Madras-my memories-II

Those days weekend meant nothing for the family except for elaborate cooking and television. How we would wait for the Fridays and Sundays. The ozhiyum oliyum on Fridays , cartoon shows , ramayan / Mahabharath and evening movie on Sunday. We would wait for the turn of either tamil/telugu in the regional movies category for the extra movie to be shown on Sunday. Today we get to watch 100s of channels and not to leave behind the internet which provides you everything in a platter at the click of the mouse, still we don’t derive the happiness or pleasure which we got those days. TV watching was a wholesome experience with whole family assembling before the TV. Now, when P is in front of the TV, I take over the system and vice-versa. (aathukarar kekkave vendam, he is settled with his potti)
Movie watching in a theatre belonged to a different genre those days. No frills or elaborate preparations. We had four theatres in our vicinity – two were for ordinary occasions and the other two were treated as outings. Out of the ordinary ones, one was just a stones throw from our home and another one hardly 10 minutes by walk. But I liked the first one more because it gave me a sense of belonging – enga theatre sort of thing (owner ketta othakka varuvanga). It is one of the famous theatre and it is itself a celebrity in its own ways J
The first movie which I remember watching in a theatre – VIKRAM. I went with an uncle’s family. Still the memory is very vague but I remember we had an accident while returning and it was a minor one. So my memory always mixes the accident and the scene in the movie where kamal rushes in to the theatre in that scooter after the chasing scene (its an important scene in the movie ) where he sees the villain in the news reel. So my memory plays a collage sort of thing and mixes both these incidents where I imagine myself in the side box of the scooter. No one can forget the sidebox shown in that Bhagyaraj movie “Chinna veedu”. LOL…….
(to be continued)

Kiddie Talks-23

Actually this blog has become like a scrapbook sort for me. Recording all the happenings and the fun , anger and embarrassment associated with P as well our life as a whole. Sometimes i just read from the beginning and would experience them once more. Wish i had started earlier. At times i would feel, am i boring everybody or bragging too much. Cos for every parent whatever a child does or speaks becomes more important but i haven't updated everything only things which i consider worth recording have been posted. (in the sense it should not sound ordinary when i turn later or brag sort of thing).
Earlier i said P wanted to become a fire-fighter someday now the ambition had undergone a change once more.
Want to know what it is? DIRECTOR . Yes u got it rite. Its film director only.
Whenever a movie or a song comes,
P would ask me , Amma ithu enna padam, yaar hero and yaar heroine?
Now two more addition to the above question - Yaaru director and music director. I think ithu endhiran oda effect nnu.
So when he was having a bath he asked amma singam padathoda director yaaru, i replied saying "Hari" (nalla vela Vijaykumar ellam theriyaathu, apparam avanga family history ellam solli irukkanum, and thank god we dont watch the sun news)
After few seconds he said, Amma naan director aaga poren.
I kept quiet for some time and thought he got confused between actor and director and asked him again, R u sure. Do u want to become actor or director?
P : Yes, i want to become Director only and not actor.
Me : Do u know what a director does?
P : Avar thaan ellarukkum solli kuduppar enna pannanum , eppadi pannanumnu?
Me : hmm (thelivaathaaan irukkanga)

Now during bed time,
P : Amma naaan Raja aaga mudiyumaaa?
Me : Oh yes aagalaame. Prime Minister, Chief Minister ellarume raaja thaaan (Naan raasa va sollalainga)
P : Athukku naan enna pannanum.
Me : (Unmaiya sollanumaanu ore confusion - athaanga onnum panna vendamnu) Nee good ah padikkanum, padicha mattum porathu good ah nadanthukkanum (athukku mela theriyala)

Waiting for next thing in the list....

Double dhamaka

Day before yesterday night , some professional has gained entry into our office and created a mayhem in the process of looting our office. Luckily not much cash was there but around 7k.(No,no this didnt make it to the 2/3 page of The Hindu, cos Rasa and 26/11 occupied them) In the process he had destroyed all the locked cupboards and threw all the papers and documents with the help of a candle and few match sticks. How iam able to acknowledge his professionalism is due to the fact that he gained entry through the grill of the window by unlocking the nails.

Since my patti got scared hearing the news i had to stay put at home. My aathu described the scene of crime as straight out of some cinema. And the process which followed like giving complaint and arrival of the inspector, sub-inspector and each one of the staff (incl tea-shop man i suppose) , forensic team to record the finger-print (how much i missed being part of the mess "sigh" all things replica of "Krotham" Prem's thriller movie). As always, the policemen have assured us the best. :)

As i was hearing running commentary from aathu, i was constantly on my mobile. And this news just reached us after sending P to school (poor him goes to school at 7.30), so he didnt have a chance of hearing this. When he came home i was speaking with aathu and was just giving pep talks and assuring that everything would be all right. The conversation had phrases like "its okay da, seri daa etc"
P came and asked me " Yaar kittaa pesindu irukka"
I replied " appa kittaa" (normally he would fuss demanding that he should have spoken to him first, but that day kept quiet and went about his routine)
After some time he came.
P : Nee pesarche "daa" sonniye.
Me: Aamam unna solven illa antha maathiri thaan sonnen.
P : Nee enna sollalaaam , aanaaa, appava solla koodathu. Respect kudukkanum seriyaaa
Me: dumb struck...... Ennatha sollaaa :(

Two lessons in one day. What u say!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Pic courtesy: Google images - Cartoon stock

Smart!!!!!!!!!!!!

