Tuesday, April 22, 2014

The Harikatha

The Harikatha


In recent times, my desi movie watching experiences have become 5-6 hour rituals. I end up needing a second movie to recover from the first head-ache-inducing one I watched without reading reviews. This, despite a halfway interval to refresh my thoughts and a cell phone for constant company. Did I expect too much? All I wanted was to be entertained, and have some food for thought.

Last week, when I got home from a three hour concert, I wanted to watch or hear nothing else. I wanted the thoughts and sounds to linger, uncorrupted by extraneous noise or gibberish on TV. After a rather long time, I had spent three continuous hours without fidgeting for an electronic device – my laptop, tablet, or phone. It was a performance I would not forget in a long time.

Much of the hall was packed when I walked in, husband in tow. Elderly families bustled about, greeting each other. It seemed to be a close-knit community where everyone knew someone else. We picked a place near the rear exit, in case my husband got bored. It was his first time ever at any Indian classical performance, things one is forced into upon marriage. I spent some time looking around, it was my maiden concert experience in the Silicon Valley. The hall resembled any other Sabha in Chennai during the December season, except that it was embellished with a touch of NRI riches. The beautiful auditorium was full of colorful Kanchivarams (Silk sarees) teamed up with designer blouses and matching accessories saved for special occasions. Grandmas and Grandpas visiting from India were at ease amidst the noisy crowd, complete with wailing kids and uneasy parents taking turns to carry the child outside. I felt completely at home.

She appeared on stage, in resplendent blue, the stones in her ornaments shining as bright as the face, earnest, energetic and eager. It was not easy to command such a crowd for a classical art form. Many of them had witnessed her performances over the years in India and here and she recognized the faces in the audience, many of whom came into the concert with very high expectations – to have a good time, to listen to a great story interspersed with great music and good humor, identical to our expectations from a good desi movie.

 
She pulled it off, effortlessly. With each of these elements balanced to perfection, there was never a dull moment in the Harikatha. The story of the day was the Vaamana avataram, one of Vishnu’s ten avatars that are popularly known. It was a story majority of the audience knew very well. I wondered how she would keep us hooked with such a predictable storyline. She began by telling us how there were many more avatars of The Lord than the ten that are popular, and how we know but a fraction of the life of one of the several deities we worship. She wow-ed the audience by demonstrating the intricacies in every composition she sang- one song was tuned to flow like a river, another took word play to a new level by excellent placement of rhyme, a third showed why the ordering of sangathis (different ways of expressing a line) had an important role in conveying meaning and were not just elements of artistic freedom. Every composition from the greats was great by conscious design, not arbitrary mixing of raga and tala.

Discourses on greed, humility, generosity can be extremely boring and patronizing. In this form, every message was accompanied by humor, and relevance – be it the NRIs’ constant conundrum of where to live, grandparents’ baby sitting troubles or naming of children with arbitrary cool-sounding Sanskrit words with dubious meanings. Contrary to traditional classical performances which completely bore to death most young men in their 20s, this one required no knowledge of classical music, all it needed was the open mindedness of a child listening to a story unfold. The husband was happy.

 I googled to find the rich history of the Harikatha dating back to the 17th century, when Maratha mutts were established in Tanjore, Tamilnadu. Practised as Kalakshepam prior to that, the Marathi Keertan brought with it the element of entertainment, drama and metrical compositions to keep the audience spellbound. The presentation is extremely demanding of the performer, requiring scholarship in music, monologue, dialogue, acting, kathas (stories) and upakathas (anecdotes, often in lighter vein) to drive the message. Historically, the art form acquainted the common man with our great epics and societal code of conduct while providing recreation after a hard day’s work. It was also used as a medium of mass communication to propagate messages including social reform, religious amity and mobilize masses during the freedom movement.

