Scribbles

Madras to Bombay

2011-11-26T23:35:00.000-08:00

During my school days I always wanted to visit Bombay, I also did but mostlly as a tourist. Today I am here in Bombay to spend few weeks with my dad and brother, now when I look back into those days…. the way I used to gaze at every single thing in the city with an excitement, I laugh at myself today…. Damn I have grown! Well Bombay has not changed, I have.

Madras is a land of ‘The Best Things’ – Well, everyone would say so about their land too; but Madras is always special.

Let me walk through a small comparison...

First thing I noticed entering the city, was the ambience outside the airport; it was so annoying to see so many cars, autos, buses, being clamped and congested. The road which leads to the main roads were crappy with the so called tall buildings alongside which look greyed out and the half constructed buildings drenched in rains. I was under the impression that Madras airport is the one with the least looks but I really regret for my thought “Madras is heaven”, the road which leads to the main roads into the city are huge and classy. There is nothing to complain about the view of the city from airport; it is definitely ‘Love at first sight’

In Bombay, which is a metro too, has majority of people speaking either in Marathi or Hindi or some other language and have little knowledge in English, it was so hard for a person like me who knows broken Hindi but still want the local people’s help. It is damn hard - whoever comes to Bombay should know basic Hindi at least to 20% or you will need a English to Hindi translation book or a person with you who knows both English and Hindi else you will be dumb and showing hands and suffering. Come to Madras, even the auto guys, bus drivers, conductors, flower vendor, vegetable vendor, porter, taxi drivers, restaurant guys, small road side shops and everyone in the city will guide you even if you speak in English, though not in great English but in a much understandable way… for sure language is no problem in Madras.

Festivals are amazing in Bombay, at this time; Visarjan is like the best festival one could watch and enjoy, I must admit that every state must learn from Bombay when it comes to celebrating festivals. Visarjan – immersion of Lord Ganesha on the 10^th day from the start of Vinayaka Chaturthi. 10^th day hungama is too huge; I have never seen such huge idol of Lord Ganesha in streets and people singing ‘Ganapathi bapa moriya’ in loud voices. It was fabulous with lots of colours, dance, sweets, drums and lots more.. Celebrations were throughout the night, it was splendid. Any person who comes to Bombay cannot resist this time of the year. Be it Navaratri and Diwali are back to back festivals of enjoyment, I can’t forget the music which kept rolling into my ears for straight 24 hrs. Dance and music are predominet for these people and here I see Punjabi, Gujarati, Jains, Tamils and many more mingle in one single place and tap their feet together. It was such a lovely sight to see all different cultures mingling. Hands down Bombay rules festivals. BUT sometimes there are so many mishaps while parading en route to sea for immersion, yet this happens everytime when there is a huge crowd, keeping all the negatives aside, Bombay is lovely in nights, the shops where they make hot jelebies, samosas, vada pav, oops I almost forgot pani poori, trust me, I have never tasted the most tangiest and yummiest pani poori anywhere in the world except in this place. Bombay is good for all types of eating stuff, you name it you have!! It’s right across the street.

I must also say rains in Bombay are heavenly; especially for any person who travels from Madras, not that we hardly see rain, but here its most nice, chilly, soothing and also calm. Sometimes rains are disturbing but most of the times it’s pleasant and cheerful.

Temples…. Everyone would expect me to say Mahalakshmi temple and Prabhadevi Siddivinayak temple are the best ones… (yes they are… ) however … Sriradi Sai Baba temples are THE BEST in Bombay. Even a small sriradi temple will look beautiful and neat. Speaking about Mahalakshmi temple, the road which leads to the temple is a real mess, people who come from south will surely not like the path leading to the temple. The main Mandir looks veryyyy beautiful with nice flooring and small small sweet stalls. Behind the Mandir there is a huge open space which gives the view of the Arabian sea, it is a must see sight. Breeze would take us to a different world with Mandir bells tingling along with the smell of agarpathi. Aaaaahhhh divine… the rocks behind the temple is always wet as the sea water splashes giving it an antique texture.

Next temple which I visited was Mumbadevi temple in Zaveri bazaar… yes the same place where there was a blast few weeks before my arrival… until I arrived to that temple I dint know it’s in Zaveri….OMG… I must thank GOD for bringing me home safe. My heart was beating higher and higher as I was nearing the temple, the reason is the whole of Zaveri bazaar is filled with Muslim population. I quickly got reminded of hey ram movie seeing that pace. Zaveri chowk the sickest place ever… yuckkkkkkkkk to the core… I really don’t know how they are maintaining a temple there. It is such a sensitive area; a small spark is enough to create so many probs.

On the other hand I was amazed when I went to Narashimar temple at chembur, I thought I am at Madras. The place has a huge population of tamizhs, it felt lovely to hear tamil archanai…. Waare wahh… Tamizh is beautiful. Also Murugan temple which is few streets away from Narashimar temple was much more beautiful with so many steps leading to the main sanctam. ‘Azhagu’ is the word seeing that temple.

Speaking about malls - in Bombay they are quiet good, the extravaganza is more.. but the quality and collections are all the same in every mall.. Just that there are many malls. Yet, I still feel Madras has equally best malls and the best shops. Nevertheless I love shopping for earrings in any place.

So to conclude, Chennai (yes the first time I am typing this) my gorgeous Madras is my home whatsoever is THE BEST and Mumbai, is good in its own way, just that it should look more high class for being a huge business hub for India and standing as an important metro.

I really miss living in Mumbai… I boarded the fight staring at the view of the city thinking one day I will live in this city which I treasured and enjoyed inch by inch… However........

“Sowgame endralum adhu nammura pola varuma” :)

Arun Shourie addressed on ‘Real Significance of Scams’

2010-12-19T08:05:00.000-08:00

It was a cloudy Saturday morning with chill breeze striking my face and I was in 29c bus to reach chetpet for a speech addressed by Mr. Arun Shourie, Journalist, author and former union minister and Mr. Vittal former central vigilance commissioner on the topic ‘Real Significance of Scams’ at chinmaya heritage centre organised by Nani Palkhivala foundation. I knew the speech is going to be amazing and most interesting. Since my company is doing PR for Nani Palkhivala foundation i was the PR executive assigned for this event. This is my first political event. i was under the impression that very young guns would be seen in the crowd, but to my surprise i saw so many old grandfathers and grandmothers walking up to floors to listen to the speech. The crowd had gathering of retired IAS, IPS, Advocates etc, mostly above 60’s. Their involvement in this speech made me listen to the speech. As so many people came via lift I saw Mr. Arun Shourie climbing the stairs with a beaming smile at me in reception and proceeded to the hall...

People were still coming in groups; never i have heard any political speech, i was so anxious to know what he is going to speak. Usually for any event media would reach little late or sometimes never turn up, but this time i saw herds of media people specially TV channels and almost all the publications signing the media registration. My curiosity went sky high.

