Take diversion!

Dear visitors to my blog!

Pardon me for diverting you to this blog - http://mylaporefestival.blogspot.com/
This is a temporary diversion. But, I bet you would love this blog. More than the blog, you would love the event.
Make sure you reserve your weekend for this festival.

Lalu Prasad Toy - No kidding!

Though I have declared that I am taking a break, the blog always brings me back to the world.
It is the curiosity to share what I have seen recently broke the break.
The busy schedule of co-ordinating a festival, covering December music season in Chennai and the exams keeps me away from the world of blogs and blah.. blahs!

Here is one I recently came across. I could not resist putting this up for you all.
A toy Lalu Prasad. I tried explaining a young girl in class 5, why Lalu Prasad toy. At last I ended up saying that he is the Railway minister of India. But she still wonders why there are no Manmohan Singh toys and Adbul Kalam toys!
Any answers?

Taking a break!

Break is necessary not only when it is boring, but also when too many things keep you busy!
And too many blogs to update, too many programmes to attend, to many commitments to fulfill also force you to take a break.
Not to forget the exams in between!
When you click on my profile, you may get to see what I am up to these days. Just going crazy!
But I 'm happy.
I will come back to write about a nice break we are all planning during the second week of this month. We are off to the neighbouring state!

Retirement

Retirement. . .
I remember my dad, though kept preparing himself for a retired life felt, he was too energetic to retire, on the day of his retirement. At the age of 58!
Yes, people are healthy, energetic and also matured and well experienced in their respective field.
But the mandatory rest, the labour laws enforce on the working class becomes necessary, at least in a country like India, where another set of young and energetic class is waiting for opportunities.
But how does it feel like retiring from the services at the age of 38?Does not sound great, if you think that this is the end of life.
If you think that this is an opportunity to reinvent yourself and bring back the real you in what you do, then retirement at 38 is pretty interesting!
That's what happened to me five years ago. That was a conscious decision to retire. Rather than going into reasons for such an early retirement, it will definitely be interesting, if I share what I did after that!
A single blog post is a very small space though.
On the first day, I listed all my interests.Reviewed what I was doing with them so for. Looked for avenues to pursue a few.
But there was an indirect pressure to keep up the last drawn pay even after retirement.
My first option was investment avenues. After allocating the major portion of the retirement benefits into safe investment schemes, I turned towards the capital market.
The accounting background gave me a fair idea about the markets. I played safe and more than making money, the way the markets behaved everyday really interest you. I was very cautious not to spend more than two hours a day. And the weekends were for learning.
I did a course in designing on the computers. The creative side in me also also fetched me name and rewards. During the spare time I made online cards and sent to all my friends and relatives. (To my ex-colleagues, especially to show them how I spend my time!)
The surfing of the Net, making question papers for the kids who appeared for the Board exams, helping out in their projects ( I bet, it is an enriching experience) - I mean for about 20 kids - not only makes you popular among the kids but also makes the parents look at you with a lot of respect (After all, you lessen their head ache to some extent)
The fourth is to play around with paper and pen! when you start writing, you really find a 'Gnanpeeth' awardee in you waiting to come out.
The fifth is really to give a shape to your thoughts and channelise them, you will find all your dreams come true.
There are a few more ways to keep yourself busy. Just get associated with a like-minded person. I mean with the one who just has the same fire in him / her exactly like you - You will forget that you have a career of 20 years ahead!
The list is longer than what you think it to be. And will interest you if only you also retire at 38!

Blessings on my birthday!

The elephant God comes to our home in various forms.
Yes, Ganeshji gets into our home in different shapes, sizes, forms and patterns. And, we have never shopped for an idol or a photo of Ganesha. All are gifted to us!
Even the 'clay Ganesha' which comes to our home on Vinayaka Chaturthi day never leaves our home. I would like to decorate them and place them in the Navaratri steps from next year!
Of all the idols, I love the one in the relaxing pose with a 'hand fan' and a book!
But this time, Ganesha came in on my birthday. In a totally different form.
Simple, yet beautiful form!
He landed up on my mobile phone! A friend of mine remembered my birthday and sent a greeting. No words, just a Ganesha. It brightened up my day!

Rasam - the essen(ce)tial south Indian dish

Rasam - this is one which is never omitted in the brunch menu of our family.
And through the week, we have different varieties of rasam. Sometimes, the same variety does not repeat even for a fortnight!
Rasam changes its 'avtar' to suit the accompanying vegetable of the day. If the cereals are used in the vegetable, the rasam goes without it. If it is a 'koottu', the rasam has the extra tangy taste. If the sambhar has a lot of cereals, the rasam becomes 'Mor rasam'
Only one type of rasam not made in our home is 'garlic rasam'. Somehow no one likes it and I have not prepared it in my life so for!
Just last week, I prepared a surprise 'mint rasam'. It got added to the existing varieties now!
I fried a small bunch of mint leaves with two green chillies and two tomatoes. And added the ground mixture of these to the boiling tamarind water with turmeric powder and salt. Added the cooked cereals. Completed it with the usual garnishing of mustard and asafoetida. Just add a few fresh mint leaves and it does wonders!
If anyone has a different variety of rasam, I would like to add to my cook-book!

Dream thinkpad!

This should be a dream come true for me!
For a simple call to work on a web project, the kids swamped! The strange part of it was that the call did not mention anything about the project in which the kids would be working! And the mail id did not have any name to address the mails to.
This made me think that the kids are just looking for something exciting to work on.
And yes, they all turned up for the meeting, in a small hall. The technical info kids had just amazed the professional designers. Their needs were very clear. The kids knew what they had to do at the end of the two hour meeting. Ideas started pouring in.
Next day, we got mails in the inbox, with new designs for web page, some content, some write ups, poems and of course some queries.
The logo - busy bee - had a brush in the hand first, then a pen and at the end of the discussions, it threw up all the instruments and started 'thinking'. The busy bee became a thinking bee!
Apt for the name - Log on to www.yocee.in and see for yourself what I am talking about!

Parade of dolls!

Navarathri has been my favourite festivals ever since my childhood days.
It was fun arranging the steps with tin boxes, cartons, newspapers, bricks and all things under the Sun. Those were the days we did not have ready made steps in slotted angles. We had seen the wooden steps with screws and padlocks, but.
The 'making' of the steps used to take a full day and we used to end up with placing a single 'Ganesha' idol in one of the steps just to carry over the rest of the steps to the next day.
Arranging the 'Dasavatharam' dolls always caused arguments. And the 'panchangam' was used to settle the issues - I mean the order in which they were to be placed. The 'marapachis' had the finest of the costumes made by me and my sister.
The happiest moments were dressing up in the evenings. I used to be a doll in the hands of my sister. She dressed me up with different accessories on all the nine days. Have you heard of 'tights' sari? It had an extra wrap after the pleats. With a short sling hand bag, I used to look like a foreigner in sari.
On some other day, the long plait was decorated with a pad of flower arrangements!
When I see young girls in traditional long skirts these days on such occasions, I say to myself - 'Hey, girls! There is much more than this simple pavadai during Navrathri!

Marvaellous musical in Museum Theatre

For over a month I was blogging elsewhere.
It was not just blogging. But an experience, a lot of learning, many nice moments and above all a whole lot of trivia about the city we live in!
My posts here will relate to events and experiences more than a month old, for sometime. I could have very much skipped the old stories. But many of the incidents I came across are really worth sharing.

One such is a Children's musical show at the Museum Theatre, Egmore.
For those who have not been to a show in this marvellous auditorium, any amount of words explaining the experience will not be as real as watching a show live there.
The circular hall echoes from all sides and the audio effect of a music or the dialogues of a drama are different from any other modern halls or auditoriums.

Now, let me tell you about the show.

This is a musical show by C.S.I. St. Thomas English Church Children's Choir of Santhome. The story of Samson. A biblical story which portrays Samson as one of the miraculous children with enormous strength. Unfortunately, his enemies discover the secrets of his strength that it lied in his long hair! He undergoes a lot of humiliation and at last regains his strength and brings down the castle of his enemies with his strength.

Like any other mythological story this one also has many versions and interpretations. I am not going to talk about them. But the Children's choir presented it in a different way. It was really amazing!

