A thing of beauty ...

I am glad that am alive to hear and enjoy that moment in time when I hear the sudden and beautiful burst of the koel that seems to sing its heart out.

Why does it coo so sweetly ?What makes its melodies burst forth and enchant my mundane life?

The cooing of the koel suddenly transforms a ugly world into a beautiful one with promise of better tidings and filling a despondent heart with the hope that all is not lost amidst the grim realities of life and harshness of death as the subtle beauties of nature also a hidden facet of the creator glimmers through to gladden a heart.

That upliftment is momentary but the unfettered connection with the beautiful aspects of creation is real and mutual.A spontaneous absorption with and enjoyment of all that is good ,beautiful and blissful.

A thing of beauty is a joy ,but not for ever ,only for those priceless seconds coming from somewhere unknown and unbidden!

Sham .

Few weeks back I read a touching article about how caged birds fall into depression ,refuse food and die by constantly pecking themselves and that the place for any bird was the wide sky and tree tops.The writer a woman based in Chennai had given her blog address ,inviting readers to view photos of tropical birds.

When I visited it ,was greeted by excellent photos of parrots,kingfishers etc found in and around Chennai.I was intrigued by a advertisement running at the corner. On clicking it ,to my shock I saw that the ads were regarding caged pet birds,the exact address where they can be purchased,not only in India but world over!

I tried to register my protests on her comments column but they didnt gain entry .They were blocked.

This unethical deception makes me wary of articles appearing in the popular daily,inviting its reader to visit their blog. That newspaper is currently spear heading a campaign against 'paid news' .Under what category would this crass commercial article they have published with or without verification come under?

Mobile in MTC.

If you are forced to travel by bus in Chennai ,take some cotton wool to close your ears if you are tense or sit back and enjoy if you are in a relaxed mood because ,invariably there will a person [man or woman] speaking so loudly on the mobile[like shouting in trunk calls of yore] that the entire bus from the driver to the passenger at the back seat will get to hear each and every bit of the conversation.

The entire bus will know what that person ate for lunch,what clothes are going to be purchased ,which relative is visiting ,details of fracas with in-laws or bosses and who said what !! Be prepared at times to hear blatant lies spoken by young men to their bosses like 'Sir I am at Ooty Sir ' unaware or not bothered about 50 pairs of ears hearing this atrocious excuse in the heart of Chennai!

All you lonely souls bereft of human company and juicy gossips your fix is just a bus stop away . Board a M.T.C. bus and bid goodbye to your blues at least for a while!

Churidhar aninnda sorgame'

When I first heard this song I wondered what made the lyricist to give so much importance to a dress once considered as the outfit of Punjabi's and Muslims inhabiting the North western parts of India.

Till recent times through out south India a girl on entering her teens switched over to half- sari ,from frocks and pavadai.When I look around me in Chennai not a single half sari clad girl is in sight.Every young girl looks like a Punjabi. When I travel deep south I see that even village girls have abandoned their half sari's and are clothed in churidhars!

Now I see only a sea of churidhar clad girls and women around me in the buses ,in shops , on the streets and in the beaches .

whilst the craze for cricket has unified young men all over India ,the churidhar mania of the current generation has unified all young women of India .It has become a national dress, the graceful but cumbersome sari to be worn only on occasions like festivals and marriages !

The churidhar has bridged class and religious divisions.First the urban middle class wore it .It was soon followed by the lower class and within a matter of few years villages considered citadels of conservatism witnessed a silent revolution with the' churidhar' replacing the half sari !

Girls studying in colleges have fought tooth and nail with their managements in courts of justice as far away as in W.Bengal and more recently from Porur in Chennai against the rules forbidding them to wear churidhar to college as against the sari and have been victorious in their battles as both the Calcutta High court and Madras High court passed orders declaring the churidhar as a decent dress of modern India more or less at par with the sari !

Emergency servise ?

When I visited Madras High Court recently I saw several white Maruti vans parked within its precinct[ I suppose in strategic places where clients converge in large numbers] with words Notary Public emblazoned all over them which no human eye could miss .
If not for these words these vans with their flurry of activity can be easily mistaken for ambulances and the employees of the lawyer standing at the rear entrance of the van holding the Notary stamp readily in their hands to jab it on any piece of paper extended to them [ for a fat fee though ] resembled the para medics holding drips and injections in readiness to be administered to critically injured patients being transferred into the ambulance .

