The Wait

It was almost 9 in the morning. Shambhu lal was still lying down on his mat. The foggy cold morning was cajoling him to sleep for some more time. But he had to go. He had to succeed today at least. There was no more room for failure . He quickly got ready and went to his destination. Alas! There was a huge line of around 20-25 people waiting before a closed shutter, hoping for the best. Shambhu had been seeing such lengthy queues for the past couple of days and returned back to his home disappointed like the Jarasandha retreating after each failed attack on Lord Krishna in the Dwapara yuga. But Jarasandha aka Shambhu couldn't return empty handed today. He had to believe that that would be 'his' day.He quickly took his position as the last man in the queue. He had to lose the 'last man in the queue' title in a jiffy as there were more and more people joining at the tail.

Shambhu started scanning the people in the queue. There were people of almost all ages, from adolescent to elderly with the middle-aged like Shambhu forming the majority. They were unfazed by the cold weather and were braving the cold by wearing mufflers and sweaters. Shambhu was surprised after finding few women in the queue in spite of the poor weather. There was a hue of sorrow painted on all the faces with a few venting out their anger and frustration with their neighbors in the queue. Shambhu was also having similar feelings and questions. But he knew that that was not the time to get angry. He wanted to move forward in the queue. As per him, he was too far back which would mean that the probability of him not getting his quota was more.

He had many acquaintances standing before him. He could easily seek their help to get for him too. But with the limits and other new rules, everyone would be thinking only for himself/herself. It had been almost an hour and a half. There was no trace of the gentleman aka 'the saviour for these people' in his guarded vehicle. He was getting restless, so were the others. Though it was cold,  Shambhu was feeling thirsty. His hands had started shivering. His knees were getting weak. His vision was becoming blurry. But he stood his ground in the queue. He couldn't give up. He was sincerely hoping that after going through all these, he should get his due and not a board telling to come later. He was praying that not even his enemy should have such a fate.

Just then 'he' appeared out of his vehicle with his bag. There was a loud cheer from the people followed by some chaos. The guard who had come along, somehow managed to restore some order . Once the guy who went behind the shutter, signalled a 'Go', people in the queue started entering one after the another. The more the time it took, the more tensed were the people still in the queue. It was Shambhu's turn. With the sudden rush of adrenaline, Shambhu forgot the pains in his body and ran inside.  After getting his full quota, Shambhu came out clutching it tightly close to his heart. Why wouldn't he? He had been having a nightmarish 3 days. He was not able to sleep or eat well . He then opened his hand to take another look at his hard earned.

Photo Courtesy

 There it was ! In a newer design and style. Shambhu was fondly remembering the days when the people could easily walk in and get theirs at any time. The days, when people like him would sink themselves in the oceans of nectar and enjoying the world as if there were no tomorrow. The days when this magic thing at hand could make the sky their costly roof and the rocky ground their comfy bed .He blessed the guy loudly who came with the stocks . He did a quick check around him before opening his quota. He then gulped it in a single sip. Gone were the chills and pain in his body along with the senses. He then turned back at the guy who opened the shutters of the liquor shop a while back and started yelling "Thanks! Oh Saviour!!" and he fell down unconscious thanks to the liquor hacking his CPU alias brain that just went inside.

The people who were still in the queue to get the liquor didn't pay any attention to Shambhu's theatrics.No one bothered to give a hand to him. They knew once the effect of alcohol subsides, he would come back to senses.After all, who would want to lose their hard earned place in the queue to get the liquor before the stocks run out.

                                                                        

The Believable lies

"Chechi! What are your plans tomorrow?", asked Sulochana.

"Nothing!", replied my mother.

"Oh! I am going to my brother's home and we all will be staying in a hut in the middle of our fields tomorrow night".

"Family get together aano?", asked my Mom.

"Yey!No! Super Moon alle? That's why" came the reply.

My mom was puzzled.

Sulochana continued," It is predicted by NASA that on super Moon day which happens once in 1000 years, due to more gravity from moon, there will be quakes and tsunamis. There are so many posts in Facebook related to this. Didn't you see, chechi?".

"Don't I have any other work?", thought my Mom.

"Anyways if there are quakes, stay away from the electric posts in your field", my mom replied in a sarcastic tone.

There are many such Sulochanas among us nowadays who are easily foxed by the hoaxes and rumours flying all around us in every form. Apart from worrying about the naivety of people who believe such hoaxes, credit must be given to people who could think off such hoaxes, make them believable and trick us, though we know that lies travel twice as fast as the truth like raging wildfires.

The Great Dronacharya in the battle of Kurukshetra, per records happen to be the first major victim of a popular hoax on his son's death orchestrated by the Lord himself. Drona didn't try to verify the news himself but rather depended on other's words.

If it was the immortal Ashwadhama who was rumoured dead in Kurukshetra, many celebrities in the present age are being mercilessly killed by hoaxers in social media.Unlike the Mahabharata days, with the world news accessible through the smartphones with us, people still believe the forwards in social media and not even try to verify the authenticity of the information. This latest fad among the hoaxers in social media spreading false news that a celebrity is no more, is a disturbing trend. 

There are some other less disturbing hoaxes which we see regularly. Most of these would start like "As per NASA release" followed by a warning of Pralaya or other natural phenomena. Not so far ahead is the day when we get and believe rumors like " As per NASA, the sun will rise in the West tomorrow and this rare phenomenon occurs once in zillion years". Even if such a hoax comes up, it would be made very believable so that everyone may be tempted to believe it except for the person in topic, the God on seven chariots.

Rather than falling a prey to such tricks and hoaxes, it is time to remove the rust on our sixth sense and use them to differentiate the truth from the others. After all, the Great Tamil poet Thiruvalluvar has already conveyed the message which I want to reiterate here .

"Epporul yaaryaar Vaaiketpinum Apporul

Meipporul Kaanpatharivu"

Meaning:-

Whatever may be the source of any information, knowledge is to extract and assimilate the truth in it.

Grandma Tales

Childhood is the best phase in one's life. Our minds are free from preoccupations, mental stress and other worries.  Each and everyday we are fed with interesting stories by our grand parents during bed time. Most of the stories will be fantasies with added spice to make us believe that they are genuine. Leisure hours will take us back to that old grandma period and the stories we could hear from them.

