com
Store timings: 11 a.m.
to 8 p.m. (Open all days)

PHOTOS: R. RAVINDRAN

b r i c s c o me in
nf a
a n d h a nd-wove
s
R o a d , i ndigenou ciated with them
y not asso
C . P . R a maswam e n e r a l l y
Tacks on and silhouettes g
At Brass styles
 Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Prabhakaran
HIS LIFE, TIMES AND DEATH
F
rom Nov 26, 1954 to May 18, 2009
- the following is a chronological
account of the life and times of
Velupillai Prabhakaran, the Ta-
mil Tigers chief who was killed Mon-
day in the north of Sri Lanka:
1954 (Nov 26): Born in Jaffna in a
Hindu middle class family, the youn-
gest of two sons and two daughters.
1960-70s: Takes to militancy, in-
dulges in minor acts of violence.
1972: Forms Tamil New Tigers
(TNT), flees home for good.
1975: Assassinates Jaffna Mayor
Alfred Duriappah at Hindu temple.
1976: TNT becomes Liberation Ti-
gers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).
1978: LTTE issues first press state-
ment.
1982: Arrested in Madras (now
Chennai) after a shootout with a rival
Tamil militant. Jailed, bailed, escapes
to Sri Lanka.
1983: Ambushes army patrol in Jaff-
na, killing 13 soldiers. Anti-Tamil riots
sweep Colombo, leaving hundreds
dead and igniting Tamil insurgency.
1983 (September): Moves to Tamil
Nadu, sets up home in Chennai. LTTE
training camps come up in Tamil Na-
du.
1984: Meets Tamil Nadu Chief Min-
ister M.G. Ramachandran and seeks
support. Marries Jaffna university stu-
dent, fathers two sons and daughter.
1985 (May): Orders massacre of
Buddhists in the holy town of Anurad-
hapura, Sri Lanka.
1986 (April-May): Orders slaughter
of Tamil militants from rival group TE-
LO.
1987 (January): Quits India for good,
saying there is an attempt to kill him.
1987 (July): Meets Indian Prime
Minister Rajiv Gandhi in New Delhi
and says he accepts India-Sri Lanka
accord meant to end Tamil separat-
ism.
1987 (August): Gives speech in Jaff-
na, saying "We love India", but tells
aides he will teach India a lesson for
betraying Tamil Eelam cause.
1987 (October): Launches war
against Indian troops deployed in Sri
Lanka’s northeast.
1989 (April-June): Goes into peace
talks with Sri Lankan President Ranas-
inghe Premadasa, who asks Indian
troops to go home.
1989 (July): LTTE kills well known
Tamil politicians A. Amirthalingam
and V. Yogeswaran in Colombo.
1990 (April): Takes control of Jaffna,
addresses the media.
1990 (June): Resumes war against Sri
Lanka for Tamil Eelam, orders 100,000
Muslims living in Jaffna to quit. Rival
militant K. Pathmanabha and aides
killed in Chennai, India.
1991 (March): Sri Lankan Defence
Minister Ranjan Wijeratne killed by
car bomb.
1991 (May): LTTE woman suicide
bomber assassinates former Indian
prime minister Rajiv Gandhi at elec-
tion rally near Chennai.
05
1992 (August): Sri Lanka’s northern
army command wiped out.
1992 (November): LTTE suicide
bomber riding motorcycle kills Sri
Lanka Navy chief Clancey Fernando.
1993: Sri Lankan President Prema-
dasa killed at May Day rally.
1993 (August): Arrests LTTE number
two Mahattaya on charges of being In-
dian spy, executes him in December
1994.
1994: Agrees to talk to President
Chandria Kumaratunga. Fighting
halts.
1995: Sri Lankan presidential candi-
date Gamini Dissanayake assassinat-
ed. Resumes war against for Tamil
Eelam.
1995 (December): Loses Jaffna to Sri
Lankan troops.
1996 (July): LTTE slaughters 1,200
soldiers and policemen in military
complex in just 72 hours.
1997-99: Takes control of large parts
of north and east in Sri Lanka.
1999 (December): President Kuma-
ratunga escapes assassination at-
tempt, is blinded in one eye.
2000-01: Sri Lanka approaches Nor-
way to facilitate peace talks with LTTE.
2001 (July): LTTE suicide cadres This undated photograph released by Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Defence reportedly
overrun Sri Lanka’s only international taken from a recovered family photo album of Tamil Tiger leader Velupillai
airport, destroys 13 aircraft. Prabhakaran (C) and his immediate family, including his son Charles Anthony (3rd R)
2002 (February): Signs Norway-bro- at an undisclosed location. AFP PHOTO/GETTY
kered ceasefire agreement with Sri
Lanka.
2002 (April): Addresses Sri Lankan,
international media in Kilinochchi,
says he will never give up Tamil Eelam
cause.
2003 (April): Walks out of Norway-
backed peace process.
2004 (March): Faces revolt by LTTE
eastern regional commander Karuna
and hundreds of cadres in eastern
province.
2005 (August): Sri Lankan Foreign
Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar shot
dead by LTTE sniper.
2006 (April): Army General Sarath
Fonseka badly hurt in attack by wom-
an suicide bomber.
2006 (December): Defence Secretary
Gothabaya Rajapaksa, brother of Pres-
ident Mahinda Rajapaksa, survives as-
sassination attempt
2007: Launches air strike near Col-
ombo. LTTE loses eastern province to
Sri Lanka. Prabhakaran vows to fight
back.
2008 (January): Sri Lanka spikes cea-
sefire agreement. LTTE begins to lose
territory in north.
2008 (November): Mocks President
Rajapaksa, says LTTE territory can
never be seized.
2009 (January): Loses Kilinochchi,
hub of de facto Tamil Eelam state; re-
treats into Mullaitivu district.
2009 (May 17): Decides to "silence"
guns and end armed struggle.
2009 (May 18): Prabhakaran killed
while trying to escape from war zone
in Mullaitivu district. Heir apparent
son and all key aides also killed. ■
IANS
06 VILLAGE ERGO Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Kilt causes controversy

