My Musings

Earlier this year, we went to bangalore during 25 March -31 March 2010, for the Satyanarayana Poojai that Ashok-Neeraja performed on 29th March. Now, we left Chennai on 19 Nov by the 1-35PM train for Bangalore. Ashok received us at Cantonment station at 8 PM. Karthikai Deepam was celebrated on 21 Nov, with appam, and two different Poris. HOSUR :: On 23rd (Tue) morning at 7-30 AM we went to Hosur to attend the Poojai performed by Savithri ( full details here) . We were in Hosur for 2 days and returned to Bangalore on 25th by 1130 AM. GET-TOGETHER :: There was a get-together on Saturday the 27th at Ashok's house. Lalita, Kumar, Janani, Pradyun, Ranjani, her child Sahasra, Anand, Aishwarya, child Aditya came. Ashok brought Bise bele bath, Vangi bath, Carrot halwa, beans curry from Namma Ura and Neeraja prepared white rice, Rasam, aloo curry. It was a great occasion. SRIVIDYA'S HOUSE :: KVS athimber's sraththa thithi was on 28th Nov (Sun) and we two went by bus to S...

Last time we went to Hosur was on 14 Feb 2010 (read here) , that was the occasion of Naarayaniiyam. Now we went there on Tuesday, 23 Nov 2010. We left Ashok's house at Bangalore by 07-30 and reached Savithri's house by 08-40. Savithri was performing a poojai in general. Added to it, that day (23 Nov) was the birthday of Puttabarthi Sri SaiBaba. She had made an elaborate arrangement with floral decoration etc. She had purchased a large quantity of fresh flowers and lots of Thulasi(for Rs 850 and above).  About 30-35 persons were expected and Savithri had prepared 108 milagu vadais (anjaneyar vadais) and 93 laddus two days before. Today she got up early and prepared Sakkarai Pongal and Sundal for the devotees. Poojai started by 10-15 and ended at 12-45. Vishnu sahasranamam paaraayanam, Gita 12th chapter, Hanuman Chalisa, Sri Rama bhajan, Baba bhajan, Govindan Bhajani were all chanted. It was great. The devotees, about 35, were given milk, and the Prasadams. Also veththa...

We two went to Tiruchy on 10th November 2010. Vijaya's chiththappa's grandson DEEPAK (s/o GV Kumar) got married to Aarthee there. We took Pallavan Exp on 10th afternoon to go to Tiruchy where we stayed at a hotel nearby Railway station. Next morning (11th Nov), we went to Srirangam koil by 7-30AM. Srirangam koil is a very large koil with many Sannadhis.  We worshipped at all sannadhies incl Thaayaar Sannadhi. At Srirangam, we went to Gayathri's mama's (Sundaresan) house also.  From there we went to Thiruvanaikoil and worshipped Sri Jambukeshwarar - Akhilandeswari Amman.  One of the Panchabootha Stalams, this also  is a very large and ancient koil. It represents water (Neer) and even today, water oozes out near the Lingam.Then back to hotel.  Akilandeswari Amman  Thiruvanaikoil Meanwhile, the bridegroom's party had arrived in the marriage hall and we went there. Vratham, lunch, evening Nichchayathaartham. Next day (12th Nov, Friday) was the muhurtham...

ABOU ben ADAM Abou ben Adam (may his tribe increase!) awoke one night from a deep dream of peace, And saw, within the moonlight of his room, Making it rich, and like a lily in bloom, an angel, writing in a book of of gold. Exceeding peace had made Ben Adam bold, And to the Prescence in the room he said: "What writest thou?" The vision raised its head, And, with a look made of all sweet accord, Answered, "The names of those who love the Lord." "And is mine one?"said Abou, "Nay, not so," Replied the angel. Abou spoke more low, But cheerily still, and said, "I pray thee, then, Write me as one who loves his fellow men." The angel wrote, and vanished. The next night It came again, with a great awakening light, And showed the names whom love of God had blest, And lo! Ben adam's name led all the rest. -- Written by the 19th century poet LEIGH HUNT. This immortal poem suddenly popped out in my mind last night (3rd ...

Six years ago this day, I opened a Monthly Interest Scheme account at Kilpauk Post office. Since that day in Nov 2004, Vijaya and I used to visit the PO in the first week of every month religiously and fill, sign, and submit the necessary form and collect the monthly interest in cash. Later when I shifted to Raja Annamalaipuram, we got the account transferred to the local PO. This office was quite nearby, unlike Kilpauk. However, we didn't transfer it to Besantnagar when we shifted here. We used to go Mandaveli by bus to do this monthly chore for the past one year. Yesterday (03rd) i closed the account (matured after 6 years) but we plan to open a fresh a/c at the same RA Puram office. Did you know that one can now deposit 4.5 lakhs in this a/c (9 lakhs for a joint account)? Rajappa 10:15 AM 4 Nov 2010

From VIR SANGHVI's article in today's (Sunday, 31 Oct 2010) Indian Express: In the old days, corruption scandals would follow a familiar pattern - a minister taking a bribe from a businessman for some favour. But now a new pattern of corruption is emerging. The CWG Loot and Adarsh Building Society scam. Distinctive features of the new scams and corruption are : # Nothing is sacred any longer. People will make money out of anything with a complete absence of shame. Nothing is sacred, not the CWG and India's prestige, not the sacrifices of our martyrs. # The hallmark of the new corruption is that people will defile anything in their greed for big bucks. # Once upon a time it was the politicians who had a monopoly on corruption. Now people from all fields - sports administrators, local Govt officials, bureaucrats in case of CWG, and Generals, and Admirals in case of ABS. Gs and As felt no shame in misusing the names of Kargil martyrs to get flats worth crores allot...

Now, here's a good story to tell .. Story telling has been in vogue from time long ago. Particularly in our country. Our paatis, thathas, ammas, appas used to tell stories, especially from our puranas and ithihasas to us when we were small kids. This is the way we learnt about Sri Rama, Sri Krishna, Shiva and many other Gods and their deeds. Prahlad, Dhruv, Hanuman, Bheem, Arjun became our close friends. We disliked Raavan, Kamsan, Hiranyakasibu, and other bad characters. We remember these stories even today because we listened to these in our very young days, with intent, interest, and dedication. Bhakti was always embedded in such narrations. In our childhood there was no Amar Chitra Katha books, or TV channels, or VCDs/DVDs to learn the Mythology. It was only our Paatties and ammas who inculcated the habit of listening to stories. These women were gems in story-telling. With a paththiram full of paruppu Satham or Thayir Satham and surrounded by a few grandchildren, these...