Passenger - THE Story and then THE Movie (Malayalam, 2009)

I am not drawn into any kind of sibling bug*, but, this indeed is a movie review.

Passenger is a kind of story that gets overshadowed by a larger-than-life flick like A Wednesday. We all will certainly agree that A Wednesday cannot come, is not going to come and will never come. But we can be a Passenger every day, or atleast a day every week - say every Wednesday.

I remember when Director Shankar was asked the question, soon after the release of Anniyan (##), if he was playing it safe with his usual "Cleansing of the Society" story after the Boys debacle?. He replied saying Anniyan was his biggest risk, for all his previous films had a Macro issue to counter coupled with personal vengence, while Anniyan targeted seemingly trivial issues that reflected lack of personal integrity** and responsibility in the individuals, which has eventually lead the society they form, into an irresponsible society with practically lost integrity.

Our story has two heros. One, hero of the story - Advocate Nanthan Menon, who actually is a Hero. Such Heros do exist even today, but we can't get close to them. Let them better stay where they belong. His wife is a TV journalist who is covering a special story that was rocking the state politics at that time, while Nanthan was fighting a related litigation in Court.

The second one is our Passenger Mr. Sathyanathan, who is the running character of the plot. Sathyanathan is a guy-next-seat salaried-middle-class person who is among million daily commuters by train, whose biological clock is rooted to his daily routine. He is a person with integrity and social responsibility, but not by any means an-activist kind, but with a motivation to do his might to do something about a problem that irks his eyes.

One day, he decides to break his routine to work over-time at office for having applied to take leave on the next day, manages to catch a later train home. His bio-clock fails him as he misses his station and happens to meet Advocate Menon, his fellow passenger. They part close to midnight, when Sathyanathan witnesses something Big. What our Passenger does for the next 16 hours, from what he thinks is the best for the situation, forms the story.

All of us, who are grateful to have had good parenting and been braught up with values, are expected in the society to be like Sathyanathan. But we all need a push to become one at some point of time. We do face situations, situations that brings out an urge to do something, but more often that not we try to supress the rush-of-blood with the word 'fear', like the Station Master in this story. In most cases, like the Taxi Driver, it is the lack of self-belief and a feeling that we are trivial entities to contribute anything significant to this large society, that stops one from doing what is right. We all are caught between this Station Master and the Taxi driver. It is when one manages to cross these two barriers, a Sathyanathan comes out.

The story is about evolution of character of a person in a matter of hours. Sathyanathan who still hasn't conquered fear, dares risking his life, when he gets a stimulus upon understanding the gravity of the situation after meeting Anuradha Menon, and the Taxi driver steps out of his shackles on seeing his Passenger's motivation.

The movie, runs for about 115 mins, is well scripted and filmed with a gripping pace in narration. The director has done his work in including subtleties in a middle-class household and camarderie between cummuter friends to keep the script tight and natural. The parting words from the Taxi Driver took me back to Rashomon's Monk. And, for one negative point in the film - The courtroom scene was too shallow and was not essential. The director could have done with a corridor conversation after the hearing.

Sreenivasan and Dileep, as the lead artists, are brilliant, Sreenivasan in particular, after having witnessed his annoying performance in Bhargava Charitram, was relieved to watch him in this one and Oru naaL Varum. His latest flick Traffic is supposedly good; equally good. Dileep, I fear is on the verge of becoming another Suresh Gopi when it comes to playing stereotypical roles, but this was very well underplayed. If you need a frowning worried old-man, you have Nedumudi Venu, as the Taxi Driver. In my opinion, only Prakash Raj has a wider variety and ease in acting than Venu. It was heartening to see Mamta Mohandas cast in a worthy role, but disheartening that she had King and Kedi releasing after this :P. Jagathy was adequate and I am happy that Tilakan was not slotted in his place.

* The Author's kid-brother is a guest reviewer at Claps&Boos ;-)

** Integrity may find many meanings in different readings, but my personal definition would be the inwardly-honesty in a person. Every person will have his own framework for rights & wrongs. It is when a person commits something he conciously believes is wrong, and has a twinge in his heart in doing so, he is still a person with integrity, but not brazen to stand by his values.

## I am not a big fan of Anniyan. To me, it was a Painting made on the canvas called Vidathu Karuppu, by brushing Primal Fear paint over SE7EN sketch.

தமிழ் அறிவோர் & தமிழை அரிவோர் **

** Title courtesy Mr. TechieV2

Inspired by Geetha Aunty's "Pasting" on the state of modernised Tamizh, especially in the media, I went back to a conversation I had recently (comment exchanges on a FB post)

Mr. TechieV2 Only idiots of the first order say திருவில்லிபுத்தூர் and not ஸ்ரீவில்லிபுத்தூர் (or) வில்லிபுத்தூர். திரு is very much present there you dim wits.

Me also the self proclaimed "தமில் அரிஞர்கல்"

Mr. TechieV2

They think they are "தமிழ் அறிவோர்" while in reality they are "தமிழை அரிவோர் " like சங்கை அரியும் நக்கீரர்..

Me

பகுத்து அரிவோர்

Mr. TechieV2

அரிந்தாலே பகுக்கப்பட்டுவிடுமே பின் பகுத்து அரிவோர் என்னும் பதம் சரியாமோ ? :-)

Me

"தமிழை மொத்தமாக அரிந்தால் பணி செப்பனே நிறைவேறுமோ ஆகாதோ என்ற ஐயத்தினால் பகுத்து பகுத்து அரிவோர்".
they indeed do a fine job, and we can't deprive them of their self-coronated titles :P

Mr. TechieV2

Ha ha.. That was a good splitting there.. As for the fine job, wish the job stopped at the splitting part :P

The first case (Geetha Aunty's post) was about pronunciation and the second about grammar, that too by "self proclaimed scholars". It has been taken a level farther in seeing 'mundane' meaning to words and names. All of us must be familiar with this song, that has been declared as a chartbuster of this Pongal Season - "கரிகாலன் காலபோல கருத்திருக்குது குழலு"

Back in my schooldays, one Thamizh aasiriyai, while teaching at primary level, made a note about a 'legend' that in one of the wars that KarikaalvaLavan fought, he suffered burns in his legs, and from then on, was called the Karikaalan - The one with black legs. But having learnt that the Chozhas were proud warriors, assuming a title that reminds of a wound he suffered wasn't convincing.

In chaste Thamizh, கரி means Elephant. So, calling him கரிகாலன் for he had strong legs as that of an elephant could fit in better, and is more digestible. And காலன் refers to the god of death, and so, கரிகாலன் could mean - one who killed an elephant singlehandedly. Letting these meaningful interpretations go, just to go with ethugais kari-karu-kuzhal, the modern day 'poets' dilute the language; But he couldn't be blamed entirely, for he too belonged to the generation of the certain thamizh aasiriyai who first acquainted me of this meaning, and they both followed whatever they were told/taught.

