Friday, December 19, 2014
Monday, August 18, 2014
Tuesday, May 13, 2014
Thursday, April 24, 2014
Wednesday, April 23, 2014
Wednesday, March 05, 2014
Saturday, October 27, 2007
Magazines !
Despite the fact that live has been at its lively best and eventful over the last year or so, it was only yesterday's ten minute long wait in Guindy Railway station that supplied me with some blogable ideas. Three strong reasons made me walk towards the magazine stall and browse at what is available - To kill time, To distract myself from the disgust I felt every time I see someone spit right in the middle of the platform, To keep myself away from the shop that sells Lays, Kurkure, Groundnuts et al. Predominantly, I saw a bulk of the bollywood crap with glossy pics of skinny women on front cover, a chunk of the Tamil weekly s with flashy pics of traditional looking Tam actors and actresses. ( You can find the non traditional ones in the middle page.) Lots of English Weekly with surveys and politics and movies and sports and other mundane stuff. There were also a couple of kids magazines which deeply interested me and that is what this post is going to be about.
Till I turned ten, as a kid I never did any reading but for the text books and occasional story books - once in a while. My father tried very hard to make me read novels ( Enid Blyton) when I was in class four. Noddy and Amelia Jane's Toy books just put me off mainly because I could never relate to them. Thus I never read anything consistently - An Amar Chitra Katha during the holidays or some other Indian simple story books. It was in Class V , one rainy October day when my friend Bhairavi, and some other girl was discussing some magazine called "Gokulam". I was not even aware that such a thing existed ! After listening to their animated discussions, I purchased my first issue( October) of Gokulam. I found it interesting and more important realistic. I could relate to the stories as a school girl. Then I waited anxiously from the monthly issues of Gokulam and fortnightly issues of Champak. I bugged the Magazine stall guy in the railway station and the Newspaper seller near my home every month end to grab the next month's copy. Somehow we never made any arrangements for the newspaper guy to deliver it at home. It was more exciting to buy your copy on your own!
Now I would like to recollect some of the most exciting things and some stories from these books. Champak had allegories in large quantum though I liked stories with real people rather than animals talking. So I always read the stories about read kids first and then read the stories with animals in them. Some of my favorites from Champak which I can still recall are ....
Then there were the Undir series in Gokulam...Which a series of stories about a rat family. As a school kid I could relate to it so very well.
Then over a couple of years I grew of old for these books and I became voracious reader of the Famous Five, Secret Seven ... The Enid Blyton's books on boarding school... I simply loved them...Then came Nancy Drew... Then the conventional Sweet Valley Twins and friends....Then Robin Cook and Archer and Clarke so on....
In between I tied some Teen's Mags which was a utter disaster. There was nothing I could relate to.There were issues about Teen Love and other questions which was distant to me then.
Now all that I find interesting is Reader's Digest... sometimes The English Weekly s...
How I wish there were a good English Magazine with out the Masala and the hype and the glossy photos ... without endless surveys on which college is the best , which city is the best... without tips on how to reduce weight, stress .... without political content about the ridiculous fights at the parliament....But with interesting short stories, meaningful articles about people around us and nice cartoons ... Something that can rekindle the goodness in each of us.....
Till I turned ten, as a kid I never did any reading but for the text books and occasional story books - once in a while. My father tried very hard to make me read novels ( Enid Blyton) when I was in class four. Noddy and Amelia Jane's Toy books just put me off mainly because I could never relate to them. Thus I never read anything consistently - An Amar Chitra Katha during the holidays or some other Indian simple story books. It was in Class V , one rainy October day when my friend Bhairavi, and some other girl was discussing some magazine called "Gokulam". I was not even aware that such a thing existed ! After listening to their animated discussions, I purchased my first issue( October) of Gokulam. I found it interesting and more important realistic. I could relate to the stories as a school girl. Then I waited anxiously from the monthly issues of Gokulam and fortnightly issues of Champak. I bugged the Magazine stall guy in the railway station and the Newspaper seller near my home every month end to grab the next month's copy. Somehow we never made any arrangements for the newspaper guy to deliver it at home. It was more exciting to buy your copy on your own!
Now I would like to recollect some of the most exciting things and some stories from these books. Champak had allegories in large quantum though I liked stories with real people rather than animals talking. So I always read the stories about read kids first and then read the stories with animals in them. Some of my favorites from Champak which I can still recall are ....
- A short story on one detective boy named Vijay who would help a King to track this treasure through a series of mysterious clues. The clues were very interesting and ingenious. It was published as a serious of seven parts across seven issues.
- An interesting story about a little boy who was told by his friend that "Seven" was his lucky number. The friend would have given a series of explanation on why "seven" should be his lucky number. Like - you were born in the seventh month, you like in flat number seven and the sum of your roll no is seven etc. But his sister crushes his superstition by giving a similar set of explanation for another number - "four". I felt that the sissy was very clever in forming those explanation !
- One boy comes to town from village to sell fruits with his cousin for a livelihood. They wait with ripe mangoes each in a cart at the threshold of the market place. The cousin was a strong believer of the concept of Boony or the first sale made that day and he insists that they sell the fruits for a price less than the cost price to make a good start. Mail me if you want to know the rest of the story ... ;)
Then there were the Undir series in Gokulam...Which a series of stories about a rat family. As a school kid I could relate to it so very well.
Then over a couple of years I grew of old for these books and I became voracious reader of the Famous Five, Secret Seven ... The Enid Blyton's books on boarding school... I simply loved them...Then came Nancy Drew... Then the conventional Sweet Valley Twins and friends....Then Robin Cook and Archer and Clarke so on....
In between I tied some Teen's Mags which was a utter disaster. There was nothing I could relate to.There were issues about Teen Love and other questions which was distant to me then.
Now all that I find interesting is Reader's Digest... sometimes The English Weekly s...
How I wish there were a good English Magazine with out the Masala and the hype and the glossy photos ... without endless surveys on which college is the best , which city is the best... without tips on how to reduce weight, stress .... without political content about the ridiculous fights at the parliament....But with interesting short stories, meaningful articles about people around us and nice cartoons ... Something that can rekindle the goodness in each of us.....
Sunday, April 29, 2007
Some assorted thoughts !
