RANDOM THOUGHTS

                       A GEM FROM GULZAAR MY LONG OVERDUE DESIRE FOR LEISURE IS HERE  BUT  I HAVE GOT THIS WITH THE AXIOM  " STAY AWAY FROM EVERYONE " IT FEELS STRANGE TO SEE THE ROADS EMPTY , BUT HOUSES FULL OF PEOPLE ONLY MEDICINE IS  "SOCIAL DISTANCING " AND MANKIND HAS STOPPED GOING TO WORK FOR STAYING ALIVE AND BREATHING                                                            BUSY HOMES  , EMPTY STREETS , TOTAL PRISONERS IN THEIR OWN PLACES OF STAY  STAYING ALIVE ITSELF HAS BECOME A                        COSTLY AFFAIR WHERE  WEALTH ALONE HAS LOST ALL ITS VALUE   By  Gulzaar ,  As Translated by Ganesh H

         AN ODE TO FRIEND/FRIENDSHIP  Above is a beautiful poem or SHAAIR in Hindi/Urdu on - Friends -  Friendship . As many of my friends and acquaintances may find it difficult to follow the language , I have tried my hand at TRANSLATING the same as best as i could . The physician checked my pulse and assured me to not worry about my health but to try and spend time with my Friends . It is friends who cure not by their medicines but by their soothing words . They are the ones who remove the deadweight  sheet of age over you and make you feel a lot younger . It is only your Friends who stand by you in both your Good and Bad Times . Please stay in touch with your Friends and do meet them as often as possible . You have no choice over your relatives , you are Born into them . Friends and Friendships are chosen and nurtured entirely by you alone . AADAAB ARZE HAI SAATHION 

  WHEN WILL WE EVER LEARN  - 251  The accident sight/site  on the Ambai - Papanasam Highway late yesterday evening made very sad viewing . The two wheeler was a total wreck  but fortunately both the rider and his companion were safe but with serious injuries needing urgent medical attention. The Ambai - Papanasam Highway by no stretch of imagination can ever be imagined  to be in the same league as the highways of their more famous Metro City Cousins . Even so , hardly a day passes without an accident or mishap . The frequent road accidents and the heavy toll on the lives and livelihood does imply that something is surely wrong with the way we address SAFETY . The accident in question ,  other road users inform me happened because the the Two Wheeler Rider was totally blinded by the WHITE LED LIGHT of the approaching vehicle on the opposite side without the BLACK BULLSEYE SHADING on its headlights . It is tragic that both the authorities concerned and the law enforcing agencies  have b

      MY   GRANDSONS JIG ON MY 250 TH                              BLOGPOST  Some characteristics of a person seem to pass on from one Generation  to the next Generation . Call it DNA or some other fancy scientific name . My almost 3 decades of stay at the Madura Coats Colony at Papanasam has had me taking part in almost every Cultural Activity, which was always a welcome event for the colony members ,  be it the COLONY CLUB  or the TAMBARABARANI CLUB .  New Year , Onam , Christmas , Deepavali , Pongal . were all Celebrated in a grand manner . Being an active member , i was never shy of taking an active part in these celebrations . I remember moving my legs in a jig on many occasions . One occassion that is my clear favourite is the Jig with  AYYAPPAN for the song MANKUYILAY THENKUYILAY which was a hit song at that point of time . Alas , AYYAPPAN is no more . May he attain Moksha. My Grandson ADHVAY seems to have taken over from me . BIG BOSS Tamil has a Jig session at the start of eac

      TAKING CARE OF THE LITTLE ONE  It never ceases to amaze me at the efforts our lesser endowed beings ( This is purely subjective , the term lesser endowed beings ) take to protect their own little ones . I , personally am against caging of any sort of pets, be it birds or any other being .  The sight of the mother bird , which i noticed in passing , at a neighbor's place protecting its just hatched little one  from me approaching the cage made lt more than clear that we humans are not the only ones who look after their little ones .

         HELPLINE NUMBERS ON NHAI  All of us I am sure must have had occasions to make use of the National Highways during their travel accross various parts of the COUNTRY . THE GOLDEN QUADRILATERAL of the NHAI has been a boon for a fast and easy travel to make long distance travel as comfortable as possible   Many of my mates I am sure would have come accross display boards at almost every alternate Kilometer with the prominent display of a NHAI CONTACT MOBILE HELPLINE NUMBER . I must admit that I have so far  been far too lazy to note down these numbers or to even  ponder on its very purpose.  On my very recent travel experience from Chennai to Ambasamudram on the NHAI , I noticed the Helpline Number from Tiruchy to Madurai section  was 8925400984 and on the Madurai to Nellai stretch it was mentioned as 8883216000 . Now , this set me thinking as to why would the NHAI spend Money and Effort to display the Contact Helpline Numbers Every Alternate Kilometer or thereabouts . A peep into

                          HARD TO RECONCILE THE LOSS  It is always difficult to reconcile to the loss of a dear one in the family . This is more so when the person happens to be your own  Father In Law who has seen all of 101 summers roll bye . ABOVE PICTURE ON HIS 100 TH BIRTHDAY LAST YEAR SAME TIME  We , that is myself and Revathy were unable to be in Chennai to celebrate the momentous 100 th birthday of my FIL last year as we were in Canada with our children . My FIL was a man from the old school of thought  with a very strict , measured and calculated way in how he led not only HIS life but those of his 4 OFFSPRINGS  . That a man with very  limited means could  educate his children , get them decently married and be the very backbone for the high position which they presently hold now needs to be a lesson for one and all to follow  . He , unfortunately had not been keeping well for sometime now with all the ailments related to his advanced age . Covid 19 and the travel restrictions

    FEAR IS THE KEY - COVID 19  My recent experience of having to make purchases of some home remedies like SANITIZER , A STRIP OF TABLETS TO ALLEVIATE HEADACHE PLUS A TUBE OF MOSQUITO REPELLENT at one of the prominent pharmacy in the city made interesting reading . My work for the day also included drawing some money from the ATM KIOSK which fortunately was almost very next to the pharmacy.  With repeated instructions from my better half and others in the family to be vary and maintain safe distance and be particularly careful to not venture any closer than a minimum of 3 meters from any other person . The Bandana , Mask and an extra protection Scarf over the nose and tied at the back of the neck plus the plastic hand gloves made me look more like the henchman of yesteryear screen villains of our movies . With the steadfast resolve to adhere to all the instructions given , i returned home satisfied at the job done well but  only to realize that i had in my eagerness left the package f