Munch Dance Dance is one of the dance reality show aired in Asianet channel on Saturdays and Sundays. It came to an end today. There were 4 finalists and of the 4 pairs, Priyadarshan and Maria was eliminated in the first round itself. The remaining three pairs were Shifana – Ramzan, Devu – Sooraj, and Malavika – Abattis.

The Munch Dance Dance title winner is Devu and Sooraj. The prize was announced by the dancer and actor Dhanya Mary Varghese. The winner gets Rs. 3 lakh as the gift money.

The second prize is gone to Abattis – Malavika pair. The prize was announced by Malayalam Cine actor Rajit Menon. The winners get Rs. 2 lakh as the prize money.

The third prize is of course is won by Ramzan and Shifana pair. The prize money of Rs. 1 lakh for the third place winners.

The jury members comprised of Navya Nair, Actor, dancer, and choreographer Aravind, and actor and dancer Vineeth.

Many Malayalam Cine actors were present in the evening.

Samsung Galaxy Note Rom is available for download, but this is only for AT&T users (This  is what I understand).

This is not the final release so, I would suggest all the users to wait till the official release. You may end up in some kind of trouble with the upgrade. According to the above hands on video, things are working fine. You can download the rom exe file from Rootzwiki. 

You need to download this file and using your windows pc to upgrade your Samsung Galaxy Note. As per the forum some people have ended up in trouble and some have installed it. You need to do this at your own risk. I am not sure if you would be able to go for the official release once it is released or if you would be able to run all the applications without any problem. 

Word of caution – This rom is only for AT&T users and not others.

I am currently using a Samsung Galaxy Note and I was using an iPhone 4 and an iPad 2 along with my Mac Book Pro. This is my second Android device and there were few reasons for me to go for this big device. 

First let me tell about my experience and thoughts on this so called big phone. Yes this phone is bit big, but not that big that it cannot fit into my hands or pockets. The device has strong / fast hardware configuration, good camera, but yet waiting for an update which they had promised way back (Ice Cream Sandwich version of Android). It has something called the S-Pen which I used to use with my earlier windows mobile. I was happy with my iPhone 4, but I was not comfortable with doing many things using my iPhone, so I added up iPad to the list of stuffs I carry with me when I am out for business. I often felt that I am carrying too much with me and I need to switch to something which could be my phone as well and cater to my needs of task management.

Galaxy note is a device which can do more than what my iPhone was doing. Having a bigger screen is an advantage and for a person like me who is growing old and need bigger screen would love to have a big bigger screen. Galaxy note cannot be a substitute for my iPad, but I preferred to switch to a single device which can help me in getting all my work done and currently Galaxy note is the best gadget.

Hope to get ICS for Galaxy Note soon and some improvements in the battery life. I do not complaint about the battery now as there are reasons for battery to drain fast. You need to set up your device well to manage better power management and currently I feel comfortable about the power back up.

To sum up, I switched from iPhone to Galaxy note for the reasons that it has a bigger screen, I can avoid carrying my iPad on many occasions and it is a very powerful device with a very powerful camera and powered with Android.

Are you not happy with the free space from Dropbox? I just started using Fiabee, which sounds great in terms of free space. If you have an Android device, just sign up using that device and you get 15 GB free space. 15GB is not less, compared to other services where you get about 2GB free space.

Time has come where you want everything you have everywhere you want. You do not like to carry everything with you or you do not want to open your laptop or an external hard drive / pen drive to get your files. You can have everything on the world wide web using a cloud service. There are 100′s of good cloud service available, some free with limited features / capacity. I have been using Dropbox for sometime now and to be very frank, I love that service and I use it a lot. I keep all my files safe and secure online and have access to on my Android phone, iPad, home pc, laptop and even on my office PC. I can edit my files anywhere and it gets updated everywhere.

When you use a cloud service, you should be sure that the service provider is reliable and would not leave you in trouble. Your files should be safe and you should be able to access it whenever you want and where ever you want. Dropbox certainly is doing well and hope Fiabee would really give a tough competition to Dropbox with the 15 GB introductory offer. Please keep in mind that you get 15GB free space only when you sign up using their Android App and it’s for limited time.

Some Features that I have tested

Auto upload your camera pics – This features is already there in the Dropbox app for Android. I did not notice this on my iPhone / iPad. iPhone already has this feature if you look into PhotoStream / iCloud.