Siva Purana says that Lord Ganesa was very much normal when he was born. A handsome, lovable child was he that everybody adored him. But circumstances made him a scapegoat. Failure to obey his father, Lord Siva, caused his head being chopped off by Siva. To appease Goddess Parvathy, Siva had to give rebirth to Ganesa for which he needed the head of any living  creature whom he  came across first, lying with its head directed towards North. At last it was an elephant's head that was to decorate Ganesa. But the story,    my grandma told was something very different from this,

Lord Siva and Parvathy, during their honeymoon days, came across a herd of elephants in the thick forests, enjoying the nature and in their playful mood. Parvathy was fascinated to see that and longed that she and Siva could also roam round the forest like them and enjoy. Hence Siva and Parvathy took the form of male and female elephants and there born the child Ganesa.

At another hour of such playful life, both Siva and Parvathy took the form of Vanaras {monkeys} . That time, Parvathy did not wish to have a vanara child. So the embryo in her womb was transferred to that of Anjana, wife of Vaayu {the god of wind} and Hanuman was born. In that era itself, there were cases of embryo transfer from one womb to another which lead to the modern concept of Hired mothers {Vaadagai thai}.

Further interesting is the birth of Vaali and  Sugreeva. Both were sons of Aruna. It was a total Solar Eclipse day and that the Sun God had no work on that day. So he gave his charioteer Arunan a day's off. Arunan, to have some fun on his holiday, went to the durbar of Devendran where he was prevented from entering the durbar as only women were permitted to enter the durbar on that day. Out of curiosity, Arunan cross dressed himself as a beautiful lady called Aruna and entered the durbar. Noticing a beautiful new face in the durbar, Devendran wished to meet her privately  and hence the birth of Vaali.

Arunan returned to work as usual the next day. His master, the Sun God, asked how he spent his off day and Arunan had to narrate his stories. Sun God was astonished to hear the same and he himself wanted to see Arunan's beautiful lady get up, whence he himself fell in love with him and Sugreeva was born.

Umpteen questions can be asked about the possibilities of such happenings. But a childish mind, an innocent one, naturally  believed all these.

To conclude, let me  quote a few golden lines.

" If it be wrong and upon me proved
     I never wrote and nobody ever read ".

Chithra Gupta

Chithra Gupta, the personal assistant to Yama Dharma, who keeps records of all creatures on earth, good and bad, now-a-days feels the job very cumbersome as the population on the earth has reached Himalayan heights and he is not provided with any assistants to help him in his work. Having only two hands to work with and his old Ezhuthani not so sharp of late, he has to toil hard to record each and everybody's papas and punyas then and there and make a  consolidated statement at the end of each day to be scrutinized by Yama himself.

Umpteen times had Chithra Gupta appealed to Yama to provide two or three apprentices to him to help him do all these works perfectly, but all fell on deaf ears. Old age has hampered Gupta's efficiency and now-a-days he tends to make mistakes, that too very silly ones. Even though mistakes are made by Chithra Gupta, the ill effects of those mistakes take heavy toll on Yama as he has to bear the punishments on that account.

Once, out of mental strain, Gupta wrongly advised Yama to go to Earth and to bring someone back to Naraka  as his days on earth had lapsed, but on arrrival back from earth with the person, Yama noticed that he has brought the wrong person. Yama was confused that he could neither send the man back to Earth nor can allow him to be in Naraka as his tenure in Naraka has not yet started. Caught between the Devil and the Deep Sea, Yama use to scold Chithra Gupta every now and then to which his answer will be like this. " I am aged and cannot manage all alone. I have requested you to appoint somebody to assist me. But of no use. Errors may occur in this circumstance and you cannot put all the blame on me".

Yama thought that something has to be done to avoid such mistakes, as his pride will be at stake, that was how he met Narada, the ever talented Deva Rishi, who can solve any problem under the sun within seconds.

Thus during a Job Fare, Yama also attended as an employer and to his joy, could select a genius in Computer Programming. The selected lad was immediately taken to Yama Loka and for his convenience a brand new Computer with Internet and Wi Fi fecilities was set up. Within a few days, each and every person's bio-data and accounts of  punyas and papas were recorded and Yama was fed with actual informations well in time. The poor Chithra Gupta was sidelined as Yama no longer required his services. Poor man, now he is like a Dharwan to the Computer man in Yama Loka.

A Travel

Avsar looked completely drained. He had just completed one half of the train journey to his hometown for the long weekend. He had to wait for another 3 hrs for the connecting train . He had all the time in the world . But, surprisingly he looked in a hurry. The few passengers in the platform saw this guy in his twenties almost running after being seen restless in the platform for sometime. It was still dark . The dude at the east was yet to illuminate the area. Avsar was running towards the upper class waiting room . "All Indians same problem! ", commented one Dhukanwala with a grin. "Yes! It was becoming too much of a problem for Avsar. He was sensing that his legs were losing their might; his eyes were becoming blurry; His bag was becoming too much of a weight to carry. He had to get rid of the 'weight'. In the midst of all this, there were umpteen questions going through his mind. One of them being, "Will he be lucky enough to find any vacancy in the waiting room to relieve himself from the stressful and delicate situation?" He was cursing the Lassi vendor in the train for putting him in that situation. Phew ! He was never ever tensed like that. He was like running for his life.

"Why don't they build these basic facilities all along the platform ?", he thought. He rushed inside the waiting hall. The attendant, in half sleep asked Avsar to show his ticket and write down his details in the register. But he was not in a mood to listen. He quickly scanned the walls of the room." There it is!", he exclaimed. He identified the board and rushed towards it. There was none. He thanked the Almighty, threw his bag and plugged in the adapter to his mobile phone and then to the vacant plug point in the only switch board in the waiting room. The attendant was puzzled watching the actions of this guy, who shouted "Eureka!" just for getting his mobile charged . "Paagal!", he thought. Avsar was not paying attention to any of his surroundings. After all, he had to reply "I Miss you, Love!" to his sweetheart who had messaged before his mobile battery died, telling how she couldn't sleep even in an A/C sleeper bus on her way home just because she couldn't meet him for four days. After turning on his phone, he replied " Sorry dear! One Paagal attendant here irritated me. Just taught him a lesson. Miss you, Love. Will message you after reaching home. Muaaah". By the time, Avsar came back to his senses, there were some 4-5 people standing around him. He was puzzled as to why they were around him, until one of them asked "Boss! If charged, pls move"

Gone are the days when people went to a waiting room in a railway station to take some rest and freshen up. All we look for is a working switch board with an empty plug point. Same is the case in buses and trains. Some 3-4 years back, people used to fight for the window seats and lower berths. Now, the first thing being checked, especially when traveling alone,(even before the reservation chart. :P) after boarding a train is where the charging point is.

