RANDOM THOUGHTS

    THAI AMMAVAASAI AT RAVANASAMUDRAM 31/01/22 The Annual Village Function at Ravanasamudram is always a well organized and well attended function . Natives from all over India and Abroad make it a point to be present in the village during the same . Unfortunately Covid has been a dampner during the last 2 years .  We atleast had a toned down Celebrations in 2021 ,  but 2022 was a non event in the Temple because of the various restrictions and a total lock down imposed  during the Weekends which unfortunately coincided with our family's 8 th Day functions which fell on the 16 th of Jan 2022 . Nevertheless , things seem to be  turning for the better now and restrictions are being slowly lifted .  Over the last so many years with  me being away from RVS , Ramani has been of great help to get the Annual Village Functions 8 th Day formalities organized on our behalf .  This year he  has taken the additional  trouble of initiating and organizing Alangaaram, Abhishekam and Prasadam at ou

                         ONE SIZE FITS ALL - DOES IT ?? Yesterday's post 462 , regarding the Republic Day Celebrations and my own reminiscence of being a part of it as a School Kid in the early 1960s at Bhilai in the then Madhya Pradesh and the  present day Chattisgarh brought back many more  funny memories . The picture of the Boy Scout now ( as in the picture above) was very different in  in the 1960 s .  The Scouts  Uniform then was of Coarse Cotton Khaki Material which consisted of the Shirt , Shorts , Scarf with a Badge , a Cap , Belt with a Clasp  at the joint  ,  Brown Canvas Shoes and Socks . This was provided to all the Students free of cost and the Government bore all the expenses . There however was this small  problem , the dresses were simply segregated in a  haphazard manner into bundles of  SMALL , MEDIUM AND LARGE , All the items did not arrive  at the same time . Different items would come on different days and were distributed by a person whom we all feared . Thes

      REPUBLIC DAY CELEBRATIONS   26 th JAN 2022  As I sit before the TV to watch the proceedings of the Republic Day Celebrations of 2022 , many memories come rushing in . I begin by recollecting the various images that pass bye my eyes . The first picture that comes to mind is that of me as a BOY SCOUT in a Bhilai School  in my painstakingly Starched and Ironed Uniform whose sharp crease at the Shirt sleeves or the Short Trouser would put many a sharp edged weapon to shame . The march past was always a special feature . A few years later , me as the School Captain of the School Heading the March Past at the SERRA Stadium at Kharagpur where my Father as the Chief Guest had unfurled the National Flag earlier . For many years the Annual Unfurling of the National Flag in front of the Memorial Turbine at the Madura Coats Mill Premises at Papanasam by the Vice President or the Mill Manager of the Mill  with the Security Staff taking part in the March Past was always special . The Vada and

                              A JOURNEY BACK IN TIME  Not everyone born after the late 1980s may even be aware of the Kerosene PRIMUS or JANATA WICK Stoves which were in use in our Kitchens. Being born in the 50s , I have recollections of the smoky Firewood Stoves and the Charcoal Stoves with which Mother would cook those delicacies which were always a part of our daily lives . I have not so very fond memories of lugging the Charcoal or Kerosene on my Bicycle as a school going kid during an emergency requirement from the Gole Bazaar at Kharagpur or the Sector 10 Market at Bhilai . Later , Getting Married and settling down at VKP  We were among the very lucky early ones to get the Services of the Gas Stoves at the Madura Coats Colony at VK PURAM from around the early 80s I should think . Even then the wait between getting a Refill for an exhausted Gas Cylinder always had these Kerosene Stoves taking up their places in the Kitchen. The concept of a spare cylinder at home came at a much l