I am sure all of us simply enjoy predicting the future. How will the next generations of storage devices look like. In what ways our children will be different from us ? I am sure they will have something new to teach us like we had something new to tell our parents. What will change. Will it be better or for the worse ? Obviously I have no answer.
Also sometimes it is extremely thrilling to realize that the future's stars are probably one among us. My lab mate may probably win the "Turing award". The girl who used to win prizes for the school in singing competitions may become synonymous with our era's music in our grandchildren's text books. Again GoK.
My mind was filled with such thoughts when I saw the following "Wiki Quote of the Day:"
" They say that each generation inherits from those that have gone before; if this were so there would be no limit to man's improvements or to his power of reaching perfection. But he is very far from receiving intact that storehouse of knowledge which the centuries have piled up before him; he may perfect some inventions, but in others, he lags behind the originators, and a great many inventions have been lost entirely. What he gains on the one hand, he loses on the other. "
---------- ~ Eugène Delacroix
How extremely true. Every decade has something new to teach its children. In the form of inventions or wars or art. But that does not mean that the child should be deprived of some niceties which his parents got. Sometimes I wonder that if we dont pass on what we have to the next generation, probably down the line someone would keep reinventing the wheel. Also suddenly i understand the importance of keeping up some traditions, doing some rituals and sticking to some culture. But how I wish that my forefathers had passed it on to me with more care and rigor than just as a bunch of rules. That way I do not need to spend time questioning and brooding over them.
It is very good to think of finer ways of doing things. To expand our knowledge base and to redefine rules. Every man ought to do it to full fill the purpose of his life. But shunning our predecessor's lifestyle completely is slightly uncomfortable. This is slight hypocrisy on my part
because many a times owing to other comforts I want to do away with certain practices.
We can in no way get the total essence of all our ancestor's knowledge. We should at least pass on what we have acquired and what we have refined with logic and reason to the next generation.
Also sometimes it is extremely thrilling to realize that the future's stars are probably one among us. My lab mate may probably win the "Turing award". The girl who used to win prizes for the school in singing competitions may become synonymous with our era's music in our grandchildren's text books. Again GoK.
My mind was filled with such thoughts when I saw the following "Wiki Quote of the Day:"
" They say that each generation inherits from those that have gone before; if this were so there would be no limit to man's improvements or to his power of reaching perfection. But he is very far from receiving intact that storehouse of knowledge which the centuries have piled up before him; he may perfect some inventions, but in others, he lags behind the originators, and a great many inventions have been lost entirely. What he gains on the one hand, he loses on the other. "
---------- ~ Eugène Delacroix
How extremely true. Every decade has something new to teach its children. In the form of inventions or wars or art. But that does not mean that the child should be deprived of some niceties which his parents got. Sometimes I wonder that if we dont pass on what we have to the next generation, probably down the line someone would keep reinventing the wheel. Also suddenly i understand the importance of keeping up some traditions, doing some rituals and sticking to some culture. But how I wish that my forefathers had passed it on to me with more care and rigor than just as a bunch of rules. That way I do not need to spend time questioning and brooding over them.
It is very good to think of finer ways of doing things. To expand our knowledge base and to redefine rules. Every man ought to do it to full fill the purpose of his life. But shunning our predecessor's lifestyle completely is slightly uncomfortable. This is slight hypocrisy on my part
because many a times owing to other comforts I want to do away with certain practices.
We can in no way get the total essence of all our ancestor's knowledge. We should at least pass on what we have acquired and what we have refined with logic and reason to the next generation.
Tuesday, January 09, 2007
Temple tour : part I
Pilgrimage trips have become more and more enjoyable and interesting over the past few years...
It somehow makes the trip "purposeful" to the elders at home.The stopover at my aunt's home in a near by village ( vishnupuram), the long never ending drive and decent good food leaves me happy and engaged in various ways over the course of the trip.
If we choose to visit the celebrated temples like tirupathi there is this fear(and fun) of waiting in long queues for ages before we get a glimpse of the "murthy" amidst all "jargandi".But the "not so famous" temples offer a lot of calm and a quiet corner to sit and dream(or meditate).
Our first stop was at the "Koothanur" Saraswathi temple. It is I believe the only temple to have a "murthy" for goddess saraswathi.The temple has got lots of fame and loads of devotees off late after the publication of many articles in "Bakthi" type tamil magazines.Its renovated .(after a kumbabishekam a couple of years back).The temple is thronged by youngsters(like me) who pray for excellence in education(kalvi) and art(kalai).The vigraham is clad in beautiful white Saree and lotus is offered.Also the temple authorities have kept a black board where kids write their school roll numbers( of course even i wrote) with the belief the goodness will be showered.The Almighty does not need a uniquely identifiable roll number to be written on the board to bless us nevertheless such trivial practises are a prototype for belief and in turn confidence.
We had a overnight stay in vishnupuram (not very far from koothanur) at my aunt's home.Next day was a "kula deivam" visiting routine for me. Our ancestors were initially settled in a village called senthangudi very close to mayavaram.But they migrated to another village Ponsai later. So our family considers both the temples "Kula deivam".
Senthangudi has a Mariamman temple. It is a very small temple and they distribute excellent Chakkara Pongal prasadam.This one in a village corner is a classic example of old beautiful temples spoilt in the name of renovations and donations.Gaudy , flashy tiles in all possible shapes and sizes are pasted on every possible wall and floor. Some tiles had irrelevant writings also on it like "Brook bond tea".The temple itself is painted in some cheap quality artificial looking colours.But the worst vandalism was by the donators themselves.Just because they have donated a ceiling fan or have sponsored money to fix a tube light there is no need to emboss their names on the fixtures.Every equipment in the temple comes with the a tag consisting of the donator list and their details et all.Somehow these issues are at present beyond my reach .But I believe when people renovate old structures they ought not to spoil existing architectural theme. Just because newly built temples have marble or the like flooring we don't need to redo the existing mud/cement/rock flooring in every temple.Such masking sometimes coagulates the mind and removes the sanctum of the temple itself sadly.
Next we headed to Ponsai .Ponsai can be broken as Pon(gold) +Sai(do). Meaning the crops grow like gold.Here again we visited 3 temples.The spacious Shiva temple, Mariamman and the Aiiyanar temple.
