Anti-climax to my earlier blog..

Hi ,

I really din't want to write this one, and spoil the mood for a few of you..

But I couldn't stop from showcasing the cruel mentality of a few human beings..

Well, this is actually an anti-climax of my earlier blog about spring where I shared some pictures of nests from my garden.

I just discovered this yesterday evening, when I returned from office and went to the patio where I usually keep my shoes.. The tree in which the nests were woven, were cut down..!!

Firstly, that tree was not standing in my garden.. it originated from my neighhour's house, but majority of the branches were hanging in my garden, giving it a wonderful look.

There was unusual sun light in the garden, now that the tree is not there..  I din't want this kind of a sunlight to enter the garden.. no.. not at the expense of nature., not with the sin of destroying the nests..


While I was standing there, in complete disbelief of what has happened, all that I could hear was the crying sound of the birds , who have just lost their homes, that they had woven so beautifully, with all hard work, gathering grass by grass, leaf by leaf..

These were all that remained, out of the beautiful nests that were on the tree a week back.. If you din't see them earlier, please scroll down to see how beautiful the nests were..

I saw a few birds sitting on the compound wall, and crying over the lost houses, and shifted my camera towards them and positioned the zoom.

But for a split second, I thought about our human life.. if some one had just then lost their home, would we simply be clicking their crying photos ? I mean, if we were non-media ..  Definitely not..!

We have all heard about people losing their homes due to Tsunami, Earthquakes etc.,

But they are natural calamitites.. and not artificial events..

What harm did these birds cause to my neighbour ?

What harm did that tree cause to them ?

Why on earth did they have to cut that tree so mercilessly ?

Well, honestly, I do not find a satisfying answer.

I was totally disappointed by what was done during the day.. 5 beautiful nests were destroyed. 5 homes were demolished.

But the good news is that - there were no eggs in any of those nests.

Perhaps, the birds knew that they should not trust these human beings..and this could have been their vacation habitat or so..

And while the tree is no longer there for me to admire in the mornings, I also noted through the new gap that there were a few more nests woven on a tree that was standing two houses away..

I only hope that  - that house owner / tenant is not as "stone-hearted" as my neighbour is.. and that he would allow the birds to stay there till they wish..!!

Sorry if I spoiled your mood with these sad pictures.. but then, I wanted this to be on my blog. So that, any one who sees both the pcitures (the above ones and the pictures from my earlier blog), will think twice before cutting down a tree..!!

Welcome Ms. Spring

Hello Everyone,

After 4 months of not-so-bad winter, the sun has finally started to come out nice and bright.

The room heaters are crying that they also need some rest.

We are being reminded that there is a "A/C" button in the car.. The full sleeve shirts are telling me to fold them..  The deodrants are jumping out of the cupboards..

That parachute coconut oil which remained frozen for 3 months, is back to the liquid state..!

The juice bottles in the shops are yelling "buy me now"..!

Yes.  The winter is finally done (touch wood..  pls. don't prove me wrong..!).

There was a day of snow.. then a day of hailstorms with "golf-ball" sized ice stones falling ..

Then a couple of days of rain.. with decent lightening and thunder..

And after much contemplation, confusion, arguments, and debates, Ms. Spring has managed to find herself a way to sneak out in the middle..!

Below are some pictures I could take, around our house, in Sandton.

Hope you will enjoy them.

This was how most of the plants looked during winter.

Seeing these thorns, I remembered the lines "முள்ளோடு தான் முத்தங்களோ, சொல் ..... சொல்" from the movie "Roja" ..!

The birds were also tired of the winter.. They wanted to enjoy sitting and moving around the lush green branches as they like to do..!

And here comes Ms. Spring ..

I like love this combination of Green and blue.. Unbeatable "natural" combination..!!

And guess what ? the birds are back..to their favorite green habitat..

Let's look at some of those little flowers that have come up now..

And now, let's get back to the birds..

Oh..they are busy weaving a cute little house for them...!!

Still busy constructing.. ??? Okie.. carry on..

Ah.. now I see.. you've brought some more materials to thicken the walls..!!

Hmm.. busy with interiors and final supervisions ??

