Asha's musings & ramblings

Lost something? Pray to her and you will regain

2012-02-03T07:38:00.000-08:00

My mom is a voracious reader of magazines and novels especially tamil magazines. During one of her reading session, she came across an article on Araikasu amman . 'Araikasu' in tamil means 'half coin' and Amman is the female god or Devi.

The article on the god mentioned that if you had lost or misplaced something, you would regain it when you seek her help to find your article and once you find your lost article/thing, offer pieces of jaggery to her as thanksgiving .

Eversince then whenever anything is lost or misplaced, we pray to Araikasu amman and it would be answered. This way we found many important documents, certificates, jewels, etc., and Trust me, never once have we lost faith in her especially most times it was at the crucial hour.

Both my children too who pray regularly have faith in her, else how to explain the presence of jaggery in our pooja room almost every now and then. Only this time she finds text books, compass, eraser and gel pen. Just yesterday, my son misplaced his geography notes and made his dad, me and his sis as google search engine and finally when we thought he had left it at school, we found his notes in his own almirah. But only after he prayed to this God and today he offered jaggery religiously before going to school.

Image of the coin

If you too have faith in god, try this next time you misplace something.

There is a temple dedicated to her at Pudukottai in Tamilnadu. She was worshipped by the King of Pudukottai and he had inscribed her picture in the 1/2 paise coins issued by him which is why she is called Arai kaasu Amman. For more details on the temple read here. She even has a facebook page.

My celebrations double on 26th January

2012-01-26T03:07:00.000-08:00

A sense of pride engulfed me when I heard and saw the young Indians of my housing complex perform to patriotic songs. By default, on the national festivals we get to hear patriotic songs and dances everywhere and so today was no exception. But today when an young Indian(13) sang all the 14(?) verses of 'Jana Gana mana', The Indian in me swelled with pride and most of us got goosebumps.( our constitution has adapted only 4 paras(?))

Any other day, I would'nt perhaps have given much thought and would have gone around with my routine, but today the songs and its content really reminded me, What a beautiful country we belong to!

A small change in geographical terrain brings in a change in culture, language(dialect), customs, cuisine and traditions. Starting from Kashmir to Tamilnadu, we are a country blessed with the ability to absorb other influences and yet hold our own.

In its historical past, many rulers have invaded, plundered and ruled us and yet we have retained our Indianness. Much erosion has happened, but only at the surface. Inspite of so many religions coming from abroad , the culture of our soil has remained deep rooted and our soul untouched. We have made amazing technological and scientific advances without falling in culture. My knowledge of Indian history tells me that neither have we invaded or destroyed any culture or country.

With a rich cultural heritage and science based traditions sometimes it is sad when many of our own country men don't take pride in our culture, values and heritage. Every country has a culture and I respect other cultures too but it hurts when after a few foreign visits or a few years of stay as NRI in some foreign land, our own people degrade their own fellow men by saying 'Indians are like that only'.

Reminds of the pledge we took in our school and our moral responsibility towards it,
"I love my country and I am proud of its rich and varied heritage
I shall always strive to be worthy of it"

I once read Mark Twain's quote on India in a magazine some years ago and I had written them in my diary. I googled to find that quote and it landed on a page, where many history makers had beautiful things to say about our country. Here are the quotes,

We owe a lot to the Indians, who taught us how to count, without which no worthwhile scientific discovery could have been made.
-Albert Einstein

If I were asked under what sky the human mind has most fully developed some of its choicest gifts, has most deeply pondered on the greatest problems of life, and has found solutions, I should point to India.
- Max Mueller (German scholar)

Mark Twain said: India is, the cradle of the human race, the birthplace of human speech, the mother of history, the grandmother of legend, and the great grand mother of tradition. Our most valuable and most instructive materials in the history of man are treasured up in India only.

French scholar Romain Rolland said: If there is one place on the face of earth where all the dreams of living men have found a home from the very earliest days when man began the dream of existence, it is India.

The land of dreams and romance, of fabulous wealth and fabulous poverty, of splendour and rags, of palaces and hovels, of famine and pestilence, of genii and giants and Aladdin lamps, of tigers and elephants, the cobra and the jungle, the country of hundred nations and a hundred tongues, of a thousand religions and two million gods, cradle of the human race, birthplace of human speech, mother of history, grandmother of legend, great-grandmother of traditions, whose yesterday's bear date with the modering antiquities for the rest of nations-the one sole country under the sun that is endowed with an imperishable interest for alien prince and alien peasant, for lettered and ignorant, wise and fool, rich and poor, bond and free, the one land that all men desire to see, and having seen once, by even a glimpse, would not give that glimpse for the shows of all the rest of the world combined.
- Mark Twain

When I read the Bhagavad-Gita and reflect about how God created this universe everything else seems so superfluous.
- Albert Einstein

India - The land of Vedas, the remarkable works contain not only religious ideas for a perfect life, but also facts which science has proved true. Electricity, radium, electronics, airship, all were known to the seers who founded the Vedas.
- Wheeler Wilcox (American poet)

We are proud Indians. Aren't we?

BTW, I mentioned double celebrations in my title. Yes, my family celebrates another occasion today. Today, 13 years ago my son was born and I had to record this since he is turning into a teen today.

My love for him - I can't encompass them in words. But his naughtiness, presence and application of mind, his maturity, his sense of humour and they way he charms me with his intelligence, the way he irritates me by dodging and finds excuses not to study can always be put in words and that could make this post a lengthier one and you would'nt have time for that.

A tag and an award from a budding author

2012-01-24T07:10:00.000-08:00

Bhargavi - a fellow blogger, a painter, book reviewer and now an author has awarded 'The versatile blogger' award and tagged me to write 7 random things about me.

Her romance novella is releasing this valentine and she has two more books in the pipeline which would be published shortly. Here's wishing this young author many more accolades. . Just like her blogposts and paintings, i hope even her book touches many hearts.

Congratulations, Bhargavi. Hope to see you win Booker prize:)

The rules of the award are as follows:
1. Thank the person who nominated you for the award (Thank you Bhargavi)
2. Nominate 15 other bloggers and inform them of the same
3. Share 7 Random facts about yourself
4. Add the Versatile Blogger Award picture to your Blog Post

All bloggers, who pass by my blog are versatile bloggers and they have been awarded umpteen times, not just this award but many more awards, but keeping up with the rules, I award this to:-( You can take up the tag if you wish to, else I can understand because I know many of you have already done it many times, but keep the award)

1)SSStoryteller- My first follower and a great storyteller. Her passion for storytellling reflects in her blog.

2) Maiji (Lalitha Ramakrishnan) - the oldest(83) blogger I know in blogsville. Love to hear stories of yore on her blog. I am a regular on her blog, she does'nt know that I exist.

3)Raji muthukrishnan - her interesting life experiences translate into beautiful and warm posts. She is not regular now with blogging and I miss her beautiful comments on my blog.

4) R. Ramesh(Global Madrasi) - his short, witty posts radiate positivity and are the highlight of his blog. The way he ties short story or joke to mundane incident is remarkable.

5) Bikramjit Mann - now he is one of the most popular blogger in blogsville. Though settled in UK, it is very clear from his posts that he has left his heart in his Pind(Punjab). Right Bikram?

6) Irfanuddin - Another popular and famous Indian blogger who writes socially relevant posts.Receipient of many awards.

7) Rama - A lovely home maker whose posts take me around the world. I have armchair travelled to many places through her blogposts.

8) Gils - We will soon see him walk the ramp of fame. An outstanding creative person whom i hope to see as an young author, director , lyricist etc. He has more than 500 blog post to his credit.

9)Chitra - She maintains 3 blogs one for her creativity ( jewel design) called 'Chitra's jewel art', the other her memoirs and the last one her visits to temples on 'My Pilgrimage'. Her first blog could soon become a brand to reckon with and hope to see 'My pilgrimage' as a coffee table book.

10) Swapna Raghu Sanand: Her warmposts reveal how much she values culture and values relationships.

11) Shalini Gowrishankar - This young girl needs to be rewarded for crossing 500 posts and her Monday morning inspiration posts could drive away your Monday Morning blues.

12) Aruna's world - She does'nt know my blog exists. I love the way she laces her posts with humour.

13) Ramesh (Business musings)- A star blogger and an ace business analyst who writes news much before the newspapers do. I don't need newspapers now, business musings would suffice.

14)Ms. Chitchat - Love her beautiful cookery posts.

and last but not the least, its Bhargavi

15) Bhargavi- like a boomerang the award goes back to her. Yes, i had to list 15 bloggers and I consider Bhargavi one and why..in a few more days when her book releases on valentine's day , the whole world will consider her as a versatile author.

Now to the 7 random-isms-

1) I like listening to radio. Not the BIGfm or radio mirchi kind, but the pip...pip....pip..This is All India Radio kind.

2) I believe and follow natural cure or grandma's kitchen remedies.

3 I can pick languages easily but one language that i find difficult is Konkani.

4) Long, long ago so long ago was a voracious reader of books, now i don't read books much, but I do read on a flickering screen.

5) I am not comfortable with any electronic gadget like note book PC, or operating music system, home theatre, mobiles with advanced features etc., ( Ironically, i am an electronics graduate and was part of 3 member team which designed a multilayered PCB (printed circuit board)(CAD) for notebook computer, double layered PCB's for onboard satellites (ISRO,DRDO,VSSC) etc., some 17 years ago).

6) I get throbbing headache when I watch movies which have special fx and loud sound like matrix, Jurassic park, 2012,JAmes Bond movies, Robot etc... prefer gentle/ soft musical and comical movies.

7) I care less for punctuation(bad habit) and let my words flow and don't punctuate properly like sometimes I start a sentence or name in small letter.

My home of 10 years...

2012-01-20T04:48:00.000-08:00

When I landed in this city 1O years back (jan 18,2002), never did I realize that I would stay or stick to this place so long. There was nothing that I liked about this city, the hyderabadi cuisine, the odour, the colors, the language(dakhni hindi), the design, the Hyderabadi traits like laid back attitude, laziness, unpunctuality, the hard water, the dry weather, My rented home(though it was a brand new home), the shops, streets, hotels, the little kiosks with kebabs dangling…….. nothing I liked …. Nothing… at all.

Today 1O years later, subtly and without realizing it consciously the city has made me fall in love with it.

After all this city is known as the city of love and was born out of love.

Hyderabad the 400 year old city is my home for the past 10 years. A city which is a historians delight and its air, redolent with history. Built for the love for Bhagmati , the fifth king of Golkonda Mohammad Quli Qutub shah founded and designed the city and named it after her as Bhagyanagar in 1589. He had decreed that the new city should be "unparalled in the world and a replica of heaven itself” and his words were taken literally and planned as per the definition of the holy verse of Quran’s paradise. When his lady love joined the royal palace as his queen she was renamed “Hyder Mahal” and Bhagyanagar was renamed as Hyderabad, now the capital of Andhra Pradesh.

A city of oriental glory, the old city still is reminiscent of the great days of the Indo-Muslim culture and the new city- a perfect blend of north and south.

Today, like all other Tier I cities, this city too has emerged as a global IT (Cyberabad)and bio-tech(genome valley) major along with retaining its royal cultural identity(old city hyderabad) and colonial cantonment identity(Secunderabad, though named after Sikandar Jah was originally called Lashkar meaning army camp).

Now 1O years later, the scent, sight, flavor, sound, language and everything about Hyderabad/Cyberabad/secunderabad has sunk into me and influenced me so much that, I’ve turned into a true blue Hyderabadi.

This post is not a travel guide but a list of things that I have done/seen or observed in Hyderabad.(my experiences and may differ from person to person)

· The first thing that would perhaps strike about this city is the language. The dakhni language which reflects their laid backness in its usage. You will find them combining the words aa raha hai to aara , dekh raha hai to dekra, kar raha hai to karra like in kya karra bhai tu?( kya kar rahe ho bhai tu?or the use of ‘ re’ like in kya re? This even spills into English like in what re? Why re?

From the beginning, I would advise my children not to use ‘re’ in their speech and today they tell me ‘Amma, you told us not to use ‘re’ and now you are using it. Such is the influence.

Arrey, yes re bhai, this is hyderabadi language. Hum aisaich hain.( we are like that only)( any body interested in this language, watch rib-tickling movies like Angrez or Aadab Hyderabad and you would know what I am talking about)

· If you are a person who is in a hurry to finish things first like me, this city would slow you down. Their attitude towards any thing in life is ‘lite le le’.(Take it lightly)

· The first time I came into the city, we brought our car by road and as soon as we entered the city near Shamshabad, I found we were the only ones who stopped for signal. The rest never bothered. All lights in the traffic signal are green for Hyderabadis. Similarly, we can overtake from any side. Even if, somebody hits you or you hit somebody. It is ‘ lite le le bhai’( take it light, bro) . While driving, you can simply put the left indicator and turn right.

( since jan1,2012, the laws have become strict though and even cars parked in ‘no parking’ are challaned and the tyres are locked to the road)

· You walk into a shop in a commercial district and ask the shopkeeper who is sipping chai to show you something and he would say. ‘Ruko madam ji, dikhta nahin kya… chai pee raha hoon’. His chai is his priority not his customer. After all they are in Nizam’s land, you see.

· If you are an early riser and have woken at 6 and your afternoon is somewhere around 12 and you Walk into any shop at 11 in the morning and ask for your need, and the shopkeeper would simply dismiss you and say ‘Abhi kula hoon madam, thoda waqt rukna padega’ . After all his subah is only at 11’O clock.

Yes, you will find the city dead before 11 a.m

Ask for directions to any place and the director would say ‘ idharich hai (here only), Seedha jaana, chow raasta aata, left mudna’. And you will find that seedha raasta is a 5 kms stretch and chowraasta is much after that.
If the party invite says that it starts at 6.30p.m Even by mistake, don’t land at 7.30p.m. Reach there only at 8.30. That is the time sense we follow and yes, now I too follow the same time zone. What to do, I follow - When in Rome, do as the Romans do.

Jokes aside, but seriously these are some of my above experiences in this royal city.

Otherwise this is like any one of those global cities where you find anything to everything in the branded malls, Global cuisine in almost all hotels but still if you want to experience the hyderabadi culture, then

Drive around the Signature monument Charminar, you will find Sarojini Naidu’s Poem Bazaars of Hyderabad come alive. The beautiful lanes selling bangles, colorful traditional dresses, the mojris, jhootis, attars, pearls,kundan sets, the ari, zardozi embroidered sets. Especially during Ramzan, the colors that the bazaars display would be beyond the pallete of any artist. This place retains the essence of the real Hyderabad, the rest of the city has slowly morphed with times.

I write about Hyderabad and can cuisine be far behind? Being a vegetarian, I find it difficult to eat at many traditional eateries the city is famous for. For non-vegetarians though, this place is a heaven. Hyderabadi cuisine is cooked with ‘fursat’(slowly) and with Mohabbat(love) with rich ingredients befitting a king. The speciality lies in its slow cooking called ‘Dum’ cooking. The signature dish of course is Haleem which is unique to Hyderabad, seconded by the Dum Pukht biryani and its combo Mirch ka salan. Other than these are Irani chai, Irani samosa, Osmania biscuit, Dil Pasand, Dil kush, Fruit biscuits and the signature desserts Qubani ka meeta( apricot pudding), Double ka meeta( Bread pudding), Dil –e-Firdaus(kaddu kheer) and much more. For vegetarians, try veg biryani at Taj Belsons or Taj tristar(udupi hotels).

During the month of Ramadan, community kitchens define the city streets where people gather to cook on huge handis on either side of the roads and haleems are sold in little cups to break their fast. These sights do warm up your heart.( Being a vegetarian, I hate the aroma)

For a book lover, Abids and King koti are the place to be. It is a haven for second hand books at dirt cheap rates. Books on all topics under the sun from gardening, cooking, sewing to robotics, management and automation, you name it and they have it.

Beach? Our version of Beach is the banks of Hussain sagar The centre of which adorns a little Island with a huge Budhha . Especially in the evenings with the beautifully lit statue, the floating hotel Bhagmati, sitting on the necklace road with the illuminated park hotel behind and feeling the breeze is a costless luxury.(of course, the dampener are the mosquitoes).