Couple of weeks back we had given an ad in The Hindu regarding purchase of property. We were receiving calls but none of it proved to be fruitful. The next day one gentleman called and enquired aathu if it was the number as given in the ad...
Aathu : yes sollunga
G : Veedu 1/2 or one ground ketruntheenga sir antha ad la
A : Aamam sir sollunga.
G : Enna range la paakkareenga, car parking venuma
A : Car parking iruntha better, unga kitta veedu irukka, neenga land-owner or broker aa?
G : Illa sir actual ah naanum veedu thedindu irukken, unga ad paarthen, ungalukku neraiya calls vanthurukkum illaiya, response eppadi vanthathu? ungalukku seripadaathathu or ethanum nalla deal which u cannot pursue irunthaaa konjam enakku solreengala
A : grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr (face pakkanume) Illa sir onnum solraa maathiri illa.
G : Ok sir ennoda number store pannikkonga , ethanum irunthaa sollunga thanks.
Would have given hundred million dollars just for the look :)

Kiddie talks - 22

If given an opportunity, we never fail to remind P that he is privileged to have the comforts and luxury which other under-privileged children are deprived of. Whenever he refuses to wear any particular dress, or finish of his food , we gently start the topic and vitta pothumnu he would comply ;) (such is our tactics , donot know how long we can use this )
Today while returning from class following conversation took place -
P : Amma innaikku naan school porache rendu kids paarthen , they were puppy shame.
Me : Oh, paavam avangalukku dress eh irunthirukkathu, athanaalathaan pola irukku.
P : Illamma avangulukku neraiya dress irukku.
Me : Unakku eppadi theriyum ?
P : Avanga amma dress potrunthaangale !!!!!!!!!! And avanga iron pannindu irunthaanga, so avanga ella dress um thoikka pottu , athu dry aagathathaala podale. Avanga kitta ellame irukku.
Me : @#$%$%^&^ muzhichufying for a repartee

Role reversal

Yesterday i went to Spencers daily - Ashok Nagar. It was literally empty with only one or two customers. They have changed the entire set up and the display patterns.
Logic and the strategy behind the display and arrangement of products were pathetic. It was not customer friendly at all. I could see so many unwanted products on display and a clutter of the products. The products were just thrown in their shelves and were packed. I think same disorganisation drove Subiksha - the once pioneer in the departmental stores segment out of the market. And it seems Spencers too is following the same mantra. The staffs were just acting disoriented and without concern.
This reminds me of the book "As the crow flies" - Jeffrey Archer. He would have dealt beautifully the rise of the conglomerate and the strategies and policies that goes into the upbringing of the largest store. Right from the AGM to appointment of directors to the motion study all aspects related to the accounting and commerce would have been methodologically dealt with. Even the world wars would find its place and the impact of the same on the trade and commerce would have been dealt. Instead of maintaining bitterness towards the British who held us, we, at some point of time would feel sympathy towards them.
On the whole I like Archer simply for the fact that he not only deals with the plot of the story but also with other information related.
Now to the original context of the post, In this story he would enlist how one should deal with the customers and the importance of display and strategical placement of goods.
Local departmental stores seems to have caught up with the trend with their personal attention to the details and customer friendly approach.
Is this called role reversal?

Movies

Watched both BEB and Endhiran. Two very contrast films. Where do i begin first?
BEB - Out and out entertainment. Even if i turn around to get the water bottle i miss a one-liner and deprived of the joke which P and aathukarar share. Surprise! Surprise! Nayanthara can humour us with her expressions rather with her costumes. She attempted similar in a sarathkumar movie and vishals satyam. Both cannot be sagichufied merely for the reason she tried to copy other heroines. This one was really original. Story - Why do we need one when you can laugh non-stop? Did we have any thing of that sort in Thillumullu or MMKR? All we had to do was laugh our lungs out.


Endhiran - Aathu being a hardcore rajini fan didnt like the film. He expected sort of - singa mugam, singam thaniyaathaan varum, bajji venuma sort of dialogues. And saying all this he saw the movie on first day first night show paying Rs.1000/- along with his brother.
Avaroda complaint ennannaaaa Rajini padam how do you suppose to hear the dialogues and that too first day athuvumaaaa people were quiet and at the end of the film everyone stood up and started clapping ... grrr.... is this the sort of response u give a rajini film.....Die hard fans are unable to accept in any other roles......His verdict was this is not chitti chitti robot film but chutti Tv robot film......
On the other hand, i liked the film. The thing is iam not able to appreciate the acting of Robot Rajini simply for the fact that i was not able to relate him to rajini or a character. I just saw him as robot. It is evident in the scene when he intends to find the black sheep in the fleet of robots. Your heart skips a beat when he slashes the robots trying to find the scientist. P enjoyed the film but said at the end of the movie that -Amma i liked the good robot only not the bad one.


P.S - A robot drawn by P while i was doing his holiday homework ;)

P's art corner

First, third and fourth pictures were drawn from a coloring book. Second one own imagination - influence -FAQ on POGO - After drawing he said amma see the chemicals it is an experiment.

I was really taken aback by the observation and the table beneath.

The first one was really a surprise for me. He got the curves and eyes right. I think in any picture the eyes and the nose had to be in its place and proper to get the entire face. It came as a sweet shock to me.