After all the registrations i finally entered the hall. Mr.VIttal was speaking about the scams. I am no great in understanding politics ever. For that fact i used to sulk in college to study politics and write an exam for 100 marks (which was totally a disaster) one good thing about my college days is that i got the habit of taking running notes whenever someone addresses the gathering. The same thing happened here also.

The main topic discussed here was the 2G spectrum scam. (1.76 crore scam by RAJA)

Well coming to the point Mr. Vittal made few statements which was very much informative... i would like to jot them as points.

He said time has come to expose those who give bribe rather than those who receive them.
1961 of dowry act says both the giver and the taker are found guilty; the same thing could be done for scams also. Or take actions like the outcomes of chandrawadhana commission.
Today the conviction rate of punishment in court is only 6% which means 94% of people get escaped.
In our country we make laws with huge loopholes.
When there can be law breakers? And why not law makers?
Why should we have tainted ministers?
This topic of ‘Real Significance of Scams ‘shows how systematically we are fooled by our constitution.
In Hong Kong when they had corruption they had ICAC – Independent commission against corruption, which was aimed to clean up endemic corruption in the many departments of the Hong Kong Government through law enforcement, prevention and community education. The ICAC is headed by the Commissioner. Due to which the corruption rate got reduced.
To see a change in our country there are two T’s important to fight corruption

1. TINA factor (There is no other alternative) – This would ensure guilty and punishment is given.

2.Transparency – this would ensure prevention of corruption

CVC, CAG, Election commission and Judiciary should bring the TINA factor.

Then comes Mr. Arun Shourie he opened the topic by what Mr. Vittal had said. I will jot them as points too

Mr. Vittal said there are huge loopholes in our constitution but I don’t see any Loops I see huge holes instead.
Corruption is like a cancer in our country it should be killed soon else it would spread so much.
He mentioned that if ministers are corrupt their assistants would do paper work for the ministers and later for them too, this would develop and corruption level goes high.
He said Nira Radia is a great contribution to the society where there is an interlocking web of mutual complexity which is exposed through the record conversations
Today reforms are becoming impossible and PM is operating in a system where he is unable to improve reforms. Also added that PM knew about these scams before but did nothing for about 2years.
Further he said we should be very active else a corrupt person will rely on our laziness by not looking into the facts.
There should not be any adjournments by court for any scams else they would keep piling and over a period of time people would forget it and new scam would come up.
Two punishments should be given

1.Physical incarnation – should be put in jail

2.Barred from public life for life.

He said not to believe everyone is a crook and do not get deflected by facts
Today most honest people are being under investigation for scams, advice to those people would be, don’t feel bad because it is your duty to help the country
Advice to Raja – stop following my footsteps and become a approver, even your leaders have said that a single person is not involved in any scam.

Well there the speech ends. These are the few important points i could make note of. Once the speech got over every television media circled Mr. Shourie and asked zillion questions like are you ready to face the CBI, was your ministry clean when you were union minister and all that. He had answered positively for those questions.

What i was amazed was i had seen media being gathered to one person only in TV.. When I saw so many of them climbing up to the stage and asking question i was amazed. I was standing much interested in knowing what Mr. Shourie is speaking rather than the media crowd, so i was rounding that small speech trying to listen sharp. I felt happy sharing the same stage of Mr. Arun Shourie.

That day event was so damn educative. I had zero knowledge in politics before now it has grown a little; I hope I would follow about this spectrum scam if not other scams...

Old is Gold - postal mails to emails

2010-11-13T05:24:00.000-08:00

I appreciate technology, it has definitely made life lots easier and comfortable... people are able to communicate through video chats, emails, sms, phones and lots more, but even now one thing I miss are the letters being posted.

Going back in time is always really nostalgic, I recall the days where my thatha (Grandfather) use to write letters to my mother and at the end of the letter he used to write for me too. It will be a small paragraph still I would be excited to read them... I used to get greeting cards from grandparents for my birthdays. During those days these never mattered so much for me, yet at bottom of my heart I would love those cards and letters addressed to me.

There are few letters which my mother used to preserve; sometimes I read them which make me miss those beautiful communications. I still remember fetching inland letters from the post box, baffling how to open them and hand it over to my mother. Once I tore it in a wrong direction and got scoldings also... happy days... life was much simple then.

In today’s world it’s very hard to have a postal communication especially for the time it takes to reach us. I almost forgot how to open an inland letter now. Emails do has options to save the conversations and stuff, but I personally feel that nothing can match to that of seeing your loved one’s handwriting in the letter and reading their words after years particularly when the letter looks fade and dull. Only thing which can be done is to cherish those yester year modes of communications.

Old is absolutely Gold... the much proven incident in everyone's life.

My sudden craving for paratha

2010-11-10T04:51:00.000-08:00

We all crave for many things in life; I bet every human being would dream about hogging their favourite food especially when they don’t have access to it at that moment. The same sort of thing happened to me during two days before diwali. I dreamt of having nice aalo paratha that too at middle of work right after my lunch. I looked out of the window and saw herds of people walking here n there with their diwali goodies, I was so sure that I could never sneak between this mad crowd for one paratha.

I really had to push time till evening and divert my mind to something else, but somehow I end up in munching paratha only. I imagined how I would literally hog on them when i get them, but I could only imagine and never eat.

I was completely disappointed and tried to forget about my craving and started to proceed towards bus stand from work. I made up my mind that I would have paratha the next day whatsoever.... just then i was fixing my mind one singh was sitting in bus talking about how to make paratha to someone over phone. I was like omg.... stop this, already I am going mad and this fellow is adding fuel to fire.

I went and stood away from that conversation so that I don’t hear him, but hard luck he was heard all over the bus may be the next bus too.. Sigh.... with all longing I got down at adyar and started to walk towards besi road to reach home, still I was figuring out a chance to have paratha somewhere. I crossed adyar bakery, outside that place there was a stick board saying all grand sweets products.... Before I finished reading it I knew I am going to have something if not paratha. The first menu in the list said aalo paratha, my eyes beamed like never before with a wide smile. I happily ordered... but the guy said its over and aalo gobi paratha is only available (as if i care) I nodded miming give whatever man, I am craving since this noon...

Hot Hot paratha with gobi side dish came, I hogged on to yummy paratha happily without thinking about anything and walked home briskly as if I achieved something.

At times craving for food is a nice feeling that too when you find what you wished for is right next to you, the feel is outstanding. That evening was satisfactory !!

Realised not a student anymore !

2010-11-08T21:55:00.001-08:00

My student life is over. I realised it in a much better way when government announced off for schools and colleges due to 'Jal' cyclone. I am recalling the days where I use to wake up early on a Monday morning for college and news will be running behind the ‘getting ready process’… just then I brush my teeth watching the news in tv, the lady would announce, TN govt announced off for schools and colleges… there is no better news than this that too on a Monday morning. I brush my teeth and blissfully go back to sleep. It feels like I have achieved something, it sounds so stupid but holiday on a Monday is the best ever news in the whole world being a student. That’s when our chain sms starts to all our friends.. “hey its off…we don’t have college for 2 more days”...I miss those texts.