If you are a first time visitor heading to Hyderabad for some sightseeing experience, AP tourism covers most of the places but still someplaces have been overlooked like the

unique experience at Lumbini park. Here you can catch, The history of Hyderabad at the Laserium. The story of Hyderabad to Cyberabad is screened with laser beams on a Water curtain which springs from a fountain. Don’t miss this experience in an open air amphi. The laser beams look lovely under the ink blue sky.

The sound and light show at the emporium of diamonds, Golkonda. You will travel back to the times when Koh-i-noor and Hope were mined. An experience you should’nt miss with the baritone voice of Amitabh Bacchan. (narrator)

Sudha car museum where you will find cars in unique designs (working models) like Double decker, tweety, brinjal, Phallus(lingam), Computer and many more all designed by a single man called Sudhakar.

Yogi Bear Putt putt park, all play things like swings, see saw are designed with tyres and it has a small golf link for kids to play. Beautifully designed by homemaker Yogita, inspired by a children park in sweden.

and much, much more define Hyderabad for me today, though 10 years back Brand Hyderabad was IT hit, today it is T-hit( got the drift?).

Now I am a True Blue Hyderabadi from a hard core Bangalorean, Infact, now my home town Bangalore where I lived all my life looks new to me.

Falaknuma palace reminds of the glory of old Hyderabad

The park hotel on the banks of Hussain sagar, A glimpse of New Hyderabad

Image courtesy: google

From Grassroots to Galaxies

2012-01-13T00:51:00.000-08:00

I walk through the vegetable market yard to reach my fitness center which is 3.2 kms from my home. Daily truck loads of farm fresh veggies packed with fresh foliage are offloaded in the wholesale vegetable market yard, it is then auctioned or sold in bulk to retailers who sell their stocks in the various super markets across the city or on their push carts or little kirana shops.

Knowing very well that the stocks were sold in multiples of 10 or 100 Kgs, I never bothered to find the veggie rates till the day I watched news on potato growers on NDTV. The news showed farmers of Punjab driving their trucks over potatoes on the roads. The reason being they were offered just re 1 /kg from the Government.

Subsequently many such news followed in the newspapers that tomato growers of AndhraPradesh played ‘tomatino fest’ , not with joy but seething with anger because they too were offered Re 1 per kg.

That’s when curiosity got the better of me and one day I tried to check the rates of the vegetables at the yard, at the nearby retail vegetable market( where veggies are supposed to be priced less) and in other supermarkets.

The yard rate of potatoes were Rs 7/kg, in the nearby retail market was 10-12 and the supermarket quoted 20rs/kg( 20 times more than what was offered to the farmers). Similarly green peas were sold at Rs. 10/kg at the yard ,Rs 15-17 at the nearby market and at the supermarkets anywhere between 40-50/KG. carrots again at 7, 20 and 32 respectively, Okra at 10,24, and 40.

The veggie rates almost multiplied anywhere between 4-10 times from the grassroot level(farmers) by the time it reached the consumers. It is fair enough for supermarkets to an extent, that some amount of money can be attributed to overheads like transportation, coldstorage, supermarket rent etc., but even the poor hardworking farmer after year long work of tilling, ploughing, sowing, irrigating and toiling under the hot sun with sweat and blood, bank loans, fertilizer expense has his overheads. He too deserves his due.

No wonder , they direct the ire towards towards the vegetables grown.Today’s news reads that farmers of Guntur burn dry red chillies in the yard. They are sadly burning and crushing their own hardwork.

The past few days news papers also report that this is happening with paddy, wheat etc… Isn’t this a criminal waste in a country where 42% of the children are supposed to be malnourished. No, I don’t blame the farmers here and we too buy veggies at rates which spiral towards galaxies.
Most of the consumers who are occupied with their personal and professional work through the week find it tiresome to walk through the veggie market and buy veggies, so many of them try to source them from supermarkets where shopping is a pleasure or in our own apartment complex on sundays, where a branded company known for cigarettes,lifestyle products and food products sells veggies at exorbitant rates. Every body complains about this but who has a choice?

After all these, I am not spelling who should take control but definitely not a winning situation either for the farmers or for the consumers like us, but of course, the middlemen are the sure shot winners who guzzle and laugh their way to the banks without any hardwork.

If you have missed the news check out the potatino fest of the punjab farmers, similarly andhra farmers too played tomatino.

A rustic crafts village in Hi-Tech city

2012-01-06T04:46:00.000-08:00

Handmade arts and crafts is generally believed to mirror the culture and civilsation of a region or state. But in today’s globalised world, where the challenge is to increase the productivity of synthetic products( read made in China ) through technical excellence, traditional creative artistry using environment friendly raw materials and pain staking workmanship has been sidelined.

Some organizations and individuals have taken keen interest to promote such creative artisans and revive Indian art and project it to the modern world. One such creation is Shilparamam on the periphery of Hi-Tec city, by the Government of AP .

With MNC’s and 7Star hotel as neighbours, Shilparamam is a rustic village specially created to promote the creative artisans and their traditional art from every corner of our country. It hosts numerous fairs, annual bazaars, night bazaars and crafts festivals throughout the year and provides the buyers a market to buy objects of art directly from the artisans without having to deal with the middleman.

The architecture of this place would remind you of a village with all those beautiful stalls with hay conical roofs, terracotta plastered uneven walls and painted with beautiful rangolis in white. The village museum here showcases life as in village of yore. At the switch of a button all the village folks start performing chores like chaffing grains,cooking on chulha, grinding with grinding stone, pestle mortar, weaving yarns into clothes etc.,

Spread over 50 acres of land, it has a multipurpose auditorium called Shilpakala vedika which stages concerts, folk dramas, an amphitheatre, a miniature village museum, art gallery, cultural and artistic workshops, eateries serving traditional cuisine and place for recreation like boating and live shows. Festivals are celebrated here in the most unique and traditional way. It is a perfect place to getaway and connect our touch button generation to the roots of our rich heritage.

Though many fairs take place regularly, the one that happens in the last fortnight of December is a major event(Dec 16- Dec31) called THE ALL INDIA CRAFTS MELA and attracts heavy crowd and sales.

It is also a pleasure to shop at such haats than malls for a change because these haats are also a haggler’s delight and there are no middlemen involved.

In short, visiting this place would make you feel as though you have taken an All india tour of Indian crafts and textiles. The only negative point about this haat is that there are no ATM's or swipe card machines so have your purse loaded or you will miss many best buys.

Sharing with you some photos clicked at the haat with an alert that this is a long visual post but would be nice if you view them till the end. ( all photos clicked by me in my camera mobile, so excuse the clarity factor)

The entrance to Shilparamam

Jute craft of West Bengal

Mithila paintings( Madhu bani) of Bihar

Brass craft of Tamilnadu

Dhurries and table mats from Bhuj, Gujrat

Patchitra of Orissa(?)

Beyond the spectrum of Rainbow (Madhubani on wooden bottles)

Beautiful weaver bird nest and nest wreaths. No clue from which place? Do you know?

Dyed Dry flowers of North East

Loved this Brindavan and the beautiful rangoli. Throughout shilparamam you will find all the stalls,and other places plastered with terracotta red and decorated with such beautiful rangolis.

Bargained the earthy walnut wood chair for half the quoted rate and now adorns my home.

furniture made from bamboo

Carvings of neem wood painted with earthy colors make a beautiful show piece reflecting our culture

Leather lampshades and wall puppets of Andhra Pradesh

Stone craft of UP(?)

Marble craft from Rajasthan

Kondapalli toys of Andhra Pradesh

Glass art of UP

Minakari crafted on Brass metal of UP

Aurangabad Batik prints

enormous patience, dedication and concentration must have gone into crafting this beautiful door made from Red Sanders wood unique to Tirupati and Srikalahasti

Yes, please 'Don't Tuch'( hyderabadi english)

Red Sanders (Marapacchi) Ganeshji awaiting make up.One day i want a replica of this to adorn my beauty wall separting my drawing and dining room (cost 60,000INR), not such an expensive one but one made of papier mache.I am on the look out for this.

Portraiture

Thanjavur painting of Tamilnadu. Very expensive art, cos it is made with gold leaf and real gems. A piece of this art would infuse your home with divinity and warmth.

Terracotta figurines to adorn your balcony or sitout

Glazed pottery - brindavan, plant holders, key hangers and nest draws for storing spices

Terracots objects of art and porcelain crockery at the far end.

Urulis, figurines and knick knacks to add beauty to the corners of your home.

terracotta again

A slice of shilparamam, at the far end the glass and chrome building is its neighbour Cyberpearl housing GE

A cake's aroma evokes a cherished December memory

2011-12-30T03:28:00.000-08:00

Like every December, this year too the Xmas tree, nativity scene, festive holly, be-ribboned gifts, colored lights, poinsettias, mistle toe and the reindeer driven Santa warm up the otherwise chilly blue Hyderabadi nights and makes my mood perkier and merrier.

It is a visual treat to watch all the lifestyle and leisure stores deck up their windows with their merchandise and other Christmas embellishments.

Not to forget the bakeries which stock X-mas goodies like marzipans, pastries, ginger bread,Rose cookies, kalkals, Yule log and ofcourse the tastiest of them all the X-mas and New year Plum cakes.

Plum cakes for me reminds me only of two things, one is the famous nilgiris plum cake and the other the one baked by my chitti(mom’s younger sis), but she baked not for X-mas or for new year but for my cousin’s birthday which falls on the last week of December.

This beautiful memory of late 70’s which is nestled in the crevice of my heart surfed up today when the aroma of the Christmas fruit cake wafted from my microwave.

My chittappa worked with FRL(now called the Institute of wood science) and so stayed in the quarter adjoining Sankey tank. The whole area belonged to the Forest department and so it was wooded. In the late 70’s or 80’s there was no dearth of greenery and the quarter and the forest area was separated by a huge green land like a meadow with lot of flowering plants. This extended till the sankey tank which was barricaded with a picket fence.

I and my cousin (he was the only child and my sis was just 2 years old) along with his friends Ganga, Shyama, Vyas and Akhila would go around doing simple things like throwing stones into the lake and enjoy watching the ripples, chasing butterflies and holding them in our hands till the color of their wings stuck to our hands , running around the huge green lawns ducking from the buzzing bees and printing colored flowers onto our dress etc., Suddenly we would drop all those things and go around picking up the mica flakes in the nearby earthy area. We would crush those flakes to powder which would shimmer in our hands under the sun’s rays. We would then dust it on our dress. We would loaf around flaunting our shimmering dress.

Around noon, the aroma of the plum cake would draw us like a magnet to home. We all would wait longingly for our share but we would get a mouthful of scoldings for dirtying our dress.We got our piece of cake too that was after a game of musical chair in the evening.

Such footloose and fancy free days(sigh!) was a regular December routine for me till they got transferred and moved to Dehradun.

When I last passed by Sankey tank, I saw the area stripped of trees to make way for real estate development and road widening and sadly this is supposed to be the First tree court of India, meaning if anybody wants to chop trees in public area they have to seek permission from this place.

3 decades have passed since then and with each passing year, I feel that the year is getting shorter else how do I explain that it seems like just yesterday that 2011 rang in and is already coming to an end so early. Though I know it sounds clichéd, I just can’t stop myself from thinking how time flies and now another goes by making way for new one , nevertheless giving us time and opportunity to build bridge to our destinies.

As the year closes in, My prayers to God to bless this earth with eternal peace, cheer, harmony, love, warmth, innocence and a healthy safe world for years to come.

Looking forward to 2012 with high hope.

May god bless you all with good health, happiness and fulfill all your dreams in the coming year.

Dhanushkodi - A port town under the sea

2011-12-22T00:48:00.000-08:00

In my childhood, one of the stories I heard from my family elders was that of Dhanushkodi, a town on the east coast of India, which submerged when a cyclone of wind velocity 270km/hour crashed into it on the night of 22-23 December 1964. The killer wind and the accompanying tidal wave blew away all structures and the storm marooned the land, wiping almost the whole town. Infact the Government of Madras declared it as a ghost town and unfit for living.

But a few survived to tell the tale and one of the surviving family was my mom’s maternal uncle who worked there as DS of Customs and Central excise and lived there with his family.

Though I have heard the story many times when I was young, I recently asked my mom’s mama ( he is now 84 and lives in Madras) to tell it me again during our telecon a few weeks back.

And he said “ Even now, The thought gives me shivers”.(ippo ninaichalum nadungaradu)

On Dec 22, 1964, My mom’s mama, his wife and two sons aged 4 and 2 were having their noon day siesta. They were surprised when the water gushed into their house and in no time it slowly raised to the level of bed. Worried about their sleeping sons and the rising water levels, they immediately placed two tall wooden stools over the bed and stood over the stool holding their 4 and 2 year old and tied them with a rope to the ceiling. The 20 metre tidal wave flooded the home and by evening the water came up to their neck level and it was getting difficult for them to hold the children up there and balance themselves. Thankfully the rising water stopped just there. With great difficulty they sustained all throughout the night with the wailing children. The water subsided only in the morning around 10 and then they were evacuated to a temple, where they were given food and shelter for 3 days and finally rescued to mandapam relief camp along with other survivors in a ship (INS Sarada).Needless to say that they lost all their belongings.

Dhanushkodi ( also known as Sethukkarai) was a town at the southern tip of Rameshwaram Island(in southern Tamilnadu) on the East coast of India, and the nearest Indian town close to SriLanka (just 18kms to Talaimannar,Srilanka). It was a quiet town till then (1964) except for low tidal waves, It had a post office, a Customs office, a railway station, temples and a church. All the needs of the town like groceries, vegetables were met by the railway people who after getting the people’s list would bring their needs through Indo-ceylon express( also called Boat mail) which connected Madras to Colombo and the ferries from talaimannar brought them textiles and other luxury goods like jewels etc., Before 1964, a train was connected to Srilanka from Chennai. It came up till a pier in Dhanush kodi and from there, passengers used a ferry service to cross the 18km(13km?) Adam’s bridge( a series of coral reefs) to reach Talaimannar in Srilanka. (This Adam’s bridge is also called ‘Ramsetu’ the one built by Lord Hanuman to help Lord Rama cross to Srilanka)

It had no colleges or schools so all students travelled to Rameshwaram by a train for their education. On that fateful night, This train which was approaching Dhanushkodi was washed away by the high tidal wave. The train carried the students who were travelling back after school and college.

The mythological importance assigned to this town is that, according to the hindu scriptures after the Lanka war, when Lord Rama returned to India, Vibhisana pleaded that Lord Ram break the sethu(bridge) so that no other armies use it. Rama gave in to his request and broke the Indian side of the bridge with the end of his bow. This place came to be known as Dhanushkodi (Dhanush –bow and kodi is end). Thus this is a holy place for Hindus , further made holier by the confluence of two sea bodies, The bay of Bengal and Indian ocean.

Today , 46 years later, The structures that withstood the tidal wave still exist buried under the sand and some partly weathered by the Sea adding a mysterious beauty to the place. A few fishermen have settled here in thatched huts and life goes on for them unaware of tomorrow. Of late, I read in a magazine that the sea water is slowly receding and some parts of the submerged town are visible.

I have’nt visited Rameshwaram and Dhanushkodi, but it is on my ‘to do list’ to see and experience how it feels, standing at the land mass which is at the tip of India. Many tourists who travel to Rameshwaram are unaware of Dhanushkodi and the ones who visit sing praises about its its beautiful coral reefs and rich marine life which is supposed to be very active here since the ocean waters are very shallow.

It is also the birth place of our ex President and missile man APJ Kalam. and this is also the town through which Swami Vivekananda entered India Via SriLanka after his famous Chicago conference.