Shock of the life

While returning from a trip following conversation took place between father and son..
Before proceeding a snippet of an evening...
P : Amma oru vishayam sollava... enna thitta maatta illa apparam yaar kitteyum solla koodathu.
Me : Illa thitta maatten onnum solla maatten (as if enkitta romba bayam irukkara maathiri)
P : Amma S illa L ah love panraaaan
Me : (suddenly became alert and trying hard to sound casual all the time with two bulbs burning brightly) oh appadiya hmmm L is studying in ur class ist?
P : Illa maaa last yr S was in X sec and L kooda athe class thaaaan bt ippo ava Y
Me : hmm.. good we should all love each other, see i love u and appa and paatti and same way u should also love everyone seriyaaa (definitely was muzhichifying for a proper answer and even now not sure whether i did my part right)

Now to the current situation....
P : appa S illa L ah kaathalikkaraaanaaa
Aathu : (was driving and was shocked bt all the more disguised ) hmmmm....
P : avan sollraaan ava oru devathai yaaan
(ippo both were perplexed at the direction the conversation was steering )
P : Enaaakum kathalikkanumnu aasaiyaaa irukku paaaa
Aaathu : P nee enna padikkkara ippo
P : I std
Aathu : so ippo unnoda vela padikkanum apparam vera enna sollu
P : (jus that day we were lookin at various houses) hmm veedu vaanganum velai pannanum
Aathu : correct appa paar hard work panren illaya so nee nalla padichuttu atha pathi think pannalaaam okay.
I thought i should save these things for teen age , but at the jet speed think i should be well-prepared for the unexpected. Donot know whether i would be able to do justice or we were right in talking to him in this. I know some might disagree saying these are all unwarranted thinkings and fears but with the Cartoon shows shown now-a-days and the exposure the kids have these days it is wise to be frank with them rather putting aside everything as childish. Do correct me if iam wrong.... Still thinkin of thousand other ways we could have handled the aforesaid conversation but nothing seems to be appropriate.

Indebtedness

The very thought is killing me. I donot know how long i would be able to manage. It leaves me with a kind of crap feel which questions the utter sanity of life. It constantly reminds of the persona u r as been stated by various persons constantly drumming up in the mind - orphan. Isnt a strange thing when one refers though u r left with father who blissfully ignores your traumas and the feelings and leads his life as any other person.
When the son of the mother, d-i-l's and the father of the person happily forget their responsibilities why should I alone let it go to my heart and rather not mind. Is anything fundamentally wrong? Why can't I be settled in my life with no frills or whatsoever like my contemporaries living abroad by occasionally staying in touch with facebook or orkut or skype for that matter. Should i be the one who carry the torch all along. Sometimes the gratitude and the repayment feeling overshadows the real love and affection and i am afraid that at sometime it might turned into hatred. It is indeed a tricky situation where u r not the affected party but somehow all the burden lies on your head. I know iam sounding like a moron with this post. The thing is this is like my outburst where you can go on ranting without the need to explain.
I am badly in need of some vent where i can be who iam without the nagging worry - What he/she would think? Will this affect them? I think the only person you can be who you are is ur mother- I miss you amma. Though the memory is very vague i relish them and the need didnt arise for me till i was in my teens. Now i miss so much.

Impressions and Observations

Toy Story - At last watched the movie. And more than P it was we, the adults who enjoyed the movie to the max. The hall was packed to the max capacity and the movie is still running to packed houses crossing more than 50 days - awesome isn't? Aathukarar made the mistake of ordering the popcorn along with the ticket while booking online. The mistake proved to be a costly one - in the sense i vowed i would never have more than a handful of popcorn again. Antha alavukku thegattipochu(large one). When he went and asked for the popcorn while entering the hall , the attendant said that he would bring it in once the movie starts. So, we went and sat and almost everyone especially the ones who were sitting next, previous and the opposite rows were happily munching their popcorn amidst drinking their colas.

Avvalavuthaan P started his paattu - appa popcorn venum every 60th second. Aathukarars reply was "dei 80 rupees * 3 - 240 extra pay panni irukken da kandippa vanthurum". But instead of watching the short film "day and night" (shown before the actual movie) he was keeping his eyes firmly on the entrance and repeating the japam every 60th second. At last it came. And ippo eppodaa intha tub mudiyumnu aayiduthu.

On to the movie - I actually enjoyed the whole episode and the scene which i especially liked was the last one where Andy plays with the little girl after giving all of his toys to her. Though he was going to college he didn't mind playing with the small girl especially his imaginary games with his favourite toys.

While going through forums esp parentree lots of discussions would be centred upon one topic - My child is playing with her toys and speaking to them . She also plays imaginary games and speaking to herself. Ist good or bad? But after watching this movie i really feel the fear is unwarranted.

Naan Magaan alla - Ippo i think the trend is to make realistic movies. Okay i agree, but the realism is turning out to be ugly and unimaginable. Iam not into the argument that the movie is inspired from real life incidents or the criminals are influenced by movies. Lets not get into that. Atleast lets not glorify the incidents and highlight them. This was the feeling i got after watching half of the movie. I didnt really have the inclination to watch the rest. Though the movie had some original scenes (mind original) rest of them were usual like showing the girl and her family as one loosu, ever fighting sister esp for the remote and shouting annna at the top of her voice and sentiment scenes with amma and appa .... sss appaaaa thaanga mudiyala ...ithukku paiya ve better.
OKAY - a big ok why means - iam sick of seeing all the sophisticated villains who find new ways of doing the crimes. I simply hated Vettaiyaadu and vilayadu, kaakka kakka and anjathey for the portrayal of sensitive scenes. It really has its own impact. Though i watched only half of the movie it kept on coming in rewind mode. Such an ordinary soul kke intha impact na think of the sensitive persons over there. Movie is for pure entertainment. Okie u give message like showing the plight of bonded labourers as such in angaadi theru or like shankar movies who thinks he gives some message.(though its like the energy drinks claiming to give you extra energy - people donot think of the energy at the end of the day but only a means of pushing the milk into the kid in some form or other).

