chinnanchiru kiliye - kannamma
selva kalanjiyame
ennai kalitheerthe - ulagil
yetram puriyavandhai
pillai kaniyamudhe - kannamma
pesum porchithirame
alli anaithidave - yenmunne
aadivarum thene
odi varugayile - kannamma
ullam kulirudhadi
aadi thiridhal kandal - unnai poi
aavi thazhuvudhadi
ucchi dhanai mugandhal - garuvam
ongi valarudhadi
mecchi unai oorar - pugazhndhal
meni silirkudhadi
kannathil muthamittal - ullanthan
kallveri kolludhadi
unnai thazhuvidilo - kannama
unmatham aagudhadi
satrun mugam sivandhal - manadhu
sanchalam aagudhadi
netri churukam kandal - enakku
nenjam padhaikudhadi
unkannil neer vazhindhal - en nenjil
udhiram kottudhadi
en kannil paarvayandro? - kannamma
en uyir ninnadhanro?
sollum mazhalayile - kannamma
thunbangal theerthiduvai
mullai siripaale - enadhu
moorgam thavirthiduvai
inbak-kadaigalellam unnaip-pol
edugal sholvadundo
anbu taruvadile unainer
aghumor deivamundo
marbilanivadarkke unnaippol
vaira manigalundo
shir petru vazhvadarkke unnaippol
shelvam piridumundo
Here is the translation of this beautiful Bharthi's poetry...
My Petite Parrot, My Bountiful Treasure
My Wholesome Happiness, You came to create progress in this world
My Child-like, fruit dipped nectar, my speaking golden portrait
You come before me so gracefully that I feel like hugging you with passion
When you come running towards me, my heart chills
When I see you dancing with merriness, my soul hugs you
When I smell the top of your head, I feel strongly proud
If I hear someone praise you with sincerety, my skin tingles with excitement
if I kiss you on your cheeks, my heart goes beserk as if it is drunk with liquor
If I hug you with passion, I feel a blissful happiness
If your face turns to discomfort, even momentarily, my heart is disturbed
When I see your forehead wrinkle, my heart flutters with fear...
If I even see small droplets of tears in your eyes, a whole river of blood flows in my heart
You're the light of my eyes, my life is yours
In your child-like speaking, you'll cure all my worries/misery
In your innocent smile, you'll cure me of my ignorance
Can you even be described in pages and pages of Happy stories?
In sharing Love, can even a God equal you?
To wear on the chest, are there even diamonds/pearls like you?
Is there even a larger treasure than you in my life?
You're the most prosperous treasure in my life.
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Saturday, October 06, 2007
Akkam pakkam yaarum illa...
What a song!!! Amazing locations, lovely lyrics, wonderful melody sung by Sadana Sargam, this song can be heard any number of times without getting bored...
I wish someone takes me to all these exotic locations... Hey, that "someone", are you listening?? :)
Here is a video and the lyrics of the song.
I wish someone takes me to all these exotic locations... Hey, that "someone", are you listening?? :)
Here is a video and the lyrics of the song.
Akkam pakkam yaarum illla, Bhoologam vendum
andi pagal unarugey , naan vaazha vendum
en aasai elam un irukathiley,en ayul elam un anaipiniley
verenna vendum ulagathiley , iinda inbam pothum nejiniley
ezeezhu jenjam vaazhndu viteen
nee pesum vaarthaigal segarithu
seyven anbe or agaraathi !
nee thoongum nerathil thoongamal
parpen thinam un thalai kothi!
kadorathil epothumey un moochu kaatrin veppam sumapen!
kayoduthaan kai korthu thaan un maarbu sootil mugam puthaipen!
verenna vendum ulagathiley , iinda inbam pothum nejiniley
ezeezhu jenjam vaazhndu viteen
akkam pakkam yaarum illla,Bhoologam vendum
andi pagal unarugey , naan vaazha vendum
neeyum naanum serumunney
nizhal rendum ondru kalakirathey!
neram kaalam theriyamal
nejum thinam vinnil mithakiradhey!
unal indru pennagavey naan pirandadil arthangal arindu konden!
un theendalil en degathil puthu janalgal thirapathai therindu konden
verenna vendum ulagathiley , iinda inbam pothum nejiniley
ezeezhu jenjam vaazhndu viteen
nanana nanna naaana nanaaana!
lalala lalala laaala la laala!
Sunday, September 30, 2007
Rain rain go away ...