Oh.. I missed to notice that you have already constructed 4 houses.. so soon..

unbelievable..!! you guys should be in BDA or BBMP or metro works..!!

Can we have a quiet look at your constructions, please...

Wow.. That looks very 'welcoming'..

May I come inside, please ?

Oh.. you are still busy with the final touches..

Alright, carry on..  And make sure you do a quality control check in the end..

If any eggs drop out, they are sure to become spicy omlettes..!! hmm.. well then...

Ok guys.. that's all I wanted to share..hope you enjoyed the pictures..!!

Biascope

Vanakkam reader.. As usual, for people who cannot read Tamil, i've tried to translate in English within brackets.. carry on..

Recently one head movie released… அதாங்க, நம்ம "தல" படம்.. [ Ajith has a nick name "Thala" , literally meaning "head"]. While I was walking aside Rakki cinemas , Ambattur, on a Wednesday evening, I was observing the cut-outs and banners that were placed in and around the theatre. An energetic fan even told me that there would be பாலாபிஷேகம்  (milk-bath-ceremony) on Friday morning. I duly enquired if any new temple was going to be opened, or if it is the routine “Friday-amman temple-yellow saree” customs. But he quickly denied that and saw me like an Alien and said “தல படம் release'ங்க.. பொங்கலுக்கு அவங்க (விஜய் ரசிகர்கள் : நண்பன் ) என்ன ஆட்டம் போட்டாங்க.. இப்போ நம்ம பண்ரோங்க அட்டகாசம் .. "  [ Meaning: Vijay fans celebrated too much during Nanban movie release and that Ajith fans were going to celebrate more than that by doing milk-bath-ceremony"… நா அப்பிடியே ஷாக் ஆய்டேன்..  I wanted to ask “ you mean Aavin paal.. ? “.. Why.. .. நா என்ன  “Thirunelveli  Vivek”’ஆ  ? message சொல்லி புரியவெக்க ?

For those of you who don’t know what a paalabhishekam (Milk-bath-ceremony) is, read further down and you will know in the end..

But, seeing a few of those cut outs, I could not stop laughing. Let  me share a few of those with you..

Firstly, see below example of a movie cut out:

                                                                             

 

தில்லா வராண்டா பில்லா .. Poster Bill'அ கெட்டறது  எவண்டா  ?



இந்த போஸ்டர் அடிச்ச காசு  இருந்த ஒரு சைக்கிள் வாங்கி அத இந்த Parking Area'லையே விடலாமே !!

Ok ok .. Sorry “thala thalabathy” Fans. அட, கோச்சிகாதீங்க பாஸ்...

This is not to hit out at any particular actor. Right from Superstar (Rajni), till young star (Simbu), every one is having a fan club and there is a usual customary cut-out at theatres during their movie release.

The matter is that : look at the photo of the fans in these posters – sometimes it will even be larger than the actor’s photo itself.

And sometimes, the banner is prepared jointly by a team, either an Auto sangam or Bike mechanics association etc.,, and all their “heads” find their way into the banner.. like what we have above.

What is this kolaveri for ?             “Publicity” / “Visibility”

I don’t know about you.. but for me, it resembled a different thing..  Look down:

This is a common banner we see in the month of June / July when the exam results are out.  A few schools, mostly newly established school, put out banners in front of their gate showcasing their “100% passout” to attract new students ( can also say customers). But thank goodness, they don’t atleast do Paalabhishekams..

And this kolaveri is also for the same “Publicity / Visibility”

But, the faces inside these cut outs have done enough hard work, and they deserve to be in the cut-outs as school toppers or state toppers. And these kids are not putting up these banners at their own cost!

“மாபெரும் சபை தனில் நீ நடந்தால் உனக்கு மாலைகள் விழ வேண்டும்” - a line from a Kannadasan song.

[ Meaning: you must get good names such that when you walk on a bigger stage, people will garland you ]

So, the people in case 1 above have just found an easier way to place their faces on public display.

Now, Let’s do a small calculation:  சில புள்ளி விவரங்கள் ..

From an online forum, I learnt that the total number of theatres in Tamil nadu is about 2160.

With an average of 4 shows per theatre – we have 8640 shows per day (minimum).