A kilt-wearing student in the U.S. was ordered to
change by his headmaster - because other pupils
might think he was cross-dressing.

Coming soon: An artificial skin Beyonce gets racing tips

Skin from a factory has long been the dream of dermatologists. Now,
scientists are on track to develop what they claim is the artificial skin. from Hamilton
A team from four Fraunhofer institutes in Germany is developing the first Beyonce Knowles has
fully automatic production system for two-layer ‘skin models’ - an almost found the perfect teacher
perfect copy of human skin or artificial skin. to learn about the
“Our engineers and biologists are the only ones who have succeeded in fully nuances of professional F1
automating the entire process chain for manufacturing two-layer skin racing - Lewis Hamilton.
models,” said leader Jörg Saxler of Fraunhofer Institute for Production Technology IPT. The race ace has
According to the scientists, in a multi-stage process, first small pieces of skin are sterilised. Then reportedly agreed to teach
they are cut into small pieces, modified with specific enzymes, and isolated into two cell the ’Baby Boy’ singer how
fractions, which are then propagated separately on cell culture surfaces. to drive like a
PTI professional.
The Daily Mirror has
reported that Hamilton
delighted Knowles by
Students hit karaoke clubs offering to take her and
her husband, rapper Jay-Z,
as flu shuts schools for a ride.
Hundreds of Japanese students whose schools have been “Beyonce’s so excited to
closed this week to contain a swine flu outbreak have be learning from him. And
instead flocked to karaoke parlours with their friends, club Jay’s even worse. He’s
operators said. ready to put on his helmet
“About 10 different groups of high school students came and get in the fast lane
here yesterday,” a karaoke club manager in Osaka, himself,” Contactmusic
Yoshikatsu Ishida said. quoted a source as telling
He said he declined to accept the young customers when the newspaper.
he found they were supposed ANI
to stay at home while their
schools were closed.
Another karaoke club
manager said: “We suddenly
had a number of high school Susan Boyle dolls up for grabs
students after 2:00 pm A Susan Boyle fan is selling miniature dolls resembling the
yesterday, right after the Britain’s Got Talent star on the Internet.
announcement that schools Debbie Ritter, from Fisher, Illinois, makes use of clothes
would close for a week.” pegs, wire and clay to create the four-inch structure of the
All of our karaoke rooms amateur singer.
were full at one point, and The 46-year-old has been selling the dolls with bushy
I’m expecting something eyebrows and bird’s nest hair to collectors for 14 pounds.
similar today,” he said. “I “It’s a lot of work and each doll takes at least a couple of
don’t have the right to say hours. It’s more of a hobby than a job for me but I sell
something like ’you should them to collectors too,” the Telegraph quoted Debbie as
stay at home.’” saying.
AFP ANI