Madras - My memories

Somehow i like to say it as Madras than Chennai. Have been grown calling it Madras and hearing from relatives and people calling by that name. May be the name Chennai sounds better when read in news or seeing as such in flash news or to see the north indian news readers struggling to get the pronunciation better, mind i say better and not correct. ;)
All of my first 23 years i have been in mambalam and see things unfold before me. Usman road, panagal park, Venkatnarayana road or the Ashok Pillar. The only road which remains unchanged according to me is 11th avenue - Ashok nagar.
The earliest memory - after watching the prashanth starer sembaruthi (i love the song nila kayum neram - one of the evergreens of Ilayaraja - one of my all time favourite song) in Kasi theatre with my aunts and cousins. We walked all the way from the theater to our home in mambalam. Relishing the shade, greenery and neatly stacked houses. Those days there was no underground drainage and the house would be connected to the road by a slope over the drainage canal. Hardly we felt the stinking smell those days and used to admire it. The road was more similar to those in bangalore those days.
Then Usman road - So much has changed from my good old school days. I studied in one of the then popular school in T.nagar. Now, both name and fame had been to the winds and in its place remains only the IT companies (school is still there magnificently managed to shrink itself to one fourth of its original size ). I think more than anything you need passion to run an educational institution which went missing after the demise of its founder. I dont know why the roads seem to be shrinking with the passing of years. Same buildings but the road seems to me smaller than it used to be. Though T.nagar had been the hub in the past too it was not like anything we see these days. I think the main culprit would be letting those Saravana stores and other Silk stores open their shops and infecting the area with more parking vehicles and hawkers. I like the look of usman road and ranganathan street in the morning hours of the day when there would be only few shops open - especially the tea kadais and the fast food thallu vandis and the hawkers would be undoing their ropes over the big bundle of sheet covering their stocks. Mamas outside the siva-vishnu temple briskly eyeing the passersby. They would be so full of energy and enthusiasm and covered fully from head to waist with vibuthi pattai. That would itself give them a unique image. Reservation counter of mambalam railway station where people would be queuing up to book their tickets immediately on opening of the counter.
All these are etched in my memory cos i love the journey of 20 minutes by walk from my home to school. Today you cant reach t.nagar within 20 minutes even if you go by two-wheeler with todays traffic flow. sigh...

(to be contd)

Sleep

Actual Sleep vida the state before getting into deep sleep / the stage after you are out of sleep but not out of slumber - thaaan romba best moments. Intha moments school life/college life la thaaan anubavikka mudiyum - cos leave podarthu namba ishtam thaaana.
Later period depends on so many other external factors like
- school for P (avana vida namakku thaan bayangara tension for the van and esp innaikku enna lunch and snacks appadinnu decide panrathu)
- office for the aathukarar (ingeyum bfast thaan prechanai lunch kooda choice la vittudalaaam)
- our own office where our presence is essential on that particular day (eppayoo office porathunaala we cannot say no here)
- paalkaari (annaikkuthaan avalukku avasiyamaaa kanakku paarka vendi irukkum esp sundays)
- annaikkinnu test kku kaaga padikkara thambi (ennoda exam kke kan muzhichathillai, bt coffee pottu kudukkanume vera vazhi illa)
- kaarthalaye ezhunthukkara MIL (eppayanum thaan varaaanga so atleast appayaanum seekiram ezhunthirukkara maathiri scene poda vendi irukke)
All the above is for morning sleep naaa, afternoon nap especially after giving food to P and once again bath pannittu saapta peragu thookkam bayangarama kanna sokkara nerathula vara villains yaarunnna
- ithuleyum first place P kku thaaaan (amma vaa robot pannalaam, ammaaaaaaa seekiram vaa intha tamil ennannu padichu sollu, ammaaaaaaaa thanni venum... ippadi never-ending)
- seri to counter the above P thoonga vekkalaamna , classes irukke
- Courier (ithu romba bayangaramaana prechanai- athuvum pakkathu veettu courier)
- illatha oruthara thedi varavanga - enna sonnalum kekka maattanga- kadasila namba jathagatha kuduthaa thaan povaanga
- rombavum friendly neighbours
- over paasamana aathukarar ( oooh thoongariya seri poi thoongu naan disturb pannala appadinnu call senju pesittu solvar)
- iron amma
So without the above i want to sleep but not actually sleep aanaal day-dreaming with a good book and music in the back ground.

Tit bits - 2

Ravanan - Padam pudichatha illayannu enakke theriyala. Dialogues onnume puriyala, maybe theatre la paarthaa purinjirukkumo ennamo. Or iam not intellectual enough to understand the movie.
Singam - Enakku pudichirunthathu - all masala movies iam liking now-a-days infact singam and paiyaa i saw more than 3 times. Theatrela effect innum nalla irunthathu - Singam, but the costumes esp in the songs could have been better - esp family yoda paarka kashtama irunthathu esp big screen.
Karate kid - The first Jackie Chan movie which i saw was - Police Story - esp antha lights odachindu , he would jump from the top floor to the ground - arjun would have attempted the same in some movie. But in this movie he underplayed and that deserves a special mention. Mathabadi usual tamil film story - ella padathilaiyum even if it is cartoon or kids movie athu jealousy due to a girl thaaan pola. Universal formula.
No maid for the past one month - so its like always busy doing something or the other - half-brother at home preparing for his exams - the thing is ennoda aathukararkke i dont do things much - bt menakkedufying for my brother - ithuthaaan fate appadeengarthu.
P got his yellow belt successfully - i think its more of steps and they are not strict with respect to the kids. But i should say thrice a week class has its own effect with 1 hr being full of physical exercises and the rest 45 minutes for the actual karate steps. P actually like his classes but would almost oppethufy all the grueling exercises. He would just bend his neck for the steps requiring him to bend forward fully. And regarding the roll-ons he would coolly say, sir enakku varaathu.
Went to landmark for purchasing books for P - spent almost close to 2.5 hrs in just kids section still ennamo time poraatha maathiri irunthathu. Staff need to arrange the books according to the titles or publications. Its difficult considering the people who just place the books wherever they feel like, still they can follow some sort of discipline. I would like to spend a whole day there without bothering about school van or lunch or other chores. I just love browsing especially books.
Went to Mahamudra, a restaurant from isha life - i just loved the mysore masala dosai there - yummy wheat pongal and the idly - perfect sambar and chutney and they give karuvepilai thogayal there. Vadai and the dosa - amazing with just literally no oil oozing out of it. It was just me and aathukarar after dropping P in his school - just saw a board and went inside to explore. I liked the decor and the ambiance, they have spa and fitness centre, and also a small boutique . I would like to purchase the various bathing oils and candles sometime. Worth trying.
Last but not the least,
Was giving food to P, he was continuously drinking water
Me : P pothum thanni kudichathu, apparam mammu saapda maatta.
P : Illama naan thanni kudikkala jus sip thaan panren (all the while sipping the water )
Me : P poi sollathaa, sonnatha kelu.
P : P kku poi solla theriyaathu (with right modulation and the expression)
LOL................ Vijay padam paakkarthaala vantha punch dialogue mania nnu nenaikkaren

