The Gift

Today i was reading "The Gift" by Nora Roberts and coincidentally yesterdays Ananda vikatan too carried an article on the same topic by S.Ramakrishnan.
Gift - dictionary meaning - v. t.) Anything given; anything voluntarily transferred by one person to another without compensation; a present; an offering.
Aana, innaikku it has lost its sheer meaning. We shower our children with abundance that they lose the real meaning of gift. Their joy in seeing new things are just in minutes only.
Still, i remember my first real gift. A magnetic chess board which i used to keep under lock and key. Those days there were no toys to play with. We would do with kottankuchi , old utensils and with all the 5 paise mittais. Girls having barbie dolls were looked upon with great admiration and jealousy. Having a cycle was luxury. Today, P has this toy car worth 3500 and it is just lying in a corner and his tri-cycle and bi-cycle adorn various corners of our hall. Only when company arrives those would be touched upon.
Elders though they say that "dont get anything and dont waste your money" actually look upon for the things. Its not the cost or the worth of the gift that matters to them but the act itself plays major role. Till i reached my 12th std i never knew the birthday of my paatti. All of a sudden gnanothayam happened and found from her. Still i remember , after attending tax class, i purchased just bar chocolates and ice-creams(she loves them) and made a call from PCO to home. I wished her and here she was all the more embarrassing and it was a lovely sight.
And so, i made it a point to get something or the other. Once, my aathukarar got her a exclusive music player and she just keeps and takes care of it like any other child and man you should say she is so possessive about that player. Never allows P to touch even...
Whenever aathukarar goes out-of-station and comes back, Ps standard dialogue would be 'Enakku enna vangindu vanthurukka'.
My first gift from my aathukarar was a silver chain and i gave him a wall hanging saying

" One heart-to-heart
You talk, i will listen"
Annaikku intha gift ah paarthu emaanthathuthaan , innaiya varaikkum atha nee follow pannathe illa nnu sollinde iruppar. To remind himself and yours truly, it adorns our bedroom.(To be precise it was given before 13yrs)

Fasting.....

Today is my fil's srartham, and only when iam fasting, hunger strikes me more.....Athuvum, when the samaiyal is ready with mouth-watering dishes, especially when you yourself are preparing them..... Nejammave testing times....
Usually, i dont feel like eating break-fast, its been practiced rite from schooldays. Hey, dieting ellam illa, athukkum namakkum romba thooram...bt just iam tuned, i know it is a wrong practice.
But i make sure aathukarar and P are having their break-fast....
Aanaa, innaikku mattum illa, during varalakshmi vratham, karadaiyar nonbu and all other where iam required to fast, rombavume pasikkum....
Waiting for Bil's call , which he would give once the srartham is over... Guilty :(

Raja raja cholan...

Topic paarthuttu naan etho history pathi solla varennu nenachikaatheenga...
Today , while i was leaving from office (nambathaan office porathe oru post podra maathiri ayiduche) , one of my collegue (actually retired thathaa...enga office actually extremes, either they would be retired or freshers....or with kids so my aathukarar would jokingly say next namba muthiyor illamum, creche um aarambichudalaamnu) asked me a question...

I heard only the question and not the crux " how is ........... going?" Namba thaan eppavume etho oru olagathula iruppome, so seriyaa kooda kaathula vaangikkama , i said ,"yaa, all are going well". "So, is he comfortable singing, appothaan throat infection ellam varaathu...." Appothaan it struck my mind that, he was enquiring about P's paattu class nnu..... Odane samalichu, i said yess he enjoys it, bt a bit lazy to go on sunday. All the time he wants the company of chotta bheem, hanuman nna nadakkumaaannu.....sollittu i started home..

All the while, during the journey back to office i was thinking about my singing expedition....
Enakku literal ah keech keech voice...And whenever i call my friend , only her sister would pick up the call. (during my 6th std and appothaan telephone enga veettukku vantha puthusu, so phone suththa karanamaa venum). And she is elder by 7-8 yrs. She used to always tell me that my voice was sweet and i would like to see you...(avangalukku appo otta yaarum kedaikkalaiyo ennavo, enna bayangaramaa ethi ethi vittutaanga, nambathaan oru appaviyaache yaar enna sonnalum nambiduvome). And believing that i went to her house one-day.

