RANDOM THOUGHTS

TRAIN JOURNEY WHEN YOU             WERE  STILL A KID  One of the most fascinating experiences as one grew up , will undoubtedly be the Train Journey that you as a kid made in the company of your parents  .  As for myself , with my father being in the Railways and working for a large part of his career at Kharagpur in W Bengal ,  meant  frequent and long travels to be with our relatives during my school vacations . Being pretty late born to my parents ,  my sister and brother were more like  a guardian to me during  my growing up years  . Save for the odd occasions when my Niece or Nephew came in to the picture , i had a free run with the prized seat by the window in a train or the lions share of anything edible that made their way during the long Journey .  Most of my maternal side uncles were at Bombay and the Paternal side down South in and around Ravanasamudram near Tirunelveli . With 6 First Classes passes to which my father was entitled , frequent 2 Nights travel by train from Kha

          BIRD WATCHING IN COVID TIMES  COVID 19 has opened up numerous new ways of spending the time , confined as we are inside the compound walls of our houses . One such passtime is the search for the beauties that chance across the neighborhood from time to time . Now , most of you would have got me all  wrong .  You would  most probably be saying  something like  , " This man of nearly 70 years  must be surely out of his mind to even engage in such lowly thoughts ". Sorry , you seem to have got me all  wrong . I refer to the BIRD WATCHING of the feathered kind .  If nothing else ,  these PANDEMIC times have  left  us  with enough time and space to see  to look around and   admire the innumerable things which the ALMIGHTY has laid before us . During normal times  , I doubt  , if their very existance would have ever been noticed . I can spot atleast 5 colours , Can You ?  Spotted Beauty Feeding on cooked Rice  This little beauty enjoying a bath in the Water Bowl Kept to q

LAYING OF CONCRETE ON THE CEILING OF           A HOUSE UNDER CONSTRUCTION  This half a minute Video is a microcosm of the CONCRETE LAYING OF A NEW HOUSE UNDER CONSTRUCTION.  This is one of the most important operation during a house under construction . Near 6 months  of work precedes this operation.  The house owner , contractor and the workmen together await this important fixture . House owner  : For  the lasting safety of the HOUSE and the family who intend to make it their Home.  Contractor : His cery reputation and acumen is dependent on this one important Facet . Workmen : This day is always special as the daily wage on this day is double the normal with free lunch and a round of drinks that the owner provides on this day . This is a labor intensive and strenuous job .Please watch the video and appreciate the efforts that go in to the construction of a house .

  NICE TO HAVE BEEN A PART OF A GLOBAL COMPANY OF NEARLY 140 YEARS STANDING My son Haarish and Family were on a Weekend Visit to Muskoka Lake from Ajax where they stay in Canada . Enroute in a small Village Convenience store he noticed a picture from the 1890 s J & P COATS SIX - CORD COTTON SPOOL  As can be rightly expected he forwarded the picture which I am now sharing in My Blog  It really feels nice when you realize that you have Worked in a Global Company for almost 30 Years and more so because the PAPANASAM Unit is almost 135 years old now . Worldover  there can be hardly any  home without  a COATS SEWING THREAD OR ITS ALLIED PRODUCTS in their homes in some form or the other  at any given point of time   . If nothing else ,  the dresses that we all wear will surely  have the Coats Sewing Thread -  Ametto  - Anchor or Spade  as a component for stitching the same . An interesting and somewhat sentimental incident comes to mind here . My mother was always very good with her hand

       SUSHRUSA , CURRY LEAF TREE  The other day , during my , by now mandatory morning walk around the house, my neighbor Kadayam Mani showed me  what a good SUSHRUSA he was albeit to the CURRY LEAF  Tree inside the compound . In Agasthiarpatty as with almost the entire South India , it is almost a must in every house to grow and nurture a CURRY Plant/Tree . The addition of CURRY LEAVES  in almost all Types of  Sambhar, Rasam or Chutney is a must . The Months of July and August during the Courtallam Season see heavy breeze or wind together with the light drizzle . ( AADI KAATHU AND SEASON SAARAL MAZHAI ). Two years back during one such heavy breeze , the branch of a CURRY LEAF  tree got broken in my neighbour's house .  He , much like the Sushrusa of our Olden times tied and bandaged it together . Today there are many other off shoots and the tree stands tall and firm . How this came about is explained in the Video .  