Happenings - June'10

P successfully stepped into his I standard and touch wood - never complained about the change of sections which separated B his best friend. Though he did mention few times , he took it in his stride - yet to feel the full impact i suppose.
Went to B's birthday party at Pizza Corner. P enjoyed the whole evening with the attention showered on him by all of B's acquaintance including friends and relatives. His parents , grandparents and all other relatives were very much eager to catch a glimpse of P (oh neethan P ya, B unnapathi than eppavume sollindu iruppan). His father was saying , " P i think has got more authoritative influence over B, whenever we ask him the reason for not finishing his lunch he would reply as - P moodi vekka sollittan paaa". Actually kathai ennaanna P inga veetla vanthu B sonnannu solluvaaaan. Ithula ethu poi ethu unmai. On the whole kids are smart enough to fool the parents nnu nenaikkaren .
First trip on our anniversary to mark 7 yrs of Happy Married life (athu happy ya illayannu aathukarar ah thaniya kettaathaaan theriiyum).
Googled about kodaikkanal - resorts, sight-seeing, availability of hotels, Food, route-map and tickets...
Then about Yercaud, then yelagiri and then Goa . And after prolonged research and continuous googling got tired and abandoned the project and got back to my routine life.
Then all of a sudden tickets were booked, hotels arranged and finally boarded the train - destination - Mysore. (Kadaisiyaaa vacationnnu engeyaanum ponaaa thevalangara maathiri aayiduthu) [Realised at last that aathukarar was postponing the trip religiously to make it an anniversary special ;)]
13 hours of travel - train late and added to that coach was flooded due to the rain - athuvum right below our seats - all the more made it difficult. But the scenic beauty captured at the time of dawn compensated everything. En route to Mysore from Bangalore (appothaan veliya paakka mudinjathu athu vera vishayam and the travel time was 5hrs) had its own charm and we were all engrossed with that. P was rather in a irritable mood and whenever we show him something would say - seri, naan erkanave paarthuten. No amount of cajoling helped in this. Lack of sleep put him through a bad mood, but he enjoyed sleeping in the upper berth. Only person who practiced sit-sleep was aathukarar who sat all the way near P and at times tried to accomodate himself near P in somewhat called sleeping position but all the more realised the former was better than the latter.
Atlast reached Mysore and three days went in a jiffy. Started writing a travelogue but didnt have the mood to complete it - would soon post it.
Attended one more bday party - V, a cousin of P. Then finished three books of Nora Roberts - and after reading Northern Lights started dreaming about Alaska - would like to go sometime there. Chennai kulir kkeee AC off panra neeee Alaska poganumaaa nnu Aathukarar bayangara ootttuuuu.
Met friends and had a meeting sort of thing - MIL vambu, family politics, kids - ithukke 2 hrs seriyaa pochu. Before marriage kooda perusa ethuvum uruppadiya pesa mattom , but atleast we would talk about ourselves or something funny. But, now-a-days it has become more of a complaints session. The drawing of conclusion - either nee parava illa or naaan better :(
Four movies in the pipeline to watch - wil watch them and write abt them after the weekend.

Kiddie Scoop

Scene - 1
P's new adventure into ishinryu started on June 1st. So, over-enthusiastic mom took him early to the class. Since no one was around we decided to kill time by getting into Sathyanarayana koil. But P had other plans of visiting his cousin (daily pona nalla irukkathu illaya). He came without any enthusiasm and when we were praying lord lakshmi narasimhar, he started to climb the iron bars there. Mama asked him not to do . So he was all the more cranky.
" Enakku ummachi ye theriyala eppadi paakarthu?"
Next we were doing prathakshanam for anjaneyar. He was parakku pathufying (appadiye ammava kondu irukkaaan) So i told him to pray. Immediately his retort was,
"Ummachi sevichukko sevichukkonnu solra aaana anga ummachi enga irukku, verum statues thaane irukku" " En antha statues ellam decorate panni irukka?"
One moment shock , and after regaining said control told him that ummachi is worshipped in that form and asked him to recollect narasimhar story of " thunilum iruppar and thurumbilum iruppar"
Aaanaaalum avan ennavo convince aaana maathiri theriyala.