iPhones go spreadsheet-friendly
U
S software developer MeLLmo released a terprise usage.”
free application that turns iPhones into Becerra said he and other MeLLmo founders
powerful tools for analysing spread- were “mesmerized” by iPhone graphics capa-
sheets and reports, enhancing the ap- bilities and its potential as a revolutionary tech-
peal of Apple mobile devices to businesses. nology platform.
The application, named RoamBi, intuitively RoamBi mimics the way readers’ eyes navi-
imitates the way business reports are read and gate spread sheets or data laden business re-
then presents results in graphics adapted to ports and then summarises information in
iPhones touch-screen size and capabilities, interactive pie or bar charts or graphs.
said MeLLmo chief executive Santiago Becerra. A RoamBi Publisher that converts spread-
“We are leading the way in more interactive sheet data and sends it to iPhones is hosted
visual reports that will power people to be more online as a service. RoamBi is also part of an
productive and make the iPhone more attrac- AppExchange offered by software-as-a-service
tive to business,” Becerra said. star Salesforce.com.
“I can’t talk to a vendor today without the Basic RoamBi service is free. The year-old
iPhone coming up,” said Sean Ryan, a software company plans to soon offer a premium Roam-
analyst at the market research and analysis firm Bi version on a subscription basis and sell a
International Data Corporation (IDC). version of the software that can be installed in
“It is ever present in people’s minds and ap- company servers. ■
plications like RoamBi could drive more en- AFP
 Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Here is what Obama
reads before he sleeps
U
S President Barack
Obama has revealed
that he is presently
reading a book by Jo-
seph O’Neill, titled
Netherland.
He has revealed that read-
ing the book for a half hour
forms part of his daily sched-
ule, which includes morning
workouts, office work, and
spending time with his
family.
“I’m a night owl. My usual
day (is): I work out in the
morning; I get to the office
around 9, 8:30 a.m. to 9 a.m.;
work till about 6:30 p.m.;
have dinner with the family,
hang out with the kids and
put them to bed about 8:30
p.m.
And then I’ll probably read
briefing papers or do paper-
work or write stuff until
about 11:30 p.m., and then I
usually have about a half
hour to read before I go to
Woman has twins
from 2 men
A
n American mother was left
dumbstruck after she
found out that she had in-
credibly conceived her twin
sons from two different fathers.
Mia of Dallas, Texas, gave birth
to babies Justin and Jordan, now
11-months-old, just seven min-
utes apart and undertook a pa-
ternity test after finding the two
looking very unalike.
The 20-year-old faced a jaw
dropping moment after tests
showed that there was a 99.999
per cent chance that the boys did
not have the same father.
Mia confessed to having cheat-
ed on partner James Harrison
with another lover at the time she
conceived.
Stunned medics told the young
mother different eggs were fertil-
ised by each man within a very
short time of each other - a mil-
lion-to-one condition, which
made the twins, in reality,
half-brothers.
07
Burger legends
The world’s first pilgrimage to trace the origins of the burger is to
be launched, spanning eight countries, 16 cities and three
continents by fast food giant Burger King.
bed ... about midnight, 12:30
a.m.-sometimes a little lat-
er,” News Week quoted the
President as saying.
As to what the book is
The only thing about, Obama revealed: “It’s
about after 9/11, a guy’s fam-
ily leaves him and he takes
the President up cricket in New York. And
it’s fascinating. It’s awonder-
watched on ful book, although I know
nothing about cricket.”
However, the President
TV was sports does enjoy films, with the lat-
est seen by him being Star
Trek.
“Now, movies I’ve been
doing OK [with] because it
turns out we got this nice
theatre on the ground floor
of my house ... So Star Trek,
we saw this weekend, which I
thought was good,” he said.
When asked whether he
watched Star Trek when he
was growing up, he said: “I
used to love Star Trek.” ■
ANI
Flight of liberation
쑸
A commercial
jet passes
behind the
Statue of
Liberty in
New York City.
JOHN MOORE/GETTY
IMAGES/AFP
“When they opened the enve-
lope and told me my jaw just
dropped open,” the Sun quoted
Mia as saying.
“It was the weirdest thing to
think two little babies could have
grown in my stomach together
and been born seven minutes
apart but yet have different
fathers.”
“I would have thought it was
impossible,” she added.
Mia further revealed that her
partner James had decided to
raise both the kids as his own de-
spite her affair. ■
ANI
08 SPORT ERGO Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Maradona to launch sports cafe

Argentine football legend Diego Maradona is planning to launch the world’s first
Maradona Sports Cafe in Dubai by next year. According to a report in the Arabian
Business magazine, the cafe – modelled on Planet Hollywood – will feature
memorabilia from the Argentine World Cup winner’s playing career and will also
include items from other soccer stars such as Brazilian heroes Pele, Zico and Dunga.

Comeback win for Sharapova

Maria Sharapova made a winning return after a
nine-and-a-half-month injury lay-off here, defeating
Italy’s Tathiana Garbin 6-1, 6-7 (6-8), 6-3. The 22-
year-old Russian has
seen her world
Better luck next time
ranking slump from
No.1 to 126 during
Knight Riders banking on change of guard at IPL III
her absence from
the sport, but she
played with plenty
of grit to secure her
place in the second
round of the
claycourt Warsaw
Open on Monday.
“It was a little bit
longer than I
wanted it to be, a
lot longer than it
should have been,”
said Sharapova, who
attended the post-
match Press
conference with an
ice pack on her troublesome right shoulder. “But I
had good opportunities and I played really well in
the first set.”
Sharapova looked on course for a straightforward
victory at 5-3 up in the second set, but some jittery
service games allowed Garbin to take the match to
a decisive third set. “I was definitely nervous
closing that second set up,” Sharapova added. “I
think that’s normal. I’m human.” The highest
money-earner in women’s sport, Sharapova had
been out of action since last summer due to a
shoulder injury, missing last year’s Wimbledon and
US Open as well as this year’s Australian Open.
AFP

Kolkata Knigh Riders bench celebrate a rare victory at the IPL. PHOTO: AFP
Phelps to recoup in mountains
Michael Phelps is heading to the mountains. Eat. AYON SENGUPTA have only one leader,” says for- look for replacements,” an official
Sleep. Swim. That’s about all the successful ayon@goergo.in mer national selector Sambaran said.
Olympian will be doing during his time at the U.S. Banerjee. “As a movie star, no Talks are on to rope in former

