RAINS, WELCOME RAINS

I have often wondered whether the likes and dislikes to certain seasons have got some thing to do with the month in which one was born.

For example , i for one always had a love (or is there any other better word than love to show my affinity and intensity of affinity!!)to rainy seasons.Whether it drizzles or whether it pours , it is immaterial.

The moment the rains start, whether in drops or in down pours, an inexplainable energy runs through me.I become a child to adore the rains. Perhaps it has got some thing to do with my early scholl days, when at the drop of a rain, the classes will be cancelled and the final bell will ring.THAT IS BECAUSE THE SCHOOLs in those days (WHEN commercial considerations were not upfront and it used to be a way to serve the society at large)used to be in thatched sheds with the sitting space covered by sands.Perhaps the sense of freedom enjoyed then (even though I can not even dream of the same on date)and the fond hopes of reaching home sonner than scheduled time added to the joy.

And as i grew up my liking for rains also grew up. And the past two days have been splendid at CHENNAI. Day time drizzles, night time down pours(so no one's movement is affected),the cool breeze kissing you with the smoothness of a lover's lips, the trees and plants having fresh and dazzling look at dawn (after having been choked in the rains the previous night), the laziness with which Sun tries to enter and disappear behind clouds, once in a while sight of the beautiful Rain bow on the western skies, all add to the glory of rain.

And coming to the initial question which i asked..Is there a connection with the birth month.I am born in October and normally Chennai experience rains in October and November . Is there any other similarity experienced by any one?I have seen my son to be so fond of Sunny days and mind you he is born in MARCH (earlier than the predicted April) and April/MAY are months dominated by Sun in CHENNAI.

AGAIN ALL THOSE ARE IRRELEVANT. THE RELEVANCE IS THAT THERE ARE MONSOON SHOWERS , SOONER THAN EXPECTED AND LET ME WELCOME & REJOICE IN IT.

life-stranger than fiction

I have always wondered at the typical manner in which some events keep happening again and again.I am equally puzzled by visit to some places which invariably carry a particular type of experience,good or bad.I have seen this happening not only to self but to thos whom i knew also.No answers to these puzzle. The fact remaisn that they keep happening as if dictated by a magic wand.
I shall try to capyure some of them here from my own experiences.

I shall record first events which shook me most folowed by events which breezed in to my life like a welcome relief.This is ceratinly not an autobiography,Hence readers need not get scared away. It is an attempt not to fathoom the reasons behind it too. It is just to record the way in which the life unfurls itself and how life keeps going in circles.

1997-1998-The year started with the sad and sudden demise of one of my paternal uncles, and the death took place on the day when the wedding bells were to ring for my cousin brother's son.The marriage obviously has to be post poned to a late date.It did not end up there. There were series of deaths witnessed in that year, during which i lost my mother, my step mother, my brother;s wife, my wife's paternal uncles and my aunt's husband, all in a span of 12 months.

The cycle of 12 years went by. Again a series of sad seperations :
2009-10- It satrted with the death of my aunt, followed by the death of an aunt's son, and then the death of my cobrother's father, and to cap it all the twin death of my beloved brother and my aunt's son on the same day.I was left high and dry,There were mournings and more mournings.It is a real puzzle how the death has chosen to strike with such calculated sharpness.

Coming to the good things ,

It was exactly 50 years back when my paternal uncles lived like kings in the twin cities of Secunderabad and Hyderabad.Then the life cycle pushed them to some remote village for their final years. ANA dthen Excaly 25 years back i had the fortune of landing in twin cities to pursue a carrer chosen for me by my paternal uncle.And after 25 years , now ,my son is having appointment and the blessings of the twin cities to pursue something which is dear to his heart.The difference, in my case choice of the city is made by my paternal uncle , in my son;s case the choice is made by his beloved guru and himself.Once again it is proved that the life is in circles.