But the funny part is the next two days sun will beam all way to glory. haha.. thats when our movie plans, besi meets will be made... Those days are heaven.

Today I am not a student anymore. I have to work, I always wonder why government never announces such kind of holidays for working people as well. Sigh… student life is ever green whatsoever...

What is professionalism?

2010-07-18T03:07:00.000-07:00

What is professionalism? A person who is skilled in his work and does his job perfectly to best of his knowledge. But today software engineers and doctors alone are termed professionals which is unfair.

Three days back road constructing labours had come to a street opposite to my flat. The road was bad due to rains and had so many ridges. It looked like people are climbing on the road and walking and vehicles use to go zig zag became of the bumpy surface.

One fine morning ultra tech road machine had come and labours were making the tar road as cement road, so that the further rains would not spoil the land for some more time. Since it’s going to be cement it needs to dry for one whole day .The labours arrived early morning around six and informed all the residents on the street not to walk on the cement until it dries and if anyone needs to leave for office use some fence or (my) flat’s back gate to go out. Many residents knew that news and started early to office and few jumped behind my flat and went out.

The labours started to pour cement on the ground and neatly leveled them on the road and made it look like school basket ball ground. It really looked nice to see them making it level, even I felt like leveling it. It looked like art for me. So within an hour they were completing the road and from my balcony the road appeared fresh and orderly.

Just then workmen finished and started, one girl did not know how to cross the road with her scooty. She was blinking for sometime not knowing she can go using the back entrance of my apartment. Out of her mind she drove over the wet cement, the nice tidy road had a thick tyre mark throughout the road. Other residents were so much frustrated seeing the road getting damaged again. More than feeling for the look of the road we all were worried about the effort put by the labours. It looked like a black spot on a white paper. For one hour these labours wore a cement guard in their feet and made it look good, within a fraction of seconds it looked all clumsy.

One of the labour who made the road could not stand seeing the road broken because of tyre, immediately he took the level board and started to patch up the mess. It’s not at all necessary for him to do this; once his work is done he could have happily left home. But he did not, he did not complain or utter a word seeing the mess, he quietly started to level the road again when other labours dint bother to help him. To add more irritation a dog started to run on the wet cement, now the dog’s foot prints were there. Everyone screamed looking at it (the scream was like a sixer hit by sachin), still this particular person did not bother and patiently made sure there are no sledges on the road after leveling the cement. This is also called as professionalism and he is a professional.

If he had thought that it’s not his problem to repair the mess created by someone the road would look much pitiable after the cement gets dried. Since it’s all properly leveled now, the road looks neat and tidy.

This proves that "professionalism is there in every level". It does not matter whether you are engineer, doctor, journalist, painter, architect, drivers, even homemaker for that matter etc. If a person has a determination and dedication towards their work and wants their work to look perfect, then everyone in this world are professionals irrespective of any job they do.

Winnie the pooh - My favorite bear :)

2010-03-20T04:00:00.000-07:00

I never know to appreciate cartoons, recently hmmm may about two years I started to adore 'Winnie the pooh'. I never liked any cartoon face like the Winnie's. It looks cute than the other bears. I like the colour combination of it. Yellow and red - looks very bright and attractive. It seems Winnie the pooh was first made or given the name as 'Winnie the pooh' on October 14^th 1926 at London. I don’t remember seeing any of the pooh’s during my childhood days, may be it did not come to India. I am not sure of it though.

I feel so strange to buy a toy at this age. Yet, I like to own as many Winnie’s as possible. I started to collect every material which has pooh’s picture on it. I feel it’s not too late to buy. Crazy!! I think there are many people out there who love toys even though they are out of their childhood. I see many stuffed toys at shops but even now nothing strikes me as the pooh doll which will always be placed at one end of the corner or at the bottom.

Thanks to A A Milne who created this fictional bear. Loving it so much :) :)

I, CR and Blore ! FUN FUN FUN !

2010-03-19T04:23:00.000-07:00

I always wanted to blog about my trip to Bangalore for conducting seminar somehow I forget to write. Today let me narrate the best fun I ever had during my college days.

Initially when I prepared myself to stay at Bangalore for more than a week, I was puzzled about my stay. I asked my friend Sharanya CR as to where will I stay? Without any hesitation she said, stay along with me at my sister’s place. I was happy to hear it from her. Thank u CR. I was much relaxed and felt so much secured.

I have not been to outstations alone, this is my first time and I was so much thrilled. Our train to blore was at 11:45 pm, so I went to cr’s place by 8:30 pm. We chatted for a while and started to central station. We had little talk with our other classmates at the platform and got on to the train. Since I am travelling to blore alone I did not know about the climate, Cr warned me to get a sweater, I did not mind her words and didn’t bother to bring one.

3:45 am she got up and said get ready next is our stop. I was almost blinking at her. It was pitch dark and where she wants to get down In the middle of the track. Then she said about Bangalore east stop, I did not have any idea about what she was telling and got ready and stood near the door. I casually opened the door, that’s allllllll. I never felt this cold in my entire life. Already it was damn chill and train is moving at jet speed, chillness was tremendous. Literally my teeth were typing and my eyes became all dry. CR was laughing at me as if she saw a clown shivering.
She gave another shock saying train will stop only for 2 minutes. Now, next tension for me; what if train starts before I get down? What if my dupatta gets stuck to the door? Blab blab. When the stop came, I literally jumped out of the train, CR started to laugh at me. Its okay! First time nah. Almost 20 people got out of the train in 2 minutes without any mess. I told to myself, good one tension over.

There came auto wallah, not like Chennai drivers, so I was walking out of station as if I know blore for some 15 years, we got into an auto and reached JB nagar. I entered her sister’s house with full fear (didn’t show in my face) her sister welcomed me very nicely at 4:45 am. She is damn sweet. Thank u akka.

I probably cannot draft everything but will tell certain things which I cherish. Commercial Street, the best place I could ever see in blore. Again thanks to cr, she was patient enough to suggest me what to buy and where to buy stuff.

Next is the walk which I and cr will never forget. I made her walk from shivaji nagar to Langford road. Lol. She could not stand my torture, yet, damn sweet enough to come along with me. I was excited crossing signals next to chinnasamy stadium, we sat in a bus stop and took pics (cr really went mad being with me) then again started to walk, in-between she forgot the way and asked traffic police man, every person showed one-one direction. She somehow figured out our destination point and directed me.

On our way we used to comment about the passersby’s and she will be telling some new info’s about blore. The best part is climate was excellent which made us walk that long. If I had walked 5kms in Chennai at 11 am…………. I don’t even want to think of the consequences.

