From Saigon, with Love

I have been meaning to right here for a very long time. Most of you would know that I have moved on from the “those were the best days of my life” phase to a more mundane and routine job of a banker in a not so mundane & routine country. This country has a history that was the tumultuous, Geography shapeless & economics ridiculous!

Good morning Vietnam – Factiva for the uninitiated

This is my 3 rd month in Vietnam. On the exterior Vietnam would remind you of India in more ways than one but the façade is misleading! Through the best part of the 20^th century the country’s main occupation was to fight. Vietnam is the only country that can boast of warring 3 permanent members of the UN Security Council and “Supposedly” winning all of them. Vietnam was America’s first nemesis.

The story of the Impossible – “Yes we can”

Vietnam was the Afghanistan of the 1980’s. Predicted to be in the darkest doldrums of the world civilization forever. Vietnam took its time to understand that there is no glory & no winner in a war. In 1980’s Vietnam chose the flawed but still appropriate path of communism. Out of the blues people were asked to swap the guns with sickle. Through the 80’s it suffered the infant pains of communist policies. All the men were back home with no war to fight and no knowledge of business. When normalcy was restored and commerce took its roots, people were evidently happy. It seems happy people produce a lot of babies and so did the Vietnamese. There was a baby boom in 90’s. Quite strangely the chromosome combination defied the law of averages and remained stubbornly XX. Women outnumber men by almost 1.5:1. When you go to shops and restaurants you can’t help but wonder “Where are the Men!”

To me, Vietnam was the underdog of Underdogs. From a war ravaged country in the 80’s to a haven of economic activity in 30 years. It’s been a determined journey for this young country with brimming optimism & unbridled ambitions for the future. Rocky said “It’s not how much you can take but how much you can take & still move forward. That’s how winning is done”. Only Vietnam and Barack Obama epitomize that spirit. At the moment I am sitting in one and watching the other!

It’s the economy stupid- On the work front

I work for a Vietnamese conglomerate akin to TATA’s (Not as big though) who want to start a financial services business. They Hired an Indian CEO, who hired some Indian BU Heads, who in turn hired some Indian Business Analysts. Needless to say I am the last one in the chain. There has been a decent amount of starting troubles and learning opportunities. By now I am very comfortable in the clothes of a banker. My entry into the world of banking is certainly not well timed. “A banker is a fellow who lends his umbrella when the sun is shining and wants it back the minute it begins to rain.” At the moment we are just waiting for the sun to shine to lend out umbrellas. Some of the banking statistics is clearly absurd in Vietnam. You get close to 20 % int. rate for a FD. That means if you put 10 Lakhs in a Bank. In a year you get 12 Lakhs back! (Now figure out how much you pay when you borrow). That’s some thing even the sensex can’t assure. Only 8 % of 65 million people have a bank account. The rest of them put the money under their beds! Only 100,000 credit cards exist in the whole of Vietnam. A decent meal in Saigon costs 2 Lakh Dongs and you pay your servant maid a few million Dongs! That’s 300 dongs to a rupee.

10 million people are going to come out of school this year and join the work force,

and that’s where the opportunity beckons.

And if any of you want to check this place out, you have got a warm host to welcome you in Saigon. Good morning Vietnam!

that rainy day I married ....

dear 9over90 ... thanks to you guys, this wedding could happen! right from secret meetings, to making mapallai likable to SP & GT, and standing by right through the wedding ...

i am just uploading 2 collages.... after almost 3 months of being married

Thatha Talks

Visit my blog, my views and opinions and give me your comments!
thathatalks.blogspot.com
Thanks
Anna Thatha

FAMILY CALENDER

DEAR 9 OVER 90,

The Family Calender is indeed very cute and funny. All of enjoyed every bit of it.
This is a very good link to keep our family one and a UNIQUE FAMILY. Hats off to each one of
9 over 90 for the best calender we have ever seen.
Wish all a very happy 2008. The reply postings of the Calender are also very good.
We enjoyed reading them also a lot. Keep writing Kannan, Arun, Ravi and Dhan whose writings
we enjoy the most. Kathik's photos are very nice which make us go to our younger days.Keep posting photos, Karthik. Best of Luck to your INFOSYS entry.

