September is slowly drawing to a close.
That is to mark the beginning of what is supposed to be the last 31 days of hectic
schedule in my present organisation . Yes, it is going to be fare well time after 31.10.2011.
I recall the past employers, the challenges, the expectations, the disappointments and waht not at this point of time.
Career which started in CHENNAI by being a paid qualified asssitant in the same Audit firm, in which i did my articleship and successfully completed my inter and final slowly graduated to an appointment in one of the companies in Private sector in BANGALORE .Initial days of expectations, young blood , the urge to taste any thing new and ofcourse the desire to take up a carrer in banking , (arising out of
my being nurtured by two of may paternal uncles both of whom had decades of experience with an Indian Bank) and last but not the least my love for the city of joy, KOLKATTA,resulted in my relocation from South to East.I joined the bank head quartered in Kolkatta.
East taught me a lot. It enabled me to appreciate the nuances of my life and that of others too. I became sociable at kolkatta only thanks to some nice friends who stayed and groomed me and also thanks to K ,whose small but intent association with me in PATTIMANDRAMS & vAZHKKADU MANDRAMS made the life all the more interesting.I rediscovered my self in those days. These were the days when i became an ordent admirer of BalaKumaran , after reading his 'Mercury POOKKAL" which it self was a topic that we debated in BharathiTAMIL sangam.(We refers to me and my wife once agin proving the point that we are opposite poles attracting each other ).
City of joy proved there are two sides to each coin. The city which gave me immense joy also ahppened to give me the glimpses of the other side of life. It was here that my wife's love for the first child could not become a reality. It was the place whewre we lost quite a few valuable things (mATRIAL AND OTHER WISE), Life has come a full circle.This has not however dampened my love for the city a wee bit.
But there are other things in the waiting and other commitments too. The desire to be by the side of my mom and dad and to provide them peace of mind in their old age drove me to look for pastures back in CHENNAI and that is how within 6 months of my job hunt, i could find a placement in a bank headqurtered in CHENNAI ITSELF.
THE BEGINNING WAS GOOD, BROUGHT SMILES ALL OVER AND AS IT normally happens with such extereme joys , it was shortlived.Once again my better hals was disappointed in her desire for a rose in her garden of motherhood.
I am an optimist. An optimist to the core.And a great believer in God.There will always be a dawn is my mantra which made me to face the toughest times in my life. And it was this mantra which made me to wait and take in to my hugs two "darlings of heart" in a span of three years after my return to chennai.IN THE INTERUGNUM I built a house so that my offsprings will have a place to be comfortable when they enter the world and my parents can relax with peace of mind in their own house. My wife converted this house of ricks in to Home of harmony and peace over the decade.
No turning back since i joined the prestigious institution in CHENNAI.Ofcourse expectaions with which i joined the institution were all raced to ground when the reality stared at my face ....with a waiting period of twelve years to earn a promotion to next cadre.Thank fully before my father breathed his last, the promotion came after a written test and a gruelling interview of half an hour.I could give the final satisfaction to my father by earning that promotion and exactly in 6 months time he joined the Parama padham.
that is the long and short of the areer graph.Had i continued with my bank in East, i wold have been elevated twice by that time.And taht is where my belief in fate and God increased multifold.The institution which kept me waiting for my first promotion for 12 long years , gave me an overseas posting, a placement as a faculty(which is the most admirable stint, i enjoy till this date)and promoted me to Top mangement cadre in the next 20 years.But then the agaony of initial wait of 12 years had robbed the charm of all the rest which followed later. And today i got a call from my friend in the east, who continued in the same job(unlike me who had quit)thAt he has just been elevated to cadre of GM. that is the irony of life.
I had no regrets . I have learnt in the process that life is a mixture of good and bad, opportunities and challenges ups and downs , expectations and disappointments.Once this wisdom sinks in nothing can shake you. You are able to treat things with proper perspective and understanding and you are able to enjoy the tide called life. And above all there is reinforcement of values and beliefs in the ultimate power above.And that is the essence of life , meaning of life and the purpose of life which leads to harmony and peace.
60 years ....Experiences of 600 years .....Enjoyment of 6000 years.
Om Shanthi, Shanthi, Shanthi ...