A port, a holy town, nature lover's paradise that was (is) Dhanushkodi. Mark it next time around Rameshwaram.

the remains of the church

Picture courtesy: Google images

My carnatic musings

2011-12-16T01:03:00.000-08:00

Much before the advent of TV in Bangalore, my mom, a veena player would tune into one of those carnatic concerts called December Kacheri held in chennai on AIR. Amma would hum the kritis and could identify the ragas , When I asked her how she could identify the ragas?. She told me since she had learnt music and with continuous listening and practice, one could identify.

Till then, I who was a passive listener told my mom I too wanted to play veena like her, Amma advised me to take carnatic vocal, since veena or Sitar would be difficult to lug around and so enrolled me in a vocal class. Thus started my love for this carnatic music, though my music lessons were aborted after a year and half, my love for this genre has grown manifold . (my very old teacher got married and left and with no music tutors around it got aborted).

And now it’s December again or Margazhi in tamil.

Madras aka Chennai’s air would be musical in margazhi (mid dec –Mid jan) hosting a cultural/musical extravaganza which is one of its kind in the world.

This cultural fest also called as December Kacheri(concert) or margazhi kacheri was started in 1927 to commemorate the founding of Madras music academy. A music conference was held during the Madras session of Indian national congress.(info courtesy: India Heritage) and today adopted by various sabhas(concert halls) in different parts of the city. According to a cultural magazine sruti , a few years back 53 organisations conducted 60 festivals in a period of 117 days . Music and dance concerts numbered at 1604 and its increasing every year. Possibly nowhere in the world so many organizations conduct so many festivals in such a short period of time ,thus making it as one of the unparalled fests in the world.The fest is not restricted to vocals. It showcases a wide spectrum of talent in Instruments, dance, drama and even lec-dems are held.

Come December and World over, many cities gear up to attract holiday tourism while Madras attracts concert tourism. Musicians and scholars from all over the world congregrate to this city to participate in the music fest, It is considered prestigious to sing in these cultural sabhas during MArgazhi. It also serves as a platform for upcoming artists.

Today this genre of music has reached international arena and similar fests are organized by Indians abroad. Recently Jaya TV had organized an event called carnatic music idol,USA specially for children born and raised in the USA. It was a pure aural and visual treat to find so many children dressed traditionally rendering carnatic song. I could'nt stop admiring and appreciate the kids for keeping the cultural flag flying high in foreign shores.

When it was my turn to introduce my children to this music, taking them to concerts organized in Hyderabad like S.Sowmya, Mahanadhi Shobhana , various concerts at skandagiri helped them to develop interest.

Listening to music is theraupetic, more so when the music form is rooted in devotion and main content is spiritual like in one of the oldest form of music – carnatic music.

Today,this music is slightly fused with western instruments to create a new genre called pep or pop carnatic.

My favorite voice on carnatic belongs to Bharat Ratna M.S.Subbalakshmi whose timeless and matchless voice is bound to resonate till eternity. Her Bhavayami Gopalabalam is one of my favorite. The divine voice transports you to a different plane altogether

My favorite Bhavayami gopalabalam by MSS

A fused kriti set to orchestration by Rock to raaga band

A fused varnam by Amogha band for a telugu movie

Celebrating 'Light'

2011-12-10T05:38:00.000-08:00

(bharani deepam in my puja room, courtesy my MIL)

Praying to god is a part of our culture and each one of us have our own special way of connecting with god. I am not very ritualistic and conveniently tweak some of our traditions and rituals, but placing flowers to god and lighting the silver lamp in my pooja alcove has a meditative effect on me . The glowing golden filters of the diya further accentuated by the fragrance of the sambrani dhoop or incense sends me into a trance. Truly sublime!!

If just one diya can give immense joy and peace, imagine the amount of joy and peace when rows of such lighted agal vilakkus(terracotta lamps) can give.

This tamil month of Karthigai( mid nov- Mid Dec), Tamil homes celebrate Karthigai deepam on the full moon day, an ancient festival. It is also considered as the extension of Deepavali and in some homes people double the number of lamps every day from the day of Deepavali and conclude with a number of lamps on the day of Karthigai Deepam. Rows of agal vilakku (clay diyas, not electric ones) arranged in the pooja room, threshold of living room, kitchen, even wash rooms, alcove, on the compound walls, on window sills is a sight to behold making the whole place dreamlike. It cannot get surreal than this.

Many legends are associated with this festival, which I have already written in detail here and here.

A scientific astrologer Dr. Pazhinathan stated in TV, that in ancient times, when there was no electricity and darkness fell early during the winter months, the scholars had informed the people to light the lamps so that it would serve as street light for way farers. But people being people did not heed to the scholars. They in turn told the King and he immediately proclaimed it as a festival and ordered all people to light diyas on their front yards and back yards. This also doubled as a street light.

The clay diyas brought during this time also adds to the potters kitty, who do brisk business during the time of deepavali and now.

( a pottery stall set up at a corporate campus as part of their celebration)

What ever be the reason - spiritual, mythological or scientific or the argument that it is not relevant for today's times, It does not deter me from holding on to such traditions and customs. If anything, it only anchors me from the rigours of life and helps me to pass on our cultural baton to the gen next. I enjoy those special days called festivals.

May their tribe increase!!!

2011-12-01T05:45:00.000-08:00

There is a tribe which silently serves, champions and crusades for the children of the lesser god by donating all their wealth, time and shower them with their unconditional love and care.
They selflessly help the society by caring for the underprivileged and their work definitely needs help and a wider reach. Listing two of them here which have had a great impact on me.
The first in the list is Mr. Vidyakar and his Udavum Karangal( helping hands) an NGO based out of chennai, whose advertisements seeking volunteers and donations have always caught my attention.

Udavum Karangal - Because everyone deserves a home!

Udavum Karangal (Helping Hands) is a registered, non-governmental, non-religious and non-profit social service organization, established in 1983, with the sole objective of serving people in need.Life surprises you when you are least prepared for it. For Mr.Vidyaakar who was running a small community centre in the slums of NSK Nagar, surprise came in a ragged bundle of clothes. Within it was a frail child crying his heart out and reaching out to him with his puny fingers. When he gave his hand for the little boy to hold, it was the beginning of an ardent journey. Udavum Karangal (Helping hands) was thus born to help anyone who needs a hand to stand and to this day, it continues to give hope where there exists none.

Udavum Karangal believes that everyone deserves to be loved. Till date, there have been around 2000 unfortunate brethren from new born babies to dying destitutes who have found a home here. The centre provides individualized services - treatment, care, rehabilitation and education.

Anything i write more about this would only be a repeat of their website so click on that to know more. courtesy: Udavum karangal

The second NGO in my list is CNN hero Narayanan Krishnan and his Akshaya trust. I first heard and saw his interview on TV when he was shortlisted as one of the Top ten CNN heroes for world. His video clippings feeding the needy was all over the social networking sites and on national networks and moved many to tears.

In 2002, Narayanan Krishnan, a gifted young chef from Madurai, India, was working for an exclusive hotel group preparing haute cuisine for the ultra-rich. But when he went home to Madurai to visit his family, something he saw shocked him to his core.“I saw a very old man eating his own human waste for food,"

Krishnan knew he couldn’t go back to the gourmet restaurants he’d been working in when his own countrymen were starving to death. So he decided to stay in India and began fixing meals for that man, and for the countless others who could not care for themselves.

The following year, he founded the nonprofit group Akshaya Trust. The organization is named from the “Akshaya bowl” from Hindu mythology, a bottomless inexhaustible bowl that can feed the hungry forever—just as Krishnan hopes his group will do.

Each morning, Krishnan and his team rise at 4 AM, and seek out the homeless throughout a 123-mile radius, armed with packets of hot vegetarian meals that Krishnan has prepared by hand. He brings the meals to a crowd of about 400 regulars, and gives them free haircuts and beard trims when they need it. In the years since starting the nonprofit, he’s served over 1.2 million meals.

His recipients are nearly all mentally ill, and do not have the capacity to thank him. Nonetheless, Krishnan receives great pleasure from the work he does.

“I get this energy from the people,” he said. “The food which I cook ... the enjoyment which they get is the energy. I see the soul. I want to save my people.”

For more on him and his work check out their site akshaya.

And there are celebrities who care and have initiated AGARAM and BEING HUMAN, the various corporates which serve as part of their corporate social responsiblity and schools which serve through the social service clubs, thus inculcating the value of compassion, share and care for the needy.

All these unsung heroes deserve space on our blog, newspapers and other media. Don't they?

May their tribe increase!!!

A proud mom writes

2011-11-27T03:52:00.000-08:00

I could'nt rest till I wrote this.

In the past 16 years, I have not watched any serial regularly. I repeat, regularly, except two comedy serials in tamil called 'veetukku veedu looty' and kasalavu nesam. I havn't followed any of the K series serials neither do i watch any english sitcoms( I don't understand them). But i have recently made exception with Bade acche lagte hain.(click on the link to know wjat the serial is about) There is suddenly a spurt of beautiful value based serials on sony TV.

While i was watching the repeat telecast with my children, in between were the promos for an upcoming serial called parvarish. This serial is about parenting. The teaser showed two sisters pinky and sweety who are mom of teens. Pinky says a parent should be strict and must never give liberty to children. She does'nt even understand and realise her pre teen daughter is a talented singer, while her sis sweety is a very liberal mom and has to face the consequences of that in her teen daughter.

While this promo was going on, my son who was having his noon lunch after coming back from school said

"A parent should never be strict like pinky aunty and lenient like sweety aunty. A parent has to be like amma and appa - a combination of both".

for which my dot retorted - yes, they should be like our amma and appa, they should be a combo of both and not too friendly too, we have lot of friends but amma and appa can only be one.

And these are the children who made me proud during the recent PTA meet when my dot's teacher told. "It's rare to have a child who can be sincere, dedicated and meticulous these days. you are blessed to have such a child."
.Her hindi teacher( she topped in hindi amongst her mother tongue hindi speaking classmates) and her strict maths teacher told her in front me
"you should'nt be scared of trignometry. Remember Sh, trignometry should be scared of you. (she lost 4 marks in this branch and scored 76/80). All the other teachers too had only words of praise for her like sincere, diligent, meticulous, well behaved , affectionate, obedient behaves well with her peers and teachers etc.,

It's a different story that she throws tantrums and fights with her bro for the silliest reason at home, but I came home a proud mom.

My son's teacher was equally appreciative and said. 'He is attentive and gives me extra information about the subject. Never mind if he does'nt top the class, he understands the concept and applies them. Though his handwriting is not good and legible like his sis, that is how boys his age are. He gets away with his naughtiness by throwing his beautiful and obedient smile".

As a mom, i was glad to hear those remarks and see the marks. All these when my children don't even go to tuitions but attend music, drawing and play games(it is very difficult to pin down my playful son for studies, but when he concentrates he catches up things in no time) till the day prior to the exam.

This post may sound pompous, a proud mom writes this because I was certified by my children.

Thank you my dear dot and son. My only wish is - God bless them to remain that way in the future too.

Written in Heaven....... celebrated on Earth

2011-11-23T05:45:00.000-08:00

That time of the year when soulmates unite, lifelong commitment is made to share their life and grow old together. Yes, the celebration season is on with wedding invitations rolling in, where the bride and groom have a headrush and butterflies overcome their senses while the luster of a bright future engulf their thoughts.

In these days of trans continental weddings , I have a Gujrati, Kannada and Punjabi invitation and some invitations are from my own community, the venue in my birth town which I would have to give a miss, which in turn means giving the colorful festivities and feast a miss.

Like in any of our subcontinental wedding, even tamil iyer weddings are celebrated richly, ritualistically traditionally and colorfully.

Most wedding halls in Tamilnadu would be adorned with full grown plaintain trees, signifying evergreen plenty for endless generations and overhead festoons of mango leaves and coconut glades signify the never fading bonding which would begin there(though scientifically it has a different reason). Mellifluous sounds of nadaswaram reaches its crescendo signifying everyone present that the union of two souls is sacred and divine. Beautiful kolams in white and red would match the mood of the occasion ushering in the well wishers dressed in rustling silk sarees and white veshti’s( dhoti) or their traditional best.

All guests would be welcomed by the sprinkle of the perfumed rosewater, flowers and sugar candy(mishri) /

In its festive splendor it is a fitting beginning to the richness of the wedding to follow. What was once a five day affair during my MIL’s time( she was married in the 40’s at the age of 12) has now been reduced to a 2 day affair or in some cases it also has been briefed to a few hours at the temple or at the civil court, arya samaj or in a hotel.

These days the bride and groom design their own website and roll out invitations defining the various rituals and their significance. In an arranged marriage, It all begins with the matching of horoscopes and then the mutual like of the bride, groom and their families and once this is over. The preparations begin for the celebrations.

Sharing with you all what I found in one of the invitations.

Ah!....no...no... wait......Before that an interesting anecdote, I had a tam brahm neighbor who was an army personnel. He was very spiritual and a follower of one of the famous Indian saint who died recently. He was looking for an alliance for his only son who was an engineer in the United states. He left for the US the following month and so handed his house keys and car for its upkeep and care to us. Before leaving he told me and my husband that his main job in the US would be to look for a suitable girl for his son through the various matrimonial sites and asked us also to let him know if we knew a suitable girl in our community.

And guess what we hear from him the following week. He called us to tell in a sing-song voice that his would-be dil is a brit-american girl Catherine Box.

Is'nt that how the weddings are these days? Global and trans continental. I just can’t stop admiring at many such parents who are broad minded , progressive, adjust and adapt so well to the new relationship and there are so many such parents now. Of course, that uncle related to me how he debated the cultural differences with his son but to change his culturally conditioned mind at the age of 60 needs lot of maturity.

And yes, I have seen that girl who on a visit to India last navrathri wore a saree and gave haldi-kunkum to all the invited ladies .

A pretty long post, so will post the rituals and their significance in my next post.

Toyland, Ahoy!

2011-11-06T02:08:00.000-08:00

Whenever I travel the Bangalore –Mysore route, the child in me pops on seeing the arch “Toy town - Chennapatna welcomes you”. I always try to stop at this place to have a look at all those beautiful and colorful chennapatnada gombegulu( chennapatna dolls) adorning the shelves on those tiny shops which are on either side of the highway.

This little town which is 60kms from Bangalore just after the Sholay town ramnagaram( hindi movie sholay was shot here) is famous for eco-friendly hand made wooden toys and locally it is called gombegala ooru ( toy town).

This ancient art which has survived many generations is believed to be the art of Persian toy makers, who were brought to India by the Mysore ruler Tipu Sultan. Made out of rain forest tree wood, colored with vegetable dyes and polished with blades of grass which have an abrasive property , these toys have no sharp edges . These are child-friendly, eco-friendly and non-toxic compared to the battery operated expensive electronic toys. From each rain wood tree they make 2000 toys and for every 20 toys they sell they plant a tree, thus for every tree cut to make toys, they plant 100 trees making their rain forest multiplier as100. Similarly the vibrant colours, ivory tones and lacquer finish comes from natural tree waxes and cactus leaf oil, all of which are non-toxic.

What’s more you save on the cost of batteries and e-waste, when you buy these mechanical toys which work on the principle of winding.

Like any other child, my children too born in the electronic age played with battery operated electronic toys. These toys were educational and entertaining. No doubt on that but they were’nt safe. Made with plastic and lead these toys required constant monitoring while they played , moreover the batteries were an additional expense on our monthly budget and the batteries were part of our monthly provision or shopping list with one toy having a 9v Duracell battery costing 120Rs and 6 numbers of 1.5v battery. That way, these wooden toys are a good alternative and an ideal gift material.

A decade back, this industry faced a huge challenge from the Chinese toy market and was almost on the brink of close-down but survived, due to the interest shown by some NGO’s and bulk orders from some famous MNC’s . After surviving the challenge, today they have diversified to meet the modern day requirements and so along with traditional toys like dolls, mind games, mathematical games, dolls abacus, tic-tac-toe spinning tops,rocking horse, pallankuzhi etc., they also make modern day games and meet the requirements of emerging markets by making roller-bead seat cover, car back rests, mandasanam( pooja alcoves),candle holders, decorative pieces like vintage cars, motorcycles, wooden bead curtains, chess board table etc,. They have products for all ages from toddler toys to old man's walking aids.( see the pics below)

These toys/products/dolls are now popular in most of the art and craft exhibitions held across India and have a huge export order market from western and European countries. During her recent visit to India Michelle obama has picked some of these Chennapatna toys as mementos and today they adorn White house too. With the help of NGO’s and MNC’s they design and produce world class toys which has led to the revival of this craft and the artisans. Microsoft is one of their major customer.

