RANDOM THOUGHTS

                        ६० साल के पहले की दिवाली  साठ साल पहले दिवाली कैसे मनायी जाती थी , उसे आज के बच्चे सुन कर हैरान हो जायेंगे  लाल पटाके के पाकिट से येक-येक पटाका अलग करके उसे येक येक करके जलाना या फोड़ना  गली गली में जाकर बिना जले पटाकों को इखट्टा करना  रहिस घर के लड़कों को पटाके जलाते देख उसमे अपनी खुशी ढूँढना  चुन कर लाये गये ऐटम और लक्ष्मी बॉम्ब को फोड़ना  पटाके वाले हाथ को बिना धोये, खाने पर बैठने पर माँ के हाथ से मार खाना  बचे कुचे पटाकों को येक काग़ज़ में जमा करके उसे जलाते वक़्त चोट या घाव हासिल करना  पिताजी के पटाके ख़रीद कर लाने के इंतेज़ार में बार बार दरवाज़े पर जाकर देखना और डाँट खाना  भाईसाहब या बेहनजी ,  “जरा सम्भाल कर जाइयो “ बॉम फटने वाली है , केह कर डराना  नये कपड़ों में अपने आप को देव आनंद या शम्मी कपूर समझकर रोग जमाना  १० दिन या २० दिन पहलें से ही दिवाली के शुभ दिन का इंतेज़ार करना  दादा दादी , चाचा चाची , मामा मामी , भैया भाभी सभी से ज़िद ...

           FOND DIWALI MEMORIES OF OUR                                 YOUNGER DAYS                       On the eve of Deepavali our House was at  its chaotic best or worst depending upon how one would look at it . It bore a striking resemblance to the chaos associated with Mambalam Ranganathan Street at its festive peak . The " Boiler " for preparing  the Hot water for the early morning bath next day was scrubbed clean and was at its Shiny Best . The Sandalwood Tilak and the kumkum Pottu  made it look even more auspicious . The Sesame Oil and Chikakai  powder in closed containers found the pride of place in the Swami Room . Each one of us in the family would get the new pair of  Dresses with the kumkum mark which found a  place  on top of the newspaper laid out expressly  f...

            HOW TIMES HAVE CHANGED    I am not sure how many from the Gen Next  would have even  heard of the term Valve Radio .  TELERAD, MURPHY , PHILLIPS,   TELEFUNKEN MARCONI were popular Brands in those days . They were bought on Installment payment just as it is done nowadays for a Fridge , TV or AC or Car . It used to be the sole mode of entertainment by way of listening to music via the Radio Signal through what used to be called an Aerial  on the Terrace of your Homes  . It came with features which included Medium Wave + 3 or 5 Bands . More the Bands , higher the prices and better the  Rrception . FM did not even exist in those days . All India Radio and Vividh Bharathi came a very poor second to Radio Ceylon which  had a huge audience in both Hindi and Tamil Languages . This extended across the whole of the Indian Sub Continent . Being a Commercial Broadcaster , its Ads for Indian Products wer...

     SOME PEOPLE ARE SURE ,  BORN LUCKY Just the other day I came across a very interesting article in a Newspaper . Besides evoking many a guffaw for the comic relief that it provided and the  thought provoking insight  it provided , made me share my own views on the subject . Prince Charles , Sorry , I need to Correct Myself , because he is now ,  HIS MAJESTY ,  THE KING OF GREAT BRITAIN  . He has a special Valet , in all his Golden Livery , carefully sqeezing one inch of Toothpaste on to the Royals Golden Toothbrush before the Royal went to bed each night . There was  also a valet who ironed  his shoe laces each morning . The moot question though is  , does the Valet  also brush the  Royals Teeth after squeezing the paste on the Goldenn T oothbrush  .  I also  wonder as to why the  shoelaces need to be ironed in the first place . It occupies a most innocuous place in the attire of a Man , Royal ...

                  First Foray in to  Social Media  These are now days of Instant Transfer of News , Pictures or Videos . These can now be sent to all your near and dear ones across the World in no time and sometimes even as the event is taking place . People with WHOM you are just on a HELLO term get to see all your posts . The Internet and the Mobile Phone have  Changed the way of our daily life . ZOOM , GOOGLE MEET.  EMAIL WHATSAPP, INSTAGRAM , TWITTER are Just a few terms which are very much a part of our daily life now . Add Amazon , Flipkart and tatacliq and you need not step out of your home for any Market  purchases . All your orders  get delivered to  your doorstep . Net Banking , Googlepay , Rupay , Phonepay , etc have made our Monetary  Transactions even more simple . The need to carry cash in your Wallet is now a thing of the past . Plastic and Chip embedded Debit and Credit Cards are the way...

                     BEING ON  CLOUD NINE  Everyone in my age group or for that matter in any age  group ,  will recall the fond memories of their  First Ride on a Bicycle . The many falls , scratches or bruises that you had to endure before you finally got the hang of the delicate art of balancing the two wheels while being precariously seated in that small piece of leather is I am sure still fresh in your minds  . Further finding the resources for hiring these cycles was always a tough challenge and many a hardship of good all around behaviour for many hours had to be  endured before you could permit  your parents to part with the astronomical figure of 25 paise in those days for that One  Hour  being in Heaven on your hired Bicycle.  Fast Forward to the present age . At almost the same age but in a totally different era , I now see my Granddaughter on a GLIDER PLANE in Canada...