The singing lot of about 15 children were arranged on a five step choir platform on one side of the stage. The main portion of the stage was used for a theatre performance. As the kids sang the choir, the story moves on with actions by another set of kids. The set was beautiful. The children sang to the pre recorded music, but with perfection. There was a special child in the front row, fully involved in the show. She sang and keenly watched the acting on the other side.

Choir is one among my favourites. When I called up the contact number, I found it was the Church office number. The manager wanted to know to which prayer group I belonged to. When I said I pray at 'temples', he was surprised. So was I at the auditorium. No one other than my son and I was not a Christian!

It is a story. Musical. And by kids! Any one who likes music, story and kids would love to be present there, especially when the show was in a hall like Museum Theatre. Sadly, we did not find many others.
On our way back, we were discussing how any mythological or historical story, irrespective of religion can be told in different ways that will be liked by kids.
The conductor Anila Manoharan worked closely with the kids, I guess. When she was asked to come on stage, the kids expressed their joy - "Anila Auntiee..."
Congrats kids and Anila!

Walk your way to health

'Quitting a bad habit is hard. Starting a good habit is harder'

I am introduced to morning walk just a few days ago. My neighbour drives to the beach to walk.

A view from my tiny balcony in the morning shows me people of various ages who are regular walkers.

I decided to go for a walk, but from tomorrow - on everyday morning I renewed my oath.

My painted shoes were lying idle for over a month now. A great doctor friend sent me a link to a website on walking!

The link took me to the page where it said -
'An early morning walk is blessing for the whole day' - Henry David Thoreau.

I do not know who this Thoreau is. But I was inspired by the website dedicated to morning walks!

On a 'next' day morning I woke up to walk. Walking along the Besant Avenue Road was a pleasant experience.

The road which becomes a racing track for the bikers on the weekend evenings, is very quiet in the morings. Of course, a few driving school cars are usually seen at this time on this road.

The green curved road leads to Rajaji Bhavan. On the first day of my morning walk, I could not walk too long a distance but was tempted to have a look at the rising sun.

I took a turn before Rajaji Bhavan and walked towards the beach through the kuppam. The row of small houses immediately after the posh Bungalows bear a different characteristic.

The frontyards are watered. Small but beautiful kolam are drwan in front of all the houses. The morning routine of fetching water goes on.

I reached the dirty part of the Besant Nagar beach. But the sun rise is beautiful even from that part.

I walked back through the Damodarapuram Road ending at The School (KFI) at the Besant Avenue end!

I was tired after walking for more than half an hour. The summer is still on and it is steaming even in the morning.

Yet, the morning walk is wonderful, gives my day a good start. This statement of mine is after walking for about a month now!

Science and students

On last Sunday when there was no work, we as a family decided to go to Chennai Trade Centre.
What was up? Not a regular consumer exhibition. But a different one.
ACMEE - 2006 Industrial Exhibition.
The event overview said that the "focus is on the products, solutions and services in the areas of CNC machine tools, automobiles, mechanical and plant engineering, electrical engineering, electronics, information technology (IT) and software."
The words included all the branches of engineering. What else can create curiosity among parents with a son just completed 12th class and waiting to join engineering courses!
We took a bus to the centre as we were scared of a weekend traffic on the road to and beyond Kathipara.
Well designed campus with ample parking area, not seen in many of the shopping complexes in Chennai nowadays. There was an entry fee and we were allowed inside with an identity card, with our names printed on it.
For us the machines looked as though they were from Mars! But we decided to walk through the exhibition.
Simple wired mesh patterens, poultry nettings on a metal craft stall were familiar. The huge forging machines were not. The people manning the stalls with neat 'corporate uniforms' were waiting for business enquiries.
We weren't the people they were looking for. But we would have liked if someone said what those machines are used for. Just an intro to a layman.
A house hold remote control was interesting. You can switch on / off your fans and lights with a remote control which does not interfere with your TV's and AC's remote.
The battery operated stackers were displayed on the floor. Do they help in industrial stacking or stacking of goods in shopping mall or heavy books in book stalls and libraries?
Regent Biochem India P. Ltd were seen circulating a green brochure. It said they provide environmental friendlty solutions to industries in disposing of their wastes, innovative concept in industrial cleaning. A must for the changing world and what every child should learn to preserve the nature.
Electroninc weighing machines, holograms, electrical switches and plugs, we walked ahead of these displays.
The king of the exhibits was a metal cutting machine by Neotech. It operates with plasma power source. Attached to a Auto CAD machine, you can draw your designs and cut it with high precision. Not you - it is used in vessel manufacturing industries, mining & automobile manufacturing units. Everytime a visitor wondered what the machine is doing, the exhibitor, demonstrated a cut! A patient and industrious exhibitor.
At the end all that one could see was representatives from various companies grabbing brochures for their bosses to sit and read leisurely. Not many students from schools or even colleges.
But a father of two kids was trying to expalin all that he could to those curious ones.
They are strange visitors for the business people.
But they are the future science and engineering students. They are the future manufacturers and consumers of these exhibits. May be these industrial components light up an idea in their minds and they become grassroot innovators.
When so much is talked about the innovations and L-Ramp awards are being announced every year and when there is a forum for India Innovators, why not the kids be taken to such exhibitions and explained about the present facilities and future scope?
Can our city schools take their eyes away from text books and 100% results for a while and initiate such steps?
This will surely go a long way in real education of this generation.

Teamwork works - Part 2

Day 2 at the training.

Yes, the water was ice-cold. The institute follows the system of solar heaters. The weather was chill and so the water.

Today we were on time for breakfast. Many known faces - teachers who were part of the programme we met the previous day.

Both Kathik and I were looking forward to the other 'unknown' group. We swaped our groups and went to the hall.

Fresh morning, fresh team and all were ready for the games.
Interesting moments - when a team had to agree on some issues, because of a team member being a Physics teacher; a team in which it did not strike for one that there is no oxygen in the moon, two teachers, who could not solve a mathematics puzzle, interestingly both from English department and all of the group laughing at a person lablelled to do so. . .


The open minded teachers were rocking.
The management was supportive.
The senior teachers were seen mingling with the new comers.
All good signs of a group of new generation teachers ready to give education a different dimension.
The student community is in safe hands as of now.

But with the rush for technical degrees all to end up in a typical BPO / IT job, I really wonder where one could find good, dedicated teachers for the future generation kids!


We had to quickly pack up after the lunch to catch the train back to the ever hot city Chennai at 2.40pm.

I spent two useful days, this summer. A nice break for me from the exam-result-exam game at home with my son!

Teamwork works - Part 1

I had been thinking about a professional assignment from EZvidya, till I landed at a heavenly pleasant place called Mangarai, near Coimbatore.

For people from Chennai, 23 degrees at Coimbatore and even chiller weather in Mangarai Village, situated within the reserve forest area is like being in Ladak during summer!


This was not a holiday trip. But a holiday camp for teachers of a school from Tiruppur. This is one of the prestigous schools in the T-shirt town, Tiruppur, we are told.

The place of the camp was a perfect one - The Karl Kubel Institute for Development Education. The well developed institute with library, Internet and canteen facilities apart from the greenery and colourful flowers in the well maintained campus.

We landed at the place early in the morning - I mean myself and Karthik, another trainer from Chennai.

After a night long journey, both of us checked in to our rooms and had a nap till 9.

After freshening up, we went to the canteen for a breakfast. They have strict time table - good for people on diet - and the staff provided three idlis to each of us from the left overs and a cupful of tea.

That made us rush for the lunch on time!

We just spent time shooting pics. The clouds over the hills, the green plants, the building where we stayed and so on...

The workshop was to start at 2, but the team arrived after 3pm.
Probably they enjoyed their trip from Tiruppur to this place, that made their journey a little longer than it usually is.

The team consisted of senior teachers, principal, correspondent, academic supervisor, montessori teachers and the new recruits of the present academic year.

Karthik and I divided the team into two groups and handled sessions individually.

Karthik, being a theatre person, made the session more physical with inputs on body language, voice modulation and the like.

My session was more of games, involving psychological aspects.

The grouping game, an icebreaker, did break the ice. The mathematics teacher could not instantly make out the difference between 3 pairs and 6 legs! The group broke into laughter.

