RANDOM THOUGHTS

We were almost on the dot for our scheduled ZDeparture of 6.00 am for the Visit to the Nava Thirupathi Temples situated on the banks of the Tambarabarani River in what was once  Tirunelveli District, now bifurcated as Tirunelveli and Tuticorin Districts but closer to Tiruchendur . NAVATIRUPATI are a set of 9 Temples dedicated to Lord Vishnu located on the Tirunelveli / Tiruchendur Route . All these temples are classified as " Divya Desams " , the 108 Temples of Vishnu revered by the 12 Poet Saints or AZHWARS . The time at our disposal was 6.00 am to 12 Noon and all 9 places needed to be covered. We had packed breakfast and left as scheduled at around 6 am and were at Srivakundam , our first place of visit at 8.15 am. 1 SRIVAIKUNTAM - SUN : Vaikunthanathan Kallapiran and Vaikundanaayani Sooranaathanayagi Dedicated to SURYA Temple timing   8.00 am to 12 Noon. 2 SRIVARAGUNAMANGAI NATHAM-MOON Vijayasanar Emmiderkadavan and Goddess Varagunamangai Varagunavallin . Distance

We were not much off the mark from our scheduled departure time of 7 am for the long day ahead as we had planned a visit to diverse places of interest. Our first place of intended visit was to the Marudu Saastha Temple at Melapavoor . Raju and Prema , our guests from Mumbai had planned Abhishekam and Pooja at this Temple . Now , Ravanasamudram my own native place  being enroute to Melapavoor , we all decided to visit the place . This is one village which has withstood the test of time and has refused the lure of money  to be probably the only  Agrahaaram in Tamilnadu if not the whole  country to be  inhabited by members of our community . Proud indeed to belong to such a place . After a  quick look at this small and picturesque village , we were off to Melapavoor via Kadayam . Now , my wife Revathy had been a Tamil  Teacher in KADAYAM CHATRAM BHARATHI GIRLS  SCHOOL  in this place for 35 long years . The day being the  26 th of January and the time close to 8.30 am , she

It is taken as the bounden duty of everyone in the family to visit the KULA DEIVAM OR FAMILY DEITY atleast once every year for the benefit of every one in the family . After failing to find an apt  way to categorize the relationships with which to describe my guests which is better off being labelled simply as precious family friends ,   ( relations - 2 from Mumbai and one from Chennai ) visited us before the ensuing Kovil Kodai Fastival at Vadakku Vaasal Selvi Amman Kovil at Mela Pavoor . It is a done thing to visit places of interest Around Ambasamudram during such visits by  many of my relatives who visit us from time to time . After a sumptuous lunch and a short afternoon nap we left home at around 3.30 pm  for the  Yerichudayar  Kovil Ambasamudram , the places of particular interest to us on the way , like the erstwhile EWART HOUSE AND NOW VIKAASA SCHOOL where both Anoo and Haarish studied  and which was my first place of abode after my marriage   , Ambas

COATS STAFF , DID YOU KNOW THAT   , ME ,  YOU  AND ALL OF US HAVE WALKED AROUND THE MOTHER  EARTH MORE THAN ONCE . THIS IS SURELY A STUPENDOUS FEAT.  NOT MANY CAN BOAST OF HAVING BEEN SUCCESSFUL IN THIS SINGULAR FEAT .  UNLIKE THE DAVID NIVEN  - PASSPATO MOVIE OF OUR CHILDHOOD DAYS  " AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS " OUR JOURNEY IS OF A FAR LONGER DURATION . A Textile Professional , who could be from The  Spinning , Weaving or Processing Departments faces many issues which are unique in many ways during  his working life . Being a largely labour intensive sector , the ability to extract work from the workforce under you is always an issue and  ones usefulness to the company or otherwise is judged solely  on your ability to meet the daily , monthly and yearly prescribed Production and Quality Targets . Long working hours , sleep deprivation because of having to work in shifts , irregular eating habits and timings , very high Decibel level at the workplace because of the Mac

What started off as an offhand post in Facebook , seems to have set in motion a whole lot of former Coats Employees who have been forthcoming to voice their genuine feelings of their days 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.  Here , it would not be out of place to add that , though having Ravanasamudram as my native place ( Hardly 15 kms from Papanasam ) my association to South and to be specific to Tamilnadu till then was limited to the annual summer holidays spent in the native village . Having done my entire schooling and college in Bhilai , Kharagpur near Calcutta  and Mumbai , it was widely believed both by my parents and myself that it would be only a matter of time before I shifted back to Mumbai for greener pastures . Days went on to becomes Months , Years and finally Decades . All these   ended up  being  proved wrong.  My entire career was spent in Madu