Why exactly are we concerned about the battery charge in the mobile phones? The most common argument would be to have some life in the mobile, so that it can be used in case of any emergency. True, it is. But one another reason could be, we don't know how to pass the time without the nonsenses in the phone, when traveling alone.

It is becoming pretty rare to find people standing near the door of train compartments or look outside from the windows and enjoy the setting sun in the West with a cool breeze hitting them. We find people near the doors/windows mostly when there is a charging point. We are forgetting the beauty of the green paddy fields and hillocks racing past us in the opposite direction as mostly we would be busy fighting a war with our clan, crushing the candies or checking the WhatsApp pics of your friend's ex, when we have a phone with charge in our hand. I felt very sad to see people checking their mobile app to find in which station their train was, rather than taking a peek outside and get it from the numerous illuminated boards.

Good that we have embraced technology but sad that we are missing the little joys in our travel.

The Festivities

Festivals are celebrated in almost all parts of our country in one way or the other. What real purpose is served by this? Can we invoke Gods by conducting festivals in a grand manner? Will the Gods shower extra blessings on us by celebrating temple festivals? None can give a concrete answer to these queries. But one thing is sure that by participating in these celebrations we enjoy some pleasure.In this world, now turned to be a mechanical one, we get some space to breath fresh air, an opportunity to hide our tears and get some solace from the troubles and tribulations for a while. Hence a relief from all our worries for a short period. One of my friends use to say that by attending the village festival a year makes him mentally happy to face any worries he may have to encounter for the rest of the year, ie he will be ready to encounter any difficulty in the next phase of that year.

True! Our forefathers have planned such festivals in such a manner that they cleanse us of all inhibitions in life even if for a short period. I use to participate in almost all festivals in our village. Sometimes I was dumbfounded by the gaiety with which they are celebrated. All my friends, with exceptions, used to be part of the celebrations since we treat this as an occasion to meet together. It is a blessing for me that I can meet some of my old friends after a lapse of  some thirty to forty years. The joy and happiness we enjoy on these occasions cannot be put in words, but something to be felt.

So also is the case with our relatives. In the modern age, members of the same family are scattered with each one getting settled at their own place of work or business and hardly gets time to see or contact the other ones. Each one wishes to be by the side of  his/her dear ones atleast  once or twice a year and hence they prefer the festival times to plan their journey so that he/she will be able to meet all his/her relations at a time and spend a few days with them duly enjoying the thrill and happiness of the childhood.  Of course childhood is the sweetest days in everybody's life.

In olden days, marriages were conducted in the family house itself. The family members as well as their relatives used to gather for the marriage well in advance. The get-together starts almost a week in advance and lasts for about a week past the celebrations. It was like a festival althrough these days in the family. More over, the villagers used to assemble the previous day of marriage to assist the family in decorating the Pandal and in the preparations of feast. The villagers deemed the same as their privilege to do all these.

 The charm of such marriages have gone now-a-days. Almost all families prefer to celebrate marriages in their families in Marriage Halls and most of the marriages are conducted by Event Managers. There will not be any part for any family member, relative or villagers to play. Only thing they have to do is to reach the marriage hall well in time for the muhurtham, witness the function, have food and return.

Thus has gone the charm and pleasure of assembling together, have fun and be happy for a couple of days on this account. Likewise many festivals have lost the charm and merely became a formality, not to say about the pleasure and satisfaction we derived from them.

My Team

"Jitesh! Let's meet at the conference room right now"said Amrit. Jitesh nodded at Amrit and left for the meeting with his laptop. "Why the hell are these meetings planned on Monday mornings? It is really tough to be a part of a meeting after the parties over the weekend. I am going to vote for that party in the next election which can promise a law to declare Mondays as No Meeting days" , Jitesh murmured on his way to the meeting room. Amrit was already there, looking restless and tensed. Amrit was Jitesh's manager. He was not one of those conventional managers we see everyday. He was outspoken and friendly to all.But one thing people didn't like about Amrit was that his planning and strategies were pretty aggressive. "Boss seems to be tensed. The AC is working fine. The omens are not good, Jitesh. Looks like it will be a long day in the office", Jitesh said to himself.

Amrit signalled Jitesh to take the seat by his side in the room. " See Jitesh! I just wanted to quickly review how we performed in the last few phases. Though there had been individual brilliances here and there, we were still failing to fire as a team, especially in the last phase. I feel that lack of coordination among us impacted the results greatly. Don't you agree? " said Amrit. Jitesh nodded. He was also responsible for this poor performance. "Let's talk about the next phase which starts tonight. Do we have the plans ready to hit the bull's eye this time?After all we should claw our way to the top of the ladder and get the coveted 'Best Team' title or become the 'Best Fantasy cricket team league of TNPL 2016 '.

For a generation born and brought up in the world of fantasy stories/movies, Fantasy leagues are one of the most discussed table topics in the schools, colleges and offices nowadays. Earlier we used to hear statements like "Somehow Australia should win the match". But now,  "Even if Australia gets all out for 100, all 100 runs should be scored by David as he is in my fantasy team". We normally see people pick these fantasy teams by taking into consideration various factors such as the player's form, the ground and weather conditions, the opposition and so on. There are some who pick their fantasy teams with crazy thoughts like "This player's girlfriend would be coming to watch today's match, it seems. So he would not score today. Hence I didn't pick him in my team. Sema thinking la?"

Whatever may be the reason we love these fantasy leagues, one thing is for sure, few play these leagues just to test and showcase their prediction skills. We are always interested to foretell/predict the future of others especially our neighours/relatives like "Mark my words! This brat is not going to be of any use to the society and his family." Some others take pride when something they blabbered during their sleep would have happened in real. "Didn't I tell you 10 years back itself that she would run away with some guy?" Even the news channels sweat and toil to be labeled the 'Best Predictors' hoping that their exit poll predictions are true to the second decimal point. After all, we are brought up in a society where we are ready to worship someone like a demigod if he/she is found to be good at Foretelling/forecasting the future accurately.