Her father was actually serving in the temple as priest , and her mother is a very good cook u know. Athuvum avangaathu pulikaachal kaagave naan thayir saatham thaan eduthindu poven (erkanave oru thayir saatha payithiyam, ithula nalla combination kedacha kekkavaa venum). Seri when i actually went to her home , her brother and sister constantly were admiring and avanga akka oru padi mela poi, called her friend too to introduce me .
And we all went to the evening show to udayam theatre that day (appathaan thalapathi and mmkr vanthirunthu, bt engaloda time ticket kedaikkathanaala we were forced to watch brahmaa)

Whenever i used to narrate that incident, my aathukarar used to say, hey they would have made fun and teased you and atha nambi nee ippadi yellam oru aagasa kotta katti irukkakoodaathunnu. And what the next step , oru music teacher thedarthuthaan.....So oru vazhiyaaa, got a music teacher in the opposite street.
My music lessons also started, naanum enna oru chithra and swarnalatha aava ellam karpana panna aarambichachu...(sorry appo sudha ragunathan, sowmya pathi ellam theriyaathu)
Sarali varisa mudichu janda varisai thaaan arambichaa antha maami, and athukkulla antha maamavukku transfer aayiduchu.......... So ennoda music kanavu ithoda mudinjathu.....
Apparam next class , appathiya craze hindi private examinations and athu madhyama voda mudinjuthunnu naan thaniya vera sollanumaaa ennaa.....

Okie, now P is going to music class and trust me he is really good at it. And when you observe him in close quarters while he is busy with something, always he would be murmuring some song... And it ranges from vettaikkaran doi to kanne kalaimaane ... (hehehee...ellam yours truly and aathukarars influence only, lullaby paada theriyaathathunaala we solely depended on IRs melodies and courtesy late night FM) Ippo in his class they teach bhajan songs as well carnatic lessons - half-an-hour session this and that. First few classes i stayed with him and yessss i learnt close to around 20 songs. And believe me, all age-group of people come there. And even i thought of going there and renewing my interest, even my aathukarar said yess, bt the pblm is sunday 12-1 class and that is when u go advanced stage (they think kids would take time and elders would learn fast....enna oru wrong calculation ;) ) the timings would be different and cannot afford to spend 1 hr there.........

We took P to planetorium when he was 2.5 yrs and in order to prepare himself for the atmosphere, we started educating him about the experience.. P , anga ulla stars, moon, sun ellame kaattuvaanga. And it would be dark inside but dont worry , appa and amma would be there with you. You can actually enjoy and they would tell you a story ....- ippadi yellam avana pepare panni ulla poi utkaarnthom.....
He stubbornly refused to sit on our lap and sat seperately. As soon as the lights went off, we thought he would scream or cry...But, we heard a voice singing........
"raja raja chozhan naan enai aalum kaathal desam neethaan
poove kaathal theeve "
Avvalavuthaan the whole room broke into a loud applause.........

kiddie talks - 12

P was watching Pogo (should i say, as usual) and came to me rushing...

P : Amma, to nna enna?
Me : "To" nna vaa, ethukku ketkara? (actually i didnt know wat context he was asking, athuvum as usual)
P : Amma, tonight nna ennammaa? (i know he is slightly irritated, cos his favourite thing is going on in TV and he quickly wants me to clarify his doubt)
Me : Tonight appadinna, innaikku night nnu artham..To emphasise more, (avanukku innum nalla solli tharanumngara enthu la i said), today solluvom illa, antha maathiri
P : Todaynna appo innaikku thaane, apparam en tonight nnu solrom?
Me : Todaynnu pagal , i mean day refer panrache solluvom :)
P : Appo afternoon naa, toafternoon ah?
Ithukku thaan over ah enthu aagakoodathunnu sollrathu.......Logic correct thaaane

Tit-bits

In todays session, (dance class thaan ;) ),we were discussing lots of things (naattukku romba thevannu kaathula vizharthu), athula konjam interesting i would post...

