Kaka Kronicles, episode #8

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It’s been a long while, but this inspired me to resurrect these noble, quintessentially Chennai birds.

ps: Kashmiri Pulao – a very fancy pulao from Kashmir whose recipe includes a huge assortment of dry fruits and nuts. It is a dish that every one loves to see in a restaurant menu, but nobody actually orders it, and even if they do, people rarely finish eating it.

64 responses to “Kaka Kronicles, episode #8”

  1. Laksh Avatar

    Asathareenga ponga!!

  2. Ashwin Ramasamy Avatar

    Dude..

    Awesome — The time you have, the ideas you cook and your handy web 2.0 vithai’s.

    Aprom neeyum Tiruneveli-Chennai-Perikkai partya? Naanum…

  3. Adithya Avatar

    Aaha, brilliant stuff! Some of those IPhone enthusiasts can go keep shop.
    Have you seen this. Very old stuff when the Iphone first generation came out.

  4. Mahesh Ramamurthy Avatar

    You got it !.

    Was looking for excuses to not get an iPhone. Looks like my Samsung Blackjack II has more of practical features. Most of which I really use and it is free with the same contract with AT&T.

    This reminds me of one of the very first marketing lessons I had in college. ‘Aspirational’ needs are powerful and can sell a product better than practical needs.

    iPhone is about aspiration. Showing off. The ‘cool’ factor.

  5. Idling in Top Gear Avatar

    Lol@ African American crow!

  6. Amrutha Avatar

    lol…curd rice is definitely better than Kashmiri Pulav…I am happy with my Razr…no plans on wasting money on the Iphone…thanks for the info though…

  7. K Avatar

    Ashok,
    You missed one point 😛
    Its iPhone 3G and we don’t have 3G here in India. So, practically we are buying something like Masala Dosa without masala in it.

    For folks who want more practical cool phones,
    Spend more and get a HTC touch diamond or wait more for something on Android.

  8. Lavanya Mohan Avatar

    I have the iPhone ( I will proudly put vetti scene here and say that it was one of the first America-lerndhu-sutta iPhones to hit India) and I swear, after the initial hype and ‘ADENGOPPA iPhone a?’s, adhukkum nokia 1100kkum romba difference illa.

    Wifi irukaam, Advanced zoom-in zoom out technology irukaam, accelometer irukaam aana bluetooth/video illiyaam! Enna koduma sir idhu!

    And all this internet matter, wifi illana no use. Namma oorla signal tower kadaikardhe periya vishiyam adhula unglukku wifi vera kekudho?

    I have a few gripes here and there (Managed to enable custom ringtones thanks to software updates) But apart from that, its a shit awesome piece of technology. Ana avlodhaan. Vetti bandhakku dhaan layku. :S

  9. Dinesh Babu Avatar

    iPhone’s browser is the best of all the other phones because iPhone’s Safari browser shows you the exact page from the internet, not some crippled “mobile phoned” page. iPhone’s selling points completely over shadows everything that you have mentioned. Heard about “Reality Distortion field” ?
    That said I don’t own an iPhone because of the stupid 2 year contract system that they have, not sure how it is going to be in India.

  10. Marc Avatar

    I’m so glad you’re not a fanboi, Ashok.

  11. sangu Avatar

    haha.. holy saint of samayapuram indeed! i was actually considering buying the iphone but u just convinced me against it.

    and i might have avoided the kashmiri pulav had you warned me a little earlier. i paid 350 rs for the kashmir pulav. for exactly the reason u suggested. i have seen it so often on the menu. but never considered eating it. but i am adventurous and decided to give it a shot. it sucked. but i finished. i have a resilience to bad food built up on years of eating stone hard tasteless idlis.

  12. Vijay Avatar
    Vijay

    The expressions in the eyes of the crows are nice!

  13. Mamatha Avatar
    Mamatha

    I recently discovered your blog. Your posts are simply brilliant. Thanks for the superbly entertaining posts.

    Mamatha

  14. maxdavinci Avatar

    @dinesh: Try operamini or minimo. They also give you realtime webapges. So safari is not a selling point.

    @krish: sorry pa, nothing interesting to add other than doing vaishyal like a fan. However its nice to see an apple fan give a thumbs down to the iphone.

    @all: got get a HTC phone, you won’t regret it!

  15. Chittaranjan Avatar

    iLa! iThink iTs iGot iTo iDo iWith iPeople’s iFascination iWith iEverything iPrefixed iWith “i”

    P.S: In Telugu, crow is ‘Kaki’. Is it ‘Kaka’ in Tamil?

  16. krishashok Avatar

    One clarification here: I am a major Apple fanboy. I love anything Apple, except the fruit itself. And what’s more, I’ve even pre-registered with both Vodafone and Airtel (just to be sure) for the iPhone when it comes out. So this seemingly critical post on the iPhone is actually an endorsement of the product itself. I like curd rice, not kashmiri pulao.