Now it is my turn to predict how many would read this post and give their comments. Hope my prophecy comes true at least this time. :)

A Name for the sake of a Name Part2

In Kerala most of the houses or families are known by a house/family name. Some of the families are very popular due to their Social, Economic or Political status. But how did they get these names? Is it an award or reward from somebody? No chances for both. The older generation might have burnt much mid night oil to find a suitable as well as attractive name for their houses or families. Today all most all houses, apart from their ancestral house names, have a name such as "Sopanam", "Nandanam" etc etc. Have these names got any meaning considering the location, feature and other qualities of the house. Certainly not. I could find a house named after an aranya [forest]. Does it mean that the in mates of the house are wild animals or they show the characteristics of  beasts? The owners of the house select some names which they fancy so that one can easily identify their house from others.

When a child is born, the parents and relatives begin to scratch their heads eager to find a good name for the baby. Nowadays it has become a fortnight's job rolling over the Computer, searching over Internet and having heated discussions within family members. In most houses the Christening ceremony will take place on the 28th day of birth. By the 28th day, the the baby will be too tiny that the colour, complexion and character of the baby can never be weighed. Hence a name more suited to the baby can not be given. In olden days, in most of the cases, the name of grand father or grand mother will be acceptable. But in modern days, parents use to ponder for modern names, some of which could not be even spelt or uttered. Even such names are accepted, as a name is a name which does not require any specific meaning.

A girl, white in complexion, beautiful, christened Karuppayee or Karuthamma. A girl named Ponnamma,[Pon means gold] will not have even a single gram of gold on her body. So also with a cruel, involving in treason and arson being named Karunakaran [Karuna means kindness]. Dharuman[name of Lord Yama who is hailed for his quality of dharma]- involving in antisocial activities. Ramachandran [ Sri Rama who highlighted  the Eaka Pathni Vritha in Ramayana ] having polygamy and practicing non-marital relationships. Can the parents, at the time of baptism know that the baby will grow up contrary to the meaning of his/her name?

To conclude, I would sight an example for how a house can get a name for itself. In the middle of a big plantation and surrounded by wast green fields, stood a big posh house - we can call it the "Bunglow House". The plantations were destroyed and only one tamarind tree stood in front of that house - can be called Pulikkale House [ Puli means Tamarind ]. The tree was cut down and the house becomes - MURIKKALE House [muri means to cut off]. Some parts of the tree were found protruding above the ground- Kuttikkale House [ Kutti- protruding remains]. The entire parts as well as the roots of the tree were removed and there appears a pit in it's place - Kuzhikkale House [Kuzhi- pit]. The pit was filled and the ground leveled and the house was modified - Puthen Veedu [The New House].

Thus goes the Namapurana.

A Name for the sake of a Name- Part 1

What is there in a name?

Truly a marvelous question. A name is a name. It cannot be defined further. Perhaps human beings, having a sixth sense, only have thought of the idea of each individual being called or known by a name. In due course the procedure extended to their pets also. Some of the pets have names sweeter than that of their masters. May be their masters wished themselves to be known through their pets.

Even more interesting is that, some people, apart from their names, bear surnames before or after their names, simply to acquire popularity or to highlight their status in the society. It is my strong belief that stone age people did not have individual names. Since they were few in numbers, they could identify between themselves easily and interactions between them were far less.But day by day the population began rising and binding relations paved way for more social participation. Hence the need for one to be identified individually, and smarter brains arrived at the new conclusion - to name every individual by a name - ie Rama, Koma or Krishna. The baptism ceremonies take place very early before the child attains the age One and henceforth he/she is called, known by or identified by that name thus baptized.

Day by day human population began reaching new scales and for want of more names, people began repeating one individual's name for another. Repeating the names, confusion prevailed as to whom one wants to call or contact. Then the perception of awarding initials to names bore fruit - the initials being derived from one's father's name, house name or any other name chosen by the family. When there arose cases of same names with same initials, a second initial system sprang up. I could notice some cases of people having same names with same initials and that they were given to be identified by numbers such as K. Raman No:1 K. Raman No:2 etc etc.

From my grandma I could gather that the epic Bhagavatham cites of a character called Ajamila who refused to utter the name of God althrough his life. In the end he attained Moksha by chanting the name of Lord Krishna in his death bed. As the elders in the family thought they could also attain Moksha by chanting the name of God through out their life time, they preferred to christen their children with names of various Gods and Goddesses.

Here also is a story of an old man, who refused to utter the names of Gods or Goddesses. The family members christened his children with names Krishnan, Padmanabhan and Lakshmi in the strong belief that the old man, by calling his children by their names, will attain Moksha in the end. Contrary to expectations, the old man had his own names reserved for the children to be called. At last, the man, during his last days, sinking in bed, was expected to call his children by their actual names, when they arrived to meet him in his death bed. The first to arrive was the elder one Krishnan. The old man on seeing him embraced him and burst out. Everybody expected that the old man will cry aloud " Oh! Krishna, my son"; but the old man whispered "Dey Kitchu! vanthuttiyeda".

The second one Padmanabhan arrived next. The old man's eyes twinkled on seeing his second sibling. He sprang up from his bed, holding his son's hands, he uttered " Dear Pappa I am sinking, I am drowning". On both occasions the old man fooled his relatives. But they still had hope. "What will he do with his daughter Lakshmi, whom he used to call Kada Kutty [ Last sibling]?"

The man on seeing his daughter,  took her hands in his own, patted gently and murmured . "Loving child Yatchu! I am dying" The man's hands slid from his daughter's and he went for an eternal sleep.

To him Moksha means.................

                                                                                                  [to be continued ]

Sponsorship

I have made it a practice to view Television programs almost the whole time I am available at home. Since I have retired from service and have no other work to do, I depend mainly on newspapers and TV set to kill my time.Though my better half is not happy with that, to avoid personal confrontation, she let me go my way at home only.

Whenever I opened my TV, the first thing I can see mostly will be an advertisement that of a company or product sponsoring that particular program,  Sharply after five minute's program, the telecast of advertisements will start again which will last for nearly ten minutes. So for every 5 minutes TV programme, we are bound to view 10 minutes advertisements. Hence a 30 minute serial or any other programme needs only a 10 minute script in total which will reduce the burden of scriptwriters for mega serials. Some of the programmes will have more than one sponsor and the channewaaalas will cleverly satisfy all with the following comments before their advertisements. The first one will be "This programme is sponsored by...". Next it will be like "presented by ... celebrated by ..." and if more, then "in association with.." Hence the channelwaalas are safe that they need only a quarter page dialogue for the entire 30 minute programme.