The above case falls into the category பொருட்பிழை - faulty meaning, faulty substance to be more precise, the point with which Nakkeerar pins down SivaperumAn. On that note, I have heard several mentions about a few தமிழ் அறிஞர்கள் attending NampiLLai's goshti (12-13th century), and trying choking him by 'identifying' பொருட்குற்றம் in AzhwAr pAdal, only to get embarrassing counters back from The UlagAriyan.

To close, let me quote Sri UVe. Dr. MVA on people of this category. A certain thamizh scholar tried reading the guruparampara text all by himself and tried writing a summary on his own. One of the lines read

"பதிமூன்றாம் நூற்றாண்டில் காஞ்சிமாநகரில் நடாதூர் அம்மாள் என்ற பெண்மணி வாழ்ந்து வந்தார்"

ROFL!!

Kodambakkam Area

No! No! Naan inga Kavignar and Kalaimamamamani Perarasu'vin ponn varigaL konda Sivakasi (classic) padathu 'melody' pathi solla varalla.

It is by birthplace (err.. I was actually born in a nursing-home in Nungambakkam and after discharge from there, was put up in my Uncle's house in T.Nagar for a week or so for 'obvious' reasons... we shall discount all that). It may be surprising for many on how could a place which is sandwiched amongst commercial chaos be so peaceful, so peaceful that sometimes you can hear the trains running, from good 200 meters away from the tracks!. I spent good 20 years in Rangarajapuram, and would relate every stage of my growth to it. If only I was as creative as "Sujatha" Rangarajan, I could have written down my version of "Devathaigal" about the place.

Some to remember are: the first time I was asked to go to a store to buy stuff, first day I came down to play(cricket, ofcourse!) with other apartment kids, watching mid-day horror movie with slightly senior kids with a pitch dark setting in the house, New year celebrations in the apartment, learning to cycle, going to Sahasranaamam classes, brief stint at a sanskrit class, 'graduating' to street cricket, a jogging routine in the circular road - which started and ended the same day, scooty lessons to amma in UI colony, Weekly temple routines, Margazhi maasam at Chakrapani street Sannidhi, going for a walk through Duraiswamy subway (perhaps the busiest place on a saturday evening, in the entire city), waiting for 12C and 11D which never come, 'migrating' from my apartment to another set of cricket mates, trying to learn stotrams with Hemu akka - but managed to attend only one class, while my mom was building dreams of me learning Raghuveeragadyam!!, and many many many more.

I now feel, I must document them down - not that I will forget any, but to read them for myself. Rangarajapuram perhaps was the most complete road, with every commodity just at our doorstep. A pharmacy, bakery, pawn shop (:P), electrician, a nadar shop (provisions) all across the road, with a general physician a couple of doors farther; to our side of the road - a flour mill next door, laundry, waste paper mart, bicycle shop (puncture kadai), potti kadai, tea stall, tailor, another doctor, another nadar kadai, a barber, coffee mill and a internet browsing shop that came up later, along with a tasmac (:&).

I remember I was 6, when my mom dared to send me out shopping by myself, that too to go to Murugan stores, which is across the road. Mind you, I was allowed to cross the road alone, carry money and buy stuff in a provision store - all for the first time!. Items in the list were 1 kg table salt and 1 kg kall uppu and the total cash in hand was a Rs 5 note. Back then, I was always apprehensive about keeping anything in my touser pockets. I took the money in my shirt pocket, touching the pocket every other minute from the moment I stepped out of the door.

I looked back to see mom watching me over from the verandah. I got nervous when I crossed the first block, beyond which I was all by myself, for having walked sufficiently beyond blind limit from my mom's perspective; Spent a good minute watching over, before I crossed the road; reached the store. I managed to find one familiar face, one of the store boys - Sekar, who almost always comes home for the monthly provisions delivery, spotted and came to attend me. I choked first, then swallowed, gathered myself and asked for the items in a single breath while neetifying the money. Many towering figures around me looked at me with amusement, and also was Sekar anna. Fortunately, the shopping expedition did go through well.

A few years later, a 5 or 6 year old kid came to the store, stretching his arm with the money while asking for 3-4 items in a single breath. Now I was one of those towering figures for him. I was sure, he should have rehearsed on what he should be doing, atleast 10 times since he left home. Good job kid! you made it!

On a side note, I remember an incident stated in Srimad Bhagawatham, when Vamana moorthy leaves his ashramam to Mahabali's yagna saalai, with hands in a seeking posture. He walked all the way with His hands in that posture, because, He who is always used to giving, and was seeking for the first time ever. He managed to take it a level farther, when He entered the yagna saalai, walked straight to the King, and went about asking "I want three footsteps of land", without any formal salutations and introduction.

Moral: Shop-keepers should treat any kid coming to shop the first time without being "used" to "their ways", as a ThirukuraLappan Himself. But what if they get scared of losing everything soon after? ;-)

Who am I ?

Tension aaga vendam! I am not going to run a philosophical grinder here. Nor am I attempting to establish an identity for myself.

In the last few years, I have been very interested in tracing my lineage and knowing more about my ancestors, especially on what they were around 4200 kali. First time when I came across my family name was in my upanayana pathrikai, where my thatha's name was written as Konerirajapuram Asuri Srinivasa Iyengar. When I asked him what the "Asuri" tag was all about, he told me that it was just a family title that we carry for quite a number of generations now, and unfortunately he did not know any further details.

Next reference to that name was on the subasweekaram day after his demise, when the Vathiyar who was giving the mangalabashanam on the day mentioned about the greatness of Asuri family and someone up in the lineage was a celebrated acharyan; I did not pay good attention to the details, and nor did my parents or anyone in their generation. One of my classmates was a Nallan Chakravarthy and from what he had to tell about the significance of his name, I assumed that Asuri could be one such continuity of a title.

Three years later, in the US as a grad student; having a lot of vetti time during semester breaks to research about wierd stuff, one day I ended up searching for Asuri. Surprisingly I found a research page belonging to an European researcher on Indian Philosophy, and it was mentioned that Asuri was the primary disciple of Kapila (Kapila was the son of Vrishabadevar and regarded as the father of Sakhya Yoga, which formed the basis of Jainism at a much later time). Brahma passed the Yoga sastra to Kapila, who in turn to Asuri. Also, so typical of western rhetoric, the name Asuri was synonymned with 'demonic' as it is one of the ways the name could be constructed as. But according to Vishnu puranam Kapila was an Avesha avatar of Sriman Naryanan, and samkya was only ment to be a science of reasoning, which later was took to extreme limits and ended up defying existance of Brahmam (Hawking's theory of "God is not necessary" was perhaps original but definitely not new! :P).

Adding to this information was a bigger surprise that Emperumanar in his poorvashramam belonged to Asuri Vamsam. His father was Asuri Kesava Somayaji, and he was Asuri Ramanuja till his grihastashramam days. Interestingly fate so had the first Asuri to preach samkhya which was tailored to become an atheistic philosophy and later had one of his descendants break it apart. From that point, I tired tracing his parental cousins, for I could possibly be their descendant. It was then I got to know that one of my school seniors' was also an Asuri and had done some research on that accidentally while trying to read about architecture.