  17. gregorylent Avatar
    gregorylent

    airtel edge, exciting … sort of .. wonder how many rupees it will be

  18. Avik Avatar

    Hilarious as usual… reminded me of the commentary in “indietits.com” by Jeph Jeques. That site is abandoned now, but he still uses the ‘talking turkey’ thing in his comic (Questionable Content) at times…

  19. RukmaniRam Avatar

    kalakkitel po.. esp with the made in america cookie eating african american crows!

  20. Nandini Avatar

    I wanted an IPhone so bad when it was first launched ( when I could not get it in India, and I would not crack that code jazz, or whatever). Now, am here, nad its cheaper (?) and I just do not want it!

  21. rambodoc Avatar

    So, Krish Ashok’s admission to the iPhone’s potentially being an apple of his eye equivalent to virtually eating humble crow after criticising it? 🙂

  22. prats Avatar

    Aiyoo…I hope this post my husband does not read….he doesn’t want me to get the iphone….but I want….what do u think???

    And I like the curd rice too….Kashmiri pulav too much pa….

  23. bhatnaturally Avatar

    Great post! Glad that Krish is a self-confessed ‘Mac fanboy’. People who trash the iPhone for not having some feature or the other miss the point about it being a great mobile experience overall. No other smartphone matches its browing abilities. I use an iPod Touch and beats the pants off the N Series, E Series and the Diamonds. With the App Store applications, its even more fun. And why do we expect the iPhone to make coffee, scratch back, pick nose and cost 10k? It may score less on some features compared to other phones but overall its a fantastic, addictive piece. And when was the last time a mobile phone created so much adulation, hype and hatred?

  24. […] UPDATE: Check out this great post from the super-talented Krish Ashok. […]

  25. Arunk Avatar

    yaaruppa indha arun?

  26. Atul Gupte Avatar

    Haha!

    “Jobs is the only one who knows that people really prefer thaayir-saadam to kashmiri pulao”

    You’re SO right about that! The iPhone by any other name wouldn’t sell at all!

  27. Thaths Avatar
    Thaths

    Heh! You had me hooked at ‘Holy saint of Samayapuram!’

  28. Satish Avatar

    Even I dropped my plans of buying an iPhone for these rather stupid limitations, will wait for Android 😀

    Btw, nice humorous blog, keep the fun flowing!

  29. philramble Avatar

    Happy with my T-mobile Dash – I realized its more useful than the iPhone. “African American” was hilarious! Arun american biscuits-a kuduthu kaaka pidikkaran 😀

  30. varali Avatar

    “Jobs is the only one who knows that people really prefer thaayir-saadam to kashmiri pulao.”

    Why are most readers missing the point here? Even after explicit clarification?

  31. Deekshanya Avatar

    Awesome!! Simply awesome. Your imagination as the dialogue between 2 crows and the image is too good. Keep rocking! I know people who have bought it for the heck of it and flaunt it in public places like the cinema halls… your posts are simply too good.
    Cheers
    Ann

  32. Ms Taggart Avatar

    Awesome this one is!!!
    I mean, look at it, its outright true, and I still cant understand why people are all over the place about IPhone coming to India… Big deal!
    For me, a Windows Mobile phone is anyday a better deal! I can atleast do all those that IPhone cant do! 🙂

  33. Ms Taggart Avatar

    And oh yes.. sometimes you would want a little uppinakaayi(pickle) with mosuranna(curd rice), right?

  34. inbavalli Avatar
    inbavalli

    You are complaining about Kashmiri pulav? You should try Kashmiri paratha. It has extra-sweet fruits and dry fruits stuck/placed on the paratha, much like coins on a ludo board. And I wasted 100 bucks on this piece of nonsense :((

  35. Arun Sundar Avatar

    Your post is awesome. So is iphone 🙂

  36. Rithish Avatar

    One of the bestest, humorest reviews I’ve ever read. :o)

  37. Priya Avatar

    iyo, iPhone not good aa? 😦 btw, I just checked out the price of this thing in the US without the contract, looks like it comes close to 550 USD!

    I should just go ahead and buy the Nokia E65i – it’s an amazing phone you know.. it’s got Sudoku 😀

  38. balaji Avatar
    balaji

    kaashmir pulav_o illa thayir saadham_o…. pasikku edhuva irundhaalum ok dhan….Somma vetti bandha viduravaallelam dhan over scene poduva

  39. chokkathangam Avatar
    chokkathangam

    er hope i understood the last line. thayir sadham tastes simple but good.. but kashmiri pulao got bits of everything and that makes it a mess.. nice comparison.. but i really dunno if the analogy holds here..
    for me atleast, there is wifi on campus and it makes sense to go for a cheap but easy to handle internet phone. but video maari adipadai vasadhigal illai nu i dint realise. 2 more such aaf-bake products and apple may not sitting on the same high horse anymore.

