woman turns into a mother-engengu kaninum sakthiada

Life is full of joys for those who are prepared to wait and watch.For others it is a race run with out knowing the destination and direction. And the more one is prepared to live the life, the way it unfolds , the journey becomes peaceful and harmonious . Therefore for a man at 60 plus, it is but natural to wait , watch and start experiencing things in a perspective, totally different from the one earlier accustomed to. Yes the occasion is Mother's day and the experience relates to seeing my daughter who bloomed in to a house wife, last year, blossoming into an affectinate mother last week. Seeing the woman in all her grandeur and beauty is only when she becomes a mother.There are a few things , (however much the counterpart male members can boast oftheir capabilities to achieve), which can not be equalled by stronger gender is mother hood.The fathers can be good friends , taking responsibility to lead and guide and enduring endless strains to see that their wards occupy the top slots in their life journey, but the credit in totality goes to mothers who are instrumental in shaping the child, in their womb, for nine to ten months ,to deliver it safely and securely in to the world at large. There is a great proverb that God can not be present every where and therefore he created mothers.Every mother is an embodiment of energy imparting life and character into her child and the transformation a women undergoes from womanhood to motherhood is some thing seen to be believed.Woman may miss out on responsibilities as a sister, wife ,lover or as a friend in need, but then as a mother they are all embodiment of Goddess herself.Maha kavi Subramanya Bharathi wrote "Engengu kaninum sakthiada"and followed it with his exponential description of "YATHUMAGI NINDRAI KALI , ENGUM NEE NIRAINTHAI. IN THE journey of life. we miss out on experiences when it personally happens to one self as we are part of the same and do not know how to distance oneself from one's own experiences.Yes when i became a father i missed out on little precious joys like, rejoicing at the first cry of the baby, enjoying the first smiles of the baby, clapping on the occasion when he/she first wet your clothes and so on and so forth. But then as a grand father when i sit and watch the little tresure of my daughter, with out any mental tensions and worries of jobs left incomplete at the office,a tight time schedule for a meeting , a difficult boss to handle, a work force difficult to handle and so on, these little acts of the kid, and every one of these acts, right from the time the kid opens his eyes to greet in the morning, the cries that follow for mother's lap, the bewitching smiles, lasting for few seconds now and then,the continuous movements of legs and hands throwing away all clothes and bedding into disarray in no time, (the list is endless ) makes these as golden moments of joy and peace. And the PATIENCE, RESPONSIBILTY, LOVE AND AFFECTION, THE SACRIFICE OF SLEEP AND FOOD, for the good of the little kid,exhibited by my daughter are traits possibly exhibited by all mothers , but then when witnessed in close quarters touch a chord in you as a lovely note of music and a warm kiss of fresh cool air on sunny afternoon. ETHTHANAI KODI INBAM VAITHTHAI ENGAL IRAIVA.....salutations unto thee and entire mother hood

