RANDOM THOUGHTS

                 MEMORIES OF YOUNGER                                                       DAYS The events of the past few days  has seen the passing away of a number of stalwarts in their respective fields . Let me not pretend , the fact that I myself have entered the 70 s club does add on to the tug , as these souls whom i have always adored are no more amongst us . My entire schooling has been in the then Calcutta , Kharagpur and a part in Bhilai. All these places had a special liking for Football as a sport . This  against Cricket which was the undisputed sport followed by the rest of the country . Railways have always been a favorite recruiting ground for sportsmen . My father was a SENIOR Official in the then South Eastern Railways  ( BNR or Bengal Nagpur Railways  ). I h...

We have all been always  taught to be very careful with the money in our hand . The idiom " MONEY DOES NOT GROW ON TREES " is an oft heard banishment when parents tend to discipline their offsprings spending habits .  "Money Plant " does however seem to have other thoughts . It seems to be growing very well on the Mango Tree in our compound .

All of us have read the story of the boy shouting TIGER / TIGER when there was no Tiger and facing the music when a real TIGER does come into the village . This made interesting reading as a kid even as a moral was added to the story . NEVER RAISE A FALSE ALARM There was a newspaper report of the 3 rd Panther being trapped and caught during the last two months  in an area hardly 10 kms away from our place of stay   . I made a mention of this in my Blogpost  and also Facebook page . For some strange reason not many seemed to take any notice of the event . There were just 3 comments on a need to excercise caution  . I have a pretty large circle of friends and their silence has set me thinking . 1 ) Am I making the trapping of the Panther too much of an issue . 2 ) Can the Panther sighting be in the same league  as that of a stray dog . 3 ) Three Panthers being trapped within 2 months is just an ordinary issue 4 ) Am I in my 70 s , just like th...

LEARN TO APPRECIATE A GOOD DEED              WHEN YOU SEE A  ONE For lack of an alternative , I have always been a voter of the present dispensation who rule the State of Tamilnadu . I have at the same time never been a votary of the many schemes and policies which are so dear to them . Their Freebies on offer is one such policy which I strongly oppose . I feel that far too many people who do not need these Freebies are eating into the categories of people who are in dire need of the Govt help. For the last three decades , I and my family hold a NULL RATION CARD . For the uninformed , A Null Ration Card does not entail you to  any benefits under the Public Distribution System . It is merely a document that establishes your Identity and Place of Residence . I firmly believe that by opting for the NULL RATION CARD , I have made in my own way the life of someone not so fortunate a wee bit better . As of now , Note the operative words AS ...

The Covid 19 Lockdown has left us confined inside our houses for more than a month now . We are slowly getting used to the changed circumstances . This is a totally new experience for all . In these changed circumstances with us staying put inside the houses other creatures like the the feathered ones of all colours and sizes , the Peacocks , Langurs , Monkeys and squirrels in large numbers are a regular visitor to the neighborhood now . Other creatures including the predatory ones like the Big Cats seem to be having a jolly good time . Today's clipping in the newspaper of a 3rd Leopard  being trapped and caught by the forest guards hardly 10 kms away from our place of stay in VK Puram/Agasthiarpatty does set the alarm bells ringing . The Wildlife Sanctuary close by and the forest range near this place seem to add on to the threat .

I had a most harrowing experience during our train journey from Tirunelveli to Bangalore / Karmelaram on 26 th of April exactly 4 years back .We were four of us , myself and my better half both on the wrong side of 60 with my daughter in law and grand son aged near 3 and with considerable luggage to boot. The placard at the Tirunelveli Railway station showed the Tiruchendur to Tuticorin passenger to be arriving at 4 pm on platform No 1 , but surprisingly there was alraeady a rake of 2 coaches without the engine parked on the  platform . All efforts to get any information regarding the platform number of the arriving train turned futile as the passenger enquiry office was bare with no one in sight and also no announcement of any sort over the public address system. With just a few minutes to go we rushed to platform number two purely on a hunch with the kid and luggage in tow and just about  managed to catch the Tuticorin / Mysore Express at Maniyatchi. Worse trouble was to fo...