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Sunday, September 25, 2011
Journey to God's Home country - continued
My earliest remembrances about Kerala date back to 1972-73 when i used to visit Managalore for audit and the train i travel used to touch stretches of kerala. The interest in Kerala in those days are confined to the Nenthiram chips and the long flowing hair of Malayalee girls.While the former still exists, the later is seldom seen as by and large the modern days have made every alternate girl to cut her hair and convert it in to a Bop (One of the victims of modernisation).
Then the next memory is when i went to Guruvayur to pay a homage to deity on the eve which marked the end of a suspence period of 2 years when we have to go thru anxiety and tension awaiting my friend-son to take his first step ...Now no one who looks at his speed of walking will seldom believe that he had difficulty even in taking a few steps of his own, in his child hood.And if any one is still in doubt they can visit his blog;Myriad journeys-which invariably has atleast a post every month as to how he enjoys his walking spree.
Then when the children have started growing we as family really went tresure hunting in Kerala.Our trips to Ernakulam, Vayanadu, Trivandrum ,AND the recent one to Kumarakom followed with such precision that almost every two years in the last 6 years or so our place of visit , by choice or acident happens to be Kerala.
MY son and daughter in their own scheme of things also visited Munnar ( as part of their study ) and later my daughter and son in law visted Alleppey to mark the beginning of their wedded life.
MY RECENT TRIP TO KERALA AND THE EARLER VISITS ABOUT WHICH I HAVE MADE A MENTION are all worth remembering for various reasons. It is during one such visit that i got the news of my elevation to Senior Management cadre (amidst all odds) and it is during the visits that my daughter and son graduated into adult hood and along with it aquired a maturity which few children of their age could have aquired by then.And it was during the recent trip that i got the message that my daugter is likely to get further promotion in her personal life.That the place, its beauty and serenity
are all important factors which have contributed to peace of mind and the personal
attainments added a special gait to the same.
the recent trip will be remmebered for a variety of reasons.It happened to my last LFC block and for the first time when i made use of it with out my sosn and daughter accompanying us.It is this trip which made me to realise how much i miss them .the trip is also remembered because we could pay a visit to Varkala Janardhan temple, a deity which occpied our Pooja room since the date of our Grahapravesam(11/11/1984) and we could have the glimpse of God only in 2011. The trip was also remarkable because it coiuncided with a hartal in kerala. I am not new to Hartals(having spent a couple of my earlier years in West bengal) but this one in size, magnitude and reach is some thing which i witnessed for the first time.This resulted in famous ANANTHA PADMANABHA sWAMY TEMPLE doors being closed earlier than expected times and i have started enjoying these bottle necks too as it made life and journey all the most interesting.We have to hence wake up at 4 am to finish our dharshan at 6 am as the remple doors are to be closed due to hartal at 7 am.Since our train from Trivandrum to Kottayam (from Kottayam we have to go by road trnasport to our resort)wass cheduled to depart at 8 am we just reached station in time before the picketing really started going out of control.
We planned the previous night itself to arrange to have the break fast delivered to us well in time at the hotel * Arya nivas , group of hotels run by ARYAAS of Thirunelveli, where we stayed.Masal dosa, Iddlies and vada with accompanying samabar and variety of Chutneys all of which tasted as if they were directly served from heavenly abode, made the journey worth while.It is the situation where in all hotels were closed to outsiders which made the food all the more tasty.And in reality too the tiffin was of great quality and value for money.
We reached Kottyam at half past 12 only to see a deserted station with one more crowd of supporters going from stength to strenth by every passing minute, curtailing all modes of transport. Both my bank and the resort to which we are to reach regretted the inability to be of any assistance due to foul tempers at its worst.It was fortunate the help came from one of the unexpected quarters. MAY BE Lord Iyappa himself showed the way as wew were in his Country. One of the vans which came to drop a pilgrimage party(we understood later that only those pilgrims to SABARIMALA WERE ALLOWED TO MOVE freely) gave us a suggestion to have the Sabarimala malas so that he could escort us to resort (ofcourse at double the price we are required to pay in normal days). We made the choice to leave the palce of trouble to palce of safety and found ourselves in one of the cottages in Kumarakom in the next 45 minutes .