At the end of the session one teacher came out plainly saying that she felt lost when she could not fit into one particular team. But, I should mention that the same teacher said at the end of the session, "I realise that I have to take the initiative to be a part of any group and not wait for invitation to join them." The first step towards success!

After a coffee break, the session went on till 8pm. I could not see a single tiresome face in the team. I should appreciate the team for enthusiastic participation, including the principal and the correspondent. Or should I take some credit for myself for keeping the session lively?

After dinner, we retired to our rooms. It was chill outside. The sound of the wing blowing filled the room though I carefully closed every opening.

I browsed over the feedback from the participants of the day and felt happy. I guess this gave me encouragement to wake up only to bathe in cold water of temperature - 3degree Celsius!

Bloggers are very much in business...

Yes, bloggers are! But how long? As long as "the mainstream media is dumbing down with a vengeance and looking to their bottom line rather than people who live at the bottom" they are in business.

"The mass media has historically had one yardstick in deciding what to publish or broadcast - if the issue in question is in the public interest"

"I firmly believe that blogging is not just about having your own online diary or journal. It is much more than that. Many bloggers will tell you of their addiction to blogging that goes well beyond just writing a piece. How many active bloggers can really say they do not start their day looking for reactions to something they wrote the previous day? Or checking if someone has linked to something they've written? "

How true!

But all these 'good words' were spoken in October 2005. After six months, the views are same and still going stronger!

Are you curious to know, from I have read all this??
Read this interesting piece. If possible, you can support them too!

Kuch kuch Quota hai!

This is what Amul had come up with on the proposal seeking increase of reservation quotas for Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in Central Universities and premium institutions like IIMs & IITs in April '06

Simply superb!

I got my sole painted!

A follow up of last post.

I said that is was not yet another workshop. It was a different experience.

Vasundhara (see pic- the girl in the green outfit) had organised it well.
The atmosphere was cool (yes, air-cinditioned!), the music inside the room was pleasant, the display of shoes painted by Vasundhara, her cousins and friends was inspiring!

She talked about the philosophy of 'Soul Print'. Spiritual. Yet, this young lady had put her heart and soul into what she was doing.
Her scrap book told us about the extensive research she had done on the designs for shoes. She insisted that we did not copy those designs but drew our own designs.

Well, it was fun all through the three hours.

I only wished there were more kids and young people to encourage her.

I have dispalyed the shoes I painted.

Vasundhara is coming back to conduct another workshop in October. After all the need for educating the under previliged requires perseverance.

If you think that you want to do something for this cause and encourage the younger generation to address such issues, just spread words.

That's all.

Not just another summer workshop. . .

Ever since I started listing the activities for kids, I scan the newspapers from a different angle.
I go through the listings, read articles on special workshops and summer camps. I don't even skip the ads.
One such ad in today's Adyar Times, a neighbourhood newspaper sounded different.
'Paint your sole and touch a soul' - a creative workshop. . . contribute towards education for the under previleged' said the ad.
I have heard that Summer Camps and workshops mint money these days. Some good souls host free camps at the most. But this one made me curious.
And this was enough for me to call the organisers.
I called up the mobile phone number. No answer! I had almost given up gathering more details. But then came the return call. A girl started explaining about what is that 'sole printing' all about with a lot of enthusiasm.
"It's painting on a canvass shoe, the theme matching your personality. If you wear them, it will reveal your personality. This shoe will be a designer one and so will be your exclusive possession"
When I wanted to know more if we have to bring the materials and how much is the charge, she introduced herself as Vasundhara and wanted my introduction.
She has the very pleasing manners, I should say.
Vasundhara is a school student, now in Class 12, living in Adyar but studying in Bangalore staying in hostel. This project is for helping a school in the slum close to Kotturpuram.
She says that her friend's mom is involved in a NGO helping this school. On hearing that they are in need of funds, all Vasundhara could do was to think of something useful with her love for arts. Thus born was the workshop.
Here is a teenager, who thinks about the society, the under previleged children and the ways to extend a helping hand.
I appreciate her spirit. Vasundhara is a student, who has taken up arts. Not in the rat race of so called 'professional' streams. But she has the heart. The mind to think of ways.
I would also like to congratulate her parents. Nurturing is more important than seeding.

The workshop is for two days on May 10 and 11 and is open to all. The fee charged is Rs. 600 inclusive of cost of materials. (And she must have foregone one participant's fee for the ad in the newspaper!)

I will be a part of this little girl's mission. Anyone wanting to join me can call Vasundhara at 24490225. And see you at the workshop!

Why Kaavya Viswanathan should go ahead, get corrected and make a career

I did not want to be the nth person to talk about Kaavya Viswanathan and this is not a criticism about Kaavya, the young author's writings - I would still prefer to call her an author! - But a little research into how this all happened made me think that I should blog about this.

(Photo courtesy - http://www.bookpage.com/

The Harward Independent, the student online weekly poses the question - Did Opal Author Plagiarize or Was It Her Handlers?

"I was surrounded by the stereotype of high-pressure Asian and Indian families trying to get their children into Ivy League schools," she told the New York Times on April 6. caught unawares, the Viswanathans sought the help of a professional college-counselling firm, IvyWise, which costed "$10,000 to $20,000 spread over two years."
They hired Katherine Cohen, founder of IvyWise and author of "Rock Hard Apps: How to Write the Killer College Application."

So one needs an agent to write the college applications in the days of companies like monster.com writing your CVs for jobs!

Kaavya started cello lessons at the age of five, studied four foreign languages beginning at the age of six, had near-perfect SAT scores and was president of three honours societies in high school. She has been writing as a passion, even from her school days. No doubt, she is talented. And some of her former professors agreed that she "had enough talent to become a teenage author"

Then why plagiarise?

After the charges of plagiarism were all out, Kaavya said she had read McCafferty but called herself "the victim of a photographic memory"

I would call her - the victim of faulty education system, the victim of parental pressure, the victim of engaging paid agents for admission to top-notch colleges and a typical misguided youth.
Mr. Chip Scanlan, please pardon this kid!
And the latest news is that 'The Record' is all set to investigate the two dozen articles she wrote as a summer intern at the newspaper in 2003 and 2004! And they have plans to vet her articles through LexisNexis, a public records database!
I would like to go back to my earlier posting.

If it is not Ivy League, it is not the end of life. I believe each bird has its worm in this huge world and each one of us is created for a specific purpose.
And in the language of any religion in this world, we have the right to do the duty and not to expect the benefit.
Let us teach the younger generation that they all have talents of their own and never they require to do anything which is not their cup of tea!

Come on Kaavya, you have your own space in this universe and there is always success after failure!

Typically IITians!

An open confession : This is a post unduly delayed!

'May you be tough as a rock' - a quote from Rig Veda introduces the new political party of the 'educated' India to you. You guessed it right - I am talking about Lok Paritran.
The party is busy as the assembly elections in Tamil Nadu are almost a fortnight away. Every college kid talks about the party and takes part in the rallies and campaigns organised by the party. The 'bike rally' on May 1, attracted many such kids!
It is really a good sign that people of Tamil Nadu have felt the necessity of change in the system. And to see the 'learned lots' don't mind standing in the queue to get their names to the voters list, is heart warming.
When I was reading the interview with a few members of the party in The Hindu, I just could not stop relating their words with their educational background.
1. Their website is another page of 'online learning'. Have a look at the diagram and explanations about each line of their slogan in their 'philosophy' page!
2. To a question about their chances to win - Santhanagopal Vasudev says, "... But all I can say is there is a chance of winning." Tanmay Rajpurohit seconds it in the IITians' language - "There is a non-zero probability" Now it is time every voter knew about the 'probability axioms'!
3. To a question on the decision about the constituencies they fight, Tanmay again puts forth all the statistics -
"There's been an 18 per cent to 20 per cent drop. In Mylapore, last election the voter turnout fell from 59.4 (in 1996) to 41.6 and in Chepauk, the voter turnout fell from 58 per cent to 42 per cent." - Just short of explaining statistical variabiliy!
4. They promise good governance, tranparency, accessibility and freedom from coruption. But commented "we don'r have a clean delivery system." Hope they were not talking about Nuclear weapon delivery systems!
5. They have confessed that their technical knowledge is not going to be of much use. But I suggest that they update their website at least once a week with the help of volunteers. After all they have a host of youngsters working for them. A few of the 'mentally strong - physically weak' can be deployed in a air-conditioned computer rooms instead of biking for the party in the hot summer, which is always worse than the previous year. Their 'Upcoming events' page is last updated on Feb. 5!
6. About the resources they have, here is what they say -" Tanmay: We have about 2,000 volunteers and 750 members. There are 1,116 streets in Mylapore. If we allot 10 streets for groups of two, we can easily cover it pretty soon." Worth taking a tutorial on Permutations and combinations!
Am sure, Sudhish Kamath would have smiled all through the interview with these 'Davids'. (though he had tough time managing - mark isuak, who kept commenting to his post of April 15!!!)
But I would definitely agree with these youths that RDB (I have not seen Yuva.) is badly conceived and one can't see a movie and go out to float a party - Typical IITians' roar of laughter at the end of the interview!