Even though channelwaalas compete with each other to get the rankings bettered, they are all unique when it comes to advertisements. If a programme starts at 7, all the channelwaalas will go for an advertisement at 07:05 upto 07:15. You can try any of the 20 to 25 channels available in your vernacular and see this rule is strictly followed irrespective of the difference between channelwaalas.

Sponsorship has caught up with almost all celebrations and functions. Prizes are sponsored, the dais and decoration for the functions are sponsored, food and water for the participants sponsored, why not to say, even men and women are sponsored to attend meetings and rallies.

Recently I could hear a Neta of a party boasting about the conduct of a meeting. He was sure that not less than 500 people would attend his party's meeting from his place, since the whole expenses of transportation, food water and pocket money for each, have been sponsored by a giant shark.

Nowadays anything and everything is sponsored. This sponsorship is actually not to help the needy or the poor. It is only to show the snobbery of the people around.

Of late, this sponsorship phenomenon has plagued temple festivals also. I could see a Big Board in front of a temple, where a temple function was about to take place. The board exhibited particulars in whatever areas you can have sponsorship and the rate for each item. Right from the elephants for the procession upto the regular poojas inside the temple you can sponsor anything. The notice informing the celebrations was in the form of a non-detailed text book prescribed for tenth standard students with all the names of the sponsors with their respective choice of sponsored items.

       " Then why did you collect money for the festival when elephants, vadhyam, fireworks, catering etc etc were all sponsored by individuals " I quipped one of the organisers. The answer was a big silence. Recently I witnessed a car festival [Ther Thiruvizha].  The entire route, the cart was to be drawn, were decorated with Flex boards of a Jewellery Mart, they being the sponsors of that festival. I fear even the cart may be decorated with such boards in due course.

Why such a mad rush for this sponsorship. Is this merely an advertisement for the company or individual? If so, why they are spending so much on this?. I think this is utter snoberry. If you have so much money to spend, why couldn't you sponsor food, shelter and clothing to the needy? Why couldn't you educate some eligible students from poor families? Fail not me to take off my hats to those who are already on such missions.

There is a saying in Malayalam that " Whatever is given by the right hand, the left hand should not be aware of that". Alas! here whatever is sponsored by you, the entire world is made to know about that through advertisements in print and electronic media as well as through Flex Boards.

What a Humility?

Best Man

      Ever heard of a man called Best Man? Fictions and cartoon serials have introduced to us characters like Batman, Spider man, Superman etc. We have heard about gentleman, Cart man, Load man and many others like that. But not the superlative of good man. Dictionary meaning for best man is Bridegroom's supporter [ Mappilai Thozhan ]. In Tamilnadu, lot of parents [ bride's ] fear this gentleman as he pretends himself as the original mouthpiece of the groom. The bride's relatives often take pain to entertain this man and utmost care is given to see that this best man is treated in a grand manner so that he may not turn a worst man.

The practice of sending a best man with the bridegroom started from early days. In olden days the marriages will be held at the bride's residence and the bridegroom may have to stay  there for two or three days before he could return to his home with his bride. During that period  the groom has to be at the bride's residence, he will be like an outsider there, having no close contacts with anybody there and will feel lonely. To give him company, one of his friends will be nominated to stay with him during that period so that he will not feel isolated. The man thus deputed is known as Best man. The bride's relatives will pay more attention to him than the groom thinking that otherwise he will paint them shabby after returning back home. This is to a certain extent true also that there are cases of the  Best man complaining about poor treatment meted out to him. There were cases of the Best man making chaos in the bride's family to show that he deserved more attention than the groom.

I had got a couple of chances to be the Best man. But to my dismay, I didn't get any undue attention and no complaints were raised by me, knowing fully well that the bride's relatives did not ignore me totally. Once I was asked to accompany a groom who belonged to a poor family as no body except me was willing to take that part. The other fellows, who generally compete among themselves to don the role, in this case, refused to do so knowing very well that they will not get a royal treatment because of the bride's economic status. I had to spend one whole rainy night on the veranda of the house on that occasion shivering in the chillness and being attacked by mosquitoes.

Instances of Best man making problems in the bride's residence, specially in Tamil Nadu, were heard and the same have caused strains in the relationship between the bride's and the groom's families. For a simple cause a volcano is erupted. Can this be an act of a man called the Best Man?

The man deputed to be a Best Man should always posses the qualities of a good individual true to the name he is bestowed with.

Ethu Kaliyugam

It is only about ten in the morning. The Sun above kindled like a lit gas burner. Men could neither go out nor stay inside their houses. Every brick in the wall inside the house emitted heat. Times have changed. Even Mother Nature has failed to keep up her schedules. By this time of the year, we could have experienced occasional rains so as to keep the temperature a little above 35 degrees. But now it is something beyond 40. Fans inside the houses began murmuring as they are not allowed any rest. The Haves enjoyed much in the luxury of Air conditioners, where as the Have nots left everything to God to keep them in good fettle under the scorching Sun. Even animals have to bear the agony caused due to heat. But what on earth has brought all these changes in the climatic conditions? Scientists say that it is due to global warming. Some say it is due to a hole in the Ozone layer in the atmosphere. Whatever it may be, my grandpa has his own reasons for all this. The Eighty Five year old, still physically fit, remembers the olden days when they enjoyed every season according to the calendar. The Summer holidays from mid March to May with occasional Koda Mazha [Summer rains] bringing respite from the heat, the rainy season from June to August - when they had to wade through knee deep water to reach their schools which were Four to Five Kilometres from their homes. He clearly remembers those days when they reached their homes fully drenched in water, their books all soaked in water. They had to spread them on the floor to dry up so as to be carried to school the next day. In those days, there were no plastic or leather bags to protect their books from rain and no Rain coats for themselves.

Then comes the cold season from November to January. It will be chilling cold in the early morning hours that one would like to be in bed wrapped in woollen blankets till the sun got warmer.