MOONU PATTU RUBA , DUS RUPIAH MEIN                                        TEEN The more than one month of LOCKDOWN due to COVID 19 has left one and all with varying degree of boredom depending upon ones age , gender and occupation . Today being Sunday , the 26 th of April and with extra Lockdown Measures in force , the boredom s even more so . This was  when I noticed the pushcart wala with his Banana and Guava laden cart  being pushed around our colony for sale . He was a pleasant looking man , well past the middle age and sweating profusely with all the effort required to fruit laden cart and also having to shout Moonu Pattu Ruba & Dus Rupiah Mein Teen This is when a thought to be a good samaritan entered my mind and on a sudden impulse I approached the cartwala and asked him if he would exchange places for a short while  . He could take rest in the ample ...

ठेलेवाले , कडी धूप में सब्जिययाँ बेच कर बहुत थक गये होंगे इस लोखड़ौन के समय में हम भी कुछ दूसरोन की मदत में आने की सोच में थे आप इस  जगह बैठ कर आराम कीजियेगा , हम दो या तीन पास वाले सड़कों में sabjee बेचकर लौटआकर हिसाब दे देँगे वो सब तो ठीक है लेकिन हम तो इन सब्जियों के असली ठेलेवाले को हमारे अपार्टमेंट में आराम करने के लिये बीटा कर आये हैं हम भी आप ही की तरह दूसरों की मदत करने के बारे में सोच रहे थे

THANK YOU VERY MUCH MAARUTHY It has been 28 years to the day since  you first embraced us and made us very much part of yourself . The name MAARUTHY was dear to my parents who were very much part of the Grihapravesam Ceremony back in the year 1992 . We thank you for all the love showered on us and keeping us happy as a family and protecting us from the vagaries of the weather .        THANK YOU AGAIN MAARUTHY

Covid 19 Lockdown does make it difficult to keep one gainfully occupied all the time . This is even more difficult if you are just shy of the seventies with only your better half for company . The fact that you stay in a place as remote as Agasthiarpatty just adds on to your woes . Social Media platforms WhatsApp and Facebook do come in handy and helps you in keeping in touch with the happenings around the world . My Facebook page brought back memories of our presence at the PARIS CDG AIRPORT exactly 2 years back on the 19 th Of April 2018 . We had chosen this route for our by now almost annual visit to our children's places in Canada. This was my second visit to Paris and that too after a gap of nearly 26  years . The almost 6 hour Transit in one of the busy Airports of Europe was well spent . The fragrance of the umpteen Perfume Shops , The Rolex Watches on display , Chocolates and Ice Creams Stalls  is still fresh in my mind . Sad that this same place is now a pale s...

HYDROXYCHLOROQUIN NEW SANJEEV BUTI The Corona 19 Pandemic which is in the news now has had a devastating effect on the life and economy of the whole world . What started off as a stray case in the Wuhan  province of China has now spread across the world . Thousands of lives  have been lost in almost all the countries . With no known way to fight the Virus and a Vaccine to fight the virus  still a long distance away , the only way ahead to stop the spread of the same has been LOCKDOWN AND SOCIAL DISTANCING. What is still a mystery is that the affluent and the so called advanced Nations have borne the maximum loss of life . The economic fallout has not spared anyone . Every single person on the planet has been affected in some way or the other and has started to feel the pinch . Hydroxychloroquin , a drug used for the cure of Malaria  , though unresarched was found to bring some succour in the fight against the deadly Virus . India has been the largest expor...

How things go VIRAL on Apartment Whatsapp Groups !!! Person 1 : Hello, Did anyone spot a BAT near the swimming pool ? I really need to know . Person 2 : What ??? 😱 Person 3 : Somebody pls inform the management office. Person 4 : OMG ! Please don't send your kids to play downstairs today . Person 5 : Yes ! With Nipah Virus , OH God !!! what is happening ? Person 3 : We pay so much for maintenance and yet we have bats near pool. President should answer this. Person 6 : Listen , if any kid gets bitten by bat , I have Ayurvedic meds Person 3 : No ! No ! one cant just apply and should not apply anything .Just wash with soap and water. I read online about Nipah Virus !!! Person 7 : Take him to the Doctor ASAP ! Person 3 : Take who 🤔 Person 8 : Is there a injection or medicine to prevent Nipah Virus ??? my child is only 8 months old 🙏🏼 Person 9 : I think Dr Patel in D1801 would be best to ask for next steps . Person 2 : agreed Person 3 : 👍🏼 Person 4 : +1 . . . P...