Her hand on this threw a wider door open on the distribution of Asuris to many parts of the world, where in a small section of nature worshippers migrated to Persia and a large population came to South and got settled in Thodai and Chozha kingdoms and established Ghatikas. Inscriptions are available about two schools, one in Kanchi and another in Vizhuppuram were run by Asuris. Kanchi Ghatika is the one which is popular as The authority to approve any vedic scholar in the world. With the philosophical revolutions between 3500-4500 Kali, people got divided and realigned into different groups, which might account for the fact that she was Ashtasahasram Smartha, and the only Smartha family associated with the Asuri tag known to her in her search. Nevertheless, our attempt to collect some common information of Asuris available on orkut was that all of us belonged to Harita Gotram.

On my part, I tried asking a few elders in my family, and got very little input. Also Swami U.Ve. Velukkudi Krishnan said that there are a few asuriars in Sriperumbudur and Srirangam who can throw some light on the matter. Also I got to know that 4 generations back, our dhayadhis were associated in Mutts; one of them was a nominee to pattam at Sri Ahobila Mutt and another became a Srikaryam at Periyashramam. Perhaps the old records of the Holy Peetams could give some lead to this search.

Offlate, I came across the list of 74Simhasanadhipadhis from Sri U.Ve. Puttur Krishnaswamy Iyengar's Acharya Vaibava Manjari, whci mentions that the 42nd Mudhali was called Aasoori Perumal. And also, I happend to see an old book "Sriman Nigamanta Desikan Vijayam" in Adisesh Iyengar's mediafire folder.

"Yaaro oru mahanubavar ennoda signature'a potturukaarupa!" :)

One Fall Evening

One ordinary evening and not an extraordinary post.

This fall, biting cold has set in way to early, and recent rain has stopped trees from vannam saathifying onto themselves. Unusually this fall semester has been quite demanding and also alarming with obvious research pressures which I have happily been able to procrastinate till date. Looking into the last 2 years on what I have done, leaves me only with Edison's lab with N number of failed attempts (limit N -> very large). I keep telling myself "Its' high time I pull up my (made-in-pakistan :P) socks"; and still keep wondering when Attiyooran will actually pull it up.

When my department built this new ERC-South wing, they must have planned for huge rooms for faculty offices. That could be the only explanation for keeping temperature control in every other rooms!. My office is sandwiched inbetween two of the facultys' and they both have the controller and not me. Adding to that the physical plant has a power saving policy of cutting down heat and ac after 5pm (Well grad-students don't have a 8-5 office... or do they ?), and I need a button be pushed in the room nextdoor to survive beyond 6pm. Atleast my advisor was kind to give me his fan-heater incase of difficulty, but what about students in other rooms ? With the need to work extended hours, sitting in the office for late hours in these conditions doesn't sound encouraging.

One good thing for the day has been

Why doesn't youtube have a continuous playback option?

The Son of Ponni

I am now about 3/4th through with the most celebrated epic by Kalki, Ponniyin Selvan. Plot and narration till now have been beyond epithets, but something has been hurting my mind since I went through with the first few chapters of volumne 1.

The story(semi-fiction) runs somewhere between 960-980 AD, and Azhwarkkadiyaan meets Easwara Battar in Veeranarayanapuram (today's Kaattumannaarkoil), along with his son Nathamuni who was only a kid then. If Yaamunacharya, the grandson of Nathamuni was 80-something when he first saw Illayaazhwan sometime around 1035-37 AD, he must have been born by the time the epic is running. By 960, Bavishyadacharyan should have been passed to Manakkaal Nambi, and by that time King Yaamuna should have been identified. And Yaamuna was not born until Nathamuni departed. Moreover, Nathamuni's real name was Ranganatha, and in his older age, he was honorifically called Ranganathamuni alias Nathamuni.

Though Azhwarkkadiyaan Nambi is fictitious, Easwara Battar and Nathamuni are not; Probably Kalki got something wrong by a margin of 70-100 years. Had he got things right, then 4000 were already recovered(3892 to be precise ;-) ), so Azhwarkkadiyaan's part of the story should have been restructured.

All aside, I thoroughly enjoyed the Kollidam riverside "Naavalo Naaval" challenge! :-D

Musalakisalayam

In this post-modern era, when everyone is a self-proclaimed victor in any debate, it is the art of debate itself which is at dire straits. It is the logic (very often the lack of it) that hurts (rather is hurt) the most; In that, it will be amusing to observe how people manage to come up with the most inappropriate (and impossible) examples.

One of my friends, who is so fond of being the devil's advocate, often brings up a thought and asks for others' opinion on them (Simple'a solla pona.... Pesa vittu vedikka paakkardhu :P ); Recently he braught me a topic about love, and stated an example "Assume that an eighteen year old guy falls in love with a ninety year old woman" (now don't try imagining motherly, or grand motherly or platonic - he meant the popular romantic sense of it). Abstraction is indeed a worthy dimension towards understanding things, but these kind of examples run it to ridiculous limits. It is something like "assume 1=2 for the time being"; If I was to protest, the response would be "just assume - u need not accept".

Though old Indian schools had comprehensive grammar for logic, reasoning and debate, and several learnings associated with them, time and again people were coming up with arguements of the kind above. It is a popular reference in many refutations to such (worthless) arguements using one 'good old' and 'popular' example - Musalakisalayam.

Musalakisalayam literally means offspring of a metal staff (the long cylindrical rod which is used to crack paddy in a stone drum - Ollakkai kozhundhu in Tamil). "Olakkai Kozhundhu" is a word used to call someone an Idiot; but the original usage was to challenge someone who generalises a logic to inappropriate ideas. If one were to ask how an offspring of the metal staff will look like, if the response to come was that it would be like the same staff but smaller in size, then you are in deep trap, because one can never assume things which he has never known or seen. (eg. - form of a tadpole is never even close to a frog).

The same Musalakisalayam had a significant role to play in my dear Srirangam, sometime in the early 13th century when a modest cook was working in the house of a great Master. One early morning in the Master's drawing room, a few scholars were discussing some Sastra-vishayam, and our Cook was intrigued though he hardly understood a word. He managed to ask one of them - what they were discussing about. One arrogant scholar responded that they were discussing about Musalakisalayam - mocking at him that he is so illiterate. Our Cook still couldn't get the mockery, was patiently sitting by the side, listening to them; and eventually was running late for his daily errands. Since he was late in getting the meal ready, his master asked him for the reason, he told the story and his interest in learning the Musalakisalaya-Tattva. The Master was grief-stricken by the attitude of the scholars towards his servant, as he had high regards for the sincerity of his Cook. He began teaching his Cook as his prime student from that day, and our friend learnt so well that he graduated to the capacity of becoming a Jeeyar to serve Sri Ranganathan and Lord Varadarajan in the name of Vadikesari Azhagia ManavaLa Jeeyar, whose sishya parampara are still serving the Kanchi Perumal Koil Jeeyar Mutt.

Adding to this, HH VAMJ wrote a book (Vaadha granta) called "Musalakisalayam" apart from the most celebrated 12,000 padi vyakyanam for Baghawad Vishayam, Tatva deepikai and Deepaprakasa. And before I forget, the 'Master' we have just seen was none other than Sri Krishnar or popularly known as the Vyakyana Chakravarthy HH Periyavachan Pillai.