A
training centre in Colorado Springs. He can’t wait. much-awaited but unan-
“The next three weeks are going to be real ticipated win for Kolkata
important when we go to altitude,” Phelps said. Knight Riders against title
“That’s going to be a big part of the summer.” He contenders Chennai Super
already crossed the first major threshold of his Kings in the 13th round of DLF
post-Beijing career this past weekend, competing IPL. A one-off-win, though, is
in five events at the Charlotte Ultra Swim. Phelps surely not going to impress celeb-
won two and was runner-up in two others, losing rity owner Shah Rukh Khan, and
to a couple of world-record holders. He swam only the talked-about shift of guard
the preliminaries of his fifth event (50-meter will go on according to plan.
freestyle), using it as training run for his new Even if SRK’s IPL script
straight-arm stroke. bombed in South Africa like his
Considering Phelps had not raced since the recent movies at the box office,
Olympics the nine-month layoff was by far the SRK is going all out to change the
longest of his career and he was coming off a luck next time around. Given the
wave of bad publicity over fact that IPL III is expected to be
that infamous photo of held in India, SRK and Co. have
him using a marijuana wisely decided to re-anoint Sou-
pipe, this was certainly an rav Ganguly at KKR’s helm. With
encouraging start to the a visibly shaken Kolkata gunning
final chapter in his master for everybody’s heads, the move
plan. He hopes to conquer indeed would be a welcome
some new events and add change from the mismatched ef-
even more gold to an forts by the team management in
already unprecedented this year’s disaster. “Good sense
collection before he hangs has prevailed over Shah Rukh.
up the cap and goggles And I think he at last has realised
after the 2012 London that just like his movies can only
Games. have one hero a cricket team can
PTI
matter what he says he has little
knowledge of the game. Unfortu-
nately, he trusted the wrong peo-
ple and had to learn it the wrong
way.”
According to KKR sources,
Shah Rukh and other Red Chillies
officials are to sit down with Gan-
guly a week after the team’s re-
turn from South Africa and
engage the former captain’s ex-
pertise to build a strong team for
the next season. A few of the “re-
bel” ICL cricketers believed to be
Ganguly loyalists may also find
favour in the team. The likes of
Rohan Gavaskar and Abhisekh
Jhunjhunwala have already ex-
pressed their intent to ditch the
ICL setup and return to the main-
stream. The inclusion of the two
will definitely strengthen Knight
Riders’ local talent pool that has
failed to flatter in South Africa.
“Unexpected results obviously
lead to expected head rolls. Our
foreign contingent didn’t give us
the results to justify their pres-
ence. So it’s only logical for us to
national coach Anshuman Gaek-
wad to replace Aussie John Bu-
chanan, who is all set to get the
boot with the rest of his support
stuff.
“I feel most of the players were
under a lot of pressure. When you
take that away they play freely, as
(Brandon) McCullum did on
Monday. He had fallen prey to
the dirty politics and that affected
his performance. It’s important
to gel well with your players to get
the best out of them and I think
the KKR management failed
there,” Banerjee said. “But even
Sourav is going through a bad
phase. We can see his hunger but
the implementation is missing.
He has to work hard to regain his
touch and be as effective as other
old horses like (Matthew) Hayden
and (Adam) Gilchrist. I would
have kept McCullum as skipper
and let Ganguly concentrate on
his batting. We can only hope a
new outlook will produce better
results next time round. IPL II is
long over for KKR.” ■
 Wednesday, May 20, 2009
‘‘
Clearly we (Force India) have some work to do in qualifying, but I would beg to
differ about the lack of improvement in the race. Giancarlo set the eighth
quickest time during the race in Spain, and was competitively racing with BMW, Renault
and Williams. We might not yet be in a points scoring position but I am happy with the
rate of progress we are making.
Giggling A
lovers
Wimbledon
recreates old
memories for
Graf and Agassi
Andre Agassi (right) and Steffi
Graf (left) enjoying each others
company during their mixed
doubles match on the Centre
Court, during the launch of the
new retractable roof on centre
court at The All England Lawn
Tennis Club. PHOTO: AFP
s a seven-times champion,
Steffi Graf thought she knew
every nook and cranny of
Wimbledon and considered it
to be her personal backyard. Look-
ing forward to a trip down memory
lane, she jumped at the chance of
teaming up with husband Andre
Agassi to play in an exhibition event
to mark the unveiling of the new
retractable roof over Centre Court.
When she walked through the All
England Club gates for the first time
in 10 years as a competitor on Sun-
day, however, she got a shock – her
backyard had been landscaped be-
yond recognition. “Wimbledon has
changed a lot in 10 years,” a wide-
eyed Graf, who had been a regular
visitor to the tournament until
Agassi retired in 2006, said. “I live 10
years back. I’ve come to watch
Andre over the years but as a spec-
tator you feel very different. You
take your place and watch the game
and see some familiar faces but you
don’t really (see anything else).”
Since the German waved goodbye
to her fans in London after losing
the 1999 final to Lindsay Davenport,
the traditional grasscourt tourna-
ment has undergone many facelifts.
Apart from the new multi-million-
dollar roof over the world’s most fa-
mous tennis arena, Wimbledon has
scrapped the old graveyard of the
champions and built a new number
two court. Introduced equal prize
money and done away with curtsey-
ing to members of Britain’s royal
family.
Vijay Mallya
Brought in Hawkeye technology
to aid line calls and got rid of the old
and tired player and media amen-
ities in favour of the Millennium
Building which houses modern facil-
ities.
Very much in love
“I’ve never been in here (in the
new press conference room) before.
I walked into the (new) locker rooms
today for the first time. We have a
much nice locker room than the
guys,” Graf observed with a grin. At
which point her disgruntled hus-
band intervened to say: “I got to see
the women’s locker room today.
You’re talking about equal prize
money, how about equal locker
rooms?”
Once they had finished comparing
notes on the interior design of their
respective locker rooms, Graf and
Agassi had the task of living up to
their reputation as tennis’s most fa-
mous power couple – who between
them own 30 major titles. When
they faced the pairing of Kim Clij-
sters and Tim Henman, being mar-
ried turned out to be the problem
for Mr and Mrs Agassi. Instead of
trying to beat the hell out of their
opponents, they acted like a pair of
giggling teenaged lovers who strug-
gled to keep their eyes off each oth-
er.
After spending a lot of time em-
bracing and kissing between points,
09
the distracted couple lost the match
7-6. “We enjoyed it so much. I don’t
know if I’ve ever smiled this much
on a tennis court,” said a beaming
Agassi.
Familiar feelings
While the surroundings were nov-
el to Graf, some things were the
same. “It’s been 10 years for me and
felt like a long time ago,” said the
22-times grand slam champion, who
turns 40 next month. “You take your
first steps in Centre Court and, with
the roof and extra seating, it visual-
ly looks very different. But the feel-
ing was so familiar and very special.
I haven’t missed it much but when
you’re out there you really enjoy it,”
she said “It brought back a ton of
memories. Like my first match on
Centre Court, (against) Jo Durie (in
1984). Mum made me wear a skirt
for the first time. I forgot to curtsey,
I was so upset when I lost I just
wanted to run off and hide.”
Recalling her epic battles with
Martina Navratilova, Graf said:
“Coming from that moment to play-
ing so many memorable matches
against Martina (Navratilova), that
always stood out. She was the one I
was looking up to and never
thought I would be able to win
against her on this surface. It took
me a little while to convince myself
that this was going to be a surface I
was going to be comfortable on.”
Once Graf found her comfort
zone, she proved to be almost un-
stoppable and contested nine finals
between 1987 and 1999. ■
Reuters
10 FLICK ERGO Wednesday, May 20, 2009

