Utthama Villan - Saagavaram (உத்தம வில்லன் - சாகாவரம்)

Utthama villan is a recent movie from Kamal Haasan. As always, he has excelled in all the avatars he has undertaken for the movie - writer, actor, lyricist and singer. The movie has wonderful music composed by Ghibran. One of the songs in the movie, which is the subject of this post has really fascinated me, partly for its musical orchestration but more for its lyrics (penned by Kamal himself), that is at once both poetic in its form and also relays complex thoughts on science and philosophy around Life and Death. This is something unusual for lyrics for songs heard in run-of-the-mill Tamil cinema (perhaps this is true for cinema in other languages too).

The title of the song is Saagavaram - a boon of immortality. The pretext of the song in the movie is as follows - the story set in 8th century has a stage artist who escapes death on several occasions (both natural and human created) without even trying, simply through dumb luck. Rumor spreads that this man has conquered death through the knowledge of mrityunjaya mantra. Funnily enough, people around him are constantly testing this theory by trying to kill him and somehow he continues to escape. Meanwhile, the kingdom's evil king who hears of this rumor, summons this stage artist and by hook or crook wants to know the secret to immortality from him. At one point, the stage artist, now made a minister in the kingdom, explains his philosophy of life, death and eternity to provide perspective to the King, as follows -

சாகாவரம் போல் சோகம் உண்டோ, கேளாய் மன்னா!

தீரா கதையை கேட்பார் உண்டோ, கேளாய் மன்னா!

What could be more depressing for someone granted with a boon of immortality?

After all, will anyone be interested in a story that never ends?

கணியன் கணித்த கணக்கு படி, நாம் காணும் உலகு இது வட்ட பந்தாம்!

வட்ட பந்தை வட்டம் அடிக்கும் மற்ற பந்தும் போகும் மாண்டு!

According to kaniyars (a caste of people in ancient south India who were known for their work in astrology), the world that we see is a spherical ball!

Even the other planetary bodies keeping our earth spherical due to gravity, will ultimately die one day!

மாளா ஒளியாம் ஞாயிறும் கூட மற்றோர் யுகத்தில் போகும் கரிந்தெ!

கரிந்து எறிந்தும் வெடித்த பின்னும், உதிக்கும் குழம்பில் உயிர்கள் முளைக்கும்!

The endlessly glowing sun too will burn out in some epoch!

And elsewhere, out of a big bang amidst all the burning and chaos, new life will sprout!

முளைத்து முறிந்தும் துளிர்க்கும் வாழை, தம் மரணத்துள்ளே, விட்டது விதையை, கேளாய் மன்னா!

விதைத்திடும் உன்னை போல், ஓர் உயிரையை உயிர்த்து விளங்கும் என் கவிதை விளங்கும்!

A plantain tree dies too, after serving its purpose of growing, sprouting and fruiting; but before it dies it seeds the birth of its off shoots right where it used to stand! (being eternal in a sense)

Just like you can sow the seeds for your future generations to reap, you will realize that each verse of my poem too breeds its next verse (i.e. andhaadhi, a.k.a antakshari in Hindi, where the end of one verse gives the starting to another verse).

விளங்கி துலங்கிடும் வம்சம் வாழ,

வாழும் நாளில் கடமை செய்ய,

செய்ுள் போல் ஒரு காதல் வேண்டும்!

To ably discharge your duties on this earth while you are still alive and to also leave behind a prosperous lineage of children and grand-children, you must find love that is as beautiful as poetry.

வேண்டியதெல்லாம் வாய்த்த ஒருவன், சாவையும் வேண்டி செத்த கதைகள், ஆயிரம் உண்டு, கேளாய் மன்னா!

There are thousands of stories where a man who got everything he desired, but also died craving his own death.

U.S. Port of Entry issue - Sharing my experience

I would like to post my recent experience at the port of entry while getting back into the US. I recently traveled to India on a 3 week vacation, during which I also got my H1B stamped. I had absolutely no problems (no 221G) with getting my visa stamped. That part when smoothly.

At the port of entry (Boston), I was asked a few simple questions:
1. Why are you in the US?
2. What is your role in the company?
3. Do you work directly for the employer or is there a client? (I work for the employer, there is no client in my case)
4. Where is your company located?

