HAPPY NEW YEAR

The year 2006 has been and will remain as a landmark in my life. Putting it in a program management way “Lots of milestones were achieved on-time, in both my personal and professional lives”. I thank the Almighty and my well-wishers for all this. A short glimpse of the happenings is depicted in this collage.

For the expectations and resolutions, a similar post will follow ;-)…

Wishing you all a very Happy New Year!!!!!

Did somebody eat my cheese?

It was a calm afternoon. The roads were totally empty. The wind was strong and the leaves on the banyan tree were dancing to it. The noise from the swaying of the leaves was interrupted periodically by the chirping of the little sparrows. I was enjoying all this sitting in my new easy chair. Ranganayaki was busy with Gnana Bhoomi. It was a part of her routine. After a short nap, she would make herself comfortable in the pai and read at-least 5-6 pages of her favorite magazine. But soon all this came to a standstill. I could feel that there was something new in the room, probably somebody. I turned around and my eyes fell on a small creature moving near the wardrobe. “It’s a mouse”, I squealed. Ranaganayaki came running to the study room, “Enna Krishna, enna sollerael... namma aathule eli yaa..enga irrukku” (What are you saying? Mouse in our house? Where is it?)

I immediately closed the bedroom and the pooja room doors. I made sure that there was only one way out from the house and decided to drive the mouse away. I ran into the store room and grabbed a perambu (Bamboo Stick). Now it was a contest and the winner would survive in the house. The immense strength in me that was sleeping all these days had woken up. I imagined myself as Achilles and I had to win over Hector (The Mouse). Nevertheless, I was not going to kill that poor thing. I tapped the stick near the wardrobe.

There was no sound at all. The mouse was afraid. I switched on the torch light and I could see the glittering eyes underneath the wardrobe. It had cute little whiskers and was shivering in fear. Now that my enemy was in close range, I decided to attack it. I tapped the perambu, near the mouse. It squeaked and ran to the corner the room. “Anga irrukku….Aatho…Aiyoo kutti elli…paavum. Don’t hit it” shouted Ranganayaki standing on the stool. I tapped the stick again on the floor. The mouse ran and made its way through the door towards the pooja room. It couldn’t enter and then it turned around and ran for the main door. I followed it with the stick. The mouse ran and ran and finally stopped in the road.

The mouse turned around to see if I was following it. It had won the battle as it got away without any injury. Ranganayaki and I were watching it from the door. Ranganayaki would have been proud of me and even I got this feeling that I had achieved something in life. After all it’s a man’s thing! It was a win-win condition. The mouse turned again to the house, shook its head and ran off to the next house. It was probably saying “I will be back with a bang. Wait for me kishnaaa!”

Travel Log

Log 1:

My wife and I reached the airport at 9.30 PM. We got down from the auto and walked towards the entranceand joined the queue. My attention soon fell on Mr. X. He was standing ahead in the queue with a red duffle bag on his right hand, a laptop dangling from his left shoulder and a novel in his left hand. He had strange mannerisms. He would either scratch his nose or turn his head here and there or pretend as if it was stuffy and would often stretch his hand. He was probably trying to attract everyone’s attention or was trying to impress somebody else in the airport “Lakshmi, look at that guy” I murmured to my wife while pointing my finger to Mr. X. “Must be one of those YO chaps” said Lakshmi. We kept giggling at his mannerisms. Soon we reached the airline desk and checked-in the baggage. Mr.X was traveling by business class in the same aircraft. He was standing beside me, but in the next lane. “So, when does this aircraft reach Chennai? Is there any book shop in the airport? Do you have any special lounge for the business class people where I can relax for sometime?” At this, a frustrated Lakshmi said “Tho daa... Irrukkartho local airport...approm enna aatam”

Soon we joined the queue for security check and it was a very long one. There would have been at least 100 people in the queue. Mr. X was already in the queue and was very impatient. He was in conversation with a gentleman standing behind him “I am a business class traveler, dunno why they want me to stand in the queue”. We were pissed off and my wife was already muttering ‘wonderful’ words about him. Suddenly, Mr. X walked out of the queue, to an airport authority, who was almost close to me and asked him “Do you have a separate queue for the business class? This queue is big and I can’t stand in this”. At this the airport authority said in a loud voice “Sir, there is only one queue. Please go and stand there”.

Log 2:

I had just boarded the aircraft. I was traveling in this airline for the first time. The interiors were good and quite appealing. I reached my seat, dumped my luggage and settled down. I started fiddling with the seat belt and soon my hands reached out for the newspaper and the magazines. A middle aged man in a blue blazer entered the aircraft and walked towards my seat. He put his laptop and sat on the aisle seat next to me. He had a Sony palm top in his hand and an organizer on the other. He updated something with the stylus and soon picked up his phone and started talking. He had an excellent accent. The in-flight announcements had begun and safety instructions were in progress. I was searching for the earphones all over the place and finally it stuck me that it could probably be beneath the seat. I put my hand under the seat and picked a large pouch. The guy sitting next to me gave me a stare and his eyes were really wide. I turned around to realize much to my dismay that I had picked the life jacket! And it so happened, that the air hostess was explaining about the life jacket.