Though we are not qualified enough to read Vaadha grantas of our poorvacharyas, and not even fit to learn Tarka Sastra (art of Debate) according to the protocol, atleast we shall try to listen to the learned elders and start talking sense instead of fooling around being a Olakkai Kozhundhu.

Drama Classics - 3 : Crazy Thieves

Crazy Thieves in Paalavakkam - the spectacular entry to Tamil Stage by Crazy Mohan.

I first listened to the popular abridged version in MIO. It was impressive, especially to listen to SVe Sekar in his younger days, without the script modified like 1000 kicks. (Also One more exorcist and Tenant Commandments are on tape in the original version as Crazy Wrote them). Last year one of my fellow enthusiasts uploaded the full (113 mins) version taped from an old stage performance; It had exteded role for Ekalyvan - the writer, and Manager Cheena as Ramabhadran.

One piece with Ekalyvan is the pick of the script. FYI Ekalyvan is a petty writer and happens to be Sudarsanam's neighbour. Uppili is Sudharsanam's (fit for nothing) brother-in-law.

Ekalyvan : புதுசா ஒரு கதை எழுதிண்டு இருக்கேன், அதபத்தி தான் சொல்ல வந்தேன். உப்பிலி, கேளேன் ..."சுந்தரராம ராஜகோபாலர், மிகவும் நல்லவர், ஏழை, பரமசாது; சந்தர்ப்பமும் சூழ்நிலையும் அவரை குற்றவாளி ஆக்கிவிட்டது"

Uppili : சு சு சு ! கதை ரொம்ப பிரமாதமா இருக்கு சார் ! 

Ekalyvan : கதை இல்லப்பா, டைட்டிலே இதுதான் ! 

Interview - Velai - Vetti

Yesterday, me and my roomie were searching for english subtitles for a telugu movie, and ended up comparing between Bing and Google (I am a relegious googler! :P), and started searching for our names. It was then I came across this (sl. no. 28 ;-)).

Memories went back to that afternoon(11 July 04) in Sathyabama campus, when the interview results were to be announced in another hour or so; had just finished a "Satyabama lunch" :). Some 10 of us from Mech were sitting together under the shamiana, ready for a good after-meal nap; butts parked in a chair and legs in two others, ties on the shoulder like a thundu, those who napped - napped, others kalaichufying each other and the interviewers. We were like some exhibits being watched by nervous bunch of Comp Sci and MCA fellows and also few from other depts; It was so obvious that we were the ones least bothered about the results.

To elaborate further, we need to rewind full 48 hours further back. Anna Univ released results, the day before our prelims with Infy was scheduled for at Sathyabama. A few dumeels, many miraculous escapes and ofcourse many cleared arrear cases filled the drama. Anna Univ had pushed the button on one of my good friends AV, that too in HPC! :P. He called me up and spoke in abyss of morale on what would happen the next day, bcos he will have a standing arrear, despite being confident that he would clear in reval (so typical Anna univ case!). The next day pre-placement talk had a super goof-up, when the HR chose to ignore the 6th sem results all-together. Now those who got flunk-results last night are eligible and those who cleared standing arrears do not qualify now! - So very sensible. Well... the best part was AV took my advice and came in formals (LOL) and clean shaved, to talk to the PO to save his skin.

People were so immersed in their Shankuntala Devis and George Summers; one fellow from my class, KKanna had mugged entire George Summers up!; Our dear old Machan Mallu was shaddowing a stud from EEE all along and managed to get a seat next to him in the exam hall (I still don't know why :|). The test was over in no time, and when we all came out, Machan Mallu tried panicking me that I could be rejected for being in top 10 percentile :P as if I was bothered (I scored a 59/60 btw - I managed to see my paper while at the interview the nxt day). The shortlist for the interview was announced late in the afternoon, and to everybody's "surprise" 90% of my college girls dumeeled (including my 'then' best friend). "Gender BIAS"!!. Some 14 were in from my class; too much of stomach burnings around bcos we joint-topped with CS-A with the numbers.

The interview day begun with Mr.Bull tying ties for all of us (The only other time I wore one was to try out a windsor knot for which I got a demo in an email forward ;o) ); one akka from MCA losing her ID card in the waiting room, machan mallu sweating and trying to transfer his nervousness to all of us, VJ trying to act cool, me & dog not sure on how to react, Policeman being all-ears, AV at his comical best, and I have no rememberance on what our Nellai Hero was doing. I was called for the interview, had a good talk with the 50 something HR person, about Finite Elements, variational calculus and that I am planning to study further and this job is just a back up. After it was all over, we were sharing our experiences; AV had the best of all. He got a lady trying to stress him up questioning his Mech background for an IT job and he pinning her down in a single response, and many more mundane exchanges with others.

Now back live; Our gang napping and relaxing under the shade. The stage got occupied and people were coming back to get seated. Our PO started with CS and went through with 20 names with expected celebrations and Hi5's all around, and then "Now Mechanical Engineering.... Mr. Santhosh Chandrasekaran", all of us turned to him and he slapped on his forehead :D

இந்த உலகத்தில் சாதாரண மனிதர்களுக்கு தர்மம் வேறு; இராஜகுலத்தில் பிறந்தவர்களுக்கு தர்மம் வேறு

Atlast I have read Sivagamiyin Sabatham, a classic epic by Kalki, (unfairly) the second most popular, next to Ponniyin Selvan. It has been a good decision on my part to read Kalki's works in the order in which he wrote, though he wrote Parthiban Kanavu, the logical sequel to SS, first. I was waiting to read this for more than a year after finishing PK, and it was worth the wait that I finished this 4 part epic in 5 days (quite a toll).

I am not here to write a review, as no words by a silly me can do justice to this masterpiece - be it in the plot, or the characterisation, the narration, the description of the Kanchi town and the allied historical information, socio-religious-politics, perspectives, concious distortion of facts, conspiracy, espionage, bravery & fool-hardiness, gratitude and above all FAITH over which (both having and shaking from) the plot stands.

I was all but a front-bencher in a tamil cinema theatre, laughing, clapping, jumping but could not whistle :P. I so wanted to whistle in the Vajrabaahu episode(in the picture is the scene where Vajrabahu and Paranjothi meet), especially in the Malai kaNavai chapter where he tells Paranjothi about his promise to the kaNavai Durgaa devi.

It had almost all kinds of personalities - Epitome of Selfassurance: Chakravarthy Vichitrachittar Mahendravarman, height of loyalty: Chatrugnan and Gundotharan, Fickle minded and short tempered: Sivagami, Lack of Self-control: Aayanar, Mangayarkarasigal: Puvanamatha Devi and Vaanamaadevi, Tasteless Wild Beast: Pulikesi, Artistic-Sadistic-Cunning-Longshot thinker: Nagathanthi, Obedient Students: Kumara Chakravarthy and Pranjothi, Very ordinary mortals: Kannapiraan, Kamali, Kalipagai, ministers, etc...; All of them live through your thoughts even after you close the book.

