My Musings

NEW YEAR EVE. On the New Year eve (31 Dec 2009), Vijaya and I went to Mylapore. Collected a NY calendar from Lakshmi Vilas Bank. To Giri traders, and there purchased a lot of books. At the Music Section we saw heaps of the latest DVD of Smt Vishakha Hari – Sri ANDAL THIRUKKALYANAM; we promptly purchased one. Then to Sri Kapaleeswarar Koil, my most favourite koil. Onto South Mada Street, we purchased vegetables for tomorrow’s Thiruvathirai Pandigai. No place like South Mada Veedhi for vegetables – this is my firm view. To Ramakrishna Math Bookshop and purchased two copies of Srimad Bhagavad Gita. One of these is for Padma akka, to whom I am giving as a New Year/Pongal Gift. Back home, Arvind told we are going for dinner to EDEN restaurent. This restaurent is just 4 minutes’ walk from our house!I ate Roti with Dal Tadka; Vijaya had Rumali Roti with Aloo Gobi. As we neared our home, Vijaya and I decided to go to the beach to see the Sea water in the Paurnami moonlight. It was a ...

Our life at Besantnagar started on 28 Nov 2009 (Saturday) On the morning of 29th Nov, I explored the areas in the locality – the Elliots beach is about  7 mins walk, Sri Vallabha Vinayakar koil 10 minutes, bus terminus 9 minutes, Sri Ratnagiriswarar koil 7 minutes, Saroja’s house 15 minutes, vegetable shops 6 minutes walk. All very nearby and convenient. The house has three bedrooms. A large garden on the three sides of the house. Three balconies of which two open to the garden. The third one is a closed one. Very airy and brightly sunlit. No need for either fans or tubelights. Incidentally, Aditi likes the garden very much. After some difficulty (“address proof” needed) we got the Gas connection on 8th Dec, thanks to Mrs Tilakam Mohan who helped us. The first refill on 9th. We got the Aavin Milk card on 11th (“address proof”). My BSNL telephone was connected on 1st Dec and activated on 2nd. Broaddband configured on 5th. ACs were fixed by 2nd. Arvind’s BSNL phone activ...

One year has gone by since KVS athimber left us last year on 25 Nov 2008. Yesterday (Wednesday, 9 Dec 2009) was the Varusha aptika Sraththam. We two left our house by 07-15 (arvind dropped us at the bus stand) and we went by 47A and 71E (from Taylors Road); reached Ambattur by 9 AM. Sastrigals started the rituals by 1045 and it was over by 1245. 2 brahmanals ate. Then we had meals. Apart from Padma akka, Prakash, Rajeswari, Srividya, we were the only two extra. Srividya’s husband and daughters didn’t come because of exams. Rajeswari and Srividya prepared the entire sraththam meals. Saroja and athimber came there by 6PM. After night meals, all of us slept there. Thursday, 10 Dec 2009: Today is the subhasyam (grekkiam). Jayaraman, Kalyani, Purnima, Rajeswari’s parents, KVS’s nephew Ramakrishnan and his wife (total 11 + 4) were the additions today. The rituals started at 0945 and ended at 1145; we fifteen ate by 12 noon. Rajeswari and Srividya prepared the meals. We took rest till...

We came to  Karpagam Avenue, Raja Annamalaipuram, Chennai 600028, on 31 August 2005 . We were asked to “vacate” the house as the owner needed it for his office. We arranged for a packers and movers (Rs 3500/-) and shifted residence on Saturday, 28 November 2009. The packer came at 1030 and packed things and made the first trip at 1310. Earlier Vijaya and Krithika had packed our clothes, books, and other small things in 15 cartons and kept these ready for loading. Arvind and Krithika went in the first trip, and returned by 2-45. Arun took leave to help us; he brought lunch – சாம்பார் சாதம், தயிர் சாதம் - and we ate our final meals at Karpagam avenue at 1-30. The rest of the things were loaded and the 2nd and final trip was made at 5-15PM. I came with Arun in his car, Vijaya came with Arvind-Krithika-Aditi. Final bye-bye to Karpagam avenue ! We reached the new house at Cross Street, Besantnagar, Chennai 600090. Unloading and arranging things. We had our meals at Ar...

We had a very happy and peaceful life at Karpagam Avenue 3rd Street, Raja Annamalaipuram, Chennai 28 since 31 August 2005. All good things come an end — in the first week of Oct 2009 the house-owner (Mr Ravikumar) wanted us to vacate the house as he needed it for his use. That was a stunning blow to all of us, more so because Arvind had enrolled the child ADITI in Harishri Vidyalayam only recently after paying a hefty amount. The school is nearby to Karpagam Avenue. Arvind and Krithika started looking for another rented house and got one at  Cross Street, Besant Nagar, Chennai 600090. Another 3 BHK house, but a little older. A large garden surrounds the house. Rs 20,000 rent per month. The house seems to be good, and the location is convenient. On the morning of Friday the 20th November 2009 we went to the house and performed the பால் காய்ச்சிக் குடித்தல் ceremony. Arun, Gayathri visited for a brief while. We plan to shift on Saturday, 28 November 2009. Rajappa 22-11-20...

Our eldest son ARUN has planned to purchase a flat at Padur, about 25 km from Adyar. He took home loan from SBI. The registration was on Thursday the 19th November 2009 at the Sub-Registrar office at Tirupporur, another 10 km away. Arun, Gayathri, Sowmya, Sriram, Vijaya, I, and Mr Balasubramanian (Gayathri’s father) started at 10-50AM on 19-11-2009. Earlier we reached his house at 0800 AM, had lunch there. After travelling for 45 minutes on Rajiv Gandhi Salai (OMR), we stopped at Padur and saw the site where the building will come up. Now it is barren. From there, we went to Tirupporur. The Sub-Registrar office is located near the Murugan Koil tank. We reached there by 12 noon. The signing of the official papers by Arun was completed by 2-15 PM. So now Arun-Gayathri are officially owners of the house. While waiting, we took idli there on the steps of the koil kulam. Sriram and Sowmya enjoyed the kulam water. Once the main job was over, we decided to relax and proceed to Mamalla...

We came to Karpagam Avenue, 3rd Street, Raja Annamalaipuram, Chennai 600028 on 31 August 2005 from 77/85, Aspiran Gardens, 2nd Street, Kilpauk, Chennai – 10 where we lived for 3 1/2 years from Feb 2002. The house owner at Aspiran gardens was Mr Ratnakar Shenoy and at Karpagam Avenue Mr Ravikumar. The landline at Aspiran garden was 2644 4995 and at KA 2461 6845. This house at KA is a 3-BHK and very convenient. Being near to Mylapore, Mandaveli, MRC Nagar, RA Puram was a boon to us. Particularly Mylapore, which is just 25 minutes’ walk from KA. Vijaya and I used to frequent the South Mada Veedhi and Giri Traders almost daily. We visited many temples in Mylapore, RA Puram like Sri Kapaliswarar, Sri Velliswarar, Adi Kesava Perumal, Madhava Perumal, Veera Anjaneyar, Vinayakar, Iyappa, Saibaba koils. We used to visit many Sabhas, like Chettinad, PS High School, Bharatiya Vidhya Bhavan, Asthika Samajam, Sri Parthasarathy Sabha (Bheema Sena Garden) etc etc. There is no place in Che...