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VAIKOM VISIT- IN GODS OWN COUNTRY - 686

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 VAIKOM VISIT - IN GODS OWN                     COUNTRY  Kerala has always been my favourite place of visit over the years . Its cleanliness , its greenery,  waterways , not to forget its spirituality and beautiful people in more ways than one  have always held  a special attraction for  me . We , that is me and my Better Half have visited Kerala before  and visited many of  its  Temples and Tourist Attractions.  One place missing in this list has been the Viakom  Sri Mahadeva Temple . We decided to embark  on  a visit to this place and Mami was spot on to point out that there was a direct Train from Ambasamudram to Vaikom Road by the 16792 Palaruvi Express starting from ASD at 11.57 PM and reaching Vaikom Road Station at 7.30 Am the next morning . Nothing could be better ,  We made the Reservations for both the Up  and Down Jorneys on the 11 th and 13 th June with our  return slated from Ernakulam Town as we planned to visit the Chottanikara Bhaghavati Amman Temple on the 13 th mornin
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JOURNEY DOWN MEMORY LANE - 685

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RECALLING ONE MORE MEMORY OF VK PURAM COATS COLONY                                   Anyone associated with the Madura Coats VK Puram colony , I am pretty sure  will agree with me when I say that it was by far one of  the Best Years of their Life spent in this Colony  . One would not be wrong to call it almost a  Heaven on Earth.   I will Leave the Work Related Life which was equally fulfilling for another day and another time . The scenic and picturesque  bounty of the place  apart , what remains finely etched in memory are the many evenings spent celebrating the various Festive Seasons . Be it the  Diwali , Onam , Christmas or New Year Celebrations  . Anytime was a fine time for   all the Residents of the colony to  get  together and  have a jolly good time. Months without  with some Celebrations or Meet for some happy occasion were few and far in between.  The memory and  visit of various Drama Troupes. especially the Crazy Mohan shows will stay on for ever . The TUG OF WAR GAME in
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Makeover of a Tall Edifice- 684

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        TALL  EDIFICE ON A                                    MAKEOVER     Today as I had to meet Someone at Aladiyur and proceed to Papanasam Temple , for a change I took the route via the Mill Colony , Iron Bridge . Passing the New Colony and Subsequently the Mill Gate and BAI KADAI and it  brought back memories of my near 28 Years in the Colony .  By the look of things from Outside , the Colony looks a very pale shadow of its esteemed past where the Mill Colony was looked upon with envy by anyone visiting the place . What started off as an offhand post in Facebook , has  set in motion a whole lot of former Coats Employees who have been  forthcoming to voice their genuine feelings about their days as an employee  at Madura  Coats, Ambasamudram . As for myself , I joined the then Harvey Mills which went on to become Madura Coats Ltd in the year 1974 as an Apprentice.  , It would not be out of place to add here  that , though having Ravanasamudram as my native place ( Hardly 15 kms awa
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My Love With Railway Stations - 683

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      MY LOVE WITH RAILWAY                     STATIONS  இரயில் நிலையங்கள் என்றுமே என்னை ஈர்ப்பவை. இதைத் தொடர்வண்டி நிலையம் என்று தமிழில் சொன்னாலும் பேச்சு வழக்கில் இரயில்வே ஸ்டேஷன்தான். அந்தக்காலத்தில் ரயில் கெடி என்பார்கள். 'ஸ்' உச்சரிக்க முடியாதவர்களுக்கு இன்றும் 'டேசன்' தான்! இலங்கையில் 'புகையிரத நிலையம்!' என்னை வசீகரிப்பவை சிற்றூரில் உள்ள நிலையங்கள்தான்! வறட்சியான பகுதிகளில் கூட ரயில் நிலையங்கள் பசுமையாக மரங்களோடு காட்சி தரும்! நீளமான நடைமேடை, அமர்ந்து கொள்ள தடித்தடியான சிமெண்ட் பெஞ்சுகள்! அவை அளிக்கும் சுகம் பஞ்சு மெத்தையில் கூட கிடைக்காது! எல்லாவற்றுக்கும் மேலாக அங்கு இருக்கும் ஒரு அமானுஷ்யம்! இரவு நேரங்களில் தொலைவில் தெரியும் மின்விளக்குகளில் ஒளிர்ந்து தொலைவில் இருளில் மறையும் நீண்ட தண்டவாளங்களைப் பார்ப்பதற்கே அச்சமாக இருக்கும்! சிற்றூர் நிலையங்களில் பாசஞ்சர் வண்டிகள் மட்டுமே நிற்கும். பயணிகளும் குறைவாகத்தான் இருப்பார்கள். அமைதிக்குப் பங்கம் வரவே வராது! சில நிலையங்களில் நூறாண்டு கண்ட ஆலமரங்கள் விழுதுகளை ஊன்றி விரிந்து நிற்கும். கருப்பு நிற இரும்புப் பட்ட
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Baggage Handling - 682

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  AIR TRAVEL AND BAGGAGE                             HANDLING  The clip in yesterday s The Hindu under the caption " The Thief That Was Not To Be " has set me thinking . This coming as this does from a person who has more than 40 International Arrival Stampings on his Passport must make for an amusing read . One aspect of the Air Travel which always seems a daunting task is getting back your luggage at the end of your journey . A : Finding the right carousel earmarked for your flight is in itself a problem as more often than not as in large Airports the Bay Number announced inside the Aircraft before touchdown  is often different from the actual one on the ground . B : Finding your luggage amongst the 100 s of similar looking ones is always a daunting task . There are many who try and make the identification easier by fastening  coloured ribbons , glistening stickers on to the suitcases . It is almost a miracle that you are still able to find your baggage from the other simil
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Valve Radios, an antique item - 681

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I am not sure how many of you from the Gen Next  would have even  heard of the term Valve Radio .  TELERAD, MURPHY , PHILLIPS,   TELEFUNKEN MARCONI were popular Brands in those days . They were bought on Installment payment just as it is done nowadays for a Fridge , TV or AC. It used to be the sole mode of entertainment by way of listening to music via the radio signal through what used to be called an Aerial  from the Radio Station . It came with features which included Medium Wave + 3 or 5 Bands . More the Bands , higher the prices . FM did not even exist in those days . All India Radio and Vividh Bharathi came a very poor second to Radio Ceylon which had a huge audience in both Hindi and Tamil Languages across the whole of the Indian Sub Continent . Being a commercial Broadcaster , its Ads for Indian Products were the only ones to be heard in those days . Some of the Catchy Jingles for Hamam and Lyril Soap are still a favorite with many.  Having been set up by the Voice of America i
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Raleigh/ Eastern Star Bicycle - 680

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 Here i am , a Retired Person nearing the three quarters of the Century Mark  , musing about the many  childhood dreams . There are many things which have caught my fancy as a schoolgoing kid and later on in the teens. It is only fair to say that Some of those Important  Dreams , thanks to the lord above have been realized and and sadly there are parts of the same that  are never going to see the light of the day . The early part of my teens was at a place called Kharapur in W Bengal .Now, dont get me wrong , it was not at the IIT for which the place is  obviously more famous for the World over , but the Railway Colony of which my Father was very much a part. I did my schooling at the Railway Mixed Higher Secondary School there. My fathers previous posting among a lot many other places  was at a place called Chakradharpur in Bihar and my early  schooling was entirely  in the Hindi Medium. The school at Kharagpur though had a sizable Anglo Indian crowd  and the ease with which they woul
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