translation on S Anand

Read Tamil on TV with Gemini

Wed, 25 Mar 2026 21:32:50 +0800

I’ve been reading books using AI. Today, I used Gemini while watching a TV show. (Not to watch TV - just while watching TV.)

There’s this scene in Iru Dhuruvam Season 2 with a sheet of paper with Tamil text on it.

The script was small and I couldn’t read it clearly. (I’m pretty slow at reading Tamil anyway.) So I took a screenshot (Linux is great that way - you can record screenshots from any video player) and asked Gemini:

OCR and translate

(I was eating dinner and had just one hand to type - minimally.)

It said:

Original Tamil Text: வினைபகை என்றிரண்டின் எச்சம் நினையுங்கால் தீயெச்சம் போலத் தெறும்

English Translation: When you consider the remnants of an incomplete action or an unconquered enemy, they will destroy you like the unextinguished remnant of a fire.

This is Thirukkural 674, written by the ancient poet Thiruvalluvar. It serves as a stark warning against leaving tasks or conflicts half-finished. Given the gloves and the torn paper, this looks like a classic cinematic trope—a cryptic, high-stakes warning left behind in a thriller, signaling that the job (or the revenge) is far from over.

Spot on. The rest of the scene made perfect sense!

This is not the first time I’ve used AI while watching TV. I’ve passed screenshots to identify cities, transcribe newspapers, and more. But this is the first time I’ve used it to read Tamil.

(BTW, the image in the screenshot above is a Gemini-upscaled with the prompt “Draw the same image, upscaled and sharper”.)

AI for film dialogues

Sun, 01 Mar 2026 19:13:05 +0800

I was watching Vasu while Codex-ing and came across this dialogue:

Here’s the dialogue, recorded via ffmpeg, transcribed via AI Studio:

మీ నాన్న మిమ్మల్ని పోలీస్ ఆఫీసర్ అవ్వమని అడిగితే అయ్యారా? మీకు ఇష్టం కాబట్టి అయ్యారు.
సచిన్ టెండూల్కర్ ని ఇంజనీర్ ని చేయాలని వాళ్ళ నాన్న అనుకుని ఉంటే, ఇండియా ఒక గొప్ప క్రికెటర్ ని మిస్ అయ్యేది.
విశ్వనాథ్ ఆనంద్ ని డాక్టర్ ని చేయాలని వాళ్ళ అమ్మ కోరుకుని ఉంటే, ఇండియాకి ఓ గ్రాండ్ మాస్టర్ ఉండేవాడు కాదు.

Translation:

Did you become a Police Officer because your father asked you to? You became one because you liked it.
If Sachin Tendulkar’s father had thought of making him an engineer, India would have missed out on a great cricketer.
If Viswanathan Anand’s mother had wished to make him a doctor, India wouldn’t have had a Grandmaster.

But here’s the thing - these aren’t the best examples. A better one would be were a successful parent allowed their successful child to pursue their passion.

So, Gemini to the rescue:

List famous Indians whose children have become famous in very different fields…

… and here goes:

మీ నాన్న మిమ్మల్ని పోలీస్ ఆఫీసర్ అవ్వమని అడిగితే అయ్యారా? మీకు ఇష్టం కాబట్టి అయ్యారు.
ప్రకాష్ పదుకొనె తన కూతురు దీపికాని బ్యాడ్మింటన్ ప్లేయర్ ని చేయాలని అనుకుని ఉంటే, ఇండియా ఒక గొప్ప నటిని మిస్ అయ్యేది.
ఆర్. మాధవన్ తన కొడుకు వేదాంత్ ని నటుడిని చేయాలని కోరుకుని ఉంటే, ఇండియాకి ఒక ఛాంపియన్ స్విమ్మర్ ఉండేవాడు కాదు.

Translation:

Did you become a Police Officer because your father asked you to? You became one because you liked it.
If Prakash Padukone had thought of making his daughter Deepika a badminton player, India would have missed out on a great actress.
If R. Madhavan had wished to make his son Vedaant an actor, India wouldn’t have had a champion swimmer.

Not that dialogue writers aren’t using AI, but if you know anyone who needs AI help, let me know. The fact that I can’t read a word of Telugu makes no difference! 🙂

Sun, 23 Nov 2025 00:00:00 +0000

Thanks Pratap Vardhan – this was my best birthday gift this year!

Tue, 01 Oct 2024 12:24:58 +0000

I accidentally pressed the emergency button in the toilet.

I was smarter this time, unlike earlier. https://www.linkedin.com/posts/sanand0_chatgpt-llm-activity-7246836804249628672-5QXy/

I asked #ChatGPT which (unhelpfully) told me that “Typically, these buttons cannot be turned off”.

I called the reception who couldn’t understand a word of what I said. “Do you want water?” they asked when I told them “I pressed the emergency button in the bathroom.

So, I went to ChatGPT’s advanced voice mode (I’m so grateful it was enabled last week) and said, “Translate everything I say into Korean.

Then I said, “I accidentally pressed the emergency button in the bathroom. I just wanted to let you know that there is no emergency.”

It very happily spoke out, in bold, loud Korean, “화장실에서 응급버튼을 실수로 눌렀습니다. 비상상황이 아니라는 점 알려려 드립니다.

The receptionist laughed, said, “Ah, OK, no problem.

The joys of AI!

How DNA gets converted to proteins

Mon, 26 Jul 2004 12:00:00 +0000

An animated description of how DNA gets converted to proteins.

Morse code translator

Tue, 11 Dec 2001 12:00:00 +0000

.- - .-.. .- … - a morse code translator.

Declaration of Independence in American

Fri, 07 Dec 2001 12:00:00 +0000

The American declaration of independence in American.

Bhagavad Gita online

Mon, 08 Jan 2001 12:00:00 +0000

Bhagavad Gita online. Has audio, translations in several languages, etc. Very well organised. The final quote was very fitting for Mr. Krishnan’s IIMPressions, incidentally.