                   TAAL VOLCANO IN NEWS  AGAIN  Taal Volcano in the Philippines is in the news again . It appears to have become active and spewing a lot of Debris all around . I might be one among the very few to have visited and seen this Volcano in its more calmer times from this part of the World which in itself is  a unique event .  ‐--------------------'xxxxxx--------------------- Following is a Newspaper Clip about the Eruption of the Taal Volcanoe in the Philippines in today s THE HINDU .               Mount Taal is located some 100 kms from Makati. the Financial Capital of The Philippines much like the Trivandrum and Ernakulam in our own Kerala  . My Son In Law Kamesh and Daughter Anoobala  were then staying and working in The Philippines .  This news of the eruption of the Volcano brings back memories of my own visit to this  place in 2005 along with my ...

  Ever Wondered why our place got to be named as AMBASAMUDRAM  ?   There is no SAMUDRAM anywhere nearbye,  is there ?                              Over the years , we have all been associated with a place which got its name by being associated with a Personality , Event , Place of Worhip or Locale . I have now been at Ambasamudram for close to half a century now . The question of how this place got this name has always been at the back of my mind . Yesterday's visit to Kasinathaswamy or Eritharkondan Temple and our Learned friend Ramalinga Battar who overseas all the rituals at this Temple and who is known to us from our Mill Colony Vinayakar Kovil days explaining the details of this Temple finally gave me the answer.  MARAGATHAMBAL is the Consort of the Presiding Deity Kasinathaswamy at this Temple . SHE is positioned in the Temple right in front of the Perennial River Tambarabarani...

           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  us 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 ON A POST IN THE MIDDLE OF THE DIVIDER  . 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 ...

 ( IMAGINARY AD FOR A HOUSING COMPLEX AT                             AGASTHIARPATTY  ) HOUSE WITH ALL COMFORTS  ( This is just an imaginary AD for a new Housing Complex Coming up at Agasthiarpatty )  NESTLED AS IT IS ON THE FOOTHILLS OF THE WESTERN GHATS , THIS NEW HOUSING COMPLEX  IS RIGHTLY NAMED AS                  " THE  NATURE'S ABODE "  IT IS AN ALL NEW EXPERIENCE , WHERE ONE LEARNS TO LIVE AND RESPECT NATURE  WITH THE  INVITING MOUNTAIN RANGES ON   ONE SIDE ; THE LUSH GREEN PADDY FIELDS ON THE OTHER AND THE MAJESTIC TAMBARABARANI RIVER PROUDLY SNAKING HER WAY ACROSS THE PLAINS IN THE MIDDLE  , this is sure to take the City Dwellers by surprise . JUST 2 KMS FROM AMBASAMUDRAM RAILWAY STATION , THIS HAS A NUMBER OF RENOWNED SCHOOLS , PRIMARY HEALTH CENTER , MANY PLACES OF RELIGIOUS IMPORTANCE , THE AGASTHI...

 MY TRAVELS WITH THE INDIAN CRICKET TEAM              The above Title I am  sure is going  to confuse many and most  People  would  have got me wrong about my place in the Indian Cricket Team.  Barring a few occasions at the Eden Gardens , Calcutta ,  The Brabourne Stadium in Bombay or the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore where I have watched a few matches from the distant and packed stands  ,  is about the closest that I have ever got to The Indian Cricket Team . From my  Schooldays onwards , for some reason my favorite Cricketers tag have always been  with a PAIR  , Pataudi/Borde , Gavaskar/Vishwanath , Gavaskar/Kapil Dev Gavaskar/Srikkanth , Ganguly/Sehwag, Sehwag/Tendulkar, Tendulkar/Dravid , Dravid/Sehwag  , Virat/Rohit , Jadeja/Suryakumar  One Conspicuous  name missing in that list  is that of the THALAIVAA  Mahendra Singh  Dhoni . He has been the ...

        PCD GROUP MEET  THE 2nd PCD GROUP MEET WAS HELD TODAY AT THE VIJAYA MAHAL KALYANA MANDAPAM AT PAPANASAM . Many in the Coats Antique Group might be wondering as to what Me a Weaving Loom Shed Man had got to do in meet of the  PCD Group  . It might surprise many , but my last year of service at Coats was in the  PCD Department . In fact for many of the former PCD Staff and the Assistants also it was  no less of a Surprise , so much so that I did not come to their notice during the Group's first meet more than a Year back and sadly  I stayed uninvited . Some candid confessions need to be made here . Being from Weaving and that too from  Loom Shed there have been innumerable occasions when we have not been at an Eye to Eye Contact on an issue at hand .  The last Year at PCD has been an eye opener and brought about a change in my perspective. Be it any issue , at work , at a meet or better still even with your life partner ,...

              NAVARATHRI- GOLU - 2024  For reasons which are beyond me , Golu and Navarathri are always considered a festival of the Ladies as they hog all the limelight during the Nine Days of the Festival .    All the Jewellery , both Originals and the Fake ones come out of their captivity from the Bank Lockers and are on display each evening for the Vettalai , Paakku , Pazham Function.  Kancheepuram Silk Sarees make their appearance , draped as they are on all the ladies of the house .  Both The Young  and the not so Young who thus far have been loathing the very name of a Saree venture out bravely into the delicate art of Draping the Saree around them and practice for that Momentous Day which is not all that much ahead .  One stand out feature for the Males and especially the Youngsters in the House is the Sundal Prasadam in the Evening . Each day a different Variety of both the Sweet and Kaaram Varieties are a mu...