Of late, there has been resurgence in mythological fiction. The Shiva Trilogy by Amish gave an earthy twist to the tale of Shiva, selling over two million copies and becoming one of the most read Indian series. Rumor has it that even Karan Johar, bitten by the bug, is filming the series. During my recent visit to India, I recollect seeing a number of mythology based thrillers in my favorite second hand book store. I wonder if there are many like me looking for an easy and entertaining way to understand why we do some things we do without question. Perhaps like me, they struggle to distinguish between science, custom, religion and superstition in several day to day practices at home. For all you guys, explore the Harikatha, at least, give it a thought! Bring it on people, the generation is looking for answers, as I look forward to my next harikatha and to my next mythological fiction to unravel some of these mysteries with much less effort than I would otherwise.

Sunday, March 29, 2009

The Tatkal generation!



"I m going home todaaaay i am going home todaaayy"  sundari screams as I get into my shuttle to reach office.. Its the last working day before the long weekend of 3 days... and she is all excited to be going to her hometown.. to Chennai from Bangalore by the Chennai mail.. The last time she went home was..ummm... last weekend! 4 days ago!!.. yet she seems as excited about it as she would be if she were a sailor returning home after years at sea... I reach office and at breakfast table.. its the same story! "I m going home todaaay I am going home todaaay"... :) Most people are discussing what train/bus they are catching and what they are doing over the long weekend...

For sundari and the hundreds like her... there's absolutely no substitute for home sweet home... They are the bunch who consider it worth spending 2/7 days of the week in the upper berth.. or worse stifled in the side middle berth ...with noisy children and snoring adults... and close to 6hrs of travel either to / from the station in a span of 2 days!!All activities - even visiting the parlour or going to the movies are planned at home.. 
  
  Here 's a look at how life's is like.. for these shuttlers..

For the meticulous type....

The year begins with getting hold of the calendar as fast as possible..comparing it with the office calendar and making an "X" on the holidays and weekends.. The next few minutes are spent putting an "O" around all the fridays, sundays and days preceding long weekends... then comes booking the tickets for the next 3 months... weekends.. holidays.. whatever... 
Next an outlook recurring reminder/ a mobile 'to do list'... for the next set to be booked...and lo.. they are done for the year! 

 For the not so meticulous type.... 
option a: a meticulous dad/mom/sibling repeats step 1) above

else... Wake up one fine morning.. realise you need to go home next weekend and you dont have tickets.. go to irctc.co.in and find a W/L 145 and wait for the Sunday! The tatkal day... but tatkal costs more!!! who cares!??..An alarm for sunday and tuesday... 7 50 am... and that weekend is done.. what if the alarm doesnt ring? Well..bus is always there... 

There's yet another clan.. 

Who dont know what train they are travelling in.. and which berth ..until they get to the station .. One of the gang members would have booked the tickets.. and invariably would be the last person to arrive.. They apparently like the thrill.. 


A look at how the week's spent... Some quotable quotes... 

Mon morning...  

" yaaaaaaaaaaaaawnnnn... "
"Dint sleep properly di... che.. one kid was crying all night... "
"Hey .. i met him this weekend:) We went to a movie after almost 3 months!"
"I slept only at 2:( forgot my ID proof and had to argue with the TC till 2"
"I hate Monday mornings.....grrr" 

Monday afternoon 2: In a boring meeting.. 
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Tue : 
8 o clock.. "Book book boook... "
"Hello.. hey the site isnt opening for me.. can u see whats happening"

Wed, Thu... mail/phone- 
" Hey what plans for the weekend?? "

Fri : 
"I'm going home todaaay I m going home todaay"
" Hey i am going by mail.. u ?" 
"Cya at the station at 9 30 then.. byeeee"
"Hey we having a get together this weekend... "
"Helooo... amma i 'm coming by mail tomo.. make paruppu usili tomo ma.. " 

Sat :
well.. 