After a week's work my friends decided to do some shopping, window shopping.... I decided to join in as one of my friends promised to get me my long pending birthday gift. It was made very clear to me that this was my last chance to choose a gift and if miss i have to wait for another year... Baap re!! Another 365+ days to wait (I don't get my birthday gifts on the D day..so it is 365+) it sounded like some decades and I decided to join. Now who will say no to gifts :)
We got down and i paid the auto guy in coins. He gave me a weird look, thinking i treated him like a beggar. I had no such intentions, so gave him a warm smile and walked away. We walked in and out of shops trying out various things till we entered the last one and found exactly what i wanted. Alas! They had only one color in that model. The thought of 365+ days combined with tiredness helped me in making a quick decision. I told my friends that i would take this. It was good, just that silly me can't buy without seeing a thousand varieties of the same.
The best part was when it came to the payment. The guy charged some 8% extra for the card payment as my friend did not have cash. I jumped in a paid for my own gift :) What a way of getting gifts.
We finally pulled our weary legs out of the place to head home. There was some cool breeze and soon the sky started blessing us with water droplets. Yep, with the drizzle started the trouble. We waited in the pre-paid counter for the autos. If there is one place on earth where you can see the most arrogant and indisciplined people, it must be those auto walas who stay just a few feet away from the pre-paid counter. Why will they come to the pre-paid stand especially when it rains?? They would miss a huge earnings if ever they were to come that side.
The rain started pouring, no place to take shelter. Me and my friend stood on the pavement with our backs facing the wall. We were waiting for those traffic police to help the crowd in getting autos. No way on earth are they going to move an inch. They happily sat inside the counter and had fun talking to each other. There were 4 well built men with rain coats and caps. We waited and waited and there was no sign of help.
I saw everyone waiting there and no one even went asked the traffic police for help. I had no option but to remind them of their duties. I knocked at the counter and politely asked if they could call the autos which were parked far from the stand. The police guyz replied saying it is raining heavily and they will not be able to go and call. Of what use will the rain coat and cap be if they can't go in the rain. Here none of us had an umbrella and were getting wet and those guy had everything to protect them did not want to go.
Another 15 minutes and nothing happened. My anger was reaching its limits and i went and asked again. What can you expect from a bunch of lazy people - only unreasonable reasons. Me and my friend realized that there is no use waiting here. So, we moved from there trying to find an auto ourselves. Nothing worked out. The rain showed all its strength and made us dripping wet from head to toe.
What i don't understand is why people can't do their jobs, specially the ones who are trained to help people in trouble? I went again to the counter and this time i asked the police for the complaint number. My friend was little stunned. I almost dialed 100 and was about to press the call button when i saw the coy girl in me peep out and tell me - 'Try and reach home first. You don't even know how to speak Kannada, what will you talk to those bunch of irresponsible people. You better reach home safely.' Immediately i heard my friend saying the same thing.
Also, I realized no one around me did anything that i did. None of them even wanted to ask the police something. All this set me thinking and there came a bus which could drop me close to home. We boarded the bus and in sometime i reached home with those thoughts getting wiped off my mind.
We got down and i paid the auto guy in coins. He gave me a weird look, thinking i treated him like a beggar. I had no such intentions, so gave him a warm smile and walked away. We walked in and out of shops trying out various things till we entered the last one and found exactly what i wanted. Alas! They had only one color in that model. The thought of 365+ days combined with tiredness helped me in making a quick decision. I told my friends that i would take this. It was good, just that silly me can't buy without seeing a thousand varieties of the same.
The best part was when it came to the payment. The guy charged some 8% extra for the card payment as my friend did not have cash. I jumped in a paid for my own gift :) What a way of getting gifts.
We finally pulled our weary legs out of the place to head home. There was some cool breeze and soon the sky started blessing us with water droplets. Yep, with the drizzle started the trouble. We waited in the pre-paid counter for the autos. If there is one place on earth where you can see the most arrogant and indisciplined people, it must be those auto walas who stay just a few feet away from the pre-paid counter. Why will they come to the pre-paid stand especially when it rains?? They would miss a huge earnings if ever they were to come that side.
The rain started pouring, no place to take shelter. Me and my friend stood on the pavement with our backs facing the wall. We were waiting for those traffic police to help the crowd in getting autos. No way on earth are they going to move an inch. They happily sat inside the counter and had fun talking to each other. There were 4 well built men with rain coats and caps. We waited and waited and there was no sign of help.
I saw everyone waiting there and no one even went asked the traffic police for help. I had no option but to remind them of their duties. I knocked at the counter and politely asked if they could call the autos which were parked far from the stand. The police guyz replied saying it is raining heavily and they will not be able to go and call. Of what use will the rain coat and cap be if they can't go in the rain. Here none of us had an umbrella and were getting wet and those guy had everything to protect them did not want to go.