Illusions

Khanna ..ellam edahuthu vechitiya (Have you taken everything) asked my father. I was flying to the US to one of the top most universities in California, the same night. I had packed my entire luggage and had also cross checked the weight of my suitcases on a burrowed weighing machine. Amma had prepared all sorts of podi – Parrupu podi (Made of toor dal and dried chillies), Molaga podi (Made of dried chillies), kothamalli podi (Made of coriander leaves) and the list went on. We were a small conservative family residing in Mylapore. Listening to carnatic music, rudram, regular visits to Kapaleeshwarar temple were a part of our routine. I would be missing all these.

We had reached the Chennai airport by 9.30 PM. The place was crowded with students and their parents. There was just noise...noise and noise! My Chithappa, Chithi, Mama and Mami joined us in the airport. We were talking about the preparations for my cousin’s wedding, which was supposed to happen in few weeks. We went talking until the announcement of my flight departure. It was time for me to depart. Couple of tears rolled down my mother’s eyes. I hugged her. I could feel the warmth of mother’s love. “As soon as I reach I will try to call you. Then let’s start using google talk for our daily conversation”. With that, I disappeared into the crowd. After the baggage check-in and security check, I boarded the aircraft. In about 28 hours I would be reaching the SFO airport.

I landed at the airport and Rakesh, my college senior had come to pick me up. He drove me through the 101 freeway and soon we reached his apartment. I was an addition to his room, joining his other roommates, Arjun and Rahul. Soon, we got to know each other and were literally in seventh heaven, until spring blossomed. Along with fresh leaves and flowers, I had to welcome Catherine Mosses (or Cathy). She was a crush among the guys – her cat walk, her tanned skin and those curly hairs and above all her dimple smile. I had met her in one of those monthly Desi parties. The occasional meeting had turned into regular ones and soon we became close to each other.

It was a Sunday. I had just finished cooking dal and rice for the lunch. The phone rang and it was Cathy. She was complaining of pain in the leg due to an injury and wanted help. Though I was close to her, I had never gone into her apartment when she was alone. I was a bit hesitant but still proceeded. I reached her apartment. The door wasn’t closed completely. I went in and she was waiting for me in the hall. Probably she had just come out after a shower. Her hair looked wet, she was in skimpy clothes and her eyes were strained due to the pain. She moved her skirt and exposed the wound just above the ankle. My mind was losing control and the lust factor was overtaking me. I just couldn’t control myself. The devil in me was rising.

“What the hell is happening? What are you doing to that young girl?” That was Neha. I was shocked. “Fortunately, the door wasn’t locked, otherwise… Get out from this room, you filthy piece of shit”. I was embarrassed. Words weren’t coming out from my mouth. I was dumbstruck. Cathy was in tears. She didn’t open her mouth. How could I explain it to Neha, that I hadn’t done anything! I had totally fallen in the eyes of all these girls. I was ashamed of the entire episode. I went home and all I could do was to cry. I wept the entire night. How would I be able to face Neha and her friends? I planned to kill myself. But death is not a solution. I decided to marry Cathy. I had to do this. The conservative family background, the dreams of my parents everything was shattered to pieces.

The next day, I met Cathy and proposed. She felt sorry for me and she immediately accepted me. We got married after my graduation. I never informed my parents about this. Life started rolling. The first six months of my married life was heaven. Those simple, happy moments, the small fights and the honeymoon trip to the Vegas. But soon the thick bond of love started to give way due to numerous reasons. We failed to compromise on things that we usually did and our egos clashed. Cathy was not matured to understand the difference in life before and after marriage. My conservative background also started influencing our relation. And we filed our divorce papers.

Today I stay alone in my apartment. The wonderful relationship called marriage had turned into a disastrous one. My parents are forcing me to get married to a Tam Bram girl. How could I tell them that I am a divorcee? Will the other girl accept me? I shouldn’t ruin the life of another girl. Probably I was punished for that wrong thought! All I can say is “Veeperathe Buddhi, Vinashe Kaale”

A Solitary Journey

Tring Tring….Tring Tring….. That woke me up from deep sleep. I got down from the bed and walked haphazardly towards the phone to put an end to that screaming sound. I fumbled with the receiver and finally got it to in a decent position and mumbled sleepily “Hellllo, this is Murali”! My ears faintly heard “This is Susan. Something bad has happened this morning. Mrs.Parthasarathy is no more.” I was shocked. I had met Mrs.Parthasarathy, the previous night and she was hale and healthy. I threw the receiver down, rushed to my bathroom, brushed as fast as I could and in a few minutes I was whizzing in the road in my Santro.

I reached the apartment, parked my car and rushed to the second floor. People had already gathered. I managed to sneak in and in the hall, Mrs.Rohini Parathasarathy (we used to call her Parthu Mami), lay in deep silence in an ice box. Couple of tears rolled down my cheeks. Mrs.Susan caught my hand and dragged me to the balcony. She told me that both her sons had been informed and so was her daughter, Gayathri. Her sons were staying in Bangalore and I was told that they would be reaching within an hour. Gayathri, who was in the US, would not be able to make it to India. She was carrying and her due date was quite close. Doctors had advised her to not to travel.

