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