Another 15 minutes and nothing happened. My anger was reaching its limits and i went and asked again. What can you expect from a bunch of lazy people - only unreasonable reasons. Me and my friend realized that there is no use waiting here. So, we moved from there trying to find an auto ourselves. Nothing worked out. The rain showed all its strength and made us dripping wet from head to toe.
What i don't understand is why people can't do their jobs, specially the ones who are trained to help people in trouble? I went again to the counter and this time i asked the police for the complaint number. My friend was little stunned. I almost dialed 100 and was about to press the call button when i saw the coy girl in me peep out and tell me - 'Try and reach home first. You don't even know how to speak Kannada, what will you talk to those bunch of irresponsible people. You better reach home safely.' Immediately i heard my friend saying the same thing.
Also, I realized no one around me did anything that i did. None of them even wanted to ask the police something. All this set me thinking and there came a bus which could drop me close to home. We boarded the bus and in sometime i reached home with those thoughts getting wiped off my mind.
Sunday, September 23, 2007
Why do i wake up late???
Now, why do i wake up late??
1. I love to sleep
2. What's the use of getting up early, i better sleep and live in my dream world for some more time
3. All i gotto do after getting up is - brush, bath, munch some brkie, read paper n leave to office. How
much time will it take to do all these?? 1 hour??
4. Good time management, i now know how many minutes and seconds each of my task takes and i plan accordingly
5. Only if i get good sleep i can work well all thru the day
6. Even if i go early to office i end up working late, so better go late
7. No long waits on the road if i leave late to office... no traffic == reach office quickly
8. I sleep late. Now why do i sleep late? Coz i don't feel like sleeping early.
9. I feel very sleepy early in the morning
10. I want to be healthy. Good sleep is most important for good health
The real reason is i don't see any big reason to get up early... So, the next time someone asks me why i get up late, refer this post for all the possible reasons :)
1. I love to sleep
2. What's the use of getting up early, i better sleep and live in my dream world for some more time
3. All i gotto do after getting up is - brush, bath, munch some brkie, read paper n leave to office. How
much time will it take to do all these?? 1 hour??
4. Good time management, i now know how many minutes and seconds each of my task takes and i plan accordingly
5. Only if i get good sleep i can work well all thru the day
6. Even if i go early to office i end up working late, so better go late
7. No long waits on the road if i leave late to office... no traffic == reach office quickly
8. I sleep late. Now why do i sleep late? Coz i don't feel like sleeping early.
9. I feel very sleepy early in the morning
10. I want to be healthy. Good sleep is most important for good health
The real reason is i don't see any big reason to get up early... So, the next time someone asks me why i get up late, refer this post for all the possible reasons :)
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Most Romantic Lines ...
This is one of the forwards i got about the most romantic Hollywood lines of all
times...
Very excited to see my favourite NottingHill there in the list... I liked the lines of the last one too..
times...
Very excited to see my favourite NottingHill there in the list... I liked the lines of the last one too..
Sunday, August 05, 2007
Gitanjali
I recently started reading the poems of Rabindranath Tagore translated in English.
This one really touched my heart and i liked it a lot.
Love of my life, I shall ever try
to keep my body pure, knowing that thy living touch
is upon all my limbs
I shall ever try to keep all untruths out from my thoughts,
knowing that thou art that truth which has kindled
the light of reason in my mind.
I shall ever try to derive all evils away from my heart
and keep my love in flower, knowing that thou hast thy seat
in the innermost shrine of my heart.
And it shall be my endeavour to reveal thee in my actions,
knowing it is thy power gives me strenght to act.
This one really touched my heart and i liked it a lot.
Love of my life, I shall ever try
to keep my body pure, knowing that thy living touch
is upon all my limbs
I shall ever try to keep all untruths out from my thoughts,
knowing that thou art that truth which has kindled
the light of reason in my mind.
I shall ever try to derive all evils away from my heart
and keep my love in flower, knowing that thou hast thy seat
in the innermost shrine of my heart.
And it shall be my endeavour to reveal thee in my actions,
knowing it is thy power gives me strenght to act.
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
Being Misunderstood ...
I think the worst thing that can happen to anyone is being misunderstood by their near and dear ones.
There are few things in every one's life which we share very easily with friends but not with others. The kind of closeness and comfort we share with friends is something that makes the bond very special and unique.
Most of the times life moves like a goods train in a slow pace with things being same every other day. These are the times, when we give importance to even the small things that that happen to us and share them with friends. This makes them feel that they know our lives in and out.
The other times when life rushes like a Rajdhani express, we really don't get time. Most of the time goes in just realizing what is happening to us. It is then that we realize it becomes less easier than usual to find time to share the events from the fast running life. These are the cases where most friendships suffer.