It is this last question that is the subject of this post. To give a complete answer to the question, I said the company is headquartered in XXX, California, and my office is located in YYY, Massachusetts. The officer caught on to this and asked me, who gave me permission to work in MA. I said I have the offer letter with me from the company, which clearly states that my place of work is MA. He said he does not care about any company offer letter and wanted to know if I/the company obtained permission from the government for me to work at MA. I said I am not aware of any such permission requested or received. I also showed him my I-797, which also simply lists the company's headquarters (California) address in the 'Petitioner' line. He then called another officer and asked him to escort me to the "Secondary".

The "secondary", a small office beside the baggage carousel place (if you are aware of Boston Logan Terminal E) was a gloomy place. Even though, through friends and some online forums I have heard of people being deported at the port of entry back to their own countries, I walked into the office quietly confident that I have nothing to worry about as mine was a straight forward case. While I was waiting, a young guy sitting next to me asked me why I was there. I explained. When asked the same question, he answered he was a student on F1 visa, but forgot to bring his I-20 with him and said "Man, this place is scary". Meanwhile, an officer was grilling another person on a green card, who forgot to bring their green card document with them. There was another middle age woman who had completely broken down and was pouring down tears like rain. She was being deported back to her country, though I didn't know for what reason. The situation of these people weighed heavily in my mind and at the same time introspecting my own situation. The top most thing on my mind was "Damn, my body can't withstand another 22 hour travel". I was exhausted. I was soon called on by the officer.

The officer asked me questions similar to the officer in the primary. He asked me for proof that I am allowed by the government to work in MA. I didn't know what proof to show and was simply replying to the officer's questions and contemplating my options. He asked me how long I planned to stay in MA. I told him frankly that I have 2 more years left on my H1B visa and I planned to stay in MA for that period. He was quite blunt when he said I didn't have permission to stay in MA for even one more second. He said the company must have filed an LCA with the government, which seeks permission for me to work from MA. Once he said LCA, I at least knew where to look (because little did I know before that LCA contains that information). Since I was going for my visa stamping, I had luckily taken the whole set of documents, including the LCA. In all the 6 times I have traveled outside the US in the last 3 years on H1B, this was the first time I happened to carry an LCA (as the company usually retains this document and hands it over only on request). The officer perused my LCA and saw that the company had sought permission for me to work in MA. The officer finally stamped my passport with permission to enter and told me, "if you did not have this document for proof, you were going to go back to India today".

For those of you on a visa and traveling internationally, I recommend that you guys carry all the documents you can. You never know what will come handy.

USCIS - Surprise inspection

About 3 Months back, my company had filed a petition to extend my H1B visa. The petition was approved about a month back.

Today morning 2 officials from USCIS paid a surprise visit to my office. They first spoke to the HR folks about details regarding my employment. I didn't know about this. Later my colleague came to my cube saying the immigration officials were here for a surprise inspection and asked me to bring my Drivers License/passport with me. So, I went to the conf room to meet the folks. My HR was present too. They asked me a few questions, which I have paraphrased here:
1. What is your title and what do you do here?
2. What is your salary?
3. How many hours do you work in a week. What are your hours of work/day?
4. Did your pay the H1B fees or did the organization pay for it?
5. What is your level of education? Where did you study? Where is the university? When did you graduate?
6. Is this only workplace or do I work from elsewhere too?

My answers were quite spontaneous, and I believe that's how they possibly get their cues from: i.e. spontaneity.

The officer then apologized for the surprise visit but said it was necessary so that I wasn't prepared or had any fabricated answers. They wanted to be sure that I was a valid H1b employee. He said that surprise checkups are done after the visa petition was approved.

Then I took leave and came back to my office. After a while, they again paid a surprise visit to my cube and took a photo of my cube with the name card in front of it. Proof, I guess. Funny, I thought.

Dasavatharam - Kallai mattum kandaal (தசாவதாரம் - கல்ைல மட்டும் கண்டால்)

Dasavatharam audio (music by Himesh Reshamiyya) was released amidst much fanfare on apr. 25, 2008. After hearing to all the songs over and over again, I couldn't digest the mediocre tracks for a much hyped movie. Except "mukundha, mukundha" and "Kallai mattum kandaal", none of the other songs even stick to my head.

