My Musings

PANCHANG GYAN - Calculation of LAGNAM We know that Sun travels through the 12 zodiac signs (rasis) in one year; that is one rasi per Tamil month. On Tamil New year day (Chiththirai first day), Sun enters the first rasi - Mesham. On Vaikasi 1st, he enters the second rasi - Rishabam. And so on. Since each rasi subtends an arc of 30 degrees, he travels app. 1 deg per day. Every day, the Sun travels through all the 12 rasis. Now these are called as LAGNAS of the day. At the exact time of sunrise, it starts in the rasi (lagnam) corresponding to the month (Chithrai = Mesham etc). and after travelling thru that lagnam, it enters the next lagnam, travels thru this lagnam, then enters 3rd lagnam -- etc etc, till the next sunrise. Thus, we see that the time taken to travel thru one lagnam will be 24 hours / 12 lagnams = 2 hours (approx ) in one lagnam. Converting this in Tamil units, it would mean 5 naazhigais per lagnam (one hour = 2 1/2 naazhigais). But it is exactly not so. The time per lagna...

These Amazing People. A couple of weeks back I read in Vikatan a story (by Mr Ramakrishnan ?) in which an IIT-ian, MS-educated in US and employed in US, comes to his small town where his old father is employed as a kanakku pillai. The son does not have any high respect for his father's job - "after all a small kannakku pillai". One day, the son's mobile phone goes haywire, he can't switch it on or use it. All of a sudden, the son's world goes berserk - he does not remember a single telephone number, a bank a/c number, or any number for that matter. All blank. Every single digit is stored in his mobile ! Then, he overhears his father talking to a group of customers - the old man is reeling out figures after figures to each man. The son is astounded - how could this "small kanakku pillai" remember so many different numbers for so many people ? He is brought down to the earth with a thud, and he seeks forgiveness mentally from his father. There are many...

Baraats in GRSfamily Today in Indian Express I read a column on baraats and my mind floated back to some of the baraats in GRS Family. Not in the strict sense that the word is understood in North India, but the way we (the groom's party) travelled & reached the mandapam. In anna's (GSR) marriage (1956), I remember only that I travelled in First Class (railways) to Kumbakonam. thanks to the Free Passes that Pappa Chiththi had. Obviously, I impersonated someone in her family (Gopu, perhaps?). I don't remember how we travelled to Coimbatore for Sundaresan's marriage (1965). For my marriage (1971), I vividly remember we had packed everything by 9PM the previous night and everyone was sleeping as though in a station platform. The passenger train to Chengalpattu was at 4.00AM; we got up at 2 AM, anna brought a kattai vandi and we loaded our luggage and proceeded, on foot, to the station. At Villupuram station (6 AM) where the train halted for more than 30 minutes, anna an...