Suddenly, the closeness is lost and you feel that friend of yours is no longer talking to you as before. The feeling of comfort is gone. This is when one gets to hear some words which are normal but hurts more than you could imagine. Exactly, this is the point when one THINKS he/she is misunderstood. But the way things happen, it will sound as if you are misunderstood.
The friendly conversations happen in a different language, different plane. It terribly hurts. One is no longer able to love the quote 'Friends are those who would not have spoken a single word for a long time and still feel that they had the best conversation'. Silence acts a weapon stabbing you right in the heart.
This is the situation in which i am. I find it really hard to accept it. I need a lot of courage now to get past my wounds and hurts to go and clarify things and get back to those happy times.
This is the first time am posting something that is not so enjoyable to read. I am feeling better after writing all this and my mind is now free to think what i can do to make things better.
There are few things in every one's life which we share very easily with friends but not with others. The kind of closeness and comfort we share with friends is something that makes the bond very special and unique.
Most of the times life moves like a goods train in a slow pace with things being same every other day. These are the times, when we give importance to even the small things that that happen to us and share them with friends. This makes them feel that they know our lives in and out.
The other times when life rushes like a Rajdhani express, we really don't get time. Most of the time goes in just realizing what is happening to us. It is then that we realize it becomes less easier than usual to find time to share the events from the fast running life. These are the cases where most friendships suffer.
Suddenly, the closeness is lost and you feel that friend of yours is no longer talking to you as before. The feeling of comfort is gone. This is when one gets to hear some words which are normal but hurts more than you could imagine. Exactly, this is the point when one THINKS he/she is misunderstood. But the way things happen, it will sound as if you are misunderstood.
The friendly conversations happen in a different language, different plane. It terribly hurts. One is no longer able to love the quote 'Friends are those who would not have spoken a single word for a long time and still feel that they had the best conversation'. Silence acts a weapon stabbing you right in the heart.
This is the situation in which i am. I find it really hard to accept it. I need a lot of courage now to get past my wounds and hurts to go and clarify things and get back to those happy times.
This is the first time am posting something that is not so enjoyable to read. I am feeling better after writing all this and my mind is now free to think what i can do to make things better.
Tuesday, June 05, 2007
Charity begins @ home
It is very true that charity begins at home. I know people who are walking talking example of this. One such person is Mrs.Sujata Mukherjee.
For her, it all started with a small wish to support the education of a child by name Ashwini. Just like small drops make an ocean, her small wish has now transformed into what is called Ashwini Charitable Trust(ACT). Currently ACT educates and empowers over 75 under-privileged children from urban slums in Bangalore and supports them until they are gainfully employed.
ACT Website - Ashwini Charitable Trust
Sharing some of the snaps taken at Ashwini's annual day function.
For her, it all started with a small wish to support the education of a child by name Ashwini. Just like small drops make an ocean, her small wish has now transformed into what is called Ashwini Charitable Trust(ACT). Currently ACT educates and empowers over 75 under-privileged children from urban slums in Bangalore and supports them until they are gainfully employed.
ACT Website - Ashwini Charitable Trust
Sharing some of the snaps taken at Ashwini's annual day function.
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
5 Reasons why you should celebrate your birthday?
1. A reason to indulge yourself in the best of the best things in the world
Buy clothes, eat good food, yummie cake, chocolates ...
2. Feel good about yourself and the things you have achieved in life
So many years on this planet, we can go back and see (only) the good things we have done, some proud achievements ...
3. Just sit back and enjoy the day without doing any work
We don't need to wait for Friday of the week to come to stop working and relax :)
4. Friends and relatives to shower you with wishes and gifts
This is the most lovely thing. At least for this we should have as many friends and relatives (only those who would gift :) )
5. At least on that one day, no one will try to get into a fight with you or upset you:)
How would such a day be...lovely, isn't it?
Am sure you can add many many more to it. But these are the ones i could just think of.
Anyways, here goes a birthday wish to one of my very good friend.
Happy Birthday Dear.
Sunday, May 27, 2007
Library Thing
As i was looking into someone's blog (now, don't ask whose and why), i stumbled on something called Library Thing. I liked the concept of having a catalog of books one likes, one has read and so and so.
One of my resolutions for this year is/was to read more books. Well, there is a reason behind this and also a motivating factor :).
I have started reading books a lot this year. And sometimes keep wondering how to keep track of the books i have read. This is when i found Library thing very useful.
Now, i have a catalog of books i have read so far and also managed to write review for one.
One of my resolutions for this year is/was to read more books. Well, there is a reason behind this and also a motivating factor :).