 Within the last Fifty years everything has changed. Not only the climatic conditions but also the life style of the people. The Koottukudumbam [Joint Family] style of living gave way for nuclear families. Along with it went the binding relationships between the family members. Now a pitiable stage was reached where a son murders his father over property dispute and vice versa, bickerings among family members over sharing of family wealth. Some going to the cardinal sin of breaking harmonious relationships within family members. Men and women are attracted towards bogus pleasures. Changes are effected not only in dressing codes but also in their food habits.  In the name of  modern culture they began taking junk foods resulting in getting affected with fatal diseases. Seven out of Ten people have either Blood Pressure or Sugar complaints or both. Every now and then they use to run to the Doctor. Thus came Multi Speciality Hospitals where we are squeezed even for a simple head ache. In olden days elders in the house knew about Nature Cure called Paatty Vaithiyam. All those natural medicines were free from any side effects. But the story is pitiful now. One medicine for a particular ailment tend to cause another problem. Thus to cure our diseases one by one, we have to be at the hospital doors through out our life time.

Law and order problems is a major subject now a days. You cannot close your news paper without reading news about atleast a dozen murders, half a dozen sexual harassments on ladies and the least, unwanted attacks and counter attacks by various warring groups. Precious lives are lost in accidents on roads, rail, and waterways. Even learned men fall prey to these evil doings. Robberies and murders for gain have become the order of the day. Where are we going? Are we in the right path? Surely not. But we try to hide these under some excuses, that it is Kaliyugam now, prophecied by Lord Sri Krishna, wherein men will fight with men, there will be Dharmakshaya and Adharma will grow like a wild beast and swallow every thing.

My grandpa concluded- the kaliyuga foreseen by the Lord has at last arrived, bringing with it all the calamities in the world.

Results

So, this is how the calmness between the storms look like. After a couple of months of witnessing the non-stop  action, it is time for the people of Tamilnadu to get back to their regular life. Or is it? It is now results, they are bothered of. Though there are many who would be indifferent to these results, some see this as if their entire future were dependent on this. The below queries would be giving them sleepless nights. Who will fare well? Where will they stand when the overall results come out? Whether the state will see a person from the delta districts standing at the top or will it still be a person from the Chennai suburbs. Or would it be from somewhere unheard of? What would they talk to the press ?And more importantly, many would want to compare their performances with those of their acquaintances. After all, class 12 results assume equal significance as the general election results in Tamilnadu.

The parents and teachers tell the students from the time they were in their nappies that all their life would be decided by some exam in 12th. "Good marks - Good college - High pay - settled life - bla bla bla", all these, all the students would hear at least once about the 12th exams. " Oh! 12th a? My son's would-be's uncle's brother's daughter was the state topper last year. She is super brilliant . You know? ", we hear such statements coming out in some random conversations with strangers during travel when we tell that we are in class 12.

There are many institutions whose only motto is to produce atleast a couple of state ranks every year, no matter what, even if that meant that they have to suck all the energy and happiness out of the students. After all, students are brain-washed with the following statement " Study hard till 12th. Sacrifice all your enjoyments till the exams. Get good marks. You can enjoy for the rest of your life ".  Absurd.

The only time where the students enjoy is the time after the exams and before the results. The Class 12 results, some 20 years back were published only in newspapers. On the result day, parents used to wake up even before Mr.Sun takes a peek and rush to the nearby paperwallah's shop to see what their son/daughter got in the exams. Now with the smart phones, getting the result details instantly is just like a walk in the park. Whatever may be the mode of getting the result details, the after effects of it have barely changed. The victorious, celebrate it with more calories in the form of sweets and feasts. Their parents see this as the time to show their pattu mama and Rosy aunty of how brilliant their children are and how they burnt the midnight oil to attain this glory.  Whereas, the candidates who couldn't get the expected results go through trauma and stress and start thinking as if it were the end of their world.

Though these results would be used everywhere from college admissions to interviews, I still feel the hype surrounding this is a tad higher than required. Why don't people play down the significance of this results? After all we can see it as just another year of completed education, use the results to plan the future and not just to blame/bask on the glory of the past.

Habits

It is a belief that habits never die. Whether it is a fact or not, some people use to take shelter under this belief to justify what they are doing in the guise of habit.  What is habit? Is it an inborn phenomenon or a congenital one? One's genesis may have influence over his/her character, behaviour and outlook, but not habits. Habits are cultivated by the person himself/herself, may be from the childhood. It is the responsibility of the parents to see that their children always possess some good habits. If in the negative, they should take steps to nip that trend in the bud itself so that it will not tarnish the childrens' as well as their own images.

When detected, having practiced bad habits, the first question asked by others will be " whose child is this?" Hence the first culprit will be the parents. They should always keep their eyes on their children to see that they do not tend to cultivate bad habits, may be from their playmates, classmates, or neighbours. Whenever they get any doubt about that, they should take every endavour to correct their child or children.

Habits play a vital role in building one's career and status in the society. Habits once cultivated will always linger round you. Hence the excuse of somebody,  practicing bad habits, that they are slave to their habits, resulting  in the making of  habitual drunkards, habitual trouble shooters and so on. Can't these bad habits be eroded from oneself? Surely, if you have the inclination to cast them away. A habitual drunkard can be repatriated gradually and so with other persons with other such habits. They can be counselled properly to shed their inhibitions over their habits and can be brought back to a state where they are loved and respected by all.

I would like to recall to my memory that precious lines written by a famous author " Habits should be like a walking stick used for the ease of walking and not as a pair of crutches to lean on".

Experience

It is widely known that "Experience is the best teacher :. True ! In our life, we may have to face lot of hurdles and hardships. We tend to curse our own fate during these periods. But to overcome all these, we should have some guts. Like that, we may have to come across some worst experiences atleast once or twice in our life time. To fend them all, we should cultivate a habit of facing them without much fuss, which can be achieved only  through our experiences. We can learn a lot from other's experiences also. Watching closely how others behave during turmoils and analysing the process to sort out what is good for that occasion will lead us to take a good decision about how to tackle the situation in a matured way.

 Generally, we use to take the opinion of the elders at home and nearby when we are faced with some tactical problems in the fervent hope that they might have encountered such ones in their lives and could have taken a correct decision to wriggle out of the same. It is always good to take the advice of the elders on matters relating to our day to day life. Even though every advice cannot be blindly followed, we should have our own assessment of the situation and the nett result of our counter should not negatively affect our future.

