RANDOM THOUGHTS

         SECOND G 11 VIRTUAL FAMILY MEET The Second Family Virtual Meet of our Extended Family was held as slated at 20.30  IST yesterday . This time around , arriving at the Day and Time for the meet was much easier . The problem lay in choosing between ZOOM OR GOOGLE MEET as the App to be used . The general consensus was towards ZOOM . Nearly 25 us were happy to meet , see and get to know each other , some for the first time ever . The late Evening in India , Early evening in London or early morning across the Atlantic at various locations in the US did not in any way dampen our enthusiasm.Barring a few , the majority of us were very much on the other side of the Sixties with my Aunt ( Mami ) in the nineties as the senior most person in the meet . Blessings and Aasirvadhams were saught by all of us from her . Notes regarding each one's  mode of dealing with the pandemic were exchanged as were the news about our near ones who for some reason were not in the meet . It was a

Each place brings back memories of the Landmark and standout areas that you were fortunate enough to visit during your sojourns to be with your near ones . This one was in  2013 , seven years back and we were visiting our Son and DIL who were then stationed at Leeds in the UK . This was also the time of the arrival of my Grandson whose birth was on the cards . Leeds has the River AIRE which snakes through the city . These pictures were taken during our walk from the Apartment Complex where my son resided and the Leeds Railway Terminal Complex around which all Malls , Stores and Vegetable Markets are Located . TRUELY UNFORGETTABLE EXPERIENCE .

THE DAY WE WON THE CRICKET WORLD                           CUP There are some Days &  Incidents which stay firmly etched in memory . One such day  was and is the 25 th of  June  1983 . Kapil s Devils after a stupendous and unbelievable run in the Round Robin League were in the Finals of  The World Cup Cricket  and were facing  the Mighty West Indians for the coveted WORLD CUP TROPHY . The Indians were clearly the Pre Match Minnows . The West Indies had Vivian Richards and Clive Lloyd at the top to name just two of the greatest batsmen ever to have played the game and the Tearaway Speedmerchants  Andy Roberts , Michael Holding , Joel.Garner and Malcom Marshall in its ranks . Each delivery from these foursome was no less potent than a bullet fired from a very close range . The Helmet and other safety accessories were just beginning to find their way . I have been a cricket fan all my life , having played the game at School , College and Even for Madura Coats Ambas in their Dis

FITNESS CERTIFICATE RENEWAL OF                  MOTOR BIKE My Motor Cycle had completed its 15 years of service on the 16 th of June 2020 .  The Original Certification was done at RTO Office at Tenkasi . Being sparingly used it had completed just 35000 kms in its  15 years of service to me . The FITNESS CERTIFICATE OR FC for my vehicle had to be redone again but this time at Ambasamudram. An RTO Office has since been opened at Ambasamudram . My  Bajaj CT 100 looked as good as new after the Water Service and Arul ( Coats People may remember Paul , the driver during our working days , Arul is his son )  whose help I had sought has considerable knowhow in these  affairs at the RTO Office in Ambasamudram . It came as a big surprise to see more than 100 Vehicles in the 2 and 4 Wheeler Vehicles Category in various Shapes , Sizes and Colours awaiting their turn for registration . More than 10 ROYAL ENFIELD BULLET MOTORBIKES added to this surprise. Ambasamudram is a small T

GRANDFATHER AND GRANDSONS ON BIKE ADHVAY WITH THE MANNARKOVIL       PURCHASED HAND WHEEL ADHVAY ON HIS OWN ON A CYCLE  HAARISH HAVING A TOUGH TIME  ARYA ON HIS OWN ON A CYCLE  THIS TIME KAMESH HAVING A TOUGH TIME  ME GRANDFATHER GANESH ON A CYCLE 

WE BOTH LEFT THE HOUSE WHEN WE  WERE EIGHTEEN YOU SUCCESSFULLY CLEARED THE JEE EXAMINATIONS I cleared the Examination for joining the army . YOU JOINED  THE IIT KHARAGPUR FOR HIGHER STUDIES . I joined as a TRAINEE  at the National Defence Academy.  NDA. KHADAGVASLA . YOU GOT TRAINED TO BE AN ENGINEER . I Got Trained to be an Armyman YOUR DAY STARTS AT 7 AM AND ENDS AT AROUND 5 PM My day starts at 4 AM and ends at 9 PM , on some days we are awake almost the whole night on line of duty . YOU HAD GRADUATION DAY WHEN YOU COMPLETED YOUR COURSE . I had a Passing Out Parade on completion of my Training . YOU GOT A JOB I got a way of life . YOU GOT A CHANCE TO MEET YOUR PARENTS OFTEN . I had to endure endless wait to meet my parents . YOU CELEBRATED MANY COLOURFULLY LIGHTED AND DECORATED FESTIVALS IN THE COMPANY  OF ALL YOUR NEAR AND DEAR ONES . I have celebrated the very same functions in  dark  bunkers with my fellow armymen for company . BOTH OF US GOT MARRIED ALMOST AT T