About the first line - I am an ardent lover of Marie Corelli's works and it is borrowed from the title of her book - An open confession to a man from a woman - published posthumously in 1925!

Season of many things in Chennai

It is now the season of many things in Chennai, that is Madras.
First of all, it is summer and the 'Madras heat' is known all over. Everyone here wants to escape to a cooler place. But, for many who have been out of their hometown, this is the season to visit their moms, dads, sisters and brothers!
Secondly, it is the season of 'summer camps' for kids in the city. This is an 'industry' of recent origin!
Every playschool has a 'summer camp'. Every playground has a summer sports camp. Every music school has a 'thematic summer camp'.
The cyber cafe's have also joined the race. Sify along with a NGO conducts 'infotainment' camps across the city - arts & craft classes combined with hands on training on computers.
Many women, otherwise home-makers have one to offer. These include table manners and etiquette classes. Perhaps, they are trained by their own experiences with their kids at home.
Some camps include teaching kolam, help yourself sessions (like folding clothes, sandwich making, etc) and look at the variety of activities for kids!
Are the kids really interested in attending these camps? Do they like to learn something even during holidays?
The kids are hesitant to talk about this, for fear of 'reflections' from their moms!
But a mother tells me - otherwise they watch TV all the time, with a cupful of snacks! These camps keep them active for three hours and they come back home to have lunch and rest and the evenings are for outing with parents!
Good idea indeed!
I started blogging on what the kids of Chennai 'can do, dine, play and participate'. But the popular summer camps have become an important part in the life of a school-goer during the vacation and I started listing them, unconsciously. . .
But, it is demanding, I tell you! When I look at the number of google searches through the blog, it is unbelievable that so many parents are looking for one camp or the other for the kids!
And the number of summer camps listed in local editions of newspapers and the mails I receive from people hosting the camps are too many to fit in one post.
I am thinking of reorganising the post! After all summer camps are on till first week of June!
An unusual one - Summer camp for the senior citizens!
Chinmaya Mission is organising one - 'The art of graceful ageing'. Some financial planning is also taught with spiritual text reading. Good work there!
Interested senior citizens or sons and daughters of senior citizens can call 044-28360546 for details.
When you are looking for something useful for your kid, why not for your parents?

Self assessment for career planning

The word 'career' plays an important role in everyone's day to day life.
The first question one faces after having a hand-shake with exchange of names - What are you? No matter at whatever level you are in - a fresher or in mid-career or an established business person. If you are able to say what you are with a smile and without hesitation, you are on the right track.
For the firm hand-shake and the confidence reflecting on your eyes, the career you are in, should give you pride and satisfaction. And you will have pride and satisfaction only if you have a passion for what you are doing!
Sounds boring? Yet, read on...
Do you have that passion?
Have you done any self assessment of what you can do?
Have you ever reviewed what you have been doing so far?

Just sit back and relax.. Think of a few things in the order I narrate. And tell me if I was correct!
Take a few inventories:
First is Interest inventory. Just list down what all you like doing. How much ever silly it may be. Let it be just jogging or a challenging computer programming. And end it with what you will never like to do. Look at the list and read aloud. Wow... are you interested in so many things? You never knew it!

Second is the skill inventory. Think of all that you are very good at. Write down even what you are average at. Drawing, teaching, writing even googling! At the end of the list go back to item number 1. Run your eyes down. Oh.. are you capable of doing all these things? You never realised it.

Your personality comes next. You can close your eyes and think. Are you an introvert? A bit sensitive? Like to be out going, but still wondering how to be? How do you approach issues? Think of various events that took place in your life and how you managed them. You might recollect having solved a difficult situation in school or at home, in a very innovative way!

The last one is really important. It is value inventory. Perhaps the list you have so far made, will get cut down considerably. Ask questions like, why do you want to be this? Can you be true to your conscience by doing this? What is the value of wealth in your life? Is your career worth your values - I mean does your organisation have those values which you respect?

Now strike off, one by one, which does not have an affirmative reply to your questions. Probably you are now left with two or three options. Now repeat the steps quickly.
You have the answer!
Sometimes you may have passions for many things - music, kids, languages, finance, writing, art & crafts, travel, books, culture & heritage. . .(like me!) Just choose one as career, a few as freelancing, a few more as honorary contributions and the rest as hobbies!
You should have the strength in you to do many things at a time!
Remember the Tamil poet Subramanya Bharati's definition of Shakthi - strength in one of his long poems. Among many lines this one will wake you up - Ennathirukkumeriye shakthi - The fire in your thought is what is called shakthi!!

Gravitate towards Physics

For the students in Class 11 and 12, the spate of tests, examinations does not make life miserable. But they are part of their life. Especially, the scene in Chennai is an accepted one among the parents, teachers and the children.
No one complains.
The results of these examination are a few certificates, sometimes prizes.
But the examination conducted by The Physics Society, Chennai was a different one. The kids wrote the test and later called for an 'interview'. The exchange of phone calls between friends who have been selected for the interview brought surprises to the kids.
They were called in groups and three questions were posed to the group. The kids were asked to discuss among themselves and come back to the interviewers and discuss. The discussion was the test.
There was nothing right or wrong. The course of thinking was evaluated!
On the prize distribution day, April 2, the Society asked the kids to come with their parents, teachers. And some came with grandparents. After all, grand parents bear more responsibility at home in these days of both parents working!
Much was talked about present day education system, the need to change, the craze for professional degrees and overseas education.
The 'old students' of Prof. Ananthan, President of The Physics Society spoke about his method of teaching at D.G. Vaishnav College. (The society runs with huge contributions from these old students).
Ravishankar, a young teacher with American International School and the Secretary of The Physics Society was beaming with a lot of quotes, ideas and advices to the kids and schools
Well, for those who thought the function to be yet another prize distribution ceremony, the discussions were enlightening.
Everyone agreed that there is no need to feel that pure science is in no way inferior to technical degrees, that the knowledge of the kid should not be determined by the marks he gets in any exams and entry into IITs and other reputed engg.colleges should not be construed as the ultimate capability of the kids.
But it is all till they had their 'high tea' and left the place!
No one to blame. It is the order of the way. The kids and parents flock together towards an aimless goal!
But I have another point to make. Not about the system of present day education.
But about the values towards their education, friends and the knowledge-sharing.
I remember exchanging books and notes with my classmates; going together to all the classes including Hindi and drawing classes.
But today's kids do not like to share the information with their classmates. They do not want to tell their friend, which book will be useful and from where they are learning. It is like revealing a secret to an enemy!
I used the word - enemy. Yes, because, it is not a competition anymore, but it is a war.
But the war is mainly mooted by the parents.
It is painful.

P.S: For those who want to be a part of the weekly discussions at the Physics Soceity and make their kids gravitate towards Physics - The soceity is at 2A, Golden Kingsmead, 3, TAS Enclave, Anna Nagar, Chennai - 40

Google : Search raised to the power of Googol

When my son showed me a new service from Google, I just could not believe, how Google comes out with surprises frequently.
I have been using computers from IBM Pcs and then the Intel 486, from 1989 and still seeing the growth of this 'not- so' idiot box.
'What is a Googol'is still a favourite question in all school quizzes. But what is the power raised to is Google? It is an interesting history.
Basically we know that Google is a search engine that enables users to search the Web, Usenet, and images. Its features include PageRank, caching and translation of results, and an option to find similar pages.
Googling for 'Google' gave me so much of insight to the crawling beast on the net!

If you know about all these things about Google... you can log out and wait for my next post!