1. Heard that in chettiars family , it is the Mother-in-law who would put the metti onto the daughter-in-laws toe.....Usually, it would be the groom, they say annaikku mattum he would hold the feet and pledge his familys well being and respect to the woman of the family. (bt the truth is now-a-days , daily thaan avanga kaala pidikkaraangale, no offence intended, naan perumaiyathaan sonnen ;) )

2. There is a carnival at the church park convent on 30th January,2010 - Timings - 10.00 am to 4.00 pm. Interested people can visit and the entry fee is just Rs.5/-(as per information). If you have got children, niece, nephews or even friends you can visit. It would be real fun cos so many children at one place and iam planning to take P.

3. We were also discussing about the thirukalyanam at thirupathi. It seems previously they would allow 5 people to watch, but now only 2 people are allowed (not sure whether any two people or couples).. sigh..so in the near future i cannot do my venduthal, cannot leave P and go..(manasu varala even though just outside the premises naaa kooda). Three months after the marriage , we got an opportunity to attend the sevas at thirumala (it is only we people who refer to it commonly as thirupathi, bt the locals call the main shrine as thirumala only). Three sevas in succession - suprabatham, thomala, sahasranama archanai - and on the whole we spent close to around 3 hrs near the deity but everytime at the end of the seva we are required to come out and join the queue , so we were always at the back...
It was really worth the time and the efforts (athaavathu 1.00 kku ezhunthu kulichu though hot water, 2.30 kku reporting ) hearing live suprabathams that too at around 3.00 in the morning...We in the sense, mil-fil, me and my aathukarar....
Though i spent considerable time inside i would have been watching (worshipping ellam kedaiyathu) the deity only for around 30 mins on the whole i would say...Baakki ella neramum parakku paarthathoda sari...I think everyone would be doing the same, if allowed. Honestly, athuthaan human psychology. Only when you are pushed and hear the word " thallunga thallunga" you would be more eager to catch the glimpse. Athileyum pogum bothu kazhuthu sulikkikara varaikkum thirumbi thirumbi paarthu nadanthaaathaan thripthiye.....
So,no use in complaining, swamiya paarkave vidalainnu...(Atleast in my case)

Giggles all the way....

Yesterdays experience was like re-visiting good olden school days..It was more lively and memorable because i had been giggling all the way for about half-an-hour and that too with not so close friends but with just known people. And that indeed made it all the way more reminiscing....
Actuallah athu oru periya vishayame illa.... From the morning i had this nagging headache and all the more nagging due to sinusitis (thanks to Ps homework - naanga ellathaiyume last minute thaane pannuvom, so got up at 4.30 and did his homework, the reason for not doing the previous night was aathukarars cousins marriage reception which itself warrants a seperate post).
And being Monday P had his dance class and me thought of having a cup of coffee after dropping him. Actually his class is in a mall and myself and another friend decided to go to the basement and have coffee. All the way we came in lift and just didnt notice that the shop was closed. We were so animatedly engrossed with our talks that we failed to notice and it was pointed by another friend who was about to leave her daughter too.
So, we decided to stay in the ground floor and were waiting for her to leave her daughter and come. The place we were standing was exactly opposite to a shop which dealt with sherwanis, and specialist in bride-grooms apparel. Ippothaan ellarume antha sherwani type of wear thaaan reception kku pottukarale.....(My aathukarar is sick of them and refuses to wear even kurthas , aasaiyaa vaangina oru half-white kurthaa appadiye cup-board la thoongarthu... hmmmm, and P athukkum mela , athu pakkathileye porathilla, appadiye appava kondu irukkan - poor me :( )
Seri , now on to the topic.... There was this man who was trying various types and i think probably for his reception....It was so funny and you should just look at the types of dresses he chose.... We three were all the time looking and gazing and making fun of him. You know what it was one blue outfit athileyum peacock blue with the same material tie hanging like one loop , and atha vitta reddddd colour inner jacket with all the jiginaaas and work with a white over-coat with loads and loads of thread work and chamikki... Seri itha kooda mannichu vittudalaamnaa oru grey colour sherwani thaan thaanga mudiyala..
I have nothing against men wearing the sherwani, but some come with gaudy designs and it hampers the whole businesss.... Anyway, he came alone and all the while was on the phone (may be fiance kittaa mms anupi kettunde irunthaaro ennavo ;) ) while trying different outfitss...Avar mattum oru gang oda vanthirunthaarunna kandippa naanga escape aagi iruppom......Avaroda ketta neram, seriyaa kooda try pannama enga alambal thaangama escape aagittaru.....
Only during school days, we would just giggle and laugh endlessly without any purpose and substance....And i had such a good time that ennoda thala vali kanamale poiruchu.....;)