Parthu Mami, lost her husband within 6 years of their marriage and she already had 3 children. Since her husband was holding a key post in one of the top leading motor cycle companies, she was offered a clerical job. She had a rough terrain ahead of her and managed to get past it without any help from her relatives. She managed to give her children the best education and got them married in very decent and affluent families. In return, her children had got her a nice flat in Chennai. She was like a boat caught in tempest. She made her way to the shore all alone. And in the end, she sank all alone. There was not a being around her to help her out when she was in pain. Of course, we were there to help her, but still a mother would definitely expect her son or daughter to help her out.


Most of us today belong to these main sects – Software Engineer, Consultants, body shopped engineer etc. The job profile is such that it lures us into lucrative opportunities. In many cases, the more one gets the taste of dollars, the more one yearns for it. In the process people get lost and lose their identities. They forget where they came from and their past and even people who would have helped them in their early stages. I have heard of people who even neglect their parents to some extent. Such people feel that if they send them money or keep them in a luxurious house it would soothe them and make them happy. But the truth is they would have probably not liked all this false living. They care more for relationship than the dollars. If children can’t be with their parents in their last years, maybe they are leading totally worthless lives. Its time for us to think and ponder over all these, as some day or the other we will be in the same shoes!!!!!

Winds of change

I was known as a “rustic bully” in my hostel. I was called by different names – Sriram, Cheeru, big bully and sometimes even terror. I wasn’t a six-footer, didn’t have muscles nor a gang but still people were afraid of me. The scapegoat would be generally the person who would have been spotted by me in the college, chatting with a girl! This was a common sight in the college premises in front of the library. A girl and guy in shady places with watchful eyes and talking in a faint voice and blushing every 10 seconds! I had always believed that college love stories were mere extensions of infatuation and would die down once people departed. I didn’t know I could quite fall into the same trap and never thought I could be wrong - not till I met Renuka.

To begin with, Renuka was a sweet girl. I could feel her presence from the smell of the jasmine and the sound of her anklets. She was a typical tam-bram girl from Thanjavur. She always talked sense, kept away from all those college weekend get-togethers and was very soft spoken. She often congratulated me whenever I topped in a subject or won a prize in the inter-college quiz competition or in paper presentations. Once, she wasn’t well and had not come to college for a week. That week, there were a couple of campus interviews and I got through one of them. Somehow she got the news and called me on the hostel phone. I felt very happy and thought that she would be the special lady in my life. But all this died down after we passed out. I moved to Chennai and landed in a software job and she went off to the US. We lost touch and life moved on.

A few years later, I was in Landmark busy with my regular shopping – VCDs and books. Somebody caught my hand from behind. I turned around and gosh it was Renuka! The smell of the jasmine lured me to college days. There was a lot of change in her. She was wearing jeans, had short hair and her accent had changed immensely. She was very happy. She enquired a lot of things about me. Then we went to the coffee shop and spent almost two hours. She told me everything about her – her work, her salary, her future plans. She said she would be in Chennai for a month and wished to catch-up with me every weekend.

Life started rolling. Weekdays were really tough and weekends were heaven. I used to spend time with her talking about my office, personal life, films, books and what not! There was now a new dimension to my life. I didn’t know how to address this relationship – friendship or beyond it. But the “beyond it” factor began ruling over friendship and I started dreaming about it. All of a sudden Yash Chopra’s songs were pleasing to my ears. I had to some how pour it out – just go and propose. But at the same time, I was afraid. If she said a no, I would lose a good friend. I made up my mind and decided to ask her about this entire relationship.

It was the last Sunday and she was flying back to the US on Monday night. We caught up in the coffee house. I was about to open the topic, when she said “Sriram, you are a person whom I can trust and depend on totally. I met Shaun D’Souza, in California and I have been moving with him for the past six months. I have started liking him and want to spend the rest of my life with him. His parents have agreed but there are some hiccups in my circle. I am planning to get married to Shaun in the US without my parents’ notice. Hopefully, then they will accept this marriage. If they enquire you about all these, please don’t respond to them.” I heaved a sigh of relief. Thankfully, I didn’t disclose what I wanted to. If I had done that, I would have failed to understand this friendship. We spent sometime in the coffee house and after that I returned home. She left for US the very next day. But whenever I saw jasmine flowers, it reminded me of Renuka.

Understanding relationships is really complex. It’s really tough to draw lines between friendship and love. There are only a few lucky ones who understand this subtle difference. I think there will be a lot of Srirams today who will just dump whatever they dreamt of, into their deep hearts and proceed in life. Indeed men also have deep hearts that will also be full of secrets!

The day it rained....

It was half past eleven in the night and I was still at office, debugging my code. I had to somehow finish it and forget about it for the next couple of days. The next two days were going to be totally special for me. I was on my way to Chennai the next day, to meet Yamuna in her residence. It was the official “Ponnu Parkarthu” (Girl seeing) function. My mind was already pre-occupied with it. I managed to get to the line which was causing problem in the simulation. I fixed it, re-ran my simulations. The results were positive. I shut my laptop, dumped it into my back-pack, picked my car keys and rushed to the parking lot.

