Monday, March 22, 2010

World class shopping centre.

Big plans are in the offing to make Tnagar a 'world class shopping centre'.An unique proposal put forward by the consultant international firm is to connect the first floors of all shops by bridges, zipping above roads ,pavements and flyovers !

I am truly looking forward to this. So must, several hawkers ,to increase their areas of encroachments under the benign eye of men with lathi's ,looking forward to fill up their pockets.These bridges will get clogged soon.The unimpeachable law being 'where pedestrians frequent, hawkers proliferate'.

To avert pedestrian traffic jams ,the authorities would be constrained to build bridges connecting 2 nd, 3 rd floors and so on. An endless process. Finally Tnagar will end up looking like Tom Cruise's starrer the sci-fi thriller 'Minority Report' ,in which the special effects specialist Spielberg ,the director,showed roads running giddily up and down and between New york skyscrapers. Great !

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Singara Channai --2.

A slew of constructions spearheaded by the govt is going on all over Chennai. A mammoth Legislative assembly is coming up, several flyovers are being built,expressways are mooted and parks are denuded,disembowelled and re-constructed.

One very important ,rather basic need has been overlooked . The once quiet residential enclaves in the central parts of Chennai have become busy commercial hubs,attracting customers from all over Tamilnadu.There fore all the streets and avenues are perpetually besieged by a large crowd of floating population .Who in the absence of public conveniences within eye shot ,relieve themselves behind transformers,street corners and Garbage bins.

Is it asking too much ,when so much of money ,man power and resources are being ploughed into 'beautification' to build public toilets within 1 Km radius and see to that they are clean and hygienically maintained ,to ensure their patronage by the public.If they are a eye sore ,why not build subterranean one's?

Heard in passing.

A domestic help was talking loudly to her ward whilst fetching him back from school ,filling his ears as well as all those passerby's, within a1 km radius with grisly details of a double murder that was committed ,in a suburban villa .

Her parting shot that T.V's show pictures of robbers,murderers and terrorists with their faces fully obscured by black mufflers when actually such perpetrators of heinous crimes must be fully exposed to public gaze is ,food for thought!

Secret wish of.........as divined [imagined] by me.

Of Prince Charles - To become the king of England before he becomes a great grandfather.

Of Nicholas Sarzhosky -To see every woman clad like his 'model' wife.

Of Manmohan Singh - To be a rubble raiser.

Of LalooPrasad ----- To bag the best actor award at the Oscars.

Of Mayawathi ----- To erect statue of herself ,to surpass the beauty of the TajMahal.

Of MulayamSingh------To converse in English fluently.

Of Amitabh Bacchan----To get a Nobel for literature.

Of Jayalalitha --- To govern Tamilnadu from Kodanadu.

Of Stalin----- To build a flyover to the moon .

Of Kanimozhi ------- To organise carnivals in every park in India.

Of Bharka Dutt -- To be conferred with Nishan-e-Pakistan.

Of Thackeray's---- To pen verses and articles in Hindi.

Of M.F. Hussain ----- To paint the town red.

Of N.Ram ----- To change the name of his newspaper.

Of Shashi Tharoor -----To become the CEO of Twitter.

Of Rajinikant----- To become a Baba.

Of KamalHassan --- To become a makeup man.

Of ShahRuk Khan ----To coach cricketers to dance.

Of RahulGandhi ---- To abdicate the throne and marry his sweet heart.

Of Kareena Kapoor----To gorge on pizza's,ice creams and cakes.

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Philosophy in passing.

Whilst walking past 'chithals' [manual labourers ] digging pits in the park which is under renovation I heard one of them thinking aloud.

''We dig pits every where for everyone ,but some one else is going to dig the pit for us''.

''Urruku ellam pallam thondugira namakku, yaro oruvan pallam thonda pogiran.''

Thursday, March 11, 2010

A visually impaired man's request.

Chandrasekar ,who didn't make it in the recent selection of visually impaired to the post of Tamil teachers , though he has secured first class in BA,B ed and in M.A in Tamil,has to cool his heels for some more time as the inexorable law of reservations within reservations has axed him.He just gave TRB exams and has started pursuing MA in sociology.

The stipend given by the govt to VI to pursue higher studies is tempting enough to lure them to do double or even triple MA's! As he was tired out,listening to lessons in sociology from that indefatigable reader in consecutive morning and noon sessions ,we decided to go through current affairs in CSR magazine.

I read out that Bala has bagged the National film award for best direction of the film, Nan kadavul..I paused to comment ''That man did us Tamilians proud''.At which Chandrasekar shook his head and hissed ''No,Bala has blatantly betrayed the blind by that undignified portrayal of a blind girl eking her living by singing and being unceremoniously pushed into flesh trade''.

I was taken aback . I have written earlier in this blog that I honestly felt that Bala had showcased the deformed and freakish looking people as human and exposed the terrible manner of their exploitation.

Chandra continued and said ''I see[i.e hear] a lot of movies .I liked all of Bala's earlier movies ,but he has let us down in this film and doesn't deserve the award ''. I said ''But Bala has shown the poorer of the poorest and you belong to a decent [carpenters] family ,that supports you ,and you may not be that penniless as that blind beggar woman shown in that film .At which he replied ''The poverty that all films show no longer exist even in villages .By chance if they did exist, even the poorest of the poor ,parents of blind children do not let their wards wander around begging but join them in free schools and hostels run for the blind by the govt.No VI worth his salt will beg money by singing on trains . They have started selling snacks,mobile covers etc. 9 out of 10 persons prefer selling small items in train than sing and beg for money.'' He was seething with anger.