Nattu Thangam.

Operation Desert storm

A word of caution to all non-9over90 members - a dangerous species called "9 over 90" is on the prowl. It can eavesdrop, take photos on the sly, dig up one's dirty past, put words into others mouth and plays practical jokes! Highly venomous and can strike when least expected to. So please watch out and stay away as far as possible. Their so called work of arts are generally "designed to send the dead scurrying for their pajamas". So I have taken up the responsibility to pitch in for the "Gen-Now" in its battle against the "Gen-Next".


Dig apart, it was one hell of a creative work! Congratulation to Kaks, Ravi, Dhan and Arun for this work of art. Neat job. And thanks for the world tourers of the year award. It is an altogether different matter that I have a very big hole in my pocket now. Nonetheless we would strive hard year after year to retain this award. We solicit generous contributions from high value "about to earn green stuff" members Jillu, Ravi and the Mappilai-in-waiting, to fund our trip to the West Indies and New Zealand! Hopefully we can celebrate the next New year in Jamaica.

Dreamer of the year award would have been an obvious choice - who else but Ramesh. The man's energy is amazing and time management is his forte. Worth taking a leaf out of his book. But whom did God give as a wife to him - someone who would sleep on 11th night, get up on 13th morning and ask innocently "what happened to 12th" !! That is a paradox and that's what makes life interesting. Am sure my dear brother would have run him very close for this award. I would have loved to see a "Self-less person of the year award" and the "Most hard working person of the year"category and Nattu would have won both the awards hands down. I think Robert Frost wrote the following lines for Nattu:

"The Woods are lovely dark and deep
But I have promises to keep
And miles to go before I sleep
And miles to go before I sleep"

I was hoping to qualify for the Sports person of the year category award what with a "world record" of 14 minutes (3 kms) finish in the Bahrain International Relay marathon! But am sure clumsy Jillu would have shot down the proposal, the 15-Love bashing during Hacienda club badminton sessions weighing heavily in his mind. Come on Jillu, be a sport if not a sportsman!!

Had there been a Whinge of the year award, guess who would have got it? Piece of cake, who else but Varsha Ramesh. She has everything going for her - great intellect, God given talent, adoring parents - but still whinges. The Whinge goes like this; I don't like this college and I want to change, after some days it becomes I don't like the teacher and again after a few more days it becomes I don't like the bench on which I am sitting! Keep Whingeing Varsha, we all love you in spite of that. Her competition for this award would come from Soum but she would finish a distant second.

Raja anna is some one who would "squeeze the penny till it begs for mercy". Hence we are not surprised with that award. He understands the value of money unlike his 9over90 brethren. He would be my first nomination for a "Fighting against all odds" award next year. Keep ticking Raja anna and you have an indefatigable Jayanthi backing you all the time.

Had there been an award for "Great Escape" (Escape as in Tamil Comedian Vivek's dictionary) it had to go to Ravi, presently cooling his heels in the Uncle Sam's land. Few conversations with Ravi went like this; Before our trip to the US. Sudha chithi to Ravi " Hey Ravi we are coming to the US on 15th Dec" Ravi in reply " Hey that's great news. Am excited (in full josh). I have holidays during that time and I would be with you full time" After we landed in Atlanta on 15th Dec. Sudha chithi to Ravi " You know, we have actually landed in your country" Ravi in reply "When? (or was it why?). Sudha chithi "We want to come to Raleigh to see you and your surroundings" Ravi in reply" Yeah Yeah that's possible. But actually few of my friends are coming over to my place during Christmas and I won't be able to spent much time with all of you" Sudha chithi "That's ok but whose is that female voice in the background??. The line goes bust all of a sudden. After that for the next couple of days Sudha chithi was frantically trying to call Ravi but could hear only a voice recording "Hi this is Ravi and am presently not reachable. Please leave your name & number and I would get back to you if you do not happen to be my Uncle and Aunt from Bahrain"!! On a more serious note - we are now confident that he is going to hit stratospheric heights in his career. All the best Ravi.