Shiva temple: It is a very beautiful temple.Period.Decently maintained.It is one of those very few temples where the inner praharam( ie where the mulavar is placed) is so huge that an elephant can circumambulate.The Koothadum pillayar which literally means a dancing pillayar is the first vigraham to be seen.The temple has a Shiva lingam, Subramaniya and ambal sannadhi.
Mariamman Temple: The rituals performed here was very similar to the ditto temple in Senthangudi.
Aiiyanar temple:This temple has load Aiiyanar(Aiiyappa) and goddess Buvaneshwari as Mulavar. Apart from this the Veeran present in all Aiiyanar temples are also present. It is a family custom to pray god with Mavillakku ( Mavu + Villakku). Rice floor, Ghee , Jaggery and grated coconut are used to make a tasty mixture.This is further placed in the shape of a Villakku . Ghee is used as the fuel to light the lamp and this is decorated with flowers and Agarbathi and Kumkum.
Later the mixture is distributed as prasadam to everyone in the temple.
That evening back at home in Vishnupuram I visited all the temples of the village ( similar ones). Then I had the pleasure of crossing the arasalaaru ( kaveri) with waist deep cold water . The dis tributary of Kaveri is not so proper these days owing to quarrying for mud and other bad maintenance. A great part of the river channel is chocked with wild bushes. The approach path is also very thorny and bushy.
To be contd in Part II
( Visits to vaitheshwaran Kovil, Seergazhi sattanathaswamy Kovil and Madhuranthagam Ram temple ;) ;) ;)
It somehow makes the trip "purposeful" to the elders at home.The stopover at my aunt's home in a near by village ( vishnupuram), the long never ending drive and decent good food leaves me happy and engaged in various ways over the course of the trip.
If we choose to visit the celebrated temples like tirupathi there is this fear(and fun) of waiting in long queues for ages before we get a glimpse of the "murthy" amidst all "jargandi".But the "not so famous" temples offer a lot of calm and a quiet corner to sit and dream(or meditate).
Our first stop was at the "Koothanur" Saraswathi temple. It is I believe the only temple to have a "murthy" for goddess saraswathi.The temple has got lots of fame and loads of devotees off late after the publication of many articles in "Bakthi" type tamil magazines.Its renovated .(after a kumbabishekam a couple of years back).The temple is thronged by youngsters(like me) who pray for excellence in education(kalvi) and art(kalai).The vigraham is clad in beautiful white Saree and lotus is offered.Also the temple authorities have kept a black board where kids write their school roll numbers( of course even i wrote) with the belief the goodness will be showered.The Almighty does not need a uniquely identifiable roll number to be written on the board to bless us nevertheless such trivial practises are a prototype for belief and in turn confidence.
We had a overnight stay in vishnupuram (not very far from koothanur) at my aunt's home.Next day was a "kula deivam" visiting routine for me. Our ancestors were initially settled in a village called senthangudi very close to mayavaram.But they migrated to another village Ponsai later. So our family considers both the temples "Kula deivam".
Senthangudi has a Mariamman temple. It is a very small temple and they distribute excellent Chakkara Pongal prasadam.This one in a village corner is a classic example of old beautiful temples spoilt in the name of renovations and donations.Gaudy , flashy tiles in all possible shapes and sizes are pasted on every possible wall and floor. Some tiles had irrelevant writings also on it like "Brook bond tea".The temple itself is painted in some cheap quality artificial looking colours.But the worst vandalism was by the donators themselves.Just because they have donated a ceiling fan or have sponsored money to fix a tube light there is no need to emboss their names on the fixtures.Every equipment in the temple comes with the a tag consisting of the donator list and their details et all.Somehow these issues are at present beyond my reach .But I believe when people renovate old structures they ought not to spoil existing architectural theme. Just because newly built temples have marble or the like flooring we don't need to redo the existing mud/cement/rock flooring in every temple.Such masking sometimes coagulates the mind and removes the sanctum of the temple itself sadly.
Next we headed to Ponsai .Ponsai can be broken as Pon(gold) +Sai(do). Meaning the crops grow like gold.Here again we visited 3 temples.The spacious Shiva temple, Mariamman and the Aiiyanar temple.
Shiva temple: It is a very beautiful temple.Period.Decently maintained.It is one of those very few temples where the inner praharam( ie where the mulavar is placed) is so huge that an elephant can circumambulate.The Koothadum pillayar which literally means a dancing pillayar is the first vigraham to be seen.The temple has a Shiva lingam, Subramaniya and ambal sannadhi.
Mariamman Temple: The rituals performed here was very similar to the ditto temple in Senthangudi.
Aiiyanar temple:This temple has load Aiiyanar(Aiiyappa) and goddess Buvaneshwari as Mulavar. Apart from this the Veeran present in all Aiiyanar temples are also present. It is a family custom to pray god with Mavillakku ( Mavu + Villakku). Rice floor, Ghee , Jaggery and grated coconut are used to make a tasty mixture.This is further placed in the shape of a Villakku . Ghee is used as the fuel to light the lamp and this is decorated with flowers and Agarbathi and Kumkum.
Later the mixture is distributed as prasadam to everyone in the temple.
That evening back at home in Vishnupuram I visited all the temples of the village ( similar ones). Then I had the pleasure of crossing the arasalaaru ( kaveri) with waist deep cold water . The dis tributary of Kaveri is not so proper these days owing to quarrying for mud and other bad maintenance. A great part of the river channel is chocked with wild bushes. The approach path is also very thorny and bushy.
To be contd in Part II
( Visits to vaitheshwaran Kovil, Seergazhi sattanathaswamy Kovil and Madhuranthagam Ram temple ;) ;) ;)
Monday, December 11, 2006
Who is the "indian"of the year ???
Dates and days probably do not have any absolute significance.Maybe an enumeration of "time".
Like how the stone age guy would count his goats with pebbles .. In a refined fashion we count our time with dates. And thus we keep track of passage of time in terms of earth's revolution around the sun which is dependent on some cosmic distances... blah ..blah...
And Voila..We have a new year every 12 months. What is so new about the new year.. For many the new year is never quite a "new" year. Most most school kids its not the beginning of a new academic session.. Dec is not the "year" end for many offices... But somehow " new year" fills some like me with a plethora of energy and a newer bunch of resolutions...Some lil personal joys..