Personally ( to the best of my knowledge),my first visit to this place was when I was just 11 and my paternal grand mom got me a jewel box which i cherish to this date.( she passed away a couple of months later and so was the last gift from her) and a stencilled colored alphabet kit for my 5 year old sis and from then on it is a ritualistic stop for me at chennapatna whenever enroute mysore.

Next time while you are on the Bangalore –Mysore highway, indulge the child in you and pay a visit to these toy shops or if you’re luckier pay a visit to the homes where these dolls are crafted and have a visual tour. You will be thrilled to see the child in you surf up!

Check the pics below clicked by me on my latest visit and have your pick....

.... keychains, car hangings, window and wall hangings........

.... showpieces, wall masks, pooja mantaps

The traditional stacker ring dolls.

roller toys and colorful pallankuzhi

stationary items like erasers, sharpeners, stand alone dolls.............

pen holders, jewel boxes, kunkum bharnis and roller rabbits...........

casks, wooden vintage bikes, cars

and many more like crafted rosewood inlay tables, centre tables ........all at any of the chennapatna wooden toy stall anywhere in Indian art/craft exhibition or at Cauvery emporias across India.

This movie kept me hypnotised with awe...........

2011-10-31T06:22:00.000-07:00

I'Ezham arivu' (7^th sense) is a tamil movie which released this diwali. This movie is a pot- pourri of historical reality, fantasy, thrills, romance, comedy, good music, sci-fi, special fx all put together. This movie had an extensive and expensive promotion and so easily such movies leave public with great expectations.

A.R. Murugadoss (ghajini fame) has directed Surya sivakumar, Shruti haasan( kamal hassan’s daughter) and Vietnamese American actor Johnny tri nguyen and the movie, despite mixed reviews did impress me a lot.

The movie begins with the 6^th century tamil prince of pallava lineage, who is a master in the art of ' nokku varmam' ( like hypnotism, it is a peculiar martial art through which a particular part in the opponent’s body could be attacked by mere sight itself.),master in the use of herbal medicine and martial art (kalari). He travels to china to cure the people suffering there from a dreadful disease. The Chinese don’t accept the intruder initially until he has cured one of their fellow men. He cures the contagious disease and saves the people from an epidemic. Finally people accept him as their master when he also fights their territorial enemies single handedly with the help of kalari and nokku varmam. They compile all his wisdom into a book. After fulfilling his mission of curing and saving the Chinese, He decides to leave china but they poison him to death with the belief that when he is buried in their village they will remain disease free.

Cut to the present 2011 chennai, where doctoral student in genetics, Shruti does research on the genes of the pallava heirs and finds the pallava king's genetical traits dormant in the hero Surya.

Meanwhile China over the centuries has utilized the prince’s healing powers of medicine, martial arts ( according to historians Kung Fu is Kalari , originated in India) and hypnotism and trained many youngsters. One of them Dong lee( Johnny Tri Nguyen) who is a hypnotic expert and martial art expert travels to India to wage a bio-war by injecting the deadly 6^th century disease into the general public.( So that china can release the antidote and make money)

How the heroine activates the dormant genes in the hero and together how they thwart the plans of Dong Lee and the Chinese government is what the movie is all about.

The movie’ s screenplay is woven around a historical fact with lots of thrilling fights and car crashes( hypnotism has been overtly used).

But all the above was not the reason I was hooked to the movie.

The movie had me awestruck because Bodhidharman is a fact and his healing powers, hypnotic powers and martial art powers are practiced by Chinese. On death this prince is worshipped even today in china as Tao and as Zen’ in Japan. His martial art is renamed as ‘Kung Fu’ and his philosophy as Zen philosophy. This Pallava prince is revered all around china, Vietnam, japan and is considered as the 28^th partriarch of Lord Buddha. The public of all these Asian countries are aware of him, while we in India, atleast me are not aware of him.

In his closing shots, the hero Surya says " We indians are rich in knowledge and wisdom, some of us dismiss traditions and customs as regressive or irrelevant and attribute it to religion, while all our customs, rituals and practices are science based. For eg, the use of turmeric in rituals and cooking is mostly because it is an antiseptic or the use of tulsi, cowdung and so on..... Unfortunately what has been advised by our elders is copied by the westerners and today they have patented turmeric. Teach your children the rich history of India and reason the rituals and religious beliefs scientifically. Like export quality products Intelligent Indians export themselves and work on foreign shores and contribute their knowledge and intelligence there". and he said much more which i am unable to recollect.

That dialogue touched me and yes those words are truly said.....

Time to unearth more such facts about india. We seem to be the pioneers in many fields , many of them are buried under the earth. Bodhi dharman was one such revelation. Check him here.

P.S: I had written about the Indian exercise of thorpukarnam which has been renamed as Brain yoga and is now practised in Yale university of medicine. If interested read about it here.

Fall in line, Please

2011-10-28T03:40:00.000-07:00

or Queue please....... that's what I was yelling when I went around the labyrinth to see the world's most visited and second richest god in the world......... but........ who's to listen?......... It fell on deaf ears.

With a free ticket, i thought i had direct darshan to see the god and so after refreshing ourselves we went in search of the Vaikuntam -2 gate through which we 'Divya darshan' ticket holders had to get into the labyrinth.
We went around the temple in search of the gate and easily passed a few metres after depositing our cell phones and chappals and finally reached the queue only to be seated in an enclosure. We were allowed to rest in this place till the previous entrants had their darshan.

Suddenly when the enclosure was opened, like a broken dam the fitter and impatient devotees started rushing out of the door like water gushing out of a broken dam using all the heptathlon events. From then on it was a nightmare, they were crushing or elbowing elders/children whoever came in their path, while some were jostling for space. It was a tough time for senior citizens and devotees with children. Some had placed their kids over their shoulders and some on their waist, while some children were sandwiched between elders and gasping for breath.

All cries for help and some patience only fell on deaf ears. The irony was when the security guards and policemen stood like statues or 'Golu bommais'. When I told one of the security guards to control the crowd, he was totally expressionless and standing motionless. It was disastrous. Thankfully there was no stampede since there was no space for anybody to fall.

This continued inside the temple until the sanctum and finally we had a peek of the god, again a huge rush to come out of the temple.

After the darshan it was another ordeal to find your cellphone counter and your chappal counter and the laddu counter. All these places, you are to stand in a queue where some smart people think it is their privilege to jump the queue and those who are standing in the q are jobless.

It is painful to recollect these things when you go to have a peaceful darshan of god.

On the flipside the same fortnight I had a chance to stand in the US consulate queue,where the queue was streaming out like a well oiled machine.

The elders and those with children had a separate queue and great care was taken by the security guards to screen the people. With a smile on their face, they were so helpful and courteous. After the whole exercise, when we were on our way back home , we suddenly received a call from the consulate telling that my daughter had not given her thumb expression( she was 14 going to be 15, hence the confusion). When she and my husband went back her name was called from one entry point to the other entry point till she reached inside without any difficulty.

Both the places were manned by Indians and the crowd in both the places were Indians, then where was the difference?

I wish they used the riches to educate( with flyers on behaviour and conduct code) and organise the crowd, then it would be a pleasure for all senior citizens, kids and their parents to visit Tirumala.

My step(s) up to Tirumala via Srivari Mettu

2011-10-21T11:32:00.000-07:00

When I decided to join my husband for the trek to Tirumala, our friends discouraged me by telling that I would’nt keep pace with my husband ( he is a jogger and walks upto 6kms /day)and it would’nt be possible for me to finish, but I was keen on going with him rather than stay alone in the guest house, after all the Kapoors too were going for the ‘Mundan’( tonsuring). I told them I regularly walk for an hour and so I would join him.

We off-loaded our back packs into their cab which they had hired to tirumala and with just a waterbottle and handbag we took an auto to Srivari mettu.

There are two trekking paths to tirumala – the regular one is the alipiri route( 4kms and 3000+ steps) which is in use for a long time and the other is the Srivari mettu which was renovated and thrown open to the public some two years back due to the increase in the number of pilgrims trekking to Tirumala. This is supposed to be the shorter and arduous of the two.

Srivari mettu is said to be older than the Alipiri route and is believed to have been used by legendery emperor SriKrishnadevaraya and even by the saint composer and singer Annamacharya.

I was too eager to trek up the hill, after all we had done it before too at the rugged mountains of Abbey falls in coorg, Bhramagiri hills(coorg), in Kodaikanal but all these were long back, I did’nt realize that I was 10 years older now to those times.

All along the autodriver was telling us it would take just two hours and it was just 2 to 2.5kms, but when I reached the base of Srivari mettu and enquired at the base camp office the real length of the route. He told me 2300 steps.

Now that was a dampener for me, walking on plain surface is easier but to ascend the steps......

Putting all my doubts aside, I ascended the first few steps motivating myself that with each step, I was closer to the target, I easily ascended 200 steps, there on it became slightly difficult, I started panting and had to take rest at the landing of every 50 steps.

Slowly but steadily I Scaled 700 steps.

After ascending 700 steps, there were boards which read there was a biometric ticket counter offering a quick and free darshan at the 1200th step. After reading this, I told my husband I would push myself till that counter and then if there were any vans/cabs at the landing I would take that while he could finish his trek.

To my luck, there were no such facility it was just a counter to issue a photo ticket called ‘Divya Darshan’.

Motivated by my husband, I was slightly charging myself up slowly with a sip of water and now I rested after every 20-25 steps, the steps were steeper from now on…..

Slowly I inched and pushed myself and many a times I doubted if I ever would reach the top, I rested now at every 10th step and washed my sweaty face to perk up myself.

Finally at the end of 2000^th step got our ticket validated at the second counter.

Now I was slightly happy and rested at a landing for sometime and it was only now that I realized I was walking up the forest of Red Sandal wood(Rakth chandan from which the famous marapacchi dolls were made) and missed out the beauty of the birds like blue jay around me.

The plains of Tirupati below looked like a white town with lots of buildings and I was uphill. Slowly and steadily like a ‘cool down’ the steps lost its steepness and Lo! There I was….. I finally ascended the 2300 steps and heaved a sigh of relief when I reached Tirumala clocking 1 hour and 55 minutes.

While I was climbing, I thought I did a mistake of taking the steps, but the pain and trouble I went through was totally washed off when I reached the top and it was so satisfying and all those troubles translated to joy.

Having reached Tirumala with a Divya Darshan ticket, I thought the pain was through, I would’nt be standing in the queue and it entailed me to have a direct access to the sanctum. But no …., I got it wrong. The trouble was ahead.

The queue ordeal deserves a separate post.

P.S: Don't be discouraged by this post, If you are physically and clinically fit , it is not difficult to climb up. There were many senior citizens and young children who climbed up effortlessly only in my case I had a knee twist due to Vit B12 deficiency, just a few weeks back and so found it slightly difficult.

The call of the Divine

2011-10-18T01:09:00.000-07:00

Many a times we plan and work for certain things and things don’t fall in our way and at times things work for us just as easily as we snap our finger.

My tirupati trip was one such. I certainly feel it was the call of the divine.

We were always orally planning a trip to Tirupati in the past few years, to be precise 7 years. Everytime the name of the place came up, we would say we would make a day’s trip from Chennai, but when in Chennai we would have no time to make a trip. Though Tirupati is in Andhrapradesh, it is closer to Chennai and we manage to visit Chennai annually but our tirupati trip never happened.

But recently on a weekend last month, I and my husband decided to travel to Tirupati since both our children would be away on excursion. We went to the local TTD to book our ticket, we were told by the authorities that due to Brahmotsavam there were no cottages or darshan tickets during end sept. Finally we booked our tickets for mid oct with our thumb impression.

Two days later, my son’s friend called up to talk to my son, before I could put him to my son, I was asking him if he had packed his things and was all set for the excursion. The conversation between him and me went like this

He said ‘Haan aunty, V and S( my daughter and his sis are class mates) are leaving in the morning, I and S( my son) are leaving in the afternoon and mama and papa are leaving by the evening train.

Me: Kahan jaa rahen hai mama and papa?.

He: Tirupati,

I immediately asked his mom whom we knew very well for the past 10 years, how they could manage to visit Tirupati during Brahmotsavam and she said her husband regularly travels to Tirupati as he has his business links there,so it should’nt be a problem. They told us also to book our train tickets and the rest could be managed there.

And that’s how our sudden trip to Tirupati came up during Brahmotsavam, with a planned mid- oct darshan ticket it happened in end-sept.

Though I was apprehensive about the Brahmotsavam crowd, We thought since the children were not with us we could even stand for as many hours in the queue and have our darshan. Our waitlisted tickets got confirmed in time and after my daughter and son left by the morning and afternoon train, we too left to Tirupati along with the Kapoors.

I generally hate crowded temples/places and Tirupati on any day, is not just crowded but always over-crowded , then Imagine how the crowd would be around Brahmotsavam.

But to our surprise, the crowd was very less in Tirupati, not even the regular crowd, Thanks to the T-Bandh, It was cut off from 14 districts and the people of neighbouring states were perhaps apprehensive and so the service providers like Cab guys, hoteliers told us they were making less business.

On reaching Tirupati, My husband decided to trek up to Tirumala from Tirupati. I decided to join him. Will share about this in my next post.

So much to share and write..................

2011-10-13T01:43:00.000-07:00

..................about my tiring but fulfilling dussehra fortnight break

a sudden trip to tirupati during brahmotsavam,
the trek up to tirumala via srivari mettu,
the contrast in queue at US consulate and Tirupati temple
an exciting road trip to Bangalore in 6.30 hours ( inclusive of the tea and breakfast breaks),
my children's irregular examination and school schedules, due to T-factor ( my daughter's board exam(SA1) went on albeit discreetly)
Some Hyderabad Schools functioning on sundays and with ungodly timings.
the empty nest syndrome, when my children were away on their school excursion (daughter to kulu-manali-rohtang pass and son to Ooty-mudumalai),
About the politicians who are ruining the students and public life here ( Sadly, these people voted by us to power amass lakhs in few months of power, while we slog to make a few in our life time and they don't even allow the general public to have an easy life)
The special red-wood dolls of Tirupati ( marapacchi bommai)
Chennapatna toys
koil prasadam,
The passing away of Jagjit singh whose ghazals were a part of my life and Steve jobs, whose story I read at times to motivate myself.
About RmKV - the silk shop, which regularly greets my family on all occasions.
About my childrens's seniors and our colony girls crowned as Ms. Hyderabad 2011 and the other seniors being the first runner up and in the top5.
About the native wisdom and tips doled out by revathi shankar the singer, dancer, actor and the lady who is a treasure of native wisdom whom most of them know as Rajnikant's mother in the film Robot.

Want to write about all the above let me see how I prioritise blogging along with my regular routine, diwali work and cleaning work looming ahead..

Online Navaratri Golu(display of dolls)

2011-09-27T23:20:00.000-07:00

If Dussehra for me is synonymous with Mysore, then Navaratri is synonymous with Mylapore.This suburb of Madras will be bustling with activity now. People throng to worship at the 7th century Kapali Koil(temple). Though everyday is a festival here, it is more special here during these 9 days with lots of devotees thronging to see the deity's Alankaram(decoration), the traditional music and dance concerts and the 'golu' at the temple.

During this time all(most) tamil households arrange dolls in steps called ' Golu'. It is customary to buy a new set every year and add to the collection of the old dolls, some of which are heirloom. The streets around the temple called 'Maada Veedhi' has lots of make shift shops and push carts selling dolls. For those of us, away from mylapore/tamilmadu and especially those living in faraway countries can buy all these dolls online too.

Following are some of the clay and papier mache sets made by the artisans of South India.