With an average of 200 people per show (sometimes could be 1, sometimes 500 – just for a calculation) – we have 8640*200 = 17,28,000 people watching movies every day.

How many hours does that mean ? 17,28,000 * 3 hours = 51,84,000 hours per day.

If you convert these hours into mandays, we are looking at 6.5 Lakhs Man days… This is one day of cinema’s out put.

The above is only a rough calculation, and this excludes the multiplex theatres that run 10 shows per day, Online movie watchings, Internet downloaded movies, and TVCD’s (அதாங்க, திருட்டு VCD's)

And this is only an example I’m giving with Tamilnadu. The same story applies to other states like Andhra pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka etc.,

Ambattur Industrial estate, once famous for the line-up of manufacturing industries, and now famous for IT companies, have seen lot of small-scale factories closing down because of lack of man hours.  For that matter, take any industrial estate throughout India..

I remember reading an article way back in 2000 where a small factory got a life-saving deal  of 9000 man hours, whereas the company was able to supply only 6900 odd man hours and the owners decided to lock out the factory.

Cinema is for entertainment, and I’m not saying that one must not watch cinema..  There are crazy fans who watch movies first day, first show.  And there are die-hard fans, who watch the same movie 10 to 15 times.   When the movie “Shivaji – the boss” released, I remember my “PG mate” who drove all the way from Bangalore to Hosur to watch the movie as he could not get first day tickets in Bangalore theatres.

I can’t quite digest the fact of watching a movie more than once.. I just watch the thrilling / famous scenes of a movie and the comedy clippings, that too as part of some comedy programs... not the whole movie as such.

The complaint is however on the pre-movie and the post-movie build-ups.  In my opinion, it is totally an  unproductive time, which they could have used for their own family (if no family – atleast to try and create one..!)

 oh.. and yes.. i promised you to tell you what a Paalabhishekam means... look down:

Milk Bath Ceremony

Yes. It is the same "Nandini milk - blue cover" and i think the second guy is using "Thirumala milk / curd"..

During Enthiran movie release, i think, half a litre of milk costed around 10-12 rupees.

I'm not going to touch up on the poverty.. people starving for a drop of milk when it is wasted like this bla bla bla.. Any human being will know that..

If the youths of today are keeping themselves occupied with such things, the youths of tomorrow can’t get any better. Maybe, they will digitalise these things.

If things like these are continuing, India will not be a “Vallarasu”.. it will only be “Dull'arasu”.. (Thanks to Mr. Santhanam for this nice punch)

[Vallarasu means Super power country';  Dull'arasu means Dull country ]

என்னிக்கு இந்த போஸ்டர்கள் கட்-அவுட்'கள் ஒழியுதோ அப்ப  தான் நாடு கொஞ்சமாவது உருப்படும் ..

ஏன்ன சார், அழறீங்க .. Beer கசக்குதா? 

Ooh.. ரொம்ப Serious'ஆ  எழுதிட்டோமோ?

Its’ OK.. for a change..   அட சில்லற இல்லைங்க. "மாற்றம்"..  A Very important one for the society..!!

[ The last lines just say that we must get rid of these posters and banners.. and that this change is very essential for the society.. Boss, please learn to read Tamil.. atleast to read my blog.. it is a torture to write the samething in English and Tamil.. i feel like Major Sundar rajan or that Vijay TV fellow who speaks the same thing in English and Tamil..]

A unique travel experience

Traveling by Bike, Car, train, Bus, Flight is something that most of us do very often. But Ambulance ??

என்னடா, போயும் போயும் Ambulance'அ பத்தி எழுதறானேன்னு  உங்க mind voice கேட்டுது. ( direct translation: what ya, going going, he is writing about Ambulance - your mind voice I heard).. but for me, it was a unique experience.



This is not our Ambulance; but just that nowadays people are not reading blog if there is no picture in it. :-)



Recently, my father was hospitalised at Vee Care Hospital, Koyambedu, Chennai. He was diagnosed with Sepsis and was in quite a critical stage. I’m very glad that he won the battle against the deadly disease and came back home. Thanks to the doctors who treated him at the ICU for a week and gave him a second life after all the early tension.