We ordered for a sumptupous lunch, had a steamimng abth for about 30 minutes and retired to bed like dead woods and by the timew we woke up evening sun was aleady bidding good bye to us. one of my auditor friends made the day worthy of remembrance by driving all the way from Ernakulam along with some choicest food/snack/liquor and the next 3 hours flew like a bullet train and only the ramapaging rains broght to a halt the whole proceedings as the auditor friend has to trael back to Ernakulam.
He also offered to give his car for our use on the day of departure so that we will not be stranded for want of conveyance and at the same time visit any other place of our choice enroute.this provided us an opportunity to visit Chottanikarai Bhagawathi amman temple and our timing was such taht we could get the glimpse of goddess just before the doors were to be closed for Ucchi Kala pooja and after dharshan we were also served Lunch at SAnctum sanctorum itself.
By the time we came back from the temple after having Lunch it was already 2 pm and we still had 2 hours at our disposal to go on apurchase spree. Already the earlier shopping stint at Kumarakom where in i picked up a fish made of Red wood costed me Rs 1009 BUT the buy was worth it as it was meant for my beloved daughter/. So it is time for my wife to make the kill now.Few sarees. few more eatables and a relaxed time at the Ice cream parlour enables us to spend next two hours and we just reached station in time when the announcement of arrival of our train was already on/
And right at the moment the auditor friend was aleady waiting at the station to see us off. Hospitality and warmth at its best!!
We bade him good bye, boarded the train and reached Central next day morning, right on time to be received by a wooden faced driver in stark contrast to the hspitality and warmth we received else where.
And possibly it is this contrast in life which makes us to apprecaiate the golden moments of the previous days and the warmth of friendship in true colours.
Concluded
Then the next memory is when i went to Guruvayur to pay a homage to deity on the eve which marked the end of a suspence period of 2 years when we have to go thru anxiety and tension awaiting my friend-son to take his first step ...Now no one who looks at his speed of walking will seldom believe that he had difficulty even in taking a few steps of his own, in his child hood.And if any one is still in doubt they can visit his blog;Myriad journeys-which invariably has atleast a post every month as to how he enjoys his walking spree.
Then when the children have started growing we as family really went tresure hunting in Kerala.Our trips to Ernakulam, Vayanadu, Trivandrum ,AND the recent one to Kumarakom followed with such precision that almost every two years in the last 6 years or so our place of visit , by choice or acident happens to be Kerala.
MY son and daughter in their own scheme of things also visited Munnar ( as part of their study ) and later my daughter and son in law visted Alleppey to mark the beginning of their wedded life.
MY RECENT TRIP TO KERALA AND THE EARLER VISITS ABOUT WHICH I HAVE MADE A MENTION are all worth remembering for various reasons. It is during one such visit that i got the news of my elevation to Senior Management cadre (amidst all odds) and it is during the visits that my daughter and son graduated into adult hood and along with it aquired a maturity which few children of their age could have aquired by then.And it was during the recent trip that i got the message that my daugter is likely to get further promotion in her personal life.That the place, its beauty and serenity
are all important factors which have contributed to peace of mind and the personal
attainments added a special gait to the same.
the recent trip will be remmebered for a variety of reasons.It happened to my last LFC block and for the first time when i made use of it with out my sosn and daughter accompanying us.It is this trip which made me to realise how much i miss them .the trip is also remembered because we could pay a visit to Varkala Janardhan temple, a deity which occpied our Pooja room since the date of our Grahapravesam(11/11/1984) and we could have the glimpse of God only in 2011. The trip was also remarkable because it coiuncided with a hartal in kerala. I am not new to Hartals(having spent a couple of my earlier years in West bengal) but this one in size, magnitude and reach is some thing which i witnessed for the first time.This resulted in famous ANANTHA PADMANABHA sWAMY TEMPLE doors being closed earlier than expected times and i have started enjoying these bottle necks too as it made life and journey all the most interesting.We have to hence wake up at 4 am to finish our dharshan at 6 am as the remple doors are to be closed due to hartal at 7 am.Since our train from Trivandrum to Kottayam (from Kottayam we have to go by road trnasport to our resort)wass cheduled to depart at 8 am we just reached station in time before the picketing really started going out of control.
We planned the previous night itself to arrange to have the break fast delivered to us well in time at the hotel * Arya nivas , group of hotels run by ARYAAS of Thirunelveli, where we stayed.Masal dosa, Iddlies and vada with accompanying samabar and variety of Chutneys all of which tasted as if they were directly served from heavenly abode, made the journey worth while.It is the situation where in all hotels were closed to outsiders which made the food all the more tasty.And in reality too the tiffin was of great quality and value for money.