*Google Desktop - If you download this feature, you canView personalized news, photos, and many more on your desktop. You can search for files across all your computers. You can share information with your friends right from the Sidebar.and find your emails, files, web history, and more.
* This Web Word Processor which will help share documents instantly & collaborate real-time, pick exactly who can access your documents and edit your documents from anywhere. You can sttore your documents securely online. But right now you are placed on wait-list!
*If you are an avid reader on the Net, check Google Reader.
Reader automatically gets the latest news and updates for your favorite sites and can find the blogs and news sites you've been missing out on.
Sure, you won't miss my postings anymore!
*Want to see research papers in your subject of interest? Google Scholar will help you.
*If your site has dynamic content or pages that aren't easily discovered by following links, you can use a Sitemap file to provide information about the pages on your site.
*On Google Books, you can search the full text of books to find ones that interest you and learn where to buy or borrow them also. You can promote your books on Google for free here.
*All the recently acquired features in Google are available for a download at one click in Google Pack - A free collection of essential software

Though many around the world talk about the flipside of Google and keep a watch of their algorithms and privacy policies, it is growing, growing and growing to googolplex.
Do you wonder, which new feature / service I was talking about in the beginning?
It is Google pages. Online web page creator similar to Geocities of Yahoo!, not with 15 MB space, but 100 MB.
If you don't want to miss out on any new feature, keep a tab on Googles official Blog.
Happy Googling!

Search within!

The title of this post will be misleading if I don't make an intro of what is this about!

Of late, I see quite a few people have learnt to be proud of their area, community and neighbourhood. People who are from Saidapet in Chennai and now moved to San Diego are thrilled to meet others from their neighbourhood - not personally, but online.

And number of blogs and web site with 'namma' and 'my' prefixes are on the increase.
A few on history and some others on personal experiences!

When people are away, they start thinking about the goodness of the area they lived in during their school and college days!

The blogs range from Mysore to Pune to Madurai. The one on Madurai is really cool
And on the latest addiction - the orkut community groups, you can find all the suburbs in any city!

I was searching for all corners of Chennai. Mylapore, Triplicane, Nanganallur, Mambalam, Velachery. But what happened to George town, Tiruvottiyur, Washermanpet... As usual the north Madras is lagging behind!

There are also groups at Trivandrum, Patna, Pondicherry and so on. Its good to see people getting together. And think of their old times in their native place.

I wish they shared information about unknown book shops, chat corners, the woman who sells wire baskets and who can help you in packing appalams, podis and all other ready to eat snacks, when you catch a flight to the other side of the globe.

And if the group can do something useful to the community or help their neighbourhood and the younger generation now living there with lots of hopes on the society, nothing like that.

E-school bag!

It was not for watching colourful school bags carried by kids, I stopped over at a school.
I had to wait for getting a document attested by the Principal and I happened to watch school bags of different shapes, sizes, colours, patterns . . .
Many were back-bags and back-breaking bags too! A set of kids were moving in a line led by the class teacher to the ground, where parents were waiting to pick them up. Perhaps Class 6 students!
One among them spotted me and smiled. She was waiting for her mom to arrive. The bag looked very cute. "Nice bag, you have," I said. "Thank you, aunty, but you know, the books become shapeless at the end of the term, with this longish bag. It is hanging out of the back so much that it pulls my shoulders down. A horizontal bag like that is better," she pointed to her classmate's bag.
Now, the other girl became curious and came to us. I said, "she says that your bag is nice and comfortable."
"May be the books are neat and clean, but the breadth of the bag is always bigger than that of our shoulders. I always get hurt while getting in to the school bus." She pointed her fingers to another boy's bag. "The longish one with the straps apart and not from the centre of the bag is good."
The boy disagreed. "Even though I carry only 5 books and 7 notebooks, ("Mom counts the books and notebooks in the morning!") it looks like an astronaut's bag. When I sit in the pillion of my mom's bike, it looks as if three are travelling on the bike."
Observing the conversation, a little girl spoke her heart. "Auntie, bags are all bad. We should bring only one notebook to the school. All the books should be on the satellite!"
"Satellite?"
"Yes, auntie. They should be put on the satellite. Like TV channels, we should skip to the next channel in the next period. A 'remote' should also be there." She smiled at her own idea.
Hey, there she goes! She talked about an electronic revolution innocently.
When we look up to e-mails, do e-shopping, read e-newspapers, why not e-schoolbags?
The idea is wonderful!
Any takers in the blogosphere?

Doubly focussed!

There is no change in the way of my holding the book. And the lighting in the room is good enough to read a book.
Yet, there is change in the way I hold a book! My arms stretch a bit further and I try changing the angle of my holding the book! Now, it's OK. I go ahead.
But it was on a bright morning, the distance between the knife and the vegetable was inassessible. Then, on the sewing machine, the position of the needle looked different.
But it really struck me when I was reading the proof of a work. Another collegue of mine put on her reading glasses hanging around her neck. Oh, I have gotten'Presbyopia'! (Wonder, why my grandma called it 'Saaleshwaram' - which God she was talking about?)
For the optician, it was a routine prescription for a reading glass. The options were many:
- You can wear a thin pair of reading glasses - however you have to look over or under it! Buy for a hundred rupees. And hang them around your neck!
- You can wear a bifocal glass. Permanently. No looking over and under the glass. But there is an annoying line separating the near and distant vision. You can not 'read between' these lines!
I happily chose the frame and ordered for a bifocal glasses for around five hundred rupees.
It was not easy to wear the glasses all through the day. Not because, I was not used to. But the glasses with separating lines were frustrating to wear. I started getting head aches, dizziness and nausea.
My cousin suggested PAL - Progressive addition lenses. There are no lines and they offer a more gradual visual transition between the two prescriptions. No visible lines? The idea sounded good. The cost went beyond three thousand rupees - a normal quality pair of glasses.
After wearing them, I felt I missed the perception at every staircase. People who saw me for the first time or even old friends were made to think that I suffer from a severe health problem that I was not able to take a step without any help. Above all, I experienced distracting double images from headlights of vehicles and streetlights.
The doc suggested Crizal lenses, that promise a clear vision. But the price (around ten thousand rupees!) discouraged me from experimenting.
I started observing people with glasses closely. The first thing I looked for was the lines in their glasses! And yes, almost 90% of my age group and above were wearing them with lines!
I told myself,"Be doubly focussed on the work. You will forget the lines." I started reading through bifocal glasses.
Yes, it works. There is nothing like self motivation. . .

There is real money in blogs! Read on . . .

There are zillions of blogs up in the sky! May be more the number of stars!

While each one is trying to earn a buck or two in their own way, Xu Jinglie, the Chinese actor has a problem sharing the money earned through her blog with her host. Thats what happens when an actor starts doing something, even blogging. I wonder why our Kamal Hassans, Madhavans, Revathis and Suhasinis are not doing this!

By the way, there are again zilions of websites cropped up to tell you how to make money through blogs and make their money online!

The Chinese actor Xu Jinglei has started blogging. Just after a hundred days of launching her blog(Chinese), she gets 10 million page views each day. Dear me, thats really huge! The weblog is hosted by sina.com. The company argues that the entire earnings should belong to them for having hosted it free of cost. But obviously Xu likes to take home her share.

The web reviewers are actively following the dispute. Worldwide, bloggers are supporting Xu. They should, after all their blog will also earn that much money one day! The Senior VP of Sina has supposedly said once about blogs that blog "has nothing new, it is just personal homepage plus BBS."

Yet this 'personal page with BBS' is amazing space for the writers, rather thinkers. What do you think?

Call it Chennai or Madras!

Are you a Madrasi?

A question I was asked in all the places outside Tamil Nadu. Even after six years of renaming the city as Chennai. I personally prefer to call it Madras. But I find many others too!

The clubs still call it Madras - The Madras Club, Madras Boat Club, Madras Gymkhana, Madras Football Association, Madras Cricket Club, Madras Flying Club, . . .

There are a few colleges - Madras Christian College, Madras Medical Mission and the 'Big Brother' - IIT is IIT-Madras!

It is still Madras Bar Association and it is Madras Port Trust.

I am collecting a bunch of these names and I need help. Even if it is Madras Cycle stores and Madras Magazine shop, I would like to have them. But with complete address please!!!