No sequel to E.T.
Filmmaker Steven Spielberg has ruled out any plans to make a sequel to the hit flick
E.T. It was speculated that Drew Barrymore, who featured in E.T. when she was just 5,
would again act in a sequel, which would be based on a tale about E.T. 27 years later.
However, Spielberg said, “I’m never going to make E.T. II – E.T. is a closed story,”
Contactmusic quoted him as saying.

O
scar-winning actor Jamie Foxx has been chosen to
play the role of Frank Sinatra in a biopic being made
on the late singing legend who died 11 years ago.
Earlier George Clooney, Leonardo DiCaprio, Harry Stiller’s Slapsgate
Connick Jr. and Justin Timberlake were in contention for
the role. But the African-American actor was finalised to
play Sinatra, reported femalefirst.co.uk.
F unnyman Ben Stiller had
the time of his life when
he was beaten up by two
The biopic is to be directed by Martin Scorsese. monkeys recently on the set
“Jamie would seem to be born to the role. Magnificent of his new movie Night at
voice, convincing acting ability – like Frank himself – born the Musuem: Battle of the
the wrong side of the tracks, makes it big against the odds, Smithsonian.
has his brushes with authority. The guy’s a gift,” an industry The incident took place
insider was quoted as saying. when the actor was filming a
Sinatra had won 11 Grammy Awards in his career. ■ fight scene with the
IANS mischievous animals and they
gave him several slaps on his
face and body, reported
contactmusic.com.
Though Stiller wanted to
punch them back, he
dropped the idea for the
sake of animal rights laws
and took out his frustration
on a dummy monkey instead.
“We have two (monkeys)
this time. I had to do a slap
fight with them. I basically
get slapped by both of them,
but I am not allowed to slap
them back because of animal
rights, so I have to slap a
dummy or a tennis ball when
they’re off-screen. It’s a
weird experience,” Stiller
said. ■
IANS