He went on to vent his repressed feelings and ire.'' Films show us as beggars who sing and collect money as in Kasi or make us a butt of insensitive jokes,like for eg a dog shares the food from Goundamani's plate, lapping it without him being aware of it owing to his blindness only to be shooed away by Senthil, evoking laughter .We are well aware of our surroundings and a dog panting and licking nearby will never go unnoticed . We cannot see but we can very well hear and feel .''

He also attacked Vivek for pretending to be blind only to get close to pretty young women who would come near him to help him cross the road etc..He is enraged by such lecherous portrayal of VI people.

I asked him ''Did you see Rajaparvai wherein Kamal lives on his own and fends for himself though visually handicapped .?''He pointed out ''In that film also Kamal the VI hero sings and earns money . He doesn't teach or go to office ''.

His question to film makers ''Why are you all stuck in the stereotypes of bygone days?Even in remotest villages there are no such beggars . Why cant you show us as graduates ,post graduates as lawyers ,lecturers teachers,officers and clerks in banks, post offices and railways?Most of us are doing white collar jobs.

He then hurriedly wound up ,remembering the tryst he had with a woman in a suburban railway station and said'' Since films have long arm reaching a lot of people it is the duty of directors to show the VI in a dignified manner . They must put a full stop to these cliched depictions that serves only to stigmatize us [VI] further amongst the general public.'' He requested,that I write about his angst in my blog.

Is any filmmaker listening ? Or is it merely a cry in the wilderness ?

Monday, March 8, 2010

Blogs.Women are way ahead !

I visited quite a few blogs in the crowded blogosphere and read them .

The maximum profile views , exceeding a whopping 10,000 are of stay at home mom's with school going children. I am talking about ordinary Indian netizens and not celebrities.

There are blogs by judges,lawyers,ex intelligence officers,journalists,writers ,working and retired professionals.They are very factual . Some have done a lot of research in producing a blog!A mini encyclopedia ! Their laudable efforts are in vain.None of them with dry and pure knowledge ,a good fodder to the intellect have reached the magic 10,000 profile viewership the touch stone of popularity[ according to me] . which women I guess to be in the age group of 30 to 40 have ,effortlessly cruised to ,by opening their hearts and pouring out their emotions regarding a host of issues including of course marriage,rearing of children,schooling and relationships.

The stupendous reception to stay at home mom's could be from other stay at home mom's , who have to while away the time before their kids return from school .The blogospere is giving them companionship in those lonely hours of wilful confinement in a silent house and a platform to give vent to their ambitions and emotions shackled by the invisible golden chains of maternity and domesticity though willingly worn, makes them feel left out in a fast paced society.
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By the way I haven't done any extensive research that the 'mini encylopedists' would have ,but have drawn conclusions by going through a smattering of blogs.

The second rank in viewership goes to newly married working couples.

The golden rule in increasing viewership is that one shouldn't be stingy in with holding secrets and must dare and bare generously all emotions, feelings and views churning within oneself.

Don't we all reduce the volume of the T.V', when neighbouring couple's ,start quarreling and wash the dirty linen in public?

Watchman.

Koels were cooing overhead and the evening had descended in delicious coolness as I read out the history of Chola's ,from Rajaraja Chola onwards to a blind student who was preparing for his M.A. practicals when I heard a haunting song. I glanced up and saw the old frail watchman of the premises seated on the edge of the cemented boundary of flowering and ornamental plants ,few yards away ,singing to himself.

I couldnt make out the language or the words but the intonations or 'gammakams' were as good as any trained classical singer. I stopped reading ,to hear this soulful music,ignoring the restless movements of the student at this interruption.

The song was full of pathos ,a surprising sensitivity was residing in a man ,I had so far seen either shooing errant children housed in the hostel or directing visitors!

He had no audience save me and probably the creator. He was pouring out his longings and clearing his mind.In that brief instant of time I knew that he was in direct communication with the creator.

The spell was broken when a visitor approached him seeking directions.

Sunday, March 7, 2010

Nanda's.

There is a lot of of hullabaloo hereabouts regarding the antics of the god man Nityananda. Irate mobs have torched his ashrams [there seems to be one in each district!] and the swamiji has gone missing! i.e into hiding.

When his views on life and advise to lesser folks to reach a higher plane in spirituality was published in a popular Tamil weekly magazine , I read some and found them ,shallow.

He appears to be a robust young man in the pink of health.An attractive youth ,who appears to be bereft of searing experiences or any religious scholastic achievements to back his espousal's. Hence I routinely skipped his articles.

Most god men seem to affix 'Nanda' to their names .A marketing strategy maybe to portray themselves to the masses as the successor ,to that truly great monk Vivekananda.

The anger of the devotees is understandable . Their trust has been broken .Why is there a hysterical reliance on god men in India?Is it because they assume the role of shrinks and therapists with a religious colouring and are easily accessible to those masses, engulfed and tormented by emotional,mental and financial problems ?

Therapists,counsellors caregivers,pshycologists and psychiatrists take time off and on from their gruelling sessions and interactions with their patients ,and go on vacations ,to rejuvenate themselves.

Nithyananda's 'flings' pale into insignificance when compared to the escapades of his predecessor 'Premananda'!!