We could have qualified Kaks for the the "Predicament of the year" category. The kid has 3 appointment letters with him but still still claims that he is without a job. Last heard Infosys came knocking on his doors. Will he or won't he? And what's his brother Sathish and Bhabi Shwetha upto these days other than procreation?? Wish you a very safe delivery, Shwetha.

That's been a very long one. Let us know if you enjoyed reading it. All in good jest and humour. Except for the one on Jillu. That was as close to reality as possible!! The theme of the day was "Make believe". Hope Walt Disney Inc. don't sue me for copyrights violation!

Khuda hafiz.

2008 9over90 Awards

We have decided on making this an yearly event and this year’s outcome is a youthful response from Ravi and Dhanya to a challenge thrown on the open by Arun Ram. We hope all of you find this as exciting as we felt compiling this stuff.

‘Momma’s Boy/Girl’ of the Year
Kiki-Jayantee pair was the clear favourite for this one and this was not a difficult one for the judges. The pair has given the family some very sweet memories in the past year and let us see how they handle this burden of this tag in the following year. Neither the “ummas” of Varsha-Santhy nor the special bonding between Sudha and Pranit nor the down-to-earth mom-son behavior of Mohana-Arun could give any competition to Kikee-Jayanti.

Varsha's reaction to this: "How many more Ummas can give us this award?? :( "

‘Noise-maker of the year’
Nothing can be louder than Nattu’s “What’s your plan?”. However Arun deserves a sound applause for his mellifluous emails that made many a great fan of his writings. You have a long way to go dear Jillu.

‘World-Tourers of the year’
Swamis….
Honeymoon in forties…..
Now, the US; Will the next be to the West Indies…..
Swamis walked away with this award for the youthful spirit they show time and again. Can anyone give them some competition please ?



“Dreamer of the year”
Not only a dreamer was Mr.Ramesh especially in the last year. He is that kind of a person who has 25 hours a day and who sleeps only during that extra hour he has. He thoroughly deserves this award. 9over90 wishes you luck with all your ventures.



'Toughest-Decision’ Maker of the Year
Ahem Ahem…..That was a real toughie. Rajanna’s confusions on how to spend HP’s gold pots.And Varsha, who in the family thought she would decide on taking up this profession where she has to talk a lot to strangers. It would be interesting to see if the patients make her talk or she talks on her own. Kaks also had to take some tough decisions regarding his jobs. However, Nattu-Thangam made NEWS and the newsmaker with their decision. 9over90 is just happy about it!




‘Cooker of the Year’
Close competition within the family - I wanted to give it jointly to Chaithan-Ki-Bacha and the five flavored Pani Puri that had satisfied the taste-buds of many in the last year. Jammu’s Fried Rice will always be in the nominations. However, the low-availability did not take it to the distance that it would otherwise. Finally, the judges decided to give this one to Soum despite the fact that she has not done anything great in the kitchen to get her involved into the association’s activities. Everybody feels she seems to be in her own world always.



Santy's reaction to this: "It is a surprise that my tea did not even make it to the list of nominations !! "

Kanjoos of the Year
Arun preference to curd rice over a dinner at BBQ nation and Soum’s frugality with her wallet has been entertaining for the guests to discuss upon. Rajanna’s clever deaf and dumb acts won him this prestigious award.




Fastest Grower of the Year
The famous meeshai of Kittu has been grown by leaps and bounds in the last year giving him the AK-47 tag in the family. This was a clear winner over Nattu’s thoppay.