   AMBASAMUDRAM , A MUST VISIT PLACE  One place endowed with multiple choices of places and interests is Ambasamudram . The fact that all these places are within a radius of 15 kms from the center of this Taluq Headquarters Town some 40 kms from Tirunelveli is an added attraction . A SPLASH AT CHINNA SANKARANKOVIL    ON THE WAY TO MANIMUTHAR FALLS  Morning Mist Near Papanasam Upper Dam. Agastiar Falls pool  Papanasam Temple River Front  Erichudayar Kovil. Tambarabarani in full flow at Kailasanathar Templen inside Eruchudayar kovil Brahmadesam Temple  A PLACE WITH A WIDE RANGE OF TOURIST ATTRACTIONS 

          AZHWARKURICHY SIVASAILANATHAR                                       TEMPLE  This Siva Temple is some 40 Kms from Tirunelveli and on the Banks of the Gadana River . Surrounded by lush green paddy and coconut groves and being on the foothills of the Western Ghats this Temple has several Unique features . One among a few Siva Temples that face towards the West . The Swayamboo Lingam has plaited hair like feel at the back . The Diety also goes by the name of Sadayar   The Consort Paramakalyani is everyone's Diety,  Paramakalyani College being one of the post Independence Colleges around this area . Simpson Group's Anantharamakrishnan hailed from this place which has many Institutions named after him in  around this area . The Temple is famous for the Tiruodu trees around this area . One particular tree attracts special attention as it has 5 different varieties of trees entwined one  over the other . ARASA , VEPPA , AALA , TIRUODU AND VENGA  entwined over each other is ONE

KERALA GOLD SMUGGLING AND THE SILENT                           TAMIZH VISUAL MEDIA . The Kerala Gold Smuggling Racket which has all the makings of a nexus  of people in very high positions at both the Political and Bureaucratic Levels involved is a hot news for sometime now . That this has links to Terrorist Funding and to IS tentacles does make this an International Issue . That Dubai Consulate Staff also had a hand in these dealings plus the suspicion that this is the first of many such cases in the past makes this even more serious . That the office of the Chief Minister of the State itself is under the Scanner makes the case even more ominous.  The vociferous Tamizh Channels have kept a studied silence on this issue . If the same were to happen on this side of the Border in Tamilnadu , the Officials and the Chief Minister would have been stripped naked and torn to pieces.  PUTHIYA TAMIZHAGAM , CN 18 TAMIL , THANTHY TV , NEWS 7 , LEAVE NOTHING TO DOUBT ABOUT THEIR LEFTIST AFFILIATIO

Yummy Navapazham from 120 Year Old                Kala Jamun or BlackBerry Tree . As mentioned in my earlier posts , the Kala Jamun Tree is attracting a lot of people eager to pluck the yummy fruits from this 120 year old tree in front of our house .  It has visitors from early in the morning to late in the evening . Collecting the fallen ones and trying to pluck the same by any means is a must for anyone passing bye . Two and Wheelers need to be extra cautious while traversing this stretch . The courageous youngsters climb on to this high tree and  their colleagues on the ground collect these  fruits in a wide net and thus prevent the ripe fruits from falling directly on the ground and getting soiled or damaged . Because of  Covid 19  We are at  home in Agasthiarpatty in the month of July after a gap of almost 7 years . Our annual visit to Canada during this period has been given a miss because of the Covid 19 . We too collected these fruits and believe me they are really yum

Cow and Calf the Infamous Indira Congress                            SYMBOL Cow and Calf was the Election Symbol of  INDIRA CONGRESS , which fought the Elections . What followed is History which for obvious reasons are best left unsaid . The Cow and Calf in the picture came visiting us last Monday . Hindu Households consider this  very auspicious and a sign of Good things in Store .  IN THESE DIFFICULT COVID TIMES , LET US HOPE AND PRAY THAT THIS IS INDEED  TRUE 