KAILAYAM ( Abode of Shiva - Kailash) - a 14 piece clay set

Kailayam is the abode of Siva. The set includes Siva, Parvathy, his vahana (vehicle) Rishabam, his sons Ganesha and Muruga sitting on the Kailayam Mountain. The other dolls included in the set are Vishnu, Lakshmi, Brahma, Saraswathi, Nandi with drums etc.

GOVARTHANA GIRI SET

This set tells the story when Krishna saved the villagers and the cows from the continuous downpour of rain. He is lifting the Govardhana mountain and holding it by his little finger like an umbrella. The villagers, the cow and calf dolls are also included.

URIADI KANNAN [BUTTER STEALING KRISHNA]

Uriadi kannan set contains 5 nos of beautiful clay dolls.Put these dolls in centre steps of golu steps.Lord Krishna's cowboy friends are around and help him to steal butter.This is one of the games Lord Krishna played in childhood. This scene potrays the lord as a person who steal as a butter and cheese from the house of a cheese maker. Cheese[white color] symbolizes our clean and pure heart.

Azhagar Veedi Ula [clay]

This is a 25 piece set which is a representation of a famous festival in the Temple city, Madurai, Tamilnad. The Azhagar veethi ula/ street procession of god is the main event in the festival and the dolls depicting the event would be agreat addition in the Golu

The court of chola king 'Manu' ( synonymous with justice)

Thiruvarur was the capital during Manuneethi Cholan. Manuneedhi Cholan was a legendary Chola king believed to have killed his own son to provide justice to a Cow, following Manu needhi(Manu's law). Legend has it that the king hung a giant bell in front of his courtroom for anyone needing justice to ring. One day, he came out on hearing the ringing of the bell by a cow. On enquiry he found that the Calf of that Cow was killed under the wheels of the Prince's chariot. In order to provide justice to the cow, he tried to kill his own son under the chariot as a punishment to himself, i.e. make himself suffer as much as the cow. Lord Siva appeared in front of him and gave the life back to the calf. This is one of Lord Siva's Thiruvilayadal (Holy play) to show the world the just nature of the king.

A stone sculpture depicting the story of the Manu Needhi Cholan (the chariot, the king, cow, calf etc.) is found in Thiruvarur in Tamil Nadu, India.

AMMAN KOLAM (Brahmin marriage)

The bride and groom are carried by the uncles or fathers to the marriage mandappam (in olden times). There was a musical group around playing instuments and singing songs.These dolls are bright and sure to make most people nostalgic

KALYANA SET (South Indian Wedding set)

This clay set shows the South Indian wedding. The dolls included are the bride (Kalyana penn), groom (mappillai), bride's sister, bride's parents, groom's parents, priest, his assistant priest, agni kund, ammikkal with attukkal( grinding stone), pots etc. This set contains13 pieces.

VILLAGE SET( clay)

This set contains 25 clay dolls. Types of village houses and washerman with donkey, thatched house, postman with post office, small temple with gurukkal , school with students, milk maid with cow are interesting . Both the village and vayal set can be best displayed by making a landscape, by spreading some sand below and trying to make roads with used dry coffee powder and small water tanks/ponds by placing water in shallow dishes and spreading some ragi and wheat sprouts here and there. These sprouts grow into lush green lawns, making the golu more attractive.

VAYAL SET

Twenty pieces in this clay doll set. Arrange these doll set on floor front of the golu steps of sides of the steps.This set suitable for arranging with mountain, park, pond and village set.Something interesting for children to know cultivation, harvesting and bullock cart withcows.This set brings the farm in Tamil Nadu to your home. The farmer, bullock cart carrying the hay, woman transplanting the rice plant, woman carrying the bale of hay, woman removing the weeds from the paddy field, a man removing the grains from the hay, a man chafing the rice from the bran and more are included in this set.

POIKKAL KUDHIRAI SET( False footed horse) - A folk art of tamilnadu

Poikkal kudhirai is a great art performed in villages.This set contains 8 pieces.

PONGAL SET [clay]

Pongal or Sankranti is a harvest festival celebrated in Tamil Nadu. The set comes with the mother making pongal on a wooden stove, father, boy and girl. The house, Cow and calf are also included in the set. All the above have to arranged on a landscape like in village/vayal set

Mahabalipuram

This doll set represents all the important monumental structures of the mahabalipuram.

Mahabalipuram,derived from 'Mamallapuram' is a town in Kancheepuram district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It has an average elevation of 12 metres (39 feet).Mahabalipuram was a 7th century port city of the South Indian dynasty of the Pallavas around 60 km south from the city of Chennai in Tamil Nadu. The name Mamallapuram is believed to have been given after the Pallava king Narasimhavarman I, who took on the epithet Maha-malla (great wrestler), as the favourite sport of the Pallavas was wrestling. It has various historic monuments built largely between the 7th and the 9th centuries, and has been classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

ref : wikipedia

All the above sets and the corresponding texts are courtesy from an online site here which sells the above sets online.

This is my online golu this time and the next 9 days are time to feast,fast and soak the festive air.

For information on Golu, read here.

The Indian Halloween/ Hungry ghost - Mahalaya Paksh

2011-09-27T01:14:00.000-07:00

Mine is a generation caught between the traditional rituals ( especially if you are from a semi-orthodox family) and Modern World, there are times when we are in a dilemma as to which side to take.

Take for instance, today is Mahalya amavasya and the fortnight preceding this is called Mahalaya paksham, traditionally in orthodox families men are supposed to pray for their ancestors and conduct a ritual called ‘Tarpanam’. Having done the tarpanam you are barred from eating outside food through the fortnight.

After the ritual, what if you have to attend a very important working lunch with your customers or official dinner or if you are to travel on work or if you are on an onsite project. How practical is this ritual then?

Shunning the rituals could agonise the elders in the family and shunning office work, well you know whom we would agonise. Isn’t it like a catch -22 situation? Either ways you feel guilty.

At times like this, many of my generation tweak the rituals according to our convenience contributing to the lifestyle change, but read on what this ritual is all about.

Pitru paksh/shraddh paksh / Mahalaya paksh is a pan Indian hindu ritual practiced by many. This is a ritualistic custom to reflect on the contributions our ancestors/forefathers made, the cultural and traditional values they set for us in order to make our lives better. The practice of the ritual varies from place to place like in some regions they fast, some abstain from eating certain vegetables and in Northern India my friends say that they do not buy any new things during this period. It is the responsibility of everyone to keep up the pride of the family lineage by performing actions that promote the good of all. The fortnight of ancestor worship is nothing but a reminder of one's lineage and duties towards it.

Only once in a year a great celebration takes place in the Pitra loka (ancestral world) and only for 2 weeks during the “Mahalaya Amavasai/ Fortnight”. This year it commenced on the 13th of September 2011, right after the full moon day and ends on the Mahalaya New Moon day, which is today on the 27th of September 2011. This two week’s period is the most important period to appreciate your departed ancestors.

Our departed forefathers / ancestors cannot come to this world whenever they think, except on Amavasai ( New Moon ), the starting day of every month and during Malaya Paksha. So they all come in sookshma (means not visible to naked eyes) dehas and if we offer them the sesame (gingelly/til) and water they accept that, and bless us directly. The last day of the mahalaya paksh called Mahalaya Amavasya is very significant for Hindu rituals. It is called Mahalaya Shraddh.

According to Saranam, a devotional journal, Generally a priest perfoms the rituals of shraddh in a sacred place or along a river bank. It is believed that as the physical body is lost after death, the absolute earth element from the sheath surrounding the subtle body reduces and the water element increases. The constitution of the sheath is such that level of humidity in it is maximum since the rituals are related to the body of the deceased, they are perfomed on the banks of a river where humidity is high and attracts the subtle body, hence all these rites and rituals are perfomed along river banks. Our ancient Siddhas understood that honoring ancestors through tarpanam ritual keeps us living with good health, wealth, prosperity and enlightenment.

A similar type of ritual is practiced by the Chinese called ‘Hungry ghost’ festival and the westerners called ‘Halloween’. The main reason why Malaysian and Singaporean Chinese community are successful in material wealth is just simply because they are strictly observing their ancestral ritual both monthly and yearly. Just by following elaborate ancestral rituals and dharma as thought by our Siddhas (the great South Indian Mystic Scientist) monthly and yearly we can attain both material and spiritual success in life easily.

Mahalaya Paksha is much like the Chinese Hungry Ghost Festival or the Halloween. According to Siddhas (South Indian Mystics) the main reason for all of our everyday problems besides planets is the departed spirits of our ancestors. Our role is that we should constantly connect to the departed ancestors to live a peaceful life. The blessings of our deceased ancestors, both maternal as well as paternal, are a major reason why you do or do not succeed in this life.

Chinese 'Hungry Ghost' festival

Halloween Pumpkin lanterns

'Tarpanam' ritual on the river banks

Pics and info courtesy: Indian scientific knowledge academy- a journal devoted to scientific study of Indian rituals, customs and practices

Dussehra @ the royal city- Mysore

2011-09-24T01:53:00.000-07:00

Whenever the word Dussehra is mentioned only two things come to my mind, one the Dussehra in Mysore and the other is the eagerly awaited Dussehra vacation. So, what better time to make a post with Dussehra and vacation around the corner and the world celebrating Tourism day today.

Mysore Dussehra is a Dussehra with a difference. Though Dasara is celebrated all over the world, the rulers of mysore, the wodeyars lent a royal touch and celebrated it with grandeur. Today Dussehra is synonymous with Mysore and goes beyond religion and promotes tourism by showcasing it is a socio-religious- cultural extravaganza.

In continuation of the tradition bequeathed by the Vijayanagar empire, The wodeyar king Raja wodeyar started the grandeur of the festivities in 1610 and this year 2011 marks its 401^st year. The festival is basically to celebrate the triumph of good over evil. On this day the Goddess Chamundeswari, the presiding deity of Mysore killed the resident demon of Mysore ‘Mahishasura’ after whom the city is named Mysore, an anglicized corruption of ‘Mahishasurana ooru’ meaning the city of Mahishasura.

The city's royal heritage ensures that the festival is celebrated in a manner befitting its regal status and hence the city looks electrifying in the evening with all its heritage buildings and streets illuminated, especially the Mysore palace looks all the more majestic with all those dazzling one lakh lights.

An eclectic mix of cultural and sports events like classical music and dance, folk , fusion,Kavi goshti (sammelan), , Air show, motor cycle stunts, martial arts, heritage walk, food festival, wrestling completion, Air shows adds colour to the Dussehra. Apart from this is the horticulture exhibition besides the Dussehra exhibition which has stalls for handicrafts, dresses and ornaments and lasts for two months beginning Dussehra.

However, the main attraction is the last day of the festival called Dussehra. A traditional procession called jumbo savari in which goddess Chamundeswari is carried atop a decorated elephant, makes its way through the roads and lanes of Mysore from the Mysore palace and ending in Bannimantap( to worship the banni tree). In the beginning years, the elephant carried the King of Mysore now replaced by the Goddess. On this day, a parade of tableaus depicting the rich heritage of Karnataka are showcased like the republic day parade in New Delhi, amidst dare-devil stunts and fireworks.

This was telecast live in the afternoon, during the Doordarshan days when transmission was restricted to evenings and much before Doordarshan we children used to surround the radio to hear the commentary of the festival broadcast. So magnetic is Dussehra here, that it is recognized as 'Naada Habba' meaning state festival.

I have witnessed the celebrations twice. For me, Mysore and its Dussehra have a special place in my heart. Mysore Dussehra - A beautiful experience.

The illuminated Jagan Mohan palace (courtesy: wiki)

The resident demon Mahishasura after whom the city is named, you can catch this statue atop the chamundi hill in mysore

Jumbo savari on Dussehra

Check out major events of mysore dussehra 2011 here.

Add Bimba to your life, this Navaratri.

2011-09-22T00:25:00.000-07:00

If you are a connoisseur of art and value Indian culture, history, heritage, craft, textiles then we cross paths, read ahead.

Bimba - the art ashram @ Bangalore is one such place. An initiative by Deepika, a textile graduate from New Delhi and her husband Mr. Deepak Doraiswamy who is an IISc and IIM grad. I have already blogged about the wonderful evening we experienced here. Anything more I write about it would be a repeat of here. So check out the following invite and if you are in Bangalore this Navaratri, experience rasalok at Bimba and do visit their art store at Jayanagar( address on the website).

Click on the invite for better read

Check out some of their displays below

Ganga descending from the corridors of heaven and the hand crafted golden lotuses at the entrance of heaven

a tableau from Ganga avatarnam (Descent of Ganga)

tableau of Ravana – The priestly asura

Krishna and Sudhama

Sankaracharya rolls the cosmic dice

( 2 Pics)The left still is from muthuswami dikshitar- a gift of goddess and the right one from Ravana - the priestly asura.

Photo courtesy: Deepika's FB page

A temple of art and architecture @ Somnathpur (Karnataka)

2011-09-17T12:09:00.000-07:00

Chennakesava temple at Somnathpur was our next stop after Talakad. A 30km ride on the T,narsipura –kollegal road, past the lotus laden water ponds, paddy, millet,sugarcane, marigold and tuberose fields saw us at Somnathpur.

This is a beautiful creation of the Hoysala dynasty besides Belur and halebidu, built in the mid 13^th century.You buy a 5rs ticket to enter the temple but after entering the temple and seeing the well maintained temple I feel the ticket should be graded to higher amount. Spotlessly clean and cared with great devotion.

Walking through the pathway, sandwiched between emerald green lawns, you enter the temple which stands in the middle of an enclosure around which runs an open verandah with 64 cells.

The serene temple stands on a star shaped foundation which is characteristic of Hoysala architecture and has 3 exquisitely carved temple towers called trikutachala . The three towers once housed beautifully carved idols of Lord Kesava, Janardhana and Venugopala till Malik Kafur and other mughals destroyed them.

This is not a temple in the sense that there are no poojas done to the idols here since they were destroyed by the mughal invaders. It is simply a temple exhibiting the delicate craftsmanship and high precision engineering of the mighty dynasty called hoysalas which ruled the present day Karnataka between AD1100 and AD1320. This dynasty was noted for its peace and a leisurely life along with its encouragement to talent of arts, which is reflected all around the temple.(hoy is kill and sala is head of the dynasty since he tackled the tiger single handed and killed, this heroic deed took the form of yadava dynasty as hoysala dynasty)

One need not search for the history of the temple because everything is beautifully recorded here along with all those sculptors name .When I went around the star shaped platform admiring all those beautiful carvings I noticed an employee of ASI cleaning the dust from the crevices. This beautiful temple is now under the safecare of ASI.

When I had been here as a school student, all I was interested was in merry making with my friends, only during my recent visit in the May gone by did the beauty of this place sink in.

How many times have I gone WOW over all those celebrated structures of the world( with due respects to those creators), little did I realize that we have an archictectural marvel with high precision and symmetry all done when precision tools and machines were unheard but just hammer and chisel.The sculptures and the craftsmanship speaks volumes about the hand dexterity, patience, concentration of our ancient craftsmen.

As I walked out of the temple and sat on the bench watching at the boys playing cricket outside the temple compound, I also was wondering why many of the Indian temples and monuments were not celebrated on par with many well known monuments around the world.

I left Somnathpur, a tiny leisurely village on the banks of the Kaveri, 140kms, southwest of Bangalore and 30 kms from Mysore which has that rural stillness. The stillness here speaks and speaks about our glorious past in the form of the Chennakesava temple and it has the touch of eternity. So what if this poetry in stone is not celebrated atleast I can write a post about it and next time you are around Mysore don't forget to listen to this stillness called Somnathpur.

Click on the pics below for better view, the last few pics are in bad lighting

click on the above image to read the temple history

Don't miss the star shaped foundation and the pillar by the side

The ceilings inside the temple carved like a plaintain flower, translates the concentration, dedication and patience that must have gone into it.

janardana

Lord Vishnu

Notice the broken flute of Lord Venugopala

Time stops by.......... for Ganesh Utsav

2011-09-12T00:52:00.000-07:00

The eco-friendly Ganesha

Festoons of mango leaves, marigolds, colored rangoli, flower, paper decorations and netted golden valence around the gazebo, people in traditional attire, kids prancing around the complex in their ethnic best, our whole housing complex wore a festive look for the past few days due to Ganesh utsav.