Sun: 

8 o clock...."Hey hey next friday tatkal.. mail.. book book boook..." 
"Hey getting late for the train.. "
":( Tomo office...."
"Bye sweetheart.. see you next week...:)"

Having been on those weekend trains myself... I can definitely say that there is truly something special...  that keeps u undeterred...that makes all travelling and stress weekend after weekend worth it...A Friday evening at the station definitely enables you to catch up with all your friends living in different parts of the city... definitely the best time to update yourself with all the latest gossip.. meet seniors.. juniors.. friends.. chat away till the train arrives.. As for the singles.. there's definitely this inspiring  story of two fri-sun regulars getting married after having met in the train every weekend!! And of course.. nothing.. nothing beats waking up Sunday morning to mom's bed coffee and delicious lunch...:)

Here's to the tatkal generation!! 





Saturday, December 6, 2008

Dada ..you will always be ...

Sourav Ganguly...

Any girl-cricket-watcher who studied their 7 th or 8 th clasess at around the same time as me.. must have surely had a kutti lil crush..or at least a small little soft corner for Sourav Ganguly... The boyish looks.. the ishtyle quotient - both in looks and in play .. the left hander's elegance.. the the ocassional agressive streak... just about the right mix :) ..for what I wont say...

Ever since , I have been an avid follower of his game.. or rather the games which he played.And I realised that within, lies a character that truly inspires,astonishes and jus makes u stick on. The attitude, the agression, the intelligence - oh he really swept me off my feet then!

I have read many blogs on the Prince of Kolkata.. his astonishing off side play.. his captaincy ... the tactics he used, blogs rattling out statistics.. his win-loss record.. his averages by year.. etc.

Neither do i have that deep a knowledge about the game to understand nuances.. nor am i sharp enough to rattle out how many runs India won the nth match of the xth world cup by...

This blog is not about that.. This blog is to say "Thankyou Sourav" for making cricket that "extra special". I dont know if it would have been the same for me without you. Yesterday, as I was watching the India - Eng ODIs i felt something strange... Its something i have been doin over the last 8 odd years, looking at you on the field.. changing field placements, smiling, frowning, exalting, shirt waving,jumping, puching, yelling,scolding and what not.. and every moment.. was pure joy. I did read somewhere.. "Sourav Ganguly pulled at the heartstrings of the masses like no other cricketer had done before"and I definitely agree.Being responsible for the collective mood of a nation,over such a long duration - fabulous job done.

You have given us enough moments of happiness for us to keep reminiscing until the next Sourav arrives :) But whoever may come and go.. "Dada" u will always be.. :)
"Thank you"!!!!

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Anbuchelvans and chelvis.. we need u !

**this is a true life incident.Characters and places in this blog are very much real.


A recent experience my friends and I had while traveling in a popular weekend train made me realize… the sorry state of affairs that our country operates in. It just somehow runs .

My friend lost her purse containing a bit of cash and a lot of cards – atm cards, corporate travel cards, credit cards during our train journey – it accidentally fell out of the train- and my two friends and I decided to place a complaint in the Police Station just so that we have a complaint number to block any of the cards, we weren’t anyway expecting them to find her purse – that would be too much of an ask.

Three girls enter the police station at the wee hours of the morning: there’s a lady cop sitting in one of the rooms and two constables – it’s a dungeon like damp smelling dimly lit place. This is what transpired there.

“enna ma enna venum”What do u want??

“ sir, purse a misplace pannitom train la – it has some money and a few cards - we need to place a complaint”.

“oh!!! where did u lose it” I was skeptical about the excitement! Enna da ivlo aarvama ?

“in transit sir..it fell out of the train accidentally”

“ Ange tholachitu inge vandhu keetenna naanga inna pannamudiyum?” pat came the reply.Just as I thought! The eagerness is to pass the buck! Not my business!u dint lose it here y ask me!

“What do we do sir? Train just came here.. so we got down to complain… “ A stress on the “sir” a little bit at least ensured we dint hear bad vocabulary.

He goes on” You should have stopped the train then and there.. got down and searched for the purse !” Is he crazy!?? I think.. Does he really expect anybody to get out of a train at 2 in the night in a godforsaken place in utter darkness and search for a purse?