Scene - 2

While visiting the library usually i make it my point to get one book for P as well. So this time it was " Stories of Pirates". I got this book just yesterday. Today i had some work so left him with paatti and went ahead. While i was leaving he asked me about the library book and once i gave it to him he started reading it. I left him as such and went without disturbing him.
On my return, my paatti called me and told me in a hush tone,

Patti -" Nee oru book kuduthiye athu enna book"
Me - Story book maaa, childrens story book , pirates book ,en kekkara?
Patti - Illa antha book avan full ah padichaaan
Me - Oh good very good
Patti - Illa kelu, athu padichuttu enakku katha sonnan, ithu hero villain ,avan sanda poduvaaan, ellaaraiyum kaapathuvaan appadinnu
( then her tone became more of concerned sort and with lots of kavalai)
Apparam etho oruthan oru ponna rope pannuvaaan nnu sonnan athu nalla book thaaane?
Me - Couldnt control laughter at the expression and more of the understanding .... ROFL non-stop .......
The story goes as follows the pirates tie the girl with the rope and P in his enthusiasm explained to her in this format as - avan avala rope la katti poduvaaan nnu solrathukku bathil rope panniduvaaan nnu solli irukkan :)
LOL..............
Apparam avangalukku explain senju mudikkarthukkulla bayangara comedy ya pochu...

Brahmotsavam - Kancheepuram

1. Vahanams at the utsavam

2. Presiding deity - Devarajaswamy

The word “Brahmotsavam” immediately brings Thirupathi to our mind. Infact it’s a ritual which is common to all the perumal temples.

Origin of Brahmotsavam

(script courtesy - http://www.ramanuja.org/sv/bhakti/archives/apr99/0147.html )

Brahmotsavam means "Grand celebration" or a "celebration performed by Brahma".

Lord Indra once killed a Brahma-raakshasa (a Brahmin with demonic characters). In doing so, he incurred a great sin of killing a Brahmana- "Brahma hatya dosham(BHD)". To relieve Indra of this burden, Lord Brahma conducted a ceremony. In this ceremony, officiated by Brahma himself, Indra held Sriman Narayana ( Lord Vishnu) on his head during the special ritual bath "Avabritha Snaanam". This verily was the first Brahmotsavam.

Because of the immense cleansing power of Brahmotsavam, this utsavam is periodically performed in Temples to wash away all sins that may have been incurred in the community as a whole. It is said that the Lord Brahma himself rendered the first Brahmotsavam seva (service) to Lord Venkateshwara (Vishnu) of the Thirumalaishrine. Indeed, it is a common
belief that every Brahmotsavam is witnessedby Lord Brahma. In recognition of this, a well decorated empty chariot ispulled in front of the chariot carrying the deities at the processions heldduring the Brahmotsavam Brahma is believed to be seated in that chariot and oversee the celebration. Thus, Brahmotsavam is also referred to as "Brahmapratyakshotsavam" (celebration conducted right in front of Brahma). The earliest inscribed record of Brahmotsavam at the Thirumala Temple is 650 AD.

In kancheepuram it is conducted during the tamil month vaigasi which usually falls in the period May/June. The presiding deity is called Devarajaswamy – perundevi. The whole temple town wears festive look during the period. Its such a sight seeing the deity taken in a traditional Pallakku with huge umbrellas. Only thing which keeps on bothering even after the festival is the plight of the people who carry this. Its such a heavy pallakku with three priests standing on it with huge umbrellas. And more than two dozens of people on either side carry it in the scorching sun on their shoulders. Since this is “God” they cant even wear their slippers but only the socks. I somehow feels all the punniyam would only go to these people who carry the pallakku though the rituals are done by the priests. Not to leave behind the scores of Maamas who go before the procession chanting the vedams. I learnt later that the native people who have moved out of the town and landed in plum jobs make it their point to be present during this time just for attending this urchavams and to serve in the temple.

We got to watch only 3days event due to the warring schedule of P and aathukarar. Next time planning to attend whole Urchavam there. The thing is if you are present during the Kodi etham on the first day, you cannot leave the town for the next 9 days.
The mandagapadi which I wrote earlier in this post http://oreponnu.blogspot.com/2009/06/reminiscing-about-kancheepuram.html was on 29.05.10 this time . And if you keenly observe the Perumal’s face, you can find it is unfinished with few holes here and there. There is a story behind this. Its been passed on by word of mouth, so iam not sure of the authenticity. Since the statue was found in a dilapidated condition, the temple authorities tried to restore it . The sculptor after restoring the body started with the face and the moment he kept his chisel on the face, there was gushing of blood from the idol. As soon as he witnessed them he fell on to the floor breathless. The following night perumal came in the dream of the temple administrator and asked him to leave the idol as such. While I googled for the source of this story I was unable to locate. If you could find anything on this kindly pass on to me.

The above picture is the scanned copy of the invitation (courtesy of invitation-Kumaran Silks, T.Nagar, Chennai)
The temple’s website -http://www.kanchivaradarajartemple.com/home.html (could have been better)

Kiddie Talk - 21

Yesterday, we were returning home at night after watching SHREK (will post a review abt this and singam as well - and also abt the urchavam at kaancheepuram) at Satyam. Iam stepping into Satyam exactly after 6 years. What a change!!! Last movie i watched at Satyam was "Aayitha Ezhuthu" ( oooo madhavan and Surya, somehow sidharth didnt impresss me much) . Once i had fallen sick and was just lying down, when aathukarar asked for something gave answer in a feeble voice and again continued my trepedition. Without any conscious effort i was watching and rejoicing"minnale" the moment he switched on the TV. (annaikku film athuthaaan). Naan kettaaa bathile illa, odambu seriyillainnu saakku aaana madhavan TV la vantha mattum ellame paranthu pochaa.. purushan kannukku theriyala madhavan theriyaranaaannu ore otttu thaaan annailernthu ;)
Okie now on to the crux....
Me : 7 yrs aagaporathu illa (anniversary approaching)
Aath: hmm atha en nyabaga paduthara
Me : haaaan ennathu?:
Aathu: Onnum illa, unakku rombavum easy yaaa pazhagiduchu illa
Me : Ennathu pazhagiduchu?
Aathu : Ellathukkum XX nnu ennaiye kooptu (In theatre also he went outside and came 5 times - popcorn, veg puff, water, cake, water again - the moment P calls amma i would say XX ) ellathaiyum pannidra illa. Too much dependency... Athu thappu theriyuma , u should learn to be on your own.
Me : Nee kooda thaaan morning Coffee naan thaan tharanum, and daily atleast 10 calls from the office. (kooda ellathaiyum sethukka vendamaaaa). Iam depending on you naaa , u are also emotionally dependent on me, and you know iam the driving force for you.
All the while P was silent and was listening...
P : Amma neee driving force naaa naaan ALIEN FORCE (ben 10 la alien force nnu oru brigade of characters varum)
Me and Aathu : ROTFL .........Non stop

