Lifestyle

Trying to understand the phenomenon of Rajnikanth

In a very famous IT quiz held for school children one of the questions asked was: “There is a virus that multiplies by a hundred when it infiltrates a computer. What is the name of the virus?” You would have never guessed in a hundred years that this computer virus would be inspired by the punch line of yesteryear Kollywood box office hit “Baasha”. You read it right, the line, “Naan oru thadava sonna, nooru thadava sonna maadri!” translates to ‘If I’ve said it once, it’s as good as me saying it a hundred times!’ This particular form of tribute is something that not even the biggest film stars in the world can lay claim to. The computer virus may not have caught on and but the Rajni virus is definitely afflicting people again.

12th December, the birthday of the ‘Superstar’ is celebrated on the scale of a festival by fans across the world. To add to it, this year 12/12 saw the release of ‘Lingaa’ – the latest offering by Rajnikanth. This mix is as potent as it gets as the frequency of Rajni movies have reduced over the years and what better way to pay tribute to your beloved superstar than watch his movie. In Chennai, the city was plastered with posters and there was no surprise as history repeated itself in the form of house-full shows for the entire week after the movie release; even for shows as late as 03:00 AM in the morning. There were even fans that flew down from Japan to catch the show.

It was as if the city was celebrating another Diwali with crackers, music, colours and the works. The uninitiated would never have guessed that it is just a cinema star’s birthday. The fans typically celebrate this day by bathing huge cut-outs of Rajni in milk, symbolizing an ‘Abhisegam’ – a ritual traditionally reserved for gods on auspicious days. The entrances of cinema theatres resemble an entrance to a local fair. On social networking sites people from all over the nation and the world flood in their wishes to the ‘Thalaivar’. Tweets, statuses, pictures, posters, art, music, videos, mash ups and you name it, it’s all up and running. And no, there is absolutely no age-bar when it comes to adoring this man. Fans, old and new alike celebrate this day with much reverence.

There are some that don’t buy into the concept, some of the older people feel this fan-fair to be pseudo or humbug. There are many who go to the extent of saying that the Superstar funded the entire celebration. ‘Stars and actors better than him haven’t got such acclaim so why should he’, they ask! Despite all this one can’t deny the fact that there is something about ‘Thalaivar’ that draws such devotion. No one was ever able to pinpoint as to how this came to be. Even his fans are bewildered when asked what they like about him. And the fact remains, there are but a few Tamil movie fans who can say they didn’t feel a rush when they saw him onscreen delivering his punch lines, “malai da annamalai” from Annamalai or his highly emotional “Thodra paakalam” from Thalapathy. The aura, charisma and some magic is what makes Rajnikanth the ‘Superstar’ that he is. This fanatical craze and adoration can only be described as the Rajni Effect.

Events

Masseys have a field day in Punjab

TAFE recently participated in the Field Day Potato – India event held by DLG International at Ludhiana, Punjab. It supported the exhibitors with its advanced Massey Ferguson 9500 series tractors. Though not the focus of the exhibition, our Masseys in red once again proved their mettle and efficiency.  

The exhibition aimed to present the entire value chain of the potato ranging from topics like soil preparation, plant protection and fertilization, planting and harvesting to the potato processing industry showcased by Indian and German partners.

The event provided information on potato cropping, breeding and crop management, machinery for potato production and the live demonstrations of implements for the participants were powered by the Massey Ferguson 9500 series tractors.

Events

Reaching beyond the extraordinary

TAFE Reach Limited (TRL) is a wholly owned subsidiary of Tractors and Farm Equipment Limited (TAFE). TRL is involved in the vehicle franchise business for passenger and utility vehicles of TATA motors in Chennai, Cuddalore and Erode and also operates authorized service centres for TATA motors with a branch in Ootacamund, Tamil Nadu. TRL is recognized for its quality service and customer focus.

An example of this focus and vigor is reflected in the feat by Mr. John Peter, Sales Executive of TRL based in the Mount Road Showroom, Chennai. He has taken an impressive individual booking of 110 vehicles in the month of November 2014. This is a phenomenal achievement as it is a rare instance in the history of TRL. We congratulate him on his wonderful performance and wish him many more such feats in the future.

Events

MF 1035 DI TONNER launched in Bihar

The new 39 HP Massey Ferguson 1035 DI “Tonner” tractor from TAFE has been designed to cater to customers who make substantial use of their tractors for various haulage purposes apart from agricultural applications. Equipped with a new and strong company hitch on the flat rear housing and a company hydraulic trailer pipe, the Tonner ensures that the hitching remains strong and lasts long. It is most suitable for haulage over distances at faster speeds.

“Tractor Nahi, Tonner Chalao!”

Note: *Currently available at select dealerships in Bihar, India, only.

Lifestyle

A look at the time of the powerful

It is said that time is money. But time is power too. It can make or break a person. And given time, any person can do wonders. With time comes power and it with comes with the responsibility of handling it judiciously. And so on and so forth.

Given today’s world, it is no wonder how people view time as precious. Maybe that is why Swiss watchmakers probably take so much effort in assembling a masterpiece of time that adds the power of carrying it in ones hands. But has anyone wondered what the people of power wear on their wrists? Here are the timeless watches that the worlds most powerful wear to control time.