What followed was like the lecture the station master gives to Kareena in Jab we met. Advice… on how IT people don’t realize the value of hard earned money As if my company pours dollars on me for sitting and writing stories in offical time! …on how we will easily get the new cards back and never realize the pain of losing something.. I half-listen half think whether I should also ask him like Kareena did –“ do u give this advice in free or do u charge something for this also.. “…

And then he said something which I just couldn digest… in this era of teracomputing! – He says “ ok.. for your satisfaction place your complaint… But how will it reach jolarpet!!!! U should have got down complained to the station master there! If you complain here what can I do??God .. this guy was totally in the wrong era.. anachronic is the word.. “mail .. call ..fax..courier.... its ur business to take the complaint to jolarpet .. not mine” I was thinking.. And I was appalled at our police force not even being aware of basic technologies… I looked around… not a single computer in sight.. just some wooden tables, chairs, tattered files –all belonging to the pre –independence era I’m sure and this guy in front of me.. who also probably is from there.These people are so technologically backward – anyone can give them the slip!

The complaint was written in a piece of recycled – pale yellow paper- no number , no file - with a ball point pen that kept stopping – bah! That’ll go straight into the trash I thought as my friend wrote a letter.. this guy giving hundred instructions on the format of the letter.. whom it should be addressed to etc , rather than bothering about whether it had details of what got lost and whats the contact number of the person who placed the complaint! .. Finally we were done and this fellow says- “ Don’t expect us to find your purse. In case some guy with a good heart finds it, he ll take the money and send you the cards don’t worry.” Pakka..
Attitude,,unne maadiri naalu peru irundha naadu uruppadum I thought..

As this was happening the lady cop was asking us unnecessary details irrelevant to that situation – IT course better a computer science better a.. endha college.. endha course.. “friends llarum ore edathula place aana jolly a irkum la.. “ Romba mukhiyam ippo.. kaarthala 5 manikku police station ku ungala paathutu naalu vaartha kadha pesitu polamnu daan vandhen..… How can she master the art of talking the irrelevant! ,.. I was fuming… .

As this was happening.. a lady was bought to the station by her relative.. she was wailing.. and why wont she !She had lost her daughter there!! And the first thing that a wailing .. perturbed mother gets when she rushes to the police station to complain that her daughter is missing… “Arivu ille unakku??? .. Ipdi daan ishatathuku poga viduviya” that lady cop asks!! Ariville unakku… neenum oru lady thane.. yaaravadhu venumne ponna tholaipangala?? To rub salt to the wounds.. when the cop learns of the girl’s age being 14 .. she starts off.. “vayasu pullaya poi tholachitiye.. enna vena aagalam….” I was standing there..shocked at the treatement being meted out to a lady who is already in the trauma of losing her child… is this the way you talk to her?? “Summa edhayaadhu tholachitu complaint vandhu kudukkavendiyadhu.. engalukullam vera vela ille??” Shock! Vera enna vela irku unakku… this is ur primary job!!! That too in a railway station where hundreds of people come and go everyday.. things are bound to get lost.. and that’s the only reason you are here!

Then a few more questions on where they lost her, when, etc. all just for formality- neither did that female note down the details nor did it register even in the remotest corner of her head. Inspite of all the arrogance and callousness I had witnessed since morning the little bit of optimism that still remained in me decided to wait and see…what happens… I expected at least a couple of constables to go with the mother.. aid her in her search… a few announcements on the microphone… lets see.. I waited..