It was pouring like hell. The monsoon was creating havoc. With one hand over my head and the other clinching my bag, I ran as fast as I could to my fully bathed Lancer. My car would have been really happy! She was in dust and I didn’t have time to clean her up. I reached the door, opened it, jumped into my seat and threw my back-pack to the back seat. I was half-drenched. I wiped my glasses with my handkerchief, switched on the A/C, picked a music CD and played it in full volume. The atmosphere was just electrifying – Rains, A/C and Yaakai Thiri from Aayithu Ezhuthu in full volume.

The road was completely deserted. I was literally zipping. The needle in the speedometer was toggling between 100-110 Km/hr. I had all the reason to be happy – the bug was fixed and I would be meeting Yamuna the coming day. I was almost close to Airport road. With that speed I would reach home in 15 minutes. I turned right on M.G Road and braked in full force. It was a Sumo.The guy got on my way from the main road. There was something wrong with the Sumo. The car maybe ran out of petrol or it had an engine failure. The guy was struggling and it had stopped right in the middle.

The sumo cab driver came out, and waved at me. I lowered the windows and switched on the light. “Sir, which side are you heading to?” “Indira Nagar,” I said. “Sir, could you please drop one person near Food World. I think the engine is out and I will not be able to drop. There are no autos on the road. Please sir”. With a bit of hesitation I said “Yes, I can”. A lady got down from the vehicle and reached my car. I opened the front door and she got in. “Sir, Thank you very much” said the cab driver. I was slightly apprehensive about the entire episode. The first thing was, I had never given a lift to any girl and that too at these wee hours of the night.

“I am Asha,” she introduced herself and I shook hands with her. “Hi, I am Ramani”. She was a fair, tall girl. She was wearing black trousers and a half white shirt. I accelerated and within two minutes I was intercepted by cops. It was once of those usual checks – drunken driving and license checks. “Where are you going” asked the cop. “To food world, on the first main road” He said “OK! Don’t go to the third main. A tree has fallen.” I turned to Asha and gave her a smile. Asha, meanwhile had made herself comfortable in the seat. She started asking me “So, you are a software engineer? Where do you stay?” blah blah blah…. The conversation went on. She was very curious to know things about me. She also disclosed a lot of her personal stuff. I wasn’t comfortable about this entire conversation. Thankfully, I had reached food world. I stopped my car. “Thanks a lot Ramani, thanks for dropping me. I loved my car ride. It was fun chatting with you. This is my business card. If you are free lets meet for dinner this weekend”. I said “Let’s see” and I had to give her my card too. As she was about to leave, she peeped into the car and said “I think I have started liking you”. She blushed and disappeared into one of the streets. I was totally frozen.

I reached home, slept for few hours. It was a new day totally. I packed my luggage, rushed to the airport and within an hour I was in Chennai airport. Appa was already waitingt. We got into the car and reached home in 45 minutes. I rushed to the bathroom to freshen up. I changed my clothes and was almost dressed like a “pudhu mapillai”. We reached Yamuna’s place and soon the entire place was bustling with activity. Yamuna came out to the drawing room and she was accompanied by her friend. I raised my head and to my horror, it was Asha standing next to Yamuna! Both of them sat in front of me in the couch. Asha was murmuring something into Yamuna’s ears. Yamuna’s face was turning slightly red. Was she talking about me? Maybe she was trying to build some wrong impression in the mind of Yamuna! Was she trying to stop this since she wanted me in her life? All these started running in my mind. I moved to the corner of the seat. I was already sweating. I didn’t know what to do. It wasn’t my mistake but still I would be targeted. If this function stopped, what would my parents think of me? How would I prove to people that I was innocent? “Oh god please help,” I thought.. Had I ruined my life by giving a lift?

Screeeech…….! I banged my head on the seat in front me. The bus had reached the Koyambedu Bus Stand. My wife was still asleep. The bus attendant started shouting “Koyambedu bus stand. Please get down”. I heaved a great sigh of relief. I would never ever give a lift, even in my dreams!!!!!!!

Being Humane

Indha paa, Hello…Inga Paaru…Indha serruppu edhuthokko..Ennakku Time aardhuu… (Please pick my slippers, its getting late)… I was literally yelling at the chappal keeper. This young boy is the owner of the Charu Chappal stand, in front of the Sri Rangam Temple. The evening sun was still scorching and the dust and the crowd added more to my irritation. He was busy, running around. He was about to bend down and pick my slippers, when suddenly he turned away and said “Vaanga Aiyyaa… Ingeye serruppu vitudinga…Naa pathukaraen” (Please come sir, and drop your slippers here).

I was totally pissed off by this gesture. I turned around and it was Mr.Vasudevan Sastrigal. No wonder! Vasudevan Sastrigal hails from a very affluent family. He has been staying in Sri Rangam for 20 years and owns a number of buildings and schools in and around Trichy. The saffron mark on his forehead (Sri-Charanam), the diamond earring and the well pressed khadi shirt are his trademarks.

I never liked people who showed off. I have often observed in some temples that when somebody drops a 10 rupee note on the kalpura thaatu, the priest attends to him with great respect! Money has started ruling over everything. I threw all this from my mind and made my way to the temple. After offering flowers to Sri Renganatha Swamy, I joined the queue for prasadham. I loved the puliyothere (Tamarind Rice). It is said that Iyengar’s puliyothere is the best!

