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.