In my thirty six years of service in Railways, I had had many occasions when I was called up in the dead part of the night to assist my co-workers when they had to encounter problems in dealing trains, problems with travelling public and during accidents. Never did I show my back when I was thus disturbed, instead I thought it a recognition of my experience in my service in Railways. All is said about experience, but how it affects a beginner is a subject to be discussed. A fresher from a college or school, seeking a job in a private establishment, has to face the question " Your experience?". Knowing fully well that he or she is a fresh product from an institution, the above question is out of place. But the firms always look for experienced hands so as to improve their business. [ Now a days more IT  and other firms select freshers from schools and colleges under the Campus selection process which is a welcome trend].                                                                                                                                                                                                                      Opportunities should be given to candidates with good academic background, with good flavour and mindset for hard work. In our present society  we want men with knowledge and constructive ideas who are ready to work sincerely to promote our culture and heritage, our dignity and the least our country's economy.Here there is no choice between a fresher or an experienced hand. After all, can we ask a man or a woman, while proposing for marriage, whether they have got any experience in that field. Quite absurd.

Pudiyankam VELA

           Pudiyankam, an exquisite village of Palakkad District, has attained a name for itself due to it's annual rituals and celebrations in the famous temples of Sri Puthukkulangara Bagavathi and Sri Vettakkaruman. These centuries year old temples in the village, though renovated time and again, are said to be the main source of good fortune and well being of the villagers. Anybody, who worships at these temples sincerely, will succeed in his life and lead a happy and prosperous life.                                                                                                                                                                        

           The main annual festival at these temples is the Vela celebrations. Even though the celebrations pertain to Puthukkulagara Bagavathy, some of the main rituals are being conducted at the Vettakkaruman temple, hence making the Lord also to be a part of the celebrations. The Vela is being conducted every year on the day of Hastham Star of the Malayalam Month Meenam, said to be the Devi's Janma Nakshatram. The Devi Temple was once the property of the Kavalappara Nair, which has been taken over by the villagers of Pudiyankam and Kattusseri and is now managed by a committee comprising members from both Desams. Both Desams celebrate the festival on the same day.                                                                                                                                                      

           At Pudiyankam, the activities start right from early morning with Mahaganapathy Homam at Sri. Vettakkaruman Temple followed by Kalasa Pooja and Abhishekams for the deity. The Eadu Vedi at Aalthara Mannu [ vedi vazhipadu with 101 vedies] marks the commencement of the celebrations. Before the beginning, a formality called the Koottazhi ezhuthu will be performed at the same venue on the day of Hastham Star in the month of Kumbham. It is now that the villagers meet here to discuss formally about the arrangements to be made for the Festival celebrations.
        
          Two days celebrations of Kanniyar, starting on the Thiruvathira Star Day immediately preceding the festival, when the Devi is taken in a procession from the temple near Alathur to Pudiyankam during night and will be received at the Village boundary by the elders of the village and special Poojas will be performed under a Kodimaram [ A bamboo Flag Mast ] and the presence of the Devi will be there all through the night and will be escorted back to the Temple in the morning.                                                                                  
           On the day of celebrations, after the Eadu Vedi, the Devi from the Srimoolasthanam at Komathumannu is ceremoniously accompanied to Sri Vettakkaruman temple where  the grand procession is scheduled to begin. The Kelikottu, the Kombu and Kuzhalpattu and the grand Panchavadhyam performance by renowned artists are the main events in the celebrations and the Devi's procession round the village with seven caparisoned elephants with the Panchavadhyam accompanying adds beauty to the celebrations.                                                          

            The Kudamattam [ changing of umbrellas atop the elephants ] and the Chenda Melam [Pandi Melam ] and the Fire Works after the procession are treats to watch and enjoy. The important one to point out is the presence of a Chappalana [An elephant made with wood, bamboo, dry plantain leaves and hay, covered with black cloth which cxactly looks like a real elephant ]. It is said that, long long back, when there broke out a commotion in the area and temples were looted and destroyed, a section of the villagers from the area tried to save the deity from the looters. They packed the deity inside an elephant made out of wood, bamboo, hay and dried plantain leaves, which were the only materials available at that time, pulled the elephant away and brought it to the village Pudiyankam where it was safe and restored the deity back after all the commotions were over. The place, where the deity was kept all through this period, came to be known as the Srimoolasthanam, from where the procession of the Chappalana begins.  
 

           The celebrations, with physical and monetary help from the villagers, has become a grand one now a days with leading tuskers in Kerala as well as veterans in the art of Panchavadhyam and Chenda Melam parading themselves to prove their mettle. The Fire Works has turned out to be the cynosure of all eyes. To add to that, the co-operation being extended by all villagers irrespective of caste, creed and religion, has helped much in making the celebrations a grandeur one. As a custom, people belonging to each and every caste have their own specific part to play in this festival celebrations, which all of them are doing well without any huff and puff to see that the Vela Festival at Pudiyankam is  celebrated in a manner envied by other neighbouring villages.

Long Weekend!!

Festivals, be it religious or regional, we, the people of India are always known to celebrate them in the grandest possible manner. People would go to the extent of planning their lives based on these festivals, like onathinuu grinder, pongalukku moped and new dress for the entire family for Ugadhi. Children would normally start celebrating these festivals, days before the actual festival day and thus spreading happiness and excitement among their family and friends.

In the recent years, we could see a different trend. The only thing which doesn't change is that we still start celebrating festivals 120 days in advance, thanks to the hue and cry in getting train tickets. Most of us don't get tickets and hence the festival day, when we used to play with our cousins and involve ourselves in heroic sports in villages is now a day to fight/curse our luck in getting a tatkal ticket for our return journey.Many people in Tamil Nadu sacrificed(thats how they call it) a greater part of Pongal celebrations last year on Jan 14th as they were slogging to get tickets booked on the opening day for Holi holidays in March. People now have to plan their travel for the harvest festival well before the seeds are sown in the field.

People have started forgetting why a particular festival is celebrated , in the above case, Holi. We only look at whether it is a Holiday and not if it is 'Holi' day. Our next focus after getting the required travel tickets is in knowing what movies are releasing for that festival both in cinemas and TV. Even if we are hearing the same voice crying out 'For the first time in Television or Prabanja tholai kaatchigalil mudhalmurayaga(India and world are already copyrighted with the voice :( ), we get excited. We get glued to the idiot box watching interviews of Tom,Dick and Harry on the festival days . I still remember one Diwali where there were no crackers in the evening as one of the channels was telecasting superstar movie. The crackers went off only during the half an hour news break in between.

