My Musings

TSUNAMI TSUNAMI That was a word, tucked unobtrusively inside the dictionary (on page 1784 of the Chambers Dictionary, to be precise), and none of us even dreamt that it existed. Within a short time, it has become the most repeated and most dreaded word in English. TSUNAMI - Tsu means harbour, nami means wave. In Japanese. The Chambers Dictionary defines it as “ a very swiftly traveling sea wave that attains great height, caused by an undersea earthquake or similar disturbance.” What havoc it has created along the TN eastern coast besides others seacoasts in South India, and other South Asian countries. The death toll is over 24000; in TN alone it would cross 4000, Andaman & Nicobar another 4000+. One cannot even visualize the devastation, destruction, and death caused by this demon. Enormous. Numbing. Could it have been predicted? Could it have been warded off? The answer to both would be NO. However, the earthquake of the order of 8.5 could have been monitored, tsunamic conditions...

INITIALS # INITIALS “Initial” is the letter beginning a word esp. a name, so the dictionary defines it. But, in real world, with some initials your mind is immediately drawn to some men/women and fond memories of these persons. In our family, say GRS, doesn’t it bring memories of our father / grandfather? I don’t know if GSR was widespread, but I feel KVS is rather prominent. Any other instances? Just say MS – who do you recollect instantaneously? That wonderful, melodious Queen of Carnatic music. MLV takes you to another Carnatic musician; TMS was the ‘voice’ of Sivaji and of MGR. Yes, MGR is known as just MGR. Like MGR, NTR was there in Andhra. But, no other actor was famously known by his initials. I doubt whether Shah Rukh is known as SRK. The film personality Meyyappan is known by AVM. Think of JRD, the name Tata just pops out. The man who put India on the steel industry map and on civil aviation among many other things. The three letters TVS signify the man TV Sundaram Iyengar, t...

** We are like this only. Easy to question “where is Advani, where is X, where is Y”, but, let’s ponder for a sec. Tamilnadu is an atheist State, let us digest that first - If not atheist, definitely anti-Brahmin. Vote bank politics play a powerful role here as in entire India. And caste politics. The present CM had lost 40 out of 40 recently. The bleak prospect of losing 234 out of 234 looms large. Veeranam, VCD were all just passing clouds. But, the momentum gained with these shall not be forfeited to the opposition. Keep the impetus on – at whatever cost, even arrest Sankarachariyar; dub him as the “most dishonest criminal”, make him eat “prison prepared food” just like any other criminal, show and profess to the entire world that “I am more anti-Brahmin than anyone else!” Do a midnight-arrest drama on Deepavali day; prove that “for me, Kanchi and Karuna are equal” Show the footage of the gory murder repeatedly with EVERY news-bit even after seven days – impress the voters with your...

Changes in the Indian menu over the ages. The food that we Indians have been eating has been, over the millennia, steadily evolving both in variety and taste. These have been identified from relics and fossils and also described in written lore. The eminent food scientist Dr KT Achaya has analyzed these in a scholarly and entertaining way. He points out that dosai and vadai have a 2000-year history in Tamil country but Idli is a definite foreign import. The earliest reference to Idli occurs in 920 AD and again in 1130 AD. But no mention is made of Urad dal, the long fermentation and steaming the batter. The kings who went to Indonesia in 800-1200 AD brought the IDLI from there (It was called kedli, those days). The Harappan civilization had rice, barley, wheat, karamani, moong, masoor, dates, pomegranates etc. During Vedic period (1700 BC), we are informed, rice, urad dal, spinach, pumpkins, cucumber, suraikkai, paagarkai, radish, brinjal, mangoes, oranges etc were available. Kothamall...

MILK – An Indian Success Story. Doodh, doodh, doodh - India is poised to produce a staggering 90 million tonnes of milk in year 2005. That will be 10 mn tonnes MORE than the second largest producer,USA. India produced 88 mn tonnes in 2004 and 84 mn in 2003. But, how was the condition in India 60 years ago? During early 1940s, India had an acute short supply of milk and the Govt had banned its use in hotels, and restaurants. One black coffee, please. The Bombay Presidency introduced special distribution centers to ration it to expectant mothers and young children. Milk supply was an urban nightmare those days. In Bombay alone there were thousands of cattle sheds scattered across the city and their dairying practices were both unhygienic and unscientific. A Parsi gentleman, Dara Khurody who was the milk commissioner of Bombay, took up the job of re-organising the milk supply. He established a huge milk colony in the village of Aarey near Bombay, which is today the largest state-owned mil...

