Happy New Year!

A belated wish to the readers of my blog!
I know I should not be boring with what is over now. Yet the videos, photographs are just tempting. If you have missed it, you have to wait for another year!

January is the season of many more things! Apart from Pongal, some important events people look forward to in the new year are already up.

Here is a quiz!
Identify this place.
Clue: A major event, Doordarshan telecasts every year takes place here!
If you got the answer - Congrats!
If no, do wait for my next post!

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!

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!

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!

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!!

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. . .

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!