To my utter shock and disbelief.. not one soul budged from that police station.. a person is lost.. a young girl at that..no search team formed.. not even an announcement on the mike. No one willing to listen to the details of what she was wearing..did she carry money… they dint even ask her name!!!! and the only reaction the police gives is.. “complaint kuduthutu po.. paaklam… “ A similar piece of pale yellow paper comes out.. and in all her anxiety and turmoil.. the mother wastes her time filling up a sheet of paper..which is going to go to the trash.. From their “initial investigation” the police made an “important breakthrough” ..the girl can read and write … “ Seri seri She can read and write ah.. she ll find her way herself..”.. Wow.. this is what the police is there for… to tell me that she will find her way back herself..!Idhu enakku theriyadha

I was left wondering.. the treatment meted out to my friend s purse and the lady’s daughter… was the same! Give your complaint and go.. if they find their way back.. u are lucky! Sheer arrogance, lack of involvement in the work they do, zero use of technology, zero accountability, untrained on how to handle people, laziness.. endless list of “areas to improve”. Idhu ipdi than irkuma? Is there no way to improve this? Can I do something? Atleast let me begin by writing this to express my anger and anguish.

What we need is a complete revamp of our police stations.. Computers! For heaven’s sake!! And a bunch of young ones.. willing to do the job.. throw out the manual work.. replace them wih computers.. throw out 10 old unwilling arrogant monsters and replace them with 5 youngs turks who like the job they do.. and you can pay them well enough to lure more youngsters to the police force.

Anbuchelvans & chelvis! We need u…







Friday, March 28, 2008

A new dimension to what god could be like !

Was jus thinking one day..

How could God deal with all His billions and billions of children at a time?? We find it difficult to multitask few of our activities... How can God possibly be noting us evvvery millisecond.. and decide what we deserve .. the law of Karma as they call it.. Whom will he watch!! How many eyes could He have!! Then i started thinking- ok, if God can make such complicated human beings, each having different DNA.. and hence different characters , write unique algorithms for each individual.. how easily he would have made a dummy box called the computer!! the sooper computer.. artificial intelligence et al!! and servers with giga tera square memory .. He probabaly would have a random number generator (RNG) continuously stirring out numers.. and each of us would be assigned one.. (like kaidhi number 420 ;)) Then there would be an algo which randomly assigns each of us a time of birth ( that would be linked to another 2 numbers dad n mom immediatly - these three will be our primary key :) - )and few months( 9 - 10 months ) later after all the other processing(like extracting the birthplace, religion, language spoken, language... etc ) is over we would be born!! Why knowing these details is essential i 'll tell u ll later. As i was thinking all this, I wondered where God's hand is.. in all this.. here he leaves his mark.. A complex algo then starts, which defines the word karma.. U decide what u deserve... The algo counts good and bad done by you and and recursively applies these to ur life... giving u good and bad moments.. and for giving these.. the data collected above - is utilised randomly - religion - godhra riots, language - u may be the one in the bus bunrt by anti hindi rioters in tamil nadu.. etc. These cumulative quantities also decide our lifespan. Buttt... many may argue.. Most dacoits and bad men live longer.. enjoy their life will poor innocent souls die!!! Again an answer to this maybe that the algo is configured in such a way that goodness is inversely proportional to lifespan and hence good ppl are taken to another lovelier world far from this material world!(Tht's a guess and is yet to be proved!) could be!Or that maybe yrs are shorter but happiness and inner peace quotient is much higher for the good souls than the bad!??Can AC Neilson do a survey for me plzzz...... But what about children dyin within few yrs of birth? or children dyin in the womb? Why all that?? Well again the answer could be that the server limits are reached and no new empty records are available.. or data problems arise...temporarily.. ( Since God is God.. he takes milliseconds to solve these issues so that few records are only missed..)


You might be wondering why i wrote all this crap.. I am trying to say that there is definitely a superior being to all of us.. but my belief is that karma.. and what u do alone decides how happy u are. Service to man is service to God. Love God, Thank God.. for giving u the right numbers- great parents, great country to be born in, great siblings.. good health.. etc.. but make sure u show ur gratitude by helping otheres who are not as fortunate. And remember the algo - u decide whether its fate/fortune.