The socio-religious- cultural festival of Ganesh utsav is the most awaited in our complex by all, not just hindus but other minorities too. We generally book an eco-friendly Ganesha months before the festival so that it is available at low cost. This statue is lugged to our complex by our own residents( no external labour). The puja is performed daily in the morning and evening for five days followed by a prasad which is generally done by a few residents and a Maha Bhoj (dinner for all) on one of the evenings, outsourced to a caterer.

A variety of educational and cultural programmes are organized in the evening like veena, vocal, veda chanting, bharatnatyam, folk,dance-drama(this year was mahishasura mardan) fusion, skits, extempore,debates, quiz and some special programs exclusively for senior citizens like singing etc. Many entrepreneurial women also set up stalls for chocolates, food, jewels, dress materials etc.,

The cultural events are an audio- visual treat for the residents. It also serves as a platform for the kids to showcase their talent and what a talented kid pool we have!. Not just kids, it also brings out the latent talent of those men and women who never got an opportunity before. The youngest participant was a 6 month old disguised as 'Anna Hazare' for fancy dress competition to an 90 year old senior citizen who participated in the prize distribution ceremony by giving away prizes and gave a speech telling that they felt honored to stay in the community which recognizes senior citizens.

The children of our complex put up a beautiful show daily in the evening helped by the elders( men and women) not necessarily their own parents but by their aunts, uncles and friends in the complex. An aunty teaches contemporary dance, another aunty teaches skits, another one shares her jewels, sarees or applies make up for the dance. My children especially have great exposure and respect towards many indian cultures and have learnt a lot from this Mini- Indian community with their peers which would not have been possible at home or at any school.

An exclusive ramp show for senior citizens and singing contest showcasing their love for their spouses showed how much the couples were in love in their evening of their life. An uncle(65 year old) told he never got an opportunity to express his love to his wife, while he was young when he was staying with his parents and now in old age in front of his grown up son and d-i-l and sang the song ‘ Chaudvin ka chand ho...’. It was so touching.

A feeling of unity and the camaraderie we share,when people meet in person and socialize and get around to make an event like in a festival, which otherwise would'nt be possible with so many busy with their daily work. Many working women and men( including my husband) came early from work to oversee the arrangements. Events like this make me feel we are one huge joint family. As a community, we do have our minor differences but what’s life without some spice.

On the last day, after the prize distribution of the various events, the laddu in the hands of the lord Ganesha was auctioned. The auction started at 2000Rs and ended at 9000. After the final aarti to the Lord Ganesha - the Scribe par excellence, the recorder of Mahabharata went around the complex piloted by fire works. The God of wisdom, was taken for immersion amidst chants of Ganpati Bappa Morya. It was really funny and sad – a mixed feeling to see the children cry and run behind the vehicle not wanting to let go their favorite god.

On a personal note, The highlight of our cultural evening apart from the dance, music and other literary programs is a quiz program which is called ‘Conundrum’. One of the resident guises as a quiz master and makes a complex questionnaire reflected on a projector screen, which throws up a champion team called ‘Conundrum champions of our complex’ every year and the ‘Conundrum champion of 2011’ was won by my son’s team( 3 members) all of them aged 12. They edged out 14 teams, participants from the age of 10-18( Last year sadly, my son lost in the tie breaker round. ( both the teams won the tie-breaker and so they put a toss to find the winner) he sadly lost the toss. He was glad he won this year right under the same Ganesh ji. Whats' more he was glad he edged his own sis with whom his teachers often compare him with in school.

My daughter who generally participates in the dance, skits had to be contented with quiz, carnatic keerthanais and Shankar Mahadevan’s ‘Ganeshaya Deemahi’ due to her pre-boards clashing with the festival.

If festivals were celebrated not just for feasting and fasting, but to focus on happiness, oneness and to bust stress from the mechanized humdrum of our routine, then the essence of this festival is captured every year by us. Every year with this utsav, we feel time stops for 5 days.

The 'Conundrum champions of our complex - 2011'.

My son bending down to check his prize which was a parker pen, while the other team mate is behind him.

P.S: wanted to post pictures of dance and skits but did not want to tresspass into other's privacy without their permission.

The unique sign, legend and temple of Pillaiyar ( Ganeshji)

2011-08-31T04:08:00.000-07:00

It is a practice amongst my mom and family elders to put the above sign signifiying Ganesha at the top of the page before writing a grocery list, diary,letter, account book or any record maintenance book. Similarly you will find it on most invitation cards of wedding, house warming ceremony and other auspicious functions.

This legend is called as ‘Pillaiyar suzhi’ in tamil, literally translates to the curl of Lord Ganesha, though some say it is to check the stylus of the pen with a small curve,line and dot to ensure smooth flow of writing , my family elders write this with the immense faith that writing this will help them complete the task without any obstacles and if at all any obstacle arises it will be smoothly evened out by the grace of the lord.

Similarly before doing all those sweets and savories for occasions, they make a small conical figurine of dough symbolizing Ganesha with the belief that dedicating the dough to the lord will make the process smooth and render the sweets and savories tasty.

It is a faith amongst practicing hindus that before commencing any work Lord Ganesha’s blessing is sought, the work undertaken will be accomplished without any obstacles, therefore all Hindus invoke him with the firm belief that he will take care of every obstacle that they come across.

According to Maharishi panini, “Gana” is a group of eight direction or the guardian deity of the directions. “Gana pati” is the master of the directions. Other deities cannot reach the site of any ritualistic worship without his consent. Hence Lord Ganapathi is always worshipped first.

Most of us are aware of the 'Amrit manthan' story in which Lord Indra forgot to worship Lord Ganesha before undertaking the task of churning the ocean, for those who are not aware, there is a an architectural marvel of a temple dedicated to Lord Ganesha at Thiruvalanchuzhi in Kumbakonam, the temple town in South Tamilnadu. A Legend has it that here Lord Indra made Ganesh from the froth of the ocean waves, so here pillaiyar(ganeshji) is white in color.

I visited this temple two years back on my visit to the temple town of Kumbakonam, a very peaceful temple by the banks of River Cauvery, here the river takes a gentle curve by the side of the temple hence the name Thiruvalanchuzhi( thiru is sacred, valanchuzhi is curve by the right).

Legend associated with the temple:

When durvasa Muni came to visit Indra, he brought with him a garland obtained from Lakshmi. Seeing Indra riding on his Airavatha, he offered the garland as a fitting gift to the king of devas. Indra, who was in one of his proud moods, carelessly took the garland and placed it on airavatha’s head. The elephant in its playful mood dragged it down and stamped on the holy garland. Anger burst through Durvasa who cursed Indra “Oh foolish proud King, You have just shown disrespect to Lakshmi herself. May all your prosperity melt away. May your strength disappear and may you rot in disrespect.”. Cursing thus he left the place, the devas all shivering in fear.

Later they rush to MahaVishnu and seek his help. “Divine Protector,” they pleaded, “please show us a way out”. The ever benevolent Vishnu cast his eyes on them and said “Oh Devas, you have but one way left. Churn the Milk Ocean to obtain amrutha. Intake of this divine nectar will free you from all the curse and restore you back to power”. The devas prostrated before him and left. The churning would require a huge churn support and a humongously long rope. Vasuki, the king of snakes offered himself as the rope and the devas decided to use the meru mountain as the churn. All preparations done they still couldnt begin, their strength all gone with the curse. Having been weakened by the curse, they alone couldnt churn the ocean.

After prolonged consideration, Indra sent a missive to his step brothers, the asuras, asking them to join in this effort, promising a portion of the nectar. With the assent of the asuras, the churning was to begin.

According to the legend, when the Devas and asuras were churning the ocean, they forgot to worship Ganesha. They realized their error when the poison came out, and Indra immediately made an image of Ganesha out of the sea foam which had collected as a result of the churning of the ocean. Ganesha was pleased, and the Devas were able to obtain nectar. This is the Ganesha present in the temple. Swetha Vinayakar, a Ganesha made of Sea Foam.

Indra continued to worship the cream idol and took it with him when he went on a pilgrimage to absolve his sins. When he reached the banks of the kaveri, he placed the idol down to take a bath and perform the ritual poojas. Returning back, he saw that the idol had firmly attached itself to the ground and refused to budge. Understanding the divine will of the lord he prostrated in front of the idol. “Who am I to take you around when your desire is to stay here. All I ask is one boon. May I be allowed to perform pooja to you everyday?”, he asked. Vinayagar gave his approval, and happy with this Indra returns back to Amaravathi leaving the cream white idol to be worshipped by generations of devotees in what is now Thiruvalanchuzhi.

Offering To Vellai Pillaiyar:
The cream idol, adored as Vella Pillayar, Swetha vinayagar or Nurai Pillayar(( made of ocean's froth), in the sanctum is pure white and is protected very fiercely by silver and gold frames. No abhisheka or pushpa are offered to the deity, lest the cream is washed away. Every decoration and splendour is for the surrounding frames alone. The only offering is Pacha-Karpooram (a fine edible form of camphor), which is finely crushed and sprinkled over the image on a basis. This alone is the main offering by the devotees to the temple. Even the darba grass we took were offered to the feet of the lord.

Architectural marvel
On the other hand, just outside the main sanctum one would find a mandapa that is made up of unpolished uncut stones carelessly fitted together as though in a hurry. Legends report that once the King of the land stopped by the temple to offer his worship. Offering a plate full of abhisheka materials to the priest, he ordered “Bathe the lord in these frangrant powders and anointed waters. Let him be cooled”. The priest was caught in a dilemma. The temple required that no abhisheka be done while the king had just ordered for one. Either way he was doomed. Silently invoking ganesha he begged for help. In answer to his prayers a voice reached from the sanctum, “Oh King, I am made of cream and bubbles. Would you want me to be dissolved in the fragrant waters that you just gave?”. The king is stunned and realising his mistake he begged for forgiveness. “Then build a mandapam in front of the sanctum by sunset today to atone for your mistakes. May it remind people of the mistakes that they make in life and make them pray for forgiveness”. The king obliged and built the mandapam in the given time period, putting together rough stones into an approximate hall. The mandapam stands even today and is called the mannippu mandapam or the hall of forgiving. People who visit the temple meditate in this mandapam and ask ganesha to forgive their sins and grant them eternal bliss.

Similarly there is a stone door made with symmetrically carved stone cross like in grills called as 'Karungal palagani" which speaks of the quality of olden day architectural skill. There are 16 symmetrical crosses which was built to let light and air inside. The door is such a super human feat that when ancient architects signed their contracts, they agreed to build the best except five exceptional pieces of architecture that could never be replicated at all. The Karungal palagani is one of them.( the other four are the main temple tower of thanjavur, the huge hall in thiru veezhi malai, kodungai in aavudaiyar koil, the outer wall known as madil in kadaarankondaan and of course the fifth is the stone grill mentioned above - these 5 were super human efforts of ancient architecture)

The most important festival celebrated here is the Ganesh chaturthi, celebrated like a carnival for ten days.

Source on temple architecture: temples of tamilnadu.
Image courtesy: google

Meet his little warriors

2011-08-26T01:35:00.000-07:00

HE is the man at the moment, he is everywhere - on TV, newspapers, journals, twitter,FB, blogs etc..Everybody across all ages, regions, caste,creed and even cutting across party lines people are chanting his name, so I had nothing new to say or write about him in my blog but last evening changed it all.

No prizes for guessing who the man is? I know that you all know him and that too very well....ok ok... I have given enough build up.. but no.. my post is not about him or about the mixed feelings i have for Jan LokPal bill....It is all about his star warriors, not about Arvind Kejriwal, Kiran Bedi or Bharat Bhushan.... but about those little unknown warriors...

Last week my 12 year old son came back from school and announced to me "Amma, I'm going to Necklace road with my friends", before i could ask him why? He went into his room and told his Grand mom - "Patti, you know Anna hazare is an old man like you, he is 74 years old and he is on a fast to save our country from corruption, it is our duty to strengthen his fight, so I and my friends have decided to join the rally at necklace road"

Oh, I now realised that the rally was the reason to head towards necklace road. Necklace road is on the banks of hussain sagar( a lake in hyderabad) it is hyderabad's answer to beach. Most hyderabadi's head to this place to hangout and it is also the venue of rallies, marathons and their likes.

Though we elders discouraged their presence at necklace road with an emphatic 'NO'. The teens, tweens and the little ones of our complex assembled at the amphitheatre of our housing society and we residents went on a candle light March. All this was last week.

But after yesterday's breakdown of talks with the government, Our co-residents organised a march to a place 2kms away and guess who once again stole our hearts by organising the whole march. It was our little Indian citizens again, since the rally was organised on a short notice that too on a weekday, the children went door to door calling all the residents to participate in the rally and by 7.30 , braving the rains many residents came out to join the rally.

While I watched the people march down the lane from my 5th floor balcony under the rainy dark sky, the whole sight reminded me of the scenes i saw in all those moving pictures depicting freedom struggle during our pre-independance days. The children with anna trademarked topi's, flags and some over-enthusiastic residents were carrying the fire torches (Mashaal) and the following chants rent the air,

"Ek do teen chaar, band karo brashtachaar......paanch chay, saath, aat... anna, hum hain aapke saath"

" Anna, aap jung lado... hum sab aapke saath hain"

Truly, the whole scene reminded me of the pre-independence struggle, they might call it the august kranti, the anna upraising, the revolt of 2011 or whatever, the spirit of the children was patriotic, feverish and infectious. From the various reports in media especially the student editions of newpapers, it is clear the same feeling is echoing in all the Indian streets, I really felt proud of Anna's little warriors.

Hopefully if they sustain the same feelings throughout their life, rest assured India is in safe hands.

To you Madras, Happy 372nd birthday - part -II

2011-08-22T01:01:00.000-07:00

Madrasa pattinam - A sandy fishing village of the Bay of Bengal some 3 and half centuries back is today a eight million populated Chennai, this Coramandal queen celebrates its 372nd birthday today.

This southern metropolis on the Coromandel Coast combines the best of technology and the rich core of Indian tradition. With each succeeding generation, the port city has added more layers to its unique identity, building a promising future from a proud legacy.

The hallmark of a successful city lies in its ability to preserve the old (some call it conservative, i call it individuality) while constantly adapting itself to the new. Chennai’s success in commerce has allowed it to afford its citizens all the modern conveniences of a world class city. The modern glistening city is filled with malls, resorts, highways and high-tech offices that co-exist peacefully with the deep rooted cultural values of its people. With its two facets equally alive and vibrant, Chennai reigns as the queen of the Coromandel. This city has a lovely history as it changed various hands and now to the genesis of chennai.

History post Alert
Early settlers
Ancient Chennai lay in the province of Thondaimandalam, which stretched between Nellore and Cuddalore, with its capital at Kancheepuram. The region contained the ancient villages of Thiruvallikeni (Triplicane), Thirumayilai (Mylapore), Thiruvanmiyur and Thiruvotriyur, all integral parts of modern day Chennai. St.Thomas, the apostle, is said to have preached here atop a hillock, now called St.Thomas Mount, between the years 52 and 70 CE. The relics of the Saint, interred in the San Thome church near Mylapore, are believed to possess miraculous healing powers.

The earliest European settlers in the region were the Portuguese, who built a port and named it São Tomé (modern day Santhome) after St. Thomas. The port subsequently passed into the hands of the Dutch, who established themselves at Pulicat, north of the city, in 1612. The British East India Company arrived soon after and established a Calico Cloth factory in Armagon, a village 35 miles north of Pulicat, in 1626.