आप किसी शुभ अवसर पर , किसी खूबसूरत लड़की को देखकर अपने से की हुवी गलती के बारे में सोचने के बजाय मामू के बेटे राहुल के रिश्ते के बारे में सोच रहें हैं  अपने साथ झगड़ा किये हुवे रिश्तेदारों के साथ हमदर्दी दीखाने लगे हैं. अपने उम्र के रिश्तेदार अमेरिका में अच्छी नौकरी में होने के कारण उनसे चिड़ने की जगह अपने बेटे को अमेरिका में ऐक पेहचान मिलने की ख़ुशी में हैं . अपनी घरवाली को ठीक तरह ना देख पाना सता रहा है . पहले दिन पहला शो , सिनेमा देखने की ख्वाइश ख़त्म हो गयी है . म्यूजिक चैनल छोड़कर , समाचार चैनल देखने लग गयें हैं . रविववार के दिन , बाकी सब कामों को छोड़कर कसरत करने और तीन मील चलने लगे हैं .दांत साफ़ करने , नहाने या दाडी बनाने में ज्यादा समय लगने लगा है . बस पकड़ने के लिये आखरी वक़्त में जाना छोड़कर अब पांच मिनिट पहले ही जाने लगें हैं . में अकेला अपने आप सब कुछ कर सकता हूँ , मुझे किसी की सहायता नहीं चाहिये की जगह यह सोच आने लगी है की , हम सब मिलकर ही इसे कर सकते हैं , अकेला कौन क्या कर सकता है . अगर यह सब चीज़ें आप में दिखाई पड़ने लगे हैं तो इसका ऐक ही मतलब है की आप अंकल या आंटी बन...

USING COVID LOCKDOWN TO CONTACT                   OLD ACQUAINTANCES One activity during the lockdown period was to re establish contact with my long lost friends . After a lot of research I was   able to locate one of my  SASMIRA days batchmates  and a close friend Rajiv Dhusia . After a lot of banter about  his present status and that of his family . It was a pleasant throwback to the old togetherness and the  happy times that we had spent together  . Many pleasant memories of the  SASMIRA times  were exchanged .  The conversation finally led me to enquire as to what he was doing at that particular time of the day  as  the 2 nd lockdown was now in force at Mumbai and had become a very serious challenge to everyone , The Government  , Bureaucracy and the public at large . His reply however  took me by total surprise . He said that at that very  instant he was w...

HOME OF THE OWNER OF THE FAMOUS AUDITORS             A VISIT TO THE KITCHEN OF          THE FAMOUS HOUSE OF              SHYAMAPRASAD                          BROTHERS  The more than a year  Lockout and Stay at Home has brought to light the following observations in the House and particularly the Kitchen of Shyamaprasad , the Head  of  The  Renowned Auditing  Firm Of  SHYAMAPRASAD BROTHERS Following anomalies were observed in the functioning of their day to day activities . 1. There was no stock ledger being  maintained at any place .   Procurement was not in line with the  provision , requirement and  consumption factors . Purchase Orders were being  placed verbally and  Inventory Maintenance was  very poor bordering almost very close t...

It seems only a short time back that we had the Grihapravesam of our House at Agasthiarpatty . To the day almost 28 years have passed by .  Important and landmark events have been witnessed by our loving home . Nestled as it is on the foothills of the Western Ghats with the Tambarabarani River snaking it's way close by , our home has always been an attraction for friends and relatives . Graduation of Daughter and Son , their respective Weddings and the Birth of our Grand Children have all  been events that have Happened or Celebrated at this place . With both of them now away with their families in Canada , the two of us now spend our days in these serene surroundings and sunny climes six months each year  here and the other 6 months in the cooler weather of Canada . 21 st  of April brings back memories of this day 28 Years back when we had the Grihapavesam or House Warming Function of our dear house which got completed after many a hardship . Blessings of all...

NEED FOR REMOVING THE BLINKERS    FROM  THE EYES AND MIND There was this recent lament from a couple of my friends from other WhatsApp groups which came down heavily on the Government of the day for slashing the Interest rates on their Savings and Fixed Deposits . This was said to have  purportedly made their Retired Life very gloomy and difficult. I do not for one moment dispute this fact as I also sail along on this same boat . A retired person is normally one  in his 60 s who has called it a day from normal work and is left to live with the savings , pension and sometimes the monetary support from his offsprings to bide time for the final call in his or her sunset years . The last said item for obvious reasons is only sought as a last resort. What made their statement sound hollow was the combination of the Two factors detailed below . This is hardly the time to take a call against the Government.  The Covid -19 , lockdown , social distanci...