My Musings

SADABISHEKAM 80th Birthday or, more exactly 80 years and 8 months. Yesterday 11-05-2018 was the Sadabishekam of Vijaya's cousin Mr. Lakshminarayanan (aka DINAMANI). He and his wife live in Pune City and they came to Sri Vedavyasar Tapovanam near Tambaram, Chennai to celebrate it. He had invited me over the phone and then sent the Invitation also. Yesterday (11th May) we two left house by 6-00 and reached the venue by 6-30. Many persons had gathered already. Lalita and Kumar came by 7-30. We had breakfast there. Maangalya tharanam was over by 8-15 and the function came to an end. Though we wanted to return then, Mt Dinamani insisted to take Lunch also. So we waited, had lunch by 12-15 and left by 1-15 PM. It was a very hot day. Dinamani's 4 brothere (Dhanyan, Babu, Venkatesh, Krishnan) had come and also Mr Srivathsan. Vijaya had a great day with her cousins. God Bless all. Rajappa 12-5-2018 12:37PM

There was Aditi Drama at Bhartiya Vidya Bhavan, East Mada Street, Mylapore on 8th May 2018.(Tuesday). We two left house by 4-45 PM and went to Sri Adi Kesava Perumal Koil and Sri Srinivasa Perumal Koil first. We are going to these temples after 5 or 6 years. The water tank of the temple is dry, very dry. Once, it was brimming with water. Adi Kesava Perumal Koil Temple Tank - DRY Next we walked to East Mada Street. Since it was very earlt, we went to Mami's Mess nearby, and had bondas. We took a parcel for Aditi or someone else. (We gave it to Lalita-Kumar) Then we entered Bhartia Vidya Bhavan, took our seats. Later Lalita-Kumar also came and they sat next to us. The drama started by 7PM; actually there were 4 bits of drama skits each for 25-30 minutes. Aditi's was the second. It was uproarious, with Aditi shining all the way. God Bless the child. ADITI's Drama Once the drama (4 parts) was over, L-K took an UBER home. We walked to Mami's ...

TRVG's son HARI got married to POORNIMA on 22 April 2018 at JD Mahal, Chennai. JD Mahal is 500 meters away from Kamatchi Hospital. We two went on the evening of 21st also. Aditi came with us. Many had come from Hyderabad - Ganesan, Sivasubramaniam, Vaithyalingam, Saibaba, Subba Reddy, UAV Prasad, Ramakrishnaiah etc. Ramesh P PAI had come from Kochi ! Aditi enjoyed eating the Buffet dinner. We two went on 22nd for the marriage also. It was a grand affair. After a grand lunch, we returned home.  God bless the young couple. Rajappa 22-04-2018

BANGALORE VISIT We two started on 2nd MARCH 2018 Friday morning by Double Decker Train to Bangalore. We got down at Cantt station where Ashok was waiting for us with his car. We reached home by 2PM. On 3rd March, we went to Whitefield with Ashok and Neeraja for seeing houses. Went to GV Kumar's house and chatted with Kamala chithti. 5th March MONDAY. Upanayanam of Aswatha Narayanan's grandson at RagiGudda koil. Vittalachar, his daughter Madhavi were there and we had a long talk with MVV. After lunch we returned home by 2 PM 8th March :: I fell ill. It continued till 27th March !! 10 March -- Srividya, Pasupati came. 11 March -- Krishnaraj, Gayatri came 18 March -- UGADI.  Rs 3700 sent to Bhaskar for Rama Navami 19 March -- TRVG and Saraswathi came and handed over the invite for marriage of HARI 20 March -- Dandapani Mama expired at Mumbai. 26 March -- Dresses for SS, AA purchased. 28 March -- NEW CAR VERNA PURCHASED BY ASHOK. 29...

My younger brother SUGAVANAM (Sai Krishnan) had passed away on 27 August 2016 (aavani Krishna Dasami thithi) at Chennai. One year has gone by, and his Varushaptikam was on 15th September 2017 (Friday). It was performed at Subha's house at Pallavaram. Sothakumbam was on the first day (14th Sept), next day was Sraththam and on the 3rd day (16 Sept, Saturday) was Grekkiam or Subasweekaram. We two, and Arvind, Krithika, Arjun, left on 15th at 0730 AM for Pallavaram. We did not attend the previous day's rites of Sothakumbam. Pattu Manni had reached Pallavaram on the night 0f 13th and she attended it. Sastrigal came by 11-15 AM and the ritual was completed in one hour. Lunch for Sastrigal and Magesh, Subha, Pattu Manni, and two kids were over by 1-30 PM. The cook who was arranged, did not come, so Sudha and Subha had started cooking. Sudha had arrived the previous night from Thiruvanmiyur. Vijaya and Krithika changed into 9-yards sari (madisar) and joined in the cooking...