Chivalry thy name is Hanks

T om Hanks showed his chivalrous side when he halted the
production of his new film and rushed to the aid of an
Australian bride who got stuck in traffic.
Hanks (52) was filming Angels and Demons in Rome when he
noticed that Natalia Dearnley (28) had gotten stuck on the way to
her wedding ceremony inside the city’s Pantheon.
Noticing that the roads were clogged with film production
vehicles and tourists, and that Dearnley’s limousine could not
reach the steps of the temple, the actor yelled out “cut” to stop
filming and rushed to her aid.
“As we were trying to get through Tom came over and asked if
he could escort me to my
wedding,” the Telegraph
quoted Dearnley, a sales and
marketing manager who now
lives in London, as telling
Sydney’s Daily Telegraph.
“I couldn’t believe it. He
stopped filming to help me.
I’ve never met a celebrity
before, we just went straight
for the A-list… They were all
cheering, it was amazing. Dad
invited Tom to stay for the
wedding but he said he had a
movie to make,” she said.
The incident took place in
June last year, and remained
a secret until the time Angels
and Demons opened in
cinemas around the world. ■
ANI
 Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Bale calls profanity-laced tirade on Terminator sets ‘inexcusable’
Actor Christian Bale claims that his profanity-laced tirade was “unfortunate” and “inexcusable”. The Terminator
Salvation star’s four-minute rant against director of photography Shane Hurlbut on the set of the film was leaked
onto the Internet earlier this year. “The whole incident was something which absolutely I regret, but we were
resolved within 30 seconds on the film set,” the New York Daily News quoted him as telling Good Morning America.
Genelia replaced Jiah
as character changed
D
irector Ken Ghosh in-
sists that Jiah Khan’s
ouster from his upcom-
ing film had nothing to
do with her acting capabilities.
He says he roped in Genelia
D’Souza as the heroine’s char-
acter changed over time.
“Jiah is a very good actress
and has her own space where
she performs really well. She
being replaced has nothing to
do with her capabilities as an
actress. She is very good at
what she does and I’m 100 per-
cent sure that I will rope her in
again when an opportunity
comes,” Ken explains.
How did Genelia come into
the picture?
“Honestly speaking, it was
the sea change in the female
protagonist’s character that
drove me to make the change.
Earlier the character was a lot
hotter and Jiah fitted the bill.
Now she’s turned much cuter
and Genelia turned out to be
the perfect choice,” Ken adds.
“At the end of the day Jiah
and Genelia are quite different,
whether in terms of looks or
attitude. There is a different
kind of energy expected from
the newly-written character
and I’m getting that from Ge-
nelia.”
Produced by UTV Motion
Pictures, the film also stars
Shahid Kapur. The director
said they were yet to zero in on
a good title, but added that it
would not be called Yahoo as
reported in a section of the
media.
Ken, who has earlier made
films like Ishq Vishk and Fida,
says he didn’t want to talk ear-
11
Cine City
lier about Genelia replacing
Jiah as it could have led to mis-
understandings.
“I didn’t comment anything
on record earlier since whatev-
er I would have said, that
would have been miscon-
strued. There were specula-
tions of all kinds doing the
rounds and there was no point
clarifying or justifying my
stand,” he says.
After shooting for a substan-
tial portion of the film, Jiah
was obviously disturbed at be-
ing replaced.
“Of course it was quite pain-
ful for her but then we had to
look at the final results. Frank-
ly, it didn’t make sense for Jiah
too to enact this new character
and I’m sure she too agrees on
this,” Ken says. ■
IANS
Bollywood calling
Ghajini has not only made south indian star Asin
famous in Bollywood but even Suriya who was the
hero in the Tamil version of the movie. If the
grapevine is true, Ram Gopal Varma has
approached the southern dashing heart throb
Suriya for his next movie Ratha Charithra. Let’s see
if Suriya signs it. Never the less we wish him good
luck to him on his maiden Hindi flick.
In papa’s footsteps
Actor-director Sreenivasan’s son Vineeth
Sreenivasan will soon be wearing the director’s
hat. Apparently, Vineeth will debut in a movie
produced by actor Dileep’s banner, Grand
Productions. Whether as a playback singer or as an
actor, Vineeth has started making waves in
Malayalam films. After Cycle, he was cast along
Sreenivasan and Suhasini in Makante Achchan. The
light-hearted comedy also ran in theatres in
Chennai.
12
What an idea!
B.SUJATHA
Allsec-FORD
That’s it, I cannot endure it
any longer, and I have to
come out of it.
I got up from my bed and
went straight to my wife, ex-
plained my anger, which left
her breathless and left the
place ignoring her words. I
have decided and that’s final,
no more Mr Nice Guy … My
wife’s face with shock and
tears … passed before me …
but no turning back … what is
to be done … is to be done …
I needed a counsel. The ve-
ry next moment, my friend
Raghav came into my mind.
He was a noted lawyer and
practised in High Court. Al-
though he had retired from
the service, he would be hap-
py to help me. I reached his
house and he was shocked to
see me at an early hour.
Send in your short stories and poems to wc@goergo.in to figure in Ergo Writer’s Club. Because of
space constraints, we urge you to keep your entries as brief as possible. It would be ideal to keep
the length of short stories around the 400-word-mark. Poems can also be brief.
Without any hesitation, I
explained my visit to him. He
heard my frustrations and my
need of an action calmly. He
replied, “Somu, I can under-
stand, your situation, but
think again. Your decision is
purely out of frustration
which you would regret after
it has been executed …”
But I was clear, in my deci-
sion. “It is not out my frustra-
tion I decided like this
Raghav, but also thinking of
others, my wife, my grand-
children and my son.
It would not be a matter to
them and it has to be done.
Can you suggest if I would
face any legal problems re-
garding this?” He plainly an-
swered “No … until and
unless you have everyone
agreed to your decision.”
I smiled with relief and left
his place.
I went straight home where
ERGO Wednesday, May 20, 2009
my wife was waiting eagerly
with tears. I passed her with-
out saying a word, went
straight to my room, took
bath and left my house.
I went to my son’s house to
be greeted by my daughter-
in-law Sita. The house was not
it’s self. I thought my wife
would have said about my de-
cision and I was right. My son Boniface Justin A. from Infosys has nominated his team
was waiting to speak to me as Partners in Crime.
but I broke in first. “Sri, I
wanted you to know that I am
going to be married a second
time.” And before he could
say another word, I said firm-
ly, “and that’s my decision
and final … I just wanted to
inform you … that’s all.”
Without any other word, I left
my son’s place … I could
imagine the shock in my son’s
face … I smiled.
The next day, I was greeted
by my wife at my bedside with
a smile and hot coffee and
with gentle words: “Hot water
is ready for your bath …” I
took the coffee and went in-
side the bathroom. I was
greeted by my son’s family at
the breakfast table he said:
“Dad, do think twice about
your second marriage. Please Sai Prakash from Wipro has nominated his friends
think of mother …” Senthil, Asif, Karthik, Raghavan, Ravi, Panch as Partners
My wife interrupted, in Crime.
“Please dear, don’t leave me
… I would fulfil all your wish-
es … I would be a good wife”.
My son continued, “Dad,
please change your decision
… as mother said we would
take care of you … don’t leave
us”.
I said coldly “,Ok ... but my
decision is only postponed.”
Both my wife and my son
smiled and heaved a sigh of
relief. I went straight to Sita:
“Thank you, dear … good idea
… now I would be treated as a
family head.”
Sita smiled. ■
Vijay Sarathy S. from Technosoft Global Services has
nominated his team as Partners in Crime. This pic was
clicked during their trip to Yercaud.
- Editor
 Wednesday, May 20, 2009
13