Kiddie Talks - 20

As usual, we were listening to FM. This time it was Radio City's - Sugamana Ragangal. Aathukarar was held up somewhere , so we were waiting and chatting in the meanwhile.
First they played a song from Roja - kadhal rojave...And i was singing along,
P - Unakku eppadi intha paattu ellam theriyarthu?
Me - Appadiye theriyum, naan chinnatha irukkarche vanthathu athanaale theriyum
P - Yaar hero and padam peru enna?
Me - Arvindswamy (drooling thinking of roja) and padam peru ROJA

Next song - Thalapathi - Sundari song...
P - Yaar hero maa, padam peru sollu
Me - Rajini da , padam peru thalapathi

Next song - Puthiya mugam - Netru illatha maatram
P repeats same question and i answer

Next song - Shahjahan - Mellisaiye
P - Same question repeats
Me - Hero Vijay padam peru nyabagam illa (seriously forgot the name of the movie, and didnt try twice to recollect)
P - (started scolding me , like elders do when kids forget their academic lessons)
Mathathellam mattum theriyumaaa, aana unakku ithu mattum theriyaatha (athuvum vijay padam ngarthaala extra tension aayittan)
Me - awwwwww (muzhichifying open-mouthed )

Pick up Your Room - Mary Ann Hoberman

We normally - myself and P - would read stories with Fm in the background every night. The agreement like this - He should read atleast 3 pages of any book and in return i would tell him 6 stories. Sometimes the count would vary but not the procedure. This had been our practice right from his first year. Immediately dont ask , whether he would read at that age - I would tell him stories and we had those cardboard books of shapes, colors, alphabets, small day-to-day words,vehicles and he would show us when asked!!

So, the reading habit continues from day one, and it is never early. Infact the more earlier we start the more they tend to grasp. When P was a child , there was sudden craziness for Superkidz course. One lady would come and with honey-laced voice would speak for half-an-hour about the course and would give demo with the child....

Enna poruthavaraikkum we should not use the child as mere exhibition items and our real motive should be to educate the child and make the learning process a wholesome entertainment. When we inculcate this , never the child would feel burdened to study or read. The fascinationt to learn new things should be sowed early so that it grows with the child.

I came upon this concept rather in an interesting way. Paruppu madichu vantha paper la i read about Glen Domann and his methodology - It was an interesting article about the book and the author. And i got curious and purchased his book. Those time the book was not available and the flash card methodology didnt find enough takers in India i suppose, so i placed an order with landmark and procured that book- How to teach your baby to read .

Really its an interesting book , but the book cannot be followed to the T. We should take the contents and methodology and should try to suit it according to our child's mentality and grasping power. I know this may sound bit preachy for most of them but it would be useful in the long run, so even if not of immediate use, this post might be useful to you in the future :)

Now on to the book , we were reading yesterday - "Clean your room, Harvey moon" by Pat Cummings. I picked this book from a local shop where they had this second hand books discarded from US of A and UK libraries. The book is pretty neat and doesnt look like used ones. They had lots of these kinds early but now when i went again they said they stopped procuring :(

The book is all about the cleaning expedition. Mother says (orders would be appropriate) Harvey moon to clean his while he intends to watch TV . Since the mother is strict he goes on with the task. What he finds and what passes as junk and how he finds the long lost items form the crux and finally by extending the target periodically he finishes the task and goes enthusiastically to report to his mother. Amma as always ,being amma goes through the room and says - " Go finish your lunch and come and when you are done lets get started on lump number one on the bed". (harvey dumps everything on the bed and neatly covers it with bed spread )

What made P to go into convulsions of laughter was this poem at the end

Pick up your Room by Mary Ann Hoberman

Pick up your room, my mother says

(She says it every day);

My room's too heavy to pick up

(That's what I always say).

It's time to take a bath, she says

(She looks me in the eye);

Where shall I take it to? I ask

(That's always my reply).

Drink up your milk, she says to me,

Don't bubble like a clown;

Of course she knows I'll answer that

I'd rather drink it down.

And when she says at eight o'clock,

You must go right to be,

We both repeat my answer:

Why not go left instead?

From the book - Clean your room, Harvey Moon! by Pat Cummings

We had such a good time reading the whole book and especially the poem
(Due credits given to the author and the book)

Amma Samaiyal

You ask any married man about the cooking of his wife - he would say excellent (vera vazhi illai athu vera vishayam) but would not forget to add this - " enna irunthaalum enga amma vekkara vethakozhambu maathiri varaathu". Read for that matter any of the celebrity's interview - he/she would always turn nostalgic about how their mother way back in village would give fish curry / some thogaiyal / pazhaya saatham with some kozhambu. If it is modern day actress - " oh enga mummy panra paneer butter masala thaan enku romba pidkum. Athu romba yummy ya irukkum"

I think this has got more to do with habit - eating the same thing for 20+ years sure must have some effect on your taste buds. So it doesnt matter whether you are having tasty yummy food daily or once in a while the moment you turn to your used food the taste bud recognises instantly - " hey athethaan nee ithana varushama enakku vidama pottundu irunthiye athe thaaan nnu"

I agree previous generations mother pathi kandippa ella pasangalum solluvaanga, bt P , he also likes my sambar and rasam. After prolonged touring at my fathers place during last holidays he actually craved for my sambar and rasam, so i deduced the unmai from his cravings.