NAVARATHRI (KOLU) Festivals in Hindu culture are aplenty all through the year – starting from Varuzha Pirappu, to Deepavali, to Pongal. But, no festival, not even Deepavali, can match Navarathri for the splendor and richness. In Bengal, it is THE POOJA. The entire State wears a festive look these ten days. In Mysore and Karnataka it is opulence personified. In Gujarat and Mumbai it is Dandia - garba time. In many cities like Delhi it is Ram Leela. Hyderabad will be shining during these 10 days. The entire country is decked up. No other festival can simply match Navarathri. The festival to celebrate the triumph of GOOD over evil. In TamilNadu we celebrate it as a private, not a community, festival. Decades ago the festival was simple, performed with bhakti-shradda. Steps (padi) were made with whatever available material, clay dolls of Gods and Goddesses in their purest form were only displayed, young girls going about personally inviting others, and SINGING in all the houses they visite...

COMMUNICATION Part 4 SURESH on 17 Oct 2004 Dear all, COMMUNICATION. In fact this mail from RC really probed me and the outcome is evident. Really it worked wonders with me to come out of shell. Thanks a lot RC for bringing out such a wonderful piece. As a matter of fact the credit goes to one and all in our GRS group. It is one habit that was deeply inculcated in me by Appa. He used to allow me to write at least 10 lines in all the letters which he wrote to all. I still remember that I got encouragement for those writings from all elders in our group. I can visualize the writings of Thatha, Patti. Last Year Ramamurthy Athimber gave one such copy of letter to Appa in which Patti wrote a beautiful letter to Saroja Atthai indicating to the minutest detail and listing things required after delivery. Similarly the running handwriting of thatha with those beautiful strokes spoke volumes of emotions. Even now, the folder system is being maintained by Appa. I used to read all those letters wh...

COMMUNICATION - Part 3 UMA wrote on 29 Sept 2004 Dear Mama Your mail on communication( and lack) is suberb. It brought back nostalgic memory of my childhood days of Allahabad. When we returned from school, Amma used to read to us letters written by Patti Thatha, Mama, Chitappas and others. It was a cherished moments for us. The internet and email though brought us in touching distance but _the personal touch_ of reading a hand written letter is missing now a days. The songs Sandeshe aate hain, chitti aathi hai and _dakia dak laya_ are living tribute to our postal system. After reading your mail I listened to these lovely songs many times. An apt song for people like us who are living far away from their loved ones. Keep mailing. Your mail reminds us of R K. Narayan writing. With Love Uma ********** Neeraja wrote on 30 Sep 2004. Dear Appa, A strong, thought-provoking, very nostalgic mail. And, equally nostalgic, thought-provoking replies. Just last week, Ashok and I were talkin...

COMMUNICATION - Part 2 Vasu on 28-09-2004: Dear RC "Puli Pathungiyathing" karanam therindhuvitttathu ( No mail from you in the past couple of days ! ). What a nice mail. Y'day night only myself and manni had spoken about you and when manni asked about any mail from you, I told there is no mail from you and said we may receive a big bang at any time. What you had written is the reallity and everyone is trying to hide ourself inside the constrain - NO Time for anything - and not ready to accept the reality. I want to share my feelings / rememberence even if it is not revelent to your subject. Going to Post office to see any letter came to our house at 0800 hours is one of my / Sridhar's main duty when we were at Babu Rao street and I was proud to see the post man answers me on priority to give the letter over others. Most interestingly when we get our school result through post card, I felt great to see my name on the post card rather than the result inside. (Ofcours...