We also see seasonal festivals being plucked from one part of the year and placed in some other parts for various reasons. We witness the same festival called by different names in different channels with some festivals still waiting to be accredited by few channels. But that doesn't matter as long as the channel telecasts how our favorite actress celebrates the festival.

In the midst of all these, festivals indeed matter for few private bus operarors and the alcohol industries. Both these sections get their maximum profit during festival times especially the alcohol sales scaling new peaks every festival. Looks like there will come a day, if not come already where we would have to stream a video in youtube to know what was Onam/Deepavali and how it was celebrated.After all, we the people who celebrate the festivals are seeing the festival holidays and weekends as ' looonng weekends ' and not a Pongal weekend or Holi weekend. 

A new Chapter!!

"It is almost 8! Where the hell is this moron?" , I thought. I was pacing up and down in the hall looking at the entrance and the hall alternately. Suddenly I heard the swish. "Phew! At last!" I ran to the doorstep to pick the weekly Adyar Times newspaper. I quickly flipped to the you-know-what page. Though I get this paper every weekend, I had never attached any significance to it till then, but it was different that week after my colleague informed that I could find lots of options matching my taste in the classifieds section of this paper. My choice to look in the newspaper classifieds might look old-fashioned. Initially I too started my hunt in the thousands of websites with photos and many other add on details. I expressed my interest to few of the ads which were matching my preferences and dialed the given contact numbers, but they were either already engaged or fake. Hence I had resorted to the newspaper option, as only genuine people would post their ads in classifieds by shelling a considerate sum.

I was quickly scanning through the categories and shortlisted one ad. "Could this be the one chosen for me by God?" With a sudden gush of excitement, I stood before the full size mirror, checking
my looks in the T-shirt and denim. Meanwhile, I picked my phone, dialed the number from the ad. I gave a brief intro about me and asked, " I saw your ad. I would like to know more details and any conditions so that I can come and meet you today morning itself, if all goes well". "Hmm. No problem in seeing. But 30K/month , 6 month advance Ok va?", came the reply.

" 30K rent for 2 bhk??". He replied "YES!". I saw my mouth wide open in the mirror. It looked as if my T-shirt and denims gave way to the 'famous costume' of Lord Muruga atop the Palani hills, signifying that I would also become an 'Aandi'(Pauper) like him if I agree to the rent. I thanked the guy in phone for his time before hanging up the call. " 30K aam 30K, for such a poor locality. Let's look for other options", I told myself. In reality, I was telling the age old phrase "Those grapes are sour".

After getting nothing but disappointment in the newspaper ads, I decided to jump in the field(road, in fact) to search for any To-Let boards in the nearby streets. After all, I had only a week to vacate my current residence, thanks to few hasty decisions. I roamed around for a couple of days in vain as I could not find any house with To-Let boards. All I could see were random 'Contact for Rent' numbers of real estate agents. After a tiring search, I stopped at a nearby kinara shop to have a bottle of paneer soda. I struck up a conversation with the shopkeeper and enquired if he knew of any houses for rent in that area. He smiled in response. Did that smile carry an ounce of mischief in it? He then handed me a chit carrying a mobile number and informed " If you want a house, you can reach this number " which was of a real-estate broker in that area. "At last, it has come to this!!", I thought.

With no other option before me, I called the guy. He introduced himself as Ramu.(Paer lam nalla than irukku) I told my requirements and how I got this number. He asked me to wait at the shop itself for 5 mins. He came and met me before I finished my paneer soda. "Enna speed??" He said "Sir! There are few houses with me matching your requirements. Let us go and see them. If you confirm one of them, my commission would be one month's rent!" I nodded my head in affirmative ( I had to) He then took me to the first in his list, an apartment nearby. The house was ok-ok for the rent and advance. We then met the house owner hoping to finalize the deal. Ramu whispered in my ears " I will handle the owner. You need not talk anything ". Then came the owner, a grumpy middle aged man. He scanned me from top to bottom. He then started inquiring about my history and geography. " So, you are a bachelor. Hmmm!That would be a problem. I have two daughters ", he added. I was confused and looked at Ramu. He tried to convince the owner with many a lies, one of them about my marriage next May and hence I wouldn't be single for long. I gasped at his bluffing talents, though I didn't like the idea of getting a house by telling lies. After all, why should I choose my spouse before May for some grumpy father of two ladies.

I went with Ramu to check the next options in his list. Some of them had high rents, there were other houses, which would require me to find the correct way to the house everyday through a maze of streets. There were few owners who actually conducted an interview to make me a tenant with a barrage of questions ranging from "How many girlfriends you have?" to "What gothra you belong to?". I even thought if I would have to complete a medical examination before taking up their house for rent.

It was almost a week in the search and I was not able to get an ideal home to shift to, thanks to various reasons. I was simply gazing at the frothing waves at the beach thinking how it had come to this at all. " Ennachu? It was raining, raining heavily. Water levels were raising. I was in knee deep water for three days in my house a?? Ok Ok! That shouldn't be a problem if I change the house before the next forecast in a week". I was still blaming my decision to inform my current house owner about vacating my home quickly.My cell vibrated at that instant. It was Ramu. "Sir! You are lucky. Jessie's house is available for rent." "Which Jessie?", I asked. " Jessie from the movie VTV. The ground floor house where Simbhu stayed is vacant now. Rent and advance are within your limits. You get the car porch also from where the hero jumped the gate on seeing Jessie for the first time. Who knows you may also meet your Jessie there sir!!", he told and asked me to come to the specified locality. "How about the water logging in that area, Ramu?", I asked. " If it rains very heavily only, we need to worry Sir. Otherwise there should not be a problem ".

I smelled something fishy in the last statement. I knew that the particular area was one of the worst affected in the last rains. But still my mind was telling me to take that house. If all goes well, I might not have to check the newspaper classifieds for a different reason in the future :P. I was still imagining myself in the scenes of the movie. I decided to tell 'yes' to that house and started walking to that area. And about the rains next week and the possible water logging in this area, " Do I still care? After all, who would say no to the backwater effect outside your house as in the movie after the rain?". After all, this would be another hasty decision in a hope to open a new chapter in my life.