This year, 2017, Appa sratham was on 02 September 2017 Saturday, at our house 3, Kalakshetra Avenue, Chennai. Avani, Sukla, Dwadasi      SIMHA Maase W e performed it in Hiranya roopam. The sastrigals came at 7-30 and completed by 8-10. Arvind, Krithika, Arjun joined us. Sri VENKATESA SARMA and his brother Sri Venkatachala Vathyar came.  (1000 + 1000) Payaththam paruppu, arisi, Vazhaikkai given to both the Sastrigals. Rajappa 03-09-2017

SAPTHA STHAANA KOILS OF MYLAPORE. The following seven temples are known as the SEVEN Shiva Koils in Mylapore. # 1. KARANEESWARAR KOIL Swami : Sri KARANEESWARAR   Amman : PORKODI {SORNA LALITHAMBIKA} It is located in Bazaar road of Mylapore . Bazaar road is just near Mylapore Post Office on the Kutchery road. He is the primordial cause of this universe which is His very form. He is also the Lord who can teach us the causality behind all events. # 2. THEERTHAPALEESWARAR KOIL AMMAN : TIRIPURA SUNDARI 2nd of the seven koils. Located in Natesan Street - the street opposite to City Center. # 3. VELLEESWARAR KOIL SWAMI VELLEESWARAR     AMMMAN   KAMAKSHI VELLI is Sukra.  So, Velleeswarar is Sukrachariar Sri Sukracharya worshipped the Lord here and got back the eyesight he lost at the hands of Lord Vamana. You can see the statue form of Sri Sukra worshipping the Lord here in this temple. Located next to Sri Kapaleeswarar Koil. Pray to Him ...

# 1. SIVASAMI IYER SCHOOL . Thirukattupalli is a small village in Thanjavur district of Tamilnadu. It boasts of an ancient history, mentoned in Ponniyin Selvan book by Kalki. About 2.5 km from this village is PAZHAMANERI another small village. In this village there lived one family of Sundaram Iyer and his wife Subbalakshmi Ammal. On 7th February 1864, a son was born to them and was named Sivaswami. He had his early schooling in nearby schools and studied in different colleges and obtained his Law degree.  He was a shining lawyer throughout and finally he became the Advocate General of Madras Presidency .He was elected to the Senate of Madras University and the vice chancellor of the Madras University, then the VC of Banaras Hindu University.He was a Member of the Executive Council of the Governor of Madras. He was a keen educationist, in particular of Girls' education. He wanted to uplift girls education.He instituted and maintained a school for boys at Tirukkattupalli, and ...

GEMS of Mylapore. RR Sabha. Mylapore, Chennai is well-known for its cultural, bhakti, historical background. Even today the one place everyone wishes to visit Mylapore for its cultural brilliance. There is that world-famous temple of Sri Karpagambal sametha Sri Kapaleeswara. Around this temple are its four Maada Veethis (streets) - East, West, South, and North Maada Veethis. The East Maada veethi is the location for many cultural centres like Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan and Rasika Ranjani Sabha (RR Sabha). The RR Sabha is the oldest Sabha in the whole of Chennai, it was founded in 1929. It is located in Sundareshwarar Street at the southern end of the East Maada street near Lady Sivaswami Iyer School (more about this famous school later). Carnatic music concerts were held monthly twice then, dramas were staged, and music classes were also conducted there. It was renovated in 1958 and Smt MS amma was the first to perform in the new auditorium. Yearly membership was just 20.00 then, and...