We went to citizen matters office at Koramangala. That was another super experience, we took an auto and all way she explained about each road. Thanks again to her. Then I remembered about Shiva temple at Kemp fort, I asked her to take me there, again without hesitation she took me there. I have never seen Lord shiva that huge in my life. It was nice being there. We again took pics, and killed time as far as possible.

The whole blore trip was supposed to be educative as we had to organize media seminar, but for me it became an excursion. Everyday akka used to make super food. I enjoyed eating blissfully and playing with taarika and her kuti friends.

We killed time by watching chandramuki, 3 idiots, vetaikaran movies. So much of laughter, giggles, gossips, comments. The house was filled with full joy. The best man I met in blore is Bava, Vidya akka’s husband. He is a real super bava who talks very nicely and damn jovial. CR is lucky to have such an athimber. We had gala time at restaurant, I think its Tamarind, right cr?. I got absolute craze for guitar when we went to musical shop to get mouthorgan for bava. Yes, he plays it, he used to generally wake whoever is in deep sleep by playing it, I still remember akka pressing her ears hard when he starts to play. hahahah. Real fun.

The fun did not end there. Our seminar day came, I and cr almost did not sleep that night, every one hour either she will open her eyes or I will. We went to seminar hall, phew! Only empty blue chairs. Slowly students started to come, and the hall was filled. happy :) Somehow seminar got over, thank god one more tension over. On our way back, auto driver took us till Hyderabad national highway and dropped us home. We had to pay more than usual about 100 I guess. CR got so pissed and said one dialogue ‘andha panatha nai kowindu podium, emathinan andha auto karan thapa kutindu poi’ ie(A dog will snatch the money as he took us in wrong direction purposely) the way she said with her angry tone was hilarious, since then I did not stop laughing. Whenever I remember her say this I burst out laughing like how I am doing now. She is real fun to be with.

Likewise we came across many funny things and I did not feel even a bit that I am staying at someone else’s place. I felt like living at my own home.

There are lots more to write but I will stop with this. I can never forget this blore trip in my life. Zillion thanks to CR, Vidya Akka, bava and kuti Taarika. Truly amazing family.

F.R.I.E.N.D.S :)

2010-03-19T02:51:00.000-07:00

''So no one told you life was gonna be this way (clap clap clap clap) Your job's a joke, you're broke, your love life's D.O.A. It's like you're always stuck in second gear When it hasn't been your day, your week, your month, or even your year But …………….I'll be there for you (when the rain starts to pour) I'll be there for you (like I've been there before) I'll be there for you (because you're there for me too)''

Yes, it is the title song of the famous serial F.R.I.E.N.D.S

Is it ever possible to watch a serial million times? It’s not just me who watches this incredible sequential friends, but a whole lot of people who think there is no best comedy series better than friends. I really wonder how Kauffman and Crane drafted such a script which makes people laugh across the globe. They really deserve claps. Complete entertainers.

It’s been almost 6 years since the show got over, yet whenever I see it again, I watch it with full excitement. I love to recollect the dialogues which those 6 excellent characters converse. When I am in complete stress during exams or projects or something, I switch off my mind and switch on friends, I must say I completely forget the fact that I should get back to my stress.

Thank You F.R.I.E.N.D.S for being there for me always :)

Autos should run on meters in Chennai !

2010-03-17T23:30:00.000-07:00

I wonder how Chennai city is given Metro identity. As far as my understanding goes a city with almost all the facilities such as proper sanitation, pucca transportation system, less crime rate etc are given Metro status. We cannot expect more on sanitation and crimes but why do we have such a bad transportation system? Does constructing flyovers alone make the city look posh? Why can’t these ‘yellow criminals’, yeah I meant the autos, run on ‘meters’? When other metros has autos running on meters why not Chennai? I really do not know the answer for it.

A week back I had to reach a shop at besant nagar before 8 pm, and I was at Adyar bus stand at 7:45 pm, I did not get any direct bus to besi so I decided to take an auto. When I asked a auto man ‘besant nagar poganum, evlo’ (how much u charge?) without even thinking he said ‘aaruvadhu ruba kudunga’ ie. Rs.60/- OMG I got damn irritated, how dare he can ask 60 bucks? It hardly takes 5 minutes from adyar to besi by auto. I was thinking whether I should bargain, as I was sure he will not come for 20 bucks which is actually more if there was meter system in autos. Yet, I started to bargain; to my surprise in Chennai every auto man speaks economics to me. They speak as if they are the only community in this whole India who suffers from fuel hikes.

There was no limit for my irritation, felt like slapping, but obviously I could not, I reserved all my anger and turned around, I got a direct bus to besi. Thank god. I am lucky; I spent only 2/- bucks to reach besi by bus.

But sometimes I have faced situations like I will bargain for 50/- from 70/- and the whole way, the auto man will keep blabbering as if I stole his whole life with that difference of 20/- rupees, you will really feel like jumping from auto rather than to hear him speak economics and politics. But actually even that 50/- bucks which I give is more.

Chennai brought helmet system, now I see almost 100 people in the city driving without helmets, they also had seat belt system, I can spot 1000 people in the city driving without wearing a seat belt, they had yet another law ‘no smoking’ in public, I find about a lakh people in the city who fags on road. In the same way, Chennai also once had this meter system, but none knows when they implemented and when they lifted, for that matter you can see two sets of autos, 1. There will not be anything like a black box fitted in left side of the auto known as meter or 2. There will be a meter but it will be covered with a plastic cover and sealed. So, the point is anyway it’s useless.

In few years we can see auto fellows holding some big companies if they keep asking for money like this.

Chennaites know the plight of this situation and get away from these people somehow, imagine people coming from outside Chennai, its a real treat for auto men when they get to know the person is not from Chennai, they will ask as they wish. Indian part 2 movie should be made based on punishing auto men if they don’t run on meters.

I remember one of my friend’s grandparents who came from Bangalore, took an auto from nungambakkanm to mandaveli and the auto guy asked Rs.110/- if they put another 110/- to it, they can reach Bangalore itself safely by train.

If Chennai autos runs with meters I bet the city people will crown the government, but I don’t see such a thing happening or even will happen anymore. Till now I have not seen one auto driver charging based on meter, let me see how many years it takes.

Maybe my auto fare from adyar to besi will become 120/- in another two years time. I should not be shocked.

'SORRY' makes a difference !

2009-09-21T03:13:00.001-07:00

I am a regular visitor of Thiruvelikeni Parthasarathy temple, two weeks back I had been to kovil with my Amma during a Saturday by car. Usually in Vishnu temples Saturdays will be much crowded than any other days in the week. I reach temple by entering into a small street where two vehicles cannot pass through from opposite directions. It is a very narrow street where car will not proceed to even second gear.

On a Saturday around 4:50pm when I entered that narrow street, the place was crowded with people, vehicles and to make things worse two calves and a cow was also there. My mother was all tensed and started to advice me, ‘go slow, go slow, go slow’ in an increasing volume. None except drives know how it feels when they get advices when they drive. It’s completely annoying, but in my case I am used to it.