And regarding my aathukarar - hmm athu en kekkareenga avar paavam oru appraaani- hehehe chumma oru joke - he never complains and would happily eat whatever i give him. I actually learnt samaiyal from him only - i mean tambram version.

Imagine my state - a complete turnover from what i had been eating all along 21 years. Appadiye oru 360 degree turnover thaaan. His mother was a good cook and me just a novice, still he never once compared. He always appreciates, sometimes ennalaye saapda mudiyaathu, still he would have it.

And since aaathukarar away to some conference today has been officially declared no samayal day. And P is also so accomodating u know, he will happily settle for HSB . Just pakkathu theruvila irukkarthu evvalavu sowgaryam illaya. Morning bfast Pongal and lunch just piping hot rasam (chill weather super menu esp with mangoes) and night HSB. Strategic location eppavume bayangara advantage illaya - Antha pakkam dominos, HSB, Hot chips, intha pakkam Mcrennet , adyar bakery, pizza hut. And anytime w.mambalam nyanambika mess, and other small eateries.

But ennathaan veliya saaptaalum, after sometime ur tastebuds automatically crave for the home-made samayal eventhough it is of no standard to ur own amma's samaiyal.

Bowled

This is to announce that P has successfully completed his level I art course. And he is already exploring various things by drawing and coloring unexplored shapes and forms. When questioned, he gives long lectures and stories which makes you believe that "oh iam so much for dumb ist?" (an art which genetically came from his father i suppose, appavum paiyanum nalla muttalakka therinjavangathaaan). He already wants to make boat from cardboard and is pestering me with the ideas and the process. I wanted to give him everything and would like to see him experiment with various things but later i should listen to the sahasranama archanai from my paatti, so postponing the things so that i can atleast monitor.
His art instructor is full of praises for him. "During the initial days he was shy and was mum, but now refuses to shut his mouth. While coloring he would do few strokes and start asking few questions. He is more interested into maths i think, would ask me what is 1000+100 , 2000+5000, 1lakh+1 crore? He is too brainy. "
At the end of level they conduct an exam sort of thing, based on which they give the certificate of merit. And during the exam, he was asking her whether the paper would go to Australia for evaluation in an aeroplane and come back to India? Ennallam doubt vararthu. And was singing the sura songs for the instructor. Bayangarama impress panni vechirukkan pola irukku.
And regarding the addition he is familiar till now with Crore denomination. When he is bored he would come and bombard with questions - addition like the above ones and that too non-stop. Now that he is into reading, he reads all the advertisement tag lines and comes with appropriate repartee. I constantly need to upgrade to answer his never ending questions. Its not enough if i just say the meaning , i should also explain with respect to the context and should say few examples. The other day he asked me what was strike. I came up with labour strike, immediately he asked , appadinna counter-strike na ennannu? . So, i needed to get back on the meaning and explain him that strike means to attack and counter strike means to hit back when faced with an attack. Athoda nikkama i am required to put into sentence. shhh abba ezhuthi mudikkave romba kashtama irukku.
Now, while coming from class he was murmuring some song. I asked what it was?

P : Amma athu oru slow song.
Me : Enna song da P. (was expecting some urupadaatha song from vijay movie)
P : (starts singing in a slow voice) Poove semboove un paasam varum, paasam nananana nanaaanaaa. Vai pesidum pullangulal , neethanoru nananaa nana(varthai seriya puriyala pola irukku)
I was shell-shocked. All he has been doing is watching Nick, disney and singing the latest sura songs with the help of sun trailers while surfing the channels. Then remembered that they had played this song in Radio Fm. We have this habit of listening to Fm during our bedtime.
Me : Unakku eppadida intha paattu theriyum
P : Athuvaaa appadiye theriyum.
P.S- This post is after coming from art class, effect porathukulla post pottachu.

Rehabilitation

While giving food to P, aathukarar always insists on one point. You should not waste food. If you leave the food/drink, then it would cry while you are draining it in the sink. It would feel "P doesnt like me, he is wasting me". Also, we make it a point to show him the people on the road to emphasize the point. He would bombard us with questions. Why these people are homeless? Why are they not going to work? Why they didnt study? Why they dont have a job?
While i answer some questions in simplified terms , somethings cannot be explained. And finally he declared - "Amma, can i give them the money from my piggy bank?" "Naan periyavanana vodane velaikku poi panam sambathichu avangalukku kudukka poren"
I was speechless for a moment. Emotions ranging from pride to astonishment played in its glory. At the same time some concepts also need to be explained to him. Now-a-days begging is a thriving industry in its own sphere next to education, medical and food domain.
Recently , i came upon this announcement in Hindu - Begging is to be eradicated in the city and these people are to be sent to rehabilitation centres. The reason being not to improve the standard of life of these people but them being hindrance to the flow of traffic at major points. This is from the mayor of Chennai. I wonder how far it can be achieved in reality. It really needs a long term vision and proper planning.
Though some people are genuinely helpless and are being driven to this extremity , some are lazy and view this as easy route of making money. This reminds me of the case i read about in bangalore. I dont think this concerns only India but an universal problem. Though i crib from the comfort of my home, wish to do something.