As he had close to 10 rods from his thigh to calf, the only way he could be taken home, was through an Ambulance. Several times in the past, my dad was taken in the ambulance to the clinics for dressing the wounds, but I wasn’t there with him, making this my first such experience.

My memories of first seeing an Ambulance dates back to the late 1980’s when I did not even know which vehicle it was, and why it had to make such a huge noise. After knowing about its purpose, I use to tell my dad that the hospital people didn’t even know how to paste the sticker, as the word “ambulance” appeared in a reversed way. ..!

I never had the opportunity to read “ambulance” on my “bicycle” rear mirror, as I hardly used main roads those days. Even while driving a “two-wheeler”, I did not get the opportunity, as by the time I hear that sound, I only look for a way to get to either side of the road.  I also observed that some of my fellow bikers adopted a trick where they pretend like giving way to the Ambulance and nicely jump the signal following the ambulance. Street Smart..!! (but they fail to understand one thing – behind every bush / tree on Bangalore roads, there is a traffic cop hiding to catch you - fact, fact, fact, fact).

 For the first time, early this year, I read the word on my rear mirror while driving a car in South Africa and felt relieved that something I learnt in childhood came to use.!!

There was yet another occasion where I would have boarded an Ambulance, for my wife, when she had some complications during her pregnancy. The Ambulance service guy politely told me that it will take a minimum of 1 ½ hours to get one for us. You can relate this to the comedy from the movie “3 idiots / Nanban” where they say that Pizza comes in 30 minutes but not ambulance”.!

But this time when I saw the Ambulance in Vee Care hospital, the first thing that came to my mind was the famous dialogue by comedy actor Vivek in the movie “Shivaji: The boss”, where Shriya Saran serves red chillies to Rajnikanth, and Vivek says “aaha, this is kumbibaagam.. shivaji, please call an ambulance now only.. oh my god, our people will not give way to ambulance in this traffic…”.

I really wondered how this driver is going to drive that vehicle.  We chose to leave the hospital by around 3 pm so that we don’t mess up the traffic a lot.

Koyambedu – Ambattur was some distance, that takes one hour for a bus journey and easily 30 minutes and above for a biker. This guy reached our home in about 20 minutes, which I thought was a great drive, as he had to slow down at several places due to poor roads.

It was important that I maintained a serious face expression, as all the by-passers in the road were trying to peak into the ambulance to see what was happening inside. My father was on a stretcher locked on the floor of the ambulance & wasn’t visible to most people. If they had seen me with a smiling face browsing my iphone, we wouldn’t have got the co-operation that we managed to get. !

It is also an interesting thing to observe the people on the road, and see how they behave when they know that an Ambulance is behind them.

There were still some lazy cartoon characters on the road, who do racing along with the Ambulance.  And some people are busy overtaking other vehicles when an Ambulance is behind them. The task of overtaking heavy vehicles was cut out because of the metro work going on in Chennai. With 60% of the roads consumed for metro work, only 30% was available after discounting the street vendors.

While going back to the hospital after a couple of days, for dressing the wounds, the driver took the one-way road (near Anna Nagar – Thirumangalam junction) which saved us a good 20 minutes.

It was a bigger version of the ambulance (not the Maruti Omni converted Ambulance), so there was space for 3 people to be seated inside, along with seatbelts. Air condition, first aid boxes, a wash basin, an IV stand, and several other compartments with some medical names labelled - செத்தாலும் புரியாது (direct translation - dead also no understand.!).

Overall, it was different kind of experience, where we are seated inside a vehicle, and the entire city move to either sides of the road and give us way to proceed. (I felt tempted to ask the driver to come on a sunday to vist T.Nagar Rangathan street. !! நோட் பண்ணாதே , நோட் பண்ணாதே ) The only other similar situation will be when you are some minister or police commissioner. But in most of the former cases, people will not be in a relaxed state to observe all those moments.