YOUNUS BHOY-THE HUMANITARIAN

My first post for the fiscal year 2012-13 and my 100th post in my blog attracted various comments, some of them with dire criticism and some of them with overwelming enthusiasm.In fact after quite a few months this post has evoked quite a lot of response .And i must first of all thank all those who commented whether in agreement or in disagreement as i have always believed that there are always two sides to a coin and individual perspectives differ. This post, as a sequel to the same has arisen because of the call which i had from one of my role models,a senior citizen from Hongkong, and more importantly a balanced man in his approach to issues and on his comments on various aspects of life.Sri Younus Bhoy!It started with his appreciation of the finer aspects of my post on City of Joy, the pains that he took to convince those who had a different opinion on my post and his own experiences about the city of joy all formed part of his interesting conversation. Despite the limitation of his age and the distance that seperates us he has invariably made a point to call me when ever there is an occasion that calls for warmth and understanding, there by reestablishing his contacts, in his own inimitable style of chaste tamil which comes to him so naturally that it is a pleasure talking to him for hours to gether. My first association with Younus Bhoy was in 1998-99 when i was first introduced to him by Sri MRS.The acquiantance established then moved from strength to strenghth, when he chaired a number of tamil debates organised by the HK cultural association, in which i took active part either as an orgnaiser or as a speaker and later in the meetings and picnics organised in which Sri Nirmal (Exnora)Sri YG Mahendra and Crazy troupe and a lot of HK FRINDS which created opportunities to become closer to him. IN FACT ONE OF THE debates wherein i took the stand that a community need not be blamed in a blind manner for the atrocities perpetrated by a mindless few , in which Sri Ramanathan , heavily thrashed my comments for a six, paved the way to understand the brilliance and balance of this great man Younus bhoy.Later Mr Ramanathan himself penned the book on behalf of Younus Bhoy stand testimony to his winning charms over rhe rest by his approach. His insatiable appetite for Tamil language , his down to earth converastion with warmth and affection with any one and every one (despite the fact that he would have met them only for the first time)his recollection of his days in Burma (the heights and fall which he witnessed )the tenacity and iron will with which he moved to HK wherein he established his roots again, and his hospitality whenever any one visits him at his palce in HK are all qualities that every individual who would like to make life meaningful and peaceful should emulate from him. Though we were seperated by thousands of miles , the first call invaribly will always be from him,to greet me/comfort me whether it be my promotions up the ladder , whether it be my retirement, whether it be my daughter's marriage or whether it be my son's attainments in the field of linquistics and phonetics.This morning the call coincided with his greeting me on my daughter's becoming a gifted mother (and the day happens to be the mothers day-by his choice) and the feeling that it gave me could not be described in words.the fact that it also coincided with my completion of 32 years of married life yesterday, gave more meaning to such blessed talks.Unlike many who just makes it a formality to wish , Younus bhoy, has taken pains to search for my residential number from quite a few of HK friends (including Ram, another post in the offing later on the thoughts shared by them abt my post on City of Joy) and chosen the day when routine will not be a pressure (either to the called one or the caller) and takes his time off to concentrate only on the called person at the other end.Thoughts that he shares,the memory lane that he walks down, the quotable quotes that emerge in the process and warmth and affection that oozes out ofr each such conversation, so naturally are some things to be experienced and can not be explained. His book on Memoirs of Burma (Authored by Ramnathan ) indicates many facets of his personility.But his personality as a caring human being and above all a warm friend and a guide, comes out in such conversations. Salutations unto SRI YOUNUS BHOY, FOR HIS EVER LASTING AFFECTION, AND GRATITUTE UNTO THEE for having blessed me with such unfogettable VALUABLE relationships. sampath kumar