But something has been irking me for the past couple of years.Come December all channels esp the 24 7 news channels ask people of the country to vote a "person" of the year..I hate this rating business because
Sometimes times are good.We are successful and happy in our own way. Life is frustrating and agonizing once in a while.We look back and say "good" year .. or we pray "Oh God.. Let things get better".Even for the sake of masala or entertainment( which anyway it is not) I dont want to see anyone rated as "Indian" of the year.. It hurts my ego.Lets keep things simple.
Like how the stone age guy would count his goats with pebbles .. In a refined fashion we count our time with dates. And thus we keep track of passage of time in terms of earth's revolution around the sun which is dependent on some cosmic distances... blah ..blah...
And Voila..We have a new year every 12 months. What is so new about the new year.. For many the new year is never quite a "new" year. Most most school kids its not the beginning of a new academic session.. Dec is not the "year" end for many offices... But somehow " new year" fills some like me with a plethora of energy and a newer bunch of resolutions...Some lil personal joys..
But something has been irking me for the past couple of years.Come December all channels esp the 24 7 news channels ask people of the country to vote a "person" of the year..I hate this rating business because
- It is boring
- It hurts my ego
Sometimes times are good.We are successful and happy in our own way. Life is frustrating and agonizing once in a while.We look back and say "good" year .. or we pray "Oh God.. Let things get better".Even for the sake of masala or entertainment( which anyway it is not) I dont want to see anyone rated as "Indian" of the year.. It hurts my ego.Lets keep things simple.
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
a song
poga poga boomi virigirathe
poga poga vaanam therigirathe
theda theda yaavum kidaikkirathe
oda oda ottam thodargirathe
mudivillai etharkum inge
irul mudinthuvittal pagal thuvangividum
mazhai mudinthuvittal veiyil thuvangividum
alai mudinthuvittal karai thuvangividum
sumai mudinthuvittal sugam thuvangividum
ethai unarndhuvittal ellam mudinthuvidum
ellam mudinthuvittal manam urangividum..thelindhuvidum.. nimirndhuvidum
poga poga boomi virigirathe
poga poga vaanam therigirathe
theda theda yaavum kidaikkirathe
oda oda ottam thodargirathe
urchagam enge enge ullam thiranthuppar
kondattam enge enge thannai marandhuppar
anandam enge enge kaigal rendai thattippar
santhosham enge enge kalin keezhe uttruppar
ethayo ethayo thedi thedi nammai tholaithome
hey vada vada nammai naame kandu pidippome
thulli kuthippom vinnai idippom
innum innum nenjam kalappom
poga poga boomi virigirathe
poga poga vaanam therigirathe
theda theda yaavum kidaikkirathe
oda oda ottam thodargirathe
pogattum thappu thappai potta kanakku
thondrattum innum innum vazhkai irukku
kaikkettum thoorathil thaan vaanam ondru irukku
pookkattum medai mele vazhkai undu namakku
veliye veliye nimmadhiyai thedi thirivaan
ulle ulle manasukkulle theda marappan
silar sirithaar silar thudithaar
sutri sutri nammai ethirthaar
poga poga boomi virigirathe
poga poga vaanam therigirathe
theda theda yaavum kidaikkirathe
oda oda ottam thodargirathe
--- Movie : Pattiyal
poga poga vaanam therigirathe
theda theda yaavum kidaikkirathe
oda oda ottam thodargirathe
mudivillai etharkum inge
irul mudinthuvittal pagal thuvangividum
mazhai mudinthuvittal veiyil thuvangividum
alai mudinthuvittal karai thuvangividum
sumai mudinthuvittal sugam thuvangividum
ethai unarndhuvittal ellam mudinthuvidum
ellam mudinthuvittal manam urangividum..thelindhuvidum.. nimirndhuvidum
poga poga boomi virigirathe
poga poga vaanam therigirathe
theda theda yaavum kidaikkirathe
oda oda ottam thodargirathe
urchagam enge enge ullam thiranthuppar
kondattam enge enge thannai marandhuppar
anandam enge enge kaigal rendai thattippar
santhosham enge enge kalin keezhe uttruppar
ethayo ethayo thedi thedi nammai tholaithome
hey vada vada nammai naame kandu pidippome
thulli kuthippom vinnai idippom
innum innum nenjam kalappom
poga poga boomi virigirathe
poga poga vaanam therigirathe
theda theda yaavum kidaikkirathe
oda oda ottam thodargirathe
pogattum thappu thappai potta kanakku
thondrattum innum innum vazhkai irukku
kaikkettum thoorathil thaan vaanam ondru irukku
pookkattum medai mele vazhkai undu namakku
veliye veliye nimmadhiyai thedi thirivaan
ulle ulle manasukkulle theda marappan
silar sirithaar silar thudithaar
sutri sutri nammai ethirthaar
poga poga boomi virigirathe
poga poga vaanam therigirathe
theda theda yaavum kidaikkirathe
oda oda ottam thodargirathe
--- Movie : Pattiyal
Sunday, October 08, 2006
tryst with music
I got this new idea.To rekindle my interest in Carnatic music( and good music in general) I thought maybe should maintain an archieve of ragas that I listen to, the observations I make and similarities that strikes.However trivial the fact is an OL archieve can help me get certain facts straight and iron out misunderstangs ( Anu,Aruna,Sriram ..Listening ??? ).The posts will primarily be some concepts which I had understood ( ie some fundas flicked from the net),the songs I listened to this week and some trivial observations made....
In the last few days I listened to MS & Bombay Jayshree.
Some Mira Bhajans by MS( Yaad Aave , More tho Giridhara Gopal).I simply love the 2nd song . We had learnt that poem in hindi classes sometime in 9th std.The verse thatha ,matha,bandhu ,bratha appana na koi.... is simply beautiful sung with so much emotions of Mira.
One thing I believe I can do ( though I am not very sure) is to identify Bhairavi ragam.I must have hreard this song called "E Nati Nomu Phalamu" a haazar number of times.I heard an MS solo version of this and one with Semmagudi & MS.I like the way this line Sundaresha suguna brinda dasharatha goes..I dont know the technical terms..But when the line is repeated a number of times every time a kind of break is made at different places..And this break in the line kind of bubbles up the verse..Initially the whole line is sung in one go, then whole minus the last word and so on.
Then there is the "Bhavayami Gopala .." in Yaman Kalyani sung by bombay Jayashree.And some more in Nalina Kanthi and madhuvanti ragam.Also one song "Amba..." in Neelambari.