With great difficulty I almost crossed half way, yet I could not proceed further as an auto was coming in the opposite direction with great speed thinking he is driving a BMW. I was so much irritated to keep moving inch by inch. I could have over took in that road but I did not dare to, as auto drivers would rash on my car and not mind to see what they have done. So this inch by inch continued until I turned to right.

Just then a car which was going properly in front gave a sudden brake. I did not have an option but to do the same. I was happy that I did not bang on that car, immediately within no span of time, a man in bike dashed my car from behind.

I was damn furious and was all set to blast him once I turn. I stopped the car in the turning not allowing others to proceed further and screamed at the fellow who banged.

The guy, who was about 35 to 40 years old, calmly stopped his bike, said ‘sorry’ for what he did and also said ‘if there is any damage in your car because of me, I would surely replace, you can check the car’s rear’. I immediately went and checked, a screw was broken, and the bumper was shaking a little bit. I did not feel like asking him any payment for the small smash up he made. The main reason is, I have never seen any person who would accept his mistake when they gaffe during their ride, also I have not seen any person who speaks so politely and says ‘I will compensate for any dent occurred because of me’ that too during much traffic.

After checking, I just gave a smile and said ‘nothing has happened’ and moved from that place.

I really appreciate that gentleman for his amazing attitude and honesty.

The lesson I learnt is to always remain calm whenever you drive, never lose your temper and accept mistakes if at all you have made any. It solves the problem more than compensating with money.

I hope every person who drives make sure they drive carefully and give respect to others who drive on the road. If such a thing happens there will not be any fights or unnecessary traffic and wrangles on road. Every person can drive with a smile :)

Pure Inspiration !!

2009-03-28T01:36:00.000-07:00

Lance Armstrong – It’s not about the Bike – My Journey Back to Life

The book It’s not about the bike-My journey back to life, by Lance Armstrong reveals the adversity by the author who is an amazing bike racer; who fought against nonseminomatous testicular cancer and strived tough to win the championship of Tour de France.

“The truth is, if you asked me to choose between winning the Tour de France and cancer, I would choose cancer. Odd as it sounds, I would rather have the title of cancer survivor than winner of the Tour, because of what it has done for me as a human being, a man, a husband, a son and a father, says the racer after his glorious come back.

Lance says he did not know what fear is until he heard the words “You have cancer”. But it did not stop there, his body condition moved from bad to worse. Doctors finally said, he has to undergo a brain surgery and that has only 40% chance of survival, lance dint give up there either. People say if a man’s skull is open for once, it’s rigid to get back to normal life. Hearing all these as well, Lance was strong enough to accept whatever was written for him. With many things running in his mind, he just had one word clinging in his thoughts which is to “Move”

A person who reads this book will get to know more of medical terms and almost the whole thing about cancer and chemotherapy. One chapter thoroughly deals with difficulty which chemo causes and how pathetic a man’s physique gets spoiled. Lance, being a racer, had an urge to know what he is undergoing exactly, hence he collected many books which talks about cancer and its several stages. Readers would feel, it’s the end and nothing worse can happen to a person who wishes much success in his life.

The book clearly focuses on lance’s will power, courage, strength, determination; urge to be back on track and foremost about optimism. Millions in this world face problems, but the art of coming out of any crisis is being optimistic, Lance stands as a great example for being optimistic in his career and life. There where many disappointing reports which completely put him off, also many people who did the same such as sponsors, who thought Lance would die and it’s not of any good use in having his contract.

His come back includes effort of many others too, first being his mother who showed him what true champion is. His teammates Kevin, Frankie, George and others, Dr. Nichlos oncologist and a real angel LaTrice Haney oncology nurse. Kik, his wife who was supportive till he won the title. The list goes on and on.

The book almost completely covers a series of serious medical aspects from chemo to surgical procedures. Lance is frank and delightful on his relationship to wife Kristin (Kik), and goes into surprising detail about the technology that let them have a child.

Lance sees cancer as a part of life that is meant to improve us by making us focus on our difficulties with courage and indominability of spirit. Through his book, he completely relates to the reader and makes them feel what he underwent in those stages of 16 months. Any person who reads his book will surely have tears and makes them sit through his whole life in the form of a book. He compares his cancer and his bike racing, he says both are same, both relates to lungs, as his initial cancer affected his lungs and to be a world class champion lungs are most important to control the breath.

Lance says “I am happy with the way my career went and I am happy with the way it ended.” It shows how brave he was when he underwent his 16 months of torture. He also feels cancer was infact a best thing to happen in his life. He further says “It gave me a chance to re-evaluate my life and my career. Cancer certainly gives things a new perspective. I would not have won the Tour de France if I had not had cancer. It gave me new strength and focus.”

Almost everyone asked him not to look back to his career. They said, he would strain more and catch up with more complications. Lance was confident enough to say “Pain is temporary. It may last a minute, or an hour, or a day, or a year, but eventually it will subside and something else will take its place. If I quit, however, it lasts forever.”

Throughout the book Lance talks about self belief. He feels any person should believe to the maximum, there will be so many who dashes your hopes. Despite the consequences one should believe that he will be alright. More than doctors saying a patient will be alright, a patient must feel that he will overcome his illness. He says “Anything is possible. You can be told that you have a 90-percent chance or a 50-percent chance or a 1-percent chance, but you have to believe, and you have to fight.” These lines boosts up the reader and feel confident and positive.

The Book talks about passion and how to hold to your passion and struggle achieving it in anyway. Lance feels the whole of his life was carried away with a simple passion towards his racing career. Once he over came his problem he says “For me it was always a simple passion.”

The book is a complete inspiration for readers and also heightens confidence among cancer patients. Media houses such as Guardian says “Having nearly lost his life Lance Armstrong serves up his story for the rest of the world to wonder at shudder at and learn from” Scotsman says “Pure inspiration”

One of Lance’s appealing quote - “It's ironic; I used to ride my bike to make a living. Now I just want to live so that I can ride.”

His road to success was a difficult one, but hard work, perseverance, and lots of training helped him to achieve his dream. He had become one of the best, at the age of 25 and on top of the world. It’s a highly recommended book for those who live to aim and every chapter of the book makes the reader believe winning needs heart with full of confidence and courage to break all the barriers which lie on road to success.

"Idhuvum kadandhu pogum"

2008-12-26T22:39:00.000-08:00

Few days back I was talking to my dad about things I hate the most and those which irritate me and put me off, thoroughly. I was constantly talking talking and talking and whining as far as possible, dad was patiently listening, he did not speak a word in-between my jabber. Just then I finished he said one sentence in tamizh-it goes like this,

“Idhuvum kadandhu pogum”

It means, even this phase of problem/worry/crisis will move on. This really encouraged me. The sentence looks so tiny but has an incredible meaning to it. It boosts a person so much, further it makes us think in a wider perspective as the phase will move on. From then on whenever I face some crooked situation, I remember his words, it makes me look forward and hit upon solutions.