Is rendering Notary services to public such an' emergency service ' ? I got to know the,' gravity' of such services rendered only on visiting the High Court campus.

Blame it on the bell boy.

Few days back the news was that a van carrying primary school going children of a private school over turned after skidding off the road near Kancheepuram.Miraculously no child was killed . All of them escaped with minor injuries and that the van driver was absconding . He fled the accident scene immediately to escape the ire of passers-by and the children's parents . This is second such incident in this month.
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The next day the follow up news was that the sleuths[ 'Sherlock Holmes' ] of the police department unearthed not the where abouts of the van driver but the fact that the school to which all those tiny tots were proceeding to, was functioning without formal recognition and that the government swooped swiftly to shut down all such schools.

I am confounded by the brazen act of the government.Instead of enforcing the laws strictly whilst granting driving licences ,pulling up traffic police men who turn a blind eye to flagrant violation of traffic rules,for example allowing motorists of two wheelers to place their helmets like a trophy on the petrol tank and not on their heads which it is intended to protect, putting in place measures to control over speeding and ensuring sincere and effective policing and quick nabbing of offenders ,the govt has pounced on a totally unrelated issue i.e whether the school those innocent children were proceeding to has received govt recognition or not!

The screwy logic put forth is that the school van was racing towards a English medium Matriculation school [that wasn't recognized]that was faraway in preference to a nearby govt ,school. Hence the factual existence of that school was prime cause of the mishap!

The quality of education imparted does require scrutiny but does that take precedence over the life of tiny tots entrusted into the custody of errant drivers emboldened by lax enforcement of traffic rules?

Avataars of Autos.

Once you have struck a bargain regarding the fare and made the decision to board the auto and have taken your seat ,the driver becomes the 'king'.

If the driver is middle aged he will fill your unwilling ears with his woes-always financial .He will give you the minutest details of the loans he has taken,the meagre amount he makes from plying his auto in the perennially potholed roads with self congratulatory perseverance,the dishonesty of petrol pump guys who specifically targeted him and filled his tank with adulterated petrol there by profiting at his expense ,the exorbitant rent he has to pay the owner of the auto and the parsimony of the passengers he has to cart all day [meaning you].

If the driver is sozzled ,you had it .He will launch a diatribe on the perversity of politicians and policemen and then philosophize about life and god!You surly must pay heed to the philosophy being expounded as only that can comfort you and help you develop a detachment towards life as he skids and stumbles through the traffic dangerously .

If the driver is a young chap barely out of his teens he will whiz past cars ,dart in and around belligerent buses ,and drive at a break neck speed like as if he was negotiating the race tracks of Chozhavaram. Your screams and plea to drive at a lesser pace will fly past deaf ears and you will be dumped at your destination with an triumphant air of one who has just won the formula car races.

Travelling by auto in Chennai is a challenge that can be overcome only by' hardy' bargainers who possess ' sturdy' hearts.

'United we stand divided we fall' was the mantra of the congress party that spearheaded the freedom movement after arriving at the conclusion that India repeatedly succumbed to foreign invasions owing to the proliferation of tiny kingdoms squabbling amongst themselves.

Immediately after independence Sardar Patel succeeded tremendously in shearing off the sovereignty of a mind boggling 500 Princely states with a iron hand, and in their amalgamation within the Indian union.

In the current political scenario there seems to be a reversal of that sacrosanct principle.The clamour for breaking existing states into two or more is getting shriller day by day. A fall out of the population increasing in leaps and bounds that demands proximity of its rulers for effective governance and is also indicative of the soaring levels of the confidence of the politicians and people that splitting states into smaller states will in no way dilute the concept of Indian nationhood.
Bharat has come to stay.

The Apping syndrome continues......

Our huge neighbour which has made stupendos strides in its eoconomy and is feted world over as super power in waiting has also succumbed to the apping syndrome if reports in a daily is to be believed. In view of the upcoming business summit next May ,a section of the population that have stuck to their comfortable pyjamas ,traditional Chinese garb are being advised ,counselled and may in future be coerced to shed them in favour of Western suits so that they can impress the Western delegates and visitors when they land in Shangai.