CITY OF JOY FOREVER

Kolkatta-The city of joy It is a strange and lovely coincidence that my first post in the fiscal year(sorry for that usage of accountants ) happens to mark my 100th post in my blog and relates to one of the cities which to a significant extent directed my life while i was in my mid 20s. Kolkatta , is known as city of joy , for any number of reasons, spelt and not speltfor many ;but to me it remained to be a city of joy for three important reasons.Reason number one it showed me what true love and affection means ....coming from a family whom i met there the first time ....Family of Sivamani.One may get close and friendly with one memebr of a family but to get so close and affectionate with every member of a family is unique. I developed such warmth and friendship with this family thAT it lasted for all most a decade with that intensity before i moved over to Delhi and tehn to Hongkong, loosing contacts with them. But as some one said, true friendship need not be measured in terms of the number of calls made or the number of meetings had, and the same would come in at the most wanted time with out any efforts.So let me count on that to establish the lost contact. Reason number two is the Bharathi TAMIL SANGHAM and Tamizh mandram wherein i was attrated like an iron ore being attracted by a magent .This association later paved the way for my particiaption in various debates and speeches (some of them still green in memory not only because of the contents but because of the contenders and the so called calf love association developed then (perhaps not mutual as i am already hooked to my sister's dear daughter)and the opportunities it created to meet and spend time with some of eminent personalities like KI.VA.JAGANNATHAN, Sandilyan, DEEPAM Na.Partha sarathy,Saraswathi Ramanathan, Kavi perarasu Kannadasan , MALAN, and a score of other distinguished writers and speakers.The fact that i donned the role of secretary of Tamil Mandram in its 25th year of existence and had the fortune of meeting and spending time with one of the down to earth chief ministers that the country ever encountered (MR Jothi Basu)in the celebrations of 25th year and that i got three coveted prizes , one for the critical write up on THI,Janagiraman's marappasu,the other for a short story written (which in fact is my mirror of reflections of my association with Number 5 , thakur bari road,Lake market,where the family of Sivamani and K lived ) and the third for my winning a sppech competition (at the end of which the judges called me and said that it is high time i stop particiapting as a debater and instead should occupy the role of a judge)from hands of the special invitee kaviarasu Kannadasn are events which are etche strong and green in memory.Time spent with Kannadasan in the journey to Shanthi niketan , is a dream come true in those years.With out making a rference to KA/SU MANI and MU.NA (the latter i met during this visit almost after 27 years)the association with Tamil mandram will not be COMPLETE who in their own ways contributed to the growth of TAMIL LITERARY activities in those years.And the innings stArted here W.R.T MY literary tastes, later bloomed further when i landed in Hongkong, when i was offered the opportunity of becoming the president of HK CULTURAL ASSOCIATION ,25 years later. Reason number three is the KALI MATHA of Kalikhat, who taught me lessons in my walks of life, in her own inimitable style. rewarding for pains taken and punishing for misdeeds and giving proper directions.And ofcourse the fourth reason and fifth reasosn are the friend circle (Consisting of Thirumoorthy, Subbu, Raghavan, Venkat ramani and Sreedhar --out of whom i am still in touch and close contact with the middle three having lost contact with the first and last)and the Popular canteen which provided food for 30 days with a coupon book of Rs 23 in those days, irrespective of power shedding or floods or draught. And the memory down the lane,now, is because of my recent visit to kolkatta when i spent a week at the famous Lindsay hotel, near park street, overlooking the city market and adjacent to the famous Eden gardens , bringing the memories of ever dynamic dada Surav Ganguli and the affectionate personality called Subir Chakraborthy who retired as a GM of the bank in which i worked over 4 decades.I was there for the audit of a State bank associate and it coincided with the first IPL match of the seasn, the curtains having risen the previos day at Chepauk, CHENNAI.oNE SHOULD BE IN EDEN GARDENS TO KNOW why the cit y is called as city of JOY.Kolkattans live their life with a passion, never ever seen else where,Whether it be watching sports, or whether it be bargaining and buying goods on the street side shops, or whether it be the travel thru any numberof modes available Viz tram,metro, minibus , taxi, Hand pulled rickshas (The first and the last still avl only in Kolkatta), whether it be the enthusiasm with which they go for morning Jilebi with pot tea, whether it be the craze for sambar which they exhibit in indian restaurants Komala vilas and Prema cafe, whether it be the devotion that they show when they rise as a sigle united force in celebrating Durga pooja, there is no comparison and no equals / At the beginning of my first innings of career it was Kolkatta which paved the roots for the same and the start of my second innings after retirement again enabled ne to have a relook at Kolkatta.I went to Kaligaht, The Dkshineshwar temple, the Belur matt, the south indian restaurants that i used to visit in lake market, the Ram mandir at Lake gardens , walked thru the sarat bose road and nTahkurbari road RELIVING the memories of the yeater years and spent couple of hrs with one of the oldest acquaintance in UCO bank , who joined the bank and remained there to rise to the level of its GM. sOME CITIES DRIVE YOU AWAY.SOME CITIES ENGULF YOU WITH WARMTH AND AFFECTION WHEN EVER YOU VISIT. AND THE CITY OF JOY, TRUE TO ITS NAME BELONG TO THE SECOND CATEGORY. Hats off to the city, its tradition and culture and to all its warmth and loving memories!!