You can get more free space by referring your friends. I have about 7GB on my Dropbox account without paying a single cent. I got many of my readers signing up after reading my review. You can also do that.

Connect Google Docs, Facebook, Picasa at one place.

Google Docs would be useful for me, others, I don’t use much. You may find this feature useful. Dropbox does not have this feature.

Sign up for a free Fiabee Account Now

Fiabee Windows Application – Like Dropbox, you can install the application on your windows PC and sync your files to all your devices. Sad thing is that I could not find app for my MAC.

I am bit sad that Fiabee does not have a Mac application, but I am sure that they will come up very soon. 

It has apps for iPhone and iPad, so you can download that from the App Store if your are an iOS device user.

One issue that I faced was that I was not able to loginon Fiabee Website after sign up using my Samsung Galaxy Note. I used the forgot password option and that sorted out my login issue.

Sign up for a free Fiabee Account Now

IPL 5 is commencing from April 4th 2012 and the final match would be held on the 27th of May. It’s a long series, teams would be tired of the hectic schedule. I thought of just listing out the matches with the dates, time and venue. All the matches are going to be played in India. The innagural match of the IPL 5 series would be between Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians at M. A. Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai.

There are 72 matches, every team plays at least 16 matches. The finals would be held at Chennai on the 27th of May. We need to see the winner of IPL 5. As per the schedule the teams get sufficient time for the next match, they get to play at their home ground. Wishing all the teams Good luck, we will miss Yuvraj Singh during this season of IPL

I was initially using the WordPress commenting system, which in fact is a good one, akismet, taking care of spammers and more important that the comments were a part of the content and was helping in search engine ranking. For some reasons, I installed the Facebook comments plugin which is a good one and is being used by many popular blogs. I decided to leave the Facebook comment plugin for the reason that I had no control over the Facebook comment. Yes there is a moderation system, but the notification system did not work well for me. I even suspect that the comments were not given any value by the search engines.

Now I am using Discus, which I see is one of the best and is also used by many popular blogs. You get instant notifications and there are many advantages to use Disqus. 

Now the news is that Google is coming up with a new commenting system like the above mentioned ones. We do not know what would be the features and what would be the advantages of using the Google commenting platform. I just searched for “Google Commenting system” and the first two results that I got was from the Google plus status updates. [1], [2]. Now we can understand that Google will surely be giving some points with respect to indexing and ranking for the comments using their system as Facebook is definitely their rivals. The system would be using Google accounts for authentication for commenting and for the remaining things we would have to wait and see.

News Related to Google Commenting System

• Google to Launch Third-Party Commenting Platform
• Google To Counter Facebook’s Social Comment System?
• Google, Disqus working on new article commenting systems

Let me know your thoughts on this new service that Google is planning to start and would be interested in trying the new service. What is the current commenting system that you are using and are you happy with that?

But the upgrade is not for ICS but for some bugs and improvements.

We will be getting the Android 4.0 only in the next quarter with some great applications for the S Pen for the big Galaxy note.

Situation – You are carrying a laptop and and iPad, when you reach Indian customs, you will be questioned and you are supposed to declare this on your customs declaration form. There are many who may carry two costly mobile phones or even two laptops. If you are buying a new laptop or an iPad from a country you have visited, then you may have to pay the customs duty depending upon the cost of the item.Last time when I entered India from Bangalore, I was held up at the Bangalore customs and questioned as I was carrying a laptop and an iPad.

The laptop and the iPad, both are more than 1 year old and I have been carrying this with me during all my travels. I was never held for this. The customs officer was kind enough to understand that the items were old and was a part of my gadgets which I use everyday and I carry wherever I travel. He advised me to get a customs declaration done when I travel next time and I did this today.

It is very simple, just go to the customs counter after the immigration and give the details, you get a certificate and you can come back without any worries.

Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni is an Indian-American award-winning author, poet, and professor of English at The University of Houston Creative Writing Program. Her work is widely known, as she has been published in over 50 magazines, and her writing has been included in over 30 anthologies. Divakaruni’s writing often centers around the lives of immigrant women. Her popular works are “Sister Of My Heart”, “ The Mistress Of Spices” , “The Unknown Errors Of Our Lives” and Arranged Marriage, Divakaruni has judged several prestigious awards, such as the National Book Award and the PEN Faulkner Award.