We reached Kottyam at half past 12 only to see a deserted station with one more crowd of supporters going from stength to strenth by every passing minute, curtailing all modes of transport. Both my bank and the resort to which we are to reach regretted the inability to be of any assistance due to foul tempers at its worst.It was fortunate the help came from one of the unexpected quarters. MAY BE Lord Iyappa himself showed the way as wew were in his Country. One of the vans which came to drop a pilgrimage party(we understood later that only those pilgrims to SABARIMALA WERE ALLOWED TO MOVE freely) gave us a suggestion to have the Sabarimala malas so that he could escort us to resort (ofcourse at double the price we are required to pay in normal days). We made the choice to leave the palce of trouble to palce of safety and found ourselves in one of the cottages in Kumarakom in the next 45 minutes .
We ordered for a sumptupous lunch, had a steamimng abth for about 30 minutes and retired to bed like dead woods and by the timew we woke up evening sun was aleady bidding good bye to us. one of my auditor friends made the day worthy of remembrance by driving all the way from Ernakulam along with some choicest food/snack/liquor and the next 3 hours flew like a bullet train and only the ramapaging rains broght to a halt the whole proceedings as the auditor friend has to trael back to Ernakulam.
He also offered to give his car for our use on the day of departure so that we will not be stranded for want of conveyance and at the same time visit any other place of our choice enroute.this provided us an opportunity to visit Chottanikarai Bhagawathi amman temple and our timing was such taht we could get the glimpse of goddess just before the doors were to be closed for Ucchi Kala pooja and after dharshan we were also served Lunch at SAnctum sanctorum itself.
By the time we came back from the temple after having Lunch it was already 2 pm and we still had 2 hours at our disposal to go on apurchase spree. Already the earlier shopping stint at Kumarakom where in i picked up a fish made of Red wood costed me Rs 1009 BUT the buy was worth it as it was meant for my beloved daughter/. So it is time for my wife to make the kill now.Few sarees. few more eatables and a relaxed time at the Ice cream parlour enables us to spend next two hours and we just reached station in time when the announcement of arrival of our train was already on/
And right at the moment the auditor friend was aleady waiting at the station to see us off. Hospitality and warmth at its best!!
We bade him good bye, boarded the train and reached Central next day morning, right on time to be received by a wooden faced driver in stark contrast to the hspitality and warmth we received else where.
And possibly it is this contrast in life which makes us to apprecaiate the golden moments of the previous days and the warmth of friendship in true colours.
Concluded
Saturday, September 24, 2011
journey to God's own country
Kerala , the God's own country has always impressed me since i reached my adult hood for a number of reasons and the most important of them being the richness of their traditions , the greenery which is such a relief to the eyes and its ever expanding water fronts .
I have read in School that much of the rains that pour in India gets wasted thru the hills of Kerala and ultimately gets immersed back into the Arabian sea.
But some one amusingly said about the NEIL AMSTRANG's REACTIONS when he first landed on moon when he was offered a cup of strong steaming Chaya (read as Tea) by a mallu over there.Mallu's it is claimed excel whereever they are, (provided it is not their home land). No offence intended please.
Wrong to the core...the water fronts, the traditional arts, the back water resorts, the temples, the massage parlours, the natural therapy for a number of deceases which are a real challenge to the English medicines, and the last but not the least the hidden treasures of Lord Anantha Padmanabha swamy temple have all been adding the number of visitors to the state aptly titled as "God's own country"
I had been to kerala (Cortesy my last Leave fare concession from bank before my retirement) and the experiences are varied, fulfilling and enjoyable.
This is the first of the series of posts , which i hope to be an appetiser and solid food will follow in due course....(To be continued)
I have read in School that much of the rains that pour in India gets wasted thru the hills of Kerala and ultimately gets immersed back into the Arabian sea.
But some one amusingly said about the NEIL AMSTRANG's REACTIONS when he first landed on moon when he was offered a cup of strong steaming Chaya (read as Tea) by a mallu over there.Mallu's it is claimed excel whereever they are, (provided it is not their home land). No offence intended please.