One feels pity for Chakravarthy Mahendravarmar when he realises Garvabangam and that he was not Krishnaparamathma to get everything right and going his way. The character build up for the Hero of the novel was so profound and heavy that you would love to live in service to such an Emperor.

The best thing I got from this novel is the title of this post, which Chakravarthy Vichitrachittar Mahendravarmar states twice. I have always maintained this view point against the leftist jealousy over people who inherit high-position and wealth. All the legal heirs inherit only the responsibility and with the responsibility comes the luxury and unfortunately it is the luxury that attracts all the evil eyes.

And about the suspense factor that comes after having read Parthiban Kanavu is the villain in PK who comes from SS, I expected VishnuVardhan to be the one after having read the first three parts, and I was wrong.

There are ofcourse three major disappointments since I had some expectations from my side to begin with.

1) I expected a Vichitrachittar kind of a role to Chakravarthy Narasimhavarman in the last part, but he was potrayed only as an ordinary person with a lot of personal conflicts.

2) I expected Pulikesi to die in a wrestling duel (obvious expectation :P)

3) How dare Kalki spun an epic which had its heart at Kanchi without even a single mention about Atthigiri ? ! Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr :x

Yes! but from What? and now Where?

Prof. DEJ often talks about his opinion on who the "Last Great Indian" was/is. He always awarded Barrister Mohandas Gandhi as the one who was the "Last Great Indian" and PM AB Vajpayee as the one who is the one. Well... this was good 5 years back. Now the former is has almost become a was, and today I am in quite a lock on who is the one. It is difficult for me to choose between two of the good friends in the country today - Shri Arun Shourie and ThiruvALar S Gurumurthy.

I am writing this post in the eve of completion of 62 years since India's political Independence from British Rule. But, in Shri Arun Shourie's perspective, it was merely a transfer of power and not really an independence. Not many of us are taught the real truth; Local democracy existed even before 1947; Indians were allowed to contest elections for the legislative assemblies in the Presidencies (states were called presidencies back then). Congress controlled most of the states, and apart from Congress, Muslim league, Justice Party and Swatantra were the dominant parties. It was the British constitution which was the "Super" Government over the Legislature and the constitution that was forced on us in the form of the "Super" Government was the subject of the dispute and that was what we demanded Independence from. Shri Shourie's book "Worshipping False gods", narrates almost every significant incident from the 'Liberation Day'(not 1947) till the framing up of constitution to neccessary details. We had copied the exact same ideology that we had opposed and the Constitution of India, in its first draft was a near carbon copy of whatever existed till then.

Many modern "Indians" blame it on McCaulay's policies for the intellectual slavery we were into, till then, and even after Independence, we have made no serious attempt to get ourselves out of the mess we had been subjected to. Shri Shourie cites often about the timidity of the intellectual class in the society as one big reason for our inability to get out of the shell. Bharat is a land of very vibrant societies, and could hardly be confined to a book in the name of Constitution. But unfortunately the framers modeled a large unit which is as big and rich and diverse as the world itself into a State, and thrusted words, lines and pages to dictate how the complex commonwealth of societies would, rather should, behave.

More so, the modern day intellectualism is only as good as how Thiru Gurumurthy has put in his latest article as "Most Indian intellectuals, including the media, often love to draw a contrast between ‘India’ — meaning the urban — and Bharat — meaning the rural; the former as ‘modern’ and the latter as distanced from ‘modernity’ ". Today, IPC has replaced Morality, Professional ethics as a course taught in classrooms has replaced Value Education at home by elders, Disputes to be solved at home are braught to Judiciary, Local Democracy gotten crushed by State Legislations, in short, whatever that was native of the land getting replaced customarily in the name of modernaisation without debate on the need for a change. I, being a conservative Old-Schooler, often face with a funny question "are your ideas still applicable in this modern society?". We still intake through our mouth and ______________. Can you please change that ?

Marx in his expositions about India had interestingly contradicted with himself: Calling India to be a successful society right from time immemorial with richness in social order, success in achieving democracy even at the lowest level, criticised the civilisation, in a later piece of writing, as a semi-barbaric society, since it did not accomodate a revolution. So, according to him, even a successful society must face with a revolution and become 'modern' despite being short of a real need to change. So, in similar lines, we must shed all our civilisational input, and become modern in order to be successful.

Now things seem more consistent. The so called "Modern" thinkers, who largely identify themselves with the ideas of the West, demand modernisation by shedding originality without a need, which falls in socialist lines. In short, they want something which they originally are opposed to. Such is the intellectual slavery and so is upheld the 'Land of Paradox" title annointed by the West.

We were subjected to Intellectual slavery back until 1947 and today marching towards grand success in subjecting ourselves into deeper pits, in looking at the rest of the world to define and redefine ourselves.

My job is here not to pass a judgement like how the 'Modern Intellectual Class' of today does, without being able to appreciate differences between 'opinion' and 'fact'. My plead is same as what Thiru Gurumurthy pleads with all the responsibile sons of the land, the same thing what Kullachaamy directed Aurobindho Gosh to do in a tea shop in Pudhuchchery, "empty your cup and start thinking afresh"

Looking at the past to find solutions for our today's problems is in no way disrespectful, and the world is not going to grade you on your level of modernisation but on your success. If we can be successful with our originality, then why look to change?

Let me close this seemingly incoherent post with this -

Drama Classics - 2 : Manja Jibba & kaavi veshti

a quick one in Adhirshtakaaran, though only ordinary by Venkat's standards :

Hero Gopalakrishnan (SVe Sekar) is trying to fool his father-in-law-to-be, by acting like a millionare, with the help of his friend Siva, who works in a film production company.

He is going to meet the mamanaar-to-be for the first time and the identification as told by his "aaLu" would be "Manja Jibba and Kaavi Veshti" (yellow kurta and saffron dothi)

சிவா: கோடீஸ்வரன் மாதிரி நடிக்கணும் அவ்வளவு தானே?

கிருஷ்ணன்: ஆமாம்.

சிவா: ஏன் பார்ட்னெர்! எதுக்காக என்ன அம்மாவசை அன்னிக்கி ராத்திரி பத்து மணிக்கு மகாபலிபுரம் பீச்சுக்கு வர சொன்னின்க்?

கிருஷ்ணன்: அப்போ தான் சுண்டல் சீப்பா கிடைக்குமாம். உன்ன எவண்டா மகாபலிபுரம் பீச்சுக்கு வர சொன்னது? இப்போ தானே நாலரை மணிக்கு நேரு பார்க்குக்கு வரசொன்னேன்.

சிவா: இது டியாலாக்டா. நீ தானே சொன்னே உன்னோட மாமனார் வரும்போது பெரிய பணக்காரங்க மாதிரி ஆக்ட் பன்னானும்னு.

கிருஷ்ணன்: நீ இப்ப ஆக்ட் பண்ணியா? நீ எப்போ சாதாரணமா இருக்க எப்போ ஆக்ட் பண்ணறேன்னு ஒண்ணுமே புரிய மாட்டேங்கறது. டி.வீ. ல ஞாயத்துகிழமை மத்யானம் அவார்டு பிலிம் பாக்கறமாதிரி இருக்கு. எல்லாருக்கும் புரியற மாதிரி நடி

சிவா: இப்போ பாரு..... ஹுஹாஹாஹாஹா!