  1. Barack Obama, President – USA
    TAG Heuer: Aqua racer
    Price: $2600

‘Mr. President’ has been wearing this watch for over 15 years. It does make us wonder whether the watch is just for show or has utility for a man whose appointments go by the second. As for being the world’s most powerful man he sure does wear simplicity with class on his wrist.

  1. Vladimir Putin, President – Russia
    Lange and Sohne: Tourbograph
    Price: $600,000

Yes. You read it right and that’s what it will be if you read it a hundred times over. The Russian premier is known for his watch collection with this just being his favorite. The numbers reach a whopping 700 watches in his collection and the costs, a fortune.

  1. Angela Merkel, Chancellor – Germany
    Boccia Titanium
    Price: $150

We all remember the lady in a red coat who jumped up in joy as the German team lifted the 2014 FIFA World Cup earlier this year. This leader of Germany wears a watch worth a mere 150 dollars and carries it off without a flinch.
Mr. President you’ve got competition on the simplicity front.

  1. Nikolas Sarkozy, Former President – France
    Patek Philippe Perpetual Calendar White Gold
    Price: $30,000

The former French premier is known for his style. And the reason for him to wear the watch is what the world knows the French for, Love. Model and partner of Mr. Sarkozy, Carla Bruni has planted this masterpiece on his wrist. Given her illustrious past, it comes as no surprise that she should gift such a beauty!

  1. Narendra Modi, Prime Minister – India
    Movado
    Price: $2295

India’s premier and the most influential man in the Indian subcontinent, Narendra Modi is surely a person of good taste. The Prime Minister’s favorite watch comes from the workshops of Movado in Switzerland. It is not just style, it is class.

Courtesy:
www.blog.watchkart.com
www.macys.com
www.patekwatch.blogspot.com
www.cnbc.com
www.indiatoday.in
www.luxurybazaar.com
www.tagheuer.com

Events

The 4WD loading specialist

The first two tractors of the highly advanced MF 9500 Super Shuttle Series 4WD (Loader Special) tractor was delivered at Sikar, Rajasthan amongst much fan fare. The MF 9500 series has variants aimed to cater to different type of customers and their different needs. The Loader Special model is equipped with fitments to accommodate a loader. The MF 9500 Super Shuttle Series 4WD (Loader Special) tractor will thus greatly benefit customers who also use their tractors for non-agricultural activities.

Lifestyle

Interstellar Travel – Science fiction or mankind s future

Christopher Nolan’s space epic Interstellar hit cinemas a few weeks back and though the movie was well received,it left many confounded. The possibilities of extra terrestrial activity in our universe and the flawed physics of the movie occupied everyone’s thoughts. And if you could try to link the premise of the movie and a huge change in the spaceflight industry, then a question will rise in your mind. Space exploration and spaceflight is not NASA’S cup of tea anymore. They have competition coming their way.

The international space community has opened its arms to welcome private pioneers in the spaceflight and aerospace aviation sector. International players like Bigelow, SapceX to Richard Brandson’s Virgin Galactic have begun work both operational and in progress on spaceflight and missions. Companies have taken up projects as ambitious as sending space stations beyond the stratosphere. Bigelow Aerospace’s Genesis I and II are now operational and orbiting the earth in a Low earth Orbital. And SpaceX has five functional reusable spacecrafts that act as cargo variants and they were the first to be attached with the International Space Station. And the catch among every player’s operational race is the key idea of “Passenger Spaceflight” and “Space Colonization”. The idea of space colonization is still a small seed compared to the other aspects of private spaceflight; passenger spaceflight will soon be a living dream for many people. Virgin Galactic’s already functional, Whiteknight II and Spaceship II are running successful test runs, the first commercial runs will happen towards the end of this year. Yes! The VSS Enterprise flight ended in tragedy, but these things tend to happen during the development of an idea. But the crux of the entire idea is the fact that passenger spaceflight is the key to successful space colonization.

Now, we have got two interdependent ideas and a science fiction movie which puts a question in our head: Is Interstellar travel a reality or something that will stop with the imagination of film directors? The amount of physics that comes at us during the course of the film will throw us off our seats. Let us not delve into that aspect since the theories may or may not be correct. But like a seed to a plant, all the possibilities of human beings living on another planet or in outer space are slowly blooming to reality. The Mars One mission is at its early stages of astronaut assessment and testing. Very soon we might set foot on Mars. And No, this time Stanley Kubrick won’t be there to create exact sets. This time it is for real. At that moment we will have the chances of Miss Universe being the inhabitant of another planet.

This brings us back to Interstellar (the film). The protagonist’s sole fight was and is to save the people on earth and not start a colony in space with cryogenic wombs. He intends to save maximum number of people from earth and travel into outer space where planets with similar survival conditions exist. With the idea of the Mars colonization and the passenger spaceflight within human reach now, we wonder why these ideas came up in the first place. This is not the idea of some rich James Bond villain who wants universal dominion. This is more than just the whim of some business person or a scientist. This is imminent reality. We do not and cannot fathom the idea of the future of the human race now. We may be here, we may not. And Interstellar will not be a mere movie then.  “Maybe mankind wasn’t meant to save the earth. It was meant to leave it.” – Interstellar.