Bangalooru-City of garden-namma ooru

Every city has its own charm.And every one who has atleast a reasonable time to spend there develops a like or dislike to wards the city, based on one's own experiences witnessed there.
Some are known to be very adpatable to which ever cities they move in, and start enjoying the city, from day one while some others are die hard fans of their own home cities only and refuse to budge in.And if the experience encountered by these die hard fans of their own cities,happens to be a bad one, they become tough in their attitude and refuse to give the city, its due credit for so many other good aspects of the city.Any way that is the interesting part of the human pscychology.
This post is not about Psychology.It is about the city Bangalooru(Formerly Bangalore)wherein i started my career with HMT INTERNATIONAL LIMITED, in Cunninghams Road,near Shivaji NAGAR about 35 years back.I had to visit BANGALORE again on an assignment i had undertaken as a consultant in the recent past. And it is now almost a month since my association with the city had been revived . The city then and the city now had under gone a sea change.Ofcourse, as it happens in any other cities, the change is happening here too..But that is besides the point.
There are still some basic qualities or characteristics of BANGALOORU which remain unchanged.
The first one is the Good, steaming cup of cofee , with a fragrance which is difficult to resist, when you step out of Contonement or Bangalore City Railway Station.
The second thing is the orderliness which you can still witness in Auto satnds and taxi stands when you wait for your turn to take a token for a prepaid auto/taxi service.
The third (and in order of ranking this should come first)is the weather. Be it hot summar or spring or winter, the weather by and large remains pleasant in BANAGALORE.The cool breeze which embraces when you take a morning stroll in the back ground of a rising Sun is an experience to be felt to be believed and can not be explained in words.Similarly the evenings also become chill right from 4 pm onwards giving relief form the oppressive heat , witneseed once in a while.
Fourth and the best according to me are the steamimg IDDLIES dipped in Hot
sambar(which will have the slight taste of Sugar as is the practice in KARNATAKA-imbibed from famous Udupi tradition)and the ever teasing Vadas
available allmost round the clock in many of the eating outlets.
I must add in same breath that the IDDLIES of Hyderabad and Murugan IDDLI Kadai MADURAI , are equal favourites on any given day.
Fifth is the courtesy still evident in the way people treat you. By nature they are soft people and if politicians keep away from playing with their temperaments on one issue or other, Bangalore will win the prize for the best courteousness.Remember that stalwards of Cricket , both Kumble and Rahool Dravid hail from this place which is the greatest evidence of soft ness and courtesy.

The city represented the place where i had started my first innings of my career.It also coincides with the start of my second innings.I am a strong believer in fate and also in the saying that events in life comes often in circles.
We go back to the same people and same cities decades after our first visit by sheer coincidence and not by any plan or design.My first innings at BANGALORE lasted for 4 months before i moved to another city of my like Kolkatta to further my professional aims.My son also had a stint of around 4-5 months before changing his academic directions. Credit in full to my daughter who made it a point to finish her MBA with IBA at Bangalore with a continuous two year stint.
My present innings at BANGALORE is also initially contracted for 4 months with a proviso to continue further if both sides agree.Unlike earlier times when i had commitments to fulfill and expectations to be achieved, i am enjoying this innings with an open mind and am prepared to take which ver way the life leads me from here.And i believe that is a great feeling, viz doing some thing to one's liking with out any strings attached to it.
I have said too many good things about Bangalore,But then to give a disaml note at the end is not my intention. However the fact remains that BANAGLORE is also falling a prey to the industrialisation and commercialisation around and the air is thick with pollution.But for that the city is still loneable one on any day!!

welcome and send offs

Since child hood i have been always accompanying some one(Mostly my dad or my parental uncles) either to receive some one or bid fare well to some one else.When i look back down the memory lane, a few of them stand itched in memory while most of them had got drowned into oblivion.

While i had not gone thru any mental disturbances (positive or negative)due to such events of send off /welcome of late i had been experiencing some sence of happiness or sorrow whenever i go to send off some one or to receive some one.Whether it is due to age or whether it is due to the close bond of love and affection experienced, is a moot question.
My wife had her lines drawn up clearly. If it is to welcome some one, she will be inclined and if it is send off some one it will always be an emphatic no.Thus invariably i have to take the reins in my hand either to receive some one or to send off some one else.