** COMMUNICATION. (or, Lack of it ….) sent on 26 Sep 2004 by rajappa From the time of BIG BANG, Man has devised ways and means of communicating. From smokes and drums of Africans, from Kalidasa’s Sakuntala beckoning megh (cloud) to take her letter, from using pigeons to carry messages (as in Dil Hai Ki Manta Nahin), the human race was in continuous process of evolving better and more efficient methods to convey messages. Cut to 19th Century when British brought the Postal System to India – it was a revolution. Have you ever stopped to wonder that with just fifty paise, you can send your views and news across from one corner of India to another, maybe 3000km away? Not a joke, but real. Buy a postcard today; write a message; post it to me. Be convinced. People used the postal service with enthusiasm. “Sandeshe aate hain, chitti aathi hai ….” was a super-duper HIT because it touched the emotional chords of crores of Indians. The sight of the postman approaching your house pumped adrenalin...

*** Train No 6010. There was this article in HINDU in its magazine section on Sunday, June 5, titled “Train No 6010.” This train, Chennai-Mumbai Mail, leaves Chennai at 2155 hours daily. It reaches a small station en route called Hosigi, very near Karnataka-Andhra border, by 1000 AM next morning. The story starts at this station where a few women entered a sleeper coach with big baskets on their heads. Now, over to the author: “I felt myself besieged. How dare they get in? Did they have tickets? I did not know what to do. They would talk loudly, dirty the place, fight with the passengers.. I could picture a horrible scenario. The railways are doomed, I told myself, and so is the country.” “In the meanwhile, the old woman in a torn green sari sat on the floor and started to uncover her basket. Would she spread her bed sheet and lie down there? Would she take out her food and eat it, and mess up the place? How long would this group be on board? How long would one have to tolerate this?” ...

Time Machine *** Back in Time Machine. Yesterday evening I was transported to a bygone time, some 30-40 years back as if in a Time Machine. It all started with an innocuous telephone call at 4pm inviting Krithika to sing in a place called "Panchamukha Anjaneyar Temple" near "Chithrai Kulam" , Mylapore, Chennai. Everyone knows the Mylapore Kulam, but chithrai kulam ... ? No one was aware of its location, exactly where does it exist. Somewhere in South Maada Street, we could see in the map. We reached Mylapore, the Chithrai kulam was there where it was supposed to be as per the map. But. where was this PA temple? Locals didn't know its existence, if it existed at all; a few of them actually mis-directed us, though it was no fault of theirs - none seemed to know about this PAT. We were going in rounds and rounds in the narrowest gullies of Mylapore. Finally a good Samaritan came along and he walked with us to show the place - it was NOT a temple, but an old dilapid...

AVAKKAYA OORUGAI. Each one of you has heard about Avakkaya oorugai. Andhra women make this pickle with a religious devotion and dedication (karma sradda) you have to see to believe. The oorugai preparation starts with purchase of good quality mangoes. Unlike elsewhere in India, the purchase of mangoes is done in AP on one specific day only. The entire city will be in the mango market on that early morning! People purchase mangoes in number (and not in kg) – 10, 25, 50, 100, 200 etc. When we were in Hyderabad, our need was just 25, at best 50. Telugus purchase 100s or 200s. Cutting of mangoes is a very specialised skill, and many persons will be available with sharp knives (aruvaal) and cutting boards. They will cut your mangoes for a fee. Wash the pieces and keep them dry (sunlight).During the “avakkaya” season, the entire city will be full of til oil aroma. Specially brought from the famous Samalakkotta town. One can readily get the other ingredients like powdered mustard (KADUGU PODI...

FIRE TRAGEDY AT KUMBAKONAM - 17 JULY 2004 The fire accident at Kumbakonam was most gruesome. The pics shown on TV were stomach-curling - one shouldn't see such macabre and ghastly pictures EVER. More than 87 small kids ..... what a tragedy. Almost all parents and would-be-parents in India would have been shocked beyond words on seeing the tragedy. Two days of blah, blah and TV and newspapers will forget this and hop on to some other "juicy" story. Politicians will vie with one another in announcing compensations, in throwing accusations at the Govt and then go back to their routine. There will be 'impractical' ideas from intelligentsia. (Already some big expert has told that "all thatch-covered schools in TN must be closed down". To this, a former educationist has replied, 'Then you have to close down more than 75% of schools'). Another expert opines that schools should not be allowed on narrow roads !!! Wah, what an idea, as though Indian cities...