WEIGHT REDUCTION BY WALKING IS NOT                                      A FAD I used to pride  myself at my seemingly low body weight of  about 65 kgs or thereabouts . Lesser activity while in Canada or possibly the more intake of food at  my Daughter/SIL  and or my DIL/SON'S Place has seen a sharp increase in weight . I have been recording the same on an Off and On basis DEC 2018  66.2 KGS MAR 2019 66.8 KGS APR  2019 66.9 KGS MAY 2019 66.5 KGS JAN   2020  67.8 KGS FEB   2020  68.2 KGS MAR 2020  67.9 KGS APR  2020  67.2  KGS MAY  2020 66.6 KGS JUNE 15TH 66.2 KGS A reduction of exactly 2Kgs from Feb 2020 figures of 68.2 kgs to 66.2 Kgs on 14 th June 2020 . I have not made any drastic change in the diet or eating habits . In these lockdown days when the physical activity is comparively lesser , I have taken WALKING as a part of my daily routine and cover 6 + kms and 9000+ steps everyday . Half the target are  covered in the morning and the other half in the eveni

Sasmira College Friends VIRTUAL MEET The past fortnight has been one of Virtual Meets . In these Covid 19 Lockdown Days , it comes as a big relief when you get to meet your friends , relatives and colleagues ,  even if only virtually . Yesterday , Mukulesh , my friend of Sasmira Days hit upon the Brilliant Idea of a Virtual Meet of the Three Close Friends from the College Days . Raghava Chittappa (My Maternal  Uncle ) had used his good offices , as one close to the Director , SASMA to procure an admission for me in THE TEXTILE TECHNOLOGY AT SASMIRA , WORLI , MUMBAI . My own leanings towards Technical Education and an instant like of the Glass Facade and Ambiance of the Institute was an instant draw . Textile Technology and Textile Chemistry were the two courses on offer and I chose the Textile Technology . There were 30 of us in each class and barring a very few all were well to do Gujjus who already had their own family run Textile Businesses Their English was almost p

SUPER DUPER WAY TO RESPOND - 190 hello , am i speaking to Deepika madam YES SPEAKING madam , are you suffering with ulcer problem WHAT NONSENSE , WHO SAID THAT no madam , we have started a new endoscopy centre , just wanted to find out if HOW STUPID CAN YOU GET , JUST BECAUSE YOU STARTED AN ENDOSCOPY CENTER , YOU WANT ME TO ADMIT THAT I AM SUFFERING FROM ULCER ? no madam , i asked this because ulcer is a very common problem now , Ok nevrr mind and don't worry madam ,  does any one else in your family have an ulcer complaint HELLO I SAID I AM NOT AN ULCER PATIENT, WHY DO YOU ASK ME ABOUT MY FAMILY NOW  sorry madam , just try and recollect , someone in your family may have complained of a stomach ache or belching or acidity or some such ailment  HELLO NO ONE IS SUFFERING FROM ANY DISCOMFORT , ALL ARE FINE , YOU JUST HANG UP OR I WILL REPORT YOU  no madam , your 2nd cousin , your sister s husbands office secretary or some othrr such close person might be sufferr

Where do I correctly place the word "ONlY" English as they say is a very funny Language. I have had my own experiences of the same but  many  of them I may add have been rather  funny . My relationship with M/S Wren & Martin have never been friendly and some may even call it downright strained . Our relationship during the important final year school days where it was almost paramount to maintain extremely good rapport was just about PASSABLE at its  best . How else does one explain my predicament of placing the word " ONLY " in the two sentences below . The shifting of the word ONLY to the next place changes the meaning totally  each time !! 1) SHE TOLD HIM THAT SHE LOVED HIM a) SHE ONLY , TOLD HIM THAT SHE LOVED HIM b) SHE TOLD HIM , ONLY THAT SHE LOVED HIM c)SHE TOLD HIM THAT ,ONLY SHE LOVED HIM d) SHE TOLD HIM THAT ,SHE ONLY LOVED HIM e) SHE TOLD HIM THAT SHE LOVED ,ONLY HIM f) SHE TOLD HIM THAT SHE LOVED HIM ,ONLY  2 ) MY SISTER ASKED ME TO LEND

                G 11 Meet of a Different Kind The Family Tree of my Maternal Grandfather,  finally found shape due to the enthusiastic support of everyone in the clan. The numbers involved are staggering .                                       SONS                                          9 DAUGHTERS                               3 GRANDSONS                             20 GRANDDAUGHTERS                25 GREAT GRANDSONS                47 GREAT GRANDDAUGHTERS   30 G G GRANDCHILDREN             50 G G G GRANDCHILDREN            2 The family is now spread across the Globe . Leave the others down the generations  , there are many First Cousins who have never physically met each other . With the Technology now available , the younger ones in the clan hit upon the bright idea to arrange for a virtual meet to start with and a physical meet to be arranged in late 2021 .  Our own G 11 had the majority members at the following locations . MUMBAI CHENNAI BANGALORE HYDERABAD

                       CARE A DAMN FOR THE SPELLING Above is an Advertisement  Hoarding near an upscale Apartment Complex at Marathahalli in Bangalore . M/S VIGNESHWARA CONCESSION  probably are in full agreement with the statement below . "  it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr ltteers in a wrod are , the  olny iprmontnt tinhg is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be at the right pclae , the rset can be a toatl mses and you can still raed it wouthit any porbelm .Tihs is bcuesae  the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter  by istlef but the wrod as a wlohe  " . HA HA , WHAT IF THIS COULD BE THE GENERAL PRACTICE FOLLOWED EVERYWHERE .