I really hope that neither you nor your loved ones will get a need to travel in an Ambulance. But if you get a chance to assist or accompany someone (hopefully not critical) in an ambulance, then do help them and experience it. (சாரி பாஸ், இத வேற எப்பிடி எழுதறதுன்னு தெர்ல)

“கருத்து கந்தசாமி” Corner also called as “Message corner”:

Our house in Vivekananda Nagar , Ambattur was big enough, but the roads weren’t. Most of the houses on the way did not have parking space, which meant that plenty of cars and bikes had to be parked on the roadside, making it tough for the Ambulance to reach our home. We had to honk for the public to come out and remove their vehicles and give way. What if those houses  were locked ?

You might be living in a 60*50 Villa, but you cannot expect the Ambulance to pick up the patient from the bus stop. Whether you are in a rented house or own house, make sure you have at least one good wide road from your door to the nearby main road, such that an Ambulance or a Fire brigade can reach you on time.

Rahul Dravid retired - what for me ??

Almost a month back, Indian Cricketing Legend Rahul Dravid announced his retirement. Ok, Ok, Don’t assume that this blog is something about Cricket that only cricket fans will enjoy.. Infact this is my own story, sad story.. (சொந்த கதை, நொந்த கதை, சோக கதை). My Colleagues started speaking of how they will miss seeing Dravid’s batting. I pressed the “rewind” button of my life to the day when I came to know about Cricket.

It was mid 80’s, when I had started to read and write alphabets, that my grandfather held me on his laps, and sat right in front of our old Black & White Solidaire TV, introducing the game of Cricket to me. We sat so close to the TV that any mistimed hook shot would come to us. I can’t recollect which teams / players were playing that day. All I knew was that those men in white were playing a game called Cricket.

After a few years, when I grew taller than a cricket bat, I started knowing some names like Ravi Shastri, Vengsarkar etc.. There entered my child-hood enemy “guest uncle & guest aunty”.. By the time the Toss is over, they perfectly enter the house. Seeing my puzzled face, they ask me if I'm able to identify them ("என்னடா, நான் யாருன்னு தெரியலையா ?" ). Very soon, my father would say “Vivek, Switch off the TV and go inside and study”..This must be a dialogue that most of us would have heard during our childhood. That time, many thoughts were on my mind including this one “who told that TV should only be in the Hall ?” Most of the cricket matches in that part of my life had only one result “match washed away due to Guests”.!

Few more years later, 3 young cricketers (who went on to become legends in a couple of decades) made their debut – Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid & Sourav Ganguly. That was the time when cricketing satellite rights were sold to ESPN. We were not so well to do at that time, and that Solidaire TV only had DD1 and DD2.  A cross connection of cable lines resulted in some channels appearing with 50% visibility , where the only players you can identify were the West Indian players, that too not in specific. At that time, there was also this Hindi Commentary in radio for matches happening in India. Being in Chennai, and being mostly amongst Tamil-speaking crowd, my Hindi was just at a beginner’s stage. So, 50% Video + a commentary in a stranger’s language were what Cricket was for me. Thankfully, it atleast improved my Hindi to an extent. And for matches happening abroad, it was just the highlights from next day’s Hindu newspaper.


When Sachin batted in 90's..I used to get ready and wait ,so that i can leave to college once he hits his ton. But he never does that. The moment I leave my house and walk in the streets, i hear my neighbours celebrating his ton.. Why this kolaveri, Mr.Sachin ?

This continued for a few more years, by which time I had completed college. Now, I’m in Bangalore, working at HP and staying in a PG closeby.  This “Paying  Guest Accomodation” was a good experience, but not for cricket-watching.. With the common TV in the dining room, one fellow wanted to watch Malayalam movie, one will want to watch Cricket, one will want to watch MTV and the common channel that we ended up watching was “Cartoon Network..!!

By this time, conditions at my home in Chennai had improved and now we had a Dish connection. When I went back to Chennai for Convocation, that was the day of 2003 World cup finals. By the time the convocation ended, all of my college friends vanished from the spot without even wishing their ex-classmates.. all because of Cricket..!  And what happened that day in the match, all of us know..!

That's when my colleague introduced cricinfo to me.  Sooner, I vacated the PG accommodation and rented a house to stay of my own. The first thing I bought ??? yes, a 29" TV with a cable connection.. And that was a quiet time when not much cricket was happening.  And finally when action was lined up, there comes another obstacle – Star Cricket. Most cable operators did not have this channel as it was new, and all further matches would be broadcasted on Star Cricket.

