RANDOM THOUGHTS

  REDUCING TRAFFIC AT SIGNAL  माणनीय प्रधान मंत्रीजी , नमसककर मैने आप के साथ सम्पर्क ज़ारी करने कि कई बार कोशिश की है , लेकिन अब तक ना कामयाब रहा हूँ . आप सारे भारत के सबसे जाने माने नेता है जिन्होंने इस महान देश के सभी वासियों के जीवन में परिवर्तन लाने की पूरी कोशिश कर रहे हैं . कोविद की महामारी का सामना करने के लिये आपके द्वारा लिये गये कदम सिर्फ भारत में ही नहीं सारी दुनिया के द्वारा तारीफ़ की जा रही है . मै आशा करता हूँ की भगवान की दुआ से हम जल्द से जल्द इस महामारी से पूरी तरह जीत हासिल कर सकें . इस से लड़ने का सबसे आसान तरीका , लोगों के बीच दूरी कायम रखना बताया जा रहा है , लेकिन कई कारणों की वजह हम इसे पूरी तरह लागू करने में ना सफल रहे है. मिसाल के तौर पर अगस्त्यारपट्टी जहां मै रहता हूँ , यहां के बस स्टॉप से कई जगह बसें आती जाती हैं . यहां से नागरकोइल , तिरुनेलवेली , मदुरै , तनकासी आने जाने वाली बस गुज़रती हैं . इन गाड़ियों का आने जाने के समय का पता ना होने के कारण यहां लोग जमा होकर बसों का इंतेज़ार करते हैं . मेरी ऐक सुझाव है . अब तो हर ऐक के पास मोबाइल फ़ोन है , क्या जी पी यस के सहारे

        PROBLEMS OF PLENTY  The Selection Committee of the BCCI now seem to be having an unenviable problem on their hands  . The ever increasing assembly line production of Cricket Players of International Standards is now posing  a big problem for  the Selection Committee in Choosing the Playing Eleven in all the three formats be it the TESTS , T20 s OR ODI s . The stellar performances of the Debutants over the last 3 months in all the formats make the Committee's task that much more difficult . The performance of Debutants Washington Sundar , Shardul Thakur and Muhammad Siraj in Australia ,  The outstanding performance on  Debu by Suryakumar Yadav and Ishan Kishan in the recent  T 20 s Matches against England . The inspiring and Stellar show by the Debutants  Krunal Pandya and Prasidh Krishna in the First OD1 against England yesterday have gone on to become a problem of Plenty for the Selection Committee . The 2021 IPL from early next month where a few more stars are sure to Sho

  JEERA RASAM / KEERAI  / SUTTA APPALAM My exploits in the kitchen for good or bad have been largely restricted to the making of the morning coffee for some decades now . Barring the rare occasions when I had ventured to make the Potato Curry , my exploits to try out  my culinary skills have been rare . Last Sunday though was a pleasant surprise , I had made Cumin Consomme on a bed of hot rice with Spicy Lentil Mash topped with Browned Rice Crisps . The  Greens picked up from the Native Farmer added at the last minute went on to make the serving even more inviting . I am sure all of you might be wondering as to what I am reffering to in these exotic dishes . Friends , you would be surprised but all that I am reffering to is my experience of making  the JEERA RASAM SAADAM , PARUPPU THOGIYAL  WITH KEERAI AND SUTTA APPALAM .   NOT A BAD FIRST TIME EXPERIENCE 

          SAALE KAA JAWAAB NAHIN  शादी के बाद ,  शुरू के कुछ साल हम ऐक भाड़े के घर में रहा करते थे ी घर से निकल कर सड़क पर जाने के लिये दस सीढ़ियाँ उतर कर आना पड़ता था ी काम पर जाते समय साइकिल के साथ उतरते समय फिसलने के डर से मै बगैर चप्पल से उतरा करता था ी श्रीमतीजी नीचे आकर चप्पल दिया करती थी ी  कुछ समय बाद मेरा साला कुछ din  हमारे साथ रहकर गाँव चला गया ी  वहां पर उसके पिता यानी मेरे ससुर ने हमारे बारे में पूछ ताछ की ी  साले ने बताया की , बाकी सब तो ठीक है , मिया , बीवी दोनों बहुत कुश नज़र आते हैं , लेकिन एक बात ज़रूर बहुत अचरज़ की है  ी  ससुर ने घबराकर पूछा , क्या बात है बेटा श्यामला खुश है की नहीं ? साले ने जवाब दिया   बाकी सब ठीक है , लेकिन जब तक श्यामला चप्पल नहीं दिखती है , दामाद मियां काम पर जाने के लिये राज़ी नहीं होते हैं !!!!  PS  : I have used the app for typing in Hindi , please excuse the mistakes in Typing/Spelling  