கிருஷ்ணன் : தெலுங்கு டப்பிங் லெவெலுக்கு போய்ட்டியே !!

Gems of MRV

I am a follower of Gurumurthy (Indian Express), and offlate I have become a fan of one of his sishyans MR Venkatesh, another popular chartered accountant from Chennai; especially for his Guru style bold expletives and tough conservative idealogical stands.

This is one 'burst out with laughter' piece of his in a recent speech on Illegal Funds of Indians - Abroad.

goes as "................... One.. tall, handsome lawyer from Sivaganga [pause], who wears dothi only and speaks in good english, and whose english is mistaken as economics by people........."

Click here, to listen to the speech in full.

His special digs at PC (public comedian! :P) are really worth reading or listening to.

Do go through his articles in his website, if u are interested in reading about economic/trade policies and nationalism in economics or nationalism in general.

Drama Classics - 1 : Katpadi Krishnan

A special scene in Crazy Mohan's classic Meesai Anaalum Manaivi, where in Maadhu hires "Deadbody" Manavalan, a specialist in acting as a corpse in movies, as a fake Bride's father, to take his wife and brother-in-law away from home fearing further confusion at home with their presence.

The imaginary character created by Maadhu was to be Katpadi Krishnan, the Bride's father; and He would ask Katpadi Krishnan to mail a letter to his Brother-in-law Ramanujam about the prospective alliance and come home to take him away to Katpadi for the Bride-interview (peNN paarkkum padalam ;-) ), and this is what Ramanujam gets in the letter.

[ones in brackets are comments by Ramanujam while Maadhu reads the letter aloud]

Maadhu tries to prophess what would have been in the letter, and Ramanujam replies as follows:

ராமானுஜம்: இருந்துதே! வரிக்கு வரி ஒண்ணுவிடாம எல்லாமே தப்பு. நான் நெனைக்கறேன், இந்த காட்பாடி கிருஷ்ணன் கேட்டச்சகுனத்துக்குன்னு ஒரு கட்சியே ஆரம்பிப்பான்னு . இந்தாங்க மாப்பிளை நீங்களே படிங்க.

Maadhu reads:

அன்புள்ள திரு ராமானுஜத்திருக்கு,

டெட்பாடி கிருஷ்ணன் எழுதிக்கொண்டது. (kAtpadi'ya deadbody aakkiduthu)

நான் நேற்றே மரணம் என்று நினைத்தேன், மடியவில்லை. நிற்க!

இன்று நான் பெண்ணின் போட்டோவுடன் டெட்பாடியிலிருந்து வருகிறேன்.(manasula Jesus nu nenappu, deadbody'lerndhu varraaraam)

உங்களுக்கு பெண்ணின் போட்டோ பிடித்திருந்தால் இன்றே டெட்பாடிக்கு சென்று பெண் பார்க்கும் சடலத்தை வைத்துக்கொள்ளலாம். முஹுர்ததிர்க்கு மார்ச்சுவரியில் நல்ல நாள் இருக்கிறது. (March'varai nalla muhurtham irukkaam)

இப்படிக்கு,

டெட்பாடி கிருஷ்ணன்.

My brother who hardly likes any of these audio dramas, was on the floor laughing noiselessly-breathless, while beating on his forehead, for this piece.

This must be regarded as one of Crazy's masterpieces, because, there is nothing seriously wrong about this letter, but for "key" spelling mistakes in a "few" places.

Tamil Dramas

Many of my friends know that I am an ardent fan of Tamil Dramas, especially of those by Cho, SVe Sekar and Crazy Mohan. I belong to an 'elite class of enthusiasts' who go to bed listening to a drama, and you would be surprised to know that in some communities in Orkut, people put up the drama which was running the previous night, in the bed side.

Most of the reactive on-liners, that I often crack, are inspired by great humourists like Cho, Crazy Mohan, Venkat, GK and Krishnakumar (wirters for Natakapriya).

Some episodes in those dramas are unforgettable and I wish to share them under a common head "Drama Classics - #" - something like thought for the week or thought for the day or heck whenever I get a thought of it :P

Yours humourously,

Sriram ;o)

Worship?

This is a small reflection on one of the posts by my friend.

Questions in the minds of most of the young Hindus today, about God and allied practises, are rather fundamental and need immediate attention.

Addressing these questions are simple and yet they look more daunting than what they really are.

Why Worship? How? and more so... What is Worship?

His key statement was (not verbatim) "God created the universe and all of us, the beings in the universe and expects us to spend a significant time in our short life praising Him"

Well, analogies are pretty simple - take for example, one's parents. It is written in Sastras that a basic duty of man (read human) is to respect, support and worship his parents. Every parent would expect their son to honour the sastra. In that case will that mean that they gave birth to the child to get themselves served or to subject the child to their servitude?

Continuing with the same example, I am not sure if Sriman Narayanan has actually been able to design a hell for Sin against one's mother. I am still to find a hell mentioned in Garudapuranam for abusing the parents, mother in particular. But if someone is really thrilled to try it out, then consider doing this - Go to your mother, and say, "Mom!, I have cleaned the garden, I will also sweep the floor and dust the windows. But I am also hungry, will you feed me in exchange to all the chores I do/did today ?".

I am not sure what hell I will get to, for even typing that down, but on the flip side, every other Hindu today is committing this very sin. It is understandable that people do body-paining penances to all Demi-Gods to seek their blessings to achieve some material gains, which are again well permitted in Sastras, but to even getting that, the "Super-Motive" should be to walk closer to the Ultimate Goal (Purushartha). For example, even Andal worshipped Lord Manmadhan to bless her with love towards Kannan, the ultimate purpose in life. But doing the same to the Jagath Karanam is rather insulting, and is the sorry state of affairs today. Even more painful is this.

Enough of cribbing; Coming back to the question - Why Worship ?

Well.. He is the Creator, you are the created. So love, respect and worship Him as you mother.

He is the Lord, you are his servant(slave acc. to vishishtadvaita). Respect Him as your master

He is the Protector, and you are the protected. show your gratitude towards Him.

He did not prefer high scholars to mingle with. He chose to hug a hunter, a monkey and a demon in a birth and playing around and sharing food with a bunch of cowherds in the next. Treat Him as your friend, He is more reachable than you could have ever imagined.

You will not gain any (tangible)benifits by Worshipping Him, but it is our duty as a part of the rulebook (Sastra) and following the instruction manual will help you get through the process of living and more so - to get out of it peacefully. Else, from today, start driving your vehicle as you please... why worry about rules ?

As I begun, this is only a 'small' reflection, and more serious discussions on how to worship? modes of worship, difference between temple worship, to that at home and meditation, etc., are likely in near future in my other blog .

English Education

I very often make a derogatory remark, on a few I don’t agree with, for them being non-Indian thinkers despite being Indians, as "English-Educated". I do not intend to talk on English being the medium of instruction in our educational system. This piece is rather about the "English-Education" and what it is doing to the society, through the pair of goggles - my personal experience.