I have started reading books a lot this year. And sometimes keep wondering how to keep track of the books i have read. This is when i found Library thing very useful.
Now, i have a catalog of books i have read so far and also managed to write review for one.
Monday, April 23, 2007
Suttum Vizhi Chudar daan kannamma
I found the translation of 'Suttum Vizhi chudar' from somone's blog. சுட்டும் விழி சுடர் தான
Thanks to that person who has taken some pains to translate it. Hope there is no copyright for it :)
Thanks to that person who has taken some pains to translate it. Hope there is no copyright for it :)
Sunday, April 22, 2007
One hour power cut a day - i am loving it :)
Are you not able to believe that power cuts might be a boon ?? Let me explain ..
With summer fast approaching and an acute power shortage in Bangalore, there is a compulsory one hour load shedding across the city every day.
It was a Saturday night and i was at home with mom. I was busy doing nothing with my laptop connected to the internet and she was in the kitchen preparing dinner. Suddenly, it was dark everywhere, yep - power cut...
Both of us get seated in the balcony and i promptly took the ipod in my hand. I switched it on and we shared the ear phones, like the ones you normally see in movies :). I was selecting my fav numbers to play. First i chose 'mandram vanda thendralukku manjam vara nenjam illayo anbe en anbe' from mouna ragam. Such a wonderful song with emotions blended in the lyrics, tune and the voice of the singer.
Now i should tell you something - am this born and brought up in chennai who hardly studied tamil as a language in school. Though i speak fluent tamil (atleast the chennai tamil), i really do not understand the meaning of some wonderful poetry. So, i started pestering my mom to translate those lyrics for me. She helped me a bit and then got back to the song... I managed to understand most of the song afterwards..
The next one i chose was this wonderful piece by the Mahakavi Bharatiar 'Suttum Vizhi Chudar daan Kannamma ...'. It such a wonderful composition and i heard it rendered in the voice of Hariharan from the movie Kandukoden Kandukonden. God salute to all those who were a part of making this song.
It played, i rewind(ed) and played it again and again to get the lyrics to the minutest detail possible. The whole piece is so much of poetic beauty, truly fantastic. I wish i could get the whole thing translated into more understandable language. However be it, this one is truly awesome.. no words to describe ...
The day before i heard this in such detail, i was also moved by the lyrics of the 'She..' sound track from Notting Hill. The lines are just too good and if you happen to relate to the part of the movie when it is played, you will enjoy it even more.
After listening to few of these, me and mom had the same thought (one of those rare moments) - there are so many songs sung in the praise of the girl or for the girl and so less songs that are sung for a guy. A small discussion and we concluded that guys are more romantic and would like to sing such songs for girls and hence such songs are many in number. May be even girls love to listen to these sung by guys :)
Just as we wrapped our conversation, there was a new light in our lives, the power came back. Thanks to BESCOM, but for them i would not have heard these songs in such depths.
So, the next time there is a power cut, i have my ipod and many more songs to listen to. Power cuts - am loving it :)
Lyrics of suttum vizhi chudar daan kannamma...
Suttum vizhi chudar dhaan - kaNNammaa
Sooriya chandiraro
Vatta kariya vizhi - kaNNammaa
Vaanak karumai koLLo
Pattu karuneela - pudavai
Padhitha nalvayiram
Natta nadunisiyil - theriyum
NatshathirangaLadi
Solai malar oLiyo - unadhu
Sundharapunnagai dhaan
Neela kadalalaye - unadhu
Nenjin alaigaLadi
Kolak kuyil oasai - unadhu
Kuralin inimayadi
Vaalai kumariyadi - kaNNammaa
Maruvak kaadhal koNdaen
Saathiram pesugiraai - kaNNammaa
Saathiram yedhukkadi
Aathiram kondavarke - kaNNammaa
Saathiram undoadi
Moothavar sammadhiyil - vadhuvai
Muraigal pinbu seivom
Kaathiruppenoadi - idhu paar
Kannaththu muththam ondRu
With summer fast approaching and an acute power shortage in Bangalore, there is a compulsory one hour load shedding across the city every day.
It was a Saturday night and i was at home with mom. I was busy doing nothing with my laptop connected to the internet and she was in the kitchen preparing dinner. Suddenly, it was dark everywhere, yep - power cut...
Both of us get seated in the balcony and i promptly took the ipod in my hand. I switched it on and we shared the ear phones, like the ones you normally see in movies :). I was selecting my fav numbers to play. First i chose 'mandram vanda thendralukku manjam vara nenjam illayo anbe en anbe' from mouna ragam. Such a wonderful song with emotions blended in the lyrics, tune and the voice of the singer.
