RANDOM THOUGHTS

       NA TO KARAWAAN KI TALAASH HAI  YEH KAWWALI SAN 1960 ME BARSAAT KI RAAT NAAM KI FILM KEE HAI . IS SE PEHLE YA ISKE BAAD SAIKADON KAWALLIAN BANI HAI , LEKIN AAJ BHEE IS KAWWALI KI APNI EK ALAG SEE JAGAH HAI .  IS KAWWALI ME MAAYINAY RAKHNE WALI SAARI BAATEIN URDU ALFAAZ ME KAHEE GAYEE HAIN  . HASINA NE APNE VIDEO ME ISAY HINDI ME APNE HEE SURULEE AAWAZ ME IN URDU ALFAAZON KO HINDI ME SAMJHANAY KI KOSHISH KEE HAI  . SAHIR LUDHIANVI KEE IS GEET KO ROSHAN NE APNE SAAZ SE SANWAARA HAI . MAANA JAATA HAI KEE SAHIR SAHEB APNEY PRITAM JINKA NAAM BHEE PRITAM THAA , PYAR ME  THUKRAAYE JAANE PAR IS KAWWALI KO RACHA THAA . IS KAWWALI KO MAANA DEY , MOHAMMAD RAFI , ASHA BHONSLE AUR SUDHA MALHOTRA NE APNEE AAWAAZ DEE THEE . POORAY 12 MINUTE KEE IS GEET KO SABSE LAMBI HINDI GEET YA KAWWALI MAANA JAATA HAI .  BHARAT BHUSHAN , SHYAMA  AUR MADHUBALA PAR FILMAYEE GAYEE YEH KAWWALI AANE WALE KAYEE PIDIONE  KO YAAD DILAATE RAHEGEE . AAJ KAREEB...

       SNOWSTORM AT AJAX - 15012026  It is SNOWING rather heavily at Ajax - Toronto even as I post this Blog . Heavily , I must admit is a relative term because it is coming from a person from India who has never had the Fortune or Misfortune of being a witness to a Snowfall of any sort .  WEATHER CANADA had already warned of Heavy Snowfall from the last Weekend itself. Twenty Inches of Snowfall was expected . The Weather Monitoring and Forecasting System is so perfect here that they can Forecast the approaching Weather System or Pattern to the Exact Hour and to the Minute .  ( The actual present Temperature and what it feels like because of the windy conditions can be seen on the TV Screen Top Right . )  We in India probably have to learn a thing or two from them in this regard . It is almost a practice here in these parts to close down the Services of School Buses during such Snowfalls due to the very slippery and dangerous road conditions . Par...

  VAIKUNTA EKADESI DAY - TORONTO 2025 THE BALAJI TEMPLE AT SCARBOROUGH HAD A LOT OF VISITORS ON THE VAIKUNTA EKADESI DAY . IN FACT FINDING A PLACE FOR PARKING OUR CAR WAS DIFFICULT . THE ENTRY INTO THE TEMPLE WAS VIA 5 DIFFERENT ZONES . ALL THE ZONES LED TO THE PLACE WHERE YOU FOUND YOURSELF IN FRONT OF THE SWARGA VAASAL . THE CHANT OF THE LOUD ' GOVINDA - GOVINDA ' EVEN AS WE WAITED IN THE QUEUE FOR OUR TURN FOR THE ARCHANAI WAS SPECIAL  . THIS WAS SPECIAL AS IT ALSO COINCIDED WITH THE STAR BIRTHDAY OF KAMESH OUR SIL . THE GULAB JAMUN AND SWEET  SUJI KESARI  WAS REALLY VERY GOOD .   After the Balaji DARSHAN we planned to visit my Niece Kala and her Son Aditya for Lunch at Mississauga . The buildings on either side defied Geometry and the previous night's snow left a white haze on the structures . The lunch was elaborate . Kala and Aditya were super hosts and kept our grandkids Adhvay and Akshu fully occupied with Games and Dance .  qfew¹     ...

         CANADA GURUVAYUR TEMPLE  THE VISIT TO THE CANADA GURUVAYUR TEMPLE LOCATED AT BRAMPTON  YESTERDAY WAS A MEMORABLE ONE . IT IS SITUATED SOME 80 KMS AWAY FROM OUR PLACE AT AJAX AND A NEAR ONE HOUR DRIVE IS INVOLVED . HEAVY SNOWING HAD LEFT EVERYTHING ON EITHER SIDE OF THE ROAD IN TO A SHEET OF WHITE .  CANADA GURUVAYUR TEMPLE IS MODELLED ON THE LINES OF OUR OWN GURUVAYUR TEMPLE . EXTREMELY CLEAN  EASY AND GOOD DARSHAN IS GUARANTEED. TAKING OF PICTURES OR VIDEOS ARE STRICTLY PROHIBITED EXCEPT AT THE PLACE SPECIALLY EARMARKED FOR THE SAME . My niece and Aditya from Mississauga also joined us at the Temple .                PARANTHE WALI GALI  Dinner was at PARANTHE WALI GALI , परांठे वाली गली  , which simply means a lane where you can get your Paratha or simply ROTI . This is an eatery where you get your Roti in umpteen different varieties with a cup of DAL MAKHNI AND VERY THICK CURD OR DAH...

        ASSISTANT  MANAGER CONSUMABLES              துணை   மேலாளர் - உணவு           '   उप  संचालन प्रबन्धक  , भोजन सामग्री  '  I hate saying this but my exploits in the kitchen have been restricted to the making of the EARLY MORNING COFFEE and on rare occasions to the cooking of Plain Rice . I have never dared to venture beyond this . The reason is obvious .  There have however been invaluable contributions from me in the daily preparations of lunch and dinner by MY FAIR LADY of the house . Cutting of the Vegetables , காய் கறி நறுக்கும் வேலை , सब्जियां काटने का काम , this job is  assigned to me by the lady of the house before she goes for her bath each morning . Cutting of the Vegetables is not that easy a  job as one  would imagine .  Kundru needs to be cut in thin round slices or in the lengthwise way depending on the mood of the L...

     A JOURNEY THAT WENT ON TO                                           CHANGE MY LIFE  I must at the very outset post a disclaimer here .  The events which I am about to describe here are events  that took place some half a century back . My memory is not all that good , come to think of it , it never was . I shall however try and relate to things that happened in the 70 s to the present times based on my not so very good memory and  my  passable English . I never imagined that my decision to visit RAVANASAMUDRAM in early 1974 will bring about such far reaching changes in my life. I had passed out from SASMIRA , Worli , Mumbai with a Diploma in TEXTILE TECHNOLOGY . I had a job even before passing out and had  at WAYON GLASSTEX , A FIBERGLASSG weaving unit at Saki Naka in Mumbai for almost year and got a better job at THE HINDUSTAN M...