I was very eager to grab the dhonnai (Leaf Cup), when Vasudevan crossed me again. This time it was for the prasadham. The priest, who was serving, spotted Vasudevan walking near the corridor adjacent to the place where these prasadhams were served. He suddenly got up, packed some puliyothere in a dhonnai and rushed to Vasudevan and handed it to him with due respect. We were all still standing in the queue. I felt like shouting but just made my way out from the temple. I had all sorts of bad words running in my head for Vasudevan.

I grabbed my slippers from the Charu chappal stand and started walking towards Ganesh Juice stall, right in front of, one of the gates of the temple. Suddenly, Muniamma, the flower vendor in front of the juice shop got up, folded her arms and stood in an upright position. I was totally stunned! I turned around, and it was Vasudevan. I decided to pass some comment and waited for him to come near me. Instead he crossed and walked towards a kid who was sitting near the heap of garbage He was a special kid, probably spastic.

There was a small plastic plate in front of him with some coins. The boy was just waving his hand and his head wasn’t stable in one position. Vasudevan dropped a couple of coins on the boys plate. He then bent down and asked the boy something. The boy pointed his finger towards the Tea stall. Probably he was asking for tea or something else. Vasudevan walked to the Tea-Stall, got a glass of tea, walked to the boy again, sat next to him and literally fed him – gulp by gulp. I pinched myself and I was totally surprised.

Vasudevan, then walked to Muniamma and asked her “Who is this kid? What happened to his mother? Muniamma at this promptly replied, “Sire, he is Ram. His mother is a construction worker. She leaves him here everyday in the morning and takes him back home in the evening. There she comes. Hey, Vasantha, come quickly”. Vasantha came running to Muniamma, “What’s wrong? What happened to Ram? Did somebody harm him?” At this Vasudevan said” Nobody has harmed your child and nobody will in the future. Tomorrow, bring him to my residence and I will make the arrangements for his admission to the Special School.” At this, tears started rolling from Vasantha’s eyes. She rushed to Ram, hugged him and wept. Muniamma in her own accent said “Ayya, should live for 100 years.” That day I understood that people respected Vasudevan for his deeds.

I started walking to the bus stand but I was all the time thinking of that incident. It had left a big scar in my mind. I could feel the heaviness in my breath. I couldn’t hear anything that was happening around me. My mind was only occupied by Vasudevan, Vasantha and Ram. Irrespective of being poor and having a special kid, she is struggling in life to take care of her kid. For her, Ram is a normal child. She is the only soul who can understand him and will weep for him. She is indeed a “Special Mother”. There aren’t anymore words in my dictionary to describe Vasudevan. All I can say “Appearances can be deceptive”.

Impressions

Case One:
Karthik is a movie freak. He has a collection of 200 VCD’s and DVD’s and the numbers are still growing. For him weekends are just spending time in those big malls or in Music shops, buying movies, movies and movies only. But there is something different about him. Even at the age of 30, he has a liking for cartoons. I have seen people who watch Tom and Jerry but it’s really difficult to find people who would watch, say, He-Man. Mr. Raman, Karthik’s father says, “My son loves watching He-Man in his free time. Should I be proud of this?”

Even I was curious to know about this He-Man episode. I once caught up with Karthik in a restaurant. He had come there to pick up a parcel and I was in the table, eating my dinner. As usual our conversation started on the technical front, then drifted to the political happenings and then to the movies. This was the right time for me to pluck the strings. I asked him as to what made him so interested in cartoons. Karthik said, “I have grown up watching these cartoons since childhood. I still remember the days when I was in my fourth standard and we were staying in a flat in Punjabi Bagh in New Delhi. A few days earlier, Appa had got us a nice little 14” Black and White Televista TV. Every Sunday between 3.30 to 4 PM, in the Doordarshan Channel, I used to watch the He-Man sequel. Due to power disruptions, I also missed watching some of them. I used to shout at Amma that someday I would buy the video tape of He-Man. Today I have the complete collection and I have watched every episode.”

Case Two:
On the first of every month, Mani Thatha goes to his bank and withdraws money from his pension account. This is his monthly routine. But, do you know what he does with the money? He goes shopping, buying pens. He is so fond of them that he has a wonderful collection – the Parker, the Mont Blanc, the calligraphic set, and his all-time special, the gold plated ink pen. He also loves filling up the ink cartridge with a syringe. He never had the flair for ball pens. He can talk about pens, nibs, inks, calligraphy and spirography for hours together. I once asked him innocently, “Do you have any books on pens? Have you read them a number of times?”

He laughed and said, “Prasad, when I was of your age, I didn’t have the money to buy pens and ink. My father was a peasant and his earnings were just enough for the daily activities. When you went to school, you enjoyed the luxury of traveling in a bus. But for me, everyday was a hard day. I used to travel in a bullock cart for one hour and from there I had to walk for thirty minutes to reach my school, since the road was narrow. There were no pens in those days with storage for ink. I used to carry an ink bottle always. The ink was made by dissolving the colour tablets in hot water and often the ink bottle would give way. Either they would break or the ink would harden. I was frustrated with all this. I used to pray that someday all this would go off and I will get a nice ink bottle that I can carry to my school, without the ink spilling on my bag. Today, God has answered all my prayers. There are wonderful pens, better ink bottles and what not!”