Wrong to the core...the water fronts, the traditional arts, the back water resorts, the temples, the massage parlours, the natural therapy for a number of deceases which are a real challenge to the English medicines, and the last but not the least the hidden treasures of Lord Anantha Padmanabha swamy temple have all been adding the number of visitors to the state aptly titled as "God's own country"
I had been to kerala (Cortesy my last Leave fare concession from bank before my retirement) and the experiences are varied, fulfilling and enjoyable.
This is the first of the series of posts , which i hope to be an appetiser and solid food will follow in due course....(To be continued)
Sunday, September 11, 2011
TAMIL CINEMA-RECENT MOVIES
Tamil film world
I have always seen that things take place in life as if there is a pattern in the manner in which they take place.
There have been months with out our going out , especially to view a cinema in a thetre.And suddenly as if to compensate we will be going movie after movie in no time.Not now, every once in 3-5 years i have seen this happening.
This month is no exception or rather past 30 days in which about 4 movies in theatres. And do not take me wrong when i say theaters..It is not SAtyam, or express cinemas or maya jal which are places which we always look forward to go when my son and daughter, both are around. Reasoning is simple.They have a class and taste which we wanted to honour and there will be lesser arguments on the plus and minus of theatres and more value addition on the contents of the cinema that we witnessed.
And the movies that we visited, before i forget the names (as i have a habit of forgetting them quite often)are as under:
Theivath thirumagal-with Vikram on the lead
Vengai-With thanush and Thamanna in the leads,
Muni-part ii-kanchana-With Ragava lawrence and Sarat Kumar in the leads
MANGATHTHA-With Ajith and Arjun in the leads
As it always used to be except for some time in between (when directors like BALACHANDER played the lead)all these movies are backed and centrd only around heros.But the beauty is that story lines are different and that is where tamil cinema still survives according to me.
If THEIVA THIRUMAGAl is remembered for the most pwerful portrayal of Viram , as a mentally retarded father,whose love for his daughter is however supreme and sublime, Vengai willbe remembered for one of the fast moving pace with which it takes the audience thru.While the actor and director together score in theiva thirumagal, it is the director's script in vengai which is well executed by the actor.
Muni part-ii, though it is a movie based on ghosts and their vengence , subtly touches about the sufferings of the sect of "Thiru nangaigal" as they are referred to in TAMIL.The presentation which has a tone of comedy right thru is the stength of this movie and Sarat Kumar playing (for short duration) the role of a thirunangai has excelled in that role and in fact has shadowed an other wise equally ggod performance by Lawrence. The movie is still running to packed audience (sans the death of a school student who is reported to have been mentally depressed on seeing the movie to the point of committing suicide)should however give satisfaction to the movie team.
And MANGATHTHA, by THALA, Ajith SCORES IN MORE WAYS THAN ONE. It is the 5o th film of ajith and comes after quite an interval,It is a vENKAT PRABHU FILM (and all his usual team memebers appear herein too) and each of those characters are well chiselled. The music is in keeping with the under tone of the movie and the plots and conterplots are equally engrossing. It may perhaps be slightly difficult for an average IQ audience to understand the fast phase and the quick double crossings that happens , but if the thetre sense is the pulse to judge the movie, this is going to be block buster.And Arjun appearing as action king!(THOUGH AJITH MAKES A REFERENCE TO THIS ATLEAST 3/4 TIMES , at teh end of it Ajith proves himself to be abetter action king.For the sake of success of movie, i will not divulge the suspence and it is to the credit of the director that the suspence is maintained till the end though few like me and my wif could suspect the ending in no uncertain terms.And the title song Mangatha is already a great hit and makes the audience to go on full scale dancing.
Thus one movie is on sentiments, other is on Ghost and events after death, one is regular masala, while another is a good crime thriller.Yes,Tamil cinema has got variety and actors to sustain and lead that variety.
Before i conclude, one tail peace, The first two movies we witnessed on the same day, morning and matinee show.And i am remebered of the day and year when i last visited two such movies, while i was doing my college. When i visited my native palce Asokapuri, when on the eve of KARTHIGAI DEEPAM, me , my elder cousin brother and his wife went to two of Sivaji's movies, Sumathi en sundari(10 pm show) and Praptham (1am show)and returned home bY the first bus 'Natana Rani" AT 4.30 am before elders woke to the routine chores after having a strong coffee at VASAVI VIHAR.And the two movies of those yester years, i can quote every dialoge and sind each song even now,while i can not claim the same abt present movies. GENERATION GAP OR POOR MEMORY?
some habits never die and these habits make life beautiful at times especially when you go thru the memory lane.