Here is a bonus. If you love to see stamps and post cards on Chennai, click here! (Thanks Balaji)

Thanks friends!

Chennai and Arts& Handicrafts

Chennai has been the cultural hub of South India. Agree. And why is this sudden inflow of arts and handicrafts items on sale at every available hall?

All the states in India have started looking at Chennai from the angle of marketing destination.
The famous 'Pongal Fair' at the Island grounds was the only exhibition we all used enjoy in our childhood days. The 'Giant wheel' used to be the main attraction.

But nowadays, every other hall, small or big, in the city is hosting a handloom and handicraft exhibition all through the year.

The Gujarat Handloom & Handicrafts-Exhibition-cum-sale was at Sankara Hall, Alwarpet, from Feb.15 and on vacation of the hall, we now have UP Handloom & handicrafts exhibition.

North East Handicrafts fair has just got over at the Corporation Community Hall on C.P. Ramaswamy Road. The Orissa Handloom Exhibition is on at C.P. Arts centre from March 3.

Lalit Kala Akademy hosts the Paramparik Karigar every year. And this is also on now.

And many more. . .

Shankar Lee's work at Vinyasa Art Gallery, Art exhibition by Progressive painters' Association at Lakshana Museum of Aarts, Paintings by college students from Gulburga at Sri Parvati.

And the Goodshephered Hall, Valluvar Kottam, Vimonisha Art Gallery, Apparao Galleries have regular shows and exhibitions.

Just curious to know. . . How many men shop at these places?

Oh boy! What a toy!!

Toys are fun, educative, sometimes they are companions to the child. Especially, a single child. I used to look for a new arrival in the market, when we wanted to gift one on birthdays. kids in the family wait for their birthdays, just to get the newsest toy from me!

Year before last, it was the Beyblade. Of course, it wasn't all that new in 2004, as it was one of the hottest toys of 2002 in the U. S. They are Hasbro's battling tops. (Yes, the age old tops we all played with a thin rope). More than 2 million beyblades were sold in the U.S. alone in 2002. But the accessories and the creativity with which the toy was built over was amazing. We used to play with tops on the roadsides near our home with circles drawn with the nail in the top. And we used 'technical' terms like 'Apeeet', 'kuthu'. . . and many more.

And Beyblades too have set rules. Look at the official rules:

- All Beyblade battles must occur in Beystadium!- Beystadium cannot be on table or other elevated surfaces. - To begin official Beyblade battles, Beyblade tops must be launched after the signal of 3,2,1 Let it rip!
- Only one launch per battle - battle ends when one top stops spinning.
- If player touches opponent during opponent's launch of top, player loses 1 point. Player scores 1 point if opponent does not launch top into the Beystadium.
- If player's top enters one of the three penalty pockets anytime during battle, opponent scores 2 points (max score of 2 points er battle)
- Player scores 1 point if his/her top spins longer than opponent's top.
- If player touches Beystadium during battle, opponent scores 3 points-battle immediately over .
- Compete in multiple battles-the player with 7 or more points at the completion of a battle wins!

There are other types of launches:
DRAGOON STORM (Dragon Spirit) Reverse Launch - Opponent must launch his/her top with his/her opposite (non-writing) hand.
DRACIEL (Turtle Spirit) Delay Launch - Launch your Beyblade top 5 seconds after opponent launches his/her top.
DRANZER (Phoenix Spirit) Power Launch - Player can use a Deluxe Beyblade launcher while opponent can only use the standard Beyblade launcher.
DRIGER (White Tiger Spirit) Customization Launch - Opponent cannot use a customized top. His/her top must come straight out of the box.

Really cool!

But whats up this year? In the American International Toy Fair 2006 held in New York City between February 12 and 15 2006, nine games were selected as the best games of the year. And the best property of the Year - Dora The Explorer. It has won this award for the second time in a row.

Boy - Toy of the year award goes to Shell shocker from Mattel.It is a radio-controlled toy. By remote control you can have the shell shocker roll up into a ball or open it up into a "cyberbeast". This vehicle is also designed to stand up to play action in the dirt. As the toy opens up, a cyber extention flaps down hard and helps propel the shell shocker. It has an alien feel to it that might appeal to older boys, the tweens and the teens, as they call them!

I haven't seen the Shell shocker yet. But the mad-mad Beyblade will remain popular with our kids for another two years atleast! After all Beyblade found a place even in the annual Odyssey quiz (2006) in Chennai, which happens on every Republic Day! Sure, all the school teams would have made an additional point on that question over the others!

In and around Chidambaram

Shivaratri is a night to be awake all through.

But if you are inside the Nataraja temple, you can do a lot of things. Foremost is of course, watch the classical dance performances of artistes from all over the world.

You can go to Nritta Sabha, one of the halls inside the temple where the story of Shiva-Parvati dance is portrayed.

You can have the darshan of Govindaraja Perumal with his consort Pundareekavalli. Remember, he was the judge for the divine dance competition. Vaishnavaites call this place as Tiru Chitrakootam and it is one of the 108 Divya Kshetrams.

You can step into the beautiful 1000 pillar mantapam and enjoy the sculptured pillars.

You can watch the fish come on to the steps to receive the rice flakes from the pilgrims, in the Sivaganga tank.

The next day morning, you can go to Tillai Kali temple, on the northern end of the town. The temple was built by King Kopperum Singan in the 13th century.

The historical 150 year old High school run by Pachaiyappa Mudaliar Trust and Yazhpanam Arumuga Navalar school are of places of interest.

On the way, you can visit the temple of Pasupeswarar at Tiruvetkalam, in the vicinity of Annamalai University. This is believed to be the place where Arjuna of Mahabharata killed a demon using Pusupatha astram given by Lord Shiva.

Visit Annamalai University, the brain child of Raja Sir Annamalai Chettiar. It had illustrious persons as Vice Chancellors. Dr. Radhakrishnan, C. P. Ramaswamy Iyer and R. K. Shanmugham Chetty, the former Finance Minister. A very big building on the model of Oxford University, London, houses the University's library.

The music department of the university, where the Carnatic music stalwarts like Tiger Varadachariar, Dr. S. Ramanathan, M. M. Dandapani Desikar and many more (the list is very long...) served as faculty. All precious and unique musical instruments are on display at this college.

Visit Ilamaiyakkinar temple in Chidambaram. Shiva is believed to have granted youthfulness to Tiruneelakantar, one of the 63 nayanmars.

If time permits, hop across to Tiruvenkadu  (means 'white forest' in Tamil) where the linga is white in colour! This temple also houses the Adichitsabhai, one of the halls permeated by the atmosphere of wisdom.

Then, trip down to Pichavaram mangrove forest. Mangroves separated by a sand bar, from the sea. Backwaters of the sea have formed a channel knitted together in such a fashion that only the boatmen find the ingress and egress. Boat riding here is pleasurable.

The village Killai, which is a symbol of religious harmony. Muslim offerings to Lord Bhuvaraha of Srimushnam (40kms away) are still in vogue, when the god passes through the area. This is a thanks giving show for the cure effected on a Nawab by Bhuvarahaswamy - the lord in the form of a boar. The Nawab has made an endowment for this.

Then, drive down 20kms. The town Sirkazhi houses the Sattanathar, Brahmapureeswara and Thoniappar (Shiva on thoni - boat) temples. There is also a sannidhi for the God-child Gnanasambandar, who is believed to have been fed milk by goddess Parvati.

In another 15 minutes, you can reach Karaikkal. There is a small but beautiful temple in the heart of the town for Karaikkal Ammaiyar, the only woman out of the 63 nayanmars.(She is one of the three women nayanmars... see comment below. Thanks Narada!)

Move on to visit the Dharbaranyeshwarar temple, which houses the Saneeswara (Planet Saturn) temple at Tirunallar.

Can you resist Tarangambadi (Tranquebar)? The remains of a fort constructed in 1620 will kindle an interest in history within you.

40 kms from here is Poompuhar. The earlier name of the place is Kaviri - poom - pattinam (the shore where River Cauvery enters the sea) The great Tamil epics Silappadikaram and Manimekalai were created around this town. The Zion Church built in 1701 is a place of interest too.

On the way back, Park your vehicle at Porto Novo, the place once occupied by the Danish. It houses a Marine biological station, which is second biggest of such stations in Asia.