My memories go back to my days spent in my village Asokapuri when all members from my dad down to all his brothers and their siblings who used to come to the big BANYAN tree either to receive some one or to give send off to some one. It used to be a bus called Natana Rani (translated as Dancing queen)whose drivers and conductors had the great regard and res pect for my dad and his brothers who were always known as Asokapuri mirasudars and by pet names such as Sivappaiar,bankiyer, karuppaiyar and so on.My wife who is a fan of Rajinikanth (WHILE I HAPPEN TO BE A FAN OF kamal) would still win an argument over me when it comes to any issues relating to Colour by saying that my father and her mother (who happens to be my father's elder daughter and my mother in law)are also black like Rajinikanth.Reason as to why my father is nick named as KARUPPAIYAR.
Sorry that i have digressed a bit.TO put it simply the timings of the bus used to be punctual and all of us used to be assembled near the banyan tree atleast half an hour before arrival/departure and would be excitedly involved in some conversation or other and now in retrospect it appears that all of them were stage managed by some one senior in the family, so that the pain of parting is not felt and the joy of union is also not overtly enjoyed.

Now that long prelude and comments are all reflections arising as a result of send offs and welcomes that i have been associated with in the past one year or so..It all started last year when my son (first) and daughter(next) left for Hongkong and USA in a span of 15 days. My daughter returned first after completing her project within a record 45 days to be just in time for her betrothal.My son returned later availing his annual leave in advance for my daughter’s marriage.He left exactly a week after the marriage and returned again last week to qualify for his doctorate at EFL, Hyderabad.Having successfully qualified for the same(one of the few doctorates at his age of 26)he left back for Hongkong today by theChennai- Kualalampur flight leaving at 12.30 pm.The same flight which i took about a decade back when i first landed in Hongkong.History keeps repeating itself.

And the feelings that arise as different points of time when you come to see off different persons, or the same person keeps changing all the time.Some times you were overjoyed. Some times you had a tinge of sorrow.Some other times it is a mixed bag of feelings.And the re4ason as to why a particular person feels in a particular manner is verey difficult to decipher.But with all my experience which i narrated in the earlier part of this post my feelings were under control or well balanced..or so i thought.And this time my only thought was about the next time when i will be visiting the airport to welcome my “doctor son.” This next trip of my son one is important to me,. as important as his recent visit, for by the next time he visits i expect him to have secured one more doctorate up his sleeves besides also earmarking for him some great heights and place in the history of linguistics and phonetics .This would ensure him to look at the world and those with whom he moved with , radiating confidence and self reliance.

And then there will be suitors waiting to win his hands, provided he is in the mind set to stop his academic pursuits at that time and decide to settle in to a harmonious family life.In the process there will be sighs from those who missed out on him and there will be competition amongst eligible girls to woo him.

If that be so where is the need to feel dejected or sad??And that is the reason i was feeling high and happy when i bade him good bye for i knew that when he comes back he will be a role model in many aspects including that of a great son to his dear parents.And the fact remains that the three days fever which made him/ rather forced him to cancel his flight and settle for a flight on the next day, according to me , is an indication that “DRUSTI KAZPPU “ had already happened which means he is free of the evil looks of the envied eyes.

The point therefore is that as and when we go to meet some one or send off some one let us wish all good luck to them with full of happiness and affection which enables a positive energy to engulf both the parties.

DOCTOR -U MADE US PROUD

It was a wait of more than 15 months.
A thesis which was submitted with a record speed in a span of 15 months had to wait for another 15 moths to get its share of honour.
Yes. there is a time for every thing and during the interugnum, one has to only keep trying and leave the results to the time and destiny, or in short to GOD.And sincere attempts and the passion for the perfection never lets anyone in dismay.