I have always seen that things take place in life as if there is a pattern in the manner in which they take place.
There have been months with out our going out , especially to view a cinema in a thetre.And suddenly as if to compensate we will be going movie after movie in no time.Not now, every once in 3-5 years i have seen this happening.
This month is no exception or rather past 30 days in which about 4 movies in theatres. And do not take me wrong when i say theaters..It is not SAtyam, or express cinemas or maya jal which are places which we always look forward to go when my son and daughter, both are around. Reasoning is simple.They have a class and taste which we wanted to honour and there will be lesser arguments on the plus and minus of theatres and more value addition on the contents of the cinema that we witnessed.
And the movies that we visited, before i forget the names (as i have a habit of forgetting them quite often)are as under:
Theivath thirumagal-with Vikram on the lead
Vengai-With thanush and Thamanna in the leads,
Muni-part ii-kanchana-With Ragava lawrence and Sarat Kumar in the leads
MANGATHTHA-With Ajith and Arjun in the leads
As it always used to be except for some time in between (when directors like BALACHANDER played the lead)all these movies are backed and centrd only around heros.But the beauty is that story lines are different and that is where tamil cinema still survives according to me.
If THEIVA THIRUMAGAl is remembered for the most pwerful portrayal of Viram , as a mentally retarded father,whose love for his daughter is however supreme and sublime, Vengai willbe remembered for one of the fast moving pace with which it takes the audience thru.While the actor and director together score in theiva thirumagal, it is the director's script in vengai which is well executed by the actor.
Muni part-ii, though it is a movie based on ghosts and their vengence , subtly touches about the sufferings of the sect of "Thiru nangaigal" as they are referred to in TAMIL.The presentation which has a tone of comedy right thru is the stength of this movie and Sarat Kumar playing (for short duration) the role of a thirunangai has excelled in that role and in fact has shadowed an other wise equally ggod performance by Lawrence. The movie is still running to packed audience (sans the death of a school student who is reported to have been mentally depressed on seeing the movie to the point of committing suicide)should however give satisfaction to the movie team.
And MANGATHTHA, by THALA, Ajith SCORES IN MORE WAYS THAN ONE. It is the 5o th film of ajith and comes after quite an interval,It is a vENKAT PRABHU FILM (and all his usual team memebers appear herein too) and each of those characters are well chiselled. The music is in keeping with the under tone of the movie and the plots and conterplots are equally engrossing. It may perhaps be slightly difficult for an average IQ audience to understand the fast phase and the quick double crossings that happens , but if the thetre sense is the pulse to judge the movie, this is going to be block buster.And Arjun appearing as action king!(THOUGH AJITH MAKES A REFERENCE TO THIS ATLEAST 3/4 TIMES , at teh end of it Ajith proves himself to be abetter action king.For the sake of success of movie, i will not divulge the suspence and it is to the credit of the director that the suspence is maintained till the end though few like me and my wif could suspect the ending in no uncertain terms.And the title song Mangatha is already a great hit and makes the audience to go on full scale dancing.
Thus one movie is on sentiments, other is on Ghost and events after death, one is regular masala, while another is a good crime thriller.Yes,Tamil cinema has got variety and actors to sustain and lead that variety.
Before i conclude, one tail peace, The first two movies we witnessed on the same day, morning and matinee show.And i am remebered of the day and year when i last visited two such movies, while i was doing my college. When i visited my native palce Asokapuri, when on the eve of KARTHIGAI DEEPAM, me , my elder cousin brother and his wife went to two of Sivaji's movies, Sumathi en sundari(10 pm show) and Praptham (1am show)and returned home bY the first bus 'Natana Rani" AT 4.30 am before elders woke to the routine chores after having a strong coffee at VASAVI VIHAR.And the two movies of those yester years, i can quote every dialoge and sind each song even now,while i can not claim the same abt present movies. GENERATION GAP OR POOR MEMORY?
some habits never die and these habits make life beautiful at times especially when you go thru the memory lane.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)