From Porto Novo to Chidambaram, near Cuddalore Railway station is Tiruppapuliyur. The famous Pataleeswarar temple and the story of Appar, one of the 63 nayanmars thrown into the sea by the Jain community, saved by Shiva is in Karai Era Vitta Kuppam. The palce from where Appar is said to have got back from the sea.

Cuddalore now has a beautiful beach, after the Tsunami 2004. Lord Clive had lived here with his horses and barracks. The building now houses the District Collectorate. There is a stone inscription to this effect on the building.

Back at Chidambaram, visit Nataraja temple through the southern entrance, through which Nandanar, the great devotee the darshan of Lord Shiva.

Was this not a complete Shivaratri tour of worship and fun?

I have to make a disclosure here. The inputs are from my dad, who always narrated stories and stories about places and created an interest in us siblings in history, culture and heritage of the places where we lived in our childhood days. Thank you, Appa!

Chidambaram - the sky of consciousness. . .

Today is Maha Sivaratri. The night for Shiva, the god of destruction. Mythology says, during the great mythical churning of the ocean called Samudra Manthan, poison emerged from the ocean first. The gods and the demons who were churning the ocean, ran to Shiva for help, to protect the world. Shiva drank the deadly poison. Goddess Parvati held it in his throat by placing her hand on his throat. This turned his throat blue, and since then he came to be known as Neelakantha, the 'blue-throated.' Shivratri celebrates this event.

There are also other versions - that Shiva married Parvati on this day - that a hunter roaming in a forest was chased by a tiger and to escape from it, he climbed a Bilva tree. He spent a sleepless night sitting on the tree, but plucked the leaves and threw them in tensed mood, which fell on a shivalinga below the tree. Pleased by the vrata (hunger) and pooja (with bilva leaves), Shiva granted him moksha on this day!

One more version is that Shiva performed the Ananda Thandava (dance of joy) on this night. That is what the idol of Nataraja at Chidambaram depicts!

The lingas of Shiva are worshipped as forms of five elements. As earth in Kanchipuram, as water in Tiruvanaikkaval, as fire in Tiruvannamalai, as air in Srikalahasti and as sky in Chidambaram.(In Sanskrit, Chit = consciousness, ambaram = sky). The prolific composer Muthuswamy Dikshitar, whose travelogue kritis describe the history of the temples, had composed kritis on all these kshetras(holy places).

The sky is the symbol of emptiness and hence, Shiva at Chidambaram is worshipped in a 'formless' form, which is called 'Chidambara Rahasyam' (The secret of Chidambaram). The sanctum santoram does not have any idol, but a blank space and a bilva mala (a garland of Bilva leaves) is hung. This place is believed to be the centre of the universe and Nataraja is dancing to facilitate the rotation of the earth. It is 'cosmic dance'.

Brahmanda puranam speaks about the dance competition between Shiva and his wife Parvati, in which Shiva emerges as winner by performing Urdhva Thandava, a male gesture in dance. Parvati leaves the location and goes to the outskirts of the town, where today we find the temple of Tillai kali.

This legend is portrayed in one of the halls inside the temple - Nritta sabha. Vishnu, the brother of Parvati played the judge for the competition. In fact, some believe that he did not pronounce his judgment at all as he did not like his sister, Parvati to lose in the competition. So he said, he slept mid-way... The Vishnu idol here is in sayana (sleeping) posture.

Ironically, Chidambaram, the famous Shiva temple is also one of the 108 Tirupatis (sacred places) of Vishnu! The sannidhi of Govindaraja Perumal inside this Shiva temple is that Tirupati, known as Thiru Chitrakootam.

But, if you had planned to be in Chidambaram this Shivaratri, the trip will not be a complete one, just by worshipping Nataraja. You can make this trip a perfect pilgrimage or a pilgrimage coupled with visits to places of  interest!

Read on the next post. . .

A mouse is a mouse is a mouse!

Hickory dickory dock!
The mouse ran up the clock. . .
The clock struck one
The mouse ran down
Hickory dickory dock!

At one in the afternoon, my mouse which has been giving trouble for sometime now and reached the stage of 'run down' condition gave up! I am talking about the computer mouse invented by Douglas Engelbart!

I recollected my earlier days with the computer. The 486 computer I was using, was just similar to a typewrtite in use. I did not bother much about the mouse. The necessity to use the mouse made me play a computer game. A mathematics game. The quick addition, subtraction, multiplication and division by moving your mouse as fast as you can will give you titles - Math pro, Math Genius and so on and if you are really fast and all correct will get the title - Einstein!
I suggested this game to all the new users of mouse. . .
(If anyone wants to know about this game, write to me through - your reflections. Will try to send it by mail!)

But this addiction to mouse made my working with the keyboard difficult. Switching of the Num lock and moving the mouse through the arrow keys was really boring. As usual I looked up to the internet for solution. After going the entire page I found that my mouse is still not working. I scrolled down the page. It said,

"If you've tried all of our troubleshooting tips to no avail and are now out of options, it's time to go shopping. Here are a few shopping tips to keep in mind as you browse the aisles of your local computer store."

Thats the end of the story. . . I bought a new basic optical mouse, but keeping the tips given by the websites in mind!

Why do I blog?

First of all, I believe that we all have a writer in us. Just lazy to put our thoughts down on a paper.

My paper boy, maid, driver and other helpers are good reporters; story tellers too! Sometimes, there are quotes and references in their conversation. The conversation with my maid usually ends up with her marketing a service. If she is in need of money, she comes out with all creativity. Heard of Alex Tew's million dollar home page?

And each one is different from the other. The same way each write - up displays the talent and creativity of the author. Of late I had started to write for newspapers, websites, but all of them are on specific assignments. Why not write about those things, about which I am fascinated?

It is the itch you get on your palms once you touch your pen and paper to write, rather your keyboard and monitor these days! I am a regular reader of Chip Scanlan's column on Poynter. And here's why he blogs!

It is not really journalism or mass communication that brings one to write. It is the curiosity to share thoughts and get the reflections of the others on what you think. If your forum is restricted to your classmates or your collegues you tend to discuss the same issues again and again on the blogs also. If that's the case, better not to blog!

No. 28 Snake Almanac

This is not a review of the book by Edward. R. As!

This is about the traditional vernacular almanac in Tamil, popular worldwide. The 'Asal No.28. Pambu Panchangam'. Can anyone believe that over 2 lakhs copies of this almanac is sold every year?

I saw a copy hanging in a book shop where I went to buy a few stationery items. Even though it is two months to go for the Tamil New Year, I picked up a copy of the panchangam for the next year. No special reason. . . I thought anyway I am going to buy one, why not now?

As kids, we have watched our dad buy an almanac, carefully stitch it on to a cover and tie a string so that it can conveniently hang on the wall. We had interest only in reading about the 'Makara Sankaranti Devatha' of that year, which normally appears on the 10th page of the almanac. The description is strange. . . The devatha appears with two faces, three eyes, four mouths and with red tusks! She is described as trvelling on any animal, be it a lion or a donkey. Her dress, fragrance, the vessel she carries, all are related to the predictions for the year.

But what is interesting is the number attached to the panchangam! The door number of the house where the original publisher Konnur Manicka Mudaliar lived bore the number 28. The almanac always has 28 pages, in all the years! (How do they maintain it?!)

The snake on the front cover has 27 circles (The almanac calls the snake as 'Rahu Phani Chakram') These 27 circles denote 27 stars as per Indian astrology. This chakram is used to decide the day for sowing seeds in that year.

The irony is the origin that from Kanjanur Appanaiyengar and his son Annavaiyengar. But now who is doing it? There is no mention about it in the Panchangam. But M. S. Pachaiyappa Mudaliar is the present publisher.

The legend also says that Konnur Manicka Mudaliar had an adopted son, Lokanatha Mudaliar. His wife was Selvarangammal. Their grandson M . S. Pachaiyappa Mudaliar is the present publisher!

Another interesting feature is that the panchangam lists the Mohammadian festivals also. It is said that many Muslims also buy this almanac!

Ready to get virally infected?

