RANDOM THOUGHTS

              COATS STAFF - VIRTUAL MEET                 DURING COVID LOCKDOWN The Madura Coats Weaving Staff were always an enterprising set of people who though separated now by miles either due to their own occupation or otherwise are in constant touch in their WhatsApp  Group. Today on the eve of the UNLOCK 1 , our colleague Sudhakar hit upon the Brilliant idea of a VIRTUAL MEET USING THE ZOOM MEET APP . Sudhakar , Sankarabagam , ME Mani , Sikkal Subramaniam , Thangiah , Anbu Chezhian , Erwadi Mohideen , P Narayanan , E S Bharathi , Kadayam Subramaniam , Japan Balu  and myself had the time of our life in the one hour Meet . Past fond memories recollected , with ladies of the house pitching in with their own inputs made this an unique experience . Thanks Sudhakar and all who could attend the meet . Thanks to the Technology that made this possible . At last we do have one thing that we can Thank the Covid 19 and Lockdown For. THE VIRT

      POWER OVERLOAD FUSE IN THE PLUG                                        ITSELF                                     Last November when my SIL Kamesh came visiting to India , he had brought Two Cascade 13 " Blackstone Fans , one  for the use of his father at Tirunelveli and the other for the use of Mami that is my better half at Agasthiarpatty.  These are small Fans that do not need a big empty space for operation . Mami usually spends the better part of each morning in the Swami Room . It is a small sized room and with all the Deities around there is very little space for the old  USHA pedestal fan which is  of little succour in the confined space available . Kamesh had bought the Cascade  Fan from Costco , Canada for use by Mami to tide over the heat during the hot summer months . We ourselves had arrived from Canada in late November 2019 . After a few days I tried connecting the fan in the Swamy Room . Call it ignorance or downright stupidity , I had forgotten that

SINGAMPATTI ZAMIN - LAST OF A BYGONE                                         ERA We have all grown up listening and reading  the valor stories of kings and Knights as a child . The last Zamin of Singampatti near Kallidai and Ambasamudram on the foothills of the Western Ghats ( More Reverently known as the Rajah or king ).passed away last Sunday aged 90 years . TNS Murugdoss Teerthapathy was a highly respected Man . A multi faceted personality who went out of the way to help the needy . He donated large tracts of land for agricultural purposes . The SORIMUTHU AYYANAR TEMPLE in the Kalakkad Mundanthurai Wildlife sanctuary which is their family temple is attended by Lakhs of people during the Aadi Ammavasai Festival This Temple is our Family KULA DEIVA KOVIL AND THE SASTHA OUR FAMILY DEITY . The Zamin Used to attend these functions in the ROYAL ATTIRE OF A KING . He did his Schooling in Sri Lanka and part of his college in England.  He was an ace shooter of all types of firea

      THE ART OF LEARNING TO RIDE A                                                    CYCLE  We have all had as a kid ,  learnt to ride the cycle the very hard way . The innumerable bruises on your hands , legs or elbow must be still fresh in one's  memory . Many of us I am sure carry some scar or the other to remind us of the same . The poor cycle also has the scar and a bend on its frame because of the innumerable falls , crashes and dashes against all and sundry items while you learnt the delicate art of balancing .  The thrill you get when you finally manage to balance and pedal a few Mts is I am sure no way  less than the thrill Mountaineers would have had on reaching the summit of Mt Everest . My first tryst with the cycle was in my 5th standard at Street 30 , 1A , Bhilai in the then Madhya Pradesh and the present day   Chattisgadh . The Mini Cycle came  at a rent of 0.25p per hour. In those days it was almost a princely sum and we had no pocket money those days

                    HONEST SHOP OWNER In these Covid 19 Lockdown Days , a  large part of the day is spent on the Sofa in the Living Room . Reading the newspaper , watching the various programs on the TV , on your laptop or mobile or such other  devices by staying seated on the sofa . For some medically proven reason ,  being low on physical  activity ,  you start gaining weight which is more pronounced  around the waist and shoulder area . As you age , the increase in weight and also a reduction in the fleshy part of your buttocks leave you spending most of the time on the sofa on your bones . This , as can be imagined is a very painful experience . The Sofa in my House is almost 15 years old and the cushion effect is almost nil as the sponge and choir stuffings are in tatters.  For obvious reasons , age being the primary factor we had decided to manage  with the sofa on hand for some more time . And  as the back pain slowly started becoming unbearable , we had to opt for a ch