This year, 2017, Amma sratham was on 17th June 2017 Saturday, at our house 3, Kalakshetra Avenue, Chennai. Aani, Krishna, Ashtami W e performed it in Hiranya roopam. The sastrigals came at 9.00 and completed by 9-45. Arvind, Krithika, Aditi, Arjun joined us. Sri VENKATESA SARMA and his brother Sri Venkatachala Vathyar came.  (1000 + 1000) Payaththam paruppu, arisi, Vazhaikkai given to both the Sastrigals. First sratham where both Sugavanam and Savithri were NOT alive ! Rajappa 18-06-2017

KALYANI Jayaraman has been suffering from hernia problem for some time now. Jayaraman took her to Global hospital first, then to Billroth at Shenoynagar. Later, he came to Fortis, Adyar for treatment. He and Kalyani came to Fortis on 13th March, Monday for prelim tests. She was told to have treadmill test. For this, they had to visit Indiranagar, they came to our house by 3 PM (13 March), stayed for 3 hours and then went for the test. It was successful and she was asked to get admitted on the evening of 15-03-2017. They two, and the servant girl came to Fortis on 15th, got admitted. The surgery was at 0800 AM on 16th March (Thursday) . We two went to Fortis by 8AM on 16th, stayed there till the operation was over at 10-30AM (successful). We left FORTIS by 1100, went to Saroja's house where Jayaraman is staying. Then we returned home. Rajappa 11:45 17-03-2017

On Saturday the 4th March 2017, Vijaya and I went for a walk around Thiruvanmiyur. While we were returning there was a huge trafiic; when we came near Maruntheeswarar koil, I hit a parked scooter and "fell down" (not exactly fallen, just I sat down, fumbling). I got up somehow, went inside the temple, sat there for 15 minutes and then walked back home. Except for some pain in my buttocks, I had no other problem. On 6th we heard the news about Gopu (passing away), so we went to Ashok Nagar, on 7th we walked to Besantnagar, on 8th to I seaward street, and Giri's shop. Once we returned home, I was on PC for an hour or more; when I went out of the room, Arjun saw me and exclaimed, "thatha, something black on you." Vijaya checked it up, it was a black patch on my neck, below the chin. Horrible. No pain, no itching, only the black color. This was on 8-3-2017. On 9th March, Thursday, we went to CGHS. They couldn't diagnose the cause. They suggested blood tes...

I had two mobile phones one the old Nokia and the other a Windows Phone, Microsoft Lumia 640. The Lumia was purchased in April 2015 and I wanted to purchase a new one with Android software. First, I chose Xiaomi Redmi Note 4 Plus, but unfortunately, the phone was selling as a special once-a-week Sale only. Then I browsed further and learnt that HUAWEI the Chinese giant has launched their latest phone. HONOR 6X, but this too was not on Open Sale. Suddenly, on 26th Feb 2017, I saw the announcement that this w ill be on open sale from 27th Feb ( Monday). On 27th morning at 6-15AM, I opened Amazon website and within 5 minutes, booked my Honor 6X phone (Rs 12999.00 for 3GB / 32GB). The very next day, on 28th Feb, Tuesday, the phone was delivered by 9 AM !!! I paid thru SBI debit card (Kilpauk branch), Then, at 11 AM, Vijaya and I went to 2nd Avenue, Besantnagar, JIO store, and got a 4G nano SIM. Free. The store-man inserted the Sim into the phone and said it would be activated by eve...

Prior to 1990, we had only Postal Money Orders if we have to send money. Banks issued Demand Drafts. Though they were highly useful those days, they started losing usefulness as te=he years rolled on. Some simpler, faster mode of transmitting was needed and the Govt of India founded the National Payments Corporation of India NPCI in late 1990s. It formulated many rules and regulations with the guidance of RBI and Indian Banks Assn. In 2005s it took shape and   India has not turned back after 2005. NEFT / RTGS Year 2005 saw National Electronic Funds Transfer and Real Time Gross Settlement (NEFT and RTGS). The structure of the Banks were standardised - the Cheque Truncation System CTS was evolved with standardisation of Cheque leaves for faster clearing. Each branch of every Bank was allotted a unique Code - Indian Fnancial Systems Code (IFSC). It is a 11 character Code, first 4 alpha (name of the bank)   next a zero and the last six the branch code. Using NEFT, one can s...

FLUFFY, TASTY, HEALTHY The AATTUKKAL in our Tirupapuliyur house was in the முற்றம் behind the kitchen. It was permanently cemented to the platform. A huge one, this Aatukkal was the main instrument for my mother to make batter for those lovely, tasty Idlis, dosais, adais, Vadais and what not. For several years since early 1950s. My mother would take the exact measure of rice required for the family, and then the dal, soak them in different vessels overnight, she will grind these next morning in the Aatukkal. She will rotate the KUZHAVI with one hnd and push the rice / dal towards the pestle with the other hand. This is a hard job but she continued it, week after week, year after year. Once the two batters are ready, she will mix them in a larger vessel, adding salt. Then keep it overnight for fermentation. Next morning, the MAAVU will be swollen and ready for preparing Idlis. With (small onion) Sambar and coconut and pacchai milakai Chutney ready, she will steam the ...