We are also super power in waiting with a booming economy but will we or our neta's shed the dhothi,kurta pyjamas and sarees and switch over to Western suits in order to impress Western delegates?

Our culture is as ancient as China's but our sense o f individualism and natural fondness for democratic values are far far deeper than our neighbours and will shed our traditional attire only to please ourselves and not to please foreign visitors.No government in power will ever dare to impose a dress code on us as it is sure to be thrown out in the very next elections.

Men may come and men may go .......

I started writing my diary at 14 years of age . Since then a lot of changes have taken place in my life ,in my country and in the wide world.

I went through the rumble and tumble of a teenager's life,studied hard ,graduated in Law then on getting married settled down to domesticity and reared two children two adulthood.

India witnessed a succession of elections and a variety of Prime ministers . Two decades back the Congress party that was ruling India since independence did a U turn from its socialistic policies and liberalized the economy. There after a tremendous economic development was witnessed that catapulted a old,sick poor and tottering nation on to the exalted platform shared only by the rich nations of the world.

In the out side world tumultuous events took place. The citadel of communism USSR broke up and western democracy was supplanted in its place. the eye ball to eye ball confrontation between the soviets and the US at the height of the cold war was replaced by a warm handshake of friendship.The wall separating East and West Germany for decades was broken.Beijing suddenly transformed from a city of bicycles to a sea of cars.The highly westernized Iranian
population known for their stylish dressing suddenly switched over to burkhas and the men started sporting long beards. Apartheid that had a monstrous hold over S .Africa melted away under Mandela ,with the Whites and Blacks starting to live amicably side by side .North and South Vietnam rejoined after decades of being in war with one another.And a black man is for the first time in the history of the US is holding the reigns at the white house!

A sea of changes and catastrophic turmoils were witnessed all over the world,in India and in my life .

Despite all these changes one thing has remained comfortingly constant.When I was 14 years old our sworn enemy was Pakistan and now when I am past 50 the enemy is still the same old Pakistan.The conventional wars of the earlier years have been substituted by terror attacks by the enemy from across the borders , right into the heart of our country only to be countered by loud rhetoric's ,hectic diplomacy and threats of surgical air strikes by our politicians on and off.

Thus one thing that has stood the test of time and has stood strong and firm as the rock of 'Gibraltar' amidst all these churnings in individual life,society ,politics and economy is the stead fast enmity between India and Pakistan!

The lines of the poem 'Brook' that immediately comes to my mind is--''Men may come and men may go but I will go on forever''!

The romantic ragpicker.

The lean rag picker ,dirtily clad loads his cycle cart with the saleable trash he burrows out of garbage bins without flinching at the stench,his eyes restlessly scouring the heap of garbage whilst cycling down the streets of Chennai is an artist at heart .

He has decorated the handle bar of his tricycle with a bunch of plastic flowers long since discarded by its owner!

And the Golden Peacock goes to.......

If slum dog millionaire won Oscars due to its depiction of the deplorable conditions of slums that exists inIndian cities,I am of the opinion that the films made on the following subjects are eminently eligible to bag our National film awards viz -The Golden Peacock either in the general or in the foreign category.
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1. A film on the' Stolen Generation ' portraying the harshness of Australians in tearing away the children of the aborigines--[the original settlers of the continent who are living there for the past 50,000 years ] and institutionalize them in the name of civilization.

2.A film on the pitiable extermination of Red Indians who once roamed the American continent freely and the poverty of those who survived to be confined to 'Reservations'.

3.A film on the subtle racism that exists in' Secular 'British society govt, and in the police force.

4.A film on Indian Shikar and African Safari showcasing the hunting spree of the colonial rulers that wiped out to extinction, its once burgeoning wild life population.

Lagaan versus Slumdog millionaire.

Two films that raced to the Oscar's final list from India with a gap of a couple of years or so between them were' Lagaan' and 'Slum dog millionaire.'

Lagaan inspires patriotic fervour whilst Slum dog showcases the triumph of the individual. Poverty forms the backdrop of both the films.

In Lagaan the characters are untidily clad and live in a bare ,arid and poor village. Their conditions evoke pity and sympathy but the graphic potrayal of gutters and a child dripping with sewage in Slum dog evokes only disgust and revulsion.