    AM I AN INTROVERT OR EXTROVERT For some strange and unfathomable reasons Introverts somehow term to be classified as being very responsible citizens , not at all being swayed by temptations of any kind . I may be wrong by a long Mile but they are generally the reserved type . An Extrovert ( yours truely being one ) , on the other hand for equally unfathomable reasons are classified as being less responsible , with not a care in the world for anything but a  "show off " kind of personality . Study comes out with the following facts : INTROVERTS : ENJOY TIME IN SOLITUDE DON'T PREFER TO BE THE CENTER OF ATTENTION VALUE CLOSE ONE ON ONE RELATIONSHIP THINK BEFORE THEY SPEAK/NOT VERY TALKATIVE NEED TIME ALONE TO RECHARGE / REFLECT PREFER WORKING IN QUIET , INDEPENDENT ENVIRONMENTS DEEPLY FOCUS AND THINK ABOUT SPECIFIC INTERESTS CAN BE SEEN AS BEING RESERVED NOT LIKELY TO BE KNOWN TO A LOT OF PEOPLE . EXTROVERTS : HAVE LARGE SOCIAL NETWORKS E

RAINBOWS AND ME FOLLOWING EACH OTHER . The above pictures were taken at the Niagara Falls on 26 th October 2019 , the Rainbow in all its dazzling colours make a better spectacle when zoomed . The above 4 pictures are at the same Niagara Falls almost and at almost the same spot from the pictures taken 15 months  earlier . This was taken on the 13 th of August 2018 which was my first visit to The Famed Niagara Falls . This was taken from the Deck of my Daughter's house at Regina on the 22 nd of May 2018 . Niagara ( Toronto ) and Regina are almost 2500 Kms apart . I seem to be following the Rainbows or just a thought , is it the other way around !! .

WAIST/WEIGHT AND MADIPPU AMSA FLAB                          REDUCTION Lucky are those who do not face this problem at all of having to shed some weight during some part of their life . Most people face this problem just around their middle age and a lucky few into their late sixties . I perhaps belong to the latter half . I have been lucky enough to maintain my weight around the 55 kg mark up to my 60 th year . For  68 " of height this would be considered by many to be lower than the optimum level and some might even call it downright skinny which is one notch worse  than being thin . Be that as it may . Post retirement , there was  a gradual increase in body weight and it now hovers around the 66 kg mark . I must add here that  I am a very active person and into Gardening,  Farming of my small piece of paddy land besides being engaged at all levels in  the general  upkeep of the house . The almost 20% increase has many other ramifications ,the most important of which b

10,000 +  VISITS TO RANDOM MUSINGS The Blog Random Musings was started as a passtime after my fifth Canada Visit in Dec 2018 . Since then it has slowly become a passion and I have posted close to 180 posts in 16 odd months so far . I have covered a wide range of subjects which include : VISITS TO SEVERAL HINDU TEMPLES TRAVEL TOURIST ATTRACTIONS LIFESTYLE COMIC STRIPS EVERYDAY LIFE EVENTS INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL ETC I must be fair enough to admit that with most of my School Education in the Hindi Medium , my English has been just about passable. My association  with , M/S WREN & MARTIN have always been strained at most times . The spelling goof ups have added a comic strain to my Blogs . Thanks to each and everyone for taking the time out to go through my blogs . Would appreciate  if  more Comments are forthcoming on a regular basis . HAPPY VIEWING

This is probably the last few days left for the Greenery of the Agasthiarpatty Madura Coats Staff New Colony . As can be seen from the Video , Suganthiah and Rani Suganthiah who stay just 2 blocks away have spent a major part of their time during their last 25 years tending and nurturing the all around green camouflage that we see now in the entire area . The huge Bluberry Tree is more than 100 years old if not more . Birds of all sizes and colours have made it their home since ages . Some Monitor Lizards ( UDUMBU ) have also been sighted on the tree . Alas , construction work has now started and many a tree have already been felled . Sad Indeed , we will be  leaving the place devoid of anything Green to our progeny . BELOW IS MY EARLIER POST ON THE SUBJECT. AGASTHIARPATTY, LATEST CAUSALITY  TO LAND MAFIA . My association with Agasthiarpatty dates back to almost 45 years . The vast expanse of land which houses my present abode now was an open field which