Now i should tell you something - am this born and brought up in chennai who hardly studied tamil as a language in school. Though i speak fluent tamil (atleast the chennai tamil), i really do not understand the meaning of some wonderful poetry. So, i started pestering my mom to translate those lyrics for me. She helped me a bit and then got back to the song... I managed to understand most of the song afterwards..
The next one i chose was this wonderful piece by the Mahakavi Bharatiar 'Suttum Vizhi Chudar daan Kannamma ...'. It such a wonderful composition and i heard it rendered in the voice of Hariharan from the movie Kandukoden Kandukonden. God salute to all those who were a part of making this song.
It played, i rewind(ed) and played it again and again to get the lyrics to the minutest detail possible. The whole piece is so much of poetic beauty, truly fantastic. I wish i could get the whole thing translated into more understandable language. However be it, this one is truly awesome.. no words to describe ...
The day before i heard this in such detail, i was also moved by the lyrics of the 'She..' sound track from Notting Hill. The lines are just too good and if you happen to relate to the part of the movie when it is played, you will enjoy it even more.
After listening to few of these, me and mom had the same thought (one of those rare moments) - there are so many songs sung in the praise of the girl or for the girl and so less songs that are sung for a guy. A small discussion and we concluded that guys are more romantic and would like to sing such songs for girls and hence such songs are many in number. May be even girls love to listen to these sung by guys :)
Just as we wrapped our conversation, there was a new light in our lives, the power came back. Thanks to BESCOM, but for them i would not have heard these songs in such depths.
So, the next time there is a power cut, i have my ipod and many more songs to listen to. Power cuts - am loving it :)
Lyrics of suttum vizhi chudar daan kannamma...
Suttum vizhi chudar dhaan - kaNNammaa
Sooriya chandiraro
Vatta kariya vizhi - kaNNammaa
Vaanak karumai koLLo
Pattu karuneela - pudavai
Padhitha nalvayiram
Natta nadunisiyil - theriyum
NatshathirangaLadi
Solai malar oLiyo - unadhu
Sundharapunnagai dhaan
Neela kadalalaye - unadhu
Nenjin alaigaLadi
Kolak kuyil oasai - unadhu
Kuralin inimayadi
Vaalai kumariyadi - kaNNammaa
Maruvak kaadhal koNdaen
Saathiram pesugiraai - kaNNammaa
Saathiram yedhukkadi
Aathiram kondavarke - kaNNammaa
Saathiram undoadi
Moothavar sammadhiyil - vadhuvai
Muraigal pinbu seivom
Kaathiruppenoadi - idhu paar
Kannaththu muththam ondRu
Saturday, April 07, 2007
Where are we heading towards??
An interesting conversation with friends in Garuda Mall had made me think about a lot of things happening to me, you and a whole lot of us.
After a long time, we there got together to buy a wedding gift for one of my friends. It was a record breaking event - 3 girls managed to buy 2 gifts in a matter of 30 minutes!!! Isn't that great?? Well, at least the quickest purchase i have ever made. I go to the counter and pay the bill where the sales women tries to lure me in the usual conversation of being a member of the shop ... ahem!! paid membership. My pre-processed brain tells me that i am buying for a few thousands worth and they can't even give me a free membership. But then, i decide to push my thoughts to some remote corner and get the receipt.
I pass it on to my friend who is standing in the jewelery counter to collect the gift by showing the receipt. It is all over, the gift is neatly packed and we move. Suddenly, it strikes me that they have not put the warranty certificate (Oh yea!! If you did not know, there are warranty certificates even for jewelery.). I go back to the lady in the counter asking if they still give warranty, poor innocent ignorant me (ok, at least in this case) thought they stopped giving those certificates. Then the lady reluctantly pulls one and signs it for us.
Now, why should someone do that? Where is all the consumer friendly talk which we had while choosing the gift. The moment someone buys your product, do they become 'was a customer' whom you no longer care about?? I do not understand, i had to ask for my right. Come on!! I paid the entire bill, why am i not entitled to my right by default? Why does someone want me to fight for it?
For a while these thoughts were going on and soon i got distracted by some conversation my friends had. Then comes the real joke of the day. After this big feat, we decide to treat ourselves. I preferred juice, it was a hot summer evening. However, the real reason was mom wanted me to take only juice instead of some junk food (the obedient me pops up). We soon approached a fruit junction, it was crowded. After a while we settled on what we wanted to drink. '2 anar, 1 orange' my friend told and gave a hundred rupee note. We were surprised rather shocked to hear that 2 anar juice costs 100 and one orange was 35 bucks. Immediately walking out, we only thought of our dear ganesh fruit juice where one could get real orange juice for 7 bucks...5 times lesser. Then we voted for corn and bought one cup each.