  ANAND MOVIE REVISITED  Anand Mahindra's ( Auto Tycoon ) recent tweet on the Movie ANAND in which he brought back memories of the Movie which he saw some 50 years back as a 15 year old has revived my own memories of this iconic movie . I too have very fond memories of this movie which I saw as a 21 year old on the  15 th of March 1971 at the Lotus Theatre near Shiv Sagar Estate/ Haji Ali . I have not been to Mumbai for a long time and so I am not sure if this very Theatre exists even now or if it has been converted in to a Multiplex . Rajesh Khanna was the reigning superstar by then and Amitabh Bachchan was just beginning to get a firm toehold in Bollywood . This movie is one of my all time favourites . I think it could be the movie which I have seen the maximum number of times . Be it Rajesh Khanna as Anand , Amitabh as Bhasker Banerjee , Johny Walker as Isa Bhai Suratwala , Lalita Pawar as the stern Nurse D'Sa Madam or Ramesh Deo as Dr Kulkarni, all played their parts to per

        HARVEST 2021 - SELF ON THE HARVESTING                                                MACHINE   A combination of factors have gone on to make this harvest a very exciting and an almost roller coaster ride with the fortune of weather changing so often . 5 days of continuous heavy downpour during the fag end of the monsoon which caused serious flooding and left large tracts of land totally submerged in water was a sure dampner of a  good harvest later . Fortunately our paddy field at Brahmadesam was not as badly affected as many  other places around this area . Covid , not finding suitable hands at the right time were also a cause for anxiety . Lastly , with the harvest just a week away , the non seasonal heavy rains last week was a serious setback . The paddy stalk just awaiting harvest , stooped down due to the rains  in to the water and began  to germinate again and make the work of the HARVESTER MACHINE that much more difficult .The normal 90 minute hiring time almost doubled

            TALENT GONE UNRECOGNIZED  Over the years I have often heard Velusamy  murmuring a yesteryear MGR or Sivaji song as he went about his job of plucking coconuts from the tall trees in our house or at our neighbors backyard . Climbing a coconut tree is a job that needs a lot of practice ,  skill and courage . Our man Velusamy  seems to have all these in plenty . The singing of his favourite numbers while on the job seems to suggest  ample proof of that . Inspite of my many efforts he seemed very shy of the sudden  limelight as I went about recording his singing and I could catch only a few lines . What little that I could does however suggest that here is one more of the missed talent that has gone unrecognized. 

                             ALL OUT WELCOME  There are various ways to gauge the reception you are likely to get in a house as you enter the same unannounced "WELCOME" doormat is one , " GREETINGS LIKE PONGAL OR NEW YEAR " drawn on the Kolam or Rangoli is another way . "Beware of Dog/Dogs" is a sure sign to put the fears into anyone plus the sign that " YOU ARE COVERED BY A SURVEILLANCE CAMERA" does tell you for sure that you may not necessarily be Welcome in their house . The last one takes the Cake . The shrill voice of the lady of the house even as you knock on the door , asking her husband and lord of the house to  " paathu kadava thorongo , saniyan , ella vidamaana kosu thollai romba jaastiyaa irrukku , eppo ulla vandu uyurai vaangum nu theriyalai   (please be careful when you open the door , all sorts of  mosquitoes are ready to come and feast on our blood )    is sure to make you have second thoughts of knocking  on the door one more

  HOW OPPORTUNISTIC  CAN                WE BECOME  The recent spate of frenzied  forwards in the social media of the Template for  the application form of a FREE BUS PASS saw a huge sharing and a call for all above 65 years to make use of the same . I thought that this praiseworthy scheme of the Government of Tamilnadu was for the unfortunate ones  under the BPL or Below Poverty Line  . From what I could make out a Household having an income of less than Rs 78000 per annum are classified to be under the below  poverty level  . I could be way off the mark here . What I sincerely feel and hope is that quite a lot of us would not be normally eligible to avail this benefit . Those who are please do make use of the benefit . Others just please ponder for a second , We Indians for some strange reason will leave no stone unturned to get hold of anything that is given free . The joke , COFFEE KI BADILAHA PHENOL FREE YAA KUDUTHA KOODA VAANGUVAANGA in Tamil comes to mind . What comes as a shock

GOVID 19 VACCINATION MARCH SECOND 2021 Consider This ; Phase Two of PM Modi s plan to Vaccinate 10 Crore People in the fight against COVID 19 for all those aged above 60 years is humongous if nothing else  . The huge  population involved , the size of the nation with its varied terrain , the requirement of the vaccine  being in 2 doses 28 days apart , the need for the vaccine to be stored at a particular cool temperature , the general apathy of the public at large to be vaccinated in the first place all add up to make the whole excercise as something which only a man out of his senses whould embark upon . PM Modi has been steadfast in his resolve to face the crisis and  has been the pillar of encouragement to all the scientists and researchers who have been successful in developing not one but two vaccines in a  record time . India and  PM Modi are now being looked as saviors and the Indian vaccines are in great demand the world over . PM Modi set an example by choosing COVAXINE , the