Thats it I guess...
In the last few days I listened to MS & Bombay Jayshree.
Some Mira Bhajans by MS( Yaad Aave , More tho Giridhara Gopal).I simply love the 2nd song . We had learnt that poem in hindi classes sometime in 9th std.The verse thatha ,matha,bandhu ,bratha appana na koi.... is simply beautiful sung with so much emotions of Mira.
One thing I believe I can do ( though I am not very sure) is to identify Bhairavi ragam.I must have hreard this song called "E Nati Nomu Phalamu" a haazar number of times.I heard an MS solo version of this and one with Semmagudi & MS.I like the way this line Sundaresha suguna brinda dasharatha goes..I dont know the technical terms..But when the line is repeated a number of times every time a kind of break is made at different places..And this break in the line kind of bubbles up the verse..Initially the whole line is sung in one go, then whole minus the last word and so on.
Then there is the "Bhavayami Gopala .." in Yaman Kalyani sung by bombay Jayashree.And some more in Nalina Kanthi and madhuvanti ragam.Also one song "Amba..." in Neelambari.
Thats it I guess...
Friday, September 22, 2006
The Golu Saga
After Diwali, Navarathri is my favorite festival.(Though off late my enthu for both have mitigated owing to various mundane reasons).Both were( and I guess still are ) highly entertaining festivals and digresses from other routine south indian festivals which primarily involves pooja and eating in some flavour or the other.
Diwali is of course fun with crackers ( I like calling Deepavali as Diwali)..
But Navarathri is really unique in many ways.It fetches around 10 days holidays for school kids giving a big breathing space.Golu being an integral part of south indian Dusherra gives a beautiful opputunity for creativity,fun and family get togethers.My happy memories related to the golu itself is because of the awesome time I used to have till a couple of years back.All teachers from school who are also mom's friends go on a Golu visiting spree.Of course I used join them.It was a great fun time for us( teacher's kids).We hired a cab and Finished the Nangalallur area first followed by madipakkam and T.Nagar .Almost every teacher had a special gift for the kids and something unique to eat.Then we were all made to sing too.Some people make "Theme" golus though of course we never managed to come up with any theme at our place.Some golus have fancy lightings.One guy near our home in Bang displayed all this mini projects(like the moving ship , and some sound sensors etc) in their Golu !!!
Then their is an aunty near by who displays some of her very beautiful paitings and Kolam in water in her golu.
Not that I study everyday .. But somehow for the past 4 years I invariabily end up studying on the saraswathi pooja day !!! Some how this post seems like a fifth std kids essay on "My fav festival" .. and here are the pics of our Golu ...
Diwali is of course fun with crackers ( I like calling Deepavali as Diwali)..
But Navarathri is really unique in many ways.It fetches around 10 days holidays for school kids giving a big breathing space.Golu being an integral part of south indian Dusherra gives a beautiful opputunity for creativity,fun and family get togethers.My happy memories related to the golu itself is because of the awesome time I used to have till a couple of years back.All teachers from school who are also mom's friends go on a Golu visiting spree.Of course I used join them.It was a great fun time for us( teacher's kids).We hired a cab and Finished the Nangalallur area first followed by madipakkam and T.Nagar .Almost every teacher had a special gift for the kids and something unique to eat.Then we were all made to sing too.Some people make "Theme" golus though of course we never managed to come up with any theme at our place.Some golus have fancy lightings.One guy near our home in Bang displayed all this mini projects(like the moving ship , and some sound sensors etc) in their Golu !!!
Then their is an aunty near by who displays some of her very beautiful paitings and Kolam in water in her golu.
Not that I study everyday .. But somehow for the past 4 years I invariabily end up studying on the saraswathi pooja day !!! Some how this post seems like a fifth std kids essay on "My fav festival" .. and here are the pics of our Golu ...
Monday, September 18, 2006
Arbit Stuff
In a serious attempt to shrug off a chunk of laziness which had amassed me for the past some time(say a few months ;-) I am planning to write some regular posts. It may be a little redundant also.Here are a medley of things I want to tell about.
1.Apart from people at home what I miss most abt home when I am not at home ( ie Occationally when I am in hostel ) are the Pickles or the (oorgas) . It took me less than a month to realize that nothing actually comes close to home food . ( Something which I failed to acknowledge for the past 21 years !!!! ).Somehow I dont think anyone will ever get fed up of the home made tayir sadam.The primary savor of tayir sadam is the contrast between its blandness and that of the side dish.I always prefer a pickle or vatha kozhambu to anything else.So I miss all the tokku and togayal and the mavadu and the mavadu jalam.Of course I do have all these during the weekends.
2.Then comes my new theory on procrastination.If you always postpone things and previous trends seriously suggest that you have never managed to not procrastinate then its better not to attempt to start the work early.Anyways by parkinson's law work will expand and you may never do it on time cos you have a serious tendency to postpone half done work( like me !!!).After all why have the guilt feeling of starting early and finish late ??
I was wondering about my tendency to postpone things to the last second sometime.Like getting up early in the morning just to waste away the evening ( in the pretense of having high concentration early morning ).And then keeping stuff to read in the bus despite having time at home..And so on...
Thats it i guess :-D
1.Apart from people at home what I miss most abt home when I am not at home ( ie Occationally when I am in hostel ) are the Pickles or the (oorgas) . It took me less than a month to realize that nothing actually comes close to home food . ( Something which I failed to acknowledge for the past 21 years !!!! ).Somehow I dont think anyone will ever get fed up of the home made tayir sadam.The primary savor of tayir sadam is the contrast between its blandness and that of the side dish.I always prefer a pickle or vatha kozhambu to anything else.So I miss all the tokku and togayal and the mavadu and the mavadu jalam.Of course I do have all these during the weekends.
2.Then comes my new theory on procrastination.If you always postpone things and previous trends seriously suggest that you have never managed to not procrastinate then its better not to attempt to start the work early.Anyways by parkinson's law work will expand and you may never do it on time cos you have a serious tendency to postpone half done work( like me !!!).After all why have the guilt feeling of starting early and finish late ??
I was wondering about my tendency to postpone things to the last second sometime.Like getting up early in the morning just to waste away the evening ( in the pretense of having high concentration early morning ).And then keeping stuff to read in the bus despite having time at home..And so on...