       TV MAKING ITS FIRST APPEARANCE IN                                     OUR LIVES                                Certain things or items become a part of our lives and it becomes increasingly impossible to imagine a life without them . One such item is the TELEVISION set . We were all residing at the Madura Coats  Company   Quarters  at VK PURAM in  Papanasam .  In the early 1980 s , we would envy the people of the Metro Cities who had access to DOORDARSHAN Programs on their TV . A sizeable proportion  of them even had Coloured Television Sets . News started trickling in of Srilanka s ROOPAVAHINI being available with very high antennas and powerful double boosters . The higher the mast or post , clearer the reception. A joke was often doing the rounds that one could literally See Sri Lanka if one could somehow reach the top the Antenna Mast . My nephew Ravi  from Russia was gracious enough to present me  with a Black and White Television Set with a screen Size all o

     Cow and Calf in front of Your  House It is not everyday that a Cow and its Calf come visiting you . It came as a pleasant surprise when this happened yesterday morning . Among Hindu Households it is considered an almost Divine Blessing when this happens . The calf suckling is considered even more auspicious . Pray and Hope that this is true in these difficult COVID times .

        MORE THAN 120 YEAR  OLD TREE Many of my posts have been about the picture perfect scenic beauty of places in and around Ambasamudram . Being on the foothills of the Western Ghats or Pothigai Malai and the River Tambarabarani snaking through it , the greenery around is picturesque for most part of the year . Huge trees lining both sides of the road seem to welcome everyone from their parched city landscapes. One such place of special interest is the stretch from Ambai Railway  Level Crossing  to just past Agasthiarpatty .  Many huge trees line this stretch . People of the area and those associated with HARVEY MILLS / COATS VIYELLA , MADURA COATS , MADURA COATS PRIVATE LIMITED will recall  Ewart House , Miller Bungalow , Middle Bungalow and West Bungalow on this stretch . These were the residences of High Ranking ENGLISH MEN who set up the A & F HARVEY MILLS more than 130 years back .Yous truely was a resident of Ewart House , before it went onto become th

WHY ARE WE UNABLE TO SQUAT ON THE FLOOR ANYMORE  ( chappalamkooti or kaal madichi  ) Most of us past our middle age might have started feeling it difficult to SQUAT on the floor for various reasons  . Some like me may find it even impossible to do so now  . A few on the other hand may even feel it rather odd  to waste time on discussing on a lowly topic of being able to Squat or sit cross-legged  on the floor.  Be that as  it may , each one is entitled to his own views on any subject , however inane.  Those who are able to do it , Congrats , keep doing it regularly . For those like me who are unable to do so , here are 4 reasons which were once our daily  routines and which we have given up over the years  could have contributed to our present sorry  plight . 1 ) Most , if not all of us during our pre teens would have partaken our daily Breakfast , Lunch or Dinner sitting cross legged on the floor on a mat or wooden charpoy . The Dining  Table has put an e

   SETTING FOOT ON THE PACIFIC OCEAN It is not everyday that a person hailing from almost the tip of India , straddled between the Palk Strait , Indian Ocean and the Arabian Sea gets to set his foot on the PACIFIC OCEAN on the Western US Coast . An opportunity came my way when I visited the LAGUNA BEACH , CA during my US Visit . Kamesh and his brother  Ganesh went out of their  way to make our US trip a truely memorable one . Laguna Beach , Anaheim Disneyland the Universal Studios , all places of Prime Tourist Attractions and visited everyday by Millions of people from across the World . My curly haired grandson Arya had a whale of a time at the beach . A few more pictures associated with the trip with oneliners as descriptions are attached below . VANCOUVER AIRPORT CURLY HAIRED ARYA AT VANCOUVER                               AIRPORT    GAYATRI MANDIR , ANAHEIM  SURPRISE MEET OF MY COUSIN                GANESH S SON UPANAYANAM LAGUNA BEACH STILL