Sitting in the sides of the mall, we were actually discussing how rapidly the purchasing power has grown. There are people waiting in the queue to buy that worthless expensive juice knowing that they are over-priced. Hmm, blessed with a IT job, anyone can buy anything without worry. But what about people who can't afford all this? Do we ever care for them, to see how they manage to live in this city where a 5'*8' area would cost around 2000 bucks a month, where tomato and potato prices change with places, malls would soon come in place of small shops?? We are slowly losing track of the value of money. Aren't we??
The long discussion covering a range of topics comes to a halt with the phone call. Time to go home - we walk to the pre-paid auto stand. There is a group of 6-7 people crowded in the booth and the person there asks everyone to stand in a line, like a teacher tells the kids while distributing chocolates. There i stand in front of a girl. Immediately i see 2 girls barge into the queue. This is not the first time this is happening to me, and as usual i get irritated, but decide not to speak as i stand third and will soon get my work done. And in another few seconds, there comes a mother who pushes her child just in front of me in the line. This is the heights, i get irritated and turn to my friend who stands beside me. Her smile asks me to keep quiet. And i silently wait for my turn.
It was disgusting to see well educated people behaving this way. If we behave like this in front of children, how can we ever expect them to be good citizens? What are we indirectly teaching our children? The queue hardly had 7 people, the mother and the other 2 girls could have waited, but they chose not to. They would not have had any guilt barging in. There are lot of people like this who are just bothered about their work and want to get it done as soon as they can. With people like me who don't even tell them that there is a queue and one is supposed to follow some rules, they happily get their job done.
I felt really bad for having kept quiet in a place where i could have made a difference. If i had told the 2 girls in the beginning, the mother would not have pushed her child. The 5 people behind me would have not waited for 2 more minutes.
We are all thought the good habits, how to behave in the society on our schools, but where is it gone? Has it all evaporated in the scorching summer? With so many questions still to be answered, here comes a huge one -- Where are we heading towards??
After a long time, we there got together to buy a wedding gift for one of my friends. It was a record breaking event - 3 girls managed to buy 2 gifts in a matter of 30 minutes!!! Isn't that great?? Well, at least the quickest purchase i have ever made. I go to the counter and pay the bill where the sales women tries to lure me in the usual conversation of being a member of the shop ... ahem!! paid membership. My pre-processed brain tells me that i am buying for a few thousands worth and they can't even give me a free membership. But then, i decide to push my thoughts to some remote corner and get the receipt.
I pass it on to my friend who is standing in the jewelery counter to collect the gift by showing the receipt. It is all over, the gift is neatly packed and we move. Suddenly, it strikes me that they have not put the warranty certificate (Oh yea!! If you did not know, there are warranty certificates even for jewelery.). I go back to the lady in the counter asking if they still give warranty, poor innocent ignorant me (ok, at least in this case) thought they stopped giving those certificates. Then the lady reluctantly pulls one and signs it for us.
Now, why should someone do that? Where is all the consumer friendly talk which we had while choosing the gift. The moment someone buys your product, do they become 'was a customer' whom you no longer care about?? I do not understand, i had to ask for my right. Come on!! I paid the entire bill, why am i not entitled to my right by default? Why does someone want me to fight for it?
For a while these thoughts were going on and soon i got distracted by some conversation my friends had. Then comes the real joke of the day. After this big feat, we decide to treat ourselves. I preferred juice, it was a hot summer evening. However, the real reason was mom wanted me to take only juice instead of some junk food (the obedient me pops up). We soon approached a fruit junction, it was crowded. After a while we settled on what we wanted to drink. '2 anar, 1 orange' my friend told and gave a hundred rupee note. We were surprised rather shocked to hear that 2 anar juice costs 100 and one orange was 35 bucks. Immediately walking out, we only thought of our dear ganesh fruit juice where one could get real orange juice for 7 bucks...5 times lesser. Then we voted for corn and bought one cup each.
Sitting in the sides of the mall, we were actually discussing how rapidly the purchasing power has grown. There are people waiting in the queue to buy that worthless expensive juice knowing that they are over-priced. Hmm, blessed with a IT job, anyone can buy anything without worry. But what about people who can't afford all this? Do we ever care for them, to see how they manage to live in this city where a 5'*8' area would cost around 2000 bucks a month, where tomato and potato prices change with places, malls would soon come in place of small shops?? We are slowly losing track of the value of money. Aren't we??