COVID 19 AND OUR RESPONSE TO THE STEPS TAKEN BY THE GOVERNMENT The last 3 months have seen all of us being impacted by the CORONA 19 virus . It has attained a Pandemic Status and caused a Worldwide havoc . Rich or Poor , Black , White , Brown or Yellow its fangs have destroyed  the very way in which we have been living thus far . Its spread which started from Wuhan in China to almost all the countries of the world has not only been fast but fatal. With no medical remedy available and none expected in the near future the only way left has been to delay the spread of the VIRUS . SOCIAL DISTANCING is  the only way suggested to do this . Various countries have taken up the lockdowns in their own way and for differing periods depending upon the severity of the spread . China , US , ITALY SPAIN UK FRANCE RUSSIA have all borne the brunt of the Fatalities. Worldwide 300000 lives have been lost . US which prides itself on being the Numero Uno Country of the world has lost more than 87

The Incident  being cited below is during  the    PRE - COVID AND LOCKDOWN ERA . Marriage and Wedding Reception were places where friends and relatives gathered in large numbers to wish the newly wedded couple . Masks and Sanitizers found  a place only in the Dictionary or when you Googled  . Its use was restricted to only  those in the elite medical profession. Weddings were just fun places in which everyone wanted to be a part and enjoy . THE WEDDING GIFT WITH A DIFFERENCE There was a huge pile of Gifts and Presents at the wedding reception of Suraj and Sharmista . Even as  they were opening the various boxes , one particular gift item  caught their attention . Beautifully gift wrapped was a Dazzling stone embedded necklace for Sharmista and an equally attractive Cuff - Link for Suraj . What made the present even more exciting was a cinema ticket for the two of them for the Shahrukh starrer  " ZERO " the next weekend at the posh new theater in the city . The ONLY

AIR TRAVEL AND BAGGAGE HANDLING The recent clip in The Hindu under the caption , " The Thief That Was Not To Be " h as set me thinking . This coming as it does from a person who has quite a few  International Arrival Stampings on his Passport must make for an amusing read . One aspect of the Air Travel which has always seemed  a daunting task is getting  your luggage back at the end of your journey . A : Finding the right Carousel earmarked for your flight is itself a problem as more often than not and  in large Airports the Bay Number announced while you were inside the aircraft as you touchdown is different from the actual one on the ground . B : Finding your luggage amongst the 100 s of similar looking ones is always a big task . There are many who seem to have got to know of your own  trick of fastening  coloured ribbons , glistening stickers on to your suitcases . It is almost a miracle that you are still able to find your baggage . C : Once ,  on way to M

One More Good Job by the Tamilnadu Govt In these days of Total Lockdown in Tamilnadu due to the Covid 19 Pandemic , the movement of people especially those past the 60 s is totally restricted and almost Nil . Getting vegetables is less of a problem . Pushcart vegetable sellers make regular visits and so getting the vegetables is not a problem .What is a problem though is getting the GROCERY for the everyday use . This is more so of a problem for us as we hold a NULL RATION CARD which is not of much use for getting anything under the Public Distribution System . Tamilnadu Govt as always has been people centric . They are distributing GROCERY kits with 19  items as a kit at Rs 500/- per bag . These kits can easily take care of the needs of a couple for a month . Note : NO RATION CARD NEEDED , ANYONE CAN GET IT AT THE RATION SHOPS . Thank You , You are doing a Great Job We are with you in this fight against COVID19.

CURRENT BLOG 3 LOCKDOWN DOES NOT APPLY TO PANTHER The newspaper clipping shows the capture and release of the 4 th Panther in and around VK Puram . This time it is a Male and a full grown one of 5 years . Lockdown obviously is not for  The Panthers  PREVIOUS BLOG 2 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 ORIGINAL BLOG 1 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