Preeti Chaturvedi writes in the web exclusive section of Businessworld India, about the viral marketing campaign for the movie Bluffmaster, through India FM. Yes, Viral marketing!
If you are a business management graduate, you could be already familiar with this. If not, read ahead.
Known by different names - undercover marketing, buzz marketing, stealth marketing, guerrilla marketing, this is a kind of marketing technique where the consumer doesn't realise that he is being marketed to.
So, got it? Do you receive unsolicited mails in your inbox? Are you being asked to refer the product or website to your friends? Are you being asked to play flash games online and provide e-mail id at the end? Nothing to worry! You are being marketed to. That's all.
Simple examples are Tupperware parties. But do you know that gmail follows the same technique? Instant messages through MSN, Yahoo! and Google also fall under the same category.
Before you could realise, you are already into it! That's the effect of viral marketing!

SENSitive indEX scales 10000

Just at noon yesterday, Rueters posted online that SENSEX reached 10000 mark.
India's news channels got excited; traders fired crackers in Bombay.
Also known as BSE 30, the SENSEX is exclusive to Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), which is more than 130 years old. The first trade dates back to 1875. The hisory of this Stock Exchange is really interesting!
The abbreviated term SENSEX was first used by Deepak Mohoni, a Stock market analyst from IIT Kanpur and IIM Calcutta, who now runs a company TrendwatchIndia. The term came to stay and Mohani came to stay in CNBC TV's Awaaz!
The 1979 base index of 100 crossed 1000 in 1990 and after 15 years it has crossed 10000 (Read the post dated Feb. 7, of Jigar Chandrakant Vikamsey's blog) . If you are keen to be a part of this money game, you can learn basics at the official website of BSE.
If you are lucky, you may gain a lot as the market is marching towards 12000 mark.
Beware of bulls and bears!
All the best!

Golden jubilee of the 'Black Gold'

I do not normally look for PM's itinerary, when I open the newspapers in the morning. But today the news about the change in the itinerary of our PM, took my memories back by 25 years. PM Mr. Singh arrives at Neyveli to take part in the golden jubilee celebrations of the Neyveli Lignite Corporation (NLC)
Neyveli used to be in our minds, as school students. Not necessarily for its lignite deposits or the artesian wells. But for the school Jawahar Vidyalaya, the only CBSE school of those days in and around Cuddalore. The students of Jawahar Vidyalaya were looked at, with a bit of green in the eyes, by the other school children of the then South Arcot district (now Cuddalore district). Jawaharians used to be associated with cerebral stuff. . . We, students from Cuddalore, competed with them in all quiz, essay and oratorical competitions. (After one such competitions, a student of the school described about the autocrat principal, who whipped the boys and scolded the girls in public, snatched the ice cream from the hands of the kids, when the 12th class students were seen with one, after school hours, we started looking at our school teachers with more respect!)

The school got its name from Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. Neyveli Lignite Corporation shares its birthday with that of Panditji (Nov.14)

The district level competitions used to have questions on the places within the district. This only industrial town in the district has a few trivial info. It is the first lignite-fired Thermal Power Station in South East Asia. It houses the first boiler to be cleaned by hydrofluoric acid and many more.
It is said(!) that NLC also supplies a large quantity of sweet water to Chennai, from the artesian wells in the lignite mines. Of course, Chennai must be getting drinking water from all possible sources, to cope up with its legendary water scarcity.

Even if it is not sweet water, Neyveli's neighbourhood town Panruti supplies the sweetest jackfruits. My dad used to say that he was leaving for Neyveli on an official trip, if he went for buying a jackfruit on a holiday in summer. Once the jackfruit is in, even the neighbours can't resist asking my mom, "Oh you got the season's jackfruit?" The spread of smell (fragrance?) used to keep me away from home for a long time. But on returning for dinner, I could not resist having a cupful of jackfruit pieces!

It is really sweet of the Govt to approve the modification in the NH67 in Dec.2005. It will now connect Kumbakonam and Sethiathope - Neyveli Township, Vadalur, Panruti and terminate near Vikravandi on NH-45. Such industrial towns with cultural places closeby should be well connected so that tourists can make a round trip experiencing different characters of the cluster of towns. Neyveli, for instance has a few places like Vadalur( famous for 'Thai poosam' festival and Ramalinga Vallalar, who wrote the sacred hyms 'Thiru Arutpa' and Srimushnam (famous for Bhuvarahaswamy temple) and a little away, Cuddalore, Chidambaram, Pitchavaram (mangroves) to club with, for a sight-seeing package tour.
Let's us have a tourism itenerary for this place.
This is exactly what came to my mind on seeing PM's itenerary!

"Hottest" blackworm!

The morning newspaper says - the new virus will attack the computers all over the world today! How many of us did not boot the computer on? I had always wondered if booting a system or connecting to internet will open the doors for viruses?
Or should we not open emails with strange extensions? Or no e-mails at all?
In any case, how do the 'intelligent' programmers write these virus programmes and announce the world that it will attack your computer on this day?

And what a name! Kamasutra a.k.a Blackworm! Techtree says that this virus is designed to overwrite all .doc, .xls, .mdb, .mde, .ppt, .pps, .zip, .rar, .pdf, .psd, and .dmp files. Is there any other extension left out? (By the way, Techtree is a good technology e-daily of India. Worth a click)

Though this virus is considered highly dangerous, Symantec says that this is a slow spreading, 'Troy horse' type. (Hey, have you installed Symantec anti virus solutions on to your computer? Have you renewed your subscriptions promptly?)

Anyways, if you are on your computer and is at work, do read this!

Its time to say good night!

Rang de Basanti - Laal rang?

Why is this movie being talked about much?
Who are the youths of India, the film talks about?
What is the message passed on to the present generation about patriotism?

This film encountered a controversy, but on MIG 21 airplanes. Did the jury think that the violence and blood in the movie can be tolerated, just because it linked patriotic leaders of the past with the youths of today? Can justice taken on their own hand by the students be justified?

Unfortunately, the senior citizens of our country, who experienced the freedom struggle are not seen in the cinema halls to watch such movies! Today's youth can easily be misguided about patriotism depicted in this film. They can be made to think that justice can never be achieved in this country. What did this group of angry young men achieve, by killing the corrupt Defence minister and in the process the whole group embracing death! A dangerous message is getting on to the student community!

A truck-load of talents, Aamir Khan, Siddharth, Madhavan, Soha Ali Khan, Anupam Kher, Kiron Kher, the vintage classic actors Waheeda Rehman, Om Puri.... A big sigh... the film could have been made a great feel movie, with the beautiful and timely theme. A fine fabric is got when carefully chosen threads are woven by master weaver.

Where were these people who speaks volumes of Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra, the director of the film, when 'Iqbal' directed by Nagesh Kukkunoor was released?
The great spirit of a deaf and mute youth, dreaming big and achieving the goal, by sheer hard work and with the support of a cute sibbling... The family and moral values are expressed with subtle comedy. A film to be shown in the history / PT / Moral Instruction periods of any school.

If Rang de Basanti is recommended for a History period - O! my dear 'futures of India'! Bunk the history class! (Read the post of Jan.31, 2006)

The Mumbai formula

Deepak Ramachandra, Narayan Ellappa and Vinay Sharma. Heard about them? They are proud of themselves as Schumacher, Alonso and Montoya do after Formula One racing!

These three emerged as winners at the 'Dhoom Mache De' Autorickshaw race which was a part of the Mumbai festival concluded recently. The Go Karting track at Hiranandani Gardens, Powai is where the auto drivers took part in the race in a fun, yet professional way.

Each semi-final had four pitstops, very creative ones, like tying lemon and green chillies, eating samosa and water. . .

One of the semi-finals was flagged off by the Regional Transport Officer K. T. Gilani. My friend from Mumbai says, the RTO told the drivers, "We are the ones who gave you a license, justify our faith in you." There was a perfect tie among the three sections, the auto-drivers, RTO and the cops!

There are big banners behind the festival, huge prize money for this race and insurance in tact for the drivers! But what kept this race and other events of Mumbai festival is the involvement by the 'mumbaikars' for the city - 'Amchi Mumbai'(Did this term come into vogue, because of the popular surnames of Maharashtra - Gavas'kar', Tendul'kar', Ambed'kar'. . .??!!)

Wonder if this Mumbai formula could be applied to 'Enga Chennai' and 'Namma Bengaluru'! But the initiative is already on in Chennai - they are celebrating the Madras Day for the past two years