The former is in tune with our culture and can be appreciated by all Indians who possess the collective memory of the humiliations heaped on them by their colonial masters'.Cricket ' which has become one of the most important factor in unifying the current generation has been skilfully used as a tool of defiance and patriotism ,by the Indian director of the film.

The latter is in sync with Western notion of India and the way they want to see India.That despite a enviable growth rate of 7 to 8 % in times of global recession and its economic boom, India is only eligible for a Nobel in 'Filth' .The British director has risen to the occasion admirablly and has lavished his Western audiences with mouth watering scenes.

In Lagaan the portrayal of poverty is as aesthetic and idyllic as the writings of R.K.Narayanan whereas in Slumdog, it is crude and revolting, as is portrayed in Adiga'S and other Indian Booker prize winner's writings.

Lagaan lost the race .The Slum dog went on to win the Oscars .But I'll bat for Lagaan any day.











lavished his Western audiences with mouth watering scenes.

Life's yearning for itself !

I live in one of the most crowded ,noisiest and busiest part of Chennai.Hundreds of people walk , race in motor bikes with their horns in full blast , swoosh in cars up and down and thunder by in autos ,on the road adjoining my flat all day till late at night .

The harsh clanking of the metalic L.P.G cylinders being thrown down from the trucks conveying them from the outskirts of the city on to the waiting cycle carts is heard most of the day.

The grating sound made by the water pumps that are cranked through out the day accompanied by the high pitched voices of women hurling choiciest abuses at each other in their eternal fights over water pierces my ears every day.

Yet amidst all this cacaphony of sounds I also hear the shrill screeches of squirrels,the pleasant screeches of parrots,the mumblings and grumblings of pigeons, the musical cooing of koels,the warble of mynahs,the trilling and twittering notes of some invisible birds and ofcourse the cawing of the omni present crows and the piteous mewing of kittens.

Where do all these animals and birds live?There are very few trees around.Where is the hole of the squirrels that run screeching across my balcony chasing one another?How do they escape being the crafty crows supper and frolic around merrily?Where do they all disappear at night?What shelters do they seek to escape the downpour when the skies open up?

Along with 100's of people living and trampling around brashly and noisily ,these tiny creatures are also living ,gathering food ,eating,giving birth to young ones or laying eggs ,and nourishing their young ones to adult hood, unobtrusively!

A whole drama of life is unfolding right before our human eyes yet most of us are unaware of this and to those who are like me it seems so mysterious and yet comforting!

White man's burden.

After the success of 'slum dog millionaire' at the Oscars ,the slum that is opposite to our line of middle class flats has suddenly become a hot tourist spot ,to be gazed at rapturously by foreigners-mostly western and Japanese tourists.

They don't need to pay hefty sums to tourist guides as their favoured destination is just few yards away from the comforting presence of their 5 star hotel. All that need be done is to hop out of their luxurious suites , cross the busy throughfare and they fill find themselves bang in the middle of Eldorado!


The rising tide of slum tourism is in full spate.I see a lot of young, middle aged and old ,white and yellow couples staring at the tenements ,the water pumps, garbage bins,stray dogs,goats ,cows, and hens lumbering around.Most of them invariably, photograph only the most dirtily clad persons near the filthiest part turning a blind eye to 100's of well dressed slum dwellers and cleaner spaces.

Why are the Westerners so enamoured of what they think is the other side of India?In fact all these slum dwellers are 100 times better of than their village brethrens!All of them live in concrete houses ,own gas stoves and have gas and water connections,T.V sets ,motor bikes and some of themeven cooltheir homes with split A.C's!They send their children to study in English medium schools and to Engineering colleges.

If these Westerners are influenced by Slum dog millionaire to see Indian poverty in its resplendent form they should visit remote villages where people build houses with mud , eat and sleep on mud floors, collect twigs from far and wide to cook the only meal of the day - supper.The best part of the day is spent in trekking miles to fill a pot or two of potable water .It is the very few lucky one's who can afford to send their children to schools run by the govt freely.

Why is dirt to which one is naturally revolted and poverty from which every one shies away is so attractive to Westerners? Are their motives sadistic are altruistic?

What will they do with these photographs of filth?Show case it in their cozy drawing rooms as a mute testimony to the other side of the rising super power and be relieved that their leadership over the world is still intact or mobilize funds to save [we] the poor Indians?

The white man is yet to shed his burden!