I wanted to share this piece of information for those who think troubles always exists and never goes from us.

So whenever you are down, say this sentence to yourself. It really works...

Keep smiling :)

Cooking Cooking and more Cooking !!

2008-06-24T20:17:00.000-07:00

Panner butter masala, Gobi manchuriyan, Dal fry, palak panner, aalo Gobi masala etc etc. sounds delicious right? Yes! Eating all these is not a big deal, but how to make all these? Always we cannot rely on restaurants. Off late I developed little interest in cooking, but never wanted to try out in a full fledge as I am scared of kitchen work. Initially I had this impression that kitchen work is all worst, its one big time headache blah blah. But nowadays I started liking it. Currently the time has come to show my cuisine talents.

One evening I walked into Spencer’s daily grocery to buy some butter to make ghee, suddenly my eyes stopped to an attractive packet of panner, the cover of that packet had a print of panner masala. It really looked yummy! Immediately I took it and placed it along with other stuffs I bought. On my way back home, I was thinking why did I buy it? I don’t know how to make it, and my mom will also not like doing north Indian dishes. What to do? I never tried north Indian dish by my own.

Then I reached home, without my mom’s knowledge I kept the panner deep inside the chiller. I desperately wanted to have panner masala but I did not know the preparation method. After sometime I opened the chiller to see whether there is any method of preparation behind the pack. Wow!! To my surprise I saw the method, it all looked simple. I needed few extra things to make the dish. Since it was around 9pm, I could not go out and buy the missing items.

Next day morning around 8am I went to market and got the absent ingredients. I was all set to surprise my mom and brother. I told my mom not to come to kitchen as I am going to surprise her. (Thou she does not like these dishes, I wanted to show that I can make what I like and eat happily). This is the foremost time I am trying a north Indian dish completely by my own. I started to cut vegetables; onion, tomato, ginger, coriander. Eyes went real red after cutting onion. After a while I washed my face and continued to do my work. With the help of few links from internet I somehow finished the dish. I am all set to garnish the panner masala with some coriander and ready to serve.

And this is how my recipe looked :) (camera mobile, clarity will be little low)

Now I am yet to taste the recipe and all set for the first taste of it. Trust me; I was really scared how it would taste. I was praying all God’s before I was about to go for the initial tang… oops! I am afraid to taste, what if it tastes bad:(. I decided to give to my brother first, let him taste and give me the remarks.

I quietly went to my brother and showed him the dish and gave a spoon to taste; I closed my eyes when he went for it. There was silence for 10seconds and then I opened my eyes, he was so damn amazed and said “I never expected you to do such a wonderful thing in the first shot! Wow!” my face was brightened with joy, and then I felt like tasting, yipeeeee, it was awesome; next mom had a savor of it and was happy to know I can cook well. I felt very proud of myself.

Later I was all tired after doing the recipe, it is not a big work but for the first time it was bit hectic; and then I realized how mom used to feel tired after doing so many dishes. Really great. Hence I learnt one thing; eat what you like by cooking on your own, it will taste better and the best. :)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Here is the method of preparation !

Heat butter in a kadai and add the onion puree and fry till they turn light brown in color. Add Ginger-Garlic paste to the brown paste mixture and saute for sometime. Then add the chillipowder, coriander powder, tomato puree, turmeric powder, garam masala powder and salt and saute for sometime. Now Add the soaked paneer cubes, some water and allow it to cook till the gravy becomes semi-solid. Finally garnish with coriander and fresh cream. Panner butter masala is ready :)

Sand conversation!! Lovely Bessie

2008-04-03T05:31:00.000-07:00

“Hey frds 2day pucca at 5.pm Bessie; barista meeting point”…. This is the SMS which goes to divi, pri, cr, chand, anu from me, as I am the Bessie planner… friends are too studious in such issues, lol.. They will reply immediately for confirmation… I used to organize and usually I will be the last to come.

By the time I reach barista everyone would have come and they would blissfully be chatting (obviously veti talks). There I see my gang, I usually spot my gang by cr’s smile (not that she has smiling face, but her bunny teeth will strike you for sure)lol relax cr ;)

From there we go to our usual place ie: round sand conference ;). Here the conversation starts by our genie anu “hey temme some gossip” actually there won’t be much to gossip but we will speak some crap, on the other end cr will be quietly listening, but beware she is up to something; what is it?!?! Yeah, her ususal masala kadala and molaga bajji. We all have to go with her to eat molaga bajji else she will kill us ;)

I would not prefer going to the stall as soon as we enter beach, hence I generally drag her to water, cursing me she will come, most of the times madam would take care of slippers but every time I pull her to water. Oh yeah!! Here comes our yap yap girl, pri!! “Hey lets take a foto yar” her standard dialogue, hearing this I generally try to run away, as she will grab my mobile and asks to click for her posses. By and large her posses are similar either tilting her head to right or left and EEE her teeth ;) not to forget that she is glued to cr while taking pics.

In all this hungama anu will be in one corner; doing what?!!? Well madam will be over phone, I used to wonder why she came to beach?!? With lots of expressions she will be talking, talking and keeps talking, till when!? Till either her charge gets over or the other persons credit gets over, which ever is earlier ;)

Now comes divi, almost doing nothing but operating her mobile, she is never on call as she will not call any single soul on earth, she only messages. There comes a future predictor, she sees divi and says “madhavan mari unaku paiyan varuvan ma” she will be fascinated by it and gives her few pennies. (This is what I call business tactics) ;)

Usually divi and anu will not come near water. Myself and pri are the brave girls to stand in water; cr will gain the poise after seeing us. Standing in water is real fun, especially when cr is there, she will go backwards when tides come in some 100km, for that she will jump and go back, comedy only she does. Hehe...

After all water joy we dust our pants and head back to the pavilion. There cr yaps for molaga bajjai, certainly even we love eating it, but she always gets enthu when she sees those long long molagas hanging like designer pearl, till we get our royal plates we will be seated in plastic chairs and again we will start chatting, nearly it will be some love stories or about our class… usually when our sand conversation ends the mighty girl chand will come, number one lazy I must say, darling loves to play truth or dare. She is a pucca sport and does anything, but we should be equally ready to play with such a sport. Madam is our standard sponsor especially for ice creams.

Skies gradually turn to dark blue and we are forced to draw a closer to our lovely sand conversation. Now it’s really time to get back home, most of the times Myself, divi and chand use to walk back. When we cross frankiee shop, I will look at divi, she such a cutie pie understands from my face and offers me a frankiee. We both owe so much to each other may be crores ;)

Some how 2 to 3 hours will go with all these fun and joy don’t know how it goes just like that. CR, pri, divi, anu and chand the most precious friends I earned during all these three years of my college life. Thanks to all of you.