PS - Sorry folks, ennoda intention sherwani tease panrathu illa, bt the gaudy outfits which the particular person tried, avvalavuthaaann

P : Unakku eppadi panam kedaikkarthu?
Me:Appa kuduthaar.
P : Appakku eppadi kedaikkum?
Me: Neeye sollu paarkalaam?
P : Velaikku ponathaala kedaichathu.
Me : Yes, correct...Unakkuthaan theriyarthe apparam en ketkara
P : Appo, appa unakku mattum thaan panam tharuvaara, enakku tharamaattara,
naaan mattum toys ellam vaangikka koodathaa, nee thaan enakku vaangitharanumaa..
Ithukku ennatha sollaaa, oru vazhiya periyavanga, chinnavangannu oppethi samalikka vendiyathuthaaan....

Another rambling

Right now, iam experiencing whole lot of emotions....I cannot particularly describe them cos , everything comes and goes as in a slide show... anger, frustration, disappointment, relief and a sort of histrionics...
It all started when my aathukarar announced his plan to go out of station. Not that he is going for the first time... He has been away for weeks together even. Bt this time, i didnt even like it a bit. Bt the thing was i didnt want to say "No" on the face of it and secretly prayed and hoped for the last minute cancellation. Bt nothing happened and everything was under control. Not even a last minute meeting or tender or an appointment came to my rescue. When i learned that the flight was delayed , i was happy and hoped that it would get cancelled. Alas , nothing happened.......
I desperately wanted him to be home by sunday so that we could attend a marriage of his cousin. Even we haven't been to their engagement and all the curses stand on me. Its not that i mind going alone, bt i altogether avoid going alone without his presence to any of the functions on his side . (a boon that comes with love marriage)
And now he says it gets to extend to one more week..........I do not know whether i should take this positively and say " everything is for good" or just indulge in self pity and throw tantrums (of course silent ah thaaaan)
(The Uncanny - this post is surely not for you)

On to the story...

This story was told my "bedda avva" (means big grandma in telugu) (iam telugu and my aathukarar tamil, so is the cause of Ps tamil). She is older sis of my grandmother and around 18 yrs older than her and the story goes that she delivered my grand-ma while she came to her mothers house...(appollam athu sagajam illa) . She just passed away last december in bangalore and was around 98..... She stayed with us untill my 13 th bday and after went to live with her daughter in bangalore. She used to narrate stories only in tamil and that too in a very demonstrative manner. There are actually two stories and i remember telling this to a friend while i was waiting for riksha during my 5th standard. And i tell them to P too.

The first one...
A good story about the spirit of a sparrow...It was one of the hot day during summer, and there was a sparrow who didnt get anything to eat that particular day. So it was bit tired to fly and started to look into the "kuppaimedu". And after prolonged search it came across half-grain of rice and was very happy.
So, being a very nice sparrow it wanted to have a bath cos it was dirty due to its exploration in the kuppaimedu.. Appo, ange oru paatti kitta athu ponathaam. And it went to her house and gave her the grain and asked her to keep it safe. Aana, antha paatti enna pannangalaam, maavu araikkumbothu, athaiyum kooda pottuttaangalaam.
Now the sparrow returned and asked for the grain, and she said , she had grinded it . It got angry and refused to go. So, she said i will give u a aalakku of grain instead of 1/2 grain and the sparrow gladly accepted.
Since the sparrow had no use having a aalakku of grain, it gave it to another merchant to be kept safe, and the similar way the helper sells it along with a bag of grain without the merchant's knowledge. So, again the sparrow comes and demands the next day and when he is unable to give the same old grain, he compensates with a padi of grain.
The story goes in the similar fashion till the padi of grain becomes a bag. So when a feast was announced in the kingdom the minister unknowingly utilises the bag of grain. Now the sparrow goes to the king for justice. And then the king finally gives the sparrow a chariot , gold coins and few bags of grains.
The sparrow thus ends rich for the rest of its life....
(Etho sumaara ezhutha mudinja alavu brief ah ezhuthi irukken , actually it would go on and on....it would sound good to the children when u say it with modulation and in tamil)


The second one would be posted later....