The long discussion covering a range of topics comes to a halt with the phone call. Time to go home - we walk to the pre-paid auto stand. There is a group of 6-7 people crowded in the booth and the person there asks everyone to stand in a line, like a teacher tells the kids while distributing chocolates. There i stand in front of a girl. Immediately i see 2 girls barge into the queue. This is not the first time this is happening to me, and as usual i get irritated, but decide not to speak as i stand third and will soon get my work done. And in another few seconds, there comes a mother who pushes her child just in front of me in the line. This is the heights, i get irritated and turn to my friend who stands beside me. Her smile asks me to keep quiet. And i silently wait for my turn.
It was disgusting to see well educated people behaving this way. If we behave like this in front of children, how can we ever expect them to be good citizens? What are we indirectly teaching our children? The queue hardly had 7 people, the mother and the other 2 girls could have waited, but they chose not to. They would not have had any guilt barging in. There are lot of people like this who are just bothered about their work and want to get it done as soon as they can. With people like me who don't even tell them that there is a queue and one is supposed to follow some rules, they happily get their job done.
I felt really bad for having kept quiet in a place where i could have made a difference. If i had told the 2 girls in the beginning, the mother would not have pushed her child. The 5 people behind me would have not waited for 2 more minutes.
We are all thought the good habits, how to behave in the society on our schools, but where is it gone? Has it all evaporated in the scorching summer? With so many questions still to be answered, here comes a huge one -- Where are we heading towards??
Sunday, March 11, 2007
Chromepet on Wikimapia
Wooohh!!! I found my home town on Wikimapia...I could also locate the Raja ram street - the lane where our house is :) Amazing technology... Here is the link
http://www.wikimapia.org/#y=12952315&x=80148037&z=18&l=0&m=s&v=2
Science appeals me more when it helps me find things closer to my heart.
http://www.wikimapia.org/#y=12952315&x=80148037&z=18&l=0&m=s&v=2
Science appeals me more when it helps me find things closer to my heart.
A ride down the memory lane
The front page article on Krishna Menon in the Sunday Magazine took me a lovely nostalgic ride. Those childhood days i spent in the small little town of chennai called Chromepet. It was such an unassuming place which became famous after the 'pettarap' song in one of Prabhu Deva's movies. Wait..they have not shot the song here, its just that the first few lines of the song has the place name..it goes like this, 'Saidapettai Rainpettai Chrompettai pettarap ... '.
Chromepet holds a special place in my heart more because of the lovely times i spent there with the most wonderful people of my life - my grandparents. The evenings used to be so much fun, when i spend time with nature - the lovely neem tree i could see from the huge balcony of our house. There would be 2 chairs facing each other just close to the balcony grill. Grandpa used to sit there eternally with the news paper or a book in hand and sometimes listening to a bhajan on the Walkman. My favourite place is the chair opposite to him. As soon as i come home from school, i would happily go and sit there, remove my shoes and keep telling my grandpa what all happened at school. I never bothered to check if i was boring him, i was always so excited to keep sharing my experiences. My grandma would soon come with a some tiffin - dosa or idli or upma. And if it was not my favourite there always a second choice at least for me :)
Grandparents are a treasure. They always had time for me no matter what. They crossed the seas of generation gap trying to connect to the present. A walking talking library, no matter what question i had on history or philosophy - my grandpa used to have an answer which he used to put in the form of a good story. And those lovely stories my grandma had to put me off to sleep :)
Having got to spent close to 20 years of my life with them has been the best gifts which will always be very close to my heart.
Treasured are the times i spent with you both
Amazing are the values i imbibed from you both
Love you hameshaa...
Chromepet holds a special place in my heart more because of the lovely times i spent there with the most wonderful people of my life - my grandparents. The evenings used to be so much fun, when i spend time with nature - the lovely neem tree i could see from the huge balcony of our house. There would be 2 chairs facing each other just close to the balcony grill. Grandpa used to sit there eternally with the news paper or a book in hand and sometimes listening to a bhajan on the Walkman. My favourite place is the chair opposite to him. As soon as i come home from school, i would happily go and sit there, remove my shoes and keep telling my grandpa what all happened at school. I never bothered to check if i was boring him, i was always so excited to keep sharing my experiences. My grandma would soon come with a some tiffin - dosa or idli or upma. And if it was not my favourite there always a second choice at least for me :)
Grandparents are a treasure. They always had time for me no matter what. They crossed the seas of generation gap trying to connect to the present. A walking talking library, no matter what question i had on history or philosophy - my grandpa used to have an answer which he used to put in the form of a good story. And those lovely stories my grandma had to put me off to sleep :)
Having got to spent close to 20 years of my life with them has been the best gifts which will always be very close to my heart.
Treasured are the times i spent with you both
Amazing are the values i imbibed from you both
Love you hameshaa...
Monday, January 01, 2007
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