Nevertheless, the trailer of the movie as well as the bits and pieces of story that I hear from here and there have been quite intriguing. Especially the lyrics of the song "kallai mattum kandaal" wanted myself to learn better about the history on which the movie is based on. Trailer:

The history goes like this: Most of the Hindu Brahmins can be further classified as Shaivaites (those who worship Lord Shiva) or Vaishnavites (those who worship Lord Vishnu). Kulothunga Chola II, a 12th century ruler of the Chola Dynasty (covering a part of southern India) was a Shaivaite. Otherwise supposed to be a peaceful ruler, he was known for his intolerance towards Vaishnavites. This included declaring Lord Shiva as the supreme god, forcing Vaishnavites to worship Lord Shiva, closure of Lord Vishnu temples and in some cases converting them to temples of Lord Shiva. History has it that the massive Thillai Natarajar temple in Chidambaram (that stands till today) housed idols of both Lord Shiva and Lord Vishnu before the king forced the idol of Lord Vishnu out of the temple. (source: wikipedia)

In the movie Dasavatharam, Rangarajan Nambi (a Vaishnavite) is one of the ten roles played by Kamal Haasan. Rangarajan Nambi guards the idol of Lord Vishnu inside the chidambaram temple, while the guards of Kulothunga Chola II try to force their way in. Outraged by Rangarajan Nambi's audacity, the king orders that Rangarajan Nambi be put to death by tethering him to Lord Vishnu's idol and drown the idol in the sea. Cut to the 21st century, when a researcher (played by Kamal) comes down to study the Tsunami that just hit Southern India, so that the movie goes forward.

I have tried to compile the lyrics of the wonderfully written song (written by poet Vaali) 'Kallai mattum kandal'. Along with it is some explanation provided to my understanding. Thanks to my Mom for clarifying a few lines.

On a lazy saturday afternoon, I must say that this was an interesting exercise. If there's a spelling mistake in the lyrics I've written here, forgive me. I tried to do the best I could with the tamil translator that I had. If there's a fault in the meanings itself, please provide your inputs so that I can correct them. Here goes the lyrics:

கல்ைல மட்டும் கண்டால் கடவுள் ெதரியாது
கடவுள் மட்டும் கண்டால கல்லடி ெதரியாது.
(Repeat)
If you visualize only the idol, you cannot see the god.
If you can see only the god, you'll not feel the pain.

எட்டில் ஐந்து ஏன் கழியும் என்றும், ஐந்தில் எட்டு ஏன் கழியாது?
அஷ்ட அக்ஷரம் ஏற்கும ெநஞ்சு பஞ்ச அக்ஷரம் பார்க்காது.
Ashtaksharam - ஓம் நமோ நாராயணாய
Panjaksharam - நம சிவாய
A mind that believes in Ashtaksharam (Om Namo Narayanaya contains 8 tamil letters - ashta akshar) cannot see Panjaksharam (Nama Sivaya contains 5 tamil letters - paanch akshar).

ஊழல் கண்ணில பார்த்தால் யாவும் குற்றம் தான்,
ஞான கண்ணில் பார்த்தால் யாரும சுற்றம் தான்.
One who sees with corrupt eyes can see only fault,
but one who can see with divine eyes can see only purity.



இல்ைல என்று சொன்ன பின்பும இன்றி அைமயாது,
தொல்ைல தந்த போதும் எங்கள் தில்ைல மாறாது.
(Repeat)
Just because you (the king) tell me NO, it doesn't become so,
Despite your hindrance, Thillai (Chidambaram) will not change.

வீர ைசவர்கள், உன்னால் எங்கள் வீர ைவணவம் தோற்காது.
மண்ணின் சொல்லுக்கு அஞ்சி என்றும் ேமற்ேக சூரியன் உதிக்காது.
We Veera Vaishnavites will not lose to you Shaivaites,
The sun does not rise in the west fearing the earth's orders.

ராஜலக்ஷ்மி நாயகன் சீனிவாசன் தான்,
சீனிவாசன் ேசய் இந்த விஷ்ணு தாசன் தான்.
I will be the humble follower of Lord Vishnu (Srinivasan).

நாட்டில் உண்டு ஆயிரம் ராஜராஜர் தான்,
ராஜனுக்கு ராஜன் இந்த ரங்கராஜன் நான்.
There can be hundreds of kings in the country,
but this Rangarajan is the king of all kings.



நீருக்குள்ேள மூழ்கினாலும் நீதி சாகாது,
ெநஞ்சுக்குள்ேள வாழும் எங்கள் ஜோதி சாகாது.
(Repeat)
Justice will not die even if I am drowned,
the fire in our hearts will never fade.

வீசும் காற்று வந்து விளக்கைணக்கும், ெவண்ணிலாைவ அது அைணத்திடுமா?
கொட்டும் வான்மைழ நிலம் நைணக்கும், அந்த வானம் தன்ைன அது நைனத்திடுமா?
The wind can put out a candle, but it cannot shut down a moon.
The rain from the clouds can wet the land, but can the sky itself become wet?