P.s - I know unga porumaiya romba sothikkara kathai ithunnu.........

First story.....

Reading the title , please donot come to the conclusion that iam writing a story or something (iam not such a sadist you see, and antha kashtamellam naan thara maatten). This is just a tag and i thought of it, while telling stories to P.
Someone, either your mother or grandmother or a relative would have told you a story during your childhood. So, if you think of a story which one comes to your mind first. Please donot quote "paatti vadai sutta kathai and all". It would be better if it is unique, in some way. I think in someway or the other it would be unique, sometimes passed on from family, or may be native-oriented.....
Also, please give a brief description of the person from whom you got this story.
It would be better if you give a link in the comments section to the story, and who-ever comes across this post can take up this tag. And not a compulsory one......(compulsory irunthaathaan panna maattom). Let me , do the first one...

Open day and homeworks...

Yep, finally the open day is over. And iam just on cloud nine and swelling with pride. Guess what?!!!! All good points for P. Not that teachers used to complain about him in the beginning but I was bit worried cos last December fully P used to come and say that he got punishment – standing , sad face and made to sit separately – all for one reason talking in the class.
Last term itself his teacher said that few students do their work fast and keep on talking in the class, and since they are perfect in other things, she doesn’t mind and the punishment is given just to instill discipline in them. Since it was a continuous affair last December full month I was bit apprehensive.
Okie now on to the script, might be like boasting , but iam too happy that I wanted to share it." P is doing extremely well and he answers very nicely and has got very good leadership qualities. And even other children are quiet when P is minding the class it seems. She is amazed that he was able to read the words and sentences with proper punctuations. Please continue with this . And he is extremely shy with girls and gives a wide grin even if the teacher asks him any question or praises him. I said he is shy at home too when any of his classmates especially girls call over to speak with him. So she replied, oh that’s y he doesn’t come out and speak with me ist? But i give him lots of small works to do and does everything perfectly.....Only problem with handwriting, bit slow cos he seeks perfection with the letters."
Ennavo all went well. These days parents are anxious rather than children....General advice was please read daily with your children....

Then tomorrow is the last day – book fair - We didn’t visit cos P is not feeling well , and the climate is also not co-operating…..Think got to give it a miss this year. Thought of buying kadal pura and few sujatha's books. Last year got full set of ponniyin selvan. But got few books from the local stationary shop and it is by Seasons publications – pocket books for just Rs10 each and the range is good – Garuda, Lava-kusa, Bal hanuman – new facts about anjana mother of hanuman , Indira etc . Good reading…… Apple books – Colourful fairy tale books with large print.

Apparam week end home work for P - decorating pongal pot and sugarcane picture with Bindis and cotton - vera Yaar pannuva, yours truly thaaan... Obviously the homework is for parents only.....

New craze - Frankie

My aathukarar first introduced us to this frankie, last june during one of our shopping trip. The stall is outside Globus, T.Nagar. And i liked it instantly, athuvum pasi nerathula kollu kedacha kooda pothume, frankie kuduthaa kekkava venum. It has both veg and non-veg. But, P didnt like those stuffing at first since it was hot and had only the chappathi.
So from then onwards, whenever we go to P's dance class we make it a habit to indulge ourselves with those frankies once a week. There was another stall which sold french fries and burgers and it was our routine always that P would get french fries and yours truly masala veg frankie.One day, P wanted hotdog and how do u say that we are veggies so we should not eat that??? Anyway, convinced him ( was careful cos i should not give him wrong information) Chinna kozhanthaikku answer panrathe romba periya vishayamnu nenaikkiren!!
But, soon they closed that shop and only option left was the frankie one. So P too had it and liked it.