There is something definitely common to both of them – Mani Thatha and Karthik. We come across so many things in our lives, and there are a few that leave an impression in our mind. We are never aware of these. It could be things used on a daily basis or it could be things that are deprived of. These remain buried for quite sometime. When we see them again, all the thoughts and desires associated with them, sprout from the inner layers, and they force us to buy or use them. Isn’t human psyche a wonder?

HAPPY DEEPAVALI

Yippee it’s Diwali!!!
Its time to wear new clothes, eat sweets, burst crackers and enjoy the television programs. All around the place you will only hear these sounds – vroom, voosh, dum, dumeel, buuuss and what not! It’s indeed the festival of lights.


Have fun and take care while bursting crackers and eat lots and lots of sweets :).

WISH YOU ALL A VERY HAPPY DEEPAVALI

Driving – A Herculean Task

Driving has become an absolute menace in the city. There is not one car in the road that is without a dent. There is no respect for the Red Signal light or to the fellow drivers on the road. It’s an absolute chaos on the roads. Some of the deadly viruses that we stumble upon while driving are described here:

Auto rickshaws (Auto)
Dormant State: In the Pre-Paid stands which is generally monitored by a cop
Active State: In the roads, streets and sometimes on footpaths also
Appearance: Yellow body and black head
Food: Petrol, Diesel, adulterated petrol and may be even kerosene

Behavior:
1) Slow on the road when there are no people traveling
2) Absolutely directionless – Can take a right turn, or left turn or a U turn anywhere and anytime. May be an about turn in the future…who knows!!!
3) Stops suddenly in the middle of the road to pick-up a savari
4) Absolute rash driving when manned by youngsters
5) Some of them are also heavy smokers. They provide an alternative to the kosu Adikare machine (Mosquito Spray Guns)

Pre-cautionary measure:
1) Don’t drive behind an Auto
2) Make your moves based on their movement
3) Be prepared for anything when you encounter them

Bikes (Not blaming the entire biker’s community, just a few of them)
Dormant State: When parked
Active State: Everywhere except on Air
Appearance: Come in all colours
Food: Generally Petrol

Behavior:
1) Premature ones are fast and furious. Identified by the accelerator sounds vrooomm…vrooomm
2) Indicators are present physically but generally not in use
3) Increases decibel levels – Heavy Honking
4) Absolutely restless on signals
5) Infected more with cell phones. Half of then talk on cell phones while driving
6) Hazardous in small streets as they go directionless

Pre-cautionary measure:
1) Honk really hard when u stumble which is infected with a cell phone
2) Give way to the premature ones


Cars (Not blaming all Car Drivers, just a few of them)
Dormant State: When Parked and during traffic jams
Active State: Only on roads and slightly big streets
Appearance: Different shapes, different colours and different sizes
Food: Petrol and Diesel

Behavior:
1) Virulence state when shape changes to Sumo or Qualis and when used as Cabs
2) Complete arrogance in speed when road is slightly empty
3) Infected more with cell phones. Half of then talk on cell phones while driving
4) If there is a girl and guy on the car with all dark glasses shut and standing on the signal, you never know as to what might happen!!!!!! Behavior is still under study.

Pre-cautionary measure:
1) Give way to them
2) Don’t try to overtake when they are in virulent state

Bus (Big Momma on the Road)
Dormant State: In Bus-stands and bus-stops
Active State: Only on roads, highways and slightly big streets
Appearance: Uniform color and uniform shape
Food: Petrol and Diesel

Behavior:
1) Hazardous when one overtakes the other
2) Gets attracted to the Bus-Stop and in the process can stop in the middle of the road all of a sudden.
3) Kisses cars occasionally and leaves behind a big scar

Pre-cautionary measure:
1) Slow down your vehicle when u are traveling behind a bus

Lorry (Big Daddy on the Road)
Dormant State: When loading
Active State: Only on roads and highways & sometime in your streets
Appearance: Generally yellow or maroon and an open top
Food: Mostly Diesel

Behavior:
1) No control on speed and directionless during night and on highways

Pre-cautionary measure:

1) Don’t play with them. They are hazardous substances.

Netru…Indru…Naalai

Krishnaswamy Iyer (K), Raghavan (R) and Blakan (or Bala Krishnan (B)) are three different characters. I got an opportunity to interview them.

Question: From which place do you hail?
K: I am from Thiruvayur, Thanjavur District, Tamilnadu
R: I am from Bangalore – the software city
B: Me from Mid Town Park. Well, u guys may not be aware of this. This community was formed few years back.