Sunday, December 2, 2007

FWR - Freedom with Responsibility

FWR (Freedom with Responsibility)… the need of the hour …

MMmonths since blog 1.. from a different place ..new work and a new broad band connection later.. here I am.. Last time it was the happiness, love and the haunting memories of a great place that brought me to blogspot.. now it is anger and bewilderment .. at the state of a very powerful institution.. the Fourth Estate.. that has brought me here…While both the print and electronic media were going gaga over the heroes and villains of 2007.... and arranging mega bollywood ishtyle parties to give away the honours..I was wondering.. Who will arrange a party to give the them the award for the Worst Performers / Villains of 2007 ?? So here goes... Swe's award for the Villains of 2007 - the Media!!! <>

Sink into a chair at the end of a hard day’s work..Swith on hte telivision.. Wat do u see… An overdose of news channels endlessly beaming wat they call the BREAKING NEWS of the hour.. And of late some of these have really Broken me.. Shattered me… to think what has become of our media! Some really appalling ones given below -

Snapshots :

Morning of Sanjay Dutt’s trial: One “respected”, “award winning” channel beams “Wish Sanjay dutt luck!!!! .. Another has a poll.. Should Sanjay get a sentence? Another has an endless list of Sanjay’s friends vouching that he’s the best human being on the earth!! What are they trying ?? Help a well educated person who has knowingly committed a crime get away? Who are they to interfere in matters sub judice? And the poll! Could it get worse? The whole country might vote that Sanjay should be set free but is that right morally??? Will it not influence the judge? One more hits the baap beti sentiment.. C’mon get a life!! Don’t other accused men have daughters or a family?! Jus what is the press trying??

I was brooding over this.. when another such breaking news broke me! A well known chinkara killer cum attempted homicide accused has no pillows to sleep on in the jail! Least of my concerns!!! And they go on endlessly about it!! He had chawal and a banana.. He drank two tumblers of water,, He stood he sat he waved he walked…Whats happening?? What has become of us?? A responsible media could have used this opportunity to probe into conditions that jail kaidis face… in terms of hygiene.. humanitarian grounds.. etc.. but who cares??

Another well known short haired anchor of a 24X7 channel has in fact taken law into her own hands!! The opposition and prosecution lawyers are in the studio arguing and she is more than ready to pass the judgement on the case!!! What is the judiciary there for when the media can do all be all!!

The media has ended up glorifying people who deserve nothing of it… By endlessly beaming images of people calling them “wonderful human beings” the media has succeeded in projecting an image of “innocent souls being punished”. To an ordinary citizen who is unaware of the nature of crime or who the individual is… it will only seem like the judiciary is unduly awarding a harsh decision to an adorable innocent person.

It is nothing but a mockery of our judicial system.. And its high time the press realized this.. The plight of our neighbouring nation’s media should make our media realize that they are very fortunate to live in a country that prides on the freedom it has given to its media. High time the media realizes that freedom comes with responsibility.,. Much like the young teens who are flittering away the freedom given to them by their parents.. and falling prey to terrorism, campus shootouts, cyber crimes and what not.

This one takes the cake though… I was browsing through a popular hindi channel.. there ‘s a Breaking news scrolling at the bottom of the screen.. “ Raj Singhania is dead” I quickly called dad from the other room and asked him who this person was… Even dad dint know.. then the scroll continues.. “ watch Viruddh mon-thurs 8-9” !!

Sometimes I feel the media deserves someone like Anbumani Ramdoss

Press Reporter in search of some masala confession to create news out of:

Sir, can u tell me the names of the ministers who opposed the tobacco/smoking ban?

Ramadoss: U ppl are jus in search of some masala all the time. First u telecast the rural health mission, the community health schemes etc that the health ministry has introduced for the ppl , then u ‘ll get the story u want..

Gone are the times when the press merely “reported news”.. these days it “creates news”..

Zeroes to Heroes and vice versa in a day! Everyone is vying for their 15 mins of fame and ppl are also ready to go to any extent for that! Take for example Rakhi Sawant ..the darling of the media.. the boyfriend drama enacted in full media view on valentine’s day.. or even a commoner guy downsouth slapping his wife on a tv show! Yucky cat fights created to increase TRPs.. At one time of the day flip any channel and u ‘ll get only dance shows.. at another hour only music shows.. at another only comedy shows all with Navjot Singh laughing his heads off while we are left to wonder what the joke was! Hardly any value addition.. we should begin to use television for meaningful things.. Other channels I can forgive,,, cause they are here for entertainment… but news channels are news channels…and they shouldn try to entertain us…

Cmon guys, Time u grew up…u are not 'big' children - be more responsible!!