I attended Shrine Vailankanni for elementary and primary schooling. The school buildings' planning was in a way that Kinder-Garden was housed in a building in Ramaswamy Street, Primary classes in Hensman Road and High School in Dhandapani Street.

I assumed that the whole school was just that building in Ramaswamy Street, which made it obvious to me that LKG and UKG were all about schooling, and I would go to office after that. I was so young that I didn't even realise I had many elder cousins who were attending higher classes in school. All I knew then, was Divya, my neighbour, who was a year elder to me. When I passed on to UKG, I realised that she was still attending school! I was struck with "What was she doing beyond UKG?". Later I realised that my cousins, infact one of them in my own school is attending 9th std. Stunned, again I was, that there is a whole set of a dozen more years in this school, and later we have college, and on and on. I, for a moment thought, "This educational system (read Shrine Vailankanni building system) has cheated Me!". Well, these counldn’t have exactly been my feelings at the tender age of 5, but I always felt something was going against me.

From then on, whatever my school or teachers tried to teach me, I always looked at them with some suspicion. I was a rebel in thought, but not necessarily in action, in the learning process. By the time in 6th, I was unhappy with SVS (Shrine Vailankanni) for the 'business' they were running in the name of school. I realised that what history books spoke about was not history, rather was what NCERT and Frank Bros., the publisher, wanted us all to read and accept. This realisation was because of my ever-suspicious mind and my teacher's inability to answer "Why did Alexander leave India without proceeding further towards Magadha, even after having planned an attack?”

Then happened the most beautiful turn in my life till date, I moved to JGHV, a school run by VHP. It could be that I was growing older and more mature to realise what education really is, or that SVS has till then held me against the wall, or neither, but HV had the best platform for me to realise Me. Sriram, who was not known beyond my classroom earlier in SVS, was now known all over the school. The school did not preach anything into me, but I realised, education was not writing exams and scoring high; It was more than that, but never was able to realise what it really was. History, as ever, was the subject which kindled the most interest in me. Honestly, I did not learn much in it either, but ended up having many more unanswered questions, the list of which was ever-growing throughout my school days.

The school arranges for many speeches by leaders from RSS and VHP, which almost all the students deride saying: this school is making sanyasis' out of us; but always, there was some element of stove-lighter type of effect in them, on me at-least. I must remember Mr. Manian, who according to me is well read, knowledgeable man but lacking some element of common-sense in talking to students of the age 10-13. He once made a speech on English Education, and what has it done to us all. He made one interesting point on Ashoka. Not just in English language, but even in Tamil and Hindi, we were so fed-up writing answers "Asokar Saalai oram Marangalai Nattaar, kinaru vettinaar....." (for those who cannot understand tamil, you should have guessed what's inside the quotes from the word fed-up preceding it ;-) ). He said, “Ashoka the great”, is perhaps the biggest hoax inflicted by this Education. It was planted, so that the students will completely ignore the essense of Magadha Empire, the 'real' reason why the Macedonians fled back, its real Hero - Chandragupta, the governence in the Mauryan dynasty, the concept of dynasties and the family ethics which was driving India till then, and above all the Pride we need to have, hailing the first Maurya as our National Hero!. Instead, we hail the "First-ever" non-secular king in the Indian history, whose symbol we still carry as the national emblem today, from nowhere till then, and his act of infrastructure building was all the governing practises we had in our country. Maurya and Raja Raja Chola, who independantly popularised local governance were totally forgotten. We now attribute our Panchayat Raj system to Lord Rippon ("Rippon, engaL appan" BS! ), and Balwanti Rai Metha Committee, post independance.

I did not learn anything new by asking many questions. But always, I have let myself open to reality by asking further questions without really bothering to find answers. I knew, answers would come at their will, and no question is stupid, if it is not so thought. In this process, I was able to shed some Englishness which was already planted in me.

I am running into something more involved than what I intended to write about, now. But the point here is the kid, who felt cheated when he felt UKG was not the end of school, has come a long way. The one who was looking even at the dozen years to spend in school with awe, 18 years later, is continuing, and still going, with almost all my friends, even those who were mine since my UKG days, think " Will this one ever stop going to school ? "; I attribute it all to all the non-Englishness I had or rather chose to have in my english-education.

WOW Michigan!

After ages, I went to school without an outer fleece. Ides of March; and 21 degree C; that too positive!, quite surprising to see in Michigan. As I do many a times, got down from the bus half the way to school and walked the rest. It seemed that the bright sunshine was more than inviting for all students, as lawn outside the dorms were full of activity, with guys playing frisbee and throw ball. Basketball and tennis courts opposite to Wilson Hall were packed. It was quite pleasing to see some human activity outside, for the place having been perennially covered with a white blanket for months now, and no one did really want to show-up outdoor.

With a happy face carrying some sweat on the forehead for a change(well... I sweated even when I cleared up snow outside my apartment when it was -22C, so dont judge the severity of weather with my sweat index ;-) ), I went to my office and checked for the weather forcast for the week: Tonight 18 degree C, gradually going down tilll 10 degree C thursday night, and Snow showers predicted on Friday afternoon!!!! :O

Well .........Michigan for you! :-|......... no more words... sigh!

Feb 28, 2002 Part II

contd...................
Totally drained.... even before my program was to begin....finished the lunch quickly and rushed to the same place; quiz was about to begin in another 20 mins.

The computer was on the floor level, and the screen was clearly visible till the third row of the audience. We had to move it to the stage control area, which would be a level lower than the floor. I did not want to unplug the system and reboot it.. as we would never know with Windows, when we are going to see the bluescreen, just to play it very safe. Vedik called for me from the stage and asked me to make a table in ppt to show the score board. Before I came back, Samrith* had shut down the PC, and unplugged even the projector, and had moved it to the control area. It was all set up in a jiffy, and he was proud that he did a good job. System turned on, and Aaaaaaah! the mouse didnt work! :-(... he was cool saying, the plugging probably went wrong; he then quickly swapped the keyboard and mouse plugs. Now what???? even the keyboard didnt work!!!. Hmm... PS2 ports, both broken! and time closing in.

We didn't have any support staff with us to take care of the situation. We had to rush to the Comp-sci dept from where we borrowed the machines. Braught a staff to the stage to see if we could salvage with whatever we had left, but of no use. There was no other option but to get another mouse and Keyboard. We didn't want anyone in the stage to know about this and nor the Faculty. I called up the Student Sec. to delay the show as much as he can, as "the off stage crew wasn't ready" (:P). He started off with a brief interview of the participants about the Presentation contest (yes! the same Plastics Boon or Bane stuff!! ). Three of us (including Samrith) went up to the Comp-sci dept again to see if we can manage to get the devices we need. I didn't have much of a say there. This Samrith guy was smart enough to persuade with a top faculty in the dept. and get the stuff in no time (I would spare him for his blunders just for this O:-)).