And then strangely enough exactly a decade back i had the fortune of leading one of the most contended years of life in Hongkong. It was never felt then , that the city will once again have any connection with me whatsoever. Wrong i am!!
A decade later now, the destiny has given an opportunity to my son to visit Hongkong for furthering his interests in the discipline of his choice.

Yes. Life is starnger than fiction and the events in life keep happening in circles..
Let us keep rolling with out getting struck any where!!!

kodvasri

A TRAIN JOURNEY

Train JOURNEYS have always been close to my heart,Whether i travel, or whether i am there i see off some one or to receive some one.The cause is not important, but the effect.

My earliest remembrance of an enjoyable train journey dates back to when i was 7 years old, when i travlled in the cozy comfort of the then Ist class compartment (maintained neat and clean with attendants enquiring your needs every now and then) along with my dear fathe rand other family members. The journey was to Vijayawada. The train reached in the early morning hours to the welcome breeze of the River KRISHNA and the steaming IDDLIES of Vijayawada accompanied by the Gongura CHUTNEYS and samabar all served in spotles plates ..a privilege enjoed by the Railway employees of higher cadre those days.

THEN CAME A NUMBER OF JOURNEYS, NOteworthy among them are my journey to HYDERABAD, to join the CA course with out knowing what it is all about, journey to MUMBAI to attend a marriage at the famous Shanmughananda hall (attended by famous film personalities from MUMABI)of my aunt's son(who breathed his last a couple of months back, on the same day as my elder brother...briefly putting me off), a journey to Kolkata to take up an employment, a journey to the same place accompanied by wife after the marriage (with a delay of 24 hrs due to a bandh at kolkata), a journey to
Bhopal and Delhi accopanied by Children,A journey to OOTY(less said the better ) A journey to a resort at Ernakulam with wife, son and daughter,a journey to Hyderabad again (after 27 years of my first visit, carrying nostalgic memeories of the past) to take up higher responsibility and in particular to join my loving son, a journey later back to CHENNAI on transfer in a coupe compartment with my dear wife ,a journey to Raichur and then to Mumbai to spend some quality time with my daughter and son..

EACH ONE OF THEM IS MEMORABLE AND UNFORGETTABLE IN THEIR OWN WAY.

Then there are innunerable occasions to see off some one or to receive some one, with accompanying feelings of glee and sorrow.

And this post arise as a result of one of those send offs yesterday at Central. I bade fare well to my son and the next moment felt a little disturbed and uneasy,restless all at the same time ...as usual .

Then i remembered the train and its OWN JOURNEY. It runs every day. Thousands get in and get out. But its journey goes on and on. It has got miles to go, destination to reach. Nothing else is important for it.So also for those who travel by train.THEY HAVE GOT A PURPOSE TO ACHIEVE, a goal to reach, a project to complete,a friend to meet, a reunion awaiting and so on. What is there to get disturbed with it. Instead let us welcome those who arrive with a glee never felt before and let us send off those with good wishes for all their desires to be accomplised...

TRAINS.A NAME RIGHTLY COINED. YES IT TRAINS YOUR THOUGHT AND MIND.

A peep into the past

Thanks to the sustained efforts of my dear son, who and me act like viramadithya and vedalam, often, i have once again succeded in reviving my blog. Not that nay body has missed out anything as there are seldom any visitors.But the fact remins i should not disappaoint its only reader..hahaha..i mean self and hece i am back to the blog posting .

And that takes me to the last three months, very eventful months , in a number of ways.When i say eventful it does not mean that they comprise of all success stories. On THE CONTRARY it had a bundle of events , some of them expected, some of them not, some of them happy and some of them sad.

I will satrt posting them under different lables from hence forth,

Meanwhile this is a prelude to what is in store for the followers of my blog(so that if u chose you can still refrain and be happy) and a justification for the title " a peep in to the past" ....i mean an immediate past..
kodvasri

Driving Force!!-From within or from Supreme

Driving force is a word often referred to in various discussions, publications articles and so on and so forth.It is certainly not the force with which we are able to drive a motor cycle or a car or a bicycle.(Hi ,hi).It is much more than that. It is that force which keeps u going in the thickest of challenges, in the midst of adversities and in times which are difficult. And the issue is what makes the times difficult, what makes you to come to face with the challenges and so on and so forth.

