Southern Delight

Hi Guys,

Surprised to hear from me? Well, don’t be for I was just living in my own world as if it were a cocoon. Quite depresed and even during this dark period I took time off to reflect on a number of issues and this helped me get out of the deepest recesses of my mind. Voila, I’m back now and hope to start blogging with renewed vigour and optimism.

Earlier this year, during the months of August and September, my brother and sis-in-law were here to perform “Ayush Homam” pooja for themselves (Babu is nearing 60) and we had a chance to go to the temple at Thirukadaiyur. The pooja was an experience by itself, very elaborate and quite interesting. We then returned to Chennai and later on decided to visit our aunt’s family at Trichy where we spent some quality time with them. From thereon, we left for Devipattinam where Babu and I had to undergo a “Pithru Dosha” pooja to satisfy our forefathers. This pooja was done after a dip in the sea and then the pooja was conducted for all the Navagrahas. Quite a big job!

All this divinity earned us a well deserved holiday and all three of us (Babu, Mom and I) left for Munnar. Our 2-day stay at Munnar was revitalising, though Mom and I couldn’t go out all that much as she was exhausted, especially after the 80 km trek uphill to Munnar from Theni. However, we took a quick round of the town and its neighbourhood. On our way back we passed through delightful scenery – plenty of water cascades, elephant crossings and tiger reserves. However, we were unlucky not being able to spot any of these elegant creatures. If you wish to see Nature at her glorious best – please take a trip to Munnar. It’s well worth the visit.

Recently, mom and I traveled south to visit a couple of temples around Kumbakonam to perform “Parihara” poojas. Everything worked out beautifully in the right spirit without any rush in the temples. We then reached Karaikal where we spent the rest of the day. My cousin sister, who lives in Karaikal pampered us and took such excellent care. For dinner she deluged us with soft, spongy idlis along with coconut chutney. Those idlis were simply to die for and I haven’t had such stuff in a long, long time.

The next day saw us on our way to Sikkal Singaravelan Temple. The temple was absolutely beautiful and we had a glorious darshan of Murugan with Valli and Deivanai on either side. On our way back we stopped at Nagapattinam for a coffee break. As we had a lot more time to visit mom’s Family Deity temple at Ambagarathur, we stopped by the beach at Nagapattinam

How can I forget the sheer, raw beauty of the beach? This beach could be so ethereal only during the rainy season. The slight drizzle, at times, heavy rains, the low hanging dark clouds stirred my soul deeply. I must say that the monsoon weaves a special magic and presents nature in all her glory. I simply relish this time of the year.

On our return to Chennai, we were wondering how this trip has proved so captivating and soul stirring – on the whole, a very satisfying and rewarding journey.

Dr. Binayak Sen – Good or Evil?

Why was Binayak Sen awarded life imprisonment?

He was well within his rights when he offered free medical and healthcare facilities to the poor of Chhattisgarh but, at the same time, he also provided legal support to a hardcore Maoist like Narayan Sanyal – an act which is very difficult to understand.

However, a doctor who would be useful more outside than within the confinement of a prison, should have been careful of the company he kept. His service is worthy of a Nobel Peace Prize and yet, his act of aiding Narayan Sanyal, appeared seditious. Arundhati Roy’s statement on Kashmir accused her similarly of being seditious.

In a democracy, everyone has the right to free expression of speech but, that doesn’t essentially mean that one can act and talk against the country. A clear message has to be sent across the nation that such impropriety cannot be tolerated and perpetrators of violence should be dealt with in a stern manner.

Coming back to Dr. Binayak Sen, personally I feel that his incarceration is totally uncalled for and, an appeal should be addressed to a higher court.

Journalist M.J. Akbar, editor of the weekly magazine India Today, wrote on his personal blog: “India has become a strange democracy where Binayak Sen gets life in jail and dacoits get a life in luxury.”

The “dacoits” in that sentence is a reference to politicians being investigated in connection with a spate of corruption scandals this year.

“Binayak made a fundamental, mortal mistake. He was on the side of the poor. That is a non-negotiable error in our oligarchic democracy,” Mr. Akbar continued, adding a personal touch. “Sen, who was senior to me in school, was and remains the gentlest of people, distinguished only by a fierce commitment to his cause of choice. I do not agree with his political views or inclinations; nor does the political system. But it is only in a dictatorship that disagreement is sufficient reason for incarceration”.

I don’t have anything left to say. MJ Akbar says it all.

After a major hiatus I’m back at my blog. I haven’t been able to visit my blog due to a number of reasons, mainly, various preoccupations and I hope I do better this year.

January started off quite well and to take my mind off matters that sent me into depression during practically the whole of 2010, I decided (of course, in conjunction with my husband) to sell off our old car. A 2003 old Tata Sumo can’t fetch much these days but, nevertheless, it wasn’t that bad either. Then, started a series of searches for vehicles (both used and new) on the internet as well as in person and, keeping in mind several opinions from near and dear ones, I finally thought that it would be better to go for a new car instead of an used car.

We have always been used to a SUV and now the choice rested between a Toyota Innova and a Tata Sumo Grande (an upgrade of the old Tata Sumo) and after some test drives (which also included a Mahindra Scorpio and Xylo), I finally zeroed in on the Tata Sumo Grande, mainly for two reasons: the interiors are beautiful and well done and, secondly, I have a belief that Tata cars have always brought us good fortune. That’s, of course, for the future to tell, but my instincts have seldom failed me and, hope they don’t fail me this time too.

