My Musings

The Brihadiswarar Temple at Thanjavur (The Big Temple) was built by the Chola Emperor Raja Raja Chozhan, in the year 1010. It has been built entirely on granite and statues sculpted. It is a marvel of art and is extremely fascinating to behold. You know all the facts. The temple reflecting Tamil culture, ethos, and Tamil way of life has completed One Thousand years this month and Mu Ka and the Tamilnadu Govt decided to have a grand celebration of the event - a 1000 years of Raja Rajeswaram. Celebrations commenced on 22nd Sep, the Thanjavur town and the Temple wore a festive look. Many literary sessions and orations later, there was a grand sight on 25th evening - there was a Dance program in which 1000 dancers took part! The legendary Padma Subramaniam led these 1000 artistes and arranged, managed the spectacular show. The dancers were from all parts of Tamilnadu and other Indian states, and many had come from foreign countries also ! Everyone of them came to Thanjavur on their own...

Five years ago, i opened a SCSS (Sr Citzn Savgs Scheme) account at a local PO. They pay the interest every 3 months. I draw this intr thru cheque and deposit in another bank. This went on for years. My next chq is due on 4th Oct. Yesterday (22nd Sep) Vijaya and I went to that HPO to update the passbooks. The decision to go was intuitive and not pre-planned. The special counter (for updation) at the PO was facing some problem; so i decided to go to the Cash counter and draw some cash, so that the clerk has to update !! This decision was another un-planned move. The clerk duly updated the book and told there was a decent balance in the a/c. i was surprised and drew that amount also, leaving just the minm balance. My curiosity was aroused - how come this much of balance could be in my a/c ? not possible - i was perplexed. So i took the third un-planned decision of going to the SCSS counter to get the book updated there. The lady there made a cursory look at the book, asked me ...

மதுரை சண்முகவடிவு சுப்புலக்ஷ்மி (அம்மா), "MS" in short, needs no introduction. She was born on Sept 16,1916 (D: 11-12-2004), today is amma's 94th birth anniversary. On the eve of the great musician's birth anniversary, The HINDU joined with SaReGaMa and RmKv to institute a Music award in Amma's name, "The Hindu-Saregama MS Subbulakshmi Award" to be given to the Best Young Carnatic Vocalist from this year 2010-11 particularly the Marghazi Isai Vizha (December kutcheries) annually. The initiative is very laudable. During the launch of this Award yesterday at Chennai, Saregama brought out "MS Subbulakshmi songs on Tirupati Lord Balaji" , a seven-pack music album. Speaking at this function, Shri KS Raghunathan, recording engineer for MS's albums for over 20 years recalled many interesting things about MS amma and re-lived Amma's Shraddha and Sadhana. The little girl in pavadai chattai, oiled curls pressed into a tight braid, was too ...

கடவுள் அன்றாடம் பல அற்புதங்களை நிகழ்த்திக் கொண்டிருக்கிறார். அன்றாடம் நடந்து கொண்டிருப்பதால் நாம் அவைகளுக்கு அதிக மதிப்பு தருவதில்லை. கடவுள் தன் பணியை தொடர்ந்து செய்து கொண்டுதான் இருக்கிறார்.. எனக்கு மிகவும் வேண்டிய பெண்மணியின் வாழ்க்கையில் நடந்த, ஆனால் எளிதில் நம்ப முடியாத அற்புதத்தைப் பற்றி எழுதப் போகிறேன். இது நான் நேரிலேயே பார்த்தது என்று முதலிலேயே கூறி விடுகிறேன். சில வருஷங்களுக்கு முன்பு - 1995ல்- நாங்கள் எட்டு பேர் குருவாயூர் போகக் கிளம்பினோம். அது வரை நான் குருவாயூர் போனதில்லை. எங்களுடன் ஒரு பெண்மணியும் வந்திருந்தார். ரயில் ஏறியதும் அவர் ”அம்மாடி.. என்னாலே அதிக நேரம் நிற்கவோ உட்காரவோ முடியாது. நான் படுத்துக் கொள்கிறேன்.” என்று சொல்லியபடியே, தன் இடுப்பிலிருந்து ஒரு பட்டையான பெல்ட்டைக் கழட்டினார். “ என்ன மாமி..இது? இத்தனை பட்டையாக இருக்கிறது இந்த பெல்ட்?” எங்களில் ஒருத்தர் கேட்டார். ”அதுவா .... இந்த பெல்ட் இல்லாவிட்டால் என்னால் ஒரு நிமிஷம் கூட நிற்கமுடியாது. என் முதுகு எலும்பில் இரண்டு இணைப்புகள் சரியாக இல்லை. L- 4, மற்றும் L - 5 இல் தேய்மானம் ஆகிவிட்டதால், அந்த இடத்தில் உடல்...

Vijaya's elder sister Indira's grand-daughter APARNA got married on 3rd Sept at Chennai. We reached the Kalyana Mandapam at 6-30AM on 2nd for the Vratham etc. After Vratham and breakfast, there was simply nothing to do. Just idling. Nichchaya thaartham was at 4PM and reception at 7PM. As I have written in my earlier posts the habit of having "Reception" a day before the actual marriage is becoming a fashion these days. Utterly non-sensical, in my view. The usual Reception Menu for dinner. Tamilians are fast turning into North Indians in culture !! Next day, the marriage function started by 7 and was over by 9 AM. What to do then? Idling ! Waste of time and waste of money for everyone. We returned home by 8PM that night. Slowly but surely the Brahmin marriages are becoming a bore. Extra lavish expenses, intrusive and all-pervasive north indian culture (Mehendi function etc),அளவுக்கு மீறிய தாம் தூம் டாம்பீகம் (there were over 50 varieties of supari in North India...

This year (2010) Gokulashtami or Janmashtami was celebrated on 1 Sep. Iyers celebrate this festival on Ashtami thithi whereas Iyengars celebrate on Rohini star. The preparations start the previous day; if not, at least on the morning of the festival day. As the evening approaches, the small footprints of Sri Krishna (as a child) are "drawn" from the doorstep to the place of poojai - we are "receiving" the child Krishna. Seedai (both salty and sweet), murukku, Aval and many other things are prepared for Neivethyam. "Uppu Seedai uruttuthal" is itself an interesting task. Aditi was so enthusiastic this year and she participated eagerly in all "activities" along with her Paatti. ”பாட்டி, நான் மாவு பிசையறேன் பாட்டி, சீடை உருட்டறேன் பாட்டி” என எல்லாவற்றிலும் அதிதி சுறுசுறுவென பங்கேற்றாள். சீடை முதல் “ஈடு” பண்ணியதும், அதிதி ஒரு சீடையை எடுத்து சாப்பிட்டாள். ”உம்மாச்சிக்கு நைவேத்யம் பண்ணிட்டுத்தான் சாப்பிடணும்னு” பாட்டி சொன்னதற்கு, “பாட்டி, கிருஷ்ண...