Thats it i guess :-D
Saturday, September 16, 2006
Another post on education
With a "Teacher Amma " at home we often have heated discussions about education, the schooling system and especially its impact on kids, the country, the globe , the milky way and so on...
Pararelly what my Sanskrit teacher once told us in class also dawned on me...She said that No teacher "teaches" anything to a student .. It is already within the kid and she simply taps it out of him..Viewing teaching in this new limelight I can now visualize the refinement involved in the profession.Education itself is simply a realization process within the student's mind and the teacher is a catalyst to aid the completion of this beautiful process...With four courses in theoretical computer science I am tending to be a mathematician, so I will pick up examples of teaching maths.
My ground rule now is
1.The teacher/guide should not give the solution to any problem in the beginning.ie No method should be written on the board directly.
2.The teacher should break the problem and maybe give an example of the expected results and not immediately go ahead and give the solution.Maybe you have a Newton sitting in your class..Give him enough motivation to rediscover calculus.
3.The full pleasure of education can be enjoyed when it self becomes a realization process.Reinventing the wheel is fun.In the process failing is fun.Retry is superb.And finally when the solution is presented the student understands the idea , the mind behind the solution and also appreciate the great thoughts..
If not calculus atleast some basic tricks..For instance dont tell him that if the sum of the digits of a number is divisible by 3 then the number is also divisible by 3.Help him discover it own his own..Give examples...Remodel it into a simple linear equation problem .And finally see the answer boiling out..
With this kind of realization process comes a new level of maturity.The maturity to appreciate great interpretation.After presenting a new algorithm to us in class which was better than the previous idea my prof remarks "Ah Ha!".
When I get a chance to teach..After I present someone's great ideaI want ppl to "realize" on their own..And then say an "Ah ha!" and not an "Ayyo!" .And I guess the Gurukula system is the best form of schooling.No doubt.
Pararelly what my Sanskrit teacher once told us in class also dawned on me...She said that No teacher "teaches" anything to a student .. It is already within the kid and she simply taps it out of him..Viewing teaching in this new limelight I can now visualize the refinement involved in the profession.Education itself is simply a realization process within the student's mind and the teacher is a catalyst to aid the completion of this beautiful process...With four courses in theoretical computer science I am tending to be a mathematician, so I will pick up examples of teaching maths.
My ground rule now is
1.The teacher/guide should not give the solution to any problem in the beginning.ie No method should be written on the board directly.
2.The teacher should break the problem and maybe give an example of the expected results and not immediately go ahead and give the solution.Maybe you have a Newton sitting in your class..Give him enough motivation to rediscover calculus.
3.The full pleasure of education can be enjoyed when it self becomes a realization process.Reinventing the wheel is fun.In the process failing is fun.Retry is superb.And finally when the solution is presented the student understands the idea , the mind behind the solution and also appreciate the great thoughts..
If not calculus atleast some basic tricks..For instance dont tell him that if the sum of the digits of a number is divisible by 3 then the number is also divisible by 3.Help him discover it own his own..Give examples...Remodel it into a simple linear equation problem .And finally see the answer boiling out..
With this kind of realization process comes a new level of maturity.The maturity to appreciate great interpretation.After presenting a new algorithm to us in class which was better than the previous idea my prof remarks "Ah Ha!".
When I get a chance to teach..After I present someone's great ideaI want ppl to "realize" on their own..And then say an "Ah ha!" and not an "Ayyo!" .And I guess the Gurukula system is the best form of schooling.No doubt.
Friday, September 08, 2006
When Dunston Checked in ...
Long long ago ... Not so long ago just one week long back..On a hot humid afternoon I decided to take one of my usual short nap before the four O clock class..After landing here in hostel a great chunck of time is spent on going home, coming back and deciding when to go home and when to be back and where to eat or sleep and so on...And the hostel room has given me complete freedom for my lethargic ultra extended sleeping habbits.Its almost become like an illegal license to sleep in the afternoons ( Mind You .. Not naps ... But "sleep").And Damn that guy who came up with the idea of "snooze" and "Recurrent Alarms" in cell phones.It never works .. atleast i never wake up...The art of Snoozing alarm from 4.00 to 6.30 am and then switching it off at 6.00 and finally waking up at 7.00 ..
Anyways .. So I was there sleeping.. As usual left the window open..Cos it gets too stuffy otherwise.But it was a disturbed sleep and suddenly I hear some paper crushing noise.I obviously abandon the noise subconsciously.Then more noise.On the window pane was a monkey..With my spectacles in some hand and the case in the other.It had managed to sit on the window pane..Open my zipped bag kept on a table alongside the window..pull out papers and spectacles ..
Obviously I got scared of it .. And did one of my dramatic , super noisely , screeching "yell"...Now it got scared obviously.And left everything else but got away with the spectacles and the case...
For my infrequent usage of glasses ... I had spent quite a fortune on it...Some anti glare plastic lens which some guy had marketed well to my dad..My dad felt that my profession involved using the computers primarily (ie chatting) it is advicable to use those high funda lens..Now in the monkey's hands.. Korangu kaila Poo malai madiri..
Now it was a run downstairs ..To hunt for my specs and find if it is one piece at all..I find a friend and both of us walk behind the hostel ...Into the bushes under the area just below my room to find a big monkey gang..We decided to come back with someone more experianced.Called the "akka" who generally sits in the hostel lobby and this time we walked over well equiped with a stick..To find my glass and the case strewn away ..But undamaged and unscratched... Thank God..
But there are still some misteries unsolved..Like the
mystery of vanishing "Good Day" packets ..
Mystery of vanishing "port wine Choc" But the wrapper thrown around..
Mystery of vanishing "face wash tubes"....
Thursday, August 03, 2006
Waste Products ???
The BTechs are the Products of the IIT.The MTechs are the Byproducts and the researchers are the Waste Products of the IIT !!!
This was what I heard from a fellow student on the first day after enrollment into a research course at the IIT . Wow .. Superb Beginning . I thought..
Almost 2 weeks later we had a formal orientation by the hi-funda IIT ,star studded IIT acads and other arbit offices. Some guy walks onto the huge dias at the SAC where a whole lot of PG freshers were seated ..( All MTechs, MS , MSc , PhDs and even MBA makkal were there ). He says ... " Okay JEE is a real tough exam ... But even you guys have gotten here thru .. GATE , JAM , JMET .. Even thats almost equally competetive ... So U r no less types .... "
Well ... We ourselves were not comparing or anything with the Jrs... Are they fueling us or what ? ... I had also initially thought about this BTech issue .. But then I told myself ..U r a lil older now .. Have an objective attitude toward this .. behave matured !!!