ைசவம் என்று பார்த்தால் ெதய்வம் ெதரியாது,
ெதய்வம் என்று பார்த்தால் சமயம் கிைடயாது.
If the Shaivaites sees differences in the idols, they cannot see the God.
If you see only the God, there is no religion.

கல்ைல மட்டும் கண்டால் கடவுள் ெதரியாது
கடவுள் மட்டும் கண்டால கல்லடி ெதரியாது.
If you visualize only the idol, you cannot see the god.
If you can see only the god, you'll not feel the pain.

LSU foundation - Komma and Allam Support Fund

http://lsufoundation.org/

Most of you would have heard about the homicide of 2 Indian Ph.D. students committed by 3 people, taking the lives of the 2 innocent people at a residential apartment complex in Louisiana State University campus. Both the victims - Chandrasekhar Reddy Komma and Kiran Kumar Allam - are Ph.D. candidates in bio-chemistry and chemistry respectively, and according to my sources, they are pretty close to completion of their degrees. All of their and their families' dreams have been shattered by this dastardly act. It is even more depressing to note that Chandrasekhar Reddy was married very recently and that Kiran's wife is pregnant with a 4-month old baby.

As a compatriot and a fellow LSU alumni, there is nothing much that I can do but request you to visit http://lsufoundation.org/ and find Komma and Allam Support Fund in the page to make a donation to their families. The last thing that both the families would want to worry about now would be the cash constraints caused by this incident.

Thanks a lot for your support to the 2 families.

H1B visa stamping experience – Ottawa, Canada – Dec. 2007

This post is to share my experience with getting my H1B visa stamped in Ottawa, Canada. Hope the post will answer most of the questions that you might have, not only particular to getting the visa stamped in Ottawa, but getting the H1B visa stamping in general.

First things first, I had my visa interview at the U.S.A consulate in Ottawa on December 11, 2007 at 8:30 AM. I reached the embassy at about 8:15 AM and I was let in immediately after the security guard at the entrance glanced at my appointment letter. After passing the security check, I had to submit my Scotia Bank deposit slips, DS-156 (with photo), DS-157 at the counter. I was asked to wait in the lobby. The lobby had about 5x5 chairs and was full. There are totally 5 counters (4 regular + 1 diplomatic visa issuing counter). All of them were being used to serve the applicants. At about 9:15 AM, I was called upon. The male VO just asked me to press my fingers (4 fingers placed together starting from small finger) – first left hand, then right – against the finger pad. Then the 2 thumbs placed together. Then he asked me wait while my name was called again. Shortly, in about 5 minutes, a female VO called upon my name. I walked up to her counter. She greeted me and I, her. I was asked the following questions:
1. Where did you study? What was your field of study? What can you say about your educational experience in the US? When did you graduate? Can you provide me with your M.S. degree certificate?
2. Can you provide me with your H1B petition documents? LCA?
3. Where do you work?
4. What does your company do? What is your role in the company? How do you like your work? Can you provide me with your recent pay stubs? (She took a long look at my pay stubs. I have a bi-weekly pay system in my company. Probably she was just tallying my pay stubs.)
5. Do you have a letter from your employer?
After a long perusal of my employer letter, she said that she’s going to hold on to the employer letter. She gave me a small red token and asked me to come back on Friday (December 14, 2007) at 3 PM. I was aware of the additional delay in the visa processing, which has been introduced since November 2007 for the electronic verification of the H1B petition with the USCIS. However, I tried to use my charm with the VO and requested if it can be processed any earlier, as I have flight the next evening. She said, “I’m sorry about that. But this delay is for everyone and it is inevitable that we have to further verify all the applications.” I took leave of her. I got my passport back at 3PM on Friday, Dec. 14 2007.

Mine is a very straight-forward case: I completed my M.S. in US in August 2006. Joined my company in November 2006. My H1B started on October 1, 2007.

Documents that I carried with me: There is a huge list of ‘documents to take’ circulating in the Internet. This is what I carried with me (items in red are those that I found to be mandated by the USA embassy in ottawa):
1. Appointment letter
2. DS-156 (with photos)
3. DS-157
4. Passport (with I-94 from the bottom portion of the I-797 A)
5. I-797A
6. Scotia Bank deposit slip
7. Employment letter
8. Offer letter
9. I-129 petition for non-immigrant worker
10. H classification supplement to Form I-129
11. H-1B data collection and filing fee exemption supplement
12. Labor condition approval
13. Recent pay stubs
14. W2
15. Tax return
16. EAD card
17. Transcripts
18. Degree certificates
19. All form I-20s, if any
20. Bank statements

My in-detail experiences (as-follows) might be helpful just for H1B applicants going to Ottawa, Canada for their visa stamping.

