My Musings

If you had gone out of Chennai before the 1st week of April 2008 and returning now, or if you are a home-bird in Chennai not venturing out of your home since April 1st week ... beware, a cultural shock awaits you on your return to the City. Be forewarned. As you walk/ travel in a bus/ drive through the main roads of Chennai, you will be jolted suddenly with large number of trees, and pleasant greenery all around you. A truly amazing sight. Just walk/drive along towards Usman Road in Thyagaraya Nagar from Pondy Bazaar, as you approach Panagal Park - hey whats this, where have we landed, are we in Panagal park? The fresh air, the greenery, the PANAGAL PARK itself - the view is quite amazing. People who have lived in Chennai for years are wondering - where were these trees, this greenery all these years? Travel across the Adyar Bridge, near Malar, you will be speechless to view the grand scenery the river presents. Even the Mandaveli Signal is looking very different, very pleasant. This i...

Vijaya and I went to Hyderabad recently. We started on the evening of 17 Mar 2008 from Egmore, Chennai. The train went via Park, Fort, Beach, Washermenpet stations before joining the main line at Vyasarpadi. I am seeing the Fort and Beach etc stations for the first time. We reached Kacheguda the next morning by 7-30. We were told that the local train (MMTS -Multi Mode Transport System) would arrive on PF 3. So we lugged our suitcases climbing the overbridge. Later, at the last moment, the announcement said the train is coming on PF 1 !! We had to lug once again via the overbridge. In fact, we had to climb overbridges in all the stations during our visit to Hyderabad. It was the norm. The MMTS trains are clean and nice. Even allowing for the unusually long stoppages at Kacheguda and Secunderabad Stations, the travel was faster. After bath and breakfast at Rama's place in Ashoknagar, we boarded another MMTS for KCG to go to the Pension Office there. This office is located at Barkatpu...

Yesterday, Sunday, 2 March 2008, afternoon 4-15PM. Narada Gana Sabha in TTK Road, next to Arvind’s office. Vijaya and I left house at 3-15 PM and reached the place by 3-45. A Condolence Meeting had been arranged to remember Sujatha and share the feelings. Three large photos were placed in a prominent place with floral respects. A really large basket with full of flowers and a large thattu (Thambalam) with fresh roses were also kept. Taking the hint, we two paid our floral respects to the great writer. Everyone did. We entered the Hall – though we expected a decent crowd, we never imagined that the Hall would be so full half hour before the start. Shows how many people were attracted by Sujatha’s writings. When the programme started, the Hall was full. Cine actor Parthiban, Kanimozhi, ManushyaPuthran, Cine Director Vasanth, Uyirmai publishing house had arranged this meeting. Kanimozhi came, greeted everybody (VIPs) individually and left in 15 minutes. Many spoke, shared their feelings ...

SUJATHA – A Tribute Sujatha (May 5, 1935 – Feb 27, 2008) was one of my favorite writers. And I am positive that he was the favorite of many of you also. He passed away last night (27-02-2008) at Apollo, Chennai due to cerebral haemorrhage and kidney failure. He was a prolific writer in Tamil and he has written a number of novels and short stories. He was really multi-faceted. He was strong in ancient Tamil literature (Sanga Thamizh) and also in Vaishnavite literature. His forte was Science fiction and he has written many Sci-Fi novels and stories in Tamil. Having a background of Science and Technology – he had a Master’s Degree in Electronics – he wrote with authenticity. In fact he introduced many scientific ideas and thoughts to the ordinary Tamil people also. Almost all of his writings are quite famous. Like, his “Srirangathhu Devathaikal” a collection of short stories. No one can ever forget the characters Ganesh and Vasanth who appeared in many short stories. “Thoondil Kathaikal” ...

After many weeks Vijaya and I resumed our long walks around Mylapore yesterday (17 Feb 2008). We started walking as usual via the Norton Street. There was a proposal to rename this street as Ki Vaa Jagannatha (Iyer) Street, in honour of the famous Tamil writer and long-time editor of Kalaimagal. What happened to the renaming? We explored the kurukku therus (Cross streets) branching off Norton Street and came to the Sri Veera Anjaneyar Koil . This Koil is a small but very beautiful one with about 8 feet tall statue of Sri Anjaneya. After worshipping here, we walked to Sri Vedanta Desikar Koil . Sri Vedanta Desika lived over 730 years ago in South India. He wrote erudite commentaries on Ramanuja's Sribhashyam, Gita Bhashyam and was a great exponent of Visishtadvaita. Apart from Sri Desikar’s vigraha, there are Sannadhis for Hayagriva, Sri Rama, and others. The Moolavar here is Sri Srinivasa Perumal with Sri Alarmel Mangai Thayar. The annual Dhavanothsavam is being held here now from ...

A couple of days ago I watched the film Taare Zameen Par , starring the child artiste Darsheel Safary . The film is directed and produced by Amir Khan. Such a wonderful, and moving film. At many places, I had to control my tears. Fantastic acting by that eight-year old boy. This film is sure to touch your heart and soul. This is already a mega Super-duper hit all over the world. The story is about an eight year old boy Ishaan Avasthi and his problem. "On the whole, TAARE ZAMEEN PAR is an outstanding work of cinema. To miss it would be sacrilege. It has everything it takes to win awards and box-office rewards! Do yourselves a favor. Watch TAARE ZAMEEN PAR with your child. It will change your world. It will also change the way you look at your kids! " - Taran Adarsh, the well-known film critic. Dyslexia is most commonly characterized by difficulties with learning how to decode at the word level, to spell, and to read accurately and fluently. Ishaan Awasthi , an eight-year old ...

Since I went to Poona in 1962, I have been a regular reader of the weekly BLITZ. Those days it used to cost just 25p. It used to sell out within minutes of arriving in the news-stalls, and one will miss it if one is late even by 30 minutes! Such was the craze for the magazine - from North to south, from East to west, across the entire country. The weekly was extremely popular for its sensational news reports. Free, Frank and Fearless. That’s how Blitz described itself, and lived up to its self-description It was started by Russi Karanjia(b: 1912) on 1st Feb 1941 and was flourishing for over 4 decades, before closing down in mid-1990s when Karanjia became unwell and was confined to his apartment. Blitz courageously and creatively espoused many worthy causes. Apart from Karanjia himself, this contribution to socially committed journalism came, first, from Khwaja Ahmed Abbas , the celebrated writer and film-maker (his Saat Hindustani marked Amitabh Bachchan’s entry into Hindi cinema) who...