There were some more people who gave some offensive opinion about PG and stuff ..
But for this stupid orientation .. I liked everthing else abt IIT ... The place ..The building .. The atmosphere .. The hostels.. The Canteen ..
All the profs were very nice to me...( till now )
I liked the labs .. the department .. the monkeys .. new friends ...
I sometimes tend to compare it with easwari ... There seems to be one difference the Freedom ... Somehow people here enjoy lot of freedom in everything .. from dress ...to wat course to take to cell phone usage to attendance ... to lot of things .. But again people feel more freedom needs to be given .. Maybe .. First I see the striking difference between stifiled Easwari environment and here ...
Easwari did not impart any Computer Science education to me ...infact only the final BTech proj was superb ... rest was almost self learnt stuff ...But I did have a nice time there ... Also I got a superb friends circle ...
I really hope I get the best of CS and other stuff here .
Wish me luck .
Monday, July 31, 2006
One person . One number !
Just think of this situation.You finish College and bid farewell to all your friends.Each of them have grabbed a job in a different city.And now every one is scattered across the nation.
Even before they left your mobile phone contacts list is overflowing .. With names like Rada, Rada Mob , Rada Bro, Rada Dad , Rada neighbour and so on...And then your friend leaves for training and appends your list with 2 or 3 more numbers . And then she finishes training and then another number...... And so on ..
With clumsy ppl like me the whole phone book is a "pure mess"
{ ppl who have seen me program will understand this better .... My variable names in the code wud be a1,a2,a3 or something like getlost or ohmygod .... And program names wud be ok,ok1,okgoogle....final1,final2,finaln .... }
Now why cant the service provider give us a single number and then map it to another number... So that when we either change the service provider or the package(prepaid to postpaid ) only the second number changes and the new second number is mapped onto our ORIGINAL ABSOLUTE NUMBER .
For EX : My number is 123 which is same whereever I go .. what ever package ....
It is mapped on to 1111 when I am in chennai using Airtel .. when I move to Blore and Use hutch .. it becomes 2222 ( but still mapped on to 123 )
I am sure its not all that simple .. Maybe it requires some Big changes in the protocols itself ... or Maybe then 10 digit will not do ... And there is a need to keep track of all numbers allocated ...( centrally all over the world )
Such a thing already exists ... Obv in a smaller scale ... its called wireless LNP
( Local number Portability )... But very sad na... when I really think of something ..only to find that someone has already done it ... what is left to discover ??? But Obv had ppl wondered the same way a few decades back .. I wud not be sitting and chatting here !
And if some one thinks there is a flaw ... do let me know !!!
Even before they left your mobile phone contacts list is overflowing .. With names like Rada, Rada Mob , Rada Bro, Rada Dad , Rada neighbour and so on...And then your friend leaves for training and appends your list with 2 or 3 more numbers . And then she finishes training and then another number...... And so on ..
With clumsy ppl like me the whole phone book is a "pure mess"
{ ppl who have seen me program will understand this better .... My variable names in the code wud be a1,a2,a3 or something like getlost or ohmygod .... And program names wud be ok,ok1,okgoogle....final1,final2,finaln .... }
Now why cant the service provider give us a single number and then map it to another number... So that when we either change the service provider or the package(prepaid to postpaid ) only the second number changes and the new second number is mapped onto our ORIGINAL ABSOLUTE NUMBER .
For EX : My number is 123 which is same whereever I go .. what ever package ....
It is mapped on to 1111 when I am in chennai using Airtel .. when I move to Blore and Use hutch .. it becomes 2222 ( but still mapped on to 123 )
I am sure its not all that simple .. Maybe it requires some Big changes in the protocols itself ... or Maybe then 10 digit will not do ... And there is a need to keep track of all numbers allocated ...( centrally all over the world )
Such a thing already exists ... Obv in a smaller scale ... its called wireless LNP
( Local number Portability )... But very sad na... when I really think of something ..only to find that someone has already done it ... what is left to discover ??? But Obv had ppl wondered the same way a few decades back .. I wud not be sitting and chatting here !
And if some one thinks there is a flaw ... do let me know !!!
Saturday, July 15, 2006
Mother Tongue
Words are not the quintessence of communication.A broad smile , the little finger raised or a cold stare can covey more than words.But there are so many languages with umpteen number of dialects and scripts.
When I was a kid I wondered ..Why are we asked to learn three languages in school.And what in languages fancy people that they learn so many of them.Of course to understand a culture , history or some literature mastering their language is essential.And probably kids are better equiped to learn these quickly.
But in my case these have simply left me confused is my language ? I really wonder when I think of my half baked proficiency in each of them.Lets start with Tamil.My mother toungue.Till the age of 5 everything was taught to me in tamil.At home by my grandmom and mom.In the school tamil was my "second language" in both LKG and UKG and hindi was the "third language".
Then at the gae of 5 tamil was discarded.I was sent to a defense area KV.Here the primary spoken language in school was Hindi followed by Tamil course English was the primary medium of instruction . But many concepts in primary school was also explained in Hindi and Tamil.The biggest blooper was teaching Social science in Hindi.
Karka Vrith and Makar Vrith . Thats the tropic of cancer and capricon.
vayu Dab.Thats Air pressure
Atheth.Thats history.
And many more such strange hindi terms to learn SST when hindi was no where near mother tongue.
Then of course there was a little more spice . Sanskrit taught in english.From Class 5 to 9. I distinctly enjoyed Sanskrit more than Hindi . But the school did not allow me to take a board exam in it ..
After 10th standard .. No more "2nd languages"
In between there were some petty attempts to teach me Tamil. Home tutored by grandma. All that I can manage to read my is news paper headlines.It needs lots of patience and practice and drive.The kisu kisu in the kumudams and aananda vikatans were absolutely no drive to make be continue my tamil self tuition.
My odyssey ends with just 4 incomplete knowledges.Many of my friends have rubbed shoulders with 5/6 including a foreign language ...