  THYAGARAJA  AARADHANAI                     22 - 01- 22  With the Covid Restrictions in full  force ,  the Annual Thyagaraja Aaradhanai of Saint Thyagaraja was held at THIRUVAIARU in  as a  toned down Version . The reverence though was in no small measure  . It was a delight to experience the Devine Music as rendered in unison by all the eminent musicians . POTHIGAI DOORDARSHAN coverage of the event brought the experience to our Drawing Rooms . This brought back fond memories of being personally  part of the function 3 years back with my better half  at THIRUVAIARU on the banks of the Cauvery .                    YOURS TRUELY AT THIRUVAIARU                                        Jan 2019  The annual THYAGARAJA AARADHANAI ON BAHULA PANCHAMI Was held this year on the 25 th of January 2019. I am a very great lover of music in all its forms , Carnatic , Hindustani , Tamil and Hindi Film Music of the vintage variety . I must also confess my inability to differentiate the various Ragaa s bu

 Not everything is bad in India                           Nor  Is everything super in you know                          Where . We as a Nation for some unknown reason like to look down on anything Indian and compare it with the Western World and the USA . The fact is  that we are one fourth their Size and Eight times their population .  Take the picture below as an example : The caption " TRAINS HERE RUN ON TRASH "  This is a picture of a suburban train running near KOLIWADA , a Bombay suburb . The paper goes on to lampoon the local administration and compare it with the state of affairs in the more affluent Nations  Now consider the second picture below :  This is a picture of the  trash littered near the Railway Tracks in guess where , Los Angeles in USA . I have very fond memories of KOLIWADA SION AND MATUNGA having spent many a formative year  there . Similarly I have visited Los Angeles and seen many of its top spots which include the Disneyland and the Universal Studios

THOUGHT PROVOKING HEADLINES Today's Newspaper has some really eye catching captions as their Headlines . We are in the midst of a raging Pandemic with almost 3 Lakh new infections everyday in the State . 1 ) TASMAC NETS CLOSE TO 320 CRORES ON PONGAL EVE SALE Schools and Colleges are closed , places of mass gatherings such as amusement parks , zoo , Govt Offices are functioning with certain curbs , total weekend lockdown which include closing of places of Worship on Friday , Saturday and Sunday hardly leaves anyone in doubt about the Government's job on hand to curb the spread of Pandemic to Uncontrolled Levels . Two very conspicuous items left out from this ambit of restrictions are the Movie Theaters and the TASMAC sales outlets .  I do hope that I am wrong but there seems to be strong notion that with depleted resources on hand , the Govt has hardly any other option up its sleeves  to keep the Govt day to day  Machinery running to meet its commitments . The Second is the Firs

Alternate Method to Calculate the Length of the  Hypotenuse as done by using the Pythagoras Theorem   The Tamilian land, centuries before the dawn of the common era had built dams and dikes, palaces and great cities during the Sangam era. I was wondering how the great turrets in temples and great highways were built without any knowledge about the Pythagoras theorem was made possible. My search did bring some information to the effect that to find the hypotenuse of a right-angle triangle independent of the Pythagoras theorem, which enunciate that sum of the square of both sides of the right angle will be equal to the square of the hypotenuse, of the triangle. It is not a simple task to find the square of a number, but finding the square root of a number is a herculean task. There is no simple formula to find the square root of a number.  To my own surprise and astonishment, I found that an ancient Tamil Mathematician/Poet by the name of  Pothayanar, who had lived 800 years before the c

 AQUARIUM AT PAPANASAM-456  I am not sure how many of us are even aware that there is a Small Aquarium at PAPANASAM . That it is situated at the Entrance of The Kalakad Mundanthurai Wild Life Sanctuary may come as a surprise to many as FISH and LAND BASED  WILD LIFE   hardly have anything in Common . Nevertheless this AQUARIUM though  started on a small scale in an Air Conditioned State of the Art Enclosure is sure to attract a lot of Visitors making their way From and To the Agasthiar Falls  . Children especially are sure to love the experience . Entrance is free for them and at a nominal charge for the Adults . Do take the time out to visit the same when you are on your next jaunt to or from  Agasthiar Falls and let your Children or Grandchildren enjoy the fun besides gaining some useful knowledge about these Gorgeous and Colorful Creatures of God with whom we share this wonderful planet of ours .