But there is always a special mention for CR and PRI for being there whenever I needed them. Thanks sweeties. :)

Sigh!! What a great fun we had in beach, ragging each other, laughing for silly jokes, talking everything from A to Z and always being together and united. It’s always blissful and such memories always have a special room in all these young hearts today, tomorrow and forever.

Now all are waiting for next Bessie meet and there goes the SMS……….. 1 message received :):)

Morning journey in 29C !!

2007-10-25T04:07:00.000-07:00

Green dusty and smoky bus getting out from the fog at around 7:15am what is it? Yeah obviously it the well known ‘MAJESTIC’ 29C starts from besant nagar and reaches Perembur. What is so special about this bus? well, its nothing but the college rush which you can see from 7am to 8am in that bus. At sharp 7:15am a 29C will come the entire bezant nagar will enter into that bus, behind that another one will come but none will go in it. The reason is previous one is white board and the next one is express, it costs two bucks extra to reach your usual destination. Uuuff.. too much, people cant even spend two bucks extra and travel comfortably. Yet, the fun is same in the bus. Almost all my friends travel in that bus and we catch up at every stop.

Starting from divi she is real cute teddy friend who enters the bus first in the journey to college. Most of the times she will get seat as her bus stand is one stop before the terminus, madam will comfortably sit and give a missed call to me, which means ‘she got the bus and its coming my way, wherever I am I should reach the stop and get in’ that’s the indirect message from that one missed call.(waaat a communication nah :P) The wonderful chariot will come and I will get inside to see where divi is sitting, there I will see this girl sitting in the other end with the window seat empty, it’s reserved for me, she knows I like to sit there. From bessi we will start our usual chat “hey you know what?” this will go on for sometime and the bus will reach adyar, there my another lovely friend will get in, pinky she is one ultimate big time chatter box, keeps on saying something or the other, me and divi will not have a choice but have to listen to her, but many a times this girl is very sweet and tells us heaps of gossips… uuuuff… one day will not be enough to listen her talks, yet we do lend our ears as she is our lovely chatter box… our talks will go on till mandaveli, there gets in another friend of mine CR, my best friend in class by the time she gets into the bus the bus will be half sliding and she will be in some corner of the bus but will try to reach where we are sitting by pushing all others..hehe.. she will give that sparkling smile, it conveys almost everything… now its four of us in the bus, its enough to make some noise, giggle, scream, sing and what not. We start chatting from new movies, to posters stuck on compounds, to banners, commenting about people in bus, cursing people who irritate us in bus and lots… Now our chariot will turn towards cathedral road, there gets in another friend of us anu, she is our news bulletin, but more or less she will be standing in steps but will some how manage and come and join us.

Great!! now all are present in the bus, the chariot will enter Gemini…aaahhhhhhhh. Fun and enjoyment comes to an end, time to get down and climb five floors :(

With all those joy, however the bus may be we love the journey in 29C :)

Wat do u thnk of thz SMS lang?

2007-05-17T08:00:00.000-07:00

Technology has undergone many changes from time to time; likewise English language is also seeing many changes. Short message service (SMS) a telecommunication protocol allows sending short text messages up to 160 characters or less. Due to this modern gateway, English language has been witnessing many modifications among the youth.

SMS has affected the proper and correct usage of written English in the current scenario.
SMS is developing rapidly throughout the world. There are quite a lot of inconveniences due to this technology. The main thing is that people tend to forget the right spelling and more or less misunderstand the message they receive which leads to perplexity.

So, where does the real trouble start? The actual dilemma starts when a single letter or a digit replaces words or sometimes even sentences. For example ‘be’ becomes ‘b’, ‘great’ becomes ‘gr8’, ‘ate’ becomes ‘8’ , ‘as soon as possible’ becomes ‘asap’ and so on. While composing message, punctuations are removed to shorten the message. Most of the times vowels are not used. For example: ‘between’ becomes ‘btwn’ . Furthermore, capital letters are generally omitted.

Look at some of these messages: >>>

gud mng...ve a nic day (Good morning, have a nice day)

2mro ll meet n coll (Tomorrow we'll meet in college)

gnsd (good night sweet dreams)

don 4gt 2 msg (Don't forget to message)

plz cal (Please call)

c u @ beach (See you at the beach)

sry i cant cme (Sorry I can't come)

hw s lyf? (How is life?)

i lyk ur coat (I like your coat)

i hv sum prob wid my comp (I have some problem with my computer)

my sys s nt wrkin (My system is not working)

k c u 2mro (Okay. See you tomorrow)

Today’s youth generally do not care about their spellings but it’s a great concern for people who read their messages for the first time in a different language altogether. “I think it is unnecessary, it more or less spoils your vocabulary and I do not use SMS language,” says Dhivya, a student.

“I usually recharge my mobile by sending an SMS message to the service provider. When I said 'I want 2 recharge', he promptly sent me two recharge numbers! I had to pay him twice for one recharge. All because I used '2' in place of 'to',” says Aishwarya, a city college student, whose father has bade her not to recharge her phone this way and end up paying through her nose.
“This is totally horrible and half the time I do not understand what people try to say, simple abbreviations are fine but making it incoherent is something I am totally against,” says another student, Varsha.

On the other hand it is useful as you can restrict your word limit to 160 characters so that your message is short and crisp. A few people have a different idea, like they think the mobile phone does not support T9 dictonary mode and so they tend to type in short forms or they may not know the correct spelling.

In contrast, many feel that it has at least helped people to communicate effectively in English.
“Moreover people use these short forms even due to peer pressure and anxiety, they really cannot type in full words when they are in some real tension and want to convey a message,” says Swathi, a student.

But the usage of SMS language does not stop here: its impact is seen even in exam papers. Students tend to use SMS language in their answer sheets to complete them on time and ultimately lose marks in spite of completing the paper because of silly short forms. It really infuriates the teachers who correct their papers.

“SMS is meant to put across your thoughts in a simpler way and what really matters is whether you convey the message properly or not; if its precise then there is no problem in using this kind of short forms,” says Guru, a software engineer.

The most disastrous thing is that it is being used in e-mail conversations which is immensely absurd. Day by day the English language is being condensed according to the upgrading modernisation.

If you look at SMS as a mode of convenient communication it’s perfectly okay but if you look at the same as language it is outlandish and is no language at all.

Airport inside or outside ?!?!

2007-05-17T07:55:00.000-07:00

With the residents of Pozhichalur up in arms, the expansion plans of the Chennai international airport is getting mired in controversy. Expanding the airport means that close to 1,500 acres of the surrounding areas like Anakaputhur and Pozhichalur (a town which is situated north-west of Pallavaram) will be taken over by the government. But the residents want none of it. They want the government to look for a site that would not affect human habitation.

Most of the residents feel that the airport should be expanded in the outer region of the city, say a place like Sriperumbudur. The first advantage would be that traffic congestion will be minimised and the airport can have more modern facilities to handle high volumes of cargo and passenger carriers.