■ Dear Nagesh, ■ Dear Nanda,

Hakkim from Wipro My Advance Wishes!!!On your birthday I Wishing you a very happy birthday on this
Technologies has wish you much pleasure and joy; I hope all wonderful day!! May God’s blessings be
been nominated as of your wishes and dreams come true. May with you all through you life!!
Office Angel by Di- each hour and minute be filled with delight, Wishing you all joy and prosperity!!!
rectory Services(AD) And your birthday be perfect for you! Friends,
With love and care New Age Software and Solutions.
team.
Friends, Cap Gemini.
He is a Calm,
■ Dear Sheeba (Fraudy),
Softspoken person
■ Hi Pushparaj, We wish "U" very Happy and Fantabulous
with innovative ideas.
Wish you a many more Happy reutrns of the Birthday !!! Wishing U to have a birthday
A hardworker who is
Day. Let God gives you all the fun and too special to ever forget..Njoi and hav a
very flexible in his
Happiness in the forthcoming days. blast !!!
With Friendship and Prayers, With Luv, Sharan (Ummi), Ananth,
work.
Ahamed Bathirudeen S M CTS,Chennai V2 and Silu ;) Hcl Technologies.
Feel comfortable to
interact with all.
■ Dear Ritu,
Many many and many more happy returns Belated Wishes
of the day.We wish you a wonderful and ■ Dear Kiru and Sush,
most successful life ahead.Hope all your Many more happy returns of the day.May
dreams will come true just the way you good times and great memories be the
imagined them.Wish you a wonderful and special gifts that fill your birthday with
splendid Happy Birthday. happiness.Have a great year ahead..Love
With Loads of wishes, you lotz..
Customer World Lab, TCS. With love and wishes,
Sindhu, Manju, Ramya, Mala, Veena, Divya (TCS)
■ Dear Sashiko,
Padmavijayan It’s your birthday time again; It’s true; ■ Hi Bharathi (TCS),
S. of HCL there’s no denying, Another year has come Wish u many more happy returns of the
Comnet and gone; You know that We’are not lying. day & Wish u all success.
doodled this. So for you, Sashiko, Here’s what we want to Regards, Tejas (Wipro Ltd)
say: We hope this birthday’s the best one
yet, In every delightful way. So happy ■ Hi Mohana,
birthday to you. Have lots of birthday fun! Belated birthday wishes to you! May god
May your birthday wishes all come true, blessing you always!! Have a great and
Even if you have a ton:-) wonderful week, month and year ahead!!!
Cheers and Wishes from, Wishing you all fun and joy!!!!
Mandhakini, Bhuvana, With Cheerz
Pradeepa & Sarathy (NWI Team , Wipro) Friends, Cap Gemini

■ No way, cinematography is not upto the

mark
Tuesday’s Query: Prakash Raj Nischintha CSS

Do you think Vikram’s ■ Modhala release aagatum pa

Ramya Jayaseelan Cognizant
Kandasamy will live upto its
■ Kadavul illennu solravan rangasami, Kad-
hype and expectations? hal illennu solravan kandhasami, Indha pa-
dam flopnnu solravan paithiyakaran sami
■ Nowadays even Simbu movies r running Srithish Cognizant
good. Why not Vikram’s movies
Karthi TCS ■ It’s Chiyan movie, so sure box office hit
Mohan Sridharan TCS
■ Ya of course he is an extraordinary actor.
Whether the expectations met or not he will do ■ It’ll come out with all expectations, but
1. Man: How much is my mobile bill?
his best always flop off like any other mokka Tamil movies.
Call centre girl: Sir, just dial 123 to know current bill status
Venkat Verizon, Anand.K Infoview Technologies, That’s the present situation
Man: Stupid, not Current Bill my Mobile Bill.
Jaithoon TCS-eserve Amoolya, Wipro
2. Man: I think that girl is deaf..
Friend: How do u know?
■ Yes eagerly waiting to see Vikram as girl in Today’s Query:
Kandasamy
Man: I told I Love her, but she said her chappals are new
Lexsminarayanan TCS-eserve Suggest one cold treat
3. Man: Miss, Did u call to my mobile?
Teacher: Me? No, why?
■ Sure! Vikram will prove his uniqueness. Kan- your office can supply
dasamy will change formula of Kollywood
Man : Yesterday I saw in my mobile- "1 Miss Call".
Saravanan Vaithiyanathan.
Krishrago Wipro (free) this season.
14 TRAFFIC JAM ERGO Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Banana stick-up
A U.S. teenager tried to rob an internet
cafe with a banana - then ate the
’weapon’ before he was arrested