So, please wish me luck in my new purchase and also see a photograph of the car with me and our driver at the Concorde showroom at Velachery:

Lakshmi, Saraswati & Ganesha

In an issue of ‘Outlook’, I came across an article ‘Whither Saraswati’ which is so apt in today’s world.

People ruthlessly pursue wealth at the cost of wisdom and learning.

Ours is the only country where Goddess Lakshmi is worshipped with milk and flowers. Gold coins with the image of Lakshmi are gifted to newly weds to usher in wealth and prosperity.

During the Raj, our manufacturing abilities were put on the back-burner to appease the industrial revolution that took Europe by storm in the 19th Century. However, with independence, we rediscovered our capabilities which brought in a fair measure of economy.

But with India’s growth, the gap between the rich and poor is rising rapidly and this will continue to happen if Lakshmi is worshipped alone. Saraswati and Ganesha must be worshipped along with them to bring about a balance in the form of acquiring wisdom and learning.

Wealth alone creates unhappiness whereas wealth combined with wisdom and education could lead to happiness and contentment.

In today’s world people aspire to be rich, not wise. Knowledge has been reduced to a tool to enable us generate money. In other words, education today is used to generate jobs, not wisdom.

Unless the coming generation appreciates the value of wisdom and learning, Lakshmi alone will lead to a perilous existence.

2010 – A Recap

Rewinding to January 2010, I am trying to recollect what exactly I’ve achieved till now. Unfortunately, however hard I may try I’m unable to put a finger on anything.

Till now, the minuses are more than the pluses. Most of the time I have been plagued with household expenses, which, many a time have gone beyond my budget and the worst month has been November, when my expenses went literally overboard.

The most annoying and thankless has been the task I’ve undertaken to look out for a bride for my son. This has been going on for the past two years without success.

So many different marriage websites with so many profiles of so many girls and yet I find myself at a dead end. I’m simply unable to decipher whether I’m doing it the right way.

At times, in fact a number of times, I’ve questioned my capabilities.

I’ve always had this confidence to handle many a tough situation and have come through it all unscathed.

But, where it comes to finding a girl for my son, I appear to be in no man’s land.

To sum it up briefly, a totally uneventful year!

Everyone of you just pray and hope that, at least, in 2011, I achieve my purpose of finding a suitable match for him.

I would consider that as a job well done and a perfect end to all my woes.

2010 – Year of Scams

I’m sure all of you must have had a roaring time going through the newspapers and newsmagazines about the various nefarious activitites our most prominent leaders were (and still) engaged in.

Our country is supposed to be a growing super power and, hence, we need men/women who are strong in character and the necessary aptitude to lead India forward into the future.

It all started with our very own westernized cattle class traveler, Shashi Tharoor who was thought to have had a stake in the Kochi IPL team – nothing proven so far. This led to Lalit Modi, who made millions out of the IPL and who always believes in traveling in style by helicopters and owns luxury yachts.

Then came Suresh Kalmadi and his goons who made trillions by taking on the CWG and, finally now we have come to the 2G Spectrum scam with A. Raja at the epicentre. Licences were sold to several telecom companies at 2001 prices.

Now, why didn’t anybody think of selling diesel and petrol at 2001 prices?

Next on the cards we have Mr. Ashok Chavan (MBA from a University in California) who had a slice (in fact, many of the upper crust, including, netas, babus, indutrialists, etc. have had several slices) of the Adarsh Building Society pie.

Flats that were reserved for the Kargil war widows, families of martyrs and war veterans have been allocated to defense personnel, politicians, etc.

Moreover, the Navy has also protested against the presence of the building in a sensitive area near defense establishments.

So, now where do we go from here?

How is the government going to deal with such situations?

Will the guilty be punished or will the poor tax payer have to suffer for their misdeeds?

Joint parliamentary probes will be conducted and enquiry commsions will be set up to look into these issues but these will be an “eyewash”.

The guilty will roam free and the “Aam Aadmi”, patient as he is, will lie back and say “sab chalta hai”.

Well, this is just the tip of the iceberg – the rot has settled deep into our political system.

Jai Ho!

The weekend was drab and dull. What with continuous rains on Saturday and Sunday, couldn’t take a step outside of home. What can one do on such days? Yes, reading and that’s what I did to my heart’s content.

I was also appreciative about the Snubnose’s tentative attempts at writing sentences. She tried to write one sentence, which was quite good and three cheers to that!

Long back, during one of my visits to Bangalore, my daughter lent me two Tarquin Hall books which I had put aside due to a lot of magazines that had piled up and screaming for my attention. I did justice to all of them and took up reading one of his books “The Case of the Missing Servant”.

Well, what can I say? It was pure pleasure reading about Vish Puri’s skills at detective work and what most struck me was the author’s beautiful way of depicting the Indian scene, so real and so humane. No one could have got it better than Tarquin Hall. Kudos to him! I am eagerly looking forward to reading his other book.

Apart from the above, there wasn’t anything happening in my life. Of course, I read an interview of Shobha De during her visit to Chennai and her thoughts on her book “Shobha at Sixty”. Cynical though she may be, at times, she sends out a strong message saying that we live in a very ageist society which could be very cruel to women.

At 60, women are expected to pull out the knitting needles and turn invisible or die. In her own words, “Over the centuries, we’ve all been brainwashed into thinking you’re successful if you can get a man. If you’re married, you fit in. Our objectives should extend well beyond that”.

Well said, so let me conclude this blog on that optimistic note.