And like a poruppana ammava i wanted to control our impulse. Below was the conversation...

P : Amma, so next where? Frankie vaangalaama. Hmm yummy crispy chappathi vaangi thaa..
Me : Illada P. Enkitta panam illa , so inime everytime frankie kedayaathu, eppavanum thaan.

He remained silent till we got into the car, and then ,

P : Amma nee en velaikku poga koodaathu , appa maathiri, appo neraiya panam varume.......

Me : @#$%.........

After a long time, say 2 months went to office. Naan morning kelambarche ve , dear aathukarar asked , did u check the calendar - ragu gaalam , emagandam onnum illaye, ashtami navami ethaanum irukka porathu, office enge irukkunnu nyabagam irukka????!!! Office la ellaram shock aaga poraanga!!!!
Hmm.... Atheppadi appaadi ellam kekkalaam, athukkaga office enge irukkunnu koodava maranthu pogam, venumna office la enna vela pannanumnu venumna maranthu pogalaam, athu refresh panna oru 1 or 2 months aagalaam. Athukkulla P kku annual holidays vanthudum, apparam fresh ah june la pogalaaam....
Jokes apart, i started my new year , week beginning, with productive work done at office. Hope it continues.....

Vettaikkaran..Not a review

This movie is due for a very long time. Since they give ads left and right in all the sun network channels , P is very much familiar with the songs and dialogues. And during our trip to kumbakonam we purchased a CD at a local shop in thirunallaru, and it had songs from all the released and un-released audios. One such movie was vettaikkaran, and one song from that was missing - "vettaikkaran parambaraidaaa". Enna pblm oh theriyala...

And while they were advertising abt the release date P was asking amma Friday enna time TV la podaporaaanga. Thank god athu mattumthaan pannalaaa. Too much of sugar paayasatha keduthudum maathiri, the advertising had a worse impact on the movie.

And while i was watching the film , i had a confusion all the time , whether i was watching the right movie only. And my confusion cleared only when vijay said, "vetta vetta vetta vettaikkaran daaaa" in a high decibal voice. Intha pazhaya padathula ellam title oru thadava solluvaangale athu maathiri. Itha konjam munnadiye sollakoodathaa, athenna K.Bagyaraj maathiri middle of the film la solrathu!!!!

Actally Vijay yum , director um - sivaji, dil, bagavathy, thirupaachi and konjam pazhaya rajni padangal CDs ellathaiyum munnadi vechu inky pinky ponky pottu screenplay ezhuthiiruppaaanga nnu nenaikkaren.
When athukarar missed few scenes P gave him a detailed version as follows...

Appa antha kettaavan vijay yoda friend ah attack panniduvaana vodane vijaykku kovam vanthudum. Avan oru idea panni avanoda shop kku fire vechiduvaan apparam avanoda panathai ellam thooki pottuduvaan. (building vodanchathu seriya screenla theriyala so he missed out) . Apparam avana punish panrathukkaga avanoda paiyana thannikulla thooki pottuduvaan..

His version was better than the screening i would say....

Especially, vijay azhara scene, en nanbana konnuttiyedaaa was pathetic and it was very funny and the modulation , my god......

Since, my brother was a big vijay fan we had good time teasing all the way from the very first scene. Anushka padathila illama irunthirunthaa kooda oru difference um therinjirukkathu...

Song of this season

Some songs are always meant for murumuring throughout the day. One such song of the recent times is this song....

A very simple melody with wonderful and meaningful lyrics and good picturisation. And this song has been meticulously sung by Naresh Iyer and Shreya Ghoshal. She has got a beautiful voice and strives hard at the pronounciations. Lots of effort and improvement are visible . She has come a long way from the song - "Ninaithu ninaithu paarthen" - 7G Rainbow colony to the present one in Pasanga

And about our present song, a lot has to be said about the herione vega. It was unbelievable to see the transformation from "Saroja" to this one. A lot of heroines do attempt to look and act differenct but this one achieved it , i would say. A modern girl in Saroja to a typical village-bred educated girl in Pasanga , she was completely at ease.

And in the latest ConAgra foods ad too - Pop corn, she was the typical genx girl, bt her dimples gave away.