Visa issuance delay: I did not know about the delay in the issuance of non-immigrant visas until 2 days before I was to leave for canada. It was first my friend, who had gone to Toronto the previous week notified me about the delays. I did some further reading on it to see if it was something particular to his case or if it was the case in general. I found this posted on the official website: http://www.amcits.com/visa_delay.asp. Although there was nothing much that could have been done (of course, I didn’t want to cancel my appointment and lose the already expended money in total.), I could at least be prepared to let my employer know about this and seek permission to ‘work from home’, take extra clothing and some extra cash and of course be mentally prepared to wait in case it was needed instead of getting a shocker like my friend did. On wishful thinking that I wouldn’t be subject to the delay, I didn’t want to cancel my return flight yet in lieu of a postponed returned ticket.
The reason for the delay is because all consular posts in Canada have to electronically verify the H1B petition with the USCIS. According to various posts in different forums, this is being done to filter suspected fraudulent H1B petitions. In hindsight, the questions that I was asked during my interview seemed to be directed by this as well. Although this delay has been said to be applicable to only consular posts in Canada, I would strongly advise you to gather more information particular to the embassy you are visiting and be as prepared as possible. Although, it has been said to be a 4-day delay, I do not know how it is being calculated. All the interviewees who had their interview on Tuesday like me were asked to come back on Friday, whereas, the guys who had their interview on Wednesday were asked to come back on the Tuesday of next week. Having said this, I met a girl from Sweden who is working in Boston, who attended the interview on Thursday and was asked to come and collect the stamped passport along with me on Friday.

Weather: The weather in Ottawa, Canada was barely any motivation in assisting me in coping with the delay. The actual temperature, on all the 4 days I was there, was hovering around 12 - 22 degree Fahrenheit. The feels like temperature was somewhere around 1 – 10 degree Fahrenheit, obviously indicating very strong winds. Even as I planned the trip to Ottawa, I was aware about the weather that I might have to encounter there. The reason why I decided to get my visa stamped as early as possible, was so that I could get things done in a very controlled environment, instead of having to face the vagaries of the diplomatic requirements of the H1B stamping process, in god knows what circumstance I’m having to leave the US, especially working on a product that might require foreign travel. Of course, I didn’t have enough vacation period left over in my account to plan a trip to India.

Stay: For the first two planned nights (Dec 10 – 11, 2007), I stayed at The Quality Hotel, in downtown Ottawa (290 Rideau street, Ottawa, Ontario, CA K1N 5Y3 – about 1 km from the USA embassy). The hotel was well maintained and the staff responded well to the queries that I had for them. For the 2 extra nights of stay, the hotel receptionist said that if I made the booking directly with them, it would cost me $125/night. For that reason, he also suggested that I make the reservation through priceline.com, which listed a price of $105/night.
For the nights of 12 – 13, I stayed at Byward Blue Inn (157 Clarence Street Ottawa, Ontario K1N 5P7 – about 0.4 km from the USA embassy). They are not listed by priceline.com, with whom I had made my travel arrangements. But the place was really good and in fact much closer to the USA embassy in Sussex drive, than The Quality Hotel. If you are making travel arrangements to Ottawa, I’d suggest you to enquire with the Byward Blue Inn (http://www.bywardblueinn.com/) about reservations. For a room with a single bed, it cost me $79/night. Both the hotels I stayed in provide free wireless.

Food: Except for the walking in the snow that I had to do in the cold to get to the restaurants, I had no problem with food whatsoever. I am a vegetarian; so don’t be too concerned about food if you are one too. There are 3-4 indian restaurants in downtown Ottawa. I managed to go to just two of them (just to avoid any extra walking): Haveli (39 Clarence Street, Ottawa, ON K1N 5P4) and Nagina (217 Rideau Street, Ottawa, ON K1N 5X8). The Haveli Indian restaurant (buffet – about $14) deserves special mention. The food there was amazing, but even so was their customer service, which I thought was very very pro-active. You can’t say the same about The Nagina restaurant (buffet – about $18) though, but it wasn’t too bad. There are a couple of Tim Hortons (coffee/donut place) in the downtown area. For those of you who’d like to keep their coffee real, there is a Starbucks coffee pretty close to the USA embassy. There is also a subway restaurant (380 Dalhousie Street, Ottawa, ON K1N 7G3) pretty close by.