So we came running to the audi again, and we had a laughter therapy waiting for us :D. Abhiram was on stage going on with the "Rapid-fire" round with a dead expression and the best of all, he had the mic-cable running through between his legs! LOL! I wasn't able to control laughter seeing him struggling to move around and not realising that he need to just walk over the cable and set himself free. He finished the round in the same pose! :)).

And this time, we, chose not to take any risk, asked those staff to set things up. Booted at last! (sigh) Other rounds were on as planned, and also to remember was Samrith and Prashanth playing around with a "MI:2" ring tone played in the speaker when the later made appearance on stage, originally meant to be a glamourous entry, ended up being a comedy!

Other things to remember from the programme were: almost all of the candys thrown off to the audience who answered the left over questions, went to the couple of girls who wrote down the question cards for the quizmasters ;-); In the jumbled city round, the Chief guest claiming that we missed a 'c' in the word Sheffield (now where does a 'c' come into?), and I made a harsh reply to the Chem Chair :O, "I bet, I am right!" B-); and we opening the round with "XEBA ODUR" and following it with "DIL HI AAP HELP"

Still none of the faculty incharge of the programme, and the students on stage knew about the problem we had. The quiz was over. Despite me and Prashanth having worked so hard to prepare the questions, Velammal swept the contest with ease. That was rather disappointing :(.

When we were about to clear the stage, Vedik came to me and asked " Why didn't you make the scoreboard?". I didn't want to answer, just turned to Rakesh and smiled, and he in turn looked at Vedik and laughed! :D. Then I sat down with the Sec. and all others in the backstage about what all had happened. I admit that this narration didn't do any justice to the drama that happened then, there, and I did narrate better in the backstage that day, and all of them went crazy. We had the water bottles to be kept for the Dignitaries of the Valedictory function. Aamir and I finished off couple of bottles, as I sweated out non stop for the past hour or so. With the program about to begin, we were running short of bottles!.. Aamir quickly ran to a garden tap nearby, filled a couple of them up and kept them on stage! ;-). (If I remember right, they returned the bottles, including those two and got the money re-embursed :P ).

We had to clear the stage and return al l the gadgets. Doing so, I had to miss the bus back home :((

That sums it up! One of the most unforgettable days in life!

*Samrith doesn't deserve the anonymity, that I gave for some of them in the earlier post :|

Feb 28, 2002 - Part I

That was one of the days I must remember for my life time.

My first year in college, 'A' section, comprising only of Mechanical Enggs, often maligned by other class 'studs' as a set of rough guys (well we mechies are dumped with such a name everywhere ), less funda (who said??? whoever it may be, let him come and face me now!!), and set of rather unfortunate guys (ofcourse... there were only 62 boys in the class ;-)). There was a Tech-Symposium, CRESCIENCE 2002, organised by the Chemistry Dept; After much of interclass politics, our class managed to get all the respectable-(??) stage duties :D

I was having lunch in my classroom. It was an eventful day already. Amit was eager to know the story till then. So I started --

A few hours earlier it was a late winter (in madras???) morning, surprisingly misty, with rather poor visibility. I walked down the platform in Mambalam station, and the mist was so heavy that I wasnt able to see anything beyond 20 metres. My best friend** and one of her friends came and joined me. The other guy** looked at me strangely, as I was in formals. After hesitating twice, he asked, " Dont you think your dress will get dirty as the day goes by, and at the time of your program, it woundn't be so formal??". I prefered not to answer, but to be politically correct, I replied back saying there was no plan to put me on stage, so anything was fine with me. With no clues how to react, he just turned aside. The train horned...., I wasnt able to see the train untill it went past me. Three of us boarded the general compartment. It was a part of their plan that her class mates, one was the student sec.**, incharge of the whole program, was to join them at Mount. As they didnt turn up, we got down to wait. The next train has come, and I was running out of time. As my presence was verymuch needed there, for the start, I decided to leave along with her. My class mate Vedik was in the same compartment, we boarded.

Event # 1:
The train left Sanatorium station, and she 'made' a wierd look at me. I guessed wat she was about to say, and started praying that my guess better goes wrong.... "Sriram, I dont have the ticket with me".... OMG! For a sec, I sweared at that guy, but within myself, bcos she was equally irresponsible. I just cheered her up at the sametime praying not to have the tc on the platform, that day. It was Tambaram, most crowded as ever, we got down the train, and were carried by the crowd along the platform. TC was there; "Ticket please!". We both went and confessed, and promised them that, in the next train her friend would surely come with the ticket. The TC, was being a nice guy in agreeing with us. The next train came, and no one turned up. We thought we would wait for one more. But it was getting too late for me. In the worst case to pay the fine, she made sure there was enough in hand and ordered that I shall leave to college immediately as it was important. I was reluctant to leave her alone. One friend of mine was walking in the platform. I thought of asking him to stay for her company, but she refused. I half heartedly left the station; Took a useless M18, and reached Zoo. When I started walking towards the college, a car stopped infront of me. Milleth was driving, and 'he' and the student sec., both were inside, asking for what happened to her. Vedik had reached college earlier and had told the story. They rushed to Tambaram, and picked her up from there. Pooh, the day started bad.......

Moral: If you are buying tickets in bulk for travel or cinema or theatre, plz distribute the tickets to all.
Later I came to know that she never had a ticket from Mount till Tambaram :P

I went into the audi, and it was already half full, and many eager faces near the stage waiting for me. A couple of faculty, Mrs. Rani and Dr. Easwaramoorthi, knowing what had happened, tried their best to make me feel comfortable. I was permitted to skip the opening function, and take rest in the Chemistry lab. I had left my bag, in the audience gallery. After sometime, the chairs were moved and my bag went missing in the crowd. I pleaded to almost all the students standing as volunteers in the audi to find my bag, but in vain. No one seemed to care a damn about it. But after all it was my bag. I had no other option.... I made most of them panic spinning a story that all the CDs are inside the bag and if they dont find it, the program wont go through...... oooooohhhh! Politics is great.. it works wonders.. I got my bag in just a couple of mins.


Twist (should say Pain :-( ) #2
After relaxing in the Chem lab for abt half an hour, I was called for, to the audi. Now the worst things were about to come (courtesy Vedik). I was asked to monitor the presentation contest, both the sessions... ALONE! (well Aamir was there compering)....I wouldnt have minded, had the topic been good and interesting.... but it was "Plastics are Boon or Bean for mankind" :P... dumb!!!..... I took care of arranging Hand Mic, Collar Mic, the student's hopeless floppy disks, even powerpoint, slide management for a couple of Presenters, and the worst of all was LISTEN TO ALL THE CRAP and also the stupid questions from the Jury......Profs Prince, EC, and Majeed, were shooting really dumb questions like, when a students' talk is about Plastics being a boon, "why not bean?" and otherwise if the talk was on bean. Later I was told that Vijay was furious with the Jury's attitude, and went on to spit fire at Dr. Bilal. :D

Moral: In any presentation, I should never bore my audience like they did to me :P

So, I finished the story, and it was a mixed reaction from Amit, with a special laughter at the train ticket mess up. I laughed back, without knowing about the time to come ;-).

to be contd with more 'interesting' things ;-)..........

** I havent used the names of my fellow collegemates, who are less likely to read this post.