But the biggest void I feel is when I cant read or write Tamil ppl say is a brilliant language and its literature is very vast and rich.But I am crippled till date due to lack of interest and drive to read tamil.Especially when something is to be written about our lives or the Indian life or culture I believe all language but the regional one fails.
Another confusion is the language in which we talk to ourselves and to the god .In what language am I to address myself in ? Tamil . I am non proficient.English is too alien. Hindi is not my favorite is Deva Bhasha ..Much beyond my comprehension.
I believe that mother tongue should be the language of communication and the medium of instruction in primary education.But offlate both the first language and medium of language in school converges at english.
When I was a kid I wondered ..Why are we asked to learn three languages in school.And what in languages fancy people that they learn so many of them.Of course to understand a culture , history or some literature mastering their language is essential.And probably kids are better equiped to learn these quickly.
But in my case these have simply left me confused is my language ? I really wonder when I think of my half baked proficiency in each of them.Lets start with Tamil.My mother toungue.Till the age of 5 everything was taught to me in tamil.At home by my grandmom and mom.In the school tamil was my "second language" in both LKG and UKG and hindi was the "third language".
Then at the gae of 5 tamil was discarded.I was sent to a defense area KV.Here the primary spoken language in school was Hindi followed by Tamil course English was the primary medium of instruction . But many concepts in primary school was also explained in Hindi and Tamil.The biggest blooper was teaching Social science in Hindi.
Karka Vrith and Makar Vrith . Thats the tropic of cancer and capricon.
vayu Dab.Thats Air pressure
Atheth.Thats history.
And many more such strange hindi terms to learn SST when hindi was no where near mother tongue.
Then of course there was a little more spice . Sanskrit taught in english.From Class 5 to 9. I distinctly enjoyed Sanskrit more than Hindi . But the school did not allow me to take a board exam in it ..
After 10th standard .. No more "2nd languages"
In between there were some petty attempts to teach me Tamil. Home tutored by grandma. All that I can manage to read my is news paper headlines.It needs lots of patience and practice and drive.The kisu kisu in the kumudams and aananda vikatans were absolutely no drive to make be continue my tamil self tuition.
My odyssey ends with just 4 incomplete knowledges.Many of my friends have rubbed shoulders with 5/6 including a foreign language ...
But the biggest void I feel is when I cant read or write Tamil ppl say is a brilliant language and its literature is very vast and rich.But I am crippled till date due to lack of interest and drive to read tamil.Especially when something is to be written about our lives or the Indian life or culture I believe all language but the regional one fails.
Another confusion is the language in which we talk to ourselves and to the god .In what language am I to address myself in ? Tamil . I am non proficient.English is too alien. Hindi is not my favorite is Deva Bhasha ..Much beyond my comprehension.
I believe that mother tongue should be the language of communication and the medium of instruction in primary education.But offlate both the first language and medium of language in school converges at english.
Saturday, May 20, 2006
Why does Mr A.Singh need a lesson in TQM ?
Hey .. Before you make more policies on reservation
Pl get your basics right !!!
Dont you always have your eye on the election
Else like now U will face people puting a fight.
Before Policy making , You better start to plan .
Before You plan first find the needs
Its the people of the country , U gotto satisfy every clan.
Else U will be in a big mess .. Indeed .
Remember Quality is the goal ..
Compramise on quality anywhere is a bad tantra
Remove yours eyes from future polls
Do some good for the country and the institutes... That is the Quality mantra...
Dont tell me you dint aniticipate protests ..
After you design You should have done the FMEA
Also You gotto find if your customers detest..
And give them the best ....
Increasing the seats was a stupid strategy
As if we have the infrastructure
Already all our institutes are in a tragedy
Amend your plans .. Among students dont cause a rupture
The quality you should not compramise
The people .. You should not deprive
To your policies You gotto add some spice
Throwaway your plans which are naive..
Both Open category and the supposed backward class should benefit
A strategy ... For 1st and 5th generation learners that should fit ...
The potential of rural youth should get tapped
Here is my bundle with all the solutions wrapped
All reservations can be availed only once
You choose if its job or education You want
Give opputunity to your other kith and kins
One man .. The Caste paper is valid only once
No reservations for the post grads
PG should not be a sitting duck
Dont use reservations for fad...
PG is on your own merit and luck
Lets not let the urban BCs sweep the seats
If you have an educated parent
With a decent lifestyle in the urban beat
Sorry No seats reserved for U..
And if reserved seats are left unfilled in first round
Those will be given to the open category
These are my simple solutions
So A.Singh think before passing resolutions
Cmon .. You can do it
Pl put your mind to it...
PS: More strategies with stats with follow after TQM exam on monday ...Pl wish me great luck.
Pl get your basics right !!!
Dont you always have your eye on the election
Else like now U will face people puting a fight.
Before Policy making , You better start to plan .
Before You plan first find the needs
Its the people of the country , U gotto satisfy every clan.
Else U will be in a big mess .. Indeed .
Remember Quality is the goal ..
Compramise on quality anywhere is a bad tantra
Remove yours eyes from future polls
Do some good for the country and the institutes... That is the Quality mantra...
Dont tell me you dint aniticipate protests ..
After you design You should have done the FMEA
Also You gotto find if your customers detest..
And give them the best ....
Increasing the seats was a stupid strategy
As if we have the infrastructure
Already all our institutes are in a tragedy
Amend your plans .. Among students dont cause a rupture
The quality you should not compramise
The people .. You should not deprive
To your policies You gotto add some spice
Throwaway your plans which are naive..
Both Open category and the supposed backward class should benefit
A strategy ... For 1st and 5th generation learners that should fit ...
The potential of rural youth should get tapped
Here is my bundle with all the solutions wrapped
All reservations can be availed only once
You choose if its job or education You want
Give opputunity to your other kith and kins
One man .. The Caste paper is valid only once
No reservations for the post grads
PG should not be a sitting duck
Dont use reservations for fad...
PG is on your own merit and luck
Lets not let the urban BCs sweep the seats
If you have an educated parent
With a decent lifestyle in the urban beat
Sorry No seats reserved for U..
And if reserved seats are left unfilled in first round
Those will be given to the open category
These are my simple solutions
So A.Singh think before passing resolutions
Cmon .. You can do it
Pl put your mind to it...
PS: More strategies with stats with follow after TQM exam on monday ...Pl wish me great luck.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)