Early Life

Chitra B Divakaruni was born in Kolkata, India in 1957. She received her B.A. from the University of Calcutta in 1976. The same year, at the age of 19, Divakaruni immigrated to the United States. She continued her education in the United States by earning a master’s degree in English from Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio, and a Ph.D. (Christopher Marlowe was the subject of her doctoral dissertation)from the University of California at Berkeley (1985)

To earn money for her education, she held many odd jobs, including babysitting, selling merchandise in an Indian boutique, slicing bread in a bakery, and washing instruments in a science lab. At Berkeley, she lived in the International House and worked in the dining hall, slicing Jell-O and removing dishes from the dishwasher.

Divakaruni’s Career in Literature Grounds

Chitra Divakaruni’s first works were books of poetry, Dark like the River (1987), The Reason for Nasturtiums (1990), and Black Candle (1991). She still was not very well-known after these works. Divakaruni then decided she would like to write prose so she enrolled in a fiction writing class. The professor was so impressed by Divakaruni’s work that he showed it to an agent, who, in turn, secured a contract for Divakaruni with Doubleday.

In 1995 Divakaruni published Arranged Marriage, a collection of short stories. “In Arranged Marriage, Divakaruni beautifully tells stories about immigrant brides who are ‘both liberated and trapped by cultural changes’ and who are struggling to carve out an identity of their own.” (Patel) The book addresses issues such as racism, interracial relationships, economic disparity, abortion, and divorce. The book was awarded the PEN Oakland Josephine Miles Prize for Fiction, the Bay Area Book Reviewers Award for Fiction, and an American Book Award from the Before Columbus Foundation.

In 1997, Divakaruni wrote her first novel, The Mistress of Spices. The main character of the book is Tito who owns a spice shop in an Indian community in Oakland, California. Later she becomes involved in the lives of the customers and helps them through abusive husbands, racism, generational conflicts, and drug abuse. The book was short listed for the Orange Prize from England and was named one of the best books of 1997 by the Los Angeles Times.

Divakaruni has published another collection of poetry, Leaving Yuba City, in 1997. These poems also deal with immigrant women and their struggles to find themselves in a New World. Selections from this collection have won the Pushcart Prize and an Allen Ginsberg prize.

In 1998, Divakaruni published another Novel “Sister of My Heart “. The book explores the tension between the desires of mothers who embrace traditional Indian culture, and the cousins, who embrace the new Western philosophies.

With her novel, Queen of Dreams,(2004) she has written for the first time about a second generation Indian American. Her Latest novel is “The Mirror of Fire and Dreaming is the sequel to The Conch Bearer.

Divakaruni’s books, which are set in both India and America, feature Indian-born women torn between Old and New World values. She gives laser-like insight and skilled use of story, plot, and lyrical description to give readers a many-layered look at her characters and their respective worlds, which are filled with fear, hope, and discovery. Most of her work is partially autobiographical and based on the lives of Indian immigrants she has dealt with. She says that she writes to help unite people by breaking down old stereotypes.

Publications

Fiction

Chitra Divakaruni’s work has has been published in over 50 magazines including The New Yorker, The Atlantic Monthly, Ms., Zoetrope, Good Housekeeping, The Oprah Magazine, The Best American Short Stories 1999, and The New York Times. Her writing has been included in over 30 anthologies.
Her next work will be a re-telling of the Indian epic, The Mahabharata told from the female characters’ perspective.

Film and Television

Divakaruni’s Novel, The Mistress of Spices, was released as the film The Mistress of Spices in 2005. It is directed by Paul Mayeda Berges, with a script by Berges and his wife, Gurinder Chadha.. The lead roles are played by Aishwarya Rai and Dylan McDermott.In addition, her novel Sister of my Heart was made into a television series in Tamil and aired in India, as Anbulla Snegithiye (Loving Friend).

