Interview of Mr. Rajan Radhakrishnan

Wanted to share a recent TV interview of our multi-faceted family friend - Mr. Rajan Radhakrishnan (also known as Raj Thilak - his Tamil movie industry name, who acted in many movies incl. 60 Naal 60 Nimidam). He narrates his life journey in simple words, not just boasting his successes but also gracefully about the failures in his life, the way he overcame them. Today, he runs a succesful restuarant chain - Madras Pavilion - based in Texas, USA. He continues to produce several Tamil movies including Nandha, Mounam Pesiyadhe and Kadhai & contributes to chartiable causes like Udhavum Karangal.

He also gives an insight into the struggles of a foreigner moving to US, wanting to live the American Dream, and progressively integrating into their lifestyle. In the 90's where information was not available at the click of a button with Google :-), setting up a business from scratch, making it successful and keeping its USP a success for several decades, in a foreign land, is a feat worth learning for our GenNext. His simple advise for success is to Stay Focused and Enjoy Life. 

Here is the interview (in Tamil):

A few more articles featuring him and his passion:

1. Fundraiser event for Udhavum Karangal
2. Fundraiser for Houston Tamil Convention
3. Sponsoring events with South Indian singers/actors

Our Toddler's "full" movie experience in a Theater !!!!

Should we say, our toddler's first successful movie experience in a movie theater, or our success (as parents) to give her that experience in a theater !?!?!? Whatever it is, we were so happy that our little angel loved watching a "full" movie in a theater - Dreamworks' "How to Train Your Dragon" Animation movie. She is in love with "Toothless" (the Night Fury Dragon) and "Hiccup" (Viking Boy). She sat through the entire movie without getting scared of the dark or sound effects or irritated, with the fact that she is restricted to sitting in a seat, rather than being able to roam around.

She was also very pleased with the Kids Pack (Popcorn, Skittles, and Sprite :-) we got her before we entered the movie hall. It was much more enjoyable for us to see her emote, than the movie itself. Her "Oh.. no!" when Toothless is captured by the Vikings and imprisoned on their ship.... her "Ooooooooooooo" when the Queen Dragon comes out of its nest to fight the Vikings...... her "Appa.... dragon avan friend aaiytaan" (meaning.. Dad... the dragon became his friend !!), when Toothless and Hiccup become friends... were some of her expressions, while we watched this family movie.

It was worth the visit to our local "Groton Cinemas 6" complex to "experiment" a movie. after a long gap of over a year. When she was an infant, one of us would be standing outside the movie hall, taking care of her and to keep her occupied. So, we had waited for the right time to get her started again. Overall, we were one big happy family, when we got out of the movie hall, promising more visits in near future :-)

P.S.: When parents decide to take their toddler to a movie, please ensure that the movie suits their taste, is not too lengthy, and most important of all, it is an animation / cartoon movie !!!! Remember, movie is for them to enjoy and get comfortable with this atmosphere, so that you can try to take them along to your favorite movies at some point.

P.P.S.: This is the first time which we have seen an US movie hall, with over 50 people in one screening, especially for a kids' movie, which had been running for over 4 weeks now :-) Usually. there are no more than 10-15 people...