Moreover, it would be close to the IT majors plus in future the area might attract more IT parks and become affluent. Furthermore, heavy cargos can be handled smoothly to create more revenues.While looking at the negative aspect if the airport is expanded within the city, the vacant land which you get may not be adequate to fit in the airport facilities according to international standards.

Plus the passenger traffic would become more congested and with limited space and handling of floating passengers would be a nightmare. Further, air traffic (landing and take-off ) would be affected due to poor visibility - particularly during rainy and foggy days as there would be more number of residential and high rise flats in the vicinity of the airport.

Now the Tamil Nadu government has assured that it will acquire 700 to 800 acres of land near Chennai airport in order to build an extra runway. But the residents of Anakaputhur and Pozhichalur are dead against the proposal. They say there will be enormous noise pollution which would affect the elderly, plus they fear that if there is any mishap in the functioning of the aircraft it would affect the people living near the place.

“We do not have enough money and I’m a retired government employee; how will I look for a new house and relocate at this age,” asks a resident of Pozhichalur.

The state government has always shown interest in a greenfield airport coming up in Chennai in addition to the existing airport and had short-listed two sites, one at Oragadam village and the other near Sriperumbudur.As far as the airport officials are concerned, they feel that any modernisation would lead to privatisation. An official at the airport said, “If the airport is going to be modernised and privatised it would affect the public as parking fee will rise, air fares will be hiked, passenger fee and entry ticket will be also be increased.

On the other hand, employees working in the airport will be affected further as they will lose all existing benefits by the government.”

But there is no gainsaying the fact that the Chennai airport, with its burgeoning traffic and cargo, needs to be expanded. And the best way to achieve this is to locate the airport at a distance from Chennai city, where there would be scope for easy expansion and handling of the growing traffic.

Stress is a silent killer !!

2007-05-17T07:48:00.000-07:00

The world is witnessing many changes; we are forced to go through all sorts of difficulties to achieve our objectives, in the process we endure stress which little by little generates mental and physiological reactions which lead to many health hazards.

So, can one control stress and lead a healthy life? Dr Aruna Ramakrishnan, gynecologist, child specialist and general physician, enlightens us on how to go lead a stress-free life.

Stress generally happens when you fail to complete your work on time. Fright and flight lead to stress. When you can’t manage your work you normally tend to feel afraid more and try to escape from your work. In the present scenario, we find a lot of stress even in school-going children as all parents want their child to come first in class and win competitions. These young minds suffer excess pressure imposed on them. Likewise, marketing people ranging from 21 to 40 years of age are stressed to a greatest extent as they are bound to achieve their sales targets on time.

What is it we gain from this sort of stress, pressure, tension and anxiety in life? It is nothing but loads of illness. Heartburns, known as acid peptic disease (APD), is one of the results of stress; secondly, hypertension, which leads to added internal side-effects like temporary palpitation and heart-related problems also comes with stress. Stress also leads to diabetes mellitus, says Dr Aruna Ramakrishnan.

To avoid such trouble, we ought to lead a stress-free life, our internal rhythm should not be affected which is possible by doing some recreational activities. Yoga and meditation help vastly in controlling stress, and doing exercise regularly, laughter therapy, having good food habits like consuming green vegetables and avoiding salt and junk food which leads to obesity in future, all help fight stress, explains the doctor.

In foreign countries, employees work hard for five days from Monday to Friday. They relax completely during the weekends and resume work the next week. We follow many unwanted habits from other countries; we must follow some good methods from overseas which help in reducing stress.

Twentyfive years ago, men were more stressed than women. But with women now working the same hours as men and also managing the household work, they are also stressed out. Further, at present, competition is getting tougher to maintain their position at the work place. Consequently, they are as stressed out as the men, feels the doctor.

On the other hand, men feel that if they devour drinks they will be free from stress, but it is not so. They slowly get addicted to alcohol and in the later stages they land up with liver damage.IT people are the worst hit due to stress. Nowadays women are more in this field and due to enormous stress and pressure, infertility has become common, says the gynaec.
Besides ‘stress incontinence’ occurs where one cannot hold urine which happens after 50 years of age and usually it’s not common.

“Stress is a silent killer,” warns the doctor.When you keep the pressure within yourself for a long time and let it out one day, its consequences will be severe. In this mechanical world, the best and easiest way to control stress would be following our ancestors' rule of being punctual and calm as far as possible.

Vishnu temples that cry for help !!

2007-05-17T07:01:00.000-07:00

It really shatters you to see that temples dedicated to Lord Vishnu – when there are prosperous ones like the Tirupati and Srirangam temples – can be in such a bad state of repair. The condition of especially three ancient temples, not very well known, Kabistalam, Thirukoodalur and Sirupuliyur, around Kumbakonam, is really pathetic.

>> Gajendra varadan - Kabistalam

There is no full-fledged pooja in Kabistalam temple which is located between Kollidam and the Cauvery. There are absolutely no ornaments for the Lord, Gajendra Varadhan, or the Goddess, Ramamanivalli Thayar, except a few imitation jewellery gifted by some devotees

“It is so pathetic to see the Lord, Goddess and the temple as a whole in such a miserable condition with no proper maintenance,” says Aravinth, one of the devotees who visited the temple.

On the other hand, Thirukoodalur is also a cause for concern as it is not maintained properly. The Lord and the Goddess, Padmasani Thayar, do not have even ‘pancha patram’ (vessel where water is kept for pooja). The inner sanctum is so dark with no light. Light is shed on the Lord only during mangala aarti. In fact, the goddess’ face was hardly visible when we visited the temple. The priest requested us to buy some camphor to show us her presence!

The income for the temple hardly meets the oil requirements for the lamps.
“There is nothing in this temple except the Lord. Hardly four or five families, who know about these temples, visit in a day. We do not have proper materials for nitiya aaradhana (daily poojas). There is no proper revenue for these temples and I kindly request the bhaktas to donate pooja material,” says the priest.

The goddess was found in an old saree and there was no metal crown for the deities.

The priests, who themselves lead a life of poverty, are more concerned about the maintenance of the temple. Many temples do not have proper electricity connection as well.

>> Thirukoodular - Vaiyamkartha Perumal

There is another temple known as Sirupuliyur, 8 km from Villupuram chord line, and is situated on the northern shore of Kollidam. Here the gopurams, which house the Lord Kripasamudra Perumal and Thayar Thirumamagal Nachiyar, are ill-maintained.

Many people do not know the importance of these temples.

These ancient temples and each shrine has its own history. They stand testimony to ‘Incredible India’. The devotees and the government have a moral responsibility to preserve such treasures and pass them on to the upcoming generations to know more about our traditions, say the bhaktas who visit these rare sites.

They feel that the authorities must also make it a point to visit these temples to know their plight.

Vedavalli, a devotee who made a tour of these three beautiful temples that form part of the 108 Divya Desams, said devotees should show more interest in visiting these temples and contributing to their upkeep. !! >> Gopuram - Sirupuliyar