Bibliograpy

Fiction

• The Mirror of Fire and Dreaming (2005)
• Queen of Dreams (novel) (2004)
• California Uncovered: Stories for the 21st Century (2004)
• The Conch Bearer (novel) (2003)
• Neela: Victory Song (novel) (2002)
• The Vine of Desire (novel) (2002)
• The Unknown Errors of our Lives (novel) (2001)
• Sister of My Heart (novel) (1999)
• Leaving Yuba City (novel) (1997)
• The Mistress of Spices (1997)
• Arranged Marriage (novel) (1995)
• Black Candle (novel) (1991)
• The Reason for Nasturiums (novel) (1990)
• Dark Like the River (novel) (1987)

Poetry
• Leaving Yuba City (1997)
• Black Candle (1991)
• The Reason for Nasturtiums (1990)

Anthologies
• California Uncovered: Stories for the 21st Century (2004)

Personal Quotes:

Divakaruni once explained her reason for writing: “There is certain spirituality, not necessarily religious-the essence of spirituality-that is at the heart of the Indian psyche, that finds the divine in everything. It was important for me to start writing about my own reality and that of my community”

“Badly and tentatively I began writing early poems. You think I’m being modest but I’m not. I destroyed those sentimental and bad poems recently so no archivist could find them.” – Chitra Divakaruni.

Awards

• The Hackney Literary award, Birmingham-Southern College, Alabama, 1988
• Barbara Deming Memorial Award, New York, 1989
• Editor’s Choice Award, Cream City Review, 1990
• Santa Clara Arts Council Award, California 1990, 1994
• Honorable mention, Paterson Poetry Prize, 1992, for Black Candle
• Gerbode Foundation Award, California, 1992
• 2 Pen Syndicated Fiction Awards, 1993 and 1994
• Pushcart Prize, 1994
• Allen Ginsberg Poetry Prize, 1994
• C.Y. Lee Creative Writing Award, 1995
• Bay Area Book Reviewers Award, Best Fiction, 1996, for Arranged Marriage
• PEN Oakland/Josephine Miles Award, 1996, for Arranged Marriage
• American Book Award, 1996, for Arranged Marriage
• California Arts Council Award, 1998
• Included in Best Books of 1997, Los Angeles Times, The Mistress of Spices
• Included in Best Paperbacks of 1998, Seattle Times, The Mistress of Spices
• Story, “Mrs. Dutta Writes a Letter,” included in Best American Short Stories, 1999
• Pushcart Prize,2003.
• Included in O’Henry PrizeStories, 2003.

Today Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni is one of the most visible South Asian writers. She has become known for stories set in India, where she was born…and the United States, where she is living.

Name: Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
Date Of Birth: 1956
Latest: Today Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni is one of the most established and visible South Asian writers.
Link 1: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chitra_Banerjee_Divakaruni
Link 2: http://voices.cla.umn.edu/vg/Bios/entries/divakaruni_chitra_banerjee.html
Industry: Literary
Speciality: Literary Figure | Non Resident Indians

Kavya Madhavan is one of the best actresses present today in the South Indian Film Industry. Born in the village of Neeleswaram in Kasargod district, Kerala State, India, She entered into the cinema field as a child actress in the late 1980s; since then, she has made over 54 films in Malayalam. She has acted in several Malayalam and Tamil Films. Kavya Madhavan acted with Super Star Dileep in a number of 15 films as herione. She not only has a pleasing achievement in acting, but also has a wonderful character.

Family Matters

Kavya Madhavan was born on September 19, 1984 in the village of Nileshwaram in Kasargod district, Kerala, India to P. Madhavan and Shyamala. She started to learn dance while studying in Nileswaram Rajas High School. She was the kalathilakam (A title bestowed to the artist who proves her skills in most artistic fields during a youth festival.) in Kasargod for 5 consecutive years. Her only sibling, Midhun, who is elder to her is a fashion designer and he is the one who design outfits for his own sweet little sister and make her look glamorous on screen.

Kavya got married to Nischal, but that did not last too long. She is currently single and concentrating on her projects, hopefully she gets her right partner at the right time.

Life and Career

Kavya entered the film industry as a child artist. Her first film as an artist is Kamal’s film Pookalam Varavayi(1991). After that she has acted as a child artist in many films. She came to public attention when she did the childhood part of the heroine character in Kamal’s Azhakiya Ravanan (1996). Since then, she has acted in over 50 films in Malayalam and a few in Tamil. Her combination with actor Dileep is touted as one of the best ever in malayalam film history. They have delivered many hit films together.