Return travel to the US: I had to research quite a bit before I decided upon my mode of transport for my return to the US. After I got to know about the visa delay, the idea was to keep off from any unnecessary expenditure on anything that does not warrant it. After all, I had spent close to what I would have had to, if I had gone to India. I had a few options at hand.
1. Postpone my flight: I spoke with US Airways representative as well as to priceline.com representative. Both of them said that I had to pay a $100 postponement fee + the difference in price for the ticket. With US Airways it was ($100 + $430 difference in ticket price) and with priceline.com it was ($100 + $30 service fee for priceline.com + $395 for difference in ticket price). So the best quote that I got was $525 if I was to return by flight.
2. Rental car: First, I went to hertz website only to find them charge an $800 drop off fee along with $80 car rent. While I was about to freak out, I saw that national didn’t charge the drop off fee, however their car rent was $230. Then I did a reality check on the weather and found a forecast for the nor’easter for that weekend. So it was certainly not worth driving all the way.
3. Greyhound: Time not being a factor (as it was already Friday evening and there was no hurry to get back to home or office) I decided to do my return travel by greyhound bus lines. There’s a greyhound bus station (265 Catherine Street, Ottawa, ON K1R 7S5 – about 3 km from downtown). From there, I could take a greyhound bus to Montréal and there was a connection greyhound bus from Montréal to Boston Logan International airport (where I had parked my car). The total travel time was said to be about 9.5 hours. However, they got me to Boston in 8.5 hours and it seemed like a smart move especially in the wake of delayed flights because of the nor’easter. The best part about it was the ticket was priced at $95 only.

Miscellaneous:
1. Scotia Bank receipt: You must provide two Scotia Bank teller-signed deposit slips (for USD 100) at the counter in the embassy before your interview. My visa interview was at 8:30 AM and I reached Ottawa late on the previous night. The Scotia bank in downtown (117 Rideau Street, Ottawa, ON K1N 5X4) opens at 9AM. So I had to get my friend to deposit USD 100 to a Scotia Bank and snail mail me the deposit slips. Bank of Nova Scotia which operates on the behalf of Scotia Bank in the US, does not undertake personal transactions like deposit slips.
2. At no point when I was there, did I have to exchange my US dollars for Canadian dollars. All places including cabs, restaurants accept USD. However, some drivers might try to low-ball you with the Canadian currency conversion rate, especially as the CAD is now faring better than the USD. So, either know what the conversion rate is or even better carry CAD for those purposes.
3. Because of the cold weather, I didn’t get to go around much. But to overcome the boredom (pssst…pssst…I was working from ‘home’) I visited the Canadian parliament building and a couple of visits down to the Rideau Centre, which is a huge mall in the downtown itself.
4. There is a well-connected city bus transit (www.octranspo.com). I used it only once. There’s a flat $3 ticket for a ride.
5. In the visa interview hall, there are 2 computers attached to a printer, so that you can fill out the DS-156 form in case you forgot to do so earlier or made some mistakes, enough to make you fill out a new form. However, just to save time and avoid needless anxiety, I would strongly encourage you to fill your forms even before you get to the embassy.


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I hope my experiences would have provided you with as much information as possible.

India's 50 most powerful people

I found this article recently published by Business Week. The article is supposedly about 50 most powerful indians. When my eyes first fell on the article, I thought being a Business Week article, I could catch up on who's who of the people shaping up India's business future.
The article did carry a list of very predictable political and business faces (Buddhadeb Bhattacharya, Kamal Nath, Ratan Tata, Mukesh Ambani, Kumar Mangalam Birla, Sunil Bharti Mittal, to name a few) who have contributed a lot to the success of indian business. Traversing through the list, it was quite annoying to see names like Mayawati and Sheila Dikshit. But then, the real twist came when Amitabh Bhachan was listed after Mukesh Ambani. Then Rajnikanth. Then Salman Khan, Rani Mukherjee, Akshay kumar for christ sakes. Considering that Bollywood is also an industry in itself, they could have atleast named a few movie directors, musicians, art directors worthy of note. By then, the standard of the article was so predictable that I could see Sachin Tendulkar on the cards up front. Very predictably, followed the names of cricketers and a few other sportsmen. The last few were fashion designers whose name I have never even heard of before.
Some of the people listed were not even worth of a place in the top 50 people in their own field. After reading the article, I could hear the writers of the article laughing out loud: "Gotcha! We never said that they were 50 most powerful business men".