Wednesday, June 27, 2007

Reminiscences!!!

As I pack my bags to bid adieu to what has been my abode since I can remember, just thought I’ll pen down… rather type down my thoughts and feelings… after all wats a blog for..

I was on my cycle.. my “nyabagam varudhe “ journey… through customs colony.. to blue cross road… theosophical society.. beach and back… Besant Nagar.. one of the most enchanting places in chennai..most sought after… one of the few spots of green in the city’s map… it has everything.. from the bus depot to railway booking to .. the biggest aalamaram to.. a beautiful residential locality… to schools..and of course the Beach…

St.Johns school..My second home.. quite literally.. School life truly rocked… UKG to X.. and my staying right opposite to it lead to many funny incidents.. Whenever relatives used to visit us when we were kids.. obvious second question..afer “paer enna ma??” “Endha class la padikkare???” … I used take them outside..point to my classroom…”adho andha class” appave nakkal jaasthi :)

Most of my childhood was spent on the besant nagar streets.. playin..round the clock.. roaming around on the cycle… We were a huge gang then .... We had our own Chennai –90 gang wars then.. me on one side and my twin obviously the other and one such war which had escalated to beating, pinching,biting etc..led to us calling one of the passers- by to moderate.. “Uncle neengale sollunga.. avanga cheating daane!!!” We were in class I then.. 9 yrs later.. My hindi teacher in school told the entire class this incident and that that “uncle” was he.. Class was in splits…

And of course my “paatu class” .. something I’ve been “visiting” since my childhood.. A place where its music, fun and frolic go together.. Music maam stays close by as well.. Catch me loitering around lazily on the road.. and a voice from the top will say…” Dandam ma.. Vandhu rendu paatu paaditu po… indha St.Johns gang irke… Alchaatyam, ma… Manda ganam ma…” that’s my paatu miss for sure….

And of course the only people I flirt with… my “boy friends” .. the thatha s of the neighbourhood.. A “ good morning thatha “ is enough to bring a sweet smile… and they are no ordinary people.. even at this age play badminton with them.. and they give u a good run.. or they tell u that even they studied from the same ‘Milman Halkias’!!!! One thatha even remembers the topics and the yellow cover!!!

The Elliots beach.. or Bessie beach as it is widely known… it has seen me grow.. from the time I was a kid crying to put her foot in the water for the very first time….to now when I tearfully wish bangalore had a beach half as nice as this.. And I in turn have seen the beach evolve.. from a private, comparatively empty ,much cleaner place to a commercial ,crowded beach dirtied by the many shops that have come up on the sea front.. My beach…it was then.. It was a place where I saw the rich and the poor.. all religions.. a place for everyone to be just themselves.. Happy ocassion or sad.. spend it at the beach.. Stand in front of the waves.. relentlessly coming at you… enough to inspire you when the chips are down… It also made me realize how small ‘I’ am..

The Vinayaka temple ..I don’t visit it too often.. but when I do.. the pundit there will surely ask.. “enna ma exam a birthday a???” .. Spending the first moment of every new year..00:00 at the temple…a sentiment for Bessie people.. it jus gives me the positive vibration enough to take me through the rest of the year… besides that the many times I have listened to kutcherys or performed at the temple… unforgettable moments…

Every street ..every corner.. walking in the beach… cycling down blue cross road… running away from browny pup… getting scolings from school watchman…. Keeping “account” in grocery shop.. going to miss it all…

Just realized that I could walk up to the person and say.. “miss u ma” or “ miss u friend” but I needed a blog to say “Miss u Besant Nagar!!” where else do I say it!!! Swe the blogger is here to stay!!:)