The answer is simple, the answer is self. Yes, it is the choice exercised by the self, the action initiated by the self, the reactions given by the self which has created the challenges, hurdles, pain and hurt. Imagine for a moment that you have not exercised the choice to take to a particular job, that you have not chosen to fall in love with a particular person(mutual or other wise is immaterial), that you have not chosen to prefer one dress over the other, one friend over the other of for that matter you have not exercised a wish to have a friend at all.What happens then?

Some of the most happy, healthy, and indulging moments which one experienced at the time of exercise of the choice is lost. Equally true that some of the deep pain/hurt/anxiety/disillusionment /disappointment faced later , caused by an exercise of the choice is also not experienced. Therefore the lesson is to own the causes of our action. Once this ownership is cultivated, there is no time lost in blaming others , in finding reasons for the happenings, in loosing temper, in hating others.

Here comes the force from within. The consciousness that each event /person/experience is capable of causing you both hurt and happiness is the wisdom of the highest order. Once this awakening comes nothing can disturb the self. This awakening is the source of strength, the source which drives the force from within.This awakening itself is linked to the supreme. AND THAT IS WHY THE PRAYER TO THE ALMIGHTY SHOULD BE TO SEEK COURAGE TO FACE OBSTACLES WITH CONFIDENCE RATHER THAN A PROTECTION FORM ALL SUCH OBSTACLES.

And that leads to the next question.If by exercising the choice i have to get involved , whether it is better to refrain from exercising the choice itself. The answer is that to take a decision to refrain from exercising a choice, is in itself a choice exercised.Therefore the puzzle is unresolved.The weakness of the human being comes to teh forefront with a vengence.Is there no way out ?

THERE IS A WAY, FLOW WITH THE TIDE, BE RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR ACTIONS, TREAT OTHERS WITH EMPATHY, you will find the ;life much better to be lived.

We are our sole masters. If we can bring grief to ourselves, by our own action, the contrary that we are capable of bringing cheers to our own lives should be equally true. Quite often we blame ourselves for the situation we are in with out even thinking that the way forward and the way out to our own peace of mind and happiness is also lying with us. And to know that IS THE FORCE FROM WITHIN.

A journey down the lane; Malarum ninaivugal

Four days holidays at a stretch,thanks to present CM of Tamil nadu.
Celebration of Pongal, Kanupongal, Mattu Pongal , Kanum Pongal and so on and so forth,.
Irrespective of the age there is always a liking to wards holidays, especially when they come in plenty,but as the aging process goes on, the enthusiasm with which these are used to be celebrated undergoes a change.

My earliest memories of Pongal goes back when i was in School (reading in first standard) and when my sisters used to celebrate KANU PONGAL . And i am blessed with sisters, 4 own sisters and half a dozen cousin sisters. Those days , it is customary for the girls who have offered Kanu podi (for the well being of their brothers) to approach elders and take their blessings. Blessings usually will be accompanied by gifts in cash, I remember my sisters getting Rs 10 each (good money in 1960s) and since i used to accompany them, i will always get a few rupees.Mind you , 25 paise in those days can get you one plate iddly, one vada and a cup of coffee.Thus in one day, by simply accompanying my sisters, i would have temporarily become rich. If the gifts are good, the luxury of having a masal dosai in India Coffe house, accompanied by a movie in Krishnaveni theater are the addl benefits.