'Can't keep our eyes off each other'
The secretive 306 love affair ( Ravi’s N70 managed to catch some nice snaps of this couple. Look into the snap below) and Trivandrum’s Romeo-Juliat could not shake Radha Balu from stealing the limelight in the last year.


'News-maker of the year'
Ahem Ahem ….Shweta-Satish has made some fast progress and Jillu never fails to make some news now and then. The winner is an impending entrant into the family and thanks to him for contributing to some hot news that had been flowing through the family in the last year.
“Nayar chayaa….Enjooooy…” !



‘Blunder of the Year’ Award
No other nominations and the winner is Arun Ram !!


And Arun Ram gets a special award "Mr.9over90" for having been making his presence felt in the family throughout the year. Be it be his funny mistakes, Arun Ram's presence has made a big difference in every get-together that we have had in the last year. He has been the favourite chap amongst the elders and the youngsters and his affability deserves a mention at this time of giving away the awards.

Compilers - Ravi and Dhanya



Hope everybody likes the calendar and please use it and then treasure it. Everybody would receive a hard copy soon. Luv ya all.

9 over 90 awards

I wrote this award nominations last year... nothing much has happened this year that would change the award nominations altogether.

Apart from one more of Dhanya's entrepreneurial ideas coming into life. Varsha's volte face in choing MBBS as her life's calling, Kaks shift of fortunes to his current confused state , Sathish big marriage chaos, Arun and Ravi's packing bags to go abroad.

Soumya as usual is still comfy in her cast away role, makes no effort to reach out, Raja Anna complaining abt the recurring deposits and house hold expenses. Pranith, well well nobody knows whats up with him or his parents !! Last heard they were in some forests of florida :). Srishti has been the center of gravity for this 9 over 90 for this year and she will continue to keep that locus for some more years !!

No breaking news, no sensations, no adventures... what a lousy year it was...
Dhanya & Ravi... I am calling (Challenging) you out to be the Master of ceremonies for this years awards... If all the claims of youthful thinking is even partially true then lay it out in the open !!

I am coming home and dying to see some of you .... I am looking forward to

1)speak a lot of tamil
2)drive the two wheeler,
3)have my mom's world class tea
4) Play with and talk to dearest kikee
5) Gossip with my aunts
6) Eat Bhabi's Pani poori
7) Get scoldings from dad

and then I know it will be time to leave for HK :)

Love you all
Arun/ Jillu



_______________________________________________________________

Hi Guys

I am planning to Instate the 9 over 90 Awards series.
These are truly interesting times for 9 over 90. Most of us are out of those dreary school days and the lovely college days, the eldest in the group is above 30 !! Most of us are in the bread winners group and some are on the cusp of it. Its time to recognize the man of the innings . Without any preamble lets jump right into it

The Best Bahu Award : This is an easy one, and I believe there is absolute unanimity in this. As the first Bahu, this lady made a cracker of a start. Raja after Marriage is totally anew from Raja before Marriage. She cements the fact that there is a woman behind a successful man. She swarmed all the biggies that matter in this house. She is the reference material for all new bride hunt !! Finally she is the mother of the cutest baby in this universe. JAYANTHEE deserves all these acclaim every bit... There will be many other bahus entering this household in days to come but no body can come even an inch close.... Bhabi you are the best. Many of us look up to you. we truly love you !!!

Be a Rebel Award : This one is slisha controversy but nevertheless true. In a Brahmin house hold like ours not many of us tend to get rebellious but this women does !! From making Atheist(Read Anti Brahminical) remarks to playing cricket with boys in early days to calling a spade a spade to going for a post doc when she had shinning cash offers in hand to looking for a boy herself outside the community she has done it all. A Rebel at Heart and a rebel in Deed.... DHANYA PARAMESHWARAN walks away with this award. All of us love you for your rebellious spirit. You show us hope to Rebel :). While we all love you for all of your rebellious stance and more , I also want to use this forum to berate you for any atheist remarks that you may have made. The coming year is going to be interesting for you and for all of us. It will be nice to see how you measure up to the Granny's. We will have fun watching U. Until then the rumor mills can work over night. Dhanya, All of us look up to you. You just BE A REBEL!!