I had to fight with the cable operators, swap the connections, and somehow got that channel. But because of the work timings & match venues / timings, I could not see that also. Back to Cricinfo.com.

Years passed by like this, and when a good domestic season started, I had one more obstacle – Neo Sports.  Seems like all domestic cricket satellite rights were sold to Neo Sports and I had to again fight with the cable operator for tuning to that channel. Ufff.. what more to come ??

What continued was a series of events that kept questioning me – is Cricket important than anything in your life ?  Frankly speaking – No. I have never been a Hard-core cricket fan, neither do I play cricket so actively. It’s just that I prefer spending my leisure time – An evening, a weekend or a holiday, watching a good close cricket match..  Ok. Who was the first one to raise this question ? Any guess?? Yeah.. it was my wife..During our courtship, I asked her for a "day off from roaming around" to watch a cricket match.. So, what special match was that ??  - That was the last test match for Sourav Ganguly, who announced his retirement during that series…!! Just in the fourth paragraph of this blog, I had mentioned about his Debut, and before even I could observe him closely, he retired. Ok, not a problem, I atleast have two more legends still around in the team.

Within a few years, I became a father – not a “Church-father”.. But, a father to a beautiful baby girl. With her initial days, medical needs, shopping, convincing her when she cried etc., I didn’t have any leisure time where I could watch cricket.

This was when the IPL dominance started.. With each match longing for a little more than 3 hours, I could allott some time for it, and with most matches starting by 8pm IST, I was able to start watching cricket.. But this time, 90% of the players were new to me. Then came the next dialogues – “arae yaar, this IPL is full of match fixing, Why you are watching it”. It’s unbelievable how few people believe that all close matches are definitely fixed. Some of them give a running commentary as if they got the end-score card by SMS..!!

These IPL matches mainly happened during April-May, peak summer in India, and whenever we have a close match, there is mostly a power cut, whether Chennai or Bangalore.

And yes, I have also faced the same problem that most of the married men face in India.. fighting with wife over Remote control: TV Serial Vs Cricket.. I always fought for justice with my punch dialogue “If you have the rights to cry over a TV serial, so do I to cry over a cricket match..”

In 2011, I moved to South Africa for my project assignment (where I’m currently living), and from here, even the matches happening in India were untimely because of the time difference. But still a day-match happening in India would end by 8 Pm SAST. By the time I rush to home through the Jo’burg traffic to see the final few overs, the post match presentation ceremony will be going on. And who is hosting it ? Ravi Shastri - the name i first knew in Cricket, the name i first mentioned in this blog. . That shows how time has travelled..!!

I tried going to the stadium to see a cricket match India Vs South Africa, twice, and it was rain-affected. Why this kola-veri, Mr.Varun ?

In the middle of this, I see the news headlines that “Rahul Dravid has retired”. And I keep asking myself, did I ever watch him play his trade-mark cover drive ?

Now, (April 2012) when I sit in front of the TV in the evenings to get a glimpse of the IPL, my daughter comes and stands right inbetween me and the TV and asks to teach her some rhymes, or to help her in fixing some puzzle. (அப்பா, பாபாவோட தொப்பி அவுந்து போச்சி, போட்டு குடு..Or அப்பா, எனக்கு hot-cross-bun rhymes சொல்லிகுடு ”); And even before I think of convincing her, my wife repeats that question which she started asking 3 years back.

By now, it is time that the first enemy of my cricket-watching is going to appear again. Those guests uncle and aunties.. But this time, after facing such situations in my life, I’m not going spoil my daughter’s childhood memories. I will switch on the TV with whatever channel she wants to see, and will quietly pull the guests to the garden or terrace or balcony ..!!

There is no better teacher for us than life itself.

It seems cricket-watching was always an out-of-syllabus item in my life.

இந்த கொடுமை எல்லாம் ஏன் சார் எனக்கு மட்டும் நடக்குது ?

(why such unfortunate things happen to me only ?)

ok ok.. time for toss.. CSK Vs KKR.. catch you later..

Boss..Criccinfo boss..!!