My Musings

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...

This year's (2007) CNN-IBN channel's Life Time Achievement Award was given to the most uncommon Man - the Mysore born Rasipuram Krishnaswamy LAXMAN, whose common man has held a mirror to the birth, rise and growth of a nation on the front page of The Times of India for well over 50 years now through “You Said It“. The adjectives flowed freely, and for once unquestionably justly, as Laxman, now bound to a wheelchair after a paralytic stroke three years ago, was ushered in on stage. “For a lifetime of contributions to society, for a lifetime of achievements,” said anchors Vidya Shankar Aiyar and Suhasini Haider. But when the citation was read, the 84-year-old Laxman bawled like a baby as former president A.P.J. Abdul Kalam and vice-president Hamid Ansari joined the audience in standing and saluting a common man who has become uncommon in modern India. “For being one of the most incisive observers of post-independence India; for making millions of Indians smile every single mornin...

First, for those who are not very familiar with Tamil writers, or those who have lost touch recently, let me say that there is a Tamil writer, S. RAMAKRISHNAN , who writes on many topics. Did I say "write"? I can't find suitable words to adequately describe his writing.. You have to read him to personally understand and feel it. An hour ago I finished reading his book " DESANDHRI ". Ramakrishnan has expressed his feelings about the various places that he has visited. Not just about the place, but the People, the Nature, Historical importance, Our Heritage, Parampariyam and Culture, and on many other aspects. Total 41 experiences, each a gem. What a writing! What a description! Starts with Suriyan (Sun, Veyil) in his home village house. From there to Saranath Sthupi and about Bihar and its People. Then to Arjunapuram where the Nalla Thangal story happened. Nalla thangal, a poor woman unable to bear the hunger of her 7 children commits suicide throwing herself and...

Shri Narendra Modi, the Chief Minister of Gujarat, visited Chennai yesterday (14th Jan) for a day. He had a lot of engagements in the city, from morning to evening. I was affected by his visit. I will explain how. Shri Modi was staying in a star hotel on Nungambakkam High Road. He had to visit a RSS meeting in Chetput, which is on the west of this hotel. After this, he went to Jayalalithaa's Veda Nilayam house for a 45-items Lunch. Poes garden (JJ's house) is on the east side of the hotel. And he went for the Anniversary of Thuglak at Kamarajar Arangam in the evening. All these venues are on the same route (or nearby) of the bus route 29 C (Perambur to Besant Nagar) Vijaya and I were waiting at Besant Nagar for this 29 C and we couldn't even see a single bus for nearly an hour. At that time I couldn't think it was due to Shri Modi's visit and the traffic regulations. Then the buses started coming from Adyar side in a procession !! The distance between the hotel at N...

About 30-35 years ago Chennai Metro buses were painted red. Dull red, to be precise. Then the color was changed to Green, azhukkup pachchai. This green color continued till recently. To digress a bit, the busfares in Chennai are atrociously, ridiculously LOW compared to all other Metro cities. Even today, with a minimum fare of just 2-00, one can travel for upto 3 km !! From Ambattur to Mandaveli, a distance of about 25 km, the fare is just 6.50. Ridiculous, I would say. Successive Governments could not raise the fares for fear of losing votes. And so the fare structure remainde unaltered for decades. However, recently within a year or so, some bright chap in the Govt has thought of an ingenious way - purchase new buses, paint these in different colours, call them "deluxe" (சொகுசுப் பேருந்துகள்) or "low level flooring buses" (the footboard in these buses are low) (தாழ்தள சொகுசு), and charge four times the previous fare. Thus, today, I see buses painted in all the co...