नई हकीकत लोग ये सोच कर आपको वोट दिये थे के वोः रोक लेंगें हर किस्म की बदनामियों को हवावों में लेहरारहा था आशाओं के किरणें कि भारत में आ रही है बदलावत कदम इस अन्दाज़ से  ुट रहे थे कि पुरानी यादें भुला  हम सबको मगर आप ने कुछ रोका ना उन्हे सुधारा ना पानी मिली थी या बिजली सब को मिली थी बस सड़कों में बैठकर दिल्ली चलायी यहां तक की भारत चलाने की ख्वाब भी मैं आहिस्ता आहिस्ता भरोसा खो दिया इन पांच सालों में सब आशाएँ खो दिया है हमने

TO WHOEVER FEELING A PANG OF GUILT                       WHILE READING THIS  1 ) You cannot legislate the poor into prosperity by legislating the wealthy out of prosperity.  2 ) What one person recieves without working for , another person must work without recieving . 3 ) The Governament cannot give to anybody anything that the Government does not take from somebody else . 4 ) You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it  . 5 ) When half the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them , and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for , that is the beginning of the end of any nation . THINK ABOUT IT FOR YOUR OWN GOOD AND THE GOOD OF FUTURE GENERATIONS 

Following is a Newspaper Clip about the Eruption of the Taal Volcanoe in the Philippines in today s THE HINDU . Mount Taal is located some 100 kms from Makati , the Financial Capital of The Philippines . My Daughter and Son In Law were  ( some 15 years back ) then staying and working in The Philippines .  This news of the eruption of the Volcano brings back memories of my own visit to this  place in 2005 along with my Daughter and Son In Law and a couple of their friends Vikram Lulla and Rakesh We arrived at Laguna after a 2 hour travel from Makati by a long and winding road . We hired a banca ( boat ) to cross the Taal lake from there . As we arrived in the island we were met by many local and tourist travellers  . I remember paying some 500 pesos per head with a guide for a horse ride for taking you to the actual crater . As one who had never been on the back of anything with four legs, the ride up the steep climb is pretty scarry  ,  The presence of the Guide tho

The first thing that comes to  mind when a Hill Resort is mentioned in conjunction with  a Rail Journey is sure to revive memories of a Desi Film Song  in a Scandinavian Country in far off Europe or Closer Home  - The Nilagiris- Blue Mountain Express or Darjeeling ( Mere Sapnon Ki Rani Fame)  .  But all these places these  are sure to burn a very big hole in ones pocket if you do plan to visit them . For a variety of unavoidable reasons , I had to make a second visit to Bangalore within a space of 10 days . The ensuing Pongal Festival and the Holidays associated with it made it impossible for us to get confirmed reservation for our return journey to Nellai. I tried various options including Via Salem , Trichy , Madurai , Erode or even Chennai or Coimbatore but all had Wait Listing in Excess of 150 . 16320 Krishnarajapuram to Kochiveli AC Humsafar Bi Weekly Express  came as a savior and we could get reservation upto Kollam . Kollam to Ambas has a direct passenger

Pigeons have always found a place for themselves wherever possible and specially so if it is near a place of Human Habitat . Most people do not pay any attention to them as they are very much harmless except for the mess they make with their  droppings . These droppings when they dry up are apart from being a health hazard , extremely difficult to clean and is a very labour intensive job . This menace is even more pronounced in the huge apartment complexes of Bangalore.The pigeon population has grown exponentially over the last few years and so too has the volume of its droppings . Much against the wishes of many , yours truely included , the working committee of the apartment complexes finally figured that the only way out was a Nylon Mesh around the balconies . This , even at the cost of a slight overall hit on the look of an  apartment . This is a costly affair . It ranges from Rs 20 to Rs 30 per sq foot depending upon the gauge of the Nylon Mesh used . It cost me Rs

For the last almost 8 years , I have had the good fortune to visit various Perumal Kovil and seek HIS Blessings on the Vaikunda Ekadesi Day and the Opening of the Parama Pada Vaasal . One such Temple is The Shree Rajagopala Swami Temple at Mannarkovil near Ambasamudram . This well endowed and maintained Temple is hardly 2 Kms from my place at Agasthiarpatty . This place is famous for its association with Kulasekara Alwaar . The mammoth crowd in  for this years function seems to suggest a gradual shift to an aesthetic path by the masses . OM NAMO NARAYANA

During my younger days and when I say younger days , I refer to my college days . Travel by 3 Tier sleeper was something which I always looked forward to . One reason for the same is that i had by then got absolutely bored of the First Class and AC coach Travel which was the default mode of travel by virtue of the Free Railway Pass which my father was eligible for as a Senior Railway Officer . The travel in this class was a bit of a bore as hardly any words were exchanged with the other co passengers . Travel by the 3 tier sleeper class was essentially for the masses . Language , Region , Faith or even Age were never an issue and the travel and many friendships cultivated during the travel stayed in ones memory even after the passage of so many years . The TEA COFFEE IDLI AND VADA to name just a few being sold inside the compartment and the constant change of co passengers were something which one always looked forward to . My most recent experience of travel by the sleeper