Question: That’s interesting. People from different places! Hope this would be an interesting session. . Does the place have any relevance to your work?
K: You are absolutely right. My parents are from the Thiruvayur. For them Music was religion. They had a small house and spent most of the time in learning and later teaching music to kids. They often invited eminent singers to deliver lectures on music. And this was soon followed by lunch. My dream was to return to Thiruvayur and settle down on the banks of Cauvery. Fortunately, my bank had a branch and they were kind enough to transfer me here on a personal request. I have been working for this bank for almost 57 years.
R: I am a software engineer and I prefer staying in Bangalore as there are lots of opportunities for growth. The city is booming and there are lots of facilities available. It’s like being in Silicon Valley!!
B: ooooh.. My work place is almost 60 miles away! I stay here because there are lots of places to chill. Also, my girlfriend stays here. I am joining a new firm on 20th. Just quit from the old one two days back. Job was sucking!!

Question: Vow! That’s really a mixed bag of replies. So, what does “staying long” in a company mean or rather how long would you prefer staying in a firm? How do you define “being loyal” to your company?
K: Changing jobs frequently is something that I am not comfortable with. I started my career in this bank and I will retire from this place. I have grown up with my bank. I am considered as a trust-worthy, reliable manager.
R: For me it’s a cycle of 5 years. I don’t want to get stagnated in a place. Also, one should assess his/her position in the fast growing market.
B: I like the job I stay...If someone pays me more money, I will go for that. Life is earning more dollars!

Question: Let me switch gears. What do you do on a holiday or on a weekend?
K: I read through the newspapers leisurely and help my wife in cleaning up the house. I usually visit temples in and around Thiruvayur. And I listen to the carnatic music channel on worldspace for at least 2 hrs in the afternoon.
R: I visit the Big Malls on weekends with my wife. My purse gets emptied (giggles). If I get a long weekend, I drive down to nearby places within a radius of 100 to 150 Kms and of course, we travel to Chennai once in a month.
B: Weekends…Yippee… It’s time to celebrate. Pubs, late night parties and movies!!!!

Question: Favorite food and cuisine?
K: Parruppu usili. I like Vasanth Bhavan in Trichy. The kaima-parotta is really tasty over there.
R: Tandoori Roti and my favorite place is Krish’s Dhabha
B: I love chicken Hawaiian pizza and my favorite place is the Taj

This was a random gist of the entire interview. The session went on for 3 hrs. After the interview, I sat in a room analyzing how people had reacted to different questions. I was just wondering as to what would happen if all these personalities crossed each other on a daily basis – K is the Grand Father, R is his son and B is his grandson. I bet there will be regular fights between K and B. Probably, R will be supportive to both K and B as he understands both sides of the coin. That was a classic example of “generation gap”.

……………..

Let me bring-in the reality. K, R and B are from the same family. Today Krishnaswamy Iyer and his wife stay in one of those self-sustained old-age homes. They are affluent and have all the facilities except that they long for the love of their children and grand-children. But who is to be blamed for this – K or R or B or both? Or is it the society and the fast growing economy?

These are questions that can never be answered and even if someone answered it would only spark off a debate. A joint family which was full of life, which cared for human emotions, which was bonded with love and affection is shattered into pieces by this “generation gap”. Mrs. Krishnaswamy says “I hope some day all my kids will come and take us to their home. I will make Hot Bajji’s and Kesari. I am also knitting a sweater for Balkan’s daughter, Nithya. She loves this colour”. Krishnaswamy walked towards his wife, placed a hand on her shoulder “Lalitha, you have been saying this for almost 10 years. After, my death who will take care of you? Who will help you in taking you to the doctor and to the vegetable shop?” Lalitha hugged her husband and wept.

Remembering Bapu

It was March 12th, 1930 and the Sun had just raised its head, lighting up the entire Sabarmati Ashram in Gujarat. All the Satyagrahi’s were waiting for Bapu’s darshan and were gearing up to accompany him to Dandi, a small coastal village. On this day, Mahatma Gandhi and his followers (approx. 78 of them), started their journey from here to the coastal village, 235-240 miles away, to break the salt law. This journey of Mahatma with his followers was termed as the famous Dandi March.

Today…

I had an opportunity to visit this ashram during one of my short trips to Ahmedabad. I was really thrilled to see this name plate on the cottage wherein Bapu had spent his time in this ashram probably during 1917 to 1932. The place has been well preserved by the government. There is a museum attached which presents the life story of Bapu through pictures, drawings, writings and audio-visual programs. The place is definitely a visual treat. I enjoyed every bit of it. I was even more thrilled to see a small placard on the wall which actually listed the names of all the people who accompanied Gandhi on his Dandi March.

I came out of the museum and within few steps I found myself on the banks of Sabarmati River. The flow wasn’t all that great in the river but definitely she has witnessed all the events in this place. I felt that the river was telling me” I want to spend as much time as possible in this piece of land. Hence I don’t rush”. I stood there for couple of minutes thinking of the past with my eyes shut. Probably, 70-80 years back, this place must have been crowded with people who would have come from nook and corner to get a darshan of Mahatma and to participate in his regular prayers and meetings. Only one voice would have been echoing “Vande Matram”. When I opened my eyes, I could only find small squirrels running in the garden, school kids playing seven stones and tourists with their cameras. A thin streak of chill ran through my spine. It shook my body. The place will definitely remain in my memory.