Her Debut Movie as heroine is Chandanudikkunna Dikkil a Lal Jose film which became a super hit in malayalam film industry. She was a ninth standard student at that time. Her innocent looks and big beautiful eyes captured the hearts of malayali movie viewers. She is noted for having retained her rural Nileshwaram accent. Now she is one of the most sought after heroines in malayalam cinema. Though she normally does regular unimportant heroine roles, she has proved her ability in handling serious roles as well.

Her popular movies are Mizhi Randilum, perumazhakalam, oomapenninu uriyadapayan , Dosth, Madhura Nombarakattu, kochu kochu santhoshangal Sadananthante Samayam and Meesa Madhavan of which the last movie bagged a record collection in malayalam film industry. She is equally accepted in Tamil also. Kasi her first film in Tamil became a successful film.

The young talent who is busiest among the new brigade has already acted in more than 50 films and has bagged films of well known directors. The beauty of her acting is sufficient to win the hearts of her audience, which is now a rare quality amongst her contemporaries.

Other Facts about Kavya:

• Nick Name: Minu
• Has invested a large portion of her time and wealth into charitable pursuits via the Kavya Madhavan Foundation
• Tied with Geethu Mohandas for the Kerala State Film Award for Best Actress for her performance in Kamal’s Perumazhakkalam (2004).
• Studied Humanities at the Open University.
• Is noted for having retained her rural Neeleswaram dialect.

Awards

• Vanitha – Chandrika award for the Best Actress 2006
• State Awards: 2004 Best Actress – Perumazhakkalam
• Film Critics Award 2000 : 2nd best actress (Chandranudhikkunna Dikkil)
• Bharathan Award 2000: Navagatha Prathibha (Chandranudhikkunna Dikkil)
• Lux Asianet Film Award 2000 – Special Jury Award , Kochu Kochu Santhoshanghal, Madhuranombara Kattu
• Kerala Film Audience Award, Monisha Puraskaram
• Atlas Film Award 2001, 2nd best actress Kochu Kochu Santhoshanghal
• 4th Raju Pilakkad Chalachithra Award: Oomapenninu Uriyadapayan
• Lux Asianet Film Award 2003: Best Actress – Oomapenninu Uriyadapayan
• Kerala Film Audience Award 2003: Best Actress – Oomapenninu Uriyadapayan
• Mathrubhumi Medimix Award 2002: Popular actress of the year & Best Star Pair. (Dileep & Kavya)

Filmography

1. Pookkalam Varavayi
2. Pavan Iyye Ivachan
3. The President
4. Parashala Pachan Payannur Paramu
5. 1996 Azhakiya Ravanan
6. Iratakuttikalude Achan
7. Snehasindooram
8. Oral Mathram
9. Krishnagudiyil Oru Pranayakalathu
10. Kaatathoru penpoovu
11. Bhoothakkannadi
12. Chandranudikkunna Dikhil
13. Madhuranombarakattu
14. Sahayathrikayku Snehapoorvam
15. Kochu Kochu Santhoshangal
16. Madhuranombarakaatu
17. Mazhamegha pravukal
18. Darling Darling
19. Thenkasipattanam
20. Padom Onnu Kumarante Kudumbam
21. Rakshasa Rajav
22. Onnaman
23. Dosth
24. Oomappenninu Uriyadappayyan
25. Meesha Madhavan
26. Thilakkam
27. Sadanandante Samayam
28. Vellithira
29. Mizhi Randilum
30. Pulival Kalyanam
31. Gaurisankaram
32. Runway
33. Aparichithan
34. Greetings
35. Perumazhakkalam
36. Iruvattam Manavatti
37. Annorikkal
38. Kochi Rajavu
39. Ananthabhadram
40. Kilukam kilukilukam
41. Seelabathi
42. Lion
43. Vaastavam
44. Vadakkum Nathan
45. Classmates
46. Chakkara Muthu
47. Inspector Garud
48. Athisayan
49. Kasi ( Tamil)
50. Enmanavanil( Tamil)
51. Paradesi (filming)
52. Moonnu Pennungal (filming)
53. Nadiya Kollappetta Rathri (announced)
54. Sadhu Miranda (announced)
55. Nasrani ( announced )

The big-eyed actress is aware that there are expectations galore from her. Kavya is definitely a fantastic and fabulous actress in the south Indian film industry and her films continue to show her growth. It is that style, class and piquancy that sets Kavya from the rest of her contemporaries.