And then the memories go to the point of time when i reached my teens.This is the difficult age.On the one hand you will have to give something to your younger sisters as gift and on the other hand you have to recoup your reources, with out making it to appear too obvious. The fact that i had only one sister younger to me and all other sisters elder to me saved me the embarrassment.This was the time i was living in one of those houses (Recall server sundaram, if you want to have an idea about the house we lived in), containing, one small verandah, one hall and one kitchen in which me , my two unmarried sisters, my elder sister and my brother in law along with their three kids have to live.Some one said, the constraints are not outside, but inside, Yes 100% true. The happiness which we used to get while celebrating Pongal in these "ondu kudiththanam " as they used to be called, despite limitation in moving space, is still evading me after two decades.There used to be a Radha krishna temple near by and the loud speakers will start playing songs both from movies aswell as devotional songs, right from the day before the
Pongal which used to last till the week end, almost 4-5 days at a stretch.This is the time when girls in their teens in the neighboring houses will visit and exchange glances, on the pretext of taking asirvathams from elders in the house. No formal talking, only eyes will meet. That is enough to keep the day wholesome.

Then comes the College days.Along with attendant pressures. Still, home preparations which have always been a speciality during Pongal, used to keep the interest at its best. These are also the days when participation in tamil speeches used to take a front seat. And emerging victorious, nine out of ten times added glitter to the same.This was to be the trend setter for a reward later obtained from the hands of Kaviyarasu Kannadasan later in 1980s in Kolkatta when the undersigned was fortunate to win three awards for best speech, best story writing and best analytical skills of a novel(MARAPPASU) by Thi. Janagi raman.

And then came the long and sullen officialdom.The time spent for literary activities and to enjoy the little pleasures that is offered by the Pongal festival have all gone into oblivion till a break took place, when i was given an opportunity to work in Hongkong. I was elected the president of HK Tamil cultural association which gave an opportunity and time to make good the last time to some extent. This was the time when Chinese New Year will be celebrated. Combining both events there was occasion to rejoice by organising patti mandrams, Vazhakkadu mandrams, drama festivals etc.

And now in CHENNAI, with official duties keeping one as prisoner of circumstances,Pongal comes and goes But the pleasures associated with it, are seldom enjoyed, especially when my two loving eyes (Son and daughter) are not around to enjoy the same,

But i am a hard core optimist, waiting for the union to come and then to redouble the happiness of enjoying Pongal in all its grandeur,

Till then hats off to all those sisters, elders, damsels and my dear son and daughter who make the remembrances of Pongal to be very personal and very enjoyable,

kodvasri

ADVENT OF THE NEW YEAR

Every New Year , brings its own charms.It is the individuals who make a difference to it , based on their mood sets.

It has become customary for almost, with out exception to sit in front of TVs waiting to see that the clock strikes zero hours so that they can wish the near and dear a very happy new year.

Crackers are burst, telephones suddenly comes to life with non stop ringing at mid night, Drinks (hard and mild) flow like water , Prayers are offered at Churches and at times in temples too.

In all the glee and momentum that follows, the flaws committed in the yester year are given a go by, the challenges awaiting in the new year are consciously forgotten and the moment per se is enjoyed and enlivened.

If it can give a boost to energy levels by celebrating the new year, why not we celebrate each dawn like the same way.After all it is a new ray of hope and a new dawn of life as one never knows as to weather the sleep overnight is temparary or permanant.

AS the famous Tamil Poet Thiru valluvar said "Uranguvathupolum sakkadu, urangi vizhippathu polum pirappu", each dawn calls for a celbration, irrespective of our mind sets as it is a boon offered to us to live one more day.

And here comes the great poetic words of Maha Kavi Subramanya Bahrathiar when he declared
'indru puthithai piranthom".

Yes in what better manner, one can overcome the past and enter in tom the future, tahn by simply declaring 'i am born afresh'.

Let the messsage sink in you.Enjoy the day as the day is the only day that is available to you to do all that is good, all that is helpful all that will make you at peace.Repeat that every day. see what a difference that it has made to your lives.

all the best to each one of you on this happy new year , this day and every day to follow.

Seems like a belated greeting..Is it not1, To greet any one, every moment is good..is it not!!

See you later when some thoughts flow..worthwhile(?) to be recorded in the blog.