“Truth (Satya) implies Love, and Firmness (Agraha) engenders and therefore serves as a synonym for force… that is to say, the Force which is born of Truth and Love or Non-violence… [If] we are Satyagrahis and offer Satyagraha, believing ourselves to be strong… we grow stronger and stronger everyday. With our increase in strength, our Satyagraha too becomes more effective, and we would never be casting about for an opportunity to give it us” - Mahatma Gandhi

Ayudha Pooja ... Present and Future

Ayudha Pooja is celebrated to worship Lord Vishwakarma. As per the Hindu Mythology, Vishwakarma is the son of Brahma. He is the official architect of the Gods. He has designed and built the palaces of all gods, the flying chariots (Pushpaka Vimana) and the swords and other weapons for Gods. It is believed that he was the architect of the Dwaraka city!

This day is a very special day for workers. They all worship their tools – Weaving machine or the carpentry tool or the lathe machine etc. The machines, tools and even vehicles are cleaned and are smeared with chandan and kum-kum. Big garlands and small vazhai marum are also used for decorative purposes. Workshops, companies small or big celebrate this day in a really grand fashion by giving off pori (Rice Flakes), jaggery, pottu kadalai, sweets and some small gifts. This day is also important for traders as they begin their new accounts.

But we are in a rapidly growing modernized world and how would one be celebrating the Ayudha Pooja say in the year 2020!!! Will we still be going with our regular rituals? Or probably the rituals will still go on but instead of machines and tools we would be smearing chandan and kum-kum to our smart phones, PDA’s or to smartcards!!

Golu...Golu...Golu...

It was one of those lazy Saturday mornings. The sun was already blazing and showed no mercy on the residents of Chennai. I was sipping my coffee with “davarah” on one hand and “tumbler” on the other. Appa was very busy with Hindu and Dina Malar. Amma, as usual in the kitchen was busy with cooking – “Chinna onion sambar” and “parruppu usili”. Suddenly, we heard Amma saying “So what’s the theme for Golu? Should we go and look for the new dolls?” Appa, shook his head and said “Saraswathi, lets go to the doll bazaar and see if there is something really interesting”. Hearing that, Amma speeded up her cooking process.

Within few minutes, I was on my way to AP stores to buy some groceries. In the corridor, I heard a conversation between two mami’s “Have you seen the Maha Vishnu doll that Sharadha had purchased yesterday. It is costly, but it is definitely worth the money. It’s a paper mache doll”.

I was back and Appa was waiting for me with a stool, standing in the bedroom right below the loft. I had to bring down the Golu Padi and the Golu Bommai from the loft. The Golu Padi was well wrapped in a gunny bag and was tied with sanal rope. The racks and the supporting structures were packed separately. The nuts and bolts were placed in a container next to these in the loft. “Kanna, be careful. It’s heavy”.

Within an hour the Golu padi was assembled and was kept in the hall. Amma was busy jotting down things that had to be purchased. It was already noon and we had to leave for the doll bazaar.

By evening, the Golu Padi was decorated with the serial bulbs and satin cloth. The new dolls were placed in the padi. The highlight was the Giri Valam. This was a new addition and we managed to decorate it as much as we can to make it an exact replica of the real one!!!


The theme behind celebrating Dusshera or Navarathri is the victory over the evil. It’s either celebrated as Lord Rama’s victory over the ten-headed Ravana (Commonly known as Ram Leela) or killing of mahisharsura by Goddess Durga (Ambal). Ram Leela is a common thing in the north. On the tenth day of the Dusshera, the effigy of Kumbhakarna, Meghnad and Ravana is burnt. It’s really a wonderful sight to watch. This has been depicted in the film Swades as well. In Tamilnadu, it is celebrated as Golu. The dolls are considered as Gods and Goddesses’ who help Goddess Durga in winning over Mahisharsura.

Today, it’s such an easy task to keep a Golu. Everything is available in the shops – stand, dolls, decorative materials etc. But this wasn’t the case 15 years back. The affluent people employed skilled carpenters to design and architect a Golu padi. I remember my grandma saying “we used make the Golu Padi with trunk boxes, bricks and wooden planks. The dolls used to be very heavy. They were made of clay”.

Its time for me to go and grab “sundal”. Happy Navarathri!!

Mail Forwards…Yikes!!!

I click on my get message button atleast 20-30 times in a day. Probably that’s not strange!! One often waits for some important emails – May be an approval for the vacation from the boss or an acceptance of a patent presentation from the patent committee or from somebody special ;)

But what happens when you click the get message button and the message header reads “FWD:”… The first thing you do is search for the delete button or scroll at a pretty faster rate and then delete it or read it completely and then call up your cube mate and tell him that it’s a wonderful forward or forward it to your mailing list or have a filter in your mail box that routes your mail to the trash can.

But what could be those “compelling reasons” that makes one to click the forward button – Probably it’s really worth for forwarding or ennakku vandhathu, naanum annupuven (I got it and hence I will send it to others) or chumma (Just like that).

But let’s give a thought on the Mail Forwards. What do we get at the end of the day by forwarding mails –we only create trash on the mail box and waste the bandwidth? But demarcating between what is trash and what is not, is definitely debatable. So what’s the solution?

I can’t think of one and have to go home. Until then keep enjoying the mail forwards!!!!