It was Feb 14th and the whole world was celebrating the Valentine day. It was a day of celebration. The air was already filled with joy of the lovers and happily married couples.It was smelling sweet and i was waiting to join the celebrations, not with a view to CELEBRATE THE VALENTINE DAY BUT TO celebrate another one of those life time attainment.

LET me not prolong the suspence. The occasion represent the day of VIVAVOCE for my son in respect of his thesis submitted in Non 2010 at EFL, Hyderabad.He flew from Hongkong to CHENNAI on 12 th early morning hours and left for Hyderabad on the morning of 13th(An unlucky number for most , and a lucky one for him ..strange coincidences...he started his journey to this Phd some time back in the year 2003 on another day of 13th, when he entered Loyola).

I still recollect and remember the gleam in his eyes when he got the admission, after a hectic 9 month period when he was in and out of two colleges at cHENNAI AND Bangalore in quick succession for his own valid reasons.How valid they were is proved beyond doubt on this day.And the observation of one of the principals when he chided mefor backing my son with a cryptic comment that an year's loss would turn out to be an irreparable one was haunting him than me and he did every thing to prove that he did not waste even a second thereafter.

And it was exactly 5pm on 14/2/012.The much awaited call came from my son.As usual there was a run to the phone both by me and my wife and as sual, i gave the freedom to her to pick the receiver first.And the voice from the other end reverberated simultaneously in our ears.The voice said with claity, and confidence"You are talking to Dr Srinivas".

Our joy knew no bounds. It was a great moment. Words can not expressit.
The struggeles underrwent and the battles fought to wards this journey are matters which can fill up naother blog later.

Forthe present, thank u may dear son. you have made us proud, is suffice to say.
CHEERS ALL THE WAY TO YOU.

sleep and thereafter

The famous tamil poet Thiruvalluvan said in one of his couplets that Sleep is akin to death and the difference is that one is a temporary death, as one can wake up to the present world after sleep, while in death, the person wakes up in a different world.

I wish it becomes so easy to appraoch the cocept of death in the aforesaid manner so that it reduces the pain which arise as a result of death to the near and dear.Lot of things have been wriiten about life and death and also about life after death. Especially the Hindu REligion is strongly founded on the concept of Rebirth after death. Right now there are umpteen programmes in Tamil TV world dealing with this subject(First credit goes to VIJAY TV , which has started the programme titled :PUNAR JENMAM:.other tvs known for their copy right credentials have followed with serials like Bairavi and Sivasankari with out loss of time.Women folk will find it engrossing to remain glued to their seats, till such time they are woken up by the burning smell from the kitchen.

The post is not intended to give publicity to these TV shows.It has a different purpose. The killer decease CANCER had consumed one more life in the last week.The victim was my cousin's daughter at USA, who had left behind her German Husband and a daughter of 7 years old besides her parents (both of whom are senior citizens) to mourn her death.It was exactly six months back when i lost a friend of mine , who was suffering from cancer for decades ,In the case of my niece, the decease was more benevolent in the sence it took her life within 6 months of its identification.World, we calim had advanced by leaps and bounds.I am however yet to come across osme one, atleast in my experience, who had been totally cured of the killer decease.This is where the helpless ness of humanity is often broughtinto galring light.Despite the himalyam achievements that the Human race can claim for itself, it becomes a hapless victim in such circumsatances.

When i went to console my cousin and his wife , i was shocked to see them silently sitting side by side, in a sofa, iN a spacious home at Nungambakkam
waiting for the news of delivery of death body to the near and dear who were waiting at US , 74 HRS after the death had struck,for want of completion of various formalities at US, as my niece lived in one place, died in a hospital else where and the body had to cross one more state inbetween.

DEATH ITSELF IS CRUEL.TO WAIT FOR HAVING A GLIMPSE OF THE BODY FOR HOURS TO GETHER ADDS TO THE AGONY.NO WORDSOF SOLACE CAN BE APT AT THAT MOMENT.

I simply sat witht hem for an hour,pressing their hands alternatively and left .At times silence can be a better communicator than words.This is one such time .

MAY THE DEPARTED SOUL REST IN PEACE....