sudoku

C.Praveen from
Heartland
Information
Services has
shot this picture
at Besant Nagar
Beach using his
Fuji FinePix
S1000fd camera

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 Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Hold on a minute
A woman was thrown off the Canadian underground system,
handcuffed, dragged into a holding cell and fined $420 - for not
holding onto Montreal subway system’s handrail
15
Word’s worth
Zyrian (zi-ree-uhn) a former term for Komi, a language spoken
by a people living in an area of northern Russia west of the
Urals. This is currently the last entry in the OED.

B.C

ARIES MARCH 21 - APRIL 20

You will start your day by attending phone calls and
answering emails. But planets aren’t really in your
favour today, so watch out for any conflict
situations. Keep a tight rein on your emotions, says
Ganesha.

TAURUS APRIL 21 - MAY 20

Instead of seeing the silver lining, you will notice
the dark clouds of doubt that will fog your
thoughts. But as evening approaches, a bright ray
of sunshine will dispel the gloom. A piece of good
news from faraway land may put you on in cheer.

GEMINI MAY 21 - JUNE 20

A wonderful day for you. Because you will sincerely
BORN LOSER perform your tasks in office, you will feel pretty
satisfied with your day’s work. This good mood
should convert into some emotional tête-à-tête
between you and your sweetheart.
CANCER JUNE 21 - JULY 20
Don’t take up tasks that demand you to rack your
brains. As the day proceeds, positive planetary
energies will enable you to hold important meetings.
Your beloved will fulfill all your emotional needs
and you will end the day on a pleasurable note.
LEO JULY 21 - AUG 20
Everything thing will go suspiciously smooth as you
begin your day; but that’s just the lull before the
storm. The day will take a chaotic turn post noon
and you’ll be like an amateur on skates juggling too
many pins!
VIRGO AUG 21 - SEPT 20
A fantastic day awaits you! The time has come to
FREE RANGE WORKING IT OUT reap benefits of your hard work, which may come in
the form of a promotion. Taking a sleigh ride will
only make you fall flat on your face, so watch out,
warns Ganesha.
LIBRA SEPT 21 - OCT 20
“With your stars shining bright, luck will walk by
your side,” sings Ganesha. With your hard work,
you will unlock doors of opportunity. Be receptive to
your partner’s emotions if you want to attain the
desired compatibility.
SCORPIO OCT 21 - NOV 20
Today, you will give 100% to your work, so much
so that your boss will struggle to find errors in your
tasks. A wonderful evening with your love mate is
on the cards, so cherish it as much as you can.

SAGITTARIUS NOV 21 - DEC 20

Beware! A peeved colleague is out to get you
today. But since his or her stars aren’t strong
enough, you’ll be spared any damage to prestige or
property. Your productivity will wane as the day
proceeds.
CAPRICORN DEC 21 - JAN 20
Your emotional and practical side will be locked in
pitched battle today, so you’ll be able to work only
in the first half of the day, says Ganesha. Don’t get
caught in petty emotional issues. The day will be
much better on the personal front.
AQUARIUS JAN 21 - FEB 20
PREVIOUS From ASCII to XML, all things technical will occupy
your time in office today. Obviously, this will leave
ISSUE’S you mentally drained. This may also affect your time
with your beloved. Ganesha advises you to just go
SOLUTIONS for a quiet walk with your partner.
PISCES FEB 21 - MARCH 20
The day sees you at sixes and sevens on numerous
issues. Today’s planetary alignment will not allow
you to stick to one thing and your mind will waver.
Most likely, you’ll end up postponing your tasks.

Predictions by Bhavesh N. Pattni

16 ! ERGO Wednesday, May 20, 2009

A photographer
takes pictures
of micro
seaweeds in
a basin at
the Seche
environmental
plant in Le
Vigeant,
southern
France.
AFP PHOTO/ALAIN
JOCARD

Rebecca Melius (L) from the Museum of

Science in Boston places C-3PO - used
during the filming of Star Wars -
securely in a display at Melbourne’s
Scienceworks at a new exhibition called
’Star Wars: Where Science Meets
Imagination’. It is the first exhibition to
showcase costumes and props from all
six Star Wars movies while exploring
cutting-edge research and modern
technologies that could one day make
the fantasy world of Star Wars a reality.
AFP PHOTO/WILLIAM WEST

A Ladakhi farmer carries her child as she

heads home after a day’s work in the
fields on the outskirts of Leh. AFP PHOTO/
MANPREET ROMANA