It was around this time that Francis Day, an agent-in-charge of the East India Company’s Calico Cloth shop in Armagon, set off on an exploratory mission down the coastline in search of a region that produced better cloth for trade. In 1637, he selected a three-mile sandy strip of land south of Armagon, to start his new factory. The area contained the fishing village of Madraspatnam, and in the words of Day, produced “excellent long Cloath and better cheape by 20 percent than anywhere else”. Local gossip at the time however, seemed to suggest that Day’s selection of Madraspatnam was influenced by the location of his mistress in the Portuguese settlement of São Tomé nearby, in order that “their interviews might be the more frequent and uninterrupted”! Irrespective of Day’s actual reasons, his decision was supported by Andrew Cogan, his superior officer and chief of the factory at Masulipatnam. And so, on August 22, 1639, Day secured the lease of the three mile strip of Madraspatnam from Darmarla Venkatadri Nayakudu, the local governor of the Vijayanagar Empire.

On April 23, 1640, with the assistance of his interpreter (dubash) Beri Thimmappa Chetti, Day began the construction of Fort St. George, the first British fortress in India, and the nucleus around which modern day Chennai grew. The Fort still stands today, and houses the Legislative Assembly of the state of Tamil Nadu. The Fort, together with the houses built for British officers constituted ‘White Town’, while labourers, dyers and weavers settled into ‘Black Town’ nearby. By 1750, the neighbouring villages of Narimendu, Triplicane, Kottivakkam, Nungambakkam, Egmore, Mylapore and several others were annexed by Francis Day’s successors through grants approved by the Nayaks of Chandragiri.

The Origin of Madraspatnam
The origin of the name of the little fishing village of Madraspatnam remains a mystery to this day. Though the name sounds alien to the Indian ear, it was not coined by the British. Legend has it that the village was named after Madarasan, the chieftain of the village, whose banana grove was chosen as the location of the fort. Many historians however attribute the name of the village to the church of Madre de Deus, located in the Portuguese settlement of San Thomé, nearby. Another theory is that the village was named after a Muslim madrasa or religious school that was said to have existed in the region.

While the original tract of land allocated to Francis Day did contain the village of Madraspatnam, another village called Chennapatnam lay to the south of it, named after Damarla Chennappa Nayakudu, the father of Damarla Venkatadri Nayakudu. Based on land records of the time, it is probable that Fort St. George was built in Chennapatnam, though the two villages rapidly merged together soon after. The English continued to call the united villages Madraspatnam, while the locals chose to call them Chennapatnam. In 1746, Fort St. George and Madras were captured by the French under General La Bourdonnais, but was returned to British power three years later, through the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle. Now in full control of the city of Chennapatnam, as it was known by the locals then, the British established a naval base and built a harbour. With Madras as their administrative centre, they fought several wars, notably with the French at Wandiwash, with the Danes at Tranquebar and with the Kingdom of Mysore, led by Hyder Ali and his son Tipu. By 1780, the British had gained dominance over vast portions of Southern India and established the Madras Presidency with its capital at Madras.

Colonial Centre
The city became a major centre for trade between India and Europe by the end of the 18th century. Elihu Yale, after whom Yale University is named, was the British Governor of Madras for five years and established Yale University using the fortunes that he amassed while in colonial government service here. Thomas Parry set up one of the country’s oldest and most respected mercantile companies here in 1788. John Binny established the famous textile house Binny & Co in 1814. Spencer and Co, Asia’s largest departmental store at the time, was established in 1864. Several other notable British companies joined suit, leading to the formation of the Madras Chamber of Commerce, the Madras Trade Association and finally, the Madras Stock Exchange in 1920.

Madras remained the administrative centre of the Madras Presidency even after independence. State reorganisation followed, and it continued as the capital of Tamil Nadu. Attracted by its booming commerce, many trading communities migrated to the city from all over the country. Artisans, musicians, dancers and craftsmen from the corners of India flocked here as well in the early part of the 20th century, and the city is now regarded as a major centre for the arts in the South. Madras was renamed Chennai in August 1996, after the village of Chennapatnam, in deference to local sentiment. Today apart from the various IT companies, it is home to many Global and Indian auto majors like BMW, Ford, Hyundai,Mitsubishi, Nissan Ashok leyland, TVS for which reason it is nicknamed 'Detroit of Asia'.

Now for a visual tour,

An illustration of Fort.St.George in the early days(courtesy: dinamalar)

Built in 1504, the Santhome Church rests on the tomb of the Apostle St. Thomas

Named after the Governor General of India, Lord Rippon, the Rippon building was built in 1913.
It houses the offices of the Chennai Corporation

The Madras High Court was one of the three High Courts in India established by Queen Victoria in 1862, and is the highest judicial body in Tamil Nadu.

Today's neon drenched chennai

the beautifully lit Napier bridge( courtesy: The hindu)

The majestic 150 year old chettinad palace on the adyar estuary, many film shootings take place here, at present the home of Raja muthiah's family.( photo courtesy: wikipedia)

My wish list for chennai is to see the beautifully lighted napier bridge, the full moon lit mahabalipuram shores, the chettinad palace (from close quarters) and the heritage site Dakshinachitra, the last one despite my many attempts evades me. Don't go there on a tuesday which is a weekly off.

Happy Birthday Madras/Chennai. May you celebrate many more 372's without losing your identity.

Do be a part of Madras day by being here or here.

history and remaining photos courtesy: the best of chennai.

To you Madras, for giving me beautiful memories- Part I

2011-08-17T03:17:00.000-07:00

Generally when a person is questioned which his/her favorite city is, normally it would be the place where they have made best memories or had/have a great social circle or work culture irrespective of the city’s weather, politics, lack of infrastructure and even traffic and with that definition, my fav cities are Madras,Bangalore and Hyderabad in random order.

Though I have never lived in Madras, I share a special bond with this city. No matter how far you go, your childhood stays with you and this city other than giving me memories has been the venue of my wedding and my birth too.

This place celebrates its formation day as ‘Madras day” on August 22 every year and the week around is celebrated as Madras week.

The character of Chennai lies in the fact that it has not lost its culture and deep rooted values while adapting itself to new, for which reason it attracts many foreign tourists on its shores some of whom have made this their home. This is very evident from the many visting foreigners who went on to become students at cultural hubs like Kalakshetra, cholamandalam arts village and at many other cultural centres, but due to paucity of time, technological advances and the world shrinking into global village, we do take our own culture and heritage for granted, at times like this it is occasions like our festivals which helps us to take a step back in time and ‘Madras day’ is one of them.

A team of enthusiasts who value heritage like Mr.Vincent, Mr. Muthiah , Mr. Sashi nair supported by many volunteers and organizations connect the present generation with the past by arranging and focusing on an eclectic mix of madras related activities like heritage walks, photo exhibits, docu dramas and talks at the various parks,schools and hotels which volunteer to host.

It just feels beautiful to share this series of post which is not a travel guide of madras but a celebration of memories that is madras for me apart from its culture, couture, craft, coffee, cinema and cuisine, especially these memories were made in 4 old suburbs of Madras – Adyar( where I was born),Mylapore( my maternal grandparents home ), Nanganallur( my paternal grand parents place) and now my marital (extended family) home at T.nagar.

There could be lot of grammatical and spelling errors, and some lines could even be repeated, a very random list straight from my heart, To you Madras.....

As a little girl while travelling by Brindavan express( Bangalore to madras), I used to be so excited when the train reached Basin bridge junction because Madras was just a few minutes away and thatha would be there to receive me at the station and I would be in the company of my loving relatives and cousins.

As the car passed through Napier bridge and the world’s second largest beach Marina, I would be bursting with joy to capture the beautiful moments that lay in store for me.

Here’s where I caught the sights, sounds, scents and sweet people like in the list below and all these are so symbolic and represent Madras, On a personal level these are the things that I have done in madras long back,

A vibrant and active city( thoonga nagaram) is awake as early as 5 or before, and you will find people splashing water and cleaning the door steps to put kolam(rangoli). Most people rise here to the south Indian wake up music of noted carnatic singer M.S.Subbalakshmi’s suprabhatam, followed by a cup of Filter kaapi.. Here filter kaapi is served in a stainless steel davara and tumbler( cup and saucer). The way kaapi is poured from the cup to the saucer from a great distance to make it frothy is an art to be mastered and could keep capuccino, mocha out of the race.

The scents and sights of the beautifully strung kadhamba poo made up of flowers of henna, bluebells, kanakambaram, marikozhundu, the scent of jasmine flowers all these were strung beautifully on a banana fibre by the florist on almost all street corners. The paneer rojas( a scented rose used in gulkand) would be made into huge garlands and encased in silver threads and the scent of these flowers were always in the air, the marikozhundu(Spanish cherry), thazhampoo(screw pine), Manoranjitham(ylang ylang) and the festoons made of coconut glade during ocassions.
The lovely procession of janavasam( baraat) where the bride groom goes in an open car piloted by the mellifluous tunes of nadaswaram and mridangam band and relatives ,flanked by the carriers of petromax lights( Ilike the effect of the filtered light in the night) all this from the balcony of our patti’s home. The baraat passes through our home to the Raja kalyana mandapam beside Buckingham canal.
The pattu pavaidas brought at rasi silk and nalli and tailored by maadi tailor and all those colorful rustling silks of the madisar maamis around kapali kovil and Nanganallur anjaneyar koil.
The taste of the Goli soda at T.A.S ratthinam pattinam kadai, kaara sevai of the matthala narayanan street, the jeeraga mittai , eli mittai and 5 star bought at sankar stores, the herbs at dabba chetty kadai, the softy,flavored milks and palkova of aavin and of course nothing to beat the taste of patti’s malligai poo idli, suttennai and milagai podi and the rose barfi of Grand sweets.( I was very angry with my grandpa once when he told me to share a 5 star with a co - passenger on my train).
I studied for 5 months during my mom's confinement while my sister was born, and amirtham our maid used to take me to kumaran's school, not wanting to go to school, I swung the oonjal (swing) against her head while she was mopping the floor and while she was writhing in pain, i was so happy i would miss school till thatha punctured my happiness by tellling me that he would take me to police station.
My first sight of Television and I loved to watch oliyum oliyum, wonderballoon , here’s lucy, and non-stop nonsense and I would be delighted to see those east man color movies and this oliyum oliyum was telecast on fridays during the archanai at kapali koil and my patti told us cousins to accompany mami. Oh, How we hated to go to kapali koil those days, and now almost daily before going to sleep, I am mentally go around this temple.
The pride I and my cousins felt while giving neer more( chaas/buttermilk) to the passers by sitting on the steps of the sengalineer pillaiyar koil which patti specially churned during ramanavami and summers.
The utsava murthi( god in procession) which used to exclusively pass in front of our home and all of us would come out with pooja items to offer pooja( this arrangement is done by the temples so that invalid and old people can have the darshan of god)
The sidaru thengai( breaking coconuts on the road in front of Ganesha temple) and the rickshaw wallas rushing to get the sidaru thengai.
My own choppu basket( toys) made of cane which was downloaded from the attic when i went for holidaysand the games of pallankuzhi. I still have my patti’s pallanguzhi ( a traditional game which has a wooden base).
The strolls around maada veedhi (road), luz church and the narrow alleys like matthala narayanan street, bazaar street, walk to santhome beach, around the lanes of my mom’s school and the various falls I had while learning to cycle in the vast ground before 41, lakshmi nagar colonynanganallur and union carbide colony , the walks to watch movies at ranga, kapali and kamadhenu theatres.
Shopping at luz, mada street, t.nagar, pondy bazaar, Burma bazaar and the old red spencer building .
In nanganallur home, there were sepia toned photos of our ancestors walled in a linear fashion along with those was a photo of nehru and gandhi. As a child, when I asked who was that? my thatha answerd as nehru thatha and till many years I was thinking nehru was related to me and he was my thatha.
Our visits to the temples of kapali kovil, luz anjaneyar, mundakanniamman, nanganallur anjaneyar , ashtalaksmi koil, velanganni , ayyappan koil at R.A puram and santhome church .
The aroma wafting out of patti’s kitchen while she makes keerai masiyal, urulai curry , vengaya sambar and that tasty arisi upma made in vengala uruli , the kaisuttu murukku and adirasam were too tasty and how can I forget the special atthi kai( fig) sambar . These atthi kai was not available in all shops, only in a roadside shop outside hindu chit fund office, paati sent amirtham( our maid) to get this because I love this atthi kai sambar and the taste is still lingering on my tongue
The sound of the cycle rickshaw bells which carried rosary matric children, bells of the soan papdi cycle the nearby pillaiyar koil still chimes in my ear.
The cool sea breeze which caressed us while we played on the hot summer terrace.
The smell of amrutanjan while you stood outside the bustop at luz,The casual bow to luz vinayagar,My cycling experiences at the huge open area called nanganallur.( On my last visit to this place , I could find no open space, only flats), My first electric train journey from Pazhavanthangal to mambalam and our joy rides in my thatha’s amby MSR 2277, the phone number 73762, the beautiful chettinad mansion on adyar, the various kutcheris at Ramana kendra, the dramas( madras has a very active theatre group), The Christmas cakes at universal bakery, the sand castles built on the beach, the maangai sundal and chocobar of santhome, marina and elliots beach, the cool breeze that caresses your face while you walk up the narrow alleys of Ashtalaksmi kovil,,The warmth and service of people like mani mama( jewelry shop), veenai mami, Shankar stores, the archakar at kapali kovil, srividya manjal kunguma kadai , rickshaw puller kapali, Dr. kailash his wife Dr. chitra and all those people at the post office, thambi pharmacy, sarasa pinman, Shankar stores, dabbachetty kadai,the gurkha of the United bank, the librarian at the nearby library who went on mouna vrat’s on Monday , my aunt’s and mom’s typewriting and shorthand institute, devi milk depot. and our maid amirtham ,
Come December and this city experiences concert tourism where musicians from all over the world congregate to celebrate and experience the December katcheri – a music fest which is unparalled in the world.

All these and much more are the memrorable times that Madras has given me that will stay on forever wherever I go and so madras day is a reason for me to celebrate. There is still lot more to madras and I leave this list incomplete…………….

Regular winner Mrs. Gowri Chandrashekar at 'Mylapore festival' with her winning kolam(rangoli)

The aroma of Patti's kitchen, idli moligai pudi, nallennai or sometimes suttennai

The spirit of madras - dance and music

The theppotsavam at mylapore temple tank, the air around mylapore is very festive during this time

She is the morning raga for most Chennaites - The divine M.S.Subbulakshmi
Interested may find the madras day events listing here

All the photos are from :Global village's Best of chennai - a coffee table book. except the theppam photo which is from mylapore times.

They are making memories.........

2011-08-13T04:45:00.000-07:00

"Mirror in the middle"

"God in the middle"

Most parents of growing children would have heard the above lines or similar ones often at home. If not, read ahead……

I had rested my son one day from school since he had a severe dry cough. He was tired and sleeping on his bed when my daughter returned from school at 2.30. I had laid her lunch and was waiting for her to come to the table but she refused telling that she will have food only with her brother. He was in no mood to give her company and so he refused to eat with her, not one to listen my daughter went on nagging him to give her company. When he did not yield , she started bothering him by tickling and shouting into his ears, this irritated my son and finally he hit her.

Not wanting to be a mute spectator, I intervened and shouted badly at my daughter telling her not to bother him since he was unwell and went into the kitchen to do my work. A few minutes passed and while at work on the kitchen platform, my son came and tapped at my back, I turned around and my son had this to say,

“Amma, why did you interfere and shout at her? Ippo avo azhara paaru(see she is crying now), Go say sorry to her”

My jaws dropped at first and then I went Hmpfff......I deserve it.

A lesson learnt …. I decided that day, I would never interfere when these siblings fight.

But wait….Did I learn?

On an another day…...

This time again both of them had a fight, usually it’s over a rubber, pencil , pen, A4 sheet or for something trivial. My daughter a perfectionist who keeps her things clean and safely and my son who is just the opposite …….

This time I shouted at my son badly which sent him crying to the bed and now my daughter came to me and this was the dialogue that followed…

She : Amma, everytime he cries he ends with a bad cough and you are the one who suffers and takes him to a doctor, when he has a dry cough… why do you shout and make him cry?.

ME: It irritates me when you both fight. Stop fighting.

She: No ma, we are not fighting, We are making memories. These things are what we will remember when we grow up , so allow us to fight. You don’t interfere.