Every Mommas boy Award : Every mom will dream to have a boy like this. Truly a mommas kid. Not one step wrong so far. From great marks in School days to doing the Sandhyavandhanam, Madhayanam promptly, to getting a fine college admit and bagging a great job he has been a nice boy all the time. Not one step wrong. When he was in Srirangam he played to the gallery there with his regular prayers. Kept his parents happy with his brilliant scores. Kept his friends in good stead with his fine sense of humor, Kept his cousins happy with timely help, Earned laurels at work and kept the bosses happy. Not one step wrong. Ravi Shankar B - you are truly every Mommas pride. All of us would have wanted to be like you at some stage.
I don't remember one blemish in your scorecard till date. However 9 over 90 unanimously feels that there is something abt you that you are hiding from all of us :). No Secrets in 9 over 90 please.

Best Debutante and Mr Popular : Easy one again. A Quick poll of 9 over 90 members will tell you that if there is a help anybody needs then there is only one guy they can go to. Parents Association know him as Dependable Kid, Some of them call him the most responsible kid. Boys of 9 over 90 often bash him for making us look bad :). Karthyk Anantha Krishnan deserves every inch of the Mr Popular Status. He is also anointed with Best Debutante award for bagging a nice job before completion of his BE. When he started his innings in BE,It was quiet a Shaky Start but just like his Idol Sourav, recovered Quickly to come out clean. A lot of us are going to bet on him for his indomitable spirit in life. He is truly a go getter. In years to come he is the horse that you should be betting on. He is the Stock that you should be buying in bulk. All the very best to you Karthyk.


Young Achiever Award : Easy one, How many of us have had there Hoardings in mount road at age 15 ? How many of us have performed in the stage at age 12 ? How many of us make an appearance in TV with Such fine Elan that it looks like were born for it ? How many of us have CDs and cassettes released ? How many of us have received Zillions of awards from performing arts gurus. Varsha you are truly the 1 among the 9. Varsha only advise - Come out of Neyveli and live a life.

Style Bhai and Dark Horse Award : Literally and thematically he is the dark horse :) The guy in Dubai is the Bride groom in Waiting. Lives life king Size . Owns a Chevrolet, naya Ghar, Soon a Nayi Biwi ... Badiya Hain . Satish Congratulations on your marriage.


Walk the Talk Award : This one goes to a Non Member. As a couple they have always walked the Talk. They Only Preach what they practice. Adorable couple. All of us look up to them. A lot of us want to be them. I seem to fail to capture the exact words to anoint them. There are a few things that's best left unsaid. Leave it to the readers imagination.
Nattu Mama and janaki Manni walk away with the Walk the talk Award. You are really an Awesome couple. All of us love you from the bottom of our heart !

Dhanya has bowled a googly at them, lets see how they face this ball. We are watching every step you take nattu mama and we will quote you as precedence. Good luck to you. :)

We are winding up this ceremony with a quick prelude.

Last Year - The come Back kid award must have gone to Raja Anna. For a cracker of a comeback. He Started the race 500 m behind the start line and is now 1000 m ahead of all of us!

Soumya is almost Qualified for a Udaan Award - I don't know how many of you have seen the serial but its a story of a women who fights it out to achieve her dream. Soumya has, From the days i can remember , I have only heard her talking abt being a doctor. And fiught yea she did, I remember her crying coming out of the exam hall every time. She truly made it look like a fight :)
Soumya also should get the Miss 9 over 90 Award - She is the prettiest one in the group without a doubt. All of this will have to wait for her to graduate from college.

Pranith belongs to the Srishti Gang and will need form his own club there :) But all of us have no doubt that he is going to be a Casanova...