  40. Dinesh Babu Avatar

    Balaji – heard of “Puli Pasichalum pullu thingathu” ? Andha maari thaan!

  41. pok Avatar
    pok

    nice…

    actually we can get custom ringtones…

    http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1358

    and Sudoku thro the apps store. 🙂

  42. Dottie Avatar

    awesome review 🙂 And to think the better-hlaf is getting one soon!

  43. Nikhil Narayanan Avatar

    Last heard, Jobs is going to sue you for this!
    iSwear!

    Kaka Crownicles right?
    -Nikhil

  44. Rathy Avatar

    hellos….

    absolutely hilarious to d last drop…
    not just kakka kronicles, ur older posts too…

    blog rolling u…

  45. narendra shenoy Avatar

    Atleast it’s not an iSore.

  46. Bhargavi Avatar

    Delightful read.. hillarious !!

  47. Bala Avatar

    As Varali says, many readers miss out the point even after the clarification statement “Jobs is the only one who knows that people really prefer thaayir-saadam to kashmiri pulao.”

    Some interesting rants and raves about iphone in the web.

    Linda Stone : Nearly everyone who had an iPhone at the TED Conference this year, also had a Blackberry. I had the STRONG feeling that the Blackberry was the wife and iPhone was the mistress…..

    Tim O’Reilly : I’m wondering if this is a trend: devices and services that people love so much that they even love to hate them. We’ve seen this with twitter. People are so passionate about it that they put up with problems that would kill a lesser product.

    Russel Beattie : I don’t think anyone loves to hate the iPhone (except competitors obviously), it’s that *they hate that they love it*. There’s a difference.

  48. aslam Avatar

    I actually tried a hand at the iPhone few months back… hacked one of course…
    typing with the touch pad became a pain soon… including the touch button for taking the pics… it would click just by a light a touch…
    But some stuff were really cool… just wish apple had put a little more into it… ( i agree with kaka number 2 )
    Anyway, its was just a lot of frills and no fun after a while…

    P.S : i dont like curd rice and that pulao gave me a heart burn just by reading about it…

  49. Aditya Avatar
    Aditya

    That was really cool. The expressions in the eyes of the birds tell it all!

    But just echoing the thoughts of so many others, the ‘status-symbol’ matters more in India, specially among youngsters like me. I have an N72, use my video cam, transfer via bluoetooth, use copy n paste and all other things which i cant potentially do if I buy an iPhone. But despite all that I’ll buy the iPhone (if my dad lends me the money!) just because it shows your taste among the ignorant midle class population (if I may say so).
    Most of the people I’m going to show it off to, wouldnt probably know or realise about the lack of so many features. They’d just be over-awed by whats IN it rather than whats NOT. Even if they do realise it later, FIRST impression does last for long.
    So I’m for the iPhone even if it’s short of the ‘ideal’ phone which people expect it to be!

  50. mythalez Avatar

    rofl! great to find someone sharing my distaste for iphones and their I-ilk 😀

  51. Pradep Avatar
    Pradep

    Gethu kaamichitenga . Jobs kku mattum tamil purinjithu . Sethaan .

  52. K Avatar
    K

    Elephant Price / Horse price gone ba, they’re asking for multiple EMIs of a BMW.

  53. damnhobsons Avatar
    damnhobsons

    AWESOME DUDE! This is the funniest ever… have also attempted a satire on the same. Check it out…and do I have permission to add you on my blogroll? Please?

    Tête-à-tête with Steve Jibes

  54. Russell Nelson Avatar

    And the worst part is that, even after reading that, you STILL want one.

  55. Sheba Kunhimohammed Avatar

    Funnneee… The iPhone craze has not spared even the crows of Chennai!

  56. Mohan Avatar

    Cool stuff. I have done a feature wise comparison of this so called iPhone with Nokia N96 on my blog. My personal thought is that iPhone is not for indians 😉 Another thing that you missed is that there is no FM on iPhone!

  57. anitha Avatar
    anitha

    IIIeeeePHONEu… endha phone vandhalum enn phone ah adichika chance eh illa!!!

    Your Kronicles are awesome… read them all..

  58. VK Avatar

    Brilliant! I loved this one 🙂

  59. Vivek Avatar

    If Jobs spent more money on R/D instead of marketing he’d be none the wiser.

  60. […] So, in this movie (can I call it that?), he made an attempt to please the classes, masses and arses with a film that had some reasonable action, rubbish comedy, rubbish songs including a gaana number, rubbish graphics, rubbish morals, reasonable cinematography, rubbish child comedians (to entertain the family audience’s children), rubbish villains speaking goltised tamil (heavy on the ears)  and a gumm heroine. Only, he has failed miserably in his attempt as the movie deservedly flopped. What can I say? Maybe we should all get him to read Krish Ashok’s latest Kaka Chronicle. […]

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