Now whenever there is a shout or fight, I never go in the middle it is either ‘God in the middle’ or ‘mirror in the middle’

Do you get the drift?

When one shouts the other says the above dialogue … it means god is in the middle so the other automatically stops shouting.. now who would shout at god?

Mirror? Now you all know mirror reflects…..

Like all siblings they rival and revel and when they revel they are so creative and come up with beautiful music compositions (between them they learn carnatic music, tabla and they learn keyboard from internet), art works and delicious recipes and help each other with their school projects… when they rival they send my head reeling….

Never mind the reeling…. They are making memories after all. Little wonder then this relationship calls for a celebration.

Happy Raksha bandhan to all those brothers and sisters celebrating this lovely relationship.

This post is for my son and daughter . After all they are making memories, while I’m recording them…..

Where are we heading?

2011-08-08T04:51:00.000-07:00

I had to shop for some needs in the nearby store and was looking for my jute bag, when suddenly I heard a huge commotion with a volley of abuses going back and forth, the amplified voices of my fellow residents would've put sound mics to shame and it almost shook the whole building. The drama unfolded in our parking lot and the event was our society elections. All the blocks were unanimously elected, while our block alone had a contest. The contest was also not with the intention to serve the society but an ego tussle between two groups.

Yes, groups - when many like minded people come together they form a group, similarly in my complex with more than 1000 families around there are many groups. Fair enough till now, but two of the groups indulge in mud slinging, hurling insult and the hate they harbor in their minds is so scary( wrt to society welfare affairs). All these were only on internet on our website but yesterday it spilled over when they came face to face during the polls.

An impulsive retort, a bitter truth , freely expressed opinion or an innocent joke are taken offensively and replied with bitterness.

Can we not express our dislike in a subtle way? Can we not adjust? Where are we heading? What precedent are we setting for our gen next?

And do you know the people who fought hold top positions in famous MNC’s which includes international banks, IT and pharmaceutical companies and the spectators of the clash were our complex children, service providers and our security men who must’ve chuckled from inside. What effect will it have on the children?

What shocked me more was when my son related the events to his father on skype.

Not just in societies, even I am witness to some marriages crumbling because of some flimsy reason like watching tv, disliking food. A sweet couple in their late twenties where both of them are very soft spoken and nice individuals, fight for the simple reason as to who has to lull the baby to sleep and the angry young man and lady fought in the corridor bringing the complex to their floor at 10.30 in the night. She a fashion designer with an airline was watching MTV and he an MNC engineer was watching cricket match. So much for education and their occupation. Can't they confine it to their walls?

And these fights are on TV reality shows and blogs too, The king of them of course is our politics......(we have had 8 bandhs in our state in the past two months)

What is it people irrespective of age have become so impatient and so revengeful? Why can’t they understand that people with different backgrounds, different school of thoughts can think differently and act differently? Why cant we respect other’s faith, religion and race?. Why is it that mighty people always assert and express aggressively and expect others to follow their way of thinking? Why are they so arrogant and always want to prove that they and only they are right?

Looks like values like peace, restraint, resilience, patience, love, affection, honesty are a thing of the past.

P.s: all sorts of people make this society, even the people who fought are from good backgrounds and extremely helpful,nice people. They are cultured and decent when it comes to their workstations only that their ego was rubbed the wrong way and they could not show some restraint and I had to rant.

Talakad - Land of sand, legend,temples, history and geography

2011-08-05T01:48:00.000-07:00

Journeying through beautiful lotus laden ponds, temple tanks, quaint village huts, humble kutccha houses and all those cliché’s which I described in my Shimsha post we reached the banks of River Cauvery at Talakad. All along the drive, the Cauvery canals too ran parallel to the road irrigating the vast expanse of sugarcane and paddy fields.

The moment our vehicle stopped at Talakkad, the local guides flocked our vehicle and offered to take us on a guided tour. We narrowed on a guide and he rattled out the history , geography and legend associated with the place called Talakkad.

Talakad – 45 kms from Mysore was once a flourishing capital city of the Ganga dynasty . It was later ruled by Cholas, Hoysalas, Vijayanagara kings and later the wodeyars.

The dynasties which ruled this place have left imprints of their faith by erecting temples and stamping it with their unique architecture. All these temples numbering around 30 are buried under sand dunes. The central archaeological department of India has excavated many such temples.

A story goes that the name Talkad comes from two woodcutters called Tala and Kadu, who while chopping wood in the forest, found blood oozing out from one of the trees that they had tried to cut. Tala and Kadu while praying to Lord Shiva applied the leaves of that tree to the wound and the bleeding stopped. This incident led to Shiva being worshipped as Vaidyanatha, the lord of doctors and the temple in Talkad came to be known as Vaidyanatheswara Temple.

Apart from vaidyanatheswara, the other temples of Shiva - Pataleeswara, Maraleswara, Arakeswara and Mallikarjuna form the Pancha linga darshan and are believed to represent the Five faces of Lord Shiva. Another ancient temple recently excavated was the Keerthi Narayan temple which is the only temple with Hoysala architecture in Talakkad. We covered nearly 7 temples in one hour since the closing time was 1.00p.m, nevertheless had a fulfilling darshan.

The pataleswara temple

One has to walk over the sand dunes to see these excavated temples in the wooded area. Since it had rained the previous night, it was easy to walk over the sand . We visited all the above temples , while the guide was telling how the archeological department had now constructed a raised wall around the temple so that sand does not close in. Despite their efforts the sand does creep in and close on the temple.

It gave me a giddy feeling to know that I was walking over a great civilization that lay buried underneath the sand While the guide was narrating the history and the legend of Talakkad.

Like any other ancient historical capital, Talakkad too has its share of colourful legend. The one that is popular dates back to the early 1600’s When Raja Wodeyar, the founder of Wodeyar dynasty defeated Rangaraya – the viceroy of Vijayanagar empire in Sri Rangapattina. He later retired to Talakkad and died of a disease.

Sri Rangaraya’s wife was Alamelamma. The victorius wodeyar king alleged that she still had the jewels which belonged to the temple of Srirangapattina. He sent his force to recover the jewels. Alamelamma relented the use of force, she jumped into the river Cauvery and cursed the king and the town thus,

“Let Talakadu be Sandy, Malingi become a whirlpool and the Mysore kings be childless”

and to this day this place is deluged with sand and the nearby town Malingi is full of whirlpools and Wodeyar dynasty of Mysore is issueless.(The present scion Sri Kanta Datta wodeyar, an ex MP from Mysore is also issueless).

While scientists and scholars say the legend is fabricated around the town and attribute the sandy nature to the onslaught of sand brought about by an ecological disaster due to the construction of a dam in 1336 and the strong winds that blow here. The whirlpools to an active geological fault, they are intrigued by the mystery of the issueless wodeyar dynasty. With a few exceptions, the curse has survived folklore from 1610 till today for almost 400 years spanning 17 maharajahs.

After a grand story time and an even grander visit to all the temple we retired to the canopied cover of the river banks to relish our food hamper.

We followed it with some spa moments and a coracle ride on the quiet river which is the confluence of the three rivers Kaveri, Kabini and the mythical Spatika, knowing all along the curse of a woman was swirling and echoing through the place.

We came out of the waters to drink a hot cup of ginger chai under the canopy of trees overlooking the river from a tendered chaiwalla.

Left the place pondering about the legend. Is it a curse? an ecological disaster or a geological phenomenon?

Let time and geologists unravel…… I had a blissful time.

Padhinettam perukku - a regional festival

2011-08-02T23:32:00.000-07:00

Padhinettam Perukku (meaning the floods/rising of the eighteenth) is a regional festival of tamils unique to the people of villages/ towns on the banks of River Cauvery.

This ancient festival patronized by Kings falls invariably on the 18^th day of the tamil month Aadi (Aashad or shoonya maas) and is therefore known as Aadi padhinettu or Aadi perukku. On this day river Cauvery raises/swells to its full capacity in the Thanjavur – Trichy region of Tamilnadu due to the onset of monsoon.

Basically a nature worship - a prayer and thanksgiving to the monsoon for uninterrupted supply of water and good harvest, for this is what sustains the life of people in the Cauvery delta. People also worship water in the form of temple wells and temple tanks. This is also the month when new seeds are sowed by farmers. Ritualistically people worship her like a female goddess by lighting agal vilakku( diya) and offering puja to her on the river basins which is a fertile land for growing crops.

Friends and relatives get together to pray and feast on the banks of the river. On this day only mixed rice like puliyodhirai(tamarind rice), thengaisaadam(coconut rice), elumbicchai saadam( lemon rice) , thayir saadam(curd rice) are made. The accompaniments are Avial( medley of vegetables in coconut gravy), vadams( fryums) and papad. This is then eaten on the banks of the river like a picnic. They also express their joy by dancing a form called ‘Kummi’( similar to garbha) and kolattam( Dandiya).

The scientific significance of this month is that Sun changes his direction from north to south which is called Dakshinayana in sanskrit( Dakshin- south and ayana is travel) and so sun moves towards debilation. Hence it is a practice to indulge in religious practices to please the deities since the positive energy received from sun is lessening gradually. To establish our connection with the energy spots enshrined in rocks, it is important to visit temples and bond with the creative energy in temples and thus this month is full of festivals like Aadi velli, Aadi Pooram, Aadi Kirthigai and today’s Aadi padhinettu and it is also a forerunner for hindu festivals like lakshmi vrat, Sri Jayanthi, chaturthi,etc.,.

To focus our energy and attention on the Gods, no auspicious events llike weddings, upanayanam or even shopping for goods are restricted in this month. The reason why business is pretty dull during these month and hence tradesman come up with the famous discount sales like Aadi/aashad discounts to attract customers during this time.

Info courtesy: My family elders

On a stone bench, under a shady tree......

2011-07-29T00:43:00.000-07:00

On my way to Talakkad, I passed through T. Narsipura – a village which is a charming throwback in time. It was around 11 in the morning, but the folks of the village looked so relaxed, some women were chatting on the ‘Thinnai’( cement benches), while some old men were seated under a stone platform under a tree and chatting . Unlike the urban souls rushing in the bumper to bumper traffic holding their mobiles, people here were walkin to their farm lands and some were busy with their silk cocoons (sericulture), while some school boys were chasing the worn tyres with a stick. The way these unknown villagers smiled and waved at us was so heartwarming.

Any way, the talks under the tree and thinnai is the topic of my post. It made me recall my visit to my perimma’s ( mom’s elder sister) house 25 years back for my vacation at Pettaivaithalai near Trichy. It had beautiful quarters of Cauvery sugars( now Parry’s) where the rear door of the back yard opened to the Cauvery canal and palm groves. Just in front of my perimma’s house was a square bench pattern on which all the ladies would assemble unofficially around 7 and chat their problems away. These ladies would also go on a yearly trip to Kutralam( southern most district of India) to buy the yearly stock of spices – a business and pleasure trip.

Much before the Doordarshan days, my mom and her friends too after their household work would sit out under the gooseberry tree and talk while they learnt to knit, sew and ‘Can’ foods like juices,pickles and jams. They were like members of one big family.

We have one such cement platform under the tangerine tree in the back yard of our Grandmom’s house too at Lalgudi. Neighbours come and chat with our house hold members.

The conversations in all the above meetings would involve politics, movies, music, cuisine, latest trends, developments, job and alliances for their children, schooling etc... and most important was they would share their personal problems, happiness, worries , sympathise and empathise with the other’s feelings without being judgemental. Just listening and talking their problems was so cathartic and de-stressing, my mom, and perimma would say. As a child, I was a witness to this talks.

Even yesterday over telecon my atthai( father's sis) told me about the beautiful time she had with my dad, mom and her other siblings at my uncle's place, while we their children were faraway. The retired lot talk and spend their time and it is so healing to their soul to share their problems.

These personal meetings/conversations are called by many names in many languages like ‘Katte matthu’(kannada), arrattai ( tamil), gappe(hindi) , gossip or euphemistically I call it ‘ Group Discussion’ or ‘Hang out’. When there are no family priorities, I too experience the above meetings in my housing society with my friends in the evenings.

These talks create a bond of share, care, love and help among people. At times of crisis, they also become a support system like an extended family.

My friend, who is a member of a counseling organization based in Seattle often holds meetings to counsel people. She said all they do is take some personal time to listen to people’s problems and they don’t even give advice. Just talking their problems made them mentally lighter.

Now tell me, Isn’t there some similarity to the above talks and the organization.?

A simple village activity has metamorphosized into an organization and given birth to a new job avenue called counseling.

If most of us talked and shared our worries and listened to others, there would be no need of family counselors, marriage counselors or student counselors. Today, many of us that too urban souls, plan strategies to compete and survive, think logically, make scientific breakthroughs in the process we have become less emotional.

Infact, Most of them bottle up their emotions and portray a rosy picture these days which only harms our health. Emotional connect has become a victim of changed times.

Many of us socialize virtually on FB, Geni , skype , orkut etc… but unfortunately since time is a premium, today many find it difficult to connect with their own family personally, leave alone friends.

Here, I could not stop myself from envying those simple villagers having katte matthu( conversation on an elevated platform).

I so much dream too lead a simple life like those villagers, chatting away in some idyllic village faaaaaaaaarway from the neon drenched , carbon spouting city among like minded relatives and friends, in my Dream home.

My Dream home? How will that be? That’s an other post………….

P.S: The above theory of talk and healing was elucidated in a Tamil drama. If interested read here.

( Above photo was clicked on my way back from Somnathpur, Karnataka)

Madhya ranga - Abode of reclining Vishnu

2011-07-24T23:01:00.000-07:00

When we were driving around a bend to reach the Shimsha falls, We read the board of Madhya ranga and on our way back stopped to see the temple. It is also called Sri Jaganmohana Ranganatha temple. A pretty huge temple, Simple but very divine. The villagers told us the priest had gone to a nearby place for the wedding and so the sanctum was closed. I walked to the huge wooden double door and found their was a peep hole for darshan. I peeped through to find the divine lord clad in dhoti and garlands, absolutely stunning through the filtering light of the oil lit lamps. There are very few idols which can send such vibrations. This was one such. The image and calmness is finely embedded in my memory, that it is flashing every now and then.

Devout Hindus travelling towards Mysore can mark this place called 'Madhya Ranga' at Shivanasamudram.

The 3 major riverine Islands formed by River cauvery are Srirangapattina, Shivanasamudram and Srirangam. Apart from having historical significance and natural beauty, these 3 islands are also major pilgrim centres.

All the 3 Islands have a temple dedicated to Lord Vishnu popularly called as Sri Ranganatha. The reclining pose of Vishnu on the multiheaded serpent Adisesha is called Sri Ranganatha and his consort Lakshmi is called Ranganayaki.

Sri Rangapattina is called Adi ranga (the first one)

Shivanasamudram is called Madhyaranga ( the middle one)

Sri rangam is called Antya ranga (the last one).

Of all these Srirangapattina and Sri Rangam are famous but not much is known about Madhya ranga. This is supposed to be a 1500 year old temple built by the cholas, who were known for unique architecture and the idol is made of black fossil stone( saliigrama). A legend goes that Sri Hari gave darshan to Lord Indra here. The Idol is also small compared to adi and antya ranga, . Visiting all the 3 Rangakshetras ( adi, madhya and antya) between suryoday(dawn) to suryasth( dusk) is considered auspicious and called Brahmanda darshan or triranga darshan. The belief of devouts is that this darshan washes away your sins and gives peace and plenty.

A tidbit: All of us know that the Pilgrim center SriRangapattina was the capital of Tipusultan, The ruler of Mysore who gave the British nightmares but very few of us know that he was a devotee of Sri Ranganatha. He is supposed to have had conversations with the Lord. He also rose to the morning chants of ' O Ranga' . My parents 80+ old neighbour @ bangalore told me that there was a 'Sri Ranga' temple beside all Tipu's palace. There is one at Bangalore city market too. Besides Tipu's wooden summer palace is a Fort temple dedicated to Vishnu.

Interested, may check a video on Madhyaranga here.