Savithri Last Rites I have been writing re the illness to Savithri since 2007-8. She has the dreaded C and was being treated for it during 2016. Chemo therapy at Kumaran hosp and Radiation Therapy at the Billroth hospital Chennai. However the C grew beyond medication and since Aug-Sep 2016, she didn't have any medicines. Her food intake also decreased day by day. During the last two weeks of Sept and the first 10 days of October, her condition became pathetic. No food, no mobility. no talking ... 11-10-2016  TUESDAY ----   DEATH . At the end, on 11 October 2016 (Tue) she breathed her last by 1-15 in the afternoon. Ramesh informed us about the death at 3-30 PM and we two rushed to Nolambur immediately. There she was lifeless, inside the ice box. Oh my God, we couldn't bear this sight! Our sister Savithri who was with us for 73 years is no more. We went to Nolambur with Priya and Rajesh in their car. Later Subha and Magesh and Venkat came to see her...

This year, 2016, Appa sratham was on 13th September 2016, Tuesday, at our house 3, Kalakshetra Avenue, Chennai. Avani  Sukla Dwadasi. We performed it in Hiranya roopam. The sastrigals came at 7-10 and completed by 8-00. Arvind, Krithika, Aditi, Arjun joined us. Sri VENKATESA SARMA and his brother Sri Venkatachala Vathyar came.  (1000 + 1000) This is the second Sratham we are performing in Hiranya roopam. {First Sratham without my brother Sugavanam who passed away on 27 August 2016 at his house} Rajappa 14-09-2016

SUGAVANAM, (aka Krishnan). my younger brother passed away on the early hours of Saturday the 27th August 2016 at his house in Radhakrishnan Nagar 1st Cross street, Thiruvanmiyur, Chennai 41. He was born on 19 October 1946 , and died on 27 Aug 2016 at the age of 70. He was the 8th child to our parents GR Subramania Iyer and Sampoornam. and was born at Salem. He was suffering from Cancer for the past 4 years and particularly during the last 3 months he was just sleeping, eyes closed for 24 hours a day. There was no consciousness at all and he never uttered a single word during this 90 odd days. Vijaya and I were in Bangalore when the news came (5-40 AM) and we two and Ashok and Neeraja came to Chennai in Ashok's car and reached Thiruvanmiyur house by 4 PM. Susha and family had left for Delhi on Thursday only (25th) and they rushed back direct from NDLS station. Pattu Manni had also come. Later Vasu, Srikanth came from Delhi, Suresh, Sudhakar from Mumbai, Rama from Hyderabad....

This year, 2016, Amma sratham was on 27th June 2016, Monday, at our house 3, Kalakshetra Avenue, Chennai. Aani Krishna ASHTAMI. We performed it in Hiranya roopam. The sastrigals came at 7-10 and completed by 7-40. Sugavanam was very ill, he didn't attend. After the Sratham was over, we went to his house with the Akshatai.. Arvind, Krithika, Aditi, Arjun. Sri VENKATESA SARMA and his brother Sri Venkatachala Vathyar came.  (1000 + 1000) This is the first Sratham we are performing in Hiranya roopam. {My brother Sugavanam passed away two months later on 27 August at his house} Rajappa 28-06-2016

Savithri vacated her own house at Hosur and shifted to a new, more spacious, rented house on 27 November 2014. Vijaya and I went to Hosur to help Savithri in arranging the new house and allied works. Read here about the new house and photos. During the late 2015 and early 2016, Savithri fell ill and had to be treated at Chennai; so she shifted to Chennai by Nov 2015. The house was just locked up, unused. By March - April 2016, she decided that she will not be returning to Hosur, taking her health conditions. She decided to vacate the house. She and Ramesh went to Hosur on 1st May 2016 and vacated the house. Disposed / discarded some items, took away some items to Chennai. Final shifting on Tuesday, the 3rd May 2016. She lived in this house from 27-11-2014. A good and comfortable house. Rajappa 6-5-2016