"Good Morning Chennai, It's an Honour to be here". With these words, Times of India Chennai has hit the stands. As expected, it has added richness and profusion to the already powerful print media presence in Chennai. The maiden issue's main paper has 24 pages, the Education Times 16 and a tabloid Chennai Times, also 16 pages. The new arrival promises to bring to the readers Chennai in all its hues, with passion and intelligence. Time alone can say if it is able to keep its promise.

DON't GIVe Me BULLShit
I Get enough ON TV
We read you The new Indian express. Brand New from April 11.

dear MR. EDITOR
STOP UR Preaching
We read you The new Indian express. Brand New from April 11.......

So ran the promotional ads for the New Indian Express Chennai from April 8th. This was an obvious preparation for the possible challenge that Times of India Chennai would pose!! On April 11, the New Indian Express became �1e�, with a front page headline AHEAD OF THE TIMES =Tomorrow�s paper today. From that day, ie has a new look. With regards to content, new features have been introduced. The paper�s latest slogan is �100% STEEL. 0 % GAS�.

The Hindu doesn�t lag behind in its nervous or rather panic reaction. It has revised its cover price downwards. Weekdays-Rs 2.50 and Sundays-Rs 3.00. The media war has hotted up.

The nearly fifty year old Woodlands Drive-in of Chennai is suddenly a thing of the past. For hundreds of Chennaiites for whom it was a regular rendezvous it would no doubt be a disappointment. Its unannounced closure followed a High Court order that upheld the State Government�s decision. It is alleged that the Honourary Secretary of the Agri Horticultural Society had not only illegally sublet the land to Woodlands, but also used or rather misused the Society�s land (leased by the Government) for his business purposes. He was holding Chennai to ransom all these years, occupying prime land at the heart of the City. That is a bit too much to stomach.

I happened to watch and enjoy a video interview. The preface to the interview reads as follows: Recently when we were over at Redmond, Washington for Microsoft's TechFest 2008, we had the opportunity to talk with P. Anandan, Managing Director of Microsoft Research India.In the course of the interview, P Anandan said - The important thing about a dream job is that you should have the right dream.......About 200 millions in India live a kind of westernised life, like what we do. But, about 700 million people lead a poor life. Take the small time business for example. The roadside man who irons your clothes. My mother used to wash the clothes, dry them under the sun and would hand them over to him for ironing. He would scribble the list of clothes given by each customer. He will thus have five or six bits of paper. Instead of having a paperless office, what we have here is an office-less paper!!!..... Incidentally, P Anandan is from Chennai, was a batchmate of Chennaionline�s Managing Director L Ravichandran at IIT Madras. Before IITM, both were at RKM (main) and Loyola(PUC). They have traversed the same path!!!!

Tailpiece: Chennai has some unique specialties, which no other city can boast of. Read the following ad: Take Immediate Cash- Very good opportunity awaiting for you now!! Immediately we purchase old and torn kancheepuram pattu sarees with silver jarigai for best price. Take cash immediately. From morning 10.00 to evening 7.00. 10 4 2008 to 20 4 2008 Thursday to Sunday for Eleven days. we purchase � pay cash immediately. contact E Dayalan, cell 9940451916. Venue: Inside Valluvar kottam.

H RAMAKRISHNAN